:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 3.20.2004 ::
:: The war @ home: update ::
Thousands worldwide decry war
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Thousands of protesters turned out around the world Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war on Iraq and call for the removal of American troops from the Middle East country.
"It is time to bring our children home and declare this war was unnecessary," said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a New York activist addressing a rally in Manhattan.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated the crowd at about 30,000, but organizers said later that number had grown to more than 100,000.
It was one of 250 anti-war protests scheduled across the country by United for Peace and Justice. Hundreds of thousands of activists also raised their voices at rallies in Rome, London, Tokyo and other cities around the globe.
New York police in riot gear walked calmly past barricades marking off the demonstration area on Madison Avenue as speakers mounted a stage to address the crowd on a sunny afternoon.
The event was peaceful, unlike a demonstration one year earlier that produced several clashes between demonstrators and police. Bloomberg and police Commissioner Ray Kelly stopped by the rally, but didn't speak to demonstrators or participate.
The rallies coincided with the anniversary of the first bombings in Baghdad last year. Although President Bush ordered the attacks on March 19, the time difference made it March 20 in Iraq.
Chicago police in full riot gear lined downtown streets as thousands of war opponents marched about two miles to the city's Federal Plaza.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson told the Chicago demonstrators to express their opposition to the war by voting against Bush. "It's time to fight back: Remember in November," he said.
Thousands marched from Seattle's First Hill neighborhood to the waterfront, including Alberto Salazar, who has a 20-year-old son in the Marines who served in Iraq.
"I feel angry that we have gone this far," Salazar said. "I feel hopeful people are waking up and seeing the truth of this whole matter."
In San Francisco, hundreds of demonstrators chanted "End the occupation" and "Impeach Bush."
A crowd of 500 to 600 people held a silent march in Montpelier, Vt., and placed hundreds of shoes on the front steps of the Statehouse, each pair symbolizing a soldier killed in the conflict.
Several thousand people turned out in Denver to protest the war.
"This is just the start of the process, a public expression of our opposition to the war," said Mark Cohen, 58, one of the march's organizers.
Overseas, thousands marched through central London — some waving placards calling Bush the "World's No. 1 Terrorist" — and organizers said up to 300,000 people had turned out in Rome.
Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and other European countries also saw protests, while demonstrations took place earlier in Japan, Australia and India.
About 500 protesters clashed with police outside the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines capital, Manila. No injuries were reported.
ALSO:
From The Independent UK:
One year on, and still the hard core march the world over
By Cole Morton, 21 March 2004
From Wired News:
Huge Worldwide Protests Demand Iraq Troop Pullout
posted by me
:: 8:24:00 PM [+] ::
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