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Written by Michael Z Williamson

Created: 28 November 2011

So, this Saturday past was "Occupy Broad Ripple (With Guns)" here in Indy, in response to a series of crimes in the area. 

http://www.wthr.com/story/16096793/awareness-is-aim-of-occupy-broad-ripple-with-guns

Please note this quote:

"It is legal as far as we're concerned for people to carry their guns if they have a valid permit," says IMPD Officer Catherine Cummings.

Got that?  It's constitutional, it's legal, it's a right in this state.

A lot of us wanted to be there, but weather and family stuff intervened for a lot of us.

Now, there's some debate that one of the organizers may post on a white supremacist forum.  I can't speak to this, because I don't know the man, and I do know my articles have been copied on a number of sites I don't approve of.  I will state, however, that lacking any criminal action on his part, he has a right, if he so chooses, to be a racist asshole.  Once this discussion started, the gentleman recused himself from the event organization.

I suspect WRTV6 heard about this possible connection, too, because they published this crap:

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/29863719/detail.html

Okay, first, there is no "Broad Ripple Pub."  There's a "Broad Ripple Tavern," which is what I presume they refer to, and a "Broad Ripple Brew Pub."  Basic facts elude reporters, as always.  This is why they get paid less than SF writers, less than romance writers, even less than horror writers.  They can't even get their facts as solid as admitted writers of fiction.

Then there's this:

Serena Vela works at Za’s Pizza and said someone working the event handed her a flyer that featured an unnerving message.

"The flyer kind of hurt me a little bit, especially on the third page because it says a noose for Mexicans and African-Americans," Vela said.

Now, this is actually significant and interesting.

First, what does this flyer actually look like?  What does it actually say?  This is not presented as a quote, so is it a paraphrase?  What is the context?

Second, how does Ms Vela know it came from someone "Working the event"?  Did they identify themselves?  What is this person's name?  All kinds of people wander around Broad Ripple, doing all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons.  It's usually littered with flyers.  Did this person say, "Hi, I'm with Occupy Broad Ripple with Guns, my name is XXXXX, I speak in official capacity for them"?  Or did some clown walk up, say, "Yo, bitch," and hand over a sheet?  Several sheets in fact, since we're told it has at least 3 pages. 

Third, what motivation would this person have to provide a flyer to someone obviously not the target demographic, knowing it would cause trouble for the rest of us?  There's certainly nothing in any forum regarding the event where anyone suggests anything like this should or did take place, so if it was an "attempt at recruiting" it would be pretty lame.  "I'll recruit for my racist organization not by targeting emails and websites, but by walking around Broad Ripple handing flyers to minorities we plan to oppress."  Um...yeah.  Also, no one else has seen said flyer.  No one involved with the event was aware of this alleged brochure.  So either they're all lying to me (I guess I'm not cool enough to be in the conspiracy), or it doesn't actually exist in our group.

~~~

I assume the complainant furnished a copy of the alleged flyer.  Do you have a scan of it, please?
Thanks
Mike

~~~

I did see a copy of it and after I read it I threw it away.

Thanks for watching.

Myrt

~~~

Mike Williamson to Myrt, show details 5:14 PM (7 hours ago)
It didn't occur to you that such a flyer was news? Or that some of us would like to track down the source, if any?

As it is we have a purely hearsay incident with no physical evidence.

Unless, of course, your intent was to smear all gun owners by association...

Mike

~~~

Price, Myrt This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to me

show details 5:46 PM (6 hours ago)

