THE REVOLUTION IS BEING TWEETED & DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHITE CULTURE RACISTS, RACISTS, & WHITE SUPREMACISTS

TWITTER REVOLUTION

In case you don't know already, the revolution is not being televised but it IS being tweeted.  If you want to follow what is happening in Ferguson and the struggle to get justice for the murder of Mike Brown, you need to be on twitter.  Check the hashtags #Ferguson, #JusticeforMikeBrown, #ArrestDarrenWilson, #Handsupdontshoot, and #Blacklivesmatter,

If you are over 25 and not used to social media, or only used to facebook (like me), twitter is kind of hard to navigate.  And it is not a good venue for complex or deep discussion, since you are limited to 140 characters per tweet, and if you are responding to someone their @twitter handle takes up some of those characters as well. Ditto if you want to add those hashtags to the convo.

Also, it can be confusing who is talking and what they are saying. Irony and sarcasm don't always come across in a single tweet.  And as with any social media, people can hide behind fake names and profile pics.  A whole lotta white supremacists are using black profile pics to troll Ferguson tweeters. (Footnote 1- trolls, below)

There are also a lot of opinions expressed about racism and white people that I think are too broad and generalized, and this post is my attempt to break down what I see as the main forms of racism at work in our society.

RACISM AND THE RULING CLASS

So, first, I want to establish that I think all people have the capacity to be racist.  I think it is hardwired in the "snake brain" the most primitive part of the human brain.  If there aren't enough resources for everyone, the people that aren't the family or tribe or people are the ones that are going to be cut out.

And racism is worldwide. I can't find a people or culture where it is not present. Buddhists in Myanmar are racist against Royhinga Muslims and Karen Christians.  I've heard Nigerians make racist remarks against the Fulani tribe (when a Fulani was in power).  The Chinese discriminate against the Han people.  Even among American white supremacists there are divisions over what constitutes "white" ("blood in the face" or DNA, etc).

Each individual person has to make a conscious decision to not be racist or prejudice. 

This why racism is such an easy tool of oppression and oppressors.  Racism presents itself (again, as far as I know) in every people that have become the dominant rulers of more than one people or culture.

And most individual people never move passed the culture they were raised in if they are part of the dominant or oppressor culture because they don't have to ("White privilege").  And while the dominated cultures and people's are forced to understand and live within the dominant culture- in order to get jobs, or even be allowed to survive- as outsiders that culture is not necessarily adopted, for any number of obvious reasons.

The rare person is the one that steps outside of their own culture and learns another, or many others, and then begins to view his own culture from an outside perspective.  But the majority of people seem to fall into 2 categories: The conformists who mostly embrace it, the rebels who mostly reject it.  Most people seem to do a combination of both. (I.e., the Catholic that goes to mass weekly, but believes that abortion is okay, etc.)

The Ruling Classes are separate. People with this much wealth and power have so much control over their environment at all times that they can live however they choose.  The Bush family that gave us two Presidential regimes are oil people.  Some of their best friends are bin Laden family members. The Ruling Classes don't really give a damn about skin color, or anything other than money and power. The very small percentage of people that run this world and that suck up most of the wealth are white, Arab and Chinese. And for class society to function the Ruling Classes need two things:

1) Cheap labour from a large group of people, most of whom are surplus workers (unemployed).  That way people will continue to work for low wages because there aren't enough jobs. And will be too overwhelmed working to survive to create trouble.

2) Consumers with enough of the excess wealth & privilege that they will defend the system that benefits them, and also buy a lot of crap they don't really need, and go into a cycle of income and debt that will last a lifetime (house, cars, college, etc) and will be too overwhelmed being consumers to create any trouble.

If those two groups of people got together and realized that they were fighting each other, instead of fighting the people that are robbing them, then we would have a real revolution (and it wouldn't even need to be violent). So even though the ruling classes don't give a crap about what culture or race is dominant, they need racism and oppression to exist in the world.  It's the best division to keep people fighting and blaming each other for all the poverty and struggle and lack and war in the world.

If there is a "they" it is the Ruling Classes. 

THE WORKING OR LOWER CLASS FOX NEWS RACIST

But most people, everywhere, only see what is in front of them.  And that white guy living in a rotting trailer, on food stamps, drinks  the ruling class's "Kool Aid"- in other words, buys the story- that he is living in poverty because black people and lazy people and immigrants and women are stealing his fair share of the jobs and wealth.  If it weren't for affirmative action and illegal aliens, he'd have a job.  If it weren't for welfare fraud and "handouts" to undeserving people he wouldn't be on food stamps himself, etc.

