Bitch

posted on a BART train this morning

2009-01-12T20:23:46Z

SAFETY ALERT
Monday, January 12th

Attention BART riders,

in light of the events that occurred on January 1st, we feel that it is our duty to inform the public that we can no longer guarantee your safety while riding the BART. At any given time, there may be up to 206 members of a violent gang at large within the BART system. All members of this gang, which refers to itself as the "BART police" are known to carry firearms, as well as batons and pepper spray, and should be considered extremely dangerous. They typically wear dark blue clothing, with their gang insignia displayed on the chest and bicep areas, but sometimes attempt to blend in with BART passengers by wearing plain clothes.

If you are approached by a member of this gang, refrain from making loud noises or sudden movements, as this tends to trigger aggressive behavior. Some people have attempted to survive a BART police attack by laying face down, so as to appear harmless and not provoke further violence. However, after the shooting of BART passenger Oscar Grant on January 1st of this year, we cannot recommend this as a safe or effective strategy.

This vigilante group considers itself "above the law", and is known to have connections within the Oakland judicial system which allow them exemption from prosecution:

- In 1992, a 19 year-old Black man named Jerrold Hall was approached by a member of the BART police gang, Fred Crabtree, who was white. Crabtree saw Hall leaving the station and confronted him, accusing him of having stolen the radio of another BART passenger. BART police gang members will often use this tactic to detain their victims prior to using lethal force. Hall, who was unarmed, turned and started to walk away. Crabtree racked his shotgun, fired a warning shot over Hall's head, then fired again, killing him with a shot to the back of the head.

Crabtree was cleared of all wrongdoing. He hung himself in 1996.

-In 2001, another BART police gang member, David Betancourt shot and killed a naked, mentally ill Black man, Bruce Seward, outside the Hayward BART station before dawn on Memorial Day. Seward, 42, was asleep on a bench and appeared unconscious. Gang member Betancourt had been engaged in what is known in gang lingo as "patrolling," which refers to riding around in a highly customized, black-and-white painted car, and shining bright lights to intimidate pedestrians.

When approached by Betancourt, Seward awoke in a delerious state, and was able to grab the gang member's baton, using it to smack Betancourt's car with it. Police gang members are known to exhibit a great deal of pride over their custom vehicles, which they consider to be an extension of their hypermasculine identity. Enraged, Betancourt used pepper spray on Seward, and then shot him in the chest.

Betancourt was cleared of all wrongdoing. He is still at large.

Eleven days ago, the BART police removed a man from a train. They forced him to lie down on the station floor. They fired a bullet into his back. The bullet went through his body, bounced off the concrete below him, and reentered his chest, piercing his lung, killing him. If this was your brother, your father, your friend, you would demand swift justice. Though you probably don't know this person, you probably feel enraged that an unarmed man was executed in front of a train full of people who were yelling for mercy. But if history is any indicator, the murderer of Oscar Grant will be cleared of all wrongdoing.

Despite the fact that the murder was witnessed by dozens and videotaped from several angles, the murderer, Johannes Mehserle is still at large.

You are not safe on this train.

Demonstration Against Police Murder of Oscar Grant
5PM TODAY Monday January 12
Civic Center BART Station
Downtown San Francisco

riddled to spend your time

2008-05-29T01:29:24Z

this may be a long shot, but is anyone around who wants to go to boston pride this year? saturday june 14th. (bring your dad as an early father's day activity! ahaha just kidding don't do that ever.) also possibilities: going to a craft/tshirt making pre-pride party on the 10th, or a pre-pride party on the 12th at which you can probably get to second with a chick whose name you won't remember. (i am less into this last option, although still willing to go!) let me know if you're around/up for it.

lost and found on the underground.

2007-11-03T08:13:51Z

david sedaris gave me a spoon

i'm not my own; it's not my choice.

2007-10-28T19:43:28Z

Finish this sentence:

"I'm looking for the true meaning of ________."

a) life
b) love
c) beauty
d) Christmas
e) Chrismahanakwanzaakah
f) the part of Après Moi where Regina sings in Russian
g) The Wizard of Oz
h) Kant
i) "I'd love to, but I'm busy that whole weekend."
j) what Bill Murray whispers at the end of Lost in Translation

outside of history.

2007-10-07T14:46:06Z

maybe, sometimes,, the world is an okay place.

blow up your whole damn playground.

