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- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - mid-July, 2009
Somewhere in the midst of this, Terry, the Civic Association president, was asked about the incident by a so-called 'reporter' from channel 4's WTAE tv 'news'. I'm told by someone who works w/ him that he downplayed the whole thing as nothing important. He was then asked about the robberies in the 'hood. The quotes from him below come from that interview. You'd never know that from the way WTAE edited him into their scare-piece. Terry has since considered demanding a retraction but hasn't done so yet.
I've just heard from a friend that in one of a local tv stn's 'man-on-the-street' interviews they asked something like: "Protesters to the G-20 will all be bringing guns. What do you think about that?" Uh, "Protesters to the G-20 will all be bringing guns"?! According to WHO?! Nostradamus? Creswell? Scaife? It's also been announced that the police will be making 500 to 1,000 arrests. Uh, gee, that's curious - they already know the number of crimes that're going to be committed? Is that more astounding psychic phenomena or is that b/c they'll be committing the crimes themselves? Probably the latter.. but they sure ain't gonna be arresting themselves now are they?!
The following is the online transcript from WTAE's propaganda as posted on "thepittsburghchannel.com". After that are the 7 comments, all critical, as of the last time I checked it 2 days ago. Interestingly, all of these comments have since disappeared from the site & THERE ARE NO COMMENTS AT ALL. Keep in mind that this is just ONE INSTANCE of what's quite possibly a daily barrage of propaganda.
ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?
Large, Vacant Pittsburgh Buildings Unwittingly Serve As Protester Training Grounds
POSTED: 11:20 pm EDT July 15, 2009
UPDATED: 12:06 am EDT July 16, 2009
[BUZZ: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [DELICIOUS: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [DIGG: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [FACEBOOK: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [REDDIT: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [RSS:] [PRINT: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?] [EMAIL: ONLY ON 4: June Arrests Preview To G-20 Protest Planning?]
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh police are looking into whether six people arrested in June have ties to protests planned for the G-20 Summit set for Sept. 24-25 in Pittsburgh.
Police said the young people -- three of whom are from Europe -- broke into a vacant school building in Pittsburgh's Polish Hill neighborhood in June. It was not known why they were in the building, which remained under investigation.
All six people -- two from Pittsburgh, one from Texas and three from Sweden -- have since been arraigned on criminal trespass charges and the case was dismissed because the building's owner didn't want to press charges. As a result, the suspects were released.
European Connection Concerns Authorities
Pittsburgh police said it serves as a warning, noting that, in past G-20 summits, protesters have used vacant buildings to train for demonstrations. The building in this case is the former Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School, which sits empty in Pittsburgh's Polish Hill neighborhood.
Terry Doloughty, president of the Polish Hill Civic Association, said now is the time to be vigilant.
"We're just telling everyone to be aware. No matter what street you live on, you're a neighbor, and we all watch out for each other," Doloughty said. "We do have the benefit that our neighborhood is so small (that) someone who is new to the neighborhood, or a visitor, will be noticed right away."
Indeed, police caught the six assailants after neighbors spotted a young people going in and out of the empty school near the fire escape, according to the arrest report. The group was not found to have any drugs or drug paraphernalia, so police said they didn't suspect that kind of illegal activity. There were no protest materials found in the school, either.
Authorities want to know what their motive was for being in the building. The arrests continue to serve as a reminder to every city neighborhood about the potential for suspicious activity.
"A small clue on your street could be a big clue on another street to solve a problem. So, exchange information and talk to one another," Doloughty said.
Police told WTAE Channel 4's Shannon Perrine that they are being apprised of a July 20 gathering of self-identified anarchists in West Park on the North Side. Police told Perrine that it's possible that the gathering -- a good two months before the G-20 Summit -- is a training session for protesters, which, in turn, could be a training session for law enforcement as well.
What Is The G-20?
G-20 -- the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors -- was established in 1999 "to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy," according to its Web site, G20.org.
Countries from all over the world -- including the U.S., Canada, China, France, Germany, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Russia -- are involved in the G-20 summit.
The gathering typically attracts a variety of protestors from around the world. In April, London saw mostly peaceful protests about economic policy, the banking system and bankers' bonuses, climate change concerns and the war on terror.
During the last G-20, a peaceful protest dubbed "Financial Fools' Day" was held April 1 by the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, a local anarchist group. Members and supporters gathered in Market Square before marching around downtown, stopping at several banks and government offices.
More Info: What IS G-20?
