Archive: taking action 2004

From CodePink:

January 6 - Take Action on Election Violations as Congress Meets to Certify the Vote!
URGE PROGRESSIVE SENATORS TO TAKE A STAND ON JAN. 6, WHEN CONGRESS MEETS TO CERTIFY THE VOTE

On January 6, 2005, Congress will meet in joint session to certify the 2004 presidential election. On that day, if one member of the House and one member of the Senate object to the certification of the vote, then all members of Congress will finally discuss these issues. On January 6, 2001, not a single Senator would join with the Representatives who demanded an inquiry into the Florida recount. This year, let’s make our Senators take a stand!
 
The following seven Senators are some of the most progressive members of the Senate. Please call them immediately, and urge them to defend democracy on January 6. *SPREAD THE WORD TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW TO DO THE SAME UNTIL JANUARY 6.*
 
Senator Barbara Boxer, (202) 224-3553,
senator@boxer.senate.gov
Senator Dick Durbin, (202) 224-2152, dick@durbin.senate.gov
Senator Russ Feingold, (202) 224-5323, russ_feingold@feingold.senate.gov
Senator Tom Harkin, (202) 224-3254, tom_harkin@harkin.senate.gov
Senator Jim Jeffords, (202) 224-5141, Vermont@jeffords.senate.gov
Senator Edward Kennedy, 202/224-4543, senator@kennedy.senate.gov
Senator Patrick Leahy, (202) 224-4242, senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

ON JANUARY 6, PROTEST IN WASHINGTON, DC AND AT SENATORS’ OFFICES IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY
 
While our Senators and Representatives are inside Congress, tallying the electoral college vote, We the People must have a presence outside, bringing attention to the disenfranchisement, suppression and fraud that pervaded the 2004 election  and demanding real reforms to extend and protect democracy in America. Please join us at a vigil and rally on January 6th to demonstrate our support for our leaders inside.
Check
www.nov3.us or www.counter-inaugural.org for more information.
 
If you can’t come to DC, we urge you to organize a protest outside a Senator’s office in your community, and list your event at
www.nov3.us.


Andrea, Carol, Claire, Dana, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Tiffany
December 24, 2004
www.codepinkalert.org

*******
“As elected representatives of the people, we hold a sacred responsibility to every voter across this nation to ensure that their vote is counted and recorded properly”. --Barbara Lee, Congresswoman, CA



Holiday shopping tips: CodePink's War Toys Campaign
"The holiday season is upon us and that means loads of people buying gifts, including war toys. As US Soldiers are injured and dying every day and untold numbers of innocent civilians are displaced and needlessly killed in Fallujah and elsewhere in the unjust occupation of Iraq, this is particularly disturbing. Let’s use this holiday season as our opportunity to show that war is not a game and to teach our children nonviolence. We can no longer stand by and allow our children to play with war toys, or fight with and die by real weapons in Iraq. So let’s get out and do something about it. Below are six great ideas...or invent some of your own.
http://www.codepink4peace.org/National_Actions_Anti_War_Toys_Actions.shtml


Protest the Attack on Falluja!

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2636

NOW: call local media outlets and members of Congress to denounce the attack. Organize actions outside and inside Congressional offices to demand an end to the assault on Falluja and an end to the occupation...

For leaflet, talking points and more, see:
United for Peace with Justice

CODE PINK has sent an e-mail alert asking for help to get desperately needed medical aid to Fallujah:
"While George Bush was on the campaign trail talking about moral values, his administration was busy preparing the assault on Fallujah that was launched immediately after the election. The US military leveled virtually the entire city, killed hundreds of desperate civilians, refused to let humanitarian aid workers into the city, and has now left refugees without food, water and medicines.

We didn’t vote for this administration, but like it or not, we are responsible for its actions. We MUST show the Iraqis and the world community that there are indeed kind, compassionate Americans who are appalled by the immoral behavior of our government and want to help - not kill - the Iraqi people.

PLEASE HELP US GET MEDICAL AID TO THE PEOPLE OF FALLUJAH. We will send it immediately to a team of doctors who are anxiously awaiting our response. Please visit: http://codepink.kintera.org/helpiraqis or send checks made out to Help Iraqis/Global Exchange to 2017 Mission St. #303 San Francisco, CA 94110.

