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I've just received an email saying that Spiderman is still up there. The mobile work platform has gone, but it seems the media after having a go at him. The BBC is apparently saying that the police should end it, and Talk Sport radio is saying that any means necessary should be used up to and including the army to stop it. All this seems to revolve around the police insisting on closing the road. Spiderman has assured them he will not go on the road end of the crane, but they say the crane top is freely rotating and he could fall. (He does have the crane cab to stay in). One could suspect the police are quite happy with the propaganda of closing a very busy road, especially if it brings psychological pressure on Spiderman, and the media has got an excuse to ignore the issue and concentrate on a side effect rather than the protest.
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by Anonymous User on Tuesday November 04, @11:20AM EST (#7)
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I agree totally the whole congestion situation has been created by the police, they are happy to let a gunman in east london stay put for as long as he likes, close the street, take him free food, give him a phone and let family visit him - only for him to turn the gun on himself. But a legitimate protest is turned around. - As a Journalist many News International (Sun, Times News of the World) staff use tower bridge, thats why they are pissed off! NS.
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Go Spiderman! Creative way of getting media attention and raise public awareness worldwide. Yes, the media will try to avoid the topic but if he plays his cards right they won't be able to. We all need to start thinking like spidey.
Standyourground Forums
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by Anonymous User on Monday November 03, @01:25PM EST (#3)
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"Creative way of getting media attention ....."
Well, it would be if we had a proper media. Unfortunately, the femedia is simply going to ignore it (as it does with all mens rights protests).
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Hey, the message got this far didn't it? This is success. Surely the fathers4justice group in England is having success with their creative protests. Keep up the good work. My hat is off to them. They are leading us in an important battle.
Standyourground Forums
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I agree this is the way forward. I've just added this to the Men's Hour Blog where I point out that there's a fine line between being a disruptive protester, which can get through to some extent, and being a nuisance.
"Spiderman caught in a web of police politics and traffic jams, still defiant or the X-Men and Thunderbirds could be here before you know it"
Spiderman, now named as David Chick, remains on a crane near the Tower Bridge. Police politics are playing a role.
The police insist they have to block off the Tower Bridge in case David Chick should fall or throw something off the crane. David has assured them he won't. The resulting traffic jams have annoyed commuters. The BBC London news is here. The report on Spiderman starts about 30 seconds in and lasts about 2-3 minutes. Real Video. (This will change in a matter of hours to a new bulletin) Car drivers quotes include
"He should be brought down one way or another"
"Get him down. Drag him out."
One sympathetic quote was in an earlier news bulletin. "He's got something to say. It's one way of saying it"
It also means fans of the Tower Bridge have a rare view of it without traffic.
Even a former Government minister has added "That man can jump 20 feet, but the police have put out a cordon which is really bringing the whole of east London to a halt."
Spiderman cordon criticised
It's strange if they don't trust David Chick because in June he did a similar protest Dad's 200ft crane protest. He apparently only came down because certain promises were made by the police, but not kept. The police continue to try to talk him down. 'Spiderman' protester still causing traffic headaches although hearing "The man would be arrested when he came down" probably doesn't help any.
There's a good article in the Times The heights of despair which includes some good quotes from Matt O'Connor, Fathers 4 Justice founder, "They (Fathers-4-Justice) cite a statistic from the Lord Chancellor’s Department that, in 2001, of 55,030 contact orders issued, half were broken." and "We have people queuing up to be arrested. We have people queuing up to go up cranes. I can think of 50 or 60 dads off the top of my head who would do the same thing.”
The police seem quite happy to close off the road when some say there's no real danger. Indeed we recently had magician David Blaine sitting in a transparent box for 44 days and that included traffic problems and that was only for self-publicity. It would be unkind, but fun, to debate who is less sane, David Blaine or David Chick. The BBC London news item, whilst reporting the criticism of the police for not opening he road, interviews car drivers about traffic jams, with only a passing reference to father's rights. My suggestion for down on the ground for future protests is to have leaflets distributed explaining the protest for commuters and crowd and also even the police. The BBC interviewed David Chick and didn't transmit a word of it. (I tried to get an interview and would have put all of it here, but I didn't get an interview).
The conclusion about the present news must be that fathers groups like fathers-4-justice have to protest in some non-violent but disruptive action like this. No protest means no voice for people the government and courts would rather go away. The very fact that the term "father's rights" was heard spoken on TV by a government minister only last week, following the F4J March, "The Rising", means that fathers groups can no longer see writing to your MP as a way of getting father's rights, especially as they've been doing that for decades. However do anything that can be seen as wrong or suspect and the protester can get all the blame. A fine line has to be taken between getting your message across in spite of disinterested or hostile media and just being seen as a nuisance.
Raymond Cuttill
menshour@menshour.com
Men's Hour Blog - http://wolves.typepad.com/menshour
Men's Hour - http://www.menshour.com
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The conclusion about the present news must be that fathers groups like fathers-4-justice have to protest in some non-violent but disruptive action like this. No protest means no voice for people the government and courts would rather go away.
Fathers4Justice is to be commended world wide. We need more disruptive groups like this and more individuals that are in a position to cause these disruptions. If we couple that with legal means it will most certainly help the men's movement.
GO SPIDY GO!
Warble
Disclaimer: My statements are intended to be personal opinion, belief, sarcasm, or allegation.
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by Anonymous User on Tuesday November 04, @08:02PM EST (#8)
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And I've just seen his protest on SKY news.
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I think that what he is doing is great. I do agree with an idea mentioned earlier. The next time a man does something like this, he should have pals pass out leaflets to the commuters to better educate the public. What Mr. Chick is doing is peaceful civil disobedience and its very respectable. He didn't threaten himself or another, he didn't do something spiteful or vengeful, he climbed up on a crane (probably knowing full well that he WILL be arrested when he comes down) due to the love for his child. It's really screwed up that if a woman did that, IMHO, a movie of the week would be made: "Standing for Love of a Child". The more I think of what he is doing the more I have to give him the nod for doing something silently eloquent. A motivated father who loves his children and will face jail, scorn, and ridicule is a hero.
oh, GO SPIDER MAN !!!!!
(lol, HAD to toss that in)
Peace
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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I'm afraid it's over, but it's made it's point.
I've just posted this on the Men's Hour Blog
Spiderman has ended his crane protest. He took some minutes to climb down and was then arrested. Apparently for aggravated trespass and public nuisance charges. The police are talking about five million pounds (about eight million dollars) cost for the whole protest. One newspaper is talking five million a day. This is strange when the police were previously talking
10 thousand pounds (about `16 thousand dollars) a day. I expect estimated lost business ahs been added in, but even so it sounds incredibly high. Telegraph report here.
There should be a lot on the news later. Some quite negative, some may actually touch on the issues. I shall report on that later on, and hope to have more video.
Already one news report is talking about the cost being 60 million pounds (about 100 millions dollars). (Even if true, about the price of one tank)
Thanks to Dave Ellison for this - His site
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