Sorry State of the Union

This is from Sam Joi, activist extraordinaire who helped coordinate the third annual State of the Union party in San Francisco:
Hi folks!

Thanks to all our fabulous CodePINKer's who braved
bushisms and busheets, and a little right-wing back
lash as well, Tuesday nite to join us at Union Square
Sports Bar to SPEAK-OUT against the lying, people
dying, and spying regime we're fighting against.

We had a raucus time reacting to Bush who seems to
still think saying it makes it true - and we'll
believe whatever he says! We played Liar's Bingo,
recorded pages & pages of his lies, and ended the
evening with a little ruckus of our own at Lefty
O'Doul's, which we have dubbed "Righty" O'Doul's.

For more sordid & lengthy details, check out http://codepinkjournals.blogspot.com
(This is Sam's blog, which was the inspiration for this blog--check it out!)

Hillary, You're Not Listening!

Published on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
by Rae Abileah and Nancy Mancias
(http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0131-28.htm)

On Saturday night, as demonstrators gathered outside, five CODEPINK women protested the war in Iraq during Hillary Clinton's speech at the Bar Association fundraiser in the San Francisco Masonic Auditorium. In two separate disruptions, banners were draped over the balcony followed by chants, "Hillary, stop supporting the war. Listen to the people!" The first pair of protesters were peacefully escorted out of the auditorium. The second pair were forcefully wrestled to the ground, cuffed, choked, and led out by the hair while the fifth activist tried to intercede. The two of us writing this letter were hauled into jail, where we remained until released at around 3 a.m. with a citation for trespassing, though we were ticket-holding members of the audience.

The big question many people are asking us is: why Hillary? Why not focus on the Bush administration? Though Hillary finally admitted that if she had known that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, she wouldn't have voted to authorize the war, she does not address a timeline for an end to the occupation. Last July she called for an increase in the size of the army by 80,000, and she recently characterized Congressman Murtha's call for Iraq withdrawal as "a big mistake." Hillary is quick to criticize the state of our Union, but she seems reticent to attend to the state of our foreign policy in Iraq.

Hillary was presented by the Bar Association as a viable candidate for the 2008 presidential race. If she would stand up and lead us out of this war, we could look to her as an example of a courageous politician. After all, courage is in standing up for what you believe in and being honest with your constituency, not standing by and watching as the young people you are representing are shipped off to an illegal war.

Hillary has stated that part of her job is "to listen." And that's precisely what we want. We want her to listen to the majority of the people of the United States who are calling for an end to the war in Iraq, specifically, to 62% of our nation's women, who believe the U.S. should bring the troops home from Iraq within one year (Gallup poll, Dec. 2005). We want her to listen to the over 30,000 women around the world who have signed onto our Global Women's Call for Peace, calling for an end to the occupation and the violence in Iraq (see www.womensaynotowar.org). We want her to stop funding the war, and to start talking about a real exit strategy.

And you can bet that as long as she continues to turn a deaf ear, we'll continue to speak out for what we believe in: a more peaceful and just world, a true democracy, and an end to the violent conflict in Iraq.

2006: Women Say No to War

CODEPINK just launched a new campaign called "Women Say No to War" to bring together US women like Alice Walker, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Susan Sarandon, Cindy Sheehan and Dolores Huerta with women from countries such as Britain, Canada, Australia, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Jordan, Iran and especially Iraq. The purpose of this campaign is to tell our leaders - and the world - that women have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and we want the foreign troops and foreign fighters to leave Iraq now. We want to get at least 100,000 women from around the world to sign our global call by March 8, 2006, when we'll deliver the signatures to the White House and to US embassies around the world. In only one week, more than 10,000 women have signed the Women's Call for Peace. Please join us in sending a powerful message that women worldwide have said "Enough!"

To make this effort truly historic and successful, I’m asking for your help:

Please sign the call TODAY: Go to http://www.womensaynotowar.org . (To my male friends: Men in solidarity with 'WOMEN SAY NO TO WAR' are invited to join us by signing the call and participating in March 8 events.) I’m pasting the text of the call below this email—read it under the included quotes.
Then forward the call to everyone you can think of—your friends, family, foes, former teachers, future mentors, your grandma and your niece and your best friend’s sister...
Help organize a local Women Say No to War event on March 8 or join us in Washington DC.

