Tag Archives: Pensacola

Occupy Pensacola Gets A Scolding

Here’s a real hoot. The Occupy Pensacola bunch has been misbehaving. Not only that, but they have been sort of out-of-joint where another ‘group’ that offered them some help is concerned. Mr. Berachot Levine, the Director of Government Affairs for a group called The Arm of Justice (AOJ) sent this email (below) to the Occupy Pensacola folks.

I can’t verify that this AOJ group is anything more than a single person. All I could come up with using google is a blog run by Mr. Levine. But, it’s amusing nonetheless.

H/T to RicksBlog for posting it.

November 23, 2011, 10:57 AM EST

To the Membership, “Leadership” Facilitators, Legal Counsel, and Chaplain/Safety Officer of Occupy Pensacola:

My name is Berachot Levine and I am with The Arm of Justice (AOJ), which is basically a group of people from all walks of life and various religious backgrounds (including atheists and agnostics), whose common desire is to see that justice and truth are brought forth. Wade Demers was the original Executive Director of The Arm of Justice, and he is now the Director Emeritus. Wade and his wife Patti had gone to Florida to get some rest from the intense persecution they had been receiving in another state when they happened to come upon Occupy Pensacola. Because of our years of association, Wade contacted us here at The Arm of Justice, so that we could possibly be of help to your cause. I am nearly 70 years old, and am currently located in the State of Rhode Island.

I’ve been apprised of everything that’s been going on regarding situations with Occupy Pensacola and interactions with Wade & Patti Demers. For nearly 30 years I have known these people. You may be surprised at the knowledge of detail at which we (AOJ) keep track of Wade & Patti’s activities; their lives are in danger from corporate America, the government, and organized religion…ironically, the very organizations you people claim to oppose.

Because of who they are and what they do, and their surviving the onslaught of enemies that go all the way back to Washington, D.C., the Demerses have acquired invaluable experiential wisdom that you have not recognized and have squandered and ignored.

You have effectively thwarted my and The Arm of Justice’s efforts to aid you in your cause, because of your actions and inactions and lack of having/using proper wisdom:

1. You have lost the moral high ground with the general public and numbers of those in the city administration who were sympathetic;
2. You have fallen for various “baits” put out by the opposition, and in doing so, have compromised and weakened your position;
3. You have failed to fully comprehend the use of guile, patronizing, and other deceptions by the mayor and the city administration;
4. You have not listened nor paid attention to the voice of reason from those two elder experienced ones sent among you;
5. Your timing of actions and inactions has played into the hands of your opposition, to your detriment;
6. You have neutralized the advantage and effectiveness of those two who had been acting as my eyes and ears among you;
7. You have failed to make certain tactical moves, provisions, and positions in substance, time and space.
8. You have failed to cultivate moral law and discipline.
9. You have refused to listen to wisdom addressing your sorely lacking ability to effectively and peaceably communicate with each other, the media, and city administration. You have refused to listen to wisdom addressing the pathway which would lead to defining and coalescing your disjointed and unclear goals into easily understood objectives spoken with one voice. These two points are causing you to be misunderstood, maligned, and discounted, producing results that are counterproductive and diametrically opposed to your goals.

Ironically, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, which the young marine introduced to your group recently, was shared with me by Wade over 30 years ago, after I had first met him through business association…and it is quite disheartening how many of those principles you are violating, resulting in your present weakened condition.
We here at The Arm of Justice had hoped that our objective third-party observation from a distance would cause your opposition to be more inclined to act and interact with you in good faith. Your actions/inactions with Wade & Patti have caused us at The Arm of Justice, at this point, to disengage our support.

Your failure to address the various insults, rudeness, and even threats against Wade & Patti by your group, quite frankly seems bizarre. Your behavior, and especially the behavior of those in leadership, has caused us to disrespect your individual and separate motives. I do feel I have erred by temporarily associating The Arm of Justice with your movement in Pensacola, and have damaged our reputation.

I stand disappointed as spokesman for The Arm of Justice,
Berachot Levine

P.S. In response to receiving a copy of my email of Nov. 19, 2011 to Mayor Ashton Hayward (see copy of text below), I was contacted via email by a television network executive, asking if we/I wanted to do a show or a series of shows bringing more light on to the subject matter contained in that email, which, of course, would have raised the public’s awareness, sympathy, and support for your cause. Of course, now, because of your collective and individual behaviors, that is moot.

P.P.S. It is sad that you were all, by and large, unable to perceive the wisdom, guidance, direction, and timing of same that Wade & Patti were bringing to you to help you…and of course, that would have helped us, The Arm of Justice, to help you.

