In a recent discussion on Olyblog, I referred to "Charlie" (AKA Charlie Kirry) as "Amateur Photog"  Only after I got a PM from his wife, did I go back to the thread to see that Charlie had responded to me.  The thread is several days old and I rarely go back that far for updates and new posts.

His comment:  "Oh, one other thing, Larry: quit calling me an amateur. I've been earning a living with my cameras for 20 years. By definition, I am a professional photographer. I had just finished a commercial job that morning."

My clarification in context.  My point in refering to Charlie as an "amateur" was to differentiate Charlie from Olympian photographers, which as you all might recall, were talked about in other discussions in terms of having batons swung at them and pepper sprayed, until the police were advised of who they were. 

I did not intend to insult Charlie's professional status as a photographer, but I do question as to why the police in the video seemed to give him carte blanche in an area were they had just used a baton to push to college kids.  My illustration was more focused at the police activity and less at Charlie, but he just happened to be the "citizen photographer" that was in the video.  Therefore, let me publically apologize to Charlie for any slight he might have felt by my verbage.

As many on here know, I'm a musician.  I've been paid for many years for my services, thus I, too, am a professional.  It's not a sensitive point, per se, because I'm only as important as people think I might be on a given night at a given venue.

Charlie, as to the rest of your comments - especially about the "teaching of Marxism" (like education is a crime) and the inflammatory remarks about "lawlessness" and such, you really helped illustrate my point on Robert's blog that the protest issue is more rhetoric than reality.

Meanwhile, my repeated apology for any damage I may have done to your professional status as a photographer. 

EDIT:  Peter Bohmer teaches at TESC in the following subjects -

Subjects: Economics, comparative social systems, labor history, Latin American studies, political economy, Marxism, social movements, foreign policy

No where is the content of the "Marxism" course detailed in quick brief.  I would hope that college level students could educate themselves in many political styles, so that possibly we could have some future foreign affairs experts - something we appear to be lacking in the current administration.  Through understanding and knowledge, we can operate with less fear. - LH