tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72821367541025942352024-03-18T20:43:36.216-07:00ErgoatErgoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-74857330871876984312020-06-18T13:32:00.000-07:002020-06-18T13:32:07.708-07:00Defund the Police OaklandBlack Lives Matter<br /><br />Defund the Police<br /><br />Restart the General Assemblies<br /><br /><br />From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has been out in the streets the past three weeks since George Floyd Was lynched by the police: your bravery in direct action has forever, irrevocably shifted the way the USA thinks about the police and the injustice system. We are changing the world. <br /><br />As an Oakland street activist from the Oscar Grant Uprisings in 2009, to Occupy in 2012, Black Lives Matter in 2015, up to this day, my hard earned experience leads me to believe a crucial next step forward is for urban hubs around the country to have public General Assemblies. This is so we can better strategize and coordinate our next efforts, get more community engagement from people who can’t be at the barricades night after night, and have direct democratic decision making and accountability in how our movement resources are spent moving forward.<br /><br />And as an Oakland blue collar union worker I strongly believe the tactics we should be collectively organizing towards are series of sustained solidarity General Strikes, wildcat or otherwise: in other words, to withhold our labor to shut the system down until our demands of Defunding the Police State are met, and how we can together think about what kind of just world we want to refund and build in its stead.<br /><br />…<br /><br />Some people remember General Assemblies from Occupy Wall Street. Let me be clear, I’m not advocating we bring back Occupy, as that movement had many flaws that we don’t need to repeat.<br /><br />But:<br /><br />At Occupy Oakland’s best, I remember activists, organizers, union workers from longshoremen to teachers to nurses, and community members numbering in the thousands rallying at Oscar Grant Plaza for General Assembly after Scott Olsen was near-fatally shot by police during a protest, and we all participated in direct democracy in planning our next steps. Withins short hours, we collectively voted at 98% in favor of shutting down the Port of Oakland in response. Within six days, 100,000 of us marched and shut down the port in a sort of General Strike, the first of its kind in the USA since 1947. We can achieve that level of action again; we can do even better.<br /><br />And while we are talking about past movements:<br /><br />Black Lives Matter.<br /><br />As a slogan, it’s beautiful. Shout it in the streets. Shout it from the rooftops. Over and over again until white supremacy crumbles.<br /><br />As a tactic, Black Lives Matter meant responding to another police lynching of a black person by marching onto a local freeway… and wait for other unelected movement “leaders” to negotiate with politicians about the same tepid police reforms that haven’t worked for decades.<br /><br />As a call to action circa 2014-2016, Black Lives Matter was unable to pivot to support Indigenous, Hispanic, or victims of other ethnicities who were murdered by the police.. Such was the level of discourse. We can do better.<br /><br />As a movement (and as a brand), Black Lives Matter saw a tiny handful of leaders elevated to a position where they could regularly be seen on TV, other activists secured jobs at nonprofits, a handful of grifters took the money and ran; most of the street activists who propelled the movement forward beyond a hashtag saw little to no financial support. This was very poor for morale and tensions and discord grew. We can hope to do better.<br /><br />Black Lives Matter didn’t have General Assemblies to have a more horizontal leadership and transparent democratic decision making in who got the funds.<br /><br /><br />Occupy Wall Street, depending on which of the at one time 19,000 encampments across the country under its banner, either had no demands, or activists started making a list of every injustice in this country until the scope of the problems and injustices became so unwieldy people just fell back on a catchall slogan of “Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit.”<br /><br /><br />In contrast, Defund The Police has a very specific, actionable goal AND IT’S WORKING!!! <br /><br />Defund The Police General Assemblies can meet once or twice a week and connect various activist and community groups, and plug people into a movement who can’t otherwise engage in street protests. These GAs don’t necessarily have to be tethered to Autonomous Zones or Occupations (in fact it may be safer if they aren’t, for now). Like Occupy Oakland and other Occupies, each Defund The Police chapter can connect to a local 501c3, so donations can be transparent. The GAs can then collectively, democratically vote on how the funds are allocated to various committees and working groups.<br /><br />Some ideas of DTP working groups:<br /><br />Labor Solidarity groups that connect with workers, unionized or not, to plan for walkouts, work slow-downs, sick-outs, strikes and solidarity strikes, etc.<br /><br />Art Committees to make DIY posters and banners.<br /><br />Livestream Committees to coordinate and support activists who show up night after night to broadcast protests.<br /><br />Food Committees to not only feed people at GAs and protests, but the underprivileged, connecting with existing groups and building new ones.<br /><br />Trauma Support Committees: working groups to help activists deal with the stress that comes with facing police terror in the streets<br /><br />And so on.<br /><br /><br /><br />Occupy and BLM unfortunately built more cliques than community, and I hope we can do better moving forward.<br /><br />I hope people can see General Assemblies more than just long boring meetings with funny guidelines, but instead as a movement building tool so more people can participate in empowered direct democracy: this time with a unifying clear winnable goal of Defund The Police. And then whatever may come after.<br /><br /><br />And wrapping this up on a personal note: I’m a survivor of an abusive household growing up. This is a matter of public record, as the police got involved many times. And they never made the situation better, but always violently worse. So you could say I’ve been on Team Fuck The Police for a while now. <br /><br />Solidarity to all victims of police violence, and for those who are committed to fighting for a better world.<br /><br />I yield my time.<br /><br /><br />Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-62775616364795323402020-02-25T17:53:00.000-08:002020-02-25T17:54:36.713-08:00Democratic Debate: Swimsuit Edition![The other week I mused that the Democratic Debates are so ridiculous, they might as well have a Swimsuit Competition portion. So today I decided to run with that idea.]<br />
<br />
Diane: First up is the front-runner, Bernie Sanders. I'm predicting common trunks like those of the proletariat.<br />
Tom: Oh my, Bernie is wearing a Speedo! A bold choice, like his bold new vision for America.<br />
Diane: They certainly have a snug fit. [squinting] Yes, he definitely IS Jewish.<br />
Tom: You have to admire the support given to his droopy old-man sack. His balls squeezed in there seem to cry out "Not me: Us!"<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Diane: Next up is Pete Buttigieg, wearing a VERY revealing thong!<br />
Tom: Mayor Pete is packing that banana hammock!<br />
Diane: He is swaggering on the runway with that Big Dick "I won Iowa" Energy.<br />
Tom: Huh, he seems to be having a wardrobe malfunction.<br />
Diane: Wait! What is that?<br />
Tom: Diane, what appears to be a cucumber wrapped in tin-foil is falling out of Pete's swimwear.<br />
Diane: This kind of scandal can't help his campaign.<br />
Tom: Yes, like his victory in Iowa, Pete Buttigieg's genitalia is fraudulent.<br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
Diane: Now coming onto the walkway is former Vice President, Joe Biden.<br />
Tom: It looks like he's wearing a full body swimsuit.<br />
Diane: Like the aerodynamic ones Olympic swimmers wear?<br />
Tom: No, Diane. This appears to be an old-timey "bathing costume", last popularized by Charlie Chaplin in the 1920s.<br />
Diane: Someone needs to tell Joe that his swimwear, and his campaign needs to get with the "Modern Times".<br />
Tom: [off-microphone] ("At least we didn't have to see his sagging old man tits")<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Diane: And here comes Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar!<br />
Tom: She's wearing a purple one piece. Not a very inspiring choice.<br />
Diane: This certainly says something about her lack of vision.<br />
Tom: The crowd is clearly not impressed. They wanted something a little more dynamic.<br />
Diane: Who dressed her? Who thought this was a good idea?<br />
Tom: Diane, we can only pray for her campaign staff and advisors when Amy gets backstage and physically extracts her retribution for this folly.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Diane: Up next is former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.<br />
Tom: Diane, stop me if I'm wrong, but his walk seems a little frisky.<br />
Diane: Oooh, is he also wearing an old-timey bathing costume?<br />
Tom: Yes he is Diane. But unlike Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg isn't trying to hide sagging old man breasts. Rumor has it that Mike is covering up the vestigial demon growing out of his chest; that of course being part of the package deal along with selling his human soul to the Dark Lord for his first billion dollars.<br />
Diane: Now that you mention it Tom, a lump on his chest does seem to be squirming.<br />
Tom: And if you listen closely, you just might hear a mutant voice rasping something like "Quaid, start the reactor."<br />
Diane: People will surely get that reference.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Tom: Oh, Diane, we are getting word from backstage that Amy Klobuchar has run out of staplers to throw at her staff and now has moved on to the weightier three-hole puncher.<br />
Diane: One can only imagine the carnage.<br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
Tom: Lastly, here is Senator Elizabeth Warren.<br />
Diane: She's wearing what can only be considered to be the "granny panties" version of a two-piece.<br />
Tom: Unlike every other candidate tonight who either went barefoot, or wore some sort of beach sandal, Warren is wearing a pair of flip-flops.<br />
Diane: No further analogy can be derived from that choice of footwear, surely.<br />
Tom: Wait! Is something falling out of Elizabeth Warren's granny panties?<br />
Diane: Is she packing something like Pete Buttigieg?<br />
Tom: Yes, but it's not a cucumber. Oh this is hard to watch, but it appears a bottle of hot sauce is falling out.<br />
Diane: Wow.<br />
Tom: I'm having a hard time comprehending what I'm seeing right now. Yes, it is a bottle of hot sauce.<br />
Diane: I'm being told this was on the advice of Warren's senior campaign advisors, who were previously on Hillary Clinton's staff, that this stunt was to appeal to black voters.<br />
Tom: But didn't Clinton have the hot sauce in her purse?<br />
Diane: Yes, this seems to be a tragic case of mixed signals coming from the advisors.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Tom: The latest update from backstage is that there are medics on scene in Senator Klobuchar's office. If anyone in the audience has blood type AB positive, you are urgently needed for an emergency transfusion.<br />
Diane: Finally, we have Tom Steyer.<br />
Tom: Who cares?<br />
Diane: Good point, Tom. Thank you and good night America!<br />
<br />Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-18485494386357652072017-02-11T22:47:00.000-08:002017-02-11T22:47:12.042-08:00Countering the #AlternativeFacts, Lies, & Goddamn Lies of the #MiloAtCal #BerkeleyProtests, & the Next Steps<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Countering the #AlternativeFacts, Lies, & Goddamn Lies
of the #MiloAtCal #BerkeleyProtests, & the Next Steps</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">1. Intro</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">2. No Free Speech For Fascists!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">3. </span><span style="font-size: small;"></span>What Really Happened with the “Violent” Antifa?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. More On My Participation That Night</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5. Countering Some More Goddamn Lies and Wrapping Up </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6. Moving Forward: The Next Steps</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Let me start by saying this: After
nearly a decade of activism in the Bay Area that includes a countless number
marches, rallies, occupations and shutdowns where the state deployed riot cops
to brutally suppress protesters, to see AntiFa using Black Bloc tactics show up
at UC Berkeley and immediately start blasting the UCPD with fireworks forcing
them to retreat, tearing down the barricades and stopping <a href="http://imgur.com/gallery/5n5Tk" target="_blank">Actual Fucking Nazi</a>
Milo Yanagofuckyourself from speaking was not only a thing of beauty, but also
sweet, sweet vindication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore,
seeing the right wing fascist trolls who have been comfortably cheering on
police violence against peaceful protesters for years from their computers in
their basement cave dwellings finally have to show up in meatspace to bodily
defend their abhorrent views; to see them fail so spectacularly and get their
asses kicked to the curb, well, that was just icing on the cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Over a week has passed since that
night, and there have been a lot of takes on how the protest transpired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have been a few reportbacks that have been
radical cheerleading, but mostly have ranged from liberal handwringing to
rightwing condemnation to batshit insane conspiracy theories from “respectable”
political pundits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever critiques
one may have about the tactics or what have you, it is of primary importance that
this event was shut down, and <b>the protest was an overwhelming victory for the
Left</b>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>This excerpt from <a href="http://www.leftvoice.org/In-Support-of-the-Anti-Milo-Berkeley-Antifa-Action" target="_blank">Left Voice</a> concisely
explains why:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“But confronting fascists in the
manner which the antifa protesters did in Berkeley does not simply stop the
political far-right; it strengthens the political far-left. How? By sending a
signal to three groups of people. First, it puts the fascists on notice that
they will not be allowed to organize in public without a confrontation. This
threat dispirits and disorganizes fascists, which is exactly what the far-left
wants. Second, it builds the confidence of the far-left that it is capable of
defeating fascism. Third, it demonstrates to third parties — including many
that fascists would also like to persecute (e.g. racial, ethnic and religious
minorities, LGBTQI individuals, women, etc.) — that far-left politics is a
force that will protect them against the threat of fascism. This not only
favorably disposes third parties towards the revolutionary left, but also opens
the door to those individuals swelling our ranks.</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The alternative scenario in which
fascists are able to openly organize and demonstrate results in the opposite
set of results. The right is empowered, the left is disheartened, and
bystanders — including, importantly, vulnerable oppressed groups — become
convinced that the far-left does not offer them a dependable protection against
fascists. This would be a disaster.”</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But first, a little bit about myself:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QcHjRCsjwMLqmb64AikZwfupsdY727qCZueng_3GWZyCgX_v9ZSyZ-MYvIbseBo0Cfqyk3hisvaF-CyFIeaWMytZnJtyLB0c0JtPMEK5zv9L5y7E3Hu-I9avik2WBK1yxIWj-h6gUC6w/s1600/fUgasmask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QcHjRCsjwMLqmb64AikZwfupsdY727qCZueng_3GWZyCgX_v9ZSyZ-MYvIbseBo0Cfqyk3hisvaF-CyFIeaWMytZnJtyLB0c0JtPMEK5zv9L5y7E3Hu-I9avik2WBK1yxIWj-h6gUC6w/s320/fUgasmask.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Yeah, that’s me, and this image of
me went all around the word on the AP wire under the heading “Berkeley Protests
Turn Violent” after Berkeley police responded to a Dec 6<sup>th</sup> 2014~”Black
Lives Matter” <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-rejecting-pitifully-low-police.html" target="_blank">demonstration</a> by indiscriminately clubbing and tear gassing those
peacefully assembled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’ve said, I’ve
been an activist in the Bay Area for nearly a decade, was heavily involved at
Occupy Oakland and even more so at Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley, and I can provide
a distinctive insight to the protest that happened on campus Feb 1<sup>st</sup>,
by having an extensive “inside baseball” perspective on the event (which, yes,
I witnessed firsthand), to the local political atmosphere surrounding it and leading
up to it, and explain what makes this particular action against Milo and the
Alt-Right not only uniquely Berkeley, but why it couldn’t (before now) be
easily replicated on other campuses around the country, or even four miles away
in Oakland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, and not for nothing, five years ago at Occupy Cal, I
singlehandedly chased a Breitbart “reporter” scumfuck off campus, so you could
say I’m something of a seasoned veteran in this field.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>No Free Speech for Fascists!</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEDUp2Wom-8VmQNcO1np2cc3sJBa9x0IJinDoeKBEzl4DEI-GMqYmjlPHYRK6_Yt8eSDcE0o__wH7PR2_YVja-BxaNNhTKnhsAbbnw851g7FLBxuOeidlb8yEwiiIVzn_YjpfP0V6Ju7tj/s1600/fashlegit.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEDUp2Wom-8VmQNcO1np2cc3sJBa9x0IJinDoeKBEzl4DEI-GMqYmjlPHYRK6_Yt8eSDcE0o__wH7PR2_YVja-BxaNNhTKnhsAbbnw851g7FLBxuOeidlb8yEwiiIVzn_YjpfP0V6Ju7tj/s400/fashlegit.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So in the past week+ there have been a lot of people jerking
themselves off to sleep every night splitting hairs as to what defines a white
nationalist versus a white supremacist, what separates a far-right Republican
from a Fascist, are Berkeley College Republicans who sympathize with Nazis
actually Nazi-Sympathizers, and is it OK to punch a Nazi in the face, etc,
etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It should be pretty clear where I stand on these points, but
a greater perspective regarding “free speech” has been mostly ignored.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leftists have never had “free speech” in this country.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How can I say such a thing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First off, we must more clearly define what is or isn’t “the Left”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHdu1haFjw0q5Cx7yGKn9uqHGinDaUBkkjYaz13C6wQ7iFrXttvXwLB0MuABYaBzBg2m_h5SrOvZLfWezPxhLpw-54KD25RGL3VVmHPnPRWqkwlQqPaaQzZ9lotyVhnF6QSZkJe8gI6i9/s1600/usprimaries2016.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHdu1haFjw0q5Cx7yGKn9uqHGinDaUBkkjYaz13C6wQ7iFrXttvXwLB0MuABYaBzBg2m_h5SrOvZLfWezPxhLpw-54KD25RGL3VVmHPnPRWqkwlQqPaaQzZ9lotyVhnF6QSZkJe8gI6i9/s320/usprimaries2016.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No Democrats since at least 1993 have been left of center as
the party has moved farther and farther right in the past 25 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that this chart, if updated,
would place Bernie Sanders back to the center as his “socialist” ideals were
more based on “Hope and Change” style platitudes than actual policy positions,
and his endorsing of far-right Hillary Clinton would also knock him a few
spaces right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s unfortunate that I have to explain that the Democrats
and their supporters are not “the Left”, but there has been an astonishing
dearth of understanding of basic civics in this country, as well as a whitewashing
of labor history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So with the basic
concept of “Workers should control the means of production” as a starting point
of Leftism, let’s review how well this whole concept of “Free Speech” has
worked out for actual Leftists in the past 100 years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1917-1918 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_World_War_I#In_the_United_States" target="_blank">Anti-War Activists</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leftists who spoke out against the
capitalist bloodbath known as World War One were imprisoned en masse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Socialist IWW leader Eugene Debs famously
ran his presidential campaign from prison. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1919 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids" target="_blank">The Palmer Raids</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thousands of communists,
socialists and anarchists were rounded up, imprisoned on spurious charges
and deported.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1921 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain" target="_blank">The Battle of Blair Mountain</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After decades of coal
miners and their families being massacred by private security forces and
the state for trying to form a union, they gathered for their most
militant showing to date to fight for their labor rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In response the coal companies and the
US army were deployed to again slaughter the workers, with tactics
including aerial bombardment. 100 workers killed, ~1000 arrested.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1937 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_sit-down_strike" target="_blank">The Flint Sit-Down Strike</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Auto workers seeking a 5%
pay increase and the right to talk to each other during their lunch break
held a strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was met with the
usual state repression of tear gas, bullets and bayonets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The strikers won, formed into the United
Auto Workers (UAW) whose leadership promptly forbade sit-down strikes as a
legal tactic within the union.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1939-1945 – Because Nazis
and Fascists were given a platform to speak and not crushed in their
infancy, this whole thing called World War Two happened. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYGKFBEK3EyteWfP4s3yjurvbktsqvtRfkSB0QTCQa-WFT3GRMLB1OryURBWQDr8VPo4qESoeFOd8wr4DfZwpa9jQr_lcu8dTHws-ziHN3EHqyQLqqv4ZmvflBM-_okfvGAoEa4BPfw9f/s1600/lovetrumpshate.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYGKFBEK3EyteWfP4s3yjurvbktsqvtRfkSB0QTCQa-WFT3GRMLB1OryURBWQDr8VPo4qESoeFOd8wr4DfZwpa9jQr_lcu8dTHws-ziHN3EHqyQLqqv4ZmvflBM-_okfvGAoEa4BPfw9f/s640/lovetrumpshate.jpeg" width="392" /></a></div>
</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1947 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Management_Relations_Act_of_1947" target="_blank">The Taft-Hartley Bill is passed</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This effectively made
General Strikes illegal in the USA, crippling US Labor Unions’ bargaining
power by eliminating their primary weapon versus the capitalist bosses:
Labor Solidarity between all workers to withhold their labor until demands
are met.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1950s – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism#Blacklists" target="_blank">The Red Scare & McCarthyism</a> – Workers suspected of being a
Communist/Socialist/Leftist or having any sympathies towards those
ideologies were blacklisted from employment without any due process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>US Labor Unions purged Leftists from
their ranks.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">~1965-1975 – The Anti-War
movements mobilized millions across the USA to protest the war in
Vietnam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At UC Berkeley, a
helicopter dumped tear gas on demonstrators gathered on Sproul plaza; at
another rally the National Guard fired on student protesters, permanently
wounding several and killing one.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Also during this time, the
US government began an initiative called COINTELPRO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its purpose was to deploy agents to
infiltrate anti-war organizations and the New Left; to spread
disinformation, to sow discord and strife within the memberships, and to
assassinate leaders like Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">~1984 – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinvestment_from_South_Africa#University_of_California" target="_blank">The Anti-Apartheid Movement at UC Berkeley</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
largest sustained protests in the USA against the fascist white minority
regime in South Africa was won at UC Berkeley through a series of radical
direct actions and building occupations (which included extensive property
damage).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The UC Berkeley
administration, on the side of the racist South African government, sent
in the UCPD to beat students, causing many severe injures including broken
limbs, but ultimately lost against the popular Anti-Apartheid movement.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">1990s-2000s – Shit
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You should probably look
it up sometime if you get a chance.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">2011-2012 – The Occupy
Movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Founded by anarchists,
the umbrella anti-capitalist movement combined leftists of all stripes rallying
hundreds of thousands across the USA was repressed by the state in two
waves: First the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coordinated with
Democratic mayors to brutally break up the peaceful occupations of the
commons, arresting 1000s; Second, the state sent in COINTELPRO style
infiltrators to Occupy meetings across the country to sabotage and sow
discord.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Also 2011-2012 – Occupy
Cal at UC Berkeley and Occupy UC Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Students joining Occupy on those campuses linked arms to peacefully
defend their symbolic tents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>UCPD
savagely beat those students with batons and hosed them with pepper-spray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A former UC Chancellor (who, by the way,
I also later chased off campus single-handedly) infamous claimed that
students peacefully linking arms were “Not non-violent.”</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">2014 – Janet Napolitano,
head of the DHS under Obama, who was a key figure in deporting more
immigrants than any other administration in history, is selected to become
the new President of the University of California system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Undocumented students and their allies
begin a series of escalating acts of civil disobedience in response, with
many getting arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same
Stalinist faction of the UAW 2865 (that represents 13,000 graduate
student-workers of UC) that infiltrated and ratfucked Occupy Cal on behalf
of the state (COINTELPRO style) did the same to the <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/14/uc-berkeley-and-the-myth-of-the-activist-life/" target="_blank">#No2Napolitano movement</a>, and the radical undocumented student movement soon <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/02/recognizing-protest-theater-facades-at.html" target="_blank">withered away to nothing</a>.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">2017 – Lawmakers are
trying to pass a series of anti-protesting laws, including the right to
legally murder activists in the street by running them over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Days before Milo Yanagofuckyourself was
set to preach hate at UC Berkeley, at a tour stop at the University in
Seattle, an IWW protester was shot by one of his supporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Police let him go.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it should be brutally clear that in this country, which
is neither a Liberal Democracy nor a Constitutional Republic but an Oligarchy,
Leftists have never had anything remotely like “Free Speech”, and the Far Right
State has held a total monopoly on systemic violence to suppress speech that
runs contrary to their plutocratic ideologies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With that perspective, are you really going to whine about a
shitstain Nazi troll’s hate rally being forcibly cancelled, or that a few of
his supporters got #KnockedTheFuckOut?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What Really Happened with the “Violent” Antifa? <span> </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The day after Milo Yanagofuckyourself got shut down at UC
Berkeley, the first wave of highly selective on-the-ground Youtube clips came
out from the Breitbart & College Republican crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together they formed a “damning” narrative of
“Look at all of these violent anarchist thugs attacking us peace-loving
Nazis!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I took a look at these video clips, reliving what I had
witnessed firsthand less than 24 hours before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My initial skeptical thought was, “Huh, these videos seem to be starting
30 seconds too late,” IE there were a series of Nazi edited videos that
conveniently left out the part where the College Alt-Right provoked the Antifa
by trying to sucker punch one of them and run, but was caught, and got their
asses kicked and strangely enough, these edited clips didn’t show the first
part.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wait a minute Ergoat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you suggesting that supporters of
Breitbart news, the scumfuck fascist organization that made its name by
releasing highly edited videos to baselessly smear institutions such as ACORN
and Planned Parenthood with outright lies, went ahead and edited videos to
smear Antifa as violent instigators and make their “Proud Boys” look like
victims who were attacked totally unprovoked?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh579R_r3p6ixvkWUyc6obspfFpamHfb4TeT5SErJa1Iej_TMOZrTKCJ0RHRuy2hp1myp3NhL0_2t6TxMusbU716KSM3gGXdHoqkC4XJpOhMWrXoVq7BNbQjUQnguc77yAfRvwf24MzDfJk/s1600/CasablancaShocked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh579R_r3p6ixvkWUyc6obspfFpamHfb4TeT5SErJa1Iej_TMOZrTKCJ0RHRuy2hp1myp3NhL0_2t6TxMusbU716KSM3gGXdHoqkC4XJpOhMWrXoVq7BNbQjUQnguc77yAfRvwf24MzDfJk/s400/CasablancaShocked.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found this randomly. No idea what the $0.50 means...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look, their very presence in showing up to support an Actual
Fucking Nazi was a in as of itself a provocation that warranted the most severe
response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Alt-Right College
Fascists were attacked for simply being in Sproul that night, I’d happily
report that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s NOT WHAT
HAPPENED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every Milo supporter who
wanted to walk away without incident left the protest 100% unscathed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Around the time when the generator fire burned out and the
UCPD began again giving dispersal orders, the Antifa began leaving Sproul
towards Bancroft and Telegraph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seemingly out of nowhere, a six-foot-three 275lb guy in a red football
jersey charged into the rearguard of the Black Bloc swinging his fists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notably, he was going after some 100lb
females.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rearguard was caught
unaware, but they quickly regrouped and pummeled him to the pavement.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next, the Antifa was still milling out of Sproul when some
college GOP asshat bravely tried to suckerpunch a passerby and duck behind a
barricade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Black Bloc tore down
those barricades and beat the shit out of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were a handful of nearly identical incidents, including that
Fascist Princess who got maced in the face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And onto the infamous March of the #ProudBoys:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A group of about 20 College Alt-Right got a
couple of nostrils full of that GOP blow, and so emboldened, decided to take
the streets from Lower Sproul and march up Bancroft to confront the Black Bloc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They made it about 10 yards, and the cocaine
rush abruptly left their bloodstream as the cold sobering reality hit them: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they were a bunch of dumb fuckboys who had
never gotten into a street fight as they approached a group of anarchists who
at that moment outnumbered them 2:1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They quickly got onto the sidewalks, and started whistling nonchalantly:
“College Republicans?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, definitely not
us.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But not all of their group got their updated memo of
cowardice in the face of the enemy and new tactical approach therein, as two
people on motorcycles revved up and charged through the rear of the crowd of
Antifa gathered at Bancroft and Telegraph, and another bigger dude
single-handedly broke ranks from the #ProudBoys and stormed into the group of
40, arms flailing, yelling “I hate Mexicans!” and he got
#KnockedTheFuckOut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cocaine is a helluva
drug.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While this Nazi scumfuck was laid out in the middle of the
street unconscious, what I assume was a Berkeley student bystander in a Cal
hoodie ran in to help him out, Good Samaritan style, and got a skateboard to
the back of his head for his troubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was an unfortunate incident of collateral damage (and the only one I
saw) but it was understandable and justified, since there were many prior
incidents of random people were jumping into the bloc attacking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Cal Hoodie wasn’t having it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He put about ten feet between himself and the
40 or so Antifa still gathered around the unconscious Nazi and started yelling
and aggressively posturing at them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Basic shit like “Is this what you call ‘Free Speech’? I was just trying
to help the guy.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put myself between
himself and the bloc and tried calming him down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I explained he didn’t see the first part of
the incident with the motorcycles attempting vehicular homicide and the lone
Nazi charging the group punching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cal
Hoodie blinked a couple of times and said, “Oh. Well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t see that first part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for explaining it to me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, no problem buddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re also welcome for that ass-kicking I
just saved you from.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Point being: de-escalation as a tactic, justly applied,
works as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, there was this incident.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UPRbuTVfd584rGunLyx8vjIe3Sod4zfsasPNKR9_Qqug0tqC5-keauGTW-rE-BJX098Ra2BGAFT6XMc9UJemK5_5zKGEIgiKiGnWKHnJcfmQkL7YtaDAwvdG3ioX00oaH7omef7Ieyg4/s1600/lfangsyrian.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UPRbuTVfd584rGunLyx8vjIe3Sod4zfsasPNKR9_Qqug0tqC5-keauGTW-rE-BJX098Ra2BGAFT6XMc9UJemK5_5zKGEIgiKiGnWKHnJcfmQkL7YtaDAwvdG3ioX00oaH7omef7Ieyg4/s640/lfangsyrian.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The despicable level of concern trolling “respected”
reporter Lee Fang engaged in, without vetting, bothering to getting additional
sources, or remaining objective and unbiased is utter fucking garbage
journalism and, dare I say it, “Fake News”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A handful of the #ProudBoys who remained on the sidewalk
started talking shit to the Antifa, and again, someone tried to suckerpunch,
only this time there was no barricades to hide behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That the person in a fancy suit who got hit
squarely in the nose was allegedly a “Syrian Muslim” is absolutely irrelevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He chose what side he was on that night,
wanted to play with Nazi boys who thought they could play rough and quickly
learned they were out of their league: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he got his clock cleaned, and was slowly led
away by one of his GOP friends, crying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>End of story.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But Ergoat,” you ask, “where is all of the video evidence
to support your claims over the Breitbart scumfucks?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well there is a good and rather obvious explanation why
Black Bloc tactics don’t include having an Official Videographer in the ranks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREUSbcmsYkafAzbqWQxy_vSts8veSbh8FYkyG73aBaShXCnnUaWFkRHHKjWtT9ixdYxmCjLHLozKd_heNIEOLPAUWzJUL8nYBnkervYeuxVMreD8XxKpMx9illCwYZMcycntxYjpiHow0/s1600/crimespree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREUSbcmsYkafAzbqWQxy_vSts8veSbh8FYkyG73aBaShXCnnUaWFkRHHKjWtT9ixdYxmCjLHLozKd_heNIEOLPAUWzJUL8nYBnkervYeuxVMreD8XxKpMx9illCwYZMcycntxYjpiHow0/s640/crimespree.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span></span>More On My Participation That Night</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So where was I during the #MiloAtCal shutdown?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I’m not going to claim I was on the
frontlines, like so many of those courageous souls tearing down the
barricades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I wasn’t exactly shoveling
shit in Louisiana either.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the brilliant firework bombardment that forced the
UCPD to ingloriously retreat, one of my favorite things that I witnessed that
night went like this: a 100lbs soaking wet Antifa bravely rushed past the
downed barricades, and took a baseball bat to the windows of the building where
the speech was to be held, but they didn’t have the strength to break the
reinforced windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another anarchist a
foot and a half taller gently tapped the first’s shoulder, said something I can
only imagine was “Excuse me comrade, may I have a try?” and promptly smashed
through that fucker.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I kept an eye on the cops, and yelled out warnings when I
saw a few of them on the balcony overlooking Sproul armed with tear gas and
pepper-ball guns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when I donned
my gasmask… and quickly realized I was the only one of the crowd who came so
prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I received a lot of “That guy
came ready!” and “Right on!”s from the students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose to keep on my gas mask on longer than
was necessary, as a visual reminder to the mostly first time protesters who
were and are rapidly becoming radicalized in real time: This is only the
beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This includes buying a fucking gas mask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re only $15.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Cal students assembled, even after seeing the fireworks,
the damaged property, and the flaming remains of the generator, didn’t flee in
terror from those scary black bloc anarchists, but cheered them on, later
dancing and celebrating with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
being under the spell of Obama’s “Hope and Change” charismatic fascism-lite,
people are waking from their eight-year stupors and getting radicalized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are no longer seeing the Democratic
Party as allies, but as the enablers and gatekeepers that they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thankfully, instead of a long and pointless standoff versus
the next wave of UCPD forming up after the Nazi hate rally was cancelled, the
Antifa moved out onto Telegraph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
when I began my self-assigned duty of moving a block ahead of the crowd, and
began directing oncoming traffic away from the demonstration in the streets,
for everyone’s safety.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While on the job for an hour, sometimes I had help, other
times I was by myself, turning cars off Telegraph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were only a couple of incidents,
notably one where a group of rednecks in a large 4x4 truck threatened to plow over
me and into the protesters (and get away with it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver had a real lunatic glint in his
eye, and I prepared to do what was necessary to stop vehicular homicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, the march came south and surrounded
his truck as I informed them of the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The truck then turned around. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After that, there were about five of us on the ad-hoc
People’s Revolutionary Traffic Safety Committee (PRTSC).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While in the middle of the street, we shared
stories of what we saw that night, and of Berkeley protests of yore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then my second favorite moment of the night
happened: a couple of Berkeley bike cops rode up, and it was clear that they
were assigned to control traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing
that we had that covered, they instead just waited across the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my new comrades taunted them by
yelling “We’re doing your job better than you!” to which I chimed in, “Hey,
it’s almost like we don’t even need cops…” and a collective light bulb flashed
on over the heads of the PRTSC.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Countering Some More Goddamn Lies and Wrapping Up</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ranging from funny to pathetic were the “thinkpieces” from
the Fake-Left decrying anarchists and black bloc tactics at the “Berkeley
Riots”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most come from a place of “radical”
liberal professor butthurt, that their dissertation on ~“What Lenin would have
done in response to Milo Yanagofuckyourself, and why Anarchists are scary and
bad” didn’t rally the masses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other
liberals, lacking pearls to clutch, feverishly fingered their WWBD bracelets
(What Would Bernie Do?).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I recorded hours of corporate media the night of and the day
after the demonstration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only station
to even bother trying to get protesters’ perspectives was the local ABC
affiliate (and Good Morning America, of all shows); local NBC news, on live TV
called the protestors “Ant-Ifa” and “The Black Box” (I’m not even making that
up); 8 hours of MSNBC programming didn’t mention it once; most of the others
just showed a quick riot porn segment devoid of context; Fox News cried “Where
was the police response???”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To that last point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both the UCPD and the Berkeley Police Department have large active civil
lawsuits against them for excessive force used during previous protests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite all of the state fuckery in trying to
dismiss or delay, the lawsuit stemming from the UCPD beating Occupy Cal
protesters is still in the courts, over FIVE YEARS LATER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A town like Berkeley can only accept so much
tarnish on its liberal, “The Home of the Free Speech Movement ™” image, and it
was definitely would have been even more of a public relations disaster to
unleash the riot pigs to defend Nazis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a calculated political move not to use more pig violence that
night.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The right-wing online blogosphere is convinced that the
protesters were in fact being bankrolled by the sinister liberal plutocrat
George Soros.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is actually 100%
true, and I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Big Daddy G-Sor (what
we in the paid-protesting biz affectionately call him), and ask him to please
keep those checks coming.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then former US Labor Secretary and current UCB professor
Robert Reich went on the news and made an ass out of himself by declaring that
the black bloc anarchists were actually all Breitbart employees deployed in a
5-dimensional chess move to garner sympathy for Milo Yanagofuckyourself and the
Alt-Right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK… I’ve seen the black bloc in action many times over the
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes the tactic is effective
and even surgical, sometimes it is a few kids looking to get street cred by
smashing some windows, sometimes it’s cops/paid provocateurs smashing windows
trying to entrap protesters, sometimes it’s cops smashing up a working class
neighborhood to discredit anarchists the night before a huge May Day
demonstration, sometimes it’s cops who later draw guns on the demonstration
when they were exposed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Having seen a rather large cross section of anarchists and
black bloc tactics over the years, I can say with certainly they weren’t cops
at the UC Berkeley “riot” on Feb 1<sup>st</sup>, and no, they definitely weren’t
fucking Breitbart employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeezus
fucking christ on a stick… </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(“But Ergoat,” you say, “you point out that the black bloc
has been infiltrated by cops and provocateurs before, repeatedly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t that prove that it’s too dangerous of
a tactic to deploy?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cops infiltrate our boring as shit meetings
and General Assemblies too; I don’t suggest abandoning those tactics of
organizing either.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Moving Forward: The Next Steps</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqoklJJTDoRVvsq0Y4DGA4drkHpPvAYAZzLveSjbdMBEhld_Rra5mLogYAP3PN5MbyZ6jiUQ-BqxiDOBentVaB1FIOFbuPsNB82BIiaLeY9zo0sf6dtthzoNlWXg4vgJir_7J-7PH_Mp2/s1600/bootsj28.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqoklJJTDoRVvsq0Y4DGA4drkHpPvAYAZzLveSjbdMBEhld_Rra5mLogYAP3PN5MbyZ6jiUQ-BqxiDOBentVaB1FIOFbuPsNB82BIiaLeY9zo0sf6dtthzoNlWXg4vgJir_7J-7PH_Mp2/s640/bootsj28.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve covered it before extensively, and touched on it in
this article; the way in how Occupy Oakland and Occupy Cal dissolved was a
complete shitshow of betrayals, and permanent distrust (which I maintain was in
large part manufactured by the state and bad actors infiltrating the movements)
and we can’t build a sustainable movement in 2017 without addressing this in a
significant, open, and transparent fashion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The evidence has been felt in the streets since 2012 in
every movement post-Occupy that has prematurely fizzled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s as if at the end of Occupy Oakland, an
unidentified person(s) took a big shit in our activist pool, and we never
cleaned it up or found out who the phantom shitters were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And every time we all jumped back into the
pool for the next movement, and starting swimming around for organizing
something like shutting down the Port of Oakland in solidarity with Gaza,
activists swam peaceful, for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then they noticed the turd in the pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Oh, gross, that’s still here?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and they get out of the pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we all closed our eyes, hoped for the
best, and jumped in the Oakland activist pool again for Black Lives Matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We swam a couple laps, but there it was,
bobbing in our lane, and we had to abandon the movement for reasons that had
nothing to do with the tactics of the moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No one would be happier than me if on the 0.0001% chance
that it wasn’t a turd in the pool, but a chocolate candy bar all along! …but
let’s be realistic about this comrades, and let’s do the distasteful and
unpleasant task of finally cleaning up the dirty pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Everyone calm down: I’m not talking about a
purge or something but an open dialogue.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So besides some sort of long-awaited reckoning after an East
Bay Activist Community Truth and Reconciliation conference, what’s to be done
about this Trump administration and the emboldened Fascist movement?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s been some buzz about a General Strike set for
February 17<sup>th</sup> 2017.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, not enough buzz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is mostly due to the fact that many of our “Leftist allies” lately
would rather write lengthy thinkpieces about “Why General Strikes are Impossible
and Why Anarchists are Bad” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(despite one
being organized in a week, by anarchists, during Occupy Oakland that saw 100K
participants) than spending their time trying to actually organize work
stoppages.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So my idea that I freely pass on, in hope that it gains some
critical mass as a strategy?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<i><b>
</b></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b>Co-opt the fuck out of every upcoming liberal Anti-Trump
rally and radicalize them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turnabout is
fair play motherfuckers!</b></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are a lot of creative, fun ways this can be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I leave the details to you and your
collectives</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(…well, wait a sec.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be smart. Do your research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come
armed with facts. If you are going to be at, for instance, the Science March,
know how 350 dot Org figurehead Bill McKibben has sold out to the Rockefellers
and co-opted the once radical environmental movement into liberal fuckshit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the AFL-CIO is going to leader a Labor
Union march against the GOP, know the details of how their leader Dick Trump-ka
supports the Dakota Access Pipeline, betraying our comrades facing continuous near-lethal
state repression at #NoDAPL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No room for dumb radicals.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And some final words from a comrade who passed away suddenly
yesterday:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilygSGGrBdF7mFOhrRyb4GFBHYcKe-eQe1iWAcvwVzphvfqDyCW42ngvUlB_PMpfvNufSDp9JerM7OM7qUnYEUok-FIRMBzv9S2s5h-VimItj1aTToBCy6ZkDXZpHFfYkTFhccggf6esVQ/s1600/liam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilygSGGrBdF7mFOhrRyb4GFBHYcKe-eQe1iWAcvwVzphvfqDyCW42ngvUlB_PMpfvNufSDp9JerM7OM7qUnYEUok-FIRMBzv9S2s5h-VimItj1aTToBCy6ZkDXZpHFfYkTFhccggf6esVQ/s640/liam.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This article is dedicated to the memory of one of my first
Occupy Wall Street Twitter friends, @LiamPhuckall, who was always a badass Nazi-punching
straight-shooter in our social media interactions, and I’m sad I never got a
chance to meet him IRL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By all accounts
he was (by choice, because that was his style) an unsung hero of Hurricane
Sandy and Occupy Sandy that risked it all to help his community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My condolences to his friends and family.
