I arrived a bit too late, too tired to tell tale, passed out fruit to demonstrators to hand out along the way, got soaked. Watched Broadway fill up for 6 or 7 blocks, heard the speeches on the way home. Great, great rally.

Can't tell how many people came out. Definitely smaller than Hollywood but for L.A. in the rain it was like getting 100,000 anyplace else. Cool to see all those umbrellas in the street.

Yes, the rain blessed us. So good to see everyone dancing the streets into life. Imagine, all of us are making the difference, in a good way. I love you!

What is it that's 'good' about having a bunch of anti-American whiner/complainer types showing up in the rain in L.A. with silly signs and making fools of themselves?

How does that become a plus for any cause in anyone's mind?

Just curious.

I agree with Bush Admirer... hes so right! All those dirty hippie peacniks paid by the Iraki dictater... we should round them all up and deport them to russia or sum place. they dunt no our Lord Jesus Christ so they are all mislead and stuff. How can anyone critizize our prezident who is so smart and good?! This is America the land of tha FREE, and if you dont like it then SHUT UP, cuz you dunt know how good you have it. LIsten to my pal Bush admirer... hes as smart as our great leader George Bush.

KPFK Pacifica radio broadcast live most of the rally, including the speeches from the podium. While everyone commented on the driving rain... they also expressed amazement that so many tens of thousands came despite the downpour. KPFK reported from the stage that 50,000 people came to the demonstration!

Having a cold I didn't attend... and I'm sure that tens of thousands were kept away by the pouring rain. Think of how many would have come if it had been a sunny day! Don't stop people! Keep up the pressure! Attend tommorow's candlelight vigils taking place all over L.A. and the world.

dear bush admirer

sorry, but we live in the united states. A country built on free speach and democracy. I know this must be unfamiliar to you having come from somewhere where this is not an option. I recommend you read a little bit about our proud history. Maybe then you'll understand that in a democracy, the people always have an obligation to speak out. Good luck with your studies.

dear bush admirer

sorry, but we live in the united states. A country built on free speach and democracy. I know this must be unfamiliar to you having come from somewhere where this is not an option. I recommend you read a little bit about our proud history. Maybe then you'll understand that in a democracy, the people always have an obligation to speak out. Good luck with your studies.

So, how long have you been sitting online waiting for the first message to be posted? Eh......? Here you are, right after the first message, ready to pounce.

Same old boring reflexive stuff you've been tossing out since your 10 smelly hippy assessment of the Oct 26 demonstrations.

Hey, it's ok to have right-wing views, but why deny reality? No one forces you to agree with demonstrators, but talking about ten people showing up -- and now, slamming patriotism -- is about on par with the grade school playground. C'mon man, get a grip. Stop being an asshole. Express your views but don't give us all this phony pretence with the hyperbolic statements. You will be taken more seriously if you dump that.

From a hopeless balding overweight reality avoiding

bootlicking texan? This is his only real job, the reason he

rolls out from the clutter of pizza boxes and aluminum cans

that serve as his bed each day. MUST ADMIRE BUSH (pant pant)type, type.

Oh yeah, they never let me post here!

If everyone ignored BA forever he'd go back to Freeperland.



On to more important things...

It was such an incredible day! I really wasn't expecting that many people to show up in the rain. Our signs we're completely destoyed by the time we left. The speakers were great, the drums invigorating, the protest signs inspired. I love you Los Angeles. We don't melt in the rain afterall!

Pouring, pouring, pouring rain. But that didn't stop people from marching to demand non-violent alternatives to the world's problems. Lots of umbrellas had to take the place of signs. Duct tape was very popular as a means of getting messages across. Peace signs and "no war" adorned many of the umbrellas. Prepared marchers wrapped plastic or laminated their small signs to protect them from the rain. A new marching song also arrived today:

Its raining

Its pouring

The people's voice is growing

Groups from many different organizations walked behind their groups' banners--some large, some only a small sign--but even the small groups were as significant as the large in their united opposition to war as the solution. In addition to answer and icupj, and nion, there were teachers, koreans, ministers, librarians, union workers, libertarians, women in pink, mothers, and many many more.

