On KRON4 local reporter says he's seen the Black Bloc in Oakland.

Now the cops are out in force in full riot gear on Broadway.

Man, those "Black Bloc" folks are quick aren't they?

:eyes:

with the riot gear) but what's happening? Thanks.

by smashing chain restaurants, one of the people I work with has a moron son who is into it.

I mean, by definition... chain restaurants are about as capitalistic as capitalism gets... so smashing them is a revolt. No? I mean... call the revolters angsty douchebags if you want... and thereby declare yourself an erstwhile defender of corporate chain restaurants (for a better tomorrow?)... as you like... but breaking shit built by capital is nevertheless a revolt against capitalism...

stupid. How many of these "revolutionaries" have a late model car with insurance against glass damage?

And who says an effective revolt can't be stupid? Every bureaucracy I've ever dealt with is stupid. Every corporate structure- stupid. Why not a revolution of stupid too?

And, while we're at it- who says a revolt has to be 'effective'... it just needs to be expensive to those who would suppress it. See- Afghanistan. See- Iraq. See- US colonies in 1776. See- Vietnam.

Ohh, and insurance in Oakland doesn't cover "glass damage". You can get full coverage... and when the insurance company runs your zip code and sees an Oakland code... that's gonna be expensive... or you can just gamble and pay for new windows when the time comes... which will probably be cheaper than the insurance if your windows only get broken once every 8 months or more...

Yes- I"ve lived in Oakland and I've done the math.

you are doing it wrong, the kids smashing shit will grow up, buy BMW X5's they can't afford and vote republican,

This song seems very timely, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RUeMCZL3Q

Saw them start doing this in Seattle and they seem to have perfected it at the G20.

:eyes: Thanks for the enlightenment.

For once showing some good sense. Dellums may not be very effective as a mayor, but he's a pretty good human being... I can only guess that he hasn't got the heart to order a crackdown.

If the cops stay out of the way, things should stay cool. Probably...

trying to calm people down, too.

Here's hoping that things stay quiet when it's dark in a few minutes and that no one gets hurt tonight.

It would be a shame if this was one of those Anderson Cooper mix-ups.

7:48 PM: KRON4 broadcast is reporting that the US Department of Justice has just announced that they will be launching an independent review into the shooting of Oscar Grant to determine if there should be a federal prosecution in this case.

8:33 PM: The Appeal's Chris Roberts reports that police have declared the gathering at 14th and Broadway an "unlawful assembly" after bottles and rocks have been thrown, breaking a window. "The police are putting on their gas masks" yelled Roberts to us over the phone as the sound of bullhorns threatened to drown him out.

8:40 PM: BART shas closed the 12th Street Oakland Station

I hope people chill out now. There was some window smashing, theft but hopefully that will be it.

Glad the Justice Department is involved...I strongly disagreed with the verdict.



:banghead:

I was actually surprised that they took this on.