"All you fascists bound to loose" by Woody Guthrie

Another great song for the Occupy movement.

Military spending costs us jobs

and even if it didn't, it is still wrong to destroy other people and their lands.

Hypocrisy

“I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protestors.  The people of Egypt have rights that are universal.  That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny.  These are human rights.  And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.” – Barack Obama, 28 January 2011

 

Students at UC Davis during an Occupy Wall Street non-​violent protest were pepper sprayed by police point blank, in the face, and just sat there, passively, and took it.  This video in a few short hours has gone viral and rightly so. This will go down in history as a moment that America realized our police forces are not only para-​military forces — and out of control, para-​military forces — but they have lost their souls. 

Link here.  Picture taken on 11-18-11.  I left a comment on the UC Davis police contact page about this vile and evil behavior. 

Some of our military

In a Friday, June 13, 2011 [should be 2003 – dancewater] file photo, U.S. military police officer Bryan Pacholski, left, comforts his hometown friend, U.S. military police David Borell, both from Toledo, Ohio, at the entrance of the military base in Balad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Baghdad. Borell broke down after seeing three Iraqi children who were injured while playing with explosive material and then learning that Army doctors refused to treat them. Borrell says eight years later that the moment made him question what it means to be an American soldier, but he still respects the military.

(AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)

++++++++++

Some of our military people have outstanding morals and a very big heart.  Too bad the rest of the US military, especially it's leadership, do not listen to them. 

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week

Photo:  Student David Buscho, 22, speaks to the crowd during a rally on the University of California, Davis campus in Davis, Calif., Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 after police pepper-sprayed peaceful demonstrators during a protest on Friday. He was pepper sprayed on Friday. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

UPCOMING EVENTS

11/27/11 to 12/3/11 AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT
The AIDS Memorial Quilt “A Tapestry of Lives, Living with 30 Years of HIV/AIDS” will be hosted by the Western North Carolina AIDS Project at Pack Square, 2 South Park Square.  Info at www.wncap.org.  On 12/1/11, a candlelight memorial will be held to honor World AIDS Day from 7 to 9 PM at Pack Square.

11/29/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Representations of Muslim Women in Jordan and Indonesia:  Diversity and Contradiction” . Visiting Guest:  Dr. Siti Kusujiarti, a native of Indonesia and a professor of Sociology, Warren Wilson College, returning from a summer research project in Jordan.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email:spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

11/29/11 FORUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN NC
“The Real Death Penalty: A Summary of the Data and Scientific Studies” a public forum hosted by Dr. Matthew Robinson, professor of Government& Justice Studies at Appalachian State University.  Time is 7 PM and location is UNC-Asheville's Highsmith Union Grotto.  Dr. Matthew Robinson is the author of “Death Nation: The Experts Explain American Capital Punishment”.  For more information, contact Alexandra at cury.alexandra@gmail.com or (828) 253-5088.

11/29/11 NC CONSERVATION NETWORK
This is part of the NC Take Action Tour, where NC Conservation Network will discuss what is happening in NC in regards to the environment.  This will be held at Firestorm Cafe in downtown Asheville.  Time is 6 to 8 PM.

11/30/11 BILL MCKIBBEN SPEAKS AT UNCA
At 7 PM, a number of groups, including the Western North Carolina Allliance, the Canary Coalition, Transition Asheville, the Sierra Club and others, will host Bill McKibben at Lipinsky Hall at UNCA.  McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. He is a founder
of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009.

12/01/11 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street (the corner of Haywood and Roberts), Asheville. VFP CHAPTER 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

12/03/11 GREEN PARTY MEETING
The Buncombe County GREEN Party's business meeting is free & open to the public. It will be held from 10AM to noon, upstairs in the Fortune Building, 729 Haywood Rd., West Asheville. Contact Ronald @ 828LUCK180 or Larry @ 828-225-4347 for more information.

12/03/11 Occupy the Future!
This will be a day of families standing up together.  At 12 PM, therewill be a carnival at Pritchard Park with kid-friendly and educational games, songs, performances, art stations, and learning opportunities.
At 3 PM, there will be a General Assembly, with activities and space set up for younger kids so that parents and teens can participate in the General Assembly.  At 4 PM, there will be a parade on the sidewalk to Vance monument, and then at 5 PM there will be a picket at Vance monument.

12/05/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Muslim Economics and the Current World Economic Crisis” Visiting Guest:  Dr. Zaid Albarzinji.  Dr. Albarzinji is a native of Iraq, educated at the International Islamic University in Malaysia and with
a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Utah, he works for the Bank of America in Charlotte.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email:  spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

12/06/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Embracing Hope/Overcoming Fear”    Visiting Guest:  Shaikh Imam Yahya of the Muslim American Society in Charlotte.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room./Gladfelter.  For questions, email: spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

12/07/11 SIERRA CLUB CHRISTMAS PARTY
Bring a dish for the potluck and a book to share.  Social is at 7 PM.  Location is the Unitarian Church at 1 Edwin Street in Asheville.

12/09/11 SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVIE NIGHT AT UU CHURCH
Tonight’s film will be “Forks over Knives” and will be shown at 7 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville at the corner of Edwin and Charlotte.  Donations accepted.

