Apologies, Bloody Noses, Chaos

Apologies
Congratulations to Scott Olsen for getting an official apology from the right Mayor of Oakland Jean Quan. Of coarse she turned herself around because of a thoughtful epiphany that she was now the most despised person in the country. Had nothing at all to do with realizing she screwed up big time on the world stage and her political career is now in the toilet. Ah well, at least Scott can point to his scars and tell folks he used his head to off a Mayor .. chicks will dig your humor Scott.
Bloody Noses
The weekend is a bloody mess. We got 99% falling out all over the country with busted everything. But not in all occupied lands. Only a few cities seem to be prone to violence. The rest are waiting it out. Some are renaming occupied parks after historical figures and even Oakland is renaming the killing field to something more appropriate and has told the folks (99%) they will be left alone. Nice gestures ,, now give the damn generators back so the people can stay warm you damn heathens.
Chaos
#OccupyDenver
Not quite sure what happened to the concept of being prepared in Denver’s case. They are definitely not prepared to take on the Denver Police force. Not knowing how to track an arrest is seriously rookie stuff. Running around downtown Denver doing pretty much of nothing but waiting for the cops to punch your lights out and haul you away to the detention center, gains ? Gains you scars and war stories, gains the movement zip. Retreat OCDenver, re-group, re-organize and do some damn intel before, you take on the toughest swat team in the country. While your at it remember this. You cannot defeat an enemy you do not know. Your success is in the homework. Put a couple laptops to work and figure out who this new police chief is and what he’s all about. He will bring his past experiences to the job. From our intel so far he went for the Atlanta job and was turned down and his own cops think he’s a racist dolt. Do some research, his past is checkered and it’s not all good. But that’s for a later blog when I get around to it.

We really need to take this circus on the road. Nothing is being changed except for the 99%’s efforts in getting their bodies rearranged by local cops over real estate squabbles. Doesn’t make any sense and definitely does nothing to advance the changes we are all screaming for.

Think about it. Dessert the cities, meet again in the only city we need to be in to get our changes onto a platform of respect. 200,000 angry folks coming together at the Washington Monument is an awesome spectacle that cannot and will not be ignored. Every politician in Washington will want a piece of that. Just for the news face time if nothing else. If you march on Washington people that can actually see that changes are made will be there. They will want to be on your side because of the association. Yes, you may think who needs them. Quite frankly, you do.

Martin Luther King used every trick in the book to accomplish his will for change. From marching, to behind the scenes negotiations. From speeches to backdoor threats. He knew the system and he knew how to manipulate it to his advantage. He wrote the textbook on civil unrest. It would do for all movement participants to educate themselves in his tactics. They worked. If we wish to prevail in this battle, we need to pay attention to history. Let’s attempt to at least leave the bloody bits out of it unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Right now, it is not.

 

Siege or Curiosity

I had a vision last night. I saw the masses moving from Oakland to New York on foot and marching towards Washington. I saw them increasing in mass as they passed through the cities and towns of America. Then I saw them standing on both sides of the reflection pool at the Washington Monument. Silently. Staring at the White House and the Congressional buildings. Suddenly a chant begins “Silent no longer, silent no longer” the sound reverberating with the intensity of thunder rolling through the buildings of Washington.

This is where I see the #OWS movement in this country headed. The city level protests now are more siege like. I ask myself, what’s the point? #OWS has already made it’s point. The 99% have had it with government, finance and the police state. I get it. Now we need to make them get it and I’m not talking about the cities. The people that created this mess in the first place are in one city. Washington. Home of the Fed, FannyMae and her boyfriend FannyMack, Home of the politicians that waste our tax money and protect the 1%, and, most importantly, the very seat of power of the land.

This is where we can exact change. This is where we can hold the “People’s Court” and hold those accountable for the misery in the land. This is where our very purpose of existence will shine. The world will be watching and will see exactly what American freedom and democracy is all about. What a great teaching tool it would bring to the world.

So I ask,, is the point to siege the cities? To what end result? How are the cities causing that which we the 99% are vocal about? Wall street is the only unique site, but, unfortunately contains only stuffed suits behind office partitions that have no power to change things we are pissed about. That takes place a few hundred miles south of there.

The question looms then, will the #OWS movement become a curiosity or will it become the mighty engine for change? Our time is narrowing, soon something else will capture the worlds attention. We need to show the world that Americans know what it takes to be an American. They need to see the unity of the land, the courageousness of it’s people. What they don’t need to see is police in riot gear blowing the face off a Marine just back from Iraq. Hard for them to do that when the numbers of voices are in the hundreds of thousands.

 

Who is pulling the puppets strings?

