HAVE A WONDERFUL VETERANS' DAY!
Gulf War Vet turned DC Sniper Executed by Lethal Injection
The man known as the DC sniper has been executed for the October 2002 killings of ten people in DC, Virginia and Maryland. John Allen Muhammad was killed by lethal injection Tuesday after Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine denied a last-minute appeal for clemency... Defense attorneys had argued for sparing Muhammad’s life on grounds he suffered mental illness worsened by the Gulf War syndrome he developed while serving in the first US invasion of Iraq.
Army Psychiatrist who massacred 13 at Fort Hood out of Coma
President Obama visited Fort Hood, Texas on Tuesday to pay tribute to the thirteen soldiers and civilians killed in a shooting rampage last week. The suspect, Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, remains hospitalized after emerging from a coma.
Anti-Arab Marine Reservist Assaults Greek Priest
In Florida, a Marine reservist has been arrested after allegedly attacking a Greek Orthodox priest he mistook to be of Arabic descent.
Parents of deceased Iraq Veteran Receive VA letter asking son to show up for PSTD treatment
The parents of US Army Reserve Specialist Chancellor Keesling, an Iraq war veteran, received a letter yesterday from the VA asking that their son complete his “Post Deployment Adjustment.” The only problem is, Chance Keesling had killed himself in Iraq nearly five months ago.
US Blackwater Mercenaries who killed 17 Civilians in Nisoor Massacre prepared bribes
Former executives at the private military firm Blackwater have revealed the company authorized around $1 million to bribe Iraqi officials in the aftermath of the September 2007 killings of seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square.
US Citizen Sues FBI for Kidnapping, Mistreatment in Africa
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit on behalf of a US citizen over the FBI’s alleged role in his imprisonment and mistreatment abroad. Amir Mohamed Meshal was detained in Kenya, transferred to Somalia, and then sent to Ethiopia, where he wasjailed for three months without charge. Meshal says US interrogators held him in inhumane conditions and threatened him with torture, forced disappearance and execution unless he confessed to belonging to a militant Islamic group.
Obama to send 30,000 Additional Troops in Afghanistan
Reports continue to surface that the Obama administration has decided on a major troop increase in Afghanistan.
Sexual Assaults, Inadequate Healthcare Among Spate of Issues Facing Women Servicemembers
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/11/sexual_assaults_inadequate_healthcare_among_spate
The rate of sexual assaults within the US military also exceeds that of the general population. A Pentagon report earlier this year found one in three female servicemembers are sexually assaulted at least once during their enlistment. Sixty-three percent of nearly 3,000 cases reported last year were rapes or aggravated assaults. Despite what some have called an epidemic of military sexual trauma, the delivery of healthcare to women veterans remains grossly inadequate.
Unfortunately, health insurance is just one of many serious problems vets face. Veterans account for up to a quarter of all homeless in the country. Up to one-in-five veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and male vets face suicide rates double the national average.
Meanwhile, the rate of sexual assaults within the US military also exceeds that of the general population. A Pentagon report earlier this year found one in three female service members are sexually assaulted at least once during their enlistment. Sixty-three percent of nearly 3,000 cases reported last year were rapes or aggravated assaults. Despite what some have called an epidemic of military sexual trauma, the delivery of health care to women veterans remains grossly inadequate.
Veterans Day or Rulers Day?
Wednesday 11 November 2009
by: Bob Richards, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
How is it that Veterans Day gets turned around into US Military Hegemony Day? The airwaves were buried under an avalanche of lip service about veterans, but the moving lips were all about the myth that the warfare decisions this country's rulers make have something to do with anyone's freedom. Just as soldiers and sailors are doing around the world today, I did in my time. I was there as a teenager, ignorant of the forces moving me, believing whatever line I was being fed.
I grew up on the hundreds of war/propaganda movies that came out of WWI, WWII and Korea. Today we are deluged with more nationalistic propaganda than ever before in my lifetime. It can't be avoided. The TV spews the images nearly nonstop. Recruiters are in our schools, along with the pop machines. The words Army, Navy and National Guard are on race cars at the drags and the ovals. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" has been replaced with "America the Beautiful" with cordons placed at Yankee Stadium to keep fans from going to the bathroom while the dose of nationalism is served up.
Once a year the veterans are rolled out, but without a real veterans' voice. The physical support for veterans comes nowhere near what is needed. Suicides of veterans always wind up taking more lives than the wars that set them up.
It is important to some vets to keep believing the myth they fought for, that going into that foreign country had a bearing on anyone's freedom here. These are the vets who get a voice, as this is the only voice acceptable to the ruling powers. The Revolutionary War and the Civil War may have had some bearing on someone's freedoms, but even then, not everyone's. The former held only for white male property holders, and the latter for humans who were property themselves. In both of these cases, those native to these lands could not be included, as they were busy at the time being relieved of their homelands and freedom.
If you want to thank anyone for your rights and freedoms, thank an activist. No soldier ended segregation in the 1960's. No sailor got women the vote. No National Guardsman got you the 40-hour week or took children off the shop floors or out of the mines. No, they were called out by the states to kill the very people who were fighting for the rights they eventually won for you.
Mostly what the vets have done is to be tricked into serving the forces that have used them, and in many cases, used them up. The vets deserve your support mostly because they believed, and gave what was asked, and were promised something in exchange. When promise-keeping time comes up, they find they have to get in a line and wait and then they must fight to receive what was promised. In many cases, what they get is enough for a little cheap wine and a bed at a shelter. These aren't the vets that get dragged out before the game or race, or at half-time. Nope, those vets are the believers. The "presentable" ones.
So, here we are at war to get Unocal's dream pipeline route across Afghanistan secured and prop up that ex-Unocal employee's stolen election. Then there's still that war we don't talk about so much anymore. The one that the lie to get us in there changed nearly every day, when the truth may have been as simple as the Decider told us himself, that Saddam tried to kill his daddy, and that he would use that war for his own ends.
These two wars send home more corpses and vets every day. These vets are more often acute cases needing the highest levels of attention, overloading the system and triaging the old farts back down the waiting lines. The government will front load the wars with the drones, missiles, guns, mines, ships, planes and trained bodies as its priority. It will use up more than it gets from its taxpayers and hand the debts to the future, and vets will fight for crumbs. This is the record from every war the country has ever done. Still, its propaganda works, and it won't have any trouble finding believers to march in the parades. It can parlay that percentage into a rock-solid myth and keep the guns-and-butter gravy train rolling along.Ha
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Family Warmth on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite holidays, but after becoming a vegetarian two and a half years ago and learning the true history of the tradition, I became disillusioned.
But none of that stopped me from having a wonderful time with family this year. I was relieved to get a couple of days off work, and I've used them for the most part to relax, enjoy, and catch up. I am thankful for this and MANY other things including
1) Love
2) Warmth
3) Food (mostly of the plant variety)
4) Appreciation
5) Energy
6) Health (crucial considering the backward health care legislation)
7) Purpose (the most essential ingredient for life)
8) Music
9) Information
10) Opportunity
11) Relationships
12) Inner peace
13) Consciousness
14) Adulthood
15) Compassion
But none of that stopped me from having a wonderful time with family this year. I was relieved to get a couple of days off work, and I've used them for the most part to relax, enjoy, and catch up. I am thankful for this and MANY other things including
1) Love
2) Warmth
3) Food (mostly of the plant variety)
4) Appreciation
5) Energy
6) Health (crucial considering the backward health care legislation)
7) Purpose (the most essential ingredient for life)
8) Music
9) Information
10) Opportunity
11) Relationships
12) Inner peace
13) Consciousness
14) Adulthood
15) Compassion
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Justice on Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, let's give a thought to the people who process turkeys
By David L. Ostendor
The Progressive
November 22, 2009
http://www.progressive.org/mposten112209.html
We should know where our turkeys come from, and who
processes them for us.
The turkeys piled into supermarket freezers carry their
own stories. Raised primarily in massive confinement
buildings by low-paid growers under contract to
corporate food giants, they are genetically designed
for plentiful breast meat to grace our Thanksgiving
platters. They are then trucked to a processing plant,
where they meet their demise.
Reflecting the racial structure of the nation's entire
food system, turkey processing relies largely on the
hard labor of low-wage workers of color. On plant
floors across the country, a predominantly black,
Latino and Asian work force kills, guts, cleans,
processes and packages the Thanksgiving centerpiece
along fast-moving production lines.
Injuries are commonplace. Thousands of individual
repetitive motions every shift raise the probability of
chronic pain for line workers.
Federal safety inspectors are spread thin, and when
they do arrive it is not unusual for supervisors to
silence workers. At a recent meeting of Somali
immigrants with an Occupational Safety and Health
Administration representative, workers were shocked to
learn that they had the right to speak when an
inspector came to their workplace.
Every day of the year, and especially on Thanksgiving,
no one in this country eats without the labor of
immigrants, refugees and other workers of color. This
is not a new reality.
When President Theodore Roosevelt pushed his "cheap
food" policy in order to feed a growing and politically
volatile urban population a century ago, the cost was
imposed on both family farmers and food sector workers.
A cheap food system is fundamentally based on low
commodity prices and low-wage workers, and little has
changed since Roosevelt's policy came into play.
This Thanksgiving, we should give thanks to the low-
wage workers, many of them immigrant and refugee, who
enable us to have our feast.
Thanksgiving turkey comes laden with human stories of
struggle and hope and dangerous, hard work. With
stories of immigrants and refugees still seeking an
American dream. With stories from many countries
blending to become one nation. With stories in many
languages seeking to become one voice.
So let's give thanks. Eat well. Celebrate. And seek
justice for the workers who feed us.
David L. Ostendorf is executive director of the
Chicago-based Center for New Community, a national
organization dedicated to building community, justice,
and equality nationwide (www.newcomm.org). He is a
minister in the United Church of Christ. He can be
reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
By David L. Ostendor
The Progressive
November 22, 2009
http://www.progressive.org/mposten112209.html
We should know where our turkeys come from, and who
processes them for us.
The turkeys piled into supermarket freezers carry their
own stories. Raised primarily in massive confinement
buildings by low-paid growers under contract to
corporate food giants, they are genetically designed
for plentiful breast meat to grace our Thanksgiving
platters. They are then trucked to a processing plant,
where they meet their demise.
Reflecting the racial structure of the nation's entire
food system, turkey processing relies largely on the
hard labor of low-wage workers of color. On plant
floors across the country, a predominantly black,
Latino and Asian work force kills, guts, cleans,
processes and packages the Thanksgiving centerpiece
along fast-moving production lines.
Injuries are commonplace. Thousands of individual
repetitive motions every shift raise the probability of
chronic pain for line workers.
Federal safety inspectors are spread thin, and when
they do arrive it is not unusual for supervisors to
silence workers. At a recent meeting of Somali
immigrants with an Occupational Safety and Health
Administration representative, workers were shocked to
learn that they had the right to speak when an
inspector came to their workplace.
Every day of the year, and especially on Thanksgiving,
no one in this country eats without the labor of
immigrants, refugees and other workers of color. This
is not a new reality.
When President Theodore Roosevelt pushed his "cheap
food" policy in order to feed a growing and politically
volatile urban population a century ago, the cost was
imposed on both family farmers and food sector workers.
A cheap food system is fundamentally based on low
commodity prices and low-wage workers, and little has
changed since Roosevelt's policy came into play.
This Thanksgiving, we should give thanks to the low-
wage workers, many of them immigrant and refugee, who
enable us to have our feast.
Thanksgiving turkey comes laden with human stories of
struggle and hope and dangerous, hard work. With
stories of immigrants and refugees still seeking an
American dream. With stories from many countries
blending to become one nation. With stories in many
languages seeking to become one voice.
So let's give thanks. Eat well. Celebrate. And seek
justice for the workers who feed us.
David L. Ostendorf is executive director of the
Chicago-based Center for New Community, a national
organization dedicated to building community, justice,
and equality nationwide (www.newcomm.org). He is a
minister in the United Church of Christ. He can be
reached at pmproj@progressive.org.
Protect Our Food Producers!
New York Daily News
This must be New York's final harvest of shame:
Let us finally protect exploited farmworkers
By Kerry Kennedy
Thursday, November 26th 2009
There's near-slavery in New York, and it'll be served up across the state today in turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and corn bread.
Thanksgiving is a time to join family and friends, reflect on the past year and express gratitude for all the blessings in our lives. We are fueled in this ritual self-examination by traditional holiday fare: Turkey smothered in gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, winter squash, creamed onions, peas, carrots, corn and more. But while these foods comfort me, I am horrified by the haunting stories of the women and men whose seemingly endless toil provides us such a wonderful and colorful bounty.
Farmworkers in New York State - who deliver to us so many of the foods we eat - labor every day without the basic rights that are afforded all other workers. They are denied the right to a day of rest per week and to overtime pay for extra work hours. They are excluded from disability and unemployment insurance coverage. And they can be legally fired for organizing a union.
The history of denying farmworkers basic rights stretches back to the Jim Crow era, when Dixiecrats in Congress refused to include the primarily African-American farm labor force in the New Deal labor regime - but the the tragic results of historical racism and political expediency are alive and kicking today.
New York farmworkers live in overcrowded barracks, work incredibly long hours (many work 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week) for poverty wages, and suffer frequent repetitive-stress and other serious injuries. When their bodies inevitably break under the stress of the work, they are shown the door - kicked out of employer-provided housing.
Farmworkers' daily lives are subject to the whims of their employers - a power dynamic that often results in extreme abuse and exploitation. On a recent visit with farmworkers in, of all places, Liberty, N.Y., every female farmworker I spoke with told me she had been sexually assaulted by her boss.
We must put a stop to this.
Fortunately, there is reason for hope. Under the leadership of Rural & Migrant Ministry, many thousands in upstate churches and synagogues have marched side by side with the state's farmworkers, seeking to honor the dignity and equal worth of all people. They have been joined in this long journey by allies in the labor movement and youth organizations. This year, I am proud to report that the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights joined the campaign in a big way, and we are on the verge of major progress.
In June, the Assembly passed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which would finally offer a measure of justice to farmworkers by extending them basic rights and protections. Gov. Paterson has repeatedly pledged to sign the bill. All that is left to do is for Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson to allow the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, where it will surely pass.
Tomorrow marks the 49th anniversary of Edward R. Murrow's shocking documentary, "Harvest of Shame," which depicted the horrible living and working conditions, conditions that legally persist today.
Forty-nine Thanksgiving meals, and still farmworkers are denied a seat at the table. Forty-nine years of pumpkin pie, and still farmworkers are denied a piece. Sen. Sampson, let the 50th anniversary never come. Before the year is out, bring the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act to a vote. For that we will be eternally thankful.
This must be New York's final harvest of shame:
Let us finally protect exploited farmworkers
By Kerry Kennedy
Thursday, November 26th 2009
There's near-slavery in New York, and it'll be served up across the state today in turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and corn bread.
Thanksgiving is a time to join family and friends, reflect on the past year and express gratitude for all the blessings in our lives. We are fueled in this ritual self-examination by traditional holiday fare: Turkey smothered in gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, winter squash, creamed onions, peas, carrots, corn and more. But while these foods comfort me, I am horrified by the haunting stories of the women and men whose seemingly endless toil provides us such a wonderful and colorful bounty.
Farmworkers in New York State - who deliver to us so many of the foods we eat - labor every day without the basic rights that are afforded all other workers. They are denied the right to a day of rest per week and to overtime pay for extra work hours. They are excluded from disability and unemployment insurance coverage. And they can be legally fired for organizing a union.
The history of denying farmworkers basic rights stretches back to the Jim Crow era, when Dixiecrats in Congress refused to include the primarily African-American farm labor force in the New Deal labor regime - but the the tragic results of historical racism and political expediency are alive and kicking today.
New York farmworkers live in overcrowded barracks, work incredibly long hours (many work 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week) for poverty wages, and suffer frequent repetitive-stress and other serious injuries. When their bodies inevitably break under the stress of the work, they are shown the door - kicked out of employer-provided housing.
Farmworkers' daily lives are subject to the whims of their employers - a power dynamic that often results in extreme abuse and exploitation. On a recent visit with farmworkers in, of all places, Liberty, N.Y., every female farmworker I spoke with told me she had been sexually assaulted by her boss.
We must put a stop to this.
Fortunately, there is reason for hope. Under the leadership of Rural & Migrant Ministry, many thousands in upstate churches and synagogues have marched side by side with the state's farmworkers, seeking to honor the dignity and equal worth of all people. They have been joined in this long journey by allies in the labor movement and youth organizations. This year, I am proud to report that the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights joined the campaign in a big way, and we are on the verge of major progress.
