Aug. 14: Support immigrant workers

(Malabar demonstration)

Andolan: Organizing South Asian Workers and Youth Solidarity Summer (YSS) are joining forces to denounce the exploitation of immigrant workers at Dimple Restaurant!

Join us in demanding justice!!

Sunday Aug. 14, 12pm
Dimple Restaurant
72-31 37th Ave (near Broadway & Roosevelt)
Jackson Heights, Queens
(subway: E/F/G/R/V/7 to 74th St-Broadway)

A former Dimple chef, Mahesh Sharma, is taking a stand against the restaurant for exploiting workers and violating basic labor laws, by paying below minimum wage, not paying overtime, and unlawfully withholding wages.

Dimple is a popular Indian restaurant that is taking advantage of fellow South Asian immigrants as well as immigrant workers from other communities. Mr. Sharma worked 80-95 hours per week for 3 years -- getting paid for less than the minimum wage and in violation of New York state and federal overtime laws.

Mr. Sharma was not paid for his first week of work; instead, his wages were withheld as a "security deposit." In addition to his extremely long hours, he worked in dangerous conditions in the kitchen. In January 2003, the restaurant stopped paying him altogether. After three weeks of not being paid, he was forced to quit.

Mr. Sharma is suing for back wages owed to him, and he has faced ongoing harrassment from the owners and their lawyers since filing the suit. "I am not bringing the lawsuit for myself -- but to show how Dimple restaurant abuses all the employees," says Sharma. "This is for the others who are still suffering but are scared to come forward. I am not scared. I just want justice."

These are standard conditions faced by workers at Dimple - and some are paid even less. Unfortunately, these abuses are all too common in restaurants all over New York.

The South Asian community and allies are united in the struggle against the exploitation of low-wage immigrant workers. Too often, South Asian immigrant workers suffer at the hands of greedy owners within our own community.

We must stand together to fight against the abuse of workers at Dimple and send a clear message to other restaurants that all workers must be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. We demand justice from these abusive employers!

 

Sometimes all it takes to start a movement is one Gold-star mother. Go Cindy!

Cindy Sheehan

Sometimes all it takes to start a movement is just one Gold-star mother. Here's the latest on Cindy Sheehan from USA Today

Peace House a center of dissent in Crawford
Soldier's mom, others rally near Bush's Texas getaway
By Oren Dorell

CRAWFORD, Texas - When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrive at President Bush's isolated ranch today, they'll face an unwelcome greeting: scores of peace protesters who have joined a vigil by the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.
Local authorities and activists also are gearing up for a possible confrontation Friday. The group's protest site sits beside a two-lane country road between Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch and the Broken Spoke Ranch, where his top campaign fundraisers are invited to a barbecue with the president.
The base for the protesters - these and others over the past three years - is a modest two-bedroom bungalow near the center of town with the grand name of the Crawford Peace House. Since 2002, it has served as refuge, kitchen, laundry, flophouse and launchpad for thousands of protesters in this town of 705 residents.

For full article
 

The gay Hollywood devil on Msgr. Clark's shoulder

Laura DeFilippo and Msgr. Eugene V. Clark, rector at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown.
As Michael Daly says (NYDN):

It's not the sex it's the hypocrisy.

Daly quotes Msgr. Eugene Clark from a 1999 radio talk:

Fidelity, Fidelity. A serious business. We say faithful to one's spouse. Faithful to my wife. Faithful to my husband that I will not wander.... I will not be unfaithful in the sense of having a sexual union with someone else and thinking it of no account. It's a shocking injury to your spouse and that's what the lord is telling us. It destroys family confidence and trust.

Now it seems that Msgr. Clark allegedly had a sexual relationship with 46-year-old Laura DeFilippo, his married church secretary, at his Hampton's home and a Long Island motel. It seems that her husband, teen-aged daughter and sister have all signed statements to Westchester County police that describe how the daughter allegedly found her mother "sitting on [the priest's] lap wearing a satin teddy."
I suspect that as he did in his 1999 radio address, Clark will blame his indiscretion, if proven true, on

Hollywood,

which he says is

not a Christian place at all, at all, at all. [Because]most of the writers, the creative people are homosexually inclined or homosexually recruited.

