Monday, April 30, 2012

Make Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE!


I just returned from Washington, D.C., where I attended Code Pink's Drone Summit: Killing and Spying by Remote Control.

Two days were packed with comprehensive information presentations and planning sessions for activists.


At the end of the first day, I came to a realization: the fundamental problem that we had all gathered to address is that drones render killing 100% invisible. And as long as the killing is invisible, we lose the most powerful tool we have for fighting the killing: the disgust and outrage of the general public.

But recognizing the problem is the first step in being clear about the solution. If drones render killing 100% invisible, WE must find a way to make drone killing 100% VISIBLE.


Drone killing: 100% visible. We now know what we need to do. The rest is just implementation.


More at: Can we stop the DRONES?

* * * * * *
Are you working to make drone killing 100% visible? Connect with others at the STOP the Drone Killing! Grassroots Coalition group page on Facebook.

My post on Drones and Zero Accountability Government has lots more links on the problem of drone killing ....

Photos: Predator drone silhouette from The Christian Science Monitor; Pakistani child victims from Examiner.com
* * * * * *
Check out this collage of NATO killings on Tumblr.

Take a look at the important work to protest drone killings being done by The Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars
* * * * * *
People on Twitter are making the #drones killing 100% VISIBLE:

* * * * * *
We made the drone killing 100% visible on May 17 on the streets of Chicago, during the NATO protests.




Related posts

Five big realizations I'm taking away from the 2013 CODEPINK Drone Summit "Drones Around the Globe: Proliferation and Resistance" in Washington, DC.

(See The 2013 DC Drones Conference: 5 Big Takeaways )










October, 2013: A new U.N. report makes it clear that the U.S. has to report fully on all its drone attacks.

(See 2014: The Year of Transparency (for U.S. Drone Use)?)













There was a lot of noise in Chicago during the NATO Summit. But one message we managed to get through -- at least to some people -- was that people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other places are being injured and killed in their names ... and that if that bothers their consciences they can get active and do something about it.

(See Making Drone Killing 100% VISIBLE in Chicago!)



 In 1984, the transgressive act that starts Winston Smith on the path of resistance is writing in a diary, and the memory that he chooses to record is an eerie vision of our own time: " . . . then the helicopter planted a 20 kilo bomb in among them terrific flash and the boat went all to matchwood. then there was a wonderful shot of a childs arm going up up up right up into the air . . . "

(See Orwell: Making the Drone Killing Visible )



Nuclear radiation is invisible. It needs to be measured and counted to be recognized, and it requires careful scientific method to be understood. Measuring and counting and science are difficult. But . . .

(See GLOBAL HIBAKUSHA: Doing the work to render the invisible visible)


Monday, April 23, 2012

Resistance to NATO: N-minus-27

NATO will be in Chicago in 27 days.

Today in Chicago people protested the appearance of Nobel Laureates with the call, "Nobel laureates SHOULDN'T IMPRISON Nobel nominees," referring to the imprisoned whistleblower Bradley Manning.

Today in Chicago people from a Lutheran church in Bridgeport started a fast at City Hall to protest Mayor Rahm Emanuel's invitation to NATO to meet in Chicago.

Meanwhile, I was working to get ready for an upcoming screening that we will be doing at my church, about the German resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

All of these acts raise the question: what can each of us do to resist militarism here and now as we encounter it in our own country?

Also today in Chicago, Jesse Jackson and other activists announced their support of the resistance against NATO. Jackson said, “Our world has become jilted by war and weapons . . . . There is simply too much violence, too much concentrated wealth and too much poverty. I hope on May 20 there will be a large demonstration with global participation. It’s time we go in a different direction. I am urging us to shift our priorities. This demonstration is designed to appeal to the leaders of the world to choose to depend less on military intervention and more on negotiations to try to heal these societies ravished by poverty and internal strife.”

Monday, April 16, 2012

Nobels in Chicago: Mairead Maguire Declines to Play Along

Several weeks ago I asked, "What message do you think the Nobel Peace Prize laureates should bring to Chicago?".


Mairead Maguire, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize

I have just learned that Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize winner from Ireland, has declined the invitation to come to Chicago, saying "I cannot ... in good conscience, be part of a Partnership with the US State Government (NATO)." She wrote:
Dear Friends,

I write to let you know that I have decided not to attend the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates on 23rd-25th April, 2012, in Chicago, USA.

On 10th April, Sec. of State H. Clinton appeared on video in US State Department Web announcing plans for the forthcoming Nobel Peace Laureates Summit and said ‘The US Department of State is proud to be an active partner in this event’.

