#AfghanistanTuesday - Top Tweets - Mar 27

Weekly tweeting about Afghanistan has been quiet for a while. No more! On March 27, #AfghanistanTuesday jumped back to life as people started to think and talk seriously about the coming Nato summit in Chicago.

These are some of the #AfghanistanTuesday tweets from Tuesday, March 27, 2012, that were most highly retweeted:

Antiwar Movement
From @thurnandtaxis: Can't imagine a US antiwar movement? What abt the movement from 53% to 69% opposition to Afghan war since Nov. (NYT/CBS) #AfghanistanTuesday

From @Scarry: #OBAMA MUST NOT HAVE GOTTEN THE MEMO. US support for #Afghanistan #War plummets http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/world/asia/support-for-afghan-war-falls-in-us-poll-finds.html?_r=1 #AfghanistanTuesday #antiwar #peace

NATO in Chicago
From @OccupyChicago: MT @MidwestAntiwar What will YOU tell #NATO when they're in #Chicago? DEMILITARIZE #Afghanistan! #AfghanistanTuesday #ChicagoSpring #OChi

From @ComeHomeAmerica: On #AfghanistanTuesday, Tell NATO to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan http://wp.me/p1lhlo-u8

Out of Afghanistan
From @lebatailleur: 10+ years of occupation is 10+ years too many-we need to get out of #Afghanistan #AfghanistanTuesday

From @JodieEmery: GET OUT OF THERE! War=Death! “@Antiwar2: Three NATO Soldiers Killed by Afghan Security Forces http://bit.ly/GWSmJz #AfghanistanTuesday”

Drones
From @lebatailleur: Killing others by pushing buttons miles and miles away is despicable. End the drone war, US out of #Afghanistan #AfghanistanTuesday

From @WarDronesOn: hey #AfghanistanTuesday tweeps, join us in DC April 28-29 for #DroneSummit http://ow.ly/9UMXS RT

The Civilian Deaths and Injury
From @info_from_vcnv: Obama’s #Afghanistan Massacre Deniers http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/20/obamas-afghanistan-massacre-deniers #AfghanistanTuesday

From @aishaf786: Stop the Wars, because there is enough death in the world without the ones caused by humans in unnecessary wars! #AfghanistanTuesday #Iraq

The Real Nuclear Threat
From @Zwicky3: BBC News - Which countries have nuclear weapons? http://bbc.in/GS0TgJ #nuclear #radiation #war #endwar #AfghanistanTuesday

PLUS . . . Check out the master list of #AfghanistanTuesday blog posts!

A Nobel Laureate Message for Chicago?

Four weeks before the leaders of the City of Chicago roll out the red carpet for the leaders of the military alliance that dominates the world -- NATO -- they will be using a line-up of Nobel Peace Prize laureates to legitimize the way they are associating our city with the forces of power and violence.


The following Nobel Peace Prize laureates and laureate organizations have agreed to come to Chicago April 23-25 for the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates:

President Mikhail Gorbachev – Russia (@mgorbachev)
Professor Muhammad Yunus – Bangladesh (@yunus_centre)
His Holiness the Dalai Lama – Tibet (@dalailama)
President Frederik Willem de Klerk – South Africa
Mrs. Mairead Corrigan Maguire – Northern Ireland - DECLINED INVITATION - April 16, 2012
President Jimmy Carter – United States (@cartercenter)
President Óscar Arias Sánchez – Costa Rica (@oariascr)
Ms. Tawakkol Karman – Yemen (@tawakkolkarman)
Dr. Shirin Ebadi – Iran
Professor Jody Williams – United States
President Lech Wałęsa – Poland

American Friends Service Committee (@afsc_org)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (@climate_science)
International Committee of the Red Cross (@icrc_english)
International Peace Bureau (@IntlPeaceBureau)
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (@IPPNW)
United Nations/Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs
PUGWASH Conferences
Amnesty International (@amnesty)
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (@minefreeworld)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (@refugees)
Médecins Sans Frontières (@msf_usa)
United Nations Children’s Fund (@UNICEF)

(See original list on the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates website.)

Chicago expects Nobel Peace Prize laureates to live up to the honor they have been given. (And Chicago is not afraid to tell a lapsed Nobel Peace Prize laureate to shape up.)

What message will the invited group of laureates bring when they come?

• Will they point out that NATO uses militarism as a basis for international relations, and it's time to put an end to it?
• Will they champion the cause of Private Manning, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and is an example of how every citizen should act on their conscience?
• Will they applaud the demonstrators, protesters, and occupiers who are taking a stand against the range of injustice in our society -- from systemic impoverishment and inequality, to the program of mass incarceration, deportations, and suppression of civil liberties, to violence against the citizens of foreign country after foreign country?

Some people believe that the Nobel Peace Prize laureates should decline the invitation to come to Chicago, to prevent the leaders of the City of Chicago from using them to legitimize the NATO summit. I disagree. I believe that it is precisely by coming to Chicago and speaking out against militarism that they can make the greatest contribution.

What message do you think the Nobel Peace Prize laureates should bring to Chicago?

Occupy Palm Sunday! in Logan Square

Contact: Joe Scarry
Pastor Erik Christensen (St. Luke's Logan Square)
Pastor Bruce Ray (Kimball Avenue Evangelical Church)
Pastor Ramon Nieves (Humboldt Avenue United Methodist)

Sun April 1
11:45 Congregations March to Logan Square Monument
12:00 Arrival at Logan Square Monument (Kedzie/Logan/Milwaukee)
12:30 Speakers & Potluck

See full PHOTO GALLERY below!

Four Chicago Congregations Converge in Logan Square to Occupy Palm Sunday!

