Code Pink Bares it all for Bradley Manning in San Francisco Mar 22, 2011

More than a dozen activists stood at the door of Senator Diane Feinstein's office in downtown San Francisco today to demand that Bradley Manning, accused Wikileaker, be treated humanely and released from the brig at Quantico, VA.  We were there for more than an hour and two TV stations covered the event. (I'm 4th from the left.)

Bradley has for the past two weeks been forced to stand naked at attention morning and night as part of the campaign to punish him before he is tried of a crime.  Ms. Feinstein refuses to get involved with the case.

The 23 hours per day solitary confinement for 10 months amounts to torture, which Obama claimed that the U.S. does not do.  We need to step up the pressure on all parts of the government to get better treatment for him - take him off of the "Prevention of Injury" watch and off of the maximum security designation.

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul have repeatedly requested entry to the brig to see for themselves the conditions under which Bradley is being held, but so far, the military has denied them entrance.  This is OUTRAGEOUS!

For more pictures, see Code Pink Bares It All! and Code Pink pictures

AntiWar Rally in San Francisco Mar 19, 2011

If you would like to see all of the pictures from the event, click this link:

 AntiWar Rally in San Francisco Mar 19, 2011

Around 2000 people showed up including SEIU Local 2, ANSWER, Courage To Resist, Code Pink, IVAW, VFP, and LOTS of other groups!

Most of the VFP contingent posed for a picture

We got to be on stage while Camillo Mejia was speaking, so got this shot with a great San Francisco background.

Gerry and Helen and Anne, who is from Willits - several people from Willets came to the event.

Willits community vigil

Gerry and I attended the weekly vigil held in Willits every Friday.  This group of friends has been holding vigil since before the start of the Iraq war and haven't missed even one Friday, regardless of the weather!

Stop Torturing Bradley Manning

I sent this underwear and a letter to the brig commander at Quantico where Bradley Manning is being held.  The letter reads:
March 11, 2011

Quantico Brig Commanding Officer
CW02 Denise Barnes
3247 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, VA  22134

Dear Ms. Barnes,

Bradley Manning must be presumed innocent until proven guilty!  He is not suicidal and represents no threat to himself or others!

End the TORTURE NOW!  Lift the "Prevention of Injury" watch order NOW!  Treat him like other prisoners who are awaiting trial.  23 hours of solitary confinement, sleeping under a stiff, scratchy cardboard "blanket" NAKED, and not seeing daylight for months on end is tantamount to torture - stop the inhumane treatment NOW!

Helen Jaccard

Lost Coast Before the Tsunami

If you drive from Ferndale toward the coast you'll find a little-used sometimes dirt road that winds steeply South along the coast and across mountainous cliffs.  There is the occasional ranch house and infrequently a pickup truck goes by - sometimes you have to pull off to the side of the road to let someone by, as it's a one-lane road in places.

Toward the end of the road are two day-use BLM areas - this area was once used by the military and the BLM hasn't decided what to do with it yet.  Although people along the coast know of "Lost Coast", they usually don't know anything about this part of it that dead ends at someone's home.

We spent the night at the furthest area, arriving after dark.  Soon after we arrived, a storm came in, making the RV rock from all directions all night.  The morning brought a bit of a sun break so we walked down 1/2 miles of steep terrain to the beach and back.  The remnants of the Japanese tsunami hit the coast about noon that day, but we were already gone and completely unaware of the earthquake and tsunami.

VFP Northern California Convention

Phil's summary of the VFP Northern California Convention in Ukiah, CA on March 4-6, 2011 is so good that I decided to start with it and edit my own later (see below).  It was an excellent conference and we're really glad to have attended.  Approximately 50 people were there on Saturday - we met many wonderful, dedicated activists and made lots of new friends!

