Thursday, August 18, 2005

UNIFIED MARCH AND RALLY IN DC SEPT. 24!

From: Leslie Cagan Date: August 19, 2005 2:55:48 PM EDT
To: ufpj@lists.mayfirst.org
Subject: [UFPJ] Joint rally and march
on Sept. 24 in Washington, DC
Reply-To: lesliecagan@igc.org

Statement about a joint rally and joint march
for September 24.

The two major antiwar coalitions that
have initiated and organized for a massive
anti-war March on Washington for
September 24 have agreed to organize
a joint rally followed by a joint march.
Both coalitions will organize under their
own banners, slogans and with their own
literature for the September 24 demonstration.
The joint rally will begin at 11:30 am at the
Ellipse in the front of the White House.
We urge everyone around the country to
unite and come out for the largest possible
anti-war demonstration on September 24.
Signed by:

United for Peace and Justice

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (on behalf of the
September 24 National Coalition) UFPJ
mailing list Post: UFPJ@lists.mayfirst.org

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GET THE MILITARY OUR OF OUR SCHOOLS!
VOTE YES ON I!

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Picket the San Francisco Board of Education!
CUT ALL SCHOOL TIES TO THE MILITARY!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 6:30-7:30 P.M.
555 FRANKLIN ST. (Near Van Ness and McAllister)
If you wish to speak at the Board meeting
Call: 241-6427
Monday between 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, between 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

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1) Documentary of Cindy Sheehan journey to Crawford, Texas
http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/127648/index.php

2) Hypocrites and Liars
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Letter
Saturday 20 August 2005
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082005X.shtml

3) The Great American Jobs Scam
by Greg LeRoy, Special to CorpWatch
CorpWatch: Holding Corporations Accountable
August 10th, 2005
(I'm about a third of the way through this very informative book.
My problem with it is that I get angry-sick when I read about
the corruption that is so rampant-things like companies being
allowed to keep all the state income tax that gets taken from a
worker's pay check and worse. I have to put it down
for a while and go back to it. They sure did away with
welfare as we knew it. It's sure different now!...Bonnie Weinstein)
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12540

4) Watching the Gazan Fiasco
The Shame of It All
By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN
August 17, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein08172005.html

5) The events at Stockwell tube station
By George Galloway MP
08/18/05 " The Guardian "
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9845.htm

6) BACORR Meeting
Hello Everyone!
After a successful launch (thank you to all who
attended), this is just a reminder to let everyone
know about our next meeting.
WHAT: BACORR Meeting
WHEN: Monday, August 22nd @ 7pm
WHERE: New College in SF--766 Valencia (between 18th &
19th Streets), Room 11A
So many excellent ideas came out of our last meeting,
now is the time to get cracking and make them a
reality!
--amanda
"While there is a lower class I am in it; while there is
a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul
in prison I am not free." --Eugene V. Debs

7) KMEL SUMMER JAM AND THE NAVY


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1) Documentary of Cindy Sheehan journey to Crawford, Texas
http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/127648/index.php

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2) Hypocrites and Liars
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Letter
Saturday 20 August 2005
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082005X.shtml

The media are wrong. The people who have come out to Camp
Casey to help coordinate the press and events with me are
not putting words in my mouth, they are taking words out
of my mouth. I have been known for sometime as a person
who speaks the truth and speaks it strongly. I have always
called a liar a liar and a hypocrite a hypocrite. Now I am
urged to use softer language to appeal to a wider audience.
Why do my friends at Camp Casey think they are there? Why
did such a big movement occur from such a small action on
August 6, 2005?

I haven't had much time to analyze the Camp Casey phenomena.
I just read that I gave 250 interviews in less than a week's
time. I believe it. I would go to bed with a raw throat every
night. I got pretty tired of answering some questions, like:
"What do you want to say to the President?" and "Do you really
think he will meet with you?" However, since my mom has been
sick I have had a chance to step back and ponder the flood
gates that I opened in Crawford, Tx.

