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| Gov. Andrew Cuomo |
Albany's Mayor Gerald D. Jennings, under pressure from the Cuomo Administration, made the call for the city's curfew to be enforced on Friday, but the police have not yet complied. The State Police Civil Disturbance unit was also deployed, but has not moved forward with any arrests.
"We were ready to make arrests if needed, but these people complied with our orders," a State Police official said. However, he added that State Police supported the defiant posture of Albany police leaders to hold off making arrests for the low-level offense of trespassing, in part because of concern it could incite a riot or draw thousands of protesters in a backlash that could endanger police and the public.Read more at the Albany Times Union.
"We don't have those resources, and these people were not causing trouble," the official said. "The bottom line is the police know policing, not the governor and not the mayor."
A city police source said his department also was reluctant to damage what he considers to be good community relations that have taken years to rebuild. In addition, the crowd included elderly people and many others who brought their children with them.
"There was a lot of discussion about how it would look if we started pulling people away from their kids and arresting them ... and then what do we do with the children?" one officer said.
65 comments:
It is beginning. The police realize that we are not here to cause a riot, that we are here to do the most American thing we can do...protest our government and the plutocracy that it has become. Once we lose the right to assemble peacefully, the rest of our rights will soon follow.
I tip my hat to the Albany PD and the NY State Police! The NYPD can learn a lot from their brothers and sisters in the state.
Good on them. "There is no honor in this" otherwise.
Bravo to police officers that are better and smarter than "just following orders."
There is honor here
Congratulations, Albany Police .. Respect. The world is watching OWS , and the greater majority agree with the principles. Omegamorgan
Kudos to the Police. A big F U to the governor and Mayor. Can we say NOT RE-ELECT?!?!?!
"NOT RE-ELECT" now give me liberty or give me death.
Reading this I think to myself, this is why I like cops and afford them my trust. Even if some do not know how to deal with protests... there are a few who have a clue, it would seem. Thank you sirs. Others have not realized how to satisfy their duty to the public and our constitution.
I wonder if any of them were oath keepers?
This is unfortunate. The cause will garner much less support without the police doing horrific things like arresting the elderly and parents in front of their children. That would have sky rocketed the cause at virtually no cost.
Thank you for restoring my faith in law enforcement.
Well done on proving that the Police are also part of the 99%. Kudos to all.
god damn hippy occupyers....long live the 1%!!!
Don't worry, guys! They'll replace those cops with new, hardliner cops who love to arrest people for no reason and then we will have our riot!
Those last two comments were posted by morons.
I totally agree with the last post. We don't need riots, and obviously they're not all hippies.
If the Albany PD can't do their job, time to bring in some people who can.
This is because some of them have been robbed of their houses and screwed by the banks I bet . They havn't been bought yet like the New York Police , as soon as they get a donation from someone up high they will do what's right !
until then I mean
Go NYS troopers & Albany PD! May they all prosper for it.
it's an amazing time to be alive..., now can we get the fuck off this rock?
Thank you, officers.
Love it when a police department doesn't follow orders blindly. This courageous department, looked at the situation and realized that these people were not causing any harm nor being disruptive. Why should they be arrested for practicing their 1st amendment rights! Thank you State Troopers/Albany PD for seeing it in an enlightened way and not doing something just because you were told to do so : )
stop rioting and go get a job. seriously? explain a solid single front and argue about that - until you can unite and fight for one single cause no one will give you any merit. I am part of the 1% but i believe that those of the 99% do pose some good arguments. I am all for the betterment of our society as a whole but this is not going to solve it. Do you honestly think anybody on wall st. or any other financial center of the world gives a shit about what you are saying? no, they dont because you aren't coming together saying the same thing. you are to stupid to realize that and maybe thats why you dont have a job. the world isnt going to be handed to you on a silver platter. you have to work for it and you have to tak what you think you deserve. Do you think anyone that is on wall street making 6 or 7 figures just fell into that...no they fucking took in because they are smart and hard working. spend less time on your 99% bullshit riot and focus that on getting a job you worthless cunts
Wonderful news !
12:58AM: I am not even going to bother addressing how you wrote that comment, or should I say 'attempted to write.' As for what you wrote, everything you said is wrong, except for perhaps you are part of the 1%. No one ever gives merit. How about an alternative method, if you don't like this one? I could cite numerous articles showing that people on Wall St. AND other financial centers care about what is happening. Studies show that less than 15% of OWSers are unemployed, only marginally higher than the national rate. Who is rioting?
