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Igloos at Davos as Occupy WEF begins

vast minority | 24.01.2012 07:31

ANTI-CAPITALIST igloos have been built in Switzerland at a protest camp against the World Economic Forum.

Occupy WEF says on its website that it has contructed five of the ice homes at Davos, plus a couple of yurts and a field kitchen.

It adds: "Every year, self-proclaimed 'global leaders' allegedly committed to improving the state of the world meet up for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss mountains to propagate their own businesses and network amongst the so-called global economic elite.

"This year, we will not let them exclude us, the 99%! We say: occupy WEF!"

The protesters re calling for people to join them in Switzerland for a week of protests - updates via their Twitter account - @Occupy_WEF.

A video of the igloos being built can be seen below.

vast minority
- Homepage: http://vastminority.blogspot.com/2012/01/occupy-wef-build-igloos-at-davos.html

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Under prepared I think

24.01.2012 15:38

It seems they have already had to be dug out by the Swiss police after their igloos collapsed shortly after construction. Maybe some sort of training would have been a good idea.

Eskimo Nell

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Under-referenced perhaps?

24.01.2012 16:57

Been looking for news of the alleged igloo collapse but can't find anything. Could you provide a link, Eskimo Nell? Otherwise cynical people will think you are making it up.

Anon

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Still waiting...

25.01.2012 07:35

... for some evidence from 'Eskimo Nell' to back up his/her claim. Better hurry up, or it will look like state trolls plant fake comments on this site just to spread disinformation and undermine morale....
Meanwhile, here is a video report on the protests:
 http://www.euronews.net/2012/01/25/occupy-protesters-dig-in-at-davos/

Anon

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Simple google search

25.01.2012 08:14

I'm surprised you couldn't find the reference to the collapsing igloos and the work of the local Swiss cops to save them, a simple google search would have given you all the information you needed.

The site you are looking for is www.google.co.uk

Here is an example of a search I did

 http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/23/business/davos-in-numbers/index.html

Eskimo Nell

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,,. reveals you are lying!

25.01.2012 10:25

The story you link to contains nothing about collapsing igloos. Eskimo Nell, you have revealed yourself to be a liar. Now fuck off.

Anon

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I'm sorry that was hard for you.

25.01.2012 13:24

I'm sorry you found following url links and and the use of Google too challenging, perhaps you have a friend who can help you ?

Why not try the BBC, they also covered it in their lunchtime broadcast or alternatively one of the other many forms of media that are available.

Have a good day.

Eskimo Nell

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Please be careful

25.01.2012 13:31

Regretfully poorly constructed igloos fail with regularity, over in Canada where my sister lives they see deaths every year from well meaning parents building them for their children.
 http://www.1310news.com/news/national/article/193620--igloo-collapse-kills-man
I hope the guys at Davos are ok and they can rebuild.

Good luck to them

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Igloo collapse

25.01.2012 14:15

There's a report here on Rueters, looks like one activist was briefly buried but was dug out by a unit of something called the Brigata Fanteria Montagna, a part of the Swiss Army after about twenty minutes. The same soldiers have been offering advice to igloo builders to protect them from other collapses.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-davos-occupy-idUSTRE80F11B2012011

bill

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Still no link

25.01.2012 14:55

Reuters link above doesn't work. Of course it's possible for an igloo to collapse, but there still seems to be no verification for this claim. Unless someone knows better?

Anti-capitalist

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Troll alert

25.01.2012 15:25

You have been given three clear links that work well, previous posters have reacted politely to your unpleasant accusations and a simple search with any major internet search engine clearly shows the event took place.

I suggest you are a Troll that is attempting to wind people up for reasons of your own.

Why not go away and play somewhere else ?

bill

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There will be no link

25.01.2012 15:25

Its clearly a troll - if it was widely reported then google would have a link by now.

Just ignore it.

disinformation designed to waste your time

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"then google would have a link by now"

25.01.2012 15:36

You mean this one ?

 http://blogs.wsj.com/davos/2012/01/24/occupy-protesters-build-igloo-camp-at-davos/?mod=google_news_blog

or this one

 http://www.bloomberg.com/video/84809556/ a video of the collapse

or this

 http://www.cnbc.com/id/46114389

Link provider

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Igloo collapse, everyone is ok

25.01.2012 16:11

Regretfully two of the igloos did collapse and some people were trapped, after a lot of pleading with the Swiss police whose attitude to the protest I am told is to ignore it a specialist team arrived and the comrades were extracted. After the escape the police attempted to intimidate the activists by suggesting they did not sleep in the other igloos, advice that will be ignored. Look-outs are being posted on all igloos in case the fall was sabotage by persons unknown.

