HELICOPTOR WILL TAKE AERIAL PHOTO
 
WHAT: On Saturday a thousand Americans will lay their bodies down on a San
Francisco beach to spell out "DUMP CITIZENS UNITED!"
 
WHEN: Saturday, October 13, 2012, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
 
WHERE: Stairway #7, Ocean Beach, SF – 200 yards north of Beach Chalet
Restaurant.
 
WHY: Some truths are so self-evident that the Founders felt no need to
mention them. Truths like, “Corporations are NOT People.” “Money is NOT
Speech.” “Elections are NOT Auctions.“ The 2010 Supreme Court ruling on
Citizens United spit in the face of these sacred principles, swamped our
democracy in corporate cash and must be overturned. Also, this election San
Francisco voters can vote Yes on Measure G to tell Congress to Dump Citizens
United!

While electoral politics tends to suck the oxygen out of the room (and apparently out of many people's brains) in these last few weeks before an election, a number of U.S. citizens committed to ending the wars took to the streets this week. Demonstrations in at least 38 cities in the U.S. as well as in some foreign countries -- most notably Code Pink's courageous peace march in Pakistan -- are marking the 11th year anniversary of the longest war in U.S. history.

For as long as there's been a United States of America, its private citizens have done some of its best diplomacy.  In 1798 Dr. George Logan eased tensions between France and this country.  He got a law named for him, criminalizing such services, but nobody's ever been prosecuted under it -- probably because the crime prosecuted would itself be the act of crime prevention.

One of my favorite cases, recounted in When the World Outlawed War, involved James Shotwell, who worked for the Carnegie Endowment for Peace (created by Andrew Carnegie to work exclusively on abolishing war, and currently working on everything but). 

In 1927, Shotwell drafted a public statement for the Foreign Minister of France proposing to the United States the creation of a treaty criminalizing war.  When few took notice, Shotwell's colleague Nicholas Murray Butler wrote a response to the Foreign Minister in the New York Times.  These two ventriloquists' public diplomacy resulted in a treaty banning war to which the United States, France, and 79 other nations are party today. (Ssh! Don't tell them.)

Whether they're meeting with the president of Iran, as many of us did last month, or bringing downed U.S. pilots home from Vietnam, peace activists speak for and relate to the vast majority of every country, which always favors peace.  At RootsAction.org we've recently encouraged Spain and Italy in their investigations and prosecutions of U.S. torturers, letting those nations know that we, too, support the rule of law, even when our own government does not.

Some of the most important work of citizen diplomacy that's been done in a long time, I suspect, is the trip recently organized by Code Pink that took nearly 40 U.S. peace activists to Pakistan.  They met with elected officials, tribal leaders, drone victims whose existence the U.S. government denies, and with the U.S. Ambassador.  They brought with them petitions signed by many thousands of Americans.  They brought world attention to U.S. drone murders in Pakistan.  And they brought awareness to many Pakistanis that we in the United States do not all passively accept the slaughter of their neighbors and loved ones.  The Foreign Minister of Pakistan recently said that drone strikes are the top cause of anti-Americanism in Pakistan.  While the U.S. ambassador is still struggling with step 1 (admitting he has a problem), citizens are bridging international divides.

If we look at the State Department depicted by its own cables released through WikiLeaks, we see a sales office for U.S. weapons companies, a bully for the Pentagon, and a hotbed of corruption scheming against the principle of honest representative government in nations around the world.  We're working on our own step 1 with regard to what our government has become.  And our greatest assistance in that regard has come from the Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, who by all rights should be announced this week as the winner of that prize, Bradley Manning. 

There are 231 nominees, and I don't know who they all are.  I suspect that few if any have done remotely as much as Manning to earn a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Alfred Nobel's will, written in 1895, left funding for a prize to be awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."  Peace congresses (having nothing to do with the U.S. Congress) were understood, in that age, as conferences that would bring together both peace activists and important members of national governments.  The "abolition of armies" actually meant what it said.  Most Nobel peace laureates, after the very early years of the award's history, have not worked for the abolition or reduction of standing armies.  Many would adamantly denounce the very idea, as Barack Obama did in his acceptance speech.

We know the most limited information about Bradley Manning's intentions, but what we know does not conflict with the actions credited to him.  Most other nominees are almost certainly either individuals and organizations that have done good humanitarian work unrelated to abolishing war, or in fact warmongers of great notoriety.  There are, of course, thousands of people doing tremendous work around the world toward the abolition of war.  I just don't expect them to be among the nominees.

Code Pink should be considered next year, following its work in Pakistan and elsewhere to end drone wars.  A dozen other groups merit similar consideration.  Members of Veterans For Peace, which I write press releases for when I can keep up with the work being done, this week took part in the anti-drone march in Pakistan (hesitating not at all in the face of threats from the Taliban), recruited active-duty soldiers in Washington State to refuse to deploy to Afghanistan, went to jail in New York nonviolently demonstrating against war, sailed on an aid ship to Gaza expected to be met by the Israeli military next week, and planned an upcoming trip to Iran, among other actions.  Not a terribly atypical week.

