Talk about your troubles

[Ellen]

...I know of no other business that is allowed to increase their costs by 50% over a period of 2 years.
My health care costs now exceed my mortgage by 20%.
Ain't it great to live in this country??

Amen to that. I'm not at all happy with the watered-down version of what passes for healthcare "reform." My vote went for the intended full-on plan. As it stands, in my home, as with yours, there's been no reform at all.

[norealityhere]

Thanks, Ellen.
I just wrote the President.
I am going to contact the others, as well.

[Rattus]

It may be dumb, but it's not ineffectual. They get media coverage for FREE. Their cause is publicized in the papers, on tv, whatever.

I actually have to disagree with this. Yes, they do get publicity, but surveys in the city this week have shown that nearly 100% of the city is utterly opposed to what the (violent) protesters did, and 70% (not me - they were just as in the wrong as the [violent] protestors were) actually agreed with what has been considered to be police brutality in dealing with the protestors. I have found in general that the more disruption groups cause to the general populace, the less sympathy and support they have for their causes (ie. the Tamils blocking traffic for days on end last year in Toronto - most of the city is just pissed off at the Tamils and not at all interested in events in Indonesia; native groups blocking highways a couple of years ago for a protracted period of time ended with loss of support for native rights). There are ways of getting publicity that will garner sympathy and/or support, but this is not it.

[queenb]

I agree with you, Rattus. The protestors may repeatedly show up on TV, but I think the viewer's reaction upon seeing protests, even when they are peaceful, regardless of what the cause may be, is that that the time could actually be spent more effectively. And when it is violet, we just think..."LOSERS"!!!!

[PWS]

Peaceful protests do have one other side benefit---they energize the people who go to them to be more active afterwards. Being part of a large group working for the same thing is a very powerful fun experience. I don't know if it is pheromones or what---you probably get the same effect sitting with fellow fans at a sporting event--but I would guess it makes you more committed to the cause, whatever it was. \
In terms of conversions of watchers though, I'd guess about the only people affected might be some politicians if there were an unexpectedly large turn out.
They can also serve to bring attention to a previously unnoticed issue....of course that's not the case for marchs re such well known areas as abortion.

[MRD]

I didn't say it gets them GOOD publicity. But it gets them publicity and that is what they seem to want. They don't care if people are against them, they just want their voices heard and for whatever reason, they think that doing this is better than writing letters to politicians.

Our healthcare costs rose to the point where we had to drop our insurance. We are now on the "pray we don't get sick" plan. It's terrible and I am scared to death that we don't have insurance.
But our insurance went up so much that it was almost as much as ALL of our other bills combined including mortgage. So we could either be homeless living in a box by the river and have insurance, or we could have a home and electricity and food and no insurance. What a choice huh?

[canuckinchile]

The peaceful protesters got smeared by being lumped in with a bunch of yahoos. I absolutely support the right to a peaceful demonstration; it is the earmark of democracy. The violent protesters, who are against large corporations, overwhelmingly bashed in store fronts owned by hard working immigrants trying to make a living in their new country. It makes me angry. I read long articles in Toronto newspapers about the people who had their store fronts broken, and were robbed, ROBBED. Yeah, that makes a statement all right. They're just a bunch of hooligans as far as I am concerned. A couple of people took stands in front of their stores and refused to move, and the protesters moved on. IMO, they're lucky that the shop owners in Canada are mostly unarmed. What also shocked me was that a large number of these so called protesters, who refused to show their face (cowards) were women.

[famita]

and, MRD, THAT is precisely why I'm for Health care reform. The people who slip through the tracks because they make $1 more than what is allowed for medicaid....the people who have to decide to pay insurance or buy food for their children......the people who have had illnesses that cause their rates to double and they can't afford doctors/hospitals who charge more for the cash payment than the people who have insurance...something is wrong. In my humble opinion!

[RealityLovesMe]

The Bay Area is up in arms. White police officer shoots young, unarmed black man in the back. Officer is spared of a murder conviction. Is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter instead. Riots are expected in downtown Oakland. I hope nobody else gets hurt! And I am sad that there was no justice for Oscar Grant who was beaten and called racial slurs by the police the night he was murdered.

[PGM35]

Still no back seat for our Truck!! It was supposed to be ready today so I take the truck in, they drop me off at work, and will drop off the truck to me when ready. not going to happen. The Manager is not happy with the job done on it and has sent it back for another day or 2. I appreciate her sense of quality and not wanting us to see it and not be happy but this is now - 61 days now since the truck was taken to the shop after being stolen and recovered a day later with minor damage. Ugh. Sorry - just have to vent. She is reimbursing us for 1/2 of the rental out of pocket - 3 of the 6 days. Which apparently is the best she can do. They are buffing out all scratches and filling in some door dings, and supposedly detailing the truck inside and out as well as some of the other final repairs to it that needed to be done. ugh. sorry again for the rant.