Previous Stories:
* July 15, 2009: Old County Jail Could Be Revived For Pittsburgh G-20 Protesters
* July 7, 2009: G-20 Security Could Top $20 Million; Pittsburgh Asks State For Help
* July 6, 2009: Team 4: Pittsburgh Companies Work Together For G-20 VIPs' Security, Transportation
* July 5, 2009: Pittsburghers Key To G-20 Planning, Officials Say
* June 30, 2009: Pittsburgh Announces Plans For G-20 Welcome Wagon
7 Comments
By the way, even the cops don't claim that there's any evidence whatsoever that the Polish Hill building or ANY OTHER VACANT PITTSBURGH BUILDINGS have served as "Protester Training Grounds" so your headline of "Large, Vacant Pittsburgh Buildings Unwittingly Serve As Protester Training Grounds" isn't even reinforced by a single fact even in your own so-called 'news'! A more appropriate headline might be "WTAE Building Unwittingly Serves As Propaganda Station". Furthermore, all buildings "unwittingly" do everything - they're not conscious entities as far as I know! What would you people be doing if you had a real job instead of being paid to spread lies?!
Jul. 18, 2009 4:33pm EDT | from RealNews
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Mod
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - mid-July, 2009
As usual, the ultra-rich manipulate the media to tell their lies so that they can continue to steal from the majority as much as possible - & the police help them do it since the police's main function is to protect the rich against their victims. The police are getting training to criminalize protesters in advance of any actual crimes being committed so that dissent against the REAL CRIMINALS, the G-20 representatives, can be suppressed & so that the G-20 can continue to plunder the world unimpeded. The actual purpose of this thing-that-doesn't-deserve-to-be-called-news is to spread fear of political activists by slandering them as implied terrorists & criminals. Instead, these activists are the people who're actually informed concerned citizens - they know more about these economic issues than any of your so-called 'reporters' ever will - &, like concerned citizens everywhere, they're trying to actually do something proactive about them. So what does WTAE do? Provide idiotic police propaganda to help the cops arrest people under highly inflated circumstances so that the police can continue to do what they do best: suppress democracy. If there are any actual reporters on your staff: imagine what would happen to you if you tried to put forth positive information about protesters! It's going to be all negative, all lies, all the time!
Jul. 18, 2009 4:18pm EDT | from RealNews
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Shame on WTAE! This is truly the worst kind of journalism! The kids that broke into the school .. more like walked into the unsecured school .. were there to get onto the roof, which has a fantastic view, and is a great place to hang out. After they were caught, they agreed to put in community service by cleaning up the property and securing the school to prevent further entry. ... and they did a beautiful job. The property is much improved. Yes, two of them were students from Europe. To infer that this had something to do with sinister forces massing to protest the G 20 event, is asinine and irresponsible. Polish Hill is a great neighborhood full of all kinds of folks who choose to live there. Fear and suspicion are our enemies. Mark Ko Resident of Polish Hill
Jul. 18, 2009 9:03am EDT | from markko
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Why is the police training for violence when no protest group has said it will be any and why are they training at a school no one will be violent at the g20 summit
Jul. 17, 2009 7:28pm EDT | from anonymous144
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A responsible journalist would recognize this as urban exploration, nothing more; people do it all the time...thanks for the sensationalism, no wonder the MSM business model is failing. Google or wikipedia urban exploration. ...And what exactly would preparing for a protest in an empty building involve? Memorizing chants? This article repeatedly insinuates some sort of international terrorist conspiracy when its entirely likely that its just people going for a walk. Thanks for spreading misinformation and helping to polarize our communities even more WTAE.
Jul. 17, 2009 2:04pm EDT | from Jackobear
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I love how every other sentence starts with "The police say...", don't bother to actually investigate the matter yourself, just repeat what the government says...thanks...thats responsible journalism...but then again what would one expect from WTAE, part of ABC, which is part of Disney, the largest media conglomerate in the world with ties to WTO, and hence the G20, an undemocratic secretive organization making far-reaching economic decisions for the entire world?
Jul. 17, 2009 2:03pm EDT | from Jackobear
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In the 7th paragraph of this article it is stated: "Indeed, police caught the six assailants after neighbors spotted a young people going..." From dictionary.com: "assailant –noun 1. a person who attacks." Nobody attacked anybody. Are WTAE reporters illiterate or harshly prejudiced?
Jul. 17, 2009 2:03pm EDT | from Jackobear
Mod
Otherwise, WTAE has reallowed comments to appear & the last time I checked Mark Ko & Jackobear have reposted.
