Tuesday, May 22, 2007

VFP Meeting - May 24 7 pm

Ernest Gruening Chapter (Southcentral Alaska), Meeting Agenda

Thursday, May 24, 7 pm, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Tudor & Lake Otis, Room 3 (downstairs)

  1. Introductions & Discuss Agenda
  2. Chapter Business-Finances
  3. Recent Events
    1. Peace Pie, May 11 http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/297/36/
    2. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) petition drive, Sat., May 12
  4. Upcoming Events
    1. Non-violence training - Beverages provided; please bring lunch Suggested donation: $25

i. Friday, May 25, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

1. Immanuel Presbyterian (333-5253)

2. 2311 Pembroke Street, Anchorage

ii. Tuesday, May 29, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

1. Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (248-3737)

2. 3201 Turnagain Street, Anchorage

iii. Wednesday, May 30, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

1. Room 316, Rasmussen Hall (former Business Education Building),UAA

  1. Pressure on Politicians
    1. Congressional Delegation- What can we do?
    2. Statewide Resolution?
    3. Municipal Resolution?
  2. Sponsorship of Films-Sub-committee
    1. "Taking the Hill" (http://www.dctvny.org/productions/TTH.html)

i. About 50 vets who ran for congress in 2004

ii. Proposal for joint sponsorship with the Democratic Party on May 22 or 24

  1. Next Meeting on June.14 (2nd and 4th Thursday of every month)
    1. Meeting over the summer?

Friday, May 18, 2007

From Our Democratic Party - FYI

ALASKA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

 

MAY 2007 STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING WEEKEND

 

Friday, May 18th

 

ALASKA DEMOCRATIC PARTY NIGHT AT THE HULLABALOO <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1031322/pid/815116>

 

Social Hour at Platinum Jaxx (no-host bar) - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

 

Hullabaloo starring Alice Welling and Brian Hermann (also at Platinum

Jaxx) - 7:00 pm

Comedy-filled evening of Alaskan History and Politics

Tickets: $15 each; Dinner and drinks, no-host

 

Saturday, May 19th

 

CENTRAL COMMITEE MEETING

<http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1012525/pid/815116>

Anchorage Hilton - 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

$50 covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and the cost of the meeting room.

 

THIRD ANNUAL JEFFERSON-JACKSON DINNER AND AUCTION <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1010888/pid/815116>

Anchorage Hilton Ballroom - 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

$65 per person / Tables of 10 - $650 / $55 per person for monthly donors Table signs will acknowledge groups Guest Speaker: Washington State Representative Larry Seaquist

 

Sunday, May 20th

 

MARY MCKINNON FUND BRUNCH

[/URLTEXT]http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/1030335/pid/815116[/LINK]At

the home of Edith McKinnon Repp - 2700 Karluk Street, Anchorage - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Proceeds provide funds to help women candidates in their first run for public office.

Donations encouraged and gratefully accepted

 

 UPCOMING EVENTS

 

May 16, 2007 *State Legislature Adjourns* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1010887/pid/815116>

 

May 16, 2007 *Diane Benson for Congress Kick-Off Work Session* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1030884/pid/815116>

 

May 18, 2007 *Alaska Democratic Party Night at the Hullabaloo* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1031322/pid/815116>

-

May 18, 2007 *Demo Memo on KUDO 1080*

<http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1016719/pid/815116>

 

May 18, 2007 *Mat-Su Democrats Egan Dinner* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1020606/pid/815116>

 

May 19, 2007 *Alaska Democratic Party May 2007 State Central

Committee*

<http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1012525/pid/815116>

 

May 19, 2007 *Third Annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner and Auction* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1010888/pid/815116>

 

May 20, 2007 *Mary McKinnon Fund Brunch* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1030335/pid/815116>

 

May 20, 2007 *Mat-Su Democrats Business Meeting* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1020605/pid/815116>

 

May 23, 2007 *Interior Democrats Monthly Meeting* <http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1007043/pid/815116>

 

May 30, 2007 to Jun 3, 2007 *National Federation of Democratic Women

(NFDW) Convention*

<http://www.alaskademocrats.org/ht/display/eventdetails/i/1018411/pid/815116>

 

 

--

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Jon Lockert

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net

 

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

VoteVets Ad Targets Republicans

The new legislative approach is being taken as a retired Army general is criticizing the administration’s war policy in advertisements that focus on more than a dozen Republican members of Congress. The retired general, John Batiste, the commander of the First Infantry Division from August 2002 to June 2005, appears in a television commercial to go on the air Wednesday under the sponsorship of Votevets.org, a group of veterans opposing the war.

