Honk if You Agree There Is a Difference Between Free Speech and Noise

[alp227]

Horn-honking, as a statement of frustration or joy or who knows what behind the wheel, has been part of the American fabric since the first Ah-OO-gah from the first Model A.

But Occupy Wall Street is giving it a new twist.

What, for example, is a person really doing when honking while driving by a sidewalk protest in Denver, or any other city where “honk and wave” has become a kind of social compact between protesters and the public?

Is it noise — and therefore a public nuisance — or protected free speech in support, or perhaps sometimes condemnation, of the protesters? Does it matter whether the sound comes in a tentative tapping toot or a hard laying on of the palm in full drive-by blare, or during the night when people are trying to sleep?

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/us/is-honking-free-speech-or-just-noise-pollution.html

Oh, money isn't speech either.

[Deep13]

1. Are people trying to sleep in the financial district?

Maybe the writer is a protester complaining about the people in the next tent.