They are the 852 million people who go to bed hungry every night.    They are people just like you, but because of poverty they must walk to accomplish the most basic tasks:

They walk for food.
They walk for water.
They walk for firewood.
They walk to escape violence.
They walk to seek shelter.
They walk to farm their fields.
They walk to find employment.
They walk to go to school.

I'm walking the CROP Walk with a group from my church this Sunday.  I have no friends (who aren't walking on Sunday) in real life and most of my neighbors do their best to avoid me so I'm counting on readers of this blog to donate and spread the word around blogtopia (hail, skippy) so that others donate too.   

The CROP Walk is a great, nationwide event.  It's run by Church World Service, which gets an outstanding rating from Charity Navigator.    The walks will help hungry Americans as well as hungry families overseas.  I can tell you that the food bank which operates out of my church is reporting consistent increase in demand without a sufficient increase in giving.   With the President threatening to use vetoes to gum up the budget process this year, we are running a real risk of having to survive on continuing resolutions to get through another year.  That means no increase in funding for programs like WIC and food stamps and nutrition for the elderly since CRs only allow for continued funding at previous levels.   No allowance for increased demand.  No allowance for inflation. 

If you're angry at the way BushCo and the GOP are literally starving "the beast," then please consider giving to a CROP Walk online (mine first!) or to one in your neighborhood.   We all know that charity isn't the answer, but given the emergency the hungry are facing here and around the world, charity is the lifeboat they need to get through another day until world leaders make the simple decision that hunger doesn't have to exist on this planet. 

cross-posted everywhere I can think to cross-post it

Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action invite you to partipate in a

Philadelphia Town Hall Meeting

Exiting Iraq: Military Experts Speak Out
"Bring Our Troops Home"

7:00 pm, Monday, September 10th

17 Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania
249 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia

On the eve of General Petraeus' report to the US Senate on the status of the surge in Iraq, join three internationally known military experts discussing why it is necessary for the United States to bring our troops home from Iraq quickly and safely. [Information on speakers below] After their presentations, these experts will lead a discussion on steps you can take to help end this war.

We need to show President Bush and his supporters in Congress that Pennsylvanians are fed up with his plans to occupy Iraq for fifty years, so help make his town hall standing room only. RSVP by going to:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/movecongress/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=30255&t=petition2.dwt

For more information, contact: Jeff Garis, Penn Action, at jsgaris@aol.com and 215-701-8081. PDF fliers available via email for distribution; email Jeff to receive the file as an attachment.

SPEAKERS:

General John Johns (ret) served as a combat arms officer in the Army for over 26 years, retiring in 1978. He taught leadership and ethics at the U.S. Military Academy and has lectured on ethics at the Air War College, Army War College, U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy.

Col. Dick Klass (ret.) has a distinguished military career including over 220 combat missions in Vietnam with 25 years experience in the aerospace sector as an industry executive and consultant. He works to ban landmines and on nuclear threat reduction.

Former Congressman Tom Andrews (Maine) served on the House Armed Services Committee. He has been in the National Director of Win Without War since 2003 where he leads a 40+ member organization including the NAACP, MoveOn.org, Greenpeace, NOW, and AFSC, working to create a political solution to bring the troops home from Iraq.

Sponsored by Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action

www.winwithoutwarus.org

www.standupcongress.org

PA Action, working with Women's Voices Women's Votes and US Action, is working a non-partisan campaign on the phones and on the ground to turnout likely progressive female voters this election.   You've probably read about WVWV over at MyDD. As Matt said in that post:

Right-wingers have two giant fears.  The first is if evangelicals stop voting, as they did from the 1920s until the late 1970s.  The second is if single women start voting.

That second part is our plan and you can help from the comfort and convenience of your home.  We need four hundred people to each call one hundred names on our list.  That's about two hours of work per person.  Trust me, it goes by more quickly than you may imagine.  The script is short and direct.  The focus voters are people we need to get to the polls if we want to see some change in the direction this country.

Please keep reading to find out how you can spend a couple of hours helping to get this country back on track.

If you're on your computer tonight at 8pm, be sure to tune into the Coalition for Voting Integrity's new weekly radio show: The Voice of the Voters: The Power and Responsibility of Democracy.   It'll air on WCNJ 1360 AM, but you can listen online here.  CVI is a Bucks County group, but we take on national issues as well.  Tonight's guest is Lowell Finley, who is a very big deal in election law circles:

Mr. Finley has practiced election law for over 20 years and is one of the few attorneys in the nation with experience litigating electronic voting issues.  Mr. Finley has won the most voting cases in US and is often interviewed by major networks, cable TV and major print outlets.  Mr. Finley led New Mexico’s legal action which resulted in the discarding of Danaher voting machines, which were replaced with  voter-verified optical scan machines.  Danaher machines are used now in Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Berks and two other PA counties.   Mr. Finley also won an important voting rights case in Colorado.   Access this
site for more information on the  lawsuits.

It's exciting.  We're doing our best to reach out to as many people as possible because we know this important fact to be true:  When people learn about electronic voting, people are opposed to electronic voting.   

Tell your friends!

There will be TWO free showings of the new film "Iraq for Sale" by Robert Greenwald, director of "Walmart: The High Price of Lowcost" and "Outfoxed. Discussion of the movie and the upcoming election.

From the film's official site: Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.

Screening One:
WHERE: Penwood Library, 301 S. Pine Street (Rt. 413 and Flowers Ave.) in Langhorne Google Maps

WHEN: Wednesday, October 4, 7:00 PM

RSVP HERE
For more information contact Paul Roden at 215-428-0234 or Robin Stelly at 267.240.9819

Screening Two:
WHERE: PA Action Headquarters, 1631 Edgely Road, Levittown, 19057 Google Maps

WHEN: Thursday, October 12, 7:00 PM

RSVP HERE

For more information contact Robin Stelly at 267.240.9819

Big news in Bucks County! PA Action has set up shop,literally, in Levittown.

PA Action is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to community-building while working to secure

high-quality, comprehensive education for all from early childhood through college,

quality, affordable health care for all, and

clean energy and reduced dependence on oil.

Operation Yellow Elephant is running a cool back-to-school activism contest for people who have access to the miracle that is the urban college campus:

Create signs relating to Operation Yellow Elephant's mission to expose the hypocrisy of hawkish College Republicans and other young conservatives who are too cowardly to fight in the war they demanded. Post these signs near roadways and pedestrian pathways on or near college campuses. Photograph your work and send it to me. I'll post them here. In early October, the OYE Contributing Writers and the Freeway Blogger will pick a winner.

Sounds like it's tailor-made for Philly. Details here.

For The Greater Philly Area:

If you live in the Philadelphia area, and you care about what your government is trying to do to Social Security, come out and join with others who are working to save it—meet great people, stuff your face with good eats, and talk with some of your local candidates and representatives to exchange ideas on how to do it.

Join us at an old-fashioned Sunday picnic in the park to say “Happy 70th Birthday, Social Security!�

Sponsored by Montco DFA and Philly for Change, the party will be held at Fort Washington State Park in Flourtown, PA on August 14.
We’ll have food, fun, and good company.

RAIN or SHINE