One of the things I most like about the Occupy movement is the fact that things get done. You’re standing around, and suddenly people need to move some supplies and the people around will help. Soup gets handed out(most days, generally). Pizzas get passed around. People from the legal group will work with people willing to get arrested or who are being arrested. In the announcements at the end of the General Assembly, someone will ask for help and usually get it even if there’s some begging. The work groups figure out what needs to be done and then either do it, or take it to the General Assembly. It’s not always a perfect process, and I’m not sure how long it can last after the excitement of the movement dulls. But for now it seems to work.

So when at the end of a recent General Assembly, someone asked for help cleaning the park, I shot my hand up, and was glad to do it. I didn’t mention that I was a blogger, so I’d say everything was off the record, and I won’t get into specifics (and I won’t say it was problem free). But I have to say, I loved sweeping up.

I loved seeing the park clean. I loved people thanking me for helping. I walked home after and noticed how much dirtier the streets were than at and around Westlake. More than going there regularly, more than participating in a General Assembly, more than giving a little money, this really felt like taking ownership of a part of Occupy Seattle. It’s certainly not as much as the people who stay at the park or who work more than me, but it was really a great feeling, especially as someone who has generally stayed more at arms length as a blogger than I might otherwise.

And so I’d encourage people, if you can, to put in an hour doing something. Go to General Assembly and wait for the announcements; someone will find something for you to do. Ask the people handing out food if they need help. Find a work group that you’d be interested in. Of course the more the better, but don’t be afraid to spend just a bit of time.

– A first hand account from Occupy Oakland (h/t)

– Not sure I care much one way or the other what Meghan McCain thinks of the Occupy movement.

– The city budget is going to have more pain, I’m afraid.

– Unprincipled, Illiterate, Hypocritical Douchebags

– Upcoming events for transit types

– Finally an explanation of Lord Monckton.

This started off as a comment over at Howie’s place, but I’ve reworked it for here.

Maybe it was reading this after a more successful General Assembly. Maybe the fact that I’ve never been to a GA where it rained. Maybe, I’m just an optimistic person. But I don’t think the General Assembly is “Robert’s Rules if Robert had, say, just ingested a pound of ecstasy.”

First off, I’ve been to plenty of Democratic Party and local government things with Robert’s rules of order or modified versions of them and occasionally, they just don’t flow smoothly. People will work very hard to get 50%+1 or 2/3+1, and then there will often be a large group with hurt feelings on the losing side. So, there is an advantage with letting everyone be heard and with trying to find consensus. It’s trying to do something that Robert’s rules don’t do, and it’s so far been fairly successful in a way that the GA probably wouldn’t have been if, for some reason, they’d adopted Robert’s.

Another upside is that it makes the proposals better. The proposal that passed on Monday night was more clear than the one Dominic saw lose earlier. It answered (some) concerns, and it was more forward looking.

The down side is that it took several days and a lot of time to make a decision. Hearing from everyone can be tough. It can be taxing on the vocal chords with the People’s Mic, and as Winter comes, it’ll be more rainy and colder than before, and time at the GA, no matter where it is, will be more valuable. So, while it isn’t a process I endorse for everything, I think it has been good for Occupy Seattle.

Roads were fine. Lots of people took the West Seattle Water Taxi (thanks Dow) or figured out an alternative method of getting to work. It looks like people, gasp, managed just fine. Although, it looks like the Walk the Viaduct event was a lot of fun.

– Today in false dichotomies: Urban America versus America.

– Congrats to Shaun for 9 8 years’ writing at Upper Left.

– Progressive Voter’s Guide. Pro-Choice Voter’s Guide.

– Sound Transit’s service revisions.

– Fauntleroy is safer and not noticeably slower after a road diet.

– Unless you’re living in a cardboard box, you have nothing to complain about.

Just a note, this post contains some racist language, and violence.

I go to Westlake more days than I don’t, even if I haven’t always reported everything up to the moment. If news isn’t breaking or something important happening, I’ll just write the same as if I’d been in my apartment. So when the incident in #3 happened, I was 10, 15 feet away, but I didn’t report on it because “crazy person is crazy” didn’t strike me as a story. But since it’s on Publicola, someone thinks it’s news, so here’s a quick summary:

It was at the General Assembly. That day it was under the trees. About 7:30, I guess; the GA had been going on for a while. There’s a core group that sits down, and there are people who stand at the edges and sometimes come in and out. Someone walks up to the Assembly and starts yelling. “Niggers. Fuck you niggers.” And a few people go to confront him. It looked from my angle like he just ran into one of the people who walked up to him, but someone said he threw a punch. Then he ran over to 4th. He was then tackled by several cops as he was running North down the sidewalk.