In the meantime, at least one anti-G-20 t-shirt has been printed. On the front in bold letters it says:
"The G-20 is full of Jagoffs"
I wd prefer a t-shirt that's more specifically incisive politically rather than just a generic insult. After all, masturbation is fine w/ me! & "jagoff" usually means "jack-off" means "masturbator". I'd like something more like:
"G-20: the rich getting what they want, the poor paying for it"
or:
"Once you worshiped royalty, now you worship the G-20"
At any rate, I wore the t-shirt anyway to be in solidarity w/ any anti-G-20 sentiment b/c it's obvious to me that when the ultra-rich roll into town the taxpayers get stuck w/ paying for their protection (4,000 cops?) & their own suppression - whether the citizens want to or not - kindof like how we got stuck w/ paying for new stadiums after voting against them. Somewhat to my surprise, the only comments I got about the shirt (maybe most people didn't even notice it) was a jogger saying he liked it & a supermarket bagger very LOUDLY repeating its text & saying she liked it too. In the meantime, the cashier looked terrified.
SO, I've been thinking about a parody t-shirt & I came up w/ this:
"I went to a terrorist training camp & all I got was this lousy t-shirt!"
Mod
"Do you remember the Howard Johnson's shoot-out in New Orleans a few years ago [in the mid 1970s:]? I watched it all on television.
"The regular programming was interrupted to take me to New Orleans where a wildly murderous band of black revolutionaries had taken over the upper floors of a Howard Johnson's hotel. They were systematically murdering the white guests. This was a truly frightening story. Images of race war ran through my mind.
"The announcer said that a massive police assault was underway, and I saw helicopters, police with drawn guns, and a lot of tense faces.
"I didn't see any murderous black revolutionaries, although I certainly imagined them, and they were described for me by the police on the scene. The death toll was uncertain.
"A few hours later. the news reported that the siege was continuing but that the police had reduced their estimate of murderous black revolutionaries to two or three and that the death of only one white guest had been thus far confirmed. However, a number of policemen had been killed by the murderers. The death toll was still uncertain but it could be as high as a dozen.
"Back to the regular programming.
"By the morning, the siege was over, and the police were able to find only one of the revolutionaries, who apparently had been dead for quite a while, long before the assault was halted. There was still only one dead white guest but there were eight dead police, killed by the band. Police were baffled as to how the other members of the murderous group had eluded them.
"A week later, after an investigation, the New Orleans police department reported that they had found that only one white guest had been killed, only one black man had been involved in the killing, that this one man was not a black revolutionary but a crazy person. He had been dead for several hours while the invasion of the hotel continued, and all of the dead police had been killed by each other's ricocheting bullets. The story was carried in the back pages of the newspapers; I wasn't able to find it in any television news reports.
"It turned out that virtually all of the facts as reported on television were totally wrong. Ignoring for the moment that television did not correct its own report, newspapers did, I was given the opportunity to straighten it all out in my mind. There were no murderous revolutionaries; there was only a crazy man. The police had all shot each other. But even now, several years later, I can recall the images of the police assault. Brave men acting in my behalf. The images of the murderous band. I can recall them now even though the information was completely false."
Mod
"With information confined to the media, totally separated from the context of time and place, the creation of reality is as simple as feeding it directly into our heads. An earlier lie can become what Werner Erhard calls the "ground of reality" for the newer lie. We don't need the CIA to prove the point. Any evening's news is filled with information that we can't possibly know is true. How could we know? The only way to know for sure if something happened is to be present at the time and in the place of the event. If not, you are taking the information on faith."
This last sentence, of course, ties into religion. Religion preaches faith. Once blind faith is accepted in anything, in this case some 'higher authority', then the doors of lack-of-perception are open for any bullshit to be used as the "ground of reality". TV, & mass media in general, is/are a type of God for people, even if they don't realize it, b/c it has the appearance of omnipresence. "I saw it on the news" becomes a sortof "I heard it from Heaven" experience.
Mod
"Television presents relationships in crisis; those that stand out from the usual fare of everyday life, which is not so explosive and dramatic most of the time. In the television world, relationships involve the same huge cycles of feeling as sports shows: big joys, great losses, ups and downs, sudden shocks and surprises, explosive passions, frequent catharsis. We get soap opera, Mary Hartman, Roots. Without crises, television drama would not be able to deliver any feeling. Conversation or smaller feelings - love, friendship, camaraderie - do not deliver on television. Violence does. It delivers fear. Producers and sponsors are well advised to make choices in favor of such programs. Fear qualfies as a bona fide pseudoexperience. It can fool viewers into believing that when they are watching television, some actual living is going on, when it isn't. In the long run, experiencing artificial fear over and over again when nothing dangerous is actually going on eventually dulls one's responses. One becomes less subject to television fear while at the same time more paranoid about the real world one actually experiences less and less."
Mod
Damn, I wonder if there're any ex-Stasi from East Germany looking for jobs since Germany was reunited? There're some really good employment opportunities for them right now in Pittsburgh!
Then there were the military types sighted in Market Square during the Farmer's Market. They were going to the farmers & showing them video of riots & telling them that that's what they can expect when the G-20 protesters come. Gee, I wonder if they showed them footage of people like me going to farmer's stalls & politely buying food from them? Surely the cops & military wdn't statistically misrepresent wch type of person is in the majority? Ha ha!
