Finally, Reportage on the April 15 Peace Marches:



There were millions and millions of people on the street two weekends ago, and they weren't kicking Firefighters in the kidneys because the Raiders sucked at the Superbowl-- they actually had a purpose. The Bush administration was given notice that it shouldn't even think of starting a preemptive war on Iraq.



My boss was in Rome that weekend. I work at an international gay organization. The last time I was in Rome with my boss we were organizing a conference on fundamentalism and homophobia in concordance with the World Pride 2000 festivities, for which Rome saw the most rainbow flags in its streets ever... thanks to the rainbow flag inventor Gilbert bringing about a ton of flags for people to carry... My boss and I marched with Gilbert and watched how moved he was to see how Rome had adopted his symbol. If only he had been there on April 15. 1.5 million (by police) to 3 mil (by organizers) were counted in the streets of Rome, most of them with their happy little rainbow flag in hand.



Here is my transcription of comments by my boss when I asked him about his experience in Rome that day:

Almost everyone in Rome had rainbow flags with the word "pace" in white on it. The whole city was there. Even people who came from outside Rome had the flag with "pace" on it. It was really organized. I went to buy bread and the lady in the shop asked if I was there for the march. There were people from all over the country who had come. There were no problems with the police. Rome almost always has protests of about 1 million people, every week, for organic farming and stuff. But this was the largest ever protest in Rome. It was a very festive atmosphere. People were singing, everyone said they had a good time. It was about three miles, but they kept changing the route on the way because it was too many people to keep on the route they originally planned, which was too short. They kept going around different blocks to get people to be able to walk instead of just standing- the people who came later had to walk a long way. It was pretty cold, about 45 F -- a lot of people had the rainbow flags wrapped around them. I don't know how they had decided on the rainbow flag. The Catholic Church was one of the main catalysts for getting people to march. Maybe it was a gay person on the organizing committee and the church didn't realize. Everyone seemed really happy. They all had their rainbow flags with them, even the people coming in from the country on the train. There aren't usually very many rainbow flags in Rome, even in June (Gay Pride Month). Everyone put their rainbow flag outside their window in their apartments later. Well, 90% of the people in the Catholic Church in Rome are gay, anyway. It's either lesbian nuns or gay priests who probably decided- hey let's have a rainbow flag!

Yay gay nuns and priests for peace! Now, a little reportage from a SlackerStalker reporter who was in the field in NYC April 15:

One of the cheeriest sights was the Glamericans, with their eye-searing wigs and Fifties movie-star sunglasses, chanting "Money for shopping, not bomb-dropping!" and carrying signs like "PEACE - It's the New Black!" and "War is tacky, darling!" One arresting individual in rhinestone shoulder pads and a Godawful yellow feather headdress had a sequined sign that said, "Honey, I *am* the bomb!"

Look at (and read about) the Glamericans on their website --unfortunately the photos seem to be only from the DC protest, which was more frozen and therefore more bundled in wool, therefore less glamorous.



And... a Little Bonus Bloggito...

A Nonpolitical but yet Irresistable Language Builder Moment with the SlackerStalker

A tip of the hat to my women witches' mailing list, which is full of linguists who have been plagueing us with these sorts of questions lately.



1. What are the two words (in mainstream usage) in English which end in "-gry"?



2. Everyone knows there is no English rhyme for the English word "orange." What is the other word which is both a noun and an adjective (describing a color) for which there is no rhyme?



3. What is the one very-American-English-sounding word American English has borrowed from Quechua, the language of the Incas, and is still spoken today in Peru? (Hint One: "ts?arky" is how it's pronounced, with "?" being a glottal stop; Hint Two: it passed into English via cowboys who had contact with the indigenous people.)



4. What is a word borrowed from Chinese-- specifically Guangdonghua/ Cantonese-- for a common food item, that is not generally recognized as a loan word? (Hint: for the Prarie Home Companion listeners-- it has "natural mellowing agents." But now you all know the answer.)