Posted by Sammy_boy
Wow!! High - tech protesting!! What about bluejacking people as well? I hope all this comes to pass - it would be interesting to see what kind of an impact all this high tech gadgetery has during the republican convention. A Wi-Fi bike, and another one that spray-paints messages? Cool!!!
Posted by gelfen
President Bush visits a primary school classroom. They are in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the President if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy.'
The illustrious leader asks the class for an example of a tragedy.
One little boy stands up and offers: "If my best friend, who lives on a
farm is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him,
that would be a 'tragedy'." "No, " says bush, "that would be an
'accident."
A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a 'tragedy'." "I'm afraid not," explains the President. "That's what we would call a 'great loss'."
The room goes silent. No other children volunteered. Bush searches the room.
"Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a 'tragedy'?"
Finally, at the back of the room a small boy raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says: "If Air Force One, carrying you, Mr. President, were struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a 'tragedy'."
"Fantastic!" exclaims Bush. "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy'?"
"Well," says the boy, "because it certainly wouldn't be a 'great loss' and it probably wouldn't be an 'accident,' either."
Posted by axxxr
Thats one of the best bush jokes i've heard in a long while!!
Posted by axxxr
The Broken Promises of George W. Bush:
Rhetoric vs. Reality
President Bush made a lot of promises during his 2000 presidential campaign.The record shows it was all talk.
Posted by axxxr
Filmmaker Moore Quotes Goss on Lack of CIA Credentials
U.S. Congressman Porter Goss, President Bush's nominee for CIA director, could be his own worst enemy when it comes to making the case that he deserves to lead the U.S. intelligence agency.
"I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified," the Florida Republican told documentary-maker Michael Moore's production company during the filming of the anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."
A day after Bush picked Goss for the top U.S. spy job, Moore on Wednesday released an excerpt from a March 3 interview in which the 65-year-old former House of Representatives intelligence chief recounts his lack of qualifications for employment as a modern CIA staffer.
"I don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural background probably," Goss is quoted in an interview transcript.
"And I certainly don't have the technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day: 'Dad you got to get better on your computer.' Uh, so, the things that you need to have, I don't have."
Goss, who served with the CIA clandestine services in Latin America and Europe in the 1960s, was not immediately available for comment.
He appears in Moore's film, the most financially successful documentary in history, during a segment devoted to the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism measure.
Moore told Reuters that Goss, who until Tuesday was chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, granted an interview to two of his producers without first checking to see who they worked for.
"You'd think the person who was the head of the intelligence committee would ask a few more questions," said Moore.
"The reality is that Porter Goss was in charge of the oversight of the CIA during a time when the CIA didn't do its job, which in part resulted in the loss of lives of 3,000 people," he said via telephone from New York.
A White House spokesman declined to comment specifically on the Goss interview but described the lawmaker as "the most qualified man for the job."
Goss is expected to appear at confirmation hearings before the Senate intelligence committee next month.
Posted by Universal Exports
@ gelfen!
Posted by axxxr
SLAMBUSH
Via: http://www.slambush.net
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
<<<+9/11 for the truth+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-13 00:53 ]
Posted by MTNT68i
see this..
http://poststuff2.entensity.net/081204/media.php?media=bush.wmv
if you dont know the word stop pretending... damn
_________________
-Everything you send out there will eventually come back to you.
its all about KARMA
-Attribute to competence what can adequately be explained by luck.
[ This Message was edited by: MTNT68i on 2004-08-13 00:57 ]
Posted by axxxr
MTNT68i excellent mate,nice find!!
Posted by MTNT68i
You can see that Mister Bush is in deep sh*t in that clip... hahahahhah
Posted by axxxr
TRON guy interviews Farenheight 9/11 movie goers
HERE
Posted by axxxr
FARREL DOES W
Posted by Patrick-in-CA
For those of you who started bashing the US for being a place lacking freedom of speech, here is an update on the Linda Ronstadt story:
| Quote: |
Ronstadt: "I'd rather not know." |
Wow - one moment she says she thinks it is "time for people to speak up and not pipe down", but then turns around and says she would rather people who are Republicans or fundamental Christian to sit down and shut up because she would "rather not know"!!!!! In my book that is Hypocrisy. And for someone who has her enjoyment clouded by knowing the political views of people around her - her hypocrisy is even more present as demonstrated in this article:
| Quote: |
Ronstadt gets audience walkout encore |
I guess it's okay for her to share her political thoughts with her captive, paying audience - but let one of them make it known they don't agree with her and her enjoyment gets all clouded. I have no problem with her sharing her political point of view - but likewise I have no problem with her patrons standing up and sharing their point of view by walking out.