Our government doesn't talk to others, takes great pride in not talking to others, and assassinates rather than trying alleged criminals in court where they'd have to be spoken to.  But we have a government of the people even when our government is of the oligarchs.  Sending pizzas to Tahrir Square has done far more good than sending tear gas. We have the ability and the responsibility not to let a government that doesn't speak for us, speak for us.

New South Network of War Resisters is organizing with co-sponsorship of  VFP 099  and the Nonviolent Direct Action Trainers of Occupy Asheville.
 

“Nothing More Evil: Confronting the Military Industrial Complex

An evening with author, activist and speaker David Swanson

October 26, 2012

7:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Rooftop Room, Battery Park Apartments, 1 Battle Square, Asheville, NC

Sign up now on FaceBook

"Our times cry out for a smart, witty and courageous Populist who hasn’t forgotten how to play offense.  Luckily we have David Swanson."  —Mike Ferner, Veterans For Peace.

"David Swanson is an antidote to the toxins of complacency and evasion. He insists on rousing the sleepwalkers, confronting the deadly prevaricators and shining a bright light on possibilities for a truly better world."  —Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy.

Swanson's books include:

War is a Lie! and When the World Outlawed War, and Editor of The Military Industrial Complex at 50. 

See:  davidswanson.org

Free and open to the public!

We'll pass the hat. Help if you can with speaker stipend & travel costs.

Sponsored by:

New South Network of War Resisters Action, Collaboration & Training in Organized Nonviolence

 Co-Sponsored by:

Nonviolent Direct Action Trainers of Occupy Asheville; Veterans for Peace 099,  & NC Peace Action.

http://davidswanson.org/tubeworld

New Book for Ages 6 to 10: Tube World

Tube World is the first children's book by David Swanson, author of several nonfiction adult books. The illustrations for Tube World are by Shane Burke.

Parents: Have your kids been tired in the morning?  Have you found wet bathing suits in their beds?  Do they know things about far-away places that you didn’t teach them and they didn’t learn in school?  Do children visiting your town from halfway around the world always seem to be friends with your kids, and to only be around during certain hours of the day?  You won’t believe the explanation, but your kids might grin and wink at each other if you read it to them.

Kids: Did you know the center of the Earth was hollow?  Do you know the words that can take you there, if you’re under the covers in your swimming suit and prepared for the trip?  Can you imagine traveling anywhere in the world where there’s a swimming pool — and being home again in time for breakfast?  If you haven’t been to Tube World yet, this book will tell you the secrets you need to know.  And it will tell you about some children who discovered Tube World and used it to make the whole world a better place.

Buy the PDF, EPUB (iPad, Nook, etc.), or MOBI (Kindle) from Ebookit.

The paperback has been published in two versions, one with slightly better color, slightly better paper, and a dramatically higher price.

Buy the standard paperback from Amazon,

(If you order from Amazon it will ship right away even if Amazon says it won't ship for weeks; it is print-on-demand.)

Buy the premium paperback from Amazon,

Your local independent bookstore can order the book through Ingram.

Anyone can order the book in bulk at the lowest possible price right here.

Buy PDF, Audio, EPUB, or Kindle for $8 right here:

http://davidswanson.org/tubeworld

Advance Praise for Tube World:

“This book will make you laugh till water comes out your ears!”--Wesley

“This story is super flibba garibbidy schmibbadie libbidie awesome, mostly!”--Travis

“The best part is we saved 2,000 islands and pretty much the whole world in our swimming suits!”--Hallie

About Shane Burke:
Shane Burke lives in Denver Colorado and has been drawing and painting since he could hold a pencil. He took private art lessons when he was young and began winning awards and contests by the age of seven. His first big commission came at age nine when he created artwork for a billboard near his home town of Tracy California. His greatest influences came from his grandfather and elementary school teachers. He loved watching his grandfather paint landscapes and wanted to be just like him. Shane is a creative day dreamer and at complete peace when putting ink to paper.  You can see more of Shane's work at www.beezink.com

We Are Not Your Soldiers is up to a good start this fall semester visiting high schools and colleges with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  We have been to several schools in NYC and northern California and have plans in the works for Chicago, Hawaii and other locations.  Students learn about the vets' experiences and why they should not enlist to fight in these ongoing wars.

Starting tonight in Honolulu, through the weekend and into next week, protests against the ELEVENTH anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan are happening all around the country. Don't sit this out—find a protest near you and raise your voice against the crimes of your government.

Remarks at the New Hampshire Peace Action 30th Anniversary Celebration in Concord, NH, October 5, 2012.

First of all, congratulations on 30 years! Give yourselves some applause.

I should tell you now that I don't trust anyone over 30, so your time is running out quickly here.

Desde la invasión hasta acabar con la Explotación - Lucha trae victoria en Ecuador y Nicaragua y a nuestros campos de tomate.

Sunday, October 14, 2012 gather at 11:30 @

NW 41^st St. & NW 97^th Ave in Doral, FL

From the invasion by Columbus in 1492 to the struggles of today in the tomato fields of Florida, the peoples of the Americas have suffered 520 years of repression while giving of themselves in 520 years of resistance. Join us to work for justice and celebrate our successes.