Together, we can make 2006 the year that this illegal and immoral war ends, and the year that we significantly increase our peace building endeavors, from our hearts to our neighborhoods to beyond our borders.

2005: Rae Says No to Antibiotics and Yes to Real Health

2005 marks the first year of my life that I have not been on antibiotics for chronic sinusitis and other health issues. This is my most exciting accomplishment this year. Well, that and trying to stop the war...

A quick update about my life: I am living and working in San Francisco. I started traveling and doing election work with CODEPINK in the fall of ‘04, spent two months organizing in NYC in the spring of this past year, and was on the road for much of the following months working on various projects addressing the local cost of war, countering military recruiters in schools, and general grassroots organizing. After the September 24th peace demonstration in DC (where I was arrested outside the White House—My first arrest, and joyous it was—singing and dancing all the way to the jail house!), I began working as the national coordinator of CODEPINK’s local chapters. This gives me the opportunity to work closely with women around the country (in over 230 cities!) and in England, Ireland, Brazil, and soon to be Figi (where a new chapter just started yesterday!). I hear inspiring stories about what’s going on in small towns and in big cities to spread awareness about this war and the current administration, like tales of Peace Picnics in the park in London, held in lieu of protests, which have been banned within 1 km of the Parliament; stories of demolition and rebuilding in New Orleans in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; and accounts of street theater actions outside military recruiting centers in which actor-activists dramatized the lies military recruiters spin to convince predominately underprivileged youth to sign up for travel, adventure, cash bonuses, job training, education, and honor.

At the start of December, I had the opportunity to journey to Italy for a speaking tour with a group called Donne di Pace (Women of Peace)--we toured the northern part of the country, speaking to high school and college students, the general public, and the government—it was an incredible experience. I wrote all about this trip, my summer road trip from Atlanta, GA, to Los Angeles, and so much more in my online blog at http://ravenjournal.blogspot.com/. I’ve done some writing this year, including: a counter-recruitment article published in LoudMouth, a feminist zine (see pp.10-11 of the downloadable .pdf file at http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/loudmouth/loudmouth.swf); a chapter on non-military alternatives in a forthcoming book entitled 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Army; a poem that will appear in a women’s anthology called Sisters Singing; and some minor news pieces. I am currently making a hot pot of Sonya’s homemade chai tea, and in the coming weeks, I will be working to assisting our local groups in planning actions for International Women’s Day, March 8. If you are interested in planning something where you live, please let me know and I will help in any way I can.

I am settling into the pace of life in the Bay Area—reconnecting with friends from high school, staying in touch with the East Coast crew and the post-college diaspora, creating a strong community of friends here in SF including the ever-inspiring and dynamic Art in Action folks, and spending time in my hometown with my parents and with my cousin who just moved to the wild west from Kansas City. My stepdad is teaching me how to surf and this morning I actually stood up for a few breaths ;-) When not donning pink wigs, hanging out of a window doing a banner drop, or else mass emailing, I find myself hiking in the redwoods, cooking portabello mushrooms and roasting marshmallows on the gas stovetop, playing balderdash, fighting parking tickets, writing poems on scraps of paper, singing with friends, learning how to use my iBook and iPod (after being a pc person forever), and watching movies and reading books (current recommendations include Control Room, Hero, and the all-time favorite, Out Cold; books—The Kite Runner and Seymour Hersh’s Chain of Command). I’ve broken my heart open to so many new dreams and sensations, and I find myself awestruck by it all.

New Year's '06

Cuban revolutionary party at Medea's--a smashing success... the government said we couldn't go to Cuba, so we brought Cuba to San Francisco. Photo is entitled "Seeing Double"--the theme of the party was to come dressed as your fave revolutionary. My friend Roni and I decided that Medea and Kev would be a fun pair to pose as for the evening.

And good times were had by all!