And as for the original US Bash that we don't have free speech in the US - where were the police arresting Linda? None to be found! Hu, imagine that. The Bush Gulag was derelict in its duty to suppress the political views of administration dissenters.
Posted by axxxr
Dubya Gellar
Posted by axxxr
Pre-election release for 9/11 DVD
Director Michael Moore's controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 will be released on DVD in October, one month before the US presidential elections.
Moore's assault on President George W Bush's handling of the 11 September attacks and the war on Iraq will debut on DVD and video on 5 October.
Meanwhile, a Conservative candidate for the US Senate has hit back at Bruce Springsteen's anti-Bush concert plans.
In a TV advert, Marilyn O'Grady urges the US public to "Boycott the Boss".
Since Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Palme d'Or in May, it has been filmmaker Michael Moore's intention to have the documentary released on video and DVD close to election day, in the hope of damaging President Bush's chances of re-election.
The DVD and video will feature a number of extras, including deleted footage from outside Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where seven US soldiers have been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The documentary has made $115m (£62.5m) in US cinemas since it opened in June.
'Political stage'
Springsteen is one of more than 20 well-known musicians who plan to take part in a series of anti-Bush fund-raising concerts under the Vote for Change banner.
Marilyn O'Grady, the candidate for New York, says in the 30-second slot: "He [Springsteen] thinks making millions with a song-and-dance routine allows him to tell you how to vote.
"Here's my vote: Boycott the Boss. If you don't buy his politics, don't buy his music."
In a statement, O'Grady said: "Now that he's moved onto the political stage to bash my president, it is entirely fair to respond."
A spokesperson for the singer said he had no plans to comment on the advertisement.
Posted by axxxr
Sorry but had to post this one again.......
Who made this STUPID TWAT the president again??
Bush on tribal sovereignty
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-18 13:19 ]
Posted by axxxr
THE G.W.BUSH SONG
Posted by Patrick-in-CA
[ This Message was edited by: Patrick-in-CA on 2004-08-21 05:13 ]
Posted by Patrick-in-CA
Senator John Kerry has made his 4-month combat tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of his bid for the Presidency. His campaign jets a handful of veterans around the country, and trots them out at public appearances to sing his praises. John Kerry wants us to believe that these men represent all those he calls his "band of brothers."
But most combat veterans who served with John Kerry in Vietnam see him in a very different light.
The purpose of this photo is to correct the misleading use of our
images --
against our will -- to further John Kerry's campaign.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been formed to counter the false "war crimes" charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerry's brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant. We speak from personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Kerry in combat as well as his commanders. Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore
exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.
We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat or a Republican. However, Kerry's phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compels us to step forward.
For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.
The time has come to set the record straight.
[ This Message was edited by: Patrick-in-CA on 2004-08-21 05:29 ]
Posted by axxxr
Check out the audio files below of George at his best
Threats
Tough Weeks
Achieving Hurdles
Bad Spannish Grammar
Beyond the immediate
Comiserate
Condi Unsticker
Desire to conflict
Dictatorship
Food on the Family
Hold this Nation Hostile
If a hard word doesn't work
I'm the person who gets to decide
In my state of the Union Speech
Incarcenated
Insticated
Nuclear weapons, once, twice
Peance, Freance
Subliminable
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-21 14:11 ]
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
Most poeple will remember where they were and what they were doing on 9/11.Not president Bush,At two town hall mettings he was asked about that day,and both times he ended up telling untrue stories and how he learned of the attacks.
MAGNIFY TO READ
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-21 16:24 ]
Posted by axxxr
Photo shows Yale undergraduate George W. Bush delivering a illegle punch to the face of a rugby opponent.
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-22 15:02 ]
Posted by axxxr
Strange relations: George Bush / John Kerry
Posted by axxxr
Swift boat Vet Says he has No Proof for Claim Kerry Lied
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A veteran who disputed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s Vietnam war record acknowledged on Sunday he had no proof to back his charge that Kerry fabricated the reports of enemy fire that won him two medals.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Van Odell, a member of the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that has spearheaded a campaign against Kerry's service record, said his was one of seven eyewitness accounts and he was not being directed by President Bush (news - web sites)'s campaign.
He has charged that then Navy Lt. Kerry, a Swift boat commander, fabricated the "after-action" report saying he faced enemy fire on March 13, 1969, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart for being wounded while pulling a fellow soldier to safety.
