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Location, location, location: Occupy Tucson bogs down (video)

by on Oct. 10, 2011, under Arizona, corporatists, democracy, downtown, economy, jobs, Trickle Down Economics, Tucson
CREDIT: Pamela Powers
CAPTION: Occupy Tucson General Assembly, October 9, 2011

In the shade of Veinte de Agosto Park, Occupy Tucson enthusiasts met on Sunday to plan the occupation of downtown Tucson, slated for Oct. 15.

By some estimates, approximately 200 people showed up to discuss logistics– including Mia Hansen, executive director of Tucson Meet Yourself (also slated for said park on Oct. 15). The catch for the Occupiers is that Hansen purchased permits for Veinte de Agosto Park, Presidio Park, the Courthouse Courtyard, and several other locations around downtown to hold one of the city’s largest events.

During General Assembly negotiations on Oct. 1 , the Occupiers discussed location for at least an hour. Armory Park, Presidio Park Reed Park, DeAnza Park, and Veinte de Agosto Park were all considered and voted upon. Despite the known conflict with Tucson Meet Yourself, the Occupiers voted to overlap the occupation with Tucson Meet Yourself.

Yesterday, those present reversed their decision–much to the delight of Hansen, who said that holding the Occupation would be “disrespectful to Tucson Meet Yourself and all those involved in organizing it”.  She spoke wistfully– in a kumbya sort of way– of the hundreds of individuals and groups that come together each year to make this signature event possible.

Hansen said that she had a medical marijuana petitioner removed from last year’s festival, and she didn’t want politics to spoil this year’s festival. She also said she decided to come to the Occupy Tucson meeting after she saw calls for port-a-potties, generators, tents, sleeping bags, and a soup kitchen to support the Occupiers. You can imagine her horror at the thought of Occupiers (my heavens with bull horns and signs!) lying around Veinte de Agosto Park smack in the middle of the festival. She admitted that yes, indeed, political protest is part of Tucson, but it was not happening at her event.

At any rate, her plea to the Occupiers worked. They voted to start the Occupation at Armory Park at 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 and move to Veinte de Agosto Park after Tucson Meet Yourself. Stay tuned, this is a moving target.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 10th, 2011 at 9:18 am and is filed under Arizona, corporatists, democracy, downtown, economy, jobs, Trickle Down Economics, Tucson. Tags for this post: , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Alex Maldonado

    I did not see many of the regular faces that have been part of the previous movements but there is an energy to try and make this occupation fly. All I ask is that you show patience with the organizers as this is probably one of their first movements as organizers. Patience, my friends, this occupation is going to start with baby steps but hopefully will gain momentum once it gets started.

    • http://tucsoncitizen.com/tucson-progressive Pamela

      You’re right, Alex. Many of the people who were there yesterday were not there on Oct. 1, when the location decision was initially made. The Tucson Meet Yourself Exec Director seemed adamant that she didn’t want politics or political signs at the event.

      I think Occupy Tucson should print a bunch of t-shirts and send people to Tucson Meet Yourself. Occupy Tucson is part of Tucson.

      • larry fembot

        So,  you are advocating disrupting Tucson Meet Yourself?

        • http://www.facebook.com/#!/napsky Catherine Euler

          Hi Pamela! Just a minor clarification….I was taking minutes at the first Occupy Tucson meeting, and we also discussed location for about an hour, because the crowd was eager NOT to disrupt Tucson Meet Yourself…when we checked the TMY website, Veinte de agosto park was the only one that did not appear to have an event listed. As soon as we found out TMY also had the permit for that park, we put it to a consensus vote of the General Assembly, and again people voted not to impact Tucson Meet Yourself, but instead to move the occupation to Armory Park.  I think it is a beautiful weekend to start an occupation…there will be plenty of multiculturally-delicious food, music, and dance going on, thanks to the dedication of Mia Hansen and other Tucsonans.  We are a multicultural community, and we should all meet each other a little more often. Like all the other Occupy locations across the country – hundreds within the US, and over 1200 around the world (www.occupytogether.org), we aim to cooperate peacefully with our  community.  In choosing October 15th, we have chosen a date that hundreds of other cities have also chosen. We stand in solidarity with the Wall St. Occupiers, and all those humans around the world who would like to live in a real democracy, instead of one bought and sold by multi-billion dollar corporations and banks.  People have lost homes, jobs, and a significant portion of our taxes to corporations; people have been held in detention camps at slave wages, their families separated, to enrich the few.  If you are wealthy you can influence political decision-making, but most of us can’t afford lobbyists. We are the 99%, and we are the change.
          We will have (non-amplified) music (city code) at Armory Park on Sat. Oct 15th starting at noon.  Everyone who is enjoying the Downtown that day is also very welcome to come on over to Armory Park and Meet Your Tucson Occupiers. :)   Bring sleeping bags and tents!
           

