5 ITEMS 2 NEW 29APR2007

LINKS OF INTEREST

DOMESTIC-8
IRAQ-15
IRAN-1
OPT- 4
SOMALIA 1
DOMESTIC

Emergency Veto Rally
Old Capitol Building - Apalachee Pkwy/Monroe St
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
5:00PM...

Tallahassee will be joining the nationwide protest against GWB’s veto of the This national action will clearly demonstrate that President Bush can't veto the will of the American people -- we demand an end to this war.

5:00 the day after the veto.
12:30 Sunday if on Friday

Sign up here
http://tinyurl.com/3x6d7f

FAQs
http://pol.moveon.org/vetorally/faq.html

FMI
Carol Stachurski
cstachurski@earthlink.net
850-933-6152
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My new preferred email address is 124c4u@gmail.com

No matter what Embarq told me my earthlink addresses are no more.

tombaxter@talstar.com will soon be no more.

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To be removed soonest forward this message to 124c4u@gmail.com with UNSUBSCRIBE as
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New/Changed items indicated with =

item 1 Eternal Capitol Peace Vigil
www.honk4peace.org

item 2 Tallahassee Draft Al Gore Meet Up 03MAY2007

item 3 The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering 13MAY2007

=item 4 TNJP’s NEW HOME PAGE

item 5 Sister Sheila Salmon, Political Prisoner, Arrived FCI 17APR2007

Local Links

item 1 Tallahassee Network For Justice and Peace
http://www.tnjp.org.

item 2 Environment Florida
Environment Florida is the new home of Florida PIRG's environmental work.
http://www.environmentflorida.org

item 3 Tallahassee Zydeco & Cajun Association page
http://www.mudbugbash.com

item 4 Tallahassee Progressive Center
From the North take South Monroe to Palmer; turn left and East at the traffic light at Palmer; take first right and South onto So. Gadsden . Progressive Center is half way down the block on the right.
The center is the large white building with ample parking. The Center is ~1 mile south of
the Capitol.
http://www.tallprogcen.com/
http://www.progressivecenter.org

item 5 Slow Food Tallahassee
http://www.slowfoodtallahassee.org/Directory.htm

item 6 Heart of the Earth Friday Night Move Schedule
http://www.heartoftheearth.org/calendar.htm

item 7 WEMOONSPIRT Programs
http://www.wemoonspirit.com/programs1.htm

item 8 Apalachee Tortoise
http://www.apalacheetortoise.com

item 9 Tallahassee Democrat's Calender
http://www.tallahassee.com/calendars

item 10 Tallahassee Film Society.
http://www.tallahasseefilms.com/

item 11 Clean Water Network of Florida
CWNF has a daily list of statewide news clips on Florida's environmental issues, plus a Blog on which you can share your thoughts about current environmental issues and much more.
http://www.cleanwaternetwork-fl.org

item 12 BBCAT specifically for climate/energy events:
http://www.bbcat.org/calendar.htm

item 13 Removal and Submission Instructions
To be removed soonest forward this message to tombaxter@talstar.com with UNSUBSCRIBE
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Often people ask how they got on this list. Well. I've given up spending a lot of time asking why about anything, especially horrible things, happen. I'm far more interested in how to fix it.
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item 1 Eternal Capitol Vigil Sunday & Thursday

Join the Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, Code Pink
Sundays 12:30-2:30
Thursdays 4:00-6:00
in front of the Old Capitol
BUSH LIES - PEOPLE DIE

item 2 Tallahassee Draft Al Gore Meet Up 03MAY2007
Please join us for our next monthly Meetup and find out how Al Gore feels about the war in Iraq. His plans and ideas will help end the conflicts and discourage a world of war. We all deserve peace in an environment fit for our children's children.

www.draftalgore.meetup.com

Working with the national offices, Meetups around the country are encouraging Al Gore to run for and win the presidency - AGAIN - in 2008. He still has not closed the door. Buttons and bumper stickers will be available at this meeting. We are going to "Step It Up" with outreach to environmental issues and events. All ideas are welcomed.
Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 7:00 PM

The OLIVE GARDEN Restaurant (we'll meet in the back room)
Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32304

FMI
Dave or Lydia at
850-385-5322
tallahasseedraftalgore@yahoo.com.

item 3 The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering 13MAY2007
The women of Ohio, U.S.A., call upon the women of the world, from day-old babies to our most senior elders, to stand with us on May 13, 2007, to save the world. Our project is based on Sharon Mehdi's book The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering. If you don't know the story, a summary of the original version is on the website http://www.standingwomen.org
If you think it is appropriate, please send this message on to all of the women throughout the world who you think might like to join us. We will be standing for the world's children and grandchildren, and for the seven generations beyond them.

We dream of a world where all of our children have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe, and enough food to eat. A world where they have access to a basic education to develop their minds and healthcare to nurture their growing bodies. A world where they have a warm, safe, and loving place to call home. A world where they don't live in fear of violence--in their home,
in their neighborhood, in their school, or in their world. This is the world of which we dream.

This is the cause for which we will stand.

If you share this dream, please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signify your agreement with this statement. We ask you to invite the men and boys who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence.

=item 4 TNJP’s NEW HOME PAGE

Hello Peacemakers,

I wanted to let y'all know the transition to the new TNJP website is complete, www.tnjp.org.

The Tally activist community hasn't had a dynamic online community in the two yrs. since the IMC was hacked (with any luck that project will soon be resurrected, too!).

Check it out! Sign-up for a blog (all registered users have blogging rights!), it's now a dynamic online community based on the Drupal blogging software (just like the big blogging communities). All that's required is YOUR participation. Spread the word!

There's a poll, http://tnjp.org/node/10, for new community members to vote on whether to set up message boards/ forums.

Here's the first post announcing the new set-up and the news that the old site is still lives for posterity...

http://tnjp.org/node/1
Hello Tallahassee Peacemakers,
The old website complete with files and pictures has been uploaded on the new server hosted by www.Mayfirst.org. If you wish to stroll down memory lane, click here... http://tnjp.org/index.html

The old style html formatting ain't compatible with this new fangled bloggin' set-up. Fortunately the old TNJP website appears to function A-OK without having crashed the new Drupal CMS (Content Management System). WHEW!!!

Enjoy the new digs, join up and participate (post new content). http://tnjp.org/

Peace! Now!

CP ;>)

item 5 Sister Sheila Salmon, Political Prisoner, Arrives FCI 17APR2007

[I sent her a card. Anyone get any response?]

On Monday, January 29 - 2007, Sister Sheila Salmon was sentenced to 3 months & 10 days in federal prison for crossing the line onto the military base as part of her participation in the SOA protest last year. Her report date is April 17, 2007 and she will serve at Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institute.

Sister Sheila Salmon, 70, is a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, headquartered at Villa Maria, PA. Sister Sheila, a registered nurse, has ministered in the greater Cleveland, OH area, most recently with Hospice of the Western Reserve. She was also a missionary in Chile and worked with AIDS orphans in Kenya. She currently serves as an outreach worker with Mexican migrants, abused and neglected children and hospice patients in Sebastian, FL.

You can write Sheila at:
SHEILA T. SALMON #92953-020
FCI TALLAHASSEE
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
501 CAPITAL CIRCLE, NE
TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301

Sister Sheila's Statement:

My name is Sheila Salmon and I am a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. With other members of my religious community I have participated in the peaceful protest at Fort Benning for the last nine years. At this time I will not reiterate the innumerable human rights violations, torture, murders and massacres attributed to graduates of the School of Americas/WHINSEC. These activities are extensively documented and well known by the Court. Instead I will talk about faithfulness to the God of peace and justice.

Reflecting back to November 19th of last year, you may wonder why I crossed the line. Simply put, I did what I did because for me it was the right thing to do.

My act of non-violent resistance was done for the following reasons:

1. I am a Christian and have no choice but to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

2. As a member of the Humility of Mary Community I want to live out our commitment to act in solidarity
with women and children and those who are marginalized and to be non-violent in all of my relationships.

3. Speak out for those who have no voice - speaking truth to power no matter what it will cost me
personally.

4. Make a bold public stance for peace and justice.

5. Raise up in prayerful memory the thousands of people killed by SOA/WHINSEC graduates especially remembering:

* the four church women ? two from my hometown of Cleveland, Jean Donovan and Dorothy Kazel.

* Rafael Giron, brother of a friend and * Fr. Wilfredo Alarcon, a friend and co-worker from Chile.

Friends and family members have asked, Do you really think your act of civil disobedience will influence the government enough to close the school?? I honestly do not know the answer to that question. But I do know that if my action hastens the closing of the school by even one day, this act of civil disobedience was worthwhile.

