Vets for Peace chapter 27's newsletter has some good info bills
Who’s Sharing the Sacrifice?
Dear Friend of Veterans For Peace,
The media says the "fiscal cliff" has been avoided, but we'd be better off if Congress and the President had avoided this week's deal.
While unemployment compensation, Social Security, and Medicare survived for the moment, the deal raised taxes more on working people than on the wealthy, gave giant gifts to corporations, and left war preparations spending unsustainably high.
And the stage has been set for a bipartisan push to cut useful spending in the coming months.
There has been a lot of talk about “shared sacrifice” in finding the money to reduce the deficit, but Veterans For Peace believes that the average American has already sacrificed plenty. There is no reason that there should be any cuts to health care, education, the environment or housing, when half of discretionary spending goes into the military machine. The time to raise our voices is now! We need to overwhelm Congress with our message: End the wars—bring our tax dollars home!
Take Action Now!
Click here <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=M%2FbmI5HJn00j32PMXzmzXD4QNAh%2FUhNr> to contact your Congressional representatives. Tell them not to approve any deal that cuts the programs that the American people need and use like education, health care or Social Security. Tell them to slash the bloated Pentagon's budget instead.
Call your Senators and Representative! HERE IS A TOLL-FREE PHONE LINE TO THE CAPITOL: 866-426-2631 <tel:866-426-2631> .
Write Letters to the Editor <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZdQvFzQris8YesQBQ1pxAtqa%2F9bysRmv> . Second to the front page, the opinion page of any newspaper is the most read.
Take it to the streets and lobby at your district offices. This is a great time for veterans to be seen and heard.
According to VFP Board member Matt Southworth, a staffer for Friends Committee on National Legislation, “It doesn't take tens of thousands of calls, but literally just dozens to make a difference-- especially calls from vets about cutting the Pentagon budget. You all may be surprised, pleasantly even, by how easy it is to do.”
The Military Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned us of 52 years ago this month is more dominant than ever. We have to work extra hard to make our voices heard. Veterans For Peace
VFP Chapter 27 Members on World Today
Go to ourworldtoday.zxq.net <http://ourworldtoday.zxq.net> to see three Veterans for Peace (Dave Logsdon, Steve McKewon,and Micheal Orange talking about various VFP activities and actions. A link should be set up to the website. Many thanks to Suzanne Linton and her producer Dave Garland!
Action Alert: Support The Agent Orange Act. House Bill HR-3612 and Senate Bill S.1629 & More
Support The Agent Orange Act There are tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans who are sick with exposure to Agent Orange Dioxin. Many can not get Veterans Administration benefits because they did not have boots-on-ground Vietnam because they were at sea or in the air Vietnam, Just the same, they are sick and infected with the herbicide Agent Orange Dioxin. We need the American people to urge their members of Congress and Senate to co-sign the Bills and have those Bills sent to the floor of both Houses for swift passage. <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=luJDLVJtNxMeUvJhyt5jgbxQe3mdbY9k>
SOA Delegations to El Salvador, Paraguay, Chile and the border
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=z1Gp4AmdSZvoSu3JB0%2FrLLxQe3mdbY9k> SOA invites you to participate in its citizen diplomacy by joining one of our 2013 delegations. We will be traveling to El Salvador (Mar 17-Mar 26, 2013) to honor Monsignor Romero's martrydom and ask the government to withdraw from the SOA. We will go to Paraguay (Apr 17 - Apr 23, 2013) to observe presidential elections and visit areas of land conflict that were used to justify last year's "express coup". We will stand at the southern border of the US (May 19 - May 27, 2013) in solidarity with immigrants and those affected by border violence and militarization. We will journey to Chile for the 40th anniversary of Pinochet's coup and express solidarity with students and Mapuche peoples struggling to shape a just society. If you are interested in any of these delegations, please contact Lisa Sullivan at LSullivan@soaw.org <mailto:LSullivan@soaw.org?subject=SOA%20Delegations%20EB010413> for more information.
VFP Book of the Week: C Trick by Donald Cooper
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=L43C6QL04u%2B%2F2yRG3HYD87xQe3mdbY9k> This week's featured book is by Donald Cooper, VFP member in Shamrock, TX.
