Continuing the theme of religious freedom, I'll be attending a congressional briefing at the US Capitol this Friday, March 31: "Conviction and Conflict: Islam, Christianity and World Order" sponsored by The Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom and Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England will be the featured speaker. Here is his professional synopsis as detailed in the invitation:

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali is a member of the House of Lords and advises governments in Europe and the Middle East on matters of religion and public policy. He is respected foremost as a Christian scholar of Islam and held in high esteem by Muslim scholars. Michael will draw on his new book, Conviction and Conflict: Islam, Christianity and World Order, which came out of his Scott-Holland lectures delivered at Oxford University last November.

It should be interesting, although I'm not certain how much I'll be able to video blog. Whatever I can get, if of any interest, I will of course be sharing. UPDATE: Other important obligations have intervened and I will not be attending this briefing.

Some potentially good news on Abdul Rahman: Karzai intervenes. If this is true, and if this person is saved from death, then everyone who participated in yesterday's rally should be proud. Few people have the privilege of actually making a difference. These people may have done just that. UPDATE: It seems like this case has been dismissed. A positive step, no doubt ... if true. Let's not, though, forget these warnings I recorded at the rally: Click HERE for the video. I'll choose to be optimistic. UPDATE: Here's an article by Faith McDonnell on the Abdul Rahman case. Faith is the speaker featured in the above video link.

Abdul Rahman UPDATE: one installment of video is now up. Click HERE. This is the video where Cam Edwards takes down the MSM. SECOND UPDATE: another video installment is up. Click HERE for the video. A representative of East Turkistan reads a statement in support of Abdul Rahman's rights. THIRD UPDATE: another video installment is up, "Sharia is the problem ...". Click HERE for video. SEE MORE BELOW.

Abdul Rahman SECOND UPDATE: another video installment is up. Click HERE for the video. A representative of East Turkistan reads a statement in support of Abdul Rahman's rights. UPDATE: one installment of video is now up. Click HERE. This is the video where Cam Edwards takes down the MSM. THIRD UPDATE: another video installment is up, "Sharia is the problem ...". Click HERE for video. This was a good rally, as impromptu rallies go. According to my count, about seventy (70) people came out to support Abdul Rahman, who is at risk of execution in Afghanistan for the heinous crime of having a belief system that differs from that of his government. Didn't we just liberate these guys? I think this sign [above] just about said it all. Well planned and clear ... readable from a distance ... no minced words or murky images ... no pointless ads for internet sites ... no goofy script. Not even any punctuation to cloud the issue (note: good protest signs should have no punctuation). White on black. Simple. I love this person. Also a big plus: no puppets. Here's another example of good protest-sign-making principles in action. Note also the excellent use of color. And, for a rally on what some might label a "conservative" issue, the media was fairly well represented (albeit somewhat baiting ... as will become apparent in the video once I process it all). A fellow named Cam Edwards gave them a pretty good put-down which I caught on video. He has his own website here. People were generally very nice, and the crowd was a good cross-section of race/age/sex. I'd say the average age was somewhere in the mid-30's. People were chatty and there were a lot of smiles all around ... people obviously felt good about being there and making their statements. There were some other pretty good signs ... I liked this one, even though it violates many key rules. Note the goofy, uneven, grayish script ... the needlessly dotted "i"s ... the barely visible period at the end of the sentence ... the ad at the bottom. Still, it's a good message and readable ... quickly grasped. Plus, anything pointing to The People's Cube will earn a soft spot in my heart. The very lovely Michelle Malkin was there ... who I was very pleased to meet. As well as, inevitably, other Protest Babes (of, I must say, a much higher standard than the, well, competition). Much, much higher. The video should be processed in a few hours. Please check back.

I attended the rally today in support of Abdul Rahman in front of the Afghan Embassy in Washington DC. More photos and some video will follow shortly.