Really, you are one of the 1%? Wow, I would have thought you would be more educated and would write better. And, truly, you are a "potty" mouth. You can't express yourself more intelligently than that? By the way, you are off mark on your idea of what Occupy is all about. Stop being a "Ditto Head". Listen to what is being said with open ears. Then, maybe use some critical thinking skills, and you may actually have a clue as to what it is about. Also, they aren't rioting. Good luck!
Mr 12:58, Who do you think you are trying to fool? You are not one of the 1%. The sentence structure and the lack of proper use and correct function of words show us that you are merely what one might call a "wanna be". It is quite obvious that you are clueless as to what the 99% actually is. Not to mention what the protest is actually about to begin with. Nor do you have any clue as to who is protesting. You want to rant and cry 'foul' and say such things as "Do you honestly think anybody on wall st. or any other financial center of the world gives a shit about what you are saying?" When it quite obvious you have not taken you're head out from either your anus or away from you're television set while you watch fox news. Because if you did then you would have noticed that this has gone GLOBAL. OCCUPY WALL STREET has now gone OCCUPY THE WORLD. The entire world has taken notice and EVERYONE of the 99% is tired and not taking it any longer. So might I suggest you you educate you're self. Read the news papers, watch some real news, surf the internet and join the human race. Then perhaps you can stop trying to fool you're self. Because you are not fooling anyone else but you.
When you say, "Get a Job" you seem to imply that there are jobs to get. Have you tried to "Get" a job recently? There are little to no jobs, and the ones still available either require outlandish credentials, or are in pursuit by thousands of out of work civilians. The unemployment percentage never takes into account the people that are not currently filed for unemployment, nor does it count the people that have lost "Everything" and dropped off the grid entirely due to vicious practices applied by your 1%. also not included are the people that have just given up because they have no ability to get a job as it stands today. So, when people say, "Get a job" They have obviously never seen the world beyond the silver spoon, perched within their mouths. It takes money to learn, live, and search for a job; Something of which I am sure the 1% know nothing about...
"Money, corrupts the mind into believing that its slavery to it is just and rewarding."
Who are the idiots who elect idiots like these?
You and me and our neighbors and friends, that's who.
We get the government we deserve. If we start being smart, we'll get a smart government. If we start caring about having representative democracy and down-to-earth officials, we'll get it. But we really have to care, and most importantly, pay attention.
If nothing else, #occupy will hopefully get people paying attention again, and start voting, and voting better.
I agree with all of the above posts up too, and including, 12:58. I have friends and family in the 1% and i have friends and family in the 99%, and both sides have valid arguments. (Usually the case with any argument) However, both sides are also flawed. Not all of the 1% is exactly how the 99% portrays them. The 1% not mutually exclusive to good people, the same can be said for the 99% and bad people. The current governmental scheme needs to be changed. The government is sound, but as with any lasting thing, it has become complacent over time and has stopped worrying about what is right for everyone, but what is right for them. Also, the 99% needs to recognize that "Wall Street" is not an evil place that wants to hold you back. Its a place where many people found success, then they became complacent with the 99% occupying the "lower" positions. The 99% DO need to present a solid front. The 99% occupy everything they can and saying were not taking it any longer will not cut it. You're not taking what anymore?
Not taking advantage of situations that could better your living conditions? Or, are you tired of the system taking advantage of you because you will not stand up and defy them? Well, now you are getting some attention, take the advice from the 1%, who by the way, became the 1% because they changed how things were being run. Stop blaming "The 1%" and give them something to change, when they say it can't be changed you call them out. Fine leaders, people to rally behind, become a something that can change how things are being run and not a movement that is accomplishing nothing substantial.
The police officers who refused to arrest protestors were not doing it to undermine the 1%, they were not disobeying an order to show their support for the occupation because they lost houses to banks and the 1%. They were doing it simply to avoid a potential riot. They did it to keep "good community relations that have taken years to rebuild." The 1% is not going to replace them with brutal new officers who only follow orders. Like the 99%, these law enforcement officers saw something wrong, presented a valid argument and resolved a situation.
There will always be a 99% and there will always be a 1% it would be nice if the current system changed. But moving from left to right or to the middle will only shift the focus of the problems and not actually solve anything. Whoever is in charge focuses on his side and the other side throws accusations their way, so 99% maybe this time consider that. Change how you think about fixing YOUR problems and lets try to fix some of the problems that affect us all and when they are gone we will both start to work on the problems we see in the other side.
I happened to come across a Spanish rights demonstration a few nights ago on the way to a late meeting. The police kept their distance, in spite of insults, and the march was peaceful. The vast majority of the violence only occurs when a few ignorant thugs in uniform decide to exercise their steroid inflated mentally handicapped egos and attack someone. This is what has happened at several of the Occupy WS rallies in the US. On the other hand, when the police do their job, act within the law, and do not intentionally provode an escalation of the tension these rallies proceed without violence 100% of the time.
