Wednesday, October 19, 2011

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG: Not to get political here,* but Spacewoman reports the first sighting of a nascent Occupy Berkeley encampment. Yes, Berkeley, civic avatar of corporate rapacity, the Vatican of the Church of the Almighty Dollar. Your day has come, you fat cat Berkeley hemp bracelet barons and cigar-chomping reggae jam tycoons.

Apologies for stating the obvious, but why would the Occupy movement need a tent city to occupy Berkeley? Couldn't they just declare their own residences occupied? Like maybe by hanging "occupied" signs (or gym socks) on the doorknobs? Or is just it that Berkeley is a territory that is particularly easy to seize right now, on account of every resident capable of defending it currently being across the bay occupying San Francisco?

So until further notice, I am declaring this particular submovement: Occupy San Francisco No BART Pass Sad Emoticon.

*No, really, don't get political here.

28 comments:

  1. Alyssa5:15 PM

    Had a similar reaction to an Occupy parade down Pearl St. in Boulder, CO this weekend.

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  2. There has periodically been a satellite encampment in Washington Square Park in Manhattan, which provokes a similar response.

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  3. isaac_spaceman5:23 PM

    By the way, my favorite thing from the Occupy SF protests was at lunch today, when two pretty scraggly-looking older Occupy protesters were playing a legitimate, regulation game of bocce on the Justin Herman Plaza bocce courts.  My least favorite thing, as many people know, is the shutting down of the BART escalator in front of the Federal Reserve building. 

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  4. The Pathetic Earthling5:27 PM

    At the risk of violating the Rule the answer is: because the City of Berkeley will give any protesting group anything they want and who doesn't want positive reinforcement?  It's like teaching your kid chess -- sure, we could teach them a lesson the hard way and take that queen that's been sitting open for three moves -- or we could let them win.  And isn't that cute?

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  5. Meghan5:48 PM

    I'll let you know if any of my sources indicate Ann Arbor is occupied. Who's got their finger on the pulse of Austin?

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  6. Jenn.6:12 PM

    Just checked the web.  Yup:  Athens, Ga, being occupied, as we speak.

    In other news:  My Seattle trip got canceled.  (Sigh.  I had such good restaurant reservations.)  But....  New business trip to San Francisco scheduled for December.

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  7. Maret7:35 PM

    Jenn, eat at Sauce. Have many social plates, especially the portobello fries. And the PB & J sponge cake for dessert. /threadjack

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  8. isaac_spaceman8:03 PM

    Thus does Maret launch Occupy This Post Right Here

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  9. GoldnI8:06 PM

    I'm pleased to report that there is also an Occupy Ithaca, which is basically the East Coast version of this phenomenon.

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  10. girard318:18 PM

    My hometown of Saginaw Michigan had an Occupy movement even though every major corporation, save Wal-Mart and Meijer, long ago abandoned the area.

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  11. Laura8:19 PM

    Occupy Northampton MA also exists. About as useful as Berkeley

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  12. ANONYMOUS9:25 PM

    UN PRESIDENT TIM KALEMKARIAN, US PRESIDENT TIM KALEMKARIAN, US SENATE TIM KALEMKARIAN, US HOUSE TIM KALEMKARIAN: BEST MAJOR CANDIDATE.

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  13. isaac_spaceman10:33 PM

    I think Anonymous is Tim Kalemkarian. 

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  14. Sophietje10:58 PM

    I saw David Sedaris here in Buffalo a few nights ago, and he was commenting on the same thing in Burlington, VT. He joked that they were going to "occupy" the co-op or the hemp clothing store.  Not quite helping the cause.  :)

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  15. That would be Occupy Hampshire College.

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  16. In my experience, the coffee shop in The Boulder Bookstore generally looks like an indoor version of OWS.

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  17. Heather K12:33 AM

    I am back in my hometown in eastern Washington (bc mom in hospital with e coli but doing super duper better and on the mend so don't worrry) and the park in front of Richland, Washington's city hall is being occupied by three people who are on team OWS and one dude who is against the pro OWS people, although I think they are a little confused on what the occupy part means because they are only occupying it during rush hour for the nuclear plant outside of town.

    I mostly love that is four people and like 11 signs and it is 3 v 1 people and pretty even on signs.

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  18. Saray1:02 AM

    <span>My brother, a Berkeley law student, reports that hey've occupied the sidewalk outside of Bank of America.  No, not as in an office building of BOA, but a random BOA branch where people make deposits and go to the ATM.</span>

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  19. I've quasi-officially started an Occupy My Living Room movement. 

    Anyone can participate, more efficiently and just as effectively as if they were occupying Berkeley, Ithaca, Hampshire, etc.  And, you know, if your living room sucks, try to get a friend to host -- maybe one of those dudes with a job or parents who'll shell out for console games and blu ray discs. 

    #OMLR

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  20. Benner8:14 AM

    I've heard reports that Occupy Bucks County was extremely polite and well behaved, and no attempt was made to camp out overnight.  Of course, the space they occupied -- in front of a Starbucks, to be sure --is where is found the scourge of "kids sitting on the benches" and occasionally skateboarding, so they did the "elites" (or the most frequent letter to the editor writers) a huge favor.   

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  21. Marc Maron said he's doing something similar to the #OMLR idea, except to show his contempt for big corporations, he's cussing out his appliances before he uses them.

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  22. The best is the occupy Provincetown rally on the Cape last weekend and this Saturday. Makes Ithaca look like Berlin in 1939. 

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  23. The Pathetic Earthling2:30 PM

    That's a strategic corner on Telegraph Avenue.

    [And just as a random note, and I say this as a proud Cal Alum: Telegraph Avenue sucks.  It wants to be a world-class college street, but it's awful.  And it's awful because who run the City of Berkeley cannot bring themselves to do anything that would make it nice (e.g., sandblast and power wash away the stench of urine and police the street]

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  24. Jenn.3:16 PM

    I'm relatively certain that's what Mike Daisey does before he sends an email using his iPhone.

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  25. kenedy jane11:04 PM

    Meghan, of course Austin is occupied.  We can't miss an opportunity like that here in Austin!  Should be challenging this weekend what with Occupy Austin, the Texas Book Festival and the Gypsy Picnic Food Trailer event all happening within a few blocks of each other.  Not quite South X Southwest but the traffic should be fun nonetheless. 

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  26. I spotted Occupy Ann Arbor this morning.

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  27. RebeccaK3:13 PM

    I spotted Occupy Ann Arbor this weekend.

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