The Guerrilla Campaign

So, Spanish Elmo is leaving tomorrow, with his Donald Rumsfeld doll. He told me that he thought Donald needed to see more of the world, so maybe he’d stop bombing people. It’s always a bittersweet moment when one of your loved ones go off on their own. You’ll be able to follow his adventures at his blogspot, elmoanddonald.blogspot.com . He’s very excited, and hopes to be back in about a year.

So, according to estimates, there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US. (where does that number come from, anyway?) Leaving aside the question of the accuracy of that number, let’s look at some other assumptions. Let’s say that of that group, around half, let’s say 5 million, work full-time jobs, using phony ID and SocSec cards. And let’s say that the employers are enlightened enough (HA) to pay the minimum wage of $5.15/hour. That comes to an annual wage of $10,712. Social Security and Medicare taxes, (employee & employer contribution is 15.3%, so those 5 million workers and their employers pay $8,194,680,000 into the SocSec fund. Let’s go a bit further, and say the effective tax rate for withholding is around 5% for these workers. That comes to $2,678,000,000. This adds up to $10,872,680,000, give or take, that is put into the US Treasury annually by these workers. Let’s adjust that to $10 billion, smoothing out errors in my assumptions. They will never be able to receive...

“WWJD” is heartbreaking, and beautifully done. http://peacetakescourage.cf.huffingtonpost.com/animations/wwjd.html

Dead Cities By Chris Floyd Published: April 14, 2006 http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/04/14/120.html Of all the war crimes that have flowed from the originating crime of President George W. Bush's unprovoked invasion of Iraq, perhaps the most flagrant was the destruction of Fallujah in November 2004. Now, as ignominious defeat looms for Bush's Babylonian folly, some of the key players in fomenting the war are urging that the "Fallujah Option" be applied to an even bigger target: Baghdad. What these influential warmongers openly call for is the "pacification" of Baghdad: a brutal firestorm by U.S. forces, ravaging both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias in a "horrific" operation that will inevitably lead to "skyrocketing body counts," as warhawk Reuel Marc Gerecht cheerfully wrote last week in the ever-bloodthirsty editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal. Gerecht's war whoop quickly ricocheted around the right-wing m...

Whose Spring? Our Spring! by Ted Glick April 18, 2006 Znet http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=10112 For as long as I’ve been an activist for progressive social change, the spring and the fall are usually the times when pre-planned, major demonstrations or campaigns happen. Summer with its heat and vacations, and winter with its cold and snow, generally are not the best times to try to mobilize large numbers of people. Six months ago, in late fall, a mix of progressive groups began having serious discussions about whether there should and could be a major demonstration this spring. It took a couple of months, but we did come to agree that, yes, we should and we can. And as a result, on Saturday, April 29th, many tens of thousands of people, probably hundreds of thousands, will be marching for peace, justice and democracy in New York City ( www.april29.org ). ( more )

With all respect and gratitude to Joe McDonald for the original song. When I was in infantry school in 1969, my company adopted the song as our marching song, much to the dislike and disgust of our "superiors". And yes, we paid a price, but next time out, we broke out into song again, loud and proud. Unfortunately, a good many of those in my company are only names on the Wall now. This update is dedicated to them, and those who are going to die in Iran. We really do seem to be incapable of learning from our mistakes. "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" -1967 Country Joe and the Fish Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again. He's got himself in a terrible jam Way down yonder in Iran So put down your books and pick up a gun, We're gonna have a whole lotta fun. And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for ? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is in Iran; And it's five, six, s...

I know that I'm pushing against the tide, but I've been doing it for 40 years, so it makes no sense to stop now. There ain't nobody in my local area that's going to be sleepwalking into bush's war with Iran. But if they do, when they wake up from their nightmare, they are going to know exactly what they did. I can't shame bush or his acolytes, because they have no shame or conscience, but I can damned sure shame my neighbors and anybody else I can reach. I guess you could say I'm pissed. And that's what we all need to be doing. Slap a picture of a child with their guts blown out down on the table, and make them look. Let them know that bush, with all his rhetoric and bullshit, is, in reality talking about killing kids. Because, that’s what happens in modern wars. There is no way around it. We need to ask ourselves, and our neighbors, “Are we done with allowing bush to do this, or do we also have some more killing to do?”

