Emergency Protest at
CNN Building in Hollywood
Any day now President Obama will announce that
more troops will be deployed to Afghanistan -
estimates range up to 40,000 - in addition to replacing up to 14,000 support
troops with "trigger-pullers." This will only mean increasing the
death and destruction brought to the Afghan people, who widely oppose the US war and
occupation of their country.. And U.S. involvement in Iraq is not only not over; it is becoming a permanent occupation. What is our
message to the people of Afghanistan?
At 5:00 p.m. on the day that Obama makes
his announcement we will meet you at the CNN Building (6340 W.
Sunset @ Cahuenga Blvd) in Hollywood to protest in the streets. In
cities across the country, World Can't Wait is joining with Vets for Peace and
other anti-war groups to Demand - No Escalation - Troops out Now!
Plan to join this action, spread the word on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and
bring friends and co-workers with you! Befriend WCW Facebook.
In the meanwhile - bring the message of No Escalation - Troops Out Now to local peace vigils and anti-war
gatherings in your neighborhood, school, lectures, special events, etc.
Wear Orange, download flyer here - Take this out and build this movement. It is up to
us!
Protest Condoleeza Rice - Pasadena Civic
Auditorium- Nov 18th; 8pm
Condoleeza Rice is featured as a Distinguished Speaker, this Wednesday at the Pasadena Civic
Auditorium, 300 East Green Street. As part of her bio, the Distinguished
speaker Series calls her "A woman of uncanny intelligence, versatility
and presence, she crafted and articulated the U.S. position on the world
stage." That U.S. position is one of empire and World
Can't Wait calls her a War Criminal. Give her a war criminal welcome, take your signs, wear orange jumpsuits and
demand that she and others in the Bush Regime be brought to account for War Crimes and Crimes against
Humanity.
Los Angeles Premiere
"Disturbing the Universe" A documentary on William Kunstler; Q&A
with filmmakers Sarah & Emily Kunstler to
follow
Friday, Nov. 20th, NuArt Theater 7:30 p.m.
11272 Santa Monica Blvd, LA 90025
$20 Benefit for Revolution Books/Libros Revolucion
Reserve tickets at 213.488.1303 or librosrevo@yahoo.com
William Kunstler was one of the most famous and controversial lawyers of the 20th
Century. IN the 1960s and 70s, Kunsteler fought for civil rights wit Martin Luther
King Jr. and represented the famed "Chicago 8' activists who
protested the Vietnam War. When the intmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement
stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee,
they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer. To his daughters, filmakers Emily
Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler, it seemed that he
was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they
were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of
society, including rapists, assassins and accussed terrorists. This poewrful
film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for, it also
confronts a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man
who believed that, however unpopular, justice should serve all.
From Official Web Site
PROTEST IN THE STREETS THE DAY AN ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE
TO SEND MORE TROOPS INTO AFGHANISTAN
President Obama will soon announce the plan to expand the occupation of Afghanistan. The
immediate response - that same evening, across this country - must be STREET PROTESTS & DIE-INS that boldly oppose this
outrage. More protest and resistance must follow, yet that first night is
crucial, since that is when the media -- and the rest of the world -- will be
looking for a response from the people.
According to some media analysts, Obama may make his announcement sometime
between Nov. 7 and Nov. 11, although it could happen earlier, or perhaps
later. World Can't Wait is calling on all organizations and people of
conscience to get ready for this. Read Elaine Brower's passionate call
for our strength in unity and our determination in our demand at: worldcantwait.org
Whether Obama chooses a huge troop increase, or the covert operations &
unmanned drone option to try to "win" in Afghanistan, we should be in
the streets opposing ANY escalation. The only acceptable announcement to come
from the administration would be that they're withdrawing combat troops,
support troops, CIA drones, covert operations, and all private contractors NOW.
The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan eight years ago
was an illegitimate war of aggression predicated on lies and waged as a war of
terror by the Bush Regime. This invasion was and is a war
crime. Just because the war now belongs to Obama doesn't make it any
less a war crime. The war upon Afghanistan, like the war upon Iraq, is a war/occupation for U.S. Empire and nothing
else.
People who argue that the Taliban will take control
if the U.S. leaves and Afghan women will be in a far worse position should know
that, since the invasion, the situation has deteriorated and gets uglier
everyday for women there. The women and the people of Afghanistan have the
right to self-determination. They should not be forced into choosing to live
with a suffocating U.S. occupation or an Islamic fundamentalist theocracy. This
is what U.S. military presence and involvement does - it forces the people
there to make this horrible choice.
