#SOPA/PIPA vs #NDAA Part One: What is this protest really about?

I've got a post that should go up at some point soon over at Mandommag.com about this same topic, but I thought I should go into a bit more detail.

So why all this hubbub about SOPA and PIPA when the bills have yet to pass either house of Congress? Where was all this hubbub when the NDAA of 2012 was passed? This is my main gripe about all these sites going dark today.  Which is a bigger threat? Stopping us from using the Internet the way we want or a violation of one of the most basic human rights our constitution guarantees?

Of course, SOPA/PIPA need to be protested, but there has been MUCH more of a net-wide freakout over these two unpassed laws than is required at this point in time.  Wouldn't humanity be better served by spending our energy and effort on protesting the more infringing law that is already on the books rather than laws that are three very large steps away from being laws?

Maybe we should ask ourselves why there is such a bigger outcry against SOPA/PIPA.  Is it just because these laws could give corporations the ability to effectively shut down some our favorite websites?  In the great scheme of things, that seems pretty minor.  What's your Internet freedom compared to your actual freedom?

So what is it, then? My only guess is that it's all for the money.  Think about all the money those sites will lose if they are blocked from American users.  Since they would be blocked Google would probably have trouble indexing them and if they had trouble indexing them, they'd have trouble putting targeted ads on their sites.  In theory those sites could go under entirely, robbing Google and other b2b service providers of a lot of income.  Of course, when you or I get detained indefinitely at a protest, that doesn't have any effect on these companies' bottom lines, so why should they care?

[caption id="attachment_13117190735" align="alignright" width="150" caption="From Tumblr today. Really? The WHOLE Internet needs to be saved?"][/caption]

Maybe it's a stretch, but why else would such Internet powerhouses as Google, and Wikipedia care about a law being passed? They didn't seem to give a shit when a law was passed that would allow for the legal indefinite imprisonment of people. So, when human freedom is at risk, they're meh. But what gets these big guys motivated? Lost revenue. Then you see them marshaling their Internet forces and suddenly it's as though the entire Internet was at risk--literally, that's what Tumblr is saying today.

"SAVE THE INTERNET" any page on Tumblr reads right now.

It's as though the Internet always existed or as though we couldn't live without it.

Do I think SOPA/PIPA are worth protesting? Of course. Do I think it's a waste of resources because there's a bigger threat out there? Definitely.

I've plenty more to say about this.

Part Two coming tomorrow....

ThePetePics: #OccupyTimesSquare 10/15/11 (#OWS)

#OccupyTimesSquare 10/15/11 (#OWS), a set on Flickr.

Honestly, I was not in Times Square yesterday because of the protest. I had been planning on going to the Times Square Toys R Us (because I have a quiet addiction to Lego minifigures) since before I'd heard yesterday was the day the #OccupyWallStreet protests were heading north. I used to be a much bigger protest junkie back in the early 21st Century, but I learned that it's too easy for our leaders to ignore us so I stopped. Not that I blame anyone for trying and I definitely agree with the sentiment of the "Occupy" protests. So, I was very happy to see them grow so much. I hope they keep on growing!

Click the pics above or check out the slideshow below:

ckck:

Anarchist protest rally in Union Square, New York City. May 1st, 1914.

Not much has changed!  There’s even a pithy slogan for a newspaper on that roof-top billboard!

Americans: exploiting the shit out of each other since (at least) 1914!

Congratulations, NYPD, you've arrested 500 Americans and made the world a little safer for big business

Congratulations, NYPD, you've arrested 500 Americans and made the world a little safer for big business, a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.

Remind me again how many bankers and businessmen got arrested for trashing our economy?

UPDATE 20111002 00:05:



Yep. Turns out it was 700.  Even more absurd is that there have been rumors flying about the cops actually guiding the protesters onto the bridge and then shutting down the bridge.  Didn't something like this happen back in 2008?

newsweek:

What’s amazing about this photograph (by David Shankbone, Mr. Coolest Last Name Ever) is the ‘Charging Bull’ sculpture was initially installed without the consent of the authorities. It’s guerilla art!

The rest of the Occupy Wall St. photos from ‘In Focus’ are equally fascinating, go check ‘em out. (And hey! There’s a rumor Radiohead might be performing for the protesters at 4pm. Woah.)

MUST PROTECT THE BULL.  (Typical establishment types!)

