DPP Update - November 14, 2008
Sunday, November 16
DPP Annual Retreat
12 noon-6pm, Ashmont Nursery School, 1 Ashmont St (corner of Washington Street near the Dorchester Y),
Join fellow DPPers to celebrate our achievements, evaluate our work over the past year – and plan for the future,
beginning with a light lunch at noon.
Please let know if you're coming, unless you already did (mikeprokosch@verizon.net); talk with others on your committees and see if they are bringing any ideas to the retreat: evaluations of our work in 2008, proposals for 2009. Our committees are Anti-War, Biolab, Counter-Recruitment, Multi-Cultural Competence, and Outreach (Outreach already met); show up promptly at noon so we can have a light lunch and get started; bring a dessert or a drink if convenient (we don't need everyone to do this, but we will have a mid-afternoon dessert break.)
Part of the agenda will be
1. Evaluate DPP's work in 2008
2. How has our environment changed with the presidential election, developments in the Middle East, around the world, in the state, in Dorchester? What do all these mean for us and DPP?
3. What do we want to do in 2009?
-projects and events
-coalitions and relationships
4. Internal functioning, including:
-outreach, membership, leadership
-committees
-the decision group
-phone tree, update, website
-finances
Reflections on the Election and other things. . .
I watched the election returns early Wednesday morning in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, at the home of my friend Mohammed Saleh. Ramallah is just north of Jerusalem, in effect a suburban satellite town similar to Newton, but its residents – like those of Bethlehem to the south -- are cut off from their economic and cultural hub by walls and checkpoints, which they are not allowed to cross without special permission from the Israeli occupation authorities, rarely granted. Recently, after he was refused an emergency entry permit, Mohammed had to sneak into East Jerusalem for surgery at the Palestinian Makassed Hospital; his wife Sawsan paid a smuggler almost a week’s wages to help her visit him during his recovery. Mohammed is a trade unionist, laid of from his paid job as an official with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, which is nearly broke because of the severe economic decline in the Occupied Territories. He works without salary as the president of Ramallah’s largest labor organization – the Union of Unemployed Workers.
Most Palestinians I met were “realistic” about what Obama would mean for their aspirations, given his groveling as a candidate before AIPAC and his speedy appointment of Israeli hawk and corporate DLC member Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. But they were also hugely relieved to see the last of George Bush and understood that McCain’s loss was in large measure a repudiation of the Bush administration policies. Perhaps they perceived a glimmer of hope, despite so many disappointments with the US role in the Middle East, from the fact that the Israeli establishment and the many Israeli voters with dual US citizenship preferred McCain by a strong margin. I and many others on the Left probably feel the same way. While remaining skeptical of the new administration’s commitment to real and substantive political change, we are awed by the cultural significance and social impact of Obama’s victory. We hope for the best but prepare for disappointment. . .
I look forward to speaking with many of you about what I learned on this latest trip to Palestine. I ask that you think about any organizations or venues which might want to hear a report – and I urge you all to consider making the trip yourselves next year. You will experience and learn a great deal, while helping to bring hope to our Palestinian brothers and sisters who crave the evidence of solidarity from the outside world.
Many thanks to Mike Prokosch for taking care of the DPP Update while I was away
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The National Priorities Project, which brought us the on-line Cost of War Calculator, is offering several brand-new "tools to help you shape our new federal budget" including:
*The Individual Cost of the Iraq War Calculator (war taxes you've paid and war taxes you still owe)
*New fact sheets about energy use and fossil fuels.
*Fact sheets that examine the real cost of a barrel of oil and a gallon of gas, when you include the military costs.
"In addition to the $2.65/gallon price of gasoline, the American people pay an additional $0.57 for each of the 142 billion gallons of gasoline we use every year. $215.4 billion represents nearly 30% of the federal defense budget - just to gain access to foreign energy."
*New figures on military recruitment, FY 2009 spending priorities, graphs and maps which put the U.S. military in a global context....
all at http://www.nationalpriorities.org/.
Saturday, November 22, 1:30-5:30 pm: UJP Post-election Strategy Session. Three activists will share their views on the meaning of the election and the economic crisis, and the implications for our peace and justice work. Following these presentations there will be ample time for discussion, questions, answers, new proposals for projects, etc. Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square (across from Cambridge City Hall).
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Post-Election Challenges
Don't Let Barack Obama Break Your Heart: Why Americans Shouldn't Go Home
Let's assume the best: that Barack Obama truly means to bring some form of the people's will, as he imagines it, to Washington after eight years of unconstitutional "commander-in-chief" governance. That -- take my word for it -- he can't do without the people themselves expressing that will… Washington remains an imperial capital. How in the world will Barack Obama truly begin to change that without you? More
Obama Mania
Now a new beginning under Obama. With hoped for change that he promised. A "bold mandate (for) progressive governing." A "transformational presidency." The end of neoliberalism and new era for his faithful. With legions lining up to cheer. Unmindful of how American politics works. The way it is most everywhere. The same old, same old that The New York Times ignored in saying that "Obama began moving (swiftly) to build his administration and make good on his ambitious promises to point the US in a different direction...." Without a whiff of progressivism in any high-level appointees so far named, suggested, or in his transition team co-chairmen. More
ACLU Calls On Obama To Close Guantánamo On Day One Of Presidency
The American Civil Liberties Union launched a new campaign today calling on President-elect Barack Obama to close the Guantánamo Bay prison and end the military commissions on Day One of his presidency. Obama, as a candidate, pledged to "close Guantánamo, reject the Military Commissions Act and adhere to the Geneva Conventions." In a full page ad in the New York Times today, the ACLU urges Obama, as president, to fulfill those promises and immediately. . . More
The US can quit Iraq, or it can stay. But it can't do both
Fear of covert US control is one of the reasons why the Iraqi government has been so intent on insisting that all US forces be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. The latest draft of the security accord has dropped mention of US troops staying behind for training, or making the US withdrawal conditional on improved security in Iraq being maintained. The American position in Iraq has always been undermined by the fear that, whatever they claimed to be doing in Iraq, their long-term objective was to rule the country. More
With Iran, Obama Needs More Carrot, Less Stick
As Iran heads toward a presidential election in the coming year, the United States—and the Obama administration—would achieve better and longer-lasting results by seeking solutions geared toward resolving the legitimate issues at play in the region, rather than creating short-term sound bites here at home. A clean break with the neoconservative policies of the Bush administration is a prerequisite for success, and achieving this requires great imagination and courage. President-elect Barack Obama has demonstrated the potential for both of those qualities. More
America's Energy Crunch Comes Home
Of all the challenges facing President Barack Obama next January, none is likely to prove as daunting, or important to the future of this nation, as that of energy. After all, energy policy -- so totally mishandled by the outgoing Bush-Cheney administration -- figures in each of the other major challenges facing the new president, including the economy, the environment, foreign policy, and our Middle Eastern wars. Most of all, it will prove a monumental challenge because the United States faces an energy crisis of unprecedented magnitude that is getting worse by the day. More
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DPP’s Friends at VETERANS FOR PEACE report on their November 11 Parade Action:
Yesterday was a big success for us. The American Legion, afraid of confrontation with us, cancelled the speaking portion of the event. We had more people marching with us than last year. Thanks to our supporters from Code Pink, Mass. Peace Action, Raging Grannies, U Mass Antiwar group, and others who came out. As we reached City Hall Plaza
Iraq Veterans Against The War was on the sidewalk, applauding us and we all hugged and shook hands. Then, in a great suggestion by Liam Madden, we had our own speaking event on City Hall Plaza. Speakers were myself, Shep Gurwitz, Liam Madden, national VFP President Elliott Adams, Paul Brailsford. And then we ended with the Raging Grannies
singing a song.
We marched with cadences the whole way, and passed out hundreds of flyers in an attempt to get the wars and occupations back into the consciousness of the public. We got a great response from people along the way, and only a couple of negative reactions. The motorcycles that the Boston Police put between us and the parade made it seem like we had a motorcycle escort!
News reports and photos here
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BANKS GET BAILED OUT… PEOPLE GET THROWN OUT.
After the last weeks of bank collapses and government bail-outs – with hundreds of billions more promised to Wall Street -- it’s hard to believe that banks would continue to seek evictions rather than negotiate to allow families to remain in their homes. But this administration, led by the very officials whose malfeasance or simple incompetence brought on the current crisis – continue to push the interests of Wall Street over the needs of Main Street!
Background on the Financial Crisis: Mike has been posting good articles about the "bailout" on http://www.uml.edu/laborextension/Economic_Crisis.html
And watch for announcements of upcoming EVICTION BLOCKADES organized by City Life/Vida Urbana and supported by other DPP Allies like ACORN
In case you missed it:
THE GOP'S BLAME-ACORN GAME
For months, the right-wing echo chamber--bloggers, columnists, editorial writers and TV and radio talk-show hosts--has pitched in with a well-orchestrated campaign to blame the mortgage crisis on ACORN and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), the 1977 anti-redlining law… The right-wing case against the CRA is entirely bogus--a diversionary tactic to take the heat off the financial services industry and its allies, like McCain. The CRA applies only to depository institutions, like commercial and savings banks, but thanks to Congress's deregulation mania, there are now many other lenders, including private mortgage companies like CitiMortgage, Household Finance and Countrywide Financial (which was recently bought out by Bank of America). These outfits, which exist in a shadow world without government oversight, account for most of the predatory loans in trouble today. More
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PALESTINE / ISRAEL
UN warns over Gaza food blockade
The UN in the Gaza Strip says it will run out of food aid in two days unless Israel's blockade - which it describes as "shameful and unacceptable" - eases. The UN refugee agency Unrwa, which distributes food to half of Gaza's 1,5m people, called the blockade "a physical as well as a mental punishment"… Gaza's only power plant was closed on Monday, after Israel stopped fuel deliveries. Aid agencies estimate the new deliveries of fuel will run out within a day-and-a-half. More
UN 'has run out of Gaza food aid'
The UN has no more food to distribute in the Gaza Strip, the head of relief efforts in the area has warned. John Ging said handouts for 750,000 Gazans would have to be suspended until Saturday at the earliest, and called Gaza's economic situation "a disaster". Israel earlier denied entry to a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies. It has prevented the transfer of all goods into Gaza for nearly a week, blaming continuing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) distributes emergency aid to about half of Gaza's 1.5m population. More
Israeli police evict Palestinian couple from home of 52 years
Israeli police have evicted a disabled Palestinian man and his wife from the home where they had lived for 52 years, in a Palestinian district of east Jerusalem which is now surrounded by hardline Jewish settlers. The eviction came after years of litigation which culminated in an Israeli supreme court ruling in July ordering them out of the house. More
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COST OF WAR
Where the money comes from, where it goes and what it could pay for instead.
http://nationalpriorities.org/
VIDEO: “ONE DAY = $720 MILLION"
NEW SLIDE SHOW RESOURCE:
“The Real Price of Occupation”
International Cost of War
http://www.stwr.net/component/option,com_costofwar/Itemid,165/
Have you ever wondered what the International community could achieve if funding for war was diverted to urgent humanitarian needs? This eye opening cost calculator shows what could be bought instead of arms and military equipment.
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Other Events
Saturday, November 15, FIRST PARISH CHURCH Holiday Fair, Gift Bazaar, 10am-4pm, First Parish Church in Dorchester
10 Parish Street, Meetinghouse Hill, Dorchester 617-436-0527 UNIQUE GIFT ITEMS by local artisans, organizations and vendors; also for sale: collectibles, fair trade items, crafts by church members and friends. ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS including greetings from Santa and his helpers! REFRESHMENTS
Wednesday, November 19: NOAM CHOMSKY: "What's Next? The US & the World After Bush" 6:30, Arlington Street Church (by the Boston Gardens). (5:30 for reception ticket holders). Information and tickets at http://www.encuentro5.org. [BTW: Equal Exchange is donating free hot chocolate that will be available to everyone arriving between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m.]
Saturday, November 22: UJP Strategy Session: Obama's election victory and the Economic Crisis for UJP's work in 2009. 1:30pm to 5:30pm Cambridge Senior Center 806 Massachusetts Ave in Central Square Cambridge (across the street from Cambridge City Hall) Please come and help us set the direction for our work and prepare effective peace and justice activities in the post-election terrain. The session begins with 3 panelists: Mark Solomon from The Committees of Correspondence; Marilyn Levin from Arlington UJP and the UJP Coordinating Committee; and Edwin Argueta, a lead organizer for Jobs with Justice. They will share their views on the implications of the election and the economic crisis and what it all means for our work.
Tuesday, November 24: Foreclosure Corporate Accountability Hearing at City Hall. Community Labor United, SEIU 615, ACORN, and City Life will testify on the economy and how corporations need to be held accountable concerning foreclosures and families. 4 pm, Boston City Council Chambers.