#RIPLiam</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank">@Ergoat</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Overcoming Chronic Liberal Amnesia: </span></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">A
Brief History Lesson</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>
</b></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLPkiayDop6jIwIv2Wio_bSugSrQzBk0S8apuYr7Mx8VmiZoF5ZtOPKbY3rPF2Ldd8GiFqFTgPIJhaH3ZsAtIe26x2_q3SdxE5vX5GvSKou9OFRJJMHowij9xKOVkImbLmXytIXiaLOQL/s1600/stapleliberals.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLPkiayDop6jIwIv2Wio_bSugSrQzBk0S8apuYr7Mx8VmiZoF5ZtOPKbY3rPF2Ldd8GiFqFTgPIJhaH3ZsAtIe26x2_q3SdxE5vX5GvSKou9OFRJJMHowij9xKOVkImbLmXytIXiaLOQL/s640/stapleliberals.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pathetically asking "How could
Hillary Clinton and the Democrats lose?" isn't a good look for liberals
and the radicals who backslide into liberalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"How could this have happened?" has some very obvious answers
that are more complex than "The USA is racist and sexist because they
voted for Trump!", especially when 47% of eligible voters didn't cast a
ballot.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">I'm going to list a series of American
political events that happened in my adult lifetime that should explain how we
got into this mess:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2000: Gore, after running an uninspiring awful campaign, wins the
election, but it gets stolen from him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Progressives are angry, want to challenge the Electoral College and the
way the vote was rigged, but the Liberal Elites have a different solution:
"Let's blame Ralph Nader instead."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Americans eventually get over it, and resign themselves to four years of
a doofus president.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2003: After over 2 years of a total nightmare slumber plagued by
bullshit like "Orange Alerts", the progressives and the Left form a
powerful anti-war movement... for about a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Liberal Elites quickly channel the
movement into "In 2004, elect anybody but Bush!"</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2004: Kerry, after running an uninspiring awful campaign, probably would
have won the election had it not been for massive voter suppression in
Ohio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anti-war Progressives are angry,
want to challenge the Electoral College and the way the vote was rigged, but
the Liberal Elites dusts off this old gem: "Let's blame Ralph Nader
again."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Anti-War Left, having
gone all-in on Centrist John Kerry, dissolves.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2006:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans are sick and
tired of the Cowboy President and wars that are still going on with no exit
strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They show up for mid-term
elections and the Democrats win both the House and Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Hey, ‘member that time a President was
impeached for lying about a blow job?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, now we have a blatant war criminal in office. You have a clear
mandate: Stop the fucking wars and impeach this bastard!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which the newly elected Congress replies,
"Where does it say anything in the Constitution about Congress authorizing
war?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'll have to double check that and
get back to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and impeachment is
off the table."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2008: Obama, after running an inspiring campaign filled with empty
platitudes, defeats Hillary Clinton in the primaries in large part due to the
fact that Progressives loathed her pro-war voting record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barack "Yes We Can" Obama wins the general
election; there is dancing in the streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Hey, I guess that Electoral College thing is just fine after all."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2009: Obama begins winding down the War in Iraq, aka Operation Have Our
Troops Stand Around In A Belligerent Occupied Country And Wait To Get Randomly
Blown Up By An IED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obama expands the
War in Afghanistan aka Operation These Record Breaking Opium Crops Won't Guard
Themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obama genially states he's
going to start a drone strike program in 5 more countries, while keeping Gitmo
open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Anti-War Progressives stir
slightly at this, but are quickly shouted down by the Liberal Elites:
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GIVE THIS MAN A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ALREADY!!!"</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2009 - 2010:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Democratic
clear majorities in both the House and Senate, Obama uses all of his political
capital to pass a Republican Health Care plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No other progressive legislation gets passed through, via some new never
before seen rule wherein now a 67% majority is necessary to pass a bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans dust off their 7th grade Civics
textbooks: "Huh, I was always taught you only needed 50% +1, but then I'm
not a Constitutional Lawyer." and this rule goes unchallenged.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2010: Obama; after running an uninspiring awful first two years as
President, both the House and the Senate fall to the Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some Progressives stir slightly, and begin to
point out that the loss was because of such an uninspiring term in office so
far filled with broken promises, that American voters just stayed home, and it
was the Democrats to blame for selling out their base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which the Liberal Elites replied:
"AMERICA JUST CAN'T HANDLE A BLACK PRESIDENT."</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2011-2012:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Occupy Movement
has over 19,000 protest camps across the USA, decrying big banks and corrupt
politicians of all stripes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as the
movement was leaving Stage One: Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit marches and
encampments, and begins successfully organizing Stage Two, General Strikes and
Industry Shutdowns with winnable demands to bend and break the system... Obama
coordinates with the Department of Homeland Security and Democratic Mayors
across the country to deploy a militarized police force to brutally crush the
Occupy Movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Freedom to
Assemble doesn't mean Freedom to Assemble" says the Constitutional Lawyer
Commander-in-Chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Liberal Elites
yell "LALALALALA: NOTHING TO SEE HERE."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2012: Obama, after running an uninspiring awful campaign, wins
reelection, with many shell-shocked and Stockholm Syndromed Progressives and
ex-Occupiers saying, in a daze: "The two-party system is corrupt, they
both serve the same plutocratic oligarchy... But Romney really would be a bad
president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better vote for
Obama..."</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2008-2016:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Liberal Elites
employ a new piece of propaganda over and over again: “You must elect a
Democratic President, because they select the new Supreme Court Justices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Republicans select new judges, they’ll
take our liberal freedoms away, and clearly your specific identity politics is
more important than any other issue, and check your privilege if you say
otherwise.”</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Meanwhile, the Republican majority
SCOTUS passes gay marriage, and there is dancing in the streets. The Leftist allies
of the LGBTQIA community tepidly go, “Cool, so maybe now ally back with us on
the whole dismantling capitalism thing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You know, that old chestnut?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
which the reply from the Liberal Elites (aka totally down with the cause now,
even after years of denouncing gay marriage) is: “Maybe!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we elect Hillary!”</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">“It is critical that we elect Hillary
so Trump doesn’t get to fill Scalia’s vacated seat!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans dust off their 7<sup>th</sup> grade
Civics textbook again: “…Is that how that works?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it just us, or is it weird that there’s
only been 8 Supreme Court Justices for a while now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shouldn’t the Constitutional Lawyer
President, maybe, I dunno, DO something about it…?”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2016: Clinton, after running an uninspiring awful campaign, loses to
Donald Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Liberal Elites are
blaming Russia, the FBI, and yes, I shit you not, Ralph Nader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything but their own shitty candidate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Progressives are going through the motions of
outrage: “It’s the Electoral College’s fault!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>See, I’ve been saying this THE WHOLE TIME.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People moan about Trump’s policies, like how
awful it will be when he starts deporting undocumented immigrants, to which
Leftists reply “Obama has deported more immigrants than any other president in
history,” to which the Liberal Elites yell “NANANANANA NOT LISTENING!”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Etc.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">…</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Maybe the 47% of eligible voters who
didn’t vote this election don’t have a firm grasp of points 1-12, but they got
the gist of it: “Fuck this fucking system, these fucking awful candidates:
voting doesn’t change fucking shit,” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
they stayed home.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Gee, maybe, just maybe, something
inspiring for a change?</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">There is already some talk among the
Rads and the Leftists about having a General Strike on Inauguration Day, months
away.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">A couple of things…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">‘Member when in November 2011 there
was a General Strike where 100,000 people participated to shut down the Port of
Oakland--- and that was organized in under seven days? I ‘member.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s not a bad idea-- it could be an
excellent move: but my line of thinking is doing this on Inauguration Day is
protesting Trump and validating the system that elected him, IE missing the
fucking point entirely.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s think this through and remember some
shit for a change.</span></span></span></div>
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Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-42639872886593611512016-10-25T10:58:00.000-07:002016-10-25T10:58:49.688-07:00Fuck You Michael Moore For Purposefully Ignoring The Occupy Movement In Your Recent Film "Where To Invade Next"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">So I finally got around to watching Michael Moore’s 2016
film “Where to Invade Next”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its joking premise
is that after so many failed US military interventions/invasions since WWII,
culminating with war in Iraq, where the US didn’t even get to steal their oil, Moore
was going to “invade” various European countries to steal their good ideas
regarding democratic socialist policies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">First he invades Italy to “steal” their ideas of laws
requiring five weeks paid vacation, 2 weeks off for newlyweds, and yearly bonus
income to spend on holidays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Next, France where he steals their idea of gourmet school lunches
versus the processed slop American students are expected to shovel down in under
20 minutes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Then onto Finland, the best educated nation in the world,
Moore speaks with high school teens who know 4-5 languages each, and learns
their education rate is so high due to two primary philosophies: no
standardized testing and no homework.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">“Where to Invade Next” was an improvement over his previous film
“Capitalism: A Love Story” (2010) which was comparatively a long Shit Is Fucked
Up And Bullshit film with no solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
“Sicko” (2007), Moore showed how at ease European societies are when they don’t
have to worry about paying for healthcare out of pocket: in “Where to Invade
Next” this vision is now expanded to the other human comforts and dignities
Democratic Socialist policies can provide, especially when compared to the American
hellscape where these things are dismissed as distant dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“Paid vacation?! Keep rowing, maggot!” [whip
crack])</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Other highlights include: Iceland where women must make up
at least 40% of government…</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Portugal, where no one has been arrested for possession of illegal
drugs for 15 years…</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Norway, where prisoners are treated humanely…</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">…And Slovenia, where college education is free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moore talks to Slovenian college students who
tell him that recently their government tried to rescind free higher education,
so they fought back and took to the streets until that government was ousted:
free college was kept.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Moore then utilizes a smash cut montage of what happens in
other countries when the government tries to take away their free education,
highlighting thousands of militant students in the streets from Canada,
Germany, France, Finland and Norway.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">[Moore narrating] “And here’s what happens each time there’s
a tuition hike in the US…” </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">[cut to a three second long shot of an American Ivy League
school, with a few students in the foreground placidly lounging on the lawn]</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Fuck you, Michael Moore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fuck you for ignoring Occupy Cal and Occupy UC Davis.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">…</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Some context here: Michael Moore was once the head
liberal cheerleader for the Occupy Movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
only was he praising the virtues of the movement in near nightly TV news spots,
but he personally visited hundreds of Occupy encampments across the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw him speak at Occupy Oakland just about
5 years ago today; days after the OPD turned downtown Oakland into a tear gas
filled warzone, injuring 100s and nearly killing Marine veteran Scott Olsen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">After a long and shitty winter of daily police state terror
across the country and thousands of brutal arrests later, Occupy tried to band together
what resources and strength we had left, and re-emerge in the spring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was to culminate on March 17<sup>th</sup>
2012, the six-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, when activists would try
and retake Zuccotti Park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moore himself
led a march from a leftist forum where he was a keynote speaker to reinforce
the Occupiers at the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">The NYPD did that night what all the police forces across
the country were given the green light to do when it came to dealing with
peaceful protesters: beat the shit out of them indiscriminately and arrest
hundreds of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(An ironic highlight
that evening:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all of the liberal
whining and pearl-clutching over the prior months about activists breaking a
couple of windows during a march, the NYPD smashed a window that night… with a
street medic’s skull, repeatedly.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">After this disaster of totalitarianism was unleashed upon
OWS yet again, did Michael Moore rush to his lined up media spots on CNN,
MSNBC, etc, to decry the police violence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">No. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went
silent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His social media accounts went
dark for weeks, months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then, he
never talked about Occupy again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">You see, citizens assembling peacefully to redress grievances
to affect political and social change being met coordinated police state terror
doesn’t fit Michael Moore’s narratives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Police state terror that was coordinated by the Department of Homeland
Security under Democratic President Obama and executed by Democratic mayors
across the country doesn’t fit Moore’s narratives of “Vote for Barack Obama, or
else we’ll get Mitt Romney and then things will get REALLY bad,” or now his
current “Vote for Hillary Clinton or you’re a terrorist!” narratives.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">This is because Michael Moore is a fucking fraud who genuflects
to the Plutocracy and the police state that upholds them and in return he can
make gatekeeping pseudo-“leftist” documentaries criticizing the oligarchs,
while conveniently leaving out the police state terror aspect of it so he can
keep alive the propagandistic myth of “Vote Democrat, click your heels together
three times, and we’ll all go home”. (No shit, the actual conclusion of the
film was that scene from The Wizard of Oz)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">This is why Michael Moore smugly says there isn’t or wasn’t US
student protests in his film “Where to Invade Next” while ignoring the lines of
students at Occupy Cal with their arms linked getting beat with batons, or how
he “forgot” to include the iconic imagery of Lt. Pike hosing down sitting
students with copious amounts of pepper spray at Occupy UC Davis.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">In “Where to Invade Next” when Moore was in Portugal, he
attended a May Day workers’ demonstration/celebration, and lamented that Labor
Unions in the USA didn’t have this holiday for working class solidarity.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"> After the long winter, and the disaster of March 17<sup>th</sup>,
Occupiers around the country organized for one final push: for mass
demonstrations on May Day 2012 in unity and solidarity with dozens of US Labor
Unions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Unions boisterously
supported Occupy in the first couple of months of the movement… but slowly,
quietly withdrew their support when they determined that we wouldn’t be useful
idiot tools for electing Democrats and supporting Obama.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">But the ideal for May Day 2012 was a public reunification of
the Labor Unions and the Occupy Movement in a strong showing for workers’
solidarity… but at the 11<sup>th</sup> hour the Unions cancelled their support,
leaving Occupy out in the streets alone for the cops to move in and beat the
shit out of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Movement over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Death by betrayal.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">While in Italy in the film, Moore spoke to union leaders
there and asked how they achieved such rights for workers like a five week vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which the Italians responded: through
years of previous workers’ struggles and suffering versus the ruling class; and
these benefits are maintained by constant organizing and vigilance.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Michael Moore than gave this look of his oft repeated shtick:
“Gee, if only we in America would elect better Democrats and strengthen our
unions…” ignoring that US Labor Unions have been constantly and consistently
betraying workers and Leftists for 70 years, selling out the working class over
and over again to their Corporate Overlords.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(A fact that Moore actually brought up in his first film “Roger & Me”
regarding the United Auto Workers… for about 90 seconds… and never again.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">What is the state of activism today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it just a cardboard cutout of Michael
Moore shrugging, as if to lamely ask: “Why can’t we have nice things?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">In the years since Occupy, I’ve seen radical students take
over a building on campus, rallying a new wave of students to the cause, only
to see a meeting originally about which doorways to barricade devolve into a 3
hour debate on proper pronoun usage.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">I’ve seen militant Black Lives Matter marches, numbering in
the thousands, climbing onto freeways by default, and veteran street activists
say “So hey, if this march is going to turn into an impromptu, ad hoc freeway
blockade, this particular section of the freeway isn’t strategically sound,” devolve
into an on the spot lecture on “What It Means to be a White Ally: 101 New Ways
To Check Your Privilege,” as riot cops surrounded on all sides.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">What then, is to be done?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">The current #NoDAPL encampments give me hope:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that Big Labor is pro-pipeline and is
actively trying to ratfuck the Protectors should be more than duly noted.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">My apologies that I don’t have any great rallying cries at
the moment: just three main points.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US Labor Unions are an enemy to the
working class in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is
more than ample evidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
the film “Where To Invade Next” is a perfect example of this: Northern and
Western Europeans have free healthcare, 5 weeks paid vacation, free
education etc etc, because their Unions fought for it while American
Unions sold out.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">I’m not exactly thrilled
to be “that guy”, but since Occupy, with increasing regularity, the state
has been using paid undercover saboteurs to infiltrate activist meetings
to weaponize Identity Politics, PC Culture and Social Justice Warrior
language to create bitter divisions in movements where none had previously
existed, with useful idiots parroting buzzwords and phrases that have since
lost all meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">This has demonstrably crushed
budding movements in their infancy, before riot cops ever need to be
deployed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">This is mass manipulation. Now you
may think that sounds paranoid, but I’ve lived through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Repeatedly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve seen untold dozens of individuals add up into hundreds, and yes
thousands over the years, eagerly walk into activist spaces, see firsthand how
much of a toxic shit-mire it is, say “Fuck this” and walk away from activism
forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must correct this course.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On September 17<sup>th</sup> of this
year, on the 5 year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, I read the latest
crop of Occupy retrospectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
what’s becoming more and more clear with each passing year is that there
is a concerted attempt to erase the radical history of the movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new minimizing narrative is becoming the
dominate account: That Occupy lasted for a couple of months in New York
(and not 19,000 encampments across the USA), there were a couple of
marches, and then everyone went home.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Gone are the stories of Occupy
Oakland coordinating two General Strikes and coordinated port shutdowns: the
first of their kind in the USA in 70 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A tactic that was winning before it was ratfucked and crushed.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Gone are the stories of the
constant police brutality against Occupy; the kind of stories where someone
would get snatched and grabbed by cops, disappeared in a jail cell for days,
and the report for the cause of arrest just says “Umbrella”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Gone is any sense of perspective of
the staggering toll these constant acts of brutality and kidnapping and
ransoming (the terms ‘jail’ and ‘bail’ don’t apply when someone is held in
prison for having a yoga mat) did to the psyches of us in the movement.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">Michael Moore’s film “Where To
Invade Next” is the latest in this type of propaganda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is insidiously Orwellian in nature; its
purpose is to make Occupy “un-history” as if it never happened, so new activists
won’t learn from the mistakes (and god damn were there so many fucking
mistakes) from that movement and apply the lessons we learned from our literal
blood, sweat, and tears to future struggles.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">We must not let this happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">#o25</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-74387293444894578762015-01-28T20:57:00.000-08:002015-01-28T21:19:01.503-08:00Why Rejecting the Pitifully Small Police Brutality Settlement of #J28 Helps #BlackLivesMatter<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Why Rejecting the Pitifully Small
Police Brutality Settlement of #J28 Helps #BlackLivesMatter</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgCPIJHGDtuE5Sog6tp1J9ejMBwwyRqxo4RiKK9Rykl9bpiKjTxBRQ0Js1Dx5_TKT6_RlAdLij9YjSe9eKH0Gm0d_Po2ksINcX2LGZzqXLoJ0eejN4gjpN34Ck8GRs7iWWP7Wp0lZPFC3/s1600/fUgasmask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgCPIJHGDtuE5Sog6tp1J9ejMBwwyRqxo4RiKK9Rykl9bpiKjTxBRQ0Js1Dx5_TKT6_RlAdLij9YjSe9eKH0Gm0d_Po2ksINcX2LGZzqXLoJ0eejN4gjpN34Ck8GRs7iWWP7Wp0lZPFC3/s1600/fUgasmask.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Here I am, defiantly saying "Fuck you!" to the Berkeley Police Department, after being tear gassed and shot with a rubber bullet at a #BlackLivesMatter protest on Dec 6th 2014. Since this image went out internationally on the AP wire under the headline "Berkeley Protests Turn Violent", and apparently I was the SnapChat Hero of the Day at Berkeley High School, yeah, 50+ days later I'll fucking own it.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>January 28<sup>th</sup> 2012 (#J28)
over 2000 people gathered in downtown Oakland to support #OccupyOakland’s “Move-In
Day”: an explicitly radical action designed to take over a dormant, vacant
building and transform it into a community activist/houseless-outreach
center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To prevent this from happening,
the Oakland Police Department and many agencies from all around the Bay Area
showed up like Roman Legionnaires to violently suppress us, breaking every
Federally-mandated court order regarding crowd-control policy to eventually
mass arrest over 400 hundred of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although there is hundreds of hours of video footage from the dozens of
reporters and independent livestreamers documenting the police agencies
breaking their own laws hundreds of times throughout the day, it took our “Civil
Rights” lawyers three years to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reach a
terrible pittance of a settlement with the City of Oakland: A $1.3 million
dollar settlement in which the lawyers keep the lion’s share; we the plaintiffs
are to receive ~$2.6k each (before taxes), and no official from the City of
Oakland, Alameda County, or the OPD receives any charges levied against them
from their brutal illegalities of that day and the following days when we were
tortured and abused inside the notorious Santa Rita jail.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe it
is extremely important to reject this insultingly low monetary settlement, the
secretive lawyering practices that led up to it, and reject and replace our “radical”
movements’ laissez-faire attitude towards those volunteer protesters afflicted
by police brutality and/or arrest: “Don’t worry!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the ACLU/NLG/the ‘Civil Rights’ lawyers
take care of it,” since it should be shockingly obvious that these lawyers have
failed to do their job at even creating the meanest modicum of justice, over
and over again in the modern Bay Area populist/radical movements, stemming from
at least the Oscar Grant uprisings to present day.</span></span>
</div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is an exceedingly
imperative conversation to have RIGHT NOW, as we are several months into the
#BlackLivesMatter movement against police-brutality in the Bay Area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Police have been the most violent they’ve
been since #J28 2012, with more illegal baton strikes; tear gas, concussion
grenades, less lethal munitions fired into crowds of peaceful protesters, and
more mass-arrests without giving people a chance to disperse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, astonishingly, we the protesters of late-2014
to today have learned little to zero of the stark lessons about <u><b>movement
sustainability</b></u> since the days of Occupy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We paid for those lessons in our literal blood, and they shouldn’t be
abandoned because of some unexamined kneejerk squeamishness in confronting our
Sacred Cow “allies” of the “left” like the civil rights lawyers’ guilds. This
is something that needs to be rectified IMMEDIATELY if we are to continue our
cause to en masse challenge and overcome the police state. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since the events of #J28 have been
rather well document by others, I’m going to recount my memories of what went
down around the time of this iconic photo, and the resulting aftermath:</span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqK4C4xoqBgwHuPNXJqmWnya1IiV0imN6cfQGQ6lxf6kJzXD_G4-Jpxbc1ry0XxxAI2LCVIM3NF9ARQi7GDp4EH2NjZ6FQeW2ZisLFjGRs8U4cDlO7ywPACSKLv9sGqYLPnciUEASrjPjy/s1600/ooj28fencedown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqK4C4xoqBgwHuPNXJqmWnya1IiV0imN6cfQGQ6lxf6kJzXD_G4-Jpxbc1ry0XxxAI2LCVIM3NF9ARQi7GDp4EH2NjZ6FQeW2ZisLFjGRs8U4cDlO7ywPACSKLv9sGqYLPnciUEASrjPjy/s1600/ooj28fencedown.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember us
marching rather blindly into the kettle trap at 19<sup>th</sup> &
Telegraph, and the police firing tear gas without warning ten feet away from
me, rather ironically in front of the statue commemorating Gandhi, MLK and
others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
two members of Occupy Cal, young UC Berkeley students, who fearlessly stood in
front of said statue in a cloud of tear gas, facing down the riot cops with
peace signs held high. I went back for them, as they were the last ones left
there, and suggested now was a good time to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Later, the very-nonviolent female student who was all of 5-foot nothing
was clubbed on the back of the head: concussed & bleeding, she was arrested
and soon cited-and-released by OPD and left to wander aimlessly in a daze
through the streets of Oakland in the middle of the night [only to be randomly
rescued by another member of Occupy Cal who was doing jail support].)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Tear gas is banned in war = Torture/War
Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the adrenaline rush of the fence being torn down and us escaping the kettle,
only to realize we were still marked pilgrims in an unholy land; surrounded by
riot cops in white vans on every street with no clear place to march.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember us
unstrategically marching back south down Broadway into another kettle trap of
phalanx of riot cops. I had all of one second to decide: I saw some of the
crowd trying to run into the YMCA on the left; others I saw climbing a fence to
the right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one second I spend on
deciding was one second too long as WHACK--- a baton struck me from behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Illegal crowd control)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the ~400 of us being herded into the alcove at the Y, trying frantically to
calm the riot cops down who had a crazed look in their eyes like they wanted
nothing more than an excuse to charge into us and start cracking skulls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To that end, they “randomly” selected a black
man out of the front lines who was doing nothing wrong, threw him to the
pavement and put the boots and batons to him Rodney King style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Illegal crowd control)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the mass arrest for “failure to disperse” after illegally never saying it on a
loudspeaker, and illegally, not letting us disperse after kittling us at the
YMCA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Illegal crowd control)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being put in ziptie handcuffs at around 7pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those zipties didn’t come off until 5AM at Santa Rita.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being loaded on a full prison bus with no ventilation: meaning all of us who
had been tear gassed all day in the open air were now boxed in with each other,
making a poisonous box full of people coughing, choking and vomiting. (Torture/War
Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
an older black man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was
arrested with the rest of us: he had kidney problems and begged the officers
for use of a bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The officers
laughed at him while he pissed in his pants.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the officers saying we were going to all be collectively punished for people
urinating and vomiting on the bus, even though we hadn’t had access to a
bathroom in over 10 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
forced to wait an extra 30 minutes outside the bus with our faces against the
concrete wall for our “crimes” before being led into Santa Rita. (Torture/War
Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being aggressively patted down: I remember those males identifying as queer or trans
being extra-aggressively being patted down, groped, molested, assaulted and
taunted by the prison guards.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
24 of us being crowded into a holding cell that wasn’t mean for more than
five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d be there for the next ~20
hours. (Torture/War Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
that although 80%+ of us were vegetarian, we were denied vegetarian food out of
spite and given slimy baloney sandwiches instead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember 2-3
times that night/morning after we managed to all more or less fall asleep in
the extremely overcrowded cell, some sort of chemical agent was pumped/vented
in causing us all to wake up, choking and coughing. (Torture/War Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
over the next 38 hours or so, the prison guards would strategically wait until
most of us were asleep in our cells, and call a cell check for some random name
that belonged to none of us: they did this for deliberate sleep deprivation. (Torture/War
Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
everyone involved being denied their necessary medication, including HIV/AIDS
meds and others. (Torture/War Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being moved to a bigger cell that was slightly less overcrowded, but the
drinking water was scalding hot IE not potable. (Torture/War Crime)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
in the 48 hours I was arrested and then finally released, I was never given
access to a phone or a lawyer. (Constitutional Violation)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the sickening feeling that if I resisted this torture in any way, I’d be
beaten, thrown into a hole and forgotten about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This may have been the worst psychological torture: to let the pigs have
their way and feel that there was nothing I could do about it…</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">…</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s hard/impossible to put a dollar
amount to the tortures I, we, endured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But surely $2600 does seem ridiculously, insultingly fucking low, doesn’t
it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, this
whole recounting has been rather fucking draining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I must continue with the aftermath.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being arrested Saturday night and being released on a Monday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immediately upon my release I contacted every
media outlet because I wanted to give testimony/bear witness/go on record about the
tortures I witnesses and endured.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember Tuesday
morning calling up the Thom Hartmann Show and detailing my experience (with my
voice raspy as I was still affected by tear gas and lack of water), and getting
Thom to on the air, live, apologizing for criticizing Occupy Oakland and
offering a call for solidarity. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
90% of the independent media journalists, if they got back to me at all, say a
version of “Oh yeah, I already filed my #J28 story on Sunday/Monday: no new news
here.” As if the largest mass arrest in Oakland in 30 years warranted no follow-ups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>INDY MEDIA FAILED US.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember “indy-journalists”
who used Occupy Oakland social media channels to solicit donations for their
personal careers, refusing to do any follow-ups RE #J28--- it’s worth
reiterating: INDY MEDIA FAILED US.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
still coughing tear gas out of my lungs when Chris Hedges published his
infamous “The Cancer of Occupy” article RE #J28 that was republished on
countless “left” “progressive” independent media news sites. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More words were written about how we were “violent
counterrevolutionaries” for wearing helmets and carrying shields than were
written about the violent, torturous police and prison guards of Alameda
County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CommonDreams dot Org has me
banned to this day for commenting “Fuck Chris Hedges”. AGAIN: INDY MEDIA FAILED
US. (#OpChrisHedges)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the Leaders-Not-Leaders of Occupy Oakland/#J28 calling a special GA to talk
about Move-In Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hundreds of people
showed up voicing many direct, to the point questions about the egregious
tactics that failed us over and over again that day that left many of us fucked
up by police brutality (yet the Leaders-Not-Leaders [mostly] got away
unarrested and unscathed).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One after
another these people were dismissed with variations of “Oh, we can’t talk about
it since there is now an ongoing court case going on RE #J28” IE, variations of
the bullshit sophist “Loose Lips Sink Ships” propaganda to silence extreme
pertinent criticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot stress
enough it was because of this there has been no major sustained radical
movement in Oakland to this day (with just wisps of ad hoc #BlackLivesMatter
rallies now, three years later--- more on this later).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unaccountable
leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The buck stops nowhere.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the NLG (National Lawyers Guild) calling us to two mass meetings of those
arrested on #J28, that was meant to placate us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The meeting boiled down to “Don’t worry, we have everything under
control: don’t call us, we’ll call you.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
the NLG never calling us back RE our initial court hearings, having us rely on
varying degrees of accuracy social media reports to see if charges were filed
against us or not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
NLG making a social media announcement/email “Whoops, we don’t have everything
under control- we are going to fob you all off to independent civil rights lawyers
Yolanda Huang and Dan Siegel (the latter of whom is totally going to put his
best foot forward fighting this case and not at all be distracted by running an
ill-conceived Mayoral campaign).” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
trying to call the Law Offices of Ms. Huang sporadically over the next ~3 years
and very rarely even getting this response/callback: “Don’t worry, everything
is under control; Stop calling me: I’ll call you.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being extremely concerned circa summer of 2013 when the ACLU announced a
pitiful $1 million dollar settlement regarding the most infamous case of
obscene police brutality in all of Occupy: the pepper-spraying of Occupy UC
Davis by Lt. Pike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A case that was so
ridiculously clear cut, the ACLU could have hit multiple grand slams charging
the University of California, the UCPD, and made fundamental systemic changes
to how colleges handle student protests from now on: this ACLU chose to bunt
instead, holding no one accountable, <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">and those student activists chemicallytortured receiving less than Lt Pike did with his paid suspension and workerscomp by a factor of ~6X</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to
write about this, <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">but I was censored</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being extremely concerned when the NLG announced their settlement with the city
of Oakland regarding the Oscar Grant protest mass-arrests of 2010 (of which I
barely escaped the net).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The NLG got the
lion’s share and for their 24 hrs of being thrust into overcrowded jail cells
