I know I was going to take a moment to say yay about the effect the Occupy movement is having, but I’d rather spend today highlighting the assault the movement is under:

Occupy Wall Street Raid: What it Was Like at the Last Moments of the Zuccotti Occupation
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/11/occupy_wall_str_29.php

Here’s What Last Night’s Occupy Wall Street Raid Looked Like Through Cellphones
http://gizmodo.com/5859615/this-is-what-the-occupy-wall-street-raid-looked-like-through-cellphones-last-night

And in case you missed it in those two?

Absurd charges brought against reporters covering Occupy Wall Street movement
http://en.rsf.org/united-states-absurd-charges-brought-against-09-11-2011,41370.html

Midnight raids, suppression of the press – how in any way is this America, the supposed land of the free? Next you’ll suspect it was all coordinated on a  massive scale…oh, wait:

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement
http://capitoilette.com/2011/11/15/oakland-mayor-jean-quan-admits-cities-coordinated-crackdown-on-occupy-movement/

I’m going to say a big fat ‘no duh’ to this surprise revelation. Perhaps it’s because of my nature and some of my former employ, but it was very apparent to me that each wave of clearances seemed to hit more than one city at a time, which thereby made it blindingly obvious that coincidence it wasn’t. Here, have a good sum-up of the actions taken against the movement:

Occupy camps under attack across America
http://rt.com/usa/news/occupy-oakland-camp-dismantled-305/

Which is, of course, emboldening the authorities over here too:

St Paul’s protest: Occupy campers to get legal notice
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15752168

Now here, the City of London and Mayor Boris Johnson are big on insisting that the protesters have made their points and should vacate immediately. Erm… no – the point isn’t made, because full-out change hasn’t happened. I know it cannot happen this quickly, therefore the constant visual reminder of the protest camps serves to remind these parties that the people want a system that works – get to work on it. But even if you clear out all the camp tents and supplies, suppress the media, and take that tiny livability factor away from the protest, it’s not going to go away. I sincerely hope that the various branches of the movement keep that in mind as we enter the colder months. I know the temptation to fold up until the weather is less inclement is tempting, but that would lose the momentum. I say – occupy abandoned buildings. Atlanta has its share, New York City has its share around that great symbol of ‘gotcha, morons!’ injustice known as Ground Zero. A small manned information booth could be set up outside, and banners could be draped. To me, it would be inspiring to see people pouring out en massse to do their marches and demonstrations – here is the calvary folks, surprise!

But I guess we shall see what happens. For now, Occupy Oakland lives. Occupy Wall Street lives. Occupy Atlanta, Occupy Portland – they all exist. They will continue to exist, and I will continue to wave the flag on their behalf. I hope you will too, and for now – have a good day.

<3