GENERAL STRIKE 9/11/2007, NO WORK, NO SCHOOL, HIT THE STREETS!

[Phrogman]

I THINK IT'S GOING VIRAL, I DAMN WELL HOPE SO!

http://www.strike911.org/

http://www.strike911.org/


Since the tragics events of 9/11/01, America has fallen under a spell of fear and deception. The government peddles lies and steadily chips away at our democratic rights. Hundreds of thousands have been killed in the Iraq war—mostly civilians. Torture, surveillance, tyranny, empire. Many of us can recognize the fascistic direction of this government. But what do we do?

The time has come to let go of our fear—to stand up to lies and tyranny with passion and urgency. To connect with others and show our collective power. It’s time to realize that we’ve got nothing to lose. The time is now.

The General Strike is a national call to action, from citizens to other citizens. It is not about a single issue. It is not an anti-war protest, a civil rights protest, an election fraud protest. It is not about torture, surveillance, corporate media, the 9/11 coverup, or the environment. This strike is about all these issues and more.

[kestrel91316]

1. I think I'm in. I can close the clinic. I'm the boss.

I did something similar last year - closed up and took my assistant to a protest march.

[liberaldemocrat7]

102. Send this letter to the Republican party today!

Send this letter to the Republican party today!

Copy and paste the letter below and email it directly to [email protected] the Republican Party and get 2 friends to send this letter and have those 2 friends get 2 friends to send it and so on. Thank you. Drop me a message to [email protected] with the subject Done after you have sent the email.

Hello

Get your Republican party to end the war in Iraq, with Bush and Cheney resigning, and until you do we stop buying televisions, refrigerators, stoves, ovens, dishwashers, dvd players, stereo equipment, light bulbs from one of your party's major contributors and War contractors General Electric Corporation ( 203 373 2211 ) who cannot afford to lose a large sector of the publics business and money.

Get your Republican party to remove the FICA taxable income cap and tax all of a person's income for social security purposes and enact HR 676 Single payer universal health care into law and repeal Medicare Part D and place the prescription drug benefit in Medicare Part B covering 80 percent of all medication with no extra premiums, no extra deductibles, no means tests, no coverage gaps, and completely remove the means test to Medicare Part B and until you do, we will not buy consumer products and prescription drugs from the biggest pharmacy chains and GOP contributors in the country Eckerd, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens and we will not buy health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna, the 2 biggest health insurance companies that give money to the GOP as well, who cannot afford to lose a large sector of the publics business and money.

Get your Republican party to enact a $10 an hour minimum wage, and until you do, we will not go to the following restaurants and GOP contributors Wendy's, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Dominos Pizza who cannot afford to lose a large sector of the publics business and money.

Get your Republican party to enact into law Universal vote by mail with paper ballots counted by civil servants with civil servants registering voters and keeping track of registrations, and until you do, we will not buy any GOP contributor Dell computers or monitors or go to the following restaurants and GOP contributors Wendy's, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Dominos Pizza who cannot afford to lose a large sector of the publics business and money.

Get your Republican party to get congress to pass and enact a law legalizing abortions from conception to six months, and to nine months when the life of the mother appears threatened, and until you do we stop doing business with two of your biggest contributors Dominos Pizza and Curves for Women Health Clubs.

Signed,

[Clark2008]

160. How can we stop buying health insurance from the companies named?

Most of us have health insurance provided to us by the companies we work for. We don't make the decision to purchase one health insurance over another - our employers do.

I can pretty much stick to the rest of this list, but I have absolutely no control over my health insurance. I can't afford private insurance and hubby's company uses Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

[kid a]

166. ???

[Clark2008]

233. The letter in 102 says we won't buy health care from

such and such companies. My question was how can we avoid it if we don't make the decision over which health care company provides the services at our places of employment.

I HAVE to use Blue Cross because that's what my husband's employer provides.

Make sense now?

[Freddie Stubbs]

199. Have you ever gotten a response to this letter?

:shrug:

[Xenotime]

202. this is a great message..

I will distribute Thanks!

[1monster]

2. I just checked my calendar. I couldn't believe it! Sept. 11, is marked

PATRIOT DAY.

[truedelphi]

6. Well,then let's show them who the Patriots are

[otherlander]

16. Ew.

Using dead mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters as a political ploy.



Ew.

[purduejake]

70. I don't think we chose the date...

for this battle. The other side did.

[librechik]

81. we stand up FOR them cuz they can't be there

there's NOTHING wrong with that.

Shrub stood on their bones and called for the bloody revenge global war. He did not speak for the victims but for his war party.

We want PEACE. We speak FOR the victims.

[awoke_in_2003]

33. Thanks for mentioning that

I never noticed before, but there it is, right on my desk top calender.

[roody]

66. Fortunately, it is not marked Patriot Day on

my Greenpeace calendar.

[frogcycle]

34. WHAAAATTTT!?!?!?

A celebration of the fucking modern-day Alien and Sedition Act?

[eShirl]

71. WTF we already have a Patriots Day and it's NOT in September

I mean WTF

[Bill McBlueState]

91. only in Maine and Massachusetts

And you should know that New England isn't *really* part of America. We're too pro-freedom here. :eyes:

[Maine-ah]

98. we already had a Patriots' Day.

Ya think dip shit could have come up with something different?

[treestar]

130. The idea of celebrating the day of a disaster

Makes me so ill.

Ironically no one pays attention to Sept. 17, Constitution day. Sign of the times.

[Marrah_G]

174. Err Patriots day is April 19th (apx)

It's commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord when we smacked the other King George across the kisser.

[WinkyDink]

179. Not "Patriot Day for the Sacred and Free Homeland"?

[Mad_Dem_X]

212. It's marked that way on all of my calendars, too. n/t

[SayWhatYo]

228. Was it an Al Qaeda calander?

seriously, patriot day? wtf?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. I'm in!

[bridgit]

4. k&r'd, to the front page with thee...

:kick:

[Megahurtz]

5. Kick For This! n/t

[AntiFascist]

7. K&R!

:hide:

[Booster]

8. I'm retired, but I'll take to the streets.

[12string]

49. same here

I'll forsake mt honey-do list for a march on our state capitol
gladly.

[Kajsa]

9. Kick and Recommended.

:kick:

[AntiFascist]

10. Good timing, I feel a draft....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2949180

[RandomKoolzip]

11. Who's gonna compensate me for lost wages?

Fuck that. I need every hour on the job to pay rent.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

15. And if you continue with the Bush cabal, you will need two jobs

to pay the rent. Maybe three. My uncle worked in a shoe factory in New York on the 50's. He supported his wife and his kids, had a nice house with a big yard, two cars, and a cabin on the lake that we would summer in. You can't even afford to take a day off to protest the decimation of working people. Someting Wong here!

[RandomKoolzip]

21. I QUIT my second job last year to return to school.

For four out of the last eight years, I worked two or more jobs to get by.

A few sick days, though, and I'm homeless.

[Subdivisions]

23. So,what if it REALLY came down to your country or yourself? Which

would you choose?

