The Bwog
Springtime...it's protest season!
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springBwog heard a high pitched, triangle-like pulse emanating from College Walk, and upon closer inspection, noticed that a funeral service being held for those killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. The protest is called "5 Years of Occupation, 5 Days of Action" and the leaders of the protest are marked by their stenciled red and black on white t-shirts. Coffins and petitions currently surround the Sun Dial as a girl stands at a microphone reciting dates and numbers dead.

If that mini-gong is bothering you, however, don't hold your breath. The last time Bwog checked, the readers were still on April 2003 and a single pulse is going towards every person who has died so far. And depending on which report they believe, there have been between 104,000 and 1,446,063 deaths since the invasion.

-JJV

See also: Iraq, Protests, Spring

April 21, 2008 @ 1:16 PM | Comments 45 comments | Add comment Post a comment | Link to this article | | | Share on Facebook

Posted by hmm: #1 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:22 PM (from campus)
protest season : protesters :: deer season : deer

?
Posted by annoying: #2 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:25 PM (from campus)
hahahha funny analogy, and yes that gonging is very very annoying!
Posted by extremely annoying: #3 (in reply to #2) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:38 PM (from campus)
isn't there anyway to make them stop...the sound is extremely irritating
Posted by abe vigoda: #4 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:40 PM (from campus)
jesus christ it's a lion get in the car
Posted by raul castro: #5 (in reply to #4) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:41 PM (from campus)
there's no cars in africa, only aids. AIDS.
Posted by EAL: #6 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:48 PM (from campus)
Can't the silly leftists just shut up and enjoy the weather like everyone else?
Posted by observer: #7 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:49 PM (from campus)
And perhaps not coincidentally, in many states, turkey season has also begun.
Posted by damn: #8 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 1:50 PM (from campus)
end this fucking war
Posted by about: #9 (in reply to #8) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 2:04 PM (from campus)
to say that myself. Sorry you guys have to listen to a gong for a little while. I imagine the sound is more pleasant than that of a car bomb.
Posted by if the war: #10 (in reply to #3) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 2:27 PM (from campus)
was stopped, then not only would *you* not have to be annoyed by protests, but *iraqis and us soldiers* would not have to keep dying by the thousand! maybe we could work towards that?
Posted by but: #11 (in reply to #10) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 3:15 PM (from campus)
Nobody on campus has the power to stop the war. Even Vietnam lasted more than 5 years after 1968.
Posted by Why couldn't: #12 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 3:31 PM
they have held their breaths one second for every death? Uncommitted pussies.

Posted by Ugh: #13 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 3:32 PM (from campus)
Ok, this is a university folks...I'm here to study. You might want to stand on your soapbox (no matter how noble the cause) but some of us are trying to prepare for finals. This is rude and perhaps could be called a public disturbance?
Posted by Ugh Part II: #14 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 3:33 PM (from campus)
Ok, seriously, it's difficult to study in the Star library because of this...
Posted by star library: #15 (in reply to #14) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 3:40 PM (from campus)
sucks. it's hot and smelly.
Posted by what: #16 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 4:12 PM (from campus)
is star library
Posted by it's: #17 (in reply to #16) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 4:22 PM (from campus)
east asian
Posted by also: #18 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 4:22 PM (from campus)
it's starr.
Posted by right: #19 (in reply to #10) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 4:23 PM (from campus)
i'm sure bush and his cabinet are sitting in washington now, saying "Columbia University students are angry about the war? Shit, we better pull out."

Shut the fuck up and go do your homework, pussy. No amount of bitching is going to end the war.
Posted by Confucius: #20 (in reply to #19) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Fuck you and your homework.

To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned, is that not the mark of a noble man.
Posted by Confusion: #21 (in reply to #20) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 5:24 PM (from campus)
Fuck YOU if you think pounding a gong like a retarded monkey for six straight hours and annoying everyone around you within a one mile radius is somehow "noble"!
Posted by man: #22 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 5:37 PM (from campus)
4/21 carries a vastly larger hostile atmosphere when compared to 4/20...
Posted by question: #23 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 5:39 PM (from campus)
It would probably be better just to ask the protesters this, but I was wondering why they chose to include deaths of Iraqis caused by car bombs and other violence not perpetrated by U.S. troops. I mean, I understand that if this was a general protest against war and all the deaths it causes why those would be included. But they also use the word "occupation" on their poster, and with other Columbia Coalition Against the War (or whatever) events in the past, it strikes me as more of an anti-U.S. in Iraq thing. If that's the case, and I don't mean to sound crass, the deaths of innocent Iraqis because of other Iraqis or outside insurgents wouldn't count.
Posted by Funny: #24 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 6:40 PM (from campus)
I bet none of these tools know a single person who has lost their life in Iraq. I bet none of them know a damn thing other then what propagandists and their professors tell them.

Every time I see a group like this use a picture or a name to try to stir something up I'm disgusted. All they care about is the numbers. All they care about is their own beliefs. They really give two shits about the people they're talking about.

This is why college protests are idiotic. They're protesting a world they know nothing about.
Posted by As far as I know: #25 (in reply to #23) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:03 PM (from campus)
They are reading the names of all Iraqi citizens (whose names have been recorded) and U.S. troops killed in the war, including those killed by car bombs. The reading of the names is organized by a group of Anthropology grad students, not CCAW (although, they are obviously taking part in it).

Posted by breaking news!!!!!: #26 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:28 PM (from campus)
From cnn.com:

"Upon learning that a handful of Columbia undergrads were banging a gong, President Bush has ordered the commencement of peace talks in Iraq."

