Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Monday, October 10, 2011

John Robb on OWS

By John Ballard


Readers who don't recognize the name have homework to do. 
The rest of us hold John Robb's opinions in high regard.


Here is his take on the Occupy movement. 
(About which one Twitter message said "No doubt about it, tea party dropped the ball making OWS inevitable.)



JOURNAL: Permanent Protest #ows


One of the most interesting aspects of Occupy Wall Street (#ows) is the work it is doing to set up permanent occupations in EVERY city (over 1,000 locations globally, and growing) of note.


NOTE: If you want to help document occupy process for others to copy, put it on MiiU.


Here's a quick overview:



  • Navigation of the complex legalities of sleeping/living in an urban, public space (park, square) Every major city has a thicket of regulations in place to prevent people from congregating, let alone sleep overnight. 

  • Defusing provocations from police to prevent more aggressive action. The police made a couple of attempts at provocations already (lots of pepper spray, lots of beatings with batons, and lots of arrests) in NYC. So far, the protesters just took it and didn't fight back. 

  •  Acquiring provisions. On-line support has helped the protest acquire many of the food, water, and other items it needs (although its unclear how many locations get anything approaching the level of support seen in NYC). 

  •  Food preparation. By keeping the permanent group small, the need for food/food prep stays manageable. 

  • Shelter. Most locations selected prohibit tents. Lots of variants (cardboard, tarps, etc.) have emerged. This is going to be tougher in winter in the northern climes, but not undoable with small numbers of overnight residents. 

  • Defense. Currently, the occupy movement is strictly adhering to the regulations and non-violence to avoid being ejected from their locations. The best medium term defense is a flashmob. 

  • Media. 24x7x365

  • Local Governance. Open source. Consensus needed. Leaderless (pitch in if something needs doing, but don't assume you are running the show). 


A permanent camp in each location means that there is a gathering point for HUGE protests in the future (quick response to shocks/events/etc.). Also, protests that span hundreds or thousands of cities simultaneously.


Pretty cool dynamic developing: a protest Horde?



This is counterintuitive to everything we have been taught to believe. And yet early man managed to live thousands of years with a similar measure of simplicity.


I especially like that small groups are easier to supply and support over an extended period. The pickett line principle works the same way. And a large number of people can accomplish a lot by taking turns serving in small groups. 



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