Today in Tales of Local Interest:

If you live here you know why that's funny,
everyone else will just have to take my word for it.

Hey, remember when you were young and felt ways about things? Yeah, me neither, but today some University of California Santa Cruz students felt ways about a lot of things and let everybody know through a peaceful, if annoying, demonstration. Six students chained themselves to cement-filled trash cans and blocked part of Highway 1 for five hours before police managed to clear the road. It should have only taken three hours, but it was a while before someone noticed that the traffic on Highway 1 had ground to a halt for an actual reason this time.

Awesome right? Well, in theory yes, but it was probably less awesome if you had to be somewhere and don't have the mutant ability to control metal.

Traffic: yet another minor inconvenience that would
totally not be a problem if I was Magneto.

...so basically America. 

The protest was organized by a group called Liberate our Education as part of their 96 Hours of Action. You're probably wondering what exactly they were protesting. Well, as it happens, they're kind of against everything. The most commonly cited reason for today's demonstration was tuition hikes at the University, but according to the group's banners and their Facebook page, they're also calling on students to "to shut down the racist, classist, corporate, militarized police state." 

The six protestors, after having been crowbar-ed and jackhammered out of their human roadblock, were hauled away to jail where, as I write this, even more student protesters have gathered. They're protesting the arrest of the original student protesters who were arrested for protesting (and also blocking the freeway). Still with me?

If the protesters protesting the arrest of the protesters get arrested and
someone protests that, we'd have an activism matryoshka! 

"Cheryl, I'd like to propose a toast.
To human misery! Salut!"

Sure, a lot of people are probably pissed off at Liberate our Education right now, and that's valid. I mean, comparatively few of the people who were stuck in traffic today are actually in a position to do something about UCSC's tuition, but you've got to admire the student's willingness to risk arrest to draw attention to a good cause. You know, even if those directly responsible for the crushing debt and indentured servitude graduates can look forward to simply flew over the gridlock on their private jets, sipping brandy and trading insider stock tips.