City, Occupy Dallas at Odds Over Who Began Melee That Ended With Eight Arrested

• Yeah, I have new found respect for the original Tea Party people, like Karl Denninger:  you just want to build a legitimate political movement and then all these crazy and insane people show up.   Still plenty of people out there for the right reasons. Yeah, there's some Trekkie Marxists and left Know-Nothings.  I'm sure Churchill didn't necessarily like the idea of aligning with the Soviet Union, either; but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.   I am a Capitalist. I believe in "Natural Rights." I am not a fan of Communism or State-Socialism. I have strong convictions which forever put me at odds with some of my fellow Occupiers' views, even while I am a firm defender of government's role in protecting liberty, which includes economic justice.   In this country, the rule of law is now a leftist ideal. Equality of law, but not equality in all things, has been compromised.  I might fundamentally disagree with the minority left-Communists, but in that we both genuinely care about poor people and the condition of workers, they have my friendship, but I do not support their ideas for reform. I support their right to speak; I just think they've got a lot wrong.   "Conservatives," who recognize that Corporations were not created in the image of God, ought join this movement.  We are a movement with many wings, but one common enemy: the Wall Street-Government. Occupiers need to always remember the virtue for which we stand, the sacrifices made by previous generations for us, and the community that we are fighting for, not against.

• This is totally ridiculous. City needs to drop all charges and call it a wash. Bad all around.  Pretty clear, they're trying to radicalize the youth out there in attempt to provoke the Occupiers into doing things that will "justify" using heavy handed tactics to clear streets. Without that pretext, it will mean Civil War if the police are giving a green-light to do what they must to end occupation. 

• why is it that you think thats what we want? if the police were not there, no violence would have occurred.

• This is what happens when you live in a police state. The police are just tired of dealing with them (i.e., they're tired of doing they're jobs) and so they're trying to get them to go away.

• I keep wondering which Occupy Dallas constituent would consider running for political office? It seems that even though the Occupy Wall Street group makes many valid points, nothing will get done until legislation changes...

• Just wondering if you were there...of course you couldn't have been because what you relate didn't happen.  No one was daring the police about anything.  Many people were on the planters before, during and after...let me tell you again...a security guard, who was also an off-duty Dallas Police Officer pushed Benavides off the planter without adequate warning for him to get down on his own accord...that started the conflict between police and protesters.. And people were videotaping but when things turn from peaceful to not in a spit second it's hard to get the correct angle etc.  although there are several videotapes online for review...

• Man, read your post and find your total lack of knowledge there. Bank switching was organized by computer-Facebook, not by street-walkers or camp-sitters. And you know what? You are RIGHT? YOU go ahead, protest YOUR WAY. Go to jail. I protest within the legal limits. I have never been arrested, and I have done a hell of a lot of protesting, activism and such for DECADES, so get a grip. You are delusional if you think that anything came of Sunday's "melee." I have seen rougher stuff in the lunch lines in a high school.

• Videotape them next time. Video works both ways.

• I did witness most of the incident.  To be fair, I got there after the planters had been cleared, so I did not witness what transpired there.  I did see the slack-jaw flag waver, and from my angle, he appeared to be swinging the staff at the officer.  I did not have a good angle.  If he was, he was lucky he only got arrested and didn't get a staff shoved up his fourth point of contact.

• Again, you are mistaken.  Democracy doesn't give the right to do whatever you damn well please.  Keep in mind, democracy also affords property owners the RIGHT to be safe and secure in their property (There are 12 amendments in the Bill of Rights, you would be wise to peruse those beyond the first, as they are equally applicable here).  You have the right to protest, to address the government for grievances, but you do not have the right to trespass in doing so.  If you do trespass, the property owner has the right, and the police have the duty, to remove you from said private property.  If you do not leave of your own accord when told to do so, the police have the duty to remove you by force if necessary. Chanting has not caused 500,000 to switch their banking habits, idiotic attempts by banks to slip in more fees has done that.  Believe it or not, most Americans, in this economy are looking for ways to save money, and if banks start charging, Americans will switch.  So you see, the free market economy you all protest so much is what gives Americans the choices that enable them to leave the banks.  Hopefully the credit unions wont pull an S&L on us and sink all our money into jackalope ranches in Wyoming.

