Occupy Vancouver Shit is Fucked Up and Stuff
This should get interesting tonight, so here it is in all its (?) glory. Remember, don’t get arrested for things that aren’t our cause. The GA has resolved AGAINST open flames on site.
And if you’re in jail, your ass can’t protect or Occupy, can it? This isn’t the cross on which we want to be crucified.
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http://twitter.com/#!/AnonymousIRC/status/118147559352045568
Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
Predictable. Eminently predictable.
You Are “BOOOOOOOOOM” |
 You’re the type of person who would be a very moody superhero. In fact, you’d walk the line between superhero and supervillain.Blowing up a whole town or planet wouldn’t be out of the question for you if you felt angry enough.You are naturally a justice enforcer. Sometimes there is so much wrong with the world that it really gets you down.You can’t help but want to punish everyone who’s evil. There’s nothing that makes you matter than criminals who are allowed to walk. |
I note that this is an improvement over my previous attempt at this quiz, when I was a mere “Zap“. Now, somebody warn all those people dumping haterade on Occupy Vancouver.
Remember, Remember. Make sure Wall Street never forgets!
Yes, it’s November 5th, Bank Transfer Day.
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.Guy Fawkes, guy, t’was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England’s overthrow.By God’s mercy he was catch’d
With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.And what shall we do with him?
Burn him!
http://twitter.com/#!/Jemima_Khan/statuses/132780357379563520
Who is this Thomas Jefferson guy? He sounds like a filthy dirty hippie.
Occupy your own wallet by taking all your funds out of the Big Banks, putting them into your local credit union. You’ll get better service and better protections, you’ll own stock in a community business, and you’ll be helping make the world a better place.
Along with over one million Americans and counting:
That’s already about twice as many as switched from banks to credit unions last year, and when that video was made it wasn’t even November 5th yet! More switched in the month of October, 2011 than switched in all of last year.
“These results indicate that consumers are clearly making a smarter choice by moving to credit unions where, on average, they will save about $70 a year in fewer or no fees, lower rates on loans and higher return on savings,” said CUNA President Bill Cheney.
No relation to…you know…THAT guy.
Are banks really that evil? Let’s ask THIS guy:
Scott Warren opened an account at JP Morgan Chase Bank in 2009 to receive unemployment payments.
Scott Warren mailed his statement to Chase after switching to a credit union. It said 'Dear Chase, Occupy Wall St., from your ex-customer.'"
“Chase was the only one that set it up for you,” said Warren, who was a quality supervisor at Unisolar in Greenville before being laid off. “I went to the unemployment office, they gave me my paperwork. I go to Chase, they set me up, and, right away, they’re trying to get me to sign up for a credit card.”
Warren was stunned. And it happened every time he went into a branch, he said.
“They knew why I was there,” he said, referring to his unemployed status at the time. “I told them I didn’t think that was smart. This tells me that they are not in business to serve my needs. They intend to make money off of my failures.”
Here in Vancouver, a call has gone out from Nancy Zimmerman, Moneycoach, to VanCity Credit Union, one of the biggest success stories in the industry:
In light of corralled girls and teargassed wheel-chair bound women and articulate youth and the hashtag #occupy showing up here, there, everywhere, does Vancity have something to offer? Yes, this vid gives a glimpse of a better way. It’s inspiring.
But it’s not a manifesto, and if ever a ballsy manifesto (nothing pretty, please! and no slick marketing!) was needed from a financial institution, one whose DNA is still gritty and radical even if tamed over the years, it’s needed now. Is a credit union something more than a kinder, gentler bank? I’m listening. And I hope about 99% of Canadian citizens are too.
Lord Black of Conradistan
Between September 2008 and March 2009, Canadian banks reduced their holdings of domestic residential mortgages from $486.1 billion to $434.9 billion according to Bank of Canada stats; on a net basis.
Where did those mortgages go, you ask? Did 10% of Canadian homeonwers sell their homes and move into rental accomodation enmasse during a six month period?
Of course not. The federal government created a unique program through CMHC specifically targeted at allowing Canadian chartered banks to move tens of billions of dollars of assets off of their balance sheets. The reason? Canadian banks couldn’t raise sufficient and/or cost-effective funding from their traditional sources – primarily other global financial institutions – and needed Crown intervention to keep the wolf from the door. By mid-November 2008, the federal government had agreed to take $75 billion of mortgages from Canadian banks.
