Kudos to Robin Wright Jones

On Wednesday, March 15, the Missouri State House turned its back on low-income women by voting 96-59 against a measure that would have funded family-planning services. These funds could have improved access to birth control and prevented unintended pregnancy, reducing the need for abortion. (HB 1010)
Instead of reaching common ground to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion, a majority of lawmakers bowed to pressure from Missouri Right to Life and the Catholic Conference and voted to limit health care for low-income women, even risking an increase in the number of abortions each year in our state.
Our Rep Robin Wright Jones stood up for low-income women's access to contraception and family planning services by voting against the measure. Please use the following link to send her a letter to thank her for supporting publicly funded contraceptive services.

Great new talk radio format in Town: 1190 AM

Yeah for St. Louis!!

As of March 16, nationally syndicated talk programming, including Don Imus, Neal Boortz, Al Franken, The 2 Live Stews, Jim Cramer and Dave Ramsey can now be heard on St. Louis airwaves - KRFT 1190 AM. Why don't we all call General Manager Evan Crocker at 962-0590 to express our joy!

The radio station also been in the news last week for firing a DJ who used the word "coon" while discussing Condoleeza Rice as a possible NFL commissioner. Here's the story from the P-D.

Jason Hurst Petition website

Dear Friends,

For the past week it has been my privilege as well as a great deal of fun to work with a Disaster Relief team in New Orleans. We gutted the hurricane damaged home of Jason Hurst, a young quadriplegic graduate student. Friends of his are petitioning an ABC program to build Jason's family a new house. The link below will take you to the site. Frankly, I don't know if this petition has "clout". However, I do know that Jason watches it grow and it gives him hope.

Please help me help this courageous young man and his family. I had the privilege of meeting them all and they are very deserving.

Peace

Elaine Kidwell
8th Ward

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/738227967?ltl=1143407968#body

Wesley Clark Website up and podcasting

For those of you who have been asking, "what about Wesley Clark?" Good news, he's still fighting the good fight. Check out his new website for more information and weekly podcasts.

Censorship in America--Follow the Money

Do you remember Rachel Corrie? She's the young American woman who was crushed under an Israeli bulldozer because she refused to let the Israelis run roughshod over the Palestinians. Corrie was part of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group that recruits Westerners to act as human shields against Israeli aggression against Palestinians. Its a peaceful group and Corrie was an idealistic, loving, caring young woman who wanted to change the world peacefully. She died for that belief.

Well now there's a play about her growth as an idealist and activist, "My Name is Rachel Corrie." Alternet passes on an article that was originally printed in the Nation Magazine. It seems that the play has had two very successful runs in London but when the New York Theatre Workshop decided to run the play, it got nixed. In fact, according to the article, you can't even get the original book in the States. You have to go to Amazon UK!

So who is behind this de facto censorship? When the article writer called the board members of the Workshop he got no response. He suggests that a strong and militant Jewish faction (1/3 of the board are Jewish) has decided that this simple yet moving play is just too hot for NY. The article author, who is Jewish, makes the point that a great deal of America's Middle Eastern policy is driven and sustained by the constant Israeli assertion of vicitmization. The play turns this pr push on its head and reveals the dirty, violent underside that would cause an Israeli Army member to drive a bulldozer over a young woman in a peaceful protest.

Wouldn't it be great of a local theatre group picked up the play and produced it here? Now that would be a world class act!

Thanks to Jeannette Ward for bringing this article to my attention.

William Greider -- The Value of Russ Feingold

For those of you who were at last night's Eight Ward Indy Dems Meeting, you'll remember the subject of Russ Feingold's proposed censure of Bush was discussed. Here's a well written appraisal of why what Feingold is doing is so important to all of us. William Greider's article is from the Nation Magazine's website.

This is just the first few paragraphs.

Senator Russ Feingold is an embarrassment to the US Senate, which makes him an authentic hero of the Republic. The Wisconsin senator gets up and says out loud what half of the country is thinking and talks about every day. This President broke the law and lied about it; he trashed the Constitution and hides himself in the flag. Feingold asks: Shouldn't the Senate say something about this, at least express our disapproval? He introduces a resolution of censure and calls for debate.

Well, that tore it in the august chamber of lawmakers. Democrats scurried away like scared rats. And Republicans chortled at the thought. You want to censure our warrior President, the guy who defends us every day against terrorist attacks? Let's have a vote right now, the Republican leader demanded. Yuk, yuk.

