Seachange Bulletin #136September 12, 2004Seachange Bulletin ArchivesEmail the editorSeachange Bulletin #136: We still say ‘no’ to Bush agenda! New York - In the largest protest ever held during a political convention, more than 500,000 people from all over the United States marched past Madison Square Garden, site of the Republican National Convention, to express their opposition to the Bush agenda and the war against Iraq. "This march brought together people from every sector of society and every possible background, because we all understood that we had to shine a spotlight on the issues that the Republicans won't bring to the stage at their convention - the ongoing chaos and violence in Iraq, the unprecedented roll-back of environmental protections, the assault on a woman's right to choose and so many other issues that Americans deeply care about," said Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the national anti-war coalition that organized the march. Film maker Michael Moore, Rev. Jesse Jackson, actors Rosie Perez, Marissa Tomei, and Danny Glover, musician Steve Earle, Congressman Charles Rangel and playwright Eve Ensler headed up the march along with Iraq war veterans, military families, September 11th families, and religious and community leaders. So many people participated that it took nearly six hours until marchers finished at Union Square. ... Massive demonstrations greet GOP convention M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Scripps Howard News Service, August 29, 2004 <http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=GOP-PROTESTS-08-29-04> New York - Manhattan's streets became rivers of dissent on Sunday, with an eclectic array of anti-war protesters shouting against President Bush on the eve of the Republican National Convention. The mood was somber at times, festive at others, as a slow-moving mass of people stretched several miles along 7th Avenue and passed Madison Square Garden, the site of the convention, where some curious GOP delegates watched silently and a few pro-Bush demonstrators traded insults with the crowd. ... Protesters Flood New York, Cheney Praises Bush John Whitesides, Reuters, August 29, 2004 <http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=VERDLVBHR0WKGCRBAEOCFEY?t ype=topNews&storyID=6097298> New York - Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of New York to condemn President Bush on the eve of the Republican convention on Sunday, but Vice President Dick Cheney praised Bush's "calm" leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Beating drums and shouting "no more Bush," a largely peaceful mile-long column of protesters marched past a heavily fortified Madison Square Garden to raise their voices against the war in Iraq and other Bush policies. ... More than 100,000 protest Bush's policies as GOP delegates arrive in New York David Espo, Associated Press, August 29, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/dailynews/242/politics/More_than_100_000_protest_Bush:. shtml> New York - More than 100,000 demonstrators marched past a heavily fortified Republican convention hall on Sunday, chanting denunciations of the administration and the war in Iraq as delegates flocked to the city to nominate President Bush for four more years in the White House. ... Nice day for a protest Tom Regan, Christian Science Monitor, August 29, 2004 <http://weblogs.csmonitor.com/at_the_conventions> Back in the late 1970s and 80s, a whole rash of films featured New York City (or a nameless city that sure seemed a lot like New York) as a quasi-police state. Escape from New York with Kurt Russell comes to mind. On this hot, humid day in New York City, just before noon, you could stand in the middle of 7th Avenue and think you were in one of those old films. The police presence was overwhelming. ... Overhead, several police helicopters, flying just above the horizon of skyscrapers near Madison Square Garden, filled the often-empty canyon streets with an ominous, echoing "thud, thud, thud, thud." ... Protest loud, peaceful, anti-Bush Fanny Walker, United Press International, August 29, 2004 <http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040829-095250-3967r.htm> New York - Two women from "Boobs for Bush" danced the streets topless, with paisley plasters covering their nipples. Hundreds of people danced alongside them on West 20th Street to the accompaniment of a massive drum circle. One woman described the movements people were making as tribal, letting the freedom of the rhythm take them. She said they were freer than they had been at any point in the last four years. ... Major anti-GOP protest mostly peaceful William M. Reilly, United Press International, August 29, 2004 <http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040829-091439-3590r.htm> New York - Protesters against President George W. Bush's policies marched Sunday by the thousands peacefully, but colorfully and loudly, past the site of this week's Republican National Convention. Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged in the hundreds of thousands. Arrests were in the hundreds and two policemen were injured. ... Anti-war sentiment fuels protesters David Ho & Bob Dart, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 29, 2004 <http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/election/0804nation/30gopprotest.html> New York - More than 100,000 protesters vented their anger at the president and the Iraq war Sunday, pounding drums, waving signs and chanting, "No more Bush!" But, though an army of police was prepared to make thousands of arrests, the line of marchers remained largely peaceful as it snaked around Manhattan skyscrapers and beside fortress-like Madison Square Garden, where the Republican National Convention begins today. ... Public Thunder Dan Frosch, AlterNet, August 29, 2004 <http://www.alternet.org/story/19712> Together, undaunted by a blazing late summer sun, hundreds of thousands marched through some of New York City's busiest streets on Sunday in a massive protest against George Bush and the Republican National Convention. The BBC estimated the number of demonstrators at over 250,000. Some carried clever posters decrying George Bush's ascent to power. Others wielded drums, horns, or in one case, a frying pan, and banged out their frustrations in rhythm. Still others carried small children on their shoulders. ... Crowds protest as GOP gathers Hundreds of thousands march against Bush, war Raja Mishra & Tatsha Robertson, Boston Globe, August 30, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/30/crowds_protest_as_gop_g athers> New York - As Republicans began converging on the city to renominate a wartime president, the largest protest ever at a political convention was staged yesterday in Manhattan, a largely peaceful march against President Bush and the Iraq war that underscored the deep divisions within the nation as the fall campaign approaches. ... Upstaging Before the Show Todd S. Purdum, The New York Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30assess.html> In a few dozen blocks of the same slender island, two worlds collided yesterday: the Republican convention's calculated claims to patriotism and the presidency met elaborately planned and heavily Democratic street protests that turned those same arguments back at President Bush - in ways that might help, or hurt, both sides. The demonstrations were New York City's biggest in decades (sic), and the most emphatic at any national political convention since Democrats and demonstrators turned against each other in fury over Vietnam in Chicago in 1968. But the first day was overwhelmingly peaceful, and the demonstrators doused a good