primitive describes military being used to suppress OWS, labor unions

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1117133

Oh my.

Modern School (609 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

Is U.S. Planning Military Force to Suppress Unions and OWS?

As I reported on Modern School recently, the U.S. government has committed Coast Guard ships and helicopters to defending the interests of private capital in Washington State against striking ILWU members. The Coast Guard will supposedly be protecting empty ships as they arrive in the port of Longview, Washington to pick up grain from the EGT grain terminal. EGT, which owns the terminal, has been hiring scab labor to operate the terminal, in violation of prior agreements with the ILWU. EGT has utilized the local police and private goons to intimidate ILWU members and their families, including several hundred arrests and violent assaults on peacefully demonstrating long shore workers and their families.

With Obama’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), any ILWU member accused of committing a “belligerent act” against the United States could be imprisoned indefinitely without charges or trial on the orders of the president. This means that any direct action aimed at interfering with boats arriving to pick up grain in Longview could be considered an act of aggression against the U.S. government now that those boats will be under the protection of the U.S. government.

According to Insurgent Notes, U.S. ports are already semi-militarized by “Homeland Security.” Longshoremen are required to show three electronic “smart card” IDs to enter their workplaces each day, and they are subject to background security checks.

Journalist Chris Hedges has sued the U.S. government to halt NDAA, saying it violates the constitution, as it allows the U.S. military to arrest anyone anywhere in the world and hold them indefinitely without charges. Public interest lawyer Carl Mayer told the Epoch Times that the law violates the 1st and 5th amendments. While lawmakers and the mainstream press continue to insist the law is meant to halt terrorist acts against the U.S., Hedges believes NDAA was designed specifically to be used against dissenters within the U.S., including anyone involved in movements deemed threatening to the “corporate state,” such as the OWS movement. (Click here to read Hedges “Why I’m Suing Obama.”)

The date of arrival of the first Coast Guard-escorted ship to the Port of Longview is a closely guarded secret. However, according to Insurgent Notes, OWS activists in the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland and Seattle are organizing caravans to Longview when the date becomes known. Elsewhere in the United States, Occupy is planning demonstrations at Coast Guard offices and at the offices of the three corporations which jointly own EGT.

Modern School

http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2012/01/is-us-planning-military-force-to.html0   

No primitive's been to this campfire, which was lit January 20, 2012.

[Rebel]

Well, yeah, unless you realize that the USCG isn't part of the DoD. ...but why let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory?

BTW, Bush is still considering canceling the 2004 elections.

[franksolich]

Well, yeah, unless you realize that the USCG isn't part of the DoD. ...but why let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory?

BTW, Bush is still considering canceling the 2004 elections.

Whoa.

Wait.

What?

I always thought the Coast Guard was part of the military.

Who are they under, then?

[Mr Mannn]

But with no Republicans in power at the admin...WHO would poor DUmmies blame if the military was used against OWS? Can't say, "Bush's Fault" in this case.

the very thought of the guy they are all voting for in 2010 using the military against drug-using hippies if too horifying for the average DUmmy.

Which begs the question: are DUmmies voting for Obama, voting against their own best interests?

[franksolich]

Okay, I nadined it.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the US military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission (with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters) and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set.

It operates under the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime, and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy by the President at any time, or by Congress during time of war.

The Coast Guard's legal authority differs from the other four armed services: it operates simultaneously under Title 10 of the United States Code and its other organic authorities, e.g., Titles 6, 14, 19, 33, 46, etc. Because of its legal authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with Title 14 USC 1–3.

[Vagabond]

They were a part of the Department of the Treasury, previously and for most of their history.  I think they now operate under the auspices of Homeland Security. 

They were originally the Revenue Cutter Service and their charge was enforcing tariffs in the ports and along the coast of the United States.  The Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Lifesaving Service (Lighthouse keepers, largely) and USCG was created.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Correct; prior to HLS, they fell under DOT, with the same proviso about transfer to Dept. of the Navy at need.  Their law enforcement role is quite time-honored, since one of the two original constituents of the USCG was the Revenue Service (Which is why their sea-going vessels are 'Cutters,' going back to the revenue cutters from those days; the other constituent was the Lifeboat Service, which is reflected in their modern-day lifesaving mission.

 

Salute to the Coasties!

[thundley4]

EGT, which owns the terminal, has been hiring scab labor to operate the terminal, in violation of prior agreements with the ILWU.

This is a blatant lie.  EGT higher a subcontractor that hired union workers, just not the ILWU union.  They hired Operating Engineers Union Local 701 .

[dutch508]

Whoa.

Wait.

What?

I always thought the Coast Guard was part of the military.

Who are they under, then?

 

Frank, you7 are killing me!

[franksolich]

Frank, you7 are killing me!

I assumed, rather casually and sloppily without ever checking, that they were another arm of the Navy, like the Marines.

[Rebel]

They were a part of the Department of the Treasury, previously and for most of their history.  I think they now operate under the auspices of Homeland Security. 

They were originally the Revenue Cutter Service and their charge was enforcing tariffs in the ports and along the coast of the United States.  The Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Lifesaving Service (Lighthouse keepers, largely) and USCG was created.

Um, IIRC, until they fell under the DHS, they were part of the Department of Transportation, not the Department of the Treasury....which I don't even know what the hell is.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Um, IIRC, until they fell under the DHS, they were part of the Department of Transportation, not the Department of the Treasury....which I don't even know what the hell is.

Sorry, you're right...I was knew that, and then typing out DOT's name, it just came out Treasury instead of Transportation for some reason.  My bad.

[franksolich]

Sorry, you're right...I was knew that, and then typing out DOT's name, it just came out Treasury instead of Transportation for some reason.  My bad.

You did the same thing I do a great deal, which is why I detest acronyms.

DOT = Department of the Treasury
DOT = Department of Transportation

I had a fifth-grade teacher who insisted only lazy, slovenly people used acronyms instead of taking the time and trouble to write out an entire term.  And as so many acronyms have more than one meaning, sometimes while one really remembers the one he's referring to, a different meaning of the same acronym comes out.

I recall freaking out one time--I was pretty young--when I learned that in the military, sometimes it's mandatory to use acronyms on official forms.

[NHSparky]

Whoa.

Wait.

What?

I always thought the Coast Guard was part of the military.

Who are they under, then?

Prior to 9/11, USCG was (in peacetime) under the Transportation Department, but after the reorg they became part of DHS.  Only in time of declared war do they become part of DoD.

[docstew]

You did the same thing I do a great deal, which is why I detest acronyms.

DOT = Department of the Treasury
DOT = Department of Transportation

I had a fifth-grade teacher who insisted only lazy, slovenly people used acronyms instead of taking the time and trouble to write out an entire term.  And as so many acronyms have more than one meaning, sometimes while one really remembers the one he's referring to, a different meaning of the same acronym comes out.

I recall freaking out one time--I was pretty young--when I learned that in the military, sometimes it's mandatory to use acronyms on official forms.

Yes it is. On the Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Report it is mandatory. First use of the term is always spelled out, thereafter an acronym, such as NCOER is used to save space.

Makes sense when you have to fit a description of an accomplishment into a one line sentence.