Sec. Clinton gave details of how the US State Dept. is working with US embassies around the world, to bring twenty students and 4 teachers from 4 countries to Chicago and explained that video conferences and portals for live streaming of events, will be managed by US State department.

I have now decided, with some sadness, not to be associated in this Partnership as I do not agree with many of the Policies of the US State Department. Indeed I have, as a Nobel Peace Laureate, (and in the spirit of Alfred Nobel) often called for disbandment of NATO, end of militarism and war, and for Disarmament and demilitarization. I cannot therefore, in good conscience, be part of a Partnership with the US State Government (NATO). I also believe that my participation in such a partnership would compromise my position and put in jeopardy my work in the Middle East and other countries.

I am very disappointed that what is a great opportunity for young people, the Nobel Laureates and organizations to listen, learn, and exchange friendships and experiences, has been, I believe, seriously compromised in such a Partnership.

However, I hope it will be an enjoyable and educational summit particularly for all the young people, and I am deeply saddened not to be with you all.

Peace,

Mairead Maguire

Peace People, Northern Ireland

http://www.peacepeople.com

13.4.2012
How will the other invitees respond to the attempt by the United States government and the City of Chicago to use them to legitimize the NATO summit?


Related posts

A number of 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. 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.

(See A Nobel Laureate Message for Chicago? )

Monday, April 9, 2012

#bloodyNATO

It's time that we stopped kidding ourselves and faced the TRUE nature of NATO.


For too long, we've accepted a sterile portrait of NATO - just a bunch of leaders and bureaucrats ... at worst some military planners ... people in pressed uniforms going to meetings over in Europe somewhere.

Here's the real face of NATO:


NATO = Extrajudicial Executions


NATO = Attacks Against Civilians


NATO = Torture

NATO is not sterile or bland. NATO is bloody. Dangerous. Deadly.

It's time to face facts ....

Post-NATO, people are continuing to talk about the true face of NATO:




See Flashback: Protesting NATO in Chicago - May, 2012


More related posts



(April 6, 2012) Eric Zorn has been pushing - BOIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGE! - and I think he's right. Can we come up with 5 words that sum up NATO?

(See NATO in 5 )







Before there was the NATO5 -- or the NATO3 -- there was NATOin5. People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)


Read about the #AfghanistanTuesday campaign - in which people made time every week to remember what's happening in Afghanistan and push for change.

(See Making an Impact on #AfghanistanTuesday)


Saturday, April 7, 2012

#NATOin5: How Chicago Activists Used Twitter to Reveal NATO's True Face

People have been tweeting their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). (It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO .... )

Here are some examples; go to the list at the bottom and vote for your favorites by retweeting them!








#NATOin5: CLICK ON YOUR FAVORITES AND RETWEET!

@SocialistViews: we supported them killing Gaddafi

@Spell_Better: It's spelled "cemetery". Spell better.

@ShaggyBull: Neo Authoritarians and Totalitarian Oligarchs

@protestnato: "US/NATO Hands Off #Afghanistan #Iran" precise & confronts the warmongers where they're most vulnerable to resistance

@Onedinline2010: Cheers the pirates of Somalia

@Satyagrahi_ji: Activists Hunger Strike Against NATO

@RKNJL: X is comin for ya

@SocialistViews: "oppose their tactics not goals"

@Scarry: disgraceful stain on #Chicago's spring #ChicagoSpring #bloodyNATO @OccupyChicago #getoutofourtown

@Scarry: not sterile or bland. bloody.

@DSweetWCW: Dede Miller says #NATO naturally antagonistic thugs outofcontrol. I say #warcrimes: interventions with "humanitarian" cover.

@d_r_ford: bombing away all independent states

@d_r_ford: hegemony in the Middle East

@RKNJL: Bombing for your freedom... Freedom?

@Protestation: destruction torture slaughter extermination genocide

@panaceamedia: 1) War Machine disguised as Goodwill 2) Reverse Robinhood of the World 3) Stealing resources while offering condolences

@jilreb: war criminals crazy unconscionable immoral

@nat_riverascott: deception, genocide, corruption, sold, threat.

@RKNJL: 4... 3... 2... 1... FIRE!

@justinwooten: murdering, lying, thieving, raping terrorists

@dravazed: A bomb in every basket. Whoops--that makes it sound like terrorism. Sorry. 8^*

@OpPinkPower: We are after your oil

@ripunzelle: Nuclear Armed Terrorist Organisation / Neo Apologists Taking Over / Nice Arsenal, Terrible Aspirations

@dravazed: We bomb who we want.