Silent Bravery

Over the past few weeks analysts within the ranks of Ships Captains have begun noticing a disturbing trend across the nation. At all #OWS encampments. Police response is undeniably escalating across the board and the tactical deployment is curiously similar. Almost as if there was one tactical commander leading the echelon. In recent days we have seen extensive use of after dark and very late night raids on the encampments to achieve maximum psychological advantage over the protesters who are worn out from marching and demonstrating. This tactic is used across the country and seems somewhat orchestrated. This in of itself suggests a much higher authority is pulling the strings. This is not good.

The analysts seem to agree on one point. The Mayors of this country are not tacticians. Unless a previous held job taught them crowd control tactics and strategies, these folks are being directed by someone that does. It is not the police chiefs either. Granted law enforcement does take advantage of the many classes and symposiums held throughout the country by the FBI, DHS, DEA, ATF and other lesser known government agencies in the business of law enforcement tactics. The analysts all agree though local police departments will put their own flavor into the mix during a tactical situation in order to maintain a fluency of response. Analysts further agree we are not seeing that sort of attitude in tactics and according to them we are seeing a direct textbook approach. This is highly suspect.

As with all things analytical, the more data present, the more accurate the analysis. It is suggested demonstrator tactics should therefore be more orchestrated to thwart the police strategy for optimum effect.

Ok, now that I have bored you with some hifalutin thought processes going on around the Captains tables let me sum up all the dialog. Get smarter than the cops!

Here is what is being considered to help the ground troops;

1. Hold daily activity to a bare minimum. The majority of the movement should be away from the city and sleeping in a safe encampment. Night activity after dark is by the majority, well rested folks and it should be extremely mobile. Running the cops all over the city will test their endurance and make them wish for daylight. This is a tactic used a couple of hundred years ago by the Minute Men, It worked.

2. The only embedded encampment should be out of the city on privately held land. There the needs of the protesters can be addressed without fear of having everything ripped up and hauled away in a city dump truck, It also becomes the safe harbor for strategy and action committees. From this encampment, all protest activity can be organized and then sent into the city for maximum effect without protesters worrying about returning to a destroyed camp.

3. Deployment. Small fast groups are the key. Trying to organize and control 1000, or so folks at once is pretty scary. Contacting a remote group on deployment in smaller numbers is doable and effective in countering police deployment in a real time situation. This tactic is well known as the “shock and awe” approach. It keeps the demonstration moving and mobile. Something the police are not all that well equipped for.

4. Winterizing. In the colder climates that #OccupyChicago, #OccupyDenver, #OccupyBoston and #OWS in NY face is extremely important and needs to be planned for now. Strategies should be shifted towards shuttling groups back and forth between a safe encampment and the activity area. A warm demonstrator is a happy demonstrator, a cold cop is a cold cop. Lethargic and not quick of wit when his feet are frozen to the ground. Army Surplus stores are a great resource for winterizing the crowd. Emphasis should always be in keeping the bodies core temperature above 87 degrees F anything below is the onset of hypothermia. Remember wet clothes will dissipate the bodies heat very rapidly. Stay dry and wear the proper outer garments for the current weather situation. Wear footwear designed for maximum insulation. US Army issued “MuckLucks” available at any Army surplus store for cheap will keep your feet nice and toasty .. proven in some of the coldest places on this planet.

5. What to expect. Expect escalation as your tactics change. You will frustrate the opposition and they will react accordingly with or without direction from above. As it gets colder and wetter during the winter nights tempers will get shorter. A miserable cop that is armed is a dangerous cop. Police tactics expected will include the use of crowd dispersing water cannons. In the winter getting everyone wet and miserable is the name of this game. Prepare for it. Try and use intell. gathering on police equipment yards. Monitoring the vehicles used in crowd control will give you a heads up to prepare. Pull out the handy ponchos available at all Army surplus stores for cheap. Proven in Vietnam as the best umbrella in the world. A dry demonstrator is a happy demonstrator and an empty water cannon is just a big boat anchor.

We are not trying to do anything but provide a few survival tips to those in harms way. Hopefully our experiences from the past will help those not as experienced. We can not stress enough the need for civility when confronting the police. Name calling, throwing pebbles, paint, crap, whatever, at the cops is antagonistic. Quietly standing in defiance in the face of the opposition presents rewards to the movement on the world front. Think. What is the first image that comes to mind when thinking of Lech Walensa or that young Chinese student in Tinnimen square facing the tanks. Silent bravery. In other words stomping on the giants toes will only get you squashed. We hope this helps. We will continue to look for the puppetmaster, we will find him and prepare targeting instructions for ships crews. We are the 99%. We will prevail. We are watching.

Ships Captains