tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82882071687098681692024-03-13T10:20:05.724-05:00Occupy DixieHerein are to be found reflections on the movement that is Occupy Nashville. This blog is in no official way associated with Occupy Nashville itself, but is instead my own perspective as I occupy my place in it.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-49845420549010519862012-06-20T22:27:00.001-05:002012-06-20T22:32:09.862-05:00Occupy Nashville - Anatomy and AutopsyI watched the last Occupy Nashville General Assembly I plan to ever watch as it was live streamed last night. If you missed it, the footage is archived <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupy-nashville-a-live" target="_blank">here</a>, but be warned that viewing it will probably be a rather sad experience if you ever cared about ON or believed in the goals the group determined to support last Fall. In the end, the remnants of what was once an Occupy esteemed as a model by other groups around the country has devolved into perhaps the saddest lot of mopes ever convened on a few square yards of plaza anywhere.<br />
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If there's any entertainment value in the two hour charade that was last night's GA, it begins at about twenty minutes into the gathering when Michael Custer presents a proposal to the crowd of seven people (besides him and the person streaming the meeting) who were on the plaza steps. Michael told the group they needed to make a big sign with the ON Code of Conduct on it to be displayed at future GAs, apparently so the body can, as Custer put it, "protect ourselves" from people who have raised their voices to them in past GAs. He lamented, with appropriately feigned indignation and presumably exhausted patience, his assertion that what's been engaged in here is "psychological warfare."<br />
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Sigh. Because, of course, in Custer's world (mind), the numbers of people who are part of Occupy Nashville have been "decimated," not because the group that is ON tacitly supported liars and more for eight months, but because the victims of their abuse told the story, in some cases, loudly. Again, still, yet, even, a pattern of assault on those who didn't kiss ass but chose instead to confront what was going on was dismissed as people "fighting about stupid shit," the grievances of those who were attacked were "petty squabbles," and GAs are "not the place" to address any of it.<br />
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That brings us pretty much full circle. Months ago, the ON stream team disallowed any disagreement or even discussion in stream chat and later they would ban posters and delete posts made via any ON social media avenue. I once had even an album of a few pictures I'd shot of the Walkupy folks on their way to the plaza deleted...because I'm the one who shot the pictures and posted them. When the ON Internal Restorative Justice group completed a three month investigation into some of these allegations made against one member of that team and presented their findings at a GA last month, should anyone have been surprised that some of the people effectively shut out showed up at that meeting to see if their grievances would finally be addressed?<br />
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Pondering the shoulda/coulda/woulda has the potential to keep us here all night, so I won't. Instead, I'm going to end this blog by suggesting it be regarded as both an anatomy and autopsy of what has been Occupy Nashville. Besides over fifty blog entries that I've posted here since last November, there is a page on this blog that contains posts I wrote on facebook before I started this blog, and another page that has links to a gallery of ON-related visual media (videos and photographs) I created during the past eight months. Considered in the aggregate, I believe this blog makes clear, to anybody who wants to know, two things: 1) A significant number of people who "occupied" Nashville since last Fall either terrorized others within the movement or gave their tacit approval by refusing to confront it in any meaningful way (this is the anatomy of the body, if you will), and 2) The reasons Occupy Nashville is now, for all practical purposes, dead...that's the autopsy.<br />
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In closing, I feel compelled to note just a couple more things here. For starters, if you watched the footage of last night's GA, you may have heard Michael Custer cautioning the group (during announcements, just a few minutes into the footage) to not interact with anybody who presents as part of the ON legal team and to only deal with Tripp. The problem with that, of course, is that the person he was trying to get people to, yes, shun, is <b>the</b> person that Tripp had asked to act in his behalf while he was out of town earlier this week.<br />
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I think it would be groovy if Tripp clears that up when he himself addresses the GA on Thursday of this week, but I'm not holding my breath. This is, after all, the same Tripp who shamelessly played into the meme that Mickey Russell was arrested because he was part of Occupy Nashville, when, in fact, Russell was picked up because he was being an asshole in public and there were outstanding warrants on him in at least one other Tennessee county.<br />
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Now, for extra credit...can anybody explain exactly how what Custer did last night to Darlene was any different from what Jason Steen did to Dorsey months ago when he told at least one reporter to not deal with her because she really wasn't part of ON's media or public relations teams? Yanno, the offense that the RJ committee took Steen to task for and that the ON GA decided was sufficient grounds to shun him from their group? And, not to beat a dead horse, but how was this not the same sort of behavior that Custer declared as offensive to him in that GA when he told the group he knew what to do about this sort of problem and the answer was to shun the liar?<br />
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Over and over again in the past eight months, I've found myself pondering the question, who <b>are</b> these people? Who lives in a world in which people treat each other the way this crew has? Who are the people that can imagine the silliest, most juvenile, outrageous things to falsely accuse people of when they want to attack their character and silence their message? I found at least part of the answer to my question of who these people are when I found this <a href="http://ccc.nashville.gov/portal/page/portal/ccc/caseSearch/caseSearchPublic/caseSearchPublicForms/" target="_blank">link</a> to a search form that can be used to access public arrest records for those who have been charged in Metropolitan Nashville. When you have some time to kill, I suggest you spend a little of it keying in the names of some of the people you've met on this blog. It won't take long before you begin to understand why so many of these people use aliases. It will also give you context for the cesspool that has been responsible for so many vicious lies about others who tried to be a part of Occupy Nashville.<br />
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And, finally...Some of my most poignant moments as part of Occupy Nashville have come in recent months when I've heard one person after another declare their "embarrassment" at having ever been a part of ON. I genuinely wish people didn't feel that way...I don't. I'm not embarrassed at all for anything I've done here...far, far from it, and I don't think you should be either, not if you told the truth. The embarrassment and, yes, even shame, isn't mine and it isn't yours either. That, my friends, is the realm of those who did the dirty deeds, not the baggage of those who told the story.<br />
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The heart and spirit of Occupy Nashville is not now and hasn't been for a while on Legislative Plaza. It's out in the community, at Occupy Vanderbilt and TSU...in the housing group and in the newly formed Occupy Women's Economic Empowerment group now organizing and in other small groups around the city. People who are serious about working for change walked off the plaza weeks, even months, ago and got busy where they didn't have to fight to work.<br />
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There will be no more entries on this blog. Let it stand as both anatomy and autopsy for Occupy Nashville. Anything else I ever (if ever) have to say about ON will be related on a <a href="http://dixiesoapbox.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">new blog</a>. I've told the truth here. Let it be.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qOk2N8PE2TE/T-KVl1qyq5I/AAAAAAAAAiw/FO0fzZOwW7I/s1600/6386189083_6d42487ae5_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qOk2N8PE2TE/T-KVl1qyq5I/AAAAAAAAAiw/FO0fzZOwW7I/s320/6386189083_6d42487ae5_b.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-80086488685271660402012-06-16T02:04:00.000-05:002012-06-16T02:04:31.731-05:00A Different Occupy StoryI recently fell behind in my rent and found myself earlier this week presented with written notification from my landlord that they would begin the legal eviction process if I did not pay $500 by the end of the business week. That's an amount of money that in my world seemed as accessible by me before the deadline as $500,000...in other words, not at all.<br />
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I've been homeless before and the prospect of being so again has been terrifying, so much so that my way of dealing with it has included periods of choosing straight up to simply disassociate. Being homeless in one's 20's or even 40's is no party for anybody, but is one thing for men, another for women; I've allowed myself only very short intervals of contemplating what it would be like as a 65 year-old woman. <br />
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During the times when I did try to examine what sort of concrete problem solving I could do to come up with this money, I spoke with several people, but I didn't speak with much detail to any friends I thought might actually have $500 to give me. I purposely chose to speak about particulars only with people I was pretty sure could not help me in that way because I've lived in relative financial poverty for a very long time and I learned along the way that money between friends often complicates things and poverty embarrasses everybody. It gets messy. It has seemed to me like people think you're asking them for money sometimes when what you're really trying to do is get support and feedback in your problem solving process, so I've learned to pick and choose who I discuss what with.<br />
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By the time I tried to get some rest Thursday evening, with my deadline looming, I had no answer to my dilemma, but it was soon clear I was too stressed to find any sleep either. I ended up all night and that's how I came to be awake at six this morning when a friend who is also a neighbor called and wanted to come up and speak with me. So help me, she said she had the answer to my problem.<br />
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My friend and I (I'll call her Mary) have both lived here for almost eight years. We live with addicts (recovering and otherwise), felons (practicing and not), registered sex offenders, as well as some good people who consider themselves damn lucky to be here because they really have no place else to go. There are plenty of one bedroom apartments here that are home to four or five or six people; those who can afford to live somewhere else...do. So, while this isn't the tony side of town and the accommodations are a bit sparse, I must acknowledge there have been countless times this week when I've found myself assessing my humble little apartment and looking at all of my personal things in it, then having to stop myself from considering how truly devastating it would be to lose it. There aren't a lot of places to go if you get kicked out of here. Those moments were frequently accompanied by visions of my neighbors picking over my belongings in the grass after the sheriff's department emptied my apartment while I was who knows where.<br />
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Mary came to my apartment within minutes of her phone call and told me she had a plan that she thought would save me from losing my apartment. Mary is one of the people I had talked with a great deal about my predicament, including for hours as recently as the day before; I had no clue what sort of "plan" could emerge at this point, but Mary said she had one. <br />
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Her plan was for her to call the executive director of the organization that owns the property where we live and ask if they would allow her to pay my arrearage for me in five installments of $100, with the first being paid before the end of the day. I would repay this money by assisting her doing some of the work she does to help others, via my writing, photography, and speaking on issues relative to women and poverty.<br />
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I felt no real optimism this was a plan that would be acceptable to management. I believed that both Mary and I had going for us the fact that we enjoy a good relationship and reputation with management here and that, other than this arrearage (my first) in rent, we were considered to be the sort of tenants they wished they had more of. But I was also cognizant of the reality that those of us who live here do so on a budget that most generally assures any sort of unexpected or added expenditure puts everything up for grabs...I just saw not a lot of reason to hope that this was a plan that would fly. I couldn't find in myself any real confidence that Mary's financial circumstances would enable her to follow through on such a plan and I saw no reason to think management would see it otherwise. But, Mary went back to her apartment to do what she said she was going to do and I tried again to get some rest.<br />
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Mary was more successful than I was, because I was still awake when she called later to tell me that the plan she proposed to our landlord had been accepted and she needed me to take her to Kroger where she could buy a money order that we would then take to the rental office. Relief doesn't quite describe what I felt, but I hadn't had a lot of rest and was mostly running on autopilot by this point. I just did what I was told to do.<br />
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My friend Mary has post polio syndrome and must use crutches to get around, so I dropped her off at the door when we got to Kroger and circled the parking lot a few times as I watched for her to exit. When she did, I drove up and stopped in the fire lane to pick her up. Mary put her crutches in the floor of the backseat, got in upfront on the passenger side, and handed me a money order, saying to me, "Now, you just have to fill it out."<br />
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The money order she handed me was not for $100, but was instead for $498...the total amount I owed in back rent. I don't know exactly what to call my response, but incredulous would have to be in the description somewhere. I think I recall saying something like, "How did you do this?" I know I said, "You can't do this." She advised that yes she could and that she just did.<br />
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By then, I couldn't stop trembling and sobbing. That's all. I simply collapsed behind the steering wheel. <br />
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At some point, Mary spoke and told me that the policeman wanted me to roll down my window. What policeman? I'm still sobbing and can't stop shaking at that point. But I looked to my left and, yes, there was a Metro police officer who wanted my attention. I am, after all, in the driver's seat, with the vehicle's motor running, obviously impaired in some way, obstructing the fire lane. <br />
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I managed to speak, and ended up answering the officer's question about whether or not I was ok by assuring him I was, in fact, ok, but needed a moment or two to compose myself before driving off. He kept standing there, watching me warily, and I suppose it's my civilian "guilt" and a lifetime of feeling a little intimidated by uniforms that made me feel compelled to offer further explanation. Money order still in hand, I blurted out that my friend had just saved me from eviction and homelessness with that money order and that I was simply overwhelmed with emotion. I told him I would move my car the few yards to a parking spot until I was ready to drive. He told me to sit right there where I was as long as I needed to.<br />
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Then the officer told me he wanted to give me a gift. You have to know that by now I'm just about beside myself. I can hardly take in what's going on. I've imagined, for weeks, myself sleeping in my car, I've just been saved from that, and now this policeman wants to give me a gift?! Not a ticket for being in the fire lane?<br />
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The gift he wanted to give me was a small pouch made of perforated plastic and embellished with pink yarn. The pouch contained a cross also fashioned from plastic and yarn and a folded piece of paper in explanation of the Pocket Cross Ministry. The officer gave one to Mary too and told us that he and his wife make them.<br />
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He started to walk away, but then returned to my car window, a twenty dollar bill in his hand. He handed it to me and told me, "Use this for whatever you want."<br />
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Now you know how I went from weeks of searching online for tips on how to be homeless and considering who had driveways where I might be allowed to park my car to sleep safely in at night to being overcome with so much relief that I needed nothing so much as to just get home and be still. After we took the money order to the rental office, that's just what I did too. Then I took a few minutes to make some calls and write short notes letting those I'd counted on for support so much in recent weeks know the dilemma was resolved. When I was able to think clearly again, I knew I wanted to tell this story. And, it wasn't long before I knew it was actually an Occupy story.<br />
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How is this an Occupy story? Mary and I were part of the Occupy Nashville caucus of people who live where we do. You never heard there was a caucus here? There's a reason for that and that's precisely what makes this an Occupy story. Allow me to explain...<br />
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I understood long before I became a part of Occupy Nashville that women are acculturated to ask for permission to do things when there's really no permission needed. An early example of how this fact of life would manifest itself within ON occurred on Halloween night last year, less than a month into the occupation, as a woman was derided for being "divisive" for requesting in an ON general assembly to form a women's caucus within ON. My approach to this would have been to make an announcement that I was forming a caucus, tell you where and when we'd gather, invite you to show up if you're so inclined, and that's that. (Please note that this is in no way intended as criticism or anything akin to it for the woman who tried that night to get a women's caucus going. It is not. I watched her when she made that request and cheered her on from the ON live stream chat. I admired her courage and forthrightness that night and still do. I cite this only to offer a concrete example of what I mean about asking for permission and the difference between what I frequently see happen and what I think the more effective approach could be.)<br />
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My response to the denial of a women's caucus within ON was to within hours launch the Women Occupy Nashville facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-Occupy-Nashville/196092107131720" target="_blank">page</a>. I needed no permission to do that and, voila, there was a space where women who Occupy could gather in support of each other and share their concerns. <br />
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And, if you've been following this blog, it will be no surprise to you to learn that by the first of the year, I was still looking for effective ways to be a part of working toward achieving the stated goals of Occupy Nashville but becoming increasingly frustrated in my attempts to be a part of the movement. This was at the same time when Occupy all over the country was dealing with winter weather and the question of what next for Occupy. To camp or not to camp. Retreat and regroup in the Spring...or not. <br />
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There were many things to be considered, but I kept coming to the point where I felt strongly that it was time to move Occupy out into the communities. I wasn't the only one thinking along those lines, of course. Many others were and not a few of them were talking about trying to make the Occupy presence better understood in wealthier communities, the thinking seeming to be that there could be both financial support and possibly participation by those with the privilege of time on their hands if they understood what we were about. <span class="st"></span><br />
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I was looking at it differently. I agreed that seeking participation and support from the "haves" was a good idea, but I was also really starting to think about those people who are at the bottom of the economic scale within the 99% this movement claims to represent. People like me. I knew I had met others like me online who had significant barriers to their participation in Occupy Nashville, but who, nonetheless, burned with desire to be a part of it because they understood it was about them. I also assumed there were many others who would understand it was about them too if we could just find 'em and tell 'em. I kept remembering that Harriett Tubman said, "<span class="st">I freed thousands of slaves. I could have saved thousands more, if they had known they were slaves."</span><br />
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<span class="st">I conceived the idea of launching a neighborhood caucus right where I live. Lord knows, this is a group of people who have suffered under the policies and boot of the 1%. And, by then, I had first hand experience with how issues of class and misogyny and ableism and more would manifest themselves within ON just as they do within the larger culture. It only made sense to me to take it to the streets...our street, my street.</span><br />
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<span class="st">I put up flyers announcing a meeting to be held in the community room of our apartment complex. I don't live with a lot of people who have the means to get to the plaza or elsewhere for GAs or direct actions, so I'd bring Occupy to them. I wrote and made copies of an agenda of informational Occupy related topics to address at our meeting and made an Occupy fact sheet to pass out as well. I told a couple of other people within Occupy Nashville what I was going to do and one of them, Dorsey, graciously volunteered to attend the meeting to assist in any way she could.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Counting Dorsey and I, four people were in that group in the basement that winter afternoon. This is a small complex, so even though I would have loved it if we'd had more, I was neither surprised nor particularly disappointed. One elderly gentleman who is caregiver for his disabled wife stopped by before we began to say he wanted us to know he was interested and glad we were doing this, but could not attend...he had to tend to his wife. He asked us to advise him later about anything that happened at the meeting. The other person who showed up was, of course, Mary. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Mary and I talked again during the few days that immediately followed that meeting. Mary had long been involved in helping people who live here in the ways that she was able to...writing checks for the blind woman who needed that help, making herself available at scheduled times in the community room for people who might simply need someone to talk to. Mary is one of those wonderful people who manages to grow wherever she's planted and to find around her who needs what she has to give. She's one of the most selfless individuals I've ever known and that's only one of the reasons it was her I'd donated my entire library to last year when I decided to let go of my books. I knew Mary was only one person, but she was exactly the one person I needed to help me find a way to bring Occupy to some of those who most needed it, just as I understood that there were many others here besides Mary and I who have something to give, even if it isn't green and doesn't have dollar signs on it and we're among the most marginalized and overlooked of us.</span><br />
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<span class="st">I'll try to cut to the chase here...Within days, Mary and I had a plan that we believed would make life better for the people living here and would at the same time benefit those who were holding down the fort for the rest of all on the plaza with their presence as Occupy Nashville. Nutrition and eating well on a food stamp budget has been an interest of mine for a long time and Mary and I had often talked about me doing some sort of classes or workshops here for the people who could use that kind of informational help. Mary reached out to some other women here about our meeting and the conversations she and I were having in an effort to ascertain what interest there might be.</span><br />
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<span class="st">Before long, we had a plan. We, our small group that by now was up to three (!), would meet in my apartment, cook simple but nutritious and delicious meals that could be prepared on a food stamp budget, then deliver the cooked food to the plaza. We would use food we could get for free through resources we were eligible for because we couldn't afford to buy extra groceries, I would do the menu planning and gathering of the food, I would instruct about the nutrition of what we were preparing and provide recipes for the women who cooked to take home with them, the women who would come would benefit by learning more about how to feed their families on a tight budget, and people on the plaza would get a hot meal they might not get otherwise. We'd record our work in the kitchen and our trip to the plaza to share with others here in a group we would invite others to attend and try to grow our humble start. Mary was delighted because she had wanted me to do something about nutrition for the women here for a while. I was thrilled because I'd found a way I hoped would work to bring more people into Occupy. Winning...right?</span><br />
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<span class="st">But, you never heard of any of this before, right? And, now, here's why...</span><br />
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<span class="st">When I attended the ON GA last week in which the Internal Restorative Justice group gave their report and the assembled body ended the evening by deciding unanimously to shun Jason Steen, I hadn't planned to speak. I mostly went to be support to the other women attending and to video record the event. As it turned out, I decided right before leaving to attempt to address something I felt had been perhaps not explained very well and that's the matter of why it's been so disastrous to have problems within the Occupy Nashville stream team. My camera was already packed up and the recording the ON stream person captured of what I had to say is mostly inaudible on that video, but it's pertinent to why you have likely never heard of the Occupy Nashville caucus that was formed here months ago where I live. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Here's the deal...If your circumstances preclude you from coming to the plaza for general assemblies or from showing up for direct actions, the means available to you for participation in this movement is online. Online means social media and in Occupy Nashville, that has meant dealing with the guys who have had absolute control over ON related communications. They shut out anyone they didn't want to hear and attacked anybody who carried a message they didn't like. They were shunning before Custer even spoke the word relative to Steen last week, they just weren't admitting it, never mind calling it that.</span><br />
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<span class="st">They were, of course, doing a lot more than simply shunning. Besides removing posts and banning from participation in chat, in the ON forum, and on the facebook pages, there were, of course, always, the attacks on those they didn't want to be heard...well documented elsewhere in this blog, so there's no need to rehash it all here. We can tie this up very quickly here by my telling you that when the women here who wanted to help ON started watching GA and reading up on ON, they decided this was not something they wanted to be a part of after all.</span><br />
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<span class="st">In other words, the stream team routed more support that they might have sorely wished they'd had in the days that would follow. And that, my friends, is why this is in fact an Occupy story. There are a hundred, if not a thousand, Marys out here. There are so many of us who wanted to do what we were able to do, to give what was ours to give. We are Occupy. If there are lessons from this long tale, at least one of them must be that we never know what we're missing when we presume to know what another has to offer or to assume that they have nothing to offer. Occupy Nashville's forum on their .org page was littered all last Fall and Winter with posts from people trying to find out how they could hook in and help out...posts that would follow earlier posts askin' why nobody got back to them...some asking, didn't you need their help?</span><br />
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<span class="st">This is long...and I'm tired. But this is an Occupy story as much as anything that's in this blog. While I was out living this story today, the dredges of what's left of ON were online telling people this blog should be ignored because it's full of lies. That's code for, "thou shalt not be aware." I have words for you here too, just two...fuck you. </span><br />
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</span>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-32570188604596245802012-06-13T23:01:00.000-05:002012-06-13T23:01:09.434-05:00Guilty as ChargedWhen Occupy Nashville made the decision to begin a physical occupation on Legislative Plaza in the first week of October 2011, I was very clear with myself and anybody who was paying attention to what I was saying at the time about why I was involved: 1) I supported the stated goals of this movement and, 2) I wanted to be a source of support for the women who chose to participate in the process of working toward achieving those goals.<br />
