Blast-wall murals in Baghdad

Solving the Afghan poppy surplus problem

Here's someone thinking outside the box. What a great idea. Buy opium farmer direct and make medicine out of it. Much cheaper than bombing and occupying, plus the world needs the meds. Cut out the middle man and maybe your repressive theocracy goes away too.

Win, win, win.

Because the opium finances the repressive forces in Afghanistan, this problem needs to be tackled head-on in order to stop the war.

NSA Spying, Winter Soldier, Impeachment, ACLU, IVAW

A good 10 minutes. You are not alone.

Writers in Republic of Georgia protest Russian invasion

The scene in Georgia is very young still, and these Tbilisi writers are only 50 miles or so away from the Russian occupied area.

Ray of sunshine from the Supremes

In a stunning show of interest in the Constitution, today the US Supreme Court decided the alleged terrorist detainees in Cuba can appeal their status. This is great because due process will tend to discover who is who and what is what if it's allowed to proceed.

We can hope the end of Gitmo is near, thus closing a shameful period in US history, where the imperial president made up laws and ignored others at whim. If those people are really "unlawful combatants" then no one should fear giving them their day in court. Imprisonment without fair trial or legal representation is so Middle Ages, so Middle East.

But what about those rumored prison ships and "extreme renditions" abroad? One can hope the Court will also put a stop to those. In a just world, there would be prosecution for the idiots who decided that was a good idea too.

The war that lasts another 6 months, then another 6

MoveOn is a political action committee that is antiwar, pro-environment and active on progressive issues. They make it easy to send email to your Congresscritters and they buy advertising to help educate Americans on important issues. They endorsed Obama this year by popular demand (landslide) from a majority of their members, even though they normally don't pick a candidate. And best of all, they'd rather have your signature on petitions than your money.

LA vs WAR

Winter Soldier 2008

Matt sent this alert:

For the next three days, an event taking place outside Washington, D.C. called "Winter Soldier 2008" will be broadcast live over the web at KPFA.org or at warcomeshome.org .

Winter soldier will feature dozens of U.S. veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars bearing witness to the war as they experienced it, minus the censorship or white-washing that often accompanies stories from the front lines.

A similar event was held during the Vietnam War and was captured in a documentary film. Pass it on. We are all complicit in the atrocities committed in our name using our tax dollars whether we agreed with the wars or not.

[If you only listen to one war program this war, make it this one. The streaming audio is happening right this minute. - Susan]

A rare dose of truth about the terrorized USA

It's rare to find anything true in the current sea of propaganda, advertisement, disinformation, and Britney. But here is something both true and provocative. Years from now, when people reflect back to this time of eroding civil rights and growing xenophobia in America, they will say what Zbigniew Brzezinski said in this article. As he says, somehow we need to elect a president who will turn things around before they get completely out of hand.

Iranian Students Jailed for Protesting War

I received this disturbing note today from a writer in Tehran (and the story linked above says some teens have been killed) :

As you should be aware!!!! 

Thirty of our comrades are currently being held in ward 209 of Avin prison in Tehran, subjected to torture and the worst physical and mental conditions. The magnificent Students Day rallies in Tehran, Mazendaran, Kermanshah, Tabriz and Hamadan were manifestation of our determination to raise the banner of freedom and equality in our society. The oppressive Islamic regime tried, in vain, to prevent the student day rallies. It has suffered a humiliating defeat. We congratulate all our fellow students.

Comrades! Our call for the release of all detained students, in universities up and down the country, must break the current deadly silence. This calls for united actions of all of us for the immediate release of our detained comrades. Spread the news of the arrest of the students and let the entire population know that their students are being imprisoned for calling for freedom and equality. The shameful silence of all the so-called "impartial" and "pro-democracy" media outlets has made our task of informing the public ever so crucial. This shameful silence is tantamount to collaboration with oppressors. Such attempts to spread lies and deception have long being at the service of profiteers and capitalists.

Comrades! The families of the arrested students have pinned their hopes on us. We have shown that we never give up on our demands. Knowing the brutality of the authorities in the jails we fear for the well being of our comrades. Our struggle will continue until the release of all political students.

