Report on "Stand Against Torture Sunday", Dec. 23rd

It was a powerful scene, provoking many to think about the issue of torture and what is being done in our name, some for the first time, drawing expressions of sympathy and support from many, and a violent/vicious response from some hard-core, torture-hardened, reactionaries.

Despite a drizzle and forecasts of cold, heavy rain, all together, 40 people turned out at one point or another throughout the afternoon – activists and supporters from World Can’t Wait, A.R.T. (Activist Response Team), Catholic Worker and Witness against Torture. A group of youth who had planned an action against the war in Iraq themselves in the same area later that day, joined us and we “fused” our two plans into one, first in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then going around Rockefeller Center and in front of its world famous annual Christmas tree.

Many held printed signs: “NO TORTURE – We Won’t Live in a Torture State – Impeach/Drive Out the Bush Regime”, along with “Waterboarding is Torture – Torture is a Crime Against Humanity”, while others knelt in orange jumpsuits and chains. There was a giant banner “Lies + Torture” that had previously been hung at an action in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. An agitator brought out the basic message: “Today, this government is torturing people in Iraq and Guantanemo, Cuba in our name. Torture is wrong, it’s a crime against humanity, it’s criminal, and it must be stopped. The criminals in the White House need to be impeached for their crimes and driven out.”
A number of people took orange ribbons or got “impeach the war criminals” buttons. A woman who came by with her children was heard telling them when she first spotted us, “listen to them – we are going to learn something important here today”.

The response of reactionaries was striking. None denied that torture was being done, and instead were brazenly upholding it. Several times they jumped out of the crowd and hit the heads of people kneeling in jump suits and hoods. Twice they started to attack our speakers. It was a scene right out of “Redacted”. Their wives and families seemed ashamed/horrified by their actions and would try to pull them away.

At 4:00 PM we switched, with a smaller number of us heading swiftly through Rockefeller Center and in front of the Christmas tree, led by the youth with a boom box playing the John Lennon song, “The War is Over – Merry Christmas” and along with our anti-torture signs, two hand-made displays: “This is a Christmas to Remember” and giving the number of Iraqis and Americans who have died in the war. It was a memorable scene, and we got an extremely favorable response from the crowds coming out to see the tree. All sorts of media photographers appeared, snapping lots of photos.

It is hard to estimate precisely, but several thousand altogether saw our actions and some were deeply affected by it.

WCW Gift Ideas: Give a gift declaring your committment to peace, justice and end of the crimes of Bush Regime.

Give gifts with a conscience and a vision.

Some ideas:

Get/give the new 2008 calendar with stunning / inspiring photos: $15.00 (plus $10.00 for shipping/handling if ordered on line). Get 5 or more to give to everyone on your list -- 5 or more, $10.00 each. Email us to arrange getting them to you: nyc@worldcantwait.org

Give a $50 or $100 donation to World Can't Wait on behalf of a loved one or friend as your present. We will send you a certificate to put in your holiday card to the person, if you like. You can donate on line.

Give a package of orange ribbons, a bandana, or tshirt.

Gifts are available on line at http://www.worldcantwait.net/stor e/ and we will have an assortment of gifts at the above concert, or call us.

Jazz Means Peace Benefit December 17th

"JAZZ MEANS PEACE” IS BACK!!

@ The Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery @ Bleecker st.

A Jazz series dedicated to building a permanent alternative peace culture by supporting Peace Organizations and celebrating America’s unique classical musical art form; JAZZ

Monday December 17th. 8pm – 10pm: RADAM SCHWARTZ & “CONSPIRACY FOR POSITIVITY” with Radam Schwartz – organ, James Gibbs III - trumpet, Anthony Ware – alto sax, Misha Fatkiev – guitar, Joe Brown Jr.– drums

308 Bowery: F train to Second Ave 6 train to Bleecker 212-614-0505
http://www.bowerypoetry.com

Monday December 17th. 8pm – 10pm:

$8 admission + 1 drink minimum

Benefiting: Brooklyn For Peace, World Can’t Wait, Peace Action NY, and War Resisters League


Get your ticket now (Get them here on-line - your PayPal computer receipt will be honored at the door in leiu of a paper ticket) or reserve a ticket to be picked up at the door by emailing stephanie@worldcantwait.org .

Regular admission tickets: $8

Make a donation: Urgently needed for organizing to BRING TO A HALT the criminal program of the Bush Regime. Give the gift that will keep driving through the new year!

Tuesday, November 27th: Support all those arrested on September 25th when Bush came to the UN

Waging unjust wars based on lies and torture is CRIMINAL.

Resisting all this is NOT!

In fact, NOT speaking up is what’s criminal.

On September 25th, while Bush was speaking at the UN, deriding what he considers the “brutal regimes” of the world (while it his that has made torture legal, invaded and occupied two countries with one million people dead, and is making plans to attack a third country), hundreds of people were outside the UN in protest. A sea of orange filled the plaza, with a contingent marching in wearing the orange jumpsuits and hoods that Guantanamo detainees are forced to wear everyday, as well as a plethora of orange bandanas, flags, clothes, etc. The authorities clearly did not like this showing of resistance, cutting off the sound permit an hour early. When more than a dozen people sat down on a sidewalk just over the police barricade in an act of civil disobedience, police arrested them. And they also arrested three who protested the initial arrests and they were held overnight and slapped with more serious charges. This did not deter people, hundreds of people took off downtown, marching all the way from the UN to Washington Square Park. [see full report]

SUPPORT ALL THOSE ARRESTED -- DROP ALL THE CHARGES NOW!

People are rightly disgusted with the way protesters are herded in pens, off to the side and marginalized. That people who sat down a few feet outside those pens, on a street already closed to traffic would be arrested is an outrage. Then several weeks later, rather than dropping these charges, the highly unusual step of adding additional charges against those who engaged in this civil disobedience action. This is an additional outrage which should be called out and reversed.

