Occupy Austin

We got a bit of rain this morning and hoping for more over the weekend. The temperatures are still high (it's 93 at the moment) but no triple digits for now.
On my morning walk I ambled over to City Hall and talked to a couple of Occupy Austin demonstrators and took some photos. Most of them are young and either college students, blue collar workers, musicians, and artists.

There was not a big crowd this morning but it was over a thousand last night and as the day wears on and people get off work and out of classes they expect more. The two young men I talked to said they were hoping to make the people pay attention to the devastating effects of corporate greed. Greed in and of itself is not the problem it's when it's pervasive and gone wrong. They specifically talked about   the Bernie Madoff debacle, the Bank of America recent announcement of the $5.00 debit card fee. I gathered from their statements that these companies making  obcenely large profits on the backs of the middle classes is the reason the economy is in the tank. They believe that the workers who make the companies grow are being lied to and cheated. The two young men (pictured) seemed sincere enough and one was a college student and one worked downtown. I didn't ask them for any personal information but I did ask them for permission to post their photo on my blog. They were happy for me to help them spread the word. I really don't see any clear cut cause (in the 50s we had Ban the Bomb, the 60s we had the anti-war dissidents) but I'm hoping that the organizers get their act together and establish a real strategy to make their case more cohesive and clear. They have the growing man-power and I hope they use it in a positive and productive way.
On my way back across the river I saw a large number of police gathering in the park. I think at the time I was there the police outnumbered the protesters. I just saw on the news that the number of protesters has grown but the tone of the demonstrators is still peaceful.

Our daughter texted the picture below. It appeared on our grandsons doorway. We have no idea what it means. Perhaps someone looking at the blog might have some idea as to what it could mean.