Chicago 3/29 -- Members of congregations from across Logan Square and Humboldt Park will be processing from their respective houses of worship to the Logan Square monument at the end of services on April 1 to Occupy Palm Sunday! Participants will be singing and chanting songs of protest and praise as they occupy the green space at Kedzie, Milwaukee and Logan Boulevard.

The event will feature a series of teach-ins on topics reflecting the real needs of our neighbors in Logan Square and the ministries of our congregations. Specifically, we’ll be presenting news, information and opportunities for service and advocacy on matters of healthcare, housing, hunger and immigration. Community members are encouraged to attend, and bring a dish to share. All are welcome at this public event, regardless of faith background or religious identification.

Sponsoring congregations:
First Lutheran Church
Humboldt Park United Methodist
Kimball Avenue Evangelical Church
St. Luke's Logan Square

Endorsing organizations:
Occupy the Northwest Side

"Join" on the Facebook event page for Occupy Palm Sunday! in Logan Square
Read details of the program for Occupy Palm Sunday! in Logan Square

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Scarry Thoughts: Occupy Palm Sunday!
Scarry Thoughts: WWJD? Occupy!
The Messenger: Occupy Palm Sunday!
Scarry Thoughts: Occupy Food Justice!
CBS Chicago: Logan Square Residents ‘Occupy Palm Sunday’ To Call For Immigration Reform

PHOTO GALLERY


Members of St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square process to the Occupy Palm Sunday! event


WELCOME! Pastor Bruce Ray from Kimball Avenue Church at Occupy Palm Sunday


Jesus Loves Immigrants! Members of Humboldt Park United Methodist, together with seminarian Bill Novak and Pastor Ramon Nieves


Laura Leon from St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square talking about the need to provide health care for all


Singing around the Logan Square Eagle at Occupy Palm Sunday! - Pastor Ramon Nieves, Pastor Erik Christensen, seminarian Francisco Herrera, members of their congregations, and other members of the Logan Square community


Andy Willis from Kimball Avenue Church on the need to provide shelter for all!


Joe Scarry from St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square: Occupy Food Justice!

Occupy Palm Sunday! poster art: Andrew Willis
Photos: FJJ

Thoughts Before Holy Week: Talk About the Passion

Back in the days before Google and Youtube and Wikipedia, people used to devote hours to trying to decipher the lyrics to songs by R.E.M.


Personally, I was always intrigued by a pair of songs that ran directly from one to the other on the album Eponymous. Since the second of the two songs -- "Talk About the Passion" -- had pretty simple lyrics, it didn't take me long to pick out one key phrase: "not everyone can carry the weight of the world." It slowly started to dawn on me that R.E.M. wasn't talking about "passion" (or, I should say, they weren't talking about talking about "passion") -- though it would seem pretty reasonable to expect a rock group to be singing about love (if not sex).

R.E.M. was talking about (and talking about talking about) "the Passion (of Jesus)."

The song's lyrics alternated between "talking about the passion" and "carrying the weight of the world," over and over again. It was as if to say, "This is something we are going to keep working through, again and again, until we come to grips with it."

It seemed to me that, in the song, Michael Stipe was singing "Pull me in ..." -- though I now understand that the lyric is "Combien ..." Indeed, the song did pull me in ... just as the story of Jesus, and talking about the story of Jesus, pulled me in, and continues to pull me in.


I became confirmed in my belief that R.E.M. was talking about the Passion when I realized that the song that preceded "Talk About the Passion" was called "Gardening at Night." I started to wonder, "Who gardens at night, anyway?" It occurred to me that people do sometimes have significant experiences in gardens at night -- I guess you could call that "gardening at night"; Jesus probably had the most well-known "gardening at night" experience of anyone.

I couldn't really make out the lyrics to that song, but the way the cheery introduction transitioned into the plaintive movement of the verse itself -- and especially the way the airy minor seventh chords and sustained fourths resolved -- it just felt like they were talking about Gethsemane.

Looking at the printed lyrics today, I remember the ones that jumped out at me at the time: "They said it couldn't be arranged" ... "not to see the sun" ... "They should know" .. "it must be time" ... "didn't seem to be too real" .... It seemed to fit .... And indeed: "Somewhere it must be time for penitence."

* * * * *

At our adult Sunday school class at St. Luke's Logan Square last week, we talked about the account of Gethsemane. We recognized that this was the story of someone who found himself at a critical juncture, and was having second thoughts, and longed to just know what the right thing to do was.

We shared stories about our own "Gethsemane" moments - those times when we were in real need and we reached out for reassurance from God ... and God was silent. (Is this perhaps what R.E.M. meant by "empty prayer"?)


It was helpful to talk about those "Gethsemane" moments with others: it's much easier to accept Christ's Passion as our own -- to say, "pull me in" -- when we don't feel like we're carrying that weight all by ourselves.

And talking with others helps locate the intense passion -- the emotions -- in the different parts of the Passion story. Where, after all, is the greatest pain in that story? Is it on the cross? Or in the garden?

* * * * *

These days, I'm not sure the "official" accounts of songs like "Gardening at Night" and "Talk About the Passion" tally with my idea of what they're about. I heard them -- and continue to hear them -- as accounts of the experience of Jesus at the hardest time in his life, the time when he felt most poignantly human. Is that what Wikipedia says these songs are really about? Is that what the lyrics really mean, when read in their entirety?

Does it matter? Listen to "Gardening at Night" and "Talk About the Passion" for yourself. I think you'll tell me I was right.

Are you ready for a little "gardening at night"?

* * * * *

WIKIPEDIA

Read the Wikipedia entry for "Gardening at Night"
Read the Wikipedia entry for "Talk About the Passion

LYRICS

Gardening At Night
(Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe - retrieved from eLyrics.net)

I see your money on the floor, I felt the pocket change.
Though all the feelings that broke through that door
just didn't seem to be too real.
The yard is nothing but a fence, the sun just hurts my eyes.
Somewhere it must be time for penitence. Gardening at night is never where.
Gardening at night. Gardening at night. Gardening at night.

