Woodlawn!

This past Monday was a very frustrating night. Stop Chicago (@StopChicago), Occupy Chicago (@OccupyChicago) and the Coalition for the Woodlawn Clinic (#SaveOurClinics) were raided again. This may not be a big story worldwide, but it should be.

Woodlawn

The WoodLawn Mental Health Clinic (6337 S. Woodlawn, Chicago, IL) is one of six clinics which Rahm Emanuel says the city can no longer afford. Mind you he is saying this at the same time he is spending millions on security, and other party favors, for the Western Military leaders of NATO. The City of Chicago cannot afford to care for its citizens, but it can afford to put on a bash to showcase Chicago to the Military Industrial Complex. We’ve obviously gone from the “Guns and Butter” economy of the 1960s, to Guns, Guns, and more Guns. The money for health care is obviously there. Rahm (and company) are spending it elsewhere.

For approximately three weeks (starting on April 12, 2012) now there has been a presence of protestors at the vacant lot across the street from the Clinic. It is a small lot. It is not even big enough for a McDonald’s with a drive through. It might accommodate a two bedroom shotgun shack with a dog run if it were ever developed. Initially, the supposed owner gave the protestors permission to occupy the land. This past Monday The City decided that the ownership, and permission, were questionable, and raided the property confiscated tents, and arrested ten people for trespassing. This is utterly absurd.

The lot is private property. It is not city property. The police have no right whatsoever to come on the property and arrest anyone for anything, let alone trespassing. The city doesn’t even know who actually owns the lot. However, Rahm’s Wehrmacht were ordered to take the tents and the good Chicago Troopers were just doing what they were told, No court in the United States of America has ruled this unconstitutional?

 

Amendment Four 

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

To put it succinctly, once the protestors gained (in good faith) permission by the owner on record of the property to use the property, then they and their positions are protected. Any dispute to ownership thereafter is to be settled by the courts and not Rahm and his storm troopers. Putting up a tent, and sleeping on it overnight in the cold does not constitute probably cause for any police action. To say otherwise is utterly ridiculous. Those who excuse such actions in this growing police state are doing so only because they are afraid of the consequences of addressing what is happening in the United States of America. The raid was clearly, and blatantly illegal.   

   

The Occupation is Not Leaving

I was able, due to a donation by a fellow Occupier, to make it to the lot yesterday. I am happy to report that the Occupation is still there. They are sleeping in cars, van, and in the open in opposition to Rahm’s plans to close the clinics. Being there at a participant and not an observer, I decided to put the camera aside. John, better known on Twitter as @Rebelutionary_Z, was holding a Live Stream twitter teach-in. It was my pleasure to participate in the instruction.  

Video streaming by Ustream

There is some noise of Rahm making concession to keep the clinics open. How reasonable those concessions are up for debate. One thing is very clear, the people of Chicago are not going to roll over and allow Rahm and his select men to gentrify the entire City of Chicago.

  

Mayday 

There are plans for more boots on the ground in Chicago. As if the Chicago Police Department, Rahm’s Wehrmacht and the Illinois National Guard are not enough. The Secret Service is cordoning off federally held public space in advance of NATO party in Chicago. While NATO will be celebrating in the city from May 20^th to the 21^st, the brothel loving Secret Service is taking to the ground, in full riot gear, starting tomorrow (April 30, 2012). 

This is nothing more than the current security state’s response to the MayDay march scheduled for May First. It is intimidation at all costs to keep the people down while the once great United States of America crumbles in its own criminal misadventures. The reason we are paying for guns and not health care is that the criminals in charge know their days are numbered.

Frightened by the torture that she experiences, they will stand far away and cry out, "How terrible, how terrible it is for that great city, the powerful city Babylon, because your judgment arrived in a single hour!" (Revelation 18:10)

It is a Crazy, Freaky World We Live In.

As written about in The Fourth Turning Anglo society goes through a crisis mode every 80 years. The authors of that work trace it back to the end of The War of the Roses. According to their research, we were due for such a crisis in 2010. Having reviewed their math, I placed that date closer to 1999/2001. The reasoning is covered in Wealth, Women and War, and in Conspirators, Confederates and Cronies. When taking into account all the heightened political awareness in the US today, the adjusted date seems to hold weight.

Within that social conflagration I found a home with the Occupy movement. If you have read any of my work, you may find that odd. It really isn’t. Before the action is the time to think, ponder, speculate, debate, and consider alternatives. Once the movement starts it is time to make a decision on where one stands. For better or worse, I’ll stand with Occupy Chicago!

About the Police

I am well aware that the police response to the occupy movement has been heavy handed across the United States. I am also aware that the focus of many Occupy camps has become police brutality. This is a shift in focus from the misconduct of the 1%ers, to the misconduct of the various police departments.

Question: What are you going to do about them and with them when you win the day and the ideas of Occupy do become mainstreamed? Are we not thinking that far in the future? One way or the other there will be a hell of a conflagration between now and then; The Powers That Be are building to a climatic confrontation. This past week China’s military has made noise about certain influences within its own government. And there is plenty of noise out of DC about Iran. That is part of the reason we are protesting NATO just shy of a month from today. So what are you going to do when we win in roughly seven years? And we are going to win. It is not bombastic bragging to say that the voice, needs, morals of the 99% will be the voice of the nation in a fairly short time.