12/12/11 NC POLICY WATCH CRITICAL CONVERSATION
The fall NC Policy Watch road trip continues!  Chris Fitzsimon and Rob Schofield will be in Asheville for a noon Crucial Conversation at the Unitarian Universalist Church.  They will review what a year of
conservative leadership has meant for/inflicted on the N.C. General Assembly. Later that same day we’ll be in Boone at the Cooperative Extension Agricultural Conference Center at  7 PM.  Cost is $10 and
includes a box lunch.  Register for the Asheville event at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/event-registration/?regevent_action=register&event_id=15#reg-form

01/04/12 SIERRA CLUB MEETING
Richard Kark will discuss his river canoeing adventures over his lifetime.  Social is at 7 PM and program starts at 7:30 PM.  Locationis the Unitarian Church at 1 Edwin Street in Asheville.

01/12/12 TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF GUANTANAMO BAY PRISON
Amnesty International will be holding a protest in DC to mark this horrible anniversary.

*******************************************
ONGOING EVENTS
*******************************************
SUNDAY
Episcopal Peace Fellowship holds a weekly vigil from 5:30 to 6 PM at All Soul's Cathedral.

TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 4:30 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood Country Courthouse in Waynesville.
Asheville Cop Watch meeting at 5 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square (Ash.) on the first Friday of the month.
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the Old Courthouse in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard.

Information on Occupy Asheville late breaking events: http://occupyasheville.org/calendar/

*******************************************
ACTIONS AND READINGS
*******************************************
VETERANS FOR PEACE INFORMATION

VFP CHAPTER 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

WAR CRIMES TIMES:http://www.WarCrimesTimes.org/
A publication of Veterans For Peace -- exposing the true costs of war.

Visit VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street (the corner of Haywood and Roberts), Asheville, 28801. (828-258-1800). Hours: Tue-Sat 11 to 3 pm

Song for the Occupy Movement

From Naomi Wolf:

The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics.  ...  No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act.  ....No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

When I saw this list – and especially the last agenda item – the scales fell from my eyes. Of course, these unarmed people would be having the shit kicked out of them.

NO to Co-option!

Photo:  A demonstrator with the Occupy movement holds a sign November 2, 2011 in Oakland, California (Eric Thayer / Getty Images / AFP)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

NO to Co-Option and Misdirection By Democratic Party Operatives

Phase Two of Occupy Will Not Be Electoral

A Statement by the General Assembly of OccupyWashingtonDC.org and proposed to the Occupy Movement.

A growing list of media outlets and partisan organizations are urging us to "evolve," "mature," and "move on" to become part of the problem we have been protesting for months. Most specifically Move On and Rebuild the Dream are promoting and attempting to co-opt and divert the Occupy Movement into a policy of electing Democrats and legislative reform--thereby keeping a system based on control by the 1% firmly in place with yet more promises (never fulfilled) of "change we can believe in." 

Both Move On and Rebuild the Dream have attempted in insidious ways to hitch their faltering Democratic wagons to the struggle and success of the Occupy Movement. Both have attempted to appear as supporters and organizational spokespersons for the Occupy Movement while in reality they are and always have been front organizations for the Democratic Party. 

We believe elections are essential to a peaceful, just, and sustainable future, and we will continue to push for changes in our electoral system that will guarantee every human the right to vote for candidates who are not financially corrupted or filtered through gerrymandering, unreasonable ballot restrictions or corporate media gate-keeping, and to have our votes verifiably and publicly counted.

We believe, however, that elections alone cannot accomplish what is needed.  We cannot "vote" against the disastrous influence of Wall Street or war profiteers by backing either of the two major political parties. Next year's presidential election and most congressional races will offer two major-party candidates, neither of whom agrees with the majority of the people on fundamental issues.

We will not divert our energies into electoral work.

We will not identify with or begin to make compromises and apologies for any party, political candidate, or elected official.

We demand that the corporate plutocracy be replaced by majority rule. 

We will educate and organize. We will agitate and mobilize.

We will escalate our campaign of cultural and societal change. 

We will bring increased pressure to bear on our government in Washington, D.C. We will bring this pressure as the people to the government as a whole, not as cheerleaders for one part of the government against another.

We will not go away, we will not be silenced, we will not relinquish the right to speak freely, to peaceably assemble, and to petition our government for a redress of grievances.

We will not relent. We will not be defeated. We will not be co-opted by either the Democratic or Republican Party, both of which have sold us out in Congress, the Supreme Court, and in the White House.

Tarak Kauff

Veterans For Peace

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I am thankful for all the people who have stood for justice, spoken out for justice, marched for justice, fasted for justice, written for justice, occupied for justice, rallied for justice or gone to jail for justice.  And some of those folks are my family and friends!  I am thankful they are in my life.... what a blessing!

Chimes of Freedom Flashing by Bruce Springsteen

Chimes Of Freedom Lyrics
Written by Bob Dylan

Well, far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashin'
As majestic bells of boats struck shadows in the sun;
Sayin', it may be the chimes of freedom flashin'

Flashin' for the warriors whose strength is not to fight;
Flashin' for the refugees on their unarmed road of flight.
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'

Well, in the city's melted furnace unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden here while the walls were tightenin'
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowing rain;
Dissolved into the wild bales of lightnin'

Yeah, tollin' for the rebel, yeah, tollin' for the raked
Tollin' for the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked.
Yeah, tollin' for the outcasts burnin' constantly at stakes
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'

And then through a cloud-like curtain in a far off corner flashed
There's a hypnotic, splattered mist was slowly liftin'
Well, electric light still struck like arrows
Fired but for the ones condemned to drift or else be kept from driftin'

Well, tollin' for the searching ones on this speechless, secret trail
For the lonesome haunted lovers with too personal a tale.
And for each young heart for each channeled soul misplaced inside a jail
Yeah, we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'

Well, starry eyed and laughin' I recall when we were caught,
Trapped by no track of hours for they hang suspended
As we listened one last time, and we watched with one last look
Spellbound and swallowed "Has the tollin' ended?"