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I'd watched for months leading up to October as forces gathered publicly in Nashville in response to both what was happening in our state (regarding issues like teachers' and public unions and more) and also to what was going outside our provincial bounds, in states like Wisconsin. I went to numerous rallies and grew to believe, as did others by October, that it was at least possible what I was seeing coalescing for the first time in my life was a movement with the potential to bring together people who could leave aside parochial differences and unite to confront our common enemy. Not even in the fabled 60s, that epically activist decade when I was a teen and young adult, had I seen anything like this. The politics of those who were gathering in the streets were diverse; some whose political stance might be described as Tea Party-like found themselves talking with leftists and anarchists (and others) in small groups about what to do, how to work collectively to achieve what we all understood was the only thing that would level the playing field so we could eventually fight those parochial battles we individually cared about...get money out of politics. End corporate personhood. Some of those who were uniting had voted for Democrats, some for Republicans...others claimed fierce independent status. Did I want to be a part of this? My first reason for being here as stated above was a no-brainer for me. I wouldn't miss this for anything. Even now, I pine for those early, heady days. (And that may be the saddest thing I've written in a very long time.)<br />
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Reason number two was a no-brainer for me as well. I've been female in this body for close to sixty-six years, so I've had time to observe that there is no part of my experience since the day I was born that has not been influenced by the fact I was born a baby boomer white female in a patriarchal culture, to a blue-collar family in the South. I consider those circumstances to be both my privilege and my baggage, but they're no doubt a part of why I've worked with and for women on issues that impact women for most of my adult life. It's what I do. The fact that I came of age at a time when the world for women was changing at dizzying speed enabled me to see both the before and after life for women in this country as a result of the feminist wave of the 60s and 70s. Once my own feminist spirit was birthed, I never thought to do other than what I could to ease the way for other women.<br />
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It's what I've tried to do within Occupy Nashville as well. Because some of my professional work had at times included working with homeless and formerly homeless people, I expected to see some of society's most vulnerable women show up at the encampment on the plaza; they did. My first trip to the plaza after the encampment began found me coming up on a young woman standing just off to the side. She appeared to be a little disoriented, or confused, or...I wasn't sure what, but she appeared, at minimum, to be very uncomfortable, so I initiated a conversation with her. I asked her if she was staying on the plaza. Her first response was to ask me, "Who are these people?" She told me she was homeless and had been drinking on Broadway the previous night, had nowhere to go, and had been brought to the plaza by someone she didn't know. She didn't know where they were now. She'd tried to sleep out in the open on the plaza, in a sleeping bag someone had given her when she got there. She was tired. She was hungry. She was hungover. <br />
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I don't know what happened to that young woman. I walked her over to the food table (there was no kitchen or food tent yet), then I went and got "Tim," who allowed her to get some rest, safely and undisturbed, in his tent, while he assured she would be left alone until she was in a less vulnerable state. When I returned a couple of days later, she was gone and I didn't find anyone who knew where she went. I never saw her again.<br />
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This is just one woman, one that I encountered during the first few days of the occupation. I'd like to think that there's nobody who would argue against my position that women within Occupy, Nashville or elsewhere, are more vulnerable than are their male compatriots, but at this point I'm just not sure there's anything that's not possible when it comes to either lies or delusions around the issue of women or misogyny or even feminism within Occupy Nashville. <br />
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I've related the story of the young woman above just to offer a glimpse into who some of the women are who found their way to the plaza during the months that ON had a camp there. There were some exceptions, but I think it's fair to say that the majority of women who spent the night on the plaza while the ON encampment was in place were there because they had no other place to be. The next time I would attempt to intervene to assist a vulnerable woman whose circumstances, not her politics, had landed her on the plaza was what I saw only retrospectively as a turning point in my own relationship with ON. (That incident is related <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/01/trivial-issues.html" target="_blank">here</a>.) My audacity to confront male members of the ON stream team about their treatment of another young woman who was part of ON triggered the onslaught of an assault on my character that has continued mostly uninterrupted for the ensuing seven months since November. I had no idea at the time what buttons that would push for those guys, but that it did and what that looked like for me and how a similar phenomenon would repeatedly manifest itself within ON and that team's interactions with other women is well documented in this blog. <br />
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This blog entry isn't about my cred or credentials as a feminist, nor will it be a catalog of what I've contributed to this movement. I'm simply trying to be as precise as I can be about why I was a part of ON and why I'm writing tonight. And I want to assure of a few things I've seen speculated on as well...If you think I've spent more time during the past eight months taking up for women than for men in Occupy and Occupy Nashville, you are correct. If you believe I've spent a lot of time actively looking for women within Occupy and ON who are vulnerable and/or need support, again, you are correct. Have I been "looking for trouble?" Absolutely. Guilty as charged. I considered it my "mission" to seek the overlooked, the least powerful, the bullied. The most vulnerable. This is my unapologetic acknowledgement of all of that.<br />
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None of that makes me a misandrist, any more than my being female makes my awe and wonder at and love for my adult son any less than the same that I feel for my adult daughter. It is patriarchal defensiveness that concludes the very act of acknowledging disparity in privilege between men and women and confronting it must by definition be "man hating." It is a very deprived (depraved?) sense of equality that doesn't allow the possibility one can care for all while at the same time recognizing the privilege of one group over another. <br />
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If you're reading this, I'll assume you know about the Occupy Nashville general assembly last week in which the ON Internal Restorative Justice group reported on their findings after a three month-long investigative process of incidents involving Jason Steen and the ON body present determined unanimously to shun Steen. (If not, you can catch up <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/06/nuckin-futz.html" target="_blank">here</a>.) In the hours that immediately followed that GA, the repercussions of Occupy Nashville appearing to finally address in any meaningful way the misogyny within their internal organization were fast and furious. You know why I said it <b>appeared</b> they acted in a meaningful way if you've read <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/06/have-you-seen-crazy-lady-video.html" target="_blank">this</a>. Clearly, the long established pattern within ON of attacking the messenger instead of addressing the issue at hand has become SOP here.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hnz5x0S50Xk/T9k0rco6OWI/AAAAAAAAAgg/8Rh3lKM_kG0/s1600/40885_480218179458_8072503_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hnz5x0S50Xk/T9k0rco6OWI/AAAAAAAAAgg/8Rh3lKM_kG0/s1600/40885_480218179458_8072503_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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And, now it's escalated. <span class="hasCaption">What we have here, folks, in the above photo, is "circumstantial evidence" that I'm a bully. Yes, that's an actual quote and as far as I can tell, the dude who said it thought he was serious. Alternatively, it might be evidence I'm a "terrorist." The other explanation floatin' around via Twitter is that I'm armed for bear and actually an infiltrator, an agent provocateur, if you will (a title that may have more syllables than any other I've ever managed to acquire for anything I actually did). <br />
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Ok, jest jestin' about the title part. <br />
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The reality (sorry to be rude and disturb the trance) is that this is a staged shot (ooops, and I was tryin' to be so careful) created one fine sunny day for no other reason than to post online to play with some people who were posting with me in November 2009 on a political forum. What we were going around and around about at the time was, you guessed it, 2nd Amendment views. I was visitin' friends in Missouri who also posted on the same forum, and I put on one of their jackets and they armed me...momentarily, of course (they're not idiots). <br />
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Ok, I guess I can joke about this stuff, right? Or can I? Here's the rest of the story...No shocker here, but it's the Occupy boyz again. This mess is going out all over the place online to be done whatever with by whoever is in their sphere of influence. Jason's boyfriend, Mickey Russell, entertained himself yesterday by posting it on the Women Occupy Nashville facebook page as well. (Note to J: Some of us wish y'd take better care of yer dude.) </span><br />
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<span class="hasCaption">By yesterday, there appeared another image supposed to be about me. Skills previously honed muckin' up a copyrighted photo of Eva belonging to me were now used for this...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eut2YsjxSpU/T9k5owfnwoI/AAAAAAAAAgs/bLhNkO98TGU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-12+at+2.49.26+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eut2YsjxSpU/T9k5owfnwoI/AAAAAAAAAgs/bLhNkO98TGU/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-06-12+at+2.49.26+AM.png" width="276" /></a></div><span class="hasCaption"></span><br />
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You'll note, of course, the names Jason Steen and Michael Custer in the above screen shot image. You might even recall that a great deal of the over two-hour exorcism that was GA the other night dealt specifically with the matter of Jason tweeting out harmful allegations about ON members and using the ON hash tag to do it. And Custer who led the move to shun Steen for his actions.<br />
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Make no mistake. There is potential harm in what is going on here and it needs to stop. It is not a joke, no matter how funny you think it is to laugh at someone's imagined discomfort, to put information out that creates the false impression that someone is doing something that others could be angry enough about to hurt someone over. It's called slander, for starters, and it's also called inciting, which has potentially much graver consequences for everyone involved.<br />
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This isn't the first time someone within ON has suggested that I was an infiltrator or agent provocateur and there's no question that it's a go-to tactic for the busted when they're caught for their own misdeeds. In spite of the seriousness of this all, however, I feel compelled to note that I've wondered just how stupid these people think any group would have to be to choose a sixty-five year old woman with significant barriers to even getting to the plaza on a regular basis to infiltrate a group of young Occupy activists? Because it would, of course, go smoothly and work so well, right? When I stop laughing at the insanity of that, I'll...<br />
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I dunno what. I haven't stopped yet. But I do have some questions while we're talkin' as we are about agents and provocateurs...Where's MajikNinja? On which team has ON had their only security issues? 'Ssup with the guy who says he's on probation but apparently doesn't have to have verifiable income and can travel all over the country, who spent time away from the rest of the group when taken into police custody on Broadway one night, but was subsequently released uncharged while the others who had been detained elsewhere were issued citations? Did I miss the tweets on the ON fb social media page about these other people? <br />
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And, good grief...Is there a damn thing I could possibly say here that would make any sense of the insanity of Jason Steen, shunned by the ON GA days ago, spending every day since doing a different verse of the same song to me with the loving approval of the one who led the group to shun him?<br />
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Does this look crazy to you? Well. <br />
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There is also some specific criticism of this blog that I want to address before I stop. I've made it clear elsewhere and on this blog in earlier entries why this blog exists and how it evolved to be the only platform I had for saying what I wanted to say about Occupy Nashville. The bullies assured I was silenced in every format they had control over, so I made my own platform. Simple, really.<br />
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But I want to especially address the criticism that this blog is angry. Too angry. Once again, I want to acknowledge that your perceptions are correct. I'm pissed. I'm righteously angry at what I and other women have endured because we brought ourselves to a movement we believed in with every fiber of being. I'm furious for that and I'll never apologize for being angry about it. I ascribe to no belief system that tells me there's anything spiritual about either turning the other cheek or walking away from injustice directed toward another. Further, if one is being truthful, there is nothing abusive about expressing, no matter how loudly, ones pain and, yes, anger at being violated. I wonder at the being who wants to live incapable of expressing rage when it's appropriate to do so.<br />
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(PLEASE NOTE: I feel like I do need to say just a few words about my use of the words "women" and "men" here, because it has been brought to my attention that I recently wrote some things that were offensive to some, words perceived as horrifyingly transphobic. I've already apologized for that in the place where it came up, but I want to acknowledge here as well my own sorely deficient understanding of transgender issues. It's not something that heretofore I've examined, for no reason I can think of other than it hasn't been necessary in either my personal or professional life. Now that it's been brought to my attention, I do feel it's incumbent upon me to address that deficit in my understanding of gender issues, and I'm working on it. For now, I'll say that when I'm discussing here "women," I'm including anyone who lives their life as a woman. I have no doubt that I'm still laboring under the delusion/illusion of a binary gender system. Again, I do apologize if I'm offending. I'm trying to expand my understanding. I'm absolutely willing to be schooled by anyone who would like to offer constructive instruction on this subject. I am genuinely embarrassed to feel like I must apologize for my ignorance in this clumsy way, but will sincerely say thanks if anyone wants to steer me toward something you think I should read or take a look at.)Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-88148862356329314692012-06-11T01:14:00.001-05:002012-06-11T03:56:34.515-05:00Have You Seen the "Crazy Lady" Video?If you follow Occupy Nashville on Twitter, you've no doubt seen the tweets all weekend that post a link to a video recorded at the ON general assembly on June 7th, last Thursday. Tweets teased with things like "Lady Goes Crazy @ #occupynashville." If you haven't seen the video yet, you can, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pONpnR3N748&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Wow! Looks pretty nuts, huh? Especially if you have no context, back story, or, um, more video? (Which, of course, is how it was tweeted out.) Well, turns out there is, in fact, all of that. We have context, back story, and, yes, more video.<br />
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If you read the blog entry I posted yesterday, <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/06/nuckin-futz.html" target="_blank">Nuckin' Futz</a>, and watched the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOFVbid__Qc&feature=autoplay&list=PL5A5ED6864B50A8D8&playnext=15" target="_blank">videos</a> of the GA that I posted, you already know some of the back story and you may have also noticed there was some commotion about who was shooting video and still photography at the GA. You also know that there was a lot of discussion in that meeting about Jason Steen having used a copyrighted photo (taken by me, interestingly enough) as part of a smear campaign against a woman who was part of Occupy Nashville.<br />
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But there's still a lot you don't know. First, there's a piece of video I hadn't included in the playlist of videos I shot Thursday night. The reason it was not included was because it ends with Darlene asking Jason a question and I found his responses so uninteresting and short and not related to the question asked that I just didn't post either of them. It didn't seem at the time that omitting two short pieces of video would distort the story of what happened in GA, so I left 'em out. You can see it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LniBO2AIrho" target="_blank">here</a>, and hear Darlene go into some of the reasons she was attempting to stop Alvin Lewis Wade, Jr. from filming. (If you're bored to tears, you can also now see Jason's response, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErhJv9TQNDE" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Here's what else you should know about this incident. Wade, who shot the video, took it off the internet after he posted it. Why? Because he and Darlene spoke and he felt it had all been a misunderstanding. In fact, he posted in the closed group I introduced you to in yesterday's blog entry (which you seriously need to read now if you're ever gonna keep up with the insanity of this drama) to that effect...that he had removed the video from his YouTube account and that it was all a misunderstanding. Wade stated elsewhere that Jason Steen had asked him to come to the GA to take pictures of people attending, but denied any knowledge of Jason having used the photography of others to slander any individual or plans to do the same with what he was shooting.<br />
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So why have tweets touting this video been papering the Occupy Nashville Social Media facebook page all weekend?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgQbD3hG86o/T9WBiUnlipI/AAAAAAAAAfg/EBhvgyiNqJI/s1600/jason+Dar.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgQbD3hG86o/T9WBiUnlipI/AAAAAAAAAfg/EBhvgyiNqJI/s320/jason+Dar.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Click to enlarge.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well...Do you remember my introducing you to <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/occupy-nashville-drama-act-i.html" target="_blank">DrTweeker</a>? And, did you note who owns the video account where you watched the video that the person who recorded it had taken off the internet because he thought it was all a misunderstanding?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I know. It's hard to keep up. Let me keep this really simple here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><ul><li>Occupy Nashville GA determined unanimously on Thursday night to shun Jason Steen from all social media for Occupy Nashville and to shun his speech because of unacceptable behavior that included attacking ON participants online with posts tagged #occupynashville so they were assured to be displayed for all to see on the Occupy Nashville Social Medial facebook page and also received as a tweet by every Twitter account holder who follows Occupy Nashville. That was Thursday night.</li>
<li>Jason Steen responds by...attacking another woman from Occupy Nashville, via posts online, tagged #occupynashville. And he does it over and over and over again. With video that the guy who shot it has told him point blank he took off the internet because it was all a misunderstanding. </li>
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Earlier today I wondered at how it is I can still be surprised by these guys. I mean, honestly, what is wrong with me that I can still be shocked? I had to give up, because I don't know. But, here's what else I don't know...why are those posts sitting on the Occupy Nashville Social Media facebook page? All weekend? All of them? Why has the admin for that page not removed them?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bo5xGjgRlJY/T9WymHor_iI/AAAAAAAAAfs/OEFFGlaE4gQ/s1600/this-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bo5xGjgRlJY/T9WymHor_iI/AAAAAAAAAfs/OEFFGlaE4gQ/s320/this-1.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><br />
Perhaps they're too busy in the closed group to be bothered by ridding the social media page of inflammatory posts about yet another woman in Occupy. From the mail I've been getting, it appears to be a hoppin' little joint. I was kinda hard on 'em yesterday here on the blog, so I'll be nicer today and note that they did name it appropriately, but you can decide for yourself by checkin' out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381519681896805/" target="_blank">Occudrama...</a>. <br />
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And, of course, Jason Steen is there. With Custer et al. The delusions I attempted to report yesterday here have evolved...today, I'm a "bully," and a photograph of me holdin' a gun is "circumstantial evidence" of the fact. I kid you not.<br />
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There are two remaining pieces of video that I had not posted before now, but since I'm droppin' the others, I'll go ahead and drop these as well. All things considered, it seems sort of appropriate. I had thought at first that they didn't really add anything to the story of GA, but it turns out they are a couple of more windows into the mess that has become Occupy Nashville.<br />
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First, here's Mickey Russell, Jason Steen's boyfriend. You've met Mick on this blog before too, and the first time was <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/and-so-it-goes.html" target="_blank">here</a>. You may remember him as Joe Black. (Why do all these guys have aliases anyway?) The note on this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbgWMdr43M0" target="_blank">video</a> from Thursday night is self explanatory. Note to Mick: You made it, big'un.<br />
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The last video I have to post is also the last thing I shot that night on the plaza. It's of Michael Custer speaking. He wasn't through speaking when I shut the camera off, but I was through listening, because I've seen the Custer show before. You, however, can enjoy it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZofY744fqU" target="_blank">here</a>. Just remember when you watch him tell ya about how all the problems they've had in ON have been because of things that have gone on "when no one is looking," that he's probably over in the new closed group his wife started after GA the other night hangin' with Jason Steen who the GA unanimously shunned the other night for defaming people online in the name of Occupy and the same Custer who...Oh, this is where you came in, right?Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-52637742936722273602012-06-10T01:14:00.000-05:002012-06-10T01:14:53.942-05:00Nuckin' FutzOccupy Nashville's General Assembly on Thursday resulted in the unanimous passing of proposals to shun a prominent participant in ON, Jason Steen. I've referenced Steen's shenanigans on this blog repeatedly, but the arguably long overdue action taken by ON this week came as a result of a report presented to the body that night by the ON Internal Restorative Justice group and the ensuing discussion. Proposals passed at GA on June 7th, 2012:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">Unanimous Consensus reached to ban participant from admin privileges: Unanimous consensus reached to shun participant for inappropriate and destructive behavior: <br />
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1. Proposed by GA, with Michael presenting:</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"> A.The GA accepts the RJ statement as a matter of fact and record. Accordingly:</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"> B. The GA reached unanimous consensus to remove all posting pri...vileges from Jason Steen to any and all Occupy Nashville social media outlets and to remove all access to postling. livestream, and other social media accounts.</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"> C. The GA reached unanimous consensus to advise participants and interested parties that the FB page Occupy Nashville Discussion Group, administered by Jason Steen, is not a GA endorsed Occupy page and does not represent the GA. Further, all participants are encouraged to remove themselves from this FB group in acknowledgement that the page does not support the ideals of Occupy Movement and is engaged in behavior that is destructive to our community.<br />
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2. Proposed by Michael:<br />
The GA reached unanimous consensus to shun Jason Steen due to his inability/refusal to either acknowledge the damage he has caused to our Occupy community or to be able to enter into agreements with our community to alter his behavior. Further, this shunning also means that he will not have access to GA as a forum for speech; although we cannot prevent anyone from entering a public space, we will not accept his speech in GA and his presence will be shunned by GA if he should present himself. GA acknowledges the nonbinding aspects of this proposal: if individuals choose to have personal interaction, that is their right.</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4VSkUl_zE74/T9Qn-HvvHfI/AAAAAAAAAfA/nThk-gMhkoA/s1600/DSC_0001_33818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4VSkUl_zE74/T9Qn-HvvHfI/AAAAAAAAAfA/nThk-gMhkoA/s320/DSC_0001_33818.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I was in attendance on the plaza for this GA and recorded much of it. I've put together a playlist that you can access <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOFVbid__Qc&feature=autoplay&list=PL5A5ED6864B50A8D8&playnext=15" target="_blank">here</a>, and if you were not present yourself and want to understand how this group came to do what they did, I highly recommend you check it out. It's about an hour and twenty minutes in length. It's not a complete account of everything that went on in the GA because I left before it was over and also because I was limited by equipment to making short video as opposed to uninterrupted footage. There does exist a video shot by an ON person that you can see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xla6TZ7Xmmk&feature=plcp&noredirect=1" target="_blank">here</a>, but my best suggestion is that you watch what I shot because you'll see a lot of things her cam didn't, for whatever reason. Of course, you could also see hers to see the end of the proceedings when the actual proposals were made and passed, but you'll have a clear understanding of how Jason Steen came to be chastised by his peers if you watch mine and it's mostly higher quality footage with better audio than what was captured by the ON person.<br />
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What will you see if you watch the videos I shot? Vids numbered one thru five are DJ and Ali from the Occupy Nashville Internal Restorative Justice group presenting the findings of that body to the ON General Assembly. Number six addresses a question posed about a recommendation from the RJ group, with response from them. Vids numbers seven and eight are the presentation by a member of ON who has been involved since the beginning, offering his perspective on the findings of the RJ group as well as providing information about something Jason Steen has done too recently to have been addressed by them. Video number nine captures Jason repeatedly flipping me off when he doesn't like the camera focused on him and is perhaps my personal fave of the lot...but I digress. Number ten shows Dorsey addressing the GA, as she was the person most impacted by the actions committed by Steen in the isolated instance investigated by the RJ group. In video number eleven, several members of ON offer their perspective on what Jason Steen has done to women who are a part of Occupy Nashville. The idea of shunning Steen is introduced to the group for the first time for discussion by Michael Custer in video number twelve. Video number thirteen finds Steen telling the group he feels justified in what he's done to one woman and labels what he has done to another woman as "minute," then, "very minute." One of these women was there to respond and that's included on the video as well. Numbers fourteen and fifteen are personal statements by Ali and DJ respectively about their experience with the Internal Restorative Justice process involving Jason Steen and ON in general.<br />
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So, there ya have it. Three months after the Internal Restorative Justice group took on the issue of Jason Steen lying to the media about another member of Occupy Nashville and her role in the movement, they reported to the body to whom they were beholden and presented their findings, which you know if you watched the videos included that Jason did, in fact, lie to the media. He also obstructed the restorative justice process with his delayed responses to requests for information. You know that too if you've watched. You also know that the group was traumatically impacted by the process and that Jason, as evidenced by his own words in GA and the testimony of others, has harassed another woman in the interim. And, you also know that Jason doesn't deny what he did, clearly states he would do it again, and never answers the question of whether or not he could stop himself if he wanted to. None of this is under question. The GA, on hearing of all this, moved unanimously to remove Jason by shunning him, as suggested by Michael Custer. Time to move on.<br />
