None of the officers who crossed the line this weekend will be disciplined in any way. None of them will be charged with the assaults and batteries that they committed. None of them will be charged with the false arrests. None of them will lose a day’s pay. The police department doesn’t need an investigation to figure out what happened this weekend. The department has already said the officer acted appropriately, case closed, that’s it. If the department does, by some miracle, by some chance, discipline anyone for what happened this weekend, I will immediately rewrite what would then be my mistaken presumption tonight that American police have once again gotten away with another crime against the American people they are sworn to serve and protect.
I know this is a long video, but it’s important. Keep it on in the background while you do what you’re doing. This is important information. Listen to what O’Donnell says.
Today is the 11th consecutive day of the Wall Street occupation and protests. For background and base information, see the official Occupy Wall St site. See the official Occupy Wall St Tumblr for updated news.
If you need a refresher of the events of 2008, click here for a thorough review. Almost exactly three years ago, Bank of America bought out Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and the Fed invested $85b in a takeover of AIG. Three years later, the American 99% has suffered far more than these institutions have, and protesters have decided they aren’t going to take it anymore.
What is Occupy Wall Street?
Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing peaceful demonstration opposing what participants view as negative corporate influence over U.S. politics and a lack of legal repercussions over the global financial crisis.[2] It was inspired by the Arab Spring movement, particularly the protests in Cairo‘s Tahrir Square which resulted in the2011 Egyptian Revolution.[3] The aim of the demonstration is to begin a sustained occupation of Wall Street, the financial district of New York City. Organizers intend for the occupation to last “as long as it takes to meet our Demands.” Demands are in the process of being negotiated on and developed.
One of the most succinct descriptions of the emotion behind the protest is this, via the Guardian:
We are watching the beginnings of the defiant self-assertion of a new generation of Americans, a generation who are looking forward to finishing their education with no jobs, no future, but still saddled with enormous and unforgivable debt. Most, I found, were of working-class or otherwise modest backgrounds, kids who did exactly what they were told they should: studied, got into college, and are now not just being punished for it, but humiliated – faced with a life of being treated as deadbeats, moral reprobates.
One of the main arguments against Occupy Wall Street is its lack of organization. This has caused its profile to drop, especially in media coverage. At most, right now it is just an occupation and protest consisting of several hundred people. But this is the beginning. It’s spreading. This shows that people care enough about this to do something about it, and I think this movement is going somewhere. We need serious reform in many ways, but unless conscious change is directed, it’s not going to happen.
Media Coverage
This is an essential part of this story. There has been almost no news coverage of the occupation and police attacks, which is both shocking and wrong. Most coverage has been on personal blogs and smaller publications. The major coverage that should be airing on major news outlets is not. And the news coverage that exists is blatantly glossing over the brutality.
Yes, there has been some coverage. I won’t deny that. But for a cause that should be gaining momentum across America, it’s not enough. I’ve listed some major news outlets below, but you’ll find links to others scattered throughout this post.
I can’t find an article on Fox News since Saturday. No news on the homepage or in subsections – just a search yields a video uploaded yesterday pondering whether NYPD went “too far.” No news since the 24th. I guess I’m not shocked by this.
NPR has stated their reason for lack of coverage as “We asked the newsroom to explain their editorial decision. Executive editor for news Dick Meyer came back: “The recent protests on Wall Street did not involve large numbers of people, prominent people, a great disruption or an especially clear objective.”
But isn’t that the point? This is a protest against prominent people, a protest against what has been taken from the working class. The lack of large media coverage is keeping this movement from growing. If major media outlets refuse to give actual coverage to these events happening all over the nation, they are actively denying that this is an important cause.
While official statements say that essential parts of videos leading up to altercations have been left out, multiple witness and victim reports directly contradict this.
What world do we live in where we aren’t allowed to film our surroundings? This is something I hear and see over and over again in the news – people stopped from filming police activity. This is not illegal. This should not be happening.
