A: Action(s) – Take part in a daily or weekly action at your local “Occupy.” March, stand in vigil with a sign, speak out in a rally, etc. Don’t forget to make it fun: sing, dance, start a rhythmic chant at a march, as Molly Ivins urged us to.

B: Bring Our War $$ Home – Take the anti-war message to your local occupation, it’s going to take all of us to end the US wars and occupations.

C: Consensus – The occupy movement operates on a consensus model that emphasizes participation and inclusion. Watch this video to learn how the consensus process works to become an active participant in your occupy community.

D: Donations – they are vital to keeping this street-based movement going. Melanie Butler, our OWS organizer, strongly suggests donating flashlights and walkie-talkies for women’s security at night. You can also check the website and/or Facebook page of your local “occupation” for what is needed.

E: Economics is key to this populist movement. Move your money to a local credit union or a small community bank to help change the corrupt banking system. Make it fun, take your friends and do it as an action, talk it up, share it on Facebook, tweet about it or post it on your blog.

F: Facebook – share information and news, post your photos and help promote events and speakers of interest at your local occupation.

G: General Assemblies – GAs, gathering where issues are discussed and proposals are voted on, are the heart of the Occupy movement. Some use “the people’s mic”, some a megaphone, and some a combination. Listen, speak out, express yourself using hand signals, pay attention to who is NOT speaking up (often women), encourage quiet people to speak up, and learn, as C.J. Minster to facilitate a GA.

H: Hand gestures –they are an essential part of GAs

I: Inspire! Tell your friends, family, and anyone you meet why you’re involved in the movement and encourage them to join you next time you visit your local occupation.

J: Join a working group, such as direct action or facilitation, to share and build your skills, and get to know people on a deeper level. You can also help create safe spaces for marginalized groups, such as discussion groups and meetings, and places for sleeping and using the bathroom.

K: Know your rights! Educate yourself with this resource guide for understanding your rights as a demonstrator before, during, and after you take action

L: Learn something new every time you go to an “occupation” – 10 new names, a new slogan, song lyrics, etc.

M: Make____Not War photos are a fun activity and a great way to meet folks and help them express themselves! Directions to participate in this artistic response to war.

N: Nonviolence is a shared ethic of the Occupy movement. Donate books or pamphlets on nonviolence history, theory and practice, including CODEPINK’s “Stop the Next War Now”. Have a conversation about what nonviolence means to you; practice and train others in non-violent ways of de-escalating potentially hostile situations.

O: Observe closely. What do you appreciate, and what could be improved? Share your observations in emails, posts to your Facebook wall and/or blog, tweets, personal conversations with other codepinkers.

P: Pies are a treat; make one using a recipe from “Peace Never Tasted So Sweet” and bring it to the “occupation”, or have a pie-baking party with your local group and then bring down a bunch of pies.

Q: Questions, especially open-ended ones, are a great way to start a conversation with “occupiers.” What brings you here? Which of the issues is the most urgent to you? What have you been doing today? And of course, be ready to answer questions as well.

R: Record your experiences – write a blogpost , a local action report & post photos on our flickr page.

S: “Step Up, Step Back”: Encourage those who talk a lot to say less, and those who don’t talk much to speak up. If you tend to dominate the conversation, consider stepping back to let others have the floor; if you tend to shy away from participating in discussions, step up to take the floor.

T: Tweet your thoughts and photos. Use @occupywallst, @womenows, @occupy[yourcity] & #ows, #globalrevolution.

U: Umbrellas are going to be needed more and more as we go into the winter. Take up a “collection” from friends, decorate them with slogans, and donate them.

V: Videotape women and girls at your local “occupation” asking them the simple question, “Why are you here?” Upload your video(s) to youtube and include them in your local action report. Lisa Savage got some really interesting answers, watch her video here and here.

W: Women’s presence and voices are needed in the Occupy movement! Encourage women you know to join the conversation and participate in a Women’s group or start one. Call out sexism as necessary, and bring your womanly wisdom to the movement.

X: Xerox/photocopy flyers or other materials for your local Occupy folks.

Y: Youth – this movement is by you and for you. Encourage all the young people you know to join and lead in occupations, they are our future!

Z: Zero waste is what we are striving toward, help set up, and/or use the compost and recycle buckets.

Note: This list is based on actions that CODEPINKers from Augusta, Maine to Los Angeles, California have done or are doing!

Beyond the hoopla of robust growth rates and hype about the world’s largest democracy, India is beset by major revolts and rebellions over a vast area. Some, like the one in Kashmir, are for independence. Others, like the multiple uprisings in what the media call the “Red Corridor” are for the overthrow of the government. These various movements are in response to serious economic and social problems and the racism of Hindu nationalism. The seizure of land, water, and minerals by corporations chaperoned and sanctioned by the state has caused the poorest of the poor to say: No More. They are pushing back. Washington ignores India’s internal realities. Instead it sees New Delhi as a hot destination for investment, a bazaar for arms sales, and as a strategic linchpin in its planned anti-China alliance.

Release Date: 8/12/2011      Article Source: Deep Dish TV

Last weekend C.J. recommended The Whistleblower, which tells the real-life story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a former Nebraska police officer who uncovered a horrifying cycle of sex-trafficking among UN peacekeeping operations in Bosnia.

