Juhasz, author of The Bus$h Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time, spoke at the All Souls Church Wednesday night both as a policy analyst and as an activist, sporting an anti-war t-shirt and encouraging fellow dissenters to take change into their own hands. She explained in direct terms the economic interests that underlie the U.S. government’s invasion of Iraq.

Union Leader, Mrs. Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein: Oil Scheme Is an Economic Occupation of Iraq | Video posted to Youtube | Audio from WSQT

On May 19th, work activity at the Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) gates was successfully halted this morning after the ILWU locals chose not to cross the community picket lines. Three ships sat at the SSA docks, and cargo did not move. Pickets continued throughout the day.

The picket was a direct action to stop the war. Currently, military shipments through the port enable and support the ongoing occupation of Iraq... Read More | Reports: 1 | 2 | Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio | Video | Announcement | Poster for the Blockade

Many of the current organizers were also part of the group that originally picketed the port four years ago... Indybay coverage of 2003 Port Picket and Repression

The action at the Port of Oakland is partially inspired by those earlier in the year in Washington... From Olympia IMC: 1 | 2 | Democracy Now! report | IMC-US roundup

Reid is now opposing the Iraq War because the U.S. is losing; he initially supported the war and backed the invasion. The war is another imperial adventure by the U.S. and there is a growing divide, by those supporters of U.S. imperialism, that a continued war is weakening U.S. imperialism.

Building a Global Movement for Peace and Justice ... and a Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Workshop with Medea Benjamin

Join members of The Surge Protection Brigade and Code Pink for a silent vigil for Peace on Mother's Day from 1-2 PM in front of the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, SE 28th and Woodstock. Bring photos (but no signs) of victims injured or killed in the occupation of Iraq. Wear pink &/or black, pink for compassion and black for mourning the violence spanning the globe this Mother's Day. All who wish to express their hopes for peace are invited to stand silently in front of the Rhododendron Garden.

The first Mother's Day was proclaimed in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe who said: Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace... Inspired by the book, The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering, by Sharon Mehdi, the event is one of many ""Stand In the Park for Peace" events planned for Mother's Day around the world, and one of several in Portland.

read more >>

A Plea to Moms on Mother's Day

A mother's care is a special gift that is taken for granted most of the time. And, sadly, that is the way man is concerning Mother Earth. We have been taking and taking from her with barely any regard... very few people are even concerned because they haven't been affected by any climate change. And what's worse is that we have all been duped by the giant energy companies who have been reaping astronomical profits and giving millions to junk science in an effort to keep people skeptical of the problem.

It would be wonderful if the moms of the world would all take an interest in the future of the planet and put pressure on government and industry to slow the global warming. It is another chore that they would take on because it is their children who will be the most affected by the droughts and famine that is now guaranteed because of the greenhouse gases... if every mother would send a letter to these companies and their congress people, and fill their offices with pleas for our Mother Earth, things would change much faster than they will if you don't.

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mothersdayforpeace.com

One of the true horrors of the Iraqi War is the death toll of the civilian population caught up in that conflict. In Oct., 2006, “The Lancet,” a prestigious British Medical Journal, published a study entitled: “The Human Cost of the War in Iraq.” One of its co-authors was Dr. Gilbert Burnham of the Johns Hopkins U. Its stunning conclusion: 659,965 Iraqis have died in the war as of July, 2006! On May 8, 2007, Dr. Burnham discussed that report.

By Raed Jarrar and Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted May 9, 2007.

More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story.

On Tuesday, without note in the U.S. media, more than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country. 144 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal, according to Nassar Al-Rubaie, a spokesman for the Al Sadr movement, the nationalist Shia group that sponsored the petition.

While there was no definative large march or rally to mark the 4th anniversary of the US Invasion of Iraq in Houston, there were a number of smaller events and observances that took place across the Houston Metro area as well as across the state.

Here is a review of coverage from the Houston Indymedia open publishing newswire (if something is missing, publish a report):
Houston Peace Events on 03-18 | Galvestonian Poet Against War | 4 years 2 many (3,300 KIA) | Pasadena Flag Memorial Shows Physical Cost of War | Freeway Blogging on 59 | Photos-Freeway Blogging for Peace, US-59 | focus on peace | Progressive Day of Action at UH

National coverage from Indymedia.us | Global coverage from Indymedia.org

On Saturday, January 27th anti-war protests were held around the US against the war in Iraq. Tens of thousands called on the new Congress to "represent the truly nationwide peace majority." United for Peace and Justice organized the largest march in Washington DC, which drew contingents from cities across the country.