People of the world!

Students in Iran, by raising the slogan of "No to War" and "No to Despotism", are confronting Imperialists war mongering and fundamentalism. International solidarity is a valuable means to break down the ranks of reaction and war mongering and blow away the spectre of war and insecurity over the lives of people of Iran.

I wish Carter was back in the White House.

What we need in elected office are more human beings like former US President Carter. He's the champion behind Habitat for Humanity, a guy with practical plans of action, such as peace talks. A person who stands up for what he believes in, such as fair and trustable election processes, plus he is smart enough to be entrusted with managing complex political realities. He's too religiously motivated, but he's got a good heart.

CNN reports: "The United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Carter said Wednesday....Carter also said President Bush creates his own definition of human rights."

Reuters reports that Carter also "denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a 'disaster' for the country and a 'militant' who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy."

Carter also criticized some of the 2008 Republican presidential candidates, calling former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani "foolish" for his contention the United States should be open to use force on Iran.

[TruthOut]

Iraq situation report, by 7 US soldiers

This is the most believable and coherent account I've read so far of the situation on the ground in Iraq. Comments are interesting too.

Two of this NYTimes op-ed piece's authors died September 10. Sgt. Omar Mora and co-author Sgt. Yance T. Gray died along with 5 other soldiers and 2 detainees in a vehicle accident, but it would be just as fair to say they died of executive privilege.

GWB gave a feel-good speech tonight about how everything is going so well in Iraq. He should just declare victory and bring the troops home then. And there's more heroin coming out of Afghanistan than ever, so either that was the objective of that war or else it's failed to produce positive results as well. I sure hope we can get him out of office before he starts another war with Iran or Eritria.

The DC protest is coming up on the 15th. I'm sure Alternet will cover that event and so will the streams of images at YouTube and Flickr.

Play Defcon free this weekend - till 6pm GMT Monday

Win-OSX-Linux online multi-player (or single player) strategy game

PC world said: "Through 6 p.m. GMT on Monday, August 27, Defcon is free for all to play; gamers are not required to enter key codes to have access to the full game.

Defcon is a throwback to the Cold War. Your job, as a general hidden in a deep underground bunker, is to totally destroy the other side - inflicting massive civilian casualties and disarming your opponent using a thermonuclear arsenal, trying to protect your own forces and people as best you can.

If the game sounds disturbing, it is -- its tagline is "Everybody Dies," and Introversion and Ambrosia don't shy away from showing you the dark side -- and the reality -- of global nuclear conflict."

59MB download
If you decide you like annihilating the world, it's $25 for a license after Monday.

[While you're at that website, you may notice that Ambrosia software also makes Snapz Pro, which is a tempting screen capture utility for OS X, but I like SnapNDrag and iShowu better and they cost a lot less. The Firefox extension PageSaver does a great job of capturing long web pages in one shot too.]

Not Your Soldier - Anti-recruitment camps for youth

Young people are being tricked, lured, and pushed into the military in order to fight unjust wars for dishonest politicians. Especially the poor kids. Not Your Soldier offers information, tools, and tactics to those who want to resist recruitment.
From the site:

"Why Counter Recruitment?

When we organize against military recruitment, we are not only getting involved in our communities and working to stop this war - we are also questioning the whole system that the military is built on.

We are fighting the way that recruiters prey on the lack of affordable housing, healthcare, and the decrepit state of our schools.

We are refusing to fight in an unjust war.

But most importantly, we are building skills and resources within our generation of youth leadership for justice.

Want to do something in your community to stop recruiters and fight the war?

Take back your school! Check out the War Resister's League book, "Demilitarized Zone: A Guide to Taking Your School Back from the Military." You'll get a lot of ideas about organizing to keep military recruiters out of your school, including detailed legal information, concrete campaign suggestions, and up-to-date statistics.

Protect your privacy! Make it hard for recruiters to get your home number by joining Military Free Zone's Opt Out campaign. If you "opt out", your school can't give your information to the military.

