Photo of 1000 student/staff walk out at UL

by Mark Fri Mar 21, 2003 20:46

I see you don't mention the people there protesting for the war. People with banners such as "USA Lets Roll"

by Earhart Fri Mar 21, 2003 21:18

It was a sunny dry day and students were milling around on the grass and in the plaza. Resturants were asked not to serve food at 12pm even though the staff continued to work! The students in that photo were not all in favour of the demonstration. Most people want peace but are not against the war. A man with a strong american accent addressed the crowd and was heard over Ms Harford, who had a microphone. He agreed with eliminating Sadam and bringing democracy to Iraq. A cheer greeted him by the students.

Don't be fooled by this photo. Most students just happened to be there or were having an Anti-Protest!

by Limerick Lady - UL Fri Mar 21, 2003 21:28

2 people holding a "USA Lets Roll" banner and 1 heckler among a crowd of 1000 don't warrant mention. Actually now that I think about it maybe you were the heckler - the one who interrupted the minutes silence to announce "In 4 weeks Iraq will be free, Saddam will be gone and Democracy will be restored in Iraq."

The only people I have ever seen interupting minutes silences were winos. If the heckler isn't a wino then he is beneath contempt. As to the comment remember the Catholics in the six counties initially welcomed the British Soilders as liberators.

As to the "USA lets Roll" banner the cost of the life must not mean much to the two individuals concerned. As the Su prez said in his address no one condemmed the chemical attack on the Kurds in Halabjah when it happened as back then Saddam was in bed with the US so no rubbish now about this being a war of liberation for the Iraqi people.

Anyone who can't see that is sadly misguided or has an ulterior motive. I sincerely hope that its the former for most people as the implications of the latter are too shocking to comprehend.

by Limerick Lady - UL Fri Mar 21, 2003 21:37

No the man didn't have a strong American Accent. He was most definately Irish. Yes the students were there for the rally. There is never a spontaneous congregation of that number in UL for anything so why should it miraculously happen at just that time?

When the MC from the Irish Peace Society started talking people moved in to suround the platform. And why wouldn't they. The amount of lecture addresses that had taken place that morning by the anti war group had ensured a good turnoput.

If you are serious about your convictions you should organise a pro war rally rather then trying to undermine a very well organised show of solidarity from the students & staff of UL.

Don't forget the ques to sign petitions afterwards and all the money being handed into the collection jar for UNICEF. The Stables, Scholors, SU Shop, & SU all closed so please, please less of the lies Earhart.

You obviously have an ulterior motive.

by Step it up Sat Mar 22, 2003 02:02

Get your delegates to the USI Congress to protest at the Minister for Education's address to Congress on Thursday.

If the SUs really representastudents they will take their protest to the minister on Thursday.

by Earhart Sat Mar 22, 2003 19:40

1. I was unaware that there was a minutes silence as the speaker was hard to hear,even though she had a microphone!
2. From where I was he seemed to have an american accent.
3. The su prez made an address as a private individual and not as prez. He can not do so as a prez without it being passed by council.
4. UL against the War is not a ULSU recognised Club or Society.
5. If all UL students agreed with this then UL Against the War would at least have been noted as a society and the prez would have been mandated to protest!

I do not have any ulterior motive! I just don't like seeing people being misled. To the best of my knowledge I was not lying.

by laurence Sat Mar 22, 2003 21:45

A thousand demonstrators at UL, that citadel of apathy, well done to all concerned in its coming together - remarkable for 24 hours work. We need to get them all on to the streets of limerick as soon as possible.

by Limerick Lady - UL Sat Mar 22, 2003 23:06

TO EARHART

1. The organisers have to get a better PA.
2. From where I stood the speaker had an Irish accent.
3. If the SU prez has no mandate to speak out against the war then it is about time he got one.
4. Not a recognised club or society - what’s this? - in a democratic society groups of people can gather together to organise events or promote a point of view. Any denial of this is tantamount to fascism.
5. Of course all UL students don't agree with UL against the war, just as all UL students don't agree with UL Gaelic Football Club. However I have to ask if they don't agree with UL against the war then what do they agree with? Your above sentence is either a misunderstanding or else you are quite clearly pro war yourself. Don't be fooled - pro war means pro the 3000 missiles that landed in Baghdad yesterday. Is this peaceful? I wonder was there any civilian casualties?

Furthermore I fail to see how the above photo indicates an anti-protest or maybe counter protest is what you are trying to say?

