OKAY. Now we get to the fun stuff. In this exciting episode of the whole story, we're going to talk about Livestream, Tech, Livestream 2012, and the Public Relations group.
Tech Team
Alrighty.
A small group of dedicated people. Aside from their problems mentioned previously, they largely got their act together and became (in my opinion) probably one of the better, more well rounded and drama free groups there was and probably still is.
We have Eric, who donated the hotspots which are in his name and did alot of the help with the wires and so on. He also did alot of scouting about for good access points, and tried at all times to make sure people were fed and taken care of. You needed it, he would try his best to help you...and this is while taking care of a kid himself and working most of the week. Very passionate..later created the catchphrase "Camp got bought out, Occupy got sold out." after all this crap kept happening.
We have two different Joshes, both of whom are freaking cool. Josh O is the more mellowed out one, has his reservations but tries to be the moderator in things..a good problem solver that like most probably wishes this would all just go away and people would start working together again like we did in the beginning. The other Josh is a bit more hardcore, has left since..but helped with a few different things including the Livestream 2012's technical needs (even though their members were nothing but rude to us..but they don't talk about that!) Usually when people are riled, he's got a funny pic or joke to try and ease the tension.
We have Stephen, whom kind of connected his email to the tech without intending to. (Poor dude!) And was one of the more hub people for questions and resolutions. Overkill, an Anon that has acted as a representative between Occupy Nashville and several other businesses..another usual voice of reason. Seth..whom has largely served on the side as a moderator for the 2011 Livestream since having to deal with surgery and not being able to walk round much..and
Majik/Brent..one of the more serious, rule oriented people but over-all friendly and a huge help in terms of the technical equipment used on the plaza. There guys largely handled the security matters and encryption.
Then, to a degree, myself..though not being computer oriented or tech savvy as much as they were, I was providing the Clearwire that gave everyone on the Plaza their internet. At first without comprehension, until tight resources forced me to ask otherwise as it was win win for everyone. (Oh, right, forgot that I don't do anything. Silly me.)
I *think* I got everyone. Wolfy was kind of off an on, and basically helped with the network. In terms of computer use..we used our own, because you never know who would come in and use your stuff for what..so it was all passworded and locked down. (We DID have an incident where a dude came into Jason's tent and started using his laptop beforehand...I had to be the one to go in and get it to make sure it wasn't compromised.)
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Livestream Team
Okay, rebuttal somewhat...and somewhat of a clear the air session.
There's myself, which i've discussed.
Jason- I have never seen him engage in drugs, and i've stated in an earlier post about him and the whole rumor crap.
I DID give him a 1 TB hard drive to use that has supposedly been "stolen"..and it never got back to me. Numerous
times he was about to give it to me, and then disappeared again..think of that what you will. (And this was after I had already lost a backpack with about 24 years of writings in it, and 16 years of my artwork..i'm lucky that's all i've lost compared to others...) I have never seen him drink on Plaza either. He has come on the Plaza drunk, once on the Livestream...and the entire group royally had it out with him and Sean about that..so that was the only time it happened.
It is rumored that he was the one that has posted links regarding Matt's private Ustream and so on..which I definitely don't agree with if that's true....but other than that, he is one of the main streamers aside from Matt. He is prone to his fits, especially when chastized about things..but this has been kind of few and far between. Normally he's in pretty good spirits, and I personally don't have a problem with the guy.
Matt- Matt is a pretty cool guy all in all. He does tend to beg an awful lot, but usually it is in exchange for something else. You kind of have to do that in order to survive out there..and considering that he IS using a Ustream and I'm guessing the only streamer left...okay, I could see him asking for donations. He DOES have a big issue with his emotions, and controlling his emotions..so it tends to lead to all sorts of inappropriate outbursts. Take that aside and he's at the very least a person you can count on to get shit done. Just saying.
Although, I am noticing something here. Isn't it odd that the people that Norma is saying should go away are the people that communicate Occupy Nashville's side of the story? The Livestream. But who does that leave?
