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VIDEO about Direct ActionIndigenousLabourMediaMigrationPeace/WarPolice/PrisonsPovertySolidarity posted on July 1, 2010 by stimulator
The Revolution is NOW!
subMedia.TV's final report from the G20 rebellions in three parts
1.Who are we? "Justice for our communities" action on June 25th.
2. Go forth o pioneers. the stimulator goes inside the riot that caused much damage to the corporate elites and embarrassed the security establishment on saturday June 26 in Toronto 
3.We started the riot. Debunking the "agent provocateur" and "the cops let it happen" conspiracy theories. Kristian Williams an expert on police tactics during mass demonstrations speaks about the state's monopoly of power.
Catch the news as it breaks: follow the VMC on Twitter.
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Comments
Love the stim.
Love the stim.
stupid
Who ever made this stands for nothing ----anti this anti that---- smashing windows ...wow. If you want to build a movement present a point of view which might appeal to the open minded in society. The last thing I'm looking for is a bunch of mindless followers who want to smash shit. If this is indy media I'll take a pass. How about some information and some alternatives.
"The tree of liberty must be
"The tree of liberty must be nourished with the blood of Patriots and Tyrannts." smashing shit is juvenile, but it's pressure relieving as well... those who smash for fun are anarchists, those who can organize a well planned revolt are Patriots. Fighting against the system sometimes involves pointless violence to catch the attention of those who's only concern is profit.
When faced with a Govt who pampers corporations and denies civil rights to citizens, one must act or become part of the landscape. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." But this is only my opinion, I can't speak from experience, but observation only. To act alone makes you a terrorist, to group together makes you activists.
missing pieces
Stimulator,
Nice vid. I think that the overall argument that the black bloc is uncontrollable is a worthwhile one to make, and has truth to it.
But I think that the way you've presented it leaves out a few essential elements to understanding how these things work.
It's not really disputed that there are undercover agents of various kinds at demos like these. You exposed a bunch on one of your previous vids, and the undercovers in Montebello (who were exposed by other black bloc folks) had rocks in their hands and were trying to incite a conflagration. There's a video of some blocked-up undercovers in Pittsburgh that's pretty conclusive as well. There's the interview with a cop where the cop says that they were ordered to stay put and not engage.
As for what this actually means in terms of who torched the cop cars, I don't think anyone has much of a sense, because of the anonymity of the black bloc tactic. It's conceivable that part of it was done by undercovers, and it's conceivable that they had nothing to do with it. The closest we could come to being certain is if some affinity group posted a communiqué taking credit for it, or on the other hand, if the cops admitted to something. Neither is likely to happen, so the question of who did what is pretty inconclusive.
The argument Klein made was different from Rebick's. She said that they "let those cop cars burn" while sending out press statements to justify their security budget. Setting aside whether they burned their own cars, the evidence is conclusive that the police attempted to use the destruction to justify their actions. Their actions included attacks on organizers, and some intense intimidation tactics, and spending a billion bucks.
There is another missing piece. While the black bloc is effective at being uncontrollable and causing chaos and some minor damage to corporations, it's been established that the way the media portrays it results in people reacting to the protests as a whole in a negative way. Regardless of the intended use of the tactic, its results are used by police to justify some gruesome shit that would normally turn public opinion decisively against them in a high profile setting.
What meaning do we draw from these facts? Again, to me they are inconclusive. Whether public opinion matters or not is going to differ based on who you ask. I would say, though, that the arguments I've seen in favour of the kind of action in your vid haven't, to date, accounted for the full set of facts. I don't wish to condemn anyone, but when information is ignored, I think that it makes for a less convincing argument. I'd be interested to hear your opinion about these nuances.
We will never know the entire truth...
...But from where I stand Naomi Klein said:
"They let the city burn, let those cop cars burn" as in, they let it happen on purpose. As in the bloc would have never been able to control the city even if was for an hour. As in the bloc was "allowed" to fuck shit up. I think this is a disservice to the folks who took part on this action and risked jail.
The article you quote doesn't just say that there was an order to stand down. Let me quote:
"The orders went from engage to, no, don't engage to engage to, no, don't engage,' " said an officer. "It was an absolute shambles. Everyone was talking over each other on the radio. Nobody seemed to know what to do. It was just a mess."
