OCCUPY GANG POLICE! END THE POLICE STATE!

EDIT: Here are some petitions you can sign immediately:
MISSOURI STATE LAW REQUIRING ALL POLICE TO WEAR AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDERS WHEN ON DUTY
Petition by Rachael Cailliach
To be delivered to The Missouri State House, The Missouri State Senate, and Governor Jay Nixon
In the State of Missouri require all uniformed police to wear functioning audio and video recording devices when on duty.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/amendment-to-the-missouri

Make All Missouri Law Enforcement Officers Wear Cameras
Petition by Eric Person
To be delivered to The Missouri State House, The Missouri State Senate, and Governor Jay Nixon
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/make-all-missouri-law?mailing_id=24621&source=s.em.cr&amp%3Br_by=11089267&nbsp%3B=&r_by=11089267


WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Mike Brown Law. Requires all state, county, and local police to wear a camera.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mike-brown-law-requires-all-state-county-and-local-police-wear-camera/8tlS5czf

Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Murder of Michael Brown
Petition by Jamilah Nasheed
To be delivered to Robert P. McCulloch, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/appoint-a-special-prosecutor?source=s.em.cr&mailing_id=24621&amp%3Br_by=11089267&nbsp%3B=&r_by=11089267&amp%3Bamp%3Br_by=11088158&amp%3Bsource=s.icn.em.cr

End Milltarization of Police
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/423/349/851/?z00m=21401890

Here are some important articles about what is happening in the events surrounding the Brown case and protests.  Please read!  Remember, IDEAS ARE BULLETPROOF:

http://www.occupy.com/article/could-civil-rights-movement-have-happened-todays-militarized-police-state

http://rt.com/usa/181204-teens-mobile-app-police-abuse/

http://theantimedia.org/constitutional-rights-essentially-suspended-in-ferguson-as-police-raid-homes-door-to-door/

TIME TO END THE “POLICE STATE”!!!

Their is a violent and dangerous gang terrorizing poor and “minority” communities. Michael Brown is just the most recent fatality. This gang is armed with guns and billy clubs. They have the right to detain citizens and to seize private property (“asset seizure”). That is too much power for any individual to possess without public accountability. Gang Police too often confuses enforcing the law with being the law itself. Crime has been decreasing, but police brutality has increased. Gang Police is becoming increasingly militarized.

Gang “Police” serves and protects private property to such an extent that unarmed thieves in the possession of a stolen $1 cigarillo can be shot dead. Or children walking in the street that contest an order to “Get the F**k on the sidewalk.”

We, The People, pay the salaries of Gang Police. We pay for their cars, their weapons, their jails. We pay for the lawyers and judges. The more crime a city has, the wealthier the people that work in and benefit from the legal system.

TIME FOR CHANGE. Real change. When people get angry enough they will loot and riot. Too many men have died in the street from the actions of this gang. Looting is not the answer, but it is the only reason this case is getting national attention. Without the riot, there would not be an FBI investigation. Al Sharpton would not be at the Old Courthouse. Looting is not the answer, but it is the only threat that Gang Police and their Overlords take seriously. They are a violent Gang, and the only respond to violence and upheaval.

What we really need, though, is to become angry enough to demand real change, and to continue working for it after the fires have been put out, the protest marches and press conferences have ended, and the investigations are over. Something good can come of this tragedy, if We, The People demand it, and keep demanding it, long after our tempers have cooled.

WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST BEGIN TO “POLICE THE POLICE”! They have the power to monitor us, to investigate us, and we must demand the right to monitor and investigate them! We have the right to full accountability for everything that they do! We must demand complete police transparency!

1) We must require all police to wear helmet cameras (or special glasses with cameras) at all times. Not dashboard cameras. Not just recording traffic stops and dispatch responses, their entire shift must be recorded. We are paying their salaries. We have the right to know what and how they are doing their jobs.

2) Photographs, bio's, and badge numbers must be posted on Police Department websites, along with regularly update schedules. We should be able to go to the Ferguson P.D. website and look up exactly who was on duty when Michael Brown was shot. The department should not be able to hide this Gang member behind the fear of death threats. Gang Police poses a potential death threat for every citizen they encounter. Maybe if the Gang Police Member (“officer”) that shot Michael Brown had known that his picture and name was posted for all citizens to see, he would have behaved differently. Maybe Michael Brown would be at college instead of the morgue.

3) Every citizen should have the right to have a civilian witness present at ANY interaction with a Gang Police member. Every community should have paid Legal Observers standing by at all times.

4) Police should be required to hold “meet and greets” at least once a month, along with Town Hall type meetings for people make suggestions, air grievances, and give feedback on officer's performances in their communities.

