CODEPINK Activist Jailed

This is a follow-up to an earlier post about Diane Wilson, one of the co-founders of CODEPINK Women for Peace, and author of An Unreasonable Woman who legally infiltrated a Cheney/Delay fundraiser last week in Houston where she was arrested for speaking her mind.


Why is Diane Wilson still in jail after the Cheney/Delay fundraiser in Houston last week? (And this is while corporate and political goons who have stolen pensions, misappropriated funds, accepted bribes, and contributed to the increasing lack of access to essential needs in life by American service and blue collar workers run free with their lies and graft.)

At first after the arrest it looked like everything would turn out more or less in Diane's favor as the Indymedia article, Diane Got Sprung, suggested in that Diane's bail was posted largely thanks to the outpouring of generosity from the activist community. But by that time the police had figured out that Diane had the little outstanding matter of a previous jail term she had failed to serve for criminal trespass. Seems like they could have been a tad more considerate and not accepted the bail money if they were going to keep her on another charge. But as reported in the second follow up article in the Indymedia article, bail was posted about 48 hours after Diane had been taken into custody.

Close friends who had the chance to talk to Diane said she was going crazy and ready to be released. After taking several thousand dollars in bail money the authorities changed their course of action. Wilson's partner waited for hours after driving in from Texas City only to learn that Diane wouldn't be released.

She was instead transferred to the Calhoun County Jail where she will serve her time for a previous criminal trespass conviction.

The former conviction was for climbing and dropping a banner from a tower at the DOW Chemical Plant in Seadrift, Texas. According to an article on the India Together site:

On August 26th, a 52-year-old shrimp farmer who had been on hunger strike for 29 days in solidarity with the Bhopal movement broke into the Dow/Union Carbide facility in Seadrift, Texas. Diane Wilson climbed the main tower, hung up a 12 feet banner that said "Dow - Responsible for Bhopal" and chained herself to the structure. She was later hauled away by police and arrested. "Even after 18 years, almost 30 people still die every month as a result of long-term effects of the exposure in 1984. Dow has a moral, legal responsibility to fully rehabilitate the Bhopal survivors," she said via her cellphone from the top of the tower.

Picture Credit:International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

Weak from the effects of her hunger strike she did not have the strength nor stamina to get down from the tower. She had to get the attention of a security guard in order to request help getting down from tower. If it had not been for that, it is unlikely she would not have been apprended, arrested, or convicted on criminal trespass.

Trespass charges often bring light sentences or are dismissed. After complying with all the court hearing formalities, Diane, a mother of five with one special needs adult child still in her care, decided she could not accept the harsh sentence of 120 days imposed at that time.

It is three years later now, and Katie Heims reports, "While she was planning the Houston action, Diane and I were discussing the possiblity of her going to prison for a long time. She was in some ways, looking forward to it because she was tired of living out of bags these past couple of months. Also, she really missed writing. She was desperate to get back to the second book she's been working on."

Her currently pending hearing for removing and displaying her wrap that had a message written on the inside of it and shouting "Corporate Greed Kills, and Iraq kills too!"at the Delay fundraiser and to which she had a legitimate invitation/ticket, has been postponed until she's served her time at Calhoun County.

Katie provided additional information: The $1500 raised and paid as bond money will take 4-7 weeks until the the check is returned and contributors can be repaid. The judge, however, has raised her bond pending settlement/time served in Calhoun County and her return to return to deal with Harris County. Diane's attorney hopes to be able to have this reduced at a later date. In the event she's convicted in Harris County, she will get credit toward any punishment she might receive. The attorney would like to have the sentence reduced from 120 days to 90 days.

If you would like to write to Diane, you can do so via USPS. In order for mail to be received it must be addressed in this way:
be addressed to her in this way:

Sylvia Dianne Wilson (CR# 65510)
Victoria County Jail (Calhoun County inmate)
101 North Glass
Victoria, TX 77901

She is not allowed to receive items such as books, but Katie suggests that articles, crossword puzzles or newspaper cuttings, and greeting cards could be included in letters of support.

New Divider -- Countdown Clock to W's Remaining Time in Office

I changed the look of this blog a bit by taking down the dead sidebar link to a W Countdown Clock and put in the new code that essentially creates a more distinctive bar between posts with the same information. If you have no life and want to respond, please tell me if you like it, or if the rollover to the linked site is too much. I'd love to figure out the code for having my own clock without linking to someone elses commercial endeavor so many times. Can anyone help me out here? I suppose I could figure it out... but I'm a Mac person... I like to just open and shut the filing cabinet drawers, not build them. So old school, I know! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Powerful video link to images of 2005's US military deaths in Iraq

Swift Turn sent me this link via email with the simple subject of POWERFUL video. Truth is simple. Check it out.

More on Veterans Running as Democrats

Jeff Latas who is running in Arizona's 8th Congressional District has not as yet been featured on Air America Radio's Fighting Dems -- and he should be there! Jeff announced his decision to run for congress when it was still a race against Kolbe. Kolbe has now announced his retirement and other candidates have begun to crawl out of the woodwork. As far as I know, only Jeff and Francine Shacter declared before his announcement.

I'm more concerned with peace than war and peace than fighting, and - personally - I think we need to focus on peace and not get lost in the "anti"of anti-war. Reacting against something often only feeds energy into the system reacted against. That said, most combat vets are not pro-war. They understand the costs of war.

Last weekend in Phoenix when I was in the CODEPINK Hospitality Suite I was talking to Dennis from Phoenix Veterans for Peace and he told me that if you go to a Vets for Peace meeting you will be in the midst of a bunch of combat vets, and if you show up to a VFW or American Legion hall, you will find primarily non-combat vets. I don't know if this is true or not (but it would be very interesting to find out) but the perception itself is very significant; if you have seen combat and fought and killed face to face, you can never glorify war.

There was a cleansing of the highest ranks of the military as the Bush government geared up for the Iraq war according to retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski's three part article in The American Conservative.

And of course there is Murtha. Did you know you can send Congressman Murtha a flower? You can for a donation and anything over $3 goes to Vets for Peace.


Anyway, Air America Radio's Fighting Dems series has covered these folks thus far:

Eric Massa
New York's 29th Congressional District
Date: December 6, 2005
Audio: Play
Website: www.massaforcongress.com

David Harris
Texas' 6th Congressional District
Date: November 29, 2005
Audio: Play
Website: www.followmetodc.com

Andrew Duck
Maryland's 6th Congressional District
Date: November 22, 2005
Audio: Play
Website: www.duckforcongress.org

Patrick Murphy
Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District
Date: November 1, 2005
Audio: Play
Website: www.murphy06.com

Paul Hackett
U.S. Senate - Ohio
Date: October 25, 2005
Audio: Play
Website: www.hackettforohio.com

Bryan Lentz
Pennslyvania's 7th Congressional District
Date: October 18, 2005
Audio: Play

2 + 2 = 5" versus "Have you heard? The word is..."

Innocent man jailed for rape. War in Iraq justification came from false intelligence acquired through torture.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on yesterday's release of 44 year old innocent man who has spent his entire adult life in prison. "After a brief hearing this afternoon in a Cobb County courtroom, Robert Clark, who has spent nearly 25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, was free." This was the first article I read this morning.

The second news story I heard about today was of The New York Times reporting, "The Bush administration based a crucial prewar assertion about ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda on detailed statements made by a prisoner while in Egyptian custody who later said he had fabricated them to escape harsh treatment, according to current and former government officials."

The TV then cut to coverage of the daughter of an American Quaker man who is one of the Christian Peacemakers Team being held under threat of death if the captors demands are not met.

At that point my husband began reciting all the distruths he could think of interspersed with Orwellian quotes.

War is peace.
America does not torture.
George W. Bush was legitimately elected.
Joe Lieberman is a good Democrat.
2 + 2 = 5
I feel safer now.
Humanitarian aid is a criminal and suberversive act.
Torture leads to truth.
We never sentence innocent persons to prison or to death.

There are times when I think of my country and become truly afraid of the evil done in my name, when I am overcome with nausea, and just want to sit down and cry. Maybe it was yesterday's reminder of how unfair life so often is that put me in this frame of mind. John Lennon has been gone for 25 years and it is still hard to believe.

Twenty-five years ago a shock wave traveled throughout this world and a large number of nearby alternate dimensions.

