[GhostUser]

in our humble state capital of santa fe, new mexico we had a peace march and rally of over 7,000 people. that is very large for a state with such low population density. it was so heartening to me that we could pull that many people out on the streets to sing, dance, rant, drum, shout, and chant for peace. what have others on vb been seeing or noticing? i feel somewhat encouraged.

 

[GhostUser]

I find it heartening, that so many are against our going to war, but it is discouraging when Bush says that the peace marches will not deter him.

 

[GhostUser]

i know what you mean. nixon said the same thing during the vietnam war. and alexander haig, then secretary of state is reported to have looked out of the whitehouse windows at a huge antiwar rally and said "let them march all they want, as long as they pay their taxes." kind of makesya think don't it

did anyone hear about the naked women in australia!

 

[Skylark]

I find it heartening to be part of the Mennonite church, which has been a mainstay of pacifism/peacemaking for centuries. I've been pondering issues of justifiable war vs. peacemaking since high school, but it's much more real to me now than it was five years ago. And I consider myself a pacifist/peacemaker.

 

[mushroom]

In my town, we had two people holding signs, one said "honk for peace" and no one was even honking (except me.)

If the peace marches get big enough, Bush will have to listen. (I think without them, we would be at war right now.) You can tell, the marches are bugging him. He says democracy is a wonderful thing, but I think he'd really like to have the war protesters jailed.

We need more protesters in the US. I think that I am going to take all my kids to the next one...all 5 of 'em.

 

[1vegan]

Peace doesnt get enough attention in the news.

They hardly mentioned US pro-peace demonstrations in Europe.

I guess you havent heard of European protests in the us, so Ill mention it here.

15 February

Amsterdam: 70 thousand people (biggest demo in 25-30 years)

Germany: 1,000,000 demonstrators.

London: 1,000,000 demonstrators

Spain: 500,000 demonstrators

Italy: 500,000 demonstrators.

Tony Blair (prime minister of England) is now saying the protests can not be ignored (completely).

I hope will find a way to back down on the war, without looking a complete fool.

I fear that if he doesnt find such a way, he will go ahead with his strange plans.

 

[mushroom]

One time, on Late Night, with Craig Killborn, they were doing a joke about Bush and they accidentally superimposed "assassins wanted" over his picture.

I am pretty surprised no one has taken that job.

 

[GhostUser]

There was a big peace rally here in San Diego County on Saturday. The news media said that the police estimated the numbers at 5,000. The next new cast said that 2,500 had showed up and the next day they were reporting it at 500. I think that they were trying to downplay the whole thing. I sometimes wonder why the news media is seemingly so on board for this war. Or are they forced to by the government.

 

[Avalon]

Around here things are beginning too. I'm staring at an on-campus poster for the new "Concordia Students Against War: -it has a student at a recent protest holding up a sign which reads: "80.4 cents/life" with a pic of a gas pump.

I am heartened only in that Bush is up for re-election soon, and I'm hoping he'll be ousted.

Otherwise I was cheering when I heard Jean Chretien say something along the lines of "Canada will not simply 'take someone's word' and go to war. We support the decisions of the UN, and we are interested in doing what is right, but we also require proof."

Chretien (our Prime Minister) is on his way out of office anyway, he HATES Bush- you guys really tee'd him off when Bush got in ("Mexico is our greatest ally, and closest partner in trade!") and thus he is just telling it like it is for once. He's got nothing to lose.

 

[Avalon]

And, off topic: You're a mennonite?? I didn't think Mennonites were supposed to use computers/dominate the internet.

 

[GhostUser]

I'm going to a rally in DC March 8th. yayness.

The community I live in is overwhelmingly republican and they're all gung ho on destroying Hussein and his weapons of mass destructimacation which bothers me. It makes me sad but hey.. I will convert them, one by one, to peace lovers

Beth, The Yid Patron Saint of Pax

 

[WonderRandy]

we had about 300 people at the last rally here. I stood in the rain with my "no war" sign, waving at cars. It was such a good feeling to take part in somethin so important.

I was amazed tho, at the drivers who flipped us off! this is a peace-loving community, and I was really surprised at those who didn't even respect our right to protest...

 

[GhostUser]

That is the whole problem, the ones who want the war so badly think that the ones who do not want the war have no right to feel that way

 

[SilverC]

I've been lurking through some threads about the threat of war on other boards. It's very disheartening to see the hostility that pro-war people have towards the pacifists. Insults and threats being thrown around, challenging people patriotism.

I hate the term "Axis of Weasels", have you guys heard that one yet? Refering to France and Germany because they don't support Bush.

Sigh.

 

[GhostUser]

yea! i was so happy to log on today and find my very first thread ever had taken off. it is interesting, new mexico is the birth place of the nuclear bomb and depends mostly on a war economy (could that be why we're #1 in poverty in the U.S.??). It is a very military state and yet there has been, at least in the last several months and last 2-3 big peace actions, no counter demonstrators and almost no hostility.

i have heard much about the protests in europe. the protests in europe have been quite large, and this is partly because labor is in coalition with anti-war work as far as I can tell... and in australia, i forget which town, over 300 women, shed their clothes and formed a giant heart with the words no war in the center. there's a great aerial photo of it in our local sunday paper here. you could probably find it if you did a bit of digging in australian peace links through a google search. peace to everyone.

 

[mushroom]

I like these bumper stickers that I have seen recently:

No Majority

No Authority

in smaller print: not elected, not my president

If I support an unelected president then the terrorists win

Re-elect Bush because you have waited for armageddon long enough!

"Regime Change" starts at home

 

[GhostUser]

some signs spotted at the recent santa fe demo. and in d.c.:

how did our oil get under their sand?

buck fush

one nation under surveillance

(man wearing plastic wrap and duct tape all over self) am i safe now george??

stop mad sheep disease

drunken frat boy runs country off the road(with a sketch of a car etc.)

a pic of bush with the top of his skull hinged and open-- caption reads, empty warhead

pic of a flag, these colors don't run the world...

this is, by the way, how i cheer myself up.

in answer to the media question, in the u.s. all of the major media outlets, newspapers, the networks, most radio stations, are owned corporately by companies such as GE, Lockheed Martin and many others who ARE the biggest players in the highly profitable military industrial complex...defense contractors etc. it's extremely sad and scary...

 

[Skylark]

[Off topic warning]

Avalon, there is a huge variety in Mennonites. Some live very simply with minimal electric/electronic uses. I'm on the other end of the continuum from them. While I enjoy wearing skirts simply out of personal preference, I'm not anywhere near as conservative (and might I add, legalistic) as the head-covering wearing, field-plowing Mennonites that most people have heard of.

I'm not in danger of being excommunicated by my church. I was brought up much more family-oriented than many in my church, even. In fact, the story that gets retold at my church is that some of us are rejects from the more traditional Mennonite churches and some of us wandered in from other denominations and faith backgrounds. I'd be in the latter category.

[/off topic warning]

 

[GhostUser]

I heard that some war mongers are boycotting french wines and cheeses as a way of getting back at them for not going along with Bushes insanity.

 

[GhostUser]

speaking of boycotts...La Raza Unida (out of Los Angeles) has called for a general strike to take place the day after the U.S. escalates a war against Iraq (not to assume that it will inevitably happen). What this means is don't go to work or school, buy nothing, don't drive your car. of course, many will have to go to work or school for economic, job security reasons. La Raza says if you do have to go wear black to show solidarity with the people of Iraq...