after being illegally arrested (24-48 hours less than most #J28 arrestees) got
around $3k each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seemed insulting
low to me (little did I know…) at the time, and I did my best to try and rally
people around the idea that if this is acceptable, we are going to get fucked
over when our #J28 settlement comes to fruition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How fun it is to have the Cassandra Complex!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I remember
being somewhat optimistic after hearing about the first few rounds of
settlements coming out of Occupy Oakland in the past year, and #J28 cases that
had individual counsel (and not a class action suit like the one I was involved
in).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One woman got a $40k settlement for
being pushed to the pavement by OPD on #J28 and not even arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This set the bar at a reasonable place for
the rest of us who endured so much more brutality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then… the announcement of a
settlement of $2.6k each for #J28 happened.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Look:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not going to lie to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m fucking poor, and I’ve been fucking poor
my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$2600 would help me a
lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s not a settlement: you
might as well offer me 30 pieces of silver, because that’s fucking Judas
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t been an activist in the
Bay Area these past 6+ years for the money, but this scene has taken from me so
much fucking more from me than I’ve put into it, and I’m not just talking about
fiduciary concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if I’m ever going
to cash in my chips, I’m not fucking doing it for $2600.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But let’s be
really fucking clear: this isn’t about haggling over a fairer price for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we accept this we are dooming the
#BlackLivesMatter movement.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here is me,
in the middle of No Man’s Land, in a cloud of tear gas, during a
#BlackLivesMatter protest in Berkeley on December 6<sup>th</sup> 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnDXwaRo6a7R_7ik-fxxluksy_gzABlippaUlvwB9dT4Bp1Fz6bLcFpHxkcksOcRinS6Bb_TPMcX-2HdUMp1gIvHf5NJI63i_CfBKL6iKwW0McI4GTphoO65nSMNB_5G81cNab6ux_3kj/s1600/teargas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnDXwaRo6a7R_7ik-fxxluksy_gzABlippaUlvwB9dT4Bp1Fz6bLcFpHxkcksOcRinS6Bb_TPMcX-2HdUMp1gIvHf5NJI63i_CfBKL6iKwW0McI4GTphoO65nSMNB_5G81cNab6ux_3kj/s1600/teargas.png" height="382" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Out of the
hundreds of protesters gathered, I alone didn’t retreat back a block but
advanced towards the line of riot cops to rescue a stranger who had fallen
because a concussion grenade exploded inches from his face and he collapsed to
the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Risking my health and safety
I helped him up and got him back to the protesters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this, even though I never through a thing
at the police (except my middle finger), I was shot at and hit by rubber
bullets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did this because I have
fucking courage, and I believe in the movement #BlackLivesMatter against police
brutality and the police state: even to the point of risking my life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I won’t
be a sucker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t be used by people who exploit the
movement(s) for their personal gains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Never again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t sit silently
while this movement goes on unstrategically, while more people get brutalized,
burned-out and then gladhanded by the lawyers who are supposed to protect our
rights, but sell us out, over and over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many more examples do you need before you
too shout “NEVER AGAIN!”?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What then,
is to be done?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The fuck if
I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just one person, sometimes bolstered
by allies and friends; other times not so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m in a movement that pretends to be all about community, but will
jettison your ass to the curb the SECOND you become an inconvenience and do
something like ask the wrong question about the Sacred Cows of the “Radical” “Left”
(the knife in the back: no extra charge). </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But here are
my “Calls to Action” all the same: </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1<sup>st</sup>:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we need a public meeting
regarding the #J28 settlement and I think we need to pressure the lawyers
involved to show up and publicly state why they mishandled the case (Let’s not
mince words).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then we need to public
reject this settlement and go back to the negotiating table.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2<sup>nd</sup>:
I think we need a larger conversation locally and nationally about the goals
and demands of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the construction of a
sustainable movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I have been
inspired by the series of ad hoc protests around the country these past months,
shutting down a freeway or mass transit for a few hours, and then being
brutalized and arrested by police only to have a shitty settlement three years
later isn’t sustainable, therefore it won’t win as currently structured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe we can win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We MUST adjust our tactics accordingly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3<sup>rd</sup>:
To that end, I’ve been remarkably consistent in what would be the biggest
revolutionary demand to end the police state: #EndTheDrugWar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been saying this since the Oscar Grant
movement at public and private organizational assemblies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually to crickets and tumbleweeds.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4VQLNB1vwXEROPUrrhD2piVjhreh9OwUqj5DoOtcqD_hCBp9JZtKmPpeRh0zX-ER2CfqBBodcxCDSp-ts_ZBOrpwl966efvMxPsgjTr1zsU85YtvUbpwhNi7p7UlcZ40MPfVIJ5ckki7/s1600/simpsons-tumbleweed-o.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4VQLNB1vwXEROPUrrhD2piVjhreh9OwUqj5DoOtcqD_hCBp9JZtKmPpeRh0zX-ER2CfqBBodcxCDSp-ts_ZBOrpwl966efvMxPsgjTr1zsU85YtvUbpwhNi7p7UlcZ40MPfVIJ5ckki7/s1600/simpsons-tumbleweed-o.gif" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet the logic is simple: We are outraged at
police brutality, and how it disproportionately affects black and brown and
poor communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are outraged at the
mass incarceration of these communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is the lead cause of this brutality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Drug War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>#Every45Seconds someone in this country (overwhelmingly black, brown and/or
poor) someone is put in chains and a cage for possessing cannabis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than ever before, a vast majority of
people in this country support ending the drug war: tying #EndTheDrugWar to
#BlackLivesMatter would make an overwhelming populist movement with a clear
goal, the likes of which haven’t been seen in the USA since the anti-Vietnam
War protests over 40 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And no,
the endgame here isn’t “Yippie! I can buy weed at WalMart now!” but #DrugWarReparations---
but that is a another conversation for now.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">... </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s the
best I could come up with on short notice, on this, the 3<sup>rd</sup>
anniversary of #J28 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s to many
more justices and victories for us, the good guys and gals, before the next
anniversary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lemme know
what you think = <a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank">@Ergoat</a></span></span></div>
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Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-43998866511449048792014-11-06T12:37:00.000-08:002014-11-06T12:40:14.885-08:00J'Accuse!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">J'Accuse!</span></b></u></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">In my five previous posts (<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">1</a> <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">2</a> <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/02/recognizing-protest-theater-facades-at.html" target="_blank">3</a> <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/04/last-exit-to-uc-berkeley-or-tale-of.html" target="_blank">4</a> <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/10/stalinism-within-uc-berkeley-activism.html" target="_blank">5</a>) I've exhaustively covered how radical, populist activism with <u><i><b>winnable</b></i></u> campaigns have been ratfucked at UC Berkeley these past three years by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">But those articles are long, and it's time to bullet point it.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">1. I accuse the plutocracy of destroying Occupy Wall Street, the largest sustained ~leftist mass-movement in the USA in 40-plus years, by using their pawns in the Executive Branch of the US government to order the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy" target="_blank">DHS to coordinate raids on Occupy encampments in cities across the country</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">2. I accuse the pawns of the Democratic National Committee, the corrupt Labor Union bureaucracies, of withdrawing their support from Occupy, and forming the <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/13/yes-the-99-spring-is-a-fraud/" target="_blank">counter-movement the "99% Spring"</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">3. I accuse one of the <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/21/99-spring-campaign-led-by-uaw-computer-records-indicate/" target="_blank">largest Union backers of the 99% Spring, the UAW</a>, of mobilizing members of the local UAW 2865, which represents 13,000 graduate student-workers at the University of California, as infiltrators and Agent Moderators to sabotage Occupy Cal and their thousands strong movement by forming the split group <a href="http://occupyeducationca.org/wordpress/?page_id=10" target="_blank">Occupy Education</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">4. I accuse Occupy Education/UAW 2865 of misappropriating tens of thousands of dollars away from Occupy Cal's public 501c3 donations into their own private, non-transparent coffers.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">5. I accuse Occupy Education/UAW 2865 of abusing the Occupy General Assemblies' modified consensus voting format, by continuously stacking the vote with their bloc, needing only 20% plus 1, to vote down more radical (yet populist and winnable) demands, to vote down direct actions, to vote down music and dancing, to vote down a #copsoffcampus-type mobilization versus the outrageous police brutality sustained by students at Occupy Cal and Occupy UC Davis.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">6. I accuse the person "AA" of using her elected position within the UAW 2865 hierarchy to manipulate student activists; one notable example: threatening Occupy Cal students into not attending a #copsoffcampus #FTP solidarity march that <a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2012/02/18/occupyoakland-protesters-march-to-international-house-at-uc-berkeley/" target="_blank">Occupy Oakland was having at UC Berkeley</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">7. I accuse the <a href="http://reclaimuc.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">ReclaimUC</a> collective, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwCwat2Iva5qwEcP68LnFfEya6vQf1oEjgtIXsu5G7M_P66LZJfrGco0AI_XbOrtZwloZQwg7rb7a3ETgRHaxxu6rA88zcfl4FT6E-Wjra_3hjnd5FtjnVHSVGhXekD2zxnmWXlql1XZI/s1600/twitter.com_2014-04-29_06-58-56.png" target="_blank">of which AA is a member</a>, of using their activist cache/capital (alliances with <a href="http://thenewinquiry.com/?cx=011508392565135751895%3Agsjnvtngmxa&ie=UTF-8&cof=FORID%3A11&q=reclaimuc&s=reclaimuc&x=0&y=0" target="_blank">leftist publications</a>, magazines, <a href="https://twitter.com/BigMeanInternet/status/455928260908834816" target="_blank">etc</a>) they've gained over the years in writing against the UC system to promote Occupy Education/UAW propaganda and give them unearned credibility.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">8. I accuse ReclaimUC of outright hypocrisy in promoting the UAW/Occupy Education, which was by all honest accounting, a moderate, liberal, centrist Democratic Party affair- exactly the kind of bullshit they wrote strongly against for years prior on their blog!</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">9. I accuse ReclaimUC/UAW2865 of forming many Alphabet Soup front groups to mask allegiances to the UAW hierarchy and to deflect criticism and accountability for at least seven straight semesters of failed student activism campaigns: the past three years the UAW2865 has been the front for the ADWU, RS, OFC, PEC, Occupy Education, Occupy CA, SDU, SCSC, CPE, CPC and others.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">10. I accuse ReclaimUC/UAW2865 of engaging in a years long sustained smear/slander campaign against members of Occupy Cal, Open University, and <a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/" target="_blank">bpOffCampus</a>; baselessly calling us <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbo4hmjnYs3rjkG8Ou1Fx85R_CoO0lRd5QJox6RvCQOZIcHevLKaK38Q7Cf91tWilll5eVvQ6Zv_dswg0vJngWiNdmvIvUh8iX-MMDOSgDWZVxXPzBmSXNmcK9FYmSUKiaJQXaReQp6RI/s1600/reclaimucDMs01.PNG" target="_blank">"conspiracy theorists"</a>, sexists, misogynists, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzPCPQJ9IkK6sh3aM5Zf8WQioyN76xkipa5q33q36Zq9PomjXApHyVbobUs0ArvfThe2uhUbFx7ROJWMj5PrMxEa3rkSkIbAVa85kahCuQsMjPmcxqr4AiiodVoTzkiwR2ZYEwMBOHkge/s1600/twitter.com_2014-10-14_09-03-59.png" target="_blank">and cops and government agents, endangering us by snitchjacketing us</a>: they've never agreed to many calls over the years for an open public debate regarding these matters facilitated by a neutral third party "Safer Spaces" conflict-resolution moderators.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">11. I accuse ReclaimUC/UAW2865/ADWU of embezzling/misappropriating countless thousands (or even even millions) of dollars from the UAW2865 union dues coffers; a charge that is also leveled at them from <a href="http://vote4switch.tumblr.com/WhyReplaceAWDU" target="_blank">factions within their own union</a>: This money certainly did not go towards a winning contract strike campaign; <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/04/04/stud-m04.html" target="_blank">a campaign that failed to get most UAW2865 student-workers a living wage/off of food stamps</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">12. I accuse the Stalinist leadership cabal of Occupy The Farm (OTF) of being in league with ReclaimUC/UAW2865 stemming back from the anti-tuition-hike "Wheeler Hall" protests of 2009.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">13. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of abandoning their Occupy Oakland/Occupy Los Angeles "duties" in 2012 prior to OTF, to produce/star in a Reality TV series that appeared on Premium Cable, which featured overt UAW 2865/Occupy Education propaganda.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">14. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of promoting Occupy The Farm as an open, leaderless, non-hierarchical movement but using every opportunity to thwart democracy to advance their insular clique's limited, self-serving objectives.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">15. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of exploiting the labor of hundreds of volunteer activists' physical labor and personal endangerment (risking and actually being arrested, brutalized by the UCPD), at Occupy The Farm to that end. </span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">16. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of <a href="http://ergoat.com/ASUCPresentation--OccupytheFarm.pdf" target="_blank">limiting the hundreds of Occupy The Farm participants' broad vision of where the movement could go</a>, into an extremely limited goal of making a UC Berkeley run gardening club and an anti-mini-mall campaign: explicitly so their clique could remain leaders and reap all the accolades.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">17. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of self serving cowardice in not <a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/industrial_hemp.html" target="_blank">planting cannabis hemp on UC property</a> at Occupy The Farm, which is something that even the <a href="http://www.votehemp.com/state/california.html" target="_blank">California State Legislature has wanted to do/voted in favor of for over 15 years</a>. This could have broadened the movement to bring about greater agricultural reform, ending the drug war, ending the prison industrial complex, etc.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">18. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of wasting/stealing hundreds of thousands of movement dollars in non-transparent accounting on a 3 year failed campaign, including throwing money away for an 18 month over-due Occupy The Farm Film that will serve little but a Vanity Project for their insular clique.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">19. I accuse the OTF Stalinists of <u><i><b>outright selfishness over solidarity</b></i></u>, never supporting any cause but their own, never helping those who spent so much time, labor, and risk for them.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">20. I accuse the exo facto leader of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley, Jack Weinberg, of being an unquestioning uncritical union hack, who used the FSM 50th Anniversary as a public platform to promote UAW2865/OTF Stalinists, and whitewash the history of Occupy Cal.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">21. I accuse the autocrat who runs the @OccupyOakland Twitter account of hijacking the social media platform in a similar fashion to how the <a href="http://occupywallstreet.net/story/wolf-occupy-wall-street-statement-justin-wedess-hijacking-occupywallstnyc" target="_blank">Occupy Wall Street Twitter accounts were stolen</a>: This individual usurped the account, in part, to promote their Stalinist clique-friends in OTF/ReclaimUC/UAW2865.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"> It is crucial to expose these Stalinists who are hijacking student activism at and around UC Berkeley! Not just for the sake of saving campus activism locally, but to recognize these ratfucking tactics in how they destroyed radical activism in the Bay Area, California, and across the nation. UC Berkeley is of critical importance; for the past 50 years it has been at the vanguard of social justice activism: as goes Cal, so goes the nation. To allow this tiny minority yet highly influential, connected cabal of Stalinists to take over student activism campaigns for another 3 years is absolutely unconscionable. Stop playing deaf and dumb and get actively involved! If you are an activist or a merely a concerned citizen: spread the word, expose these fuckers, so genuine, populist democratic movements can prevail.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">@Ergoat</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/CalOccupation" target="_blank">@CalOccupation </a></span><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/OccupyCalCampus" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/OccupyCalCampus" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">@OccupyCalCampus</span></a><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://twitter.com/CalOpenU" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;">@CalOpenU</span></a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/bpOffCampus" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></a>
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/bpOffCampus" target="_blank">@bpOffCampus</a></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-68217625875469653412014-10-26T11:05:00.002-07:002014-11-08T11:51:03.783-08:00Stalinism within UC Berkeley Activism and the 50th Anniversary of the Free Speech Movement<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Stalinism within UC Berkeley Activism and the 50<sup>th</sup>
Anniversary of the Free Speech Movement</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;">1. </span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Leading up to the #FSM50 Rally on Oct 1<sup>st</sup> 2014</span></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. T Minus Zero: The Day of the #FSM50</span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7282136754102594235&pli=1#three"></a></span>3. </span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">When facts don’t back up your position, resort to slander
and smears!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7282136754102594235&pli=1#four"></a></span>4. </span></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the ReclaimUC/UAW cabal denying their part in pro-cop
ratfucking by more smears and lies and snitchjacketing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7282136754102594235&pli=1#five"></a></span>5. </span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Plot Thickens: Occupy the Farm’s role in this Stalinist
Ratfucking</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7282136754102594235&pli=1#six"></a></span>6. Some semblance of wrapping up with some ideas towards
solutions for actual movement building</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;">[Edit 11/8/2014-- This is a long read: <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/11/jaccuse.html" target="_blank">90% shorter bullet point version here</a>]</span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">October 1<sup>st</sup> 2014 was a
day where hundreds gathered at UC Berkeley to celebrate the 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Movement" target="_blank">Free Speech Movement</a>… and completely whitewash <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">the history of Occupy Cal</a>. This was done over
the course of a day filled with rallies, speeches, panel discussions and an
“occupation” orchestrated by yet another <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/04/last-exit-to-uc-berkeley-or-tale-of.html" target="_blank">Alphabet Soup</a> “activist” front group
(now calling themselves the Cal Progressive Coalition or CPC) led again by a Stalinist
cabal within the United Auto Workers (UAW) 2865 (who represent 13,000 graduate
student-workers at the University of California) in collusion with heads of the
#FSM50 event planners. The motives of
this action by this coalition, which now explicitly includes Occupy The Farm, are
to stall and blunt any actual radical student movement/community-building on
campus and in its place prop up meant-to-fail “Protest Theater” groups to
maintain the Administration’s status quo of conformity, docility and
non-engagement of the 30,000 students enrolled.
With the historical framing of the mythologized UC Berkeley Activism
starting in 1964 with the Free Speech Movement, through the Anti-Vietnam War
protests in the 60s-70s, the Anti-Apartheid movement in the 80s, etc, UCB has
earned (sought or unsought) the role of Vanguard Standard Bearer of Student
Social Justice Activism: As goes Cal, goes campus activism in the rest of the
country. Therefore the Powers That Be
have unleashed this Stalinist faction of specialized <a href="https://twitter.com/anonoccubloc/status/236998160243892225" target="_blank">Agent Moderators</a>
to sabotage genuine, populist, radical activism locally (and consequently
nationally) these past three-plus years.
And these Stalinists used the #FSM50 event in front of this crowd of hundreds
as the latest episode to legitimize their Protest Theater façade and their
Brand.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Though many of the actors engaging
in this sabotage/usurpation are self-avowed communists, this article isn’t
about reviving the Red Scare or some sort of Neo-McCarthyism. The use of the term “Stalinist” isn’t meant
to get into the weeds of Marxist wonkism, or to delineate between the strains
of communism be it Leninism, Trotskyism, Maoism etc: For the purposes of this
article “Stalinist”/”Stalinism” is used to describe a particular political
behavior. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">From Marxists.org: </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">“In terms of the organization of a state, Stalinist policies
are quite clear: <b><i><u>democratic rights threaten the position of the bureaucracy, and
hence democracy is incompatible with Stalinism.</u></i></b> In basic terms on a
world scale, the forces of Stalinism have done everything in their power to
prevent socialist revolution.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is how certain cliques of
people have been operating at Occupy sites around the Bay Area for 3 years now:
profess open, horizontal direct democracy as a primary organizing principle,
but behind the scenes manage a secret steering committee or leadership
bureaucracy to exploit loopholes in the democratic structure to advance their
cabal’s goals over the majority’s objectives.
With their vast knowledge of how to manipulate meetings or General
Assemblies, they’ve thrust themselves to the top hierarchical positions of what
is supposed to be leaderless meetings by subscribing arbitrary voting
procedures to an ad hoc coalition and trick the majority with an entirely
artificial method of facilitating a meeting with a sophist form of
make-it-up-as-you-go-along sort of “’Anarchist’ Version of Robert’s Rules of
Order”. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most neophyte activists are slow to
catch on and/or happy that other people are doing most of the heavy lifting of
organizing for them, but once the majority votes in a course of action not
conducive to the steering committee’s
secret goals, or enough activists catch on and challenge this hierarchy, two
things inevitably happen: First, a smear
campaign is waged against those who dare question the cabal’s authority;
Second, if the smears do not deter the dispute, the steering committee will
split away and form a new front group with the old bureaucracy that will go
unchecked/unchallenged for a time again.
IE once the People’s Front of Judea’s leadership is challenged, a split
group will form the Judean’s People’s Front, and in turn if the JPF is
challenged, they’ll split away and form the Popular Judean Front. This first happened at Occupy Cal in late
November 2011, when the dominance of the Original Facilitation Committee was
limited, so they in turn formed the UAW-led Occupy Education.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"> (You try working with a union hack like "Eric Alexander" for months...)</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Leading up to the #FSM50 Rally on Oct 1<sup>st</sup> 2014</b></u></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I
<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">previously described in great detail how the UAW-led Occupy Education ratfucked Occupy Cal</a>
so I won’t rehash it all here. Being no
longer content with the Coalition for Public Education or CPE moniker of last semester, this UAW
cabal rebranded for the 2014 Fall Semester with the new name Cal Progressive
Coalition or CPC. The CPC was first
announced as an ad hoc UC Berkeley umbrella group in <a href="http://calprogressivecoalition.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/cal-disorientation-guide-20141.pdf" target="_blank">this publication</a>,
netting in the most diverse base of advocacy groups to form a coalition since
the start of Occupy Cal. Surprisingly,
through what I must only imagine was severe editorial oversight from the UAW
cabal, our activist group, <a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/" target="_blank">bpOffCampus</a> was listed as part of the CPC! (For the record, Occupy Cal, like all local
Occupations of the Occupy Wall Street movement consisted of whoever showed up:
Open University was a working group of Occupy Cal; the only one to achieve the
formal status of an official UC Berkeley student group. Open University’s main project since Spring/Summer of
2012 has been bpOffCampus: That’s it. We don’t represent/front ourselves as
anything else.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Despite
being formal members of the ad hoc CPC, we were never informed of any of
organizing meetings of the students who were organizing to be a part of the
#FSM50 events: to draw a line of continuity between past UC Berkeley activist
struggles fifty years ago to this day. So we were not informed of/present at a
woefully-(/purposefully) under-advertised 1st CPC General Assembly. At this GA, witnesses reported back to us
that about 30 people showed up, mostly grad students in the UAW 2865. These people then split into various working
groups, and without any previous announcement that this course of action was
going to be decided on, a working group of five people reported back to the
rest that they had voted on one person, let’s again call her AA (not her birth
certificate initials—I have not and will not reveal any anonymities/pseudonyms
or name names of any less-than-public figures), to represent all current
student activists as a speaker and panelist during Oct 1<sup>st</sup> #FSM50
day of events. Stalinism!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So we
in bpoffcampus, along with other CPC activists disgusted by the Stalinist
tactics of the secretive UAW steering committee, reached out to #FSM50 main
organizers to discuss what was going on behind the scenes in their event’s
name: That it was totally undemocratic,
not to mention highly unethical to have one speaker represent all current
student activist at their event, let alone one of the characters most
responsible for sabotaging Occupy Cal and other populist campaigns (notably =
#No2Napolitano) on campus these past three years! We sat down and talked with the de facto
leader of the Free Speech Movement Jack Weinberg (who had inherited this
position by default ever since Mario Savio passed away) at length. He was sympathetic to our concerns but
ultimately paid them lip service: Jack said we could possibly be on a
yet-to-be-organized panel on the next day.
He never got back to us. (More on
our meeting with Jackie-boy, and why he never got back to us later in the article.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">T Minus Zero: The Day of the #FSM50</span></b></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Highlight of the day:</u> </b>
After 3 years of activism at UC Berkeley with Occupy Cal, I finally
filled up my local sandwich club card with stamps, enabling me to get a free
sandwich.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Lowlight of the day:</u></b>
Everything else.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Read someone else’s damn write-up
if you want a full accounting of the #FSM50 speakers at the rally that began
the day of events. What was consistent
was a lot of liberal self-back-patting of how great activists were 50 years
ago, and how their generation opened up so many doors for us activists
today. Missing was any sort of
reflection that UC Berkeley in 2014 is the most conformist campus since 1963,
and I don’t say that lightly. It was
like all the speakers at the rally were following a script with these rules in
bold print: 1. <b><i><u>Don’t mention Occupy Cal</u></i></b>. 2. If you <b><i><u>must</u></i> </b>mention
Occupy Cal, it must be in the framework of it existing exactly TWO days: Nov 9<sup>th</sup>,
(the first day when student and community activists set up tents on Sproul
Plaza mere feet from where Mario Savio gave his famous Free Speech Movement
speech and were brutally beaten with batons by the UCPD) and Nov 15<sup>th</sup>
when Occupy Cal had the largest General Assembly in all the of the American
Occupy Movement; a proposed 81% tuition fee hike was reversed and everyone went
home: a happy ending. 3. Again, if you
must mention Occupy Cal, do so in an a past tense: make no mention that there
is <a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2014/01/21/uc-berkeley-administrators-dismissed-occupy-cal-lawsuit/" target="_blank">an active Occupy Cal lawsuit</a> versus the UCPD and campus administration
for over $15mil that will put former Chancellor Birgeneau on the witness
stand. Or in other words: <b><i><u>A
complete whitewash of history</u></i></b>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why limit Occupy Cal’s history to
two days? Because if Occupy Cal existed
beyond Nov 15<sup>th</sup>, you’d have to mention the UAW-run Original
Facilitation Committee breaking away from Occupy Cal to form Occupy Education:
a group that was purported to run parallel to Occupy Cal’s aims but was in fact
set up to try and sabotage Occupy Cal’s efforts of direct actions; to try to
vote down building occupations in progress (<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2012/01/victory.html" target="_blank">they didn’t always succeed</a>),
and to ratfuck any #copsoffcampus type movement versus the infamous
pepperspraying Lt. Pike, to ensure he <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_21596_5-viral-stories-that-had-insane-twists-after-we-all-moved-on.html" target="_blank">got away scot-free and given more moneythan the students he chemically tortured</a>. They accomplished this with an aggressive smear
campaign (that at the time, we at Occupy Cal only guessed at the scope of it,
massively underestimating it) while pretending to build towards an “immense”
day of action in Sacramento at the Capitol Building, which by all honest
accounting was a total waste of time, money, and most importantly, activist
energy that accomplished NOTHING. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So
during the course of the speeches of the first rally of the #FSM50 anniversary,
the public whitewash of Occupy Cal was completed, all of my/our efforts
conveniently erased from history in some Orwellian scheme; while people I
organized with, faced down riot cops with, sat in overcrowded jails with;
smiled and clapped along: lockstep with the other goosestepping
Stalinists. But the backstabbing of the
day wasn’t over yet: there were still to be two more panel discussions and a
“building occupation” to keep twisting the blade…</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">AA, not content with being the only
current “student activist” speaker at the #FSM50 rally, and giving the WORST
reciting of Savio’s speech EVER, so monotone and dispassionate that had half
the crowd lukewarmly give a smattering of confused applause and the other half
smack their foreheads at the awfulness; no, not content with that defiling of
history, AA was also
to sit on a panel as a featured speaker called “The Struggle Today”. Which was, long story short, absolutely
horrendous, but more importantly, absolutely uninspiring. Again: <b><i><u>purposefully so</u></i></b>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>When facts don’t back up your position, resort to slander
and smears!</u></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">More appalling was the next panel:
“50 Years of Organizing” which featured a dais of speakers involved in various
populist campaigns at UC Berkeley over the years. There was exactly one presenter who had fire
in her belly (the rest were decent to mediocre; clearly their activist days
were behind them), only to be followed by the “student-activist representative
of Occupy Cal”, AG (kind of surprising that it wasn’t AA again). To put AG in this position was a total farce:
she was present at, generously, 10% of Occupy Cal meetings, rallies and
actions. Her pointless, rambling,
otherwise totally forgettable “speech” was notable for her assertion that she
believed that Occupy Cal was threatened by the specter of “Misogynist
Infiltrators”… whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean, it was clearly a dig
at me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">AG is the kind of person who would
scream “White Male Privilege!” at anyone who disagreed with her, no matter what
the context. This isn’t to say “white
privilege” and “male privilege” aren’t actual things, but she, like too many
other social justice activists of a certain age since 2010 or so just love to
scream these things like a toddler who just learned a new dirty word, to the
point where the phrase becomes meaningless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">The brief history of AG and the UAW
cabal publicly slandering me at Occupy Cal as a “sexist” or “misogynist” goes
like this. On Jan 28<sup>th</sup> 2012
or #j28 over 20 members of Occupy Cal were arrested among the 409 members of
Occupy Oakland after a day of tear gas, batons and general police state horror
(many more managed to escape arrest but were still traumatized by the violence). Even though there was still cross
fertilization between Occupy Cal & Occupy Education at the time (IE people
who declared themselves with both), Occupy Education/UAW refused to interrupt
their lame as fuckshit meetings to offer jail support, or even make a 5 minute
announcement. In an email to the
listserve, I typed “WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU” regarding Occupy Education’s lack
of support: this was called “Use of sexist language” and therefore, I was a
sexist. I made the union hack that made
this smear apologize publicly at our next GA: that I wasn’t sexist and neither
was that comment. But in hushed terms
the UAW cabal kept the smear going behind the scenes: “See? They’re harboring
sexists at Occupy Cal: it’s an ‘unsafe space’”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the next GA after that, I spoke
at length about how Occupy Education/UAW was co-opting and sabotaging Occupy
Cal, connecting the dots for many for the first time.
Seeing that nearly everyone present (40+ people) at the meeting agreed
with my version of events, AA did the only thing she could think of (instead
of, y’know, honestly responding): she crumpled into a ball on the ground and
began loudly (fake) sobbing. AG rushed
to her “defense”, saying I needed to “check my white male privilege”, and I was
a misogynist sexist, because in the course of a political, not personal,
disagreement, I made AA “cry”. Outrageous
bullshit. For the record, since I’ve
already written this much about a non-entity, I’m going to wrap up by recalling
the time AG publicly said I didn’t deserve to organize with Occupy Cal at UC
Berkeley because I wasn’t a student, just a community member: a little speech
that had even my non-allies shaking their head in disbelief in how over-the-top
and wrong that statement was. So, hey,
AG, if you’re reading this: Check your elitist university privilege!</span></span></div>
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<u><b><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
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<u><b><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">On the ReclaimUC/UAW cabal denying their part in pro-cop
ratfucking by more smears and lies and snitchjacketing.</span></b></u></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the ongoing themes of many
of the #FSM50 speakers and panelists throughout the day of 10/1/2014 was the
idea that “We need to be aware of the struggles in Ferguson, and the protesters
who are seeking justice for Mike Brown” (regarding the recent murder outside
St. Louis of another unarmed young black man by an unaccountable police force). I looked around the crowd: of the hundreds
gathered, exactly one other person besides me participated in a Fuck the Police
#FTP <a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2014/08/15/breaking-michael-brown-protest-happening-now-in-southside-berkeley/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">solidarity march for Ferguson through Oakland and Berkeley several weeks earlier</a>: again, a lot of talk and no action with these #FSM50 and CPC “activists”. One funny comment stuck with me throughout
the events of that earlier #FTP march: As we dodged a kettling attempt from
riot cops of at least 5 different police agencies and marched onto the UC
Berkeley campus, the autocrat who runs the @OccupyOakland account proudly
pronounced “This is the first time an Oakland Fuck The Police marched on campus!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Incorrect!” I yelled back to the rest of the marchers. “The last time was on 2/19/12!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Funny story: On February 9<sup>th</sup> 2012, Occupy Cal
had set up an encampment with tents and renewed the occupation for over a week
on campus, the first since 11/17/2011, and it was one of the only tented
Occupations at the time across the entire nation, as nearly all were brutally
destroyed by police forces coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security
(current University of California president Janet Napolitano’s old job). It was swept away a week later, by a pre-dawn
raid of the UCPD. In response, I called
to my allies in Occupy Oakland who were organizing weekly “Fuck the Police”
marches and asked them if they would redirect their march to UC Berkeley in
solidarity with us post-raid. They
happily agreed to, and over 60 dedicated themselves to a 4+ mile march to
support us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">That night, AA went around to all
the Occupy Cal activists who were planning to show up and gave them “The
Tap”. “The Tap” is something I witnessed
many times in the 1<sup>st</sup> weeks of Occupy Cal, where a professor or some
or other campus authority figure would pull an individual student aside and give
them a little speech that went something like this: “If you keep organizing
with these people, you will be jeopardizing your future academic career and
subsequently you won’t be hired for x y z, get into a PhD program, etc; so
leave Occupy Cal before you get into any trouble.” AA went around a couple of hours before
Occupy Oakland showed up to support us, and gave “The Tap” to many Occupy Cal
student activists who would have otherwise been absolutely game to participate
in, actively sabotaging a #copsoffcampus march/rally. So instead of dozens/hundreds ready to
receive the Occupy Oakland march, there were only four of us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlGMzHD3xB9jCBxYoDd72costI9D5hXpfl-6CI1bNLchQLvtSKgnspIpv3RptG4VP-nBrBeN4yBUa5G__guoyITcDZw9SNxuPNQsQen6Z7bAYRGjV2_JeXO6Jl0SH0E7K7klbIfkAKt2u/s1600/ooihouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlGMzHD3xB9jCBxYoDd72costI9D5hXpfl-6CI1bNLchQLvtSKgnspIpv3RptG4VP-nBrBeN4yBUa5G__guoyITcDZw9SNxuPNQsQen6Z7bAYRGjV2_JeXO6Jl0SH0E7K7klbIfkAKt2u/s1600/ooihouse.jpg" height="409" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Luckily, the UCPD overplayed their
hand with an outrageous show of force, and the #FTP marchers didn’t really have
time to process “Where the fuck are all the Occupy Cal students?” as they went
directly into what they did/do best = not be afraid of riot cops. Which is something the UCPD isn’t used to;
they’re used to beating up timid students, not militant activists getting in
their faces yelling “All Cops Are Bastards! A.C.A.B.!” Which had them literally shaking in their
boots. An incident like this further
cements my theory that The Powers That Be will do anything to prevent an
Oakland/UC Berkeley activist alliance, and have been doing so since the days of
the Black Panthers in the 1960s. This is
why a person like AA, and other Agent Moderators are such useful tools for
them…</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">So when called out on this, what does the ReclaimUC sect do?
