Meetup With AFFA

29 March 2005 in the Education Center Lobby we will meet with a representative from the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) and discuss what is happening in Columbia with respect to gay-rights and apparent anti-gay legislation that is being looked at by our state government.

Permanent base in Afghanistan

AS an anti-war citizen I don't want imediate pull out of troops from Iraq or Afghanistan, but I strongly oppose the permanent presence in these nations or anywhere we are not wanted or we are present fror an alterior motive. This article is disturbing to people like me... Via AP:

LINK

The United States is spending $83 million to upgrade its two main air bases in Afghanistan, an Air Force general said Monday, the latest indication that American forces will remain in the country for years.

Brig. Gen. Jim Hunt said the money was being spent on construction projects already underway at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, and Kandahar Air Field in the south. A new runway is being built at Bagram, the biggest Afghan airfield used by the U.S. military.

"We are continuously improving runways, taxiways, navigation aids, airfield lighting, billeting and other facilities to support our demanding mission," Hunt said at a news conference in the capital.

A Revoliution

This essay was written by Stirling Newberry and appeared in the Daily Kos web log on March 18th. The message is powerful and in my opinion right on. I however don’t believe that credit will be due to the present Democratic Party, the Democratic Party is a political tent concerned only with 50% + 1, a majority. The means for this revolution is the citizens of the state. It happens to be self-evident to people like me, the author, and I suspect most of you that the Democratic Party is the logical path to achieve the desired end.
I’ll pickup towards the end, but please read the whole thing...

(LINK)

(. . .)
Instead we are becoming a society of stars and the drudges that labor for them. Instead of a society which brings forth the flower of each person's abilities, we treat most people as mere manure to fertilize the enterprises of the wealthy few. Such a society cannot continue to attract the best and the brightest and it cannot compete against numerically superior nations. There are 1.2 billion in China, and 250 million in the US. We must, therefore, be five times as efficient in finding our talent, simply because we have so much smaller a pool to draw from.
We cannot continue to waste creativity, intelligence and vision as we do. How many people of ability are now shoveling in the grease mines of McDonalds, or engaging in data entry - simply because we do not have the ability to identify them and promote them? Many, many times many, many times many times many.

Our anger at the reactionaries who destroy, and the conservative impulse in the Democratic party which does not advance is not rooted in juvenile angst, but because we have lived with the ecology of technology. In this ecology there are three simple concepts which govern all: a successful ecology must be accessible, scaleable and sustainable.

It must be accessible: people must be able to teach themselves to use it, it must provide benefit which is abundant and obvious, and must be able to grow into the richness of its application. It is only in this way that a technology spreads.
It must be scaleable: it must grow as its community of users grow. That which does not scale, will not survive. It must develop in people the talents and abilities needed to deal with the challenges of its growth. It must never reach the point where adding the next person costs logarythmically more than adding the one before.
It must be sustainable: it must not burn through the capital which creates it, the people who maintain and develop it, the resources which supply it.

Our present economy, of slash and burn mass agriculture, resource raping extraction and gross inequalities of affluence meets none of these criterion on the scale of the next century. We will not quadruple the bandwidth of oil that we extract within the two generations we have to extract it. We cannot reach thermal equilibrium by trying to bury carbon in caves. We will not feed, cloth and educate the world, in a world where the entry to affluence requires more per week to maintain than many people earn per year.

These three principles: accessible, sustainable and scaleable - must governing all thinking in a technological ecology. The thinking of hit and run extraction, however, is what is rewarded. How many companies have been shells for an IPO? How much productivity has been wasted, not reducing our dependence on oil, but to entice us to buy more that is made with, and which consumes for its continuance - oil. It would be as if a man who had been poisoned, rather than reaching for the emetic, reaches for another dose of the poison.

