Oakland Here – JAFO

 

As I write this I’m listening to helicopters and random cracking noises from downtown.

I don’t have any images to share but will relate the state of Broadway Avenue in Oaktown, CA.

My wife, the dog, and I decided to take surface streets back from an errand at Jack London Square and see what happened downtown for ourselves. We saw Occupy and the disorder from four years ago during the previous police incident in Minneapolis.  What we saw on our drive back made me physically ill; graffiti on every vertical surface:  buildings, concrete hardscaping, granite, everything, for 25+ blocks.  Piles of broken glass swept up into pyramids outside a mini Target store that was boarded up from last night’s carnage, plywood going up on auto row.

The content of the graffiti was equal parts anti-police and a greatest hits of the politically incoherent. It’s sickening.

For the 25+ years I’ve been here I can summarize our city leadership as follows: Elihu Harris (incompetent), Jerry Brown (surprisingly competent and, well, still Jerry), Ron Dellums (incompetent and invisible), Jean Quan (incompetent and supine), and current mayor Libby Schaff (incompetent, supine and guilty white lady woke).  I try mightily to find the “Sensible Party“ candidate in each local and state election and find myself “just another f-ing observer.”

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  1. Mim526 Inactive
    Mim526
    @Mim526

    Cosmik Phred: What we saw on our drive back made me physically ill. Graffiti on every vertical surface: buildings, concrete hardscaping, granite, everything, for 25+ blocks. Piles of broken glass swept up into pyramids outside a mini Target store that was boarded up from last night’s carnage, plywood going up on auto row.

    I am so sorry.  Have you thought about making a move out of California?  

    • #1
  2. ctlaw Coolidge
    ctlaw
    @ctlaw

    Mim526 (View Comment):

    Cosmik Phred: What we saw on our drive back made me physically ill. Graffiti on every vertical surface: buildings, concrete hardscaping, granite, everything, for 25+ blocks. Piles of broken glass swept up into pyramids outside a mini Target store that was boarded up from last night’s carnage, plywood going up on auto row.

    I am so sorry. Have you thought about making a move out of California?

    Or getting into a social media flame war with Kim Jong Un and daring him to nuke Oakland?

    • #2
  3. Cosmik Phred Member
    Cosmik Phred
    @CosmikPhred

    Mim526 (View Comment):

    Cosmik Phred: What we saw on our drive back made me physically ill. Graffiti on every vertical surface: buildings, concrete hardscaping, granite, everything, for 25+ blocks. Piles of broken glass swept up into pyramids outside a mini Target store that was boarded up from last night’s carnage, plywood going up on auto row.

    I am so sorry. Have you thought about making a move out of California?

    My wife and I are working in that direction.  First, get out of Oakland and at retirement time get out of CA.  I’m tired – as others here – of the one party rule, gross mismanagement at all levels and feeling like a chump when we obey the rules.  

    Oakland has seen enormous growth in recent years, new construction for the hipster influx and one would think things would be better.  Instead we get road diets, bike lanes, idiotic traffic circles, Ford Go-Bike stations that remove scarce street parking and a Mayor who lets the civilian review board fire our police chief. The ex-police chief is suing. Yet another future settlement to bleed city coffers. 

    • #3
  4. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Arizona’s statewide weeklong curfew is looking better and better.  We cannot have rioting and looting.

    • #4
  5. danok1 Member
    danok1
    @danok1

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Arizona’s statewide weeklong curfew is looking better and better. We cannot have rioting and looting.

    Those who want to riot and loot will totally obey a curfew. </sarc>

    Now, if you’re saying Arizona’s LE organizations will zealously enforce said curfew, that’s a completely different matter.

    • #5
  6. colleenb Member
    colleenb
    @colleenb

    @CosmicPhred: Bonus points for using supine correctly. It’s so prone to being used wrong. 😊

    • #6
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