People of conscience in this country must take a bold and visible stand and
say, "Stop the Escalation, Out of Afghanistan Now!" "The World Can't Wait/Stop the Crimes of Your
Government!" Join us in resisting these U.S. wars/occupations and ongoing
torture for Empire. An escalation of the war in Afghanistan, no matter how many U.S. troops are sent or frequency with
which drones are used to bomb the people, is not the change that many in this
country sought when they voted for Obama. This escalation perpetuates and intensifies
the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan that has been a horrifying, living nightmare
for the Afghan people.
STOP THE ESCALATION - OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!
STOP THE CRIMES OF YOUR GOVERNMENT - THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT!
Click here to download the leaflet to distribute on this day.
Beneath The Surface with Michael Slate KPFK 90.7FM
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Larry Everest on eight years of unjust war and occupation in
Afghanistan - a war that has fueled the Taliban, and killed thousands upon
thousands of Afghans. President Obama and his generals are mired in debate over
the hell of leaving and the hell of staying. Meanwhile, some in the progressive
movements in the US talk about a "reasonable rate of withdrawal."
We'll be talking about all this with Larry Everest, a reporter for Revolution
newspaper and author of Oil, Power and Empire, Iraq and the US Global Agenda.
Click Here to listen.
What kind of surge do you want?
Bombs and troops?
Or righteous resistance?
On Saturday night, WCW National Coordinator Debra Sweet was out on the Ellipse with the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, originally put together by the American Friends Service Committee to commemorate, with
empty boots, the US military lives lost in Iraq,
and Iraqi civilians killed there as well. For the first time, the display
was just the 870 military killed since 2001 in Afghanistan. To the side was a spiral of shoes of all kinds and
sizes, down to infant socks, commemorating the Afghani civilians, number
unknown, who have died in the occupation. Thousands of people came by,
and hundreds walked among the boots, including active duty military and
soldiers and Marine who had been in Afghanistan. They indicated a lot of questioning in the military right now.
Today, the first Monday in October, the Supreme Court's new session begins,
and World Can't Wait will be there protesting torture. Then, the protest
moves to McPherson Square, and a march to the White House. President Obama is holding an
outdoor press conference around 11:00 am, I hear, so perhaps we'll get there in
time to bring our loud anti-war message and make the news. World Can't
Wait will be displaying the Museum of U.S. Torture.
Many of you have seen parts of Rethink Afghanistan,
the new film by Robert Greenwald. Listen to the
voices of people trying to survive in Afghanistan after 8 years of bombing,
occupation, and relentless war, and tell me to "give Obama's surge a
chance!"
One father points to his 3 year old daughter standing in the mud with no shoes on and says:
"For God's sake, ...I want to sell this child, but nobody wants her. What can I do? I have nothing. I am
poor. I don't have any blankets, I don't have any shawls, I don't have any
clothes. There is no food that I can put in her mouth."
Watch this, and share it with others. YOU
can be part of the 48-hour surge of resistance, helping to provide World Can't
Wait with funds to run our National Office for the rest of the year, joining in
from anywhere. One of the protesters expecting to be arrested tomorrow in
non-violent civil resistance against the 8 years
of occupation of Afghanistan, messaged me that she wants to donate, but is not
sure she'll be out of jail by Tuesday. She, and you, can go right now to
give the virtual fund raiser an early bump!
THANKS FROM:
L.A. Chapter The World Can't Wait
P.S. Within the next weeks, President Obama will announce up to 20,000 more troops will deploy to
Afghanistan in addition to replacing up to 14,000 support troops with
"trigger-pullers." This will only mean increasing the death and
destruction brought to the Afghan people. And U.S. involvement in Iraq is not
only not over, but is becoming a permanent occupation.
Mark the anniversary of the Afghanistan War by pledging resistance to military
recruiters in your schools and communities. Resources at www.wearenotyoursoldiers.org
Bring Orange Resistance to Local Area Protests Demanding US
Out of Afghanistan:
Wednesday, Oct 7th 6:00
p.m. Westwood Federal Bldg, 11000 Wilshire Blvd @ Veteran Blvd. called by
ANSWER LA
Friday, October 9th 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. Wilshire Blvd @ Vermont Ave. called by Interfaith Communities United
for Justice and Peace.
Beneath The Surface with Michael Slate KPFK 90.7FM
August 18th 2009
Guests: Dr. Leroy Carhart, Debra Sweet
Topic: Defending abortion rights
Dr. Leroy Carhart is one of the only remaining providers of late
abortions in the U.S. Operation Rescue is going to Dr. Carhart's clinic the
weekend of August 28 and 29. Debra Sweet of World Can't Wait talks of protests
to defend this brave doctor.
Click Here to listen.
