On March 20, 2003, the war officially began in Iraq and in San Francisco many took to the streets to express their dismay at this messed up policy. I was out and about in San Francisco early that morning and managed to get some video footage of events as they unfolded. I was also able to tape some interviews with the people as they braved ridicule, assault and arrest in their efforts to protest the war.

So, (below) there are many great sites about the issues that the people in my video are talking about. Please, have a look at some of them and get involved yourself. Some of this footage made it into We Interrupt This Emire ... and the segment itself was included (just as you see it above) in the compilation tape known as, Shutdown Downtown Fogtown. That tape features short edits from myself and others within the Whispered Media, Indybay and the Video Activist Network community. Be sure and check Indybay's Calender for upcoming screenings and other related events and check out some of the links below. Thank you and stay strong! Sincerely, Jeff - April, 2003

Act Against War

Bay Area Anti-War News

Who's Profitting? A Concise Printout

Perspective - The Carlyle Group

Enemy Combatant Radio

Project for the New American Century, American Enterprise Institute ... These guys planned all this madness way before 9/11 and it is clearly laid out in their strategic defense report of 2000. Paul Wolfowitz and Rumsfield, and others who are currently associated with Bush and the war machine, have been planning for a "Pearl Harbor" type of event to whip up support for their invasions into the Middle-East and the Caspian Sea regions. Now, wars are actually raging in the former Palestine, in Afghanistan, in Iraq; and, opportunistic leaders in other countries (i.e. Russia, India, Indonesia, Africa) are using our wars to cover for their attacks on marginalized populations in their disputed border regions. So, regional destabilization is well underway and the U.S.'s murderous resource grubbing is breeding new generations of terrorists all over the world. The Heritage Foundation and the Project for the New American Century have much to be proud of. Also, check out the likes of James Woolsey (former director of the C.I.A.) and William Bennett (Distinguished Fellow of the Heritage Foundation) who are going around right now and making the case for war.

American Debate ... Unfortunately the dillapidated quality of our public education and the overstimulating nature of our media environments have created a population that is largely incapable of asking relevant questions and engaging in the type of debate that is necessary for any hope of real democracy. Reading these letters to Peace.Protest.Net only reveals why it may be too late for American democracy to be properly revived. Our little experiement in representative democracy was really going well (especially after all the hard-won ammendments that came out of the anti-war movements of the 60's.) It's too bad that we have rested on our laurels and let the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma and a big plane attack on the Pentagon and the Twin Towers (as deeply tragic as it was) undermine our democracy and send us spiraling into an abyss of crisis politics, civil liberties rollbacks, beligerant wars/ psy-ops and destabilization tactics in many lands. But, many of the right-wing hate-mailers don't seem to notice that Ashcroft has obliterated the Constitution. They claim to be vigilant when it comes to defending the 2cd Amendment. Why not engage your fellow citizens then, in reasoned debate about specific points, observations and claims? Wouldn't this be more productive for our times than spouting hateful vitriol, threats with return email addresses and tired partisan diatribes against a peace movement you know nothing about? Why not read the available material, find a specific premise or claim that you disaggree with, reference this and th en proceed to make an argument, or a point. Raise a counter claim of your very own?

I don't see anything like a real discussion or debate going on in hardly any web-based threads, talk radio shows, tv political debate shows, schools or other media environments that I encounter. It is truly disappointing. How to improve this situation and become more open and humane? If we don't improve our dialogue and the quality of our information - we seem destined for the great participatory function of dutiful spectators and unquestioning shoppers. But, truth is flourishing too and there is also some resistance. So, we'll see ... how will the peoples of the world respond to the WTO, the IMF and to Bush's war machine? Will we be able to overcome our current institutionalized fixation on petroleum-dependent economies? Much hangs in the balance. I personally hope we can rise above their game sometimes and do something proactive - something that we want to do (plant big gardens in neighborhoods and where people live ... or, taking buildings that simply house people off of the "power-grid" and building structures that are very insulated and efficient and equipped with solar pannels and other local power generators - this building would allow its inhabitants to say, "up yours!" to any energy giant wanting to bill them monthly. Thus, it may be possible to avoid a series of preventable crises. But, we have to change some very fundamental things about the way we actually provide power for our activities and the ways we acquire our food - we have to really start getting to the next level of meaningful and sustainable community arrangement; sustainable ... inclusive, integrated transportation systems; better, cleaner sources of energy for production - we have to do these things now. We have to manifest our evolution soon or face some ever-grimmer choices as resource wars rage on and ecosystems fail.

But, getting back to the hateful emailers - whether you agree with one position or another - don't you actually want to know what the opposition is saying? Don't you want to actually try and sway some of your opponets and win more over to your way of seeing things? If you have really investigated and thought things out for yourself, aren't you then eager to at least have your real positions voiced and understood? Of course ... so please, can the hate and go about answering relevant questions ... or something like that.