This morning the University put up a fence around part of the oak grove by Memorial Stadium where the protestors had taken up residence in trees. Official University statement here. All over campus was chalking advertising a rally at the oak grove at 5 today, so I went to check it out.

As I approached, I heard chants of “Food and Water” as people shook the chain fence around the oaks. The people on the ground outside were trying to send food and water up ropes to the tree sitters, who refused to leave.

After some food was pulled up to the people in the trees, the UCPD began stopping the shipments. They cut one of the ropes that was being used to transfer the food. Every time people on the ground could get something up to the people in the trees, there were cheers. When they failed, there were all kinds of insults thrown at the UCPD. People were also throwing food bars directly into the hippie’s platform on the trees. The Cal Band was playing on the field not too far away. It was a great experience, watching the events unfold with Cal songs in the background.

At one point a protestor on the ground ran from the police into the traffic on Piedmont. I don’t know what caused that, but the protestors decided to have a little sit in and stop the northbound traffic while they were there.

When my camera was running low on battery life and memory space, I decided to go home. On my way out I did see one interesting thing someone put on one of the cars that looked like it belonged to the protestors, a job application.

I don’t know if the hippies will leave or otherwise be forced out of their trees soon, but it will not be soon enough.

The first Patriot of the school year is now online. It you don’t want to read it here, pick up a copy on Sproul. While it is not as funny as Squelch, it is the best full color magazine on campus.

News articles of note include Robert Nathan Eberhart’s reporting on Christian employees in Oakland being prevented from advertising a group, Matthew Vasquez’s article on Berkeley’s new laws that could curtail the homeless presence, and Christopher Page following the Berkeley Unified School District’s reluctance to turn over student contact information to the federal government. There are also opinion pieces. The front and back covers are fun to look at.

As always the California Patriot is printed on 100 percent non-recyclable, non-biodegradable paper, manufactured from virgin rainforest trees.

Today the Daily Cal ran an interview with ASUC President Van Nguyen. It is nothing ground breaking, but it is what Van wants to get done through his office. The goal I liked is restoring students’ trust in the ASUC. Van starts out the year without the taint of 2006’s summer ASUC election fiasco. Also his party CalSERVE has been able to capitalize on student’s frustration with Student Action, which controlled the ASUC executive offices for the last few years.

While it is not one of his stated goals, just a year ago he ran for senate as Van ‘Repeal Prop. 209’ Nguyen. We will see what happens in the next few months.

Our ASUC President at Calapalooza next to our other President.

For more specific commentary, check out Beetle.

On the same vein as my previous posts, “Your Black Muslim Bakery” has been the subject of investigation. Via Michelle Malkin, the establishment is bankrupt and apparently owing quite a bit of money.

According to court documents and public records, Your Black Muslim Bakery owes about $200,000 to the IRS; $100,000 to a creditor, Richard Stovall; and $11,000 to another creditor, Patricia Hill. In 2005, the bakery borrowed $625,000 from an Oakland mortgage company, Davis Mortgage Investment Fund.
The bakery did not file W-2 forms to the IRS in 2005 or 2006, and other filings showed discrepancies in wages paid to employees, Patricia Montero, an IRS attorney, told the judge Thursday.

Barbara Lee rescinds support:

“At the request of representatives of Your Black Muslim Bakery, my office provided a letter to a federal agency related to the bankruptcy,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said in a statement issued Thursday. “Like many people, I historically supported the bakery because it has been an important institution in the community, but it is clear that is no longer the case. Knowing what we know now, we would not have provided such support, and we are reviewing our casework intake process in an effort to avoid any such circumstance in the future,” Lee said.

What Lee and others’ “support” constituted (from LGF):

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland found themselves in the unwelcome spotlight this week over the letters of support they wrote on behalf of the notorious Your Black Muslim Bakery, but they aren’t the only politicos who have supported the group over the years.

At the height of its power back in 1996, the splinter Muslim group - whose members were implicated in last week’s slaying of newspaper editor Chauncey Bailey - got the city to approve an advance on a $1.2 million federal redevelopment loan to launch training program for health care jobs. Within three months, the group had burned through $275,000 without turning out a single graduate.

They did, however, spend $650 a month to lease a Cadillac.

When asked to explain what was going on, the Black Muslim Bakery cadre - in one of their typical tactics - marched in unison from the bakery to City Hall, then entered the council chambers like a precision drill team, lining up along the room’s back walls.

“The message was very clear - we are watching you,” said City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who cast one of the votes against the group’s request.

Sorry for all the blockquoting, but it’s better if I don’t introduce typos in trying to transfer all this information. My elementary analysis is that this is indicative of corruption in Oakland. If police had to wait on a year-long investigation when this sort of information was readily available, they don’t have enough resources (this is a given). The result of this being a murder after so much other legal trouble surrounding the bakery shows that there isn’t enough enforcement, or the consequences aren’t severe enough. And that the officials don’t think to research the diverse groups they support (or just don’t care) shows that their priorities are off. The waste of so much money (from the taxpayers) is lamentable seeing as it should go towards law enforcement so that ordinary people who pay it can be safe from this sort of preventable violence.

(caveat: most of this is blindingly obvious. Apologies.)

From The San Francisco Chronicle, the City of San Francisco will not be holding its traditional Halloween party in Castro or any other part of town. Plans to hold a concert near AT&T Park recently fell through when the promoter pulled out. After the shooting of nine people at the Castro street event last year, things are being done to stop any party there. From the Chronicle story:

To quell the Castro event, which draws several hundred thousand people, no roads will be closed, no barriers will be erected and no portable bathrooms will be set up, Dufty said. Police will be out in numbers akin to last Halloween, but they will be patrolling with “zero tolerance” for anyone breaking the law, he said.

It is unfortunate there will be no big Halloween event in San Francisco. It was a tradition for large numbers of students to visit Castro for the Mardi Gras style event. Now, none of the incoming freshman will have the chance to go to the party on the 31st with a cross-dressing RA who buys them alcohol.

I have heard the Castro party has become crazier and more out of control in recent years. As I only went there in 2004 and 2005, I can’t compare it to earlier times, but what I saw was on the verge of a braking point. It was a time for the aggressive and troublemaking elements of the city to come out and play. As a result, the event was taken away for a lack of responsible attendance and management.

As Amaris pointed out, the Los Angeles Times ran a story today that profiled two people in adverse political environments. One was our own James Fullmer, a Republican in Berkeley, the other Jacqueline Bujanda a Democrat in Garden City, Kansas.

Fullmer has been the California Patriot’s Managing Editor for the past two years and was the External Vice President of the Berkeley College Republicans for a year. While Fullmer has been very active, the resistance he encountered has been experienced by many other conservatives as well. I have received more dirty looks then I can remember. In the picture on the right James is setting up for an event to celebrate Ronald Reagan.

From the Times:

“It makes the other side defend their own turf, which means the less opportunity they have to go after yours,” said Dan Schnur, a UC Berkeley political science professor who was a spokesman under Republican Gov. Pete Wilson of California. “It can also be motivating for your supporters in other places.”

Both Bujanda and Fullmer see signs of a better future. Several leading Kansas Republicans, including the former chair of the state GOP, have switched political affiliation to become Democrats since 2004, signaling a possible sea change in state politics. And with Democratic groups splintering, the Berkeley College Republicans have established themselves as the largest political club on a campus long known for its razor-edged radical liberalism.

In Kansas, Bujanda has encountered similar resistance for being in the political minority.

Rural Kansas businesses are boycotted for Democratic sympathies. At one county clerk’s office, workers stared dumbfounded when Bujanda introduced herself as the new Democratic regional field coordinator. “There was total silence,” she recalled, “as if what I was doing was just an unheard-of thing.”

Intolerance of opposing political viewpoints goes both ways. At least Republicans don’t trumpet themselves as accepting and tolerant of everyone.

Even though the action against the marijuana dispensaries happened last week, there is a legal side I have not seen covered enough. (I also want to know if Mickey is around and will comment on this.)