On November 27th, the three who spoke out against the arrests and then themselves were arrested are to appear in court and the initial group of 14 arrested are to appear in January 17. We call on people to stand with all of these defendants. Their actions should be applauded, not punished!
Pack the courtroom:
Tuesday, November 27th, 9:30 AM

Part A, Criminal Court, 100 Centre Street, Manhattan
and
January 17th, 9:30 AM

Criminal Court, 100 Centre Street, Manhattan

And beginning immediately, call or send letters or faxes to:

Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney:
One Hogan Place, New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212-335-9000
Fax: 212-385-9789
To demand:
DROP ALL THE CHARGES NOW AGAINST ALL ARRESTED AT THE SEPTEMBER 25TH ANTI-BUSH PROTEST!

NYC October 27: "Orange Alert" in unity with Iraq Moratorium - No Attack on Iran! Bush and Cheney Out Now!

It was a great day!

At 1pm,about 50 people representing World Can't Wait, Code Pink, Raging Grannies, Students for a Democratic Society, Movement for a Democratic Society, "Arrest Bush", a spirited delegation of students from John Jay College and others, joined in a press conference on the steps of City Hall. Six rousing speeches about ending the war in Iraq, not attacking Iran and Driving Out the Bush regime, along with several different pledges to resist an attack on Iran, including World Can't Wait's new Pledge of Resistance to a war on Iran (which over 1,000 people have already taken) where given in the presence of Columbia University TV and WBAI Pacifica Radio. Enlarged photos of one of the speaker’s family in Iran were used to demonstrate the human aspect of what is at risk if Iran were attacked. WBAI aired part of the conference on the radio later in the day.

Then in a joint effort with Students for Democratic Society, Code Pink and the Iraq Moratorium, over 100, and at times 150, converged at Union Square and then proceeded on a “resistance tour to midtown office of global criminals & enablers of the Bush regime.” The crowd was overwhelmingly youth and students. A sizable and spirited contingent from John Jay College led the way, along with a group from Fashion Industries High School, and students from Hunter College, Columbia University, New School, NYU, PACE and Queens College. We marched to the offices of “L-3 Titan”, where orange-jumped suited protesters knelled down in the entrance of this notorious “private contractor” similar to Blackwater operating in Iraq, then to Bechtel Corporation, a major military contractor in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then to the Times Square Military Recruitment Center.

In the days and weeks leading up to the 16th, hundreds of people, mainly students at John Jay, Columbia University, and Hunter College took the Iran Quiz: Who Is the Real Nuclear Threat?, pointed to and documenting the extent to which people have been systematically lied to concerning basic facts about what is happening in the Middle East.

This "orange alert" was nation-wide and reports of actions around the country are being posted at worldcantwait.org.
[all photos courtesy ThomasGood / Next Left Notes]

November 16: Orange ALERT to PREVENT Bush Bombing Iran

The moves towards a U.S. attack on Iran should be alarming every peace and justice loving person on the planet.
Just a couple of recent examples: Bush invokes “World War 3.” Cheney is reported to be cooking up plans for Israel to attack Iran , and then for the U.S. to dive into the war when Iran counter-attacks. The massive concentration of U.S. naval power off the coast of Iran puts the U.S. in position to attack at any time. Unfortunately, this is just a small part of the evidence of preparations for an attack that is extensive and growing.

Where are the voices of opposition and resistance to this? Where the voices of people determined to PREVENT a new war beginning in Iran, which could quickly engulf the whole Middle East and beyond? Many people are closing their eyes to this threat, are in a state of paralysis and/or denial. Meanwhile the Bush regime, the leaders of the Democratic Party and the major media are all pumping out and repeating blatant lies to keep people in the dark about what is really going on there.

We need to change this situation and fast! “We” is all of us, coming together, bringing together our anger, our creativity, our determination to act. Here are some plans and proposals:
Friday, November 16th – “ORANGE ALERT” – PREVENT Bush Bombing Iran!
On November 16th, and on campuses on the days leading up to it, there will be actions declaring: No Attack on Iran! Bush & Cheney Out Now! These actions are being planned in unity with Iraq Moratorium nationwide.

Plans in New York:
1:00 PM on the steps of City Hall, Press conference and speak-out with prominent voices will be publicly pledging resistance to an attack on Iran (details to be announced).

3:00 PM Union Square, rally with World Can’t Wait, Students for Democratic Society and many others (complete list to be announced).
This will be followed by a resistance tour to the mid-town offices of global criminals, benefactors and enablers whose hands are bloody from the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq and endanger far more with a war on Iran.
There are many nominees for tour stops: the Times Square recruitment center, Fox news, the NY Times, Hillary Clinton's office, and various military contractors. Details will be announced at the rally.
People will be carrying photos of ordinary Iranians, young people, families, children – those facing death unless we PREVENT an attack on Iran.

Take/give the IRAN QUIZ in classes, dorms and town squares, and tabulate the results!
On campuses, November 13, 14, and 15, there will be speak outs and thousands will be taking the “Iran Quiz”. These will speak to important questions holding people back:
Many people ARE very concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons and worry of the real danger that they will get used. But Bush & Company are feeding people a massive, daily dose of lies and misinformation, so that people's just concerns are being manipulated and misdirected into supporting the very forces who are the greatest danger here. The extent of this is powerfully shown when lots of people take the WCW IRAN QUIZ. The questions on the quiz are very basic, elementary questions, that anyone ought to be able to answer. Yet most people who have taken the quiz in the U.S., under the barrage of misinformation from the Bush regime, Congress and their enablers and press agents in the mass media -- can't correctly answer all of them. Download the quiz in a form for passing out in classes.