• The OD folks I've run into are lamentably ignorant and seemed to be walking around DT looking for someone to yell at. They showed up at the Dallas County foreclosure auction and began screaming obscenities- so much so that we couldn't conduct business. They had no idea what we were doing -they vascillated between thinking we were stealing houses (they why did I bring this $86k cashier's check?) and thinking that we worked for the banks-"think of the little children in the house you are foreclosing on!" was often shouted.  "I'd be happy to rent the place back to them is they're qualified" didn't seem to placate them at all.  Unintelligent, unwashed hipsters with nothing better to do.

• And copyrights!  Don't forget teh coprightz!

• Thank you  RT for taking the time to check out the situation "on the ground".

• You are in denial.  Non-violence may be a tenet of the Occupy Dallas group, but when you have OWS in New York cheering on a reprobate defecating on the flag, non-violence has gone out the window (along with common decency and basic human health/sanitation concerns.).  Even the SCOTUS would have to consider that event carefully.  'Fightin' Words', or verbal or non-verbal speech designed to incite hatred or violence is not a protected form of free speech. maybe a bit off-topic here, but the Occupiers might have to do a bit of internal policing if they want people to take them seriously.

• The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king. Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you. Oh but if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away.

• WTI is trading at a significant discount to Brent. While it is true that some users of the commodity will use futures to stabilize costs and earnings, the great majority of futures trading is paper trades by nonusers of the commodities. The US is a net importer of crude.

• As long as the protesters stayed on the public sidewalk and behaved peacefully, DPD let them continue their pitiful protest that no one gives a $#it about. When the moron named Benavides dared police to make him get off the wall, then foolishly resisted arrest while flailing a flagpole, he needed to go jail and is lucky he didn't go to Lew Sterrett by way of Parkland ER.  The arrested protesters are hired trashy losers itching for a fight, which they got, and lost.      

• No sympathy here!

• I assume it's because the Brent goes to gasoline in NW Europe and WTI goes to gasoline in United States.  Since the margin is not enough to support moving US crude to Europe, gas prices, driven mostly by taxes, in Europe are higher and US crude has much more easily sourced competitors in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, and Canada (all accessible to US refineries), the European crude probably gets a premium. I assume the CBOT activity gives liquidity to the probably more long term hedges done by farmers and large agribusiness firms.  Not everybody wants to hold the hedges.  Sometimes things crop up where you need the cash (as did American Airlines when they cashed out in a short term fix that created long term fuel expense problems). Nothing is perfect, but equating traders to being workers in gambling dens overstates it, something that the Occupy movement does again and again.

• .. but one of the protesters who were arrested will be held responsible for his 'injury'.

• Up until this incident DPD was exercising restraint and tolerance....now it's a time for responsible citizens who witnessed non-restraint to speak up and remind them to return to their previous behavior...

• Why don't you go protest in your way and leave others to do it their way...that's the democratic way.   Chanting has caused more than a half a million people to switch their bank accounts to credit unions.  Watch the rest of the videos.  see how many people were standing on the planter - before and after ...the warning was a security guard/police officer in real life, coming up behind the 2 men and telling them to get off the planter...before they had a chance to even react, he shoved one or both of them...that is what caused the police to surge into the crowd and drag people into the streets and arrest them...if you are ok with this, and only react to attack dogs and riot gear, ok...but i want much higher standards for this country.

• This is hilarious, watch the fat cop in the bike helmet as he tries to slam into the person waving the blue flag.  Not only does he miss, he falls and bounces his head off the curb, then gets up kinda shaky and tries to charge in again only bounce off the telephone pole.  Priceless.

• Have you been in, or paid attention to protests outside the US?  What happened Saturday was not 'thuggery'.  If there was mace or pepper spray, it was some pitifully weak stuff.  The ODers were standing on a wall yes, a privately owned wall.  The police, in the course of their duties, are required to enforce the law.  The law states you cannot violate private property.  It is not up to you to decide what constitutes a violation of private property. Thuggery would be letting DFR come break up your little hoohaa's by turning 300psi fire hoses on you and blowing you 20ft off the wall (as is done in many places worldwide).  Perhaps some beanbags fired from small cannons or pepper bullets (as happened in Denver).  Or perhaps the military should be called out, so you can experience the thuggery people making a real change come up against (Arab Spring). Count your lucky stars that you are living in Dallas, where, surprisingly, DPD is exercising restraint and tolerance in it's dealings with ODers.

