Very well said Inferno. It paints a good picture of how futile it all seems now. I just hope the people kicking up the dirt right now can look back on this in a decade knowing they did what they could to fight for their freedom... freedoms many of us in the West won centuries ago.
As for the video of the "protesters" getting into the cop van, I think none of us would put this past China to do. Not with that many protesters. Guaranteed they already have several hundred if not thousand "protesters" embedded into several groups, relaying information back to mother. Fuck that, it's so slimy and shady... as if the people aren't already at a major disadvantage.
I think their only hope is to keep going and try to convince a few military leaders that they're on the wrong side of this.
I know a Chinese lady whose husband is living and working in Hong Kong and she is ADAMENTLY against the protesters. I have spoken to many mainland Chinese that just view these protesters as stupid kids that don't know what they're fighting for. They truly believe they are just bored and out trying to stir up shit. They don't believe for a second that there is an actual reason for them to protest. Sound eerily familiar.