It was late evening 25 years ago when I heard the news. I'd just come up the stairs from the basement of the house where I had been prepping the walls for sealing. I was 21 and had just purchased my first mortgage. I heard the news over the radio... the station was WXRT, Chicago. John Lennon had been shot in front of the Dakota in NYC. I really don't know how much later it was when they announced that John was dead. It was impossible. I kept listening, waiting for an announcement that it was some sort of mistake. I got almost no sleep that night. The next day as I dressed for work I made the same decision as thousands of people all over the world made that day: to wear black to symbolize the profound loss I personally felt. John had shaped my life in ways I couldn't begin to consciously or accurately innummerate. My life had been, up until that date, partially chronicled by what John was doing at each stage of my life. He was real to me. He was there, somehow included in so many of my milestone memories:

I looked up from a toybox to see the four boys from Liverpool deplane in America. "Liverpool," what a silly name though my six year old self.

My first romantic dream took place in rowboat on a nearby lake, that looked more like Giverny than northern Indiana, and involved the Fab Four.

As a preteen I used to pretend, as I played in my room, that I was living in flat in London and that I knew the Beatles and would entertain them -- especially John. I would listen to the Revolver LP over and over and over again on a tiny childsize record player. "Relax and float downstream. It is not dying." At that I knew I would have to explore both drugs and eastern religions when I was old enough.

I tried to make my first investment when I saw a copy of Two Virgins in a small town 5 and 10 cent store and tried to purchase it because I knew it hadn't been allowed in the U.S. with that cover. My mother wouldn't let me buy it, although I argued and argued and argued that it would be a valuable artifact someday.

I had an intellectual argument with my first boyfriend about whether the line in American Pie was "Lennon read a book on Marx" or "Lenin read a book on Marx" as we walked back to a wooded area to roll about in a sleeping bag one cloudy afternoon when I was 15.

Coming home from college was often accompanied by my live-in boyfriend and I singing , "The two of us lifting latches..." as we drove back to our shared hometown.

Then John taught me and an entire generation that heroes are mortal. "Strawberry Fields" forever.

At that point I lost my faith for what would be decades. No God would allow such a significant man working for peace, capable of writing "Imagine," to be shot like vermin in the gutter.

After 9/11 when there was the concert for New York, I realized my belief/faith was still there although it is a mustard seed-sized faith grown wise. To me, Imagine is a hymn. The price of wisdom is great. Goodness exists but it exists through choice. I know it sounds strange to most people, and I don't know where it comes from, but when you consciously open your life to the greater good, paths emerge before you that you could never have been seen before that conscious decision. Perhaps it is divine guidance, perhaps it is a recognition of iterations of and relationship between patterns in the universe. I don't know that I will ever know. But I do know with a calm, sad certainty that far too few beings have chose that path. Some of my ancestors and compatriots use the word, calling, to describe this choosing as an audible experience. It does feel like you are being called or tugged in a certain direction. All I know is that there are generous and gentle souls who have a rightness about their work. I choose to emulate them as best I can, although my best is not very good.

No one who has touched this rightness could wage pre-emptive war, engage in or condone torture, or feel that lies are ever justified.

It is time for all good people to stop the evil being done in their names as best they can. Good people can never act to the conscious detriment of others. I cannot maintain awareness at all times, but I can imagine -- as John did, and others do. I can try to increase conscious awareness, imagining, and love.

Backlash Against Dean and Pelosi is Balderdash.

Okay haven't had a real ragging rant for a while. It's time. I'm making one now.

Democrats, wake up, be the party of the people and of good and generous values!
Screw this playing to the polls and to one's financial backers! Do what is right.

I cannot stand the spin the media is putting on the coverage of Democrats finally having the balls to make firm, undisputably anti-war statements. The bleeping Washington Post attempts to undermine the strong statements of Pelosi and Dean with headlines with so much spin they could be mistaken for Dervishes. Democrats Fear Backlash at Polls for Antiwar Remarks. What balderdash! Real Democrats do not work from a position of fear dictated by the Republican guard who are little more than corporate stooges. Most Democrats I know do not fear any such thing. They are just glad that a couple of the power players in the Democratic Party are pulling at the curtain in the corner of the throne room of the Great And Powerful Bush.

Where to start? The Dems are not operating out of fear (except for those few Democrats such as Clinton and Lieberman whose true natures as elephantine hawks are becoming more and more apparent. At best these folks have bought the Republican propaganda that says moderate Republican perspectives are the same as Democratic ones, at worst these folks are owned by corporations whose interests are very similar to those who own/run the Bush Group. Thank heavens some Democrats are finally remembering the old central values of the Democratic Party: Labor - Equality - Individual Rights - Education.

Pelosi and Dean have balls! (I know... Howard was given his this past weekend! LOL.) Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman are war mongers and traitors to the essence of the Democratic Party.

Quite frankly I hope the Republicans keep lying their asses off. It is catching up with them. They are just digging themselves deeper. They seem to think that lies are okay; that saying it makes it so. Look at the ridiculous things they have said about anyone and everyone in the last few weeks:

Murtha. A military man through and through and one who is respected by members of both parties. This man has the ear of the highest of levels of military officers in the Pentagon.

CODEPINK. As I've already said, many times, CODEPINK is a play on the color coded threat level system of the Bush government, on girls being dressed in pink, on hospital code for a missing baby, and yes, there is even a bit of a satirical nose thumbing comparison of the Bush paranoia to that of the McCarthy commie fixation. [Check out Threatening Anthropology for a new twist on how it wasn't just communism but also equality that was so threatening.] I marched as a Pink Woman for Peace before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in D.C. The first person I spoke to who was "in" CODEPINK that was helping to direct people assembling under the banner of CODEPINK was a Quaker. The movement built itself on the vigil in front of the Whitehouse by a few women from November 2002 to March 2003. Eventually it was recognized that CODEPINK filled a real need and it was decided that CODEPINK should continue as a loosely organized women's peace movement.

Dean. Finally, strong courageous statements are coming out about the futility of continuing with a war that is lost. The increasingly immoral and reprehensible nature of continuing to kill for no reason (not that any killing is ever justified in my book.) There are places we have no business being. There are actions we have no right to take. It takes frigging courage to stand up and speak truth to power. The people who are in the streets and who put themselves out there in the public are the brave and patriotic ones. What kind of courage or patriotism does it take to throw electonically transmitted words from an office somewhere? To show your belief through public declaration and to speak from the heart when you know you will flipped off, verbally harassed, and even physically threatened takes courage. There is nothing laughable, weak, or cowardly about taking a stand.

I used to be somewhat more generous in categorizing and describing those folks who are so adamnant in their refusal to see the lies of the Bush administration. No longer. I don't hate them. But I am far less willing to trust a Bush backer now after having been flipped off when I'm just standing with a sign, having had deaths threats phoned in to a co-organizer of a peace group I'm in, and having an average of 10-15 viruses emailed to me every day, I now believe that there is a horrible cancer growing in our society that has everything to do with immorality based in the worship of money and the implicit assumption that there are some people who are inherently better than others. Equality is a very dangerous concept to systems built on inequity. Profit built upon a non-living wage is down-right evil. Relationships, personal to geopolitical, cannot survive if based on lies.

I still believe in goodness, but I'm watching my back.

Slinging catch phrases and talking to canned audiences and never taking unscripted questions is cowardly. Going AWOL is Cowardly. (I know, I know, the 60 Minute's papers were probably altered.) But hey, ya know what? Many of the papers supporting GW's both cowardly and pompous (and therefore somewhat schizophrenic?) actions in the Guard were not altered and suggest unmet Guard requirements. Quite frankly there needs to be an official investigation into whether GW's credentials with which he ran for president were fake. If so, he needs to be impeached. Cut your losses, Republicans, bug out now.

Kolbe retirement connected to Abramoff?

Ever since Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) announced his retirement, I've been wondering, "How much of the $66 million that Jack Abramoff "redistributed" came Kolbe's way?" I mean after all Indian gaming was central to this mix of bribery and payoff and Kolbe is from a state with a significant population of first peoples and casinos. Kolbe announced his retirement rather soon after the Repubican ship began to sink with indictments and plummeting polls. Was he afraid he might go down next? Does he think that retirement will exclude him from scrutiny when it comes to examination of the specifics of the culture of corruption?

I don't have the answers, but the opportune timing seems worthy of investigation. I also wonder how many more surprise retirements will there be?

I'm not alone in this musing. A Democratic Underground post by starroute noted the Tiegga connection and the voting with Abramoff's better known buddies in an online gaming issue.