In fact, he believes that if only all of these other poor, oppressed people around him weren't "stealing" from him, he'd be as rich as a Walton heir. He's white and he's a Christian and that is what all the people he admires are. Of course, it's the Walton heir who is the real thief.  It is the Walton heir that engages in wage-slavery, sends jobs overseas to save profits by paying less for labour, etc. But Racist is blind to that or refuses to see it. (Footnote 2- status quo)

But what about that middle or upper middle class guy Racist? Trust me, no matter how big this person's house is, it still looks like a rotting trailer to him.  He only sees up, he only thinks about acquiring more, and views everyone that is not exactly like him as somehow "stealing" from him.

And even if it isn't about material wealth for the Racist, it is about having more of something- superiority, worth, religious destiny, etc. This kind of Racist doesn't feel like there is enough of whatever it is for everyone, and he is determined to have as much as he can for himself .

This type of person feels so entitled and so overburdened by diversity of any kind that he is pretty much a hopeless case, and makes up the majority of the trolls. (And is also an embryonic white supremacist, more on that in a minute.) This Racist might be worth a try in person, but on the internet it does not appear to be a worthwhile endeavour, except for maybe in a public forum or comments section,  if you think you might reach the next type of racist.

THE UNAWARE "WHITE CULTURE" RACIST

Then there are the middle and upper classes that often seem more liberal or radical because they have enough privilege and comfort that they can recognize racism's existence in some parts of society. They don't need their privilege as much and are not afraid to recognize it exists, even if they know it gives them an unfair advantage.

This is where cultural racism comes in.  There are a lot of white, middle class liberals that voted for Obama, but still think that anything North of Delmar is a rain of bullets and gang drivebys.  They hate rap music, saggy trousers and "Ebonics" (meaning the English of black culture).  They don't judge black people by their skin colour, but by the black person's culture or cultural identity.

This kind of white culture person (WCP) is not against skin color, so they get real upset when someone calls them a racist, because they probably know alot of people like the regular Racist, listed above. 

In other words, they have black friends, voted for a black President, may even go at time to predominantly black areas to shop, travel to black and brown countries on vacation, etc, but somewhere inside them, sometimes very deep inside, they actually believe that black people that are black culturally are scary and different and dangerous.  They are often afraid of black neighborhoods-- even those without crime-- because they don't understand black culture.

Moreover, this kind of liberal white person is often a kind of "reverse racist".  They feel personal guilt for having white privilege, and even though they find some or many aspects of black culture offensive they feel that they must "make up" for the institutionalized racism against black people in this country.

And that often leads to continuing to also view all black people as a group instead of individually, but by romanticizing each black person they encounter as being saints, instead of "thugs". No black person can ever do wrong, which means black people are still not fully human, with individual flaws and characters, etc.  It's also  the "those poor people, they can't help it, I need to save them" hero/savior attitude. Etc.

They try too hard, make themselves uncomfortable, and get defensive. This group is not hopeless. I know because I have successfully argued with many of them in the past. Among many white people I know that are fighting for justice for Mike Brown and support the Ferguson protesters, the consensus among us is that WCP that we really need to be dealing with.  These are the people we know that ask us, genuinely confused but really trying to understand, why we are not afraid to go to a protest, or go to (or live in) areas they find intimidating, etc.

(I should add that I know a few black people that are also "white culture racists". Not kidding.  If I shut my eyes while talking to these men their words sound like white men's words.)

White culture person (WCP): I get the First Amendment and freedom of speech and peacefully protesting, but this civil disobedience, like sitting in the street, or banging drums and walking through the neighborhoods chanting after 11 at night, how can you support that?

Me:  The protesters are doing the same things that white people- and the Civil Rights movement- have done throughout US history to affect change. Make sure you are not viewing them through the mainstream lens of  "all black people are inherent 'thugs' and 'criminals' " and then look again. What makes them different from the suffragists? Or Occupy? 

This isn't just about Mike Brown and one racist cop, this is about institutionalized racism and 450 years of oppression.