...it leaves the Public Relations group and the Livestream 2012 group, both of which she has been a part of. (She removed herself from the PR group mailing list later, and was a mod of the 2012 livestream.) Hmm. So....what's the real deal Norma? Are you dedicated to truth..or just trying to make sure that you are the only "truth" out there? Now WHO is censoring WHO?
Okay. Next is Brittany and Samantha. Both of them feminists, both of them very intelligent people.
Brittany is probably one of the coolest, classiest ladies I have met in a while. She's fierce..but she's respectful. Talking with her about feminism is one of the few times i've been able to openly discuss it without being made to feel bad or like the enemy just because I was born with a part between my legs. It was very refreshing, and she's always treated me with respect. Samantha is pretty no-nonsense. She likes to work with others around her...and her contribution to ON basically entailed trying to start up a GED program to help those without schooling, largely the homeless.
Brittany's contributions? She started up an Arts and Culture group, and was looking to re-start a woman's group for Occupy Nashville. I honestly wish she would have. If *anyone* would have kept things in the right track, I have faith that it would be her..not this sorry excuse for bullshit that we see now.
...these two largely disappeared after getting repeatedly attacked by the Occubullies that I have already mentioned to death. It wasn't about Feminism, it was sick people using feminism as an excuse to pick fights and drive a wedge between members of Occupy Nashville..and that is what these people have been doing since. If you want to talk about Feminism? Hell, talk to Brittany. That lady knows her stuff better than most of us (myself included) ever will, and she can talk to you about it from a neutral standpoint without getting crazy or sexist. If you ever read this, know that you have my full respect. God bless you in your travels.
Now this wouldn't be complete without going to a pivotal event that occurred, one of two, at a bar, in downtown Nashville. The people there had always been very nice to us, let us use the upstairs for a few meetings, and so on. I love those people, which is why i'm not mentioning the bar..and even though I do not drink, i'll go there again in the future and opening support them. I love them all..and they are wonderful even in spite of everything.
The first event involved the unions. We had just had a meeting with Dorsey and Eli, again about complaints...and we had spent the larger part of the meeting trying to get them to turn these complaints over..to which Dorsey refused. (Later on, she would follow this up by then saying we were refusing to do anything about these complaints.) The scope of the meeting made it clear that basically, they were just looking to take over the Livestream, and just wanted their way. It was all about content this, and Occupy only that...(Pay attention, this is important.)..we talked again about timeslots, shutting down the channel at certain times, etc. (That was where that started, by the way. It was a group discussion.)
Later on, Eva shows up to be an observer. Turns around and accuses me of banning her from the Livestream (which never happened)..and then basically just kind of whatevers everything else. (People have tried to make peace with her, she won't have it. Its all about the attention and her own drama/ego.)
As far as Dorsey and such went, they were largely unsatisfied..because the people there were *actually* focusing on problem solving and dealing with solutions, not just trying to take the damn thing over and lording it up over someone.
So, people were pretty stressed about that. Next day, backlash hits..most of the Tech team is fed up with this and decides they're more or less all going to call it quits. Some of them actually do..and an emergency meeting is held at said bar in order to try and reign it in, and see what can't be worked out and what needs to be improved on in order to keep people. It is a somewhat long, pretty tense meeting..but it ends well.
So to unwind, some of them leave, and some folks stay. Myself, Majik, Matt, and Jason stayed behind to laugh it off, unwind..and de-stress because we really needed it. I went down in the corner, popped up Facebook, chatted with my girlfriend, and had a water. The lady was nice enough to ask me what I wanted to drink if I had cash..but seriously, I don't drink. I thanked her, and later tipped her anyway. I really appreciate courtesy like that...and those folks, again..have always been nothing short of awesome and deserving of support.
Another of the bigger topics was Caterpillar and the unions. There was getting to be the big issue of some unions basically saying if we didn't do what they wanted, or according to their guidelines that they would pull support..which in a way..is similar to lobbyism. Naturally, a few folks were more than a little upset about this.
So, Matt gets on his Ustream, and while he's already filming it..decided to start flashing a wad of bills saying how he doesn't need their money. (Ugh.) Rather than calling out the union or unions responsible, it came off as sounding like it was addressed to all unions..and it didn't help that he did this when he was more than a little intoxicated.