bit of Mr. Bush's intended message with television images of dissent. ... Vast Anti-Bush Rally Greets Republicans in New York Robert D. McFadden, The New York Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30protest.html> A roaring two-mile river of demonstrators surged through the canyons of Manhattan yesterday in the city's largest political protest in decades (sic), a raucous but peaceful spectacle that pilloried George W. Bush and demanded regime change in Washington. On a sweltering August Sunday, the huge throng of protesters marched past Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican National Convention opening today, and denounced President Bush as a misfit who had plunged America into war and runaway debt, undermined civil and constitutional rights, lied to the people, despoiled the environment and used the presidency to benefit corporations and millionaires. ... Editorial Comment: On February 15, 2003, one million people marched in NYC in a vain attempt to prevent the illegal Bush/Blair/Howard invasion of Iraq; they were blocked from marching past the UN headquarters by edict of Mayor Bloomberg. Families and Individuals Join in Anger and Frustration Marc Santora, The New York Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30families.html> For every young man with an unorthodox piercing in a seemingly painful place, there was an elderly woman who walked in the midday sun for hours. For each wildly costumed, madly gyrating, drum-beating protester, there was a family that had made the trip into Manhattan together to march as one. And for all the chants denouncing President Bush as a terrorist, for all the obscenities screamed full throated, there were just as many people, young and old, who expressed in more subdued tones their anger with the Bush administration. Whether it was a mother who has a child fighting in Iraq or a father wanting his children to see history in the making, the march past Madison Square Garden yesterday had the distinct feel of a family affair. ... Mom proud of her defiant deserter New York Daily News, August 30, 2004 <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/227445p-195268c.html> Maritza Castillo is proud of her son and furious at President Bush. She came here from Miami this week to remind Bush and the Republicans that the Army locked up her soldier son but no one can hide the truth about the war in Iraq. On May 21, Sgt. Camilo Mejia became the first American soldier convicted of desertion from the Iraq war. After a three-day trial in a special court-martial at Fort Stewart, Ga., Mejia was slapped with the maximum one-year prison sentence, demoted to private and given a bad-conduct discharge. The very day he went on trial in Georgia, courts-martial began in Baghdad for a group of US soldiers accused of torturing Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. Army Spec. Jeremy Sivits, the first to plead guilty in that scandal, received the same one-year sentence as Mejia. At the Baghdad trials, several GIs who were charged along with Sivits said they were merely following orders. Mejia, on the other hand, claimed just the opposite. In early March, even before the heinous story of Abu Ghraib was revealed, Mejia publicly announced he would not obey orders to return to his Army Reserve unit in Iraq and was instead filing for conscientious-objector status. Months of combat, he said, had convinced him our country was committing war crimes in Iraq. ... With Restraint and New Tactics, March Is Kept Orderly Michael Slackman & Al Baker, The New York Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/politics/campaign/30police.html> Plainclothes police officers on stylish Italian motor scooters herded bicycle-riding demonstrators into thick orange nets stretched across intersections. Airborne spy cameras on blimps and helicopters monitored the crowd. Digital video cameras were used to tape arrest scenes and collect evidence for later use in court. A military-inspired sound device was ready to disperse crowds with shouted orders or painful blasts of noise. After more than a year of planning and training, the New York Police Department oversaw yesterday's giant protest march by combining traditional methods of crowd control - from undercover officers who infiltrated the crowd to a huge show of force - with a variety of new techniques that clearly took some of the protesters by surprise. ... NYC streets swell with protesters Ron Scherer, Christian Science Monitor, August 30, 2004 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0830/p01s01-usgn.html> New York - Vietnam vet Bill Steyert, bedecked in anti-Bush buttons, is twirling a white flag with a dove on it at a Green Party rally in Washington Square Park. The rally, on the eve of the Republican National Convention, feels like a scene out of the 1960s, and Mr. Steyert intends to go back to that era by getting arrested Tuesday. "We're committed protesters," he says of his group, which will be staging a "die-in," acting dead so that police will have to carry them away. "I'll be wearing an all-white shroud with red blood stains," he says. "Well, it's actually permanent magic marker." ... Anti-Bush Protesters Fill NY Streets On GOP convention’s eve, opponents of the president march against the Iraq war. At an Ellis Island rally, Cheney calls him ‘the leader we need.’ Josh Getlin & David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-protests30aug30,1,150814.stor y?coll=la-home-headlines> New York - More than 100,000 demonstrators flooded the streets of Manhattan on Sunday in a strong show of opposition to President Bush and the war in Iraq as this city geared up for the Republican National Convention. The loud, exuberant march, which at one point filled 40 blocks with people shouting slogans and waving signs, led protesters past Madison Square Garden, site of this week's GOP gathering. Police - who lined the streets in riot gear - said the march was peaceful, but they did have scattered scuffles around the city with demonstrators, and arrested more than 200 people. ... GOP strives to pitch a bigger tent Protest vote: Diverse anti-Bush forces march peacefully in NY Anna Badkhen, John Wildermuth & Zachary Coile, San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 2004 <http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/30/PROTEST.TMP> New York - Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters, united by their loathing of President Bush and their opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, marched Sunday through the fortified streets of New York, just a day before Republicans convene to nominate the president for four more years in office. "Tomorrow the Republican Party will meet and they will send their message of war and greed and hate," said Leslie Cagan, a leader of United for Peace and Justice, a national coalition of more than 800 anti-war, anti-Bush groups that organized Sunday's march. "Today we send our message." The protesters' message was difficult to ignore. ... Huge protest against Bush on eve of party meeting Gary Younge & Julian Borger, The Guardian, August 30, 2004 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1293570,00.html> New York - Hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for President George Bush to be removed descended onto the streets of Manhattan yesterday, on the eve of the Republican party convention. But as the demonstrators marched, Republican delegates arrived in town hoping to open a significant lead over the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, for the first time this year. ... The march, of an estimated 250,000 people, passed off peacefully, despite predictions of violence, with demonstrators wearing badges stating "Re-defeat President Bush" and banners proclaiming "Bush lied, thousands died". Several dozen were arrested, including around 50 on bicycles, but the overall feeling was more carnival than carnage. ... 