Educate your friends! Show AFSC's video "Before You Enlist." Invite a local veteran from Iraq Vets Against War to speak to your class or club. Get copies of the comic book, "Addicted to War" and pass it around. "

Noam Chomsky: There is No War on Terror

"Well, the first thing that should be done in Iraq is for us to be serious about what's going on. There is almost no serious discussion, I'm sorry to say, across the spectrum, of the question of withdrawal. The reason for that is that we are under a rigid doctrine in the West, a religious fanaticism, that says we must believe that the United States would have invaded Iraq even if its main product was lettuce and pickles, and the oil resources of the world were in Central Africa. Anyone who doesn't believe that is condemned as a conspiracy theorist, a Marxist, a madman, or something. Well, you know, if you have three gray cells functioning, you know that that's perfect nonsense. The U.S. invaded Iraq because it has enormous oil resources, mostly untapped, and it's right in the heart of the world's energy system. Which means that if the U.S. manages to control Iraq, it extends enormously its strategic power, what Zbigniew Brzezinski calls its critical leverage over Europe and Asia. Yeah, that's a major reason for controlling the oil resources -- it gives you strategic power. Even if you're on renewable energy you want to do that. So that's the reason for invading Iraq, the fundamental reason.

"Now let's talk about withdrawal. Take any day's newspapers or journals and so on. They start by saying the United States aims to bring about a sovereign democratic independent Iraq. I mean, is that even a remote possibility? Just consider what the policies would be likely to be of an independent sovereign Iraq. If it's more or less democratic, it'll have a Shiite majority. They will naturally want to improve their linkages with Iran, Shiite Iran. Most of the clerics come from Iran. The Badr Brigade, which basically runs the South, is trained in Iran. They have close and sensible economic relationships which are going to increase. So you get an Iraqi/Iran loose alliance. Furthermore, right across the border in Saudi Arabia, there's a Shiite population which has been bitterly oppressed by the U.S.-backed fundamentalist tyranny. And any moves toward independence in Iraq are surely going to stimulate them, it's already happening. That happens to be where most of Saudi Arabian oil is. Okay, so you can just imagine the ultimate nightmare in Washington: a loose Shiite alliance controlling most of the world's oil, independent of Washington and probably turning toward the East, where China and others are eager to make relationships with them, and are already doing it. Is that even conceivable? The U.S. would go to nuclear war before allowing that, as things now stand.

"Now, any discussion of withdrawal from Iraq has to at least enter the real world, meaning, at least consider these issues. Just take a look at the commentary in the United States, across the spectrum. How much discussion do you see of these issues? Well, you know, approximately zero, which means that the discussion is just on Mars."

.... and other stuff worth reading as always. Noam brings it home. Check it out. Search out some of his online audio also. It's great.

Sydney Opera House "No War" activists sue to get paint can back

They sold photos and other No War memorabilia to pay their 50-thousand-pound fine. They also got weekends in jail for 9 months.



original story

Freeway Blogger: Guerrilla Signz

Freeway speech against Bush's war.

Operation Truth

"The truth about Iraq from those who served"

Get out of Gitmo

This great article in NY Times explains why the US must pull the plug on Guantanamo Bay.

Iraq Veterans Lead Anti-War Movement

Feel a Draft?

World Spray Crew calls for anti-war action ...

... this weekend.

Art Crimes has a war art section too, which welcomes high-quality contributions at any time.

Outsourcing Torture

There is a great article in the latest issue of the New Yorker called "Outsourcing Torture" by Jane Mayer. It's about the battle over ?extraordinary rendition.? This is when masked CIA operative kidnap suspected terrorists and take them to other countries that have no policy against prisoner torture or abuse. You thought Abu Gharib was bad, it was only one piece of the US policy puzzle.

How did America fall for this administrations "moral" platform in the last presidency?