Why I should really stay away from random online discussion about protests or politics

Ugh. I've been to my share of protests.  I gave up on them because they're ultimately useless in a world where leaders are so far removed from every day people that they can ignore any of us at a whim.  But before I came to this conclusion, I took part in waaaay too many online debates about politics and protests.  Now I remember why I stepped away.  Earlier today I saw a video on Google+ that started immediately with violence committed against protesters by NYPD.  I replied to it, asking for context--where was the footage shot? When was it shot?  I then explained that posting a video like this without any context of any kind just riles people up without informing them.  He replied and just made me frustrated, so what follows is my reply (the bits inside quotes are his reply):

You illustrate my point exactly.

"Saturday 9/24 @ 3PM EST. Not sure the street location. But obviously NYC."

NYC is a big place. There have been protests elsewhere on other days, months and years ago.  During the big mess in Iran a couple years back police-violence videos from other countries were being linked to on Twitter.

"As far as riling people up. I'm not doing anything to you, if you got riled up, then that was all internal."

So, when Fox News misinforms, partially informs and only shows footage of rabid protesters, you think that's not riling their conservative viewers up?  It's called misinformation and it's wrong regardless of whether you're for or against the protesters.

"But I would agree, its brutal what the cops are doing."

Who are you agreeing with?  I didn't say what they were doing was brutal, I didn't say it wasn't brutal.  It seems brutal from the footage, but often the footage only tells part of the story.

"The crowd was not being overly disobedient or anything."

So, you know that how?

"The cops instigated the whole thing from what I saw on this video and several others from the past two weeks."

And that is clearly illustrated in which of these videos? All the videos I've seen cut to the cops being brutal. No or little context. The footage is enough to be concerned, but before you let yourself get riled up, think about what you are and are not seeing.

"The cops are supporting wall street. That is all that needs to be understood."

Really? That's it?  Don't you think that's an overly simplistic viewpoint?

"The cops are not supporting the people's right to assembly."

You really think it's that simple? There's so much more going on here. Cops have to follow orders or they could lose their jobs.  If their orders are to enforce the law then that's what they're going to do.  If the laws are unfair, then that's something different. As unjust as it seems, there are laws against assembly without a permit.  Get a permit, and everything's cool. If they can't get a permit, then don't blame the cops for arresting people when they're ordered to arrest people.  The real problem isn't cops doing their jobs it's that the laws are bought by corporations and bankers.  Cops on the ground think they're protecting their communities.  They're not, of course, but it's very likely that they don't understand that.  They're victims just like the rest of us, so posting partial info about police brutality and painting cops as bad guys is doing just what Fox News does, only about the opposite types of people.

"How does that degrade your view of 100% support of the protesters."

Because I can't trust what I'm seeing.  Liars (even unintentional liars) live on both sides of the political spectrum.  I don't want to support protesters who are breaking laws (even unjust ones).  I don't want to support brutal cops, either.  Of course, if I don't get context or as much information about the incident as I can, I don't have enough information to go on.

We all have our points of view and we need to make sure those points of view don't bias us against the truth.  When you witness violence first hand, it's easy and natural to see threats.  But to be sure, we need a bigger picture.

"If anything I'm even more invested in supporting the people now. Does anyone have a different experience viewing this live unedited video."

Which is why you shouldn't trust videos like this, because clearly they're enough to get you riled up without providing the entire picture.  Hence my point.

I don't know how he'll reply back and honestly, I don't have the time to care. I've got things I'm trying to do with my life that will hopefully make the world a better place.  I don't have the patience to deal with people who think about everyone else's behavior much more than they think about their own.

It's just like I posted on Website666.com earlier today.  People who just spout off about things before knowing the full picture do everyone a disservice.  I've been down this road before and have been misled about protests, online videos and more, and I've been misled by people who I've trusted and who honestly did have my best interests at heart.  But good intentions don't guarantee accuracy.

Only questioning the conservatives isn't enough.  Only questioning liberals isn't enough.  Question everyone, always and often.  Yes, question even me.  Does what I'm saying make sense to you? If it doesn't, then please ignore it.

Look at these kids, sitting here with their Apple computers,” he said. “Apple, one of the biggest monopolies in the world. It trades at $400 a share. Do they even know that?

Look at these kids, sitting here with their Apple computers,” he said. “Apple, one of the biggest monopolies in the world. It trades at $400 a share. Do they even know that?

Protesters Are Gunning for Wall Street, With Faulty Aim - NYTimes.com

Or how today’s young protesters are less knowledgeable, a true shadow of social activists from decades past.

(via friendlyatheist)

Actually, them using Apple computers *is* smart.  Faulting them for it isn’t. I mean, what’s the alternative? Using virus-ridden, craptops with a 10+ year-old version of Windows on them?  Seriously, it’s this kind of cynicism that really pisses me off.

“Ohhh, look how hypocritical they are! They hate corporations but they’re drinking Starbucks.”

Right because I’ve got a thousand things going on AND I’m trying to help the world be a better place by going to a protest and YOU’RE pissed because I didn’t have the time to find a non-corporate coffee house when there’s a fracking Starbucks on every goddamn corner of NYC.

“Oh, look at those idiots—they’re protesting oil drilling yet, how did they get here? By their car, right? HA! HYPOCRITES.”

Right, because it was clearly the choice of every car owner that the overwhelming majority of cars have internal combustion engines in them.  Why, the last time I bought a car (well over ten years ago) I walked RIGHT into the car dealer and let my demands be known: “I WANT A CAR AND I ONLY WANT ONE WITH AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE IN IT! NO OTHER KIND OF ENGINE WILL DO, DAMMIT!!  YOU HEAR ME!?!?!  NO OTHER KIND!”

I remember years ago, when I went to see “The Corporation” at the Nuart theater in Los Angeles, I went to pay for tickets and the guy in the booth was like “Ohhh, you’re using a credit card to buy tickets to see ‘The Corporation’? Shame on you.”

I furrowed my brow and said simply: “Um, what?”

He shrugged and just handed me my tickets and my credit card back.  Of course, I didn’t tell him what I was thinking which was this: “Using cash is no different, sir.  The Federal Reserve is pretty much the same thing as a corporation and along those lines, I would ask you this: what would you have me pay for my tickets with, shells like on the Flintstones? Should I transfer my cash into another debt-based currency like the Euro or something? Or should I trade you some fucking cattle?” 

The next time you’re about to say something glib that would end in the phrase “oh, the irony,” STOP.  JUST… stop. Then, think for a moment and realize what you’re doing:

1) you’re being stupid and judgmental.

2) you’re looking for a reason to write the person off and not trying to understand who they are, what they want or where they’re coming from (only then can you legitimately write them off).

3) being a douchebag. I’m sure I wouldn’t approve of all of the choices you made today, either, but you don’t see me going around saying “OH, LOOK AT THAT GUY, HE’S BEING CRITICAL OF SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET. WHAT A LOSER!  I’M SO MUCH BETTER THAN HIM BECAUSE… um… because… I’m BEING IRONIC ABOUT IT.  HA!  SEE?  I’M STILL BETTER THAN HIM!”

OH, THE IRONY.

newsweek:In what may be the most documented arrests ever, at least five Wall Street protesters were detained on Tuesday to the chants of “what’s your name!,” “fucking cowards,” and the like. A spokesperson for the protesters writes via email:The first arrest was a protester who objected to the police removing a tarp that was protecting our media equipment from the rain. The police said that the tarp constituted a tent, in spite of it not being a habitat in any way. Police continued pressuring protesters with extralegal tactics, saying that a protester on a bullhorn was breaking a law. The protester refused to cease exercising his first amendment rights and was also arrested. Then the police began to indiscriminately attempt to arrest protesters, many of them unsheathed their batons, in spite of the fact that the protest remained peaceful. One of the protesters received a large gash on their leg, another lost a tooth. Multiple police tackled a protester and sat on him as he continually warned them that he was experiencing an asthma attack. One of the medics on site informed the police that they needed to call an ambulance because this was a potentially fatal circumstance. They ignored him. We have no current information on this protester, but we hope that he hasn’t been murdered by the police.One fascinating police tactic of note: the presence of officers with video cameras recording the arrests, likely to be used to defend against the inevitable accusations of brutality.More quality reporting from Newsweek!As someone who has been to his fair share of protests, I know first hand that cops have been shooting video of protests for years. This is less for “defending” against accusations of brutality (come on, is there a defense against batons vs. unarmed protesters?) and more for documenting who the protesters are. What I’ve read over the years about this tactic is that they want to be able to spot the career protesters and develop profiles on them over the span of many protests.Of course, if Newsweek would stop treating their Tumblr like it’s not a legitimate method for disseminating facts, they would have done their research and known that this isn’t about defense but instead about offense.And dig that crazy pro-government, anti-protester bias when the Newsweek Tumblrer refers to the “inevitable accusations of brutality.”The tone of this suggests that said accusations are guaranteed to be groundless. Do these guys even try to be unbiased anymore? It’s as if they’re quietly saying “Why don’t these protesters stop their whining about corporate corruption of government and just go home?!? Why, I’m a reporter paid by corporate media and I’m not corrupt! What are these people crying about?!?!”#irony

666cast episode 44 from website666.com: This week hear how America is falling behind in the “setting a good example game”! Protests for democracy erupt all over the world and America has shit to do with it!

