Bay Area United Against War

BAUAW NEWSLETTER
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Friday, April 01, 2005

BAUAW NEWSLETTER-FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2005

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1) STOP MILITARY RECRUITING AT OUR SCHOOLS!
LETS HIT THE U.S. WAR MACHINE WHERE IT REALLY HURTS!
STOP THE WAR! BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
COME TO THE NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 11:30AM
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)
The High Schools are the meat and potatoes of military
recruitment. JROTC puts them up close and personal with
our kids. We want education not militarization!
The San Francisco Unified School district should cut
all ties to the military!

2) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in San Francisco on
APRIL 5th at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at 6:30pm.
600 California at Stockton at 6pm.

3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)

4) Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)
Be There!
For more info: (510) 465-1617 x4, awe@objector.org
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MOOS-BAY/

5) Justice for New Americans Fundraiser
Sunday, April 17, 2005 2:00 p.m.
San Jose Repertory Theatre
"Making Tracks" is a rock muscial that tells stories
of seven generations of Asian Americans in America.
See www.makingtracks.com
J4na mailing list
J4na@justicefornewamericans.org
http://justicefornewamericans.org/mailman/listinfo/j4na

6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)
Social & Introductions: 6 pm - 7:30 pm
Dance: 7:30 pm - 11 pm
$10-$30 sliding scale / $5 students
FEATURING
The Stairwell Sisters
http://www.stairwellsisters.com
with calling by Evie Ladin
"wild, hard dance music...infectious" - Oakland Tribune
AND
The Squirrelly Stringband
http://www.spectacularopticals.com/SQUIRRELLY.swf
The Bernal Hill Stringband and other special guests!

7) VOICES IN WARTIME
OPENS IN S.F. APRIL 15, 2005
Landmark Lumiere 3
1572 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

8) Caterpillar Free Zone
Please sign the online petition, Caterpillar:
Stop Bulldozing Palestinian
Lives no later than April 10 in time for Caterpillar
Inc.'s annual shareholders' meeting in Chicago on April 13.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/stopcat/
Caterpillar Free Zone
loumorgan2003@yahoo.com

9) The Coming Draft (LINK ONLY)
veteransforpeace.org
America's armed forces and the demands of current
deployment widen the likelihood of reinstating the draft.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/The_Coming_draft_032504.htm

10) Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up' (LINK ONLY)
Tim Radford, science editor
Guardian
Wednesday March 30, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1447920,00.html

11) Urgent - Defend SFSU and CCNY student activists
Urgent appeal from student activists.
CampusAntiwarNetwork@yahoogroups.com
[Please sign the petition, call-in your support for both SFSU
and CCNY activists.--Desmond]

12) April 7th: Oakland Docks Anti-War Benefit and Commemoration
please forward widely, and apologies for any repostings:
COMMEMORATE APRIL 7, 2003 ANTI-WAR PICKET
& SUPPORT ONE OF THOSE INJURED BY OAKLAND POLICE
A Benefit for Willow Rosenthal's Medical Needs; Willow was permanently injured by
the Oakland Police on April 7th, 2003.
Thursday April 7th, 7 p.m.
Café Van Kleef (21 and over)
1621 Telegraph @17th, Oakland
(19th Street BART)
donation: $10-100 (no one turned away)

13) Economic Growth Brisk, Profits Surge (LINK ONLY)
By Glenn Somerville
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Mar 30, 2005 09:27 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8036633&src=eDialog/GetContent

14) CALL TO ENDORSE
Stop the Budget Cuts!
Tell Bush & Congress:
Hands Off Social Security!
Fund People's Needs -
Not War in Iraq!
Saturday, April 30, 2005
National People's Speak-Out in San Francisco
with Ramsey Clark and others
Mission High School, 3750 18th St., 7 pm

15) U.S. Air Force Plans (LINK ONLY)
for Future War in Space
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 10:00 am ET
22 February 2004
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/
higher_ground_040222.html

16) Join an Historic 24-Hour Emergency Read-In
* Save the Salinas Public Libraries
* Celebrate Your Love of Books
Saturday, April 2nd, 1:00p.m. to Sunday, April 3rd, 1:00p.m.
at Cesar Chavez Public Library, Salinas
At 1:00 p.m. Sunday we will join festive Cesar Chavez Holiday
Celebrations

17) Ella Baker Center, The Oakland Institute, Global
Exchange & KPFA Free Speech Radio Present
Creative Alternatives to Corporate Globalization:
Next Steps for the Movement
A panel discussion and report back with Van Jones &
Deborah James
Moderated by Anuradha Mittal
A Benefit for KPFA Radio
Sunday, April 3rd, 7:00pm
The Women‚s Building
3643 18th Street, San Francisco

18) COMCAST CEO & BIG CABLE EXECS COMING TO TOWN
* STOP MEDIA CONSOLIDATION *
* SPEAK UP FOR OUR COMMUNITIES *
* DEFEND WORKERS' RIGHTS *
RALLY AT THE NATIONAL CABLE CONVENTION
Sunday, April 3rd, 2:00 p.m.
Moscone Center, corner 4th and Howard Streets, San Francisco

19) UN Monitor: War on Iraq (LINK ONLY)
Has Doubled Malnutrition
Among Iraqi Children
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Associated Press
GENEVA
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-08.htm

20) Most Americans Say No (LINK ONLY)
Nations Should Have
Nuclear Weapons
by Will Lester
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005
by the Associated Press
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-05.htm

21) UN Rights Expert Charges (LINK ONLY)
US Using Food Access as Military Tactic
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005
by the Agence France Presse
GENEVA -- A UN human rights expert sharply condemned the
invasion of Iraq and the global anti-terror drive, accusing the
US-led coalition of using food deprivation as a military tactic
and of sapping efforts to fight hunger in the world....
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-12.htm

22) U.S. Soldiers Told to 'Beat (LINK ONLY)
the F**k Out of' Detainees
by William Fisher
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Inter Press Service
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-13.htm

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1) STOP MILITARY RECRUITING AT OUR SCHOOLS!
LETS HIT THE U.S. WAR MACHINE WHERE IT REALLY HURTS!
STOP THE WAR! BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
COME TO THE NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 11:30AM
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)
The High Schools are the meat and potatoes of military
recruitment. JROTC puts them up close and personal with
our kids. We want education not militarization!
The San Francisco Unified School district should cut
all ties to the military!

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

2) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in San Francisco on
APRIL 5th at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at 6:30pm.
600 California at Stockton at 6pm.

Labor and community groups will be welcoming him with
a huge protest initiated by the California Nurses Association.

On April 5 San Francisco's corporate leaders will gather at the
Ritz Carlton to line Arnold's pockets. Join nurses, working
families, patients and Californians from around the state to
stop his corporate sell-out!

Tell the Governor and his donors: "Not in Our Town!"

For more information: 510-273-2240.

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3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

4) Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)
Be There!
For more info: (510) 465-1617 x4, awe@objector.org
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MOOS-BAY/

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5) Justice for New Americans Fundraiser
Sunday, April 17, 2005 2:00 p.m.
San Jose Repertory Theatre
"Making Tracks" is a rock muscial that tells stories
of seven generations of Asian Americans in America.
See www.makingtracks.com
J4na mailing list
J4na@justicefornewamericans.org
http://justicefornewamericans.org/mailman/listinfo/j4na

Then followed by a fundraiser with reading of transcripts of the case that
highlights FBI's interrogation of Wen Ho Lee and Judge Parker's apology,
followed by an award ceremony and a reception.
Ticket available for sale at www.j4na.org

Cecilia L. Chang
Justice for New Americans
P.O. Box 120
Fremont, CA 94537
510 537-2929
510 537-3340 fax
www.j4na.org

J4na mailing list
J4na@justicefornewamericans.org
http://justicefornewamericans.org/mailman/listinfo/j4na

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6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)
Social & Introductions: 6 pm - 7:30 pm
Dance: 7:30 pm - 11 pm
$10-$30 sliding scale / $5 students
FEATURING
The Stairwell Sisters
http://www.stairwellsisters.com
with calling by Evie Ladin
"wild, hard dance music...infectious" - Oakland Tribune
AND
The Squirrelly Stringband
http://www.spectacularopticals.com/SQUIRRELLY.swf
The Bernal Hill Stringband and other special guests!