Assuming the risk-weighting of these assets was 20%, the feds essentially put $15 billion of capital into the Canadian banks that participated in the $75 billion CMHC program.
Bank Transfer Day: Ah, remember how it all began!
More money for you, less for “Too big to fail” corporations that would no longer exist if your tax dollars hadn’t been used to prop them up when their own machinations dug a grave for them. No tie-dyed, herbal-tea-stained, smelly hippie radical protester fingerprints on any of it.
Taking back your own wealth while sticking it to The Man, making more money, and saving fees?
Haters Gonna Hate ... Gramma
As of this writing, somebody’s posting to Facebook every 30 seconds that they ditched their bank in favor of a credit union…The campaign has caught on and credit unions reported a $4.5 billion surge in assets in October alone…
Should you wish to go about your business today or any other day wearing an Anonymous-approved Guy Fawkes mask, but hesitate to participate in consumerism by buying a mask copyrighted by Warner Brothers, you can print out a paper pattern for a 3D mask here, and you can find instructions on making an origami mask at the bottom of this post.
FAP. Just what it says!
Rumours to the contrary, it really IS just me.
You may have seen some of the right leaning newspapers carry the news that up to 90% of the tents outside St Paul’s for the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest are empty at night.
The newspapers are making the point that these protesters aren’t trying, that they don’t really care and that the tents are just a nuisance tactic that should be removed.
The newspapers used a thermal imaging camera to scan the square in order to reveal heat sources inside the tents. On the surface it sounds like a really smart idea. It’s an effective way to see which tents are occupied and which are empty that does not involve disturbing anyone.
Sounds logical, right? Sure sounded that way to the Vancouver firefighter I spoke to early this week, who said they’d done exactly the same thing here, and found most of the tents completely empty. Of course, the firefighter I spoke to a day later, the one with many more, very shiny badges that I couldn’t read because I’m all about the myopia, stated unequivocally that the Vancouver firefighters hadn’t used their infrared camera, although every truck has one, because “well, we just don’t want to KNOW some of what’s going on, and you can see absolutely everything with those cameras.” It’s true, nobody wants to inadvertently videotape the moment of Tent Baby‘s conception; hippie/hipster/crunchygranolaactivist/unionleader porn is not a genre with a great future ahead of it.
Now, I don’t think either of those men were lying, but only one can be right: either Vancouver Fire and Rescue used the infrared cameras or they didn’t. I asked the second firefighter if he’d be willing to put them to a test, which was when he brought up the fact that he for one wasn’t going to authorize the invasion of any tent dweller’s privacy, and kudos to him.
Whatever they are.
Anyhoodle, that’s not exactly what I had in mind. I had in mind something like this:
Following all the media hype (Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express) about ‘empty tents’ at OccupyLSX we decided to check out whether their thermal imaging evidence was true.
We got hold of *exactly* the same thermal imaging camera and showed that – surprise, surprise – you can’t tell when people are in their tents.
So don’t believe the lies – come down to OccupyLSX and join the vibrant community of people working for a better world. http://occupylsx.org
So today’s serving of some more paperwork on OccupyVancouver is particularly timely; they must have known I was working on this post! Awwww. I got a copy to digitize, which attempt failed when I couldn’t get Cathy Browne‘s scanner to work (I think it must be a 1%er; Canon is a huge company) but I took some pictures, so here are some.
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which reads:
Order (Pursuant to Vancouver fire by-law no. 8191) to:
As a Representative of Occupy Vancouver, Grounds of 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2H7 [wait, Occupy has its own postal code? That feels somehow validating!]The premises Occupied by you to wit, Assembly located at 750 Hornby St Vancouver, BC, legally known as Plan 15322, New Westminster Land District, blks 51, 61 & 71 DL 541 PLN – 14423 Assessment includes improvements on 026-602-124-04 & 12 & 14 & 1-6 & 56 026-604-124-24 (exc. leased) Inspected on the 03 day of November 20011.