C Trick is a tale that describes how one group of young citizen-soldiers met their military obligation during the last half of the Sixties. The book describes what it was like to be a soldier in a special Army unit stationed in what may have been the most important Cold War hot spot.
VFP receives 7.5% of all purchases made on Powell's Books thru this link <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HDph0JdYON%2BjqXoeB23IebxQe3mdbY9k
Rise of The Drones
A revolution is transforming the armed forces of every nation. In "Drones," NOVA launches an investigation of the explosive growth of airborne UAVs or pilotless drones. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. deployed only a handful; now, it has more than 7,000. Besides the U.S., over 40 other nations are now building or buying these ... [more] <http://www.tpt.org/?a=programs&id=54#> increasingly lethal and cost-effective weapons, and it's only a matter of time before a terrorist group turns the technology against Western targets. The latest Predators can track 12 targets at once, trace footprints back to their source and even recognize individual faces. Yesterday's soldiers and pilots put their lives on the line but today, a UAV pilot can "fly" a mission in Afghanistan remotely from a base in Nevada. As one pilot said, after carrying out a strike, "within 20 minutes you can be sitting at the dinner table talking to your kids." That new ability has already saved hundreds if not thousands of U.S. service lives but may make military strikes a more tempting, seemingly risk-free option.[less] <http://www.tpt.org/?a=programs&id=54#>
56 minutes long
tpt Channel 2.1
Wed Jan 23rd @ 8:00 pm <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1358992800/275146> Thu Jan 24th @ 2:00 am <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359014400/275146> Thu Jan 24th @ 9:00 pm <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359082800/275146> Fri Jan 25th @ 3:00 am <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359104400/275146> Sun Jan 27th @ 4:00 pm <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359324000/275146> Tue Jan 29th @ 11:00 pm <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359522000/275146> Wed Jan 30th @ 5:00 am <http://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359543600/275146>
tpt MN Channel 2.2
No upcoming airings of this
episode on this channel.
tpt Life Channel 2.3
Sun Jan 27th @ 8:00 pm <https://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359338400/275146> Mon Jan 28th @ 2:00 am <https://www.tpt.org/?a=schedules#1359360000/275146>
StoryCorps "Military Voices Initiative"
StoryCorps is currently facilitating a "Military Voices Initiative" through which they are recording the stories of post-9/11 veterans, active duty service members, and their families. What makes it unique is that it's not an interview, nor just one person telling their story. They record a 40 minute personal conversation between two people who know each other - in this case, a veteran and a family member, friend, fellow veteran, etc. After the conversation is recorded, each participant will be given a copy on cd and one copy will be archived at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress. There is also a chance that a clip from your story could be aired on NPR as part of their weekly broadcast - but that would only happen with your permission.
StoryCorps sends participants a long list of possible questions that cover the topics of enlistment, military life, deployment, life after service, marriage partnerships and families, and remembering the fallen. But these are just suggested - they encourage you and your partner to talk about whatever you'd like. There will be a facilitator present in the recording booth, but just to ask clarifying questions and to check sound quality.
We will be hosting the recording sessions in Minneapolis on February 1, 2, and 3.
Feel free to use as much or as little of that information as you'd like.
and here is their website: http://storycorps.org/initiatives/military-voices-initiative/
Those Who Say "I Support the Troops" Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops …a letter from Michael Moore
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 | I don't support the troops, America, and neither do you. I am writing this as I have just learned of the suicides of two more of our active duty reservists who live here in the Traverse City, Michigan area. That brings the total number of soldier suicides (that I know of) in the past year, in this rural area, to four.
I am tired of the ruse we are playing on these brave citizens in our armed forces. And guess what -- a lot of these soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines see right through the bull**** of those words, "I support the troops!," spoken by Americans with such false sincerity -- false because our actions don't match our words. These young men and women sign up to risk their very lives to protect us -- and this is what they get in return.
Full story... <http://www.evergreenedigest.org/those-who-say-i-support-troops-should-just-stop-out-respect-troops>