666cast episode 44 from website666.com: This week hear how America is falling behind in the “setting a good example game”! Protests for democracy erupt all over the world and America has shit to do with it!

Protesting Prop 8 in NYC

Protesting Prop 8 in NYC, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Yeah, I know Prop 8 is in CA but hey, we've got to do something about
all these pissed off gays living in the same city as me! ;P

Wall Street Protestors Footage Part 1

This is a 14 minute video made up of the most interesting stuff I streamed from my iPhone yesterday (20080925) at the big Wall Street Bailout protest. Remember, it came from my iPhone, so it kind looks like crap. Watch for a poorly shot moment (still learning how best to use the iPhone as a camcorder) where I met Arun Gupta, the man who wrote what Amy Goodman of Democracy Now called "the email that was heard 'round the world." Apparently the protest sprung up with no organizing group--everyone who read Arun's email just said "we'll be there on Thursday!" and so Arun was there, too. I'm guessing his email was just that moving. He seemed like a real cool guy, too. Other highlights: The crazy guillotine man, the best profane protest chant evar, scooter cops, and MORE.

BACK FROM THE LA PROTEST

Yeehaw...

Yeah, I shouldn't bag on protests but I really feel like they're boring as hell. Half the people that are supposed to show up don't and then there's no real focus to the protest. At the State of the Empire speech protest back in January Gore Vidal was supposed to show and at the last minute he bailed, but they read a something he had "sent along" in his stead. It was his version of the State of the Union speech and I had already heard it on that day's podcast of DemocracyNow.

Today we were supposed to be treated to a speech from actress and relative hottie Mario Bello. Turns out, she spoke at the pre-rally rally but couldn't stick around. I decided if Maria didn't have to stick around, neither did I, so I left.

See, when I got there, I thought, according to the flyer I got from ANSWER.org that I would see a huge crowd at Hollywood and Vine. Again, according to the flyer, the march began at H'wood and Vine and ended at H'wood and Highland. I was running late, so I decided to just go to H'wood and Highland (a big shopping area in the literal heart of Hollywood) and join the fun then.

I get there 40 minutes after the start time and no crowd was there. A few booths and tables were set up, but that was it. H'wood Blvd was blocked off but empty. I decide to walk down to Vine--it's only 10 blocks or so. I reach Cahuenga and see that there is a huge crowd, a block south from H'wood, on Cahuenga and Sunset. I figure it's a huge protest that probably started at H'wood and Vine and stretches that far, so I keep walking a few more blocks to Vine.

I get there and no crowd. I look down to Sunset and nothing--nada. The streets are partially blocked and some traffic is being let through.

WTH??

So, I turn around and head back to H'wood and H'land. About halfway there, I see the march turn the corner of Highland, onto Hollywood Blvd. NICE. The flyer says start at H'wood and Vine, end at H'wood and H'land. WTF!! NICE organization, ANSWERLA.ORG!!!

Losers...

By the time I caught up with the march, I could only be part of it for like ten minutes before we got where we were going. With a shrug I decided to take some pics and listen to the speakers. Of course, you know how that turned out.

Before I made my way (foolishly) to H'wood and Vine I did have a look a the tables and booths set up by various groups only to discover the same lack of focus I mentioned earlier. There were all sorts of folks there including, just one table away from a booth on socialism, a booth selling T-shirts for profit. Sure, according to their website "A percentage of" my "purchase goes to worthy politically progressive causes…" whatever those are, but do you really need to charge $20-30 for an anti-war T-shirt? Isn't getting the anti-war message out more important than making a profit?

And they were cool T-shirts, too--I even saw the one Natalie Portman wears in the shot you see to the left. It was $25. Too much to spend on my meager budget, so I decided to skip it and check their website out after a few more paychecks. You can check them out at COTAM.org. Don't ask me what it stands for--it's too long to type it all out.

There were also two people handing out postcards advertizing a site called "RabbleRouzer.com" which sold protestery-type shirts. So, when I get home, I check out the site and they've got a whopping three designs and, in my humble opinion, they kinda suck. You'd think they'd have more than three designs, though. I guess the hook is that each design connects with a particular charity--so a chunk of money you spend on one shirt goes to that shirt's charity--definitely cool, but I need a bigger selection than three.

So, in the end it was pretty so-so. The LAPD didn't even send any SWAT cops. There were a few motorcycle cops and the odd B&W cruiser, but mostly there were just bicycle cops. That's how far the peace movement has come--we're so effective they don't even send SWAT out for us anymore.

