Reader-submitted protest reports:
· I was in Rock Center at noon today to see if there were any disturbances to report (I was particularly hoping someone would smash the windows and storm the Today Show). Alas, the plaza around the ice skating was full of people sunning themselves and cops. Lots of cops. Lounging around and on horseback. They're the only ones who took the whole thing seriously, apparently.

· There were a bunch of kids (they looked about 16) with trashcans blocking Broadway at Prince when I was walking to work this morning. I have no idea why Broadway and Prince, or why trashcans. Did a quick check to make sure that my little brother wasn't with them, got annoyed, took a leaflet, which was surprisingly sober, considering the colossal retardation of the protest itself. They compare themselves to the Boston Tea Party, the Suffragette movement, and Martin Luther King. Well, hmmm. If I remember correctly, and I do, the Boston Tea Party was protesting a TEA monopoly, the Suffragettes chained themselves to the workplaces of the legislators who were denying them the vote, and Martin Luther King encouraged people to boycott or sit in at the places where their rights were being violated. (Busses, coffeeshops,
etc.) All these were directed protests against internal policies. Last time I checked, Jersey drivers trying to get to H & M were not the primary aggressors in the war on Iraq. Of course, that was at eight this morning, so that may have changed.
· Sure there were people there from this group of which you speak, M27 or whatever. But they were definitely in the minority and I didn't see any of their signs or anything. In the majority of protestors were brillaint and tough old ladies, lots of people in suits who had stopped on their way to work (myself included), kids from high school, Muslim groups, all kinds of people. I don't think any protest is going to get through to the people who make the decisions in this country. They don't care.
· 9:20 - Fifth Ave near Rock Center was shut down, protesters lying in the streets, helicopters overhead, barricades up, police in riot gear arriving by the busload.
10:53 - Business as usual - traffic flowing - construction workers removing the barricades, most protesters gone. The scene was quiet except for one protester yelling on the corner - I walked closer to hear his anti-war message. Turns out he had just gotten punched in the face by some random passerby who then ran off down the street. The protester was screaming at the cops to go get the guy who hit him, but, I don't think the cops saw who did it...cause they didn't seem to be giving chase. Eventually the pacifist ran down the street the (presumably) non-pacifist.