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Except, this is Occupy Nashville. From this point on, it might be helpful to grab a tinfoil hat. And/or a stiff drink. Or you might imagine you've just entered The Twilight Zone and go with it. I do, however, strongly recommend putting sharp objects out of reach.<br />
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Within hours of Michael Custer introducing the people present in GA to the concept of shunning as a way to effectively remove someone you cannot literally or physically remove from a public space and the assembly unanimously agreeing with him that it was the thing they needed to do, Michael and others appeared in a new closed group on facebook where the guest of honor appears to be...Jason Steen.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eV967hVh9YE/T9Q0aU4oI_I/AAAAAAAAAfM/XALH8nbBpA8/s1600/6800787072_a1b80ed028_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eV967hVh9YE/T9Q0aU4oI_I/AAAAAAAAAfM/XALH8nbBpA8/s320/6800787072_a1b80ed028_b.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Jason Steen on the plaza at Christmas)</div><br />
I know, right? Told ya to grab the tin foil. Earlier in the week, the headline story for ON was that the Restorative Justice group would be at GA to announce their findings. Within hours of the event, the new headline seems to be, "Infiltrators show up after 6 months and effectively shut down a protest." Oh, wait. That's not a headline, it's a tweet tonight made by Jason with the #occupynashville tag. Dear Reader, if heart problems are your plight, you may want the meds close by before continuing.<br />
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There's a new group on facebook, where Michael, his wife (Sarit), and the usual stooges are gathered in what can best be described as an altered reality. I have no clue if substances are involved or not, but I can tell you f'sure that it looks a lot like group hallucinations. There are people there who were present at the Thursday night GA -- Michael, Sarit, Chris, Lewis whateverhe'scallinghimselfnow Wade -- posting as if they were perhaps in another meeting altogether. If video of that little production exists anywhere, I wish someone would kindly provide a link to it.<br />
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Because, you see? Michael Custer, the same Michael who presented the proposal to the GA to shun Jason, yes, that Michael, et al, are now posting silly shit in their new closed group. With Jason. Who they just decided to shun. Unanimously decided. And, did you miss the part about Michael being the one who introduced the concept of shunning to the group? And who introduced the proposals to be passed? Unanimously?<br />
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Whew. I know, right?!<br />
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I've neither the time nor the inclination to post all that crap here. If you're into drama, here's the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/381519681896805/" target="_blank">link</a> to the new group. Maybe they'll let you in, maybe not. Hard to say. If you get in, you'll no doubt note that the meeting they describe bears not a great deal of resemblance to the vids you've hopefully now watched of the same proceeding. The newly minted version is that femiNazis invaded and abused them all. Terribly. Painfully. Brutally, even. Shameless hussies. <br />
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Again...I know, right?<br />
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Here's the deal. Michael Custer should clean up and go into politics. It's clear he's proficient in being able to say whatever the traffic or market demands at any given moment and there's no doubt he's charismatic in the way that sociopaths are so often. (Note: I did not say Custer is a sociopath, I only noted here one (1) shared trait.)<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FyRWP4oPfQA/T9Q1IMfhx7I/AAAAAAAAAfU/Wyevcfx3Ju8/s1600/414006_10150585495084459_520498793_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FyRWP4oPfQA/T9Q1IMfhx7I/AAAAAAAAAfU/Wyevcfx3Ju8/s320/414006_10150585495084459_520498793_o.jpg" width="291" /></a>(Michael Custer on the plaza in January)<br />
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</div>I have no heart for putting any more energy into this crap. It really is nuckin' futz, but just a few points do need to be made here before I stop.<br />
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1) As evidenced by the videos, what happened in GA on Thursday night was no witch hunt, nor was it the matter or concern of only a couple or even just a few individuals. Video recordings show clearly person after person stating their concerns. Grave concerns. Outrage and more. Not just me. Not just Dorsey. Not just Dar. Jane. Josh. Will. DJ. Ali. Crap, the damn RJ report itself. Delusions or substances or fabrication might make this GA into something akin to what these assholes are posting in their closed group, but watching the videos makes lies of their shameless rants now.<br />
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2) Nobody has taken the ON body itself to task for what has happened here, so I will. What happened on Thursday night need not have happened. What Jason has been allowed to do under the arm of Occupy Nashville in the three months since the Restorative Justice group decided to take on the matter did not need to happen. In the GA during which the RJ group took over, the people in attendance cowardly allowed it to happen, instead of allowing a ban to be enforced against Jason...only a temporary ban, at that, but a ban the RJ group would, three months after the fact, find to have been valid in the first place. Most of the people who were in that GA three months ago didn't have even the courage to vote their convictions after objections were raised. Almost nobody voted. That's how this happened. People stood there and abstained. This is what you got because of it. Shame on the lot of you.<br />
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3) And, finally, I'm not sure what shunning means to Occupy Nashville. As noted above, within hours of Jason Steen being unanimously shunned by the ON GA, he was the darlin' of the closed group put up by Michael Custer's wife, Sarit. Same Custer who made the proposal to shun. Same Custer who...oh, never mind. And now they are talking about who to shun next. Except it appears that they want to shun the very people who made it perfectly clear on Thursday night they'd never come back to work with the assholes in the first place. I get it.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-1970768305739278892012-05-21T10:41:00.000-05:002012-05-21T10:41:43.532-05:00Negative Bitching, Complaining, and WhiningLast Thursday, on the 17th of May, there was an event held on Legislative Plaza here in Nashville that was announced as a feminist general assembly, or FemGA. If the perverts at Westboro Baptist get to call themselves Christian, I suppose the bunch at ON can call themselves feminists and their little gathering last week a feminist event. On the other hand...<br />
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Let's backtrack just a bit and see how the event came to be in the first place. At the Occupy Nashville GA on May 8th, a proposal was presented that ON have its GA on May 17th be a FemGA, in solidarity with FemGAs scheduled all across the country to be held on the same day. The proposal was presented by a woman who quickly advised she saw no need to devote the entire GA to feminist issues. <br />
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As has happened over and over again in ON and other Occupy groups, when the subject of feminist concerns was raised, there were immediate cries (from the usual suspects, of course) of divisiveness, a declaration of how "isms" are "tools of the 1% to divide us." Although the proposal included a statement that the FemGA would present their own agenda, ON's GA discussion of whether or not to allow the FemGA quickly devolved into their resolution to come up with ideas of their own of what <b>should</b> be on the agenda for discussion. There were, after all, the cautions that people didn't want a FemGA to be "negative," or include "bitching," "complaining," "whining." Before it was over, they got really clever (and dismissive) by embracing the watered down event and proclaiming we should all wear pink. Because nothin' says women's issues like pink, I guess. See the sham discussion for yourself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnN4J9UhaHE" target="_blank">here</a>. It's the first 10 minutes of that video.<br />
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Although that GA on May 8th did include saying that some sort of outreach should be undertaken to advise women and others who might want to attend, nothing was posted about it on the Occupy Nashville or Occupy Nashville Social Media facebook pages or even on the ON .org official site until over a week later, the day before the event was scheduled to take place. And, not surprisingly, there was confusion even in those announcements that came so late: ON was posting that they were hosting a FemGA. The people who were actually sponsoring and were going to be the facilitators of that meeting were posting that it would be a FemGA. Nowhere was it mentioned that this wasn't going to be a special FemGA, but, instead, a part of the usual Thursday night GA as was agreed to when ON's GA watered down the proposal presented on the 8th.<br />
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As noted in my post on the Women Occupy Nashville facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-Occupy-Nashville/196092107131720#" target="_blank">page</a>, there wasn't a lot that was feminist about that GA. Again, there were the cautions that it's "divisive" to talk about women's issues. Why can't we all just get along, right? Finally, at almost the end of the labored event, there was a brave feminist voice whose eloquence and passion spoke to the heart of the issue, and that's privilege. More to the point, male privilege in patriarchy. Darlene spoke and told all who would or could hear how we got to this point, what and where the problems are. Her message was impassioned, beautiful, and true. You can skip over the bullshit that for the most part postured painfully as a FemGA and hear what she said by fast forwarding to 1:20:40 in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZBvmC576vU&feature=share" target="_blank">this video</a>. (That portion goes until about 1:33:01.)<br />
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By the time the "Fem"GA concluded, we'd endured yet another round of condescending crap about how we're all "human" and have the same rights so wtf's the problem. That's shorthand for what the deniers had to say, of course, but if you're inclined to wallow in it, you can watch the whole thing for yourself. I'm not feeling the need or desire to go over it all again. It was the usual diatribe, punctuated with assurances about how much they really do, of course, love women. <br />
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There were a couple of things brought up in that GA that I do want to address however, just for correction. First of all, I do understand that if you were born after the feminist wave of the 60s and 70s, your experience on this planet has been different than if you'd been born before that. That's true no matter your gender. But what you might not know is just how relevant to the lives of some of us who were there in the 60s and 70s was one Gloria Steinem and Ms magazine. When the first issue of Ms was published in 1972, there were millions of women, like myself, who had grown up in a world that didn't include birth control pills (introduced in 1960) and who had lived rather than read about the Feminine Mystique (Friedan's groundbreaking work published in 1963). 1963 was also the same year I finished my junior year in high school and when my parents informed me that "the only reason girls go to college is to meet a husband." This would be years before the first Pell grant (the first Pell grants became available in 1972) that might have made it possible for girls like me to go to school just because we wanted an education. It was Ms magazine that I pored over as a woman in my late 20s, finding validation for what I knew I was living. It was Steinem's magazine that told me about Pell grants. Ms magazine that empowered me to flee from my home on a snowy weekend in Illinois in nothing more than a robe because my husband/captor got sloppy and momentarily left the car keys where I could get my hands on them. It may have been fate that allowed the first car I encountered when I fled that day to be a sheriff's patrol car, but it was Ms magazine that had let me know there was a place women like me and my daughter could go to start a new life that included the freedom to become, to grow, to even be, free of restraint. And, it was Ms magazine's article about Pell grants that spurred me to go back to school, even if the last thing I was looking for was another husband. Gloria Steinem has made a difference in my life and I'm personally aware of other women right here in Occupy Nashville for whom that's also true. I care much less about what any person or group that she may have known or been associated with did than I do that. Her work has profoundly changed lives and I found it offensive to hear her slammed in this "Fem"GA.<br />
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I want to say something, too, about the "war on women." One speaker at the GA asked us to consider being more inclusive and acknowledge that there's a war on more than women. Fair enough, on the surface, right? She went on to speak about the power of language, and with that, I heartily concur, being someone myself who often addresses the issue of our need to use language as the powerful tool it is, to recognize and confront where necessary the words that perpetuate hate, to use words that more accurately and genuinely reflect reality. To take back and reinvent words that have been used to shame and abuse us. But, here's the thing...When the phrase "war on women" is used now, it's used to describe the onslaught of literally hundreds of pieces of legislation across this entire country in the past year that purport to restrict birth control, abortion, and even other health care services for women. Not men. Not transgendered folks. Women. That's who gets pregnant. That's who bears the responsibility for failed or unavailable birth control. That's who gets abortions. While I'm sympathetic to the issues of transgendered individuals, I do not like seeing even what is clearly a war on women renamed in the interest of, what? Getting along? We're talking about women in this instance. It's okay to say women.<br />
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I wrote about misogyny within ON back in January <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/01/trivial-issues.html" target="_blank">here</a> and made the point that Occupy in general and ON in particular will die if they continue to deny and refuse to confront the very real abuse of women within their ranks. If one was an optimist of supernatural ability, you might imagine that having a FemGA could have a transformative impact on the movement. You'd have to stop going to or watching an ON GA to wallow in that delusion for very long. The very next GA held by ON after the "Fem"GA was last Saturday, the 19th of May. If you've a hankering for indulging a display of condescending, dismissive statements about feminism and women who want to talk about feminist issues here in ON, check it for yourself by reviewing the GA <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw-Rp1HipfM" target="_blank">here</a>. If you want the Reader's Digest version, here are some quotes: "Sexism is created by elites to keep us from focusing on core problems." After treating us to discourse on the subject of how bad women in other countries have it, we were told, "What happens here looks like fairyland" in comparison. We're "selfish." Over and over again, we were reminded there is "a larger goal." Feminist issues and the women who raise them are interfering with the movement with their "pet projects," their "pet issues." Presumably to the women who choose to no longer be abused, the point was made that it's most "divisive" of all to the movement to walk away from it. In what must surely be one of the most ignorant statements I've ever heard come out of any ON participant's mouth, one woman implied that women who have left ON are not there because they've "lost their confidence."<br />
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Mah dear, we have not lost confidence, we have lost patience. Some of us are simply fed up with the abuse and denial and refusal to address the problem. If the sexist musings in Saturday's GA leave any doubt that the feminist consciousness of those still a part of ON has not yet been raised in any discernible way, checking out yesterday's GA should take care of that. You can see it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d07CONB26g" target="_blank">here</a>. You won't have to watch long before hearing the sneer, "We're all sexists, is what it is!" When talking about why there are ever dwindling numbers in attendance for an ON GA or direct action event, you can learn, "The only people who hate us are here," and it's suggested (yet again) that those who speak of a problem in ON are "infiltrators."<br />
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In GA after GA for the past couple of months, I've heard the whine that people left ON because "evil" people ran them off because they raised issues about misogyny within the movement. Another time, we were told the real problem is that we haven't had enough violence and that provoking the police to the point where they could likeliest react with violence might get us some much needed attention and support. Curiously enough, now the spiel is about the violence of language, specifically the matter of protesters yelling "fuck you" to the police. You'll excuse me, I'm sure, if I allow as how I dang near fell outta mah chair laughin' when this comes from the mouth of one who has repeatedly gone in really close to the camera when something was being streamed to yell "fuck you" to those who weren't at the event.<br />
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When Darlene spoke at the Thursday night "Fem"GA, she brought up the subject of privilege and I, for one, was grateful for that. Time and time again, I've been dismayed to see people within ON act and speak as if utterly unaware of the privilege they enjoy within ON and society at large. For a bunch of folks who want to be perceived as informed revolutionaries, they're an abjectly uninformed lot when it comes to their own privilege and its ramifications for those around them.<br />
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I've pondered at length why it is that so many apparently intelligent, caring, involved people who have been associated with Occupy Nashville have been mostly silent about the misogyny in ON. If I refuse to believe it's because they're selfish assholes, I can only conclude it's because they're acting on the assumption that their own experience is that of everybody else and that's allowed them to either disbelieve or discount the experiences reported by others.<br />
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If you're a student at a private institution of higher learning, you have privilege that the majority of the 99% this movement is supposed to be about do not. If you're a student at Vanderbilt, your privilege has you in the same school where one now federal judge, Aleta Trauger, once roamed the halls in search of a bathroom. Ms Trauger and other women occupied a men's bathroom at Vandy in the 70s, several decades before there was an Occupy movement, to protest the lack of facilities for women. It's women like her (and Gloria Steinem and so many more) who gave you the privilege you enjoy today. But it's fundamentally flawed to behave as if because some of us have privilege, everyone does. As Darlene said the other night, we are not all equal. To act as if we are only perpetuates the injustice by denying it in the first place. No problem? Nothing to fix.<br />
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If you have enough money to attend GA on a regular basis, whether you're driving and parking or taking public transportation, you have privilege that not everyone who wants to support ON has. If you go before a GA, repeatedly, to berate those who are not present without understanding that fact, you are abusing your own privilege. I'll add that when the person doing the chiding about not being on the plaza is the same person heard a few minutes earlier on stream talking about living in a home owned by the in-laws and not having to work for a living, clueless is the kindest way to describe how that person looks.<br />
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When do we get to the place in which there is finally an understanding that just because the experience and situation of another differs from your own, it doesn't make the experience of the one who is oppressed invalid or nonexistent? Is it rocket science to understand that if we're differently en-abled, our experiences are going to be different?<br />
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Perhaps most galling of all has been the response of some self-identified "feminists" still a part of ON. But, can we get real a moment here? If a "feminist" woman can find at least three felons to be fuckable within about as many months, drawing from the tiny pool of the movement that has been Occupy Nashville, is it also rocket science to think that "feminist" experience might have been different from the experience of other feminist women within the group? Feminists may or may not fuck better, but fucking <b>more</b> doesn't make you a feminist. I don't personally care who or how often anybody fucks or why they do it. I really do not. What I do, however, care about, is when women who are first denied admission into a male circle gain acceptance after fucking and then deny the experience of other women who choose another way. It's most especially egregious when that woman then turns around, after feminists within ON stood up for her when she couldn't join the team, becomes a mouthpiece for the boys after fucking some of them. Is that plain enough?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBP2GwJOXAM/T7pTMoCkMVI/AAAAAAAAAe0/tvstNKTsqeA/s1600/feminists_fuck_better.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBP2GwJOXAM/T7pTMoCkMVI/AAAAAAAAAe0/tvstNKTsqeA/s320/feminists_fuck_better.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One ON "feminist"'s Twitter profile pic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Recent GAs also included some mention of women being "afraid" to come to GA on the plaza. I know that's true, because I've spoken with some of those women myself. But the reality is that we could have come en masse as a group last week, perceiving safety in numbers, yes? We didn't. I lived in Chicago for 15 years, working daily in the roughest that city can offer, and it would take a great deal more than the punk nonsense I've seen from ON to seriously concern me for my physical safety. No. And I'm not seeing in myself or in the other women who were not there any "loss" of confidence either. No. They're organizing and doing good work elsewhere. Listen up. We are not there because we do not want to work with you. We. Do. <b>NOT</b>. Want. To. Work. With. You. We've tried, some of us since October 7th, and you've demonstrated repeatedly your inability and/or unwillingness, for whatever reason, to acknowledge there is a problem with the abuse of power and privilege within Occupy Nashville. Our leaving wasn't what was divisive. We left because you divided the group when you supported the bullshit.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There were seven people at the Occupy Nashville General Assembly yesterday. Seven. Off the top of my head, I can call the names of at least eight women who were not there because they do not want to work with you again. That's not counting the at least a half dozen more women I could name who used to regularly be a part of ON GA but are now busy organizing elsewhere...like Vandy, and the housing committee. Could anybody blame them if they don't want to work with you either? Nor were the feminist men who used to so often be at ON GA present yesterday. You had seven people there. Seven. And you have yourselves to thank for it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">(<b>NOTE:</b> I know I promised the next blog entry after the one of May 16th would "introduce" you to the informant who contacted me about Wolfy being a pedophile, but I wanted to get this done first and don't have time to do both now. I'll do it in the next day or so, but will tell you for now that a lot of you already know him as (first) bigwolf on the ON livestream chat channel, before he changed his name to hide from Wolfy after Wolfy began to threaten him. Name was changed to elwood88. More next time.)</div>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-87894636102044595102012-05-16T22:41:00.002-05:002012-05-16T22:57:35.568-05:00More Evil Unveiled at Occupy NashvilleSince local NBC affiliate WSMV aired a feature last night about an Occupy Nashville participant being featured on a website that tracks pedophiles, reaction has been fast and furious wherever it's been posted online. Unfortunately, a lot of what's been written in those online comments hasn't had a lot to do with the facts and that's probably due at least in part to the underlying sensational tone of the WSMV piece.<br />
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All weekend before the spot aired, the station's website ran a prominent headline across the page, pimping the coming attraction: "Nashville-based group accuses people online of pedophilia," read the banner, and if you didn't go straight to the video from there, you could also find it just below in the Top Video list. The promo featured voice over teasing that, gasp, maybe it's all a terrible mistake. The tone was set.<br />
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Then it got worse. The 7-minute report that ran Monday night was sprinkled with assertions that are not true, the most egregious example being, perhaps, the repeated statements in the report alleging that "most if not all" of those persons featured on the Evil Unveiled website have not been charged with a sex crime. In fact, that's so far from being true, I'm at a loss to understand how the error was made and shocked that the station hasn't updated their story after they were made aware.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Not charged with a sex crime? Really?</b></span><br />
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This <a href="http://evil-unveiled.com/Category:Project-related_Arrests" target="_blank">page</a> on the Evil Unveiled site offers a list of pedophiles featured on their site whose investigations EU participated in and who have been arrested for sex crimes. There are presently 20 people on that list. On another EU <a href="http://evil-unveiled.com/Category:Registered_Sex_Offenders" target="_blank">page</a>, you'll see links to 50 profiles on their site, each to someone who already has registered sex offender status. Yet another <a href="http://evil-unveiled.com/Category:Convicted_Sex_Offenders" target="_blank">page</a> offers links to 59 more profiles, each one for a convicted sex offender and pedophile activist. Even with the inevitable overlap of names on these lists, this is patently not a case of people being profiled as pedophiles when they have no known participation in and conviction of sex related crime as insinuated by WSMV's Jeremy Finley in his report. <br />
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You'd never know any of that if you watched it, however, which you can do <a href="http://www.wsmv.com/video" target="_blank">here</a>. (At the time of this writing, the video has moved to page 6 in their video library. Or, see the story <a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/18387940/nashville-based-group-accused-people-online-of-pedophilia" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
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In my kinder moments, I attribute WSMV's repeated assertions that the persons profiled by the Evil Unveiled website are mostly not charged with sex crimes to be a stunning example of sloppy, lazy journalism. Perhaps an assistant somewhere was in a hurry and didn't look at the dang site. At other times...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are we talking about two different sites?</b></span><br />
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If you read the entry I wrote <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/05/evil-unveiled-at-occupy-nashville.html" target="_blank">here</a> last night about the WSMV piece, you already know theirs was not the first report done on the Evil Unveiled website this year. And if you saw the 3-part series on EU produced by the ABC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska, KETV, you might be wondering why the reports are so very different. I am.<br />
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The most glaring difference is that the 3-part series from KETV relied repeatedly on input from people involved in law enforcement, while the not quite 7-minute segment WSMV produced relied more on the accused pedophile, Albert Rankin aka Wolfy, than anything else. When you couple that fact with their tease that it could be a "lie," it's not difficult to see how someone who didn't know any better might express outrage that people are being profiled without good reason.<br />
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But the real puzzler to me is how did this happen? Media types aren't universally known for small egos, and one theory is that WSMV's Jeremy Finley was scooped in his own backyard by KETV's Ryan Luby and therefore was compelled to do a story. However, the fact remained that the real story had already been told, and told well, by Luby and KETV back in February. Did Finley feel obliged to do a different story? No matter how far the stretch? Maybe it's as simple as that. Or maybe it's something else.<br />
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Of course, as noted in my blog entry last night, the question of when Occupy Nashville knew about allegations concerning Rankin and pedophilia wasn't clearly represented in the piece that ran on WSMV. I might not have found that quite as curious had I not been involved in some communication about just that issue over the weekend before they ran their spot.<br />
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Over the weekend, I had a conversation with the member of ON's legal team that I had reported the allegations about Wolfy to back on January 6th. She told me she had spoken with Jeremy Finley from WSMV as part of his preparation for the story and her account of their conversation led me to believe she hadn't told him that I had notified her about this for the first time on January 6th, so I asked her about that. She replied that she had forgotten that had happened and we discussed whether or not she should call Finley and correct the information she gave him previously. In the end, she decided she would and it's my understanding that she did.<br />
