An Activist’s Encryption: The 49er – Roger Ingalls

Today’s post will, hopefully, have a little brain teasing with some fun thrown in. It’s a coded message but relatively simple if you’ve consumed Ovaltine or watched a Christmas special on the tube. To help you decode, there are two hints in the title of this post.

(code: four-ty niner) M’H PMOI XS AMWL E JVMIRH LETTC FMVXLHEC, LI XYVRIH 49 CIWXIVHEC. XLEROW XS LMQ, M’ZI FIIR KMZIR XLI STTSVXYRMXC XS ZIRX QC TSPMXMGEP ERH WSGMEP JVYWXVEXMSRW XLVSYKL FPSKKMRK. LI EPPSAW QI XS TSWX QC STMRMSRW IZIVC XLYVWHEC.

(code: forty nine-er) QJYYH KRACQMJH JUXW!

(code: four-ty niner) EW QSWX SJ CSY ORSA, XLMW MW EPSR’W WSGMEP NYWXMGI FPSK, ERH MR GEWI CSY HSR’X ORSA LMQ XLEX AIPP, M’H PMOI XS WLEVI E PMXXPI SJ ALEX M ORSA.  EPSR WLEPIZ PMZIW ERH AVMXIW MR XAS ASVPHW. LI MW XLI EYXLSV SJ XLVII WSGMEP NYWXMGI-XLIQIH RSZIPW ERH E WIVMIW SJ CSYRK EHYPX ITMG JERXEWC.

(code: forty nine-er) JUXW RB J PANJC OJVRUH VJW JWM QRB UNJY RWCX HJ OJWCJBH RB CQN ANBDUC XO QRB PXXM QNJAC. FQRUN XW J OJVRUH LJVYRWP CARY RW WXACQNAW LJUROXAWRJ, BQJUNE KNPJW FARCRWP JW NYRL OJWCJBH WXENU CX ANJM CX QRB BXWB JAXDWM CQN LJVYORAN. XENA CQN WNGC CQANN HNJAB, KXCQ BXWB JWM CQN JWLRNWC ANMFXXM OXANBCB KXAN FRCWNBB CX CQN BDVVXWRWP XO CQN FHLJJW VJBCNAB.  CQNBN OJVRUH PJCQNARWPB KAXDPQC JW JMMNM PNWAN CX JUXW’B FARCRWP.

(code: four-ty niner) LMW JMVWX ITMG JERXEWC RSZIP, EX XLI AEPPW SJ KEPFVMIXL, ASR XLI 2013 IVMG LSJJIV FSSO EAEVH – CE GEXIKSVC ERH AEW E KVERH TVMDI JMREPMWX. XLI WIUYIP, XLI JMVWX HIGVII, AEW VIPIEWIH MR QEVGL 2013, ERH XLI XLMVH FSSO MR XLI WIVMIW, EWLFEV, MW IBTIGXIH MR SGXSFIV.

(code: forty nine-er) JUXW’B XCQNA PNWAN, ORLCRXW-KJBNM BXLRJU JLCRERBV, RB AXXCNM RW QRB CNNWJPN HNJAB LJVYJRPWRWP FRCQ CQN JWCR-JYJACQNRM VXENVNWC, OXA CQN ANUNJBN XO SNFB OAXV CQN BXERNC DWRXW, JWM QNUYRWP CQN KDAPNXWRWP PANNW VXENVNWC. CQRB UNM QRV CX NGYUXAN DBRWP ORLCRXW JB J YUJCOXAV OXA BXLRJU SDBCRLN. QRB FXATB RWLUDMN: DWFJWCNM QNAXNB FQRLQ KARWPB CXPNCQNA JW XUM KJCCUN-BLJAANM LQRWNBN JVNARLJW FJA ENC JWM JW RMNJURBCRL JWM YANCNWCRXDB HXDWP NWPURBQVNW FQX BQJAN J UXEN OXA BJW OAJWLRBLX, LXOONN JWM FRWN. CQNH BXXW MRBLXENA CQNH BQJAN NENW VXAN FQNW ANYANBBNM VNVXARNB ANBDAOJLN. XCQNA WXENUB RWLUDMN: J PJAMNWNA’B CJUN: J BCXAH XO QNJURWP XO OJVRUH, UJWM JWM LXVVDWRCH, JUXWP FRCQ J UXXT JC CQN YJPJW ANURPRXW JWM RCB CRVN-QXWXANM RVYJLC DYXW ADAJU LXVVDWRCRNB JWM CQN JLLRMNWCJU JLCRERBC: J ORLCRXWJU JLLXDWC XO CQN JBCXWRBQRWP ‘VLURKNU’ CARJU CQJC LJYCREJCNM KARCJRW RW CQN 1990B.