The bushistas are out rattling sabers again, and denying that there are plans to attack Iran. This why it is going to happen. Our little georgie has given an ultimatum to Iran: “Do as we tell you, or else.” He’s not going to back down. He can’t afford to, now that his Iraq adventure has come to such a humiliating defeat for him and his policies. His alcoholic ego won’t let him. Iran is not going to back down. There is no evidence that Iran is doing anything in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, although the US is sure in violation with bush’s recent deal with India, and it’s insistence on developing new weapons. If Iran is wanting to develop atomic weapons, that’s a situation that would be years down the road. Today Iran announced that it has been successful in enriching a small amount of uranium to commercial reactor grade, about 4%. Iran has 164 centrifuges working on this effort. In order to enrich enough uranium (about 90%) for even one bomb would take tens of thous...

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue. By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer April 10, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6204444.story ...Christian activist Gregory S. Baylor responds to such criticism angrily. He says he supports policies that protect people from discrimination based on race and gender. But he draws a distinction that infuriates gay rights activists when he argues that sexual orientation is different — a lifestyle choice, not an inborn trait.... Hey fuckhead, baylor, be careful what you wish for. Remember christianity is also a lifestyle choice.

US plans strike to topple Iran regime - report Monday April 10, 2006 The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1750680,00.html The US is planning military action against Iran because George Bush is intent on regime change in Tehran - and not just as a contingency if diplomatic efforts fail to halt its suspected nuclear weapons programme… *** Let’s be clear about this. george bush is intent on murdering people, not regime change or halting any programs. anything else is just icing on his cake. bush is a murderous thug, with his coke and booze-addled brain seeing himself as the messiah. So let’s cut the crap, and call it like it is.

You do know, of course, that nobody’s going to do it for you. If you want change, you’re going to have to work for it. Back in the days, the Black Panther Party would say that “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” . And that’s still true today. Now then, if you don’t mind that bush and his cronies have destroyed this country, you don’t have to do anything. The country will go down the tubes for you, just the way you want. If that’s your attitude, then let me warn you. Do not expect politeness from me. Do not expect respect. And don’t expect me to leave you alone, because I will be on you like flies on shit. Which you are. If You Don't Mind, Why Don't You Mind? by Todd Huffman Published on Saturday, April 8, 2006 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0408-20.htm A favorite line of song, penned by the Canadian band The Magnetic Fields, poses the question: If you don’t mind, why don’t you mind? Where is your sense of indignation? To an...

“Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. … In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted…” -Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” -Martin Luther King, April 4, 1967, Riverside Church in New York City Dwight David Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969, in Washington, DC. Martin Luther Kin...

By John H. St. John Online Journal Contributing Writer Mar 28, 2006 http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_636.shtml In July I will be 85, if I live that long, and never in my life have I felt more like Lewis Caroll’s Alice as she stepped into the mirror and entered Wonderland. It is not just that the corporations stole an election and gave us a mental defective for a president. It is a population that, pro or con, accepts the absurd idea that we are at war in Iraq. Even the bloody battles in Korea against Chinese and North Korean tanks were called a “police action.” The bloody attack shown to the world on television and proudly called “Shock and Awe” was done without any declaration of war. The present illegal occupation of Iraq is called a war and the moronic president is assuming all of the powers, and more, of a wartime president while Congress refuses his challenge to the Constitution. There have been other illegal incursions and undeclared wars, Vietnam for example; but ...

by eriposte Tuesday :: Mar 28, 2006 Fraud and Perjury? Or at least that is what appears to be the case here. Anonymous Liberal (emphasis mine): Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. The Court will be called upon to determine--among other things--whether a provision in last year's Detainee Treatment Act ("DTA") effectively strips the Court of jurisdiction to hear Hamdan's case. The Government contends that it does and in support of this position, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John Kyl have filed an amicus brief with the Court. This amicus brief argues that the legislative history of the DTA supports the Government's position. Specifically, the brief cites a lengthy colloquy between Senators Kyl and Graham themselves which purportly took place during a Senate floor debate just prior to passage of the bill. Sounds harmless, huh? Here's the catch: Apparently this entire 8 page colloquy--which is scripted to...

Making progress in Afghanistan too, I see. I wonder what the whacko ‘christians’ are going to feel about this. Another bush success story, or so we’re told. Just another country collaterally damaged on our way to world domination. Afghan Christian convert could face death March 19 2006 Independent Online (South Africa) http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1142776621938B212# Kabul - An Afghan man detained for converting to Christianity could face the death penalty if he refuses to become Muslim again, police and a judge said on Sunday. Abdul Rahman was detained two weeks ago after his relatives reported to the police about his conversion which is forbidden under Islamic Sharia law. "Yes that's true, a man has converted to Christianity. He's being tried in one of our courts," Supreme Court judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said, adding that his trial began early last week. He said the man could face the death penalty if he refused to revert to ...

