What YOU ALL Need To Do

Not only for the Troops, especially those suffering the extreme's of PTSD, but for yourselves and this Society, and World, you exist in. At any time one can experiance a tragic enough event to place anyone into the pains of the Mental Disablity of PTSD, you need to keep this Tragedy of PTSD out Front and Center in concious thought. As to Wartime PTSD it needs to be right up at the top of any discussion, or thoughts, along with the Killing, Maiming, Destruction, Cost, and the Always Stated "War As An Absolute Last Resort", which while voiced is rarely followed in modern times.

Many of us are well aware of the tremendous work that is being done, on this Important Subject, by the folks over at ePluribus Media, with their PTSD Timeline and Ilona Meaghers, soon to be available book, Moving A Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops and her Website PTSD Combat: Winning The War Within. Ilona picked a Very Apt Title for the book; "Moving A Nation To Care", she could also have added "and A World", as this does not only effect those in this Country. And the biggest sufferers of are the people of the little nations Invaded by the Powerful that one never seems to give heed to!

I've come to be convinced that because of their Dedication to the subject matter, the Want to give this Sensitive subject the Public Knowledge of their Research and the Record of the possible results of actions taken by those that suffer the extreme's of, have been what has brought more of the mainstream media coverage of what can take place as a result of the Tragic Trauma's in War Theaters or to someone caught in their own personal Tragedy causing Extreme Trauma and leading to lifetime suffering of PTSD, and also how they are treated! Using this technology and huge form of communication they have been able to bring their research and dedicated postings right into the homes of tens of thousands as well as to the eyes of those in the media.

With these most recent reports Soldiers Say Army Ignores, Punishes Mental Anguishby Daniel Zwerdling of NPR. With this NPR followup Pentagon Holds Mental Health Treatment Hearingsby by Daniel Zwerdling last week. Or this CBS report Troops With Stress Disorders Fit For Duty? and this from The Mercury News PTSD: A New Generation -- Trauma of War Follows Iraq Veterans Home and a whole list, 4 pages, of reports from ABC News HERE. These are but a few of the number of reports from a veriaty of media sources on the subject of PTSD, while great to see, There Should Be More, as this needs to become a first thought in the minds of the majority not a small minority and the only way that is to happen is by repeatedly reporting of the cases, military and civilian, or the possibility of a criminal act resulting from the suffering that might have been an important cause!

Many of us Vietnam Vets, suffering from or like myself not suffering from, have been trying to wake up the Public's Concious to this and other results of War to only minor success. PTSD itself is ageold, been around under many differant names and descriptions and never really studied untill it was finally given the label 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder' well after Vietnam ended. And it still is not completely understood nor researched. Throwing pills at it doesn't solve the problem nor lead to cures, it may only surpress and than not completely successfully in a number of cases.

Many have come around to the understanding that this needs much more research and that it effects not only Military Personal, or Civilians, in Theaters but anyone experiancing any number of life's possible tragedies.

Listen to this radio interview The Progressive Radio Network-'About Face' with Dennis Stout { click on the 12-16-06 show 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder', in the left side box } it brings up the show with Ilona and her Guests. I have been Amazed at the wealth of information, and understanding, that Ilona has obsorbed in such a short period of time. Listening to her speaking, in this radio show, and the other 'About Face' Air America - 1480AM KPHX sunday show, one can hear how much she cares about the subject matter and those affected. She shows an understanding, especially about Wartime PTSD, that I have only seen in Counselors who actually served in theaters as they counsel their brothers who suffer from, and she has never experianced the Wartime Theater! Few civilians can understand let alone professional counselors who have never been in the reality but can only relate by what they have learned. For one cannot explain War nor can one Describe completely what goes on in theaters.

Ilona, and the others at ePluribus Media, have taken on something, as others before them, that for the most part is completely foreign to them. Yet like anyone reading this have relatives, past friends or aquitances, neighbors, gone to school with but never really knew, etc. etc. etc., from their past, and will in their futures, who have experianced Traumatic Events, some military but most not, who now have PTSD from those experiences!

