Guess: President Obama is a CodePINK

[When I completely remember how I made a connectino between CodePink and President Obama's former affiliations, current approaches to warfare and homeland security reevaluating its colorcoded alerts, I will let you know. Also, For those of use who have never completely understood the pink rugs laying in the middle of water run off valves.]What is CODEPINK? CODEPINK emerged out of a desperate desire by a group of American women to stop the Bush administration from invading Iraq. The name CODEPINK plays on the Bush Administration’s color-coded homeland security alerts — yellow, orange, red —  that signal terrorist threats. While Bush’s color-coded alerts are based on fear and are used to justify violence, the CODEPINK alert is a feisty call for women and men to “wage peace.”

What is our mission? CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects foreign policies based on domination and aggression, and instead calls for policies based on diplomacy, compassion and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

Why women? CODEPINK is not exclusively women  —  we invite men to join us — -but we are particularly eager to see mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters, female workers, students, teachers, healers, artists, writers, singers, poets and all outraged woman rise up and oppose the war in Iraq. Women have been the guardians of life — not because we are better or purer or more innately nurturing than men, but because the men have busied themselves making war. Because of our responsibility to the next generation, because of our own love for our families and communities, it is time we women devote ourselves — wholeheartedly — to the business of making peace.

How did it get started? Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, Diane Wilson, Starhawk and about 100 other women kicked off CODEPINK on November 17, 2002. We set up for a 4-month all-day vigil in front of the White House during the cold of winter. The vigil inspired people from all walks of life, and from all over the country, to stand for peace. Many organizations joined us, including Greenpeace, WILPF, WAND, Public Citizen, NOW, Women for Women International and Neighbors for Peace and Justice. The vigil culminated on March 8, International Women’s Day, when we celebrated women as global peacemakers with a week of activities, rallies and a march to encircle the White House in pink. Over 10,000 people participated, and a group of 25 women, including Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, Susan Griffin, Starhawk, Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin, were arrested for taking our peaceful protest right up to the White House gate. Since then CODEPINK has become a worldwide network of women and men committed to working for peace and social justice. We have become famous for confronting the warmongers, whether in the halls of Congress, the national conventions of both the Republicans and Democrats, George Bush’s fundraisers, Donald Rumsfeld and Nancy Pelosi’s house.

ON the more extreme end:

(Pastdated post from North Texas:)

There’s an Antiwar Movement in This Town!

In July of 2006, Cindy Sheehan called for a fast, demanding that the troops be brought home. As a kickoff for the Troops Home Fast, a group of Texas activists picketed outside the East Gate of Fort Hood in Killeen. There were some soldiers who helped the demonstrators, such as a sergeant who gave some of the demonstrators a place to spend the night, and 2 or 3 who helped the demonstrators prepare for the action, by setting up signs and making runs to the store. But Killeen is mainly an Army town, and the main reaction shown to the demonstrators was hostility, including one soldier, who got into the face of a demonstrator who was carrying an inverted American Flag (an internationally recognized symbol of distress). The soldier got so heated, that it looked as if he might attack the woman who was holding the flag, until the media’s cameras came.

Recently, the Under the Hood coffee shop was opened, to offer haven to those soldiers who wished to get away from the Army culture, or oppose our wars. Cynthia Thomas, a soldier’s wife runs Under the Hood, and she organized an antiwar march for this Memorial Day. Around 75 people showed up from Austin, Killeen and the Metroplex. Most exciting was the fact that there were a number of vets and active duty personnel from the fort.

Among these was Victor Agosto. I first became acquainted with Victor thanks to the Dallas Peace Center’s communications director, Trish Major. She asked if I would consent to do an interview with Victor Agosto. I wasn’t acquainted with the name, but when she told me that he was a soldier at Fort Hood who had refused deployment to Afghanistan, I said that I would be honored. I interviewed him while he was enroute to Austin. The interview can be read in the latest Dallas Peace Times.

