My Name is Rachel Corrie to Premiere in Cleveland

The play My Name is Rachel Corrie will premiere in Cleveland next weekend at Cleveland Public Theater as part of their Big Box series. We spoke with director Trad A. Burns and actress Elizabeth Wood on yesterday's Guerrilla Radio about what inspired them to bring this play to Cleveland and how it changed them in the process. The play starts February 16th and runs through the 18th. Rachel was killed in 2004 while standing in the way of an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip as part of the International Solidarity Movement. You can check out Rachel's memorial website here.

Black Hawk Down

Anti-occupation forces in Iraq are improving their ability to combat U.S. forces by using new anti-aircraft weapons in anticipation of Bush's "surge." The increased use of helicopters in Iraq is likely a result of the insurgents' success with IEDs and small arms urban guerrilla warfare. Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate continue to debate over a resolution that will likely have little affect on the actual deployment of the troops absent the use of Congress' power of the purse. Nonetheless, it seems even this "toothless symbolic gesture" is drawing heavy criticism from the staunchest supporters of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.