Myself, I have Uncles, now gone, who suffered from PTSD or eventually broke down from their normal lives into the disabilities of PTSD, who served in WWII. I have High School friends who completely changed as a result of a tragic event that occurred and were never the same. I Never realized myself what they might have gone through, mentally, untill after serving in Vietnam and coming home to watch my fellow Vets who were broken or breaking!

Veterans have tried to get the Attention of the General Public, not only on PTSD, but like testvet6778 on a number of experimental items active military can be put through, often without their knowledge. WWII Vets have tried to get Attention on the Atomic Vet, Korean Vets on a host of issues, Vietnam Vets on Agent Orange and PTSD, Gulf War Vets, when was the last report anyone has heard about the thousands suffering from 'Gulf War Syndrom', and now we have Afgan and Iraq Vets coming back with PTSD, after not just one tour but multiple tours, some being sent back into Theater with the knowledge they Already Have The Disorder, and what about the Potential Devestation from Depleted Uranium to the Military and the Civilian Populations where used, and once Airborn to the Regions and Planet!

I have a number of questions, I don't seem to be able to answers to nor research on what do these Huge 'Bunker Buster Bombs' to to this Planet when they are Exploded deep inside, deep enough to cause the waves that could be causing the Many Major Earth Quakes that have occurred in or near the regions where they have been used!

All of the below report links were recent reports grabbed from VA Watch Dog which has many other reports on the site, that which you will hear nothing about, or extremely little, from the MSM.



RECONSTRUCTING LIVES -- A TALE OF TWO SOLDIERS
12-22-06

From the New England
Journal of Medicine

POST-TRAUMATIC FUTILITY DISORDER
12-22-06

Disillusionment with war is an overlooked psychological
liability on the battlefield, experts say - and could lead
to higher rates of PTSD among U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

REPEAT TOURS TIED TO ACUTE STRESS AND INCREASED RISK OF PTSD
12-20-06

Analysis of Army's mental health survey.

ARMY RELEASES RESULTS OF THIRD SOLDIER MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY
12-20-06

News from Mental Health Advisory Team III is mixed.
Mental health care was more readily available,
but the suicide rate doubled.

GAO REPORT: VA CAN IMPROVE ITS PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING MILITARY RECORDS
12-20-06

"To improve timeliness in deciding PTSD claims, VBA should assess whether it could systematically utilize an electronic library of historical military records to identify veterans whose PTSD claims can be granted on the basis of information contained in such a library..."

VA EXTENDS PRESUMPTIVE PERIOD FOR COMPENSATION FOR GULF WAR VETERANS

"VA is extending the presumptive period for qualifying chronic disabilities that become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more through December 31, 2011, to ensure those benefits established by Congress are fairly administered."

INCONSISTENCY SKEWS VETERANS' DISABILITY PAY
12-17-06

"The VA is obligated to choose the diagnostic code that will yield the highest disability rating. In fact, the VA is doing the opposite. They're finding ways to give the lowest rating possible."

WHAT IF THEY FORMED A COMMISSION AND NOBODY CARED?
12-15-06

The Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) has been effectively emasculated by the election of the 110th Congress. The once-feared "Commission From Hell" has simply become the "Commission To Nowhere."

All of the above report links were recent reports grabbed from VA Watch Dog which has many other reports on the site, that which you will hear nothing about, or extremely little, from the MSM.


People YOU Have to not only Help the Veterans, trying to be heard, but get Actively Involved. For you to can become a victim of, and the Wars are not left in the Theaters they are fought, the Results Costs Societies Greatly for Decades After! And in todays World how many of those we call Enemy or Friendly will Revert their Trauma to Destructive Behavior, Directly Involving The Lives Of Many, we already saw this in Oklahoma here, 9/11 here, and hundreds of incidents around the World!
For 'Terrorism' is a Criminal Act and what Exactly Drives One to Commit these Acts!!