Protest the existence of the SOA/WHINSEC, reject the use of drones by the U.S. Southern Command against our brothers & sisters in Latin America and demand peace & justice for all the peoples of the Americas.

Sponsored by: CODEPINK: Miami & SOA Watch: South Florida

Co-sponsors include: Coalition of Immokalee Workers; CODEPINK: South Florida; Progressive Democrats, Miami

For more information call Daniela @ 786-343-3796 (Spanish language), Linda @ 305-801-0245, or Ray @ 754-423-0051.

After a years-long media black-out and a grueling battle to get the film shown in the US, The Prosecution of an American President, the brainchild of the Los Angeles County prosecutor who prosecuted Charles Manson, opens at theaters this week.  In its long trek to the American big screen, the movie was originally scheduled to be run on HBO before the channel dropped it at the last minute.  Bugliosi then had to go outside the country to find a producer, Windsor Ontario NAFTC Studios.

Yahoo News:

Here's the October list of U.S. war criminals appearances and protests. Let us know if you are planning something in your area so we may help promote it or assist you in any way.

MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT, GRANDMOTHERS AGAINST THE WAR, CODE PINK, BROOKLYN FOR PEACE, PEACE ACTION NEW YORK STATE, Sponsor:

DEMONSTRATION TO PROTEST 11 YEARS OF DEATH & DEBT IN AFGHANISTAN

Place: 60 East 14th Street between Broadway and 4th Avenue in front of Nordstrom’s opposite Union Square, New York City

Date: Sunday, October 7

Time: 2:00 to 6:00 P.M.

PROTEST FALL 2012 DEPLOYMENT OF 3,500 NEW YORK TROOPS FROM FT. DRUM PAID BY OUR TAXES, 6 Battalions: 14th Infantry regiment; 2nd Brigade Special Troop Battalion; 1st Squad 89th Cavalry; 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 15 Field Artillery; 210th Brigade Supply Battalion.

From Sep 9- 22 In Afghanistan were killed:
Sgt Lee Davidson 32 England, Sgt Kyle Osborn 26 Lafayette IN, Cpl Duane Groom 32 Fiji, Sgt Bradley Atwell 27 Kokomo IN, Col Christopher Raible 40 Huntington PA, Pvt Thomas Wroem 18 England, Sgt Gareth Thursby 29 England, Pvt Jon Townsend 19 Claremore OK, Pvt Genaro Bedoy 20 Amarillo TX, Spc Joshua Nelson 22 Greenville NC, Sgt Sapuro Nena 25 Honolulu HI, Sgt Jason Swindle 24 Cabot AR, Sgt Jonathan Kups 38 England, Cap James Tonley 29 UK, 200 Afghani and Pakistani were killed.

NAMES OF THE FALLEN WILL BE READ

2,123 U.S., 1,065 NATO & COUNTLESS AFGHANI DEATHS

We spend $1,000,000 for each soldier per year, while 24 US kids die of poverty EACH DAY, tens of thousands of homeless children live in shelters and they cut teachers. Say NO!

For further information: (646) 824-5506 vmmcfadyen@aol.com

MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT is a national group of families related to soldiers who served since 9/11, opposed to the Afghan war.

A writer at the Atlantic named Conor Friedersdorf recently noted the level of evil many have been brought to support:

"Tell certain liberals and progressives that you can't bring yourself to vote for a candidate who opposes gay rights, or who doesn't believe in Darwinian evolution, and they'll nod along. Say that you'd never vote for a politician caught using the 'n'-word, even if you agreed with him on more policy issues than his opponent, and the vast majority of left-leaning Americans would understand. But these same people cannot conceive of how anyone can discern Mitt Romney's flaws, which I've chronicled in the course of the campaign, and still not vote for Obama. Don't they see that Obama's transgressions are worse than any I've mentioned? I don't see how anyone who confronts Obama's record with clear eyes can enthusiastically support him. I do understand how they might concluded that he is the lesser of two evils, and back him reluctantly, but I'd have thought more people on the left would regard a sustained assault on civil liberties and the ongoing, needless killing of innocent kids as deal-breakers."

Not long ago, I attended a speech by Obama, along with thousands of his adoring cheerleaders formerly known as citizens.  I asked him to stop killing people in Afghanistan, and the Secret Service asked me to leave.  But, just now, I got a phone call from the local Obama office.  They had my name because I'd picked up a ticket to attend the speech.  The young woman wanted to know if I would come help phone other people.  I asked if she was familiar with the president's kill list and his policy of killing men, women, and children with drones.  She said she knew nothing about that but "respected my opinion."  She hung up.  Objecting to presidential murder is now an opinion, and willingness to be aware of its existence is an appendage to the opinion.  If you don't object to presidential murder by Democrat, then you simply arrange not to know about it.  Thus, in your opinion, it doesn't exist.

