dagblog - Comments for "Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?"

Latest developments in the

Donal — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:07:19 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?

Latest developments in the global Occupy protests:

MARYLAND

In the wake of violence and arrests at other Wall Street protest sites, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she has no interest in a violent exchange with protesters in her city. The mayor said Wednesday that she does not want to curtail the free speech rights of the Occupy Baltimore protesters, many of whom have been living at McKeldin Square by the Inner Harbor since Oct. 4. But she also says their rights don't trump the public's right to enjoy the space.

WASHINGTON

A third protest inspired by Occupy Wall Street sprang up Wednesday in the nation's capital. The demonstration, known as Occupy Pennsylvania Avenue, will be different from two encampments that have been in place since early October in that participants will not be camping out. They plan to leave at night and return every day until "we get Change in DC at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," organizer Patrick Schneider said in a statement. He said the demonstration had the appropriate permits and that the goal was to communicate its message without breaking the law.

IOW, a commuter's version of Occupy.

Memo sent directly to the

Donal can't log in — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:13:55 +0000

In reply to A banner on OB's Livestream

Memo sent directly to the Mayor's office this morning on behalf of Occupy Baltimore by our supporters:

"Dear Mayor Rawlings-Blake:

We have been made aware of the city of Baltimore's intention to close down the Occupy Baltimore site sometime in the next 24 hours. We write to express our firm opinion that nothing be done to close down the site and that instead, an agreement be arrived at which allows for the confrontation of a peaceful, non-violent demonstration.

The Occupy Baltimore protests have given expression to a widely shared belief that our economy and our politics are controlled by corporate interests to the detriment of the overwhelming majority of working people, including our members, their families and communities. We share this opinion and applaud the courage and sacrifice of the Occupy protestors. We believe these protestors should be commended for standing up for the 99% of us, not threatened with removal.

Cities across the country - from San Diego to Little Rock, Philadelphia and Washington DC - have worked with their local Occupy movements to find reasonable accommodations that everyone can live with. Surely, the city of Baltimore can find a solution that meets the concerns of city officials and departments while allowing the protestors to continue their democratic right to peaceful, non-violent

protest.

The Occupy Baltimore activists have made a broad call for followers to converge on McKeldin Square in order to defend the occupation tonight. Rather than create a confrontation, we believe it would be wise for the city of Baltimore to act with restraint and responsibility. Rather than remove the protestors, we call upon the city to work with representatives of Occupy Baltimore to find a solution that can maintain the protest location and respect the rights of our citizens.

We look forward to your quick response.

Sincerely,

Ernie Grecco, President, Metro Baltimore Council AFL-CIO

Glen Middleton, Executive Director, AFSCME 67

Anthony Coates, AFSCME Local 647-67

Peggy Peacock, AFSCME Local 2202-67

Ms. Johnnie Phipps, AFSCME Local 558-67

Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, AFT

Mariette English, President, Baltimore Teachers Local 340

Brenda Clayburn, President, City Union of Balto Local 800

Steve Fugate, President, Fire Officers Local 964

Rick Hoffman, President, Fire Fighters Local 734

Jimmy Gittings, President, Public School Administrations and

Supervisors Association Local 25

Rod Easter, President, Balto Building Trades Council

Bob Cherry, President, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #3"

Wow. You are totally kicking

Lazy KGB — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:22:20 +0000

In reply to I was looking through tweets

Wow. You are totally kicking butt with this. Sweet. Sure beats fighting with HuffPo to post a couple measly links, eh?

Curious, what's the makeup of the Boulder group? I've been in a bit of a debate over if the typically-sympethetic-to-this-message rightish folks would (a) be attracted in the first place (b) successfuly co-exist with the typically leftish folks without the two killing each other. DK's reports seem to show surprising Tea Party involvement in NH (and my predicted reaction from the lefterns in the event of the twain meeting) ... wondering what some of the rest of the groups are looking like.