200,000 in NY Protest Bush President and GOP Convention Unwelcome, Demonstrators Say Michael Powell & Dale Russakoff, Washington Post, August 30, 2004 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45279-2004Aug29.html> New York - By the tens of thousands, demonstrators marched, chanted - "No More Years!" - and danced through the streets of Manhattan on Sunday, voicing their anger with President Bush, the war in Iraq and the Republicans' decision to hold a national convention in this most Democratic of urban bastions. Hundreds of police officers in riot gear lined the sidewalks, SWAT vans idled, and police helicopters whirred overhead. But the protest was as peaceful as it was vast. ... The march drew protesters from many corners. Printers and emergency medical technicians rode early-morning buses from Lancaster, Pa.; suburban peace groups took the 9:29 AM commuter train from Bedford Hills; and a group of students traveled overland from northern Texas, hitchhiking the last 800 miles after their bus broke down in Ohio. Then there was Billionaires for Bush, a satirical group outfitted in cocktail dresses and silk gloves, tuxes and top hats and cigarette holders. They waved placards emblazoned: "It's a Class War - and We're winning" and "No Justice? No problem!" ... 300 protesters arrested before convention begins Caroline Overington, The Age (Melbourne), August 30, 2004 <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/29/1093717836373.html> The Republican Party's convention has not yet started, but already more than 300 people protesting against President George Bush's re-election campaign have been arrested. That is 30 times more people than were arrested during the four-day Democratic convention in Boston in July. More than 280 of the arrests in New York took place at the weekend, most of them for disorderly conduct during a 5000-strong bike ride through Manhattan to protest against the Bush Administration's environmental policies. However, there were no arrests at Saturday's rally by 25,000 abortion supporters, who carried signs saying "Abort Bush" as they walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. ... Voices from the march to nowhere Tom Engelhardt, Asia Times, August 30, 2004 <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FH31Aa03.html> New York - Let the numbers battle begin. The first unofficial police estimate of Sunday's mega-march in New York: 120,000. The organizers' estimate: 400,000. The earliest news pieces used the usual vague "tens of thousands" or "more than 100,000", but the Washington Post wrote of "more than 200,000", and the usually march-unresponsive New York Times picked the phrase, "hundreds of thousands". So the choice is yours. On a boiling-hot late-August day, on the eve of the Republican Convention, 100,000/200,000/400,000/500,000 upset, angry, anybody-but-Bush marchers (with the odd Green Party or Naderite supporter thrown in), walked up Manhattan's Seventh Avenue, doing for small businesses - delis, corner groceries, Tasti-Freezes - what several thousand Republican delegates and the massed imperial media will do only for a few fancy hotels, posh restaurants, and theaters. There was a rush on bottled water, on in fact almost anything drinkable, and at one point when the well-branded Fuji surveillance blimp, stamped with an NYPD (New York Police Department) logo, passed overhead, blocking the fierce sun and throwing a shadow on the crowd below, a cheer went up from the massed marchers on their way to nowhere in particular (having been denied a permit to rally in Central Park). ... An arrest and 26 hours 'in the system' Cockroaches Like Kittens Jaime Lamond, The Village Voice, August 30, 2004 <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0435/lamond.php> I just spent 26 hours "in the system" after the Critical Mass ride Friday night. I don't want to discourage anyone from following their conscience as they protest this week. But I do want to stress the level of disorganization and poor execution the NYPD showed in taking well over a day to process and arraign the 264 arrestees from the CM ride. Be prepared. Pier 57, the converted bus depot that they're using as a staging area for protest arrests, is absolutely filthy. If you have open cuts or wounds, put some Band-Aids, alcohol wipes, and bactine packs in your wallet. ... 10,000 Ways of Saying No Osha Neumann, Berkeley Daily Planet, August 30, 2004 <http://www.alternet.org/story/19714> We couldn't have a rally in the Great Meadow of Central Park because 250,000 people would ruin the grass, and because we didn't come to court early enough to say pretty please can we have our rights – that's what the judge ruled when United for Peace and Justice, the organizer of today's mammoth demonstration asked him to rule that the city must give us a permit. So that’s why thousands of us, though dead on our feet from a day of marching on New York's unforgiving cement, were determined that the Great Meadow is where we would be, permit or not. The Great Meadow became our great green mother, beckoning us into her arms. And we came and, by late afternoon, she was filled with our sweaty and tired bodies. We sprawled on her grass, our picket signs and banners laid down beside us, as the cooling shadows spread, and practiced a peaceful, pleasant politics, a politics without speeches, which is not really such a bad thing. Perhaps the judge did us a favor after all. ... Photos from March by Diane Greene Lent <http://dianelent.com/a29ufpj.html> More Photos from MotherJones by Scott Squire <http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/09/rnc_1.html> Some thoughts on last Sunday's protest ... Brian Pickett, Brooklyn, Portside, August 31, 2004 <http://people-link5.inch.com/pipermail/portside/Week-of-Mon-20040830/006436.h tml> Anyone who has been to an anti-war or anti-Bush demonstration in the past few years is bound to have asked themselves this question - "Is this really doing any good, or are we just wasting our time?" This isn't mere cynicism, but rather a necessary question, particularly in this day and age of protest permits and "free speech zones", not to mention less than respectful media coverage of dissenting voices. All this was rattling in my brain as I stood in lower Manhattan last Sunday waiting for the march against the Republican National Convention to take off. ... At one point, amidst chants of "This is what democracy looks like!" I smiled for the first time all day. I smiled because my faith in people and in my own voice was in the process of being restored after suffering some serious blows in recent years. Hope is Power. ... My Favorite Signs from the Protest March Sunday in NYC Bob Goodman, Portside, August 31, 2004 <http://people-link5.inch.com/pipermail/portside/Week-of-Mon-20040830/006436.h tml> The Republicans might have the money, but the people win hands down when it comes to creativity. Here were a few of my favorite slogans from my little corner of this massive march (2 miles of people, filling 7th Avenue - NPR estimated 400,000 to 500,000 of us): Nov. 7, 2000 - Tragedy for America; Give Bush a Swift Kick in the Ass; Put Bush on a Swift Boat Out of Washington; Draft Dodger Bush Has NO Medals; Bush Wouldn't Have Saved the Hamster; Cut the Bushit; Asses of Evil - Bush/Cheney; Bush-Cheney - the Axis of Weasel ... NYC Police Arrest Nearly 1,000 Protesters Sara Kugler, Associated Press, September 1, 2004 <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040901/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_protests _5> New York - Wielding metal barriers and orange netting, police struggled to contain swarms of anti-GOP protesters on the second day of the Republican National Convention, eventually arresting nearly 1,000 demonstrators with their sights set on a fortress-like Madison Square Garden. More protests were planned for Wednesday, including a "symbolic unemployment line" stretching from Wall Street to Madison Square Garden and an evening rally in Central Park's East Meadow. ... "People are trying to question the policies of a corrupt government. They take to the streets and don't ask permission," said protester Gan Golan, 30, a graduate student from Boston, who was arrested hours later after he sat in the street and refused to get up. ... Protester cheered at convention - when he's busted! The Associated Press, September 1, 2004 <http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/227927p-195745c.html> To the cheers of young Republicans, an anti-war demonstrator was dragged off the floor of Madison Square Garden by security Wednesday as the protests enveloping Manhattan briefly infiltrated the Republican National Convention. The incident occurred around noon, when a morning meeting of the GOP youth group - featuring an appearance by President Bush’s twin daughters - was interrupted by 10 whistle-blowing protesters chanting "Bush kills." They pulled off sweatshirts to reveal T-shirts with the message, "Bush Drop Global Debt Now." A scuffle broke out between the Republicans and the demonstrators, drowning out a speech from White House chief of staff Andrew Card. ... At Least 900 Arrested in City as Protesters Clash With Police Diane Cardwell & Marc Santora, The New York Times, September 1, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/politics/campaign/01protest.html?th> A series of demonstrations rippled across Manhattan last night when protesters tried to converge on the Republican National Convention, as a day of planned civil disobedience erupted into clashes with police officers and led to the arrest of more than 900 people. The wave of confrontations - which included a brawl with the police at the New York Public Library, marauding crowds cursing at delegates in Midtown and the detention of hundreds of protesters near ground zero - created a day of disorder in a convention week already marked by sustained protests against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Yesterday's incidents stood in contrast to the enormous, mostly orderly antiwar march that drew hundreds of thousands of people to Manhattan on Sunday. Many of those protesting yesterday had purposefully avoided seeking permits for their rallies but had publicized their plans well in advance, leading hordes of police officers in cars, bikes, scooters and vans to flood various parts of the city primed to pre-empt disorder before it could occur. ... Troops got the message, but no one told Bush Jennifer Loven, The Age (Melbourne), September 1, 2004 <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/31/1093938920478.html> Detroit - For Republicans, this week was supposed to be about one thing: hailing President George Bush's unbending leadership in the war on terror before a public that has become increasingly sceptical about his presidency. The President, however, may not have received the memo. In the past few days, Mr Bush has made a series of remarks that seem to undercut the image of him being broadcast from the Republican convention in New York - as the decisive commander-in-chief securing America's safety. In a flurry of interviews timed to coincide with this week's convention, Mr Bush acknowledged a "miscalculation" about what the US would encounter in post-war Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and said the "catastrophic success" of a swift military victory there helped produce the still-potent insurgency. Then, in an interview shown on NBC, he suggested the war on terror could not be won. Asked if it could be won, he said: "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the - those who use terror as a tool are - less acceptable in parts of the world." ... Editorial Comment: Readers of Seachange Bulletin will not be surprised that the most thorough and incisive coverage of the RNC was provided by Democracy Now!, with penetrating radio interviews. Here’s a sampling: From John McCain to John Kerry The Vicious Smear Tactics of the Bush Campaign Democracy Now!, August 31, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/31/148237> McCain Attacks Michael Moore In Primetime RNC Address Sparking Thunderous Response From GOP Crowd Democracy Now!, August 31, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/31/148245> The W Effect: Bush's War on Women Democracy Now!, August 31, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/31/149200> Thousands From Poor People's Campaign March From UN to Near Madison Square Garden Democracy Now!, August 31, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/31/1432212> With 600+ Arrests, Attorney Norman Siegel Warns About Unsafe Jail Conditions For Protesters Democracy Now!, August 31, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/31/1433217> Shout Heard Around the World Nearly 1,000 Arrested in Series of RNC Protests Democracy Now!, September 1, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/01/1424236> Medea Benjamin Dragged off RNC Floor for Unfurling "Pro-Life: Stop the Killing of Iraq" Banner Democracy Now!, September 1, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/01/1424252> New York Protesters Hold "Fox News Shut-Up-A-Thon" Democracy Now!, September 1, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/01/1433223> Thousands of Unemployed Workers Form Three-Mile-Long Unemployment Line in Symbolic Protest Democracy Now!, September 1, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/01/1519230> Guantánamo On the Hudson Detained RNC Protesters Describe Prison Conditions Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1454254> Zell Miller: "It is the Soldier, Not the Poet, Who Has Given Us Freedom of Speech" Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1454259> Dick Cheney Was "At The Core Of Some Of The Darkest Activities In This Country Over The Last Four Years" Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1455206> Crashing the Party: Famed Indian Writer Arundhati Roy Goes Inside the RNC Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1455211> RNC Protesters Stage "March on the Media" Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1455216> Tens of Thousands Rally Against Bush Labor Policies Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1455221> Making Protest Painful: Detained RNC Protesters Held in Crowded, Oil-Contaminated Conditions Democracy Now!, September 2, 2004 <http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/02/1455227> Veterans of Iraq war join forces to protest US invasion Marcella Bombardieri, Boston Globe, September 2, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/02/veterans_of_iraq_war_jo in_forces_to_protest_us_invasion> New York - A year and a half ago, Robert Sarra was a Marine sergeant in Iraq, where, he says, he once fired his M-16 at a black-cloaked old woman who failed to stop when she was told. Instead of a suicide bomb, the bundle she carried to her death held only bread, tea, and a white flag. From that day in a tiny town called Ash Shatra, Sarra says, he journeyed through dark territory - heavy drinking, violent outbursts, therapy - and finally from his temporary job in Chicago to the Republican National Convention this week. It is in New York that he embraced his new role - peace activist. "I became opposed to the war when I saw we had no point in what was going on over there," said Sarra, 32, who spent nine years in the Marines and left in April. ... Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War! Candlelight Convergence for Peace and Justice During George W. Bush's Acceptance Speech United for Peace & Justice, September 2, 2004 <http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2586> This past Sunday, half a million people sent a message around the world that we reject the Bush administration's policies of war, greed, hate and lies. On Thursday evening, as George Bush is making his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, exploiting the 9/11 tragedy for political gain in the most crass and cynical possible way, we must continue to raise our voices to say NO to war, and YES to peace and justice. United for Peace and Justice invites New Yorkers and others who have come from around the country to protest the Bush administration's policies to create a closing RNC protest event that embodies our desire for peace. We encourage people to come to Union Square after 8:00 PM on Thursday, Sept. 2, with candles or flashlights, flowers, photos and other offerings to create a living memorial to those who have died or will die as a result of the Bush Administration's policies. ... Tactics by Police Mute the Protesters, and Their Messages Michael Slackman & Diane Cardwell, The New York Times, September 2, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/politics/campaign/02protest.html?th> As the Republican National Convention approached its final evening tonight, nearly 1,800 protesters had been arrested on the streets, two-thirds of them on Tuesday night alone. But for all the anger of the demonstrations, they have barely interrupted the convention narrative, and have drawn relatively little national news coverage. Using large orange nets to divide and conquer, and a near-zero tolerance policy for activities that even suggest the prospect of disorder, the New York Police Department has developed what amounts to a pre-emptive strike policy, cutting off demonstrations before they grow large enough, loud enough, or unruly enough to affect the convention. ... Cutups and Cutthroats Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, September 2, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/opinion/02dowd.html?th> I always enjoy hearing about how a teenage Dick Cheney stood off to the side with buckets of water to put out Lynne's flaming batons. But there was an even better moment during Claire Shipman's two-part "Good Morning America" interview at the Wyoming ranch this week. Trying to humanize Dr. No, ABC was let into the inner sanctum to watch Mr. Cheney take his 4-year-old granddaughter on her first solo horsie ride and hear how he's teaching his granddaughters fly-fishing. Ms. Shipman asked the vice president "his greatest guilty pleasure." His wife quickly interjected that it was fishing. But we all know, of course, it's global domination. It's always amusing to watch Republicans try to get down. At convention time, they stop bilking Joe Lunchbox to act like Joe Lunchbox. How awkward in Columbus, when W., hanging with Jack Nicklaus, noted that his grandfather was born there, so they should "send a homeboy back to Washington, DC." Do they know a homeboy from a Lawn-Boy? How you livin', dawg? And speaking of dawgs, whuddup with that video of Barney debating that French poodle Fifi Kerry about taxes? By the time the twins finished their White House Valley Girl routine, and Karl Rove and Karen Hughes went all giddy in the sendup, the convention's arc was clear. ... Prime-time Republicans are Hard to Take Hugh Pearson, Newsday, September 2, 2004 <http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vppea023950604sep02,0,7325020.story> As I watched Tuesday night's network coverage of the unrelenting political propaganda hour known as the Republican National Convention, the first thought that came to mind was of old newsreels of those self-congratulatory Nazi rallies held in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler. For many people, I'm sure, such a comparison sounds extreme. Yet, just as the Nazis were obsessed with endless displays of swastikas, the Republicans are obsessed with the red, white and blue (for that matter, the Democrats are, too). In the same manner that the German people were told that Nazi leadership was faultless, the Republicans are telling the American public that no one knows what's best for the world except the current leadership in the White House. "If you believe this country and not the United Nations is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican!" bellowed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the same way that Nazis rationalized doing away with democratic rights and launching a pre-emptive war to protect the self-interests of the Third Reich, Republicans this week continue to encourage the American public to ignore our Constitution's directive that only Congress has the right to declare war (thus, we are not officially at war with anyone), and that a pre-emptive war with no exit strategy will actually protect "the American way of life," rather than further endanger it. ... Some Protesters Still Held Many Hours After Arrests Others Freed After 24 Hours War Resisters League, September 2, 2004 <http://people-link5.inch.com/pipermail/portside/Week-of-Mon-20040830/006445.h tml> New York - After being held more than 24 hours in the Pier 57 detention facility and Central Booking at 100 Center Street, some nonviolent activists are free. Some participants were trapped and arrested by police at the beginning of the solemn march from Ground Zero. Others continued the march toward Madison Square Garden and were arrested during a "die-in" at Broadway and 28th Street, carrying out the civil disobedience action as had been planned and announced. Activists confirm reports about filthy and potentially toxic conditions at Pier 57 and the feeling of a planned slow-down in processing those arrested. Demonstrators were also held with many individuals who were not participating in protests but were swept up in police actions, including many who were trapped in the police net used at Church Street and Fulton when the beginning of the solemn march was stopped by the police. ... Arrested at Ground Zero Ted Glick, Portside, September 3, 2004 <http://people-link5.inch.com/pipermail/portside/Week-of-Mon-20040830/006445.h tml> It is hard not to believe that yesterday's illegal and repressive arrest of approximately 200 peaceful sidewalk walkers across the street from Ground Zero was not ordered from the top. And by top I don't mean Chief Ray Kelly or Mayor Bloomberg. I mean the honchos of the Republican Party. Maybe they wanted to send a message: stay away from that location during our convention. That's our prop to use as we see fit. They obviously didn't see the tragic irony in what happened. Ground Zero is a sacred piece of land for many Americans, a place where we should rededicate ourselves to the struggle for justice and democracy for all. Ultimately, this is the only defense against the terrorism of the dispossessed or those angered by the USA's increasingly militaristic and repressive go-it-alone role in the world. And yet yesterday it was the backdrop for one more demonstration project of 21st century police state tactics. ... Heads in the Sand Bob Herbert, The New York Times, September 3, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/03/opinion/03herbert.html?th> When asked this week on CNN how long the US military is likely to remain in