About 100 people have been arrested during the protests, police said. People were apprehended for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and assaulting a police officer, said New York City Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne. Most of the arrests came Saturday. There were no arrests Sunday and Monday, protest organizers said.
Yes, some of these officers are just doing their jobs. But is it necessary to commit violence on this scale just to detain and arrest those actually breaking the law? No. It is not.
“The reason that man is being assaulted by the police is because of what he has in his hand,” MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell said, while showing a video clip of a man with a video camera being tackled by police. “He’s holding a professional grade video camera. Since the Rodney King beating was caught on an amateur video camera, American police officers have known video cameras are their worst enemy. They will do anything they can to stop you from legally videotaping how they handle their responsibility to serve and protect you.”
From the Gothamist, Times’ Up! photographer Barbara Ross tells us that as she was filming Saturday’s march down Broadway to Union Square, a white-shirted NYPD officer repeatedly warned her that she would be arrested unless she started marching with the demonstrators. “I was standing off to the side so I could document what was going on—you couldn’t really see much from within the group,” Ross says, “And he kept saying, ‘You either join them or I’ll arrest you.’ I wasn’t blocking traffic or harming anything, it was obvious it was because I was holding a camera.”
Furthermore, one of the more highly publicized acts of brutality is the macing of a group of young women by Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. According to an article in The Atlantic Wire, Bologna was accused of misconduct in 2004 at the RNC.
A major complaint is that the police brutality is overtaking the message of the protest. I would agree that this is a valid point. However, this is happening for a reason. Regardless of the protest, this should not be happening. This kind of violence is not okay. The nation needs to see this and needs to know about it. New York is no more dangerous than any other city, frequently less so because of measures taken in the past 10-20 years to make it that way, and this should not be happening.
If the violence weren’t occurring, this protest would be the focus. Perhaps the violence is keeping some at home, afraid to be beaten and/or maced by those sworn to protect them.
What You Can Do
Across the country, those who are unable to be in NYC are setting up protests of their own. They meet where they feel they can make a difference, many protesting banks and other institutions deemed responsible for the economic downturn. Visit OccupyTogether.org for opportunities locally and across the country. It appears an Occupy OKC protest is in the works. Stay tuned to their Facebook page and Twitter feed for the most updated information.
This is scary. This is happening. This is real. If you aren’t paying attention to this, you’re missing history.
Why #occupywallstreet Isn’t Working – Mother Jones. A hard look at the problems with OWS and what needs to change. Not a flawless article, but has good points.
I recognize that my coverage may not be complete, due to time constraints, and I would love to hear opinions and further research and links in the comments.
Grey’s is another show that’s been dear to my heart since my freshman year of college, way back in season two. I’ve even been one of those people who considered the medical profession because of how much I love this show. And then I remembered that the only people who need medical help are those who are sick or injured, and I don’t think I have the stamina to do that forever.
If you don’t watch this show, your understanding of it is probably that it’s a wildly popular medical drama starring Patrick Dempsey that is currently a critical joke. And honestly, that’s pretty accurate. It’s been years since Grey’s has really been nominated. Many viewers tune in for the Sexy Actors and the crazy medical storylines. And that’s fine. If that’s your thing, that’s fine.
But one thing that has always endeared this show to me is the fact that all of the characters are consistently struggling. They’re struggling with their own problems in addition to going to the hospital every day and performing insane surgeries. It’s no surprise that some of them have gone off the deep end at times, really. Some people chalk that up to “there’s always drama,” but to someone who’s watched this show for going on six years, it means that I’ve watched these characters struggle with their problems and their friends’ problems for years. No one gets cut a break – ever. Even when they get what they want, life isn’t magically better. They make mistakes and lie to each other about it. They lie to themselves about it. And when the truth comes out, things don’t always get better. Frequently, they get worse. Characters don’t always grow because of it. Sometimes. But sometimes they’re making the same mistakes several years later.
