I knew it...

[Southy]

Watching the news, and I said to the Mrs the other night, I KNEW the coppers would start the problems before the hippies, doesn't mean some of it didn't deserve it, but they had a peaceful protest on the whole, and the coppers pounced AFTER it was all done, cockheads

 

[Goreripper]

Yeah, I reckon they were told they had to arrest people, so they jumped on people for anything they could think of.

 

[Shannow]

Yep, big brave blokes knocking over women with cameras.

Cops with capsicum spray hoses. (remember when capsicum spray was first brought in ? It was explained that it would only ever be used where a pistol would traditionally be used...guess there's be a half dozen police shootings a fortnight between Lithgow and Bathurst if it weren't of CS).

Snipers in the heights of the Opera House.

Vehicles marked with "Public Order", and the Police wearing their much vaunted "paramilitary fatigues", rather than a traditional uniform.

Welcome to Howard's vision of Australia.

 

[Dän]

Good, smack those hippies

 

[mattt]

These protests are pointless. Nothing is acheived when you have a bunch of uncuth, socialist wankers yelling insults and getting violent. I am not a big fan of Howard or Bush but these protests are just embarrasing. They are pointless, they aren't going to change anything.

 

[Goreripper]

True, but sitting around here doing nothing doesn't change things either. Protesting isn't necessarily about changing things, it's about making your voice heard.

 

[Winmar]

A mate of mine told me the other day about a time he inhaled a bit of capsicum spray in a club once. He only copped the remnants of it, but he said it made him feel like chucking for hours and that he wouldn't wish it on anyone. Can't say I'm rushing to give it a go...

 

[Sydo]

Yep. Blame the police.

 

[Shannow]

Nope, blame the Govts for turning the Police into a "Paramilitary" organisation (their words, not mine)

 

[Spiff]

I never did like The Police.

 

[phlogiston]

Sting didn't do anything!

 

[phlogiston]

Dammit! I've gotta start reading whole threads before posting.

 

[mattt]

Nope, blame the Govts for turning the Police into a "Paramilitary" organisation (their words, not mine)

Isn't one of the purposes of the police to protect? To protect whoever (in this case - leaders of the free world) from possible violent behaviour?

 

[mattt]

True, but sitting around here doing nothing doesn't change things either. Protesting isn't necessarily about changing things, it's about making your voice heard.

then what's the point?

 

[JonBonJovi]

Getting heard. DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME BEFORE?

 

[mattt]

IF IT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF DOING IT? IT WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING SO IT IS A WASTE OF TIME!

bitch.

 

[Spiff]

Maybe not straight away, but if it gets a dialogue going then it can lead to change.

I'm sure there are plenty of examples throughout history of protests leading to change.

 

[Goreripper]

That was me up there by the way. I didn't realise Xena was still logged in. Goose.

You're right Spiff. Marching has led to policy change time and again. The protests against damming the Franklin River helped bring down the Fraser Government. People protested against conscription during WW1. There's plenty of changes that have occured due to public protest. Sitting around going "Oh, that's not going to change anything" is going to change fuck all. People are passionate about things so sometimes they'll get on their high horses, regardless of the "change" it might bring about. People like to vent. If they didn't, boards like this would be empty. People like to have their opinions heard about things. Not everyone can be Peter Garrett. For those of us who aren't demonstrations are a way we can let governments know what our grievances are. Protests led to the end of the Soviet Union, the toppling of the regime in Poland and the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Don't decry demonstrations. I'm sure some of us would love to live somewhere like Singapore where they torture people who speak up for themselves, but I'd rather be inconvenienced by a rights march now and then than to exist in a police state.

 

[Goreripper]

Isn't one of the purposes of the police to protect? To protect whoever (in this case - leaders of the free world) from possible violent behaviour?

Today I read in the paper a letter from a guy who got hassled by the cops in the city because a photo he took of one of the buildings some world leader was staying at had a manhole in the foreground. He had to delete all of his photos except that one, so it could be used "as evidence" he may have been planning something involving the manhole access to the building and was detained for several hours for questioning until the police realised he was just a guy taking a photo of a building. Another bloke got arrested and held in a cell because he had the hide to cross the road while a motorcade was coming. This happened in Sydney, Australia. Today I got a call from the police doing an "APEC security sweep" at the airport because they'd found a guy with a Maglite in his car with one of our logos on it and they wanted to know if it was "standard issue" or if he'd stolen it for use for "nefarious" purposes. Meanwhile people are getting rolled for a few bucks a few suburbs away.

 

[Winmar]

On protesting - demonstrations in Indonesia were a large part of the reason Suharto was toppled. What a glorious outcome.