Myself? I had asked them if filming in there was really such a good idea...and later (since I was on Facebook) said "Uh, guys..you might want to look at this." and showed them the comments being made. However, it just sparked more comments..and neither they..nor the folks that were seeing this..really wanted to hear *anybody* out. Nope. Norma, Trill, and Rose turned around and riled up the whole damn chat and the facebook...and I *still* have the Facebook message where Rose turned around and directly accused me of "taking a direct action against her."
All I did was drink a glass of water, and I can't stop a group of people from saying or doing things. All I can do is somewhat protest..and then its on me. I DID say something about how money should not be used to influence us via donations..that I DID do...but that's about it. Other than that, I tried to de-stress myself, something which the Norma Squad fucked up royally and only added stress to. Of course, they just HAVE to be stupid and not listen to a damn thing anyone else has to say. Figures.
....however, here's what you don't know. Tim, who is a member of one of the unions, had come to me and told me that they were showing this video in Christmas parties and so on. Definitely a huge deal. I sat down with him I don't know how many times and was like "Okay, how can we fix this? How can we smooth things over?" ...*I* *DID* this. Jason, Matt..you guys didn't seem to want to be bothered with it and seemed to think it would go away on its own. It didn't. Dorsey really didn't care very much either, and certainly wasn't trying to smooth over jackshit.
...and for all the crap I was getting over my facebook, the disrespect in the chat, and the bullshit over the blog, Dixie and her group surprisingly couldn't be bothered to include that tidbit, much less even try to find out the whole damn story. See, they don't care about that..its all about the smears, the lies..and whom they can hurt next. Especially when they think they can get away with it.
Now, since this had been a fiasco in itself, I was thinking maybe that was end of it, drama aside, and we could finally get back to taking care of business and doing Occupy Nashville stuff..and put the petty bullshit aside. Boy was I wrong. Was I ever wrong.
First, we had the PR group and Livestream 2012 group emerge. This was done suddenly, and announced via a sudden press release out of nowhere. PR was stated to us that it was solely about
press releases...but later admitted to being Public Relations. (If you look at their posts in the Occupy Nashville forums, you will see it says "Public Relations.") ..that isn't just press releases.
"The maintenance of the professional image of a person or group."-- Public Relations in a nutshell.
...and then the same people from the aforementioned "anti-male" group turned around and made "livestream 2012"! It was supposed to be 100% about Occupy, and that is what it was sold as.
Then it wound up being largely populated by folks with an ax to grind with the Livestream and Tech teams..and largely about feminism, supported by? The same people!! (However, it should be noted that they will whole heartedly tell you that this is not Cronyism..I just don't know what i'm talking about.)
Whenever questioned..same people on the defensive..or..to steer away the conversation. Or, to attack the person anytime they post something.
Now, it is to be said that the one thing you can give them credit for is the one thing that Occupy Nashville will not do. They work together, and then they back each other up as a team. We used to do that. We don't do that any longer. Hey, i'll give credit where credit is due.
So basically, they lied to both the public, and to Occupy Nashville on both points. Flat out lied. They lied about their reasons, and they lied about the purpose. The huge smear campaigns escalated shortly after that..because they couldn't have any other actual input other than their own..and by doing this, they could kick out and replace any voice...having complete control over any voice in Occupy Nashville.
This was met with silent consent. People just more or less laid down with little resistance and let it happen. When the Livestream and Tech teams said "Hey, something's up here.." ..all of a sudden, there was a problem..but then the problem wasn't with the screwed up people. Nope, Occupy backed them up! "Sure, we know its wrong..but just let them have it. They'll stop there. Ignore it, it will go away."
This is what people said. Over and over again. But, it didn't go away, and as evidenced by the recent actions of Norma and Trill, it has only escalated. Why? Its simple. Never in the scope of human history have problems just "fixed themselves." It has never happened. Oh, but NOW, they say..NOW its time to kick people out! And who? Oh, right..anyone else that might allow Occupy Nashville to have a voice that ISN'T in their little gang of stupid.