• That is assuming the revolution embraces socialist or communist ideals.  OD claims to embrace capitalism, and is only against the rich getting a free pass.  Liberalism is quite conducive to, even necessary, if you are waging a liberal revolution.  From the little exposure I've had with the ODers, they want limited organization and don't want to be 'lead' by a Party.  They are American youth, the last thing they want or will succumb to is discipline.  In politics, like comedy, one must know his audience.  Your movement had its day. Nobody is interested in Marxist theory or centralized supremacy of the State.

• It's the myth of "private property". The Energy Act of 2005 allows eminent domain for energy exploration, the threat of which is used by the natural gas companies here in negotiations for example. We love to use the concept of private property but in reality it only applies if the government or a large corporation (as if there is a difference - which is the point here) doesn't want your private property.  If they do you are screwed.

• A WALL--- is NOT public property. Am I right they were TOLD to get down? I was watching the video, and a friend of mine was one of the guys on the planter... so I kinda do know what happened. I only participate in doing something productive. Standing on planters on a Sunday afternoon while chanting is silly. Open a storefront and organize some ACTIONS other than chanting, and I am there. I have done my time in protests over the years, as well as having served in the miltitary to protect the document that guarantees their right to chant needlessly. So, my bona fides are in order, my friend. I am not in favor of police misconduct, but there are two sides to this. I don't see attack dogs, riot gear, etc... OD needs to either decide it is mature and adult enough to handle a protest, or it can just keep trying to up the ante to get attention.

• The inciting a riot came when a security guard shoved two peaceful protestors - one not even a OD person - off a wall that many were standing on. and continued to stand on.  it was thuggery and that is precisely what started the riot...not the protestors.  maybe you should come participate you might have a better idea of the details.

• I have voted in every election that I have eligible to do so.  Donated lots of money to lots of campaigns.  Worked on many, many campaigns.  Registered thousands of voters.  Just wrapped up a VR event last Saturday where I sat outside for 8 hours on my own volunteer time.  Worked out of state on the last Presidential election when it was obvious that Texas was not in play to make any change.  So, Ms. Birdwell, don't judge...you are wrong.

• Lesson to the guy being DRAGGED by the police. If you are FACING them, then you are RESISTING. That is not non-violent protocol. If they nail you, you go. Part of the price for your cause. When you resist, you intentionally --INTENTIONALLY are setting up a possible riot. People get upset, get emotional, cops dig in, your guys get ugly, so stop. If you cannot afford to get arrested, then stay off of private property. When they tell you to get down off of private property, then do it. Otherwise, please tell us where you live, so we can occupy your yard, your porch, etc... and see what your response is. 15 minutes are up.

• They are clueless.

• No, quit banging. The corridor is dead, and it was Perry's own constituancy that killed it--small land owners. Gas drilling is bought and paid for, and now that people are learning they goofed because of fracking, steps--legal ones, are being made. Accept facts, guys. Democracy--IN ACTION works. Chanting does not.

• My point exactly, the lending officer had no skin in the game.  He would get a fee for having originating your loan and if you defaulted, well that would be someone else's problem.  Good luck on being able to buy your house.  Mine will be paid off in less than a year and three years early. I do believe that I deserve that big house, but I realize that I have to earn it.

• As silly the OWS seem they have spurred discussions about the banks and corporations here and in the press. So they have been effective.

• And how many of these protesters voted in the last election? Donated money to the candidates? Registered people to vote, drove them to the polls, answered questions? If you didn't vote then, you can't bitch about it now. We get it. We get it. Now, DO something other than chant and camp.

• Yes I do.  True hedges, puts and calls can be used by users of commodities to manage their future risk and I have used them in my business ventures.  I use whether or not various commodities are in contango or backwardation as an economic indicator. However, the majority of most hedging done in commodities in the current market are not done by the users or suppliers of those commodities. For example, there is a complete disconnect in the price of soybeans in the general market and what the price is on the CBOT. Additionally, how do you explain the price differential that currently exists for WTI and Brent crudes? At one time the various commodities markets limited the futures contracts to those who either produced or consumed the commodity but this is no longer the case. The volume that trades for most commodities in the futures markets often far outstrips the actual supply and demand that exists.  This intense trading in my opinion has contributed significantly to the overall volatility that exists in the marketplace.

• I applaud what OWS is doing. For everyone else tired of the antics of these large banks, we should not to keep our money with them. Take your money out and put it in a local bank or credit union. I haven't use a bank since I was 12 and now I am 58. Withdrawing your money speaks louder to the banks than any protest.

• Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension. It robs the revolutionary ranks of compact organization and strict discipline, prevents policies from being carried through and alienates the Party organizations from the masses which the Party leads. It is an extremely bad tendency.

• charges to be filed on officer that asulted protesters. Video at Facebook.com/occupydallas

• Good points mike. However usually when there are events that require so many resources like this, the boss is out and front, either speaking on behalf of his officers and or trying to prevent these issues from occurring at all. Either way, he's a no show. Poor leadership.

• Not everyone has the ability, funds or opportunity to go to Washington and march, so we have to do it where we can.  We are protesting because our representatives in Washington no longer represent us.  If our representatives no longer represent our values then WE, as the people, are obligated - by the Constitution - to make that change.  There is no other way.

• Hedges, puts, and calls are legitimate tools to minimize risk of holding assets or fluctuations in asset values you will receive, e.g., this year's corn crop. You give up some value to get more reliable expenses like airlines do with fuel. They have been around for 500 years. Do you have any idea what you are talking about or was this on a flier at the camp?

• Nothing there that needs the chief's attention. These protesters are not that important. It looks like they had a corporal down there. That is plenty enough seniority to handle these people when they step off the sidewalk. The bottom line is that they simply do not matter. DPD has real criminals to catch like the scum that brought a rifle to a convenience store heist and shot the clerk. Babysitting a bunch of unemployed college educated individuals is necessary or they could hurt themselves.

• Bangs head on wall...

• what a bunch of losers and idiots.....look at the people protesting, looks like a bunch of mindless robots, if they truly wanted to change something you march on the White House and Congress.....they caused this mess - that shows you the intelligience level of the OWS....the US Gov't makes the laws, passes bills, regulations....even my 8 year son knows that. Hello OWS idiots - get a clue, what a joke you are.......oh, and by the way....I voted for the campaigner in chief, I live in the ghetto, I am black and proud....but I'm not an idiot like you people.

• I did notice your Glass-Stengall comment above.  You are, of course, correct.  Glass Stengall should never have been repealed, it was a situation tailor made for finance corporation abuse. I still believe the root cause is the entitlement mentality among our fellow citizens.  Americans believe that they deserve to have the house, picket fence, 2.5 kids and car, truck, boat/rv.  That led to the government trying to slop that horse at the vote trough, and banks inventing new ways to generate profit, whether those profits be real or not. I looked at a house a few years back.  The lending officer was very convincing, yes.  He produced impressive spreadsheets and charts and numbers showing how I could afford the mortgage.  When I went back over it, at home, using my high school math and budget spreadsheet downloaded for free, I discovered not only could I not afford it, but just the PRINCIPLE was more than my accumulated disposable income was going to total for the next 50years.  All of my disposable income (no vacations, no day trips, no recreation)!!  needless to say, I bailed on that particular house, and indeed, bailed on buying a home period, until I reach the next stage of my long term goals. I use this illustration because I am not any smarter than the next guy.  I didn't attend college, was in the military, and basically got my economic education from dealing with the aftermath of being married to a woman with more credit than sense.  If I figured out that the mortgage numbers didn't add up, anyone should have been able to.

• Don't be so dramatic, Democratic Administrations only use military/paramilitary force against right wing groups.  Militias, Whack-job religious compounds, and people who are a bit too zealous in exercising their 2nd amendment rights.

• Perhaps that's what you saw in the time it took you to drive past (presumably you also had to watch the road).  However, you'll also have to forgive me if I don't buy that as the way things "went down."  Perhaps there were a few idiots in the group doing stupid things.  There are always idiots in every group doing and saying stupid things.  In fact, it's the entire driving force being this year's GOP presidential nominees. Also, don't use the phrase "jump the shark" so wantonly.  It tends to minimize how truly absurd that episode of "Happy Days" actually was, and that is something that should never be forgotten.  

• Corridor did not go anywhere and those natural gas companies are paying to use that property.

• The default taxes for the 1% is about 50%, but after deductions and loopholes, it's near 0%. So yes, the 1% pay a lower effective tax.