Judge Faircloth, I am willing to joyfully accept the sentence to federal prison which you will impose. It is a small price to pay for my action and beliefs.

LINKS OF INTEREST

DOMESTIC-8
IRAQ-15
IRAN-1
OPT- 4
SOMALIA 1
DOMESTIC
Where Are the Cries of Outrage Over Military Rapes?
Beyond the Strange Furor Over Imus

1-RALPH NADER, CounterPunch
Now that the Don Imus flameout has once again demonstrated that vile words energize many activist groups and many media more than do devastating deeds, it is useful to revisit this strange dimension of public furor. The latest three word outburst in Mr. Imus' practice of sexist and racist remarks may be compared with the continuing sexist and racist behaviors that civic opponents would argue should at the very least receive equal time from those who become indignant over cruel, bigoted language. On March 18, the New York Times ran a lengthy cover story in its heralded Sunday Magazine about widespread sexual harassment and rape of female U.S. soldiers by their male colleagues in Iraq.

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32191

2-Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on Iraq, Vietnam, Activism and History:

In a Democracy Now! special from Boston, two of the city's leading dissidents, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, sit down for a rare joint interview.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/16/1338223

3-ACLU Congressional Scorecard:

The ACLU Congressional Scorecard provides you with a quick summary of important civil liberties measures and how your elected officials have voted. By looking at their actual voting record, you can go beyond the soundbites that characterize much of today's campaigns to better understand your elected officials' positions.

http://snipurl.com/1grl0

4-What happened to Ward Sutton and his Sutton Impact comic strip?

http://citypages.com/databank/28/1376/article15344.asp

5-Silenced: Progressive Sites Censored

by Kriss Perras Running Waters | Last fall 30th Congressional District Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) came to Malibu to address concerns of residents prior to the midterm elections November 7, 2006. At that time, Waxman warned residents questioning him about Net Neutrality that changes were underway.

As of recent months, there have been many accounts of Progressive news sites and Progressive sites in general experiencing difficulty on the Web. Some sites have been completely censored off the web for a period of time such as BushFlash.com which last week was offline and in place of its home page was a Department of Homeland Security logo. The statement from the government was the site was under investigation for violations of the Patriot Act. The site was started in March 2003, after the publisher watched the corporate media completely ignore the groundswell against the coming Iraq war.

http://www.malibuartsreviews.com/news/national/040807internetcensorship....

6-U.S. should be wary of offending its biggest lender - China:

Last year, when the U.S. Treasury debt increased by $184 billion, almost half of that amount - $87 billion, or 47 percent of the total - was provided by lenders in China, according to U.S. government statistics.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/13/news/wbmarket14.php

7-ACLU Releases Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

The American Civil Liberties Union today made public hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed or injured by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU received the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in June 2006. The hundreds of files provide a vivid snapshot, in significantly more detail than has previously been compiled and released, of the circumstances surrounding reports of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Since U.S. troops first set foot in Afghanistan in 2001, the Defense Department has gone to unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human costs of war," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "Our democracy depends on an informed citizenry, and it is critical that the American people have access to full and accurate information about the prosecution of the war and the implications for innocent civilians."...

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32109

8-The Apostles of Deception
What passes for Christianity among the people, like so many things American, is not the genuine article. The sermons that rise from many of the pulpits of the churches of America are, I suspect, as counterfeit as a six dollar bill; as phony as the people running the country. But those whose faith is blind are incapable of seeing truth. That is the trouble with blind faith. It does not, it cannot, see. I have always been wary of organized religion.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17536.htm

AFGHANISTAN

1-Pentagon inquiry finds US Marine unit killed Afghan civilians
Afghan human rights group also says marines used 'excessive force' after a suicide bombing.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0416/p99s01-duts.html?s=mesdu

2-Afghanistan in a downward spiral:
In addition to long-lasting problems such as military conflict, narcotics and warlordism, the Afghan government is increasingly facing new dilemmas which emanate from people's dire social and economic conditions
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ID18Df02.html

3-War is hell, Afghanistan is worse:
When we lose eight smiling young men, couldn't someone somewhere just say -- out loud -- 'What a terrible and meaningless waste of lives'
http://snipurl.com/1gla5

IRAQ

1 - IRAQ: Doctors warn of summer dehydration among children and the elderly

BAGHDAD, 19 April (IRIN) - Doctors are warning of a possible increase in diseases among children and the elderly as Iraq's hot summer months begin. Dehydration, cholera and bacterial infections are of the greatest concern, they say.

Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=71703

2 - IRAQ: Insecurity and lack of funds prevent cleansing of polluted sites
BAGHDAD, 19 April (IRIN) - There are up to 400 polluted sites in Iraq that are serious health hazards to the population and urgently need to be cleaned, according to a specialist in the Iraqi government. But ongoing violence, particularly the targeting of municipal workers, and a lack of funds is hampering clean-up efforts.

Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=71696

3-8 Million Iraqis Need Urgent Aid: UN
The United Nations warned on Tuesday, April 17, that nearly eight million Iraqis were in dire need of aid, while international relief groups urged world countries, particularly war allies Washington and London, to accommodate millions of Iraqis fleeing their violence-ravaged country. "Up to eight million Iraqi civilians are in urgent need of humanitarian relief," UN humanitarian chief John Holmes told a conference on Iraq's displacement crisis in Geneva, reported Agence France Presse (AFP). "That is around four million more than those who are internally or externally displaced." There are also four million Iraqi refugees and displaced people, about 2 million in Syria and Jordan and 1.9 million inside the war-torn country...

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32186

4-After All, It's President George W. Bush: So "Attention Must Be Paid!"
Walter C. Uhler
...In addition, our huckster president failed to mention two inconvenient facts about the Iraqi Parliament inside the Green Zone: (1) The Green Zone is widely viewed to be the "symbol" of America's hated occupation of Iraq and (2) the Iraqi Parliament probably wouldn't last one day without its protection. As Wayne White (Middle East Institute) has observed: "The legislature is dominated by 'militia-connected parliamentarians, does not include enough Sunnis, and beyond that isn't broadly reflective of even the Shiite community.'" [Los Angeles Times ] Zbigniew Brzezinski was blunter still: "A lot of guys in the Green Zone - not all, but a lot of them - will pack their bags and leave when we leave."...

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32181

5-Promise of Victory Continue to Flow From the Whitehouse
M. Taqi::independent freelance writer, Iraqi League
When it comes to the Iraq disastrous war, it appears that the US Vice President chooses to escape to an unrealistic world of his own that is different to that in which the greatest majority of the US public lives. This is clear from the recent interview he gave to CBS news in which he, after more than four years of occupation, assures the American public of the progress being made by the US in Iraq on security, that US victory in Iraq is still possible and highlights the importance of US support for the democratic regime in Iraq until that regime becomes capable of self-sustaining.
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=32207&s2=18

6-The Americans Still Don't Get It

The surge isn't going to work because it was wrong to begin with. The first rule for an occupier fighting an insurgency is that you can't win by killing insurgents. Killing insurgents is easy and makes it feel like you are doing something, but its a trap.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17549.htm

7-The Inexplicable Enrichment of Bush Cronies
The Iraq Money Trail
It's time for Americans to face the cold hard truth that nothing will be accomplished by allowing the daily carnage in Iraq to continue, and if Bush has his way, our young people will be dying in this war profiteering scheme until hell freezes over. Congress needs to authorize funding to pull our troops out of that deathtrap and not one dime more.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17547.htm

9-Iraqi refugee children trapped in poverty and fear :
More than two million Iraqi refugees are trapped in a cycle of poverty and fear. More than half a million of these are school-age children, many with no access to education or psychological support, according to research by World Vision.
http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/April2007/16/c5350.html

10-Iraq's neighbours blocking refugees -- rights group:
Iraq's neighbours are making it harder and harder for Iraqis to flee across the border to escape violence, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17634333.htm

11-INDEX ON IRAQ: A JOURNEY IN HELL
Sarah Meyer, INDEX RESEARCH
According to Save the Children, a UK-based NGO, many children were killed or injured in the initial US-led invasion of Iraq in April and March 2003. The NGO said the injured children continue to suffer the effects of the conflict, have become more vulnerable to chronic diseases and lack assistance. … The exact number of children living without limbs in Iraq, as a result of the war and the daily violence countrywide, is not known. However, local NGOs estimate that they must be in the thousands. "Every explosion, air strike, fighting or targeting in Iraq makes a child injured. In addition, we cannot forget the remaining UXOs [unexploded ordnance] whose victims are mostly children," Khalid Ala'a, spokesman for local NGO Keeping Children Alive (KCA), said. "If you make a summation of all these children, they are going to be thousands and we cannot forget that the number of them killed since April 2003 by diseases, explosions or bullets, has reached 260,000," Ala'a added...