The use of pot is popular in Berkeley. It is accepted, encouraged, and practiced by many people. Then there are those pesky federal laws. From The Oakland Tribune:

The Berkeley Patient Group was notified Monday that its bank account was frozen by the Los Angeles Police Department during a joint operation with the Drug Enforcement Agency. The operation targeted about 10 dispensaries in Los Angeles, including the California Patients Group, a sister organization to the Berkeley-based business.

The assets of the drug dealers were frozen. They are crying foul because they were in compliance with local and state laws. The federal law was not on their side. More from the Tribune:

The Berkeley Patients Group serves more than 5,000 medical marijuana clients in Berkeley and Oakland. It is one of three legalized dispensaries in the city and also provides community services such as a hospice and free delivery of organic fruit and vegetables to hospice clients.

City Council member Kriss Worthington said the city should do all it can to protect the group and the two other dispensaries now operating in the city.

Since there are conflicting authorities claiming the same power, which entity of the government (or no part of it at all) has the authority to set policy on drugs? When the federal government and the City of Berkeley are in conflict, my policy is to favor the federal government until compelled otherwise. However, I missed the part in the Constitution about Congress making drug laws.

If the laws are important enough to be on the books at the federal level, they are important enough to be enforced. If they are enforced, they can be challenged legally. If they are struck down, maybe similar unconstitutional bills can be stopped before they become law.

Medicine or Mischief?
I don’t know anyone who uses marijuana for medical reasons. All the people I know who use it do so for recreational purposes. There are also people who claim a medical reason for marijuana without the need. Lets not forget this report from the Patriot and the accompanying flyer.

Eight murders in four days ocurred in Oakland, including that of reporter Chauncey Bailey who was killed on Thursday, were reported by Fox Newschannel tonight. Two died on friday outside a nightclub, three on saturday evening, one early this morning, all apparently unrelated. Residents interviewed cited neighborhood security, drug and alcohol related issues, and “neighbors not knowing each other” as reasons for violence and concern.

Further information regarding Bailey’s shooting: the raid of Your Black Muslim bakery netted the arrest of seven people in connection with Bailey’s shooting and “other violent crimes” according to SFGate News:

Authorities on Saturday said they believe the gunman was Devaughndre Broussard, who was booked on murder charges and worked as a handyman for the group. Other suspects have been booked on charges including murder, kidnapping and assault, police said, but the only one named so far is the CEO, Yusuf Bey IV.

Also:

Assistant Police Chief Howard Jordan said the raids were part of a yearlong investigation into a variety of violent crimes, including two homicides this year and a kidnapping and torture case.

This group has claimed to have “played a positive role in Oakland’s black community”.

It came out yesterday that a veteran Oakland Post reporter Chauncy Bailey was fatally shot by a “masked gunman” in broad daylight in Oakland. From the NBC website:

Holmgren said the 58-year-old journalist was shot multiple times in the 250 block of 14th Street near Alice Street, which is near a large post office on 13th Street and a McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and Jackson streets. Holmgren said witnesses told police that a lone gunman dressed in black clothing and black headgear approached Bailey, shot him multiple times and then fled on foot. Holmgren said he has no initial explanation for the motive of the shooting and no initial knowledge of any threats that had been made against Bailey.

and also:

Holmgren said he knew Bailey because Bailey covered Oakland City Hall as well as police matters and described Bailey as “a very assertive person who spoke his mind and addressed controversial topics.

While the info is still new, the police are saying it looks like a targeted killing. Furthermore, I noticed more this morning here:

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say more than a dozen people were detained early this morning in Oakland as the result of a yearlong police investigation. Just what exactly was being investigated has not been detailed. One of the four locations that was raided by authorities was the often-troubled Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland. (…) Also, longtime Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey was reportedly researching an investigative piece into Your Black Muslim Bakery before he was shot and killed just yesterday morning.

The late founder of the bakery, Ysuf Bey, was of some interest to the law, and his sons were identified as those who vandalized liquor stores in oakland (which I have linked to before but can’t find it at the moment). Here is the bakery’s URL: http://www.ybmb.com/ , go check it out.

Police weren’t clarifying whether the raid was part of the Bailey investigation, but we’ll see where it goes.