Revolution, A Love Story

Send a check/money order to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox at
PO Box 6264
Vacaville, Ca 95696

Or, use the donate button.








      Dear Friend,

This is a hard letter to write. Last February, I was so excited to tell you that my request to travel to Venezuela to interview President Hugo Chavez had been granted, and that I wanted to make a documentary of that visit. How nice, and different, to tell the truth about that country.


In Revolution, A Love Story, I wanted to produce an anthem to the power of the individual in making courageous and powerful changes.


Not only did I talk to President Chavez, but with President Evo Morales of Bolivia and many other government officials and Venezuelan citizens.


I also had the pleasure of interviewing some amazing American intellectuals:


--Michael Parenti, Ed Asner, and Gore Vidal on US Imperialism:;


--Cynthia McKinney on stolen elections in the US;


--Martin Sanchez, Consul General of Venezuela in San Francisco, to explain the integrity of Venezuelan elections:; and


--Angela Davis, on the real story of capitalism vs. socialism.


This is some of the most powerful material ever put on film, and with the FOXized media, how important that the truth be told.


But after all the work and our grand vision, I am so sorry to have to tell you that the project has stalled. The movie was outlined, I wrote the script, and we had many of the segments put together, but some of our progress was sabotaged.
It is a shame, if not a crime, that after nine months of hard work, and all the recent attacks on Venezuela, with the US rhetoric growing harsher, that this documentary is not out now.


I am absolutely committed to making an inspiring documentary-indeed, it’s all I think about, day and night, but I have to start some aspects over from scratch. The good news is that it can be a better movie.


If you pre-ordered a copy, and you want a refund, please let me know. However, since I have spent more of my own money on this project than we received in pre-orders, it may take me a little while. Saying that, I am committed to refunding every penny to my loyal and awesome supporters.
If you would like a $23 refund (or a $50 sponsorship refund) please email me at LovinRevolution@gmail.com and let me know if you paid with check or by PayPal.
However, I am 100% committed to reorganizing and making this film. When it is finished, I will fulfill the orders that remain.


If you would like to help me make the film as fast as possible-and I am dedicating my life to doing so--a $50 sponsorship, or even an additional $50, would be so much appreciated. $100, $250, or even $500 would be magnificent. But any amount would help.


I wish you, and our cause, the happiest New Year. Please help me make that happen.


Love & Peace


Cindy Sheehan


PS: Nothing is more important than the truth. Please help me tell it.