The ad opens with video of the president vowing to listen to his commanders.

“You did not listen, Mr. President,” General Batiste says in the advertisement. “You continue to pursue the failed strategy that is breaking our great Army and Marine Corps.”

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Agenda for 5/10 Meeting 7 pm at St. Mary's

Ernest Gruening Chapter (Southcentral Alaska), Meeting Agenda

Thursday, May 10, 7 pm, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Tudor & Lake Otis, Room 3 (downstairs)

  1. Introductions & Discuss Agenda
  2. Chapter Business-Finances
  3. Recent Events
    1. Peace Coalition – Update from May 5th meeting
  4. Upcoming Events
    1. Peace Pie, May 11 http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/297/36/

i. Folks will be taking pies to the offices of our congressional delegation early Friday afternoon.

ii. Statewide coordinator is Lori Draper from Seward. You can contact her thru the web link above.

iii. Proposal: connect with regular Friday vigil from noon till 1:00 pm. at the Federal Bldg. Go to Sen. Stevens’ office. Then go to Peterson building (Murkowski and Young).

    1. Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) petition drive, May 12

i. Banners have been made

ii. Call press contacts

iii. Food/Drink?

iv. Donation for yellow carnations

v. Bumper stickers

  1. Pressure on Congressional Delegation- What can we do?

i. KEEP IT UP

ii. Collecting Signatures?

  1. Sponsorship of Films-Sub-committee
    1. "Taking the Hill" (http://www.dctvny.org/productions/TTH.html)

i. About 50 vets who ran for congress in 2004

ii. Proposal for joint sponsorship with the Democratic Party on May 22 or 24

iii. Invited speaker: Larry Sequist (http://www.larryseaquist.com/)

  1. Next Meeting on May.24 (2nd and 4th Thursday of every month)

Jon Lockert

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net


Monday, May 07, 2007

Check Out VoteVets.org

VOTEVETS.ORG MEMBER BRUHNS AD, DONE BY OLIVER STONE, BEGINS TO AIR!
VoteVets.org’s John Bruhns, whose video at VideoVets was chosen by thousands of Americans to represent veterans and their families, is the star of a new ad directed by Oliver Stone. That ad was just released. You can view it here: http://pol.moveon.org/videovets Congrats to John, and keep your eyes peeled for the ad on a television near you!
VoteVets Board Member, Paul Eaton, on Hardball
Major General (ret.) Paul D Eaton, former commanding general in Iraq, and VoteVets.org Board Member, speaks with Chris Matthews about the President's veto of Iraq legislation
VoteVets.org Board Member General Eaton Writes President Bush on Veto
Major General Paul D. Eaton (ret.), a member of the Board of Advisors to VoteVets.org, today wrote a letter to President Bush, responding to his veto of legislation on Iraq. Click here to view the whole letter.

In the letter, Eaton writes, "As someone who served this nation for decades, I have the utmost respect for the office you hold. However, as a man of conscience, I could not sit idly by as you told the American people today that your veto was based on the recommendations of military men. Your administration ignored the advice of our military's finest minds before, and I see no evidence that you are listening to them now."

Military Families Speak Out Peace Event, Saturday, May 12, Noon

This is the press release I sent out this morning—we can talk about it at our meeting on Thursday night, May 10 at 7 pm at St. Mary’s Episcopal (Tudor & Lake Otis).

As a member of the Alaska Peace Coalition, I am sending you the information on the Petition Drive/Peace Rally that will be held on Saturday, May 12 at noon at the intersection of Northern Lights Blvd. and New Seward Hwy. The event is being organized by local members of Military Families Speak Out (MSFO, http://www.mfso.org/ ). The MSFO members will be collecting signatures for their petition drive to:

“Fund our troops, and de-fund this war. Fully fund the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops from

Iraq, and the care they need when they get home. Do not bargain or compromise with the lives of our

loved ones or the loved ones of others. Do not abandon our troops to an unjust and unjustifiable war.

