Sunday, November 13, 2011

Protesters push back after closures (video)



Jack booted thugs? Hundreds march through the streets past police after two encampments are beaten down. Demonstrators regroup to figure out next move (oregonlive.com).

Occupy Portland pushes back after closures
Los Angeles Times
PORTLAND, Oregon - Several hundred protesters, some wearing goggles and gas masks, marched past authorities downtown Sunday, hours after riot police forced Occupy Portland demonstrators out of two encampments in parks.

(RT.com courtesy of Jamie Francis and Steve Schwind) Portland police in riot gear surround hundreds of Occupy protesters to violently evict them using batons, deadly weapons, and arrests to promote economic inequality and corporate greed.

Police moved in shortly before noon and drove protesters into the street after dozens remained in the camps in defiance of city officials. Mayor Sam Adams had ordered that the camps be shut down Saturday at midnight, citing unhealthy conditions and the increasing number of drug users and thieves. More than 50 protesters were arrested.

After the police raid, the number of demonstrators swelled throughout the afternoon. By early evening, dozens of officers brandishing nightsticks stood shoulder to shoulder to hold the protesters back. Authorities retreated and protesters broke the standoff by marching through the streets.

Demonstrators regrouped several blocks away, where they broke into small groups to discuss their future. Some were advocating occupying foreclosed homes; others wanted to move onto the Portland State University campus or to the shores of the Willamette River. More
Mayor Sam Adams threatens to close down the camp. Portland PD is ready to kill, injure, and arrest but having faced massive resistance, they retreat.

Does progressive meditation matter in the midst of regressive, state sanctioned violence? If peace matters and change begins within, what is a more appropriate response?

Telling APEC and Obama: "We Are the Many"
() Nov. 12, 2011 on the grounds of the Hale Koa, Honolulu

The "World Leaders Dinner" at APEC, hosted by the First Family, got an earful. The Secret Service had warned that any phone cameras would be confiscated. Grabbing video was not easy under constant surveillance but it's my art and my right.

About an hour into my set of generally ambient guitar music and Hawaiian tunes, I felt inspired to share some songs that resonated with the significance of the occasion.

I sang a few verses from "Kaulana Na Pua" (a Hawaiian protest song), then segued into Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," Sting's "Fragile," and finally my newest song "We Are the Many."

My goal was to fill their ears and the atmosphere with a message that might effectively be received subconsciously. I sweetly sang lines like,

"You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none"

Reactions were muted. I would get strange, befuddled stares from heads of state. It was a very quiet room, no waiters, only me, sound techs, and leaders of almost half the world's population.

Instead of disrupting with force, I chose to deliver an extremely potent and prolonged message in a polite manner. Dedicated to those speaking truth to power. - Makana


How money is divided between the top 400 and bottom 150,000,000