Angelinos barely like to drive in the rain. Marching in the rain set a new precedent: anything is possible even here in sunny Los Angeles. Peace is possible. It only takes determination not to give up, no matter the odds or the rain.

They have a right to disagree and you have to remember that in any larger group of people there some who got the short end of the deal when it came to getting a brain. The doctors call it the bad genetics syndrome.

There is nothing as uplifting than to see such a variety of people.

I met an 72year old Africian-American women, a republican, a green party member, a libertarian, democrats, kids, moms, dads, green people, blue people, punks, workers, students....

You name it, they were there!

Everyone was getting rained on, but man was it awesome!



50K? Wow, I didn't think it could happen with such short noticed.

Did you hear in Germany 600,000 all demographics. Man, are they angry with US policy!

Awesome day beget awesome day

Germany hit 600K! You can find it on the google search if you want to know more about the events. A couple of German news journals offer translation pages if you want a more direct source. Then again, check out the indymedia location.

Pretty cool how Germany is doing what it needs to do.

great pictures

I'm embarrassed to say, I looked out
at the weather today, and considered
the bus ride (1.5 hours each way), and
considered not going...

But then I read the newspaper. At
that point, there was no question;
marching was no longer optional.

My God, that was WONDERFUL! I'm still
a little chilled, even now, after
hours in the driving rain, with
soaked clothing and buses rerouted
confusingly for my return trip. Even
with all the trouble however, it's
not one whit next to what our Iraqi
brothers and sisters face. The spirit
of the march and rally were kind and
caring, and it was such FUN! I can't
believe I actually considered skipping
such a great time. Sure, it rained.
So what?! What a fantastic way to
spend a beautiful, wet Saturday
afternoon, showering with 50,000
friends. :-)

And tomorrow, on to the vigil...

There's hope, folks. Never let go of
that. Support for Bush's war is
eroding FAST. Let's keep it up!

It's obvious that your underwear shrunk and are cause your brain to shrink do to lack of oxygen. The Iraqi men and women don't need your kind of help. They need you to get Monkey Saddam of their backs.

I've regularly came on here and found conservatives criticizing pro-peace advocates. I like to hear all sides so I can formulate an opinion based on empirical evidence. You guys seem to be just following the party line and presuming our president has our best interests at heart because he's of the same political party. At least that's what it looks like to most of us.

Let's look at just a few simple undeniable facts, ones that neither of us can argue over base on our right/left political beliefs. Our country was founded on political dissent. The early Americans didn't want to be under the rule and oppression of England's king. That right is built into both the Bill of Rights and our Constitution. Our founding fathers were wise in that respect. They made sure that our leaders would have to represent our interests and rights. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

With rights come responsibility. On a personal note I believe I would be taking my liberties for granted if I did not speak out against this open ended war and Mr. Bush's attack on our civil liberties.

Let's look at some other undeniable facts. The Taliban is from Afghanistan. Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, not Iraq. We still have not found Bin Laden. Hussein has done nothing to us. He has or had weapons that our government gave him when he was attacking Iran. Our govenment also gave money to the Taliban when we considered their actions in our interest.

Bombing Iraq would be an unprovoked act of oppressive aggression. We have not declared war on Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. Have you stopped to ask yourself why this is? Personal conquest and personal oil baron interests seem to be the only evident reasons.

Additionally Pres. Bush Sr. was in close association with the Bin Laden Family when he was in office. When we bombed Iraq under Bush Sr. we left so much uranium radiation there from our own bombs that effected and is effecting innocent civilians and our own unprotected troups and that was in 1991 I believe. And that radiation isn't leaving anytime soon. We are still killing them. It's a toxic mess. John Poindexter lost his job as National Security Adviser under Ronald Reagan, and was convicted of conspiracy, lying to Congress, defrauding the government, and destroying evidence in the Iran Contra scandal and now he's been appointed Director of the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office. That should scare the bejesus out of all of us.

