Occupy Wall Street
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Smacked down: How police action is feeding the Occupy movement
Photo: Jessica LehrmanOn Oct. 11, 2011, I asked the mayor of Baltimore to sleep with me. I challenged her to spend one night outside in front of City Hall in solidarity with Baltimore’s 4,000 homeless residents. It was a long shot, I knew. My good intentions notwithstanding, she would likely decline. But even I was […]
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Unboxing Occupy Wall Street: We still don’t know what it is, and that’s good
Photo: Martin ReisWhen I first heard about Occupy Wall Street (henceforth OWS), I was dismissive. Worse, I was dismissive in a smug, insider, hippie-punching sort of way. I immediately put it into a box: confused and easily dismissed lefty protests filled with Free Mumia signs, giant puppets, and drum circles. As it turned out, I […]
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Pepper spray is not messing around
If this weekend's attack on students had you wondering how bad pepper spray really is, science writer Deborah Blum has you covered. Answer: It's five times more intense than the hottest natural pepper in the world. (Commercial pepper spray is twice as intense, but the police-grade stuff is supercharged.) That's because it's made of capsaicin, […]
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Ask Umbra: Is it safe for Occupy groups to use wooden pallets?
Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Our Occupy group is looking for information regarding the safety of using wooden pallets. They want to use them under tents, to help stay drier, and possibly to burn (for heat only, not for cooking). I found a Grist article on pallets from a few years ago, […]
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Occupy Wall Street can shake up a city — but can it create lasting change?
Photo: Lauren DeCicca via weeklydig“Mike check! “MIKE CHECK!” “Mike check!” “MIKE CHECK!” This call-and-response has become a familiar refrain for those who have attended Occupy Wall Street protests or followed the movement from afar. When police banned sound systems in many encampments, protesters responded by creating human amplifiers: Anyone who has something to say to […]
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Reasons for thanks giving
Amazing, just amazing. We win one a week ago on the tar-sands pipeline — not a final victory but a big one — and then yesterday, the young (and older) people of Occupy Wall Street pull off a tremendously powerful day-long series of actions in response to the Bloomberg/police, middle-of-the-night Tuesday eviction at Liberty Park. […]
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Locked out: Where is Occupy Wall Street without Zuccotti Park?
Protesters gathered this afternoon at 6th Avenue and Canal Street.Photo: Sarah GoodyearI woke up this morning to the news that the occupation of Zuccotti Park had been ended, and my first question was, “Where will all the people go?” The strange legalities surrounding Zuccotti Park have been a critical factor in the development of the […]
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Occupy the bookstore! First OWS book hits shelves and tablets
Police have razed and arrested their way through Zuccotti Park, but the Occupy movement isn’t going away. This week, there’s a new, tangible manifestation of the movement’s staying power: the first Occupy Wall Street book. This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement will hit bookstores on Nov. 17, but it’s already available […]
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Critical List: TransCanada says Keystone XL will be rerouted; Bloomberg evicts #OWS
TransCanada officials announced last night that the company would re-route the Keystone XL pipeline away from environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska. “I can confirm the route will be changed and Nebraskans will play an important role in determining the final route," an executive said in a statement. House Republicans are working on a bill that […]