2007-08-30T22:34:23Z

What I Learned In College, Pt. 1:

There will always be at least one person in each of your class with a voice so annoying it makes you wish you were dead every time they open their mouth. You will spend the entire semester wishing that person would drop, or die, or find Jesus and transfer to Bob Jones.

WILIC Pt. 2:

Bring towels. Seriously. Who doesn't bring towels?

(Me. The answer is me.)

you will not write me again.

2007-08-03T00:21:49Z

so, the other night i had left a scrap of paper on the kitchen counter; it had some notes i needed and i was going to take it with me to work the next day. the following morning, i took it out of my purse as i got out of my car. across the top was written, in my brother's handwriting: "behold i have grafted a deer antler to my groin". discuss.

also: what does it mean, exactly, when someone invites you to a facebook event called "everybody gets laid?"

some things you do for money, and

2007-07-10T01:08:09Z

okay. i just want to check in with you guys, and see if my opinion on this matter is normal or no. if you feel so inclined, feel free to share how you would describe cho chang, on a scale of 1 to 10:

1 - acceptable
2
3
4
5 - should die some sort of moderately grotesque death early in book 7
6
7
8
9
10 - voldemort is actually cho chang.

PS i had a dream in which the reason I why am now receiving Tropical Fish Enthusiast in the mail was made clear to me. unfortunately, i can't remember it.

late nights in the car.

2007-07-03T02:32:27Z

seriously, what is the deal with postsecret? or am i just going crazy?

also, i received a copy of Tropical Fish Enthusiast in the mail, with my name and address

what?

love that dirty water.

2007-06-27T00:42:31Z

I love New England. I do. Its quaint traditions, its provincial charm. One of my favorite things to do, especially when the weather is so beautiful, is to go for long drives. Interminable drives, even. It never ceases to surprise and delight me how our local flavor shines through in our driving customs. For instance, it's such a pleasure to relive our proud history of colonial towns and cowpaths when driving on a major highway - one like Rte. 60, upon which you need to make a 90 degree turn three different times just to stay straight. That same proud history is recalled by the driving of the locals - it's a beautiful thing that even today, in the bustling metropolis of Medford, drivers feel free to actually get out of their cars and wander aimlessly about on foot while waiting at an intersection. Where the pastoral beauty of the countryside seems to slow the flow of time, such that SUV owners think nothing of changing their mind about turning left at the last minute, and essentially parking sideways in the road, blocking all lanes of traffic for an entire green light while they wait for an opening. You there, sir, in the beige Hyundai with the "Proud To Be An American" sticker on your bumper. You know what? You make me proud to be an American, too, and live in this great country where everyone is free to drive at twenty miles an hour down a one-lane highway, just like you. God Bless America! God Bless Rte 128, America's Technology Highway! God bless us, everyone!

monkeykin @ 2007-06-22T08:29:00

2007-06-22T12:29:55Z

i'm inspired by grey skies.

2007-05-09T14:35:09Z

basically, my freshman year didn't know what hit it. g'yeah.

talking trash under your breath.

2007-05-04T18:30:45Z

i would just like to share. while writing mi proyecto final, i found this in my unabridged Spanish dictionary:

preggers adj Br Fam to be ~ estar con bombo

where can i find a woman like that? ON THE INTERNET

2007-03-01T05:49:54Z

dear internet,

heather&kim&ray made a music video and put it on youtube. it has stuffed animals making out, drinking until they puke, and blowing each other up. also some pretty solid 80's pop. watch it. feel the love.

-rachel

hear all the bombs fade away

2006-11-05T06:14:05Z

omgnbhifgkjaldsugongeroigurao the decemberists oh god

ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow

2006-11-02T22:34:09Z

i'm eating halloween candy. it's delicious. i took a two-hour nap today. it was sweet. tomorrow i think i am going to rocky horror? perhaps? the decemberists are playing on saturday, and i would really like to go see them, but i am in a kind of complex situation financially, where i basically have the money but no way to withdraw it, aside from writing a check, which will probably not help that much two days before the show. so i might have to let this one pass. but i am going to see jupiter sunrise & harris for free on sunday, so that will be nice. as for actual school things... they are going pretty well. i only have ten more meetings of most of my classes, which is weird but kind of cool. of course, that means i will have a ton of work coming up, but it is semi-balanced by the fact that i don't really have finals. hurrah! in an unrelated but important note, the mental barrier which separates languages in my head has all but dissolved. something about taking french has made it so if i start a sentence in one language, it's really anybody's guess as to what language i'll end it in. it's cool, but annoying. and i suspect it will get significantly worse next semester when i have french and spanish one after the other every day. gaaah.