Thanks for watching, I hope you have a great weekend.

~~~

Nope.  Like most reporters, Ms or Mr Price is utterly interested in actual facts, or in doing anything productive.  The Seagull school of writing.  Fly in, crap over everything, make a bunch of noise, take off.

No flyer exists to support this story.  Very convenient, eh?  Nor any description of the alleged perpetrator who, as obnoxious as he would have been, was reportedly nonviolent and acting in accordance with his First Amendment rights, and only enough to "kind of hurt me a little bit."  Not to actually cause any fear or intimidation, according to the quote.

Nor, per emails, does Price actually give enough of a shit to care.

So, near as I can tell, either

A:  Serena Vela or Myrt Price are lying, and this document never existed (or was fabricated by one of them), or, if it exists

2:  Myrt Price doesn’t give enough of a shit about racism to follow up on it, and opposes our civil rights, specifically to defend ourselves, which the police and courts agree we have and allow us to practice unhindered. This would mean that Myrt Price endorses helplessness in the face of criminal violence, which is to say, endorses criminal violence.  Not to mention racism.

It's possible someone won't like this post.  No problem.  Show me the supposed flyer, identify the person who allegedly passed it (the alleged individual in question is pretty distinctive), and I'll post the flyer here for all to see.  We have experts at identifying art styles and formats and can offer opinions on its source.

Otherwise it's all a bullshit smear.

You know, it's not that the press lies that pisses a lot of us off.  It's that they don't even make the attempt to lie competently.  This is why they're increasingly irrelevant.

UPDATE:

So, I have a copy of the flyer, FROM ONE OF THE GROUP. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7-J-O7RHIg5NzU1NDZkMTMtMWU3OS00YjFmLTg0M2ItNWY5YTA4OTVkOWZm&hl=en_US The flyer is not ABOUT the group, it's about the racist twit, DISTANCING US FROM HIM.  In other words, by being moral and decent, we drew the attention of the press, who as usual, either got it idiotically wrong or lied.  The lesson here is, never deal with the press.  Even acknowledging the existence of a problem will come back to haunt you.

Notice the actual facts:  The group identified that one of the promoters was apparently a racist dick.  The group strongly suggested the alleged racist dick bow out of the event.  He did so.  Some random party may or may not have provided a copy of the document used by the local firearm community to distance ourselves, mutated it into a "recruiting flyer" we were allegedly handing out.  This information was furnished to the press long before the event.  Most chose to ignore it with good reason.  WRTV6 waited until after the fact to mention the flyer as an aside, with the implication that all participants are racist, much the same way all reporters are child molesters.

More here and note the datestamps.

UPDATE:  thread on INGO here (relevant page): http://ingunowners.com/forums/carry_issues_and_self_defense/179336-tons_of_violence_in_broadripple_causes_an_occupy_with_guns_response-32.html  

Still no response from the "Reporter."

Once again, basic facts and honesty elude the press.

Details

Written by Michael Z Williamson

Created: 22 November 2011

Perseid Publishing and Zauberspiegel Announce a Contest to Submit a Character for a Story in the Heroes in Hell Series:

Submit a Character to be written into Hell

In the next volume of the Heroes in Hell series, the winning character will be included in either a new Janet and Chris Morris story, if the winning character is of sufficient depth and importance, or it will be included in an existing story.

Starting Dec 1st 2011, you will have the chance to contribute to the next volume of the Heroes in Hell series - "Adventurers in Hell." The contest ends Dec 23rd 2011, 23:59 central european time.

CONTEST RULES:

Write a text of 200-400 words describing the character you are nominating: Why should this particular character be included in a story in Hell? What errors did the character make in life that will be punished in Hell? Extra credit for appropriate (and innovative) punishment in line with the character's life on earth.

The number of words is not the determinative criteria for winning; rather, it is the character itself and your description of the character's personality and behavior while living; your personal reasons why the character should be included in a hell story. All prospective characters must have been real living people and they must have died before 1950.

Only one story per person.

There will be three prizes awarded as follows:

1st prize: Janet and Chris Morris write a story featuring the chosen character, or the character will be included in a story, already in process, for the next volume of the Heroes in Hell series and an autographed copy of the book containing the Winner's character when released.

2nd prize: an autographed copy of the most recently published book in the Heroes in Hell series and the appearance of the 2nd place character in the next book in the series.

3rd prize: an autographed copy of the most recently published book.

The jury is: Janet Morris, editor/author, Chris Morris, editor/author, and the Muse of Hell: Sarah Snyder Gray Hulcy.

Attention: No author who has ever been published in the Heroes in Hell series may submit a character. No present or former employees of Perseid Publishing, Kerlak Publishing or Zauberspeigel is eligible to participate.

Submit entries to the following email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and please include your full name, address, email address, phone number, website, etc.

Texts are accepted in English and German.

Details

Written by Michael Z Williamson

Created: 18 November 2011

http://www.leftycartoons.com/the-ten-stupidest-objections-to-the-occupy-wall-street-movement/

Michael Z. Williamson: I think at least 6 have some validity. I guess we'll see how much impact they have next year, when they try to re-elect the man who led most of the bailouts, which 49% of them support.

Michael Z. Williamson:  Do you really want me to call them out? Because I will.

Wick Deer: By all means. I encourage rational discussion of the issue, which, for the most part is sadly lacking.  I take the position that if my views aren't well thought out enough to stand up to debate, I should reconsider them.

