Finalizing plans for DC protest on Oct. 25 — Please check in here

[prolesunited]

Here's the list of DUers who will be joining us in D.C. It's going to be quite a crew, especially since some of these folks will have friends and family in tow. Those with a star by their name will be getting together for dinner on Friday night.

amen1234*
ann_coulter_is_a_man
AWD
bluedeminredstate
boilerbabe
CheshireCat
DancingBear
demnan
deutsey
displacedtexan
ed_vadem*
Fatima
gristy
idontwantaname
jab105*
JohnKleeb
jonnyblitz
kimchi
LeahMira
liberalhistorian
lizerdbits
LynneSin
Monica_L
MountainLaurel*
NJCher
northzax*
nostamj
Oaf of Office*
RainDog
ribofunk
Sagatious8
screembloodymurder
SpikeTrees
tlcandie
tokenlib
veganwitch
youngred*

Haven't confirmed with these people who expressed an interest.
frank frankly
FreedomSpirit
goldilox369
IkeWarnedUs
lanlady
Woodstock

Check your inboxes because you should have received a few details that we don't want posted on the public board. If I missed you or you want to be added to the list, just PM me and let me know.

About half of you already gave me your cell phone numbers. If you haven't, you might want to consider it in case there are problems on Saturday and I need to get ahold of you.

Here's the weekend weather forecast:
Fri., Oct 24
Sunny 58°/42°

Sat., Oct 25
Partly Cloudy
63°/47°

Sun., Oct 26
Mostly Cloudy
67°/55°

You can check here for updates:
http://www.weather.com/

Here's the logistics page from ANSWER for more details on things such as parking and transportation:
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/o25/logistics.html

WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING
Bring snacks and water, and wear comfortable shoes since you'll be standing and walking for several hours.

MountainLaurel had these suggestions:
As for the backpack, I'm the anal sort, so I'd also bring your favorite pain reliever in case of headache or sinus attack and some quick snackage: Odwalla bars, fruit that doesn't bruise easily, etc. Now that the U.S. is limiting who can park their hot dog mobiles where, it's sometimes more difficult to find cheap food near the Mall. Oh, and a personal fave: hand sanitizer and/or tissues, for the Porta-Johns.

Don't forget your signs and cameras!

So have we covered all of the bases? Veteran protesters are welcome to chime in with any advice or tips. What are your signs going to say?

Looking forward to an awesome weekend and meeting all of you!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[JohnKleeb]

1. Ok I got the PM

Cant make it for dinner Friday night nor did I expect to.

[newyawker99]

2. kick

:kick:

[youngred]

3. Hope to see you all Satruday

looks like a great group

[nostamj]

4. checking in......... kicking..........

looking forward to meeting everyone....

the tall guy with the DU cap (adorned with ?W buttons) and short grey beard will be me...........

[spooky3]

5. Wow--what a fantastic job of organizing!

I hope you guys get on the news and that you have a great time!

[jonnyblitz]

6. here proles :) n/t

[goddess40]

7. DC protest

I will be there along with my son and mother. Can't meet for dinner Friday as we will still be on the bus. We are coming from Wisconsin.
Hope we bump into some of you.

[prolesunited]

8. I hope so, too!

You know where we'll be and you have my number. Have a safe trip!

[diamond14]

29. Welcome to Wisconsin...Hi Mom !!! we'll love all Moms....

the weather is looking good, the planning is all coming together...they'll be plenty of vehicles and march coordinators if you get tired and need to rest....

here's a nice place for Mom to rest...the National Gallery of Art, outdoor Sculpture Gardens...it's on the south east corner of 9th and Constitution ....we'll walk right by it, just after going around the Justice Department (large building with 10 foot high chain-link and barbed wire fencing)...

there's this nice restaurant at the Outdoor Sculpture Gardens (where you can get coffee, salads, sandwiches, wine)



and a fountain


lots of beautiful plants/trees
and here's a small example of the outdoor modern art scultures

[Atlant]

9. You should definitely bring...

You mentioned it, but I believe it deserves more stress:
you should definitely bring a camera or camcorder. They
help to keep the authorities in line and will also provide
wonderful memories and photos to share with the rest of us!

Atlant

[prolesunited]

19. I'll definitely be bringing my camera

and posting LOTS of pictures when I get back.

[AWD]

10. Checking in now

My bus leaves Friday night at 11pm from Akron...I'll be there most of Saturday.