"I do not have a single document," Odell said. "I have the fact that I wasn't wounded in that 5,000 meters of fire that he wrote about."
"There was no enemy fire from either bank," he added.
The assertion was another broadside in a debate that has been raging for weeks, and with at least one CBS poll showing the issue cutting into Kerry's support among veterans, the Massachusetts senator has accused the group of collaborating with the Bush campaign and demanded Bush repudiate the ads.
Odell said he had met with Republican strategist Merrie Spaeth, a public relations consultant to his group, and once bought a home from Bob Perry, a large Republican donor from Texas and close associate of Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser.
Posted by axxxr
A label that apologizes for Bush
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
WHY DID'NT I GO TO VIETNAM?
Posted by axxxr
Cowards All Around
The media should take a step back and remind us what Bush and Cheney were up to in 1969.
At first blush, the treatment given to Michael Dobbs' page-one swift-boat article in Sunday's Washington Post seems at least vaguely reassuring. There's the neutral headline "Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete," but below that, a deck-headline informing readers that "Critics Fail to Disprove Kerry's Version of Vietnam War Episode." The banner treatment, running across three-fourths of the front page above the fold, places the onus of proof where it belongs -- on the accusers, not on Kerry, a point that Bob Novak and others have chosen to ignore, obscure, or even refute; and in announcing that the proof isn't there, it seems to be a plus for Kerry.
So what's wrong with this picture? This: The Washington Post should not even be running such a story -- a takeout of something in the neighborhood of 2,700 words, I'm guessing, delving into the remotest arcana about what really happened on the Bay Hap River on March 13, 1969 -- in the first place. Len Downie and the paper's other editors would undoubtedly argue that the story represents the Post's tenacity for getting to the truth, without fear or favor. But what the story actually proves is that a bunch of liars who have in the past contradicted their own current statements can, if their lies are outrageous enough and if they have enough money, control the media agenda and get even the most respected media outlets in the country to focus on picayune "truths" while missing the larger story.
And the larger story here is clear: John Kerry volunteered for the Navy, volunteered to go to Vietnam, and then, when he was sitting around Cam Ranh Bay bored with nothing to do, requested the most dangerous duty a Naval officer could be given. He saved a man's life. He risked his own every time he went up into the Mekong Delta. He did more than his country asked. In fact he didn't even wait for his country to ask.
George W. Bush spent those same years in a state of dissolution at Yale, and would go on, as we know, to plot how to get out of going to Southeast Asia. On that subject, here's a choice quote. "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment," Bush told the Dallas Morning News in 1990. "Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
Let's parse that quotation phrase for phrase. We do not, of course, know the full context of the conversation he was having with the reporter, and we don't know exactly what question Bush was asked. But his words begin from the presumption that actually going to Vietnam was absolutely not an option. The quote is entirely about how to avoid going. He wasn't prepared to damage his hearing intentionally for the sake of securing a deferment (he probably meant a 4-F classification and confused the two). And he wasn't willing to go to Canada. So he took the third option, the Air National Guard. And note how the choice was about bettering himself, not about thinking of a way to best render service that this child of privilege might -- had he been possessed of the moral fiber and sense of duty of, say, John Kerry -- have considered his obligation, especially considering that, on paper at least, he supported the war.
Dick Cheney is another who, on paper at least, supported the war. But we know Cheney's story: A series of deferments going back to 1963, when he was a student at Casper College in Wyoming. As Tim Noah reported in Slate, Cheney went on to marry -- as fate would have it, right after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, when it was clear that young single men would be called up in larger numbers than before. And then he went on to have a child, Elizabeth, born precisely nine months and two days after the Selective Service ended the proscription on the drafting of married but childless men. What a happily timed burst of passion he and Lynn were consumed by! So, while Kerry was plying the Mekong Delta, Cheney was safe and dry stateside, dropping out of Yale because his grades weren't sufficient to maintain the scholarship the school had offered him.
Everyone knows Cheney's quote, delivered to the Senate committee that was vetting him for service as George H.W. Bush's Defense Secretary, that he "had other priorities" than going to fight for his country. But he made another comment at that hearing that's less known and more damning: He said he "would have obviously been happy to serve had I been called." That, as John Nichols notes in his recent book Dick, is not just an obfuscation or a tap dance; it's a lie. He was called, and he ducked.