[RandomKoolzip]

26. Uh, symbolic action don't pay the rent, y'all.

Sorry to get all realistic on your ass, but millions of Americans are in MY boat.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slick8790]

52. How DARE you

insult this person who is clearly not in good financial condition at all by implying they're a bad person by not taking off a day to march in protest for god knows what which will accomplish precisely nothing. If you would step out of your bubble briefly, there are 300 million people in the united states and i doubt if even 0.5% of them will "PARTICIPATE IN A GENERAL STRIKE AND WE COULD ALL TELL THEM TO GO FUCK THEMSELVES!". You're saying this person should lose a day's pay and put themselves in dire financial condition so he could be part of what will most likely be a footnote in the middle of a newscast and an event for bloggers to pleasure themselves over. Not everyone has the ability to ignore life and go protest. When a general strike is being called that will actually accomplish something, give me a call.

[Gonnuts]

131. How dare us? How dare you!

Who the hell are you to throw water on this action? As far as I know this is the first massive effort to have a General Strike and if you were to Google General Strikes you'd see the immediate positive effect they can have.

Even if only 5% take part it would have an effect and could grow from there. Other General Strikes like boycotting everything GE sells would also send a message.

Look, nothing else is working, they're not listening to our votes. They're not listening to our letters, phone calls or emails. The only thing we have left is our ability to bring this country to a standstill for just one day. And you want to poo-poo it.

Go hide in your hole. we'll let you know when it's safe to come out.

[slick8790]

135. Did you even read my post?

I have not heard ANYTHING about this strike other than on here. Even if only 5% take part? You'll be lucky to get 1%! You honestly think 15 million people are willing to give up a day's pay to make a point that'll be shoved aside by the media, if covered at all and ignored by bush and the people you're striking against? Leave your internet bubble and go out in the real world and talk to people. It takes more than a fraction of the liberal blogosphere to hold a general strike with any meaning. And you're suggesting people who are in perilous financial condition take part to make a point? Fine, you support them for the pay they lose. Some people have to deal with the real world. I'll participate in a general strike when there's more than 1000 people from blogs participating.

[Blue-Jay]

144. "US"? Are you royalty or do you have a mouse in your pocket?

Fact is, a day's wage is the difference between having electricity or not for a lot of people. Considering this "protest" of yours is unlikely to catch on or even be noticed, you have no reason to be indignant and insulting to people for whom skipping work is not an option.

[uppityperson]

148. So if only 5% take part, have a bit of sympathy/empathy for those that can't, that do other things.

No one can do everything. And insulting people who say they can't is just plain rude.

[Freddie Stubbs]

230. 5%? That number is a bit on the high side, don't you think?

:shrug:

[SayWhatYo]

229. Yeah, who cares if their kids can't eat for a few days or a week, right?

[greatauntoftriplets]

141. Thank you for getting it.

Always good to see someone around here these days who knows reality when he/she sees it.

I see that you've been around for a bit, but welcome to DU.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

53. How nice that you can afford to lose a day's pay.

:eyes:

[Occulus]

59. I *can* afford to lose a day's pay, and I'm not NEARLY this naive. n/t

[Xenotime]

204. If you can lose a day's pay...then you should march..

Its your duty.

[Gonnuts]

133. It's called "sacrifice"

God, I'm tried of this waa-waa-wa from those that say they can't do this or can't do that because they can afford to join in the General Strike.

You obviously don't get the point. By you taking the day off and making the sacrifice, that's what makes the statement. It's what makes the day important. If only those that could afford to take the day off did, it wouldn't mean anything.

The least you could do is not encourage others to not join in and not post your whining about how much a fearful slave you already are.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

152. I understand the statement just fine.

But many people literally *can't* afford to take a day off. Their rent/family/etc. depends on them working every single day.

But hey, if you think missing the rent or not feeding your family's not important enough, go ahead.

[Midlodemocrat]

158. Extraordinarily clueless post.

Many people are just getting by as it is. Factor in the requisite sick time that a working mom will have to take for an ill child and they are at the poverty level, if not below it.

It is incredibly arrogant of you to assume that people who can't make any MORE of a sacrifice are less patriotic or less concerned.

[Name removed]

188. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Leopolds Ghost]

192. That is an incredibly wrong accusation. The person is not a troll. Educate yourself

General strikes are a tool invented by and for the WORKING CLASS. They were ONLY a tool of the poor, people who were STARVING and yet knew how to ORGANIZE. They were NEVER intended for middle class poseurs on the internet who like to pretend that they can afford to take a day off to "protest" policies that were, in fact, intended to benefit UNIONIZED workers who were ANTI-management (that means at least half of DU, i.e. anyone in management who makes enough money not to NEED a strike and is not qualified to be union and by and large don't support union agenda because it is anti-management, which is why their preferred politicians don't support union agenda anymore) and DIDN'T HAVE A POT TO PEE IN.

I can't believe how ignorant and pampered people on the internet have gotten when it comes to strikes and resistance movements. Do some research and come back to us and tell us about how many gains were gotten by striking middle management workers who couldn't get fired and had money to get them through the strike. THAT IS NOT HOW FUCKING STRIKES WORK and DUers who think it does (and criticize us for encouraging poor people to strike) are killing the union movement in the US.

The working poor are the only people who ever had a successful general strike. They fucking STARVED for the rights you enjoy. They took over CITIES and got SHELLED by the US Army. Their families STARVED until the strike was over, because they were fighting for people who were even worse off. I can tell you one thing, nobody who has time to browse DU or any other political weblog has any business pontificating on whether they will or will not join a strike.

[Freddie Stubbs]

195. Speaking of unions...

How many unions are supporting this general strike?

[AngryOldDem]

189. Me losing my job makes a statement to those in power...

...who couldn't give a shit about me in the first place?

LOL. Thanks for the laugh to go with my morning :donut:

But seriously...if it makes you feel good, do it. And whatever else platitude from the '60s you want to toss in.

Some of us are in no economic shape to make such a sweeping statement of our disgust with the status quo. But that does not mean that we are less disgusted nor less committed to seeing change.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MonkeyFunk]

68. yeah

and when a few hundred people join your general strike, all will be better. The minimum wage will go up to $20/hour, free healthcare will be made available to all, and unicorns will roam the great plains.

[redacted]

122. He's BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

[Marrah_G]

187. I am in the very same boat

I support 3 kids, no sick days, no vacation days (so I have a higher hourly wage). I live paycheck to pay check. Anyone who wants to call me selfish for refusing to lose a day's pay can frankly kiss my ass.

Let them walk a mile in our shoes first.

[kenfrequed]

83. Ease off!

I will be marching somewhere somehow on that day at some time.

But lets not rip on people because they are working poor damn it. If we do, how the hell are we any better than the replutocrats?

[rabies1]

82. If Bush keeps talking about going ahead with bombing Iran -

Your job might not be something to worry about.

[angrycarpenter]

93. thank you

I wish I made the money to take the day for political ideals but the reality is that I barely have the cash to pay my bills with A full paycheck and A missed day puts me behind for A month. Maybe that is the system corporate America wants, people too busy surviving to have ideals and opinions.

[AntiFascist]

114. Now you're catching on....

soon inflation will also start eating away at our ability to cope with the cost of living. Having a militarized society will make it all that much easier for people to accept a draft...if you don't want to participate in big oil's corporate system, you can fight for them on the battlefield.

[angrycarpenter]

151. caught on years ago

Part of reason that I am in this situation is that as A younger man I refused to participate in the greater world of commerce and lived off the grid for about 15 years and lived well. Now that I am older and would like credit cards and house loans they are not available for me. It is price you pay for trying to be free.

