[Computerbank] [cawaust] Fw: spontaneous referendum (fwd)

[Barrington Vincent Sherman <fides@taz.net.au>]

Thought this would be relevant to those wishing to use computers as the
worst case senario of the looming war is there would be no one to use
computers...  So I err on the side of caution.

---------- Forwarded message ----------



> Subject: spontaneous referendum
>
> The Commonwealth Government has kindly given us the opportunity for a
spontaneous referendum about the War on Iraq.
>
> IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE WAR, WHEN THE GOVERNMENT'S "TERRORIST KIT" IS
DELIVERED TO YOUR HOUSE, MARK IT "RETURN TO SENDER" OR SIMPLY "RTS" AND DROP
INTO THE NEAREST POST BOX.
>
> If the government is indeed supportive of "democracy", we should send them
this message to convey the feelings of the vast majority of the Australian
people.
>
> PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL ONTO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.
>
> Thank you.
>
> OR HERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO PROTEST
>
> Subject: FW: Feed Thine Enemy
>
> PASS THIS ON. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE HELPED ACTUALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN
> There is a grassroots campaign underway to protest war in Iraq in a
simple, but potentially powerful way.
>
> Place 1/2 cup uncooked rice in a small plastic bag a snack-size bag or
sandwich bag work fine). Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag. Wrap it in
a piece of paper on which you have written, "If your enemies are hungry,
feed them. Please send this rice to the people of Iraq; do not attack them."
>
> Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope either a letter-sized or
padded mailing envelope--both are the same cost to mail) and address them to
either:
>
> Prime Minister John Howard
> House of Representatives
> Parliament House
> Canberra, ACT 2600
>
> or
>
> President George Bush White House,
> 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
> Washington, DC 20500
>
> Drop this in the mail asap. It is important to act NOW so that Howard/Bush
gets the letters pronto.
>
> In order for this protest to be effective, there
> must be hundreds of thousands of such rice deliveries to the White House.
We can do this if you each forward this message to your friends and family.
>
> There is a positive history of this protest! In
> the 1950s, Fellowship of Reconciliation began a
> similar protest, which is credited with influencing President Eisenhower
against attacking China. Read on:
>
> "In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of
> Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese
> mainland, launched a 'Feed Thine Enemy' campaign. Members and friends
mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag
quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him." As far as anyone knew
for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President
did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly,
> no rice was ever sent to China.
>
> "What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the
campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing
nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with
the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. options in the conflict with
China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu.
>
> "The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President
Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little bags
> of rice had come in. When told they numbered in the tens of thousands,
Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many Americans were
expressing active interest in having the U.S. feed the Chinese, he certainly
wasn't going to consider using nuclear weapons against them."
>
> "We're all downwinders!" Check out
> <http://www.downwinders.org>http://www.downwinders.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Image by FlamingText.com
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Greetings
> - Send some online love this Valentine's Day.


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