Lie and smear and deflect and hope no one pays attention and the criticism goes
away.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwCwat2Iva5qwEcP68LnFfEya6vQf1oEjgtIXsu5G7M_P66LZJfrGco0AI_XbOrtZwloZQwg7rb7a3ETgRHaxxu6rA88zcfl4FT6E-Wjra_3hjnd5FtjnVHSVGhXekD2zxnmWXlql1XZI/s1600/twitter.com_2014-04-29_06-58-56.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwCwat2Iva5qwEcP68LnFfEya6vQf1oEjgtIXsu5G7M_P66LZJfrGco0AI_XbOrtZwloZQwg7rb7a3ETgRHaxxu6rA88zcfl4FT6E-Wjra_3hjnd5FtjnVHSVGhXekD2zxnmWXlql1XZI/s1600/twitter.com_2014-04-29_06-58-56.png" height="283" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzPCPQJ9IkK6sh3aM5Zf8WQioyN76xkipa5q33q36Zq9PomjXApHyVbobUs0ArvfThe2uhUbFx7ROJWMj5PrMxEa3rkSkIbAVa85kahCuQsMjPmcxqr4AiiodVoTzkiwR2ZYEwMBOHkge/s1600/twitter.com_2014-10-14_09-03-59.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzPCPQJ9IkK6sh3aM5Zf8WQioyN76xkipa5q33q36Zq9PomjXApHyVbobUs0ArvfThe2uhUbFx7ROJWMj5PrMxEa3rkSkIbAVa85kahCuQsMjPmcxqr4AiiodVoTzkiwR2ZYEwMBOHkge/s1600/twitter.com_2014-10-14_09-03-59.png" height="320" width="224" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbo4hmjnYs3rjkG8Ou1Fx85R_CoO0lRd5QJox6RvCQOZIcHevLKaK38Q7Cf91tWilll5eVvQ6Zv_dswg0vJngWiNdmvIvUh8iX-MMDOSgDWZVxXPzBmSXNmcK9FYmSUKiaJQXaReQp6RI/s1600/reclaimucDMs01.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbo4hmjnYs3rjkG8Ou1Fx85R_CoO0lRd5QJox6RvCQOZIcHevLKaK38Q7Cf91tWilll5eVvQ6Zv_dswg0vJngWiNdmvIvUh8iX-MMDOSgDWZVxXPzBmSXNmcK9FYmSUKiaJQXaReQp6RI/s1600/reclaimucDMs01.PNG" height="640" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gee ReclaimUC: what is the 1% of my writing that aren't "conspiracy theories"? My use of prepositions?</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">And how many other behind the
scenes secret smears and threats has there been? Many people have quietly approached me saying
they’ve got the message “If you want to be in [clique XYZ] don’t go to Occupy
Cal/bpoffcampus meetings or promote them on social media.” There was even an instance where a new teacher was told her job was on the line if she didn’t immediately remove a
Facebook post promoting my (<a href="http://truth-out.org/speakout/item/19947-occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police-sympathetic-unions-how-lt-pike-recently-got-another-38k-reward-for-pepper-spraying-student-activists" target="_blank">now censored</a>) Occupy Cal TruthOut .org article. Toe the party line or else.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stalinism!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="color: lime;">The Plot Thickens: Occupy the Farm’s role in this Stalinist
Ratfucking</span></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://ergoat.com/ASUCPresentation--OccupytheFarm.pdf" target="_blank">Occupy the Farm</a> began on Earth Day
2012, with hundreds of activists marching of the Gill Tract Farm, a plot of
land entrusted to the University of California at Berkeley for agricultural
research, but was being sold away to developers and privatized bit by bit for
the past 80+ years. Nearly half a year after
the Occupy encampments were destroyed by the DHS, Occupy the Farm took the
concept to another level, with activists working together to till the earth and
plant organic food together. It was such a breath of fresh air literally and
figuratively: Occupy away from the urban concrete settings and on farmland
where the goals were being realized with everyone laboring together and
transforming the space communally, which was such a welcome shift from the
infighting and distrust that had marked the movement nationally and locally the
past several months. …And then the
Occupy The Farm “General Assemblies” and “organizing meetings” began…</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">OTF had a specific goal of stopping
development on the last ten acres of Class 1 organic soil in the East Bay, be
it in the form of a parking lot, a Whole Foods supermarket, a baseball field,
etc. Beyond that it had a more
generalized vision of reclaiming space, urban and rural, for organic and/or
permaculture farming, drawing ties to landless peasant movements in Brazil and
other countries. To these ends, many
people gathered on the farm to share their ideas on how this movement could
proceed and grow. Now obviously, not all
ideas are equal: there were plenty of terrible ideas put forth; hippie nonsense
espoused (IE the totally unrealistic variety), various local farmers’ market
advocacy type groups who wanted to market their brand/ideals, etc, but there
were also a lot of intelligent people who showed up with farming/agricultural
experience who wanted to participate in this “direct horizontal democracy”
which, if operating to movement ideals, the best ideas would win and would be
acted upon. It became increasing obvious
that a secret steering committee or behind-the-scenes Stalinist bureaucracy
prevented any vision but their narrow one would be realized at OTF.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">As I spent a good amount of time
there, “illegally” camped out at the farm, etc, I observed first-hand the daily
ritual/farce/perversion of General Assemblies and “direct democracy” many
times. The Leaders-NotLeaders of OTF
(who are veterans of the Wheeler Hall protests at UC Berkeley 2009-2010 and
connected with the ReclaimUC clique, and therefore… connected to the UAW! More
explicit examples soon) would call a “work meeting”, if something to their
favor was voted on, great! If not, “oh
this isn’t an official vote: this is just a ‘work meeting’”, Then they’d hold a
“Facilitation committee meeting” = same thing.
Then they’d have a daily General Assembly where “oh, we already decided
to do X Y Z at the work meeting” or “Oh, we voted against this earlier in the
Facilitation committee meeting” Then they’d call for break out working groups
after the GA, with the Stalinists roaming from one group to the next. These people would literally wait for enough
people to leave any particular group or lead opposing voices away to another
group/area of the farm so the vote would be stacked in their favor. And if it wasn’t, they’d just wait another
hour or so and call another meeting! I
really wish this was hyperbole, but there would be easily 4 to 6 meetings/GAs
on any given day, or however many/few were necessary to advance their
bureaucracy’s objectives (more on their motives and objectives to come).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trust me; I wasn’t the only one to
observe this. Many veterans of Occupy
Oakland showed up sporadically over the course of days/weeks, tilled the soil
and volunteered their physical labor at OTF and witnessed this fuckshit. But rather than call attention to it; how a
Stalinist faction was usurping the democracy at OTF, they quietly told their
friends/comrades and walked away. The
reason for this lack of whistleblowing: The same patterns happened at Occupy
Oakland, but with more people/factions and over a greater period of time, IE
months not days. Occupiers saw firsthand
what happened to those who questioned the cliques who were running things
behind the scenes: they became the targets of vicious social media smear
campaigns and yes, cyber-bullying. This
did sometimes advance to become actual physical threats. Even more pernicious was the “Loose Lips Sink
Ships” rhetoric that was deployed as a weapon against asking direct questions:
if one asked for details or characters involved this half-true canard would be
pulled out all too often to deflect criticism of the secret steering
committees; IE revealing X Y Z information could jeopardize persons A B C and
get them arrested (though I can’t think of one case where this actually
happened, IE someone jailed because of too-revealing twitter gossip). <b><i><u>This tactic was used constantly to
deflect criticism from Occupy Oakland organizing cliques, and keep them totally
unaccountable.</u></i></b> An infamous
case in point was the Occupy Oakland Finance Committee was supposed to post the
accounts and expenditures of the movement monthly: <a href="https://occupyoakland.org/generalassembly/committees/finance-committee/" target="_blank">ten months went by without any update</a>, and the people who did question this accounting delinquency
were, of course, smeared.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">So with no organized counter-faction
within Occupy Oakland to question/call out these cliques/Stalinists, one person
would step-up and commit this mortal sin of questioning their authority, and
that one person would have their life (via social media gang-smears and more)
become a living hell for the next few days.
One by one people from Occupy Oakland would be picked off and never
return. To be clear, these people weren’t always ‘valued allies’ or courageous
whistleblowers, but the piling on behavior (which, by the nature of the beast
of twitter I sometimes unwittingly participated in) was/is reprehensible,
especially when used against honest critiques from those who volunteer labored
so much time and energy within the movement.
We all can do better. Many from
Occupy Oakland had seen this movie, played that game, so they quietly left OTF without
publicly vocalizing their concerns.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet many of us stayed at Occupy The
Farm despite all this fuckery because we believed in the movement. It’s hard to describe the magic of working on
a radical farm land with your friends and comrades, giving life to a green and
good goal: this made many ignore the bullshit and focus on the positive. Members of Occupy Cal’s Open University, on
their own volition (IE not approved/unapproved by an OTF GA/meeting/forum etc),
built bridges between OTF and UC Berkeley professors, inviting several to
participate in teach-ins at the farm (<a href="http://ergoat.com/ASUCPresentation--OccupytheFarm.pdf" target="_blank">see the pdf for more details</a>). The Open University also made a presentation
to the UC Berkeley student government, the ASUC, which resulted in a unanimous
endorsement of Occupy The Farm. Having
the ASUC support the farm delayed the inevitable UCPD raids for over another week; the administration instead had to wait for the student body to
leave at the end of the semester before shutting down OTF with riot cops. I <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2012/05/ucb-scandal-at-occupy-farm.html" target="_blank">wrote this</a>, exposing how the admins
censored the daily student paper. Members
of the Open University even interrupted a UCB graduation ceremony to give the
chancellor veggies from the farm. We were never given any credit or offered any
thanks for our efforts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the farm was raided, it
became even more abundantly clear that the OTF “leaders” wanted people to do
their farm labor, show up at the drop of the hat en masse whenever the UCPD
threatened a pre-dawn raid, but when it came to planning the farms next steps,
these Stalinists were NOT interested in organizing with other people (including
us) on any sort of semblance of equal footing.
Over the course of the next year in preparation for Occupy The Farm 2.0,
they met on a ~weekly basis. What ensued
was the most over-the-top “Security Culture”-Theater I’ve ever witnessed in the
already paranoid Bay Area radical activist “scene”. People were ordered to surrender all electronic
devices at the door and have at least 2-3 other activists vouch for them. Was this because a highly detailed plot was
going to be conspired? A building on
campus they were going to Occupy? A bank robbery or an elaborate Ocean’s 11
style jewel heist to fund the revolution?
No, these “precautions” were taken, making everyone unnecessarily uncomfortably
paranoid and then there would be a boring as cow shit meeting about soil
samples, where to plant the tomatoes, who’s turn it was to wash the camp
dishes, etc. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This all led up to May 2013, Occupy
The Farm 2.0: occupy the Gill Tract farmland again. Holy shit, the administration NEVER SAW THAT
COMING = good thing you went through the security theater bullshit. This was supposed to be timed with the
premiere of the Occupy The Farm Film documentary highlighting the
“achievements” of OTF1.0 … but said film was tens of thousands of dollars over
budget and months past due. Only a
trailer was completed: it reminded me of my small high school graduating class-
the principal recruited the head-cheerleader to make a “Memories” retrospective
type film of the seniors. Weeks later
they came back with a film that was 90% her and her 12 other cool-kid clique
friends with “I Will Remember You” looped for a score. Now, I haven’t seen the finished product, but
if the OTF trailer is any indication, it will highlight the same 6-8 people of
the Stalinist faction of OTF espousing half-baked farming philosophy over and
over again in close-up interviews, while the hundreds of other participants of
OTF are shown in long-shots, mere ants toiling for the clique-queens. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I participated in OTF2.0 in May
2013 (just in time for a late planting season… and most of the students leaving
campus for the summer…) again hoping beyond hope that something worthwhile
could be salvaged from this movement.
The autocrat who runs the @OccupyOakland twitter account granted me
access to the (at that time, mostly dormant) account explicitly for the reason
for tweeting out #OccupyTheFarm propaganda. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfidN0lFauamNL0IOKNsUNCjAI_BBpL9BpfCQqGQAvThxSSudMPg-lClCxuv8xOxtkmc_3p90ltY61d4IdNcC0uplbrCi_HyqSSUXjQdwZctqS1kTrjcZyKu0-5XDORzx57tLgbL-9qTt/s1600/twitter.com_2014-05-20_09-11-03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfidN0lFauamNL0IOKNsUNCjAI_BBpL9BpfCQqGQAvThxSSudMPg-lClCxuv8xOxtkmc_3p90ltY61d4IdNcC0uplbrCi_HyqSSUXjQdwZctqS1kTrjcZyKu0-5XDORzx57tLgbL-9qTt/s1600/twitter.com_2014-05-20_09-11-03.png" height="640" width="321" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">My tweet is the top one, but an interesting conversation about where the Occupy Oakland $$$ went follows...</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was undemocratically revoked from me when I started questioning the
methods and strategies of OTF2.0 on my personal twitter account and at the
GAs. Funny how so many veterans of Occupy
Oakland rightly were outraged when the supposedly collective democratic <a href="http://occupywallstreet.net/story/wolf-occupy-wall-street-statement-justin-wedess-hijacking-occupywallstnyc" target="_blank">socialmedia accounts of Occupy Wall Street were usurped by J. Tunney and J. Wedes</a>,
yet they know the same thing happened to the OO twitter account, and they
didn’t lift a finger. Did I say
“funny”? <u><i><b>I meant totally fucking
hypocritical.</b></i></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So
without any plans, strategies, tactics or vision beyond “Let’s plant veggies
again!” (I didn’t/don’t just critique without offering other ideas:<a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/industrial_hemp.html" target="_blank"> my constant proposal</a> that I strongly believe would have helped OTF1.0/2.0 thrive beyond the
boundaries of those ~10 acres), OTF2.0 was swept away rather quickly by the
UCPD & administration. One member of
bpoffcampus was arrested at OTF2.0, disappeared inside Santa Rita prison for
several days, and ultimately released without being charged. It’s important to note, that <a href="http://bpoffcampus.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-would-occupycal-launch-be-without.html" target="_blank">bpoffcampus was very active in the 1st half of 2013</a>, having weekly public
teach-outs, organizing meetings, rallies, demonstrations, direct actions,
guerrilla theater events, disrupted graduation ceremonies and interrupted
Chancellor Birgeneau’s farewell party, and more! What we didn’t know at the time was that the
UAW 2865 cabal was threatening other student activists if they participated, or
shared our events on social media, as I mentioned before; IE why there were
dozens showing up instead of hundreds.
But what we did know, was that we invited Occupy The Farm folks to
organize with us two times a week for months: they NEVER showed up to any of
our events; they couldn’t even be bothered to share our actions on their social
media accounts. NOT FUCKING ONCE. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> To be absolutely fucking </b> clear: We
had open horizontal meetings we asked them to participate in against a known
villain, British Petroleum, and a common enemy, the University of California top
administration and the Board of Regents.
It’s not like we asked them to do some nonsense like, champion theories
about how Shapeshifting Reptile Aliens are controlling us with chemtrails, or
have them collect signatures for “Lyndon LaRouche for President”. Yet for all the physical and organizational
labor we donated to the Occupy The Farm cause, the amount of times we put our
asses on the line against the riot cops of the UCPD for OTF; they couldn’t
support us with even ONE HOUR of their time.
Nice solidarity, “comrades”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">And as a kicker, when I posted my
article about how the UAW infiltrated and sabotaged Occupy Cal and ratfucked
student activism at UC Berkeley, I was deleted from the OTF email list-serve,
after being on it for about 21 months.
Hmm… </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In
Spring of 2014, OTF3.0 emerged as a gardening club for an explicitly UC
Berkeley-run farm, and their political advocacy narrowed down to an
anti-mini-mall campaign at the Gill Tract: In other words, next to total
fucking irrelevance. So by the Fall
Semester 2014, the OTF Stalinist clique joined the CPC, and at the weekly
meetings <b><i><u>at the local UAW 2865 union hall</u></i></b>, they immediately took
positions in the leadership bureaucracy to organize for the #FSM50
anniversary. Why? To promote their now 18
months overdue Occupy The Farm Documentary/Vanity Project.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> If you
gave me a camera, a computer, film-editing software, and X amount of dollars
for my labor (let’s say easily under $10k), I could have made an Occupy The
Farm documentary in under a month, that would be “good enough”; highlighting
the movement’s achievements and aims. But
a “good enough” film wasn’t/isn’t good enough for them. They needed to make the OTF doc a Vanity
Project to keep their insular clique’s lifestyle-activism Brand relevant, and
highlight just how fucking awesome they are, so they can use pickup-lines to
the next new crowd of co-ed would-be radicals/activists at UCB: “Hey baby, I’m
a Direct Action Activist…” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Now a
lot of you may think it’s ridiculously petty and slimy to attack a group’s
sexual proclivities, and 99.999% of the time you’d be right. But 99.999% of us haven’t produced/starred in
a Reality TV series that aired on Premium Cable about our sex lives: They
have! I’m not a hater, I’m not a prude,
I’m not jealous; I don’t give a shit about gossip regarding which activists are
fucking who: I bring this up because it’s necessary to understand the OTF
clique’s motives, their mentality, and their borderline egomania. Other activists have told me that during the
course of producing this Reality TV series in the Spring of 2012, the leadership
clique being otherwise engaged, left a vacuum at Occupy Los Angeles (the UAW 2865 cabal connecting many occupies all over CA), making it
almost impossible for that city’s wing of the movement to organize for the May
Day “General Strike” in any substantial way.
Also, at the same time frame in which the UAW-led Occupy Education was
co-opting/ratfucking over Occupy Cal, Occupy UC Davis and all other University
of California Occupy student activism; this Reality TV series featured <b><i><u>OVERT
UAW PROPAGANDA</u></i></b>!!! I wish I
was making this up, I wish this was a joke: it’s not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9u3bdZAek2KfxP3-22NyKUIxKVqB_BX4k-pB-1ikYn0u2jNeiYb5yBemRjUky244HJsj6tBfqNHTEK23yc8asmaE1DNR1R5SuY19McAZzsOtdJXj_0TMutkyAOlDV4UqZFjNRVsyX8Ty/s1600/cpcdemand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9u3bdZAek2KfxP3-22NyKUIxKVqB_BX4k-pB-1ikYn0u2jNeiYb5yBemRjUky244HJsj6tBfqNHTEK23yc8asmaE1DNR1R5SuY19McAZzsOtdJXj_0TMutkyAOlDV4UqZFjNRVsyX8Ty/s1600/cpcdemand.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This
all led to the OTF clique’s participation in the Cal Progressive Coalition’s
(CPC) “action” during the #FSM50 event on Oct 1<sup>st</sup> 2014. After the formal speeches at the day’s
opening rally on Sproul, the OTF/CPC led the crowd on a march of about 100 feet
to a “building occupation”. Since the
building in question, the Architects and Engineers building was open to the
public, the ten or so people loitering in the lobby were later reclassified as
a “sit-in”. This action was done with a
series of demands, regarding the University be more transparent regarding the
Gill Tract. Skip to the end: the sit-in
unoccupied later that evening (though some of the more radical who wanted to stay
were voted down) with two of the demands nominally met/paid lip-service to by
the administration. Everyone went home,
but not without one final “Come see our Occupy The Farm Film premiere!”
plug. Yet this isn’t about critiquing
the event in what many freshmen present would call their first witnessed
“direct action” which could only be considered lukewarm at best. This is about the behavior that the
OTF/CPC/UAW clique had, rallying the gathered crowd outside and the content of
their speeches. In the hours I spent
observing, the Wheeler Hall protests and Occupy the Farm were mentioned
repeatedly at length: not a word about Occupy Cal. British Petroleum’s role as a privatizing
influence at UCB was mentioned once, in passing: Not a word about bpoffcampus. And not in a “Whoops! In the 6 hours we’ve had to talk about
anything and everything we forgot to mention Occupy Cal!” This was a
deliberate, Orwellian-style sabotage: instead of mentioning Occupy
Cal/bpoffcampus/Open University either in support or rebuke; they, the
CPC/OTF/UAW, <b><i><u>chose to make us “un-people”.
All of our labor and efforts of the past three years was “un-history”:
We never even existed.</u></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="color: lime;">Some semblance of wrapping up with some ideas towards
solutions for actual movement building:</span></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Yes,
that went on for even longer than I expected.
But I feel every word of it is important to get us out of this funk and the
activist state of denial that has been pervasive these past 3 years since
Occupy began. Also important is the fact
I haven’t and won’t name names: not just because that would be a localized
“Inside Baseball” discussion, but I’m making a bigger point that these patterns
happened everywhere, and not just during Occupy. Yet this narrative of, “Whoops! Occupy failed: better luck next time!”
doesn’t do justice for the necessary examination of why the radically
politically vibrant Bay Area has been effectually inert these past years. It’s because of these behaviors of
Stalinist-type leadership cabals have gone unchecked in a supposedly leaderless
movement, and <b><i><u>this lack of accountability have led us to a toxic point where we
flat out just don’t trust each other anymore</u></i></b>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Now
there are ways to organize a movement that fosters accountability and community
while dealing with checking the power of hierarchy and leadership-cabals. Off the top of my head:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rAaWvVFERVA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Almost a year ago, I published an
article with TruthOut dot org exposing how unions betrayed the largest populist
mass movement against unequivocally again plutocracy the USA has seen since the
60s, perhaps since the Labor movement of the 20-30s (IE before the Leftists got
purged). Instead of sparking a local or
national dialog about the role modern business unions have in activism; <a href="http://truth-out.org/speakout/item/19947-occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police-sympathetic-unions-how-lt-pike-recently-got-another-38k-reward-for-pepper-spraying-student-activists" target="_blank">my article was censored on behalf of the UAW</a>.
Union members who were/are allies from the Occupy movement played this
deaf and dumb role like the longshoremen in On the Waterfront: anything less
than near total unquestioning solidarity to the idea that the “Unions make us
strong” (even with the plethora of evidence of bureaucratic corruption for the
past 30-70 years and an ever shrinking unionized workforce) is not to be openly
spoken of: at least if you want to advance and/or keep your job.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take for example, the case of
Michael Moore and his film 1989 documentary “Roger & Me”. In a 90 minute film about how the most
profitable corporation on the planet, General Motors, destroyed the industrial
city of Flint by outsourcing; he spends 90 seconds on the UAW’s role in
corruption and planned obsolescence by never fighting back against the
corporation or plutocratic CEOs, instead giving concession after
concession. Which is why Flint and
Detroit (and so many other American cities) are the dystopian urban hellscapes
they are today: the UAW betrayed its populist mission as a union and refused to
fight back. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOe-H-gFM8gk7hc01HzspzN5NL_J0ZzKn0qPYwRT-MvPjKKEZc5vUTpRjehZS65lqd7qX-oMMrieCOk9jch-cqHgUlARZs-5en8ml7ZPNXlWC2XzIHgPdcXI-NCibbvdtdUMvdYHsExNZB/s1600/rmeUAW02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOe-H-gFM8gk7hc01HzspzN5NL_J0ZzKn0qPYwRT-MvPjKKEZc5vUTpRjehZS65lqd7qX-oMMrieCOk9jch-cqHgUlARZs-5en8ml7ZPNXlWC2XzIHgPdcXI-NCibbvdtdUMvdYHsExNZB/s1600/rmeUAW02.png" height="233" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzcrFwRENvosMJTjENtyi581rNuvJSHJx0FGJAMb0Mj0kIXbNZd6UVN4C1niRd1wYpRKxjFQBQi9j6J4xoPrA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">But instead of rightly damning the UAW for their failings,
Michael Moore falls into this oft repeated trope/propaganda of “Whoops! If only
these unions could get their act together, we’d see some real change!”
purposefully ignoring that the unions have had over 70 years to get their “act
together”: if they haven’t done it by now, they will never do so.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">After all: What have unions done
for us lately? The largest labor campaign
since Occupy has been the SEIU astroturfing #FightFor15 (the fight for fast
food workers to receive a $15/hr minimum wage and a union)… and setting it up
to fail so they, the SEIU bureaucracy, can save face when they utter capitulate
for the DNC’s (Democrats) $10.10/hr minimum wage counter-proposal. Just think: A tiny portion of the billions of
dollar in the collective Union strikefunds would have won a living wage for ALL
American workers by now… if unions were truly concerned about the working
class.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet even a larger vision, far from
a utopia, but very realistically winnable:
With all strikefunds deployed workers easily could, for instance,
achieve a $25 minimum wage and a 20 hour work week and a more representative
democratic government, etc and we’d all be better for it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Instead, labor unions are plutocratic bootlickers of the
oligarchs.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> We need a new Enlightenment:
We must be no longer content with Divine Right to Rule where Divinity =
how much money one has in their bank account.
A slight adjustment of Occupy Wall Street’s slogan “We are the 99%” is
needed to reframe the 1% not merely as the wealthy few who are in a higher tax
bracket than 99% of us: No, the 1% are the plutocrats and their lackeys.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">Occupy was the first stage in a long time in that
Enlightenment, in that New Awakening.
And we were betrayed and sabotaged by Big Labor. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This all leads us back to a few
days before the #FSM50, as mentioned before, when us members of the Open
University were talking to the “Leader” of the Free Speech Movement. Like I previously mentioned, Jack Weinberg
was more or less sympathetic to our concerns that a Stalinist cabal within the
UAW 2865, which had previously worked to sabotage Occupy Cal, was
undemocratically taking positions of #FSM50 events. With someone of his decades of activist
experience, it was rather startling to see Jack’s manner abrupt change when we
broached the subject of greater UAW corruption.
He snapped into this conditioned response, or “brainwashed”, which I
believe is the new American term for it:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0s1dIJhrCcJU1YzPjhbnagPNAzLrrLhyphenhyphen-2gzsiqeR3DsMFQfwoJwLVqAh4FKLGe17bkX7Aks_55IH4JNXcgqoobTlMOhOjG1RjiwoH9JJ7PLBWgi8hu6AVvfNsLtxMogukL0gRbyss1_/s1600/vlcsnap-2014-10-14-18h58m30s246.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0s1dIJhrCcJU1YzPjhbnagPNAzLrrLhyphenhyphen-2gzsiqeR3DsMFQfwoJwLVqAh4FKLGe17bkX7Aks_55IH4JNXcgqoobTlMOhOjG1RjiwoH9JJ7PLBWgi8hu6AVvfNsLtxMogukL0gRbyss1_/s1600/vlcsnap-2014-10-14-18h58m30s246.png" height="184" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">“The United Auto Workers is the kindest, bravest, warmest,
most wonderful Union I've ever known in my life.”</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Jack Weinberg toed this line, even after detailing to us the
years he himself spent in the UAW organizing, and how his ex-wife fought the
corruption for over 30 years organizing within the UAW. Yet when we mentioned the idea that possibly
the United Auto Workers out of Detroit weren’t the best union to represent
13,000 graduate student-workers at the University of California. We mentioned that there was historical
precedence for Auto Unions sabotaging student activism (From <a href="https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/s/t.htm#student-protest-movement" target="_blank">Marxists.org RE the French Student Movement of 1968</a>: “The bloody repression of the students by
police shocked France and brought on a political crisis when auto-workers
responded to appeals by students to come to their aid. France came to the brink
of a revolutionary confrontation, which was averted by a 10 per cent pay deal
supported by the trade union leadership who sent the workers back to work.”). We pointed out that while he was organizing the Free Speech movement at UC Berkeley in 1964, at the same time, the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/freedomsummer-transcript/" target="_blank">UAW were denying African-Americans the right to attend the Democratic National Convention</a>. We proposed the notion to Jack that as long
as these Union bureaucracies exist, they serve oligarchy more than the workers
they represent, and they will continue to sabotage any efforts for radical
change:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;"> ‘[Horrible alien scream of alarm]: You’re some of those
anti-union people! You are the Other!’
He began fleeing the scene of what was an amicable conversation to that
point. He deflected all critiques of the
UAW aside with platitudes like “Well, the UAW is better than nothing.” At which point, he gave up his human
autonomy, and became a pod-person. We
were no longer speaking to a rational human being who used logic and reason in
his arguments; we were speaking to a fanatic, a cultist who was using a sort of
religious fervor of “The Unions make us strong” instead of evidence.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This would be one thing if Jack Weinberg was another lackey:
He’s not. He’s only the Leader of the
fucking Free Speech Movement, and ultimately culpable as well for the atrocity
of erasing Occupy Cal’s history during the Oct 1<sup>st</sup> #FSM50 event.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">This article is about how to win revolutionary change through student activism and community building; on campus and across the country. By default, since the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley fifty years ago, as goes student activism at Cal, so goes the national campus activism scene. This isn't personal (again: why I don't name names): if you think I'd be appeased, for instance, if the Occupy The Farm Film made a rush edit to include an hour of bonus footage of "Why Ergoat is awesome" for their premiere in a couple of weeks, you're a moron and/or an asshole. This isn't all about the money either, though that is a factor: I spent many, many hours setting up a 501c3 status for Occupy Cal, only to be ratfucked by UAW/Occupy Education who redirected donation campaigns to their purposefully built-to-fail counter-movement. But I'll happily disclose where the ~$700 we did manage to raise went... <i><b><u>IF</u></b></i> Occupy Education/UAW makes public their accounting, including where their millions of dollars of union dues go; <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/04/04/stud-m04.html" target="_blank">because the dues certainly don't go towards winning a contract for student-teachers that includes a living wage to keep them off food stamps</a>. <u><i><b>AND</b></i></u> I'd like to know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on Occupy The Farm for a Stalinist clique's vanity documentary and the strategies that have failed for three years now. This actually would go a fair way towards building a bridge of truth and reconciliation of activism locally.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">But it's not about the money: it's about building an activist movement that is designed to win. This won't happen until we recognize the Stalinist behaviors, and recognize the failed, corrupt US labor union leadership is sabotaging us.</span></span></div>
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Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-85344771124309795642014-04-26T14:21:00.000-07:002014-04-26T14:41:31.891-07:00Last Exit to UC Berkeley; Or: A Tale of Three Campus Protests in the Span of about a Week; Or: #ReclaimTheStrikeFunds<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>
</b></u></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Or</b></u></span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>A Tale of Three Campus Protests in the Span of about
a Week</b></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Or </b></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>#ReclaimTheStrikeFunds </b></u></span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></u></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPEx1Ha144UezE6ak6RjEs7rncMeeT6YfcjcDCvT6ydr5tOcTGJVisgAPtYij5gCSBWV5c_uDZdg15Z6135ZVOSEXPgQm4_CFUeHgOOFFrjuhFt1c6uejfrlNfchmN-gx9w2V_xgGEdu0/s1600/UAWpicket01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPEx1Ha144UezE6ak6RjEs7rncMeeT6YfcjcDCvT6ydr5tOcTGJVisgAPtYij5gCSBWV5c_uDZdg15Z6135ZVOSEXPgQm4_CFUeHgOOFFrjuhFt1c6uejfrlNfchmN-gx9w2V_xgGEdu0/s1600/UAWpicket01.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">What do you call a tepid UAW 2865 two day “strike”
(pre-planned work stoppage with scheduled ending point) with mere dozens
participating by walking in a small circle for a few hours, leading to the UC
Administration “caving” leading to a “tentative agreement” where the Union wins
the right of lactation rooms & transgender bathrooms, but not a cost of living increase, so a good
percentage of the unionized workforce of graduate students still has to rely on
food stamps to fend off starvation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
2014, a Historic Labor Victory, of course!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Disclaimer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m very
supportive of transgender (/transgender-friendly) bathrooms and the role they play in our culture in reducing
transphobia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">In a similar light, I also support the idea of a keg of free
beer for workers off the clock… </span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUeg1chce4k5BRv0nEyh5K_sFqilUnIxGFEN40Q1ZBG_M4iFJaaiomIKIfSn3AoaHKt4O-c0By3C9J_Pza7IpDF5bT8TKACyVHB_M0S2NVnpDUhb-zYJkQ6zs1JY8jAJ9LyTJ_-PaY20f8/s1600/solongdentalplan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUeg1chce4k5BRv0nEyh5K_sFqilUnIxGFEN40Q1ZBG_M4iFJaaiomIKIfSn3AoaHKt4O-c0By3C9J_Pza7IpDF5bT8TKACyVHB_M0S2NVnpDUhb-zYJkQ6zs1JY8jAJ9LyTJ_-PaY20f8/s1600/solongdentalplan.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"> but not the expense of a DENTAL PLAN! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1YucmwfNcOwHn5XbPlLlyQQFz5HkI-ISadmrx6yGRivepTjoIDrivl1E4B8L5I3TPn7wtsiOPECP82APXJLbmN3e3Q6E1Btw-FE2LKRW8eqi4JW6sJjWo833dbKFejAyUbxpvJJsTS3v/s1600/lisaneedsbraces.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1YucmwfNcOwHn5XbPlLlyQQFz5HkI-ISadmrx6yGRivepTjoIDrivl1E4B8L5I3TPn7wtsiOPECP82APXJLbmN3e3Q6E1Btw-FE2LKRW8eqi4JW6sJjWo833dbKFejAyUbxpvJJsTS3v/s1600/lisaneedsbraces.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"> …because
Lisa needs braces.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>The First Protest:</b></u></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">I don’t know if UC Berkeley still teaches The Simpsons <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090407081710/http://sociology.berkeley.edu/documents/undergrads/syllabi/Soc190_1.pdf" target="_blank">as part of their Sociology curriculum</a>, but I can guarantee that the students on
the UAW 2865 “picket line” would have learned more by spending their time
watching the classic Season Four Simpsons episode “Last Exit to Springfield”
(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Exit_to_Springfield" target="_blank">synopsis here</a>) than walking in a circle, pretending that their protest was
more than useless Union theater.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrBYUkZfGrMqspkrOEbbPmHWFMZzQ0tcTjYhfLVv9QxveK_vexXe42_8XfLgCYP2gGSQJGN45BlXJQozixR4sF-Oj83keCI4wXOnFOlG175AwI64CPGi0osVibMYYpg5zX89UgwvuTPDC/s1600/onstrike.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrBYUkZfGrMqspkrOEbbPmHWFMZzQ0tcTjYhfLVv9QxveK_vexXe42_8XfLgCYP2gGSQJGN45BlXJQozixR4sF-Oj83keCI4wXOnFOlG175AwI64CPGi0osVibMYYpg5zX89UgwvuTPDC/s1600/onstrike.png" height="307" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">The two day “strike”
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">For some reason, the United AUTO Workers represents around
13,000 graduate student workers at the University of California…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84PP5We9zlheCtew15sG3Ey3JKEqIOLsawl04AIejP9Gy6bhIG_OmjAYPbiIs6zlltnCUocA8TYHeG3OeJJqwq8Br4gLihMjNYdVDqMGGns3y1tHQ5RQ1l5oRptLP2jSPqgz-7Y3Kcmgz/s1600/intlbrotherhood.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84PP5We9zlheCtew15sG3Ey3JKEqIOLsawl04AIejP9Gy6bhIG_OmjAYPbiIs6zlltnCUocA8TYHeG3OeJJqwq8Br4gLihMjNYdVDqMGGns3y1tHQ5RQ1l5oRptLP2jSPqgz-7Y3Kcmgz/s1600/intlbrotherhood.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">… and the organization has a history of conceding away all their labor
organizing power to management for the past 30-plus years: the local UAW 2865
was in a position of negotiating for a ridiculously awful contract that
wouldn’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>keep up with the cost of living/inflation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmGtBayiyW9kDhk33obvCltKjwqX351yMM4WXq62sdTAwEBcn0GxCZzUE3zXEscI6j-INlZmDp3bbZtiH0A2n-JyVx6IQN8Yy6fWGWuRmwIbzhmod3LhUtnPPcz3hc-wfIfZ1eeH_2h_y/s1600/lumberingdinosuar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmGtBayiyW9kDhk33obvCltKjwqX351yMM4WXq62sdTAwEBcn0GxCZzUE3zXEscI6j-INlZmDp3bbZtiH0A2n-JyVx6IQN8Yy6fWGWuRmwIbzhmod3LhUtnPPcz3hc-wfIfZ1eeH_2h_y/s1600/lumberingdinosuar.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: small;">'"Homer, organized labor has been called "a lumbering dinosaur".'</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/04/04/stud-m04.html" target="_blank">This article breaks down this farce</a> of a “labor action”
better than I probably could so check it out so I don’t have to repeat its
prescient points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can provide a little
more personal, on the ground context to how this “strike” played out at UC
Berkeley.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">This first point can’t be emphasized enough:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The UAW 2865 organizers planted themselves at
the head of the #No2Napolitano movement (the movement against the appointment
of Janet Napolitano, the former Head of Homeland Security as the new President
of the University of California system) for the past eight or so months to
usurp and manipulate radical student energy away from direct actions on campus
and into planning for the narrow scope of campus workers’ contract struggles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when you look at these rather bland
pictures of the UAW 2865 Graduate Students Workers on strike, know that months of
planning and untold thousands of dollars of Union Dues went into a few dozen
people walking in a circle in a faux-picket line for a few hours, accomplishing
nothing; not even the tepid reforms of their negotiated contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, organizing support and
populist student momentum on campus for #No2Napolitano was sacrificed on the
ever-present altar of UAW moderation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">We at @CalOpenU (That’s the Open University student group,
the last active working group of Occupy Cal) played the role of observers,
chatting up with people who wanted to hear the broader story of activism at UC
Berkeley in the past couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While the UAW dozens were chanting “Don’t cross that picket line!” and
other tepid Union slogans… </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_7SS3DbWvabznxj0zbqCIuGJV27qQIbTVxIfzry046caxgUxSWmTVdHD49fxADS_GGJI5YjNzF8NEwXVbY8Lmc23KfkBFNWpx7_6CscrIOBOahkHL2ffQZe5ar4AzbPnEQB-z20BHS2n/s1600/whatdowewant.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_7SS3DbWvabznxj0zbqCIuGJV27qQIbTVxIfzry046caxgUxSWmTVdHD49fxADS_GGJI5YjNzF8NEwXVbY8Lmc23KfkBFNWpx7_6CscrIOBOahkHL2ffQZe5ar4AzbPnEQB-z20BHS2n/s1600/whatdowewant.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">CARL</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">What do we want?</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">EMPLOYEES</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">More equitable treatment at the hands of management!</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">CARL</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">When do we want it?</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">EMPLOYEES</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Soon!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">… I had a far more important counter-chant:</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJP40SGuGDzpi-MCv2C-d7voMAfP8LlsewOZgLyVcjfFn7-toLtjNGyd3dcYxJMUqrDMolQ2o3OzDaBKQI1stR_EH9w6qH4uR5xSw2W8Y8bi-lTGXFjQW0If18-tL8YwjfyX5KQqV74udw/s1600/burrito-simpsons-o.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJP40SGuGDzpi-MCv2C-d7voMAfP8LlsewOZgLyVcjfFn7-toLtjNGyd3dcYxJMUqrDMolQ2o3OzDaBKQI1stR_EH9w6qH4uR5xSw2W8Y8bi-lTGXFjQW0If18-tL8YwjfyX5KQqV74udw/s1600/burrito-simpsons-o.gif" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">Where's my burrito? Where's my burrito? Where's my burrito?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Yes, snagging an unauthorized burrito from AFSCME was the
high point of the day filled with Picket Line Theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why “Picket Line Theater”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no attempt to stop classes or stop
students from going to classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
picket was in the sidewalk off campus property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thousands of students walked through the picket line unhindered
(rightfully so, as what would they be scabbing?), but importantly with no idea
of what this protest was about, no UAW members handing out flyers describing
the nature of the demonstration and of the contract woes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Useless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ladies and gentlemen:
the state of Labor Unions in the USA in 2014!
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZydiLACvRgw?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">[Narrated not by me] </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">(Look closely… do you see ONE #No2Napolitano sign
anywhere?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another in a long line of
proofs: UAW 2865 “solidarity” only flows one way…)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Second Protest:</span></b></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2k7NR1NLGKNxwnukcf57-ZLeIHOZKTf1rkuV6CyIQ0YPT9eoF2dA1uGhnNj58gcTkKOPbE79HbO5dzbyTI6aNyNcZ5c3fBxrvr85c8tnU64Z8cedvIHXz_VhVf6nmExq579qjhzHRpnn/s1600/no2napBoalt01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2k7NR1NLGKNxwnukcf57-ZLeIHOZKTf1rkuV6CyIQ0YPT9eoF2dA1uGhnNj58gcTkKOPbE79HbO5dzbyTI6aNyNcZ5c3fBxrvr85c8tnU64Z8cedvIHXz_VhVf6nmExq579qjhzHRpnn/s1600/no2napBoalt01.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">A few days later, an under-advertised event happened on
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Janet Napolitano was visiting
the Boalt Law School at UC Berkeley for something or other, and the Students of
Color Solidarity Coalition (SCSC [<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2014/02/recognizing-protest-theater-facades-at.html" target="_blank">see section on Front Groups & Alphabet Soup here</a>]) promoted a demonstration against the president’s presence on
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a group that calls
themselves a “solidarity coalition”, they sure do their damndest to make sure
no one sympathetic to the cause finds out about their organizing meetings or
their actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An anemic march of less
than twenty came up from Sproul to the Law Center chanting “No to Napolitano!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">I had a bullhorn but mostly chose to only observe this farce
of the eventually over 50 gathered, chanting at the side of a building, rather
than, you know, go inside and challenge her directly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Other members of @CalOpenU decided to troll the stagnant
rally with counter-chants lauding Janet Napolitano, and even brought signs
parodying the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSquYQM_izkc6sg22M2yWnvaJIYeOLZhmBDOiK6k_vk6-qCk6hFn-5ohZ0m7-P1Bbk3xqOL3dOMbggPWD5Cs39_HAajGqYkXGfeZCbgwuTCef7B7Azo-ZX5psZeG-5VIaFGfJW6-oAKIDi/s1600/no2napTroll01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSquYQM_izkc6sg22M2yWnvaJIYeOLZhmBDOiK6k_vk6-qCk6hFn-5ohZ0m7-P1Bbk3xqOL3dOMbggPWD5Cs39_HAajGqYkXGfeZCbgwuTCef7B7Azo-ZX5psZeG-5VIaFGfJW6-oAKIDi/s1600/no2napTroll01.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">The SCSC were so dense, they actually thought we supported
Napolitano, until they were informed later it was a satirical gesture.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiugqmZ_rxsv3oWwbpO2l8PtZiJa2AY7EyhBQDkEl6vwdI5URIdzZbYPCVCq53i_XJycKg226CiWIVTmQgZaD7NrTfE5FqInDyIc3d2ylpTkXmVWRjaNLfD_sg-EUHfWHyg8EQhCmKxHk/s1600/SaintNapolitanYES.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiugqmZ_rxsv3oWwbpO2l8PtZiJa2AY7EyhBQDkEl6vwdI5URIdzZbYPCVCq53i_XJycKg226CiWIVTmQgZaD7NrTfE5FqInDyIc3d2ylpTkXmVWRjaNLfD_sg-EUHfWHyg8EQhCmKxHk/s1600/SaintNapolitanYES.png" height="478" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">The formerly potentially vibrant movement was reduced to 10%
of the students and activists once involved, not because the cause was any less
pressing than it was on Feb 13<sup>th</sup> 2014 when over 500 showed up to
rally against Napolitano, but because of poor leadership that caused students
to want to bow out of boring protest theater that wasn’t meant to accomplish
anything but advance and enhance a few organizers’ activist profiles and
careers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sat back and observed this
cowardly farce, another grad school student who wrote <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/14/uc-berkeley-and-the-myth-of-the-activist-life/" target="_blank">this excellent piece</a> criticizing
that lack of radicalism and canned protest theater of #No2Napolitano for
CounterPunch, said hello to me: “Did you
hear the latest rumor going around about you guys (@CalOpenU)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supposedly you aren’t just cops, but are
Specialized Infiltrating Agents.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">This is the latest escalation in an over two year smear
campaign, led by a leader of the UAW/ReclaimUC sect, whom in tradition of not
naming names in my exposes, I’ll just refer to her in this article as AA (for
Anonymous Activist).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AA was part of the
Original Facilitation Committee instrumental in splitting up Occupy Cal,
moderating radical direct action away from campus into a useless one-day Democratic
Party/Union led rally at Sacramento called “Occupy Education”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When members of the still active (<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2012/01/victory.html" target="_blank">still winning direct actions</a>) Occupy Cal saw that it was clear that these two
UC Berkeley “Occupies” weren’t acting harmoniously as Occupy Education (UAW
front) initially promised, but the latter were actively working against us, we
started speaking out against DNC/UAW cooption in our GAs (more on a specific
instance later).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s when the
generalized smear campaign began against Occupy Cal (which at that point [Jan 2012] still
had 50 people +/- willing to meet twice a week), with unfounded accusations,
backstabbing and mudslinging, which I won’t <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">detail again</a> here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This led up to earlier this year when we
called out the UAW usurpation of the #No2Napolitano, we were called “cops” in
public, and the ReclaimUC/UAW sect/AA refused to denounce this, but instead
kept propagating the dangerous lie to the fresh crop of student activists
involved with #No2Napolitano.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">We confronted this clique again on the edges of the
#No2Napolitano “action” at the Law School, asking for an apology and a public
refutation of calling us cops/snitchjacketing before the situation got any
uglier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, they doubled down,
again publicly saying we were cops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
ridiculous dialogue continued something like this:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“What evidence do you have to make the accusation that we are
cops?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“Well, you act like cops.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“How do we act like cops?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“You take pictures of our rallies.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“So do dozens of other people!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are they cops?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“You come across as threatening.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“We have never, ever physically threatened anyone. Calling
out UAW cooption is NOT a threat!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Snitchjacketing is very dangerous: that threatens OUR safety as
activists!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">We concluded this debacle by saying we will stop coming to
#No2Napolitano meetings/”actions” if/when they are willing to have a public
debate about tactics and UAW cooptation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Another sheltered neophyte know-it-all activist (of which UC Berkeley
has far too many) chimed in: “That’s a threat!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">“You can’t just redefine words like that!” I shouted
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed at the observing UCPD
ten feet away, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They’re</i> a threat!
They have fucking guns!”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi993Oc6HqU7Aon-SGTgdxuPDV6yEfJcwtYyCLa8BIoWxJ3z9jglXE5d_rE-Qe1ijqB7KQl0cm3RyMPnyOu46cBNJXyLKTehW-GnWlJy4HiyAk6QbBLTbT8nczb5f7AfdNaAXVxqO6z5-mg/s1600/no2napUCPD01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi993Oc6HqU7Aon-SGTgdxuPDV6yEfJcwtYyCLa8BIoWxJ3z9jglXE5d_rE-Qe1ijqB7KQl0cm3RyMPnyOu46cBNJXyLKTehW-GnWlJy4HiyAk6QbBLTbT8nczb5f7AfdNaAXVxqO6z5-mg/s1600/no2napUCPD01.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Incredibly, a UCPD cop addressed me with this sheepish
chuckle, “Hey, I’m a peace officer…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Incensed, I yelled at him: “I’m sure that’s what you were
yelling to the students as you were beating them in the rib cages with your baton!”
I pantomimed the infamous baton-thrusts versus Occupy Cal, with every jab
yelling “I’M A PEACE OFFICER!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’M A
PEACE OFFICER!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That shut the cop up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>The Third Protest:</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">A few days later it was Cal Day: a day when potential UC
Berkeley students tour the campus with their families as the university has
tables, displays and presentations all day long to promote the UC Berkeley
brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One presentation of interest to
us at @CalOpenU and the activist Berkeley community at large was a <a href="https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/04/06/18753687.php" target="_blank">contentious groundbreaking ceremony of a new engineering building</a>. It was bad enough that
the university planned to cut down a grove of redwood trees for this project,
but to put salt on the wounds was in the place of the green space was to be an
ugly building that would basically serve as a privatized Qualcomm spy center on
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another ominous sign of the
increasing surveillance police state happening on campus along with former DHS
head Janet Napolitano being appointed UC president.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCyZ7dzzPmjlIK4JoQHEXzIjPAw0MawHiOE359J-gHOHg700b1GLHFh4F0bDx13qP2IR1gnQh5oD8DXdpuYrtkJbFMMxIE1ZzPKNxeNDCsfVcJn2FVWTbMg7iLWoUmDhzBDn16ov7l8q6/s1600/RedwoodSideWalk01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCyZ7dzzPmjlIK4JoQHEXzIjPAw0MawHiOE359J-gHOHg700b1GLHFh4F0bDx13qP2IR1gnQh5oD8DXdpuYrtkJbFMMxIE1ZzPKNxeNDCsfVcJn2FVWTbMg7iLWoUmDhzBDn16ov7l8q6/s1600/RedwoodSideWalk01.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">So an ad hoc coalition of activists showed up, determined
not to allow a farce of a groundbreaking ceremony with plutocrats giving
self-congratulatory speeches go without dissent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9m3d8boCogzQ2qf8LqtrszFwLp3leAb8imLJh92a-Hxdpiro3TVUZZIS6tPbsCwpELUqtVJKGvFh3IJEIzWWX5L0JPQ_NLmqtq-aZ3jlV0WujUXBuQnHWzdKagbUTxEr6BfbZmOu43yJK/s1600/Redwood01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9m3d8boCogzQ2qf8LqtrszFwLp3leAb8imLJh92a-Hxdpiro3TVUZZIS6tPbsCwpELUqtVJKGvFh3IJEIzWWX5L0JPQ_NLmqtq-aZ3jlV0WujUXBuQnHWzdKagbUTxEr6BfbZmOu43yJK/s1600/Redwood01.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">In response to a vague threat by known, committed direct
action activists, the UCPD came out en masse with a 24 hour guard at the trees
to prevent an occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the day of
the groundbreaking, the ceremony apparently didn’t feel safe enough with armed
cops on all sides, and fled, unannounced to an undisclosed location to make
their presentation.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Leaving the UCPD to guard a field of empty chairs…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfdkB-rYxaMsBYQBbNEQn8KghyphenhyphenIFfKxitKJiVmVB_6jIVhk2Sg_obeuTaHCSJ5h-FcL07WMYwUJ-VLFpKpwJgCoJlJD3oxSheNwaqMiyY2ATzd8NYQLrMCOPguCk36h6t3QnGfv_FWxff/s1600/RedwoodChairs01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfdkB-rYxaMsBYQBbNEQn8KghyphenhyphenIFfKxitKJiVmVB_6jIVhk2Sg_obeuTaHCSJ5h-FcL07WMYwUJ-VLFpKpwJgCoJlJD3oxSheNwaqMiyY2ATzd8NYQLrMCOPguCk36h6t3QnGfv_FWxff/s1600/RedwoodChairs01.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">While the Qualcomm plutocrats had a groundbreaking indoors;
their shovels symbolically digging into air on stage: total UC administration
cowardice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LqJpAASTTbU?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">See, this is what happens when a protest is legitimate; when
a demonstration is a threat to The Powers That Be at the University of
California: the suit and tie brass in the UC Administration tuck tail and run
and send in the riot gear clad pigs of the UCPD with their batons and
pepperspray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Yet when activist organizers leaders direct a demonstration
away from radical direct action, IE don’t enter the building Janet Napolitano
was at to directly protest her to her face, occupy the WRONG BUILDING; don’t
allow the masses to occupy the wrong building with the vanguard, making them
wait outside and merely, meekly, observe the preening “Blum 11” (psst: you don’t
get to call yourself the Blum 11 like the "Chicago 8" until you are arrested/prosecuted,
you egotistical fucks): this is when Protest Theater is ensured, and therefore
no threat to The Powers That Be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">How else can one explain the fact that dozens of UCPD riot
cops lined up and left en masse WHILE THERE WAS A BUILDING OCCUPATION IN
PROGESS… unless they too knew that it was protest theater?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7RbgrF-M4fPlVb83NYZMOiUngIMA6ahWlr_ZhNqtol1WsrNIEUvNgrx2WP3w0_rcAFWc92Ex1Im47hk0PMTnCUG-FraAgLRV10xG91yhtnXn00gLIAXxGotNlez8ZGK8HVsIxFZbptLk/s1600/no2napUCPDleave01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7RbgrF-M4fPlVb83NYZMOiUngIMA6ahWlr_ZhNqtol1WsrNIEUvNgrx2WP3w0_rcAFWc92Ex1Im47hk0PMTnCUG-FraAgLRV10xG91yhtnXn00gLIAXxGotNlez8ZGK8HVsIxFZbptLk/s1600/no2napUCPDleave01.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7WviTURaF-6FQ_hcPtNS-Zc2NRE7WJjEhL3d0AGiIGNNv7UXEkxAVyLCmxqz7OipCBqNlzf-iDC4VW1aRFLUR0jposn6G5kV-vRj3y7mkgzSmb3XvaxMODxFcV-y_waUw3aM6BBcdQHA/s1600/no2napUCPDleave02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7WviTURaF-6FQ_hcPtNS-Zc2NRE7WJjEhL3d0AGiIGNNv7UXEkxAVyLCmxqz7OipCBqNlzf-iDC4VW1aRFLUR0jposn6G5kV-vRj3y7mkgzSmb3XvaxMODxFcV-y_waUw3aM6BBcdQHA/s1600/no2napUCPDleave02.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofYNni8DBXuS5mpHuxwNFe0Zqfg0dcQ26Bf12jiKvyASTTz7X8PCYeovY3heXjudsWuMvFU6Zs9m0gWNb2viPKd4bx-4AElFz0r6lax43z6vMJYGWKoaoUQOU6mBcCM6-fHS1yf0CaTeu/s1600/no2napUCPDleave03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofYNni8DBXuS5mpHuxwNFe0Zqfg0dcQ26Bf12jiKvyASTTz7X8PCYeovY3heXjudsWuMvFU6Zs9m0gWNb2viPKd4bx-4AElFz0r6lax43z6vMJYGWKoaoUQOU6mBcCM6-fHS1yf0CaTeu/s1600/no2napUCPDleave03.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Never once in my six years of being an activist at UC
Berkeley have I known the UCPD to leave a direct action in progress, to not
collect that overtime pay like the leeches they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is unprecedented, and many veteran
Berkeley activists agree…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">...</span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjub2YBaOGRaVhbILB0mjpaZ0ZGkg1y1NNQ7WRRqyi1JEYHEUChg0RDkQXrD4lHPOTOerG0bn8OAzXfFh2LOsSkcqe2303cUjZ-21EZ2C88xtIISj8T0rtt5MTa4YlDmY3AkC6FoJMdkyif/s1600/whereisthatunionrep.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjub2YBaOGRaVhbILB0mjpaZ0ZGkg1y1NNQ7WRRqyi1JEYHEUChg0RDkQXrD4lHPOTOerG0bn8OAzXfFh2LOsSkcqe2303cUjZ-21EZ2C88xtIISj8T0rtt5MTa4YlDmY3AkC6FoJMdkyif/s1600/whereisthatunionrep.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"Smithers, where is that union representative? He's twenty minutes late!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaTn2XxNkr_UgDV-hV3o0ltXAourPWhXA1T-nJHioRjXGjebqCD8dWsCjq62jMgcq-z2e4onOdEh-aC0GEBXavEtR_7K5klt50SoiYhM7AqMi5WP15bjwqfxCGF1y1cPE_U2wb4HBSh3q/s1600/hasntbeenseen.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFaTn2XxNkr_UgDV-hV3o0ltXAourPWhXA1T-nJHioRjXGjebqCD8dWsCjq62jMgcq-z2e4onOdEh-aC0GEBXavEtR_7K5klt50SoiYhM7AqMi5WP15bjwqfxCGF1y1cPE_U2wb4HBSh3q/s1600/hasntbeenseen.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"I don't know, sir. He hasn't been seen since he promised to clean up the
union."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcGtnY55_SvF72OjmESFSaSFQCwoFz-gTdqmqqgzvioniqKAw4o517V57YEb-CoKTd53GHp7UYoake_g8KYafvaW-v8SMb1wxMnq7t84ckRhzgm2fK4ADMPtg4QT5DvrYqEV4fJWQdU42/s1600/deadunionleader.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcGtnY55_SvF72OjmESFSaSFQCwoFz-gTdqmqqgzvioniqKAw4o517V57YEb-CoKTd53GHp7UYoake_g8KYafvaW-v8SMb1wxMnq7t84ckRhzgm2fK4ADMPtg4QT5DvrYqEV4fJWQdU42/s1600/deadunionleader.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"What the Hell?"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">...</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3qbBtoqc8FExVbOE8e12r8hBpcTafP72yqzWXhRPTVrfBWaTrFF2-0yykO_48VU3XcWQBh7kkMEFI46EnOrdJpyiudvVnLXwcRTgGRQ4ggKceaAThxPq84EDcVl-f-oxn-HRAyfap_78/s1600/hopeheturnsup.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3qbBtoqc8FExVbOE8e12r8hBpcTafP72yqzWXhRPTVrfBWaTrFF2-0yykO_48VU3XcWQBh7kkMEFI46EnOrdJpyiudvVnLXwcRTgGRQ4ggKceaAThxPq84EDcVl-f-oxn-HRAyfap_78/s1600/hopeheturnsup.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"Welcome, brothers of Local 643. As you know, our president, Chuckie Fitzhugh,
ain't been seen lately. We're all prayin' he'll turn up soon, alive and
well."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgM_U8Yi60nhFflSgYxAHoa2qCMFoEleXrhJGsxXc8WF7ohwn3SKBMNj9chFkQZvkYoXHuCjGmFK3Kbj0GfCwubXzMYfMe7Zh1z_xGyEBfksw0n7975z2sInhJjzj6SyR2NIu76OGzZWq/s1600/hahahesdead.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgM_U8Yi60nhFflSgYxAHoa2qCMFoEleXrhJGsxXc8WF7ohwn3SKBMNj9chFkQZvkYoXHuCjGmFK3Kbj0GfCwubXzMYfMe7Zh1z_xGyEBfksw0n7975z2sInhJjzj6SyR2NIu76OGzZWq/s1600/hahahesdead.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><i>(everyone laughs)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Besides the mostly behind my back smears (rarely to my face, online or otherwise)
calling me a conspiracy theorist, a wingnut, or a cop, coming from this
ReclaimUC/UAW sect, they do offer one (and ONLY one) line of thought to
actually argue against the points I’ve been making for months (years): let me
go ahead and disprove this fallacious counter-argument now, again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This cabal says all of my arguments are invalid because there actually
is a leftist wing inside the UAW 2865 that is against the Democratic Party entrenchment
in the union and has been doing some excellent radical organizing since 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s highlight/bullet point some of these
Great Moments in the UAW 2865 Faction of Radical Leftist Communist Organizers,
shall we?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5LdF-Qh5DaBiS42fm0lLw2b8slWtL_l7PcuY-aN8qe4eqdYKlgVWv6PedqEehZcnXefpgytj-Z5kJeF-85XCItkiPjHy6zp64WXv7MpTm1h6437RqAbzjGMF9-lah0YHg_CFQW2tzyj4S/s1600/howmuchpay.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5LdF-Qh5DaBiS42fm0lLw2b8slWtL_l7PcuY-aN8qe4eqdYKlgVWv6PedqEehZcnXefpgytj-Z5kJeF-85XCItkiPjHy6zp64WXv7MpTm1h6437RqAbzjGMF9-lah0YHg_CFQW2tzyj4S/s1600/howmuchpay.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"> (<i>On being elected new Union President</i>)</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">CARL</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Congratulations, Homer. </span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><i>The crowd picks Homer up, cheering.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">HOMER</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Hey, what does this job pay?</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">CARL</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Nothing.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">HOMER</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">D'oh!</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">CARL</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Unless you're crooked.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFmWyXs0gzU86pTs_VsdVTbtMT5luTKYpgEWbMFX9QFSIzrWBEi5X4TMu3QtGgz5PQ8bfyKNt0XbIC0BxwGJCIm3nG-Vee3ifomU1OdBhOuygxeHRRBnnuhWYcWikRg7mL2ktBb9inmQ_/s1600/woohoocrooked.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFmWyXs0gzU86pTs_VsdVTbtMT5luTKYpgEWbMFX9QFSIzrWBEi5X4TMu3QtGgz5PQ8bfyKNt0XbIC0BxwGJCIm3nG-Vee3ifomU1OdBhOuygxeHRRBnnuhWYcWikRg7mL2ktBb9inmQ_/s1600/woohoocrooked.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"Woo-hoo!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">First, disclaimer, I grow weary of the Alphabet Soup/Front
Groups this sect puts forth: from this UAW 2865 clique since 2011 there have
emerged the ADWU, PEC, Occupy Education Facilitation Committee, SDU, CPE, SCSC,
and probably a handful of others I missed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the purposes of clarity in regards to my Occupy Cal article, I
rebranded them the OFC for Original Facilitation Committee of Occupy Cal,
though at the time in fall 2011, they were sardonically called the “Trots”; a
play on Trotskyites… AND wet runny shit, for the way they fucked up a mass
student movement with their terrible leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t my paying job* (*more on this later)
to write the War and Peace version of the history of the UAW 2865, but I’m well
aware of this Communist/Trotskyist/Marxist/Leninist/Syndicalist/Leftist/Unionist/Whatever-The-Fuck-ta-vist
sect of the UAW 2865 lack of radicalism, ratfucking, and Agent Moderation,
however much they deny connection to the Democrats (beyond the obvious example
of their union dues going directly to the DNC).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Twice in a matter of a month in late 2011 did AA go beyond her bounds, representing
herself as a/the leader of Occupy Cal; first unilaterally stalling direct
action on campus until February 1st, and in another Occupy Education coalition
meeting, stalling it again for another month until March 4th 2012, doing her
damndest to make Occupy Cal a lame duck organization for 3-4 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned before, Occupy Education was a
one day rally of the who’s who of DNC-funding Unions, with a keynote speaker in
Democrat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom… but of course, UAW/Occupy Education has NOTHING
to do with the DNC: they’re radical communists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Oh, I have more examples… I’ll just leave it here for now)</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBleKo4E4lIlAEgNwpsPffHmUaeqKQJoB30nwWLk_IOaeBFXRDvWsONRs_jyj6kn08nXgkwp4c23wB-KOH7EXnhuE-noaIjIrp-hPFBsYK9FzbsMM8Rpy9ul2usfmylZZfiuD5C8vZoU8O/s1600/workingman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBleKo4E4lIlAEgNwpsPffHmUaeqKQJoB30nwWLk_IOaeBFXRDvWsONRs_jyj6kn08nXgkwp4c23wB-KOH7EXnhuE-noaIjIrp-hPFBsYK9FzbsMM8Rpy9ul2usfmylZZfiuD5C8vZoU8O/s1600/workingman.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">LISA</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">This is your chance to get a fair shake for the working man.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHDJdAScUR5Q9lxCop99GWfZSywriDf5Bew6lyCrF8Jx1FztUNFtyG7uUpq8ALc2GkarD7zNt9ZhxRNSzxCI8p1obNv9Ccu16R3w2Fzse6z26k8L_kLvrjMABhbkEWRUwI6nvg8142T5H/s1600/organizedcrime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHDJdAScUR5Q9lxCop99GWfZSywriDf5Bew6lyCrF8Jx1FztUNFtyG7uUpq8ALc2GkarD7zNt9ZhxRNSzxCI8p1obNv9Ccu16R3w2Fzse6z26k8L_kLvrjMABhbkEWRUwI6nvg8142T5H/s1600/organizedcrime.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"And make life-long connections to the world of organized crime. Mmm...
