Wordmap of @iwasaround on Twitter during the Copenhagen 15 Summit

December 2009 brought the Copenhagen 15 Summit and protesters trying to incite real change. Meanwhile, Iran took to the streets which meant certain death for a few, but the opportunity for the next generation to be scientists, thinkers, and teachers. Greece was in riots over their severe governmental distrust. The Gaza Strip also saw another round of violence. Locally, Pittsburgh City Paper held their awards ceremony and WYEP had a Holiday Hootenanny.

Cop15, I Was Around.

Sincerely,
Foo

Wordmap of @iwasaround on Twitter during the G20 Summit

Dear G20,

The world is in financial trouble. Everyone agrees you should meet and we hope for the best out of this and the other conferences. Protesters shouldn’t discourage you, they are the disenfranchised of your recent failures. Consider them the muse of real policy change.

In the realm of myth, you are the Tower of Babylon. The world’s power structure met in the center of an unlikely city. A few hundred years ago, I would have been riding a horse towards your tower. Decades ago, a car would have closed that same distance. Today, I ride a bicycle to joust our mutual windmills of economic and climate struggles.

Embarrassingly, you wasted millions on security at peaceful protests. Any damage caused fails to compare to the Pittsburgh Steelers Riot earlier that year. You turned your own fear outward with the LRAD and officers that lined the streets. The teargas did not cause my tears, watching the batons strike innocent students did.

I saw what you did in Oakland that night, I Was Around.

Sincerely,
Foo