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Alastair Jamieson / msnbc.com
Jim L., left, and other members of the Occupy Mile End protest group at their camp in east London on Thursday.
LONDON -- An eviction notice has been served on dozens of Occupy protesters who have set up camp in a park next to Team USA's Olympic track and field training base.
About 50 demonstrators are occupying Mile End Park – two miles from the main London 2012 site and next door to a sports stadium where American athletes will prepare for events in July.
The park is also visible from the priority traffic lanes that will be used to whisk VIPs and other participants from central London to the Olympic Village, which is located to the east of the U.K. capital.
The protesters say they are part of the anti-capitalist Occupy movement, which has seen sit-ins and clashes with police in cities including New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Oakland.
An Occupy London camp was forcibly removed from the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral by police at the end of February, resulting in 20 arrests.
Local authorities have now secured a court order to close down Occupy Mile End, which began five weeks ago and includes about a dozen tents, a campfire and makeshift toilet facilities.
Police evict Occupy London protesters from camp
Tower Hamlets Borough Council applied for the order following complaints from local residents. The manager of a nearby nature reserve also accused camp members of damaging important trees by taking branches for firewood, according to a report in the East London Advertiser newspaper.
One of the protesters, who gave his name as Jim L., told msnbc.com the group had agreed to leave the site voluntarily on Sunday.
"This is one of Britain's poorest boroughs and we don't want to take council resources away from things like schools and hospitals so we have agreed to vacate the site without costing the council a penny," he said.
Mark Taylor, spokesman for the Mile End Residents' Association, said locals were "looking forward" to a "constructive and companionable relationship with Team USA."
He said: "We are very pleased that the council has secured a possession order to reclaim the park for its intended purpose. It's very sad that trees had to be pulled down for firewood and children's activities disrupted before the council acted."
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A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.
Council officials insisted that nobody from the United States Olympic Committee, Team USA or the London 2012 organizers had expressed concern about the Occupy protest on their doorstep.
A spokesman for the council told msnbc.com: "The USA track and field team will be training at Mile End Stadium during the Olympic Games. They have funded extensive improvements to the stadium, and will be providing a variety of community benefits including free coaching sessions and opportunities to watch the team training.
Olympic housing crunch: London landlords evict tenants to gouge tourists
"We are working with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) on security issues, understandably these issues are sensitive and therefore we are not able to comment in detail, but we do not anticipate that these will impact on the local community."
The council said it would go to the High Court to have the protesters moved if they did not leave the site, which is owned by a private trust on behalf of the council for use as a public park.
Brits revel in gloom ahead of London Olympics, but don't believe the gripe
Jim L. said the Occupy camp would move to a new, unidentified, site on Sunday. He added that there was little chance of protests targeting the Olympic Games.
"It would be impossible because of the security, in my own view," he said. "We're not against the Olympics as everybody likes a bit of sport, but I believe it is just one big advertising event for the benefit of corporate sponsors."
At London Olympics, dogs have sniffed out a key anti-terror role
He said the camp location had been chosen to highlight the issue of poverty in Tower Hamlets and not because of the proximity to Team USA's stadium.
Oda / Getty Images
From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
"There are huge problems here -- lack of affordable housing, unemployment and poverty," he said. "This is not so much a protest as a process, which is why we've come here – to listen to people and gather support. There isn’t much point in trying to occupy private land in order to disrupt the institutions of capitalism.”
American competitors at the Games will have several bases across London for different sports. Other sites include the University of East London campuses in Docklands and Stratford.
Langdon School, in the nearby Poplar area, will be home to the Canadian Olympic team.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Not sure where these losers are from, but they look about as bright as the protestors in the U.S. Those in the Occupy crowd in U.S. and elsewhere are lazy, entitled, unwashed, and stupid. My advice; grow up, get a job, stop complaining, and start making something of your life.
Poncero , you are an idiot. Have you ever in your life , investigated ANYTHING ?? YOU are part of the problem ! You and the other cool-aid drinking morons are afraid to question , or wonder , or imagine anything other than exactly what you are told for fear of what , losing your rights as a citizen of the USA ? Are you so brainwashed that you actually believe it is okay to take an eraser to the BILL of RIGHTS ? Some people paint Obama as a socialist or whatever. I would rather be labeled as a socialist than to be the one who somehow made it seem okay to gut our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Ex-president cheney and puppet george did enough damage without imbeciles like you continuing to rape and degrade the very documents this country was formed by.
