Quixotic: A message to all protesters

Think back. What did you do on February the tenth, last year? Some of you may remember. Perhaps it was the day of your first kiss. Perhaps it was the day that cute, perfect-with-all-her-defects girl broke your heart. Perhaps someone you cared for passed away. Or you just had one damn good burger, the best one you'll ever taste. But most of us... we don't remember what we were doing that day. It was an insignificant, maybe fun, maybe sad day. We sure didn't devote more than a passing thought to scientology.

But this February the tenth will live on in our memories, and rest assured, in the memories of some other, key people. If just one person drowning in L.Ron Hubbard's Tar Pit of Deceit had a momentary glimpse of the truth, got that subtle push of will and the knowledge that many, many out there care for her, miss her and would love to see her smile, her real smile, not the psychotic brainwashed smile-mask... then it was a day worth remembering.

History, both on a large scale and with a more mundane focus, has a habit of labeling things, of oversimplifying reality to make it fit inside neat, orderly cardboard boxes for easy recalling and, too often, easy dismissal. As you read this meagre lines, labels are being flung left and right, from the sensationalist "cyberterrorists" to the oxymoronic "commie nazis". These words present no danger for you. Only one word, likely to be spouted in your midst, is worthy of fear.

Quixotic.

This instantly springs a chain of associations in the mind. Good-intentioned. Irrational. Impossible. Ridiculous. Failed. Don Quijote took on the world, and the world won. He was doomed from the start, trying to be a knight in shining armour when the world didn't want one, even tough it so desperately needed it. A living anachronism, he had no hope of success.

You, brave people that marched on the Tenth, are not Quijotes. Your mission is possible. The CoS wants you to believe that going against it equals going against the world. Do not let their faux-megalomania affect you, your actions or your hopes. They are not the world. They are not even as powerful a force in it as they'd like you to believe.

They are covenant of schemers, in wild internal disarray, who need to lie about their numbers to appear fierce but, for all their lawyers and secrecy, can't stop a video footage from spreading like wildfire, nor can they change the general perception that their main PR tool is crazier than the old man who wore a basin for a helmet.

In short, they are but windmills trying to pass off as giants.

Make no mistake. Windmills are dangerous things. A man can be injured or killed by one of its blades, should he be so unlucky. But this time, it is not a solitary man in a skinny workhorse that attacks it. It is a legion of termites, speeding up the wooden tower's decay, until it collapses over itself. The wood is already rotten to the core, and more and more the poor millers are catching wise, leaving the grinding machine before it is too late.

So, let us devour these slimming planks and shaky floors. Let this fake beast, this origami Minotaur, fall. But also, let's try to get as many millers out as possible. Let's remind them of the sun, and of the sea, and of true joy, family, friendship, a hug, a kiss, a shy look in the eye from that cute guy in the subway, dancing, laughter... Those things you were doing last year, and are so normal to you that you can't remember them.

Let's remind them of life outside the mill.

Don Quijote could never win.

We can.

Don't let them tell you otherwise.

Written by "SB' on the SA Forums

"The voice of honest indignation is the voice of God."
William Blake (1757 - 1827)

"There are times that we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time that we fail to protest."
Elie Wiesel (1928 - )

"To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men."
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

"Who can protest and does not, is an accomplice in the act."
The Talmud

"We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive."
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

Why the masks?

Every mask you see is the face of a victim in whose place we stand to speak. It is the empty place where a life should be that is no more. It is the absence of a friend, a neighbor, a loved one. It is the missing critic, who cannot speak or show his face out of fear.

We are the faceless. We give voice to the voiceless. We step forward to speak for those who cannot.

For every voice silenced through criminal intimidation and the tactics of personal destruction, we step forward.

For every troubled soul who seeks solace but is left with only a treasury of lies, ruin, and loss, we step forward.

For every mother silenced for fear that her words will endanger her child still within the cult, we step forward.

For every business owner intimidated into silence, we step forward.

For every victim locked within an armed compound or re-education labor camp, beyond the reach of law and justice, we step forward.

For every death, we step forward.

For every injustice committed, our numbers are multiplied. For every critic silenced, every reputation falsely tarnished, the truths we speak are made more brilliant. For every child lost, our hearts grow more resolute. We step forward for others who cannot.

Every mask you see is the face of a victim in whose place we stand to speak. It is the empty place where a life should be that is no more. It is the absence of a friend, a neighbor, a loved one. It is the missing critic, who cannot speak or show his face out of fear.

We are the faceless. We give voice to the voiceless. We speak because they cannot.

by Anonymous

Picket Videos: LONDON

Asia and Oceania:
200-300 in Sydney, Australia
200-250 in Melbourne, Australia
150 in Adelaide, Australia
100 in Perth, Australia
100 in Brisbane, Australia
5 in Canberra, Australia
15-20 in Auckland, New Zealand
15-20 in Christchurch, New Zealand
6 in Tel Aviv, Israel
1 in Tokyo, Japan
Total: 10 raids, 4 countries, 792-952 people

Europe:
500-600 in London, United Kingdom
150 in Manchester, United Kingdom
130 in Edinburgh, United Kindom
50 in Birmingham, United Kingdom
20 in Plymouth, United Kingdom
20 in York, United Kingdom
15 in Sunderland, United Kindom
5 in Brighton, United Kingdom
30 in Stockholm, Sweden
25 in Gothenburg, Sweden
12-13 in Malmö, Sweden
25 in Berlin, Germany
20-25 in Duesseldorf, Germany
15-25 in Hamburg, Germany
50 in Copehagen, Denmark
3 in Aarhus. Denmark
6 in Zürich, Switzerland
5 in Geneve, Switzerland
80 in Dublin, Ireland
60 in Oslo, Norway
40-60 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
30 in Brussels, Belgium
20-30 in Paris, France
12 in Vienna, Austria
Total: 24 raids, 11 countries, 1323-1469 people

North America:
500 in Los Angeles, California
200 in San Francisco, California
100 in Sacramento, California
65-70 in San Diego, California
40 in Mountain View, California
25 in Santa Barbara, California
13 in Chico, California
10 in San Jose, California
8 in Santa Cruz, California
320 in New York City, New York
50 in Buffalo, New York
40 in Albany, New York
10-15 in Ontario, New York
25 in Rochester, New York
200 in Austin, Texas
115 in Dallas, Texas
100-150 in Houston, Texas
8 in San Antonio, Texas
200 in Clearwater, Florida
200 in Orlando, Florida
100-110 in Miami, Florida
15 in West Palm Beach, Florida
5 in Broward County, Florida
80 in Colombus, Ohio
75 in Cincinnati, Ohio
15 in Cleveland, Ohio
200 in Seattle, Washington
18 in Bellingham, Washington
70 in Chicago, Illinois
30 in Champaign, Illinois
135 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
30-40 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
80 in St. Louis, Missouri
65-70 in Kansas City, Missouri
150 in Detroit, Michigan
20 in Battle Creek, Michigan
60 in Phoenix, Arizona
50 in Tucson, Arizona
90 in Denver, Colorado
12-15 in Boulder, Colorado
45 in Nashville, Tennessee
40 in Memphis, Tennessee
45 in Las Vegas, Nevada
15 in Reno, Nevada
20 in New Orleans, Louisiana
20 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
270 in Boston, Massachusetts
200 in Washington, D.C.
150-200 in Atlanta, Georgia
150-200 in Portland, Oregon
100 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
70 in Salt Lake City, Utah
50 in Charlotte, North Carolina
40 in Louisville, Kentucky
35 in New Haven, Connecticut
35 in Richmond, Virginia
25-30 in Indianapolis, Indiana
25 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
25 in Wichita, Kansas
20 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
17-20 in Honolulu, Hawaii
16 in Anchorage, Alaska
9 in Boise, Idaho
5 in Brunswick, Maine
1 in Biloxi, Mississippi
210 in Toronto, Ontario
30 in Ottawa, Ontario
20 in Kitchener, Ontario
3 in London, Ontario
140-200 in Vancouver, British Columbia
80 in Montreal, Quebec
40 in Edmonton, Alberta
30 in Winnipeg, Manitoba
24-27 in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Total: 74 raids, 2 countries, 5532-5778 people

Overall Total: 108 raids, 17 countries, 7647-8229 people 

To watch some of the impressive videos goto http://www.Youtube.com enter the city you wish plus Feb 10th demo

To browse images from the pickets goto http://www.flickr.com and enter the city you wish and Feb 10th demo.

Next demonstrations March 15th more information HERE, see you there!