          • Guy Josserand III

            Thanks Catherine for setting a lovely tone to offset what I felt was a divisive one in Pamela’s report about Mia’s presentation to the GA. I thought she was generous and gracious toward the Occupy group. We are all most welcome there as long as we do not disrupt people’s experience of the cultural and artistic presentations. It is not a place to solicit politically any more than church is a place to solicit for your business. It is a place to listen and learn from those who have spent time and treasure to present their heritage. It reminds of the adage that since we have two ears and one mouth we should employ them in that proportion. I think the Occupy movement will gain far more by listening than by speaking and that indeed that is what is being modeled for us by Occupy Wall St.

      • Cynthia

        Well, Occupy Tucson broke their promise because at 1:00 p.m. all 250 of them noisily marched through the TMY venues, to the visible ennui of the crowds.

  • Fraser007

    LOL Fools.

    • Fraser007

      Correction: Tools of the Left. Same old crowd, same old faces. Typical of Tucson.

      • leftfield

        Wishful thinking, fraser? 

      • cochisecitizen

        That’s pretty much what I think when I see a Teabagger gathering – tools of the Koch Brothers Inc., same old crowd, same old faces. Typical of  Arizona conservatives.

      • Jan Austin

        I’d rather be a ‘tool of the left Tucsonan’ than a gullible plutocrat who easily caves in to the corporations laughing behind your back. 

        So fraser007, tool of Fox News, enjoy being a slave of the top 1% of America who likes to consistently take advantage of your naive personality.

        • Don

          Jan! You forgot to say “Occupiers Unite!”

      • Jan Austin

        Fraser007,

        Think about the well being of yourself and your kids…NOT, the Rich 1% – they can afford to pay their bills and take a vacation in the Bahamas…over and over and over again. 

        • Chris

          Fraser, I agree with you . The people that are joining this so called movement are co-opted from every side and do not realize it. They will bash peoples intelligence and when are proven incorrect ,resort to calling names. This is a socialist movement and I get tired of hearing about Pure Democracy. We live in a Constitutional Republic and we will restore it to it’s original principles. Because some have lost their way, does not mean we all have.

  • http://www.globalresearch.ca Andrea Heiden

    since the fraud quicksand must deepen so the beginning has begun.

    next stop more collapse, martial law, ww3, and so on.

    slow death of a corrupt world order… 

  • http://www.globalresearch.ca Andrea Heiden

    eventually paycheck deficit cops will be protestors themselves.

    wonder when the shots heard round the world will begin popping as the soundtrack to the end of The American Sheme? 

  • http://www.globalresearch.ca Andrea Heiden

    viral global

  • http://drudge terese dudas

    Cops will be paycheck deficient only when property owners quit paying their taxes.  They will be the last to starve.

  • MD

    It was not clear to people at the first meeting that Tucson Meet Yourself  had a permit for that park, or at least it wasn’t clear to me. That park didn’t appear to be close enough to the main event.   In fact, when I and other suggested the library, people informed us that that was the same weekend as TMY and the vast majority then agreed that we did not want to interfere with TMY in any negative way.  It was a mistake that it either wasn’t check or that information wasn’t clear. 
     

    • MD

      To clarify, we did not want to use the library grounds because we knew TMY would be using the library area,  but didn’t know the Pancho Villa was also .