Your challenges are the same as those faced by the Occupy Movement throughout the United States. Listening might have put you in the forefront of attaining both understanding and support of the public opinion, as well as, perhaps, real victory.

Though I feel sorry for your present plight and condition, I wish you well—hang in…try to learn…try to articulate…try to unite…perhaps someone will hear.

Is Occupy Pensacola Here To Stay?

The Occupy Pensacola bunch have shown, among other things, that their word is worth nothing. They have now violated their ‘agreement‘ with Pensacola’s Mayor Hayward by three days. What remains to be seen now is whether the mayor is willing to continue to deal with the dishonest entity called Occupy Pensacola or simply move them out.

occupy-pcola-10Speaking to some of the folks there today, they’re not planning on moving any where any time soon. Noble as their cause may be (and it depends on who you ask as to just what their cause is), they are staying put until they fix all that’s wrong in the world. I found some of them to be free-spirited, believing they are doing something good, some totally naive regarding work, responsibility, and wealth, and some were just homeless that came to live there.

If there is a common thread in their ‘complaint,’ it is centered around money and wealth. They want some of it and they resent the fact that Washington (both political parties) isn’t taking if from those that have it and giving it to them.

occupy-pcola-5

Dixie Meise, Safety / First Aid, Occupy Pensacola

What it means to Dixie Meise, the ‘safety and first aid’ person in camp, is that the homeless all need a place to call home. And they expect to stay there until homelessness is ended. How’s that War on Poverty working anyways?

Dixie estimates about 50-60 percent of those present were homeless people. There were many empty tents, apparently belonging to people who have jobs during the day, then return to camp to spend the night.

Calls to Mayor Hayward’s office and an email to ATU (Amalgamated Transit Union) president Mike Lowrey as to the future of Occupy Pensacola and the labor union’s support of them have so far gone un-answered.

‘Occupy Filthy’ – Go Home

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter says the Occupy Philly crowd needs to occupy somewhere else. Else, he’s calling the cops.

Nothing against drum circles, but the 40-day urban camping session, which has already cost taxpayers more than $500,000 in police overtime and other expenses, is now threatening to derail a $50 million revitalization project at Dilworth Plaza. That’s nearly 1,000 jobs that would put food on the table of the “99 percent” that Occupy Philly claims to represent.

Link: Occupy Filthy: Weary city tells protesters out

Obama’s Jobs Act And The Left’s World View

If you want to know why the U.S. economy and jobs picture still sucks, all you need to do is examine the world where the political Left lives. Take this video clip of The ED Show on the Lean Forward (Bend Over) Network for example. The subject is about President Obama’s bus tour trying to push his Jobs Act, aka the class-warfare-tax-increase-labor-union-bail-out bill.

There is one undeniable fact where the first two years of the Obama administration is concerned. Whether by hook or by crook, Obama got everything he wanted. He got the un-Affordable Health Care Act, he got his so-called stimulus bills, he got his auto industry and Wall Street, the mortgage industry, student loan industry. The bail outs, all of them. And most behind closed doors without any input from the ‘other side of the aisle.’

In this video, ‘Democratic Strategist’ Krystal Ball does her best to deny all of it in what has become the Democrats’ narrative.

The republicans have been coming up with the narrative that the President got everything he wanted in the first two years he had a Democratic congress, he had a Democratic Senate so of course he got everything he wanted, when the reality was Republicans from day one said we will defeat this president and they did everything they could to obstruct progress, to obstruct the focus on jobs, to obstruct doing anything that would help the American people.

Since Republicans were not successful in stopping any of it, her point is . . .?

Then there’s this gem from Mr. Pro-Capitalism himself Mike Papantonio, host of the Ring of Fire talk radio show and frequent guest of Sargent Shultz’s show.

Shultz asks Papantonio about taxing the millionaires and billionaires. “What about the millionaires? Do you think the majority of wealthy people in this country would be OK with .5 percent over a million dollars?”

They do. I don’t think they have problems with it Ed because most millionaires understand, they believe in capitalism. And in order for capitalism to work, you have to put money into the system. You have to move it by uh uh if you move it by way of government into people’s hands, that works!

When the Left has their own version of reality and their own definition of capitalism, is it any wonder why Obama’s ‘economic recovery’ has been a dismal failure?

Sheriff’s FUNdraiser Was A Blast

Had a blast, literally, at the Blackwater Tactical Range today. Sheriff David Morgan’s “Out-Shoot The Sheriff” fundraiser proved to be all I thought it would be. FUN!

