THE OLD WAYS OF PROTESTING ARE NOT EFFECTIVE IN MODERN TIMES

In the Political Activist's Guide To St. Louis ( pag2stl.blogspot.com) I say that violent revolution won't work in a world of 7 billion people and the kinds of weapons that police and the military have now.  We live in a world now where if we are going to survive and thrive, we need people to begin actively running their governments.  Mao once said "all power comes from the barrel of a gun".  That has to change.  Violence just changes the faces in power, not the power itself.

Protests and counter protests, in the past, served to bring large groups of like minded people together, to raise energy, and to spread messages through the media coverage.  That's the plus side, and those things are still effective.

But large protests and counter protests often end up as screaming matches, the arrests only benefit the police and courts, and the real work of educating the general public and making material changes still falls to a few dedicated people who do the solitary work of calls, petitions, education, etc, for weeks, months, years, after the protests are over and most of the people have returned to business as usual.

(The upcoming RNC counter protest in Cleveland bought the police a bunch of fancy riot gear and big budget for the summer:  http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/uncucumbered/cleveland_prepares_for_republican_convention_riots?recruiter_id=17 )

Instead of counter-protesting when Drumpf or the KKK is having their rally, do it the day or night before, and go to the people that aren't in the KKK.  You will reach more people about your concerns, and likely get the same or more media attention.  And little chance of getting arrested and creating revenue for the cops through arrest fees and fines.  (If you do get arrested PLEASE don't just take the plea and pay the fine, GO TO COURT and challenge everything you can.  Even if you lose you will do the First Amendment a great favour.)

Instead of clumping together and focusing on the idiots that aren't going to change their minds no matter what you say, not too mention making it easier for the police to arrest you, stretch out side by side on the sidewalks, single file.    You will still be protesting, but you will reach more people, and will have time to talk to them because you aren't shouting at the idiots.

I am NOT criticizing people that demonstrate, or shout at the cops or counter protesters (during Ferguson the police were the counter protesters).  It's just that it is not effective anymore. We saw very clearly in Ferguson that they just send in the tear gas and jack up all the fines.

To change things means we need to protest every day, or every week, or every month, to the people in power.  We have to educate the people that aren't paying attention to the issues on how the issues effect them.

For example, if all of the people that counter protested at the Drumpf rally yesterday had held the counter protest Thursday night at rush hour, on the sidewalk, single file, and then the next day during the rally called the Drumpf campaign headquarters here in St Louis, nationally, and also called local representatives and media, and told them why they think Drumpf is dangerous, it would have had greater impact.  It wouldn't have made the same thrilling headline news of bloodied protesters and Drumpf drones screaming "fuck you whore" at counter protesters, but it would have had greater impact on the people who are on the fence or who aren't involved in politics at all.

And in Drumpf's case, it would have been a bummer for him and his supporters.  They WANT a fight. We already know that.  That's all he talks about.  And they love being vilified.  Being met with "crickets" would have been a let-down for Drumpf and his drones.

 As someone who has worked for many years as a receptionist, switchboard operator, desk clerk, etc, I can tell you that the phone is one of the most effective tools of disruption to "business as usual".  And it is invisible to anyone outside of the office.  An overload of phone calls puts massive stress on any government or business entity.  There is no nightly show that is going to run footage of Drumpf's office staff answering angry calls (unless it shuts the phone lines down).

No heroism to bask in on the nightly news, no vilification to uphold, no cross for the martyr to bear publicly.

For example, 35 people were arrested yesterday.  A phone "demonstration" by 35 people for 6 hours, taking in to account breaks for the bathroom, etc, time waiting on hold, etc, could still have made approximately 20 calls each an hour, which totals 4200 phone calls.  This would have taken extra time to prepare 120 short "scripts"- one for each call, or compiling 120 places to call with one script.

So- a list of 120 - the Mayor, the Governor, state and national congress members, Republican party hq's, Drumpf's headquarters, the board members of Peabody Opera House, the local and national media, etc- with the same message "I oppose Donald Trump, do you stand with me? etc".  Which means 120 places getting 35 phone calls each. Or 120 places for each caller- Drumpf's business entities, elected officials, etc- with a tailored message for each place.  35 extra calls over a 6 hour period is a pain in the ass.  Even if you are paid employee, and a lot of the people at the Drumpf offices are volunteers.  Even the most hard-core believer would get worn out if this happened every time Drumpf spoke somewhere.  Especially if the calls asked a lot of questions and requested detailed answers in a calm way.

Getting Drumpf's staff to quit is more effective than yelling at his followers.  Convincing his fellow Republicans to come out publicly against him is almost too easy these days.  And making Peaody Opera House sorry they booked the event would be a cakewalk. And you don't end up in jail and paying out money to the courts.

"Hi I am a registered voter and I was wondering if you could detail for me what era in American History your candidate is referring to when he says 'again?'  When was America great in your candidate's opinion, and why was it great then?  What specifically does he have planned to return our land to -this time in the past considered great-?"

(I took at look at the Drumpf supporters in St. Louis and I assure you that during Reagan's presidency these people were saying the same things they say now- replace "Muslim" with "Iranian".  Remember the Moral Majority?  Phyllis Schlafley hasn't written a new speech in 40 years.  Even from a Drumpf drones' point of view there is no "great" to go back to.   And it is not that hard to manipulate a conversation to get them to admit it.  These people are the ultimate haters.  And most lack the critical thinking skills that their candidate lacks as well.  Try it sometime, it is fun.  Ask leading questions, but frame them in their rhetoric.)

"Can you explain how your candidate's First Amendment rights were violated? I would like to see the First Amendment get a more thorough discussion in his speeches.  What will he do to protect Freedom of Speech?"  (Yes, really. Drumpf said his First Amendment rights were violated in Chicago last night: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/12/3759418/no-one-is-violating-trump-free-speech/)

"What is your candidate's stance on the TPP? Can you explain the TPP to me and how it will effect our economy for the better?"

"Your candidate says he is millionaire, but his tax returns say differently. He isn't evading his taxes or lying about his income is he? Can you explain the discrepeacy?"

"What does your candidate have to say about the Monroe Doctrine?"

"Many African slaves were Muslims, is your candidate going to deport anyone who has a Muslim ancestor?"  
 
These people don't know shit about history or politics.  Make them research the answers. Make them think.

I decided not to go to the Drumpf protest, but I was very proud of St. Louis to see that many people did, even though I am sorry that many were arrested.  I am suggesting though, that courageous, motivated activists channel their energy differently.  MAKE HEADACHES FOR DRUMPF, NOT HEADLINES.

MORE SPIKES & HOMICIDE VERSUS COP-ICIDE

So St. Louis city has had 5 homicides in the last 24 hours, and the count for the year is 109.

http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Police-searching-for-suspect-in-fatal-stabbing-in-north-St-Louis-279231232.html

I already said most of what I think about the spikes in violence in this post from July 15th:

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/st-louis-spikes.html

Our country is becoming increasingly insolvent. There was no bail out in 2008, it was a band aid and only shifted the problem.  Another economic crisis is looming.  And who feels it first? The poorest.

