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just some thoughts
by marcher in the front
Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 at 5:12 PM
editorial on A24
honestly i was extremely close to going up to the pocar that was blocking bellefield and asking why they were wasting money the city dosen't have to arrest people who were doing things that were relativley harmless, why they didn't arrest the people who were doing the civil disobedience in front of the city county building, the ones who were laying down in front of cars, also why they think they should keep their jobs when they treat the citizens like this? but my oppinion dosen't matter. the po have learned how to deal with direct action. the first 3 times nothing happened they didn't really know what to do. now they know that if they yell, show force and drive their cars extremly close and hit people we will usually do what they tell us. i mean what is happening with our marches is relativley harmless. we aren't vandalizing anything that dosen't try to harm us. we need to think of some other form of direct action. the po have learned to deal with it. if you want my oppinion they send the brutal officers to deal with us. there are officers who are very nice. they don't all have to be testosterone driven he-men. as of now i don't have very much respect for the police. i think that the ones who treat radicals like shit deserve to have their jobs cut. they seem to forget they are the servants of the people not the beaters of the working class.
agreed
by george orwell
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 6:46 AM
I agree with you completely. That's what I said at the march... I hope they cut all their jobs, but of course they won't. They'll keep the cops who love to smack their billie clubs around and drive into people. Because who else is going to protect the establishment?
ongoing debate
by ...
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 8:15 AM
I'd have to agree with you. This is an ongoing debate within pog and other groups. It's obvious we're not going to continue to take the streets in the same way if the police are going to respond with such tactics. In the end the change in police behavior will probably work to our advantage. It will force people to change and grow instead of doing the same things over and over again. This is, and should be, a good and ongoing process.
There are many many ideas being proposed and a great many of these seem to address the failings of A24. Hopefully, the next time we take to the streets we won't have to leave them.
change to a phyiscal discussion
by noah pression
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 12:09 PM
maybe it would be better if we could have a town hall type meeting to discuss how direct action in pittsburgh should continue
mmmmm
by *
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 1:14 PM
mmmm. i'm a little weary of gathering everyone together to discuss how something "should" continue. to discuss the situation in general and generate more ideas, yes. but i think it's important to remember that there's not one, correct way of doing things...
i know but...
by noah pression
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 3:31 PM
i know but maybe if everyone could bring ideas to the table we could see everybody's idea and perhaps pick different ways of doing things
There isn't only one correct way of doing things...
by bugg
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003 at 6:34 PM
There are indeed a diversity of tactics that are "correct" ways of doing things, but at the same note there are tactics that are flat out incorrect.
Behavior that results in an early, unexpected arrest for no good reason that sends fear throughout the crowd and causes the march to be cut short isn't a good idea. Diversity of tactics is a great principle, but thought must be taken to ensure that the tactic won't put a premature end to the march.
....
by pog'er
Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 at 6:51 AM
just to be clear. the march was being cut short BEFORE THE ARREST. It didn't have anything to do with Joey getting arrested and he's certainly not to blame for it ending. POG had already decided to end our portion. The arrest was just an unfortunete part of that end.,
it wasn't audible
by pogger
Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 at 5:54 PM
when it was decided to end the march, joey was seconds away from getting arrested. also people couldn't have known that we were dispersing since the person with the bullhorn didn't say anything about dispersing
I am, for the record
by bugg
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 at 7:14 AM
I am, for the record, the person who had the bullhorn. Not that I need pittsburgh police to associate my handle with the face or anything.
Even after I first received word from TMC and POG reps about the recommendations to disperse and started repeating them, a couple of people from POG asked me if I was sure, who I heard it from, etc. So however the decision was made before the arrest, it didn't get around at all!
Some better "rules of engagement"
by Boy About Town
Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 at 11:20 AM
Maybe instead of waiting until someone decides to end the rally, we could have some definite march plans, like where/when to start, route to follow, and what to do when we get to the end. Maybe we even have a rule about how we actually disperse (will it be as a group, or will we disperse to several other locations). We may want to consider having the march end at a location that offers several options for "dispersal" so that we are not all moving together as a group after the mach ends, and then would not give the Pittsburgh paramilitary brigade the opportunity to say that the march was continuing even though we were ending. This way someone doesn't have to run around with the bullhorn and we don't have to worry about whetehr POG ended the march earlier, whether the march should have ended earlier or whether everyone can even hear the orders over the marching and chanting. Just a thought.
good idea
by kiki
Thursday, Sep. 11, 2003 at 9:24 PM
good idea for saturday????
I'll post on CTC
by wheatpaster
Friday, Sep. 12, 2003 at 7:23 AM
On S13, we are bringing attention to specific corporations who are abusing the WTO, NAFTA, and other international bodies for their own gain.
The organizers from POG have no permit, but the Tour of Greed plans to remain on the sidewalk and not take the streets. This decision was concensed to by those who saw what happened on the 24th and agreed this is not the right climate for taking to the streets. We will get the message out in a different way this time.
There is a planned route for Saturday, but it will not be released until right before the march begins. While POG only plans to do a little street theater and encourage people never to economically support such corporations, and these stores are not expected to be in a position of physical danger, there is something to be said for the element of surprise.
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