Revolution

Civil rights protesters converge on Jena

September 20th, 2007 4:33 pm


By Matthew Bigg / Reuters

JENA, Louisiana - Tens of thousands of black Americans descended on a small town in central Louisiana on Thursday to protest what they say is injustice against six black teenagers charged over a high school fight.

Protesters arrived in buses and cars from cities as far away and apart as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Orleans for a rally in support of the "Jena 6."

The case has become a symbol for many African Americans of a wider struggle against racism and perceived discrimination against black males by the criminal justice system.

"I came because enough is enough. I am tired of the way the courts have been treating African Americans historically," said Doug Martin, a computer analyst from New Orleans.

Most of the demonstrators were dressed in black. Some held banners reading "Free the Jena 6" and chanted "no justice, no peace, no racist police," while others lounged in lawn chairs or took pictures of each other.

By mid-afternoon, scores of buses departed the town as protesters began long journeys home.

Many said the rally, which was peaceful, was a success and gave young people an opportunity to participate in the activism associated with the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s.

The case stems from an incident in August of last year when three nooses were found hanging from a tree at the high school in the town of 3,000 northwest of New Orleans. Nooses have been seen as a symbol of racial lynchings of blacks.

Black residents said that incident stoked tension in the town and in December the teenagers were charged with assault after a white schoolmate was beaten up.

Charges against some of the boys were later raised to attempted murder, drawing accusations from protesters that they had been excessively charged. Those charges have since been reduced.

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

For many blacks the "Jena 6" has attained the status of a modern-day version of the incidents that punctuated the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Word about it has spread through the black community partly through syndicated radio shows by civil rights leader Al Sharpton and popular disc jockey Michael Baisden.

Several candidates for the Democratic nomination for president including Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards issued statements urging justice in the case. The candidates are vying for black votes.

The protest was originally timed to coincide with the sentencing of one of the students, Mychal Bell, convicted on charges including aggravated second-degree battery.

He was tried before an all-white jury which civil rights leaders said is itself evidence of discrimination.

This month the conviction was overturned, in part because Louisiana's Third Circuit Court ruled that he should not have been tried as an adult.

Prosecutor Donald Washington, U.S. attorney in the western district of Louisiana, said some facts of the case had been exaggerated. He said there was no direct link between the noose incident and the December fight, which he said was motivated by "male bravado" rather than race.

Some black community leaders in Jena said the case was an example of wider problems in the town, which they said was effectively segregated and had few opportunities for blacks more than 40 years after federal laws were passed to end segregation.

"Blacks live on one side of town. Whites live in another side of town. We live in a segregated city. We've done it all our lives. It's not something that we want but it's something we can't do anything about," said B.L. Morgan, pastor of Antioch church in the town and a rally organizer.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10250

Thousands protest in US race row

Tens of thousands of people have rallied in the small US town of Jena, Louisiana to protest against what they say is racial injustice.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A81CD4B9-4356-4BE6-BD8D-76FA25243D1F.htm



"This is the most blatant example of disparity in the justice system that we've seen"

Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights campaigner

Lib Dems call for 'surveillance society' to be curtailed
20 September 2007

The Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today backed measures to roll back the legislation that has turned Britain into a ?'surveillance society.'

The proposals include commitments for:

· The immediate repeal of the Identity Cards Act 2006

· The destruction of all DNA samples taken from those not charged or convicted of an offence

· Updating and amending the Data Protection Act

· The greater regulation of CCTV

· Review the role of the Information Commissioner


Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Clegg MP said:

"The Liberal Democrats will make the protection of traditional British liberties and personal privacy a major line of attack in the run up to the next general election. This country needs a champion of liberty now more than ever.

"Gordon Brown has attempted to make considerable political gain by striking a new tone on civil liberties, but in reality he remains wedded to an unchanged Blairite agenda that has seen an extraordinary erosion in the liberty of the British people.

"Britain has long distinguished itself by its liberal belief in the rights of the individual against the powers of the state. By stealth, this Government has given the state unprecedented snooping powers that affect each and every one of us. It is time that these powers were rolled back."


Full text of the motion reads:


The Surveillance Society

Conference notes:

i) The statement of the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas in November 2006 that ?'we are waking up to a surveillance society'.

ii) That an increasing amount of personal information is being held on individuals by public bodies, businesses and third-sector organisations.

iii) Concerns raised over the Passenger Name Records agreement between the EU and US.

iv) Widespread breaches in public and private sector database security in the UK and abroad.

v) The Identity Cards Act 2006, the creation of a National Identity Register, and proposals for wide ranging data-sharing powers within government.

vi) That the cost of the ID cards project continues to increase and that independent estimates show that the likely total cost could be as high as £19bn.

vii) The existence of the UK's National DNA database, the largest in the world, which includes data on over 140,000 innocent people, a disproportionate number of whom are from ethnic minorities.

viii) That thousands of schools are collecting biometric information such as fingerprints from pupils, often without parental consent.

ix) That CCTV is inadequately regulated, even though British people are currently the most watched on the planet, with a CCTV camera for approximately every 16 people.

x) That between 1 January 2005 and 31 March 2006, 439,000 requests for communications traffic data were made and 2,243 intercept warrants were issued and that the UK is alone amongst democratic countries in having warrants issued by ministers.

xi) That the Information Commissioner has no power to restrict data-mining and data-processing requests from government, has fewer powers than his European counterparts and has inadequate resources for investigation.

xii) The Government's intention to develop an electronic children's index (known as ContactPoint) which will contain entries for all young people under 18 regardless of parental consent.

Conference believes that:

A. Appropriately regulated databases bring many benefits to modern society, including providing quicker personalised services, quicker crime detection, and elimination of bureaucracy.

B. Emerging technologies can, and should, be used to enhance rather than compromise personal privacy both in the public and private sector.

C. The National DNA database is a powerful tool for combating crime but that only those guilty of a criminal offence should have their DNA permanently recorded on it.

D. Government data should be stored in decentralised databases that can communicate with each other on a need-to-know basis, not in shared data warehouses.

E. Citizens should have access to all data held about them, and see a complete log of access to that data by public servants, except where this would compromise national security or criminal investigations.

F. Citizens should be able to opt out of data-sharing schemes such as the NHS ?'spine' IT system.

G. Informed consent, from parents in the case of children, should be given before biometric data is taken outside the context of the immigration and criminal justice systems.

Conference therefore calls for:

1. Immediate repeal of the Identity Cards Act 2006.

2. Destruction of all DNA samples taken from those not charged or convicted of an offence.

3. The Data Protection Act to be updated and amended to reflect the nature of the modern surveillance society:

a) To ensure that all CCTV is subject to appropriate regulation.

b) To allow individuals to see any information held on them by public and private sector bodies and correct any errors they find.

c) To require public and private bodies promptly to inform individuals and the Information Commissioner's Office when personal information is either lost or unlawfully disclosed to third parties and to explain to the Information Commissioner what steps they are taking to prevent a reoccurrence, and to give the Information Commissioner the power to levy financial penalties if there are repeated breaches of database security.

d) To require government to give the Information Commissioner's Office notification in advance of data-processing and data-mining procedures, to give clear justifications for such processes and to give the Information Commissioner's Office the power to block such processes in exceptional circumstances.

4. A review of the funding of the Information Commissioner's Office, with increased powers of audit, the ability to ?'name and shame' data controllers who breach the Act and in serious cases to fine data controllers.

5. The Information Commissioner to report to a newly created Joint Privacy Committee of both Houses of Parliament, based on the model of the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee, which should also have the power to issue reports on the impact on privacy of all new bills.

6. Intercept warrants to be granted only after independent judicial authorisation.

7. Privacy impact statements to accompany all new bills and all changes to government data collection practices and IT systems.

8. The government to guarantee that any information it shares with other countries will be held in accordance with the law in the United Kingdom.

9. An independent review of ContactPoint by 2010 to ensure that it remains a tool to enhance service provision rather than an inappropriate means to monitor family life.

Applicability: this item refers to the UK.

http://www.libdems.org.uk/news/lib-dems-call-for-surveillance-society-to-be-curtailed.13187.html

UN warns Israel over 'enemy' Gaza

The UN has urged Israel to reconsider its decision to declare the Gaza Strip as an "enemy entity", warning that cutting vital services would violate international law.

The Israeli move to cut off the power, water and fuel supplies on which Gaza is almost entirely dependent was backed by the United States on Wednesday.

"Under no circumstances can Israel view it as an 'enemy entity'. Gaza is not an independent state, Gaza is under occupation"
Saeb Erekat,
senior Palestinian negotiator

Ban said 1.4 million people in Gaza, including the old, the very young and the sick were already suffering and "should not be punished for the unacceptable actions of militants and extremists".

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D5830001-C122-41F9-A88E-D05FC4C23B16.htm

Arms panel MP raps government over US inquiry into BAE
Haroon Siddique
Friday September 21, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The head of an influential parliamentary arms committee today said he was "very concerned" at the government's refusal to cooperate with the US criminal investigation into allegations of corruption against BAE Systems.

More than two months after the US justice department formally requested assistance in its investigation of Britain's biggest arms company, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has failed to pass on the request to the Serious Fraud Office.

The lack of action has led US investigators to believe that the British are obstructing the inquiry.

The Labour MP Roger Berry, chairman of the arms export select committee, said he found the government stance "difficult to understand".

"I am obviously very concerned about the report and the allegation," he told Guardian Unlimited.

"If it's true that the government is not responding positively to a request from a US investigation, it's an extremely unusual way to behave towards a major ally which has at least as much interest in the future of Saudi Arabia as the UK."

US investigators want access to files gathered by the SFO during its major inquiry into £1bn of payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia and into other bank accounts linked to the Saudi royal family.

Ms Smith's go-ahead is required before the SFO can cooperate.

The SFO was forced to drop its criminal investigation earlier this year by the then prime minister, Tony Blair, who said it would have damaged the UK relationship with the Saudi regime, and consequently posed a threat to British security interests.

However, Mr Berry said: "I was not convinced by that argument at the time, but it's even more difficult to be persuaded by the argument now, given that our major ally is trying to facilitate an investigation into alleged criminal activity."

He said it was imperative that the rule of law was upheld and that it was "applied equally".

"It's extremely difficult to understand," he said. "I hope the government will squash the rumour or for goodness sake explain what the reasoning is."

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) and the environmental organisation Corner House will go to the high court on November 9 in a bid to get the SFO to reopen its inquiry into BAE.

The CAAT spokesman Symon Hill said: "It's imperative that the UK hands over relevant information to the US inquiry but it's still imperative that the UK inquiry is reopened. This is a perfect opportunity for Gordon Brown to demonstrate his independence from Blair and that he won't allow the UK to be bullied by arms dealers."

The Home Office said its failure to pass on the request to the SFO was "not unprecedented" but could not give any example of similar behaviour.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2174258,00.html

Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad

September 21st, 2007 5:51 pm


By David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 ?- The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members, has become a powerful force in Democratic politics and the advertisement it paid for, which appeared in The New York Times, has come under sharp attack from Congressional Republicans and others as unpatriotic and impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, both Democratic candidates for president, voted against the resolution, which passed 72 to 25.

But curiously absent from the vote was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, also a Democratic candidate for president, who had canceled a campaign appearance in South Carolina so he could be in Washington for votes.

Mr. Obama issued a statement calling the resolution, put forward by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, "a stunt." Mr. Obama said, "By not casting a vote, I registered my protest against these empty politics."

Mr. Obama had voted minutes earlier in favor of an extremely similar resolution proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California.

Ms. Boxer's proposal, which failed, called for the Senate to "strongly condemn all attacks on the honor, integrity and patriotism" of anyone in the United States armed forces. It did not mention the MoveOn.org ad. Mr. Dodd and Mrs. Clinton also voted in favor of Ms. Boxer's proposal.

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, was in Iowa and did not vote.

At a White House news conference, President Bush called the advertisement disgusting and said it was an attack not only on General Petraeus but also on the entire American military.

"And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad," Mr. Bush said. "And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org ?- or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military."

Representative Thomas M. Davis III, Republican of Virginia, has urged the House to hold hearings on the MoveOn.org ad and to investigate whether The Times gave the group an improper discount. A New York Times Company spokeswoman has said that the group paid a standard "standby" rate.

MoveOn.org lashed out at Mr. Bush's comments and pledged to double its spending on ads criticizing Republican lawmakers for blocking efforts by Democrats to change the war strategy. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said, "What's disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10260




Join more than 3,000,000 members online, get instant action updates and make a difference.

http://www.moveon.org/

Monks step up Myanmar protests

Thousands of Buddhist monks have stepped up their campaign against Myanmar's military regime in one of the largest demonstrations in the country for nearly 20 years.

About 3,000 monks marched and prayed in the rain in the capital Yangon and the nation's second city Mandalay, witnesses said.
A crowd of more than 100 onlookers in Yangon clapped and smiled as they followed the march, witnesses said.

Soe Aung, a member of the National Council of the Union of Burma, an umbrella organisation for groups exiled from the country, told Al Jazeera: "People have supported them since day one ... especially in Mandalay and Rangoon."
Dozens of plainclothes security officials also walked along with the crowd, photographing the protesters and filming with video cameras, but there were no reports of violence.

Reprisals fear

The monks are deeply respected in Myanmar, a largely Buddhist country, and have become the standard-bearers for a protest movement that began a month ago following a massive increase in the price of fuel.

Saturday's protests were "peaceful," according to one witness, but more than 150 people have been arrested since the protests began, including two men said to have been sentenced to two years in prison for giving water to protesting monks.

Relatives said the pair were freed on Friday after 1,000 monks had marched in Sittwe threatening more protests unless they were released.

The monks have generally discouraged ordinary people from joining their processions for fear of reprisals against civilians and to ensure the protests remain peaceful.

A Buddhist group that says it is helping organise the protests called for nationwide prayer vigils beginning on Sunday.

"We ask every citizen to join our vigils," said a spokesman from the Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks, an underground Buddhist group.

Barefoot protest

The protests are becoming a daily occurance in Myanmar. Monks marched in seven cities across the country on Friday.

About 600 maroon-robed monks walked barefoot through the pouring rain for six hours surrounded by ordinary people who joined hands to form a protective ring around them in the biggest demonstration.
Late on Friday, activists, both monks and dissidents, made appeals on Myanmar-language foreign radio services for the public to join the monks in protest.
Representatives of foreign-based Christian and Islamic groups also called on their followers to support to the monks.

The monks have not chanted anti-government slogans during their marches, but carried an upside-down alms bowl, a widely-recognised symbol of protest in Myanmar.
The protests have become the most sustained challenge to Myanmar's military rulers since a wave of student demonstrations that were forcibly suppressed in December 1996.



People joined hands to form a protective ring
around the monks [AFP]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F649F281-F993-41BD-AF9F-11C1552CCACB.htm

(Columbus Circle-NYC)

American Microcosm:
Thirsty? Bottled water for a drink...
Laundry? Public Fountain for a sink....
Homeless? Laden, weary...on the brink


(Endy- I think this picture just encapsulates the strata of our society- not only here in America- I also saw the same thing in England- and not only in London...)

As an aside: I got this shot (above) totally as a fluke. I'm still using my broken camera-the LCD window is shattered, so I can't see what I've gotten until I download them and I have to put my eye directly to the viewfinder to frame the picture. I still use it, because I'm more comfortable with it, and I find that I've become a better photographer by dealing with it's deficiencies. But as well as those issues, there's this other little problem with it that dictates that for every picture I want to zoom in for, I have to first click a wider shot, and only after that it will zoom- I don't know why- but that's the way my camera works now and it's provided me with some much more interesting shots than I had first planned for. You know what they say, out of adversity comes strength.
This was the shot I wanted:



but I think the other one actually tells a much more interesting story.

It was just so interesting to me that this little slice of life was happening in Columbus Circle which is a beautiful section of NYC- at the entrance to Central Park and on the edge of a very elite shopping district. Anyway, there's a monument there honouring Columbus and celebrating the discovery of "the new world"- America. And I was struck by the juxtaposition of what this new world once was, what it was supposed to be, and what it's turned into, and how the reality of what is is can be so different- depending on who you happen to be. I'm sure he never imagined....

Rebecca - I'm sure you've noticed, but looking from left to right, I was affected immediately
by the symmetry of almost everyone 'looking down'
(I include those who have been sculpted).
It brings thoughts of shame with it.
You are right, it could be London or elsewhere in England.
Capitalism is quite disgusting when viewed in the wider picture, eh?

it is good to get some creative input.
A little while ago I got down- heartened about this thread
and stopped putting so much of myself into it.

But I think I'd always hoped it would be more politically creative
- not just news clips. Thanks for encouraging the creative outlet.
I'm inspired.

Peace
Endy

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

check it out

Fervently wishing for the safety of these extraordinarily brave protesters as the situation in Burma becomes increasingly dangerous. :


State media has explicitly ordered the monks to stay out of politics. (AFP)

Burmese junta threatens action against further protests
Posted 4 hours 16 minutes ago/ABC online

Burmese officials riding on trucks in central Yangon used loudspeakers to warn against new anti-junta protests, one day after Buddhist monks led 100,000 people in the streets.

"We warn the monks and the people not to participate in protest marches," local government officials shouted into loudspeakers from at least two trucks circling around the nation's commercial hub.

"We will take action under the existing law," they warned, echoing threats carried in state media since late Monday. ...<cont>

http://www.abc.com.au/news/stories/2007/09/25/2043032.htm

now that's what i call a demonstration - brave indeed.

100,000 turn out for Myanmar protest
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_re_as/myanmar;_ylt=AgIdsbkx1UifhEeNGsdvls2s0NUE

thanks Olga

Ooops. Myanmar I meant, not Burma! (Time warp!)

J. David McSwain Will Not Back Down; College newspaper editor shows more courage than congressional Democrats |

September 25th, 2007 2:51 pm
Editor Won't Quit Over Bush Editorial

College Newspaper Faces Controversy Over Obscenity In Editorial About Bush

(AP) The editor of the Colorado State University newspaper says he has no plans to resign amid criticism about an obscenity used in an editorial about President Bush.

The four-word editorial, published Friday in the Rocky Mountain Collegian, said in large type, "Taser this. (Expletive) Bush."

J. David McSwane, the Collegian's editor-in-chief and a CSU junior, said the newspaper's governing board may fire him but he won't voluntarily step down.

"I think that'd be an insult to the staff who supported the editorial," McSwane told the Fort Collins Coloradoan in Monday's editions.

The newspaper's business manager has said the operation lost $30,000 in advertising in the hours after the editorial was published, and that the pay of student staffers would be cut 10 percent to compensate.

McSwane said the newspaper's student editors decided to use the obscenity because they believe CSU students are apathetic about their freedom of speech and other rights.

"We thought the best way to illustrate that point was to use our freedoms," he said.

The editors chose not to seek advice from the newspaper's professional advisers to protect them from the controversy they knew the editorial would cause, McSwane said.

"We didn't want any kind of action taken against them by the university," he said.

The Board of Student Communication, which oversees the Collegian and other student media at the university, plans to discuss the editorial when it meets Wednesday night.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10276

"I had planned to write about each photo, but the pictures speak for themselves."

TEXANS FOR PEACE

http://www.texansforpeace.org/endthewar/Images1.htm

Burma protesters gassed


An activist holds a poster of pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Ky during protests in Rangoon.
Photo: Reuters

"We monks will do this, please don't join us. Don't do anything violent. We will send loving kindness to them."

September 26, 2007 - 5:06PM/SMH

Police in Burma have fired tear gas at about 1000 protesters led by Buddhist monks as they started a march from Rangoon's landmark Shwedagon Pagoda today, witnesses said.

At least 100 people, including some monks, were thrown into police trucks as police tried to stop them joining in, witnesses said.

Earlier, police at the pagoda used batons to beat hundreds of anti-junta protesters gathered there.

Another group of 200 monks, whose supporters formed a human chain around them, also set off from Shwedagon Pagoda, witnesses said.

Separately, around 300 monks headed towards detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's house in suburban Rangoon, tracked by military trucks carrying about 40 armed soldiers, witnesses said.

That group of monks urged their supporters to stand back.

"We monks will do this, please don't join us,'' they called to the crowd.

"Don't do anything violent. We will send loving kindness to them,'' they said of the military presence.

In downtown Rangoon, about 1000 people gathered around the Sule Pagoda near city hall, an area that has become a major rallying point for the protests that have escalated into the biggest threat to the military junta's rule in 20 years.

Armed soldiers surrounded the Sule Pagoda, but so far had not disturbed the crowd, which appeared to be waiting to see if the marchers could walk across the city. ...<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/burma-protesters-gassed/2007/09/26/1190486379045.html

Police 'beat' Burmese protesters
Posted 2 hours 42 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 5 minutes ago
(Oz) ABC online


There are reports security forces have used tear gas to disperse monks. (Reuters/Democratic Voice of Burma)

Police baton-charged a crowd of about 700 anti-junta protesters including students and some Buddhist monks who gathered near a pagoda in Burma's main city Rangoon in defiance of a ban, witnesses say.

The police charged the crowd that had gathered for a ninth straight day of protests, beating students and monks alike with batons outside the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's holiest shrine, according to witnesses. ...<cont>

http://www.abc.com.au/news/stories/2007/09/26/2044242.htm

Thanks for covering this Olga





I woke up a couple of hours ago and put the radio on - only to hear that things are starting to get heated out there. Reporters are saying that at least one monk has been killed.
Information coming out of the area is under attack - with telephones cut and some internet due to be closed down tonight. (antiwar.com)

I'm glad that Gordan Brown has stepped up and let the Chinese know the world is watching - but again all they talk about is sanctions (which effect only the poor) - and the British/US of course have little weight to throw about these days in terms of lecturing on 'human rights.'

Yes - i think orange is the new colour of Revolution (its not my favourite colour so it's taken me a while to agree on this)







Today my solidarity is with ALL those who march for freedom in their own lands (including the ones who get no press)

i've read about Americans being tasered, beaten, chemical sprayed, hit with rubber bullets, threatened, humiliated and imprisoned for speaking out against their oppressor - but i don't hear Brown threatening sanctions against Bush or see the press rallying.

PS -

Australia holds off on Burma sanctions
By Sandra O'Malley

September 26, 2007 07:56pm

AUSTRALIA will use its regional relationship to try to bring about change in Burma but won't follow the US in tightening the economic noose against its brutal military rulers.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22487377-5005961,00.html

Military recruiters sponsor Halo 3 release party

September 25th, 2007 8:58 pm


By Carol Robidaux / New Hampshire Union Leader

Manchester - By 9 p.m. more than 100 gamers, some with parents in tow, had gathered at the GameStop for a "Halo 3" release party, and plenty more were expected by midnight, when the wildly popular X-Box game would officially go on sale.