Additionally, the heroin problem in the city has apparently gotten out of control in the last few years.  It might mostly be poor, urban black men that have become addicts, but the problem has been noted as well among white, affluent teenagers in places like Webster Groves. (It was a headline in the Webster Kirkwood Times in 2010.)

Drugs don't miraculously surface in these neighborhoods.  There's a two sided narrative in the media and mainstream white culture about black people in poor neighborhoods with high crime rates. Somehow, urban black people are portrayed as both lazy and shiftless, but at the same time motivated, crafty hustlers, running or part of criminal gang networks with enough motivation and organization to flood the streets with illegal drugs.

Neither is a correct description. And I guarantee you the drugs are coming in from much more organized, much more solvent, and much higher up and white-skinned "gangs."  Drug balloon couriers, poor immigrants, biker and prison gangs, and drug cartels could not do this alone. Many of the drug planes that come from South America re-fuel at a former DEA agent's retirement home in Costa Rica. It's time to stop kidding ourselves about how drugs get into our country.

The mainstream has been swallowing the official story, i.e., the "Kool Aid", for so long that no one seems to really question it anymore.  And the answer to almost every problem in North St. Louis is MORE POLICE.

If you go out to a "nice" neighborhood with good schools, a suburb that is mostly white, where the median income is $50K or above, and many of the mothers are unemployed "stay at home" moms, and you talk to people they will say things like: "I stay involved in my children's lives, and drive them to school and know all their friends and make sure they have lots of activities after school and build character and do family things together" etc.

These "respectable" people do all those things for their children because they want their children to have healthy experiences, develop a stable foundation for life, and keep away from kids that are considered a "bad influence", drugs, and dangerous mischief and crime. And they pat themselves on the back about what great parents they are when they succeed.

It never seems to occur to them that if they think their own children are so susceptible to "bad influences" in these "nice" neighborhoods with "good" parents, that kids in bad neighborhoods might be susceptible as well, and also be surrounded by bad influences. Their parents often work more than one job.  And many are public transit dependent. Kids in North city and county schools do not take a lot of field trips or have well-funded after school programs.  Gangs are rampant because teens want to form close bonds with their peers and find meaning in their lives.  And the community does not offer many viable alternatives. (Youth centers might supply basketball courts, but they do not supply hopeful futures or meaningful lives.)

More ironic, is the outcry from these "decent" people that the "problem" with Brown and Myers started at home with their parents.  Brown's parents weren't together, but both parents were active in his life, and he was on his way to his grandmother's when he was murdered.  One of the first things his mother said when she arrived at Canfield Green was "do you know how hard it was for me to keep him in school to graduate?" I've heard the same thing from parents in the suburbs, facing much fewer obstacles! Moreover, many young men expressed their hopelessness about the future "why stay in school if I am going to get shot dead anyhow (by police or criminals)?"

(You know who DID NOT have a "good" family? Officer Darren Wilson.  He had an absent father and his mother was a criminal. But the Kool Aid insists that all cops are honest and good, and all black men are liars and thugs.)

The Kool Aid drinkers might be surrounded by 2nd Amendment supporters with guns, but they don't live in areas where there is a lot of crime or violence.  And these "decent" people mistake their privilege for integrity.  I have had to restrain myself from laughing out loud when working among these "nice" white people (who usually assume I am just like them) when they pat themselves on the back for their successes in life.  They no more chose to be born white and middle class than Brown chose to be born black and low income.  And they congratulate themselves on surviving the comparatively small obstacles they have had to face, while diminishing the larger problems someone like Michael Brown, Jr. had to face. (He graduated from insolvent, unaccredited Normandy school district!)

Most of these "decent" people could not stand to ride public transit for four hours a day to fast food jobs for even a week, much less years.  They moan about their inability to buy a more expensive car or go on a more expensive vacation, but seem to never consider what it would be like to go their entire lives without EITHER. These are the people that have fits when someone in their HOA doesn't mow their lawn often enough, can you imagine what sort of criminals these people would become if they lived in areas with crumbling buildings and vacant homes and few businesses or jobs?  They'd be the first ones to start selling crack and heroin to make enough money to buy a car and move into a better area.

I invite you to look at the comments from the article that came out about John Crawford's murder * on August 6th, when the usual story of a "dangerous thug waving a gun in a Wal Mart" was shot and murdered by police.  The "official story" has since been completely debunked, and do you see any retractions or apologies in there? No.  Because these "decent" people are mostly racists that believe the only good "---" is a dead "---".  One less lazy, unemployed, drug dealing, welfare thief off the streets. Hooray.

These people are not good or decent or better or more hard-working. They were simply lucky enough to be born in circumstances, and usually skin color, where they succeeded. And if they really believed all the congratulatory crap about themselves that they spewed, they wouldn't feel so threatened by affirmative action or social programs.  They know that the current system does not have enough jobs (although there is plenty of work that needs doing) and that while there is excess and abundance, it is concentrated among the hands of very few people.

Instead of blaming the most power and richest in society, economic predators like Rex Sinquefield (what value does a hedge fund investor really bring to society? what has he done to make the world better that he deserves such wealth?) they blame the Crawfords and the Browns and the Myers.  They blame the most oppressed in society. They blame dead black men.

If anyone bothers to take crime statistics in predominantly black communities and compare it to equal populations of white people and communities at the same income level it becomes obvious that crime is related to INCOME not COLOR.  (But doing that would remove the smug superiority and congratulations that white privilege bestows on its' recipients.  Then these folks would just be "lucky" and nothing more.)

http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/vulnerableyouth/3/index.shtml

http://politicalviolenceataglance.org/2012/09/19/income-inequalitys-strange-relationship-to-violence/

Do police stop crime or prevent it? Rarely.  As I said in the "Spikes" post linked to above, these cops don't know anything about the people in the neighborhoods they patrol, don't seem to understand black culture at all (not every kid with saggy pants is a gang member or criminal) and for the most part just come to do a mop up and report.

Moreover, since most of the cops seem to think all black men are potential terrorists, they often create crime. ** The police response to John Crawford, III, Michael Brown, Jr. and VonDerrit Myers, Jr. are glaring examples of that.  And in both cases the victim's were maligned to justify their murders at the hands of the police.

If calling the police means you might be inadvertently putting someone else at risk (police far too frequently mistake cell phones and toy guns for real guns, and do not seem to be able to tell black men apart "they all look the same" etc.) why call the police at all? How can the police help when they do not live in these areas and have no or little respect for the humanity of the people they police? 

And what is really sickening is that none of these privileged people seem to be able to understand WHY there are protests against "cop-icide" of black men like Crawford, Brown, and Myers (and so many more).  Even the cops on the STLMPD CopTalk blog act as if all black people are the same person, and that criminals and gang shootings should be treated the same as police killings. (Ironically not realizing they are, like the protesters, calling the cops criminals and thugs.)

The post link below on the Cop Talk blog is representative of this ideology.  In it a poster asks "where are the Reverends?" to pray and protest when a drug deal resulted in a shooting and death in downtown St. Louis, yesterday, after "Moral Monday" actions by clergy.

http://members.boardhost.com/stlouiscoptalk/msg/1413314561.html

I'll tell you where they were: among their congregations in the many churches in North St. Louis city and county.  Every day. Doing everything they can to make life better for their neighborhoods.  I am especially sick of people disparaging Muslim Anthony Shahid, as he is one of the ONLY people, black or white, that has consistently reached out to young black men in the most dangerous neighborhoods in St. Louis.  He might be theatrical, contentious, and possibly a separatist, but he has done more than ANY police force in turning young men away from gangs and creating viable futures for black youth of North St. Louis.