Some of my friends at this moment are in Pakistan apologizing to its government and its people for the endless murderous drone war fought there by our country.  They're meeting with victims' families.  They're speaking publicly in opposition to the crimes of our government.  And my neighbors, living in some other universe, believe most fundamentally, not that one candidate will save us, not that the two parties are fundamentally opposed, not that a citizen's job is to vote, not that war is all right if it's meant well -- although they clearly believe all of those things -- but, most fundamentally, they believe that unpleasant facts should simply be avoided.  So, in a spirit of afflicting the comfortable to comfort the afflicted, here are a few from recent days:

WAR IS A LIE

We know that in the past "defensive" wars have been intentionally launched by fraud or provocation.  We know that many in our government want a war with Iran.  We know that several years ago then-Vice President Dick Cheney proposed disguising U.S. ships as Iranian and attacking other U.S. ships with them.  We know that then-President George W. Bush proposed disguising a plane as belonging to the United Nations, flying it low, and trying to get Iraq to shoot at it.  We know that there was no Gulf of Tonkin incident, no evidence that Spain attacked the Maine, no doubt that the weapons and troops on board the Lusitania were public knowledge, no question that FDR worked hard to provoke an attack by Japan, and so on.  And we know that Iran has not attacked another nation in centuries.  So, it almost goes without saying that Washington warmongers are contemplating ways to get Iran to make the "first move."  Assassinating scientists hasn't worked, blowing up buildings doesn't seem to do it, cyber-war isn't blossoming into real war, sanctions are not sanctioning armed resistance, and dubious accusations of Iranian terrorism aren't sticking.  Exactly what do we have to do to get ourselves innocently attacked by the forces of evil?

The Israel Lobby to the rescue!  Patrick Clawson, Director of Research at the Washington Institute Of Near East Policy, blurted out the following on video this week:

"Crisis initiation is really tough.  And it's very hard for me to see how the United States president can get us to war with Iran. . . . The traditional way America gets to war is what would be best for U.S. interests.  Some people might think that Mr. Roosevelt wanted to get us into World War II . . . . You may recall, we had to wait for Pearl Harbor.  Some people might think Mr. Wilson wanted to get us into World War I.  You may recall that he had to wait for the Lusitania episode.  Some people might think that Mr. Johnson wanted to send troops to Vietnam.  You may recall he had to wait for the Gulf of Tonkin episode.  We didn't go to war with Spain until the Maine exploded.  And Mr. Lincoln did not feel he could call out the federal army until Fort Sumter was attacked, which is why he ordered the commander at Fort Sumter to do exactly that thing which the South Carolinians had said would cause an attack.  So, if in fact the Iranians aren't going to compromise, it would be best if somebody else started the war. . . . I mentioned that explosion on August 17^th.  We could step up the pressure.  I mean, look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down.  Someday one of them might not come up.  Who would know why? [LAUGHTER FROM AUDIENCE] . . . . We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians.  We could get nastier."

This is serious advocacy for manufacturing a "defensive" and "humanitarian" war.  This is not a war critic or a Yes Men prankster.  The position of most elected officials in Washington, including the President, fits well with this.  That position includes the ultimatum that Iran must cease doing what U.S. National Intelligence Estimates say it is not doing, namely building nuclear weapons.  The goal at the bottom of all of this is war.  The purpose of the war is not related to any of the excuses for it.  The purpose is something else entirely.  But it's ugly, so it's easier not to look.

HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION

We often forget that war is the worst thing there is. Hence our government's shift in policy back to outsourcing a lot of the torture and insourcing the "cleaner" approach of assassination without torture.  Hence, also, our common fantasy that war can be used to solve a problem that is somehow worse than war.

We also forget that torturing people can be crueler than experimenting on them.  Torture has been given an acceptance in the United States during the past decade that "human experimentation" has not.  So, we are still capable of a bit of shock when a story comes out like this one: During the 1950s and 1960s the U.S. Army sprayed zinc cadmium sulfide, apparently including radioactive particles, in poor neighborhoods in St. Louis and other cities, to test the results on the people who unknowingly breathed it.

At the end of World War II, the U.S. military's Operation Paperclip brought nearly 500 Nazi scientists to the United States to work on U.S. weaponry.  Many view their influence on the nascent military industrial complex as critical to its sadistic and sociopathic tendencies ever since.  In fairness to the Nazis, it's possible that they simply fit in well, serving the military of a nation with a long history of genocide, slavery, torture, and public deception. 

I came across a member of Veterans For Peace this week who's been struggling many years as a result of experimental vaccines and drugs given to hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers during the Gulf War.  We also learned this week that every prisoner in the Guantanamo death camp has been given experimental drugs without their knowledge or at least without their consent.

And then there's this: "Congressional Probe Reveals Cover-Up of 'Auschwitz-Like' Conditions at US-Funded Afghan Hospital":

"A congressional investigation has revealed a top U.S. general in Afghanistan sought to stall an investigation into abuse at a U.S.-funded hospital in Kabul that kept patients in, quote, 'Auschwitz-like' conditions. Army whistleblowers revealed photographs taken in 2010 which show severely neglected, starving patients at Dawood Hospital, considered the crown jewel of the Afghan medical system, where the country's military personnel are treated. The photos show severely emaciated patients, some suffering from gangrene and maggot-infested wounds. For TV viewers of Democracy Now!, please be warned: these images are extremely graphic and may be disturbing."