And, of course, these people are

the enemy of Christian marriage and Christian falling in love and all the tenderness that goes with that.... They [the homosexually inclined] say: 'don't pay attention to that business of permanence and fidelity.'

I guess in the years since 1999, he too has been contaminated by Hollywood's gay Mafia. Or perhaps , as retribution, they set him up at that motel. We shall see.
 

Oct. 14-16: Million Worker March in D.C.

National Mall

On May 14 & 15, 2005, the Million Worker March Movement (MWMM) held a National Report back and Networking Meeting in Detroit which brought together MWMM organizers and leaders representing various regions of the country.
The consensus of those present expressed strong support for the MWMM's endorsement of the 10 year commemoration of the Million Man March which is being organized as the Millions More Movement (MMM). The MMM will seek to mobilize millions to Washington, DC on October 14 thru 16, 2005.

For more info: MWMM
 

Aug. 10: Hey Mr. President, Meet with Cindy

With Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice on their way to Crawford, Texas, to meet with President Bush on Thursday, Cindy Sheehan will hold a blog conference call hosted by Joe Trippi of JoeTrippi.com, Bob Fertik of Democrats.com, and Jodie Evans of CodePink4Peace.org. Given the urgency of Cindy's situation, we hope that you will attend the call.

Wednesday, Aug 10
2:00pm EST

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan, an American soldier who died in Iraq on April 4th, 2004. She is camping out on Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, until he agrees to meet with her. Cindy simply wants to ask Bush "Why did my son die?" and "What was the noble cause that he died for?"
We hope you will join us on this call and help raise awareness for Cindy's cause. We also hope that you will sign the petition demanding that Bush meet with Cindy.

Learn more about Cindy Sheehan:

Sign the petition:

 

Cuban 5 Win New Trial

May Day 2002 - Havana, Cuba

In a monumental decision on the case of the five Cubans who were convicted in a 2001 Miami trial, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of the men known as the Cuban Five, and ordered a new trial.
Attorney Leonard Weinglass characterized the 93-page decision as "one of the most extensive opinions on venue and the issue of fair trial ever made. It is the first time that an appeals court has overturned a federal trial based on venue in the history of the United States."
The five men, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, and Fernando Gonz"lez, were sentenced in the seven-month trial to 15 years to double life, sentences which are now revoked. They will remain detained in the current prisons during the first 20-day period of appeals open to federal prosecutors.
Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, said, "This is a huge victory! We are ecstatic about this decision. It confirms that the five Cubans are completely innocent, we know they always were.
'We are hopeful that the federal government won't seek a new trial. The judges' decision is unanimous, and a resounding defeat of the U.S.-backed Miami terrorist network that persecuted the Five.'

For further info: Free the 5

( photo: Gloria La Riva)


 

Aug. 17: FAIR TRADE 101

FAIR TRADE 101: How to make NYC a Fair Trade city ? What is Fair Trade? How does it help farmers?

The NYC Fair Trade Coalition invites you to a special meeting to learn about Fair Trade and get involved in local Fair Trade campaign efforts:

Wednesday, August 17th
7:00-9:00PM

American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street (between 5th and 6th Aves)
10th Floor

Iced Fair Trade beverages will be served!

Please RSVP or direct questions to: fair.trade.nyc@gmail.com

Small-scale farmers around the world - from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Ecuador to Ethiopia, India, and Vietnam - typically receive very low prices for the coffee, tea, cocoa, bananas, and other crops they produce. But those who sell on the Fair Trade market in these and other developing countries make much more income to feed their families, send their kids to school, and pay for housing and health care.

The NYC Fair Trade Coalition is working to raise public awareness and increase availability of Fair Trade products throughout our city. This summer, the New York City Council unanimously passed a resolution that acknowledges Fair Trade as a key solution for millions of struggling farmers around the world and encourages the purchase of Fair Trade Certified products by City Government institutions. The resolution was an important victory for the rapidly growing Fair Trade movement in New York City.

 

Aug. 14-27: How Johnny Got His Gun, a play by Dalton Trumbo

Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun tells of a young soldier wounded in WWI. Through an intimate one-man performance, we explore the mind of a boy rendered blind, deaf, and quadriplegic who still dares to ask the question "why?"

