A group of students at the University of Newcastle have joined the bandwagon a bit late. In what can only be assumed to be a plea for attention from stop the war coalition head office they took over a room and have set about issuing one of the funniest sets of statements so far. This morning this gem was added to the blog:
"We have spent our first night in occupation of the Fine Arts Building on Newcastle University campus. We have finalised a list of demands "
Pull the other one - your list of demands is alsmost identical to every other list of demands, did it really take all night (N.B. the post appears to have gone up at 2:55am...some way off spending the night). After complaints about the university refusing to roll and over the bloggers have eagerly continued:
"We have been offered a facilitated negotiation process by John Hogan, and are still discussing whether to accept this and end the occupation or to continue and reject this offer which does not make any guarantees as to our demands being met."
Should we end our little stunt now and accept achieving nothing or continue and reach the same conclusion further down the line? Tough call but this blog is going to suggest you get back to your degrees...
The best post so far though is without a doubt the list of supporters or anonymous list of universities. It will shock everyone reading this to know that the Newcastle occupation is being supported by the organisations that helped arrange the occupations...Socialist Workers, PSC, Stop the War. We're eagerly awaiting the generic e-mail from Noam Chomsky.
As is so often the case with trying to keep up to date with this topic someone else always sums it up better and more concisely, so thanks to Danny for this:
Danny said...
Grow up.
11 March 2009 03:52
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God you are a bitter little sod aren't you... I love the way you say that these people need to grow up for supporting a new student movement and how you ridicule their pro-occupation blogs; but all you're doing is spending your time much less productively blogging anti-occupation material in reaction to them. At least they and others are getting something from their actions and they have a 'get up and go' attitude, not a 'sit back wait for someone else to do something interesting then I can get attention by moaning at it' one ... "It will shock everyone reading this "... get a life, no one's reading it! (bar me of course after you posted on the Newcastle occupation blog, and I thought hey why not go to the link and have a larrrrrf!)
ReplyDeleteI am also intrigued as to you putting the Newcastle occupation down to the Stop the War Coalition. Should you have done your homework properly before plastering this in so much conviction on the internet, you would have found that the particular Newcastle occupation was organised by one student actually completely disinvolved from any of the groups you have mentioned. Indeed, half the students in that particular occupation probably didn't even know of said coalition, and probably still don't!
Now, I'm all for debate and what not. It's healthy, and the more people like you who go on and on bleating about this and that and raising every possible argument against every possible action - just so you can try and be heard, about something, whatever it is, look at me for attention I'm going to argue this point even if I neither care nor agree - anyway, the more people like you the better, because it makes the anti case look petty and feeble, and the activists a lot stronger. So yes I'm all for debate, however I would suggest that you get your facts right... it'll make your argument both stronger and, maybe, remotely interesting...
Grow up.
ReplyDeleteCan't say there was much of a chance of an intellectual convo with the anonymous above as they started their retort with 'awww bless,', whereas Danny and mog both have valid points.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time small group of students (who assume they're speaking for everyone) stop stamping their feet like mardy little kids until they get their 'demands' met.
Learn that the only people who support you are the ones who are struggling to make any sort of impact in their own luke-warm attempt at protest, as the majority of rational thinking people [regardless of their political views] know it's a pointless exercise that will acheive precisely nothing. Congratulations to all of you occupiers on wasting your own time.
University occupations, sit down.
Rational thinking people? No, self-centred thinking people.
ReplyDeleteDo your research, see who's on the students' side, then you can start mouthing off on the state of their protest. I think you'll be suprised.
As for the time being; "[you] assume [you're] speaking for everyone"
So just to clarify that last post - if you're not involved in the protests you are self centred?
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to disagree with your politics and actions but care about a whole host of other world issues, or your friends, or your family? That kind of us and them politics is exactly what turns so many people away from the sorts of groups promoting these sit-ins.
What's interesting is how little the people involved achieve in terms of elections so close to the stunts...LSE which was one of the bigger sit-ins saw the group who organised it get an absolute kicking at election time. Why is that if the majority of students support you and your type of politics?