Wonder if the Occupy protesters were protesting outside the George Clooney fundraiser for Obama?
One thing I do give these London OWS protesters a little credit for is that they are going to move on peacefully instead of forcing a confrontation with police and costing the local government a lot of money to get them out (although restoring the damage to the park will cost some money). If this were in the US you would have at least some of the OWS idiots doing things like chaining themselves to trees and refusing to leave, forcing the police to come in with bolt cutters to remove and arrest them at considerable additional expense to the local government.
What I do find upsetting is that these protesters were damaging this public park by taking branches off trees to use for firewood. I also noticed in the picture that their little fire location had not stones or anything else around it and it looked like a very serious hazard as far as starting a fire in the park. There failure to take proper precautions could have started a major fire by igniting tree roots and burned down the entire park. I also wonder about the environmental damage and public health hazard from their "makeshift toilet facilities." I wonder how long it will take and how much it is going to cost to clean up that mess before people can once again safely use this park. For an organization that tries to claim they are so enlightened, they have done a lot of environmental damage with their campsite. Despite their comments to the contrary, they certainly are not leaving the site without costing the local government a considerable amount of money to restore the park from the damage they have done.
I'm beginning to think that the occupiers are nothing more than homeless bums and panhandlers that found a way to glom onto the original movement as an easy way to set up a hobo camp and be provided with food and money. Then you've got the other idiots that haven't figured out that they are just bums and think they're part of some profound movement. Bum circle anyone?
fausa - and you think being a Socialist wouldn't undermine the Constitution as well. The Constitution is not a Socialist document..... Obama has been undermining the Constitution these last 3 years and lots of us and not in favor of that!
How much those lazy people cost to their government. Occupy in Europe; where the majority of their countries have socialist governments, whose ideologies of big government and freebies are taking down their own economy. Interesting point that election in France was to elect a more radical socialist, Sarcozy a moderate socialist ( conservative) in France wasn't good enough, and here Obama was thinking they defeat the equivalent of the Republican party, nothing more far from the truth. LOL
Fausa, I think you have that backwards. Our freedoms are being striped every day, who is in the Whitehouse??
oskar - something tells me you have no real knowledge of politics in Europe at all. Sarkozy is a 'moderate socialist'? lol.
The Police have found a safe and effective way to get the "Occupiers" to leave..........they just let a guy with employment apps show up and the camp disbands instantly.
My favorite part of Occupy is when you see the interviews with people who quit their jobs to join the movement.
We shouldn't let ANY groups set up camps in public parks and protest for extended periods of time. I can't believe we let this go on as long as we have. Had they been a conservative group, they would have been tossed immediately (which is okay). However, I don't know of any conservative groups that would employ this tactic either.
In any case, good riddance.
that's a nice straw man you've concocted in your own head so that you don't have to listen to or comprehend any of the quite valid criticisms of the banking sector that have been lobbed by OWS and similar groups.
to be fair, the vast majority of the confrontations that OWS had with the police were instigated by the boys in blue. They usually are at protests...
Oh yeah? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
In summary, it sounds like the Occupy protests have struck quite the nerve for some, and for the powers that be in particular...
Drowning,
I don't think that any of the anti OWS movement don't believe the criticisms of the banks. We just believe that OWS is going about it the wrong way.
As for the confrontations being caused by the police, I doubt that they were instigated by the boys in blue. How many peaceful protests happen all over? How many peaceful gatherings happen with no incidents. I personally believe that there were some OWS people that were trying to cause trouble. I have no problems with those that were arrested that were trying to stay in their camp, then went peacefully. The issues I have are those that are throwing molotov cocktails, rocks, breaking windows, etc. Those are the people that need to be stopped because they are seeding violence and breaking laws.
I also think that Bruces point is the "being in public parks" for an extended period of time. Not the protesting for extended periods of time. The public parks are just that, public, for everyone including the 1% to enjoy. Most parks have a "closing time" of sundown. Therefore you can't protest there for extended periods of time. You just can't stay the night. I wouldn't want anyone's free speech to be taken because I value it too much, but your free speech ends when my life, liberty or pursuit of happiness are endangered.