The joke is obvious to everyone in the Washington club--politics trumps principle, especially when it is about something as esoteric as the Constitution. It's a nonstory, the club agrees, not a constitutional crisis.

The Washington Post runs an obligatory account on page 8, quoting Mr. Anonymous Democrat Strategist on the unwisdom of Feingold's gesture. The New York Times story on page 24 quotes the esteemed constitutional authority Dick Cheney. The House Repubican leader (who replaced the corrupt House leader who resigned) denounces Feingold's resolution as "political grandstanding of the very worst kind." Like the Republican impeachment of Bill Clinton for fellatio in the White House? Go away, Feingold, let us get back to the people's business.

The real story--naturally overlooked by cynical editors--is that an honest truth-teller is loose in the fun house and disturbing the clowns. Man bites dog, senator defends Constitution.

Co-Sponsor Feingold's Resolution to Censure the President

I just signed on as a citizen co-sponsor of Senator Feingold's resolution to censure the President for his illegal wiretapping program. Please join me by signing this petition:
http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/page/petition/censure0306/koffl
With your help, we can begin to make real change.
Thanks!

Instead of War organizes peace rally this Sunday in Forest Park

This is a current list of feeder marches that will converge at the Worlds Fair Pavilion on March 19.

The Feeder MarchesOn March 19, several "feeder marches" are planned that will commence at various locations in or near Forest Park which will simultaneously converge at the Worlds Fair Pavilion for the main rally. Marches will commence at the following times and locations:

Interfaith Feeder March (for religious congregations and faith groups): Convenes at the Jewish Tercentenary Flagpole on Kingshighway between Lindell and West Pine. Please meet at 1:00 p.m. Please bring collected can goods to the march. A vehicle will follow the route of the march to carry your canned goods to the pavilion. Bring banners from your faith group. Parking is available in the lot on the southeast corner of Lindell and Kingshighway. Here is a flyer for the Interfaith Feeder March. For additional information contact Bill Ramsey at hras@humanrightsaction.net.

Children (and Families) Peace Parade: Meet at Variety Playground (Dennis and Judith Jones Variety Wonderland), just west of the Visitor's Center and southeast of the History Museum by 1 p.m. Bring hand-made peace signs, toy musical instruments (drums, bells, rattles, horns, kazoos, etc.) and unopened jars of baby food, formula or diapers to donate to a local food pantry - (these will be part of the 100-ft. long food sculpture that says "Feed the People, Not the War" and then will be donated to a food pantry). If you have a wagon, please bring a wagon (in addition to strollers, etc. ) to transport jars of food. Here is a flyer for the Children's Peace Parade. For more information, contact Mira Tanna at miratanna@alum.wustl.edu....the lion shall dwell with the lamb and a little child shall lead them...

Artists & Performers Feeder March: Convenes at the Grand Basin off Grand Drive, at the bottom of Art Hill. Please arrive at 1:00 p.m. Here is a flyer for the Artists & Performers Feeder March. (Watch this space for more specific details on location in the coming days. In addition, if you have not already done so, please download and read our call for artists to creatively protest for specific suggestions on what to bring and do.) For additional info, contact Laurie Em at laurie@insteadofwar.org.

Labor Feeder March (including St. Louis Labor Against the War): Convenes at Turtle Park (near the corner of Tamm and Oakland). Please arrive at 1:00 p.m. and look for Joan Suarez. Wear Union t-shirts, bring Union signs and other signs; bring canned goods which we will transport from Turtle Park by car to the Worlds Fair Pavilion. Here is a flyer for the Labor Feeder March. For further information, contact joan@insteadofwar.org.

Students & Faculty Feeder March (including high school, trade school, college and graduate students and teachers): Convenes in SW Parking Lot of Forest Park Campus, St. Louis Community College (Near the corner of Oakland and Highlander) Please arrive at 1:00 p.m. Here is a flyer for the Students & Faculty Feeder March. For additional information, students should contact Adam Shriver (adam@insteadofwar.org) Jamie Kelly (jamie@insteadofwar.org) or Warren Popp (warren@insteadofwar.org); faculty should contact Chris Mann (cris@insteadofwar.org).