Q: "Why should I vote? I don't care about politics." A: Iran is next

"The American military, already stretched thin and forced to "call back" reservists to fight in Iraq, would probably have to go ahead with contingency plans to bring back a large-scale draft next year. At least a half-million conscripts would be needed for a fight that would likely drag on for years. Hundreds of billions of dollars would be spent on hardware and weaponry, not to mention lining the pockets of Administration-connected war profiteers. War against Iran could easily push us into the abyss of economic and moral bankruptcy. The draft would prompt tens of thousands of young American men to flee. It would push [the US] out of the community of nations once and for all."

ABC Broadcast about Iraq

The uproar about ABC Nightlines broadcast last night of Ted Koppel really sums up the status quo of American media reporting of the Iraq war.

Earlier this week I watched a documentary on the Weather Underground. The Weather Underground were a bunch of white, lefty terrorists that were around during the Vietnam years. The documentary talked about the Time Magazine pictures that depicted the US Army committing atrocities against innocent Vietnamese villages. Many are familiar with the pictures, and they are often credited with swinging public opinion in the direction of the anti-war camp.

There have been some awful pictures that have come back from Iraq, but they are few and far between. Somehow the war machine in the US has co-opted the public airwaves in such a way that we can't even honor our own folks that have lost their lives in fighting, because it is somehow partisan, let alone fairly criticize or critique the Iraq war.

First it was un-patriotic to not support the war, now when someone wants to honor the fallen, that's partisan.

Link:
Washington Post article about ABC Nightline

Once again the Onion wins with this headline:
"Bush To Iraqi Militants: 'Please Stop Bringing It On'"

freewayblogger.com
Check out this excellent antiwar sign site! Talk about public media. This rocks.

Democracy in the US is at risk.
Why War takes aim at the new voting machines in the US, which are designed so badly that they hide voting fraud. The maker of these machines is trying to suppress the information (at the link above) about the design flaws and why-war.com is resisting by spreading the information around the internet instead. This site also has a lot of civil disobediance information.

What you can do if you live in the US:

1. Email some of this info to your congress members today and tell them to reject these flawed machines in your state.

2. Make your own media and put pressure on other media. Print something effective and on-topic and spread it all over town for the not-on-net population. Send a copy of the information above to your local newspapers and radio stations and ask why they are not covering this huge story.

Don't accept fake voting! Demand voter verifiable paper audit trails. This could be our last chance to stop it before the next fake election.

War Murals

War murals are coming in fast. Send yours in to yo@graffiti.org

Beastie Boys' anti-war mp3

"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country." - Hermann Goering, 1939

Why digital restrictions mangagment is bad for everyone. Fight now or forever pay to play on your licensed playback platforms. (German and English article.)

U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation

Veterans For Peace

The NYTimes.com had some great articles this week too. Even Jimmy Carter spoke out against Bush foreign policy. The site requires free registration but you can make something up or try the Random NYTimes.com Registration Generator

News you can use
etherzone.com/
whatreallyhappened.com/
worldnetdaily.com/
Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit

National Geographic Icon Luis Marden Dies. But this man really knew how to live. Read all about it.

New Windows Worm goes after your bad passwords
Yeah, yours. Make sure yours is not on this list. These are some it tries:
[empty], xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, admin, Admin, password, Password,
1, 12, 123, 1234, 12345, 123456, 1234567, 12345678, 123456789, 654321, 54321, 111, 000000, 00000000, 11111111, 88888888, pass, passwd, database, abcd, abc123, oracle, sybase, 123qwe, server, computer, Internet, super, 123asd, ihavenopass, godblessyou, enable, xp, 2002, 2003, 2600, 0, 110, 111111, 121212, 123123, 1234qwer, 123abc, 007, alpha, patrick, pat, administrator, root, sex, god, foobar, a, aaa, abc, test, test123, temp, temp123, win, pc, asdf, secret, qwer, yxcv, zxcv, home, xxx, owner, login, Login, pwd, pass, love, mypc, mypc123, admin123, pw123, mypass, mypass123, pw

These are also very common passwords according to sysadmins on slashdot: 6969, harley, 123456, golf, pussy, mustang, 1111, shadow, 1313, fish, 5150, 7777, qwerty, baseball, 2112, letmein, 12345678, 12345, password, mypassword, asdf, fdsa, [the user's username], [the user's username backwards], guitar, qwerty, starwars, [the user's first name], [the user's last name], [the user's initials], internet, love, 12345, mercedes, batman, superman, ilove[insert name of opposite sex], [username]420, computer.