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I also contacted Finley myself via email sent over the weekend and advised him of the change. I received an email acknowledging receipt of the information from him on Monday before the spot ran. The spot that ran suggesting ambiguously at the end that ON legal team went to confront Wolfy <b>after</b> seeing publication on January 31st of the Evil Unveiled <a href="http://evil-unveiled.com/Wolfy1619" target="_blank">profile</a> devoted to him only to find him gone from the plaza. No mention was made of the fact that ON legal team had actually been notified three and a half weeks earlier.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">It's all a mistake?</span></b><br />
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If you've been following this mess, you already know Wolfy is known for seeming to be unable to stop talking about his escapades. It's that insatiable ego that landed him in the Skype interview with Finley; he thought the premise for the interview was to talk about his "revolutionary" days at Occupy Nashville. He squirms like a worm in the interview when he realizes his mistake and is asked about allegations he's a pedophile. On the spot, he comes up with the explanation that someone must be impersonating him.<br />
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It's the same driving ego that had him in front of a camera at every opportunity while he was here as part of the occupation on the plaza and online in chat for the ON stream bragging about his part in Anonymous operations. And claiming to be AWOL. And bragging in IRC rooms about being a pedophile.<br />
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Soon after the Evil Unveiled web site published the page on him, Wolfy bragged in IRC about it. I'm guessing it's a status thing, or maybe it's just the attention he craves, any attention. Or perhaps it was that he was operating on an assumption that he's untouchable. It's been suggested to me by somebody who probably knows that that's indeed the case.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNdiEvqUBlM/T7R0GSiEC2I/AAAAAAAAAeo/zdDOjvR-pPQ/s1600/Wolfypic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNdiEvqUBlM/T7R0GSiEC2I/AAAAAAAAAeo/zdDOjvR-pPQ/s1600/Wolfypic.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
In the blog entry <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/03/curtain-falls.html" target="_blank">here</a> (scroll down to "Wolfy."), I wrote about how I came to have the information regarding Wolfy being a pedophile. In my next entry, I'll introduce you to my informant and tell you more about why it's so ludicrous for Wolfy to claim anybody is impersonating him and setting him up falsely as a pedophile.<br />
<br />
I'll also point you to information about the people who are gathering now to defend Wolfy, and, of course, because it's what they do, attack not only the EU site and those associated with it, but me as well. The bottom line? They can put horns on me and give me a tail, but that won't make anything I've said untrue.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-39018687131948024232012-05-14T22:19:00.001-05:002012-05-14T22:19:27.970-05:00Evil Unveiled at Occupy NashvilleJust when I was sure I'd never have to write another word about the insanity that has been Occupy Nashville, local NBC affiliate WSM did an investigative piece that spotlighted an activist who was a prominent member of ON for several months. You can see a recap of the story online <a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/18387940/nashville-based-group-accused-people-online-of-pedophilia" target="_blank">here</a>. If your only information about the Evil Unveiled website and the participation of Wolfy in Occupy Nashville comes from the Jeremy Finley report, you're going to be lacking some vital information, however, so let's get a few more facts out here, shall we?<br />
<br />
First of all, I want to point out that the repeated assertions in the WSM piece that those involved with the Evil Unveiled website aren't "professionals or cops" may serve the agenda of some to discount the information to be found on that site, but you should know that the ABC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska (KETV) also ran a three part series about Evil Unveiled earlier this year and the picture they presented is not the one shown by WSM. KETV sent a reporter to Nashville to interview the same EU member interviewed by WSM. But the KETV reports paint a picture of a website that, while not officially aligned with law enforcement, is most certainly used by law enforcement in their own investigations. In fact, it was because the EU site was referenced in case files for a convicted pedophile that KETV came to Nashville to do a story on EU in the first place. I recommend you check out all three parts of their series, <a href="http://www.ketv.com/Volunteers-Follow-Pedophiles-Online-Tracks/-/9675214/11670402/-/j3eybv/-/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.ketv.com/I-Team-Exposing-Pedophiles-Website-Goes-Where-FBI-Can-t/-/9675214/11685730/-/rmcbgo/-/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.ketv.com/Child-Predator-Thankful-Website-ID-d-Him/-/9675214/11670274/-/item/2/-/6u4lna/-/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Indeed, EU has played a part in helping to bring to justice more than one pedophile. Wolfy may very well be the next.<br />
<br />
But, back to the WSM report. Wolfy. Wolfy, Wolfy, Wolfy. What is it about these guys? Do they really think they can brag about their escapades and then, when discovered, get away with claiming that someone is impersonating them? Apparently. In the WSM interview, Wolfy says he's 1) never heard of the EU site and 2) that he didn't know he's been accused of being a pedophile. Except that both of these statements are lies. <br />
<br />
I interviewed "Victoria" myself about this and learned that not only did Wolfy know about the Evil Unveiled site, he has actually bragged in an IRC room online about being featured on it with his own page. (You can see a transcript about that on the EU fb page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EvilUnveiled/posts/427409863945450" target="_blank">here</a>.) Also, while I was at "Victoria's" home to speak with her, she showed me on her computer screen when Wolfy commented about how "easy" it was for him to "slip into" his pedophile mode. Yes, he had the good timing to do it while both of us were monitoring the room. And, yes, I would be willing to go to court and say I saw it.<br />
<br />
<br />
There also seems to be some confusion about what other members of Occupy Nashville knew and when they knew it regarding allegations of Wolfy being a pedophile. In my blog entry of March 8th, <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/03/curtain-falls.html" target="_blank">here</a>, I reported a little about how I came myself to hear of Wolfy being a pedophile. As noted, I notified a member of the ON legal team on the same day I received the information, which was January 6th. The EU page on Wolfy wasn't published until January 31st, so it's not true that ON did not have any reports about Wolfy being accused of being a pedophile until the EU page was published. I've also seen transcripts of IRC logs showing another prominent member of Occupy Nashville (ov3rkll/John Smith/John Watts) has been present with Wolfy in the room on more than one occasion and it's clear that the two of them know each other from ON.<br />
<br />
The only person impersonating Wolfy in this instance is Wolfy. I'll admit to grinning when I saw him comment in the WSM report confirming that he's from a military family...my own informant (the one Wolfy confessed to) had already told me that. No, my friends, Wolfy IS Wolfy. Albert Rankin. It's not a surprise he hasn't gotten back to Finley to follow up. He thought he was going to be interviewed for his glorious participation with Occupy Nashville and was instead caught off guard by being confronted with the allegations about his pedophilia. The nervousness he displayed on camera was surely genuine. No doubt.<br />
<br />
So,where are we tonight? Well, surprise! Back to bashing the messenger again! Do check out the Evil Unveiled fb page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EvilUnveiled" target="_blank">here</a> and also the comments on the WSM <a href="http://www.wsmv.com/story/18387940/nashville-based-group-accused-people-online-of-pedophilia" target="_blank">page</a>. The attack pack has already sprung into action, threatening to publish again the same nasty material they published (from pedophiles) about one of the people associated with the EU site. I say go for it. Because every time this comes up, one of them does or says something stupid to incriminate themselves and the case for their apprehension and conviction gets stronger. They can't help themselves. <br />
<br />
In closing, I'll cop to the fact that I got my biggest laugh of the night when Wolfy suggested this all might be slander. Uh huh. In your dreams, buddy, in your dreams. More like your worst damn nightmare and it ain't even over.<br />
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<br />Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-51340683233485476492012-03-15T16:24:00.000-05:002012-03-15T16:24:30.798-05:00Dear Matty (Hamill)<span style="font-size: small;">Matt Hamill recently posted a wordy whine on the Women Occupy Nashville facebook I administer, but because I've had him blocked from my personal page for quite a while, I didn't see his post until earlier this morning when I unblocked some people. After reading his lengthy missive, I've concluded that Matt continues to occupy a world that revolves exclusively around him, but the unfortunate truth is that he's delusional. Or a liar. Your call. This post is my response to Matt's dump on the WON page.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">*************</span></div><br />
Dear Little Matt,<br />
<br />
You've implied that this blog has "slandered" you and presented "misinformation." Do tell. Mah friend, slander, by definition, includes false information. Now, I totally get that you've no doubt endured some consternation at seeing me catalog some of your shenanigans here, but you'd be hard put to find one word I've written in this blog about you that isn't the truth. If you believe otherwise, I urge you to take whatever legal action you deem necessary posthaste. (Btw, just for the record, my sentiments regarding your discomfort over all this can best be summed up by sayin' simply, tough shit.)<br />
<br />
An example of what slander really is your posting online that I'm a methadone addict. I know you fancy yourself a "journalist," but I'm gonna give you some free advice here: do your damn homework. Just as you didn't do any checking on the creep you interviewed who lied about his military service and was convicted and served time for beating two different women in two different states, you didn't do any checking when you went rogue with your allegation about me. You seem to think that because you found a "mahdeardixie" registered on an online forum for methadone addicts that 1) it was me and 2) that I'm a methadone addict. The main thing you need to know here is that you should be damned glad I'm retired now and no longer need my license to work, because if I did, Matty, I'd see your funky butt in court in a New York minute. I have never used methadone in my life. I did, however, work as the coordinator for intakes and assessments in a methadone program for a short time some years ago. That, mah friend, is the only connection between myself and methadone. Yeah, I know it's not as sexy as your story, but there it is.<br />
<br />
Before going further, I must also say thanks to you for stating publicly that the conviction you served time for was about drug selling, not simple possession or use. See, Matt? Another thing I did when I was still working was be part of the team that set up one of the first drug courts in the nation, back in the 90s. And, once the program was up and running, it was my assessment reports that the judge used in determining whether or not a defendant would get jail time or be mandated to treatment for drug addiction. I'm pleased to say that there was never one case that he didn't take my recommendation on, but you may be unhappy to learn that I never once recommended a drug dealer who wasn't an addict be given treatment instead of jail time. Why, Matty? Because an addict is an addict for a number of different reasons, reasons that can often be addressed and overcome in a structured program of recovery. But, drug dealers? Sorry, but they're different critters. They are better served by a program of rehabilitation that includes something akin to Moral Reconation Therapy. Matty, dear, I've also taught MRT in a prison setting and it's my sincere wish that if you ever find yourself again incarcerated, you're able to avail yourself of that help. Seriously.<br />
<br />
I'd have to lie were I to say I'm torn up that your relationship with your girlfriend fell apart, but I just can't see how I can take any credit for it personally. Damn. I do what I can, but I don't even own a phone that I text from. I've never sent a text in my life. Yeah, I know. Just an ol' fart stuck in another century, perhaps, but there ya have it. I will, however, go out on a limb here and postulate that any problems you had with your relationship were likelier about you and her than me or anybody else. Jest sayn.<br />
<br />
And, Matty, just so you know, the "Molly Dessert" person also contacted me several times and related the story about leaving a check for donations to Occupy Nashville on the plaza and getting it back with your name on the "Pay to" line. <br />
<br />
As for the problems you encountered when you last visited your probation officer? Well, boohoo again, ok? Alas, since I don't do anything anonymously, I can't take credit for this one either. I'll suggest to ya, however, that you might have avoided at least part of that had you been honest and asked for permission to leave the state before you did so. Actually, that's a good case in point about the difference between a recovering addict and a drug dealer...a recovering addict who was working a program of recovery would never have dishonestly just gone without permission through proper channels. A drug dealer? Well. Recovering addicts are about changing their behavior. About honesty. About not creating more problems for themselves, not putting themselves in jeopardy. For that matter, a smart drug dealer might have left the state without permission, but they wouldn't have streamed the fact that they were on probation and out of state for anybody to use the information that wanted to. Reminds me a bit of Wolfy frequently outing himself online for his escapades because he can't stop himself from boasting about what he thinks are cool things he's done and then crying because there are repercussions for his bad behavior.<br />
<br />
I find your frequent references to paid provocateurs of particular interest, especially since you yourself are really the only person I've ever wondered for more than a hot minute about in that regard. F'real, I would still like to know more about what went down during the minutes you were apart from ON supposedly being "arrested" before being released without charges. But I must tell ya that I've laughed large at the notion anybody would think they could pay a 65 year old woman to fit into an activist movement like Occupy Nashville smoothly as an agent. However, if you're able to determine that there's monies due to me, I could f'sure use 'em. Hook me up, will ya?<br />
<br />
While I have your attention, Matty, might I bring something else up? I saw in a recent email that was circulating your assertion that you've never done anything to make ON "look bad." Geeze. Catch up, will ya? If memory fails you, just read this blog and follow links and references; it'll come back to ya. And, for the record, not discussed on this blog, but noted nonetheless...not even your mother would likely enjoy you "drumming" along to music nobody can hear but you. Further, if you must "drum" without a shirt, might I suggest 1) sit ups and 2) either pull your pants up or buy better underwear. I know that doesn't square with the opinion you have of yourself, but I'm sharin' anyway.<br />
<br />
I think that about wraps it up on this end, Matty. I'll add only that I think your picture could very well be in the dictionary next to the entry for narcissism. I think you might find it instructive were you to view a few of your archived streams and note how may times and to how many people you go out of your way in the pursuit of self promotion. Does it amuse you to know I've even heard of a drinking game in which participants must chug-a-lug every time you say how "badass" something you're doing is? <br />
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Sadly, Matt, I think you're mostly evolving into a sort of insider Occupy joke. And you're wondering why people aren't lining up to be part of your "team?" In my more charitable moments, I wish for you a good editor, however, preferably one who knows the rules about capitalization and the use of apostrophes, for starters. <br />
<br />
Are you leaving Occupy Nashville or not? Are we to believe you when you say you're going to Oakland? Atlanta? Or are we to believe you when you sound like you'll try to find your last gasp here? Well. I think you know my preference. Make mah day, will ya?<br />
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</h6>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-68099897498633219702012-03-09T16:59:00.001-06:002012-06-11T04:49:23.148-05:00Where's Jason?I know. It's hard to keep up, right? Here's what just happened:<br />
<br />
1) Jason Steen was <a href="http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/occupy-nashville-leans-toward-fractured-conclusion-not-done-just-yet" target="_blank">publicly outed</a> for lying about another member of Occupy Nashville.<br />
<br />
2) As a result of his breaking the ON Code of Conduct as it applies to respectful communication with other participants of the movement, Jason was issued a temporary ban prohibiting him from posting via ON social media outlets.<br />
<br />
3) Jason goes before ON's General Assembly last night in order to submit a proposal that the ban be postponed because he wants to be able to tweet and stream his "arrest" when ON is evicted from the plaza. This would be the "arrest" he's promised all the while <a href="https://www.wepay.com/donations/bail-stream-fund" target="_blank">begging</a> for money to be used for his "bail."<br />
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4) Most of the GA shows back bone (snort) by abstaining from voting on the proposal, so it passes with consensus based on the handful of people who voted.<br />
<br />
5) After having his proposal pass GA, Jason leaves the plaza.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gyQ65PQOJe0/T1qJiBPbufI/AAAAAAAAAeg/rXwuid9lC9Q/s1600/jason_working_phone.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gyQ65PQOJe0/T1qJiBPbufI/AAAAAAAAAeg/rXwuid9lC9Q/s320/jason_working_phone.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Photo of Steen found online)</div><br />
So, here we are, almost 24 hour later, but where is Jason? No tweets for ON. No stream from Jason. The <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120309/NEWS01/303090064/Occupy-Nashville-prepares-to-defy-ban-plans-for-arrests?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE" target="_blank">one tent</a> still on the plaza isn't his. Where'd he go?<br />
<br />
He wouldn't disappear without getting arrested for the revolution. Would he? He didn't collect money under false pretenses. Did he?<br />
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Y'all that gave money to his fund don't look silly now. Do you? <br />
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I'm not sayin' I told you so. But if I was, I'd have a big ol' feces consuming grin on mah face.<br />
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Now. I'm. done.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-89094445187969709962012-03-08T04:02:00.001-06:002012-03-08T06:00:50.741-06:00The Curtain FallsWhen I first considered posting publicly anything critical of Occupy Nashville, I had to do some soul searching, because I didn't want to do anything that would hurt the movement. I believed passionately (still do) in its stated goals of getting money out of politics, ending corporate personhood, and general support for the goals of Occupy Wall Street. So when I saw things going on in ON that I thought were harmful to the Occupy movement in general, but specifically bad for ON's relationship with the community it needed the support of, I genuinely, if foolishly, thought that if people knew what was going on, there could be change. It could get better. I mean, in my world, people don't support liars. In the world I'm most accustomed to moving in, right often does trump wrong in the end. People mostly want to do the right thing and will find higher ground if they see they're knee dip in shit.<br />
<br />
I was wrong. I misjudged. Badly. It's clear to me that I was in huge error back in December when I <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2011/12/can-i-get-ticket-please.html" target="_blank">suggested in this blog entry</a> that Occupy Nashville was not the private party for a few guys on the stream team. If you consider that, even after the things that Matt and Jason have done publicly, much of it outlined <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/occupy-nashville-drama-act-i.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/occupy-nashville-drama-act-ii.html" target="_blank">here</a>, these two are still the public face for ON and continue to solicit funds for their personal use on WePay accounts <a href="https://www.wepay.com/donations/tangello" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.wepay.com/donations/bail-stream-fund" target="_blank">here</a>, and also consider their very public attacks and the threats of violence outlined <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/and-so-it-goes.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/occupy-thugs.html" target="_blank">here</a>, there really is no other logical conclusion to reach. It <b>is</b> their party, they will do what they want to, and the ON General Assembly as it exists now will abide the ride, wherever it takes them. Even, apparently, when the local media picks up the story and outs Jason for the behind the scenes lying trouble maker he is in this recent Nashville City Paper <a href="http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/occupy-nashville-leans-toward-fractured-conclusion-not-done-just-yet" target="_blank">article</a>.<br />
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I'm about through spinning my wheels on this. There's so much more I had planned to include in this series of articles, but, really, what is the point? As I've noted previously, none of this is new. Most of it was known to people who chose to ignore it for their own reasons. I'm going to let the local media people pick the story up from here (and I understand that's going to happen), but I'm going to tie my own loose ends up here before I go.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Slander and character assassination</b></span></div><br />
Attempts to silence me and other women who have spoken up in Occupy Nashville have included threats and name calling. I've personally been called a bitch, cunt, and, perhaps my personal favorite, a "two-bit floozy."<br />
<br />
Besides the name calling and the attempts to paint me as crazy written about earlier, there has been an almost nonstop barrage of charges of things I'm alleged to have done. The short list ("short" because it's only what I'm aware of) of what I've been accused of in recent weeks includes:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>posing as other people posting on online media sites about ON</li>
<li>spamming media sites with links to this blog</li>
<li>calling an Occupier's place of employment in an attempt to endanger his job status</li>
<li>calling an Occupier's probation or parole officer to report them for misbehavior</li>
<li>writing articles posted on web sites I have no affiliation with</li>
<li>sending anonymous email to ON working group teams</li>
<li>rallying people to post harassing posts on people's fb pages</li>
<li>being an agent paid to infiltrate ON</li>
<li>being a methadone addict</li>
</ul><br />
F'real, if I'd actually done even one or two of these things, I might line up with my detractors in nominating me for "Scum of the Month" or some such. But the truth is that I didn't do any of them, nor do I know who did. Nor do I especially care. What I do care about, however, is that these be noted as further examples of how this bunch attacks the messenger when they don't like the message. You'll, no doubt, see it all again in varied formations when another woman gets in their way.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Occupy misogyny</b></span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><br />
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Yes, I said woman. Make no mistake about it, ON has major problems with misogyny. Who has this team had problems with? Women. Look at the stories in this blog over and over and see who has been under attack by these guys. Nor am I the first to write about misogyny in ON. (See Tristan Call's excellent <a href="http://themormonworker.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/an-injury-to-one-part-2/" target="_blank">article</a> if you haven't already, or <a href="http://progressiveinstincts.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/whose-occupy/" target="_blank">this</a> written by Mimi Yahn.) And this isn't occurring in a vacuum either. In Occupy camps across the country, women have had to deal with their voices being silenced in the same way that's occurred here in Nashville. I was gratified to hear from a number of these other women from across the country when the Occupy Patriarchy site picked up my own earlier <a href="http://www.occupypatriarchy.org/2012/01/31/trivial-issues/" target="_blank">article</a> about it.<br />
<br />
Yet, just last week, I saw the matter of women being subjected to bad treatment within the movement referenced dismissively as a side issue, a "gender" thing. Divisive. Even now. Still. So silly of us, I know, to want to be considered as equal, huh? No thanks, Michael Custer, for that comment in GA. <br />
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In the meantime, every media outlet on the web has a story about the war on women currently underway across the country in state house after state house and in D.C. But there's no misogyny in ON. Why? Because they said so, that's why.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Jason and Joe</span></b></div><br />
Some of the ugliest and most blatant attacks on me since writing recent blog entries have come from Jason Joe. See, I've started to think of them as one of late. Joe (Joe A. Black on fb, but is an alias) has made no public bones about being around ON because of his relationship with Jason Steen and that he couldn't care less about its goals for change. When Jason's not tweeting for ON, Joe's online talking shit of the sort I've copied here in other entries. All the while, Jason continues to collect money on WePay and to pimp his cause on ON sites. And, we all breathlessly await what we'll hear at the "press conference" they've been baiting us with for days now when it happens later today. Uh huh.<br />
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Here's what you can take to the bank about this:<br />
<ul><li>Jason will be a hero for the cause (choking here, sorry) and get arrested when he valiantly tries to defend Legislative Plaza as Ground Zero in the fight for The First Amendment, the rights of homeless people everywhere, and all that is holy and good only if they come drag him out of his Murfreesboro Road roach and flea infested motel room. (In fairness, I don't think Jason and Joe brought the roaches to the motel.)</li>
<li>Money donated to Jason's WePay account will likely never see a bailsman's hands, but the guy that sells vodka for a living is grateful. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l97cY3B0nOY/T1hTgITlqoI/AAAAAAAAAeY/uxPm55Er5bw/s1600/424934_10150595028218406_562448405_9069274_1549371199_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l97cY3B0nOY/T1hTgITlqoI/AAAAAAAAAeY/uxPm55Er5bw/s320/424934_10150595028218406_562448405_9069274_1549371199_n.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><b><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">creep with me down the street. we'll create a new beginning and will kill those mother fuckers for arresting our comrades. #ftp</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> *************</div><br />
On February 21, a person unknown to me sent me the following email:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>I thought you'd want some information on Jason Steen. I known him for a number of years -- not so good.</i><br />
<div><i>He was born February 21, 1979 (yep it's his birthday even tho it doesn't show up on Facebook...but I swear it is).</i></div><i>He was arrested in 2000 for theft. It was several grand worth. If i look around I might be able to find some docs on that. be careful with this fucker...</i></blockquote><br />
I have no clue whether or not this is fact, so let's just call it a rumor. What I do know is that if you Google Jason Steen and GreenZap, you'll find him a part of some interesting forum conversations about a scandal that resulted in criminal charges for at least a couple of people working for another outfit that dealt with money online.<br />
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Until you figure it all out, by all means, keep sending him money. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Matt Hamill</b></span></div><br />
Matt or Tangello or ... continues under the ON banner to solicit funds for his own use too. I won't even pretend to know what he does with that money. But I do have a few bits in the bowl for Mr. Hamill too...<br />
<br />
While the frequently juvenile antics of Jason and Joe could conceivably cause a thoughtful adult grave concern relative to their capacity for functioning as members of society and not a threat to themselves or others, there should be no energy wasted on worry that Matt Hamill won't come out of his Occupy Nashville experience ahead of the game he brought to it. His every move, indeed, his every breath, seems calculated to assure the best odds for that outcome. It remains to be seen how long he'll be in Nashville after the plaza isn't his home, or whether he'll be in Oakland, Chicago, Atlanta...all places he's recently posted online as where he's headed...but it won't matter. Let's just hope he tells his probation officer or whoever it is this time so he won't be whining again that someone reported him for not notifying them.<br />
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For the duration that he is part of ON, you can count on him to self promote at every turn. It's for "the revolution" and it's all "badass." I am left, however, to wonder if he'll leave before he has to explain how his name ended up on the "Pay to" line of a $100 check left at the plaza as a donation for ON earlier this year. Am I starting a rumor? Nah. I'm repeating what was told to me in a communication I received from another anonymous person via facebook. I was further told that the bank involved had notified the owner of the account that they would cooperate with the police so that charges could be pressed. Is any of this true? I don't know. The person who wrote me claims to be the owner of that account and states that she (I think it's a she, anyway) intends to prosecute. We'll see. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span><br />