Sheesh...

I think I'll sit the next one out, thank you very much.

[http://flickr.com/photos/thepete/tags/march182006antiwarprotest/|Check out all of the pics I took] at Flickr.com.

OFF TO THE BIG PROTEST

Here's the protest I'm leaving for right now:

Click for more info on protests in your area. ([http://thepete.com/theblog/go.php?http://www.stopwar.org.uk/march20/events.asp|Outside the US?])

Yes, I know I have yet to finish editing the footage I shot at the last (5) protests I've been to, but I've been busy!! And yes, I'm leaving late, but I figure I'll get to H'wood and H'land and shoot the march arriving. I hate to admit it, but if you've been to one protest, you've been to them all. Still, it's the only voice we've got left--if we don't use it--we just might lose it, too.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE (that's us)!!

VIDEO FROM LA ANTI-INAUGURAL BASH

Here is the first batch of footage from the big protest in Westwood today. This is all stuff from my minicam because I'm a shmuck and left my firewire cable at home. I'll cap and edit the footage later tonight. In the meantime, here's some minicam fun:

antiinaugural01.mov

This is the very first shot of the protest I took from across the street from it. It's just the tip of the iceberg! When Angelinos (Angelenos?) want to protest Bush, they go all out! Peacefully, of course! That's what always cracks me up about LAPD--they come out big-time with SWAT gear just because violence MIGHT occur--despite the fact that it hardly ever does--it's all about the SWAT gear.

antiinaugural02abughraib.mov

This one protester dressed up as one of the victims at Abu Ghraib. Good stuff. This is what half of America voted for--more torture and more protests.

YEEHAW!

Kudos to anyone who shows up to a protest dressed in a torture outfit. Depressing, but effective!

antiinaugural03.mov

Now THIS clip is what I'm talkin' about!!

Impeach the bastard!! Clinton did NOTHING compared to Bush. Monicagate?

TRY NO WMD, bitch!!

But seriously, check out the clip, it's a good one :)

antiinaugural04.mov

This is a shot during the march through Westwood. There was something strangely empowering to walk through my neighborhood with a few hundred screaming protesters.

Frankly, there's so much to protest, it's a shame we don't do this more often...

antiinaugural05.mov

This is a long shot (about 10 minutes) of the march ending back on Wilshire Boulevard. I decided to get artsy and shoot this from the point of view of one of those yellow stripes on the road.

Comments welcome!

Quick LA protest clip up from the Oscars!

ThePete, here... Well, sorry this is so minimal. I've got almost two hours of footage to get through and a lot of capping. I did cap the final excitement for the afternoon. At approximately 6:15pm, LAPD in riot gear decided to clear us out of our little protest section and began running after us. I'm not sure how serious they were about arresting us, but I didn't stick around to find out. Check out the below Real Media clip to see why I won't be getting any cinematography awards...

The first person you see in the clip is a guy who was arrested the day before at another rally in Hollywood - this one at the CNN building. The rest is pretty self-explanatory...

cop chase clip 3mb streaming Real Media.

More clips coming soon! Please comment if you have any thoughts whatsoever.

ANTI-WAR PROTEST FOOTAGE ON THE 5 MINUTE SHOW

Hi, ThePete here... When I'm not posting articles here, I am busy with the rest of my web site. One of the things I do is shoot a weekly show called "The 5 Minute Show". Most of the episodes are dumb fun, but the last four have been much more serious and feature footage I shot at the big anti-war rally in Hollywood back on February 15. Please check out the episodes - hey, they're only five minutes a pop - and I've got more footage on the way. I shot stuff on the 20th and I plan on being at the protest within a block from the Oscars on the 23rd, as well. I'll be posting clips as I can cut them together. There's been so much going on, it's been very difficult to work out what to write about.

All links here are streaming Real Media, but you can download them or Quicktime versions by checking out The 5 Minute Show Home Page. Just remember, I'm no Jon Stewart (and neither is my budget!). Here are the episodes of The 5 Minute Show:

THEPETE GOES TO (ANTI)WAR IN EP. 7 OF THE 5 MINUTE SHOW

THEPETE STILL WAGING ANTI-WAR IN EP8 of THE 5 MINUTE SHOW

THEPETE & LA VS. BUSH & WAR IN EP 9 OF THE 5 MINUTE SHOW

EP. 10 of THE 5 MINUTE SHOW - VIDAL, PATRIOT ACT 2 & MORE

And here's the episode I shot the day the war broke:
IRAQ ATTACK IS BAD on Ep11 OF THE 5 MINUTE SHOW