Saturday, December 6: "Green Jobs" Campaign Launch, 10-11 am, Twelfth Baptist Church, 150 Warren St, Roxbury. Join Community Labor United as they kick off a new campaign that will insulate people's homes, slow climate change, create jobs in our neighborhoods, and keep people in their homes despite the foreclosure crisis. Followed by ACORN's Energy Fair from 11 to 3. Free. Contact Kalila Barnett, kalila@massclu.org.
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CONTACTING DPP and Joining Our Work:
To make it easier to get involved with DPP, we've decided to publish contact info for our coordinators in every issue of this update. We will also regularly publish upcoming meetings of work committees, create a brochure or flyer about DPP, and greet new people at monthly meetings with an explanation of how we work. Here's how to reach them.
Our Facilitation Committee coordinates monthly meetings and deals with organization-wide questions. Contact Hayat Imam, imamhayat@hotmail.com; Jane Taylor, janetaylor11@gmail.com, 617-698-0774; betsymiessner@email.com; 1-617-285-2198.
The Anti-War Committee pressures Congress, does community outreach and education to end the wars in the Middle East. Contact Denise Zwahlen at denisezwahlen@yahoo.com.
The Counter-Recruitment Committee educates youth and their parents about alternatives to military service and how to keep military recruiters from getting their contact information. Contact Alison Gottlieb at alison.gottlieb@umb.edu .
The Biolab Committee opposes the bio-hazard laboratory that BU is building at Boston Medical Center. Contact Mike Coté at mike_j_cote@yahoo.com.
The Multi-Cultural Competence Committee promotes internal and public education on racism and the diverse cultures of Dorchester. Contact Mary Regan, maryregan@hotmail.com.
Our Treasurer is Margaret Lamb, ForumGal@aol.com. Daryl Wright and Mike Prokosch prepare budgets
and write funding proposals: dwright@youthbuild.org, mikeprokosch@verizon.net .
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DPP Calendar - Monthly Meetings
Tentative 2008 calendar
November 16: DPP Annual Retreat – details above
December 8: holiday party
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ARE YOU A VETERAN?
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED NEIGHBORHOOD VIOLENCE?
ARE YOU FAMILY / FRIEND OF A VET OR SOMEONE IMPACTED BY
VIOLENCE?
FROM IRAQ &
AFGHANISTAN BACK
HOME TO
DORCHESTER:
A COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO
THE WOUNDS OF VIOLENCE
Saturday, September 20 - full day program
9:30 am - 4:00 pm
Dorchester House Multi-service Center
1353 Dorchester Avenue * Dorchester, MA 02125
Speakers * networking * education * open mike
Assistance and information provided by: VetCenter, SoFAR, Veterans Upward Bound rogram, Veterans Advocacy Network, NE Shelter for Homeless Veterans, Veterans Benefits learinghouse, Statewide Head Injury Program from Massachusetts Rehabilitation
Commission, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and others.
A LIGHT BREAKFAST & CATERED LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED.
Please contact if you have any questions, require childcare or can provide outreach assistance for this event at 617-983-5383, dorchesterconference@gmail.com or www.dotpeace.org/campaigns.
Event co-sponsors include Dorchester People for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War—Boston Chapter, Louis D.Brown Peace Institute, Massachusetts Chapter of Military Families Speaks Out, Veterans for Peace—Smedley Butler Brigade and the William Joiner Center for the Study of War & Social Consequences at UMASS-Boston.
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Sunday, June 1, DORCHESTER DAY PARADE: March with DPP for Peace and Justice. . .
We need more help to plan our participation. If you are interested to join Jane or Denise in organizing some aspect of the event, contact Denise at denisezwahlen@yahoo.com. We are inviting some of the community groups we have worked closely with to join us (IVAW, BWA, City Life Vida Urbana). That is a way to make clear the connections between the war at home and the war and occupation in the Middle East.
NEXT DPP MEETING
WEDNESDAY, June 11, FORUM ON THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS, 6:30-8:30pm, Vietnamese American Community Center, 42 Charles St., Fields Corner. Hear from the people that are experiencing it. Learn what you can do to help homeowners and tenants facing eviction and help save our neighborhoods! Fight for economic and racial justice!
The number of foreclosure petitions has gone up tenfold this year and is only increasing. The situation is expected to hit crisis level this summer as payments on variable-interest-rate mortgages skyrocket. Sponsored by: Boston Tenant Coalition, City Life/Vida Urbana, Community Change Inc., Dorchester People for Peace, ACORN, and United for a Fair Economy
Wheelchair accessible. Please call us a week in advance if you need translation, childcare, a ride, or have other needs: 617-282-3783.
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CONGRESS VOTES NO TO IRAQ WAR FUNDING!
In a surprising outcome Thursday afternoon Congress defeated the $162.5 billion to continue funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- while passing a measure that demands troop withdrawals, bans torture and expands education benefits for returning veterans. The entire Massachusetts delegation (including Lynch and Capuano) voted against the war funding. (more details below)
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Sunday, May 18-Thursday May 22, WALK TO FREEDOM for CORI REFORM!
This Sunday dozens from Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA) will begin a 5 day walk from Worcester to Boston to raise momentum for CORI reform. To join the Walk to Freedom from Worcester, call EPOCA at (508) 410 7676 or visit www.exprisoners.org
Volunteers needed to help BWA leaflet for the May 22 Freedom Walk
Here is the schedule and the list of BWA people who have volunteered so far. If you can help, please contact Aaron at 617-427-8100. .The leaflet is available at the BWA website www.BostonWorkersAlliance.org
JOIN the final leg of the Walk to Freedom Thursday, May 22: 10am at Bunker Hill Community College. Greet the walkers and march the final leg to the State House, expected to arrive about 1pm for a rally with speeches from prominent elected officials and real life testimonials on the need for CORI Reform Now – followed by visits to legislators inside. Whether you are able to march the entire route, just the final leg, or join us at the State House on May 22nd, please join us to demand CORI Reform.
1) Remove the criminal record question ("the box") from all job applications.
2) Only check CORI for sensitive positions
3) If a CORI is used, only check as the last step in the hiring process
4) Reduce the waiting period to seal a felony to 7 years and misdemeanors after 3
5) Automatically seal dismissed and not guilty and keep from employers and housing gatekeepers
Call the Chairmen of the Joint Judiciary Committee today:
Rep. Chair Eugene O'Flaherty (D - Chelsea Charlestown): 617-722-2396
Sen. Chair Robert Creedon (D - Brockton): (617) 722-1200
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WAR RESISTANCE
War Funding Defeated in Congress!
