Here’s the scoop on what’s happening in the San Francisco Bay Area:

Refuse & Resist! received the following new call to action from Not in Our Name Project. The Not In Our Name Pledge and Statement of Conscience have given people the world and been key to building the movement we need to build another world. As we said in the pledge: Another world is possible and we aim to make it real!
Act Now As If The Future Depends On It! Because it Does!
Bush issued his ultimatum in an address to the nation Monday: Sadam Hussein and his sons must get out of Iraq by 8 p.m. Wednesday or bombs will start devastating the country. In the name of ridding the world of Sadam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, 3,000 cruise missiles and the mother of all bombs will be dropped on the people of Baghdad in the first 48 hours. Pentagon officials have bragged “there will not be a safe place in Baghdad.”
We say, Not in Our Name!
In response to Bush’s ultimatum, Not in Our Name calls on everyone to begin MASSIVE opposition NOW to this war. We cannot go about our daily business as usual while bombs designed to flatten Baghdad and “shock and awe” the world into submission to U.S. might are loaded into planes. This war will be an outrageous crime against the people of Iraq and a blow to the very humanity of people the world over. We can’t wait for the bombs to fall. We must act now to show the world that people in this country repudiate this war and are doing everything in our power to stop it.
As Bush and his allies have made murderously clear, this diplomacy was never
really about disarmament. It was about “regime change.” In the name of liberating Iraq from brutal dictatorship, our own government and others plan to launch a full out invasion and occupation of another country. After the deaths of many thousands of civilians who will be heartlessly dismissed as collateral damage, Saddam Hussein will be deposed and a military dictatorship will be established in the name of bringing democracy to Iraq. But as the U.S. Government’s own state department reports make clear,there is no plan for any kind of democratic government (even after indefinite military occupation and rule by US generals and UN troops) because “electoral democracy, were it to emerge, could well be subject to exploitation by anti-American elements.”
How dare this President call on us to support this unjust and illegitimate war! This President who has put the United States beyond any international treaties; Who has declared all votes that go against his imperial designs invalid; Whose administration is unprecedented in eroding the very freedoms he claims to be fighting for; Who has detained people without trial based on their nationality and religion; Who is torturing prisoners of war being held in Guantanamo; Who has manufactured fear to herd people into endless war and a big brother society that George Orwell only dreamed of; Who is ordering the spending of billions for weaponry that will secure oil and, through death and mass destruction, reorder strategic regions of the world to serve a U.S. imperial order while people the world over will have to go without.
How dare this President ask us to support this unjust and illegitimate war in ANY way.
At this time when they try to stifle dissent and intimidate opposition by the loud drums of war, it is important to understand that the powerful anti-war resistance around the world, including in the U.S., has had a huge impact. It has torn the legitimacy from this war and demonstrated that the U.S. government is acting against the will of many millions worldwide.In these crucial few days ahead, we need to intensify this resistance.
War begun by governments can be stopped by people and the last few months
have witnessed the moral and material power of people who have organized this historically unprecedented international movement. We in this country stand with people all over the world in saying WE DON’T WANT THIS WAR!
As Bush demands that the world fall in line, as he threatens whole countries and people, our resistance must rise to new heights of breadth, daring, creativity and determination.
Another World is Possible and We Pledge to Make it Real
No War on Iraq! No War on the World!
Wednesday, March 19th
Noon – Work Party at Not in Our Name Oakland office (1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 530, Oakland CA 94612)
5pm – San Francisco Protest at Powell and Market
. Act Now As If The Future Depends On It! Because it Does!
6:30pm – Not in Our Name General Meeting, Oakland office (1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 530, Oakland CA). . Help plan for “Day of” and “Day After” actions
The “Day of” a US Attack on Iraq:
Noon – San Francisco Protest at Powell and Market
5pm – Oakland at City Hall/Frank Ogawa Plaza
5pm – Palo Alto City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue
5 pm – Peace Plaza, SF Japantown, Post & Buchanan
6 pm – United Nations Plaza, Vigil – with Amnesty International and various religious forces
The “Day After”:
All-day Not in Our Name anti-war convergence gathering at San Francisco Civic Center, beginning at 7am.
7am – Direct Action to Stop the War, Embarcadero BART
7am – Oakland Federal Building Vigil
For more information call: Not in Our Name at: 510-444-6466
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This is the one that counts guys!
I’ll be there with my camera — my first protest outside of California. Should be interesting.
See you there!
Austin Against War

I wasn’t actually present at these protests today (Friday, March 14, 2003), because I’m still in Austin, Texas, but I was able to find a link to some video footage, a legal report (which cops did what to whom),
pictures, and a summary of the details on the Indymedia website.

Protesters Shut Down Stock Exchange, Blockade Bush & Market
3/14: Some 80 protesters were arrested this morning in downtown San Francisco taking part in an emergency direct action to prevent war in Iraq. Direct Action to Stop the War has been organizing “day-after” actions for the business day after war starts, but many felt the need for a “preemptive strike” to stop war before it starts.
Over 200 demonstrators gathered at dawn at the old Pacific Stock Exchange building at Pine and Sansome. Several speakers rallied the crowd, including student, queer, labor, faith, and people of color activists. Some protesters formed a blockade outside the financial trading floor, while others blocked the intersection of Bush and Montgomery. About 30 sat down in the street, chanting “We are blocking Bush!”, and were arrested around 8:30am after police gave a dispersal order. Protesters continued down Bush Street to Market, where two separate groups blockaded the street and were also arrested and loaded into sheriff’s buses.

If you’re looking for footage from the February 15, 2003 Protest In San Francisco — you’ll want to take note that I’ve moved all of the “My Little Adventure In Hacktivism” footage from that day into its own category.

So I had my 2:55 EST time slot, and I called (almost) on schedule, but I couldn’t get through. All ciruits were busy!
Good work guys!

MoveOn.org has organized a
Virtual March On Washington today, February 26, 2003.
The idea is to literally have all of the Senators and Representatives’ phones ringing off of the hook all day long — asking them not to rush into this War, please — in your own words. (Perhaps “please” isn’t a word that seems appropriate anymore…)
Estimated Time Investment: 1-2 minutes total.
It took me about 30 seconds to enter my information into a form, including two sentences that I want to say when I leave a message for my reps.
The website creates a page with the names and phone numbers of your representatives that you can print out and keep handy so it’s easy to remember what you want to say when it’s time to make the calls.
This is the kind of organized communication to our representatives that I hope to see a lot more of.
Give it a try, will you? I’m curious what people’s experiences are.
I’ll tell you about mine after I make my calls around noon.