ANTI WAR EVENT TO SUPPORT A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR:
All dances taught! Beginners welcome!
The most fun you could have for the best cause!
All proceeds to benefit the defense of Pablo Paredes
(swiftsmartveterans.com) and Iraq Veterans Against the War
(ivaw.net). To protest the Iraq War, Petty Officer Third Class
Pablo Paredes publicly refused to deploy to the Middle East and
is now facing military courts martial. IVAW is a newly formed
organization of recent Iraq veterans opposed to the ongoing war
and occupation.

Benefit hosted by Not in Our Name, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, International Socialist Organization, College
Not Combat, Courage to Resist, Freedom Socialist Party, Queers
for Peace and Justice/SF, Radical Women, and Bay Area United
Against War.

Public transit: Muni 19 bus from Civic Center BART (8th Street) -
outbound toward Hunters Point.

"Combine this band's vocal prowess with skilled
multi-instrumental chops and a hellbent-for-leather attitude, and
you have a wild funky recording... Brittle, hard-edged, exciting
ensemble singing... in which the Stairwell Sisters rocket into
the high lonesome stratosphere." - Old-Time Herald

For more information and leaflets:
http://bayarea.notinourname.net
510-601-8000

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7) VOICES IN WARTIME
OPENS IN S.F. APRIL 15, 2005
Landmark Lumiere 3
1572 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

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8) Caterpillar Free Zone
Please sign the online petition, Caterpillar:
Stop Bulldozing Palestinian
Lives no later than April 10 in time for Caterpillar
Inc.'s annual shareholders' meeting in Chicago on April 13.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/stopcat/
Caterpillar Free Zone
loumorgan2003@yahoo.com

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday 29th
March, party leaders on Limerick City
Council will consider a motion
put forward by the Ireland Palestine
Solidarity Campaign to declare
Limerick City the worlds first
Caterpillar
Free Zone.

The motion calls on the City Council
to ban the use of all Caterpillar plant
and machinery on Council worksites
from January 1st 2006, and calls on
all traders in Limerick City to implement
a voluntary ban on the sale of
Caterpillar merchandise.

On April 13th Caterpillar shareholders
meet in Chicago and will discuss
a resolution on the sale of bulldozers
to Israel. The potential domino effect
of a City declaring itself a Caterpillar
Free Zone will not go unnoticed by
the shareholders.

We need your help - please email the
City Council info@limerickcity.ie or
better still phone the Mayors office
(353) 61 415799 and encourage the
councilors to support the motion and
congratulate them for being the first
city in the world to consider such a motion.

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9) The Coming Draft (LINK ONLY)
veteransforpeace.org
America's armed forces and the demands of current
deployment widen the likelihood of reinstating the draft.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/The_Coming_draft_032504.htm

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10) Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up' (LINK ONLY)
Tim Radford, science editor
Guardian
Wednesday March 30, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1447920,00.html

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11) Urgent - Defend SFSU and CCNY student activists
Urgent appeal from student activists.
CampusAntiwarNetwork@yahoogroups.com
[Please sign the petition, call-in your support for both SFSU
and CCNY activists.--Desmond]

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Students Against the War,
San Francisco State University
We ask the public to speak-out
against the administration's plans to
Limit free speech rights, and demand
that no sanctions be placed on students
that helped to plan the March 9th protest.
Please contact:

Robert A. Corrigan, SFSU President
Phone: (415) 338-1381, Fax: (415) 338-6210
Email: corrigan@sfsu.edu please CC your email to:
cansfsu@hotmail.com Penny Saffold,
SFSU Vice President/Dean of Students
Phone: (415) 338-2032, Fax: (415) 338-0900
Email: psaffold@sfsu.edu please
CC your email to: cansfsu@hotmail.com
Also, please sign our online petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/sfsu/petition.html/
For more information about the March 9th protest:
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/breaking/003099.html http://
www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_2603424
http://kpix.dayport.com/launcher/4122/?tf=video_player.tpl
Watch a video of the protest at http:
//www.indybay.org/uploads/collegenotcombat.mov
We urgently need your help. Please lend your support
to anti-war Student activists and activists who are
fighting the militarization of our
schools byletting the administration
know that their actions are not supported by
members of the community, students,
alumni, faculty, and staff.

Sincerely,
Students Against War

CCNY Activists Need Your Support
On March 9, CCNY security attacked student and faculty
protestors who were demonstrating against military
recruiters.
www.citydefensecampaign.org

COME HEAR THE TRUTH & SPEAK YOUR MIND AT
OUR TOWN HALL MEETING
12:30pm Thursday, March 31st
CCNY, NAC Building, Room 1/202

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

1. Let them know what you think:
(and copy cityfreespeech@earthlink.net on your emails)

Gregory Williams, President
212-650-7285/7286, 212-650-7680 (fax)
c/o Chief of Staff Michael Rogovin
mrogovin@ccny.cuny.edu
Maureen Powers, VP for Student Affairs
212-650-5426, 212-650-7080 (fax)
c/o Assistant to the VP George Rhinehart
grhinehart@ccny.cuny.edu
George Crinnion, Director of Public Safety
212-650-7992, 212-650-7991
(fax) gcrinnion@ccny.cuny.edu
Danny Vasquez, Security Specialist
212-650-7988, 212-650-7991
(fax) dvasquez@ccny.cuny.edu 2.
Sign on to the letter supporting free speech on campus

To sign onto the letter, send an email to:
cityfreespeech@earthlink.net 3. Donate to the defense fund:
Make checks payable to City Defense Fund,
809 W. 181st St. #182, New
York, NY 10033

4. Join the next defense campaign meeting
(1.5 blocks from campus)

7pm Monday, April 4th
417 W. 141st Street #2
(2nd buzzer from the top)
between St. Nicholas & Hamilton Terrace

*SAVE THE DATES*
Disciplinary hearings for the students and staff
will be April 8th and
14th respectively.
Details TBA.
Visit http://www.campusantiwar.net
for more on counter-recruitment by
CAN affiliates.

Charles Jenks
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keet Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427 (Traprock office line) http://www.traprockpeace.org

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12) April 7th: Oakland Docks Anti-War Benefit and Commemoration
please forward widely, and apologies for any repostings:
COMMEMORATE APRIL 7, 2003 ANTI-WAR PICKET
& SUPPORT ONE OF THOSE INJURED BY OAKLAND POLICE
A Benefit for Willow Rosenthal's Medical Needs; Willow was
permanently injured by the Oakland Police on April 7th, 2003.
Thursday April 7th, 7 p.m.
Café Van Kleef (21 and over)
1621 Telegraph @17th, Oakland
(19th Street BART)
donation: $10-100 (no one turned away)

MUSIC:
·Andrea Pritchett (of Rebecca Riots), Shelley Doty (East Bay
Express called her "the complete performer in her use of cranked
Emotions in her singing, edgy rock energy and swinging jazz
guitar rhythms." ) & Friends

·Henri Ducharme with TaraLinda - New French music and beyond
(accordion & vocals)

·Spoken Word Performance

VIDEO:
·"Shots on the Docks" the documentary depicting the events at
the Oakland Docks on April 7, 2003 by Steve Zeltzer of the
Labor Video Project will screen.

SPEAKERS:
·Jack Heyman, ILWU rank and file activist who was arrested by
police April 7, 2003 and fought and won bogus charges against him.

·Antonia Juhasz, winner of the Project Censored Award for her
article on the corporate invasion of Iraq, co-author of 'Alternatives
to Economic Globalization' (2nd Edition) and antiwar educator and
organizer.

·Bernardo Garcia-Pandavenes, Campaign for Community Safety and
Police Accountability.

