ORGANIZING NOTES
February 10, 2026
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Military Families Speak Out: Against Military Misadventures from 2002 to 2026
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In 2002, as the drumbeat for war in Iraq grew deafening, a small group of military families with loved ones on their way to the Middle East decided to break convention and speak out. Our goal was to use our voices and stories as military families with skin in the game to help build a movement that would prevent an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, a war for oil markets, a war based on lies. Our new group was called “Military Families Speak Out”, and we grew to represent the families of active duty troops, veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations and service members who were killed in those conflicts or died by suicide.
Joining our voices with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, and, when it was formed in 2004, Iraq Veterans Against the War, we marched in demonstrations, spoke from stages across the country, held press conferences, brought a lawsuit against President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, engaged in non-violent actions and civil disobedience, got arrested, met with Members of Congress, and engaged in creative actions locally and nationally.
Military Families Speak Out grew to be the largest organization of military families speaking out against a war in US history. We also worked closely with groups such as US Labor Against the War, the American Friends Service Committee and United for Peace and Justice. Decrying the deaths of 4,500 of our loved ones, their life-destroying moral injuries, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, women and men, we helped move the original seventy percent of the US population who supported an invasion of Iraq into the seventy percent who opposed it,.
Fast-forward to today, our loved ones in the National Guard are being deployed to our own cities – Los Angeles (where the Marines were also deployed), DC, New Orleans, and more; the lies this time not, “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” but anti-immigrant slurs and “Crime on our Streets”. The military is being called in to aid ICE and Border Patrol as they arrest five year olds in bunny hats, injure and kill peaceful protesters, cause the deaths of scores of immigrants held in detention, and disrupt and destroy immigrants’ lives across the country.
15,000 service members are deployed in unlawful actions in the waters around Venezuela, where fishing boats have been bombed and a sovereign nation’s ruler was abducted. More service members are deployed on ships heading for Iran. Greenland could be next.
In 2026, Military Families Speak Out calls “bullshit” on the actions of a wanna-be Warrior King, his co-conspirators, and their march to fascism. We raise our voices once again and call out to military families opposed to today’s lies, cruelty, and military misadventures to join our ranks.
It has never been a politician who’s ended a war or stopped a march to fascism – it’s always been a social movement. We’re proud to be part of that movement and count on the voices of military families speaking out to help turn the tide.
Nancy Lessin is a co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. Her stepson (son of the late Charley Richardson) served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was deployed to Iraq in 2003. She worked as Health and Safety Coordinator for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and on occupational safety and health issues with the United Steelworkers International Union. She lives in Boston. If you are a member of a military family and want more information about Military Families Speak Out,see www.mfso.org and/or contact Nancy through ORMA volunteer form
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AI & Data Centers – Stop the Climate Assault
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“Artificial Intelligence” seems to hold out great promise for the future of science, medicine, engineering, and research of all sorts.
Recently, Sierra Club of Massachusetts and Alternatives for Community Development hosted a webinar to expose the shiny promise of AI alerting us to the dangers of the unregulated expansion of a technology with un-told negative consequences. (Full slide presentation here). And, to meet the rapid increase in electricity required to power data center expansion, the industry is looking to more fossil fuel, not alternatives.
Many of us are already using tools like Chat GPT and other AI backed software to make our work lives easier, to learn new skills, to save time, to conduct research faster, take notes for us in a Zoom meeting, or to simply break “writers block”.
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But, AI-based facial recognition is leading to racial profiling on steroids and wrongful arrests; Reinforcing bias in so-called “predictive policing” initiatives; Replicating the same bias in ranking job applicants, tenant screening and mortgage underwriting decisions. The recent exposure of Elon Musk’s GROK AI tools making the
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creation of sexualized images of children commonplace on X, and his reluctance to even admit that a problem exists, hints at a future world where we are all fair game in the name of profit.
Powering all of this is an insatiable demand for energy to power massive data centers that house the thousands of computer servers required. In 2025, US data centers required 224 THw (Terra-Watt hours) of power, amounting to roughly 5% of total power demand in the country. By 2030, according to projections by McKinsey, that figure could almost triple to 606 TWh, the equivalent of 12% of all US power demand!