(News “not fit to print” on the front-page of the NYTimes or the Boston Globe. . .)
In an amazing turn of events, the House of Representatives Thursday voted AGAINST the supplemental funding for the war in Iraq!! The bill would have provided $166 billion in war funding, the largest single provision since the war started in 2003. In a move that no one expected, dozens of Republicans voted "present," which is the same as abstaining on the vote. This meant that the 149 NO votes were enough to defeat the bill. (141 votes were cast in favor.) The entire Massachusetts delegation (including Lynch and Capuano) voted against the war funding. See the roll call vote here.
The peace movement pressured Congress in the days preceding the vote – including a visit to Lynch’s South Boston office Wednesday by a group from Veterans for Peace and DPP. The hard work of people all around the country secured those 149 clear NO votes.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where we can expect an attempt to add the war funding back into the bill. After that, the bill will go to a conference committee, then back for a re-vote in both the House and the Senate. That means we need to keep up the pressure on both the House and the Senate.
Here's what you can do:
--Call your rep (202-224-3121) to say thanks and ask him to hold firm over the next few weeks.
--We must all escalate our pressure on the Senate! Call your two senators (202-224-3121) and let them know how strongly you oppose further funding for this war!
Let us claim this victory and at the same time push as hard as we can to stop the Senate from giving the green light on billions more of our tax dollars going into this war and occupation.
Additional Information: Two other measures were passed in the House this afternoon. The first of those had some good provisions (no permanent bases, no use of torture), but also included a non-binding goal for the withdrawal of U.S. troops to be completed by December 2009. This would keep our troops in Iraq for another year and half, and this timeline is only a goal. In other words, this doesn't even come close to our call for all of the troops to come home now. The second measure that passed today would increase veterans benefits and provide funding for some important domestic needs.
We expect the Senate to vote next week. Given the un-expected development in the House, all bets are off on what the Senate will do. After the Senate acts on the package, both chambers will negotiate and try to come up with a compromise, which will then go before both chamber for a re-vote.
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WINTER SOLDIER ON THE HILL: Congress has heard from politicians, pundits, and generals, but not, up to this point, from the average boots-on-the-ground soldier. On May 15, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) began the process of righting this imbalance with “Winter Soldier on the Hill.” Thursday morning, nine IVAW members testified before Congress for the first time, giving our representatives a picture of the Iraq occupation that has been missing from the debate for too long.
C-SPAN covered the hearing live, and you can watch video of the entire proceedings online or listen to audio from KPFA. Visit the Winter Soldier on the Hill page for links to video and audio files.
More details: Read bios of the testifiers and find out how you can help! Download the Winter Soldier on the Hill press release.
IVAW member refuses deployment to Iraq - show your support!
Immediately after this morning's hearings, IVAW member Sgt. Matthis Chiroux held a press conference where he publicly refused his deployment to Iraq. Sgt. Chiroux had been honorably discharged last summer after four years of service, and had been scheduled to deploy to Iraq in June. You can read Sgt. Chiroux's statement on refusing his orders and find links to video of the announcement on our website.
To donate to IVAW’s Legal Fund to support Matthis and other servicemembers who are refusing to support the occupation of Iraq, use our online donation form and select “Legal Fund” under special projects. If you would like to send a message of support to Sgt Matthis Chiroux, email thankyoumatthis@ivaw.org.
COURAGE TO RESIST: “Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight. . .”
News and resources on resistance within the military. Check it out here
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Peace Group Sues Bush Administration, Charging Iraq War Is Unconstitutional
An anti-war activist group sued President Bush in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday, seeking a declaratory judgment that the war in Iraq is illegal and unconstitutional. The suit, New Jersey Peace Action et al. v. Bush, represented by the Constitutional Law Clinic at Rutgers University Law School-Newark, alleges that the war violates article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which assigns to Congress the authority to declare war. More
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School Recruiting Could Violate International Protocol
Pressed by the demands of the "global war on terrorism", the United States is violating an international protocol that forbids the recruitment of children under the age of 18 for military service, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major civil rights group that charged that recruitment practices target children as young as 11 years old. The 46-page report, "Soldiers of Misfortune", which was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for submission to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, also found that the U.S. military disproportionately targets poor and minority public school students. More
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"Locking Up Our Children”: The ACLU of Massachusetts has released a major new report called “Locking Up Our Children: The Secure Detention of Massachusetts Youth After Arraignment and Before Adjudication." Through months of painstaking research, we found that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is simply locking up too many kids -- even those accused of only minor offenses and who pose little or no danger to their communities. This is unfair, threatens public safety, and wastes public money. Click here for links to our op-ed in Monday's Boston Globe, the entire report itself, and other information about this issue:
http://www.aclum.org/lockingupkids/
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STOP THE PUSH FOR WAR WITH IRAN!
Oppose IRAN “DIVESTMENT” BILL (House 4270)
Please contact your representatives! Let them know you are opposed to a measure aimed at raising tensions in the region and promoting the slide toward war with Iran -- and which would cost the retirement system $5million while increasing annual administrative expenses by up to $40,000.
H.4270 has now been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means: Rep. Bob DeLeo is the chairman- Telephone: 617-722-2990 E-Mail: Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us; House members (includes St.Fleur of Dorchester and Mallia of JP), Senate members (includes Wilkerson, Joyce)
You can read the innocuous-seeming text of the House 4270 here. DPP member Jeff Klein testified against the measure at a hearing April 10 (read the testimony here) and wrote an article published in this week’s Dorchester Reporter, April 24, 2008, page 10
Many useful resources on Iran, the nuclear issue and US-Iran relations available at these sites:
http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/, http://irannuclearwatch.blogspot.com, http://www.newiranpolicy.org/
“Beating the War Drums. . .”
Israel, US see need for "tangible action" on Iran
The United States and Israel agree on the need for "tangible action" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman said after a visit by US President George W. Bush... Bush ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Tehran in a speech to Israel's Knesset on Thursday, saying critics' calls for talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were comparable to the "appeasement" of Adolf Hitler before World War Two. More
Tom Friedman's latest declaration of war
Friedman has shifted his warmongering eyes from Iraq to Iran. While he denies in passing that he wants to wage war actual war on Iran, he says we must find incentives "that the other side finds too tempting or frightening to ignore." In November, he argued that if Barack Obama becomes President, it was urgent that Dick Cheney be his Vice President because "when negotiating with murderous regimes like Iran's or Syria's, you want Tony Soprano by your side, not Big Bird" and Obama needs "a Dick Cheney standing over his right shoulder, quietly pounding a baseball bat into his palm." That's what passes for Serious Foreign Policy commentary in America… More
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PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS – What Do We Do?
