To blog or to be on the street. Choices! I know I can't do it all, but I've been in discussion with friends and disseminating information about this past weekend and the days to come. On Saturday, I walked the Sunnyside to Brooklyn segment of the Return the Light LI Peace Walk, dropped in on the Green's festival in Washington Square Park, and participated in the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Stonewalk observance and talk in Harlem, From Personal Tragedy to Political Consciousness (featuring Nick Berg's father Michael and Rachel Corrie's parents).

Sunday was awesome with my becoming one of the masses in the half a million plus marching in the No to the Bush Agenda march on the West Side of Manhattan, past the Madison Square Garden RNC site. I came in from West Queens and flocked with the doves from Astorians for Peace and Justice, its members and those of Sunnyside-Woodside Peace, as well as with some of my friends from West Queens Independent Democratic Club. Great and inspiring day, and YES we made to Central Park where lots gathered after the march on the Great Lawn which we were denied for a rally but we claimed for peace anyway. (Ian Hart's doves made us noticeable in the park -- and the green grass was reviving after a long day in the sun.) Today I've posted some new events, FYI, to some of my political groups, find the message at the NYFOR yahoo group, link above, or paste this into your browser: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYFOR/

At the very least, I hope New Yorkers carry lights this evening and keep their house lights ablaze in support of the http://www.lightupthesky.org -- Now, let's post this, maybe post a march picture, with me wearing my comfortable glasses and a pin covered hat, and then out into the streets!!!

Peace and justice, one and all -- and hugs,
Kate Anne

As we await the decision about whether or not there will be an official NO to the Bush Agenda! rally in NYC on August 29th, we know for sure that there WILL be a march -- let's all plan to be there and go wherever we want afterwards -- Central Park included. Keep the Lawyer's Guild number handy -- see August 18 posting -- but have let's have fun exercising our First Amendment Rights.

Folks can join a contingent from West Queens at 10:45 under the 46th/Bliss Street subway entrance at Queens Blvd. This contingent will join with others at about 11:15 AM at Queensboro Plaza, front of the Manhattan bound N train. Otherwise, any and all interested in speaking out for peace and justice and against the Bush agenda should go to the gathering site in Manhattan by NOON -- between 14th Street and 23rd Street, stretching from Fifth to Ninth Avenues. The march will kick off at noon and head up Seventh Avenue past Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican Convention. For updates check http://www.unitedforpeace.org, the FOR or WQIDC Yahoo listserv email messages, or contact UFPJ at 212-868-5545 OR me at 917-374-9679. (This number MAY be useful the day of the march if lines aren’t jammed.) There will be other events too some of which I hope to post here.

The people, united (FOR peace and justice) will NEVER be defeated. AMEN.

After several peace events commemorating the Hiroshima-Nagasaki tragedies, I was doing some very early Christmas planning -- searching for dove cards. I landed at the Current Catalog (Colorado Springs, CO) web site http://currentcatalog.com -- whose products I have purchased for years, but maybe not THIS Christmas, because the only dove card I saw had red and white flag bunting draping it. Is this all they can offer, I wondered and instead of merely shaking my head and moving on, I decided to make the personal political and I left this comment --

"I would have loved a dove peace Christmas card -- but not one with the semblance of a flag on it, since my country has been guilty of preemptive war and instead of sowing seeds of peace has sowed seeds of more war. We must change things around. (One of my bosses is ex-CIA and he agrees with me about our Middle East policy fiasco.) I see the snow man with peace - joy - love, but will you have something else? I grew up proud of my flag and flew it when it didn't stand for war and death and torture of innocent civilians. This is Hiroshima-Nagasaki remembrance weekend and we together must make positive steps toward a better and more just world. Our country has to re-join the world community. I pray for that -- and for non-jingoistic dove peace cards.

Thanks for keeping me apprised.

Kate Anne of the peace blog
http://kateanne.com"

~~~

Wonder if someone from Current will visit my site -- or just send Ashcroft to come and get me. I shouldn't laugh -- I may need my ex-CIA colleagues to rescue me. After how Bush scapegoated the CIA chief, I imagine there is little love lost there. (I wonder how many are voting for Kerry? I only wish he would be less militaristic and remember his anti-war past.)

Please continue to make the personal political -- and work for peace, justice and nonviolence.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

In has been said that NYC is in a constant orange state anyway, but Bush's political ploy of having Tom Ridge call an official Orange Alert based on information primarily dating prior to 9/11 has most every peacenik seeing orange. With cops all over the city at financial buildings, subway stops, railroad entrances, and other likely terrorist targets, our tax $$$ are being liberally spent by Dubya and his hacks, prior to their arrival in bulk at the end of the month. Meanwhile his actions continue to grow the seeds of terrorism even as he casts aspersions on John Kerry. See William Rivers Pitt's article at Truthout.org for some excellent thoughts on this subject, but let's reduce the threat level by working for regime change.

Tuesday was an excellent meeting of United for Peace and Justice (see http://unitedforpeace.org) despite some vocal yo-yos who were trying to distract everyone from the job at hand by haranguing about the sad but necessary capitulation regarding the 8/29 rally site. Yes, we all would have preferred Central Park to the West Side Highway, but there comes a time to take what one can get and go with it. Of more importance is to put pressure on the politicians to demand NO PENS. Let's call our councilmembers and the 311 City Number to express the need for freedom to congregate as well as freedom of speech. If our movement is restrained and we cannot reach our colleagues, our voices are impeded. Anyone in NYC for February 15th knew the frustration of trying to reach the rally site on First Avenue. As Jimmy Breslin wrote in his column, the hawks were afraid of the one defining photograph of the masses for peace. Too many never made it to the actual site, though a half a million people were all over the East Side of Manhattan. No to pens and penning us down. The people united will never be defeated. See orange and continue to rally -- now, on August 29th, and forward to the polls in November.