I had read that the goods NYPD confiscated can be picked up today, but the whole thing is frustrating and sorrowful. I knew it was coming - it was inevitable, sadly - but I kept hoping that it wouldn't. I also note that the organized shut down of the larger, more well-organized Occupy sites, like New York and Oakland, came on the same day.

The one bright spot is that this isn't going to quell protests. With luck, it will increase them. And I fervently second your last paragraph.