Toledo Still Under Occupation!!!!

According to Mayor Bell this morning on my show tents "will not happen". The video is from today at Noon, the audio from a weekend meeting.

created by fred on Oct 24, 2011 at 07:52:00 pm Politics Comments: 9

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Oct 24, 2011 Salon.com story titled Occupying the Rust Belt :

Toledo blues

In Toledo, Ohio, occupiers are struggling with trying to live outdoors in a harsh climate because the city is making life difficult for them. Christopher Metchis, an energetic 19-year-old student who will be attending the Musicians Institute in L.A. next spring, explains that City Hall has denied them use of tents and generators, and dispatched city crews to cut off their access to electricity. He has just spent the last two nights outdoors in a wind- and rainstorm, huddling under tarps with a few hardy souls on a grass plaza in the downtown business district near the baseball stadium for the AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

While we talk, a few people come by to help with consolidating supplies, folding tarps, stuffing blankets into a crib and kitchen work. A local pastor has also stopped by with words of support. Candice Milligan, a 30-year-old trans woman, says the living conditions make it “difficult for people who aren’t able bodied.” She also admits that concrete support is not as forthcoming because much of the public does not know what Occupy Toledo is trying to accomplish. And they have to contend with a police force that is indifferent at best and a local media that is hostile at times.

Awareness of the occupation movement coexists with despair. During dinner one evening at an Italian restaurant in Toldeo, our waitress, Dawn, tells us she supports it because “the people need a voice, not just the corporations and politicians.” A few minutes earlier, she lit up in excitement when she found out we are from New York, but her face crumpled instantly, exclaiming quizzically, "But now you’re here?!

It has been a common sentiment on the trip so far. After decades of economic decline, Americans in this part of the country are beaten down. Their prospects are limited. Civic embarrassment is more prevalent than pride.

Lake Erie is nifty - (from the pier at Metzger Marsh)

posted by jr on Oct 25, 2011 at 09:09:22 am #

She also admits that concrete support is not as forthcoming because much of the public does not know what Occupy Toledo is trying to accomplish.

That sums it up pretty well for me. And they can't just blame it on media coverage (or lack thereof), because I have tried to seek out the information on their website as well.

posted by mom2 on Oct 25, 2011 at 11:57:35 am #

Not good times in the "Occupy" movement. First Chicago, now Oakland.

Hundreds of Cops In Riot Gear End Occupy Oakland

Judging by the videos, it looks like all it would take to end Occupy Toledo is a couple of cruisers and a K-9 unit.

BTW--once again note that--like Chicago--it is another Democrat mayor (Jean Quan) cracking down on "Occupy".

And yet the Democrats stand in solidarity with the protests????

posted by oldhometown on Oct 25, 2011 at 02:50:44 pm #

As I've said before, the Occupy crowd has more in common with the original Tea Party (before it was co-opted) than it does with the Democratic Party. The worst thing the Occupy crowd could do would to be let these unions come in with their signs and demands in a show of "solidarity." Money is the root of the problem with our government and the money flowing from unions to politicos is just as dirty as the money coming from Wall Street. Here's what I mean:

Tea party loses another round to powerful elite in Washington, D.C.

THE OLYMPIAN • Published October 18, 2011 Modified October 17, 2011

WASHINGTON – It was a(nother) great day to be a member of the Washington elite.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House was steamrolling toward passage of a trio of free-trade agreements without a whisper of objection from the Republican side. Finally, hours into the debate, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., rose to appeal to his fellow tea partyers to heed the people who elected them.

“Here we have roughly 9.1 percent unemployment in this country, due in no small part to the Washington elite jamming these job-destroying trade agreements down our throats,” Jones pleaded on the House floor. “It’s time we started listening to the will of the American people, doing what’s in the best interest of the American people, not in the best interest of the foreign nationals who desperately want to take our jobs.”

It was a passionate speech but useless. Lawmakers, including the overwhelming majority of tea party Republicans, voted in support of the three trade deals, which had been at the top of corporate America’s wish list.

....

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio actually praised the tea party as she denounced lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “Is anybody paying attention?” she demanded. “This is just another example of powerful Washington elites being totally out of step with Main Street and the American people.” Beckoning to the Republican side and then to the Democratic side, she said: “I’m proud of the tea partyers who are out there organizing, and I’m proud of the Occupy Wall Street people because they’re saying you folks you are out of step up here in Washington.”

http://www.theolympian.com/2011/10/18/1842484/tea-party-loses-another-round.html

posted by Ace_Face on Oct 25, 2011 at 03:44:06 pm # 1 person liked this

Facebook post

OCTOBER 28 is DRAW FRED DAY here at OCCUPY TOLEDO!

That post included a nice sketch: