Door to door for peace...

Diane, Nick, Karen and I went out in pairs and knocked on doors yesterday as part of the "Million Doors for Peace" project sponsored by several national peace organizations, including our own "parent" group, Peace Action. It was a beautiful day to go for a walk in a nice neighborhood, around the Fellowship.

We got a lot of people not home or not answering, and it seemed like about equal numbers of people who answered agreeing or disagreeing....We wound up getting signatures of other household members who wanted to express their desire to end the war, but I don't know if those signatures will even be used. I entered our results online just now, and there's only a space for a response for the actual name on the list. I emailed a question about other names and am awaiting a reply.

Personally, I don't like going door to door and probably wouldn't want to do it again. However, I think we did some good, as it got people thinking about the war. Even the ones who weren't home found some literature waiting for them on their arrival.

Counter-recruiting in Beacon

The principal said we couldn't stand in front of the school. But hundreds of students walk home, so we found a great place on the road and had no trouble handing out all the counter recruiting flyers we brought.

Thanks to Dan, Vicki and Rich. We will have to do it again, and this time, we have two students from Beacon to help us.

Fred

Guantanamo Poetry at the UU in Poughkeepsie

It is hard to read this poetry without understanding the plight of these Guantanamo prisoners, held for years, tortured, and stripped of all human rights protections. They represent the shame of America, what our history books in some future time will term the "great mistake" of our democracy. For they don't represent democracy at all. The prisoners of Guantanamo reflect a future fascist state where none of us have rights, and all are treated with cruelty and mindless brutality.

By standing for the rights of Guantanamo prisoners, we are also standing for the rights of ourselves and our children.

Counter recruiting video

Adventures in the mall outside the recruiting office.

Guantanamo reading on YouTube

I reworked the video of our Guantanamo reading at the Cubbyhole Cafe. It is a lot clearer now, and you can even see the performers. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_jinugQxOI

We gathered outside the recruiting office (Bed, Bath and Beyond mall on Rt. 9), put on the jumpsuits we had, and started handing out flyers to those who went by. No one went into the recruiting office while we were there.

Some people passing by agreed with our demonstration and some did not. Nobody asked us to move, so we stayed the whole hour. We also videotaped it for Youtube.

We resolved not to antagonize those who disagreed with us. Our peace group is not there to provoke confrontations. Only to highlight the danger recruiters pose to our teenagers. They are sold a mixture of patriotism and promises of free education. Then it's off to Iraq.

We had 11 demonstrators at the peak, having been joined by several new people.

Dutchess Peace joins Guantanamo protest

The human rights group Amnesty International staged protests around the world Friday to mark the sixth anniversary of the first arrival of detainees at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba ... Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and other rights organizations used the anniversary to again call on the Bush administration to close down Guantanamo.
-By Cindy Saine, Washington
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Five members of the Dutchess Peace Coalition joined this international protest with a demonstration in Poughkeepsie.