Happy Holidays?




Shalom
Salaam
Sula
Pyong Hwa
Peace
The artwork for this card was designed and donated by Mindy Roth, a senoir Studio Art major at Allegheny College in Meadville Pennsylvania. She is an active member of the Allegheny College Peace Coalition.

pResident bush says goodbye to the 109th Congress

A Holiday Animation

Holiday Animation

Vietnam, LSD and Reds:

This could be a Wealth of information, especially if any of the players of the Extremely Failed Policies of today were involved, and I'm sure Many Were!!

US Opens 25-year-old Files on State Secrets

Published on Friday, December 22, 2006 by the Guardian / UK

by Suzanne Goldenberg

Some secrets, it turns out, are too old or too big to keep - even for the Bush administration, which has made a crusade of rooting out leaks and clamping down on information on the inner workings of government.

In the new year, the CIA, FBI, state department and more than 80 other government agencies that handle state secrets will declassify hundreds of millions of pages of documents under a new policy that institutes an automatic release of material after 25 years.

Within those documents lie the most turbulent episodes of the 20th century: the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Vietnam war, the CIA's unauthorised experiments with LSD and its internal thinking on a raft of investigations into coups and assassinations overseas, and the FBI's hunt for communist sympathisers on US soil.

The release, awaited by scholars and journalists, goes against the grain for the president, George Bush, and the vice-president, Dick Cheney, who has argued that the disclosure of information from the White House erodes presidential power.

The decision to release documents after 25 years was made in 1995 under President Bill Clinton, although the Bush administration managed to delay it. "I was pleasantly surprised," said Steven Aftergood, who runs a project on government secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists. "I could have easily imagined this administration saying: 'Oh, no we can't possibly adopt an automatic declassification policy. That will only assist the terrorists'."

Until now, material could remain secret indefinitely unless researchers lodged a specific request under freedom of information regulations. But declassification does not guarantee documents will be made public. Government agencies can withhold them on privacy grounds, to protect an intelligence source, or to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation.

The FBI has been notoriously stringent about exercising that prerogative, refusing to release documents on the assassination in Washington of the Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier by agents of the Pinochet regime on the grounds that investigators were still pursuing leads.

However, advocates of greater government accountability say an automatic release of documents remains an important step forward.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006

###

Alumni of bush Terror Training Camp-Iraq

Iraq Terrorist "Alumni": Threats to U.S.?

Terrorist Recruits Pose Threat to U.S.



State Department Fears Exodus of Iraq Terrorists Now Recruiting in Europe

By PIERRE THOMAS and JASON RYAN
Dec. 22, 2006 — - Awaiting trial for supporting terrorists in the deadly 2004 Madrid train bombing, Nasreddine Boussbaa has now been accused of making fake documents for Iraq-based terrorists trying to make their way back to Europe.
"Iraq is generating an exodus of terrorists," says ABC News consultant Tony Cordesman. "It is creating a training center, in effect, the worst kind of training center, because people learn through practice, not theory."
Watch Pierre Thomas' full report tonight on 'World News' at 6:30 p.m. ET
A new report issued by the State Department and obtained by ABC News says that foreign fighters in Iraq include Islamic radicals "from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom."
The report calls them "Iraq war alumni" and concludes that "radicalization is a high risk to U.S. interests."
"The foreign fighters that go into Iraq, most of the foreign fighters are going to die there, but those that do return are going to be more energized, more fanatical, more dedicated to the cause," says Dennis Pluchinsky, former senior State Department official.
Fertile Recruiting Ground
One of the major concerns is that those radicals will return from Iraq as heroes and find fertile recruiting ground in Europe.
An assessment by the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center estimates that as many as "150,000 [European Muslims] could be open to recruitment into terrorism or become supporters."
A senior European official recently told the Iraq Study Group that "failure in Iraq could incite terrorist attacks within his country."
European terrorists and their recruits could pose a unique threat to the United States.
"They may be able to slip through any type of surveillance screens that the European police and intelligence agencies set up," Pluchinsky says. "There is a good possibility they could slip into the U.S."
Intelligence officials warn that not only Iraq but the recent strife in Lebanon and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict are converging to create a dangerous moment for the West.
"We can't quantify the number of terrorists," Cordesman explains, "but there is an almost universal consensus among intelligence experts that the number is far higher today than in 2001."
The European threat assessment concludes that the "global terrorist threat … has doubled over the last 24 months."

