HOO-AH!
Let the rout begin! Chase the money-changers from the temple! Let’s hear it for the Senate! And let’s thank the righteous men and women therein who are finally starting to get the criminals out of the White House. One can only hope the momentum for these actions results in a total sea-change of American ethics: we do not steal from the poor in order to fatten the rich. We do not torture our ‘enemies’.
We may not ever be able to change the militant members of the Islamic faith who think we are the spawn of the devil, but we can certainly convince the marginal members of Islam that our intentions are good, and perhaps in this way, bring about positive change to the conflicts between Muslim and Christian belief. My premise is that any iota of the money spent on destroying Islam and ‘terrorists’ spent, instead, on changing their world for the betterment of their believers would have gone farther to creating positive change than all the money we have spent on waging war on what is a primarily civilian population.
I hate the Taliban and have absolutely no use for them and their history of primitive punishment for infractions of primitive beliefs despite the changes that time has wrought on society’s penchant for blood revenge. It is anathema. I am not evil, nor is my family evil, nor do I know personally anyone who is evil. I have had Israeli friends, and Arabic friends, and Jewish friends and Christian friends.
My older daughter is a born-again Christian and my younger daughter is a Mormon. I consider myself a Gnostic, according to Harold Bloom’s definition of Gnostic until something happens to one of my family and then I am a Bible-Belt-Southern-Baptist praying to whatever hellfire and brimstone God is out there—in short, pretty much a religious hypocrite like a lot of other folks, but I do not try to impose my beliefs on anyone else in order to manipulate them.
God and I have a relationship: I pray for money and he doesn’t give it to me. But the ones I love are faring better than some and whether or not that is through the intervention of God or just luck, I do not presume to know. But, if God is out there and if He is listening, then surely He will appreciate my on-going thanks for the health of my family, and for whatever bits of money He sends.
One thing is sure: I am not going to get any money or even better health from the Republicans.
__________________________________________________________________
Interesting there was no word of this protest in all of the largest daily newspapers: Could this be the result of censorship in our large city daily newspapers? Could it be that to report on the activism of our children threatens the owners and editors of these daily papers? Are these children, let’s call them “floppies” for their baggy clothes the way we called another generation “hippies” for their hip-hugger pants, the wave that will take us to something resembling a better country than we have now? Let’s hope so: but let’s at least honor their efforts with fair reporting.
__________________________________________________________________
November 3, 2005 latimes.com : California
Angelenos Join in Anti-Bush Protest
Many in L.A. and across the nation walk out of school and work to rally against the president.
By Martha Groves and J. Michael Kennedy, Times Staff Writers
An anti-administration group staged rallies in Westwood and throughout the country Wednesday to protest issues ranging from President Bush's stance on the Iraq war to his delayed response to Hurricane Katrina.
The Westwood rally attracted an estimated 1,200 protesters, including some who walked out of work and school to join in. The nighttime protest clogged traffic in parts of the Westside for hours.
Additionally, an estimated 1,000 Los Angeles students walked out of local high schools Wednesday for various daytime protests around the city. Among the schools hit by walkouts were Los Angeles High, Hamilton High and Lincoln High.
The protests were put together by World Can't Wait, a coalition formed recently to stage the rallies. The protesters used the anniversary of Bush's reelection to call for his resignation in major population centers that included Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago.
At the Wednesday evening rally in Westwood, two dozen cardboard boxes were draped with American flags to resemble caskets.
Among those at the rally were Simon Levy and Riley Steiner, the director and assistant director of the anti-Iraq war play called "What I Heard About Iraq."
"It really is so much like the marches of the '60s in the Bay Area," Levy said. For her part, Steiner said it was "exciting to be a part of the voice" against the war in Iraq.
Gustavo Ramirez of Pomona wore a T-shirt that said, "Our war budget leaves every child behind."
"More than $300 billion has been spent on this war, and that has taken money away from education," Ramirez said. He said he took seven days off from work in the hope that there would be more protests.
Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said World Can't Wait sent out fliers to schools urging students to leave school on the day of the protest.
"A lot of us were wondering where they were going," she said.
