"Occupy" Daytona...

I saw there were some folks organizing an "Occupy Daytona" protest, so I stopped by their meeting at the local college (Daytona State College).

It turned out that almost 60 people showed up (57. I counted). It wasn't a protest yet, more of an organizational meeting to plan a protest. There was a good amount of discussion, and a couple short speeches. The attendees ranged from 20-ish to over 60, with a good representation of everything in between. They never really discussed what they were actually protesting against, but they were there, anyway, and not on the couch. A couple of people apparently had experience organizing other protests, but nothing I'd ever heard of.

At one point, a fella from "Central Florida Veterans for Peace" (never heard of them) came up and gave me a DVD, saying "Watch this, and then connect the dots for yourself". It turned out to have three videos on it, "The New American Century" (www.usfilms.ea29.com), "Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11" (www.zero911movie.com), and "9/11:Follow the Money" (www.splittingthesky.blogspot.com). I haven't watched it yet, because the storm this weekend knocked out the power Sunday, and it just came on half an hour ago.

Anyway, long story short, they eventually decided on a march this Saturday, and if it goes well, another on Sunday. The hours were set at 12-4 pm. Not exactly an "occupation", but it's a start, anyway. I had a good time listening, chatting, and entertaining people's kids with my yo-yo.

Security was light, with just a couple of campus security guys, and no real cops in sight. Everything was peaceful and quiet, which was good.

It'll be interesting to see how the march goes, as the street they're planning on marching along will be jam-packed with bikers, as Daytona's "Biketoberfest" (:@@ is this weekend, and several thousand bikers are expected in town for that. Part of the discussion was about how best to deal with the bikers. There were a several people there who were worried about getting hassled by them. I think that would depend on how they presented their views (like not hammering on the "free stuff" ideas we've already heard, and sticking more to "we love our country and want to fix it" type rhetoric). I doubt it will be a problem, but we'll see.

If I manage to have the time (in between my four jobs), I'm planning on checking out the march, maybe get some pictures (which I'll post if I do). No-one's expecting any trouble with the cops, but you never know, they'll already be stressed by the bike crowd. It should be intersting, anyway.

So, yeah. That's about it at this point. I guess they're organizing via Facebook, so if you're interested, that's where to look (I avoid Facebook like the plague, myself). I'll post updates as things happen, power permitting.