Comments

1
Thanks for reporting, Paul. I was there until about 2:10. While you were listening to what your and my neighbors had to say about all this and finding the Mayor's rep, the TV and radio news guys were hanging out under the awning gabbing. I got some video of them standing there while all this was going down, and of one of them chewing me out for calling them disinterested examples of the failed mainstream media. I'll upload it to Vimeo later this week.
2
The people standing in front of the police car lights are beautiful. I was at another Occupy over the weekend, and I have to say those protesters, the hardcore ones who are camping out, are great Americans. Real patriotic heroes, the ones willing to take a stand to keep this country from becoming Liberia.
3
I stopped by one more time on my way home from our off-site storage and supply at about 3:10.

An ambulance was taking someone away who had been showing early signs of hypothermia. 25 or so lumpy tarps were spread around, with people sleeping sort of wrapped up in them, in the rain. For those who haven't been following: the property owner next door convinced the police to guard the awnings that keep the rain off the edge of the park next to some retail stores' doors. Tents aren't allowed, and the police consider propped-up umbrellas to be structures, which aren't allowed in the park.

People were still holding the tarps up blocking the lights from the police car. That was touching. I witnessed earlier a guy ask the cop very nicely if he'd turn off the lights so people could get some sleep. "They're not supposed to be sleeping here, anyway," was the response.

Somebody stopped by with a couple dozen large paper cups of coffee and several boxes of donuts. Public support of what's going on down there is strong.

Earlier, I was thinking we should figure out just what to demand in exchange for a move of sleeping accommodations to City Hall Plaza. But with all this harassment from SPD, then coming home to learn of what went down in Boston and other cities tonight, I kind of want to tell the mayor to shove his offer up his ass.

I suspect he genuinely supports what we're doing and hopes that something comes of it. I also suspect he's bowing to pressure from downtown businesses concerned these pesky political demonstrators affecting their upcoming holiday shopping season.
4
Man, if they're making everyone sleep-deprived, they're going to set off SOMETHING at some point. You don't think right when you're short on sleep that long, and I can't imagine this working out for either party.
5
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/10/news/eco…

Occupy Medina.
6
Way, way, way too many police, everywhere. Endangering safety, abusing citizens in public spaces; way too many police. I blame Bill Clinton and his idiotic move of a jobs bill that added tens of thousands of unnecessary cops all over the country in the 90s.
7
Have the conditions that is provoking the Occupations gone away? NO! That is why the police harassment is futile. Support from the population is there. Sympathy with the aims of the occupying people is there.

We need to support these occupations in whatever way we can until we win over the cops (who have friends and families who are suffering from the elites rape of this country also).
8
I believe it was poet Brendan Behan who wrote: There is no human situation so miserable that it cannot be made worse by the presence of a policeman.

Alas, he was correct.
9
Ugh.

I'm still rather luke warm to the whole Occupy Seattle thing. But the response by the police and mayor are terrible. The mayor is coming across as wishy washing and ineffectual. The police are being dickish and almost intentionally provocative, their tactics far more likely to escalate problems than defuse them.

Unless the mayor and the police get their shit together, I predict this will turn ugly soon.

Sad and unnecessary.
10
" for calling them disinterested examples of the failed mainstream media. I'll upload it to Vimeo later this week."

Well at least their video will be up by tonight. that's what hard working people do.

"25 or so lumpy tarps were spread around"

So kind of like Nickelsville, but more bums.

"Somebody stopped by with a couple dozen large paper cups of coffee and several boxes of donuts. Public support of what's going on down there is strong."

Really?  THen how come the "99%"  turned into the "35%" on election day in Washington State?

BTW the coffee may have been a ruse.

Enjoy another day in the wet and cold ladies. Having another GM to finally decide on pizza toppings?
11
So Mayor McGinn didn't line up to lead the people (or the 25% on the fringe) into a glorious utopian dream of full employment, full housing, free health care and low taxes?
12
By the way, I plan on coming down today and voting against pepperoni as a topping during the GA. That should keep Occupy Seattle occupied for a few hours trying to accommodate all the "99%".
13
@9, I'm afraid of that too. This is amazingly gratuitous.
14
IS there a more effective place to protest than either Westlake or City Hall? It seems Westlake is too small to welcome a crowd of significant numbers (and we would like more bodies, right?) and I think the occupation there is going to end very soon. Harassing private citizens is all very fun to talk about I'm sure but camping in front of wealthy homes on Mercer Island is something i hope no one is taking seriously. PDX doesn't seem to be having many problems 0 can we take a page out of their book? And will a few hundred people dwindling to 25 here and there even matter soon? I just don't feel the movement gaining momentum anymore and thousands of people turning back out.
15
WORST. SLEEPOVER. EVER. I got there about 11pm just after the 2nd warning, the place was a nightmare of rumors and hyperbole. Finally Bob Barnes, (the guy who looks like Santa) spoke some sense into the GA and told everybody that the chain of command got broken between the mayor and the police (ya think?) and people got their shit together. After the fear mongers and drama queens fled for their lives from cops threatening them with loudspeakers, the loyal, brave and stalwart Seattle people (I'm not one of them, just of Finno-celtic decent) started putting the camp back to rights and settling in for the night.