Just my opinion.
that part I agree on. Their message was scattered, they needed more time to develop it. Of course it didn't help that the media was inserting their own opinions regarding what OWS was about rather than talking to the multitude of intelligent, well-spoken people attending the rallies. The media likes to find the crazy guy (with good soundbites) and broadcast it far and wide for ratings. People aren't going to listen to nuanced discussion that requires thought on the news (sad, isn't it?).
Throwing molotov's, rocks, etc., is bad, very bad. But in truth, this happened very little (if at all) at OWS protests.
Typically, the confrontations involved the protesters not heeding the demands of the police to disburse and/or simply standing around with a protest sign while the cops light them up tear gas and pepper spray. There were literally 100's of youtube video's of exactly that (i.e., cops just randomly pepper spraying people, often middle-aged women, elderly men, small children, whomever happened to be in the way really.)
Then panic and fight/flight response ensue, and hell breaks loose. Nevermind that this is EXACTLY the response the police are aiming for when they randomly pepper spray a crowd...
I it didn't happen at most of the OWS protests, but Oakland sure stood out like a sore thumb. And there were arrests at many other ones (probably by those that refused to leave when asked to).
Windows smashed... Traffic blocked.... Vacant buildings broken into and "taken over"..... News people threatened........ Rapes and sexual assaults.... Yes, this is definitely a peaceful group that should be coddled. I bet less than a third of them even bothered to vote in the last presidential election.
Translation: Start agreeing with my political views
You said Obama has failed at creating jobs, and that he supports an environment where NO JOBS have been created... how can they get jobs if none have been created? Seems your platform is contradicting itself. You might want to go back to the drawing board and finalize your talking points on "jobs". Have they, or have they not, been created?
Unlike Republicans, who are allowed to complain, every damn second, of every hour, of every day... non-stop. And only Republicans are allowed to blame someone else, specifically Obama, for EVERYTHING.
Unlike Republicans who blame Obama for the fact that they have failed to make anything of their life.
Yes... Police NEVER, EVER force a confrontation... EVER.
It's not like there is a video of a police officer telling a homeless man that he is going to "f*** him up"... then when this homeless man stands up, two officers immediately begin beating him with batons. And during this beating, the homeless man is being recorded as yelling "I'm sorry", "Help", and "Help me dad" as 6 officers, kneeling on top of him, continue to beat his face into the ground with a baton. And as the video goes on, and his face is beat more, you can hear the blood fill his throat and lungs as his voice slurs... this beating eventually leading to his death. Nope... police officers have NEVER done that... right, Kelly Thomas? (Oh wait, he can't respond because he is dead)
Yup... Police NEVER force confrontations.
FAN TAS TI CAL
All I have seen here are dumb comments of republican people with prejudice!
GO ON, occupiers! Some people must show em what FREEDOM IS, <FOR ALL>! OCCUPY WALL STREET, WORLDWIDE! WE ARE NOT GOING TO PAY FOR THOSE CORRUPT BANKS.
Wow,
No prejudice on your part. Lets see, Fausa, Rob80(in response to Oskar who is more than likely republican), Drowning grover, and IndieParty might take issue with you classifying them as "republican people with prejudice."
You are no better than those "right wing nut jobs" that you probably love so much. Grow up. Leave the discussions to the adults. Callate la boca!
fausa Shhhh adults are talking now you socialist rat bastard. Obama is the worst president this country has ever seen. I thought Gore was a hillbilly dumbass but Obama even trumps him.
fausa, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
@ Drowning Glover - the exercise of free speech does not include trespass, vandalism, murder, etc. Please get that straight. The OWS were not exercising their free speech rights.
Tom you are successfully complaining about complaining. Both sides complain about the other, both sides have some legitimate complaints. I would suggest if republicans want people to stop protesting and get a job, that they actually pass some legislation that would create jobs. Calling people self indulged beggers when in fact there isn't jobs out there to get, is really not helpful.
Jan,
Are you forgetting who had basically total control two out of the last four years? Oh wait, then it was bush's fault. Now it's the republicans fault. I do believe that there may be some self indulged beggars in OWS. But America wasn't built by self indulged beggars. It was built by many that had nothing and worked their butts off and sacrificed. Show me someone from OWS that has truly sacrificed like people used to sacrifice, and I'll show you a successful person. Waiting for the government to "pass legislation" is the definition of a self indulged beggar.