Protest Coda: Some odd protest moments I couldn't classify otherwise: Take this person. Please. [drum beat] I never saw this guy (gal?) drop his/her arms. Never. Just stood or walked along with fake wires running out. Never said a word. You know, I think some people see things and it just burns into them ... and it starts acting like some bizarre excuse to indulge in self-flagellating narcissistic internal images of themselves. Which they feel compelled to share ... over and over again. "Reality based." Jesus-Tapdancing-Christ. So what is this, a lone shaheed? Do women get 72 virgins? Do they want 72 virgins? Do they become one of the 72 virgins? I was afraid she'd detonate any second. Show both hands, lady. You know ... if those jerks do indeed get their 72 virgins I hope they all look like this. That's OK, either way she got her 15 minutes ... One of the unseen casualties of these events ... traffic. The George Washington Parkway runs right along the path of this protest and there were places where we had to cross. The Park Police dutifully stopped traffic in a number of places along the way. The Parkway is one of the most heavily traveled roads in the DC area. Traffic must have been backed up for miles. At one point things just got so breathtakingly boring that we needed a break. Flowers were blooming. Flowers are nice. OK. This was actually kinda funny. I don't know how many people noticed this, but while we were at the Pentagon these two would periodically break from the crowd, run about spasmodically and fly into each other arms ... weeping ... followed by a large camera and a boom mike. It was totally surreal. And after a short break and a consultation with some random fat guy they'd just do it again. Then I figured it out. They were making a movie. Some chubby, enterprising director decided to use the protest as a backdrop for his freaking movie. So while, to the left of this particular photo, mayhem was ensuing and people were chanting, being arrested, cuffed and carted off, these two were crying or laughing and reciting lines. It was classic irony at its best.

There will be a rally this Friday, March 24, in front of the Afghan Embassy supporting Abdul Rahman. Rahman faces the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Embassy of Afghanistan 2341 Wyoming Ave NW Washington DC UPDATE: Check this map. The Embassy seems about half way between the Dupont Circle and Woodley Park/Zoo Metro stations.

UPDATE: All right, that didn't work ... let's try that again. OK, here's my VIDEO. Watch or download to your local computer. I've tried to make it stream as well as I can. I think it works now. ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's another VIDEO. I call it "Protest Opera" and you'll understand why when you see it. It's mercifully short. YET ANOTHER UPDATE: I forgot ... I promised Protest Babes (or alluded to them anyway). 1.5 to be exact. Here you go. Like I said: 1.5

Ugh. What a walk. And for what? For this. Drudge used the word "fizzled" to describe the other anti-war protests this week. I don't know about them. I wasn't there. But I believe it. And, OK, maybe they fizzled; but this one never got lit. I counted them. I counted 166 protesters (give or take a couple). I also counted 45 to 50 media types buzzing about. That's one media bloke for every four (4) protesters. Hmmm. And don't let them lie to you. 166. I counted them. Give or take. OK, I'll have some video [UPDATE: VIDEO is up] later. I still have to process it ... I have to process all the boring stuff out. That won't leave much. And I'm tired and cranky. I just walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon and back (not counting the walk to the Metro). My feet hurt and I'm pissed off. This protest was a geriatric wasteland. Full of dour people who didn't talk. It almost made me miss Code Pink. Actually, it did. It made me miss Code Pink. G-d I thought I'd never say something like that. A good protest needs verve or something. This one lacked almost everything, including: 1. Creative, interesting signs 2. Controversial speeches 3. People who can sing (you'll understand later) [UPDATE: experience it NOW] 4. Protest babes (1.5 by my count ... that's a bad ratio) We'll start with SIGNS: We'll start on a high note. This was one of the best. The thing I like about this one is the raw, uncomplicated theme ... the arresting color palette. You know immediately where this guy stands a mile away. Simple. Clear. The problem was it was far too big ... he over-reached ... his enthusiasm got the better of him. And it was a windy day. He could barely hold it up standing in a park ... and we were going to cross a bridge. It was left behind. Here's the other side. Terse. Ya gotta admire terse. Contrast that (literally) with this one. Grayscale. Hard to read. Much too busy. Are those chains on Bush? You really have got to get close to this one to get much out of it. The message is murky ... too much being said. What is this, an essay? It's a protest sign for cripes sake. Keep it simple. Aren't these people supposed to be the "smart" and "creative" ones? Sheesh. What's wrong with a little planning? A little planning?!? I got so drowsy after looking at this one I had to crack a Red Bull with no restrooms in sight. There's so much wrong with this I don't even know where to start. Color. Visible? Yes. But let's face it ... putrid. And then there's the planning issue again. Get your canvas' real-estate straight before putting pen to paper, folks. And is that Bush? I guess so, but I think in this event a photo would have been more convincing. From a few meters it looks like Mickey Rooney. I had to ask this guy what this meant. Rule 1: never carry a sign that someone needs to ask what the heck it means. Apparently Shannon airbase in Ireland is where some US fighters and bombers stop on their way to Iraq. And don't EVER recycle these things. I saw this exact same one at the Code Pink rally. Come on! Actually, it does make me a bit nostalgic. OK, here's one I can actually get behind, sorta. Simple. To the point. A classic. The figure at the bottom is a bit confusing, but I can sorta see where they're going. Sixty's font is a nice touch. Brings me back. Frodo lives.

Lowered Expectations. Well, the proposed "Storm the White House" protest that was rescheduled for tomorrow, March 20, has been downgraded to (put your coffee down) a picnic.

March 20th, 2006 9:00 a.m. Stop what you are doing (work/school) and join us in resistance! Protest at Recruiting Stations, College Campuses and U.N. offices. If you can come to D.C., meet at the Veteran's Memorial to March to the Pentagon and White House and wind up back at the Capitol Lawn for a 12:00 noon picnic, protest and camp out, until they leave our White House

There will, however, be a more interesting march on the Pentagon which these people seem to have joined up with (or desperately glommed onto) as a last gasp. Among the speakers will be a number of "persons of interest" such as Michael Berg (who predictably blames the murder of his son in Iraq by Islamic terrorists on neocon cabals, Bush, yadda yadda, etc., et al., viz: yawn) ... Sounds like a good show anyway and I'll be there. I should have some preliminary stuff (picts and video) up by early afternoon.

I'm in the process of setting up a video archive for all the videos on this site at Age of Hooper (Video). I'm including a permanent link to it in the right column, just under the email contact. Enjoy.

Well, as all the good protests seem to have been rescheduled for this Monday the 20th I've decided to let you all have some more views into the Virginia Spring ... These are some shots I took while on my walk today. I like the top one a lot ... great color. CLICK on the photos for more detailed views.

Another Freedom of Speech Rally ... this time in Chicago. Please be outside the Consulate of Denmark, 211 EAST ONTARIO ST. (by St. Clair St.), between noon and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 14. TOMORROW View my VIDEO of Christopher Hitchens' speech at the DC Rally ... UPDATE: HERE are some photos from Chicago. UPDATE: Andrew's Notepad has more picts and video of the event.

3. Cindy Sheehan. I'm starting out with this photo as a segue from the Media Swarm piece below. This photo tells a completely different story, I think, about the media's relation to tools like Cindy. As before, please CLICK on any image to see a more detailed view. I'd recommend it for this particular photo (above). Somewhere between the "Momma Moonbat" of the right and the "Saint Cindy" of the left stands a somewhat bewildered Cindy Sheehan. Click HERE for a video of Cindy talking, including some of the interaction between her and myself. Click HERE for the same video in a smaller, more readily streamed yet more lossy version. As I said in my post below, it's not that I don't like Cindy ... now that I've met her. Like I said, I'd watch and feed her cats if she went out of town. But this is a woman with absolutely no charisma. It seems to me that she's someone's sad, bewildered tool. Rarely, I think, has such a parasitic relationship been so obvious. I really try to keep an open mind. And, in my attempt to keep an open mind, I find that I feel very sorry for her. Watching the video I can't escape the feel of the grind of the constant monotone drone of the grey, flat, overplayed platitudes. There's no innovation here ... there's coaching. You can almost see the strings. That's me in the second section where she's looking directly at the camera. [UPDATE: sorry for the confusion ... thats not me in the second PICTURE above ... I'm talking about the video.] OK, my question wasn't the best and I should have followed up. Give me a break. If you could have looked behind me you would have seen a wasps-nest of media cameras and mikes. I was lucky to get out what I did. I'm not sure what happened to her, but if Cindy was there when we got to the White House I never saw her ... but I find it hard to believe that I missed her. Wherever she goes so goeth the media. Try not to click this particular picture. This is about as much detail as you're going to want. Unless you're a Saint Cindy worshipper. And believe me, I saw a LOT of that before the march. I saw people bow their heads in her presence. For me, though, she reminded me of a rather plain next-door neighbor. Keeps her lawn mowed, flowers in the garden. A cat or two. We speak pleasantly if we meet in the grocery store, maybe gawk about the weather. After a shuffle of feet we take separate aisles. OK, cleanse your eyes with a few protest babes. The percentage of these was higher than I had anticipated. This is something to consider. There was a good span of age and ethnicity in the march ... mostly women and a handful of men. All very nice people ... I'm sure each and every one would give anyone ... even Bush ... the shirt off their back if they saw there was a real human need. This wasn't the dark left, or if it was there it was kept under wraps. This was more the goofy left, but with a more potent punch. Keep scrolling down for more Code Pink. I have lots more photos and more video.

2. Media Swarm. Click on any image for a more detailed view. Remember that this event had about the same number of attendees as the Freedom of Speech Rally near the Danish Embassy, where almost no media showed up. I'm not saying that that's the doing of the media itself ... this event was obviously far more organized. Remember that word. Organized. That's Cindy Sheehan in front holding up the pink rose. More on her later. I actually met her and spoke with her. As with everyone, people tend to be people face to face. She seemed like a nice person, which, I'm embarrassed to say, surprised me. Not that I'm embarrassed because I found "Cindy Sheehan" the leftie icon to be, surprise, a decent person face-to-face, but embarrassed because I was surprised by my assumption that she would be somehow different. Frankly, she's no different that a mildly more nutty version of my next-door neighbor. Heck, I'd watch and feed her cats if she went on vacation, you know? This is in front of the White House. The photo's worth a CLICK to get a better view. As I recall there was some sort of "ritual" going on. There were several of these in the course of the march. I never really tuned in on them. Here they're passing their petition over to some bloke on the other side of the gate. I couldn't get close enough to see who it was, but I think it was just some security dude. Later: Cindy Sheehan and more video (Sheehan speaks)... Scroll down for more Code Pink and more video.

Code Pink, March 8, 2006 1. Color. I've decided to divide my experience with Code Pink into three (3) distinct divisions: 1. Color(fullness) 2. Media Swarm 3. Cindy Sheehan I'll begin with Color. Not surprisingly, the event was nothing if not colorful. Almost cloyingly so. I took almost 100 photographs. I've chosen here what I think are the most representative regarding the "look" of the march. This is really brilliant on Code Pink's part. Protesters with a Brand look. They could probably get a Trademark. Easily identifiable. Click HERE for video. Or you can right click the link and download the video to your own computer and view it there if your prefer. The video is a 7 minute montage of clips I took during the march. It begins with one of the organizers and co-founders, Medea Benjamin, making the rather bizarre claim that the current Iraqi government does not represent the majority of Iraqi citizens. Odd. I seem to recall several well attended elections. Her speech is followed by a short lesson in protesting in Arabic. A rather longish scene follows during which there are several confrontations. First in the foreground between two media blokes. Then CodePink delivers their petition to someone in the Iraqi Embassy while to the left of the screen a small group of counter-demonstrators remonstrate with CodePink. Following that is a portion of the march where the women chanted and danced down Connecticut Avenue. Truthfully, I found this part of the march rather charming. When we got to the White House it was open-mike day. Unfortunately I missed taping some of the more interesting comments, but did manage to capture this particular person's discussion on torture, along with what sounds like a Freudian slip regarding whether or not the US Government engages in same. The final scene I found rather powerful. The organizers walked to the main gate at the White House to deliver their petition, asking the remainder of the rally to maintain complete silence. It worked very nicely, with only the sound of footsteps on the sidewalk. Very nice theater, highly effective. It all ends rather abruptly ... my battery sadly hit bottom. Click on any of these photos for a more detailed look. I have to say that eventhough I don't agree with much that this group represents (although I am on the same page in certain, perhaps surprising, ways) they were all extremely nice, cheerful people. I liked them all. They made the day both fun and interesting ... Some were more dour than others ... Tomorrow: Media Swarm and Cindy Sheehan (with more video).

