this is the anniversary of the failed gunpowder plot involving guy fawkes. the recent protests have adopted his mask to represent the people trying to topple our inept government, similar to the film that popularized the mask, v for vendetta.

[on a side note, natalie portman was in that movie]

ok, now back to business:

i think i can sympathize with these protesters, but they seem a little disorganized. i think a lot of people feel that they are part of the 99%. Is this the best way of expressing their frustration with the current state of affair?. there’s lots of stuff wrong with the country (when is there not?) and the best way to show disapproval is to vote with your wallet.

bank of america tried to levy a $5 monthly fee for using your debit card, but that was quickly pulled after several hundred thousand closed their accounts and moved away to other banks and credit unions. people win when they are organized correctly.

what are the protestors protesting about?

jobs? unemployment is high, but it’s falling. craigslist in the bay area had 1200 job postings on FRIDAY ALONE. greedy corporations? they are pulling in record profits – chevron earned 7 billion in profits on revenues of 64 billion (that’s for a quarter, by the way). but if you don’t like what they do, then don’t buy chevron gas. problem solved. you can’t cry about jobs moving overseas, but then go buy your $8 monkey wrench from wal-mart. that same wrench would cost $35 if it was made here domestically.

the management of these ‘greedy corporations’ are chuckling because these protestors are still buying their chevron gas on the way home and head over to the citibank ATM to get some cash out.

what about the protestors trashing the city, like oakland? it’s less money for kids, parks and social services when it has to spend city money on cleaning that place up. then, what did your protesting actually accomplish? if you are vandalizing buildings and throwing rocks, then you probably should get some police force thrown your way. i only truly sympathize with those peacefully protesting that get roughed up. we have the right to gather peacefully and some overzealous cops forget that. you always run the risk of injury heading out to something like this.

here’s a police medic getting in on the beating action:

if they want things to change, then this loose, disorganized protesting isn’t going to make anything happen. they are just getting in the way of the rest of us who have jobs and trying to live their lives.

i’m not normally too political on things but i gotta blow off some steam every once in a while. now back to the jokes:

coincidence?