Discussion: Istanbul: Before the Tear Gas

TPM Article Topics
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Discussion for article #222216

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“Now, to buy a ticket, a fan must first purchase a special debit card displaying his or her photo and identifying information. If he chants political slogans, he can be tracked.”

Color me innocent but how does this card know someone chants a political slogan?

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A comprehensive, rather depressing view of modern Turkey. It scares me that they are a part of our defense structure. It is as if they have absorbed every authoritarian trick under the sun, and want them all.

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Beautiful illustrations…Interesting story that I’ll reread.

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I have friends in Istanbul and have visited several times as recently as a couple of months ago when I had a long layover on my way to some other part of the world.

This was an interesting read and had relevance to me as I know my friend has been supportive of the protests. I didn’t press whether she participated or not when I noticed an uncharacteristic reticense to discuss it.

Years ago my friend bought me a biography of Ataturk in English that had been released - it was fascinating reading - http://www.amazon.com/Ataturk-Biography-founder-Modern-Turkey/dp/158567334X

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It’s a lot easier to check video of fans chanting slogans in the stadium against the faces of people who bought tickets in a particular section than against, say, the entire driver’s license database or some other huge, not-necessarily complete file.

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As I posted to Josh in Prime . . .

[quote=“OldenGoldenDecoy, post:5, topic:2483”]
Excellent piece . . .[/quote]

For someone who experienced first-hand the OWS days and the clearing out of occupiers on November 29, 2001 at the city hall grounds in Los Angeles her words caused the tension in my gut that I felt back then.
Molly Crabapple wrote:

They destroyed everything - the trees protesters planted, the art, the scrawled poetry. They scrubbed the park like they were a parent soaping defiant words from the mouth of a child.

I remember the night Bloomberg cleared Zuccotti Park of Occupy Wall Street. There is universal vindictiveness to the way governments destroy mini protest cities. They speak of them as disease vectors - as dirt.

Amidst the tents, there grows something so dangerous that power must allow no seeds to remain.

[link]

Thanks Molly… for the indepth coverage…

~OGD~

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Serious reporting and great writing.

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Here is some coverage of the days events.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/01/us-turkey-protests-idUSBREA4005520140501

~OGD~