So now we're having a debate about whether the man who did the honorable thing may have embellished his record a little (although nothing in the documentary record suggests he did this), while we have two cowards who did everything they could to stay miles away from the place Kerry demanded he be sent. This is the fundamental truth. And while yes, Kerry has made his war service a centerpiece in a way that Bush and Cheney for obvious reasons did not, is it really Kerry who deserves scrutiny for how he behaved in 1968 and 1969? Why shouldn't the major media be doing comparisons of how Kerry, Bush, and Cheney passed those years? Why shouldn't The Washington Post be devoting 2,700 words to a comprehensive look at Cheney's deferments? Nichols identifies three young men from Casper who did die in Vietnam: Robert Cardenas, Walter Elmer Handy, and Douglas Tyrone Patrick. Did one of them die because Cheney had "other priorities"?
But The Washington Post won't do that, because there exists no Vietnam Veterans for the Truth About Deferments, financed by wealthy Democratic donors and out peddling its wares. Which is the moral of the story. Our media can sort through the facts in front of their nose and determine, at least some of the time, who's lying and who's not. But they are completely incapable of taking a step back and describing the larger reality. Doing that would require making judgments that are supposedly subjective rather than objective; but the larger reality here is clearer than clear. Just imagine if the situation were reversed: The same people now questioning Kerry's "character" would have worked to establish Bush as a war hero long ago. They would have labeled Kerry a coward. If by chance a liberal-backed group came forward to question Bush's wartime actions, they would have been called traitors and worse. And the mainstream media would be following the agenda they set every step of the way.
You'd think a press corps that has now officially acknowledged that it was had by this administration on the pre-Iraq war propaganda would think twice before letting itself get used one more time. You'd think, for example, that if the editors of the Washington Post were planning 2,700-word takeouts, they might have given priority to an investigation into ties between the White House and the Swift Boat group. If the conventions of mainstream journalism prevent our media from letting readers, viewers, and listeners examine the full truth in its broadest context, then it's time to reexamine those conventions. Until that happens, people who are willing to say anything, and who have the money to back them up, will be setting the agenda, and the media -- once upon a time, a guardian of our democratic traditions -- will be following them.
Posted by axxxr
NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -There will be a lot of pants-dropping and panty-flashing at the Republican National Convention in New York on September 1
The Axis of Eve -- a women's rights group -- is planning a 10-minute mass panty flash to protest the policies of the Bush administration.
The group consists of more than 100 women, all of whom will flash panties emblazoned with anti-Bush slogans like "give Bush the finger," "cream Bush" and "drill Bush, not oil."
Event planner Natasha Eve says her group feels, "...depressed with the deceit that's the norm for this administration," and is doing the flash as "a symbolic demand for accountability in government."
Natasha adds that dropping trou allows young women to mobilize and utilize their political passion in ways they never thought of before.
The group has exposed themselves at political events before, but Natasha admits, "This is the big one."
Posted by axxxr
New Swift boat ad cheap and almost certainly wrong.
It is a twisted state of affairs that George W. Bush's most avid surrogates are trying to make this election turn on the question of whether Lt. John Kerry was or was not in Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968.
Having pretty much failed at their efforts to disprove the official U.S. Navy account of Kerry's valor in battle as skipper of a "Swift boat" patrolling the Mekong Delta, the veterans against Kerry have moved to discredit his more obscure claim—made a few times over the years, in interviews and Senate floor speeches—that, on Dec. 24, he took CIA or special ops forces across the border into Cambodia,even while Washington claimed no American troops were there.
Kerry first told this story publicly in an article published in the Boston Herald on Oct. 14, 1979, before he was a senator.
Posted by Lynx69
| Quote: |
|
Cant argue with that!
Posted by axxxr
Caught on tape - At a public event, Former Texas Lt. Govenor apologizes and expresses regret for helping George W. and other rich contributors avoid the draft while others went and died.
UNEDITED VIDEO
Posted by axxxr
On September 2nd, 2004, at approximately 10 pm, George W. Bush will appear on television screens nationwide. For some of our fellow citizens, this will be a moment of joy.
Until now, there have been only two options: miss the speech (either by screaming at the television or turning it off), or bottle up the frustration within us, causing irreparable psychological harm. The first option is unbecoming of citizens in a democracy. The second option is just terrible. But now, for the first time, we have a better way. At the moment we see the president on our television screens, we will rise. We will throw open our windows. And, as George W. Bush moves to the podium in New York City, we will send him a message about his bid for reelection: we will yell, “fuggedaboudit!”
This will be a peaceful, non-disruptive protest. We will stop yelling before the president starts speaking. Our goal is not to drown him out, but to communicate. (And vent.)