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32217

12-Please God, deliver us from the banality of evil
Jason Miller, Thomas Paine's Corner Virtually every day our mendacious corporate media publicizes the farcical "debate" between officials of the Bush Regime and Congress. While numerous polls have indicated that over 2/3 of US Americans want an end to the war in Iraq, and voters positioned the Democrats to exercise the will of the people, the war rages on. Between the Gulf War, the subsequent US-driven draconian UN economic sanctions, and the seemingly endless US invasion and occupation of Iraq, well over a million Iraqis are dead. Infrastructure essential to vital human needs, including transportation, health, utilities, water, and sanitation has been decimated. Depleted uranium will continue to visit misery and death upon the Iraqi population long after the imperial invaders have been sent packing, as we were in Vietnam...

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=32195

13-Divided Iraq has two spy agencies:
Suspicious of Iraq's CIA-funded national intelligence agency, members of the Iraqi government have erected a "shadow" secret service that critics say is driven by a Shiite Muslim agenda and has left the country with dueling spy agencies.
http://snipurl.com/1gl9n

14-"Sorry We Shot Your Kid, But Here's $500"
By Greg Mitchell
For the entire war in Iraq, the press has been kept largely in the dark concerning the number of civilians killed by our forces, and what happened in the aftemath. Now several hundred files posted online reveal some of the true horror while raising questions about lack of compensation.
http://tinyurl.com/34to88
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_co...

15-IRAQ: Palestinian refugees hold border protest

BAGHDAD, 15 April (IRIN) - Hundreds of Palestinian refugees who are stranded on the Iraq-Syria border have staged an open sit-in since 12 April to draw international attention to what they say is their ongoing suffering.

Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=71613

IRAN 1
1-Iranian retaliation after a US attack can hurt
At a time when there exists a very real possibility of eventual United States or Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, it is important to focus on the potentially devastating impact of such action on the stability of the Gulf, the already fragile situation in Iraq, and repercussions even farther afield.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article...

OPT 3
1-America and Israel are asking the impossible of Arab diplomacy

Israel's foreign minister has asked Arab leaders to "show flexibility" and agree to wider talks on their peace initiative, instead of limiting initial contacts to Egypt and Jordan, two states that already have relations with the Jewish state. Similarly, the United States voiced its disappointment with the Arab decision to limit the circle.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&articl...

2-"Poor medical treatment" for prisoners in Israel

RAMALLAH, 17 April (IRIN) - Overall, the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel are not significantly discriminated against when it comes to medical care because all prisoners in Israel receive poor treatment regardless of background, claims NGO Physicians for Human Rights, Israel (PHR).Overall, the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel are not significantly discriminated against when it comes to medical care because all prisoners in Israel receive poor treatment regardless of background, claims NGO Physicians for Human Rights, Israel (PHR).

Http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=71655

3-It's Israel's moment to address the difficult issues of peace
By Emad Omar
For more than two decades political proposals, diplomatic initiatives, and international resolutions, as well as specifically Palestinian and Israeli initiatives, such as the unofficial Geneva Accords, have failed to bring about peace between Palestinians and Israelis. A main reason for this failure is Israeli society's and its leaders' repeated failure.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article...

4-What are Arabs to make of Israel's persistent refusal to make peace?

For decades, Israelis have tried to convey the fictitious and somewhat paranoid idea that their tiny, helpless Jewish state is perpetually under threat because it is surrounded by perennially hostile Arab regimes. At no point in history has this idea seemed as absurd and out of touch with reality as it does now.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&articl...

SOMALIA 1
1-The bombing of Somalia
U.S. grabs for power in Horn of Africa
Monica Hill, Freedom Socialist newspaper, Vol. 28, No. 2 - www.socialism.comWhy is the U.S. Air Force strafing southern Somalia? Why is the carrier USS Eisenhower in the Indian Ocean? What possible threat is Somalia to the U.S.? The White House claims the right to attack other countries to get suspected al-Qaeda members. But no al-Qaeda operatives were hit on Jan. 8, the first acknowledged U.S. military action in Somalia since 1994. Seventy nomads and their cattle perished. The herders were bombed at night as they camped around fires to deflect mosquitoes. They were among many civilian casualties that resulted from three days of U.S. air strikes near towns. More U.S.-sponsored bloodshed is likely since the State Department just hired military contractor DynCorp for services in Somalia...
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=3210

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