Tag Archives: peace

Troops Home Fast; Ice Cream Not War

CodePink is thick in its “Troops Home Fast!” campaign.  A number of people are fasting in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. in a project which began July 4.  Here is what came into my email box:

It wasn’t easy scooping out ice cream for the homeless while on our fast! 

But when we heard about the campaign “I Scream for the Homeless” that during the hot summer months offers ice cream to the homeless in our nation’s capitol, we went to help out.

There we saw the devastating financial costs of this war. 

The $1.5 billion that the District of Columbia is paying for war could have paid for building 10,000 affordable housing units or provided 375 MILLION meals for the homeless! As homeless activist Arafa Speaks told us, “It’s criminal that they’re spending all this money killing people in Iraq and here at home people are dying on our streets because they don’t have jobs or housing.

Diane Wilson, one of our long-term, water-only fasters, is committed to the “I Scream for the Homeless” project.

We’d make a lot more friends feeding people ice cream and bringing joy to the faces of people living desperate lives than bombing villages and abusing prisoners.

So every Friday we’ll be out on the streets dishing out ice cream to show the homeless that we love them and demonstrate our commitment to reversing our nation’s priorities from war to life-affirming efforts.

Please help us. Here’s how:

Donate your lunch money:

Skip lunch for a day, and send your lunch money (or more, if you can) to Troops Home Fast. We’ll use half of it to buy ice cream for the homeless and half to support our actions outside the White House and in the Halls of Congress while we fast.

Fast for one day:

Sign up to join the 3,500+ people who are fasting for at least one day, including Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover and Sean Penn. You can pick any day — or days — between now and September 21, International Peace Day, when the fast ends and we launch a week of actions against the war as part of the Declaration of Peace.

 

Come to Washington DC:


Planning for Bush’s visit

Yesterday I posted a piece on Bush’s visit to Utah for the American Legion Convention. Tonight was the initial planning meeting to decide what to do for this special occasion. It was nice to see new faces from a variety of policital arenas.

Most of the meeting was spent discussing the message to be presented in a rally. Initially I supported the single message of end the U.S. Occupation of the middle east, but at the same time went into the meeting with an open mind. After listening to many different veiwpoints, I have decided I like a more generic message to attract more people:

How Has Bush Let You Down?

With a slogan like this, everyone can come equipped with their own message.

The decision on the slogan has not been made by the group yet, but will be soon.

More to come……

Iraq Civilians: 50,000 Dead– But Who’s Counting?

Common Dreams has posted this piece by Juliana Lara Resende about the death toll of Iraqi Civilians and how the Pentagon is now coming out with figures, even though they have been saying they “don’t do body counts”.

Last year, Bush asserted that, “30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis.”

In terms of population size, this would be equivalent to 570,000 U.S. citizens killed in the same period of time, noted the Jun. 25 LA Times article.

Iraq Body Count estimates an average of 36 violent deaths per day – about twice the amount of the first year of the invasion.

Bush and Rice coming to SLC

It’s kind of funny how the media picks up on things.

Last year I and Tom were part of the organizing committee that planned a tremendous program, which Tom emceed, to protest Bush’s appearance in SLC at the VFW convention. (see my account here)It took us only 5 days to develop a program and publicity that attracted over 3,000 people. Rocky Anderson was invited to be a speaker, which he accepted. It was a great program and Rocky was a tremendous part of that. Rocky got the credit for the rally, which was inaccurate, but that’s o.k.

When word got out yesterday that Bush and Condi Rice will be in town for the American Legion convention in August, members of the same committee stepped into action. We already have preliminary planning going on and meetings set up. Media folks contacted us almost immediately and some are in on our planning discussions.

