dancewater: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

A picture from Asheville

Spelling and grammar are optional.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Upcoming events for the week of September 28, 2014

"It may seem impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing." -- Elizabeth Kolbert, Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change, 2006

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

UPCOMING EVENTS

09/29/14 CREATION CARE ALLIANCE OF WNC PRESENTATION

“Faith, Climate Science, & Our Moral Obligation Presentation” – 7-8:30 p.m. – The Parish of St. Eugene, North Asheville – Dr. Deke Arndt, parishioner and climate scientist at the National Climatic Data Center, will speak. For the last several years, Dr. Arndt has been co-editor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and was instrumental in drafting the federal government’s recent climate report. He will share his personal revelation of our moral obligation to address climate change. This program is open to the public and the church is located on Culvern St, North Asheville behind the Merrimon Avenue Ingles. For more information, email Connie Mitchell at cmitchell28@charter.net.

09/30/14 PUBLIC FORUM ON VOTING RIGHTS IN BREVARD

Time is 7 PM, and the location is Transylvania County Library. Guest speaker is Adam Sotak of Democracy NC. For more information, contact jumpstartthevote@gmail.com or adamsotak@democracy-nc.org.

10/01/14 GREEN DRINKS AND SIERRA CLUB MEETING

Sierra Club of Western North Carolina, Asheville Green Drinks & WNC Alliance will present “Protecting NC Water from Fracking & Coal Ash” on Wed, October 1, 2014 at 7 PM. Sally Morgan with Clean Water for NC and Julie Mayfield, co-director with WNC Alliance will present. Free & open to the public. Socializing at 7 PM and the panel discussion begins at 7:15 PM on Oct. 1st. Location is Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Edwin and Charlotte Street in Asheville. Contact Judy for more information at judymattox@sbcglobal.net or 828-683-2176.

10/3/14 LECTURE AT UNCA

Free public lecture at UNCA: "Islam and the Modern World: From the Ottoman Empire to the rise of the Republic of Turkey” Time is 11:25 AM and location is Lipinsky Hall. Lecture Presented By: Dr. Payne, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Religious Studies - For over 500 years, the Ottoman Empire was the lens through which Europe and the Islamic world viewed one another. In this lecture, we will explore the self-understanding of the Ottoman Empire as an Islamic political state; the changing relationship between the values of the Ottoman world and those of “western” culture; and the legacies of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the creation of modern Turkey.

10/3/14 A B FOOD POLICY COUNCIL FALL MEETING OF THE WHOLE

Our next Meeting of the Whole has officially been set for October 3rd at the Pisgah View Community Pisgah View Peace Gardens. Join us as we celebrate the hard work and progress made across the community over the past year in working toward policies that support a "healthy food friendly" Asheville and Buncombe County! Learn more about our work and just come out for some good food, potluck style. We'll start at 4:30 so folks can mingle and play a bit before dinner will start at 5:30. **Important: To keep this as simple as possible, and green, please bring your own plates and utensils to eat from. This will hopefully minimize waste. Also bring a dish to share. Last Names A-F - Please bring Fruit; Last Names G-L - Please bring Veggies; Last Names M-R - Please bring Desserts or Bread; Last Names S-Z - Please bring Salad. Contact us with any questions at info@abfoodpolicy.com.

10/05/14 WNC ALLIANCE ‘DEMOCRACY TRIVIA NIGHT’

Join us from 4-6 PM on Oct. 5 at The Mothlight at 701 West Haywood Road in west Asheville. and play election-related trivia — with prizes for best team name and winning team! You can also register to vote and get information about the voting process and rules to be ready for this election season. This is a nonpartisan free event open to the public. Bring your friends! WNCA is co-sponsoring this event with the Campaign for Southern Equality and the League of Women Voters.

10/05/14 RALLY TO EXPAND MEDICAID

WNC Health Advocates presents a Rally to Expand Medicaid at 3 PM in Pritchard Park. Learn why access to health care is important and why it saves money, how much money North Carolina is losing because of its refusal to accept Medicaid expansion, and what the price of non-expansion is in human terms. Voter registration will be held, so come on out and bring your friends. Contact Leslie at leslie@wnchealthadvocates.org for more information.

10/6/14 PISGAH LEGAL POVERTY FORUM

4th Annual Poverty Forum will be held at Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville. Don't miss social justice advocate, attorney and author Sister Simone Campbell, SSS when she and NETWORK's other “Nuns on the Bus” roll into Asheville. 5:30 PM for cocktail reception; 7:00 PM for Forum. Tickets: $50/person Cocktail Reception and Forum; $15/person Forum Only. Reception Catered by Chestnut/Corner Kitchen Catering. For more details and to purchase tickets or contact Betsy Fedder at 210-3444 or betsy@pisgahlegal.org.