The socialistworker.org reported that while in Iraq, he thought about what he was doing as a communications technician. He said “Combat soldiers are only responsible for the people they kill. It’s difficult to quantify the effects of my actions, how much suffering I’ve helped make possible.

Victor refused conscienrtious objector status because “I am not a pacifist…. I just won’t take part in another imperialist war.” On April 30, Victor informed his company commander that he would not go to Afghanistan. On May 1, he wrote on his Army counseling statement, which soldiers are given after refusing to follow an order “There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American peopla any safer. It has the opposite effect.” On May 14, Victor refused to do maintenance on trucks headed to Afghanistan. On May 19, he refused his first sergeant’s order to report for medical treatment and prepare his paperwork, both necessary for deployment to Afghanistan. On May 15, Victor was charged under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice with disobeying and disrespecting a non commissioned officer. He denies disrespecting the sergeant. He has not yet decided whether to accept the Article 15, which could mean a reduction in rank and pay, or have a court martial, which could mean jail time.

Victor refuses to go AWOL, although he has been advised by his first sergeant to “Take the easy way out”. Refusing any orders to do any duty conmtributing to the war effort, he has been doing such jobs as sweeping and pulling weeds.

When I met Victor on Memorial Day, I found him to be a quiet and amiable man with unshakeable convictions. He took time to find and introduce me to Sergeant Travis Bishop. Travis is a country music performer, who has opened for the likes of Toby Keith. he went AWOL, when his unit deployed to Afghanistan. He told Common Dreams that the occupation is immoral and it would be immoral for him to go. “I love my country, but I believe this particular war is unjust and unconstitutional…In the next few days, I will be talking to my lawyer and taking actions that will more than likely result in my dismissal from the military and possible jail time…My father said ‘Do only what you can live with, because every morning you have to look at your face in the mirror when you shave…’ If I had deployed to Afghanistan, I don’t think I would have been able to look into another mirror again.”

The marchers left Under the Hood at around noon. Without a permit, the city limits the number of people who can march down the street to 25, so we divided into three groups, and marched to the East Gate of the fort. We went to the same deserted gas station that we stood at in 2006. And what a difference! As we marched, I heard two negative comments. The number of honks, waves and positive comments, I couldn’t begin to report accurately. As we marched, we chanted “Get up! Get down! There’s an antiwar movement in this town!” And, it’s true. Soldoers marched with us; soldiers and townspeople shouted encouragement at us.

When the war in Iraq began, activists were in a very small minority, being cursed by passers by and having to dodge firecrackers, half full pop cans thrown at them, and cars which actually came up on the curb trying to hit them. After Camp Casey, things changed. We were in the majority, at least about Iraq. But though opinions had changed, the wars continued. Victor wrote “Politicians aren’t going to stop this war…Soldiers are going to have to be the ones to end it. But, community support is crucial. It’s difficult to make a stand in solitude…” A platoon sergeant warned Victor to stay away from his soldiers. “If the higher ups at Fort Hood seem nervous, it’s for good reason. People have been supportive.”

On the day after Memorial Day, Travis wrote on his Facebook page “Today’s the day I turn myself in… Pray for me.”

Radio Free Honduras

Listen to Radio Liberada, from somewhere in Honduras, after the military coup

In the morning of this Sunday, Honduran president Mel Zelaya was kidnapped by the military and transferred by force to Costa Rica.

According to Honduran newspapers, the president of the congress, Roberto Micheletti, will be assuming the presidency.

Previously and soon after the coup d’etat in Honduras, Radio Liberada is transmitting an alive chronicle than it is happening in Honduras, of the opposition and the mobilizations of the popular and indigenous organizations against the coup d’etat, by the accomplishment of a new constituent assembly, and writing a new page of the independent means movement in Central America.

Listen the transmission of Radio Liberada from some place of Honduras: http://208.43.218.127:8070/

We encourage the national and international independent means groups to broadcast in your free radios or make a mirror of this transmission.

