Politics: Economics: Death in the Occupy camp, Vancouver with rW backgrounder
CBC News via Sun News
— refWrite editorial forematter and CBC textual patter posted by EconoMix
Occupy Vancouver death
dooms protest camp
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — The Occupation rampant in the USA and Canada, and around the world, scored its first death, apparently by an overdose heroin injection, apparently by suicide (but I woudn't rule out homicide). The Occupation Movement is an ideological grab-bag that in its first manifestations claimed it was aimed at the large banks that received the first USA Stimulus monies so that the foreclosures on mortgaged houses by semi-govt corporations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
(institutions that had been unleashed on woud-be home-owners ready to sign up for what they coud not sustain payments-for, then the speculative hi-loan packagers at the over-sized banks and brokerage firms. The stock market was very negatively affected, with investors large and small, loosing large portions of their assets. But, compared to that, the worst devastation occured in the failure of corporations — again, small businesses, partnerships and single owners — now whacked by an economically-unsound monster healthcare law produced by a House and Senate stacked by Democrats to destroy the existing healthcare arrangements in the country (replacing them with the health-omnibus law now called Obamacare).
The new legislation was so over-reaching and so over-taxing that it killed the dream of absorbing 30 million uninsured people into a national healthcare scheme, which to succeed at all woud require a strict prioritization that woud rule-out every new monster law and expenditure in other areas — a super-expensive law contrived and sponsored by the Pelosi Democrat-led House of Representatives (which must originate finanicial legislation) and the Reid Democrat-led Senate (which constitutionally was expected to confirm or defeat the House proposals by not confirming, on financial matters).
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That's all background to the Occupy Movement initiated by folks to the far left of Obama, even to the far left of Nancy Pelosi and whacko far left Harry Reid. After the Occupation of Wall Street was initiated every discontent political parasite movement tried to clash-in and "build" the movement — LaRouchists, socialists, communists, drug partiers and dealers, rapists looking for easy sex, and on and on. Originally, they were said to be students and maybe were, but the movement quickly transmogrified itself after Obama's attempt to outflank it by endorsing it. No socialist or communist force coud prevent the takeover by even fringier causes, despite the attempt to escalate the movement by ballooning the slogan "We are the 99%" (which they are not!) — implying that the richest banks and their greedsters were the 1% who were the causation-source of all the grief (indeed, Fannie and Freddy were the initiators, the Big Banks were the lapdogs of the initiating housing mortgage crisis which even now persists, along with Big Bank hedge funds, derivatives, and the departments which become sellers of toxic packages of F&F failures to financial speculators inside and outside the BBs).
Unfortunately, there had been little crime in all this; apparently the greedsters among the Wall Street honchos were not breaking any law however immorally they behaved. Why no law? The deregulation movement of former Prez George W. Bush, Bill Clinton before him in the latter's second term, and George H. Bush before Clinton, back all the way back to Ronald Reagan, slowly worked out its ill-logic. In the USA, we don't need degulation in the laissez faire direction; we don't need over-regulation in the state socialist measures that typify the present Obama régime — not just in healthcare, but also in energy, federal education policy, and many other fields. No to Obama! No to Ron Paul! (both of them Christians who lack a reformational Christian philosophical perspective in economics and otherwise).
We do need regulation — we need a normative optimal regulation of banks, all financial institutions, and at the moment the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the regulations governing which become crucial in the l+t of the third phase of the Occupy Movement). The Occupiers (some of them) have just mothered an angry public force which is withdrawing deposits from the BBs and also the medium-size banks to redeposit personal financial assets in credit unions and small banks that cater to their communities. This move on the pendulum coud backfire, but I support it for its power to stymie that greedsters at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Big Banks, etc. But now the Withdraw-and-Redeposit Movement spawned by the Occupiers Movement aims into unsteady waters. In Toronto, at an earlier time, I joined the Bread and Roses Credit Union, where you had to be a member of a social cause to become a member and voter. B&R at some point began underwriting mortgages for middle-income and poor members, and ere long it went bully up. I had already rendered my accounts there inactive, so actually lost nothing. But the the larger group of depositors were left in a very bitter lurch, never imagining that a "socially-positive" credit union coud try to finance mortgages for lots of people who were insolvent and very h+risk clients.
All these factors play into what's going on in a very distinct society, Canada, and its homegrown Occupy Movement inspired by the American hoopla and once again poorly serviced by news media (with the exception of Sun News TV). Like the CBC, Toronto Star, Global, and the cable-system oligarchy of Bell and Rodgers, etc.
Here's the latest news from the state TV and Radio broadcaster, online, CBC:
The death of a woman taking part in the Occupy Vancouver protest at the city's art gallery has led the city's mayor to announce the protest movement's tent city will be cleared.
"I have directed the city manager to expedite the appropriate steps to end the encampment as soon as possible with a safe resolution being absolutely critical to that," Mayor Gregor Robertson said Saturday night.
Police said a woman in her 20s was found unresponsive inside a tent at the encampment at about 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday.
Police talk to people at the scene. CBC"Tragically, she could not be revived," Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness told reporters. "She was transported to hospital and pronounced deceased at hospital."
Police said the cause of death has not been determined and would not confirm reports the woman died of a drug overdose.
However, Lauren Gill, an organizer at the camp, said that was apparently the case. She said the death highlights the need for more addiction services because drugs are such a big issue in the city.
Gill, who is running as an independent in this month's city elections, said that as an outreach worker in mental health and addiction services, she has seen far too many overdose deaths.
A section of the tent city near the corner of Howe and Georgia streets was roped off and about a dozen police and fire officials were on scene. CBCProtesters listening to the mayor's announcement yelled their disagreement, and accused Robertson of using the woman's death for political purposes.
"Shutting down the encampment will not alleviate the heroin epidemic that's going on in this city," one of the protesters said. "We need people to pay attention to this fact. We need funding, we need help."
A section of the tent city near the corner of Howe and Georgia streets was roped off and about a dozen police and fire officials were on scene, the CBC's Chad Pawson reported from the scene on Saturday afternoon. He reported about a dozen people were visibly upset, crying and hugging each other, and being very hostile towards the media.
Drug overdose
The death comes after a protester was treated for a drug overdose at the encampment on Thursday and amid concern by Vancouver's fire department about the conditions at the Occupy camp.
The protest movement has also become a key issue in the Nov. 19 civic election in Vancouver, with Robertson facing criticism for allowing the tent city to continue. On Friday, the mayor said authorities could be forced to remove occupiers and bring down the tent city, but said he is still hopeful a peaceful solution could be reached.
Robertson has taken heat from rival Non-Partisan Association mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton, who has called on the mayor to act quickly to break up the protest.
On Saturday, Anton issued a news release expressing her sadness at the woman's death and reiterated her call that the encampment be shut down.
"This is a very sad event," Anton wrote. "My thoughts are with the family of this young women and with the Occupy Vancouver community." Referring to the tent city, Anton concluded: "It is time for the tents to be taken down."
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