Sex discussion!

Come on, only two responses so far? No one is the least bit interested in this topic? I'm disappointed.

I usually post these on Sunday's, but the last time I tried I didn't receive a comment, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a discussion thread.

In today's modern dating world, I'm wondering when you think the right time to have sex with somebody is. I've been wondering about this since I just got dumped by a woman I knew I could have slept, but my past relationships have been unorthodox where I've landed in bed too quickly.

Or have they been unorthodox? I remember a comment a married friend my age, 26, made about the dating habits she's observed in her friends now compared to when he was still dating six years ago. She said that things seem to go much more seriously by the fourth date now. By my own choice with the last woman I dated, we had only kissed by the end of the third, and final, date. This has me wondering what the socially excepted norms for dating are now. Is one expected to put out quickly or it's over? Was I misinterrupted as not being intersted in her? Is there something that I'm missing here?

I know this is all about me me me, but I think there are some general issues here that I'm not catching onto. Hopefully we all learn something. So, please, discuss!

Now proving that protesters who shout "FACISTS!" have a point, part 2

I only spent two days in NYC, and missed out on the mass arrests. While I saw the cops massed on the streets, helicopters flying through the air (one of which shined a light down on the Tank while we gathered around the TV and screamed at Bush's speech; nothing like having that dipshit blow wind about freedom while there's cops watching you from above), I never got a feel of the real oppression. It's better to let a New Yorker speak about it, so from BlondeSense's blog...

NYC's finest suddenly turned into robocops. It was like a sci-fi movie according to my sources. "One minute you are standing on a sidewalk somewhere minding your own business and the next minute, you are literally swept up into a dragnet." Can you imagine? They weren't just netting protesters. They were netting dolphins with the tuna and they really didn't give a shit. In another Newsday article we find that anyone and everyone who just happened to be standing at the wrong place at the wrong time got arrested. Even a reporter from American Spectator, a conservative magazine. heh. Ah yes, the Patriot Act at its finest.

Kobestan

Whenever I hear about a celebrity on trial, my eyes gaze over and I stop paying attention. But feministe's latest post on the Kobe Byrant rape trial makes me wish I paid more attention to this case from the start, and her displaying of law history of rape to show just how this case has pushed other rape cases back 50 years is downright scary.

Mad props, yo!

skippy's so cool.

I just have to laugh

The Yankees lead has dwindled to 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox, and now the walking injury they traded for in the offseason, Kevin Brown, decided that the wait for his next envitable injury is much too long and punches a wall, breaking his hand. Stupidity like this doesn't come along often, even in the world of sports!

Mark my words, this Yankees team won't even win the wild card.

Cowboy up. :)

This definitely gets a gold

Mark Fiore's latest animation: The Republican Games.

Watch. Laugh. Or go Cheney yourself.

The final installment of... Unconvention Blogging!

I ended off my night at The Tank, a space that was being used by bloggers and progressive organizations during the RNC. I was told that at 10, they'd break out the beer and flip on the TV to Bush's speech so everyone could watch.

Let me tell ya, if you're not watching these speeches with a hundred people around you screaming obscenities at the TV, you're just not watching these speeches. It was fucking great. If I tried listening to Bush's crap on my ride home, I would have turned it off out of frustration within 30 seconds; but watching it at the Tank was like having a support group around you. "SHAME!" "BULLSHIT! "FOUR MORE MONTHS!" "FUCK YOU!" "BOOOOOO!" I didn't mind standing there for his speech, despite walking around all day and not having slept for 24 hours.

I spent the rest of my day in Times Square, Union Square, and the streets around Madison Square Garden. The only organized and "permitted" protest I went to was the Union Square one, and there were a few thousand people gathered in the park basically just standing there, so I wasn't there for long.

Protesters were mixed in with the delegates, cops, and general population in Times Square, but there were a lot more protesters around Madison Square Garden. Naturally, because that's where the asshole was tonight.

This billboard looms large over Times Square, but since it doesn't have flashy lights and all the other billboards there are the same size, you almost don't notice it. Which is rather unfortuate, because...

...this man in Union Square lists the results of Bush teaching the rest of the world how to be democratic. And they're still climbing.

For those that don't know, my favorite band is the Queers, and this guy just reminded me so much of the Queers EP "My Old Man's a Fatso." Can you spot the difference?

