#occupyvancouver

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an ever so slight RANT about how the hipster worldview is hamstringing 50% of the Occupy movement, at least around Vancouver it sure is. Also, Wonder Woman and Hipster Ariel.

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Forget About Youth In Occupy Movement – The Demographics It wasn’t just a bunch of university students. In fact, as we analysed the age groups, we found the average age to actually be 36. We also found that across the 5,000 profiles and commentaries we looked at, over 50% had a university education. We also found they weren’t poor either. Perhaps the “working poor” – yes. We estimate an average income of about $45,000CAD from USA, Canada and UK. We suspect this median would hold up in many other countries as well. Certainly there were those who are on the margin of society and the students or youth movement. But they do not represent the majority. Involved were doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs. Nor was there racial or religious divide. All forms of faith and races were represented as were men and women. It’s Not A Union Driven Thing That unions played a key part there is no doubt. Unions have and likely will continue to, play a key role. But unions, mentions of unions and references to union messages we estimate were less than 10% of the overall social media engagement. The Occupy movement is not owned or being driven by unions. The unions help in rallying and organising but it is being driven not by any one organisation. It is truly driven by the average citizen. Activist Groups & Agitators While some may suspect underlying activist groups with more radical agendas, this doesn’t appear to be the case. We found little evidence of more fringe, radical activist groups. The organisations that support the Occupy Movement are more socially oriented, those that are necessary in a functioning democratic society.

Daily Kos: Occupy Demographics- A Slap in the Face to Corporate Controlled Media Memes

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Jonathan Dy - Behind the Lens at Occupy Vancouver (by occupyvancouvermedia)

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Merry Christmas to the One Percent! Yes, it’s me, Muffy de Rothschild, from whom you failed to receive festive greetings in 2010. I’m afraid I was rather preoccupied last holiday season with boosting my bank accounts after my investments took a beating. Like many of you, presumably, I decided to lie low, fleeing gloomy Vancouver to lounge by the infinity pool with my laptop and telephone at my private Caribbean island retreat on Mustique, hatching plump new golden eggs. Voila – success! I’ve done brilliantly this past year. Not for me some squalid tent in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, darlings – I attend the openings of the VAG’s major shows in full war-paint, going on to dine at some stylish downtown boite. I wholeheartedly recommend the foie gras a la king or its seasonal equivalent. Darlings, I must share one word with you this festive season, and that is “Courage.” It’s time to rail against the assaults by the ignorant riffraff on everything we stand for, the wealthy white family values that have made North American life the envy of peasants around the world. Stand proud. We are under such siege from the brown-toothed layabouts, people who wouldn’t know a waterfall shower if you pushed them under it with a brick of nasty homemade soap. Who gave these hooligans the right to make their marijuana-rasped voices heard?

Kate of Late: Christmas greetings from Muffy

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The One Percent’s Christmas Carol And so this is Christmas, And what have you done? Wrapped up lots of Consumption and called it all Love! And so this is Christmas, I’ve fooled you again! Your time and your efforts All given away. A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let’s stop all the protests They’re not nice to hear. And so this is Christmas I need a new yacht So offshore those good jobs Those wages must stop. For a real happy Christmas Give me all the wealth The One Percent’s needs Outweigh all the rest. A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let’s stop all the protests They’re boring to hear. And so this is Christmas With wealth there comes power A year spent watching The poor when they cower. And so this is Christmas But what’s happened, Hey? They’ve occupied my cities And won’t go away! This is my last Christmas They’ve found out my fear By staying there standing They’re greater than me. Tyranny is over, if you want it Tyranny is over.

The One Percent’s Christmas Carol « Ærchies Archive – Digital Detritus

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Watch this.... You will definitely share this......mp4 (by koonal127)

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"We do need a spotlight on the issues that Occupy Vancouver has raised, and my union is known for our solidarity with such causes," Tom Dufresne, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada, told The Tyee. "But some of these people are not doing their cause any good. They should take their protest to Bay Street and Howe Street and leave the poor working stiff alone. I was down at the Clark Drive entrance around 3:30, and I saw demonstrators hitting cars with their picket signs. By then, I think, the people with legitimate concerns had left."

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The demonstrations at West Coast ports played to similarly mixed reviews in the U.S., with ILWU leadership criticizing the shutdown attempt, and at least some rank and file members and union officers enthusiastically supporting the actions. Clarence Thomas, a third generation longshoreman in Oakland and former officer of ILWU Local 10 argued recently that:

"A picket line is a public demonstration -- whether called by organized labor or not. It is legitimate. There are established protocols in these situations. To suggest to longshoremen that they shouldn't follow them demands clarification. It is one thing to state for the record that the union is not involved, but another thing to erase the historical memory of ILWU's traditions and practices."