Bay Area New Priorities Campaign

HELP BUILD THE CAMPAIGN BY URGING YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS TO SIGN.  SEND A TWEET.  POST TO YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE.  SEND TO YOUR EMAIL LISTS.
Ask them to sign the petition at [www.jobs-not-wars.org].
140 organizations have endorsed.  25,000 have signed this petition with another 15,000 having signed the same petition at RootsAction.  Help reach the goal of 50,000 signers by mid-February.

Next Gathering for the "New Priorities Campaign":
SUNDAY, Feb. 3rd
1:30pm - 3:30pm
[Bring a Friend]
Lots of important things are happening, so we've got a lot to talk about. 
Please attend and bring others who want to learn the latest on what's happening in DC "Fiscal Blackmail" negotiations between the Congressional leaders and the President  -- and what we can do to affect the outcome.
Learn how you can become involved in getting new priorities resolutions adopted in your community - and once adopted, how to followup.  Next up is Oakland, so those who want to work on this should attend.
at CA Nurses Association HQ [2000 Franklin St.], Oakland (two blocks from 19th St. BART Station)

Human Rights: Pass the Equal Rights Amendment NOW!

2013-01-16 "Sandy Oestreich of 'PassERA.org' says, 'Seize the Moment'" message from Helene Swanson of "katrinasdream.org": My friend, Sandy Oestreich, of "PassERA.org", sent me the following message and I am passing it on to you.  I ask that you make a few phone calls and that you pass this message on to your networks, asking that they do the same. Please speak for yourselves each phone call from an individual counts as one contact.  Let them know that you support Sandy's work and the work of many other groups that are working on the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and that you heard of this through Katrina's Dream.
And I will be walking across America leaving on Mother's Day, May 12, 2013,  from the UN Plaza in San Francisco covering all 15 unratified states. 
And I say, "Let's Pass the ERA!. United we stand, divided we fall. NOW is the time for 'All for All'."
Love and Light in Christ, Helene Swanson, Founder of "KatrinasDream.org"
**************************************************************
message from Sandy Oestreich [SandyO@PassERA.org]:
SandyO of "PassERA.org" here, asking YOU to SEIZE THE MOMENT to make this the Year for Florida's ERA! Finally, we now have a HOUSE Committee Chair to call to ask courteously to HOLD "H-8001" HEARINGS!
PLEASE CALL Representative Eddy Gonzales, THE all-important Chair of Local and Federal Affairs Committee, NOW to urge him to HOLD HEARINGS on "H-8001", Rep. Gonzales' District phone number: [305 364-3066].
Since this is a Federal bill, everyone in USA is a welcomed VIP volunteer. He's already heard our Legislative Delegation 2013 speech.  HE HOLDS THE POWER TO MOVE OR STALL ERA THIS YEAR!  That's because he gets to decide which House bills WILL GET A HEARING IN MARCH!  If he doesn't schedule one, it doesn't matter whether Senator Tom Lee does; ERA will Stall for ANOTHER YEAR, the 14th year! aaaaaarrrgh!!!
SAY something like: "Please HOLD HEARINGS ON HOUSE BILL 8001.  This being the 13th year this has been before the House without ever having a HEARING! UP or DOWN, ERA deserves a fair hearing, say constituents."  
They never ask questions, so you probably won't be asked, but you can respond that "ERA is a Constitutional amendment and so affects Everyone."
 National ERA Alliance is happy to welcome you to the effort that will change America's landscape for women, and men as well. When ERA is passed, it's the best legacy you can leave especially your female family members and friends: full rights to personhood and self-determination, and protection against sex discrimination in many cases. Like never before.
 Thank YOU for doing your civic duty by giving Rep. Gonzales' office your input on ERA. You make us Proud! cheers!
Want more ERA info/background for yourself?  You are warmly welcomed to tour [www.PassERA.org].




Please send an email to walk4era@gmail.com to be sent future messages.Walk4ERA: Let's Pass the Equal Rights Amendment NOW!
Message sent 2012-08-01 from Helene de Boissiere-Swanson
 Dearest Friends,
On Thursday July 19, I started on my 500+ mile walk from Seneca Falls, NY to the White House to bring attention to Equal Rights Amendment resolutions moving through the House and Senate. 
Our Press Release got picked up by over 140 journalist/sites for example, please see:
[http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/19/4642488/helene-swanson-to-walk-500-miles.html]
[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/idUS190235+19-Jul-2012+PRN20120719]
I ask you to LIKE on our FaceBook page as well as JOIN our event page to show your support in spirit and keep up with my travels as I make my way to Washington DC, our nation’s Capitol.
Facebook Page: [http://www.facebook.com/www.KatrinasDream.org]
Facebook Event Page: [http://www.facebook.com/events/263993593684451]
You can also Tweet about the walk, our hashtag is #WALKTHETALK.  But don’t stop there.  We must all call our Representatives and Senators at the Capitol and we must all call upon our President for his support in getting the word out.  We must make Women's Rights and LBGTQ Rights a focus in this election.  We must demand that Democrats and Republicans acknowledge that 51% (women) of America population is not receiving their fair shake in matters big and small and that those in the LBGTQ community are marginalized who need the ERA too.  I also ask that you write your local newspapers, call your local television station, call talk shows.  Let’s get everyone talking about Equality.  In short, LET’S PASS THE ERA!
Let us all pull together for "UNITED WE STAND. DIVIDED WE FALL.  ALL FOR ONE & ONE FOR ALL!"  We can make a difference and we can demand CHANGE NOW!
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to make the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT a reality in our lifetime.  Remember all the ERA needs is 3 states, 2 years and 1 good president.  And the ERA is a go!
Love and Light,
Helene of "Katrina's Dream"

About "Katrina's Dream":
[www.katrinasdream.org] [PO Box 749, Sausalito, California 94966]
Founded in the memory of the Rev. Katrina Swanson. Mission is the full inclusion of women in society, particularly the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Projects include Torture No Prisoners, & Think Tank Thuto. Katrina's Dream is a seed organization that promotes many organizations and their work here and abroad. Currently working on the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment here in the United States of America.

About Helene de Boissiere-Swanson:
[william (@) gotzinc.com] [helene@katrinasdream.org]
I am a disciple of Christ, I follow the path of many prophets from many faith groups, and I call out to you in the name of the one, to stand ground in these trying times and to pray to God for guidance and to follow your heart in the days and months to come.

In the news: [http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48667050/ns/local_news-delaware_valley_pa_nj/#.UCuC401lRWE]

You, too, can advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment!
Helene de Boissiere-Swanson asks that you help make Women Rights and equality for all genders a cause that is placed front and center on the agenda in the years to come.
All you need to do is take 30 minutes of your time to do the following:

1.    Call your Representative and Senators and demand they they make the Equal Rights Amendment a priority and support all ERA resolutions moving through the House and Senate.  FYI Petitions only count as one no matter how many people sign so we must make our voices heard.  Please call at least one office everyday to send our message loud and clear. Here is a sample script:
“I am calling today to ask that (Senator/Representative) ________________ give his/her support to resolutions moving through the House and Senate that call for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, Many organizations have been working on this since it was first introduced in the 1920's by suffragist Alice Paul.  I feel that the Equal Rights Amendment is important issue in this coming election and is bi-partisan.  There is no excuse for it not to be enacted in my lifetime.  I want to see my friends and families be treated more fairly in the courts than the women who work for WalMart and were denied by the Supreme Court last year and having observed how some of our elected officials treated Women’s Rights in regard to Health Care Reform this past year, I am demanding that you stand up and fight for our rights. I hope I can count on (Senator/Representative)___________’s support on this issue.
Thank you.”
Click this link to find out who is your Representative [http://www.house.gov/representatives/find] [http://katrinasdream.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8de085f7810e5fed3c4c9641&id=9ddcdbdfb1&e=53ff95a5ae]
Click this link to find out who is your Senator [http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm] [http://katrinasdream.us5.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b8de085f7810e5fed3c4c9641&id=440f71cc0f&e=53ff95a5ae]
US CAPITOL Switchboard Toll-free Numbers
1-866-220-0044
1-877-851-6437
1-800-833-6354
1-888-355-3588
1-866-808-0065
1-877-762-8762
1-800-862-5530
WHITE HOUSE Swithboard
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
TTY/TTD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitor's Office: 202-456-2121


2.    If you are social network friendly then post on your Facebook account, your Twitter account that you love your mother and sisters and daughters and you are going to put them first and that you want the Equal Rights AMendmet in your lifetime.  To follow my walk to our Washington DC  Please see:
[http://www.facebook.com/www.KatrinasDream.org]

[http://www.facebook.com/events/263993593684451/]

3.    You will forward this message as if it was a goodluck chainmail to all your friends and ask that they do the same.  If each of you can get just 10 people in your group of friends and family who will commit to the same then we as Americans can follow the example of those who have come before us , that while I believe “All for One and One for All, United We Stand, Devided We Fall”  I also believe that it is “All for All” That I do not know one person that has gotten by without a little help for their friends.

4.     Support the people working to uphold Human Rights & Gender Equality!  
Check out Zoe Nicolson's page! She is a dedicated Activist, who is an inspiration to many.  Please see: [http://www.facebook.com/onlinewithzoe]
Also check out organizations like Emerge America, ERA for Once and For All, United 4 Equality, National Organization for Women, and websites such as www.EqualRightsAmendment.org. There are alot of organzations out their who have been dedicated to women's rights issues, so don't stop at just the ones I mention here.

5.     Reach out to organizations of Faith!

If you are an Episcopalian like me there is: Episcopal Women's Caucus, Anglican Women's Empowerment, Daughter's of the King, and Episcopal Church Women.  And there are many organizations working on social justice issue under the umbrella of THE CONSULTATION (Episcopal Social Justice Action Network) check these out as well.


2012-07-19 "Helene Swanson to Walk 500+ Miles to the White House":
SENECA FALLS, N.Y., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Helene Swanson, an evangelical Episcopalian, whose activism is an expression of her faith, started her 500+ mile walk from the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY, on July 19, 2012.  She plans on arriving in Washington DC on August 26, 2012, the 92nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment - the right for women to vote, the only right guaranteed women by the United States Constitution. Swanson is walking from parish to parish, as an expression of her faith, to bring attention to the need for an Equal Rights Amendment for the full inclusion of women in society and for LBGTQ Rights.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120719/SF42956-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120719/SF42956-b)
Seneca Falls has nourished abolitionism and feminism since the 1840s. Abolitionist Abby Kelly spoke against slavery at an outdoor rally there in 1843. One of her followers was later convicted of "disorderly and unchristian conduct" for arguing with the local Presbyterian minister about abolition. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Coffin Mott helped organize the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848. Frederick Douglas' impassioned support helped the convention pass the Declaration of Sentiments, which proclaimed: "All men and women are created equal." In 1923 the National Women's Rights party celebrated the 75th anniversary of the 1848 convention. Alice Paul, imprisoned, beaten, and force fed for protesting President Wilson's not supporting women's rights, proposed the Equal Rights Amendment at the 1923 meeting in Seneca Falls.
Swanson founded Katrina's Dream in memory of her late mother-in-law, the Rev. Katrina Swanson, who was one of the "Philadelphia Eleven", who were irregularly ordained in 1974, making them the first women to be ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.
When the ERA was voted down in the United States, Katrina would say the Pledge of Allegiance, "with Liberty and Justice for SOME!" When questioned, "Why 'some'?" she would say, "Because the ERA was voted down retired women are more likely to live in poverty than men."  Swanson is dedicating this walk to her mother who was left to die in a hallway of an emergency room, as she was deemed too poor to save.
Katrina's Dream is active in Prison Law Reform, education in Botswana, Africa, and the full inclusion of women in all areas of life. Working with local California communities and collaborated with national organizations.
In July 2007, a team was sent to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury England where they distributed label pins to the attending Bishops and their spouses bearing the saying, "God is Beyond Gender" to show their support for women's rights and the LBGTQ community.
The Archbishop of Canterbury sought out and engaged Helene Swanson regarding her work on women's issues at the 76th General Convention in Anaheim, California, where Katrina's Dream was instrumental in the passage of Resolution 2009-D042, which called for the Episcopal Church of the United States of America to renew its historic support of passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. [http://episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=2009-D042]
On March 8, 2011, citing support from Katrina's Dream, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) chose International Women's Day to introduce legislation to speed ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. [http://tammybaldwin.house.gov/legislativeissues/women/2011/03/baldwin-seeks-to-speed-ratification-of-equal-rights-amendment-era.shtml]
On July 29th all are most welcome to attend the celebration of the 38th anniversary of the ordination of the 'Philadelphia Eleven' along with the ordination of Rev. Robert Coolidge who is believed to be the first deacon to serve a woman priest in the sacrament of communion. We will celebrate at 9:00 a.m. at St. George's Episcopal Church, Schenectady, NY, which is one of the many churches Helene Swanson will be staying on her pilgrimage for the passage of the ERA to the Capitol.
People reading this are invited to contact their Senators and Representatives to urge them to co-sponsor the Equal Rights Amendment resolutions currently moving though the House and Senate to help all Americans have equal rights.  They are also being asked to call the White House and ask for the President's support in the passage of resolutions moving through Capitol Hill.
Support is welcomed for Walk the Talk: A Sentimental Journey to Promote the Equal Rights Amendment on Facebook. [http://www.facebook.com/events/263993593684451/?context=create]
Helene invites people to contact her at 415.233.2049 or by email at helene@katrinasdream.org and visit the website www.KatrinasDream.org