I missed it, but apparently *someone* put on a "occupy Coeur d'Alene" march the other day that got quite a few people to show up. The Spokane group's fire is dwindling a bit with the new burst of cold; but the police and city council have been atypically non-suppressive (police brutality is depressingly common in Spokane) - aren't giving them a hard time for camping and gave 'em a kitchen permit and port-a-potty.

I was looking through tweets

synchronicity — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:41:24 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?

I was looking through tweets coming in about OWS taking the streets in solidarity with the Occupy Oakland and the wounded marine.

As soon as I heard they hurt a marine i thought 'they know not what they have done', expect something big and it's already happening.

I also just got a tweet from #Occupy Marines

TEARS STREAM AS CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY AGREES ‘OCCUPY TENTS ARE A FORM OF SPEECH’ | Occupy Orange.

Boulder City Council had action pending to end corporate personhood for the City of Boulder and they apparently like the idea that Occupy Boulder could help them with that. So I have contacted Occupy Orange County to learn about their process to see if we might be able to get a similar ruling for full time occupation in Boulder CO.

Fingers crossed.

Occupy Boulder's Direct

synchronicity — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:19:30 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?

Occupy Boulder's Direct Action Working Group just passed a proposal to Occupy 12 to 6 daily and to seek legal support to keep us advised of our rights as we move toward a more physical occupy presence.

Prior to last week they were meeting just Saturdays for a few hours so this is a big shift. We have some people ready to jump in and camp but so far people have been pushing towards compliance with the law over civil disobedience. As the group grows I know that some will feel so strongly they will camp and that will be it... it will begin. But it wouldn't hurt to develop a relationship with some local lawyers now.

It is remarkable to me that so many elected leaders think that they can handle this movement the way they are. They are helping this movement grow and grow stronger with every wrong move they make.

Today one of the members of the direct action committee shared something he heard from someone at OWS.

We are demonstrating our demand... we want direct democracy. We are demonstrating direct democracy. Our process is our demand... I think that is how he said it.

http://www.colorado.edu/confl

synchronicity — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:44:06 +0000

In reply to Oh, I think we can see the

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/nonviolc.htm

"The strength of nonviolence lies in its ability to dramatically reduce the moral legitimacy of those who persist in using violent strategies against non-violent opposition"

Things are moving along slowly in Boulder. I have learned much about they way that the operate in OWS that they did not do in Denver. Last night was a Facilitation Working Group and the depth and heart of the conversation was quite moving.

Some of us have been discussing putting a strong emphasis on 'the power' of non-violence.

I found another article last night that shows that non-violent movements are twice as successful as violent ones.

I am just searching for ways to invite the anarchists to have a reason to join the rest of us in non-violence especially in light of the brutality being acted out by police. I think it is important to consider who is pulling the strings when the police come in and behave like this.

It seems crazy though that they fight the Occupy Movement in this way. It will just cause people to regroup and grow stronger.

A banner on OB's Livestream

Donal — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:35:00 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?

A banner on OB's Livestream claims that the AFL-CIO, firefighter's and police unions sent a letter to Mayor Rawlings-Blake asking that the city stand down from evicting OB from McKeldin Fountain.

But OB's blog is less sanguine:

Occupy Baltimore has just received word that the representative from Recreation and Parks has declined to visit the site tonight to answer questions on the city's proposed compromise on their permit application, as previously suggested. No subsequent date or time for a conversation has been offered, leaving Occupy Baltimore participants concerned about whether a compromise with the city is, in fact, still a possibility.

Oh, I think we can see the

Donal — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:49:22 +0000

In reply to Sorry you can't see the

Oh, I think we can see the truth all right. Again, the attacks always reveal more about the attacker.

With all the police actions

Donal — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:47:20 +0000

In reply to interesting little snipet of

With all the police actions against Occupy sites, I can see why the OB folk read the worst into that city memo.

What really irritated me is

Donal — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:45:13 +0000

In reply to Occupy Baltimore: Disperse Ye Rebels!?

What really irritated me is that the Sun editorial was still carrying water for the discredited Big Government smear.