The neighbors go to bed at ten.
Call the prayer line for a change.
The charge is changing every month.
They said it couldn't be arranged.

We ankled up the garbage sound, but they were busy in the rows.
We fell up, not to see the sun, gardening at night just didn't grow.
I see your money on the floor, I felt the pocket change.
Though all the feelings that broke through that door
just didn't seem to be too real.
Gardening at night. Gardening at night. Gardening at night

Your sister said that you're too young.
They should know they've been there twice.
The call was 2 and 51.
They said it couldn't be arranged.

I see your money on the floor, I felt the pocket change.
Though all the feelings that broke through that door
just didn't seem to be too real.
We ankled up the garbage sound, but they were busy in the rows.
We fell up not to see the sun, gardening at night just didn't grow.
Gardening at night. Gardening at night. Gardening at night

Talk About the Passion
(Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe - retrieved from Lyrics007)

Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction
Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion

Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction
Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion
Combien, combien, combien de temps?

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Not everyone can carry the weight of the world
Combien, combien, combien de temps?

Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion
Talk about the passion

Image: A Squirrel in Babylon

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Chicago Protests Murder of Trayvon

Below are images of the demonstration in Chicago last night (Friday, March 23, 2012) to protest the murder in Florida of Trayvon Martin. (Photos courtesy FJJ.)

On #AfghanistanTuesday, Tell NATO to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan

For months, people working to end the war in Afghanistan have joined together every week to share information and spread the word on #AfghanistanTuesday using Twitter.

With the NATO summit in Chicago just weeks away, now is the time to get EVERYBODY joining the weekly #AfghanistanTuesday virtual demonstrations.


What will you be talking about on #AfghanistanTuesday? There's so much to be done, even as the U.S. and its NATO allies entertain sanguine talk about withdrawing combat troops and lull their respective populations into ever deeper states of groggy inattention.

Just think about what it would take to truly DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan:

DRONES
Drones are a plague that dash any hope of peace -- not just in Afghanistan, but everywhere in the world. If you only do one thing on #AfghanistanTuesday, please dig into this problem and try to find a way to be part of the resistance to drones.

Tweet with the tag(s): #drones ... #warcrimes

DETENTION
The U.S. and NATO have created a detention mess in Afghanistan that has all the inhumane and lawless features of Guantanamo but is about 100 times as large. You can be part of the movement to end indefinite detetention and torture, and restore rule of law and due process.

Tweet with the tag(s): #Bagram ... #Guantanamo ... #indefinitedetention ... #closeGITMO ... #torture ... #habeas ... #dueprocess ... #humanrights

MERCENARIES/CONTRACTORS
Part and parcel of the U.S./NATO "nation-building" model in Afghanistan is the reliance of vast numbers of security contractors. These contractors -- really thinly disguised mercenaries -- are uncontrollable and lawless, and impose a layer of violence and menace on Afghanistan society that goes surpasses that created by the military.

Tweet with the tag(s): #mercenaries ... #contractors

TRAINERS
The biggest lie of the U.S./NATO endgame in Afghanistan is that the trouble ends when combat troops leave; the remaining presence will "just" be "trainers." As anyone familiar with the U.S. interference in Latin America and the legacy of pain and death of the School of the Americas knows, U.S./NATO training operations threaten to propel the agony in Afghanistan for at least another generation.

Tweet with the tag(s): #SOA ... #specialforces

BASES
The late Chalmers Johnson made it clear that the proliferation of over 700 military bases is the fundamental way that U.S. militarism is propelled in the world. Despite the talk of withdrawal of combat troops, the U.S./NATO base infrastructure in Afghanistan is an enormous obstacle to the decrease in militarization there.

Tweet with the tag(s): #baseworld

Start your #AfghanistanTuesday tweeting NOW!

U.S. War-Mongering: STOP! Now, or Be Estopped Later

The antiwar movement needs to recognize that it is being heard -- that it is forcing concessions, however small -- and it should take encouragement from this to redouble its efforts to engage in ever-stronger resistance to U.S. war-making.


An important report appeared on Tuesday. The March 20, 2012, New York Times reported on U.S. war exercises that recently took place ("U.S. War Game Sees Perils of Israeli Strike Against Iran"). In the course of the report, the following statement was made:

Officials said that, under the chain of events in the war game, Iran believed that Israel and the United States were partners in any strike against Iranian nuclear sites and therefore considered American military forces in the Persian Gulf as complicit in the attack.

In other words, "We can't allow it to appear as if we're working in concert with Israel against Iran, because if and when Israel does attack Iran, we will have no place to hide from the Iranian retaliation."

This is a principle in law known as "estoppel" -- which boils down to the idea that you are guilty along with those you associate with, if you allow them to assert that you are backing them up. And the importance of estoppel is this: if you want to make sure that you are not "estopped" later from asserting your innocence -- that you are not left "holding the bag" -- you need to get out in public NOW and convince the world that you, in fact, stand for something different. No weasel words, no nuance: LOUD AND CLEAR, AGAIN AND AGAIN!

And so we see reports of the U.S. and Israel drawing increasingly clear lines between their positions, the U.S. insisting on diplomacy with Iran during the Obama-Netanyahu meeting, and now Ehud Barak admitting that Israel now knows that the U.S. doesn't back them in an attack any time soon.

This is not to say that the threats against Iran are over -- not by a long shot. It is a small but important step back from the brink.

Were the "No Iran War!" forces -- broadcasting their messages in marches, teach-ins, publications, and social media -- solely responsible for this small step back from war? No -- there were complicated and contradictory forces at work -- but the anti-war movement was certainly a big part of this development and needs to recognize its power.