and i know that almost none of us live in MA anymore, but i hope you voted anyways. due to my banking difficulties as noted above, i can't donate any more money to the democratic party, but i would suggest that anyone who can give it consideration.

husbands in winter

2006-08-18T22:27:32Z

apparently, you can get free stuff and steal money from Focus on the Family at the same time. instructions can be found here.

and while we're here, consider using Goodsearch instead of google once in a while. it will help you get into heaven.

a distant constellation

2006-07-18T18:21:50Z

hey guys, what's up. i'm leaving for the airport in about an hour, and you probably won't hear from me again until august. assume that i am having fun. see you then.

this is what it sounds like

2006-07-11T19:58:59Z

so.... brandeis offers a dance dance revolution class. yeah. that's what i thought. it's full for this semester, but still... awesome.

she'll tell you she's an orphan

2006-06-26T04:24:52Z

so... it turns out that visiting college friends in new york is extremely awesome. and a distinct improvement over sitting around in boxford. oh heck, mario kart, and ridiculously long car rides have never been this much fun. yesss.

monkeykin @ 2006-04-26T22:45:00

2006-04-27T02:46:51Z

alright guys, it's brandeis class of 2010. get excited.

blame it on the black star

2006-04-25T14:45:10Z

it is like 10:30 and i have things that i should do, but mostly i want to go back to bed. i should a) write a scholarship essay b) finish a bunch of things for art c) go get speaking cards & stickers for day of silence d) decide where i'm going to college e) teach myself the subjunctive again f) write three more scholarship essays g) send the going-to-france people some stuff for going to france h) send that other scholarship thing. and other things too, but those can wait for a little while. i got funny ha ha out of the library last night and i was going to watch it but i got distracted/went to sleep. maybe i will do that tonight. i don't really know. you know, a problem with this school is that there is nowhere good to take a nap, except the nurse's office, and then i would have to talk to the nurse. my brother has a crush on lillyanne. lillyanne is going to a strokes concert tonight. i am working for her. i feel like i didn't get very much out of the deal. oh, and i need to fix my timecard. blaaa. if i were in college right now, then maybe someone at home would send me cookies. but i'm not, so no one will. or tea. someone could send me tea too. i wonder if mr. meinelt has any tea. i don't know why i wrote this. but i'm going to go look for some tea. and write an essay.

portions for foxes

2006-04-21T00:16:22Z

it's april 20th, i'm sunburned, summer is officially here.

monkeykin @ 2006-04-13T23:04:00

2006-04-14T03:13:20Z

mm.. so yeah, we checked out today. i guess it was gratifying, although i don't really feel like it. mostly i'm just glad that i can stop worrying that one of the eighteen or whatever people who have to sign will be like "mm, sorry, no. you totally weren't paying attention for the whole last semester and a half." and then i went home and took a nap, and later went on a Senior Adventure of sorts. by which i mean driving to the beach blasting dexy's midnight runners and being really awful at padiddle, and then running in and out of the water, with a lot of "oh my GOD, it's so COLD" and a lot of /pictures/ of running in and out of the water, and "wait, take a picture of me while i jump up in the air and make a face!" along with the picture of all of our numb, pruny feet standing in a circle on the sand. i feel like other people have probably done all of those things more than just once, but it was sort of meaningful and special, or something, i suppose. the beach is actually really pretty at night, and someone should go back with me sometime, although maybe we could skip some of the aforementioned running and leaping and picture-taking. and we could bring tea. and blankets.

in a related note, could we talk about panic at the disco? i feel like i don't really get it. and also we should talk about how i am definitely going to have a CD-swapping party before everyone leaves. even if the only other person at the party is missy. because i really want her CDs. the end.

huzzah.

2006-03-25T16:39:10Z

UVM - yes
Brandeis - yes
Carleton - ?
Brown - ?
Middlebury - ?
King's - yes
Hampshire - yes, with free jigsaw puzzle