It concerns the way Occupy and the Constitution are interrelated.

Scarborough is currently a lawyer and living in Costa Rica w/his family. He came to Boston specifically because of the way Occupiers are being treated by the various PD's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKbz1-Fg_hM...

America Back from the 1%"

<snip>

What unites the outraged 99 Percent is that we have all “played by the rules,” only to learn belatedly that the game was rigged. Having been promised modest rewards for working within the system, by taking on debt or voting the party line, we find ourselves, bluntly, shit out of luck. Let the facts be submitted to a candid world:

<snip>

For millions of middle-class and striving blue-collar American families, the promise of homeownership as the world’s safest investment became another money-making bubble for Wall Street that remains Main Street’s intractable mess. Those members of the middle class unfortunate enough to do as an industry of wise men counseled them and invest in the stock market and real estate have seen the fruits of a lifetime’s worth of labor evaporate in multiple busts and crashes that the wise men always escape from economically intact. The mere specter of limited relief for underwater homeowners inspired 1 Percenter rage so all-consuming that they bankrolled a “populist” movement to channel it. Minority homeowners defrauded by unscrupulous lenders are blamed for an international recession sparked by the venal and simply foolish behavior of megabanks.

<snip>

List, (w/extrapolations at link):

1. Debt relief
2. A substantial jobs program
3. A healthcare public option
4. Reregulate Wall Street
5. End the Global War on Terror and rein in the defense budget
6. Repeal the Patriot Act
7. Tackle climate change
8. Stop locking everyone up for everything and end the drug war
9. Full equality for the queer community
10. Fix the tax system


http://www.alternet.org/story/152912/a_new...



Long, but well worth the read.

The OccupyWallStreet movement continues to spread with more than 1,500 sites. More and more people are speaking up for a society that works for the 99 percent, not just the 1 percent.

(abridged)

1. Show up at the occupied space near you.

2. Start your own occupation.

3. Support those who are occupying.

4. Speak out. Get into the debates and the teach-ins.

5. Share your story.

6. Be the media.

7. Name the meaning of this moment.

8. Insist that public officials treat the occupations with respect.

9. Study and teach nonviolent techniques.

10. Be resilient.

More at: http://www.alternet.org/story/152833/_10_w...

http://vimeo.com/30514982

I have just returned from Occupy Boston, Dewey Square; I spent the entire day down there doing interviews with various news outlets and taunting the BPD with the only Veterans for Peace flag left for Occupy Boston.

Let me say this right off the top, everything that happened was instigated by the BPD. The lies that came out for media digestion were perpetrated by police commissioner Ed Davis, as far as I'm concerned, (and expressed to every media outlet I spoke to), Davis is nothing more than an ape.

The VfP moved in front of the Occupiers to protect them, they were pounced on by Davis' thugs. One of the excuses was that "$150,000" worth of landscaping was going to be "destroyed" by Occupiers, this was blatantly false! At about 10 pm, I saw one plant that had been accidentally stepped on, and three Occupiers stating that it needed to replaced as they intended to leave the Greenway with only the sod being disturbed. Throughout the Occupation, Occupiers have been adamant about keeping the area clean and have collected enough money to reseed the area in the Spring. The Occupiers are extremely conscious of everything they do, and they are environmentally aware on just about everything they do.

The BPD destroyed the recently landscaped Greenway during their rampage, then, the ape, (Davis), blamed Occupiers for the destruction. Everything that came from BPD is a lie, (the latest being some officers were spit upon). The BPD has concocted stories to exonerate themselves from any blame. Occupiers were tossed to the ground, after the BPD knocked veterans down, to include a 74 year old that lost a filling and injured his leg during the take down. The American flag was the first to go down, and the BPD stomped all over it as they went ballistic. Watching some tear down and throw tents and personal belongings, it reminded me of Ghengis Khan's Mongol horde on a rampage. $300 worth of VfP flags were tossed into the trash truck, and a personal American Flag was confiscated, probably sitting in some cop's house as a "war trophy"...

