Free Republic

Whatever we think about the OccupyWallStreet protests and their inter/national spin-offs, can we all agree that the destruction of private property, and especially religious property, is wrong? Some people are trying to compare the OccupyWallStreet (OWS) protests with the Tea Party movement. I’ve watched both groups closely and the number of arrests and examples of destruction and civil disobedience displayed by OWS is exponentially greater. Whatever the causes of both groups’ protests, the effects of their protests couldn’t be more different. And frankly, when it comes to evaluating these protests, by their fruits you will know them.

Hundreds of hooded, masked protesters rampaged through Rome in some of the worst violence in the Italian capital for years Saturday, torching cars and breaking windows during a larger peaceful protest against elites blamed for economic downturn. Police repeatedly fired tear gas and water cannon in attempts to disperse them but the clashes with a minority of violent demonstrators stretched into the evening, hours after tens of thousands of people in Rome joined a global "day of rage" against bankers and politicians. Smoke rose over many parts of the neighborhood between the Colosseum and St John's Basilica, forcing many residents...

Reports of smashed shop windows, torched cars in Italy, where "the indignants" or "Occupy Rome" appear to have taken on the extra vitriol after Silvio Berlusconi narrowly remained in power Friday. Police expected about 100,000 people to protest, including a number of "black bloc" anarchists. Corrierre.it has live streaming video.