(code: four-ty niner) VIEH E JIA SJ EPSR WLEPIZ’W RSZIPW, CSY’PP FI IRXIVXEMRIH ERH FIXXIV JSV MX.

(code: forty nine-er) QJYYH KRACQMJH, VJW!

Here’s a final hint: http://cryptoclub.math.uic.edu/shiftcipher/shiftcipher.htm

Occupying an Agenda

I have posted frequently about my excitement over the Occupy movement. The ‘uprising,’ if I may use such a term, is both a shift of consciousness and a call for grassroots action. I am proud of those who are creating micro communities on these sites and seeking an inclusive culture that allows for everyone present to feel involved and listened to. I am sorry that the mass media do not seem willing to give this aspect the attention it deserves.

Occupy SF

This is the crux of the movement. What mobilized people is the rising frustration that the vast majority of us are simple pawns in a game played with impunity by corrupt big business principles and a failed political system where those sent to Washington do not represent those who voted to send them (and those who didn’t), but rather represent those who paid for them to get voted in.

People need to feel listened to. They have a right to know that if they work hard, save for retirement, buy a house, and then they will receive a minimal social network. Their children will have a good education, their medical needs will be taken care of, law enforcement are there to protect them, and that they can retire with dignity. If you play by the rules and participate in the system, surely you have entitlement to basic human rights.

The rains are coming and it is unclear how the Occupy movement will cope with the coming winter. What most worries me is that, as far as I know, there is no strategic plan. It is unclear who is the leadership and we will revisit next week on this blog whether there should be an agenda.

Will people come out in the rain?

This past summer, ‘Tent Cities” were created in most major towns in Israel. There was a huge outpouring from a disenfranchised and disillusioned public (many of them under 40) with a myriad of social issues represented. Some were similar to here in the US, others more unique to Israel.

There are many similarities to Occupy. There was no recognized leadership because there was a desire not to exclude anyone and creating a power structure, however open and inclusive, runs the risk of marginalizing people. Furthermore, there was no central agenda, again because of a desire to promote different social injustices and issues, according to those who stepped up to join the Tent City. There were also clashes with police.

Israelis of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and religions came together for a summer.

When the summer ended, the groups slowly lost momentum. I am afraid that without a framework and platform, then it might not be able to sustain itself. I believe the Occupy system needs to decide one of two things:

i) To create an agenda – and they might do well to read Roger Ingall’s suggestions.

ii) Decide to create a leadership structure and strategic plan, or take the momentum into the Democratic Party.

More on this second aspect next Wednesday.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at http://www.alonshalev.com/ and on Twitter (#alonshalevsf).

Books That Matter – Business Mensch

“What’s important is providing for your family, conducting yourself with integrity, and living a life of meaning.” Noah Alper – Business Mensch.

I am somewhat skeptical when I read memoirs of successful businessmen sprouting ideals and values. Probably I feel a pang of jealousy. It’s easy to take a shot at people who have made it financially – they can afford to take the moral high ground.

I certainly have little time for Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) or Ray Kroc (McDonalds). Exploiting workers, abusing animals, destroying the world or creating unhealthy lifestyles just doesn’t cut it. Perhaps working in the non-profit world balances the lack of acquiring wealth with a healthy dose of narcissistic self-righteousness.

Noah Alper began and built up Noah’s Bagels from a single bagel shop in Berkeley. Having read his book, I think he is different. He instilled a code of values that begins with his own actions. Being an observant Jew, Alper anchors his moral business code in Judaism. This certainly excited me as a Jew. In a time when so many people’s lives were ruined by a greedy and unethical businessman who happened to be Jewish, it is important for a few Tzadikim (righteous men and women) to stand up in the business world.

Since coming to the US I have found my managerial style questioned on a number of occasions. Many times in this thin treatise, Business Mensch, I found myself nodding in agreement with his values and principles and remembering similar scenarios.

I found it strangely validating that Alper, an unapologetic entrepreneur, believes in living by such values in his daily practice. And values are only worth something if they are truly upheld on a daily basis.

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Alon Shalev is the author of The Accidental Activist (now available on Kindle) and A Gardener’s Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hillel Foundation, a non-profit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon Shalev at www.alonshalev.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Book Cover – The Accidental Activist

Oilspill dotcom will be withdrawn on October 15th and reissued by Three Clover Press with the new title: The Accidental Activist.

The Accidental Activist will be launched at the Northern Californian Independent Booksellers Association’s trade show on that date.

More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. Below is the new cover. Thanks Lily for all your hard work and a great job.

Guest Blogger: Matt Fielding

I am truly humbled. I knew Alon Shalev was writing this novel, Oilspill dotcom, and I knew he had aspirations to one day see it published, but I kind of had my doubts about the whole project.

Don’t get me wrong. The decision by Global Energy Development Corporation to sue my girlfriend, Suzie, and her colleague, Bill, was pretty stunning. That the British judicial system didn’t see fit to provide them with legal aid is still hard to believe; and, of course, the astonishing fact that this court case went on to become the longest trial in British history, is all worthy of being recorded.

What I find humbling is the fact that the author, Alon Shalev, saw fit to make me his protagonist. Certainly my role as the web designer is significant. The fact that Oilspill dotcom was probably the first ever interactive advocacy website, that it became a conduit for the flow of information on a global level, and that it enabled Suzie and Bill to act and respond at the necessary legal level without any formal training, is all amazing, especially to geeks such as myself.

But Shalev goes a step further. He is not content with the mechanics of the Information Highway and the work our Dream Team undertook. He seems fascinated with me personally and the process I went through.

Let me be honest: Before meeting Suzie, I couldn’t have told you the names of our government’s cabinet members. I knew more about Arsenal Football Club’s reserve side than our shadow cabinet and, being in opposition meant Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, not the Conservatives, Liberals and the Green Party.

I’ll be perfectly clear (I have been asked this many times in interviews): I only got involved because I fancied Suzie (love came along, but much later) and wanted to date her. I can’t tell you at what point I became politically aware, at what point it ceased to be personal.

This reckless multinational corporation hurt many people I loved and respected. My friends became victims to a business model that cannot conceive of the pain and destruction left in its wake, the devastating effect these companies have on the individual who willingly or unwillingly gets in the way of their profit highway.

Today I remain involved: being with Suzie, how could I not? My consulting agency is selective about which clients we take on and we have an internship program where we not only mentor students, but also have them work, pro bono, on projects that advance social justice and sustainability.

Not bad for a self-absorbed yuppie who was only out to get laid, huh? Only when I read Oilspill dotcom did I ever have any idea about the transformation that I underwent. I guess for this I should thank Shalev for writing the novel and giving me the chance to become who I am.

And if my story can in any way help someone else make the changes necessary to help this embattled world of ours to be a better place, well, I am proud to have been the protagonist of Oilspill dotcom.

Matt Fielding
Oilspill dotcom.