@opticaldensity: neoliberal Nuclear Armed Terrorist Organization

@soit_goes: Claiming Humanitarianism Protecting Self Interests

@luzbek: Neobarbarian Robocop Expanding Neoliberal Dictatorship

@vinceperritano: Chicago Demands NFZ for Syria

@thurnandtaxis: uNATOned coloNizATiOn’s iNstigATOrs with detoNATOrs

@JahsFinest: #ShittyPeopleWhoRunIt

@Mikenreich: They Kill People For Profit

@ChicagoWCW: Demobilize Disarm Disband Dissolve Prosecute #NATO

@worldcantwait: North Atlantic (plus a few former Soviet satellite states) War Crimes Organization." Parentheses don't count, right?

@futureup2us: War criminals alliance for empire.

@Scarry: permawar ... machine ... expansion ... dangerous ... criminal

How would YOU sum up #NATO in 5 words? #NATOin5




See Flashback: Protesting NATO in Chicago - May, 2012


More related posts


(April 6, 2012) Eric Zorn has been pushing - BOIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGE! - and I think he's right. Can we come up with 5 words that sum up NATO?

(See NATO in 5 )








(April 9, 2012) It's time that we stopped kidding ourselves and faced the TRUE nature of NATO.

(See #bloodyNATO)










Read about the #AfghanistanTuesday campaign - in which people made time every week to remember what's happening in Afghanistan and push for change.

(See Making an Impact on #AfghanistanTuesday)



Friday, April 6, 2012

NATO in 5

Eric Zorn has been pushing - BOIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGE! - and I think he's right.

Can we come up with 5 words that sum up NATO?


Here's my top 5:
What do YOU think? People are tweeting with the hashtag #NATOin5. How would you sum up NATO in five words?


* * * * *

"permawar" because the idea that NATO keeps war from breaking out is the exact opposite of the truth ...

"machine" because the idea that NATO does "humanitarian interventions" is the opposite of the truth ...

"expansion" because, far from "maintaining" the status quo, NATO is creeping toward 100% of the world's military power through their program of expansion ...

"dangerous" because NATO simply has too much firepower and too few limits ... there is no credible explanation of how they can possibly be limited or controlled ...

"criminal" because NATO kills, injures, tortures, imprisons ... all in contravention of established law, and all with no meaningful way for the rest of the world to bring them to justice
* * * * *
Top photo from Photos from Russia


Related posts

It's important that people are turning to the substance of the protests against NATO, particularly in a mainstream media outlet. It's important that everyone join this debate.

(See Three Words: NATO War Crimes )












NATOin5: People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)



Far from bringing to light any kind of threat to public order, the prosecution of three young men in Cook County court is illustrating just how bad the surveillance and persecution state we live in has become.  Frankly, it's a mystery to me why State's Attorney Anita Alvarez -- or, if not her, at least someone she answers to -- didn't pull the plug on this embarrassing proceeding before it got this far.

(See NATO3 in 6 words: "Those 3 guys are getting railroaded.")

Thursday, April 5, 2012

For Eric Zorn: NATO Word Association

Zorn: Wants message. (Short.)

Here: NATO protest essentials. (n=10)

NATO?

Invasion

Summit?

Plot

Methods?

War

Results?

Death

Limits?

( ----- )

Protester?

Speech

Demonstration?

Democracy

Message?

Resist

Demands?

Accountability

Accomplish?

Awaken

NOW! NATO in just FIVE words ...! #NATOin5


Related posts

It's important that people are turning to the substance of the protests against NATO, particularly in a mainstream media outlet. It's important that everyone join this debate.

(See Three Words: NATO War Crimes )












Eric Zorn has been pushing - BOIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGE! - and I think he's right. Can we come up with 5 words that sum up NATO?

(See NATO in 5 )








NATOin5: People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)

 

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Three Words: NATO War Crimes

Today's Chicago Tribune featured an exchange between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer on why people are protesting NATO.

It's important that people are turning to the substance of the protests against NATO, particularly in a mainstream media outlet. It's important that everyone join this debate. There are many comments on the Zorn-Thayer article already - please take the time to comment yourself, and share this debate with others via Facebook, Twitter, your personal blog, and other means.