It’s no news to DPP members that 2008 is a crucial election year when the country will choose a new president and a new Congress -- with an important potential impact on the war in Iraq and at home
Obama says he'll reshape US foreign policy. But can he?
So the big questions remain: does Obama really want to change US foreign policy and can he, if he does? Having a black person in the Oval Office, and especially one with an understanding of US imperialism, would have a colossal international impact in itself. But would this merely result in even greater disappointment once the months go by and US policy stays the same? More
Bush's Comments In Israel Fuel Anger: Linking of Nazis, Iran Seen as Jab at Obama
On an emotional visit to mark Israel's 60th anniversary, President Bush on Thursday compared people seeking talks with Iran and radical Islamic groups to the Nazis' appeasers, provoking a political storm at home and accusations that he was politicizing the celebration… Bush's comments about appeasement reverberated across the U.S. campaign trail, offering a new platform for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to sharpen their lines of attack.
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. . .
THE NEW GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY
While the day-to-day focus of US military planning remains Iraq and Afghanistan, American strategists are increasingly looking beyond these two conflicts to envision the global combat environment of the emerging period--and the world they see is one where the struggle over vital resources, rather than ideology or balance-of-power politics, dominates the martial landscape. Believing that the United States must reconfigure its doctrines and forces in order to prevail in such an environment, senior officials have taken steps to enhance strategic planning and combat capabilities. More
AMERICA OUT OF GAS: Portrait of an Oil-Addicted Former Superpower
The average G.I in Iraq now uses about seven times as much oil per day as G.I.s did in the first Gulf War less than two decades ago. And every sign indicates that the same ratio of increase will apply to coming conflicts; that the daily cost of fighting will skyrocket; and that the Pentagon's capacity to shoulder multiple foreign military burdens will unravel. Thus are superpowers undone… As a result of our addiction to increasingly costly imported oil, we have become a different country, weaker and less prosperous. Whether we know it or not, the energy Berlin Wall has already fallen and the United States is an ex-superpower-in-the-making. More
Oil Wars: Worried About the Price of Gas? End the Wars
Not long ago the price of oil was about a quarter of what it is today. But soon after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq the price of oil began to escalate in tandem with the escalation of war and political turbulence in the Middle East. The fact that the rise in the price of oil has followed the heightened insecurity in oil markets is neither accidental nor a simple correlation; it represents a causality that runs from the heightened insecurity in oil markets to the inflated price of energy. The war also contributes to the escalation of fuel cost in indirect ways; for example, by plunging the U.S. ever deeper into debt and depreciating the dollar. As oil is priced largely in U.S. dollars, oil exporting countries ask for more dollars per barrel of oil as the dollar loses value. More
About That ‘New’ Middle East…
Could there be a more perfect image of the catastrophic self-inflicted rout suffered by U.S. Middle East policy under President George W. Bush? This week, the President will party with Israel’s leaders celebrating their country’s 60th anniversary — and champion a phony peace process whose explicity aim is to produce an agreement to go on the shelf … Meanwhile, across the border in Lebanon, Hizballah are riding high on the tectonic shifts in the Middle East’s political substructure, making clear that the “new Middle East” memorably (if grotesquely) inaugurated by Condi Rice in Beirut in 2006 is nothing like that imagined or pursued by the Bush Administration. More
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ANNIVERSARIES
As we enter the sixth year of war and occupation in Iraq, Palestinians will soon be commemorating the 60th anniversary of their expulsion from what is now Israel – the Nakba or “Catastrophe,” as they call it -- and the 40th year of occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.
STOP ARMING ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION!
Last year, the United States and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase military aid to Israel by 25%, totaling $30 billion over the next decade. Earlier this month, the President sent his FY2009 budget request to Congress, which includes $2.55 billion in military aid for Israel, the first proposed increase under this ten-year agreement. The US is also giving or selling billions of dollars in arms to friendly dictatorships and client regimes throughout the Middle East. Don't you wish there was something you could do about it? Now you can. Check it out by clicking here.
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DIRECT AID TO IRAQI VICTIMS OF US AGGRESSION
The Web resource Electronic Iraq has initiated a program intended to build bridges of friendship and support with Iraqis displaced as the result of the ongoing Iraqi crises through providing funds for crucial medical expenses.
Learn more and make a contribution here.
Friday, May 23, NO MORE VICTIMS: A Conversation with Noam Chomsky, 3-5pm, MIT (77 Mass Ave.) Chomsky will discuss the impact of the war and occupation on Iraqi civilian – and the failure of the media to cover this; No More Victims – which works to obtain medical care for war-injured Iraqi children – will show a video in which Iraqi families describe assaults by the US military. Suggested donation $10. DPP is co-sponsoring. More info: www.nomorevictims.org
Iraqi Blogs Describe Conditions First-Hand:
Inside Iraq, Iraq Today, Baghdad Burning (Riverbend), An Arab Woman Blues, Last of the Iraqis
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FREE ANTI-WAR VIDEOS: DPP MEMBER Judith Baker points out that many good anti-war/pro-peace videos are available for free viewing (along with a lot of other useful materials) at the “Teach Peace” Website
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“WAR ON TERROR” . . . Do you feel safer now?
Guantánamo makes us all less safe
In reading the histories of Guantánamo, and of the kidnappings, extrajudicial detention and torture the US government (helped by the United Kingdom) has pursued around the world, two things become clear. The first is that these practices do not supplement effective investigation and prosecution; they replace them. Instead of a process which generates evidence, assesses it and uses it to prosecute, the US has deployed a process that generates nonsense and is incapable of separating the guilty from the innocent. The second is that far from protecting innocent lives, this process is likely to deliver further atrocities. Even if you put the ethics of such treatment to one side, it is surely evident that it makes the world more dangerous. More
Welcome to the Age of Homeland Insecurity
When the history of this era is finally written… Osama bin Laden and his scattering of followers may be credited for goading the fundamentalist leaders of the United States into using the power in their grasp so -- not to put a fine point on it -- stupidly and profligately as to send the planet's "sole superpower" into decline. Above all, bin Laden and his crew of fanatics will have ensured one thing: that the real security problems of our age were ignored in Washington until far too late in favor of mad dreams and dark phantoms. More
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ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Hamas condemns the Holocaust
The Israeli media and pro-Israel western press are full of views that deny or seek to excuse well-established facts of history including the Nakba of 1948 and the massacres perpetrated then by the Haganah, the Irgun and LEHI with the objective of forcing a mass dispossession of the Palestinians. But it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.. More
Blast kills Gaza teacher in front of her children
Wafer Shaker al Daghma, 34, a teacher at a local UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) elementary school, was killed last Wednesday as she stood preparing to open the wooden door of her home to the troops. According to UNRWA and relatives who found her body, the military usedan explosive device on the door which blew most of her head from her body. They then confined the traumatised children – aged from two to 13 – for five hours while the body lay outside the door of the room where they were held. More
“But what if nobody takes notice?”