You Can Watch Video Report HERE

He has given the bin Ladens, of this World, Exactly What They Wanted

whittle bush Policies Will Haught Us and World!

The Regathering Storm

By Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau And Mark Hosenball
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - For the past year, a secret has been slowly spreading among Taliban commanders in Afghanistan: a 12-man team of Westerners was being trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan for a special mission. Most of the Afghan fighters could rely only on hearsay, but some told of seeing the "English brothers" (as the foreign recruits were nicknamed for their shared language) in person. One eyewitness, a former Guantánamo detainee with close Taliban and Qaeda ties, spoke to NEWSWEEK recently in southern Afghanistan, demanding anonymity because he doesn't want the Americans looking for him. He says he met the 12 recruits in November 2005, at a mud-brick compound near the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali. That was as much as the tight-lipped former detainee would divulge, except to mention that Adam Yahiye Gadahn, the notorious fugitive "American Al Qaeda," was with the brothers, presumably as an interpreter.

Read Rest HERE

Pentagon Holds Mental Health Treatment Hearings

by Daniel Zwerdling

Morning Edition, December 21, 2006 · The Pentagon's "Task Force on Mental Health" is holding three days of hearings on how well U.S. servicemen and women are being treated for mental health issues when they return from overseas duty.

Visit Site Report HERE there are a few other related links there and you can download to listen also

Download RealPlayer Report HERE

Dodd Seeks Call-Back Exemptions For Unfit Soldiers

BROKEN BY WAR, AND ORDERED BACK

Despite being diagnosed
with PTSD and rated 70% disabled by the VA, Damian Fernandez
has been called back to duty in Iraq.


Dodd Seeks Call-Back Exemptions For Unfit Soldiers

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd is asking newly appointed Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to ensure that soldiers debilitated by post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses are not sent back into combat.

PTSD-Radio Show 'About Face' and A Call For Action/Honor

For those, who caught my posting on Saturday, and those that didn't:

Just A Reminder About PTSD:, which was crossposted in a number of places as well as sent to others. And who visited the site 'The Progressive Radio Network' on Saturday night only to find that their online player wasn't working, they finally got it up on Sunday, than Last Night finally had the Archive of Saturdays 'About Face' show, with Ilona Meagher and Guests up and ready to listen to.

If you go here, The Progressive Radio Network-About Face with Dennis Stout and click on the 12-16-06 show 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder', in the left side box, it brings up the show with Ilona and her Guests.


I was contacted, only a short while before, to participate in posting of Diary's, with three others, listing the Names of the KIA's of Iraq and a Call for Action by as many as possible to pass these names onto their Representatives to be read on the floors of Congress and Put Into the Congressional Record as a Memorial to the Fallen and what tis Country must do as this New Congress comes onboard, as shown By The People in the Last Election.

Please visit each and send these names to your Representatives, both houses, Party Affiliation isn't an Issue as this isn't About Politics but Destructive Policy of this Country and about this Country's Security and Future:


A Dedication for the 110th Congress of the United States: Part 1 of 4

A Dedication of the 110th Congress of the United States: Part 2 of 4

A Dedication for the 110th Congress of the United States: Part 3 of 4

In Memory of Doc Barnes Part 4

You may also want to read the following OpEd, posted yesterday:
Elizabeth de la Vega | Who Will Speak for the Victims?
Elizabeth de la Vega writes:

"Democrats routed the Republicans in an election that was a virtual clarion call for accountability and an end to this war. But now we have our new House leader Nancy Pelosi saying impeachment is 'off the table' and Senator Harry Reid considering whether to send more troops to Iraq."