I have a friend that served in the gulf and is dying of Gulf War sickness. Her government told her there was no such thing. They also didn't tell her that we would be dropping bombs that would give her radiation sickness or that we would be blowing up chemical warfare plants with our troups nearby and unprotected. We killed more of our own troups with friendly fire than the Iraqis did.





We seem to have a history as ,I'm becoming aware, under Republican presidents of exploiting underdeveloped countries. We install dictators, get rid of democratically elected officials, fund both sides to play them against one another, keep them busy fighting and underdeveloped with threat of war or "police action" if they make any decisions on their own. This is sick. We, US and Brittain have been carving up Iraq an surrounding areas since post WWI, telling them who their leaders will be, removing those that won't be our conspirators in keeping the populace down and unable to profit from their own natural resources that we demand to have the lion's share of.

And you wonder why we have wackos out there like Bin Laden or Hussein. It's not like there's something in the drinking water in the middle east or in Islam to make someone this angry and irratic. Think about it. That would make no sense. These people are anti-american and angry because we have been pushing them around, keeping them under somebody's thumb, and taking their country's wealth for at least 80 years. Wouldn't you be a little nutty and extreme if you were in their shoes? I don't agree with the some of these groups methods but I can at least in a small way see why they behave the way they do.

And all you conservatives have you read the Patriot Act or the Homeland Security Act? You guys are big on keeping government out of your lives. Under these two acts alone several of your civil liberties especially pertaining to privacy and a fair trial have been obliterated. They look like the doctrine of a fascist dictator.

Remember not all dictators are leftist. You may be saying these are fair and necessary for protecting us but that's only because they haven't effected you or someone you know and love yet. And Mr. Bush is counting on you thinking that way so he can sneak Patriot Act II through and then we will be in a place worse than the former USSR in terms of lack of precious rights.

Just because you can still drive to your job and follow your person routine does not mean you are not under an oppressive govenment body.

So, I consider myself and others who demonstrate and eduacate very great patriots. And I worry about those of you that seem to blindly support Mr. Bush and this "America love it or Leave it" nonsense. I do love our country. I do love our liberties. And I say on a final note that I do love our Lord. I seem to see his name misuse alot these days. Christ never advocated violence and chastised his apostles when they favored it. He was the only sword used in a war of the spirit of humanity. He welcomed and love all and insisted his apostles do likewise. He said he was the only judge. Not them. So gentlement conservatives please take these things into account. Read up. Educate yourselves on the issues. And next time you see a peace advocate do what you know our good Lord would do. Go up and give him/her a big hug.

Let me leave you with this one last thing you cannot deny.

The parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew

25.31-46).

‘One day, God will separate people just as the shepherd

separates the sheep and goats. The good people he will

put on his right hand and say, “Come and be with me

forever, for when I was hungry you fed me; when I was

thirsty, you gave me a drink; when I was a stranger you

took me in; when I was naked you clothed me; when I

was in prison, you visited me.”

The good people will say, “When did we see you hungry

or thirsty, sick or in prison?”

God will reply, “Whenever you did this for the least of

my brothers, you did it for me.”

peace

That was a much better response than a random insult about shrunken underwear would normally warrant. Well, the oyster creates a pearl from an irritating grain of sand. Maybe instead of your underwear shrinking, all of that rain has you thinking like an oyster. Anyway, very nice remarks.

That was a much better response than a random insult about shrunken underwear would normally warrant. Well, the oyster creates a pearl from an irritating grain of sand. Maybe instead of your underwear shrinking, all of that rain has you thinking like an oyster. Anyway, very nice remarks.

That was a much better response than a random insult about shrunken underwear would normally warrant. Well, the oyster creates a pearl from an irritating grain of sand. Maybe instead of your underwear shrinking, all of that rain has you thinking like an oyster. Anyway, very nice remarks.