10/6/14 MOVE TO AMEND BUNCOMBE COUNTY MEETING

Time is 7 PM and location is North Asheville Library. This will be a planning meeting for the David Cobb event. Call Ruth at 232-2883 or email ruthachristie@gmail.com for more information.

10/06/14 DINNER WITH PROGRESSIVES

Dinner with Progressives is a social outlet for thoughtful people in Asheville NC. The gathering includes time to eat together and then enjoy presentations which focus on solutions for a brighter future. This happens on the first Monday of the month. Dinner is at 6 PM and the speaker/program is at 7 PM. Contact Cheryl at ctorengo@gmail.com for more information.

10/06/14 CREATION CARE ALLIANCE OF WNC POTLUCK

Please RSVP to join the Creation Care Alliance of WNC for a "Local Food, Faith, and Creation Care" potluck dinner and celebration! Time is 6 PM and location is the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church's beautiful community garden, 789 Merrimon Avenue, in Asheville. We'll share a homegrown meal together, reflect on the connection between food, faith, and creation care, and discuss ideas for CCAWNC's Fall 2014 + Spring 2015 programming and next steps. A yummy, local dish to share is welcome but all that is required is a smile and interest in caring for this beautiful planet! For questions or more information please email Anna Jane at creationcare@wnca.org.

10/07/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE BOOK CLUB AT MALAPROPS

We will meet the first Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at Malaprops, for a 1 1/2 hour discussion on a book related to a current political topic. The chosen book for October is ‘On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare’ by Noam Chomsky and Andre Vitchek. You may purchase the book at Malaprops (10% off list for all book clubs), or order on line as you wish, or check it out from the public library. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Bruce at bruceroth@charter.net.

10/07/14 ASHEVILLE TRANSIT COMMITTEE MEETING

The October 7, 2014 meeting will be from 3:30-5pm in the First Floor Conference Room at City Hall.

10/08/14 WNC CLIMATE LISTENING PROJECT

Dayna Reggero will present the “WNC Climate Listening Project” on Wed, October 8, 2014 at 6 pm. This is a visual and social storytelling project connecting conversations about climate science, disruption, adaptation and resilience in Asheville and Western North Carolina. Time is 6 PM and location is Green Sage Cafe in downtown Asheville. This is hosted by Green Drinks.

10/8/14 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

This meeting will be at 9:30 AM at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.

10/09/14 NC STATE CANDIDATE FORUM

A public information forum to which candidates for NC State Senate (Districts 48 and 49), NC House of Representatives (Districts 115 and 116), NC Supreme Court Chief Justice, NC Supreme Court Associate Justice, and State Court of Appeals are invited. This moderated forum is co-sponsored with the Asheville YWCA, Asheville American Association of University Women (AAUW), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Children First/Communities in Schools.

Doors open at 5:30 PM, event starts at 6 PM. Location is the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center at 285 Livingston Street in Asheville.

10/09/14 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FILM SHOWING

Western N C Physicians for Social Responsibility will present the film, “PAX AMERICANA and the Weaponization of Space”, in commemoration of 2014 Keep Space for Peace Week. This will be at West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road, at 6:30 PM, Thursday, October 9. This film deals with the issue of space weapons and their politics, including interviews with several key United States military personnel and other prominent persons. It is vital that we citizens be alerted to dangers facing our survival and action needed in light of a growing arms race speeding the proliferation of these weapons.This event is already being supported by Veterans for Peace, Move to Amend of Buncombe County and The Earth and Social Justice Ministry of the Unitarian Universal Congregation of Asheville. We are seeking other cosponsors to help publicize this event and be listed as such on our program. Contact Lew at 299-1242 for more information or to be a sponsor.

10/10/14 LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN NC

There is no ‘one-stop’ voting or registration at the polls in our state anymore. New voters may register until Friday, Oct. 10th, at the Board of Elections, 35 Woodfin Street, in downtown Asheville across from the YMCA. Phone: (828) 250-4200

10/10/14 SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM AT UU CONGREGATION

On Friday, October 10th, we are screening the very timely documentary, "Disruption", about climate change activism. ‘When it comes to climate change, why do we do so little when we know so much?’ Through a relentless investigation to find the answer, Disruption takes an unflinching look at the devastating consequences of our inaction. The film is at 7 PM. Location is the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville One Edwin Place, Asheville. Call Charles at 612-860-6628 for more information. There is no charge for viewing the film - Donations are welcome.

10/10/14 LECTURE AT UNCA

“Imperialism: Japan and the United States of America” will be at 11:25 AM at Lipinsky Hall. Free and open to the public. Lecture Presented By: Dr. McClain, Lecturer, Humanities Program and HUM 324 Coordinator - The pursuit of empire in the Pacific by the United States of America helps create, simultaneously, a modern and imperial adversary, Japan.