I just read an article posted today on LewRockwell.com by
artist Robert Shetterly who painted my portrait. The article
reminded me of something I said at the Veteran's for Peace
Convention the night before I set out to Bush's ranch in my
probable futile quest for the truth. This is what I said:
I got an email the other day and it said, "Cindy if you didn't
use so much profanity ... there's people on the fence that
get offended.

And you know what I said? "You know what? You know what,
god damn it? How in the world is anybody still sitting on
that fence?

If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you
get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody
who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that
is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and
speak out.

This is what the Camp Casey miracle is all about. American
citizens who oppose the war but never had a conduit for
their disgust and dismay are dropping everything and
traveling to Crawford to stand in solidarity with us who
have made a commitment to sit outside of George's ranch
for the duration of the miserable Texan August. If they
can't come to Texas, they are attending vigils, writing
letters to their elected officials and to their local
newspapers; they are setting up Camp Casey branches
in their hometowns; they are sending flowers, cards,
letters, gifts, and donations here to us at Camp Casey.
We are so grateful for all of the support, but I think
pro-peace Americans are grateful for something to do,
finally.

One thing I haven't noticed or become aware of though is
an increased number of pro-war, pro-Bush people on the
other side of the fence enlisting to go and fight George
Bush's war for imperialism and insatiable greed. The
pro-peace side has gotten off their apathetic butts to
be warriors for peace and justice. Where are the pro-war
people? Everyday at Camp Casey we have a couple of anti-
peace people on the other side of the road holding up
signs that remind me that "Freedom isn't Free" but I
don't see them putting their money where their mouths
are. I don't think they are willing to pay even a small
down payment for freedom by sacrificing their own blood
or the flesh of their children. I still challenge them
to go to Iraq and let another soldier come home. Perhaps
a soldier that is on his/her third tour of duty, or one
that has been stop-lossed after serving his/her country
nobly and selflessly, only to be held hostage in Iraq
by power mad hypocrites who have a long history of
avoiding putting their own skin in the game.

Contrary to what the main stream media thinks, I did not
just fall off a pumpkin truck in Crawford, Tx. on that
scorchingly hot day two weeks ago. I have been writing,
speaking, testifying in front of Congressional committees,
lobbying Congress, and doing interviews for over a year
now. I have been pretty well known in the progressive,
peace community and I had many, many supporters before
I even left California. The people who supported me did
so because they know that I uncompromisingly tell the
truth about this war. I have stood up and said: "My son
died for NOTHING, and George Bush and his evil cabal and
their reckless policies killed him. My son was sent to
fight in a war that had no basis in reality and was killed
for it." I have never said "pretty please" or "thank you."
I have never said anything wishy-washy like he uses
"Patriotic Rhetoric." I say my son died for LIES. George
Bush LIED to us and he knew he was LYING. The Downing
Street Memos dated 23 July, 2002 prove that he knew that
Saddam didn't have WMD's or any ties to Al Qaeda.
I believe that George lied and he knew he was lying.
He didn't use patriotic rhetoric. He lied and made us
afraid of ghosts that weren't there. Now he is using
patriotic rhetoric to keep the US military presence in
Iraq: Patriotic rhetoric that is based on greed and
nothing else.

Now I am being vilified and dragged through the mud
by the righties and so-called "fair and balanced" main
stream media who are afraid of the truth and can't
face someone who tells it by telling any truth of
their own. Now they have to twist, distort, lie, and
scrutinize anything I have ever said when they never
scrutinize anything that George Bush said or is saying.
Instead of asking George or Scotty McClellan if he will
meet with me, why aren't they asking the questions they
should have been asking all along: "Why are our young
people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq? What is
this noble cause you are sending our young people to
Iraq for? What do you hope to accomplish there? Why
did you tell us there were WMD's and ties to Al Qaeda
when you knew there weren't? Why did you lie to us?
Why did you lie to the American people? Why did you
lie to the world? Why are our nation's children still
in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you
lied? Why do you continually say we have to "complete
the mission" when you know damn well you have no idea
what that mission is and you can change it at will
like you change your cowboy shirts?"