[Name removed]

121. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[treestar]

126. Nobody. If one day's wages are more important to you, go to work.

Does it occur to you the boss might participate?

[uppityperson]

149. Some people just can't. Period.

Have you done every action every time? We each do what we can as we can. Rather than arguing with those who truly can't, how about trying to positively recruit those who can?

[RandomKoolzip]

154. "The boss might participate?"

:rofl:

Jesus, where do YOU work? The Berkeley Unicorn Saddle Factory?

[Freddie Stubbs]

159. Which is one of the reasons that protests tend be be very white

Most African-Americans tend to be too busy working.

[Freddie Stubbs]

200. No one

[Xenotime]

203. Youa re note a true American

[Freddie Stubbs]

210. So, everyone who does not participate in this 'general strike' is not a real American?

:shrug:

[reprehensor]

12. Rev. Rich Lang's Bold Call for Action on 9/11/07

http://www.911blogger.com/node/10421

[AnnieBW]

13. Kickie-poo!

:kick:

[redacted]

14. Yes, we have planned to close our offices for some time. Should be a national holiday.

[Subdivisions]

22. Yes, but even on a holiday there is still economic activity. This

needs to be different. Only emergency and social services should remain on that day.

[redacted]

40. Agreed, Explorer. You must be very familiar with the 2004 Madrid general strikes

after the train bombings. In that case, the population brought just about everything in society down to a halt in a matter of hours, except hospitals. That's how they preserved their democracy.

[tbyg52]

112. I wish we had a tradition like this here

Sounds like a very powerful tool.

[redacted]

120. Actually, we do. Two of the examples are San Francisco and Memphis

and I think a related Wikipedia article on general strikes goes into this, as far as the U.S. is concerned, in some detail.

If I'm not mistaken, there was a huge general strike in San Francisco in the 1930's. And the reason Martin Luther King was in Memphis the night he lost his life was to organize a general strike in support of waste disposal workers. Maybe other DUers can offer more examples.

As an aside--above all, even if some don't think this is a great idea, I think what's most important is that a topic like this be the subject of vigorous discussion and debate here on DU.

[tbyg52]

162. Has there been anything on a national scale here?

Of course, I could look it up myself.... ;->

I knew about some on the less-than-national scale here, of course, but I'm not aware, just offhand, of a whole-country thing like in Spain.

[defendandprotect]

17. The Day the Earth Stood Still -- ????

Right -- we need a movement, not just demonstrations.
There has to be the power of the "click" --

For those who can't take a day off, there should be a set hour or two that they can leave work?

To prevent MSM from suggesting that this is about anything else than dissatisfaction with the Bushco regime, there has to be appropriate notification.

[Subdivisions]

19. Screw the MSM! They are irrelevant. It's the MSM's fault we're in

this mess and you're going to let their impression of this act keep you from joining your fellow Americans in making a statement that, if we really wanted to, we could shut down this entire country?

[defendandprotect]

29. What I said was MAKE THE PURPOSE CLEAR . . ..

I didn't say that I wouldn't join . . .
I suggested that we NOT let MSM "spin" the purpose of the strike.
It should be made clear.

Try reading the comments; it works better that way!

[Subdivisions]

32. Ah, gotcha. =) Cool.

:thumbsup:

[redacted]

44. Re: appropriate notification. Good point. See the Wikipedia article below, this thread.

[Freddie Stubbs]

211. "Klaatu barada nikto"

[Subdivisions]

18. I'm in! LET'S TAKE THIS BIG. EVERYBODY! Email it,

blog it, tell everyone you know to take the day off. Tell them to tell everyone they know.

LET'S SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS!

[MisterHowdy]

20. Recommended

This is the only way to make real change.

[Maru Kitteh]

24. I can't afford to lose my insurance, or my tuition reimbursement.

The bastids have me.

Edited to add: You have my support. Maybe I'll just be lazy and worthless that day! Kind of be there, but not be there, ya know?

[Subdivisions]

25. That's a harsh penalty for taking a single day off. Sheesh! n/t

[OffWithTheirHeads]

27. No Shit!

People are afraid to take ONE SINGLE DAY OFF while chimpy gets more vacation days than any president in history! What a country!

[Gonnuts]

125. good point ...

Those that don't take the day off are already slaves and have lost their freedom. I feel sorry for them.

[uppityperson]

147. Hint, you might get more joiners if you quit insulting and spamming DU

just a hint

[Marrah_G]

190. I do NOT need your pity

So kindly shove it.

[Freddie Stubbs]

183. Perhaps most people would rather use their vacation days for a long weekend instead

[Maru Kitteh]

57. Yeah, it is harsh, but that's where I am. Last time I took a day off I had to produce

a receipt from the emergency room when I had to take my mom to the hospital that day, AND I WORK THERE.

[treestar]

127. That boss must be the biggest authoritarian freeper around

And must be hell to work for, and therefore has high turnover.

[frogcycle]

35. get a really bad cold

the blue flu

[Phrogman]

65. You can watch what it means to be a patriot on your schools tee vee set!

Maybe you'll even work up the nerve to say, "Fuck em" and join your countrymen in taking your country back.

[WinkyDink]

180. School TV? You mean the ones my principal shut down so the high schoolers

wouldn't be "upset" about 9/11/01?

[JVS]

108. "Maybe I'll just be lazy and worthless that day!" SLACK FOR AMERICA

[defendandprotect]

30. There have to be provisions for those who can't do it -- a specific hour, perhaps?

As I recall it, Betty Friedan was able to call women out onto the streets --
And, they simply left work for an hour or two and went out to march --
just at the signal --
the "click" is important --

[roody]

67. Everybody can do an economic boycott. By nothing that day.

[defendandprotect]

31. What's the nutshell message . . . IMPEACH -- ??????? ???? ??? ?????

[Lifelong Protester]

36. I do like the idea

and I do understand if you are an hourly wage earner you may not have any choice but to work, but those of us who can take the day off and join the march should do so. I have the site you mentioned in the OP and hope this thing gets momentum. A General Strike is what we need.

[frogcycle]

37. well, most people can at least get outside on their lunch hour

we need to have a 12:00 chant - rolling from time zone to time zone, of course

We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!

In parking lots and on sidewalks across the nation, everybody in the timezone at once

maybe repeat it ten times?

Ok, silly, but still a tiny demo of "solidarity" - assuming there is any participation.

Probably just a handful of people would do it. But maybe some would go out "to watch" and maybe some of them would join in after 4-5 repititions...

[tbyg52]

42. I would do it

But I can't choose my time. My lunch is when it is.

Related: I like the Young Turks and Wes Clark Jr.'s idea, but after wearing my ENOUGH t-shirts that I made myself, I think (sorry to say) that it's too subtle. I'm going to make some more that say IMPEACH. Maybe adding CHENEY FIRST.

[frogcycle]

46. hey, leave off the "impeach"

something about just "Cheney First" by itself seems ominous. And will make people do a double-take. Maybe put "(impeach)" in small letters below it to avoid being accused of advocating anything else.

[tbyg52]

84. That's a great idea!

I'm going to do it. Small impeach above, big Cheney First below.

I'm going to do it like I did my others, with bargain-store t-shirts and iron-on lettering from my computer printer. You can make it look pretty nice if you do it carefully (it *did* take quite a bit of time, but I had more of that than money), and it's 1/5 the price of doing it on CafePress and then ordering one.

