Check this out, this is good.  (6 min)  Carl Sagan's "pale blue dot" set to Pink Floyd's "The Turning Away". 

Is the U.S. Treasury, which can't print money fast enough to pay for the trillion-dollar tragedy in Iraq, about to give an economic stimulus to peace organizations working to stop the war?

It seems highly unlikely, but if it doesn't happen it won't be because the antiwar folks haven't tried.  Many seem to be on the same wave length as an email I received yesterday from United for Peace and Justice:

Spend your stimulus check on peace! The sooner the war ends, the more money the nation saves. Not to mention the lives and futures of millions of people. So let's use the stimulus money to stop the war, bring all of the troops home and get the nation's budget back on track.

We invite you to spend your stimulus check, or some portion of it, on the one thing the Bush administration doesn't want you to invest in: Help strengthen the peace and justice movement!

via mal contends

Comes up every once in a while. My girlfriend so proud of her dad talking about what she knew of her late father's service in World War II. And from both of our parents (my father was a veteran recruited by the CIA but he went to grad school instead to have me), we hear of the society-wide, shared sacrifice to defeat some pig NAZIs and fascists.

War profiteers, they were a pariah. Not like today when they are protected by the Bush DOJ.

In a recent post on FolkBum, bloggers were discussing the merit of including similar regulations for guns as automobiles. I think this is an interesting idea. Similarly, Folkbum provided me with the reference info for an article related to early gun restrictions in the New England colonies.

The convergence of Winter Soldier hearings, the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war, and Iraq Moratorium #7 has been the catalyst for a calendar filled with antiwar activity in Wisconsin.

In the next 10 days, the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice lists 39 events sponsored by peace groups across the state. Here's the list.

The Winter Soldier hearings, in which Iraq war veterans are telling their stories of what's really happening on the ground, began Thursday night and run through Sunday in Washington.

They have gotten very little mainstream media attention in advance. If you want to know what's happening there you may have to listen or watch online. Madison and Milwaukee have public, big-screen viewings available, which are in the WNPJ list above.

Milwaukee's major event is on Saturday, March 15, a rally and march from O’Donnell Park, at the east end of Wisconsin Avenue, to Veterans Park, at 1 p.m.

There are also events on Saturday in Wausau, Sauk City, Madison and Racine.

Maybe we shouldn't complain about the news media's lack of coverage of the antiwar movement. They don't even cover the issue when it's debated for two days in the US Senate.

Senate Democrats, failing to pass anything last week, promise to try again in April, when an appropriations bill comes up. House Democrats are in a "wait til' next year" mode.

All the more reason to turn up the heat in March. And there are plenty of opportunities to take action -- in Washington or in your hometown -- as the 5th anniversary of the invasion approaches on March 19.

The two proposals to change course in Iraq failed, predictably, last week, perhaps providing an excuse for the media's lack of interest. (Depending, of course, on whether the chicken or the egg came first.) But what was taking place was nothing less than a matter of life and death, for US service members and Iraqi military and civilians alike.

The number of American service members who have given their lives in Iraq is nearing 4,000. Nearly 30,000 more have been wounded, and countless others have suffered permanent physical or psychological damage that will haunt them, their loved ones, and this country for decades to come. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died, and 4 million more have been displaced from their homes and become refugees.

Linneman’s, Locust and Bremen, 7pm ‘til midnight.  Antiwar music, satire and poetry, featuring more than a dozen Milwaukee musicians  and closing with dancing to The Remedies.

Benefit for Peace Action Wis., Milw. Veterans for Peace, and Milw. Iraq Vets Against the War. $8 at door.

Location(s)

A growing grassroots movement, the Iraq Moratorium asks people to take some action on the Third Friday of every month to show their opposition to the war and occupation of Iraq.

The national website www.IraqMoratorium.org has event listings and ideas for individual action. 

Watch the UppityWis blog and calendar for Wisconsin events.

Location(s)

A Veterans for Peace project:

Sick Of It Day is a day for everybody who is SICK OF THE LIES, SICK OF THE CORRUPTION, SICK OF THE WAR to make their statement in a way it will really count—CALL IN SICK on March 19, the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion!

In our own Declaration of Independence, it says, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Calling in sick on March 19, “Sick Of It Day” is a powerful way for every one of us to withdraw our consent from a government that continues an immoral, illegal and SICK war.

Join us! Call in sick! Withdraw your consent! Stop the war!

More info:  http://www.sickofitday.org:80/

Location(s)

A special Wisconsin Network for Peace ane Justice event to celebrate the work of all who vigil for peace across Wisconsin.

Pres House,  731 State Street, on the UW-Madison Library Mall. 

Special music with the Madison Raging Grannies and Peter Leidy – Judith Williams on guitar – and the Waupaca band, Baba Ganooj. Words from Vigilers, a presentation by LeAnne Clausen, SOA activist and CPT delegate to Iraq/Iran ,potluck dinner, new video of vigilers; and more!

Location(s)