So I covered the Pittsburgh G20 at True/Slant and Philadelphia City Paper, which was amusing. Additional reports are forthcoming at Next American City magazine. My basic observation: The City of Pittsburgh called in way too many cops and the Protesters of Pittsburgh didn't know how to contend with them. What's the next step in organized resistence? I have no idea, but someone better get there fast. Otherwise, resistance movements are in jeopardy.
From the SmartSet:
"As the novelty of walking vanished, and as I entered a three-week period of solitude, my brain turned inward and began digging around among old piles of National Geographic and dusty stacks of vinyl records, looking for entertainment. This was my introduction to what Buddhists call Monkey Brain, the ceaseless chattering of the mind. During those three weeks, my monkey brain never shut up. It was like being locked in a small room with a hyperactive Irishman, like mainlining an AM radio talk show host, like being forced to watch the E! channel for 24 hours a day. I hadn’t known my monkey brain existed. Then it was all I knew."
"Hausen felt Catholic leaders needed to stop closing churches -- and start opening their eyes. Many of the problems the church faced, he thought, stemmed from its adherence to teachings that were increasingly out of step with how people lived: prohibitions on birth control, a ban against female priests, required celibacy for ordained males. Until the church abandoned centuries-old tenets, he thought, more churches would close."