I’m part of the 99%, and I have no idea what all these people are protesting. It’s not for lack of trying; I just haven’t been able to find a single coherent statement beyond “We are the 99%.” I’m like, “That’s nice. I am, too. But do you happen to have a point?”
Seriously… I’m not trying to start an argument, just honestly wondering: what the heck is Occupy Wall Street trying to accomplish?
For the purposes of this discussion I will refer not the 1% or corporations. Both fall under the category of Money. The problem is that Money controls 100% of the agenda regarding public policy. Both ruling parties in America and the ruling party in Canada know that their main reason for being (getting reelected) has nothing to do with an enlightened electorate. Barely half of eligible voters in North America vote at all. More than half of the remainder can be manipulated into voting against their own interests because they don't even know where their interests lie. They lack the imagination to think that these draconian measures that Money has governments take will ever have any effect on them. They think that because they work hard and are successful that they are successful because they work hard. Ask any skilled tradesman who's job has been outsourced or moved to a right-to-work state to improve Money's bottom line what they think. They may have worked hard all their lives. I guess they're just unlucky.
Politicians are more afraid of Money than voters. Our job now is to find a way to convince them that they should be more afraid of ordinary people's ability to remove them from office than of Money's ability to fog and divert voters attention away from their excesses.
We are not lazy good-for-nothings. We are the people that democracy is supposed to represent. VOTE!! Talk to your family,friends and neighbours. Become informed.
WE WANT OUR DEMOCRACY BACK!
The only hold we have on those that govern us is our ability to kick them to the curb. If they aren't willing to provide us, our children and our future generations with a society worth living in, then get them out of the way!
Democracy. Solidarity. = Power and a Better Life for everyone.
Stupid hippies stop protesting and get a damn job, my 15 yr old kids have jobs for christ sakes. Stop looking for a handout and if you REALLY want to change something then remove Obama from office
What would have REALLY been good to rees was that they refused not because it would make them look bad but because they agreed with the cause and citizens constitutional right to protest. Now THAT would be newsworthy.
@12:58 - The point of the protests are not so that the 1% care what we are saying, we want the 99% to care. The message we are sending is indeed concentrating itself down to a point or three. Here they are:
Wall Street wrecked our economy through a combination of irresponsible, questionably legal business practices, and base greed. Since then, the economy HAS recovered a fair amount, productivity per worker has risen greatly, but all the profits have gone to the 1%. Companies are sitting on large cash reserves and not hiring people. There have been no criminal prosecution of anyone on wall street relating to this. This is not how America should be.
This is the America i am proud of.
I heard that there is actually a site now for a group of police officers who are supporting the 99 movement. Anyone knows about it? Info?
You want to know what the occupiers are protesting? The loss of our democracy. Government does not belong to the people, it belongs to money. We now live in a plutocracy. Taxation with only the fuzziest illusion of representation. The 30-year-long war on the middle class. And the control of the media by the rich.
This is not the American Dream. We want our country back.
@6:24 a.m. It is commendable that your 15 year old has a job. Would the job provide enough income to support, educate and insure a family? OWS is about providing a future for everyone in this country, not squeezing the poor and middle class for the benefit of the wealthy. No one needs a hand-out as much as they need a hand-up to be able to achieve their potential. The 1% is bent on removing the safety nets for those in unfortunate circumstances. The problem with the 'gimme' mentality of a small minority is that there were no accountability requirements attached to the public dole, so it became an entitlement.
You are all so deluded if you think its as simple as the corporations did this and its all their fault, there are many more parties involved in the current state of the U.S. economy than just "Wall Street" as the 99% call it. Foreign Policy, fuel to keep the country running, bad bills passed congress, bank; both nation-wide AND locally.
Did banks hand out loans left and right? yes. Did some of the 99% take the loans, knowing full well they would not be able to pay them back? yes. Did we start wars FOR oil, debatable, but did the country benefit in one way and suffer in another? yes.
Also, the 99% should know, I personally know members of the 1% who do not "control the media" they do not want to take away safety nets from the impoverished. And, some of them I know are getting taxed up to 51% of every dollar he makes. Does this mean he does not want to help the less fortunate? no. He would love to help the less fortunate, however so many of the 99% or not interested in capitalizing on the help the country already provides, that sending them anymore help would be and is useless.
And by the way, none of the OWS supporters in this thread have told us why they are occupying Wall Street. All you keep saying is already implied in a protest. You are not satisfied with the current government. But why, what specifically do you want to do about it?
