Published Oct 02 2011, 11:46 AM by Chris Faraone

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Up until a decade ago, I'm guessing that reporters got to see one major movement in their lifetime. Maybe two or three if they were R.W. Apple, or some other red-nosed journo stalwart with longevity. But in my mere half score of covering pols and pimps, contractors and detractors, whores and wars, I've already witnessed a number of full-blown culture spats, each with a cast of characters worthy of their own trading cards. From the Tea Party to Al Qaeda to the hackers who gangbanged Scientology, I've had front row seats to see the status quo get pounded more times than I remember.

Which is why the Occupy movement is the most exhilarating subject I've witnessed in years – a twofold thrill, both selfish and selfless, and not necessarily in that order. On one hand, I know that the occupiers are right – and that regardless of their tactics, I stand with any individual or entity who counters the sort of greed and theft that's left America in shambles. On the other hand, the one with the pen in it, I'm now convinced that of all the flashbulb memories and mass movements I've covered, this one will grow the quickest, and become the biggest.


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If I had any doubts about the Occupy promise, they were eliminated yesterday, when I drove with my mom to check the first planning meeting for the budding Occupy Miami movement. I'd arranged to visit my family in South Florida months ago, and considered canceling my flight to watch the Occupy Boston camp settle in on Friday. But I'm glad I didn't; what I saw on Miami Bay, in the shadow of the JFK-dedicated “Torch of Friendship,” was as telling as anything I saw in Boston last week. People aren't just angry – they're angry enough to spend their entire day negotiating how to change shit.

With countless emblems of bourgeois excess in the background – Bath & Body Works, the reprehensible Bubba Gump Shrimp Company – the mood was set from the get-go, when a young guy showed up in his work van with a case of water as a support offering. Minutes later, someone else arrived with a cooler, followed by dozens of people from every shade and age imaginable. The group of potential occupiers here is much more diverse than what Boston started with, consisting of less college students and more career activists. Of course that's not an advantage, as it's clear that prolonged efforts on Wall Street have been possible because of youthful angst and energy.


Source: http://thephoenix.com/Blogs/phlog/archive/2011/10/02/what-occupymiami-learned-from-occupyboston-learned-from-occupywallstreet.aspx#ixzz1ZeGhwR4b

* Images are huge; Omitted them --- Must visit article to see them.

Which brings me to other unique challenges that Occupy Miami will face as they enter the colossus. There exists several breeds of back-asswards conservatives down here that are hard to even imagine up north – from redneck wife beaters, to pastel Palm Beach billionaires, to self-hating Latin bastards like Marco Rubio. In Miami, the Tea Party dominated the last mayoral elections, leaving progressives down here feeling like, as one guy put it, “voting is meaningless in Florida.” Statewide, their governor is Rick Scott, a truly special kind of scumbag.

Secondly, it's hotter than the most hyperbolic hot metaphor down here. And when it's not hot, the type of sporadic downpours that Florida gets make Boston showers look like sponge baths. The group that showed for yesterday's pre-planning powwow devoured more than three cases of water in less than a half-hour – making it obvious that picketers in these parts have to think about hydration first and foremost. Miami cops have a nasty history with demonstrators – in 2003 they brutalized hundreds who were protesting the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Whether they've changed their attitude or not, if heads start dropping dead due to sunstroke, they're sure to shut down the occuparty.


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Still this group has a chance. For one they're passionate, which surprised me since I truly thought that this peninsula was exclusively filled with awful old folks and materialists. For two, I'm hoping that Sarah Silverman can get her Jewish grandmother brigade to join along. And for three, they're following the same path to occupation that Boston activists learned from and in Liberty Square – complete with silent hand gestures, focus groups, and reliance on democracy as its facilitated by a few charismatic quasi-leaders. They need to tell the LaRouche piggybackers to get lost –THEY'RE THE ASSHOLES WHO HANG POSTERS OF BARACK OBAMA WITH A HITLER MOUSTACHE – but otherwise I expect to see yesterday's 150-plus size group expand and occupy Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach by the end of October.

The local media's another story. Despite complaints about initial coverage on Wall Street (some of which were legitimate – others of which were not), New York had enough bloggers and alternative news sources to help their movement take flight regardless of what message rang in the mainstream. Down here, though, other than old guard progressive media outlets like the Miami New Times, there aren't too many HuffPost columnists or Atlantic Monthly editors-at-large hanging out around South Beach. Last night, the local CBS affiliate – which was the only television newscast to cover Occupy Miami – referred to the group as “hipsters by the Bay.” I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but that label immediately preceded a commercial about how phenomenal Bank of America is for the local community. It was a pretty shameless, and even hilarious irony – not to mention one that occupants from Austin to Albuquerque are soon to endure in spades.

