Tuesday Morning

Yesterday was an interesting day here in St. Paul. Riots and mayhem down by the Republican National Convention. There was a big anti-war demonstration and march. The organizers were predicting 50,000 people; according to the Star Tribune there were around 10,000. Most were orderly and well-behaved. There were a handful of jicky jacks in ninja costumes causing problems by smashing windows with hammers, attacking police with paintball guns, and setting stuff on fire. I think around 260 people ended up getting arrested.

Apparently the St. Paul police were outfitted in all kinds of new riot gear they were able to acquire for this event. It sounds like we'll be well prepared for riots for years to come. The National Guard was called out to assist the police. When I was in basic training, all of the National Guard guys in my platoon spent a week learning crowd control and riot control. I don't remember what the rest of us did that week, but I'm pretty sure it involved shooting stuff and blowing things up.

It is hot and humid this morning, but some big storms are coming through today and it is supposed to cool off after that. I'm hoping today is the last day we run the central air this year.

As I mentioned yesterday, today is the first day of school. For some reason everyone is sleeping in, so I'd better go wake people up.

To answer a question about the writing challange: it isn't really about what I'm writing at this point, just that I'm writing. If I ever write anything that doesn't suck, I'll let you all know. :-)

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