In June, the Assembly passed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which would finally offer a measure of justice to farmworkers by extending them basic rights and protections. Gov. Paterson has repeatedly pledged to sign the bill. All that is left to do is for Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson to allow the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, where it will surely pass.
Tomorrow marks the 49th anniversary of Edward R. Murrow's shocking documentary, "Harvest of Shame," which depicted the horrible living and working conditions, conditions that legally persist today.
Forty-nine Thanksgiving meals, and still farmworkers are denied a seat at the table. Forty-nine years of pumpkin pie, and still farmworkers are denied a piece. Sen. Sampson, let the 50th anniversary never come. Before the year is out, bring the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act to a vote. For that we will be eternally thankful.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
This is embarrassing...What good is a government that can't even feed its people?
The White House, Washington
Tomorrow, many of us will gather around the table with family and friends to give thanks over a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy -- and let’s not forget pumpkin pie!
But for some in this country, the feast will not be as bountiful. In fact, it won’t be much of a feast at all. Hunger is on the rise in America -- hitting its highest levels in nearly 15 years. A recent report released by the USDA reveals that in 2008 an estimated 1.1 million children were living in households that experienced hunger multiple times over the past year.
To combat hunger this winter, we’re launching, in coordination with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United We Serve: Feed a Neighbor initiative -- a program that empowers you with all the resources you need to mobilize against the hunger crisis in your community. Learn how you can get started today:
Get Started
Barack and I are committed to doing all we can to end hunger by making food programs more accessible to eligible families. But government can only do so much -- it will take all of us working together to put an end to hunger in America.
That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to get involved at Serve.gov. Find local volunteer opportunities like delivering meals to homebound seniors, offering your professional skills at a food pantry, or planting a community garden and sharing produce with your neighbors. You can also create your own volunteer opportunity using our anti-hunger toolkit.
This holiday season let’s recommit to serving our communities and working together to feed American families. Get started giving back today.
Thank you,
Michelle
First Lady Michelle Obama
The White House
Visit WhiteHouse.gov
Tomorrow, many of us will gather around the table with family and friends to give thanks over a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy -- and let’s not forget pumpkin pie!
But for some in this country, the feast will not be as bountiful. In fact, it won’t be much of a feast at all. Hunger is on the rise in America -- hitting its highest levels in nearly 15 years. A recent report released by the USDA reveals that in 2008 an estimated 1.1 million children were living in households that experienced hunger multiple times over the past year.
To combat hunger this winter, we’re launching, in coordination with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United We Serve: Feed a Neighbor initiative -- a program that empowers you with all the resources you need to mobilize against the hunger crisis in your community. Learn how you can get started today:
Get Started
Barack and I are committed to doing all we can to end hunger by making food programs more accessible to eligible families. But government can only do so much -- it will take all of us working together to put an end to hunger in America.
That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to get involved at Serve.gov. Find local volunteer opportunities like delivering meals to homebound seniors, offering your professional skills at a food pantry, or planting a community garden and sharing produce with your neighbors. You can also create your own volunteer opportunity using our anti-hunger toolkit.
This holiday season let’s recommit to serving our communities and working together to feed American families. Get started giving back today.
Thank you,
Michelle
First Lady Michelle Obama
The White House
Visit WhiteHouse.gov
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Support the Soldiers at Ft. Hood
Dear Supporter,
Update on the situation at Ft. Hood
In the wake of the killings at Ft. Hood, Iraq Veterans Against the War has confirmed that all of our chapter members there are safe. None were injured, but some of them knew some of the shooting victims. As you can imagine, many on the base are quite shaken by the shootings, especially after serving in combat situations themselves. Base Commanders at Ft. Hood must do more to step up mental health outreach and care for all GIs, especially after this horrific incident. "There is still a strong stigma against seeking help," said Chance Mills, an IVAW member stationed at Ft. Hood. "It is considered a weakness, like if your health care appointments are scheduled during the workday, people look at it as you're scamming out of duty."
Mike Kern, IVAW Ft. Hood chapter president spoke yesterday along with independent journalist Dahr Jamail on Democracy Now. Check out the clip here.
IVAW will be sending a mental health professional down to Ft. Hood this week to provide support to our members there. In addition, the Field Organizing Team Leader, Aaron Hughes, will arrive at Ft. Hood today. Working with the Warrior Writers Project, we will provide an opportunity to use the arts for healing and strengthening the active duty and veteran community in and around Ft. Hood this week through writing workshops at Under The Hood, the local GI coffeehouse. On Veterans Day, IVAW will host a memorial and candlelight vigil outside the gates of Ft. Hood.
What you can do to help:
1) Life on a military base can be pretty isolating. GIs at Ft. Hood would appreciate hearing from civilian supporters so they know they are not alone. Send letters of solidarity and moral support to the GIs and Veterans of IVAW Fort Hood via postal mail to:
IVAW Ft. Hood c/o Fort Hood Support Network
P.O. Box 16174
Austin, TX 78761-6174
2) Help cover the costs of flying our mental health therapist down to Ft. Hood. She has extensive experience working with veterans suffering from PTSD and is volunteering her services. Make a donation here to cover her airfare.
During the rest of November, we will be highlighting the issues of veteran and GI health. Stay tuned for podcasts and blog posts highlighting the human costs of war from our members' experiences.
We appreciate your support.
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Update on the situation at Ft. Hood
In the wake of the killings at Ft. Hood, Iraq Veterans Against the War has confirmed that all of our chapter members there are safe. None were injured, but some of them knew some of the shooting victims. As you can imagine, many on the base are quite shaken by the shootings, especially after serving in combat situations themselves. Base Commanders at Ft. Hood must do more to step up mental health outreach and care for all GIs, especially after this horrific incident. "There is still a strong stigma against seeking help," said Chance Mills, an IVAW member stationed at Ft. Hood. "It is considered a weakness, like if your health care appointments are scheduled during the workday, people look at it as you're scamming out of duty."