Camp Casey has grown and prospered and survived all
attacks and challenges because America is sick and
tired of liars and hypocrites and we want the answers
to the tough questions that I was the first to dare
ask. THIS is George Bush's accountability moment and
he is failing ... miserably. George Bush and his
advisers seriously "misunderestimated" me when they
thought they could intimidate me into leaving before
I had the answers, or before the end of August. I can
take anything they throw at me, or Camp Casey. If it
shortens the war by a minute or saves one life, it
is worth it. I think they seriously "misunderestimated"
all mothers. I wonder if any of them had authentic
mother-child relationships and if they are surprised
that there are so many mothers in this country who
are bear-like when it comes to wanting the truth and
who want to make meaning of their child's needless
and seemingly meaningless deaths?

The Camp Casey movement will not die until we have
a genuine accounting of the truth and until our
troops are brought home. Get used to it George,
we are not going away.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

3) The Great American Jobs Scam
by Greg LeRoy, Special to CorpWatch
CorpWatch: Holding Corporations Accountable
August 10th, 2005
(I'm about a third of the way through this very informative book.
My problem with it is that I get angry-sick when I read about
the corruption that is so rampant-things like companies being
allowed to keep all the state income tax that gets taken from a
worker's pay check and worse. I have to put it down
for a while and go back to it. They sure did away with
welfare as we knew it. It's sure different now!...Bonnie Weinstein)
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12540

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

4) Watching the Gazan Fiasco
The Shame of It All
By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN
August 17, 2005
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein08172005.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

5) The events at Stockwell tube station
By George Galloway MP
08/18/05 " The Guardian "
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9845.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*--------

6) BACORR Meeting
Hello Everyone!
After a successful launch (thank you to all who
attended), this is just a reminder to let everyone
know about our next meeting.
WHAT: BACORR Meeting
WHEN: Monday, August 22nd @ 7pm
WHERE: New College in SF--766 Valencia (between 18th &
19th Streets), Room 11A
So many excellent ideas came out of our last meeting,
now is the time to get cracking and make them a
reality!
--amanda
"While there is a lower class I am in it; while there is
a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul
in prison I am not free." --Eugene V. Debs

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7) KMEL SUMMER JAM AND THE NAVY

Dear Friends:

Thank you for the immense support for the action against
the NAVY sponsorship of the KMEL Summer Jam Concert. As
much as protests and pickets are fun, we have decided to
keep this action youth-oriented and focused on
awareness-building rather than holding a demonstration.
Many of you have expressed interest in being involved
during an action at the concert and we would love for you
to:

JOIN US!!! We will be setting up tables near the front
gates of the Shoreline Amphitheatre (1 Amphitheatre
Parkway in Mountain View) on Sunday, August 21st at
approximately 10:30AM to approximately 2PM. We will be
distributing information to participants regarding
alternatives to the military and Clear Channel's disregard
to the community's concerns. We will need all the help we
can possibly get! If you are planning to attend and would
like more information please feel free to contact Jen at
(415) 575-5555 or jlow@ucsc.edu .

Also, if any of your organizations/organizers are willing
to take a leadership role for Sunday's action (i.e.
carpooling, organizing the tables, delegating tasks at the
tables, etc.) please join our conference call tomorrow,
Friday, August 19th at 11:30AM. We will be discussing the
details of the action.

CONFERENCE CALL NUMBER: 760-477-2024
CODE: 654321#

We will continue to apply pressure on Clear Channel and
KMEL to negotiate with us on the military's involvement in
future youth-based concerts/events. We will keep you
updated.

Please forward this message to members in your
organization and/or those you think might be interested.
Hope to see y'all at the Summer Jam on Sunday!

In Solidarity,

CODEPINK & Global Exchange

Jen Low
CODEPINK Intern
(415) 722-2907
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8) Drastic Tax Break Gives Billions to US Firms
A measure designed to create jobs is instead rewarding
the companies that are most adept at stashing overseas
profits in tax havens, allowing them to bring money home
at a severely discounted tax rate.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081905I.shtml

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