So far it's held up in the washer/dryer just fine--I was actually pretty surprised about that.

[frogcycle]

97. Post a pic!

[tbyg52]

111. Thank you for asking.

This is the loudest one (happened to be the only one not in the wash). I also made two black ones and a blue one.

I got the white-on-blue by making the letters white and the background blue. I got the size by trimming (the t-shirt iron-on stuff, which you can get most anywhere, is standard 8 1/2 by 11). You have to follow their directions very carefully to get a good result, and I won't lie and say it's not a pain. Picking the iron-on stuff away from the backing was a *real* pain. If anybody else wants to try it, keep in mind that the iron-on part is *really* thin--it seems there can't possibly be two layers, but there are.

Nice thing about doing it yourself is that you can put the message on the back also, which I really think is more effective than the front--people who wouldn't stare to your face may stare to your back. You'd think all issue t-shirts would have a prominent message on the back as well as the front, but most of the ones I've gotten from organizations don't.

I hardly ever go out on the weekend without a message on my clothes. I'm painfully shy, and developed a splitting headache the one time I tried to phone bank, so I do what I can.

[frogcycle]

118. cool!

I kinda hoped you'd be modeling it... :evilgrin:

As to message - I agree - most commercial t-shirts seem to have a big picture on the back and just an over-the-heart label or logo on the front

The back serves as a walking billboard

[tbyg52]

161. Nah, you really don't want to see me modeling it, but thanks again...!

Most of the "issue" t-shirts I have are the opposite. They have the big message on the front and either something small or nothing at all on the back. Always struck me as kind of dumb, but better than no message at all....

[defendandprotect]

103. Actually, I think there are some arguments for GONZALES, FIRST . . .

But I think there has to be an AGREED UPON message coming from this thing --
and not leave it to MSM to decide what the message is --

RIGHT?

[tbyg52]

113. Absolutely, Gonzo first

If they had to accept a *real* AG, maybe the whole house of cards would collapse. One can hope.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. How about this?

[tbyg52]

86. Good one!

And "arrest" is really more appropriate--you don't actually have to have broken any statutes to be impeached, and these people are really just common criminals.

[Freddie Stubbs]

181. Is it really a strike if you actually go to work?

:shrug:

[cutlassmama]

38. I don't work or go to school anyway eom

[WorseBeforeBetter]

47. But can you still hit the streets? (n/t)

[tbyg52]

39. I would like to

if only I could be assured that I haven't jeopardized my living for, well, I won't say nothing because it isn't, but for being the only one. Is there any sort of national registry for this?

There's a reason we're (supposed to be) protected in our right to communicate and to peaceably assemble....

Edited for customary stupid typo. Two of them.

[Bonobo]

41. VIIIIIIIIRALLLLLL!!!

[redacted]

43. Reactions to the 2004 Madrid train bombings (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

This is an important article. Might be good as its own post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_2004_Madrid_train_bombings

[zalinda]

45. If only there was a way to shut down the net for 1 hour

Just one hour of no Internet access would freak out every major company. Let them see what it feels like not to be heard and be ignored. Let them see what it would be like if the net could be regulated by a few companies. Just one hour and it would be all over the news. Every screen connecting to the most terrifying of all messages "you have lost your freedom, we control what you see and hear", or just the date 1984 in huge letters.

Okay, so some wouldn't get it, but the media sure would.

zalinda

[libodem]

48. When the streets are hit

I suggest we all have 'Parade Permits'. We have a right to peaceful assembly but you need to ask permission. If you have an unlawful assembly you can be arrested. Put in for your parade permits today so some Fuckwads don't grab them first and have a parade, just so you can't. I hope the college campus's are jumpin' with stuff this year! March some place like a park or City Hall's steps and give some speeches. Lot's of towns have Peace Coalitions. Go for the idea of 9/11 marches being a symbol of Peaceful Dissent. That makes us, Dissidents! Whoo hoo for legs on this idea!:woohoo:

[otherlander]

51. No, I don't think we should get permits.

Don't reduce it to a parade like that. Parades aren't a form of resistance. Marching on City Hall is a good idea. Do you think it would be possible to get people to stand outside the houses of every senator at the same time? Protestors at every Senator's house across the country, and a central demonstration at D.C.

Of course you're right, it has to be entirely non-violent. But we need some way to deal with any people who do become violent. I remember that when I was reading the news about the last huge protest at D.C., and there were thousands of people being totally peaceful, the papers kept talking about 15 or so anarchists who threw rocks and spraypainted things.
:banghead: <---Grrr stupid media spin

[reprehensor]

78. Reverend Lang is with you on that one.

"Let me get specific. Many of us are weary of the staged acts of street theater that have become commonplace in Seattle. You already know the script: we gather at Westlake in coalitions that represent many different agendas, we then march down to the Fed all under the guidance and control of our police force. We gather full of sound and fury, full of agitation, we hear a few speeches and then …. go home with little or no impact.

I want to call us into something a bit different. The empire has promoted our trance largely through the mechanism of stealing our voice, distorting our voice, controlling our voice, and then silencing our voice through shutting us out of the Corporate run media. So I say we should take our public assembly straight to them. It is in the graveyard of our media outlets, where once there was life, but now only death and distortion. I call upon us to gather in groups of tens, of hundreds, of thousands, and on Tuesday September 11th , the 6th anniversary, I call upon us to engage in several direct actions at each of the major Corporate media outlets: Seattle PI, King 5, KOMO, FOX etc etc etc …these direct actions will be public exorcisms acknowledging the name of the demon: the growing tyranny that has been inflicted upon our land.

Imagine surrounding the PI or King or KOMO with pots and pans, circling the building seven times and each time mounting a thunderous roar of IMPEACH THEM ALL. Or imagine, performing creative and bold actions of civil disobedience that compel the media to acknowledge and hear our voice, loud, strong and clear. Imagine thousands of people with tape on their mouth, muzzled and doing a die-in at FOX to demonstrate the logical consequence of a nuclear attack on Iran. Imagine the nude bicyclists of the Fremont Fair streaking throughout the city as a living reminder that this administration is stripping us of our civil rights. Imagine every kid from every high school walking out of class and surrounding Military Recruiter sites with the all day chant, "NO MORE LIES!". All on the same day, all in groups of tens, of hundreds, of thousands; and all without getting permits or permission from the authorities that would dare to bind us in chains in the graveyard of silence. Imagine rocking this entire city with direct actions to cast out the spirit of fear, the smog of deception, and the chains of silence. Imagine a Seattle Tea party with a citizenry that dares to act as if they are, in fact, a free people! Imagine a day of democracy. And then, that night, imagine a party that brings us together to celebrate our voice.

I issue forth this call because we can't simply stay asleep watching a treasonous band of lawbreakers bully our nation into tyranny. We must stand up to them. We must create a free space for our citizenry to take heart and as an example for other cities to do the same. This public act is a liturgy to inspire and motive those who are already hard at work in the trenches for electoral integrity, for impeachment, for stopping the war, for the reprioritizing of the political agendas of our representatives. This public act of liturgy is a tool to help our fellow citizens reconnect with their efforts. Democracy only works when the citizenry cares enough to move beyond concern to commitment."

http://www.livingfaithnow.org/

[roody]

99. The pots and pans will be a great additon to our

actions. CACEROLA!

