Anti-Muslim attitudes run so deep at Guantanamo Bay that even an American Army chaplain sent there to minister to the detainees in their own faith wound up imprisoned and abused.

Chaplain Yee says the response to his book and his speaking appearances has ranged from surprise to support, even among other military personnel.

 Chaplain James Yee was stationed at Guantanamo Bay. He stood up against the cruelty and was imprisoned for 76 days, later to be given an Honorable Discharge in 2005.

On October 16^th, Chaplain James Yee, author of For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire, will be speaking in Santa Rosa about his fight to "Shut Down Guantanamo Bay." For more information about the event, 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.

 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.

As gang-related activities increase in the Sonoma Valley, new prevention efforts are being launched to help parents redirect affected kids.

For details about the upcoming seminar series, click here . You can hear Jill Royce describe the full series in this audio clip:

To view the services provided by LifeWorks, click here .