10/10/14 PUBLIC LECTURE AT UNCA

Time is 11:25 AM to 12:35 PM, and location is Carmichael Humanities Lecture Hall at UNCA. Free & Open to the Public. Lecture presented by Dr. Walters, Professor, Department of Drama. This lecture will examine the reasons that the past 30 years have seen the number of inmates in federal custody grow by 800 percent, the majority for drug-related crimes, and more than 60 percent are racial and ethnic minorities. Title is “Incarceration Nation”.

10/13/14 TRANSITION ASHEVILLE’S FIFTH BIRTHDAY

Transition Asheville invites you to a celebration, one that draws on people's imaginations and that fans the flames of optimism! We'll be asking people to think about and share their individual and most positive and hopeful vision of “Asheville 2044”, our community 30 years from now. The story includes how we got there, and what milestones happened along the way. This is a technique that Transition groups elsewhere have used to inspire hope, articulate steps forward, develop plans, and see what other people dream about! It is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours, bathing in your vision of future good times for Asheville, thirty years from now! We will be holding this event: "Harnessing the Power of a Positive Vision: Your Picture of Asheville 30 Years from Now" on Monday, October 13th at St. Mary's Church parish hall, on Charlotte Street. Snacks and drinks will be provided, just bring your imagination and hopes! Please extend this invitation to others in your organization who might find this fun! Hope to see you there.” Time is 6:30 PM.

10/14/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING

Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville.

10/15/14 GREEN DRINKS

Join us Wednesday October 15th at 5:45 PM at the Green Sage for a screening of a current, globally impactful, film on climate change: Disruption. This week we will start socialization at 5:30 p.m. as normal, but note that we will begin the program early at 5:45 p.m. to ensure the completion of the film. Location is the Green Sage in downtown Asheville.

10/16/14 LECTURE AT MARS HILL UNIVERSITY

Lecture by Oralene Simmons, former Rosenwald School student, Great-great-granddaughter of the slave named Joseph Anderson, and the first African American admitted to Mars Hill College, and Susi Anderson, resident of Hawaii and Great-great-granddaughter of the slave-master of Joseph Anderson. Time TBA. This is part of the Rural Heritage Museum exhibition: “Our Story–This Place, The History of African American Education in Madison County, North Carolina: The Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School”. Location is Montague Hall on the campus of Mars Hill University. Admission is free, and the exhibit will run until February 2015. For more information please call (828) 689-1400.

10/17/14 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST This meeting will be at 3:15 PM at Brooks-Howell Home in the media room.

10/18/14 WE ARE THE VILLAGE PARENTING EXPO

Parenting is complicated. Our hope is to have happy, healthy, successful children – but how do we get there? Whose help do we need? Where do we start? It takes a village to raise a child. Join us for a day when we learn how we are and how we can be that village.

We are the Village: A conference and expo that includes: • Sessions for parents and families that range from addressing challenging behavior to dealing with picky eaters, from supporting children in sports to The Sex Talk – and everything in between. • Community Expo with local resources for families. • Free child care and activities for children ages birth through fifth grade. • Opportunities to connect with affinity groups - folks facing similar challenges, joys, and experiences. For more information, please contact Megan at wearethevillageavl@gmail.com. Time is 9:30 AM to 2 PM, and location is the First Baptist Church of Asheville. Please contact Megan to find out how to register so they have the correct number of free lunches.

10/21/14 ACTIVIST DAVID COBB TO SPEAK IN ASHEVILLE

Move to Amend of Buncombe County is bringing activist David Cobb (national leader of Move to Amend) to speak at Jubilee! at 46 Wall Street in Asheville, NC from 7 to 9 PM on Tuesday, October 21, 2014. Move To Amend is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals who believe that constitutional rights belong only to human beings, not to corporations, and that money is not a form of free speech and can be regulated during elections. David Cobb is National Projects Director of Democracy Unlimited. He is a lawyer and political activist. David has sued corporate polluters, lobbied elected officials, run for political office himself, and has been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. He truly believes we must use ALL the tools in the toolbox to effect the systemic social change we so desperately need. For questions and information, contact Diana at 828-275-0680 or email dianakrukmta@gmail.com. Free and open to the public.

10/23/14 EARLY VOTING STARTS

10/23/14 BOOK READING AT MALAPROPS

SNCC Veteran Charles Cobb will discuss and read from his book “That Nonviolent Stuff Will Get You Killed” and discuss the forgotten lessons from the civil rights movement. Time TBA.

10/25/14 - 10/26/14 CHANGE THE COURSE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Change the Course is an invitation to the climate movement to dig deep and think hard about what it would actually take to stabilized the climate and turn our collective ship around. Please join us at the upcoming Climate Leadership Summits to kick this project off. These two day events will bring communities together for an innovative visioning, strategic development and skills summit. This is sponsored by the Rainforest Action Network. Time is 1 to 6 PM both days and location is Lenoir-Rhyne University at 36 Montford Avenue in Asheville. For more information go to ran.org/changethecourse.

