community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
3,000 Too Many Protest
by pog
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 at 6:16 PM
pog@mutualaid.org
WHAT: Emergency Anti-War Protest/Counter-Recruitment Picket and March WHEN: 6:00pm on the day AFTER icasualties.org reports the 3,000th U.S. death in Iraq. We will announce it on our website www.organizepittsburgh.org or check http://icasualties.org/oif/ WHERE: The Military Recruiting station in Oakland.
WHAT: Emergency Anti-War Protest/Counter-Recruitment Picket and March
WHEN: 6:00pm on the day AFTER icasualties.org reports the 3,000th U.S. death in Iraq. We will announce it on our website www.organizepittsburgh.org or check http://icasualties.org/oif/
WHERE: The Military Recruiting station in Oakland.
The day is fast approaching when the 3,000th U.S. soldier will have died participating in the war in Iraq. The day after the milestone is reached local anti-war activists will gather for a picket and march outside the Oakland military recruitment station, a location intimately tied to the war machine.
The numbers tell us that:In addition to looking at the financial costs of the war, we must also consider the people who suffer for want of the basic necessities of a decent life and those who cannot pursue their dreams for lack of the resources to do so. In this capitalist society one needs money to live and to have the freedom to pursue one's own desires. It is a measure of how perverted our media and political processes are that mainstream political consensus exists to further increase the global military and political hegemony of this government: a bigger army, more marines, larger military budgets, increased military recruitment and advanced weapons systems, all mixed with constant drumbeats of patriotism and nationalism. The Democrats and Republicans both support a system guaranteed to produce further wars and aggression to protect the interests of the powerful. It doesn't have to be this way.
The money spent on the Iraq war could have funded 17 million full college scholarships, built three million units of public housing or provided health insurance for every child in America for the duration of this war so far.
In one sense, milestones such as the 3,000 mark are meaningless, for one life lost is no more important than those before or after it. And yet, these occasions can be important and take on tangible meaning if they provide a chance for personal reflection or spur people to take action that alters the future. They can mean a difference if, instead of focusing solely on the cost in U.S. military lives, we acknowledge the far greater toll this war has taken on the people of Iraq. If we show the determination of Pittsburghers to participate in a global movement for peace and social justice that is about more than whether something is wrong simply because it has now cost *us* too much.
That is why we will show up the day after the 3,000th U.S. death. We will mourn ALL those whose lives have been lost because of the militarism and nationalism infecting our society. We will also continue to target the military recruitment apparatus allowing the war to continue.
In solidarity and rage,Recruitment Station
by anti-militarist
Monday, Jan. 01, 2007 at 3:50 PM
Won't the recruitment office be closed today? Why not show up Tuesday as well?
Because
by Dr. Anarchist
Tuesday, Jan. 02, 2007 at 3:04 AM
Yes it will be/was closed today, but the call says the day after and was publicized both among local activists and within the corporate media as being the day after. It's the same thing as if the day after had been on a Sunday. Still got a bunch of people and media coverage, so it was pretty successful despite happening on the New Year.
Yes
by anti-militarist
Tuesday, Jan. 02, 2007 at 4:15 AM
I do see that at least one place was impeded for the next "business day."
Terrorism
by the guy whole replaces windows
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 at 8:49 PM
As usual, no one brings up the broken windows. To put this in perspective, lets see how Wikipedia defines "Terrorism":
"Terrorism is a term used to describe certain violent or otherwise harmful acts or threats of such acts. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear.... and are perpetrated for a political goal."
In other words, you anarchists feel the only way to achieve your political goals are by using violence and intimidation. By definition, this makes you TERRORISTS. Those of you who don't necessarily agree with such tactics but do nothing to stop such violence and align yourself with such people are just as guilty. By definition, you are TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS.
Glad we could clear that up.
Job Security
by C.
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 12:14 PM
But dude, they're keeping you in work, replacing windows and all. You should thank them or pay them dues or somethin'.
"terrorism"
by the guy who has watched friends die for war
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 5:45 PM
but uh, by your terrorist defintion wouldn't this government be far and away the worst terrorist in the world?
Terrorism
by Cleanin' Windows
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 at 7:41 PM
By your definition, terrorism is simply good police work.
What C said
by Dr. Anarchist
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 at 6:08 PM
Exactly. I was just saying that to someone the other day; the CR campaign is making some glass specialist very happy.
Uh-Oh, we may agree.
by C.
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 at 7:07 PM
Hey, it could be a subplot to the CR campaign...
Break a window, keep a guy in work! With construction work being at such a premium now, yinz could keep a handyman busy till spring, when the lean times are over again.
I broke 'em
by I work for the police
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007 at 11:55 PM
I dress in black and cause problems at protests to discredit the Left. The guy that knocked over barricades, punched that Fox reported, broke the recruitment center windows; that was me. Why? Cause the police pay me 50 bucks a pop to infiltrate protest scenes and cause trouble. It's pretty easy since you let anyone who's nobody hide their identity. It's nothing personal, i just need the money and no one sheds a tear for you goofy nuts anyway. Anyway, thanks for providing a venue for me to make money.
Never break the law
by free advice
Friday, Feb. 02, 2007 at 7:50 PM
If you want our rulers to heed your pleas, fall on your knees first and worship them like gods. Lick their boots, and grovel like a whipped cur. Never, never, never stoop to the level of violence. Don't throw tea into the harbor. Don't drive the money changers from the temple with a whip. And if a bunch of redcoats come to grab your guns, don't shoot back. Hand them over promptly, while singing "God Save the King" (or "My Country Tis of Thee" or "Heil Dir in Seigerkranz" or whatever they call it where you live).
If you don't know the lyrics, click here:
http://www.contemplator.com/folk2/godsave.html
(snip)
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
(snip)
![[masthead]](/images/masthead_140.png)