Yeah, tollin' for the achin' ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless, confused, accused, misused strung out ones at worst.
And for every hung out person in the whole wide universe
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'

Direct action at the SOA Watch this past weekend in Georgia

The direct actions of the students at UC Davis last week were impressive!  They remained non-violent in spite of a violent attack by the UC Davis police, and they remained silent when the leader of their university walked past them.  Since those events got so much publicity, I am not putting then on my blog.  But here is another recent example of brave non-violent direct action, this time at the SOA protest in Fort Benning, Georgia. 




Here are some of her words:

I'm ruined for life! Are you? When you witness injustice, it changes you, you can't function in the world the way you did before bearing witness. I think that's what brings so many of us here today... the human rights crimes, the unjust wars, the decades of terrorizing third world communities. Dick Cheney's greed. John Yoo's unethical lawyering. It's easy to withdraw and become hopeless. But our President, Barack Obama needs our help... it's important we keep showing up, as pacifists, as witnesses, as community activists knocking on the doors of Congress, engaging Columbus magistrates, now Stephen Hyles, in dialog about their complicit role in obstructing justice.

Gov. Walker gets mic checked!

This happened earlier this month, and boy did they do a good job!

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week

What the occupy movement is about, by History Professor James MacLeod.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Information on Occupy Asheville late breaking events:  http://occupyasheville.org/calendar/

11/21/11 PUBLIC HEARING FOR USPS
What: Public hearing to tell the USPS what you think of their job-killing closures
When: Monday, November 21, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Where: AB Tech Ferguson Auditorium, 340 Victoria Rd, Asheville, NC 28801
Details:  http://aflcionc.org/2011/11/14/public-outcry-needed-to-stop-wnc-postal-closings-1121/

11/22/11 SCHINDLER’S YOUNGEST SURVIVOR

The Lifetree Café program will feature a filmed interview with Leon Leyson, who was 13 years old when Oskar Schindler put him to work and saved his life during the Holocaust.  This will be held at Mountain Java, 901 Smoky Park Highway, Candler.  Time is 7 to 8 PM.  Free.  More information from tharkey@octoberroadinnc.com

11/29/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Representations of Muslim Women in Jordan and Indonesia:  Diversity and Contradiction”  Visiting Guest:  Dr. Siti Kusujiarti, a native of Indonesia and a professor of Sociology, Warren Wilson College, returning from a summer research project in Jordan.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email:  spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

11/29/11 FORUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN NC
“The Real Death Penalty: A Summary of the Data and Scientific Studies” a public forum hosted by Dr. Matthew Robinson, professor of Government & Justice Studies at Appalachian State University.  Time is 7 PM and location is UNC-Asheville's Highsmith Union Grotto.  Dr. Matthew Robinson is the author of “Death Nation: The Experts Explain American Capital Punishment”.  For more information, contact Alexandra at cury.alexandra@gmail.com or (828) 253-5088.

11/29//11 NC CONSERVATION NETWORK
This is part of the NC Take Action Tour, where NC Conservation Network will discuss what is happening in NC in regards to the environment.  This will be held at Firestorm Cafe in downtown Asheville.  Time is 6 to 8 PM.

11/30/11 BILL MCKIBBEN SPEAKS AT UNCA
At 7 PM, a number of groups, including the Western North Carolina Allliance, the Canary Coalition, Transition Asheville, the Sierra Club and others, will host Bill McKibben at Lipinsky Hall at UNCA.  McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. He is a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009.

12/01/11 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street (the corner of Haywood and Roberts), Asheville. VFP CHAPTER 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

12/03/11 GREEN PARTY MEETING
The Buncombe County GREEN Party's business meeting is free & open to the public. It will be held from 10AM to noon, upstairs in the Fortune Building, 729 Haywood Rd., West Asheville. Contact Ronald @ 828LUCK180 or Larry @ 828-225-4347 for more information.

12/03/11 OCCUPY THE FUTURE!
This will be a day of families standing up together.  At 12 PM, there will be a carnival at Pritchard Park with kid-friendly and educational games, songs, performances, art stations, and learning opportunities.  At 3 PM, there will be a General Assembly, with activities and space set up for younger kids so that parents and teens can participate in the General Assembly.  At 4 PM, there will be a parade on the sidewalk to Vance monument, and then at 5 PM there will be a picket at Vance monument.

*******************************************
ONGOING EVENTS
*******************************************
SUNDAY
Episcopal Peace Fellowship holds a weekly vigil from 5:30 to 6 PM at All Soul's Cathedral.

TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 4:30 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood Country Courthouse in Waynesville.
Asheville Cop Watch meeting at 5 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square (Ash.) on the first Friday of the month.
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the Old Courthouse in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard. 

Police brutality

http://police.ucdavis.edu/contact-info

Above is a link to UC Davis police.  I contacted then and let them know what I think of their behavior.  They should all be fired - every last one of them.

Own2Feet

Own2Feet tells the story of dysfunctional partners and highlights some of the issues observed in US-Pak relations.

The Tide is Turning by Roger Waters

Council of Elders in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

Freedom

Freedom, especially freedom from tyranny, comes IN SPITE OF the US military, not because of them.

