Occupy Austin Updates

My visit to Occupy Austin on Nov. 1, 2011. I decided this morning to walk to the Occupy Austin site and take some photos and do some interviews if possible. The site was quiet and by my estimation there were more police officers than demonstrators. The vibe I got was one of peace and the area was clean and tidy. I observed a gentleman walking around with a broom and bucket sweeping up any bits of litter he could find. Some people were asleep and some had left to go to their jobs or take care of family business, classes, and other appointments. I talked with Burt who is a veteran about his reasons for joining the Occupy movement as well as two other gentlemen who were holding signs by the street corner. The following are some of my thoughts on what I heard.

Burt-Vet. and Occupy Austin participant

Burt joined the movement to protest the treatment of veterans and the possible reduction of benefits and medical treatment of long time vets and those returning from the middle east.
One young man joined in the protest because he believed that greed and government were taking away the opportunity of American citizens to get an affordable education. He had been attending college but had to drop out because of the lack of funding. He thinks that a free education for those serious about attending college to 'better' the world would help out the country and less emphasis should be placed on those seeking education and jobs that deal with just making money. He cited lawyers specifically but I didn't quite understand why.


Two Austin Occupy Demonstrators

The other man I talked to (the one with the signs and the ball cap) was the only one who showed real passion and some anger. He wanted an end to lobbyist controlling the outcome of legislation that was detrimental to the common man by buying the votes of unscrupulous politicians and said those people should be voted out. He also had some heat for the banks that took the bail out money but did not change the way they did business and continued to foreclose on homes and refused to lend money to small businesses. He encouraged everyone to come out and join their march to the nearest Wells Fargo Bank on November 5th.While I do believe that for the most part the people of the Occupy movement are sincere I think that a lot of them are searching for a more cohesive cause to rally behind or perhaps someone to lead them. This movement is not the angry violent anti-war movement of the 60's but it does have an air of frustration with the way things are in the world. Most of the rhetoric is directed at the wealthy and big corporations. For now the leaders are happy that banks have backed off of debit card fees but they only see it as a small victory. Where will it all end? I haven't a clue but it will be interesting to go along for the ride and see.

Updates done on a muggy Saturday afternoon.

We got some rain showers this morning. Downpours for 30 to 40 seconds but 3 or 4 of them so far. All of it is most welcome.
The Occupy Austin is still going. They did march as a group to the nearest Bank of America and those who had accounts there proceeded (in an orderly fashion) to cancel them.  The group here is organized with child care for those who want to participate in the protest but not have their children there and other groups supply water and food for the demonstrators. You can check out the videos and article here.
Sadly the Longhorns got slaughtered. I could not stand to watch it so I tried to download the second book in the Game of Thrones series.  Alas Barnes and Noble only has the first four book set for the Nook App so that means I'd have two editions of the first novel which would be lame. I didn't know you could run out of an ebook edition! Amazon has it so I might get it there but I have a gift card at B&N and really wanted to use it. Sometimes the tiny things in life can be very complicated. :0\

Thoughts from an acheing head

Laying in bed with a raging headache but unable to rest. Took a couple of Excederin and hope they work sooner than soon. Meanwhile I'll blog to take my mind of the ache. Had a bit of a conversation with my brother while he was here about the ways of communicating today. He says that his blogging, face booking, has kept him in touch with his old friends and made him some new ones. I am in touch with friends I made on the Internet and met in person but also with those I had as snail mail pen pals and have never met. While email, twitter, face book, etc. is certainly faster, snail mail is far more personal. The pleasure of finding a letter from a friend or loved one in the mail box is not the same as reading an email. Also it required more commitment because the letter had to be written, put in an envelope, and mailed! There is not much effort put into dashing off an email. Granted the web cams and voice chats which I use quite often can put you in the here and now and I wouldn't want to do away with them. I also recognize the fact that devices such as cell phones and laptops can keep the world connected and show us much more of the world than all the news shows combined. Witness the turmoil in Iran. Twitter and Youtube has been a life line for those protesters in Iran whose freedoms have been so brutally repressed. So yes I see the good in instant communication. I also see the bad side of it when I read about someone who has lied about who they are and caused great harm to those who believe them. It's not perfect, but then again nothing is. I do miss getting personal mail though. The pleasure of finding a letter from a friend or loved one in the mail box is not the same as reading an email. Grabbing a cup of tea or coffee and settling into a comfy chair, opening the envelope that just days ago was sealed shut by a warm tongue, unfolding the sheets of stationary that were folded by loving hands and catching the scent of the person who wrote it can be a very sensual experience or a comforting one depending on who sent it. I miss that. I fear the personal letter has gone the way of the dinosaurs, and that is a shame.