The OWS group had quit their jobs (brilliant) to join the demonstartions, but I am quite quite sure that your mommy will hire you back. You are the best dishwasher she ever had.
poncero, it must be nice living in that fantasy land of yours. I have a job and I support Occupy. I know of many who have one or two jobs and support Occupy. We don't like Obama, and your "BHO" reference is a not so subtle racist dig. Rather than call us stupid, perhaps you should do some research, see what goes on outside of Faux, and maybe then you'll understand that we are more of an American than you will ever be.
What "BHO" reference? Didn't see anything racist in his comment.....
Jordan,
BHO is nowhere mentioned, even by implication, in poncero's comment. I won't call you stupid. I'll settle for "dancing to a tune nobody else hears."
Jordan,
Being a part-time Barista just qualifies you to be able to say you have a job.
Jordon, "Do some research?" Really? What's there to research about Occupy? How long they can go without bathing? It's a superficial movement (actually it's not appropriate to even call it a "movement") of people who, for the most part, are nothing more than member of the recipient class who simply want more freebies handed to them.
The comments I read and hear all start with; "I want," "I deserve," or "Give me." Until these folks stop thinking nothing is owed them and that they must "earn" their way or earn a job, or earn a better a life, they will never succeed and will always be a burden to America.
Referencing Obozo is now a racist dig? You folks need to get off that racism kick. It's getting old. People can dislike the president and what he stands for without being racist.
I'm also glad the Occupy group left peacefully. Groups in the states should take a page out their book. The Occupy movement would get a lot more positive media and public opinion if their leadership would set up a platform for their group and set ground rules for their followers. No violence, no drugs, no damage to property, etc. They complain about corporations taking money for their CEO's and not giving to the workers, while at the same time they damage property and cost the local governments money that could otherwise be used for the support of the same people Occupy is supposedly protesting for.
As I am not wealthy I guess I am part of the supposed 99%, but Occupy doesn't represent me. I want no part of them.
The old liberal playing of the race card when you cannot make a realistic argument. It has grown tiresome.
Jordan Obama is great. That dumbass can not even get one Democrat in the house to vote for his budget. That is part of the congressional record if you will do your research. But you go ahead and keep sticking up for that loser that is not even supported by his party anymore.
"Obozo" is arguably a racist dig. But if "BHO" is, then I guess that "JFK" and "FDR" are racist digs against them dead ol' white cracker boys.
Wanting people to forgive your debts and support you while you find yourself makes you more American than the rest of us? Interesting....
And who does he think would be able to pay for an event of this magnitude if not for corporate sponsors?....(chirping crickets....) Thought so. How about we stop having the Olympics? It really is just a bunch of wasted money. Kinda like our Presidential primary process......
I used to Think-and-Dream how nice it was for the countries of the world to compete to see just where the elete competetors of different sports lived in the world.. Now I've come to believe that the Olympics are where the elete of The 1% gather to decide where (in 4 year's time) they are going to gather, to DO-IT all over again.. while the 99% re-organize and discuss what Civil Rights they will have taken from them by the time the next Olympics rolls around.. Well........ poncero... Do you have any idea what it costs to put this event on?? AND.. That doesn't include Security..
Just out of curiosity, is every homeless person considered an Occupy protester? Close to where I work, we have a homeless guy who walks along the highway everyday, and according to our older employees, has been doing so for years. Then, last month, the local press interviewed him and called him an Occupy member. So, what are the qualifications?
Not all Occupiers are homeless, but since the Occupiers are attracted to the same territory shared by the homeless they tend to be in close proximity. Also it's pretty easy to get homeless people behind something especially if it means free food, maybe some shelter, and (for some) the chance to steal some stuff, so it's kind of a symbiotic relationship.
There is no qualification to be an Occupier, and in fact since the vast majority of Occupiers are anarchists such a qualification would go against their beliefs anyway. If you have a tent and a placard to write on, you can be an Occupier - just find some public space to occupy and don't go away from it.
How sweet. All the occupiers are gay. Isn't that special? Bless their hearts.
Where the f do people get 99% and 1%?!?! The fact is the occupy movement combined is about 5% and they have no right speaking for me. 94% of the country hates you and wishes you all would just go the f away.
Politics aside folks (I mean, really?) I used to look forward every 4 yrs. to the Olympics (remember then?), but over the past two decades, all I really do is worry about all the people who are evicted, have their rents hi-jacked, are thrown out of their homes. Homeless people are rounded up, arrested and released far from their home grounds. All so these so-called "glorious", granted cities can put on their best face.