BOYS FLYING KITE
In San Agustin, Caracas, Vz

"Second Chances" by Cindy Sheehan





THE BEAT GOES ON
In case you don’t know, Michael Vick is the current starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, but while he was QB of the Atlanta Falcons, he was arrested, tried and convicted of running a dog-fighting ring that contained some of the most vile torture, cruelty, and death to mans’ “best-friend” that were tragically bred for Michael Vick’s sick and twisted pleasures.
After spending 23 months both in prison or under house arrest, Michael Vick was signed to play for the Philadelphia Eagles and he earned the position of starting QB with a seven million dollar, two-year contract.
I believe prisons should be rehabilitative and not punitive, but was justice served and did Michael Vick pay his debt to society for his horrendous crimes? Is he redeemed? Of course, what he did was heinous and inhumane and thinking about it fills me with disgust, but our president is not similarly conflicted. On Sunday, from Hawaii, Obama reportedly called Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Eagles and huge donor to Barack Obama and other Democrats to “thank” him for giving Vick a “second chance.”
Hmmm—“Second chances” are almost miraculous for some people and impossible for others. One similar call could take Mumia off of death row, or pardon railroaded defense attorney, Lynne Stewart, or get Pvt. Bradley Manning out of his inhumane imprisonment (this list could fill a book, I am afraid, so I’ll stop now).
Also, a study by the Independent Committee on Reentry and Employment, for example, found that up to 60% of ex-cons in New York was still unemployed one year after release. Stats on this are difficult to find, like most statistics on unemployment (which only count those that are receiving unemployment checks, or applying for them), but I am almost 100% sure that 100% of the 60% are not Michael Vicks or fictional, Gordon Gekkos, looking for multi-million dollar salary scores after incarceration. Most certainly, many of these “ex-cons” looking for work didn’t commit as heinous of a crime as Vick did, either, but that’s something we can only speculate on.
Many humans (including myself) have a soft spot in their hearts for animals. In America, we seem very fond of our dogs. In fact, I remember back in March of 2008, a video emerged on the interwebs showing a US Marine named Lance Corporal Motari throwing a puppy off of a cliff while on duty in Iraq. The outrage was enormous and according to Snopes.Com, the Marine Corps eventually discharged the Marine and one of his buddies. My thought at the time was: “Of course, Marines can throw puppies off of cliffs, they kick Iraqi doors in, kill innocent people, and spray population centers with white phosphorous, among other war crimes. What’s a puppy?”
So, in my mind, the “second chance” for Michael Vick evolves to the video of Marines throwing a puppy from a cliff which itself evolves to the Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video that was released last March. This video clearly shows an Army unit in the air and on the ground attacking journalists and children and laughing about it on tape. The Collateral Murder video has 302, 000 hits on “Google,” yet when one “Googles” Michael Vick and Barack Obama, we get 10,700,000 hits! What’s wrong with this picture?
Almost three thousand of our fellow humans were killed on 9/11, and their murderers still haven’t been brought to justice, whether you think Osama bin Laden or Dick Cheney was the “master-mind.” One is either dead, or in hiding, and the other hiding out in the open with his phalanx of Secret Service and evil sneer to protect him. Both of them are extremely wealthy, in any case, and are protected from accountability by the institutions that gave birth to their evil and which help sustain them with phony investigations predicated on institutional, not justice. There are no “second chances” for those killed on 9/11 or their families who miss them and long for their presence.
After 9/11, whether Dick Cheney planned the crime, or not, he and the cabal of evil that surrounded him invaded two countries in search of massive profits, but talked a gullible public into believing that these high crimes and crimes against humanity (wars of aggression, according to the Nuremburg Tribunals, are the highest form of war crime) were for “justice.” I think, unless one is the most recalcitrant neocon or Fox Noised American, most of us realize by now that the wars that still rage on after a decade were bogus and based on fairy tales supported by centuries of a mythic America that, if she doesn’t “do the right thing,” at least she always has “good intentions.”
The few that still support the wars, often use “3000 Americans were killed on 9/11” as their excuse for revenge, but even if we only count U.S. troop deaths, over twice that number have died now from the war and hundreds from suicide or other illnesses caused by deployment. Aren’t these “Americans,” too? They have no “second chance” to make better choices. I can’t help it, but sometimes I go over the dozens of different choices Casey could have made differently to be alive today—even if the bullet that made mincemeat out of his beautiful brain was a few inches to the right or left. Sometimes, I can’t bear the fact that I didn’t carry through with my threat to hit him with my car the last time he was home. Sigh, “second chances” don’t usually appear to we here down in the working-class.
Then the biggest class of humans who don’t get much of a “second chance” are the millions killed or displaced by the “hot wars” of Iraq/Af/Pak and the other almost 1000 places the US military is currently deployed around the world like a thinly-sliced Christmas ham. Also, we never hear about the millions of people “living” off of less than $3 a day, while Vick, Osama, Obama, George and Dick get their millions and the banksters get their billions.
Reading the stories of how Vick’s associates tortured the dogs broke my heart, but former Justice Department employee, John Yoo, wrote the justification for HUMAN torture methods that included water-boarding (Vicks’ scum actually hung dogs in the pool to drown them for not performing well), yet Yoo has a cushy professorship at UC Berkeley teaching Constitutional Law of all things. George Bush reports yelling: “Hell, yeah” when asked about the use of waterboarding and he got millions of dollars for a book he didn’t write and gets thousands of dollars reading speeches to people that have been prepared for him. The scum of the Bush regime don’t even need “second chances,” because Obama protects them with that institutional immunity guaranteed to the worst of the worst.
The 22,000 children per day who die quietly from illness, dehydration and/or starvation due to poverty are the silent scream that is never heard and most of them were born with very slim chances to survive past age five. The explosions on 9/11 drowned out the fact that for every one American killed that day, 3 children died—the apathy of our materialistic lives hasn't allowed that stunningly sad fact to penetrate our “rat race” existence every day before 9/11/2001 and every day since.
This isn’t about whether Michael Vick has been rehabilitated or not, or whether he deserves a second chance—I am about as much the “second chance monitor” as the POTUS is—it’s about perspective. The one person with so much power and so little compassionate perspective is Barack Obama. With his blood-drenched hands, Obama theoretically has the power to stop allowing imperial torture and death and to order a halt to economic tsunamis. Then literally billions of good people could get that magical “second chance.”
I guess a phone call to a large campaign contributor is far easier than actually doing the right thing!






