otb,

Thanks for the link.

I agree fully with the man being punished in this case.
He behaved dangerously, sabotaged a race, and had not
shown what he was protesting against. He reminds me of
that other pest who was on the news recently - who seeks
to disrupt red-carpet events and attacks celebrities.

Foxy, the protester is much more than the stereotype of a pot smoking hippie standing in the street waving a placard, disrupting traffic. Some of the greatest changes in society have come about because people have been willing and brave enough to protest in one form or another. Mahatma Gandhi by leading peaceful, non violent protest was able to obtain independence for India, giving his life for the struggle. Martin Luther King jr, also gave his life while pursuing the civil rights of African-Americans through non violent protest. In that same struggle an unassuming young girl, Rosa Parks made a small point of protest which reverberated around the world, by not giving up her seat on a bus.
A protest may be the life long efforts of a Nelson Mandela, but then again it could be nothing more than a short letter of protest by an aged pensioner to the local newspaper. Protesters are as varied as the causes they pursue. So many who in past times were condemned as rabble rouses, and trouble makers, for their commitment to protest causes, and what they seen as the justice of that cause, many of these same people are today not condemned, but rather revered as hero's of society. In Australia, we have a proud tradition of protest, from the Eureka Stockade to the Vietnam War Moratoriums. In 1975, Juanita Nielsen lost her life because she protested, and dared to oppose development in Kings Cross Sydney. Those who would stifle protest, also suppress the good of progressive social change. To condemn protest is often tantamount to supporting tyranny and injustice.

Anyone who protests about a handout they receive should have it removed immediately.

If they don't like their handout, they should get a job, & stop being a student.

From my experience, I'll bet they are all studying non subjects anyway, tiddlywinks 101 is usual for this type.

Dear Paul,

Thank You for your well reasoned last post.
And of course I agree that protest is the lifeblood
of a democracy. When the Soviet leadership eliminated
many controls over dissidents and the media in an effort
to create greater "glasnost" or "Openess," it did not
mean that the Soviet Union was to become democratized
in the Western sense - but once the faucet of liberty
was opened it proved exceedingly difficult to shut off.
And the Soviet Union embarked on a course that gave its
people a greater say in their own destiny.

We have a striking example of collective action
to stop a war that occurred during the 1960s, when the US
became embroiled in the longest and most humiliating
military conflict in its history - Vietnam.

The Vietnam war came to an end largely as a result of
the antiwar movement, a social movement that consisted
disproportionately of young people, including many
college students. When the antiwar movement first challenged
the war, it received little support from politicians or the
press, and its goals seemed almost hopeless. But the tide
of public opinion gradually began to shift.

In the 1968 presidential primaries, an antiwar candidate
backed by student volunteers did unexpectedly well and
President Johnson decided not to run for re-election.

From that point on, political debate on the war focused not on
how to stay in it, but on how to get out of it.

Through collective action, ordinary people with few resources
other than their own determination had changed a national
consensus for war to a national consensus for peace.

As I've stated in the past - a fundamental insight of history
is that once people no longer take their world for granted,
but instead understand the social authorship of their lives
and futures, they can become an irresistible force in
history.

You'll get a kick out of this Hasbeen, the true mentality of street "activists", South Africans protesting against high electricity prices and poor municipal services burn down a medical clinic and public library:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/south-african-protesters-burn-buildings

Grass roots protesting doesn't work, the idea that change can come up from the streets is a myth, where mob action has succeeded it's been because the mobs have been backed either by a foreign state or by some element within the existing power structure such as the army or powerful businesspeople.

What did I say the 'Usual Suspects' are so so predictable.

Foxy, I ask you to have a listen to the words of one of the greats, a man who never protested openly but made his point through his music. This is what it is all about with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLgYAHHkPFs