Having been a teen in the 70's and growing up in the midwest, I -for better or worse- missed out on the civil rights and anti-war protests of that era. I have no experience or historical perspective with which to view OWS and it's various iterations around the world. And while I support the ideas behind the movement and their right to peacefully assemble, radicals and extremists are increasingly subverting the message.

But how to deal with them? Surely this is not a new or unique problem. Then I stumbled upon this article, by a self-avowed "old hippie":
http://radioornot.com/site/?p=5181. Would it work? Maybe some other old hippies out there could weigh in.

The Finns have given us many creative inventions. The sauna, "reindeer tears" (vodka with a few cranberries) and the Molotov Cocktail.

Sisu.

Portland is like Narcissus, staring into the pool at its own reflection, self-absorbed in self-admiration, and way, way overdue for a sobering experience.

This however, is probably nothing.

This isn't the first Moltov cocktail; I had it from a police horse's mouth that there had been a few made over a week ago. Hope they get them all.

I would be curious to visit the Occupy camp in New York and see how the atmosphere/caliber of people differs.

Occupy Portland strikes me as pretty juvenial.

This Molotov cocktail issue creates a lot of concern for me. I experienced the Viet Nam protests at the sedate UofO in the 60's.

Most protesters were sensible. My roommate, who just got back from Viet Nam, wanted to video the demonstrations. I offered to carry the mike and such to help out. As the march escalated along 13th Ave., and we were at the back of the march, several bullets missed our heads by about a few feet. We hit the pavement. The next night my office and several other buildings were burnt.

It may have been only a few crazies, but a new consciousness fell over Eugene and the movement. It was serious, even in backwards Oregon. That is why I have a concern for Portland and beyond.

Re: "the group has no structure and no membership criteria"

Writing as an outside observer -- one who has never visited Occupy Portland or any Occupy site -- this description does not seem to be accurate. Non-violence is the primary, perhaps singular, membership criterion. That is, anyone who commits or intends to commit violent acts for any purpose is explicitly unwelcome. Occupy Wall St and its resonant extensions in Portland and elsewhere is a nonviolent expression in opposition to and seeking redress of intentional structural inequities in the American economy.

Regarding the structure of the gathering in Portland, it is clearly anti-hierarchical. That is, it does not attempt to mimic organizations which are hierarchical: corporations, government bodies, military establishments, religious dominions, educational institutions, and even familial groups. But to argue that there is "no structure" is to project hierarchical expectations upon a gathering that appears committed to defining itself otherwise. Whether Occupy can continue without retreating into a familiar hierarchical structure remains the essential experiment -- for those involved and for our species.

Again, I do not presume to speak for Occupy Portland.

Re: "The Finns have given us many creative inventions."

SeymourGlass,

Have not the Finns also given us superb birch plywood and Anna-Kaisa Liedes:
http://www.amazon.com/Oi-Miski-Anna-Kaisa-Liedes/dp/B0000000D5/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320863724&sr=1-2

This will not end well...

thanks for the links to Molotov. This was a charming addition:
"During the Irish War of Independence, IRA fighters sometimes used sods of turf soaked in diesel fuel to attack British army barracks."

I suppose that the glass bottles still had Guinness in them and couldn't be spared.

Rather: this will not end. Period. Until the Establishment is disestablished and the Movement has moved in. Establishment types still deny themselves 'to get' that factuality.

Occupy size keeps growing larger, daily. Uh, get a clue. Now in Mosier!? What's next, Wagontire? Brothers, Oregon? (Real, but so small google can't find them.)

Such a inordinate spate of senseless 'random' violences and criminal unrest disturbances around lately ... since Occupy started the 1% worrying. Surely the police will (more and more) be "watching closely" more and more to be watched. Finding 'no motive' and 'no suspects' more and more. Might this stretch police resources thin? Might this stretch police angst and work stress more and more tenser ... hair trigger? Might this decrease police patience and civil-rights protection for Occupy's occurrence?

This morning(after), I notice rightwing extremer pre-emptive tactics got stood up somewhat at-large coast-to-coast at the ballot box, and were shoved back in their faces; (i.e., whipped-cream pie on Rupert in Parliament an indicator: Murdockalypse). It seems perhaps '99%' in fact means a voluminous MAJORITY of real and reasonable Americans! true Americans, including the 'complacent' middle-class, even in Mississippi. Occupy Biloxi?

For those such as the commenter who may plan to go see civil rights 'regulars' of Zuccotti Park Occupy, please be aware that an OWS contigent is now decamping and taking a touring show on the road. Namely: Occupy the Highway. Marching from Manhattan Liberty Square, thru Elizabeth, New Brunswick, Trenton, Andalusia, Occupy Philly, Wilmington, Newark, Rising Sun, Bel Air, Occupy Baltimore, Laurel, to Occupy D.C. McPherson Sq. -- leaving today, arriving at Congress Nov. 23 on-time to meet and greet the results issuing from the secret SuperCommittee proceedings. Maybe 'Mohammeds' need not pilgrimage to NYC to see the 99%-Majority OWS Mountain -- the Mountain is coming to them.

This is the way they roll ... a snowball, accumulating everywhere protesting peasants with pitchforks at crossroads.

"... if people found out what we've done, they'll chase us down the street [with pitchforks] and lynch us" -- Geo. H. W. Bush, 5 B.I. (Before Internet)

It is most curious that a clearly peaceful and so far non-violent Occupy Movement is being fast tagged for a bomb. You would have to ask out loud why the Cops had 'other info' on bombs and just forgot to tell us about it.

This SMELLS a whole lot like black-ops guys/girls trying to force a violent confrontation , and fabricating evidence and manipulating public opinion.

a clearly peaceful and so far non-violent Occupy Movement

There are a lot of bad people roaming the Portland Occupy camp, as even the purest of protesters will admit. You can't have anything nice in downtown Portland any more without it being trashed by people with serious personal issues. So you move on, which the campers are going to have to do.

Let's hope when the cops finally do cut loose, they crack the more deserving skulls. No guarantees there, of course.