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I have bee using G-20 Media.org to find out about the events that are going on . What I found today on that website was that many of the events read "SHUT DOWN" next to their listings.

As I stand here with my notebook on a concrete barricade with the free-Tibet chants in the background, I wonder about what, if anything is getting accomplished at this protest and at the various other events I have attended so far.

All the chanting is pretty much a repetitious sound in the background. By the way, there was a person with one of those big shoulder-mounted cameras with a person with a microphone, that is someone from a network or one of their local affiliates.

Sure, perhaps it is good that some Pittsburghers have showed up to downtown, but I wonder about the extent to which the onlookers here will increase their civic engagement. In some ways the ambience here reminds me of other public gatherings such as those events that involve watching a parade, watching fireworks, or waiting in line to buy concert tickets(if that's even done anymore).