One thing I'm really upset about is the new torture procedure laid on Bradley Manning, where he is forced to sleep naked under a stiff, scratchy wool cardboard "blanket", then stand at attention naked each morning to receive his underwear back for the day.  The wool is giving him a rash, and now he has no underwear to protect his privates from it.  THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!!  As soon as I can get to a thrift store, I'm going to buy some men's underwear, write STOP THE TORTURE on it, and send it to the brig commander, base commander, the Pentagon and The White House.  I know it will take weeks to clear through security, so I'll also be sending postcards to the above.  In addition, I want to write letters to editors of local newspapers (words such as these):

U.S. GOVERNMENT POLICY: FORCED NUDITY ADDED TO TORTURE OF INNOCENT ARMY PRIVATE WHO FACES POSSIBLE DEATH PENALTY

PFC Bradley Manning, accused of releasing video and documents to WikiLeaks, has been charged with "aiding the enemy", which carries a death penalty as punishment.  Contrary to the psychologists and medical doctors at the Quantico, VA Marine Brig, his captors are now forcing him to surrender his underwear every night for 7 hours and sleep completely nude under a stiff, scratchy wool/cardboard "blanket".  I call on all concerned citizens to contact the Quantico Brig, their senators and representatives in Congress and demand an end to the 23 hour a day solitary confinement and torture of Bradley.  The brig psychologists have determined that he is not a danger to himself and others and should not be the recipient of this harsh treatment.    

President Obama said that we don't torture our prisoners - this is not true - we do, if they are political prisoners, even before they are convicted of anything.  We are all supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, right?

Bradley Manning tried to inform his command of the war crimes he read about as an intelligence officer.  They told him to cover it up.  He refused and followed his conscience, the Nuremburg Principles, and the Geneva Conventions by informing the public - he is a HERO, not a criminal.  Exposing war crimes is a duty, not a crime!

Helen Jaccard

____________________

Report from Veterans for Peace Regional Convention in Ukiah March 4-6, 2011

by Phil Pflager

VFP101 members Anne & Phil Pflager and George Johnson attended the conference and agree that the trip to Ukaih was worth the drive. In addition to good presentations the food was excellent. The Ukiah chapter, VFP116, worked to gain access to the Ukiah Veterans building for a nominal fee. Other veteran groups chartered by congress have free use of the building and some of those groups feel that since Veterans for Peace is not chartered they should pay the same price as the general public for use of the building. VFP116 is working to correct that situation.

The Veterans Building has a kitchen so VFP116 hired a caterer to serve all meals. The cost of meals was included in the attendance fee of $50.00. Not bad for dinner Friday, breakfast lunch and dinner Saturday and breakfast and lunch Sunday. It was a great idea to have the meals in the building because it kept the group together and gave people more time to get to know one another.

The Friday night social started out with poetry, music by Annie and the Vets then ended with song by the Ukiah Raging Grannies. After introductions Saturday Fredy Champagne of chapter 22 gave a rousing introduction to their project the "Golden Rule." The Golden Rule is a thirty-foot ketch that sailed into the U.S. government nuclear testing zone in the Pacific. After several decades the Golden Rule was battered by storm and sunk off Eureka. It was salvaged by a local shipyard owner and was to be cut up until VFP chapters in Garberville and Humboldt Bay got involved and decided to restore it to carry on the struggle against nuclear weapons and warfare. (from Grandmothers for Peace International spring 2011) For more information on the Golden Rule project see:

The Golden Rule Project
http://www.heritech.com/goldenrule/goldenrule.htm

Saturday after lunch a representative of each of the VFP groups attending gave a group report then Jeff Patterson of "Courage to Resist" did a presentation about Bradley Manning and the tortuous conditions he is being held under. Courage to Resist is funding a lawyer to assist Bradley in his defense and states that "Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime." It appears that the military is trying to break Manning so they can avoid an embarrassing trial. For more information on the situation please visit:
www.couragetoresist.org

There was a "Utilizing Social Media presentation" on media Saturday afternoon that demonstrated that press releases are important and should be written like a news story, not like a press release. It is better to hold actions in the morning or early afternoon, not at noon or six pm when the news is on the air.

Peter Phillips was the keynote speaker Saturday evening. He did a powerful presentation that I captured with my Flip Cam. I have posted the thirty-minute presentation on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgDeoW4mJ3c

After breakfast Sunday morning members had the opportunity to give a short presentation on any subject of interest to the group. George spoke about "Banished Veterans" and I talked about the advantage of having someone in the group like Doug Nelson who is knowledgeable of veterans rights to help them to find the route to benefits legally granted them.

George decided to stay over until Monday to deal with the VFP table while Anne and I left Ukiah before lunch. It was a good meeting and I hope one day we can hold a central California convention in the Bay Area.

Phil Pflager
Chapter Contact VFP101

Veterans for Peace Ukiah regional convention (10min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsHr8rUb5rE