On what this Country Must Do and for Whom!

There was also another NPR Report yesterday, Guard Units Embed Counselors to Ease Trauma"

Many have tried to bring the Discussion of and the Needed Funding/Research about PTSD and the Trauma of War into the Mainstream, for the study 'of' Helps All, not only those who serve in War Theaters or Live in the Invaded Countries, but Anyone who experiances a Traumatic Event that Alters the Individual's Mind and brings about the suffering of PTSD and other events of an individuals mental health.
For myself PTSD, long been around as Man's Destructive Behavior against Fellow Man has been, Should Be Right Up At The Top Along Side 'War As An Absolute Last Resort' before any Country Invades another.
Societies suffer from the long term effects of All Conflicts with PTSD being one the many Results!!

I won't be around, as I'm getting ready for work, as I write this, and leaving shortly. But ask that you Honor The Fallen by contacting your Representatives with the Names in the iary's listed above!

Thank You!!

Who Will Speak for the Victims?

By Elizabeth de la Vega
t r u t h o u t | Guest Contributor

Tuesday 19 December 2006

Why we need to shoot the moon in 2007.

Last year during the holiday season, I wrote a piece called "Shoot the Moon and Forget About the Bell Curve," which was published at TomDispatch.com. In it I asked: Is it futile - or foolish - to continue working to hold the Bush administration to account for defrauding the American people into war, even though the odds of success seemed slim given the Republican-controlled Congress. My answer was a resounding "No!" It is neither futile nor foolish to continue to push for justice despite seemingly intractable obstacles; on the contrary, we have no reasonable choice but to do so.

Twelve months later, it seems we have moved three steps forward and two steps back - or perhaps it is the other way around. Democrats routed the Republicans in an election that was a virtual clarion call for accountability and an end to this war. But now we have our new House leader Nancy Pelosi saying impeachment is "off the table" and Senator Harry Reid considering whether to send more troops to Iraq.

Okay. Maybe the Democrats are not listening, but does that mean we stop talking? No. It means we have to speak up - more loudly and more often. Maybe the Democrats are strategizing themselves into paralysis, but do we give up and say, fine, whatever you guys think is best? Of course not.

Persistence in the face of overwhelming odds is something I think about a lot at this time of year. It was six years ago that George W. Bush received his best Christmas gift ever - the presidency - from the United States Supreme Court. And every year since then, I've thought about the night of December 13, 2000, when the president made his formal acceptance speech. I remember it well: Bush speaking from the Texas House of Representatives about a bipartisan foreign policy and his plan to reunite the country. It's not that I was particularly interested in the president or even the election at that point. I wasn't. I had taken a leave of absence from my job as a federal prosecutor in San Jose and flown 3,000 miles across the country to be with my sister. So I watched the speech while sitting on a portable cot, looking at a hospital TV suspended from the ceiling, while my sister lay in a bed next to me amidst a tangle of tubes. She was dying.

Kathy was 38, a doctor who lived on Cape Cod with her husband and a 3-year-old son, when she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. Her prognosis was grim. Statistically, the majority of patients with her diagnosis live for only about six months. But some patients, those represented by a tiny fraction at the far edge of the bell curve, outlived the odds, and Kathy was determined to join that group. So what did she do? Everything. She had a mastectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy; she vomited, lost her hair, and her eyebrows. She took drugs that threw her into menopause, steroids that made her face swell up like a balloon, and herbs that tasted like dirt. She went to acupuncture, mind-body seminars, and Reiki treatments. She endured a cell replacement procedure that kept her isolated for 30 days. In other words, she shot the moon.

By the day of Bush's speech, Kathy's organs were failing. Her liver was, by then, so damaged that her doctors were astounded she could even speak coherently. But she was definitely able to talk that night, especially about Bush's speech. (She was extremely annoyed that it pre-empted The West Wing.) Kathy died three days later, six years after her initial diagnosis.