<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The bit players</b></span></div><br />
There are just a few people who merit special mention here. Besides the tech and behind the scenes support I've written about previously that has enabled the mugging of ON, there have been those whose roles have been mostly of the cheerleader variety, but they've been rather venomous nonetheless.<br />
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Phillip leads this pack of jackals, but I've already posted enough about him. I will just point out here that somebody recently sent me information about Phillip too...very sad information, actually. Information that gives context for his relentless and vicious attacks on me and other women who are part of ON, information, indeed, that explains why he's such a sad sack. About that, I'll say only that I'm sorry he's had such a miserable lot in life, but I'm decidedly more sorry that his apparent way of dealing with it all is to project his anger onto others with lies and innuendo.<br />
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GritsGirl, Debra A. Carter on facebook, is a special piece of work too. She gets the prize for being the most consistently rabid woman hating woman participant of ON, hands down. There isn't even any close competition. She's chimed in with the cunt word repeatedly and suggestions that some of us think having vaginas gives us special authority. A real charmer this one, no issues with women, though, of course...except for the part about not feeling like a real woman because she can't have children, that is. (Is this all messy to you? Yah. I know exactly how you feel. Welcome to my world for the past almost five months.) Oh, she also shared in a discussion of domestic abuse her conviction that "some women deserved to be beat." Thanks for sharing, Grits. Yah. I'll miss this.<br />
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"Whisper" (Lynne Adams on fb) and "Ohio" (Sheila Lytle) may feel slighted if I don't mention them here, so I will. Anybody around chat knows why I did and that's all that matters. There are others. It's late. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wolfy</b></span></div><br />
Wolfy has been mentioned previously in this blog, but there's a little more to tell here before I leave this alone.<br />
<br />
On January 6th, I posted an <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/01/lets-interview-woman-beater.html" target="_blank">article</a> on this blog about an interview Matt Hamill was getting ready to do with a man who had lied about his military service. In a comment about that article when it was posted on fb, I referred to the guy who had lied about his military service as a POS (piece of shit.)<br />
<br />
One of my fb friends didn't understand that my POS comment was about the politician to be interviewed but mistakenly thought it was about somebody else, a member of Occupy Nashville who he had a history with. He sent me private note via fb.<br />
<br />
It turns out that my fb friend thought I was referring to Wolfy when I called somebody a POS for lying about his military service because he claims that Wolfy has done the same thing. Fine. But it got more interesting...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Ummm; the POS you are talking about - I think we are dealing with the same person and I NEVER told you ANYTHING DIRECTLY! Oh My oh my...What has he done now; whatever it is I'm sure he will fail to spread the blame around or accept any blame for his decisions or actions; he has NO FUSE, he is reactionary, he is unstable, and IF it is the same person were talking about; DAMN - what must he have done to piss you off and/or cause you to feel that way about him?<br />
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Never-mind; I don't need to know, and I don't want to -PLAUSIBLE DENI-ABILITY must be maintained; already had him and have him wanting to kill me/destroy me for saying something to JasonS about it, and when I did, it was to point out hypocrisy in the News Media; JasonS blurted what I had wrote in chat OUT LOUD and it kept getting replayed over and over and over in the reruns...</i> <i><br />
<br />
Of course, he blames me for ALL OF IT...He needs to look closer to home seriously; he chose this path, he set this course, and if the DOD decides to get him; they will find him and get him; no questions asked...and this could have happened and might have happened for the past TWO YEARS or more at this point.</i> <i><br />
<br />
I could COULD tell you one more piece of info that you more than likely don't know about, but, I won't; it would be bad form in the extreme to put it mildly... </i> <i><br />
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ANYWAY; so, great minds etc etc etc...Don't know what else to tell ya, other than keep your young boys AWAY from this individual...seriously...not joking.</i> <i><br />
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ENOUGH SAID; I NEVER SAID THIS; I AM NOT HERE; DELETE THIS MSG AFTER YOU READ IT...</i> </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>Either way, its better to know what you are dealing with as opposed to having NO CLUE as to the demon you KNOW is wandering like a predator among so many innocent sheep,,,<br />
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Whew; I know hes gin to blame me fo rit all, but, JESUS GOD; is he being that high profile that he is outing himself left and right?!?</i> <i><br />
<br />
I don't need to know, and for being assholish that is a character flaw that he will never ever get beyond and it was not basic or the military that did it to him...he was like that and is like that all by his lonesome...</i> </blockquote>Later in the day, I spoke with the person who sent me this note by phone and during the phone conversation, he told me that Wolfy had confided in him that he was a pedophile and he expressed some concern about what might be on a computer he had donated for his use while at the plaza as part of Occupy Nashville. <br />
<br />
On the same day, still January 6th, I contacted a member of the ON legal team and gave them the information that had been given to me. I was assured that the legal team was going to look into it, at least from the standpoint of ON's vulnerability if child porn was involved.<br />
<br />
By January 16th, Wolfy was posting online that he was no longer in Nashville and part of Occupy Nashville, but was instead in Oklahoma.<br />
<br />
On January 31st, the web site Evil Unveiled posted a page featuring <a href="http://evil-unveiled.com/Wolfy1619" target="_blank">Wolfy</a> as a pedophile and all hell broke loose in the Occupy Nashville Camp. When people weren't attacking the ON person affiliated with that web site, they were jumping over each other denying that he'd ever been a part of ON's teams, in spite of the fact he was pictured and quoted repeatedly in The Tennessean during the winter months and even noted there as a "site administrator" for the tech team. Or alleging that I was the author of the piece on the EU web site.<br />
<br />
Since then, the EU site has been featured in a three part series done by the ABC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska. The conclusion they reached after speaking with local law enforcement agents, the FBI, and even a pedophile now in jail after being caught thanks to the efforts of the EU site, was that the EU site is anything but the crank site pedophiles and other detractors from Occupy Nashville want to make it out to be when they run their usual attack the messenger gambit. See parts <a href="http://www.ketv.com/r/30528335/detail.html" target="_blank">one</a>, <a href="http://www.ketv.com/r-video/30554763/detail.html" target="_blank">two</a>, and <a href="http://www.ketv.com/r/30555316/detail.html" target="_blank">three</a> for yourself.<br />
<br />
Will more be revealed about Wolfy and his involvement with ON? My money says yes. And don't be surprised when you see just how many people knew while he was in Nashville that he was a pedophile. Or who they were. If these weren't such crazy times and such a contemptible crew wasn't involved, I'd suggest you'll be shocked, but if you've been paying attention, you won't be.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Et tu?</b></span></div><br />
Finally. Though this is the sixth blog entry since I started this Occupy Nashville: The Drama series here, there is a ton of information I never got around to addressing. Again, what would be the point now? People mostly knew this stuff anyway, if they wanted to.<br />
<br />
But I want to end by saying just a little bit about the information sent to me in the past few weeks and the people who sent it. Over a dozen people, about half of them people I don't know and probably using assumed names, to give me information they thought relevant to what I was trying to expose here. Some of them even took time to offer their support for my effort. Privately.<br />
<br />
And that's the thing I want to address. Private support is all good, but has none of the power that public support does. I do understand the reasons some people have for being reluctant to be publicly identified with dissent, especially in light of what I and others have endured when we spoke up in ON. But, here's what I want you to consider...Had everybody who saw what was going on been public from day one about it, could it have gone on? Maybe, maybe not. We'll not know now. That's too bad, too, because ON lost a lot of support when it pushed people away with their online shenanigans, support they might have been glad to have about right now.<br />
<br />
I consider one of the most poignant things I've encountered along this journey to be this statement, a quote from an email I received from another woman who has been a part of ON. She said, " I'm tired of being demure all the time and just taking the shit they give me." That's what she said after she said her feminist side was bothering her for questioning why I would go public with this stuff about ON. I get it. I really, really, do get it. But I have to say that something else has occurred to me in recent days and that's the chant heard last fall in Occupy camps across the country when police swarmed in, "Who do you protect? Who do you serve?"<br />
<br />
I guess that's what I'd most like to ask all of you supporters of ON. Just exactly who are you protecting? Who are you serving?<br />
<br />
And, are you ready for a new General Assembly?Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-26619280653435554532012-02-28T18:37:00.000-06:002012-02-28T18:37:57.352-06:00Will They Do the Right Thing?Occupy Nashville continues to censor their facebook page. The following comment posted by me this afternoon has been removed: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"How 'bout maybe Jason was beat up because people don't like to be doxed? Andrew was the fourth person a part of ON that was doxed by this crew. I'm thinkin' it's likely that had a lot to do with why Jason got his butt kicked. Between that and the $130 missing, I'd say it's quite a stretch for anybody to play Jason out as a victim because he was an occupier. Let's get real here, ok?"</blockquote><br />
This was in the thread about the Daily Kos <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/27/1068913/-Tennessee-Legislature-Takes-On-Occupy-Nashville-?via=blog_808453" target="_blank">post</a> which dishonestly gives the impression that Jason Steen was beaten because he was an occupier. Interestingly enough, the lead "comment" after the article is a link to Jason's WePay account soliciting donations. <br />
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<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HvafFEqYuq8/T01ylWz9ynI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/9bndXSLoHnY/s1600/297128_10150433845874459_681059458_10137096_977346130_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HvafFEqYuq8/T01ylWz9ynI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/9bndXSLoHnY/s320/297128_10150433845874459_681059458_10137096_977346130_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
To be clear here:<br />
<br />
1) Jason Steen and his boyfriend have recently doxed four Occupy Nashville participants and the most recent one of those is now in jail charged with attacking him.<br />
<br />
2) Doxing people is a violation of the Code of Conduct for Occupy Nashville.<br />
<br />
3) If the ON General Assembly reaches consensus to ban the attacker of Jason Steen for violating Code of Conduct (and they probably should), they must also do the same with Jason and "Joe."<br />
<br />
4) ON's current General Assembly has no integrity if they cannot act with uniformity in this matter and should be disbanded in favor of a new GA if they do not.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-58102050313135360582012-02-26T22:36:00.000-06:002012-02-26T22:36:01.132-06:00Occupy ThugsFour people associated with Occupy Nashville have so far been doxed, at the hands of other members of the movement. The first was Dorsey, the second was Trillian, the third was me. Those have mostly been escapades akin to Keystone Cop capers, but the latest one has resulted in a reaction I'm not sure the people who are behaving like children by doing this expected.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ju6NKlvS3E/T0sFiYgIyrI/AAAAAAAAAeI/CB1_9rE5k8o/s1600/417109_10150586891343406_562448405_9042730_443592345_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ju6NKlvS3E/T0sFiYgIyrI/AAAAAAAAAeI/CB1_9rE5k8o/s1600/417109_10150586891343406_562448405_9042730_443592345_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The above <a href="http://yfrog.com/oej85kgj" target="_blank">photo</a> is of Jason Steen after he was apparently assaulted by the fourth person this group of thugs doxed, an occupier named Andrew Henry. Jason and his boyfriend, Joe A. Black (alias), spent Friday and Saturday night this weekend posting on fb that they were drunk, having sex, and talking about me. (Yeah, I thought it all a bit distasteful myself, too bawdy for this blog, but somebody sent copies of it to me and I'll send them to anybody who doubts what a good time this crew is if they request by <a href="mailto:mahdeardixie@gmail.com" target="_blank">email.</a>) And the dox on Andrew came out.<br />
<br />
So, tonight, Andrew's in jail on $3,000 bond waiting for trial, and Jason has a black eye. Occupy Nashville has a black eye. Again. This all breaking on the same day I watched the only person I've ever seriously considered might be a paid agent suggest I was one. I'm tellin' y'all, this only gets stranger day by day.<br />
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Where and when does this insanity stop? This isn't what democracy looks like. This is what chaos created by thugs looks like and it's been sanctioned by Occupy Nashville in its to date unwillingness to hold people accountable for their behavior.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-87619585336489389622012-02-23T01:48:00.000-06:002012-02-23T01:48:24.171-06:00Occupy Nashville: The Drama, Act IIOnly the very foolish double down on every card, but nobody's said Occupy Nashville is fulla rocket scientists, so there ya go. My last blog entry <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/and-so-it-goes.html" target="_blank">here</a> listed some of the nasty harassment that immediately followed the first of this series of entries and some people couldn't stop themselves from jumping hard and fast to prove my point for me. Thanks, sorta, but it just means I have to stop a sec to relate a bit of that here before I can get to Act II of Occupy Nashville: The Drama.<br />
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The guys made good on their promise of a dox on me, promised in their tweets as shown in my last entry. Well, "good" is applicable if publishing private information like name of spouse, home address, business/employment history, education details, phone numbers and more of the wrong person is, uh, "good." What they did was to publish that information about an unsuspecting couple from a nearby town, paired it with social web sites that are associated with me, and honey boom. I have just a few questions. Is a dox still a dox if it's on the wrong person? Or would that make it a mock dox, maybe a mox? Is a dox that combines the info of two people as if it's one person just one dox, or is it a para-dox? Lastly, is it still, uh, "bad ass?"<br />
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There have been some pretty special comments made on this blog too (by very brave anonymous people, of course), including one suggestion that my gene pool needed to be "exterminated." They're mostly not clever enough that I can recommend them for their entertainment value, but they are demonstrative of the issue at hand. <br />
<br />
Matt Hamill and "Joe A. Black" also put out slander that I'm a methadone addict.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9180418121051952" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Joe A. Black shared a link via Matthew Hamill.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9 hours ago.WELCOME Buck10 ~ krhmajor ~ Jess25 ~ mahdeardixie ~ fascination</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">methadone.forumotion.net</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I want you guys to welcome the following new members and let them know how glad we are to have them join our group: Buck10 from West Virginia ~ krhmajor from Te</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Share.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Joe A. Black</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 hours ago.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Joe A. Black</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Norma Jones (mahdeardixe) is a methadone addict</span><a href="http://ec-www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Ffyaxj45Y&h=hAQGA4XxN"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
<a href="http://ec-www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Ffyaxj45Y&h=hAQGA4XxN"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">@Gaynonymous_247 on Twitt · 10 hours ago via Twitter.</span></blockquote><br />
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This specialness to be found on Matt's page too:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqpL0p6BSp0/T0WMpH7eH0I/AAAAAAAAAdw/aorxS4PuxBQ/s1600/methadonebs.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqpL0p6BSp0/T0WMpH7eH0I/AAAAAAAAAdw/aorxS4PuxBQ/s320/methadonebs.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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And bragging about their dox that woxn't a dox:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.5689621337909027" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gaynonymous @Gaynonymous_247</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reply RetweetedRetweet</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Delete</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FavoritedFavorite · Close Open Details nothing like waking up in the morning to dubstep and a freshly completed dox. </span><img height="1px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eQMTmiWA_WAStfc9OUPEk201b1wr0flpwR0VrexZO1vlfyi-QOKoIs_SV1ysesqvCunSupVdkx-feqvv-Qp-WdOfEdDjQ9FStFE-GAvITJwUX_97Uso" width="1px;" /></blockquote><br />
Reminder: It's Matt's and Jason's facebook pages and Twitter accounts that everyone's referred to for keeping up with Occupy Nashville.<br />
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I've also been contacted by two people whose identity I do not know, one through facebook and one through email, offering me information, in one instance, that there had been what could be a death threat against me posted by one ON member whose identity I do know but will not release publicly at this time. It was a post on a fb wall and has been reported by the person who saw it. The other communication I received was from someone claiming to have known one of the primary players in this drama for a long time. This person advised me, and this is a direct quote, "be careful with this fucker..."<br />
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To be clear, I'm always careful. That's why there's not ever much that's news to anybody on this blog; what's here is common knowledge and generally verifiable. And that's a problem for them, so I'm gonna postulate that's why this strange dance of intimidation and threats. So, let me just say that, of <b>course</b>, I expected you. I am neither unaware of nor unprepared for the consequences of what I do. <b>You</b> can confidently expect that.<br />
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Occupy Nashville has been on the plaza since October 7th, so how is it that four and a half months later we find ourselves with Matt and Jason as the front door for ON? If you've read earlier entries here, you know there have been problems with the stream team pretty much from day one and that those problems have been confronted. Repeatedly. So, let's open Act II here by looking at those in supporting roles, those who have assured Matt and Jason retain their status as stars in this production.<br />
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Enter stage right and left, the ON tech crew. Here are the guys that make it all happen. Why tech? Because they control ON media, that's why. If you need something to happen on the ON forum or for the old stream channel or either of their fb pages, you need a member of the ON tech team to take care of it for you. They control what goes up. They control what comes down. It really is that simple. <br />
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I keep tellin' y'all there's no news here, folks, so feel free to check out right now if that's what you're looking for. All I'm gonna do here is c&p their own words so you can see for yourself how they've controlled access to information and control over communication in ON since the beginning. What you'll see here is that each time an issue with the stream team is brought up, they get support from tech to continue as they always have. <br />
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I date my problems with ON stream to mid-November. It was then that I witnessed several guys who are part of ON trash another occupier in the live stream chat, a woman who had been "taken in" by another ON person. Although I was present in the chat room, I could not post because there were technical difficulties with the chat. I watched as the ON person who had taken the young woman in told everybody in chat that she'd stolen drugs from him and that he'd had to "put her out." What happened next was a chorus along the lines of, "oh, you're such a hero to have tried to help her and isn't she a horrible person?" There were several who participated in this chat, naming the young woman by name, giving a physical description, and plans were discussed to have her "banned" from the plaza. I don't recall exactly how many people were in the chat that night, but the number was probably high because it was before they had yet run off so many of their supporters with their shenanigans. But I digress.<br />
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The next day, the guy who had started the conversation about the young woman in the chat room was carrying on about it on his fb page. Once again, the young woman was not present as part of the conversation, allegations of a very serious nature were being made, and he was getting a lot of support for being such a good guy. I posted in his thread that I didn't see anything heroic or courageous about trashing another occupier like that in a public manner. The alleged incidents were not even being charged as having occurred on or anywhere near the plaza, the situation appeared to be of a personal nature, and I strongly objected to this public trashing of somebody within ON for it.<br />
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I made two posts, as I recall, in that thread. Period. That's important to note because of all that followed. What happened next is that Phillip Schlicher fabricated a story about what transpired and then repeated it all over the internet for the past four months. If you've read any of his blog or comments elsewhere, you know for yourself how he can go on and on. Unfortunately, he repeated his fantasy of this until I'm almost convinced he mostly believes it himself. And, as he was streaming then and a mod in the chat, he made sure to repeat it as often as possible.<br />
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The narrative created early on by Phillip was that I had challenged the situation because I and others are man haters. Yeah, I know it's tired, but it's where he went. Over and over again. Not only man haters, but crazy trouble makers too. It was the usual attack-the-messenger defense used when you have no other and could never have been so effective here had it not been adopted so quickly by the rest of the guys. <br />
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But enough of my rambling, let's just get to the quotes. Pay attention to the theme here. Geeze. I don't know why I and Darlene and Dorsey and Eva and maybe others aren't locked up somewhere, if you believe how deranged and disturbed we've been portrayed. But, let's get to it, shall we? These are going to be direct quotes, taken out of context only to assure I'm not at this for a week getting it all here and you're not here for a month reading it all. I'll gladly make available any email that's quoted from here.<br />
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In no particular order, from emails that in some instances went out to over 40 people:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>(email December 7, member of tech team to Dar) </b> </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"> ...Grow up, Dar...</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Frankly, you've been a petulant whiny brat...</blockquote><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>(email December 17, from Phillip to multiple recipients)</b><br />
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<span>Ah...Dixie. Otherwise known as MahDear. *deep breath* This one has been an issue in Livestream for some time.</span><br />
<span><br />
For starters, she has some severe anti-male issues, and some form of internal vendetta with anyone that is a Livestream mod or streamer.</span><br />
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<span>...she tantrums...</span><br />
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Now, we've been reeeeally nice to this one...<br />
<span> </span><br />
<span>...</span>this lady has a severe malfunction.<br />
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I don't know what spaceship she got a ride on...but she's waaaaaaay out there.<br />
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She lives for the fight. She just wants a bit of chaos.<br />
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Yes, I know all about MahDear, aka Occupy Dixie.<br />
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<span>no one -can- talk to her without her going off the deep end.</span></blockquote><br />
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<span> </span><b><span> </span></b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span>(from December 23 email, Seth/Spuff to multiple recipients)</span></b><br />
</blockquote><blockquote>I'm tired of the gender issues.<span> </span></blockquote><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>(email December 30, Jason Steen to multiple recipients, after new PR team was announced)</b><br />
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Do we need an emergency GA to sort this out, before something crazy is released? do we want to take that chance?</blockquote><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>(email December 30, Matt to multiple recipients)</b><br />
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it's hard for me not to be sarcastic when I wake up to 200 + emails of people telling me their controlling the movement. he or she who controls the media controls the movement... </blockquote><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>(email December 30, Phillip to multiple recipients)</b><br />
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<span>I know how you were a counselor..and so you know a bit about how others work. So you can leave your lame attempts at manipulation at the door..and take your childishness elsewhere.<br />
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You love to fight. You love to disrupt the chat, and complain..and go off to god knows where about things</span><br />
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Most of your stuff seems to involve some severe hate<span> </span></blockquote><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span>(Matt in email on December 30, to multiple recipients)</span></b><br />
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<div>in light of the new p r group taking control over the occupy nashville movement I will be hosting a march today at 3 o'clock. we will be meeting at the plaza and marching to each of the p r members houses who's addresses I have obtained through anonymous donations of information...</div><div>we will not be co-opted by 2012</div><div>And ONward we go</div>We are legion <br />
we do not forgive <br />
we do not forget <br />
you should have expected this</blockquote><br />
Again, these quotes from email are out of context for a reason. But if you suspect anything other than what the entire threads would show is the pattern of attacking the messenger as a means to avoid the issue, please do contact <a href="mailto:mahdeardixie@gmail.com" target="_blank">me</a> so I can forward the threads intact to you.<br />
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A great deal of the show has run on some Occupy Nashville pages too. Consider these bits:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span>(January 28th post by Phillip on ON's group page)</span></b><br />
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<pre wrap="">The point is, these two are poisonous.</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">"crazed rantings" </pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">she just follows the leader on the second one...whom is probably one of the biggest sources of Misandry in Occupy Nashville.</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">Its the same bullies</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">And norma...holy cow thats one that should have got banned forever ago</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">I DID say awareness, and shunning. And that they are venomous</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">"Hey hey, ho ho...Occubullies have go to go!" </pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">I have seen <b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>many<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> a time where the terms of mysogyny, and related are used just to smear someone that a particularly rude person doesn't like..and <b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>that<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> needs to stop. </pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">I just see way too many male bashers and oh this is misogyny</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">These folks need to get some serious help
And yes, there are women that just hate males. The word in Greek, in itself means "Those whom hate men."