We will do it in groups.,find a event or if you can't find one, plan your own. You can also sign up to shout solo. If “fuggedaboudit” doesn’t feel right—for example, if you aren’t in New York City—we urge you to customize your shout. But no obscenities. You’ll be addressing the president of the United States. And we will be broadcasting the shout-outs live, from several locations, on Air America Radio.
www.thegreatamericanshoutout.org
Posted by axxxr
Tech helps protesters get creative
NEW YORK (AP) -- Gary Boston and Jeff Adler are just two guys with a dream: shutting down New York City for a day.
What they want is a general strike, with everyone from Broadway dancers to Madison Avenue street sweepers calling in sick Wednesday to protest the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday. (Special Report: America Votes 2004, the Republican convention)
Both men are in their 30s and have full-time jobs, and neither has any organizing experience. Boston, who had never built a Web site before, put together ShutItDownNYC.com in three days, using Microsoft FrontPage software and the book "FrontPage for Dummies." The site has received more than 22,000 hits since it launched in late June.
"It's pretty amazing the amount of attention we've been able to generate with very simple tools," said Boston, a Wall Street analyst.
Technology has changed how protests are organized.
Activists are using the Internet to arrange housing for out-of-towners, organize a mass-flash of underwear emblazoned with anti-Bush messages and tell protesters what to say if they're arrested ("I am going to remain silent. I would like to speak with a lawyer.").
There are at least two Web guides for protesters packed with calendars of events and dining guides -- including Dumpster diving tips for those on a tight budget.
Cell phones work well for on-the-fly mobilizations, and text messages add to their power. Some protesters are signing up for 10 p.m. daily text updates telling them where the next day's events will be.
The phones have also put a technological twist on street theater.
An activist who calls himself Rev. Billy and members of his organization, The Church of Stop Shopping, plan to gather Tuesday at the commuter train station at Ground Zero, where they are to mill around reciting lines from the First Amendment into their cell phones for a half-hour, then recite it together, then disperse.
Crowd management
Technology, predictably, has also changed crowd control and surveillance.
Earlier this month, the New York Police Department showed off a machine called the Long Range Acoustic Device, developed for the military and capable of blasting at an earsplitting 150 decibels -- as loud as a firecracker, a jet engine taking off or artillery fire at 500 feet, according to the Noise Center at the League for the Hard of Hearing.
The NYPD said it would use the machine to direct crowds to safety if there's a terrorist attack or remind protesters where they're allowed to march.
Police said they wouldn't use the earsplitting screeching noise feature at the convention.
"It's only to communicate in large crowds," Inspector Thomas Graham of the police department's crowd control unit said.
Free speech advocates say New York's police have videotaped past protests, so organizations like United for Peace and Justice are encouraging protesters to bring their own video cameras to videotape the police.
A Web protest guide from Just Cause Law Collective suggests that protesters who see police brutality document it by leaving a detailed cell phone message for themselves or recording what they see on their portable music player.
Mobile bloggers, or mobloggers, are expected to show up in droves and quickly post on the Web photos, text and even video chronicling events as they happen.
"People will be able to quickly upload what is being seen, what is being felt and what is being done," said Ricardo Dominguez, co-founder of a tech-steeped civil disobedience group called The Electronic Disturbance Theater.
"We will be able to keep an eye on the police the same way they keep an eye on us."
The New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will be using cell phones and two-way pagers to monitor demonstrations.
Its legal team will be in close contact with the police "so we can hear about problems and trouble-shoot them instantly," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Hacking element
Will the convention be a target for hackers?
"The word 'target' is inappropriate," said Emmanuel Goldstein, editor and publisher of 2600, a hacking magazine.
"Hackers are interested in what the cops are doing, how the city is being operated during that (convention) period, what kinds of technology are being implemented here for the first time, as well as all sorts of ways to infiltrate and spread information."
Not many hackers are warning of electronic disruption.
One speaker at this summer's Defcon, an annual hackers conference, advocated disrupting the convention.
And one group released tools online to mount so-called denial-of-service attacks aimed at overwhelming the main Web sites for the convention, the Republican National Committee and the Bush campaign, said Greg Shipley, chief technology officer of the security company Neohapsis Inc.
Such tactics have been used in the past to try to disrupt annual meetings of the global business elite run by the World Economic Forum.
"I don't anticipate much of an online 'hacker' response," said Bryan Burns, who attended Defcon. "People I know who can hack and are politically motivated see themselves as more effective doing civil disobedience in person."
