So first: I bought a bike this weekend. I guess I need to give some background here. I live far enough from campus and work that I could walk, but it would be somewhat lengthy. At the same time it's close enough that I feel like a terrible person for driving. Clearly, a bike is the solution. I've moved past the heartbreak of having the bike I had while an undergrad stolen (sob), so I found myself a nice hybrid bike on Craigslist at a drastically reduced price. I believed this was because the seller was desperate for cash. She showed up in a pants suit and more jewelry I've ever seen. So much for that. So here she is (the bike):
So secondly, the RNC was last week and the one thing I didn't see much of was coverage of the protests that happened in St. Paul during that span. I suppose the news networks didn't want to encourage the anarchists that were randomly attacking buses and generally causing havoc. But there were legitimate protests too, that got labeled as radical fringe groups because of this. Apparently, the St. Paul cops took a page from the NYC cops in 2004, arresting first and asking questions later. No Guantanamo on the Hudson, but similar sweep everyone up tactics. So here's my favorite video. These folks were just trying to get to a concert and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. I understand maintaining order and such, but three people walking down the street with bikes does not an unlawful assembly make. Tell them to disperse or they'll be arrested. Give them time to clear out. Now you don't get to see what happened before the arrests, so if they were rousing rabble, well then fine. But I went to the groups website and while they were anti-Republican it seems they were really just there to see the sights and hear some music. Oh well. It's just interesting seeing 4 cops in riot gear standing guard over some girl in a sun dress.
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