Consider how hard black people have had to fight for their rights in this country. If this had happened in Kirkwood and Michael Brown had been white, Darren Wilson would have been in jail after the first night and a silent candlelight vigil.  St. Louis has quarantined the black lower classes in North city and county, far from all the white people in power.  They have to make a lot of noise. These kids have to shout at the top of their lungs all day and all night to get anyone to really listen or take them seriously simply because they are black.

WCP: How is (whatever protester action) helping anything? What is it doing? It might be alienating people that might otherwise be on the side of the protesters."

Me:  Most of the people that would be alienated by civil disobedience are unlikely to affect any real change in ANY sphere of society or any issue.  You should be thanking the protesters for challenging the status quo and revealing just how fascistic our society has become.  Save your condemnations for the police that teargassed their own citizens.  I'd rather have drums banging than teargas in my neighbourhood wouldn't you? I'd rather have people protesting than cops shooting unarmed teenagers.

(I also suggest bringing up the bombing of MOVE in Philadelphia in the 80's, in addition the the teargassing down in Ferguson, when talking to the WCP.)

I've been having the above type of conversation with WCP for a long time, before Brown's murder.  If I recognize that a person has the ability or desire to change but is really trapped by the system or beliefs they live in, I try to remain open and not be too reactive. Because I WANT them to come talk to me about things like Brown's murder and the Ferguson protests.  Otherwise they are just talking to other white people who might be racist or might be clueless.

So, if you encounter a WCP you feel like has real questions, try to stay open to them, even if they are really angry or generally repulsive. Trust your heart.  Sometimes the most imprisoned people are yelling the loudest and/or angriest.  Also, remember you may not get an immediate reaction to your words. It could be hours, days, months, years, etc.  Get your ego and need for immediate change out of your head for better results.

What also helps with these kind of White Culture People (WCP) is to bring up parallels in their own ancestry and history.  (This on my personal blog: http://www.laladyrae.blogspot.com/2014/08/more-on-how-to-explain-things-to-fox.html )

You probably will have to have the same conversation over and over again with each WCP. In regards to Browns death, even the white people that think Brown's death was awful, that even if he did punch Wilson, etc, he didn't deserve to die. The WCP might also think that there were legitimate grounds for Wilson shooting Brown. And this is tricky, because it really requires that the WCP understand things they have no experience with.  But if they have a mind that wants to be open, they will listen and try.

The official story that Mike Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun or attacked Wilson in any way is flat out unbelievable.  But you have to be able to see cultural and class differences to see why.

"Nice" middle class white people are cultured to not argue with the police. And your well-meaning WCP is probably one of these people. Their idea of protest is to rent a community room and have speakers and food and to march with a permit, single file on a sidewalk during daylight hours when the weather is nice.  They are voters and taxpayers and their phone calls to City Hall get answered when they call politicians and judges.  They sign petitions and expect legislation to follow. They are taken seriously by the Ruling Classes and the government. (At least to a point, but this post is long enough.)

In their minds, they know that white people are, in fact, often disrespectful to police and shove store clerks.  They know that Webster Groves has a growing population of white high school students addicted to heroin.  And maybe even they themselves have stolen cigarettes or bought beer illegally, or used a fake I.D. to get into a bar, or even been disrespectful to police  But Webster is not poor and is not violent. It's not that white people are inherently nice or better, but that the middle classes are mostly white, and middle class culture is not poor or openly violent.

And since the WCP matters to society, is the part of society the Ruling Classes rely on to "keep order", the police are not likely to shoot white suburban teenagers for being mouthy.  If that were the norm, yours truly would have been shot by police 30 years ago.

To really get through to the WCP you need to bring these things up.  You need to point out how many white people would be afraid of Mike Brown simply because he was a large black man.  All white people know that paranoid white woman that clutches her purse and cringes when she sees a large black man.  All white people know someone that becomes either overly friendly or overly hostile when a black person shows up at an otherwise usually all white social function.

In fact, the WCP you are trying to reach probably has similar conversations with the purse clutcher.  As in, "That's my friend so and so, he's employed, professional, speaks English like a white person, listens to white music not rap, stop judging all black people."  (I've overheard these convo's.)

Institutionalized racism and mainstream media work hard to equate black culture as synonymous with gangster criminals. So when your WCP hears that Mike Brown and Dorian Johnston were disrespectful to a policeman and shoved a store clerk, they are vulnerable to exactly the manipulation Jackson and McCulloch have used so skillfully, even if they are not skin-color racist.

