A Bright Spot in Bush World
Amid the Miserable Failures on the Same Planet
Cindy Sheehan
It has been one month and one week since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. I can hardly believe it when I think of it myself. So much has happened in that time, and really, so little.
I got to Camp Casey III in Covington, La today, after getting up at 3am to head for the airport. Now it is 3am the next day and we are driving in a car to try and find a hotel to sleep anywhere around Jackson, Miss. I was prepared to be shocked by what I saw in Louisiana, but I guess one can never really fully prepare for such devastation and tragedy. After living in a country your entire life it is so difficult to see such callous indifference on an immense scale. When I reflect on how the mother of the imbecile who is running our country said that the people who are in the Astrodome are happy to be there, it angers me beyond comparison. The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.
After we arrived at Camp Casey III, we took the Veterans for Peace "Impeachment Tour Bus" into New Orleans after stopping at the distribution center to pick up some supplies in Covington. The stench and the destruction are unbelievable. I saw some hurricane zones in the panhandle of Florida last year that were pretty bad but that couldn't have prepared me for this.
I saw in the paper that George Bush said the recovery in the Gulf States would be "hard work." That's what he said about sending troops to Iraq and looking at the casualty reports everyday: "It's hard work." That man has never known a day of hard work in his life. The people on the ground in Covington scoffed at George's little junket to Louisiana yesterday. He stayed in the French Quarter and a Ward that weren't even damaged a bit. The VFP took me to the city of Algiers on the West Bank. The part of Algiers we went to was very poor and black. The people of Algiers know what hard work is.
Algiers had no flooding. All of the damage was from winds. There are trees knocked over and shingles off of roofs. There are signs blown over and there was a dead body lying on the ground for 2 weeks before someone finally came to get it. Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community. Malik Rahim, a new friend of ours and resident of Algiers, told us stories of the days after the hurricane. The government declared martial law, but there was no effective police presence to enforce it. Malik said the lawlessness was rampant. People were running out of food and water and they were being forced to go to the Superdome. They didn't want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them. A town of 76,000 people dwindled down to 3,000. The die hards were rewarded last Wednesday when the VFP rolled into town with food and water. The Camp Casey III people were the first ones to bring any relief to Algiers. The people who were supposed to look after its citizens, our government, failed them.
In Algiers, in the space of 2 short weeks, Malik and his community has opened a clinic which also doubles as a food and supply distribution center. We need more help in Algiers. Malik and the other dozens fine volunteers are planning on opening 2 more clinics in Algiers and Malik would dearly love someone to give him a flat bottomed boat so he can go to the flood drenched poor communities that still have not been helped and bring them food, supplies, and medical attention. Medical professionals are dearly needed. Malik has also set up a communications center in an apartment next to his house which is for the community to use. The aid that is being given in Algiers is completely driven by the needs of the community. They have a saying in Algiers: Not Charity, Solidarity.
The citizens of Algiers desperately needed help and hope before the hurricane. When I think of how many other poor neighborhoods are being decimated and made so desperate and hopeless by the failed policies of the Bush administration, it makes me so angry. But when I see what the people of Algiers are doing to help themselves and the people of America are doing to help them help themselves, it gives me hope. I think Algiers can be a model for all of our communities.
One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them.But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me. Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.
The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff. When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control. What I saw today in Algiers lifted up my spirits, but what I also saw today in Algiers frightened me terribly.
The people who are running the clinic in Algiers gave me a list of desperately needed supplies:
Blood pressure medication---properly packaged.
Allergy medication---properly packaged
Vitamin B
Pens, paper, sharpies, index cards
Glucometers and test strips
Full O2 tanks
Power strips and extension cords
Non-DEET insect repellent
Mini bottles of Hand Sanitizer
A copy machine is urgently needed
People: Call: 512-297-1049
Send supplies to:
Fed Ex or UPS
Veterans for Peace Ch 116
C/O 645 Kimbro Dr.
Baton Rouge, La. 70808
Mark them: For the Medical Clinic in Algiers
The children in Algiers have also been out of school. Malik would like to open a school and they need school supplies and teachers.
I have a testimony from a Doctor that came to Louisiana to help that I will post tomorrow. The failure in every level of our government is criminal negligence. Tens of thousands of families in our country have been devastated because of the incompetence and callousness of our so-called leadership. America is stepping up to the plate to help Americans. America stepped up to the plate to hold George accountable for the abomination in Iraq. One thing George has taught us is that we are self-sufficient and we have a country that is worth fighting for and we are not going away.