11/01/14 BEYOND EXTREME ENERGY WEEK

Actions will take place in Washington, DC. From local activist Steve Norris: To my friends: I am working with a coalition of activists and organizations from around the country preparing for a week of nonviolent direct actions in Washington DC in early November. We are calling our campaign Beyond Extreme Energy. Please consider joining us. We will also be asking for donations to support this work. Feel free to call or email me with questions. Steve Norris, 828-777-7816, or earthsun2@gmail.com.

11/04/14 ELECTION DAY

11/04/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE BOOK CLUB AT MALAPROPS

We will meet the first Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at Malaprops, for a 1 1/2 hour discussion on a book related to a current political topic. The chosen book for November is ‘The Battle for Justice in Palestine’ by Ali Abunimah. You may purchase the book at Malaprops (10% off list for all book clubs), or order on line as you wish, or check it out from the public library. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Bruce at bruceroth@charter.net.

11/05/14 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

This meeting will be at 9:30 AM at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.

11/06/14 FORUM ON FAMILY HOMELESSNESS

Families experience homelessness for the same kinds of reasons that anyone else does - losing a job, going through a divorce, an illness or having hours cut back. Families living in poverty are always at the edge of a crisis. In 2014, the annual Point In Time Count - a one day event where organizations attempt to count the number of people who are homeless at shelters and camps - found 20 families in Buncombe County and 12 in Henderson County who are homeless. Homeward Bound is looking carefully at this problem because we know that getting people out of homelessness and into housing as rapidly as possible, is critical, especially for families with children. Join us at our first ever Forum on Family Homelessness on November 6th. Your $20 ticket includes a meal, keynote speaker Kelly King Horne from Homeward Virginia, and an insightful panel discussion of experts facilitated by our Executive Director, Brian Alexander. This event is sponsored by attorneys Chitwood and Fairbairn. Email Beth at beth@homewardboundwnc.org for more information on how to purchase tickets.

11/10/14 MOVE TO AMEND BUNCOMBE COUNTY MEETING

Time is 7 PM and location is North Asheville Library. Call Ruth at 232-2883 or email ruthachristie@gmail.com for more information.

11/13/14 PANEL PRESENTATION AT MARS HILL UNIVERSITY

Panel Presentation: Personal Recollections of the Rosenwald School. This is part of the exhibition “Our Story–This Place, The History of African American Education in Madison County, North Carolina: The Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School” at the Rural Heritage Museum at Mars Hill University that runs until February 2015.This exhibition traces the history of African American education in Western North Carolina, with a particular emphasis on Madison County, from Reconstruction through the period of Civil Rights legislation and the integration in the 1960s. The Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School played a large role in African American heritage and history in Madison County and Western North Carolina for a good part of the 20th century. Moderated by Kevin Barnette (Assist. football coach at MHU) to include Anderson Rosenwald school alumni Oralene Simmons, Charity Ray, Dorothy Coone, Omar Lewis McClain, Fatimah Rashida Shabazz, Gene Jones.Time TBA. Admission is free, and the exhibit will run until February 2015. For more information please call (828) 689-1400.

11/21/14 PROTEST THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS IN GEORGIA

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

ONGOING EVENTS

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

TUESDAY

Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY

Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville

THURSDAY

Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 1 PM at A-Hope on North Ann Street in Asheville.

Youth Outright Poetry Night at United Church of Christ in Asheville at 5 PM

FRIDAY

Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the City Hall in Hendersonville

Women in Black have a monthly vigil at 5 PM at Vance Monument in Asheville (first Friday only)

SATURDAY

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

Third Saturdays – Asheville’s Green Grannies invites the public to “sing for the climate” at Vance Monument at 5 PM.

SUNDAY

Youth OUTright meeting from 4 to 6 PM at First Congregational United Church of Christ at 20 Oak Street in Asheville. Ages 14 - 23 only.

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

ACTIONS AND READINGS

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

OCCUPY SURVEY: If you were involved in the Occupy movement, you may want to take this international survey about what it meant to you and how it still impacts our world. I took the survey, seems very legit.

http://civilsc.net/OccupySurvey

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

Public Comment Period on Fracking Rules til Sept. 30th!

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is now accepting written comments on the 120 rules proposed to regulate fracking. The public comment period is open until September 30.

Send written comments to the Mining & Energy Commission:

ATTN: Oil and Gas Program

1612 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-1612

or email to Oil&Gas@ncdenr.gov.

Talking Points: Pick a few and personalize.