NOTHING MORE EVIL

Here's what I'm trying to get at.  If you try to think of something more evil than what we are now doing, you'll fail.  Name your evil: destroying the earth's climate?  President Barack Obama flew to Copenhagen to single-handedly derail any process for protecting the earth's atmosphere.  The only way in which to fantasize about greater evil is quantitative, not qualitative.  We could drop more bombs.  We could starve more children.  We could experiment on more prisoners.  In fact, this is what Lesser Evilism amounts to.  A Lesser Evilist today is not choosing less evil policies, but the same policies in what he or she hopes will be lesser amounts. 

That might be a rational calculation within a polling place.  But living it prior to and after an election, apologizing and cheering for one of two teams, as if self-governance were a spectator sport, is nothing other than complicity in the most hideous forms of cruelty and murder.  That complicity is insidious.  Evil begins to look like something else, because the Lesser Evilist, within his or her own mind, comes to view the Lesser Evil forces as good, if not glorious, if not saintly.

"What, quite unmanned in folly?" --Lady MacBeth

This past Thursday was a beautiful day for a protest, both in London, England, and in San Diego, California.  Fortunately for those of us who still care about peace and justice in the world -- even to the point of opposing cold-blooded murder no matter who does the murdering or how far away the victim is -- Veterans For Peace has become an international organization.

General Atomics is the manufacturer of the Predator and Reaper UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) in service with the U.S. and U.K. militaries. These drones have  been used in numerous attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other countries. People targeted by these weapons are killed from above without warning and without due legal process. Numerous entirely innocent people including women and children have been killed by these weapon systems.  Here's a former British drone pilot who just admitted that he was minutes away from murdering "an insurgent" when he realized it was a little kid playing in the dirt.

Many of us remember taking over General Atomics' offices in Washington, D.C., last October (video).  That's me and Tighe Barry, with filmmaker Dennis Trainor Jr., going in the side door and opening the front door for the crowd.

As it happens, General Atomics does its evil work in San Diego and London.  Veterans for Peace has no tolerance for murderous robot planes, wherever they're made.  Mike Reid, executive director of Veterans For Peace, said on Thursday, "If we oppose murder at close range, we should oppose it at long distance.  If we oppose it when it's risky and difficult, we should be horrified of a practice that makes it trivial and easy.  Imagining that drone wars don't damage the very culture of the people engaged in them is naive.  Those manufacturing these instruments of death, in particular, should think long and hard about the road they are on."

They had a chance to do just that on Thursday.  "On a bright autumn afternoon," reports Ben Griffin, "VFP UK headed to Tower 42, which contains the offices of General Atomics in London. We took our placards bearing the slogans 'GROUND THE DRONES' and 'GENERAL ATOMICS, DEATH FROM ABOVE.'  We unfurled our VFP flag donated by Gerry Condon and set about handing out our flyers."

"Within minutes we were joined by over 20 nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. They had heard about our protest and wanted to join in. They were soon into full song and dealt with an inquiring policeman effectively. Folks from Occupy, Friends of Bradley Manning, London Catholic Worker and supporters of Julian Assange also turned up."

Griffin's remarks to that crowd included this:

"People are targeted with these weapons without being identified and are killed from above without warning. Numerous innocent civilians including women and children have been killed as a result of these attacks. Mosques, schools, funerals and meetings of elders have all been attacked by drones. People responding to drone strikes by pulling the wounded out of buildings have also been attacked with these weapons. We must spread the word about these weapons, and the hidden wars they are used in."

And the word was spread to passing cars honking their support, passersby stopping to inquire, and many people who worked in the building, some of them surprised to learn that General Atomics was there as well. 

A bit later on Thursday, the afternoon sun reached General Atomics in Poway, California, where, Dave Patterson reports, "Veterans For Peace, Chapter 91, had terrific posters and banners.  I think I can say that our momentum is picking up for this cause now in week 6 of sequential demonstrations."

Here's a terrific video.

If you're in Southern California on a Thursday, join the protest from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the corner of Scripps Poway Parkway and General Atomics Way in Poway, CA.

Veterans For Peace is calling for the grounding of Predator and Reaper Drones and for General Atomics to stop manufacturing them.  Other members of VFP are currently traveling from the United States to Pakistan as part of a delegation organized by Code Pink to visit one area where U.S. drone strikes have become frequent.  VFP is part of a coalition organizing an online petition in support of banning weaponized drones.

Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 and has approximately 5,000 members in 150 chapters located in every U.S. state and several countries.  It is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations, and is the only national veterans' organization calling for the abolishment of war.

##

David Swanson is an associate (meaning non-veteran) member of and a paid contractor for Veterans For Peace.

A Forum of Global Subject Matter Experts on issues of Peace Building in Africa Examining
the "Africa Nuclear Weapons Free Zone"; the "Arms Trade Treaty in Small Arms"; and The
"Peace Dividend" / "The Benefits of the Peace Economy" for Africa

INTENTION:  To uphold an African Diasporan geopolitical sense-of-self by looking at Africa's historic
and seminal roles in global peace-making, from the initial meetings of the Organization
of African Unity, with a focus on the Treaty of Pelindaba which Africans established for
continental Africa an African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. While this may generally lay
outside conventional geo-political analysis for Africans, the "abstract" issue of nuclear
weapons proliferation and abolition has its more local implications.

 To examine the Arms Trade Treaty which has its focus on small arms, the illicit trade in
them and their implications for maintenance of the fault lines of ethnic and intra-
community strife in our African communities both in homeland and "at home". This
matter is highly local in both Africa and in the United States. We will be guided to
solutions that involve the Diasporan African audience and their Friends in thought
leadership for mitigating the matter of small arms in Africana fault lines.

 To present the above findings in the context of "The Peace Dividend" and "The Benefits
of the Peace Economy", practical strategies for guiding a more appropriate economic
and social development for local geographies, wheresoever Africans shall find
themselves, either in homeland or in the Diaspora.

 To increase Diasporan impact on the improvement of human rights in Africa, and more
equitable economic and social improvement outcomes.

STATUS:
New Beginning Initiative was founded in Washington, DC in 2009 and inaugurated in 2010
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. NBI is designed as a stateless association of individuals and
groups pledged to the primacy of peace-building in African and African Diasporan social
and economic development affairs. New Beginning Advisory Systems (NBAS) is NBI's
consolidated commercial entity dedicated to training in its proprietary "Creative
Entrepreneurial Eco-System" (CEES) methodologies for local geography innovation
leading to radical improvements in economic and social development for Africa and
African Diasporan communities.

NBI's IPD (International Peace Day ) Forum
Peace Making - Peace Keeping - Peace Economy

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington DC., USA
September 21, 2012 Time: 1:00 - 4:00 PM

Order of Service

Noon  Prefatory: Global Observance of a Moment of Silence: The Fervent Hope that the World Will Know No War.
Gather at Auditorium A5 of the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, Washington, DC
Formal Welcome and Recognition of Guests
Introduction of Speakers
Address: Dr. Sulayman Nyang, Howard University: "The Muslim and Christian Context of Peace Building in
Africa"
Summary and Introduction of Speaker
Address: "The Nuclear Weapons Abolition Movement, Small Arms Trading, and Natural Constituencies: The
Africana Family: Implications of Pelindaba, Tlatelolco and the ATT."
Summary and Introduction of Speaker
Address: Dr. Hypolite Fofack, The World Bank, Africa Division: "Practical Applications on the Ground for the
Africana Family World-wide: The Peace Dividend"
Summary and Acknowledgements of NBI Partners
Panel Discussion and Question and Answer Period
Summary and Charge
3:55 Program End

Co-Sponsors

Mayors for Peace, Japan; 20/20 Vision Campaign, Belgium; Caleb Initiative, Kenya; Peace Action National,
USA; Abol Coffee Buna Inc., USA; MASK, London; Heritage Revival Project, USA; EthioLive Magazine,
Ethiopia; LiveAfrique Magazine, USA; Millennium Arts Salon (MAS), USA; Partnership League For
Africa's Development; Financial Support Provided by Lead Sponsor: Peace Action Montgomery, MD, USA

CONTACT:

Tamiru Degefa: newbeginninginitiative@gmail.com / 703-677-1236
Melvin Hardy: melvin.hardy@gmail.com / 202-239-8450

New Beginning Advisory Systems / The New Beginning Initiative
1213 Girard Street, NW · Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 01 1 202.239.8450 Fax: 01 1 215.995.8718 Email: nbas.global@gmail.com
African Diasporan Initiated and Based on Principles of Peace, Community Development, and Community Diplomacy

By: NIAC Action Alert

The Senate is poised to commit the U.S. to a red line for war demanded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposed by the Obama Administration.  The resolution by Senators Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Bob Casey (D-PA) expresses support for Netanyahu’s red line for military action against Iran and may come up for a vote TODAY.
 
Please call your Senators to tell them you oppose the Iran red line resolution.  Call 1-855-68 NO WAR to be directed to your Senators offices and tell them to oppose S.J. Res 41.

Learn More & Take Action>>
READ: New Senate Push for Iran War Red Lines as Netanyahu Ups Pressure>> 

Protests against U.S. drone killing and drone surveillance are breaking out all over -- there are events happening in state after state, and just about anyone who agrees it's time to say ENOUGH! can find others near them that are actively protesting the drones. Live in the Midwest? Get together with protesters in Ohio - who were bird-dogging Barack Obama and picketing Congressman Mike Turner about their support for drones this week ... or Occupy Chicago, which deposited coffins representing drone victims at the doorstep of Obama 2012 Campaign HQ last week ...