However, I am waiting to hear back from a few congresspeople on a possible Saturday meeting. If it happens, I'll be around for Saturday night.

[nostamj]

11. ???

:kick:

i will have a *limited* supply of ? buttons with me...

[deutsey]

12. Yow!

Isn't this some sort of DU record?

:thumbsup:

[prolesunited]

13. I think so!

A new world's record for the most DUers in a single location. :D

BTW, we need to add ShimokitaJer and his wife to the list. Welcome aboard! :hi:

[ShimokitaJer]

16. Thanks.

I can't wait to put some faces to all these screen names.

[Oilwellian]

14. You KNOW I'll be there!

I'm leaving Roanoke around 1:00 PM Friday and should be arriving around 4:00 PM. It also looks like my youngest son is coming with me. Have a safe trip everyone and look forward to meeting everyone. :hi:

[prolesunited]

15. You better be!

;-)

I'm going to the Holocaust Museum in the afternoon, so I may not be back when you arrive, but you have the confirmation number and I'll already have checked in.

See you Friday! :hi:

[nostamj]

17. kick

missing a few checkins.....

[prolesunited]

18. New additions to the list are

short bus president and dolo amber.

There's still time to join the party! :party:

[nuxvomica]

20. I'll be there with a few other board members

We'll probably not arrive in town till the morning. Maybe I'll put a DU sticker on my sign.

[jonnyblitz]

21. thats what i did.. DU sticker on my sign.

People will spot it! Look for mine when you get there! :HI:

[nuxvomica]

24. Will do

:kick:

[nostamj]

22. Constitution Ave & 17th Street

@ 10:30 is the meet-up spot (if you didn't see earlier posts)

DUers should be there until 11AM (others will move the to rally site to secure a spot)

not bringing signs but will be wearing my DU cap!

[prolesunited]

23. Great!

Who's coming with you? I'll PM you with some more info.

See you Saturday! :hi:

[nuxvomica]

25. Got your PM

I'll be there with 2, maybe 3 other guys. We're working very hard on the 3rd guy so keep your fingers crossed. :hi:

[Terwilliger]

26. Woooo Hoooo!! Looks like a great big to-DU!!

:bounce:

[prolesunited]

27. Add KG to the list!

I'll be offline after today, so speak up now! You're going to be kicking yourself if you read about what a great time we had and you didn't join us if it was possible.

[KG]

28. thanks for warning them, p.

got my hair cut, my truck fixed, and a new set of shades! :smoke:

[prolesunited]

30. Sorry!

Was it supposed to be a surprise? ;-) Definitely sounds like you are ready to roll! So, what about dinner on Friday?

[thebigidea]

31. Me!

I'll be there, along with a full Warholian entourage, many Rumsfeldian masks, many cameras, much pent-up ANGER and ridiculous ideas for directing it.

[prolesunited]

32. Did you want to hook up with us?

Let me know and I'll PM you more info.

[thebigidea]

33. we may be getting in slightly late, but not if I can help it

though do pm.

even in a crowd of a million or so, I've a feeling we'll stick out like sore and sour thumbs! Probably the dead giveaway would be a deformed Poppy Bush dragged off by Homeland Security to the tune of "Stars and Stripes Forever"

[prolesunited]

36. Here you go!

Ack

Meant to do a PM. Nobody saw that, right??!!?

[Zorra]

34. Consider wearing a disguise.

Wearing a bandanna over your face, and wearing sunglasses makes it more difficult for "authorities" to profile protestors when they film and photograph them.

Wearing disguises is an act of protest in itself, and can help raise public awareness about the dangers of the Patriot Act and the continuing assault on our civil liberties.

Consider this:

The April 2 bulletin from the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center (CATIC) arguably offered more innuendo than actual evidence of protesters' intent to "shut down" the port and possibly act violently.

CATIC spokesman Mike Van Winkle said such evidence wasn't needed to issue warnings on war protesters.

"You can make an easy kind of a link that, if you have a protest group protesting a war where the cause that's being fought against is international terrorism, you might have terrorism at that (protest)," said Van Winkle, of the state Justice Department. "You can almost argue that a protest against that is a terrorist act."

In fact, CATIC -- touted as a national model for intelligence sharing and a centerpiece of Gov. Gray Davis and Attorney General Bill Lockyer's 2002 re-election bids -- has quietly gathered and analyzed information on activists of various stripes almost since its creation.

