David Swanson discussing and signing his new book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union."

September 3, 2009

6:30 p.m.

Barnes and Noble at Barack's Road Shopping Center

1035 Emmet St Suite A
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 984-0461

We need you! Health Care Reform rally, Monday August 24th, Charlottesvlle, VA at the Downtown Mall, 12 pm to 2 pm.

Join us at the pavilion near City Hall with three demands:

-Vote Yes on the Weiner amendment for single-payer healthcare.
-Keep the Kucinich amendment for states' right to single-payer in the bill.
-Include a strong immediate public option.

Who: YOU and hundreds of community organizers, grassroots activists, and local politicians will gather to demand REAL health care reform. . .now!
What: Highway to Health Care RV Tour Stop: A Rally in Charlottesville, VA
When: Monday, August 24th, 2009, 12 pm - 2 pm
Where: Downtown Mall, Across from City Hall, at the Pavillion (605 E. Main Street)
Why: Americans need comprehensive health care reform. . .now! Therefore AFSCME's been driving an RV cross country, creating dozens of rallies for comprehensive health care reform

Charlottesville, VA
Saturday, July 18, 2009, at noon

Cindy Sheehan, one of the best known peace and justice activists in the United States, will be joined by other speakers in support of public healthcare at a cookout open to the public and the media. Please join Cindy for lunch at noon on Saturday, July, 18, 2009, rain or shine, at 707 Gillespie Ave, Charlottesville, VA, 22902. Cindy will talk about her new book and the need for an expanded public healthcare system.

RSVP: http://afterdowningstreet.org/cindyevent

Cookout With Cindy Sheehan
Charlottesville, VA
Saturday, July 18, 2009

Cindy Sheehan is deservedly the best known peace activist in the United States. Having lost her own son in Iraq, she has worked for the past five years to save others -- and she's not about to let up in her efforts to end our foreign wars and create justice around the world and here at home. More about Cindy:
http://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com

Please join Cindy for lunch at noon on Saturday, July, 18, 2009, rain or shine, at 707 Gillespie Ave, Charlottesville, VA, 22902. Cindy will talk about her new book.

There is no charge, but it is appreciated if you bring something to eat or drink. Please go to this page and post a comment that you are coming and how many are coming with you. And if you are able to bring something to eat or drink and know what it will be, please post that:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/cindyevent

Please forward to friends who might want to come.

By David Swanson

Do they have a fourth of July in Italy? That's not a trick question. This July 4th, Italians plan to gather in Vicenza to take nonviolent action aimed at freeing Italy from U.S. occupation and opposing the proposed construction of an enormous new U.S. military base in a town already swarming with U.S. troops stationed at existing bases. For years now, a major campaign organized by local residents has resisted the construction of the new base. The history of this campaign is chronicled in English here and here. A local referendum voted 95 percent against the base. A leader of the opposition to the base has been elected to the local government. An Italian prime minister has been temporarily thrown out of power. Local activists and members of parliament have visited Washington to oppose the base, and testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs on April 23, 2009. The European media has been unable to avoid the story.

By David Swanson

If I could feel more shame over my country's torture it would be over my university's support for torture. The University of Virginia, which has long paid its employees poverty wages while increasingly becoming a major partner of the U.S. military and its "intelligence" operations, nonetheless still holds for me an image of individual honor and principle. I still imagine that UVA students and professors, staff and alumni, can be expected not to stoop to the lowest possible forms of human behavior.

I have now been bitterly disappointed. On May 13th I attended a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C. The first witness was a law professor with no ties to UVA who spoke out clearly and forthrightly on the illegality of torture.

This is a great video on the problem, but skimps on the solution, just mentioning public financing at the end. Public financing without free media is only half the solution, and such a clean money system must be made mandatory. A plan to do it can be found in my forthcoming book.

By David Swanson

Thus far there are three candidates for two Democratic nominations for Charlottesville City Council. Dave Norris is currently the mayor and is running for reelection on a strong agenda and record. The teeny bit I've been able to follow, he seems more than anyone to be leading worthwhile projects. He's also in close touch with grassroots groups and advocates he should be in touch with. And he's willing to take a stand. When the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice proposed a resolution against attacking Iran, he was willing to do it, and none of the other four City Council Members was.

This public forum on solving the U.S. healthcare crisis was held in Charlottesville, Va., on February 23, 2009. Do attempt this at home by inviting these and other great speakers:

No More Health Insurance Companies Ever Again.
Single-Payer Healthcare Instead.
Come Find Out How We Can Make It Happen...

Healthcare in Crisis: A Public Forum on Monday, February 23rd

PERRIELLO: Congressman Tom Perriello told us on Tuesday that he was undecided about supporting single-payer healthcare. So we asked what we could do to persuade him, and he replied: "Keep doing what you're doing, pressuring me, phone calls and Emails." He also agreed to send a staff person to our forum on Monday. So, everybody needs to turn out, learn about the issue, share our experiences, and make our opinions known.

OBAMA: President Obama is rumored to be planning a major speech on healthcare for prime time on Tuesday ( http://tinyurl.com/dk4m89 ). Charlottesvillians will discuss what they want done on Monday -- always ahead of the curve.