Your ulterior motive is to mislead because you are either

a) pro war
or
b) not pro war but certainly anti anything that you don't control or understand yourself
or
c) naive & immature and thus happy to say that the slaughter of innocent people is ok.

by Limerick Lady - UL Sat Mar 22, 2003 23:40

Monday, March 17th, 2003

George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC

Dear Governor Bush:

So today is what you call "the moment of truth," the day that "France
and the rest of world have to show their cards on the table." I'm glad to
hear that this day has finally arrived. Because, I gotta tell ya, having
survived 440 days of your lying and conniving, I wasn't sure if I could
take much more. So I'm glad to hear that today is Truth Day, 'cause I
got a few truths I would like to share with you:

1. There is virtually NO ONE in America (talk radio nutters and Fox News
aside) who is gung-ho to go to war. Trust me on this one. Walk out of
the White House and on to any street in America and try to find five people
who are PASSIONATE about wanting to kill Iraqis. YOU WON'T FIND THEM!
Why? 'Cause NO Iraqis have ever come here and killed any of us! No Iraqi has
even threatened to do that. You see, this is how we average Americans
think: If a certain so-and-so is not perceived as a threat to our lives,
then, believe it or not, we don't want to kill him! Funny how that
works!

2. The majority of Americans -- the ones who never elected you -- are
not fooled by your weapons of mass distraction. We know what the real issues
are that affect our daily lives -- and none of them begin with I or end
in Q. Here's what threatens us: two and a half million jobs lost since you
took office, the stock market having become a cruel joke, no one knowing
if their retirement funds are going to be there, gas now costs two
dollars a gallon -- the list goes on and on. Bombing Iraq will not make any of
this go away. Only you need to go away for things to improve.

3. As Bill Maher said last week, how bad do you have to suck to lose a
popularity contest with Saddam Hussein? The whole world is against you,
Mr. Bush. Count your fellow Americans among them.

4. The Pope has said this war is wrong, that it is a SIN. The Pope! But
even worse, the Dixie Chicks have now come out against you! How bad does
it have to get before you realize that you are an army of one on this
war? Of course, this is a war you personally won't have to fight. Just like
when you went AWOL while the poor were shipped to Vietnam in your place.

5. Of the 535 members of Congress, only ONE (Sen. Johnson of South
Dakota) has an enlisted son or daughter in the armed forces! If you really want
to stand up for America, please send your twin daughters over to Kuwait
right now and let them don their chemical warfare suits. And let's see every
member of Congress with a child of military age also sacrifice their
kids for this war effort. What's that you say? You don't THINK so? Well, hey,
guess what -- we don't think so either!

6. Finally, we love France. Yes, they have pulled some royal screw-ups.
Yes, some of them can be pretty damn annoying. But have you forgotten we
wouldn't even have this country known as America if it weren't for the
French? That it was their help in the Revolutionary War that won it for
us? That it was France who gave us our Statue of Liberty, a Frenchman
who built the Chevrolet, and a pair of French brothers who invented the
movies? And now they are doing what only a good friend can do -- tell
you the truth about yourself, straight, no b.s. Quit pissing on the French
and thank them for getting it right for once. You know, you really should
have traveled more (like once) before you took over. Your ignorance of the
world has not only made you look stupid, it has painted you into a
corner you can't get out of.

Well, cheer up -- there IS good news. If you do go through with this
war, more than likely it will be over soon because I'm guessing there aren't
alot of Iraqis willing to lay down their lives to protect Saddam Hussein.
After you "win" the war, you will enjoy a huge bump in the popularity
polls as everyone loves a winner -- and who doesn't like to see a good
ass-whoopin' every now and then (especially when it's some third world
ass!). And just like with Afghanistan, we'll forget about what happens
to a country after we bomb it 'cause that is just too complex! So try your
best to ride this victory all the way to next year's election. Of
course, that's still a long ways away, so we'll all get to have a good
hardy-har-har while we watch the economy sink even further down the
toilet!

But, hey, who knows -- maybe you'll find Osama a few days before the
election! See, start thinking like THAT! Keep hope alive! Kill Iraqis --
they got our oil!!

Yours,

Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com

by kelfin oberon Sat Mar 22, 2003 23:46

I have come across this idea elsewhere on indymedia (Portuguese site)... millions of people taking to the streets for a day of protest marching still barely lasts as news on the telly on the following day... the mass media is owned and run by mass murder-supporters and news is featured by puppet brained reporters... massive organisational effort coupled with emotive timing are needed to make any protest happen at all... SO HERE IS A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO GET PAST THE DEADLOCK OF MEDIA CONTROL AND GET THE MESSAGE OUT TO SHOW THE WORLD WITH A SHORT SHARP SHOCK ...

to get together a small band of smart and concise co conspiritors and make a simple plan of action... to target a national media TV and/or radio station/regional office... and stage a take over for a few hours or indeed for many days and nights... hard to know how long such a move might last.. but even 5 minutes would get a lot of well researched truth out and about on the air before being closed down... and a closed down TV station is sensational news and amazing embarrassment for Big Brother Inc.

this idea is non violent direct action
to reclaim the media is not too far removed from a Reclaim the Streets but has far more wide spread effect

this is how the portuguese revolution started on 25 of April 1974 at 3 o'clock in the morning - by taking over the media to get rid of the fascist regime of Marcelo Caetano... by playing forbidden songs on the radio so - people would know that the revolution was truly under way...

History in the making...