  • dollarshort

    How many girls of legal age have agreed to stay at the park?  

  • Jan Austin

    The main existence of corporations is to make profit. It’s normal in a free-enterprise capitalist society. No problem with that. Corporations will do just about everything to be profitable. They got huge numbers of experts who will mine every available loophole they could find to sneak a profit or two. That’s their job. It’s …it’s normal and expected.

    What’s not normal is when corporations and it’s owners, the rich people would start changing the definition of ‘We the people…’ into ‘We the rich people…’ or ‘We the corporations …’ . The balance of power has tilted to the top 1 percent of America. And it’s time to take back what’s been taken from the 99 percent Americans.

    Fellow Occupiers, we need to fight back on what’s right fully ours!
    Occupiers, it’s time to stop succumbing to the rich’s whim!
    Occupiers, UNITE!! 

    • Chris

      I’m wondering…what is rightfully yours?
       

  • Jan Austin

    1-Rich 1% – I need more bailout/tax breaks so my company can survive
    2-Tea Party – You got it! Makes sense, you need more $$$ so your won’t fall
    Keep looping 1 and 2 over and over , year after year, same excuse blah blah…it needs to stop. It needs to stop because the 99% aren’t getting any better.

    meanwhile…Rich 1% who owns large chunks of corporate stocks takes the bailout money to build a factory overseas so they make more money. While here at home, Rich 1% says , you need to work overtime. We need to make our profit margins! Work! Work! Let’s get this project done! Otherwise we’d have to lay off…

    …Work done. Project finished. Profit margin achieved. So what did the 99% get? They get escorted out the door because their skills are no longer needed….until few months later where they hire again for the same skill

    Workers aren’t commodities. Workers are people. Much like what happened during the housing crises where houses where treated like commodities ( you know what happened to that ), workers are in danger of following the same fate – the loss value of the American worker.

    It’s about 100 years ago during the industrial revolution when children where taken advantage for profit. It was stopped. And thereafter, America still prospered.

    Now, we are facing the same abuse again.

    Occupiers, UNITE! 

    • Chris

      Replace Tea Party with Republican and you’d eb correct , but no , tea partiers do not support the TARP. Please know what they stand for before you tell others what they stand for
       

  • Huh

    WTF is Tucson Meet Yourself?

    • Pamela Powers

      It is one of the largest festivals held it Tucson. Google it.

  • Jan Austin

    Let me see, GDP and Dow Jones Ind. Average goes up. Is the average American worker benefiting from this? Their wages are down. More people are still unemployed. Who benefits? Rich 1% .

    Let’s stop this downward cycle of the 99′ers

    If you 99′ers are well off, the rich 1% would be well off too. But that’s not the case. The Rich 1% has lost touch with reality and spit on the 99%’s face.

    Let’s teach and remind them a lesson

    Occupiers, UNITE!

  • Shelley L

    I was present for the discussion with Mia Hansen of TMY and the Occupy Tucson participants. It is interesting  that the writer’s description of the discussion about the site of  Occupy Tucson is so  different than what I heard and the process I experienced.  Any suggestion that the Occupy Tucson group had or has desire to interrupt or disrupt TMY is inaccurate.
    I was delighted and impressed that, despite such a large group being present (whether it was 100 or 200 persons) – and the inevitable differences of thoughts and ideas expressed (and welcomed), a decision  was made in an hour. That’s remarkable in such a large gathering!   The discussion of a suitable location for Occupy Tucson occurred in an atmosphere of mutual respect, consideration and support with the objective to problem solve to create mutually favorable outcomes.
    Undoubtedly, many Tucson residents attending TMY supp0rt and will participate in Occupy Tucson, and the reverse is true. I know I will!

  • Don

    What about all the small businesses downtown who will lose revenue due to Occupy Tucson?  Consumers won’t come downtown to shop if they think everything will be a mess.
    I pity the small businesses who were counting on the crowds attending Tucson Meet Yourself.  They’ll need money to pay for the cleanup and repair costs that Occupy Tucson will likely generate.