Now, it didn't end there. Oh no. First, Rose's son..Reason (remember him?) went off the deep end after momma went off the deep end..didn't bother to ask questions, and decided to vandalize the Social Media tent..spray-painting "POWER STRUGGLE?" over it in bright silver spray paint. It was childish, and there's no excuse for it..but plenty of excuses were made for it. "Oh, I don't know..I can kinda get to like it on there.." ...anything rather than *actually* fix the problem and tell people to stop being a bunch of grown up children, much less make them do so.
THEN, Dorsey again gets it into her skull that she has suddenly been hacked, because "who else could it be?" (I somehow doubt that Dorsey is a person without alot of people that think her part time job is fertilizer creation..but that's just me.) This gets Rose into a tiff, and she publicly accuses myself, Matt, and Jason of hacking her email. I make a few statements on here, in Facebook, and there publicly letting her that not only is she full of it..but because she threatened to file a lawsuit..that the moment such occurs I would sue her through the freaking floorboards.
That made her back off. Why? Because i'm not one of these pussies that is just going to lay down and let people walk all over me. That is how you handle bullies..you don't put up with their bullshit. You don't let them do as they please..you stand up for yourself and show that you have pride, if not a freaking spine. (Correction: This incident took place with the lawsuit stuff closer to the End of the 2011, as i'd been off the Plaza. First with sickness, then with food poisoning, then as I had to help a friend out with things.)
The smear campaigns continued. New Years came. Livestream 2011 covered the events..but even though we could have used the support..the Livestream 2012 channel wasn't there and couldn't be bothered to show up. As it stood, discussion circles never wound up happening, usually because someone from the aforementioned groups couldn't stop themselves from trying to center all the attention on themself or starting a fight about something or trying to run someone off. (Eva, for instance will tell you how she was called a Femi-Nazi, but she won't tell you how she accused people of being sexual predators or drunks whether she knew them or not, largely because they disagreed with her. We will cover that more with camp affairs, next chapter! )
But then came the second incident, same bar (unfortunately). I wasn't there in the middle of this one, though I was accused of being a part of it anyway. (I did ask questions and raise concerns when I saw them talking about this on Facebook..) Apparently, i'm such a POS that it doesn't matter whether i'm on or off the Plaza..i'm somehow behind it all, and trying to ruin the Occupy and just trying to hide it somehow. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Basically, there were political leaders there, caught on camera, again, by Matt. Jason decided to stream it. (Again, bad idea. Why the fuck didn't you learn from the last time? >_<) This brought the bar into it, because when word got out, the politicians told their friends not to go there. I came in there for the first time in a while, and the owner stopped us to talk about it....and it was again me trying to find ways to make amends..since no one else had a fucking clue at the time other than "gosh, this sucks."
So alright then, Phil, what was this brilliant idea you had? I suggested that since they seemed to know whom the people were, to approach them with a formal apology, offer to make a public apology, see what they could do to approach the situation..and go from there. Did they ever do it? I have no idea, they never told me after. I remember the poor lady at the bar in tears...and I was very upset by this myself. The owner's business got hit *hard* because of it. Screw Occupy Nashville, this was much bigger than that. But the discussion was largely about "who takes the blame and how?"..rather than
"Okay, so how do we make things right?" I suggested a solution. I do alot of that. But hey, fuck Phillip, he's just a piece of shit and a troublemaker.
Right? Fine, but this is what you don't see. This is what you don't hear about. And with as many dedicated bullshitters that call themselves journalists, I kind of have to ask why they miss these little details. Well, here you go, knock yourself out..and if you do it literally, I doubt the world will miss you.
That was my last basic contribution to Occupy Nashville. Shortly after all of that bullshit, I got tired of it and left. I think its either part 5 or the last one where I will explain why.
Beforehand, I had already turned in my hotspot, and got my clearwire tower back. Later on, I cleared out my tent, got my hotplate back, and finally left the Plaza for good. (Which, I never did get repaid for that last month, either...and I had brought the hotplate in from my apartment..which was the only means for me to cook and eat there in home..so that *others* could have a hot meal and get some nutrition. But hey, again..i'm such a POS. Right. Sure.)
Chapter 4: Lets talk Camp. Next up.
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