KEEP INFORMED and ACTIVE. Here are three links to update you on the current crisis:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/index.php Journalist Dahr Jamail reports on the assault on Fallujah and mounting casualties.
Children Pay Cost of Iraq's Chaos -- Malnutrition Nearly Double What It Was Before Invasion:
http://occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7923
Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq:
http://occupationwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=13


Bhopal: Dow Chemical must take responsibility for clean-up

"Twenty years on, the Bhopal plant continues to ruin the lives of the surrounding communities. The effects of the leak and the contaminated environment continue seriously to affect people's basic human rights. UCC -- and Dow who merged with UCC in 2001 -- have still not cleaned up the site or stopped pollution that started when the plant opened in the 1970s, meaning local residents are continuing to fall ill from drinking contaminated water."
Write a letter or send an e-mail, based on information from Amnesty international at:

http://web.amnesty.org/pages/ind-291104-action-eng
See our report on Bhopal

USA, Election 2004: were all the votes counted? Women comment on the election

USA, Election 2004: Will Women's Votes Make the Difference?

The Right to Vote
Women in the USA won the right to vote in 1920, after more than 70 years of struggle.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
For some introductory information about winning the right to vote see: http://www.VoteRunLead.org/facts/suffragette.cfm
A new film retells some of the story, see http://iron-jawed-angels.com/

Using that Right
In Election 2000, 22 million single women did not vote, and 11 million young women (18 - 34) never registered. This year and this election will be different, as thousands of women are focused on registering, educating and encouraging other women to register and cast their votes. Here are some of the organizations focusing on the women's vote:

Women's Voices Women's Vote: "Women on their own can transform American politics"
Fact sheet from Women's Voices Women's Vote

From the Fact Sheet:

* Fact: If unmarried women voted at the same rate as married women, over six million more voters would have gone to the polls in 2000.
* Fact: 22 Million unmarried women who were eligible to vote did not cast ballots in the election in 2000.
* Fact: 16 million unmarried women were not registered to vote in 2000.
* Fact: 56% of all women not registered to vote are unmarried.
* Fact: 46% of all voting-age women are unmarried.

For complete Fact Sheet see:
http://www.wvwv.org/factsheet.shtml

Links to resources on women's issues and political action, from sheVotes.org: http://www.shevotes.org
http://www.shevotes.org/resources.html

1000 Flowers- reaching women where they are?
"1000 Flowers is a "bunch" of concerned citizens who have come together to talk about issues and get more involved in the political process. We loved the fun, colorful, upbeat flower imagery and the notion that if we could "grow" a creative initiative a thousand more would "bloom" across the country. We asked ourselves how to reach and engage women with issues we all care about. We decided to printcatchy slogans on thousands of nail files and give them away at beauty salons across the country to women who register to vote..."

For 2500 websites and articles on the US 2004 elections -- and many, many more links, check out Better World Links

4th of July move from multi-national to local financial institutions
Action alert from Solari: Working together to make healthy local living economies the best equity investment worldwide

"Solari is an investment advisory company (in formation). Our intention is to make healthy local living economies the best investment worldwide, offering investment vehicles for regional and global investors to participate in the local equity financing and resulting capital gains...

Our real opportunity is to organize locally as we network globally, to implement financial transparency in our cities, towns, and villages – find out how the money works, flows, and disappears – and reengineer our economy at the grassroots level to get the money back and grow more. Financing communities with equity and sound currency can reduce debt, and create opportunity for jobs and wealth creation while healing the environment and making places beautiful
..."

"Our kickoff date is July 4th. We are calling for 600,000 people worldwide to join us in pulling our checking accounts, certificates of deposits, credit cards and other business out of multi-national banks such as Citibank, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and switching to a local, well managed community-friendly bank or credit union...
http://www.solari.com/

Taking action: "Demonstrations throughout the West Bank are increasing"
Message from Gila Svirsky, from Jerusalem, 16 June 2004

Friends,

 Demonstrations throughout the West Bank are increasing as Palestinians -- with Israeli and international help -- are trying to prevent construction of the so-called 'security wall'.  Erection of the wall is not only illegal by international law, and not only destroys access to farmland, schools, hospitals and jobs, but it also ultimately damages Israeli security by intensifying the bitterness and hatred against Israel.  The wall is not only bad for Palestine, it is bad for Israel, too...


