Weighing in on Occupy Wall Street: 60s wannabes or what is the message?

I firmly support the right to freedom of assembly.  The OWS supporters have just as much right to be heard as the Tea Party.  I don't have to agree with the message of either. but they do have the right to assemble.  Having said that, I do not agree that they (OWS protesters) have the right to camp out in areas where camping is not allowed, and for which they have not paid a user fee.  In Baltimore, the mayor has tread very carefully. She did cut off their access to electricity (occupy campers were plugging in heaters & coffee pots to the outlets on the light poles). I drive by the tents every morning, & they are an eyesore.  A legitimate charitable group that paid their fee was denied access because the Occupy group refused to move.  There has been at least one incident of sexual assault & drugs/paraphernalia found among the tents.  Still, there have been very few arrests here, and the protests have remained peaceful.   They conducted a positive march & demonstration at the Howard St. Bridge this past week.  But I don't really get their message. I understand the 1% vs 99% part, but the protesters offer no solutions. Neither the solutions of the 40s (jobs through public works) nor the solutions of the 60s (end the war) seem to apply to the current situation. Do they want socialism?  Do they want corporations abolished?  To pay higher taxes? To be regulated? To limit profits? To abolish bonuses for CEOs? I agree that these individuals (OWS protesters) need jobs, but who will hire them if there are no corporations?  Who will hire them when they have an arrest record (charges of loitering, trespassing, fail to obey, vagrancy or even assault - takes very little to be charged with assaulting police)?  Who will hire those who are unwilling to start at entry level and establish a work record worthy of promotion? At best, they are engaging in civil disobedience, which is a time-honored method of bringing about change.  At worst, they are a nuisance and an eyesore, with a negative effect on tourism & increased potential for crime.

Weighing in on the Penn State sex abuse scandal: Why people fail to act

I posted something like this on another board and got slammed, so first let me preface:

1. While the theory I present provides explanation for certain human behavior, it in no way condones or excuses such behavior.
2. Those involved in the cover up deserved to be removed from positions of power and influence
3. The public, and particularly those who work with youth, needs to be educated & trained about how to act in emergency situations and how to report abuse

Most people think they would act in an emergency situation; however, here is a known psychological phenomena called the bystander effect.  The more individuals present to witness an emergency, the less likely any one individual will act.  The witness will hesitate for the following reasons:  1) they will question & minimize what they saw, 2) they are afraid for their own safety, &/or 3) they believe someone else will act, usually an authority figure.  The bystander effect in the Penn State case did not involve group witness, though the individual witnesses of the abuse hesitated in much the same manner.  Several witnesses, at different times, questioned/minimized what they saw.  One witness went to an authority figure.  Each time the abuse was reported up the ladder & removed from the actual witness, it was minimized.  Anal sex with a 10 year old became "inappropriate behavior", then "horsing round in the shower".   The primary difference is that those involved were apparently concerned about reputation, rather than personal safety, and ignored grave harm and injury to the victims. 

I have attended various "youth protection" training in the past.  Each time, I was informed of the duty to report suspected child abuse, but never told how to make a report. As a counselor, I have a duty to report when abuse is disclosed, even if the abuse happened in the past; but again, no direction on how to report.   If I were to witness something as horrible as as child sexual abuse, I would hope to be someone who would act immediately.