organized crime..."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: lime;">The fact is, this “anti-DNC” sect of the UAW 2865 claim to
radical organizing fame is Occupy Education and ratfucking Occupy Cal: no
matter home many times they want to ignore this truth, or pivot from this
reality.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Why more journalists aren't covering this story:</b></u></span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5-jNjCjZGhjtjDHa8k7yqhOmmzCwJWTYZshOqU0Cj0eXLZ48j4yDK0py-pTVV6z5jRVR9LKPF9w8qvE3OCJy4Uez1Ke1AV__l5VtCigtvuHleYDZnWKaxzY0rtId8SZ_BrbtTvBPaZS-/s1600/canttreatus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5-jNjCjZGhjtjDHa8k7yqhOmmzCwJWTYZshOqU0Cj0eXLZ48j4yDK0py-pTVV6z5jRVR9LKPF9w8qvE3OCJy4Uez1Ke1AV__l5VtCigtvuHleYDZnWKaxzY0rtId8SZ_BrbtTvBPaZS-/s1600/canttreatus.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"> (<i>Springfield, 1909</i>) -"You can't treat the working man this
way. One day, we'll form a union and get the fair and equitable treatment
we deserve!"</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-KBACC5okLusWzsfRu0Y1ZmGlcCLtTnxH0A9RQ2UzBgILjPZvbSxSpWUKclNdhwd7xYA9PxLKTXzhO6F9He-ajvLDXssttRGv_igiWZNBKRFSpDxqAhswhuRLlyyNz5ygn1i28NBm0q4/s1600/becomeshiftless.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-KBACC5okLusWzsfRu0Y1ZmGlcCLtTnxH0A9RQ2UzBgILjPZvbSxSpWUKclNdhwd7xYA9PxLKTXzhO6F9He-ajvLDXssttRGv_igiWZNBKRFSpDxqAhswhuRLlyyNz5ygn1i28NBm0q4/s1600/becomeshiftless.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"Then we'll go too far, and get corrupt and shiftless, and
the Japanese will eat us alive!"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX5VlIVNwPBbeGArFy78LcBKWK__XR-MMzF6dnmeH8a_QKfI268RYkpiecDmimvUlCypB9gcE-CvynbH6ccP35wb40dRjwSBLFUpIyL7euyWJtaUX5ghc3F4ucO09a7rehMPhqEmLDiBx/s1600/shouldhavelistened.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX5VlIVNwPBbeGArFy78LcBKWK__XR-MMzF6dnmeH8a_QKfI268RYkpiecDmimvUlCypB9gcE-CvynbH6ccP35wb40dRjwSBLFUpIyL7euyWJtaUX5ghc3F4ucO09a7rehMPhqEmLDiBx/s1600/shouldhavelistened.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">"If only we'd listened to that boy, instead of walling him up in the abandoned
coke oven."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"> (<i>Of course</i> The Simpsons isn't calling out the UAW here: Bosh! Flim-shaw!)</span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">The Simpsons episode “Last Exit to Springfield” accurately
portrays Union corruption and shiftlessness with hilarious biting satire: this was in
1993, before NAFTA hammered in the near final nail to USA’s middleclass
unionized manufacturing base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Business
unions since 1945 were too busy purging leftists from their ranks, lobbying against
Post-War Universal Healthcare for all Americans (unlike their European
counterparts), and making life-long connections to organized crime, to mount
any kind of fight against the outsourcing of labor to Japan than Mexico in the
1970s or 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of using their
vast organizing dollars to lobby for tariffs (for example), the corrupt, intransigent
Union bosses of the UAW were paid off by neoliberalism, letting the once
prosperous manufacturing cities like Detroit or Flint Michigan become the
dystopian urban hellscapes we know them as now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Once upon a time (pre-Reagan +/-), journalists were paid a
salary to research and report on Union corruption (and other worthwhile news
that falls through the cracks of modern News Media).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">A scene from “Superman: The Movie” circa 1978:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane in the Daily Planet
newspaper newsroom:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F58ES7mWE8IQ6R6LG2Jv9gjtLZtqyFq8KvLJZOk5lsYzVsg10x2pANMidl2B3actC6L-z_9hpjnEQCxCxMkXVhyQdqTi7Uf1_SSeJ8Dqs8HZUGxyrB9ea5Mrl5dvJiERklHhC_JqUr8f/s1600/DailyPlanet01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F58ES7mWE8IQ6R6LG2Jv9gjtLZtqyFq8KvLJZOk5lsYzVsg10x2pANMidl2B3actC6L-z_9hpjnEQCxCxMkXVhyQdqTi7Uf1_SSeJ8Dqs8HZUGxyrB9ea5Mrl5dvJiERklHhC_JqUr8f/s1600/DailyPlanet01.png" height="274" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;"> (Remember newsrooms?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course you don’t)</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">Editor in Chief Perry White walking through the room of bustling reporters,
stops for a brief moment to praise Clark Kent: </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotjOIM3w6L8Jj7urre3BRnnLdsOeajm4l458ZTb_vFE32_wcH8HKFw1PZKmG4ZE3TPIN0ei9AWatIy9hhLpn5anPjHGZfJ3UtALGmZREsW2ajR0zjZmG1GX8NVUyqJXSkcQ4M9y6w7jik/s1600/vlcsnap-2014-04-17-21h57m03s247.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotjOIM3w6L8Jj7urre3BRnnLdsOeajm4l458ZTb_vFE32_wcH8HKFw1PZKmG4ZE3TPIN0ei9AWatIy9hhLpn5anPjHGZfJ3UtALGmZREsW2ajR0zjZmG1GX8NVUyqJXSkcQ4M9y6w7jik/s1600/vlcsnap-2014-04-17-21h57m03s247.png" height="274" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">PERRY</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">(walks away around the desk again, says over his shoulder while examining some papers)</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Hey, nice job on that union scandal, Kent.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">CLARK</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">(half-rising out of his chair)</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">Uh, gosh, thanks, Mr. White.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">Today, in 2014 there are basically only two types of
journalists who get paid to write about Unions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One being right wing/libertarian trolls like the Breitbart band of
scumfucks, being paid by billionaire plutocratic earth rapists like the Koch
Brothers to denounce teachers barely making a living wage as greedy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">The other types are the progressive, liberal, “indy” news
websites: and the only type of reporting that pays is uncritical, unexamined
Pro-Union shameless cheerleading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somehow they never find the glaring faults of the entrenched Business
Union hierarchy, but keep feeding the propaganda “<i><b>If we win this next (minor)
union struggle and #ElectBetterDemocrats, the benefits will trickle down to the
rest of the American workforce!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Union makes us strong!</b></i>”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: lime;">All the usual indy media outlets gave the predictable rah-rah pom-pom & flag waving to this two day strike (variations of "Historic Labor Victory" was a term thrown around pretty casually in these articles), all the while knowing damn well knowing the UAW/UAW 2865's historic and recent roles, nationally and locally, in ratfucking real populist/leftist activism. But hey, journalists gotta get paid, amirite?</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">(<a href="https://twitter.com/BigMeanInternet/status/455928260908834816" target="_blank">Witness this conversation where I call out a semi-apologetic journalist from Al Jazeera who damn well knows better.</a>) </span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Wrong. I'm not naive, I know we ALL sell out in this fucked up capitalist system in varying degrees, but this shit is a bridge too far. This style of reporting is more propaganda maintaining the illusion that faith in the Union bureaucracies will be fruitful, despite 70-plus years of evidence to the contrary. Every word written for money to propagate this lie is selling out the working class, and stifling visions of something better.</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;">On a more personal note, these journalists know they are working for <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">the forces of censorship</a>, which is enemy Number One to any notion of a free and open press, the 1st Amendment, the 4th estate, etc. The UAW have done just about all they can to discredit me with a smear campaign, snitchjacketing, and censorship and your bullshit cheerleading is supporting this travesty.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Combined, they've maintained this elitist notion of the liberal journalist caste: you only get a meal ticket as a writer if you went to the right school and sucked up to the right people; not on the merits of how well you write. They've done their best to stall/sabotage my paying freelance writing career.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: lime;">Or as Nathan Explosion so succinctly puts it:</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHZHrxktnqM-J_9w79AO3hV-gJh6lLDJn-o6caJ5PXFWb4oqi3RkVcfYh1gYcBksDGc2HLABtnMpuOuWhqR3fM9Y3wFLOOiv87v2V2T7bAQuz-3t1c9t8F7p55NlS3RffXQu9-MPtuN10/s1600/explosionbutter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHZHrxktnqM-J_9w79AO3hV-gJh6lLDJn-o6caJ5PXFWb4oqi3RkVcfYh1gYcBksDGc2HLABtnMpuOuWhqR3fM9Y3wFLOOiv87v2V2T7bAQuz-3t1c9t8F7p55NlS3RffXQu9-MPtuN10/s1600/explosionbutter.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime;">"That's my bread and butter you're fucking with."</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;"></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">This isn't exactly new: since the start of Occupy Wall St there have been a vast number of "rad" "indy" journalists sidling up to activists, schmoozing with us: only to sell us out at the drop of a hat... or at a potential MSNBC spot.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: lime;">"I for one welcome our new insect overlords..."</span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LdZHJMCyG7cjhjgLM0jlnaEepPeMMONC7hs4lGFjTi6cIaEiqsfbzqpMcSZchRTqLPgCZI0eu2vpxwTDiTbMbJjXDRfM9uCvDoxLvlj8bMYof8n0pt0gE7le2Fby0C1KR2fwv_E02dOg/s1600/insectoverlords.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LdZHJMCyG7cjhjgLM0jlnaEepPeMMONC7hs4lGFjTi6cIaEiqsfbzqpMcSZchRTqLPgCZI0eu2vpxwTDiTbMbJjXDRfM9uCvDoxLvlj8bMYof8n0pt0gE7le2Fby0C1KR2fwv_E02dOg/s1600/insectoverlords.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime;">"...as a trusted TV personality I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves!"</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;">To wrap up...</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">Fuck you, you fucking sellout journalist hacks.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">And fuck you, you fucking sellout activists, who choose cliques over truth.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">To the rest of you reading: we can work together to form better models of organization than Business Unionism. I'm rather optimist in this, despite all the reasons I have to be jaded and cynical. But we must confront these last Sacred Cows of the Left, the Unions who backstabbed the radical populism of Occupy, sitting on collectively BILLIONS on dollars in unused, purposefully dormant strike funds. The UAW alone has around $800 million: think about how just 1% of that money could have been a game changer for Occupy. These strike funds were set up a century ago as a public trust to wage a class war against plutocracy: generations of greedy, corrupted Union bosses have denied these funds to We the People, leading us to this hellish austerity illusion of modernity: IE where Teachers' Assistants still on food stamps is a "Historic Labor Victory."</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">I still believe that the Power is still with the People: The Unions ARE NOT the people. Not anymore.</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">They have the Plant, we have the Power.</span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZDVmtDjN0wjZrr7wOZc45IVnrGG2zZRIPtEkEWmDA9n2A2mcY4XXFqGcWsFl78TXvGanuhmihaCKWylr93ITqWpBcv2IgphKexYgPTKeax_WcImfrPTfQPM9sRbCXp68c3AsBJdA5I3T/s1600/wehavethepower.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZDVmtDjN0wjZrr7wOZc45IVnrGG2zZRIPtEkEWmDA9n2A2mcY4XXFqGcWsFl78TXvGanuhmihaCKWylr93ITqWpBcv2IgphKexYgPTKeax_WcImfrPTfQPM9sRbCXp68c3AsBJdA5I3T/s1600/wehavethepower.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: lime;">#ReclaimTheStrikeFunds</span><br />
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<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="color: lime;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank">@Ergoat</a></span></div>
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Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-8123863473706331252014-02-17T15:16:00.000-08:002014-02-17T15:16:48.871-08:00Recognizing “Protest Theater” Facades at #No2Napolitano and Beyond<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Recognizing “Protest Theater” Facades
at #No2Napolitano and Beyond, </span></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Or: </span></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">“I’m giving you a choice: Either put
on these glasses... </span></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSjUZ9u_YqWl_1DT_e_K-PjNXCRXAfT9zXxyH0D0KSg7HaIl7O6jdIgkoNPyJMPAZxwfCk4QOAutKpuI2oXzHhgBJfySUrSaw3XkK1vK4DMz8JHWYRahk9O6-TUqQaTUE5VncnqLp-Mwq/s1600/marryreproduceGIF.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSjUZ9u_YqWl_1DT_e_K-PjNXCRXAfT9zXxyH0D0KSg7HaIl7O6jdIgkoNPyJMPAZxwfCk4QOAutKpuI2oXzHhgBJfySUrSaw3XkK1vK4DMz8JHWYRahk9O6-TUqQaTUE5VncnqLp-Mwq/s1600/marryreproduceGIF.gif" height="136" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GTkJp_6VIsu9jSBb_5RUqDKHWv9MHnZfaPlZCRdJoRwePKnyPeuCdqBABZyB9Pui3fozEZmuf2E-oXfHWSIekUuWrs1HHSB6vNb2F4C1ujV5sLnlICz55hNlEhXmkiRw9S5VNZ7S0DOW/s1600/ObeyConsume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GTkJp_6VIsu9jSBb_5RUqDKHWv9MHnZfaPlZCRdJoRwePKnyPeuCdqBABZyB9Pui3fozEZmuf2E-oXfHWSIekUuWrs1HHSB6vNb2F4C1ujV5sLnlICz55hNlEhXmkiRw9S5VNZ7S0DOW/s1600/ObeyConsume.jpg" height="136" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: lime;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">...or start eating that trash can.”</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q4_XVFDIGUm2zJo-hyBdcXWfmUbgfLk-KDSDbJFH88t-P1azpg_6A-nGn4_QOHtVj5_EV9YG-e5mk2meFbD58SH1etpJLH-a75_hsDkotidpvNMk0pnJ-97WN_Jrc8dgwl3m276ND7Yp/s1600/EatTrashCan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q4_XVFDIGUm2zJo-hyBdcXWfmUbgfLk-KDSDbJFH88t-P1azpg_6A-nGn4_QOHtVj5_EV9YG-e5mk2meFbD58SH1etpJLH-a75_hsDkotidpvNMk0pnJ-97WN_Jrc8dgwl3m276ND7Yp/s1600/EatTrashCan.png" height="143" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">(Forward: If you haven't watched the 1988 movie "They Live!" yet, do so ASAP. If you've seen it, but haven't watched it since your involvement in the Occupy Wall Street movement [especially the encampment raids]: watch it again.)</span></span> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rNldgZNZPS58gFEkr8BUSv4ivraIF3YP2dvnJs2TPIkoHaxhjIoD-bcDJ_qfVm7HFdWcDPkqVuOdq1BcFFdx-yQIqWwxwIJp7rNjiMBVdwhXXkSmSPfyaginr112t_4zL84O3Gl9dN0t/s1600/No2DemoStart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rNldgZNZPS58gFEkr8BUSv4ivraIF3YP2dvnJs2TPIkoHaxhjIoD-bcDJ_qfVm7HFdWcDPkqVuOdq1BcFFdx-yQIqWwxwIJp7rNjiMBVdwhXXkSmSPfyaginr112t_4zL84O3Gl9dN0t/s1600/No2DemoStart.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> On Thursday, February 13<sup>th</sup> 2014, there was a protest against the appointment of former head of the Dept. of
Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, to the position of President of the
University of California system. The
demonstration was held UC Berkeley, or Cal, long recognized and mythologized as
the pinnacle and exemplar of sustained college student activism for the past
half century, yet the around 500 people who attended comprised<b> the largest political rally on campus
since the dwindling days of Occupy Cal, <i>two
years </i>earlier.</b> Our collective
showed up in solidarity and support of the #No2Napolitano actions as the last
active working group of the once thousands strong movement at Occupy Cal, now
under the banners of <a href="http://calopenu.org/">CalOpenU.org</a> and <a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/">bpOffCampus.org</a>. While the vast majority of demonstrators were
righteously fired up against Napolitano for her inhumane deportation record,
splitting up millions of families, we passed out copies of a small quarter-sheet
flyer to widen the scope and awareness of Napolitano’s presidency of just one
visible symptom of a vast cancer eating away at the world’s largest Public University.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">The flyer read:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">#No2Napolitano</span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Defend Public Education:</span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ax the corrupt and undemocratic UC board of
Regents</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reject the fascist DHS takeover of the UC by
“Big Sister” Napolitano</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Get BP off campus and stop the privatization of
public education</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Throw cops (UCPD) off campus and stop the
militarization of public universities</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hold accountable the fraudulent activists within
UAW 2865 for moderating radical movements</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">As we passed the flyers out (non-aggressively, person to
person) to the crowd, we could see people nodding in agreement while reading
the first four points, and then get stuck at the last one. “Huh? What’s this about the UAW?”
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, this is going to take more than a 30 second sound bite
to explain…</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Put on these glasses... </b></u></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTv1cU51yOObHH_0-9K2pUzjor_kRzzX072ZpY_qufjG6YpMJfkq2PdX_snmz1irMxFE94E5lqcOjPVNnPzyfclXDt5KJfUB1AgXIGR9SVAf5pLQT3UtB_tf-CD7yOhVRK94xJ2m0QjeeR/s1600/TryTheseOn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTv1cU51yOObHH_0-9K2pUzjor_kRzzX072ZpY_qufjG6YpMJfkq2PdX_snmz1irMxFE94E5lqcOjPVNnPzyfclXDt5KJfUB1AgXIGR9SVAf5pLQT3UtB_tf-CD7yOhVRK94xJ2m0QjeeR/s1600/TryTheseOn.png" height="178" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s not widely known why, even by its
members, the United <b><i><u>Auto Workers</u> </i></b>represents over
13,000 graduate student workers in the UC system. I’ve written extensively [<a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">Long Version</a> / <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">Short Version</a>] on how in the Fall
of 2011, when the Occupy Wall Street movement finally manifested itself at UC
Berkeley as Occupy Cal, UAW graduate student “activists/organizers” placed
themselves in key leadership positions (in a “leaderless” movement, mind you)
to moderate the thousands of students, faculty, and community members’ populist
outrage against incredible tuition hikes, increasing privatization and
corporatization of the UC, and the despicable administration and police tactics
to brutalize the peaceful activists; to moderate and divert this mass movement
fueled by righteous indignation into strategies to elect better Democrats
locally and nationally with the (false) hope that they could fix our problems
from within the system.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">As stated, UC Berkeley is known
internationally for its radical student protests, and even the prior two years
(2009-2010) there was a series of building occupations against increasing
tuition and privatization. So when
thousands mobilized at Occupy Cal for direct action, there was a palpable
disappointment when the General Assemblies (GAs) went nowhere slowly, the
Original Facilitation Committee (which was always stacked with UAW members)
stalled/rejected any kind of building occupation votes with their
super-minority block and deceptive parliamentary procedure tricks, and
ultimately, after a week, they undemocratically told everyone to go home and
reassemble three months later when they (the UAW) were ready for a mass action
(as if we weren’t “ready” right then).</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>On Front Groups:</u></b> Alphabet Soup, shell games, and who’s pulling
whose strings. (Or: a brief as possible
history of ratfucking [sabotaging/double-crossing] political movements at UC
Berkeley 2011 - 2014)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s important to note that this
cabal of organizers never explicitly represented themselves as UAW organizers, for
if they did, cracks would form in the façade and begin to reveal the
motivations and connections the United Auto Workers union has, in a top-down
feudalistic pyramid scheme, to the Democratic Party. They have supported the Democratic National
Committee (DNC) unquestionably with their dollars and union dues (one of the
biggest financial contributors of the Party in the past decades), and in the
past 30-40 years, if a DNC leader says “Jump!” the UAW asks “How high?” So when the UAW faction usurped the
democratic GA process during the first couple of weeks of Occupy Cal, they
called themselves the Public Education Coalition (PEC) to avoid this connection
and to keep their motives clouded. After
their powers at Occupy Cal were severely limited when the Facilitation
Committee’s rules were overhauled, the UAW sect quietly disappeared and formed
“Occupy Education” which was the 1<sup>st</sup> incarnation of the “99%
Spring”. The 99% Spring was formed after
it was clear that the Occupy Wall Street movement couldn’t be co-opted into
rallies to #ElectBetterDemocrats and the Dept. of Homeland Security
(Napolitano’s old job!) coordinated police attacks on Occupy encampments all
across the country, brutalizing and arresting thousands. The 99% Spring was rose from those ashes to
pretend to be a parallel movement to Occupy, but it was spearheaded by the
Labor Unions that were intrinsically connected to the DNC… like the UAW.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">How the 99% Spring manifested
itself at the University of California was with “Occupy Education”, led by UAW
grad students, with all meetings held at the local UAW hall. Again, they pretended to be sympathetic and
parallel to Occupy Cal (half a mile away) but they diverted populist student
energy off campus to <b><u>one</u></b>
rally and “Protest Theater” (more on this term later) at the State Capitol at
Sacramento. By all accounts (that aren’t
duplicitously rose-tinted), this March 5<sup>th</sup> 2012 “Day of Action” was
a complete disaster/farce with all students going home with no objectives won,
while a few smiling DNC politicians made speeches full of hollow promises and a
few union organizers put a feather in their cap for their personal “activist/organizer”
resumes.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">With the Occupy movement essential
over at UC Berkeley (despite a handful of dedicated activists) the UAW sect
changed from Occupy Education to a new political party on campus Students for a
Democratic University and tried to use Occupy Cal’s brand & previous
accomplishments into campaigning and electing some of them into the Cal Student
Government (the ASUC). They won exactly zero
seats. The SDU existed for the next year-plus;
basically as an outlet/front for new eager earnest students to get connected to
activism on campus, go to a couple of long boring meetings with no rallies or
actions on the horizon, and then decide that student activism wasn’t for them
(and never be seen again). These past
two years have been the LEAST active at UC Berkeley since the 1950s. Then, in Fall of 2013, Janet Napolitano was
appointed the new President of the University of California, and a new populist
movement fell into the lap of the UAW sect… to take over and ratfuck.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is worth noting that our working
groups/collectives (<a href="https://twitter.com/CalOpenU" target="_blank">@CalOpenU</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/bpOffCampus" target="_blank">@bpOffCampus</a>) were far from dormant in the two
years since the decline of Occupy Cal: we were extremely busy with our limited
resources, researching, holding public teach-outs about Public Education,
privatization, the Regents, BP; we networked with other groups around the Bay
Area, attending many environmental rallies about Climate Change and Fossil Fuels;
we had direct actions, staged guerrilla theater actions on campus and more. All this time, we held out the olive branch
to the UAW faction (and their minions) on campus, inviting them to work with
us, hoping that we could bury the hatchet, work past our differences for the
betterment of all activism at UC Berkeley.
All of these attempts were roundly rejected by this UAW sect. <b><i>They shunned anyone who even associated with
us and defriended people on Facebook who promoted our events.</i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i> </i></b> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">So when Napolitano was appointed,
without being asked the UAW jumped to the front of the growing movement against
her, now calling themselves the Coalition for Public Education (CPE). They called a public meeting to
“democratically” decide how to say “No 2 Napolitano”. Incredibly (except to those of us paying
attention the past two years) the UAW/CPE managed to pull off what they did
against Occupy Cal over the course of months (insidiously transform a
horizontal, democratic populist movement into a one day rally for the UAW, a
top-down organization that only pays lip-service to the movement ideals) in
under an hour. At the meeting with
UAW-stacked facilitators and plants in the audience, they patiently listened to
this fresh crop of eager student activists, and then called for a vote (“Wait,
what? Who said we were voting on anything?”) to make the first action of the
“anti-Napolitano”-CPE into a one day “strike” for AFSCME(representing campus
workers)/UAW grad school student workers.
</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzDJcWYAVlBhAi6_JY_Ml8M3PktfgKJjRWvA_TZxDjatjKn1TXTwzx0J5K-8Ymar3wC5_lU7M20aTXXcwEp6viU6Ry1Xu0yCYytCvOxn_7tkD8Lxsj-ZonfD60sSGsMYUZPvRu4oghWfa/s1600/gmil.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzDJcWYAVlBhAi6_JY_Ml8M3PktfgKJjRWvA_TZxDjatjKn1TXTwzx0J5K-8Ymar3wC5_lU7M20aTXXcwEp6viU6Ry1Xu0yCYytCvOxn_7tkD8Lxsj-ZonfD60sSGsMYUZPvRu4oghWfa/s1600/gmil.png" height="225" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Needless to say, there weren’t any more #No2Napolitano
actions of merit last semester. Which
brings us to the planning meeting for protesting Janet Napolitano’s visit to
campus on February 13<sup>th</sup> 2014; The UAW sect again jumped to a
leadership role by default (of course, unelected), and the group now called
themselves the Students of Color Solidarity Coalition. For those of you at home
keeping score, the UAW 2865 front groups since Fall 2011: PEC (Public Education
Coalition), Occupy Cal OFC (Original Facilitaion Committee), Occupy Education,
SDU, CPE (Coalition For Public Education) and now... the SCSC. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Various students group who showed
up to this public planning meeting were told there was no time for
announcements, and this was not a space to plug separate affinity groups. Almost immediately after everyone settled in,
the meeting turned into a video presentation, plugging/promoting the UAW
organizers, and a call for support for a potential UAW/AFSCME “5 day
strike”. When people asked what the
UAW/AFSCME strike had to do with #No2Napolitano, they were hissed at, and
denounced as disruptors. So members of
the CalOpenU collective waited for the “discussion period” at the end of the
presentation to voice their concerns.
But they were not “allowed” this opportunity to do so publicly, as one
of the night’s organizers kept asking them to leave, and he’d answer their
questions outside of the meeting space.
When they refused, saying they’d prefer to address this situation
publicly, a member of the UAW/#No2Napolitano organizing faction publicly, in
front of many witnesses, called CalOpenU “cops”.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>On
Snitchjacketing:</u></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Ever since
some of us began questioning Occupy Education’s political role in co-opting
Occupy Cal in February 2012, we’ve endured all kinds of attacks on our
character: baseless mudslinging, defamation, accusations of embezzlement,
disinformation etc: I must emphasize, this has been entirely one-sided. Whatever political attacks we’ve made in the
public sphere against this UAW sect, they’ve been just that: political, not
personal. In the article’s I’ve wrote
(or even in my social media feeds), <b><i>I’ve NEVER ONCE named a single name.</i></b> Instead of writing a rebuttal to my damning
article, the UAW used their Big Labor influence to pressure my publisher,
Truth-Out.org to censor the article, removing it from the site. They’ve quietly let leak even more
disinformation; take this [paraphrased] exchange I had with a student activist
at UC Berkeley in the 80s: “Hey, did you ever read my article?”--- “No, I
haven’t. Is that the one where you call people in the UAW cops?”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There
is a <b><i>HUGE</i></b>
difference between pointing out that Unions like the UAW and AFSCME are
intrinsically connected to the Police State, and saying that certain members
within the union are cops! One is
examining how in the UAW has donated millions for the Obama against their own
working class’ interests; that UAW dues help elect the President who appointed
the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano who was responsible for more deportations, more broken up families
than any other president in US history; that AFSCME as a union represents over
60,000 prison guards across the United States, therefore they support the
Prison Industrial Complex, the School to Prison Pipeline, and inhumane laws
that keep undocumented immigrants in cages longer; yes there is a difference
between pointing out the inconvenient
truths of Big Labor’s ties to the Police State in the US in 2014 (which
is what I did), and calling individual activists cops, which is what the
UAW/#No2Napolitano organizing faction did to us, making them snitchjacketers.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b><i>Snitchjacketing:</i></b> “When a member of an organization is set up
to appear to be an informer or a cop in order to get that person killed or to
instigate some organizational disruption or split. This counter-intelligence
tactic was carried out by the FBI COINTELPRO program against members of radical
political organization such as the Black Panther Party.” Without naming the specific individual in
question, let me point out this wasn’t a naïve 19 year old student yelling out
in the heat of the moment without knowing any better: this comes from someone who
has been organizing around Occupy Oakland (which had its own infamous case of
snitchjacketing), and the Bay Area for years, and damn well knows
snitchjacketing is extremely dangerous. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Onto February 13<sup>th</sup>
2014, the day of the #No2Napolitano protests:</u></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I
arrived at the Sutjada Dal Hall (SD Hall) at 10am; just in time to see some UC
administration top brass in their Sunday best to meet with Napolitano sneak in
the back “Trash Only” exit of the building to avoid another student immigration
rights group protesting out in front. I
tried to follow the admins in, but I was hassled by the UCPD, as apparently the
public wasn’t allowed in that “Trash Only” exit due to a rule they made up on
the spot. I waited for the main rally of
the day begin at 1pm on Sproul Plaza, taking a role of observer and dialoguing
with anyone who wanted to engage on the prospect of this rally being usurped
and turned into a UAW/AFSCME publicity stunt.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
rally began with genuine, contagious energy that had around 500 student protests,
a majority of them people of color picketing in a circle around Upper Sproul
Plaza, chanting “Hey Hey! Ho Ho!
Napolitano has got to go!” As
someone who has been to a fair share of dud demonstrations on campus in the
past couple of years, it was really nice to see students finally fired up about
something again. Then the speeches
began…</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQ5zZpDdRvrCNTseAGSzOMFu9XVFfw1Cuhg2EQa6CAbHxWvMOFoffFXQg5AvFksIe_1FabFkC8BvSwydKQmLVAUykus3GxKo3s8UTXa98iWJRiizGxhrMP5AgvuT1jqWFkbXHe5wVUbBp/s1600/No2SproulBullhorn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQ5zZpDdRvrCNTseAGSzOMFu9XVFfw1Cuhg2EQa6CAbHxWvMOFoffFXQg5AvFksIe_1FabFkC8BvSwydKQmLVAUykus3GxKo3s8UTXa98iWJRiizGxhrMP5AgvuT1jqWFkbXHe5wVUbBp/s1600/No2SproulBullhorn.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">---There really ought to be a DeCal
(a nontraditional set of classes taught at Cal) on <b><i>How to Protest</i></b>: The first
topic would be “<b><i>Basic Bullhorn Use 101</i></b>”.
In my years of activism, I’d say a good two-thirds of people grabbing a
megaphone were partially to totally inept in how to use this relatively old
piece of technology. People can seem to
grasp the idea that even though a bullhorn amplifies your voice, you still have
to project your voice; you still have to speak clearly. Otherwise people can’t hear you beyond ten
feet. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">The organizers of the rally brought
for the two worst bullhorns I’ve ever come across in my life that could still
be technically called “bullhorns”. This
isn’t hyperbole: I’ve seen traffic cones be put to better use.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">So the amassed crowd listened to a
tinny bullhorn project long winded speeches that couldn’t be heard more than 10
feet out. The previously charged up
crowd began to dwindle.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7TuhECgPH0e1j9EsQJgDuCIMyqkz35cDnfPvzsIxquHloZU1Y85kAaD3byMr29dDef_2g1DRid5JEzb99dBSsHeaG-SyGJ3_TVoOlJfNeAZRW_fu4W3u0YVtsz-MN1cLmz3jJjWT6T0q/s1600/KeanuBullhorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7TuhECgPH0e1j9EsQJgDuCIMyqkz35cDnfPvzsIxquHloZU1Y85kAaD3byMr29dDef_2g1DRid5JEzb99dBSsHeaG-SyGJ3_TVoOlJfNeAZRW_fu4W3u0YVtsz-MN1cLmz3jJjWT6T0q/s1600/KeanuBullhorn.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>#ProTip</i></b> for the ~97% of
people gathered at #No2Napolitano who fervently, genuinely want this monster
dismissed as UC President: If you are going to use a bullhorn, don’t read from
a document, SPEAK FROM YOUR FUCKING HEART!!!
If you have a document in hand, fucking bullet point it and pass the
mike. This isn’t the 1950s, where random
people off the streets gather to hear the news from a leader on a soapbox:
People attending protest rallies in 2014 are generally well informed on the
political subjects at hand. Unless you
are Joe or Josephine Charisma (and you probably aren’t), your more than 120
second speech at the bullhorn is hurting the energy and momentum of the
action. This isn’t about you. (And no, in 1963, it wasn’t about Mario Savio
either, even though the damn Sproul Steps are named after him.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">After about an hour, the
#No2Napolitano marched deeper into campus, to the Memorial Glade, where we were
treated to… you guessed it: more de-energizing, long winded speeches that only
33% of the crowd could hear. This second
stop was designed so the UAW sect could slip ahead, and “occupy” the Blum
Center building.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKiAvrhsQuZAMKgzU3upr78UIVpOHqbxfjMftDqZEXFD5GsWSRSzdS9Xk3g_XpuXyuKQsKUPf9SJoOP3uPTj8XG3uYUirHeJhVe1BfgufuDqQNX5BvzxCNEC43Ur13QdOxhWtVU99h1Dl/s1600/No2MemGlade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKiAvrhsQuZAMKgzU3upr78UIVpOHqbxfjMftDqZEXFD5GsWSRSzdS9Xk3g_XpuXyuKQsKUPf9SJoOP3uPTj8XG3uYUirHeJhVe1BfgufuDqQNX5BvzxCNEC43Ur13QdOxhWtVU99h1Dl/s1600/No2MemGlade.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="color: lime;"></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>On vanguards
“Occupying” the wrong fucking building: </u></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As the
#No2Napolitano march, now down to about 300 people, neared the SD Hall where
Janet was meeting with UC brass, the crowd was led instead to an adjacent
building, the Blum Center for Developing Economies, named after the one of the
sitting UC Regents, Richard Blum (husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein and
otherwise all-around plutocratic asshole) who appointed Napolitano. Let me be clear: with a fired up crowd still
500 strong #No2Napolitano a brave contingent could have easily stormed the SD
Hall where she actually was, stopped the meeting, occupied the building, and
made international news. The 300 tepid
protesters who remained still could have supported the maybe 50 or 60 still
left in the crowd <b><i>who were willing and eager to take direct action, and could have
stormed SD Hall!</i></b> This would
have created international headlines, capturing the imagination of a whole new
wave of student activism! The potential
squandered at #No2Napolitano is downright shameful. (<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/14/uc-berkeley-and-the-myth-of-the-activist-life/" target="_blank">This grad student, who isn't part of our collective, nails it in this CounterPunch article</a>) . </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7L6qbowtZdrLVrIh5MA627OiWzobA-Bu2H6hyiEGLbGypBkhxogxd4HThvyMpaacaEq0b1nI-B7XplEOS9qn3LjHAbwjCQgl4d8JO-uBKXfaLU3QTRxW5TUztSZAw6jRhJCCZ7X3VMow/s1600/No2WrongBuilding.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7L6qbowtZdrLVrIh5MA627OiWzobA-Bu2H6hyiEGLbGypBkhxogxd4HThvyMpaacaEq0b1nI-B7XplEOS9qn3LjHAbwjCQgl4d8JO-uBKXfaLU3QTRxW5TUztSZAw6jRhJCCZ7X3VMow/s1600/No2WrongBuilding.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Instead
the 300 students, most of them attending their first protest, were docilely led
to watch the UAW vanguard sect occupying the wrong building, raising their
fists in “resistance” behind huge plate glass windows. Many of the 300 outside the building, after
cheering on those 11 people inside (the so-called “Blum 11” … sigh), were eager
to join them in the occupation. “No,
no!” said the leaders outside, “we’re just here to support those inside. “ As the students grew anxious at this turn of
events (and the plan they were not privy to), the leaders to the bullhorns and
gave more long-winded go-nowhere speeches while the Blum 11 paraded inside,
waving to the crowd, using the windowed staircase like a fashion show runway…
but, because, for you know… activism!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAEFvMctaySrLM_YTowTag9rNKskhKaijyR01HDYrHnFArcTNIvlhN2Rm2pnb7DWa4qAh8MrCVj_2UDARbp5ExEDO4lgJlXGQu-2n62T3Srml89flF0xJLsTirakQ4MAeAw8X3H0FRQnD/s1600/No2Blum11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPAEFvMctaySrLM_YTowTag9rNKskhKaijyR01HDYrHnFArcTNIvlhN2Rm2pnb7DWa4qAh8MrCVj_2UDARbp5ExEDO4lgJlXGQu-2n62T3Srml89flF0xJLsTirakQ4MAeAw8X3H0FRQnD/s1600/No2Blum11.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> While
other members of our collective tried to engage with people in the crowd on a
one on one level, I took a theatrical nap under a tree to symbolically show
that this protest and <b><i>unending inaudible bullhorn droning wasn’t
just putting me to sleep, but also the Powers That Be who felt absolutely no
threat from this phase of the protest/”occupation”.</i></b> I was happily woken from my “slumber” when a veteran
activist from another immigrants’ rights coalition used their collective’s bullhorn
(IE functioning) to fire up the crowd with impassioned bullet points against
Napolitano. The spacing and acoustics of
the nearby campus buildings were as such, that if even a marginally competent
person grabbed the megaphone, the message could be heard over 100 yards away,
instead of the 10 feet that was being broadcast to 95% of the time. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinP3lyUlMBek9gahPwLshuAaMTXQNXNAGZ1431Qxdcov-5jW-D9DtW-958jYUjrr3yDjnCAI2Lr1ds9uqmCK23DBS_bKh04uYoRM5RBaMA2mhPMFKyETGd_KQSNAmbKguyqkwTq_eqee-8/s1600/No2WrongScript.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinP3lyUlMBek9gahPwLshuAaMTXQNXNAGZ1431Qxdcov-5jW-D9DtW-958jYUjrr3yDjnCAI2Lr1ds9uqmCK23DBS_bKh04uYoRM5RBaMA2mhPMFKyETGd_KQSNAmbKguyqkwTq_eqee-8/s1600/No2WrongScript.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">(Look at those faces: "This isn't part of the script!")</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As the crowd got excited again, the #No2Napolitano
“leaders” on the outside quickly announced “They aren’t with us!” and got the
crowd to mic-check chant the other protesting collective into silence… so that
the droning could continue unabated. There
was not any semblance of <b><i>democratizing the bullhorn</i></b>, access
was only granted via cronyism. In fact, <b><i>ANY
dissenting, or even just questioning voices were quickly hissed or shouted down.</i></b> Some Stalinist bullshit right there…</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Those outside eventually dwindled
down to under 50, as there waiting for a “Manifesto” from the “Blum 11” to give
them some reason to remain. For hours
they waited outside, on the concrete, with no thought from any of the organizers
to supply food or water. Eventually a
tub of popcorn and a loaf of bread arrived.