• The AAA rating was primarily done through a credit default swap, i.e., insurance against default, which is why AIG went belly up because they did not charge a sufficient premium for the risk. As has come out in several lawsuits, the actual debt obligations were, in many cases, never properly placed into the CDOs. The other problem was that the originating banks, nor the packagers of the CDOs never really had any skin in the game.  The money made by the various firms was on the transaction and not the securities or debt obligations themselves. Another aspect is that the underwriting guidelines were often misrepresented to the purchasers of the CDOs. The problem is actually quite simple when you step away from the problem to look at it. Whenever there is a promise of "easy" outsize returns in comparison to the market, be afraid, be very afraid. Also please look at my comments above about the Glass Steagal Act and the New York State betshop laws. I enjoy your comments.

• In the link I posted you have Greenspan himself saying he, nor his economic advisors, could comprehend the equation the investment banks were using to demonstrate how CDO's should retain AAA ratings.

• Don't forget the French banks, when they found out that they could not establish a price for the CDOs which they held.  They were unable to establish a price because they were unable to determine the quality of the underlying assets. And then there is MERS ....

• One of the last items done by the Clinton Administration was to repeal the Glass-Steagal Act.  The GSA dates back to the Great Depression and was an effective wall between traditional merchant banking and investment banking. With the prohibition removed, the merchant banks, such as BOA, Chase, etc, were able to move into investment banking.  They had an edge in that the capital available to the investment banking side was and is the FDIC insured deposits on the merchant banking side. In effect, the potential losses incurred by the investment banking side is covered by the FDIC and eventually us. The bailouts that were given to the major banks was to cover their investment banking losses and not their merchant banking losses. It is way past time to re-institute the GSA. It is also time that New York state remove the investment house and brokerage house exemption from the "bet shop laws".  After all a hedge, put or call is nothing more than a bet and has absolutely nothing to do with the effective and efficient transfer of capital from those with excess capital to those in need of capital.

• If anyone cares to learn about it, here is a link to an excellent expose on the subprime fiasco: http://www.cnbc.com/id/28892719 

• You're right about the banks getting an undeserved bailout, willie, and you're an idiot.  What started this economic slide?  Sure the banks bundled up bad mortgages into investment packages and artificially inflated them.  But where did the bad mortgages come from?  They came from Americans, demanding home loans with no verifiable information on the borrower.  Clinton administration created Fannie and Freddie to underwrite these 'sub-prime' mortgages.  Then those same Americans, who could now qualify for government insured loans for more house than they could ever possibly hope to afford, went and signed their names to the papers.  Institutional investors and foreign governments bought these sub-prime packages, thinking that American mortgage lenders were still diligent in their approval process. It was the defaults on these mortgages which became the first card to topple the house.  If you want to blame the banks, that's fine, they're certainly guilty of letting greed replace intellect.  Keep in mind though, they had to lend someone that money in order for it all to happen.  Your friends, families, neighbors, etc (and mine) are just as much to blame for the current economic situation as the banks are.

• You are misinformed.  The police are not thugs.  Police, in a crowd situation, have to respond in sufficient numbers to control the crowd in a worst case scenario.  If they don't, and the anarchist elements within OD get out of control, private property gets damaged, cities get sued, and non-participant bystanders get hurt.  Actions have consequences. Being down there, it appeared the police exhibited a fair amount of restraint in their actions.  Members of the MoveOn protest were intermingled with the ODers and didn't so much as get bumped.  The only ODers who did get figuratively thumped were the ones who refused to get off private property or to stay out of the middle of traffic. It appears that it has fallen to DPD to teach the ODers what their parents should have taught them: respect for private property and respect for the rights of others.

• DPD has been overaccomodating to the protesters as far as I can tell.  If the ODers want to practice civil disobedience, fine.  If they think they can do so and suffer no consequences, they have another thing coming.  They are products of their generation, having life handed to them.  Don't fail kids in school, it damages their self esteem, dont reward kids for success, it damages the frail psyche of those who do not succeed.  Don't allow corporal punishment, teach kids that any inconvenience to what THEY want, right NOW, is a violation of their rights.... you get the picture. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi, all the others OWS movements are quoting knew one thing that the occupiers haven't grasped yet.  In a protest movement, protesters are going to get hurt or arrested or both.  Actions have consequences. Your statement about the press illustrates my point perfectly.  Since the press hasn't raised the occupiers to sainthood, hasn't lauded their every move and machination, then obviously the press is against them.  The press was extremely hostile to the Tea Party movements, going out of their way to find the most rednecked, backwoods, hillbilly peckerwoods among them and painting them as the norm.  The real Tea Partiers, who didn't get co-opted, and are still working diligently trying to promote viable third party candidates, didn't whine about negative press, they ignored it and carried on. Also, you didn't see Tea party protests getting hammered by cops all that often because they made sure that their actions were legal in their entirety.  Even when they carried firearms to an Obama campaign stop, they made sure that all the firearms were legal to carry, and to stay outside of the secret service protective radius.  You don't see the ODers taking these kinds of steps.  No, the occupiers think that anything they do is protected by the first amendment, and any action against them is an example of police brutality.