Personally, I was struck by the irony of Zorn's request that Andy boil his objections to NATO down to an "elevator pitch." Here's how I responded to the post on the Tribune website:
"The war machine under discussion -- NATO -- commands 70% of world military spending, but could you please boil your critique down to 100 words or less?"

This approach -- "don't waste my time with the details" -- is exactly why we've gotten into the mess we're in. We live in a state of permawar, with crimes committed ad seriatum against those least able to defend themselves.

The war crimes of NATO would fill an encyclopedia: hey - there's an idea! Since the leaders of NATO will be here in Chicago, and we have lots of courtrooms in Chicago -- let's hold a war crimes tribunal!

And -- yes -- we will be sure to boil the summary of the indictment down to 100 words or less.
(This isn't the first time I've talked about the disparity between NATO and the people who oppose it: see "War, War Protests, and Technology".)

DON'T STAND ON THE SIDELINES! Why are you protesting NATO?



NOW! NATO in just FIVE words ...! #NATOin5


Related posts

Eric Zorn has been pushing - BOIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGE! - and I think he's right. Can we come up with 5 words that sum up NATO?

(See NATO in 5 )








NATOin5: People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)



It's time that we stopped kidding ourselves and faced the TRUE nature of NATO.

(See #bloodyNATO)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

NATO: A War Crimes Alliance

A lot of people are wondering: NATO is coming to Chicago, so what's the big deal?

The most important point to stress is this: NATO is a war crimes alliance.

NATO is an abbreviation for "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" and it was formed in the wake of WWII. For years, we have been told that NATO stood against the U.S.S.R. and the Warsaw Pact, as the protectors of freedom in the Cold War. After years and years of this kind of talk, people may be forgiven for thinking that NATO is a peace alliance.





However, it's time to face the truth. Whatever NATO stood for in the past, today NATO aids and abets the aggressive wars and other militarism driven by the United States. So when you think "NATO," don't think "peace alliance" -- think "war crimes alliance"!

And don't stop there - work with others to STOP NATO - starting TODAY!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Who will be taking on NATO in Chicago?
Tell NATO to DEMILITARIZE Afghanistan
A Nobel Laureate Message for Chicago?
NATO 101: Keep Your Opinions To Yourself!
Virtual Antiwar University: VAU 101 U.S. War Crimes


Related posts

Virtual Antiwar University (VAU) 101 focuses on eight categories of U.S. war crimes, selected from Mike Haas' book, George W. Bush, War Criminal? The Bush Administration’s Liability for 269 War Crimes.

(See VAU Afghanistan 101: US War Crimes )














People tweeted their summaries of NATO in just 5 words (hashtag: #NATOin5). It all started with an interview between Eric Zorn and Andy Thayer about NATO ....

(See #NATOin5)



The People's Summit was held in Chicago this past weekend, and the message seems to be pretty clear: it's time to dissolve NATO.

(See #dissolveNATO )

Monday, April 2, 2012

Occupy Food Justice!

Below are comments I made at the Occupy Palm Sunday! event in Logan Square on Sunday, April 1, 2012.
* * * * *
If you look around today, you'll see signs with the words, "I was hungry and you gave me food." (Tuve hambre y me disteis de comer.) -- part of that simple description in Matthew 25 of what is asked of us.

Pastor Erik Christensen, from St. Luke's Logan Square, is the person who shook my conscience with this simple statement: "We believe that the thing about food is: it's just this thing that we GIVE to people." (Creemos que lo que pasa con los alimentos es la siguiente: es algo, una comida compartio entre la comunidad, que compartimos con el pueblo.)

The Gospel witness is full of feeding and eating.(El testigo del Evangelio esta lleno de testimonios de alimentar y comer.)


"People! You don't have a PRODUCTION problem ... 
you have a DISTRIBUTION problem!"
"Mi Gente! Usted no tiene una problema de la PRODUCCION.... 
tiene una problema de DISTRIBUCION!"
Joe Scarry speaking at the first "Occupy Palm Sunday" in Logan Square
(Photo courtesy FJJ)


Probably the story most familiar to all of us is the story of the loaves and fishes (la historia de los panes y los peces). What happened in that situation? The disciples came to Jesus and said: "LOOK AT ALL THESE PEOPLE! How are they going to get enough to eat???" (Mira cuantas personas! Habra suficiente comida?)

Jesus said, "It's cool ... what have you got? ... okay, so go pass it out ...." (Esta bien! Que te pasa? pues, comienzan a distribuirio ...)

And when it was all said and done, the disciples said, "Huh! What d'ya know? There was more than enough!" (Eh! Podria imaginar? Habia mas que suficiente!)

