Oakland's Port Shuts Down as Protesters March on Waterfront

Oakland's Port Shuts Down as Protesters March on Waterfront

www.nytimes.com

“Maritime area operations will resume when it is safe and secure to do so,” port officials said in a statement, asking marchers to “allow your fellow 99% to get home safe to their families.”

Despite the disruption of work, the crowd at the port was peaceful.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Shutting down one of the biggest import/export ports is probably going to start hurting employees all over the western states if it continues for any length of time.

Will that be considered "collateral damage" by the Occupy movement?? Or will it bring about a split between those determined to hit the bigshots in their pockets, even at the expense of the 99%%-ers, and those not prepared to pay that price??

Only time will tell.....

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Saw 3 protesters being run over by a car... Some source say one is dead.

Sad... hopefully it was just an accident and not some POS wanting to kill protesters.

It's gone to far. I just watched some video of Anarchists Dressed in black breaking windows and assaulting a Whole Foods store of all places. They travel under the protection of the "peaceful" protesters. They are just looking for the fight.

Interestingly, it would seem that the cops just decided to say !@#$ it today and essentially left them all to fend for themselves. Surely, a pointed move meant to take aim at the mayor of Oakland with whom they are at great odds with right now.

the one thing that was missing from the crowd throughout the day was police officers. Most reporters on the scene said they did not see a single officer as they followed the marchers from spot to spot.

he lack of police proved problematic for certain drivers who inadvertently got in the path of the wandering protest. Because there were no police helping shut down intersections drivers got trapped in their cars on at least a few occasions as they were instantly surrounded by thousands of people walking past their vehicle. The march had no clear path, making it impossible to avoid. (See photo below).

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan acknowledged the lack of a police presence during a midday press conference.

"Yes, it is minimal," Jordan said. He said during a 5 p.m. briefing that police would continue to give protesters their space and only intervene if they damaged property or people.

www.nbcbayarea.com...

It's not going to end well when these kids are told to go back home with mom and dad.

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


Beat ya to it lol: www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Vitchilo


I've been watching some of the live video of the port area and around downtown and the protesters are simply walking and riding their bikes right in front of cars and trucks without hesitation. They truly believe that the streets are theirs and theirs alone. The vehicle always wins.

here is what I've been watching
www.nbcbayarea.com...

reply to post by MegasAlexandros


Different forum. Let the mods decide.

reply to post by MegasAlexandros



Well done - IIRC there's allowed to be 2 threads - one in breaking news, one in a "specialised" forum - as has been said - mods will decide.

Let them block of shipments of crucial manufacturing materials. When they run out of food and clothing - I'll be happy to shoot them and put them out of their misery in the course of robbing decent citizens.

Stupidity on their part does not constitute greed on mine or others. They've glorified themselves by, arrogantly, claiming to represent 99% of America and begun down this course of self-righteous behavior.

Let the blind lead the blind - right off a cliff for all I care.

reply to post by Aim64C


Or more likely, this was just a one time symbolic thing and shipping will resume tomorrow. Besides, why can't we make things in America for Americans, and Canadians too and Mexico, cause I like their food...

Originally posted by jibeho
It's gone to far. I just watched some video of Anarchists Dressed in black breaking windows and assaulting a Whole Foods store of all places. They travel under the protection of the "peaceful" protesters. They are just looking for the fight.

Interestingly, it would seem that the cops just decided to say !@#$ it today and essentially left them all to fend for themselves. Surely, a pointed move meant to take aim at the mayor of Oakland with whom they are at great odds with right now.

the one thing that was missing from the crowd throughout the day was police officers. Most reporters on the scene said they did not see a single officer as they followed the marchers from spot to spot.

he lack of police proved problematic for certain drivers who inadvertently got in the path of the wandering protest. Because there were no police helping shut down intersections drivers got trapped in their cars on at least a few occasions as they were instantly surrounded by thousands of people walking past their vehicle. The march had no clear path, making it impossible to avoid. (See photo below).

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan acknowledged the lack of a police presence during a midday press conference.

"Yes, it is minimal," Jordan said. He said during a 5 p.m. briefing that police would continue to give protesters their space and only intervene if they damaged property or people.

www.nbcbayarea.com...

It's not going to end well when these kids are told to go back home with mom and dad.

I doubt that this will change your preconceived notions about these protestors, but you're tarring a lot of people with a broad brush. I've posted numerous times about Anarchists--so, in case you didn't read them I'll do it again.

Anarchists are just that: Anarchists. They don't answer to anyone; they're only there for the damage and destruction, and to taunt the authorities and to try to get the police pissed off and start shooting. Everyone hates them, no one invites them, and that's just the way they like it.

And I want to emphasize this: The real protestors physically intervened against the Anarchists and tried to stop them and make them understand that violence and destruction were not helping the cause. Again: Whatever the "cause" might be, and whatever disparate ideas people might have about the cause, the Anarchists weren't there to advance it--deliberately.

So they are not traveling under the "protection" of the peaceful protestors. They are there to destroy and damage any progress anyone might make and to goad the authorities into violent, panicky missteps.

As far as the police: I understand that they feel disrespected and betrayed by their political leaders. And again, they've chosen between black and white; they are incapable of nuanced thinking, so now they're sulking. Until someone tells them to bring to a stop, and then I expect violent and brutal actions again....

