I apologize for not getting WORKOUT 11/3/2011 up yesterday. I had no plans of spending the entire night in Oakland standing around in riot gear getting lectured, heckled, and entertained by the people of Occupy Oakland.
I give kudos to Oakland PD and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Their officers and deputies had to do all the dirty work. All of us neighboring agencies were just moved around like pawns and formed protective lines to watch their back and flanks while they took care of business.
I spent most of the night being told that I was either worthless, a chicken shit, a disgrace to mankind, and occasionally, I was told I was appreciated for what I do. After a night of this, I have decided the following:
I have no idea what Occupy Oakland is all about. I think it has something to do with 1% of the population being wealthy and not sharing their wealth with the other 99%. I was repeatedly told that I was one more pension cut away from being a 99% “just like us.” Does that mean I am currently a 1%? Shit, I need to move out of this one bedroom apartment!!
What is Occupy Oakland’s plan for change and who the hell is in charge of it? Protestors kept standing in front of me demanding to talk to someone in charge. Who is the mastermind behind the great plan to get the 1% to share the wealth? Maybe it’s this guy:
I can tell he is a man in charge since he has a security detail (the dark glasses give him away), and he is obviously pointing out to the police where his press conference is going to be held.
Proper attire for most protestors is a bandana over your face, skinny jeans, baggy sweatshirts, name brand skateboard shoes or athletic shoes, a name brand back pack full of who knows what, a nice smartphone to instantly upload pictures and video to youtube and facebook, and a really nice 35mm camera with HD quality video capability. Hmmmmmm....... are protestors sponsored by big named attire and electronic corporations?
And finally..... I know there are are lot of crazy people in the world. I deal with people who have mental issues all the time. I just never realized you can get so many crazy people together in one place at one time. I never knew that there were so many nut cases working in our schools, our hospitals and alongside us at our everyday jobs (everyone who lectures the police at a protest is quick to tell the police what they do for a living). Sad, yet somewhat entertaining at the same time. When they say its a crazy crazy world, they are not kidding!
At least Kirk was there chillin with me. At 3:30 am in the morning when we were cold, hungry, and losing our minds, we managed to take a moment to make lemonade out of lemons: Good times!
Sorry for going off on a non-fitness rant. It was a fascinating experience last night in Oakland. I know it’s not a perfect world, and sometimes people need to band together to make changes. I just don’t think this Occupy Oakland thing is doing any good. In the end, I made 10.5 hours of overtime so I guess it did me good =)
Now back to our regularly sheduled programming......
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I'm posting up Thursday's workout too.....
WORKOUT 11/3/2011
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
- 15 pull-ups
- 20 overhead walkng lunge steps (W:25#/45#)
- 25 Abmat sit-ups
- Row 200m
WORKOUT & POWER HOUR 11/4/2011
- Find your 3 rep max back squat for the day
Then....
On the minute for ten minutes perform:
- 3 back squats @ 75-80% of 3 RM
- 3 box jumps (as high as possible)
Score weight used and box height.
Your blog is the first I ve ever read. U have support of us brit cops too
Posted by: wpc grace saxon | November 14, 2011 at 08:22
Keep politics out of CrossFit!!!
Posted by: Alan | November 11, 2011 at 10:37
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Good post ...
Posted by: Nika Di | November 07, 2011 at 08:11
Freddy- one thing they clearly don't want is jobs. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-video-occupy-d-c-protesters-brush-off-job-applications/
Posted by: Leon- CrossFit Elysium | November 04, 2011 at 21:03
I went on the website to see what Occupy Oakland was all about--I have no clue. But I did learn some "brilliant" chants:
“Politicians & Bankers, Liars & Thieves, We’re taking it back! We’re not saying please!”
“No more cops, we don’t need ‘em! All we want is total freedom”
“Shut Down OPD! Not the Public Library!”
Seriously?! Can you imagine Oakland WITHOUT police but JUST a LIBRARY?!
God bless our officers and all that are serving our community! Thank you Sir!
Posted by: Rach | November 04, 2011 at 14:38
Freddy,
I'm glad that you guys are safe. I'm sure you guys were making lemonade, just not with real lemons, you know what I mean LOL! In this crazy world, many people cannot cope with their situation in a more constuctive way. Protest is one thing, but I don't see a purpose of this either. It's just not clear. From what I've heard, it's a whole mixture of things. Basically, people protesting about the economy, the wealthy, and all sorts of other crap.
I believe some of these people were victims of the sub prime loans for housing, which in my opinion, part of the responsibility falls on the people themselves. Why would you buy something that you know you cannot afford? "Take responsibility for your actions" one of my mentors taught me. Hope to see you guys at the BBQ next week. I'm bringing food as well.
Posted by: Joe N. | November 04, 2011 at 12:11
Glad your safe brother!
Posted by: Alex | November 04, 2011 at 10:45
Awwwwwe, theres Kirk. Hi Kirk.
Posted by: Annie | November 04, 2011 at 05:59
Thanks for serving Freddy.
Thanks to all my brothers and sisters in Law Enforcement and Fire. My dear old dad used to work SWAT in the NYC metro area when he was younger (between 10-20 years ago). Protesters were the same back then. He used to tell me that a favored weapon of protesters was C and D batteries, thrown at him and the other cops... That shit hurts man! Be safe!!
Posted by: Melodia | November 04, 2011 at 04:49
So glad you guys all made it out ok and kept your sense of humor. What a frikken' frustrating situation! Can not wait until the protesters realize that this isn't going to change anything. Sick of hearing about it personally...and unfortunately I am not part of the 1%. HAHA!!
The best Halloween costume I heard about was a kid that dressed up as a milk carton that said "I am the 1%" ;0)
Posted by: Anna | November 03, 2011 at 22:43
Great post Freddy. I'm all down for those who voice their own opinion but talking shit to people who keep our streets safe is immature and downright disrepectful. Glad to hear about it from your perspective. If they don't like America why don't they just get the f--- out? They're only putting a hurt on the 99%. Go camp out at the 1% houses or business.
Posted by: Doug | November 03, 2011 at 22:42
Nothing but respect for you and your co-workers freddy. It takes strong dedicated patriots to do your job. Imagine leaving your millitary base after getting home from a long deployment away from your family in the sand box only to be greeted by people at the gate that are "protesting" the war and telling you that you are going to hell for going over there, as if they had done anything to actually help or change the world. Point is... Thank you for beeing a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.
Posted by: Luke | November 03, 2011 at 22:08
Wow! I'm sorry you had to stay up in the cold and deal with barriers, lines being crossed, and people's personalities!
I wish you didn't have to spend your time dealing with menial stuff, and get to work on the things that matter.
Posted by: Core Workouts | November 03, 2011 at 22:07
I'm happy you guys are safe! It sucks you guys have to put up with that BS.
Posted by: Lancaster | November 03, 2011 at 21:58
LOL!!! I FUCKING LOVE IT!! THIS POST GETS A+.
Posted by: Eric | November 03, 2011 at 20:30
check out infowars.com if you want to really know what is going on in this country.
Posted by: Shane | November 03, 2011 at 19:47
Bats and Hats! Gota love it!
Glad you guys are safe!
Posted by: maria | November 03, 2011 at 19:32
Probably the same reason most of the people causing problems last night had their faces covered....
Posted by: Chris | November 03, 2011 at 17:33
Wopweazel,
Thanks for the info. I get it. I wonder how manyof the estimated 7000 protestors over the course of the day yesterday knew that. I bet the percentage was well under 50%, but I could be wrong.
Still havent heard any solutions. Just lots of complaining and breaking shit.
Out of curiosity, why dont you use your real name. It takes away from what you say...
