There is an undeniable melancholy to every roadside motel. Innkeeping in the middle of nowhere - usually in a beautiful setting - it is absolutely one of the saddest, loneliest, most thankless gigs in the world…
My cousin Wanda had survived WW2 in Poland, with blue eyes and blonde hair and false papers. She had worked with the Resistance and after the war got her two sisters to an Austrian Displaced Persons Camp. All their huge extended family had been killed in concentration camps. She fell in love with the American captain in charge of the Displaced Persons Camp, and agreed to marry him.
Which meant moving to Brooklyn and learning a new language.
Her son Stephen told me about the first time her husband, Jack drove himself and Wanda to the Catskills, where they were going for a summer Vacation. It was 1948.
As Jack and Wanda got out of New York, and drove into the places that people went to get away from the city in the summer, they passed roadside motel after roadside motel with big signs like that.
Eventually, Wanda said, “So, this Motel, he must be doing very well for himself.”
It’s worse than that. That wasn’t a rubber bullet, that was another tear gas canister–you can see it a few seconds later in the footage when the camera pans over to the advancing cops.
And they shot him in the crotch with it.
If I were feeling charitable I’d say that the cop who fired the shell was aiming for center of mass and miscalculated the distance and hit the guy low.
But I’m not feeling charitable. It’s clear that was a deliberate malicious attack designed to hurt the guy as badly as possible with the weapon at hand. The goal was to cause him pain and intimidate bystanders.
this really is dystopic, isn’t it?
Shout out to the dude who came and helped him up
THIS IS WHY YOU BLACK BLOC. WHEN EVERYONE IS MASKED AND IN ALL BLOC, IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR THE POLICE TO TARGET INDIVIDUALS LIKE THIS
MASK UP, COME IN BLOC, BE PREPARED, YOU. COULD SAVE SOMEONES LIFE
Also get to know your street medics and maybe buy them a drink later. They’ll often be the ones picking you up and making sure you’re good after this shit happens
does anyone know what this graphic says in plain text please thanks
How To Do It: Black Block Tactics
Allow demonstrators to take action without fear of immediate identification. If you choose to wear a mask, wear it right.
Cover Up It is not enough to half cover your face. Even if you get away, the police may use photos or videos to charge you later. Cover your hair, face, arms and hands. Cloth gloves are the best. Take out piercings. Make sure there are no identifying features on your clothes, shoes or backpack. If you bring any materials with you, wipe them down first with rubbing alcohol first to get the prints off. Don’t bring anything you don’t need.
Stay Tight If possible, come to a demonstration with a small group of people you trust. Choose your crew based on shared intentions, not just friendship. You’re here to have each other’s back in the streets and follow up if one of you gets arrested or hurt. Strangers needs to protect each other too. Stay physically close, do not spread out, so that if police try to enter the crowd, you can “accidentally” get in their way. The front of the march might need to slow down while the back catches up. Stay moving, though: a tight, mobile crowd is difficult to surround or disperse.
Plan Your Exit Always wear “civilian clothes” under your hoodie so you can de-bloc and blend in a crowd or smoothly walk away. Keep an eye out for danger zones and escape routes. If things heat up, stay calm and act decisively. Commit to your exit when you decide you’re done. Sometimes you have to sprint and hide; sometimes you just step onto the sidewalk and remove your mask. You can de-bloc in the middle of a friendly crowd if you’re sure you are well-screened.
Keep It Quiet Bragging and storytelling are natural but they are easy to use against us. If you have to talk, choose someone trustworthy who was with you in the streets. Don’t post anything on facebook you wouldn’t show to a cop. Same goes for Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr. Remember the police will read your texts and call-log if they arrest you.
Never, Ever Snitch If arrested, invoke your right to remain silent. Name, address and no more.
For the modern era, she is the definitive Egyptian queen, although she was descended from the Macedonians who ruled Egypt from the time of Alexander the Great. Black basalt, 146 cm tall. Ptolemaic Period, 1st century BC. Photograph: Hermitage Museum/Grimaldi Forum
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