Mike Kern, IVAW Ft. Hood chapter president spoke yesterday along with independent journalist Dahr Jamail on Democracy Now. Check out the clip here.
IVAW will be sending a mental health professional down to Ft. Hood this week to provide support to our members there. In addition, the Field Organizing Team Leader, Aaron Hughes, will arrive at Ft. Hood today. Working with the Warrior Writers Project, we will provide an opportunity to use the arts for healing and strengthening the active duty and veteran community in and around Ft. Hood this week through writing workshops at Under The Hood, the local GI coffeehouse. On Veterans Day, IVAW will host a memorial and candlelight vigil outside the gates of Ft. Hood.
What you can do to help:
1) Life on a military base can be pretty isolating. GIs at Ft. Hood would appreciate hearing from civilian supporters so they know they are not alone. Send letters of solidarity and moral support to the GIs and Veterans of IVAW Fort Hood via postal mail to:
IVAW Ft. Hood c/o Fort Hood Support Network
P.O. Box 16174
Austin, TX 78761-6174
2) Help cover the costs of flying our mental health therapist down to Ft. Hood. She has extensive experience working with veterans suffering from PTSD and is volunteering her services. Make a donation here to cover her airfare.
During the rest of November, we will be highlighting the issues of veteran and GI health. Stay tuned for podcasts and blog posts highlighting the human costs of war from our members' experiences.
We appreciate your support.
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Health Care Betrayal
Congressman Kucinich addresses vote on H.R. 3962
While the political process in Washington suffers through its grotesque pantomime on health care, let us prepare our neighborhoods, our communities, our states for the eventual triumph of single payer health care.
(November 7, 2009)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich after voting against H.R. 3962 addresses why he voted NO, stating:
"We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system."
"Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick."
"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross."
"By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress' blog, Think Progress, states, 'since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.' Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that 'money will start flowing in again' to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy."
"During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The 'robust public option' which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies."
"Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy - in which most Americans live - the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street."
"This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America's manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care."
"Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America's businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals."
Please know the struggle for real health care reform will continue. Contribute, we can make a difference.
Thank you.
The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee
While the political process in Washington suffers through its grotesque pantomime on health care, let us prepare our neighborhoods, our communities, our states for the eventual triumph of single payer health care.
(November 7, 2009)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich after voting against H.R. 3962 addresses why he voted NO, stating:
"We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system."
"Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick."
"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross."
"By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress' blog, Think Progress, states, 'since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.' Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that 'money will start flowing in again' to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy."
"During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The 'robust public option' which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies."
"Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy - in which most Americans live - the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street."
"This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America's manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care."
"Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America's businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals."
Please know the struggle for real health care reform will continue. Contribute, we can make a difference.
Thank you.
The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee
Friday, November 6, 2009
Kucinich vs. Congress
Dennis Kucinich - www.Kucinich.us
Kucinich Addresses UN Goldstone Gaza Resolution
November 3, 2009, Congressman Dennis Kucinich addresses H.RES. 867 on the House Floor. H.RES. 867 condemns the UN Goldstone Gaza Fact Finding Mission Report.
Congressman Kucinich stated:
"Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist."
"Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian."
"Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian."
"The resolution before us today, which would reject all attempts of the Goldstone Report to fix responsibility of all parties to war crimes, including both Hamas and Israel, may as well be called the "Down is Up, Night is Day, Wrong is Right: resolution."
"Because if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read, concerning events it has totally ignored, about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution."
"How can we ever expect there to be peace in the Middle East if we tacitly approve of violations of international law and international human rights, if we look the other way, or if we close our eyes to the heartbreak of people on both sides by white-washing a legitimate investigation?"
"How can we protect the people of Israel from existential threats if we hold no concern for the protection of the Palestinians, for their physical security, their right to land, their right to their own homes, their right to water, their right to sustenance, their right to freedom of movement, their right to human security of jobs, education and health care?".
"We will have peace only when the plight of both Palestinians and Israelis is brought before this House and given equal consideration in recognition of that principle that all people on this planet have a right to survive and thrive, and it is our responsibility, our duty to see that no individual, no group, no people are barred from this humble human claim."
Please, join with Dennis in the fight for Human Rights. Contribute, you can make a difference.
Thank You
The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee
Kucinich Addresses UN Goldstone Gaza Resolution
November 3, 2009, Congressman Dennis Kucinich addresses H.RES. 867 on the House Floor. H.RES. 867 condemns the UN Goldstone Gaza Fact Finding Mission Report.
Congressman Kucinich stated:
"Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist."
"Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian."
"Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian."
"The resolution before us today, which would reject all attempts of the Goldstone Report to fix responsibility of all parties to war crimes, including both Hamas and Israel, may as well be called the "Down is Up, Night is Day, Wrong is Right: resolution."
"Because if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read, concerning events it has totally ignored, about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution."
"How can we ever expect there to be peace in the Middle East if we tacitly approve of violations of international law and international human rights, if we look the other way, or if we close our eyes to the heartbreak of people on both sides by white-washing a legitimate investigation?"
"How can we protect the people of Israel from existential threats if we hold no concern for the protection of the Palestinians, for their physical security, their right to land, their right to their own homes, their right to water, their right to sustenance, their right to freedom of movement, their right to human security of jobs, education and health care?".
"We will have peace only when the plight of both Palestinians and Israelis is brought before this House and given equal consideration in recognition of that principle that all people on this planet have a right to survive and thrive, and it is our responsibility, our duty to see that no individual, no group, no people are barred from this humble human claim."