Throughout her ordeal, one of my sister's persistent concerns was what other people would think. Would her medical colleagues consider her irrational, if not crazy, to pursue treatments that were so uncomfortable and painful, not to mention unproven or improbable in terms of success? And what would her patients think? Kathy would call me regularly to talk about those questions.

In the end, though, she answered them herself. As long as there was uncertainty, the slightest possibility that she could land at the odds-defying edge of that bell curve and have a longer life, it made sense to her to do anything she could do, regardless of what others thought.

We can do no less when it comes to pushing for an end to the United States' invasion and occupation of Iraq. We can do no less when it comes to insisting that the Bush administration be held accountable for the fraud that led us there - and keeps us there. Why do I say this? The invasion of Iraq is both the product of a crime and a crime in and of itself. I do not use these terms casually or colloquially. The United States' war against Iraq is the fruit of a massive fraud perpetrated by our highest elected officials; it is also an illegal, unjustified war. Most important, these are not victimless crimes. Indeed, there are literally millions of victims, each of whom has suffered real and irreparable harm.

It is up to each of us to speak for them, and in doing so, to focus on the reality of their suffering, because it is reality that most powerfully counteracts the mass anesthetic that the Bush administration has used to keep people from questioning the war. While masquerading as hard-headed realists, the president and war hawks from both parties have been, at best, determined illusionists. They have shrouded the war in abstractions - victory, freedom, the spread of democracy - all of which are, ultimately (to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway in his World War I novel A Farewell to Arms) obscene, especially when juxtaposed against the concrete names of soldiers killed, Iraqis bombed, millions of Iraqis displaced, towns destroyed, and children maimed. The truth is that the closer you get to the reality of the war against Iraq and the lies that brought us there - and these are quite literally matters of life and death - the easier it is to know what to do: Shoot the moon and forget about the bell curve.

The most potent antidote to the obscenity of abstraction is fact. Focus on the facts. Make sure you get them right and don't overstate your case. Talk about the lies, the half-truths, deliberate misrepresentations, statements made with reckless disregard for the truth that sent us to Iraq. Talk about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis slaughtered, the soldiers killed and wounded, the families they've left behind. Don't play the administration's word games about civil war and torture: talk about waterboarding, humiliation, and beatings. Write letters, demonstrate, make calls, send emails, wear t-shirts, join groups, organize, talk to anyone who will listen and even people who won't. Demand hearings, advocate impeachment, push the Senate to analyze the administration's use of pre-war intelligence, call for a special prosecutor - and tell Congress it's time to bring the troops home. Don't worry about the odds.

What good does any of this do? The answer is we don't know - which is exactly why we have to do it.

Whether the victims of this crime are 8,000 miles away or eight miles away, they are our neighbors. And they need our help. We need to speak up for our neighbors.

--------

Elizabeth de la Vega, a former federal prosecutor with more than 20 years of experience, is the author of the new book, United States v. George W. Bush et al. During her tenure with the Department of Justice, she was a member of the Organized Crime Strike Force and chief of the San Jose Branch of the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. Her pieces have appeared in The Nation magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Salon. She writes regularly for TomDispatch.com. She may be contacted at ElizabethdelaVega@Verizon.net.

-------

Yusuf Islam

Remember this young fella, actually the young fella is at the bottom.

If you missed this interview today on NPR's 'Talk Of The Nation' stroll on over, you won't be sorry!

It's been way too long and he still sounds like 'The Cat'!!