What does it mean when you learn that you have been lied to and your concerns manipulated? Students shouldn’t “take our word” on this, in addition to the Quiz we’ll provide not only an answer sheet, but documentation. [http://worldcantwait.net/materials/iran_quiz/IranQuiz-AnswersSources.doc] Taking and “grading” this quiz will document how much people are being lied to and manipulated. [Please send us the results so that we can document them nationally. nyc@worldcantwait.org ] It will be a real “eye opener” and makes many angry and needing/wanting to act. The campuses need to be alive this coming week with discussions, debate and planning for mobilizing to PREVENT the next war, and to drive out the criminals responsible for such massive war crimes.

Wear Orange Everywhere!
Why an “Orange” alert? Because launching yet a third unjust and criminal war is part of the larger “package” of Bush crimes. Orange is the color that those they torture in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib must wear. Wear orange everywhere to declare that torture, that “waterboarding” must stop, that the wars must end, that all the crimes of Bush & Cheney must stop, that these war criminals need to be impeached and driven from office.

Check http://nyc.worldcantwait.org/ for updates and more details between now and November 16th.
Contact us to share your plans, to invite a speaker to come to your school, class, or community center, to give the Iran Quiz and speak about the danger of war against Iran.

Come to House Party on Monday, Nov. 12th with Cristina Page and Debra Sweet!

Come to an empowering evening with Cristina Page and Debra Sweet at Upper West Side supporter of World Can't Waith. Suggested donation $100, refreshments provided.

Debra Sweet will speak about the danger of an attack on Iran, and The World Can't Wait's plans to prevent such an attack. Cristina Page will give a presentation on the Bush Regime's assault on reproductive rights.

Cristina Page, author and spokesperson for birthcontrolwatch.org will give a presentation on the Bush Regime's assualt on women's reproductive rights.

If you are interested in coming email to: nycmle@yahoo.com or nyc@worldcantwait.org
or call 347-678-5905.

If you cannot attend please consider making a donation at nyc.worldcantwait.org

*Cristina Page is the author of "How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics and the War On Sex", and a spokesperson for birthcontrolwatch.org. Page is also a consultant for several national pro-choice groups, and her policy proposals have been adopted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New Jersey State Legislature.
* Page has worked in the editorial departments of Glamour and Ms. magazines, ran a gubernatorial campaign in New York, and edited The Smart Girl's Guide to College. Her op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, Newsday, Guardian UK, Tampa Tribune, Baltimore Sun, the Huffington Post, and TomPaine.com

Jazz for Peace benefit for WCW on Monday, Nov. 12th at Bowery Poetry

Please invite friends to these events benefiting The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime!
MONDAY NOVEMBER 12th 8pm to 10pm:
The Russell Branca Quintet plays "THE MUSIC OF WAYNE SHORTER" with Russell Branca-bass, Ada Rovatti - sax, Tom Beckham - vibes, Heather Bennett - piano, Ken Salters - drums, This will be a very special program saluting one of the all time great saxophonist/composers in jazz. One of the last "living legends".

Wayne Shorter

MONDAY DECEMBER 17th. from 8pm to 10pm.
RADAM SCHWARTZ & “CONSPIRACY FOR POSITIVITY” with Radam Schwartz – organ, James Gibbs III - trumpet, Anthony Ware – alto sax, Misha Fatkiev – guitar, Joe Brown Jr. – drums With his Hammond B3 organ, Arabesque Records recording artist Radam Schwartz energizes every room he plays with the joyous groove of hard driving modern jazz. "Jazz for Peace" is organized by misician Russell Branca (of theResistance Cinema). It is held at the Bowery Poetry Club where it gives a
performance space to jazz musicians and benefits various progressive
organizations. For Monday, November 12th, WORLD CAN'T WAIT, is one of the
four beneficiaries. Tickets cost $8 each. WCW receives $4 for each
ticket we sell. The ticket can then be used on either November 12th or
for a different performance on December 17th.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 12th 8pm to 10pm:
The Russell Branca Quintet plays "THE MUSIC OF WAYNE SHORTER" with
Russell Branca-bass, Ada Rovatti - sax, Tom Beckham - vibes, Heather
Bennett - piano, Ken Salters - drums, This will be a very special program
saluting one of the all time great saxophonist/composers in jazz. One of
the last "living legends".
You can reserve your tickets by emailing http://us.f531.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=stephanie@worldcantwait.org (I
will hold the tickets for you, upon receipt of payment) at the door.
This is the kind of event that appeals to a sector of the population that
may not necessarily by interested in other kinds of events. Please ask
your neighbors, coworkers, family and friends. And, get back to me ASAP
at http://us.f531.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=stephanie@worldcantwait.org.

Have you booked your WCW house party?

What can YOU do to end this regime of torture, war, brutality and greed? Well, have you set the date for your house party yet? It couldn't be easier. Click here for all the resources you need to bring family, friends, people you work with, neighbors together to make a difference.

October 27: Iraq--Get Out! Iran--Stay Out! Bush/Cheney--Drive Out!

October 27: Iraq--Get Out! Iran--Stay Out! Bush/Cheney--Drive Out!
OCTOBER 27, A CALL TO ACTION:
NO ATTACK ON IRAN ! BUSH AND CHENEY OUT NOW!
Tomorrow, Saturday October 27, hundreds of thousands will gather in New York and other cities in regional demonstrations called by the anti-war movement. These protests will bring people together to denounce this illegal and illegitimate war and occupation of Iraq, call for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and bring forward this message to the people: NO ATTACK ON IRAN !BUSH AND CHENEY OUT NOW!

We as people living in the United States must act with determination, joining with and giving support and heart to people all over the globe who so urgently need and want this regime to be stopped. Join the orange contingent in tomorrow's march to Foley Square. Declare It Now! By wearing ORANGE-- the color of resistance and solidarity with those who are suffering at the hands of torturers in Guantanamo and in secret prisons around the world--we are declaring to the world that we are determined to Drive Out the Bush Regime!
The organizers of the San Francisco march, including World Can’t Wait, are asking everyone to “die-in” along the march. This die-in will represent all those that have suffered under the terror of U.S. forces across the Middle East.
We can’t be silent in the face of this terror. We can’t rely on politics as usual to meet the enormity of this horror. We must and can rely on the millions in this country that hate the Bush program to DECLARE IT NOW! WEAR ORANGE!
Meet at 11:00 am 20th Street east of Broadway . We also need volunteers to:
1) Show up one hour early -- at 10am -- at 20th Street east of Broadway, to get out tons of our brand new placards in the crowd reading: "Iraq: Get Out! / Iran: Stay Out!/ Bush and Cheney: Drive Out!"
2) Be at nearby subway stations at 11am to distribute placards to folks getting off the trains. We need teams of people who can commit to being at the "6" train stop at 23rd and Park Avenue South, and the "N" / "R" train stop at he 23rd and Broadway.
3) Staff the World Can’t Wait table at the end of the march in Foley Square.

Need two people in suits (we will provide the Bush and Cheney masks) for street theater.

Mark your calendars: Village Halloween Parade - October 31

Village Halloween Parade
What Could Be Scarier than Where Bush/Cheney is Taking Us? MARK your calendarfor the Village Halloween Parade Wednesday October 31 Spring Street & 6 th 5:30 pm Join the Orange Jumpsuit Contingent to march with the ARREST BUSH parade.

Confront the Horowitz Fascists: RESIST “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week”

David Horowitz and his army of Campus Republicans are launching "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" October 22-26 on hundreds of campuses across the country. They are ominously calling this "the biggest conservative campus protest ever."
Invoking ‘60’s themes like "free speech" and combating the "oppression of women in Islam" as a cover, they plan to harass Muslim Student Associations and Women’s Studies Departments, and silence anyone that questions the Bush regime’s official narrative, including even those concerned about global warming!
Given the Bush regime’s escalating threats toward Iran, the danger of a complicit campus environment cannot be underestimated. The College Republicans can claim to be the victim of the "academic left," but people like them run this country and dominate the world. They are the ones holding "catch an illegal immigrant day" at the same time as the Bush regime’s ICE raids are ripping apart immigrant families. This is not just a question of campus politics and a few loud mouth bigots. If we ignore them, they will NOT go away. They have their sights set on the last remaining bastions of critical thinking with the aim of transforming all of society. If they can create an atmosphere at these colleges where it is okay to be openly racist and reactionary, where progressive faculty are intimidated by ridiculous claims of "left-wing academic dictatorship," and radical dissenting ideas are ruled beyond the pale and off the table…then they have won, not only at the universities, but in their efforts to remake the social fabric of this country in a fascist way.
On the other hand, if we can politically confront these college Republicans and their "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," expose their real agenda, raise awareness of the growing danger of U.S. fascism and the real fascist direction that the Bush regime has been taking this country in—the endless war, the torture, the Patriot Act, the unlimited domestic spying, and the whole police state infrastructure, the Christian Fundamentalism that is undermining women’s rights, gay peoples rights, science, and rational thought—and if we can bring forward a radical student movement that refuses to choose between Islamic Fundamentalism and the Bush Regime’s Christian Fascist war on the world…then we can turn Horowitz’s plan upside down.
This week will either strengthen their side or strengthen OUR side.
By bringing forward a determined and uncomprimising student movement on campuses October 22-26th we can paralyze Horowitz' ability to further target and blacklist professors and be a major part of transforming campuses into centers of intellectual ferment, activism, and organized resistance that are so desperately needed at times like these.

Join us in Protests and Forums

Wear the Color Orange, the color of torture victims in Guantanamo and turn it into a color of mass opposition.

Come to discussion of what this "Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week" is all about and help forge NYC plans to resist:
October 18th, 6:30 PM at MLK Labor Center, 310 West 43rd Street (near 8th Avenue), 7th floor.

The Horowitz fascists have not fully revealed the details of their plans. As their plans become known, and various plans to resist are developed, we will post updates on this web site with details.

Coming soon: World Can't Wait plans for mobilization for NYC march against the war on October 27

Plans around mobilization for the NYC anti-war marches on October 27th will be posted soon.

Resistance in the Streets While Bush Spoke at the UN

While Bush was speaking at the UN on Tuesday, deriding what he considers the “brutal regimes” of the world (while his that has made torture legal, invaded and occupied two countries with one million people dead, and is making plans to attack a third country), about one thousand people were outside the UN in protest. A sea of orange filled the plaza, with a contingent marching in wearing the orange jumpsuits and hoods that Guantanamo detainees are forced to wear everyday, as well as a plethora of orange bandanas, flags, clothes, etc. From the stage, speakers called attention to the growing threat of Bush launching a war on Iran and the urgent need for this to be stopped by massive resistance. The crowd consisted of a high number of youth and students from high schools and colleges in NYC who had (correctly) decided that showing the people of the world that we oppose this war criminal was more important than attending class.

The protest was organized by The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime together with War Resisters League, Code-Pink, Granny Peace Brigade, Students for Democratic Society, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas, Movement for a Democratic Society-NYC.

The authorities clearly did not like this showing of resistance, cutting off the sound permit an hour early. When a dozen people sat down on a sidewalk just over the police barricade in an act of civil disobedience, police arrested them.

They also arrested three who have been active with World Can't Wait who weren’t part of the civil disobedience but protested the arrests and they were held overnight and have been slapped with more serious charges. The defense of these three will the focus of future postings.

