<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>What's next?</title></head><body> <div>Would enough Americans *not* go to work on Friday February 14 (isn't that Valentine's Day?) to clog up the works? </div> <div><br></div> <div>To the issue of targets.  The Brits seem to have targets.  Don't we need a mass lobby on congress?  They have us as long as we must do permitted marches and can only go where the route of travel is -- nowhere near where the decisions get made.  The business of Congress needs to be interrupted. </div> <div><br></div> <div>I do think Ramsey Clark has a good idea -- impeach Bush.  If they can try to impeach Clinton on the Monica Lewinsky thing, W. should be targeted for impeachment, burned in effigy, hung from the nearest tree, etc.</div> <div>Marta</div> <div><br></div> <div><a href= "http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Weinstein011603/weinstein011603.html" >http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Weinstein011603/weinstein011603.<span ></span>html</a><br>  <br> The Day the Earth Stood Still: An international sick-out<br> By Rita Weinstein Online Journal Contributing Writer<br> <br> January 16, 2003—Anybody out there remember the classic sci-fi film by<br> that name?<br> <br> In it, an alien landed a spacecraft on the Mall in Washington, D.C. and<br> asked to be allowed to speak to the UN to deliver a warning: disarm or<br> you will be destroyed.<br> <br> The alien, Klatu, didn't specify by whom the destruction would take<br> place. He did make it plain that we would certainly do it to ourselves,<br> even if no one "out there" did.<br> <br> Klatu never made it to the UN, but he was able to demonstrate to the<br> world that those who sent him meant business. He caused a shutdown of<br> all power throughout the globe at a specified time on a specified date.<br> >From cars to trains to wristwatches, everything came to a halt.<br> <br> On Saturday, January 18, there will be very large anti-war<br> demonstrations in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and in cities across<br> America.<br> <br> According to George Monbiot of The Guardian (Jan. 7, 2003), "On January<br> 18, demonstrators will seek to blockade the armed forces' joint<br> headquarters at Northwood, in north London.<br> <br> Three days later, there'll be a mass lobby of parliament; at 6 pm on the<br> day the war is announced, protesters will gather in almost every town<br> centre in Britain.<br> <br> On February 15, there'll be a massive rally in London." There will also<br> be demonstrations in cities throughout Europe on February 15.<br> <br> Here's the idea: a global work stoppage, an international sick day if<br> you will, to take place on Friday, February 14 (or on the day after the<br> nighttime bombing begins, if Bush starts the war prior to February 14)<br> to protest the war on the world currently being waged by the Bush<br> administration.<br> <br> Monbiot goes on to add, "The [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament] and the<br> Stop the War Coalition have suggested an hour's stoppage on the day</div> <div>after the war begins. Many activists [in the U.K.] are now talking about</div> <div>building on this, and seeking to provoke wider strike action—even a</div> <div>general strike."<br> <br> So, in England, a kind of "sick-out" movement is building. If we can get<br> the ball rolling here for a coordinated "sick-out" across America, a<br> full-blown "sick-out" day—in essence, a general strike of</div> <div>protest—could sweep across England, Europe and the rest of the globe.<br> <br> It is we, the folks who show up for work every day, who are providing<br> the tax dollars to pay for this war on the economy, the environment,</div> <div>worker safety, civil rights, and on the poor.<br> </div> <div>We are the ones who keep the machine up and running.<br> <br> We are the ones whose children are being short-changed on education,</div> <div>health care, and clean air and water.</div> <div><br> We are the ones who will reap the whirlwind (or will be sucking wind)<br> when the bill for the administration's misguided and dangerous policies</div> <div>comes due.<br> <br> A general strike early in the last century brought down the Tsar of all</div> <div>the Russias and changed nearly a century of history.<br> <br> The Communist Party came crashing down in Poland thanks to the</div> <div>solidarity of its workers.<br> <br> If we choose peaceful noncooperation in maintaining a system badly in<br> need of course correction, we may surprise ourselves at how quickly</div> <div>change can be effected.<br> <br> No organization is necessary, in fact it would probably be</div> <div>counter-productive. Just start forwarding this article.<br> <br> Let's all get truly sick and tired of it all on February 14, 2003 (or on<br> the day after bombing begins), and make it the day the Earth stands</div> <div>still. Go out there and get sick!<br> <br> Rita Weinstein is a Seattle-based freelance writer and playwright.</div> <div>Contact her at rwineskin@juno.com.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>Marta Russell<br> Los Angeles, CA</div> <div>http://www.disweb.org</div> </body> </html>