Repeat: make sure yours is not on this list. A good password has both upper- and lower-case letters in it, along with some numbers or special characters. Longer is better (6-8 characters or longer) because it takes a computer longer to break them as the number of possibilities goes up. Your password should not be found in any dictionary in any language. Ideally, it would be more or less pronounceable which helps you remember it.

JOEYSKAGGS presents the New York City Annual April Fool's Day Parade

insound - cinema film database of the kind of stuff you might actually want to see.

Audioblogger: record your voice etc, for playback on the Web

DRAFT TO DETER WAR
"Thirteen House Democrats ? all of whom voted last October against authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq ? have introduced legislation to begin drafting people ages 18 to 26 into the military or alternative non-military service.

"The bill?s chief sponsor, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said last month he thought the additional personnel might be needed because ?the Bush administration?s apparent determination to invade Iraq could thrust us into all-out war, perhaps a religious war, in the Middle East. I do not share Defense Secretary Rumsfeld?s certainty that the U.S. has the capacity to defeat Iraq and North Korea in quick succession.?

"Rangel also argued that by drafting the children of the policy-making elite, Congress would deter U.S. military action. ?Decision-makers who support war would more readily feel the pain of conflict and appreciate the sacrifice of those on the front lines if their children were there, too,? he said. "
       
Will new US missions require a draft?

Sen. Robert Byrd | We Stand Passively Mute . Read what a responsible representative has to say. If we had a Congress full of Byrds, Americans would still live in a country we recognize. Let's elect better human beings to Congress next time.

Art on the streets of Sao Paulo

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Not Found

AlterNet: Kurt Vonnegut Vs. the !*!@

AlterNet: Duct Tape and Cover?

www.anti-war.us

Dangerous Futures from KurzweilAI.net

Splay / BLAZER SUEDE / FUTURA 2000 ∧ NIKE

Tagger Trap - The sound-sensor story you heard on CNN and everyone sent you in email. NPR said it hasn't been built yet, but not all stories would lead you to believe that. Sounds like a bold PR move to fund vaporware by first blowing it full of hot air. Still, it's fun to think of interesting ways for it to fail.

UNCONSUME - THE SUBTLE REINTRODUCTION OF GRAFFITI, PERFORMANCE BY DAUSONE

SKILLS FROM DA OUTSIDAZ has been deported for some BS
and needs to be back in Philadelphia with his family. He asks you to sign his petition.

Peace

Saturday 15 February
LONDON, UK
PEACE LOVERS' BALL
Underground squat party for 5000 + all night after
demo venue will be kept secret till 9 .00PM
ring after this time 0207 644 5170 or 07971 273 481
to get location details
(news thanks to pornografux, which is all about love at the moment)


Struggle

idleworm: games - gulf war 2

Source of Pentagon Papers Critiques Iraq Coverage

A taste: "What specific questions are not being asked or not asked often enough by the press?

One question the press is not asking: Is there a single high military man who believes this war should happen now, that it is appropriate and [the] risks worthwhile? Every indication leaking out is that most feel that it is far from certain, even unlikely, that the war will be as short and successful as the civilian bosses say. What are we gaining here that is worth the chance of a disastrous outcome? The military chiefs do not agree with civilians in the Pentagon as far as we can tell. And does anyone in State or the CIA strongly favor war?

Another question not asked is: What do we do if Saddam launches chemical weapons, nerve gas, etc., against invading U.S. troops? Based on my years of experience within government and familiarity with such scenarios, let me say I am certain we have contingency plans for use of nuclear weapons in response to a successful use of gas against our troops. I would say there's a significant chance that we will respond by initiating nuclear war.

So you should press officials hard. Ask: "Under what conditions would you use nuclear weapons? Are there plans? Have targets been picked?" Ask: "Are there nuclear weapons in that region right now?"

