Upcoming Actions
Announcements:
New Alternatives to the Death Penalty Coalition Meeting
We'd like to invite you to attend the first meeting of the newly-formed
LOS ANGELES COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
6-8pm
ACLU of Southern California
1313 West Eighth St.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Free parking is available.
Exciting speakers!
Pizza and refreshments will be provided.
The Los Angeles Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is a
newly-formed coalition of organizations focused on reducing death
sentencing in Los Angeles County and ending the death penalty in
California. Los Angeles County currently sends more people to death row
than any other county in California. Please join our fight to replace
this failed policy and help build a community that is safer for all of
us.
This meeting is open to the public. Please RSVP to Eric Greene at
egreene@aclu-sc.org
Convened by Death Penalty Focus, the ACLU of Southern California,
Progressive Jewish Alliance, California Crime Victims for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty, California People of Faith Working Against the
Death Penalty, and Amnesty International USA.
Posted on Dec 10, 2008 by California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty
Electricity Supply and Price Security in San Diego County
While the following brief only focuses on becoming electricity net-metered-out, it develops a self-funding economic strategy that can be applied to our city and region to make us completely renewable energy self-sufficient. The same economic strategy, with minor changes, can also be used to develop self-funding processes to make our city and region water and food self-sufficient as well.....http://www.jimbell.com/mayor/index.html
Posted on Nov 23, 2008 by Ecological Life Systems Institute
Sebastopol Dinner to Launch Farmer-Veteran Coalition
Sebastopol's upscale French Garden Restaurant will lay out the white tablecloths for a special afternoon dinner on Sunday, September 14, from 3PM to 6PM to help launch an interesting collaboration between seasoned farmers and energetic young veterans looking for their place in the current food revolution. Farms Not Arms headquartered in Petaluma is sponsoring this event to promote the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. Produce for the event will is grown by Iraq war vet Matt Mccue and his crew, including other veterans, on the French Garden Farm nearby, according to Dan Smith, owner of both the restaurant and the farm. http://www.frenchgardenrestaurant.com/ Executive Chef Didier is transforming the dinner menu.
Long time organic farmer with Del Cabo Organic and Project Director of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, Michael O'Gorman said he was very excited to announce that his friend George Naylor, Iowa soybean and corn farmer, and Past President of the National Family Farm Coalition, will be the event's Keynote speaker. "There is no one in the entire country," O'Gorman said, "that can explain how agricultural practices, policies and politics have created the dire situation our food production is in." Much of Michael Pollan's recent book, Omnivore's Dilemma, was dedicated to George and filled with references to his first-hand observations. Pollan is also involved with the Slow Food movement, which emphasizes preserving traditional food sources and educating people about food as a center of community.
"There truly is a revolution going on in food and farming," O'Gorman said, "and Sonoma County is Ground Zero for it – the growing public demand for healthier, fresher, more diverse, and most importantly, locally grown food. But we can't make it happen, unless we reverse the 200-year-old trend of having fewer and fewer American farmers. Farming is a life-long commitment to long hours and physical work. We will not find the farmers without reaching out to the two million young Americans who have come out of the military since September, 2001."
Farmer-Veterans at the Wednesday Petaluma Farmers Market. Left to Right: Josh Anderson, Veteran and Farmer, Colin Sillerud. Farmer, Lily Schneider, Farmer at Canvas Ranch in Petaluma, Matt Mccue, Veteran and farmer at French Garden Farms, Sufyan Bunch, Veteran.
Matt Mccue, who served a year in Iraq, now spends his days tending dozens of fruits and vegetables grown at the French Garden Farm. What isn't used at the restaurant is sold at farmers markets around the area. "The greatest therapy," says Matt, "is that it is difficult. I am challenged every day to learn and do new things." Matt's opinions were echoed by his friend and fellow Army Vet, Sufyan Bunch, who works as Veteran Outreach Coordinator for the Farmer-Veteran project. "Vets don't want help," the young business student said, "They want opportunity. This is the perfect time to get into this new type of farming."
