The Friends of Cindy Sheehan [Ya Can't Make This Stuff Up Alert]

The "Spirit of Garberville," a 1969 school bus emblazoned with anti-war slogans carrying Veterans for Peace Chapter 22, stopped in Austin last week for dinner at the Rhizome Collective, en route back to California, carrying the vets on their 7,000-mile speaking and demonstration tour to and from Fort Benning, Ga., the military training facility formerly known as the School of the Americas. Driver Gordon Soderberg, a navy corpsman who served in Beirut, recounted the long list of atrocities attributed to the school's grads – especially in Central and South America – and noted the inclusion of torture techniques in the curriculum that eventually found their way to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. There were about 15,000 demonstrators at the annual protest this year (Nov. 20-21), and Soderberg said he knew of only 24 arrests for nonviolent action. Crowd-control measures were less severe than in previous years, he said, but protesters did encounter significant blockading and occasional loud broadcasts of laws governing protests. More info at www.soaw.org or www.veteransforpeace.org. – Daniel Mottola

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Digital Art

Ink People Center for the Arts

Gordon Soderberg of the Ink People Center for the Arts in Eureka, California, has trained over 86 artists and organizations to create a Web page in the Ink People's online art gallery. Gordon created an easy-to-use template in which artists can insert their information and art work using Cold Fusion and Access database software. The result is their own Web gallery connected to the Ink People's Web site.

http://www.inkpeople.org/cfpages/openstudio.cfm

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CALL TO ACTION: Covington, LA - Mon, 5 Sep 2005 22:20:11 +0000
CALL TO ACTION:
Who Wants To Help?

We need trained Volunteers! NOW!

We need Food, Water, Supplies, and Equipment, Transportation and Shipping.

More will be posted as people sign up for jobs in Camp Casey Covington, LA. When jobs are filled by Volunteers They will post updates needs lists and give their comments as to the results.

There is no time to waste, the storm clouds are returning, Thunder is rolling, the rain is falling and people are dying.
Location:
Pine View Middle School in Covington, LA.
1115 West 28th Street Covington, LA. 70434

Services:
We are providing food, water, shelter, transportation, and supporting the Red Cross and the refugees. They have come from Slidell, New Orleans, inside Covington and other areas to the Pine View Middle School for help.

Actions:
We have gone into New Orleans and Pulled people out. We have distributed several tons of goods and needed services directly to the people of the effected areas.

We have set up a Food Bank, Volunteer Camp, And Satellite Media Hub right next to the School. We use this as base camp to bring in volunteers & supplies from all points. We then organize it and distribute it into the communities we can reach.

Resources:
We have limited power, but we have more generators on the way.
We have access to bathrooms with portable Johns coming.
We have real cooking facilities and shower (1).
We have wireless Internet access with more one the way.
We have some cell phone service and it is improving.
We have millions of people ready to help!
Do We have you?

Our mission:
#1 Do No Harm
#2 Support Each Other
#3 Feed The People
#4 Shelter The People
#5 Give To The People
#6 Rebuild Our Lives
#7 Rebuild Our Cities
#8 Rebuild Our Shores
#9 Reclaim Our Humanity
#10 Learn From Our Mistakes
_________________
Gordon Soderberg
Veterans For Peace
Chapter 116 The White Rose
http://www.vfproadtrips.org

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San Francisco Veterans Memorial Building
July, 29th 12 noon - 2pm

Patrick Tate, Dennis Kyne, Gordon Soderberg, Fred Danforth Road Trip Rally.

View from the headlands, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge then, at the Veterans Memorial Building Picking up Dennis Kyne and droping off counter recruiting news letters developed by Chapter 116. Gordon Soderberg's Press release. A run in with last year's Stop The War Tour Rider Bill, "The Cabi". Stoping in Santa Barbara the next morning to pick up Chuck Ryan, Lane Anderson, on the waterfront we parked and sold tshirts and handed out flyers, news papers and got signatures for the impeachment drive.

San Francisco Movie 01
San Francisco Movie 02
Santa Barbara Movie

© Veterans For Peace Chapter 116
28500 Sherwood Rd
Willits CA 95490
pjtate@sonic.net
Cell PH 707-536-3001

******

Medical professionals and Volunteers Needed I...

CONTACT Pat Tate : pjtate@sonic.net Gordon Soderberg : gordonsoderberg@mac.com CONTACT US In Louisiana: pjtate@sonic.net Cell PH 707-536-3001 In...

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Veterans For Peace bus is heading back to Crawford wired!
Submitted by Gordon Soderberg (not verified) on Sat, 2005-08-20 11:32.

The White Rose, The Mendocino Veterans For Peace Chapter 116's Impeachment Tour Bus Internationally known for driving Cindy Sheehan to Crawford texas, and for coining the name "Camp Casey", is now connected to the Internet via a satellite link. Now, everywhere the bus travels in the United States, Canada, Alaska, or Mexico, including a ditch in Crawford Texas. Gordon Soderberg the bus driver and web master said, "We will send video posts to http://www.vfproadtrips.org/tours.htm. we will interact with the world without commercial interruption or voice over. We will not have to stick to a 30 second sound byte. We will speak truth to power on the right and the left. We will share this capability with our community and we will not stop until this war and eventually all wars are only history, not our constant reality. It is time for those that have put there lives on the line to protect the rights of free speech, descent, and assembly, to use these rights, and exercise them freely, so that what we fought for, will not be lost to our enemies either foreign and domestic.

Gordon Soderberg
Veterans For Peace
Chapter 116

******

Gordon Soderberg, a former Navy medic, drove a red, white and blue school bus of West Coast veterans to the conference.

The "Impeachment Tour" bus has an upside-down flag painted on it in the international distress symbol.

"They've taken us to war for false reasons," he said, explaining these veterans' campaign to impeach President Bush.

"The misleading of the public, the Congress, the United Nations, these are acts of treason that need to be investigated."

Gordon Soderberg gordon@lostcoaststudios.com

The Ink People Center for the Arts is a non-profit community arts organization established 21 years ago in Eureka, CA We became a Benton Foundation, Open Studio/Arts Online Internet access site in 1998. Our goals then were to provide the technology, training and communication infrastructures needed by member artists, cultural programs and under served populations in our community to bridge "the digital divide".

******

Hotspot to a bar ditch

Monday, August 15, 2005
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/
Hot spot to a bar ditch
By Bill Hatch -- Aug. 15, 2005

WILLITS,CA--The Mendocino County Veterans for Peace bus that carried Cindy Sheehan to Crawford, Texas rolled into Willits Saturday night and parked outside a poetry reading at Mama Java?s on Mendocino St.

Two weeks ago in Dallas, when the call went out at the VFP national convention the Willits-based bus was ready, willing and honored to drive Sheehan, the keynote speaker, to Crawford and escort her as close to the Bush ranch compound as they could get.

The ten-month-old Mendocino VFP Chapter 116 was founded by Patrick Tate of Willits, its president and a Vietnam veteran. The chapter?s mission is "to teach the general public the true costs of war," spokesman Gordon Soderberg said Saturday night. Brook Trails resident Fred Danforth painted the inverted American flag on the bus. Flying the flag upside down, according to the US Navy Blue Jacket Manual, is the way a ship signals "it is in distress and cut off from lines of communication," Soderberg, a former Navy corpsman, said. The chapter?s main issue is the lack of mainstream media coverage of VFP activities and message.

Sheehan, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, lost her son, US Army Spc. Casey A. Sheehan, on April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad. In Dallas, she addressed about 250 VFP convention delegates who resolved to call for impeachment of the president for failing to produce an exit strategy for the undeclared Iraq war. About 100 delegates accompanied Sheehan to Crawford, in the bus and by car, Soderberg said.

The Willits bus carried computer and video gear and made a 30-minute unedited video tape of Sheehan?s encounters with deputies and the national press corps as she and her supporters attempted to get from Crawford to the Bush ranch. Soderberg, who made the tape, said it had been sent to International News Network and duplicates are being distributed to independent media throughout the country. It is now available at dc.indymedia.org, he added.

The idea of the bus is to be an independent media center, an alternative network-TV station in a converted school bus, or in the words of Soderberg and Danforth, "a hot spot to a bar ditch."

"Bar ditch" is a term they learned in Crawford, describing for a ditch between a road and a fence. McLennan County Sheriff's deputies told Sheehan and her supporters they had to walk in the bar ditch along the gravel road to the presidential ranch so they would not impede traffic (as if any unimpeded traffic were permitted on that road). Much of Soderberg?s video tape concerns that walk, halted when deputies claimed Sheehan was not walking in the bar ditch. The tape shows the demonstrators were in the ditch but the national press corps was on the road.

Demonstrators included Mendocino VFP members, Gold Star family members, representatives from Code Pink and other supporters. Sheehan is from Vacaville, CA.