Occupy Public Transportation in St. Louis (OPTINSTL) is researching how to create a petition for the above demands, but we can start by calling or writing all of our local representatives and police departments and demanding the changes listed above. And anyone can start a petition. We need a lot of petitions and signatures to make our voices heard and get the changes we need. Two sites OPTINSTL has found:

http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/pubs/makeyourvoiceheard/MakingYourVoiceHeard.pdf

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

Please print and share this leaflet if you agree. OPTINSTL@GMAIL.COM optinstl.blogspot.com

HOW ANYONE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, OUTLINED IN STEPS

1. PICK SOMETHING YOU WANT TO CHANGE
2. ENVISION THE END RESULT
3. RESEARCH THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE THING YOU WANT TO CHANGE
4. IDENTIFY WHAT ACTIONS COULD POTENTIALLY CREATE THE CHANGES YOU SEEK
5. FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN AND DO IT
6. STAY PASSIONATE, BUT DON'T LET IT MESS WITH YOUR HEAD 
7. YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY MAY NOT BE INTERESTED
8. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

 
PICK SOMETHING YOU WANT TO CHANGE: METRO

ENVISION THE END RESULT: METRO provides services based on ridership and riders needs.  Facilities that are deemed important and necessary to riders are integrated into the overall development plans.  Executives have the public's interests at heart, and the agency is not run by or dictated to by businessmen.  The agency is totally transparent to the public, and the information about the agency's operations is made accessible and easily disseminated by the public.

RESEARCH THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE THING YOU WANT TO CHANGE:  METRO has a lot of reasons why it can't provide better services, and why the current structure is the best.  First and foremost in your mind whenever you encounter a "problem" or "obstacle" to your vision is to realize that within every problem is the solution to that problem. 

Metro says it is not in the business of providing toilets:  Not true.  Metro is about "business development" and doing whatever is deemed necessary to make the city more attractive to "business development." Metro is run Bi-State Development Agency.  Initially Bi-State started out in 1950 as the Metropolitan Sewer District.  They didn't get into public transit until they bought some private bus lines in the late 1960's.   

The addition of Public Transit to Bi-State is what began to bring in the large government monies to subsidize the bus lines (business developers need cheap labor, and cheap labor doesn't generally own cars).

Bi-State dba Metro is actually about any business it chooses to be in.  Bi-State dba Metro also owns and operates the Arch trams and Riverboat attractions, and the St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia Illinois.  The trams are the only part of their endeavors that makes a profit.  Metro bus and metrolink, the airport, and the riverboat attractions all operate at a loss.

However, their other enterprises are in the amount of a 2 million or less a year.  METRO bus and trains are worth 225 million a year.

Moreover, ALL of the money from Metro bus and trains comes from the public: government money (income tax), sales tax (city and country), and state money (property taxes).  And then that 22% that comes from rider revenues.

A businessman like Metro's CEO John Nations is not going to get elected to a senate seat from running Bi-State, or get a $250,000 a year salary from the airport, trams and riverboat attractions.  it is the 225 million a year from Metro that gives him the platform.  In his current position, he gets to hob-knob with the local rich boys and politicians, and begin creating the network he will need if he gets to office.

No one at Metro is looking to make the transit system self-sustaining because that would remove the government monies.  They would have to really work with the public to make transit feasible for people of all income levels, and to make public transit the first choice of people that owned cars.  That is a lot for an agency that is set up exclusively for the manipulation of private interests and does not have to do any "real" work.

It would also create a situation where the transit agency would have to work AGAINST the interests of private business developers and local government officials in many instances.  (For example, challenging the city and county towns to let Metro decide where bus stops were placed and where trains would run, etc.)  It would mean wresting Metro's checkbook away from the County Executive and a separation of "transportation" and "transit" bonds. 

The current situation does not work in the transit riding public's interest.  That is fairly easy to demonstrate.

If the agency were run by someone with urban planning at heart, the buses and train would be the first and foremost priority, instead of  developing personal relationship with future campaign contributors.

The riding public would be consulted first on future train extensions and bus lines, with the thought of attracting passengers with cars by making public transit more convenient than driving.

IDENTIFY WHAT ACTIONS COULD POTENTIALLY CREATE THE CHANGES YOU SEEK:  This is the part that calls for flexibility.  If you don't need the cooperation of anyone else to make the changes, you can do the work yourself, but if you need the public you will have to "try and try again."

Don't be afraid to fail.  For instance, if the "Jam the Phone Lines" doesn't work- either enough people don't call, or the calls don't generate any changes- I will have to devise another strategy.

