Week In Review, Topics Include: NDAA, Gingrich Tax Plan, West Port Shutdown On & The Icelandic Recovery

Hello to all and thanks for checking in.

We had another big week and there is so much to get to. We had yet another GOP Debate. Unbelievable right? When I saw it on, I thought it was a re-run. I think there are more GOP Debates this year than total episodes of "Seinfeld." It ended at 11pm last night (Thursday). So, if anything crazy happened, I may post some of my tweets from the night, by midday Friday. We also had what may be the end of one of our base Constitutional rights, multiple port shutdowns and slowdowns on the West Coast, my point on the climate change debate was illustrated, the Year in Review from Google, and how Newt Gingrich wants to give all the money in the country (maybe even the world), to the top 0.1% of the population. Let's get to it.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) : 

I mentioned the NDAA in last week's post. In short, it gives the government the right to indefinitely detain Americans without trial or due process, if they are suspected of terrorist activities. So, Guantanamo Bay is now open to Americans. I mentioned in last week's "Week In Review" that the White House was threatening to veto the bill. However, like everything else with Obama, he backed off that original stance. As I mentioned in that last post, the veto threat was in place if there was a special carve-out or distinction for U.S Citizens. The wording of the bill was changed to remove that stipulation, so now US citizens can be treated the same as anyone else who is deemed a terrorist. The Guardian (from the UK) did a great job with this. Check out their piece on the NDAA here. And, if you have not heard of this until now, don't blame yourself. There has been what amounts to a media blackout on this topic. It seems that you have to leave the US, to find out what is happening here. I've been using independent/overseas sources to keep up with this story. At the time of posting, the bill awaits Obama's signature. Here's hoping that there will be enough pressure from the outside to force a veto. There are marches planned for the next couple of days to the White House. Many petitions have been circulated online as well. Fingers crossed on this one, but I'm not hopeful.

Don't Forget To Pack Your Earplugs:

The manufacturer of the Long Range Acoustic Device or LRAD has record sales this past fiscal year, it was up 57% from last year. Seems like police departments are loading up. So, if you make your way to a large protest bring earmuffs, ear plugs, cotton balls, BOSE noise canceling headphones and be on the lookout. Silver linings on the US becoming a police state? This company is based in San Diego. So, purchasing LRADs create American jobs!! Hopefully, we can keep protesting our way out of this recession. As an aside, did you know that tear gas is made in Jamestown, Pennsylvania? As I find more of these, I'll pass them on. But, it seems like, you can get any item needed to brutally crush protesters within our borders. USA! USA! USA!

Climate News:

Just on Tuesday, I posted something I written on what I felt was missing from the climate discussion. Check it out here, if you haven't seen it. I'm really proud of it. My main point was that spreading the message to somewhat curtail meat-eating (I know the whole world won't go vegetarian) is seldom mentioned. Just yesterday, an article was published that talked about the dangers of Arctic methane being released in our atmosphere. The article states that thanks to permafrost melting in the Arctic, forecasts of climate change could be 2.5 times worse than the already released estimates. Going back to the meat-eating point, worldwide livestock population causes the emission of 80 million metric tons per year. With that said, it remains absent, as one of the potential solutions, from nearly all the climate change articles I see. I mentioned in Tuesday's post, that methane is 70 times worse than CO2 over a 25 year period. Excluding this fact from the discussion simply makes no sense to me.

How To Come Out Of A Crisis, Nordic Style:

Kudos to Iceland. They are coming out of their banking crisis the way you should. A couple of weeks ago (I just found this out), they arrested the CEO of one of their banks. Imagine that? In the US, about 5,000 people have been arrested for protesting said banks. And, 2 more quick things on Iceland. They deserve a book written about them, not just a post. After their banking collapse, they let the banks fail and expanded their social safety net. The Icelandic economy is showing growth that outpaces the rest of the world. They also have re-written their own constitution. The people of Iceland were able to make massive demands of their government, force resignations, new elections, etc. Since Iceland doesn't have an army, the citizens couldn't be brutalized like here or in Middle Eastern nations. That is the VERY short version of the Iceland story. Give them a look when you have a chance. They even used social media to crowd-source their new constitution, during the drafting process. Amazing stuff.