Still this group has a chance. For one they're passionate, which surprised me since I truly thought that this peninsula was exclusively filled with awful old folks and materialists. For two, I'm hoping that Sarah Silverman can get her Jewish grandmother brigade to join along. And for three, they're following the same path to occupation that Boston activists learned from and in Liberty Square – complete with silent hand gestures, focus groups, and reliance on democracy as its facilitated by a few charismatic quasi-leaders. They need to tell the LaRouche piggybackers to get lost –THEY'RE THE ASSHOLES WHO HANG POSTERS OF BARACK OBAMA WITH A HITLER MOUSTACHE – but otherwise I expect to see yesterday's 150-plus size group expand and occupy Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach by the end of October.

The local media's another story. Despite complaints about initial coverage on Wall Street (some of which were legitimate – others of which were not), New York had enough bloggers and alternative news sources to help their movement take flight regardless of what message rang in the mainstream. Down here, though, other than old guard progressive media outlets like the Miami New Times, there aren't too many HuffPost columnists or Atlantic Monthly editors-at-large hanging out around South Beach. Last night, the local CBS affiliate – which was the only television newscast to cover Occupy Miami – referred to the group as “hipsters by the Bay.” I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but that label immediately preceded a commercial about how phenomenal Bank of America is for the local community. It was a pretty shameless, and even hilarious irony – not to mention one that occupants from Austin to Albuquerque are soon to endure in spades.


Source: http://thephoenix.com/Blogs/phlog/archive/2011/10/02/what-occupymiami-learned-from-occupyboston-learned-from-occupywallstreet.aspx#ixzz1ZeEeDvUG

Occupy Wall Street protests continue Sunday after 700 arrests


AFPOctober 2, 2011 11:16 AM



Protesters react as police officers start to make arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge during an Occupy Wall Street protest in New York October 1, 2011.

Photograph by: Jessica Rinaldi, REUTERS


NEW YORK, Oct 2, 2011 (AFP) - US activists decrying corporate greed planned Sunday to fight on near Wall Street after more than 700 protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge as they defied police and stalled traffic.

The activists, many of whom have been camped out in Manhattan for two weeks, were detained Saturday during their biggest demonstration yet against government-backed banking bailouts and corporate influence in US politics.

Police said most of those arrested were issued criminal court summons and citations for disorderly conduct before being released later in the day.

Only a “minimal amount” of protesters remained behind bars on Sunday, a New York Police Department spokesman told AFP, declining to provide exact figures.

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement, inspired by pro-democracy Arab Spring movements roiling North Africa and the Middle East, planned to hold more meetings and forums on Sunday a few blocks from the financial district.

Its next march on Wall Street was set for Wednesday afternoon.

During an impromptu protest to Brooklyn, demonstrators walked up to the bridge, then spreading to not only the pedestrian walkway but also the roadway, bringing traffic to a halt and forcing police to shutter the bridge for several hours.

Another NYPD spokesman said there were “several hundred protesters who decided to walk on the roadway and who blocked traffic. Some heeded the warnings, some left, and arrests were made.”

Some of the demonstrators carried hand-drawn placards that read “End the Fed” and “Pepper spray Goldman Sachs” in what police described as a peaceful protest that nevertheless saw hundreds detained for public order offenses.

Claims that British rock group Radiohead would be performing in support of the movement in Manhattan proved false, and activists apologized for what they blamed on “miscommunication” about a “hoax.”

The anti-Wall Street activists began their campaign by occupying Zuccotti Park, in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district, on September 17 and have since held protests outside the New York Stock Exchange and NYPD headquarters.

“We are the majority. We are the 99 percent. And we will no longer be silent,” Occupy Wall Street said in a statement.

“We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.”

Protesters have added police brutality to their lengthy and still vaguely defined list of grievances after a senior officer used pepper spray against four demonstrators who had already been shut inside a police pen a week ago.

Saturday also saw anti-Wall Street protests spread to Boston, Los Angeles and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In Boston, 24 protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing as a vast crowd marched outside Bank of America offices.

Right to the City, the coalition of advocacy groups that organized the demonstration, said the event was held to protest corporate greed and to stop bank foreclosures.

According to organizers, around 3,000 people marched outside the bank. Police did not provide a crowd estimate.


Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/Occupy+Wall+Street+protests+continue+Sunday+after+arrests/5491006/story.html#ixzz1ZeOryJCf

Wall Street protesters: We're in for the long haul

VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press

Updated 01:26 p.m., Sunday, October 2, 2011



An elderly group leads a march up Broadway towards Police Headquarters, Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, in New York. The "Occupy Wall Street" protest is in its second week, as demonstrators speak out against corporate greed and social inequality. Photo: Louis Lanzano / AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters who have been camping out in Manhattan's Financial District say their movement has grown and become more organized over the last couple of weeks and they have no intention of stopping.

The Occupy Wall Street demonstration started out small, with less than a dozen college students, but has grown to include thousands of people in communities across the country.

Now entering its third week in Manhattan, those spending their days and nights at Zuccotti Park say they're going to stay as long as they can.

New York City public school teacher Denise Martinez joined the protest Sunday. She says the financial industry isn't doing enough to solve the country's economic problems.


Source: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Wall-Street-protesters-We-re-in-for-the-long-haul-2198008.php

This movement has had minimal media coverage in South Florida and will likely not get the support it deserves regardless of its dissemination. The reason is not due to a lack of awareness, but rather the mentality of the people.

The region is predominately made up of a wide Latino mix of newly arrived immigrants, a lot of illegals, political exiles, economic refugees, wealthy Latin Americans who left to excape socialist politicies in their countries, transient families who fly back and forth and deeply rooted, well established, two or three generations down of hispanics, many of which are not even bilingual. In addition to Latins, it is also made up of a relatively small population of Southern whites, transplants from the North East, the Midwest and a significant amount of native born blacks or english speaking caribbean natives and the ever growing Haitian community.

The vast majority of the Latinos are the working class, who remain on survival mode, too busy employed making a living to satisfy basic needs, most of which have the responsibility, the additional burden of supporting their respective relatives back home. Others have no intention of staying on a permanent basis, but have their mind set to save enough money and return to their native lands to start an entreprenurial ventures. The rich live in their own world, oblivious to the what happens beyond their immediate surroundings and could care less about the struggles outside their bubbles. The predominant Cuban population is Republican by tradition and have yet to cut off the umbilical cord with Cuba. They are still obsessed with Castro and the communist regime and do not identify with any kind of an idealist social movements that does not have a connection to their cause. Haitians are still new and have just started to get established. They neither have any idea what this "Occupy" movement means, nor do they care or wish to find out.

If anyone will pay attention, will likely be the college educated children of the WASP community to include Northerners and maybe a few non-white community activists who can identify with the cause. The vast majority will have nothing to do with anything that would disrupt their lives and require the time, energy, effort and dedication to make such a movement succeed.

The immmigration issue is alive in Florida.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQZPER3TmC4RzkkAB00hYJQHV4UA?docId=CNG.d697e8d3b4ba273459109ad8e2bb5b0b.10d1
Homelessness also.
http://www.wesh.com/r/24394745/detail.html
Foreclosure also:
http://www.hirediversity.com/finance/2009/6/24/florida_minority_community_reinvestment_coalition_protests.htm

Many other issues.

The press is not so free in Florida and is inclined to downplay protests.



S.

Anti-Wall Street Protesters Reach ‘Prime Time’ Goal as Arrests Surpass 700

By Charles Mead and Susanne Walker - Oct 3, 2011 12:00 AM ET .

Anti-Wall Street protests escalated with more than 700 arrests over the weekend, thrusting the once- dwindling demonstrations into the national spotlight.

The rallies, which began 16 days ago with a goal of occupying Wall Street for months, spread to cities including Los Angeles and Boston, where 25 people were arrested Sept. 30 after police said they refused to leave the lobby of a Bank of America Corp. (BAC) building. The next day, New York City police halted a march over the Brooklyn Bridge and took hundreds of activists into custody for blocking traffic. Some people arrested claimed officers had tricked them into leaving the pedestrian walkway.

“The huge event on the Brooklyn Bridge is likely to bring thousands more into the movement,” said T.V. Reed, a professor of American studies at Washington State University who wrote “The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism From the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle.”

On placards and in chants, protesters are citing Americans’ frustrations with a financial industry that received unprecedented taxpayer bailouts while damaging an economy in which unemployment remains above 9 percent. They aim to put Wall Street on the defensive, just as firms seek to shape regulations and influence next year’s general election.