Then millions upon millions will be spent on millionaire's lodgings (who else can afford to go to the event?) and parties. Millions that are somehow missing when it comes time to pay for the schools, the food kitchens for the poor, the libraries, and all other manner of public infrastructure. I CAN'T be the only one who sees that for what it is, am I?
So I no longer support or even watch the Olympics. I now find it nothing more than a boring, elitist exercise in waste. YES, WASTE.
When so many in this world are suffering like they are, how could a display of might and power be anything else? I'd love to admire all the sacrifice and hard work these athletes put in, but when one looks at the suffering most have to live through EVERY DAY, just trying to survive, I think those "sacrifices" pale by comparison.
judging by the straw man and ludicrous arguments being lobbed against the Occupy movement in the bulk of these threads (e.g., they're all homeless, lazy, shiftless folks), you just might be the only one (or one of very few) who see the world as it is....
Did you defend the Tea Party for not being racist as well?
I guess not.
Not all OWS are "homeless, lazy shiftless." Not all Tea Party members are racist. But there may be elements in both movements. Although more property damage has been done by OWS movements than was done by the Tea Party.
Why should we pay attention to the OWS "movement"? During the last Occupy NY fiasco the "movement" broke themselves into three different factions: The Anarchists, the anti-99%ers and tag-along-because its a party-drug related bums. None of whom presented any clear agenda of what they were really trying to achieve! However, some credit must be given to this Mile End group in that they have agreed to move on peacefully!
For those who think these protesters are dragging OUR country down,just read the Patriot act and then read about Nazi Germanys homeland securtiry . Protest of our Governments actions is not only patriotic but it is a right. To take these away is to lose the freedoms in the constition. It is one thing to criticize these protesters,but if you cannnot or do not have a better solution , or will not engage in construtive discussions then you are just as much a part of the problem as those you ridicule.
No one says they don't have the right to protest, but they don't have the right to use public space for their own goals to the exclusion of the rest of the public. They don't have the right to block streets and deprive us of our Constitutional right of freedom of travel. If I were a Corporate CEO or a banker I would personally love OWS, because they're defelecting attention away from the harm corporations and Banks have done, by just being what they are: professional whiners who aren't about helping the taxpayer. They don't want banks or corporations to make a profit solely because they want it in hand outs. Their ridiculous, incoherent, contradictory demands for freebies makes them impossible to side with. One question I do have is: why do 50 dirty losers in an illegal camp in a foreign country merit attention here in America?
Well jeff I disagree, considering government has taken away people rights to homestead, and wont gaurantee a job and home in return, thats why we have millions of people homeless around the world. The problem is HUGE. These people have no where to go, what do you suggest they do, shoot themselves?
The original OWS movement made some legitimate claims and were presenting courses of action, some smaller groups do continue to protest and hold demonstrations. However the media ignore them as not newsworthy. The problems arose when the "ne'er-do-goods" climbed onto the OWS wagon and created situations that the media reveled in, forced eviction from public areas that had been turned into "camps" that were, to say the least, very unhealthy, etc. Please note my comment about the people at Mile End in London. If Dan Cambell equates the Patriot Act to the Nazis maybe its time for him to find a better country than the US! Is there one?
Well, Freedom4Everyone, start the ball rolling. Go out and bring a few into your home and feed and clothe them. Then head down to Haiti and organise the feeding and sheltering of people down there. Just stop telling people what they should be doing, get active!
OWS was a vehicle for the homeless to latch onto, thats why "camps" arose. The problem of homelessness is huge in N.America, and it gets almost no attention. These people are desperate for some way to get attention to their plight, because for the most part society is ignoring the problem.
It is because of these camps, created by hordes of homeless, that all the insults started. Even by ignorant government reps like King.
@UShoutkop Individuals cant help these people, charity is not what they need. They need government help, changes in laws, etc. So they can actually do something for themselves. The need free job training. They need shelter. They need more then a handout for me. And I dont have a handout to give them anyway.
Freedom4Everyone. As for handouts, they don't have to be in the form of material goods, how about time? Do as I do, volunteer your time to orgs. like Habitat for Humanity, help distribute food from the food banks, etc.
Just remember, if everyone of us, who has the luxury of a computer, helped one person in need, we could make an enormous difference to help at least one person who needs it!
Screw the government, let all of us get off our dead asses and do something!
...do something to help a needy person!
US Houtkop,
Are you delusional???? This problem is too big for us individuals!! We need the Government to do it!