---Really? You ask dozens of
people to turn their direct action activism participation into ground support
for a vanguard, and you can’t shell out $75 to have 10 two-topping Domino’s
pizzas delivered to the protest? (As a
dedicated veteran activist, I consider it my duty to have firm knowledge on
local pizza status/pricing). Finally,
the “Manifesto” was delivered.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>On Fake Activism
or “Protest Theater”:</u></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To be
clear, Theatrical Protests are awesome; they have to power to transform the
stagnant reciting of grievances into creative dynamic performances that have
the potential (when done well) to stick with those viewing for far longer than
conventional methods. “Protest Theater”
on the other hand, is a different beast entirely.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Rallies,
demonstrations, marches all serve legitimate functions in protesting: They
raise awareness to (whichever) cause.
But when the rallies and marches are an end to themselves, IE they don’t
create genuine “civil disobedience” where the day to day status quo aren’t
meaningfully disrupted and interrupted; this is the beginning of “Protest
Theater”.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">More cynically, “Protest Theater”
is an action or event that claims to create change but the organizers know
beforehand that it is a prefabricated illusion of populist momentum designed to
popularize and legitimize the “Leaders” or organizers of the event on the backs
of (usually unpaid) volunteer labor. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">For example, shutting down the Port
of Oakland like Occupy Oakland did on Nov 2<sup>nd</sup> 2011 was quite a
legitimate protest, with a good numbers of unions working together a mass of
citizenry and activists stop the flow of capital in a “General Strike” the
likes of which hadn’t been seen in this country for 70 years. After then, one union (of many), the SEIU
gradually withdrew from Occupy to be in the 99% Spring (on top-down orders from
the DNC). They chose not to participate
in Occupy Oakland’s call for another General Strike on May Day 2012, and
instead promised a “Wisconsin-style Uprising” the day before on April 30<sup>th</sup>
at San Francisco’s City Hall. Instead of
Occupying the City Hall, they held a permitted rally where they chanted,
clapped, tepidly sang some old union songs, and when their permitted hour was
up, they quietly left the building. That’s
protest theater.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Protest Theater has insidiously
evolved since, with no better example coming to mind than the environmentalist
group 350 dot Org’s <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/a-year-after-a-refinery-explosion-richmond-cali-is-fighting-back/" target="_blank">rally at the Chevron station in Richmond CA</a>. Thousands of people, angry at Chevron’s local
pollution disasters, didn’t march to picket the refining station, or block work
shifts from entering or exiting. The
mayor of Richmond and 350 dot org organizers had colluded and preplanned the day’s
events with the Richmond police. Over
200 people lined up in front of the Chevron refinery to wait their turn to
participate in civil disobedience arrest-theater. One by one Richmond cops put zip ties on “protesters”
only to have them removed 5 minutes later, without being cited or booked. But the headlines across the country read “Over
Two Hundred People Arrested at Chevron Refinery” and “Rockefeller-funded
douche-canoe and 350 dot org top pimp” Bill McKibben got to put another feather
in his cap. Gandhi and Martin Luther
King Jr. are rolling over in their graves.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">“But isn’t some protest better than
no protest?” It would seem so, on the
elementary mathematics surface, but let’s factor in a few more variables and
advance to at least Pre-Algebra, shall we?
Even a 12 year old can deduce that an act of “Protest Theater” can harm
the larger movement when it draws
attention away from people on the front lines; using the anti-fossil fuel
example, those people risking arrest and severe jail terms for blockading
pipelines (and otherwise actually getting shit done) in Canada and the USA.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>From start to finish, the
#No2Napolitano demonstration was “Protest Theater”, designed to draw power away
from eager new student protesters while simultaneously enhancing the activist
profiles of a few select organizers.</i></b>
Their “Manifesto” can easily be debunked as hogwash. The “Manifesto” has a lot of information on
how the UC Regents are undemocratically appointed, and how Napolitano’s
presidency is illegitimate: <b><i>but who elected the UAW/”Blum 11”</i></b>
into leadership positions of #No2Napolitano; how legitimate are their proclamations?
The “Blum 11” were going to occupy the Blum
building, calling for:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><i>“UC Berkeley Chancellor Dirks to publicly
renounce Janet Napolitano”</i> = To create the kind of pressure necessary for
Dirks to make such a career killing statement would require a lot more than 11
people in a “occupying” a building that would be vacant over the weekend anyway: those 11 people went to the wrong building
and turned away hundreds of others from joining them.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><i>“For all those in solidarity to cancel
classes tomorrow (Friday, Feb 13), and for people to build a strike in support
of Napolitano’s resignation and for the democratization of the University.”</i> This coming from the UAW sect that were among
the Original Facilitation Committee at Occupy Cal in Nov 2011 would be quite
laughable if it weren’t so hypocritical. This sect claimed this kind of student
strike; during the high point of Occupy Cal with thousands amassed and ready;
would take 10 weeks and then an additional month to pull off! But these 60, mostly neophyte, #No2Napolitano
protesters (as earnest as they are) <b><i>were to scramble and pull off a campus wide
strike in under 16 hours</i></b>! Riiiiiiiight…</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></i><i>“Full
amnesty for all those reclaiming campus space, including those who have taken
the Blum Center.”</i> = the Golden Parachute/Get Out Jail Free card. The only objective achievable; and the only
one they cared about getting. And the
precedent had been set for this strategy to work when yet even another
Immigrant-Student-Rights group <a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2012/11/27/protesters-occupy-eshleman-hall-to-press-for-multiculturalism-on-campus/" target="_blank">occupied another building on campus late 2012</a>. They also had a large list of
demands that included amnesty for the protesters, and hours later they
un-occupied with only amnesty won. The
veteran activists observing at the time cynically thought “<b><i>Great! Any group can now take any
building, ask for the moon and the stars, settle for just amnesty, and come
down as radical student activist heroes</i></b>” Which is what’s happening now with the UAW
sect and their Protest Theater.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> By the
way, I’m not just talking out of my ass here when it comes to building
occupations and tactics therein: I was part of an <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2012/01/victory.html" target="_blank">Occupy Cal action in Jan 2012</a>
where we Occupied the Anthropology Library in order to re-staff a dormant
position and to open the library back to its 9-6pm hours instead of the new
12-5pm hours that began that semester.
In a 50 hour occupation, we forced the Administration to meet all of our
demands, and the next day, the library opened its doors at 9am. (A further “by the way”: the UAW/Occupy
Education sect came en masse into our Occupation-In-Progress and tried to vote
it down, telling us to go home. They
failed.)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>On "I’m
giving you a choice: Either put on these glasses, or start eating that trash
can."</u></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCDDmzfVR3u4pakUl9bu7UG2bhuqMaE9j6ohrOIdH_DY0_ujC6Oiwjs7nBQvqO1BgNaJxAioZ5DyVcXpW8QwSgcOv9cf74DXJ1fTmJGV8CMEHAU9cVsP4Ves4d378WoF5a_42NQO_2FEIQ/s1600/TheyCanSee.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCDDmzfVR3u4pakUl9bu7UG2bhuqMaE9j6ohrOIdH_DY0_ujC6Oiwjs7nBQvqO1BgNaJxAioZ5DyVcXpW8QwSgcOv9cf74DXJ1fTmJGV8CMEHAU9cVsP4Ves4d378WoF5a_42NQO_2FEIQ/s1600/TheyCanSee.png" height="286" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;">"They can see..."</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Seeing
through the façade of “Protest Theater” should be incredibly simple: all it takes
is an open mind, and some basic critical thinking skills. Yet for reasons that are still incredibly
baffling to me, many of my Occupy comrades have this sort of blind allegiance
to Business Unionism that provokes a knee-jerk response that closes their mind
and dulls their otherwise razor sharp critical thinking skills when it comes to
activists critiquing Unions. (From a “leftist”
point of view, mind you; not right wing or libertarian views on why Unions are detrimental
to business bullshit)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So many
radical activists of all stripes (Anarchist/Socialist/Communist, even the Green
Party), especially in Occupy Oakland would (rightfully) denounce Obama and the
DNC at the drop of hat, but when it came to questioning the critical lack of
support from the Unions to Occupy nationwide (that essentially doomed the
movement): you could hear a pin drop.
The Occupy Wall Street movement was picking up the standard and fighting
the good fight against plutocracy and for all workers (not just “skilled labor”)
that the Labor Unions abandoned over 70 years ago. The thing is, <b><i>the Unions kept all the money to
wage that class war</i></b>, in the form of dormant strike funds, sitting
billions of unused dollars, <b><i>while Occupy had to fight unpaid, under-supported,
in the cold</i></b>. The UAW has over
$800 million in strike funds: take a moment to imagine how just 1% of that
could have been a game-changer for Occupy.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Yet when I point these facts out to certain people and cliques
within the (former) Occupy movement, this stone-faced, blind allegiance comes
up. I don’t personally know what
unbreakable bonds of unity and brotherhood were forged on the picket line
during the (theoretical) six day union strike of 1998 to get 2 extra paid sick
days per year, but whatever happened, it created a free pass on systemic critique
of Business Unionism in the USA to this day. <b><i>It’s analogous to unquestioning flag waving
patriotism</i></b>, just trading the stars and stripes for Union colors.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>It’s time to dispel the
Business Union illusions, and <u>“Put on the fucking sunglasses!”</u></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77yiQmnOR2HbExIhqmazAnaCjVYiAFIP_WDGPG774snd-1LFICCV4kjoEAxS4aHKpGZL6aJbqqz9YGc9DrVMnYCAnrkK5Fo95GdS_u2vUbzD2duii4S1S1ciKGhfzSvQK1sDf7e2E_UH9/s1600/ThisIsYourGod.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77yiQmnOR2HbExIhqmazAnaCjVYiAFIP_WDGPG774snd-1LFICCV4kjoEAxS4aHKpGZL6aJbqqz9YGc9DrVMnYCAnrkK5Fo95GdS_u2vUbzD2duii4S1S1ciKGhfzSvQK1sDf7e2E_UH9/s1600/ThisIsYourGod.jpeg" height="320" width="280" /></a></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Let’s examine the nature of the reactions (good and bad) and
counter-arguments to my accusations of the UAW 2865’s involvement in ratfucking
populist student action since at least 2011 (and perhaps even before then: from 2010 “<a href="http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/california-here-we-come-an-interview-with-richard-oxman/" target="_blank"></a></span></span><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/california-here-we-come-an-interview-with-richard-oxman/" target="_blank"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4.1:3:1:$comment438152426330323_438153899663509:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span data-reactid=".4.1:3:1:$comment438152426330323_438153899663509:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4.1:3:1:$comment438152426330323_438153899663509:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">If you look at the weak (or guaranteed-to-fail) “demands” (and planned action) of the upcoming March 4th education-centered protest on UC campuses…</span></span></span></a>“)</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">1.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Many
former/current Occupy activists around the country have been reaching out to me,
sharing similar experiences with Union organizers trying to divert radical
actions at their local Occupations/GAs; countless examples ranging from constantly
reinforcing the Democrats VS Republicans illusion, to minor things like during
marches, voting to stay on the sidewalk instead of taking the streets.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">2.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Locally,
mostly silence. Which is understandable,
to a degree, as Occupy Oakland activist faced some of the nastiest infighting
and sectarianism of the entire OWS movement that eventually tore the once
vibrant, most radical wing apart. While
I didn’t explicitly ask people to take sides, by default they were asked to
either claim I was misrepresenting the truth RE the UAW, or to start take
action VS the Unions/99% Spring that ratfucked Occupy around the Bay Area. So many stayed on the fence, silent. (Incredibly, and sadly, I’m the only person
that significantly organized with Occupy Oakland, Occupy Cal and Occupy the
Farm [not a claim I’m particularly proud of, I’d rather have company], although
I constantly implored more people to cross-organize.)</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">3.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Incompetence:
Trying to explain away all of Occupy Cal’s failures, and the weakening of
pitiful activism in the past two years at UC Berkeley on inexperience and incompetence
of student organizers (IE not because of any shadowy UAW Agenda). If this is the case, after nearly 3 years of
total abject movement failures at UCB, <b><i>why would anyone trust this flock of student
organizers</i></b> (the UAW sect & their minions), <b><i>to organize a lemonade stand</i></b>,
let alone promote them as “leaders of the student movement”?</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">4.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Lack
of Proof? People who weren’t there
saying I can’t prove what I said happened, even after I’ve had multiple witnesses
corroborate the chain of events that I described about Occupy Cal in writing. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">5.<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>And,
most bafflingly, people saying that “Yes, there are problems within the UAW
nationally, but there are some radical folks within the local 2865. So, no…” and
the argument trails off there, without any further explanation, or citing any
specific examples that I misrepresented.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
This last argument comes from the Reclaim UC collective, who came to
international activist prominence during the Wheeler Hall Occupations and the
student movement against the tuition and privatization from 2009-10. They’ve done excellent reporting and blogging
about the corruption at the UC system for years, even publishing a reportback
from an action our bpoffcampus collective engaged in last spring. But in the instance of my article exposing
UAW’s infiltration of Occupy Cal, the Reclaim UC collective has quietly used
all of their activist cred they’ve built and earned over the years to basically
call me a liar, without offering any further proof, dialogue, or written academic rebuttals. More dismaying is my Occupy comrades,
especially those in a (loosely defined) Wheeler Hall 2009 clique (who have
risen to Activist Organizers Persons of Influence and Trust around the Bay Area
due to their activism/camaraderie 4 years ago), basically take the Reclaim UC
collective’s word over mine, just on their say-so.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m not saying anything like everyone
in the UAW are counter-revolutionaries: I’m pointing out the hard truths that a
tiny cabal within the UAW 2865 local, with influential people on the sidelines unquestioningly
championing them, have careerist egotist motives; and furthermore are willingly
useful idiots and pawns of the DHS/DNC plutocracy promoting “Protest Theater”
while stalling any real reform.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>“Start eating that
trash can…"</u></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u> </u></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Days in
advance of the #No2Napolitano action, I warned observing activists repeatedly via
social media that this was more than likely going to be “Protest Theater” with
the UAW (/AFSCME) sect trying to take it over to promote an upcoming 5 day strike
over wages, IE nothing to do with Janet Napolitano as a human rights
violator. This was mostly ignored.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Later,
when our collective was called cops by the UAW sect at a public meeting, I
informed people that a cardinal sin of activists was committed:
snitchjacketing. When the Occupy Oakland
Media/Hella Occupy Oakland collective snitchjacketed a member of the media
working group back in 2012, the Occupy Oakland GA, at over 90% vote banned the
4 who wrote the dangerous article from any further official use of OO media,
saying they could never speak on behalf of Occupy Oakland again. Unofficially we as individuals all stopped
promoting Hella Occupy Oakland articles, stopped retweeting their tweets, etc,
effectively shunning them. The message
was clear, if you are, or if you associate with unapologetic snitchjacketers,
we will stop associating with you.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Yet in
the past few days we have a virtually identical situation. The UAW sect of the #No2Napolitano has called
our collective cops at a public meeting for disagreeing with them. They haven’t
acknowledged, apologized or even denied this.
<b><i><u>It is extremely dangerous for this behavior to go unchecked by the
activist community!</u></i></b> I even
informed a number of activists via social media personally; although any more
than cursory scroll through the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23No2Napolitano&src=typd&f=realtime" target="_blank">#No2Napolitano tag on twitter</a> would inform
people. <b><i>Many people; who I’ve faced down
riot cops with; chose to ignore this information and precedent and promote the UAW
sect’s Protest Theater of the “Blum 11”!</i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dirty Pool comrades, Dirty Pool.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> In conclusion, we at CalOpenU/bpOffCampus will continue to
organize against Napolitano, the UC Regents, British Petroleum… the whole damn
rotten corrupt system! We are NOT in it
for personal gains; we aren’t asking for dues, we don’t want you to drink any
fucking Kool-Aid. We want to defeat the
plutocratic bastards, and we think we have the organizational experience and
strategies to better accomplish this. We
are extremely encouraged by the vast majority of the #No2Napolitano protesters,
and dismayed at any and all cabals/sects/cliques that would divert their energy
into dead-end activism. We are always
open to new good ideas and a diversity of voices and we would like to hear from
you!</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">@Ergoat</span></span></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://twitter.com/CalOpenU" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">@CalOpenU</span></span></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://twitter.com/bpOffCampus" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">@bpOffCampus</span></span></a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Edit/Post Script: After ~24 hours, the Blum 11, reduced to the Blum 7, left the building. No arrests were made.) </span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></span>Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-78718920935576526722013-12-06T11:22:00.002-08:002014-01-25T14:51:16.278-08:00#FuckCensorship: The Short-Short Version of my TruthOut.org Censored #OccupyCal Article<div>
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</xml><![endif]--></span></span><i><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Updated 1/25/2014</span></span></b></i><br />
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</span></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
wrote an op-ed article: <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/11/occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police.html" target="_blank">“Occupy Cal Infiltrated by Police-Sympathetic-Unions;How Lt Pike Recently Got Another $38k Reward For Pepperspraying StudentActivists”</a>. TruthOut.org published it on
Nov 9<sup>th </sup>2013, </span></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">
</span></span></span></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJe1d52cNyRlSxTYRN6LsGKwi3WkJm0a5xXwe6ZiDZdy-AZFS4nmiuisqYfT4B6Qo4QjBP8j6u6eqeQz58oxKmsD0QBTgnl6bgRufi_XqKZ4L9kKukpp9zS6PoWpTSav-ILZwlWo-dG2e/s1600/CensoredTruth01.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJe1d52cNyRlSxTYRN6LsGKwi3WkJm0a5xXwe6ZiDZdy-AZFS4nmiuisqYfT4B6Qo4QjBP8j6u6eqeQz58oxKmsD0QBTgnl6bgRufi_XqKZ4L9kKukpp9zS6PoWpTSav-ILZwlWo-dG2e/s1600/CensoredTruth01.PNG" height="411" width="640" /></a></div>
</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: orange;">
</span></span></span></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
went so far as promoting it in their newsletter: </span></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="color: orange;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9b7PocW2KDkneFuccsNEt4F1eDW03atZ425iXRv02TfO5EP3BUJLiPeQxKM-cvLS3pZojBuq9eOUJ1e3IZOxfIXTtoQ4XCdUy8fI8Kp2AMLtu7wmXbqkBIuD9dUfbMChy7JXJ-quEGmH9/s1600/SpeakOutFeature.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9b7PocW2KDkneFuccsNEt4F1eDW03atZ425iXRv02TfO5EP3BUJLiPeQxKM-cvLS3pZojBuq9eOUJ1e3IZOxfIXTtoQ4XCdUy8fI8Kp2AMLtu7wmXbqkBIuD9dUfbMChy7JXJ-quEGmH9/s1600/SpeakOutFeature.PNG" height="394" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: orange;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: orange;">On Nov 13</span><sup>th</sup><span style="color: orange;"> 2013 without warning, reasons, or ANY
further explanation (to this day!) TruthOut.org censored by article, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/archive/speakout/item/19947-occupy-cal-infiltrated-by-police-sympathetic-unions-how-lt-pike-recently-got-another-38k-reward-for-pepper-spraying-student-activists" target="_blank">removing it from the site</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: orange;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: orange;">Here is the short, bullet point version of the article:</span></div>
<span style="color: orange;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: orange;">(More details on <a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/petition-truthout.html" target="_blank">how you can help</a> and testimonials of
support from colleagues and witnesses follows) </span></div>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. It's generally agreed among Occupiers that most Unions, without a
formal announcement, withdrew their support from Occupy nationally (around November 2011) when
it was clear we couldn't be used as a tool to elect Democrats in 2012.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. The Democratic Party and most big labor Unions are intrinsically financially connected via campaign funding. <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php" target="_blank">(link</a>)</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">3.
Basically no Democrat was going to be elected without the police and
prison guard union support; hence Unions backing away from
anti-police-state sentiment of OWS. (One of many examples, the SEIU calling historic working-class oppressors in the police "<a href="https://twitter.com/onekade/status/390987286696837121" target="_blank">beloved heroes"</a>)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. The 99% Spring was launched as a counter-movement run by the DNC pretending to be parallel to OWS (<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/13/yes-the-99-spring-is-a-fraud/" target="_blank">one of many sources</a>)</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. UAW was one of the major forces behind 99% Spring. (<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/21/99-spring-campaign-led-by-uaw-computer-records-indicate/" target="_blank">link</a> [ignore the rest of the claptrap on that site: I'm not anti-union, I'm anti-union-corruption])</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">6. UAW 2865 represents 13,000 grad school student-workers in the University of CA </span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">7. Occupy Cal's Original Facilitation Committee (OFC) was always stacked with UAW reps of whom I make the case they were infiltrators with a purpose to deflate radical activism, or "Agent Moderators".</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">8.
The OFC made sure no direct actions/building occupations were voted
through by blocking with their super-minority. This meant against popular student will there were no significant sustained #copsoffcampus-type protests regarding the UCPD beating Occupy Cal with batons 11/9/11 or the pepper-spraying of Occupy UC Davis by Lt Pike. Important to note, this course of (non-)action was a 180 degree shift from just a year prior to
UC Berkeley campus activism.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">9. When their power was limited, the OFC split from Occupy
Cal and formed Occupy Education made up of CA UAW heads, all meetings
were held in a <a href="http://occupyeducationca.org/wordpress/?page_id=10" target="_blank">local UAW office</a>.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">10. Occupy Education had ONE rally, that was headlined by Union reps and DNC CA Lt Gov Newsom, IE a total waste of time, money and student activist energy, drawing momentum away from Occupy Cal's concurrent direct action victories (<a href="http://ola-asm.tumblr.com/post/19279421066/create-take-take-over-and-be-free-radical" target="_blank">A radical, no bullshit reportback RE Occupy Education March 5 2012</a>)</span></span>
</div>
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">11. The UAW has since scrubbed their website of all 99% Spring/Occupy Education involvement. (see #4 and <a href="http://www.hongpong.com/archives/2012/02/19/new-filez-busted-i-sense-astroturfing-occupy-uaw-social-media-plan-posted-99-spr" target="_blank">this</a>)</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">People who witnessed the events I described in my article IE, the #Ratfucking of Occupy Cal by the UAW and their testimonials</span></span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgm-o-rIuvXoXXgILbLRI5Q8qXohMRRNGruk4bL8RogdE12lGvwfRxkEPn8QJryjqV1oxqVvu6r_ArMu6r1oUr2NZrqLn3RRaMIbiR_vKcY1W8yLNYe1Di-hPj05gHoqRbjrKRmfV7aUW2/s1600/navidOCalSac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgm-o-rIuvXoXXgILbLRI5Q8qXohMRRNGruk4bL8RogdE12lGvwfRxkEPn8QJryjqV1oxqVvu6r_ArMu6r1oUr2NZrqLn3RRaMIbiR_vKcY1W8yLNYe1Di-hPj05gHoqRbjrKRmfV7aUW2/s1600/navidOCalSac.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Navid Shaghaghi: </span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">"My name is Navid Shaghaghi, a UC Berkeley '2012 Alumni, who also witnessed the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Occupy Cal </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">events </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">at UC Berkeley as </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">described
by Ergoat. I find it appalling that TruthOut would censor the truth on
behalf of the UAW (or any other entity). Such censorship threatens the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">very foundation of Freedom of Speech and any</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;">trust
in the accuracy of TruthOut's publications and intentions as a
legitimate news agency. With regards to this act of censorship, if
TruthOut had truly been is search of the truth then it should have
allowed the UAW (or anyone else, for that matter) to publish a rebuttal
article to Ergoat's article. But to instead change the link to Ergoat's
article and to then take the article down is outright censorship!" </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJey98ShbBvda8nnKgXMx5KLxYeuSJ37NYfkXMY-IbFjzcrqcsU87dQ2Ia_OsIBJm0MhIv04h9IKq31fSnTQqyldZWPrmuYCwEh-DMPsvihfN3cm4goNXqjBqvmrB0z2aYgYTkNdvs6_bR/s1600/SaxArmchair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJey98ShbBvda8nnKgXMx5KLxYeuSJ37NYfkXMY-IbFjzcrqcsU87dQ2Ia_OsIBJm0MhIv04h9IKq31fSnTQqyldZWPrmuYCwEh-DMPsvihfN3cm4goNXqjBqvmrB0z2aYgYTkNdvs6_bR/s1600/SaxArmchair.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ian Saxton (yes... THAT guy): </span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: lime;">I have always preferred
to give other activists the benefit of the doubt, and to assume that
they are motivated only by a deep passion for making the world a better
place. I tended to forgive poor facilitation and strategizing at Occupy
Cal because I saw it as a necessary learning process that would
eventually lead to the growth of a healthy and vital movement. In
retrospect, I no longer believe that the mass movement's fizzling was
simply an unfortunate accident, but was the result of intentional
sabotage by career-minded pro-establishment union agent moderators.</span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>In observing the UAW's
role in campus activism over the past two years, there emerges a
troubling pattern that many sensed but could not prove during the early
stages. The destructive strategies that I have observed them engaging in
include: weakening demands, delaying action, talking broadly but acting
narrowly, transferring organizing into union controlled spaces,
manipulating with enforcement of political correctness, abusing
facilitation power in order to skew voting, slandering honest activists,
demanding solidarity while not showing any, and failing to show up when
it counts most. It is tragic that we allowed a dishonorable minority to
derail a crucial populist campaign to directly hold accountable the
University leaders at UC for brutally beating campus community members,
drastically overcharging students, and selling off our University in
privatization scandals. </span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>Ergoat is doing the
movement a great favor by broaching the uncomfortable but necessary
subject of infiltration and co-option within the Occupy Cal movement.
His allegations are based on extensive direct observations over a
long-period, and he tastefully avoided calling out individuals in order
to stay focused on the big issues and avoid getting unnecessarily
personal. The fact that his article was censored by TruthOut based on a
heavy-handed request from a third party lends more support to his
hypothesis that direct meddling is taking place in our movement. Honest
activists would always choose to resolve viewpoint disagreements through
discourse, preferably within the public arena. If UAW activists feel
that their intentions and actions have been misrepresented, then the
proper response would be to publish a detailed alternative accounting,
not to try to silence a dissenting voice.</span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>I recommend that
everyone reflect carefully on the history of Occupy Cal, and consider
whether you really find it plausible that all of your trusted comrades
have made their best effort. Though it is often difficult to distinguish
between incompetence and corruption, that should not stop us from
trying. Solidarity means showing loyalty to those who you trust, not
blindly trusting anyone who claims to be on your team. Given a long
history of deceit within this country's progressive politics, we have a
duty to carefully review the behavior and allegiances of our activist
collaborators. We have a lot of really important work to do, and not
enough time or energy to waste on fakers.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8UUz_9zfkIJaq3ikWtfkDd0-rMkRPkWorHpi37TNDaYB9o9-ec230Raqvc4mG06MgvQvtA-l5xuUQq_UpojdALU4_bNKYjMsUipTW1tHmBjNz7b3XRSMYKZG4lpe8FJURPF30tTPLTdx/s1600/mmasonphd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8UUz_9zfkIJaq3ikWtfkDd0-rMkRPkWorHpi37TNDaYB9o9-ec230Raqvc4mG06MgvQvtA-l5xuUQq_UpojdALU4_bNKYjMsUipTW1tHmBjNz7b3XRSMYKZG4lpe8FJURPF30tTPLTdx/s1600/mmasonphd.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mark Mason PhD: </span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="im">
<span style="color: lime;">I earned a doctoral degree from the Department of
Paleontology (now Dept. of Integrated Biology) at UC Berkeley in 1988.
Having taken an interest as I watched student tuition rise sharply, I
participated in both Occupy Cal and Occupy Education when the Occupy
movement congealed in the East Bay.</span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br />
It’s notable that I experienced confusion and then dismay at the very
fact that Occupy Education even existed. The UAW members intentionally
created a rift in the Occupy movement by creating a separate Occupy
Education group. I attended some meetings of Occupy Education to witness
that the union members had no interest in associating with or even
collaborating with Occupy Cal. The UC Berkeley campus should have had
one movement, Occupy Cal, with liaison meetings with parties from SFSU,
SFCC, and any other activists from other schools. Attending meetings, I
observed a lack of interest and a lack of action toward building a
unified Occupy front.</span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br />
Attending Occupy Cal meetings, campus UAW members appeared to have their
own agenda that seemed to be organized outside of Occupy Cal meetings. I
attended some meetings of the UAW local, separate from Occupy Cal and
from Occupy Education. Based upon my experiences attending meetings of
all three groups, the UC campus UAW local labor union worked to divide
the campus Occupy movement and doing so with the goal of either
wrestling sole control of Occupy Cal, or sabotaging it entirely. I
attended several Occupy Cal general assemblies wherein UAW members
appeared to be unified in blocking discussion and actions. Such behavior
may not be unexpected, but it was no appropriate for a single block,
the UAW, to attend meetings with the intent to sabotage cooperation and
sabotage efforts to build a broad, inclusive movement. It is one thing
to witness any subgroup advance an agenda openly, and it’s quite another
to have watched the UAW act to create rancor and division.</span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br />
In summary, to return to the beginning of my comments, the very
existence of the sharply isolated Occupy Education group is sufficient
evidence for sabotage of the local Occupy movement by the UAW at UC
Berkeley. I openly advocated cooperation between Occupy Education and
Occupy Cal, but to no avail.</span>
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="color: lime;">I am concerned about the apparent censorship exercised at
Truth-Out with respect to Ergoat’s report on troubling lack of
solidarity at Occupy Cal. I sent a note to Truth-Out briefly expressing
my support for article after I learned that it disappeared from
publication without any explanation or archive. The article had merit,
in my opinion, and concerns about the article should have been directed
to the author, or better yet, allow lively discussion in comments.<br />
<br />
Mark Mason PhD<br />
US Foreign Policy Analyst<br />
Contributor to Russia Today (RT), Press TV, El-Etejah English TV, and other international news outlets.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">What you can do to help:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Follow the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FuckCensorship&src=typd&f=realtime" target="_blank">#FuckCensorship</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OccupyCal&src=typd&f=realtime" target="_blank">#OccupyCal</a>, & <a href="https://twitter.com/Ergoat" target="_blank">@Ergoat</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/bpOffCampus" target="_blank">@bpoffcampus</a> on Twitter</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://bpoffcampus.org/petition-truthout.html" target="_blank">Sign our petition</a> demanding that TruthOut.org uncensor my article.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Contact Truth-Out.org directly on their <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/contact" target="_blank">website</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Truthout.org" target="_blank">facebook</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/truthout" target="_blank">twitter</a> accounts to express your dismay at their censorship.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Thank you all in advance for your support!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">---Ergoat</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<br />Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-5045744916061230552013-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:002014-01-25T15:00:57.886-08:00Occupy Cal Infiltrated by Police-Sympathetic-Unions; How Lt Pike Recently Got Another $38k Reward For Pepperspraying Student Activists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: red;">Update 1/25/14: This is a long read: <a href="http://ergoat.blogspot.com/2013/12/fuckcensorship-short-short-version-of.html" target="_blank">Shorter bullet point version</a></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Many of the punditry class have been declaring the Occupy
Wall Street movement dead for some time now; some as early as December
2011. There’s a wide-ranging agreement
nowadays among activists who supported the movement for months or even years
that now in late 2013, we should finally pronounce “Occupy is dead” and move on
with other projects. I feel that if you
are going to declare something dead, fine, but don’t move on until a complete
and thorough autopsy is done and a coroner’s report achieves a general consensus
on the cause of Occupy’s death. Any such
report on OWS would be incomplete without understanding the implications of three
recently revealed facts in the past month (October 2013), and how they relate
to each other and to the demise of a mass movement: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">1. It was confirmed that
the NYPD sent in a long-term undercover cop <a href="http://www.privacysos.org/node/1205">to infiltrate</a> OWS’s meetings,
General Assemblies, and even private birthday parties of activists (he was
recently exposed as an undercover in part of the biker gang rampage through
NYC); </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">2. Many unions supported OWS in the first couple of months, but kept
repeating the talking point that “The cops are part of the 99%” much to the
dismay of Occupiers who were facing daily brutal (and illegal) intimidation
tactics of repression by Law Enforcement agencies across the country: this crystallized
with the SEIU via social media recently outright proclaiming <b>that police are “<a href="https://twitter.com/onekade/status/390987286696837121">Beloved Heroes</a>”-
brazenly ignoring centuries of labor struggle history where police were violent
strikebreakers</b>; </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">3. Lt Pike, the UCPD cop who was responsible for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdDLhPwpp4">pepper-spraying</a> peaceful
sitting students at Occupy UC Davis in Nov 2011, the most infamous act of
police brutality in all of Occupy (with literally tens of thousands of
examples), not only did not get arrested for his illegal action, but got over
$100,000 while on paid suspension, and now two years later was rewarded $38,000
in Workers Comp; for emotional harm he allegedly received for sociopathically
torturing students. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">These three revelations of the past month are more than
nominally connected, but are in fact the woefully unreported bridge of
causation which was the downfall of a massive nationwide attempt at direct
democracy and social justice. The state
employing such infiltration against the Left that was seen with COINTELPRO
didn’t end in the 70s, “Dirty Tricks” and “ratfucking” campaigns to sabotage
and discredit activism didn’t end with Tricky Dick Nixon. This again was done by the forces of the
State combined with the supposed allies in the Left, the DNC, the big Labor
Unions, colluding to disrupt, infiltrate and betray Occupy Wall Street with
counter movements such as the <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/13/yes-the-99-spring-is-a-fraud/">99%
Spring</a> nationally, and regionally with a movement called Occupy Education
to ratfuck student movements in the University of California: specifically
Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley where the Graduate School Union, the UAW, sent
infiltrators to disrupt direct democracy and vote down anti-UCPD resolutions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Why weren’t there any large, mass mobilizations of students
to protest Lt Pike, the UCPD, and the UC Davis Administration soon after the
notorious pepper-spray incident? This
was a situation that people from all walks of American life thought was
despicable, and merited immediate justice against the illegally acting
officers. Like the occurrence that happened
just nine days earlier when UCPD at Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley mechanically
marched forward on lines of students linking arms and mercilessly beat them
with batons, Nov 18<sup>th</sup> 2011 was another instance of police brutality
that was near universally condemned.
When “hippies” or “anarchists” of the Occupy Movement got similar
treatments in the streets all over the country in weeks prior, people could lazily
fall back on their bigotry and prejudice with “They were probably agitating the
cops, they got what they deserved” sentiments.