That was a much better response than a random insult about shrunken underwear would normally warrant. Well, the oyster creates a pearl from an irritating grain of sand. Maybe instead of your underwear shrinking, all of that water has you thinking like an oyster. Anyway, very nice remarks.

You quoted from one of my favorite Bible verses Matthew 25:31-46, but failed to give the whole section you listed so I will added it for you.

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

This is a very revealing section in the Book of Matthew on how we should look at our deeds toward others.

I guess you chose to leave this part out because it says those on the "left" are Goats, I don't know if there was any political statement there and will not imply that there is one.

Typically the Protesters use selective information and ignore the whole issue and provide no rel workable solutions to dilemma at hand.

So are the Protesters Goats for turning their backs on the suffering the Iraqi people have endure for years at the hands of Saddam? Has Saddam showed any signs of caring about his own people? Will his Giant size ego cause him to lash out at those that have shown his true nature by any means possible?

It was a grand day in the streets!

Although the rain cut our numbers down, many came anyway. Concidering the rain of death that my soon fall on our brothers and sisters in Iraq, this rain was nothing. A hailstorm could not have stopped us!

We arrive a bit late and looked for a power source,

drummers, beating the drums of peace. They were joined by others with buckets and other makeshift instruments. We marched with them through the streets. They drummed and drummed none stop. They stopped at Main St., a block from the stage, and kept on drumming.

People gathered around and many chanted "No more war" to the beat. The energy was positve and inspiring. They drummed non-stop for over 3 hours.

After coming home I started looking at pictures of protests from around the world. People are sick of the warmongers who wish to use the childern of Iraq as burnt offering to their god of greed. The people of this planet want peace, the wealthy need war.

War must be stopped and we can make it so.

Never give up the fight, never ever give up hope.

One day we will beat the swords into plowshares.

Peace!

-Tony

i felt the same as you after that wet wet day..

but it's amazing how quickly my mood and the moods of millions can change. in days. a couple days later where are we?

last night's vigils were so beautiful. but all day today has been an exhaustion of sick pain and dread.

someone show me the light at the end of this tunnel again.

I do not like war. I think history shows us that sometimes it has to happen. Abeit, I am not convinced this is the time. On the other hand I have only heard "peace not war" No answers. I think everyone crying for peace should be crying out answers. I know I would if I knew what that was.

in this case.... what is lacking in the demand for "peace not war"?

we are the aggressors. iraq has attacked no other nation since 1991 (unlike the U.S.).

what sort of alternative to war are you looking for? it's not as though we will have to surrender to anybody if we don't attack iraq.

Yep, I agree we would not have to surrender to anyone. I must admit I am not sure going in right now is the answer. However I do believe we should do something. I don't think we should bury our heads in the sand and allow any country to develop any arms they want. Or maybe we should be like France, and try to hide behind the UN so the world will not see how much in bed we are with Sadam. We created this idiot, now it is time to stop him.

you know -

people will ALWAYS be a danger to you as long as you are a danger to them. 100% guaranteed. if you are really concerned with minimizing threats to your country, let me assure you, you have exactly ZERO chance of totally eliminating threats as long as you are such a HUGE threat to tohers. people will NEVER accept this state of affairs. this is one thing that even the most humble student of history should be clear on: people NEVER accept a gross imbalance of power forever.

dream on

Wow I think you should be the one to dream on.

I do not think we should be the worlds peace keeper. I think local wars and disputes should be just that. However in this case, right or wrong, Sadam was suposed to give it up 10 years ago. We are not the bad guys here. The weak ass UN should be at blame for not enforsing their own resolutions.

Or we could just all sing a song and the world problems would be over.

ISRAEL OUT OF OCCUPIED TEERITORIES NOW!!!!

stop violating U.N. resolutions!!

I am not a fan of Isreal. We are as bad as them sometimes, sad to say.

Jeff: "Or we could just all sing a song and the world problems would be over."