Which points to the total state of confusion the pigs were in, which adds to my argument that the situation was similar to the communications breakdown Saint Paul during the 2008 RNC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkZvtGCh5YA
I disagree that the bloc has a wholly negative public reaction. If you see videos of the first cop car after it was smashed and abandoned by the block, regular citizens expressed their rage against authority by further trashing the pig mobile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxMA9AN6Ej4
In the end the bloc is not a PR tactic to win converts. The bloc tried to discourage media from following and taping their actions. The bloc went to Toronto to confront authority and smash capitalism and they succeeded.
Good points
I think that you make good points, Mr. Stimulator, but there are still some missing pieces.
The police were caught off guard, but nonetheless, the ultimate order was to stand down. This could have been because they were caught off guard, or it may not have been. What is beyond doubt is that they used the destruction to undertake a media war against all the demonstrators, to gain public support for their violence. It worked quite well in the short term. Even if there are quite a few people who expressed their rage against authority, they remained a minority overall.
If the bloc tried to keep the media away from their action, they were far less effective at that than they were at burning cop cars.
You did not respond to the evidence of police agents in past black blocs. Is there any reason to believe that they were not infiltrated to some extent this time around as well? As long as the tactic is characterized by anonymity, it appears to be a real and likely possibility.
There appears to be a need for some tactical agility among the bloc. The media and police spin the situation to their advantage over and over again, but no one ever switches up the tactics.
Media are not "objective"
If it's not the Black Bloc, it's that the demonstrators "look funny". Or that they're all young and immature. Or that they're old and senile. Or that they're "out of the mainstream". The function of the media is not to report and inform, it's to keep people in line, to warn people away from questioning or challenging authority. The police are the "mailed fist", the media are the "velvet glove"; they serve the same master, and have the same function, they just accomplish it in different ways. There's no way to get the media to "do right", they're not on your side and they're not going to be on your side, and no reporter is going to change that.
As for "tactical agility", booing and crying "Shame, shame" and telling police "You're hurting me" are futile tactics. They've been shown time and time again not to work. The same goes for shouting slogans and carrying signs. If the entire lot of protestors had embraced black bloc tactics, half keeping the police busy and the rest rushing the fence in five or six places simultaneously, there might have been a chance to shut down the conference, which was apparently the goal of this demonstration.
At some point, people who demonstrate at these summits have to ask themselves what their intent is, at its roots. If their intent is to shut down the conference, or at very least make their opinions known to the "world leaders" and other such trash gathered inside, a non-violent demonstration situated out of hearing distance from the conference isn't going to have *any* effect. In order to have the desired effect, they have to tear the barriers down, and quite literally fight their way through to where the conference is held. This isn't a pleasant prospect, but that's what it would take.
If the intent is to keep the institutions and power structure intact, while changing policies, then there has to be sufficient organizing to remove people from office in recall campaigns, get people into office and then have those people reorganize and reform government, and perhaps return certain government functions like policing to neighborhoods thus decentralizing power. This would be a life-long commitment to real, meaningful participation in self-government, and it might be useful to recognize the right of the people to keep and bear arms of the same sort used by regular infantry troops (and frankly, to disband the standing armies), to enforce those parts of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms some nameless bureaucrat decides to annull or ignore. If vital parts of the Charter can be ignored at will by the Government, then the document isn't worth the paper it's written on.
Appeals to those in power to change their ways are universally unsuccessful, the only road to change is to change the people, change the institutions, or decentralize power.
Interesting
It's interesting that you know what I mean by tactical agility. Because I do not!! :D
I have not disputed that the media are a tactical weapon in the hands of the ruling class. Why would I dispute that?
When I say tactical agility, I don't mean the specific things you say I mean.
I refer to the fact that when people are in a tactical situation, their opponent uses tactics to counter the people's tactics. Then the people have to respond. If they do this swiftly and effectively, then that is tactical agility.
In Seattle, the combination of black bloc and non-violent lockdowns around the convention center shut down the meetings, the African countries revolted during negotiations, and it was a clear victory. Since then, the message has been controlled by the police and the media, and part of that message is usually "look at these fucking nihilists causing chaos and threatening our wonderful peace and stability". It works pretty well.