Is it time to rest? No - it's time to recognize that this is what it feels like to have an impact - and now REALLY turn up the volume!

* * * * *

Photo courtesy FJJ

* * * * *

Who Will Be Taking On NATO In Chicago?

Many entities have already started the work of taking on the NATO war-makers when they are in Chicago. Below is a list of some of the most prominent: please support their efforts ... keep up with them on Twitter ... and please make a SPECIAL effort to help us get the word out every Tuesday on #AfghanistanTuesday!

#AfghanistanTuesday
Cangate
CodePink and Drones
IVAW
National Nurses United
Network for a NATO-Free Future
Non-violence
Occupy Chicago Week of Action
OccupyNATOChicago
StopNATO News
Voices for Creative Nonviolence

...PLUS: Selected Posts on NATO in Chicago


#AFGHANISTANTUESDAY
People working to end the war in Afghanistan join together on Twitter every week to share information and spread the word on #AfghanistanTuesday. In the days leading up to the NATO summit, they will be using Twitter to make sure everybody knows about the need to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan: no more drones, no more detention, no more mercenaries or contractors, no trainers, no bases .... Learn more about the #AfghanistanTuesday campaign to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan.

COALITION AGAINST NATO/G8 WAR & POVERTY AGENDA (CANGATE)
People’s Summit on May 12-13; Sunday, May 20, 2012: Noon rally at Daley Plaza, then march to McCormick Place (permitted). Full information on the Cangate website.

CODEPINK AND DRONES (@WarDronesOn)
Code Pink will hold a conference in Washington, D.C., on April 28-29, to build resistance to drone warfare, to be followed by activities during the NATO summit in Chicago. (See full drones conference description.) (See all CodePink protest activity in Chicago during the NATO summit.)

IRAQI VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW) (@IVAW)
Afghanistan and Iraq veterans from around the country will converge in Chicago on May 20th to march to the NATO summit and ceremoniously return their medals to NATO generals. See details of the March for Justice and Reconciliation.

NATIONAL NURSES UNITED (@NationalNurses)
"With world leaders of the G-8 nations fleeing the U.S.’ third largest city by moving their May summit to the rural woods outside Washington, the nation’s largest nurses union will bring Camp David and the G-8 summit back to Chicago for a special event on Friday, May 18. With the help of Robin Hood’s band of merry women and men, National Nurses United, joined by healthcare, labor and other community activists, and guests from other G-8 nations, will reconstruct Camp David in Chicago and conduct a search for the absent G-8 leaders." See details of the March for Justice and Reconciliation.

NETWORK FOR A NATO-FREE FUTURE (@NATOFreeFuture)
The Network for a NATO Free Future is a coalition of peace, faith and economic justice groups hosting a Counter-Summit for Peace & Economic Justice at the time of the NATO and G-8 summits in Chicago May 18-19, 2012.
See details of the Counter-Summit for Peace & Economic Justice.

NON-VIOLENCE TRAINING (@AFSCPeace)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has a compiled a calendar of non-violence training throughout the Chicago area in the run-up to the NATO summit.

OCCUPY CHICAGO WEEK OF ACTION (@OccupyChicago)
Occupy Chicago is calling a week of action to protest the agendas of war and poverty that NATO and G8 impose. See main Facebook event page for Occupy Chicago Week of Action

OccupyNATOChicago (@OccupyTheG8)
Publishing a daily compilation of Twitter postings and announcements in the run-up to NATO in Chicago: The OccupyNATOChicago Daily

StopNATO NEWS from RICK ROZOFF
Rick Rozoff publishes the fullest available collection of posts about all things NATO: "StopNATO is a continuation of an e-mail mailing list started in 1999. Its main purpose is to document and oppose global militarist trends and an expanding theater of war that began in the Balkans in the 1990s and has since expanded into South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It provides daily news and analysis from sources around the world to that end and literary and musical contributions also aimed at opposing war and promoting peace." See StopNATO

VOICES FOR CREATIVE NON-VIOLENCE (@info_from_vcnv)
May 1 through May 19 - marching and speaking through southeast Wisconsin and northeast Illinois. At A Global Crossroads: Turn Against War will last for about 2 weeks leading up to the summit in Chicago.

We propose a different agenda for The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): immediately end your drone strikes, dismantle the NATO-ISAF armed mission in Afghanistan, and end your diplomatic and financial support for Hamid Karzai and the warlords in the National Assembly. Finally, we hold NATO responsible for providing reparations to the Afghans commensurate to the destruction caused by the Afghanistan War since NATO assumed command of the ISAF operation in 2003. These reparations must be dispersed by an independent body and might take the form of food aid, water filtration, public housing, public infrastructure projects, etc.

SELECTED POSTS ON NATO IN CHICAGO
Why We Protest the NATO Summit by Buddy Bell
Resistance Builds to NATO's Threat of Permanent War and Nuclear Dominance by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn

* * * * *

Images:
Chicago skyline from: Travel Tourism website

* * * * *

Finance's Unholy Trinity of Permawar: Goldman, Bloomberg, and the CME

Last week, just as I was completing an explanation of how financial trading firms are the biggest beneficiaries of our system of "permawar," the financial firm sitting at the pinnacle of the industry woke up to find one of its young stars poking it in the eye. "It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off," wrote Greg Smith, in a public letter of resignation that ran in the New York Times on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, entitled, "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs."


Critics of Goldman Sachs surely enjoyed seeing the firm get its comeuppance, though on close reading it became clear that Smith wasn't really criticizing what Goldman stands for, just the fact that it had gotten a bit off course. "Make the client the focal point of your business again," Smith wrote. The problem, according to Smith, is that "people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client's goals."