Mirrors: 1 | 2 | 3

More information in the Independent Media Center of Honduras Indymedia Honduras: http://honduras.mediosindependientes.org

More information in Radio is the one of less:

http://www.radioeslodemenos.org/

Minute by minute by Kaos in the Network: http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/secuestrado-presidente-honduras-militares

Information and transmission by the Association of Radios and Participating Programs of El Salvador (HARPS): http://www.arpas.org.sv/

We know that there are been closing free media in Honduras. This morning the Radio Progreso, one of the older communitarian radios of the continent has been closed by the military. Other communitarian radios have decided to protect their equipment.

The electrical energy, the telephone and the Internet have being interrupted by the coup participants trying to block the communications and make the informative censure.

And the situation worries to us in that the networks of communitarian radios of the Lenca town and the Garífuna town stay, as well as the free media: COMUN, Revistazo, the COFADEH and the rest of groups of the independent and communitarian media movement in Honduras.

Shy book recommendation

[I have not read it, but from the review it may help the person who requested something along this line. Good luck. I also came across the MidWest Teen Sex Show (a blog). Catchy title huh? From what I can tell it is a video pod cast of a teen in the midwest working through her issues of homosexuality. As I did not watch the video's, but gandered otherwise, she seems to be the next Dr. Ruth for homosexuals working through a coming out process. The comments on the boards say her last video post was funny, if not make you cry hilariously type sensitive.]