More Cities Targeted
Protests also have been held in San Francisco, and last week, about 200 people met in a Methodist church in Philadelphia to organize a similar event in that city, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday. (For a slide show of Amy Arbus’s portraits of Wall Street protesters, click here.) http://www.bloomberg.com/money-gallery/2011-09-19/portraits-of-peaceful-populist-rage-on-wall-street.html

Demonstrators initially struggled to build momentum, drawing a fraction of the 20,000 participants that organizers such as Adbusters, a group promoting the demonstrations, aimed to lure to lower Manhattan for the Sept. 17 kickoff. Instead, about 1,000 people showed up, and by the time traders and bankers returned to work two days later, the crowd had dwindled to about 200. The number of protesters camping in Zuccotti Park a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange fell into the dozens that week.

On Sept. 24, a larger group of weekend protesters watched as a New York Police Department deputy inspector used pepper spray on some participants. The incident stoked public interest.

Amateur videos of the episode were posted to Google Inc.’s YouTube. Celebrities including Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore stopped by to voice support. The police department, facing protester accusations that it had acted improperly, said its Civilian Complaint Review Board would examine the incident.

‘Cucumber Mist’
“Maybe the pepper spray was a mistake,” Jon Stewart, host of the news-satire program “The Daily Show,” joked on his Sept. 29 broadcast. “It was a hot day. Maybe that officer was reaching for his canister of cooling, cucumber-mist spray and grabbed the pepper spray by accident.”

Provoking police is part of protesters’ strategy to get noticed, said Michael Heaney, a political science professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who has researched social movements.

“The police actions give them sympathetic attention,” Heaney said yesterday in a telephone interview. “The protesters want to be pepper-sprayed, they want to be arrested,” because if authorities take actions that may be perceived as unjust, “then that helps their cause.”

The arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge may have a bigger impact on public opinion.

Entering ‘Prime Time’
“This gets you into the prime time,” said David Meyer, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine and author of “The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America.” The question activists face is “‘How do you do something that generates news, which doesn’t implicate you for being at fault?’ And I guess New York City police were really helpful in this regard.”

Police gave “multiple warnings” and told protesters to remain on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway, Paul Browne, an NYPD spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. Some people complied, while others blocked traffic. Authorities issued more than 700 summonses and tickets, he said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg supported the police department’s actions on the bridge.

“The police did exactly what they are supposed to,” he told reporters yesterday before marching in the Pulaski Day Parade in midtown Manhattan. New York “is the place where you can come to express your views. Protesting is fine, but you don’t have the right to go and without a permit violate the law.”

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Overshadowed by Economy
The protests are part of broader theme of class warfare, which might help President Barack Obama in next year’s election, said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Still, Wall Street isn’t likely to supplant voters’ primary focus on jobs and the economy.

“No doubt there is genuine concern about ‘Wall Street Greed,’ ” Madonna said in an e-mail. “Unless the economy turns around -- translation: the job picture improves, confidence in spending is restored, and folks think their personal finances will improve -- it won’t be a significant factor in the re- election campaign.”

Another challenge facing demonstrators is their lack of a focused agenda, said Meyer. As events began in Manhattan, organizers aimed to get Obama to establish a commission to end “the influence money has over our representatives in Washington,” according to the website of Vancouver-based Adbusters.

‘All Different Causes’
On the ground, protesters have been less unified, with demands that ranged from increasing taxes on Wall Street and the wealthy to ending global warming.

“There’s certainly a potential for starting a movement, but right now it’s just a series of events and a holder for all different causes,” Meyer said. “You have people talking about ending global capitalism, and that doesn’t poll well.”

Yesterday afternoon, people who had been arrested the night before congregated again in lower Manhattan, celebrating and vowing to stay put. Musicians strummed guitars, beat drums and played a saxophone while people danced. A bare-chested singer painted the words “Lotion Man-Utube” on his torso and bellowed the words “Occupy Wall Street.” National television networks trolled the area, broadcasting live updates.

“This is the start of something big,” said Shannon Deegan, a 28-year-old employee of a Seattle technology company who said she flew to New York Sept. 30 and witnessed the bridge arrests. She aims to replicate the protests when she returns home.

Though the incident on the Brooklyn Bridge was initially discouraging, “the arrests gave us more visibility,” she said. “People are watching, and they will see our cause.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Charles Mead in New York at cmead11@bloomberg.net; Susanne Walker in New York at swalker33@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-03/anti-wall-street-protesters-reach-prime-time-goal-as-arrests-surpass-700.html

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