Syracuse, New York, from Jessica Maxwell of the Syracuse Peace Council

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

We've decided to hold a month of Monday gatherings at our local federal building focused on the costs of the war - we started today and had an excellent turnout - about 30 people from noon-1 in bitter cold temperatures, media coverage from 2 radio stations, newspaper, and a TV station and a couple of student reporters. We also got good pre-event coverage in the paper and one radio station. Today's event focused on teh "human cost of war" - civilian and military deaths and we gave out armbands for people to wear (black w/death toll in red). Next week is the "local cost of the war" - impact of budget cuts, etc., following week is "moral costs of the war" - torture and prisoner abuse. We have props and signs each week and plan to culminate with a large demonstration and direct action on monday, March 20. We hope to use the armbands and regular gathering time to build up participation for the 20th.

We also have 2 local folks in DC for the Voices for Creative NV fast, so we're doing a solidarity fast for local folks to fast each Monday from now thru March 20. Below is some of the media coverage of the event.

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The 2 radio stations that covered the event are WAER and WSYR. The news station that came is our local 24-hour cable news station - Channel 10, you can see their coverage at:
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