To create a society on these principles requires a fundamentally different series of rewards. Now we have created a kind of technological fuedalism: where patents, copyrights and monopolies serve as fiefdoms, gates over bridges where all who pass are charged a toll. We have created a vast class of the idle rich, whose primary gift is that they can strip mine consumers - selling cancer, fat and fatuousness, leaving behind people who are ridden with disease and obesity. Even if Americans desire to live this way, the rest of the world does not. Even if the United States wishes to make a virtue out of grease, goo and greed - does not mean that the reek of decay can be perfumed away.

And thus we want a revolution. Many of the individual demands are set aside, because there has been no defense of the pattern that the whole makes. We demand universal health care: because people must be fit and healthy and free of the burden of worry of catastrophic illness so that they may focus on the great work that must be done - and because the should not profit by collecting taxes on acts which pollute the air, our bodies and our minds. And if the state no longer profits from selling obesity, it will end the incentives to do so in the economy. The wealthy, many of whom have gained their privileged position by doing exactly this, understand on an intuitive level that a healthy people are no longer easy targets for a consumerism that consumes them.

And thus we want a revolution. Progress is thwarted by deceptions and dissembling: the right wing is already attempting to convince Americans that we will simply substitute oil for hydrogen, and thus there is no problem. The problem is that unbound hydrogen is found in quantity only on the Sun, and we are not landing there any time soon.

And thus we want a revolution. The myriad of changes which must take place demand selfless, rather than selfish, attention and devotion. We must act, not because it is to our present advantage, but because it is to our future necessity. We must realize that we cannot lock billions in poverty without an inevitable and violent upheaval when they choose to take what we will not give. We must realize that the oceans which protected us from the last two great global conflicts, will not protect us from the next. We must realize this before it is too late.

But it is almost too late: human capacity for destruction is much farther advanced than for creation. We can more easily destroy a life than save it, we can more quickly demolish a city than build it, we can more easily overthrow a government - than creating a new government to replace it.

It is almost too late, but everywhere we are told to wait. And as long as temporary prosperity remains with us, the leadership of the Democratic Party has paid homage to complacency. They seem to feel that having turned back one of the myriad Republican attempts to shred the society, that they have earned their keep for the next two years, and can spend the rest of the time permitting the bankruptcy bill and anti-American restrictions on our civil rights to pass. They feel that having done three months of work for the people, that they are now free to go back to working for the lobbyists.

It is folly, and it is a folly whose magnitude will only be appearant later. There is a sense among many in elected office that the next down turn will restore them to power. But, in fact, the reverse is the case, having not warned of impending collapse, they will not be entrusted with government on the day that collapse finally arrives.

And so I say again: we want a revolution. One which creates a society that works for the benefit of the future, so that there will be one. One that rewards selfless action with more than a flag and a coffin. One that raises up those who improve the quality of people's lives, rather than strip mines people so that they might make a living.

We must make a world which is accessible to people's understanding, and is yet both scaleable and sustainable. We must cease to reward the process of burning more oil to avoid cost in the present. We must cease to throw away the vast crop of talent which America produces, because it is the fruits of this talent that we expect to harvest. There is only one vehicle in American politics to achieve this: the Democratic Party, which by its inevitable purpose and political logic, is the party of the people, and of organizing the people to meet the crisis in the present, without creating catastrophe in the future.

And thus, before all else, we demand a revolution in political affairs, beginning with the Democratic Party, and endowing each of its parts and all of its representatives with an iron sense of purpose and determination. The course we are on leads into the abyss, it cannot be sustained, and therefore it will not be. The lesson of history is that nature delivers only a final decision, from which there is no appeal, and it does so without warning and without mercy. Growth continues, until collapse begins - it is the record of the fossils of previous ages, and the record of the stock market - dizzying peaks followed by devastating collapses.

It is difficult to argue in the face of complacency, and it is impossible without having a deep seated belief and impenetrable faith. But no writing on the wall of the past is clearer than the results of a people that live behind their means, we find their ruins scattered through out the global, and mighty glyphs carved in dead statues about their empires that could never fall. The right wing wishes to deny evolution, because they know the what it would tell us: adapt or perish.