Port Shutdown Round-Up: 

December 12th saw an attempted shutdown of West Coast shipping ports. The aim was to shine a light on the plight of truck drivers connected with the shipping companies and dock workers working on these ports. Apparently, Goldman Sachs has gotten their hands into the import market as well. The ports are called "Wall Street On The Water." Through deregulation and union bashing, these workers lead a very tough existence. I did not know this, prior to the protest. But, many don't have health insurance. The truck drivers are not employees of the shipping companies. They are technically "independent contractors." Because of that, they pay for their own fuel for the trucks, there is no workman's compensation, very little time off, and other cruel working conditions. The success of the protest was hit and miss up and down the coast. I can tell you they did succeed in raising awareness. I had no idea of any of this prior to the shutdown attempt. Most posts did experience slowdowns. Oakland's port was shutdown for the better part of 24 hours. Seattle's port had long delays and clashes with the cops. Here's a video from the local Seattle news and they look in on a couple of other ports, in this clip.

Republicans Are Coming For It All: 

During the week, Newt Gingrich released his tax plan and, spoiler alert, it proportionately benefits wealthy citizens. I'm still at a loss why anyone votes Republican. Maybe it's an aspirational vote. Maybe they inwardly say, "If I win the lottery tomorrow, this is how I want to be treated." Other than that, I'm stumped. His plan was a complete joke. There are approximately 130,000 people in the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers in the US. With the Gingrich plan, they would have a tax cut of 1.9 million dollars per year. If you assume the Bush tax cuts continue, and add the Gingrich cut, their taxes are lowered by 2.3 million per year. Anyone making $40,000-1,000,000 would pay a higher tax rate than someone with an INCOME (not wealth) of over 1 million dollars per year.

Google's Year In Review:

A fitting way to finish, the Year In Review, just released yesterday from Google. I'm not ashamed to say there were a few tears here at Hub Headquarters. Year in Reviews are my Kryptonite, they always get me. Enjoy and keep the Kleenex nearby.

 See you next time,

James

Your Guide To A Militarized Police Force Edition

Hello to all and thanks for checking in. I’ve been meaning to put together a post to help everyone should you find yourself at a protest. Even if protesting is not your M.O., this might help you sift through the press coverage of some of the occupy protests. I believe we all know which weapons are being used against protesters and roughly what they do. However, I thought it would be helpful to dig a little further. I started to wonder why pepper spray is so horrible? What is in it that makes it so intolerable? How do you treat it? How long do you feel the effects of the spray? Is there any lasting damage?  We’ll also look at “LRAD” devices, tear gas, flash grenades, rubber bullets, bean bags, and some other items currently in use. We’ll also look at when policing went from this (see pic, left) to that (see pic, right). I even found the company supplying the weapons to one of the most brutal police forces (Oakland PD). Let’s start off with the oft-seen weapon these days, pepper spray.

- Pepper Spray:

Pepper spray has been the supporting actor in the current occupy movement, with cops spraying it like its Lysol. It’s also known as “Mace.” But, Mace is actually a registered trademark of Mace Security International. Who knew some of us were calling “pepper spray” by the company name this whole time. It’s like when we were calling In-line skates, Rollerblades (company name). Anyway, the active ingredient in pepper spray is capsaicin, which is a chemical derived from the fruit of plants in the Capsicum genus, including chilis. It is classified as an inflammatory agent. And, pepper spray can cause temporary blindness for 15-30 minutes. It gives the skin a burning sensation and nerve irritation for 45-60 minutes. And, if you’re sprayed, you will be coughing and/or have trouble breathing or speaking for 3-15 minutes, due to uncontrollable upper body spasms.

It’s classified as “non-lethal” by the authorities. But, a Los Angeles times article, reported at least 61 deaths between 1990 and 2005. In addition to all that, it is made in different strengths. The military grade kind should be used at a distance of 15 feet and can take down a bear.  Military grade pepper spray was used (at point blank range) against UC Davis students over the weekend.

What to do if you get sprayed? It seems that you better find a medic and quickly if you’re hit with this stuff. Whole milk seems to be the best treatment of the burning sensation. This can be applied in any way: spray bottle, poured directly on the affected area or onto a towel and then wrapping up the affected area. Getting the oil off your skin is more difficult. You need a mix of 25% Dawn detergent (no joke) and 75% water. And, you’ll  have to wash the affected area about 8 times in a 45 minute span. So, there goes my idea for “protest goggles.” Seems like every body part will have to be covered.
I was going to corner the market with that product. Amorphous Thoughts Inc. would have become a 1 percenter from the profits. We would have paid for the cops to brutally beat down protesters, causing more people to protest, the new protesters would have purchased more of our goggles to be safe, thus continuing a vicious, profitable cycle and flow of money to us (insert my evil laugh here). It was all so perfect. Anyway, let’s move on.