Also speaking at the dinner will be Nadia McCaffrey, Gold Star Mother of Sergeant Patrick Ryan McCaffrey, who died in Iraq in June of 2004. Nadia grew up on her Grandfather's organic farm in Southern France, and is Founder of Veterans Village, an important part of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. Veterans Village is working to create farms around the country that veterans can go to and help each other heal the wounds of war.
According to O'Gorman, the inspiration for the Farmer-Veteran Coalition came when three Gold Star Moms, including McCaffrey, Mary Tillman, and Dolores Kesterman, all showed up last spring at a small gathering of farmers at Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport to discuss creating jobs for returning vets. "It was there, standing with these women in a berry field overlooking the Pacific Ocean, that we realized our farms could do more than just offer employment."
Honored guest Daniel Ellsberg will also be present. He is a former American military analyst who precipitated a national controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to the NY Times and other newspapers.
Shepherd Bliss, a Vietnam era veteran, will also be speaking. Shepherd Bliss resigned his commission in the U.S. Army Reserves to protest the Vietnam War. He has run Kokopelli Farm in Sebastopol since l992. He currently teaches at Sonoma State University and writes about agropsychology and agrotherapy. He honors the oral tradition of taking poetry into the heart and then reciting it.
The French Garden Restaurant is located at 8050 Bodega Avenue in Sebastopol, CA.
Tickets for the dinner are $100 and are available from the Farmer-Veteran Coalition at
http://www.farmvetco.org/ or 707-981-8010.
Limited seating is available.
Posted on Aug 15, 2008 by
Environmental Health & Economic challenges of the 21st Century
~ Invitation to participate ~
Environmental Health & Economic Challenges
of the 21st Century - ("The Last Frontier")
A Community Forum Presented by the
Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network
Monterey Beach Resort (Best Western)
2600 Sand Dunes Drive...Monterey, CA. 93940
May 31, 2008
Registration 8:30 am
An All Day Event
Addressing environmental toxins, your health, and possible solutions.
Also Spraying Pesticides & EJ & "Reducing GreenHouse Gas Emissions & Burning"
Featuring: Doctor Dr. Lovell Jones, Renowned Oncologist
Peter de Fur, Ph.D, of Environmental Stewardship Concepts" &
Technical Advisor to Fort Ord Env. Justice Network,
Donald & LeVonne Stone, Founders, "Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network"
Bradley Angel, Executive Director, "Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice"
George Riley, Co-founder, "Citizens for Public Water"
Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control
Environmental Art Presentation by
Peninsula, Salinas, & South County High Schools
US Environmental Protection Agency - Region 1X
Cal/EPA Environmental Justice "Status of EJ in California"
Local, State and Federal Elected Officials
Alexander Glass, CSUMB Student & Intern
(ATSDR) - Agency of Toxic Substances
Please call or email with your interest ASAP to
LeVonne Stone, Executive Director 831-582-0803 - 831-277-5241 Ondrea Kahlenberg, Event Advisor
ejustice@mbay.net Ada Hynes, Secretary
\http/www.foejn.org
Request For Sponsors & Donors
Posted on May 07, 2008 by
Open Letter from Iraq Veterans Against the War
03-09-08 UPDATE to Open Letter:
Iraq Veterans Against the War - Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan - March 14 and 15, 2008
This spring, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is revealing the reality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In what will be history's largest gathering of U.S . veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors, eyewitnesses will share their experiences in a public investigation called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. Please visit this page to find out how you can support this important campaign.
WINTER SOLDIER will be shown on Free Speech TV, March 14 and 15, 9:00AM - 9:00PM EST on DishNetwork Channel 9415 Also, contact your local Public Access cable channel and ask them to carry all or part of Winter Soldier that will be broadcast on Free Speech TV.
~ Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
-----------------------------------
An Open Letter to the Anti-War Movement From Iraq Veterans Against
the War
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the quagmire known as the invasion/occupation of Iraq, many of us feel a need to mark this occasion with an appropriately momentous show of resistance. For the past few months, IVAW has been organizing "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan." From March 13-16, 2008, we will assemble the largest gathering of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in history, as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors, to offer first-hand, eyewitness accounts to tell the truth about these occupations â€" their impact on the troops, their families, our nation, and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Winter Soldier will require IVAW's full attention and organizing capacity leading up to and during the event. We would like to have as many people as possible attend the event and we are making arrangements to provide live broadcasting of the hearings for those who cannot hear the testimony first hand, as space will be limited. We ask all of you to help us to spread the message of the testimony, raise funds, and get more veterans and GIs involved.
We have been inspired by the tremendous support that the movement has shown us and we believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members. Because Winter Soldier will provide a unique venue for those who experienced war on the ground to expose the truth and consequences of the "War on Terror" to the nation and the world, we are requesting that, from March 13-16, the larger anti-war movement call no national mobilizations and that there be no local protests or civil disobedience actions in Washington, DC.
Some leaders of the movement have expressed a desire to have a mass assembly to mark the fifth anniversary. Some have expressed support for a concert/rally. IVAW would support any events that do not interfere with the Winter Soldier hearings, our strategy, or goals. We would encourage our members to continue participating in events of the larger movement to end the occupation of Iraq, as we acknowledge both the significance and the necessity of such actions for movement building. IVAW will also arrange to make available copies of the Winter Soldier transcript highlights to support the various efforts of the antiwar movement.
We are thankful for your enduring support of IVAW and Winter Soldier.
Let us all continue to think strategically and act in a spirit of
cooperation.
In solidarity,
Iraq Veterans Against the War
IVAW Board of Directors
Camilo E. Mejia
Jabbar Magruder
Margaret Stevens
Phil Aliff
Jason Lemieux
Adam Kokesh
Liam Madden
Anita Foster
Jose Vasquez
Winter Soldier Organizing Team
Aaron Hughes
Fernando Braga
Adrienne Kinne
Perry O'Brien
Martin Smith
Lily Hughes
Amadee Braxton
For detailed information on how your organization can support Winter Soldier please write to: wintersoldier@ivaw.org
Posted on Jan 07, 2008 by
History of Nuruj, Kurdish New Year
Kurdish American Education Society
History of NuRuj
Kurdish New Year
By: Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur
Kurdish American Education Society
NuRuj, as is pronounced in parts of Kurdistan, and Newroz, as it is known in Iran and other parts of the Middle East, is just around the corner, arriving on vernal equinox, which occurs on a certain precise moment usually on March 21. For year 2008, it occurs on March 20, at 05:48 UT. This occurs when Earth completes its journey around the Sun with vernal equinox as a reference point. Since the Earth is 149,600,000 kilometers, (one hundred forty nine million and six hundred thousands kilometers) from the Sun, it takes 365.2422 days (one solar year), for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. This means that Earth travels at a speed of approximately 29.8 km/sec or 1788 km per minutes or 107300 km per hour to travel the 939,992,130 km (584,100,000 miles) around the Sun in one year. Note that this is about 900 times the speed of a car moving at typical highway speed of 120 km per hour. As we move forward, at this speed, the earth also rotates around its axis like a spinning basketball. The Earth's axis of rotation is tilted at a fixed angle of just over 66.5 degree from orbital plane. Given the earth's equatorial radius of 6380 km, and 40090 kilometers circumference, and the 24 hr duration of a solar day, the rotational speed of a point on the earth's equator is 1670 km per hour, which is about four times the speed of a Boeing 737 passenger airplane.
Imagine now that this spinning basketball grows a circumferential wing from its equator (the equator is a plane that divides the Earth into two, half-spheres called the Southern hemisphere, and the Northern hemisphere). Imagine this wing, expanding outward into the surrounding space perpendicular with the polar axis, until it touches the inside of the imaginary inner surface of the sky, which is called the celestial sphere.