• Where is DPD leadership? Has anyone else wondered where the leaders at DPD have been throughout this?  It appears they are allowing the line officers deal with this on their own with no support. Furthermore, they (DPD leaders) won't allow their own to comment on their actions- they defer that to Librio at City Hall.  Suggestion to Chief Brown: Get out there and do your job, start acting like a leader; stop hiding in your office. We all know you are afraid, but this is why you are getting paid 200k a year. These are the kinds of incidents that true leaders show their faces. Where are you? And why isn't anyone demanding this? This is a story in itself. Think about it. Interesting...    

• I actually chose this weekend to observe, as it were, the ODers in their natural environment.  I found it easier to observe them than I originally thought, what with me being unfamiliar with downtown.  They were, indeed, hindering traffic on my way to Pioneer plaza, the one place I know I can park, for a limited time, for free.  I got around them, down to the park, and made my way up to the BA Plaza, where things were starting to unfold. In the few minutes it took me to park and get back to the BA Plaza, DPD had arrived in-force, and the "melee", if you choose to call it that, was winding down.  Most of the non-handcuffed ODers shouted vague intangibles for a few minutes then wandered off to the next stop on their Occupation scavenger hunt. A few, including a fairly large oaf in a brown Tshirt and face bandana, stayed around for a bit, taunting the cops, stepping on and off the curb.  One officer came over and asked if he could help the ODer, with what, I have no idea.  The cop did not have the aggressive hostility of 'stormtrooper', rather the resigned frustration of a parent chastising a child who continually refuses to follow the rules. Incidentally, I walked several blocks with one of the 'middle aged' MoveOn protesters. He did not claim to have 'cheered' at the arrival of the Occupy Dallas people.  He did describe them as loud and confrontational, although he did not do so derisively, but in a matter-of-fact manner. I managed to talk to one ODer, they paused long enough from their game of hare-and-hound with DPD for me to catch up and get a few words.  I asked if they were ever going to get organized and maybe, you know, make a point or offer up a viable solution.  I got an answer along the lines of they are open and accepting and try to be all-inclusive of all points of view.  Great answer if they were  demonstrating for true participatory democracy, but that isn't what they're advocating and it certainly wasn't what I asked. A quick survey of the OD campsite revealed nothing remarkable.  The reports of them being trashy are much overstated.  The site was no trashier than it has ever been, probably cleaner than it often is.  Most of the resident were out playing handcuff tag, so I just sort of wandered about, reading what there was to read (not much). They are trying to keep a closer eye on who belongs there and who doesn't (I obviously didn't.)  As I wandered, a man about my age shadowed me, discretely, until I wandered back across the parking lot to the grassy area between them and Fort Dallas (city hall). He didn't, nor did anyone else, accost me, nor did anyone ask if I had any questions.  From a basically military point of view, the addition of some level of security at the camp was a wise decision, although impossible to implement.  The camp is open for ingress/egress from every conceivable direction.  The spill over camp is too far away from the main camp and not directly visible.  Were anything untoward happen there, help from the main group would likely be too little and too late.  Of the 4 essential elements of a military operation Command, Control, Communication, Intelligence (C3I), OD only exhibits a grasp of one, communication, with precious little of that communication directed inwards. (By the way, I'm not implying they are not intelligent, rather, intelligence here has to do with the collection of and action upon information about the activities arrayed against them). All in all, my observation of the ODers this weekend did little to change my opinion of them.  I am neither hostile nor sympathetic to their cause.  Their protest smacks a little too loudly of people wanting the benefits of society to be bestowed upon them rather than earning it for me to be sympathetic.  It falls short of advocating socialism or communism and is too unorganized to waste time being against it.  Like all extreme-leaning movements, it is highly susceptible to subterfuge and in danger of being co-opted by major political organizations.  I suspect it will peter out midway through next years election season, as even the democrats will turn hostile to them if it appears they are hurting election chances.

