I should have been out smashing the State today, but it was my shift in the VeloBarrel. Plus there were leaves to rake, groceries to fetch, felines to serve — you get the idea. A working-class hero is something to be, sang John Lennon, but then he had a lot of money. And look what happened to him.
I even managed to sneak in a bike ride, and it was delightful. Sixty-five degrees and sunny with Halloween just around the corner. And while it was a bit windy and there were still a few puddles on the deck from the snow earlier in the week, turning the pedals beat the mortal shit out of bagging leaves and waiting for copy.
Cycling also was preferable to going mano a mano with The Man, as some of the Occupy Denver folks apparently did today. The Man had the usual array of top-shelf weaponry at hand — pepper spray, pepper balls, rubber bullets and the real deal — and thus, as in Oakland, the outcome was never in doubt.
From a distance it’s impossible to tell who swung first in this little dust-up. But since the DPD is renowned for its deployment of excessive force, when in their jurisdiction it’s always a good idea to keep your hands (especially that middle digit) to yourself. Stop your mouth from writing a check that your ass can’t cash. Think Martin Luther King, not Malcolm X.
Occupy, si. March, da. But keep it non-violent. That won’t prevent violence, naturally — and when the cops or their goons bring it, they’re going to say you started it. So why not make it impossible to prove in this era of cellphone photos, video and instant online publication?
The worse they look, the better you look.
Mad Blog Media 
One wonders about the kind of punks who just like to riot…do they show up at protests to try to stir things up? Here in Italy there have been claims of just that in Rome. Up north, some anti-high speed train protesters took great pains to make sure none of this “black bloc” caused trouble during their big protest. The TV clips showed almost as many helmeted cops as protesters but the thing was peaceful. Violence sure gets more news coverage but damages the message and lets the critics claim they’e just an angry mob…oh wait, that’s the Repuglican Party.
Larry, have you heard much on the storm damage in Cinque Terre? We are planning on visiting in May, but I lost email contact with the place I was going to book with in Corniglia. Not much in the news here, just wondering if the place still exists.
There’s some major damage and some small villages cut off with their roads and bridges destroyed. TV showed one modern bridge wiped out while also showing, and commenting upon, the Roman-era bridge nearby — still standing. Since it’s not even November yet and these areas depend heavily on tourism to survive, I’m sure access will be available come May. We ride through Cinque Terre as part of our Vineyards to the Sea tour June 3-12, 2012 and we’re not too worried about mudslides at this point. In less touristy areas like our Monferrato HQ, a few roads remain destroyed (but there’s always a detour that works) a couple of years after some major flooding.
Thanks Larry.
When are the cops in riot gear going to realize that this protest is as much for their benefit as that of anyone else? They are union, middle class, work-a-day shmoes just like the rest of us (well, you) with jobs. And yet they willingly serve as the elite’s personal army, protecting the aristocracy’s right to oppress, downsize, and foreclose on their neighbors and fellow middle class citizens.
The revolution in Egypt only succeeded because the military didn’t step in to protect the dictator. So I fear that until the Denver PD, the Oakland PD, the NYPD, and all the others realize that they have a stake in this too, I don’t think we’ll get any sort of revolution or change. As long as it’s fun to shoot rubber bullets at the unemployed, the poorly paid police will always side with filthy rich.
This is a downer. When does the cycling season start?
Couple deals here, I think.
First, boys like to play with toys. So you deck a guy out like a “Star Wars” storm trooper, he wants to see how his zap gun works.
Second, you have a couple self-styled anarchists who like street fights — or agents provocateurs paid to get street fights rolling — and you have instant problems. Start hollering “Pig!” or Murderer!” at a cop and (a) you’re gonna hurt his feelings, and (2) he’s gonna hurt your body, just ’cause he can.
Unless you’re prepared for honest-to-Mao warfare, seizing your political power from the barrel of a gun, I think it makes more sense to go the non-violence route, trying to educate while you agitate. An old Freak Brothers comic said it best: “While you’re out there smashing the State, don’t forget to keep a smile on your lips and a song in your heart.”
“Divide and conquer” as the plutocrats say. The army is still (mostly) supporting the regime in Syria as well. As I’ve written before ya gotta admire the right-wing’s ability to get these not-so-bright folks to act against their own self-interest to make themselves ever richer.