<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by beverleyknowles:

Did your march go ok then? On the 15th feb there was news coverage about the marchs all over the world, only this time there was none.
Know you have my thoughts.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you, Beverley, for asking. I didn't get to Washington this time, but I understand that there was a much smaller group there than last month, and there was a much larger "support the troops" counter-rally... the two groups being of similar size to one another. (I heard there were about 10-15,000 altogether.)

The current political climate, with the Bush supporters sounding like they "won" against us doves, made me think twice about going to Washington. The Peace people may have lost this round, but the pro-Bush folks need to understand that this is only the beginning of a long, probably ugly series of wars.

I talked it over with Wayne (HomerJ - a dear friend with whom I was going to travel) and we decided to stay in our local area, and participate in the Peace Rally here, as we did last week. This week, the numbers were fewer in Saratoga, as they were all around the world, but we had about 75 peace ralliers on three corners of the intersection and about 20 in front of the post office in support of the Bush Administration.

I found it interesting that of the five or six police officers on duty there, all but one were at the corner by the post office. It seems they know where trouble is likely to arise. The Peace contingent was ... logically... peaceful. We had a banjo player who led us in several songs. The other folks had a tendency to shout out nasty comments directed toward us ("Go away, America haters"), or chant "USA - USA - USA" trying to drown out our songs (which included This Land is Your Land and God Bless America).

We closed the rally with an OM circle and a moment of silence.

We need to find the appropriate focus for peace actions. Right now, the hawks are gloating and calling us fools. We need to regroup and focus on where our actions will be most effective for bringing about a worldwide peace. It will be a long, difficult effort - but one that we need to reaffirm our commitment to.

BTW - Here's the POSTER I carried yesterday.... thanks to the link Cheryl provided. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/wink.gif" width=15 height=15>
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on Apr 13, 2003 ---</FONT></center>

Big Liberation, or media manipulation???

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2842.htm

I don't know, lcj. I mean, it's pretty well established that it wasn't the throng it appeared to be in the news footage, but whether it was totally staged or not, I can't tell. I'd really like to find a source of news that's both free of the influence of the administration and also unbiased. News without a point of view. Anyone know a source that they think is really, really reliable?

The most reliable news source? TheOnion.com of course

I didn't post that pic because I think the entire event was 100% orchestrated. It was just a pic someone sent me that I thought was interesting from the vantage point taken, far away. The supposedly liberal media equated the event with the likes of the Berlin Wall, which is laughable. So I just thought that the main picture was something that everyone should see, so they can see how many people really took part. The other commentary on the page is not something I endorse or claim to be true. But the media has used this event as something more than it was. That said, I should have clarified my intent up front.

Oh, I didn't mean that it wasn't genuine. I just really would like a news source that's good, but without any bias whatever. It's gotten to the point where on some things I don't know what to believe and other times..well..I have arguments with other people too and sometimes it's impossible to make a point with a source that even leans slightly to the left, even if they're reliable. Also I'm really convinced that the mainstream news media is completely under the administration's thumb at this point so I feel like I'm missing stuff.