San Francisco puts the ‘X’ back in Xmas: Occupying human rights for naked Santas

What do the Occupy movement, foreskins, an ice rink, international human rights and the world’s largest gathering of naked Santa Clauses have to do with each other? Under normal circumstances, nothing — but this is San Francisco after all, where anything is possible, so come along on a guided photographic tour of several separate socio-political events that inevitably overlapped and coalesced into an unforgettable political mashup.

It’s not often that one must wear a Santa costume as part of one’s job, but on Saturday, December 10 that moment had finally arrived for me: I suited up and made my way to San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza, where I hoped to blend in with the rest of the protesters and revelers on this Santa-themed day....

Zombie is wonderful:

I had a little time to kill so I went to check out the protest’s sole Occupy tent and the only game in town: an “Anti-Oppression Workshop.” If you’ve ever wondered what gets “taught” at “workshops” like these, the answer is: Nothing. From my experience, the protesters just pick some topic — in this case, Haiti — and spend a hour nodding in agreement as each person in the circle whines about their feelings of how horribly America treats [topic in question]. At this Haitian-themed Anti-Oppression Workshop, none of the rants or criticisms were consistent or made coherent points. Some people complained that America didn’t help Haiti enough after its 2010 earthquake; others complained that America practically “invaded” the country and that our response was too overwhelming and “militaristic.” One person said that Haiti needs democracy to get back on its feet; someone else said that Haiti’s newly elected president Michel Martelly was “a vile human being” and that “he shouldn’t have been elected.” Another person described the horrors of mass rapes in the aftermath of the earthquake and how no one stopped them; but then someone else said that the police and the military were “shooting people dead in the street” after the earthquake and that the response was “fascistic.” And round and round it went, with each complaint contradicting the previous one, and no one seeming to notice. Nod. Nod.

Down twinkles on rationality!

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