There must be a public discussion of how serious we are in possibly using nuclear [weapons]. But officials don't want to do that fearing it will scare the public and our allies who may think they are out of their minds. In fact, they are smart guys -- who are out of their minds."

MotherJones.com
the change is forever


Graffiti

World Signs Magazine
Post graffiti, and the 2nd issue features : Wilfried Hou Je bek (NL), Oxo Ovo (Australia),
The art of Urban warfare (Worldwide), Getting Up (Germany), Uraban Art Official (UK),
Seak (Germany), Hobo Art (Canada), Erosie (Nl), Miss Van (Fr) and many more...

graffiti lighter 3 pack at the end of MARCH.
see it now at http://www.dsensenyc.com

4th Third-Eye Open , New Bedford Mass: get involved (all elements of hiphop and Bball too)
508.984.8377 or peacefirst@hotmail.com
They have a great DVD out now of last year's event with lots of bboy action.


Art

New interfaces in Musical Expression will be in Montreal this year.
Check it out at http://www.nime.org

ASCII art

|

                   :

                   '.

                    |     || _   _

                    |    (||(/; __|======

                 ___|_____|:(_==.|___________

             .-'"  |                     |   '"-.____________________.---.

             |     |  =*=           ._   |      |____________________|(( |

             |     |               ///   |      |                    '---'

    .--------*-----*---------------""----*------*-------._

  .'  _    U.S. ARMY        |--|                          "-.

  |  |X|                    |--|                             '.

  |   "                     |--|                              |

 '._________________________________________________________.'

    |  / /   .''.   \                    /    .-.   \ \

    | | |   /    \   | .---------'''-------..____    | |

      | |   \    /   |/_____________________|    |__ | |

       \ \   `..'   //  _________________   '----'  / /

        `. ` .  . ' /__| (_) (_) (_) (_) |_________/.'

           `-.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.-'  LGB / GRP

Doris Mitsch: New Work
January 30 - March 29, 2003

250 West 27th Street, Loft 1C
New York City 10001
Call or email first and make an appointment to see it or check it out online at the link above.
info@clampart.com
646.230.0020


Other finds

Your computer, your enemy: now push porn and back doors
American Apparel Sweatshop Free T-Shirts Wholesale
Indian History

More than half of Americans oppose war with Iraq
at least under the current circumstances. But in America the sheep are ruled by the weasels, so expect carnage.

Protest this Weekend

Washington DC, San Francisco, your town.
http://www.protest.net
http://www.internationalanswer.org

NATIONAL MARCH in DC
& joint action in SF:
IN WASHINGTON DC:
Rally @ 11 am
Constitution Gardens adjacent to the
Vietnam Veterans War Memorial
21st St & Constitution Ave. N.W.

**March to the White House**

IN SAN FRANCISCO:
Rally @ 11 am
Justin Herman Plaza
foot of Market St at Embarcadero

**March to Civic Center Plaza**

America, Vote on November 5 -- the life you save may be your own

Only 45% of registered voters have been voting in recent years, we're told. Not 45% of Americans, but 45% of the people who decided to exercise their duty to elect a representative government. Most of them have somehow been convinced that their vote doesn't matter. That's pathetic.

The young will inherit the earth, if the old don't kill the earth and the young first. You have to vote!

If they convince you voting doesn't matter, they can do whatever they want to! Voting matters!

We should have to all vote, like they do in Australia.

I vote. I even listened to Congresscritters arguing for days at a time with each other about whether it's a good idea to give George Bush the leash for the dogs of war.
I was *very surprised* to learn that we have a bunch of Democrats in Congress with cojones. They stood up and asked hard questions. They said the President was making a mistake. They asked whether the US would be shooting itself in the foot to open a war on another front now, at the risk of worldwide Jihad and testing Saddam's arsenal firsthand. They said it was unconstitutional and we'd live to regret giving the Executive Branch powers that belong to the Legislative Branch. They were right.