And so we demand that our leaders have faith in revolution, faith in the ability of the American people to remake themselves and society. Faith in the ability of human reason married to human intuition to come to the best decision. Faith that the future can be an American future.

Because the day will be seized, if not by us, than by others.

A Rally in Charleston, SC [photo essay diary]

I woke up Saturday morning, turned on Rage and during Zack's chorus of

No More Lies

No More Lies

No More Lies!

it hit me...

And so I was off, I woke up late and the rally began at 2 pm, so only hours to spare. I tracked down some friends and found some

• markers
  
  
• weights (water botles)
  
  
• rope
  
  
• a large sheet
  
  

With the voice of Zack de la Roca echoing in my head and the inspirational site Freeyay Blogger in my mind I went out to make a statement.

The rally was held at Marion Square Park which used to be the front lawn a military college and at an eagles eye view looks similar to the rebel flag. This was not our territory. Across the street in a complex with a fancy roof-top restaurant… Target Identified. It was on the intersection of two of the heaviest traveled streets in Charleston. An area heavily populated and visited by tourists.

We just walked in, got a beer, paid the tab, dropped the banner and rushed to the rally across the street... It stayed up for well over an hour!


So we went to the rally, it wasn’t huge but far bigger than what I expected. As seen from a distance (notice the old citadel in the background)…


And closer up…



The atmosphere was friendly, there were art exhibits from local Elementary Schools on what peace means to them. One child drew a basketball court with a scoreboard reading Duke = 100, Illinois = 100…




There was a huge white sheet that people put their hand-print on (in red) and a message, it was covered with hand prints…

And even an K-9 activist was in attendance (shirt reads drop bush, not bombs)…

Unfortunately, since I was busy in the early afternoon, I missed the early speakers. When I got there Juscaus was reading a political poem. After that the names of the fallen soldiers of South Carolina were read aloud. Then Mrs. Harriet Johnson spoke about her 22 year old son who was KIA as a result of hostile fire on a helicopter that he was riding in. She described the condition that her son was returned to her in and her confrontation with Mr. bush over why her son had died.


Her speech was very moving…(notice the local media in the background)


Overall, the rally was a success there were no problems. Public traffic through the park was not disturbed, we even had some tourists join in.

Thanks for reading/looking and visit us for more pics and information on upcoming events.

There, I just did what most local media won’t…
peace

Everyone!

Our day has arrived. The forecast for Saturday is 65 degrees, partly cloudy with 20% chance of rain...but it will not rain- mother nature is against this war as well.

We have done an excellent job getting the word out. People will be coming to Marion Square from all parts of the city, all parts of the state, and all walks of life.

Although the day has come, there will still be work to do- we will need people to come to the park to help set up- I’m thinking around 12- we must hang up all the artwork, set up the park for the rally, set up the tables (borrow extra stuff), and then we will have one last chance to bring the people to the park. There will be tourists who will walk the streets- surely some of them will be against the war as well- so let’s make sure they know about it. And we will remind the people…

Then the rally. We will make sure all goes smoothly, because something is bound to happen- that is just life. We will help make the atmosphere one for peace. One of love. One of cooperation, and humanity.

Then we will clean up the park- recycle all we can. And watch the world as our message will be sent. To all who have worked on this- I say we get together afterwards and celebrate. Pat ourselves on the back.... and enjoy each other's company without the stress of work. By day we will create a movement for peace, this is cause to take time and thank those who have helped, those who have sacrificed with you, those who you have grown close to throughout this process.

Again- and I cannot say this enough- you all have made this happen. And I thank you and salute you.

Peace,
Devin

Charleston Speaks

A Week for Peace in an Age of War

“We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war.”

-Dr Martin Luther King Jr.