</pre><pre wrap=""></pre><pre wrap="">Hey, well..I just get tired of..everytime it is a woman saying something, we have to pay attention and do something otherwise we're all knocking on women. However, when a guy has an issue it is "Well, what about them?" If a guy says something, suddenly it isn't an argument..shouldn't be discussed, and/or is a waste of time. Or they just don't understand..which is a really sexist attitude in itself. In some cases people don't realize they are doing it..in others..its pretty obvious. That attitude only furthers the cycle of hatred. </pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">And let me tell you, if we have to hear about how Occupy is so rampant about female abuse..then you're going to hear about the other side of things too</pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">Actions speak louder than words. I am tired of being made to feel bad because of being a male..or having to second guess myself because if I disagree with a woman I could be a misogynist, woman hater..etc. The bullying needs to stop..and it is there. Has been there..and will continue to be there unless folks step up and say otherwise.
</pre></blockquote><pre wrap=""> </pre><blockquote class="tr_bq"><pre wrap=""><b>(Debra Carter (Grits) on ON's group fb page)</b></pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">Until people let go of their preconceived personal ideations, ego's and "I have a vagina I'm superior" and "ON is filled with misogyny". ON will self-destruct before the 6 mth mark... this shit been going on for 2 months now. It's time to get out of the pull-ups and put real undies on. </pre></blockquote><pre wrap=""></pre><pre wrap=""> </pre><pre wrap="">"Ohio" is a mod for Matt's stream channel. Well, ON's stream channel, apparently, if you go to their web site and look for media. Try to find anybody who will tell you otherwise if you're looking for Occupy Nashville stream. "Wolfy" is the former member of ON tech mentioned previously and to be addressed more fully later. Here, an enlightening snippet of control:</pre><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.06763034250410627" style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:58 Ohio4OWS: I miss your passion Wolfy</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:58 Ohio4OWS: =(</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Wolfy1619: I miss being there. I knew it would hit me hard, but its been really bad. I watched a video yesterday that was a compilation of the camp activities.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Wolfy1619: And I cried.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Wolfy1619: It feels like I abandoned everyone.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Ohio4OWS: =(</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Ohio4OWS: your personal safety is at risk i think if you were to be on site....</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8:59 Ohio4OWS: i prefer you to be safe</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:00 Wolfy1619: Yeah, I can imagine it would be at risk. But so would the safety of a particular woman.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:00 Ohio4OWS: certain people need to stfu and stop making lives hard</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:00 Ohio4OWS: i'm with you Wolfy.....</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:00 Ohio4OWS: i have my own list ....</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:01 Wolfy1619: Funny how they make these accusations AFTER I leave. -_-</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:01 Wolfy1619: Oh well. Life goes on. Time passes.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:01 Ohio4OWS: fear not my brother....there are people working to shut certain folks up on your behalf...behind the scenes</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9:01 Wolfy1619: And I still do what I can from here.</span><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: orange;">9:01 Wolfy1619: Aye, and I appreciate that</span>.</span></blockquote><br />
Oh. Before I forget...in case you don't know and this is by chance news and you don't know what the "accusations" are...Wolfy was recently featured prominently on a web site that tracks pedophiles and cooperates with law enforcement. They have a pretty impressive record for the past six years. One of the site's team is also a part of Occupy Nashville, so when the news broke about Wolfy, all hell broke loose. No, no, no, not outrage about Wolfy. Outrage about...yep, let's play attack the messenger again.<br />
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<br />
Jon Louis (the name he has used at Occupy Nashville) is a member of ON's tech team. Here's a bit of what he sent to the messenger:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.06763034250410627" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nah, its just funny</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How someone that loves to spread lies about some people</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">all of a sudden has so much dirty laundry?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is it now... people in glass houses? ...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I do believe that site said something about abuse of a daughter? ... Serious serious stuff</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">funny how you enjoy that bit of info. the pedos do too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">About how you allegedly abused your daughter?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">nope, even they weren't bad enough to make shit like that up. good for you, you're better at making fucked up shit than the pedos are. you win!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm just going by what I heard... Apparently it was on the site somewhere</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Trillian Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">apparently it wasn't. like i said, i saw that site years ago when the pedos made it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">but hey, if that's what gets your rocks offf...imagine whatever you want, it's your nasty brain.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: orange;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10 February</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Louis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'll have to dig around again and check my source</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I wonder about anyone so obsessed with pedophiles... In the investigation do you actually look at child porn?</span></blockquote><br />
What's being referenced in the above exchange is a web site the tech guys thought it would be cool to post as a way to discredit the person they associated with the allegations about their friend. A really nasty piece of work, it was put together and posted online a few years ago by some pedophiles who had their own issues with her. It included graphic and explicit information about childhood abuse and identifying information for the victim. Classy, huh? Another example of how tech team has tried to control the message and communication within ON, to silence anything they don't want to hear. Again, make it about her, right? Because that will at least momentarily stop the conversation about our former tech team buddy, Wolfy.<br />
<br />
Jason Steen (one of our stars) musta drawn the long straw, because it fell to him to post the disgusting page created by the pedophiles...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.06763034250410627" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jason Steen</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">wow you think you know someone that's helping the movement, then you see this! http://xxxxxcensoredxxxxx - aka Trillan Dent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jason Steen ?Phillip Schlicher now it's out there :)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5:03pm (16 minutes ago)Reply</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Phillip Schlicher Yep, and gee...THIS is what we support. Oh, but they are feminists...um..no, like most else of what they claim, that's a lie too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: red;"></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Part of a group that actively smears others and accuses them of being pedos without any real proof..with no care as to whom they hurt. And this group speaks for you? HA. Great job, folks. This is what you allow to run wild.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5:06pm (13 minutes ago)Reply</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></blockquote><div style="color: red;"></div><div style="color: red;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Linda Jackson omg! wtf???</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5:10pm (23 minutes ago)</span></blockquote><br />
For those not paying attention, the above transaction occurred right after the "let's take the group down" chit posted <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/and-so-it-goes.html" target="_blank">here</a> yesterday. <br />
<br />
<br />
Almost two in the morning and so much more to cover. But, what's this? Something new? Ok, I know I said no "news" here, but this just in:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-crhhBg4mSEI/T0XridgYeII/AAAAAAAAAd4/o70XtW7x_fc/s1600/calling.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-crhhBg4mSEI/T0XridgYeII/AAAAAAAAAd4/o70XtW7x_fc/s320/calling.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Well. I checked the comments and see some of you are impatiently clamoring for more. Hey, I hear ya. But this seems as good a place any to stop for the evening. It's late and I want to shift gears and turn to contemplating a universe where people imagine you call employers on jobs they imagine they have.<br />
<br />
P.S. I might not be having as much fun here as it appears I am, but, then again, I really just might be after all.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-88609142082062080752012-02-21T01:23:00.001-06:002012-02-21T02:06:46.525-06:00And So It GoesResponse to the blog entry I posted <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/occupy-nashville-drama-act-i.html" target="_blank">here</a> about 24 hours ago has been swift. It's, unfortunately, also been predictable because it's true to form for this crew, nasty, and plentiful. I'll share some of it with you here.<br />
<br />
Some member of Occupy Nashville's tech or media team yanked the link to this blog from their fb Wall and reported it to fb, resulting in my receiving an official warning from fb. (Not the first time, btw, ON yanked something I posted on fb.)<br />
<br />
The boyfriend, Joe A. Black (alias), of one of the people discussed (Jason Steen) in that piece posted the following on his fb <a href="https://www.facebook.com/joe.black.247" target="_blank">Wall</a>: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Joe A. Black <br />
6 hours ago <br />
Norma Jones, congrats, you're a dumb bitch. <br />
• Jason Steen and Amanda Grace like this.</blockquote><br />
"Joe" also sent me this message through fb:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><div class="UIImageBlock_Content UIImageBlock_SMALL_Content"><div><div class="rfloat"><abbr class="timestamp timestamp livetimestamp" data-utime="1329769369" title="Monday, February 20, 2012 at 2:22pm">9 hours ago</abbr></div><b><span title="joe.black.247@facebook.com">Joe A. Black</span></b></div><div><ul class="uiList body contentListWidth"><li class="uiListItem uiListVerticalItemBorder"><div class="content noh" id="id.303936349665592">you've done fucked up lady.</div></li>
</ul></div></div></blockquote><br />
One can only hope "Joe's" screenwriting vocabulary is more expansive than his communications today would indicate.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_9Ha5QU_8jA/T0M-hK_vl7I/AAAAAAAAAdo/OKePJ_x-JEQ/s1600/joe4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_9Ha5QU_8jA/T0M-hK_vl7I/AAAAAAAAAdo/OKePJ_x-JEQ/s320/joe4.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> (Photo from "Joe's" fb page.)</div><br />
<br />
There have also been plans to "dox" me celebrated on Twitter by some of ON's people. Here are a few tweets from today:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><pre wrap=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>OCCUPYCARLISLE RT @jasonashville: kids don't try this @ home. OP #DoxOccuTrolls engaged. @TANGELL0 @OCCUPYCARLISLE @AnonSikko @TheReallyRick @Gaynonymous_247 #OccupyNashville
about 6 hours ago</b></span></pre></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><pre wrap=""><b>TANGELL0 RT @jasonashville: kids don't try this @ home. OP #DoxOccuTrolls engaged. @TANGELL0 @OCCUPYCARLISLE @AnonSikko @TheReallyRick @Gaynonymous_247 #OccupyNashville
about 7 hours ago</b></pre></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><pre wrap=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>jasonashville kids don't try this @ home. OP #DoxOccuTrolls engaged. @TANGELL0 @OCCUPYCARLISLE @AnonSikko @TheReallyRick @Gaynonymous_247 #OccupyNashville
about 8 hours ago
jasonashville @TANGELL0 cause i think MahDear(aka Norma Jones) has quite the crush on ya <span class="moz-smiley-s1" title=":)">:)</span> #OccupyNashville
about 9 hours ago
owsNashvilleBot RT @jasonashville: wow... some folks need a life, Trolls have descended on #OccupyNashville - someone offered bugspray to @TANGELL0 i about spit out my drink
about 9 hours ago</b></span></pre></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;"><pre wrap=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TANGELL0 RT @jasonashville: wow... some folks need a life, Trolls have descended on #OccupyNashville - someone offered bugspray to @TANGELL0 i about spit out my drink
about 9 hours ago
jasonashville wow... some folks need a life, Trolls have descended on #OccupyNashville - someone offered bugspray to @TANGELL0 i about spit out my drink
about 9 hours ago</b></span></pre></blockquote>There's also been the ever curious spectacle of Phillip writing <a href="http://occupiedfedoratales.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">tomes</a>, with four (yes, four, at least the last time I saw) l-o-n-g blog entries of his own that he seems to consider a sort of "rebuttal" to my blog. I hope he's been able to get some rest. I haven't even written about the bit players yet, so I can only imagine what tangent that will set him off on when I get there.<br />
<br />
Apparently, the thrill of continuing to prove my point that there is a problem element within Occupy Nashville is too much for some of these guys to pass up. Far be it from me to brag about their self control, in any event. As we've seen time and again, whatever's not cheerleading for them is attacked, they're only escalating now. But it's not new.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I'd planned to write tonight about the supporting cast for ON's "stars," but I felt more inclined to stay abreast of today's current events, so that will be it for tonight. It doesn't pass my notice that some of the people the next blog entry will focus on felt compelled to jump in so early. For the rest of that nonsense, I'll just say they can "hearsay" to Hell all they want, but the truth is I'm not posting much of anything that's not already in the public domain. Already streamed live when it happened, archived and ready to view on demand. Discussed in GA. In blogs authored by others associated with Occupy Nashville. Done to death on one facebook page after another by some of the ones protesting this series, including two Occupy Nashville pages, the forum on their official web site, and more "Walls" and emails than any of us has toes and fingers to count on. Together, probably.<br />
<br />
What they don't like is that I'm doing it here where they can't shut me up.<br />
<br />
I'm not done.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-6742858453334646502012-02-20T00:53:00.000-06:002012-02-20T00:53:30.052-06:00Occupy Nashville: The Drama, Act IKeeping up with Occupy Nashville news lately is a bit like watching slowed down footage of a really bad train wreck, if you were in The Twilight Zone. Or, trying to moderate an argument between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum(b). A circus as metaphor occurs as appropriate too, as does imagining oneself to be zoo keeper in the monkey house. While the state of Tennessee proceeds with legislative <a href="http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2012/02/16/house-votes-to-evict-occupy-nashville" target="_blank">action</a> that will almost certainly result in the end of 24/7 camping on Legislative Plaza in a matter of days, some persons associated with Occupy Nashville continue to demonstrate, at minimum, questionable judgement in ways that put the future of ON in jeopardy of losing more public support and that's what this blog entry is going to be about. ON has important decisions to make, critical work to be done if it's to be able to effectively continue operations after the camp on the plaza is gone. It's time to cut the cancer out before it kills the body that is Occupy Nashville.<br />
<br />
Cancer? That's exactly the analogy that occurred to me after watching the GA of February 14th. With tears streaming down my face, more than once, I saw women and men of ON speak passionately about the very things that brought me to this movement. In awe of their dedication, I also experienced disgust knowing that at the same time these brave souls were speaking, there were others in this movement involved in malicious attacks on these same people. Even in the midst of the darkest hours for Occupy Nashville in terms of its very survival as a physical entity, the people who have been responsible for so much of what's been a problem with ON for months have not been willing (able?) to stop putting more energy into maintaining their own egos than into Occupying anything.<br />
<br />
It's past time to mince words, folks. A major problem continues to be that certain people have positioned themselves to be the public voice and image for Occupy Nashville. There's a rather extensive cast of characters in this drama, but I want to begin by first looking at the major players, the stars, if you will.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Matt</b></span></div><br />
If you go to Occupy Nashville's official <a href="http://occupynashville.org/" target="_blank">web site</a> and click on the "media" tab at the top of the main page, you can choose from two things...both will take you to Matt. You can go to his Ustream <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tangello" target="_blank">channel</a> or to the <a href="http://www.radiofreenashville.org/" target="_blank">station</a> where he does a radio show. That's it. End of story for anybody who visits the official site for ON seeking information on ON media. There's no denying that Matt is represented on their site as a voice for ON.<br />
<br />
The problem with that is, well, Matt. While it's true he's put in more hours in recent months than anybody else to stream ON related events, it's also true that he often conducts himself much like an adolescent who got into his parent's liquor cabinet and now doesn't know what to do with his drunk self. His lack of self control while in the spotlight for ON does damage to ON's image to the public at a time when it needs all the support it can get.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fAVUNVoJjQ8/T0G3t_P2BaI/AAAAAAAAAdA/VsOxBHo0h7Y/s1600/384426_10150462157103406_562448405_8641140_183443420_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fAVUNVoJjQ8/T0G3t_P2BaI/AAAAAAAAAdA/VsOxBHo0h7Y/s320/384426_10150462157103406_562448405_8641140_183443420_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> (Photo a public post on fb with a "share" button. I'm sharing.)</div><br />
Like what, you ask? Well, after the GA three nights ago, Matt (aka Tangell0/Tangello) was front and center as the stream guy who created an <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/02/if-you-follow-occupy-nashville-news.html" target="_blank">incident</a> in front of a bar on Broadway, in the heart of Nashville's tourist district. Worse, he then edited footage of what he shot and participated in a call to boycott the small business involved. Matt's fans and supporters obliged him by slamming the facebook page of the bar owner (most of those posts have now been removed) and making enough annoying phone calls to the bar that they had to change their phone number. Never mind that Matt repeatedly shouted dumb stuff like "you fucking douche bag" in the middle of this. Never mind that Matt tried to get some of the ON people to invade the bar with him (thankfully, another ON person talked him down from that, also streamed live). This became a huge brouhaha with Matt, once again, at the center of it all. (Some footage of this is still on Matt's Ustream channel.)<br />
<br />
That was Thursday, and the last time that he streamed a GA. Matt tweeted on Saturday that he was not going to be able to stream the GA that day. However, he was available to stream a jam session on that Ustream channel that links off the ON website. He was also, apparently, unable to stream the GA today, but that didn't prevent him from tweeting that he was "hammered" by noon two days in a row and being in a video chat talking about it all.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nFRu8sXkHVc/T0G3vBRfDGI/AAAAAAAAAdY/VkSo2LshmdY/s1600/408919_387070221320147_100000515175690_1471694_1273305369_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nFRu8sXkHVc/T0G3vBRfDGI/AAAAAAAAAdY/VkSo2LshmdY/s320/408919_387070221320147_100000515175690_1471694_1273305369_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Who cares if Matt is "hammered" at noon (or any other time, for that matter)? Well, mostly, not me, f'sure. The problem, again, however, is that everything Matt does seems to have a distinct air of self promotion to it and, again, he's positioned as an "official" representative of ON. Every time someone from the press or another Occupy comes to a chat or forum or fb page looking for a contact person, Matt is one of the two people whose names (and Twitter, Ustream, and fb info) are given. That's the problem.<br />
<br />
And, it's not new. Recall, please, that it was Matt back in <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2011/12/can-i-get-ticket-please.html" target="_blank">November</a> with the open wallet on live stream openly taunting people with "fuck you if you don't like it." It was Matt who streamed in <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2011/12/tale-of-two-actions.html" target="_blank">December</a> about wanting to "fuck with the state police" when he and another ON protester pitched a tent in the middle of the night outside Governor's office on the capitol grounds. Matt who suggested in an email that members of ON go to the homes of other ON participants they disagreed with to protest. (I'll gladly forward a copy of that email to anybody who requests it.) Matt who <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2012/01/lets-interview-woman-beater.html" target="_blank">interviewed</a> the woman beater who lied about his military service and was kicked out of his own party caucus without even asking the perp about it. Matt in this picture on his Twitter account, captioned: <span style="color: yellow;">"</span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9776759021868434" style="background-color: transparent; color: yellow; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">who is that masked man stealing power from the lamp post? Its</span><a href="http://twitter.com/tangell0"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">@</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">tangell0</span></a><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23occupynashville"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">#</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">occupynashville</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: yellow;">now has power."</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wRQXJQvaRBY/T0G8325ISjI/AAAAAAAAAdg/dmAcU6ZsWlc/s1600/Al0CL1mCIAAI5za.jpg+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wRQXJQvaRBY/T0G8325ISjI/AAAAAAAAAdg/dmAcU6ZsWlc/s320/Al0CL1mCIAAI5za.jpg+large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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If you're happy about the public face "Tangello the Great" (his own sobriquet, btw) gives to Occupy Nashville, perhaps you're also happy to donate to his WePay <a href="https://www.wepay.com/donations/tangello" target="_blank">account</a> that you can find linked to on his Ustream page. Before you decide to do that, however, allow me to point out a few relevant facts:<br />
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<ul><li>Occupy Nashville pays for two hot spots to be used for streaming of ON related activities and events. That is not an out-of-pocket expense for the person streaming.</li>
<li>The accounting of funds collected that's presented on the beg page does not jive with what Matt has reported more than once elsewhere. The total reported donations as of this writing on that page is $100, although Matt streamed while in D.C. about one day getting "a ton" of donations and has stated online elsewhere since then that he's averaging about a hundred dollars per month.</li>
<li>Matt is indicating online in more than one place that he's leaving Occupy Nashville when the camp closes to head to Occupy Oakland.</li>
</ul>I think it's time for Matt to go to Oakland or anywhere that's not Occupy Nashville. Oakland may, in fact, be a good fit for him. If you want to help make it happen, then, by all means, consider donating as much as you can afford to give. On the other hand, if you want to help Occupy Nashville in a more direct way even than getting rid of Matt Hamill, I'm suggesting that you visit the Occupy Nashville site and donate through the Nashville Peace and Justice Center.<br />
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Of one thing we can be sure: Matt's had a sweet gig here. Just days out of jail, as noted on his <a href="http://blogoftangello.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>, he landed in the bosom of Occupy Nashville and by not long into November, he'd made the decision to quit the job he'd had for a few weeks so he could move to the plaza. As he explained to me from the backseat of my car one night when I drove to Murfreesboro to pick him up from his job before he quit it, "All my needs are met there. If I want cigarettes or pizza, all I have to do is tell the people in the stream chat I want it and they send it." "I can snap my fingers and get anything I want." I'm not sure, however, that even Matt knew he'd be able to position himself as the voice and face of ON, on their dime, and collect donations to his private WePay account for his trouble. I don't even care what he was in jail for, though there is online indication that he's telling the <a href="http://www.murfreesboropost.com/43-county-residents-nabbed-in-nationwide-sweep-cms-18080" target="_blank">truth</a> that he was. Unfortunately, the face he's put on ON is not one that's contributed to public support for the movement. There is no regular viewer of Matt's stream who hasn't heard his frequent comments to every new person he meets that he's "the main guy" for ON media contact. Let's be clear. He's not worth the trouble. It's time for him to go.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Jason</b></span></div><br />
Jason Steen, aka DrTweeker in a number of places online, is the other star of this Occupy Nashville drama, as the other person besides Matt who streams and is consistently cited as an "official" contact for ON. In the earliest days of ON, Jason was the person who most often streamed ON occasions, but just because that's now fallen to Matt, it would be a mistake to think Jason is any less a public face for Occupy Nashville. Again, it's Jason and Matt who are consistently referenced as contact people when people want to contact ON about just about anything. And, again, check the ON fb page if you think it's happening in any other way.<br />