There was only one glitch in the festivities -- a "Halo 2" tournament was delayed after the chain store's district manager, Suzan Shockley, announced that nobody under 18 could participate. Top prize: a copy of "Halo 3."

"I'm sorry, but it's a company rule. We take the game ratings seriously," she said. "Our store manager misunderstood the rules of the tournament."

The futuristic combat game is rated M for Mature for "blood and gore, mild language and violence," which means you have to be 17 to buy it, or a parent has to buy it for you.

Fortunately, the Air Force was on hand to save the day.

As co-sponsor of the gaming event, local Air Force recruiters were manning party central outside in the strip shopping center parking lot off South Willow Street, where underage gamers who had fled the store in despair flocked for pizza, Mountain Dew and a chance to play "Halo 2" on a split screen from the back of a pimped-out military SUV.

T.J. Abbott, 13, propped a cell phone between his left ear and shoulder while his rapid-fire fingers unloaded a plasma grenade, via wireless controller, onto a lanky alien who came into range from behind a tree in a desolate virtual village.

"Nice kill," said an electronic voice.

Abbott and his friends, R.J. O'Brien, Jorge Rojas and Sean Collins, all eighth-graders at Southside Middle School, have been waiting since the 2004 release of "Halo 2," when they were just a bunch of little kids, for this moment.

"We're getting up at 5 a.m. to play it," said O'Brien, who considered taking a day off school after a late night at the launch party. "But then I couldn't talk about it in school."

For more than a year now, gamers who have loved the first-person shooter aspect of "Halo" have been salivating over all the high-tech improvements promised by Microsoft in its final incarnation.

Pre-sales of "Halo 3" beat all previous records by hitting the million mark two months before the game's release, said Darrell Kiley, a GameStop employee and member of the National Guard.

Sales are expected to be unmatched.

That's thanks to heightened anticipation fueled by a mass-marketing campaign that has included a host of strategic TV trailers and key sponsors -- from Mountain Dew and 7-Eleven, to NASCAR, Pontiac and Burger King.

And of course, having the U.S. government on board doesn't hurt.

"This is going to be huge," said Air Force recruiter Staff Sgt. Christopher Johnson, who got to the site about an hour before the party to set up. He took a break from attaching wings to a replica of a mini F-22 jet.

"We expect a big showing. We have the same demographic as they do," he said, nodding toward the video game store across the parking lot, where kids were already starting to mill around inside. "Our target market is identical to that of video game stores," Johnson said.

He said last month's Air Force/GameStop tailgating bash for the launch of "Madden '08" netted two new recruits.

He said he has yet to hear anyone object to the marketing marriage between the military and adolescent video-gamers.

"I was warned when I got to New Hampshire that it was a very liberal, not exactly pro-military environment, but so far I haven't had any negative feedback," Johnson said.

Joe Turcotte of Derry, a veteran of the Iraq war and member of the New Hampshire chapter of Iraqi Veterans Against the War, said there are those who feel the practice of using simulated war games as a recruiting tactic isn't the best way to enlist new soldiers.

"The whole idea of serving your country out of patriotism gets lost. It cheapens the honor and sacrifice when you turn it into a video game," Turcotte said. "We are proud of our service to our country, but there's something about this that just doesn't seem right."

He feels having military recruiters at the biggest video game launch in history is over-the-top marketing.

"I would like to know if there's a disclaimer, if they're warning kids that their actual combat experience may vary," he said. "War is not a game."

UPDATE

Monks killed in Myanmar crackdown
Three monks are reportedly among seven killed as riot police attack protesters.

There are also unconfirmed reports that Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate who has been under house arrest, had been moved to prison.

The protests were initially triggered by a massive hike in the price of fuel on August 19, but have developed into a more deeply-rooted outpouring of dissent.

As police turned on monks near the Shwedagon pagoda, witnesses also reported seeing hundreds of soldiers and police deployed in Yangon in a city centre park near the Sule Pagoda, the focus of the biggest protests.

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