Hippie News and Stuff: Aromas...

Hola Winstone, Hippies: PAZ en nuestro Barrio; lo mismo, el conejo!!

The days are lengthening and warming and demonstration/"Occupy" season apparently is once again dawning, and with it will come the waves of jolly coppers intent of disrupting them.

It is therefore worth remembering that signal wisdom from the 60s: Cops in riot gear are fucking pigs.

(In fairness, I'll stipulate: Not all of 'em, and not all the time. But EVERY CITIZEN should have the experience of being seriously BUSTED, where they're no longer a citizen but a perp. Everybody should know how that feels, and what they authorize by not exercising critical oversight of the police...Sumpin' else I learned in the 70s, along with the taste of teargas--but I digress. I was discussing pigs..,.).

No, really! If they are only standing there, it is because they are waiting for the excuse to fuck with you. They're primed and ready.

They seem almost GLADLY to seize on ANY pretext, any act of defiance to law, as an excuse to kick your fucking ass. It's what they LIVE for, maybe what gives their sacrifices meaning. They seem to take extra pleasure in kicking "hippies'" (protestors of any kind) asses.

They wouldn't BE cops if they didn't love it.

So, if the shrill cries of protestors and the concussions of the rubber-bullets on defiant flesh soon echo on the erfumed zephyrs of Spring urban springtime, delicately scented with the aromatic reminders of repression--tear gas and/or pepper spray-- remember to keep a camera along to record EVERY event in which you witness cops in action. Make notes. Save details. Ask names of witnesses. Just like "real" reporters.

Remember: Cops feel like they GOTTA make an impression. They often feel like soldiers in enemy territory (They don't call 'em patrol cars for nothing.) Hurting people makes an impression. So they hurt people. It's just what they do...

Be wary, hippies. If you're gassed, I hear a bottle of maalox is a good thing to have. I hope ya won't need to bring it to the beach. And (DRAMATIC GESTURE) Back to Winstone in Hippie Central!!!