Howard Dean and CODEPINK

The neo-cons are trying to make something out of a picture I posted here that was picked up by the central CODEPINK web site. Phoenix Sue was concerned this might happen when I showed her the picture of Howard Dean holding up CODEPINK Shirts that had just been handed to him by CODEPINKers as they rode the elevator to the Arizona Demo mixer with him.

She was concerned that being associated with CODEPINK would hurt him. I was (and am) more concerned that the threats and intimidation used by the ultra right uber-cons over the last few years has brain-washed some of brilliant and most active progressives and have them playing by scripts written by these uber-cons.

Howard Dean has been against the Iraq War since the beginning. CODEPINK is simply a group of women who are against the war and began wearing pink and doing "over the top" actions to gain media coverage of the pro-peace viewpoint in the corporate media when no other view than that of the Bush Administration could be found in any major American media outlet.

It was the media who took Howard Dean down in early 2004 by playing and replaying only one capture of his hoarse yell into a single directional mike that picked up only his voice and none of the roaring crowd that fanned out to the front and sides of him. There were other recordings that made it clear everyone there was hooping and hollaring. There was nothing strange about it.

Now for a bit of education about Pink. The miscategorization of Pinkers as Pinkos is almost as ludicrous as saying that CODEPINK is a Soviet plot. (For those of you who don't know... the Soviet Union no longer exists.)


CODEPINK is Women for Peace and the term CODE PINK comes from two different sources -- the first is a play on words related to the Color Coded Terror Level Warning System that the government introduced to instill fear in the American people. CODEPINK wanted to see peace and the level of peace being given as much energy, press, air wave frequency, time and money as the terror and the threat level. Buying into fear and cowering in rooms sealed with plastic and duct tape just wasn't an option for a large group of women who take responsibility for their own safety and that of their country. CODEPINK believes working toward peace will make the world safer than waging war.

I personally get rather angry when conservative pundits and vicious, ignorant bloggers spout platitudes and knowingly lie through their teeth. My own peace work comes from faith. For them to associate my pink peace work with communism, anti-Americanism or make any such ignorant statements shows that they research nothing and all they say must be questioned or that they knowingly are lying and thus are using Christianity as a costume rather than a heart-felt guiding principle. They seem to have taken nothing of the core teachings of Christ, the Buddha, Mohammed, or other wise ancestors into their hearts.

Another meaning of CODEPINK is derived from the hospital code for different kinds of emergencies. In many hospitals Code Pink means that a child is missing. The mothers of those killed in the Iraq occupation know the meaning of truly missing a child.

I personally will continue to give to humanitarian aide drives when there is need. If the funds happen to be for medical supplies to go to Falluja, that is fine. My country had used chemical weapons in attacking the largely civilian population of the city.

I am greatly saddened when people equate patriotism with aggression. My family can trace its American heritage to arrival in Massachussets from England in 1630. Don't tell me I'm not all American. My brother served in the Marines in Vietnam during the "Platoon" era (Hue and the Tet Offensive.) My huband is also a Vietnam-era Army veteran. I am proud to serve my country through organized public protest of un-American Bush policies and practices that endanger the future of freedom and democracy all over the world.

I'm glad I can sleep knowing I am honest, patriotic and peaceful. I do not have to tear down anyone or any perspective to make myself feel better or important. I know the words terrorist and insurgent are now useless terms due to their use in propaganda. I'm glad the home schoolers, stay-at-home-moms, and blue collar folks who are Pinkers gave Dean and his wife those shirts. Peace is patriotic.

My solution to dealing with the fundamentalist nut cases (like Osama -- who did you think I meant?) is to build fair trade and women based economies throughout the world so these misogynist patriarachal tribal elements fall away.

Enough for now. But there will be another entry soon... I feel a Hillary rant coming on.

Pink Protest Inside Cheney/DeLay Fundraiser

Diane Wilson - co-founder of CODEPINK Women for Peace - protested inside a fundraiser for Tom Delay at which Cheney appeared. Here's what Katie Helms reports on Houston Indy Media:

Katie Heim reports from inside the Westin Oaks Hotel: This evening, as Republicans gathered in the Galleria to raise money for the GOP Diane WIlson, cofounder of Code Pink and author of An Unreasonable Woman infiltrated their ranks. Photos of the banner and arrest. Wilson, who has done work around issues such as the Bhopal distaster and against the Iraq war, got on Delay's RSVP list by donating $50 to his campaign. After speeches by the chairman of the Republican Party and a rousing rendition of "God Bless the USA" Tom Delay himself took the stage. Delay referenced the protesters outside, citing the Socialists and the Progressive Workers parties. Then Cheney himself took the stage. WIlson was about 15 to 20 feet away from the VP when she opened up her black velvet wrap to reveal a banner which read "Corporate Greed Kills-From Bhopal to Bagdad". Conservative moralists nearby grabbed WIlson as she chanted "Corporate Greed Kills, and Iraq kills too!" One GOP member called Wilson a bitch and a whore. Police dragged Wilson out and she's still detained as of this report.

DNC Phoenix Events Straight from the Fairy God Mother's Mouth

Fairy Godmother Pinkerina, AKA Carolyn of Tempe, gave me permission to reprint a letter she sent to Charles Goyette of KXXT Phoenix.


Greetings of the Great Goddess to you Goodly Sir Charles -

Peace be upon you. Please hear my tale of woe. Have no fear. Like all American fairy tales (and most American movies) this one has a happy ending.

I, Fairy Godmother Pinkerina, and my sister Fairy Godmother Code Pink tried to pay a visit to the DNC Convention and were threatened with arrest on Friday if we so much as walked past the entrance to the Wyndham Hotel. I could understand except that the smirking chimp in chief wasn't even in the building! Usually known for my wisdom, I am still mightily perplexed and awaiting enlightenment...

But let our story proceed... Friday we were exiled to the Starbucks corner -- soon likely to be renamed StarEuros. We were told that everything under the overhang going out to the street belongs to the Wyndham Hotel. Undeterred, we "gifted" passing democrats with pink balls of courage and wisdom compliments of Code Pink Phoenix. I expressed confidence that while they themselves surely didn't need these balls of courage, they should be ready to "gift" any democrat they heard saying foolish things such as "stay the course in Iraq" or "fight a bigger better war" -- or even any who were not truly looking out for the interests of the American people.

I instructed them in the proper use of their new balls: while only 3/4" in diameter, if nurtured, these balls of courage and wisdom would grow bigger in time but if the bearer said anything foolish such as "stay the course in Iraq" or "fight a bigger better war" the balls would simply shrivel up and disappear. They seemed mightily impressed at that point.

I'm confident that we found a good home for our baby balls; these gentlefolk said they loved what we were doing and thanked us. Security, however, watched us for hours to make sure 1. that we didn't set foot under the overhang and 2. that our pink carnation flowers, individually wrapped pink divinity confections, Code Pink 2x3 cards, printed fortune-cookie-type wishes, and the pretty pink pairs of balls in our baskets weren't really diabolical explosives. The Poor things... someone must have kicked them when they were little; most people aren't born crazy but that's what violence will do to the human psyche.

By sheer coincidence, I'm sure, the FBI was having a yearly gathering in the same hotel on the same day as the DNC Convention. Imagine that! There were FBI agents in the corner Starbucks (I think that was on the corner of Adams and 1st street). They were ever so professional talking into their wired shirt collars so they might go undetected. I feel ever so safe knowing that they are on the job to protect us from Osama Been Forgotten Forever. Always the optimist, I would like to think that they were protecting the fairy godmothers from the security psychos. But then my origins go back to a gentler time.

Later, I was ever so pleased to see that some of the men we had "gifted" were proudly sporting their new balls in their jacket lapels and the women were carrying our carnations with the peace notes attached all day. One good woman with more balls than most men was good enough to carry a pair of our balls into the DNC Convention and present them to Howard Dean courtesy of Code Pink. I would see other men whom I had gifted earlier, passing by for lunch. They would smile and pat their trousers and assure me that they still had their balls. I hope they understand that having them and using them are two different things. Many of the men and women who passed by asked if they could have their pictures taken with the fairy godmothers and we were happy to oblige. We also invited them to drop by our Code Pink hospitality open house in the San Carlos Hotel. Several came and signed out guest book.

For the particularly weak kneed Democrats, we also had "atomic balls" individually wrapped. Now, now, calm down "big brother cointel-pro"; go sneak a peak in someone else's e-mail. It was just candy jawbreakers, not lawbreakers, ok?