The question for me is, how can anarchist movements as a whole regain the initiative? Decentralization means that we're more susceptible to getting stuck in certain baseline tactics and not innovating. I don't care whether people smash windows or fight back or not. The main thing is that the tactics work, and contribute to a strategy.
At the G8 in Germany, hundreds (some report thousands) of people participated in blockades. That seemed like an interesting way to unify people and also cause significant economic disruption. Why not build on that, and build overall movement support for militant tactics that involve a larger number of people in a coordinated-yet-decentralized way?
Tactical agility means looking at the response of the police and the media, and thinking of an effective counter-response. Then pick tactics to implement that response. They don't need to involve shattered glass or fire, and they don't need to be peaceful. They need to be effective, and they need to be constantly adjusting and gaining support within movements. Can we agree on that?
Your Voice of Reason
Thank you Wilhelm...
Clear to me too that much opportunity has been wasted by redundant tactics and unclear objectives.
We won in Seattle because of our innovation. We turned the tables on their processes and expectations.
Fast-forward 10+ years and even while we have usurped the overall agenda (ie. the predominant media now attend the G20 to cover the PROTEST more so than the SUMMIT) we still fall back on tired and conventional practise.
To confront the military apparatus is absurd. All this squawking about whether or not "we" burned the cars and broke the windows is, at best, like infantile masturbation. Sorry folks, but it needs to be said.
Not only was there tremendous energy committed to organizing and participating in the various rallies and actions (all for an exceptionally poor pay-off) but now we have to go back into DEFENSE for our comrades who require jail support, solidarity, and FUNDING...
Not to mention losing the global media campaign, which is being used to train millions around the world that dissidence (of any kind) will not be tolerated.
So we lost once, and we lost again, and again.
When we could have blockaded government offices. Leafletted and flyered and blockaded banks and industry offices. We could have initiated some broad-based public education/advocacy campaigns to target our issues. We could have applied ourselves to so many spaces and locations around the city, confounding the ISU and stretching available police resources, rather than walking into their expectant webs.
To note: I am all for militant tactics, when they are tactfully applied. And I do not condemn the Black Bloc tactics. To me this is a sincere and inevitable vein of the larger movement, a rightfully volatile and disturbing testimony against the everyday, state-sanctioned violence of capitalism.
But I hope that we might seriously rethink our tactics and strategies. Organizing must be done less through posturing and more through formal, due process.
Social movements & riot porn: we should care more for each other
Greetings,
The principle of respecting the diversity of tactics is often mentionned, but I'm worried about lack of respect for the many protests, issues and many activists that the media do not care about and do not cover at all.
Your video treats as mere reformist crap all of the entire The People First march, whereas there was thousands of anti-imperialists, ecologists, feminists, etc.
Anyhow, I respect all the colorful and sincere actions that were not black block. Your video does show respect for the other forms of revolutionnary actions on Friday, but insults in a way the actions Saturday, which I think is a mistake. Let us stay united.
To avoid riot porn, and out of respect for the vibrant actions of the vast majority of marchers, I covered their actions in my short video report (I felt like I was the only one doing it, but I hope I am wrong) and of course have been working hard to show the repression that followed. Focusing on the repression and gross violation of the people was though totally necessary and critical.
Today (July 1st), ironically, I wrote to the media an open-letter about how the alternative media avoided riot porn and focused on more important issues, but your video sort of contradicts me I think. Are we just like the mass media on this point? I truly hope not.
I understand or can see though that unions and anarchists in Ontario did not seem to really find some true common ground for this action. We might need to work on this (i.e. also in Quebec and elsewhere in the world).
Of course, to truly respect each other, we might have to find solutions, because this did not work. I understand, as you explain, that the rioters have a political message and desire to smash capitalism, but the fact is the rest of the crowd, about 99%, our brothers and sisters of all woks of social movements (including radicals and anticapitalits and anarchists who don't join the black black), disappear and are ignored.