After the rally, hundreds of people took off down the sidewalk for an un-permitted march through Manhattan. Flanked by a troop of police on motorcycle, on foot, and in vans, there was a spirit of defiance to this march. Marching all the way from the UN to Washington Square Park (about 45 blocks!), the busy streets of Manhattan were greeted by chants of “This country is too quiet / I want to hear you scream: / The world can’t wait – drive out the bush regime”, “Taser this: Fuck Bush”, and “Come out, resist, throw up your fist”. While the march never quite made it out into the streets (and maybe had more than hundreds come out, it could have), it did certainly bring a spirit of resistance to the streets of NYC that is much needed. A good time was had by all.

Make a generous donation - see box on left of screen.

It cost thousands of dollars to make this powerful action happen and most of it still needs to be raised to pay the bills. Please give generously.

Tuesday, September 25 - Take to the streets when criminal Bush comes to the UN!

All Out Mobilization for powerful protest actions on September 25 when Bush speaks at the UN!

When Bush speaks at the United Nations Tuesday, to tell the world the United States is a permanent presence in the Middle East and to drum up support for attacking Iran, there must be a powerful and defiant resistance out in the streets that makes clear our intent to stop the whole disastrous course Bush is taking the world.

Converge at the UN beginning at 8:30 am for a whole morning of protests.

Make sure to WEAR ORANGE to the protests, and cover NYC in orange that day to show a sea of visible opposition to Bush and everything he represents.

Join with World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime, the War Resisters League, Code-Pink, Granny Peace Brigade, student organizations including Columbia Coalition Against the War and Students for Democratic Society, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas, Movement for a Democratic Society-NYC, National Lawyers Guild - NYC chapter, Center for Constitutional Rights, Troops Out Now Coalition, Stop War on Iran Committee and many more in a broad range of bold and determined actions (more below) including:

Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street & 1st Avenue
Speakers will include Cindy Sheehan and Ret. Col. Ann Wright

And come that evening at Judson Memorial Church, for an
Emergency Forum: Threat of U.S. Attack on Iran & Our Responsibility to Stop It
with Chris Hedges, Cindy Sheehan, and Sunsara Taylor. (more info below)

Commit to wear Orange!
The color orange means that we stand against torture, tyranny and war crimes. Wear it to the rally. Wear it every day. Wear an orange ribbon or button or armband.Ask your friends and neighbors to express their views: "Declare It Now--Wear Orange!" Spread the word!
Join an orange jumpsuit contingent that will act throughout the day on the 25th. E-mail your commitment to wear a jumpsuit to orangejumpsuits@worldcantwait.org.
Take orange to the streets on the 25th!
Hang orange flags from your windows.
Wrap the streets in orange.
Ask your favorite stores to put orange in their windows, including the orange poster for the 25th actions.

Join in Outreach plans:
The word needs to get out all over, with a "sea of orange".
Many are making plans, including:
Sunday, 1:00 Meet at Washington Square Park, wear Orange, for a hole afternoon of spreading orange/mobiling for action on the 25th around the area.
Churches everywhere should be having an "orange Sunday", contact us to join in making it happen.
Schools: Students are organizing at many campuses around the area, including Hunter, John Jay, Columbia. High school students need to be mobilized. Contact us to join with others at your school. Or meet at 11:00 am in front of Hunter West building, 68th and Lexington on Monday for a day of mobilization at that campus.

Join phone banking team!
We have the numbers of hundreds of interested people to call and enlist in various ways for the 25th and beyond. Contact us to join a phone banking crew.

Donate generously! Thousands of dollars is urgently needed:
For sound and stage, tens of thousands of flyers, and much more.
Donate on-line with PayPal or credit card (see left side of this page).

Pick up quantities of the flyer and miniposter and get them out everywhere!
Currently available at:
Revolution Books, 9 West 19th Street from noon to 7 PM
Office of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department, John Jay College, 59th & 10th Avenue, 9 am to 5 PM.
If you can arrange other pickup locations, please contact us and we will include them here.
Or...

Download and distribute this flyer, pictured above widely!
English edition 2 copies per page, with back on Wear Orange: http://chapters.worldcantwait.org/nyc/BushUNSept25.pdf
Spanish edition 2 per page leaflet with back on Wear Orange:
http://chapters.worldcantwait.org/nyc/BushUNSept25(2topage)spanish.pdf English edition of 8 1/2 x 11 miniposter:
http://chapters.worldcantwait.org/nyc/BushUNSept25(2topage).pdf
Spanish edition 8 1/2" x 11 miniposter: http://chapters.worldcantwait.org/nyc/BushUNSept25spanish.pdf Student and special group organizing materials for special "feeder marches" and "feeder gathering points", we have version of the flyers and posters with an empty box at the bottom to insert your campus or your group's gathering point, etc. for the march. http://chapters.worldcantwait.org/nyc/BushUNSept25(students).pdf
NYC World Can’t Wait will be posting updates and further information here on plans and protests as they are developed. Keep checking this web site.

Banned In NYC!

“A belligerent President Bush comes to the United Nations to impress upon the world that the U.S. is in the Middle East to stay, that the war on terror will be endless, and to threaten a murderous war on Iran.”

This message is being censored. We’re calling on you to stand up to suppression of political dissent.

On Thursday Metro newspaper in NYC refused to run an ad headlined “Who is the Real Nuclear Threat” from the World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush regime in its September 21 issue. The reason given by the publisher was that the content was “too inflammatory” for the prominent back page. On Friday, a second ad “One Million Dead in Iraq” was first rejected for placement on the September 25 back page explicitly because of its content. Then they offered placement on an inside page at a price almost four times higher than what was originally agreed upon.

This move by Metro is undoubtedly related to the “watch what you say” atmosphere created by the White House. Also on Thursday, George Bush said to the White House press, “I thought the [MoveOn] ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org -- or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal.”
Hours after Bush’s remarks , the Senate passed a resolution condemning the ad in The New York Times by MoveOn titled “General Betray-Us” (the ad predicted Petraeus would give the White House version in reporting on the troop surge in Iraq). Republican senators are threatening an investigation of The New York Times policy of offering discounts for stand-by advocacy ads.
This Senate condemned MoveOn for a paid ad which dissents from the ongoing war, but won’t censure George Bush, a proven liar, for repeatedly using falsified intelligence to justify the war on Iraq. Now there is another wave of White House propaganda geared to justifying a war on Iran. The major media repeated their lies about Iraq for years. And now they’re doing it all over again on Iran.

We do not know if the Metro publisher opposes in principle the content of these ads, or is reacting with cowardice to defending the principle of freedom of expression. We don’t know, but it doesn’t matter, ultimately, because the effect is the same. One of the few avenues to get the truth into the major media – buying advocacy ads—will be in effect closed down if publishers are afraid to sell space. The White House will be the strong-arm arbiter of what is acceptable in terms of political criticism.

What will the consequences be if publishers and political opinion makers back down on something so fundamental to protecting dissent in society…not to mention stopping the monstrous crimes that are being done by this government in our name? Where is society going if people do what they’re told and allow this?

Dan Rather raised the alarm this week about the danger to news reporting when he announced a lawsuit against CBS for firing him over his story about Bush’s phony military reserve career. He said, “You can't have freedom of the press if you're going to have large, big corporations and big government intruding and intimidating in newsrooms. The chilling effect on investigative reporting is going to be something we don't want to see."

World Can’t Wait has bought many ads in The New York Times, USA Today, and in local weeklies, including NY Metro, aimed at reaching the people who want stop what the Bush regime is doing. This ad focuses on making such opposition visible by organizing millions of people to declare it by wearing orange. We are fighting for space in the public sphere, and all our efforts indicate that there’s the basis to win this battle for ad space, including raising the necessary money. Another indication is the fact that MoveOn raised half a million dollars in one day from people who told them “don’t back down!”

Here is a message for you to send the publisher of The Metro :
We know you are feeling the chill of the threat to publishers because of the MoveOn ad.
1) If your reason for refusing to run the World Can’t Wait ad is just monetary, then shame on you.
2) If you have political objections to the content, we would like to know them.
3) If you are worried about the chill Bush is trying to send through the advertising world, and you want to stand up to it, there are thousands of us ready to support you.
Call the Metro Publisher Daniel Magnus 212-952-1500 to ask that they publish on Tuesday 9/25.

You can reach World Can’t Wait at 866 973 4463.

And, donate generously (see column to left on screen) to get these ads published in more newspaper.

Emergency Forum: Threat of U.S. Attack on Iran & Our Responsibility to Stop It

Presentation by Chris Hedges

Panel discussion with Chris Hedges, Cindy Sheehan and Sunsara Taylor
September 25th, 7:30 PM

Judson Memorial Church

55 washington Square South
(donation requested at door)

Where and when to Meet Sept 25 for "Arrest Bush!" Coffin Feeder Marches

Feeder lists get revised. Please keep checking for changes, corrections or newly approved add'l contact info. All below are Tuesday morning sidewalk coffin processions, needing no parade or sound permits, either marching to the Dag Hammarskjold protest by 9:30 or ending in a subway procession to the protest. Organizers ask we arrive ten minutes early to assemble coffins or assign procession roles. Carry extra water.

125th & St. Nicholas Ave.
7:30 or 7:45 a.m. Please check back about time. Meeting above A/D train station, then processing across 125th then south on Lexington or by train.

96th St. & Broadway
7:00 a.m., processing south on Broadway, pausing at 72nd & Broadway, 66th & Broadway, 59th & Broadway, then turning east onto 57th St. Contact: Ann Shirazi 917 670 1787

E. 68th & Lexington - Hunter College
Departing 8:00, in front of Hunter West Building.
To get to this location, take the 6 Train to 68th Street. [SW corner]
CUNY - Hunter Students for a Democratic Society
Contact: Freddy Bastone - WhiteRiotFred@aol.com
http://studentsforademocraticsociety.org/mailman/listinfo/sdsnyc_student...

Penn Station
Assemble by 7:30 a.m. at Penn Station LIRR ticket booth (under 8th Ave. near 33rd St.) Contact: Thomas Brinson 631 889 0203

Chelsea
Leaving promptly 8:30 a.m. from 137 W. 19th St. between 6th & 7th Aves (fourth floor buzzer). Please arrive early. Contact: Merry Conway 212.206.7467

West Village
Assemble by 7:30 a.m.: West 4th St. & Christopher St. at
Contact: Jenny Heinz 917 697 7602

Union Square
Assemble 7:45 a.m.: 14th St. & Broadway (NE corner) outside the small park across from Virgin Megastore 52 East 14th Street, i.e., across Broadway from the east edge of Union Sq. South Plaza steps. Contact: Joseph 646-467-4939.

Times Square 8:00 a.m. at recruiting station island betw. Broadway, 7th Avenue, 43rd St. & 44th St.
Contact: WRL 718-768-7306 or Donna 212 366 9279

Rockefeller Center Assemble 8:15 a.m. Fifth Ave. 49th St. & 50th St.
Contact: Granny Peace Brigade, Joanwile263@ aol.com, 917-846-0617

Staten Island Ferry Terminal, ferry arriving 7:30 a.m. with Cindy Sheehan; meet on sidewalk outside Whitehall St. Terminal. Contacts: Elaine B. 917.520.0767; Tom G. 347.524.5631.