1) The mountains of western NC are different from the rest of the state & would require different rules: narrow & one lane mountain roads are dangerous for big trucks with fracking chemicals,

2) spills along mountain roads would endanger streams,

3) Steep slopes & landslide areas are dangerous,

4) request full disclosure of chemicals used in the fracking process,

5) request adequate rules for fracking wastewater disposal, open pits with secret chemicals are unacceptable; stop all fracking permits until wastewater disposal is safe.

6) request baseline and follow up testing for baseline water quality data to be required for all water wells within 1 mile of the gas well head, and along the horizontal leg of the gas well. Follow up testing should be required for at least 10 years after production ends.

7) request setback distances to be at least 1000 feet from private water wells & 1500 feet from public water supply

For more information, contact: Sally Morgan, Clean Water for NC, sally@cwfnc.org, 828-251-1291.

Friday, September 26, 2014

More photos from the Peoples Climate March

Photo by Common Dreams on twitter.

Another photo by Common Dreams on twitter.

Photo by Jodie Evans on twitter.

Photo by Physicians for Social Responsibility on twitter.

Photo by Flood Wall Street on Facebook.

Photo by Christopher Robbins on twitter.

Photo by photo on twitter.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

From National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

*NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE*

*9635 Overland Rd. Mount Horeb, WI 53572*

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

August 21, 2014

Dear Mr. President,

We write to you as people committed to nonviolent social change with a deep

concern for a variety of issues that are all interrelated. As

representatives of organizations that normally do not have a voice and have

little influence in the places of power in Washington, DC, we areorganizing

under Campaign Nonviolence, a campaign that is pulling people together

across the country to nonviolently bring about change in the areas of

poverty, war, and climate crisis. These issues are too urgent to delay and

not attend to immediately and so we would like to meet with you or a senior

representative at the White House and discuss our concerns on September

23. During the week of September 21, we will be joined in solidarity with

hundreds of actions around the country focusing on war, poverty, and the

climate crisis organized under Campaign Nonviolence.

Poverty is adversely affecting the quality of life for too many Americans.

The people are suffering from lack of food, health care, education, a

living wage, adequate housing, and the list goes on. For example, tens of

millions of Americans represent just part of the 842 million hungry people

in the world according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

According to recent statistics from the US Department of Agriculture almost

15 percent of US households are food insecure. It is unconscionable that

we have children in the United States going to bed hungry. These numbers

do not reflect the recent cuts in food stamps that is now wreaking havoc

across the country. Just a portion of the bloated Pentagon budget

redirected towards human need could alleviate this suffering.

Unending war and imperialism is destroying both our country and the world.

Within the last 13 years we have experienced how the United States has

responded to international crisis with violence. Our government has waged

wars in violation of international law with a failed Middle East policy

that leaves a whole region mired in violence and instability, launched an

illegal drone war, tortured and illegally detained individuals, and refused

to get rid of nuclear weapons capable of annihilation of all life on the

planet.

Our disregard for the causes of climate chaos is leading to the destruction

of the planet. Being controlled, in part, by the fossil fuel industry our

government has not been willing to sign onto international treaties to end

climate chaos or to stand up against the Keystone Pipeline. In the

article *Greenwashing

the Pentagon*, Joseph Nevins states, ?The U.S. military is the world?s

single biggest consumer of fossil fuels, and the single entity most

responsible for destabilizing the Earth?s climate.?

We believe that another way is possible and that there are alternatives to

the life threatening policies that our government has promoted and that

have been so destructive to the people of the world.

When you were elected president, people had such hope for a change. Yet

what we got was a government that continued the policies of the Bush

administration. You are NOT the people?s president, and the voices of the

people are not being heard.

We demand that you change course with the present policies and listen to

the people and not the corporations. Here are three policy changes that we

want to see implemented before you leave office. These changes would make

the world a better place for all of our children and grandchildren,

including yours. These changes would only be a beginning, but would

provide a good start.

1. End all drone warfare. It is illegal and immoral.

2. Establish a living wage for all workers.

3. Initiate and work for an international treaty for swift verifiable

action to reverse climate change. Listen to the scientific community and

not the fossil fuel industry.

We have not had access to the decision-making process like the oil lobby,

the financial and corporate sector, and the arms industry have over the

years. If people and groups such as ours had this same kind of access we

very well may not have rushed to war and occupation on false pretense,

"tortured folks", continued to operate the criminally complicit Western

Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation at Fort Benning, had the

devastating and destructive oil spills in addition to still considering the

Keystone Pipeline, or had civil unrest caused by American society's

structural violence, unresolved racism, and failed economic policies.

A new approach to leadership is required to address the problems and crises

we all face. We have the audacity to hope that you or a senior

representative will meet with us on Tuesday September 23, 2014. This is

the day we will come to the White House from all around the country to meet

with you. Thank you President Obama.

Sincerely,

Ken Butigan, Pace e Bene Executive Director

John Dear, Pace e Bene Outreach Director

Joy First, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Malachy Kilbride, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Max Obuszewski, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

War in Our Collective Imagination

Remarks at Veterans For Peace Convention, Asheville, NC, July 27, 2014

I started seeing graphics pop up on social media sites this past week that said about Gaza: "It's not war. It's murder." So I started asking people what exactly they think war is if it's distinct from murder. Well, war, some of them told me, takes place between armies. So I asked for anyone to name a war during the past century (that is, after World War I) where all or even most or even a majority of the dying was done by members of armies. There may have been such a war. There are enough scholars here today that somebody probably knows of one. But if so, it isn't the norm, and these people I was chatting with through social media couldn't think of any such war and yet insisted that that's just what war is. So, is war then over and nobody told us?

For whatever reasons, I then very soon began seeing a graphic sent around that said about Gaza: "It's not war. It's genocide." And the typical explanation I got when I questioned this one was that the wagers of war and the wagers of genocide have different attitudes. Are we sure about that? I've spoken to advocates for recent U.S. wars who wanted all or part of a population wiped out. Plenty of supporters of the latest attacks on Gaza see them as counter-terrorism. In wars between advanced militaries and poor peoples most of the death and injury is on one side and most of it -- by anyone's definition -- civilian. This is as true in Afghanistan, where war rolls on largely unchallenged, as in Gaza, about which we are newly outraged.

Well, what's wrong with outrage? Who cares what people call it? Why not criticize the war advocates rather than nitpicking the war opponents' choice of words? When people are outraged they will reach for whatever word their culture tells them is most powerful, be it murder or genocide or whatever. Why not encourage that and worry a little more about the lunatics who are calling it *defense* or *policing* or *terrorist removal*? (Eight-year-old terrorists!)

Yes, of course. I've been going after CNN news readers for claiming Palestinians want to die and NBC for yanking its best reporter and ABC for claiming scenes of destruction in Gaza that just don't exist in Israel are in fact in Israel -- and the U.S. government for providing the weapons and the criminal immunity. I've been promoting rallies and events aimed at swaying public opinion against what Israel has been doing, and against the sadistic bloodthirsty culture of those standing on hills cheering for the death and destruction below, quite regardless of what they call it. But, as you're probably aware, only the very most open-minded war advocates attend conventions of Veterans For Peace. So, I'm speaking here backstage, as it were, at the peace movement. Among those of us who want to stop the killing, are there better and worse ways to talk about it? And is anything revealed by the ways in which we tend to talk about it when we aren't hyper-focused on our language?

I think so. I think it's telling that the worst word anyone can think of isn't war. I think it's even more telling that we condemn things by contrasting them with war, framing war as relatively acceptable. I think this fact ought to be unsettling because a very good case can be made that war, in fact, is the worst thing we do, and that the distinctions between war and such evils as murder or genocide can require squinting very hard to discern.

We've all heard that guns don't kill people, people kill people. There is a parallel belief that wars don't kill people, people who misuse wars, who fight bad wars, who fight wars improperly, kill people. This is a big contrast with many other evil institutions. We don't oppose child abuse selectively, holding out the possibility of just and good incidents of child abuse while opposing the bad or dumb or non-strategic or excessive cases of child abuse. We don't have Geneva Conventions for proper conduct while abusing children. We don't have human rights groups writing reports on atrocities and possible law violations committed in the course of abusing children. We don't distinguish UN-sanctioned child abuse. The same goes for numerous behaviors generally understood as always evil: slavery or rape or blood feuds or duelling or dog fighting or sexual harassment or bullying or human experimentation or -- I don't know -- producing piles of I'm-Ready-for-Hillary posters. We don't imagine there are good, just, and defensible cases of such actions.

And this is the core problem: not support for bombing Gaza or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq or anywhere else that actually gets bombed, but support for an imaginary war in the near future between two armies with different colored jerseys and sponsors, competing on an isolated battlefield apart
from any villages or towns, and suffering bravely and heroically for their non-murderous non-genocidal cause while complying with the whistles blown by the referees in the human rights organizations whenever any of the proper killing drifts into lawless imprisonment or torture or the use of improper weaponry. Support for specific possible wars in the United States right now is generally under 10 percent. More people believe in ghosts, angels, and the integrity of our electoral system than want a new U.S. war in Ukraine, Syria, Iran, or Iraq. The *Washington Post* found a little over
10 percent want a war in Ukraine but that the people who held that view were the people who placed Ukraine on the world map the furthest from its actual location, including people who placed it in the United States. These are the idiots who favor specific wars. Even Congress, speaking of idiots, on Friday told Obama no new war on Iraq.

