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Ongoing actions on stopping this interminable war By the way it looks, there’s no reason to believe this “War on Terrorism” will stop unless we do something about it. The administration says War For All Our Lifetime, I’m assuming we're not talking about the life cycle of a fruit fly.
Locally, two events ongoing since the start of the war season confront head on the enormity of the situation. With a populace that is reportedly pro-war and a mainstream media that might not say otherwise, the Venice Peace March and the Santa Monica War Movie Night are bringing a pacifist message directly to that place, “the street” in a sustainable and remarkable way. They do it routinely in a relaxed yet serious manner.
Weekly, the Venice Peace March starts out at a leisurely Sunday 2:00+ PM from Rose Avenue and the Boardwalk. It winds its way among the hoi poi with its own cohesive songs. A sporty sound-system plays such anti-war clichés as Imagine by John Lennon. Yet, because this is such a mediated and interactive space, the clichés work to make magic. The cliche transforms and allows everyone to understand the present immediate where we are at peace. The march is a stream of possibility weaving unescorted amongst the sea of T-shirts, bikinis, ranters, belly dancers, masseuses, roller-bladers, the ghosts of the beats… The March ends up with an open forum soap box a few feet away from a pizza joint. Read an interview with Jim Smith, a Venice Peace March Organizer. Read some of the ideas of nonviolent peace activist and Venice Peace March participant Gina Record.
The Santa Monica AntiWar Movie Night is a weekly event in that other venerable west-side public space, the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade. This project broadcasts unsightly images of the war on walls whose surface extend to such esteemed places as the Gap and Starbucks. The projectionists hang around, chat and hand out flyers to anyone who happens by. Read an interview with the Third Street Projectionists.
[ Info on the April 20th anti-war mobilization in DC and San Francisco | Southern California POWER anti-war organization ]
Most disgruntled ex-employees don't have access to the corporate media. As much as they'd like to air their personal grievances in public with all the bias they can muster, they typically have to get by ranting and raving to friends and family. But for a few, like Marc Cooper and Mark Schubb, privilege lends a hand. The Ella Taylor (friend of the aforementioned duo) piece in the LA Weekly was flawed to the point of irresponsibility. That a sycophantic journalist trying to make friends would bend over backwards to please is understandable. That the Weekly would print such an unabashed smear is unconscionable.
At a point in history when the right is at its most powerful, for a paper that regards itself as left to stomp on a true attempt at democracy and "eat its own," as the author so aptly points out, brings politics and motives among the self-described intellectual elite into serious question.
Among the more egregious omissions was Ms. Taylor's neglect to mention that four lawsuits filed against the Pacifica National Board were settled in favor of the plaintiffs. The lawsuits were settled because of their merit, not because the plaintiffs had the loudest voices. In fact, the PNB spent millions on the loudest voices money could buy in the form of very high powered attorneys.
We could fill the center column with all the inaccuracies and outright lies contained in the article. Instead, we'd like to open a forum for discussion, rebuttal and debate. Please add your comments here.
[ Read the LA Weekly Article here. | David Adelson of KPFK LAB responds, discounts Schubb's audience claims | Pre-publication Letter to Weekly Editor from iGM Steven Starr ]
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