And that’s life, I think. We’re frequently faced with expectations of perfection, to be like “the people on TV.” These are people who know what they want, but they don’t know how to get it. Or sometimes what they think they want is wrong. These characters are flawed, and when they fall, they fall hard. People die because of mistakes. Not just patients. We’ve lost several main characters due, in the narrative, to traumatic deaths, illnesses, inability to cope with life, etc. Grey’s doesn’t quite have the same “no one is safe” mentality of Lost, but no one is spared tragedy, that’s for sure.
Every now and then I’ll catch an old episode on rerun, and I’ll be reminded of how much the characters have grown. Not changed, but grown. And that’s realistic, too, because they usually haven’t learned from their first mistakes. Isn’t that how it always goes? You mess up once with emotions and people, and no matter how much you try not to do it again, you usually do.
As someone who’s made more than her fair share of mistakes in the past five years, this is a show that reminds me that this is life and people move on and that it’s going to be okay eventually. It’s also been a good reminder to me that you can’t hurt people’s feelings and sweep it under the rug, which is so tempting now that we have so many electronic channels of communication. How much easier is it to text an apology to someone instead of owning up to your mistakes? Exactly. Watching Grey’s reminds me that people get hurt and stay hurt – sometimes for a long time. Sometimes an unreasonably long time – but then again, that’s still life.
At its heart, Grey’s is a show that pulls out our deepest dark and twisty moments. It reminds us that we all have our own problems and that we can’t hide from them forever. It reminds us that examining our faults is hard and it’s not easy, but it has to be done.
And this show has really, really great music. No one can deny that.
I’ve had a bit of radio silence this week because WordPress changed up some of its dashboard layout on me, and I still don’t really understand it. It just made it incredibly hard to flip between multiple blogs, and…I didn’t like it. I’m going to try to not let that deter me, though, since apparently this is now the way things are.
Life updates:
Went to the OU/Mizzou game last night. It was a great time, when I wasn’t falling asleep from boring gameplay. I took an old college friend, Rachel, so that was incredibly fun. They must have still been tired from last week. That’s the only excuse I’ll take.
I’m in the middle of about a gazillion books right now. My Goodreads currently reading list is out of control. It was that darn Books a Million closing sale. I’m sure of it.
If I would recommend one novel from the pile, though, it would be Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. I read almost 100 pages this afternoon, and it’s so good. I’ll write a proper review when I finish it, but you should all definitely read it.
In more news, I’m hosting a custom wire word necklace giveaway at Shop Happens. I mentioned this earlier last week when I wrote about the Etsy Spotlight, and now you have the opportunity to win one of my necklaces! There are six possible entries, so head over to the site and check it out.
I’ve been so very lucky to be interviewed about my Etsy by the lovely Erin of ShopHappens. Click through to read it!
ShopHappens is a great site for anyone wanting to stay in the know on shopping and fashion news. Not only do they give big news, they put focus on smaller sellers like Etsians, also. Plus, I’ve known Erin for a few years and she’s just a great person.
I’m sponsoring a custom word necklace giveaway on ShopHappens later this week, so keep checking back!
As a self-proclaimed TV addict, I suppose I need to make an Emmys post. The awards show could not have been timed more perfectly this year, coming the weekend before all of the network shows start again. If you want to read along, here’s a good win list from the Washington Post.
Jane Lynch was a fabulous host, with many wonderful costume changes. I’m glad she finally got to showcase some of her talent to her newer audiences who may not be as familiar with her previous work (if you haven’t seen the Christopher Guest mockumentary set, get yourself on it right now).
Many, many congratulations to Modern Family – all awards well-deserved. While it would have been wonderful to see Parks & Rec get some recognition for being the most flawless show on television right now, I know that the Modern Family cast and crew have worked just as hard and have developed an almost-equally fantastic show.
A few of my favorite speeches include…
Julie Bowen, Modern Family, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell, Modern Family, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Other things I enjoyed:
The cast of Entourage accepting an award on Dame Maggie Smith’s behalf.