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Unfortunately, laying out the issues with Jason's involvement with ON are a bit more problematic for me because I can't do it without noting some information that's rather messy, but we're going there anyway, because some of it's already public knowledge and has even been discussed in GAs that were live streamed to anybody who wanted to see it. That can still be viewed in archived footage on Tangello's Ustream channel. Of course, we're talking about stealing. Stealing money from Occupy Nashville. Money intended to buy food and run the camp on for a week. Occupy Nashville that he's positioned himself as the public face of.<br />
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Whether Jason actually stole the money or not, he, at minimum, behaved recklessly with funds he was entrusted with. By his own declaration, he left the money unattended in a tent, without telling anybody present at the time he was going to do so, and he did it shortly after a meeting he was part of in which it was clearly stated that nobody was to do that because there had been an earlier problem with missing money. Then he left town to go to D.C.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUNY0WPRXQ4/T0G3taf-RnI/AAAAAAAAAc4/QN-7mXaYhzA/s1600/380683_10150353208608406_562448405_8224448_1379650710_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUNY0WPRXQ4/T0G3taf-RnI/AAAAAAAAAc4/QN-7mXaYhzA/s320/380683_10150353208608406_562448405_8224448_1379650710_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jason being interviewed by local media. (Photo a public post on fb with a "share" button. I'm sharing.)<br />
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You can, of course, decide for yourself what you think happened there. You can, also, donate to Jason's personal WePay <a href="https://www.wepay.com/donations/bail-stream-fund" target="_blank">account</a>. But, if that's how you're inclined, let me point out a few things relative to this beggar's operation:<br />
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<ul><li>Jason promises to use any donated money for "bail" or "streaming," but he mostly never streams any more and hasn't for many weeks. </li>
<li>It's unclear how much bail would be even if Jason decided to get arrested.</li>
<li>It's unclear whether or not ON will have money to bail anybody out of jail, if needed. There are, perhaps, a half dozen people who have indicated a willingness to get arrested, certainly no more than that.</li>
<li>Getting arrested is a choice, in this instance, not a requirement.</li>
<li>Again, Occupy Nashville pays for hot spots and this is not an out-of-pocket expense for Jason. </li>
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Frankly, if I had extra bucks to give to somebody right now and Jason was my recipient of choice, I'd give the money I had to donate directly to the woman whose money came up missing when he "left it in a tent,"and I'd give it to her in his name.<br />
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Jason, aka Dr.Tweeker, is problematic for another reason and here it gets even more sticky because I have to now talk about what is rumor and not able to be proven by me. The issue of drug use on the plaza has been a sticking point, but usually when people talk about it openly, they want to only discuss those "homeless" people on the plaza. Except that, privately, for months, and from more than one person in a position to know, I keep hearing that Jason is part of a group using bath salts on the plaza. For the uninitiated, bath salts are a street drug that acts as a central nervous system stimulant. Think speed. Crack. Meth. Think all the nasty character traits that often manifest themselves in people who do CNS stimulants. While you're at it, ponder this definition of "tweeker" from the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tweeker" target="_blank">Urban Dictionary</a>:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">A methamphetamine user. Tweekers are known for their extreme paranoia, flagrant dishonesty, and lack of non-tweeker friends. A tweeker will steal your stuff and then help you look for it.</blockquote>You can use Google search for yourself to determine that Jason has been calling himself DrTweeker for a lot longer than he's been associated with Occupy Nashville. Hear his own words about that here. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyMVLkyb6vyvEjjH9e1cV9pzr-ONTvl_7Vbxxzuypb__GAjpXEpuUrCDM61DTznIN1Rn6Qj4ERO9OSp5sHVig' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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In my professional life, I was licensed as a clinician and trainer in the field of addictions, so my perspective on the issue of Jason as DrTweeker and the current problem of him being accused of stealing and using drugs on the plaza is coming necessarily influenced by that perspective. I will cop to some embarrassment that I had to google "bath salts" myself when I first heard the rumors, but I'll also cop to an "aha" moment when I did, because the classic personality and behavior associated with those who are actively using CNS stimulants is present in the behavior I've seen recently come from Jason. I've seen him, over and over and over and over again, look straight into the camera and tell one bold faced lie after another, about anything from the number of tents on the plaza, the number of people in those tents, even about whether or not he was streaming events when questioned by a security guard.<br />
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Just like Matt, Jason needs to go. To rehab? I dunno. Maybe. But, like Matt, it needs to be just about anywhere other than Occupy Nashville.<br />
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<div style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More</b></span></div><br />
Matt and Jason are the anointed stars in this production, but they could never have maintained their star status without a lot of help from others within Occupy Nashville. All along, there has been a cast of co-stars, primarily ON tech team members...Spuff, Overkill, Eric, Jon Louis. There have also been the bit players from the sidelines, the peanut gallery, if you will...Phillip, Grits, Ohio, and others. The next blog entry will introduce you to more of the cast that produces the drama that is Occupy Nashville.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-61087517758587885022012-02-18T00:27:00.001-06:002012-02-18T00:28:55.389-06:00Occupiers Turned Away From Nashville Bar?If you follow Occupy Nashville news, you're probably aware that a group of ON protesters were denied entrance to a bar on Broadway last night. Since the incident, facebook has been lit up with numerous threads full of outraged comments posted by ON supporters expressing condemnation of the owners of the establishment for discriminating against the occupiers. You can find the threads on the bar's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Full-Moon-Saloon-Nashville/334731256117" target="_blank">facebook page</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupyNashville" target="_blank">ON's public page </a>, and their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/occupynashville/" target="_blank">group page</a> as well, for starters.<br />
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I've read a great deal of it while smirking. When I wasn't snorting. Smirking and snorting because I was watching the live stream as the incident occurred and I submit that the feigned outrage from ON is just that...feigned. Well, feigned and misplaced. Perhaps the most regrettable piece of it all was the silly comparison of ON people being denied entrance to a bar in the middle of one of their actions to blacks being denied their civil rights during the 60s. Yes, idiots actually had the nerve to present such a position. Good grief.<br />
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Isn't anybody wondering how the people at the door knew the group were occupiers from ON? Do you think it might have anything to do with the fact that they were armed with Occupy Nashville fliers and flowers they'd been passing out to patrons on the sidewalk outside the bar in question? Before they stopped to try and go in? Do you think they noticed, too, the guy doing the talking was also live streaming the action?<br />
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Now...you're the proprietor of a bar in arguably the hottest tourist strip in Nashville. Would you instruct your employees to not allow protesters into your establishment? I would. It was peak business hours for these people; they should invite an almost guaranteed disruption into their midst? Would you?<br />
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I understand the recorded footage of this has been edited and linked to as well. Cool. Did the part where the Occupy Nashville guy streaming the footage was loudly and belligerently calling the bar employee a "fucking douche bag" make the cut?<br />
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The irony, or, perhaps, tragedy, of this all is that it's not like Occupy Nashville doesn't have plenty of fights to put energy into. It's not like the state of Tennessee isn't poised to evict them, probably next week. How smart was it to create a public incident like this?Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-23600674693845769362012-02-01T14:46:00.001-06:002012-02-01T14:47:36.681-06:00Whose Plaza?Anyone who even occasionally aspires to put into words something they don't want to acknowledge will understand when I say this blog entry is the most difficult I can recall ever undertaking. This piece has been "written" a hundred times in my head, considered for hours over days and weeks. I've assigned "deadlines" for myself more than once in the past week for when I was sure I'd get it done, even assuring others that it was forthcoming and promising when that would be, efforts to push myself to overcome my reluctance to say what I knew in my gut needed to be said. Today, I've had the tab open to begin writing for three hours because I still don't want to do it.<br />
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I'm not the only one with a dilemma today. This afternoon, the Tennessee House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hear arguments relative to proposed legislation that could potentially lead to the sooner rather than later eviction of Occupy Nashville from Legislative Plaza. HB2638, introduced by Republican Representative Eric Watson from Cleveland, would make law specific to the issue of using publicly owned property as a place of residence. This bill and its sister bill in the Senate (SB2508, introduced by state Senator Delores Gresham, Republican from Somerville) have already been reviewed by Fiscal Review Committee and <a href="http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/107/Fiscal/HB2638.pdf" target="_blank">found</a> to not represent a significant increase in either expenditures or revenue for the state if enacted. Sponsors of the legislation have publicly declared the Tennessee Attorney General's office has given the green light about the constitutionality of it all and there seems to me no reason to expect this won't pass and become law relatively easy.<br />
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What should Occupy Nashville's response be to this? Supporters of ON have been engaged in writing letters, meeting with lawmakers, and will gather to Occupy the meeting room when the Judiciary Committee convenes this afternoon. Their position might be best presented by their own <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupyNashville/posts/240581466021664" target="_blank">open letter</a> to Governor Bill Haslam, members of the Tennessee state legislature, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. In short, ON is (rightfully) making the case that this law will have impact on much more than the physical occupation of the plaza by people affiliated with the movement.<br />
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Occupy camps have been evicted all over the country since the first tents went up for Occupy Wall Street on September 17, 2011 and Nashville has enjoyed relative immunity from any such attempts since their legal counsel successfully petitioned the federal court for an injunction after the state attempted to evict on the grounds of hastily drawn up new rules governing use of Legislative Plaza last fall. The proposed legislation, however, potentially broadens the scope of what the legal issues are, and while there are arguments on both sides of how effectively the new law might be implemented in face of the currently in place injunction, common sense should dictate the reality that ON will not "occupy" the plaza forever. What remains to be seen is how they will leave.<br />
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The issue of homeless people and Occupy camps has been one of much discussion and I've had a <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2011/12/go-away.html" target="_blank">bit</a> to say about it on this blog as well. I'm not sure any aspect of the overall issue has been more picked over than that of who is an "occupier" and who is "just" homeless. This is a distinction that has always seemed artificial, at best, to me and one that, at worst, perpetuates the very system and its abuses that we've proclaimed our opposition to. In ON, for example, I've repeatedly seen the numbers of occupiers represented to the public to be inclusive of anyone who's physically on the plaza for any reason, while all the while seeing the same people who declare and repeat those numbers complain to a different audience about who gets to eat food first on the plaza. Over and over again, the clear message from some in ON has been that the homeless count when they're needed to show large numbers presumed by the presence of their tents and bodies on the plaza, but not so much when they should go to the end of the line to eat because someone deems their participation on the site not valid enough to eat the same and when others do.<br />
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Here's what I'd like to see. I'd like to see some honesty and transparency about who exactly is "occupying" the plaza these days. For starters, let's acknowledge the truth that there are basically no occupiers on the plaza now who have homes to be in elsewhere. By that definition, they are, in fact, all "homeless." The small group of people on site now who earlier in the occupation could have been said to have homes have quit their jobs since the movement began and either abandoned or otherwise lost their places of residence. In effect, those "occupiers" need the plaza because it has become their home and they need the support of the ON community in order to have their daily needs (like food) met.<br />
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As I've contemplated what it might mean for Occupy Nashville if they were to be evicted from the plaza, I keep coming back to the same place, which is to ask myself if ON is even still on the plaza now. I'm not sure that it is. The simple truth of the matter lies in looking at who's in GA meetings. Whose faces are those? Most of them don't stay on the plaza. Who are the people behind the scenes making things like the <a href="http://occupynashville.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Occupy-Homes-Bailey-Public-Packet.pdf" target="_blank">action</a> to save Ms. Bailey's home from foreclosure happen? Who are the volunteers that have helped the group with their finances and legal issues? Again, these are mostly supporters of ON, not ON people who are staying on the plaza.<br />
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For me, the question has certainly arisen over just what is the value of a physical occupation in Nashville in the first place. Going back to last fall, I was in favor of occupying and most specifically in favor of occupying Legislative Plaza. The symbolism of taking over public land in the shadow of the state capitol and holding it in such an in-your-face manner is powerful. The location also has made it a very visible instrument of public relations, with its high pedestrian traffic and proximity to TPAC. As many of us have noted, it's a photographer's dream too; I defy anybody to find a more visually attractive Occupy site than Nashville's. When I walked the perimeter in the wee hours of the morning one late October morning looking for signs of the Tennessee Highway Patrol about to swoop in for another night of arrests, it seemed terribly important to me that the camp be maintained.<br />
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Since that time, I've seen camp conditions deteriorate. Emails circulating internally this week make it clear that the problems with things like stolen personal property, misappropriation and/or theft of camp funds, physical assaults haven't improved. Even the issue of food and its availability is a source of contention, with an almost farcical episode of what I'll call "The Great Kitchen Caper" being streamed live last night. With increasing frequency, I hear from supporters of ON that they're no longer feeling safe to come to the plaza. To borrow from another vernacular, Houston, we have a problem.<br />
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The bills before the Tennessee legislature are bad law because they're one more step in the ongoing process of making it illegal to be poor or homeless in this country. I'd hope that Occupy Nashville can be an active part of a successful process to oppose it on those grounds. But, I'd also like to see them use this as an opportunity to take a look at just how revolutionary they are here. It's one thing to giggle giddily about the thrill of being in camo while tooling around town in street theater, it's quite another to take a stand and declare with public honesty that those who do not have homes to be in have a right to exist and not have their very being outlawed by legislation that makes it impossible to live on public land when they have none of their own. If ON wants to be truly revolutionary here, perhaps they'll take a stand that says they support an occupation of the plaza by anybody who needs to be there because they have no other place to be, and that includes people who are "just" homeless, as well as those who abandoned the homes and jobs they had in what could otherwise go down in their personal history as the chapter in which they got to play revolutionaries. As I've noted here before, the laws that have been used to harass Occupy camps all over the U.S. are the same laws used to harass the homeless before the first Occupy tent was ever pitched. If nothing else, can we not make a stand that assures change for them after the last Occupy tent is gone?Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-41264694374766709482012-01-29T18:06:00.001-06:002012-01-29T18:08:33.186-06:00Trivial IssuesOn the evening of October 31, 2011, I watched as a woman presented a proposal in Occupy Nashville's General Assembly to form a women's caucus. Her proposal was met with charges of being divisive. I was dismayed to see that, in spite of her thoughtful and apparently well considered explanation of why she was making the suggestion, it was met with such hostility. In response, I set up the Women Occupy Nashville page on facebook that very night so there would be a space designated somewhere as a forum to address women's issues.<br />
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In the almost three months since then, I've seen repeated incidents of women within ON being discounted, harassed, threatened, marginalized, and their voices silenced. One after another, women have come to ON on fire to participate in this movement, only to leave in frustration after repeated unsuccessful attempts to assert their right to be a part of the process without harassment.<br />
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I've seen ON stream team cut the live feed when a woman began to speak in GA, only to "explain" to those watching that the woman was a "trouble maker." I've watched in dismay as a male occupier repeatedly acted inappropriately with female occupiers while the other men excused his behavior by discounting the women's concerns. I've listened to snark from the stream team with comments like, "Be careful, we've already pissed off the feminists." And I've seen words like femi-Nazi thrown around. I've seen myself and at least one other woman banned from posting on ON sites when rules were not broken and I've had posts removed when I posted links to the ON facebook page as admin of the Women Occupy Nashville fb page. <br />
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The theme of "trouble maker" has been the primary weapon in efforts to silence women within ON. In my own instance, the label was quickly applied when I objected to a group of men publicly trashing a woman member of ON in the live stream chat. A narrative that lied to indicate I had "stalked" and "harassed" someone who had been a party to the incident was created and repeated ad infinitum, in chat, on the ON forum, the ON fb page, and in several emails that went out to as many as 40+ recipients at a time. I (and a number of other women who are part of ON) were all "man haters" with "an agenda," a "vendetta," even, at one point.<br />
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When it wasn't enough to simply label us as trouble makers, the tack taken was to cast us as emotionally unstable. Email after email uses language like "going off the deep end," "tantrum," "chaos," "severe malfunction." One line from one email read, "I don't know what spaceship she got a ride on...but she's waaaaaaay out there."<br />
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Three weeks ago, when I blogged here about an upcoming interview ON citizen journalist Matt Hamill was going to do with a man convicted of multiple charges involving two incidents with two different women in two different states, the narrative continued, as evidenced in some of the anonymous comments left on this blog, on facebook, and the ON forum. Perhaps the nadir of what happened there was the suggestion that some women deserve to be beat.<br />
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Earlier this week, ON participant Tristan Call published an excellent <a href="http://themormonworker.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/an-injury-to-one-part-2/" target="_blank">article</a> in which he included a section called The Politics of Gender in Occupy Nashville. This article became the subject of discussion in more than one place online, but nowhere more than on a group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/occupynashville/?ref=ts" target="_blank">page</a> on fb started by a member of the ON stream team. Once again, the attack dogs went into action.<br />
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I've mentioned the marginalizing that's continued unrelenting with charges that we're trouble makers and crazy; there's a new one now. Bullies. Now, we're bullies. This came after the chortles all around over the clever comments that talk about us as if we're bugs (really, read it for yourself.) This is all just more of the dehumanizing of your enemies that's the usual process for those who can't address your issues, so they go after you...again. Say and do anything that will make the conversation about the messenger, not the message or problem at hand. It's precisely the same thing we've seen the media and some in political office, dare I say, even the state of Tennessee, take when dehumanizing the occupiers on the plaza with their wild charges of nonsense in the bushes and tents. <br />
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But, there's no misogyny in ON, right? Apparently not, if you were to listen to the Soapbox after GA last night. It seems women have "run away" from ON because of "silly shit." Or, maybe it was really just "bull shit," as suggested by another. Or, was it the one who labeled it all as "trivial issues" that got it right? Because, don't you see we have more pressing issues here than the concerns of some women? Again, it's divisive to speak of such things because we have a "real" problem to deal with if the state moves to evict the occupation from the plaza, right? The message repeated clearly was that if you put energy into addressing misogyny and gender bias within ON, you're not part of the team and not in support of the movement.<br />
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We need to get a few things straight here. Women make up over half the population. When you're talking about representing the 99%, we are who you are talking about, like it or not. While we make up 51% of the population, we're doing 2/3 of the labor around the globe and still being paid only a percentage for our labor what the men are being paid for the same work. 70% of those living in poverty around the globe are women and, in our own country, women over 65 are twice as likely to be living in poverty as are men of the same age. In 2012, women are still the primary care givers for children, the elderly, and the disabled. When you look at who is most impacted by the violence against people as a result of corporate controlled politics and public policy, you are looking at women and you cannot avoid that.<br />
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Women are not only what this movement is about, we've been at the forefront of every movement that ever wrought social change throughout the history of civilization. This is our movement. We will be a part of it because we are unavoidably so. You will learn to adjust to that appropriately, or this movement will fail. That's a stone cold fact that should sober any of you willing or able to contemplate it with even a modicum of honesty.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-10928611937795097602012-01-06T14:48:00.000-06:002012-01-06T14:48:31.550-06:00Let's Interview a Woman BeaterRepresentative Daniel P. Gordon, Jr. wrangled his seat in the Rhode Island state house by beating his opponent with a mere 47 votes in the November 2010 election. Gordon ran as a Republican against Democrat George S. Alzaibak, <a href="http://www.newportdailynews.com/ee/newportdailynews/index.php?pageToLoad=e_election.php&ann_type=general_assembly&ann_file=088house71.txt" target="_blank">declaring</a> during the campaign that called attention to the candidates' differences of opinion on same-sex marriage and immigration issues, "The most important issue is honesty and integrity." <br />
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So what, right? Same-sex marriage and immigration are hot topics across the country, and I've yet to hear a politician openly argue against "honesty and integrity." And, goodness! Why the heck am I writing about a member of the Rhode Island state legislature in a blog about Occupy Nashville in the first place? Because Occupy Nashville's affiliated radio show, This Occupied Life, will feature an interview with Gordon during its weekly live broadcast tomorrow.<br />
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Voters in Rhode Island know a lot more about Mr. Gordon today than they did when they cast their votes in 2010. When Mr. "Honesty and Integrity are Important" Gordon was <a href="http://portsmouth.patch.com/articles/state-rep-dan-gordon-arrested-as-fugitive-from-justice-held-at-aci" target="_blank">arrested</a> in September 2011 for being a "fugitive from justice," just ten days after the Rhode Island House GOP Caucus voted to expel him from the party, a disturbing <a href="http://www.cafemom.com/group/99198/forums/read/14991122/Portsmouth_Rep_Daniel_P_Gordon_has_lengthy_criminal_record" target="_blank">history</a> of violent behavior was revealed. This history included revelation that Gordon had a violent criminal record:<br />