At this traveling and rotating speeds, Earth, with a fixed angular tilt moves around the sun like a spherical airplane, the top of the wing or the upper (northern hemisphere) is exposed more directly to the Sun during the half of the journey and, the bottom of the wing (and the southern hemisphere) is exposed more directly to the Sun during the second half. The point at which this switch takes place (that is, from southern exposure to northern exposure) is called the vernal equinox. This signals the start of the season Spring. At this position, the length of the day-time, is exactly equal the length of the night-time, and indeed, the name vernal equinox means "renewed equality". The vernal equinox usually takes place at a certain precise moment on March 21. After the switch, which sometimes occurs on March 20, the days get longer in the northern hemisphere and the nights shorter until Earth Summer Solstice (June 21, or 22, the start of Summer season), when the length of the day-light is the longest. After summer solstice, and as Earth moves on, the days begin to shorten and nights start to get longer until their durations again equal one another at the Autumnal Equinox, which occurs on September 21 (the start of Fall season) 180 degrees opposite the vernal equinox. At the autumnal equinox, the bottom portion of the imaginary wing of the Earth and the Earth's southern hemisphere receives the more direct sunlight. The northern hemisphere begins to get cooler and cooler until the Earth reach the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21 (and starts the season of Winter). During this time, duration of the day-light in northern hemisphere is shortened and nights are longer and life in the northern hemisphere begins to take a deep sleep. Winter continues until the earth approaches yet another switch at the point of vernal equinox, to bring once more the Spring season. This is the time of good news of returning sunshine, refreshing air and clear water and warmth as nature and life awakens from their deep winter sleep. This rebirth of life and nature is called NuRuj, meaning a Day of Renewal and is what our Kurdish ancestors started to celebrate in the lash and beautiful green hills and mountains of Kurdistan in 728 B.C.
This is the year when the Medes, through the accumulated knowledge by the Pre-Zoroastrian Magi of astrological and planetary motion, declared that the beginning of Spring to be celebrated as the calendarical NuRuj, meaning the New Day which also marked the beginning of a new year.
Another important reason for this celebration was that, the Medes after a thousand years of nomadic and migratory living, had just dominated the indigenous cultures in the Zagros mountains. For these victories, they decided to establish their first organized and regimented government in Eastern Kurdistan in the city of Ekbatana in 728 B.C. with a ceremonial festivity marking the start of their victory with the season of Spring. Under King Farvartish (Phraortes), 675-653 BC, Pasargadae (Pasar=parapet, -Gadae=a base for lookout), meaning an outpost, was founded on the edge of their eastern frontier. The local people appointed to -Patrol and Guard- (Paras-tin) the Kingdom of the Medes, at the outpost against the Scythians, were called the Parasian or Parsian, known today as the Persians. Later, in 615 BC, under Cyaxares (kna: Ha-Khoy-Sara, Kay-Sara or Uvakhshatra), Arrapkha, (Kirkuk), was captured and brought under the Medes control. It is important to notice that the modern word Kaiser is derived from the title of King Cyazares.
Later in 545 B.C., when the Parsians, a vassal tribe to the Medes, received their freedom from the Medes, they maintained the celebration of NuRuj, which later in Persian language its pronunciation changed from NuRuj to NuRooz as it will be explained further below.
Cyrus the Great (in Kuridsh known as the Little Caesar), was born to Mondana, the daughter of the last King of the Medes, King Astyages who had been given in marriage to Cambyses I, the feudal lord and head of the Parsians. The King's second daughter, Amytes, was given in marriage to Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon who lived from 605 to 562 B.C.
