That Fine Gentleman
I'm an intellectual, a gamer, a car aficionado, a music enthusiast with an eclectic taste, a beer connoisseur, an atheist, a motorcyclist, and an overall nice person.
Writing/Literary blog:
writerhealthyself.tumblr.com
Just a reminder.
Word.
(via xbalmorax)
BREAKING NEWS: (11-02) 22:21 PDT OAKLAND — A car struck two Occupy Oakland protesters tonight as they marched with a crowd along Broadway, and an angry mob surrounded the car as emergency workers tended to the injured.
The driver, who was not identified, sat in his silver Mercedes-Benz sedan after the 7:30 p.m. incident while hundreds of people screamed at him through his closed windows.
Police arrived, questioned the driver and several witnesses, then let the driver leave the scene at 11th and Broadway in his car. Most of the officers on scene were BART police.
The two people who were injured, a man and a woman, appeared to be conscious and were taken to Highland Hospital. A spokesman there would not discuss their conditions.
As the driver left, many in the crowd yelled at him and at police, saying he should have stayed at the scene or been arrested.
“I don’t know why he was allowed to leave,” interim Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said later.
The incident happened when the driver was heading south on 11th and was blocked by streams of marchers walking along Broadway, witnesses said. He had a green light, but could not get through.
The driver “got frustrated and hit the gas,” said Nick Lucas, 25, of Berkeley. “He was getting pissed.”
E-mail the writers at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com and kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
What… the.. fuck. So this is attempted manslaughter, or at the very least aggravated assault and battery. How can you let someone who did that just drive off?
Article link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/02/BA5G1LQ06S.DTL
(via stfuconservatives)
Time to wake up, America. You no longer live freely.
The photo above, taken by Jay Finneburgh, shows Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen being carried away after he was struck in the head by a tear gas canister thrown by Oakland police during last night’s raid on Occupy Oakland.
Video shot at the scene shows police throwing a flash grenade into the crowd as other protesters rush to help him:
Olsen did two tours of duty in Iraq and is a current member of Veterans for Peace. He’s now listed in critical but stable condition with swelling of the brain and a skull fracture. He is also on a respirator due to the doctors sedating him in order to evaluate the possible injury to his brain.
From The Guardian:
Keith Shannon, who served with Olsen in Iraq, arrived at the hospital after protesters contacted him through Facebook. He confirmed Olsen had a fractured skull, and said he had been told by a doctor Olsen also had brain swelling. A neurosurgeon was due to assess Olsen to determine if he needed surgery, Shannon said.
“It’s really hard,” Shannon said. “I really wish I had gone out with him instead of staying home last night.”
Shannon, who is also 24, said he had seen the video footage showing Olsen lying on the floor as a police officer throws an explosive device near him. “It’s terrible to go over to Iraq twice and come back injured, and then get injured by the police that are supposed to be protecting us,” he said.
This is utter brutality. Scott Olsen enlisted in the military, fought for the U.S. in combat, and is thanked for it with a severe head injury while defending his fellow citizens from police action at home. Veterans for Peace have stood with numerous camps, including Boston, where elderly members were beaten by police.
In Oakland, despite police using multiple rounds of tear gas, flash grenades, rubber bullets and beanbag projectiles on protesters, they remained peaceful. Police denied the use of tear gas initially, but confirmed it at a press conference today. It was also claimed this started because a protester threw a rock at police, while Oakland Mayor Jean Quan stated the raid was because of “unsanitary conditions” and “ongoing vandalism” happening because of Occupy Oakland.
As for police denying the use of flash grenades and rubber bullets, the video above shows use of the flash grenade, and here’s a rubber bullet picked up by a demonstrator:
How long will this police aggression against unarmed, peaceful protest be allowed to continue? Scott Olsen is merely one of its victims. We, as citizens, must demand an end to the vicious crackdown at occupy protests across the nation. Remember, be peaceful, but stand resolute.
The tides are moving in favor of occupy movements. For example, Occupy Cleveland just won the right in federal court to occupy a city park around the clock. The judge wrote the demonstrators of Occupy Cleveland had their First Amendment rights violated and ordered the city to grant the protesters a permit.
