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Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:17 pm
by Wilbur Kookmeyer
Spent, I too am glad to be wrong about the rioting.
I am impressed with all sides and they way they behaved during this last weekend.

However, I am sadenned that the Occupy group is demanding an apology from Adams. This is the same mayor that allowed them liberties that no others would be granted, the same mayor that did so under increasing criticism from his own contituents and citizens, the same mayor who treated them with respect right up and through the end of the encampment, the same mayor that continues to support them at least in spirit, and they now demand an apology.

They were warned, given plenty of lead time, and in the end the cops hit with kid gloves and practiced precedent setting restraint.

this demand has really tarnished what respect I had gained for them over the weekends activities.

I like the idea of going to a GA and having my say. I truly wonder if they would allow me to be heard.
Could be interesting.

Before the demand for apology, I had really gained a lot of respect for this group, but the demand is a real black eye and threatens any support from critics or fence riders they may have gained during the weekend.

I was very impressed with Sam Adams and his repsonse during the press conference on Sunday. And this is very difficult for me as I truly cannot stand him and beleive he is the worst thing that has ever happened to Portland.

Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:33 am
by Temperance
I read what Spent wrote about the troubled kids he usually works with getting diverted into the camp.

Then found out that 3 kids had run away from the middle school I work at in Milwaukee (not sure if they ran away from school, or from home, as we have students that do both). They were found staying in a tent with a woman at Occupy Portland.

Side note: Some of the students at the school I'm working at this year are so out of touch with the natural world, they think things like maybe elk eat robins. I get on my bike and ride home; they get in a car and go right back into their apartment. It is EFFED UP.

Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:41 pm
by Spent
Wilb, I agree the apology demand was pretty weak. Let's face it- you should have some idea what you are getting in to. I personally don't agree that the cops need to beat or pepper spray people who are blocking traffic, trespassing, or doing anything non-violent but that's the reality of street demonstrations and you should be prepared for it. Individual cops might be nice people with good intentions but in situations like that they never will be your buddies, if a 'higher purpose' is on your side.

Wilbur, I'd hope they'd listen to you at a GA. If you have some useful criticisim/ thoughts/ input, they should be willing to listen to all our voices- if not then its pretty much a farce. More common ground has to be demonstrated with the rest of us arseholes.


Temperance wrote:
Then found out that 3 kids had run away from the middle school I work at in Milwaukee (not sure if they ran away from school, or from home, as we have students that do both). They were found staying in a tent with a woman at Occupy Portland.

.


Glad those 3 were found! I spoke with one of their mother's who said he had been paying attention to what was going on TV and ran away with his 2 pals. I've seen terrible things happen to kids that young on these streets. The worse you could imagine happen to a child... anyway, hope they made it home, if they have decent ones to return to.

Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:06 pm
by Wilbur Kookmeyer
Spent, let me be clear...i am no fan of cops. I do not trust them in general and pretty much find them to be useless in most situations. Personally I have had them pull guns on me more times than I care to remember and in none of those occasions was it warranted. I think there is something that happens with them when they encounter a larger, kind of mean looking man. Liek they are motivated to put that person in his place and let him know who is who. I truly beleive there are two types of male policemen: Those that have no power in their lives outside of wearing a badge: And those that have small penis'. I think there may be a small faction, very small, that are truly peace keepers and in it for the greater good of their comunity....but not many...and certainly none that I have come across.

That being said, you are right....when you attend an event such as these demonstrations...you kind of have to know what is coming at you. And in my opinion, both sides demonstrated great restraint.

now, to today;s activities...i am really frustrated with these younger college students complaining that their education should be free. They do not even stop for a mmoment and see how lucky they are, or what the fruits of their hard work resulted in, as they are actually able to attend a 4 year university to begin with.

I heard a quote from one of them, a senior, who said she was in her last year and will graduate with a double history major and a minor in liberal arts, and she finds it really unfair that she will leave school with a $60k debt.

Here is my gripe with that.... she signed up for that debt. She made the choices of what she wanted to study and major in, and now she gets to live with her choices. No one forced her to take an excessive amount of loans, or loans she was truly unwilling to pay back at the least, and no one told her what to major in. I would offer that with degrees like that...she is bound for a teaching job...and when/if she does...she would likely be the first person up there griping about how little teachers get paid and will forget all about how she wanted the cost of education to be lowered.

College is not available to everyone.

I doubt my own daughter will go to a 4/yr school. Mainly because it is a cost/benefit ratio. high cost, without much benefit. Understand this, my wife and I make a good living, but there is no money for Wilburette's college fund. So if she chooses to go to a school...it is student loans all the way. Do I want her saddled with heavy debt from her higher education? No. However more than not wanting that, I want for her to weigh her choices, make the best decisions she can, and own the responsibility of those choices and of her life.

These demonstrators today...threaten that idea.

This whole movement does actually.

Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:36 pm
by Hermgruf
deleting all my posts.

Re: No...this really is effin sad....

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:23 pm
by Tex
Agreed, great posts on this topic, well thought out comments and constructively made. They have all made me think alot about where we are as a country. I look forward to further discussion.