• most are peaceful, but there is an undercurrent who are not.  Snipit from the SF Chronicle talking about a possible alliance with big labor: An alliance could be similarly toxic for unions, if the minority of anarchists who revel in attacking police with bricks and lighting things on fire becomes the dominant face of the otherwise nonviolent Occupy movement.Union leaders say they are content for now to watch the movement mature, and they've been pitching in behind the scenes all along.During Wednesday's general strike in Oakland, for instance, members of the Service Employers International Union served 4,000 meals to marchers and acted as peacemakers, calming down some of those who wanted to break windows. They were gone from the scene at night, when Occupy's provocative faction took over. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/05/MN9H1LQQH7.DTL#ixzz1cwWWFyrX

• You're right about personal debt, Bobby, and you're an idiot.  The problem is after screwing our economy, and probably the rest of the world's economies as well, the big banks should have gone belly up because they were leveraged out the ass.  But, no, we, as in the United States taxpayers, bailed their sorry asses out.  And our painfully sorry federal government then doesn't prosecute them and let's them continue trying to screw everyone.  That's the debt I'm pissed off about.

• <i>This is Texas. You do not mess with private property in Texas.</i> Unless you're a natural gas company or Rick Perry with his Trans-Texas Corridor or the city because you want to put in some retail stores or...

• Jeez, this disqus thing eats paragraph breaks very efficiently. I protest.

• The biggest message I get from this movement is "we're here and we're protesting!" Great, we got it. The other central message seems to be an anarchist's demand for a larger, stronger, more benevolent and controlling State. None of these occupy movements are actually occupying anything in the sense they want to portray, not even Wall Street. They're camping out on property they have been allowed to camp on, for now, to protest."Occupy" movement is a typical lefty misnomer, it should be labeled "The Protest Movement®", but the protestors would probably protest that.It's fun to watch them build these little separate societies with free libraries, volunteer police, medical  and legal resources, along with basic political/power structure. They're mimicking everything in their actual society. From eminent domain to defense of borders, to prosecution of crimes, it's all there. In a play-house pretend way, living on charity.In NYC, they're sitting on $500K in donations, now the real fun is going to start.

• What we are seeing down at these protests is people who earnestly believe they are serious people, but who are, in fact, utterly incapable of serious thought or action. Take a look at  The Worst Generation.

• I thought these protestors had recently marched their butts down to Police Headquarters to show support for Dallas rank and file? Now they are blaming the police for interfering with their weekend field trips around downtown. Sounds like this group was pandering to the Police in hopes of winning them over. Plan backfired.

• LMAO. "Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!"

• Not sure if you've been down to Occupy Dallas, but a vast majority of the protesters are in masks or facepaint. And, yes, most of them are young. You might see suits in some places, but not in Dallas and certainly not among those that are doing the "occupying". Get over your weird victim complex. The Observer is practicing a pretty even hand and is not delivering any sort of bias in its news coverage.

• Zzzzzz... It was 150 people with nothing better to do on a nice Saturday than block traffic and wrestle with cops. Yawn.

• A video titled <b>Grant Stinchfield Visits Occupy Dallas</b> tells me all I need to know about these occupiers. Stinchfield visited OD and made a video which is at his site and also at UncleBarky's and Mark Davis's websites and at YouTube.

• I drove through the mess the protesters were causing this afternoon. Lots of idiots intentionally trying to block cars, challenge the police by running past them and into the street, and so on. The whole OWS campout/protest/whatever it is has really jumped the shark. Time for these dudes to go home and think of something new.

• This is Texas. You do not mess with private property in Texas. Stay on the sidewalk, stay out of the street, do not enter the private property or you are going to jail. That building is locked tight on the weekends. Consequently, unless you are headed into it with a badge, if you are near the building and not on the sidewalk, you are trespassing. See above. This stuff would seem pretty simple. Get in a single file line and walk around the building waving your sign. First indication you got it wrong: you are standing on a concrete planter.

• Good thing that bike cop had a helmet on! 

• And btw, if you don't like Bank of America, there are more than 100 alternative financial institutions in Dallas. Advantage of having a free capitalist society. You upset about your debt? Then don't spend what you don't earn. Unhappy with your paycheck? Perhaps you should have considered that before dropping out of school or avoiding college. Mad that you're unemployed? Get over it and apply for a job at McDonald's, Macy's, City of Dallas, Wal-Mart, etc. No one owes you a fancy job with a big salary and large office. You have to earn it.