Out With It: Gay and Straight Teens Write About Homosexuality (New Edition)
	Price:$13.95
Book, 115 pp. Sensitive issues of teen sexuality, coming out, homophobia, and relationships with family and friends are explored in a dozen articles authored by teens. Updated with new stories. See sample stories and info. Sample Story     A School Where I Can Be MyselfBy Wilber Valenzuela “Faggot! Queer!” It was my sophomore year in high school. I had just finished up my last mid-term exam and was heading for the bus when I heard yelling. I turned around and saw a whole crowd of people running after me. “Faggot! Homo!”   Who Was Harvey Milk? I started running but it wasn’t long before they got me. They tried to hit me but a lady driving by in a car started yelling, “The cops, the cops!” The kids disappeared. That wasn’t the first time I was harassed because of my sexuality. My fellow students hurled insults at me all the time. One day I walked into class and saw “Hello faggot” written on the board. I was so embarrassed that day. I was too ashamed to tell anyone about what had happened. I had no friends at that school, no one to turn to. It got to the point where I felt it was wrong to be a homosexual. I used to hide my feelings and keep quiet. I was afraid that anything I said or did would give the others more “proof” that I was gay. School had turned into hell. Other students had hurt me emotionally many times and I could deal with that. But once I realized that they wanted to hurt me physically, that’s when I drew the line. After that crowd of people chased me and I just barely escaped getting beaten up, I was too scared to go back to school. I told a friend about the incident and he said I should transfer to another school. But I figured that no matter where I went, some people would still be homophobic and prejudiced. I didn’t know what to do. Later that week I found out about a support group for gay teenagers called Gay and Lesbian Youth of New York (GLYNY). I went to one of their meetings and told them about what had happened to me. They gave me information about the Harvey Milk School, an alternative high school for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. I had never heard of it before. I felt relieved to hear that such a school existed. I felt they could help me since I had a lot of questions about myself. I called the school and they gave me an appointment for an interview. Part of me was frightened about meeting new people, making new friends, and how my mother would react to my decision to go to an all gay school. But I knew I couldn’t go back to my old high school and I didn’t have any time to lose since I wanted to start the next semester at a new school. When I arrived for my interview I saw a poster of a group of teenagers and the words, “You are not alone.” I had been feeling down and seeing that poster made me feel better. During the interview I had to talk about my reasons for wanting to go to the school and give a brief biography of myself. The next step was a 10-day probation period, during which the staff finds out what your academic needs are and how interested you are in learning. Harvey Milk was small, with only a few dozen students. Everyone was very friendly and made me feel as if they were my second family. We talked to the teachers on a first name basis, which made us feel closer to them. I liked that I never had to say, “Good morning, Mr. Ashkinazy,” but simply, “Hi, Steve.” Everything about the school was different than what I was used to. Since everyone was at a different level, we did a lot of our work independently. My teacher would give me an assignment sheet and a book. After each assignment, I would go to him and he would teach me anything I didn’t understand. After three periods of individual classes, we had two periods of group classes. These were different every day and covered topics like health, law, dance, and theater. Going to the school was like therapy for me. I learned more than just math and history—I also learned about survival. Suddenly my ideas about gays changed. It wasn’t like my father had told me. Not all gay men wore leather and tight jeans—that was only the stereotype. At Harvey Milk, all the students were different. Some kids dressed conservatively, others dressed punk. Some were drag queens, but they didn’t wear heavy makeup like I thought they would. The lesbians were pretty and not butch. I also learned about sexuality, AIDS, and safe sex, topics that my other school didn’t dare talk about. My teacher and two of my other friends were infected with the HIV virus and they taught me from their experiences. I learned about testing, counseling, and living with AIDS. Safe sex kits were always available. Going to the Harvey Milk School helped me understand myself and made me more confident about my identity. For the first time, I felt like part of a community. I felt I could talk to anyone about my feelings without having to hide things or lie. I also became more aware of the issues that affect me as a young gay man, like gay bashing and the controversy about gays in the military. Now I’m more concerned about these problems and pay more attention to the news and current events. I also became more outspoken and proud. Back at my old high school, I felt like I couldn’t be myself. I remember one day I wore a Madonna T-shirt to school and someone said, “Only faggots like Madonna.” I put that T-shirt in the back of my closet and never wore it to school again. But now I feel comfortable wearing T-shirts that let people know who I am, including one that says, “I’m not gay, but my boyfriend is.” I graduated from the Harvey Milk School last June. Going there changed my life and my memories of that experience will live forever. Wilber was 18 and a graduate of Harvey Milk HS when he wrote this article. He majored in liberal arts at the New School for Social Research in New York City.   “Out With It: Gay and Straight Teens Write About Homosexuality captures the innocence and earnestness of high school adolescents battling intra-familial homophobia, substance abuse, and cultural expectations. With a focus on urban youth, each short narrative offers a voice to youth whose stories most often go unheard. A must read for LGBTQ youth struggling with their identity in an often hostile urban climate. Every school library should stock this title.” —Dan Werner, Ali Forney Center

Segway

What Are Islam’s Views on Homosexuality?

By Ellen Friedrichs, About.com

Question: What Are Islam’s Views on Homosexuality?

Answer: Many of the views on homosexuality in Islam come from interpretations of the Qua’ran, the prominent text of the Muslim faith. Others are based on writings of the prophet Muhammad.

Homosexuality is usually seem as forbidden by Islamic law and because of this there is often little tolerance for same sex relationships among strict Muslims.

In some Muslim countries, GLBT individuals have been persecuted and some gay people even executed for having same sex relationships. Iran for example, has executed thousands of people for being gay. The justification has generally been that Islam is opposed homosexuality.

However, there are Muslim groups that support and welcome GLBT members. One of these is the US based Al-Fatiha Foundation who “promotes the progressive Islamic notions of peace, equality and justice [and] envision a world that is free from prejudice, injustice and discrimination, where all people are fully embraced and accepted into their faith, their families and their communities.”

Al-Fatiha also provides an extensive list of resources for GLBT Muslims.