Directed by Gerritt Turner

Performances shared by Ricado Perez-Gonzalez & Mark Lindberg

Fringe Festival production Co-Produced by Patty Montesi & Ricardo Perez-Gonzalez

for biographies!

Performance dates and times:
Sunday, August 14 at 12pm
Thursday, August 18 at 8pm
Sunday, August 21 at 4:30pm
Thursday, August 25 at 5:45pm
Saturday, August 27 at 7:15pm

Playing at:
Ace of Clubs9 Great Jones Street
(3rd Street between Broadway and Lafayette)
Subway: B,D,F to Broadway/Lafayette stop
W,R to 8th street stop
6 to Bleecker Street stop
212.677.6963

(Photo Courtesy of Cape Cod Repertory Theater )

 

Aug. 12-18: Film showing: Winter Soldier

WINTER SOLDIER
(Winterfilm Collective, U.S., 1972; 96m)

August 12-18, 2005

The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Walter Reade Theater
Lincoln Center

Fri Aug 12: 8; Sat Aug 13: 2 & 6; Sun Aug 14: 8; Mon Aug 15: 4:15; Wed Aug
17: 7:30; Thurs Aug 18: 2
There will be a panel discussion following the 8pm screening on Fri August 12.

WINTER SOLDIER

On the first two days of February 1971, one month after the revelations of the My Lai massacre, a public inquiry into war crimes committed by American forces in Vietnam was held in the second floor ballrooom of a Howard Johnson motel in Detroit. The event was organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War with support from Jane Fonda and Mark Lane. Over 125 veterans spoke of atrocities they had witnessed and, in some cases, committed. "The major that I worked for had a fantastic capability of staking prisoners," goes one piece of testimony, "utilizing a knife that was extremely sharp, and sort of fileting them like a fish. . . . Prisoners treated this way were executed at the end because there was no way that we could take them into any medical aide and say, 'This dude fell down some steps.'" Predictably, the event was picketed and ignored by news outlets, but it marked a major turning point in the anti-war movement. It was also a turning point in the life of a young vet who attended, and who can be glimpsed briefly in the film asking a fellow vet to comment on the crimes he had witnessed. "I'd almost need a book to answer that, man," was his answer. "I didn't like being an animal, and I didn't like seeing everybody else turn into animals, either." That young vet who had asked the question was John Kerry, and the Winter Soldier Investigation changed him and his comrades forever. Their courage in testifying, their desire to prevent further atrocities and to regain their own humanity, provide a dramatic intensity that makes Winter Soldier an unforgettable experience.
A collective of filmmakers--Fred Aronow, Nancy Baker, Rhetta Barron, Robert Fiore, David Gillis, David Grubin, Barbara Jarvis, Barbara Kopple, Michael Lesser, Lee Osborne, Lucy Massie Phenix, Roger Phenix, Benay Rubenstein, and Michael Weil-- recorded the event, and produced an extraordinary documentary called Winter Soldier. Acclaimed at film festivals around the world, the film was rejected as too incendiary by U.S. television and played only on New York's local public television station, WNET. Since then, only few screenings by the filmmakers have kept the legacy alive. This is a rare chance to have another look at this searing document. A Milliarium Zero release. Followed by an 18-minute short film A Conversation with the Filmmakers.

 

Aug. 27: ABC No Rio benefit

Hiretsukan

Friends! Allies! Ex-Lovers! Future Conspirators! Join us for this night of rebel sounds and misbehavin'...

A Benefit for ABC No Rio
Saturday, August 27, 8 p.m.
Bowery Ballroom,
6 Delancey Street at Bowery, Lower East Side
lucky $13 in advance, $15 day of show, 16+

Tickets/Directions/Info:
212 533-2111, Bowery Ballroom

FEATURING:
Hiretsukan (photo above)
(lyrically incendiary, raging, dissonant, melodic hardcore!)

The Stockyard Stoics
energetic, good-humored, politically aware, 85% chance of pogo!!

God is My Co-Pilot
infamous free-jazz punkers!!!

World Inferno Friendship Society
NYC's vaudevillian, circus-related, red wine-infused, punk orchestra!!