"What you can do for your Country - Help Pass the Equal Rights Amendment"
message sent 2012-08-13 from Helene de Boissiere-Swanson:
 Just the other day I passed through my old childhood stomping grounds.  It was not on my route (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/helene-swanson-to-walk-500-miles-to-the-white-house-163061316.html) but I just couldn't pass through the area without going by my old grammar school.  It is said to be the oldest Jesuit school in the country.  I was known for debating in Religion class.
As I passed by the Square, I stared up as the Jersey Jurnal building and decided to give them a call to see if they wanted to do a piece on my walk to the White House.  They did. (http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/08/jersey_city_native_walks_from.html)
Just the night before President Obama came out in support of Women's Health Care saying that we were a priority.  it was reassuring to know.  I have watched him fight for Health Care.  Knowing that he was not forgetting "the ladies" made my heart a little lighter and the walk a little easier.
Now more dedicated than ever I plan on knocking on a lot of doors when I get to the Capitol.  And I am praying that you will do your bit too.  President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?"  I ask you to take our country into the 21st century and not leave anyone behind. I ask that you help us make Women Rights and the LBGTQ community needs front and center in this election in the Presidential Campaign and in every campaign across this nation.  We need Representative and Senators that care about people.  We need the right person in the White House.  Thank President Obama for coming out in support of Women's Health Care and ask him to support the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. And get out and vote this November!
Zoe Nicolson is truly a dedicated feminist who along with several other women fasted back in 1982 when time was thought to be running out for the Equal Rights Amendment. With a 2007 Supreme Court Ruling that has changed.  So Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin wrote a resolution that calls for the removal of the time bar now know as the “Three State Strategy”, and we also have Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney's resolution which is known as the "Start Over".  We need to demand that our Representatives support both resolutions and their corresponding Senate resolutions.


Message #4: "Walk the Talk"
sent 2012-08-14 from Helene de Boissiere-Swanson: Today I write you ‘One From The Heart’, the last few years I have heard over and over again, that I have married well.  This is always painful, like a knife to the heart, as if all that I am and where I come from has no value means nothing, marrying into a privileged white Blue Blood family is something remarkable.  I did not marry for fame or for glory I married because I fell in love with my partners soul.  Because I good see that he was a good person.  That he could see me for all that I am and all that I want to be.  That somewhere somehow how are worlds collided and we became one.
You might ask, why am I sharing this with you, well please take the time to read this, then follow your heart, open you mind to your God, and follow your conscious not your wallet in this coming election because more than the world markets and economic growth depend on it.  The lives of your mother, your sisters, your daughters depend on it.  The lives of your friends who live in closet and those who are out in the LBGTQ community need to know that they to are worthy of God unending love for all.
The last few days have been quite harrowing.  It started with a church who had offered to house me but upon my arrival informed me that the party in charge did not feel comfortable meeting me outside the church despite a bazaar taking place at the church just a mere block away.  That they expected me to walk back through the area I just passed to meet me at a restaurant to see if I meet there approval.  After asking did they not have a place for Elijah at the table, my emotions got the best of me and I choked up while speaking to them and begged off the phone call and opted to walk all night to the next church enroute.  By the time I got there it was so late that I decided to not disturb the good priest who was preparing for Sundays sermon and slept on the grounds under the tree and stars.  Alas I was not destined to get a good night’s rest for a raccoon, yes a raccoon came by to let me know that I was on it’s turf and not wanted.  This was his tree and it was time for me to go.  So I packed my belongs and headed off for the long haul to NYC.  I was fortunate that the party who was kind enough to offer me housing could accommodate me on such short notice.  We had a delightful time exchanging concepts on what it would truly take to get this country back on its’ feet.  They understood that all if for naught if women and gays are not treated as equals under the law.  So I left bright and early the next morning for the national network shows.  I was fortunate when George Stanpolus accepted my postcard to the president and kept it in his hands the whole time his segment aired.  What I did not know or should I say I was willing to accept was just how close the calls have been for me as I made my way through what I now call where three cars came at full speed attempting to run me over.  Then while I was hanging out with production team who were shooting a commercial for the CBS late night national news broadcast, my Facebook account was hacked into as well as my gmail.  This is not the first time.  In fact several months ago this happened and our website was hacked into too.  And the server shut us down for a few days.  Now I have found out that my iphone is missing “locators” so it is  next to impossible for me to use the map app and my messages are sounding garbled so know one knows what I am saying when I leave messages and when they call me I do not get the calls.
Why is this happening, you might ask.  Well it is not big brother, I can tell you that.  President Obama came out in support of Women’s Health care in Colorado while Romney is known for closing down business allowing them to go into bankruptcy so that the pension funds can be raided.  I cannot tell you who to vote for, but I can ask you to do the math.
What I am asking is that you help us make Women Rights and the LBGTQ community needs front and center in the years to come.  And that in order for that to take place we need the right man in the White House. 
Love and Light in Christ, Helene

Peace and Freedom party in history: Occupation of Alcatraz, 1970

During 1970, members of the Peace and Freedom Party took part in organizing solidarity for captive nations within the USA who struggle for freedom, including an "Occupation of Alcatraz" conducted by indigenous nations. A memento of this action shows recognition of the role played by the Party:

2013-01-14 "Alcatraz pays tribute to Indian occupation; American Indians Activists' painted statement is emblazoned on tower once more" by Carl Nolte from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Alcatraz-pays-tribute-to-Indian-occupation-4191169.php]:
The National Park Service does not usually approve of graffiti. "It's a federal offense," said Marcus Koenen, site supervisor for Alcatraz, the former prison that is now part of a national park.
However, the government has made an exception for graffiti left behind during the Indian occupation of the island - and it helped restore signs painted by hand on a landmark water tower.
 "PEACE AND FREEDOM; WELCOME HOME OF THE FREE INDIAN LAND," the writing says in red letters 4 and 5 feet high.
 "We restored it because it has a social significance," Koenen said recently. "It is part of what this park is all about."
 Most of the 1.5 million people who visit Alcatraz are drawn to the island by tales of its dark past as America's most feared prison, the dead end of the American justice system.
 But Alcatraz has more than one story - and one part of its history is the Indian occupation from the winter of 1969 to the spring of 1971, when a band of American Indians seized the island after the prison closed. They hoped to turn it into an Indian cultural center, or perhaps a small university devoted to native studies.
"It would be fitting and symbolic," in the words of the Alcatraz Island Proclamation that the occupiers issued in 1969, "that ships from all over the world entering the Golden Gate would first see Indian land and thus be reminded of the true history of this nation."
 The dream faded, and so did the political messages that the Indians left behind: "This is Indian land," one piece of graffiti painted in the main cell block said. "Custer had it coming" was written on another wall.
 But the most visible signs of Indian presence were painted on the huge water tank, as tall as a 10-story building, that towers over the northern end of the island.
 The tank and the steel tower that supports it had deteriorated and rusted badly since they were last refurbished more than 50 years ago. And the signs the Indians had left behind had faded so that they were barely legible.
 The Park Service decided to rehabilitate the tank, which is one of the most visible structures on the island. The project took nearly a year and cost $1.5 million. The Park Service had traced the outlines of the original signs, and consulted with the American Indian Movement and the Indian Treaty Council.
 The Park Service signed off on restoring the water tank signs. "We all agreed we were doing the right thing. We were honoring an important part of the island's history," said David Dusterhoff, project manager for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
 The signs were restored six weeks ago by Eloy Martinez, a Ute Indian who lives in Oakland. Martinez lived on Alcatraz during the occupation. The painters who worked on the reborn graffiti included Fawn Oakes and Elijah Oakes, both descendants of occupation leader Richard Oakes, who died in 1972 at the age of 30.
 The Indian occupation attracted international attention and considerable support in its first months. The government negotiated with the Indians, and it looked for a time as if the occupiers might prevail. But support waned, and most of the original occupiers left the island.
Only 15 people were left on Alcatraz when the government retook the island and evicted them in June 1971.
 However, the Alcatraz occupation had long-term effects. A new sense of activism among Indians helped force the government to abandon its policy of termination of Indian tribes, and Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975.
 On Alcatraz, meanwhile, the Park Service, which became steward of the island in 1972, has opened new displays about the Indian occupation. But the biggest reminder is the graffiti on the water tank: INDIAN LAND.
 "It is not something that people expect to see," said Koenen. "When you see this graffiti when you walk off the boat, it opens your eyes to the Indian story of the island."

The National Park service has restored the grafitti the American Indians had placed on the landmark water tank on Alcatraz during their occupation in the sixties.
 Photo: Liz Hafalia, Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Bill of Rights Day

Luncheons scheduled to read the Bill of Rights aloud
1.

 Ask any local venue if you can bring over a bunch of people for lunch or dinner.
 ---Any tavern or restaurant, especially one with a side room, works fine.
 ---You can even just invite people into your own home.
2.

 Send out the word, the appeal is automatically built into "Bill of Rights Day Celebration."
 ---Use email, photocopied flyers, word-of-mouth, tell local activist groups, be creative.
 ---You can even just invite people you know, that's how we started years ago, it was fine.
3.

Get and read a copy of the Bill of Rights out loud. How much easier could it be.
 ---Ask someone locally who's a somebody to offer some opening remarks.
 ---After you read the Bill of Rights ask, "How healthy is the bill?" and the fun begins.

-- A venue that has a happy hour makes it even easier, since they already put out a spread and the bar tab means their revenue goes up with no effort to them.

-- We have the luck of having a reenactor (Patrick Henry) who's always looking for performance spots, this is a natural, I just let him know and he's there. Similar people and opps are everywhere (try patriotic barbershop-singer quartets nationwide for example, google Barbershop Harmony Society; or google "re-enactors in [your town]" and find lots to choose from).

-- Use your gift of gab to persuade a fancy venue into hosting (send a few emails, make a few phone calls, meet to tie up the details), they're very receptive to offers to bring in a group large or small. Let them charge a modest door fee -- the appeal of your event skyrockets (the venue gets the fee and bar tab, no sweat, they provide the victuals and work the door including credit cards; we've used The Omaha Steakhouse, The Goldwater Institute, The Wrigley Mansion).