The challenge was to hit 10 steel plates in the least amount of time. I didn’t out-shoot him. In fact, nobody did. So the guy who came closest won the t-shirt.

This is Sheriff (top shot) Morgan hitting 8 out of 10 in 19 seconds.

He said there was going to be a machine gun demonstration, and there was. I didn’t pass up the chance to fire an M60 machine gun, and a Thompson sub-machine gun. Shot a lot of dirt, made a lot of noise. Would have made ‘Tim the toolman’ proud.

And as an added bonus, there was a little explosion demonstration. If you’ve seen the TV show Top Shot, you’ve seen exploding targets. An instructor hit a can containing some explosive material with one shot. Boom!

It was a unique fundraiser for an elected office. One I couldn’t pass up. If you didn’t have a weapon, eye and ear protection of your own, they were provided. There was just as many women shooters there as there were men. A few women shot the machine guns too!

Thanks to our veterans, active duty military, and our Constitution, I could fire one of those without my life having to depend on it like our brave men and women in the military have to do every day of the week in war zones far away from home.

And thanks to Sheriff David Morgan for hosting the event. A great time was had by all.

 

Occupy Pensacola, Vandalism

Graffiti on the wall of the Sun Trust building in downtown Pensacola is the first evidence that the peaceful protest is turning the corner into something less so.

Credit to RicksBlog for bringing the first signs of protest vandalism to our attention. No one has claimed credit for it yet, but I agree that this was the work of the Occupy Pensacola crowd camping out at City Hall.

Not counting the increase cost of law enforcement put upon taxpayers to babysit them, should we consider ourselves lucky that damages for the graffiti only total $2,000? Since there are arrests and rioting elsewhere in the United States, I guess we should.

But keep in mind, they are new at this. With a little help from labor unions, I’m sure they can be even more destructive to public and private property. It is what BIG LABOR wants.

Stephen Lerner , on the International Executive Board of the 2.2 million member Service Employees International Union, SEIU, said . . .

There’s moments in history where people take action and do something heroic. Where we do something heroic. Where we take risks.

If we are really serious about movement building then we think one part is we have to act heroically. That we have to inspire people by our actions and we have to be willing to take incredible personal and collective risks.

And that’s the time and there’s moments where history shifts and we’re going to decide if it shifts.

The protesters have a list of things they want you to contribute to sustain the encampment that they can’t sustain on their own.

Pensacola News Journal columnist Troy Moon wrote that these protesters are not unlike your neighbor. Just regular people. If they are like my neighbors, they would gladly pay for the damages that their kids created. So if you are inclined to send monetary support to this group, be sure to designate that it is to cover the damage and to reimburse the city, not to buy cans of spray paint. And Troy could write about how responsible your neighbors are.

 

Occupy Everything, What’s Their Goal?

When you think about the Organizing Everything protests and Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, and Barack Obama, do you ever think of the SEIU? Maybe most people would just think that the administration would do anything, like endorsing these protesters, to draw the focus away from their failed policies and onto the bogeyman, Wall Street.

Despite all attempts from the Left to legitimize these Marxist mobs by comparing protesting-corporate-greedthem to Tea Party rallies, these two videos will, all on their own, show them for what they are. Anti-capitalists, socialists, and then some.

First up is radical labor organizer Stephen Lerner, serving on the International Executive Board of the 2.2 million member Service Employees International Union, SEIU. He intends to take it to the next level and terrorize the families of bank executives in their homes as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Stephen Lerner . . .

There’s moments in history where people take action and do something heroic. Where we do something heroic. Where we take risks.

If we are really serious about movement building then we think one part is we have to act heroically. That we have to inspire people by our actions and we have to be willing to take incredible personal and collective risks.

And that’s the time and there’s moments where history shifts and we’re going to decide if it shifts.

And this one is an interview with one of the organizers of the Occupy Wall Street group. She says up-front exactly what they’re all about. Anti-capitalism, anti-corporation.

Now this third video just shows that some pundits on the Left, like talk show host Mike Papantonio, are a little out of step with the movement. Doing what lawyers do, progressive Papantonio says capitalism is great! Ed Shultz was speechless. Papantonio starts at 3:50 into the video.

However, the title of his video, Now’s The Time to Get Mad and Do Something, is right in tune with Stephen Lerner. Looks like he is inciting some front yard action himself. He does go on to whine about something local. The ATU / ECAT dispute. The union is the victim. They want to be exempt from the Obama depression. Oh well. He says they are being attacked by a foreign corporation that operates the bus transportation for Escambia County. The AFL-CIO affiliate is considering a second strike on the backs of the poor.

