Base camp Occupy Cleveland day 8 – foto by Smith

This ain’t no picnic. The Occupy Cleveland clan are sleeping out in the rain on hard cold concrete.

Lady baked a dozen potatoes, cut them in half, added butter, then boiled a couple pitchers of water for us to take down to the occupiers this morning. While we were there, a businessman in a suit on the way to work stopped and gave them a large tarp to protect from rain and cold. There have been a lot of donations. The non-protesting public appears to be supporting us. A poll from yesterday reported 53% of the US population support the Occupy America efforts, with another 20% unaware of what’s going on, which leaves only around 25% of the country playing Scrooge.

The Cleveland police seem to be mostly supportive too. Wednesday night as the rains came, one protester put up a tent. The police told him to take it down. He refused. The cops came in and took the tent down without arresting him. After they left, he put it back up. Later on the police drove by and when they saw the tent back up, gave him the thumbs up sign and kept driving. Then everyone started erecting tents and rain shelters. All the structures you see in these fotos are technically illegal, but at least so far the authorities seem to be looking the other way.

Several local unions are also holding meetings to vote on supporting us.

Both the board of directors of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Fed Up USA (one of the founding groups of the Tea Party) announced they support the Cleveland occupiers, so we have backing from both the left and the right.

On the darker side nationally, in Boston two hundred state and local police surrounded the second Occupy Boston camp, tore it down and harshly beat some of the non-violent protesters. Dallas Texas says they’re revoking the Occupy Dallas protest permits and shutting down the camps. And in New York City there’s been a rash of incidents of police pepper spraying and clubbing non-violent non-resisting protesters, with at least three instances caught on fone-cams which can be viewed on YouTube.

It’s not going to do them any good because at least 68 US cities are being occupied: Albuquerque, NM – Allentown, PA – Athens, GA – Atlanta, GA – Asheville, NC – Austin, TX – Baltimore, MD – Boston, MA – Buffalo, NY – Burlington, VT – Berkeley, CA – Charlotte, NC – Chattanooga, TN – Chicago, IL – Cincinnati, OH – Cleveland, OH – Colorado Springs, CO – Dallas, TX – Dayton, OH – Denver, CO – Elkhart, IN – Eureka, CA – Findlay, OH – Flagstaff, AZ – Grand Rapids, MI – Honolulu, HI – Houston, TX – Idaho Falls, ID – Indianapolis, IN – Inland Empire, CA – Ithaca, NY – Jacksonville, FL – Kansas City, MO – Lexington, KY – Lawrence, KS – Los Angeles, CA – Las Vegas, NV – Louisville, KY – Madison, WI – Maui, HI – Miami, FL – Minneapolis, MN – Missoula, MT – McAllen, TX – Nashville, TN – New York City, NY – Norfolk, VA – Northampton, MA – Ocala, FL – Philadelphia, PA – Portland, ME – Portland, OR – Riverside, CA – Salt Lake City, UT – San Diego, CA – San Jose, CA – San Francisco, CA – Santa Fe, NM – Sarasota, FL – Seattle, WA – St. Louis, MO – South Bend, IN – Syracuse, NY – Tampa, FL – Trenton, NJ – Washing D.C. – Wichita, KS – Winston-Salem, NC.

Plus I believe somewhere between 600 and 800 cities around the world are currently being occupied by their citizens. This is a watershed moment for planet Earth – the poor folk who outnumber the rich are finally putting their foot down saying enough damage to Mother Earth, enough stealing from us.

Here’s a list of items that the Public Square occupiers need. Drop them off anytime during the day.

Mats, pillows, blankets, cardboard
Wash laundry
Tents & tarps
Hand sanitizer
Toilet paper
Coffee cups, drinking glasses
Large insulated containers to keep hot water hot
Socks
Towels
Food
Tupperware
Cooler ice
Walkie talkies
If needed, cook food before you bring it
Vegetarian dishes
Any food donations always welcome
Water proof storage bins
Long underwear
Warm clothes

You can check out what’s going on via the Occupy Cleveland main page occupycleveland.com and the Occupy Cleveland Facebook page is here facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Cleveland/154591897968793.

Group Text Messaging – Want to stay up to date with from the front updates? Text FREEDOM to 443322 to subscribe to our mass messaging list.

You can also search on Occupy Earth, Occupy America, and Occupy Everywhere for more info.

And finally, here’s an encouraging news item about the occupiers getting the approval of the Cleveland City Council:

#OccupyCleveland occupied the hallowed chambers of City Hall this evening. Personally invited by Councilman Brian Cummins of Ward 14, members of the group received a tour of the grounds and sat in on a City Council meeting that turned out to be mainly about them. The group received a rousing round of applause, as well as the endorsements of many key Council members.

Councilman Cummins made sure to highlight the group’s excellent working relationship with the Cleveland Police Department and its relentless commitment to the consensus process. Councilman Jay Westbrook of Ward 16 expressed his delight to see such a diverse group engaging in their First Amendment rights. Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell of Ward 6 said that she is inspired by the way the movement is engaging in democracy. Councilman Zach Reed of Ward 2 stressed that Cleveland is an important place to see this movement prosper. He was especially impressed with #OccupyCleveland’s steadfast dedication to nonviolence and peaceable assembly.

Mayor Frank Jackson was also in attendance, seen shaking hands and smiling for #OccupyCleveland’s live feed of the event. The group later received endorsements from Council President Martin Sweeney of Ward 18, Councilman Matt Zone of Ward 15 and Councilman Joe Cimperman of Ward 3. All in all, City Hall seemed pretty excited. One Councilman was even heard singing John Lennon’s “Power to the People” in the hallways after the meeting.

The trumpet of support sounding from City Hall could not come at a more crucial moment for Clevelanders taking part in #OccupyCleveland. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission meets Wednesday morning to discuss whether to grant #OccupyCleveland permission to set up camp on the monument’s quadrant of Public Square. With any luck, the backing of City Hall will work in the group’s favor.

#OccupyCleveland’s current camp leaves them vulnerable to poor weather conditions. Forecasters expect the recent spate of pleasant weather to come to an end sometime around mid-week. The demonstrators hope to set up more substantial shelter before the cold and rain make their presence felt. Despite the group’s excellent track record of cleanliness and nonviolence, they are concerned about the long-term health and safety of their members. A more favorable location would go a long way toward ensuring their well-being. Most importantly, it would afford #OccupyCleveland room for the growth necessary to sustain a movement for positive social change.

- from shespeaksup via the Forums

Base camp Occupy Cleveland day 8 – foto by Smith