On Friday I saw Better This World (incidentally, also directed by women). I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega’s documentary follows the case of two young activists, Bradley Crowder and David McKay, who were arrested on charges of domestic terrorism at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Without giving away the plot (because you really do have to see it, and will find it even more compelling the less you know about their story going in), the film paints an absolutely chilling portrait of the state of civil liberties in the War on Terror and the incredible lengths to which the FBI will go to justify their repressive policies. As McKay’s father points out in the film, after spending unimaginable sums of tax-payers’ dollars turning St. Paul into a police state in anticipation of the RNC, the FBI was less interested in truth than in results. Says Crowder’s mom, “they didn’t want two kids that had made a mistake, they wanted two terrorists.”

After the screening we heard from Jill Dowling and Jen Waller of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, which was formed in response to FBI raids on antiwar activists’ homes last September in Chicago. They discussed cases of FBI repression past and present, including that of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the plight of Bradley Manning, who has been in prison for over a year without trial for allegedly sharing information with WikiLeaks. I encourage anyone who sees Better This World to take a few Bradley Manning fliers to distribute before and after the film. In my experience, the shocking story leaves viewers wanting to do and know more about attacks on civil liberties.

This is precisely why films like Better This World are so important: to generate concern and get people talking about cases like Bradley Manning’s and David McKay’s (currently in jail and due to be released in 2014). Because if we don’t, no-one will – and that’s exactly what the FBI wants.

Larysa Kondracki, the director and co-writer of the film spent two years researching the reality of peace-keeping operations in Bosnia before writing the script. Weiscz plays Kathyryn Balkovac, a Nebraskan cop who goes to Bosnia as a Dyncorp employee, part of the international police task force. Like many people, she chose to work overseas because of the high pay without taxes.

C.J. met director Larysa Kondracki at a special screening of The Whistleblower on Wednesday, August 3.

The first time I saw the film, I was overwhelmed with horror. It was more difficult to watch than any film on a battlefield, because the war in this movie takes place on the bodies of enslaved women. Years ago, I heard that there were more slaves in the world today than at any point in human history. I thought that was hyperbole until the cold truth was dramatized for me.

Even more shocking is that the drama is true.

Everything that is portrayed in the film actually happened. It did not necessarily happen to those characters, but it happened. The sadness and the tragedy is that not enough was done. –Madeleine Rees, former Head of Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ms. Rees is portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave in the film. Though it may be unclear from simply watching the drama, she was instrumental in shining light on the situation in Bosnia. So much so that she was pushed out of the UN and filed a discrimination lawsuit. While Rees was able to find employment after leaving the UN (she is currently the Secretary General of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), Balkovac is struggling to find meaningful employment, though she did publish a memoir of her experience.

If you see the film, consider taking copies of our War Criminal Accountability flyer. This is the type of movie that will leave people demanding a way to make change and CODEPINK believes in the prosecution of all war criminals.

Rees explains how human rights has framed her work and what she’s doing now to challenge the idea that immunity equals impunity:

In what is considered an important case exposing the corruption and abuse of Iraq war profiteer Halliburton and subsidiary at the time Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR), the alleged rape case of Jamie Leigh Jones was rejected by a jury in a Texas court.

Through her foundation, Jamie Leigh Jones is working to support victims of crimes abroad and holding those accountable who perpetrate the crimes.

Mercenary contractor Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, continues to remake itself, first, with bringing former Attorney General John Ashcroft on board and now the latest political figure to join the company is Jack Quinn. Quinn was the former White House counsel to Bill Clinton and chief of staff to Al Gore. Blackwater is recognized for its strong mercenary presence in Iraq, receiving large sums of government contracts to operate in Iraq from the State Department and the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians.

Former Bush chief of staff Andrew Card who helped coordinate the campaign for the invasion of Iraq has been named the acting dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Card has also joined a Chamber of Commerce road show with former Sen. Evan Bayh which is aimed at getting Democrats to support the Chamber.

Finally in this week in accountability, the New York Times endorsed the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) calls for the Obama administration to honor those who said no to torture.

Obama referenced the vast scale of military spending as compared with the human scale of spending on education while continuing to beat the “need for security” war drums. His claim to agree with ending the wars and cutting the military budget is clearly disingenuous given the administration’s war policies and recent insignificant Afghan drawdown. #AskObama: Is bankrupting the country while continuing old wars and starting new ones your 2012 platform?

Amongst the many issues that weren’t addressed, despite an outpouring of tweets was Bradley Manning. CODEPINK’s Truth Set Free campaign joined Bradley Manning supporters in a Facebook group dedicated to posting and commenting on #AskObama tweets about the alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower. Questions ranged from “#AskObama Will you pass your nobel prize to Brad Manning for exposing the truth?” to “#AskObama Why did you state that Bradley Manning broke the law when he has been in prison for over a year now without a trial?” Manning’s case represents yet another way that tax dollars are being wasted on over-classification of government documents and an unprecedented attack on whistleblowers resulting in unwarranted and costly investigations, trials, and incarceration. Unsurprisingly, the Bradley Manning tweets weren’t addressed.

Also omitted was the tragic treatment of the Freedom Flotilla II and how the US government aided Israel in pressuring the Greek government to impede a humanitarian mission to lift the blockade on Gaza. Obama’s reference to US aid in his discussion of the budget certainly didn’t address the billions of dollars Israel receives every year despite the human rights abuses of the apartheid regime.

The day after the Obama Twitter town hall, comments and analysis with #AskObama hashtag continue to cycle through page after page, though tweets of holding former Bush administration officials accountable for creating the “gulag” known as Guantanamo and leading the global community into an unjust and illegal war on Iraq fall silent with other topics taking priority. Barack Obama blazed a path to the White House on a platform that promised a complete break with the Bush presidency, yet in reality he has outstripped his predecessor.