There are many authoritarians in the USA will “honor and glorify” the dead members of the US military.  Those ceremonies and memorials and statues that they instigate will pay lip service to freedom while the very same people order freedom crushed whenever they feel like it, whenever they disagree with what other people are saying.  That is what is going on now with the Occupy movement.  While our politicians will hold Memorial Day and Veteran's Day ceremonies and spew a bunch of lies about how all those needless deaths gave us freedom and democracy, they are the very same people who will crush freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.  They are the same people who don't give a shit what the US Constitution says.

Our veterans did not die defending our freedoms and our democracy any more than they went to Iraq to provide freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.  They went to Iraq to control the oil, in order to benefit western countries over eastern ones, and to make a pile of money for the elites.  That's it.

Remember Fallujah Week

We are the many....

We Are The Many

Ye come here, gather 'round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who've trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won't withdraw

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can't divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can't buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

THIS is excellent!!!

November 13, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied
Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many

Video and photos: www.yeslab.org/APEC

Honolulu - A change in the programmed entertainment at last night's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.

During the gala dinner, renowned Hawaiian guitarist Makana, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket to reveal a home-made “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt. Then, instead of playing the expected instrumental background music, he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his protest ballad released earlier that day. The ballad, called “We Are the Many,” includes lines such as “The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw.... And until they are purged, we won't withdraw,” and ends with the refrain: “We'll occupy the streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.”

Those who could hear Makana’s message included Presidents Barack Obama of the United States of America, Hu Jintao of China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and over a dozen other heads of state.

“At first, I was worried about playing ‘We Are The Many,’” said Makana. “But I found it odd that I was afraid to sing a song I’d written, especially since I'd written it with these people in mind.”

The gala was the most secure event of the summit. It was held inside the Hale Koa hotel, a 72-acre facility owned and controlled by the US Defense Department; the site was fortified with an additional three miles of fencing constructed solely for the APEC summit.

Makana was surprised that no one objected to him playing the overtly critical song. “I just kept doing different versions,” he said. “I must’ve repeated ‘the bidding of the many, not the few’ at least 50 times, like a mantra. It was surreal and sobering.”

Makana’s new song is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has taken root in cities worldwide. Last Saturday, eight protesters were arrested when they refused to leave the Occupy Honolulu encampment at Thomas Square Park. Occupy Honolulu has joined other groups, including Moana Nui, to protest the APEC meeting, and while Makana performed, hundreds of people protested outside.

After facing large-scale protests in South Korea, Australia, Peru, and Japan, APEC moved this year's event to Hawaii, the most isolated piece of land on earth. In preparation for the meeting, homeless families were moved out of sight and millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on security—including over $700,000 on non-lethal weapons for crowd control. In a bitter twist, the multi-million dollar security plans backfired when a local Hawaiian man was shot and killed by a 27-year-old DC-based federal agent providing security for dignitaries.

Makana’s action was assisted by the Yes Lab and Occupy the Boardroom. In recent weeks, Occupy protesters have been showing up at corporate events, headquarters and even on the doorsteps of those in power. “Makana really raised the bar by delivering the Occupy message inside what is probably the most secure place on the planet right now,” said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Lab.

“My uncle taught me to feel out the audience and play what my heart tells me to,” said Makana. “That’s what I did tonight.”

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week

UPCOMING EVENTS

Information on Occupy Asheville late breaking events: http://occupyasheville.org/calendar/

11/15/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Faces of Islam Part II”   Visiting Guests:  Muslim Students Association, UNC-Asheville.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email:  spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

11/16/11 FILM BENEFIT FOR WNC AIDS PROJECT
On November 16th we will screen the film “LIFE ABOVE ALL” as a benefit for The WNC Aids Project. Go to www.fineartstheatre.com for all the details. WNCAP Executive Director, Jeff Bachar, said, “This film illustrates that bias and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS are felt all over the world.  WNCAP is actively engaged in addressing these same issues right here in western North Carolina.”  The event is sponsored in part by Carol and Bob Deutsch.  Life Above All will be shown at The Fine Arts Theater in Asheville on November 16, 2011 at 7pm. Tickets are $10 or pay what you can and will be available at the door. For more information call: (828) 252-7489.

11/17/11 ASHEVILLECONNECTS
AshevilleConnects - A meeting series to support your current project or passion by tapping existing community resources.   Time is from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  Location is 34 Wall Street in the Self Help Building, 3rd floor conference room (building entrance is 2 doors to the left of Laughing Seed restaurant).  Cost: $15.00  Mail a check made out to AshevilleConnects to:  34 Wall St., Suite 401, Asheville, NC 28801. RSVP by Tuesday, Nov. 15th by using the RSVP tab on the website: http://ashevilleconnects.wufoo.com/forms/z7x4a3/

11/18/11 to 11/20/11 SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH IN FT. BENNING
http://www.soaw.org/

11/18/11 FOOD POLICY COUNCIL FOR ASHEVILLE
The follow-up to the October 21st convening: this is a participatory, action-oriented forum for identifying and addressing barriers to food security in our community. Please join us to continue the work of crafting community-wide policy to create a more just, abundant, and food-secure future for Asheville and Buncombe County.  Time is 4 to 6 PM and the location is Wilma Sherrill Center at UNCA.  More info: http://www.mountainx.com/article/35987/Food-Policy-Council-convenes-Oct.-21

11/20/11 ETHICAL SOCIETY OF ASHEVILLE
“Mirror Neurons and Empathy: Why People are Good With or Without God” will be presented by James R. Tobin, MD at the Sunday, November 20th meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville, 2:00-3:30 PM, held at the YMI Cultural Center, in the Old Drugstore at the corner of Eagle and Market Streets.  Tobin is a retired pediatrician and statistician who has lived in Asheville since 2003 and is a member of and the treasurer of the board of the Ethical Society of Asheville.  His talk will cover non-self-centered compassionate behavior and its connection to empathy.  He will introduce mirror neurons, the newly discovered neurophysiologic underpinning of empathy and discuss the presence of empathy at birth and how it can be reinforced or diminished by environmental factors and the implications of this to how we raise our children and how we live our own lives. For more information contact: Asheville@aeu.org,  www.aeu.org, ethicalsocietyasheville@gmail.com or 828-687-7759.

11/29/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Representations of Muslim Women in Jordan and Indonesia:  Diversity and Contradiction”. Visiting Guest:  Dr. Siti Kusujiarti, a native of Indonesia and a professor of Sociology, Warren Wilson College,
returning from a summer research project in Jordan.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email: spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

*******************************************

ONGOING EVENTS
*******************************************
SUNDAY
Episcopal Peace Fellowship holds a weekly vigil from 5:30 to 6 PM at All Soul's Cathedral.

TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 4:30 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood Country Courthouse in Waynesville.
Asheville Cop Watch meeting at 5 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square (Ash.) on the first Friday of the month.
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the Old Courthouse in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard.

Veterans vigil and arrests

 

APD waited until after midnight to arrest these three veterans, so that they would not be arresting Veterans on Veterans Day.  They arrested these veterans for staying at Pack Square past the curfew.  They were charged with second degree trespass and released.   

Earlier in the evening, there was a vigil and a reading of the names of US military who were killed in our wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here is some information from the Asheville CitizenTimes:

 The suspects are Kenyon Canoll McClellan, 72, of Wezeltown Road, Old Fort; Jonathan Scott Geler, 25, of Buchanan Road, Asheville; and Kindra Ajanemi Phillips, 41, of Grandview Road, Asheville.

Twenty-eight Occupy Asheville participants were arrested and charged with minor offenses following vigils at the Vance Monument on Nov. 2 and 5.

There were 24 arrested (or cited) on November 2, 2011 after a vigil for Scott Owen.  Four more were arrested on November 5, 2001.  In October, there were eight arrested for the same offense outside of City Hall.  Total arrested for staying in the park after curfew:  39.  And more to come!

Photos came from Kindra Phillips' Facebook page.

HERE'S AN IDEA:

Let's arrest the people who started these hideous wars that have killed hundreds of thousands of innocents and ruined the lives of millions of innocent people around the world.

Let's arrest the people who brag about torture or drone bombings on our TVs.

Let's arrest the people who crashed our economy with their liar's loans and their MBS that were pieces of shit that they sold WHILE they bet against them.

Let's arrest the people who have polluted our Gulf waters, who are destroying our ground waters with fracking, who are polluting our air with burning coal, who are stopping the government's investment in clean energy while they promote our government's total subsidy of forever poisonous nuclear power.

Let's arrest the child abusers out there, the people who have made the income discrepancy so extreme, the people who promote corporate welfare while they want to see their neighbor's children go without. Let's figure out why our country is so damn violent, and arrest the people who are the cause of that.

Let's tell the idiot who suggested putting a rope around someone's neck to STFU and go back to kindergarten and learn something about MORALS.

School of the Americas Watch

For immediate release
November 8, 2011
Contact: Hendrik Voss, 202-234-3440

OCCUPY FORT BENNING

Shut Down the School of the Americas

November 18-20, 2011: Thousands of social justice activists from across the Americas will occupy the main gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to call for an end to U.S. militarization and for the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the School of Americas,

The three day convergence will include a massive rally, where thousands will occupy the main gates of the Fort Benning military base in order to transform it from a place that trains assassins to a place of initiation into political awareness. On Sunday, November 20, the chain-linked barbed wire fence will be transformed with images of the martyrs, crosses, stars and flowers into a memorial for the victims of SOA violence and U.S. intervention. Human rights activists will carry their protest onto the grounds of the military base, risking arrest and up to six month in federal prison. The mobilization will include speakers from the NAACP, the Sisters of Mercy, the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (GUYA), torture survivors and human rights activists from Latin America as well as plenaries, workshops, concerts, strategy sessions and more.

“The SOA provides the military muscle to protect the greed of the 1% at the expense of the 99% throughout the Americas.” said Father Roy Bourgeois, the founder of SOA Watch. “The surge of social justice activism in the U.S. is fueling the call for the closure of this notorious institution.”

The SOA/WHINSEC is a U.S. taxpayer-funded military training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. The school made headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Despite this shocking admission and hundreds of documented human rights abuses connected to soldiers trained at the school, no independent investigation into the training facility has ever taken place. SOA violence continues in Mexico, where 1/3 of the original members of the Zetas drug cartel were trained at the SOA, and where the U.S. is promoting military solutions to the drug problem. SOA violence continues in Colombia, which has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to train at the SOA, and where SOA graduates are involved with extrajudicial killings and other serious human rights violations. SOA violence continues in Honduras, where SOA graduates overthrew the democratically elected government in 2009. SOA violence continues in Guatemala, where SOA graduate Otto Pérez Molina just won the presidential elections, and throughout the Americas.

In October 2011, Time Magazine published the article “Is It Time to Shutter the Americas' 'Coup Academy'?”