One of the most despicable acts was the confiscation of prescription meds that were in the medical tents for safe keeping. How the BPD thought that taking Rx meds is somehow justified baffles me to no end. The thought that an inhaler, insulin, antibiotics or scheduled meds have anything to do with this arrest is completely insane, especially since many of the people these meds belonged to never got arrested. Imagine someone having to go to a Dr to try and get meds replaced w a/story like this. What gave the BPD any "right" to do this?

I will update as more comes forth. Everyone arrested has finally been released.

I have added a link to a realtime video shot by an Occupier. It's grainy, but what does one expect from the time this was taken.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu63e7QD_5k

I'm down here at Dewey Square and have limited access to a pc, here's what i know so far...


Th3e BPD requested that Occupiers move from a recently replanted area across the street from the first site. It is being claimed that police action was "necessary" to protect $150,000 in recent additions to the Greenway. What I saw last night at about 10 PM was one plant that had been stepped on, and 3 Occupiers stating that the plant would have to replaced by them due to damage.

What happened after Midnight, (I left about 1030), became news. The BPD went into the area over the short retaining wall, ran into Veterans for Peace, who were trying to protect occupiers, and began the arrests. VfP members were knocked to the ground and arrested along w/approximately 125 others. Arraignments begin at 9 AM today, bail is $40.

The BPD did extensive damage to an area that was relatively pristine, the old, "we must destroy it, to preserve it" mindset. They went in w/dogs and tore down tents as if they were the hordes of Ghengis Khan. One of the Occupiers gave me a Vietnam Vet cap that was knocked off of a VfP members head.

I'm heading to City hall to register a complaint after posting this.

I'll update later...unless i need to have $40 for my own bail...

Not much went down today in Occupy Boston. Lot's of visitors, music and supporters, but nothing of action, so, I figured I'd show you all the minds at work here in Boston as far as signs and a few other things.

Tomorrow, 1000+ students are marching from Boston Common to Dewey Square to show solidarity w/Occupy Boston. In another twist, Boston Herald stating that Mayor Menino has said that the city will not be tolerating the occupation of Dewey Square, "much longer". I can't say exactly what this means, but tents have moved into areas that were not occupied previously, and that may have something to do with the the mayor's point of view. For the record, both the Occupiers and BPD have been on good terms and incidents are still at zero. I would hate to see this go into a situation like what NYPD produced, but if anything bad happens happens, it appears the city/BPD will have to initiate it.


We now have a dishwash area...



Take care of your mom, lose your abode...wtf


Gotta love people w/artistic talent


Calender


unhappycamper w/a common sentiment


Deborah Butler, Esq, a Liberal Lawyer at: WillWillWin.org


The reality of Reagan's "Trickle Down"


Wisdom


Knowledge


Beautiful weather means people gotta learn to dance...


BPD putting up barricade to delineate where the tents must stop


Putting fence up


Still putting fence up


This sign went up approximately 2 minutes after the BPD erected barricade...

We did a march on Boston today, it went on for two hours and we actually went through traffic, right along the street passing vehicles stopped in the street because of us. Limo's, buses, tour trolley's...

The good people of Boston and the tourists gave us a warm reception, even though we were holding them up. There was little BPD/Occupier friction, in fact, the BPD were excellent through the entire march, very professional, not the slightest hint of a problem.

There has been an upsurge in groups joining/supporting Occupy Boston to include:

Ironworkers Local 7
Teamsters
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
Members of the Boston Synagogue
The Leftist Marching Band
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Various student coalitions
Members of the Teachers Union
Ben and Jerry's
and a few others that I'm embarrassed to say I simply can't recall, (but will add in tomorrow's thread).

Morale is still high, and many "suits" came through, actually telling us they support us. It is in the 80's temperature wise, w/clear skies through Monday...perfect "active" weather. I was working the line for about an hour this morning before the march and had over 100 vehicles honk in support of Occupy Boston. Numerous tourist vehicles passed by, and the tourists were taking pictures, waving and flashing thumbs up and peace signs, some called out, "we love you!"