The shameful reaction of the Swiss police is not responding to the emergency was reported by email to Swiss police headquarters but unsurprisingly there has been no response. Other activists may well wish to make clear there feelings (politely) by contacting them on Tel. +41 31 323 11 23

Friend of someone at Davos protest

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OK so it did happen

25.01.2012 16:48

I still think you should fuck off though....

Anon

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..Aslo

25.01.2012 16:52

Eskimo Nell, you can fuck off as well, you patronizing little shit.

Anon

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Intimidation ?

25.01.2012 17:09

"After the escape the police attempted to intimidate the activists by suggesting they did not sleep in the other igloos,"

I'm not sure they were trying to intimidate those in the igloos, it sounds more like they were trying to save their lives. If there is another collapse, this time at night when everyone is asleep then people are going to die !

Allen

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It didn't happen

26.01.2012 07:24

Just for the record, none of the links posted above refer to any igloo collapse (check them out for yourselves) and the various comments appearing to confirm that it happened are clearly all written by the same troll. Although it hardly matters anyway in this instance, it's important to be aware of how they operate.

Troll-hunter

Not sure what the motivation is

26.01.2012 08:24

Out of idol curiosity I searched for "igloo collapse at Davos" and got thousands of hits, mostly from news organisations but also from a couple of blogs so clearly it happened and clearly lots of people have read about it. This begs the question why is the troll here trying to pretend it did not and that leads us on to the whole internet phenomena of trolling.

Wikipedia defines a troll as,
"someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response".
I think however that Indymedia trolling is subtly different in many cases with people trolling to divert attention from events or sow the seeds of doubt.

Here we have a mildly embarrassing minor failure (an igloo collapsed) but instead of admitting it, having a bit of a laugh and moving on to the key reasons why the people are there the troll tries to maintain that the collapse never happened presumably because he is one of those who built a bad igloo and has had his pride shaken. Either way the bigger message of why the protesters are there is being lost admit much posting and counter posting.
I don't claim to have the answers but the subject deserves wider debate.

Vaguely interested bystander

Neither am I

26.01.2012 10:23

"Out of idol curiosity I searched for "igloo collapse at Davos" and got thousands of hits, mostly from news organisations but also from a couple of blogs so clearly it happened and clearly lots of people have read about it"

I have now found ONE article which talks of an igloo collapsing at Davos. According to google te article was posted 14 hours ago:

"Despite the biggest snow dump in decades, one day’s five degree high collapsed an igloo while a protestor was sleeping inside. Apparently it only sunk five centimeters at a time, and created entertainment rather than panic.
Indeed, the mood around this protest is upbeat, with Armenian cognac, cigarettes and two teepees heated by wood fired furnaces (hired at a cost of CHF1,600) on hand to keep people warm. But the message, inspired by the global Occupy movement, is serious.".
 http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/25/warm-response-at-icy-occupy-protests/

It doesn't tell us which day this was, but it does tell a very different story to the previous claims:

eg: "There's a report here on Rueters, looks like one activist was briefly buried but was dug out by a unit of something called the Brigata Fanteria Montagna, a part of the Swiss Army after about twenty minutes. The same soldiers have been offering advice to igloo builders to protect them from other collapses.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-davos-occupy-idUSTRE80F11B2012011"

and

"It seems they have already had to be dug out by the Swiss police after their igloos collapsed shortly after construction. Maybe some sort of training would have been a good idea."

and:

"Regretfully two of the igloos did collapse and some people were trapped, after a lot of pleading with the Swiss police whose attitude to the protest I am told is to ignore it a specialist team arrived and the comrades were extracted."

So, one report saying that a sudden rise in the temperature caused one igloo to collapse slowly and without panic has appeared after claims on the uk that police had to spend 20 minutes digging out one of more protesters because of badly constructed igloos.

So why the lies?



troll patrol

Not convinced

26.01.2012 10:51

"I have now found ONE article"

Really ? Just the one ?

Have you ever used a search engine before ?

Grown up

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Don't feed the Trolls please 'Grown Up'

26.01.2012 12:54

He has been trolling this thread almost since the beginning with his claims that the collapse and rescue didn't take place. Do please ignore him as he is clearly a sad lonely individual who is replacing his failed sex life with internet activity.

Troll catcher

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IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Igloo collapse, everyone is ok

26.01.2012 14:53

Regretfully two of the igloos did collapse and some people were trapped, after a lot of pleading with the Swiss police whose attitude to the protest I am told is to ignore it a specialist team arrived and the comrades were extracted. After the escape the police attempted to intimidate the activists by suggesting they did not sleep in the other igloos, advice that will be ignored. Look-outs are being posted on all igloos in case the fall was sabotage by persons unknown.

The shameful reaction of the Swiss police is not responding to the emergency was reported by email to Swiss police headquarters but unsurprisingly there has been no response. Other activists may well wish to make clear there feelings (politely) by contacting them on Tel. +41 31 323 11 23

Friend of someone at Davos protest

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