Port Shut Down

Paul Pechter, San Diego Labor Against War

ILWU to Shut Down West Coast Ports May 1 Demanding End to War in Iraq, Afghanistan

In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. In a February 22 letter to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, ILWU International president Robert McEllrath reported that at a recent coast-wide union meeting, "One of the resolutions adopted by caucus delegates called on longshore workers to stop work during the day shift on May 1, 2008 to express their opposition to the war in Iraq."

This is the first time in decades that an American union has decided to undertake industrial action against a U.S. war. It is doubly important that this mobilization of labor's power is to take place on May Day, the international workers day, which is not honored in the U.S. Moreover, the resolution voted by the ILWU delegates opposes not only the hugely unpopular war in Iraq, but also the war and occupation of Afghanistan (which Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican John McCain all want to expand). The motion to shut down the ports also demands the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the entire region, including the oil sheikdoms of the strategically important Persian/Arab Gulf.

The Internationalist Group has fought from the moment U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan in September 2002 for American unions to strike against the war. Despite the fact that millions have marched in the streets of Europe and the United States against the war in Iraq, the war goes on. Neither of the twin war parties of U.S. imperialism – Democrats and Republicans – and none of the capitalist candidates will stop this horrendous slaughter that has already killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. The only way to stop the Pentagon killing machine is by mobilizing the power of a greater force – that of the international working class.

The action announced by the powerful West Coast dock workers union, to stop work to stop the war, should be taken up by unions and labor organizations throughout the United States and internationally. The ILWU should be commended for courageously taking the first step, and it is up to working people everywhere to back them up. Wherever support is strong enough, on May 1 there should be mass walkouts, sick-outs, labor marches, plant-gate meetings, lunch-time rallies, teach-ins. And the purpose of such actions should be not to beg the bourgeois politicians whose hands are covered with blood, having voted for every war budget for six and a half years, but a show of strength of the working people who make this country run, and who can shut it down!

Now is the time for bold class action. Opposition to the war is even greater in the U.S. working class than in the population as a whole, more than two-thirds of which wants to stop the war but is stymied by the capitalist political system. In his letter to Sweeney, the ILWU president asked "if other AFL-CIO affiliates are planning to participate in similar events." Labor militants should make sure the answer to that question is a resounding "yes!"

There should be no illusions that this will be easy. No doubt the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) bosses will try to get the courts to rule the stop-work action illegal. The ILWU leadership could get cold feet, since this motion was passed because of overwhelming support from the delegates despite attempts to stop it or, failing that, to water it down or limit the action. And the U.S. government could try to ban it on the grounds of "national security," just as Bush & Co. slapped a Taft-Hartley injunction on the docks during contract negotiations in the fall of 2002, saying that any work stoppage was a threat to the "war effort," and threatened to occupy the ports with troops!

The answer to every attempt to sabotage or undercut this first labor action against this war, and against Washington's broader "war on terror" which is intended to terrorize the world into submission must be to redouble efforts to bring out workers' power independent of the capitalist parties and politicians. If the ILWU work stoppage is successful, it will only be a small, but very important, beginning that must be generalized and deepened. It will take industrial-strength labor action to defeat the imperialist war abroad and the bosses' war on immigrants, oppressed minorities, poor and working people "at home."

ILWU in the Forefront of Labor Action Against the War

Workers strike action against imperialist war isn't new – it just hasn't happened here for a long, long time. During World War I there were huge mass strikes in Germany against the battlefield carnage, culminating in the downfall of the kaiser in November 1918. A year earlier in Russia, working-class opposition to the war led to the overthrow of the tsar and the October Revolution led by Lenin and Trotsky's Bolsheviks. The Internationalist Group and League for the Fourth International call today for transport workers to "hot cargo" (refuse to handle) war shipments. In the early 1920s, Communist-led French dock workers did exactly that, boycotting ships carrying war materiel to suppress a colonial rebellion in the Rif region of Morocco, as they also did during France's war in Indochina in the 1950s.

In the U.S., the ILWU struck in 1948 amid Cold War hysteria and in defiance of the "slave labor" Taft-Hartley Act to defend its union hiring hall against the bosses and government screaming about "reds" in the union leadership. In 1953, at the height of McCarthyite witch-hunting, the ILWU called a four-day general strike in Hawaii of sugar, pineapple and dock workers over the jailing of seven union members for being communists. During the Vietnam War, socialist historian Isaac Deutscher said that he would trade all the peace marches for a single dock strike. The ILWU was the first U.S. union to oppose the Vietnam war, but during war and especially during the 1971 strike union leader Harry Bridges refused to stop the movement of military cargo. (Ship owners made use of this by falsely labeling cargo as "military" to evade picket lines and undermine the strike.) This betrayal went hand in hand with a "mechanization and modernization" contract that slashed union jobs.

As the U.S.-led imperialist invasion of Iraq was looming, in January 2003 train drivers in Scotland refused to move a freight train carrying munitions to a NATO military base. The next month, Italian railroad unionists and antiwar activists blocked NATO war trains by occupying the rails. In the United States, ILWU dock workers were a target of "anti-terrorist" government repression, as police fired supposedly "less than lethal" munitions point blank at an antiwar protest on the Oakland, California docks, injuring six longshore workers and arresting 25 people (who eventually won their legal case against the police). And every year since the war started, the San Francisco/Oakland ILWU Local 10 has voted for motions for labor action against the war. Usually they were voted down at caucuses and conventions of the ILWU, but not this time.

Last May, Local 10 longshoremen and Local 34 ships clerks refused to cross picket lines set up by the Oakland Teachers Association and antiwar activists, defying arbitrators' orders by refusing to work ships of the notorious antiunion outfit, Stevedoring Services of America (see "Oakland Dock Workers Honor Picket, Shut Down War Cargo Shipper," The Internationalist No. 26, July 2007). In the aftermath of that action, the union issued a call for a Labor Conference to Stop the War that would "plan workplace rallies, labor mobilizations in the streets and strike action against the war." The Call to Action stated:

"ILWU Local 10 has repeatedly warned that the so-called 'war on terror' is really a war on working people and democratic rights. Around the country, hundreds of unions and labor councils have passed motions condemning the war, but that has not stopped the war. We need to use labor's muscle to stop the war by mobilizing union power in the streets, at the plant gates and on the docks to force the immediate and total withdrawal of all U. S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq."

As the conference date approached, the union was the target of several police attacks, including a vicious cop assault on two black dock workers from San Francisco working in the port of Sacramento. Some 250 demonstrators from every ILWU local in Northern California rallied in their defense outside the courthouse. Their trial to be set march 18 at a hearing will encounter even larger demonstrations.

The Internationalist Group and its union supporters helped build and attended the October 20 conference, along with some 150 labor and socialist activists from the Bay Area, elsewhere in California and across the country. At the meeting, a particular focus was resistance to the Transportation Workers Identification Card (TWIC), which threatens minority workers and the union hiring hall, and which the Democratic Party in particular has been pushing in order to carry out a purge of dock workers in the name of the "war on terror." Not long after that conference, a federal judge ordered Local 10 elections canceled and replaced by a Labor Department-run vote, on the eve of 2008 contract bargaining. Federal agents even invaded the union hall to enforce their order. This action is a threat to the independence of all unions.

This set the stage for the recent longshore-warehouse caucus, which voted a motion for a 24-hour "No Peace, No Work Holiday" against the war. The resolution was introduced in Local 10 by Jack Heyman, who also presented the motion for the 24 April 1999 coast-wide port shutdown demanding freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther and renowned radical journalist who has been on Pennsylvania's death row for the last quarter century. Although the union tops maneuvered to prevent Heyman from being elected as a delegate to the Coast Caucus, the motion passed in Local 10. At the Caucus, the delegate from Local 34 referred to the October Labor Conference to Stop the War as the origin of the motion.

At the close of the Caucus on February 8, there was a vigorous debate on the resolution. The union tops tried to stop it, to no avail. They kept asking, "are you sure you want to do this action." The delegates overwhelmingly said "yes." Even conservative trade unionists, including veterans of the Vietnam War, were getting up saying the government is lying to us, we've had it with this war, we've got to put a stop to it now. So instead the bureaucrats tried to gut the motion, which was cut down from 24 hours to 8, and changed into a "stop-work" meeting (covered by a contract clause) instead of a straight-out shutdown, thinking that this would lessen opposition from the employers. In the end there was a voice vote and only three delegates out of 100 voted against.

The efforts to undercut the motion continue, as is to be expected from a leadership which, like the rest of the pro-capitalist labor bureaucracy, seeks "labor peace" with the bosses. In his letter to Sweeney, ILWU International president tried to present the action as an effort to "express support for the troops by bringing them home safely," although the motion voted by the delegates says nothing of the sort. Playing the "support our troops" game is an effort to swear loyalty to the broader aims of U.S. imperialism. It aids the warmongers, when what's needed is independent working-class action against the system that produces endless imperialist war. Yet despite the efforts to water it down and distort it, the May 1 action voted for by the ILWU delegates is a call to use labor's muscle to put an end to the war.

Mobilize Labor's Power to Defeat the Bosses' War!

For the West Coast dock workers union to shut down the ports against the war means a big step forward in the class struggle. The Internationalist Group has uniquely fought for workers strikes against the war, when all the popular-front "peace" coalitions dismissed this and even some shamefaced ex-Trotskyists refused to call for it, saying it had "no resonance" among the workers (see our October 20007 Special Supplement to The Internationalist, "Why We Fight For Workers Strikes Against the War [and the Opportunists Don't]"). With signs, banners and propaganda we have sought to drive home the central lesson that it is necessary to defeat the imperialist war abroad and the bosses' war "at home" by mobilizing the power of the workers movement independent of and against the capitalist parties.

That means fighting the war mobilization down the line. First and foremost, this means actively joining the struggle for immigrant rights as the government turns undocumented working people into "the enemy within." Class-conscious workers should demand full citizenship rights for all immigrants. Last year, San Francisco Local 10 voted to stop work and join marches for immigrant rights on May 1, but this was opposed by the employers PMA and sabotaged at the last minute by the union tops. Shamefully, Local 13 in Los Angeles, a majority Mexican American port, made no protest when police attacked immigrant rights protesters that same day. Today, as the ICE immigration police stage Gestapo-style raids across the country, organized labor should take the lead in organizing rapid response networks to come into the streets to block the raids. Despite the campaign by the capitalist media and politicians to whip up anti-immigrant hysteria, there is widespread disgust among American working people toward the jackbooted storm troopers who are terrorizing immigrant communities.

At the same time, the unions should use the power to put a halt to the attacks on civil liberties which are part of the home front of the imperialist war. Driver's licenses with biometric data, TWIC identification cards with "background checks," warrantless spying and phone tapping, setting up special military tribunals for "trials" in which defendants are denied the right of habeas corpus, to know the "evidence" or even the charges against them – all these are part of a drive that is in high gear pushing the United States toward a full-fledged police state. There have been scores, perhaps hundreds of resolutions by unions and city, county and state labor bodies against the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act, showing that labor activists are well aware of the danger. But just as is the case with the countless union antiwar resolutions, there has been no labor action. It is commonplace in the labor movement to bemoan the lack of real action when Reagan broke the 1981 PATCO air traffic controllers' strike, paving the way for massive union-busting, takeaways and racist attacks all down the line. Let's not let the labor bureaucrats bury the vital struggles of today.

Now is the time to turn words into deeds, to speak to the capitalist rulers in the only language they understand. The imperialist war parties must be defeated by a class mobilization of the working people at the head of all the oppressed. The ILWU motion to stop work on May Day to put a stop to the war can provide working people everywhere with the opening to turn from impotent protest to a struggle for power. For that the key is to build a class-struggle workers party fighting for a workers government, for socialist revolution here and around the world, that will put an end once and for all to the system of endless war, poverty and racism.

Write to the Internationalist Group, Box 3321, Church Street Station, New York, NY 10008. E-mail: internationalistgroup@msn.com. Visit us on the Internet at: www.internationalist.org

http://www.internationalist.org/

Text Of ILWU Resolution and ILWU Letter To AFL-CIO and CTW

by repost Monday Mar 3rd, 2008 8:45 AM

http://www.labournet.net/docks2/0802/ilwu1may1.htm
US West Coast dockers:
1st May Workers Action to Stop the War
ILWU
26 Feb 08

ILWU letter to AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney

español
français
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العربية (Word)

M/S/C as amended
FOR WORKERS' ACTION TO STOP THE WAR

WHEREAS: On May 1, 2003, at the ILWU Convention in San Francisco resolutions were passed calling for an end to the war and occupation in Iraq; and

WHEREAS: ILWU took the lead among labor unions in opposing this bloody war and occupation for imperial domination; and

WHEREAS: Many unions and the overwhelming majority of the American people now oppose this bipartisan and unjustifiable war in Iraq and Afghanistan but the two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans continue to fund the war; and

WHEREAS: Millions worldwide have marched and demonstrated against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but have been unable to stop the wars; and

WHEREAS: ILWU's historic dock actions,

1) like the refusal of Local 10 longshoremen to load bombs for the military dictatorship in Chile in 1978 and military cargo to the Salvadoran military dictatorship in 1981 and

2) the honoring of the teachers' union antiwar picket May 19, 2007 against SSA in the port of Oakland stand as a limited but shining example of how to oppose these wars; and

WHEREAS: The spread of war in the Middle East is threatened with U. S. air strikes in Iran or possible military intervention in Syria or the destabilized Pakistan;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That it is time to take labor's protest to a more powerful level of struggle by calling on unions and working people in the U. S. and internationally to mobilize for a "No Peace No Work Holiday" May 1, 2008 for 8 hours to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U. S. troops from the Middle East; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED:

That a clarion call from the ILWU be sent with an urgent appeal for unity of action to the AFL-CIO, the Change to Win Coalition and all of the international labor organizations to which we are affiliated to bring an end to this bloody war once and for all.

Submitted by:

ILWU Local 10

passed overwhelmingly after thorough debate

If you need any further information or wish to send messages of support and solidarity please contact Bob McEllrath, International President, ILWU, 1188 Franklin Street, San Francisco, California 94109.

Tel: (+1 415) 775 0533 Fax: (+1 415) 775 1302. Email: robert.mcellrath [at] ilwu.org

Messages of support and solidarity should also be sent to ILWU Local 10 President Melvin Mackay
fax (+1 415) 441 0610 and/or melmackay [at] aol.com

Please send copies to dockers [at] gn.apc.org (sacked Liverpool dockers)

--
Mike Copass
Progressive Democratic Candidate for US Congress
California's 53rd District
MikeCopass.com

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ACLU News

News & Action April 15, 2008 ACLU Assembling Defense Teams for Guantánamo "High-Value" Prisoners In a legal move almost certain to have enormous historical impact on par with the ACLU's challenge to the government's internment of Japanese-Americans, the ACLU announced that it is assembling defense teams to assist in the representation of "high value" detainees facing prosecution in Guantánamo military commission proceedings. The project is undertaken to protect American values of fairness and justice and the constitutional guarantee of due process. The ACLU contends that America does not stand for: • trials that rely on torture to gain confessions • trials that rely on secret evidence that a defendant cannot rebut • trials that rely on hearsay evidence. These proceedings are an affront to civil liberties and a stain on America's reputation around the world. The staff and board of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties are proud that our organization has taken this principled, albeit controversial stand. Read more... Spread the Word! Keep Discriminatory Amendment Off the Ballot! With just one week left to qualify for the ballot, proponents of a constitutional amendment that would ban marriage for LGBT couples say they have gathered 90% of the signatures needed. Gov. Schwarzenegger said recently said he would oppose such a measure, saying he would "always be there to fight against" such an amendment and that the amendment was "a waste of time." We need your help to spread the word that this is a discriminatory measure that would set us back decades in the struggle for marriage equality. We urge you to write letters to the editor and send emails to all your friends and colleagues. Some supporters of marriage equality are being misled into signing the petitions, being told by signature gatherers that the measure is in favor of marriage equality. Because the proposed ballot initiative would change the state constitution, the legislature would be prohibited from passing another bill in the future, erasing years of progress. And since constitutional amendments take precedence over legislation and limit the authority of courts, current cases that might lead to marriage equality would be stopped or reversed. Make sure everyone in your circle knows the truth about this discriminatory amendment! Come Celebrate Labor AND Human Rights! Please join us in a first-of-its-kind celebration and fundraiser for the Employee Rights Center!  The catered event takes place on May Day (sometimes called International Workers Day), May 1, 2008, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Handlery Hotel, and is co-sponsored by the ACLU and numerous local labor unions to memorialize the historic and modern day connection between the labor and human rights movements. (The ACLU was founded to defend the rights of laborers who tried to organize and speak out for workers' rights.) The May Day event benefits the tremendous work of the only local non-profit program dedicated to the education and advocacy to all workers, especially disadvantaged workers, regarding their rights at work. Click here to learn more or here to register or contact Lauren or at (619) 232.2121, ext. 27 for details. ACLU Defends Controversial Speech - Part 2 Last year, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in a significant free speech case, Harper v. Poway Unified School District, arguing that an anti-gay t-shirt worn by high school student did not amount to harassment that the school was allowed to punish. The case is now back in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, on appeal from summary judgment by the district court after the Supreme Court vacated the 9th Circuit's previous opinion as moot upon the student's graduation. The court is considering a provocative question: whether the school's speech policies are unconstitutional on their face. San Diego ACLU filed a new amicus brief earlier this month, maintaining that the court is right to take seriously the harassment and invasion of rights of others, but that in this case, First Amendment rights are paramount. Read more... Immigration Rule on Background Checks Eases A change in immigration rules will allow thousands of immigrants, already in the United States and applying for legal residency, to get their green cards before FBI background checks are completed, officials declared last month. The ACLU welcomed the change, saying it was a "step in the right direction." The ACLU has filed several lawsuits on behalf of immigrants applying for citizenship, including here in San Diego, who have had to wait for months and even years for their applications to be processed because of the FBI checks, contending that the databases the bureau relies on are riddled with errors that lead to the delays. Read more... S.F. Judge Dissolves His Wikileaks Injunction A federal judge in San Francisco who had ordered the shutdown of a whistle-blowers' website where private bank documents were posted changed his mind Friday, conceding his original ruling might not have been constitutional. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White drew nationwide attention-and widespread criticism-from civil liberties groups and news organizations, with his February injunction requiring a Bay Area Internet registrar to disable the Wikileaks.org site and prevent the organization from transferring to another server. Ann Brick, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said White "understood the limits the First Amendment places on what courts can do to deprive the public of the right to know." Read more... National Membership Conference: Stand Up for Freedom! ACLU members from throughout the U.S. will converge on Washington, D.C. for three days of advocacy, leadership discussions, Capitol Hill meetings and hands-on activist training. Elected officials, celebrities, renowned experts, and some of the ACLU's most inspiring clients, will join together to stand up for freedom. If YOU are committed to letting this administration know that it must stop its abuses of power, then join members from around the country June 8 - 10, 2008 to make your voice heard -- and make a difference. Learn more... Click here to register --early bird registration ends May 4th! Forum on Detainees and Federal Habeas Corpus San Diego ACLU members and friends are invited to a forum presented by the San Diego Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the San Diego Chapter of The Federalist Society, "Detention, the Constitution and Off-Shore Dealings: Detainees and Federal Habeas Corpus," on Thursday, April 10, 2008, 7:00 pm at the SD County Bar Association. 1.0 hours of MCLE credit. RSVP here. Our 75th Gala - An Enormous Success! Our thanks to all of you who attended our 75th anniversary bash last month! A sell-out crowd gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties' fight to protect freedom and civil liberties in our region. Guests were treated to a combination of education, entertainment, and inspiration provided by keynote speaker Erwin Chemerinsky and the irreverent comedy of Tom Smothers. Read more...

Protest

Subject: WALK TO PROTEST BUDGET CUTS TO EDUCATION 

 CALLING ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS:  SAVE OUR SCHOOLS! 
 
Teachers and staff in San Diego schools are trying to get the word out to the general public, the government, and the media just how devastating the proposed budget cuts will be to the education of all children in California's public schools and universities. It is their goal to have the California legislature and the Governor reverse these proposed cuts.  It's NOT too late!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

--WHAT: DEMONSTRATION & MARCH
 
--WHEN: Saturday April 19th, 9:15 AM
 
--WHERE: Balboa Park: grass at corner of Park Ave. & Presidents Way
 
--WHY: Protest the budget cuts to education
 
--PARK: On Street,Balboa Park Parking, Veterans Adm  Parking (across street)
  
This is a FAMILY FRIENDLY event. We need EVERYONE'S help!-- this is truly a grassroots effort!!
 
--We will walk from Balboa Park to the State Building downtown (see attached flyer). 
--We need as many people as possible. 
--Participants are to include parents, children, teachers, staff, UC and Cal State students and staff, community college students and
staff, friends, family and EVERYONE who cares about the education of California's children.
 
What we need from you:
--Participate in the walk 
--Call/ EMAIL everyone you know that could possibly participate in the walk. 
--Ask friend/family members who are employees of SD public colleges or SD county school districts to
notify their coworkers and students
--Help in anyway even if it is to just make posters or provide carpools. 
--Get the PTA at your schools involved and active in supporting this cause.
--Hand out and post fliers in your community.
 
--Go to CTA.org <http://cta.org/> and use the links ('tell your lawmaker to reject the proposal') to send your reps in Sacramento an email voicing your disapproval.
 
These budget cuts are taxes on all the children and families of the public school system in California.Less teachers, staff and less resources for the schools means less resources for the students and less attention paid to every student.We should not balance the state budget on the backs of children!
 
Thank you in advance for your help and support!
 
Reply to the following emial for planning purposes and to show your commitment. Daverving@yahoo.com  <mailto:Daverving@yahoo.com> 
 
  ===================================================================================

 

Feed-In on April 19. Can you help?

Dear friends, I hope that you and your loved ones are well.  On Saturday, April 19, my students and I will be having a Feed-In wherein we'll prepare around 700 lunches and pass them out to our homeless sisters and brothers in the streets of downtown San Diego.  The lunches will consist of sandwiches (turkey/ham/cheese), chips, cookies, fruit, bottled water, etc. 

In the past we've gotten some great donations from Starbucks, bagel shops and grocery stores. If you could help us to get donations that would be awesome.
While a bag lunch may not seem like a very big deal, it can make a tremendous difference to those who are hungry and we've had people weep with joy upon receiving a lunch.