A text on the Internet can be misunderstood, so please trust here that I am not in anyway judging that some actions are good or bad, but I am uncertain about how we truly respect each other, and really respect the crowd that vanished under the sound of broken glass. The various thousands of folks who chanted important collective messages in the streets of Toronto, should at the very least not be ignored by the alternative and grassroots media. I won't make any suggestions about how to better protest together here, because I feel it would be arrogant and I prefer social movements talk to each other in person :P
Cheers,
Mic
Quebec City
Respect is a two way street
For the record I covered ALL the actions against the G20 and beyond:
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2010/06/25/welcome-to-kkkanada/
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2010/06/23/bacon-bitz/
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2010/06/22/g20-queeruption/
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2010/06/22/escape-from-the-freedom-fence/
The reformist actions that never accomplish anything hardly ever go unchallenged. So I think those trade unionists and liberals should get over themselves. They deserve to take a one on the chin every now an again.
Anytime the bloc does its thing, it's held to a different standard. I for one am not going to calmly sit by, while conspiracy theorists, champagne liberals and other accomplices of the state trash those brave peeps who owned Toronto on June 26th.
If there was TRULY respect for Diversity of Tactics then those reformists would have shown solidarity with the Bloc on saturday and we would not be having this conversation.
Activists should stay united, even if some leaders divide us
I'm not thinking about the trade unions or "liberals". I'm thinking about the thousands of people of all woks of social movements, including anti-capitalists, anti-imperialists, feminists, and radicals and revolutionaries (read: working to change the system) who were not in the black block (for various reasons that are not judgmental).
As you probably know, but don't seem to recognize in your comments, many people who are anti-capitalists, anarchists and radical socialists use other actions and were in the People First march and the various protests this week-end, and your comments seemed to imply that if they were not in the black block, they were just being reformists. It's my impression anyhow from that video.
Anyhow, we can't justify disrespect solely based on some union leaders and politicians denouncing broken windows. While their words are divisive and do not address the real issues, the rest of the social movements and unions have not massively used that approach and we can avoid responding in divisive manners ourselves.
In terms of respect, I think we might need folks with diverging tactics for social change to find new strategies. Indeed, why would someone want to spend long hours organizing and mobilizing people to a protest, if the messages and actions vanish from the media, since they only focus on a particular explosive moment. I'm asking, as someone who supports all these forms of activism and dissent, how the messages of these people can be heard. It's not an easy question, because the media would ignore their messages anyway (as they always do) even if there had been no black block.
Hello Stimulator-from what I
Hello Stimulator-from what I usually see there is a debate over the black bloc that takes place prior to an event because people are afraid of getting the blowback from the black bloc's actions. In this case a lot of protesters feel like the black bloc provoked the police and then left the peaceful protesters to absorb the attack. If this is the way the black bloc is going to operate in the future, do you see where there is going to be a point of contention here?
You cannot blame the actions of the pigs on the black bloc.
This should be telling to folks that the pigs could not differentiate between peaceful protesters and brave militants. The pigs got paid $1 billion and even with that they could not tell the difference. This is the whole prison guard analogy. "Good" prisoners don't want the "bad" prisoners to try to start the prison riot because the backlash will fall on all prisoners. You want to know why? So that the good prisoners start doing the cops jobs for them and start discouraging those who want to free themselves. Now get back in your cage.
Are Hockey Fans More effective Freedom Fighters?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/04/22/mtl-habs.html
American Apparel is no sweat shop
In the video, American Apparel is mentioned as a legitimate target but is it really or just because it has "American" in its name? Read the web pages from the American Apparel web site then decide.
http://www.americanapparel.net/contact/
http://www.americanapparel.net/verticalintegration/
American Apparel is sexist and anti-union
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2270/
"First, there are the ads. Ultra-sexy—some featuring porn actresses—their full-page magazine displays are most conspicuously not showcasing the socks. Jason Rowe, a columnist for New York University’s Washington Square News, puts it best: “Photographs of young women in compromising positions, some as young as 15, are juxtaposed alongside text giving accounts of meeting the models on the street and inviting them to be photographed, conveying the feeling of some sort of perverted conquest.”
and
“The company’s activities included holding captive meetings with employees, interrogating employees about their union activities and sympathies, soliciting employees to ask the union to return their union authorization cards, distributing anti-union arm bands and T-shirts, and requiring all employees to attend an anti-union rally. The company’s most devastating tactic, though, was threatening to shut down the plant if the workers organized.”
I'd say they are legitimate target
Would picketing,
Would picketing, demonstrating, and handing out literature in front of American Apparel be more effective than smashing their windows in educating the public and getting them to understand why they shouldn't buy there ?