The next national conference call to organize actions across the country on the weekend of October 5 – 7, the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.All are welcome on the conference call please mark your calendar and join us this Wednesday, September 19 at 9 PM (EST).To register for the call, please click the link below and fill out the form.The conference call is being organized with Interoccupy.
To register, click here: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/8VRIIGOS3JN5UEZ

We now have the Oct. 5 - 7 web site working. You can add your Oct 5 - 7 action and your organization's endorsement at the web site. The web site is at http://october7actions.net/

Please join us.Let others know and send them the link.
Click here to download the UNAC call for action on the weekend of Oct. 5-7, the anniversary of the war on Afghanistan

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The full list of all of the actions can be found at the web site http://October7actions.net.  A list of the actions is below.

Albany, NY, Oct 3

Boston, Oct. 6, 1:30 PM

Chicago, October 7, 3:00 PM

Columbus, OH, Oct. 7, 5 PM

Concord NH, Oct 5

Detroit, MI, Oct 5, 4 – 5:30 PM

Duluth, MN, Friday, Oct. 5 from 6 – 6 PM

Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 2 PM

Los Angeles, CA, Oct 6, 12 noon

London, UK, Oct. 7

Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 7, 1 PM

New York City, Oct. 7 5 – 7 PM

New York City, Oct. 6

Oakland, CA, Oct. 1-3

Olympia, WA, Oct 7

Philadelphia, PA, Oct 6

Richmond, VA, Oct. 7, 6:30 PM

Salt Lake City, UT, Oct 7, 3 – 5 PM

San Francisco, CA, Oct. 6, 12 noon

Talahassee, Florida, Oct 7

Vancouver, Canada, Oct. 6, 1 PM

Support the actions being organized during the week of Oct 6 - 13 to Keep space for peace.  See the link below for the list of actions

http://www.space4peace.org/actions/ksfpw12.htm

Dedicated and disciplined nonviolent activists, and in particular military veterans, are being openly invited to join members of Veterans For Peace in a peaceful vigil in New York City that will as likely as not result in their wrongful arrest and prosecution.

The time will be 6 p.m. on October 7, 2012, as the United States and NATO complete the eleventh year of the current occupation of Afghanistan and launch the twelfth.  The crowd at the Republican National Convention cheered for complete immediate withdrawal, but the nominee's plans don't include it.  The crowds at rallies for President Obama's reelection cheer for both the continuation of the war and its supposed status as "ending," even though the timetable for that "ending" is longer than most past wars, and a massive occupation is supposed to remain after the occupation "ends."  Veterans For Peace, an organization dedicated to the abolition of war, is hoping to inject a discordant note into this happy discourse -- something that the ongoing reports of deaths just don't seem to manage.

The place will be Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza, 55 Water Street, New York City.  It was there that some of the same veterans gathering this October were arrested last May First.  The memorial is normally open around the clock, but on that day the New York Police Department decided to close it at 10 p.m. in order to evict the Occupy Movement's nonviolent general assembly.  Eight members of the Veterans Peace Team and two members of Occupy Faith were arrested for refusing to leave.  Since that day, a small metal sign has been posted at the park stating that it closes at 10 p.m.  This October 7^th, the veterans have a permit for sound equipment lasting until 10 p.m., but they intend to remain overnight.

Vietnam vet Paul Appell says, "War veterans, loved ones of the fallen, and certainly those living in war zones do not have the option of closing down their memories at 10 p.m. There is a good reason why suicide is an attractive option for many. It is truly the only sure way of ending the memories. For a memorial to shut down at some convenient time for the city is an insult to all those who do not have the luxury of shutting down their war memories at a specific time. I know that many want us war vets to go out of sight and not bother them, except when we are needed for some parade. Some of us are not going away at 10 p.m. or any other time. If they do not like it, maybe they should have thought of that before they sent us to war.

Tarak Kauff, U.S. Army, 1959-1962, and one of the organizers of VFP's Veterans Peace Team, says, "We will be there standing together and getting arrested again if necessary for our right to remember the fallen, to oppose and 'abolish war as an instrument of national policy' and to affirm our right to do so in a public place of remembrance that has great meaning for all veterans."

The plan is not for a mass demonstration.  In fact, many are explicitly not invited.  Non-veterans are enthusiastically welcome, including associate members of Veterans For Peace and anyone else dedicated to ending violence in the world.  But "diversity of tactics" is unapologetically rejected.  Anyone inclined toward violence, provocation, or threats, including violence to inanimate objects, is kindly asked on this day, to respect the Memorial, the veterans, and the commitment to nonviolence.  This event will involve hundreds of activists who intend to peacefully vigil all night, and who will not respond to police violence with any violence of their own.

Speakers at the vigil will oppose a single additional day of U.S. warmaking in Afghanistan.  Speakers will include Leah Bolger, Margaret Flowers, Glen Ford, Mike Hastie, Chris Hedges, George Packard, Donna Schaper, Kevin Zeese, and Michael Zweig. Dr. Cornel West has also been invited.  At 9:30 p.m. participants will lay flowers for the fallen.