The problem is the people, ranging across the population from morons right up to geniuses, who favor imaginary wars. Millions of people will tell you we need to be prepared for more wars in case there's another Adolf Hitler, failing to understand that the wars and militarism and weapons sales and
weapons gifts -- the whole U.S. role as the arsenal of democracies and dictatorships alike -- increase rather than decrease dangers, that other wealthy countries spend less than 10 percent what the U.S. does on their militaries, and that 10 percent of what the U.S. spends on its military could end global starvation, provide the globe with clean water, and fund sustainable energy and agriculture programs that would go further toward preventing mass violence than any stockpiles of weaponry. Millions will
tell you that the world needs a global policeman, even though polls of the world find the widespread belief that the United States is currently the greatest threat to peace on earth. In fact if you start asking people who have opposed every war in our lifetimes or in the past decade to work on opposing the entire institution of war, you'll be surprised by many of the people who say no.

I'm a big fan of a book called *Addicted to War.* I think it will probably be a powerful tool for war abolition right up until war is abolished. But its author told me this week that he can't work to oppose all wars because he favors some of them. Specifically, he said, he doesn't want to ask Palestinians to not defend themselves. Now, there's a really vicious cycle. If we can't shut down the institution of war because Palestinians need to use it, then it's harder to go after U.S. military spending, which is of course what funds much of the weaponry being used against Palestinians. I think we should get a little clarity about what a war abolition movement does and does not do. It does not tell people what they must do when attacked. It is not focused on advising, much less instructing, the victims of war, but on preventing their victimization. It does not advise the individual victim of a mugging to turn the other cheek. But it also does not accept the disproven notion that violence is a defensive strategy for a population. Nonviolence has proven far more effective and its victories longer lasting. If people in Gaza have done anything at all to assist in their own destruction, it is not the supposed offenses of staying in their homes or visiting hospitals or playing on beaches; it is the ridiculously counterproductive firing of rockets that only encourages and provides political cover for war/ genocide/ mass murder.

I'm a huge fan of Chris Hedges and find him one of the most useful and inspiring writers we have. But he thought attacking Libya was a good idea up until it quite predictably and obviously turned out not to be. He still thinks Bosnia was a just war. I could go on through dozens of names of people who contribute mightily to an anti-war movement who oppose abolishing war. The point is not that anyone who believes in 1 good war out of 100 is to blame for the trillion dollar U.S. military budget and all the destruction it brings. The point is that they are wrong about that 1war out of 100, and that even if they were right, the side-effects of maintaining a culture accepting of war preparations would outweigh the benefits of getting 1 war right. The lives lost by not spending $1trillion a year in the U.S. and another $1 trillion in the rest of the world on useful projects like environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, medicine and hygiene absolutely dwarf the number of lives that would be saved by halting our routine level of war making.

If you talk about abolishing war entirely, as many of us have begun focusing on through a new project called World Beyond War, you'll also find people who want to abolish war but believe it's impossible. War is natural, they say, inevitable, in our genes, decreed by our economy, the unavoidable result of racism or consumerism or capitalism or exceptionalism or carnivorism or nationalism. And of course many cultural patterns interact with and facilitate war, but the idea that it's in our genes is absurd, given how many cultures in our species have done and do without it. I don't know what -- if anything -- people usually mean when they call something "natural" but presumably it's not the provocation of suicide, which is such a common result of participating in war, while the first case of PTSD due to war deprivation has yet to be discovered. Most of our species' existence, as
hunter-gatherers, did not know war, and only the last century -- a split-second in evolutionary terms -- has known war that at all resembles war today. War didn't used to kill like this. Soldiers weren't conditioned to kill. Most guns picked up at Gettysburg had been loaded more than once. The big killers were diseases, even in the U.S. Civil War, the war that the U.S. media calls the most deadly because Filipinos and Koreans and Vietnamese and Iraqis don't count. Now the big killer is a disease in our thinking, a combination of what Dr. King called self-guided missiles and misguided men.

Another hurdle for abolishing war is that the idea rose to popularity in the West in the 1920s and 1930s and then sank into a category of thought that is vaguely treasonous. War abolition was tried and failed, the thinking goes, like communism or labor unions and now we know better. While abolishing war is popular in much of the world, that fact is easily ignored by the 1% who misrepresent the 10% or 15% who live in the places that constitute the so-called International Community. Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come or weaker than an idea whose time has come and gone. Or so we think. But the Renaissance was, as its name suggests, an idea whose time came again, new and improved and victorious. The 1920s and 1930s are a resource for us. We have stockpiles of wisdom to draw upon. We have example of where things were headed and how they went off track.