Solidarity forever, my friends. Do not let the police scare you away.
(via occupywallstreet)
[Mitt Romney] said in the debate, the last debate, that he wanted everyone to be rich. That seems to be the line from the Republican Party, which, of course, is just a complete fantasy. Herman Cain, of course, famously said recently that “If you`re not rich, blame yourself.” This is what really bothers me, this idea that somehow we can all be rich…that is one of the stupidest things I`ve ever heard any politician say. I want everybody to be rich. First of all, if everybody was rich, who would do the things that rich people hire people to do for them? Rich people need poor people to work for them.
And this idea that Herman Cain said “If you`re not rich, blame yourself” — this is what bothers me about rich people. They don`t, first of all, as Elizabeth Warren said, they don`t cotton to the idea they wouldn`t be rich if they didn`t have this great country that provides the roads and the schools and all the other things that allow them to be rich. But also this idea, they never understand - it`s a FLUKE mostly, that what you do is something that made you rich. Yes, if you throw a baseball 100 miles an hour or even what I do — I mean, I`m not humble about some things. But I`m very humble about the fact that telling jokes is something that gets you a lot of money. That is a complete fluke — and so is owning pizza parlors.
Yes, Herman Cain was good at business. Great. He became very rich from it. But what about teachers and cops and firemen? You know those people we always say are our “heroes”. They`re such heroes that we pay them like crap. Well, they do what they do very well. It just doesn`t happen to be something that is ever going to make you rich. So, this idea that if you`re not rich, blame yourself — oh, it really bugs me.
(via stfuconservatives)
![thedailywhat:
Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Demonstrator Felix Rivera-Pitre, who was involved in a serious altercation with an NYPD officer, spoke out in the aftermath of the incident to insist that he did nothing to provoke Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona’s right hook.
“The cop just lunged at me full throttle and hit me on the left side of my face,” Rivera-Pitre, a former dancer from Queens, told Gothamist. “It tore my earring out.” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne disputes this claim, saying Rivera-Pitre provoked the attack by attempting to assault Cardona.
The police are seeking to arrest Rivera-Pitre on several charges, but his attorney Ronald Kuby warned against pursuing that line of action.
“On the off chance they were intending to arrest him for injuring the captain’s fist with his jaw, I strongly suggest that you decide not to add insult to injury and avoid such a retaliatory move,” Kuby wrote in a letter to the NYPD.
Rivera-Pitre said he chose the identify himself after leaving the scene because his injury caused blood to be spilled, and he is HIV-positive. “That cop should get tested,” he was quoted as saying.
Video of the incident follows:
In addition to the above video, a second angle shows Rivera-Pitre walking away before being turned around by Cardona and struck in the face.
Elsewhere, some 82 countries held solidarity protests, some of which were far more restive than their American counterpart.
Answering the call for a worldwide rally, tens of thousands marched through hundreds of cities across the globe, including Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and Toronto.
Protesters in London were visited by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was placed under house arrest nearly a year ago. Assange rallied the attendees with a short speech before being escorted away by the police.
In Rome, a peaceful protest turned violent, with masked demonstrators setting cars on fire and damaging buildings. Police attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons, but rioters pushed back with rocks and fireworks. Dozens were injured on both sides, and Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi called for the identification and punishment of those involved.
Back in New York, demonstrators marched on Chase and Citibank, with some withdrawing their money in protest. “A bank that got billions in bailouts and cut jobs doesn’t need my savings,” Brooklynite Biola Jeje told the Daily News.
According to reports, at least 20 people were arrested near the Citibank on La Guardia Place. A similar standoff outside the Chase Bank branch at Astor Place ended without any arrests.
A potentially “historic” Occupation Party is scheduled to take place in Times Square later this afternoon.
Live Updates: New York Daily News; Occupy Wall Street. Hashtags: #ows; #occupytogether; #globalchange; #occupy; #o15.
[gothamist / nydn: 1,2 / cnn / 15october / japantimes / globalvoices / newsfeed / abcnews / thelocal / elpais / bloomberg / ap / mediaite / reuters / rt / top.]
