Occupy in general and Occupy Raleigh continues to struggle. The message has been lost, the momentum has been dramatically reduced. The reasonable folks making up the movement have left; we’re left with the rest.
Across the nation we hear of vandalism, rape, murder, trespassing and theft. The movement is dead.
And here in Raleigh, there are two examples:
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Occupy Raleigh, OWS
The various Occupy movements around the nation claim that they represent the 99% against the 1%. Yet even as the 99% can’t find a place to sleep while occupying the 1%, they take advantage of those who DO shelter them
I posted some time back about the Occupy vermin who shacked up in a home in Seattle. They literally thought that this owner owed them the place to crash in. And destroy. And be forced to leave.
This movement is not one of accepting lawful understanding of property, of lawful permission to protest or even lawful ability to disrupt traffic. Rather, this movement is taking pages straight out of the left’s playbook. Protest. Get arrested. Destroy property. Shout down. Silence opposing views.
And to demonstrate how far this movement has degraded, they will steal from and desecrate even the churches that shelter them:
A pastor was left outraged after parts of a $12,500 bronze baptismal font went missing from his church sheltering Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Rev. Bob Brashear noticed before Sunday services that parts of the font at West Park Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, had vanished.
‘It was like p*****g on the 99 per cent,’ he angrily told the 60 protesters who sleep at the church every night, according to the New York Post.
A church who had agreed to shelter the Occupiers found that they very group they offered assistance to, robbed them. And more than robbed them of “earthly” belongings, robbed them of religious artifacts as well:
The holy water from the River Jordan seemed to have been poured into the base’s bowl from the missing attachment.
It would seem that Occupy couldn’t sink any lower. Until they did:
Rabbi Chaim Gruber, who was formerly part of the movement, claimed last week that a protester urinated on a cross in a Brooklyn church.
You won’t hear a word of this from the press. Not a peep. You won’t see massive segments on CNN like you did when a Christian church threatened to burn the Ko’ran. But piss on the Christian cross? Democratic liberal operatives?
Nothing to see here, move on.
Any semblance of a rational and legitimate movement has long ago passed. The remnants of this group are nothing more than individuals of an ideology far and away from the mainstream of America.
Acknowledge the damage and route around it.
Posted in Idiots on Parade, Lobby/PAC, Politics: National
Tagged Leftists, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street
How quickly 100 days come and then go. Occupy Raleigh has been downtown at our state’s capital since October 15th, 2011. They’ve been fighting what some might call a noble fight. The idea that the American Dream has been taken from us, or that t has been somehow diminished by a subset of people with incredible wealth. At some level, that rings true; and is noble.
However, from a classic leftist playbook, the Occupy crowd continued to diminish it’s credibility while showing the world it is still nothing more than a fringe group of malcontents:
Raleigh, N.C. — Two Occupy Raleigh protesters were arrested Sunday as the movement marked the 100th day since it began in October.
The group held a march around the State Capitol called “100 Reasons to Demonstrate.”
Two men were taken into custody after they refused to get out of Fayetteville Street, police said. Nicholas Alan Warren Johnson, 25, and John Christopher Pearson, 33, were both charged with impeding the flow of traffic.
March. Demonstrate. Say what needs to be said. But let the world go about its business for the sake of all that’s holy.
There is simply no reason to walk in traffic just to be an ass.
But they do. And they continue to get arrested. And they continue to lose the dialogue. And they continue to just not matter.
Posted in Economy, Idiots on Parade, Lobby/PAC, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged North Carolina, Occupy Raleigh
I like getting my news, or at least some of it, from Reuters. Partly because they’re good at reporting the news and partly because they’re good to use as a source. As much as I hate HuffPo or Kos, I suspect that liberals hate Fox, CATO or Heritage.
Reuters is safe.
I mean jeepers. Jacks up data plan prices and then followed by usage booms! My gawd, the world is ending. So I read the article. And didn’t understand the outrage:
From January 22, AT&T customers will pay $20 for a 300-megabyte monthly data plan, up from $15 for 200-mb currently.