This is a movement for and by the people of United States, and for the values of peace and freedom that unites them with other people of the world. This is a movement for freedom from the historical pattern of warfare that has developed throughout our history. Each generation has known war, with the hope that future generations know only of peace.

And so, as the citizens of this nation, we rise up and demand peace. Not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of opportunity, freedom, and justice. We ask why so many of our tax dollars go towards funding bombs and bullets, instead of schools and hospitals.

Our tax payers have given the Pentagon $401.7 billion to spend this year, but, what have we given to our children? Have we given them good schools, health care, and every opportunity to pursue the American dream? Let us fulfill the promise of that dream.

So far we have spent $207.5 billion on the Iraq War. $1.7 billion has come directly from South Carolina. $37.9 million has come directly from the people of Charleston. For the Charleston tax payer, 29¢ on every federal tax dollar goes directly towards the military and defense funding. 4¢ goes towards education. 2¢ to housing, .4 ¢ towards job training- not even a penny.

Why are we spending our money on this war when our children have failing schools? When people are without full employment? When housing costs are rising, forcing families out. Let us develop our communities and strengthen the bonds that bring us together as a nation, as a people.

We rise up and call for education, for healthcare, for job security, instead of a costly war in a far off-land, where young American men and women are placed directly into a dangerous situation, and Iraqi children and families are brought destruction and death. We can do better; we demand that we do better.

Weapons of Mass destruction are missing. Health care is missing. Job training is missing. School supplies are missing. So we, the people, rise up and proclaim a week for peace in an age of war. And we stand in solidarity with people around the nation, and around the world, to demand peace. Now and for our children.

Last night (Thursday, 17 March 2005) began with optimism but ended in a sense of helplessness, again our government has lied to the public. Mr. Cheney was scheduled to arrive in Charleston, SC for a fundraiser at around 7 pm. He, however, canceled sometime during the day.

However, dedicated members of Wake Up & Act had spent Wednesday night and the entire day on Thursday planning a spontaneous and surprise protest to welcome Mr. Cheney with the grimmest of receptions. Had the man viewed by few as the vice president of the United States made an appearance Thursday, the reception; however extravagant your tax dollars made it, would have been marred with a significant protest on behalf of members of Wake Up & Act, as well as other action groups in the immediate Charleston area. Our actions were coordinated with utmost care and professionalism as to avoid any ‘counter-spin’ so common from the Republican Party and their acolytes in the press. The absence of Mr. Cheney Thursday will be viewed as a success of our message and any energy placed in yesterday’s event will be transferred to the rallies in Marion Square on Saturday and Sunday. No longer will the city of Charleston be considered a ‘safe-zone’ for any member of the conservative right that chooses to ignore the blood which drips from the hands of what some would call 'leaders'.

Anyone in the Charleston area, please join us (Wake Up & Act), the SC Progressive Network, Thinking People, and Charleston Peace for our rallies on Saturday and Sunday. You may visit Wake Up & Act for more information...

Make Dick Un-welcome

[Update:We will meet at 6 pm in the Education Center.]

We have just learned that Vice President Cheney will be in Charleston tomorrow night. We will be there in protest. Help get the word out, and recruit others to join us as we un-welcome Cheney. Please join us as we protest.

Here's the plan. Cheney will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day... So we will assemble- and surprise attack the Vice President with a protest. We will wear white clothing, with "peace is patriotic" signs taped to our chest... We will get everyone to hold signs that bear the following messages-

"We protest because of your Lies"
"We protest because you are a war criminal"
"We protest because you represent Greed"
"We protest because you are Immoral"
"We protest because of your deception"

We will have red paint on our hands- symbolizing blood.
And out mouths will be taped shut... adding to the power of the message.

Cheney is supposed to arrive at Hibernian Hall- on Meeting St., near Broad St. - around 7pm. The event opens at 5:30, with food being served at 8. Surely he will come around 7. We also will need at least two look-outs- to ensure that we retain the element of surprise. And that we are most effective.