I agree this would be silly...just as silly as thinking that dropping some tonnage is all it take to fix things. I think that da Shrub's response to a hangnail would involve AT LEAST an aircraft carrier...

I agree with you, dropping a bunch of bombs will not fix the problem. I am not even sure that ousting Sadam will fix things either. I do know that if allowed he would not fix anything either, he has already proven that. It would take the UN as a whole to do something. But I think you and I know that is not going to happen. I am not sure this is the second best or the third best or even the fourth best. I do not know what our people knows. I guess at some point we have to trust someone or something. I may be making a terrible mistake. But maybe I am not.

"would take the UN as a whole to do something. But I think you and I know that is not going to happen."

we do not KNOW this. if we don't try to implement what we believe is the correct solution, we guarantee that the wrong thing will happen. that is absolutely certain.

it seems the only thing you are really humble about is the possibility of being constructive. maybe that's because you are unconstructive. that's your own fault.

when it comes to the possiblity of the UN being effective, suddenly you think you know what is or is not going to happen.

i knew your humility was a lot of bullshit.

How do I know the UN will not do anything?

They have had 10 years to enforse their own resolution.

History predicts the future.

what a dramatic turnaround. now you think your knowledge of history allows you to "predict the future" without any qualification.

the record of the U.N. is mixed. that is like saying yes, we are on planet earth.

but efforts at international negotiation and communication and cooperation for peace and justice are the only thing standing between your children and death. you'd better start hoping they CAN work, no matter how well you think you can "predict the future".

What did I say?

Past performance does predict future performance.

That is a fact. Not my belief.

I just stated that the UN has had 10 years to do something and they have not.(also a fact) The UN is pretty much worthless in it's current state. I don't think you will find many people to disagree with that.

"Past performance does predict future performance"

you know, i think you missed the whole point of this familiar mantra by not noticing and cutting out the key word "NOT".

go to the yellow pages and call up a stock broker and ask them. or better yet just listen to those right wing radio investment rip-off commercials a little more carefully. they do say it kind of fast at the end - i think they're required to by law.

you got it backwards.

You just emphasized my point and sabotaged your own. It's evident you didn't read the rest of what I wrote and that's disappointing.

What is it with some of you right wingers and the name calling? I did not omit part of the passage for the sake of laziness or pulling it out of context. You know it's funny. I hear you say that left wingers are regularly guilty of pulling information out of context and yet these are usually the best read on any issue.

If you want to get biblical, I don't know of one left wing organization that defends oppressive behavior with the Bible. I can however name quite a few right wing racist groups that do. The point of that passage was to inspire you to see that we peaceful demonstratiors are out there for very good and blessed reasons.

Persuading our leaders that violence only begets more violence especially when unprovocated is a noble cause for the US and the people of Iraq. So is going to offer and be a human shield so that maybe our supposed leaders might wake up and realize their acting like evil malicious men.

There is no way you can tell me that attacking Iraq will be anything other than genocide to those poor people and our troups. Remember we killed more of our own than they did the last time we were in the gulf. That will not free these people of their oppression which our government has had a large hand in. You would know that if had really read what I had written.

It would be a greater justice to take Hussein, President Bush Sr, and Jr. before a world court and prosecute them for collectively persecuting and killing the Iraqi people and sentencing them to life in prison without parole. Bush Sr. supplied Hussein with weapons and money and now his son wants them back. Bush Sr. installed Hussein in office.

Lastly I was trying to emphasize that we peace advocates are also the ones looking out for all of us. This war will antagonize more US hate and more war. Moreover Pres. Bush is taking away your civil liberties too. Just because it hasn't effected you personally yet does not mean the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act will not impact you or someone you love.

Love was the point of that partial biblical passage. To get you to remember that being a Christian which many of you right wingers are, means to be a loving person. Christ insisted on it yet so many of you seem to forget that. Please right wingers out there quit looking for and making enemies just because you can't understand or controll or destroy something or someone. The world is diverse because God made it that way. Your path of making enemies and killing is unjust and unholy.