Women's Feeder March (including Code Pink, NOW and WILPF): Convenes at the Missouri Historical Museum (Corner of Lindell and DeBaliviere) Please arrive at 1:00 p.m. Download and distribute this flyer for the Women's Feeder March.Please watch this page for additional updates or announcements as the date approaches.

Call for Peacekeeper VolunteersAs with other large rallies in the past, we are seeking individuals to assist with maintaining a peaceful atmosphere during the marches and the event. If you can help, please volunteer by contacting Mark Fredericks at mark@insteadofwar.org. Please respond to this request early. There will be a training session for those who have not had the peacekeeper training.

Al Franken Now Heard on St. Louis Airwaves

If you've been listening to Air America's Al Franken on your computer well you can turn on the radio!

Thanks to Susan Cunningham for passing this along...

Just want to be sure you know AL FRANKEN can now be heard on St. Louis airwaves. Starting today, he's on from noon to 3 on KRFT 1190 AM. If you want to express your delight :-), consider calling General Manager Evan Crocker at 962-0590.

More info about KRFT's new line-up here: http://www.stlmedia.net/pages/main.htm

I think Mr. Crocker deserves to get some friendly calls, don't you?

McCain is NOT a moderate!

If you've been thinking, "hey, I could live with that McCain guy as president," then you may be in for some nasty surprizes. Turns out brother McCain is not the moderate he has been advertised as. In fact, he's just as right wing as the rest of them.

Check out the Paul Krugman article about McCain on TruthOut. Here's the beginning:

It's time for some straight talk about John McCain. He isn't a moderate. He's much less of a maverick than you'd think. And he isn't the straight talker he claims to be.

Mr. McCain's reputation as a moderate may be based on his former opposition to the Bush tax cuts. In 2001 he declared, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us."

But now - at a time of huge budget deficits and an expensive war, when the case against tax cuts for the rich is even stronger - Mr. McCain is happy to shower benefits on the most fortunate. He recently voted to extend tax cuts on dividends and capital gains, an action that will worsen the budget deficit while mainly benefiting people with very high incomes.

Got my attention! How about you?

Sandra Day O'Connor Warns Against Encroaching Dicatatorship in US

Well another wild-eyed radical is warning us that we are sliding even closer to a dictatorship here in America. And who is that person you ask? None other than Ronald Reagan's hand-picked ex-Justice of the Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor. At a recent speech at Georgetown University in DC, Justice O'Connor warned that we are seeing the rise of violence and threatened violence against judges in order to get them to fall in line with right wing agendas.

Read the complete article at Common Dreams,org.

Mind Control works-- CA woman loses her job over Air America bumper sticker

You think the Ridiculous Right isn't dangerous to the everyday person? Think again! A California woman had a very simple Air America bumpersticker on her car. Nothing outrageous or even out of the ordinary. Just the Air America name, logo and the local station that airs it.

But that was enough to get her fired. Alledging that the woman could be a terrorist because she had the audacity to affix the bumper sticker advertising the lefty station to her car, her manager fired her.

I guess that freedom of speech thing only works for crazies protesting at soldiers' funerals.

Read the article on Alternet.

Wonder why Repubs want illegal workers in the US? -- Follow the money!

In an article published on the Information Clearinghouse, Thom Hartmann explains how this supposedly warm, fuzzy issue is really about money, and lots of it! The more illegal workers in the country willing to work for almost nothing, the easier it is to push wages down in general.

And Gosh it seems to be happening... Real income is going down and unions are being eaten away by non-union businesses (uh Wal-Mart for example) . The result is that the richer get richer off the backs of the poor and the middle class falls backwards.

For more information, definitely check out Hartmann's article.

One Patriot's sacrifice to protest Bush's mishandling of the government

My grandfather and uncle were both career military with my uncle having actually volunteered to go to Vietnam. My father served and was wounded in Korea. The following letter comes from someone I can certainly empathize with and admire. His sacrifice should make others of us realize how little we do to work against the Bush regime.

Thanks to Howard Hoskins of the St. Charles Democrats and Common Sense for passing this on. Thanks also to Susan Cunningham for keeping it moving!