~~~~

Okay, my friend asked for it:

Folks in 3rd world countries, and even most of Europe, ARE a lot poorer. So insisting on redistribution of wealth means either the Occupussies are asking to be made poorer, or they're selfish little cocksuckers who want more of someone else's pie, but fuck those homeless people. Their actions so far back this latter assessment.

I'll offer this quote from a thread:

"They just want the rich to pay their fair share and to stop hoarding all of the money as their incomes have risen 275%, due to tax breaks, whilst the average tax payer's wealth has risen only 40%."

The global mean income is $11,200, and things like food, cars and computers don't really change in cost.

I'll bet however much you want to cover that this whiner makes a LOT more than that global mean, and if he makes more than $34K he IS the 1%, globally speaking. He's almost certainly the top 5%. So, he wants the top .05% to share with him, but he certainly isn't interested in sharing lower down.

Then we come to his complaint, that he's ONLY 40% better off, but someone else is even better off than THAT!!!!! (He also doesn't support the claim or give a time frame, so analysis is impossible. However, it's not relevant to analyzing his logic, or lack thereof.) He's better off, but NOT AS BETTER OFF AS HE'D LIKE!!!!!

I bet he complained in elementary field day that it wasn't fair there was only ONE first prize for sprinting.

And if he thinks that money is being "hoarded," he has no grasp of economics at all.

So, Item 1 is a completely valid criticism, because I haven't heard ANY of these losers mention anyone but Americans, and usually only in reference to their own student loans. Their actions absolutely don't represent 99%, nor even 20%. 5% at best, being generous.

As to the second, it's IMPOSSIBLE to take a group seriously when they're unable to coherently articulate a complaint. They want forgiveness of student loans, and free handouts from banks, and socialized medicine, and rights for animals, and Marxism, and Nazism, and an end to Capitalism, and free something else, and this, and the other thing.

They don't necessarily need a specific spokesperson, but they do need either that or coherence. Otherwise they're just whining douchenozzles, trashing the park and pissing people off.

3:  Exploiting smart phones and twitter for their benefit is a fair thing to do. They should, however, acknowledge the corporate greatness that made them possible. Steve Jobs, and even Bill Gates, are not Madoff, Abramov, Bank of America or Enron (which latter committed crimes under Clinton and was punished under Bush, remember).

But the Che T shirts made in Guatemala and the V Fawkes masks lining Warner Brothers' pockets, made by Chinese prison laborers, are a total fail.

So generally, these mouthbreathing morons don't really know how the world works, which begs the question of what they learned in college. If they'd learned anything, they'd realize the Education Industrial Complex is a bigger threat to them than any Wall Street enterprise--they can invest in the latter for personal and societal profit...if the former bother to educate them in exchange for the gobs of money they laid out--our tax money, in large part.

4:  they certainly should be protesting in Washington, since that's where the laws and favors are made. Protesting in Boise, or even here where our legislature is out of session, doesn't really accomplish anything (though the protesters here are polite enough).

And the ones who DO oppose bailouts (which is only about half) would be better off allying with the Tea Party on that one issue, presenting a coherent front, and terrifying Congress into compliance. Historically, however, leftists are not only incapable of being tolerant enough to work with other groups, they're incapable of being tolerant within their own movements.

5: I don't think most people really hate hippies, or that many hippies are involved, and most of the ones I've seen are attempting to inject some level of either social behavior or reason into it. Which is amusing, but of worth.

6:  I have no idea what ties matter, nor have I heard anyone mention them. At this point, the artist, already an ignorant boob, is trying to pad out his lame attempt at relevance.

