Richard Zack's Blog

Iraq Veterans Against the War - Benefit Concert and Book Release Party

*Richard Zack* — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:06:23 EDT

PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 10, 2008

IRAQ WAR VETERANS RELEASE EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF MIDEAST OCCUPATIONS
WINTER SOLDIER BENEFIT CONCERT AND BOOK DEBUT, OCT. 30, 2008

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) has teamed up with the NYC management company The Wink Winks to craft an evening of rock and reflection to celebrate the release of Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations from Haymarket Books. On Thursday, October 30, 2008, veterans, musicians, and the general public will converge at Sullivan Hall to raise awareness with readings from the book by Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, and to raise money for continued advocacy with performances by great bands from NYC and around the country.

In the spring of 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier Investigation, IVAW gathered outside Washington, D.C., and testified to atrocities they personally witnessed or participated in while deployed in the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. The book presents their powerful words, photographs, and documents from this historic event, with a Foreword from Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead.

Along with readings from Winter Solder: Iraq and Afghanistan, there will be performances by musicians from around the country who support the continued work of IVAW, including the Brooklyn based bands System Noise, The Volunteers, Wounded Buffalo Theory, Lachi, Trevor Earth, the Connecticut band doublethink, and a special solo performance by Milwaukee's Otto Ohlsson from Into Arcadia. Special guests and additional artists TBA.

Sullivan Hall is located at 214 Sullivan St. in New York's Greenwich Village. Tickets are available for presale through TicketWeb (www.sullivanhalltix.com) for a discounted $15, or $20 at the door. Proceeds will go to the New York City Chapter and the Winter Soldier Committee of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Doors will open at 7:30PM with readings and performances to begin shortly thereafter. Come add your voices to ours to show that together we can change the path of this country and end this war and occupation.

ABOUT IVAW: IVAW was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace in Boston, to give a voice to active duty service people and veterans who are against the war. Today, IVAW has over 1,200 members in 48 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada, and on military bases overseas.

ABOUT THE WINK WINKS: The Wink Winks was founded in 2004 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio by Richard Zack and Dave Smith, to produce, manage, and promote talented artists with a focus of making a positive impact on society. Today, The Wink Winks is based in Queens, NY and manages several Rock artists and producers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Iraq Veterans Against the War: http://www.ivaw.org
The Wink Winks: http://www.thewinkwinks.com
System Noise: http://myspace.com/systemnoise
The Volunteers: http://myspace.com/thevolunteers
doublethink: http://myspace.com/doublethinkrocks
Into Arcadia: http://myspace.com/intoarcadia
Wounded Buffalo Theory: http://myspace.com/wbt
Lachi: http://myspace.com/lachimusic
Trevor Earth: http://myspace.com/trevorearth

Greater equity, justice, and prosperity

*Richard Zack* — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:26:39 EDT

“Our challenge, then, is to make sure that U.S. policies move the international system in the direction of greater equity, justice, and prosperity – that the rules we promote serve both our interests and the interests of a struggling world. In doing so, we might keep a few basic principles in mind. First, we should be skeptical of those who believe we can single-handedly liberate other people from tyranny. I agree with George W. Bush when in his second inaugural address he proclaimed a universal desire to be free. But there are few examples in history in which the freedom men and women crave is delivered through outside intervention. In almost every successful social movement of the last century, from Gandhi’s campaign against British rule to the Solidarity movement in Poland to the antiapartheid movement in South Africa, democracy was the result of a local awakening.”

– from The Audacity of Hope, by Senator Barack Obama, page 316

Create renewable, cleaner energy.

*Richard Zack* — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:53:30 EDT

"The United States has 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We use 25 percent of the world's oil. We can't drill our way out of the problem. What we can do is create renewable, cleaner energy sources for the twenty-first century. Instead of subsidizing the oil industry, we should end every single tax break the industry currently receives and demand that 1 percent of the revenues from oil companies with over $1 billion in quarterly profits go toward financing alternative energy research and the necessary infrastructure. Not only would such a project pay huge economic, foreign policy, and environmental dividends - it could be the vehicle by which we train an entire new generation of American scientists and engineers and a source of new export industries and high-wage jobs."

-- From The Audacity of Hope, page 169, by Barack Obama

Are you a liberal?

*Richard Zack* — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:27:22 EDT

"If by a Liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a Liberal, then I'm proud to say I'm a Liberal."
-- President John F. Kennedy

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but morally treasonable to the American public"
-- President Theodore Roosevelt

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves"
-- President Abraham Lincoln

Sending out more copies of The Audacity of Hope

*Richard Zack* — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 02:14:51 EDT

The mission.. Barack Obama for President 2008!

The goal.. help people learn more about Barack Obama..

The way.. enable and encourage people to read it straight from him..

The method.. provide free copies of The Audacity of Hope to voters who currently are not convinced that Senator Obama should be elected President!

So far, ten copies of The Audacity of Hope have been given to voters who would not otherwise have purchased the book. Five to Democrats who are undecided or are supporting someone other than Senator Obama, and five to Republicans who need the truth, unaltered by the conservative media. The results after three days? TWO more Senator Obama supporters!