Black Market water sales on the Saudi Arabian Peninsula

Jobless Make a Fast Buck: Water Crisis Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News

Quick-witted unemployed men hawk water-tanker coupons to customers frustrated by waiting ten hours or more for water tankers at the Azizia water distribution plant in Jeddah. (AN photo by Ahmad Al-Marwani)   JEDDAH, 21 October 2004 — The shortage of water at the Azizia water distribution plant is generating frustration and anger as well as cash for quick-witted unemployed men with an eye for profit. Rumors are rife as to the cause of the shortage — ranging from a broken feed pipe from the desalination plant to corrupt practice. Yesterday, the reception area where numbered coupons are distributed to customers allotting them a position in the delivery queue was thronged with over 150 people. The average wait for a coupon and the departure of a tanker is over 10 hours. One angry customer reported a wait of over 24 hours. A lively black market has developed in the sale of coupons and water. Arab News learned that tankers were available at short notice at double the normal price. Coupons, which determine how soon the customer gets his water, are also on sale at the “right price.” Awad and his cousin Matouq — two unemployed young Saudis — were selling water coupons. They said that they were taking advantage of the water shortage situation to sell numbered coupons to customers. They sell the coupon for SR25 to desperate people who do not want to wait for a long time. Awad said that “foreigners” are to blame for the situation by withholding tankers from people to sell them later outside at a high price taking advantage of the holy month. Awad comes early in the morning with his cousins and buys numbers at the counter. Later he sells them to waiting customers and shares the profit. He said that he is trying to help people who do not want to wait for a long time and make a little profit. “The problem happens every year in summer time and in Ramadan,” he said. “It is not a new one at all.” A Saudi man, who did not want his name mentioned, said that the worst thing is not to be able to provide water for his family. Even worse is to be forced to buy water from the black market. “My daughter received a letter from the student affairs teacher at the elementary school saying that she should take more care of her looks at the school and that she should take a shower at least once every day. How can I get water for my daughter when I cannot get water from here?” he asked. He said he could not afford to buy a tanker of water for SR300, except only occasionally. “Nobody cares about our problem. No one wants to give us a clear reason why this is happening,” he said. Several customers said that the majority of the people queuing believed that water officials are creating these problems to drive people out to the black market and buy water. “I think choosing Ramadan, as a time to play games with people is wrong,” said one. “The least they can do is to be honest with us.” One angry customer, on discovering that Arab News was making inquiries, reacted sharply. “The problem has existed for 30 years; do you think with an article you can solve it? Try living in south Jeddah where what you think are major problems are an everyday occurrence for the residents,” he said. Officials, he said, should be ashamed when they see family men and elderly people waiting long hours for a basic necessity. How could a water truck, he asked, be sold on the black market if it cannot leave the depot until it is sold to a customer? “How could a water truck be sold twice inside and outside?” he asked.

Water Wars, partial Update

BTL:Global Activists To Protest Water Privatization at Istanbul Conference
by BETWEEN THE LINES Syndicated Radio Newsmagazine – Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions http://www.squeakywheel.net Sunday, Mar 15 2009, 1:57pm
betweenthelines@snet.net address: BETWEEN THE LINES c/o WPKN Radio 89.5 FM Bridgeport, Connecticut phone: Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions http://www.squeakyw
international / human rights / op-ed/ analysis

BTL:Global Activists To Protest Water Privatization at Istanbul Conference

BETWEEN THE LINES Syndicated Radio Newsmagazine

Global Activists To Protest Water Privatization at Istanbul Conference

Interview with Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, conducted by Scott Harris

As the world’s supply of fresh, potable water declines, multinational corporations around the world have moved to acquire and privatize municipal water supplies in the quest for profit. While big water companies like Bechtel, German energy conglomerate RWE and French-based Vivendi and Suez, argue that privately-owned water utilities lead to greater economic efficiency and stabilize rates, critics maintain that water privatization has been a disaster in terms of declining water quality and unaffordable rates which limit community access.

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, skyrocketing rate hikes on water — which followed the privatization of water resources by Bechtel — led to a violent water rebellion in 2000 that forced the government to cancel the contract and turn over management of the water system back to the community.