"They've done it since Day One," said a Bay Area counterterrorism official.

Mark Schlosberg, director of police policy practices for the ACLU-Northern California, called Van Winkle's remarks "just shocking.

"First of all, it's disturbing that protest information is being gathered and distributed out of a counterterrorism center," he said.

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~28473~1400012,00.html

[thebigidea]

35. consider appearing as the angel of death

[prolesunited]

37. More additions!!!

unidentifiedbassplayer is joining us for dinner Friday and IkeWarnedUs will be arriving by bus. It's not too late to join us!

[proud patriot]

38. Have fun East coasters , I'll be in SF

We march ! :-)

[prolesunited]

39. First we rally

then we march. Nice to know DUers have the country covered coast to coast.

Hope you all have fun, too! Take lots of pictures and post them.

[youngred]

40. Cannot wait

if people need to contact someone in DC on Friday I'm available.

[prolesunited]

41. GMTA!

When I saw your name I was just thinking about reminding you that you were in charge on Friday. I'll start one last thread tonight before I go to bed.
:hi:

[AWD]

42. Add one more....

I'm bringing along my friend Elizabeth. She works in the National HQ for Dennis Kucinich's presidential campaign.

[prolesunited]

43. Great!

See you Saturday! :hi:

[Sagatious8]

44. checking in

Still planning to come with the kiddos, although I will have to leave once they tucker out.

[Terwilliger]

45. can I...

kick?

[KoKo]

46. "Good Thoughts & Wishes" to all of you! Will be here in NC but with you

in SPIRIT! Take those pictures.....and send them back to those of us who couldn't be there. I've been to all the local protests....and am thinking about you at the BIG ONE!

:loveya:

[prolesunited]

47. I'll be taking PLENTY of pictures

to share with everyone. I've got 128k, 64k and 16k memory sticks for my camera and I'm sure I will fill them up. I won't be back until late Sunday night, though.

We will be marching for everyone here that is unable to join us.

[qanda]

48. Count me in!

My sister and I will be at the march (not sure what time). I will also be bringing my two little ones. Should I look for you guys at a certain location? Let me know.

[nostamj]

49. pbl.... up to 11AM

you can connect with the DU Crew at 17th & Constitution Ave.

another group will move to a spot near the rally around 10:30

there's signage and cell phone to help coordinate joining up the early and late arrivals.

if you haven't gotten the "off-forum" PM yet, you probably will!

:bounce: this will be very cool....

[qanda]

50. Thanks

I look forward to meeting all of you good people.

[prolesunited]

51. Check your inbox!

There's still time to get in on the action. :bounce:

[RainDog]

52. Looking forward to meeting everyone

Hey proles, do you still have that photo of the signs Salin and I were carrying? (not the one with the big banner...the one with Bush as Alfred E. Newman, etc.

anyway, I'll get carrying the same sign(s) with a DU bumper sticker added...and who knows what else.

can't wait to see TheBigIdea's street theater...sort of like early Halloween! :)

[prolesunited]

54. I still have it

somewhere on my hard drive at home, but I'm at work right now. If you have any trouble just call us. But judging by the size of the DU contingent we've got going, I'm sure we'll be hard to miss. :D

See you Saturday! :hi:

[Blue_Tires]

56. I'll be there...

What about the dinner plans on friday night?

[Ilsa]

53. Thank you one and all...

wish I could go. Add me to your signage. Hope all goes well, no blisters.

I haven't been to a protest in ten years (in Dallas), and that was for the right to choose. Too bad we still have to protest for that.

[Terwilliger]

55. another Thursday night

kick!

[frank frankly]

57. still working on it

I hope to meet all of you there...

:hi:

[Lizz612]

58. I'm gonna be there!!!

And I am so freakin excited!!!! Just think my 3rd real protest will be in DC!!
I'll be in khakis a green tank, a grey sweatshirt from my college a blue backpack with buttons and a peace flag patch. Oh and a yellow sign that will say something, I don't know what yet but I have lots of yellow paper.
A bunch of us from my college are coming up, unfortunately we wont be there till 11:30 maybe a bit later.

edit: spelling

[dccindy]

59. Add my name

I live in DC, so if anyone needs a place to crash, let me know. Also where are people meeting for dinner tonight ? [e-mail]