I have avoided going into town during the past few days -- the couple of days before and then during the G-20 summit, because of traffic and possible blocked roads. I don't even know which roads were blocked. When Bush came to town awhile back, it seemed like they blocked enough of the Parkway to keep anyone at all from going downtown. My payroll service had an earlier deadline for payroll reporting, since they were worried their couriers wouldn't be able to get through traffic when the dignitaries began to arrive.

But now it's all over. Pamela's Restaurant got a broken window, and the Pittsburgh Police got to do what they like best: manhandling and arresting people who protest. They are yin to the yang. The city has a fairly healthy amount of political activism, but activists get lousy treatment even when they are peaceful. You can be arrested for standing and watching a protest, too. A friend of mine was, and as he was grabbed and pushed down onto a police car, he cried, "What's the charge, what's the charge?" The policeman yelled, "For being an asshole!" (Said friend hadn't even had an opportunity to be an asshole -- he was simply too near the action. He was then held for over 24 hours and none of his friends or family knew where he was. It was as if he'd been abducted. He was not allowed to call anyone, because he was not charged with anything.)

This time, police actually used Twitter to monitor what the different protest groups were up to. And likewise, the protest groups kept track of the police with scanners, then Tweeted to each other about where the police were. While the Convention Center (where the summit took place) was heavily protested, other groups stuck close to the universities. I read that the riot police went after some people on the South Side, which is often the site of protest marches.

I read that the biggest newsmakers of the protesters seem to have been anarchists. How funny. The word sounds as old as alchemy. Of course there is the infamous cookbook, which suggests hardcore ones are still around... I shouldn't even use those words in the same paragraph, because we all know the government scans the internet for certain phrases. Still, the riot police here were obviously using the term "anarchist" in a lot of cases just to be able to call protesters a name with a negative connotation. Joseph Conrad would've laughed.

Evidently this summit had far fewer protesters than usual. I'm not surprised. Nobody takes Pittsburgh seriously, and it is not exactly seen as a center of capitalists' power. However, when it comes to health care controversy, people should take another look at this city. It's owned by UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers). I should take some pictures: The old Westinghouse research facility? Now owned by UPMC. Near me, the huge former Palace Inn/Marriott? Is now a huge UPMC building. The USSteel Building, that wonderful landmark? Now the top of it says, UPMC. At least they don't own it, they only rent part of it. But I found it disgusting, seeing their name lit up in the city skyline. Also, most of the local hospitals have been bought up by UPMC. I'm glad to say I am not insured through them.