.Osha Neumann, part of the team of civil rights attorneys who,
through a civil suit in conjunction with grassroots pressure, won new
OPD crowd control policy that prohibits the indiscriminate use of wooden
bullets, rubber bullets, tasers, bean bags, pepper spray and police
motorcycles to control or disperse crowds or demonstrations.

HORS D'OEUVRES WILL BE SERVED

On April 7 2003 hundreds of Bay
Area anti-war, labor and community
activists picketed corporate war
profiteers at the Oakland docks. The
Oakland Police Department (OPD),
after meeting days before with
Maritime bosses, opened fire on
nonviolent community members with wooden
bullets, shot-filled sacks and
concussion grenades and charged people with
motorcycles for two hours. Their
assault injured 60, including 7 long
shore workers and 3 members
of the press, in the most violent attack on
the anti-war movement in the US,
which was addressed by the UN
Commission on Human Rights.
Picketers did shut down the
docks on April 7, 2003,
A month later on May 12 and
one year later on April 7, 2004.

Those arrested and facing bogus
charges won their cases and there have
been reforms to police crowd
practices won in civil suits in the
aftermath, but the OPD and
Mayor Jerry Brown (who may run for
California Attorney General)
remain largely unaccountable.

Willow Rosenthal, urban farmer,
community organizer, and anti-war
Social justice activist, sustained
permanent injuries on that day. We are a
group of friends of Willow and
local activists who are raising money to
assist her with her medical
expenses, as she has not received any
compensation from the city of
Oakland. In the event that her case
settles, any unused funds raised
will be diverted to anti-war organizing.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
·Forward this email to your lists and friends
·Donate money in any of the following ways
1.On line with a credit card at
http://www.actagainstwar.org 2.
Send a check to
Willow Rosenthal
PO Box 611
Berkeley, CA 94701

3.Or come to the benefit on April 7th
and make a donation in person.

Contact: Dorrit 510-981-1967
dorrit@riseup.net Sponsored by:
friends of Willow, Campaign for
Community Safety and Police
Accountability (PUEBLO), Code
Orange Affinity Group, and the Transport Workers
SolidarityCommittee (formerly the
Committee to Defend ILWU Local 10 BA Jack
Heyman). http://www.actagainstwar.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

13) Economic Growth Brisk, Profits Surge (LINK ONLY)
By Glenn Somerville
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
Wed Mar 30, 2005 09:27 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/
newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8036633&src=eDialog/GetContent

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

14) CALL TO ENDORSE
Stop the Budget Cuts!
Tell Bush & Congress:
Hands Off Social Security!
Fund People's Needs -
Not War in Iraq!
Saturday, April 30, 2005
National People's Speak-Out in San Francisco
with Ramsey Clark and others
Mission High School, 3750 18th St., 7 pm

Click here to endorse

Act Now - Become an Endorser Today!
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Action Plan includes merging the
struggle against endless war with resistance and opposition
to Bush's assault on Social Security, social programs, unions
and working people's rights at home. We appeal to you to
endorse these important actions today.

Bush has launched a taxpayer funded campaign, complete
with a strategizing "war room," to push through his plan to
privatize Social Security. Bush and his corporate advisors are
falsely crying "crisis" to scare younger workers into accepting
"reforms." What is really going on is a scheme to channel
hundreds of billions of dollars to the big Wall Street banks
and investment firms at our expense. Currently Bush is on
a 60-day, 60-city tour to convince people around the
country to support his plan to destroy this vital social program.

The Bush administration intends to slash virtually all
remaining social services, including Social Security, to fund
unlimited war and occupation in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan,
Haiti and more. They continue to spend more than $200 million
a day on the war in Iraq, while targeting over 150 vital health,
housing, education and jobs programs for complete elimination
in this year's budget. The impact would be devastating for
millions of people, and we must stop them in their tracks.

On Saturday, April 30th, join the broadening movement to say
"Stop the Budget Cuts! Hands Off Social Security! Fund People's
Needs - Not War in Iraq!" at the National People's Speak Out
in San Francisco.

Here's what you can do:

1) BECOME AN ENDORSER. Endorsements from organizations
and individuals are welcome. CLICK HERE to become an
endorser of this call and the Saturday April 30th Regional
Mass Rally at Mission High School in San Francisco.

2) ORGANIZE TRANSPORTATION to the April 30th National
People's Speak-Out in San Francisco. We will stand together
to say "Stop the Budget Cuts! Hands Off Our Social Security!
Fund People's Needs, Not War!" Join us! Don't forget to bring
signs and banners representing your organization. CLICK
HERE to fill out the Transportation Form and help spread the
word about your union or organization's car caravan, van or
bus coming to April 30th.

3) DOWNLOAD A FLYER AND FACT SHEET, SPREAD THE WORD
about April 30th and the campaign to defend social security,
stop the budget cuts, and fund people's needs - not war in
Iraq. CLICK HERE to download and initial flyer and fact sheets.

4) ORGANIZE OR JOIN THE PROTESTS in every city of Bush's
"Destroy Social Security" tour. The AFL-CIO and other
organizations are mobilizing protesters, young and old, to
meet Bush and say "Stop the Budget Cuts! Hands Off Social
Security! Stop the War!" A.N.S.W.E.R. calls the antiwar
movement and all activists to join these demonstrations
and connect the issue of Iraq and militarism with the fight
to defend Social Security and to defeat the Bush budget
cuts. If Bush is coming to your city, contact our National
Office in Washington DC at 202-544-3389.

5) HOLD A PEOPLE'S SPEAK OUT to Stop the Budget Cuts,
Defend Social Security, and Fund People's Needs, Not War,
April 30 - May 6 in your community or on your campus.
Contact us to find a Speak-Out near you or for assistance
or to have an A.N.S.W.E.R. organizer speak at your activity.
Fact sheets and other materials can be downloaded from
our website at http://www.answercoalition.org/. Fill out
the Event Listing form to help spread the word about your
action.

6) DONATE to the campaign to the Stop the Budget Cuts
Hands Off Social Security Fund People's Needs not War
Campaign. The success of these events and continuing
strength of the movement depend on donations from you,
and people like you, who are dedicated to defending and
expanding the gains the people have won. We can not do
it without your help. CLICK HERE to make a tax-deductible
donation over a secure server, you'll also get information
on donating by check.

CLICK HERE TO ENDORSE the call to say "Stop the Budget
Cuts! Hands Off Our Social Security! Fund People's Needs,
Not War!" - April 30th Mass Regional Rally in San Francisco.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org http://www.actionsf.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-533-0417
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
For media inquiries, call 415-821-6545.

Help the movement continue to grow strong. You can make
a tax-deductible contribution to A.N.S.W.E.R. through
a secure server by clicking here, where you can also find
information on how to contribute by check.
Click here to subscribe to the ANSWER SF e-mail list,
click log in, register and manage your preferences.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

15) U.S. Air Force Plans (LINK ONLY)
for Future War in Space
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 10:00 am ET
22 February 2004
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/
higher_ground_040222.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

16) Join an Historic 24-Hour Emergency Read-In
* Save the Salinas Public Libraries
* Celebrate Your Love of Books
Saturday, April 2nd, 1:00p.m. to Sunday, April 3rd, 1:00p.m.
at Cesar Chavez Public Library, Salinas
At 1:00 p.m. Sunday we will join festive Cesar Chavez Holiday
Celebrations

Join us in an historic 24-hour emergency read-in! Libraries are the
Soul of our communities, providing vital services to all - especially the
most low - income members and children. We need to help save our
libraries!

While Congress is about to allocate another $81 billion for war, vital
services at home are being slashed - affordable housing, food stamps,
public transportation, health care, and education - including
libraries. According to the American Library Association, library
funding cuts have topped $100 million in the last 18 months, and
libraries in almost every state in the nation are facing cuts of up to
50 percent.