Unleashing the military power of the United States of America on March 19, 2003, the president bush turned them to invading Iraq. I don’t think the understanding of the enormity of that crime has settled yet on America. The crime is more than mass-murder. He has destroyed a nation. He has poisoned that’s nation’s people and environment with depleted uranium ammunition. He has raped their women and children. He has destroyed their homes and towns. He has stolen their treasure. It was all accepted. After all, the bush was ‘re-elected’. Why? Perpetual war, and an improvement on Orwell’s model: they’ll never have to change the ‘enemy’. With the ‘nation at war’, cover is provided for all kinds of atrocities, and the loss of civil rights. Cowed by fear, America has accepted what would have been unthinkable, and unacceptable at the end of the twentieth century. The ‘opposition’ has become cowed by fear of being called ‘un-American’. Look how easily the country has accepted the fact of the tor...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031606S.shtml March to New Orleans to Protest Iraq War The Associated Press Tuesday 14 March 2006 Mobile, Alabama - Hurricane victims and war veterans set out Tuesday on a march to New Orleans to protest the war in Iraq and what they view as a lack of relief aid for storm victims. Paul Robinson, the local chapter president of Veterans for Peace, said the 140-mile "Walkin' to New Orleans" march is scheduled to end Saturday. He said marchers, including several victims of Hurricane Katrina, are demanding not only an end to the war but also a large increase in resources to help hurricane victims rebuild their lives. He expected about 300 marchers to join in, some walking the entire distance and other joining at the end. Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who spent a month protesting outside President Bush's ranch last summer, was expected to join the marchers in New Orleans, her sister, Dede Miller, said Monday. ...

By Mike Ferner Washington, March 14 -- Last Wednesday evening, the House Appropriations Committee voted to throw another $67,000,000,000 at the murderous work in Iraq and Afghanistan. That night members of the committee, righteously indignant and nearly unanimous, gave President "Bring ‘Em On" Bush a loud slap in the face. Whoa! You mean the most powerful committee in Congress voted 62-2 to stop funding our national war crimes orgy? Of course they did…and then we all lived happily ever after. No, the killing will proceed as planned, with no congressional intervention, although chances are you heard absolutely zip about the 67 Billion Dollar Question, thanks to the Guardians of Reality who insured the news from that hearing was the Dubai Port deal, not the unimaginable sum of our money Congress voted for war, nor the voices raised against it. That news must come from places like the internet site you’re now reading, not the corporate press. And I’m here to tell you the story. ...

by Mary Pitt 3/12/06 WOW!!! That felt good, didn't it? You sent the message to Little George, loud and clear, "The security of America is NOT for sale!" At long last, the lion of the American Congress found its hind legs, stood up and roared! This, the first truly bipartisan act since the Bush cabal took over, stomped into the White House, locked the door, pulled the shades, and gave the true governing body of the people the proverbial finger, is historic and little less than heroic. For this we thank you! As a life-long Republican who cannot be comfortable in the Democratic Party, this writer felt that the early years of party loyalty were at last, in some small measure, vindicated. For just a little while there we were pleased, gratified, and elated that Congress was, at last, acting as an independent branch of government with power equal to the administrative in upholding the will of the people. Unfortunately, this euphoria was dampened with the renewal of the hated P...

News Voices for Creative Nonviolence: WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT campaign March 8, 2006 For Immediate Release Contact: Jeff Leys -773-573-5380 Antiwar Activists Arrested At House Appropriations Committee Hearing Washington, D.C. - March 8 - Two activists were arrested tonight after disrupting the hearing of the House Appropriations Committee. The Committee is considering approving nearly $65 billion in supplemental spending to fund the war in Iraq. The two were arrested as they read the names of Iraqi citizens and U.S. soldiers who have died in this war. The action was part of the "Winter of Our Discontent" campaign organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Waiting outside the doors were supporting members from Voices for Creative Nonviolence and the general public who could not gain access to the full Committee because the hearing room was packed by House members and their staff. "We act today to stop the death and suffering this war is causing in Iraq, and to urge ...