If "Black on Black Crime", as it is called by the Kool Aid drinkers, is comparable to police murdering black men, than there is the real problem right there.  A cop murdering an unarmed man is not the same as a drug deal gone bad. And if you don't get that, I don't care if you are black or white or any other race or nationality, YOU are the problem.  The police should serve and protect, NOT judge and execute.

(And to mimic the Cop Talk poster: where is the outcry over "white on white crime", in the case of Eric Frein or Adam Lanza?  Or any of the other millions of examples of white people murdering other white people? Is it only about race when it is black people? yeah, that's what I thought.)

Law and Order is not the same as Justice and Peace.  The Nazis had plenty of laws.  They had more laws than any other country.  And the concentration and death camps were very ordered.  Right now we have "Just Us"- lawyers and judges and municipalities that have created a system where traffic tickets are a profitable business venture.

We don't need more cops, or stronger law enforcement.  We need more economic equality, more jobs, better schools, healthcare, and repair of neighborhoods and infrastructure.  We don't need more "order" we need more DIS-order.  These violent, militarized macho cops that think they are the law or are above the law need to go.  And we need to root out the racist individuals and institutionalized racism and white supremacy in Saint Louis.

The protests against the police killings of black men have nothing to do with criminals of any color killing other criminals.  And more police, and especially not the kind of police that are the majority of the force right now, are not the answer to crime.  I'm sorry that people have to demonstrate for 68+ days and disrupt sports games and symphonies and march through neighborhoods chanting at night to get this dialogue going.

If you find this so inconvenient, and you have all the answers, please, come move into the Canfield Green apartments or to College Hill or any black community of your choice, and live for a year, or even a month.  Please come and demonstrate- literally- exactly how things are supposed to be.  Since your kids are so amazing, and you are such great parents, enroll your kids in Normandy or Riverview Gardens schools, and "Show Me" how everyone can be as perfect as you.

You will learn very quickly that it takes more courage to be a black man in the U.S. than to be a police officer in the U.S. Especially in the most crime ridden neighborhoods.

Otherwise, shut the hell up, because you don't know shit and you have nothing to offer.  And if you are a cop that is reading this and you work anywhere in North city or county, and you wear a "I am Darren Wilson" armband, or are any of the posters in this sickening CopTalk thread  (bragging about sending protesters to the hospital and squashing freedom of speech and demonstrations: http://members.boardhost.com/stlouiscoptalk/msg/1412902526.html ): PLEASE RESIGN NOW.

In regards to the protests, since we are PROTESTING THE POLICE, you, Officer I Am Darren Wilson, are really nothing more than a counter-protester!

Police ESCALATE the anger of protesters simply by being there.  And police bring so much violence, and potential for violence, and desire for violence, with them!

Officers I Am Darren Wilson, please go work in one those lillywhite "nice" neighborhoods you live in.  Or convince your fellow officers to go on extended blue flu. (Don't worry, if you are one of the "Good Cops" you will be re-hired.) We The People will be able to organize a new system of policing much easier if you are gone.

THE WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM IS GUILTY AS HELL! Time for change!


Footnotes:

*Crawford murder and comments:
 http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/man-police-shot-in-walmart-killed-over-fake-gun-fa/ngw77/#cmComments

One of the most representative comments:

Lets see here. They go to Walmart and for whatever idiotic reason he grabs,I suppose a toy gun from the shelf, and I am guessing takes it out of the packaging. I think most come in some kind of card board packaging, then starts waiving it around pointing at people to the point were folks in the store sure must have thought it was a real gun since they called 911 to report that very thing. Im sure a commotion was started and people were getting the heck out of there. And at no time during this did this guy think... Hey Im waiving a toy gun around ???why???? freaking people out. Maybe I shouldnt do that??? Or maybe the cops are gonna get called... And then of course when they do he still is waiving it around refusing to put it down.???? Why?????what was the goal here. What normal person would do this?? why would anyone do this to the point of causing a panic in the first place and then when the police come you still are doing it and wont put it down as ordered.. .. That said dont be surprised that you get shot for your efforts. This guy made the decisions to act like he did and those actions and decisions led to his death. HIS ACTIONS AND HIS DECISIONS. So his babys mamma and or the girlfriend and baby momma to be can call the NAACP Jessie Jackson and try to make it racial all you want. Call Santa Clause if you want but the bottom line is this. He made the choice to act like he did and his actions caused the outcome. Lets not forget that his actions is what started this entire sequence of events and contributed to the death of a truly innocent woman who suffered a heart attack due Im sure in part to the stress of the incident when she was in the store. An incident that HE and HE alone chose to start. That is it period. The officers actions were just and correct. Good job. Im sorry that you have to go through this but you did the right thing. never forget that. 

We now know 911 caller Ronald Ritchie lied, that Crawford was carrying a bb gun pointed downward, there were no other shoppers around, and that the Swat officers shot him in less than one minute after coming through the doors of the Wal-mart.  You can watch the video with the 911 dispatch here: http://youtu.be/S9FtNOV6Qhk

** Cops create crime

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Man-films-local-officers-attempt-to-intimidate-him-under-false-pretences-249957921.html

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Two-Hillsdale-officers-allegedly-partner-with-drug-dealers-to-steal-heroin-253004751.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-police-officer-suspended-two-prosecutors-leave-jobs-amid/article_85b82473-efba-562f-b966-7c0ec0350feb.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/31/drug-search-trekies-stopped-searched-illinois_n_1364087.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-county-cop-charged-with-assaulting-man-with-baton/article_267e68a7-8496-5663-8c81-a951172a904f.html

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2014/06/04/man-sues-missouri-cops-claiming-deleted-footage-police-abuse/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/29/oklahoma-cop-charged-sexual-assaults/14830063/

http://youtu.be/h65WaOSS6sE 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/03/1333925/-Is-it-a-coverup-House-of-Cards-level-corruption-in-Ferguson-and-beyond

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/09/nixon_stumps_for_rep_jeff_roorda_an_ex-cop_who_says_body_cameras_make_people_less_safe.php

https://news.vice.com/article/el-paso-releases-video-of-cop-executing-handcuffed-man-wheres-the-anger

http://topconservativenews.com/2014/05/police-state-horror-reckless-driving-cop-that-charged-his-victim-with-fake-crimes-gets-to-keep-his-badge/

http://www.ky3.com/news/local/ky3-investigation-confidential-settlements-and-police-licensing/21048998_26075114

http://www.alternet.org/more-americans-killed-police-terrorists-crime-down-why-police-aggression 

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-caught-millions-seized-assets-surveillance-gear-weapons-clowns/

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/08/19/3472902/police-economic-ferguson/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/10/11/cash-seizures-fuel-police-spending/

FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT HAVE TRULY CROSSED A LINE

We live in a fascist state called St. Louis.12 people out of a group of 20 were arrested tonight. 12 people that have had their voices and rights ignored, have been tear gassed, threatened, harassed, kidnapped and held hostage (these arrests and detainments are not legal- it IS kidnapping and holding hostage).

http://youtu.be/wOpjCxO4JSI

Tonight they said that "speech that incites violence" is illegal. Does that mean if the protesters say something that incites the police to violence, the protesters are to blame? Why didn't this apply to Westboro Baptist Church, or Cliven Bundy (who was armed)?