Now can you believe that these girls got a lot of attention? ;> They're just a couple of the Missile Dick Chicks. They harass delegates by telling them they're husbands are trillionaires from Crawford, TX, an profiting off war just makes them giddy.

This guy likes to profit off war, too.

Just like in Boston, RNC prrotesters had pretty good access to delegates. This usually turned into annoying debates where each side thought they were better than the other, called each other stupid, etc. I got into an hour long conversation with a non-delegate Republican New Yorker. It started when I made fun of him for telling a couple of protesters to go fuck themselves, but our discussion was pretty civilized. None of our opinions had changed, but I don't think we expected to change each other's opinions anyway. Believe it or not (which I know it's tough sometimes), but it is possible to have rational discussions with (some) Republicans, but it always helps to approach them in a non-insulting manner. Unfortunately, while some of the signs and street theater I've displayed today draws attention, they find the actions insulting. Which makes me wonder if being a Missile Dick Chick or a Billionaire for Bush converts anybody or just preaches to the choir.

When I arrived at Madison Square Garden, it was dark out, so I don't have too many photos from there. But here's a couple examples of the many protesters mixed in with the many delegates.

And here's an example of idiots for Bush, also in the area.

For some reason, Bush has a monopoly on ugly jackasses who will run around shouting, "BUSH BUSH BUSH!," like they're part of some fucking cult. Does this worry anybody else besides me?

I could never understand how a democrat could be for Bush, unless they just aren't a democrat at all. (Zell Miller.) I listened to this guy get interviewed, and he had no democratic values whatsoever. For example, he said that if gay marriage is legalized, then New York will burn to the ground. It's in the Bible! And any other question that was pitched to him, he just quoted the Bush stance.

This guy wasn't a fucking democrat. I asked the interviewer what he thought of him, "He's a total douchebag." I should have gone back and suggested he change the banner to something more accurate: "JEWISH DOUCHEBAGS FOR BUSH."

In another instance where it pays not to look like a protester, I scored this picture of a 16 year old delegate; quite possibly the youngest one at the convention. You could pick out all Republicans in the crowd from their monkeysuits, but this one also had a Nixon button. After I took the photo, he asked me if I got ole Tricky Dick in the shot. A minute later, another delegate commented on how great the Nixon button was.

It's good to know that Republicans still worship their crooks.

And lastly, I hope you like water sports.

Now I'm ready to drop from exhaustion.

I just got home from NYC

And I'm sure glad the conventions are over. Not to complain, but I've had 2 nonconsecutive hours of sleep in the past 30 hours, and they both came on my 5 hour ride home. By the time I left NYC at midnight, I had walked another 5-6 miles and been up for 24 straight hours. Tired, sore, aching.. Ugh. I love seeing the activities surrounding conventions, but I'm just happy they are over and done with now.

I've got another 70 pictures to sort through. And thanks to Mrs. Atrios, I have photographic evidence that I met Atrios and Kos.

After I was finished being star struck and stammering, I talked with Kos for a few minutes. Nice guy.

(There are reasons I don't post pics of myself to the blog. Ugh.)

More pics later.

The final installment of Unconvention Blogging comes tomorrow!

And I'm New Yawwwk bound starting now.

I thought propaganda images like this only came from brutal dictatorships

Oh, wait a second...

What we didn't hear about during Ah-nald's speech

Medea Benjamin just kicks ass.

Medea's Pro-Life Stand at the RNC

"During Schwarzenegger's address, peace activist and Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin was on the floor of the convention. As she was standing less than 20 feet away from Vice President Dick Cheney, she unfurled a pink banner that read "Pro-Life: Stop the Killing in Iraq." Security officials quickly approached her and told her to put it away. Medea responded by saying it was a pro-life banner. Minutes later, a Secret Service man came up and asked for her press credentials. She stalled for a few minutes cheering Schwarzenegger along with the Republican crowd.

She was soon surrounded by more security officials. When she realized she was being escorted off the convention floor. Medea Benjamin turned to Vice President Dick Cheney who was sitting 20 feet away and repeatedly yelled "Stop the killing in Iraq." Secret service members carried her upside down off the convention floor.

