a little less hysteria, a few more facts please

Story: Boycott Novell Protestors Manhandled at National Free Software ConferenceTotal Replies: 9
Author Content
tuxchick

Nov 16, 2008
4:00 PM EDT
All this shrieking about "man-handling" is unsupported. The photos don't show anything but crowds of people standing around talking, and you can't even tell who the alleged victim is. The last thing we need is yet more unsubstantiated hysteria over being all victimized by big bad evil corporations.
tracyanne

Nov 16, 2008
4:31 PM EDT
Even if the protesters were man-handled, that fact still doesn't add anything to the legitimacy of the unsubstantiated claims made by Roy and the gang.
azerthoth

Nov 16, 2008
6:41 PM EDT
Define manhandled, from those pics it looked as if everyone was civilized. IIRC manhandling someone requires physically touching someone, or is this another case of "What are you doing?", "HEEELP I'm being repressed".
dinotrac

Nov 16, 2008
8:05 PM EDT
From the pictures I saw, some genuine manhandling took place, but...

The facts matter.

If you have been requested to leave private property or to cease breaking the rules of a private event (note -- a "public" event by private parties is a private event in this context) you can be asked to leave -- or cease what you are doing.

If you refuse, you must -- must -- accept the consquences of your act. If you do not know that property owners have the right to remove trespassers, then you shouldn't be there. If you can't figure out that removing trespassers who will not leave after being ordered to do so requires manhandling (ie, taking somebody and escorting, even dragging, them out), then you understand nothing about freedom.

Freedom is not a license to do anything you please any time with no consequences. Your freedom is constrained by the freedom of others, including their freedom to control their own property. It is legitimate and sometimes necessary to overstep the limits of your own freedom, but demeaning to your own cause to whine about suffering the natural consequences of your acts.

Activists in the American Civil Rights movement i(inspired by India's own Gandhi) often subjected themselves to arrest and worse, fully aware of the what they faced. Their willingness to suffer consequences, including, in some cases, murder, touched hearts around the nation, giving poignancy and power to their defiant acts.



tuxchick

Nov 16, 2008
10:06 PM EDT
There are a few new photos that weren't there before. One of them shows someone being escorted out by police. It's still a stretch to call it manhandling, which means being rougher than necessary. Of course over-literal geeks can interpret it as "handling a man", but while that is literally true I don't believe that's the intent here :)

Rhetorical question: should anyone be surprised that the protesters were removed?
jdixon

Nov 16, 2008
10:09 PM EDT
> ...should anyone be surprised that the protesters were removed?

No. They were undoubtedly disrupting the event. And they were probably even asked to leave before being removed.
jacog

Nov 17, 2008
3:58 AM EDT
I am trying hard here to refrain from making a post that would basically result in the invocation of Godwin's Law, but with so many things going on in the world, is there nothing else these folks can go protest about??

Actually, they remind me of something. My wife used to be an NPR journalist, and she had to go cover an anti-war protest that happened a block or so from the radio station. That protest was the saddest, most pathetic display of BS. Basically, it was evident that the people protesting were only there because it made them feel important, and the entire thing was there to be self-congratulatory.

And corny too! They had a corny song, and one of the protest leaders showed my wife the refreshments table, proudly pointed at the chocolate-vanilla cupcakes and said: "These... are MULTI-RACIAL cupcakes!", which resulted in a term we use now to describe people who like to advertise how they want to make the world a better place, when in fact they are only seeking glory and praise. Multi-racial Cupcake People... we salute you... notsomuch.

There are causes worth fighting for, and these need their champions, but don't do so with blind aggravation or false motives. It helps nothing. In a lot of cases, the only real weapon to fight these battles with, is truth. Endeavour to know the truth yourself, and to show others the truth.

Don't fling poo.
machiner

Nov 17, 2008
8:56 AM EDT
If you don't think the idea of fighting for liberty and freedom is important then you better avoid my neck of the woods ;)

That said, looks like a bunch of pansies boo-hooing to me. The thing that really irks me is that you have a bunch of ex-90lb-weaklings in the open source world but you have all the bullies and jocks in the proprietary world. lol, it's an unfair observation, I know.

Maybe.

People said "Oh, my, what an animal that chair-throwing Microsoft guy is" right before they wet their pants with glee from the primal excitement of it.

People like winners not crybabies. People flock to and embrace winners, doers, someone that would break your fingers for poking at them. Hey, man -- I'm not advocating viloence, get over yourself, I am advocating a little less pansy, though.
jacog

Nov 17, 2008
9:29 AM EDT
Quoting:If you don't think the idea of fighting for liberty and freedom is important then you better avoid my neck of the woods


That aimed at moi? I think you misunderstood my post. Of course one should fight for important things like that... but my point was, once one starts hopping onto causes for all the wrong reasons, and in the wrong ways, one likely will end up hurting the cause more than helping it. (actually maybe this was not aimed at me, not sure how I gave the impression that I don't approve of fighting for causes - ? anyone??)

And I think I have been to your neck of the woods. If you stop on the sidewalk to have a conversation with someone you passed by... in some places, chances are you might find a cop advising you to stop loitering. Go freedom!
machiner

Nov 17, 2008
12:30 PM EDT
aucun il n'a pas été visé spécifiquement vous. And I can do nothing but agree with what you write in your last post.

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