So now, get your White Culture Person to think about life from Mike Brown's shoes.  Ask them to imagine how often Brown would have been seen as a threat and had to deal with either that over-arching false niceness, or heavy handed hostility- both of which were rooted in fear.

And even if Darren Wilson was the first time Brown had interacted with the police (and I really doubt that, not because I think he had a juvenile record, but because I have never met a black male over the age of 10 that has not been stopped/harassed/questioned/detained by the police) why would ANYONE think Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun?

You can only buy that if you believe that Brown really was a lawless thug and thief with no regard for his own life.  If you point out that he was a teenager, that he was likely used to much worse police harassment than an order to "get the fuck on the sidewalk", and that he knew well that any interaction with the police needed to be taken more seriously by a black person than a white person, what you see is a teenage kid trying to assert what little dignity he has.  "We almost to our destination," Johnson said he and Brown responded to Wilson's order.

(That Wilson was concerned about Brown and Johnson's safety as pedestrians in the street is ludicrous. The OPTINSTL blog is entirely about how little anyone in power cares about pedestrians and transit riders of any color, in most areas of St. Louis city and county. You might be able to convince me that Wilson was irritated about his vehicle's right of way being impeded by two men he obviously viewed as "thugs", with or without knowledge of the alleged stolen cigarillos or incident with the clerk at Ferguson Market, which I also think is bogus.)

My take on what happened: I can see Brown being a rebellious teenager and fed up with being targeted by cops, and "mouthing off"- i.e., not immediately obeying or saying "yes sir" at Wilson.

But punching a cop and trying to steal his gun?  That would be a big step even for a hardened criminal or gang member.  EVERY black man would know that brought a death sentence. And tragically, in Brown's case, that death sentence was handed down simply for "contempt of cop". 

(And probably because Wilson did open his car door suddenly, to grab for Brown through the window, and Brown did pull his arm away, and the door bounced back.  And there was "the tussle" which Wilson ended when he pulled out his gun and Brown and Johnson fled instead of immediately surrendering on their knees, in submission, which is what all the racists seem to think is what should have happened. Whereas I think Brown running away probably saved Johnson's life as well.  Or at least saved Johnson from being shot and injured.)

You can only buy the official story if you view all black men as criminals and terrorists. And if you buy that all policeman are good and that there is no institutionalized racism or corruption.  And WCP usually only need to be really challenged on these two beliefs, and given freedom to express views that they hold that they do not realize are racist and unfounded in reality. (In other words, give them the chance to throw out the bathwater, and save the baby.)

Just keep pointing out to WCP the far too many examples of police brutality and abuse against black people, particularly black men. As a white person with any knowledge and understanding of the black community, and especially how differently black people are treated by the police, the best thing you can do is challenge WCP on their racism.

THE SERIOUS WHITE SUPREMACISTS

Now, about those white supremacists.  This is a whole different breed of person.  These people are not mainstream.  And while there are certainly many white supremacists in the Ruling and middle classes, the culture itself comes from poor white people, like the Fox News watching trailer trash Racist I described earlier.

There is a reason the biggest white supremacy group, the Aryan Brotherhood (AB), is a prison gang.  These Kluxers and White Revolution and neo-nazi's (WR) are the white boys that have the same type of encounters with the police that black people do.  Except these guys really are all criminals. And ironically, whereas black men are all mostly viewed as being the same by police, these white men are singled out and known individually in their communities. In other words, to be white and have the police treat you like a black person, you have to work to distinguish yourself. (Another example of institutionalized and cultural racism and oppression, think about it. White people retain their own identities, are recognized as individuals, etc.)

Being white is the only thing that makes feel better about themselves.  It gives them a lot of people to blame for their problems in the world.  That's pretty sad and scary, in and of itself. Coupled with the fact that these are very violent men by nature.  The more violent and hateful they are, the more they feel like real men.  Real men fight. Real men kill.  Real men hate their enemies and give them no quarter.  They equate violence and lack of mercy with strength and power.

(Take a look at these mugshots of the Aryan Brotherhood leadership. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Trials-seek-to-crush-Aryan-Brotherhood-2502116.php That is a genuinely scary person. If cops like Darren Wilson cannot tell the threat difference between a big, cocky teenager with black skin and a guy like that Aryan Brotherhood leader pictured, they should not be carrying a gun. Worse, if Wilson and cops like him are white supremacists, I don't want them carrying guns at all.)