Please, join with Dennis in the fight for Human Rights. Contribute, you can make a difference.
Thank You
The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Diversity and Equity Under Fire at University of Maryland
For background:
Students furious over diversity official’s ousting
Protest march planned for today at noon
By Adele Hampton for the Diaomondback School Newspaper
Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Nyumburu Cultural Center’s multipurpose room pulsed with anger last night as hundreds of students and faculty members vented their frustrations about the removal of Assistant Provost of Equity and Diversity Cordell Black from his longtime position.
“If someone has given to this university their blood, sweat and tears as he has, they should be able to walk out the door on their own terms and not because of back-door dealings that some folks did in terms of plotting and removing him from his position,” Student Involvement and Public Relations Director for the Nyumburu Cultural Center Solomon Comissiong said. “We need to mobilize and organize around one single thing and that is reinstating Dr. Black ... by any means necessary.”
Last Thursday, Black was called into a meeting with Provost Nariman Farvardin, where he was informed that as a result of budget cuts he would be replaced at the end of this fiscal year — June 30, 2010. The Office of the Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, which Black oversees, houses the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the Office of LBGT Equity and the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education. Farvardin said these departments will not be cut or altered in any way.
“I have three units that report to me and [Farvardin] says, ‘Nyumburu, I can’t touch that because that’s student fees and not state money, and LGBT Office of Equity, that’s much too political for me to touch, and OMSE because that’s crucial to our drive to [increase] the retainment of black and Latino males,’” Black said of his conversation with the provost last week.
But for many, these concessions are not enough. The announcement, coming a week after a diversity town hall where officials asserted their commitment to diversity, came as a shock.
Student activists are planning a march from Nyumburu to the Main Administration Building at noon today to show their contempt with the administration for its decision and to push for Black’s reinstatement.
“I honestly think the university is going on a drastic, drastic decline,” senior communication major Justin Dailey said. “I definitely think this needs to be addressed beyond College Park because this is an issue that a lot of people are invested in.”
Farvardin, who did not attend last night’s rally, said Black would be replaced by a part-time faculty member who will oversee the various diversity departments, while Black maintains a teaching role at the university. The provost said the position will be reinstated as a full-time job when the university’s budget stabilizes.
Though Black will no long serve in an administrative position — a job he has held for 18 years — he is a tenured faculty member, and therefore cannot be fired. Farvardin said Black has the option to remain a professor of 17th century French literature, if he so chooses.
Despite accusations from students who claimed the administration was using a tightening budget as an excuse to cut from diversity programs, the provost insisted the decision to remove Black’s position was strictly budgetary.
“We have to deal with our $40 million budget drop,” Farvadin said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of decisions like that to make. It’s very painful. ...But when you’re in these positions you have to make difficult decisions.”
Others, including Black, said the move was personal.
“It’s fundamentally disingenuous because it appears that his aim was to move me out of the office and to bring somebody else in because at no time did he say, ‘I’d like to bring you back in when things improve,’” Black said. “I would’ve appreciated honesty and not the duplicity of the whole situation.”
Last night, more than 300 people packed the cultural center, filling the multipurpose room to capacity and flooding the adjacent lobby. After two hours, during which attendees drafted a document many called “our diversity plan,” they left, ready to fight.
No matter the outcome of today’s protest, Black said he’s not sure if he has a reason to stay.
“I’m not one to bite my tongue and if I think something’s wrong I will say so as forcefully and as coherently as I can, irrespective of who’s in the room,” Black said. “And so, that’s what I’ve done for 18 years and I have no regrets.”
My response to the firing as a University of Maryland 2008 alumnus and friend of Dr. Black:
Dr. Cordell Black is not only one of the most important and effective administrators at the University of Maryland (in this 2008 alumnus's humble opinion), he is a great mentor, advocate, and friend. As a former student radical, if someone had told me five years ago that I would be taking time out of my busy schedule as a now-young professional radical to defend a top administrator at my university, I would have laughed it off. This is but one indicator of Dr. Black's exceptional attributes. And I'm far from the only alumnus who is speaking out.
I met Dr. Black in the midst of a campaign to challenge the university's investments in Sudan in 2005. At the time I did not expect much from Dr. Black or the administration as a whole. I could never have imagined then how much the two of us would have in common politically: We both believed strongly in social justice and dedicated much of our energy and resources to progressive causes. The only difference between us, I quickly learned, was rank and experience.
I saw Dr. Black several times after that. Progressive causes and events kept bringing us together. I set up appointments with his office in order to request funding for programs such as Alternative Spring Break and Tunnel of Oppression. I will never forget how his generous contribution in the spring of 2006 allowed a dozen students including myself to travel to New Orleans for post-Katrina reconstruction for free or at a reduced cost.
Dr. Black also served as a personal mentor for at least one passionate, dedicated (but young and confused) college student - yours truly. He was always encouraging and helpful, giving me second thoughts about my sophomoric structural analysis in the early days that was often limited to "students good, administrators evil." Soon enough, whenever my fellow student activists would condemn the entire administration, I would take exception.
Whether he's advocating, funding programs, introducing enlightening speakers at the Provost Conversations on Diversity (which I attended religiously), or just being his warm and pleasant self, Dr. Black has proven time and time again his genuine commitment to the University of Maryland community - black, red, brown, white, and yellow. I can't think of a better man for the position, and I can't think of a better position for the man. He has earned his keep and deserves to retire when he wants and how he wants.
Students furious over diversity official’s ousting
Protest march planned for today at noon
By Adele Hampton for the Diaomondback School Newspaper
Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Nyumburu Cultural Center’s multipurpose room pulsed with anger last night as hundreds of students and faculty members vented their frustrations about the removal of Assistant Provost of Equity and Diversity Cordell Black from his longtime position.