They have doubled the bonds and are holding the 12 for 24 hours.  The legal people were told to call Devin James, the PR spokesperson as to why and how the police were able to do this legally.

Is this really the world you want to live in? What if Mike Brown had been your child? What if something happened in your community that brought large groups of people demanding change?  No one was looting, no one was armed.  The protesters weren't a large crowd tonight and there were no drums, no one was sitting in the street.

They were doing less than last night, and the Ferguson PD sent out congratulatory tweet to themselves and other departments.  According to them, it was the massive police presence, not that they had no real grounds for any arrests, and too many people present and filming to arrest anyone.

The police have been attacking leaders and livestreamers since last Thursday when they were caught in a huge lie.  They said the protesters "attacked" Chief Jackson.  Only a few officers had their body cams and only one was recording.  They said they had it on tape, but livestreamers and photos proved the police to be liars.

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/article_dd486708-49d1-11e4-9734-8fedcbcd786a.html

Tonight they arrested a journalist who was filming.  I think they didn't know she was a journalist.  I think they just a camera. But let's not forget they arrested a reverend two nights ago and locked him in a paddy wagon with bloodstains on the ceiling.

This is not just police called out to monitor protesters, THE FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT IS WHO WE ARE PROTESTING AGAINST.  These cops are wearing bracelets that say I AM DARREN WILSON, on duty or off, that is who they are.

For this reason alone we need a Department of Justice (DOJ) observer AT ALL TIMES.

If this violation of your Constitutional rights enrages you call the Department of Justice, the Ferguson PD, and your state and local elected officials. These cops will not change on their own. And if we don't start demanding our rights we will have none left soon. All of us.

Don't wait. Do it now.

Department of Justice 1-855-856-2132 toll free

FERGUSON POLICE ARE VIOLATING YOUR RIGHTS TOO

Today was the second part of an ACLU lawsuit filed in federal court, against the 5-second rule, being used by all Law Enforcement agencies policing (you can also spell that "counter-protesting") the protesters.

ACLU filed for a Temporary Restraining Order on 8/18 and it was denied. Today was part 2, a hearing for an injunction.

For reasons I don't understand, only the Missouri Highway Patrol and St. Louis County PD were named in the suit.

For more reasons I don't understand, the ACLU did not have any video footage of either of those entities threatening protesters with arrest if they didn't "keep moving." (PLEASE contact the MO ACLU if you have footage of a STLCO or MHP cop telling you to "keep moving or face arrest" etc! No, they didn't ask me to send people to them, they don't even know I am doing this, but there is PLENTY of footage out there and it should have been seen in court today!)

I have more to say about what I learned in court today, especially about how truly delusional the police are, and how easily they lie under oath.  But something more important, all of the police arguments for telling people to "keep moving" were based on the amount of protesters gathering.

Well, I was told to keep moving, and to shut up (I was yelling at the police) and that I would be arrested if I didn't keep moving.  And I was alone.

A lot of people took pictures and video of me, and I really need help finding it.  The more documentation I have the better.   Please read this and see if you can spread the word, help me find someone with a photo or video.  I think I have a very good lawsuit to file.

On 8/19 I took the #61 bus from Riverview to West Florissant and walked down to the protest area across from Quik Trip. I was wearing a pink cowboy hat and shorts and white tennis shoes. (That's all I remember of my clothing.)

I was wearing a hand painted green sign with white lettering that said "There is no such thing as Unlawful Assembly. The entire USA is a Free Speech Zone at all times. #Justice for Mike"  It hung on a cord around my neck.

I got there about 4:30. I gave Anderson Cooper, several MoHP personnel, and several protesters a copy of this leaflet. http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/08/dear-ferguson-police-department-mo.html

I stood near some folks selling hands up don't shoot t-shirts. At 5 PM I noticed that traffic had slowed considerably, and I saw the police were setting up illegal roadblocks, one at West Florissant and Highmont.

Let me be clear about some things: There were no big crowds. Everyone was on the sidewalk. Everyone was moving around (except for the 100's of cops in their cars and Swat vehicles or just standing around talking to each other). 

THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE ROADBLOCKS.

I tried to get the St Louis County cop manning the roadblock to call his superior officer that had ordered this, but he told me that EVEN THOUGH HE AGREED HE WAS VIOLATING THE 1st AMENDMENT  AND THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE ROADBLOCK he was afraid to lose his job.  Another cop made a lame attempt to warn me of arrest but did nothing about it.

So I started yelling at passing cars "This roadblock is illegal.  These officers are violating Constitutional law. Every single one of these police officers should be in jail. If their boss told them to steal cigarillos and they did, they would be arrested for stealing. They are breaking the highest law in the land. There is no reason for this roadblock. We are peaceful, we are on the sidewalk. You should not have to go through a roadblock to drive down streets you pay for. You should not have to show your ID to the police to drive down a major street..." Etc, and so on, for almost 2 hours.

The vans filled with cops in SWAT gear would come by and sneer at me, and laugh.  A lot of people in cars took my picture or recorded me, and many nodded in agreement and more than a few just drove around the roadblock without stopping.

As it got near sunset their was a storm coming and I left Highmont and went up to Chambers to catch the bus home. When I got there I had time so I started yelling the same thing at the cops blocking Chambers.  Several of them threatened me with arrest and I read them the 1stAmendment.  Then they told me had to keep moving. Then that I had to shut up.  Then that I couldn't stand at the median for the crosswalk but on the sidewalk.

Then the officer went and got a Sergeant. I got his name. He not only threatened me with arrest, he informed that the roadblocks were set up at the request of the Ferguson County Council (none of them could site ANY ordinance or reason for the roadblock) and that since pedestrians could get through it was ok, because "driving is a privilege" in Missouri.  Meaning, I thought, that any cop has the right to take it away from you at any time.

When I told him he couldn't arrest me for shouting Free Speech while walking to the bus stop, he pointed at the southbound West Florissant bus stop, for the #74, and where the bus couldn't go anyhow, because they'd shut down the street.

He finally left me alone, I think because his shift was over.  When the cop cars unblocked Chambers I stopped yelling (but continued to wear my sign) and went to catch the #61 back to Riverview.  At the bus stop a white guy in a car stopped to take a pic of my sign.  I gave him my last leaflet.

I'd say I have a good case here, but it'd be better if I could some more documentation, as I was alone, and since the cops seems to have memory problems, and also seem to feel just fine lying outright, I'd like to find some more documentation, witnesses, etc.

My glasses are different now, but this is the only pic I could find wearing the hat.

Please email me at optinstl@gmail.com

YOUR rights are being trampled in Ferguson, too.  And it has not stopped. The police are still illegally arresting people and making up excuses to attack the protesters.  REMEMBER, what we are protesting is THE POLICE.  And they are far too comfortable in their impunity.