Strengthen your resolve, use your ‘power of the purse’ and end this war.”

The Coalition will be encouraging everyone in the Anchorage area who is opposed to the current failed policies in Iraq to come out and support these brave family members. The MSFO members are trying to wake up our fellow citizens to the folly of throwing away more young lives at this four-year old occupation in the midst of a horrific civil war. These lives are being risked in a faulty attempt to solve Iraq’s political problems with military force.

We understand that it will only be the ever louder voice of the citizens raised in opposition to this folly that will strengthen the political will in Washington, DC to end the occupation.

Amberle, local MSFO organizer can be reached at: 529-2947

Jon Lockert, President, Veterans for Peace—Ernest Gruening Chapter (Southcentral Alaska)

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net


Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death

Noah Shachtman Email 05.02.07 | 2:00 AM

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.

Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.

The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.

"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has -- it's most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."

Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.

Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action."

Despite the absolutist language, the guidelines' author, Major Ray Ceralde, said there is some leeway in enforcement of the rules. "It is not practical to check all communication, especially private communication," he noted in an e-mail. "Some units may require that soldiers register their blog with the unit for identification purposes with occasional spot checks after an initial review. Other units may require a review before every posting."

But with the regulations drawn so tightly, "many commanders will feel like they have no choice but to forbid their soldiers from blogging -- or even using e-mail," said Jeff Nuding, who won the bronze star for his service in Iraq. "If I'm a commander, and think that any slip-up gets me screwed, I'm making it easy: No blogs," added Nuding, writer of the "pro-victory" Dadmanly site. "I think this means the end of my blogging."

Active-duty troops aren't the only ones affected by the new guidelines. Civilians working for the military, Army contractors -- even soldiers' families -- are all subject to the directive as well.

But, while the regulations may apply to a broad swath of people, not everybody affected can actually read them. In a Kafka-esque turn, the guidelines are kept on the military's restricted Army Knowledge Online intranet. Many Army contractors -- and many family members -- don't have access to the site. Even those able to get in are finding their access is blocked to that particular file.

"Even though it is supposedly rewritten to include rules for contractors (i.e., me) I am not allowed to download it," e-mails Perry Jeffries, an Iraq war veteran now working as a contractor to the Armed Services Blood Program.

The U.S. military -- all militaries -- have long been concerned about their personnel inadvertently letting sensitive information out. Troops' mail was read and censored throughout World War II; back home, government posters warned citizens "careless talk kills."

Military blogs, or milblogs, as they're known in service-member circles, only make the potential for mischief worse. On a website, anyone, including foreign intelligence agents, can stop by and look for information.

"All that stuff we used to get around a bar and say to each other -- well, now because we're publishing it in open forums, now it's intel," said milblogger and retired Army officer John Donovan.

Passing on classified data -- real secrets -- is already a serious military crime. The new regulations (and their author) take an unusually expansive view of what kind of unclassified information a foe might find useful. In an article published by the official Army News Service, Maj. Ceralde "described how the Pentagon parking lot had more parked cars than usual on the evening of Jan. 16, 1991, and how pizza parlors noticed a significant increase of pizza to the Pentagon.... These observations are indicators, unclassified information available to all … that Operation Desert Storm (was about to) beg(i)n."

Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, called Ceralde's example "outrageous."

"It's true that from an OPSEC (operational security) perspective, almost anything -- pizza orders, office lights lit at odd hours, full or empty parking lots -- can potentially tip off an observer that something unusual is afoot," he added. "But real OPSEC is highly discriminating. It does not mean cutting off the flow of information across the board. If on one day in 1991 an unusual number of pizza orders coincided with the start of Desert Storm, it doesn't mean that information about pizza orders should now be restricted. That's not OPSEC, that's just stupidity."

During the early days of the Iraq war, milblogs flew under the radar of the Defense Department's information security establishment. But after soldiers like Specialist Colby Buzzell began offering detailed descriptions of firefights that were scantily covered in the press, blogs began to be viewed by some in the military as a threat -- an almost endless chorus of unregulated voices that could say just about anything.