When I stopped to think about this, I realized that Smith wasn't criticizing the underlying problem that I see - the reliance of financial trading firms on "vol" (volatility) for profits, and their resultant addiction to global strife. In Smith's (and Smith's idealized Goldman's) worldview, it's "us and our client against the world," even if the world is going down the tubes.

And when you realize that, you realize that once a firm's credo becomes "anything for the client, and the rest of the world be damned," it's only a short step to saying, "And, while we're at it, screw the client, too!"

The really difficult thing is a for a firm -- hell, for a person! -- to take a step back and say, "What needs to be done here to make the world a better place? What's the right thing for society?" It is the lack of this behavior that forms the basis of permawar.

I found it notable that Mayor Bloomberg made a consolation call on Goldman after its diem horribilis. This, of course, is the Mayor Bloomberg who made his fortune through the introduction of the "Bloomberg terminal" into financial trading operations -- an analytic tool that revolutionized the field of trading by giving everybody the tools to profit from the "vol"! (The Bloomberg terminal didn't do anything that a first year finance student didn't already know how to do with a slide rule and graph paper; it just did it instantaneously, fueling an entire industry of trading in risk instruments.)


And that's what gives Bloomberg pride of place up alongside Goldman Sachs in the permawar pantheon: he made his fortune on the "vol." (As one observer commented, "These are his people, and he felt their pain.") Only one other entity can even come close to these two, and it's the exchange that made risk hedges into the most highly tradeable instruments possible - namely, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), with its interest rate futures and other, increasingly exotic, instruments. Make no mistake: without interest rate futures, the CME would still be a backwater, relying on trades in milk and pork bellies; it wouldn't be a terribly interesting place, and it certainly wouldn't have gone public a few years ago! Interest rate futures are a way for an enormous number of people to play the "vol" connected to our government's military-budget-driven debt and world instability.

If you have any doubt about the connection between permawar and this unholy trinity -- Goldman, Bloomberg, and the CME -- ask yourself these questions:

• Do you think Goldman Sachs' proprietary trading operations would be more or less profitable if there wasn't a war leading the news headlines every day and roiling the markets?
• If peace broke out in the Middle East, would that make oil prices more or less predictable? What would that do to trading profits related to energy and all the other downstream aspects of the world economy, including interest rates?
• If U.S. military spending was brought under control, would that make U.S. Treasury borrowing more or less difficult? Would this make interest rates more or less stable? Would this lead to more or less trading in interest rate futures?

Let's face it - it would be a pretty boring -- and unprofitable! -- world without U.S. war-making.

Still wondering if the connection between permawar and the unholy trinity is real? For the doubters among you, consider the magnitude of their political contributions:

• Goldman Sachs and individuals associated with it contribute millions to candidates in both parties, year in, year out.
• The CME doles out money through its own political action committee (PAC). "Political donation records show that CME has been an active contributor in Illinois, but it's also clear that it has spent more money at the federal level."
• Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is a major contributor to GOP senators.

That's millions every year from just these three entities. And it's all going to solidify the power of the people who have the final say-so to keep permawar, well, permanent! (Unless, of course, you imagine they are making those contributions in order to urge politicians to reduce defense spending and end U.S. military adventures abroad . . . .)

It's important to recognize that Goldman, Bloomberg, and the CME -- and ALL of the entities and individuals that profit from the "vol" -- can live with more or less taxation, or more or less regulation, or more or less business-friendly legislation. The one thing they can't live with? Peace . . . .

* * * * *

Images:
Goldman trading area from Business Insider
Bloomberg terminal from Quora
CME traders from The Guardian ("Traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange trading floor react to the latest announcement from the US Federal Reserve.")

* * * * *

Drones and Zero Accountability Government

We are living in a nightmare that makes Philip K. Dick's dystopias look cozy in comparison.

By now, everyone is aware of the killing done by U.S. drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Most people now understand that these attacks frequently result in civilian deaths and constitute war crimes.


Some people have even started to recognize that the threat of drone proliferation goes far beyond the killings-du-jour; what kind of world will we live in when every human space is subject to aerial robotic surveillance?

The U.S. government puts forward justifications for its killings with drones (and any other means it chooses) that don't even rise to the level of "inside-out logic."

The U.S. president defends his drone killings with statements that wouldn't pass the straight face test, the Turing test, or the Eva test.

And the New York Times publishes accounts of the U.S. drone killing program based on an airy tissue of sourcing that falls apart on the merest inspection. Consider:

"These efforts have been extremely precise and effective," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the program's covert status.

In other words, we can know all about these killings, provided we're prepared to believe the statements of a person we can't confirm exists about a program which is not acknowledged to be happening.

Libertarians would point out that this is precisely what happens when we rush to establish government without thinking about what it will take to assure that that government remains accountable.

Theologians would point out that this is an example of the problematic human relationship to truth: we are far too ready to repeat unfounded assertions that some person or other, in some far off land, did or was suspected of doing something, without any real way of knowing the truth. (See: The Ninth Commandment)

Any way you look at it, we've built ourselves a nightmare. How are we going to wake ourselves up?

* * * * *

Image: Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

TAKE ACTION:
Take part in Drone Summit: Killing and Spying by Remote Control in Washington, D.C., April 28-29, 2012, and join in the protests against drones when NATO meets in Chicago in May.

Every Tuesday say NO! to #drones, DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan with #AfghanistanTuesday on Twitter.

TO LEARN MORE:
Broad Spectrum of Organizations Support ACLU Legal Fight for Transparency on U.S. Drone Program

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Making the Chicago-Pakistan Connection

Yesterday - Sunday, March 18, 2012 - people took to the streets of the Devon neighborhood in Chicago to protest continuing U.S. wars in the Mideast and South Asia.

