By Cindy Thomas In 2005 my husband was severely wounded in Iraq and the Army labeled him “undeployable.” But, in 2007, they deployed him again. That is when I began to realize that I could no longer support the war and and started looking for the comfort and support of others who felt as [...]
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A now infamous provision of the education bill No Child Left Behind required schools to provide private information like student addresses and phone numbers to military recruiters, or lose federal funding. Families could opt out of this provision -- but only if they knew about it. Now comes to light even more ominous and intrusive collection of student data by the Pentagon and its private contractors. Masquerading as test prep web sites or scholarship opportunities, sophisticated marketers stealthily collect data on teens and provide it to recruiters to help them target their recruiting messages.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Is the real purpose of public schools in America education, or is it warehousing same-age potential recruits to deliver them as a conveniently assembled audience for recruiting messages?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
An amazing victory for a community in Atlanta that didn't want the military helping to create a public high school for their children. Activists waged a two-month campaign to oppose the establishment of a military-themed high school which the U.S. Marine Corps and the DeKalb County Board of Education had hoped to open on Aug. 10. Relentless watchdogs of their school board, this team of parents, students and community members used media coverage and direct actions to successfully oppose the plan. That's the good news. The bad news is that Obama's new Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is known in Chicago for having fostered many such schools during his tenure as superintendent of schools. And plans continue for military-themed high schools in other low-income areas around the country. Who's watching your school board?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Here in New York City, a substantial movement has evolved around ending military recruitment in public high schools. Many organizations, including CODEPINK NYC and the Ya-Ya Network (a citywide anti-racist, anti-sexist organization and allies with the LGBTQ community, staffed by young activists ages 15 to 19) have been spent much time for the past four [...]
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Kelly Dougherty of Iraq Veterans Against the War testifies in "Before You Enlist" (view the film online here): "When you're a woman, specifically in a combat zone, not only do you have to be afraid of the supposed insurgents and the enemies and the Iraqis, but then you also come back to the base and then there you have to be fearful of your fellow soldiers."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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