Ahhh, Silicon Valley. From the Merc

HUNDREDS PROTEST IN PALO ALTO AGAINST PLAN THAT COULD REDUCE POPULAR TECH PERK

More than 800 high-tech workers crowded onto the Palo Alto City Hall Plaza on Thursday to protest a proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to make companies deduct employee stock options as an expense.

While FASB was meeting less than a mile away, the protesters were chanting and dining on free pizza and cold drinks. Most of them had permission slips from the boss to spend a few hours in the sunshine to protect Silicon Valley's signature currency.

Everybody behaved and remained on-message, with the spontaneity of an event staged by corporate PR professionals. Workers marched with signs, wearing yellow T-shirts that read ``I am the face of employee stock options'' and whipping out their Palm handhelds when necessary. At times, the rally felt more like a corporate all-hands-meeting than a down-with-the-government protest.

I wasn't there to attend, but the question is did they chant "A Company/Divided/Will never be united?" What about "What do We Want? Stock Options? When do Want them? Now!!!!" Did they have those big, huge paper mache puppets? And is it really a protest march if nobody mentions Mumia?