Taking action: "Protesting the IDF in Gaza, and how to help"
Message from Israeli peace activist Gila Svirsky, from Jerusalem, 23 May 2004:

As most well-read people already know, the Israeli army has spent the last five days battering and bludgeoning the inhabitants of a hot and dusty town on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, known as Rafah.


Women of Rwanda: marked for death
amnesty international campaign seeks support for women victims



genocide survivor, Rwanda (ai)

"The legacy of genocide and war in Rwanda lives on ten years after the events in which as many as one million lost their lives.

Between April and July 1994, Rwanda was the site of a horrifying litany of human rights abuses - mass killings of unarmed civilians, rape and numerous other acts of torture. Bringing to justice those responsible has been an enormous challenge; even so, progress has been slow. For those raped or tortured, or whose family members were killed, justice and redress remain elusive.

The United Nations estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 rapes were committed during the genocide. Degradation was integral to the physical violence, with some women being made to parade naked or perform various humiliating acts at the bidding of soldiers and militia..." For more information, photos, see:
http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/rwa-070404-action-eng

Take action! Please write to the President of Rwanda, urging him to face up to the challenge of providing redress to survivors of rape and other victims of the genocide and crimes against humanity.
http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/rwa-070404-action-eng#action

For background ai papers on Rwanda:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-rwa/index


Women for Regime Change in the U.S. – starting with voter registration


From V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.
V is for Vote: “Vote to End Violence”

http://www.vday.org/contents/vote
V Is For Vote is a grassroots voting campaign created with and by thousands of local V-Day activists and individuals in the U.S.
V-Day activists will mobilize register and get out the vote efforts anchored around their V-Day 2004 events and activities. V-Day is outreaching to the Presidential candidates (of both political parties) urging them to make Violence Against Women a central issue of their campaign platforms, not a sideline or "women’s" issue. Ultimately, V-Day will mobilize its activism into political power through V Is For Vote as V-Day supporters “Vote to End Violence.”

Voter Registration: For information on registering on-line and registering others see:
http://www.vday.org/contents/vote/register

Granny D is on the road again, signing up voters for the fall election. Visit her site at www.GrannyD.com

Doris "Granny D" Haddock, 93, is on the first miles of her multi-state trek to listen to non-voters and urge them to sign up… Working women are underrepresented in voting for many reasons--including overwork and stressed schedules. Taking the voter registration desk right into their workplaces is one of Doris's strategies. In 1999-2000, Granny D, during 1999-2000, walked across the United States to demonstrate her support and speak out for campaign funding reform...

"Granny D", 93-year-old mermaid registrar!

"Weeki Wachee, Florida, USA
It was hailed as a victory for women's rights when in 1920, women were allowed to vote for the first time. But statistics show not every woman takes advantage of that right. In a presidential election year, 7-million more women than men go to the polls. But that's only 62-percent of the female population who are eligible to vote. When asked why, many women say they're too busy with family and work to take time to vote. One 93-year-old woman wants to change that.

Doris 'Granny D' Haddock travels the country, swapping jobs with working women so they can take time out to register to vote. Her latest job was a mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs in Hernando County. 19-year-old Jessica Doucette, a mermaid, said she just never got around to registering, and was glad Granny D came by to encourage her.

Granny D remembers how tough it was when she decided decades ago to get a job at a shoe factory in New Hampshire, to make sure her children could go to college. And she recalls the political conversations around the dinner table, when women won the right to vote. She says years later, she understands how women must juggle several hats, but it's their right and privilege to get involved in the political process..." -- De Anna Sheffield, Tampa Bay's 10 News


more text and photos:
http://grannyd.com/mermaidalbum.htm

For information on voter registration from the League of Women Voters:
http://www.lwv.org/voter/register.html




"19-year-old Jessica Doucette, a mermaid, said she just never got around to registering, and was glad Granny D came by to encourage her." --from Channel 10 News