Readers occupied the comment boards last week to sound off on Gene Maddaus' cover story on Occupy L.A. (“Occupy L.A.'s Dilemma,” Oct. 28). The ongoing protests — at City Hall for more than six weeks — show little sign of letting up. City leaders have grown perturbed and critics want to see specific demands, but the protesters aren't playing by conventional rules.

Commenter tcherie writes: “The '99%' all have iPhones, drink Starbucks, use Google and buy publicly traded merchandise. All the time you're wasting protesting, you could be starting your own business or something else more productive.”

Reader Amy writes: “I have far more faith that these protesters will get things done than I do that Congress will.“

Sam Ziselman writes: “This is news? A bunch of professionally and economically unsuccessful people in L.A. are complaining about folks who have done better than they have? Where's the story? Folks on the left throwing fits and then having a difficult time voicing a coherent message is hardly unprecedented or even terribly newsworthy. Particularly in SoCal.”

Commenter SC wraps up Occupy L.A. nicely: “Some of us here at Occupy L.A. would like to thank the L.A. Weekly and others who wonder when 'the movement' will find its 'direction.' Your insinuation that such a direction will be the answer to many Americans' (indeed, many people all over the world) grievances is almost as flattering as your expectation of those directions solidifying in a matter of weeks since we first unrolled our sleeping bags on Wall Street.

“While we wait on those one or two simple answers, I'd like to report Occupy L.A. is actively providing shelter, food, medical treatment, information, education (from how to build your own solar-powered systems to what a sustainable economy might look like, from an introduction to organic farming to a history of nonviolent protests) and many other services for those who need it most, free of charge. These are not simply entitlements but every human's intrinsic right, along with the radical idea that people should have a say in the things that affect their lives. Wait a second. Perhaps there are a few answers here already?

“This is what democracy looks like. This is Occupy L.A.”

Battle Against Buds

The other story attracting attention was on the recent crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries (“Obama's War on Weed,” by Ray Stern, Oct. 28). The Justice Department has been raiding dispensaries lately, although President Obama promised during his campaign that he wouldn't use the DOJ to police pot shops, leaving that to states.

Ye Devolutionist writes: “Whether the DOJ is cracking down on the right dispensaries, that is certainly a legitimate question, but this story seems to presume that all dispensaries are legit, and that is not necessarily the case. Now, the feds, as they do, might be trying to kill a fly with a machine gun.“

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