Occupy Wall Street? I Never Heard Such A Thing!

I've been popping downtown to Zucotti Park, near Wall Sreet, over the last few days. Did you know there's a protest going on, against bankers, corporate greed, corrupt politicians? You'd never guess if you got all your news from the US media. On CNN this morning they devoted almost eight seconds to the story of 700 protesters being arrested. Top news story was a man who'd fallen down an embankment. Second story was "American man found living in Portugal." The horror, the horror.

The protesters seem mostly harmless. There's a very 1960's feel about them, including a topless young lady. "She doesn't have implants," a friend observed. Clearly she's spent too much of her life demonstrating bra-less. (The demonstrator, not my friend, I hasten to add!) The protesters have a system of public speaking whereby a person says a few words and the crowd repeats them so others can hear. This is forced on them by the banning of loudspeakers. Approval of a speaker is expressed by making wiggly rain signs with your hands. I followed one General Assembly meeting. After an hour they'd democratically agreed to set up two more committees. All very "Life of Brian." After that I went off to give a lecture on derivatives to some bankers.

When in the States I sometimes like to watch Fox News. It reminds me how lucky I am to live in a country where the broadcast media isn't incentivized to manipulate the news. I also like to watch old men in make-up ranting about homosexuals.

P