Any moment now? Protest situation is getting INTENSE ...

[ShortnFiery]

Check out the live feed of the London Bank Protests. It's getting super intense out there. :wow:

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3

[Corey_Baker08]

1. Cop With A Bloody Nose

[ShortnFiery]

2. Protester with gash and bleeding on the top of his head. Lots of pushing ...

:(

[ShortnFiery]

3. "Shame on you! Shame on you!" Someone passing through the crowd of notice. nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Haven't seen the like since Nov. 1999 in Seattle

I hope things turn out better in London.

[ShortnFiery]

8. Depends on whether there's any "hidden agendas" with the police, but I'd like to think better

of our British Cousins. :shrug:

[cali]

11. yeah, because it has nothing to do with idiots like the ones smasing

the windows on the Royal Bank of Scotland building. Oooh, I know. They're really agents provacateurs.

[ShortnFiery]

15. You have to ask yourself, WHO are those idiots and do the have a relationship to the gentle looking

40 something year old man standing right in front of the police line?

Don't be so quick to stereotype or paint the entire protest with one big broad anarchist brush. :-)

[cali]

20. oh for the love of reason. First of all, I'm not stereotyping the entire protest

I support it. And I'm aware enough to recognize that it's a very big protest made up of many different groups and individuals with varying agendas. The vast majority are peaceful.

YOU are the one that needs to stop sterotyping. You do it constantly. In this case, you're going on the presumption, with zero evidence, that the police are evilly putting in agents to break windows, etc.

[ShortnFiery]

29. Gee Cali, I love to draw your attention - you're so warm and giving.

:hug:

No, the REAL world is a mix of both of our perspectives: You're = Authoritarian; and mine = Anti-Authoritarian.

I'm only attempting to "open the possibility" that ALL is not as it seems. I'm only trying to get Americans not to default to the "Always Trust Big Brother" mode of thinking. We, the people, pay the police their salary - they Serve and Protect in a NON-Authoritarian Society.

[cali]

32. that's the funny thing about people like you, you're as authoritarian as can be

and sorry, though I have a healthy skepticism in regard to authority, I also don't live and breath dogma the way you do. I actually think. Something you've never shown a hint of interest in engaging in. You simply spew tired dogma.

And please, please try being honest. You didn't try to open the possibility. You flat out stated that the police were setting it all up.

[ShortnFiery]

35. No, I said that you must be open to the POSSIBILITY that sometimes, it happens.

I didn't say it happened TODAY. I'm only opening the door on the possibility.

But you and your love for all things "in power" will not spark on even the remote possibility. I'm "immature", "crazy" , "spewing dogma", "fill-in-the-blank."

ANYTHING! Because it would crush your vision of our world to entertain the POSSIBILITY that covert operations happen to discourage "average people" from coming out and protesting in the future.

Sure, all power rules with a benevolent hand. There would be no inspiration for "certain elements" within law enforcement to cause damage? That would not discourage older people and people with children NOT to return to future protests. Oh no?

Why, just the thought that certain elements would conspire to such vile tactics is downright Un-American! :sarcasm: :crazy:

[StreetKnowledge]

30. Somebody else who remembers the Battle of Seattle, then.

What a ride that was. :o Hopefully this turns out better.

[TechBear_Seattle]

36. Remembers it?

I live on Capitol Hill, near Pike Street and Broadway. You are damned right I remember it, and how Clinton ordered the creation of the first "free speech" zones, and how the courts ruled that our constitutional right to bear arms -- ostensibly to protect ourselves from government tyranny -- did not extend to gas masks and other protective gear.

I still feel an upswell of anger any time I see a uniformed cop.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

38. Greatest picture never taken.

I was riding the ferry out of the Coleman dock and the teargas rising above the city at twilight was a sight to behold.

[zippy890]

5. why aren't the police arresting those guys breaking glass

and lighting smoke bombs and throwing them in that bank?
is this police strategy to let them do this?

I don't get it.

[ShortnFiery]

9. Because they're special OPS attached to their force?

All is not as it seems. ;)

[Occam Bandage]

14. So when the police exercise restraint,

it's probably because the protesters rioting are actually cops trying to make protesters look bad. Yes, that is indeed the most likely explanation.

[ShortnFiery]

16. No, all I'm saying is that you have to observe and not ASSUME you know which side the

"so called protesters" are on. That's all.

If you really wish to understand what's going on and who EXACTLY has the power: "Follow the Money."

[Occam Bandage]

19. But wait! What if you're actually a cop, and you're posting nonsensical conspiracy theories

to make the police look reasonable by comparison! THEY HAVE THE POWER TO DO THAT! FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

[ShortnFiery]

25. No, it's convenient for you to dismiss covert behavior as conspiracy - but WHO TRULY KNOWS?

Yes, they do have the power to conduct PsyOps.