In August 2011, 69 Members of the House of Representatives delivered a letter to President Obama, calling on the President to shut down the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of Americas (SOA) by executive order. The 69 Representatives including Representative John Lewis from Georgia, Representative Ron Paul from Texas and Representative James McGovern from Massachusetts signed this letter. To read the letter, go to this link.

On November 4, Representative McGovern introduced H.R. 3368, the Latin America Military Training Review Act, in the House of Representatives. The bill calls for the suspension of the SOA/ WHINSEC and an investigation into the connection between U.S. military training and human rights abuses in Latin America.
SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works for the closing the School of the Americas and a change in U.S. foreign policy.

###

Stopping our wars....

Quote:  “Since the Second World War, the United States has crushed or subverted liberation movements in 20 countries, and attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, many of them democratic, and dropped bombs on 30 countries, and attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.”
www.johnpilger.com

More on Veteran's Day

Yes, today is yet another day (and how many do we have to have a year, anyway?) to honor the former members of our military, those servants whose main goal – while in the military – was state-institutionalized violence and brutality, otherwise known as WARS OF AGGRESSION.  

Usually, the dead former members of the military are the ones remembered.  And the living servants of the state machinery of war are just pretty much forgotten – they are so troublesome with their homelessness, mental health problems, unemployment, etc.

Of course, the DEAD and LIVING FOREIGN VICTIMS of our WARS OF AGGRESSION are, as usual, totally forgotten.

I think the remembrance and honoring of them promotes more war.  The best thing we can do for our military is stop shipping them to foreign lands for WARS OF AGGRESSION.

Veterans Day 2011

About non-violence in the Occupy movement

I've heard these defenses before, many times ("It's OK as long as people aren't hurt," "The people in power use more violence than we do," "We're only using violence in self-defense", etc.) but what I haven't heard (and that I'd really like to hear) is the *positive* -- rather than merely defensive -- case *for* violence. That is, what do the people who are throwing rocks at the police or smashing the windows at Whole Foods actually think they're accomplishing? Are they acting according to some plan, where engaging in violent acts actually wins us something, or are they using violence purely as a means of self-expression or even self-therapy? The author below, for example, asserts that people have "legitimate feelings of rage," and that's certainly true, but saying that your rage justifies the use of violence doesn't do anything to explain what you expect to get from your violence. Or is it "bourgeois" to expect actions to be connected to definable goals?

Steve Burns
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice

Armistice Day

November 7, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Grant E. Remington, President
Veterans For Peace 72


Veterans For Peace chapter 72 to remember Armistice Day
Where: Pioneer Courthouse Square
When: Friday, November 11, 2011 11:11 AM
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, it became “All quiet on the western front.” An armistice signed at six o’clock that morning took effect and brought a cease-fire to the “War to end all wars.” Since that fateful hour, most nations, which fought in that conflict, observe Armistice Day. The United States in 1938 made it official with a proclamation that states in part: “…it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and…inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.”

Unfortunately the horrors of World War One were to be outdone by those of World War Two and to honor the sacrifices of the veterans who fought in it, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954. While it is fitting and proper to honor all veterans for their service, it is a shame that the original intent of November eleventh has become lost to the militarization and commercialization of this important date.

Veterans For Peace chapter 72 will be gathering at the Pioneer Courthouse Square for our seventh annual commemoration of this solemn day. We invite the public to join us “with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations;…”.  

######
Our local chapter of Veterans for Peace is also calling Armistice Day.

NC Peace Action meeting 2011

Speaker at NC Peace Action meeting on 10-30-11:

Rev. Curtis Gatewood:  We are here for righteousness.  We are here for peace.  We are here for love.  Be a part of any action taken for peace and justice.  Be a part of any action taken in opposition to our schizophrenic military policies. 
++++++++++++
This is my recollection of what he said.  May not be an exact quote.

Freedom Waves to Gaza

For Immediate Release:
November 6, 2011
Contact: Felice Gelman 917-912-2597

Passengers on boats to Gaza beaten, denied visits by lawyers and access to families; misled by U.S. consular authorities.

Although Freedom Waves to Gaza organizers have not yet had direct communication with the people taken into custody by Israeli armed forces as they tried to peacefully sail to Gaza last week, information is emerging that Israeli armed forces tactics in confronting the non-violent activists have been violent and dangerous.  This despite claims from the IDF spokesperson that "every precaution will be taken for the safety of the activists."

Prisoners include U.S. citizen Kit Kittredge, a delegate on the Tahrir from Quilcene, WA, and Jihan Hafiz, a U.S. citizen and journalist from Democracy Now, the national news program.  Both have been advised by the U.S. consul in Israel to sign an Israeli deportation agreement.  Both have refused because the statement says they came into Israel illegally and will not attempt another effort to break the Gaza blockade. Both statements are untrue.

A letter from Canadian David Heap, smuggled from the Givon prison, states that he was tasered and beaten when the Israeli Navy attacked the Tahrir. Irish prisoner, Fintan Lane, in a telephone call from Givon prison, reported that the takeover of the Saoirse was also violent.  The Tahrir and the Saoirse were forced by Israeli warships to crash into each other, crippling both ships.

Palestinian Israeli Mad Kayal, a delegate aboard the Tahrir, who was arrested and released confirms these reports. "As a Palestinian, I was not surprised at how the IDF treated us," said Kayal, after his release, noting this kind of abuse is a daily reality for the 1.5 million people of Gaza, who are indefinitely detained in an open-air prison. "However, for the Canadians and other Westerners onboard, it was a complete shock."

