With slogans like "Purge the Surge" and "Impeach Bush Now" Austinites again rallied in opposition to President Bush's war of choice in Iraq. The protest saw an increase in numbers since anti-war momentum tapered off in late 2003, leaving many hopeful that nationwide mass mobilizations will help end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. However, I spoke with several people at the rally who remained depressed about the state of the anti-war movement in this country. About a dozen people that I talked to only attended the rally in order to see the turnout, and remained doubtful of the effectiveness of such demonstrations. "We need to see more direct action against the war machine," said one demonstrator, "marching through downtown and waving American flags isn't going to change anything." She cited recent actions against recruiting stations in Pittsburgh as an example of how to effectively challenge the government's ability to wage war. There, the Pittsburgh Organizing Group or POG, has built popular support for ongoing demonstrations that have actually shut down a recruiting station, while also informing countless would-be recruits of the real perils of joining Washington's war machine. In fact, counter-recruitment groups are forming across the country with the aims of disrupting the day-to-day operations of recruiting stations, and dispelling the myths of easy money, job training, and equal rights for women and homosexuals in the military.

This past weekend demonstrators across the country took the time to come together and combine their voices in the hope that the President and his advisers will heed their warnings about escalating an already failed imperial enterprise. It seems clear however, that the decision makers and war profiteers are determined to perpetuate and even expand Bush's Terror War. The very waging of this war despite unprecedented opposition and record setting numbers at protests should be proof enough that those in the Bush Administration do not care what demonstrators in the streets, or representatives in Congress for that matter, have to say. In the words of one seasoned anti-war activist at Saturday's rally, "its time people in Austin and around the country get serious about stopping this war. We need to make it so that they can't have this war. If we are serious about this, then it is within our capabilities to shut them down."

Other Personal Accounts of the rally || Photos from the rally 1 | 2 || Video from the Rally

For More on Counter-Recruitment Efforts See:
The Yinzer's Guide to Countering Military Recruitment || counter-recruitment.org || Nonmilitary Options for Youth || GI Rights Hotline || militaryfreezone.org

With these hands I demand the future that poverty wages have stolen from me. Farmworkers returning from picking tomatoes bought by companies, such as McDonald's, show hands stained with pesticides and heavy with hard work.
Coalition of Immokalee Workers | Student Farmworker Alliance | Watch the Video

Statewide march on the Capitol to coincide with national marches. Meet at 3pm at City Hall on January 27th, 2007 to call for immediate withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq.

A coalition of local activist groups called Stop The War Coalition- Austin has planned a statewide anti-war march in solidarity with national gatherings in major cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago. The nonviolent action will call for the end of war and the immediate withdraw of United States military from Iraq.

The march will convene at Austin City Hall at 3:00 pm on January 27, 2007 and the march to the Texas Capitol will commence at 3:30 pm. Music and speakers will greet the marchers at the Capitol grounds and City Hall. Speakers will include Hart Viges of Veterans for Peace, Texas Green Party Co-Chair Dr. Douglas Reber, Peter Christie of the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and representatives from Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupation, Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee and Anti Racist Action. All anti-war Texans are invited to attend.

Photos: 1 * 2 * 3
Video: *here*

See also: BTL:Bush's Iraq War Escalation Provokes Growing Opposition || The Occupation: Veteran Correspondent Patrick Cockburn Reports from Iraq || Bush Escalates Iraq War with 20,000 More Troops; Threatens Iran, Syria with Military Action || Col. Gardiner's Warning: Pieces in Place for Escalation

Last month marked the ten-year anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords in Guatemala — an agreement that ended nearly four decades of extreme state-led violence. The army's so-called "counterinsurgency" efforts, allegedly aimed at ridding the country of guerrilla combatants, claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people while displacing more than 1.5 million others, the overwhelming majority of whom were indigenous Maya.