[Megahurtz]

50. We NEED to do this!

Pass this around!
The War and Corporate madness has got to stop!!! :argh:

[mistertrickster]

55. I love it. Great idea. I'm in. nt

[onewholaughsatfools]

58. well i am sorry,

well i am sorry, I wasn't doing anything on 9-11-07 anyway.......so I guess I will just not purchase anything on that day, how about you! blessings.........

[SaveOurDemocracy]

60. I'm in ...

:kick:

[wildbilln864]

61. Absolutely!

K&R!

[SaveOurDemocracy]

62. Here's the web banner posted at the link...

They also have a place to submit flyers for the event. http://www.strike911.org/

[Phrogman]

64. SPREAD THE WORD AND START PLANNING

spread the word to every single person you can think of!

[krj44]

69. 9/11 was horrible,

but its aftermath could only have been fucked up by the little corporal in the white house.

[The Wizard]

72. Get the right wing to join in

Just tell them it's a national day of recognition for the safety and security W has given us. It's all in the framing, and don't worry about lying to them; they believe Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Really Pox News, et al.

[annabanana]

73. It's a Tuesday, too. How many 9/11's have been Tuesday

since the attack?

[ima_sinnic]

77. the 2001 calendar is good for 2007

--I am recycling a 2001 calendar in my kitchen this year.

[Tab]

74. You forgot "no shopping"

I mean, c'mon, what's the ultimate rebellion for this administration?

[Freddie Stubbs]

182. Do you mean put off all shopping until September 12?

The stores would make the dame amount of money, unless you actually reduced the amount of stuff you bought.

[tom_paine]

75. K & R

[ClayZ]

76. K and R

[HamdenRice]

79. Hope this happens! kr nt

[Karenina]

110. Isn't that exactly what Molly Ivins

asked us to do? ;-)

[Joey Liberal]

80. I can call in sick on that day too n/t

[Babsbrain]

85. I'm in...and NO SHOPPING.

[Freddie Stubbs]

178. I think the idea is that people won't go to work either

[OzarkDem]

87. OK, good idea

This might be just as effective as going to DC to demonstrate.

[ocd liberal]

88. I'm in! n/t

[lakeguy]

89. wife and i are in! nt

[Babsbrain]

90. Patriot Day - Sept. 11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day

~snip~

In the United States, Patriot Day occurs on September 11 of each year, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, the name does not seem to have yet caught on in the American vernacular; most people still refer to the day as "September 11th", "Nine-Eleven (9/11)", or some variation thereof.

~snip~

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 gives us the opportunity to honor those whose lives were shattered by those who plotted to destroy our country, take back our freedoms, eliminate our rights, and who lied to us and expected us to take it.

[simmonsj811]

92. i'm in all the way

let's/i'll not miss the chance:kick: :patriot:

[Retired AF Dem]

94. Does this strike include

Police Officers, Medical Personal, Fireman, Air Traffic Controllers, and lowly people like myself that fill your ATM's with money, remove your ATM deposits so they can be deposited into your account and deliver money to your bank? Just wondering.

[EFerrari]

95. The last time there was a similar action, we didn't buy anything

on that day. Imagine, a day without shopping? :)

[Retired AF Dem]

96. I'm a retailers nightmare

I do everything I can to never shop. :) But it is catching up on me. I'm in a desperate need of new clothes.

[bedpanartist]

106. You will find salvation

at the Army. The Salvaton Army. My trick there is to always get two or three things that I know will sell on ebay, in addition to my purchases, making sure that I never pay for clothing.

I grow as much of my own food as possible, and supplement it by purchasing 25 lb. bags of rice, coos-coos, etc...

[Freddie Stubbs]

177. What impact did that have?

:shrug:

[roody]

100. Bank employees, yes!

[Retired AF Dem]

101. I have to agree

low pay and treated like shit.

[Gonnuts]

134. Be real ...

No one is advocating essential personal take the day off. And I don't thin having ATM's filled as being "essential" especially if everyone refuses to buy anything that day.

[Retired AF Dem]

146. I don't thin having ATM's filled as being "essential"

Tell that to the assholes I have to put up with every day that cant use whatever ATM I'm working on.

[Freddie Stubbs]

186. Do you really think that a significant enough number of people will not spend money that day?

:shrug:

[Freddie Stubbs]

191. Air Traffic Controllers are prohibited by federal law from striking

Does anyone remember what happened last time the Air Traffic Controllers held a strike?

[John Kerry VonErich]

104. Not gonna work

Lets be realistic, if it did have a good turn out, it won't make any press, or it would have a tiny mark on page 5. And of course that will be utterly ignored by the congress as well. I really don't know if there is anything anyone can do about it except wait for election day.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

105. well then ... let's not even try ... n/t

that attitude will take us no place, fast.

[John Kerry VonErich]

138. We need better ideas

We need an impact, a general strike, or protests no longer makes impacts anymore. As frustrating as it is.

[Babsbrain]

150. Please enlighten us

What would work? We need a new rule that for everyone who whines 'that won't work', they MUST offer a plan that obviously they have good knowledge will work. We are all ears.

[John Kerry VonErich]

153. I never said I had any

I was hoping anyone else would. And if I do have any ideas, I would put it up. I promise. I do have advice, don't underestimate the opposition. Thats a problem some of our DUers have.

[Freddie Stubbs]

193. Elect more congressmen who agree with you on issues which are important to you

[Freddie Stubbs]

185. We need to elect more Democrats to Congress

[Name removed]

109. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Babsbrain]

116. It will work

We've had enough of people saying 'it won't work'. E.n.o.u.g.h.

[Gonnuts]

136. Apparently you ...

Apparently you haven't checked what positive effects General Strikes have had in several countries recently or you wouldn't be raining on this attempt. Who's side you on? The least you could do is not discourage it, but noooo, you couldn't do even that.

And what makes you think your "vote" will count? What did you get for the last one you cast?

I can answer that for you - nothing.

[Freddie Stubbs]

163. What would constitute a good turn out?

:shrug:

[John Kerry VonErich]

164. The only thing I can think of is

to stop thinking page six and start thinking front page headlines, and I know it's difficult to pull off but not impossible. How? I have no idea, but I know there is a way and people needs to put their heads together. Best I can word it.

[Freddie Stubbs]

198. Would less than 1% of the population participating make front page headlines?

:shrug:

[Balbus]

107. Sep 11th is not a good day for me, but

I promise to participate on Sep 9th to show my support for your little protest thingy.

[Freddie Stubbs]

184. How much of an impact will that have considering that it is a Sunday?

:shrug:

[whistle]

115. Great, I'm in but we should be prepared for what we can expect from

...the establishment in Amerika:

<snip>
George Seldes on San Francisco's Press and the 1934 General Strike

First (there was) the San Francisco strike of 1934 when the press itself played the role of strikebreaker. This was something new. I had known that all Pittsburgh papers could more or less suppress news of a strike, but so far as I knew there had never been a planned campaign by united publishers. (It did of course happen in the early days of Fascist Italy.) But San Francisco of 1934 in my opinion has written the most shameful page in the history of that city's journalism.

San Francisco was not friendly to organized labor; naturally the press was unfriendly. In May, 1934, the longshoremen went on strike and in the course of several months gained the sympathy of many big unions who voted the general strike. It was called. In the first three days the city was in a holiday mood and there was no real suffering from lack of food deliveries. The strikers did not stop the rounds of the milkmen.