I mean, the thing virtually runs on autopilot. Great thanks to Aaron Zelman in Milwaukee (jpfo.org) for first floating the inspired concept. "All of the Bill of Rights for all of the people."

Everyone has a stake in preserving the Bill of Rights, even if we differ over parts. People like yourself can make this the major national event it ought to be. Go for it!

Remember to Vote!

Peace and Freedom Party is for Cannabis Freedom!

2012-10-01 "Oaksterdam welcomes unlikely presidential candidate, Roseanne Barr" by Sam Rolens[http://oaklandnorth.net/2012/10/01/oaksterdam-welcomes-unlikely-presidential-candidate-roseanne-barr/]:
Roseanne Barr is running for president. It was clear, when she addressed a packed house at Oaksterdam University on Thursday night, that the bulk of the crowd was there to hear her say that out loud. Former Democratic Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delivered an introduction to the evening, cutting directly to the chase. “We are meeting here,” she said, “because the Peace and Freedom Party had the courage and the smarts to nominate Roseanne Barr as their presidential candidate.”
Before her speech, Barr sat at ease in front of the crowd in a black-and-white striped sweater—effortlessly standing out by virtue of being so recognizably Roseanne. The longtime television star and pop figure force for proud working class classlessness wore a coiled pearl necklace and floor length black skirt. She sported short, gray hair. “I just got my new trifocals,” she howled brassily out to the crowd as she produced a typed speech along with thick glasses. “I’m not very good at seeing yet.” She waited with a comedian’s patience for the laughter to dry up before thanking the audience for coming. Despite the years and cosmetic procedures between TV icon Roseanne and presidential candidate Barr, her familiar squinting smirk made her unmistakable.
Roseanne shared the small stage Oaksterdam had erected, in the second-floor meeting hall of the downtown cannabis growing instruction center, with McKinney and a panel of speakers that included former Black Panther Elder Freeman, Peace and Freedom candidates Gene Ruyle and Mary Mcllroy, and “Ganja Guru” Ed Rosenthal. When McKinney announced that Roseanne would speak last, the crowd reacted with playful booing. The advertised topic for the evening was The Political Future of Medical Marijuana, but Roseanne was the event.
“Thank you for breaking through your mind control programming to reach the other side where you have some free thought,” Barr called out to the crowd when it was finally time for her speech, her microphone little more than an ornament, given her own natural volume. This introduction, like most of her speech Thursday, began on a snarl and ended with a gleeful grin. A central theme in her address was criticism of what she called “the prison-military-industrial complex” of America—the system under which drugs are criminalized, she said, to allow the government and corporations to profit from incarceration and to create slave labor through inmate manufacturing.
Barr’s tone bordered on comedic at times, but always returned to a central place of rage; and the crowd gave its loudest response when Barr’s fury reached its highest points. “The nation has to realize that giving its kids a choice between war and prison if they are poor is not a choice at all,” she yelled above the rising cheers of the crowd. “Locking up your own tax base is simply stupid.”
To an eclectic crowd of anti-government activists, medical marijuana advocates, third party campaigners and curious undecided citizens, Barr delivered a speech that both was and was not all about marijuana, and also both was and was not all about Roseanne. From the moment she began her prepared speech in her characteristic, yowling bugle voice, this much was clear: Barr absolutely means business with this campaign, and she absolutely plans to enjoy every second of it.
She’s running for president, and the fact that you likely had to read that twice before it sank in, it turns out, has a lot to do with how she ended up on a ballot at all. “We need someone who will get a lot of attention for our party,” said Co-Chair of the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party Marsha Feinland. “We don’t get a lot of attention.”
Attention is currently what the Peace and Freedom Party of California needs in order to stay alive—that is, to stay on the ballot at all. Started in 1968, Peace and Freedom has existed for over 40 years on a platform of socialism, workers rights, and more recently, support for marijuana legalization. Feinland said that in order to have its candidates appear on state ballots, the party must have a statewide registration equal to 1 percent of voter turnout for the most recent gubernatorial election. Currently, Peace and Freedom is about 50,000 registered party members shy of the necessary 110,000. They’ll be on the ballot for 2012; but to be on future ballots, the party will have to come up with a significant expansion of registered members. Thus was the circumstance set perfectly for Roseanne Barr.
In August, Barr, who had recently lost the nomination she had campaigned for from the Green Party, turned to Peace and Freedom only to find herself an unlikely Johnny-on-the-spot. “We’ve had candidates more directly in line with the party,” said Feinland. “But they won’t get the kind of attention that Roseanne would get.”
At the Peace and Freedom Party’s national convention in Los Angeles, Barr spoke for 15 minutes—all the time she could spare while filming “The Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne” nearby—and received the nomination without ever having been formally entered on their primary ballot. “I’ll tell you what won people over,” Feinland said. “Roseanne said her priority would be getting people to register in the Peace and Freedom Party.”
The party’s strong confidence in Barr to gain attention and build enough of a following to deliver 50,000 new party members was helped out considerably by the television star’s record of support for marijuana legalization. “The marijuana issue has tremendous appeal for young people in this country,” Feinland said. “And for old people too.”
