October, 2005

A diverse group of South Bay peace activists are organizing a candlelight vigil to mark a milestone we all wish would never be reached: the 2,000th U.S. military death in Iraq and more than 120,000 Iraqi civilians killed. Note that the actual numbers are much higher than this.

The vigil will start at 6:30 p.m. on the day after the 2,000th reported death, which will now officially be tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26th, 6:30pm.

We intend to demonstrate to our government that this country's pro-peace majority wants Congress to stop the deaths by stopping the funding for the war.

Bring your own signs and candles or flashlights if you can, we will provide some candles as well.

For more information, please call: (408) 998-8504
www.sbm4peace.org

To find similar events at other locations, visit: www.afsc.org/2000

Related Articles:

U.S. Military Deaths Reach 2,000 in Iraq
By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

U.S. military death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000
Iraqi draft constitution passes, election officials say
Tuesday, October 25, 2005; Posted: 1:49 p.m. EDT (17:49 GMT)

U.S. death toll in Iraq nears 2,000
Some expect momentum to grow for withdrawal of U.S. troops
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Saturday, October 22, 2005

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats, and refuse to leave.

All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system.

But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.

Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada's most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of workers' lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing injustice of dignity denied.