I've ordered more books and am looking for more people who could benefit from them. Remember, must be voters who are currently undecided!

Please support my efforts! By making a small $5.00 "thanks for sending out the books" donation under my name at http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/acclivous it will mean a lot to know that the community is supporting this effort.

Also, leave a comment to express your opinion!

And finally, if you have a lightly used copy of The Audacity of Hope that you would like to recycle to potential voters who are undecided, please message me!

Finally, everyone make sure to get out and Canvass for Change on October 13th. Reach out to your community and spread the word that it is time to Turn the Page on Iraq. Barack has a plan to start bringing our troops home, but he needs your help to share that message with friends, family and neighbors. More information on www.barackobama.com.

Senator Obama highlights initial opposition to Iraq war

*Richard Zack* — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:14:22 EDT

Five years after he first staked out his opposition to the looming Iraq war, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois yesterday invoked his judgment at the time to draw his sharpest distinction yet with leading Democratic presidential rivals, who sanctioned the invasion.

"So there is a choice that has emerged in this campaign, one that the American people need to understand," Obama said yesterday at DePaul University, according to prepared remarks. "They should ask themselves: Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?"

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/03/obama_touts_initial_stance_on_iraq_war/

Obama's Iraq plan calls for an immediate, gradual redeployment of troops that would leave only a small number in the country to conduct counterterrorism operations and protect diplomats.

Sending out free copies of The Audacity of Hope

*Richard Zack* — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:50:51 EDT

My latest effort to contribute to the campaign came from this thought.... what inspired me to support Barack Obama?

Watching his YouTube videos got me interested, but the biggest impetus to act was reading his book, The Audacity of Hope. It convinced me that Barack Obama should be our next President. His plans and philosophies were laid out in a concrete and compelling fashion.

So.... The other day I ordered ten copies of The Audacity of Hope from Amazon. They just arrived, and I've begun sending copies of these books to various associates.

Five of them are going to Democrats who are still undecided.

Five of them are going to Republicans who need to hear what he has to say.

If you know anyone who you think could really benefit from a free copy of the book, please let me know who and why, and I'll make it happen!!

The NYC Rally... so inspiring!

*Richard Zack* — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:15:18 EDT

The NYC rally was incredible... the culmination of weeks of work from all the volunteers (including myself) and staff members. It was so fulfilling to see and hear Obama show us how together we can make a difference and how we can change the world. Several people in the audience (including myself) were moved to tears at the event. I never in a million years thought that such a candidate would step forward in my lifetime. Barack Obama is the most sensible, balanced, wise, charismatic, practical, and realistic leader of our time.

As a volunteer, I helped get the event setup and then walked around doing voter registration. Our team of ten volunteers signed up almost 500 people to vote. That in and of itself is amazing.. but it was just one small part of the tremendous effort everyone put into the campaign. While I personally only registered 17 new voters (wow is it difficult when so many people are already registered), I couldn't help but feel like I was part of something bigger.. part of a real movement to change the world for the better.

Barack Obama is truly a hero and a role model. His stances on Iraq, universal healthcare, universal education, and ending the game-playing of partisan politics that has plagued our country for decades, is truly on-point and is what our country needs in this new millenium.

A huge thanks to Barack Obama, all his staff members and volunteers for putting tremendous effort into making this a wonderful event for our city, and our nation.

Passing out flyers in Union Square

*Richard Zack* — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:06:28 EDT

Today I met up with Alex Lofton at the Soho HQ, and went with Trevor (lead singer of the Lost Tricks) down to Union Square to continue drumming up support for the rally tomorrow!

Many folks are excited about Obama.. we were very well received and people are listening. Most of the people I spoke with are still undecided... So the more people we expose to Obama the better! There were a few Clinton fans but even they are coming to the rally.

I probably handed out two to three hundred flyers and received at least 50 commitments of people going to the rally. Tomorrow is truly going to be an historic event!

NYC Rally Volunteers organization meeting

*Richard Zack* — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:24:14 EDT

Temo kicked us off tonight at the volunteer organization meeting for the big upcoming rally on Thursday.. Lots of great speakers, strategy, and information... but what really impressed me was the enthusiasm of everyone there!!

People are so passionate about Obama! Everyone had something to say.. everyone had concerns to address... everyone has really put quite a bit of effort already into this campaign. All of this was just extremely encouraging and motivating to see.

This rally is gonna be awesome... It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to more great meetings, events and he rally!

Passing out flyers in Washington Square Park

*Richard Zack* — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:46:05 EDT

Today, I spoke with and passed out about 150 flyers to people in Washington Square Park, NYC, to get the word out about the upcoming rally this Thursday, 9/27.

Some really great respones (at least 20 people committed to coming to the upcoming rally), and some very interesting stories and opinions. In general a warm reception.

It was surprising to me that so few people knew about the upcoming Obama rally.. and even more surprising that some Americans did not yet know who Barack Obama is!

I'm going to continue my work spreading the word about Senator Obama.. and hopefully my T-Shirts and bumper stickers will be here soon! :)

Come to Washington Square Park on Wednesday 9/26 at 5PM at the Garbaldi statue if you want to help me and the NYC-Obama supporters get the word out about the rally!