Israel is expected to go to parliamentary elections shortly — whether or not Olmert survives the threat of a criminal indictment hanging over him. Olmert’s strategy has been to persuade Israelis that the ‘agreement’ is somehow an achievement. And in one limited sense, it may be seen by Israel to be an ‘achievement’. But not in bringing any change on the ground: the Occupation and the grinding life of Palestinians will continue as before. Indeed almost all Israelis and Palestinians understand that the much fêted ‘shelf agreement’ will be inoperable — neither Olmert nor Abbas can implement it, even if they wished so to do. More
Israelis and Palestinians must share the land. Equally
There is no longer a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Forget the endless arguments about who offered what and who spurned whom and whether the Oslo peace process died when Yasser Arafat walked away from the bargaining table or whether it was Ariel Sharon's stroll through the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem that did it in. All that matters are the facts on the ground, of which the most important is that -- after four decades of intensive Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories it occupied during the 1967 war -- Israel has irreversibly cemented its grip on the land on which a Palestinian state might have been created. More
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COST OF WAR
THE PENTAGON STRANGLES OUR ECONOMY: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke
It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military. The Department of Defense's planned expenditures for the fiscal year 2008 are larger than all other nations' military budgets combined. The supplementary budget to pay for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not part of the official defense budget, is itself larger than the combined military budgets of Russia and China. Defense-related spending for fiscal 2008 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history. The U.S. has become the largest single seller of arms and munitions to other nations on Earth. Leaving out President Bush's two on-going wars, defense spending has doubled since the mid-1990s. The defense budget for fiscal 2008 is the largest since the second world war. More
Where the money comes from, where it goes and what it could pay for instead.
http://nationalpriorities.org/
VIDEO: “ONE DAY = $720 MILLION"
NEW SLIDE SHOW RESOURCE:
“The Real Price of Occupation”
International Cost of War
http://www.stwr.net/component/option,com_costofwar/Itemid,165/
Have you ever wondered what the International community could achieve if funding for war was diverted to urgent humanitarian needs? This eye opening cost calculator shows what could be bought instead of arms and military equipment.
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Other Events
Friday, May 16, Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times: Amy Goodman, David Goodman, & You, 7pm (doors open at 6pm), First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist,Parish Hall, 6 Eliot St. Vetran journalists Amy and David Goodman are asking some hard-hitting questions: Where are the millions marching in the streets to defend human rights, civil liberties, and racial justice? Where is the mass revulsion against the killing and torture being carried out in our name? Where are the environmentalists? Where is the peace movement? The answer: They are everywhere. Tickets $5 - A Benefit for the Jamaica Plain Forum www.jamaicaplainforum.org
Friday, May 16, Dorchester Historical Society Fundraiser with Jimmy Tingle, 7pm, Local 103 IBEW, 256 Freeport St. Come to our ‘fun’draiser and help us save the Clapp Family Barn! The Dorchester Historical Society’s Clapp Family barn stands as a symbol of the town’s agricultural heritage. Nationally-known comedian Jimmy Tingle headlines the show Hors d’oeuvres * Cash Bar * Raffles * Door Prizes Tickets $40 Call Ovationtix at 1-866-811-4111 toll-free, or log on to www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/44051 Or mail your check, made payable to Dorchester Historical Society, to DHS Tickets, 195 Boston Street, Dorchester – pick up tickets at the door .Contact: Earl Taylor 617-288-7367, Ermmwwt@aol.com or Peggy Mullen pmul3@hotmail.com
Saturday, May 21, Historic 21st Annual Malcolm X Memorial & Awards Breakfast, 8am, Roxbury Community College. The Black Community Information Center, Inc. and Roxbury Community College proudly presents the 21st Annual Malcolm X Memorial & Awards Breakfast. The theme of the “Breakfast”: “Is the Barack Obama Candidacy for President, A Real or Illusionary Contribution to Black Freedom?” The featured guest speaker is State Representative Marie St. Fleur. A donation is requested and vendors are welcome. For further information, call 617.427.2522.
Wednesday, May 21, How to Build an Empire: U.S. Military Bases Around the World, 7pm, St. John’s United Methodist Church, 80 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown. Presentation and Discussion with Dr. Joseph Gerson, leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner, is the Director of Programs of the American Friends Service Committee in New England. U. S. military bases and installation throughout the world provide the foundation for and maintenance of an empire. Sponsored by the Justice with Peace Task Force of Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety (WCES) Call 617-926-8560, mailbox 2 for more information. See www.watertowncitizens.org for this and other listings.
Friday, May 23, NO MORE VICTIMS: A Conversation with Noam Chomsky, 3-5pm, MIT (77 Mass Ave.) Chomsky will discuss the impact of the war and occupation on Iraqi civilian – and the failure of the media to cover this; No More Victims – which works to obtain medical care for war-injured Iraqi children – will show a video in which Iraqi families describe assaults by the US military. Suggested donation $10. DPP is co-sponsoring. More info: www.nomorevictims.org
Tuesday, May 27, Codman Academy Energy Awareness Open Studios!!! 6-8pm, Great Hall (Codman Sq.). Codman Academy
Charter Public School tenth graders are hosting an Energy Awareness Open Studios. Energy-related "exhibits" will be hosted by students and professionals. Learn the pros and cons of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources! Participate in an energy scavenger hunt, and you might even leave with a prize! Come out from 6-8pm and support local youth as they promote energy awareness, and positive change. For questions or to participate, email teacher coordinator Carrie-Anne csherwood@codmanacademy.org or call 617-287-0700
Saturday, June 28, Ride the Green Wave To the Dorchester Energy Fair! 12noon-4pm, Grover Cleveland School, Fields Corner, 11 Charles St., Dorchester (across from the Fields Corner stop on the Red Line) Expert speakers! Exciting demonstrations! Great Energy Saving ideas & devices! See how to save money on your energy bills! Free and open to the public! for more information, call Chris at ACORN at (617) 436-7100
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TAKE ACTION!
