It could be a long hot summer.  Residents of a downtown Chicago condo tower have received a letter from their landlord warning them that "they should move out for the weekend ... or risk being trapped inside by rioters" during next month's NATO summit.

Fox News Chicago reports the potential for mayhem surrounding the May 20-21 conference puts anyone in the area of a planned protest at risk, noting that "NATO summits often draw crowds of thousands of protesters."

The Condominium Association's letter states among other things that

Given past protests in other cities and the potential for violence and damage, we are ... STRONGLY recommending that all residents find alternative places to stay during the conference.  [emphasis in the original]

The G-8 summit was originally planned alongside the NATO summit, but the G-8 meeting was moved last month to Camp David, ostensibly to "provide an informal and intimate setting" as the White House described the move at the time.

Since the G-8 combined with the NATO meeting would have been a double feature for the anarchists and agitators, the White House thought better of offering such a ripe target for the Occupy folks.

Between now and the NATO summit, however, Occupy is planning the big enchilada of  "general strikes," on May 1st.  From an Occupy web site:

While American corporate media has focused on yet another stale election between Wall Street-financed candidates, Occupy has been organizing something extraordinary: the first truly nationwide General Strike in U.S. history.

The web site, festooned with such catchy phrases as "International worker's day," and "the only solution is world revolution," includes a litany of what is going on where for the so-called "Occupy May Day" events.

Scrolling through the list leads to a headline of "May 1st Blockade Called For New York Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries."   Referring to last fall's Brooklyn Bridge march that resulted in more than 700 arrests, the article calls for "the biggest shut down the city of New York has ever seen."

CNS News also reports that the Occupy Oakland group that caused so much trouble last fall has announced plans to "shut down all modes of transportation from Marin County to San Francisco," namely the Golden Gate Bridge.

The convergence of perennial G-8 demonstrations, union May Day rallies, a long list of "99% Spring" organizers and the Occupy version of Moscow May Day marches is a recipe for unrest with unpredictable results.

As an organizer at a nation-wide day of Occupy training earlier this month said "this is about moving people and creating a lot of heat and light in the streets."

While the potential for escalation by organizers with a crowd of malcontents in their hands can not be discounted, and the unions and Democrat fringe groups involved mean business, the Occupy crowd at times can seem more than a little loony, almost a parody of itself.

In that vein, Forbes columnist Tom Watson, has penned his own "wild idea" for New York's Mayor and police department - "Proclaim May 1 Occupy Wall Street Day in New York City," erect a viewing platform in City Hall Park, and pass out "free water bottles and energy bars for the marchers," thereby converting the whole sordid mess into a tourist extravaganza, akin to a "Lefty St. Patrick's Day."

But, as one commenter observed, if Occupy shuts everything down how does a protester get into town?