_________________
<<<+TIMELINE+>>>
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-08-29 16:46 ]
Posted by axxxr
'Anybody but Bush,' cry NY marchers
They marched against US policy in the Middle East, against the war in Iraq, against the Bush administration's environmental policy and the Republican Party's opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
They marched against what they saw as a transparent ploy by President George W Bush and the Republican Party to exploit the tragedy of 11 September for political gain.
But one thing united the tens of thousands of protesters who marched for block after block through midtown Manhattan: Their desire to vote George W Bush out of office.
March organisers had predicted that 250,000 would take part in the protest.
They said that the turn out exceeded their wildest expectations.
Diverse group
The march moved very little in the hours after organisers started on the route towards Union Square as tens of thousands of marchers flooded in from side streets.
The marchers included children, young couples, students, the middle aged and the elderly. One woman sat in her wheelchair in Union Square holding a sign saying, "I'm 98 and I'm outraged!"
Barbara, who describes herself as a middle-aged schoolteacher, had never been to a protest march until Sunday.
She held a sign saying that she was a former Republican against George Bush.
They marched against what they saw as a transparent ploy by President George W Bush and the Republican Party to exploit the tragedy of 11 September for political gain.
But one thing united the tens of thousands of protesters who marched for block after block through midtown Manhattan: Their desire to vote George W Bush out of office.
March organisers had predicted that 250,000 would take part in the protest.
They said that the turn out exceeded their wildest expectations.
Diverse group
The march moved very little in the hours after organisers started on the route towards Union Square as tens of thousands of marchers flooded in from side streets.
The marchers included children, young couples, students, the middle aged and the elderly. One woman sat in her wheelchair in Union Square holding a sign saying, "I'm 98 and I'm outraged!"
Barbara, who describes herself as a middle-aged schoolteacher, had never been to a protest march until Sunday.
She held a sign saying that she was a former Republican against George Bush.
She defected from the party in after the first term in office of the current president's father, George HW Bush, when religious and social conservatives Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson spoke at the party's 1992 convention.
"They sounded like dangerous guys, but this George Bush has them in the closet. And they run the party," she said.
"[President George W Bush] has given us record deficits. When Osama Bin Laden is in Afghanistan, he went to war in Iraq. It's a mess," she said.
"We have to get rid of George Bush. We can't tolerate another four years of his international or domestic policies," she said.
Four more years or four more months
Just blocks from the Madison Square Garden, a group of protestors decided to stay at home in their apartment overlooking the route.
They hung "George Bush is the anti-Christ" signs in their window, and a cheer went up from the marchers below as they played the John Lennon song, Give Peace a Chance, from speakers propped up in their windows.
The protest was peaceful. There was a strong police presence, but most were not in riot gear. There were few confrontations.
On the eve of Sunday's massive march, New York City Police said more than 300 protestors had been arrested and more than 50 more were arrested during the first hour of the march.
Across the street from Madison Square Garden, Bush supporters held signs mocking the protestors with slogans such as "Communists for Kerry" and chanted, "Four more years!"
The protestors shouted back, "Four more months!"
A sign at Madison Square Garden welcomed the Republicans, but many protestors wanted the party to know they were not welcome in New York.
Ray Lyman worked in a building across the street from the south tower of the World Trade Centre. The building was heavily damaged and is still covered in a black shroud.
He said the Republican Party's decision to hold its convention in New York is insulting and emotionally offensive. "It feels like a complete violation," he said.
"I don't believe in the way that Bush and the Republican Party are using the tragedy of 9/11 as their campaign platform," he said, adding, "They are using 9/11 as an excuse to further their own right-wing agenda."
Qualified support for Kerry
Four years ago, the protests at the Democratic and Republican conventions were made up largely of Americans who felt alienated from traditional party politics and saw little difference between the two mainstream parties.
But at this march, the political theme could be summed by "Anybody but Bush", even if that means electing John Kerry who voted for the war in Iraq, which they overwhelmingly oppose.
Stephanie Jennings came all the way from San Diego, California, to march in New York.
She carried a sign calling for voters in swing states to vote for the "lesser of two warmongers".
Four years ago, she voted for Ralph Nader. She still believes both parties represent corporate interests over the interests of ordinary people.
"We're here because of Bush policies and the war," she said, but she is also not a strong supporter of the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, John Kerry.
If Mr Kerry has a large lead in California, she plans to vote for the Green Party candidate.
"I need the Democrats to know they can't take my vote for granted," she said.