    • leftfield

      “What about all the small businesses downtown who will lose revenue due to Occupy Tucson?”

      My understanding is that the “Occupy” gathering will be at Armory Park.  No surprise if attendance is off this year anyway.  People don’t have a lot of money to spend.  

      • Pamela Powers

        Yes, the Occupiers voted to move to Armory Park for 2 days while Tucson Meet Yourself is happening.

        The Occupier will then move to Veinte de Agosto (Pancho Villa) Park, which is surrounded by BIG business and government buildings. I don’t see small businesses losing money with a few hundred extra people being downtown 24/7. Heck, The Grill (open 24/7) should leaflet the park! The Occupiers have been doing outreach to businesses to figure out how to work together.

        • Don

          Pam, of course you wouldn’t see businesses losing money…you’re organizing the Occupation. 
          Customers, on the other hand, see the mess that Occupy Wall Street has made of NYC’s Zucotti Park.  Who wants to be part of an Old Pueblo version of that?  
          For the sake of discussion, I’ll stipulate that TMY and your event will be geographically separate.  Are you sure that potential customers for downtown Tucson businesses will realize that?  Are you sure they won’t take the easy way out and spend their weekend time—and money—-elsewhere?
          Will The Occupiers spend enough of their own money to offset the losses small businesses could encounter if paying customers choose to stay home this weekend?  Bully for you for doing outreach to the businesses—but who cares?  Can you make up their losses?
          More to the point—how much of a sacrifice should downtown Tucson small businesses make, so that Occupy Tucson can be a success?

          • leftfield

            Nice to know you are concerned about the welfare of the small business person in Tucson, Don.  You must have experienced a change of heart, because I don’t recall you expressing concern when deregulation and the insatiable greed of Wall Street destroyed twenty percent of the economy, throwing people out of work and forcing small businesses to close all over the country.    Can you make up their losses?  
              
            If the party of “Let him die” is concerned enough to take notice of the occupiers, they must be onto something.  

            • Don

              Leftfield, I’m glad to see that you apparently have had a change of heart toward small businesses.  In the past, you and your kind labeled them as “kulaks” and pogromed the heck out of them. 

            • Don

              Leftfield, have you changed your mind about capitalists?  In the past you and your kind called them “kulaks” and killed them by their thousands. (With zero concern for their losses, I might add.)
              I’m not worried about Wall Street—I’m worried about the businesses in downtown Tucson who had hoped that this would be a profitable weekend.  The weather is nice this time of year, so it’s a perfect time for families to come downtown and shop.
              Unfortunately, you and your adherents have decided that those businessmen/women are expendable.  Unfortunate collateral damage, in pursuit of your own self-fulfillment. 
              I continue to be amazed that you’re still here.  Surely Nicaragua or some other more acceptable country could benefit from your skills.  And yet, you’re still here, under the G-D flag (your words, not mine) of the United States of America.  Wonder why…

              • leftfield

                “Unfortunately, you and your adherents have decided that those businessmen/women are expendable.”

                Substitute “the people of Iraq” or “the working people of America” for “businessmen/businesswomen” and right back at you, Don.

                As I said above, it is not the presence of protestors on Main Street, USA that pushed unemployment to record highs, or closed small businesses all over the country, or put this country into the 2nd Great Depression. 

                • Don

                  You’re dodging my point, Leftfield—wonder why?  My point is….Occupy Tucson promises to be VERY bad for downtown Tucson businesses. 
                  If you’ve decided that Tucson businesses must suffer for the greater commie good, have the guts to go ahead and say so.

                  • leftfield

                    I see your point, Don.  Perhaps you might consider first that it is unlikely to be as bad as you imagine.  I’m sure you lost sleep when the minimum wage was raised, imagining that all the businesses would have to shut down and the world as we know it would collapse.  It didn’t happen, Don. 

                    Secondly, you might consider that there are a few other issues in the world that deserve at least equal consideration as the welfare of business.  I know – this is blasphemy. 

                    Some people who are unhappy with the direction and state of the nation are going to gather downtown.  These people will not be the sort of people you like.  They will be espousing a POV you don’t like.  They will look and act differently than you.  Life will go on…trust me.  