Yeaaaahhhh… that guy was literally not doing anything to provoke that attack. He was walking the other way when the cop turned him around and gave him a good punch to the face.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt4jg2ijRi1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: Demonstrator Felix Rivera-Pitre, who was involved in a serious altercation with an NYPD officer, spoke out in the aftermath of the incident to insist that he did nothing to provoke Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona’s right hook.
“The cop just lunged at me full throttle and hit me on the left side of my face,” Rivera-Pitre, a former dancer from Queens, told Gothamist. “It tore my earring out.” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne disputes this claim, saying Rivera-Pitre provoked the attack by attempting to assault Cardona.
The police are seeking to arrest Rivera-Pitre on several charges, but his attorney Ronald Kuby warned against pursuing that line of action.
“On the off chance they were intending to arrest him for injuring the captain’s fist with his jaw, I strongly suggest that you decide not to add insult to injury and avoid such a retaliatory move,” Kuby wrote in a letter to the NYPD.
Rivera-Pitre said he chose the identify himself after leaving the scene because his injury caused blood to be spilled, and he is HIV-positive. “That cop should get tested,” he was quoted as saying.
Video of the incident follows:
In addition to the above video, a second angle shows Rivera-Pitre walking away before being turned around by Cardona and struck in the face.
Elsewhere, some 82 countries held solidarity protests, some of which were far more restive than their American counterpart.
Answering the call for a worldwide rally, tens of thousands marched through hundreds of cities across the globe, including Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and Toronto.
Protesters in London were visited by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was placed under house arrest nearly a year ago. Assange rallied the attendees with a short speech before being escorted away by the police.
In Rome, a peaceful protest turned violent, with masked demonstrators setting cars on fire and damaging buildings. Police attempted to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons, but rioters pushed back with rocks and fireworks. Dozens were injured on both sides, and Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi called for the identification and punishment of those involved.
Back in New York, demonstrators marched on Chase and Citibank, with some withdrawing their money in protest. “A bank that got billions in bailouts and cut jobs doesn’t need my savings,” Brooklynite Biola Jeje told the Daily News.
According to reports, at least 20 people were arrested near the Citibank on La Guardia Place. A similar standoff outside the Chase Bank branch at Astor Place ended without any arrests.
A potentially “historic” Occupation Party is scheduled to take place in Times Square later this afternoon.
Live Updates: New York Daily News; Occupy Wall Street. Hashtags: #ows; #occupytogether; #globalchange; #occupy; #o15.
[gothamist / nydn: 1,2 / cnn / 15october / japantimes / globalvoices / newsfeed / abcnews / thelocal / elpais / bloomberg / ap / mediaite / reuters / rt / top.]
Yeaaaahhhh… that guy was literally not doing anything to provoke that attack. He was walking the other way when the cop turned him around and gave him a good punch to the face.
(via stfuconservatives)
Ri-res overhead of Times Square right now (via REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz).
And I am guessing the Mayor is shitting himself. Good luck with all your jackass cops! Plus tourists! Plus cameras! Fucking everywhere!
This is beautiful.
This is all restoring my faith in this country.
This is what happens when the sleeping giant awakens.
(via stfuconservatives)
Second Occupy Movement News Update of the Day: 24 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were locked inside the La Guardia Place Citibank branch and arrested for criminal trespassing. They were attempting to close their bank account at the time.
Footage captured at the scene shows a woman being arrested by a plainclothes cop while shouting “I’m a customer, I’m a customer.”
Earlier it was revealed that the NYPD and several corporations targeted by Occupy Wall Street were tipped off to the protesters’ plans by New York-based computer security consultant Thomas Ryan.
Ryan, who has made a mission out of discrediting the movement, has been monitoring the online activities of Occupy Wall Street organizers since the protest began. Yesterday, Ryan posted to Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government the OWS mailing list, which features thousands of email addresses belonging to OWS demonstrators.
Elsewhere, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was interrupted several times during his speech at the National Summit on Education Reform by Occupy Sesame Street protests.
“Corporations own all the media in the world; why should they not own all the education as well?,” quipped activist Joe Hill, who was dressed as Sesame Street’s Count. (In Taiwan, Occupy Taipei protesters flashed signs that featured familiar Angry Birds characters.)