From the DC-IMC Newswire: Hundreds of Thousands Put Impeachment Back On the Table | Break Way March Rushes Capitol Building | Protestors lay siege to US Capitol, smash window at military recruiter | Radical Youth Contingent and Students for a Democratic Society March Overview | Code Pink Takes Capitol Hill... for 30 minutes | The Demo in DC: Chirpy Slogans, Empty City | Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio

Reports from Other Cities: Austin | Boston | Central Valley, CA | Estacada, Bend and MidGorge, OR | Houston | Los Angeles | Medford, OR | Miami: 1, 2 | Minneapolis/St.Paul | Oklahoma: 1, 2 | Olympia, WA | Oregon City | Philadelphia | Portland, OR | Sacramento, CA | San Diego | San Francisco | Seattle | Vancouver, WA

Related: Protests Planned for Fourth Anniversary of US-Led War in Iraq

Report from Tulsa activist at the 1/27 DC rally & march:

The following is a report from Timbre Wolf, of Tulsa OK. He and about 30 others from Oklahoma attended the March on Washington, DC rally that took place Saturday, Jan. 27th. After 23 hours - straight - Joe Picorale (WorldCantWait, TulsaTruth, 9/11 Truth) and I made it into Washington, D.C. We arrived the Mall around 10:30. There was a small group gathered around the stage at the "front." We perceived plenty of time to gather, visit, and mingle. But as we began walking toward the stage I felt and saw something extraordinary happen. On Jefferson and Constitution streets people were coming in a consistent wave. Pouring in from side streets people were coming. The power of this ocean was palpable. The news says that there were "tens of thousands" but a Dr. from OKC projected that the number was closer to 400,000. Based on the pics of the National Mall when there were a million people there I would say that we had between a tenth and a quarter of that. read more...

An attorney's essay by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard

On Dec. 26, 2006, the Appellate Court of the Iraqi Special Tribunal announced that Judge Awad Hamad al-Bandar, along with Saddam Hussein, was to be put to death. With an initial filing made immediately that night and over the next two weeks, the writer and Carl Messineo of the Partnership for Civil Justice, working with former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, sought emergency relief to stop the U.S. government from transferring Judge Bandar to what was an extra-judicial killing.

Reserve your place immediately to ensure bus trip A bus will leave Tulsa on Friday, return Tuesday. 32 reservations needed. OKC solidarity rally also planned A bus will leave Tulsa on Friday, return Tuesday. 32 reservations needed. OKC solidarity rally also planned. Donations needed to fund seats for those not able to pay. All details follow "read more" link.Let's get a lot of Oklahomans to this event: MARCH ON WASHINGTON 1/27EDUCATION AND LOBBYING ACTION 1/28 AND 1/29 http://www.unitedforpeace.org

Coming out of the studios of Meet The Press today [Sunday, Jan. 21], Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said he expected President Bush to "describe a different Iraq than … most Americans understand and recognize" in Tuesday's upcoming State of the Union address. He also said "the American people are entitled to require the President to come to Congress to get an authorization…."

Kennedy noted that the previous authorization of force was predicated on allegations of Hussein's government violating UN resolutions, the alleged Iraqi possession of "Weapons of Mass Destruction," and alleged links with Al Qaeda. The latter points being conditions now widely acknowledged not to have existed (although the Senator did not acknowledge that directly).

Instead of going after the cabal that lied the country into the Iraqi War, Special Counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, focused on only one defendant, Irving “Scooter” Libby. He also made sure no conspiracy count was utilized in the indictment against him. V.P. Dick Cheney will not testify at Libby’s trial. Fitzgerald, who has close ties to Rudy Giuliani, will continue to make sure that nothing comes out to hurt the interests of the Bush-Cheney Gang.

On January 7th, 2007, Washington Stakeout asked Brent Scrowcroft, the NSA advisor for first Bush administration, 'where are the weapons of mass destruction?' and why the sanctions against Iraq continued if Saddam did comply with disarmament and had no weapons of mass destruction?

Here's Brent's answers: Video | www.washingtonstakeout.com

Bush Speech Text || Translation of Bush Speech

Protest in Harlem, 1/11 || Vox Pop Organizes Protest, 1/11 || Sheehan and Chomsky to Bush: Troops Out Now || Iran Next? || Red Flags: Peace Movement Must Also Escalate || OnNYTurf: The Same Old Ho-Hum || Jackson Heights Protests

LA: Military Families Speak Out || Houston Protests || Santa Cruz || Portland

What They Did Then: Nixon, Cambodia, and Kent State

Bush Escalates Iraq War – Houstonians Protest

In his January 10, 2007 speech, George W. Bush announced that he has decided to escalate the war in Iraq. He said, “I have committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq.” Houstonians have planned a number of protests against the war and detentions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. These events include:

1) Close Guantanamo Rally, Amnesty International
Mecom Fountain, Thursday Jan. 11, 12noon
2) Bush Says More – We Say No, World Can’t Wait
Mickey Leland Federal Buidling 1919 Smith St, Thursday Jan. 11, 4:30 – 6:00 pm
3) 3,000 Solider Memorial, Veterans for Peace
Memorial Park, Sun Jan. 14 at 4:30pm, Jan. 15 and 16 at sundown, and Jan 17 from 5:00 - 6:00pm

Please post any additional information about actions. Also see Nick's translation of Bush's speech.

After all the study groups and reports, an electoral repudiation, months of deliberation and hundreds of thousands dead, the Bush administration Iraq policy debate boils down to this: choosing between genocide against Sunni Arabs – a strategy known as the “80 percent solution” – or fomenting a second civil war, this one a Shia-on- Shia death match.

His crime? Surely not the killing of his Shi'a opponents, nor his torture of Iraqis; for in the grim aftermath of these events, US envoys continued to skin and grin with him, shaking his hand (as did the then-Reagan Administration's Donald Rumsfeld), and sending him more tools of war and weapons of mass destruction.