Houston Was Occupied!

I Wanted Tear Gas, Dammit!!

Well, sort of occupied.

The local offshoot of the Occupy Wallstreet group descended on Houston this morning.

Houston didn't really notice...

Since I work downtown, I was able to walk over to City Hall and snap a few photos of the protest. Then, of course, I had to return to work. I didn't have the leisure to hang out all day and make noise and wave signs.

According the the local fishwrapper, they gathered at Chase Tower at 9 AM, then marched on City Hall. They had the usual mix of bongo drums, megaphones and the same three tired chants that you hear at every protest. The crowd was a mix of young college kids, pseudo-political hipsters, and aging Marxists.

Here's a few crowd shots:







There were 8 or 10 mounted cops, about the same on bikes, and perhaps a dozen uniforms standing at strategic locations. They had their "crowd control batons" aka solid chunks of hickory instead of the usual collapsing batons.

Alas, the crowd was well-behaved, and there were no hippies beaten today.

Damn the bad luck...

The cops weren't too worried. They didn't have their A-List out for the event. Mostly the deskbound, aged and/or overweight.


Here's Castle Anthrax & the protestors:


They hung out all day. As I was leaving work at 6 PM, they were haranguing the passers-by on Smith Street.


Anonymous, his brother Anonymous, and his other brother Anonymous were there!


I'm still not quite sure what they're protesting. Most of 'em were well-fed, healthy and carrying umpteen hundred dollars in electronic gadgets.

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Macbeth - Act 5, Scene 5