But most importantly, white supremacists have made a conscious decision to exclude everyone but other white people that believe in white supremacy.  I have white skin and they hate me. There is really no way to get through to them.  You can humiliate them by pointing out world population statistics and how no matter what they do, white people are becoming the minority. (Footnote 3)

You find more middle class whites in the neo-Nazi and White Revolution groups.  The level of violence is usually in direct proportion to how violent the person (men mostly) is as an individual.  All seem to have very violent fantasies, but whether they become violent has to do with culture and opportunity.  They are essentially less isolated and more united Adam Lanza's and James Holmes. More integrated into their family lives and society (precisely because it is that white family and white society they are avenging/protecting) than the "average" random shooter (who is violent and delusional but cut off from any unified group or culture).  But violent sociopaths nonetheless.

These people are only dangerous if events in Ferguson or the U.S. become chaotic or violent enough for them to feel comfortable enough to fit their own violent acts in without being noticed.  I doubt at this point that will happen, because there are too many of the WCP on our side or on the fence.

However, on the third or fourth night of the protests after Brown's murder, there was a news report of four armed white men in a car on West Florissant. My first thought when I heard this was that these were White Revolution people had been motivated to see if in the chaos, they might be able to go shoot some ----- (you know the word).

I do worry about individual sociopaths trying to instigate violence, but so far the movement seems to be very strong and very good at isolating and removing troublemakers.  Another worry I had was that KKKops might try to start a race war, but the few that have been exposed by livestreams and their own social media pages have shown that society is not on their side.

On the internet the only directly effective way to deal with the white supremacists trolls is with non-violence and humor, as violence only escalates things, and as they have no ability to respond to humor. Humiliation, especially sexual humiliation, delivered by white women these men find attractive or desirable.  Also making light of what they say ("haha you called me a N--- lover, oh I'm so hurt, no one has every called me that before." or "Oh I'm so shocked you used a racial slur, how offensive, gee I've never heard that before! Go away troll and come back when you have some new material! lol")

They are deadly serious and racist hate is their entire life's meaning. If you can, make them insignificant and then ignore them as much as possible.

Otherwise, it is best to get to know who they are and keep an eye on them, be watchful about any situation involving them escalating (hence the humor) and to continue working to create an environment that is hostile and excluding to them.

I think the best way to continue creating a diverse and "anti-racist" environment is to keep talking to the WCP, the white cultural racist person, about racism and racists and the institutionalized racism of this country, and pointing out how a country where everyone was truly equal would benefit us all.

I hope this is helpful.

Thanks for reading this. Sorry it is so long. Below are things I edited out and turned into footnotes.  I also deleted stuff that really needs to be stand alone blog posts.  I have a hard time not going off on tangents.

1) TROLL- A troll is someone that makes it a point to follow and respond antagonistically.  For instance, regarding Mike Brown and Ferguson, I am attacked by trolls. But I sometimes am a troll when I go to right wing sites and make antagonistic comments to them. Then there is trolling the trolls- finding the haters and racists and following them back, attacking all their posts. Something I enjoy at times, but lately have had no time for. There are just too many of them and they all say the same things.

2) STATUS QUO Ironically, it is the lower classes-  working and poverty level-- that often have to invest the most into the current status quo just get a step up on the ladder.  The idea of a revolution or change means that the ladder will be toppled, and all humans fear change.  If the ladder goes, then so goes the only chance to better his life that he can see in his narrow little world. And since he has so few opportunities for advance in his own life, he unwittingly fights to preserve the status quo that is actually his enemy, too.

3) ARYAN BROTHERHOOD With the Aryan Brotherhood, despite what you hear about the amount of black men that are locked up, the prisons are still full of mostly white people, because white people are the majority in this country.
But in places like Los Angeles, as Hispanic people (either born here or immigrants) become the majority, their numbers grew in the prison system, too. The Aryan Brotherhood had to form alliances with gangs like the Mexican Mafia and El Salvador's MS-13. The Aryan Brotherhood had to include brown skinned gangs or risk those gangs uniting with the black gangs against them. (All oppressive systems follow the same principles. And all are rooted in the use of violence, fear and hate.)

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.