Occupy Sesame Street

There's something inevitable about Tautr's "Occupy Sesame Street" set, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. After all, most of us learned how to think about concepts like "fairness" from these characters.

(Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Occupy Sesame Street Gets Violent [tauntr.com]

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Copyfight • Funny • muppets • occupy wall street • politics • sesame street • shooped

More at Boing Boing

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The Snowden Principle

Chrs

I have to say, Bert would be the last character out protesting.
Mark Dow

Don’t tase me Gro’.
phisrow

So, does anybody have the voice required to do an explanation of over-leveraged and incestuous banking systems entirely in the voice of the Count?

Unfortunately, given his tendency to count by ones, you might be there for a few billion years…
http://www.mrericsir.com MrEricSir

Obligatory Cookie Monster image:
OldBrownSquirrel

I’ve seen Bert at protests before, back in Bangladesh, sharing placard space with Osama bin Laden.
BarBarSeven

I want to see an officer Tony Bologna Muppet!
cstatman

everyone knows Bert is Evil http://www.bertisevil.tv/
Kerns Lane

Hmmmm.

Since when does Cory cover memes? Thought that was Xeni’s domain.

Also, Boing Boing has been covering Occupy Wall Street pretty obsessively, and, as someone who lives in New York, I have to ask the question: Have any of you been to Occupy Wall Street? Have you seen any of the completely self-indulgent, self-gratifying, STUPID campaigning for causes that will never hold sway in the US that is happening there? I want so badly to believe in this “occupation”, but the fact is, without violent insurrection, there will never be a sea change in our government, the degree to which these people are calling for. Most of the media has been covering the injustice against protesters by the police–which I’m not arguing isn’t injustice–but this takes away focus from everything that is on the list of demands. Granted, that list is rather long, cumbersome, and unlikely to be taken seriously by anyone with a law degree, public office, or a job. But seriously, these cops are getting overtime for this, and you are slamming them for that? Who, after taking a job as a cop and sacrificing some degree of their own integrity, wouldn’t take some fucking overtime?! I know I would, if I didn’t think that my becoming a cop would be completely betraying everything I believe in. Let’s be a little bit more pragmatic about the situation here, please. After all, isn’t it incredibly ironic that so may trust-fund babies will go out and protest, while so many policemen are just doing their jobs to support their families?

The media is going to kill this movement, and that is precisely why I am not supporting it. Pepper spray and plastic hand-ties are nothing. You want a revolution? Then there will be deaths. And beatings. And rapes. And torture. No way around it. Sorry Boing Boing, but your coverage of this has made me really reconsider your standing as a reputable new source on the web.
- BarBarSeven
  
  You want a revolution? Then there will be deaths. And beatings. And rapes. And torture. No way around it.
  
  Funny, but from what I heave seen—and I am in NYC—the “Occupy Wall Street” folks are doing quite well and getting a larger support base as each day goes on without having to resort to “deaths”, “beatings”, “rape” & “torture.”
  
  … your standing as a reputable new source on the web.
  
  They are not a “new” source at all. They have been around since 1995.
  - Mister44
    
    I think he meant “news” source.
    - BarBarSeven
      
      Yah, but what about the death, beatings, rape & torture? Is there a Snuffleupagus in the room or what!
  - habbi1974
    
    sure they are doing well and getting bigger, as sure as they haven’t met a single fraction of a goal. I think what Kerns Lane means was, unless you go libyan, it all won’t be much different to the movement of spanisn “indignados”, who spent four months in the streets and their outcome was… er… ?
- Ashen Victor
  
  “Then there will be deaths. And beatings. And rapes. And torture.”
  
  Yea, like there are nothing like that now in the U.S. …
- z7q2
  
  I don’t think the message is that important right now. What is important is that many people are motivated enough by the situation to live in the streets in a sustained manner and disrupt the system to get whatever message out. And, that the number of people willing to do this seems to be growing, at least for now. Winter is coming.
- Melinda9
  
  Have you seen any of the completely self-indulgent, self-gratifying, STUPID campaigning for causes that will never hold sway in the US that is happening there? I want so badly to believe in this “occupation”, but the fact is, without violent insurrection, there will never be a sea change in our government, the degree to which these people are calling for.
  
  I’ve started seeing this reasoning lately – don’t demand any substantial change because rape, torture, beatings and death will be the result. In other words, don’t make trouble and don’t challenge the people who hold the power or we’ll all have to see the kind of country we really live in, and it’s not exactly the land of the free.
- myke
  
  Off reply, but shouldn’t that be picture of Miss Piggy getting pepper sprayed?
  
  I want so badly to believe in this “occupation”, but the fact is, without violent insurrection, there will never be a sea change in our government, the degree to which these people are calling for….Pepper spray and plastic hand-ties are nothing. You want a revolution? Then there will be deaths. And beatings. And rapes. And torture. No way around it. Sorry Boing Boing, but your coverage of this has made me really reconsider your standing as a reputable new source on the web.
  
  I’m not sure that’s true. Although maybe it’s because I too just want to believe. Even though our politics are largely controlled by moneyed interests (corporations and the top .5%-1% of population), It’s still because money buys votes for politicians. If a large enough group of the population gets together, the politicians will blow with the wind. There will be money (i.e. advertising and media) pushing heavily against any such protest, but the politicians go where they believe the votes are. If the votes support politicians that would get money out of politics, clean up wall street (i.e. jail time, break up banks, etc.) and provide modern medical care (i.e. like other modern western countries that provide medical care for all) regardless of the massive amounts of advertising, media and moneyed interests against it, most of the same politicians we have now (with certainly a few exceptions) would vote that way. Their interest is to get elected. Votes are their goal and they consider money the way to get them. But if large enough number of voters stand up regardless of money, the politicians will follow.I am of split mind on this. I am somewhat cynical this will happen. But I’m optimistic it can. And it could happen without much violence. It just requires people standing up, supporting those ideas, and voting for them. Perhaps as humans and as a country we are too easily controlled by advertising and we will in essence, get what we deserve. I’d like to think that’s not the case.
  
  The media is going to kill this movement, and that is precisely why I am not supporting it.
  
  I guess I don’t get this. For me, this seems like precisely the reason to support it.
  - myke
    
    BTW, I did have actual syntax in my reply above that got lost by the downgraded posting system. How about a preview or some real instructions or something?, sigh. Anyway sorry for the single gigantic paragraph.
- Navin_Johnson
  
  It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians [boing boing commenters] and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.
  
  The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is.
  
  Panic of the Plutocrats
- Guest
  
  We get it, you don’t care. Blah blah buzzkill. Whatever already.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PipLagenta Pip_R_Lagenta

“…Bert would be the last character out protesting.”

That was before the bank foreclosed on his house by using forged documents.
Mister44

Bert was holding a sign protesting that his medical coverage doesn’t extend to his partner.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CY3E6VZEHL7NRQGUXXHUF6XCAI EMF

This is great.