THE NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 11:30AM
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)
*******************************************************
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in San Francisco on APRIL 5th at
the Ritz Carlton Hotel at 6:30pm. 600 California at Stockton at 6pm.
Labor and community groups will be welcoming him with a huge protest
initiated by the California Nurses Association.
On April 5 San Francisco's corporate leaders will gather at the Ritz
Carlton to line Arnold's pockets. Join nurses, working families,
patients and Californians from around the state to stop his corporate
sell-out!
Tell the Governor and his donors: "Not in Our Town!"
For more information: 510-273-2240.
*******************************************************
STOP MILITARY RECRUITING AT OUR SCHOOLS!
LETS HIT THE U.S. WAR MACHINE WHERE IT REALLY HURTS!
STOP THE WAR! BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
*******************************************************
Dear all,
I would like to refer you to a front-page article today in the
New York Times. (see below #1) It's about the difficulty
military recruiters are having trying to meet their quotas.
This makes the demand to get the military out of our schools
a very powerful demand, especially now.
The antiwar movement has a chance to hit the government and
its war effort where it really hurts. If we all unite and
work together, to turn the movement against the war into
a really massive grass roots movement-one that is established
in each community-we could reduce recruitment
even further and really strengthen the movement to end the
war and bring the troops home now! This will be the strongest,
most powerful, resistance movement ever seen before in the
belly of the beast. United we have a chance to win peace.
WHAT CAN THEY DO WITHOUT CANNON FODDER?
The Times article shows that even the military recruiters
are demoralized! What a great beginning for us! Now is the
time for the antiwar movement to organize the kids in the
schools and the streets to say, "HELL NO! WE WON'T GO!"
"GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS! HANDS OFF OUR KIDS!"
"ZERO RECRUITMENT IN OUR CITY!" "STOP THE WAR AND BRING THE
TROOPS HOME NOW!" "SELF-DETERMINATION and U.S. FINANCIAL
REPREATIONS FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ" "TAX THE WAR
PROFITEERS TO PAY FOR IT!"
Our group, Bay Area United Against War, has been advocating
the unity of all groups since our inception in December 2003.
We immediately affiliated ourselves with ANSWER, UNITED FOR
PEACE AND JUSTICE AND NOT IN OUR NAME. If all these groups
could come together to end this war we could have teams in
each community that go door to door, set up tables, etc.
We don't have to disband our own groups. We could establish
united goals and work toward united actions and a strategy
to cover every community in the bay area with antiwar
information such as "opt-out" forms, reasons for not joining
the military, illustrating how the billions spent on war is
impacting the world's economy and causing more poverty,
homelessness and hunger everywhere while literally blowing
up the world's resources with weapons of mass destruction.
But it isn't enough for the groups to get together either.
We need to have a way for the community to participate in the
planning and decision making process if this movement is to
be truly representative of the masses who are opposed to this
war. We could begin the formation of neighborhood antiwar
committees. Continue to build Labor antiwar committees, even
professional and business antiwar committees and unite all
of them.
With all of us working together we would have the forces to
cover the city and set an example for the whole country. And
we could set up a national and international network of
like-minded people to develop ties with and carry out
international antiwar work.
We could also get signatures on petitions or get measures on
the ballot to ban the military from our cities all around the
country, greatly expanding what we did for Proposition N
last fall and in the spirit of the recent Vermont votes;
We could encourage "Town Hall" meetings everywhere-even around the
world; locally, we could set up a table outside of every
recruiting office demanding that they get out of our city and
do our best to convince anyone thinking of joining to take
a second look at the facts which we, conveniently, have with
us-and there is plenty of stuff out there to hand out. Our
goal should be zero recruitment in San Francisco and the
whole Bay Area!
This inability to recruit new cannon fodder is a real weak
point in the U.S. war plans. We have to be organized and
prepared for what the government might do about it, like
a draft. After all, they are taking non-high school graduates
now. Recruiters are so demoralized that 37 have actually
gone AWOL and others have considered suicide! And they
are relying on recruitment out of high schools. The high
schools are the meat and gravy of the military. This is where
a bring the troops home now; stop the war in Iraq; and a
"Hell no! We won't go" "No JROTC" counter-recruitment,
united movement, could hit the U.S. war machine where
it really hurts!
Let's work toward united actions in the fall. Let's spend
until then organizing for them under a banner of unity.
We will be discussing these and other issues at our next meeting,
Saturday, April 2, 11:30 A.M., at 474 Valencia Street near the
16th & Mission Streets BART station. Our meeting will take
place at the Compañeros del Barrio Children's Center on the
first floor, to the left and all the way to the back of the
building.
Everyone is welcome to come and discuss these issues and
how to work toward a united antiwar movement that has the
power to stop the insanity of this war and the U.S.
militarization of the world. We don't pretend to have all
the answers. But we do think unity and coordination of
the movement is what it will take to reach out to all those who
are opposed to this war and get them involved. It is a must!
The only logical "next step" for the antiwar movement is to
come together to organize the unorganized. That will take a well
organized operation that coordinates outreach to make sure all
areas are covered-so that whenever a recruiter steps
on to school grounds he or she is met with opposition and
that we have information to hand out to those they wish to entrap.
The majority of the people in this country are now opposed
to the war. A united movement has more muscle.
It could virtually put a halt to military recruiting and
significantly strengthen our voice in opposition to the war.
Together we have the power to act in our own interests-in
the interest of all humanity for peace and human
justice-and to thwart the interests of the war mongers!
Peace and solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
415-824-8730
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) NEW YORK TIMES FRONT PAGE
For Recruiters,
a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell
By DAMIEN CAVE
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/
27recruit.html?hp&ex=1111899600&en=6a48988b1357eb7b&ei=5094&partner=h
omepage
2) Going Small in the Big City
By Chuck Zlatkin
March 26, 2005
http://www.rightiswrong.com/zlatkinletter.php
3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)
4) Students,If you're concerned about military recruiters on
your campus, the possiblity of a draft, the impact of war on
your community...
Please join an emerging Bay Area network of community and
campus organizations that are coming together to take action
on these issues.
Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)
5) STOP THE CONDO CONVERSIONS!
FROM: TOMMI MECCA
Dear Friends:
STOP THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Wednesday, March 30, 12 Noon at City Hall
(Polk St. Steps). This is a rally against legislation (by Sups.
Dufty and Alioto-Pier) which would gut the condo conversion law.
Their legislation will let thousands of units become condominiums
instantly. It will increase Ellis Act evictions and reward
landlords for evicting senior and disabled tenants. Their measure
also sets a way for landlords to quickly convert units to
condominiums as a way to repeal rent control (rented condominiums
are exempt from rent control under state law!).
At 1 PM, the Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the
proposed legislation (Room 263, City Hall). Come to the hearing,
too, and testify against the measure.
6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)
7) Family Wonders if Prozac (LINK ONLY)
Prompted School Shootings
By MONICA DAVEY and GARDINER HARRIS
March 26, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/national/26shoot.html
8) From Hero to Homeless (LINK ONLY)
By Byron Pitts
CBS News
Friday 25 March 2005
For 25-year-old Herold Noel, this winter, like the war,
has not been kind.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032605Y.shtml
9) Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence (LINK ONLY)
By Ceci Connolly
The Washington Post
Friday 25 March 2005
Response to school shooting is contrasted with president's
intervention in Schiavo case.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032505B.shtml
10) That Guy Flipping Burgers (LINK ONLY)
Is No Kid Anymore
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/27teen.html
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) NEW YORK TIMES FRONT PAGE
For Recruiters,
a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell
By DAMIEN CAVE
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/
27recruit.html?hp&ex=1111899600&en=6a48988b1357eb7b&ei=5094&partner=h
omepage
The Army's recruiters are being challenged with one of the hardest
selling jobs the military has asked of them in the nation's history,
and many say the demands are taking a toll.
A recruiter in New York said pressure from the Army to meet his
recruiting goals during a time of war has given him stomach
problems and searing back pain. Suffering from bouts of depression,
he said he has considered suicide.
Another, in Texas, said he had volunteered many times to go to
Iraq rather than face ridicule, rejection and the Army's wrath.
An Army chaplain said he had counseled nearly a dozen recruiters
in the past 18 months to help them cope with marital troubles and
job-related stress.
"There were a couple of recruiters that felt they were having nervous
breakdowns, literally," said Maj. Stephen Nagler, a chaplain who
retired in March after serving at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, where
the New York City recruiting battalion is based.
Some two dozen recruiters nationwide were interviewed about
their experiences over four months. Ten spoke with The New
York Times even after an Army official sent an e-mail message
advising all recruiters not to speak to a reporter, who was named.
Most asked to remain anonymous to avoid being disciplined.
A handful who spoke said they were satisfied with their jobs. They
said they took pride in seeing awkward, unfocused teenagers
transform into confident soldiers and relished an opportunity
to contribute to the Army effort.
But most told similar tales: of loving the military, of working hard
to complete a task that seemed out of reach, of struggling to carry
the nation's burden at a time of anxiety and stress.
The careers and self-esteem of recruiters rise and fall on their
ability to fulfill a mission, said current and former Army officials
and military experts who were also interviewed. Recruiters said
falling short often generates a barrage of angry correspondence,
formal reprimands, threats or even demotion.
"The recruiter is stuck in the situation where you're not going to
make mission, it just won't happen," the New York recruiter said.
"And you're getting chewed out every day for it. It's horrible." He
said the assignment was more strenuous than the time he was
shot at while deployed in Africa.
At least 37 members of the Army Recruiting Command, which
oversees enlistment, have gone AWOL since October 2002, Army
figures show. And, in what recruiters consider another sign of
stress, the number of improprieties committed - signing up
unqualified people to meet quotas or giving bonuses or other
enlistment benefits to recruits not eligible for them - has
increased, Army documents show.
"They don't necessarily have real bullets flying at them," said
Major Nagler. "But there are different kind of bullets they need
to contend with - the bullets of not producing numbers, of
having a station commander shoot them down."
The Army is seeking 101,200 new active-duty Army and
Reserve soldiers this year alone to replenish the ranks in
Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world and
at home. That means each of the Army's 7,500 recruiters
faces the grind of an unyielding human math at a time of
extended war without a draft: a quota of two new recruits
a month.
The mission puts them in a different kind of cross-fire: On
one side, the military's requirement that new soldiers be
found. On the other, resistance by many parents to Army
careers for their children in wartime.
Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commander of the Army
Recruiting Command, acknowledged it is a stressful time for
recruiters, who face "the toughest challenge to the all-volunteer
Army" since it began in 1973.
"I do not deny being demanding," said General Rochelle,
leader of the command since 2002. "We have a vitally important
mission in terms of providing volunteers for an army that is
at war and that is growing."
He said the Army has already added recruiters and taken
measures to expand the pool of potential recruits, by
accepting older recruits and more people without high
school diplomas. More changes are being considered, he said.
But many recruiters said the Army continues to minimize
how difficult it has become to find qualified volunteers during
a war and in a growing economy.
For the first time in nearly five years, the Army missed its
active-duty recruiting goal in February. The Reserve has
missed its monthly quota since October. Army officials said
the goals would most likely be missed in March and April
as well.
Gen. Richard A. Cody, Army vice chief of staff, told Congress
on March 16 that he is concerned about whether the Army
can continue to provide the troops the nation needs.
"What keeps me awake at night," he said, "is what will this
all-volunteer force look like in 2007?"
The Marines also missed its monthly recruiting goal in January,
for the first time in a decade. The Navy and Air Force, which
provide fewer troops for the war, are on track to meet their quotas.
Trying to refill the ranks solely through recruitment in wartime
is rare. Historians say the Spanish-American War, Mexican-
American War and Gulf War were the only major conflicts since
1775 that did not rely, in part, on conscription.
Since 1973, the Army has usually maintained an all-volunteer
force of a million active-duty, Reserve and National Guard
soldiers, primarily through a marketing campaign that promoted
opportunities for adventure, new skills, college money and
other personal goals - enticements that, in wartime, often do
not outweigh fear of combat and death, Army surveys show.
While some in Congress have raised the specter of a draft, the
Bush administration has rejected that idea, saying higher skilled
soldiers are needed in a high-tech age, and are best found
through recruitment.
But several senior officers interviewed, including Col. Greg Parlier,
retired, who until 2002 headed the research and strategy arm
of the Army Recruiting Command, said the pressure on recruiters
shows the policy should be re-examined, and initiatives like
national service should be considered.
Courting Mom and Dad
The Army is the nation's largest military branch, comprising
80 percent of the 150,000 troops in Iraq. Its recruiters are
among its best soldiers. Most are sergeants with 5 to 15 years
of experience, pulled randomly from the top 10 percent of their
specialty, as defined by their commanding officers. More than
70 percent did not volunteer for the job.
Some soldiers are better suited to the task than others. Staff
Sgt. Jose E. Zayas, 42, is outgoing, bilingual and embraces his
mission. Recently, canvassing in the Bronx, he had little
trouble persuading a couple from Massachusetts to accept
a few pamphlets.
But for every Sergeant Zayas, there is a recruiter like Sgt. Joshua
Harris, 29, a former personnel administrator in a New Jersey
recruiting station, who struggles when talking to strangers.
Seven weeks of instruction in approaching prospects helped
him, he said. But many recruiters said few soldiers possess
the skills they need.
Recruiters are paid about $30,000 a year, plus housing and
other allowances, including $450 a month in special-duty
pay for recruiting. They live where they recruit, often
hundreds of miles from a base.
These men, and occasionally women, spend several hours
a day cold-calling high school students, whose phone numbers
are provided by schools under the No Child Left Behind law.
They also must "prospect" at malls, at high schools, colleges
and wherever else young people gather.
The follow-up process often takes months. Though parents
do not have to sign off on the decision to join, recruiters
said it is virtually impossible to enlist a new recruit without
their approval. Over dinners and on the phone, they make
the Army's case over and over to win parents' support.
If they succeed, they are responsible for bringing the
recruit in for 5:30 a.m. processing , organizing physical
fitness training or, in the case of one California recruiter,
taking 3 a.m. phone calls to comfort a recruit crying over
a breakup with her boyfriend.
The whims are many from the young, restless and uncertain,
experts said.
Recruiters have "the only military occupation that deals
with the civilian world entirely," said Charles Moskos,
a military sociologist at Northwestern University.
Army data found that, even before the war, recruiters
contacted on average about 120 people before landing
an active-duty recruit. That number has only grown,
recruiters said.
One recruiter in the New York area said that when he
steps outside his office for a cigarette, he often is
barraged with epithets from passers-by angry about the war.
In January, the brother-in-law of a prospective recruit
lashed into him. "He swore at me," the recruiter said,
"and said that he would rather have his brother-in-law
in jail for selling crack than in the Army."
The recruiter said, when out of uniform, he often lies
about his profession. "I tell them I work in human
resources," he said.
Still, they must sign up two recruits a month. Anyone
with an outstanding criminal case, health problems or
poor test scores is disqualified. Most months, at least
one must have a high school diploma and score in the
top 50 percent of the military's aptitude test.
Lt. Col. William F. Adams, a psychologist at the United
States Military Academy who has counseled recruiters,
empathized with the pressure but said it came with the
job. Of the recruiting goal, he said, "It is not a goal or
a target; it is a mission. If you don't do it, you're a failure."
A December report from the commanding officers overseeing
about 40 recruiters in West Houston reflects the mission-
driven culture of recruitment. Sent by e-mail to station
commanders, it started by declaring, "We can sum up the
month of Dec with one word - Unprofessional!"
The document noted that in an end-of-the-month push
to meet quota, seven recruits had appeared for processing.
Of those, two did not meet weight requirements and
needed a waiver, while two others lacked paperwork.
"We are processing crap," the report stated, "double and
triple waivers, waivers which get approved and the applicant
refuses to enlist (two this month), waivers on people with
more than 20 charges, etc. We are putting these people
in our Army!"
The cause, it said, was a lack of leadership: "I challenged
you to fix your stations. No one has stepped forward."
Asked to respond to the document, the Houston recruiting
battalion declined.
The report was followed on Jan. 6 by an e-mail message
from Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Norris, the second in
command of 212 recruiters in and around Houston,
threatening to deny all requests for leave.
"There are no excuses and I am tired of entertaining such
lack of discipline and focus," he said in the e-mail message
forwarded to The Times by a recruiter who received it.
"Let this serve notice that any station commander that is
holding this great battalion back will not be a station
commander in this battalion very much longer."
Neither document contained any mention of the war, nor
other possible obstacles. Sergeant Major Norris declined
through an Army spokesman to be interviewed. General
Rochelle said most battalions do not resort to such tactics.
Brawling Over Prospects
The recruiter in New York who had considered suicide
said he has seen at least four marriages break up among
the 9 or 10 recruiters in his area since 2002. He said he
has been subjected to threats of discharge and "zero-roller
training," when superiors comb through recruiters' phone
logs and other materials, then lambaste them for failing to
enlist anyone.
After more than a decade in the military, he said he still
loves the Army.
"It's just this detail," he said. "This is hell."
A Texas recruiter - a gruff man whose home is decorated
with military commendations - said that he suffers from
severe headaches lasting up to six hours. "I never had them
until I got out here," he said. "They're from recruiting."
He and other recruiters said they occasionally feel angry
enough to hit someone. About two years ago, he said, two
recruiters in his office brawled over who should get credit
for a new recruit.
"We call this the pressure plate, like on a land mine," he
said, pointing to the recruiter patch on his uniform. "If
you push it too hard, we'll explode."
His wife, like spouses in California and elsewhere, is furious
at what she sees as the Army's lack of support.
"What we are doing is good; recruiting is good and important
work," she said. "But the fact of the matter is that it's killing
our soldiers."
Many of the recruiters said they have asked for other
assignments. One of them is Sgt. Latrail Hayes. Now 27,
Sergeant Hayes enlisted in the Army 10 years ago, out of high
school in Virginia Beach, continuing a family tradition of military
service. He volunteered to be a recruiter in 2000, after 52 jumps
as a paratrooper, and at first his easy charm, appeals to
patriotism and offers of Army benefits enticed dozens of recruits.
But Sergeant Hayes said he started rethinking his assignment
as the war went on. Mothers required months, not weeks, of
persuasion. And the stories he heard from some of his recruits
who had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan made him reluctant
to pursue prospects by emphasizing the Army's benefits. When
his cousin - whom he had recruited - came home from Iraq
with psychological trauma, he filed for conscientious objector
status in June, as a strategy to obtain a new assignment.
The application was rejected in November. Now, instead of
serving 20 years in the Army, he intends to leave in December,
when his recruiting tour is done. "There's a deep human
connection when you try to persuade someone to do
something you've done," he said. "So when it turns into
something else - maybe even the opposite - it's difficult."
Some recruiters said they witnessed an increase in
"improprieties," which are defined as any grossly negligible
or intentional act or omission used to enlist an unqualified
applicant or grant benefits to those who are ineligible.
They said recruiters falsified documents and told prospects
to lie about medical conditions or police records.
An analysis of Army records shows that the number of
impropriety allegations doubled to 1,023 in 2004 from
490 in 2000. Initial investigations substantiated 459 violations
of Army enlistment standards in 2004, up from 186 in 2000.
In 135 cases, recruiters - often more than one - were judged
to have committed improprieties, up from 113 in 2000. The
rest were defined as errors.
General Rochelle acknowledged that the impropriety figures
"may be a reflection of some of the pressure that is perceived
at the lower levels." He also said that the increase could partly
be explained by improvements in tracking improprieties.
"We hold every recruiter responsible for being a living and
breathing example of Army values," he said.
The quotas will remain unchanged, General Rochelle said.
But the commanders should be held responsible for finding
ways to meet their goals. "It does no good to pass the heat,
as it were, or the correction down to the individual soldier,"
he said.
The Army announced in September that it would add about
1,200 active-duty and Reserve recruiters to the field. It has
also more than doubled bonuses for three-year enlistments
to $15,000 and increased its advertising budget.
For the first time since 1998, the Army has lowered its
standards, last week increasing its age limit for Reserve and
National Guard recruits to 39. Last year, it agreed to accept
thousands more recruits without high school diplomas.
In a small concession to recruiters, Army brass announced in
February that they can trade the green slacks and shirts that
they said made them feel and look like security guards for
battle fatigues.
General Rochelle said the uniform swap was part of a new
recruiting strategy to stress patriotism over salesmanship
and enlist veterans to help make the Army's pitch. "It's less
materialistic, in terms of the focus, once we get a recruiter
face to face with a young American," he said.
The recruiter in Texas, for one, said the changes are too
little too late. He said he would rather be in Iraq.
"I'd rather be getting shot at, because at least I'd be with
my guys," he said. "I'm infantry. That's what I'm trained to do."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Going Small in the Big City
By Chuck Zlatkin
March 26, 2005
It is now the spring of 2005 and I‚m wondering what I could do to
help end the war. Sounds like the story of my life.
I used to think big and feel small. At one point, I thought I could do
something meaningful about creating in peace in the world. Now,
I think small and feel big. I realize that the only change I can bring
about is in my self. The only way I'm going to find peace in this
world is one person at a time.
I think it‚s a better fit.
It was my friend Roberto Rodriguez who suggested that I speak with
his friend Bob Martin about my ideas to begin organizing a
neighborhood group in opposition to the war in Iraq. This was
back about the time of my ill-fated vote for yourself campaign.
Despite that being the case, they both listened to what I had to say.
They are two people I respect greatly, and am proud to say we
worked together on the formation of Chelsea Neighbors United
to End the War.
From the beginnings of Chelsea Neighbors United I kept a diary
and posted it on my website. If you would like to check it out you
can see by clicking on "An Activist's Diary" at
www.rightiswrong.com
Recently I was out on the corner handing out leaflets. It became
clear how many people were opposed to this war. It is true that
this could be something particular to my neighborhood. It could
also be true that everywhere else the populace is just ecstatic
with the results of this "mission accomplished" war, but I don't
think so.
The opposition to the war is palpable.
When I hand out leaflets I don't stand there passively. I speak
out. Engage people in dialogue. I make jokes and do shtick,
whatever it takes to get their attention and every one in awhile
I speechify:
"Two years is too long. 1500 hundred dead is too many.
$160 billion is too much. I don't even know what $160 billion
really means, until I broke it down and saw that it is $9 million
an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for two years. And
they have no money to keep the subway token booths open!"
"Stop the war, bring the troops home"
"Its a big job to end a war. Believe me, if I could do it myself
I would. But I can't, I need your help. Please join us."
"Stop the war, bring the troops home"
I have handed out leaflets many times in my life for issues
both large and small, and I have never seen the kind of positive
response I saw for the Chelsea Candlelight Walk. I should have
never doubted what the turnout would be.
Getting together a crowd of 150 peace activists one night in
New York City doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But somehow
getting a crowd of 150 peace activists in my neighborhood
together might be bigger than anyone can comprehend, if
you know what I mean.
If you would like to read the Villager newspaper's account of
the event go to:
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_99/burningforpeaceinchealsea.html
What we need to remember is that getting together with our
neighbors is as American as the Six Nations of the Iroquois
Confederacy. It is a natural thing for us to do.
Speaking freely, assembling, and petitioning the government are
what we should be doing. I prefer to live under the Bill of Rights,
rejecting the Patriot Act, Homeland Security and the Warfare State.
Neither political party has won my trust, I would rather rely on
my friends and neighbors now.
Mayor Bloomberg of Boston, oh I'm sorry he is the mayor of New
York, even if his roots are elsewhere . . . when Bloomberg did what
he did to thwart the ___expression of anti-war sentiment in the
streets of New York City before the war started, is when I realized
that he was yet another elected representative who was serving
the interests of the war machine.
Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Giuliani, Senators Clinton and Schumer,
President Bush, Governor Pataki, Representatives Weiner,
Maloney, McCarthy, etc. are all supporters of this war. There
is only one party in America now, the War Party.
And while I was busy working on the March 18th event my
congressional representative Jerrold Nadler voted in favor of
the Bush war supplemental appropriation for another
$81.4 billion.
2005 in Chelsea wasn't the first time that I've attempted to
organize people to take action, but it might be the best.
The powers-that-be will tolerate our emailing in our complaints.
They genuinely get disturbed when we get together with people
we agree with and start making plans for action. Actions do
speak louder than words.
The time is over for top-down decision making. There is
a place for national organizations and maybe even political
parties, but setting the agenda is not for them to do.
We need to find the answers for the needs of the greatest
consensus. To do this we have to listen as well as speak,
learn as well as teach, and love as well as be angry.
I still believe that the overwhelming consensus of humans
want the planet to survive, at least through their watch.
Organizing people on a human scale seems to make the most
sense. I don't have the hubris to think that I could organize
on a scale larger than my neighborhood. I measure my life
by how far it is to walk from one place to another. I think you
get that way when you have lived and worked in the same
community for over 30 years.
Peace is not the absence of war, it is the presence of peace.
Working for peace is not something we do between election
campaigns.
Both John Kerry and Al Gore received the most votes. What
did it matter? Neither of them appears to have wanted to win,
and are satisfied with the Bush war.
Last summer when the mass demonstrations were being held
UFPJ headlined the call protesting the "Bush Agenda" as if the
Kerry agenda was any different when it came to war in Iraq.
We have been failed by our elected officials, our national
political parties, and even our national anti-war movement.
It is time for us to take responsibility ourselves. It is a war
being fought in our name, with our tax dollars and by our
fellow citizens. It is time that we respresent ourselves in
a movement that demands the immediate end to the war
and the safe return and care for our troops.
As The Band would sing, "Why don't we get together?
What else can we do?"
Copyright 2005 Chuck Zlatkin
ChuckZlatkin@yahoo.com
www.rightiswrong.com
Chuck Zlatkin
P. O. Box 821
JAF Station
New Yok, NY 10116212-726-1385
www.rightiswrong.com http://www.rightiswrong.com/
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3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)
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4) Students,If you're concerned about military recruiters on
your campus, the possiblity of a draft, the impact of war on
your community...
Please join an emerging Bay Area network of community and
campus organizations that are coming together to take action
on these issues.
Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)
Be There!
For more info: (510) 465-1617 x4, awe@objector.org
* To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MOOS-BAY/
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5) STOP THE CONDO CONVERSIONS!
FROM: TOMMI MECCA
Dear Friends:
STOP THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Wednesday, March 30, 12 Noon at City Hall
(Polk St. Steps). This is a rally against legislation (by Sups.
Dufty and Alioto-Pier) which would gut the condo conversion law.
Their legislation will let thousands of units become condominiums
instantly. It will increase Ellis Act evictions and reward
landlords for evicting senior and disabled tenants. Their measure
also sets a way for landlords to quickly convert units to
condominiums as a way to repeal rent control (rented condominiums
are exempt from rent control under state law!).
At 1 PM, the Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the
proposed legislation (Room 263, City Hall). Come to the hearing,
too, and testify against the measure.
A friend of mine was evicted during the dot-com boom. He is
disabled and gay, and was living down the street from me. We
always talked when I passed by his place and he was sitting
outside. He was Ellis Act evicted and was forced to move to the
East Bay. Now, the people who moved in after his Ellis Act will
get a free ride. Under Bevan Dufty and Michela Alioto-Pier's
latest bill they will be able to circumvent the condo lottery
process and immediately condo convert their place...in other
words, a nice reward to the original spectulator who bought the
place and turned it into TICs. Sends a message to all those
future speculators: Go ahead, evict tenats, the board'll reward
you when it comes time. Thanks, Supe Dufty and Alioto-Pier for
rewarding those who evict us!
If you think this is outrageous, come to a rally on Wednesday,
the day Dufty and Alioto-Pier's bill comes up for a hearing.
Info below.
tommi
For more information, see www.sftu.org
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6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)
Social & Introductions: 6 pm - 7:30 pm
Dance: 7:30 pm - 11 pm
$10-$30 sliding scale / $5 students
FEATURING
The Stairwell Sisters
http://www.stairwellsisters.com
with calling by Evie Ladin
"wild, hard dance music...infectious" - Oakland Tribune
AND
The Squirrelly Stringband
http://www.spectacularopticals.com/SQUIRRELLY.swf
The Bernal Hill Stringband and other special guests!
ANTI WAR EVENT TO SUPPORT A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR:
All dances taught! Beginners welcome!
The most fun you could have for the best cause!
All proceeds to benefit the defense of Pablo Paredes
(swiftsmartveterans.com) and Iraq Veterans Against the War
(ivaw.net). To protest the Iraq War, Petty Officer Third Class
Pablo Paredes publicly refused to deploy to the Middle East and
is now facing military courts martial. IVAW is a newly formed
organization of recent Iraq veterans opposed to the ongoing war
and occupation.
Benefit hosted by Not in Our Name, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, International Socialist Organization, College
Not Combat, Courage to Resist, Freedom Socialist Party, Queers
for Peace and Justice/SF, Radical Women, and Bay Area United
Against War.
Public transit: Muni 19 bus from Civic Center BART (8th Street) -
outbound toward Hunters Point.
"Combine this band's vocal prowess with skilled
multi-instrumental chops and a hellbent-for-leather attitude, and
you have a wild funky recording... Brittle, hard-edged, exciting
ensemble singing... in which the Stairwell Sisters rocket into
the high lonesome stratosphere." - Old-Time Herald
For more information and leaflets:
http://bayarea.notinourname.net
510-601-8000
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7) Family Wonders if Prozac (LINK ONLY)
Prompted School Shootings
By MONICA DAVEY and GARDINER HARRIS
March 26, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/national/26shoot.html
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8) From Hero to Homeless (LINK ONLY)
By Byron Pitts
CBS News
Friday 25 March 2005
For 25-year-old Herold Noel, this winter, like the war,
has not been kind.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032605Y.shtml
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9) Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence (LINK ONLY)
By Ceci Connolly
The Washington Post
Friday 25 March 2005
Response to school shooting is contrasted with president's
intervention in Schiavo case.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032505B.shtml
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10) That Guy Flipping Burgers (LINK ONLY)
Is No Kid Anymore
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/27teen.html
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