Please, ask everyone you know if they saw a loud mouthed crazy woman shouting on West Florissant about the Constitution, on Tuesday August 19, 2014, between 430-730, approximately.

WHAT OPTINSTL HOPES TO SAY TO THE COUNTY COUNCIL AT TONIGHT'S MEETING

This meeting will likely be packed, but this is what I am hoping to say to the Council:

First of all, I would like to remind everyone that it is public tax money that pays for every one of your salaries. Taxes pay for the police, and their guns and their jails. Public money paid for Darren Wilson to shoot Michael Brown, Jr., and we continue to pay Wilson while he awaits the Grand Jury verdict. All of you are paid public servants, and you answer to us- whether we vote or not, and even if we individually do not pay property or income taxes, or do not pay them all the time. You are not legally allowed to pick and choose who you listen to or serve. You serve all of us.

We The People, are your true employers. We are who you answer to. We have not been exercising our authority enough, but that has changed. And it is the First Amendment that guarantees that we have the right to assert that authority. There is no higher authority in the U.S.

The police, and those that give them their orders, have been in violation of Constitutional Law in regards to the protests. Almost all of the arrests made were done while the police were acting illegally, and most of the arrests are illegal.

Constitutional Law is the highest law in the land, and the police and government officials should understand it or be held accountable. If a Police chief ordered one of his officers to steal cigarillos and the officer complied, he would still be guilty of theft. The police are not above the law. They do not make the law. And they are not authorized to change it to make their own jobs easier.

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

There is no such thing as "Unlawful Assembly". The entire USA is a Free Speech Zone at all times. There is no curfew on the First Amendment. There is no law that protesters keep moving. And just because there might be some "un-peaceable" protesters, does not mean that ALL the protesters can be arrested. The First Amendment does not allow for suspension to make it easier for the police.

The police are representatives of the Government, and we are petitioning the Government for a redress of grievances against the police and the judicial system. The police have essentially been doing nothing more than counter-protesting, using their authority and weapons against us. No one has done more "rioting" or caused more violence than the police. Tear gas, military vehicles, filled with men armed with assault rifles. And every one of them acting as illegally as the few looters during the first few nights.

The justification for setting up illegal roadblocks, assigning people to "Approved Assembly" areas, quarantining the press in a similar manner, and arresting people for "failure to disperse" has been justified because of the POSSIBILITY that SOME people MIGHT break the law and loot, etc.

But even these justifications are illegal. I was arrested on my way to the I-70 and Hanley demonstration. The police had illegally blocked off Hanley because they asserted that everyone that was attending might "illegally" walk out into the highway.

They also sited "safety issues". For instance, one officer said "what if someone ran out in the highway and got hit by a car?" Well, first of all, and I will be looking into this, the First Amendment rights of We The People probably require that if we wish to assemble on a public highway, that the police shut it down for 4 minutes for our protest. Moreover, since they DID shut down Hanley, there was no reason that we could not have assembled on the overpass, in the street. And since the First Amendment does NOT require a permit to assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances, we have even more right to protest than the St. Patrick's Day parade has the authority to shut down Market street.

I had come to be part of the protest, but had no plans to block the highway. I had come to hand out leaflets encouraging St. Louis County voters to write-in and vote for Michael Brown, Jr. as Prosecutor, to send a message of discontent to Robert McCulloch, who is running unopposed. 
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/09/november-4th-2014-vote-for-michael.html

I came because I knew the First Amendment would be violated by the police, and that there would be illegal arrests. And I wanted to be there to remind people that those arrests were illegal.

I was charged with "trespassing" because I crossed the police line. In the same way that any concealed carry permit held by someone looting became invalid the moment he entered a store and stole juice, every officer's badge became invalid the moment he or she broke Constitutional law. Since they had no legal authority to shut down the street, my arrest is invalid, and was nothing more than kidnapping and being held hostage. Moreover, every officer there should be charged with blocking traffic and violating First Amendment rights.

Changing the complexion of the police force is not the only answer. Policing must change. In the black communities more female officers need to be recruited. The conditions that create crime need to be changed. A lot has been said about traffic warrants, and as far as Berkeley goes, where I was held, jail and jail conditions are used to punish people and force them to pay their bond, without any due process to determine guilt. I am certain Berkeley is not an exception, and that the rest are as bad.

If the Berkeley jail was in a Muslim the country U.N. observers would be dispatched. No bond hearing, no right to see an attorney. Inmates are held until they pay bond, and inmate's are allotted only $3.71 a day to cover the cost of their incarceration. That's three 3 bread and meat sandwiches three times a day, at less than 1000 calories. Water only to drink, and only when you are eating. No toothbrush. Women are charged for sanitary napkins they need, and good luck getting one at night, when there is no one at the desk and you have to wave at the cameras and hope that someone in dispatch sees you and will send someone up to respond.

The lights are left on all the time. You get only one thin blanket and it is freezing. The bunks are metal. There is no hot water or soap to wash your hands. There is no clock. No outside light. You are only allowed free phone calls during meal times or must call people collect at a rate of $20 for a ten minute call. And even if you cannot pay bond and will be there for 30 or more days, you are not provided with a toothbrush and the opportunity to brush your teeth. In fact, no toiletries all all, even the once daily shower is only soap and the showers are unhygienic.

There were people in there with traffic violations-- not violent criminals-- that could not pay their bond. I understand now why people kill themselves in jail, even knowing that they might get out. Being suicidal is a natural state of mind in those conditions.

And for traffic violations? The police have become a for-profit business, preying on the poor. Plenty of lawyers and judges and police drive through red lights, fail to stop at stops signs, and speed, and they get their tickets fixed by their buddies. I hope the Department of Justice audits ALL of the tickets that are written, and looks very carefully at those that are dismissed.

I hear a lot of people say “why don't THOSE PEOPLE just get jobs”? Well try living in North county and riding the bus for two hours to an area that actually HAS jobs. That's a ten hour day and if you are making minimum wage the probability that you will be able to buy a car is nil. The North side is living in a state of “incarceration due to lack of economic opportunity and decent public transit.” While Metro has been able to come up with $10 million to build the Cortex Metrolink stop, a half a mile between the CWE and Grand stations, there is still no work being done on the Metrolink from Clayton to Florissant, which is the area of the city that rides and relies on public transit the most.

BallPark Village was given what? a 17 million dollar sales tax break, and what did it do? It took business and jobs away from the local bars in the area. Using public money for private business development does NOT create prosperity. An equitable distribution of public money and a commitment to economic growth in the poorest regions is the ONLY thing that is going to make St. Louis solvent and viable for everyone.

Thank you, for giving us until January 7^th to work on all of these issues while we await the Grand Jury verdict. This gives us more time to petition the Department of Justice to conduct further investigations, to audit the books of the County, the City, and all of the municipalities to learn why St. Louis is so insolvent and bankrupt, and to find real leaders that will actually serve the public.

The police and the prosecutor have broken laws in this course of this incident and investigation, and we will be looking to take legal action. We will be learning a lot more about all of you, our employees, and unless you start addressing the real problems and obeying the laws yourself, I think you can all look forward to termination of your employment without further benefits, and for some of you, jail time.