Oppose IRAN “DIVESTMENT” BILL (House 4270) at State House—Stop the March to War!
DPP member Jeff Klein testified against the measure at a hearing April 10 (read the testimony here) and wrote an article published in this week’s Dorchester Reporter, April 24, 2008, page 10
The proponents of the bill were mobilized principally by local organizations and individuals active in pro-Israel lobbying; the bill was opposed by the State Pension System Trustees, along with several local academics, only a few legislators expressed reservations. It would cost the system $5million and increase annual administrative expenses by up to $40,000. You can read the innocuous-seeming text of the House 4270 here. Ironically, the language replaces a 1980’s measure to embargo investments in South Africa, which was passed at a time when Israel was an ally and principal arms supplier of the Apartheid regime.
Please contact your representatives! H.4270 has now been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means: House members (includes St.Fleur of Dorchester and Mallia of JP), Senate members (includes Wilkerson, Joyce) Let them know you are opposed to measures aimed at raising tensions in the region and promoting the slide toward war with Iran.
Many useful resources on Iran, the nuclear issue and US-Iran relations available at these sites:
http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/,
http://irannuclearwatch.blogspot.com,
“Beating the Drums. . .”
Groups With Iran’s Backing Blamed for Baghdad Attacks
Nearly three-quarters of the attacks that kill or wound American soldiers in Baghdad are carried out by Iranian-backed Shiite groups, the United States military said Wednesday. Senior officers in the American division that secures the capital said that 73 percent of fatal and other harmful attacks on American troops in the past year were caused by roadside bombs planted by so-called “special groups.” More
Clinton Threatens to ‘Obliterate’ Iran
Seizing upon a question as to how she would respond to a nuclear attack by Iran, which doesn’t have nuclear weapons, on Israel, which does, Hillary mocked reasoned discourse by promising to “totally obliterate them,” in an apparent reference to the population of Iran. That is not a word gaffe; it is an assertion of the right of our nation to commit genocide on an unprecedented scale. More
Petraeus Promotion Frees Cheney to Threaten Iran
The nomination of Gen. David Petraeus to be the new head of the Central Command not only ensures that he will be available to defend the George W. Bush administration's policies toward Iran and Iraq at least through the end of Bush's term and possibly even beyond.
It also gives Vice President Dick Cheney greater freedom of action to exploit the option of an air attack against Iran during the administration's final months. More
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Investment in US-Iran Engagement, Not Divestment
... In fact, the very logic of divestment bill has the opposite effect of divesting the US of potential leverage, in the form of shared interests and nets of interdependence that could conceivably be useful in future negotiations with Iran on the nuclear standoff, Iraq, and other contentious issues between Iran and the US. More
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HOME MORTGAGE / EVICTION CRISIS
IF THEY PAY, THEY STAY: Hub bill would ban foreclosure evictions
Warning that America is experiencing a “housing emergency,” six Boston city councilors want to force lenders who foreclose on Hub properties to rent seized houses and apartments back to occupants. “The United States is facing a national housing emergency (and) the City of Boston is facing a serious public emergency in regards to foreclosures,” Councilors Michael Flaherty, Steve Murphy, Michael Ross, Chuck Turner, Charles Yancey and Sam Yoon write in a new home-rule petition. More
Photos from the protest in Dorchester last Wednesday -- here.
Roundup of national anti-eviction actions -- here
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CORI REFORM MARCH ON THE STATE HOUSE: A march for CORI Reform from Worcester to the State House is planned for May 18th through May 22nd to call attention to the CORI Reform legislation that is currently being held in committee and could die in committee if not acted upon before June 30th. The final leg of the march, on May 22nd, is planned to leave Bunker Hill Community College around 11AM and end at the State House around 1PM, with speeches from prominent legislators, elected officials and real life testimonials on the need for CORI Reform Now. Details on the course of the march, times and locations, sponsoring organizations, speakers and volunteer opportunities will be announced as they become known. Whether you are able to march the entire route, just the final leg, or join us at the State House on May 22nd, please join us to demand CORI Reform.
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WAR RESISTANCE
IVAW Boston:
Donations needed for care packages to service members “The Boston chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War is collecting donations for care packages to fellow service members through the end of May. Packages will be delivered to bases by July 4th. Donations can be dropped off or mailed to 33 Harrison Ave, 5th Floor, Boston, MA, ATTN: IVAW. Pickups can also be arranged in Jamaica Plain. To schedule a pick up, please contact boston@ivaw.org
Suggested items include: lip balm, sunscreen, deodorant, razors, shaving gel, foot powder, feminine products, lotions, tissues, toilet paper, tea bags, chewing gum, candy (anything that won’t melt), toothbrush, floss, anti-bacterial wipes, popular magazines, music and movie DVDs, new paperback novels, microwave popcorn, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit and cookies.”Thanks for supporting the troops!”
Thursday, May 8, IVAW / UMass Students Sponsor Anti-War Roundtable, 12pm and 2:30, UMass Campus Center, 3rd floor lounge, with clips from Winter Soldier and discussion of topics including: “Racism and Dehumanization of the Enemy”, “The War at Home,” and “The Future of the GI Resistance Movement.” See www.campusantiwar.net
The Christian Science Monitor had a wonderful multimedia piece on Winter Soldier -- here.
COURAGE TO RESIST: “Support the Troops Who Refuse to Fight. . .”
