Occupy LA has enjoyed a special rapport with the police, city officials and the city council. They went to Councilman Richard Alarcon before they started their solidarity demonstration at City Hall. Alarcon was so inspired by his constituent's protest, he wrote the following three-page resolution. It's expected to pass sometime today:

WHEREAS, Angelenos, like citizens across the United States, are reeling from a continuing economic crisis that threatens our fiscal stability and our quality of life; and

WHEREAS, "Occupy Los Angeles" is fueled by Angelenos from all walks of life who have come together in a demonstration of solidarity with and support for the national movement started by the "Occupy Wall Street" protests that began 17 days ago; and

WHEREAS, on Saturday, October 1S\2011, "Occupy Los Angeles" started a peaceful protest on the Lawn of Los Angeles City Hall that continues through this day, and "Occupy Los Angeles" demonstrators are working to secure permits to continue the protest; and

WHEREAS, over 70 additional "Occupy" protests have taken root across the Country, from large demonstrations in Boston and San Francisco, to dozens of smaller ones in between, with many more being planned every hour, including a large-scale "Occupy Colleges" movement set to begin at 12 noon today on college campuses across the United States; and

WHEREAS, the protest in Liberty Plaza called "Occupy Wall Street" released its first official Resolution on September so", 2011, available at http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy- wall-street/, providing an overview of the goals and unifying principles of the "Occupy" movement; and
WHEREAS, the "Occupy" demonstrations are a rapidly growing movement with the shared goal of urging U.S. citizens to peaceably assemble and occupy public space in order to create a shared dialogue by which to address the problems and generate solutions for economically distressed Americans; and

WHEREAS, the causes and consequences of the economic crisis are eroding the very social contract upon which the Constitution that the United States of America was founded; namely, the ability of Americans to come together and form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense of, promote the general welfare of, and secure the blessings of liberty for all, allowing every American to strive for and share in the prosperity of our nation through
cooperation and hard work; and

WHEREAS, today corporations hold undue influence and power in our country, and the key to this power is the corporate claim to "personhood," an opinion both U.S. Supreme COUl1Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas declared should be reversed; and

influencing the selection of candidates, the outcome of elections, and policy decisions -- threatening the voices of the people; and

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Previously on The Jersey Shore my C&L blog, the Situation ate a steroid-infused meatball sub I recalled the events of my unlawful arrest at a National Organization for Marriage anti-gay marriage rally.

And now the stunning continuation...

To say that I sweated through the night is no metaphor. The air conditioning was on the fritz and, although there was a temporary system pumping in air from a semitrailer outside, the cells were hot enough to give Sheriff Joe Arpaio a spring in his step.

I did some metaphorical sweating, too. This was the Erie County Holding Center. Although it's a relatively quaint 680-cell facility, its “suicide” rate is five times the national average. And although it's recently been dropped, the ECHC was the focus of a two-year DOJ investigation, which alleged such constitutional violations as “elevator rides” (guards taking inmates to a floor without cameras and beating them senseless) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome-style inmate-on-inmate combat – done, apparently, for the guards' amusement.

“Who run Bartertown?” I softly whispered to myself throughout the night. “Master Blaster.”

Rachel Maddow even did a segment on this place a while back. While Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard refused to let the Feds inspect the jail, he had no problem opening up the door to Keanu Reeves. He was researching a role – like he wasn't just going to play Keanu Reeves. I'm not kidding:

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