|
 |
We
can build a better world.
Make
history by combining your talent with
WAND's resources. Enter the world
of voter registration, education, and
mobilization!
Explore our new project: WAND
Vote 2004! |
 |
Organize
– MOTHERS ACTING UP (MAU)
Mothers
Acting Up is spreading the word that women
are empowered, have a voice and are ready
to use it – especially in this election
year. WAND and MAU are joining hands with
Mothers Day parades and other events.
INFO: election@wand.org |
| Organize
– VOTER MOM
A campaign to support and encourage
women to register/mentor/get to polls
up to ten others, focusing on young women.
WAND will launch Voter Mom on Mothers
Day as part of "Mothers Day for Peace."
The Sierra Club and People for the American
Way will print Mothers Day/Voter Mom cards
reflecting co-sponsors and listing projects.
INFO: election@wand.org |
|

|
Organize
– The Campaign Institute
A
non-partisan program to train electoral
activists and campaign professionals who
care about the environment, women's rights,
health care, and jobs. It aims
to prepare recent college graduates to run
campaigns. Two 8-day training sessions:
July 8-15 in Washington, DC and August 2-9
in Boston, MA. Participants meet campaign
reps to learn of opportunities for paid
positions.
Apply online: www.campaigninstitute.org. |
 |
Action
– Spread the Word: New Citizens Vote!
A
curriculum on voting and civic engagement
available in English, Spanish, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Korean. This curriculum
aims to increase skills and self-confidence
of immigrants and others new to the U.S.
system about voting and other local decision-making
processes.
INFO: www.immigrantvoice.org
Download at no cost. To order a bound
copy, or copies in Chinese, Vietnamese
or Korean: (415) 621-4808 ext. 101. INFO
/ curriculum training opportunities: Monica
Regan, (415) 621-4808 ext.103. |
VOTER REGISTRATION
 |
WORKING
ASSETS - Working Assets has launched a major campaign to register
1 million voters and mobilize 1 million
citizens to vote in the 2004 election.
The campaign enables people nationwide
to fill out voter registration forms online
at this link. Please distribute widely. |
 |
Volunteer - National Voice
electionMatch
ElectionMatch.org is an election volunteer
service of National Voice: http://www.electionmatch.org.
Register yourself or others! ElectionMatch
connects volunteers with 501(c)(3) voter
mobilization activities. National Voice
is a coalition of community groups and
nonpartisan non-profits dedicated to increasing
civic participation.
INFO: www.nationalvoice.org
or 1-866-868-3668 (toll free) |
Election Monitoring / Fairness
and Accountability in Voting
IRAQ,
SECURITY, ALTERNATIVES TO WAR
|
ACTION. Call your Members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor
this legislation. Congress must reassert
itself in our nation’s foreign policy, intelligently and proactively.
Call now. For information about your representatives and how
to reach them: click
here. | or Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
For
information about the legislation listed below,
click
here.
|
LEGISLATION
TO PROMOTE SECURITY
H.Con.Res.
392, A SMART Security Platform for the
21st Century, to promote global peace through prevention rather
than preemption, introduced by Rep.
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
H.Res.
307, to create a Select Committee of members of Congress
to review intelligence
relating to Operation Iraqi Freedom,
sponsored by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
H.R.
2616 and S. 1235, Winning the Peace
Act, to set up guidelines on post-conflict reconstruction, introduced by Rep. Sam
Farr (D-CA) in the House and Sen. John
Edwards (D-NC) in the Senate
H.R.
3996 and S. 2127, on
Stabilization and Reconstruction Civilian
Management, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Related Bills: S.2127 introduced
by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), cosponsored
by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Chuck
Hagel (R-NE)
H.Res.
141, on disavowing the doctrine of preemption, introduced
by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) |
JUNE
30 TRANSFER OF POWER
In mid-April, President Bush agreed to a proposal
by Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy in Iraq,
to dismantle the existing Iraqi Governing
Council and replace it with a caretaker government
to be selected by the end of May, one month
before it assumes sovereignty on June 30. The
caretaker government would consist of a president,
prime minister, two vice presidents, and a
cabinet of ministers in each agency. A national
conference of perhaps 1,000 Iraqis would advise
the caretaker government, which would remain
in power until elections could be held next
year.
The
Bush administration intends to severely limit
the sovereignty of the caretaker government,
including only partial command over its armed
forces and no authority to enact new laws. Several
European and U.N. diplomats have voiced objections
to such limits. (The
New York Times (4/23/04))
DE-BAATHIFICATION
On April 22, in a major policy roll-back by
the White House, U.S. administrators in Iraq
announced a loosening of the policy of purging
the Iraqi government of members of the former
governing Baath Party. This change
represents a split with the U.S.-appointed Iraqi
Governing Council and, in particular, with Ahmad
Chalabi, who is the council member in charge
of the purges. (The New York Times, 4/23/04)
FALLUJAH.
Marines encircled Fallujah on April 5, following
the March 31 killings and mutilations of four
U.S. contract workers. Last week, U.S. commanders
threatened to launch an all-out attack on the
city to root out an estimated 1,500 Sunni insurgents.
The
U.S. has been under tremendous pressure to
work out a peaceful resolution to the standoff
in Fallujah, which has become a symbol of
anti-U.S. resistance in Iraq. U.S. Marines
had announced an agreement to pull back and
allow an all-Iraqi force to take over security,
but after the agreement was announced explosions
and shooting continued and U.S. warplanes
launched new attacks.
NAJAF
In southern Iraq, Shiite militiamen
continue to battle U.S. troops in the holy city
of Najaf. The U.S. military is treading carefully
in Najaf, moving to put down a militia loyal
to an anti-U.S. Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr,
while staying away from the Imam Ali Shrine
and other sensitive Shiite holy sites. (NBC,
MSNBC and news services (4/29/04))
NEGROPONTE,
AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ
On April 29, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
approved the nomination of John Negroponte to
be the first U.S. ambassador to Iraq since 1991.
The full Senate is expected to move quickly
to confirm Negroponte, currently U.S. ambassador
to the U.N. Chairman Lugar (R-IN) said it was
urgent to get Negroponte in place as quickly
as possible to help steer the looming June 30
transfer of limited sovereignty to an interim
Iraqi government. Negroponte will head the largest
U.S. embassy in the world, with a staff estimated
at about 3,000. (CQ Today Midday Update 4/29/04)
EXTENDED
TOURS
20,000 U.S. troops are to remain in
Iraq for up to three months beyond their scheduled
return to quell the latest surge in
violence and protect supply convoys that are
under increasing attack. “We regret having to
extend those individuals. But the country is
at war and we need to do what is necessary to
succeed,” said Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. (NYT,
4/16/04, A1)
FUNDING
The White House has insisted that it would not
be necessary to request another infusion of
extra money for Iraq until January, yet pressure
is mounting for additional money soon. The war
is costing approximately $4.7 billion per month. INFO:
www.costofwar.com.
 |
THE
MEMORY HOLE: www.thememoryhole.org
Russ
Kick filed a Freedom of Information Act
request last year, seeking pictures of
coffins arriving from Iraq at Dover Air
Force Base in Delaware. After an initial
rejection, Mr. Kick’s request was granted
and pictures were made available to him. On
April 22, the Pentagon said the granting
of the request was a mistake and no further
copies would be distributed. |
The
release of the photographs came one day after
a contractor fired Tami Silicio for taking
photographs of coffins being loaded onto a
plane in Kuwait. Her husband was also fired.
|
Since
1991, the Defense Department has prohibited
taking photographs of the coffins of
members of the armed services while
they are being transported back to the
United States. The reverent portrait
Ms. Silicio produced demonstrates how
irrational that policy is. The theory
seems to be that the pictures are intrusive,
or possibly hurtful, to bereaved families.
But it seems far more likely that the
Pentagon is concerned about the impact
that photos of large numbers of flag-draped
coffins may have on the American public's
attitude toward the war.
That
certainly underestimates the fortitude
of average citizens, who are able to
accept the cost of war whenever they
are confident that the cause is right.
American men and women are currently
suffering danger, death and injury every
day in Iraq. The least those of us back
home can do is to bear witness to the
sacrifice.
“The
Real War,” NYT Editorial (4/23/04) |
www.nytimes.com
|
Note.
At least 736 U.S. troops have died in Iraq
since the war began in March 2003. 126 U.S.
troops to have been killed in combat in April.
ASSOCIATED
PRESS POLL
Americans
are highly pessimistic about the progress of
the war on terrorism, according to a new Associated
Press poll. Two-thirds of those surveyed said
it was likely terrorists would strike before
the November elections. Those who think the
U.S.-led war in Iraq has increased the long-term
risk of terrorism in the U.S. have increased
from 40 percent in December to 54 percent now.
Those surveyed were evenly divided, 48-49 percent,
on whether the Bush administration made the
right decision to go to war. In December, two-thirds
said the administration made the right decision. (CQ
Today Midday Update 4/21/04)
READING
“Trusting
Iraqis?”
By
Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times (4/28/04)
Excerpt
below. Full text: www.nytimes.com
I'm
not certain that we can make a success
out of Iraq. . . Yet rushing out
would be a mistake. If we give up
on Iraq, it will collapse into civil
war . . . turning the country with
the world's second-largest oil reserves
into a failed state that spawns
terrorists. There are a few steps
we can take that offer some hope:
-
Deploy 25,000 additional troops
in Iraq for at least a few months
to try to achieve a secure transition.
-
Stick to the June 30 transition
and give the Iraqis full sovereignty.
-
Count to one googolplex before
rushing into Falluja and Najaf
to wipe out the resistance.
-
Dump Ahmad Chalabi and other carpetbaggers.
-
Disentangle ourselves from Ariel
Sharon.
-
Bring back the most professional
and least political Baathist generals.
|
RESPONSIBLE
BUDGETS, RIVAL PLANS: Balancing Income and Expenses
Backdrop: A federal budget deficit of close to $500 billion
this year
Backdrop: A battle over permanently extending almost all of
the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, which
could lead to nearly $2 trillion in federal
budget deficits over the next decade
Backdrop: Three popular tax cuts set to expire this year:
- The
$1,000 child tax credit
- Tax
relief for married couples who would otherwise
pay higher rates because their combined earnings
push them into higher brackets
- An
expansion of the 10 percent tax bracket
ACT
I – In March, the House and Senate each passed budget
resolutions (blueprints) for fiscal year 2005
(FY05), which begins Oct. 1, 2004. The Senate
budget resolution contained strict “pay-as-you-go”
rules requiring Congress to offset the cost
of additional tax cuts with either spending
cuts or tax increases in other areas. Overriding
this rule would require a 60-vote majority. The
House budget resolution contained no “pay-as-you-go”
rules.
ACT
II – A House-Senate conference committee is meeting
to resolve differences in the two budget resolutions. Negotiations
are difficult. Four Senate Republicans – John
McCain (AZ), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Olympia Snowe
(ME), and Susan Collins (ME) – are holding out
for the “pay-as-you-go” rule. Senate leaders
are pressuring the four to accept a 1-year compromise
that would exempt legislation extending the
three popular tax breaks (married couple tax
relief, child tax credit, and expanded 10 percent
tax bracket) that expire this year.
ACT
III – Will Congress manage to pass a budget resolution? Party
leaders are beginning to explore contingency
plans for running the fiscal year 2005 appropriations
process without a budget blueprint in place. Stay
tuned.
Sources:
CQ Today Midday Update 4/27/04, 4/28/04, The
New York Times (4/29/04)
 |
“We
are here to take back our country.”
-- Gloria
Steinem
On
Sunday, April 25, WAND members joined
hundreds of thousands of abortion rights
advocates in Washington, DC to march for
women’s lives. Estimates of crowd size
ranged from 500,000 to over 1 million. Marchers
came from 60 countries, asserting that
damage from Bush policies is spreading
far beyond U.S. shores through measures
such as the ban on federal money for family-planning
groups that promote or perform abortions
abroad. For more on WAND participation,
click
here.
|

 |
Celebrating
Women's Seat at the Table of Power
WAND/WiLL Capitol Hill Reception
happened on April 27, 2004
Over a hundred activists, Congresspeople,
and friends and family of Arlene Victor
applauded as U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow pinned
the gold chair on the lapel of House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi.
More
here. |
NEW,
MORE USABLE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
ACTION.
The Senate and House Armed Services Committees
will begin writing the annual defense authorization
bill next week, with the full Senate and House
scheduled to vote on these bills as early
as the week of May 17. As part of this authorization
process, Congress will be determining whether
or not to allow funding for a new generation
of nuclear weapons.
Contact
your Representatives and Senators and urge
them to support amendments to cut funds to
develop new nuclear weapons.
Call now. For information about your representatives and how
to reach them: click
here. | or Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
BACKGROUND. The Bush Administration is preparing to build new,
more usable nuclear weapons and resume nuclear
weapons testing. It has requested $27.6 million
to work on a nuclear bunker buster (Robust
Nuclear Earth Penetrator) and $9 million that
could be used to research low-yield nuclear
weapons. It is also requesting funds to prepare
for new nuclear explosive weapons testing
and to build a new nuclear weapons bomb plant.
Adapted
from an action alert by the Council for a
Livable World.
MISSILE
DEFENSE: Staggering Cost, Lack of Real Testing,
Set to Go Anyway
ACTION. The Senate and
House Armed Services Committees will begin
writing the annual defense authorization bill
next week, with the full Senate and House
scheduled to vote on these bills as early
as the week of May 17. Contact your Representatives
and Senators and urge them to support any
amendments to the bill to cut funds from missile
defense.
Call now. For information about your representatives and how
to reach them: click
here. | or Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
BACKGROUND. The
Bush administration, rushing to field a missile
defense system against long-range nuclear
weapons, plans to lower interceptor missiles
into newly built silos in Alaska and California
and declare the system operational by September. But
an April 23rd report by the General Accounting
Office (GAO) warned that the system is “largely
unproven” because of a lack of realistic testing. The
report said that the eight flight intercepts
attempted so far have been “repetitive and
scripted,” and that critical parts of the
system have yet to be flight-tested together.
The
report noted that the administration has exempted
the program from many traditional oversight
requirements, and sharply criticized the Pentagon’s
Missile Defense Agency for frequently shifting
goals and providing incomplete information
about costs and performance.
Missile
defense receives more funding than any other
weapons system in the annual Pentagon budget.
In fiscal year 2005, the Bush administration
has requested $10.7 billion for missile defense.
Source:
The Washington Post, 4/24/04, A7
Full
text: www.washingtonpost.com
Footnote.
On
March 26, 2004, 49 Generals and Admirals sent
an open letter to President Bush asking that
he – “as the militarily responsible course
of action” – postpone operational deployment
of missile defense and shift those funds to
homeland security.
For
letter: click
here.
Also
see “Nuclear Notes” – March 30, 2004 WAND
News Bulletin
NATIONWIDE
OPINION POLL – Strong Support for Arms Control
86
percent of respondents to a March PIPA/Knowledge
Networks opinion poll said the U.S. should
work with other nuclear powers toward eliminating
nuclear weapons.
Other
findings:
-
A
large majority said we should ratify the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
-
As
the Bush administration studies low-yield,
potentially usable nuclear weapons, two-thirds
said production of such weapons would set
a bad example.
-
74 percent
said a treaty banning weapons in space was
a good idea.
-
Only
21 percent favored building a missile defense
system right away.
The
Washington Post, April 17, 2004
 |
STAND
-- Students Take Action for New Directions
-- is
WAND’s dynamic program for young women.
STAND’s mission is to empower young women
to act politically, to promote peace, equality,
and progressive social change. For information
on how you can join or start a STAND chapter,
contact WAND at 404-524-5999. |
WAND/WILL
D.C. Internship The
internship program at WAND/WiLL is a great way
for students to learn the legislative system
and gain experience in working to promote progressive
policies. WAND/WiLL offers summer, semester,
and year-round internship positions requiring
a minimum weekly commitment of nine hours, though
three to five days a week is preferred.
To apply:
Send cover letter, resume, and writing
sample of two to five pages to Darcy Scott Martin,
WAND/WiLL Washington Director at: Women's Action
For New Directions - Women Legislators' Lobby,
322 4th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002 * Fax:
202-544-7612 * e-mail: wand@wand.org
Don't
Forget About the STAND Scholarship and Tell Your
Friends
The
STAND Scholarship Committee invites STAND high
school seniors and freshman college women to apply
for one of two $500 academic support scholarships
by submitting an essay to the STAND Scholarship
Committee.
Application deadline is May 17.
Click
here or call (404) 524-5999.
Books not Bombs: Is Your College/University Invested in War?
The
Student Peace Coalition’s Books not Bombs
agenda includes more than just its Day of Action
on March 4. One of the demands of the agenda is
“Campuses for Peace, not War.” Campus administrators
must publicly disclose all military-related research
and financial relationships with weapons manufacturers,
and pledge to sever those relationships and freeze
all new military research.
Want to find out if your education is being funded
by or helping to fund war profiteers? INFO: www.nyspc.net, www.campusactivism.org/universityinvest,
www.unfarallon.info/activism.asp,
http://utwatch.org
Student Pugwash Summer National Symposium: Biology and Security (7/11-15)
What
are the opportunities and threats posed by biological
research? What is being done in the US and
around the world to prevent bioterrorism?
How can scientific openness be balanced with national
security? Explore these and other cutting-edge
issues in biology and
security at SPUSA's national symposium July 11-15
at George Washington University. Application
deadline is May 14.
INFO / agenda: www.spusa.org
 |
WAND
ON THE ROAD AGAIN WITH THE INDIGO GIRLS!
Volunteers
are needed to staff WAND
Information and voter registration tables
at Indigo Girls concerts across the
country. Interested? Contact Laura Beavers,
410-223-2975 or laura_beavers@hotmail.com.
Visit
the Indigo
Girls web site. |
|
NYC Events in Conjunction with U.N. Meeting
on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Town Hall Meeting (4/30)
Helen
Caldicott, founder of WAND and the Nuclear
Policy Research Institute, and Nagasaki
Mayor Itoh of the Mayors for Peace Campaign,
will speak at a Town Hall Meeting, Nuclear
Abolition, Proliferation and War: What You
Need to Know and What You Can Do,
April 30, 4:30- 9:30 pm at All Souls
Church 80th Street & Lexington Ave,
NY.
No More Nuclear Excuses for War! Rally
(5/1)
1:00,
Bryant Park at 42nd St. and 5th
Avenue
PANEL DISCUSSION (5/5)
U.S.
and Soviet Nuclear Targeting and Nuclear
Threats as Engines of Proliferation
A
look at the history of nuclear threats and
nuclear targeting policies of the U.S. and
Soviet Union from the Manhattan Project
to the present.
1:15
to 3:00PM * Conference Room A, United
Nations building
Panelists: Dr. Arjun Makhijani, Dr. Alla
Yaroshinskaya, Daniel Ellsberg (invited)
Sponsor:
Institute for Energy and Environmental
Research (IEER)
INFO: 1-612-722-9700, 1-301-270-5500,
ieer@ieer.org
* http://www.ieer.org
|
|
Resistance at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site
(5/7-10)
The
Shundahai Network sponsors a weekend
of ceremony, education and nonviolent
direct action against U.S. nuclear weapons
and waste dumping on Shoshone ancestral
land, May 7-10 at the Peace/Action Camp
near Mercury, NV. Come and resist moves
by the U.S. government to resume full-scale
nuclear weapons testing and to open the
world's largest "temporary"
high-level nuclear waste dump on Goshute
Shoshone land.
INFO:
www.shundahai.org
or 1-800-471-4737.
|
FOR National Conference, Los Angeles (8/5-9)
Join
the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the
oldest and largest interfaith peace organization
in the U.S., in calling for worldwide
peace and justice August 5-8 at the 2004
National Conference, “Organizing the Real
Super Power: People of the World Choose
Peace.”
INFO/registration:
http://www.forusa.org/conference2004/default.html
|
 |
CAMP
WELLSTONES
A
political action training program inspired
by the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who
believed that ordinary people can make extraordinary
change
May
1-3 – Durham, NH
INFO
www.wellstone.org, or Melvin Carter, 651-645-3939,
Melvin@wellstone.org |
2004
Summer Peacebuilding & Development Institute
American
University, Washington, D.C.
Offering
knowledge, practical experience and skills for
practitioners, teachers and students involved
in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, humanitarian
assistance and development.
The
summer 2003 Institute welcomed 106 participants
from 26 countries. INFO / application: click
here or e-mail; pcrinst@american.edu
2004
Teaching Nonproliferation Summer Institute
June
11-15 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville
A
faculty development workshop to prepare university
faculty to include issues related to reducing
the threats from WMD in their courses.
INFO: www.unca.edu/nonproliferation
Oak
Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance - Hiroshima
/ Nagasaki Days (8/6-9) Training,
Discussion, Celebration, Reflection, Action
August
6-9 Fast for Disarmament and Vigils lead by
Bishop Gumbleton, Knoxville
Friday, August 6, 7-9 pm: Peace Lantern Ceremony
in Knoxville
Saturday,
August 7, 9:30-4:30: Nonviolence workshop in
Knoxville
Sunday,
August 8, 10-5: March from Bissell Park, Oak
Ridge, to Y-12 plant
INFO:
OREPA at www.stopthebombs.org
IDEAS,
VISIONS, RESOURCES FOR A BETTER
WORLD |
National
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
NCADP has
created a user-friendly site that offers quick
access to information about important state
legislation related to the death penalty. Click
on any state to bring up background, legislation,
votes, and opportunities to take action to reform
or eliminate the death penalty. Go to:
www.ncadp.org/legislative_action.html
“THE
WALL” – An Artist’s Plea for Peace in the Middle
East 
This
painting by Cincinnati artist Mary Ann Lederer
is a powerful statement against the Israeli
Separation Wall and a call for a peaceful, nonviolent
resolution to the Mideast conflict. Available
through the Fellowship of Reconciliation, proceeds
from poster sales will support interfaith efforts
to promote peace with justice in the Middle
East.
To
order: www.forusa.org
Delegation
to Colombia
Delegations
organized by Fellowship of Reconciliation and
Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia will visit
two extraordinary communities in Colombia this
summer.
Cacarica:
July 18 – August 7 * San José de Apartado:
July 18-31
INFO/application:
www.forusa.org
Singer-Songwriter
Louise Hetzler Offers Help and Inspiration
WAND member
and singer-songwriter Louise Hetzler, licensed/clinically
certified speech-language pathologist, has developed
a language arts curriculum using original songs
about peace and kindness. With husband Ed and
son Ben, Louise also has a band, “October Rose,”
which performs Celtic, Old Time Fiddle, traditional
ballads and original songs. In addition to her
art, Louise is a health care activist, and has
a web site for uninsured people over 50, the OUCH
Project (Organized Uninsured Citizens Help site).
Info/Booking/Listening/Ordering:
www.octoberrose.homestead.com
Women & Politics Scholarship at AU
The Women & Politics Young Women Leaders Board offers a full-tuition scholarship
for a student to pursue a Graduate Certificate
in Women, Policy and Political Leadership (WPPL)
at American University in Washington DC. Application
deadline is July 1.
Application: |