Paradoxical Paradigms

My latest article which tackles topics of media, sincerity, the yin and yang of protest, and the inevitability of change.

shortformblog:

manicchill:

OWS Invests In Unmanned Surveillance Drone Dubbed The ‘Occucopter’

For years we’ve seen images of the military’s unmanned aerial vehicles aiding soldiers in combat zones, and their evolution from surveillance tools to the heavily weaponized Predator drones. Now, the Guardian reports, Occupy Wall Street livestreamer Tim Pool hopes to use that technology as an additional set of eyes on the police department.

Tim Pool, an Occupy Wall Street protester, has acquired a Parrot AR drone he amusingly calls the “occucopter”. It is a lightweight four-rotor helicopter that you can buy cheaply on Amazon and control with your iPhone. It has an onboard camera so that you can view everything on your phone that it points at. Pool has modified the software to stream live video to the internet so that we can watch the action as it unfolds. [more]

(images courtesy of Time/iPhoneZA/GeekAlerts)

Wow, Occupy just stepped up its game. Be sure to read Manic, Chill’s full piece.

(via tumbledoresbeard)

tumbledoresbeard asked: You were arrested in the mass clusterfuck on the bridge? Kudos. Facing charges is no fun, but you're fighting a good fight, and there are a lot of folks who are proud of you!

Haha, yes. I’m part of what I like to call the Brooklyn Bridge “700 Club” (no Pat Robertson affiliation). I took ACD, so the charges themselves are sealed as long as I don’t get arrested in New York for the next six months. That shouldn’t be hard considering I don’t go to New York very often, and that was my first time ever being arrested. Better as part of an historical event than for something stupid! I definitely didn’t plan to commit such a brazen act of civil disobedience that day,  it just kind of happened. In fact I even joked with my friend that I couldn’t possibly get arrested… I was just going to take photos! If I had been informed that walking onto that part of the bridge would result in arrest, I probably would have walked elsewhere. Once it started to go down, I didn’t have much of a choice but to go with it - I was stuck in the middle of the crowd. But in short: thanks :)

Twelve hour whirlwind trip to NYC.

Today is my court date for the Brooklyn Bridge arrests. My bus leaves at 2:40 AM. I’ve got a long day ahead of me. Catch you all on the flip side.

“While one blames big government run amok and the other accuses Wall Street, both see a system where power feeds on power at the expense of the common citizen.”

janf:

Penn Jillette: An Atheist’s Guide to the 2012 Election

He gets a little preachy and angsty in the last few minutes, but I suppose that’s not totally unwarranted. I’m curious about when Penn says he’s opposed to movements, but mentions ‘a movement of individuals’. I’d like to know what his take on #ows is in that regard (i.e. open-source, leaderless, horizontal structure)…

(via friendlyatheist)

Occupy Philly is being raided right now. Stay smart and be safe down there everyone.

kateoplis:

via: BoingBoing

The Seurat one is good, but this one is better. Just look at their expressions. Classic.

(Source: jockohomo, via kateoplis)

kateoplis:

Lobbyists to American Bankers Assoc: an $850,000 anti-OWS campaign

“It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

Shit. It’s on.

peterfeld:

You have to watch the whole 8:34. I didn’t at first, because I couldn’t take any more of seeing UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike (530-752-3989, japikeiii@ucdavis.edu) pepper-spray a row of peaceful students like they were cockroaches.

But watching the nonviolent crowd (I never believed that nonviolence is a morally superior tactic, but it is effective) shame the pigs pointing rifles at them, and force them to retreat and leave (“You can go!”), might be the most inspiring thing you see all year.

I’m sure many of you have already seen this, but I feel compelled to share it anyway. This is one of the most profoundly disturbing things I’ve seen come out of OWS.

(via kateoplis)