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Placing that sign on city owned property consitutes a trespass and defacement of property. Now we need lights to light up the lights to keep these unemployed OLBers under control. What a waste of taxpyer money.

Really,
Unemployed and whiners they might be, but I'd hardly call them lazy.

Certainly the area they are occupying needs to be illuminated for safety reasons. There have been reports of theft, rape and other crimes at other "Occupy" events around the country. The city is doing their best to shine a light on the occupiers so that they will remain safe. Most crimes are more easily committed in the dark. Can you imagine if a woman was attacked at one of these events? Would the victim then blame the police for not protecting her? Would she bring a lawsuit against the City for not providing a safe environment? You have to wonder. Maybe the "occupiers" should realize that their actions cause reactions, and to protect and serve the people, the city and the police and everyone involved must spend their resources, and when most cities and police departments are cash strapped, it seems a crime to continue to waste resources. I wish that the protesters would think more deeply and see the destruction and irony of what they are doing. Really, how is this helping?

First two comments clearly left by the same person.

I'm familiar with Lincoln Park having done some volunteer work for the homeless who frequent the area. They are the big "winners" here (not that I'm downplaying their situation, that's a whole other topic for discussion later) as it is safe with all the police presence. Much more so than the LA River or other spots downtown where I have often assisted them. The LA River is a very dangerous place to be at night, I believe there is on average a murder a month which is never reported on by the media. Downtown overnighters risk robbery and other crimes. So needless to say the homeless (don't underestimate their communication with each other, everyone knows each other and they all have cell phones) will gather in large numbers.

As for the Occupy crowd, I have spoken with them and they seem to be a disorganized lot with different agendas. Perhaps they will gel in the future to have some sort of Mission Statement. I understand their frustration with the "system", we truly have "government by corporation". It was Eisenhower who warned us back in the 50's about the "growing military industrial complex" (or something to that effect) and nowadays big corporations along with the military run the show in WA DC. These folks however, appear to want to relive the 60's Hippie Era for some reason. Sheesh! Were we that influential? ;-)

The City Council and police (IMHO) should let them be for now but it is my opinion the homeless will outnumber (if they haven't already) the protesters very soon. A lot of these folks have mental disabilities so it could get real unstable in which case quite dangerous. What the City Council and police will end up doing is close the park for "maintenance". It's inevitable that there will need to be a stop to this, especially if the homeless from other cities stop on by.

Now don't get all mad at me, these are simply my observations of the situation along with my opinions. It's a fluid situation and quite thankfully, safe at the moment.

John, I understand - but certainly don't agree - if you choose not to side with OWS gatherings. But can anyone truly deny that there is nothing wrong with the way our country is working right now? The point of the movement is to draw attention to the obvious injustices that are strangling the common American. They choose to demonstrate because nothing is being done to remedy a blatant imbalance. We can all agree that our top-heavy economy is hurting tens of millions while the rich get richer, yes? These people are simply doing something about it. Call them hippies or lazy or entitled if you like, but above all they are people who cannot earn a living or pay for an education - and that says more about the state of our country than the people exercising their Constitutional right that some seem to despise.

the money is almost a non-issue; it's a drop in the bucket. This is typical psychological operations like those undertaken by the military. If you make it harder for people to sleep, they eventually are easier to control, or will blow up in anger, justifying an arrest.

Though, to be fair, this does make it easier for the police to ensure that nothing unseemly is going on. These types of measures should not even be considered until there is good reason to do so, however.

@Ian:

Exactly. Remember Operation Just Cause? During the Invasion of Panama, General Manuel Noriega took refuge in a Vatican embassy. Just outside the walls, the US Military played deafeningly loud rock music 24 hours a day until Noriega (who apparently loathed rock-n-roll) surrendered.

These are exactly the kind of PsyOp tactics being used by the police not only in LB, but in many other Occupied cities. Sleep deprivation, especially, is an insanely powerful psychological tactic.

HOLD STRONG OCCUPIERS.
THEY WILL BREAK BEFORE WE WILL.

It seems to me that OWS and others like it are trying to voice the reality that we are fed up with being a consumeristic society that thinks that we can buy anything. If I want to raise a child, I purchase schooling, If I want to be safe, I purchase police, If I want to be healthy, I purchase a doctor, If I want to be happy, I purchase a new outfit. There is a point that we need to call this worldview into question. To me the solution is to move away from the scarcity of consumerism and to move toward the abundance of community. We need to know and hang out with our neighbors. We don't only need to bike, but to walk. We need to take the time to have a conversation with one another. We need to shop local, grow local, and love local. The truth is that there is enough gifts, talents, and assets on our block and in our neighborhood. We wouldn't know that we have enough because we for the most part don't know who lives above us or two doors down from us. So my call to LB is to occupy your neighborhood and get to know them, hang out. Occupy our main streets and support local business, not the giant corporations. I believe that is where its starts... just by getting away from the screen in front of me... an Apple... going outside and saying hello to my neighbor.

Give me a break! So now they are not being subjected to air pollution. This reminds me of the torture of Bradley Manning. How well does anyone sleep with bright lights shining on them all night?

I hope the occuppiers have a permit to use the park and are paying for the expense of the lighting. The lighing is necessary for health and safety. I would like to see a copy of their permit to use the park!