But she wants John Kerry to win. Under Bush policies, "we are on the precipice. It's a really dangerous time," she said. "Four more years of this, and I fear for the world."
Via:bbc.co.uk
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
RNC-NYC: Tactics by Police Mute Protesters, and Their Messages
Interesting piece in today's NYT about NYPD crowd control tactics at the Repulican National Convention. If I'm reading this correctly, the prevailing logic seems to be that a lack of wanton violence makes the protests less worthy of air time and serious media coverage?
Nearly 1,800 protesters had been arrested on the streets, two-thirds of them on Tuesday night alone. But for all the anger of the demonstrations, they have barely interrupted the convention narrative, and have drawn relatively little national news coverage.
Using large orange nets to divide and conquer, and a near-zero tolerance policy for activities that even suggest the prospect of disorder, the New York Police Department has developed what amounts to a pre-emptive strike policy, cutting off demonstrations before they grow large enough, loud enough, or unruly enough to affect the convention. The demonstrations, too, have thus far been more restrained than many recent protests elsewhere.
Posted by axxxr
1001 Things to Hate about the Republican Convention
HERE
Posted by axxxr
PROTEST PANTIES
Posted by axxxr
Swift Boat Vet Got $40M Contract From Bush
The Bush White House has denied any connection to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - the group that has been airing factually unsupportable smear ads against Sen. John Kerry's war record. But a new report today shows that one of the key accusers in the smear ads was a lobbyist for a company that recently received a massive federal contract from the Bush administration.
As the Washington Post reports, Rear Admiral William L. Schachte Jr., the man who claims Kerry was not under fire when he received his first Purple Heart, is a top lobbyist for a defense contractor that recently won a $40 million grant from the Bush administration. According to a March 18 legal filing by Schachte's firm, Blank Rome, Schachte was one of the lobbyists working for FastShip's effort to secure federal contracts.2 On Feb. 2, FastShip announced the Bush administration had awarded it $40 million.3
Schachte has other connections to the Bush administration. The Washington Post notes David Norcross, Schachte's colleague in the Washington office of Blank Rome, is chairman of this week's Republican convention in New York.4 Records show that Schachte gave $1,000 to Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns.5 Additionally, Schachte helped organize veterans' efforts against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and for Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary.6
This is not the first member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who has been revealed to be connected to the President. The Bush-Cheney campaign's top outside lawyer was forced to resign after he admitted providing legal services to the veterans group.7 The Bush-Cheney campaign's veterans adviser was also featured in one of the smear ads.
Posted by axxxr
Another so called land of the free story.....
Derek Kjar is not the president's biggest fan.
But the 19-year-old Salt Lake County man says he does not intend to harm President Bush with anything more than a vote for John Kerry come November.
Just to be sure, though, agents from the Secret Service recently paid Kjar a visit, telling him that his neighbors had alerted them to a potentially threatening bumper sticker on his car.
The sticker, which can be found on a number of Web sites, features a black-and-white likeness of Bush, a crown tilted slightly on his head. Under the image are the words "KING GEORGE - OFF WITH HIS HEAD."
Glen Passey, agent in charge of the Secret Service's Salt Lake City office, would not confirm that agents visited Kjar.
But Passey said his office investigates all threats against the president.
"Oh, please," said David Hudson, a research attorney who works for the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. "It's political hyperbole. However distasteful you might think it is, it's pure political speech."
Hudson said the message would never qualify as a true threat under the law.
to a cryptic message left on his voice mail would not even say why he wanted to talk - only that he wanted to meet Thursday morning.
That's when Kjar began to cry. "I didn't know what the hell was going on," he said. "It made me so nervous."
Kjar said two agents visited him at his job at a dry cleaning service, where they asked him about whether he had any ties to terrorist groups or enjoyed reading historical accounts of assassinations. They also asked Kjar about his friends and family, and even wanted to know how he paid his monthly rent.
The agents finally left after Kjar handed over the sticker.
Kjar said he feared the agents were going to "take me away."
Now, he feels as if they did.
"I kind of feel trapped, like I'm not allowed to express my opinions. I felt like my freedom of speech was shot to hell right there."
Dani Eyer, director of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Kjar's experience exemplifies the "chilling effect" government actions can have on free speech.
She cited U.S. Supreme Court rulings that protect exaggerated political expression.
In 1969, for instance, the high court overturned the conviction of a man who said he wanted to place President Johnson in the sights of his rifle if he were ever to be drafted.
"While direct advocacy of immediate violence can possibly be a crime, context is everything," Eyer said. "Only someone who has never read the Declaration of Independence and never heard of King Louis XVI could have mistaken revolutionary war rhetoric for a criminal threat."