Lets all just remain calm, sit back and demand action from the comfort of our homes (or coffee shops) and ignore any unreasonable suggestions that WE get involved in working to elleviate the unimaginable misery all around us in this god-foresaken country.
Face it, it has to be true. The government told me so.
Of course, I kinda have a vague memory of joining in with the crowd complaining and railing against the governments corrupt, inefficient handling of just about everything they do. Ah, no matter. The government can still wave their wands and make all the people happy all the time and then WE don't have to do diddly-squat.
Ah yes Healthy Male,
You are so right. What a fool I have been, thinking that we mortals could actually venture outside our comfy little homes and make a positive contribution to society. Finally I see the light! Now I can sit on my ass this weekend and stare blankly at the TV.
Thank you so much Healthy Male for setting me straight!
I'm glad to see you've come to your senses. I just can't stand to see anybody wasting their valuable time thinking they can make a difference by getting their hands dirty. Some people just refuse to get it and thats really disappointing. The government should really step in and do something about those people while their fixing everything else for me.....er.....us.
I think that the problem is partly in the regulations which many on the left love so much. The problem with so much regulation is that it makes it nearly imposible for the average Joe to start up a business and comply with all of the regulations.
Don't get me wrong, I work in a regulated environment and I can definitely understand regulations are needed at some point, but when regulations make it impossible for someone to open a lemonade stand in their front yard... What gives?
If there weren't as many regulations (which big businesses both love and hate) (love because it makes it difficult for small startup businesses to comply, and hate because it is an added expense), it would be easier for small startup businesses to grow. But you have to hire a lawyer just to be able to ensure that you are complying with all of the applicable regulations. Most entrepreneurs aren't really that into reading regulations.
Seriously, I would recommend ALL of you take a really good, hard look at the Patriot Act and its subsidiaries and corollaries. You might be surprised to learn that simply attending a meeting is grounds to mark you as one to be watched, maybe picked up, and if picked up, lost until someone found something to charge you with. If your name happens to be similar to some known or suspected terrorist's, that is sufficient grounds for denying you the right to fly anywhere, and quite possibly, to be picked up and tossed into civil detention, with no charges filed and no access to anyone outside where ever you are being held.
Well, just wait and see if Romney is elected, and then it will. It got almost no attention (except at T'giving and Xmas) under Carter, plenty (almost daily) under Reagan and Bush I, very little (except at holidays, again) under Clinton, lots under Bush II, and very little now. Anybody else see a pattern here? And the rates were not all that vastly different. Two huge factors no one much talks about: deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill (which started back under Ike and JFK, really, and still continues) and the decriminalization of vagrancy, "no visible means of support", etc. Most of the people known as "the homeless" today were "housed" half a century ago in mental hospitals and jails -- was that better?
Sounds like the '60's
If they return, call out the Horse Guard!
Keep the OWS freaks away from Americas finest.
I wonder if there were any Occupants outside the 1%'ers at the George Clueless fundraiser for Obama. I guess the rich hollywood fat cats are immune to being protested. Funny how the Occupiers love to disrupt all those (get up at 5:00am, work for 12 hours, pay their fair share, raise their families, & support everyone else) Tea people.
The Olympics is not about politics. It is about the best part of the human spirit. I will not dishonor the athletes in this rhetoric. MSNBC should be ashamed.
Thanks for your comment. But why do you think MSNBC should be ashamed?
I've been called an idiot, a racist, and a imbecile by the lefties in this thread simply because I expressed my opinion. As always, these debate tactics are characteristic of the lefties when their arguments are weak, which is most of the time.
My work is done here.
I read your posts and all you did was insult them and blame them for being poor, you are no better.
You ARE an idiot. If you knew anything besides the "right's" BS fairy tale talking points about Occupy, you'd know better. The ignorant can learn, the stupid are beyond help -- I can only surmise where you sit on the continuum.
And BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! to the police state that want's the camp torn down, out of sight, out of mind, everything rosy and pristine. The West decried what China did to "clean up" people around their Olympics and make it all pretty. And then we do the same thing in the name of freedom of travel, OMG??? Who's crazy here? Who is it that really needs a bath??
Grant Y. Did you not read the article? The Occupy Mile End folks agreed to move on peacefully because the didn't want to place a financial burden on the local Council that in itself is lacking funds. Also, the local residents wanted them moved on because they were destroying trees, for firewood, and they were preventing local people and kids from using the park!