Just as we, the people of Charleston, will stand in opposition on Saturday. We will stand in opposition on Thursday, letting Cheney and the world know, that he is not welcome here.

Charleston Peace and Justice and other events

2-Year Anniversary of the Start of Iraq War
There are lots of events going on in Charleston surrounding the 2-year anniversary of the start of the war against Iraq. Charleston Peace is sponsoring three events this week:

Rally-A Day of Peace in a Time of War: Saturday, March 19
Wake Up & Act
End the Occupation-Bring Our Troops Home Rally at Marion Square. 2 PM
Bring family and friends for a day of great music, speakers, art and fellowship.

Help Us Build a Wall Against the War: Sunday, March 20
Charleston Peace is building a wall to commemorate the dead, both Americans and Iraqis, in Marion Square from 12-3 PM on Sunday, March 20. We need people to help set up starting at 10:30 AM and to take a shift writing out names and posting them on the wall from 12-3 on the 20th. We also need people to distribute stickers and flyers leading up to the event.

DEFUSE! Vigil: Sunday, March 20
Please join us on March 20th at 7 PM at the four corners of law, Meeting and Broad St., for a Candlelight Vigil against hate crimes and gay bashing in respect to James Maestas and the SC Legislature's actions against the GLBT community.

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Genetic Literacy Meeting: Saturday, March 26
10 AM-Noon, Main Library, 68 Calhoun St. Downtown Charleston
Discussion on HIV testing for adolescents and for pregnant women who refuse voluntary HIV testing. Discussion leader: Sandra L. Fowler, MD, MSc, Division of Infectious Diseases, MUSC.

-2 PM: "Making Democracy Work": state reforms to make our electoral system more inclusive and democratic, and how you can help. Rep. Joe Neal, Brett Bursey, Rob Richie Center for Voting and Democracy. The panelists will involve the audience in a discussion about Voter Registration, Early Voting, Instant Runoff Voting, Failsafe Voting, Electoral College, Paper trails, Clean Elections and more.

-4 PM: "Red State Blues: What's the matter with SC?" Politics seems to be more about morality than money lately. Politicians are supporting economic policies that, arguably, hurt many of the people that vote for them. Winning margins are being won on emotional "wedge" issues - abortion, god, guns, and gays - rather than any collective concerns like health, education and jobs. Are average South Carolinians voting against their own economic interests? How can progressive reframe the issues to rebuild a majority? Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter, Dr. Willie Legett, Roger Hickey of the Institute for America's Future,

-Thunder and Lightning Award at a reception after Democracy Day

Socialist Education Project: Sunday, April 10
2-4 PM at the College of Charleston, in Maybank 320.

No War! No Bush! Art Show: Opening reception Friday, April 18, 7-9 PM
The art show is currently on display through March 27 at Kool Beanz, 433 King St. We will be hosting a reception this Friday evening from 7-9 with music and refreshments and many of the exhibiting artists in attendance. Come out and support local anti-war artists!

Every Sunday: Charleston Food Not Bombs
We share a free vegetarian meal without restriction every Sunday (cooking start around 10:30, we share the meal at 1:00). We are always open to folks desiring to do their share of the cooking, sharing, and/or eating. Operating with the ideas of cooperation and mutual aid, we stand as a protest against militarization and poverty.

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Fayetteville March and Rally to Bring the Troops Home: Saturday, March 19
Charleston Peace is carpooling to Fayetteville NC on March 19 for the major regional demonstration supported by United for Peace and Justice and Iraq Veterans Against the War to bring the troops home now! Fayetteville is home to Fort Bragg - ground zero for the 82nd Airborne Division and many of the Army's elite units. It is also home to a growing base of anti-war activists and organizations. For details on the protest, visit www.ncpeacejustice.org.

Democracy Day: Saturday, April 2
Capitol Senior Center, Maxcy Gregg Park Columbia