I just got back from the CodePink Rally in DC ... very interesting. I got some good picts and some interesting video as well. I'll be putting them up as soon as I get everything organized and rendered. It'll be a few hours. Frankly I was very impressed with the whole thing. These seem to be deeply committed people who have a very clear message. They're also calling now for the pull-out of ALL foreign troops in Iraq ... a message which, if they stick to it and publicize it as apart from just US Out Of Iraq (which still seems to be the main message) then they have something which few people could argue with ... and a potential powerful plank for the Democrats to stand on. I spoke with Cindy Sheehan and got a short video of her answering a question I posed. No great guns, but interesting, I think. I asked her (we were standing outside the Iraqi Embassy in DC) if she could enter the embassy and pose one question to the ambassador what would it be? ... The media swarm was pretty big ... huge compared to that of the Free Speech Rally (scroll down to the bottom) just the other week. I got some photos dedicated to the swarm. Frankly, though, that's a reflection of the organization more than anything else. Still, I found the participants engaging, thoughtful and committed. I went into this with a lot of skepticism ... I'm sitting here planning my article now wondering what direction to take it. Believe me, if this stuff gets to be any more grass-roots and red-state (and if they stick to this new message of getting ALL foreign presence out of Iraq they might just succeed in doing that) then the Republicans have a lot to worry about come November.

Streaming video of "An Army of Davids" debate. When the player opens, you may still have to hit the PLAY button ... I do on my player anyway. It streams OK on my machine with my connection (cable), so I've done just about all I can do. If you are having any difficulties there's not much I can help you with other than send you a copy of the original MPEG file (which is huge). The audio is, I think, as good as I'm going to get it if I'm going to get this out in any reasonable amount of time. There's a hum that I can't get rid of without distorting the voices even more than they already are. Hopefully most of the audio is acceptable ... there were a lot of interesting things said on this panel. The worst part of the audio seems to be the Q&A at the end. After the panel, the three authors took up their respective positions: Glenn Reynolds remained at the table to sign books (which were on sale there ... I got one); Joe Trippi ... the consumate politician ... played the crowd; Barry Lynn sort of got bottled up by a small group off to one side in a mildly dark corner. I had a hard time getting any decent of picture of him. Here are some more photos: Glenn Reynolds signing some books... Joe Trippi playing the crowd ... Barry Lynn cornered ... UPDATE: Other coverage at Outside the Beltway and Beltway Blogroll.

I attended the lecture/ debate/ discussion "An Army of Davids or the Triumph of Goliath?" held at the National Press Club in DC. Here are some initial photographs. I'll have a video up before long. It's encoding as I type. I've still got a couple of hours to go. The entire file will be about 1.5 hours long ... lots of great commentary by Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit), Joe Trippi (Howard Dean) and Barry Lynn (New America Foundation). UPDATE: I'm still working on the video. The audio is very uneven and I'm trying to get it to an exceptable quality. It might be a while. ANOTHER UPDATE: The video is up and streaming here. Joe Trippi says some not so nice things about his party and their last candidate (as well as some iffy stuff about Dean) ... oh well. The file will have to be "streaming" as the size will preclude normal downloads that won't task the patience of most users. The video quality won't be the best. I had to use the lowest video setting I could manage because of the time constraints. I asked the moderator before it all began how long it should last and was told 70 to 80 minutes, which put me way beyond the "standard" setting for the video given my storage capacity (1 GB). The audio seems to be OK. And after all, they're just a bunch of talking heads ... not much action here ... so we can ignore video to an extent I think. I've lived in DC most of my life ... this is the first time I've been in the Press Club. Very nice. A bit old-school WASP country-club, etc. yet very much what one would expect. Well, what I would expect at least. Here are the main honchos arriving. I got there early.Still about 3 hours of encoding to go ... I'll have this up first thing in the morning (EST). I hope you enjoy! Here's Glenn Reynolds signing my copy of "An Army of Davids". I'm jumping ahead a bit. I'll be back with more tomorrow.