G20, Day 2

Overnight there were 'riots' near campus. 40 people were arrested, but I heard a lot of the confusion stemmed from students being in the streets, trying to ward off violent demonstrators. There has been no sign here of the targeted demonstrations that were supposed to disrupt all the banks and starbucks in the city. The groups responsible for yesterday's mayhem decided to splinter into a large and explicitly peaceful demonstration, leaving the smaller anarchist factions to do whatever they felt like. Hopefully this will allow some kind of message to get out. Tibetan monks assembled up the hill for a march this morning, but there hasn't been much else going on here.

I am disappointed really. Aside from a few small and clever demonstrations, the nondescript mayhem captured most of the media attention. Pittsburgh doesn't have many activists, so on the whole residents are confused and aggravated by this. It just seems like pointless destruction. Even the groups that are "anti-greedy-big business" are having to hoof it around town to find some big businesses to protest. Ugh.

The Big Protest has been really well received, very peaceful. There was speeches and singing, just like a Rally. We'll see if they move forward peacefully. The city was significantly over-prepared for protests, and violence- it isn't surprising that there were clashes. I'll agree with Bart, too many people uncoordinated on both sides always leads to confusion. The 'confusion' has gotten a LOT more coverage locally than any issues that anyone has been pushing. On the flip side, I am really surprised that there are so FEW protesters here. I guess everyone who cared was at the UN in NY at the start of the week.

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In his closing remarks, Obama said he was resentful that he didn't get to eat at Pamela's, the local diner that serves big, fried in butter pancakes to die for. Or put you on lipitor. This was a visitor favorite, before it got the presidential nod. Who wants to go for breakfast?

G20, day 1

At the moment I am drinking coffee and writing from the safety of a Squirrel Hill Coffee shop. It ha been pretty busy this morning, since reports from all over town are that no one is working. Campus is dead "like a Sunday morning," and this is my favorite of all- from WPXI "Police communications center says city is so quiet the mid-morning media briefing is canceled." Buses still seem to be running fine, but most protests aren't scheduled until later this afternoon.

Delegates have arrived without much going on. There has been some sense from the ACLU that the city has over reacted, and squashed peaceful protests. My sense from Squirrel Hill is that in general people are more scared then interesting in 'joining the dialogue.' A few minutes ago, the Coalition of Anarchists launched a march to 'disrupt the summit.' Sigh. They are lead by a banner that says No Boarders, No Banks. There are TONS of cops around, so I wonder how far they'll make it.

3:30- The illegal protest has reached a stand off at Penn and 32nd. Police are threatening to escalate, in an effort to disperse. Live feed suggests there are equal numbers of spectators and protestors, and not as many of them as there are police.

As the day wraps up, the work leaders are in Phipps Conservatory, and most of the protesters are off the streets. Reporters think maybe 6,000 people were here protesting, hardly what we might have expected based on London or Seattle. They've also only arrested 15 people. When 50,000 people marched in Seattle, they arrested 6,000 people. Matt and I went out to eat, and saw people from other marchs (Free Tibet, Anti-Ethiopia, Oxfam) taking in the city. The smaller demonstrations were mostly squashed out of the news by the big, vague protest. It wasn't very violent- but they kept interviewing college kids who would say "it's our right to demonstrate- why are they doing this?" which was sort of expasperating. If these kids were really anti-big business, then they shouldn't be disrupting traffic in front of all these small businesses. Sigh. Could have been worse. The big (stupid, lame and disruptive) stuff is planned for tomorrow- we'll see how that goes. All is well here- let's just hope the world leaders are having a productive evening.

G20- so it begins

I mentioned earlier that I would be working from home in celebration of the G20. Worst case, riots will envelop campus like the Steelers SuperBowl win, best case this is a perfect excuse to start writing my paper. Likely, this will just save me dull waits in traffic. In either case, I am starting to feel pretty thrilled with my choice- esp when the entire lab started streaming LIVE webcast of 4 Greenpeace climbers who had lowered themselves off a bridge, to bring out attention to climate change. Many arrests were made, and attempts at 2 simultaneous stunts were quashed- but the summit hasn't even started yet!

Find the story here-

Also, 6 people were arrested today trying to get in to the secure parts (read: animal facilities) of our building. Thanks Pitt Police, for letting the rest of us work like normal!

Tomorrow, I'll likely post a couple updates on the off chance anything of interest happens. The local news is doing a nice job of covering the changes and security, and hopefully will keep me up to the minute of the rest of the excitement without having to be a first hand witness.

G20

It's coming! It's going to be this week! The madness has already started. CMU is closing several buildings including one a friend works in due to their perfect view of the site of Michelle Obama's diplomatic dinner, Phipps Conservatory. In an email to students, the department said FBI officials would be inspecting the offices to confirm the best 'views,' but urged students not to let in anyone without a valid badge number, since the best view would be advantageous to people of nefarious interest. Ick.

