Monday, March 28, 2011

April 9th Anti-War Rally

Dear Peace Activists,

Please help spread the word! The major national Antiwar Rally in NYC at Union Square, on Saturday, April 9 is less than 2 weeks away. Momentum is building based on the urgency of responding to the new attacks in Libya, no end to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more attacks and threats to Gaza, ugly attacks on Muslims, new attacks on unions and collective bargaining and a new rounds of cutbacks of every possible social program, particularly hitting the Black and immigrant communities and the unemployed.


Back to the Streets!
Rally Against the Wars at Home and Abroad on April 9th (New York City) and April 10th (San Francisco)



Call to Action

And Request for Endorsement

April 9, 2011

New York & San Francisco

from the

United National Antiwar Committee


WHO ARE THE WARMAKERS?

THEY are the government, corporate, and financial powers that wage war, ravage the environment and the economy and trample on our democratic rights and liberties.

WHO ARE THE PEACEMAKERS?

WE are the vast majority of humanity who want peace, a healthy planet and a society that prioritizes human needs, democracy and civil liberties for all.

The Warmakers spend trillions of dollars yearly on endless wars in pursuit of global domination and profit while murdering millions of innocent people, installing corrupt and hated governments and funding occupations that displace millions from their homelands – trampling on the right of oppressed people to self-determination.

THEY send our youth – victims of the economic draft – to fight over the very fossil fuels whose unrestrained use threatens the future of the planet while corrupt and virtually unregulated oil giants dump billions of gallons of death into our rivers and oceans.

THEY wage a fake “war on terrorism” at home – the new McCarthyism – that promotes racism and Islamophobia aimed at destroying civil liberties and democratic rights.

THEY grant repeated and untold trillions in bailouts to banks, corporations and financial institutions while breaking unions, robbing pensions, destroying jobs, foreclosing homes, de-funding education and vital social services and are once again threatening Social Security andMedicare.

THEY offer no solutions to the current crises other than more of the same.

THE PEACEMAKERS DEMAND a better world. Only a massive, united, inclusive and independent movement has the power to bring it into being.

WE DEMAND Bring U.S. Troops, Mercenaries and War Contractors Home Now: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! End the sanctions and stop the threats of war against the people of Iran, North Korea and Yemen. No to war and plunder of the people of Latin America, the Caribbean,Africa! End U.S. Aid to Israel! End U.S. Support to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Siege of Gaza!

WE DEMAND trillions for jobs, education, social services, an end to all foreclosures, quality single-payer healthcare for all, a massive conversion to sustainable and planet-saving energy systems and public transportation and reparations to the victims of U.S. terror at home and abroad.

WE DEMAND an end to FBI raids on antiwar, social justice, and international solidarity activists, an end to the racist persecution and prosecutions that ravage Muslim communities, an end to police terror in Black, Latino and Native American communities, full rights and legality for immigrants and an end to all efforts to repress and punish Wikileaks and its contributors and founders.

WE DEMAND the immediate end to torture, rendition, secret trials, drone bombings and death squads.

WE ARE DEDICATED TO A WORLD

OF PEACE AND JUSTICE.

All Out April 9, 2011


For more information, go to http://nationalpeaceconference.org/

Monday, March 21, 2011

So, this weekend P.A.in.T. VP Nicole and I have been in D.C. for FCNL's Spring Lobby Weekend, hosted by my good friend Matt Southworth, who I met at the Veterans For Peace convention in August.

After 18 exhausting hours of traveling, we dropped our stuff off at Matt's and went straight back out into the streets to protest the war in Afghanistan on the 8th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

Here are some links to coverage of our protests:

http://newsok.com/group-protests-armys-care-of-leak-suspect/article/3548787


Then yesterday, Nicole joined the Code Pinkers for the FREE BRADLEY MANNING rally at Quantico . . . . and she got on CNN!!!!


And then it came out that Col. Ann Wright and Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg (two heroes of mine) were victims of police brutality. Here's some awesome footage from No Excuse For That.org:


Makes me angry at a few of the policemen's conduct, happy to see a few of them helping Daniel Ellsberg to his feet, proud of my friends and allies, and grateful no-one on either side was seriously hurt.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Just a little rant about the media

In preparing for a trip to D.C. to protest the ongoing war in Iraq with FCNL for their Spring Lobby Weekend, my friend and I were talking about it and he mentioned that he was in NYC in 2003 when the Valentine's Day Weekend protests took place there and all over the world.

"Wasn't that the largest worldwide protest of all time?" he asked, looking it up online as he spoke.

"I have no idea," I responded, remembering that I had still been in England when those protests were taking place, and only 13 years old: there was no way I remembered the news coverage of the protests from that time.

And there's the kicker. The American and British media barely covered the protests. What a surprise.

Here's an eloquent summary of the situation from Wilson's Blogmanac: "Grimly determined to invade Iraq and thus secure fossil fuels to drive Western consumerism, the leaders of the 'Free World' plugged their ears when global protests against war on Iraq occurred in more than 600 cities worldwide. Estimates from 10 million - 15 million made this the largest day of protest in the history of humankind ..."

Why is it that these record-breaking protests, clearly a sign of our discontent, are swept away under the carpet, and the media coverage is filled with weapons technology and military analysts talking tactics and strategy as the build-up went on without pause?

Why is it that we have the right to free speech negated by the fact that our own leaders refuse to listen?

I am angry. But I'll be there on March 19, making my voice heard.