War Criminals Watch -
Yesterday, approximately fifty people including students from Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) along with members of Occupy Wall Street, Veterans For Peace, War Resisters League and World Can't Wait shut down three military recruiting stations that are situated within one block from BMCC and Stuyvesant High School on Chambers St. in Manhattan. Students and others gathered outside the gates of BMCC on Wednesday morning demanding “Stop the Wars, Stop the Recruiters!”
Protesters and students marched to the Marines recruiting station just across from the college as they chanted, then entered and occupied the office. The marchers then marched to the Army recruiting station just up the block, where Matthis Chiroux, an Iraq War resister spoke out, saying, “They teach you to kill, to kill for capitalism, imperialism, sexism and racism.” Both the Army and Navy recruitment center down the street were already shut for the day – most likely after hearing about the scheduled protest.
World Can't Wait has been protesting outside the recruiting offices and doing outreach at the colleges up the block every Wednesday from noon – 1pm as part of the We Are Not Your Soldiers project.
Miranda, a student protester wrote:
I am a student at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Every day when I get off the train, I walk one block to get to my classes. On that one block alone, I pass two military recruiting centers. There are four centers within a two-block radius of BMCC and Stuyvesant High School.
Upon reaching the U.S. Marine Recruitment Center, approximately five people went in before the doors were locked. Among those that entered was Elaine Brower, whose son has served in three combat tours in Iraq. She proposed that the commanding officer participate in a debate with a veteran from We Are Not Your Soldiers, to occur at either BMCC or Stuyvesant HS. He declined citing reasons such as it was undesirable to be put on the spot and answer unwanted questions. And the group proceeded down Chambers to the Army, gathering people and talking to more students as we went.
The movement has volunteers at both BMCC and Stuyvesant HS, passing out flyers and promoting the message of “NOT join the military and DO join the movement to stop the recruiters and the wars.” If you want to get involved, we meet every Wednesday in front of BMCC, there’s always some awesome activity to be a part of. This affects us now. This affects our children. World Can’t Wait.
Occupy Military Recruiters protests can be put together with only a few people to start with - all it takes is the courage to tell the truth and a few friends. Professors, teachers, students, and parents who wish to have the “We Are Not Your Soldiers” tour visit their class can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Source: http://warisacrime.org/content/we-shut-down-military-recruiting-stations
Under the banner “Chico Youth Action”, 
No mail on Saturday, maybe, but small-town police get armored personnel carriers?
SINCE ITS ADOPTION IN 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified more quickly and by more governments than any other human rights instrument.1 There are only two United Nations (UN) members who have yet to ratify the convention: Somalia and the United States. Opponents of ratification object to giving away US sovereignty to the UN (a general objection applying to most treaties), but they also claim the treaty undermines parental rights.2
As someone who volunteered for alternative service during the era of the war in Southeast Asia, I have strong opinions about militarism. I am sure that armed forces are not the only kind of service to one’s country, even though most of my fellow citizens grant that status by referring to military service as “the service.” In greeting my first classes each semester I taught as a teacher educator, I asked for a show of hands by veterans of military service, and thanked them. I then asked for a show of hands and thanked returning members of the Peace Corps or Americorps. I think that my country would be better served if young people were given choices of howto serve, and thereby acquire skills and benefits now reserved for those who bear arms. Selective Service, which now requires registration only by males, could become a means of national service to help communities and alleviate epidemic unemployment among citizens aged eighteen to twenty-five.
Though the 
David Swanson is the author of the new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush by Dennis Kucinich. In addition to cofounding AfterDowningStreet.org, he is the Washington director of Democrats.com and sits on the boards of a number of progressive organizations in Washington, DC.
Jorge Mariscal is the grandson of Mexican immigrants and the son of a U.S. Marine who fought in World War II. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and currently teaches at the University of California, San Diego.
Matt Guynn plays the dual role of program director and coordinator for congregational organizing for On Earth Peace, building peace and nonviolence leadership within the 1000+ congregations of the Church of the Brethren across the United States and Puerto Rico. He previously served a co-coordinator of training for Christian Peacemaker Teams, serving as an unarmed accompanier with political refugees in Chiapas, Mexico, and offering or supporting trainings in the US and Mexico.
Rick Jahnkow works for two San Diego-based anti-militarist organizations, the Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities and the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft. He can be reached at: 
Pat Elder was a co-founder of the 
John Judge was a co-founder of the Committee for High School Options and Information on Careers, Education and Self-Improvement (CHOICES) in Washington DC, an organization engaged since 1985 in countering military recruitment in DC area high schools and educating young people about their options with regard to the military. Beginning with the war in Viet Nam, Judge was a life-long anti-war activist and tireless supporter of active-duty soldiers and veterans.