It certainly drew a crowd in Oakland, where Barr delivered a speech connecting marijuana laws to wider realms of social freedoms—a relatable position for many at Oaksterdam, which first made headlines in 2007 when it opened as the first American university dedicated to teaching the techniques and practices of growing cannabis, and again in April 2012, when the building was raided by federal agents.
Still open and holding classes in spite of the federal action, Oaksterdam served as an apt venue for Barr’s speech, which dealt at length with her support for a reduction of federal government power. In fact, the event was initially planned at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, but later moved to Oaksterdam. The defiant adherence to state regulation rather than federal law the cannabis university demonstrates just by keeping its doors open, said event organizer JR Valrey of Block Report Radio, made Oaksterdam “a better fit for the event.”
Jeff Jones, an Oaskterdam instructor and cannabis-legalization veteran who’s wife Dale Sky Jones was recently appointed head of the university, was in the audience and said that “a lot of people in the room might not have come to Montclair.”
Barr has become somewhat famous in recent years for her staunch support of medical marijuana, even using a July appearance on David Letterman to poke fun at the famous gun-rights slogan delivered first by Charlton Heston. “Obama,” Barr said, “You’ll get my joint when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.” It was this indignation she showed in her speech at Oaksterdam, a speech that also drew heavily on the ideology she defended when she addressed Occupy Wall Street in 2011. “Government’s not supposed to be for profit,” she yelled in an early crescendo in the speech. “Government’s not supposed to be run like a business.”
And while the rage she showed off in her attacks on government wasn’t shared by all, the climate of the crowd was certainly one of frustration with the current political system. Eric Salerno, an activist who came down from Sacramento to listen to Barr, said his interest was equal parts nostalgic fandom for Roseanne the celebrity and support of Barr’s political positions. “She’s like my second mom,” Salerno said. “We all grew up watching that woman.” He believes it’s important for high-profile candidates like Roseanne to bring attention to third parties, even if they hold no illusions about winning. “It needs to be done regardless of whether you win or lose the fight,” he said. “Keep fighting, and eventually we’ll win.”
Barr also connected marijuana laws to the economy. If the government allowed her to grow cannabis on her farm in Hawaii, Barr said, “which they won’t, because it’s not a free country,” she claims she would be able to provide jobs for hundreds if not thousands more workers. She briefly quipped about the environment at this point, after bringing up her Hawaiian nut farm. “By the way,” she said with a more relaxed volume and a smirk, “if people would be getting their protein from nuts instead of animals, we wouldn’t have any global warming.”
Jeff Jones said he agrees with most of Barr’s policies—but that he is weary of pledging full third-party support. Jones was “spooked,” he said, by what he called “the Nader effect” of third parties sometimes tipping the scales in the two party system. He nevertheless remains encouraged by the stances taken by the Peace and Freedom Party.
Barr set herself apart from politicians in the two parties, in her speech, whom she said make policy more based on what will appeal to their party than on their beliefs. “It means less than nothing to billionaires that they cause the death of entire communities on a whim,” she said, regarding the drug war and its destructiveness. “Then they turn around and fund the ‘Right to Life’ movement.”
Lisa, an Oakland undecided voter who asked not to have her last name used, said she was impressed that the Peace and Freedom party representatives had opened the evening by pointing out that Obama was projected to win California by a wide margin, and that voters were therefore free to send their votes safely to third party candidates. “Roseanne brought me out,” Lisa said, shrugging. “And it was nice to see someone speak with passion, not from a teleprompter.”
Barr went on attacking all US drug policy. “The war on drugs is a class war,” she said. “The war on drugs is a drug-lord’s wet dream. Pot is big business, and billions are invested in keeping it illegal.”
Mike Campbell from Richmond said he came specifically to hear the discussion on social policy and drug law. “It’s obvious the war on drugs is a war on a class,” he said, glad Barr had made the point. “Having been a member of the middle class, I can say that it goes beyond poor people.”
As Barr built to her climax, she became even more gleeful. “RESIST INSANITY!” she said, pausing to laugh fiercely while the crowd cheered the slogan. “EMBRACE SANITY!”
The audience, sensing the speech had reached its home stretch, began unrelentingly cheering. Barr had to yell out her closing line. “If you want a candidate such as myself, who believes that social safety nets such and health care should come before the profits of a few in those hallowed halls of congress,” she said, straightening out her smile and waiting just long enough for the moment to lose any of its comedy, “then here I am.” The crowd dissipated quickly after Roseanne left, though many formed a group around the Peace and Freedom Party booth in order to register.
“Roseanne is speaking about issues other presidential candidates aren’t,” said Berkeley Mayoral Candidate Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, who came to hear the presidential candidate speak. He says this particular crowd came out to listen to Barr to have “the opportunity to listen to somebody connected to their reality.”
Roseanne Barr is running for president, and while this is likely a surprise to most, it is by no means a surprise to Barr, who has been dropping comments about her intentions to run for president for over a decade. In a 1995 interview with John Lahr for The New Yorker, Barr brought it up along with a slew of many ambitious prophecies. “You should keep that quote,” she tells Lahr in the piece. “Then you can say I said so.”


Ruyle said he was happy to be part of the event since he was the person who nominated Roseanne Barr for president at the P&F Party’s convention in Los Angeles in August. As Barr smiled and clapped, Ruyle said he and others felt that a solid working class woman with a sense of humor such as Roseanne could well represent the party and talk about the class war

Solano Peace and Freedom Party speaks at "Wine on the Water"

On Sept. 22nd, Solano Peace and Freedom Party Chairperson Katy R. had been invited to speak about Feminism and it's role in the human condition at the "Wine on the Water" benefit gathering for "SANE/SART", a non-profit composed of women nurses who act as "1st responders" to victims of sexual assault. She spoke to an audience of 300 women, men and children.
What follows is the text of her speech:

Greetings to all my sisters, and brothers!
My name is Kathryn R., and I thank you for supporting the SANE/SART first responders to the victims of sexual violence in the Northbay.
 These courageous nurses and their allies do this work without financial subsidies by the Hospitals or Northbay County governments, so it is up to just us to keep their service available to the public.
Please, give all you can to SANE/SART!!
 In contrast to the culture of “Blame the Victim”, SANE/SART treats all victims as People First, without charge. Additionally, in today’s political climate, there is an ever growing trend to discount women, and to discount even our Human Rights.
 In my capacity as a leader in the Peace and Freedom Party of California, I advocate for Women’s Equality under the law, against old and so-called “traditional” values of patriarchy… that is, I stand against the tradition of men ALWAYS being on-top in the law, on the job, and in our very own minds!
 Our Equality is a Human Right! And, as organizer for the true values of Feminism in the Solano Co Peace and Freedom Party, I say it is time to reclaim and re-energize a feminist movement which stands tall for Human Rights, by ourselves, and with others!
 While we advocate for our Rights for ourselves, there are many women whose lives are ruined by Human Rights abuse conducted by local governments, and we feel that those of us with the time, the energy, and the spirit, ought to be able to help all women against the abuse of a corrupted male-dominated society!
  For example, in order that we may uphold the cause of Human Rights for the victims of police murder and their families, and put an end to the dividends created by fascism and racism, the Peace and Freedom Party has conducted outreach to young mothers and all people who are willing to listen. We have joined with the "Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)" alongside civil-rights and faith organizations, to form a "Million Mothers Movement" with the ultimate goal of a "Million Mothers March" on Washington DC and a lobbying campaign so we can demand legislation be introduced and made law which protects the People against these blatant Human Rights violations, to tell Washington lawmakers that it's not ok that the police state is killing our children, brutally in the streets and with mass-incarceration, and will never get used to it!!!
 The campaign for Equality and for Human Rights came directly out of the battle to end economic slavery in the United States and the old Jim Crow laws during the 1970s, and was fought through militant actions in the streets, at home, in our workplaces and halls of government. Today, the struggle for equality continues against a stepped-up war on women. Elected officials from both parties are shredding social services while our paychecks shrink and jobs disappear. Last year, 26 states enacted laws restricting reproductive freedom and family planning. Meanwhile, over 40% of families headed by single African American, Latina and Native American mothers live in poverty.
 The sparks of feminism needs support and leadership, so that we women can use our experiences to keep the flame of freedom burning, so that our life experiences can combine and GROW into a national grassroots movement.
 It's time to build a game-changing feminist strike-back against unfair values of a system DOMINATED by the values of certain selfish men. Our strike-back for the preservation of our Rights unites all people into a grassroots movement that tackles racism, sexism, fascism and hatred dead-on. We advocate for a culture where our values as women are shared, where our community takes care of eachother like a family, where all are sheltered and fed, and quality childcare and education for all children and mother’s who need a second chance at life, for quality family planning, for respectable legal protections for women suffering sexual abuse.
 Our Party stands for Peace in our Community, and for Freedom for all People. We are a Party of Feminist values, of Communitarianism, of humanitarian Socialism, of the values and traditions which made these United States of America great and worthy of the slogan “Land of the Free”!
 Again, I ask that you give all you can for SANE/SART, for all the work that they do. And, if you feel inspired to take back our POWER on all levels, to talk to me or contact us at SolanoPFP@lavabit.com