LAWLESS BERKELEY COPS AND THEIR TORTURE CELL, AND MAKING SMART REVOLUTION

This is a reprint from personal blog
http://laladyrae.blogspot.com/2014/09/illegal-police-actions-berkeley-jail.html

LAWLESS PO PO

I don't want to write too much on this blog (yet) about my actual arrest and charges, and interactions with the police.  But I do want to briefly consider the Highway 70 and Hanley demonstration.  This was to shut down the highway for 4 minutes.  The organizers declared it a success because the police actually shut Hanley down.  That's really ironic isn't it?  The scene- as briefly as I witnessed before getting arrested- looked a lot like dueling protests.

Here are the people protesting the police and judicial system, threatening to shutdown the freeway.  And here are the cops protesting the protesters, shutting down the adjacent street.  And in terms of presence, the police outnumbered the protesters.  The police brought the potential for much greater violence than the people protesting the police.

"If you want to know who is rioting, look at who came prepared for a riot."

And no government entity had any legal authority to shut down Hanley and restrict the gathering of protesters.  There was no justification for that road block or the re-routing of protesters.  It would have been one thing if they had blocked off part of the street for the gathering and then gone down to the edges of the highway and waited for people to actually try to go out in the street.  But not everyone that was assembling, including me, was there to do something illegal.

And I am not sure there is a Constitutional basis for saying that a highway shutdown is not peaceable assembly.  It may be that there is a legal basis for the police to be dispatched to instead close the highway down for the protest, not the other way around.  One especially jerkish cop said to me in jail "The only time I've seen the highway shut down was for a Presidential motorcade, and that was only for five minutes."

Well, first of all, what is more important than the President?  We The People.  The Constitution, and especially the First Amendment.   Moreover, MODOT's inability to provide structurally sound roads results in a lot of shutdowns for repairs, and in many parts of north city and county the streets are downright dangerous due to repair and lack of proper signs and lights.  I call shenanigans.

And secondly, that Presidential motorcade was one minute longer than the demo was supposed to be.

The police think it is okay to yell at people and order us around and if we don't submit we should expect to face violence or detention, simply for not being respectful?  Well, they had better expect some people to respond in kind, especially when they are breaking the law.  Yes, I am getting right in their face as are a lot of other people.  Too bad.  They aren't Gods. They aren't the Law itself.  They should not have this much power.  And this anger has been burning under the surface for a while, and while Michael Brown's murder set it off, they have done nothing but pour gasoline on it since.

After dealing with the Berkeley police and that jail, I don't think that changing the complexion of the police is enough.  Black or white, it seems largely comprised of bullies and zealous Good Germans. It is a culture of fear and everything about policing is based on fear.  What kind of person is that?  Especially given that the majority of people they deal with are NOT violent towards them.  Yes, they see more of it than they would in their nice white suburban neighborhoods, but the majority of the public they interact with is not equal in the threat they pose to us.

 I want the neighbourhood beat cop back.  And preferably walking or riding around on bikes, getting out and talking to people and getting to know who is who.  The police should know the people that live in their patrol areas.

The people should not be preyed upon by the police.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/09/03/how-st-louis-county-missouri-profits-from-poverty/

If taxes don't pay their salaries, and legitimate, fair and equal traffic fines, etc, they should not have the right to jack us up.

BERKELEY JAIL: YOU WILL PAY OR YOU WILL STAY... IN HELL

My cellmate was being held for a $1500 bond from a moving violation and failure to appear.  They set the bond without a hearing, for everyone, and if you don't pay, you don't get out until your court date.  I don't see how that is even legal, to set bond without a hearing or consideration of the person's character or past. (This is something I will be investigating.)

My cellmate was 15 days into a 30 day detention.  They just flat out jack people up.  The conditions are so awful (more on that in a minute) that they know the poor person will do everything they can to come up with that money.

And this is taking away from someone working, or finding work.  This solves nothing. And cops break traffic laws.  I hope all those cameras catch the cops that turn on their sirens just to get through a light (all too frequently talking on their personal cell phones.)  And what about all the lawyers, judges and friends and family of the legal professions that get their traffic and parking tickets fixed, or never even get written?

If the law were fair about owing the government money for a crime or illegality, then all those sub-prime lenders would be in jail.  If it were about who owes money people that claimed bankruptcy or didn't pay taxes would be held in detention until they paid or their bankruptcy hearing came up. No one's traffic tickets would get fixed.  No traffic citations would be waived.  To say that it is impartial is bullshit.

And do all these traffic citations make the streets safer?  No.  You just have single mothers that can't pay for insurance and already have a citation, but also have a job, and have to get the kids at school and to the babysitters and then to work, etc.  And if you are driving around you see a cop you might be the kind of person that speeds to get away. Or makes a sudden, unsignaled turn.

All these traffic fines and warrants do is pay for the police.  The jerkish cop that made the Presidential motorcade comment also bragged that it only cost $3.71 a day to house a prisoner.  That comment is disgusting, and while the cash value is likely wrong, they operate like a for profit business.

When I first got there all the men in the other cell were yelling to me that Berkeley was the worst and that it would break the strongest person's spirit.  (They said this kindly, the yelling was because we could not see each other.) After 2 days and nights in there, I don't know how anyone could do 30 days, much less 60 days.

It is Dickensian. It is freezing, probably to keep bed bugs and germs in hibernation as the justification, and to make it more miserable as the real reason.  You only get one very thin blanket.  You cannot use a toothbrush.  Their are no toiletries and they charge you even for sanitary napkins.  (It is Ferguson that is famous for charging an inmate that was beaten by the police for getting blood on the cops uniform, but Berkeley seemed like the same mentality.  Just glad I wasn't beaten. Or molested by one of the cops.)

The bunks are metal.  Two four bed cells and one two bed cell.  A toilet with small sink attached.  No soap or hot water.  If you want water between the three ten minute meal and telephone call times during the day, you have to drink the water from the sink from your hand,  And you can only wash your hands with hot water and soap before you eat and drink.  (One at a time, waiting in the holding cage until the other person is done at the sink.)

The food is barely 900 calories a day.  You get only three of the most awful bread and meat microwaved sandwiches made by Lancashire.  The bread tastes like baked vomit.  You only get water to drink, and you have to leave your styrofoam cup outside your cell.  You get no water between the meal times, which are anywhere between 7 and 9 A.M., 12 and 1:30 P.M, and 8 and 9:30 P.M.

They leave the overhead flourescent lights on all the time.  There is no visible outside light or view of outside, even in the holding cage where you eat and make phone calls for less than 30 minutes every day.

This is mid-level torture, especially with the low calories and cold and difficulty getting real sleep on the metal slabs.

There are cameras in the cell in addition to your cell mate or mates, so when you have to go to the bathroom, you wrap your blanket around you if you want privacy.  And if you are taking a shit you have to wrap your blanket around you, even if you don't care about modesty, because you don't want to flood the cell with stink.  It is so unsanitary but you don't care.  Because the food will make you so constipated that when you can finally shit you just do.

You do not see any clocks or mirrors, and if you wear glasses as I do, you are not allowed to have them.  There is nothing to read, nothing to watch and nothing to hear, other than the cops talking to each other and on their cellphones talking.