THE INSPECTION REVEALED THAT:
Vancouver fire by-law, Sentence 1.4.41.(1) – it is the opinion of the Fire Chief a condition exists at 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC which endangers life and poses a risk of injury or loss by fire due to;
1. The lack of secure and safe means of egress and access ways within any large tarpaulin structure containing secondary tent structures.
2. The use of open flame and/or flammable heat source.
3. The storage and use of propane or other fuel sources.THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me in accordance with Clauses 1.4.4.1.(1) and Article 1.4.4.2.(1)(d), 1.4.4.2.(1)(e), 1.4.4.2.(1)f), 1.4.4.2.(1)(g) and 1/4/4/2/(1)(j) of Vancouver Fire By-law No. 8191, you are HEREBY ORDERED TO:
1. Remove all tarpaulin enclosures or erect overhead tarps as canopies providing full visibility and appropriate egress and access routes.
2. Provide, alter or improve a continuous path of travel to all individual tents within all tarpaulin structures.
3. Identify for Fire Safety Inspectors all tents that are occupied.
4. Remove all unoccupied tents.
5. Provide appropriate spacing between the tents to reduce/eliminate fire spread and smoke exposure.
6. Remove all open flame and/or flammable heat sources.
7. Ensure no propane or other fuel sources are located on this site.
8. Comply with any other provision of Vancouver Fire Bylaw 8191.The work involved in this Order must be completed on or before: Immediately.
John McKearney, General Manager/Fire Chief
Both sides are probably going to be pissed at me for putting the Anonymous mask anywhere near this document, but what can I say? It does liven things up a titch.
Now, our old friend Rumour has some things to say, but first we’re going to hear from me, because it’s my blog and Rumour will just have to wait his damn turn again.
I was there the night the fire lanes and access paths were built, and people cooperatively moved tents. Yes, it was a pain in the ass, but nobody wants to die and nobody wants the Occupation to get shut down, so people cooperated. Generally, the firefighters other uniformed personnel have been pretty cool. There’s no hostility, and at the General Assembly you can generally find several paying close attention not because they’re conducting surveillance, but because they’re actually interested. I tried to donate a railway lantern, and everyone just said NO, are you KIDDING? because they have actually been very good about no flames in Tent City. The issue of the big Uber-tarps over a whole cluster of tents was raised Wednesday, so it’s no surprise that this was coming. The firefighters were firm about the danger; not only can they not tell when a tent inside the superstructure is on fire, but there are really no clear ways out in case of danger. I can attest to the fact that the media tent’s door is so well-hidden that it’s going to be my LAST choice of exit in case of emergency.
The meditation tent even has those electric votives, by the way.
Okay, back to Rumour. Rumour says that this morning firefighters found not only had tents encroached on the fire lanes and accessways, but also there were several propane tanks sitting out in the open right in one of the accessways.
Prize for the stupidest Occupier has just been won, methinks. At least he lost those tanks, and they’re not that cheap.
About the man who overdosed this morning: all I know at this point is, he OD’d in a tent and isn’t dead at this point, although his condition is either serious or critical. Someone very smart on Twitter said that it’s a good thing it happened in Tent City, because if he were in a less public, less collectivist space he could well have died. This is the city where my co-op put up seven foot high steel fences to keep people from OD’ing in the playground, because they choose isolated places to shoot up, and then people never find them in time. I’ll report back on that when I know more. There were apparently (according to Rumour) serious talks only yesterday about drug use, in particular smoking drugs in the plaza and at the GA. People are particularly concerned because there are young children living here. No resolution one way or the other as far as I know.
Welcome to Vancouver
Short Attention Span Lemur presents: your Occupy Unicorn Chaser!
A day late and $75 billion short on your Unicorn Chaser good news roundup. After what went down last night in Oakland, I think we could all use a Unicorn Chaser, and the sooner the better.
What went down in Oakland, did I hear you ask? This:
But hey, cheer up!
Occupy Rockettes. If Michael Lohan can do it, you can too!
There! All better! Not quite?
Occu-Pumpkin to be turned into Occu-pie!
Now?
Well, I didn’t want to bring out the heavy artillery, but okay. Here goes. Be careful: better sit down for this.
raincoaster 