G-20

Working just outside of downtown Pittsburgh, at a site that underwrites and services consumer loans for one of the largest banks in the nation means that the G-20 summit is a major disruption. We're working with the bare minimum of staff, being paid overtime for being here (not to mention the perk of a lunch voucher for the cafeteria for up to $8). Debts must be paid!

Riding in today, there were no signs of protesters. I was really disappointed, though, when a guy I work with began complaining about the protesters, and their unbridled desire for destruction, but somehow he didn't know that they were protesting for a reason. I pointed out that some of them were protesting for economic reasons, disgusted that the twenty nations of the summit represent 90% of the nation's wealth. I added that our building is a target, in particular, paraphrasing a coworker, because of us housing the underwriters who make decisions over who to share the wealth with. He was completely incredulous. It blew my mind.

I then started talking to the person next to me about it. She was asking why people were protesting, what the point of the G-20 is, etc. I started looking into some of the things the protesters are fighting for, reading the Thomas Merton Center's website [http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/], and some of it is legitimate stuff: stop funding coal and start spending that money on environmental programs, gender equality, money for human needs and not for war. They're arguing for changes that help more people and share resources, rather than hording them. I probably side with their messages and ideas more than those of the G-20 leaders. It's a shame that these messages are carried in such dirty, gutter-punk packages. It's also a shame that the media glorifies the violence that the minority of protesters takes part in, sullying the name of the rest. They try to make us fear all of the protesters by turning them all into violent no-agenda anarchists.

And that's not my only beef with the media. All day I've been scouring the web for updates on what's going on just a few blocks away. I'm expecting constant updates from KDKA, WPXI, etc, and I'm getting nothing. I've been told about a giant banner hung from the West End Bridge by GreenPeace stating "Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead: Reduce CO2 Emissions Now". A similar banner was intercepted before being unfurled on the Fort Pitt Bridge.

But nothing else has been mentioned.

That's Church [http://thatschurch.com/2009/09/22/its-a-hard-knock-life/] talked about a flash mob of dancing Point Park University students, welcoming the G-20, but haven't read anything about it. I heard about a protest involving a group "sleeping" in the street, covered in flags of the 20 nations of the G-20, and "waking" to their cell phone alarms, symbolizing the need for these nations to wake up and change.

And they're advertising that tonight there will be a "Clean Energy Jobs" Rally at Point State Park, with Al Gore, but I think the former Vice President's presence is the only reason that's getting a major mention.

But I want more! I want constant updates. I want a streaming ticker on the news websites telling me what's happening and where. I'm tired of seeing updates about how they'll be closing roads early and beefing up security. I want to see what's causing them to do such things. The Thomas Merton Center's site links to the G-20 Media web portal that has some updates, but nothing is matching the level of what I'm looking for. I need something akin to Twitter updates and constantly updating photo feeds (although Twitter is blocked at work), so I can keep on top of what's happening in my backyard. Can anyone help?


Links:
http://www.kdka.com/
http://www.wpxi.com/
http://www.g20media.org/