Kudos to the guys who stood in a biblical rainstorm and held up tarps in front of the cop car headlights so I could get to sleep. I want to make a pitch for the bivy bag REI has on sale for members right now, I was not dry but stayed warm all night. Next time I'll bring a boat and sleep in that.
16
The Mayor's representative "shrugged and refused to talk" to you. That is the statement that describes the Mayor's office staff perfectly. They are rank amateurs. No one is talking about the stupid tunnel or bike lanes so he has no position.
17
Actually, someone donated about a dozen pizzas yesterday and I helped pass out slices from the food tent. Everyone came up in a line to get a slice, and not one person complained about the toppings or asked for a different pizza. So fuck off, you have no idea what's going on down there.
18
"Everyone came up in a line to get a slice, and not one person complained about the toppings or asked for a different pizza"

Oh I see, it's only when national icons like John Lewis show up that you get confused.
19
"fuck off"

Is that anyway to talk to a member of the 99%? (well, to be fair, my family's income, assets and inheritance put us in the top 15%).
20
Incredible, fantastic reporting, Paul. And I love how the opening of this Slogging is that the crowd has stood down the police several times through shutdown attempts, which must be very empowering for them -- and is for those of us who continue to support what's happening.
21
@17: hey treefort, you're totally right, but don't feed the trolls. "Sugartit", aka fucking anonymous coward junior-league Teabagging agitator, doesn't want to have a real conversation with you or anyone else.

And thank you for being down there. You're doing something important.
22
"fantastic reporting"

Reporting? How cute.
23
@21 Actually longtime centrist democrat, Obama voter and ex Rockefeller Republican. Thanks for playing.

Maybe you people need to be nicer to us members of the 99%?
24
So, I cant come down all that often, but I would be willing to do an overnight this week/weekend to let some of the rest of the folks go home and get a nights sleep.
email me at Womyn2m3e at aol dot com
25
"anonymous"

So happy sunshine is your family name or the one given to you in SP'ed?
26
@24

Womyn or sugartits?
27
I appreciate this overview...I've been regularly coming in, but my health doesn't allow me to hang for more than a few hours. Piecing together what's really going on has been a challenge! The mayor's words yesterday seemed calculatedly brief, and a bit pandering...
28
Nobody is making these people camp out. Nobody cares if this protest is an "occupation" or the regular kind of crappy Seattle protest where everybody goes home at night. There's no reason this protest should be treated any differently just because people want to "occupy." Go the fuck home and come back in the morning.
29
Really?!?!

This is why these protests aren't being taken seriously by the average citizen or the news media.

No matter how JUST this cause is, everyone is illegally occupying space and breaking a number of city laws. And if our Mayor and Police Department were being terrible, awful harassers they would be in riot gear, rounding people up, and spraying them with pepper spray or tear gas.

Paul, I don't know if they are, but this makes these folks sound like a bunch of whiny brats who don't know how good they have it.

Standing up to authority and "occupying" anything means expecting to face harassment, discomfort, and even violence or arrest. And the Mayor and Police and other establishment authorities are not about to start breaking the laws and violating the constitution in support of this cause until it can be demonstrated that a majority of Seattleites support what is happening.
30
What a bunch of passive-aggressive bullshit.

The fuck do you expect, it's fucking Seattle. Even the SPD are Seattleites. They can be just as passive-aggressive as the best of us.
31
@30 for the Passive-Aggressive Seattle win.
32
@29: Something tells me you're not too clear on what this "civil disobedience" thing means. Or the First Amendment. You know, freedom of assembly? Ring any bells?
33
One of two things happened last night...

1. The mayor has no control over the SPD, which is very possible.

2. Occupy hurt the mayor's ego by declining his 'generous offer' to overnight at City Hall, and let out the lash on his dogs a bit.

Either way I can see things taking a turn for the worse this week. Don't let this get you down OccupySeattle. We are here, we are strong, we will not fail!
34
One of two things happened last night...

1. The mayor has no control over the SPD, which is very possible.

2. Occupy hurt the mayor's ego by declining his 'generous offer' to overnight at City Hall, and let out the lash on his dogs a bit.

Either way I can see things taking a turn for the worse this week. Don't let this get you down OccupySeattle. We are here, we are strong, we will not fail!
35
To some of the commentors here: The point isn't just to break the law for no good reason. Occupying illegally draws attention and interest. We can direct that attention and interest to important issues. A legal protest in some sanctioned area would be neat, but it wouldn't draw any attention and that would sort of defeat the purpose of protesting. If you think we have no business protesting, then perhaps you should evaluate honestly if there is any moral high ground in telling your fellow citizens that they should not voice their grievences.

I've voted since I was 18. I work my 40 hours a week, pay my bills and taxes, never borrow or buy anything I can't afford. I don't have television, I don't eat out at fancy restaurants, I only buy new clothing when mine is absolutely unusable. And yet I'm still having to scrape to try and get into school without taking on loans I can't afford. I have medical needs that I can't address through my insurance because my employer does not provide very comprehensive benefits. It's not as if I could just go get another job either; my unemployed friends, who have resorted to applying at fast food and gas stations, are all college graduates. They aren't getting callbacks, in spite of supposedly having done things "right", so I count myself lucky to even have a job.

The views at the occupations are diverse; I've seen "end the fed", I've seen signs advocating for free healthcare, I've seen anarchists. I've seen families who just believe that something in this country isn't fair, and they don't want their children to suffer for the inequity. We have learned that the whole electoral process is just bread and circuses, and that when we vote, we're just voting for the status quo. This is true no matter which direction you lean.

Sure, I might favor higher taxes and a more extant social safety net, but I respect the right of people who believe differently to elect someone who will actually represent them, and not just people with the money to influence campaigns. I would LOVE to see some right-wing folks out there discussing and debating, carrying signs and participating. That's just me, but it seems like the prevailing idea at the occupations is one of unity, not strict ideology.

So please respect the people sleeping in the rain, because whether you agree or not, they are out there for YOU. If you're lucky enough to not be so affected by the lack of financial responsibility in this country, then consider that your circumstances could have been different. Your childrens' circumstances may be different. And it is always possible that there is a point where it is too late to fix things for the generations to come.

Please wait...

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