The occasion was the 9th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and people protested the continued U.S. presence there, even after the so-called U.S. "withdrawal" from Iraq in late 2011. There were also sizable contingents protesting U.S. threats against Iran, the continuing U.S. occupation and militarization of Afghanistan, the expanding U.S. practice of indefinite detention in places like Guantanamo, the persecution of Bradley Manning, and other U.S. abuses.

March organizer Andy Thayer (r) with webcam, broadcasting
crowd images to observers in Pakistan via Skype.

A major focus of the demonstration, however, was an undeclared U.S. war: the killing of hundreds of Pakistanis in secret attacks, principally using drones. Yesterday, people from throughout Chicago -- and especially from the Pakistani-American community -- stood up to say the drone attacks must end, and we must hold those who are responsible accountable.

It was less than two weeks ago that Chicago saw U.S. attorney general Eric Holder shock the world with his bizarre assertion that the U.S. government can -- using drones and other means -- pretty much kill whoever it wants.

Some of the participants in the March 18 Chicago demonstration.

Numerous speakers at yesterday's demonstration denounced the U.S. drone attacks, and stressed the numerous ways those attacks defy morality and international law. Many people in the crowd carried anti-drone signs.

Perhaps the most important moment in yesterday's demonstration came when a Skype connection was established to peace activists in Pakistan, so that they could see the crowd of people assembled in Chicago. It is vital that we, the people, be able to communicate directly with people in other countries, and say, "We do NOT support the violent acts of the U.S. government. We are doing everything we can to resist these crimes, and we stand WITH YOU!"

I've written before about how important it is to "stand up and be counted." Yesterday, people on Devon sent a message with their presence that could be seen clear around the world.

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Photos courtesy FJJ.

SEE ALSO:
Manal Shakir: Video of the March 18, 2012, Chicago antiwar march on Devon Avenue.
Salon.com: Our immoral drone war: Media coverage of unmanned attacks -- and the resulting civilian deaths -- miss mounting anger within Pakistan

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In Chicago: Anything Can Happen

I'm looking forward to the premiere Tuesday night of a new choral work by Mohammed Fairouz. It's based in part on "Anything Can Happen," a translation that Seamus Heaney made of an Ode by Horace.


Here's the text:

Anything Can Happen
by Seamus Heaney (After Horace, Odes, I, 34)*

Anything can happen. You know how Jupiter
Will mostly wait for clouds to gather head
Before he hurls the lightning? Well just now
He galloped his thunder cart and his horses

Across a clear blue sky.. It shook the earth
and the clogged underearth, the River Styx,
the winding streams, the Atlantic shore itself.
Anything can happen, the tallest towers

Be overturned, those in high places daunted,
Those overlooked regarded. Stropped-beak Fortune
Swoops, making the air gasp, tearing the crest off one,
Setting it down bleading on the next.

Ground gives. The heaven's weight
Lifts up off Atlas like a kettle lid.
Capstones shift. Nothing resettles right.
Telluric ash and fire-spores boil away.

A lot of people think the modern translation sounds like it's about 9/11.

But maybe it's about revolution?

Or love?

Or all of the above?

What do you think?

* poem retrieved from . . . With Both Hands blog. "Anything Can Happen" was published in book form by Amnesty International in 2004.

Image: Lightning storm generated by Chilean volcano at Universe Today website.

Chicago Says STOP! the Killing in Afghanistan

Yesterday -- Tuesday, March 13, 2012 -- people from Voices for Creative Nonviolence and others in Chicago gathered for a vigil in memory of the victims of the most recent victims in Afghanistan.


How many more deaths before we get out?

Tell the US & NATO to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan!

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Photo courtesy FJJ.

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Stand Up and Be Counted

A few months back, I was at a talk given by the man who was the Lutheran bishop of the New York City area at the time of 9/11, Steve Bouman. He explained that he received some important advice about how to set priorities in the days immediately following 9/11. Someone told him, "People will be watching where you put your body."

That advice had several consequences. Bouman described how important it was to be seen out in the wider community, hand-in-hand with neighbors of all types, in those difficult days. For instance, on Sept. 13, religious leaders gathered at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem: imams, rabbis, bishops, pastors, lay members, neighbors, agnostics. (You can read about it in Steve Bouman's 10-year retrospective on the days surrounding 9/11.)


Bouman's story came to mind a few days ago when I heard from a friend that he had been challenged after "joining" an antiwar event on Facebook. He had indicated that he would be at a march opposing U.S. war threats against Iran. He was startled to receive a call from people in AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), saying, "What? That's not you who signed up for that antiwar march, is it?"

At that moment, my friend confronted the consequences of his decision about where to put his body. He learned that we are being watched and our actions send a message -- and sometimes upset people. Before that call, my friend may have been ambivalent about participating in that antiwar march. Now he's determined to be there.

Yesterday, I posted a link to a vigil for victims of the latest massacre of civilians in Afghanistan on my Facebook wall. I was non-plussed when someone I know added the comment, "let me know when the vigil is for our KIA's."


I really thought about that for a long time. I realized how many people in our country think that the only lives that matter are American lives. (The only difference in this case was that the person was obtuse enough to say it out loud.) I also thought about my anger. I thought about it a lot. Because that little incident called into question my commitment to non-violence.

My decision to put my body at that vigil made me think deeply about all these things.

Of course, there is also the kind of thing that happens all the time, where you show up at some march or rally, and you hear a voice say, "Hey, brother! I saw you were coming and I decided to come, too! How's your bad self been?" When that happens, aren't you glad you decided to stand up and be counted?

And perhaps one of the most important reasons of all to "put yourself out there" is to tell yourself who you are and what you are determined to do. Just like the person who tells everyone he/she knows, "I quit drinking ... I don't drink anymore ... You won't see me drinking .... " you put a stake in the ground, and you engage everybody around you in helping you stick to what you've decided to do.

