Look Out Below: UC Berkeley Tree Sitter Falls From Oak

Time for the cops to start evicting these fools. There is nothing endearing about their behavior.

I wonder what else our boy said that didn't make the news. "Hill added that because of this incident, the treesitters believe UC-Berkeley should do the honorable thing and shut down."

the 'hippie' ad hominem attacks are boring. anyone can take orders working the 9-to-5, but it actually takes guts to defy the government. if only the people shouting 'hippie' were not so cowardly, who knows what kind of society we could have.

now get back to work, drone, before your boss looks at you with 'that look'. coward.

My suggestion is to become a Democrat (assuming Democrats are as popular in Berkeley as they are in San Francisco), run for office on UC's Board of Regents(or whatever their governing group is), and pursue your desired outcomes from within. Sitting in trees will get attention for a few seconds, but getting on the Board gives you a chance to make a lasting change.

Regents are appointed by Arnold.

Nate would look cute if he got rid of the oily hair and all the bug eggs from his beard.

Doh! Plan B - seduce a regent. :)

i don't think the kids up there are actual hippies -- merely inspired by the movement's aesthetics rather than their action. if that makes any sense.

Too bad it doesn't snow out here or we could take a busload of school kids out to throw snowballs at the remaining unproductive members of society. All day long. Now that would be productive and useful.

Dear peteractivist: You've completely convinced me. Maybe it was the time and effort you put into thinking up a screen name (you're peter, you're an activist, voila peteractivist, brilliantly simple). Or was it the lucidity of your argument and it's beautifully elegant reasoning. You've achieved what many great thinkers have not, you've boiled down the complexity of modern society into a simple statement of black and white, for or against, friend or enemy. If only there were others who have the courage to think as clearly as you. Oh I can't be fucking bothered anymore. Go man the barricades or whatever you think is going to change the world this week.

Oh, and on the hippie tip: He's doing something completely pointless that involves poor personal hygiene, he's called Nate, he's a ginger. That's three strikes. Smells like a stinky hippy to me.

They're not going to remove the protesters until after the judge rules they can go ahead with construction. The way I imagine it, the ruling will come down, then a fuckton of people will come and try to scale the fences and get arrested. Once the pandemonium has died down, they'll start removing protesters, which will bring in even more people.

Of course, the final result will be more fee increases for me, since the delays and the lawsuit are costing the university big bucks. Thanks, assholes!

Yes, Agent510, but there are a few key differences here. The civil rights protests, Ghandi etc all were about causes that actually matter. They were also lead by charismatic people with real talent. Although the anti war cause is equally important, it has no figurehead with any vision, any alternative or any answers. Absolutely no one with any power fears or respects anyone from the anti war movement (Codepink? What a joke). And more importantly, the 'heartland' is too confused to take a side unless it directly affects them. People stepping up for the cause creates armies of "jugglers against the war". We need an intelligent single voice to rally behind, not an uncoordinated talent show for freaks.

And as for a bunch of Oaks in Berkley. Who gives a fuck? It's just a big party for smelly people. It's what they do.

>proactive, pragmatic method to solving problems than climbing trees and refusing to leave....

ok - that proactive, pragmatic approach would be what, exactly?

of course, i'd argue this is about as pragmatic as you can get - i mean, it's worked so far, hasn't it?

the question is, who's side are you on? big business, or the kids trying to save the trees? the powerful, or the powerless? it's very simple, really. choose sides.

it's nice to carp about this as if it's an isolated event, but this stuff happens all the time, all over the u.s., in towns big and small. if you haven't been personally affected by it yet, you will be. so when Big Corp X decides that that pretty, empty corner lot on your street would be perfect for a high-tech gas station, don't come crying to us about your plight - we tried to tell you so. when walmart come to town, threatening to wreck your cozy downtown business district, don't come crying to us. we don't want to hear it.

> By sitting in a tree for no reason whatsoever?...

if you've never defied the government, you should try it sometime. builds character. and you'll find out very quickly why the 'coward' label is appropriate for you right now, as you battle the forces of evil from the safety of your home office, holding the front line against the hippies with your AK-iMac.

anybody can write abusive comments on a blog, criticizing poor and powerless people. instead, try something brave - walk down to the local IRS office and tell them you're not going to pay taxes for illegal wars any more, and that you're going to encourage everyone you know to do the same.

but you won't do it, will you?

tired of you people benefiting from our sacrifices and hard work. I’d rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a feces bag and stand a post - up in a tree.