Joseph DuRocher was for 20 years the elected Public Defender of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, covering Orange and Osceola counties. Since retirement, he's been writing and teaching law at the University of Central Florida and the Barry University School of Law. He was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy in the 1960s, serving as a Naval Aviator in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. On Monday, Mr. DuRocher returned his Lieutenant's shoulder bars and Navy wings to President Bush, and enclosed the following letter. Mr. DuRocher can be reached at: PDJWD@aol.com.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President: As a young man I was honored to serve our nation as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the U. S. Navy. Before me in WWII, my father defended the country spending two years in the Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-14). We were patriots sworn "to protect and defend". Today I conclude that you have dishonored our
service and the Constitution and principles of our oath. My dad was buried with full military honors so I cannot act for him. But for myself, I return enclosed the symbols of my years of service: the shoulder boards of my rank and my Naval Aviator's wings.

Until your administration, I believed it was inconceivable that the United States would ever initiate an aggressive and preemptive war against a country that posed no threat to us. Until your administration, I thought it was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody without provable charges of any kind, and to "disappear" them into holes like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest legal fantasy I could not imagine a U.S. Attorney General seeking to justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an anti-torture law, and then adding a "signing statement" that he intends to ignore such law as he sees fit. I do not want these things done in my name. As a citizen, a patriot, a parent and grandparent, a lawyer and law teacher I am left with such a feeling of loss and helplessness.

I think of myself as a good American and I ask myself what can I do when I see the face of evil? Illegal and immoral war, torture and confinement for life without trial have never been part of our Constitutional tradition. But my vote has become meaningless because I live in a safe district drawn by your political party. My congressman is unresponsive to my concerns because his time is filled with lobbyists' largess. Protests are limited to your "free speech zones", out of sight of the parade. Even speaking openly is to risk being labeled un-American, pro-terrorist or anti-troops. And I am a disciplined pacifist, so any violent act is out of the question. Nevertheless, to remain silent is to let you think I approve or support your actions. I do not. So, I am saddened to give up my wings and bars. They were hard won and my parents and wife were as proud as I was when I earned them over forty years ago. But I hate the torture and death you have caused more than I value their symbolism. Giving them up makes me cry for my beloved country.

Joseph W. DuRocher

Who wouldn't listen to Jimmy?

Carter Urges Troop Withdrawal From Iraq
The Associated Press
Thursday 09 March 2006
Seattle - Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the war in Iraq on Wednesday, urging a troop drawdown as the United States enters its fourth year of conflict in Iraq.
"It was a completely unnecessary war. It was an unjust war," said Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "It was initiated on the basis of false pretenses. All of those are true, but we can't just pre-emptively withdraw."
He urged the Bush administration to bring home as many troops as possible within the next 12 months.
"The violence is increasing monthly," Carter said. "My prayer is we'll see some kind of democracy eventually evolve."
His comments came at a news conference before a building dedication at the University of Washington.
Carter was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the university's new Genome Sciences and Bioengineering Building in honor of William H. Foege. Foege directed the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during Carter's presidency and later headed The Carter Center, which promotes peace and health programs around the world.
Carter credited Foege with saving the lives of millions of people through his efforts to eradicate smallpox, Guinea worm and river blindness, and by encouraging childhood immunization.
Foege works with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which contributed $50 million for the building.

So help us Margaret Atwood....

an update from NARAL:
The worst has happened: South Dakota has banned abortion.
What does the law do? South Dakota's criminal ban outlaws abortion in almost all cases and does not protect a woman in cases of rape or incest or even when her health is in danger. Doctors who violate the ban could face up to five years in prison.
This is the second time that South Dakota has pushed to ban abortion, and the governor is so anti-choice that he has stated, "[a]bortion...should always be illegal." Even as we see increasing restrictions across the country, it is still a shock to hear that any state has actually passed a law to deny women their constitutional right to choose altogether.
The law is part of a larger anti-choice strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether. To quote the South Dakota House Speaker Matthew Michels, "I think the stars are aligned." [Los Angeles Times, 2/25/06]
According to Governor Rounds, who was just in Washington, DC for a national governors' meeting, he is getting support from his peers: "A lot of governors [are] expressing support and wishing us good luck and saying they may have similar proposals that may be favorably looked upon across the United States." [Keloland TV, 2/26/06]
He's right - this legal strategy isn't just happening in South Dakota. Anti-choice lawmakers are pushing similar unconstitutional legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, all with the intent of ending the right to choose through the courts.
Our opponents may be fired up over this latest victory, but we can't let them achieve their goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.

Please join us in sending a message to U.S. governors asking them to hold the line on a woman's right to choose. Click here to send your governor a message today.

