[Stopwar-l] Reminder: F-35 action Noon today / film night Sunday

[StopWar]

*Please forward widely*

Two events on the weekend of Sept. 25-26

1) Say No to the War and to the F-35 purchases
2) Film showing and discussion: Rethink Afghanistan

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1) Say No to the War and to the F-35 purchases

Saturday, Sept. 25
Meet at 12 Noon, City Centre Skytrain (Corner of Georgia and Seymour)
Followed by a travelling public education action

Join StopWar.ca in saying 'No': to the F-35 fighter jet purchases by
the Conservative government, and to any further extension of the war.

This action will be part of day of action against the war in Afghanistan.
As Parliament re-opens, we want to send a clear message: No more extensions
of the military occupation of Afghanistan, bring the troops home now!

Organized by StopWar.ca. More info: stopwar at resist.ca

Information

Our choice: fighter jets or homes and clean water?

As Parliament resumes this month, MPs will debate the priorities for
Canada, including choices between military hardware or urgent social and
economic priorities. We urge readers to send their MPs a message: the
Harper government's plan to spend $16 billion on F-35 fighter jets
should be scrapped, in favour of public transit, social housing, clean
drinking water, access to education, and humanitarian assistance.

65 Fighter jets: $16 billion

The Harper Tory government plans to spend $9 billion on 65 new
fighter-jets built by the U.S. transnational McDonnell-Douglas, plus
another $7 billion on “ancillary costs” such as future parts and
maintenance. The price per jet, including the long-term contracts for
parts and servicing, has jumped to $245 million. These are not
"defensive" weapons, and they have little use for search and rescue
operations - they are purely war-making machines. With its large payload
capability, the F-35 can carry more weapons than the C-18 fighters it
replaces. The F-35 comes with a wide range of deadly armament: the
GAU-22/A four-barrel 25mm cannon (400 rounds); up to two air-to-air
missiles and two air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons; two 1,000 lb.
bombs; a maximum of eight “Small Diameter Bombs”; Brimstone anti-armor
missiles; and cluster bombs. At the expense of being more detectable by
radar, many more missiles, bombs and fuel tanks can be attached on four
wing pylons and two near wingtip positions. Solid-state lasers are being
developed as optional weapons for the F-35. (Source: Wikipedia)

Human needs: total $16 billion

5000 buses

Canadian municipalities desperately need more high-quality public
transportation. To purchase 5,000 new transit buses, at a cost of about
$500,000 each, would cost about $2.5 billion.

Tuition for 50,000 students

Canadian students are increasingly sentenced to a life term of heavy
debt loads. If the federal government provided four years of free
post-secondary tuition for 50,000 young people, the cost would total
about $1 billion, an investment in Canada’s future.

30,000 homes

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are homeless or in danger of living
on the street. To build 30,000 social housing units, at $200,000 each,
would cost about $6 billion. This would immediately cut costs for
emergency health care and policing.

Clean water

At any given time, up to 200 Aboriginal communities across Canada live
under “boil water” advisories. Spending $1 billion to help build safe
and secure clean drinking water systems would be a major improvement in
living standards for Aboriginal peoples.

Humanitarian assistance

The federal government has allocated a miserly $33 million to help the
people of Pakistan, hit by the worst humanitarian disaster in recent
years. Multiplying that amount by fifteen times would bring the total to
$500 million.

***

2) Film showing and discussion: Rethink Afghanistan

Sunday, Sept. 26
Film showing: Rethink Afghanistan (http://rethinkafghanistan.com/)
6:30pm at Rhizome Cafe (317 E. Broadway, at Kingsway,
http://www.rhizomecafe.ca/)

The screening will be followed by an update on the war and a discussion of
efforts to end Canada's role in the NATO occupation.

Join us for a showing of Brave New Films' 'Rethink Afghanistan' and a
discussion of the latest developments in the war. Admission by donation.
Organized by StopWar.ca.