The protests began about noon along Wilshire Boulevard. Various speakers and musicians participated, including jazz vocalist Rickie Lee Jones; Edwin Ellis, the president of Veterans for Peace, Los Angeles; activist Bianca Jagger, and organizer Lucy Lee.
In New York, students walked out of high schools and colleges as thousands rallied in Union Square before marching the nearly two miles to Times Square on a route lined with police on motorbikes.
In Chicago, organizers said, more than 500 people attended a downtown rally amid a strong police presence.
Near the San Francisco protest, a hurled Molotov cocktail ignited the uniform of a police officer.
According to World Can't Wait, other supporters of the event included author Gore Vidal, actor Ed Begley, historian Howard Zinn and playwright Harold Pinter.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCERhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/246915_walkout03.htmlStudents roar against war
Hundreds skip school to protest U.S. role in Iraq
Thursday, November 3, 2005
By JESSICA BLANCHARD AND JAKE ELLISONSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
For Sergio Chacon, the decision to skip afternoon classes at Ingraham High School to attend a downtown anti-war rally Wednesday was a no-brainer.
The 16-year-old junior believes passionately that the Iraq war -- or any war, for that matter -- is "pointless." And he reasons that being out there, hearing what people have to say, is more relevant than anything he could have learned in class.
So at midmorning, he and about 150 fellow students eagerly spilled out of Ingraham's front doors as part of a Seattle-area "walkout" -- a teen protest duplicated in cities around the country.
"We can't do much," Chacon said, noting that most high school students aren't old enough to vote. "But I think in a massive group, we will be able to get our point across."
Waving flags and signs proclaiming "Prune Bush" and "Dollars for Students, not Soldiers," the young protesters gathered in front of the North Seattle school before marching en masse to catch buses bound for Westlake Plaza.
College students and other adult protesters joined the high schoolers, forming a raucous crowd, bristling with banners, drums and guitars.
The organizers, members of a group called Youth Against War and Racism, estimated the turnout at 1,000, but that appeared to be a generous assessment. Police did not provide a crowd estimate.
Ingraham junior Mike Lang, 16, who passed out fliers earlier this week publicizing the walkout, was pleasantly surprised by how many of his classmates joined in.
"We don't believe a small number like this can stop the war," he said, gesturing at the Ingraham marchers as they made their way to a bus stop on Aurora Avenue. "But it's a start. And it has to start somewhere."
The rally was one of several planned in Seattle for Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of President Bush's re-election. Only a few minor arrests were reported.
By noon, walkout organizers had lost a sizable chunk of their early-arriving teenage protesters to an anti-Bush march that was already under way downtown. But by the time the youth rally started at 1 p.m., the marchers had swung back around, shedding the students.
Speakers called out the names of local schools represented at the rally, including Denny and Whitman middle schools, and Cleveland, Nova, Nathan Hale, Garfield, Franklin, John Marshall and Ingraham high schools.
"I'm just tired of what Bush is doing to this country," said Ryan Wisniewski, 15, from Ballard High School. "Tired of fighting a war we don't need to be fighting and spending money we don't need to be spending, killing troops we don't need to be killing."
Many students said they were not only against the war, but wanted society to see that the young people would speak up against it.
"I'm doing this because I care about what's happening to this country. I care about the future," said 14-year-old Emma Staake, from Roosevelt High School. "People are dying every day. The war is stupid. It's just for money and power, and we've been lied to."
Many students said their parents knew they'd skipped school -- and wouldn't disapprove when they found out.
But some students weren't so sure. "I'll be grounded for the rest of my life," said one of the youngest protesters, 13-year-old Jeri Riley, from Hamilton Middle School.
Attending the protest, she figured, was a risk worth taking. "Bush needs to be impeached 'cause he sent us to war for no reason," she said.
Roughly 50 students from Seattle's Alternative School No. 1, ranging from kindergarten to the eighth grade, were taken to the protest by a group of parents.
One of them, Kris Sigloh, attended with her children -- Carter, 12, and Cassidy, 8.
"If my oldest son ... is being recruited or drafted in years to come, I wanted to be able to say we've been fighting that for a long time," Sigloh said.
