you see some things, you completely miss others

one interesting thing about this morning was that bush's motorcade was to move up pennsylvania into kleinhans, on the opposite side of where everyone was gathered. a line of sharp-shooters were poised along the building on that side of the street. there were 7 or 8 buses (presumably empty, and waiting for any 'troublemakers') lined up along pennsylvania ave.

a not-as-bad article

a link to the Buff News article, Bush visits Buffalo (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040420/1018200.asp). this article does mention protests, and even ends on the note of mentioned a banner that says "Bush Lies, People Die"

two interesting quotes from the article..

"
And state Democratic Chairman Herman D. Farrell, another Manhattan assemblyman, said since all of Bush's new troubles stem from his war on terrorism, the president is now attempting to return to his "glory days of October 2001."

Still, the president is expected to find plenty of friendly heads nodding in agreement when he makes his pitch in Kleinhans' Mary Seaton Room. Not only will his audience comprise mainly "first responders," but Republican allies as well.
"
of course, what'd you expect

from what mike n. said, the crowd inside was mostly policemen and attorneys and the like. of course they would nod in agreement, every single person who would've said something different was standing outside the arena..

and that was quite a showing from the WNY community. the crowd was filled with such a breadth of ppl- folks from the labor community and local community organizations, the activists, students, a fair share of lawyers, the arts community, and then some. in addition to the folks and signs that paul and terry mentioned, i also saw the 'sabres fans against bush,' the 'billionaires for bush' (holding a sign which read 'free the enron 7!') and sponge bob square pants.

my own thirty second ad

under the banner of 'WNY United Against Bush' were a breadth of people speaking out against the policies of this administration. i didn't get to hear him speak but i bet he was there talking- a gentleman named Herb F., who to me, and many others, is the voice of Buffalo and Western New York.

Herb worked at Tri-Co, the local company that made car parts such as windshield wipers--at least, Herb worked there, until recently. Tri-Co was one of the many companies who have left WNY to open a factory along the border in Mexico. Herb also comes from a line of people who had served this country during the wars. His father and grandfather had served, and he himself had served in (I believe) the Vietnam War. His son is currently in Iraq. And if you didn't hear Herb speak today or any other day, then I wish you get a chance, because I certainly don't do any justice in telling his story. He talks about how the American Dream was very different and how far off our reality today is, and how as a supporter of our country and of our troops, he can not support the current administration, can not support Bush, and the lies upon which Bush waged a war where the sons and daughters of people such as Herb are in Iraq fighting. This is one real reason why Bush should be ashamed, and this is how I also know there is real change in the air-- the voices that are speaking up are not just along the sides, they are coming from the mainstream of America.

take the estrip challenge

and for all this talking, for myself and for the talking that each and everyone of you do, i want to challenge all of us to directly put some thing into defeating Bush this November-- whether it's volunteering hours to phone bank the swing states (which many community groups and unions are doing), or to get people signed up to vote (which east side pride and rock the vote are working on), or putting $
i
nto campaigns. or if you don't believe in the electoral process, i challenge you to do something that will effect change. this is just too damn important to sit back and watch, and too important to just complain about without acting on your thoughts. and barring any october surprises (listen to the democracy now show from earlier today, bob woodward is alleging that bush is working with the Saudi ambassador to fix oil prices in an attempt to have a strong economy in the months/ days prior to the election), change is definitely attainable, and the time is now.

war ensemble

sport the war, war support
the sport is war, total war
when victory's a massacre
the final swing is not a drill
it's how many people I can kill

what do you think?

The Dept. of Defense is not allowing media to show images of incoming caskets at Dover Airforce Base from Iraq, casualites of war, images of the caskets draped in an American flag.

I heard this on Democracy Now! this morning, about how the NYTimes and several other papers nationwide have published a photo of the caskets (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/national/23PHOT.html), but it turns out that they have published it because of the following website...I actually just came across the site myself, done by someone who claims he filed an FOIA (Freedom of Info Act) request after hearing about the DoD ruling.

Either of these two links will take you to the blogger site containing those photos, The Memory Hole. There are a ton of photos, so be warned if you've got a slow connection. (http://warblogging.com/mirrors/www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/) (http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/coffin_photos/dover/)

Old Washington Post article about the DoD policy, it's dated October 2003..(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A55816-2003Oct20&notFound=true)

I've heard again and again that one thing that ended the Vietnam War was all of the visual footage of the dead, all of the horror of what was happening overseas. These images really changed public opinion. In this time of 'collateral damages' where even that term is adopted by the media and further distances us from the scenario, it is just such a shame that the only lessons our administration has learned from history and from the Vietnam war is to NOT show those visual images.

all i wanted was the ketchup chips, mrawh haha!



ok, not really. but sorry about the mishaps and confusions of nights past (yesterday). call it diffusion of responsibility. but for real, we're finishing the keg from the 1940s next friday (hey, it's already held 60 years, whats another week) after critical mass. call it an evening warm-up. for real this time..

(and i really do look like the little girl from the exorcist when im sick, so this drawin is realistic in that respect.)

come one, come all



watch me sleep through this one..

i love saturday

we're having a 'if you bring ketchup chips, you get free beer' gathering, in honor of finishing the keg that is left over from the 1940's (don't worry, its been commercial fridgerated). stop by if you get a chance.

allentowners against bush

in wake of bush's visit to buffalo tomorrow to tout the patriot act, banner hangings at different locations in the allentown neighborhood have appeared proclaiming neighborhood residents' anger and disbelief in this administration's policies. check them out as you pass through the neighborhood.. pictures to come.

Does anyone find this offensive?

GWB is coming to town to tout the administration's and the FBI's work on the Lackawanna case.

Patriot Act Brings Bush To Buffalo (http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1789135&nav=0RapMKi2)

this is my friend standing on a fallen tree in nothern california, in the redwood forest. gigantic things aren't they



i miss that and the eucalyptus grove. where are the pretty trees on the east coast, can anyone point me in the right direction?

in all the towns in all the world

everyones excited for tuesday. but who knows anything?

you can't kill jobs and regulations and expect that no one will care. you are not welcome in our city.

afternote

so after i put up that post about my dog eating half of my sandwich, two days later she struck again. i'm sitting at my low table doing work on the computer and in walks sam, beeline for the table. before i know it shes stolen the half of a pizza slice i left on the table next to me. oh brother.

just listen to paul alright



yay for the butchies and kimya coming back. and damn everyone for not having the new butchies album in stock. and look out for the quails, theyre coming to town soon too.

pull out the kielbasa and sauerkraut

monday is dyngus shmingus. get your kraut out.. we're celebrating in style if you d like to partake in the fun. whats going on? (http://www.gobuffaloniagara.com/events/dyngus_day.cfm)