@11:44 "And, some of them I know are getting taxed up to 51% of every dollar he makes."
This is complete and utter bullshit!
The top marginal rate is 35% with no deductions, a nearly impossible scenario. Payroll tax is 7.65% of the first $106,800, for a maximum of $8170.20.
Your friend does not pay 51% on every dollar he makes, and either you know it and are deliberately misleading people, or you don't know it. Liar or stupid--which is it?
OWS wants to get the money and corporate influence out of politics. They want truth in politics. They want to stop corporate welfare. They want corporations to pay their fair share. They want the extremely wealthy to pay their fair share. (Treating capital gains as income, for example.)
It is better to be silent and thought a fool...
your right my mistake, my friend does not get taxed 51% of every dollar he makes. He gets taxed the maximum amount possible, then his company deducts a percentage (some of which goes to the government, local and federal) then when he finally has his base profits, he is taxed yet again. My friend keeps 49% of every dollar he makes and no he does not work for a corporation. He works for a private business, which I'm sure any educated person on here knows that you all throw any successful business into the "corporations" that you claim are depriving you of rights and money.
He is in the highest tax bracket possible, receives no tax breaks, works longer weeks than most people, is taxed more for it, and then you say because he works hard, is good at his job, and enjoys his success (while paying for welfare and other government funds, which go to either people who are in dire straights, or to the "under privileged" many of whom can be held accountable, not entirely but in part, to our current system)
Ha, once again the 99% have portrayed hard working people, with large incomes yes, but deserving and WHO DO ALREADY PAY THEIR FARE SHARE, and lay the blame at our feet.
As I am sure you googled almost all of your last post go ahead and give me some new examples of the "corporations" that are doing so much damage. I don't want all the old stand-by's either. Lets see some facts from the 99% vague accusations that are only partially true.
Your friend needs to invest in a tax lawyer.
thumbs up to the albany pd
hope other departments can show the same restraint.
wow
you guys are in trouble
love Canada
"Anonymous said...
Stop rioting and go get a job. seriously? explain a solid single front and argue about that - until you can unite and fight for one single cause no one will give you any merit. I am part of the 1% but i believe that those of the 99% do pose some good arguments. I am all for the betterment of our society as a whole but this is not going to solve it. Do you honestly think anybody on wall st. or any other financial center of the world gives a shit about what you are saying? no, they dont because you aren't coming together saying the same thing. you are to stupid to realize that and maybe thats why you dont have a job. the world isnt going to be handed to you on a silver platter. you have to work for it and you have to tak what you think you deserve. Do you think anyone that is on wall street making 6 or 7 figures just fell into that...no they fucking took in because they are smart and hard working. spend less time on your 99% bullshit riot and focus that on getting a job you worthless cunts"
October 25, 2011 12:58 AM
"One-Percenters" are at The Top because 1. They can think; 2. They have ideas (even if not good), and 3. They can spell. None of which you have, my dear sir... who the Hell are you trying to hoodwink?? NO ONE here is fooled by your driveling invective. Obviously
This movement is anti-police. They deserve no credit or respect for being too scared to arrest people for fear of sparking a violent riot or creating damaging optics by arresting old people and children. Quit looking to the police to help this movement forward. Look to the strength of the people, rise up, do anything necessary, don't ask permission, and don't take action contingent on municipal or state government or police support. Power to the People!
"Anonymous said...
This is unfortunate. The cause will garner much less support without the police doing horrific things like arresting the elderly and parents in front of their children. That would have sky rocketed the cause at virtually no cost."
Exactly! 'Cause, you know, the people getting arrested and their children don't really matter or anything. Ass.
I can't wait for the 1% to realize they are just as humans as the rest of us.
Wouldn't it be more effective to enter politics yourself and change things from the inside?
You would think there should be a boatload of local candidacy signs and people starting to run for offices instead of squatters. If Reagan and Schwarzenegger and Jesse ventua can win, hell, why not a 99% political party member?
yes I support these folksion their base cause to balance out the scales Of liberty that have tipped. But I would Not say I agree with the approach or incohesiveness. Nor the irresponsibility of putting people at risk for what almost amounts to a study in the power of social suggestion via the Internet. Not to mention the sheep that fall into protesting just for it's own sake. I do hope for a more actualized cohesive point, a spectacular plan (like starting a party, funding of candidates for injection into Washington). These ideas of course could backfire on me as THERE IS NO REAL POINT OR AGENDA! Let alone a solution being offered. Or Even steps to a solution.
Keyboard warriors... When money becomes obsolete what contribution will you be able to show? The house management is flawed by its very foundation. How will your words sound when you are forced into the dead end, stressful, impoverish, forsaken state of that which you focus your hate? Your ego will be broken the disease will be cured, expect it. for your inability to experience empathy will soon become your undoing.