Direct Action

Direct action for the sake of direct action is not an abortion. The Tet Offensive in 1968 was a military disaster for Charlie, but blew the lid off the politics in the USA. Ultimately it led to the sovereign unification of Vietnam. Often such Direct Action for the sake of Direct Action is nothing more than a tangible, material message that the opposition (in this case Occupy) still exist.

Occupy is also too aware that Direct Action might offend the masses. Got news for Occupy, you can't offend 'em, 'casue they don't care, they are oblivious, or opposed to any better world which will force them to learn a new social contract (a way of living in society in regards to how they interact with others).

Right now, in spite of the Occupy message, the social contract still reads "every man for himself." Based on the polls I have read 40+% (it might be more but I am being conservative there) of the population of the US now agree that economic disparity is an issue in the USA. Yet, while agreeing with this as an issue, nothing has changed. The conflagration, or palpable threat mentioned above, will change that. 

Too much of what has happened in the last seven months (a damn short time I will add) looks like rebellion and not revolution. A Rebellion is where a large group of people tell the people in charge to fix their mess. A Revolution is where a group of people decided to fix it themselves, and as it becomes necessary, kick the ruling class clean out of the country... if not more. I'll let you ponder what that "more" is.

If I were to pick a direction in the short run, based on what I have seen thus far, I’ll take the Rebellion over the Revolution. Rebellion is a quick, well deserved, kick in the ass to get things back on track. Revolution is long, bloody and damn wasteful.  Rebellion can change the course of a nation in a decade.

May Day and NATO

I would, by the way, think way past May. May is in the can. Whatever is going to happen, will happen.

I laugh at myself here. Do I tell my boss that I want the day off, or do I call in sick? Either way I lose a day's pay, and am impoverished until the next month. I know that is a personal issue, but I do wonder if people in Occupy get it. I'd give you real numbers to chew on, but $10.00 every time I go out to a GA or DA or Rally is steep for me. Doesn’t sound like much but $10.00 is a week’s worth of bologna and fruit for my lunches… and often dinner. I am not sure if I am going to cover May Day on the street.

Election Cycle

The elections are coming. That is every four years. How about someone writing a nonpartisan, non-inflammatory broadside comparing the Bush years to the Obama years, and paper the city with that? Occupy Chicago Tribune proves that Occupy Chicago can put out a limited run Newspaper—at the consternation of the Chicago Tribune®. And that is awesome, but it is not getting into the hands of the people.

As to 99% Spring ... anyone see anything really going on with that, or it is just another MoveOn publicity stunt? If MoveOn has gotten out from behind their computers, and massive email list, to teach full contact street politics, who has co-opted who? (Or Should that be whom?) It seems to me that Occupy has taught them a thing or two. 

Winning

"We ultimately win when the majority of America/the world agree with Occupy." Kudos to whoever said this, but many people do agree, and are listening, and admit to the disparity that earmarks the last 30 years of life in the USA, but are doing damn little to alter the social contract. We need to address this.

Side Note: I was reviewing the statistics for the blog from last week. I had more readers from Russia, than from the USA.

More Media Lies!

WBBM reported that sever hundred people attended the Take The Spring event in downtown Chicago. Following their story are a number of comments that are the same merit-less vitriol which is the hallmark of the right. There seems to be a race to the bottom between Fox and WBBM.

It is as simple as the conservatives in Chicago do not want to be held accountable for the corruption that is rampant in the city. I guess they are afraid that Occupy Chicago's message will resonate across the city, and eventually grown into a reform movement which will clean up the city.

To correct WBBM misrepresentation of fact, WGN, and WLS, both reported attendance at 800 to 1000. This Nine minute video covering events of Occupy Chicago's Chicago Spring community action from 1:00PM to 7:00PM on April 7, 2012.You can decided for yourself how many people were drawn to the Occupy Chicago event.


The people of Occupy Chicago, of all ages, are truly committed to non-violent revolution through a change in how we view what we can do together through community, and cooperation. Many view it as an evolutionary process which may take a generation to achieve, and not an armed revolt where one corrupt system is replaced by another corrupt system.

As Events Swirl Around Us

On Sunday, April 1, 2012, the homeless heroes of Occupy San Francisco successfully took over the building at 888 Turk Street (Turk and Gough Street) in San Francisco, California. By 3:30 PM, Monday, April 2, 2012, under orders of the Archdiocese of San Francisco the San Francisco Police Department stormed the building and arrested 75 of the Occupy San Francisco Tenants. This is the same Catholic Archdiocese, who admitted the building had not been in use for 18 months, and the same San Francisco Police Department who said no action would be taken.[1] Once again the Catholic Church shows the distain it has for people and the San Francisco Police Department show an utter disregard for the law and tenants’ rights.