Iraq, Senator John McCain replied "probably" 10 or 20 years. "That's not so bad," he said, adding, "We've been in Korea for 50 years. We've been in West Germany for 50 years." Reporters have come to expect candor from Senator McCain, and in this case he didn't disappoint. But there weren't any speakers mounting the podium at the Republican National Convention to hammer home the message that GIs would be in Iraq for a decade or two. That's not the understanding most Americans had when this wretched war was sold to them, and it's not the view most Americans hold now. ... Feel the Hate Paul Krugman, The New York Times, September 3, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/03/opinion/03krugman.html?th> "I don't know where George Soros gets his money," one man said. "I don't know where - if it comes from overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from." George Soros, another declared, "wants to spend $75 million defeating George W. Bush because Soros wants to legalize heroin." After all, a third said, Mr. Soros "is a self-admitted atheist; he was a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust." They aren't LaRouchies - they're Republicans. The suggestion that Mr. Soros, who has spent billions promoting democracy around the world, is in the pay of drug cartels came from Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, whom the Constitution puts two heartbeats from the presidency. After standing by his remarks for several days, Mr. Hastert finally claimed that he was talking about how Mr. Soros spends his money, not where he gets it. ... Bush accepts party nomination The Age (Melbourne), September 3, 2004 <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/03/1093939119723.html> US President George W Bush late today accepted the centre-right Republican Party's renomination for the November 2 elections. Speaking inside New York's Madison Square Garden, just five km from the Ground Zero site of the destroyed World Trade Centre towers, he immediately invoked the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001. "Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb, and found the strength to climb them," he said. "Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below. Now, because we have faced challenges with resolve, we have historic goals within our reach, and greatness in our future. We will build a safer world and a more hopeful America, and nothing will hold us back." At one point hecklers interrupted Bush's speech. Republican delegates shouted "four more years" in an attempt to drown out the protesters. ... Thousands demonstrate outside convention site as Bush speaks Marcella Bombardieri & Tatsha Robertson, Boston Globe, September 3, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/03/judge_orders_release_of _560_held_overnight_police_defend_arrests> New York - Thousands of protesters massed outside Madison Square Garden last night as President Bush gave his acceptance speech, staging one last demonstration against his administration during the Republican National Convention. Wary police in riot-gear mounted horses and scooters to block protesters from moving too close to the convention hall, in some places pushing them farther away. The crowd-control tactics prompted defiant demonstrators to chant, ''Whose streets? Our streets." At least five protesters were able to carry their message inside the hall before being arrested. Three were removed while President Bush was giving his speech. As retired General Tommy Franks spoke, a man took off his shirt to reveal a T-shirt that said, ''Bush lied." He then shouted, ''Bush is a liar." A fifth protester was seated in the same section, for spectators, as that man. The intruders, like others arrested in the hall this week, appeared to have what looked like valid credentials. One law enforcement official indicated at least some got the passes from state delegations. ... If Only They Had Invented the Internet The Failure of Fact-Checking at the Republican Convention Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, September 3, 2004 <http://www.fair.org/press-releases/rnc-fact-checking.html> It is the function of journalism to separate fact from fiction. In covering the Republican National Convention of 2004, the media made isolated efforts to point out some of the convention speakers' more egregious distortions, but on the whole failed in their vital role of letting citizens know when they are being lied to. To take the example that dominated the convention perhaps more than any other claim: Professional politicians and political correspondents alike know that legislators frequently vote against appropriations for a variety of reasons, even though they do not seek to eliminate the programs being voted on. They know that different versions of the same appropriation are often offered, and that lawmakers will sometimes vote for one version and against another - not because they suffer from multiple personality disorder, but because that's how they express disagreements about how government programs should be funded. ... First They Came for the Protesters Rachel Neumann, AlterNet, September 3, 2004 <http://www.alternet.org/story/19779> Tourists, old ladies and gentlemen, a building superintendent who was taking out the garbage, teenagers on their first date to a play, ministers, students, bicycle messengers and a good number of bruised and dirty yet singing and chanting protesters. It's the kind of diversity that New York City is famous for, and, during this past week, the best place to find it was in the makeshift jail at Pier 57. The biggest underreported story of the Republican National Convention was not Laura Bush's Botox or conservative women making fools of themselves for California's manly governor. It was this: how could 1,800 people be arrested when they had done nothing wrong with the exception of crowding the sidewalks or block traffic? These events happen a thousand times every second in New York City. If these are crimes, all of New York should be arrested every single day. In a country that engages in preemptive war against a small nation that had neither the intention nor the ability to attack us, preemptive suppression of dissent is the next logical step. ... Why Democrats shouldn't be scared Michael Moore, USA Today, September 3, 2004 <http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=153> New York - If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times from discouraged Democrats and liberals as the Republican convention here wrapped up this week. Their shoulders hunched, their eyes at a droop, they lower their voice to a whisper hoping that if they don't say it too loud it may not come true: "I ... I ... I think Bush is going to win." Clearly, they're watching too much TV. Too much of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Zell Miller, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani. Too much of swift boat veterans and Fox News commentators. Action heroes always look good on TV. On Wednesday night, the GOP even made an action-hero video and showed it at the convention. There was White House political czar Karl Rove and other administration officials dressed up for "war" and going through boot camp on the National Mall in Washington. ... Judge fines city of New York and orders release of jailed protesters Gary Younge, The Guardian, September 4, 2004 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1297215,00.html> A state supreme court judge has fined the city of New York for contempt after ordering the release of more than 550 protesters who he said had been detained illegally for up to two and a half days. While George Bush was delivering his