I was told that Pat Boone was on a conservative radio talk show in San Francisco (yes they do exist) with Melanie Morgan (who has a vendetta against me) and he told the listeners that after we "stole the supplies" from the Red Cross, we gave them to the "enemies of America who are like the people who want to fly airplanes into our buildings." Boone says that we were giving them to enemies of America, because we were distributing the supplies from a Mosque. First of all, accusing me of stealing is slander, I think, and second of all: we were helping Americans. Just because their government abandoned them, we shouldn't feed them and give them medicine and supplies? I thought Pat Boone was supposed to be a Christian man? Thirdly, isn't Freedom of Religion one of our Constitutional guarantees?
It is a Christ-like principal to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. That's what is happening in Algiers and other places in Louisiana...but by the people of America, not the so-called "Christians" in charge. If George Bush truly listened to God and read the words of the Christ, Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans would have never happened.
I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.
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Resilience
From Jason
Today I went to Jefferson Parish for the day.
I remember seeing the president of Jefferson Parish, Aaron Broussard, absolutely lose it on “Meet the Press” two weeks ago. After today, I know why.
We had 2 full buses as well as 4 other cars that were full to the brim with goods and food.
Michael, the New Orleans resident VFP who survived the hurricane, led the convoy. He knows the areas that need us the most.
We handed out food and water to hundreds today. They are good people, full of hope, even at this time of tragedy. The people I spoke to today feel blessed to have survived. I was toldstory after story of people praying in their houses during the storm. These are all people who didn't have the means or the resources to get out of New Orleans before the storm.
Left behind by the government before the storm, they feel equally as forgotten after the storm. No one had even been able to connect with FEMA. Most people call all day everyday and get no one on the other end.
The Red Cross is non-existent too. One resident told me a story of a Red Cross truck driving through their neighborhood. They ran out to ask them where the Red Cross base was around here and they were told, "We don’t know."
I met one family who painted "NEED FOOD AND WATER" in huge letters on the street in front of their house so that the helicopters might read it and bring some.
We encountered so many children today. All who have been left with nothing. These amazing kids have so much resilience and energy -- it is inspiring. Many of them are so mature for their young age because of how much they have already been through. Little girls, no older than 6 or 7, ask me for the exact kind of formula that their baby brother needs. I know that when I was that age, I knew nothing about my brother's baby formula. Another 10 year old boy was taking care of his 4 younger siblings while his mom came and got food from our trucks. It was amazing to see how such a young child could be so responsible.
More to Come...
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Dear friends,
Yesterday, Chicago, today, Philadelphia. In the last 48 hours two of the largest cities in the country have passed resolutions calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. You can download a copy of the Philadelphia Resolution, which was specifically in recognition of the Bring Them Home Now Tour, as a PDF by clicking here. Our North tour is looking forward to celebrating these victories with a rally today atIndependence Mall in Philadelphia and we've got a full weekend of events planned up and down the East coast.
In the next three days, we'll be stopping in Philadelphia, Boston, New Haven, Providence, New York, Fayetteville, Durham, Williamsburg and Baltimore. If you're near any of these cities, we hope you'll join us (event details are on our website) and please let your friends know about them too. And there are more stops next week as we make our way to Washington, DC.
As we're making our way to DC our thoughts are with the many people in New Orleans and along the gulf coast who have suffered greatly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. When the North Tour stopped in Toledo Ohio last week, Al Zappala talked about his son Sherwood and the government's response to this tragedy.
I talked to them about my son, Sherwood – and why he had joined the National Guard. He mainly joined because he was community minded – there were floods in Wilkes Barre, PA and he was helping the recovery, loading sandbags along with National Guardsmen. He was inspired by them, and felt like they were invested in taking care of the community. So he joined the Guard. With everything that is happening in New Orleans, I have been wondering – if he were still here, and his Guard Unit were in New Orleans instead of Iraq - would he have saved a life? Would he have saved a home?
To read more reports from the road, go to our website
We're reminded of how many people are affected by this war at every stop along the way. Yesterday in Amherst, Massachusetts, Joyce and Kevin Lucey, who's son Jeffrey committed suicide after returning from Iraq in June of last year, were approached by a young man who happened to be passing by Camp Casey on the Amherst Common. He shared the story of his brother, who also committed suicide after his tour of duty, and after talking with the Luceys he returned to his car to get a pair of his brother's boots, which he added to the memorial.