News and resources on resistance within the military. Check it out here
THE POWER IN THEIR PAIN: Iraq war veterans create art to protest
Cameron and Hughes, members of the antiwar organization Iraq Veterans Against the War, are among a small but growing number of American vets who are using their experiences in Iraq to explore the interrelation of art and political resistance… Hughes and Cameron are documenting their transition from soldiers to resisters. Their intent, they say, is to reimagine the myths, images, and assumptions that brought them and their cohorts to this point; their method is to pose questions, not supply ready-made answers. More
VA confirms 18 vets commit suicide every day
In a stunning admission, top officials at the Veterans Health Administration confirmed that the agency’s own statistics show that an average of 126 veterans per week -- 6,552 veterans per year -- commit suicide, according to an internal email distributed to several VA officials. More
Veterans having hard time finding jobs
War veterans face many obstacles. Discrimination. A lack of helpful job-finding resources. Skill sets viewed as insufficient in the civilian workforce. And fears about post-traumatic stress disorder. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, said she hears similar stories "over and over again" from young men and women in uniform. More
Pentagon Obstructs View of War Funerals – Despite Wishes the Family
Even when families approve media coverage for a funeral, the journalists are held at a distance for the pageantry -- the caisson, the band, the firing party, "Taps," the presenting of the flag -- then whisked away when the service itself begins. Nor does the blocking of funeral coverage seem to be the work of overzealous bureaucrats. Gina Gray, Arlington's new public affairs director, pushed vigorously to allow the journalists more access to the service yesterday -- but she was apparently shot down by other cemetery officials. More
Cindy Sheehan Letter in Support of ILWU Action on May 1
On behalf of myself and my congressional campaign, and in memory of my son Casey, I want to thank you for the principled and dignified action that you are taking on May 1st The exemplary resolution passed by your Longshore Caucus, and your decision to stop work on the West Coast docks on May 1, 2008 points the way for all of us who struggle to end the disastrous war and occupation of Iraq. More
See the ILWU Anti-War Strike poster -- here
Vermont Union offers strong endorsement of West Coast Longshoremen's action
The following is a release put out by the Vermont AFL-CIO: The Executive Board of the Vermont AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless sectors across Vermont, have unanimously passed an historic resolution expressing their "unequivocal" support for the first US labor strike against the war in Iraq. More
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In Washington
Petraeus promotion keeps nation on its war course
President Bush is promoting his top Iraq commander, Army Gen. David Petraeus, and replacing him with the general's recent deputy, keeping the U.S. on its war course and handing the next president a pair of combat-tested commanders who have relentlessly defended Bush's strategies. More
House Democrats may add unemployment aid to war bill
House Democratic leaders plan to add extended unemployment benefits and new education funding for veterans to President Bush's war funding bill while dropping lots of other party priorities… Bush is certain to oppose the effort, which would add to the war spending legislation a $12.7 billion plan to give 13 more weeks of unemployment checks to people whose benefits have run out and 13 weeks beyond that in states with especially high unemployment rates. He's also likely to oppose the even more expensive plan for higher GI Bill benefits for veterans. But the plan would make it more palatable for anti-war Democrats to provide money until the next president takes office. More
The Pentagon's Corrupt "Military Analysts" Media Scheme
In Sunday's New York Times, investigative reporter David Barstow exposed television's "military analysts" on the Iraq War as sock puppets of the Pentagon who consciously peddle the Bush administration's talking points on Iraq while hiding their own vested economic interest in selling the public on the Bush administration's happy talk about the war. This very long and very well-documented story lays bare the most blatantly obnoxious feature of the "Military-Industrial-Media Complex" which ensures that the airwaves convey the administration's major messages on the war day in a day out. More
VIDEO Report - here
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PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS – What Do We Do?
It’s no news to DPP members that 2008 is a crucial election year when the country will choose a new president and a new Congress -- with an important potential impact on the war in Iraq and at home
ABC's Debate Debacle: Trivia and biased questions dominate Democrats' debate
The ABC-sponsored Democratic debate in Philadelphia on April 16 emphasized trivial matters of little concern to voters, while the actual policy questions were often based on misleading right-wing spin. During the first half of the debate, ABC moderators George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson avoided any mention of policy issues. As the Los Angeles Times noted (4/17/08), "With the moderators and Clinton raising assorted questions about Obama's past for the first half of the debate, issues received relatively short shrift. Not until 50 minutes in was a policy issue-- Iraq--asked about by the moderators." More
Obama, Bitterness, Meet the Press, and the Old Politics
Are Americans who have been left behind frustrated? Of course. And their frustrations, their anger and, yes, sometimes their bitterness, have been used since then - by demagogues, by nationalists and xenophobes, by radical conservatives, by political nuts and fanatical fruitcakes - to blame immigrants and foreign traders, to blame blacks and the poor, to blame 'liberal elites,' to blame anyone and anything. Rather than counter all this, the American media have wallowed in it. More
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GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION TO BAN CLUSTER BOMBS
Congress Should Act on Cluster Bombs
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines is urging every member of Congress to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594/H.R.1755) and to support adequate levels of assistance for demining and aid to victims of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. This law would prohibit the use of cluster munitions in civilian-populated areas. It would also ban use of cluster munitions with high “dud rates,” meaning they leave behind widely dispersed minefields of unexploded cluster bomb submunitions. All but a tiny fraction of existing U.S. cluster munitions would be banned under the legislation. More than 130 faith leaders in Pennsylvania sent a letter to Senator Arlen Specter, urging him to co-sponsor S.594
Campaigners launch Global Day of Action to ban cluster bombs in support of first ever treaty
The Friends Committee on National Legislation,
http://fcnl.org/press/releases/cluster_april040308.htm
You can help to stop Cluster Bomb Deaths in Lebanon!
Only 20% of the hundreds of thousands of unexploded cluster munitions that Israel launched into Lebanon in the summer of 2006 have been cleared.
1. See the list of more than thirty organizations that have signed a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling for Israel to release the list of cluster bomb target sites to the UN team in charge of clearing the sites in Lebanon: http://www.atfl.org/orgs.htm
2. You can Learn more about the American Task Force for Lebanon at their website: http://www.atfl.org/
3. Send a message to President Bush, the Secretary of State, and your Members of Congress to stop the carnage and ban the cluster bomb by clicking on the link:
Cluster bomb left from 2006 war wounds 4 children in S. Lebanon
A state-run Lebanese news agency has said that an explosion of a cluster bomb left behind by the Israel Defense Forces from the Second Lebanon War wounded four young Lebanese in the country's south. The report says that Friday's incident occurred in the village of Adsheet when the four children, aged between 10 and 15, found the suspicious device and held it before it went off. The four were then taken to hospital in the southern province of Nabatiyeh. More
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ANNIVERSARIES
As we prepare to enter the sixth year of war and occupation in Iraq, Palestinians will soon be commemorating the 60th anniversary of their expulsion from what is now Israel – the Nakba or “Catastrophe,” as they call it -- and the 40th year of occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. It is also just five years ago that Rachel Corrie, a brave young American woman, was killed by Israeli occupation forces as she tried to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes by a Caterpillar bulldozer, “Made in USA”.
See events at Harvard April 28-May 2