Occupy Oakland as such has run its course.

[RainyDay]

There has been a lot of infighting in the Occupy Oakland ranks, and even between Occupy SF and Oakland over the Mission District violence the night before the May 1 strike. OO has become a pariah in Oakland with many of the local people who signed up abandoning it in droves. Most of their demonstrations end with a lot of violence, incredibly a lot of it directed at small businesses. The link below is from the the last person to write the Oscar Grant Gazette, which was a communication from inside the movement about the movement. My favorite line:

Occupy Oakland as such has run its course.

OO has shut down two public meetings just this week. This is a familiar pattern. It appears that OO is more fascist than anything. When anyone speaks out against them, they shout them down until the meeting is adjourned. At last week's Public Safety Committee meeting, some bitch actuallly got up and threatened the Council with her 2d Amendment rights, taking a page from the Tea Party, threatened the chair of the committee, and no lie, threatened one of the police captains by name. It has become evident that some of the people in this movement are mentally unstable and have found a home for their half assed, paranoid ravings about the "system" and their victimization.

http://www.oscargrantplazagazette.co...plaza-gazette/

[Valerie]

scary! i know you will be relieved when it is over with!

[Cem]

This is what's been happening in Montreal, following the police state response to the student protests over tuition fee hikes, in some part. Not sure that it will have any serious impact politically or have staying power as a form of protest, but sure is a strong public statement!

[RainyDay]

This is what's been happening in Montreal, following the police state response to the student protests over tuition fee hikes, in some part. Not sure that it will have any serious impact politically or have staying power as a form of protest, but sure is a strong public statement!

This is along the lines of the demonstrations at UC Berkeley. The fee hikes in education here are unconscionable. It's awful.

[claude]

This is what's been happening in Montreal, following the police state response to the student protests over tuition fee hikes, in some part. Not sure that it will have any serious impact politically or have staying power as a form of protest, but sure is a strong public statement!

It's too bad that the idiots who want to just cause some destruction get mixed up with these protests and result in a real loss of impact for the protesters.

It's also pretty tough to be too sad about their tuition rates when they are basically paying now what I did when I went to school in the early 80s and will be going up to what the tuition rates were about ten years ago at my alma mater.

http://www.droitsdescolarite.com/en/howmuch.php

I guess it's the rate of increase rather than the actual rate that is the issue and that Quebec is much more aligned with the European approach to education than it is to the North American approach. The difference being that they have had the rest of the country to finance their programs unlike the Europeans. I think it's time for a reality check.

[The Alex]

It's also pretty tough to be too sad about their tuition rates when they are basically paying now what I did when I went to school in the early 80s and will be going up to what the tuition rates were about ten years ago at my alma mater.

Yeah, don't those spoiled brats realize that education is a privilege reserved exclusively for those who can afford to pay?

[claude]

Yeah, don't those spoiled brats realize that education is a privilege reserved exclusively for those who can afford to pay?

I wish that there could be a sane debate about this issue since I also believe, as you seem to, that the cost of education is a key issue to equality of opportunity. But, I also believe that universities have become incredibly complacent, are generally very poorly managed with faculties that don't strive for anything other than mediocrity and in many cases have sold their academic integrity to a few donors with deep pockets. I don't know what the answers are, but I think there needs to be some serious debate on these issues rather than just crying on the streets over the costs.

[RainyDay]

scary! i know you will be relieved when it is over with!

Girrrrlllll...

When I was watching the City Council Public Safety Committee meeting on cable Tuesday night, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Our City Council is such a joke. The last speaker was an older socialist veteran of protest denouncing OO and these two guys walked up to him at the podium and got right in his face and one told him to sit down and shut up. Seriously. FINALLY, the chair called on the cops to take the clowns out and she adjourned the meeting. Two days later, at a community meeting, chaired by the same ineffective council representative, about a recent police shooting, was more of the same. Except this time, these guys from OO surrounded the police chief's car after the meeting and wouldn't let him leave so a few folks got arrested. How bold is that shite? It is insane.

I'm ready to go to the Santeria shop and put a spell on their asses.

[The Alex]

P.S. When will RainyDay finally run her course? How many times now has she promised to stop posting to the political threads?

[tippy]

This is not to excuse unproductive behavior, but I would like to point out that it has been said that lack of employment opportunities for young adults could have negative effects on the character of our nation. It's pretty impossible to achieve true independence or pride in one's self without money, especially in a culture that worships it and all the trinkets, large and small, that money buys. How do you impress a mate, etc.? This generation is being formed in a pretty toxic cauldron and there isn't a roadmap for its lack of precedence. Frustration, especially without prospect in sight, can eventually tip humans over the edge. I'm not saying this is a fate etched in stone, but there is a need for strong leaders, good role models among not only cohorts but also mentoring by older generations with more life experience. I think it also reflects a lack of character in the people who raised them. The U.S. or is it the West in general has been pretty spoiled, using up a disproportionate amount of the world's resources for some time, much of it purchased on credit and so it follows that young people might have a disproportionate sense of entitlement making them more prone to frustration. Maybe OO is an example of the worst of this. Also see the effects of unemployment on other demographics and industries over time.