In the first encounter between the sheriff and Sheehan, she told him she had come peacefully to speak with the president and would wait "until he had the courage and compassion to come out and talk to me." The sheriff (real smooth for a country boy) explained his department would work with her but the road was narrow and she would have to walk in the bar ditch or be arrested. The group was stopped about two or three miles from the ranch, at a place they named "Camp Casey." Deputies accused Sheehan and supporters of not walking in the bar ditch in the humid, 100-degree weather. Sheehan retorted that she had walked in the ditch even though there were rattlesnakes in it.

The sheriff explained the president would not come out of his ranch and that she should write a message.

Sheehan said she needed to talk to Bush or one of his people because "messages never reach the president."

The deputy said the sheriff?s department had no control over how to contact the president and didn?t know how she could do it.

The crowd chanted, "W killed her son!"

Sheehan told the deputies she would stay on the road for the entire month of August, the length of the president's vacation. (Bush, she noted, has taken nearly a year of vacation time since entering office in 2001). She said she?d ask the president why he killed her son and for what cause had he died. She said she?d tell Bush to quit lying about the reasons for the war. Above all, she said, she?d tell him that "staying the course" did no honor to her dead son. "I don?t want anymore tragedies like mine. He (Bush) lied to the American people and to the world. He is not our president and we would like him to have a permanent vacation in Crawford. Someone needs to be accountable."

Demonstrators began to recite the Lord?s Prayer as Sheehan asked why soldiers were sent to Iraq in Vietnam-era flak jackets, were often left without water, fed spoiled food and had no armor for their vehicles.

"Deliver us from the evil one in that ranch," the crowd chanted.

The Mendocino VFP bus left Crawford on the weekend of Aug. 7, continuing its mission to build grassroots opposition to the war in Iraq. Soderberg said they left the Crawford Peace Center in better shape than when they found it. "It had three dogs, a disconnected phone, and the power was next, when we arrived. Now money is pouring in."

Their plan now is to go to Santa Barbara to have the bus outfitted with a satellite dish that will enable live video transmission before heading back to Crawford for the last week of Sheehan?s vigil (and the president?s vacation). They may then take Sheehan to Washington to continue her vigil, either staying with her or continuing on a tour through eastern states, organizing more VFP chapters. In the last five years VFP has grown from about 500 members nation-wide to more than 6,000.

The first event where the bus appeared was a protest at the Bohemian Grove, earlier this year. Soon fully wired for independent media transmission, the bus will attend the Sept. 24 anti-Iraq war march on Washington. In November, the bus will join a demonstration at the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Soderberg said the original inspiration to buy the bus came from the Garberville Vietnam Veterans Center, which has been providing buses for groups like Pastors for Peace for several years.

Mendocino VFP Chapter 116 is a non-profit foundation eligible to receive tax deductible contributions. More information on the chapter and its members is available on vfproadtrips.org.

Hi Everyone,

The email below came from my friend Dan Kelly, a Veteran For Peace from
Orange County. The VFP Bus with Gordon Soderberg, Dennis Kyne and others
who were at the VFP National Convention in Dallas and then went on to be
with Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, are in Covington, Louisiana, right now.
Dan is organizing here to assist them with the work they are doing to
help the hurricane victims. Money is one of the most important things
that is needed right now. Please read Dan's message below. I am sending
a check for $100. If you can offer some financial assistance, please
send a check to Dan's address below, made out to Veterans For Peace.

Dan Kelly
Veterans for Peace, Orange County
23701 Via Navarra
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 830-3604
(714) 482-5573 Cell

In Peace,
Frank Dorrel, Veteran For Peace - 310-838-8131
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings All!

I just spoke with Dennis Kyne in Covington, Louisiana. Our VFP
Peace Tour group kept a shelter going and is working now hand-in-hand
with Natl'l Guardsmen just in to town. They're continuing to cook and
distribute meals - the propane kitchen on the bus has been the only
working equipment in the community. They're continuing to assist with
first aide & medical triage. Their generator has been the only operating
system. Their satellite link has been one of the only reliable means of
communications in the area.

They are no longer able to purchase any of the following in Baton
Rouge or communities within reach of the Big Easy and need them
desperately:

- baby formula, pre-mixed
- baby diapers
- dehydrated milk
- dehydrated eggs
- dehydrated potatoes
- feminine hygiene products (tampons, pads)
- ensure drink

We are sending a van tomorrow. We need the above items for that
trip. Because of weight, we will only take part of the water collected,
as diapers and other goods for this first trip weigh far less and the
need for them is acute.

Vans are needed!

The VFP guys needs vans and pick-ups to distribute food and for
search and rescue work. Vehicles donated to Veterans for Peace will be
used for this purpose. Because they will be put to use and NOT RESOLD,
donors can get full high-book value for their vehicles as a tax
write-off. CALL ME (Dan) IF YOU HAVE OR KNOW OF A VEHICLE THAT CAN BE
DONATED. Our first was donated this morning. THANKS TO SAM COLEMAN OF
HUNTINGTON BEACH!!!!