• Actually Occupy Wall Street costumes were VERY popular this year for Halloween. I don't think the protestors are getting public sympathy....more like a group to watch assault under age girls, house sex offenders, endanger very young children, block public access, and practice playing the bongos. With all this time on your hands, how about doing something constructive and volunteering at a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, Toys for Tots, cleaning up Dallas parks, etc. Ah that's right. That would mean actually doing work and not complaining about those who works their butts off and are successful.

• "Your a smart one?" Isn't YOU ARE A SMART ONE? or YOU'RE A SMART ONE? I don't know; I am French! Don't worry; it's the same here. People don't know how tp write but they sure have an opinion! ;-) (And yes, even here, the police sometimes act like "thugs"! But they have the law with them!)

• Your a smart one. I'm sure one day you will call on these "thugs" for help.

• You really believe you pay more in taxes then a millionaire? You need some help.

• Mike, your comment is just plain dumb. That is not the purpose of any of these protests!

• Media seldom cover protests in the US, unless  they can find a picture of violent goofy painted face on a protestor, just like this one from the Observer. When has any media shown protestors that wear suits. This is cheap journalism where the media searches out the most goofy looking person with the most angry petulant  scowl. Mainstream media it won't work. People can see through this use of photos as propaganda. It's fake journalism . And we both know it. Why won't mainstream media talk about US protests unless they turn violent or can be pictured as goofy and childish?

• At the 7 second mark, at least 4 protestors are cleary not on the sidewalk........the four foot planter is belongs to??????????

• No violence is wanted. It is one of the first tenents of the occupations. Nothing can be achieved that is good with violence. We have the government bodies and police over reacting. If they just let the people have their protest, like Albany, NY for example, they would not experience the violence and the press would be less. By sending out the dogs, they are the ones getting this movement spreading faster than a wild fire. And unless you like paying more taxes than a millionaire, or letting the big banks pay no taxes, get refunds and charge us more for services....you are mis informed about what is really going on.

• Unfortunately many of the police are made up of people who like to wield power over others and will abuse that authority if left to do so. Most police are not like that, many are just really stressed out people who have to worry about their lives everyday being over by some stupid criminal, so there are good guys who over react. But make no mistake, there are a good percentage who enjoy being storm troopers against the people they are suppose to be protecting, who if told those people are wrong, or bad, will just follow blindly and not think for themselves. The people of Egypt were lucky because if the military was not on their side, they would not have won. 

• Wow, yeah...im just going to say it like this: The dumbasses, like everything else in our fair burg, have arrived and joined Occupy Dallas. I have a feeling the city is about to yank out the welcome mat after this incident...

• I just watched the cop pull the protester with a flag from the sidewalk into the street. That must be the one that was arrested for stepping into the street! LOL The man was on the sidewalk waving his flag. Maybe he said something the cop didn't like! I watched the video closely, many times and stopped it where the cop grabs his flag and pulls him into the street.

• the corporate overlords have given their storm troopers their orders.  the police are thugs 

• Its funny how as this "nonsense" movement that so many were brushing off as a phase continues to gain steam, merit, and more organization, the actions of the (at one time) very cooperative law are becoming more and more hostile.  Its happening like that all over.  That just means it's working...the "pwers that be" are getting scared that they will actually be exposed, so now comes all the shadiness and wrongful allegations.  Even a member of the press, who originally had been not the fondest of the OD movement, admits the police were to blame...he even requested to be anonymous because he/she probably fears losing their job for walking outside the lines.  Get that video out to as many as possible!

• The organizers of the protest (not just here) are starting to get what they want, which is violent confrontation with the police, and sympathy from the public

• Do these idiots really think that the police are getting fired for doing their jobs?

• There was a very peaceful protest going on before the Occupy Dallas marchers arrived.  A MoveOn anit-BoA protest, mainly middle-aged suburban types.  I was one of them.  We all cheered when Occupy Dallas marched up.  Everything was peaceful.  No one was looking for any kind of trouble.  Before we knew it, the protest got violent.  I am with the photographer quoted in the article: A press photographer, who witnessed the arrests but asked not to be identified, told us: "I don't want to be telling stories. But I think the police started it."  And I would add, exacerbated it.  

• I'm sure the city will forgive me if I don't believe their side of the story.  In my experience, that's usually the way to go...

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