Jesus came along at a time when society in his part of the world was going through a transition, and people were struggling to figure it all out. Part of what they were struggling with was a set of old ideas about the control of resources, especially the fruit of the land. They had gotten to a point where there WAS enough to go around ... if only they could figure out how to live together in community.

I believe that the heart of Jesus' message was: "People! You don't have a PRODUCTION problem ... you have a DISTRIBUTION problem!" (Yo creo que el corazon del mensaje de Jesus fue: "Mi Gente! Usted no tiene una problema de la PRODUCCION.... tiene una problema de DISTRIBUCION!")

God's old covenant with his people -- the Old Testament -- looked like this: "Here's the deal: You be loyal to me, and I'll make sure the earth produces enough food for you." Jesus came along to say: "Here's the new deal: God loves you enough that there's enough for everybody, AND he's given you what you need to figure out how to share it." (Dios nos ama suficiente y hay suficiente para todos, y el nos hay dado lo que necesitamos pero nuestros tenemos que encontratr la manera de compartirio.) That is the new covenant -- the New Testament.


I was hungry and you fed me
Hambre y me disteis de comer


And so, when we worship, the heart of our service is the part where we first take an offering -- "what have you got?" -- and then we have a shared communion meal.

As Pat Kuhlman, one of the people who has been volunteering for decades at the "Elijah's Pantry" food pantry at St. Luke's told me, "Elijah's Pantry is an extension of our communion table -- a meal shared among the community. (El Pantry de Elijah es una extension de nuestra mesa de comunion -- una comida compartio entre la comunidad.) "At the end of our worship every Sunday," she continued, "the congregation turns to follow the cross as it is carried down the aisle and out the front door. That symbolizes for us that the faith we profess does not stop at the front door, but governs our actions outside."

At St. Luke's, we couldn't follow the cross out the door without The Greater Chicago Food Depository. GCFD is a nonprofit food distribution and training center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. The Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to 678,000 adults and children in Cook County every year.

Doug Schenkelberg, Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach at GCFD, has suggested that one way we can help achieve food justice is by calling our state legislators to sign on in support of two resolutions that call for a strong federal Farm Bill. As explained on the Illinois Stewardship Alliance website,
Illinois Senate Resolution 530 urges Congress to adopt a farm bill the supports and promotes local and regional food systems and is sponsored by local food champion Senator Dave Koehler. SR 530’s counterpart House Resolution 734 has the exact same language as the Senate version and is being sponsored by Representative Kelly Burke.

Local food systems are good for farmers, good for customers, good for the economy, and good for the environment. When people buy locally-grown food, their money goes right back into the regional economy--not to some other state, and not overseas,” Koehler said. “They get to develop relationships with local farmers and learn where their food is really coming from. They also help out the environment by reducing shipping costs and making it easier for farmers to grow a variety of different crops.
Doug from the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the people at Illinois Stewardship Alliance encourage us to take action: Call your Illinois State Representative Now and ask them to co-sponsor HR 734!

Spanish translation courtesy Laura Leon.


Read about Community Dinners at St. Luke's


Related posts

Think back on everything that has happened in the last year. Is it time for things to quiet down? To have a "nice" spring? To sit back and be entertained by the usual presidential campaign circus?

(See Occupy Palm Sunday in 2016)




Chicago, March 29, 2012 -- Members of congregations from across Logan Square and Humboldt Park streamed from their respective houses of worship to the Logan Square monument at the end of services on April 1 to Occupy Palm Sunday! Participants sang and chanted songs of protest and praise as they occupied the green space at Kedzie, Milwaukee and Logan Boulevard . . . .

(See Occupy Palm Sunday! in Logan Square)










On the heels of a December 10, 2013, community meeting that brought over 400 people out to demand an immediate opening of unused units to people in need of housing, on Saturday a coalition of churches, community organizations, and residents associations will hold a holiday Posada -- a Latin American traditional re-enactment of the search by the parents of Jesus for hospitality -- that does double-duty dramatizing the plight of people left in the cold by Chicago housing policies.

(See POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes? on the Remedy for Violence website.)


I believe when Jesus broke the bread and poured the wine and said "Remember me this way," he was much more interested in encouraging us to keep having conversations -- conversations that really matter -- with others . . . and finding ways to be in relationship with our neighbors  . . . all the while reminding us "never underestimate the power of food"  . . .

(See Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Have A Conversation Today (Welcome to the Ministry))