Monday, January 13, 2003

Dereliction of Duty!
With so much good wingnuttery these days, I have been neglecting Saddam's Streakers and missed the SF Chronicle exposing A cheeky protest - Bay Area anti-war activists go nude in surge of creative vigils:
Even as U.S. troops inch toward the Persian Gulf for a possible war with Iraq, anti-war activists say it can be difficult to rally outrage or media interest back home. So a group of Marin County women has resorted to the ultimate attention grabber: getting nude.

Since November, more than 200 women -- calling themselves Unreasonable Women Baring Witness -- have used their naked bodies to spell out anti-war slogans on three sites: a Marin beach, ball field and dung-laden pasture.
They must have felt right at home!
Longtime activists say the Unreasonables are only one of a growing number of peace vigils springing up across the Bay Area. In most cases, the vigilists are performing small gestures of public devotion to a cause they see as being overlooked.

Whether it's Singing for Peace serenading BART riders or a man beaming a PowerPoint message on an Interstate 580 overpass, homegrown activists are taking their message to the streets. They are bypassing mainstream media outlets they say are ignoring their pleas for a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi crisis. They're tired of pundits accepting war as a foregone conclusion and giving little airtime to diplomatic solutions.
I wonder if they have different mainstream media outlets out there on the left coast? Besides, I thought they were all listening to Pacifica anyway.
Inspired by anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott and a group of Nigerian women -- who stared down Chevron officials there last summer by threatening to disrobe unless village conditions improved -- Sheehan and the Unreasonables will be among the tens of thousands expected to attend a large anti-war march in San Francisco this Saturday.
Yeah, ole Helen was into this a few years back, but her being naked in public has been banned by the Geneva Convention. As for the Nigerian ladies, they were a tad grumpy because all the oil loot was going to the crooks in Nigeria's capital and they managed to get Chevron to slip 'em a few bucks not to get naked. Likely not a bad investment, except it is now enshrined amongst the wingnuts.

As for the big hoedown this weekend, I'm sure it will prove to be a target-rich environment. Can you say "goose bumps"?