TOOT! TOOT!

Happy Wednesday or Happy Hump day as my American friends would say :)

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration! 2010 is coming to an end soon and I am very happy to say that it is a great year for me. I hope 2011 will be another great year for me and I have an exciting news to share when the new year begins :) But for now, I am sharing my very first publication in the latest issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.



Paper Crafts was kind enough to send me a copy of the issue but I was too lazy to snap a picture so I share my original card instead :) I hope you like it. Be back soon! Ta ta!

Ground the Drones--January 4th in SF



JANUARY 4th, 7:00 pm

Where:  AFSC, Quaker Meeting House,  65 9th St., San Francisco (Near Civic Center BART)

RESISTANCE TO DRONE WARFARE:   MOBILIZING AGAINST DRONES AND ENDLESS WAR.
Everything you ever wanted to know about drone warfare but were afraid to ask.
As the Pentagon and CIA continue to wage endless war, the use of unmanned planes for
reconnaissance and missile attacks are increasingly the vehicle of choice.   Since these drone
attacks and targeted assassinations result in no American casualties, in the short term they lesson 
public outcry to our failed foreign policies.   In the long run, because of high civilian casualties, 
they create more enemies and ultimately a more insecure world, as drone technology is 
being propogated around the world without serious oversight into the ethical ramifications.

- Find out about the current status of ACLU lawsuits on U.S. drone warfare, 
- Learn the latest about drone technology and why we need to halt it in it's tracks.
- Discover all the many ways drone technology is an attack on our very freedoms.
- Hear report back from recent CodePink trips to Creech and Beale Airforce Bases and the Creech 14 Trial.
- Find out about the growing collaborative drone resistance and anti-militarism campaign
   and be inspired to join us soon at a military base near you!   Monthly Beale vigils/protest already in progress:  Dec. 29, Jan. 18.
  (Sponsors include:  Bay Area CodePink, Grandmothers Against War, AFSC SF, Peace Center of Nevada County and Sacramento VFP)

Informative videos, slideshows 

Singer/songwriter Betsy Rose will lead us with inspirational singing throughout the evening.  Learn the latest drone 
resistance songs and sing some of our old time favorites.

Speakers to include:

Michael Thurman, IVAW member and ex-military who was stationed at Beale AFB, the northern California control center
for the main intelligence gathering drone, the Global Hawk.  Michael will give us a perspective from an insider's experience.
Cindy Sheehan, Peace activist and mother of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in the Iraq War.  Cindy has been outspoken
and active in the citizen resistance to drone warfare.  Cindy will discuss the need for collaboration in the peace movement to
build organized, ongoing, sustained protests at military bases to encourage war resistance and to halt drone warfare. 
  
Other speakers still being confirmed.
Refreshments included, please bring something to share.  Donations welcome.

For more info/questions:
Toby Blome, ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net    510-215-5974
Martha Hubert, mhubert7@earthlink.net    415-647-1119

MERRY CHRISTMAS


I just wanted to wish all my talented friends on the bloggy land A MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Don't go, Don't Kill (DGDK) by Cindy Sheehan

FIRST PUBLISHED IN AL JAZEERA ENGLISH

LINK TO AL JAZEERA ENGLISH ARTICLE

The recent repeal of the US military policy of "Don't ask, don't tell" is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanising two populations as well as numerous other victims of it's clandestine "security" policies.

