Director Geof Callan's new documentary film is trying to do more than capture history; he wants to influence it.

Jeanne Rizzo says it was not an easy decision to become part of the lawsuit that overturned the California law that blocked same sex marriages, but it was the right choice.

The film will premiere in Santa Rosa on October 2^nd, at the Rialto. To find out more about screenings including Santa Rosa, click here .  To view the trailer, click here .

To read about the nonprofit organization that was created out of the film making, as well as the creators, click here .

Proposition 8 was created by ProtectMarriage.com , but has a large amount of opposition from same sex marriage supporters.

 One of the untold stories of the war in Iraq is the millions of refugees who have fled their country, with no idea what their future may hold.

Kathy Kelly describes a typical refugee camp home for an Iraqi family in Syria.

Speaking at at the Oddfellows Hall,  545 Pacific Avenue in Santa Rosa, on Wednesday, September 24^th at 7 pm, renowned activist Kathy Kelly (center)  reports on her recent visit with Iraqi refugees in Amman, Jordan. Highlights of her trip include learning about nonviolence groups operating in Iraq and the efforts of Americans to support these and other Iraqis as they struggle to build a productive and peaceful future. Reflecting on her participation in a peace walk from Chicago to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Kathy will also talk about "war and memory," drawing parallels with collective resistance to other wars, and reminding us of our connections across regions, national boundaries, and generations. The event is being hosted by the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County.

David Smith-Ferri, Kathy's friend and author of Battlefield Without Borders, will open with a reading of new poems. 

The huge number of displaced people, and the shortage of resources to aid them is creating a social disaster that Kelly says will take a generation or longer to repair.

 Kelly has visited Iraq 24 times, and she continues to share her experience and vast knowledge on the economical and living situation for the people of Iraq. To see more about her previous presentations, click here.

For more information about Kathy Kelly and her work with Voices for Creative Nonviolence, click here.

Proposition Five on the November ballot would make widespread changes in the ways that drug users are treated by California's prison system.

The Yes on Prop 5 website is here.

The No on Prop 5 website is here .

There's an impartial analysis of the measure here. And you can read the actual text of Proposition 5 here. (pdf, 61 pages)

The September 24th forum on Proposition 5, to be held at 7 pm in the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors' chambers (575 Administration Drive, Suite 100A, Santa Rosa), is hosted and sponsored by the Sonoma County Advisory Board on Drug and Alcohol Problems.

The Geneva Conventions are not a conference, but an international treaty signed by every established nation in the world. And there are four of them.

Miller talks about the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that applied the Geneva Conventions to the U.S. detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

Tim Miller

The local Red Cross offers a free class to educate the public about the Geneva Conventions four times a year. Upcoming classes will be held September 20, and November 15, 9 to1 each day . For further information call (707) 577-7600, or to register online, click here .

For the direct link to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, about the Geneva Convention, click here.

 While events inside the Republican National Convention last week received saturation coverage from the mainstream media, significant developments in the streets outside went largely unreported.

Carl Patrick, a member of the IMPACT! activist group from Petaluma , was among the hundreds of protesters at the Republican National Convention last week. He will be speaking  about his experiences there on Thursday evening,  Sept. 11, at the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County. For more details,  click here.  Patrick says  that local police in the Twin Cities made numerous attemps to infiltrate the protest groups, but their efforts were conspicuous failures.

  Cazadero-based activist Starhawk says that in spite of all the furor and ominous aspects of the police response to the protestors, she considers her trip to Minnesota last week a success.

To read Starhawk's most recent blog entry about her experience at the Republican National Convention, click here .  

The protests were primarily organized by the RNC Welcoming Committee, which is now coordinating fund-raising for the legal defense for those still facing criminal charges in connection with the protests.