In Salinas, California--the hometown of the great John Steinbeck and
heart of the farmworker community, the entire public library system is
scheduled to close for lack of funds. This poor farmworker community
has paid $80.5 million in taxes for the war in Iraq
( http://costofwar.com/ ), but
doesn't have $5 million to keep its libraries open.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

17) Ella Baker Center, The Oakland Institute, Global
Exchange & KPFA Free Speech Radio Present
Creative Alternatives to Corporate Globalization:
Next Steps for the Movement
A panel discussion and report back with Van Jones &
Deborah James
Moderated by Anuradha Mittal
A Benefit for KPFA Radio
Sunday, April 3rd, 7:00pm
The Women‚s Building
3643 18th Street, San Francisco

The event will provide a lively and informative
community forum to address the latest policies
promoted by the neo-liberalist agenda, and the global
resistance movement‚s current strategies to build
creative alternatives to these undemocratic global
initiatives. The panelists will report back from both
the World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum,
which each met this past January in Davos, Switzerland
and in Porte Alegra, Brazil, respectively. The World
Economic Forum, which invites 1,000 top international
business and political leaders, has gathered annually
for over 30 years to discuss issues regarding
macroeconomics and to develop geo-political agendas.
The World Social Forum, in contrast, convenes hundreds
of thousands of social, environmental and cultural
activists to formulate effective alternatives to
corporate globalization, and to build just,
sustainable and democratic solutions.

Tickets: $10 at the door. No one turned away for lack
of funds.
Public Information: www.kpfa.org  510-848-6767 x255

Van Jones, Esq, is the founder and National Executive
Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
(EBC). Headquartered in Oakland, EBC is a national
organization that challenges human rights abuses in
the U.S. criminal justice system.Van is a steadfast
opponent of policies that result in the
over-imprisonment and unlawful abuse of marginalized
peoples in the U.S. The Center‚s new program, Reclaim
the Future, can be viewed at:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org

Deborah James is the Global Economy Director at Global
Exchange, where she has worked to democratize the
global economy since 1993. In 2004, Deborah served as
the first Executive Director of the Venezuela
Information Office in Washington, DC, an organization
that reframed public debate of the exciting
progressive social transformation and successfully
shifted US foreign policy towards Venezuela.
http://www.globalexchange.org

Anuradha Mittal, a native of India, is an
internationally renowned expert on trade, development,
human rights and agricultural issues. She is the
author and editor of numerous articles and books
including America Needs Human Rights, She is the
founder and executive director of a new policy think
tank, The Oakland Institute.
http://www.oaklandinstitute.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

18) COMCAST CEO & BIG CABLE EXECS COMING TO TOWN
* STOP MEDIA CONSOLIDATION *
* SPEAK UP FOR OUR COMMUNITIES *
* DEFEND WORKERS' RIGHTS *
RALLY AT THE NATIONAL CABLE CONVENTION
Sunday, April 3rd, 2:00 p.m.
Moscone Center, corner 4th and Howard Streets, San Francisco

Comcast dominates more than just cable TV in the U.S. -- they also
control how many of us access the Internet. They use this power to
raise rates, invade customers' privacy, harass and punish employees
who speak up for their rights, and ignore the demands of the
communities where they operate.

In the Bay Area alone, Comcast holds over 100 cable franchises,
most of which function as monopolies. Comcast has sued San Jose
and Walnut Creek, has failed to pay the money it owes to Sacramento,
and won't renew contracts that expired years ago in dozens
of other cities.

Now Comcast is co-sponsoring the Cable Industry's national
convention in San Francisco, where the company's long
awaited contract re-negotiation with the City is just about
to begin.

This rally is sponsored by the Communications Workers
of America, AFL-CIO, Media Alliance, Media Action Marin,
Jobs with Justice, Global Exchange, and CodePink.

For more information contact CWA Local 9415
(510) 834-9415 or CWA Local 9423 (408) 278-9423,
organize@cwa9423.com

Contact Media Alliance
1904 Franklin St., Ste. 500
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-832-9000
Fax: 510-238-8557
information@media-alliance.org

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

19) UN Monitor: War on Iraq (LINK ONLY)
Has Doubled Malnutrition
Among Iraqi Children
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Associated Press
GENEVA
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-08.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

20) Most Americans Say No (LINK ONLY)
Nations Should Have
Nuclear Weapons
by Will Lester
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Associated Press
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-05.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

21) UN Rights Expert Charges (LINK ONLY)
US Using Food Access as Military Tactic
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Agence France Presse
GENEVA -- A UN human rights expert sharply condemned the invasion
of Iraq and the global anti-terror drive, accusing the US-led coalition
of using food deprivation as a military tactic and of sapping efforts to
fight hunger in the world....
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-12.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

22) U.S. Soldiers Told to 'Beat (LINK ONLY)
the F**k Out of' Detainees
by William Fisher
Published on Thursday, March 31, 2005 by the Inter Press Service
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0331-13.htm

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

23) Okay, We Give Up
Scientific American, April 2005
By The Editors
http://blondesense.blogspot.com/2005/03/science-was-just-bunch-of-
theory.html

There's no easy way to admit this. For years,
helpful letter writers told us to stick to
science. They pointed out that science and
politics don't mix. They said we should be more
balanced in our presentation of such issues as
creationism, missile defense and global warming.
We resisted their advice and pretended not to be
stung by the accusations that the magazine should
be renamed Unscientific American, or Scientific
Unamerican, or even Unscientific Unamerican. But
spring is in the air, and all of nature is
turning over a new leaf, so there's no better
time to say: you were right, and we were wrong.

In retrospect, this magazine's coverage of
so-called evolution has been hideously one-sided.
For decades, we published articles in every issue
that endorsed the ideas of Charles Darwin and his
cronies. True, the theory of common descent
through natural selection has been called the
unifying concept for all of biology and one of
the greatest scientific ideas of all time, but
that was no excuse to be fanatics about it.

Where were the answering articles presenting the
powerful case for scientific creationism? Why
were we so unwilling to suggest that dinosaurs
lived 6,000 years ago or that a cataclysmic flood
carved the Grand Canyon? Blame the scientists.
They dazzled us with their fancy fossils, their
radiocarbon dating and their tens of thousands of
peer-reviewed journal articles. As editors, we
had no business being persuaded by mountains of
evidence.

Moreover, we shamefully mistreated the
Intelligent Design (ID) theorists by lumping them
in with creationists. Creationists believe that
God designed all life, and that's a somewhat
religious idea. But ID theorists think that at
unspecified times some unnamed superpowerful
entity designed life, or maybe just some species,
or maybe just some of the stuff in cells. That's
what makes ID a superior scientific theory: it
doesn't get bogged down in details.

Good journalism values balance above all else. We
owe it to our readers to present everybody's
ideas equally and not to ignore or discredit
theories simply because they lack scientifically
credible arguments or facts. Nor should we
succumb to the easy mistake of thinking that
scientists understand their fields better than,
say, U.S. senators or best-selling novelists do.
Indeed, if politicians or special-interest groups
say things that seem untrue or misleading, our
duty as journalists is to quote them without
comment or contradiction. To do otherwise would
be elitist and therefore wrong. In that spirit,
we will end the practice of expressing our own
views in this space: an editorial page is no
place for opinions.

Get ready for a new Scientific American. No more
discussions of how science should inform policy.
If the government commits blindly to building an
anti-ICBM defense system that can't work as
promised, that will waste tens of billions of
taxpayers' dollars and imperil national security,
you won't hear about it from us. If studies
suggest that the administration's antipollution
measures would actually increase the dangerous
particulates that people breathe during the next
two decades, that's not our concern. No more
discussions of how policies affect science
eitherb$"so what if the budget for the National
Science Foundation is slashed? This magazine will
be dedicated purely to science, fair and balanced
science, and not just the science that scientists
say is science. And it will start on April Fools'
Day.