Antonio Caba, an Ixil Maya activist who currently serves as president of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), lives in the highlands of El Quiche — the Guatemalan state hardest hit by the military campaign. Some 344 of the 669 massacres committed by the army against Maya villages occurred within El Quiche; an estimated 14.5 percent of all Ixil Maya were killed.

Among the seven genocidios (the men who plotted and ordered the genocide) that the AJR is pursuing, the key figure is Efrain Rios Montt, an evangelical minister who rose to power via a military coup in 1982 and thereafter ruled over what became the most violent chapters of the genocide. Under Rios Montt's similarly brutal predecessor, Romeo Lucas Garcia, male peasants were forcibly organized — into what were termed Self Defense Civil Patrols — to carry out military whims within their occupied villages.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces a major mobilization for farmworker justice, April 13 14, 2007, in the greater Chicago area. Make your plans to join us for historic actions that will usher in a new phase in the Campaign for Fair Food.

CIW: "Today, we are tired, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., of`relying on the good will and understanding of those who profit by exploiting us.'"

On Wednesday, January 10th, the Sunset Commission convened to vote on the report their staff had assembled in the audit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Sunset Commission was responsible for holding TDCJ accountable for the welfare of Texas inmates, and they utterly failed to address a growing crisis behind prison walls: HIV/AIDS.

Months before the decision, ACT UP Austin had presented the Sunset Commission with overwhelming evidence of the effectiveness of condoms as an HIV prevention tool. A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control showed HIV transmission occuring in prison, and recommended that the Department of Corrections in each state review their policies on condoms. Inmates reported using improvised barriers, such as breadbags and rubber gloves, showing that the demand for condoms exists, but is being ignored.

Opponents of prevention in prisons have claimed that providing condoms encourages sex, but in a study of the Canadian prison system, where condoms are available, guards reported they saw no rise in sex or other "behavioral infractions". Others point out that sex is against the rules in Texas prisons, and therefore condoms should not be distributed. "The issue is that sex is happening in prisons, regardless. Being uncomfortable with that fact is not grounds for denying prevention materials," says Ruth True, a member of ACT UP Austin. The funeral procession, with Taps played on kazoo, included banners reading "Prisoners Deserve Protection", "An Erection Should Not Equal An Infection" and "Sunset has Blood on Their Hands". ACT UP takes issue with the fact that both the Sunset Commission and TDCJ are ignoring the issue, rather than looking at the evidence. Jail sytems around the country, including Los Angeles county and the District of Columbia, have implemented condom programs with much success. ACT UP simply wants TDCJ to face the facts; as one of their banners reads, "Condoms Cost Pennies, Denial Costs Lives."

On Jan. 11 at 6 pm, about 60-80 people joined at the Texas Capitol south gates to call for an end to the Iraq occupation by the US and to oppose President Bush's plan to surge more US troops into Iraq. Later, another group of 30-40 people which had gathered at City Hall marched up Congress Avenue and we welcomed them. With our voices, signs and banners and bells and drums, the gathered assembly made a pretty strong chorus rejecting occupation and more military action in Iraq and possible other military attacks against Iran that the Bush administration is unwisely contemplating. The best part of the gathering for me was witnessing the marked increase in the gestures of solidarity shown by passers by: many, many peace signs, honks and waves. An encouraging change in Austin and throughout the country, at long last.

The Beehive Collective will be presenting a sneak preview of our long awaited graphic about Plan Puebla Panama (PPP). the PPP is an overarching development plan slated to alter the face of mesoamerica forever. This is considered by many to be a death sentence for traditional cultures throughout the central american region and has met with many inspiring forms of grassroots resistance.

It's a picture-lecture to be understood by anyone –not just the experts and political analysts! JOIN IN as we de-construct the complex and overwhelming
issues that are shaping our world, using bio-regionally accurate depictions of animals and insects as metaphors to link cultural and ecological diversity.

Thursday, January 18th @ 8pm
MonkeyWrench Books
110 E. North Loop