In New York, the Take Times Square convergence (AKA The Occupation Party) saw thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters descend on Midtown Manhattan.
The NYPD set up barricades to control the crowds; police in riot gear made an appearance, as did mounted cops and the counter-terrorism unit. According to an eye-witness, police officers have formed a human chain stretching for hundreds of feet.
The latest reports from the scene suggest the police are preparing to start arresting any protester who refuses to clear out. Occupy Wall Street’s official site says the arrests have begun. NY Scanner appears to confirm this.
Watch the Take Times Square standoff unfold live below:
[thedailybeast / wonkette: 1,2 / gawker / ap / reuters / nydn / ows.]
shit is getting real.
You are not free.
(via stfuconservatives)
I feel this is suiting to the current situation.
Nancy Pelosi
On HR 358
(via moxielicious)
I haven’t posted anything about HR 358 for several reasons:
1) Probably because I’m in denial that such ridiculous legislation is being considered, let alone passed by the House. It’s like the House Republicans got together and were like, “Dudes, we’ve got to enact some jobs legislation but it can’t be Obama’s jobs bill because then we’ll lose all of the financial support from the top 1% that we’re getting. I know! If there are less people in this country, we’ll be freeing up jobs for people to take…I’ve got it! Let’s kill women (because we’re cissexist and don’t realize that gender is a spectrum and not a binary). More importantly pregnant women because then they won’t need maternity leave. I’VE SOLVED THE JOBS CRISIS GUISE!”
2) I know that this won’t pass and be enacted into law because my country is currently run by a President who cares about reproductive rights and the freedom of choice and he will veto it.
AND
3) As someone who identifies as a woman and who also wants to work in medicine, I find it disgusting that legislation is being enacted to protect health care providers from allowing someone to die when they could save that person’s life. My less cynical side wants to believe that doctors, specifically, would be more educated on abortion procedures and have their critical thinking skills honed throughout their education so that a person would never be allowed to die by a doctor while they bleed to death during a miscarriage. But my more cynical side knows that there are people who have gotten into the health care field specifically to manipulate pregnant people and who would watch someone die and then mourn over the fetus that was lost. I know that they are out there and I find it abhorrent and a disgrace that these people work in the medical profession; one that is supposed to treat human life with dignity and respect.
I just…I don’t know what to say. It’s clear that the millions of people who can’t find work and are protesting all over the world in solidarity right now because the top earners are sucking this country dry aren’t as important as things that could really and truly be put on the back burner right now.
And I’m not trying to wipe abortion rights off the table or derail this conversation; by all means, the pro-lifers can bring this fight any time they fucking want (because abortion rights will remain intact with even the most conservative of Supreme Courts) but there comes a time when you really are just wasting money and time for people who are trying their damndest to keep their heads above water. That situation isn’t going to get better if a family is suddenly forced to provide for another child when they’re just barely making their mortgage payments. That situation isn’t going to get better if a recent college grad gets pregnant when they are already struggling to make their loan re-payments.
Passing “symbolic” legislation like this does nothing but waste time and money and it also tells people who can get pregnant that republicans would rather they be treated as brood mares or that they just fucking die.
I’m so disgusted. Write letters to your representatives. Call their office. Mail them letters, E-mail them, leave voicemails. Make sure they hear you. The last thing we need right now are symbolic legislative actions that are a complete waste of time and accomplish nothing productive. We need jobs. We need health care premiums to stop rising by double digit spikes. We need corporations to pay the taxes they should that loopholes allow them to get out of. We need the top earners to pay the same tax rates as the rest of us. We need congress to do their goddman job and help their constituents.
I’m reminded of this comic:
I really just don’t know what to say anymore. People are protesting in the streets because finding a job is goddamn impossible but NO. We need to make sure doctors will be protected if they let a pregnant person die on the floor of their hospital because GOD FUCKING FORBID a fetus could die (even though it will anyway).
Love,
Rabble
(via rabbleprochoice)
Well said, ma’am. Well said.
(via stfuconservatives)