Posted by axxxr
"Purple Heart" Band-aids a Mockery of service
Washington, D.C.) – Vietnam Veterans of America has received reports of delegates at the Republican National Convention disseminating and wearing "Purple Heart" band-aids in mockery of one of nation’s most distinctive honors, the Purple Heart medal.
The Purple Heart is one of the oldest military awards, first introduced in 1782 by Gen. George Washington to honor the service and sacrifice of the common soldier and recognize the spirit of volunteerism and selfless dedication. It was reinstated in 1932. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded by the enemy.
The spirit of the award recognizes the personal sacrifice of our troops without regard to the severity or nature of the wound. It is the wounding itself that merits the honor. To demean the decoration and the sacrifice it symbolizes demeans all veterans and the patriots who honor them.
With our nation’s sons and daughters at war to protect global freedom, demeaning military service in this way is especially hurtful. Vietnam Veterans of America urges all Americans to decry this type of outrageous, disrespectful, and infantile behavior.
Posted by axxxr
CLICK HERE FOR 360/ VIEWS
Panoramas of the main RNC protest march in NYC
_________________
+Remember that the more u know the less u fear+
+Earth Today+
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-09-04 15:20 ]
Posted by axxxr
]Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are identity thieves
Remember the Lying Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who made up a bunch of base smears about John Kerry's military record and aired them in a TV spot? They even published an open letter in which they lied some more, claiming to have served with Kerry when they hadn't.
Well, it turns out that some of the swift boat veterans whose name appeared at the bottom of that open letter never saw it, never signed it, and don't agree with it. Those Lying Swift Boat Veterans For Truth! Whacky.
"It's kind of like stealing my identity," said Anderson, who spent a year on a swift boat as an engine man and gunner.
The letter, which was posted on the Swift Boat Veter-ans for Truth Web site, claims the Demo-cratic presidential candidate has "grossly and knowingly distorted the conduct of the American soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen of that (Vietnam) war."...
"After reading the letter," Anderson said, "it kind of got under my skin. I had never come across a situation where someone used my name without my support or approval. It's not a very comforting feeling."
What's worse, he said, he disagrees with the letter.
"Had they asked me to use my name, I wouldn't have allowed them to," he said...
Anderson does not know how the Swift Boat Vets for Truth got his name, but it appears exactly as it has appeared on rosters at swift boat vet reunions. He suspects the list was pulled from the Swift Boat Sailors Association, a nonpolitical, not-for-profit organization linking swift boat veterans.
_________________
+Remember that the more u know the less u fear+
+Earth Today+
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-09-04 18:15 ]
Posted by axxxr
Posted by axxxr
Bush compares Hurricane Frances to bad case of hemorrhoids
President Bush today compared Hurricane Frances to a "bad case of hemorrhoids," while speaking at a campaign rally.
"Just like my hemorrhoids, Hurricane Frances has been slowly inflicting excruciating pain across the sate of Florida," said Bush.
"My ass bleeds for the people of Florida," the President snickered, and snickered and snickered.
Bush said the fact that Hurricane Frances has been "hanging" over Florida for so long, it reminded him of his own "hanging hemorrhoids," which he says have been responsible for recent headaches he's been suffering from.
"The funny thing is, when I wipe my butt, my headache gets worse," said Bush.
Bush said he knows how the people of Florida feel, and offered them comfort. "I feel your pain, and I'd like to offer the people of Florida reassurances that I will do everything to help you with your pain."
Bush then pointed to a tube of "Preparation H", which he dubbed, 'Preparation Hurricane.' He then snickered, and snickered, and again, snickered, followed by yet another snicker, and he then pointed to someone in the crowd, and began nodding his head, over and over and over again, finally, the display ended, to the relief of his hemorrhoids.
Bush also said Hurricane Frances demonstrated the need to ensure Florida rid itself of antiquated punch type voting machines and replace them with new high-tech electronic machines.
"If a hurricane like Frances hit Florida during the last election, there wouldn't have been any hanging chads, which would have meant all those ballots would have counted, and if that were the case, I wouldn't be here addressing you today," said Bush.
Posted by gelfen
HOW TO START YOUR DAY WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
1. Empty your Recycle Bin
2. Create a "new folder" on your computer.
3. Name it "George W Bush".
4. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your computer will ask you: "Do you really want to delete "George W Bush"?
6. Answer calmly, "Yes", and press the mouse button.
7. Repeat as required.