Of course, Americans must be 18 to serve in the military, but much of the military's recruiting work is directed at those who have not yet turned 18.

According to Dave Meserve in Arcata, Calif., localities can avoid the consequences of the No Child Left Behind law (which turns students' names and contact information over to recruiters) not only by helping students and parents to opt out of recruitment lists or by challenging the ability of recruiters to be on school campuses, but also by prohibiting any recruiting activities that involve kids under 18.

Meserve has drafted an ordinance and submitted it to the city clerk and the city attorney in Arcata. They will have 15 days to review it and provide a title and ballot summary for the November 2008 ballot. Then Meserve can begin gathering signatures to get it on the ballot.

Why not do the same thing in your town or major city? Here's the draft ordinance:

ARCATA YOUTH PROTECTION ACT

AN ORDINANCE TO PROHIBIT THE MILITARY RECRUITMENT OF ANY PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN

To protect the welfare of our youth, the People of Arcata Ordain as Follows:

The latest job numbers are in. And it isn’t a pretty picture. The overall economy lost jobs last month for the first time in four years. Over the next six months, 1.3 million unemployed men and women will run out of benefits without finding new work. First-time unemployment claims rose a whopping 69,000 in the week ended Jan. 26. It’s the largest one-week jump since Hurricane Katrina.

The numbers confirm what we already know—Congress must act immediately and decisively to head off the worst. The quickest and most effective way to do it is to put money in the pockets of those who need it most—the unemployed. In addition, the U.S. Senate should include additional effective mechanisms for economic stimulus. It can provide for fiscal relief to the states, accelerate ready-to-go construction projects, temporarily increase food-stamp benefits and offer tax rebates to low-income seniors and disabled veterans.

New Delhi, India (January 28, 2008) - Mahatma Gandhi, 60 years later, his legacy is alive.  His dreams for democracy, de-colonization, human rights, his quest to end barbaric enmity based upon class, tribe, race and gender, has momentum…for the most part all of Africa, Asia, South, Central and Latin America, and the Caribbean has been de-colonized in the last 60 years – most of the world’s people.

Nuclear war and greed remain our threats, non-violence and Satayagraha – soul force – remains our therapy, and the only window from which the peace we seek is possible.  Dr. King said, “just call me a drum major for justice.” 

Dr. King and Gandhi were drum majors and dreamers who marched to a different beat, and heard a different sound.

There Will Be Blood
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

There Will Be Blood, the latest from director Paul Thomas Anderson and adapted from Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel, Oil!, concerns the rise and descent of ruthless oil baron, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). It is, on one hand, a visually stark look at the machinations of American capitalism, as represented by the misanthropic Plainview. On the other hand, its failure is rooted in the lack of historical exposition that gives insight of how a miserable, scheming tycoon came to be. The film resorts to the ultimately simplistic notion of "innate evil" or "human nature" instead of attempting to examine social or economic relations explored in Sinclair's novel.