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<ul><li><span class="vitstorybody">In 1996,</span><span class="vitstorybody"> Gordon was charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to murder, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building and two other weapons charges. (Gordon was incarcerated four months related to these charges.)</span></li>
<li><span class="vitstorybody">In 2001, Gordon plead guilty to charges that he assaulted and threatened to kill his girlfriend. (After serving 28 days in jail, Gordon received 18 months probation and was under a restraining order to stay away from the woman.)</span></li>
<li><span class="vitstorybody">2003 brought more problems, with </span><span class="vitstorybody">charges of car theft, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, failing to stop for police, using a motor vehicle without authority, operating a motor vehicle without a license, marked lanes violation and speeding being filed against Gordon. (Disposition of these charges unknown.)</span></li>
<li><span class="vitstorybody">In 2004, Gordon, would be charged with</span><span class="vitstorybody"> attempted murder and assault and battery in a case involving yet another girlfriend.</span></li>
<li><span class="vitstorybody"> In 2008, Gordon was charged with eluding police, and it would be those charges he was arrested on in September 2011. </span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VRdOthmqQyo/TwdDh-Da-mI/AAAAAAAAAcE/J4dCYh15ots/s1600/try.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VRdOthmqQyo/TwdDh-Da-mI/AAAAAAAAAcE/J4dCYh15ots/s320/try.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="vitstorybody">Gordon's official photo on </span>Rhode Island House of Representatives web site.</div><br />
<span class="vitstorybody">The record indicates Mr. Gordon has had, at minimum, some problems with self control, but he also very quickly offered an explanation for his troubles when they became public a few months ago: Gordon <a href="http://portsmouth.patch.com/articles/rep-dan-gordon-my-head-is-bloody-but-unbowed-video" target="_blank">claimed</a> his behavior was the result of self medicating, with alcohol, the PTSD he suffers because of military service in a war zone, including a shrapnel injury sustained on the streets of Baghdad. He further lamented that his service records were not available for the public.</span><br />
<span class="vitstorybody"> </span><br />
<span class="vitstorybody">But, those records are, at least in part, now public, and the military <a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/politics/content/GORDON_MARINES_DEMOTIONS_10-06-11_PIQP9P8_v37.6f83c.html" target="_blank">record</a> released by a U.S.M.C. spokesperson doesn't support Gordon's claims of combat service or a shrapnel wound in Baghdad. It seems that Gordon spent his four years in the Marine Corps between 1987 and 1991 in such dangerous battlegrounds as South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington State, and California. And, while Gordon's <a href="http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Gordon/Biography.html" target="_blank">bio</a> on the Rhode Island House of Representatives web page cites "</span>Marine Corps Institute, Terrorism Counteractions, 1990" under the heading of "Education," it may be worth noting that 1990 is the also the year that Gordon was demoted in rank by the Marines...not once, but twice.<br />
<br />
So, just why is Occupy Nashville protester Matt Hamill interviewing Rhode Island Representative Daniel P. Gordon on 107.1 WRFN fm Radio Free Nashville tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.? I don't know. Perhaps Occupy Nashville has suddenly attained a feminist consciousness and they want to ask Gordon why a convicted woman beater should be holding public office. Or, maybe the burning question du jour will be one that poses the question of how he squares his "The most important issue is honesty and integrity" statement with his lies by omission about his violent criminal convictions and his overt lying about his military service. Those are things I'd like to ask him, if I was doing the interview. Or, maybe he can ask him about his positions on issues, since Gordon's <a href="http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/125883/daniel-gordon-jr/" target="_blank">refused</a> to respond to VoteSmart.org's repeated attempts to get that information.<br />
<br />
So, what is the connect to Occupy Nashville? Why is their weekly radio show, This Occupied Life, interviewing Gordon tomorrow? It turns out that not only did the Rhode Island GOP Caucus force Gordon out in September, leaders of both the Democrat and Republican parties in that state have called repeatedly for his ouster from the state legislature. In response, Gordon, a Ron Paul supporter, has <a href="http://thirdpartypolitics.us/blog/2011/10/03/libertarian-vision-peace-freedom-and-rep-gordon/" target="_blank">joined</a> the Libertarian party and vowed he will not resign. Is that the connect? It's no secret that the Occupy movement is populated by people with diverse political views and that Libertarians and Ron Paul supporters are part of that mix. It's also no secret that the oft repeated stance of Occupy, in general, is that they do not support any particular political party or any politician. <br />
<br />
Let's hope that tomorrow's radio show event will be one after which we can still claim it's true that we are not aligning ourselves with anybody other than ourselves. Let's pray that by this time tomorrow, we will not have to be talking about this radio show as the latest example of poor judgement on the part of some whose face is a public representative of Occupy Nashville. And, how 'bout we tune in tomorrow when the show is broadcast? The format for This Occupied Life has, to date, included the solicitation of questions from listeners and those in the online chat when the show is live streamed on one of ON's two live stream channels. Here's hoping that format isn't changed for tomorrow's event. You can log in to participate in chat <a href="http://www.livestream.com/occupynashville2011" target="_blank">here</a> at 10 a.m. central time tomorrow morning, Saturday, January 7th, 2011, and assure that the right questions are asked.<br />
<br />
Let's further hope that the next time ON interviews a politician it isn't a woman beater who lies bout his military service.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="vitstorybody"></span>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-38106786251880499902012-01-05T10:55:00.001-06:002012-01-05T12:05:44.956-06:00What's Next for Occupy Nashville?Occupy Nashville has been on Legislative Plaza for three months this weekend and, like Occupy sites all over the country, conversations are being had about what's next for the movement. While many Occupy groups have lost their sites through forced eviction, others have made strategic decisions to abandon the physical occupation part of what they've been doing in favor of a different model of activism, one that is not burdened by the difficulties of communal camp living and is less of an obvious target for local opposition.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KIMT1xuQUik/TwXUO_1_2UI/AAAAAAAAAb0/Lsox8GRPLOk/s1600/DSC_0027_26297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KIMT1xuQUik/TwXUO_1_2UI/AAAAAAAAAb0/Lsox8GRPLOk/s320/DSC_0027_26297.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I have some thoughts on this myself and plan to write about that this weekend too, but I'm soliciting input from others about this. If you've given thought to this and have some ideas, or are just interested in the subject and have questions or other input you'd like considered, please <a href="mailto:next4occupy@gmail.com" target="_blank">email</a> me so I can include what you have to say. Also, please vote in poll about this on this page, right hand column.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-715398053511330232011-12-25T23:06:00.004-06:002011-12-25T23:30:51.120-06:00NewsChannel 5My goodness! While those of us who were on Legislative Plaza today to enjoy Occupy Nashville's <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/2011/12/occupy-nashville-celebrates.html" target="_blank">celebration</a> of community were reveling this evening in our good memories and looking at fun <a href="http://occupydixie.blogspot.com/p/photo-gallery.html" target="_blank">photos</a> taken during the event, NewsChannel 5, Nashville's CBS affiliate, posted an <a href="http://www.newschannel5.com/story/16392221/occupy-protestors-fight-on-christmas-day" target="_blank">article</a> to their website about two women on the edge of the encampment getting into a fight at the end of the day. This article is a piece of crap journalism and is the sort of thing that the media sometimes does to Occupy in general, including Occupy Nashville. Channel 5 has given ON good, fair coverage in the past. They did not today.<br />
<br />
Below is the email I just sent to <a href="mailto:sboonstra@newschannel5.com" target="_blank">Sandy Boonstra, News Director at NewsChannel 5</a> expressing my opinion on this. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: yellow; color: black;">The article titled Occupy Protesters Fight on Christmas Day, posted to the NewsChannel 5 website Christmas night is a gross misrepresentation of events on Legislative Plaza during the afternoon of the 25th. The problem is unfortunately and pointedly made clear in the statement that "the angle of the story suddenly changed." Oh, really? The fight happened when the day's celebratory event was just about ending, that is, after close to three hours during which scores of people enjoyed food, dancing, and music. Families. Occupiers. Supporters. And because two women got into a cat fight, the "angle suddenly changed?" This represents a serious error in journalistic judgment on the part of whomever is responsible for "changing the angle." Suddenly, indeed.</blockquote>Please let NewsChannel 5 know they didn't do a good job here.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE:</b> Email is getting an auto response: "Sandy Boonstra is out of the office until Tuesday, January 3rd. If you have an immediate need please contact our assignment desk at 615-248-5281"Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-25363609808020170452011-12-25T19:31:00.000-06:002011-12-25T19:31:51.665-06:00Occupy Nashville CelebratesLegislative Plaza in Nashville was a festive place today, as over a hundred Occupy Nashville protesters and supporters celebrated the holidays with a dinner and drum circle. Ed Haggard and the Love Drums showed up to lead the drum circle, as people danced in the sunshine on a Christmas Day that saw temperatures reach almost 60 degrees. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdQljrNccDk/TvfMnxYDKMI/AAAAAAAAAbc/_VDUrRX-rHA/s1600/DSC_0271_26541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdQljrNccDk/TvfMnxYDKMI/AAAAAAAAAbc/_VDUrRX-rHA/s320/DSC_0271_26541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Supporters from Occupy Nashville's live stream chat room organized the event and cooked the meal, served up as some danced, while others strolled the plaza and visited with their neighbors. Laps were makeshift tables, but nobody seemed to mind.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FrOw2DaK9KA/TvfN7rN6iiI/AAAAAAAAAbo/20jIYWAqEhA/s1600/DSC_0187_26457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FrOw2DaK9KA/TvfN7rN6iiI/AAAAAAAAAbo/20jIYWAqEhA/s320/DSC_0187_26457.JPG" width="265" /></a></div><br />
See slide show of over a hundred pictures from the plaza today <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bejinxed/sets/72157628567754391/show/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-57171927611037825792011-12-24T12:11:00.001-06:002011-12-24T12:13:26.979-06:00Mom, Apple Pie, and TransparencyOccupy Nashville is about to consider a proposal from a "transparency caucus" that purports to be about the need for transparency and inclusiveness in the working groups that are part of ON. While there can be no doubt about the need for improvement in the Occupy Nashville movement in the areas of transparency and inclusiveness, I hope you'll agree by the time you read this that this proposal not only doesn't provide solutions to those problems, the proposal itself is an exercise borne of the desire to perpetuate the opacity and exclusionary tactics that have plagued some ON working groups for over two months.<br />
<br />
Posts made early yesterday morning on ON's website forum and facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupyNashville/posts/217562808323530" target="_blank">announced</a> that a proposal would be introduced at the General Assembly scheduled for today at 1 p.m. That post was as follows: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: orange;">OCCUPY NASHVILLE<br />
TRANSPARENCY CAUCUS<br />
WORKING GROUP PROPOSAL<br />
whereas occupy nashville opposes the opaque nature of government and dicisions made for people without their knowledge or consent....<br />
whereas occupy nashville is a direct democracy, all inclusive of all people.....<br />
whereas occupy nashville intends to provide a platform for all people's voices to be heard and included in the decision making process.....<br />
whereas secracy divides and transparency is an invitation to participate.....<br />
occupy nashcille decrees that from this day on......<br />
<br />
1) all working group meetings times and places be posted on the calender 48 hours before meeting time, and <br />
2) that no meeting which has not been announced may make the claim that it is an occupy nashville meeting nor make any policy statement on behalf of occupy nashville. and<br />
3) that every working group be open to all who wish to attend at all times. and <br />
4) that all official occupy group meetings be required to post minutes, or notes from every meeting on the web site. and<br />
5) that every working group send at least one representative to every general assembly meeting to report back on the groups activities. and<br />
6) that all working groups support the other working groups in achieving the stated goals of occupy nashville, occupy wallstreet and the occupy global movement.<br />
<br />
this will be presented at saturday's general assembly meeting dec 24</blockquote><br />
If you're new to the story, you might be wondering why there's any controversy about this. Isn't a proposal in support of transparency and inclusiveness a good thing? Sounds close enough to Mom and apple pie to get the desired response from some, as comments in early response to the proposal weigh in on chat and the forum. So far, it's looking like people think if you don't agree this is a good idea, you're probably also drowning kittens in your spare time. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, you're going to need to do some more reading in order to understand what's really going on here. I'm going to ask you to take time to read the minutes of the GAs held on both <a href="http://occupynashville.org/forum/index.php?topic=296.0" target="_blank">October 16th</a> and <a href="http://occupynashville.org/forum/index.php?topic=317.0" target="_blank">October 17th</a>, posted on the ON site forum. You need to read the comments posted for each too, in order to understand that 1) we're over two months past the time when the meat of what's being proposed now was already provided for in a proposal for which consensus was reached by GA, and 2) the problem is not a lack of guidelines; it's the apparent unwillingness on the part of some people to implement ON consensus because they disagree with it. Check it for yourself and draw your own conclusions.<br />
<br />
The truth is that issues of transparency and inclusiveness were addressed and consensus reached two months ago in GA that Occupy Nashville working groups are to be open to all who want to participate, working group meetings need to be announced in advance so people know about them and can attend, minutes of those meetings are to be recorded and posted, and there is supposed to be representation from each working group in attendance at General Assemblies.<br />
<br />
A couple of other things in the proposal currently being considered can fairly easily be dismissed as attempts to control the working group process unnecessarily. That's a problem, of course, but the larger problem with some of this is that, if passed, it would hamstring working group operations to the point of ineffectiveness. For example, a 48 hour notice is not always feasible when things are moving as quickly as they sometimes do on the plaza. Further, if meetings had any sort of regular schedule or even if the next meeting time was simply decided at the end of each meeting and then immediately posted on the plaza, ON's online calendar, and social media, the issue of notice would be addressed without a specious "rule" that potentially disallows as invalid all meetings that take place via email, phone, etc. It is 2011, after all. It's been decades since meetings needed to be in a physical space in order to happen or for work to be done.<br />
<br />
What you don't see mentioned in this proposal, but you do hear about in the discussions going on in both email chains and in chat, is the soon to be reality of a second live stream team being organized in an effort to give Occupy Nashville more choice in how it gets news about what's going on with the movement. And that, my friends, is what this proposal is really about. More to the point, this proposal is an attempt to stop a group of Occupy Nashville people from going online with a stream that isn't controlled by those on the tech/stream teams currently in place. After months of not being willing to implement what was decided upon by consensus in General Assembly, the tech/team crew is making a desperate and dishonest attempt to stop another group of Occupy Nashville people from attempting to put up a stream that says it will.<br />
<br />
Now, the worst part of it all, as if it wasn't bad enough already...The campaign to push this proposal is following the same pattern that's been the standard way of responding to any attempt to get accountability from tech/stream. Email chains are full of personal attacks on those who want to do another stream and scant little attention is paid to the real issues at hand. Rather than any honest discussion about why what was agreed to over two months ago is still not in place, what we have instead are hysterical and pious statements about how much those who don't agree with them either don't understand the issues or ridiculous assertions that question even their loyalty to Occupy Nashville. Team members are using the current stream chat to rally support for their cause, all the while proclaiming how tired they all are of the "drama." Heavy sighs are accompanied by references to man-hating and "vendettas" and one almost expects them to break out into strains of Kumbaya as they declare repeatedly how ready they are to "move on." Let's be clear here. Moving on may, in fact, be an excellent idea, if you're going to continue to disregard whatever consensus comes out of General Assembly because you disagree with it.<br />
<br />
After some people (myself included) contacted the person who posted this proposal and suggested that a Christmas Eve afternoon GA in the middle of the Bible Belt at a time when many people have family obligations was not a good idea if the goal was solid consensus on a serious proposal about transparency and inclusiveness, it was posted that the proposal would be simply announced at GA today, but no attempt to reach consensus will be made until the GA scheduled for either December 27th or January 3rd. Between now and then, word needs to get out about the whole story behind this proposal and people need to be making plans to be at the GA when this is brought up for consensus. It would be great if the chant, "This is what democracy looks like" isn't necessarily changed to "This is what hypocrisy looks like."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vh40NPydmTc/TvYUcKL40vI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/NRSA6Sz6i58/s1600/DSC_0206_24935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vh40NPydmTc/TvYUcKL40vI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/NRSA6Sz6i58/s320/DSC_0206_24935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Facilitator explains hand signals at GA meeting in October.</div>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288207168709868169.post-17394848270187774382011-12-22T18:34:00.002-06:002011-12-22T21:28:43.769-06:00A Tale of Two Actions<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." (Charles Dickens, opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities) </i></blockquote>Occupy Nashville has staged a number of direct actions in the past few months as part of its occupation. Some of them, most notably, perhaps, the infiltration of Donald Rumsfeld's Nashville appearance in November, have appeared to have been well thought out and were generally well received, cheered even. A large group gathered on the plaza and marched to where Rumsfeld was speaking, while four members of Occupy Nashville were able to infiltrate the gathering undetected so they could confront him about his part in what the Occupy movement is protesting. The mission was accomplished and celebrated afterward with dancing in the streets, as many at-home supporters of the movement enjoyed it vicariously as it was live streamed. Local media gave the coup its due as well.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/JSroZi-TBfw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">Members of Occupy Nashville speak after infiltrating the Rumsfeld event.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Not all direct action events have been as well received. The most notorious of those occurred in the early hours of Sunday, December 4th, when some from Occupy Nashville <a href="http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wztv_vid_10179.shtml" target="_blank">attempted</a> to commandeer an abandoned building. Unlike the group who left the plaza weeks earlier to protest the Rumsfeld event, those who marched from there about midnight on the 3rd didn't know that there were plans to end up taking over a building before the night was done. The march was stopped, in route, and they were informed at that point of the plans. This march, publicized in advance, included families who had come to the plaza to participate in support. In the end, some protesters turned back and did not participate in what many later referred to as a disaster in terms of the movement's transparency and a public relations nightmare.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In the past 24 hours, there were a couple more events undertaken by Occupy Nashville and the two of them provide yet another contrast between what's a worthwhile direct action and what's not. The group staged another well publicized event, this one a <a href="http://occupynashville.org/2011/12/20/occupynashville-protests-ndaa-to-hold-mock-funeral-for-bill-of-rights/" target="_blank">mock funeral</a> for Mr. Bill O.F. Rights, in response to the recent passage in D. C. of the NDAA. After gathering on the plaza, a funeral procession wound through downtown to Riverfront Park and the Cumberland River, where Mr. Rights was cremated and his remains were given proper disposal. Strains of country music wafted at times from bars in the tourist district, as Mr. Rights was eulogized repeatedly on corners when the group had to stop for red lights. The protesters marched peaceably, were never provocative in their behavior, but were seen by many Nashvillians out during the afternoon rush hour. It was a scene that few but Occupy Nashville could pull off, indeed. This event was also streamed and very well received. Comments in chat and elsewhere have noted the appropriateness of the funeral metaphor, the detailed planning, publicity, and execution of the action. The classiness that is so often Occupy Nashville. It was a stunning winner, all around.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">They should have stopped there. Near the end of the funeral demonstration, a member of the stream team loudly boasted that there would be another direct action later in the night, suggesting it would be something special, something not to be missed, even. A surprise.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Just before midnight, a link was posted on the Occupy Nashville live stream chat, linking to what was referenced as <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tangello#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9907764&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">"the other channel."</a> For the first time, a tent from ON was pitched off the plaza and was instead in place across Charlotte, <a href="http://www.fox17.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.tn/3eb85489-www.fox17.com.shtml" target="_blank">outside Governor Haslam's office</a> on Tennessee's Capitol Hill. (NOTE: The stream first originated from <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tangello#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=9907764&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">OccupyNashvilleForever</a> , but later switched to <a href="http://www.livestream.com/occupynashville2011" target="_blank">Occupy Nashville</a> from the ON media tent on the plaza. Team member who was streaming didn't change.) For at least two hours, any who clicked on links to the stream posted on social media at the repeated behests of the streamer could watch and listen as some from Occupy Nashville tried to provoke an arrest scenario from the Tennessee Highway Patrol by occupying the grounds across the street from the plaza where the occupation has been heretofore. Along the way, they could be regaled by more F-bombs than you have appendages, sprinkled with such gems as, "You women are all about empowerment, we need a f***ing woman's face up here to go to jail," as a plea was made for others to join the group and, "I'm gonna go f*** with the troopers a little bit," while, well, while, just what? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">One night this week, I saw a member of the stream team comment in chat that the experience of being in front of the camera on live stream is "addicting." His word. Last night, I heard another, the streamer himself, proclaim jubilantly, "Do you realize how awesome we are right now?" Well. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Occupy Nashville has been awesome. It wasn't last night. My friends, the Tennessee state legislature will reconvene in just a few short weeks. For almost two months, ON has enjoyed respite from the nightly fear of eviction that has plagued Occupy sites across the country, but the party can come to a halt as quickly as it began. The injunction against the state is about a narrow issue, and anybody who thinks there aren't some lawmakers in Tennessee itching to push for new legislation that could still evict the occupation is probably also looking for Santa to come down the chimney this Saturday night. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Direct actions and live streaming of those events are powerful tools for public relations and politicians are nothing if not politicians. They will be listening to their constituents at least to some degree when they meet in January. In other words, Occupy Nashville needs the support of Nashville. To date, Nashville has mostly supported her occupation, the State of Tennessee and her agents to the contrary. Whether or not that continues to be true as the movement goes through the winter remains to be seen, but it would be a damn shame if during the remaining time before the legislature reconvenes we see any more shenanigans like took place on Capitol Hill last night. When people who are still asking about Occupy, "What do they want?" see what ON was putting out last night, it's hard to answer with more than they just wanted a fight. One can only hope that future direct actions will be about more than that. Lord knows there's plenty to pick from.</div>Jinxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03695550842429282735noreply@blogger.com