The Former Cat Stevens on His New CD
Talk of the Nation

December 18, 2006 · For a singer-songwriter who plays such gently inoffensive music, Yusuf Islam has made a lot of news. After a near-death experience in 1977 helped trigger a spiritual awakening, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (and the man long ago known as Steven Demetre Georgiou) converted to Islam and retired from secular music-making in 1979.
Since then, Yusuf Islam has attracted both controversy -- boycotts followed reports that he supported a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie in 1989 -- and praise for his humanitarian work fighting famine.
After a nearly three-decade absence from secular pop music, the London-based singer returned in November with An Other Cup, which picks up more or less where he left off: with a collection of sweet, catchy, gently uplifting pop songs. In recent years, his classic '70s material -- which includes timeless hits such as "Wild World," "Peace Train," "Moonshadow" and many more -- has been the subject of an extensive reissue campaign, aided by its continued placement on movie soundtracks.
Here, Yusuf Islam performs songs from throughout his career and chats with callers about his music, his spiritual life and the way the two combine and connect with each other.

Young Cat-1972

Near the end he plays and sings, solo, 'Peace Train'!!

There are a couple of links, at site, so you can listen to a couple of the songs from his new album.
There are also a couple of links to related story's.

So go on over and listen to the Interview, songs, and his thoughts, while you surf around!

No Bullshit Excuses:

Get Off Your Ass And Reach Out In Person To Some Troops For The Holidays: “A Christmas Push For Conscience”
There have been a number of recent posts on the 'Appeal For Redress Initiative' by Active Duty Military personal. These have been from folks who have found this call for Action, by those still Active Duty, which is Great to see. Myself, and others, had posted about this right after the origianal call had gone out, you can read mine Here which I had also sent out and posted on a number of boards on 9-24-06.

Once again it's Great to see others have found the call and are fully behind this. Back in the day, of our other Tragic Debacle, myself and my brother/sister 'Nam Vets know just what went down as to Real Support between us returning Vets and the Anti-War Movement {and there was No Spitting, except the Verbal Type from the same makeup as today, the So Called Support The Troops patriots[?]}, and frankly their Still Verbally Spitting On Us, but we're used to it!!We worked together to Finally End That Debacle! The Vet's, The Goldstar Moms/Families, The Anti-War Movement and the Intelligent Politicians of that time, along with others!Now YOU can do some reachout to the present Military Personal who understand what this Country has done as to this so called 'War on Terrorism', this Holiday Season!

Liam Madden of Bellows Falls, Vt., said he doesn't think he would've joined the Marines if he had known the government would lie to start a war on Iraq. The 22-year-old sergeant, who spent seven months in Iraq, is part of a group of service members who organizing a Christmas holiday outreach around the Appeal for Redress to get our troops out of Iraq: Appeal for Redress Initiative. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Liam Madden)


Subject: A Christmas push for conscience

Happy Holidays fellow service members, Greetings, my name is Liam Madden, one of the founders of the Appeal For Redress campaign. As the Christmas season approaches, the alliance of MFSO (Military Families Speak out) IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War), and the Appeal for Redress initiative are coordinating a drive to deliver holiday care packages to the Active Duty community near you on the 18th-20th of December. These Care Packages will bring troops some delicious treats, but more importantly they will be filled with information about the sponsoring organizations and "locked and loaded" with an Appeal For Redress ready to be mailed off to congress. We believe for every one of you who have learned about the appeal and were eager to let your voice be heard, there are hundreds more waiting to discover our movement. We are asking for your help in reaching out to your fellow service members; if you can lend a hand please contact me at Liam Madden. Once we have your responses we will put you in contact with each other and the supporting network of family members and veterans participating.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Liam Madden Sergeant USMC

Iraq Veterans Against The War Say: “Support For Our Troops By Handing Out Care PackagesToThemOutsideThe Gates Of Active Duty Bases Just Before Christmas”