So, right now, AT&T charges $15 for 200 mb. Or $0.075 per meg. Right? 7.5 cents times 200 equals 15 American. Then, after the 22nd, AT&T is going to charge WAY more than 7.5 cents per meg, they’re gonna charge $0.06 per meg.
Robber barons!
There’s more:
Users with higher requirements can also opt for $30 for 3 gigabytes — versus $25 for 2 GB previously
AT&T used to charge $25 for 2 GIG, or $12.5 per GIG. Now, those greedy bastards are charging WAY more, they’re charging $30 for 3! That comes out to $10 per GIG.
Wait, that doesn’t make sense. But there’s more still:
or $50 for 5 GB, up from $45 for 4 GB.
For the larger plans, AT&T used to charge $11.25 per GIG. And now what are those monopolistic capitalists charging?!?
$10 per GIG. For those that attended the CLA, that is an 11% price REDUCTION!
“Jacks” up rates indeed.
We need WAY more journalists. For sure!
For fun, I thought I’d check out the comments section of the Reuters piece. The very first one, I shit thee not:
jscott418 wrote:Normally demand reduces prices. What’s AT&T excuse? Seems to me they are just taking advantage of the popularity of data usage.
Normally. Demand. Reduces. Prices.
Blink. Blink.
You can NOT make this up.
I’ve often referred to the Occupy crowd as a bunch of stinky hippies. Not really ’cause I think that they are hippies or even stink; mostly because I’m a hippie of sorts and I enjoy poking fun at myself. But I do think the movement is largely made up of folks who find themselves in a condition that is largely of their own doing. And then they’re mad at that condition.
I stumbled across this video from Seattle where a gaggle of the gentle Occupy movement took over a house that was under renovation and made it their own. And by “made it their own” I mean they destroyed it. To the point that the city began to cite the real owner and he had to call in the SWAT team to remove them.
These people and this movement are not serious. They are not concerned about making positive change in society or creating opportunities that would better allow decent hardworking people to better themselves. Rather, these people are interested in forwarding an agenda that allows them to live off the labor of others while they recline in ease and contemplate life.
What a few month’s time will do.
As the end of 2011 drew near, the Occupy Wall Street movement was in full swing. Cities across America were host to Occupy camps full of protesters willing to make the case that the greed and corporate influence in America had reached the point that they could influence legislation. The rich and powerful would be able to craft laws that benefited themselves at the expense of everyone else.
The system was broken. And it needed to change.
The Democrats, facing an election year of better organized Tea Party grassroots organizations, were only too anxious to look at the Occupy movement as a method to garner support. Support and sympathy:
“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests,” Obama told ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper…
The President goes on to compare the Occupy movement with the Tea Party, and then expresses the need to reach out to the Occupy protester:
“The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded,” Obama said. “And that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don’t feel a sense of obligation to their communities and their companies and their workers that those folks aren’t rewarded.”
Similarly, Nancy Pelosi expressed her approval of the movement like this:
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi praised those participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. “God bless them,” Pelosi said, “for their spontaneity. It’s independent … it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”
“The message of the protesters is a message for the establishment everyplace,” said the House Democrats’ leader. “No longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness on Main Street.”
To be sure, each side is entitled to its foot soldiers, its partisans. And they should be expected to pander to ’em all they want. To think otherwise is rather foolish. But it’s interesting to see how quickly the shine has wore off:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte, which is hosting this year’s Democratic National Convention, may ban camping on city property, a move that would end an anti-Wall Street demonstration.
…
The ordinances would essentially end the Occupy Charlotte encampment at the old City Hall, where protesters have had a presence for months.
The Democrats don’t want the Occupy folks at the convention. At the convention where people will be seen on TV. Where questions will be asked and answers demanded. It would appear, for the time being, that the Occupy movement has run its course.
That is if you believe the Democrats when they say that Voter ID laws are discriminatory. See, the logic goes like this:
The very young, poor, rural, urban, minority Democrat citizens in our nation are disproportionally unable to obtain State ID. Further, this inability to obtain such ID is based solely on cost. State ID’s are prohibitively expensive.