So in today’s news:

  • Deseret News, the headline article (online) is Rocky may protest Bush – If asked, he’ll speak again at a rally when president visits S.L. One of our committee organizers, our media spokesperson, is quoted:

    One of the organizers of last year’s protest, Eileen McCabe-Olsen, said among the goals of this year’s protest is “to reach out to diverse constituencies to build support in this election year to pressure Congress to end the war in Iraq . . . and restrain this imperial presidency.”

  • Salt Lake Tribune: Rocky vows cool welcome for Bush
    Coming in August: The president is scheduled to attend American Legion convention in SLC

    Anderson said Friday he planned to meet with organizers of past protests. He foresees an anti-Bush alliance linking environmentalists, seniors, peace activists, health advocates and others.
    The mayor said the United States has an opportunity for “building relations with nations around the world, to joining the world’s movement toward a non-fossil-fuel economy, to creating better, healthier, safer communities. They’re all unfortunately being ignored and undermined” by Bush.

    Be assured that plans are in progress for a rally. I am part of this planning process for this event and will supply updates here as plans develop.

  • Michael Franti’s Concert

    Yesterday was fabulous. I got to the Gallivan Center around 1:00pm with a handful of other folks and by 1:30 had staked out my spot for the first concert in the annual Twilight Concert Series of the season, featuring artist Michael Franti & Spearhead.

    The highlight for me was meeting Michael.
    Continue reading

    Imagine Peace – Festival

    I am on the organzing committee for Imagine Peace, a Festival being planned for September 23rd.

    This is the brainchild of Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs, Utah’s Radical Cheerleaders, and is a collaborative grassroots effort of that group, People for Peace and Justice of Utah, and Roots and Shoots of Westminster College.

    The Festival will include art displays by children and adults on the theme of “Imagine Peace”, music, poetry, films and workshops.

    This is a “special event”, requiring all sorts of expenses – liability insurance, mass gathering permits, tents, etc.

    We need financial assistance. Please forward this post widely. Visit our donation page at Imagine Peace Fest to find out ways to donate funds. This is the first festival of its kind in Salt Lake City and we hope to make it an annual event.

    July 4 Fasting for Peace

    Yesterday I participated in a “virutal hunger strike” in solidarity with the Troops Home Fast project.  See photos of actions around the country.

    Common Dreams posted an article last night about the fast at the White House which began yesterday. In the photo below is Father Louis Vitale.  I crossed the line and was arrested with him at the Nevada Test site in May.


    Former Deputy Ambassador to Mongolia, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, Ann Wright; seated left to right, peace activist Cindy Sheehan; Iraq War veteran, former Army Sgt. Geoffrey Millard; and Franciscan Friar Louis Vitale, eat their last meal before beginning the fast at midnight to end the Iraq War, in front of the White House, Monday, July 3, 2006, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

    Sir, No Sir! Punk Ass Crusade

    This came across my email desk today:

    Sir, No Sir!, a David Zeiger documentary film about the GI movement against the Vietnam War. Never before seen footage is included in the film and myths are dispelled about protestors during the era.

    The Ruckus Society has produced a
    flash presentation called “Punk Ass Crusade”
    , a great little piece geared towards counter-recruitment for young people and promotion for the “Sir, No Sir!” film.

    This film is NOW being shown in Salt Lake City at the Tower Theater during these days and times:

    (2:30), 7:00
    (2:30) Fri – Sun Only, June 20 – July 2
    ———————————————————–
    In other counter-recruitment news, grandmothers for peace were arrested at a military recruiting station in Phildelphia last week for being told they were “too old to enlist”.

    Waging Peace Blog

    The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has announced its new Waging Peace Blog.

    Peace Action

    My state party has approved me to become a member of the Green Party of the United States Peace Action Committee. I was invited to be a member last week.

    The Peace Action Committee (GPAX) of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) exists to facilitate the planning and achievement of peace and justice action proposals adopted by the Green Party, and to support and promote the Party’s Anti-War candidates and agenda.

    I am excited to become part of this nationally organized committee. I’ll provide relevant updates here on activities with this group.