What Medea Benjamin said to Mr. Cheney as she was carried off of the convention floor:

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Mr. Cheney, stop the killing in Iraq! Mr. Cheney, stop the killing in Iraq! Mr. Cheney, how much money did you make on the war? Mr. Cheney, how much money did you make on the war? Stop the killing in Iraq! Stop the killing in Iraq! Stop the killing in Iraq! Stop the killing in Iraq!"

I'm glad the mainstream press is around to report such spontaneous events at the scripted conventions. Oh, wait a second...

Maybe one of those fabled RNC convention bloggers will report the straight news to us? Oh, wait a second... Memo to all the RNC convention bloggers who insulted their DNC counterparts for not delivering serious news: If I'm not on the convention floor but I can report what's happening from it, shouldn't you?

Meanwhile, what's going on at World Net Daily?

Big exclusive headline at the top of the page: "Witchcraft led to 13-year-old girls' double suicide?."

Well, I'm certainly glad some people are living in reality.

Dispatches from yesterday's NYC Indymedia Breaking News

The actual news, I should say.

09/01 04:02 PM We are receiving reports of the conditions inside Pier 57. There are between 1000-2000 people inside, and multiple reports of oil/chemical residue on the floor. Also, one caller reported dehydration, verbal abuse from guards, no room to sit down. People are being held without charges and without having been read their rights.

09/01 05:00 PM Several thousand people are in the labor march, which is at 31st and 8th.

09/01 05:55 PM At 4PM the Labor march ended into a large stationary rally on 6th Ave extending approximately 4-5 north-south city blocks. Tens of thousands of labor activists are separated largely by union affiliation and are listing to union speakers and live music.

09/01 07:03 PM 300 people reported protesting outside CBS building.

09/01 09:16 PM A Portland IMC reporter who was arrested yesterday reports that he had his camera smashed by the police. He was charged with reckless endangerment because he was taking photos. He is expected to be released soon.

Oh, that item bodes really well for me... there may not be pics from the streets tomorrow, folks.

09/01 11:45 PM A benefit for arrestees was being held at Piano's. The guitarist for the band Aphrodesia was standing outside the venue. In less than a minute, police pulled up and arrested him allegedly for having a pocket knife attached to his belt.

What I can't understand

I listened to the Connection on NPR this morning, and host Dick Gordon brought on two employers from Ohio to discuss the climate of our economy. One of the major issues was the increasing cost of health care, and how it plays a role insuring that employers aren't able to compete with manufacturing firms in China and elsewhere on the Pacific Rim. In some cases, health care can cost $6 an hour per employee, and that only is more than the hourly wage of an overseas worker. For American businesses to compete on the global market, health care costs is one issue to look at.

The simplest solution I can think of for this problem is socialized health care for all Americans. Take the cost of out the employers and employees hands, see how much money you can slash from the bloated $400+ billion Pentagon budget, and wah-lah. The problem of health care costs suddenly disappears without a tax increase.

It just surprises me that with all these complaints about the cost of health care from both employers and employees, on top of the over 45 million Americans who are uninsured (and how many more are underinsured?), nobody brings up this very reasonable option. The absolute removal of socialized health care from the options we as a nation have to control health care costs can only be thought of as a huge victory for the Republicans.

And if they were really pro-life...

How many women worldwide are killed by unsafe abortions? 70,000. Maybe of pro-lifers were really pro-life, they'd put a stop to those needless deaths.

That sound you hear off in the distance is the Republican National Committee kicking themselves in the ass

Alan Keyes says Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter is a selfish hedonist and a sinner.

At this point, it probably would have been more prudent of the RNC to just give the Illinois Senate seat to Obama then send in the clowns to run against him.

Guess which presidential candidate is sporting an award he never earned?

Via MonkeyFilter, Bush is caught wearing a military award he never earned. So can we shut the fuck up about Kerry and his purple hearts now?

Four Gmail invites left

Comment if you want one. If I get more than 4 comments, I'll start demanding money and sexual favors to determine who gets them.

Light blogging

Have to do monthly reports at work this morning, then I have a couple personal matters to attend to. Hopefully I can get some blogging done before 8am, otherwise, you won't hear from me until I've returned from NYC.

The final installment of Unconvention Blogging comes tomorrow! (Unless I get arrested, which is quite the possibility.)

The Iraqi people love us an their new freedom, they are greeting us with open arms and flowers, and...