I checked. Here in North Carolina you can obtain State ID by:
With some combination of these documents a resident of North Carolina can obtain a state ID. That and $10.00.
The burden to obtain an ID is not significant or overly burdensome.
So, anyway, back to Illinois. How is the state of Illinois now discriminating against the young, elderly, urban, rural Democrats in the state?
They are requiring the discriminatory practice of providing state ID to purchase…Liquid Plumber. Hat Tip Dan Mitchell
CHICAGO (CBS) – A new state law requires those who buy drain cleaners and other caustic substances to provide photo identification and sign a log.
…
The law, which took effect Sunday, requires those who seek to buy caustic or noxious substances, except for batteries, to provide government-issued photo identification that shows their name and date of birth. The cashier then must log the name and address, the date and time of the purchase, the type of product, the brand and even the net weight.
What possible excuse could the Republicans of the state make for such discriminatory practices?
State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) obtained passage of the new law following attacks in which drain cleaner was poured on two Chicago women, badly scarring them.
Truly unbelievable. Democrats feel perfectly okay to require state ID to buy Draino but not to vote.
Politics anyone?
Posted in Fun, Government, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Illinois, North Carolina, State ID, Voter ID
North Carolina also boasts stupid too:
LEXINGTON, N.C. – Do you have change for a million-dollar bill?
Police say a North Carolina man insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was buying $476 worth of items at a Walmart.
Investigators told the Winston-Salem Journal that 53-year-old Michael Fuller tried to buy a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other items. Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.
The largest bill in circulation is $100. The government stopped making bills of up to $10,000 in 1969.
Fuller was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument. He is in jail on a $17,500 bond, and it isn’t clear if he has an attorney. He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.
The desire to protect the citizens drives crazy results. People, intending to “do the right thing” and “protect” the people, get so caught up in that role they never stop and consider the absurdity of what it is they are doing. The never ending desire to prevent harm is a constricting burden when placed within the hands of those who fail to understand that man is largely able to craft positive outcomes for himself.
And so it is that government has created a condition such that we are unable to hand our free hot dogs to free people:
Tin Cup’s bar and restaurant in St. Paul’s North End will pay a $500 fine to the city for grilling hot dogs outside on Oct. 2 without an event permit.
Co-owner Gidget Bailey appeared before the city council Wednesday to explain that she inquired with a state agency before cooking the hot dogs, which were given away inside the bar at 1220 Rice St. and not sold or consumed outside.
“I did call the Minnesota Department of Health asking if there was anything I needed to do,” Bailey said. “They told me no.”
The city’s Department of Safety and Inspections cited them for not obtaining a “temporary extension of service area” license for the outdoor event, which led to several calls to the District 6 Planning Council. The planning council then informed DSI of the event.
Council Member Lee Helgen reminded the bar owners that they should have known to check with the city.
The council vote to impose the fine was unanimous.
Note one member of the government body felt that the regulations describing the proper offering of hot dogs was so onerous as to prevent the levying of the fine.
Posted in Government, Idiots on Parade, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Minnesota, Regulation
Occupy Raleigh welcomed a sister Occupy group today to the City of Oaks; Walkupy. Together, the two groups planned to march from the Capital to the Occupy Raleigh camp some blocks away. During the march, 6 or 7 members of Walkupy were arrested:
RALEIGH — Six protesters taking part in an anti-Wall Street march were arrested as they spilled over the sidewalks and into downtown streets late Saturday afternoon.
The group of up to 50 protesters attracted police attention as they chanted and wove through several streets. As the group marched west on Hillsborough Street, police told them to stay on the sidewalks, according to a statement Raleigh police issued tonight.
Police said despite being ordered several times to disperse, some of the group refused. Police said they warned protesters they would be arrested if they didn’t comply.
More and more the Occupy movement is proving itself to be nothing more than some lefty hippie left-over protest group. More interested in “self” than in goals. More proud of being arrested than in generating results.
Too bad really Too bad.
Posted in Idiots on Parade, Lobby/PAC, Politics: National, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged Occupy Raleigh, Walkupy