Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

As tweeted: on equinox, marking 7 years of war on Iraq, walked with 20 people to remind town we're occupying a couple countries and ruining lives.

From the common where the vigil always is to the army labs. No blockade, no action. Police facilitating our crossing at intersections.

And media representation - somehow i ended up talking to the press about PWGD and Visions Unite!

Well, here's an e-mail i just wrote on the topic:

Walked in a commemoration and protest of seven years of war on Iraq, from
the usual vigil spot on Natick common to the army labs today, with 20 people
from area peace groups and veterans against war.

Unfortunately i was probably correctly pegged and sought out as the youngest
adult there by a couple reporters. I was sorry to disappoint them with my
current age, but on the other hand the birthday was very nice!

Somehow, with both reporters, we started talking about People Who Give a
Damn / Visions Unite ideas. The what else do you do and what effect do you
hope to have questions led right to it.

Having a presence is important, i said, because people who want the wars to
end - a solid majority according to poorly-publicized polls - need to know
that others feel the same way. The next step of changing passive sentiment
to action - on any of the issues that face us - would, however, seem to need
richer communication among people self-identifying as caring and wanting to
take action. If important messages could be chosen and credible plans for
action formed by such loose groups, people in the broader caring public
could and would get involved when they have reason to believe their actions
would make things closer to the way they want things to be.

I realized talking to them that even though i think media is a big part of
the problem, reporters who care about the work they do - which is most of
them - are going to be very receptive to any proposed solution that tries to
get news that matter to people.