Where was I? Oh, yes. Later in the day on Friday, we took a page out of the Secret Service's play book and changed into our Code Pink super duper double secret under cover T-shirts that said CODE PINK on the front so we could go incognito. Then we went in the side door of the hotel, slipped upstairs, and registered as guests for the convention. After showing a picture ID etc., we were both given a "Guest" badge to hang around our necks. We decided to check out the meeting with the Military families. Howard Dean came by and spoke. After he left, Maxine Waters got up and said that while framing was important we must also "speak truth to power". I waited afterward to tell her how much I agreed with her and told her she and John Conyers give me hope. I pointed out that the Dems wouldn't be in the mess they are in if they had simply spoken truth to power sooner! She gave me a great hug. When I described our morning activities to her, she burst into surprised laughter and gave me a high five.

She frowned and asked, "And no one from the party came down to defend you?"
"No", I replied.
"Are you going to be there again tomorrow?" she asked.
"Oh, yes, indeed", I said.
"Well, then I'm coming down! she said with authority.

By Saturday, the fairy godmothers were all the buzz. We were on the corner by 9 am and obliging more Dems with photo-ops. Channels 12 and 3 showed up and shot some footage. I granted them each an interview but I suspect they were too timid to show those interviews on air. I cannot imagine why. When they asked what I hoped to accomplish, I told them I was there to gift the Dems with balls of courage and wisdom.

Evidently at least one of them aired their footage because my neighbor pulled up beside my car this evening, rolled down his window, and hollered out that he guessed he knew what I was going to be for next Halloween. Then he gracefully waved an imaginary wand in the air as if knighting someone. I chalked it up to Goddess envy. Actually, though, he was quite talented... he waved very well for someone who doesn't know how to walk in heels yet. Perhaps in his next life he can be in the goddess tryouts. If Bush can be president, anything is possible! Just imagine what my neighbor will think when he finds out about the balls?

After the press had left, the Code Pink Elves helped us fairy godmothers slip in the side door and up the escalators to the level where the main meeting of the day was to take place. Hotel security was beside themselves; they hovered around the corner all in a huddle trying to figure out how to dispense with us -- but this day our passes befuddled them; they gave us furtive glances while the mumbled into their walkie talkies or cell phones all aglow. What to do, what to do? There was always some dignitary by our side getting pics for their home state while others passed by and bowed or courtseyed to receive another blessing of peace from our magic wand with the pink balls suspended from its tip.

Like a rising sun from beneath the horizon, rose the Dems on the escalator... when what to their surprise should they see but two fairy godmothers dangling balls all aglee!

Did you know that people in the DLC don't believe in fairy godmothers? They can't even see us! Shocking but true. That's ok, we fairy godmothers don't believe in them either!

After the meeting room had cleared out it was time to descend to the mortal realm of the Lobby and see what good might be accomplished there. I spied Harry Mitchel, the new chair of the Democratic Party of Arizona, talking to a couple of spit and polished suits. I thought he might need our help so just in case, I slipped behind him and suspended my wand over his head. Someone said, "Harry, turn around" and he did. He seemed pleased to have his picture taken with the Fairy Godmother Pinkerina. I reminded him that he had been my son's favorite highschool teacher and he happily posed with me for our Code Pink Shutter Bugs.

While I, Fairy Godmother Pinkerina, was passing out blessings of peace, the Code Pink Elves of Peace had been doing their part as well. The elevator they were waiting for arrived with Howard Dean on board. The doors opened, he saw them, smiled, and goodnaturedly told them ok, come on in (like an indulgent dad telling his children they can stay up an hour longer). I hear his security people didn't look all that crazy about the idea but our elves gave Howard Dean two Code Pink T-shirts... one for himself and one for his wife instead of the dreaded "pink slip" from Code Pink that some politicians have been known to receive for bad behavior. In appreciation, Mr. Dean held up the shirts and let our elves take his picture holding them. He's a brave man, our Mr. Howard Dean. The DLC's evil elves are surely whispering "fringe group" in his ear whenever they see us -- as if Peace were some radical, new wave idea. They wouldn't be caught dead with a pink shirt but I'll bet they're all for Arpaio's pink underwear.

Last on the list was the meeting of the Democratic women's conference. I and my sister fairy godmother made a pass through the room to see if anyone needed help. One sweet older woman asked me, "Fairy Godmother, are you here to have us click our heels and to take us back to Kansas?" I said, "No, I'm here to take us back to the United States I grew up in. I miss it and I want it back and I will be in the streets until I get it." She seemed very pleased with that answer. Mr. Dean was to address this group of women also but it appeared he was running late.

While waiting for Mr. Dean... I thought hotel security had given up but now there were only two of us instead of 5 or 6 and they sent an "unmarked" employee over to try and trick us into "handing something out" which they had said we could not do. How very odd, I thought, because everyone at conventions hands things out. I also thought it was odd when the stealth employee started telling me how much he loved the color pink but then I thought whatever. One of the other fairy godmother's woman friends was standing there and asked for a card. The other fairy godmother was out so she asked me if I had any. I dug up a card but handed it to the "unmarked" employee by mistake. The other fairy godmother let me know it was actually intended for her female friend and so we had him give her the card. He seemed like he wanted the card so I fished out another in case he really wanted it. He took it and walked away.

Shortly thereafter the head security fellow came over and informed me there was no soliciting inside the hotel. I told him I wasn't soliciting. He pointed at the basket and said that's soliciting. I told him no, it isn't. I told him I hadn't been handing anything out (and once inside the hotel, I hadn't - however I did tell one person I couldn't give them to her but she could steal a pair of balls from my basket if she wished ). The basket was just to match my shoes. We told him we gave a card to someone who asked for one without really thinking about it. I was starting to get annoyed so I pointed out that I was a registered Democrat, that it was MY party's convention and that I was also a registered guest for the convention and had a right to be there. He finally backed off and said all that was fine but there was no soliciting inside the hotel. Sheesh! Someone should tell that man it's not wise to try to fool fairy godmothers. Just wait until I tell Santa. He's not even getting coals in his stocking this year! Dead cockroaches for sure!

Howard Dean showed up in a bit of a hurry. When he neared the door, a woman asked him if she could get a picture taken with him. He agreed to a quick pic. She passed her camera to a friend -- I thought he might need some additional help so I suspended my wand with pink balls over his head from behind and the friend snapped the picture. Mr. Dean, realizing what I had done, quickly turned toward me, flashed me a grin and pointed playfully at me with his index finger pointed, thumb up, and other fingers curled before scooting in for his appointed talk. Code Pinked yet again! Oh my goodness!

My main work was done and I retired to the Code Pink Hospitality Suite. I slipped into my Code Pink T-shirt and pants and we went to dinner; then we held our open house. Guess what. The visitors still wanted more pictures with us and the magic wand. They told us that everyone was talking about the fairy godmothers and laughing. If they were Republicans, they'd probably be trying to sue us . I suspect big Eddy is correct when he says we have more fun than they do!

Good day to you Sir Charles! Peace be upon you!

Your Fairy Godmother Pinkerina, Fairy Godmother Code Pink and our Elves wish you a happy holiday.

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=642

Fairy Infiltration

Today the Fairy God Mothers made it inside the Wyndham to the DNC -- they remembered to bring their registration tags. The ear-piece equipped suits didn't know what to do... but by the time they were ready to act the God Mothers were celebrities with Democrats flashing peace signs, thumbs up, and offering up compliments and statements of support. Apparently the message that The Democrats Need to Get Some Balls is striking a chord with many of the party loyalists. When Govenor Dean spoke the Pink Ladies at the back of the room hooted with approval when Murtha was mentioned, and booed when redeployed talk followed. We're making progress!

Howard Dean's Pink Balls

It started simply enough... Women coming together to draw attention to death and destruction continuing to happen in Iraq each day. So Codepinkers came from Tucson and outlying areas in Greater Metropolitan Phoenix to make sure the Democrats heard that the American people want us to get out of Iraq asap if not sooner!

First these ladies did what all good activists do before circling in with a specific tactic, they orbited an event by tabling at a friendly offshoot function. For the Pinkers it was the the Progressive Democrats mixer on Thursday evening. They intended to honor several folks with pink badges of courage but only one nationally and easily recognized person was there, so they presented Tom Hayden with a CODEPINK Arizona Pink Badge of Courage -- it was actually a very small pinata... Hayden has been around for a while doing this stuff but that doesn't mean he still doesn't deserve kudos. Maxine Waters spoke later in the evening but many Pinkers had headed back to the Pink Hospitality Suite to coordinate Fridays plans -- and they did not get to hear the energizing pink words of this peaceful but determined woman.

However,the suite got pinkified, and the finishing touches of magic dusted the Pink Fairy God Mothers who headed out the next day with baskets filled with wishes and goodies and pink balls of courage. The Fairy God Mothers (hereafter FGM) attempted to enter the public meetings but security wouldn't let them in or even to stay on the sidewalks so they moved down to the corner of 1st and Adams and began to grant balls to Democrats that they could either accept and keep, or pass on to those more in need in the cojones department. These balls were immediately trendy chic in DNC circles and travelled the circuit of DNC folks with some men proudly sporting them on their lapels and with women passing them on to DNC people in dire need of balls. One woman with more cojones than most men presented Howard Dean with a pair. :-) This wasn't documented by the Pink Folk and people interested in photographing them were not allowed in either. Later in the day things loosened up a bit and CODEPINK T-shirt wearing folks could get in to the AZ Dem-sponsored evening mixer. Serendipity prevailed with he CODEPINK gals arriving at the elevator to the event simultaneously with Governor Dean -- so they had opportunity to present Howard Dean with two CODEPINK T-shirts -- one for his wife and one for him. At the elevator he recognized the pink ladies, smiled, and invited them to join him in the elevator. The suits he was with didn't seem to like that, but he seemed pleasantly surprised that he was not getting pink slipped.

Maxine Waters also was in the pink ball loop, but her response to one of the FGM was one of dismay that no one from the DNC came out to stop the expulsion of the God Mothers. She says she will be out there on Saturday to show her support. That woman has ovaries!

Bush Visit is Misuse of Government Funds

Okay... we knew Bush was coming to Phoenix several weeks ago. But it was only a few days ago that he decided to come to Tucson for a few minutes before heading to Phoenix. This touching the Tucson Tarmac to justify using taxpayer funds to pay for this AZ trip typifies the disregard Bush has for the law and the people. He sees nothing wrong with sticking the taxpayer with the expense of transporting Bush and his vast entourage to a Republican Fundraiser.

The "meetings" had no public audience, no real business was done, it was just a photo op during the hour plus he was on the ground in Tucson.

Veterans are Key to Restoring America the Beautiful

Vets are running for Congress, as Democrats. The corruption in government scandal is spreading from D.C. to Texas to Ohio to...a state near you? Occam's razor does not often apply when we analyze behavior -- the easiest explanation is not always the most likely. We of other views cannot just say corruption is a Republican problem. But neither can we say there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats.

Many folks who are now in power should not be representing us in governmental processes. From both parties. Why? Because they see themselves as being in power and not as public servants.

I think we need to remember the simple distinction between the two parties in American politics that my father taught me. Republicans represent business interests and Democrats represent the little guy. That is still basically true, in principle. But another factor has woven itself throughout the fabric of our society.

But a factor that many folks don't seem to grok is that there is another major player... the corporation. Business in the U.S. was originally what was done by the landed white men and was the reason these guys wanted to escape from the grip of control by corporate entities such as the Monarchy and the East Indian Tea Company.

Individual interests, whether it be keeping your property under your own control or bettering your conditions as a laborer are at odds with corporate entities who have once again gained control over governance -- corporations are not people, but have gradually regained all the rights of individuals (and none of the responsibilities) -- the very thing that our country was founded to fight against. Our founding fathers would have executed the supreme courts justices who upheld any law treating a corporation as a person by giving them rights. Corporations have no conscience and no morality.

What we are seeing played out at this time is not an issue of Republican versus Democrat although this argument is being used as a cover by corrupt individuals who are using corporate interests to accumuilate tremendous wealth at the expense of all other people.

People are going to have to realize that we cannot usurp other levels of organization and process in this living system called Earth. There will be corporate or higher level action above that of individuals. What we are going to have to realize is that corporate interests should not be skewed to exist only at one artificial level of society -- the economic.

Money and profit is no more real than status as member of the Bear Clan nor as member of the British Royal Family. These things are real only because we believe in them. Economics is only one aspect of life, and it too is a created construct. It doesn't have to be any more than what be allow it to be. It has become the controling interest in the world and this profit-based worldview is destroying us by defining people as labor and nature as resource. Profit and excess destroy the foundation of sustainability.

No, I am NOT about to launch into a Marxist rant. I think that Communism that was derived from Marxist philosophy is just as screwed up and imbalanced as Capitalism that values capital or property over balance in life. I am not promoting any sort of revolutionary change. Just a return to a sensible attempt to pursue life liberty and happiness, and 2) to form a more perfect union. My take is that this must be based on health, learning, individual freedom of expression in all aspects of life not economic aspects like all of the major governments in the last 150 years.

Perhaps this is what the many veterans, who are now running for Congress for the first time in the 2006 elections, will do by making significant inroads into reclaiming self-governance -- after all they fought and saw their buddies die to preserve our freedoms, not to preserve profit by raising one aspect of our society (economic) above all others.

Bring Their Buddies Home!

News from San Diego and a Camp Casey Alum about a veterans and others memorial on the beach that gave voice to the fallen who would want us to Bring Their Buddies Home.

My friend Ellouise sent this out from Barbara who was the greeter/parking organizer at the Peace House in Crawford, TX while Camp Casey was set up this summer. I have met Barbara a couple times... with a mutual friend over coffee and when she asked me to help set up tents at Camp Casey on the Mall in September. She typifies the energy and intelligence that is the essential uniting element of the new Women's Peace Movement. The emergent women's network is a wonderful thing. Without it I can't imagine how I would have found out about the

Bring Their Buddies Home Memorial


Here's Barbara's letter (that went out to Camp Casey Alumni):

San Diego Ca is a well known, conservative military town. People who live here enjoy sun, surf, and year around good times.

On Friday afternoon people dressed all in black started to gather along the coast in Carlsbad, Ca, just north of San Diego. They came in two and threes. They came in wheelchairs. They came with dogs and baby joggers. They rode bikes. They walked. The coaster was full of people dressed in balck. They were singles and couples and families. One family had four generations. Many came with teen and pre-teen children. There were baby boomers and their parents. There were Vietnam era vets. There were active duty Marines. There were young soldiers, Iraqi vets. There were families who had lost a son or daughter in Iraq. There was a young boy who had lost his grandfather in Iraq.

Friday was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of haze over the ocean. The malls opened early and people trampled each other to grab a "discounted" item. Hundreds stood in predawn lines to be first. Afterall, didn't the president tell us to shop? Don't worry about the terrorists, the war, the dead soldiers, just shop.

So what were these people doing lining up along the coast? Paying silent tribute to the fallen in Iraq. Brainchild of Jeeni Criscenzo, candidate for congress in San Diego county, BRING THEIR BUDDIES HOME, had brought this diverse group out. There were no signs, banners or shouting slogans. It was a respectful, thoughtful way to recognize the sacrifice of the soldiers who have been killed in Iraq and Afganistan.

They came and kept coming. Volunteers led groups of 15-20 to the end of the line. They stood quietly side by side, acknowledging passing cars and pedestriains strolling along the beach with a smile, nod or thumbs up. They stood for over two hours and still they came. The line would end up stretching for one mile and consist of 1000 people, give or take a few. The local papers and press were all there. It made the evening news on all three networks. The local Air America host was there, standing in the line. Not for show, but because he cared.

Many of the San Diegans who were in Crawford Tx in August were there. I am one of that group. I would have been in Crawford with Cindy, Ann Wright and Daniel Ellsberg, had I not been down with the flu. The turnout was beyond my wildest expectation. Imagine that, the day after Thanksgiving, spending the day standing in a line along the beach with 1000 of my closest friends! Who could ask for anything more?

Barbara Cummings
A Proud San Diegan

Bush on the Border November 28th

Just before Thanksgiving Day, Bush announced that he will be in Tucson on Monday just before appearing in Phoenix at a Kyl fundraiser. That man has been here way too often.... three times in AZ in the last year, not to mention his slimeball "brain" Rove. Of course Dubya the Dumb can only safely appear on military bases or at extremely loyal "haves and have mores" constituency fundraisers. In Tucson he won't even venture off base. Begack for super chicken. Just how vile Kyl really is should be evident by the fact that he believes association with Bush won't hurt him... or perhaps he will pull out like Kolbe just did... (and GHWB should have... sorry, couldn't resist.)