I honestly don’t think this says anything about either Occupy Seattle or the opposition to it. As far as I can tell, it was just a crazy person, and Publicola’s report doesn’t make me think anything different.

– As a liberal guy, I’ll say, this is fucked up (Also, wow) .

– The Abacus sign and a sign from Occupy Olympia.

– Handbills and posters for the weekend events at Occupy Seattle.

– During the 2008 Democratic primary, I was always quick to point out that it wasn’t particularly nasty as primary fights go. Certainly nobody was grabbing anybody.

– Of course, the title itself creates high hopes for Master Cantrall’s article, promising to fall right in line with the current wingnut weltanschauung that everything is socialist. Obama is a socialist. Public schools are socialist. Freeways are socialist. Stoplights are socialist. Glazed doughnuts are socialist. The 3-D version of “The Lion King” is socialist.

– It won’t get anywhere for now, but the GOP effort to ban discussion of abortion over the Internet is brazen even for Jim DeMint.

– When the machines take over, they won’t kill us outright. They’ll just program our GPS’s to make us drive around in circles.

Inevitably, when a bicyclist death by a car is in the news, asshole comments will try to figure out why the bicyclist is at fault. And maybe the bicyclist was acting stupidly. Maybe they were riding poorly, making themselves tough to see, etc. But the thing those comments miss is that drivers have a responsibility not to kill people.

And it’s not just cars and bikes. Anyone that’s a step up on size and safety has a special obligation not to hit something that’s a step down. I have friends who ride their motorcycles pretty dangerously. They ride ridiculously above the speed limit and ride between the lanes. They sometimes don’t wear helmets. Stupid, stupid; don’t do that. Still, if you’re a driver, have the wherewithal to not hit one, for Christ sake. Be aware of motorcycles long before they get to you, and check your fucking blind spots. Even if a motorcycle was driving poorly, if you want to be on the road, be a good enough driver that you don’t hit one.

Motorcycles and cars similarly have an obligation to be extra careful of bikes. Ideally, they’ll wear bright colors, have lights, and drive defensively. But even if they’re ninja riding the wrong way, you should be able to avoid them. Slow goddamn down, and chill the fuck out when you’re near one. If you hit one, after all, there’s a good chance they’ll die. And they aren’t even coming particularly fast.

And finally, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles have an obligation to avoid hitting pedestrians. While a car-pedestrian collision is more likely fatal than a bike-pedestrian one, in both cases, the driver and the bicyclist are moving faster than the pedestrian and will hit them with a hunk of metal. If you can’t avoid hitting a pedestrian, even one who’s jaywalking poorly. Even one obsessed with their phone, and not paying attention at all.

None of this is to say that motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians shouldn’t look out for their safety, of course. Only that we’re sharing the space, and the larger modes have an obligation to the safety of the rest of the road.

– Mitt Romney is a terrible person.

– The Stranger’s endorsements.

– You guys, the anti car tabs people are totally grassroots.

– a dangerous, hypersexual, unhealthy, emotional, and enraged mass of unmarried drama.

– The New Yorker’s Occupy Wall Street cover.

– Milquetoasts

I was reading this piece on the laws that are being used against the Occupy movement, and it occurred to me that there is a process to change any law that isn’t working. So while there’s a case to be made (one that I don’t agree with) that McGinn and other mayors across the country are just enforcing the law, there’s no case that the law needs to stay the way it is.

So, while I understand that the legislative process is necessarily slow and as such tough to deal with in reaction to fast moving events, the City Council could take up a law legalizing camping in Westlake. They could make it temporary (say 3 months) if they were worried about what happens afterwards. They could at the very least extend the park’s hours to keep it open all day. They could just do that in the South part of the park if they’re worried about what’s going to happen with the Christmas Carousel. The same for preparing hot food or any other complaint that they’re breaking the law. I assume the Parks & Seattle Center Committee could at least start the process, even if I wouldn’t expect it to go that far.

– Several cities have shifted to smart cards for transit purchases, so adding the ability to use your smart card to pay for parking would be fantastic.

– Every military operation we take on has legitimate criticism. Rush Limbaugh is clearly not the one to provide it though.

