Stone Cupid Real - web

Cindy Sheehan, living saint.

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 21:30:00 -0700

Here is the flashpoint for the resurgence of an anti-war movement. Thank you, Cindy. You are very brave.
Camp Casey updates and videos 24/7 on Truthout.org
"I have a broken heart. And I shouldn't have a broken heart."--Cindy Sheehan to George W. Bush
TODAY (August 17th) IN THE NEW YORK TIMES... Doesn't it seem with all of W's neighbor's complaining, he could just do the neighborly thing and TALK TO CINDY??? No, because he will never be able to look her in the eye.
Here is her letter from California, TODAY, Saturday, August 20th. She's with her mom, who's had a stroke.

This image is not Cindy Sheehan, This is another protester at Camp Casey in Crawford, picking up the pieces from Monday night's attack on Arlington West... And here's a letter up on Truthout TODAY, Saturday, August 20, from a retired Sergeant who lost two soldiers in Iraq to the Texan who mowed those crosses down...
You Mowed Down His Cross
By Perry Jefferies, First Sergeant, USA (retired)
t r u t h o u t | Letter

Thursday 18 August 2005

Mr. Northern:

I am a Veteran of the Iraq war, having served with the 4th Infantry Division on the initial invasion with Force Package One.

While I was in Iraq, a very good friend of mine, Christopher Cutchall, was killed in an un-armored HMMWV outside of Baghdad. He was a cavalry scout serving with the 3d ID. Once he had declined the award of a medal because Soldiers assigned to him did not receive similar awards that he had recommended. He left two sons and a wonderful wife. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.

One of my Soldiers in Iraq was Roger Turner. We gave him a hard time because he always wore all of his protective equipment, including three pairs of glasses or goggles. He did this because he wanted to make sure that he returned home to his family. He rode a bicycle to work every day to make sure that he was able to save enough money on his Army salary to send his son to college. At Camp Anaconda, where the squadron briefly stayed, a rocket landed inside a tent, sending a piece of debris or fragment into him and killed him. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.

One of my Soldiers was Henry Bacon. He was one of the finest men I ever met. He was in perfect shape for a man over forty, working hard at night. He told me that he did that because he didn't have much money to buy nice things for his wife, who he loved so much, so he had to be in good shape for her. He was like a father to many young men in his section of maintenance mechanics. They fixed our vehicles with almost no support and fabricated parts and made…

Mother's Day Post-Mortem

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 14:05:00 -0700

I found all this great stuff at my daily digest here at truthout.org

Making the Most of Mother's Day
This great piece by Rebecca Ephraim from Alternet includes great reminders about a stellar daughter, Marla Ruzicka, and why Mother's Day (for Peace) was created by Julia Ward Howe in the 1870's after our own Civil War:

Making the Most of Mother's Day
By Rebecca Ephraim AlterNet Saturday 07 May 2005.

This Mother's Day, why not follow in the tradition that Julia Ward Howe set and Marla Ruzicka exemplified.
I grudgingly admit that the big things I wanted when I was a young adult were fame and fortune.
Yes, I can rationalize that I wasn't alone in my youthful lust for more, more, more for me, me, me.
But then there's the audacious northern Californian, Marla Ruzicka, whose stirring death in Iraq last month,
at age 28, was an elegant reminder of how stuck we can be in our boundless self-interests.

It's as if her bigger-than-life role as a long-time advocate for the victims of war was a giant finger poking
at the tightly woven cocoon many of us have spun (consciously or not) that insulates us from acknowledging the ravages of armed struggle on the lives of ordinary people in other lands. Yes, she did the heavy lifting for a lot of us.

Ruzicka, by dint of personality and pluck, sought out politicians (for aid money), U.S. soldiers (for clearing
landmines) and the media (to cover the plight of civilian Iraqis) so she could assist displaced families and orphaned children who were either bombed by mistake or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ironically, this woman who had made helping victims of war her life's work was "collateral damage" herself when a car bomb meant for another target, killed her and two others on April 16. She was on her way to help an Iraqi child. I recall I was on my way to the mall.

It was a stunning realization that this smart and pretty blonde -- 20 years my junior -- had done more at her age, as Vermont's U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy put it, "than most people do in a lifetime."

Yes, Marla Ruzicka was a daughter any mom could be proud of. "She cared about people and gave people her love and help," her own mother, Nancy, was quoted as saying following her daughter's death. "I'll remember the love she spread around the world and the good ambassador that she was for her country."

In one sense -- and not as tacky as it sounds -- Marla Ruzicka's death comes just in time for Mother's Day. Her acts of compassion in war-torn countries renew the importance that Julia Ward Howe gave to the act of honoring mothers in the late 1800's. You could say Mother's Day was her brainchild; but flowers and chocolates didn't figure in.

Julia Ward Howe is probably best known for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Yet, like Marla…

Save the Arctic Wildlife Refuge!

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 16:00:34 -0800

Save the Arctic Wildlife Refuge!

Dahr Jamail writing about positive steps toward healing

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Sun, 16 Jan 2005 23:00:00 -0800

Dahr Jamail writing about positive steps toward healing loss in Iraq. A journey of a thousand miles.....

You can check in almost daily with what this amazing man writes from Iraq...

Help the victims

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 09:40:00 -0800

Following are some of the agencies accepting contributions
for aid to people affected by the earthquake and tsunami in
Asia.

OXFAM AMERICA
Donor Services Department
26 West Street
Boston, MA
12111-1206
800-77-OXFAM

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
P.O. Box 1856
Merrifield, Va.
22116-8056
888-392-0392

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
Earthquake/Tsunami Relief
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard,
Suite 300
Santa Monica, Calif. 90404
800-481-4462

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, N.Y. 10018
212-967-7800 x108

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
AFSC Crisis Fund
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19102
215-241-7000

ISLAMIC RELIEF USA
Southeast Asia Earthquake Emergency
P.O. Box 6098
Burbank, Calif. 91510
888-479-4968

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10018
800-889-7146

DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, Calif. 93117
805-964-4767

MERCY CORPS
Southeast Asia Earthquake Response
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, Ore. 97208
800-852-2100

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
CHARITIES
Asia Disaster Response
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622

OPERATION USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Suite 200
Los Angles,
Calif. 90069
800-678-7255

SAVE THE CHILDREN
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
800-728-3843

( I checked the gushy corporate donor page against "choosetheblue.org"
and it looks to be as much blue as red. Let's hope the corporate
partners give a lot, too...)
I actually went to the web pages of all the charities listed in the New
York Times and left off some that looked too partisan, and American Red
Cross and a couple others that have been in the news as being shady.
If you'd care to see that full list, you can go here:
NEW YORK TIMES

Have a safe and strong new year.

Buying Blue got Better

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:22:59 -0800
Buying Blue has gotten more comprehensive with a database that tells you whether the parent company gave at all, or what percentage blue or red at a glance. Vote w/ bucks, if ya got 'em. Otherwise, make and give ART.

Choose the Blue

noreply@blogspirit.com (Julie CHRISTENSEN) — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 08:25:00 -0800
CHOOSE THE BLUE
a searchable database that
votes with your $$$