As of June 2010 the Archdiocese of San Francisco reported $176,337,895[2] in assets. It is a century’s old criticism to point out that the Catholic Church upholds property, wealth, and position above humanity, humility and ministry. They are no different than the religious bureaucrats and charlatans who opposed Jesus when he taught 2000 years ago. This is one of the many reasons that The Rebellion is on the streets.

Tomorrow is the “official” kickoff of Chicago Spring. Yes, April 7, 2012 has finally arrived. To use a phrase from antiquity, “If God be willing…” I will join with the people of Occupy Chicago at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson at 1:00 PM tomorrow.  According to @OccupyChicago there is something for everyone, so all are invited to this commencement event.

Last week I wrote of two books which I recommend for the Occupy movement. There is one more work by Robert A. Heinlein which I would mention. It is For Us, The Living. It was written in 1928, and published posthumously in 2004. There are some ideas herein which may guide the Occupation towards a better nation. That would be up to you to decide. As events swirl around us, I still think it is time to pull away, and read.        

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[1] Bay City News Service. (2012, April 2). San Francisco: Occupy Protesters remain in building where they moved in Sunday. In Mercury News. Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20308333/san-francisco-occupy-protesters-remain-building-where-they

[2] Archdiocese of San Francisco . (2010, June). Central Administrative Office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco for FY2010. In Financial Statements. Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.sfarchdiocese.org/about-us/financial-statement/

Welcome to The Rebellion.

Gray tobacco smoke swirls across my makeshift multi-purpose computer screen. Craving nicotine addiction appeased for a time.  The tempting smell of freshly brewed coffee foretells of a small, selfish pleasure soon to come. Strong, black coffee is on its way. The last of the gurgling emits from the four cup drip coffee machine. In my orange hoodie and blue sweats I sit in front of the screen with vaguely formed ideas swirling through my head. My roommates still slumber in unconsciousness, willfully heedless of the effort which churns around them. It is the last day of March. It is a chilly 40 degrees. It is a Saturday morning. Welcome to The Rebellion.

The United States of America is in deep shit. The reasons have been documented in science journals dating back to the late 1940s. The Chicago Study proved uncategorically that race (be it Croatian, Polish, Italian, Irish, Hispanic, or Black) has nothing whatsoever to do with crime. Merton’s work on Social Strain documents how individuals and society pass from lawfulness to lawlessness. Maslow teaches us what motivates human beings on individual levels. And these studies are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why functional societies fall apart, regroup, and redevelop. We are in the latter phase of such a process. I’ll let you do the research for yourself.

Even before September 17, 2011 when 200 people took over Zuccotti Park, renamed it Liberty Park, and brought the worlds focus on the issue of income inequity, I’ve made suggestions on what The Rebellion needed to read. It is a given that I am partial towards these writings. It is also a given that I am not very good at writing book reports. I think we might have done one in college twenty-two years ago. Before that, it was in High School some eleven years prior (we’ll talk about age later). What I am left with is simply mentioning the name of the work, the author, and a link to Wikipedia or Amazon for you to research. However, I am going to attempt to crack open my thoughts on the works and fill in a few details.

All of these works are from Robert A. Heinlein. He was a science fiction writer from the 1939 to 1987 (he passed away in 1988). Many of the issues you and I are grappling with today were covered in his stories. The fact that he could make a comfortable living writing short stories, and novellas, where so many writers are destitute now, proves just how much we have degraded as a society over the years.

The first work is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It is the story of the penal colony in the moon throwing off the ruling Earth authority under the guidance of a self-aware AI (artificial intelligence) program. The important parts in this work are twofold. One is the political theory behind a rebellion in a closed society that is losing resources to the rulers. The second is the unique cell structure created to keep the rebellion alive as the authorities strike back. Based on what we have seen with the Oligarchy strikes against Anonymous. Both discussions may be very useful right now. 

My favorite quite from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress:

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do" 

"You would not abide by a law that the majority felt was necessary?" 

"Tell me what law, dear lady, and I will tell you whether I will obey it."[1]

The second work I suggest is a Novella contained in Revolt in 2100. I first read this story in The Past Through Tomorrow, but that anthology of Heinlein’s work is no longer in print. The short story is called If This Goes on…. To put it succinctly the work covers, as one reviewer put it, “the business of Revolution.” There are many ideas in this one that I wish the Occupation, or whatever springs from the Occupation Movement, would internalize.

If This Goes On… talks about the use of words, and word choices to convey the message. It discusses organization skills, and how to run a minority opposition. It also talks of human freedom, and true liberty. There is so much in that one short story that it is hard to summarize the work which was written in 1940, before World War II. This one quote will give you the breadth and scope of the work:

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, - not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.”[2]

There are other works I would suggest, but there two are the place to start. It is the place where I started many years ago, and inspiration for all that has followed. If you are free inside yourself, then you are free indeed. I’ll add more to the ideas on The Rebellion in the next installment.  

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[1] Valia, T. (2007, July 28). Quotes: Robert Heinlein's "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (novel). In Variety SF. Retrieved March 31, 2012, from http://variety-sf.blogspot.com/2007/07/quotes-robert-heinleins-moon-is-harsh.html

[2] Heinlein, R. A. (1940). If This Goes On..