IN SUPPORT OF A CULTURE OF OPPOSITION

For 25 years ABC No Rio has been host to exhibitions, performance art, poetry readings, film and video screenings, punk shows, open mics, experimental music performances and free drawing, photography and filmmaking classes for neighborhood kids. We've developed new facilities - a darkroom, printshop and computer center - increasing our ability to serve artists, activists and the community at large. Our Zine Library is one of the largest collections of its type. We provide a home to Food Not Bombs and to Books Through Bars. Thousands of artists, performers, poets and musicians have found a supportive home for their expression and experimentation at ABC No Rio.

ABC No Rio has meant many things to many people. But our commitment to political and social engagement has remained consistent. We need your help to continue this tradition. Proceeds from this benefit will go towards ABC No Rio's Building Renovation Fund.

For the latest on our situation as well as up-coming events,

check out abcnorio

Photo by Schledewitz
 

MoveOn Rove poster

From MoveOn:

Finally, after a week and 17,740 entries from MoveOn members we have a winner in the Fire Karl Rove Slogan Contest. And the winner is...

The author of the winning slogan "Loose Lips, Pink Slips: Fire Karl Rove" is Mary Thornquist, a MoveOn member from Catonsville, Maryland. Mary has been a MoveOn member since 2001.

 

Aug. 17: Teach-in about bio-research labs

Columbia University campus

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MUST ACKNOWLEDGE- Our Communities Right to Know, whether our Health, our Community, or our Environment is at risk!

TEACH-IN ON: (Open to the public)
Wednesday, August 17th,6:00 PM Sharp!
Roberto Clemente IS 195,
625 W 133rd Street bet. Broadway & 12th Ave.
(Opposite the Manhattanville Bus Depot)
RSVP by calling 212-961-1000 ext 333 by August 15th, 2005
Refreshments will be served/ Auditorium is air conditioned.

What do Anthrax, Ebola, HIV/AIDS and SARS have in common? They are all deadly viruses and bacteria that could be studied at the kinds of bio-research labs proposed in the Columbia University expansion in our neighborhood.

WE ACT for Environmental Justice presents
a community "teach-in" about bio-research labs:
Are they safe? Who regulates them and how can communities organize to hold them accountable? We should not be left in the dark, when our lives and the lives of our families are at risk.

 

Aug. 29: Extradite Luis Posada

The "historic" photo taken by Edgar Becerra in the Department of State protocol suite in Washington, May 2, 2004. In their usual order: Angel Garrido, the privileged beneficiary of USAID and manager of the mercenaries; terrorists Luis Posada Zuniga Rey; Horacio Garcia, Ricardo Mayo and Feliciano Foyo, all directed linked to Luis Posada Carriles

August 29
National Day of Action to Extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela
Say No to Asylum!
Free the Cuban Five!

Regional demonstration in El Paso, TX - outside of Posada's trial
Washington DC: Gather at 12 noon on the White House sidewalk (in Lafayette Park)
Locally coordinated protests in cities and towns across the country

Since the illegal arrival of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to the U. S. in late March, the Bush administration has been met with a torrent of opposition and demands for Posada's extradition to Venezuela.
On August 29, Posada will appear for trial in El Paso and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is calling for demonstrations outside the immigration court in El Paso and in cities across the country demanding that Posada not be granted asylum and instead be extradited to Venezuela.
Only Bush's government and the Miami terrorists are opposed to Posada's extradition.
There is virtually universal agreement that Posada must be denied asylum in the U.S. and instead be tried in Venezuela. Posada is principally responsible, along with Orlando Bosch, for the 1976 bombing of the Cubana plane that killed 73 people. That crime was plotted in Venezuela. The hand of the CIA is also deeply implicated, and Posada was a paid CIA agent since 1961.
It is more critical than ever to keep the pressure on the U.S. government to demand justice for the families of the victims of anti-Cuba terrorism, and for an end to U.S. sponsorship of the Miami terrorists.

 

Andrew sightings II

Another recent sighting of Andrew at camp. That's him on the extreme right with a bunch of other counselors 

Andrew sightings I

A recent sighting of Andrew at camp. 

Right-wing hubris takes the stage

As I have said several times on this blog, the hubris of the right-wing Republican Party will undoubtedly destroy it, sooner rather than later, check out their meeting this weekend:

The theme of the Republican Party's summer meeting this weekend was expanding its base. The keynote speaker was a GOP senator [Rick Santorum, above] who blames radical feminism for wrecking the home, equates same-sex marriage with bestiality, finds public schools suspect and believes that abortion is worse than slavery.
Republicans see no inconsistency.
"We don't have to choose between motivating our base and bringing new faces and new voices into the party,'' said GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman, who was elevated to the post after successfully managing President Bush's 2004 re- election campaign.

(For complete article)

Also check out Dumpsantorum.com

 

8/8-8/14: Actions, etc.: This week

Here are the actions and other activities this week previously posted on Contested Terrain:(All posts in July, unless otherwise noted by an *)

Thru Aug. 30: Art exhibit: Disappeared in America (Brecht Forum, 212-242-4201, http://www.brechtforum.org/)

Thru Aug. 31: Black August Film Festival: Aug. 11: Machetero; Aug. 14: The Black and the Green, followed by discussion with filmmaker St. Clair Bourne; Aug. 16: The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Brecht Forum, 212-242-4201).

Aug. 8: Hell No! We Wont Go (Military Recruiting Station, Chambers St. bt. Greenwich & Hudson.

Aug 8: Presentation/discussion: The Secret Bases. Exploring the Pentagon's "Black World.", (16 Beaver St. (4/5 fl.)

Aug. 9:* Vigil and March: Nagasaki Day Disobedience: Poems, Prayers, Vigil, 11 AM (Foley Square, Centre & Lafayette sts. below Worth St.)

Aug 10: * Public Discussion and letter writing: From Abu Ghraib to Ave. C: Brining Human Rights Standards to our Government and our City 6:30-8:30 PM (NYU Law Scxhool, Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Sq. So. @ McDougal St.), info: 212-979-7213, wheedle@earthlink.net

Aug. 10: Film: Five Days by Danny Lyon in conjunction with his photo exhibit: The Destruction of Lower Manhattan,, 6:30 PM (Hunter College, Ida K. Lang Recital Hall, 68 St. Bt. Park & Lex., 4th Fl.) Reservations required: 212-534-1672, X-257, http://www.mcny.org

Aug 11: Party: Welcom Home for 16th US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan , (Community Church of NY, 28East 35 St., Bt. Park & Mad.) http:www.Pastorsforpeace.org
Aug. 11: * Film: The Yes Men by Chris Smith, Dan Ollman and Sarah Price (49 E. Houston St., bt. Mott & Mulberry)

Aug 12: * Reading: Dave Zirin,What's My Name, Fool?, (Barnes & Noble, 4 Astor Pl.) info: 212-420-1322, http://www.edgeofsports.com/

Aug. 12: Books Through Bars Barbeque, (ABC NoRio,156 Rivington St., Bt. Clinton & Suffolk) Info: 212-254-3697, ext. 322, http://www.ABCNorio.org/affiliated/btb.html

Aug. 13: * Super Stoop Sale Benefit for Brooklyn Parents for Peace, (Park Pl., Bt. 6 and 7 aves., B'klyn) Info: 718-624-5921, http://www.brooklynpeace.org/
Aug. 13: * Performance/dance party to benefit Youth Solidarity Summer 2005, 8-10PM, After party, 10PM-2AM (Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver St., 4 fl., bt. Broad & B'way), Info: 347-262-6096

Aug. 14: * Film: The Power of Nightmares (A BBC production), 9/11 Info Resource Series w/Post screening discussion & strategy session, 6:30PM (St. Marks Church, 2nd Ave. & 10 St), info: 212-714-7147, http://www.ny911truth.org./(series continues: Aug. 21: Unconstitutional:The Attack on our Civil Liberties; Aug. 28: Masters of the Universe: The Secret Birth of the Federal Reserve)

Aug. 14: * Talk Discussion: Dunayevskaya's Writings on Marx's Philosophy of Revolution, (Identity House, 39 West 14 St., Rm. 205), Info: 212-663-3631, http://www.newsandletters.org/

Future:

Aug. 25: Artists Seth Tobocman and Meirav Shaul projecting their work

Aug. 27: An Evening of Performance and Commentary on the Lives and Deaths of Sacco & Vanzetti

Sept. 17-23: Youth Activists Retreat

Sept. 24-26: Demand an End to the War in Iraq Demonstrate in DC

Nov. 9: Art Exhibit: Three Cities Against the Wall

Aug. 11: Party: Welcome home for 16th US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan

Caravanistas carried the aid across after US authorities made it clear they would not permit it to get through.