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Warped Tour Booth
Sun., Aug. 23rd - Carson
(Home Depot Center)
The final stop of the national, annual
Warped Tour is coming to L.A. This is a special opportunity to reach
thousands of youth with our "We Are Not Your Soldiers" campaign and
to get the word out about the anti-war protests in October.
Whether we can build a movement of youth who are mobilized
in uncompromising resistance to the military on the basis of the horrors that
it is perpetrating against the people of the world has everything to do with
re-forging an anti-war movement that is truly capable of stopping the crimes of
their government. A key part of this will be having a bold presence at Warped
Tour this summer.
Warped Tour is a punk rock summer concert that attracts
thousands of alternative youth and takes place around the country.
World Can't Wait has been to Warped Tour before and had a
overwhelmingly positive response from youth who otherwise would not have been
reached with the World Can't Wait message.
We must win a significant amount of youth away from
joining the military and becoming part of a larger culture of resistance to
drive military recruiters away from their cities and schools.
Contact us right away at worldcantwait_la@yahoo.com if
you want to participate with We Are Not Your Soldiers at the Warped Tour and/or
want to donate to this critical outreach to a key element of the movement to
stop the illegitimate wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Donations urgently needed for t-shirts,
bandanas, buttons, and tons of flyers!
Tortured past
Protesters hound federal judge who crafted torture memos for Bush
Pasadena Weekly
By André
Coleman , Megan
Sebestyen 07/09/2009
US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jay Bybee had just finished hearing
oral arguments in the case of Sprint v. Palos Verdes on Monday when Susan Harmon
stood up and asked a question.
“We’re here to ask you when you’re going to resign,” said Harmon, a Bay Area
member of the group Progressive Democrats of America, as she stared defiantly at
the judge. Bybee did not respond while guards dressed in blue blazers removed
Harmon and two other women from the courthouse.
“We will follow you,” Harmon vowed before being escorted out of the stately
West Pasadena courtroom and rejoining a dozen protesters standing in front of
the building.
Joining Harmon Monday were members of her organization and the anti-war
groups Code Pink and the World Can’t Wait, all of which have been calling for
Bybee’s resignation or impeachment since April, when President Obama
declassified documents showing Bybee was an architect of former President George
W. Bush’s torture policies.
Click here to
read more
Standing Against the Murder
of Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller!
Speak-Out in Los Angeles
On Saturday, June 6th, 80 people gathered at a busy corner on the outdoor
Santa Monica Promenade to “Speak Your Rage” to honor Dr. George Tiller and to
resolve to keep abortion doctors safe. It was initiated by World Can’t Wait-LA,
Libros Revolucion bookstore and the Revolution Club-LA, and quickly gathered
endorsements from several NOW chapters, a student group, representatives from
Planned Parenthood Pasadena and the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance
Project, and UCLA Law Professor Frances Olsen, an international feminist legal
scholar.
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Rev. Ignacio Castueras, National Chaplain of Planned
Parenthood |
For almost two hours, in front of an attentive crowd, a variety of people
stepped forward to speak, from students to long-time veterans in the struggle
for a woman’s right to choose. There were 20 speakers, including Planned
Parenthood’s National Chaplain Rev. Ignacio Castuera (who travelled two hours
each way to participate) and 3 NOW chapter presidents, one of whom is also a
West Hollywood councilmember. An attorney read the powerful statement that
lawyer Gloria Allred sent from Wichita (see below).
Carol Downer who co-founded the Feminist
Women’s Health Centers is organizing women to publicly tell their stories, as
part of creating an atmosphere in society where women feel no shame for having
abortions. People brought to life how Dr. Tiller bravely and compassionately
saved the lives of women, and even young girls, who came to his clinic when
there was no else who would or could help. A number of defiant young women (as
well as men) spoke, including a high school student who came with her mom; a
student from the Feminist Alliance of Santa Monica College; a young religious
Black woman who decided at the end to speak and directed her story about having
two abortions at the anti-abortionists standing around; 2 volunteers from Libros
Revolucion who spoke to the dangerous “common ground” that Obama is calling for;
and 3 members of the Revolution Club-LA shared the mike and told about the
controversy in a class of pregnant teen-aged moms who had never seen anything
like the photo display “A Fetus is Not a Child” from Revolution
newspaper. Several anti-war groups were represented including Veterans for Peace
and the Topanga Peace Alliance.
Click here to
read more
World Can't Wait protest outside Obama fundraiser in Beverly Hills
30 people gathered at the very busy intersection in Beverly
Hills with a 20' orange banner that read "Release the Torture
Photos! Prosecute the War Criminals! worldcantwait.org".