                    • Don

                      So, you’ve decided that it’s OK to disrupt downtown Tucson this weekend, in order to pursue your version of the “common good?”
                       
                      I give you credit for openly admitting that, in your opinion, Tucson businesses and citizens must simply suffer (regrettably, of course), so that you and your ilk can do…whatever it is that you feel like doing.
                       
                      Why not protest at Raytheon, or some other real corporate facility?  Because it won’t be as much fun for the protesters, that’s why?
                       
                      Some people who are unhappy with the direction and state of the nation are going to gather downtown.  These people will not be the sort of people you like.


                      If they defecate on police cars, like other Occupy [Insert Name of Unfortunate City Here], you’re right, I don’t like people like that.  But, apparently they’re your friends…so, can you ask them to use a restroom instead?

          • Guy Josserand III

            Legitimate concern I suppose. Business climate is fragile these days. But that is all the more reason to welcome Occupy in a BIG way. First of all the purpose is to level the playing field for small business so that it can compete better. People everywhere are enraged at the plutocratic control of government by multinational banks and the entire conflagration of the military industrial complex that Ike ID’d so long ago. Too big to fail is too big to exist. Small and medium sized businesses are the real job generators and always have been. Secondly, Occupy will draw a hundred fold more gentle and congenial customers to the city center than you can imagine. That is the best possible outcome and why should it not come to pass? 

            • Don

              “Gentle and congenial customers?”  Like the unwashed fools clogging Zucotti Park in NYC?  The ones that are driving small businessmen up there crazy? 
              Just how much money will Occupy Tucson generate for small businesses downtown?  It’s not enough to walk through the store’s aisles without damaging anything…the point is to actually buy something.  Besides a piece of gum or a Diet Coke. 
              Based on the Occupy [Insert Name of Unfortunate City Here] events I’ve seen on TV, they seem to be revenue inhibitors, instead of generators.

              • Jennie

                With more people comes more revenue. I have yet to read or hear on ANY news cast or website anyone complaining about the people Occupying anywhere (except the police). We know how to be respectful of our surroundings. We said from day one that we will not leave any evidence (as in mess) that we were there. There is no reason for name-calling or insults. We are here because the status quo is not working for any of us. We are not here for our own selfish agenda. We are here for you, we are here for ourselves, we are here for our children, grandchildren, our neighbors, friends, family. We are taking time out from our lives to try to make a difference for people like you, even if you don’t see things from the same perspective as us. Respect us as we respect you, for some day you may find…we were right.

                • Don

                  Why must you disrupt downtown Tucson to make your point?  If you want to fight capitalist excesses, go march on Raytheon.  Why screw up downtown for the rest of us?
                  I have yet to read or hear on ANY news cast or website anyone complaining about the people Occupying anywhere (except the police)
                  Oh, really?  Here’s an excerpt from Matt Labash’s article in the Weekly Standard (yes, a conservative newspaper) on some local reaction to Occupy Wall Street in NYC’s Zucotti Park.
                  Manning one smoothie cart is a Chinese immigrant named Zhi. I ask Zhi how’s business. I figure with all the increased traffic, he must be doing gangbusters. But he shakes his head in frustration, pointing to the square’s new inhabitants. In broken English, he tells me he used to make a couple hundred dollars a day. Now, he’s lucky if he makes a little over $100. “People used to come down here for lunch. The money type—they buy food. Smoothie. But right now [with all the donated food coming in each day including pizza and chicken wings] everything free.” 
                  Likewise, several construction workers are grumpily smoking Marlboros while sitting on a wall within ear-splitting distance of the bucket-drum brigade. In the now-crowded park, they’re the only seats available. The workers are on lunch break from putting up Tower 4 of the new World Trade Center across the street. I approach one, a member of a Steamfitters local who has a sticker on his hard hat that reads “Mosque Ground Zero” with a hash mark through it. When asked his name, he responds, “You can call me ‘Pissed Off.’ ” 
                  “Can you tell them to stop playin’ the f—in’ drums during lunch?” he bellows. “Stop with the drums! Three weeks we have to hear it. We do construction. We hear loud noises all day. All’s we wanna do is come down and enjoy our lunch. If they support us—[multiple unions, perhaps jonesing for action after their Wisconsin battles, have now found common cause with the protesters]—they’d give us a break during our lunch hour.”
                  I ask Pissed Off where he normally eats. He points to a table in the center of the square that is now completely covered with protester paraphernalia. “If they had one thing to protest, fine,” says P.O.ed. “But it seems anybody and everybody can come down here and vent. Gimme something to support! I can’t support the 25 different things they’re protesting. Don’t get me going—I’m having a bad day.”
                  http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/eyewitness-history_595200.html?nopager=1
                  Note that I’ve omitted Labash’s characterizations of the protesters themselves.   I’ve only included the comments of New Yorkers…with a silent prayer that Tucsonans won’t have to be saying the same kinds of things next week.