Oil exports out of Southern Iraq have been halted, says an anonymous senior Iraqi official from South Oil Company. Too many of those gosh darn pipeline explosions to contend with.

Since Ah-nald just lowered the level of political discourse...

In the past, I've called Right Wing News out onto the carpet, criticized the blog's posts and added trackbacks just to let him know I exist. No response.

Yesterday, I called him a fucking asshole, and added that right into my trackback and linked it into his site. Not only is there still no response, but a quick check of my logs tells me he didn't even bother to visit this site to see why he's a fucking asshole.

What a girlie-man.

Salon makes fun of the GOP Convention bloggers

And they deserve it. I read the Wall Street Journal profiles of them where they ripped the Democratic bloggers for not being serious, partying too much, not writing anything that people would be interested in, etc. They're Republicans, so they are going to be so much better and more thoughtful, right?

Wrong.

By early evening on Monday, Aylward of Wizbang! posted an entry entreating readers to "Have Mercy On The Bloggers."

"We're headed into the prime-time session of night one of the convention," he wrote, "and I've got a couple of observations:

"1) Blogging a convention is hard. It might not seem so, given your proximity to politicians and spin meisters, but the din of activity really impedes a central tenet of blogging - thoughtful writing.

"2) Being co-located with talk radio is a blessing and a curse. See point #1.

"3) Worrying about logistics, tracking down interview subjects, and observing the "big picture" detract from writing time. Again see point #1.

"We have no deadlines, except the self imposed variety, but that's the problem. When you're seated next to 15 other bloggers typing away the urge to produce instantly is hard to resist. Sometimes thoughtful reflection is called for, but at a convention finding the time and space to do so are scarce resources."

At 10:14 p.m., during the heart of Sen. John McCain's speech on the convention floor, Aylward unveiled his final headline entry of the evening:

"GOP BABES OF THE DAY

"The hostesses at the Cablevision Suite - smokin' hot." [And he posted a picture, just to prove his point.]

I'm so glad the GOP bloggers have focused on seriously jounralism. And if I remember correctly, the GOP bloggers were also whined up a storm about the Democrats not letting in enough of their right wing ilk. Yet among the 15 GOP bloggers, only one is voting for Kerry, and another is undecided.

And we're supposed to take these chuckleheads seriously?

I [heart] Billionaires for Bush

Do Republicans think they have a monopoly on exploiting the dead?

They came to NYC because they think they own 9/11, now even Johnny Cash's memory isn't safe. Hey guys, just because his last name is "Cash" doesn't mean he's on your side.

What's up in Iraq?

Krugman's latest column touches upon some underreported facts.

Ever since the uprising in April, the Iraqi town of Falluja has in effect been a small, nasty Islamic republic. But what about the rest of the Sunni triangle?

Last month a Knight-Ridder report suggested that U.S. forces were effectively ceding many urban areas to insurgents. Last Sunday The Times confirmed that while the world's attention was focused on Najaf, western Iraq fell firmly under rebel control. Representatives of the U.S.-installed government have been intimidated, assassinated or executed.

Other towns, like Samarra, have also fallen to insurgents. Attacks on oil pipelines are proliferating. And we're still playing whack-a-mole with Moktada al-Sadr: his Mahdi Army has left Najaf, but remains in control of Sadr City, with its two million people. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "interviews in Baghdad suggest that Sadr is walking away from the standoff with a widening base and supporters who are more militant than before."

Mission accomplished!

Moore's first column from the RNC proves that he's angry! Violent! Frothing at the mouth! Out of control! Unreasonable! Dumb, stupid, and fat!

Actually, it's pretty good and not that insulting.

And you definitely need to read Moore's second dispatch. He invites John McCain to see Fahrenheit 9/11 with him, since McCain hasn't actually seen the movie yet. Kinda funny who he can insult the movie without having first viewed it...

Here's all that freedom and democracy the Republicans believe in

Here's some dispatches from today's NYC Indymedia Breaking News wire.

08/31 09:49 PM An IMC Illinois reporter has been arrested. Cops have reportedly been telling IMC reporters to "fuck off."

08/31 09:57 PM We have confirmation that 11 IMC reporters have been arrested.

08/31 11:58 PM Things appear to have calmed down for the night. MSNBC is now reporting 1000 total arrests since last thursday, 650 tonight. Our estimate is closer to 800 for tonight.