The purpose of this action, which will succeed whether the police interfere or not, is well expressed by several vets planning to take part.  Mike Ferner, Navy Corpsman 1969-1973, and past president of Veterans For Peace, says, "I'm coming to NYC October 7^th because I need to do more for myself and the world than just get angry at the misery and suffering.  Being with my comrades again and standing up for peace uplifts my spirit."

Rev. George E. Packard, Retired, Bishop for the Armed Forces of the Episcopal Church, asks, "How can we, as Americans and compassionate human beings, tolerate even one more day creating a toxic battle environment in that southwest Asian country? We increase the lethality of our weaponry -- more drones, more firepower -- so we can protect our troops and not face the bad news of casualties at home. But it is a useless scheme and one that sacrifices the lives primarily of Afghan women and children, the real collateral damage.  Also, this destruction becomes latent in our culture as the postponed agony of PTSD in thousands of troops extends to their immediate families in the United States. Entire segments of our population are sentenced to living addicted or arrested lives because we weren't wise enough to figure out a more humane and effective foreign policy."

Ellen Barfield, Heavy Equipment Mechanic Sergeant, U.S. Army, 1977-1981, adds, "I will mourn the New York U.S. soldiers dead from Vietnam whose names are there on that wall, and the thousands of U.S. and other soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in these more recent wars, and the millions of civilians who were killed in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan. But I will also express our right to visit memorials and speak out against wars at any time of the day or night. Sadly, war trauma does not sleep, so setting arbitrary curfews at war memorials is cruel and unjust. We will object with our bodies to the repression of mourning and dissent."

Erik Lobo, Navy veteran, remarks, "I will be at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial because the oath I took -- both in the Navy and during 28 years in law enforcement -- to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, does not have an expiration date."

David Ross, Vietnam veteran, explains, "Once again I will be honored to stand with my sisters and brothers and our friends regardless of the inconvenience. I owe this and, looking back over 40 years of veteran organizing, the need to take a stand has never been greater."

William P. Homans, a.k.a. Watermelon Slim, Vietnam veteran, says, "I will be returning to the New York Vietnam Memorial to play Taps. . . .  I will also be there because the American right to dissent from 'business as usual' is at risk. I was in the anti-Vietnam War movement back in the early '70s when I returned from Vietnam, and I never considered the absolute right to speak and dissent to be threatened. . . . But mostly I will be there to mourn."

John Spitzberg of Ashville VFP, puts it this way: "I speak for those who have died and for those who are so infirm that they are unable to come to New York on October 7^th. We are the living and able who rally for you so that your voices are heard and are not in vain. We come to say 'Enough of this travesty of mindless war, mindless mayhem and devastation.'"

Finally, Kauff, who is doing a lot to organize this event, says, "I have a fury inside me against war and those rich fat cats who perpetrate wars and militarism. Yes, I take it personally.  These wars are not about defending freedom or democracy. They have nothing to do with that -- just the opposite. The top-down leaders, the corporate warlords, the politicians, the Masters of War don't give a damn about freedom and democracy, about the lives and money going from the poor and middle class to fight and pay for these wars. They and their kids don't fight, die and come home wounded in body and soul. No, they make fortunes selling weapons while destroying the world. It pains and angers me deeply, and I want to stop it.  On October 7^th, while grieving for, remembering and respecting the fallen, I will take a stand for my and others' right to peacefully and nonviolently affirm this whenever and wherever we want to, especially at this hallowed place, where memories and reminders of the futility of war never cease, not at 10 p.m., not at any time."

The website is StopTheseWars.org  There you can register to participate, whether you wish to stand with the vets after 10 p.m. or to serve in a supporting role.

Go here.

From No Drones Network

ILLINOIS - Occupy Obama drew attention to Barack Obama's drone victims with a funeral procession in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which ended up at Obama 2012 Campaign HQ. (Coffins were marked "hope" and "change.")

Anti-drone activity has continued around the country in recent weeks -- see descriptions below. (In addition, see the links at right for updates from other locations.)


NORTH CAROLINA - The Democratic National Convention (DNC) drew to a close, but the NOrth Carolina protests against the Democratic administration's drone killings continue.

CALIFORNIA - The City of Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission finalized "no drone zone" language to send to the full City Council for a vote. Consideration will likely be scheduled for November.

MISSOURI - A federal judge found drones resisters guilty of trespass . . . and meanwhile U.S. war crimes continue.

OHIO - During it's tour of Ohio, the Know Drones tour put pressure on Ohio Rep. Michael Turner to Stop the Drones! This effort gained the attention of anti-drones groups around the country and was a heavily viewed web page.

Please send links to news of other drones protests around the country to Joe Scarry -- jtscarry [at] yahoo.com .

(See additional updates from the August/September period.)

By Dave Lindorff

Just because someone has the ability to do something, does not mean he or she should do it.

Two anti-war activists were convicted in federal court Monday of trespassing at central Missouri's Whiteman Air Force Base to protest the use of unmanned military drones.  A four-hour U.S. District Court hearing in Jefferson City ended with Magistrate Judge Matt Whitworth finding the pair guilty. Sentencing will occur at a later date.