“If someone has given to this university their blood, sweat and tears as he has, they should be able to walk out the door on their own terms and not because of back-door dealings that some folks did in terms of plotting and removing him from his position,” Student Involvement and Public Relations Director for the Nyumburu Cultural Center Solomon Comissiong said. “We need to mobilize and organize around one single thing and that is reinstating Dr. Black ... by any means necessary.”
Last Thursday, Black was called into a meeting with Provost Nariman Farvardin, where he was informed that as a result of budget cuts he would be replaced at the end of this fiscal year — June 30, 2010. The Office of the Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, which Black oversees, houses the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the Office of LBGT Equity and the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education. Farvardin said these departments will not be cut or altered in any way.
“I have three units that report to me and [Farvardin] says, ‘Nyumburu, I can’t touch that because that’s student fees and not state money, and LGBT Office of Equity, that’s much too political for me to touch, and OMSE because that’s crucial to our drive to [increase] the retainment of black and Latino males,’” Black said of his conversation with the provost last week.
But for many, these concessions are not enough. The announcement, coming a week after a diversity town hall where officials asserted their commitment to diversity, came as a shock.
Student activists are planning a march from Nyumburu to the Main Administration Building at noon today to show their contempt with the administration for its decision and to push for Black’s reinstatement.
“I honestly think the university is going on a drastic, drastic decline,” senior communication major Justin Dailey said. “I definitely think this needs to be addressed beyond College Park because this is an issue that a lot of people are invested in.”
Farvardin, who did not attend last night’s rally, said Black would be replaced by a part-time faculty member who will oversee the various diversity departments, while Black maintains a teaching role at the university. The provost said the position will be reinstated as a full-time job when the university’s budget stabilizes.
Though Black will no long serve in an administrative position — a job he has held for 18 years — he is a tenured faculty member, and therefore cannot be fired. Farvardin said Black has the option to remain a professor of 17th century French literature, if he so chooses.
Despite accusations from students who claimed the administration was using a tightening budget as an excuse to cut from diversity programs, the provost insisted the decision to remove Black’s position was strictly budgetary.
“We have to deal with our $40 million budget drop,” Farvadin said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of decisions like that to make. It’s very painful. ...But when you’re in these positions you have to make difficult decisions.”
Others, including Black, said the move was personal.
“It’s fundamentally disingenuous because it appears that his aim was to move me out of the office and to bring somebody else in because at no time did he say, ‘I’d like to bring you back in when things improve,’” Black said. “I would’ve appreciated honesty and not the duplicity of the whole situation.”
Last night, more than 300 people packed the cultural center, filling the multipurpose room to capacity and flooding the adjacent lobby. After two hours, during which attendees drafted a document many called “our diversity plan,” they left, ready to fight.
No matter the outcome of today’s protest, Black said he’s not sure if he has a reason to stay.
“I’m not one to bite my tongue and if I think something’s wrong I will say so as forcefully and as coherently as I can, irrespective of who’s in the room,” Black said. “And so, that’s what I’ve done for 18 years and I have no regrets.”
My response to the firing as a University of Maryland 2008 alumnus and friend of Dr. Black:
Dr. Cordell Black is not only one of the most important and effective administrators at the University of Maryland (in this 2008 alumnus's humble opinion), he is a great mentor, advocate, and friend. As a former student radical, if someone had told me five years ago that I would be taking time out of my busy schedule as a now-young professional radical to defend a top administrator at my university, I would have laughed it off. This is but one indicator of Dr. Black's exceptional attributes. And I'm far from the only alumnus who is speaking out.
I met Dr. Black in the midst of a campaign to challenge the university's investments in Sudan in 2005. At the time I did not expect much from Dr. Black or the administration as a whole. I could never have imagined then how much the two of us would have in common politically: We both believed strongly in social justice and dedicated much of our energy and resources to progressive causes. The only difference between us, I quickly learned, was rank and experience.
I saw Dr. Black several times after that. Progressive causes and events kept bringing us together. I set up appointments with his office in order to request funding for programs such as Alternative Spring Break and Tunnel of Oppression. I will never forget how his generous contribution in the spring of 2006 allowed a dozen students including myself to travel to New Orleans for post-Katrina reconstruction for free or at a reduced cost.
Dr. Black also served as a personal mentor for at least one passionate, dedicated (but young and confused) college student - yours truly. He was always encouraging and helpful, giving me second thoughts about my sophomoric structural analysis in the early days that was often limited to "students good, administrators evil." Soon enough, whenever my fellow student activists would condemn the entire administration, I would take exception.
Whether he's advocating, funding programs, introducing enlightening speakers at the Provost Conversations on Diversity (which I attended religiously), or just being his warm and pleasant self, Dr. Black has proven time and time again his genuine commitment to the University of Maryland community - black, red, brown, white, and yellow. I can't think of a better man for the position, and I can't think of a better position for the man. He has earned his keep and deserves to retire when he wants and how he wants.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Support the Peace Community in Colombia!
Dear Friend,
“We know that has great respect for the community and has walked with us throughout these past years... It cannot be doubted that their physical presence has helped to stop killing, stop torture and stop displacement. This has not only been achieved as a product of a presence in the field, which is vital, but comes from the effort made together by many people of FOR working arduously from afar. There is a deep feeling of solidarity because FOR understands our struggle for life. And that is why it is so effective, because they are not only there but also share our dreams for peace and for a better world lived here on earth.”
