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Georgie,
Can You Hear Us?
After
months of seeming hibernation, the antiwar movement is back,
and it refuses to be overlooked. On Saturday (Oct. 25), thousands
will once again gather to descend upon the Pentagon in Washington,
D.C., to demonstrate against the United States’ occupation
of Iraq. The protest will occur under the banner the World
Unites Against U.S. Militarism.
United for Peace and Justice and International Act Now to
Stop War and End Racism, along with Women Against War, Ironweed
Collective, Upper Hudson Peace Action and other local groups,
have joined forces in hopes that the concerns of the people
will not, yet again, fall on deaf ears in the White House.
The main issues that will be addressed during Saturday’s protest
include bringing the troops home, ending the occupation of
Iraq, and spending money where it’s needed more—on domestic
issues such as education, job reform and welfare, instead
of the military, where approximately half of U.S. tax money
goes anyway.
As with many demonstrations that occurred before the invasion
of Iraq, a protest will also take place in San Francisco the
same day to show solidarity with the D.C. protestors. More
than 2,000 organizations and individuals worldwide have endorsed
this call to action.
Erin O’Brien of Women Against War declared the importance
of dissenters remaining visible, especially now.
“It’s
a year later,” said O’Brien, “and we want to show that we
haven’t gone away, and we won’t go away until our troops come
home and the money we’re spending in Iraq is used for the
reconstruction of Iraq.”
What’s more, this weekend is also the second anniversary of
the signing of the Patriot Act, the highly controversial piece
of legislation enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized
political arrests and domestic spying among other unconstitutional
actions.
In conjunction with the D.C. protest, there will be a march
to end the occupation in Iraq and to bring the troops home
in downtown Albany on Friday (Oct. 24). Marchers will assemble
on the steps of the Capitol and, at 4:30 PM, march up Washington
Avenue to Townsend Park (located at Henry Johnson Boulevard
and Central Avenue) for a rally and candlelight vigil. Speakers
and performers are yet to be announced.
The morning of Oct. 25, in Washington, D.C., protestors will
convene at the Washington Monument (northwest corner, 17th
Street and Constitution Avenue) at 11 AM. There, they will
rally and then march. For more information or to reserve bus
seats to D.C. on Saturday from Albany and the Capital Region,
call 872-9908; from Kingston or New Paltz, call (845) 255-5779.
To join the mobilization planning team, contact womenagainstwar@ureach.com.
—Kathryn
Lurie
Salty
Mall Raises Advocates’ Blood Pressure
 On
Monday, Save the Pine Bush and the Alliance for Environmental
Renewal filed notice of intent to sue Crossgates Mall.
These groups stated that Crossgates has violated its water
waste permit for the past three years. During that time, the
mall has exceeded the authorized limit in sodium-chloride
concentrations in the wastewater it discharges into Krum Kill,
a nearby creek directly upstream from the McKownville Reservoir.
This increase in salt levels is a result of the salting of
parking lots surrounding the mall during the winter months
since 2000.
The suit has brought the violations to the attention of the
Department of Environmental Conservation, which has the authority
to impose financial penalties on Crossgates for the violations
if it chooses.
This isn’t the first time the mall has been penalized for
violation of its wastewater permit. In 1998, the DEC ordered
Crossgates to pay $1,500 and then another $3,000 in 2001 for
not submitting their monthly reports of salt concentration
to the DEC in a timely manner. Those fees were pocket change
compared to the maximum $25,000 per day of violation that
the environmental groups are calling for the shopping mall
to pay.
The DEC says the salt concentrations decreased this past year
because the mall instituted better practices to contain the
rock salt, and it wants to wait to see if the mall will come
into compliance on its own. “We want to go through a whole
winter and see how the new monitoring site goes as well as
the exceedances,” said Rick Georgeson, regional public affairs
officer for the DEC.
“If
the DEC does not take action then our intention is to sue
Crossgates,” said Lynne Jackson, a volunteer for Save the
Pine Bush.
Mark Wagner, general manager of Crossgates Mall, refused to
comment.
—Christen
Deming
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