– Well, in news that will shock exactly no one, at least one of the images featured on Erickson’s tumblr is fake.

– Some signs from Westlake.

– How many galaxies are in the universe?

When I first moved to Seattle from the suburbs, Will, who used to write here, and I took the bus somewhere. We caught the bus in Westlake Park. This was pre-ORCA Card and he took some cash out of his wallet and counted it out to make sure it was right before the bus came while we continued to talk. Someone must have saw him with his money out, because they came up to us and asked, “You buying?”

Up until a few weeks ago, that’s more or less the feel of Westlake Park whenever I go through it after dark. Now, it’s my city, and I’ve never avoided the park because of the people selling drugs there. It’s certainly safe enough for me as an able bodied fairly young man to walk through. But, it’s not exactly the best part of town. But now, every night it’s glorious, and vibrant. And the drug dealing has left.

So whatever the value of City Hall Park versus Westlake versus other potential occupy sites going forward, Westlake Park is better for the occupation.

– Sometimes you read a story about a new policy and you have a tough time with the fact that it’s actually a new policy because it’s so blindingly obvious that it should have been happening for years. Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion is one of those for me.

– I support these rule changes, Liquor Control Board.

– Looks like a good start.

– Another sure sign that Occupy Wall Street is on the right track.

– If I’ve been a bit Occupy Seattle heavy recently, well, here’s some info on Occupy Olympia.

– I FOUND A PUNCHLINE FOR YOUR COMIC STRIP

– Michael Schur is one of the best writers there is, but I sure do like any Red Sox fan suffering.

– I’m still going to get bumblebees and honey bees mixed up some times.

Right now the protesters are building a canvas structure in the middle of the plaza at Westlake park. The rumor is that the police were taking it down, but other than a few bike cops under the awning, I don’t see any police. I was going to head home after the GA, but I guess I’ll be staying here a bit longer. Updates if anything happens.

… So it’s about a 5 foot cube with polls on each corner. 3 sides are canvas and the other side is open as an entrance. There isn’t a roof, but they’ve put some bamboo and some Christmas lights. There are half a dozen people sitting cozy inside.

While I was writing the paragraph above a bike cop rode by, slowed down, took a look and then went back to join the others.

… I apologize that this update is super boring, but most of the cops rode off a few minutes ago. There are only 2 left. I tried to see if the ones who left were massing somewhere, but I went a couple blocks up Pine where they went, but they weren’t there. No police cars, so I doubt the city will do anything until 10:00 if they do anything at all.

… Still nothing, so I’m going to grab some warmer clothing. Will be back before 10:00. There have been a few people who said they think tonight is the night. But rumors fly around like you wouldn’t believe.

… I’m back and so are the police. There are about a dozen at the mall. There are 3 cars and a wagon as well as the ones bike. There were a few riding through the park. I don’t know if that’s been going on. Still, it’s quite festive at the park.

[9:40] About 4 cops just walked up to the people in the structure. Now there’s a crowd. I can’t get close, but it looks like the police have left.

[9:51] They’re kind of milling about but I counted 30 officers at the mall. Still, only one wagon, so I imagine there will be arrests but not in large numbers.

[9:59] The police have moved into walked through the park. No announcement to leave yet.

[10:06] The police are by the Bank of America (and the medical tent). Still no announcement to leave. The chanting by the other structures have quieted down a bit.

[10:25] The police came up to the structure. Some are there and some are under a nearby awning.. The structure in the park has 4 or 5 layers of people.

[10:29] Looks like the first person has been taken out. I still haven’t heard an order to leave the park.

[10:33] A second person taken out.

[10:37] “You are the 99%” directed to the cops

[10:51] The structure is down. About 10 people were arrested so far and there are a few more where the structure was still getting arrested.

[11:17] Those last few people are still in a tight circle. Still no announcement to leave the park.

[11:30] The police have cleared out without arresting the last 5 who were together. There’s pandemonium here.

[11:54] I’m out for the night, but there are still quite a few people around.

The police arrested 1 (I think) person in a tent and then all left. About 2 dozen cops mostly bike cops but a few in cars made the announcement that the park was closed at about 10:15. They took down the tent only and arrested the person.

There was another group of people willing to get arrested, who locked hands, but it appears they were left alone. No riot gear or attempts to clear the entire park. As far as I could tell nobody was pepper sprayed. While, once again, I think the arrests were a serious mistake, I applaud the police for their professionalism.