Brooklyn Bridge walking all the way then coffin procession
6:30 a.m. Assemble at Tillary St & Adams St. a.k.a. Brooklyn Bridge Blvd. Contacts: Laurie Arbeiter 917.615. 6115; Joan Pleume 718.855.2581

Trains: A, C to High St. (exit Manhattan end of platform); #2, 3 to Clark St.-Brooklyn Heights; #4, 5 to Borough Hall; F to Jay St.-Borough Hall or take G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn & walk 6 blocks to meeting point. It's the bike/chair ramp where traffic enters bridge in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge then subway (Bklyn For Peace, formerly Brooklyn Parents for Peace)
Assemble 7:30 a.m. on Tillary St. between Cadman Plaza West & Cadman Plaza East for coffin procession over bridge to subway. Contact: David 201 259 6788

Get on the bus! Declare it Now - Drive Out the Bush Regime - Spread "Orange Resistance" at Troops Out Now September 29 March

Join World Can't Wait/Drive Out the Bush Regime
At the September 29th March on Washington to:

STOP THE WAR at home & abroad!
Troops Out Now!
Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes

FLASH: As of Friday, Sept. 28th, we no longer have any tickets available.

Busses are full!

DECLARE IT NOW: WEAR ORANGE!

Do you want to see the Bush regime impeached and driven out?
DECLARE IT NOW: WEAR ORANGE!
The World Can’t Wait!
Drive Out the Bush Regime!

The urgent color of orange – the color that has been assigned to those detained and tortured with no due process in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib – must become the color of a gathering sentiment to drive Bush and Cheney from offi ce and reverse the whole direction they’ve taken this country.

The world demands that a determined and massive movement arise that cries out “enough” - of unjust wars and threats of further wars, of torture and endless imprisonment, of an encroaching police state with pervasive and permanent government spying.

Wearing orange is part of seizing the moral high ground and showing our collective determination to bring these crimes to a halt NOW! Declaring it now through a groundswell of people spreading orange everywhere – amplifi ed by the voices of prominent people and artists
wearing and promoting orange on TV, radio, and on stage at concerts – can break people out of this conundrum where millions are furious but still numbed inactive by the complicity of the loyal Democratic Party opposition.

From the Call to Drive Out the Bush Regime:
“We are talking about something on a scale that can really make a huge change in this country and the world. We need more than fi ghting Bush’s outrages one at a time, constantly losing ground to the whole onslaught. We must, and can, aim to create a political situation where
the Bush regime’s program is repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been taking society is reversed. We, in our millions, must and can take responsibility to change the course of history.” (go to www.worldcantwait.org for full
text and to join the tens of thousands who have signed this Call).

Orange means we’re are against torture, tyranny and war crimes!
Wear Orange and spread it!

Two years after Katrina: August 31st, 5:30 PM Union Square

Two years after Katrina -- Neither forgive nor forget the continuing crimes of the Bush regime!
Declare It Now - Wear Orange: Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Two years - since the names Katrina and Lower Ninth Ward seared into the world’s vocabulary, along with Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and Falluja, as one of the monstrous crimes of the Bush Regime.
Two years - since the world watched in horror as bodies fl oated in the streets of New Orleans.
Two years – since the Bush Regime allowed tens of thousands of people – overwhelmingly Black people – to suffer, starve, dehydrate and die in the unbearable heat and humidity and toxic sludge of a fl ooded city, and people trying to escape were turned around at gunpoint by racist police at the Gretna city line.
Two years – since tens of thousands of people were packed into the Superdome and Convention Center of New Orleans, in horrifi c, murderous conditions that recalled the enslavement that had originally brought African people to the “new world”.
Two years - since tens of thousands of Black people were scattered throughout the country, separated from their families.
Two years – tourist sections and a football stadium have now been restored while public housing is shuttered and surrounded with barbed wire, returning people evicted by SWAT teams, and the public hospital remains closed, never to reopen.
TWO YEARS TOO LONG – the verdict is in; the Bush Regime is guilty, guilty, guilty, of towering crimes against humanity. (see Bush Crimes Commission Report and DVD, available from World Can’t Wait).
One more day of this regime is too long. Now is the time for people everywhere to act with a defi ance, rage and determination that is as radical as the times demand, fully determined to wrest the fate of our planet and its people from the likes of Bush and Cheney, determined not just to call them out for their crimes but to put an end to them.
The urgent color of orange -- the color that has been assigned to those detained and tortured with no due process in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib-- must become the color of a gathering sentiment to drive out the Bush regime and reverse its program.
As people gather to mark the two years that have gone by since Katrina, the color orange needs to burst out in neighborhoods, workplaces, on campuses.
The monstrous crimes committed against the people of New Orleans and the Louisiana/Mississippi Gulf Coast of Katrina by Bush and his crew can never be forgiven. They
must be driven out.
Spreading orange everywhere is a vital way of breaking the paralyzing choke hold the tag team partnership of Bush/Cheney and the Democratic Party leadership has put on the people.
By impeachment, resignation or indictment, this regime must be held accountable for its crimes and driven out!
August 31st, 5:30 PM Union Square
Wear orange, bring your friends, pick up lots of orange bandanas, ribbons, buttons, T-shirts and more. Rally, reports fromNew Orleans, speak outs, New Orleans Jazz Funeral march, bring instruments, and more.

World Can’t Wait – Movie showing & discussion: Hitler: The Rise of Evil

Thursday, August 23rd at 6:00 pm
MLK Labor Center/1199, 310 West 43rd St, 7th Floor

With the government sanctioning of torture, massive wire-taps, a recent “Executive Order” to declare martial law when they deem it necessary, many people are rightly concerned and debating the issue of fascism in America. As the World Can’t Wait Call points out:

“People look at all this and think of Hitler - and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance.”

Much can be learned from historical experience. In that spirit, instead of our regular organizing meeting, this week NYC World Can’t Wait will be showing and discussing the second part of Hitler: The Rise of Evil. The movie opens with a quote from Edmond Burke, which provides a theme for the whole series: “The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.”