Okay, We Give Up

MATT COLLINS
THE EDITORS editors@sciam.com
COPYRIGHT 2005 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

posted 12:11 PM 0 comments

Monday, March 28, 2005

BAUAW NEWSLETTER-MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2005

posted 10:55 AM 0 comments

Sunday, March 27, 2005

BAUAW NEWSLETTER-SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2005

*******************************************************

THE NEXT BAUAW MEETING:
SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 11:30AM
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)

*******************************************************

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in San Francisco on APRIL 5th at
the Ritz Carlton Hotel at 6:30pm. 600 California at Stockton at 6pm.

Labor and community groups will be welcoming him with a huge protest
initiated by the California Nurses Association.

On April 5 San Francisco's corporate leaders will gather at the Ritz
Carlton to line Arnold's pockets. Join nurses, working families,
patients and Californians from around the state to stop his corporate
sell-out!

Tell the Governor and his donors: "Not in Our Town!"

For more information: 510-273-2240.

*******************************************************
STOP MILITARY RECRUITING AT OUR SCHOOLS!
LETS HIT THE U.S. WAR MACHINE WHERE IT REALLY HURTS!
STOP THE WAR! BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
*******************************************************

Dear all,

I would like to refer you to a front-page article today in the
New York Times. (see below #1) It's about the difficulty
military recruiters are having trying to meet their quotas.
This makes the demand to get the military out of our schools
a very powerful demand, especially now.

The antiwar movement has a chance to hit the government and
its war effort where it really hurts. If we all unite and
work together, to turn the movement against the war into
a really massive grass roots movement-one that is established
in each community-we could reduce recruitment
even further and really strengthen the movement to end the
war and bring the troops home now! This will be the strongest,
most powerful, resistance movement ever seen before in the
belly of the beast. United we have a chance to win peace.

WHAT CAN THEY DO WITHOUT CANNON FODDER?

The Times article shows that even the military recruiters
are demoralized! What a great beginning for us! Now is the
time for the antiwar movement to organize the kids in the
schools and the streets to say, "HELL NO! WE WON'T GO!"
"GET THE MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS! HANDS OFF OUR KIDS!"
"ZERO RECRUITMENT IN OUR CITY!" "STOP THE WAR AND BRING THE
TROOPS HOME NOW!" "SELF-DETERMINATION and U.S. FINANCIAL
REPREATIONS FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ" "TAX THE WAR
PROFITEERS TO PAY FOR IT!"

Our group, Bay Area United Against War, has been advocating
the unity of all groups since our inception in December 2003.
We immediately affiliated ourselves with ANSWER, UNITED FOR
PEACE AND JUSTICE AND NOT IN OUR NAME. If all these groups
could come together to end this war we could have teams in
each community that go door to door, set up tables, etc.
We don't have to disband our own groups. We could establish
united goals and work toward united actions and a strategy
to cover every community in the bay area with antiwar
information such as "opt-out" forms, reasons for not joining
the military, illustrating how the billions spent on war is
impacting the world's economy and causing more poverty,
homelessness and hunger everywhere while literally blowing
up the world's resources with weapons of mass destruction.

But it isn't enough for the groups to get together either.
We need to have a way for the community to participate in the
planning and decision making process if this movement is to
be truly representative of the masses who are opposed to this
war. We could begin the formation of neighborhood antiwar
committees. Continue to build Labor antiwar committees, even
professional and business antiwar committees and unite all
of them.

With all of us working together we would have the forces to
cover the city and set an example for the whole country. And
we could set up a national and international network of
like-minded people to develop ties with and carry out
international antiwar work.

We could also get signatures on petitions or get measures on
the ballot to ban the military from our cities all around the
country, greatly expanding what we did for Proposition N
last fall and in the spirit of the recent Vermont votes;
We could encourage "Town Hall" meetings everywhere-even around the
world; locally, we could set up a table outside of every
recruiting office demanding that they get out of our city and
do our best to convince anyone thinking of joining to take
a second look at the facts which we, conveniently, have with
us-and there is plenty of stuff out there to hand out. Our
goal should be zero recruitment in San Francisco and the
whole Bay Area!

This inability to recruit new cannon fodder is a real weak
point in the U.S. war plans. We have to be organized and
prepared for what the government might do about it, like
a draft. After all, they are taking non-high school graduates
now. Recruiters are so demoralized that 37 have actually
gone AWOL and others have considered suicide! And they
are relying on recruitment out of high schools. The high
schools are the meat and gravy of the military. This is where
a bring the troops home now; stop the war in Iraq; and a
"Hell no! We won't go" "No JROTC" counter-recruitment,
united movement, could hit the U.S. war machine where
it really hurts!

Let's work toward united actions in the fall. Let's spend
until then organizing for them under a banner of unity.

We will be discussing these and other issues at our next meeting,
Saturday, April 2, 11:30 A.M., at 474 Valencia Street near the
16th & Mission Streets BART station. Our meeting will take
place at the Compañeros del Barrio Children's Center on the
first floor, to the left and all the way to the back of the
building.

Everyone is welcome to come and discuss these issues and
how to work toward a united antiwar movement that has the
power to stop the insanity of this war and the U.S.
militarization of the world. We don't pretend to have all
the answers. But we do think unity and coordination of
the movement is what it will take to reach out to all those who
are opposed to this war and get them involved. It is a must!

The only logical "next step" for the antiwar movement is to
come together to organize the unorganized. That will take a well
organized operation that coordinates outreach to make sure all
areas are covered-so that whenever a recruiter steps
on to school grounds he or she is met with opposition and
that we have information to hand out to those they wish to entrap.
The majority of the people in this country are now opposed
to the war. A united movement has more muscle.

It could virtually put a halt to military recruiting and
significantly strengthen our voice in opposition to the war.

Together we have the power to act in our own interests-in
the interest of all humanity for peace and human
justice-and to thwart the interests of the war mongers!

Peace and solidarity,

Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War, www.bauaw.org
415-824-8730

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) NEW YORK TIMES FRONT PAGE
For Recruiters,
a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell
By DAMIEN CAVE
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/
27recruit.html?hp&ex=1111899600&en=6a48988b1357eb7b&ei=5094&partner=h
omepage

2) Going Small in the Big City
By Chuck Zlatkin
March 26, 2005
http://www.rightiswrong.com/zlatkinletter.php

3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)

4) Students,If you're concerned about military recruiters on
your campus, the possiblity of a draft, the impact of war on
your community...
Please join an emerging Bay Area network of community and
campus organizations that are coming together to take action
on these issues.
Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)

5) STOP THE CONDO CONVERSIONS!
FROM: TOMMI MECCA
Dear Friends:
STOP THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Wednesday, March 30, 12 Noon at City Hall
(Polk St. Steps). This is a rally against legislation (by Sups.
Dufty and Alioto-Pier) which would gut the condo conversion law.
Their legislation will let thousands of units become condominiums
instantly. It will increase Ellis Act evictions and reward
landlords for evicting senior and disabled tenants. Their measure
also sets a way for landlords to quickly convert units to
condominiums as a way to repeal rent control (rented condominiums
are exempt from rent control under state law!).
At 1 PM, the Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the
proposed legislation (Room 263, City Hall). Come to the hearing,
too, and testify against the measure.

6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)

7) Family Wonders if Prozac (LINK ONLY)
Prompted School Shootings
By MONICA DAVEY and GARDINER HARRIS
March 26, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/national/26shoot.html

8) From Hero to Homeless (LINK ONLY)
By Byron Pitts
CBS News
Friday 25 March 2005
For 25-year-old Herold Noel, this winter, like the war,
has not been kind.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032605Y.shtml

9) Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence (LINK ONLY)
By Ceci Connolly
The Washington Post
Friday 25 March 2005
Response to school shooting is contrasted with president's
intervention in Schiavo case.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032505B.shtml

10) That Guy Flipping Burgers (LINK ONLY)
Is No Kid Anymore
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/27teen.html

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*

1) NEW YORK TIMES FRONT PAGE
For Recruiters,
a Hard Toll From a Hard Sell
By DAMIEN CAVE
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/
27recruit.html?hp&ex=1111899600&en=6a48988b1357eb7b&ei=5094&partner=h
omepage

The Army's recruiters are being challenged with one of the hardest
selling jobs the military has asked of them in the nation's history,
and many say the demands are taking a toll.