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-flooding-metros-phone-lines-is.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/flooding-phone-lines-be-polite-but-dont.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/actions-to-take-to-change-public.html

However, it may be that a lawsuit challenging Bi-State's ability to run Metro, and the contention that Metro transit is owned wholly by the people (all of their income comes from public money, as outlined above), and that public transit is a necessity for approximately 75,000 people in the city and 25,000 people in the surrounding counties.  (Roughly 5% of the entire metro area, and 20% of the city.)

That is a strong enough reason for a lawsuit.  However, I am not a lawyer, so I still need to engage some other people-- that are lawyers.

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/call-for-public-audit-of-metro-bi-state.html 
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/again-metro-has-long-history-of.html

FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN AND DO IT:  This is fairly obvious.  But the most important thing is-- PACE YOURSELF.  I leaflet when ever I can. I talk to people when I can.

I call everytime I ride, about something-- questions about how they operate, demands for changes, and any problems I see. (A bus stop without a bus line number. problems with routes, etc.  Suggestions for immediate improvement.  The only thing I DON'T call about is the drivers.  They get enough calls about that and the bus drivers take enough crap about Metro's awful service.  I DO call about the fact that Metro has refused to reach a new bargaining agreement with the driver's union for 6 years.)

STAY PASSIONATE, BUT DON'T LET IT MESS WITH YOUR HEAD:  You are in this for the long haul.  Don't let them upset you.  The agency is going to say stupid things to you, insult you, insist that nothing that can be done.  You have to hang in there.  Don't work on it everyday.  Take a break.  Allot a certain amount of time each day or week or month and focus.

Live your life, but incorporate your activism into it.   I find out stuff about Metro all the time now, even when I am not talking to people about it.  I've started to look and listen.

Also, determine how much of troublemaker you want to be.  I don't believe in violence, and I don't want to take on so much that I have to worry about being arrested.  Most changes can be done legally.

There is always a risk, when challenging the current power structure, that draconian measures will be taken if you really become a threat.  The police and the military are controlled and used by private wealth to maintain private wealth and to create "order"--  meaning "business as usual."  However, in those circumstances, your actions will uncover any lurking fascism.  

And in that case, they will have to come right out in the open.  And generally, the public will respond in your favor.  It is worth it to challenge the power structure in any society, because that is what keeps fascism at bay.

This is one of the reasons that "Occupying" needs to become a hobby of every single person in this country.  By "occupying"-- learning about and monitoring-- all levels of government and public structures, we can exert our power and demand accountability.  We can keep fascism and violent upheaval at bay.  The more people that "Occupy" the less work there will be for any one of us.

YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY MAY NOT BE INTERESTED:  The people closest you will be interested because they are interested in you, but they may not have the same passion or vision. After a while they may get bored with your cause.  This is normal.

Seek out the people that do, and form your alliances there.   Even when I am handing out leaflets, I ask people if they are interested in changing Metro to make it better for the people that ride it.  Not everyone is.  Save your leaflets and your energy.  Move on to the next person.  Identify the people most interested first.  The less motivated will become more interested as you continue to get results.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF:  In our society we are taught to believe that money is the only source of power.  But the wealthy are actually the least powerful among us.  ALL THEY HAVE IS MONEY.

When I was a radical political activist in my teens and early twenties (I am almost 50 now) we used to say "Money is the lowest form of participation."  TIME and IDEAS are the strongest.

Every person has something to offer.  The wealthy are the smallest part of the population.  There are far more of us than of them.  And without us doing the work or consuming to generate their wealth, they would have nothing.

Most social change has been generated by 3.5% of the population.  African-Americans are less than 20% of the population, and during the Civil Rights era, not all African-American's participated in the struggle.  Don't discount what a small but empowered group of people can do.  The powers that be cannot handle any disruption of "business as usual".  They are all about profits.  They count on the majority of the people being too downtrodden, or too unmotivated, or too divided, to work for change.

Prove them wrong.  Believe in yourself, your power, and your vision.

If you pace yourself and seek like-minded others, you will succeed.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SAINT LOUIS

I hope you are reading this because you want to live in a city with a great public transportation system.

I started this blog on March 24th when I heard about the upcoming fare increase in July.

I rely on public transportation, and occasional rides from friends.

I am white, but I currently live in Riverview Gardens, about 2 miles from the Riverview Transfer Center.

The difference between bus and train service south of the "Delmar Divide" is shocking.  Especially considering that north St. Louis city and county have the largest population of people that rely on and use public transportation.

I am tired of Metro's failure to provide decent service, and the obvious racism of the East West Gateway Council of Government , the people that tell Metro where they can put a train or bus, the "Local 1%", the "Good Ole Boy Network."