Sharing Al Zappala's story, and the Lucey's story, and now this young man's, are the reason we've been on the road for the past two weeks. You can help by telling your friends and neighbors about this tour - click here for some ideas on how to spread the word.
Thank you for support,
The Bring Them Home Now Tour
www.BringThemHomeNowTour.org
PS We're grateful to all of you who have helped make this tour happen. If you haven't made a contribution to help pay for tour expenses, please stop by the website and give today.
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Coast residents, groups, businesses, schools reach out to Katrina victims
By Frank Hartzell / Mendocino Beacon
From nurses to quilts to cookies, Mendocino Coast residents have been giving of themselves to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, many through the Veterans for Peace road trip.
The American Red Cross, the national leader in the effort to help the hurricane victims, is bringing refugees to Sonoma County this week and getting many local donations. A Katrina fund-raiser, featuring New Orleans jazz, is planned for Sept. 30 at the Caspar Community Center. Students from Redwood School and other local schools have sent cards and letters to the victims.
Veterans for Peace effort
An effort started by the Mendocino County Veterans for Peace bus, which diverted from a White House protest trip to Covington, La. to help hurricane victims, has grown to include a coast consortium of people and groups eager to help hurricane victims.
Veterans For Peace, Code Pink and the Mendocino Coast Peace and Justice Center are some of the groups that have formed the Mendocino Coast Katrina Relief Committee, a VFP press release stated.
Thanksgiving Coffee Co. had donated the use of a biodiesel-powered truck and the group was to leave this week. But the group decided they needed more time and a bigger truck.
The new plan is Carolyn Lee of Fort Bragg will purchase a truck that seats five people and rent an enclosed trailer, and will drive down to Covington next Monday with the supplies that the group will have gathered by then. Lee has also raised $1,000 for some of the expenses. College of the Redwoods student Barbara Rahm Jones, a former truck driver, has volunteered to drive with her to Louisiana for the Veterans for Peace-led groups. A fellow CR student, Neshama Rakofsky, plans to ride along and spend two weeks helping victims, she told the Veterans for Peace gathering on Monday.
At the Monday meeting, the Veterans for Peace contingent said about a pickup load or two worth of materials have been dropped off at Corners of the Mouth in Mendocino, the Elk Store, at the Westport Market and at a home on Harrison Street, but more is needed.
The locals in Louisiana are asking for supplies for family packs most of all, including dried foods, first aid kits, matches, cans of sterno, baby food, flashlight and spare batteries. The donated materials will be packed locally before being sent. Also still needed are vehicles to deliver supplies to outlying areas, supplies such as diapers, pre-mixed baby formula, feminine hygiene products, latex gloves, medical supplies, Ensure and electrolyte drinks, dehydrated milk, dehydrated eggs, dehydrated potatoes, etc.
The Veterans for Peace report that their efforts to help the small town of Covington have now branched out to even smaller and more neglected towns in Louisiana, Anna Marie Stenberg told the Monday meeting of the coastal group that is preparing to deliver supplies. She reported that many towns have been overlooked in the rescue effort and many people in remote areas are badly in need of supplies and there aren't sufficient vehicles or people to deal with the problem.
Coordinator for donations is Hyla Bolsta who can be reached at 964-7646. The donations have ranged from the essentials to five cases of cookies donated by the Mendocino Cookie Co.
Veterans for Peace member Zac Zachary, who has been coordinating the relief effort, is looking for frozen salmon or rockfish to take to Louisiana. He can be reached at 964-3621.
Zachary feels the salmon represents Northern California to people around the country and would be a good gift. Fish can be transported on dry ice or kept fresh with salt and ice.
"We're hoping other organizations, churches, schools, businesses, etc. will join us for this effort that may last months because of the incredible devastation in the Gulf Coast. For the time being we have adopted the black community of Covington to aid because they are being neglected by FEMA and because Mendocino County people are already there helping," said a press release from the Veterans for Peace, issued in response to questions.
The conditions on the ground can be monitored at www.vfproadtrips.org.
Checks can be made out to and mailed to Mendocino Coast Peace & Justice Center, P.O. Box 1134, Mendocino 95460.
The Veterans for Peace have also written to the Venezuelan embassy, seeking to take President Hugo Chavez up on his offer to donate oil. The group hopes to buy gasoline at Citgo stations and get reimbursed from Venezuela, which owns Citgo.
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