I'm not crazy and I'm not violent. I live in the real world.

IF those who wish to control our FINANCIAL system wanted to dispense with those who disagreed with them, WHAT BETTER than to use "a few plants" who get arrested with the rest of the protesters. These people would be the center of the media circus and provide evidence why they should not EVER permit any protests because they would turn violent.

It happens. You know that it happens. You just choose to always side with AUTHORITY figures whereas I'm a little more hesitant to believe that Big Brother (Police) always tell us the truth. :shrug:

[Occam Bandage]

26. Right. And they have the power to post bizarre conspiracy theories on DU to discredit protesters.

That doesn't mean I'm going to assume that you're actually a cop trying to make protest supporters look like idiots. I know that most people who support these protests are actually quite reasonable and sane, and that you are only representing a small and thankfully insignificant minority.

[ShortnFiery]

33. See, that's where you and I differ. I don't attack your mindset. Only request that you remain

open to the POSSIBILITY that there may be some "covert operations" ongoing. Even unknown to most of the police force?

Fine, but you have no right to judge me or my theories harshly UNLESS you are one of those people who readily default to trusting those in authority?

I don't think you would wish to halt free speech? Were the men hosting "the boston tea party" crazy? They would be according your your standards.

[jefferson_dem]

21. Ridiculous.

It's immature foolish "agitators" like these that give all unconventional political participants a bad rap.

[ShortnFiery]

23. Cute, you're like the parent who won't trust the other children because ONE acted out.

Great. You serve the Political Ruling Class proud. Believe it or not, the lion's share of people out protesting are neither violent nor crazy.

[Occam Bandage]

24. No, he just doesn't believe the parent who said "well you must have made Sally bite you."

You can simultaneously accept that it's only a small number who are acting out, and yet not accept bizarre theories stripping that small number of any responsibility for their actions. "The police are making them do it through all sorts of covert actions" is just nuts.

[ShortnFiery]

27. No, it's not bizarre. Yes, there are true "acting out" leftists. However, covert OPs are REAL ...

is now part of Police Force Operations. Controlling the population has become somewhat of a science. It's not conspiracy when it happens FOR REAL - as in Seattle.

[jefferson_dem]

28. You really don't get it.

My point was that the idiot window-bashing brick throwers are NOT representative of those who engage in protest, and they should be called out for what they are...and are not.

Try to not be so snappy in your judgments, eh.

[ShortnFiery]

31. Guess what? They are PART OF US. Only acting out inappropriately. They could be your brother

who was kicked off his job and could not afford an operation for his sick wife.

Some people may just be "bad seeds" but I want to believe ... as my Christian Faith teaches me - that most people ARE BASICALLY GOOD at heart.

It's *too easy* - moral laxity to just write-off the people who act out. Yes, arrest them and get them assistance to solve their problems without violence.

But no, THEY ARE US! They are human beings behaving inappropriately.

I'm tired of hating on every damn thing and one.

It's time for dialog and compromise. :(

[zippy890]

17. what would be the point of that?

inciting more violence?

More likely the protesters coordinating to create diversions and the police can't be everywhere.

[ShortnFiery]

22. The POINT of that would give the police an excuse to LOCK DOWN the area and arrest people.

Have you ever heard of PsyOps or Counterintelligence? If the "powers that be" make the protesters look CRAZY or VIOLENT, then they don't have to pay attention to the concerns of NON-INVESTOR CLASS people. Our concerns about making ends meet don't matter because they can stereotype all who protest as "irrelevant."

Yes, if you plan for strategy, I can see such covert operations.

BTW right now the Police are in the process of Lock down. It's unfair but everyone caught up in a certain area will be arrested. There's a lot of 30 to 50 somethings in this crowd and they are neither violent or crazy. :(

[girl gone mad]

6. What did they expect?

They enable evil multi-national corporations to eliminate our jobs, exploit the environment and steal our treasury and then they hold a meeting where absolutely nothing will be accomplished.

The tension has been growing for quite some time now.

[polichick]

34. I agree with the protesters - the current capitalist system sucks.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Video's back up. It's a lively gathering to say the least.

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

[cali]

10. You sound just like the CNN pukes

rooting for violence.

[ShortnFiery]

13. Awe, I can always depend on a complement from you. No I want EYES on the action

just in case. The more people who watch, the better - REALISTIC understanding we can get of the event.

I love you too Cali ... really, I'm warming to you. :hug: :-)

[ShortnFiery]

12. The police seem to be "preparing for something" - no joke - they're breaking shields out. nt

[ShortnFiery]

18. *****NEW live feed link. The Police are LOCKING DOWN the area.

http://gazasolidarity.blogspot.com/2009/04/live-video-feed-of-g20-protests-1-april.html

[Blue_Tires]

37. i don't have sound

but it least it looks like things haven't blown up...