FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Fwd: Religion Press Release Services -- June 24, 2008

[Robert Tapp (tappx001]

Let's assume they succeed. This should affect our agenda mightily!

Bob

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Religion Press Release Services <info [at] religionnews.com>
> Date: June 24, 2008 3:13:14 PM CDT
>
> Subject: Religion Press Release Services -- June 24, 2008
> Reply-To: info [at] religionnews.com
>
>
>
> Complete Listing for Tuesday, June 24, 2008
> Contents:
> National human rights organization brings anti-war campaign to Fort  
> Lauderdale religious convention
>
>
> Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
> 689 Massachusetts Avenue • Cambridge, MA 02139 • 617-868-6600 •  
> www.uusc.org
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> June 24, 2008
> CONTACT: Dick Campbell, 617-301-4370
> Eric Grignol, 617-990-7867
>
>
> NEWS Advisory
> National human rights organization brings anti-war campaign to Fort  
> Lauderdale religious convention
>
>
> A faith-based nonprofit organization hopes to inspire attendees at  
> the annual convention of a major religious denomination to make  
> ending the war in Iraq their major focus for the rest of the 2008  
> political year. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee  
> (UUSC), an international human rights organization based in  
> Cambridge, Mass., will be hosting a series of training sessions and  
> workshops at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist  
> Association to be held from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 29,  
> at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
>
> "In this vitally important election year, we are using this  
> opportunity in Fort Lauderdale to educate and train activists,"  
> said UUSC President Charlie Clements. "We are asking the question,  
> The Cost of Iraq: Who pays the price? While the burdens may be  
> uneven, we are all bearing the burdens of this war - the military,  
> their families, their communities.
>
> "The war is being financed at the cost of adequate health care for  
> all, crumbling infrastructure of public works, underfunded public  
> schools, and the total failure the federal government to meet even  
> the most basic needs of hundreds of thousands of survivors of the  
> devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes of August 2005.
>
> "This November will be a referendum on the war in Iraq."
>
> Activist training sessions
>
> The first activist training seeks to educate and mobilize activism  
> around voter registration, get-out-the-vote, and other electoral  
> issues during the upcoming presidential and congressional  
> campaigns. It will be held on Wednesday, June 25, near the  
> Convention Center in the Panorama Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency  
> Pier 66, 2301 S.E. 17th St., Fort Lauderdale, from noon to 4 p.m.
> A featured speaker will be Camilo Mejía, of Miami, the first combat  
> veteran to publicly refuse to return to Iraq and who now heads the  
> Iraq Veterans Against the War. He was court martialed, spent nine  
> months in a military prison, and discharged. Other speakers include  
> UUSC President Charlie Clements, UUA President Rev. William  
> Sinkford, and Tom Andrews, former congressman from Maine and now  
> national director of the Win Without War Coalition, based in  
> Washington, D.C.
>
> The second activist training, which is intended primarily for youth  
> and young adults but is open to all ages, will bring together  
> national activists and local groups to train participants in  
> "counter-recruitment" events in schools and community centers. It  
> will be held Saturday, June 28, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at  
> Convention Center Rooms 113-114. Camilo Mejía will be a featured  
> speaker at this training session, as well as David Meieran of  
> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a long-time social activist on AIDS, anti- 
> war, and police violence issues.
> (Note to editors: The main speakers at all of our activities at  
> General Assembly are available for interviews before and after the  
> convention. For assistance in arranging interviews or photos,  
> contact Dick Campbell in Cambridge at 617-301-4370,  
> dcampbell [at] uusc.org, or Eric Grignol in Fort Lauderdale after June  
> 24, 2008, at 617-990-7867, egrignol [at] uusc.org. )
>
> Other workshops related to ending the Iraq war include:
>
> -- "Who pays the Price for the Iraq War," Friday, June 27, 11  
> a.m.-12:15 p.m., Convention Center, Grand Floridian B, moderated by  
> Tom Andrews, former congressman from Maine. Other speakers include  
> Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, of Denver, Colorado, an Iraqi native and a  
> leading anti-war activist; Nancy Lessin of Boston, a founder of  
> Military Families Speak Out; and Linsay Burnett, of Nashville,  
> Tennessee.
>
> -- "Collateral Damage: Families Devastated by the Iraq War,"  
> Friday, June 27, 3:15 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Convention Center, Grand  
> Floridian A, moderated by William Schulz, former UUA president and  
> executive director of Amnesty International U.S. Other speakers  
> include Iraqi native Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, and Andy Shallal, an Iraqi- 
> American artist, peace activist, and restaurateur in Washington, D.C.
>
> -- "Join Patriots and Veterans Saying "No to War!", Saturday, June  
> 28, 5 p.m.-6:15 p.m., Convention Center, Grand Floridian G.  
> Speakers include Camilo Mejía, Linsay Burnett, and Wayne Smith,  
> manager of UUSC's Civil Liberties Program and a former combat medic  
> during the Vietnam War.
>
> For more information about UUSC and its position on the war in  
> Iraq, please visit http://www.uusc.org/iraq . For more information  
> about UUSC's General Assembly events, visit www.uusc.org/ga
>
>
>
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