Please let me know if you can assist us with this.  Thanks and take care.
                                                      Much respect, Jesus   (address below)

 Also, A reminder:

   On Saturday, April 26, my students and I will be taking supplies to   a  Mixtec school in Tijuana.  
  We can use all the help we can get with:

    1. -Food (raw rice, beans, bread, tortillas, cooking oil)
         -Clothing (used or new), 
        -School supplies (backpacks, binders, paper, pencils, pens,                                              markers, crayons, chalk, etc.)                          -Toys, Stuffed animals, Sports equipment (used or new),
                           -Computers (used or new)

       2. We can also use help with transporting the goods to the    school as well as picking them up form donors' houses and                          storing them until the trip.

    3.   On Friday, April 25, the day before the trip, we will packing   the food and would greatly appreciate any help with this.

Please let me know if you can assist us in this effort.  \

  Take care.  Much respect, Jesus

Jesús Nieto, Associate Professor
School of Teacher Education
San Diego State University
Office: North Education 81
Office phone number: (619) 594-6125
Email address: nieto@mail.sdsu.edu 

 

============================================ 

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Activist San Diego

Activist San Diego Invites you to the
ASD Membership Meeting:
Monday, April 14th @ 7 pm

Focus on San Diego's MAY DAY Immigration Actions &
Family member of 4000th US Soldier tell his story of the tragedy.

Come hear about the preparations for this May Day's march and rally on immigration issues.

Guest Speakers from the Si Se Puede Coalition and
         Raza Rights Coalition

Remember the millions who marched for immigrant rights in cities across the US on May Day 2006?  Tens of thousands rallied in San Diego. Perhaps 500,000 to 1 million mobilized in Los Angeles.  This movement and the immigrant constituency needs to be nurtured, organized, educated.  Come and here how we can help bolster this local effort.

        ASD's General Meeting:
     Monday, April 14th @ 7 pm
NEW LOCATION - Joyce Beers Community Center,
1090 Vermont, one block north of University, next to Trader Joe's
Hillcrest Shopping Center, San Diego 92103

* please park in Ralph underground parking lot

Who: Everyone Welcome, bring a friend.

Contact info: 619-871-9354 or ASD office 619-528-8383 or
email ASD Office at info@activistsandiego.org

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         OTHER Membership meeting TOPICS:
1) Join ASD for April 20th Earth Day outreach at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park.
2) How to expand the Activist Film Series
3) Community Outreach for the MAY DAY EVENTS
4) Huck Finn work team to paint the Activist Center, You'll never have so much FUN!!

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Donation requested at the meeting - for info: 619-528-8383  www.ActivistSanDiego.org

www.ActivistSanDiego.org
Networking for social justice

IRAQ War and Upcoming Events

Iraq Comes to Carlsbad

The media magicians want us to think Iraq has disappeared. While they go on and on about a single sentence uttered by Obama or his pastor, lives continue to be shattered for the obscene greed of those controlling our government. This week, NCCPJ sheds light on the reality of the impact of our illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

On Thursday night, NCCPJ members will view the Oscar nominated movie: In the Valley of Elah, a powerful film about what's happening to young men sent to fight a war for lies.

On Saturday, Gold Star parents, Cindy Sheehan and Fernando Suarez del Solar will be joined by other speakers to talk about the impact our occupation of Iraq is having on our lives, the Iraqi people, our nation and our future. You can meet Cindy prior to the event at a fundraiser brunch at the home of NCCPJ members, Paul Bryant and Lynn Stine.

See below for details for these and other events and on our website at www.NCCPJ.org

Thursday, April 17
6:45 Pm - 9:15 PM
NCCPJ Meeting & Movie (In the Valley of Elah)

Pilgrim Church of Christ, Meeting Rooms 1 & 2
2020 Chestnut St. Carlsbad, CA 92008

We will be making final plans for our Saturday event with Cindy Sheehan, so be sure to arrive on time to help us organize this important event. The movie will start at 7:15 PM. We hope to have some time for discussion afterwards.

Review by Owen Gleiberman"
In the Valley of Elah, the first film Paul Haggis has written and directed since Crash, is exactly the sort of movie America needs right now - a lacerating, bone-deep inquiry into the war in Iraq, one that struggles to find meaning in the very chaos of that conflict... read more

Saturday, April 19
10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Brunch with Cindy

at the home of Paul Bryant & Lynn Stine
146 Honeycomb Ct. , Encinitas, CA 92024

Here's an opportunity to meet the "Mother of the Peace Movement", Cindy Sheehan, prior to our big event. Your contribution will help Cindy's campaign for Congress. It's time to send our own statement to the Speaker: "Nancy Pelosi, you're fired!" Minimum donation $25. RSVP Jeeni at jeeni1@criscenzo.com or CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Saturday, April 19
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
IRAQ - 5 Years Later IT'S STILL THE ISSUE!

Pilgrim United Church of Christ - Sanctuary
2020 Chestnut St. Carlsbad, CA 92008

Special Guest Cindy Sheehan

also featuring:

Fernando Suarez del Solar (Gold Star Father & Peace Worker - www.guerreroazteca.org)

Rev. Madison Shockley (Minister of Pilgrim United Church of Christ, columnist, commentator and advocate for peace)
Farouk Al-Nasser (Iraq-born San Diego businessman with many family members in Iraq)
Mazin Al Nashi (Former employee of Titan, blinded while working in Iraq as an interpreter)

Music by Pete & Betty Anderson: Musicians for Peace

Candidates committed to a quick & complete withdrawal of the illegal US occupation of Iraq have also been invited to say a few words, including: Cheryl Ede, Robert Hamilton & Mike Copass.

Directions:

FROM THE SOUTH OR NORTH VIA INTERSTATE 5:
Take the Carlsbad Village Drive exit. Go east on Carlsbad Village Drive for approximately 6/10 of a mile until you come to a stoplight at Monroe. Turn right (south) onto Monroe and drive another 6/10 of a mile until you find the church parking lot on the left side of the street just prior to the Chestnut Avenue stoplight. The church is directly across from Carlsbad High School.

FROM THE EAST VIA HIGHWAY 78:
Take the El Camino Real Exit, and turn left to go south on El Camino Real. Drive 1.5 miles on El Camino Real until you reach the Chestnut Avenue stoplight. Turn right to go west on Chestnut and go slightly less than 1/2 mile to the stoplight at Chestnut and Monroe. Turn right onto Monroe, then right again into the church parking lot. The church is directly across from Carlsbad High School.

Other events to put on your calendar (see our website for details)

Tuesday, April 15

6:30PM
Solana Beach Library
157 Stevens Avenue, Solana Beach, CA 92075
Speaker: Joe Mathews, journalist, blogger and author of The People's Machine, Arnold Schwarzenegger And The Rise Of Blockbuster Democracy
Reserve a place at the Library 858-755-1404
See www.friendsofsolanabeachlibrary.org for details

Friday, April 18

5:00 - 5:30 p.m.
North County Regional Education Center (NCREC)
255 Pico Avenue, San Marcos , CA 92069
Rally: Enough is Enough! No More Cuts to Education!

Sunday, April 20

10:00am - 5:00pm
Balboa Park
6th & Laurel, San Diego, CA
EarthFair 2008
The world's largest annual environmental fair and Earth Day Celebration -produced by volunteers
See http://www.earthdayweb.org for details

Sunday, April 20

6:00 pm
Joyce Beers Center
3900 Vermont St., San Diego, CA 92103
San Diego County Mega Community Coalition Summit
Topic: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
see http://progressiveconcerns.meetup.com/5/calendar/7702728/ for details

Saturday, April 26

2:00 - 4:00 PM
Home of Jim & Sharlene Hamilton
502 Portico Dr., Oceanside 92058
Fundraiser for Robert Hamilton - Candidate for Congress 49th CD
RSVP: Sharlene at 760-500-1927

Monday, April 28

7:00 pm
Price Center Ballroom, UCSD
Dissent: Voices of Conscience
with: Colonel, Mary Ann Wright, Marjorie Cohn, Timothy Kahlor
See www.nccpj.org calendar for details

Tuesday, May 6

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
San Diego State University - Hardy Tower, Room 140
5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182
https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/map/display.cgi?new_loc_id=1027
Dr. David Ray Griffin: 9/11 Contradictions
See http://www.sd911truth.org for details

Wednesday, May 7

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Oceanside City Council
300 North Cast Hwy., Oceanside, CA 92054
TENTATIVE Public Hearing to Ask City Council to Oppose Cricket Communications Project at Amazon Bikes.
See http://www.ocafn.org/neighborhood_action for details

Are you conflicted? Tax time again

I'm not in agreement with this war, I'm not in agreement with murdering, injuring, maiming, looting, raping, pillaging or anything else you want to call what this gvernment is doing to the people and countries in the middle east.

I'm not in agreement with what the costs of this war is doing to this country, cutting health care, cutting vital educational programs, the loss of jobs, or the rising cost of oil.

So if I pay my federal income taxes, am I supporting the war? Am I saying OK to pre-emptive war/agression? Am I being part of those that turn their heads and pretend not to see hundreds of thousands of people being killed, maimed, displaced, homeless, without the necessities of life?

I am one of those americans that is in the middle income bracket, I don't qualify for the tax breaks of the rich, I don't qualify for the low income programs (although with the rising cost of living I soon could be!) I have paid my way for years, barely making ends meet, but meeting them with very little extra. With the ends getting further and further apart.

So now the federal government wants me to give them more of my hard earned money.

If memory serves, our ancestors came to this country to escape unjust tax. . . . we are to the point now that everything that we do is taxed, over and over again, even after we die!

So I say again, (after a bit of a rant!) am I a hypocrite if I pay this tax to support the war. If I don't pay, am I willing to suffer the consequences inflicted by and the oppression levied by the IRS?

The "free" citizens of this country should not be forced to decide if they want to be part of committing murder by joining in the financing of this war.

Well I have a few more days to make this decision.

RSVP "Get to Know Your Candidates" Forum

Get to Know Your Candidates
(Not Your Typical Candidate Forum)

Progressive San Diego invites you to our one-on-one candidate mixer on
Thursday, April 17th
6:00pm - 8:00pm
1359 Grove Street
San Diego, CA 92102

The event will feature PSD's endorsed candidates and City Attorney candidates. Our event is open to members and friends of PSD that would like to have some one-on-one face time with the candidates.

Donna Frye
will be our special guest speaker to discuss the No on Proposition C campaign for June 3rd.

Confirmed Candidates So Far
Mike Aguirre, Scott Peters, Brian Maienschein, Jan Goldsmith, Amy Lepine, Richard Barrera*, John Lee Evans*, Sherri Lightner*, Arlie Ricasa*, Sheila Jackson, Todd Gloria, Stephen Whitburn

RSVP to: Tommie Watson@ProgressiveSD.org

Suggested Donation: $20.00
Host Committee: $75.00

*PSD Endorsed Candidates

Persecuted People of China

We Will Be Silent No More!

 

A Shake The Nation Rally 

For The Liberation Of

The Persecuted People Of China

at

The San Diego City Council

Tuesday - April 15, 2008

8:30am - 11:30am

 

San Diego City Council Candidate James Hartline

and

The "Not On My Watch" Team

Invites You To Make A Stand

 For The Persecuted People Of China

 

- The Facts -

 

1. China brutalizes and imprisons its own people for practicing

Christianity and other religious beliefs.

2. It is a crime in China for a mother to have more than one child:

the Communist Chinese government rapes all mothers who are

pregnant with a second child by arresting the mother and then

brutally forcing her to abort the child.

3. China sells the harvested organs of innocent political

 prisoners after the government kills them for their organs.

4. China imprisons innocent Chinese citizens who possess Bibles.

5. China uses slave labor and then sells the products made in

slave labor factories.

6. The people of Tibet are being brutalized and murdered by a

Communist Chinese dictatorship that is kept in power by the

billions of dollars they make off of the sale of products sold in the U. S.

 

While China is being honored with the 2008 Olympics,

the Communist Chinese Government commits some of

the most heinous and inhumane crimes against its own people. 

 

It is a moral outrage and a civic abomination that we have

remained silent as the Communist Chinese Government

commits crimes against humanity at the same time that

Beijing prepares for the 2008 Olympics.

We will remain silent no more!

 

Will you join

San Diego City Council candidate James Hartline

and The "Not On My Watch" Team

for a historic prayer rally and city council hearing

on Tuesday - April 15, 2008 at 8:30am?

 

We will be praying for our city to experience a civic revival.

We will be standing up for the oppressed people of China.

Then we will be speaking at the San Diego City Council,

asking the council to issue a formal letter to the Chinese

government.  This letter will call on the Chinese Government

to end its criminal persecution of Chinese Christians and

other religious practitioners in China.

 

Will you remain silent while the Chinese government holds

the Olympics at the same time that they are brutalizing

their own people?

 

If you were a persecuted Christian in China, wouldn't you be

hoping and praying that someone in America would have

the courage to stand up for you while you were being

persecuted, brutalized and then ....... murdered?

 

We are the only hope for millions of brutalized Chinese

Christians.  They are counting on us to cry out for justice

on their behalf.

 

Please RSVP your intention of attending this historical

stand for freedom at the San Diego City Council

on April 15, 2008 at 8:30am.

 

San Diego City Council

202 "C" Street

Downtown San Diego, CA.  92101

San Diego City Concourse (Ground Floor)

and

City Council Chambers (12th Floor)

Parking is free for 3hrs. at Horton Plaza Parking Garage

with a validated ticket.

 

Call or email James Hartline to RSVP

619-255-9378

Assistant Julie Smith

619-203-8750

Assistant Carol Cole

619-933-3393

 

For more information on the campaign

of James Hartline For City Council:

www.hartline08.com

 

Produced by the James Hartline Report.

 

To Subscribe or unsubscribe from this email:

jameshartline@jameshartline.com