"Israeli brutality and the unnecessary use of force against non-violent protests are well documented. What has happened to the passengers on the Tahrir and the Saoirse is just a tiny fraction of the daily abuse directed at Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as part of Israel's occupation policy," said U.S. coordinator Jane Hirschmann.  "Nonetheless, all people - Palestinians under occupation and peace activists kidnapped and imprisoned - have human rights under international law that civilized governments must respect.  The purpose of the boats' voyage to Gaza was to demonstrate that Israel continually violates those laws, and that the U.S. government cares more about Israel than about its own citizens."
###

Patriot's Dream by Arlo Guthrie

Lyrics:

Living now here but for fortune
Placed by fate's mysterious schemes
Who'd believe that we're the ones asked
To try to rekindle the patriot's dreams

Arise sweet destiny, time runs short
All of your patience has heard their retort
Hear us now for alone we can't seem
To try to rekindle the patriot's dreams

Can you hear the words being whispered
All along the American stream
Tyrants freed the just are imprisoned
Try to rekindle the patriot's dreams

Ah but perhaps too much is being asked of too few
You and your children with nothing to do
Hear us now for alone we can't seem
To try to rekindle the patriot's dreams

Update on the women in the picture below

From the Mountain Express:

In a Facebook post, Lynn Fraser a forensic technician with the Asheville Police Department, called Occupy Asheville protesters "dirtasses" after they complained about police officers recording a march yesterday. In comments on the post, Melissa Williams, the city's public information and social media specialist, responds with "LMAO" or "Laughing My Ass Off." In previous post, Fraser also designated Occupiers as a group that "just need a hug ... around the neck... with a rope."

There is more information and screen shots of her Facebook posts at this link. 

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week

Welcome to Asheville!  Where you will be monitored and filmed by the local police while in the park on a sunny Sunday holding a public meeting.  Photo came from the Occupy Asheville group.

UPCOMING EVENTS

11/07/11 OCCUPY WALL STREET ASHEVILLE
Go to occupyasheville.org for more information, or call 888-378-0788.

11/08/11 ELECTION DAY

11/08/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Religious Diversity and Tolerance within the Islamic State:  Reflections on a Fulbright study in Morocco and Tunisia, summer 2011”.  Visiting Guest:  Dr. Rodger Payne, Chair, Department of Religious Studies for UNCA.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining room/Gladfelter. For questions, email: spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

11/08/11 NUCLEAR WASTE CAMPAIGN MEETING WITH WNC ALLIANCE
In order to create some continuity and stability in the effort, folks are looking at an affiliation with an existing group -- Western NorthCarolina Alliance (WNCA) has expressed interest in this possibility as well.  The meeting will be at 5:45 PM and anyone interested in learning more about the possibility of affliation with WNCA is welcome to join us. The WNC Alliance office is at 29 N. Market Street, Suite 610 in Asheville.  Contact Mary at maryo@nirs.org for more information.

11/09/11 KEYSTONE PIPELINE & OCCUPY WALL STREET UPDATE
Keystone XL Pipeline & Occupy Wall Street: Updates from the Front Line will be held on Wednesday, November 9, from 6-8pm, at Jubilee! Community Center, Wall St, Downtown Asheville.  Facilitators: Kendall Hale & Bob Hanna, and sponsorship: Jubilee! Gandhi Team. 

11/10/11 HOPE TO HOME FUNDRAISER
You may have heard of Home Free Bagels, which is a local for-profit business making (delicious) bagels & employing folks who are or have been homeless.  Its goal is to reinvest its profits back into the community, so in addition to hiring HOPE to HOME clients (2 so far), it also supports HOPE to HOME financially.  Home Free Bagels has just made a short documentary about its work, and HOPE TO HOME AND JUST ECONOMICS will be co-hosting a special premiere of the film along with a reception next Thursday evening.  Time is 7 PM and this will be held at Fine Arts Theatre in Asheville. $5-$10 sliding scale admission.

11/11/11 11:11:11 WORLDWIDE DEMONSTRATION
Occupy the Streets.  Occupy the World.

11/11/11 MOVIE NIGHT AT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
“Economics of Happiness " will be the next film for the Social Justice Committee Film Nite at 7 PM. "The Economics of Happiness offers a unique global perspective on a movement that is often reduced as being too small. Not so. The film tells the story of a grassroots movement for localization that is bubbling up from the cracks of a faltering global economy, in every corner of the world. These are the real 'green shoots' to be hopeful about." - Anuradha Mittal.   Donations appreciated!   Contact David Williams for more information devwilliams@juno.com

11/12/11 THE ASHEVILLE LISTENING PROJECT
The Asheville Listening Project is a coalition of individuals from widely different backgrounds united in the belief that by listening to one another's stories, relationships can be built across lines that often segregate our community.  The second gathering of the Asheville Listening Project is scheduled to meet at First Baptist Church of Asheville. At this meeting we will explore the things for which we are grateful, and what the vision for a good life looks like.  Time is 7 PM.  To request childcare, please RSVP to jmichael@fbca.net by noon on Thursday, November 10.

11/13/11 NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN ASHEVILLE MEETING
We will have our last Asheville NOW meeting for the 2011 calendar year at the Roof Garden of the Battery Park Apts in Asheville. Put in code 0810 at the front door and you will be buzzed into the building. Take the elevator to the top floor. We are asking that you bring a light snack to share. We will provide Tea for the beverage.  Time is 3 to 5 PM.

