Uh-oh, writes Henry Banta, it’s getting cold out there…

Since the police have turned nasty and winter is coming it might be worth considering adding some indoor activities. Like going to public town hall meetings – the kind that the Tea Party got so much press for misbehaving at… The trick is to confront the political leadership with the real questions they’d rather avoid. It may also be a good idea to keep the confrontation focused on facts and avoid ideological conflict. Getting to the facts is hard enough without trying to bring the other guys to some kind of spiritual epiphany.

Banta recommends slamming elected officials with questions that focus on the key issues: income inequality, the financial crisis, financial reform, tax reform, government spending regarding the recession, and labor legislation.

Meanwhile, Abigail Caplovitz Field thinks it would be a bad idea for Occupy to simply shut down encampments for the winter. She recommends shift work and is asking you who live near an encampment to invite a protester to “occupy” your home during those hours when he/she isn’t outdoors, holding down the fort:

If sleeping and all the biological needs of the occupiers–can be handled in your space, the Occupiers can stand vigil in our space. Can’t you see it? The afternoon shift giving way to the graveyard shift, sunrise greeting the morning shift as it arrives for its duty. Or maybe there’s just two shifts, day and night. Either way, shift work is very 99%, a tactic that’s on message.