[CTRL] a slice of life
-Caveat Lector- http://sf.indymedia.org/display.php?id=100562#100564 Jim by nessie May 15 2001, Tue, 10:56am Jim Squatter Jim Squatter is an anarchist. He's not a typical anarchist, but then, which of us is? Though not a pacifist, Jim is an avid, ardent peace monger. Mongering peace takes up much of Jim's life as, he would say, it should yours. He would say, too, for he's never one to bite his tongue about something important. On the contrary, Jim is a loudmouth. It makes him a thorn in the side of the state. I met Jim in the early eighties. He occupied abandoned buildings in San Francisco for a living then, which is how he copped the moniker. He wasn't alone in there. There was a regular tribe of them. Jim spent most of his time organizing the others. For American. squatters they had remarkable success, at least for a while. Alas, this isn't Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lima or Berlin. Squatting at all in San Francisco is no piece of cake. Organized squatting, out in the open, and in the cop's face, is a feat to be proud of. It earned him his reputation, some jail time, and not a few bruises. Jim is a pretty good organizer. I'm not sure where he learned how to do it, It probably wasn't in what he calls the Air Farce and for sure it was not in the nut house. Maybe he figured it out on his own. Maybe he's just a natural. He reads a lot, which must be of some help. Mostly, he just listens when other people talk. Jim really cares what you have to say. That's a whole lot of the organizing process, right there. In a meeting, he can be fairly charismatic. Out of a meeting, he's mostly just a guy from the block. That is, unless he's just thought of something you could be doing right now for The Cause. Then he turns on the charm. Jim can be quite charming, when he wants to be. It's very persuasive. Jim is also totally fearless. I lost track of how many times he's been arrested. Twice the SFPD took him out to Golden Gate Park, beat the living bejeezus out of him and left him there bleeding. The Santa Crux cops left him in a paddy wagon out in the sun for a couple of hours once with no water and a face full of mace (on the six o'clock news, no less). Jim doesn't quit. He once went after five skin heads, alone, up on Haight St. Lucky for them, they had a head start. He can cover my back any day of the week, a task I don't trust most folks to be able to handle. Money and secrets are safe in his hands. He's on a very short list, indeed. Indeed, I wish it was longer. Judi Bari driving to Jim's house when the terrorist's nail bomb went off under the front seat, maiming her for life, but not intimidating her in the least. She had just left David Kimnitzer's house, where she had spent the night. Two days earlier, after eighteen years with David, Stephanie Massey left him, and moved in with Jim. She's ten years Jim's senior, has been around more, and is much better educated. As near as I can tell, she's the best thing that ever happened to him. Aside from the education, which never hurts anyone, Stephanie is also just naturally smarter than hell. She knows what she's doing, or else she don't try. She, too, is totally fearless, a feat in itself for some one that short. She too, has a pretty loud mouth. Stephanie bought a house near downtown Oakland in a thoroughly mixed area. The previous owners had been driven out by the crack heads next door. Jim and Step still hadn't unpacked all their stuff when I came by and taped this interview. The crack heads were already making plans to move out. This was not of Jim and Stuffs doing. The crack heads had cooked in their own soup. The whole fed up neighborhood had organized against them before Jim and Step ever showed up. It can be done. You don't need the help of experienced organizers to organize. You can do it yourself. Do it today. That's what Jim would say. It is the truth. I copped a number on the corner. Jim and I blew about half. It tasted to me like Humboldt's finest. Jim thought it was from Mendocino. Half was clearly enough. We closed the front window, so as to be not overheard from the street. It's an old local custom. I flipped on the tape. Nessie: OK, so lets brainstorm this thing a while. Why was Judi at Seeds of Peace house the night before the bomb went off? Squatter: We had a meeting that, uh, we decided there was this series of meetings about one a month I think, maybe even one every two weeks, where we were going up the coast (I think the first one was in Arcata) then we went to . . . the next one was down in Laytonville. At one of these meetings we decided the next meeting was gonna be down in the Bay Area at Seeds house and it'll be pretty much the final, major meeting before the beginning of the whole she bang. Nessie: Redwood Summer? Squatter: Right. We had lots of business, and we y'know . . . this meeting . . . It was publicly known. It wasn't advertised, but anybody that wanted to know could know, pretty much. You come to a meeting and they