These political marriages however, did not secure the King's life and the future of his kingdom (the Kingdom of the Medes) from plots instigated against him by the internal revolutionaries and the Parsians. An internal revolt led by a revolutionary blacksmith named Kaveh was mobilized to overthrow the King because of the alleged King's cruelty against his subjects. Parsians, seeking an opportunity to free themselves from the Medes, and knowing of Kaveh's intention to overthrow the King, further instigated internal agitation against Astyages. In a Battle between Astyages and the Parsians, Cambyses head of the Parsis, lost his life and was replaced by the minor prince Cyrus, the grandson of the king Astyages. After making a secret pact with his Babylonian in-laws in 545, Cyrus led the Parsians in revolt against his grandfather Astyages . In a battle near the Pasargadae, the last king of the Medes was killed and the Young Cyrus, with the help of Kaveh the blacksmith, combined the two people and brought under Cyrus's rule, the Medes and the Parsians to form the Great Iranian Empire, known in the West (erroneously) as the Persian Empire. This false credit given to the Persians, by the Greek historian, is because by the time Cyrus and his successors expanded the Medes empire further west, they were introduced to the Greeks as Parsians without mention of the near one thousand years history of the Medes predating the Persians. Thus, the Western literature from that time on has occasionally given credit to those who do not rightly deserve such credit for the history of civilization.
In celebration of their victory and freedom from the Medes, the Parsians, threw a big celebration in the Pasargad the place where King Astyages was killed and celebrated their own NuRuj of freedom. In 1971, the Shah of Iran, commemorated this event, with a big celebration at the tomb of Cyrus, in Pasargad. He called the pompous festivity the Festival of 2500 years Imperial Celebration. Actually, the rule of the Persians over Iran ended in 330 BC, by Alexander the Great conquering Persipolis. Persipolis is the name given by the Greeks to Takht-e-Jamshid a place where Darius I build his palace a few miles away from Pasargade. After the Greeks victory over the Persians in 330 BC, Takhte-e-Jamshid changed name to Persepolis, meaning the city of the Parsis. More about the history of Iran after the fall of the Parsians will be explored in future articles by the KAES.
Now, why NuRuj and not NewRooz?, Kurdish is the original language of the Iranians, it predates the accession of the Persian rule and their language by nearly 1200 years.
The original Kurdish Language is derived from the Fahli language (or as it should be pronounced correctly, the Pahli language, which in ancient times was known as Pahlavi. After the Arab invasion, "F" replaced "P" sound in pronunciation). It is ironic that Reza Shah, when came to power, changed his last name from an Arabic last name to Pahlavi, trying to acquire an authentic Iranian identity. Since the invasion of Islam into Kurdistan and Iran in 640 AD, and domination of Arabic language, the pronunciation of many authentic Iranian words had changed from their original phonetic values to the current phonetic values. This is more pronounced in the modern vernacular Persian language. In Kurdish, however, the language has remained relatively purer with less Arabic influence because of their less accessible cultural and territorial environment. For example, when comparing the Kurdish language to Farsi (Parsi), one can use a general rule of vocabulary conversion between the two languages. One such general rule of vocabulary conversion is that the sound "Zh" in Kurdish becomes the "Z" sound in Farsi after the introduction of Islam. This is apparent in the following examples:
Kuridsh Farsi English
roozh (RuJ) rooz day
teyzh tiyz sharp
zheyr zeyr below
derizh deraz long, to stretch
zhen zan women
reazh reaz to pour or small
zhanin zadan to play, or to beat
ghazh ghaz goose-a bird
zhynin zistan to live
zhaar zahr poison
zhari zari to mourn - weeping
There are many other similar examples.
So, based on recorded historical information and current linguistic comparison mentioned above and modern cultural practices, it is recommended that we revert back to the way that New Rooz originally was pronounced as NuRoj. NuRuj is a time of universal celebration to let light enter the hemispheres of our mind. It is also the time for the Kurds and the Persians to celebrate in joint festivity the spirit of celestial harmony. Let the awesome depth of celestial vision, with music, poetry, and spring fragrance of the lash green nature bring us all, the people of Earth together, to hold hands in celebration of NuRuj, to keep pace with the rhythm of life on earth.
This moment of rhythmic awareness as it should be pronounced NuRuj, should once again, enter our vocabulary of the celebration of life, as it is a fine and authentic way to celebrate life on earth. For me, as we approach the vernal equinox, I like to say to you and all:
NuRuj-etan Pir-Ruj Be.
May your New Day be victorious till your Old Days-
With Peace & Joy
Ardishir Rashidi-Kalhur
Kurdish American Education Society
Posted on Jan 06, 2008 by