800 arrests in one day. That's freedom for ya!

08/31 07:32 PM Indymedia reporter being denied exit from pen at 16th and irving, while "legit" media is being allowed to leave. Cop said "that's not media." Reportedly everyone on 16th will be arrested.

That's not even getting in the the reports of thousands of protesters. Indymedia gets flak for having an open newswire that a lot of lefty whackos post conspiracy theories to, but their reporting of protests is still top notch. Reading their editorially-controlled coverage is like reading about a different world. Who knew all these protests were happening in NYC? Besides instances of arrest, this information certainly isn't showing up in the mainstream media. The networks show us what's happening at the convention and we're expected to think that's democracy, but the real democracy is being practiced on the streets of NYC.

I can't wait to see it for myself Thursday night.

The kind of irony nobody wants to see

While the Republicans masturbation session gets all hot with talk about fighting terrorism, terrorists bombed two Russian passenger jets, a suicide bomber kills 10 in Moscow, 12 hostages are executed in Baghdad, and two buses in Israel explode. Suicide bombers, as usual. Keep chatting away, guys, nothing's happening outside of the walls of Madison Square Garden.

Thank you's

To those who linked to my protest photos: feministe, Sullivan/Monkeyfilter, In Search of Utopia, Say Anything, Independent Woman (another RI blogger!), blogAmY, bird on the moon, and blunted on reality and Gotham City 13 for letting me post a link. It's appreciated. :)

I'm going back down to NYC on Thursday. I may do less photo taking and more hunting down delegates to accost, though.

Bwwahahhahaha

Indians - 22
Yankees - 0

Georgie Boy refuses to comment, too busy scooping shit out of his underware.

And would you look at that, the Red Sox are only 3 1/2 games back. I hope the Yankees like fighting for a wild card. Bwwhahahaha!

The obligatory Gmail Invite post

I've got 7 Gmail invites to blow. Who wants them?

Laura Bush just looks evil

Doesn't she? It's her eyes... Looking at her and Dubya makes me wonder if the twins were adopted.

Ahh, isn't this homely family humor just so great?

I kinda feel sorry for Barbara and Jenna Bush because it's obvious that they aren't great public speakers. I just don't know how Republican spinsters can think it's a great idea to have them spout off lame one liners and fake family anecdotes, because it surely doesn't make me think the Bush family is anything close to normal.

My sister Kerry's here for the night, and I think the expression on her face while looking at the twins said it best. It was the classic look of disgust. After the twins said they graduated college and needed something to do for a few years, Kerry quipped, "Yeah, it's not like you have to work!"

"...Economic girly men!"

He didn't just say that, did he? Please, god, somebody tell me Ahnald didn't just use his keynote speech in primetime to sink the level of political discourse that low.

Right Wing News hits bottom, digs

RWN has reprinted some satire titled, "If Planned Parenthood Wrote The Next Harry Potter Book..."

Ron Weasley: Wait a second Harry! What about that glowing clothes hanger we found in the cave of forbidden mysteries?

Harry Potter: This one? (Pulls out the glowing clothes hanger).

Dumbledore: Harry, that's a very powerful artifact! The 'clothes hanger of womb ripping'. Quick, cast a spell...

Harry Potter: Clothes hanger, clothes hanger, ye powerful artifact of old

The fixer of mistakes for those who don't use birth control

Clothes hanger, clothes hanger, please be lenient

And kill Hermione's baby because it would be really inconvenient!

Apparently, RWN finds this funny, which is just more proof of the fact that RWN is a bunch of fucking assholes.

On a more personal note, RNW credits Twisted Spinster for helping him find this piece of shit. Twisted Spinster is run by Andrea Harris, who has labeled yours truly as, "malevolent, evil, and verbicidal." If I'm "evil" and she partakes in coat hanger "humor," then I shudder to think what her concept of good is.

I know some Republicans reading this will jump down my throat if I use these two dipshit's opinions against the rest of the right, but you have to admit that many people you share the same ideological viewpoints with find this funny. That troubles me.

What not to do a week before peace talks

Test fire a surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, which is what India just did before Kashmir peace talks with Pakistan are scheduled to start in a week.