[CTRL] A Slice of Life
Note that this is not a relating of isolated situations. When Bill Jeff cites the number of jobs created, I have yet to hear how many have been deleted, and to where the deleted jobs' workers go to find replacement jobs. The key issue is the value of lost jobs and replacement jobs: sure one job may have paid $X but does the next one found compare to the previous one? Why this is key is a possible massaging (never manipulating) the unemployment figures. Hmmm. AER From www.wsws.org WSWS : News Analysis : North America : US Economy US job cuts hit truck manufacturing, banking and Internet companies By Joseph Kay 19 August 2000 Back to screen version The first weeks of August have seen a continuation of corporate downsizing as the US economy continues to show signs of slowing. There was a surge of layoffs in July, when job cuts totaled 63,967, a 17 percent increase over layoffs in July of 1999, and a 370 percent increase over the statistics for June of this year. This trend is affecting a wide range of sectors, from manufacturing to new Internet startups, as corporations move to increase efficiency and maintain profits through layoffs and restructuring. Freightliner, a truck manufacturer owned by DaimlerChrysler, announced this week that it would cut 3,750 jobsalmost 20 percent of its workforceat its plants in the US and Canada. The company anticipates that heavy-duty truck sales will decrease by 25 percent in the next quarter, and cites rising interest rates and high gas prices as reasons for the cuts. Only a day later, on August 15, another manufacturer of trucksNavistar Internationalannounced that it would cut 1,100 white-collar jobs after a fall in earnings. The corporation also referred to high interest rates and gas prices, as well as an oversupply of used trucks, as sources of declining sales. To continue as a strong company, we must continue to deliver strong financial results regardless of market conditions, said Navistar CEO John R. Horne, saying the layoffs were necessary. In other sectors, First Union Bank announced that its layoff projections for the year had risen from 3,500 workers, as announced in June, to 5,291. First Union Corp. is in the midst of a massive restructuring plan involving the shutting down of its home equity loan subsidiary, The Money Store. The layoffs would represent over 7 percent of its workforce, which currently numbers 72,800. Agilent Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of test and measurement equipment, reported that it would cut 650 jobs as part of a restructuring process of its health care unit. The company, a spin-off from Hewlett Packard Co., has been troubled by its health care unit, which has not been profitable. These problems transferred into declining stock value, which has recently sunk to less than a quarter of its 52-week high. In order to improve efficiency, Agilent has also begun moving operations outside of the United States. The news of layoffs was greeted with enthusiasm on Wall Street, with the company's stock rising by more than 5 percent. After a merger with US West Communication Inc., Qwest Communications International Inc. announced that it would lay off between 2,000 and 4,000 workers by the end of the year. The layoffs are part of a general restructuring plan enacted after the $85 billion merger. Dow Corning Corp., maker of silicone- based products, said it plans to cut between 600 and 800 jobs in an effort to increase profitability. As a result of the slowdown of the Internet company stocks, layoffs have been widespread throughout the sector as companies restructure in order to remain competitive. Komozo.com, an Internet company that provides home delivery of various consumer products, will be laying off over 300 workersover 10 percent of its workforce. The company has introduced new technology and cross-trained many of its employees so that they can cover for workers who are laid off. In an attempt to become profitable, medical service provider Healtheon/WebMD Corp. has begun a series of layoffs, reportedly cutting 100 jobs in the first wave, though more layoffs are expected. Other new technology-related layoffs this month include 430 workers at software maker Informix, 18 percent of the workforce at business software maker Infinium Software Inc., 34 employees of Internet company eHobbies, 50 employees of ePods and 170 jobs at NBC's web division. In addition, FedEx Corp. reported that it may eliminate up to 200 jobs in its information technology section. Copyright 1998-2000 World Socialist Web Site All rights reserved AER Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust The libertarian therefore considers one of his prime educational tasks is to spread the demystification and desanctification of the State among its hapless