At night, there is no one at the desk, and if you need a sanitary napkin, or anything, you have to wave at the cameras and hope someone in dispatch sees you and will send someone up to respond.  Sanitary napkins were not forthcoming during the night hours.

The place is so depressing that I understand why people become suicidal and even kill themselves even knowing they will only be in there for a thirty days, or even a few days.  And while everyone seemed to have someone to call during meal times, I can imagine how much harder it would be if there was no one you could reach because someone had not paid their cell phone bill. (My cell phone was turned off, still is right now, for non-payment, and I was thinking "what if someone in jail could call me for free and got that message?")

In the cell there is phone for collect calls and crime tips only.  The calls are ten dollars for ten minutes and they make the person you are calling give them a credit card number.  When one of the cops that I confronted and who assisted in my illegal kidnapping (they called it detainment and arrest) cut off one of my phone calls (the free calls are on speaker phone, and the person I was talking to made a rude remark about them) he told me "That's not in your First Amendment preamble, You got your free phone call. No more free phone calls for you."  When I got back to my cell I began trying to call everyone whose number I could remember.

(He and another cop also delighted in telling me that my lawyer could call the court, but not the jail, and if a lawyer does come "he might have to wait a long time, if we don't have anyone to bring him up here, cause, you know, we are real busy."  Uh, yeah, looking at or talking on their cell phones.  But actually, they were downright gleeful about it.  They just want your bond money.  They don't give a damn about your legal and human rights.)

While my phone privileges continued at the evening meal break, I had no way of knowing that for the day, and to have the only lifeline to the outside cut off was terrifying emotionally.  (And again, how it legal for them to do this?  Isn't that once again a violation of free speech?  There is nothing in the Constitution that says people can only say nice things about the police.)

I did get out on Friday afternoon.  The whole time I was in there I just kept thinking about James Foley and the others like him, who were in worse condition for much longer than I was, and how he was protecting the First Amendment rights of a people that do not have that in their own country.  I thought about those kids that walked from Central America and Mexico and were sleeping on the ground.  I thought about Nelson Mandela, Bobby Sands, Stephen Biko, George Jackson.

I looked at the woman who shared the cell with me and had been there for 15 days and still had that many to go.

On Twitter yesterday someone posted a picture of Kim Teehan, the Ferguson female officer that took part in the beating of Henry Davis and then made Davis pay for cleaning his blood off their uniforms. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/ferguson-cop-who-charged-suspect-bleeding-her-uniform-now-city-councilwoman 

I wrote "I'd like to send her to Berkeley jail for a while."  But actually, I wouldn't treat her or Darren Wilson that way.  That is inhumane.  It creates nothing but bad feelings AND IT IS JUST WRONG. Especially for traffic fines and warrants!

I have a draft about the Michael Brown, Jr funeral. (I will link here when it is done.)  One thing I was really thinking about afterward was how different the experience of Jesus and religion is in black churches versus white churches.  Same with jail.  The average middle class white person is so terrified of jail and the police, and has so little judicial interaction with them.

In the black community the police are a constant presence.  Like violence.  And poverty.  Even if someone has a stable family and a job, to be black is to be surrounded by young men that were gunned down by street gangs or police (whether unjustly or in the commission of real crime).  And most black folks seem to know at least one person on food stamps, even if that person works full time.

Children grow up seeing more violence than white kids in nice neighbourhoods. When an Adam Lanza commits a random shooting, the children are flooded with psychological support and massive outpourings of community grief and solidarity.  And when a black kid commits a random drive by, it's "oh, those people again."

Interactions with the police are not rare.  And they pose a much greater threat than to the nice white suburbanites.  Like my cellmate's children, hearing mommy or daddy call from jail is not that unusual. Most black folks seem to know at least one person that has been to jail for traffic warrants, and at least one man that has been to prison.

That black culture and white culture are so separated, and that black culture largely evolved in both submission and opposition to white culture, falls squarely in the lap of white history.  The looting in the wake of Michael Brown, Jr.'s murder was nothing compared to white flight. Or the lack of funding for business development and jobs, aforementioned streets, etc.

Moreover, black people DO go to primarily white areas to do menial work, but white people ALMOST NEVER  come to primarily black areas.  If the neighbourhood is mixed, it is because black people moved in.  (Except perhaps Old North, but most primarily black areas have a white flight legacy of white people that were too poor and stuck to be able to move.)  It seems shameful to me that so many white people are afraid of black people, or have such a low opinion, when the interactions are so limited and one sided.

If the black community is violent, the violent police state and jail culture has a lot to do with it. When these white boys do come down to "the hood" they only get the worst because they are all about punishment.  And who doesn't hate their jailers?

The police are all about fear, and they all seem afraid and vulnerable without the instant respect they expect for carrying a gun and wearing a badge.  And I have really been trippin' lately on how their behaviour when one of "their own" is just how they complain about lack of witnesses and information in the black community.  They say that rarely will any witnesses step forward, give them info, etc.  (Again, local beat cops would change that.)

But that is EXACTLY what they have down with Darren Wilson, and all the other cases like before.  No real information.  No trust in the public, just as they say that the public will not trust them.  They say criminals are lawless, yet they act with impunity, They have become the soldiers of the "business as usual" "good ole boy" "Local 1%" fortune.  Chosen for their goose-step and desire to bully and be in control. We have no rights if they suspend them.  They have too much power and they abuse it.

TIME FOR A REVOLUTON

I have totally committed to this "muggle" (non-magickal) world as it is, with all of us a great squeamish mass, writhing in discontent and desire. But I also believe that a real battle is going on right now between the people that see and feel a better life, and those that have no real faith in humanity to sociologically, politically, and economically evolve.

It's a great tug of war, very polarized, because it is such a new world and age, and a really big change with all the old anchors becoming archaic and useless.  And in the past it was always the side that yanked the hardest that won, and that was always through violence and upheaval.  And maybe that was the best solution in the past.  I don't know.  But I don't see it as a good solution now.

Seriously, look at this amazing new world we live in.  This technology I am using now, and space travel, and massive abundance (and waste-- like debt it is a sign of wealth)-- and to have so many people be hungry and sick and thirsty and homeless and without satisfying work, suited to them?  No. Crazy. Ridiculous. And wars and all this violence, and so much of it is really about fighting over who is going to get the greatest share of natural and human resources (labour and consumption, mostly manifested as money).

I feel like we are just really working it out and it is getting really messy because too much of the world's wealth is being withheld from the people that create it. And too much violence in the air.  Just MELT ALL GUNS, and every other weapon. Symbolic step toward eliminating violence. There are enough other things that kill- accidents, disease, etc--that we should be able to find a way to get along without hurting each other and using violence to work out the ways to live together.  But I can't get anyone else to do that unless they freely choose it for themselves. The Duck Dynasties and the Darren Wilson's are part of this world, and I think maybe it is time to start working around them.

Why can't those of us that can see the better world find a way to create it among ourselves?  Maybe it will be the young people, but that is where I want to focus.  Not on more violence. (One of the reasons I love trolling.  A softer bite and no venom.) Anger is passion, I'd rather learn to live with it and soften it   We need anger to create change.  We don't need more violence.  That is a fear based and a self-sustaining cycle.