Seattle Public Schools officials said they weren't sure how many students participated in the walkout and likely wouldn't know until today.At Ballard High School, Principal Phil Brockman said a handful of students had left school grounds at lunchtime to attend the rally. They all seemed as though they truly believed in the anti-war cause, he said. "They're not just looking for an excuse to skip school."
Most had permission from their parents to be absent, he added.
Ingraham junior Ailene Richard conceded some students probably took advantage of the protest as an excuse to ditch classes. But she said many feel strongly about the anti-war movement.
"Kids are not babies. Their ideas are just as important, just as significant as anybody else's," she said.
Several students said the rally gave them an outlet to express their frustration with the country's current direction and their feelings of powerlessness.
"We're not happy with the decisions that the generation in power is making and the way the system is working," said Jeff Stein, 16, who helped organize the Ingraham walkout.
But meeting up with so many like-minded students, some from as far away as Ellensburg and Olympia, gave him hope that they were edging closer to gaining the attention of those in power.
Said Stein: "We're on the road to where we want to be."
THEY SAID IT
What students attending Wednesday's anti-war "walkout" had to say:
"I wanted to see if it was the real thing -- that we were going to go somewhere and do something."
-- Augustine Wittkower, 16, The Center School
"I'm just tired of what Bush is doing to this country. Tired of fighting a war we don't need to be fighting and spending money we don't need to be spending, killing troops we don't need to be killing."
-- Ryan Wisniewski, 15, Ballard High School
"I'm against the war. There was no point in doing it. Bush did it for oil and blinded us with weapons of mass destruction."
-- Montana Posse, 15,
Ballard High School
"I'm doing this because I care about what's happening to this country. I care about the future. People are dying every day. The war is stupid. It's just for money and power, and we've
been lied to."
-- Emma Staake, 14, Roosevelt High School
"It's cool to just feel the solidarity and know there's a community of people who support each other."
-- Jeff Stein, 16,
Ingraham High School
"If we're portrayed as a bunch of rowdy kids ... it's completely detrimental to the whole anti-war movement."
-- Mike Lang, 16,
Ingraham High School
P-I reporter Jessica Blanchard can be reached at 206-448-8322 or jessicablanchard@seattlepi.com.
© 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
We may not ever be able to change the militant members of the Islamic faith who think we are the spawn of the devil, but we can certainly convince the marginal members of Islam that our intentions are good, and perhaps in this way, bring about positive change to the conflicts between Muslim and Christian belief. My premise is that any iota of the money spent on destroying Islam and ‘terrorists’ spent, instead, on changing their world for the betterment of their believers would have gone farther to creating positive change than all the money we have spent on waging war on what is a primarily civilian population.
I hate the Taliban and have absolutely no use for them and their history of primitive punishment for infractions of primitive beliefs despite the changes that time has wrought on society’s penchant for blood revenge. It is anathema. I am not evil, nor is my family evil, nor do I know personally anyone who is evil. I have had Israeli friends, and Arabic friends, and Jewish friends and Christian friends.
My older daughter is a born-again Christian and my younger daughter is a Mormon. I consider myself a Gnostic, according to Harold Bloom’s definition of Gnostic until something happens to one of my family and then I am a Bible-Belt-Southern-Baptist praying to whatever hellfire and brimstone God is out there—in short, pretty much a religious hypocrite like a lot of other folks, but I do not try to impose my beliefs on anyone else in order to manipulate them.
God and I have a relationship: I pray for money and he doesn’t give it to me. But the ones I love are faring better than some and whether or not that is through the intervention of God or just luck, I do not presume to know. But, if God is out there and if He is listening, then surely He will appreciate my on-going thanks for the health of my family, and for whatever bits of money He sends.
One thing is sure: I am not going to get any money or even better health from the Republicans.
__________________________________________________________________
Interesting there was no word of this protest in all of the largest daily newspapers: Could this be the result of censorship in our large city daily newspapers? Could it be that to report on the activism of our children threatens the owners and editors of these daily papers? Are these children, let’s call them “floppies” for their baggy clothes the way we called another generation “hippies” for their hip-hugger pants, the wave that will take us to something resembling a better country than we have now? Let’s hope so: but let’s at least honor their efforts with fair reporting.
__________________________________________________________________
November 3, 2005 latimes.com : California
Angelenos Join in Anti-Bush Protest
Many in L.A. and across the nation walk out of school and work to rally against the president.
By Martha Groves and J. Michael Kennedy, Times Staff Writers
An anti-administration group staged rallies in Westwood and throughout the country Wednesday to protest issues ranging from President Bush's stance on the Iraq war to his delayed response to Hurricane Katrina.
The Westwood rally attracted an estimated 1,200 protesters, including some who walked out of work and school to join in. The nighttime protest clogged traffic in parts of the Westside for hours.
Additionally, an estimated 1,000 Los Angeles students walked out of local high schools Wednesday for various daytime protests around the city. Among the schools hit by walkouts were Los Angeles High, Hamilton High and Lincoln High.
The protests were put together by World Can't Wait, a coalition formed recently to stage the rallies. The protesters used the anniversary of Bush's reelection to call for his resignation in major population centers that included Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago.
At the Wednesday evening rally in Westwood, two dozen cardboard boxes were draped with American flags to resemble caskets.
Among those at the rally were Simon Levy and Riley Steiner, the director and assistant director of the anti-Iraq war play called "What I Heard About Iraq."
"It really is so much like the marches of the '60s in the Bay Area," Levy said. For her part, Steiner said it was "exciting to be a part of the voice" against the war in Iraq.
Gustavo Ramirez of Pomona wore a T-shirt that said, "Our war budget leaves every child behind."
"More than $300 billion has been spent on this war, and that has taken money away from education," Ramirez said. He said he took seven days off from work in the hope that there would be more protests.
Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said World Can't Wait sent out fliers to schools urging students to leave school on the day of the protest.
"A lot of us were wondering where they were going," she said.
The protests began about noon along Wilshire Boulevard. Various speakers and musicians participated, including jazz vocalist Rickie Lee Jones; Edwin Ellis, the president of Veterans for Peace, Los Angeles; activist Bianca Jagger, and organizer Lucy Lee.
In New York, students walked out of high schools and colleges as thousands rallied in Union Square before marching the nearly two miles to Times Square on a route lined with police on motorbikes.
In Chicago, organizers said, more than 500 people attended a downtown rally amid a strong police presence.
Near the San Francisco protest, a hurled Molotov cocktail ignited the uniform of a police officer.
According to World Can't Wait, other supporters of the event included author Gore Vidal, actor Ed Begley, historian Howard Zinn and playwright Harold Pinter.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCERhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/246915_walkout03.htmlStudents roar against war
Hundreds skip school to protest U.S. role in Iraq
Thursday, November 3, 2005
By JESSICA BLANCHARD AND JAKE ELLISONSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
For Sergio Chacon, the decision to skip afternoon classes at Ingraham High School to attend a downtown anti-war rally Wednesday was a no-brainer.
The 16-year-old junior believes passionately that the Iraq war -- or any war, for that matter -- is "pointless." And he reasons that being out there, hearing what people have to say, is more relevant than anything he could have learned in class.
So at midmorning, he and about 150 fellow students eagerly spilled out of Ingraham's front doors as part of a Seattle-area "walkout" -- a teen protest duplicated in cities around the country.
"We can't do much," Chacon said, noting that most high school students aren't old enough to vote. "But I think in a massive group, we will be able to get our point across."
Waving flags and signs proclaiming "Prune Bush" and "Dollars for Students, not Soldiers," the young protesters gathered in front of the North Seattle school before marching en masse to catch buses bound for Westlake Plaza.
College students and other adult protesters joined the high schoolers, forming a raucous crowd, bristling with banners, drums and guitars.
The organizers, members of a group called Youth Against War and Racism, estimated the turnout at 1,000, but that appeared to be a generous assessment. Police did not provide a crowd estimate.
Ingraham junior Mike Lang, 16, who passed out fliers earlier this week publicizing the walkout, was pleasantly surprised by how many of his classmates joined in.