Now...for some pics...Enjoy:


A somewhat elevated view of Tent City


Yes, yes you are!


Getting ready to march out


The Line


The Line from across the street in front of the Fed


Nice crowd on The line


On the move into the streets


Traffic we held up as we marched


In the street








As we came to one cross street, the BPD had it blocked off. I linked arms with the young lady on the left and an Iraq vet on the right...
the police moved back to the next intersection w/o incident. This was the front rank of the march...


Nice sign...




L-R, unhappycamper, graywarrior and myself


Occupy Everything!

Peace

edited: dumb typo...

Good evening everybody!

A special thanks to all of those involved in the Occupy zones...let's Occupy Everywhere!

OK, my feet are killing me... I've walked around Dewey Square at least 50 times today, had 3 interviews, answered hundreds of questions and observed an amazing # of situations. I am duly impressed with just about everything in OccupyBoston, but I can tell you we need more activism, something I will be working on over the weekend.

Early in the morning, a teacher and 3 14 yo's came up to me and one of them asked me, "what are you protesting?" My answer was this, "I am not protesting anything, I am working on a movement to ensure your future as a free citizen in this nation." There were questions after this statement, but these kids were emphatic w/their thank you's before anything else came up.

In Boston, we are working on a pure democracy, no "leaders". This is both a blessing and a curse, the blessing being that everyone gets a fair shake, the curse being that until recently, there was a flimsy platform as to just what people were doing and why they were doing it. 400+ individuals, 400+ reasons why people were participating. It can be very confusing, but inevitably, leaders rise, and often in ways one might not expect. Once women took over the food aspect of OccupyBoston, I noticed an immediate change, food was prepared and stocked away in an organized manner and the area was cleaned up among other things. Organization became the norm as opposed to the abstract once a larger board came in and events could be managed. Tent City became a little more squared away and more room was created for more tents and tarps.

Today, a small contingent made it across the street to the Fed, and sat in front in a sit-in. On Tuesday, I want to lead a contingent to the Boston stock market, and have a silent sit-in during their lunch time. Often, silence can have a greater impact than loud demonstrations.

It has been peaceful and calm in Boston, the BPD does not want the bad publicity NYPD is getting, but they will come down if the situation escalates to something that becomes a perceived threat.

http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab246/r...
Union Ironworker


Two of the Amendment people that want to get rid of corporate personhood


Time Warp, back to the 60's and I LOVE it!


This is the "Message Wall", where people can put up/sign anything they want to


In for the long haul, naming one of the "streets" in Tent City


If you feel the drive to make music...anything can be an instrument


People at the Fed during lunch, (the Fed is directly across from Dewey Square)


Demonstrators come in a variety of sizes


Working the Line (a lot of people honk as they go by!)


"INFO"


Kind of obvious


Tomorrow, we have a Flash Mob coming in and other things are constantly coming up

Peace!

Today, on several occasions, I went to Dewey Square to see what's going on. On the Southern corner, 12 new tents went up on the granite blocks.
Yesterday, Cornell West of Princeton, as well as nurses and students showed up. The AFL-CIO have given us their blessing and SEIU has donated quite a few items. About 30 new people have shown up as Occupants, morale is high, food is coming in and there are actions coming up tomorrow and this weekend. Yesterday, the students, (who walked out of class to join Occupy Boston), and the BPD had a slight interaction when the students blocked traffic for about 15 minutes. After some brief deliberations, the BPD backed off and the students left the street, no arrests were made, everything is peaceful.

Tomorrow I will be heading down there early to volunteer in the Media tent, conflict resolution, poli-sci advisor and anything else I can do to help the cause.

Occupy everywhere! We want OUR country back...

With that said, here's some new pics:


Obvious


Catholic Radicals (really, they have their own newsletter)


Early morning Occupier


Needs List


List at Donation Tent


Ghandi showed up overnight


At Ghandi's feet


Agenda List, (updated often)


Occupier's transportation


Fresh fruit and veggies donated by a local farm


A one-man band (he was really good!)