Now proving that protesters who shout "FACISTS!" have a point

Remember the large "Truth/Bush" banner activists hung from the Plaza Hotel last week? For this action, the activists are now facing 25 years behind bars. The crackdown on creative action in this country never ceases to amaze me. I can't wait until the day I'm facing 25 years for running a blog...

What will these fucking morons come up with next?

Scotland's top Roman Catholic says sex education is "state-sponsored sexual abuse."

Sanctions for Sudan?

Last month, the UN security council passed a US-backed resolution against Sudan, giving Khartoum to take action against the Janjaweed and help the people of Darfur.

It's been a month now, and the security council meets on Thursday to discuss the matter. Hopefully this will be a topic of conversation:

On a shallow slope between two hills of orange rock and sand, a man's body lies curled in a foetal position. His hands are thrown up as if to protect his face from the bullet that punched a hole in his temple.
A few feet away on the bare slope, another man's body lies between two youths. His arms are stretched out to the two younger ones, as if he was embracing them at the moment of death.

This was the scene of an execution in north-western Darfur. The killings took place in April, but scenes like this are being repeated in Sudan now.

The atrocities are still continuing if Darfur, and the Sudanese government is still working hand in hand with the Janjaweed. Can the UN put a stop to this? The Christian Science monitor has some doubts in this excellent analysis piece. This was the most troubling paragraph:

The deadline passed Monday, and Tuesday the UN staff will report on Sudan's compliance. On Thursday, the Council meets to discuss possibly taking action (or not). By most accounts, the European and Chinese members are reluctant to impose economic sanctions, as the US proposes, let alone intervene militarily.

While I thank the Bush administration for taking the moral high road over Europe in this case, it's still not doing enough. Bush could declare this is genocide and said drastically needed help immediately to the region, but the Genocide Watch counter has climbed to 39 days. I imagine it will reach 40, then 41, then 45, then 50, then...

30,000 - 50,000 people have died so far. How long are we going to wait? How many more people have to die before the world pays attention?

Only in America

I guess when you target Arabs, it's not racism anymore.

A New Jersey game called "Wack the Iraq," where players fire paintballs at people dressed as Arabs, has drawn ire from Arab groups after the city failed to convince the operator to change its name this summer. ...

The game targets teenagers, said Aref Assaf, President of the New Jersey chapter of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "(The game) tells them to kill Arabs and that it is legal, and you can have fun doing it," he told Reuters.

I'm taking Loaded Mouth into the gaming business. That's right. Next summer, the new game sweeping the nation will be "Git Whitey!" The object is to fire paintballs at guys wearing cowboy hats and "Don't Mess With Texas!" tee shirts.

You know, I think this calls for a letter. Anyone remember the last letter I wrote? Hee hee hee...

Somebody needs to spank the monkey

I can't make this shit up.

Sexual frustration has turned a Chinese chimpanzee from a mild-mannered simian into a problem primate who smokes cigarettes and spits at visitors, the Xinhua news agency says.

They sure do have a way with words

Everytime I think I've heard it all from these Orwellian Republicans, they prove me wrong again.

Under an item titled "Promoting a Culture of Life," the party reaffirmed its opposition to abortion and abortionists and said it would not allow public funding for pro-choice groups.

"Culture of Life," now that's classic. Is it followed by, "Promoting a Culture of Not Giving A Shit About Children After They Are Born," or is that just implied?

I'm sorry, but no...

...it doesn't.

...Salon has more on this laughfest.

More proof that the media's liberal and evil

With all the thousands of protesters that the mainstream media could do stories about, I'm instead subject to an article about the "Protest Warriors,", the rabid Republicans from yesterday's set of photos. I saw about 15 of them at yesterday's march. For those keeping score at home, that's 399,985 anti-Bush protesters and 15 pro-Bush. Yet their presence alone garners press coverage while lesser anti-Bush protests that merely drew a couple thousand people hardly get mentioned. I'm just not feeling the love.

Caption it!

Jay Smooth from hiphopmusic.com has some protest photos. Here's my favorite:

It's also hell without doughnuts.

Unconvention blogging: The People are PISSED!

In terms of sheer numbers, I've never witnessed anything like it. I've been to protests in Seattle for the WTO, Philly for the 2000 GOP Convention, Boston for the Presidential debate, DC for that goddamn thief's inauguration, and Cincinnati for a Bush speech egging on war in Iraq. The DNC protests last month hardly count.