I have spoken with Denise Reincke, Board Member for the Anaheim
Union High School District. She has gotten approval for the AUHSD to run
an ASB drive next week for dry-goods, etc. GOD BLESS ANAHEIM UNION HIGH
SCHOOL DISTRICT & DR. FARLEY, THE NEW SUPT'D. Kids from 22 schools can
collect a lot of diapers, et al! Veterans for Peace will ensure that
those goods are delivered to Covington as a staging center for
distribution!

We're looking for a staging point in a business or school site in
central Orange County as I write. We will have multiple drop-off points
within 24-hours, so thank you for your patience in holding goods until
we announce where that will be. I've got a call into Dr. Farber to see
if a school site can be used, but in the meantime, need locations.

We need volunteers to help man phones and coordinate all of this. If
you can donate some high-energy and committed time to helping manage
this, call.

We continue to need cash contributions. Call and we will make
arrangements to receive your cash donation. Checks should be made out to
Veterans for Peace and are deductible. Proceeds will be used SOLELY for
transportation of goods to LA and for purchase of needed items. We will
send collected goods down this week and early next, then transition
remaining funds for use by our chapters in the mid-west and deep south
to get goods more locally to the area. Our goal is to facilitate the
distribution of at least two semi-loads per week into Covington through
Veterans for Peace through the month of September. Since transportation
costs are high, goods will be purchased more locally through the other
chapters in the south and mid-west once the initial flurry out of So Cal
is handled. It is more economical in the immediate to just get the stuff
there. After a week, we'll continue to raise cash for other chapters,
and the guys on the ground themselves in Louisiana to buy directly what
is needed, eliminating transportation costs as soon as practical.

We're looking for truckers, we're looking for trucks, and we're
looking for the money to get them there and back. We may have had a
semi-truck donated, but will need help in making it operational (it is
in working order), either as a donation to a trucking line following the
need for it, and for it/them/him or her to operate it appropriately in
the mean time.

We need Veterans and others who are willing to travel down on one of
the deliveries and help out the folks in place there now. Alex Madrigal,
VFPer from OC will take the first van tomorrow. Mark Ruter, another
VFPer will leave Wednesday in his own van, and return after a week. They
need relief drivers, travel companions and can bring at least one soul
back in a week.

Our New Orleans chapter President is working triage at LSU and can
use help, as can the Peace Bus VFP group on the ground in Covington. IF
YOU ARE A FORMER MEDIC OR CORPSMAN, OR ARE A NURSE OR OTHER TRAINED
PERSON, WE NEED YOU!!! Others with the willingness to pitch in are
needed. Call me & we'll coordinate getting you in place and your skills
in service helping people.

If anyone has or knows of portable water distillation stills we will
truck them down as well.

We will also be looking for computer communications equipment to
augment what is on the bus. If you've expertise in that arena, call and
we'll coordinate with you to get those items in place. The existing
equipment is now being used by Red Cross and others to help residents
communicate with families, etc. outside of the area and more depth is
required desperately!

THANKS FOR OPENING YOUR HEARTS, YOUR POCKET BOOKS AND YOUR
COMMITMENT!!!

WE ARE SAVING LIVES AND GETTING DONE
WHAT SOME OTHERS SEEM TO JUST TALK ABOUT!!!
More later!!!!

Waging Peace!

Dan Kelly
Veterans for Peace, Orange County
23701 Via Navarra
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 830-3604
(714) 482-5573 Cell

I know it was on snopes--i had read it. My question was: Is there anything in what I posted TRUE? Or is is all FALSE?

Some of what you wrote is true. These are the true parts.

She gets an audience with Bush.

This happened in 2004. Cindy and her husband Patrick met with Bush face to face at Fort Lewis in Seattle.

link

That was not enough. She goes to Crawford and demands another audience.

How many news stations carry the ongoing saga of Cindy? Practically all of them.

I don't think we need a link to prove both of those are true.

Cindy doesn't care about the other soldiers in Iraq. Cindy cares about her liberal, feminist agenda and about using the death of her son to lobby against Republicans and Bush. And the press is helping her.

In my own opinion, that is true.

Cindy's 2nd husband filed for a divorce from Cindy.

This is only partially true. Her husband did file for divorce, but this is the father of Casey and she has been married to him for 28 years.

link

We middle Americans should be fed up with Cindy also.

Again, in my own opinion this is true, too.

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