Those same three peaceful days the press of San Francisco, augmented by the voice of paid radio orators, preached fear and hatred. News was distorted, invented, colored with propaganda; radio speeches were pure demagoguery, and the villains were always the "Reds" and "foreign agitators."

Labor was smiling, quiet; the newspaper-reading citizenry and the radio masses were quick to respond to hysterical suggestions, when as a climax General Hugh Johnson, arriving as mediator, delivered himself of a senseless blast against labor which became the newspaper signal for hysteria. "When the means of food supply - milk for children - necessities of life to the whole people are threatened, that is bloody insurrection," Johnson said.

Not a hand had been raised, not a shot fired, not a milk delivery missed, no one had gone hungry for lack of transport, and all the fundamental public services were functioning. The general strike began peacefully. It followed the police attack and the shooting of two men several days earlier. Labor had surprised itself and the press with the spontaneous march of twelve thousand men behind the victims' coffins. Despite the press, union after union enthusiastically declared for the strike. When it came, labor permitted the press to function, the telephones to ring, the deliveries of bread, milk and ice to continue and nineteen restaurants were allowed to remain open the first day, fifty the second. Doctors received gasoline for their cars. The few instances of violence, a truck overturned, an altercation between a picket and a strikebreaker, were unimportant. To the press, however, they were sensations worth headlines. As in Italy in 1922, and in Germany in 1933, the politicians of big business, big business itself and the newspapers it controlled were united in San Francisco, but having no Fascist Duce or Feuhrer they called upon the mayor to ask for national troopers to put down the Red Revolution. In the offices of the Chronicle, the Call-Bulletin and the other papers which raised the Red scare and defeated labor, type was being set by members of the typographical union.

The publishers, minor Machiavellis, gave the union men a raise in wages on the eve of the strike. And union labor, here as elsewhere, scabbed on its fellow men.

As a preparation for the general strike the majority of newspapers of San Francisco began a series of inflammatory editorials and distorted news items calling it a revolution; on the other hand, many newspapers failed to print even the official declarations of the strike committee giving the reasons, causes and grievances. A Hearst paper under a headline

"SHOOT, KILL," FRISCO RIOT TROOPS TOLD

reported that Colonel H. H. Mittlestaedt, commanding the soldiers, had ordered the court-martial of any man who fired a shot into the air and told them "in case the strikers attack again, that they would first clip their opponents with the butts of their rifles, then bayonet them, and finally shoot them."

The people of San Francisco were completely befuddled by the press, which was itself hysterical and which raised the usual Red banner to pass its hysteria over to the masses. "Deliberate journalistic malpractice" is the characterization of San Francisco's editors by the correspondent of the New Republic, Evelyn Seeley, who exempts only one newspaper, the Scripps-Howard News. But even this journal, which is known as friendly to labor, omitted from a late edition the column in which Heywood Broun had said: ". . . and so I still think that the lawless employers should be restrained, and if they don't like it here I see no possible objection to sending them back where they came from."

The Chronicle, for example, went in for rabid expressions like these: "The radicals have seized control by intimidation. What they want is revolution. . . Are the sane, sober working-men of San Francisco to permit these communists to use them for their purpose of wreckage, a wreckage bound to carry the unions down with it?"; while the Los Angeles Times stated that "the situation in San Francisco is not correctly described by the phrase 'general strike.' What is actually in progress there is an insurrection, a Communist-inspired and led revolt against organized government. There is but one thing to be done - put down the revolt with any force necessary and protect the right of ordinary people to conduct their ordinary occupations in security . . ."

The Sacramento Bee informed Mayor Rossi that his program had the united support of the law-abiding citizens and spoke of the strikers as persons seeking to overthrow the government of the United States. The San Francisco Call-Bulletin upheld the "conservative union men have been shouted down by an element bent seemingly on strife and self-aggrandizement." the Oakland Examiner said: "If the small group of Communists, starting with their control of longshore and maritime unions, extend their power over the community of the bay area - and thence into the whole or even part of the State - California would be no more fit to live in than Russia."

The Oakland Chronicle said, "The radicals have seized control . . . The radicals have wanted no settlement. What they want is revolution." The Portland (Oregon) Times said the strikers were refusing the public the necessities of life and blamed "rampant radicalism for unrestrained rule or utter ruin."

The editorials in the press range all the way from falsehood to hysteria; they unite in raising the Communist scare; throughout the strike they blamed the strikers daily forg and general violence. The eastern press reprinted the editorials and the news which came largely from the offices of the California papers. The East naturally believed that a revolutionary uprising was occurring in San Francisco. Yet the question of veracity and integrity of the press must certainly arise in the mind of any man who reads the following dispatch from America's national humorist and generally unprejudiced observer. Will Rogers telegraphed from California to the scores of newspapers which take his daily idea:

"In 1926 I was in England during their world-famous general strike. And brother it was general. Not a paper printed, not a train, not a bus, not a wheel turned. Well, I never got through telling of the composure of those level headed people.

"Well, I went to San Francisco, and I tell you we were not so 'nutty' under stress as you might think. It was as quiet as the British. The only thing went haywire was the headlines in the out of Frisco papers. I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad as some of our newspapers make it.

"There is lots of sense in this country yet."

Again, for his Sunday readers, Will Rogers, whom no one has yet called a Bolshevik, summed up San Francisco. Saying as usual that all he knows is what he reads in the papers, he added that everything in San Francisco was quiet, that eighteen restaurants were open, that "all the trucks you saw on the street was either ice, milk, bread or bare necessities." Roger concludes that, inasmuch as manufacturers and bankers have associations, "there is nothing fairer than workmen having unions for their mutual benefit . . . but that when people felt that the Reds were running the thing . . . they turned against 'em . . . But what I want to get over is that the people were just as down to earth, as peaceful and law abiding as you ever saw. Again, a dog fight would have constituted excitement. There is lots of Reds in the Country, but you would be surprised at the amount of Whites. . . ."

On the subject of violence either the majority of California papers or Mr. Rogers is not telling the truth, and knowing both, I would say, even if I had no other evidence, that the facts are those given by the latter.

The strike was smashed. The press announced that the public was to be congratulated upon this action. "The truth, born of long experience, that a great strike cannot be won if it outrages public opinion," said the New York Times, "has apparently been grasped by the strategy committee. . . ." Does or doesn't the Times know who makes and controls public opinion? Has or hasn't the Times ever heard about the "power of the press"?

Two days later, July 22, 1934, the Times under an editorial headline "The American Way" was jubilant. "This country may rightly take satisfaction at the way in which the general strike at San Francisco was met and conquered . . . the local authorities stood fast. . . . Best of all, perhaps, was the spirit displayed by the citizens near whom the danger pressed. They were not thrown into a panic. . . . Doubtless there must be some 'mopping up' in other cities before troubles are over. But what already has been accomplished is sufficient demonstration that Americans will not harbor anarchists, nor tolerate revolutionists, and are still able, as Abraham Lincoln said, to 'keep house.'"