Seeing Greg Kinnear several times in the audience. Just go with it. I love him.
The Lonely Island live mashup
Kyle Chandler winning for Friday Night Lights and my entire watch party going, “Bomb squad guy! Yeah!” See, Shonda? Grey’s could have won an Emmy if you’d kept him around.
Things that were weird and I did not like them:
The Emmytones. Listen, I like Zach Levi, Cobie Smulders (ladycrush, for sure), Taraji P Henson, Kate Flannery, Wilmer Valderrama and Joel McHale, but seriously? Who did they all owe a favor to? Embarrassing.
Charlie Sheen’s speech. Actually, I have so much distaste for him that I think I watched this, but I can’t remember a word he said. I was just thinking bad thoughts about him. Or maybe I went to the bathroom. Eh. Didn’t miss out on anything, I’m sure.
However, the show stealer of the night belongs to the beautiful women of the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy award. If this video doesn’t make you tear up a little bit with happiness, you’re doing something wrong with your life.
And, more than being hilarious, this award speaks volumes. For a show about a plus-sized couple to win an Emmy? That’s a big deal. It shouldn’t be, but it is. I couldn’t be more thrilled for Ms McCarthy. Such a beautiful and multifaceted actress – it’s about time she won an Emmy for her work.
All in all, this was one of the better Emmy Awards. No one seemed bored by their wins. In fact, most winners were first-timers, and had appropriately freaked-out reactions. That’s the way it should be.
Lyss of The Pursuit of Us just gave me the Liebster blog award – exciting! Thank you so much! Lyss is a new blogger starting wedding planning and just generally being great. I know a lot of my friends and/or readers have gotten married in the past few years, so I’m sure she’d love your readership and maybe your opinions, too!
What is the Liebster award? It’s basically an award given by bloggers to other bloggers who have inspired you or who have somehow earned your appreciation. It’s generally given to blogs that are relatively low-traffic to encourage others to visit them.
Part of the Liebster award is promoting three to five blogs with fewer than a few hundred followers, which I’m always happy to do. I do have some friends I’d love to nominate, but I guess they’re blog famous or something and have a zillion followers. More than a few hundred, anyway.
So, my winners are:
Stormy Night Publishing. This is the writing blog of my friend and fellow editor Jessie Sanders. If you’re looking for a good writer/editor blog, this is it.
babble+bloom. Lyss recommended Mary as well, but you know what? We’re Facebook friends so that makes it official. And she’s just fabulous, so if you love life, you need to follow her blog.
Me & Mr G. One of my best dear real life friends, Cara blogs about her life as a newlywed, as a wife, as a friend, everything. She even does vlogs sometimes! Anyway, she’s basically my twin in so many ways, but we’re different enough that she has lots to talk about that you won’t see here (marriage, for example).
All three of these ladies are fantastic friends and fantastic writers, and your blog reading would be greatly enriched by any of them. They may also have more than a few hundred followers and I missed the boat. Entirely possible. Regardless, you should still read their blogs.
If you know of any other blogs who would love getting the traffic from this post (not that I’m a high-traffic blog, but, you know), feel free to list them in the comments or start assigning your own Liebster award!
Thanks again, Lyss! So great to know you, and always happy to have another Oklahoma blogger in my roll.
Now, there are a few rules. Rules of accepting the Liebster award are as follows:
1. Accept the award and thank the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Pass it to 3-5 blogs with less than 200 followers and tell them that they’ve received it.
Earlier this week, I found out our local Books a Million was closing, so I went to pick up a few good deals. Fortunately, the whole chain isn’t closing, which meant for me, unfortunately, the books weren’t at closing sale prices. 20% off the whole store, and it closed today. So, um, sorry about that if you didn’t know.
But I still got a few heck-of-a-good-deals, and one of my favorite purchases is a book I’ve been glued to this evening. Fringe Science, edited by Kevin R. Grazier, is a completely unauthorized collection of essays about one of my favorite shows. Fringe. In case you were unsure.