I don't have a plan (yet), but I am researching Metro and writing as much as I can, and sharing it.

I believe we can change the system so that it serves us better! I hope you do to!

If you want to do something else, or take this from a different angle, please let me know and I will post your link on this blog.  I just want this system changed.  It doesn't matter to me who does it or how. there is a lot to do.

If you want to use anything on this blog, please do with full permission.  Spread the word!

If you have any ideas for action, suggestions about what Metro can do (tell them too!), information, or if you want to share your "stores from the bus", please email optinstl@gmail.com
 
DON'T JUST RIDE THE BUS! OCCUPY IT!

READ THIS POST FOR ACTIONS TO TAKE

PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED FARE INCREASE METRO BUS AND TRAIN

IF you cannot attend the hearings, please take this survey on line:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MetroTransitFareSurvey

The survey itself is only choosing from one of three fair options, and asks only what you normally purchase, but you can use the comments box.

BELOW is the cut and paste from the Metro website on 24 March 2014 at 15:25 CDT
http://www.metrostlouis.org/NewsProjects/NewsDetails.aspx?ID=421

The meetings for the 25 and 27th are not correct-- see this blog's sidebar OCCUPY THIS WEEK for the correct information.

Public Meeting Dates Announced for Proposed Metro Fare Increase

3/10/2014

News Release

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro is announcing the dates, times and locations of three public information sessions and a public hearing about a proposed fare increase that would go into effect in July 2014. In addition, the agency is also announcing details about how the public can participate online and provide feedback about this important topic as well.

Public Meeting

Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Thursday, March 27, 2014
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
St. Louis City Hall St. Louis County Government Center
1200 Market Street Second Floor
St. Louis, MO 63103 41 South Central
Clayton, MO 63105

Wednesday, March 26, 2014
4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
East St. Louis City Hall
301 River Park Drive
East St. Louis, Illinois 62201

Public Hearing

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. -- Formal presentation at 6 p.m.
Metro Headquarters
Board Room
707 North First Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63102

The general public is invited to attend one of these meetings to learn more about three fare increase options under consideration and to provide feedback. A fare increase is necessary to meet Metro transit’s fiscal year 2015 budgeted goal of a five percent increase in passenger revenue. All of these options would generate an additional $2.25 million in annual revenue. Based on public feedback, Metro will adopt one of the fare increase options or a modified version of the three options.

Option 1 increases MetroLink one-ride fare from $2.25 to $2.50 (+$0.25); weekly pass from $25 to $26 (+$1); monthly pass from $72 to $80 (+$8) and semester pass from $150 to $165 (+$15).

Option 2 increases MetroLink one-ride fare from $2.25 to $2.50 (+$0.25): weekly pass from $25 to $27 (+$2); monthly pass from $72 to $78 (+$6) and semester pass from $150 to $175 (+$25).

Option 3 would not change the MetroLink one-ride fare; weekly pass from $25 to $28 (+$3); monthly pass from $72 to $80 (+$8) and semester pass from $150 to $175 (+$25).

The public meetings will be offered in an open house format with no formal presentations made. Metro staff will be available to discuss the fare increase options. The public hearing will include a formal presentation that will begin at 6 p.m., with the remaining time available for public comment. Residents who are not able to attend one of the public meetings are urged to participant and provide feedback online at www.metrostlouis.org/FaresPasses/FareIncrease2014.aspx

They may also comment on the proposed fare increase options by calling 314-982-1422, by email to FareIncrease2014@metrostlouis.org, or by mail to:

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro
Attn: Planning - Fare Increase 2014
707 North 1st Street
St. Louis, MO 63102

Public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2014.

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro’s fiscal year 2015 operating budget is 3.6 % higher than it was in
2014 because of increases in the price of services and products like diesel fuel. All of Metro transit’s
revenue sources, including local sales taxes and passenger revenue, must grow to continue to sustain
the current service level.

Regular and modest fare increases are important to the long-term health of the transit system. Fare increases of about five percent approximately every two years are essential to continue the implementation of Moving Transit Forward, the region’s long-range plan for transit service operations, enhancement and capital investment.

The Bi-State Development Agency/Metro (BSDA/Metro) is the operator of the Metro public transportation system for the St. Louis region, which includes the 87 vehicle, 46-mile MetroLink light rail system; 372 MetroBus vehicle fleet that operates on 75 MetroBus routes; and Metro Call-A-Ride, a paratransit fleet of 120 vans.

BSDA/Metro also owns and operates St. Louis Downtown Airport and its surrounding industrial business park, and the Gateway Arch Riverboats, as well as operates the Gateway Arch Revenue Collections Center, the Gateway Arch Transportation System, and the Gateway Arch Parking Facility.