More t-shirt ideas:
G20:
the rich demand it,
the rest pay for it
G20:
protesters vs police state
David vs Goliath
TV 'News':
FEAR FOR SALE
Mod
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - mid-July, 2009
I live in a somewhat astoundingly peaceful & safe neighborhood in Pittsburgh. B/c Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are often delineated by geographical features like river & valley boundaries, some of these neighborhoods, like mine, are more like small towns. Not everybody knows each other but there's more interconnectedness than in many urban places & people are mostly tolerant (perhaps unlike small towns). In this case, the demographics are older people of mostly working class Polish descent mixed w/ younger & middle-aged people moving into the neighborhood as the older people die off & their houses go up for sale.
There were once many businesses here but they've mostly died off as the general population died off. I've been told that some president or another visited here decades ago & declared this place an example of "urban blight" or some such - probably shortly after the steel mills that so many Pittsburghers worked in started going out of business. I'd have to say that "blight" is an exaggeration. The small businesses gradually disappeared but people stayed & most of the houses are kept up. There are other nearby neighborhoods w/ businesses so services aren't entirely absent or hard to get to.
Real estate's pretty cheap & many people w/ very little money, like myself, can afford to buy a place the mortgage for wch is cheaper than rent. B/c of that, many of the newer residents are artists, writers, musicians, & punks - many w/ substantial political consciousness & community activism orientations. While I'm sure that some of the older residents find some of the newer ones strange, this hasn't lead to any big conflicts that I know of. I've lived here for over 13 yrs w/o any major problems.
Now, in the recent past some armed robberies have happened & a few burglaries. At least one of the robberies happened on camera by the only place in the neighborhood where there are any - in front of the Civic Association office. B/c some residents have been alarmed by this unusual behavior, the Association had its police liason come & speak about the problem. This was 2 & 1/2 mnths in advance of the G-20 economic summit's being hosted in Pittsburgh.
Attendees at the Civic meeting were quite surprised when the woman cop liason announced that the burglaries in the neighborhood were quite probably the work of G-20 protesters coming to Pittsburgh mnths in advance! She then 'informed' those present that these protesters wd be staying at houses on a certain street in the 'hood. This certain street just happens to be: 1. a main street, 2. a street where many artists, writers, musicians, & political activists live, 3. the street where I live & where many of my friends live. We were clearly being smeared w/ the brush of slander: political activists = burglars, newer residents = harborers of burglars. She then encouraged residents to report any strangers in the 'hood to the police.
Whether this despicable liar knew that some of the very people she was trying to make the older people afraid of were actually there at the meeting I don't know. Many people were disgusted by her speech & the president of the Association has since considered requesting a new liason. He hesitates b/c he wants to be careful to not scapegoat the officer & he's waiting to put it up for a vote w/ all the board members.
Don't get the impression that the Association president is some sort of political radical. He isn't. He's basically a nice, concerned citizen w/ strong ties to the 'hood who loves it here & likes the people. At any rate, the G-20 fear-mongering had reached us & I, for one amongst many, am pretty pissed off about it.
In other words, the cops have probably gotten training sessions, probably directly from FBI Red Squad Cointelpro types or related assholes, & have probably been told to start spreading fear in various neighborhoods. The idea, I reckon, is to get older people so scared of any new young punks that they see that they call the cops on them as 'suspected burglars'. This way the cops have an excuse to detain any suspected would-be protester in a preemptive strike. Now I'm told that 2 younger punk friends of mine who live very close to me have already been stopped by the cops & questioned while outside in the neighborhood. This is a definite sign that the profiling has begun.
There's a huge Catholic church in the neighborhood that's reputed to seat something like 1,800 people. B/c of the changing demographics, I'm told by a friend that the mass he attended there (they have them in Polish & English) only had 30 parishioners. The church had a large school wch is no longer in use & has been sold to a doctor. This school is high up on a hill, is easily accessible, & is a popular spot for urban explorers - esp b/c of its rooftop, wch I'm told offers a spectacular view.
I've never been in the bldg but I've heard of people going in there to photograph & had heard at one time that there's not any graffiti or vandalism. Apparently, that's no longer true & the former school's a popular spot for graffiti now. Regardless, I'm told that it's somewhat common for people to visit the spot & that little has been done to prevent it from happening. I've heard that the doors weren't even locked. I reckon they are now but I don't know.
SOOOOO, sometime in the recent past, some people went in & the cops were called. The cops came & the trespassers were arrested. Under ordinary circumstances, as far as I know, this wd be no big deal. The owner of the bldg refused to prosecute. BUT, b/c of the upcoming G-20, this has become fodder for more fear-mongering.