Request for Impeachment petition

Hi All:
The Nation's Discussion Group has decided to hand deliver the letter below to Senators Talent and Bond and to U.S.Representatives Carnahan and Clay. If your group or any individuals from your group agree with these sentiments and would like to support this effort, just send an e-mail to jeannetteward@cs.com and your name will be added to the list of signatories.
Some members of our group intend to deliver these letters sometime after March 18th. They would be delighted to have anyone who wishes to come along for the delivery. If you would like to help with the delivery, just include this information in your e-mail and we will contact you with time and place of delivery well before the event.
Jeannette Ward

RE: Request for Impeachment
Dear
Impeachment is a harsh remedy, but these are desperate times for our country and just such a remedy is required. President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney have led our country down the wrong path for five years. They have presided over an administration marked by deception and secrecy, corruption, financial irresponsibility, incompetence and betrayal of the best interests of the American people. They have covered this nation with shame and blood while undermining our Constitution and our democratic way of life. Our nation cannot endure another three years of this abuse.Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D., Mich.) has opened the issue with his House Resolution 635 supported by a report titled "The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War". This excellent and detailed report constitutes a substantial beginning for the wide range of charges that must be brought against this administration. We urge you to support this resolution and to introduce similar action in the Senate.As loyal citizens of the State of Missouri and the United States of America we, the undersigned, plead that the patriots who represent us will take bipartisan action to save our country from disaster by removing the President and Vice-President from office at the earliest possible time. If not, our only recourse will be to work to change the composition of the House and the Senate in the November 2006 elections to include more patriotic Americans willing to defend us from the current administration.
Sincerely,

Land-based nuclear weapons being developed in the US -- shooting ourselves in the foot with a REALLY hot one!

Do we never learn? We develop terrorists and aim them at the Russians. The result? The terrorists get done with the Russians and turn around at us. We develop nasty weapons (okay we didn't do it. The military-industrial complex as that radical President Eisenhower called it developed the nasty ones.) then somebody buys them and, oops, aims them at us. Sheesh! Can't we figure out that everytime we devise something ugly or train someone to be uglier than they already are, it gets aimed back at us?

I guess not because now we're allowing the military types to develop jeep-based nuclear bombs. Do these people look beyond their next quarterly earnings? Ever? Did they never see Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears?" Hey, I don't even read his stuff and I got the message! Don't release something you don't want in your own backyard. It was bad enough when the bombs had to be dropped out of planes. Now they want bombs you can load into the back of the family SUV.

Talk about making it easy for the Timothy McVey types! Too bad he's missing the upcoming fun times. This could have made his job soooo much easier! Who meeds Ammonuium Nitrate?

If you want to check out the Australian-made video on this subject, the Information Clearing House has it on their site.

I just keep seeing that scene in the television version of Stephen King's "he Stand" where the character racked with nuclear sickness from hanging out in a nuclear silo and then riding a nuclear bomb back into Las Vegas as an offering to " the Walking Man," (a demon in human form) rides the bomb right into the huge crowd. Talk about your nuclear chickens coming home to rest! For those of you who didn't see that or read the book, the nuclear bomb took out all of Las Vegas and The Walking Man. Hey, could it be that's where these military designers got the idea?

Thanks to Howard Hoskins for passing this on too!

Running Cost of the War in Iraq

Want to know the real costs of the War in Iraq? Don't ask the Bushies. Remember, they promised it would be under $2 Billion. Oops, they're bad. If you want the real numbers, check out the National Priorities Project site. They have a constant running total, along with the effective costs to other programs like education.

Let's see, we can't afford to maintain the effort to rebuild the American gulf, but we can manage to spend billions more to conduct a war in Iraq? Hmmm. What's wrong with this picture?

Thanks to Howard Hoskins for passing on this website!

More info on Cheney's Shooting "Accident" -- Secret Service Agents Resign, Go on Leave

Seems that VP Cheney's little hunting "accident" in Texas seems to have fallen below the radar already. Well, isn't that interesting? Do you think if you or I managed to hospitalize someone with buckshot and then almost kill them with a "small" heart attack that we would have heard the last of it so quickly? I don't think so!

It also has come to light that some of the secret service agents on duty during the little party in TX are saying that Cheney WAS drunk! Read the full story in this article at the Capital Hill Blue site.

Thanks to Pete Ceren for passing on this article!