Anti-Bush, Pro-eace, Pro-human rights protestors will gather near the DM gates -- Davis Monthan Air Force Base Swan/Golf Links entrance.Map of E Golf Links Rd At S Swan Rd. There are thousands of reasons to protest... but he's speaking on Border issues so I'm thinking about making a sign saying, "No More War - No More Imaginary Borders"

I think everyone possible ought to paint a peace sign on their roof before Monday so when the chicken hawk flies over he will know how Tucson feels about his immoral and illegal war in which he has sent so many to their deaths. Pink peace signs are best but any color would do! Follow Lucy's example -- almost three years ago she painted this one on her roof that just happens to be on the DM flight path here in Tucson.

Kolbe retires.... from sinking Republican ship

Rats desert sinking ships and Rep. Jim Kolbe announcing his retirement today may be the first of a wave of Republican rats leaving the U.S. Legislature before the Culture of Corruption capsizes the entire Hill.

I don't think Republicans are the only corrupt individuals in Washington -- however, I do feel there is a significant difference between Republicans and Democrats that many folks have forgotten about. Republicans are the big money party of the corporations. They are the ones who think that a "Free Market" solves all problems.

Democrats used to be for the little guys, the regular Janes and Joes who work all their lives to have their pensions stolen by corporate maneuverings and have no safety net 'cause it was their kids who did the fighting in the wars to protect and expand the interests of government connected corporations. Republicans are big on the representaive part of our representive democracy. Democrats are big on the democratic part of our representative democracy.

MoveOn.org is wondering who should replace Jim Kolbe. I hope many readers will select Jeff Latas and submit his name to MoveOn for support before a big money Democrat (i.e. a Republican in Democrat's clothing.)

I know others have also announced for the race, but Francine Shacter, for instance, is a great person, but I just don't think she can compete because of her relatively recent move to Arizona. I've heard over the grapevine that Latas doesn't have enough money for the big boys in Washington to want to back him and bring him into their fold. That in and of itself makes him AOK in my book. I also hear that Ted Downing is a possible run as well. I would personally love to see every Republican in Washington ousted and all the Big Money Democrats take a hike too, and then we can replace them all with fresh representatives who still have connections to those of us they purport to represent.

Flood the Hill with Raul Grijalva clones! Well maybe not. But do check out Jeff Latas' site.

Jim Kolbe
Jeff Latas
Culture of Corruption
AZ District 8
House Race
2006
MoveOn

Cindy Sheehan for Person of the Year

There is a write in campaign to nominate Cindy Sheehan for Time's Person of the Year.

I certainly understand why she should be nominated. She engaged a nation in a discourse that desperately needed to be held. Whenever a nation creates an icon from a simple human being and does so almost overnight, you know that extremely powerful and significant issue has been tapped. Cindy represents the loss the US feels. The loss can be defined as any single one of the following or a combination of them: the death of thousands of our warrior children, the loss of respect in much of the world, the loss of our faith in essentially honest and well-intentioned government.

As mother, as female perspective on the senseless nature of war, as outraged citizen she awakened a nation to the hurt they felt. Without the emotional shake-up her camping out in Crawford provided, would the reaction to Katrina or the indictment of White House Staff have been felt in the same way? She primed us for outrage and grief over an America that has been stolen from us.

I hear Cindy is spending Turkey Day with the consummate Turkey in Crawford, Tx. That's right, Cindy is heading back to Crawford for Thanksgiving.

Cindy Sheehan
Crawford, Texas
Turkey Day

SOA Sister Protest at Fort Huachuca

Some call it Fort Sneezy but the innocuous nickname does little to mask the truly dark actions that take place at Fort Huachuca. Like most dirty little dark secrets, it is not so much a matter of no one knowing but of no one wanting to know. In Southern Arizona on Sunday November 20th about 80 protestors stood outside the gates of Fort Huachuca in solidarity with the 19,000 protestors across the country at Fort Benning, Georgia. The methods of torture and intimidation of the masses through war crimes to be used to foster regieme change are taught to members of the foreign militaries at Fort Benning's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation formerly called the School of the Americas.

Susan, a friend of mine. was at the protest in Sierra Vista/ Fort Huachuca yesterday and sent this description of the protest.

80+ in attendance (Needs to be hundreds!!!)
Didn't get a chance to shoot many stills.....too busy filming the Grannies Raging cross the road, then get escorted back across by the cops, as a couple FBI or whoever it was cowered in the background....sorta! ha. Grannies were spectacular with their new songs, great lyrics, brilliant attire, and crowd participation. There were fabulous signs and flags and banners brought by everyone, even an art piece that was too radical for a gallery presentation. Food Not Bombs Blue Bus transported folks, others carpooled. John Fife spoke brilliantly and passionately, booming over a microphone for the world to hear. Was a beautiful and satisfying day of resistance with Susan Gallego and others planning and executing this wonderful protest. Next year hopefullly it will expand even more to become the huge sister protest it needs to be, gaining participation from everyone around who can't make it to Ft. Benning, Georgia (16,000 made it to that one!). Ft. Huachuca is notorious for it's torture training manuals...Channel 4 is going to feature Ft. Huachuca all next week I hear on their news program. Should be knee-deep I'm sure! Try not to slip if you watch it! Hope EVERYone comes next year....this needs to be an annual EVENT!!!

The stills she refers to follow:





More on SOA protests.

Photos by Susan Thorpe.

Tags:
torture
SOA
Huachuca
torture training manuals

Unlikely Allies -- CODEPINK and Murtha

Strange times make for strange bedfellows. Well at least for strange sheet-fellows. CODEPINK Tucson and CODEPINK Phoenix dropped a banner during the State Democratic Committee meetings Saturday in Tucson to encourage Arizona Democrats to work for peace -- like Murtha.

While they come to the mutual position -- that the troops need to get out of Iraq now -- from completely different places, when such divergent perspectives can join together, you know something profound is happening.

Tags
[Murtha]
[CODEPINK]
[Arizona Democrats]
[Bring the Troops Home Now]

Arizona Democrats Grow Ovaries, Balls, and a Spine

At the AZ Democratic Party Committee Meetings yesterday in Tucson a miraculous transformation occurred. Women grew ovaries, men grew balls, and several slumped figures straightened with regenerated spines.

The Democrats supported a resolution submitted by Sherry Bohlen, State Committee Member from District 8 - Maricopa County to: Resolution Demanding an Inquiry of Iraq War Abuses. That one speaks for itself and unanimously passed,

Because of the amazing loaves and fish performances of voting machines (precincts with hundreds of registered voters recording thousands of votes) in various locations during the last few elections, a lot of folks now know that there are some very serious flaws with the current electronics and mechanics of our voting system. Rev. Gerry Straatemeier introduced the Resolution For Public Oversity and Transparency of Arizona Elections to Block Purchase of DRE Voting Machines. Lively discussion and significant support were initially forthcoming from the floor. Then a single voice forwarded an ammendment that would have sent the resolution to committee. At that point things livened up quite a lot! Shouting, gesturing, and disgruntled murmuring erupted and after some rather less than adept handling of parlimentary procedure that amendment was soundly voted down and the discussion of the resolution as submitted was then soundly supported by an impressively aubible majority.

It is good to see progressive folks in significant numbers at such events -- without them it would probably be business as usual. Folks from No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes as well as CODEPINK Tucson and CODEPINK Phoenix were there working the crowds.