Problem: All across the country, these brave Democrats are facing tight races on November 5. Even if you are still brainwashed into thinking you don't matter, it's simply not true. Plus, it can't hurt to vote, right? Just do it.

These Congressional and local races are critical to the independent parties. Vote in a Libertarian city commissioner and see if it won't shake up the town. Get a Green mayor and see what happens. This is the election that affects you most, because these are the people who will make your life miserable or livable, wherever you live. If you aren't sure who to vote for, vote for all Democrats. They tried to save your ass from going to Iraq.

The Democrats have the majority in Congress by ONE VOTE. That means if we don't elect enough Democrats in November, President Bush will have a rubber-stamp Congress for all of his projects for the next 2 years, which is a VERY SCARY THOUGHT.

I wouldn't even mention this stuff to you if I thought it was safe to stay home and eat potato chips instead. Politics can kill you and everyone you love, especially this year. Get up and vote! If you aren't registered yet to vote, please do that now so you can vote in the next presidential election and talk to the registered voters around you about how important this election is.

You have been warned.

Why war with Iraq doesn't make sense

New link: Not In Our Name PDF Brett linked to below moved.

Not In Our Name is having a big rally in Central Park, NYC on October 6th as pledge of resistance to the growing US war machine and repression. Here's a PDF suitable for printing and posting.

-"With love from Yoko, John and Ron English"

This very first image on The Bench is an indicator of just how fsking bad things are at the moment.

As we pause briefly on the brink of NUCLEAR WAR (again)
in an atmosphere of Domestic Surveillance
and Bioterrorism
and perhaps soon the double-edged sword of Nanotechnology

Think
about what you could do to improve things, to steer.
This is the world you've just inherited, like it or not.
Together we can make it more livable -- instead of uninhabitable.
We could even learn to live with each other if we just find good leaders.
BE a leader.
There really isn't a viable alternative.
Activate and encourage and educate the people around you.
Say what you think in public.
Express your dismay at the current state of affairs by any means necessary.
You have been warned.

Not in Our Name - June 6

The Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop Report encourages everyone to participate in and spread the word about the Not In Our Name Project.   www.notinourname.net On Thursday, June 6, in gatherings across the country, people will commit themselves to resist in diverse ways the horrors that the U.S. government is inflicting on people around the world and here at home.  The government claims to do it for our benefit. They claim to do it in our name. Join with us to say: Not in Our Name!
We refuse to allow President Bush to speak for all the people living in this country. We will not give up our right to question. We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety. We acknowledge that we in this country have a special responsibility to resist what our own government is doing, from military interventions to supplying arms used to shoot down and terrorize people from Palestine to the Philippines. Together as one we say "NOT IN OUR NAME."

The Pledge:
We believe that as people living
in the United States it is our
responsibility to resist the injustices
done by our government, in our names

Not in our name
will you wage endless war
there can be no more deaths
no more transfusions of blood for oil

Not in our name
will you invade countries
bomb civilians, kill more children
letting history take its course
over the graves of the nameless

Not in our name
will you erode the very freedoms
you have claimed to fight for

Not by our hands
will we supply weapons and funding
for the annihilation of families
on foreign soil

Not by our mouths
will we let fear silence us

Not by our hearts
will we allow whole peoples
or countries to be deemed
evil

Not by our will
and Not in our name

We pledge resistance
We pledge alliance with those
who have come under attack
for voicing opposition to the war
or for their religion or ethnicity
We pledge to make common cause
with the people of the world
to bring about justice freedom and peace
Another world is possible
and we pledge to make it real.

The American Nightmare

No, 94% of Americans do not think bombing other countries is a good plan. No matter how many times they say it on the news, it isn't true.

Here's a thoughtful piece of journalism, in case you're having trouble finding one (we are)

Evil Evildoers Of Evil / How to feel calmly patriotic and yet not the slightest bit reassured by Bush & Co.

And another one

Supersphere: Chicago - Minneapolis 6 reasons not to go to war and other US alternative media sources.

Zmag gets respect too. Check out the Chomsky in particular. He's an MIT professor and arguably America's most prominent and astute dissident.