This show basically fulfills all of my science fiction needs. It’s talking about my favorite science fiction show while discussing its real possibilities, literary and historical roots, and my favorite thing, SCIENCE, in a way that someone with a non-SCIENCE background can understand.
However, the first essay in this book is what got me started thinking about a blog post for tonight. Written by David Dylan Thomas and entitled “Paranormal is the New Normal,” it discusses the idea that we are now more afraid of our own advanced technology than we are of the supernatural/paranormal. Vampires are passe, werewolves are common, even zombies are the New Thing now. While they’re still scary, they aren’t Scary like they used to be. They’re now often the hero rather than the villain.
Now, we’re afraid of technology. Because it has advanced at such a rapid pace, we don’t know its limits. The general public uses technology because it’s there and it does what we want it to – not because we understand it. It doesn’t even have to be purposeful villainy, really. Your laptop can become the unwitting enemy when it doesn’t connect to the Internet. Scary! We’re now living in a world so dependent upon technology that even small hiccups in the fabric of our technological existence cause us to practically go into meltdown mode.
Thomas says at one point that if you open a car, you see what the parts do. But if you open an iPod, you just see more boxes. Unless you know what each box does, it just looks like a bunch of things. The same could be said for cars, at some length, but at least those parts look different. To the average person, popular technology tends to look the same on the inside. We don’t understand how it does what it does – we just know that it does it. We’re content with our ignorance. I know I am. I don’t need to know how my iPhone works. I just need it to call my friends and send my emails and let me play Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja every day.
But think, if you were to take this technology and use it for personal gain and to further your own cause. Let’s not say someone’s using it for evil, because a real villain never uses his or her powers for evil. He or she uses what’s been given to him or her in order to advance a cause he or she believes in. Look at that on a global scale. Isn’t that terrifying?
And not only is it about our technology. It’s the way we use our technology.
Another quote of Thomas’s is the one I used in the header – “A thresher can rip your arm off, but a cell phone can give you brain cancer.” Yeah, both will probably kill you, but which one is ultimately more terrifying? For me, it’s brain cancer. An invisible disease that destroys you from the inside out? And you may not even know about it until you have only weeks to go? No, thanks. Thresher can have my arm any day (but preferably neither of these, please).
Medicine has advanced so far that now one of our greatest fears is biological warfare rather than old-fashioned armies. It’s quicker, quieter, and easier every day – as an attacker, who wouldn’t prefer it? Even this weekend, one of the most-hyped movies is Contagion, a film that proposes the spread of an epidemic. Most people I know left that movie saying they were never going to touch anyone or anything again. Of course that’s hyperbole, but at the same time, it obviously affected them. We’ve come so far in our study of the human body and the way the world works that we’ve now realized exactly how much we can do to ourselves – and how little we can usually do to stop the Big Bads of disease.
This is something that is both old and new to science fiction. Fear of disease is nothing new – it’s been around for centuries. People get sick and die. It’s just a fact.
But now, many times when people get sick and die, we’re able to understand it. And maybe we know what caused it. And maybe, just maybe, something that we did caused it. Maybe we did something decades, years, days, hours ago, that caused this to happen, and we didn’t know until now that it’s our fault.
How scary is that? For a science fiction writer, it’s inexhaustibly thrilling. Our knowledge of the body and of disease is now so vast that practically anything is possible. And if it isn’t – it probably is in another universe. And even if it is set in a totally made-up place, we now have the words and research to make our ideas sound plausible. Unnamed, mystery diseases are no longer the major culprit in a bio warfare story. We’ve become our own enemies. We’ve come so far in our technology that it’s entirely possible that we’ve given ourselves the keys to unlock the most dangerous things in the universe – and we don’t even know it yet.
And that, friends, makes for a truly terrifying story.
This post is not brought to you by SCIENCE. It’s brought to you by me, a graduate with an English degree who watches a ton of television and loves science fiction. If you know more than I do, I’d love to hear it.