Hitler: The Rise of Evil was originally aired in the U.S. as a CBC two-part mini-series in 2003. However, Ed Gernon, the longtime head of the movie and miniseries division of the Canadian-based production company that produced the mini-series for CBS, was fired after an interview with him in TV Guide reported:

"’It basically boils down to an entire nation gripped by fear, who ultimately chose to give up their civil rights and plunged the whole world into war. I can't think of a better time to examine this history than now,’ Gernon said. Gernon tells the upcoming TV Guide that he, [actress Julianna] Margulies and director Christian Duguay believe it's a good idea to look at the Bush White House through the prism of . . . Germany's genocidal psychopath."

Despite being a powerful production with a star-studded cast, including Robert Carlyle as Hitler, Julianna Margules, Liev Schreiber, Mathew Modine and Peter O’toole, since 2003 Hitler: The Rise of Evil has not been available in the U.S. – the copy presented Thursday by World Can’t Wait was obtained from Canada.

Due to the length of the mini-series, and our desire to have some discussion afterwards, we are only going to be showing the second part of the mini-series, and not the part on Hitler’s childhood and early development, to focus on the parts showing his rise to power. We encourage people to come and see the movie, and join discussion afterwards. The whole DVD will be available for “house party” showings in people’s homes, community centers, churches and schools. Contact us.

See you Thursday!

Photos from Saturday's Washington Hgts anti-war march

Here are some photos from the march.

Declare It Now: Wear Orange! Drive Out the Bush Regime!

The urgent color of orange -- the color that has been assigned to those detained and tortured with no due process -- must become the color of a gathering sentiment to end the Bush regime and reverse its program.
Think of the millions of people in this country who are deeply distressed over the direction in which the Bush regime is dragging the country - and the world…
All the people who are outraged over the way in which this regime is still so arrogantly seeking to bludgeon into submission people in the Middle East, and throughout the world, while trampling on the rights of the people in the U.S. itself...
All the people who care about the future of humanity and the planet we live on, and who recognize the many ways in which this is increasingly in peril…
All the people who are stirred with a profound restlessness by these feelings but are held back by the fear that they are alone and powerless; or who say that they wish something could be done to stop and reverse this whole disastrous course, but nothing will make a difference; or who hope that somehow the Democrats will do something to change this, when everyday it becomes more clear that they will not.
If the Bush program is not massively repudiated through impeachment, then everything he has set into motion will continue under the next president. If you want the torture, the detentions and secret prisons, NSA spying on the public to stop; If you are worried about the future of habeas corpus and civil rights, and refuse to accept the creeping obliteration of secular society, the rights of women, science, reason and the freedom to dissent, then it’s time to stand up and Declare It Now. By impeachment, resignation or indictment, this regime must be held accountable for the crimes they have committed. They must be driven from power!
What if out of this deep reservoir of people, there was a way to break people out of this conundrum where millions are furious but still paralyzed, a way to make visible what is objectively already there – but frustrated and diffuse without a vehicle that really measures up the immensity of the challenge?
Join in a campaign to Declare It Now: Wear Orange that can give people the heart, courage and sense of collective strength to rouse themselves and others as a powerful counter-force. This counter-force can alter the political atmosphere from one of paralysis and despair into one of massive mobilization and of people acting independently to change all this. A groundswell of orange that can turn into a groundswell that rises up from below and has the potential of sweeping Bush from office before his term is up.
Declare It Now: Wear Orange! Wear orange everywhere you go and beginning
this Friday, and every Friday thereafter, join up with others in a mass way, gatherings of people wearing orange leafleting, doing street theater, holding up posters of the Bush regime’s crimes swell in size in a regular places each week.
Orange Fridays will help make visible a movement of the millions to force Bush and Cheney from office, repudiate the Bush regime’s program, and reverse the direction of this country.
Nationwide launching of “Orange Fridays”: July 27th
In NYC, converge at: Union Square, 5:00 PM

Converge at Union Square, 5pm. Hear Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, Victor Toro, Rev. Billy, Elaine Brower, Carlos Arredondo, Jonathan Tasini and local elected officials indict the Bush Regime, and explain why they are part of a movement to "Declare It Now" and wear orange to show their resistance to the Bush Regime.

Listen to music, join a marching band to bring more people in and help cover Union Square with the urgent color of orange.

BE THERE! WEAR ORANGE! DECLARE IT NOW!

Help make it happen!

There are three broad areas of work to do this week: Outreach, fundraising, and media

Outreach:
Flyering (with orange bandanas, ribbons, and contact sheets) for Friday’s event
Visiting store owners near Union Square about selling orange bandanas/displaying posters for the event.
Emailing or telephoning the leaders of organizations urging them to post this event on their listservs and, of course, to attend themselves.
Help design an eye-catching banner for Friday's event.
Fundraising:
Bandanas, flyers, ribbons, and other materials all cost money!
We want to print a powerful ad in the West Side Spirit, Our Town, Downtown, The Westsider, and Chelsea Clinton News:

The price for the ad to appear in all five papers is $2500--help make it possible for this Thursday's printing! Donate online through paypal at nyc.worldcantwait.org (link at bottom of email). Or donate by checkend checks payable to NYC-World Can't Wait to: NYC World Can't Wait, 305 Madison Avenue, Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165.
We also need people who are able to call and/or email potential donors this week. If you have never done this before, don’t worry—it’s easy and we will show you the ropes!
Finally, we need volunteers to research the cost of various materials.
Media:
We need volunteers to help with contacting local print, radio, and television media about covering Friday’s event. In the case of radio, we need to get Public Service Annoucements on the air.
We are of course open also to other ideas you have for how to help make Friday a success. Please email nyc@worldcantwait.org or call 347-678-5905 to let us know how and when you could help this week.