Category Archives: Local Works

On the night of November 10, a group of unidentified individuals vandalized the Occupy Davis encampment and attempted to provoke the protesters.

At 12:30a.m. the intruders entered the encampment for the first time. “I heard noise,” said Sarena Grossjan, an Occupy Davis participant, “I came out of my tent and saw two men running towards the camp. I joined the group of startled campers, I looked right at the attackers, and got hit on the head with water balloon. They hit at least five people, including a sleeping old man.”

The intruders then proceeded to knock down the kitchen facilities and throw food on the ground. “They ran away slowly, remembered Grossjan, “as though they wanted us to chase them. We all kind of stood there as a group, confused and upset.”

Around 2a.m., a second group of intruders woke up the protesters loudly yelling racial and sexual obscenities. According to Chris Gomez Wong, another Occupy Davis participant, the intruders “were politely asked to leave. They retreated with threats to return, leaving the camp on edge for the entire night.” One camp peacekeeper later
saw several of the intruders throwing firecrackers.

The peacekeepers reacted in a nonviolent manner and managed to diffuse the tension and neutralize further threat.

Apart from this disturbance, the occupation of Davis has managed to stay remarkably peaceful and avert conflict with the community or the city police. “Here at Occupy Davis,” said Jessica Castorina “we are wholeheartedly invested in this global movement. These are isolated incidents in an otherwise supportive environment.”

Nevertheless, to prevent future provocations, Occupy Davis is looking to strengthen its camp security. Protesters take shifts protecting their sleeping companions, with at least two peacekeepers active at any given time during thenight. If you would like to volunteer for a few hours to help secure the camp and resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner, please contact Occupy Davis at http://occupydavis.org/contact-us/ or talk to the protesters in person at Central Park. If you do not have previous peacekeeping experience, training will be provided.

Occupy Davis set up its encampment in Central Park on October 15 in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. The Occupy movement uses nonviolent tactics to protest the subversion of democracy by the financial sector.

An Examined America

Many people say no one in America is innocent; they have just cause to do so. The walls close in upon the people of this nation; fear, ignorance and greed are the fuel of the modern western world.  “A word came to mind: corporatocracy. I was not sure whether I had heard it before or had just invented it, but it seemed to describe perfectly the new elite who had made up their minds to attempt to rule the planet.” ¹ The sacrifice of morality made by an individual at the expense of the ability and potential of another individual or a collective is the premise of corruption which applies to humanity at any given scale.  In many ways, corruption is a public contract to which we are all born indebted. By living in this country, buying food, working corporate jobs, paying taxes and sending our children to school, we contribute to the unseen, menacing forces of depravity, exploitation, and inequality which threaten the longevity and integrity of our beloved nation, within and beyond the borders of the United States. However, the gears and cogs have begun to turn. Despite the apparent ignorance and indifference of the majority of America’s populace, a new movement has begun which might just turn the tide.
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