"We don't believe a small number like this can stop the war," he said, gesturing at the Ingraham marchers as they made their way to a bus stop on Aurora Avenue. "But it's a start. And it has to start somewhere."
The rally was one of several planned in Seattle for Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of President Bush's re-election. Only a few minor arrests were reported.
By noon, walkout organizers had lost a sizable chunk of their early-arriving teenage protesters to an anti-Bush march that was already under way downtown. But by the time the youth rally started at 1 p.m., the marchers had swung back around, shedding the students.
Speakers called out the names of local schools represented at the rally, including Denny and Whitman middle schools, and Cleveland, Nova, Nathan Hale, Garfield, Franklin, John Marshall and Ingraham high schools.
"I'm just tired of what Bush is doing to this country," said Ryan Wisniewski, 15, from Ballard High School. "Tired of fighting a war we don't need to be fighting and spending money we don't need to be spending, killing troops we don't need to be killing."
Many students said they were not only against the war, but wanted society to see that the young people would speak up against it.
"I'm doing this because I care about what's happening to this country. I care about the future," said 14-year-old Emma Staake, from Roosevelt High School. "People are dying every day. The war is stupid. It's just for money and power, and we've been lied to."
Many students said their parents knew they'd skipped school -- and wouldn't disapprove when they found out.
But some students weren't so sure. "I'll be grounded for the rest of my life," said one of the youngest protesters, 13-year-old Jeri Riley, from Hamilton Middle School.
Attending the protest, she figured, was a risk worth taking. "Bush needs to be impeached 'cause he sent us to war for no reason," she said.
Roughly 50 students from Seattle's Alternative School No. 1, ranging from kindergarten to the eighth grade, were taken to the protest by a group of parents.
One of them, Kris Sigloh, attended with her children -- Carter, 12, and Cassidy, 8.
"If my oldest son ... is being recruited or drafted in years to come, I wanted to be able to say we've been fighting that for a long time," Sigloh said.
Seattle Public Schools officials said they weren't sure how many students participated in the walkout and likely wouldn't know until today.At Ballard High School, Principal Phil Brockman said a handful of students had left school grounds at lunchtime to attend the rally. They all seemed as though they truly believed in the anti-war cause, he said. "They're not just looking for an excuse to skip school."
Most had permission from their parents to be absent, he added.
Ingraham junior Ailene Richard conceded some students probably took advantage of the protest as an excuse to ditch classes. But she said many feel strongly about the anti-war movement.
"Kids are not babies. Their ideas are just as important, just as significant as anybody else's," she said.
Several students said the rally gave them an outlet to express their frustration with the country's current direction and their feelings of powerlessness.
"We're not happy with the decisions that the generation in power is making and the way the system is working," said Jeff Stein, 16, who helped organize the Ingraham walkout.
But meeting up with so many like-minded students, some from as far away as Ellensburg and Olympia, gave him hope that they were edging closer to gaining the attention of those in power.
Said Stein: "We're on the road to where we want to be."
THEY SAID IT
What students attending Wednesday's anti-war "walkout" had to say:
"I wanted to see if it was the real thing -- that we were going to go somewhere and do something."
-- Augustine Wittkower, 16, The Center School
"I'm just tired of what Bush is doing to this country. Tired of fighting a war we don't need to be fighting and spending money we don't need to be spending, killing troops we don't need to be killing."
-- Ryan Wisniewski, 15, Ballard High School
"I'm against the war. There was no point in doing it. Bush did it for oil and blinded us with weapons of mass destruction."
-- Montana Posse, 15,
Ballard High School
"I'm doing this because I care about what's happening to this country. I care about the future. People are dying every day. The war is stupid. It's just for money and power, and we've
been lied to."
-- Emma Staake, 14, Roosevelt High School
"It's cool to just feel the solidarity and know there's a community of people who support each other."
-- Jeff Stein, 16,
Ingraham High School
"If we're portrayed as a bunch of rowdy kids ... it's completely detrimental to the whole anti-war movement."
-- Mike Lang, 16,
Ingraham High School
P-I reporter Jessica Blanchard can be reached at 206-448-8322 or jessicablanchard@seattlepi.com.
© 1998-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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