[Peace] P4P parking

[Randall Cotton]

> 1. If Lowes is now towing, where is it safe to park? What's the best
> bus line out to N. Prospect? (say, from downtown champaign)?

The consensus seems to be that we should just spread out, avoiding the area
directly in front of Lowe's and, of course, Tires Plus. Some have advocated
parking at the lots of vacated block-store properties on Anthony drive such
as the old Menards and and old Best Buy, but I haven't personally explored
these myself.

As far as buses go, the MTD has a nice website with maps and schedules at
www.cumtd.com. Looks like the yellow line might be the best bet from
downtown Champaign. I'd recommend approaching P4P from the north side (and
the yellow line would let you do this). If you come up from the south side
(say, by taking the grey line to bloomington and prospect), you'll have to
pass through any counter-protestors, which might be particularly unpleasant
if you're carrying an "Impeach Bush" sign =8-)

> 2. What slogans (for signs) seem most appropriate at this point in
> the "war"? I'm all for "Impeach Bush," but I'm thinking that kind of
> thing might just make people mad at us, which probably isn't our goal.

Ultimately, of course, it should be the individual's decision. There are
pros and cons to any slogan. In our AWARE-endorsed introductory help sheet
for P4P, we say:

"We are counting on people to be responsible about making signs and props.
We hope that they will be in keeping with the spirit of the protest, which
is to educate and appeal to a broad audience. If a sign is extreme or
potentially offensive, it could repel people who might otherwise be swayed
by our demonstration or who might otherwise be inspired to join us. But
while we ask demonstrators to give this serious thought when creating signs
and props, we are generally opposed to rules which censor content or stifle
creativity."

As you suggest, "Impeach Bush" probably leans a bit toward the extreme, and,
as you suggest, it's likely to turn off many, if not most, passers-by. But
at the same time, it's conceivable that it might flip a switch in the brain
of one passing anti-war driver so that they say to themselves - "You know, I
hadn't thought of that but that sounds like a pretty damn good idea!". It
depends on what you wish to achieve - do you want to plant a seed of doubt
in the mind of those that are generally supportive of the war? Do you want
to nudge people who are already opposed to the war to join us in
demonstration and other action? Do you want to encourage those who are
already outraged by this war to get involved in the movement to impeach
Bush? First, decide on an audience and a purpose - choosing a slogan should
come easy after that.

In recent weeks, especially due to the presence of counter-protestors, many
of us have chosen to make and carry signs which counter the false accusation
by supporters of the war (and especially those counter-protestors) that we,
as a group, are somehow opposed to our own soldiers because we are opposed
to the decision to go to war.  Of course, this is an ignorant
misunderstanding at best (and an underhanded smear at worst) - there's no
logical connection between the two and many of us are doing best to reverse
this misconception. The prototype slogan here is "Support our Troops - bring
them home". We're bringing more and more American flags out to the
demonstration as part of this effort as well.

In any case, we generally have lots of our own signs for folks to choose
from.

Hope to see you (and many others on this mailing list) on Saturday (and
especially the following Saturday, a key worldwide day of demonstration).

R