When you think about it, one thing all of these examples have in common is that in standing up and being counted, we make ourselves free. No more AIPAC telling us what we can and can't do ... no more being a slave to our own anger ... no more being an addict .... We surround ourselves with the type of people we aspire to be.

So when someone asks you, "Does it really matter whether you sign up for those Facebook events?" or "Why go out and participate in those rallies and marches?" you can tell them:

Stand up and be counted.
And become free.

Where will you put your body?

The Few, the Proud ... and the Chaos

The United States Marine Corps has a new advertising campaign: as today's New York Times put it, the new Marines campaign "cites chaos as a perk." You know: the sights, the sounds, and the smells of battle -- all the things that make a young man's (or woman's?) heart race. You can see it for yourself at "Toward the Sounds of Chaos" on the Marines Corps website.

The news of this new angle on military recruiting made me think back to a time in mid-October, 1983, when I went to meet with a friend in Washington, D.C. Bob worked as an advertising executive, and his major account was a branch of the U.S. military. As I sat with him in his office, he told me that it had been a momentous day because of the attack that day on U.S. Marines barracks in Lebanon. One way it had touched him was that he had gotten a directive from his client to "CANCEL ALL WEIGHT" -- i.e. pull all ads scheduled to run -- for that day.


I was pretty naive back then. I remember wondering, "Why would they decide to not run their recruiting ads on this particular day?" Later, when I started to see the photos coming back from Beirut, I realized this had become a day when no one was going to buy what they were selling.

Since then, I've asked myself again and again, "Who gets recruited to go to fight in U.S. wars, and how does that happen?" I've become convinced that it never involves telling people the truth about what they're in for if they join.

The New York Times says that the new Marine Corps ad campaign was designed, in part, based on research that shows that young people want to "help people in need, wherever they may live."

Really? They really think that translates into a pitch to go fight in the Marines?

We need to do several things for our young people. First of all, we need to show them pictures of war and explain: "This is what real chaos looks like." And then we need to ask, "Still think this sounds appealing?"

Second, we need to guide young people away from violence. "Want to help people? I can recommend a hundred ways for you to do that, none of which involve picking up a gun."

Do you want to help young people see things straight and resist military recruitment? You don't have to do it alone. There's a great campaign called We Are Not Your Soldiers that is working every day to help young people get the straight story. Check out We Are Not Your Soldiers and figure out a way to help them with their work.

Our work isn't going to be done until the military recruiters finally determine that no one is buying what they're selling any more. And the day will come when they send one last directive to their advertising agencies:

"CANCEL ALL WEIGHT"

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Photo: Bill Foley, AP, retrieved from Marine Corps Times

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Why Permawar? It's All About the "Vol" ....

I've previously written about the peculiar accomplishment of the U.S. empire -- "permawar" -- and about the fact that the #1 beneficiaries (and thus prime movers) of permawar are the President and associated federal branch power-mongers. Another day I will talk about another set of obvious beneficiaries -- ones that show up a bit further down the food chain -- the military contractors. (As for the military itself -- the sad truth is that, as central as they are to the execution of American permawar, they are by and large just tools in the process.) Today, however, what I want to talk about is how central permawar is to an immensely powerful strata in our society - all of the people who play in the field of "finance."


To many people, the relationship between finance and war is obvious: banks finance the military-industrial complex. In my opinion, however, that misses the point. Banks finance everything (in our society); so why, in particular is it so desirable to have all these ongoing wars?

The answer, it seems to me, is that war is desirable for all those who profit from instability. Many people in business talk endlessly about the desirability of having "predictability," but there is one part of the business community that thrives on change and volatility -- the financial trading community. Dealing with risk and profiting from volatility (the "vol") is their bread and butter. The more "vol," the more profit.

How does war contribute to financial volatility? Just consider a few headlines:

OIL PRICES: Without stability in Iran, oil costs will skyrocket

RAW MATERIALS PRICES: Canadian firms guide Afghan efforts to unlock mining ‘treasure trove’

U.S. GOVERNMENT INDEBTEDNESS: Charting the American Debt Crisis ($6.1 out of a total of $14.3 trillion was accumulated under George W. Bush, in large part due to Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

What's more, these fundamentals -- oil, natural resources, inflation -- are nothing compared to the "vol" that can be generated by hazy, futuristic wars with exotic enemies:

US report: China's cyberwar skills a risk to military

The key point is that, whereas ordinary businesses care less about the absolute cost of things than about predictability and stability, trading firms care NOTHING about the absolute cost of things and EVERYTHING about the LACK of predictability and stability. The more uncertainty, the better.


I was struggling to find a way to convey this latter point, and then the investment firm BlackRock did me a huge favor: they published a 4-page, full-color insert in the New York Times on February 29, 2012, to sell their services to wealthy investors. Their marketing language says it all:

"Markets are volatile. Confidence is scarce."

"the ground has shifted under your feet"

"No matter how tumultuous change is ...."

"Volatile markets have fueled fear...."

"a world of risk...."

Note that nowhere does the word "war" actually appear. But does it need to? (The closest it comes is in the obligatory fine print, where BlackRock reminds potential investors that all this risk -- particularly from "economic or political instability in other nations" -- might be something that even BlackRock can't protect them from!)

In case anyone needed reminding that these financial firms are promising to work their magic in the face of the mystifying disruptions that follow unceasingly from U.S. wars in the Mideast, BlackRock has named their "sophisticated financial technology tools for pricing risk" -- in a nice Orientalist twist -- after that hero of the Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin.


Once you become aware of the interest of those who "play the vol" in permawar, and start to look through this lens, you see it everywhere. For instance, BNY Mellon Wealth Management spells "opportunity" from letters in several key phrases, starting with the "op" in "geopolitical turbulence."

If my belief about financial firms is correct -- if, in fact, they profit from the very same policy of permawar that drives the political elite (the President and associated federal branch players) -- there should be clear confirmation in the amount of money that those financial firms contribute to the political elite. What do you think? If we bother to look, will we find the money trail?