- Tear gas:

Tear gas is the not-so-evil cousin of pepper spray. It is a different chemical mix, compared to pepper spray, but the effects are similar. If hit with the stuff, you’d experience temporary blindness, sneezing, coughing, etc. It is a little easier to treat than the pepper spray, no need to keep a gallon of milk for this one. Your eyes can be flushed with water and saline. Burning skin can be treated with bandages and the standard anti-burn cream.

The big difference with the tear gas (compared to pepper spray), is that it can be shot from a long distance into a crowd. This is done with a high-velocity gun and is extremely dangerous. A few weeks ago (in Oakland again), an Iraq-war vet named Scott Olsen was hit in the head with a tear gas canister. Luckily, he survived the attack. But, as of today, he is not yet able to speak. Details of his story can be read here.

- Rubber bullets:

This one surprised me. Rubber bullets almost sound fun, like you would shoot them at friends when you were a child. But, that could not be further from the truth. In truth, they are metal pieces of ammunition, then covered by rubber. They are also classified as “non-lethal.” However, the impact from getting hit by one of these can lead to bone fractures, injuries to internal organs, or death. In a study of 90 patients in Northern Ireland, one person died, 17 suffered permanent disabilities or deformities, and 41 required hospital treatment. The picture (right) is of the leg of Scott Campbell. He was shot by Oakland police a couple of weeks ago. He was at a safe distance from them, did not provoke them, and even asked if it was a problem to film them. After that, he was shot in the leg, and that is the aftermath. Here is the video of the shooting (40 seconds).

- Bean Bags:

Bean bags are the not-so-evil sister of the rubber bullets. They are also considered “non-lethal.” But, they are, when you look at the numbers. They have caused about a death per year, on average, here in the United States. If you’re hit in the chest by one, it can break your ribs and the broken rib can pierce the heart. A shot to the head, can break your nose, larynx, or skull. And, a shot in the abdominal region can cause internal bleeding. By the way, they are shot from what looks like a 12 gauge shotgun. Damn.

- Sound cannon or “LRAD”:

The sound cannon or “Long Range Acoustic Device” is a weapon we have not seen much of (yet?). They do come in a different sizes. There were reports of a small one being on the scene in New York (right), earlier this month. Now, that LRAD you’re looking at there, is like the Babies R’ Us version of LRADs. Take a look at the video below, it was famously used in the G20 protests in Pittsburgh (2009). They were also used in 2010, during the G20 meetings in Toronto. I promise if you play that clip, it will annoy you. I can not imagine being close to this thing. By the way, it has also been used to keep pirates away of ships in dangerous areas. And, whaling ships use them to keep activists away. You might have seen it used in the show “Whale Wars.” This particular cannon would be from the Big & Tall shop of LRAD devices.



The sounds that emanate from the larger LRADs can permanently damage your hearing. You’re also disoriented in the short run. And, the larger ones can be heard clearly at 1,400 meters (about 4,200 feet or 0.8 miles) away.

- Flash Grenade:

Another “non-lethal” item here. It is used by both cops and military. The standard ones will deliver about 9 loud bangs and blinding flashes. The loud bangs and bright flashes cause you to be disoriented, to the point where you’re almost completely immobilized for about 20 seconds. Your vision is also blurred during this time and your ears are ringing. To top it all off, you’re left with a serious headache afterwards. Here is the flash grenade in use, by our buddies at….you guessed it, the Oakland PD.



- When Did This Begin?

The militarization of the police forces around the US, date back to the start of the war on terror. This piece from the Atlantic, goes into detail about how this begun and how we gradually switched. In addition to all the weapons I mentioned, police forces now have access to high-powered rifles, bazookas, machine guns, and even armored vehicles (like in the Pittsburgh video) for use in domestic police work. It seems there is no turning back.

- Where Can I Get Some of This Stuff?

http://www.defense-technology.com/

Defense Technologies is the group that supplies the Oakland PD. I’m at around 1,500 words, so I didn’t want to dig too deeply into that company. But, check out their site. It’s somewhat surreal to see catalogs for all this stuff. By the way, it doesn’t look like civilians can buy this stuff. So, don’t get any ideas people. We learned today that “non-lethal” means “kinda-lethal.” Safety first.

We’ll leave it there for today. I hope you learned something from this. I feel like we hear the terms but don’t know exactly what these weapons do. And, if you still want to attend a protest, we learned that you should probably have goggles, a football helmet, a gas mask, earplugs, a gallon of milk, saline solution, Dawn detergent, and should probably wear about 12 layers of clothes, just in case a rubber bullet gets shot at you. And, if you’re me, you would bring breath mints as well. (that’s a callback from an earlier post, loyal readers get rewarded!)

Happy rioting,

James