Pitt has been distributing this soothing message:

The University of Pittsburgh is honored that world leaders will be convening in our great city for the G-20 Summit. We want to remind students to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and law at all times. In accordance with the Pitt Promise, please conduct yourself in a civil manner and exercise mutual respect and concern for others. You are also reminded to use your common sense and avoid potentially dangerous situations.

Don't let one bad decision negatively affect your future.

While the G-20 Summit will put the world’s spotlight on Pittsburgh, it also will bring many visitors to Oakland. Because of heightened security, we ask you to use caution and common sense on and off campus. As a reminder, here are several safety tips to follow:

* Avoid angry or obviously violent individuals.
* If you find yourself in a "mob", find a safe spot and remain calm. Text friends to let them know where you are.
* If you are in a dangerous situation, contact police. When you are on campus, dial 412-624-2121 (add this number to your speed dial); off campus dial 911.
* Treat others, including police officers, with respect.

(italics mine, edited for length). Dr. Boss also reminded us of his days in a Berkeley yeast lab when ignorant PETA protesters broke into his lab and destroyed equipment. He urged us to keep our large-windowed door locked while he is out of town to a meeting in Italy, but didn't go so far as to suggest we stay home. Parts of campus will be closing, and I suspect more to come. I'll be watching the broadcast news while I work from home, and Matt will hopefully avoid the worst of traffic delays.

For a Thursday, it was pretty awesome

Yesterday, I took our Graduate/Professional Student Association up on thier invitation to atttend a breakfast meeting with local Congressman Mike Doyle to discuss health care reform. This was actually a really nice event- he clarified a lot of the confusion about the healthcare debate, his positions on them and also other things that were currently up for proposal. Being a graduate student meeting, there weren't any ballistically ignorant people there, so it was a very civilized and informative discussion. I was really glad I went.

I am starting a course (my last required class for my whole life if I can help it) at the School of Public health, where I ran into my friend Hui, who I thought had moved to Baltimore- Happy Surprise! I also overheard my classmates talk about being asked to move out of their downtown apartments for the G20- what?! Boy, am I glad I don't live downtown.

At the end of the day, I had harbored enough energy to go out to a new restaurant for dinner, it was an appropriately pretentious French restaurant that mostly served crepes and ambiance in a recently gentrified area. We hung out on their back patio, soaking in the sauces, and crepes and wine like real sophisticates. Pretty great day, all things told.

Also great- packing to go to Spokane! We catch our plane at 7 tonight, so I'll be hugging Nana before bed tonight! Yea!

G20 or H1N1

I've been debating back and forth which would make a better blog post- the impending G20 summit that will be happening HERE in Pittsburgh, or the Pandemic flu outbreak that I will inevitably get first of all our family members. I decided on both, since I will have to come back to both later in their own time.

First- G20, it's happening.

For most of our readers, I suspect that G20 will be hosted in Pittsburgh is little more then a ticker headline, so I'd like to add some color to that description. This year's Leader's Meeting will presidents from the world's most influential 20 nations to talk about the issues that they agreed to deal with last year. It is a kind of economic summit, biege in topic, but explosive in its ability to completely derail the entire city's infrastructure. The 20 Presidents (and their motorcades, and their delegates, and their entourage) will be hosted downtown at the convention center. Most of the downtown buildings will be EVACUATED to minimize the security threat- this means office buildings, stores and COLLEGE DORMS. You know what I would do if I had to leave my dorm for 3 days from some money summit? Protest. You know where the "Designated Free Speech Zone" for the summit is? Across the opposite river. Yeah. That's where all the protesters will head. Sure.

Don't get me wrong- I am super excited that this event it taking place here, it will give Pittsburgh a chance to show it's new face to the world, and in some ways is an ideal venue. But I don't yet have faith that anyone in Pittsburgh knows how to approach an angry protest mob. Hopefully this won't be a topic for a future blog post- all I know is the city is going to be gridlocked around motorcade traffic and I am going to work from home.

Pandemic Flu Stalks Nation- H1N1

We've been talking a lot about H1N1 at work, possibly because we have been inundated with carefully worded memos urging us to wash our hands, get plenty of rest and stay home if we have a fever. More likely because H1N1 is already on campus. As I've mentioned before- Pandemic means it spread well- it doesn't mean it kills you any more. There are some predictions that suggest this might change later in flu season (like, cases reported in August is early, long time since the last H1N1 strain was out, ...) but in the meantime, it is just a flu we have a name for.
We also have the first case in the building I work in. Given that I am planning to fly to Spokane this weekend, I am being extra SUPER careful, especially with disease carrying undergrads swarming campus. Not that I ever want to be sick, but knowing that there is a particular germ with a name hanging around makes me feel like I am being stalked.

Matt and I are looking forward to a long weekend in Spokane, to celebrate Papa's Birthday, Matt's birthday and Labor Day! Matt's Mom will be joining us, which means we will be having a no holds barred awesome weekend. I'll also be taking my AWESOME digital voice recorder to collect more family stories, once I get my act together, I'll try to format them for a larger audience.