Occupy Wall Street continues to make its mark in demonstrations across the country, but one of their latest attempts to demonstrate in public got nasty quickly when riots broke out between the protestors and police officers. Over 300 protestors were arrested yesterday, after police witnessed many of them tearing down fences and construction equipment.

Congress is set to return later this month, and one of the most hotly contested pieces of legislation it will be facing is the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill was authored by Republican Lamar Smith, and has received bipartisan support and opposition in the House. There has been a lot of talk about internet- and technology-based companies that support the bill, including GoDaddy (up until recently) and the video game industry.

As we enter the new year, the most important question on people’s mind is whether or not the world will officially end as we know it by next December. But let’s face it, if 2012 is really going to bring about end times (because we should clearly be basing our plans for the end on the Mayan calendar), it’s going to have a tough act to follow. Many people are writing up 2011 as the year of this or the year of that, but let’s keep things in perspective here: 2011 was the year that the world descended into random chaos.

In being part of a movement that takes a stand against corporatism, it’s very important to be forward-thinking. Also, forward-looking. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been vigorously campaigning for Mitt Romney in Iowa, and introduced the presidential candidate in a recent stump speech.

This week was a breaking point for Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York, after Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the police to evacuate Zuccotti Park. There were some acts of aggression not covered much by the mainstream media, but on Thursday, there were several minor altercations, including the arrest of Ray Lewis, a former Philadelphia police captain who was arrested on charges of assault while in uniform. Today Lewis appeared on Chris Hayes‘ show to explain the circumstances of his arrest.

One of the major criticisms lobbed against the Occupy Wall Street protest (and also, arguably, a factor in its successful recruitment of a variety of protesters and supporters) is that it lacks a concise, easily digestible goal and mission statement. This is why a newly-launched Tumblr blog called “We Are the 99 Percent” might be helpful to some by attaching human faces and personal experiences to the movement and highlighting some of the issues those involved would like addressed.

The blog features a collection of handwritten notes chronicling different Americans’ current experiences with things like debt, unemployment, lack of health insurance and few available jobs.

Michigan’s Rep. John Conyers (D) is loudly voicing his disappointment with the White House’s handling of the debt negotiations, and is calling on Americans to join him in making their dissatisfaction known.

At a press conference organized by members of the “House Out of Poverty Caucus,” Conyers encouraged those who agreed with him to march on Washington in protest of Barack Obama‘s additions to the debt ceiling deal and in order to “educate” the President.

Activists from Codepink, the woman-led anti-war group, appeared at Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee gala last night to protest his position that re-implementing Israel’s borders as they were in 1967 would be “indefensible.”

This week, thousands of Americans are descending on Wall Street to protest the fact that local and state governments (including New York) are cutting social services and firing teachers while failing to go after tax dodging by big banks and other corporations. This offers a perfect opportunity to educate the news media about how to appropriately cover such political actions and confrontations — not just abroad but right here, in our own backyards.

We’ve all been hearing myriad reports over the past few weeks of protesters demonstrating against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker‘s controversial bill, which effectively limits bargaining rights for most of the state’s unions.

We’ve learned what (for the most part) living, breathing humans on either side of the issue have had to say, but the media would be amiss were it not to seek comment from this nation’s growing zombie population.

The much-publicized revolutionary spirit sweeping through the Middle East seems to have officials in China more than a little wary. Case in point: There is mounting evidence that phone calls in the country are being monitored and policed so that, at the second mention of the word “protest,” calls are automatically dropped – that goes for mentions in either English or Chinese dialects.

The Wisconsin protesters are getting restless and angrier as the chants of “Fox News lies” grew louder and louder around reporter Mike Tobin. As some of the protesters eagerly tried block the camera shot, the picture then switched away from Tobin out on the street to inside the capitol building. Tobin’s voiceover continued as he exclaimed “a guy just hit me.”

A fascinating new photo out of Egypt today depicts an aspect of protesting that’s often forgotten amid news of violence and explosions and statistics: It’s personal.

The image shows a woman (described as a protester in the photo’s original caption) as she kisses a young riot police officer on the cheek.

A lot of people were upset when Mayor Michael Bloomberg named Cathie Black chancellor of New York City’s schools, and with fairly good reason—Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, has no experience working in the field of education. So education experts have decided to fight back the best way they know how: by trying to apply for Black’s soon-to-be vacated position at Hearst.

There are some things you expect to see on Black Friday, and some you don’t. CNN’s Poppy Harlow experienced the latter this afternoon, when anti-fur protesters hijacked her live report outside of Macy’s.

At the final day of a conference by health insurance lobby group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a group of protesters set themselves apart from the usual tree-chaining, offensive-sign-carrying, poorly thought-out chanting that we’re all used to by combining political protest, musical theater, and flash mob spontaneity.

The Drudge Report is currently running a red headline that says “See U.S. Military Snatch Protester…” that links to a YouTube video of what appears to bethe most absurd bit of street theater I’ve seen in awhile. Hot Air has already posted some extensive debunkage, but just watch the video, particularly the driver, who appears to be wearing Skechers: