28 Mar 2026 - No Kings 3
No Kings 3! I was a Safety Marshal at one corner so I wasn’t able to walk around for photos. Super turnout (800) - an increase of 60% from No Kings 2!! (When I started protesting with Neptune Beach Coalition’s weekly Saturday mornings at the Beaches Library last May there were 5 of us - today’s attendance of 800 is a 15,900% increase!!!!)
I had a couple stationary signs, chatted with many of my Beaches neighbors including a fellow Air Force Veteran,
met a fluffy and friendly dog protester;
saw volunteers collecting signatures for candidates (vote THEM OUT!);
and I wasn’t even able to see the end of the protesters stretched 6 blocks on both sides along 3rd Street from my position! A great day!
Thank you to everyone standing up to protect one another and our Constitution.
“I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.” - Jimmy Carter
The people united will never be defeated!
Vigilance. Resistance. PERSISTENCE!
21 March 2026
Another super Saturday – I didn’t take many photos because I was chatting too much!
Next Saturday is No Kings 3 and we are expecting a crowd. There are over 3,000 No Kings events scheduled across the nation, search nokings.org to find one near you (nokings.org). If you can’t stand, bring a folding chair and sit, or drive past the crowd and give us a honk, peace sign, or a thumbs up.
War - Week 4: I am still holding my sign to bring awareness to the fact that Trump’s war is killing children. Why? His reason seems to change from day-to-day and even hour-to-hour. No one is “winning” and the killing continues while the administration tries to sell its war as a violent video game.
The war videos made by the White House communication staffers use footage of military strikes inner cut with football hits or bowling pins being blasted apart or with clips for movies like ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Gladiator.’ These videos do not honor the people killed.
Political strategist Max Burns notes that the White House messaging is “appealing directly to the base, especially to these young, very online Maga people, who, just like Trump, treat war like a video game. You don’t see service members sharing this content.”
The administration is selling this war of choice as a violent video game because they fail to see how it is affecting people, especially children! Children, men, women, and whole families are being killed in the Middle East by US and Israeli bombs. The administration has a “concept of an idea” based upon a disregard for anything other than staying in political power Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said it out loud, "I feel good about the Republican Party and where we're going as a nation. We're killing all the right people…” Don’t listen to him! Our Constitution does not point us in the direction of hate, violence, and killing!
Listen to Raffi instead. Yes, Raffi is alive, well, and still active at 76+ years old. Raffi, the beloved children's singer known for "Baby Beluga," is the founder of the “Child Honouring” movement for social change. It offers a hopeful vision where a child’s early years are honored as the foundation for a compassionate and sustainable world. We need to honor ALL the world’s children! Raffi is using his voice for adults, too. He is writing lyrics for adult protest songs and posts frequently on Threads.
"We commit ourselves to peaceful ways and vow to keep from harm or neglect these, our most vulnerable citizens" – Raffi
Next Saturday, No Kings 3: support our Constitution, stand up for peace, speak out against violence in all forms.
Vigilance. Resistance. PERSISTANCE.
14 March 2026
Another successful Saturday Sign Waving! I finally learned the “Bongo Guy's" name (Leo) and Voter Registration continued. While talking with some fellow sign wavers today about the war, one woman made this comment: “We aren’t the ‘good guys’ anymore, are we? Now we are the ‘baddies.’ Will any of our European allies ever trust us again?”
Thus far, US and Israeli militaries have since made over 3,000 strikes across the region, killing more than 1,300 Iranians - at least hundreds of them children – hundreds of people throughout the Middle East and thirteen US service members have died … so far. Trump openly admits many more will follow.
This is the long-term, human cost of his reckless decision. Civilians throughout the Middle East are now in harm’s way, and, motivated by the war, terrorist attacks in other countries (including our own) have occurred. Lives lost all because of his unnecessary, devastating war.
Short-term, his war is costing US citizens $1 billion dollars a day, and this does not include the increased costs of all the products affected by the war. To try and mitigate this, Trump lifted sanctions on Russian oil which is leading our European allies to lose trust in the US. Long-term or short-term, we all lose in this war!
We have seen how these escalations start: no imminent threat, no clear authorization from Congress, no plan for what comes next. We remember Iraq. We remember Afghanistan. Thousands of US service members killed, trillions spent, and entire regions destabilized.
Sustained pressure from ordinary people who refuse to accept the killing done in their name is needed. Pressure must be built now - in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our schools - to expose Trump’s “excursion” for what it is: an illegal act of war.
WE the PEOPLE do not want this war, and we will fight back against it every step of the way.
“It may be tempting for … even for good people to just wait for the storm to pass … but, if we don't step up, no one else will.” - Barack Obama
Vigilance. Resistance. PERSISTANCE!
7 March 2026
Another Saturday Sign Waving! I had the opportunity to stand with fellow Veterans holding the Coffin Flag of a WWII soldier. The Anti-Fascist Veteran’s Alliance includes veterans who believe defending democracy is a civic duty. Their mission is to educate, organize, and empower communities to resist fascism in all its forms—through historical literacy, mutual support, and local action.
We, Neptune Beach Coalition, collected items for a Community Pantry, registered voters, and sang protest songs with Firepit and the “Bongo Guy.” I also waved my personal signs.
The war continues… UNICEF reports that approximately 168 schoolgirls in the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran, were killed on 28 February and many more injured. Their deaths are the result of a U.S. strike on a nearby Iranian Naval Base. In addition, 12 children were killed in other schools across five different locations in Iran … so far.
As U. S. military strikes continue across the region, children are increasingly exposed to violence. At least 20 schools and 10 hospitals have reportedly been damaged in Iran, disrupting children’s access to education and critical health services.
Children and schools are protected under International Humanitarian Law and must be places of safety. However, Hegseth’s remarks and comments from the White House highlight the government's reluctance to consider the human costs of war. The lives and wellbeing of children must always be protected.
“It may be tempting to get discouraged, to give into cynicism. It may be tempting for good people to just wait for the storm to pass … but, we have a chance to make an impact … not for glory, but because it gives our life purpose, because it aligns with what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don't step up, no one else will.” - Barack Obama, 6 March 2026
Vigilance. Resistance. PERSISTANCE!