8/11 THU, 6:30 pm
Party: Welcome home for 16th US/Cuba
Friendshipment Caravan.
Community Church of NY,
28 E 35th St (bt. Park & Madison Ave).

With caravanista Espie Martell,
Cuban activist Mariana Gaston,
City Councilmember Margarita Lopez, others.

Concludes with a candlelight vigil.
Sponsor: IFCO/Pastors for Peace.
Info: 212-926-5757, cucaravan@igc.org



 

Aug. 8: Presentation/discussion:The Secret Bases: Exploring the Pentagon's "Black World"

Earthlings welcome: Paying a visit to the Little A'Le'inn, an eatery/shrine to flying saucers just down the road from Area 51 in Rachel, NV.

Monday Night 08.08.05 --Presentation/Discussion: Trevor Paglen
The Secret Bases: Exploring the Pentagon's "Black World"
Monday Night 08.08.05 @ 7:30 Pm
16 Beaver Street, 4th floor (directions below)
Open To All

we are happy to invite Trevor Paglen back to 16Beaver for a presentation of his latest research. We hope you will make it for what should be a really interesting evening.

The Secret Bases: Exploring the Pentagon's "Black World"The amount of money spent on secret Pentagon projects - the so-called "black budget" - has reached unprecedented levels in the past few years. This level of hidden military spending translates into a variety of extremely peculiar built environments and landscapes. From the popular phenomenon of "Area 51," to discreet locales like the Helendale Avionics Facility, the Southwest is littered with places where the military develops, tests, and operates technologies that "do not exist." Among industry insiders, these clandestine infrastructures and secret bases are collectively known as the "black world."
For geographers and cultural producers, hidden military landscapes pose bizarre visual and epistemic challenges and paradoxes. How might we see places whose very existence is a state secret? What are some empirical means that we can use to detect the presence of carefully constructed absences? What happens when the norms of visuality and intelligibility begin to collapse? What do these epistemic limit-cases look like? What do they sound like?
In order to pursue this project, I have developed some unorthodox methods to research and document traces of hidden military landscapes, movements, and economies. These techniques include "limit telephotography," symbology, ad-hoc participatory anthropology, amateur geospatial intelligence collection, plane-spotting, and military communications monitoring. In this presentation, I will demonstrate some of these unusual techniques and discuss some of the projects that have come out of these efforts.

"Spying on the Government" - An article from the SF Bay Guardian.
Trevor Paglen is an artist, writer, and experimental geographer working out of the Department of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is writing a doctoral dissertation about the spatial aspects of military secrecy.
His projects deliberately blur the lines between social science, contemporary art, and a host of even more obscure disciplines in order to construct unfamiliar, yet meticulously researched, ways to interpret the world around us.

16 Beaver Group
16 Beaver Street, 4th / 5th fl.
New York, NY 10004
phone: 212.480.2093
for directions/subscriptions/info visit:

(SF Bay Guardian photo by Lori Spears)

 

Gold-Star mother to confront Bush in Crawford

Cindy Sheehan

From AfterDowningStreet:

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, and mother of a soldier killed in action in Iraq, plans to confront President Bush with questions at his Crawford ranch on Saturday morning, August 6, 11 a.m. CT. Accompanying Sheehan will be members of Veteran's for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), CODE PINK, and Crawford Peace House, all members or allies of the AfterDowningStreet.org Coalition.
On Wednesday, Bush said (speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August): "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission." and "The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause."
In response, Sheehan wrote:
"We want our loved ones' sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are? We would like for him to explain this 'noble cause' to us, and plan to ask him why Jenna and Barbara are not in harm's way, if the cause is so noble. If he is not ready to send the twins, then he should bring our troops home immediately. We will demand a speedy withdrawal."
Sheehan said today that she plans to stay "until we are arrested or satisfied with the answers."
Sheehan will be carrying with her a collection of signatures on a petition asking that the troops be brought home, including 25,000 signatures collected at OutOfIraq.org.