Placing this major contention aside, the enactment of the bill might be an institutional step forward in the fight for "equality"; however institutions rarely reflect reality.
Do we really think that the US congress vote to repeal the act and Obama signing the bill is going to stop the current systemic harassment of gays in the military?

While I am a staunch advocate for equality of marriage and same-sex partnership, I cannot - as a peace activist - rejoice in the fact that now homosexuals can openly serve next to heterosexuals in one of the least socially responsible organisations that currently exists on earth: The US military.
It is an organisation tainted with a history of intolerance towards anyone who isn't a Caucasian male from the Mid-West. Even then I’m sure plenty fitting that description have faced the terror and torment enshrined into an institution that transforms the pride and enthusiasm of youth into a narrow zeal for dominating power relations.

Wrong battle for equality

It is hard to separate this issue from the activities of the military. War might be a "racket", but it is also the most devastating act one can be involved in, whether you are the aggressor or a victimised civilian, no one can shake off the psychological scars of war. No one.
Its effects on the individual as well as collective human psyche are terminal. Championing equal rights is an issue of morality, war is immoral, and the US military is heading further and further down the path of immorality.

Even with the advent of WikiLeaks, transparency and accountability of US military activity has been sucked into a black hole of silence. Drone attacks, illegal cross-border interventions, extra-judicial assassinations all occur in the name of national interest. It is not in the interest of equal rights activists to support an institution that is intent on ignoring every protocol of human decency.
Face it, gays are now and have been in the military since before Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.

The only difference being one can now admit their orientation without fear of official recrimination - a major boon for the equal rights movement! The capacity for increased carnage should not be celebrated as a victory!

I cannot help but think about those that are on the receiving end of US military aggression. So a minor change has occurred at the input juncture of the war machine, but the output remains the same: we dismantle systems of indigenous governance, support disingenuous often criminal overlords, commit endless acts of brutality, and worst of all leave entire nations rudderless, spiraling downwards into the same abyss that engulfs the US military's lack of accountability.

I wonder what the response towards don't ask, don't will be overseas? I wonder if mothers across the Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan are cheering the repeal of the act (most likely not), gathering in the streets to celebrate a victory in the global pursuit of human equality, only to be forced to take cover as yet another hellfire-laden drone appears on the horizon. Hell hath no fury, as a drone operated from somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Don’t equal human rights extend to those that the Empire has mislabeled as the "enemy"? Or do we now have to ignore the fact that innocent people are being slaughtered by the thousands?

Unjust binaries

We live in a world governed by binaries, straight or gay, them or us, freedom or tyranny. Until we break away from this norm, we shall forever be shackled to a narrow existence, manipulated by a political establishment that serves its own interests.

We should embrace complication, appreciate difference and most of all not be duped into accepting "victories" that clearly benefit an elite, that you and me (pardon the binary) will never be part of.
Some of us in the peace movement work really hard to keep our young people out of the hands of the war machine that preys on disadvantaged young people in inner cities and poor rural settings.
To see a demographic that is (without appearing to stereotypes) traditionally better educated, more politically progressive, and economically advantaged fight to join this killing machine is very disheartening.

I can see how one could view the repeal as a step forward, framed in the context dictated by the political elites of the Washington beltway. I can imagine much displeasure amongst the military brass – but I cannot reiterate enough how this is not a progressive moment in the social history of the United States.

The US military is not a human rights organisation and nowhere near a healthy place to earn a living or raise a family. My email box is filled with stories of mostly straight soldiers and their families who were deeply harmed by life in the military.

Because of the callous and violent nature of the system, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is on the rise and suicide rates among veterans and the spouses of active duty soldiers are skyrocketing.
Veterans still find it very difficult to access the services, benefits and bonuses that were promised to them by their recruiters. I cannot imagine the repealing of DADT significantly improving the material conditions experienced by gays during military service.

While the children of war profiteers and politicians are protected from any kind of sacrifice, this Empire preys on the rest of our youth - gay/straight; male/female - and spits their mangled or dead bodies onto the dung heap of history, without a qualm or a twinge of conscience.