7:  There are always a handful of spelling/typoes/math errors, and always a handful of people who will obsess over those. This is true of any event. Each one needs to be considered on its merits (usually few). So that might be a commentary on society in general, but it's specious to claim it's relevant to this movement specifically.

8:  As to jobs, that's also a case by case basis. One whiner complained that his employer had "fired him for coming to the protest." Turned out he'd been there a month. My guess is the employer fired him for absenteeism. I've met that type of person. I wouldn't hire them, either, and the world would be better off if they received therapy or starved. Encouraging them with handouts just exacerbates the problem for everyone else.

The "donate so we can protest on your behalf" meme fails on two counts. First, if one group of people can afford non-tax deductible donations to another for a vague political protest, more of a tantrum, then they're really not suffering too badly economically. That's a purely disposable income project. It doesn't even offer the emotional payoff of lottery tickets or booze, though I suppose a lottery ticket comes close.

It also means the protesters are effectively paid shills. They're no better than panhandlers. Claiming society doesn't support you, while being supported by elements of that society is a completely false argument. They're arguing that the free market doesn't work, while it does, and insisting they want more power for the same government composed of those "1%."

9:  While 0 is not setting them up for riots (or there's no evidence I've seen to suggest so), he's playing them for patsies two ways. One: Endorsing them, probably hoping for votes, and that they won't notice how much he's screwed them over. B) any politician loves strife that draws attention away from them, except during campaign season. In the unlikely event they're around come May, he'll be pushing them to "get active" in his campaign. Because a man worth $10 million, with an annual reported income of $1.75 million, is totally going to help them against the 1%, who earn more than $350,000.

I've also heard very few if anyone claim 0 orchestrated this.

10:  Lacking a soundbite doesn't doom a movement, but soundbites certainly make it easier to sell. The soundbite that has attached itself here is, "What do we want? We're not really sure! When do we want it? Now!"

Unless they come up with something to counter it, I don't expect them to go anywhere, because 99% (See what I did there?) of the population have a very short attention span and no more grasp of the world than these twits.

So the cartoonist is unfunny, stretching to try to cover his usual theme (and he's been hilarious before, on groups I agree with no less. Which means in this case he's sympathetic enough he's lost his detachment and really doesn't have much to say), and hasn't really made any points.

Standard close: I'm right. You're wrong. The end. ;)

Details

Written by Michael Z Williamson

Created: 17 November 2011

fuck you

~~~~

That was the entirety of the email.

Okay, here's the problems:

I don't know what this is in regard to.  Obviously, it's something where I'm right and he's wrong.  If someone is reduced to stupid profanity, it means they have no argument to offer.  Also, if they get pissed off at something that's elaborated upon, and I try to make sure I do elaborate on my positions, it means it probably hit close to home.

Still, I have no objection to this kind of hate mail.  Knowing that illiterate morons are pissed off brightens my day.

This person purports to be Dutch in Anguilla, from the address.  Given that it's a British Territory, 90% black and a small percentage wealthy expats, there's no reason for anyone there to know or hate me.  I'm assuming it's a remailer, therefore, which means the person is probably a "liberal" American.  Conservatives are never afraid to give their name.

So, probably not being conservative, It's probably not a Creationist.  They tend to be polite (at least at first.  The name-calling comes later), and quote scripture as a "Warning" of what awaits me.

This is probably not a gun control nut.  They usually demand I shoot myself, since they lack the means or the balls to do so.

A vegetarian would send me photos of crippled bunnies or such, as if presenting me with images of raw food is somehow disturbing to me.

A warmerbator would quote megabytes of study proving that it's warmer now than in 1975, which everyone knows, and would actually mean something if it hadn't been colder the last million years, and warmer the 299 million before that.

My guess is he's an Occupussy, in which case he's doing an even better job than I am of mocking them.  Seriously, dude, playing up to the stereotype or public image is only funny if you do it intelligently.  Otherwise, it's just sad.  Which we already know about that movement.

In any case, "Klaus," you have nothing to offer, and you don't buy my product, so I have no reason to care about your anguish, except for schadenfreude.  Thanks.  You made my day.  Do please send me another angry rant I can enjoy.