The stated concern with the amendment was that too many issues were addressed in the resolution that (paraphrased -- very long document...) stated that because:

• AZ Democrats support the fundamental right to vote
• the pivotal juncture this time presents
• the HAVA Act requires a permanent paper record, and that the voter is provided with opportunity to change or correct any error before the permanent record is produced and the paper record will be available as an official record for any recount
  
• AZ has laws that prevent required hand counts
• the Secretary of State has consolidated partisan privatized control of elections in AZ and violated HAVA
  
• the GAO has reported that concerns about electronic voting have been realized in recent elections with the loss and miscount of votes
  
• electronic voting equipment is inherently subject to programming error, equipment malfunction and malicious tampering
• Secretary of State has opposed amendments requiring paper ballots
• and that she deceptively brought forth representatives of the blind community who stated that paper ballot would disnfranchise the blind
• suppressed another vendor option with paper ballot production better met have and the needs of the entire disabled community
  
• she has failed to post required lists for decertification of machines
• she has refused to release such a list
• she has developed no procedure to decertify machines in Maricopa County demonstrated to have an 18.3% error rate
• she is using a media campaign to attempt to squelch legal action rather than addressing the problems brought to light by the lawsuit
• she has failed to provid the transparent election evaluation procedure required by law
• she promotes private vendor meetings with state and county election officials without public representation
• she has canceled public meetings called to find out who serves on the state certification committee and postponed meetings with vendors other than Diebold
• Florida and other states report unexpected financial consequenced integrating Diebold systems with other systems
  

that the AZ Democratic Party (and officials) will pursue every option to:

• work to be sure 2006 elections are transparent, auditable, and will restore voter confidence
• advocate for public oversight and ownership of elections that will protect voting from fraud (security breaches) and machine error
• will support legislation to require voter verified paper ballots, require hand counted audits of randomly selected precincts
• improve reports, auditing and certification of equipment
• act to hold the Secretary of State accountable for actions that demonstrate a lack of transparency and to challenge state contracts to Diebold for DRE machines
• demand state contracts awards require vendors to upgrade to Hava Standards
• compel SoS to produce written decertification standards and immediately decertify faulty voting equipment
  
• sponsor public forums to expose flaws of electronic voting, examine adverse consequence of "blended voting systems," discover hidden costs associated with training poll workers to implement a dual voting system, evaluate certification/decertification standards set by the SoS, educate the public to participate in public oversight of county board of elections
• work with representatives of disability advocacy groups to ensure voting systems are HAVA compliant for the widest variety of diabilities

Usually I find such lengthy documents to be nap inducing, but when we are talking about the "Katherine Harris" of Arizona who was one of the several SoS's with glaring conflicts of interest in that they helped to run State Republican Campaigns while also supposedly overseeing the impartiality of elections in that same state.

This issue deserves a lot more coverage in corporate media than it has received -- so I guess it is up to citizen and indy media to get the issue out there -- so Democrats can't react to chill temperatures by shrivelling up.

arizona
voting
progressive
Democrats
Jan Brewer

Propaganda American Style

A major creator of propaganda, also known as "perceptual management" had worked for a long, long time to create an American mindset that would support a war against Hussein.
Check out Rolling Stone for the article about it.

A day dedicated to the cause of world peace.

November 11th became a federal holiday in 1938. An act of Congress declared it to be "...a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace." The Act was amended in 1954 the holiday became renamed 'Veterans Day' by amendment to the 1938 act so that all veterans could be honored.

My first memory of there even being such a thing as a Veteran was as a small child who wanted one of the paper poppies the old men were selling by a storefront in the little farming town outside of which I lived as a child. Then there were the stories of my uncle Carl who was an aviation mechanic in England during WWII. Then war became very real for me when my cousin Rick had to have a metal plate replace part of his skull after being injured in Vietnam and my brother came back from there a changed person having been shot once when in Hue and then catching some shrapnel under his vest in Khe Sahn. It was difficult for me to take my Girl Scouts to march in the Veterans Day Parade when I was a GS Leader. It is still very emotional for me.

Wars do not end when the bombs stop falling and the fighting ceases. Both American and Vietnamese victims of agent orange are. traveling through the US for the next month talking about the ongoing consequences of the Vietnam War.

The consequences of this War on Iraq will not end in our lifetimes. Young women like Kelly Dougherty will never forget their tour of duty in Iraq. She came to realize that the war was being waged for Corporations good not for the benefit of the Iraqi people and that she was being lied to. As a person snagged by the economic draft she was outraged enough to become a peace activist upon her return to the U.S.

Those who are willing to lay down their lives to protect us are heros. I may disagree with waging war, but soldiers don't start wars, politicians do. So last year I marched with Veterans for Peace. This year, tomorrow, I may do so again. I need to support a day of remembrance and peace. As Steven Laffoley poignantly states in his article Almost Like A Day for Peace, " "Almost like a day for peace." And I think: He's right. We could use a day like that."

Yes we could.

Tomorrow will be that day for me. Then I start to research more about the gloss over treatment that W's military service (and lack of it) received. With Mapes new book out and the topic back in the news at a time when many are questioning the integrity of our administration it might be a good time to reexamine his records.

The blog Norwegionanity covered this development quite well.

Dan Gillmor is upset about Mary Mapes reemergence into the spotlight, and I can see where he’s coming from.

And I see where she’s coming from. The documents that ended her job at CBS have never been proven inauthentic. I personally came to believe that they are probably CYA documents created by Kilgore after the fact, but I don’t know that. I do know, however, that 90% of the Powerline/LGF crap I read was specious beyond belief.

I used to work with exactly the kind of documents the ‘60s and ‘70s era Guard produced, and there is no uniformity in how those documents were produced. Citizen-soldier officers often took paperwork to their civilian office for their secretary to do (one of the things that helped create the feminist movement, IMHO).

Mapes got railroaded for some shoddy work in an otherwise timely news story about Bush’s decades of lies regarding his military service.

I’d love to see 60 Minutes reedit that segment and show it again. I think more people would be interested in Bush’s AWOL period now that he’s lost the trust of the people.

I have to agree.

Military Recruiting Under Increasingly Widespread Scrutiny

Appearance of a topic in Vanity Fair isn't respected by all folks so The Recruiters' War probably has not changed too many pro-war folks minds... But... I have a conservative friend (hard to believe I know, but... true) who, while he hasn't actually chided me for reading articles in the magazine, nor for forwarding such articles to him, says in his deep, booming and courtroom trained voice that conveys far more his words, "Well it is not my usual type of reading..." But after I finish writing this entry I will send it to him, and get his take on this trend. I suspect even a Republican attorney will be softening his stand on the clear black and white nature of military recruiting. People are getting information about the issues that concern them, even if they have to get it through non-traditional channels.

No matter what you feel about high end women's magazines, this article about 10 apparently representative recruiters who admit to recruiting young men and women (boys and girls really) who do not meet standards because of problems with health, parental status, drug use and the like are the norm is worth a read. When examined with other co-occuring events, the increasing public scrutiny of unethical military recruiting practices as part of a governmental culture of corruption is almost to be expected.

A Tucson friend who has participated in anti-war activities after having served in the military and having a husband who retired from the military told me her story of how her just in remission son enlisted only to have recruiters call because of crossed wires after he was on his way to Iraq. After talking to him for a while she realized that the recruiter was going through files of kids with cancer in an attempt to recruit those now in remission. Ghoulish. You can read the incredible and inspiring story of this family in an article by her husband, Jeff Latas, who is the AZ LD 26/CD8 candidate who will ruin against Kolbe.

And should you need to see more data before you can agree there is a trend, just look at the fact that voters in San Francisco approved ballot measures to ban handguns in San Francisco and urge the city's public high schools and college campuses to keep out military recruiters. Yes, this isn't just about vague notions of war and honor. This is a local issue. War is a local issue.

I'm also feeling a personal sense of vindication that I am really and truly in the right when it comes to my dealings with certain recruiters who have attempted to intimidate me on two occasions when I was doing nothing wrong. One time I was inside the recruiting station about a recruiting concern -- I was really upset that my 15 year old daughter had received phishing materials in the mail. The recruiters took advantage of that to try to intimidate me and while they never asked me to leave and wouldn't give me the information for which I asked, they did surround me while yelling and called the police. Later when I was documenting an event for a Raging Granny action--the same nasty lying recruiter was the one who singled me out as one of the Grannies to be arrested even though I clearly was not participating in the attempt to enlist. After I protested that the recruiter was singling me out for reasons other than actions that day, he had another confab with the police and they then decided to arrest several other "minor" journalists, but not the ones from the local network stations. The lying and scheming that these folks are capable of carrying out is frightening. The even more frightening thing is that the police are far more concerned with buddying up to the military than insuring the citizens who they serve have their right to protest protected.

Women's Cooperatives and Social Change in Afghanistan

Remember all the coverage of Afghanistan and the terror inflicted upon women during 2001 and 2002?  Even though our news corps do not find it worthwhile (or have not been told) to report on the state of women there, the women of this tormented part of the world are still waiting for any significant change to occur.