Orange-jumpsuited "detainees" and people with white masks and orange
ponchos saying "No Torture" and "Prosecute War Criminals"
stood next to the new large WCW posters across from the Beverly Hilton
where Obama spoke at a fundraiser. Unlike the coverage of our press
conference last Thursday at West Hollywood City Hall (next to Beverly Hills),
all the local TV news, both English and Spanish-language, covered the
protest, as well as several radio stations, AP, UPI, and Getty Photos.
Click here to
read more
******************************
Beneath the Surface with Michael Slate KPFK 90.7FM
May 26th 2009
Guest: Mark Ruffalo, actor and director, spoke at a press
conference in West Hollywood last week on torture. He talked about why people
need to demand that torture end, and that those responsible must be prosecuted.
Click Here to listen.
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LA Marathon - May 25, 2009
******************************
City of West Hollywood and World Can't Wait Hold Joint Press Conference:
"No Torture" Banner at West Hollywood City Hall
May 21—The large orange banner hung down from near the ceiling in the lobby
of West Hollywood, California, City Hall read: "No Torture." The City of West
Hollywood, a community between Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, had taken a stand.
And in that lobby, an important press conference was held: "A Call to President
Barack Obama urging him to release torture-related photos and prosecute war
criminals, ex-top officials of the Bush Administration." The press conference
was called by the City of West Hollywood and The World Can't Wait.
City Council Member and long-time defender of human rights, John J. Duran
said, "President Obama must do what is right for our country's future and shed
light on the last eight years of the Bush administration's half-truths, abuse of
power and human rights both abroad and here at home. We will never be able to
put this behind us if the truth is not fully revealed and if we don't atone for
the way our country behaved." He was joined by: Debra Sweet, national director
of The World Can't Wait, the MC for the event; Mark Rapkin, a Los Angeles
attorney who represented a prisoner unjustly locked up at Guantánamo and has
continued to speak out against the continuing torture and imprisonment at that
prison; actor John Heard; director and writer Paul Haggis, whose films include
Crash and In the Valley of Elah; and actor and director Mark
Ruffalo.
Click here to
read more
Also:
Here's a front-page article re West Hollywood
press conference that came out May 28th edition of the weekly
Beverly Press: http://www.parklabreanewsbeverlypress.com/pdf/5.28%20issue.pdf
NO TORTURE:
Paul Haggis - Guantanamo - America's Shame
More videos from the West Hollywood press conference
Michael Rapkin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBoNZenOQX8&feature=channel
Mark Ruffalo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyX3mP0dcRA&feature=related
Mark Ruffalo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGIDXRh6dHo
April 23,2009
When the LA chapter of World Can't Wait joined others at Chapman
University last Tuesday (April 21st) to protest Torture Lawyer John Yoo, hundreds of
thousands saw photos of protesters in orange jumpsuits the following day, in
the LA Times and the OC Register (see video here). Reports of our
Teach-In Against Torture on Saturday even ran in the Chinese press!
Chapman Teach-In Against Torture
Teach-In Against Torture at Chapman University
School of Law, April 18, 2009. Torture professor John Yoo is currently teaching
at Chapman
Larry Everest
Larry Everest is autor of "Oil, Power and
Empire" and writes for Revolution Newspaper.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Katherine Darmer
Catherine Darmer teaches at Chapman University School of Law
Part 1
Part 2
Michael Slate
Michael Slate is host of the Tuesday evening edition of
Beneath the Surface on KPFK 90.7, and writes for Revolution Newspaper.
Watch here
"We Won't Live in a Torture State!"
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The Church at Ocean Park,
Santa Monica
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Social Public Arts Resource Center (SPARC)
a non-profit art gallery and community
space - located in Venice, CA
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At a private home in Santa Monica
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Donate!
Donate via PayPal at worldcantwait_la@yahoo.com
Or send a check to:
World Can't Wait
P.O. Box 48332, LA, CA 90048
Now is the time to donate – You are one of millions
of people who hate this regime and what it is doing.
Your financial support can make a huge difference
in the chances of driving this regime out.
We urgently need money to pay for more ads
to break into the media and reach the homes and
hearts of millions across the country who are looking
for a way to act, to support our volunteers working
full-time in our National Office and in DC, to supply
millions of pieces of materials and much more. We
need you to dig deep, but more than that to reach
out to many others (friends, family, colleagues)
who also dream of a very different world, and ask
them also to give as if the future depends
on it...because it does.
Donations over $100 are tax-deductible, and
those checks must be made out to the Alliance
for Global Justice and earmarked for WCW.
Phone: (213)
924-8571
Address:
Los Angeles World Can't Wait
P.O. Box 48332
Los Angeles, CA 90048
worldcantwait_la@yahoo.com
Local
website: www.worldcantwait-la.com
National website: www.worldcantwait.org
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