11/13/11 to 11/15/11 LAKE JUNALUSKA PEACE CONFERENCE
The fourth annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, “Poverty, Abundance, and Peace:  Seeking Economic Justice for All God’s Children,”  will lift up some of the systemic causes of poverty and economic disparity to help participants better understand these issues and to be equipped as change agents to work for alleviating these causes of poverty for a more just and peaceful world. See http://www.lakejunaluska.com/peace/  or http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=7707233&ct=10877173 for more information about program and registration.

11/15/11 MUSLIM AWARENESS PROJECT AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
“Faces of Islam Part II”   Visiting Guests:  Muslim Students Association, UNC-Asheville.  5:45 p.m. Mierke Dining Room /Gladfelter.  For questions, email:  spirituallife@warren-wilson.edu

11/17/11 ASHEVILLECONNECTS
AshevilleConnects - A meeting series to support your current project or passion by tapping existing community resources.   Time is from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.  Location is 34 Wall Street in the Self Help Building, 3rd floor conference room (building entrance is 2 doors to the left of Laughing Seed restaurant).  Cost: $15.00  Mail a check made out to AshevilleConnects to:  34 Wall St., Suite 401, Asheville, NC 28801. RSVP by Nov. 15th by using the RSVP tab on the website: http://ashevilleconnects.wufoo.com/forms/z7x4a3/

11/18/11 to 11/20/11 SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH IN FT. BENNING
http://www.soaw.org/

11/18/11 FOOD POLICY COUNCIL FOR ASHEVILLE
The follow-up to the October 21st convening: this is a participatory, action-oriented forum for identifying and addressing barriers to food security in our community. Please join us to continue the work of crafting community-wide policy to create a more just, abundant, and food-secure future for Asheville and Buncombe County.  Time is 4 to 6 PM and the location is Wilma Sherrill Center at UNCA. More info: http://www.mountainx.com/article/35987/Food-Policy-Council-convenes-Oct.-21

11/20/11 ETHICAL SOCIETY OF ASHEVILLE
“Mirror Neurons and Empathy: Why People are Good With or Without God”will be presented by James R. Tobin, MD at the Sunday, November 20th meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville, 2:00-3:30 PM, held at the YMI Cultural Center, in the Old Drugstore at the corner of Eagle and Market Streets.  Tobin is a retired pediatrician and statistician who has lived in Asheville since 2003 and is a member of and the treasurer of the board of the Ethical Society of Asheville.  His talk will cover non-self-centered compassionate behavior and its connection to empathy.  He will introduce mirror neurons, the newly discovered neurophysiologic underpinning of empathy and discuss the presence of empathy at birth and how it can be reinforced or diminished by environmental factors and the implications of this to how we raise our children and how we live our own lives. For more information contact: Asheville@aeu.org, www.aeu.org, ethicalsocietyasheville@gmail.com or 828-687-7759.

Candidate Obama

Candidate Obama:  "The threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing."

Today, thousands of Americans (and probably some Canadians) surrounded the White House and demanded that NO pipeline be built from the tar sands oil fields to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Now, we will wait and see if Obama can do the right thing here.

Death from above

There was an op-ed in the NYT from a man who went to Pakistan to meet with some of the tribal elders in NW Pakistan.  While there, he talked to a 16 year old boy who volunteered to collect evidence on the US drone strikes in Pakistan.  This is a dangerous business, because collecting evidence can convince some locals that you are working for the CIA or otherwise spying for the US.   The man who wrote this piece is Clive Smith, the director of Reprieve, an organization that advocates for prisoners' rights.  Here is part of what he wrote in the NYT piece:

At the end of the day, Tariq stepped forward. He volunteered to gather proof if it would help to protect his family from future harm. We told him to think about it some more before moving forward; if he carried a camera he might attract the hostility of the extremists. 

But the militants never had the chance to harm him. On Monday, he was killed by a C.I.A. drone strike, along with his 12-year-old cousin, Waheed Khan. The two of them had been dispatched, with Tariq driving, to pick up their aunt and bring her home to the village of Norak, when their short lives were ended by a Hellfire missile.

My mistake had been to see the drone war in Waziristan in terms of abstract legal theory — as a blatantly illegal invasion of Pakistan’s sovereignty, akin to President Richard M. Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia in 1970. 

But now, the issue has suddenly become very real and personal. Tariq was a good kid, and courageous. My warm hand recently touched his in friendship; yet, within three days, his would be cold in death, the rigor mortis inflicted by my government. 

And Tariq’s extended family, so recently hoping to be our allies for peace, has now been ripped apart by an American missile — most likely making any effort we make at reconciliation futile.

What the USA is doing in Pakistan and elsewhere with the drone strikes is hideously evil.  It mus stop!

Operation Fox Hunt

is due to start today!

Keep Wall Street Occupied

I used to do this years ago.  I would fill up the prepaid envelopes with paper, write a message on the outside about stopping the wars, and mail them off.  These days, I get no where near as many offers for loans or credit cards or any junk.  Even charity solicitations have been greatly reduced.  I think this is due to the economic collapse rather than my actions.  I never went as far as using a wood shim.

Four years ago.... Obama lied

Obama has not walked on any picket line as President of the US, even though there have been many picket lines and many protests for workers rights to collective bargain (in Wisconsin and Ohio).

Why Occupy??

This video sums it up nicely.

Occupy Wall Street and free speech

War Profiteers