"He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty."
aaaaaaaaaaand........your solution is?!?
quoting the the freakin' bible? religion, the only thing i can think of more brainwashing and repressive than government. who's side are you on?
bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
The Occupy message is appealing to many. Police put themselves in the line of fire for a living -- I'm sure many understand that Occupy represents them, too. Hear! Hear! To the Albany police and the NY State troopers!
For those who ask what OWS wants: it doesn't say, it doesn't speak with a unified voice, and imho it doesn't feel that it has to. It's saying, more or less, that the current leadership has failed. They don't necessarily want new policies from the same guys who have failed so often, and lied when proposing things that sounded good.
Maybe someone will propose something that moves them to evacuate. Until then they will occupy and decide daily on what to do next. Maybe this will create some change, at least they are exerting some power, which is better than having none. In this they are right; it is what the 1% understand.
I believe that 12:58 may very well be a 1%er. I've worked with and for them, and their grammar is no better than anyone else's. If it were, one might observe more of a meritocracy, more fairness, than what many OWSers perceive. Did GWB, a 1%er among the 1%ers, use correct grammar!?
Ok, time to set things straight. You are all generalizing the people who work on Wall Street. Hard working people, most of whom have nothing to do with the state of current policy, their crime is working hard at a high paying job when you fools are too lazy to put in the time necessary to do so? Settle for middle class jobs, they are necessary yes, but dont complain about it later when it is within your power to better yourself. The 99% is asking for handouts when they should be putting in effort to better their own lives.
We are Wall Street and its our job to make money. Whether its stocks, bonds, or commodities, it does not matter. We would trade baseball cards if it was profitable.I didn't hear America complaining when the market was roaring to 14,000. Just like gambling, its only a problem when you lose. I don't see people going to Gamblers Anonymous because they won too much, and now that the markets crapped out & even though it has come back somewhat, the government and the 99% are looking for a scapegoat.. well here we are.
Keep "taking us down" you will only hurt yourselves. What will happen when we can't find jobs on the street? We will take yours. We get up at 5am and work until 10pm or later. We don't get up to pee when we want, we dont get an hour long lunch, we don't retire at 50 with a pension. We eat what we kill and when the only thing left to eat is your dinner plate.. we will eat that too.
We will take your cushy jobs. Do you really think we can't teach 3rd graders or design landscapes? But you got your revenge right? We will now be making 85k a year. WRONG.
We wont buy new cars, we will stop tipping 35% on our dinners, our money was your money and guess what? When its gone you will have nothing. Ha so keep blaming Wall Street for your problems we will survive. Will you?
HOORAY! For Albany law enforcement. Boo---for Governor Cuomo who I had thought was an intelligent, compassionate, LOGICAL man. Guess I'm not always right. Very disappointed in Governor Cuomo. What damage are these people doing? Isn't this America--don't they have the right to assemble? Please, please, please, Governor Cuomo, stand on your own moral ground which explained while running for office. Be the governor who understands the intentions of these people and let them demonstrate as long as they are orderly and non-violent.
I have to think, since I really believe in Governor Cuomo, that he is getting heat from someone higher up. Legislators?
QUOTE" You are all generalizing the people who work on Wall Street. Hard working people, most of whom have nothing to do with the state of current policy, their crime is working hard at a high paying job when you fools are too lazy to put in the time necessary to do so? Settle for middle class jobs, they are necessary yes, but dont complain about it later when it is within your power to better yourself. The 99% is asking for handouts when they should be putting in effort to better their own lives." QUOTE
People who create nothing and make money off of money, contributing nothing towards society; yeah, that's some hard work there...
Too lazy to get a job, or not lucky enough to get a job? The job market as it stands today is like playing the lottery. I wouldn't expect anyone who has never lived life (without a sterling silver spoon blocking their view) to see their own ignorance. The media and peers of this "Blindly employed" class (not that all employed are this way, just the cluelessly enchanted) will not understand until it hits home. Your statement is obviously derived from the blacked out misleading lies that come from the frantic preservation of control and forced slavery. Yet until you experience the loss of your praised security blanket, you will only see the fantasy.
BTW... Even those in Wall Street know whats coming economically, and no one will be spared by the fall.
You want to see what Occupy wants? Search youtube for: Keith Olbermann Reads The Statement Released By The Wall Street Protesters - 2011-10-05
You want to see another reason? Search: Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street
These are just two of many...
Thomas Jefferson said it best ladies and gentlemen, "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs"
This was spoken hundreds of years ago, future predicted.
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