Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

We started here at noon. I tried to find a disposable camera to provide photos of the events, but evidently stores don't believe in them here. Anyway, great speakers, some poems, and some guys in orage jumpsuits with black bags over their heads.

Currently they are marching around the campus of WMU shouting things like:

"The world can't wait, Drive out the Bush regime!"

"Don't hate the media, become the media!"

"Join us! Join us! The world can't wait!"

And these are accompanied by one whistle and one trombone.

In an hour and a half Scott Ritter (the previous head U.N. weapons inspector who ran the inspections in Iraq before the war) is speaking, and after that there is a march to downtown Kalamazoo for a couple bands and I think more poetry.

And apparently there is now going to be an occupation of the public park in downtown Kalamazoo during the night. I'll be back with more info and hopefully some pictures.

WOW!

Just like Berkeley in 1968!

Go gettum, son!

I do a candlelight stand-around every Friday here, sponsored by a local doctor. About forty of us at the county government center.

In LA ( bigtown! a little way from me . . .) there's quite a bit of action today, also.

Thanks for your report.

Don't listen to and follow your elders! ( including me!).

Bless you and your efforts,

Zlatko

Dear bohonato:

An interesting local page about the protest:

http://www.worldcantwait-la.com/Students_Youth.htm


--Z

Zlatko: Thanks for the link! I think that candle-light vigils are great, as they have such as sense of dignity about them. I believe that there is a picket every Sunday here at the Federal Building, and I'm probably going to check it out. I hear that there's about 60-100 people who show up every week.

Scott Ritter was an amazing speaker. He talked about how the Bush Administration lied about Iraq, and how they are now lying about Iran. This part really freaked me out. Apparently, they already have plans to invade Iran, and he predicts that the shit will hit the fan in March '07. They will begin with a air strike. They have 1000+ targets, which shows (Ritter was a Marine targeteer for 12 years) that they have no idea what they are aiming at. Anyway, they believe that the Iranians will rise up to help the U.S. But, Ritter was in Iran last February, and while many Iranians do not like their government, they see what happened in Iraq and do not want that either. The U.S. does not conjure visions of liberation so much as destruction. So, as the uprisal will not take place, the U.S. will send ground troops. This will fail as well to encourage the Iranians to help us, so we will probably used a nuclear bomb. And this is the part that freaks me out. I can not recall the exact wording, so I'll paraphrase:

If the U.S. uses a nuclear warhead in Iran, you can say good-bye to an American city. If anyone supports the invasion of Iran, they can pick one to take off the map.

Scott Ritter has several books out, and I'm going to check them out. He was a great speaker, and if anyone gets the chance to hear him speak, I would encourage them to go.

Later that night there was a demostration at Bronson park downtwon, and several local bands played (my personal favourite is Dali Rocket, just because of the name. But they are actually good too). I left early because my friend hadn't eaten all day, so we went to get Chinese. So, I don't know if the park was occupied all night or not. I couldn't get a camera, but my friend had one, so I get some pictures eventually. But I think most were of the bands.

Boho - the news from Scott Ritter casts but yet another pall over this administration's policies, as you are well aware of. Sometime earlier this year I posted something regarding "the Ides of March"... prematurely, if Mr Ritter's information is correct.

Thx for the reports and I look fwd to any others you might share.

Taking over the park is a start to taking back this world we live from those who don't care about the reckless way they are going these days. The 60's all over again love it!!!!
_________________
Airgun Designs

yep
the sixties all over again
and over again
over again
over again
it is August 1914 all over again
september 1939 all over again
we keep storming the Bastille all over again

"everytime the wheel goes round bound to cover a little more ground" J Garcia.

Fighting the good fight

Cause it could be August 1945 all over again any day now
Well at least we are not living lives of quiet desperation anymore

.
I wish you well
I hope you liberate all the parks in america.

Good work bohonato - protests are helping, working, in bringing the desired changes. Keep it up and thank you for doing this for all of us. ~wd

Sample of success re Darfur:

Student activists rise again - this time for Darfur
By Matthew Clark | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
October 04, 2006
Excerpt:

In the past month alone:

• The US appointed a special envoy to Darfur, bowing to pressure after an international day of protests - including a rally of some 30,000 in New York's Central Park.

• California passed legislation to stop investing in companies supporting the Sudan regime - the fifth state to do so. More than two dozen colleges and universities are also in the process of divesting.

"The grass-roots people have really kept the issue alive and forced the hand of the governments," says Alex de Waal, a fellow of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University, who has been advising the African Union on Darfur. He says the UN Security Council's decision in March 2005 to refer Darfur war crimes cases to the International Criminal Court and the US move two years ago to label the conflict "genocide" would not have happened without advocates' pressure.

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