Sure!
You go ahead and do that. We need it all. We need people like you who feel more confortable with this type of action and we need people who are going to put militant pressure on.
blacl bloc
the blackbloc are soooooo... uncreative.
like the police, it was dumbdumb tactics.
they could have appeared on top of a bldg or showed up outside a consulate or a police station and done their thing
or gone to Ottawa and marched there
this was an exercise in how to lose friends in the global justice /resistance movement and make your enemy look okay to regular conservative/liberal (maybe ) voting Canadians
You can't lose friends...
"this was an exercise in how to lose friends in the global justice /resistance movement and make your enemy look okay to regular conservative/liberal (maybe ) voting Canadians"
Last of all, the voting both is the opium of the masses...
Go vote conservaitve, green, lib, or independent.
Fuck do it twice, rig the vote for all I care.
Any of the above options is business as usual.
And first of all, you can't lose friends who denounce you in mainstream media, spew paraonoid conspiracy theories, and allege the police should have arrested you because you destroyed the property of corporations who murder people. You can hardly call those your friends.
You can't lose friends you
You can't lose friends you never had but you can lose the ones you have. Violence and destroying property changes the focus from the evil corporation's dirty deeds to the protestor's vandalism. As Marshal McLuhan said, "The Medium is the Message". Read the definition of the "The Medium is the Message" at the McLuhan Program website and, hopefully, you will understand that the unintended outcome (I hope it's unintended) of the Black-Bloc's (the new medium) and others' violence and property destruction is the alienation of people who were, or may have been, sympathetic and supportive, and the justification and implemention of more repression, not the achievement of the supposed goal of effecting positive behavioural change in offending governments and businesses: http://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/article_mediumisthemessage.htm
In particular, I think the federal government and the police understood McLuhan and acted accordingly:
"Why is this understanding of "the medium is the message" particularly useful? We tend to notice changes - even slight changes (that unfortunately we often tend to discount in significance.) "The medium is the message" tells us that noticing change in our societal or cultural ground conditions indicates the presence of a new message, that is, the effects of a new medium. With this early warning, we can set out to characterize and identify the new medium before it becomes obvious to everyone - a process that often takes years or even decades. And if we discover that the new medium brings along effects that might be detrimental to our society or culture, we have the opportunity to influence the development and evolution of the new innovation before the effects becomes pervasive. As McLuhan reminds us, "Control over change would seem to consist in moving not with it but ahead of it. Anticipation gives the power to deflect and control force." (McLuhan 199)"
comments subject to approval
seems like a website dedicated to police oppression shouldn't be screening comments. does one person have more right to speak then another? does one person's opinion matter more then another? can comments be inappropriate if they disagree with the majority's views? cencorship is slavery, not safety!
but this comment will probably be edited out, anyway.
Comments are moderated
in order to keep massive amounts of spam from filling up the site. If you want to post unmoderated comments, you can create an account. It takes less time and effort than writing a comment denouncing comment moderation!
Vancouver anonymous,
Vancouver anonymous, "Anonymity is the last refuge of cowards." When registered under a pseudonym, like me, you're a coward with benefits.
Why did the cops drive two
Why did the cops drive two cruisers to a spot where moments before, tens of thousands of people were demonstrating? A spot which was very proximate to the point, where it was publicized, that a large contingent would break off, being more militant/confrontational- choosing not to go back to Queen's Park- but to the fence? Moreover, why, all of the sudden did a street open up, a street that, again, moments before, when ten's of thousands of people were passing by, was barricaded by riot police?
Alex Jones was an inside job
Why did the cops leave a cop inside the cop car? Maybe he was mannequin. Maybe they spent that whole billion on a cyborg to make it appear as if the bloc attacked a car with a pig inside therefore inciting the "riot" and hence justifying their pay cheques. I heard NORAD was involved in this whole conspiracy. There ware crazy chem-trails that day, did you see them?
There was NO announcement as to where the "Get off the fence" contingent was set to break away. The anti-capitalist bloc tried to break off twice before and the police prevented them from leaving the march. So double backing was the thing the pigs did not expect, then smashy-smash occurred.
Stick to the facts and your conspiracy theories fall apart.