A recruiter in New York said pressure from the Army to meet his
recruiting goals during a time of war has given him stomach
problems and searing back pain. Suffering from bouts of depression,
he said he has considered suicide.

Another, in Texas, said he had volunteered many times to go to
Iraq rather than face ridicule, rejection and the Army's wrath.

An Army chaplain said he had counseled nearly a dozen recruiters
in the past 18 months to help them cope with marital troubles and
job-related stress.

"There were a couple of recruiters that felt they were having nervous
breakdowns, literally," said Maj. Stephen Nagler, a chaplain who
retired in March after serving at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, where
the New York City recruiting battalion is based.

Some two dozen recruiters nationwide were interviewed about
their experiences over four months. Ten spoke with The New
York Times even after an Army official sent an e-mail message
advising all recruiters not to speak to a reporter, who was named.
Most asked to remain anonymous to avoid being disciplined.

A handful who spoke said they were satisfied with their jobs. They
said they took pride in seeing awkward, unfocused teenagers
transform into confident soldiers and relished an opportunity
to contribute to the Army effort.

But most told similar tales: of loving the military, of working hard
to complete a task that seemed out of reach, of struggling to carry
the nation's burden at a time of anxiety and stress.

The careers and self-esteem of recruiters rise and fall on their
ability to fulfill a mission, said current and former Army officials
and military experts who were also interviewed. Recruiters said
falling short often generates a barrage of angry correspondence,
formal reprimands, threats or even demotion.

"The recruiter is stuck in the situation where you're not going to
make mission, it just won't happen," the New York recruiter said.
"And you're getting chewed out every day for it. It's horrible." He
said the assignment was more strenuous than the time he was
shot at while deployed in Africa.

At least 37 members of the Army Recruiting Command, which
oversees enlistment, have gone AWOL since October 2002, Army
figures show. And, in what recruiters consider another sign of
stress, the number of improprieties committed - signing up
unqualified people to meet quotas or giving bonuses or other
enlistment benefits to recruits not eligible for them - has
increased, Army documents show.

"They don't necessarily have real bullets flying at them," said
Major Nagler. "But there are different kind of bullets they need
to contend with - the bullets of not producing numbers, of
having a station commander shoot them down."

The Army is seeking 101,200 new active-duty Army and
Reserve soldiers this year alone to replenish the ranks in
Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world and
at home. That means each of the Army's 7,500 recruiters
faces the grind of an unyielding human math at a time of
extended war without a draft: a quota of two new recruits
a month.

The mission puts them in a different kind of cross-fire: On
one side, the military's requirement that new soldiers be
found. On the other, resistance by many parents to Army
careers for their children in wartime.

Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commander of the Army
Recruiting Command, acknowledged it is a stressful time for
recruiters, who face "the toughest challenge to the all-volunteer
Army" since it began in 1973.

"I do not deny being demanding," said General Rochelle,
leader of the command since 2002. "We have a vitally important
mission in terms of providing volunteers for an army that is
at war and that is growing."

He said the Army has already added recruiters and taken
measures to expand the pool of potential recruits, by
accepting older recruits and more people without high
school diplomas. More changes are being considered, he said.

But many recruiters said the Army continues to minimize
how difficult it has become to find qualified volunteers during
a war and in a growing economy.

For the first time in nearly five years, the Army missed its
active-duty recruiting goal in February. The Reserve has
missed its monthly quota since October. Army officials said
the goals would most likely be missed in March and April
as well.

Gen. Richard A. Cody, Army vice chief of staff, told Congress
on March 16 that he is concerned about whether the Army
can continue to provide the troops the nation needs.

"What keeps me awake at night," he said, "is what will this
all-volunteer force look like in 2007?"

The Marines also missed its monthly recruiting goal in January,
for the first time in a decade. The Navy and Air Force, which
provide fewer troops for the war, are on track to meet their quotas.

Trying to refill the ranks solely through recruitment in wartime
is rare. Historians say the Spanish-American War, Mexican-
American War and Gulf War were the only major conflicts since
1775 that did not rely, in part, on conscription.

Since 1973, the Army has usually maintained an all-volunteer
force of a million active-duty, Reserve and National Guard
soldiers, primarily through a marketing campaign that promoted
opportunities for adventure, new skills, college money and
other personal goals - enticements that, in wartime, often do
not outweigh fear of combat and death, Army surveys show.

While some in Congress have raised the specter of a draft, the
Bush administration has rejected that idea, saying higher skilled
soldiers are needed in a high-tech age, and are best found
through recruitment.

But several senior officers interviewed, including Col. Greg Parlier,
retired, who until 2002 headed the research and strategy arm
of the Army Recruiting Command, said the pressure on recruiters
shows the policy should be re-examined, and initiatives like
national service should be considered.

Courting Mom and Dad

The Army is the nation's largest military branch, comprising
80 percent of the 150,000 troops in Iraq. Its recruiters are
among its best soldiers. Most are sergeants with 5 to 15 years
of experience, pulled randomly from the top 10 percent of their
specialty, as defined by their commanding officers. More than
70 percent did not volunteer for the job.

Some soldiers are better suited to the task than others. Staff
Sgt. Jose E. Zayas, 42, is outgoing, bilingual and embraces his
mission. Recently, canvassing in the Bronx, he had little
trouble persuading a couple from Massachusetts to accept
a few pamphlets.

But for every Sergeant Zayas, there is a recruiter like Sgt. Joshua
Harris, 29, a former personnel administrator in a New Jersey
recruiting station, who struggles when talking to strangers.
Seven weeks of instruction in approaching prospects helped
him, he said. But many recruiters said few soldiers possess
the skills they need.

Recruiters are paid about $30,000 a year, plus housing and
other allowances, including $450 a month in special-duty
pay for recruiting. They live where they recruit, often
hundreds of miles from a base.

These men, and occasionally women, spend several hours
a day cold-calling high school students, whose phone numbers
are provided by schools under the No Child Left Behind law.
They also must "prospect" at malls, at high schools, colleges
and wherever else young people gather.

The follow-up process often takes months. Though parents
do not have to sign off on the decision to join, recruiters
said it is virtually impossible to enlist a new recruit without
their approval. Over dinners and on the phone, they make
the Army's case over and over to win parents' support.

If they succeed, they are responsible for bringing the
recruit in for 5:30 a.m. processing , organizing physical
fitness training or, in the case of one California recruiter,
taking 3 a.m. phone calls to comfort a recruit crying over
a breakup with her boyfriend.

The whims are many from the young, restless and uncertain,
experts said.

Recruiters have "the only military occupation that deals
with the civilian world entirely," said Charles Moskos,
a military sociologist at Northwestern University.

Army data found that, even before the war, recruiters
contacted on average about 120 people before landing
an active-duty recruit. That number has only grown,
recruiters said.

One recruiter in the New York area said that when he
steps outside his office for a cigarette, he often is
barraged with epithets from passers-by angry about the war.

In January, the brother-in-law of a prospective recruit
lashed into him. "He swore at me," the recruiter said,
"and said that he would rather have his brother-in-law
in jail for selling crack than in the Army."

The recruiter said, when out of uniform, he often lies
about his profession. "I tell them I work in human
resources," he said.

Still, they must sign up two recruits a month. Anyone
with an outstanding criminal case, health problems or
poor test scores is disqualified. Most months, at least
one must have a high school diploma and score in the
top 50 percent of the military's aptitude test.

Lt. Col. William F. Adams, a psychologist at the United
States Military Academy who has counseled recruiters,
empathized with the pressure but said it came with the
job. Of the recruiting goal, he said, "It is not a goal or
a target; it is a mission. If you don't do it, you're a failure."

A December report from the commanding officers overseeing
about 40 recruiters in West Houston reflects the mission-
driven culture of recruitment. Sent by e-mail to station
commanders, it started by declaring, "We can sum up the
month of Dec with one word - Unprofessional!"

The document noted that in an end-of-the-month push
to meet quota, seven recruits had appeared for processing.
Of those, two did not meet weight requirements and
needed a waiver, while two others lacked paperwork.

"We are processing crap," the report stated, "double and
triple waivers, waivers which get approved and the applicant
refuses to enlist (two this month), waivers on people with
more than 20 charges, etc. We are putting these people
in our Army!"

The cause, it said, was a lack of leadership: "I challenged
you to fix your stations. No one has stepped forward."

Asked to respond to the document, the Houston recruiting
battalion declined.

The report was followed on Jan. 6 by an e-mail message
from Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Norris, the second in
command of 212 recruiters in and around Houston,
threatening to deny all requests for leave.

"There are no excuses and I am tired of entertaining such
lack of discipline and focus," he said in the e-mail message
forwarded to The Times by a recruiter who received it.
"Let this serve notice that any station commander that is
holding this great battalion back will not be a station
commander in this battalion very much longer."

Neither document contained any mention of the war, nor
other possible obstacles. Sergeant Major Norris declined
through an Army spokesman to be interviewed. General
Rochelle said most battalions do not resort to such tactics.

Brawling Over Prospects

The recruiter in New York who had considered suicide
said he has seen at least four marriages break up among
the 9 or 10 recruiters in his area since 2002. He said he
has been subjected to threats of discharge and "zero-roller
training," when superiors comb through recruiters' phone
logs and other materials, then lambaste them for failing to
enlist anyone.

After more than a decade in the military, he said he still
loves the Army.

"It's just this detail," he said. "This is hell."

A Texas recruiter - a gruff man whose home is decorated
with military commendations - said that he suffers from
severe headaches lasting up to six hours. "I never had them
until I got out here," he said. "They're from recruiting."

He and other recruiters said they occasionally feel angry
enough to hit someone. About two years ago, he said, two
recruiters in his office brawled over who should get credit
for a new recruit.

"We call this the pressure plate, like on a land mine," he
said, pointing to the recruiter patch on his uniform. "If
you push it too hard, we'll explode."

His wife, like spouses in California and elsewhere, is furious
at what she sees as the Army's lack of support.

"What we are doing is good; recruiting is good and important
work," she said. "But the fact of the matter is that it's killing
our soldiers."

Many of the recruiters said they have asked for other
assignments. One of them is Sgt. Latrail Hayes. Now 27,
Sergeant Hayes enlisted in the Army 10 years ago, out of high
school in Virginia Beach, continuing a family tradition of military
service. He volunteered to be a recruiter in 2000, after 52 jumps
as a paratrooper, and at first his easy charm, appeals to
patriotism and offers of Army benefits enticed dozens of recruits.

But Sergeant Hayes said he started rethinking his assignment
as the war went on. Mothers required months, not weeks, of
persuasion. And the stories he heard from some of his recruits
who had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan made him reluctant
to pursue prospects by emphasizing the Army's benefits. When
his cousin - whom he had recruited - came home from Iraq
with psychological trauma, he filed for conscientious objector
status in June, as a strategy to obtain a new assignment.

The application was rejected in November. Now, instead of
serving 20 years in the Army, he intends to leave in December,
when his recruiting tour is done. "There's a deep human
connection when you try to persuade someone to do
something you've done," he said. "So when it turns into
something else - maybe even the opposite - it's difficult."

Some recruiters said they witnessed an increase in
"improprieties," which are defined as any grossly negligible
or intentional act or omission used to enlist an unqualified
applicant or grant benefits to those who are ineligible.
They said recruiters falsified documents and told prospects
to lie about medical conditions or police records.

An analysis of Army records shows that the number of
impropriety allegations doubled to 1,023 in 2004 from
490 in 2000. Initial investigations substantiated 459 violations
of Army enlistment standards in 2004, up from 186 in 2000.
In 135 cases, recruiters - often more than one - were judged
to have committed improprieties, up from 113 in 2000. The
rest were defined as errors.

General Rochelle acknowledged that the impropriety figures
"may be a reflection of some of the pressure that is perceived
at the lower levels." He also said that the increase could partly
be explained by improvements in tracking improprieties.

"We hold every recruiter responsible for being a living and
breathing example of Army values," he said.

The quotas will remain unchanged, General Rochelle said.
But the commanders should be held responsible for finding
ways to meet their goals. "It does no good to pass the heat,
as it were, or the correction down to the individual soldier,"
he said.

The Army announced in September that it would add about
1,200 active-duty and Reserve recruiters to the field. It has
also more than doubled bonuses for three-year enlistments
to $15,000 and increased its advertising budget.

For the first time since 1998, the Army has lowered its
standards, last week increasing its age limit for Reserve and
National Guard recruits to 39. Last year, it agreed to accept
thousands more recruits without high school diplomas.

In a small concession to recruiters, Army brass announced in
February that they can trade the green slacks and shirts that
they said made them feel and look like security guards for
battle fatigues.

General Rochelle said the uniform swap was part of a new
recruiting strategy to stress patriotism over salesmanship
and enlist veterans to help make the Army's pitch. "It's less
materialistic, in terms of the focus, once we get a recruiter
face to face with a young American," he said.

The recruiter in Texas, for one, said the changes are too
little too late. He said he would rather be in Iraq.

"I'd rather be getting shot at, because at least I'd be with
my guys," he said. "I'm infantry. That's what I'm trained to do."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times

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2) Going Small in the Big City
By Chuck Zlatkin
March 26, 2005

It is now the spring of 2005 and I‚m wondering what I could do to
help end the war. Sounds like the story of my life.

I used to think big and feel small. At one point, I thought I could do
something meaningful about creating in peace in the world. Now,
I think small and feel big. I realize that the only change I can bring
about is in my self. The only way I'm going to find peace in this
world is one person at a time.

I think it‚s a better fit.

It was my friend Roberto Rodriguez who suggested that I speak with
his friend Bob Martin about my ideas to begin organizing a
neighborhood group in opposition to the war in Iraq. This was
back about the time of my ill-fated vote for yourself campaign.
Despite that being the case, they both listened to what I had to say.

They are two people I respect greatly, and am proud to say we
worked together on the formation of Chelsea Neighbors United
to End the War.

From the beginnings of Chelsea Neighbors United I kept a diary
and posted it on my website. If you would like to check it out you
can see by clicking on "An Activist's Diary" at
www.rightiswrong.com

Recently I was out on the corner handing out leaflets. It became
clear how many people were opposed to this war. It is true that
this could be something particular to my neighborhood. It could
also be true that everywhere else the populace is just ecstatic
with the results of this "mission accomplished" war, but I don't
think so.

The opposition to the war is palpable.

When I hand out leaflets I don't stand there passively. I speak
out. Engage people in dialogue. I make jokes and do shtick,
whatever it takes to get their attention and every one in awhile
I speechify:

"Two years is too long. 1500 hundred dead is too many.
$160 billion is too much. I don't even know what $160 billion
really means, until I broke it down and saw that it is $9 million
an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for two years. And
they have no money to keep the subway token booths open!"

"Stop the war, bring the troops home"

"Its a big job to end a war. Believe me, if I could do it myself
I would. But I can't, I need your help. Please join us."

"Stop the war, bring the troops home"

I have handed out leaflets many times in my life for issues
both large and small, and I have never seen the kind of positive
response I saw for the Chelsea Candlelight Walk. I should have
never doubted what the turnout would be.

Getting together a crowd of 150 peace activists one night in
New York City doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But somehow
getting a crowd of 150 peace activists in my neighborhood
together might be bigger than anyone can comprehend, if
you know what I mean.

If you would like to read the Villager newspaper's account of
the event go to:

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_99/burningforpeaceinchealsea.html

What we need to remember is that getting together with our
neighbors is as American as the Six Nations of the Iroquois
Confederacy. It is a natural thing for us to do.

Speaking freely, assembling, and petitioning the government are
what we should be doing. I prefer to live under the Bill of Rights,
rejecting the Patriot Act, Homeland Security and the Warfare State.
Neither political party has won my trust, I would rather rely on
my friends and neighbors now.