                  • Don

                    Shasbot.  I simply MUST learn how to make paragraphs in WordPress.  :(

                • Don

                  First of all, liberals have given VERY little respect to Tea Party members and their supporters.  (Respect us as we respect you). “You” do not respect “us.”  Maybe you do, personally, but liberals writ large have bent over backwards to label Tea Partiers as racists and worse.  And now, YOU want the benefit of the doubt?
                  Secondly, you said that you know of NO ONE who’s complained about Occupy [Insert Name of Unfortunate City Here]?  Well, well, well…
                  http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/148853/mayor-plans-to-clean-up–occupy-wall-street–site-on-friday
                  Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited the site of the ongoing “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration in Lower Manhattan today and informed protesters that the private park where they are staying will be cleaned on Friday.
                  For more than four weeks, protesters have stayed in Zuccotti Park and denounced what they call big business’ control over lawmakers and great economic inequality in the country.
                  In a statement, Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway said the cleaning will be done in stages and that demonstrators can return to the cleaned areas, so long as they follow rules set by Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park.
                  “The mayor is a strong believer in the First Amendment and believes that the protesters have a right to continue to protest. At the same time, the last three weeks have created unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park,” Holloway said in the statement. “This situation is not in the best interests of the protesters, residents or the City.
                  (Emphasis added)
                   

                  • leftfield

                    “First of all, liberals have given VERY little respect to Tea Party members and their supporters.”

                    Maybe it was that business about “Let him die”.  Or maybe it was that other stuff about cheering the notion of Texas’ leading the race to perform the most executions.  Then again, maybe liberals are just sticklers about spelling; something the Tea Baggers can’t seem to get a handle on.  Could it be that liberals have a prejudice against truck testicles?    Maybe they still think Domestic Violence is a crime worth prosecuting (see Topeka, Kansas for the latest on where ”small gub’ment” leads us to). 

                    • Don

                      Nice try at misdirection, Left.  (You appear to be quite skilled at it). Jennie said that, in respect to her side of the argument, “as we respect you.”
                       
                      “We,” writ large for liberals, clearly DISrespects the Tea Party and conservatives in general.
                       
                      If you’re going to disrespect someone, own it, and everything that goes with it.  Don’t pretend you’re NOT doing something that you’re clearly doing.
                       
                      Oh, BTW, that’s an impressive list of stream-of-consciousness cliches you have there.

                  • leftfield

                    You gotta have your priorities, Don.  This may be difficult for you to grasp, but sometimes little things,  like the struggle for economic and social justice, have to take priority over “lawn order”.  I know conservatives like things “just so”, but a little bit of chaos, a few things out of place here and there won’t hurt. 

                    • Don

                      Oh, so Occupy Tucson might lead to, ahem,” a little bit of chaos?”  Like the speaker at OccupyLA who said that violence would be necessary for the movement to accomplish all of its goals?  Thanks for stating your priorities for all to see, Left.

                • Don

                  Here’s a link to a letter from the owners of Zucotti Park to the NYPD, pleading for help:
                   
                  http://www.docstoc.com/docs/99069159/Document
                  Here are some choice excerpts from the owner’s cry for help:
                   
                  the manner in which the protesters are occupying the park violates the law, violates the rules of the park, deprives the community of its rights of quiet enjoyment to the park, and creates health and public safety issues that need to be addressed immediately.