When the corporate-sponsored fifth World Water Forum convenes in Istanbul, Turkey from March 16 through 22, an international coalition of activists will be present to protest the Forum’s stance on water privatization and defend access to water as a universal human right. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, part of the coalition of groups that will be present in Istanbul. Hauter talks about the failure of water privatization and the campaign to draft an international treaty that will limit the exploitation of water as a for-profit commodity.

Contact Food and Water Watch at (202) 683-2500, or visit their website at www.foodandwaterwatch.org
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/

LISTEN to the interview by clicking on one of the links below:

realaudio:
http://btlonline.org/2009/ram/hauter032009.ram

mp3:
http://btlonline.org/2009/mp3/hauter032009.mp3

LISTEN to this week’s half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below:

RealAudio:
http://btlonline.org/2009/ram/btl032009.ram

MP3:
http://btlonline.org/download

VISIT the Between the Lines website by clicking on the link below:
http://www.btlonline.org

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“Between The Lines” is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because “Between The Lines” is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week’s topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: http://www.btlonline.org
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Opposition written news

Aide: Iran reform leader to set up political front

by ALI AKBAR DAREINI (source: AP)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi will create an umbrella group made up of reform-minded political parties, a top aide told The Associated Press on Tuesday in the most concrete indication yet of how he will move forward after a government crackdown crushed street protests.

Mousavi has said he will seek a “legal framework” for continuing his campaign against the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which he and his supporters call illegitimate. But there’s been no word on how he will do so.

His top aide Ali Reza Beheshti said Mousavi “has decided to set up a political front, made up of various reform-minded political groups.”

“The front will be actually a network to coordinate efforts by groups that seek to promote democracy and challenge hard-liners who impose their will on the nation in the name of Islam and democracy,” he said.

Beheshti told AP that Mousavi was still working out details with other pro-reform leaders and plans to announce the new “political front” soon.

Ahmadinejad is due to be sworn into office for a second term sometime between Aug. 2 and 6, the vice speaker of parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar said Tuesday, according to the state news agency IRNA. The inauguration would take place a day after a ceremony in which supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei officially approves him as president.

Mousavi claims to have won the election, saying official results showing a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad are fraudulent. Hundreds of thousands marched in days of street protests after the election denouncing the results, but they were largely shattered by a heavy government crackdown in which hundreds were arrested and 20 protesters were killed. Khamenei has declared the results valid.

Since then, Mousavi has stayed out of the public eye and has struggled for a way to harness the widespread discontent that remains over the vote. The reform movement is severely hampered in political action after many of its senior politicians were detained in the wave of arrests.

Mousavi met last week with the two other top leaders of the reform movement — Mahdi Karroubi, who also ran in the June 12 presidential election, and former president Mohammad Khatami. Karroubi’s National Confidence Party and the Association of Combatant Clerics, to which Khatami belongs, would likely join the grouping along with other parties, particularly the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

The reformist daily Etemad-e-Melli, or National Confidence, said Mousavi and other prominent reformist leaders will attend a Friday prayer to be led by their main supporter, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric in the political establishment and former president.

Rafsanjani is scheduled to deliver the main Friday prayer sermon in Tehran this week for the first time since the election, giving him a prominent political platform — and both reformists and hard-liners are anxiously waiting to see what he will say and how he will end his silence over the turmoil. Whether he lends his support will be a key in shaping Mousavi’s future political front.

Rafsanjani’s younger brother, Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, welcomed the formation of the umbrella group by Mousavi but warned that “there is ambiguity over how the ruling system will respond to this phenomenon.”

Speaking to the AP on Tuesday, the younger Rafsanjani, a leader of the moderate Kargozaran-e-Sazandegi Party, said fraud in the election has divided the people and the ruling system.

“They imposed a police atmosphere. They treated the people in a distasteful and disrespectful way … people were insulted. A long wall of mistrust has been shaped between the people and the ruling system,” he said.