(PS - Some people may wonder how I can possibly write about investment firm profiteering from permawar without discussing Goldman Sachs. Fear not! Goldman will be getting a closer look all to themselves!)

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George Grosz drawing: Praeterita
"War room traders": FX Global
Image from the Thousand and One Nights: Wikipedia

* * * * *

Where's Herblock When You Need Him?

The legendary political cartoonist Herblock famously depicted Richard Nixon arriving for the Republican National Convention by emerging from the sewer.


With the ignominious exit of the G8 from Chicago, I can't help but think that Herblock would have had just the right way of characterizing their departure.

Hmmm ... perhaps there's a Scarry Sign in here somewhere ... ?

"!? -- They were here a minute ago!"

* * * * *

Herblock cartoon: The Wall: Discussing SF Politics
Storm drain image: Open Water Chicago

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Eric Through the Looking Glass

We were stuck outside while Eric Holder addressed a group of Northwestern Law students and others this afternoon. We could catch glimpses, through the dark glass of the building lobby, of the crowd filing in to the Thorne Auditorium to hear the speech.

Afterward one audience member summed up the speech as he left:

"He pretty much said he can kill anyone he wants."

Any questions?


Yes, yes, of course you want to hear the specifics. I must warn you, however, that you are insisting on hearing something that will turn you more topsy-turvy than anything Alice experienced when she ventured through the looking glass.

Here then are some excerpts, together with my commentary, from the posted version of Holder's speech.

Holder launches genteelly into the subject of assassinating people (including through the use of drones):

"An individual’s interest in making sure that the government does not target him erroneously could not be more significant."

He then proceeds to say exactly NOTHING about how an individual might protect that interest of his/hers. For instance, can the individual expect the courts to protect that interest?

"Some have argued that the President is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces. This is simply not accurate. “Due process” and “judicial process” are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process."

Okay, silly question. So perhaps Congress is where the individual will find his/her interest protected?

"That is not to say that the Executive Branch has – or should ever have – the ability to target any such individuals without robust oversight. Which is why, in keeping with the law and our constitutional system of checks and balances, the Executive Branch regularly informs the appropriate members of Congress about our counterterrorism activities, including the legal framework, and would of course follow the same practice where lethal force is used against United States citizens."

Why do I get the feeling that the august oversight being described would be of the kind that happens months -- if not years -- after the individual in question has been incinerated in a drone strike?

Well, at least the individual can expect the protection of an ironclad standard of proof on the part of the Executive Branch, right? Holder identifies six criteria for assassinating -- sorry, killing -- an American citizen:

"[A]n operation using lethal force in a foreign country, targeted against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces, and who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, would be lawful at least in the following circumstances: First, the U.S. government has determined, after a thorough and careful review, that the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States; second, capture is not feasible; and third, the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles."

Now that's all very nice, except that the only criterion named by Holder that can be determined with any degree of objectivity is the first one, i.e. whether or not the U.S. citizen in question is in the U.S. or in a foreign country. What is the objective basis for determining if someone is an operational leader of al Qaeada? In fact, what criteria are there of any kind, beyond the testimony of people being held in some form of indefinite detention and without legal protections by the United States government or its proxies? What is the objective basis for demonstrating that someone poses an imminent threat? What evidence of this type has ever been produced? What is the objective basis for determining that "capture is not feasible"? (I wonder how domestic police operations would look if police commanders were permitted to make findings that "capture is not feasible"!) And, just to be clear, are we talking about making the U.S. government subject to the laws of war? i.e. international law, such as the Geneva Conventions? Or are we only talking about the "principles" associated with the law of war (?) ... and then only those Eric Holder deems "applicable"?

"An individual’s interest in making sure that the government does not target him erroneously could not be more significant." Really? Really, Eric Holder? On the contrary, it sounds to me as if your concern for the miscarriage of justice via the extrajudicial executions you carry out can be boiled down to four words:


OFF WITH HER HEAD!

But don't just take my word for it: read the whole speech -- if, that is, you're not afraid to see how deep the rabbit hole goes . . . !

* * * * *

Holder photo: NPR
Illustration of the Red Queen: Curiouser and Curiouser: The Evolution of Alice

* * * * *

What Will Chicago Tell Holder?

Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at 3:30 p.m. today (Monday, March 5, 2012) at Northwestern University School of Law - 375 E. Superior on targeted killings of U.S. citizens.

What will Chicago tell Holder?


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War, War Protests, and "Technology"

It's official: the media in Chicago has shifted gears from talking about Rahm Emanuel's "Sit Down and Shut Up!" ordinances -- reporting which was, admittedly, never more than a head fake in that direction -- to pre-reporting the issue of "Violence and the NATO/G8 Summit." For instance, that's what ABC was asking about at the demonstration against the suppression of the Occupy Movement on Tuesday, February 28, at LaSalle and Jackson.

And so it's time for us to practice our response:

"I'm glad you want to talk about the issue of NATO/G8 and violence. Where's the real violence? Let's begin in Afghanistan . . . . "

If we can succeed in focusing just a small percentage of the media queries about "NATO/G8 and violence" onto the specific acts of violence of NATO/G8, spring in Chicago will have been very successful indeed!


As we prepare for an upcoming drum circle at LaSalle and Jackson, the question occurred to me: "NATO has aircraft carriers and Tomahawk missiles ... we have buckets turned upside down to be used as drums ... which dangerous technology will the state rush to disable?"

Think about it:

Aircraft carriers and Tomahawk missiles.

Drums.



Where's the real violence?

* * * * *

Photos:
Tomahawk missile from jpegwallpapers.com
Celebrating a drummer from Occupy Chicago on Katalusis

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