John Caner, CEO Downtown [Berkeley] Business Association (DBA)
Again, using euphemisms for their failures. When John uses the phrase, "failed to gain sufficient electoral support," he's softening the blow, purposefully. This is how they operate, everyone. They didn't "lose the election" or even "lost the measure," they, "failed to gain 'sufficient electoral support'"... bullshit. And this "problematic housed behavior" is why I (and others) don't trust you or your organization. It's why we have never trusted you or your type. You throw out all sorts of phony platitudes and other nonsense and everyone is supposed to fall in line?
This is a cultural battle, everyone. No matter the demographic they hire, these are middle-aged, land-owning, land-developing white folks doing the harassment. It's the type who hang out at the Hotel Shattuck, a breeding ground for these type individuals. Think I'm wrong? Think I'm overstating this point? Okay... grab a copy of what I am looking at right now. You can find it at either the downtown Berkeley Public Library or I'm sure you can go to that makeshift hot dog cart, sitting prominently in Constitution Plaza, and ask one of them for it.
Then go to page 6, and look at the photo in the upper-left-hand corner, the one that reads, "The DBA launched the 'New Downtown' at Hotel Shattuck Plaza on April 4th, 2012." Take a good look at the crowd in that shot. Anything stand out to you? What I noticed was, not many "people of color" in that room. Okay, there is one. There is one man, (Strategically positioned?) in the middle of all those white people... so they do have "one black friend" at their Galaveranstaltung.
All the people of color, the ones without means, they do all the heavy lifting; they do all the "dirty work," while those rich white folks from Walnut Creek come in and dictate to us all how we're going to live and what our "quality of life" should be... not.
This isn't the country I grew up being lied to about. This is something else, entirely. Or maybe it was always
this, but there weren't enough Hunter S. Thompsons around to take care
of them all, although HST did a pretty good job in his own right... we
need more of those people to fight this Evil crap.
On pages 4 and 5 you will notice some charts. Take a close look at these charts. They mean absolutely nothing.
Drawing colored lines through percentages and time frames does not make
things true, accurate, or relevant. And, on the left side of page 4,
you can clearly see all sorts of uncorrelated numbers, out-of-context, not saying much. First off, how are we to compare and contrast their numbers, when we have nothing to compare and contrast them to? Anyone can write any statistic they like if they have nothing to compare those statistics to.
They write, "11,990 Bills/Stickers Removed"... yeah, at least they did screw everyone over
equally where that is concerned. People often like to announce certain
events either on the UC Campus or elsewhere, so they post bills (or
'fliers') all over the downtown area. You would think this behavior would be encouraged, in a open and free society of ideas, no? But instead, it is the policy of the DBA to rip down these announcements? Why? What are they frightened of? And, how does the DBA, a conglomerate of small businesses in the downtown area, have any control of what goes up on city poles? I thought they "don't work for the city," I thought... which one is it?
"728 trash cans leveled off"... what?!
They also write, "1,566 Trespassers/Loiterers"... okay, "Trespassers" I get... but, "Loiterers"? There's no such thing in Berkeley. Especially in the "public space," where most of this happens, allegedly.. It's virtually impossible to "loiter" in public space. What they are speaking about is certain people existing in public space; people they deem inferior, "blighted," "detritus," or "other than." This is harassment and is a violation of civil rights, when "enforced," by a "janitor," no less.
And on the right side of page 5 sits the words, "Community Feedback." What is so utterly hilarious about this portion of the report is, out of the six quotes by these supposed entities and individuals, the DBA never does give you or me information about who those folks are who made those alleged statements actually are. Instead, it's, "Merchant," and, "Arts organization," and, "Resident," and, "Business," and, "Visitor," and, finally, "Environmental organization"... um, what? None of these people could put their name to their own words?
This is what I mean, people, about "slippery," "slithery," "bullshit."
Oh, and the word "sparkling" popped up, again, just like back over a year ago, when it was used in the Berkeleyside (The DBA's own personal cheering section and right-wing online publication, again, allegedly.), by a supposed "Resident." Again, the author's name is listed as "Resident," so that could be anyone... could be the same person who used it in the Berkeleyside article a little over a year ago... shocking.
These people (DBA) have zero imagination, and it's not shocking, considering how they've handled us and this situation from the very beginning.
Instead of coming at the poor of Berkeley in a stand-up manner, they
have come at us all sideways, so this is how they will receive their
comeuppance; same fashion.
Even though I have no issues tearing all these Lies apart, this doesn't mean I am targeting the employees themselves. I will not do
that. They are locals who live in the Bay Area and are not part of
this overall plan of the changing of a political landscape or ideologies
of Berkeley, California. Sure, they do contribute to it, just by working for them, but they are not the cause of it, even though do they keep it alive.
So, be my guest, come to the Berkeley Public Library, or the makeshift hot dog kiosk in Constitution Plaza, and get an "annual report" for yourself, and see what I mean. Even if you believe I always throw too much rhetoric on the fire... even if you believe I go way past that proverbial line, you still can't get around how vanilla and generic this report is! It's an obvious tap dance. It's bullshit, squared.
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