- San Jose de Apartadó Peace Community Internal Council
As you know, I have been involved in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Colombia Program over the last ___X__ years, including [member of Colombia committee/serving on team/participating in delegation/working as an intern] in [dates]. During this time, I have witnessed the impact of the program…(fill in here what you would like to say!) And its effect on me…(here too!) For these reasons, I am taking a moment to reach out to all my friends and family and ask for your support as the FOR Colombia Peace Presence works to become an independent entity.
As you may know, the Colombia Peace Presence is a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest peace and social justice organization in the US, and began working in Colombia in 2002 when the peace community of San José de Apartadó requested FOR's ongoing presence as a way to protect them from violence. FOR responded to their request and established a team of two volunteers to carry out nonviolent protective accompaniment, has maintained a year-round physical presence ever since, as well as carried out political work to ensure the community's safety. Since 2002, the project has grown to a team of five volunteers that also accompanies the Red Juvenil (Medellín Youth Network), a dynamic organization that works to protect the rights of Colombian conscientious objectors and carries out arts-based organizing with youth. In 2005, a Bogota team was established to coordinate our work with political authorities, host delegations, and work with the Red Juvenil and other groups. FOR has also carried out grassroots organizing and lobbying in the US to end US military aid to Colombia. The project produces a monthly newsletter, takes two delegations a year, organizes speaking tours and participates in national coalitions that work to change US policy towards Colombia. Just this year, through a process of mutual discernment with FOR-USA, we’ve decided to make the Colombia accompaniment project an independent organization. We will remain a close member of the FOR family (our name will continue to be associated with FOR) in philosophy and shared vision for a world of justice, peace and freedom.
The newly independent organization’s mission is to support nonviolent resistance to the militarization of land and life in Colombia. We will accompany the peace community and campesino organizations as they resist the militarization of their land and youth organizers as they resist the militarization of their lives. We stand beside them, physically and politically, within Colombia and around the globe, our accompaniment providing safety and space that allows them to continue their work and live their vision for a different world. We hope to expand our work in the coming years to support other communities and organizations doing work to resist the militarization of their territories.
This is extremely important work that can only continue with your help! There are three different ways you can lend your support to this project:
1. Become a monthly sustainer: with a monthly donation of $10 your bank account won't be too squeezed, while at the same time you can help us establish long-term sustainability. Go to www.forcolombia.org and click on the "donate" button.
2. Become an angel: with an annual donation of $500-$1000 over the next two years, your gift will help launch the newly independent organization to success! Go to www.forcolombia.org and click on the "donate" button.
3. Join our Facebook cause at: www.causes.com/collectivateforcolombia and make a donation to help us reach our $10,000 goal by July 1st, 2010!
“We know that has great respect for the community and has walked with us throughout these past years... It cannot be doubted that their physical presence has helped to stop killing, stop torture and stop displacement. This has not only been achieved as a product of a presence in the field, which is vital, but comes from the effort made together by many people of FOR working arduously from afar. There is a deep feeling of solidarity because FOR understands our struggle for life. And that is why it is so effective, because they are not only there but also share our dreams for peace and for a better world lived here on earth.”
- San Jose de Apartadó Peace Community Internal Council
As you know, I have been involved in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Colombia Program over the last ___X__ years, including [member of Colombia committee/serving on team/participating in delegation/working as an intern] in [dates]. During this time, I have witnessed the impact of the program…(fill in here what you would like to say!) And its effect on me…(here too!) For these reasons, I am taking a moment to reach out to all my friends and family and ask for your support as the FOR Colombia Peace Presence works to become an independent entity.
As you may know, the Colombia Peace Presence is a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest peace and social justice organization in the US, and began working in Colombia in 2002 when the peace community of San José de Apartadó requested FOR's ongoing presence as a way to protect them from violence. FOR responded to their request and established a team of two volunteers to carry out nonviolent protective accompaniment, has maintained a year-round physical presence ever since, as well as carried out political work to ensure the community's safety. Since 2002, the project has grown to a team of five volunteers that also accompanies the Red Juvenil (Medellín Youth Network), a dynamic organization that works to protect the rights of Colombian conscientious objectors and carries out arts-based organizing with youth. In 2005, a Bogota team was established to coordinate our work with political authorities, host delegations, and work with the Red Juvenil and other groups. FOR has also carried out grassroots organizing and lobbying in the US to end US military aid to Colombia. The project produces a monthly newsletter, takes two delegations a year, organizes speaking tours and participates in national coalitions that work to change US policy towards Colombia. Just this year, through a process of mutual discernment with FOR-USA, we’ve decided to make the Colombia accompaniment project an independent organization. We will remain a close member of the FOR family (our name will continue to be associated with FOR) in philosophy and shared vision for a world of justice, peace and freedom.
The newly independent organization’s mission is to support nonviolent resistance to the militarization of land and life in Colombia. We will accompany the peace community and campesino organizations as they resist the militarization of their land and youth organizers as they resist the militarization of their lives. We stand beside them, physically and politically, within Colombia and around the globe, our accompaniment providing safety and space that allows them to continue their work and live their vision for a different world. We hope to expand our work in the coming years to support other communities and organizations doing work to resist the militarization of their territories.
This is extremely important work that can only continue with your help! There are three different ways you can lend your support to this project:
1. Become a monthly sustainer: with a monthly donation of $10 your bank account won't be too squeezed, while at the same time you can help us establish long-term sustainability. Go to www.forcolombia.org and click on the "donate" button.
2. Become an angel: with an annual donation of $500-$1000 over the next two years, your gift will help launch the newly independent organization to success! Go to www.forcolombia.org and click on the "donate" button.
3. Join our Facebook cause at: www.causes.com/collectivateforcolombia and make a donation to help us reach our $10,000 goal by July 1st, 2010!
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