The mopping up, which the Times foresaw, took another direction. Thanks to the daily dose of anti-Red poison administered to the public by the press, groups of business men, thugs, morons and super-patriots did exactly what the Reds had been accused of doing: they took the law into their own hands and indulged in violence. They broke into private homes and offices, confiscated and destroyed property, wrecked, stole and burned. This rioting by the Vigilantes was too much even for the Times which reported that "constitutional rights were disregarded outright" by the mob, "or lightly brushed aside by the constituted authorities." It is a fact that the San Francisco police followed the thugs, entered the wrecked buildings, destroyed what was left undestroyed, and arrested the victims, not the aggressors. Four hundred men and women, described as "Reds," were thrown into prison but not one thug was touched. An attorney for the Communists, George Anderson, whose life had been threatened by the Vigilantes, demanded jury trials. For this invocation of constitutional rights Municipal Judge George Steiger threatened him with contempt action.

This exhibition of lawlessness was hailed with delight by several newspapers. They were the inspirers and did not disown their handiwork. Some of them commented bitterly, moreover, on the apologies of Municipal Judge Sylvian Lazarus, made to the four hundred victims when he released most of them the next morning. "I am disgusted to think that this good old town should have acted like a pack of wolves," he said. "I don't know who is responsible, but it should be traced back to its source." The source confronted the judge from every news stand.

Peter Gulbrandsen, journalist, writes in the San Francisco News that "the so-called vigilante raids are a disgrace to the community. The newspaper editors who have allowed the whipping up of insane anti-red hysteria have shown a decidedly un-American behavior. . . . It has been a sad spectacle during this crisis to have the large San Francisco dailies, with one solitary exception, indulge in the encouragement of these abominable raids. . . . I am not a Communist myself, but I want to register an emphatic protest against the disgusting vigilante tactics and the tacit approval of such Hitlerian violence by certain San Francisco dailies and the dailies of the East Bay cities."

Source: Freedom of the Press by George Seldes

http://www.brasscheck.com/1934.html

[Gonnuts]

137. I know exactly what to expect.

I was around for Kent State. I watched over the years the oppressors perfect their art.

But General Strikes are different. You don't have to put yourself in the street. Just stay home, don't buy anything.

Raindrops become creeks, creeks become rivers, rivers become lakes and oceans. Be a raindrop.

[Freddie Stubbs]

196. Do you really think that the press will cover this at all?

:shrug:

[WorseBeforeBetter]

117. To those of you poo-pooing this strike...

what are some of your ideas for bringing about much-needed change? Polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not approve of the direction the country is headed. What are some solutions to better the country and how do we get there? Infrastructure is crumbling, financial markets may very well be imploding (I'm very curious to see what happens to credit card interest rates), the war in Eye-raq is bankrupting us (on all levels) – name your poison. (And to the obvious trolls attempting to be clever, don’t bother – I’m not interested. Although, your attempts at opaqueness are rather entertaining...)

After reading through many of the posts in this thread it strikes me (sorry), that children would still be working in the mines and blacks would still be sitting at the back of the bus if those before us had the complacent attitude that many on this board have today.

[redacted]

124. There are also plenty of minimum-wage workers in Span, but that didn't prevent millions

from participating in 2004. I don't think you need every single member of society to participate to produce a large enough volume of participants--a critical mass--that will be effective.

[Freddie Stubbs]

168. Elect more people who agree with you

[stimbox]

208. Maybe the Democratic Party should run more people that agree with us!

Instead of DLC Bush Dogs.

[Freddie Stubbs]

216. That's what primaries are for

[Gonnuts]

119. Screw their "Free Speech Zones!!!

BE HEARD! A GENERAL STRIKE SEPT. 11th STAY HOME – BUY NOTHING

GS are effective. If you check out recent success stories of how GS have brought oppressive governments to their knees and they had to listen to the people you too would wonder why we haven't been using this tactic earlier.

Our phone calls, letters, emails, marches, protests and our votes are NOT being listened to! If enough non-essential people stay home from work to bring this country to a standstill and do not purchase anything for that one day we'd be heard. What have we got to loss? Nothing else is working.

We can't wait till the 09' for the change.

We can't wait for prolonged investigations that are being stonewalled to get justice.

We can't wait for impeachment to be put "back on the table".

We can’t wait for our so-called representatives to grow a spine.

We can't wait period! Too much time has been wasted already!

Take the day off for PEACE! Everyone, cab-drivers, bakers, bankers, sales-persons, waiters, cooks, shoemakers, city workers, state workers, lawyers, everyone, stay home, buy nothing.

Ask yourself is it worth one day out of your life to save one person life?

Out of Iraq/Impeach NOW! SEPT. 11th GENERAL STRIKE! SPREAD THE WORD!

http://liberalpro.blogspot.com/2007/08/general-strike-91107.html

[puebloknot]

129. Gandhi is smiling. It worked for him.

Our most powerful weapon is closing our purses, not supporting *anything* we don't approve of with our dollars.

We can do without a lot of things we spend money on for an extended period of time!

[defendandprotect]

156. Would the world be a better place without Coca Cola --- ???????? ?????

[Freddie Stubbs]

224. Gosh, this general strike certainly has brought the administration to its knees

[City of Mills]

123. Remember...

Remember, remember the Eleventh of September,
Terror, treason, and plot,
I know of no reason why the government treason
Should ever be forgot.

Bin Laden, Bin Laden, 'twas his intent
To blow up the Towers and Government.
Four airliners with citizens below,
Poor old America to overthrow;

By King George's providence he wasn't caught
In Tora Bora caves, in the midst of his plot.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the terror ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, Bin Laden spared the King!
Hip hip hoorah!

[treestar]

128. And it's on a Tuesday again

You know the M$M will be blathering on about that.

Then have another one on the anniversary of the Patriot Act.

[Freddie Stubbs]

205. Why would another general strike be necessary after the first one

brings the government to its knees?

[autorank]

132. I'm going on strike that day, period.

Fuck this b. s. We've got dire problems facing us, unsolved attacks to explain, and a population that's ready to rock but lacks any form of access to power because power is finally revealing itself to be what it's always been - a charade of happy talk and excuses.

"Oh, we'd like to protect the Constitution by stopping domestic surveillance at the whim of Albert Gonzales, but our constituents, you know...it's election year."

Bull Shit

They vote for that garbage because you dig it, you agree, you're on board for the strip down, cram down, lock down of the population.

That's the paradigm in operation

LIES, 24/7 YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT

Enough of that. Let's see what happens when everything gets quiet enough for us to gather and talk with each other...

[marlakay]

139. I just printed out a bunch of flyers and going to post at stores

in my area. I live in small town, but who knows?

I just found out recently my grandmother walked the streets for women to be able to vote....I now know where I get it.

[wundermaus]

140. This Thread is music to my ears...

and an answer to my prayers...

Minimalism... to starve the beast.

[EV_Ares]

142. This is great that someone is getting this organized. A national

or general strike is something if it comes off ok cannot be ignored. It could work. Great.

[rocky1949]

176. Someone getting this organized

This belongs to no one. There is no "Central Command". There is a site that is dedicated to it http://www.strike911.org, but this is a grassroots effort. Don't sit and wait to be told what to do, if you want this to have a chance at working encourage others to stay home on September 11. It's a start, it's not the solution.

[Norrin Radd]

143. k+r

[simmonsj811]

145. let's just do it

:kick: :patriot:

[Freddie Stubbs]

155. Protests generally don't accomplish much. Elections do

November 4, 2008 is a much more important day.

[defendandprotect]

157. And, that might also be a day to be ready to come out into the streets -- ????

I was shocked that Americans didn't come out into the streets at the 2000 election --

Our problem is an overtrust in what used to be a trustworthy government . . .