keynote speech, demonstrators trickled out, complaining of being held in a bus cleaning station beside the Hudson River without access to lawyers. Many of those held in what protesters have branded "Guantánamo by the Hudson", said they were not involved in anti-Bush demonstrations but had been swept up by overzealous police. They included the manager of a theatre who was coming out of a subway station with a friend on their way to celebrate his birthday, and two women who had been shopping. Tobi Starin, a teacher in Rockville, heard from a friend that her daughter, Liz, had been arrested while coming home from work. "I kept thinking, 'She'll get out any hour now,'" Ms Starin told the Washington Post. "But it's 44 hours, and she's still in there." ... Citing Higher Costs, US Plans Rise in Medicare Premium Gardiner Harris, The New York Times, September 4, 2004 <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/04/politics/04health.html?th> Washington - A day after President Bush heralded his efforts to help the elderly cope with increased medical expenses, federal officials announced the largest premium increase in dollars in the Medicare program's history, raising the monthly expense by $11.60 to $78.20. The increase, which amounts to 17 percent, results largely from increased payments to doctors and reflects rising medical expenses generally, officials said. The rise has nothing to do with a program that will start in 2006 to offer prescription drugs, for which beneficiaries must pay a separate premium. ... The unwinnable war James Carroll, Boston Globe, September 7, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/09/07/t he_unwinnable_war> George W. Bush finally told the truth. It happened last week when he said of the war on terrorism, "I don't think you can win it." We know it was the truth because of the way it embarrassed him, because of the way his handlers immediately required him to repudiate it ("I probably need to be more articulate"), and because the mass of Republicans were deaf to it. Just as Bush had inadvertently spoken the exact truth about the war on terrorism at its onset ("This crusade, this war on terrorism"), he had inadvertently done so again. ... "Whatever happens from this week forward in Iraq," I wrote in March, "the main outcome of the war is clear. We have defeated ourselves." In the time since I wrote that, I confess, even my bleak vision has come to seem like the good old days. After all, that was before Abu Ghraib, before the siege of Najaf, before the Sunnis and Shi'ites discovered that their hatred of the occupiers outweighed their hatred of each other, before the handover of Fallujah to outlaw militants, before Ahmed Chalabi's disgrace (and last week's rehabilitation), before Washington's installation in Baghdad of a blatant puppet regime, before the death toll of young Americans approached 1,000. ... Military toll tops 1,000 Iraq clashes kill 8 more US troops Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press, September 8, 2004 <http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/09/08/military_toll_tops_1000> Baghdad - US military deaths in the Iraq campaign passed the 1,000 mark yesterday, with more than 800 of them during the stubborn insurgency that flared after the Americans brought down Saddam Hussein and President Bush declared major combat over. A spike in fighting with Sunni and Shi'ite insurgents killed eight Americans in and near the Baghdad area yesterday and today, pushing the count to 1,003. That number includes 1,000 US troops and three civilians, two working for the US Army and one for the Air Force. ... Jesse Jackson Leads the Charge Against the Corporate Lobbyists Running Kerry's Failing Campaign (But The Press Blacks it Out) Doug Ireland, Common Dreams NewsCenter, September 8, 2004 <http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0908-13.htm> The howls of anger and distress coming from Democrats disgusted with the toothless and meandering Kerry campaign have gone aggressively public as the Kerry meltdown becomes more obvious each day. Yesterday, on CNN's Inside Politics, Jesse Jackson delivered a blistering attack on the Kerry campaign for running away from the Democratic base and the issues it cares about. Jesse cited, among other things, a daylong West Virginia Rainbow/labor "Invest in America" jobs rally at which Jesse spoke at yesterday, that he said drew 30,000 folks with a raft of entertainers like Willie Nelson and Judy Collins. Jesse was furious that Kerry had ducked the rally, even though he was campaigning only 30 miles away. ... Editorial Comment: The termination of the Bush agenda is too vital to leave to the Democratic Party. Every trade unionist, every health care professional, every activist should undertake to do whatever possible to expose the lies and hypocrisy of the usurper in the White House: the might-makes-right foreign policy; the accelerated transformation of well-paying, benefited jobs into dead-end, minimum-wage ones; the attacks on collective bargaining and overtime pay; the encouragement of private terrorism through unbridled state terrorism; the spewing of paranoia promoting tyranny. Protect America: defeat Bush. Three More Major Unions Oppose US War and Occupation in Iraq Labor Educator, September 10, 2004 <http://www.laboreducator.org/unionsanti.htm> The growing antiwar movement within the AFL-CIO took another leap forward in the past two weeks when three major unions passed strong resolutions at their recent conventions, opposing the US war in Iraq and calling for an end to the American occupation. They are Communications Workers of America (650,000 members), American Postal Workers Union (270,000) and Mail Handlers of the Laborers' International Union (50,000). They join the Service Employees International Union (1.6 million), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (1.2 million) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers (60,000), who have also denounced President Bush for his pre-emptive invasion of Iraq and declared they support our troops and want them to be brought home safely, NOW. In addition, the anti-war movement within the AFL-CIO includes the huge California, Washington State and Maryland/DC federations, which together account for more than 3 million union members. In the past year, dozens of labor councils, regional labor bodies and local unions have taken similar action. Also in the last few weeks, all of the AFL-CIO's allied organizations have condemned the war in Iraq and called for the immediate return home of US soldiers. They include the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the Coalition of Labor Union Women and Pride at Work. The driving force in building and guiding the anti-war movement is US Labor Against the War (USLAW). Its Web site is <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org>. ... End The Occupation Of Iraq Resolution Adopted by American Postal Workers Union Convention APWU, August 23-27, 2004 <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6365> National Postal Mail Handlers Union (LIUNA) Comes Out Against the War and Occupation of Iraq US Labor Against the War, September 7, 2004 <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6447> On the War and Occupation of Iraq National Postal Mail Handlers Union, August 28, 2004 <http://www.npmhu.org/Pubs/News/2004Convention/ResolutionNo18Iraq.pdf> CWA Convention Calls for Return of US Troops Now! US Labor Against the War, September 1, 2004 <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6343> Resolution 66A-04-2: Making Our Country More Secure Communications Workers of America, August 31, 2004 <http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6343> Time