Have a great evening! I'm heading out in the early AM to help as above. Please...Support your local Occupiers!!!..

You'd Likely Be Making Thousands of Dollars More Right Now"


The corporate media appear to be obsessed with the idea that the Occupy Wall Street movement doesn't have a cohesive message. Of course, that misses the point: as Nathan Schneider wrote in Yes! magazine, “More than demanding any particular policy proposal, the occupation is reminding Wall Street what real democracy looks like: a discussion among people, not a contest of money.”

<snip>

There are two things that are vitally important to understand about this. First, those at the top of the ladder aren't any more virtuous, intelligent or hardworking than they were 30 years ago, and this didn't happen by accident. Some part of it may well have resulted from technological innovations, but the lion's share of that shift resulted from specific policy changes that the corporate Right fought hard to enact.

<snip>

The other crucially important point is that this isn't just about fairness, and those of us who talk about this massive redistribution of wealth aren't just “sore losers,” as conservatives often contend. There's a practical issue here: the economy simply doesn't function well when working America is taking home less than half of our national income in wages.

<snip>

Lack of demand, rather than some nebulous sense of “uncertainty” on the part of business leaders, is our core problem, so when the top 1 percent double their share of the take, they are, as I wrote back in July, simply killing American jobs.



More at: http://www.alternet.org/story/152621/if_to...

Like the trenches of WWI


The first two I met about 6:30 this morning


Mud Cocoon


Rules for The Sacred Space


The Sacred Space unoccupied


The Sacred Space Occupied w/Meditator


Logistics Crew


Medic Tent


Sign Storage


Discussing the T'Storm from just an hour before


Occupier squeezing out blanket over Tea Roses


Nerve Center, w/Mail and Emergency Contacts as well as literature


Kitchen Tent, (donuts and coffee/tea, fruits were being served at this point)


Pissed off CitiCorp VP


Unhappycamper and our newest Vets for Peace member (she's an Iraq vet, Engineers), she's a Harvard student from WI


Sign on tent


Iraq Vets Against The War


All things considered, although wet, sloppy and chilly today; spirits were high. I didn't hear any complaints from either the people I spoke to and Boston PD officers around the encampment, (I saw only 4 officers and a Lt today). Some 20-30 pizzas were donated bu SEIU last night, delivered right to the encampment!..

I gave them the latest news and how things were out here and how the local media is covering this, (poorly).

GO BOSTON and EVERYWHERE ELSE...Take back America!

these were taken between 0645-1045.

I wanted to get down there early,it was chilly, people were in great spirits. The BPD was calm and collective. At this point, the city of Boston has not issued a permit, but this is "tolerated". They have a stock of food and water. Some people have come by offering to do laundry and make sure things are OK. They have an Aid Tent and they are determined.

During the last slash-and-burn legislative session, presidential contender and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) approved draconian budget cuts for everything from education to Medicare. But one area where he didn’t mind being extravagant with taxpayer money was financing family vacations, tours to promote his book, and campaign events.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Perry used at least $294,000 of Texas taxpayers’ money for numerous personal trips, and has no plans to reimburse the state:

<snip>

Perry’s campaign pays for the travel costs, but the tab for his security detail is picked up by the state. Perry’s flimsy excuse for using taxpayer funds to finance these trips: “I’m going to be promoting Texas no matter where I go.” The idea that his wife was traveling in Europe to promote “economic development” in Texas is laughable.

<snip>

During his tenure, Perry has doubled Texas’ debt and used budget gimmicks to close the state’s enormous $27 billion deficit. Perry and GOP lawmakers refused to raise taxes on the wealthy while they cut billions from public education, women’s health centers, and shortchanged Medicaid by nearly $14 billion — all while spending taxpayer dollars for trips to Europe.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/artic...


****************************************************************************************************************************************


I've said that Perry won't last past the end of September...if this has legs, he might not last out the week...