But -- there was that fascist GOP rally to stop the vote counting in Florida --

That should have been the signal --

We lost our opportunity there --

[kid a]

165. in - kick

[Raskolnik]

167. "This strike is about all these issues and more."

Which means it ends up being about nothing.

[Freddie Stubbs]

169. The problem with these protests is that those organizing them

have a difficult time telling those with other axes to grind to stay on message. That's why you have 'Free Mumia' and gay rights signs at anti-war rallies.

[Anita Garcia]

170. There is no reason to prohibit free speech

A person can be passionate about more than one issue.

[Freddie Stubbs]

173. Then perhaps they should hold their own separate protest if

they are truly passionate about both issues. That is, oh course, if they actually want to make a difference.

[porphyrian]

171. What did the poor streets ever do to you? You should be ashamed! - n/t

[Lars39]

172. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Do what you can.
I've been saying for a long time that the only thing that would get their attention now would be a general strike.
They can switch votes, they can ignore millions in the streets, but millions in the streets and millions staying home not buying things will get their attention.

[rocky1949]

175. General Strike

It's encouraging to see what appears to be a majority here that are willing to get on board for the strike. Something to keep in mind here is the most important thing we stand to gain if we get a significant showing is group awareness. It's a start. I would love to see the entire country shut down, but I don't expect it. There are a whole lot of people out there who will not even think about participating in resistance until they see those around them resisting. As pathetic as that may sound we need those people as well. So, September 11th is a start. It's our opportunity, with a little luck, to inspire others.

We don't need the critical opinions of others complaining about the date, or lack of organization, or chances of success. We need our brothers and sisters to join us for one day. Whatever economic damage a successful strike might cause is far less than the potential damage to our country and the world around us if we just sit and talk about what we should do.

Strike for Constitutional Government
Strike for Peace
Strike for Representation
Strike for all those who came before us
Strike for our children

I am ashamed of what my generation has allowed to happen to our country. I want my children and their children to have at least the degree of freedom that I was born with in 1949.

There are no hero's on the horizon who will suddenly appear on the scene to rescue us. Those in power will not simply give us our country back. We are the ones that we've been waiting for.

[Freddie Stubbs]

194. Two weeks to go!

[KAT119]

197. I'm Totally In (!!)

[Ganja Ninja]

201. I think I'm going to be sick next Tuesday. n/t

[GOTV]

206. Does it count if you arrange to take a vacation day?

[AngryAmish]

207. I'm playing golf that day, they better not close the course.

[stimbox]

209. I'm in.

:yourock:

[backscatter712]

213. Any events in Denver area? or Boulder area?

I have yet to see ANYTHING in my area.

What if there was a strike and nobody showed?

[Kelly Rupert]

214. This thread is useless without

the barest attempt to get union backing. You get union solidarity, and you have the beginnings of a revolution. You have a few hundred internet liberals in on it, and all you get is a few used-up sick days.

[Freddie Stubbs]

215. Agreed

[L. Coyote]

217. END THE WAR: Sept. 15 - Mass March in Washington DC!

END THE WAR: Sept. 15 - Mass March in Washington DC!

Coming soon, perhaps the largest Anti-War event to date.
Of course, a lot of effort is going into preventing that.

===================================
Sept. 15 - Mass March in Washington DC!
http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=S15_homepage

Join Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, and thousands of others in Washington DC on September 15 for a huge antiwar protest timed to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "Surge" in Iraq.

For information on the September 14-21 Days of Action, click here.
http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8555

Veterans for Peace E-Bulletin
A plea from Adam Kokesh:
"Protesting is not enough!"
Join VFP in Washington September 15

"Dear Veterans for Peace,

"As many of you are aware, the next big mobilization of anti-war protestors is going to be in Washington, DC on September 15th. However, you may not be aware of the significance of this particular demonstration. Tina Richards of Grassroots America and I have been working extensively with the ANSWER Coalition to make sure that this is not just another protest. We have made the theme, 'Protesting is not enough. Come for the rally, stay for a week of direct action.'

"To kick off the week of action, after the rally we will march from the White House to the Capitol, and go straight into a mass civil-disobedience die-in around the Peace Monument. The die-in will be led by an Honor Guard of Iraq Veterans Against the War who will simulate a 21-Gun Salute before taps is played to initiate the die-in. We are asking as many members of VFP as possible to sign up to wear cammies and die-in around us to symbolize the American cost of this war. We will be encircled by bolts of red cloth to symbolize the Iraqi deaths and invite anyone else from the rally to participate in the die-in." Read the full letter http://www.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8620

...............

[Freddie Stubbs]

232. Won't everone be worn out from today's general strike?

:shrug:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

218. I guess not many people in the mainstream have heard about this?

it will only be a few as everyone else is apathetic

[Freddie Stubbs]

221. Apathetic? Or realistic?

Perhaps most people see these protests after protests useless.

[Zywiec]

222. Of course you're correct

This will be as successful as the gas boycott earlier in the year...

[L. Coyote]

219. OCT. 27 - National Mobilization to End the War in Iraq

OCT. 27 - National Mobilization to End the War in Iraq
10 Massive Demonstrations for Peace Across the U.S.
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

PEACE IS POSSIBLE! Fall Plan of Action

UFPJ is supporting a robust campaign of grassroots activities throughout the fall, culminating in a nationwide day of action for peace on October 27, when 10 regional mass demonstrations will take place around the U.S. Click on the links below for more information about these initiatives:

* Sept.: Occupation Project -- acts of nonviolent civil disobedience and occupations of congressional offices through at least the end of September.
* Sept. 14-21: Declaration of Peace -- a week of coordinated nonviolent actions.
* Sept. 21, and the 3rd Friday of Every Month Thereafter: Iraq Moratorium Campaign -- an escalating, monthly series of actions demanding an end to the war.
* Oct. 21-23: No War, No Warming -- local and national actions to highlight the connections between the war in Iraq and the global warming crisis.
* Oct. 27: National Antiwar Mobilizations -- 10 mass demonstrations around the U.S., details will be available very soon.

[Snarkturian Clone]

220. oct 27? way to ruin my wedding in the city nt

[robcon]

223. I assume the General Strike is off.

I've heard nothing about this lately - and all I ever heard was from reading this thread a few weeks ago. No publicity, no major organizations involved, no unions participating... no strike.

I'm going to work tomorrow. I think there will be a lot better organized marches and events in NY this fall. I'll participate in them.

[Freddie Stubbs]

227. Was it ever really on?

:shrug:

[ThatsMyBarack]

225. If I were still in high school today,....

....I'd still be forced to go. AND they'd track me down if I'd ditched.

Fuck you, Mr. GESTAPO (aka, Gustafson, who was the superintendent when I was in HS)!!

:grr: :mad:

[lonestarnot]

226. My roof rat would make bushitler look smart.

on edit: Sorry Swampie :hug:

[Swamp Rat]

231. LOL!

:hug:

[lonestarnot]

236. OMG! snort :roflmao:

[Occulus]

234. YES!!! Dammit, I'm NOT going to work today!

Oh, wait.... today's one of my days off.....

(Here's a fun experiment: stop fifty people on the street today and ask them if they've heard of today's "general strike". Go ahead. I dare you...)

[Freddie Stubbs]

235. It may be hard to find people to ask, as most are on strike

[Freddie Stubbs]

237. It doesn't look like this went very viral