Krugman's Army Arms Up

For today's feature I could post about how the protesters in Madison got in trouble for, ahem, taking things into their own hands, but instead I will focus on the original protest.

Fights are erupting among Occupy Wall Street protesters, so much so that one corner of Zuccotti Park has emerged where protesters say they won't go for fear of their safety, the New York Daily News is reporting.

Police officers also have been warned of "dangerous instruments" being concealed in cardboard tubing, the News says it has been told by unidentified police sources.

Krugman's Army Marches Down the Charles River

I could make c into a regular feature. But at least none of them are breaking out those tricorner hats!

BOSTON - A man and woman who have been living in a tent with Occupy Boston protesters have been arrested for allegedly selling heroin to an undercover police officer.

Issac Bell, 34, and Charlene Dumont, 31, both pleaded not guilty to drug possession and distribution charges at their arraignments Monday. They were released on their own personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the Occupy Boston encampment.

Prosecutors say police set up a sting after learning of drug activity in the encampment.

Krugman's Army on the March

Don't think this will make his next column either.

Dallas Police continue to investigate whether a teenage runaway was sexually assaulted by an adult male at the Occupy Dallas encampment behind City Hall.

A source within the Dallas Police Department who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation said the girl ran away from home in Garland last month and that she is now refusing to cooperate with investigators. She initially told officers that she had sex with a man in his early twenties and had engaged in sexual activity with several other people.

Some members of the group told CBS 11 the girl identified herself as a 19-year-old and never knew she was 14.

Krugman's Army

As Paul Krugman said earlier.

Consider first how Republican politicians have portrayed the modest-sized if growing demonstrations, which have involved some confrontations with the police — confrontations that seem to have involved a lot of police overreaction — but nothing one could call a riot. And there has in fact been nothing so far to match the behavior of Tea Party crowds in the summer of 2009.

Odd, I don't remember this happening at any Tea Party event.

Cleveland police are investigating an alleged sexual assault incident that occured Saturday at the "Occupy Cleveland" rally involving a 19-year-old female student.
According to police reports, the 19-year-old student was instructed by "Occupy Cleveland" personnel to "share a tent with the suspect due to a shortage of tents."

Or this:

Thanks to some watchful officers and Occupy Seattle protesters, police have arrested a man suspected of exposing himself to children at least five different times throughout Seattle.

Police had been searching for suspect since the incidents, which occurred between September 29 and October 3.

“During the course of their investigation, detectives discovered that the suspect had been at Westlake Park, participating in Occupy Wall Street,” said detective Reneee Witt “Flyers of the suspect was circulated to officers and the public at the event.”

But don't worry, they are taking the problem seriously.

Efforts by the Occupy Baltimore protest group to evolve into a self-contained, self-governing community have erupted into controversy with the distribution of a pamphlet that victim advocates and health workers fear discourages victims of sexual assaults from contacting police.

The pamphlet says that members of the protest group who believe they are victims or who suspect sexual abuse "are encouraged to immediately report the incident to the Security Committee," which will investigate and "supply the abuser with counseling resources."

A Beautiful Mind: Part II

Paul Krugman shows he is sinking deeper into dementia, with a series of recent editorials. First, from Friday (emphasis added).

Bear in mind, too, that experience has made it painfully clear that men in suits not only don’t have any monopoly on wisdom, they have very little wisdom to offer. When talking heads on, say, CNBC mock the protesters as unserious, remember how many serious people assured us that there was no housing bubble, that Alan Greenspan was an oracle and that budget deficits would send interest rates soaring.

Uhh, like Paul Krugman said himself:

So what? Two years ago the administration promised to run large surpluses. A year ago it said the deficit was only temporary. Now it says deficits don't matter. But we're looking at a fiscal crisis that will drive interest rates sky-high.

Now Krugman is chiming in on the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Consider first how Republican politicians have portrayed the modest-sized if growing demonstrations, which have involved some confrontations with the police — confrontations that seem to have involved a lot of police overreaction — but nothing one could call a riot. And there has in fact been nothing so far to match the behavior of Tea Party crowds in the summer of 2009.

Uhh... really? Are you serious?

Seattle police arrested 25 people on Wednesday as they clashed with protesters and hauled away tents. The protest continued after arrests were made.

Wednesday's showdown — in one of downtown's most popular gathering spots — began just after lunchtime, as some demonstrators refused a city order to remove the tents.

Several influential New York state lawmakers have received threatening mails saying it is “time to kill the wealthy” if they don’t renew the state’s tax surcharge on millionaires, according to reports.

“It’s time to tax the millionaires!” reads the email, according to WTEN in Albany. “If you don’t, I’m going to pay a visit with my carbine to one of those tech companies you are so proud of and shoot every spoiled Ivy League [expletive] I can find.”

These are the shocking scenes that have led some people to accuse the Occupy Wall Street protesters living rough in New York's financial district of creating unsanitary and filthy conditions.
Exclusive pictures obtained by Mail Online show one demonstrator relieving himself on a police car.
Elsewhere we found piles of stinking refuse clogging Zuccotti Park, despite the best efforts of many of the protesters to keep the area clean.

Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday, shutting down car lanes and setting up yet another tense showdown with the NYPD.

Roughly 700 people were arrested after standing in the roadway, blocking the Brooklyn-bound lanes. Traffic in the opposite direction was slowed -- but still running after the 4 p.m. standoff.