Still Spying on Dissent

still spying on dissent

“If you are reading this, you already know that the FBI has engaged in a pattern of political spying over the course of its 100 year history. And you know that the groups the FBI spies on tend to be civil rights, environmental, and peace activists. You know they treat the Muslim community as inherently suspect, without any factual basis. But most people, and certainly most lawmakers, just aren’t paying attention. So our report meticulously documents the problem, particularly over the past 10 years, and makes the case for serious reforms.”

from the publisher Defending Rights & Dissent

The FBI Has a Long History of Treating Political Dissent as Terrorism – review of report at The Intercept

Surrealistic

san francisco climate strike march

As I marched through San Francisco with at least 8,000 (and possibly as many as 40,000) other marchers on September 20th, I found myself heartened. California is known for its non-judgmental, laid-back attitudes and there would have been more people if the metro area of this size had been elsewhere. The march made three stops along their route: 1) BlackRock; 2) Pacific Gas & Electric; and, 3) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I was carrying a small sign that said ‘Stop Killing the Earth. There is No Planet B’ along with a butterfly kite on top of a bamboo pole. Stopping at the large glass lobby of BlackRock allowed me to push my sign and the butterfly against the window enabling the people inside the lobby gawking at the protesters to plainly see my messaging instrument. I wondered: did even one person inside the lobby that Friday afternoon experience any reflection about the connection between what BlackRock does to make money and killing the earth? I’ll likely never know.