Buzzell, for one, was banned from patrols and confined to base after such an incident. Military officials asked other bloggers to make changes to their sites. One soldier took down pictures of how well armor stood up to improvised bombs; a military spouse erased personal information from her site -- including "dates of deployment, photos of the family, the date their next child is expected, the date of the baby shower and where the family lives," said Army spokesman Gordon Van Fleet.

But such cases have been rare, Major Elizabeth Robbins noted in a paper (.pdf) for the Army's Combined Arms Center.

"The potential for an OPSEC violation has thus far outstripped the reality experienced by commanders in the field," she wrote.

And in some military circles, bloggers have gained forceful advocates. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, for example, now regularly arranges exclusive phone conferences between bloggers and senior commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq. Major Robbins, for one, has argued strongly for easing the restrictions on the soldier-journalists.

"The reputation of the Army is maintained on many fronts, and no one fights harder on its behalf than our young soldiers. We must allow them access to the fight," Robbins wrote. "To silence the most credible voices -- those at the spear's edge -- and to disallow them this function is to handicap ourselves on a vital, very real battlefield."

Nevertheless, commanders have become increasingly worried about the potential for leaks. In April 2005, military leaders in Iraq told milbloggers to "register" (.pdf) their sites with superior officers. In September, the Army made the first revision of its OPSEC regulations since the mid-'90s, ordering GIs to talk to their commanders before posting potentially-problematic information. Soldiers began to drop their websites, in response.

More bloggers followed suit, when an alert came down from highest levels of the Pentagon that "effective immediately, no information may be placed on websites … unless it has been reviewed for security concerns," and the Army announced it was activating a team, the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, to scan blogs for information breaches. An official Army dispatch told milbloggers, "Big Brother is not watching you, but 10 members of a Virginia National Guard unit might be." That unit continues to look for security violations, new regulations in hand.

See the Wired blog Danger Room for additional information on the Army's blogger ban.

Rally to Protest Bush's Veto, May 2, 5 pm, Benson & Seward

Rally to Protest Bush's Veto, May 2, 5 pm, Benson & Seward

Here are the details:
Intersection of Benson & Seward on Public Sidewalks Park in Sears Lot.
Wednesday, May 2 2007, 5:00 PM
RSVP: http://pol.moveon.org/event/vetorally/37215?id=10263-7762266-GRigk8&t=4

If this event doesn't work for you, click below to search for another rally near you:

http://pol.moveon.org/event/vetorally/?search_zip=99501&id=10263-7762266-GRigk8&t=5

For more info—contact Ed at 830-9755.

Congress is about to send an important bill to the White House—it would require the president to start bringing our troops home from Iraq this year. President Bush has said repeatedly he's going to veto it. It's outrageous. Most Americans support a timeline and he's standing in the way.

This will be a pivotal moment on Iraq—it's not clear what Congress or the president will do after the veto. We need to make clear that President Bush is really vetoing the will of the American people. And we need to tell Congress to hold firm.

There are already more than 200 rallies planned across the country.

The following is a message from the Ed C., host of Protect The Troops-Veto Bush, the Emergency Veto Rally

 

Dear Citizens,

    First off I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for helping at this progressive event.  I truly believe "Democracy is not a spectator Sport" 

     A few ground rules and then I hope everyone has fun at the rally. 

 

1.) No extraneous signs will be allowed. i.e., Impeach Bush, Buck Fush, etc...........

    MoveOn.Org has made it crystal clear that we have on average 7 seconds to get our message across to the public. To that end I would ask you all to please stay on the message.  I have gone to some small expense to have these 8 signs made up and they are of high quality.

 

2.) There will be only one media spokesperson at this event and it will be Ed.

 

3.) If you could arrive a few minutes early I'd appreciate it.  I will be parked on the Southeast corner of the Sears parking lot in a big Red Dodge Ram with camper cover.  Signs will be in the back of my truck.

 

See you all there and let’s start to help take back this Democracy of ours! The greatest public office one can hold is that of Citizen.

 

Jon Lockert

Jon4Paz@AcsAlaska.net