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/disruptive-movements-state-security-an...
y-o, you need to chill
i think its laughable that you mentioned a pesky troll like Alex Jones. wtf? it's also funny how very angry, or perhaps defensive is a better term, you appear in response to very reasonable questions. the desirousness of your sarcasm is not impressive. i am not in the vein of entertaining conspiracy theories. I was simply asking questions, pertaining to the facts, which still have not been adequately answered. you proceeded to make glaring assumptions and alienate me; thanks for acting just like THEM.
"NO announcement?" Gee, that's funny, . The pigs must be pretty fucking stupid if they could not conceptualize where this contingent would break off. Especially considering the anti-capitalists, et. al, encountered the pigs both times, they did try to break off. Especially considering they knew at what location the thousands of others would march back to Queen's Park without incident.
Fact? Or, not so much? Straight from one of the main media hors: "Quebec provincial police admitted...that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que..."
Now, now, before you get your panties in a bunch, there is no point in even contemplating the notion that the "smashy-smash" down t-dot was started by, or even to any degree, carried out by agent provocateur pigs. I am NOT insinuating it was. Let me make clear, I think the actions were legitimately that of the resistance. The point I am trying to make, is that there lies grave problems in not looking at the gray. Just like there are problems in being a complete AH with others who are, or potentially are, on your side, fighting, militantly or otherwise, for the same commonalities; just because they ask questions that may have made the skies, over of the greatness of caliber and effectiveness of smashy-smash by a few hundred people, not so fucking sunny. This was a fucking sandbox compared to what the Greeks, and others, have been doing.
I think your programs are pretty goddamn terrific. That said, I don't need help feeling alienated and isolated; THEY have that covered. So thanks for making me feel unwelcomed, and informing me that I should just do what THEY want me to do and SHUT THE FUCK.
Still, keep doing what you do. And hey Y-0, “there's a world of difference between truth and facts"
PLR _peace_love&_respect to you and yours.
You are right
My response was angry, defensive and sarcastic which shows to the frustration that I have been feeling as history repeats itself yet again. The questions you asked have been answered time and time again, but I can't expect you to read all the media that has come out about it, so I will continually point peeps out to new sources as they become available.
Here's yet another account that may answer your questions - http://crimethinc.com/texts/recentfeatures/toronto2.php
Thanks for bringing me back to earth and thanks for the props.
understood
the feelings you described are completely understandable and are shared. while I may not be fully up to speed, and am struggling to get plugged in, the essential concerns are held in common. thanks very much for the links, and my apologies if i was off chord in my earlier post. mad props.
Did the police help you make this video too?
Cool swearing! How innovative!
You guys are totally in denial about your capabilities to overcome the police force, and everyone who was on the streets of Toronto all week with 19,000 riot cops knows it. Thanks for giving them an excuse to assault the weak and vulnerable who thought they were going to a "green zone" family event. Its okay, I'm sure they didn't mind being human shields for your infantile bullshit. Its not their choice anyway right? Nobody ever said anything about democracy.
Today the in "Say Hello to the G17," I read: "The Globe and Mail has learned, independent of what was said in court yesterday, that Toronto police had an undercover officer who infiltrated the group and who, with a judge's authority, recorded a critical planning meeting on June 25." Still think you overpowered the police? Face the facts, you're pawns.
Want to build the world you want to see? Build a movement that attracts the masses we need to transform society. It takes a bit more work and its not as gratifying as smashing windows and worrying mommy and daddy, but real social justice organizers would appreciate it if you grew up and did some real work.
I had no idea that the Media Co-op had gone so far off the deep end. The Balaclava? How many copies did you print off? 50 for all of your friends? Way to preach to the choir. I hope it works out. "The Stim" is obviously the same catatonic voice that did the official Media Co-op reporting on June 26th.
I'm embarrassed for Canadian independent media.
wow
This shit is straight-up embarrassing.
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=...
I think you have a long way to go to debunk the whole 'police let it happen' argument. See above video.
When is the black bloc's next meeting? Next strategy session? When is your next demo? Oh really? You don't have public meetings? oh shit, right, I forgot, its a strategy/tactic (that you have dogmatically raised to the level of principle I might add). How cool and democratic that is... what great principles upon which we can build a movement. Small cliques of unaccountable friends in masks - this has winning strategy written all over it (sarcasm should be obvious here).