That's my last word, too many sinistra's on here! (Sinistra=Latin for Left)
The majority of OWS are unemployed and mostly homeless. People who insult them and call them unwashed etc., make me sick.. THEY ARE HOMELESS!! How the hell are they suppose to wash? Telling people to get a job when there are no jobs for them, is just as asinine. People in this situation cant do anything to better themselves, it costs money to better yourself. School isnt free idiots. Welfare wont pay for it, they wont even allow it, even if you find a way to pay for it. People who are practically starving and homeless have to spend 24/7 just trying to survive and find the next meal. People who complain about people in poverty obviously have never been poor. I can only hope you face the same insulting ignorance if it ever happens to you. And it just might with the way things are going.
The OWS movement wouldnt exist if so many people werent falling through the cracks in the system. Ignore the problem at your own peril. People in desperate situations get angry and do desperate things, and can cause a lot of damage. The London riots is a perfect example. Its easy to laugh until its your neighborhood that burns down...
"The majority of OWS are unemployed and mostly homeless. People who insult them and call them unwashed etc., make me sick.. THEY ARE HOMELESS!! How the hell are they suppose to wash? "
That is simply UNTRUE. It only shows how little you understand about Occupy. The majority are employed, bathe regularly, have families, own homes. We're sick of the system that is completely geared to blatant theft from the middle class so the wealthy people and corporations can build bigger yachts.
That may be true where you are, but its not true of all the OWS i have been involved with. Here in N.America, the majority are homeless. I understand it very well, ive been involved with it from the start.
From the article: "'This is one of Britain's poorest boroughs and we don't want to take council resources away from things like schools and hospitals so we have agreed to vacate the site without costing the council a penny,' he said."
So there is some honor among the OWS camps. Maybe this group can educate its counterparts in other places where they are ignoring the cost/burden they are placing on communities in which they are overtaking.
I doubt o lot of you will ever get this through your thick skulls but here goes.
For all you idiots out there, who are screaming Socialist this socialist that, do everyone a favor and learn what it is and what it is not.
Socialism is an economic system.
It is not a form of Government that is designed to take away your freedom.
Yes the USSR was socialist but it was the Communist Party system that stripped people of rights not socialism.
There are many socialist systems in place in the United States and they have been in place for decades.
Social Security for one. Just look at the name for God's sake. Medicare, Freddie Mac, FHA, and on and on.
I am not claiming any or all of these systems are perfectly run so don't jump on that bandwagon but they are there in our Government and have helped a lot of people and we're still not a communist country because of them .
Anyone that equates a loss of rights with Socialist programs is a fool who just don't understand what Socialism is, except that it's a scary word that some factions within our Government like to toss around to stir up their under educated minions.
Socialism:
1) In Marxist theory, the stage following Capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
2) any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
3) a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
Communism strips the people of their rights, but socialism strips them of their ability to fight communism.
#Healthy Male, You are reading from Marx, who was NOT a socialist, like it or not. He was for Communism, in its purest state, with the basic rules of "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." That never has been practiced by any government, regardless of what they call themselves. Most of the so-called Communist governments have been dictatorships or nearly so. In them, on man or one small group of men told everyone else in the country what they could do, what they would do, and what would happen if they didn't comply. In a truly socialist system, there is room for the individual to own property and conduct business pretty much as they want, but all will be cared for according to their needs, NOT wants. Big business is even allowed to exist and make a fair profit, but not to run over everyone and everything else in the pursuit of said profit. Things such as health insurance are single payer systems, with however many individual providers want to be there. Enough of a lecture, as it feels almost like talking to a rock, but many times the rock has more sense.
The Olympics are coming to town. There are so many economic opportunities for people and yet there they sit, burning up the trees and crapping in a hole that will create a bio-hazard and complaining about their dislike of capitalism. Opportunity knocks and they reply, "I don't feel like getting off my butt and answering. Can someone else get that?"
As here in the USA the governments need to fix the problems and not run them off. Running them off is a way of saying we don't care about you or your problems.
If our rich pricks in offices here and in the UK would stop milking the pot dry and do some thing other then bail out loser corporations, people would have the things they need to live a happy life, or some thing close to it. as it is people are now down and out and need our governments to stop feeding the corporations with our tax dollars and do the right thing with the money.