Mayor Bloomberg of Boston, oh I'm sorry he is the mayor of New
York, even if his roots are elsewhere . . . when Bloomberg did what
he did to thwart the ___expression of anti-war sentiment in the
streets of New York City before the war started, is when I realized
that he was yet another elected representative who was serving
the interests of the war machine.

Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Giuliani, Senators Clinton and Schumer,
President Bush, Governor Pataki, Representatives Weiner,
Maloney, McCarthy, etc. are all supporters of this war. There
is only one party in America now, the War Party.

And while I was busy working on the March 18th event my
congressional representative Jerrold Nadler voted in favor of
the Bush war supplemental appropriation for another
$81.4 billion.

2005 in Chelsea wasn't the first time that I've attempted to
organize people to take action, but it might be the best.

The powers-that-be will tolerate our emailing in our complaints.
They genuinely get disturbed when we get together with people
we agree with and start making plans for action. Actions do
speak louder than words.

The time is over for top-down decision making. There is
a place for national organizations and maybe even political
parties, but setting the agenda is not for them to do.

We need to find the answers for the needs of the greatest
consensus. To do this we have to listen as well as speak,
learn as well as teach, and love as well as be angry.

I still believe that the overwhelming consensus of humans
want the planet to survive, at least through their watch.

Organizing people on a human scale seems to make the most
sense. I don't have the hubris to think that I could organize
on a scale larger than my neighborhood. I measure my life
by how far it is to walk from one place to another. I think you
get that way when you have lived and worked in the same
community for over 30 years.

Peace is not the absence of war, it is the presence of peace.
Working for peace is not something we do between election
campaigns.

Both John Kerry and Al Gore received the most votes. What
did it matter? Neither of them appears to have wanted to win,
and are satisfied with the Bush war.

Last summer when the mass demonstrations were being held
UFPJ headlined the call protesting the "Bush Agenda" as if the
Kerry agenda was any different when it came to war in Iraq.

We have been failed by our elected officials, our national
political parties, and even our national anti-war movement.

It is time for us to take responsibility ourselves. It is a war
being fought in our name, with our tax dollars and by our
fellow citizens. It is time that we respresent ourselves in
a movement that demands the immediate end to the war
and the safe return and care for our troops.

As The Band would sing, "Why don't we get together?
What else can we do?"

Copyright 2005 Chuck Zlatkin

ChuckZlatkin@yahoo.com Compose?To=ChuckZlatkin@yahoo.com>

www.rightiswrong.com

Chuck Zlatkin
P. O. Box 821
JAF Station
New Yok, NY 10116212-726-1385
www.rightiswrong.com http://www.rightiswrong.com/

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3) MILITARY RECRUITERS WILL BE AT THE CAREER FAIR AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
600 32nd Avenue between Geary and Balboa Sts.
TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH, 9:50AM-12:20PM
Come to the BAUAW meeting April 2 and help plan ways to
keep the military out all the career fairs and out
of our schools!
SAT. APRIL 2, 11:30 a.m.
474 VALENCIA STREET, SF
(FIRST FLOOR, TO THE LEFT AND ALL THE WAY BACK
TO THE COMPAÑEROS DEL BARRIO CHILDREN'S CENTER)

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4) Students,If you're concerned about military recruiters on
your campus, the possiblity of a draft, the impact of war on
your community...
Please join an emerging Bay Area network of community and
campus organizations that are coming together to take action
on these issues.
Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area Network
Regional Counter Recruitment Conference
NEXT ORGANIZING MEETING:
Wed. April 6, 7pm
American Friends Service Committee
65-9th St, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART)

Be There!
For more info: (510) 465-1617 x4, awe@objector.org

* To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MOOS-BAY/

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5) STOP THE CONDO CONVERSIONS!
FROM: TOMMI MECCA
Dear Friends:
STOP THE GIVEAWAY!!!
Wednesday, March 30, 12 Noon at City Hall
(Polk St. Steps). This is a rally against legislation (by Sups.
Dufty and Alioto-Pier) which would gut the condo conversion law.
Their legislation will let thousands of units become condominiums
instantly. It will increase Ellis Act evictions and reward
landlords for evicting senior and disabled tenants. Their measure
also sets a way for landlords to quickly convert units to
condominiums as a way to repeal rent control (rented condominiums
are exempt from rent control under state law!).
At 1 PM, the Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the
proposed legislation (Room 263, City Hall). Come to the hearing,
too, and testify against the measure.

A friend of mine was evicted during the dot-com boom. He is
disabled and gay, and was living down the street from me. We
always talked when I passed by his place and he was sitting
outside. He was Ellis Act evicted and was forced to move to the
East Bay. Now, the people who moved in after his Ellis Act will
get a free ride. Under Bevan Dufty and Michela Alioto-Pier's
latest bill they will be able to circumvent the condo lottery
process and immediately condo convert their place...in other
words, a nice reward to the original spectulator who bought the
place and turned it into TICs. Sends a message to all those
future speculators: Go ahead, evict tenats, the board'll reward
you when it comes time. Thanks, Supe Dufty and Alioto-Pier for
rewarding those who evict us!

If you think this is outrageous, come to a rally on Wednesday,
the day Dufty and Alioto-Pier's bill comes up for a hearing.
Info below.
tommi

For more information, see www.sftu.org
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6) Benefit for Military Resisters
and Iraq Veterans Against the War
Old-Time Square Dance with LIVE Music! Saturday, April 30, 2005
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
953 De Haro St., San Francisco
(at 22nd St. overlooking SF General Hospital)

Social & Introductions: 6 pm - 7:30 pm
Dance: 7:30 pm - 11 pm
$10-$30 sliding scale / $5 students

FEATURING

The Stairwell Sisters
http://www.stairwellsisters.com
with calling by Evie Ladin
"wild, hard dance music...infectious" - Oakland Tribune

AND

The Squirrelly Stringband
http://www.spectacularopticals.com/SQUIRRELLY.swf

The Bernal Hill Stringband and other special guests!

ANTI WAR EVENT TO SUPPORT A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR:
All dances taught! Beginners welcome!
The most fun you could have for the best cause!
All proceeds to benefit the defense of Pablo Paredes
(swiftsmartveterans.com) and Iraq Veterans Against the War
(ivaw.net). To protest the Iraq War, Petty Officer Third Class
Pablo Paredes publicly refused to deploy to the Middle East and
is now facing military courts martial. IVAW is a newly formed
organization of recent Iraq veterans opposed to the ongoing war
and occupation.

Benefit hosted by Not in Our Name, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, International Socialist Organization, College
Not Combat, Courage to Resist, Freedom Socialist Party, Queers
for Peace and Justice/SF, Radical Women, and Bay Area United
Against War.

Public transit: Muni 19 bus from Civic Center BART (8th Street) -
outbound toward Hunters Point.

"Combine this band's vocal prowess with skilled
multi-instrumental chops and a hellbent-for-leather attitude, and
you have a wild funky recording... Brittle, hard-edged, exciting
ensemble singing... in which the Stairwell Sisters rocket into
the high lonesome stratosphere." - Old-Time Herald

For more information and leaflets:
http://bayarea.notinourname.net
510-601-8000

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7) Family Wonders if Prozac (LINK ONLY)
Prompted School Shootings
By MONICA DAVEY and GARDINER HARRIS
March 26, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/national/26shoot.html

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8) From Hero to Homeless (LINK ONLY)
By Byron Pitts
CBS News
Friday 25 March 2005
For 25-year-old Herold Noel, this winter, like the war,
has not been kind.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032605Y.shtml

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9) Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence (LINK ONLY)
By Ceci Connolly
The Washington Post
Friday 25 March 2005
Response to school shooting is contrasted with president's
intervention in Schiavo case.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032505B.shtml

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10) That Guy Flipping Burgers (LINK ONLY)
Is No Kid Anymore
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
March 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/27teen.html

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