Joining the US military should never be an option for the socially conscious while our troops are being used as corporate tools for profit, or hired assassins for imperial expansion. Soldiers are called: "Bullet sponges," by their superiors and "dumb animals" by Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state.
While soldiers are dehumanised and treated like dirt, they are taught to dehumanise "the other", and treat them as less than dirt. It is a vicious cycle, and the way to stop a vicious cycle is to denounce and reject it, not openly participate.

I want to bang my head against a wall when another young gay person commits suicide as a result despicable bullying, yet people within the same community have fought hard for the right to openly join the biggest bully ever! Don’t go, don’t kill!

kristen and troy













































































Holiday season is around the corner

Christmas is less than a week away and I am sure you are all busy preparing for it. As for me, I am very behind on making Christmas cards and I still have gifts to buy.

Today I am sharing one of the card I made for the Christmas cards class. We made four cards and this is my favorite of the bunch. It's shabby and just the style I like.


Hubby and I are getting ready to go out to have some coffee :) See you soon and have a great evening!

The Spread of the BP Plague!

-Dear Friend,

This Sunday's Soapbox (The final one of 2010
--where did this year go?), may be the most important show we have ever aired.

I speak to four people who are working with survivors of the BP Gulf Oil Spill that is far from over--in fact, for 10-20 million residents of that region and over six-billion people on this planet, it is just beginning.

Please listen beginning at 2pm Pacific on Sunday (at: www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com) to a show that even fired up my engineer, Scott, who has been in this business forever, so much so, that he is sending press packets, with the show included, to the White House!

The problem is as profound as terrible health problems for the residents and interrupting the Gulf Stream to as simple as changing our own habits in our personal lives with regards to the usage of fossil fuels. 
grand isle
Photo I took on Grand Isle last May


In Solidarity,

Cindy Sheehan

PS: I'd like to extend a special thanks to all of our guests this week, but especially to Anita Stewart who arranged this show.

Please spread the link far and wide--these are our brothers, sisters, and children that are being so adversely affected in the Gulf Region.

Random Stuff

One of the perk of working in  a scrapbook store is you get to see beautiful products everyday but there is a danger too. Damage to my pocket of course :) I had a visit from Vi yesterday and it was fun seeing her again. We chatted for a while and it somehow triggered the shopaholic in me and I bought myself some pretty stuff :) It was so funny because I never shop while working and I jokingly told Vi that next time she can only come when I have the money to spend...lol! Here's a pic of the stuff I bought from Smidapaper.

My first altered project

I bought some frames from Ikea a while ago and I had no idea what to do with them until now. I altered the natural wood frame by painted a coat of acryclic paint by Making Memories. Sea Foam has to be one of my favorite color after Blush :) To achieve the worn out effect, I distressed it with tea dye ink. Then I decorated the frame with some of my favorite embellishments like the big beautiful chipboard butterfly by K&Co. Easy isn't it? I am going to alter a few more frames and probably give them to my friends :)



Happy Friday!

I should be sleeping but............

instead, I thought of pop in quickly to share with you some cards I made a while ago. Nothing fancy, just two simple cards using mostly My Mind's Eye. I admit that the Lost and Found collection has been my favorite and I feel like hoarding the paper for as long as I can. They are so glittery, so soft and so classy. I have a few projects in mind that I wish I have more time to sit down and create. I hardly even have time to update my blog. But I love my job so I am not complaining.

Last Sunday was my birthday and I spent the whole afternoon sleeping. I slept for 4 hours, mind you!  Not sure if age has anything to do with it. I used to get every excited on my birthday but as age is catching up, the excitement has die down. It feels like an ordinary day except that I get to eat what I want :) After my long nap, hubby took me out to dinner in a Chinese restaurant (they served yummy dumplings) and even bought me this laptop bag from Fossil. It has the Cath Kidston style and I love it! I used to carry the boring black laptop bag to work but I can say bye bye to it now :) Hello new bag!


Thanks for your visit and I hope you are having a great day! Hopefully I will have another project to share soon. A layout or maybe an altered frame :) See you around!