The other day, I made mention of the pepper spraying incident at UC Davis. I wanted to take a moment and share some follow up to that:

Interview with a pepper-sprayed UC Davis student
http://boingboing.net/2011/11/20/ucdeyetwitness.html

About Pepper Spray
http://umrscblogs.org/2011/11/21/about-pepper-spray/

Add in an opinion from Norm Stamper, who some might say is at fault for setting the example:

Paramilitary Policing From Seattle to Occupy Wall Street
http://www.thenation.com/article/164501/paramilitary-policing-seattle-occupy-wall-street

It is a fantastic piece that, I feel, clearly demonstrates why this war against the people needs to stop, end of. The people are not the enemy. The people should not live in fear of the thin blue line that is supposed to protect them from the truly dangerous (though I still maintain there’d be less of those with proper mental health treatment and banning advertisements that tell people they’re worthless unless they buy things). It is simply insane that someone could assault someone sitting there, claiming that they’re dangerous for it – that’s not America. That’s Syria. That’s Egypt. One wonders, with a degree of snark, if America should take after Georgia and fire all the police and start again from scratch…

Of course, ‘everyone’ knows the protesters are deranged, hateful, high, filthy people. That’s why stories like this crop up:

Occupy London: eviction bid cites desecration, defecation and drugs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/21/occupy-london-camp-eviction-bid

Occupy protesters called ‘anti-American’
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/11/21/Occupy-protesters-called-anti-American/UPI-54711321890822/

After all, scaring people has worked so well to date, right? We couldn’t possibly be making it up… oh:

US banks should ‘undermine’ Occupy protestors-memo
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/19/lobbying-banks-idUSN1E7AI0A420111119

Nationally Organized Efforts To Remove Occupy Movement Confirmed
http://www.occupydallas.org/nationally-organized-efforts-remove-occupy-movement-confirmed

I rarely if ever link to anything directly to anything on any of the Occupy sites because frankly, they’re gonna be a bit more biased and pro than not. But I found this too interesting to not share, so I am. I’ve said before that I felt it was incredibly obvious that attempts to clear camps were blatantly coordinated, and that such efforts embolden other cities to try their hand at clearing their camps. Obviously, it’s not having the silencing effect desired, insomuch that Tahrir Square is reoccupied, and the reporting on the movement has rebounded sharply with this fresh/sickening imput against the protesters (where the media can even get near the camps). Plus, it ties in with the rest of today’s stuff – ‘People who have done nothing wrong should have nothing to fear from law enforcement, but government who has done nothing wrong should have nothing to fear from transparency and free speech.’ I know – common sense ain’t so common in this day and age, but there you go.

On a tangent, have some political cartoons. Say what you will for this year, but definitely one can say it’s been great fodder!

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