December 11, 2006 IVAW Holiday Bulletin We at IVAW know that reaching out to active-duty men and women is one of the most crucial steps to ending the war in Iraq. IVAW will be working with members from the Appeal for Redress , Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out to show our support for our troops by handing out care packages to them outside the gates of active-duty bases just before Christmas (Dec 18-20). Besides treats like cookies and candy, these care packages will include information on the anti-war movement and resources so that they can become directly involved in ending the war and caring for their brothers and sisters as they return home. Suggested items for the care packages include: the Appeal for Redress, Iraq Veterans Against the War flyers, “Iraq for Sale,” and “Sir, No Sir!” postcards telling soldiers how to get their free copy, information on Vets for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Courage to Resist, and the GI Rights Hotline, as well as cookies, candy, and other holiday treats. To make this work, we need teams of at least six people to go and stand in front of the gates (on the public right of way) of active duty bases prior to the Christmas holiday. Team members can hold signs such as, “Happy Holidays” and “Free Care Package for Active Duty” while they hand out the packages. This is a great way that you can help support our troops and bridge the gap between the peace movement and those serving in the military. If you are interested in participating with compiling and/or delivering the care packages, please email Liam Madden with your name, organization, and the military base nearest you.
Peace and Joy over the holiday season and into the New Year, Kelly Dougherty, Executive Director IVAW

Gold Star Families For Peace Say:
“Help Spread The Word By Delivering Care Packages Filled With TastyTreats & Information About The Appeal To Military Bases”

'Tis the Season to Support the Troops.

Many active duty, reserve, and guard service members are concerned about the war in Iraq and support the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Appeal for Redress Initiative, sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk area, provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to their Congressional Representative and US Senators to urge an end to the U.S. military occupation. Almost 2000 active duty members have signed onto the appeal. Click here to read a note from one of the co-founders of the Appeal for Redress Initiative, Liam Madden. GOLD STAR Families for Peace is proud to support their effort! This holiday season we are joining a coalition of groups including Iraq Veterans Against the War & Veterans for Peace in a campaign to help spread the word by delivering care packages filled with tasty treats & information about the appeal to military bases. Although this is a campaign that will be on-going, we are working to help gather as many signatures as possible before the new year since the appeal will be delivered to Congress in January of 2007. Get on Santa’s nice list by taking some goodies to troops in your community. It’s as easy as one, two, three.
1 } Find a base near you to spread some holiday cheer. For a map of U.S. military bases click here.
2 } Sign up & let us know you’ll be in on the action. Once you sign up we’ll send you a copy of the petition & updates about the action. Be sure to let us know what base you’ll be visiting & the number of care packages you’ll be taking. Click here to sign up.
3 } Plan your merrymaking. A few suggestions to make your action a sure-fire success: Invite your friends and family to join you, the more the merrier! Pick a high traffic time like early morning or late afternoon when troops are coming and going from the base. Scout the base before your day of delivery. Since every base has several entrances, make sure you’re at the busiest gate and pick a spot to stand that is visible to traffic and people walking in/out of the base. You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to make a care-package for delivery. A simple brown paper lunch sack can be decorated with messages of support and filled with cookies, candies and other holiday goodies. Homemade is always best, but store bought treats will do the trick. (Don’t forget to include a copy of the Appeal for Redress.) The important thing is reaching out to the troops in a way that is friendly and supportive. Be sure that your signs and banners are supportive and don’t seem aggressive towards the military – remember we are trying to communicate with them not put them on the defensive.

While this is abit of a late call, only a week left, many who are willing can do the above in small groups.
Many who have stayed Active in the Actions taken place, over these years, know members of the above linked groups, you can make contact with them and join their efforts. Those who are new to the game can visit the Websites and make contact through them to find local members, of same, who might be doing the above call for Action.Some can also visit HERE which is a listing site of the Veterans For Peace Chapters

I will close with this:

Who Are We
You look at meYou look away
You ignore me
You have nothing to say

I wander the streets
I pick in the trash
I have nothing to eatI don't have any cash
I shuffle along, from one place to another
I have nobody that cares, maybe you, my brother
When it rains, I get wetWhen it's hot, I'm drenched in sweat

I am tired
I am old
I am freezing
It's getting cold
You think I chose this

That I am lazyYou say
I'm mentalI'm just crazy
I have no bed
I have no phone
I talk all the time
I'm always alone
I lay in the alley
on rocks and debris
I served in the militarySo we can be free
Pamela GilesM

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." - Edward R. Murrow