PINKtank

NOBODY’S RECRUITS: BACK TO SCHOOL

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?

NOBODY’S RECRUITS: SMALL VICTORIES IN THE BIG PICTURE

Corla, a CODEPINK coordinator in Redland, California had that familiar sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. You know the one — a temporary dip in morale when confronted with yet another face of the war machine preying on children.

NOBODY’S RECRUITS: GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

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?

NOBODY’S RECRUITS: “YOU HAVE TO BE FEARFUL OF YOUR FELLOW SOLDIERS”

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."