Oakland, big as it may be, is not the main artery, as much as they'd like to believe. The western USA does not directly revolve around San Francisco and the area, even though they'd like you to believe it.
Shut that down, and... well... ships could continue on to Stockton (outside of SF and Oakland control).
Some could be diverted north to Portland, Coos Bay, Seattle, Portland and such.
Some could be diverted south to Long Beach, Los Angeles, Hueneme and San Diego.

Good luck shutting down the last two on my list.

Originally posted by jibeho
It's gone to far. I just watched some video of Anarchists Dressed in black breaking windows and assaulting a Whole Foods store of all places. They travel under the protection of the "peaceful" protesters. They are just looking for the fight.

Ever asked yourself why there are people who dress in black and riot in the first place? It's not exactly a new phenomenon nor is it just drunk kids as the media makes them out to be. They tend to show up in countries where government heavy-handidly oppresses the public.

Blaming them as "going to far" is ignoring the real problem that they stem from.

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi

Originally posted by jibeho
It's gone to far. I just watched some video of Anarchists Dressed in black breaking windows and assaulting a Whole Foods store of all places. They travel under the protection of the "peaceful" protesters. They are just looking for the fight.

Ever asked yourself why there are people who dress in black and riot in the first place? It's not exactly a new phenomenon nor is it just drunk kids as the media makes them out to be. They tend to show up in countries where government heavy-handidly oppresses the public.

Blaming them as "going to far" is ignoring the real problem that they stem from.

Most of them are not even part of the OWS movement and in the video you can see protesters trying to stop them at several points. These dumb punks show up at these events for the thrill and the adrenaline rush. They cause trouble and will forever serve to further degrade the Occupy movement. The two are now connected based on the actions of the kiddies wearing black masks. Let's see if they show up at the G20 Summit over the next day or two.

The real problem for them.... Hmmm ... Let me talk to their parents about that one first then look to our society's crumbling moral structure next. Then our nations public education system that is a complete failure full of bloated teachers and their union protectors who here in Ohio make well over $200,000 a year.

Our nation is in big trouble and has been sliding down hill for the past 15 years at an ever increasing rate. Same thing in Europe. Too many handouts that now have to be cut because the well has run dry. People taxed to death, underwater in their mortgages, etc etc etc I get it.

Take it to DC, Capital Hill and the White House. To kill a weed you have to eliminate the root structure and what I'm seeing in the streets around this country will accomplish nothing but a Police State and 6pm curfews. Meanwhile the bloated career politicians are happy as larks because these people are not marching up to their doors.

Why??!! Go to the source where the problems have originated. Do you understand that?

Originally posted by jibeho

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi

Originally posted by jibeho
It's gone to far. I just watched some video of Anarchists Dressed in black breaking windows and assaulting a Whole Foods store of all places. They travel under the protection of the "peaceful" protesters. They are just looking for the fight.

Ever asked yourself why there are people who dress in black and riot in the first place? It's not exactly a new phenomenon nor is it just drunk kids as the media makes them out to be. They tend to show up in countries where government heavy-handidly oppresses the public.

Blaming them as "going to far" is ignoring the real problem that they stem from.

Most of them are not even part of the OWS movement

That's right. I certainly wouldn't lump them with those currently protesting in the occupy protests either.

And I should know, because I helped initiate my local occupy movement. At first it went better than expected with ordinary, disenfranchised people showing up and voicing their problems with the current system to others. Proportionally, our first rally had more people than New York did.

But then, over the weeks, the voice of my local occupy movement was hijacked by ordinary people who weren't really disenfranchised themselves, but felt that they knew what it felt like. They also don't have any political education or experience either, which is evident with their pathetic hand gestures in support of collective ideas and from their view that peace and love is going to somehow reform the system and improve our lives. This is about when I lost faith in my local occupy movement and left it to the dogs.

These dumb punks show up at these events for the thrill and the adrenaline rush. They cause trouble and will forever serve to further degrade the Occupy movement. The two are now connected based on the actions of the kiddies wearing black masks. Let's see if they show up at the G20 Summit over the next day or two.

The people who dress in red and black are anarachists. They are reactionaries to the current social-economic-political realities evident in our lives. They know, correctly, that sitting on their ass and bitching isn't going to produce the same results as mobilizing against a clearly disconnected government that is supposed to represent them.

I hope they do degrade the Occupy movement. In fact, I was hoping all along that the global Occupy movement would bring together more reactionary forces of the people and mobilize them. I was correct in my assessment if you look at how the Occupy movement has evolved into riots in countries like Greece and the US.

You can see them as "stupid punks" all that you want, but that shows how ignorant you are to the real situation. The global occupy movement is a function by the peoples' side in the class war of which is not curtailed so easily by geopolitical barriers. The riots that followed in specific Occupy movements were the result of two factors: aggressive police oppression, and people fed up with the system that they live in to the point that they won't run away. In other words, the global occupy movements were a test to see where the weakest links were.

I really do advise you to look up similar events over the last century, where class war had repressed people to the point of reactionary resistance. The best example is Imperialist Russia where the anarchists actually formed into the Black Army and brought down the imperialist White Army with them. The populist movements against the Russian czar proved to be such a dire threat that the imperialists actually allowed Lenin to carry out his work, because Lenin believed in organized revolt and despised populists with no real political ends but to attack their government that they didn't like (which would, of course, prove to be a threat to the communists too).

The key to populist reactionaries is to use them to help take down the current government. Don't let them take power because then you'll end up with something like Pol Pot and the mass murder of Cambodian's, or the Taliban, or Al Qaeda in Libya.