I think the more people that begin to see that we can have a peaceful revolution and reorganize more equitably, all of us will be able to take advantage of what the world has to offer.  Why can't share and divide up all the work so that everyone can do different things if they want, and constantly be learning new skills?  And others that want to devote themselves to one profession can become the experts and masters to apprentice and journeyman? There is no shortage of WORK.  There is SO MUCH to be done.  It is a shortage of jobs.  It is too much of the profits of labour and consumption being kept by only a few people.

North St. Louis city and county is like concentration camp for African-Americans.  And the poor generally.  This is the place of surplus labour, of the threat of more desperate workers to fill an employees shoes, so that everyone is so desperate they have to be obedient.  A lesser version of the Berkeley jail, or any jail or prison.  But there are a lot programs that could be altered and taken over without violence.  Through massive voting, petitioning, and a lot attendance at community meetings, and applying for grants, engaging committee's and so forth.

I think there are enough grants and funding that if we fought for it we could create a prosperous, safe, city and county, with plenty of room for the capitalists to do their thing, but with more communities like the land trust over in Cherokee neighbourhood,  More like the Hobo University, and Copenhagen's Christiana, and Findhorn.

And more co-ops.  I am working on being the first psychic to win the lottery, and when I do, I want to open up a co-op in at least my neighbourhood, or even a buyer's club, so that people can get off the Wal-mart nipple and keep the money in the community.  (The shorter distance that money has to travel, the stronger it is.) Until I win the lotto, let's start working on reshaping how government assistance comes into poor communities.

Co-ops would save a lot of money from going into corporations like Wal-Mart, and the jobs would be community based and sustaining.  Without an owner or executives there would be no need for excessive profits beyond what was needed to keep it going.  It would be self-sustaining and poor people could afford to eat decently, and not always be so afraid. And if there were soup kitchens and food pantries attached, the homeless and very needy would at least be able to eat, too.

Instead of HUD housing, why not HUD funds to buy people homes?  No more of this fear of where am I gonna go?  And if the co-op was also involved in the housing, maybe even an savings and loan.  I haven't worked all that out yet.

The co-op could sell medical and auto insurance to the community at low cost, and perhaps even have a clinic and dental office, optometrist, etc. And the co-op could offer day care, and while it would require some funding, there is a lot of government money already going to programs like this.

But people aren't allowed to, or don't find a way, to pool together. For instance, you can get the government to pay a friend or family member to care for you if you are disabled, or for child care.  But if the community could set up their own system with that money, and use it to fund a day care where people babysat children as a job instead of an assistance program, that would bring real prosperity to a community.  And a sense of pride.

The local and state governments would see an increase in taxes paid by working people.  The people that live in these "nice" communities and only want to be around other people that are just like them, and that have lives entirely built around the acquisition of possessions and the most luxurious, lifestyle then can acquire, they won't need to worry about people stealing $12 worth of copper wiring, or holding up liquor stores.

 Probably some of that will go on, but I think it will be greatly reduced. Greed does seem to be part of past and current human behaviour. We see looting done by the richest Wall Street Bankers and the greediness of people like the Wal-mart heirs stealing wages from their workers. But the people that are in power now were born in a world that had less than half the population it has now.  All of these technological advances we take for granted weren't invented during their childhood and formative years.  They live in the past.  They won't live forever.  We don't have to get violent to stop the cycle.  We just have to stop it.

We that are poor are able to live on much less, obviously.  But the disparity is too great.  This is too unbalanced.  We The People are going to have to demand more and then manage it ourselves.  Not just assistance, but better wages and better jobs.

It's HOW we are going to demand it that is really being decided.  So instead of this tug of war, I think we need to share our knowledge and ideas with each other, and be smarter and more economical than they are.  And be so sure of the abilities of humans to find solutions that we don't live in the kind of fear as someone that has billions and still doesn't have enough.

The state of the world right now does not even benefit the uber rich.  Not just violence and diseases and crime.  But out planet. Money cannot buy clean water, or more bees, or anything else natural.  The earth,  has millions of degrees hotter, and million of degrees colder.  It is we humans that must keep it within a one hundred degree range, with very specific requirements for air, water, and food.

I don't think violence will wrest the entire world from the clutches of those that will plunder anything to make a buck.  That might take awhile. I think we have to start looking for ways to create parallel worlds.  Like those I listed above.  I like the idea of a Christiana here that has its own police, community based, and centered around a "Peace Force".  Let's have people that only have the job of going out in the community and finding out what people need and helping them getting it.

I don't want to invade everyone's privacy, but I do think all neighbourhoods should have an HOA, and the neighbours get together and work things out and get to know each other.  We need to KNOW each other.  If we are going to give cops the power of a gun and the right to detain people, let's make sure we are keeping an eye on everyone, both the cops and the robbers, and all of us in between.

And we need representatives from each community that go and talk to representatives in other communities.  And perhaps that is what government officials are supposed to be now, but there needs to be some changes.  We have to get MUCH MORE INVOLVED. It can't just be about voting, and then they just decide what happens with our money-- how much the school gets, and how much some private developer gets to build a business that the people that live in the community may or may not want or need or derive any benefit from.

Like Ballpark Village gets these huge tax incentives and credits, and it just put all the little guys out of business.  They say it creates more jobs, but only if we don't lose a bunch as well.  New businesses do not necessarily create more prosperity. And again, how much of that money is going out of St. Louis?

Or the insanity of building a new Metrolink a few blocks from the existing Central West End station, when the North side is so under served by Metrolink? And in relation to how dependent the North side is on public transit, under served generally. (And I am not even going to touch the Folly of the Loop Trolley.)  If it didn't take so long to get to jobs outside of North St Louis on public transit, maybe people could get a second job, or save on daycare.  (And fewer people driving without insurance, but, of course that will cut into all the local police budgets.)

A great public transit system that focused on the people that need it the most would benefit the whole city.  And once there was some business development on the North Side, I'd bet that all these places that are so offended by saggy pants and grillz and whatever else wouldn't see those patrons anymore, anyhow.  If you like to go to a place where "everyone knows your name" and they were playing your song, don't you think other people might like that, too?

The people that are the most loving and spiritually evolved and peaceful, like the Dalai Lama and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., need to create some sort of prison system that does not completely degenerate the humans we have decided to keep alive even though they are being punished by or kept separate from society.  People should be treated with dignity and given DECENT nutrition, sanitary conditions, hygiene, and shelter.

The USA sanctions other countries for less than the conditions of the Berkeley jail and detention until bond is paid.  If an Islamic group were treating people like the Berkeley jail, we would be hearing screams of terrorism and torture.

The protests and the activism of the people is strong enough right now to create real change.  I think start by getting registered to vote, and let EVERY registered voter turn out at the polls this November 4th.   Let's keep fighting for Justice for Mike. Let's work on getting the highway traffic stops turned over to the County PD and/or the Highway patrol.  Let's demand better detention facilities and treatment.  Let's keep demanding economic development. Let's get a $15 an hour minimum wage in St. Louis city and county.

Let's keep going with demands.  Let's do it with wit and cunning, and smarts.  Not violence.  Not fear.

That's their game.