Papantonio And Other Bigots

Ring of Fire radio host Mike Papantonio is still calling the ‘Tea Party’ and the ‘Republican Party’ a bunch of racists. According to this video, Rick Outzen and Chauncey DeVega agree.

Mike Papantonio . . .

It’s the Republican Tea Party, it’s the same people. They’re interchangeable. . . . They are the Republican Party.

What we have here is the Left’s continuing and tired accusation of racism. Well, that and three guys living in their own bubble somewhere.

Maybe someone will show these three bigots this article. Proof? that the tea party people are racists. Not only are they racists, but according to Papantonio, ‘they are insane.’

Link: Are they racists? Lets see.

Lunch With Otis

My annual trek down to the seafood festival yesterday turned out to be something else. I met Otis.

Otis was walking away from the festival and I was walking to it. From a distance, I could see that this guy has something going on. I mean, aside from the bright red hat and umbrella. Curiosity getting the best of me, I had to stop and talk to him.

He let me take his picture then we talked. Knowing that I wanted to use his picture in my blog, I wanted to get his name right. And having nothing to write on or with, I pulled out my wizbang iPhone and recorded his name in the voice recorder. What followed was not what I expected.

Turns out he was just looking around. Asked if he had any of the seafood there he said no, he didn’t have any money. Upon which I instituted my own stimulus program. He accepted my offer to buy him lunch. He had calamari for the first time, some crawfish pie, and an adult beverage in a can. I ate the same, except for the beer. I’m not a big beer drinker.

I didn’t talk about politics with him, on purpose. We seemed to enjoy each others company and I didn’t want to do something that might have spoiled that chance encounter. I mean, it just didn’t seem the time or place to discuss liberal v conservative politics, or to point out that people like President Obama think that I hate black people and poor people because I consider myself allied with the tea party movement.

Lunch with Otis audio

Transcript:

  • Ross: Otis Womak, works at the Coffee Cup restaurant. Are you a cook?
  • Otis: A dish washer.
  • Ross: A dish washer, oh, outstanding.
  • Otis: I was dishes. I {unintelligible) work there for six and a half years. I came over to see my momma and daddy in the nursing home. So I ran down here to some, ya know ….
  • Ross: Get a little seafood?
  • Otis: Yeah. No I didn’t get no seafood I had no money.
  • Ross: Oh man.
  • Otis: I’m broke, today. So I go over there (unintelligible)
  • Ross: Ya wanna go eat some seafood?
  • Otis: Huh!
  • Ross: Come on with me.

It all worked out just fine. I’m satisfied in knowing that we both had a good meal and some fellowship from complete strangers. I gave him a ride home and called it a day.

ECAT Working Conditions, Worst In 16 Years

The raised fist (also known as the clenched fist) is a salute and logo most often used by left-wing activists, such as: Marxists, anarchists, socialists, communists, pacifists, trade unionists, the SEIU, and black nationalists.

Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) bus drivers are on strike. Thyrie Bland at the Pensacola News Journal writes ECAT drivers on strike, Wage issue halts public transit for thousands.

The human aspect of the bus drivers going on strike is inescapable. Their riders are their customers. They are people who don’t have personal transportation and that includes the working poor. They also include physically handicapped folk like Mr. Freeman. Regardless, these are folks that need to get to their jobs so they can put food on the table and pay their bills, get to the store or the doctor.

Being responsible for creating a hardship on those with no alternative transportation is unconscionable. But is also standard fare for organized labor negotiating tactics. A lesson about labor unions and liberals in general is that they are liberals first, they are union first, and you are not on their list.

I bet these riders vote. And I also bet that they will remember who it was that caused them to miss work. It was a government labor union member who has a full-time job making from $12-16 an hour.

According to Michael Lowery, president of Local 1395 . . .

The employees have gone over 1,000 days without a raise, and working conditions are the worst I’ve seen in 16 years.

No raise in a couple of years huh? How does it feel (government labor union member) to be more like your neighbors? The ones that still have a job. Surprise! It happens in the private sector too! That’s life in the big city. The article brings to question a dispute of one half on one percent. If there’s a half of a percent in dispute in the current contract, then ‘work’ it out.

Working conditions? What working conditions? With all due respect to the drivers, you drive a bus.

Worst working conditions in 16 years? Which begs the question, when the head of my local labor union says that my working conditions are the worst that they’ve been in 16 years, just what am I paying my dues for?

Here’s an idea . . .