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For Immediate Release
January, 16 2009, 07:02am EDT
Contact:
Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, 508-879-2138
Paris Marron, CODEPINK online organizer, 310-968-3475
CODEPINK Launches Interactive New Site, RemindObama.org and Short Film to Inspire Americans to Push Obama to Keep Peace Promises
WASHINGTON
In honor of President-elect Barack Obama's promises for change and peace, CODEPINK has launched a new Web site, RemindObama.org,
and debuted its "Remind Obama" short film designed to inspire Americans
to keep alive their hope in him and move him to keep his promises
beyond this historic inauguration Tuesday.
"As Obama said in his campaign, 'I know where I want to take this
country, but I cannot do it without out you, I can't do it by myself,'"
said Paris Marron, CODEPINK's online organizer. "So, in this moment of
victory for the progressive community, we are standing up to support
Obama and remind him of his campaign promises for peace. We cannot
forget there is much work to be done."
RemindObama.org
and the film will accompany on-the-ground activities of nearly 200
CODEPINK women in D.C. at the President-elect's inauguration. After
eight years of protests, frustration and struggle, CODEPINK believes
this President can follow through on his promises (end the war in Iraq;
shut down Guantanamo; reject the Military Commissions Act; end the U.S.
policy of torture; work to eliminate nuclear weapons; hold direct,
unconditional talks with Iran; and abide by Senate approved
international treaties) but ONLY with the same prodding from Americans
who elected him, including the estimated two million gathered at the
inauguration and the millions at home.
From Facebook, to Flickr, to YouTube, RemindObama.org offers tools for people worldwide to connect online, share the "Promises to Keep!" message and invite others to get involved.
"With the technology available to us, we are more able than ever to
connect activists on the street with actions on the web," Marron said.
"People are able to send photos, videos, and Twitter or status updates
straight from the streets to the web instantly using mobile phones.
It's opportunity to engage in the event online, from wherever they are,
and spread the message of hope and peace as we look forward to the next
administration."
At the inauguration, CODEPINK will sing and dance "Yes, we can-can
live in peace!" in bright-pink ruffled "can-can" skirts, "Pink Police"
and "Waitresses Servin' Up Peace" costumes outside balls, rallies and
other inauguration events. CODEPINK will also hand out to the crowd
thousands of pink ribbons that read, "Obama, keep your promises for
peace." (Photos of parade-goers with their ribbons will be posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/remindobama/).
CODEPINK will spread their message of hope and change through organized events each day between Jan. 17 and 20 (listed below in bold).
On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights CODEPINK women will also gather
outside select balls and celebrations (call for details) and hand out
"Promises" ribbons. The CODEPINK calendar is available here, www.codepinkalert.org/inaugurationcalendar, where the downloadable comprehensive Google calendar is available as well.
Saturday, Jan. 17:
- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. : Banner & prop making, strategy session at CODEPINK Convergence Space.
- 6 p.m. : CODEPINK will welcome Obama to D.C. with a train station action (details TBD). At Union Station.
Sunday, Jan. 18:
- 9 to 11 a.m.: Banner & prop making, strategy session at CODEPINK Convergence Space
- 12 p.m.: Can-can dancing and celebrating at "We Are One" opening celebration concert. At Lincoln Memorial.
Monday, Jan. 19:
- 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: MLK Day Anti-oppression training and service projects at CODEPINK Convergence Space.
- 6
p.m.: "Send Bush Packing!" CODEPINK Says Goodbye to the Bush Years by
sending him off with suitcases, show tunes, and a hearty wave goodbye
during the "Sage-ing the White House" street theater event with
comedian Kate Clinton, a joyous "cleansing" the White House. At White
House perimeter on Lafayette Park side at DuPont Circle.
Tuesday, Jan. 20:
- 10 a.m.: CODEPINK activists to gather at McPherson Square (15th & K Streets NW)
- 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.: March from McPherson to parade; hand out pink
"promises" ribbons to crowd, photograph parade-goers with ribbons and
signs
- 3 to 5 p.m.: CODEPINK celebration at CODEPINK Convergence Space!
- 7 p.m. : Peace Ball! Join CODEPINK women and supporters including
Howard Zinn, historian Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Alice Walker,
author ("The Color Purple"); Eve Ensler, playwright ("Vagina
Monologues"); Bernice Johnson Reagon, vocal artist; Dick Gregory,
political comedian and activist; and performers Michael Franti and
Fertile Ground at Smithsonian National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts
Ave., N.E.
For more information, please call Jean Stevens at 508-769-2138 or email jean@codepinkalert.org.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
Iran Says Trump Will Go Down as a 'Supreme War Criminal' If He Follows Through With Threat
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Iranian officials on Monday warned US President Donald Trump that his name will be "etched in history as a supreme war criminal" if he follows through with his threat to wage total war on Iran's civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, wrote on social media following Trump's Easter-morning outburst that "threats to attack power plants and bridges (civilian infrastructure) constitute war crimes under Article 8(2)(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 (Article 52)."
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Absolute bombshell. Iran's Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei accuses the Trump administration of a criminal mindset and public incitement for genocide. Threatening a nation's critical infrastructure puts the entire population at risk. The White House has completely abandoned morality. pic.twitter.com/HcBZGZho5p
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"You're going to see bridges and power plants dropping all over their country," the president said, setting a new deadline of 8 pm ET for the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump's remarks came after he published a deranged post on his Truth Social platform demanding that Iran "open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell."
Analysts and lawmakers in the US echoed Iranian officials' warnings that Trump's threatened attacks would constitute war crimes.
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Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, said that "any lawmaker who votes for supplemental funding for the war on Iran or against war powers resolutions to end it will be fully complicit in the war crimes threatened here, as well as those already committed by this unhinged and unfit Commander in Chief."
The US president's renewed threats came amid reports of a diplomatic effort, mediated in part by Pakistan, to enact a 45-day ceasefire to provide space for a lasting resolution to the war.
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The process through which ORR releases children to the care of their parents or sponsors has grown more arduous under the Trump administration, and in the case of the three-year-old, she waited for five months in foster care while the government repeatedly told her father it couldn't make an appointment for him to be fingerprinted.
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The Trump administration has claimed its new restrictions for sponsors and family members seeking custody of their children who are in ORR's care have prevented traffickers from illegally bringing children into the US and have kept unaccompanied minors safe.
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In the girl's case, the government finally allowed the father to be fingerprinted after attorneys sent a letter to ORR, but still did not provide a timeline for his daughter's release. His lawyers then filed a habeas petition, prompting the government to release the child to her father.
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Planet Labs sent an email to journalists who have regularly used the company's satellite images to report on the US-Israeli bombing of Iran and Iran's retaliatory actions on Saturday, saying that after receiving a request from the US government, it was "moving to a managed access model... and releasing imagery on a case-by-case basis and for urgent, mission-critical requirements or in the public interest."
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The announcement comes as Iran's military capabilities have reportedly exceeded US expectations, with US intelligence reporting Iran has retained many of its missile and mobile launchers and casting doubt on the Pentagon's claims that the US is severely diminishing Iran's missile stockpile.
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