Good job guys!!!!
Posted by clearly: #27 (in reply to #26) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:31 PM (from campus)
this particular protest isn't going to end the war. but neither are the politicians, if 5 years is anything to go by. the question is, do we stand up and start making noise and try to build a movement that can actually end the war, or do we whine about the people who are?
Posted by well: #28 (in reply to #24) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:33 PM (from campus)
some of us (not me) have family in iraq. others, including me, have friends there or about to go there.

so why don't you take your idiotic condescension and shove it up your ass?
Posted by ... to be clear: #29 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:37 PM (from campus)
in calling for an end to the war i speak for myself, not the event. some participants in the event are not in favor of quick US withdrawal, just in favor of remembering the fallen. which is why im surprised this is controversial, though i guess re bwog comments i shouldn't be.
Posted by DHI: #30 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 7:56 PM (from campus)
Ain't that a chime and not a gong?

Sounded like a chime.
Posted by yuck: #31 · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 9:54 PM (from campus)
our government is engaged in a war that's killed hundreds of thousands, and we haven't stopped it. if these deaths shouldn't be disturbing our studies, then they should be haunting our sleep.
Posted by oh please: #32 (in reply to #31) · reply · track
April 21, 2008 at 11:35 PM (from campus)
you are so full of shit. i don't believe for a second that any part of ANY war has ever kept you from sleeping. Get your pretentious ass back down to earth.
Posted by don't assume: #33 (in reply to #32) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 12:28 AM (from campus)
that your apparent indifference is universal. i dunno about #31, but i've been kept up at night thinking about what i can or should do more than once...
Posted by columbia: #34 · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 12:56 AM
I know some people in Iraq. I hate how people assume that everyone at Columbia is extremely rich from a bubble town of extremely rich people. Yea, I realize that a lot of people are, but it can be annoying to those who aren't.

I haven't really had the inclination to participate but for those people who do, good for them. It is kind of sad that something that the majority of campus agrees on (that the war should end) ends up being so divisive (in terms of whether there should be a protest, how it should be run, etc). I would like to be more involved in social issues/activism at Columbia, but it seems to always end up being so dramatic (whether the extremists and moderate/liberals can get along, whether the protest is disturbing someone's Butler party) that I lose interest. I also feel less incined since there were already protests last year and there seems to be much less energy for it this year.
Posted by Reality Check: #35 · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 1:55 AM (from campus)
Just because someone doesn't stay up at night thinking about how to stop the war does not mean he or she is indifferent. There is a huge difference opposing the war and being a pretentious, melodramatic douche about it. You fall into the latter category, as do today's protesters.
Posted by Reality Check #2: #36 (in reply to #35) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 1:56 AM (from campus)
Woops: #35 is directed at #33.
Posted by But: #37 (in reply to #35) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 2:20 AM (from campus)
there is such a thing as passive acceptance, and considering that the vast majority of Columbia students (and in turn Bwog commenters), whether for or against the war, will not serve even 1 in the U.S. military.

Those who explicitly support the war will only serve as back-seat drivers and will send their financially-disadvantaged American brethren to die in another country.

Those who oppose the occupation but are too caught up in their own studies and snarky Bwog comments to do anything about it consider enlisting in the military a sign of support for the war when in reality their own passiveness has already condoned the mission. Do those people really think that everyone in the military is happy about the war, the subsequent occupation, and the way that it has been conducted? Are they really so condescending? Some of the most intelligent criticisms (and defenses) of the war have been lodged by members of the military.

Bring back the draft so that these snarky sons of bitches can understand the costs of war, so that they will be more wary of the battles they call for, and so that they will be more politically engaged to protest missions they abhor.
Posted by Hehe: #38 · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 2:30 AM (from campus)
Thought this was relevant:

[external link to www.marriedtothesea.com]
Posted by protest?: #39 · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 3:10 AM (from campus)
Let's stop calling these people "protesters". They are "demonstrators". The point of the names reading is to HONOR those who have died.
Posted by protesters: #40 (in reply to #39) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 3:41 AM
They are protesters because they are left-wing. If they were Republicans, then they would be peaceful demonstrators respectfully honoring our troops.
Posted by False: #41 (in reply to #40) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 8:30 AM (from campus)
On this campus, are you for real? Anyway, they're protesters. If they really wanted to simply honor those who have died, they could have done it without the coffins and t-shirts.
Posted by Ok...: #42 · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 8:35 AM (from campus)
So what exactly have you *done* about the fact that you allegedly oppose the war? If at *some hypothetical point* you decided to act, what kind of action do *you* think would be productive? What visible sign of sorrow at the war is acceptable (rather than "pretentious", "melodramatic", and "douche-y") to you?

Forgive me if I suspect based on long experience of the gap between Columbia's alleged liberalism and its rather small number of activists that the true answers to these questions are "nothing", "none", and "none" respectively. Let's be real. If your concern were really with the form of the demonstration rather than the very fact of demonstration, you'd be expressing it in some forum other than Bwog comments.
Posted by ....: #43 (in reply to #42) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 8:36 AM (from campus)
that was in reply to #35
Posted by new poster: #44 (in reply to #42) · reply · track
April 22, 2008 at 12:07 PM (from campus)
Claiming that this is not a liberal campus because there's not a majority of war-protesting activists is stupid.

Do you even read what you post?
Posted by did: #45 · reply · track
April 23, 2008 at 1:36 AM (from campus)
i make that claim? did you even read what i posted? you're under no obligation to, of course, but it might be smart to if you want to comment on it.
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