                  Additionally, we have received hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from concerned citizens and office workers in the neighborhood.


                  I trust that Occupy Tucson will ensure that Armory Park (and the rest of downtown Tucson) don’t suffer the fate of Zucotti Park?

              • cochisecitizen

                So it’s ‘not enough’ if someone buys only a diet coke or some gum? I see you’ve never been in retail. Downtown is a ghost town on weekends unless there is some event happening, downtown businesses should be happy Occupy Tucson is happening – the participants will be buying things and attracting onlookers & reporters to downtown who will buy things.
                And if Occupy [Insert Name of Fortunate City Here] has Don worked up to such a tizzy they must be doing something right. When I hear of “patriots” yelling “America – Love it or Leave it!” at them I’ll know they’ve hit pay dirt.

                • Cynthia

                  Don is saying what every small business person in downtown is thinking. (And doing a damn good job of it)

                  If you want to Occupy Tucson for free, get someone in the 1% do donate the space. There are one or two hanging out at the website.

                • Don

                  The online Star apparently thought that the Occupy Tucson, ahem, “crowd” might cause trouble.  Their Saturday headline noted that Occupy Tucson had started quietly and peacefully. 
                   
                  You don’t write a headline like that unless you think it’s possible that a group of protesters WON”T be peaceful. 
                   
                  After seeing a protester defecate on a police car at Occupy Wall Street, a Coast Guardswoman being spat upon and pelted with water bottles at Occupy Boston, and a speaker calling for violence at Occupy LA, I can see why the Star might not be surprised if Occupy Tucson HAD been violent.
                   
                  And no, cochisecitizen, it’s NOT enough if someone only buys a diet coke or a piece of gum.  Not all Tucson businesses are snack food vendors.
                   
                  Lastly, there’s PLENTY of things happening in downtown Tucson this weekend.  Which is probably why Occupy Tucson picked this weekend and this venue for their, um, “occupation.”  They want to have a party for themselves and screw up everyone else’s party. 

                  • leftfield

                    Don, I attended both TMY and OT yesterday. Please note that this morning the world is still turning.  In fact, the US is still under occupation by its current “owners”.   In spite of the heat, the crowd at TMY was bigger than I ever remember it being.  Certainly our party was not screwed up.  Try to have some fun, Don.  Loosen up.   You’re starting to sound like that guy that predicts the endo of the world every 6 months or so.

                    Free speech can take a lot of interesting forms, can’t it?  I think defecating on a cop car makes a definite statement, don’t you?  No words and no analysis needed to understand the intended message.   

                    BTW – TMY is “new and improved” this year; better than ever. 

                    • Don

                      Why Left, sounds as if you chickened out.  Didn’t you create some of that mayhem that you said (upthread) that we needed?  Are you all talk and no action?
                       
                      I’m glad for one thing:  apparently your friends refrained(this time)  from “loosening up” on the hood of police cars.  See what happened when you remember the lessons about manners—and hygiene—our parents (well, mine anyway) taught us?  Everyone can have a nice day.

                    • leftfield

                      “I’m glad for one thing:  apparently your friends refrained(this time)  from “loosening up” on the hood of police cars.”

                      It comes back to this business about priorities, Don.  Millions out of work, millions without health care, millions hungry – not a peep.  One guy defecates on a cop car - ”Well, I can tolerate hunger, homelessness, poverty and disease, but this disrespect for everthing decent and good goes too far”.  

                      The point being; the reason people are there: not everyone is having a good day, Don.  

                      As to violence, there was none at Armory Park yesterday.  But the real violence in this country – the violence of hunger, fear, poverty, loss of hope and alienation; that continued unabated everywhere in the “land of the free”.
                       