to consider Iraq withdrawal Financial Times Editorial, September 10, 2004 <http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1a93c6de-02ca-11d9-a968-00000e2511c8.html> This week a macabre milestone was passed in Iraq. More than 1,000 American soldiers have now been killed since the US-led invasion of the country began nearly 18 months ago. The overwhelming majority lost their lives after President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over in his now infamous "Mission Accomplished" photo-opportunity in May last year. In that time, an unknown number of mostly civilian Iraqis, certainly not less than 10,000 and possibly three times that number, have perished, and hundreds more are dying each week. After an invasion and occupation that promised them freedom, Iraqis have seen their security evaporate, their state smashed and their country fragment into a lawless archipelago ruled by militias, bandits and kidnappers. ... September 11: What You "Ought Not to Know" Document 199-I and the FBI's Words to Chill the Soul Greg Palast, September 10, 2004 <http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=370&row=0> On November 9, 2001, when you could still choke on the dust in the air near Ground Zero, BBC Television received a call in London from a top-level US intelligence agent. He was not happy. Shortly after George W. Bush took office, he told us reluctantly, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the FBI, "were told to back off the Saudis." We knew that. In the newsroom, we had a document already in hand, marked, "SECRET" across the top and "199-I" - meaning this was a national security matter. The secret memo released agents to hunt down two members of the bin Laden family operating a "suspected terrorist organization" in the USA. It was dated September 13, 2001 - two days too late for too many. What the memo indicates, corroborated by other sources, was that the agents had long wanted to question these characters ... but could not until after the attack. By that time, these bin Laden birds had flown their American nest. ... Three Years Later: Peaceful Tomorrows 9/11/04 Statement September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows <http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/#threeyearslater> Nearly three years ago, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows was born out of a shared belief that America’s military response to the 9/11 attacks which took our loved ones’ lives would result in the deaths of countless innocent civilians and increase recruitment for terrorist causes, making the United States, and the world, less safe and less free for generations to come. Today, as we commemorate September 11, 2004, we find that our worst fears have been realized. The terrorism of September 11th has been neither neutralized, nor ended, by the terrorism of war. Since our bombing and military action in Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of more than 130 American troops and an estimated 4,000 civilians – and compounded by our failure to rebuild that broken nation - we have seen the return of Taliban warlords, the departure of relief agencies, and the continuing deaths of American service people and innocent civilians. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that he is seeking the support of former Taliban officials in an effort to stabilize the political process. Osama bin Laden remains at large, and al-Qaeda remains a potent terrorist force, as evidenced by the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, Spain. Our illegal, immoral and unjustified invasion of Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks, has cost the lives of 1,000 American troops and an estimated 12,000 Iraqi civilians, while leaving tens of thousands of others physically and emotionally traumatized. Today, our continuing occupation, our failure to provide basic services like electricity and water, and our torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib has turned Iraq into a focus of anti-American sentiment where a new generation of terrorists is being recruited from around the world. ... Hawaii Labor for Peace and Justice presents: Labor in the Crosshairs: The War in Iraq and the War at Home Saturday, September 25, 2004 5:30 - 7:30 PM ILWU Hall (451 Atkinson) Sponsored by Hawai'i People's Fund, ILWU Local 142, HERE Local 5 Hawai'i Labor for Peace and Justice announces a special forum for working people and our allies on efforts to build an international antiwar labor movement and support workers in Iraq - "Labor in the Crosshairs: The War in Iraq and the War at Home." Admission is free, and dinner will be served. The Forum will feature presentations by nationally-recognized labor journalist David Bacon and US Labor Against the War (USLAW) National Organizer Michael Eisenscher. Michael (National Organizer and Website Coordinator for USLAW and Coordinator of the Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice) will describe the growing movement against US military occupation in Iraq within the American labor movement, the development of an international labor antiwar movement, and the shifting attitudes among working people toward the war, the occupation, continued military involvement in Iraq, and its impact on the US economy. David Bacon, a widely respected labor journalist, photographer and author of the recently published Children of NAFTA (University of California Press, 2004), as well as associate editor of Pacific News Service and regular contributor to The Nation, the Progressive, Z, The American Prospect and LA Weekly, will describe his experiences in Iraq and his discussions with workers and union leaders there, and share his observations about the situation of working people under conditions of war and occupation. His article "Iraq's Labor Upsurge Wins Support from US Unions" was recently published by Foreign Policy in Focus. To reserve space, please contact one of the following by Monday, September 20: Jason Ward @ 941-2141 / jward@herelocal5.org Eadie Oumanaka @ 949-4161, ext.234 / clovis@lava.net Steve Dinion @ 596-2123 / stevelocal677@aol.com Web Directory: AARN <http://www.aarn.org> Australian Nursing Federation <http://www.anf.org.au> California Nurses Association <http://www.calnurse.org> Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions <http://www.nursesunions.ca> CCDS <http://www.cc-ds.org> Committee for Health Care for Massachusetts <http://www.healthcareformass.org> Irish Nurses Organisation <http://www.ino.ie> Labor Party <http://www.thelaborparty.org> LabourStart <http://www.labourstart.org> Maine State Nurses Association <http://www.mainenurse.org> Massachusetts Ad Hoc Committee <http://www.MassDefendHealthCare.org> Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party <http://www.green-rainbow.org> Massachusetts Nurses Association <http://www.massnurses.org> MASS-CARE <http://www.masscare.org> New York Professional Nurses Union <http://www.nypnu.org> New Zealand Nurses Organisation <http://www.nzno.org.nz> Nurses United (DC) <http://www.nursesunited.org> PASNAP <http://www.pennanurses.org> PNHP <http://www.pn hp.org> Québec Nurses’ Federation <http://www.fiiq.qc.ca> Revolution Magazine <http://www.revolutionmag.com> Saint Louis Area Nurses Coalition <http://www.slanc.org> Seachange Bulletin <http://www.seachangebulletin.org> Southern Arizona Nurses Coalition <http://SAZNC.homestead.com> UNAP (RI) <http://www.unap.org> Union Web Services <http://www.unionwebservices.com> Women’s Universal Health Initiative <http://www.WUHI.org> FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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