Our Governor has laid out a plan to position the state as an AI Hub, to “ … develop AI technologies, and build cutting edge AI businesses. At present there are 51 data centers in Massachusetts consuming about 188 megawatts of power. In addition there are currently projects on the drawing board requiring additional 3 Giga Watts of power, equal to 25% of current electricity demand in the commonwealth!
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The Platform of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Returns
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In our last issue, ON#75, we reported that the Massachusetts Democratic Party had not published a true copy of the platform passed with the support of the great majority of the delegates at the Party’s Convention in September. Further, the text on the site suggested that only a small number of delegates supported this platform. We urged you to protest to Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan. Well, your protests have contributed to change! Last week, the correct platform was published by the Party, and the history of the Convention was corrected. This final transition resulted from a direct, detailed conversation between Alex Crowley and Party leadership. When we organize, we win. To look into the hidden workings of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, plan to watch Inside the Democratic State Committee (DSC). This will be a presentation by Platform in Action (the people who organized the platform turnaround at the Convention), with interviews of present and former DSC members by Yawu Miller, Editor in Chief, The Flipside, and former Managing Editor of The Bay State Banner. It will stream at 7 PM on March 3.
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Phone Bank with Progressive Mass 2/12 at Noon What comes after calling your state rep and state senator? Getting others to do so as well. Join Progressive Mass for our “Power Lunch” phone bank series, where we will be building our collective power in service of a better Commonwealth for all. We’ll be calling voters about contacting their state legislators about key issues.
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This Valentine’s Day: Join Our Protests To Break Up With Dirty Banks
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This Valentine’s Day, we are breaking up with toxic banks that are keeping our world on a course of destruction. In the name of all we love, we are telling them to “Stop Melting the Wrong ICE!” We hope to see you there! RSVP now.
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Join Swing Blue Alliance working with the Wisconsin Democratic Party fighting to protect Democracy: One Battle After Another! We helped to elect Justices Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford! If Judge Chris Taylor is elected on April 7th the Democrats will have a 5-2 majority and The Wisconsin vote in 2028 for President, Congress and state-wide offices will be protected! We will be using OpenVPB, the easiest dialer to use. All you need is your phone and a computer laptop or tablet. Once you are trained, you can also be able to make calls on your own schedule. We offer comprehensive training, staff to answer questions, help you with any technical issues, and a debrief during every phone bank to share the experience. PLEASE SIGN UP HERE FOR THE EVENT
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Valentine’s Day Vigil for Dignity and Freedom The FreeHer Campaign has held a rally at the MA State House for Valentine’s Day every year since 2022 to send love to women inside MCI-Framingham, and call for decarceration and an end to new prison construction. This year we will hold a vigil for the grief and rage families are feeling while being torn apart by incarceration and deportation. As always, we will uplift the voices of women inside MCI-Framingham. Join us any time from 4:30 to 6:00 pm to demand the release of women, stopping the $360 million women’s prison project, getting ICE out of Massachusetts, and investing in what our communities need to thrive. We will provide candles and welcome you to bring signs. We will be outside so please dress for the weather.
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Local Visibilities Schedule
Watch for weather and wind chill cancellations here! But another good way to keep up with day to day and weekly changes is to join a Signal Group
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Folks can sign up for De-ICE Hanscom’s contact list at this link.
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Right to Build Offshore Wind Power Upheld by US Judge for the 5th Time Since Attempted White House Ban
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A district court judge struck down the stop-work order on the Sunrise Wind project, marking the fifth time courts have overturned the Department of Interior’s order halting work on 5 offshore wind projects under construction along America’s eastern seaboard. Sunrise Wind now joins Coastal Virginia Wind, Empire Wind, Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind, all of which have been cleared to resume work. Collectively, the projects will provide enough power for roughly 2.5 million homes and businesses on the East Coast. Ronald Reagan-appointed District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who was presiding over the Sunrise Wind case, ruled that as it was losing $2.5 million a day while it sat idle, the project would “be irreparably harmed” unless work is allowed to continue during the legal fight.
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If you would like to work with ORMA Members on
- Climate Change
- Housing Justice
- Medicare for All
- Communications/InformationTechnology
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Please send requests for action items, articles or upcoming events
for the next Organizing Notes to
beccobrien.orma@gmail.com by Saturday, February 21st.
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Campaigns End, Movements Endure
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