  • Thomas

    The GOP won in 2000 due to hanging chad’s, a candidate’s brother being governor of the state which had the hanging chad’s issue, a GOP packed US Supreme court, even so they proved themselves unfit to govern much as their historical brethren under Herbert Hoover believed let the free market flow and it will fix all the countries woes, it was a national disaster, the subsequent almost decade it took to recover is what we can look forward too, now admittedly in 2010 the election’s was decided by a bit of deception by the GOP & their Dick Armey operative and his brain storm the “tea party”, which is nothing but a bunch of angry white males, mostly former or active republicans posing in their tea party sheeps clothing but ravenous republican wolves in reality, one can see how once they got elected in congress they threw off their independent sheeps clothing and caucus with their wolf pack the GOP!:-) Of course they still cannot help it being wolves they prey on the weak, sick! Our economy is sick, weak and they proved their ferociousness by driving our AAA bond ratings down to AA and swear by all that is holy it was a good thing! Their motto is rich & greed is good, poor and unemployed is due to the natural shiftless, laziness of this class of citizen, let them eat cake and if they get sick let them die! The good thing is god says the weak will inherit the earth and the rich will have as much luck entering the kingdom of god as a camel going through the eye of a needl, and love of money is root of all evil and what does the GOP talk about 24/7…their money, money love of their money!:-)

  • Thomas

    Now fear not folks, economic pain, high unemployment cannot be fixed by the GOP, they promised in 2000 let us cut taxes to the richest 2%, them job creators who spend their every waking moment desiring to create jobs not counting their pennies and cutting jobs to up their corporate profits, making their stock holders happy with increased dividends, stock values! One can see the jobs did not run like honey, no what happened a stock market crash of 2008, chinese credit cards maxed out to finance two mid east wars, exporting jobs to india/china, a 18% to 20% real unemployment in america! One can see their desperation in their nominee’s for GOP presidential elections in 2012, I like to use a analogy for them my favorite comedy show in my youth, the “Little Rascals”, has them little white boys, the little white girl and of course Buck Wheat! I say enjoy the show, the GOP can fix nothing beware what one wishes for since if they win in 2012, the only thing they can do which they have ever done well is prove they are unfit, thats why post Herbert Hoover for 40 years the GOP could not fool folks since the pain from that era was deep and folks blamed them that is why FDR won multiple elections and died in office!:-) Give the GOP/Tea Publicans all the rope they need they will hang themselves eventually!

  • Thomas

    I am old enough to remember how during the 1960′s another truly grass roots organization came about it drove Nixon out of office, made the southern segregationist’s bow to the power of the majority, abandon the democrat party and go to where they were welcomed with open loving arms the GOP……, its no coincidence that today them former dixiecrats and their offspring run the GOP, and they are not leaving the GOP, in fact they are evicting their former moderate adopted parents with gusto….like any ungly red headed step child they are ungrateful, ingrates who in time will doom themselves!:-) If this occupy movement is truly anger driven, unhappy unemployed folks its much like the old french revolution, the aristocrats too during that time mocked them, laughed at them as mere peasants unfit of their concern, and low and behold they all went to the gullitine and had their heads depart from their bodies, look how terrified the 1% got when protestors showed up at their mansion gates…!:-) 99% trumps 1% every day of the week!:-)

  • Thomas

    Remember all ruling classes have a minion subordinate class, in america its about 21% of the 22% GOP electorate, now I am no mathematical genius, but 22% is not a majority, they cannot win unless folks let them!:-)

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The Tucson Progressive

Pamela Powers Hannley writes the Tucson Progressive blog on the TucsonCitizen.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post and Salon.com. She has had more than 30 years of experience in written, visual, and electronic communication—including freelance writing, photography, graphic design, and consulting. In addition to blogging for the Citizen, she is the Managing Editor of an international medical research journal.

Hannley has authored medical research articles, print magazine and newspaper stories, and numerous cancer prevention and self-help publications.

She has been a blogger since 2006, joined the ranks of Tucson Citizen bloggers in October 2010, and started contributing to the Huffington Post in 2011 and to Salon.com in 2012.

Hannley holds a masters’ degree in public health from The University of Arizona and a bachelors’ degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a native of Amherst, Ohio but has lived in Tucson since 1981.