> It takes guts to do something someone people actually give a f*** about,...

you're right. nobody cares about this issue. it's not important. i swear.

http://tinyurl.com/yt8dgm

> Saving your feces to throw at police officers is not activism, it's just being a fucktard.

maybe police officers need a taste of their own medicine.

http://tinyurl.com/yta7mk
http://tinyurl.com/yu9jty

> Because I'm the boss and I fucking create things....

I read Atlas Shrugged, too. I didn't know adults still leaned on it to rationalize away their guilt?

You _are_ an adult, aren't you?

> There's nothing shameful about having responsibilities and supporting yourself....

Of course - everyone's got responsibilities. Everyone. If you are truly struggling and can't find a few minutes a day to resist, or can't find ways to resist in your daily life, then do your best to survive. But that's not the case for 99% of us.

> brilliantly simple

i've never been criticized before for my choice of screen name, or the ways in which i might have decided upon it, or even how 'simple' it is. interesting.

> black and white, for or against,

that's pretty much it. you're for peace and justice, or you are not. you are for fairness and equal representation and the rights of individuals to live in peace and not be coerced, or you are not.

particular strategies and remedies don't have to be agreed upon, but the basics are very, very simple. stick up for the rights of every individual. stick up for the powerless, the oppressed, the outgunned, and outnumbered. stick up for the underdog. make that the motto of your life.

and if you don't understand why those kids are using this crazy-ass, time-consuming, dangerous tactic, then why don't you ask them why they're doing it instead of barricading yourself behind your computer screen? i'm sure they're very friendly. why don't you just go talk to them? debate with them - i'm sure they'd be happy to talk with you about it.

if someone had a legitimate argument to make for why those kids should not be in the trees, i'd be open to it. maybe you think that it's a waste of city resources and that they should be doing other things? ok - that argument has some merit to it. i still wouldn't agree with it, but at least i could take it seriously.

going off on the whole 'hippie' tip just means your kidding around (nothing wrong with that), or that you've bought into the propaganda, lock, stock, and barrel.

> friend or enemy.

nah - the term 'enemy' is for the propagandists to use. they try to make us hate each other, when we're a lot closer to hating the propagandists.

> The treesitters, who stand for nothing

i really don't understand this sentiment at all. i mean, really? they don't stand for anything at all? isn't that just a bizarre statement to make?

it's like, someone sits in a tree, and all sane criticism goes out the door. it's like listening to the propagandists tell us why we hate Russia or Iraq or Iran or China or Islam - "Because!".

why can't you people actually think before you type? sure, it might be natural, if you've been living off the hard work of activists your whole life, never having done anything yourself, to think 'wtf?' when you first hear of the treesitter story, but then aren't you supposed to think about it a little bit? you know - do some reasoned analysis? and that goes even if it's 'your' university. one would think we could rely on Cal to provide us some critical thinkers, right?

> The civil rights protestors in the 1950s and 1960s are examples of that. Gandhi is an example of that....

The civil rights protesters used to do these things called 'sit ins'. All _those_ useless hippies used to do was go sit in some coffee shop, taking up spaces from people who actually wanted to and could get served. Those hippie protesters should have gotten jobs, instead. And when they went and got their heads busted open by citizens and cops, _we_ had to pay their hospital bills. How dare they?

> Of course, the final result will be more fee increases for me, since the delays and the lawsuit are costing the university big bucks. Thanks, assholes!...

This, sadly, is one of the most constructive comments I've seen.

So, I think the question then, is, do you really want to pay more in fees? If not, call the University and tell them cut out this nonsense - you want them to keep your fees down, and the quality of education us, not spend university resources battling hippies in trees. The university is eroding enough goodwill in the neighborhood already that when it want to do something important, it won't be able to.

The trees don't have to come down. That's the simple fact.

Tell the school to act like humans and actually work out a compromise with the protesters. Is that really too much to ask of an institution of higher learning? To work out a compromise with a bunch of hippies? Is the great Cal too incompetent to broken such a deal? Or are they just unwilling?

There's no reason everyone can't go away happy.

> We need an intelligent single voice to rally behind,...

Glad you got just what your high school history textbooks taught you - that we need some great leader to come to us to save the day for us, because we're powerless on our own, dontchaknow?

I guess that's another excuse you can use to rationalize away your laziness and cowardice.

Cheers, everyone! Long live the Berkeley trees!

:D