

Protesters stream through the warehouse district on their way to the Port.

The Taft-Hartley Act makes it illegal for unions to join general strikes, but the longshoremen have a clause in their contract that says they don't have to cross picket lines. So protest organizers told the crowd that showed up for the 5 pm rally for the General Strike to head over to the Port, about 2 miles away.



Ben Stein, take note: a McJob is not an "opportunity."



I guess Deuteronomy 23:19 wouldn't fit on the sign. (“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest.")



The stream of protesters swells to a throng as it reaches the overpass connecting the Port of Oakland to the warehouse district.



The vast railroad yard servicing the Port, silent and utterly empty.



Protesters flooding over the Port side of the overpass and into the Port of Oakland. I didn't know it at the time, but the crowd extends far around the corner past the small red lights at upper left. This picture shows maybe a third or even a fourth of the crowd on the Port side of the overpass.



Occupiers sit atop a truck that was barely visible near the top of the previous photo.



Occupiers take over part of the rail yard.



An Occupier sits atop a cargo container.



These Occupiers give a shout-out to Chevron.



Occupied semi-trucks stranded in the middle of the road.



Though they were only a drop in the bucket in this crowd, various factions of socialists were out in force, pretending that "Capitalism Is Over," to quote several signs I saw. Above is one of their milder slogans.



Most Occupiers' demands tended to be more mainstream, and more realistic, such as these Occupiers' call to rescue health care.



This guy breaks it down for us.



Every quarter mile or so (wherever there was a gate to the harbor) the throng would thicken around an organizer with a megaphone and/or a band or drum contingent. I walked for over half an hour once I crested the overpass, passed through three such sub-protests, and never came to the end.



Scientists are joining the movement.



Religious leaders are joining, too. So we have both science AND religion with us. How can we lose?



Another gate, another organizer with a megaphone and a following. This guy doesn't look too happy in the picture, but he actually had a lot of energy.



The Tahrir Square connection grows.



Do you see any activity inside the Port? Neither do I.



Yet another sub-protest. When I reached this one I was sure I had come to the last one...



... but I was wrong.



The scene begins to take on the aspect of the surreal...



...rapidly devolving into the downright unbelievable.



A picket line in front of a gate. (Not the best shot--I hurriedly snapped it after momentarily stepping out of the line.) According to organizers, we needed to form these in order to trigger the longshoremen union's no-crossing pickets clause. You'd think having a frickin' huge mass of people blocking the road, rail tracks, and sitting on trucks would be enough to satisfy the port operators...

Heading out now, with semi-trucks still marooned in a sea of protesters.



A giant cargo crane sits idle.



On reaching the bottom of the warehouse district side of the overpass, I was greeted by another crowd of protesters making a successful last stand to convince the Port Authority to call it a night. I also found that someone (most likely Occupiers) had erected temporary fences to block the roads coming in.



Teamsters wait behind a temporary fence erected at the Port entrance at 3rd and Adeline. Shutting down the Port of Oakland speaks volumes about the depth of discontent with the political-financial system in this country. Are you listening, President Obama, or do you still stand between Wall Street and the pitchforks?



I'll let this Vietnam vet have the last word.