But like during the Civil Rights movement, White “Middle” America wasn’t
really viscerally involved until mostly affluent white students got beat by the
police as well: That called for action! The
number one nationally syndicated progressive radio show in the country
dedicated an hour for people to call in and give a 30 second testimony of what
they’d say if they could talk to Lt. Pike: All were outraged, but most callers
started with “You have the right to remain silent…”. <b>So why
weren’t there a series of sustained protests to arrest Lt Pike for his illegal
actions in a similar vein of the Oscar Grant protests</b> (without which
Officer Mehserle wouldn’t have even been arrested, much less convicted and
sentenced to prison)? There is a broader
answer to this: if you followed Occupy Wall Street nationally and
internationally around October to December 2011 you would be overwhelmed with
the abundance of happenings. Every day
there were marches, resolutions passed at GAs, sit-ins at banks, direct
actions, camp raids, solidarity marches, Live Streamers to watch, Live Tweeters
to follow: an information overload. A
huge incident could happen and be forgotten with a week or even hours. For instance, how many people reading this know
that someone threw a petrol bomb at the sleeping encampment of Occupy Maine? If it had exploded a few feet in any other
direction, there would have been fatalities; yet as a story, it was DOA in the
maelstrom of other Occupy events. So
there was this laissez faire sense of “Oh well, someone else will take care of
this Lt Pike fiasco, I have my own events locally I’ll pay attention to”
regarding the situation at Occupy UC Davis.
But more specifically: infiltrators, ratfuckers and Agent Moderators
sabotaged the populist call for justice against Lt Pike.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">On Infiltrators:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">It is almost never reported that when the students at Occupy
UC Davis were pepperspayed while sitting down with their arms linked on Nov 18<sup>th</sup>
2011, they were defending their camp that they had set up in solidarity with
the student protesters at Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley who were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buovLQ9qyWQ">beaten with batons</a> for
peacefully defending their tents in a similar fashion a little over a week
earlier on Nov 9<sup>th</sup>. (Lest we
forget, then Chancellor Birgeneau of UCB infamously said linking arms was
“not-non-violent) Up to that point, I
was active with Occupy Oakland, but after seeing the brutality of the UCPD, I
decided to devote my activist energies to Occupy Cal starting by witnessing the
2<sup>nd</sup> round of baton beatings that night, and showing up to the next
day’s GA to start planning for a response to the previous night’s now
internationally notorious brutality. The
first Occupy Cal GA had less than auspicious beginnings…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">If I were ever to write a book about Occupy Cal, I would
call it: “How a Movement of Thousands Became a Movement of Dozens in Under Two
Weeks”. UC Berkeley has a historical
role as the forefront of student activism in the 60s with the Free Speech
Movement and Anti-War protests, and two years prior to Occupy Wall St, UCB
again led the way with radical direct actions aimed against privatization and
tuition hikes under the banner “Occupy Everything”. Student activists around the country looked
to UC Berkeley to be the Standard Bearer and leader of the incarnation of the
Occupy Wall Street movement on campuses.
<b>If the State was going to send
infiltrators and undercovers to any college Occupy movement, UC Berkeley would
be the first place to focus that kind of energy</b>. It would be silly to think the State could
effectively send in Agent Provocateurs to encourage violent actions to a mostly
affluent campus population; instead they infiltrated with “Agent Moderators” (a
term I coined) whose role it is to pretend to be friendly to the movement yet
guide the progression away from radical direct actions (like building
occupations and other winnable, movement building strategies) and instead moderate
them to “sensible” tactics that stall and blunt progression (like a letter
writing campaign, or collecting signatures for a ballot reform). Indeed, it was revealed a year later in
internal UC documents released as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the UC
& UCPD regarding the Occupy Cal beatings that the Administration’s key
tactic in slowing student activism involved “Sending them on the slow train to
Sacramento” IE take the emphasis of protests away from campus locally and turn
it into ballot reformism at the State Capitol.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">So on Nov 10<sup>th</sup>, the first GA after the beatings
the night before, many students and community members who had no particular
political axe to grind showed up because they knew they witnessed a grave
injustice, and the time called for their personal participation to do their
part to correct this travesty. A lot of them showed up for action and there was
a buzz of excitement amongst the over one thousand gathered in the minutes
preceding the formal start of the GA:
Was there going to be a march? Were tents going to go back up? Was there
going to be an occupation of a building in retaliation? Little did they know that they were less than
cordially invited to a series of nightly long drawn out meetings, lasting an
average time of over 4 hours, that excruciatingly went nowhere slowly in the
chilly November evenings, on the cold hard concrete steps of Sproul Plaza.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Incredibly, one of the first actions proposed by a
Facilitator at the GA was to get the audience to hold up their hands and give
the observing UCPD the peace sign. Most
of the crowd complied with a little cheering.
Angrily remembering the assault that many of these UCPD engaged in 24
hours before, from the crowd I shouted out: “Now everyone lower one
finger!” There were raucous hoots and
laughter as even more of the crowd gave the UCPD a huge middle finger salute. There was a hurried internal debate among the
Original Facilitation Committee.
Appallingly, the first vote proposed to the crowd gathered on the Mario
Savio Steps, birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, was to ban the term “Fuck
the Police!” at Occupy Cal. Thankfully,
this was quickly quashed before it ever came to a vote, but it was a sign of
things to come.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">The Original Facilitation Committee (OFC) led this debacle
night after night. While the
Facilitation Committee of any Occupy General Assembly was supposed to be open
to anyone, this cadre of around a dozen or so, mostly grad school students
(importantly; the grad school union is, for some reason, the United Auto
Workers or UAW) managed to stack the rotating cast of four or so Facilitators
with at least a couple people from the UAW.
And where the role of the Facilitator was supposed to not at all lead or
dictate the flow of the GA, but mainly to make sure people speak one at a time;
the OFC played fast and loose with this concept with every parliamentary
procedure trick from Robert’s Rules of Order and many improvised on the
spot. A simple question would become an
onerous circular debate. Four hours is
a long time to ask the hundreds gathered in close quarters to sit on the hard
concrete steps and listen to lengthy debates that were 90% procedural back and
forths between a dozen or so participants.
There was still some endurance in the spirit of the crowd: “This is
Democracy; it’s messy, it’s long; but respect the process.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">There was a lot of talking in circles for hours about, for instance,
the topic of tents. “When do they go up
again? Do they go up again? If they go
up, how many are going to sleep in the tents?
Will there be another raid?
Should the encampment be “Student’s-Only?” Are tents even necessary? Who’s going to provide the tents? How are we going to raise money for
tents? Wasn’t there that one guy that
that person knows who said he might know someone who might be able to donate a
couple tents? Point of Process:
Shouldn’t we have to vote on tents? Point of Process: People who are going to
bring tents should have the right to bring tents. Direct response: shouldn’t
they get the consent of Occupy Cal? Clarification: People can do autonomous
actions; they just wouldn’t be officially Occupy Cal endorsed.”And so on. Just imagine that, only spread out over 3-4
hours in the cold, with really uncomfortable seating. With a crowd of strangers. With bored cops looking on and filming 150
feet away. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">By design of the OFC or not (and two years later, I have
reason to believe the former) any votes of actual substance weren’t until near
the end of the GA, and by that time the crowd of hundreds had been whittled
down to less than fifty people present and voting. This was really important when Occupy Cal
began voting on Demands; an idea I supported, for unlike other Occupies, there
were campus-specific demands that could be achieved locally through direct
action to pressure the university administration: far easier than direct actions
with demands on Wall Street. Fifteen
Demands were eventually voted in; ranging from calling for the resignations of
various administrators responsible for the Nov 9<sup>th</sup> beating,
anti-privatization resolutions, to rolling back tuition to its (oddly specific)
2009 levels. One Demand in particular
was of primacy to me: “Hold the police accountable for their actions on Nov 9<sup>th</sup>“
I insisted was too vague; I wanted to outright call for the arrests of the UCPD
who illegally beat students. Too often
in my years of activism I had seen violent police officers being “held
accountable” with paid suspensions, or in the then recent history of OWS,
Anthony Bologna, the NYPD cop who maced protesters arbitrarily (and illegally)
only lost ten vacation days as punishment.
My re-wording vote was tabled by the OFC until near the end of the GA,
hours later when less than 50 people voted on it. It had a super-majority in favor of it at
over 66% approval, but the OFC, (again, made of mostly UAW members) swayed
enough people into thinking calling for the same set of laws to govern
civilians and police was “too radical” and it failed to meet the 80%
modified-consensus mark.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">A day like Nov 15<sup>th</sup> can do a lot to sooth raw
feelings regarding the glaringly awful ways the OFC was handling Occupy Cal,
(with the nightly GA theater that saw us lose hundreds of participants never to
return) and make you excited to be an activist again. While there wasn’t a “General Strike” or even
a student strike, there were large rallies and marches throughout the day. Occupy Oakland marched four miles up to stand
in solidarity with Occupy Cal, and that evening we had the largest single
General Assembly of all of the Occupy Movement in the USA. Tents were set back up to huge cheers.
Unfortunately even a high point like this was marred by a poison pill. The OFC (dubiously claiming authority from
the GA) independently drafted an Open Letter to the UC Administration that
basically turned the fifteen Demands into four talking points, with the threat
of any direct action (via “student strikes”) if the points were not met to
begin Feb 1<sup>st</sup> 2012, ten weeks away.
This essentially turned Occupy Cal into a lame duck session for the
remainder of the Fall Semester, so when the UCPD raided our re-established camp
2 days later, there were no protocols in place to defend it, or even mount any
kind of protest (two people and a cat voluntarily got arrested).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Which brings us to Occupy UC Davis and the pepperspraying
incident: The day Occupy Cal had its
second encampment raided, students at UC Davis established their first
encampment on campus in solidarity with Occupy Cal and in that spirit they
joined the Occupy Movement. The
following afternoon on Nov 18th their camp was raided and Lt Pike’s infamous
torture of peaceful students with chemical warfare occurred and was almost
instantly globally notorious. “Surely
this!” I thought as I drafted a resolution in support of Occupy UC Davis, who
were made to suffer for supporting us, and make it an official Demand to call
for the arrest of Lt Pike. I knew the
history of the Humboldt county anti-clear-cutting protesters who were tortured
with pepperspray in the late 90s, and the result of their settlement clearly
defined legal and illegal usages of that chemical agent for California law
enforcement officers: What Lt Pike did was
clearly illegal, and therefore, he should go to jail!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">At the next GA my proposal was tabled by the OFC, but I
didn’t mind as much at the time, for there was (finally) a lot of internal
rumblings within Occupy Cal that didn’t like the way the Original Facilitation
Committee was running the show, therefore that GA was dedicated to severely
limiting the role (and power) of the Facilitator. Not coincidentally, the OFC, now without the
power to run the meetings and achieve the outcomes they (or their superiors in
the UAW) desired, mostly stopped coming to Occupy Cal GAs and events after
that. They did stick around to foul up
one more call to action that GA: a proposal to have an all night event with
music and dancing where the Occupy Cal encampment was formerly was voted down
by the OFC super-minority, because, in their words, “Dance parties are too
controversial.” So the anti-Pike Demand and “Solidarity with Occupy UC Davis”
resolution with kept getting tabled until Finals started and Occupy Cal was
effectively done for the semester with no quorum to speak of to endorse
it. Justice against Lt Pike would have
to wait until January at the earliest. (Long
story short; UC Davis was following Occupy Cal’s lead, and had their own
ratfucking problem)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">The members of the OFC weren’t dormant during their time
away from Occupy Cal in December 2011; they were busy forming Occupy Education,
a pre-cursor to the 99% Spring, which was to be a coalition of colleges,
universities and a few Californian local Unions (mainly, the ones who stopped
supporting Occupy nationally when it became clear that OWS wasn’t going to
endorse Barack Obama for President in the upcoming election, or the DNC members
running for Congress). Occupy Education
met weekly in the local UAW hall half a mile away from the UC Berkeley
campus. It was another series of long
four hour meetings, but with the added allure of being inside with heating and
chairs. The OFC assured me that Occupy
Education wouldn’t interfere with Occupy Cal’s goals, but would be a parallel
movement that could draw in different crowds of people. This notion was quickly and rudely dispelled
to me personally, when I tried to helpfully remind people that a lot of what
was being covered in these marathons of boredom had already been gone over (and
over…) and decided by Occupy Cal: I was dismissed by the group in front of
around a hundred with retorts of “This isn’t Occupy Cal; we do things
differently here!”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">I stopped attending Occupy Education meetings at the UAW
hall, and instead waited for Occupy Cal to restart with the Spring
Semester. A bold direct action was voted
on and unanimously endorsed: due to spurious budget cuts, the Anthropology
Library at UC Berkeley (2<sup>nd</sup> best in its field in the country) was to
lose a staff member and drastically cut the open hours of the library: Occupy
Cal was going to Occupy the Anthropology Library until this was totally
reversed. About 50 of us entered the
Krober Hall with symbolic tents and we had the support of the faculty and
staff. What was shocking was that
(unofficially) <b>we didn’t have the
support of Occupy Education to keep a library open and staffed</b>! A team of around fifteen people consisting of
the OFC and other graduate student UAW members came into our
Occupation-In-Progress and attempted to vote it down! (Their main reasoning: “You’ve already made
your point and drawn attention to the issue, you don’t need to stay.) The UAW infiltrators lost their (sabotage)
vote, and promptly left. Occupy Cal
stayed in the Library over the weekend, and in 50 hours we won all of our
demands: that Monday the Anthropology Library was open from 9-6 instead of 12-5
with a new staff member soon to be hired.
Unfortunately, even after the victory there was little to no fanfare, no
flyers proclaiming “Occupy Cal Creates Jobs!”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">The following weekend was Occupy Oakland’s Move-In Day
commonly referred to as J28. Scores of
students from Occupy Cal showed up to support the direct action of taking over
an abandoned convention center. Over
twenty members of Occupy Cal were swept up in an illegal mass arrest of some
409 protesters. While many of us were in
jail in Santa Rita Prison for 2-3 days in severely overcrowded cells, denied
access to lawyers, phones, medication, and at times food and water; Occupy
Education conducted business as usual.
Between doing jail support and recovering from the trauma of the
violence of the police state on J28, members of Occupy Cal reached out to
Occupy Education and the Grad School Union for help; to contribute in providing
rides to and from Santa Rita, to print flyers to educate the campus on the
grave injustice that happened mere miles away from the UC Berkeley bubble, to
even take a moment to make an announcement at their meeting (after all, there
still was quite a cross-fertilization between the two “Occupies”, IE many
students who participated in both; at that point things were not seen as
adversarial). All support was denied,
with many of the UAW taking the position of “How dare you ask us to interrupt
OUR meetings for YOUR [emergency] cause?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">The tear gas eventually left our lungs, our wounds from
baton blows healed (including one concussion to a petite female student) and
the stink of prison was washed off, and Occupy Cal wanted to proceed with its
idea of a Roaming Occupation; starting at again Sproul with tents and moving
into other buildings on campus that faced budget cuts with localized demands to
try and recreate our Anthropology Library occupation victory. But with the trauma of J28 still raw for many
students, some began to go exclusively to the “safe” option of organizing with
Occupy Education, who at that point had formalized the strategy of having a
single “Day of Action for Education” rally at Sacramento on March 5<sup>th</sup>
(no mention of a “slow train” yet). So
when Occupy Cal set up tents on Sproul again on February 9<sup>th</sup>, it was
done without the support of the UAW, who critically refused to show up or use
their connections to UC faculty and staff to rally awareness. So instead of hundreds defending the
encampment, there were only dozens of us.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">By the time classes had finished, we had generated enough
buzz with our presence on Sproul that Occupy Cal had its largest GA in
months. It was previously announced that
on the agenda of the evening was my two part proposal to show solidarity with
Occupy UC Davis by also calling for the resignation of their Chancellor Katehi,
and second, to make it an official Occupy Cal Demand to call for the arrest of
Lt Pike. I saw some unusual faces in the
crowd that evening: some Occupy Education/UAW grad students, who I hadn’t seen
since November, others that hadn’t shown up to an Occupy Cal event since trying
to vote down our Occupation-In-Progress at the Anthropology Library. When the time came to discuss the Lt Pike
proposal in break out groups, UAW members indicated they were going to vote
against it. When asked why, they said,
“It would send the wrong message.” When
asked to clarify, they simply repeated that calling for justice against Lt
Pike, “would send the wrong message”.
The measure failed with only 70% of the vote, <b>the super-minority of the UAW infiltrators proved the difference in
this sabotage</b>; and as soon as the vote was defeated, they all got up and
left the encampment in the middle of the GA.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Occupy Education’s March 5<sup>th</sup> 2012 “Day of Action”
rally outside the Sacramento capitol was a complete and utter failure and a
massive waste of the movement’s resources and money. It was a platform for various 99% Spring
affiliated unions like the UAW and the SEIU to make boring speeches to a crowd
of around 10,000 people, mostly students bussed in from all over the state for
whom this was their first political event.
While the students chanted, “No Cuts, No Fees! Education should be
Free!” California Democrats like Gavin Newsom preached reformist platitudes
like “reversing tuition back to the 2009 level” (again that oddly specific
date/talking point proposed by the OFC/UAW back in November 2011). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">With the endless speechifying over, hundreds lined up in
single file to enter the State building and “Occupy the Capitol” with no real
intention of Occupying it, in a pathetically ratfucked display of “protest
theater”. Outside on capitol grounds
away from the lines, one black protester was singled out and surrounded by cops
and told to leave the public premises on the grounds that he didn’t have a
permit for the sign he was carrying which read “Education Not
Incarceration”. Apparently the “permit
for having signs at the Capitol” expired earlier that hour, yet dozens of
protesters in any direction were still holding signs: so yes, racial profiling
was a factor. So dozens of us gathered
around the cops, getting badge numbers and generally bearing witness when,
without warning, a cop on a horse charged headlong into the crowd to disperse
us. There was a family with children
there, and I witnessed a little girl almost get trampled, the horse’s hooves
within inches of crushing her skull.
“THERE ARE CHILDREN!” I bellowed with rage at the uncaring cop. I continued to yell at the cop, when several
SEIU reps flanked me, telling me to calm down as the horse continued to push
the people and the family down the stairs of the Capitol plaza. The situation defused after the black
protester left the Capitol grounds, and I surveyed the area to see, purely by
chance, no one was injured. With my
adrenaline still pumping, I then glared at the SEIU union reps and they
subhumanly fed me the line I’ll never forget, considering the context: “They
[the cops] are just doing their job. The
police are the 99% too.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">The racial profiling and near murder of a little girl by
cops were covered by some radio stations, but Occupy Education and the various
Union reportbacks from March 5<sup>th</sup> (unsurprisingly) made no mention of
it. The day ended with around 70
protesters inside the Capitol refusing to leave and their subsequent voluntary
participation in their own civil disobedience arrest-theater. The 70 or so were released within hours with
the help of the ACLU (oddly enough not the NLG, who did the legal work for
nearly all the Occupy arrests). Thus
ended Occupy Education. <b>They lasted as an entity long enough to
sabotage Occupy Cal, and pull off one rally</b>. Occupy Cal tangibly did more with the mere
hundreds of dollars in its budget than Occupy Education did with many thousands
(IE, I doubt anyone can remember the Lt Governor’s speech on March 5<sup>th</sup>
2012, while today in 2013 the UCB Anthropology Library is still open with full
hours and a full staff).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">With no sustained protests against the UCPD and Lt Pike
(again, using the Oscar Grant uprisings as a model), the Occupy UC Davis
protesters were continually harassed by the police through the Spring Semester,
while Lt Pike continued to be on paid suspension/vacation for 8 months at over
$100,000. Any protest for justice against
police brutality had effectively been marginalized by the State and their
agencies, the DNC and their subservient unions, by pigeonholing any such
protesters with such talking-points labeling them as “Other” with terminology
like “Outside Agitators” or “Anarchists” or “The criminal gang known as Black
Block [sic]”. Without the looming
populist outrage against Lt Pike that existed internationally just months
before focused into continual demonstrations, the ACLU was able to weasel their
way into a cheap settlement with the UC Davis administration that held absolutely
no one accountable. $1 million isn’t a
lot after ACLU took their “legal fees” without doing their “job”, such as
citing the Humboldt precedence, and the pepper-sprayed students received around
only $30,000 each. Lt Pike wasn’t even
fired (which is so often erroneously reported): his contract was up in the
summer of 2012, and he simply wasn’t rehired.
There is a HUGE difference. To
rub salt in this festering wound of injustice, as previously stated, Lt Pike
recently received $38,000 in workers’ comp: getting eight grand more than those
grievously afflicted for his supposed “emotional harm” in torturing students.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">Without learning the lessons of this story and acting on it,
we are damning activists to more unaccountable police violence. Unions like the UAW are apparently hell bent
on making sure people don’t learn this lesson, as they’ve <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/21/99-spring-campaign-led-by-uaw-computer-records-indicate/">scrubbed
their entire involvement in the 99% Spring</a> and Occupy Education off their
website! (Only to be found by archivists)
Other parallel examples of union duplicity continue to emerge: For
example (and there are many examples), just this past summer 2013, remnants of
Occupy Chicago with Union support gathered to protest the American Legislative
Exchange Council or ALEC (IE lobbyists for plutocracy). Once the march was
concluded, the Union rep thanked the cops as “brothers”, and stood aside when 5
minutes later the CPD charged in; attacking and arresting every non-union
protestor they could swing a baton at. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">If several of these cops went to jail for illegally beating
protesters it would serve as a short-term solution for mass movements such as
Occupy; which was torn apart due to so much continual DHS coordinated
harassment and brutality at the hands of the police who knew they could get
away with it. But if several, or dozens
or hundreds of those illegally “I was just following orders” cops went to prison,
that would stay the hand of thousands more cops who would think twice before
illegally beating a protester. Without
that constant threat of violence, a mass movement would be given just enough of
a window where it could once again flourish.
In the meantime, activists of all stripes on the Left must question
their allegiances to Unions who continue to make official statements saying
cops “are the 99% too” or they are “Beloved Heroes”. For any such alliance with people whose jobs
and livelihoods depends on parroting Police State talking points that come down
as marching orders from the top of the Plutocratic pyramid will only result in
further betrayal and Movement failures.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><i>Post Script: The timing of writing this article and a
potential UAW 2865 strike looming is entirely coincidental.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></span></div>
Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-90245918350335998252012-11-23T10:49:00.000-08:002012-11-23T10:49:02.238-08:00Occupy Cal Demands from Nov 15 2011<b>Local Demands:</b><br /><br />1. Respect Free Speech, including the right to set up tents.<br /><br />2.
Immediate resignation of Birgeneau, Breslauer, LeGrande, & Celaya;
democratic election of their replacements by students, faculty &
staff.<br />
<br />3. Charge the police responsible for brutalizing protesters. No use of force against protests on campus.<br /><br />4. Amnesty for all protesters<br /><br />5. Make UC Berkeley a sanctuary campus for undocumented people. Pass the UC-wide Dream Act.<br />
<br />6. Equal benefits and retirement security for UC union workers.<br /><b><br />Statewide Demands:</b><br /><br />7. Reverse the fee hikes, cuts, and layoffs to at least their 2009 levels.<br /><br />8. Refund public education and public services: Tax the banks and billionaires; Repeal Prop 13.<br />
<br />9. Full implementation of Affirmative Action. Overturn Prop 209.<br /><b><br />Nationwide Demands:</b><br /><br />10. Stop the privatization of public education.<br /><br />11. Bail out schools and public services. Redirect military funding to education.<br />
<br />12. Immediate forgiveness of all student debt.<br /><br />13. Repeal Race to the Top.<br /><br />14. Stop the attacks on Teachers' Unions.<br />
<br />
And for the Record, and additional Demand was added at the Occupy Cal General Assembly on February 9th 2012.<br /><br />15. In solidarity with Occupy UC Davis, Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley also calls for the resignation of Katehi. <br />
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Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-84105130016196613792012-07-06T19:11:00.002-07:002012-07-06T19:11:57.133-07:00New Friends at #OccupyTheFarmLoyalty oath required to cluck at the multiplying turkeys at #OccupyTheFarm<br />
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http://t.co/m8AvPhqiErgoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-20732482629481099192012-06-27T16:33:00.000-07:002012-06-27T21:06:02.688-07:00#OpChrisHedges Berkeley 6/27/12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(My quick writeup...) </div>
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On January 28th 2012, Occupy Oakland Move In Day, I think most of us on the streets that day weren't neophytes, and we expected the corporate media to ignore the massive brutality of the police state; the indiscriminate baton blows, the flash bang grenades, the bean-bag shots, the rubber coated steel tipped bullets, the tear gas, more tear gas, the tear gassing of illegally kettled protesters in from of a statue of MLK Jr and Gandhi, the illegal mass arrests, the largest in Oakland since 1981, the torturous jail conditions; we knew they would ignore all of that and focus on a couple of broken windows later that evening, and a burned American flag.<br />
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What we didn't quite expect was how the "Liberal" "Progressive" "Independent" media would also ignore the criminal police violence and begin the denouncing of Occupy Oakland, and those "Black Bloc Anarchists" who had "tools of violence" such as shields to defend our skulls from being shattered like Scott Olsen's.<br />
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But there it was; one "sympathetic #occupy media ally" after another denouncing the violent "Black Bloc" for having shields and masks, going so far as appealing to NYC's #OWS to cut ties with Oakland (as if there's some process for that...)<br />
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But the worst of the worst was former NY Times journalist Chris Hedges, who wrote the article post #j28 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_cancer_of_occupy_20120206/ =<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The Cancer in Occupy</h2>
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Referring to Black Bloc and Occupy Oakland at large.</div>
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I'm not going into the whole critique here; other have written extensive, thorough rebuttals. One fine example: http://ola-asm.tumblr.com/post/17189347129/colonizerchrishedges (search around, you'll find more)</div>
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But now, nearly five months later, one can look at this article as a turning point in Occupy; the time when older more moderate on the fence liberals were given the excuse they needed not to get involved with Occupiers lest they get caught up with those scary "Black Bloc Anarchists".</div>
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So I figured if the old guard liberals of Berkeley were going to flock to a KPFA fundraiser with Chris Hedges speaking; maybe some of the younger crowd who like to wear masks, carry shields, and use fucking foul language should have some representation at the event as well. So this happened last night:</div>
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I had some interesting dialogue with community members: <br />
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A young citizen even stopped to draw me: <br />
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(A special thanks to my videographer! <3)</div>
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<span id="goog_1311468591"></span><span id="goog_1311468592"></span>Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-41875273412863978942012-05-08T12:22:00.000-07:002012-05-08T12:22:01.379-07:00Dear Armchair Activists:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I think I have to share this once a week from now on...<br />Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-33821484267555808922012-05-05T19:28:00.000-07:002012-05-05T19:28:27.771-07:00UCB Scandal at Occupy the Farm!Details keep emerging that UC Berkeley Admins forced the local "student paper", the Daily Californian <a href="http://www.dailycal.org%20/" target="_blank">http://www.dailycal.org </a>to make a change in their story regarding Occupy the Farm.<br />
<br />
Here's the original post: <a href="http://ergoat.com/Occupy-the-Farm_The-Daily-Californian.pdf" target="_blank">http://ergoat.com/Occupy-the-Farm_The-Daily-Californian.pdf</a><br />
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And here's the one the daily cal was pressured to re-write: <a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2012/05/03/members-of-occupy-the-farm-to-meet-with-campus-representatives-thursday-night/" target="_blank">http://www.dailycal.org/2012/05/03/members-of-occupy-the-farm-to-meet-with-campus-representatives-thursday-night/</a><br />
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Note the key difference: "Mogulof said the fire hydrants were not turned off at the encampment,
and that the university “would absolutely never turn off a fire hydrant
across the street from an elementary school.”"<br />
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This when there is photographic and video evidence of the fire hydrant being shut off and tagged "UCB"<br />
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Why do they think they can get away with these lies and endangerment of the lives of the surrounding community?!<br />
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Also, UCB Admins made sure a presentation to the UCB Student Gov. the ASUC, also didn't make Friday's print edition. The presentation led to a unanimous vote the ASUC to endorse and support Occupy the Farm in full. Why wouldn't the Admins at UCB want the student body to read about that?<br />
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Because they are planning a raid on Occupy the Farm. A cowardly act by lying, brutal, greedy pigs.<br />
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Here's the presentation in full, presented on my crappy little blog, because I won't be cowed and fold over as easy as the Daily Cal: <a href="http://ergoat.com/ASUCPresentation--OccupytheFarm.pdf" target="_blank">http://ergoat.com/ASUCPresentation--OccupytheFarm.pdf</a><br />
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...<br />
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Ok, why are you still reading this? Go out and support #OccupyTheFarm ASAP! <br />
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<br />Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-50135080577505883942012-01-21T20:42:00.000-08:002012-01-21T22:18:54.517-08:00VICTORY!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHjAm8A_R5b7KiHi-INTN3FTRVakmG6aXqJhijBYEaxB14m10mop-YEbH3pZzS7InSr2LRvFZeTUD-VrcJ2ldbkDP5P-CS8Vm91sJGAg5LpFAh8xxG3OebgkZWyLTHLb7_z0kTLGLLiAX/s1600/IMAG0003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHjAm8A_R5b7KiHi-INTN3FTRVakmG6aXqJhijBYEaxB14m10mop-YEbH3pZzS7InSr2LRvFZeTUD-VrcJ2ldbkDP5P-CS8Vm91sJGAg5LpFAh8xxG3OebgkZWyLTHLb7_z0kTLGLLiAX/s400/IMAG0003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700313153205371826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After two nights and three days of occupation, the Occupy Cal UC-Berkeley library occupiers won their demand to restore fully the library hours to Fall 2011 levels and hire a full-time new librarian to permanently staff these hours. At about 7:30PM Saturday night, the administration signed a written agreement that fully met the occupation's demands.<br /><br />The administration signed the following agreement:<br />"1. On Monday, January 23rd signs will go up that the library hours will be restored to the Fall 2011 schedule -- opening at 9:00AM and closing at 6:00PM on weekdays, and open from 1:00 to 6:00PM on Saturday and Sunday. On an interim basis staffing for this position will be by Undergraduate or Graduate student workers, hired under normal procedures. The first day with the new hours will depend on how quickly students for this work can be recruited. The recruitment will begin this Monday morning January 23rd.<br /><br />"2. The Library commits to post a position to support the full circulation services needed by all users of the Anthropology Library as soon as this can be written and approved and to commence interviews for the position within 30 days of the signature of this Agreement.<br /><br />"Signed by Administration Representative: Tom Leonard, University Librarian on January 21, 2012."<br /><br />(Note: The Anthropology faculty have agreed to help staff the Library's full hours beginning Monday, Jan. 23rd until the interim student hire is made.)<br /><br />occupycal.net<br /><br />https://sites.google.com/site/occupycalnet/<br /><br />https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy_cal<br /><br />http://www.bamn.com/2012/01/22/victory-for-the-uc-berkeley-library-occupation/Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7282136754102594235.post-21901793340190160202011-11-20T15:17:00.000-08:002011-11-20T15:20:54.408-08:00Updated Demands Proposal for 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priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I propose an update on our, occupycal’s list of demands.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Friday Nov. 18<sup>th</sup> students at UC Davis were peacefully protesting, in solidarity with UCB, at their Occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were protecting their encampment on the quad by linking arms and sitting down around where their tents were. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Like what happened at UCB on 11/9, UCPD brutally assaulted the students who were not threatening or provoking them; this time with obscene amounts of pepper spray, sprayed directly in their faces.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are even reports of students’ mouths’ being forced open by UCPD’s Lt. Pike and pepper spray being blasted down their throats, causing some to be still coughing up blood 45 minutes later.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Others were hospitalized with chemical burns.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is the latest of far too many examples of outrageous brutality shown by police forces nationally when cracking down on peaceful Occupation (OWS, the 99%) protests.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is clear that without immediate and severe sanctions against these offending officers and policies, they will continue their unconstitutional viciousness on the peaceful that are assembling to redress their grievances. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Therefore I am proposing an update to Occupy Cal’s list of demands, to strongly discourage further police attacks.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>1. ONE: In solidarity with UCD, Occupy Cal at UCB should also call for the resignation of Katehi.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>2. TWO: The call for the immediate arrest of Lt. John Pike and incarceration without bail for aggravated assault and possible attempted manslaughter.</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-family:Calibri;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>3. THREE: The disbanding of the UCPD by no later than Feb 1<sup>st 2012</sup>, at the start of the planned UCB sustained student strikes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first should be self explanatory.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The second: If we as a society do not hold our peace officers accountable for the violence they commit, we will not have a system of justice but one of vigilantism.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By allowing Lt. John Pike to escape the full measure of the law for his heinous crimes, we are sending a strong message to all other violent police, or other peoples in positions of “authority” that they are free and protected to continue to violate and brutalize the public.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Consider that the pepper spray abusing NYPD officer Tony Bologna, for assaulting four nonthreatening young women with that sprayed chemical agent at an OWS protest was held “accountable” internally: He lost ten vacation days.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By not calling for Lt. Pike’s immediate arrest in this obvious case of sociopathic cruelty, we are not only enabling our abusers, but aiding and abetting them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We as a people, as the 99%, are better than this.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The third: The UCPD has constantly served not for the safety of the students, but at the behest of their masters in the 1%.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At every chance to show humanity and a gentle touch when dealing with peaceful protesters, they have shown brutality, batons, pepper spray and an iron fist.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The correct action to take when witnessing your fellow officers beat peaceful protesters with batons or douse them with chemical agents isn’t to join in, or even to stand aside and watch.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is their duty, as peace officers, to tackle and subdue the violent, illegally acting cops and put them in handcuffs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That there hasn’t been one instance of the “good” cop protecting the 99% protesters from the violence and that no arrests of police officers have been made in these instances over the past months, proves that this isn’t merely a case of a few bad apples rising to the surface, but that it is systemic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This must be clearly addressed now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And disbanding the UCPD by Feb 1<sup>st</sup> would be a start.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let me remind all of you that the USA is one of the few democracies in the world that allow police on campuses at all.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Most foreign campuses are sanctuaries of learning in that regard.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also, armed police on campus does not equal safety.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Two examples that make this clear are that there were armed police present on the school grounds of Columbine High in 1999, and Virginia Tech in 2007: neither prevented the massacres that tragically transpired.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s take these steps to make sure that school be about higher education for the 99% again, and not about sustained systemic police brutality.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ergoat</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Ergoathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02863185182780027495noreply@blogger.com0