Somewhere Abbie Hoffman is weeping (UPDATED)

And speaking of protests….

If this clip is any indication, they just don’t make protesters like they used to. A group of students had holed-up in an NYU cafeteria with a list of demands such as greater budget transparency, amnesty for themselves and scholarships for Palestinian students when after 3 days, NYU authorities got fed-up and bum-rushed the proceedings. The video below picks up shortly before this happens.

The clip is over 9 minutes – stick with it – you won’t be disappointed. The unintentional comedy factor is as high as anything you will ever see. And the NYU authorities and security seem to have stumbled upon the perfect solution for handling these types of situations: boredom. Nothing seems to sap the life out of an ADD-addled sit-in like having to confront passive-aggressive behavior from the authorities.

And the poor kid holding the camera and narrating the whole sad and unraveling affair… he apparently grew up in a management seminar echo chamber. By the time his nine-plus minutes of fame are up, he has dropped enough buzz words to fill-out six or seven bullshit bingo cards. Focus on Consensus???... Who wants to be facilitator?



(UPDATE #1):

NEW YORK - Major stock indexes posted broad gains on heavy trading early Tuesday on news that a rogue group of student protesters from New York University had taken over the White House and barricaded themselves in the Oval Office. The Dow posted a 1100 point (17%) gain in the first hour of trading, wiping out nearly all of its loss since January 20 and almost 35% of losses since November 4.

"Finally, we're seeing encouraging signs of sanity in Washington," said UBS market analyst Jane Cohen.

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"In his long list of policy demands, acting President Lozano never mentioned the stimulus package, TARP, or auto industry bailouts," said USB's Cohen. "There has been widespread optimism that he will remain too stoned to remember it."

The mood on Wall Street remained upbeat through noon trading, but Baird analyst Peter McCarthy cautioned investors against undue optimism, pointing to troubling signs of a possible Obama administration return.

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