Andrew Carnegie took war profits and set up an endowment with the mandate to eliminate war and then to hold a board meeting, determine the second worst thing in the world, and begin eliminating that. This sounds unique or eccentric, but is I believe a basic understanding of ethics that ought
to be understood and acted upon by all of us. When someone asks me why I'm a peace activist I ask them why in the hell anyone isn't. So, reminding the Carnegie Endowment for Peace what it's legally obligated to do, and dozens of other organizations along with it, may be part of the process of drawing inspiration from the past. And of course insisting that the Nobel Committee not bestow another peace prize on a war-thirsty presidential candidate or any other advocate of war is part of that.

The case against war that is laid out at WorldBeyondWar.org includes these topics:

War is immoral.

War endangers us.

War threatens our environment.

War erodes our liberties.

War impoverishes us.

We need $2 trillion/year for other things.

I find the case to be overwhelming and suspect many of you would agree. In fact Veterans For Peace and numerous chapters and members of Veterans For Peace have been among the first to sign on and participate. And we've begun finding that thousands of people and organizations from around the
world agree as people and groups from 68 countries and rising have added their names on the website in support of ending all war. And many of these people and organizations are not peace groups. These are environmental and civic groups of all sorts and people never involved in a peace movement
before. Our hope is of course to greatly enlarge the peace movement by making war abolition as mainstream as cancer abolition. But we think enlargement is not the only alteration that could benefit the peace movement. We think a focus on each antiwar project as part of a broader campaign to end the whole institution of war will significantly change how specific wars and weapons and tactics are opposed.

How many of you have heard appeals to oppose Pentagon waste? I'm in favor of Pentagon waste and opposed to Pentagon efficiency. How can we not be, when what the Pentagon does is evil? How many of you have heard of opposition to unnecessary wars that leave the military ill-prepared? I'm
in favor of leaving the military ill-prepared, but not of distinguishing unnecessary from supposedly necessary wars. Which are the necessary ones? When sending missiles into Syria is stopped, in large part by public pressure, war as last resort is replaced by all sorts of other options that were always available. That would be the case anytime any war is stopped. War is never a last resort any more than rape or child abuse is a last resort. How many of you have seen opposition to U.S. wars that focuses almost exclusively on the financial cost and the suffering endured by Americans? Did you know polls find Americans believing that Iraq benefitted and the United States suffered from the war that destroyed Iraq? What if the financial costs and the costs to the aggressor nation were in addition to moral objections to mass-slaughter rather than instead of? How many of you have seen antiwar organizations trumpet their love for troops and veterans and war holidays, or groups like the AARP that advocate for benefits for the elderly by focusing on elderly veterans, as though veterans are the most deserving? Is that good activism?

I want to celebrate those who resist and oppose war, not those who engage in it. I love Veterans For Peace because it's for peace. It's for peace in a certain powerful way, but it's the being for peace that I value. And being for peace in the straightforward meaning of being against war. Most organizations are afraid of being for peace; it always has to be peace and justice or peace and something else. Or it's peace in our hearts and peace in our homes and the world will take care of itself. Well, as Veterans For Peace know, the world doesn't take care of itself. The world is driving itself off a cliff. As Woody Allen said, I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen, I want to live on in my apartment. Well, I don't want to find peace in my heart or my garden, I want to find peace in the elimination of war. At WorldBeyondWar.org is a list of projects we thinkmay help advance that, including, among others:

- Creating an easily recognizable and joinable mainstream international movement to end all war.

- Education about war, peace, and nonviolent action - including all that is to be gained by ending war.

- Improving access to accurate information about wars. Exposing falsehoods.

- Improving access to information about successful steps away from war in other parts of the world.

- Increased understanding of partial steps as movement in the direction of eliminating, not reforming, war.

- Partial and full disarmament.

- Conversion or transition to peaceful industries.

- Closing, converting or donating foreign military bases.

- Democratizing militaries while they exist and making them truly volunteer.

- Banning foreign weapons sales and gifts.

- Outlawing profiteering from war.

- Banning the use of mercenaries and private contractors.

- Abolishing the CIA and other secret agencies.

- Promoting diplomacy and international law, and consistent enforcement of laws against war, including prosecution of violators.

- Reforming or replacing the U.N. and the ICC.

- Expansion of peace teams and human shields.

- Promotion of nonmilitary foreign aid and crisis prevention.

- Placing restrictions on military recruitment and providing potential soldiers with alternatives.

- Thanking resisters for their service.

- Encouraging cultural exchange.

- Discouraging racism and nationalism.

- Developing less destructive and exploitative lifestyles.

- Expanding the use of public demonstrations and nonviolent civil resistance to enact all of these changes.

I would add learning from and working with organizations that have been, like Veterans For Peace, working toward war abolition for years now and inspiring others to do the same. And I would invite you all to work with WorldBeyondWar toward our common goal.

~ David Swanson is *Director of World Beyond War, host of Talk Nation Radio, author of books including “War No More: The Case for Abolition”, “War Is A Lie”, and “When the World Outlawed War”