But this is, by far, the largest protest I have ever participated in.

This march produced so many people in the streets that, for once, the mainstream media (NY Times) and Indymedia agree with each other on how many people showed up. Indymedia claims 400,000, and NYT says "hundreds of thousands." Indymedia has always beena accused of trumping the number of protesters at events they cover, but if NYT is willing to back them up, then this march must have really been huge.

This is historic, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

I was stuck in the middle of the pack, and I never saw where the bodies started or ended. In terms of size, here's the best picture of the crowd I could muster from being on the ground.

It seemed to stretch for endless amounts of blocks. At one point, I stepped away for 30 minutes. When I joined the march again, I was in the same place. The crowd was so dense with protesters that it had hardly moved.

And this crowd was pissed. I've never seen such overt profanity at a protest before. I gleefully joined in on chants of "FUCK YOU BUSH! FUCK YOU BUSH!" while flipping of Madison Square Garden. Granted, only a minority of the protesters were like this, but I've never heard it this bad at a protest before. So I, of course, loved it.

I saw a lot of colorful shirts today. For example:

And the signage was awesome. Like I said, expression of profanity was still a minority view, but here's some of my favorite signs that you won't see pictures of on the nightly news.

Like I said before, this crowd is PISSED. There were some other creative signs I liked, too.

Cute. Very cute.

These flags were well represented, you could see them everywhere. I think they came from the Code Pink rally prior to the march.

This sign is my hero.

Indeed. In most other civilized nations, this would be called a problem. But I guess if the government just intends to recruit kids to die in Iraq, why bother educating them first? What a gosh awful waste of taxpayer money.

In the interests of being fair and balanced, I got some pictures of Republicans, too.

What was scrolled on the back of their sign was more telling of their attitudes.

I didn't announce my political affiliations to them when I asked to take some photos, which is probably the only reason why I got the photos. (It pays to wear a plain, black shirt to protests.) I outed myself later, when about 15 of these people were behind a barrier, egging protesters on. One shouted, "Palestine doesn' exist!" I told him he should study some history before WWII, but it probably went unheard. So I got closer. Then another one shouted "Bush rules!," to which I replied "BUSH SUCKS!" I imagine the look on my face was akin to the picture of Dean in his scream.

This site isn't called Loaded Mouth for nothing.

Towards the end of the march, I saw this:

It looked rather out of place, because up until this point, I hadn't seen any messages supporting the protesters coming from the ritzy-looking buildings.

I also saw this guy again:

I took a photo of him in Boston, too. I guess God teleported him to NYC via the Religious Crackpot Express.

Unlike the Boston DNC protests, which received little coverage (probably because hardly anyone showed up), the GOP Convention protests are frontpage news - And the convention hasn't even started yet! The mainstream media has done a great job thus far of covering up other protests against Bush, but this one was too massive to keep a lid on. Judging from the the size and attitude of the crowd, it felt like a breaking point. Bush has bent us too far and the people have finally snapped. We will not let this man have another four years in office. I know that polls say the US is supposedly 50/50 politically, but the protests in Boston this year were nothing like this. You could hardly even call what happened in Boston protesting compared to what we'll hear about from the streets of the Big Apple in the next four days. After what I saw today, I find it hard to believe that this country is split 50/50.

As I conclude this, it seems appropriate for this Rocket From The Crypt song to pop up in Winamp: Stand back, look proud and tall! Be afraid of what you're seeing all the time, I'm Not Invisible! I'm Not Invisible! I'm Not Invisible!

We've always been out here, and we're not invisible anymore.

The Rundown...

Miles driven: 365
Miles walked: 5-6
Hours of sleep: 5
Hours awake: 17, so far
Pictures taken: 69
Chance of them being online before 8am: 5%

I'm bloody exhausted, so the update may wait until this afternoon. Depends on how long this bottle of Mountain Dew keeps me going.

Now presenting the GFY Convention...

By the time you read this, I'll be in the streets of NYC, armed with my steel toe boots and a camera. Full report Monday.

Unnatural

I know she hasn't been around for a while and I should probably get used to it, but Loaded Mouth just doesn't feel the same to me without seeing daily comments from Amanda. Sigh.

Sunday is Cartoon Day!

As always, a couple by Ted Rall.