Suraya Pakzad, executive director of the Voice of Women Organisation (VWO), one of the leading NGOs in Afghanistan says, as reported in today in The Penninsula, "The regime change in Afghanistan is yet to deliver the expected results as far the position of women in the country is concerned."  She notes that improvements have occurred but that local customs are often confused with religious teachings and that practices routed in custom will be difficult to begin to change.  Child marriage is one such widespread practice that must be stopped (it is already illegal) if the status of women is to be generally improved.  Enforcement of existing rules and more legal protection for women and education can improve the situation, but economics enters into it too;  huge dowries in poverty stricken areas can be a huge incentive for poverty-stricken families. 

One-quarter of the seats in the Afghani Parliament and the provincial councils were set aside for women so in some ways these women have a better potential for real representation than American women who must conquer the corporate money battle to become a representative. 

In an article on womensradio.com a very useful albeit  informal women's councils or shuras is described by Suraya.

During the elections, she (Suraya) concentrated on women's voting rights, but the group's main focus is on bolstering the network of women's shuras--or quasi-government councils--in the villages that surround Herat.

Politics is part of what gets discussed at the shuras, Pakzad said, but the main point is to simply gather women together so they can talk and discuss issues without the oversight of men.

The shuras also enable women to create cottage industries from their homes, such as textile manufacturing. The shuras also provide start-up funds and consolidated space for manufacturing by bringing looms under one roof.

Again, we in the west could learn from these women.  Perhaps we need to establish shuras in impoverished areas of our own country.  Small business loans and other programs that help women in business are fine, but they do not provide the supportive structure of the shura nor foster the collective creativity  that women's cooperatives do.  A BPW luncheon isn't the same.  The women's groups are structured like men's organizations that sprung up in the days of male controlled business and industry.  Perhaps to foster change we should look at alternative structures for new types of women's work/life organizations. 

Patriotic Protest Continues in Tucson

Wednesday November 2nd was jam-packed with protest all across America and Tucson was no exception. The World Can't Wait March is well covered at the Tucson Indymedia site.

But there were actions throughout the day at many locations in Tucson. I received some photos from my friend Susan of "Die In" that was held in front of the Military Recruiting Office on Speedway that morning. Protests have been ongoing on Wednesday mornings at this location for three years.

Thought you might like to see a few of them.

Protest and street media are essential to conveying information that isn't conveyed in corporate media. We who engage in alternative media are patriots and serve the same function as the town criers of old. "It is November 2005 and all is not well."

Thank heavens people are beginning to realize that the flag belongs to all Americans and that you do not have to believe in the things our leaders say and do to be a patriot!

The majority of Americans now feel that an unjust war in our name diminishes us all and brings us closer to a barbaric world where life is not valued. And we are now beginning to understand that people are being tortured to death in our name, and that our children are being used as cannon fodder for a lie.

Kathleen Dunbar Sucks....

Final version: 7 November 2005

Kathleen Dunbar Sucks Resources Straight Out of the Mouths of Ward III's Hungry Children

I live in Ward III in Tucson, Arizona. There are two women running for City Council who both purport to want to represent me. I hope Karin Uhlich wins the election tomorrow as she would represent me. Kathleen Dunbar has not represented me well (at all) during her tenure on the City Council.

Karin Uhlich is the Democratic Candidate. Karin is experienced in management and economics. While I don't know Karin personally, I have met and talked with her several times. I find her to be sincere in her desire to represent the people of this working class district.

Of course there is also the little (ha!) matter that in Tucson Wards do not choose the people who represent them. The upper middle to upper upper SEC folks in the foothills (and eastside) have just as much say in determining the representative to a working class neighborhood as the folks who actually live in the Ward. In Tucson City Council Members are nominated in each ward, but are elected in citywide elections. This allows for situations such as the one when then Tucson Mayor George Miller noted in a 2001 article "Ward 2 has not been represented by the person it has actually chosen in 22 years." This has also been the case in Ward III for the last few years.
Karin holds press conferences outside the gates of the Tucson Country Club while Kathleen Dunbar and Jim Click, sugar daddy to local and regional Republicans, hob-knob with Karl Rove inside the gates at a totally closed "fundraiser" for local corporate sponsored Republicans.

Maybe that is where she learned last week's stunt in which she she sued everybody and their sister over a campaign mailer that she purports contained defamatory statements that have caused her "severe mental and physical anguish." The case was filed against her Democratic opponent and three retired teachers their husbands, the Pima County Democratic Party and a lawyer for the Amphitheater Public Schools district and his wife. The lawyer's comments that were quoted on the flier were from a May 2004 council meeting.

Dunbar pimped over the Amphi School District. This is very personal for me. I live within the Amphi School District. I believe in public education and have refused to move from this area within which it makes perfect sense for my family to live. But after sticking with my beliefs through my daughter's time at Holaway Elementary and Amphi Jr. High we decided we had to put our daughter in private school for High School so that she could have a real college prep curriculum in an academic atmosphere-- something that just wasn't offered in our local schools. At least the High School is in our neighborhood. Her sinking of a done deal that would have given Amphi hundreds of thousands of dollars hurts me personally.
So while Dunbar is whining about mental and physical anguish, the fact remains that I am suffering similar mental and physical anguish that my most basic right to participation in the selection of who represents me is being stolen by the large "independent" expenditures that financed her (and Fred Ronstadt's) campaign in 2001 to the tune of $125,000. Read about this and more in a PDF that discusses campaign finance reform. I'm damaged when my neighbor's children are damaged.

So there is the matter of corporate and state level party funds being pumped into Ward level races and corporate interest put before basic human needs in neighborhoods.

I get very pissed off when I, a simple resident of a working class neighborhood in Tucson Arizona, can see corruption at the highest levels of government directly tied into the essential theft of my neighbors and my votes. This is not a minor issue. This is about the preservation of the very heart of democracy in the face of an essentially treasonous corporate coupe.

How Kathleen Dunbar the Republican Candidate was ever elected is beyond my understanding. But not beyond my suspicions.

We know that there were profound irregularities in the November 2004 elections. Thanks to the tireless and tenacious work by John Brakey of Tucson we can see how selective local elections had their precinct level records falsified in order to provide a paper trail should the electronic ballot irregularities being called into question. These select precincts could then be "randomly" chosen for inspection/recount should an audit be required. Hog wash, you say? Nope. Glaringly irregular puzzle pieces that hint at widespread election problems were also found in
Scottsdale. And Arizona's Secretary of State Jan Brewer has not fulfilled her duty to address how such glaring holes will be remedied and electronic voting machines decertified when such problems arise. Indeed she has been brought to court over her failure to address this issue.


More on Dunbar's record, statements and outrageous behavior:

From an article on October 26, 2000 in the Arizona Daily Star.
"(Dunbar) has not been consistently moderate, pointing to her support of a bill requiring schools to teach alternatives to evolution. Dunbar said she signed on as a favor to a colleague, then when it bogged down in fighting over creationism, she realized how divisive it had become and worked in caucus to kill it."

The Star publishes excerpts from Weblogs and the one quoted below shows that campaign finance reform is relevant to every level of government.

"I got a mail piece from City Council candidates Kathleen Dunbar and Fred Ronstadt recently. These candidates have both opted out of Tucson's publicly financed campaign system. They both feel public financing is a waste of public money and think private interests should be relied on to fund the election of our public officials. I haven't got any problem with a person following their conscience in such matters, but they should be consistent, right?

On the flip side of the Dunbar/Ronstadt mailer is the mug and the endorsement of none other than Arizona's Sen. John McCain. McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law shepherd John McCain. Supporter and defender of Arizona's clean elections law John McCain. I suppose the moral of this story is that party loyalty is stronger for GOP pols than is principled adherence to basic political convictions about the nature of the public's interest."

Outside and special interests are the ones supporting the disturbing and steady undermining of programs of benefit to her constituents in favor of the big money corporations with ties to the Greater Tucson area and not to Ward III.

She didn't take the clean elections money. How could she? She doesn't believe in clean and fair elections. She's got all that corporate money behind her and there is no way she'd give that up for a clean and fair election.

Claims responsibility for neighborhood improvement that was put in place by democratic predecessors. Dunbar helped kill the very programs that allowed for these neighborhood improvements.

We must stop the rise of Dunbar and people like her (Ronstadt) through the graft-controlled political ranks. These are the people who end up in Washington, supposedly representing us, who all the while have become indebted to corporate benefactors and perpetuate and strengthen the culture of corruption now being exposed in Libby's indictment and the treasonous obstruction of justice he engaged in to protect the Halliburton controlled Vice Presidency.