Posted by: freddy | November 03, 2011 at 17:25
I hate getting speeding tickets but I don't hate the highway patrols giving me speeding tickets.. I respect their job and what they have to do. And like I said before, I also respect your jobs and what you do day in a day out. Thank you for your service.
I also thought the Occupy protest had something to do with the 1% vs 99%.. But on the radio this morning, a protestor was talking about the soildiers fighting the war.. Are they protesting the WAR?!?! I go to work and a co-worker told me that the Occupy Wall Street protesters were interviewed in saying that they were protesting about different things from abortion, to the war, to the 99%. It's all confusing.
So what I got from this all is that there are a lot of people frustrated with many different things. And frustrated people can turn into crazy people really quick when they get together to vent.
Posted by: Benson | November 03, 2011 at 17:18
"I have no idea what Occupy Oakland is all about. I think it has something to do with 1% of the population being wealthy and not sharing their wealth with the other 99%."
They are protesting the trend in inequality, not inequality and the growing influence the top 1% have had on economic policy. Economic policies of the last 30 years have maximized corporate profits via wage stagnation. Wages typically constitute 70% of business expense. The easiest way to increase profits is to pay workers less.
CBO conducted a study recently in the trend in inequality since 1979.
CBO finds that, between 1979 and 2007, income grew by:
275 percent for the top 1 percent of households,
65 percent for the next 19 percent,
Just under 40 percent for the next 60 percent, and
18 percent for the bottom 20 percent.
Here is the study:
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=12485
Posted by: wopweazel | November 03, 2011 at 17:13
Freddy,
Glad you made it out safe, I was posted in the plaza last week, totally sucked, however we did manage to score some cold In n'Out burgers, sweet! Almost made it all worth while! Check out this letter from the Oaklad POA...kinda puts it in perspective.
An Open Letter to the Citizens of Oakland from the Oakland Police Officers’ Association
1 November 2011 – Oakland, Ca.
We represent the 645 police officers who work hard every day to protect the citizens of Oakland. We, too, are the 99% fighting for better working conditions, fair treatment and the ability to provide a living for our children and families. We are severely understaffed with many City beats remaining unprotected by police during the day and evening hours.
As your police officers, we are confused.
On Tuesday, October 25th, we were ordered by Mayor Quan to clear out the encampments at Frank Ogawa Plaza and to keep protesters out of the Plaza. We performed the job that the Mayor’s Administration asked us to do, being fully aware that past protests in Oakland have resulted in rioting, violence and destruction of property.
Then, on Wednesday, October 26th, the Mayor allowed protesters back in – to camp out at the very place they were evacuated from the day before.
To add to the confusion, the Administration issued a memo on Friday, October 28th to all City workers in support of the “Stop Work” strike scheduled for Wednesday, giving all employees, except for police officers, permission to take the day off.
That’s hundreds of City workers encouraged to take off work to participate in the protest against “the establishment.” But aren’t the Mayor and her Administration part of the establishment they are paying City employees to protest? Is it the City’s intention to have City employees on both sides of a skirmish line?
It is all very confusing to us.
Meanwhile, a message has been sent to all police officers: Everyone, including those who have the day off, must show up for work on Wednesday. This is also being paid for by Oakland taxpayers. Last week’s events alone cost Oakland taxpayers over $1 million.
The Mayor and her Administration are beefing up police presence for Wednesday’s work strike they are encouraging and even “staffing,” spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for additional police presence – at a time when the Mayor is also asking Oakland residents to vote on an $80 parcel tax to bail out the City’s failing finances.
All of these mixed messages are confusing.
We love Oakland and just want to do our jobs to protect Oakland residents. We respectfully ask the citizens of Oakland to join us in demanding that our City officials, including Mayor Quan, make sound decisions and take responsibility for these decisions. Oakland is struggling – we need real leaders NOW who will step up and lead – not send mixed messages. Thank you for listening.
Posted by: J Reed | November 03, 2011 at 16:43
Funny... exact same experience while holding the Denver line!
Posted by: G | November 03, 2011 at 16:26