One man years ago said if we allow corporations it will be the down fall of the world economy. now that is happening in record events.
Small business is the back bone of any economy, they hire more people then any corporation could ever hire. with out them you have no balance in the economy, you have no price wars which keep prices with in a boundary that all can live by.
But as we have it now corporations have ended the price wars and joined together in order to unbalance things and run up prices so there is no world balance or balance in any country.
This is why they are here, we need this balance and with out it our world as we know it is over. anarchy is next and will happen. if you read history this has been going on from the start of people. the rich get richer the poor get poorer then comes the anarchy that fallows.
If they do not protest who will you? from what I read most of you have no idea what any of this is about or why they are doing it. you jump to the conclusion its because they are some low lives with nothing better to do.
Word to the wise, If you don't know any thing about a person then don't speak badly about them or all it says is your a bigot.
If your not going to fix things or help to fix things then STFU and let the ones trying to get things fix be.
Alot of this is illogical. If the corporations take all the jobs away leaving less money in the pockets of the consumer and then raise the costs of everything then there is no money to buy thier products.
Corporations are not evil entities. A corporation is a business made up of individuals. The health of a corporation relies on the economic health of the communities where they sell their products.
I agree that the Governments should get out of the business of subsidizing companies, as this is counter to free capitalist systems. If a company fails, no matter how big (GM for example) then new entrepreneurs will step in to create new products to fill the void. This system feeds innovation and keeps the whole system fresh.
Corporations are not the downfall of the economies. Government overspending is.
I guess I was a little veg on why I think corporations have created a rolling down economy. If they had stayed to the side of manufacturing and whole sale and not ventured in to the retail side of the economy, the small business would have grown to vast heights and the amount of jobs would be 100 times what they are today.
But also the corporations should of been limited to keeping manufacturing jobs in the USA and the whole sale jobs. and should leave the retail side of the whole economy.
Doing this would in turn keep our way of life in this country a true fact, from 1945- around 1975 this is how our economy was pretty much set up, our country flourished. Your mom and pop shops where every place, your towns grew, the people where so much happier. And yes people where able to become rich with hard work. You would see one like Toms lumber yard grow to the stage they where supplying the whole county, and had lots of employees from that same county. And Tom became rich.
Now with corporations they look only at dollar signs and don't look at how they will effect the over all economy in your local communities.
And here is why I do not care for corporations, they have no business being in the private sector of the business world. all they do is kill it off.
Don't ever try to get a job! You are vastly insane and or stupid!The reason America was humming along after WW2 is that the rest of the civilized world was in shabbles and we weren't! "...don't care for corporations.they have no business being in the private sectoe of the business world.That is the dumbest statement I have ever read! Do you have any idea what you wrote or were you too loaded at time of writing to know what you wrote?
@worldideaman:
You weren't in the same post-WWII America I was. The Mom and Pop grocery stores, gas stations, etc. were already in the process of losing out to the big national chains and their vastly superior buying power, and in the case of the oil companies, their ability to control the entire process from the wellhead down to the retail outlet if they wanted to. People cry about the "good old days", but they vote with their dollars for the bigger, cheaper places over the smaller, local, but more expensive ones almost every time.
Throw them out. Its not a campgrounds nor are there facilities for such. Just like here in the U.S. who gets stuck with the clean up bill?
hum.
Talk to some of these people at these protests. At it's core, none of these people know exactly what they're protesting against. They're all coming with their ideas and agendas and none of them mesh. When it doubt, it falls back to "corporate greed", but, sorry, I don't see groups of jobless nincompops sitting around whining about their entitlement issues doing anything to convince anyone, especially "greedy" businessmen that only talk money. The true 99% is the precent that don't support what these numskulls are doing.
Will someone please unleash the Hippie-Killers on these vagabonds (which is the perfect word to describe)??
If you want to be effective in your protests, you need to go to the source of your grievance(s), which in most cases is the government... You also have the option of not voting for representatives who do not promote your values and concerns.
Protesting where athletes train makes as much sense as using a sieve for a water bucket.
Get a hair cut and get a real job!
And what did the government do to these folks?
They sit around and smoke pot and wonder why they can't get and hold a job.
They go to college, run up debts, and study bong-making and wonder why they are so much in debt and can't find a job.
"A job is a right!" they say. Oh, right.
If you want to spend $100,000 of borrowed money studying Sociology, fine. But don't expect the rest of us to pay for it!