[Peace] The Forever War

[C. G. Estabrook]

"AWARE on the Air" - cable channel 6 at 10pm and soon on Facebook - tonight 
considers why the Obama administration wants to continue the war in the Greater 
Middle East, and how it dissembles its goals and intentions.

Plus notices of upcoming events, as follows:

Anti-War Anti-Racism Calendar, November 2010
Recent and upcoming events on the local scene,
from last Sunday's AWARE meeting and the AWARE mailing lists,
<peace at lists.chambana.net> and <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
(Thanks to MOA Karen Medina.)

*Through tomorrow, 17 November. The Office of Volunteer Programs in the Illini 
Union -
Thanksgiving Basket Drive. "Would you like to make a difference for a family in 
need during this holiday season?  The Office of Volunteer Programs in the Illini 
Union is collecting Thanksgiving Care Baskets from October 22nd- November 17th.  
We are working closely with several community non-profits to respond to a 
growing need this Thanksgiving, and are asking students, staff, and community 
members to participate in this charitable program.  Grab your friends, family, 
roommates, coworkers, dorm floor, RSO, or Greek house and make a difference in a 
family's holiday season!  Please contact OVP at (217) 333-7424 or email us at 
ovp at illinois.edu for more information on how you can help out!

*Mondays through 29 November, 7pm.
"Faith and Food Justice": an in-depth look at the current Midwest American food 
system. Weekly readings will guide discussion on how our food's ecology, 
distribution, economics, government policies, and history relate to faith and 
justice. Contact Ann Rasmus <ann at universityymca.org> or (217)337-1514

*Wednesday 17 November, 4pm. Levis Faculty Center - 919 West Illinois Street, Urbana
"Whiteness, Misery, and Management in the U.S." - a free lecture by David 
Roediger sponsored by the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society. "This 
history of race, immigration, and management in the U.S. takes critical race 
studies into areas of history, including history of engineering, where it has 
little presence. From settlement and slavery forward, the fostering of racial 
competition has marked labor management practices. These have undergirded the 
phenomenal success of U.S. transnational mine engineering; and, coexisted with 
rational scientific management in shaping and in meatpacking and other 
industries in Illinois and beyond, continuing to shape industrial management."

*Wednesday 17 November, 7pm. Iraq Veterans Against the War and Allies meeting.  
2nd Floor of Espresso Royale in Urbana (1117 W. Oregon St., at Goodwin). "A 
chance to talk about ongoing projects and plan for the future. We're also hoping 
that some of the people we met doing outreach on Veterans Day will show up!"

*Thursday 18 November, noon. 101 International Studies Building, 910 S. Fifth 
Street, Champaign
"How Latin Americans Conceptualize Democracy: Structural Form, Substantive 
Content and Political Significance"

*Thursday 18 November, noon. Law Building Auditorium (504 E Pennsylvania Ave, 
Urbana - near 6th & Peabody)
"Prospects for Peace in the Middle East" - a lecture by international lawyer and 
College of Law Professor Francis A. Boyle. "University of Illinois College of 
Law Professor Francis A. Boyle served as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian 
Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations from 1991 to 1993, and to the 
Syrian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations during their First Round 
held in Washington DC in 1991. The story is told in his book "Palestine, 
Palestinians and International Law" (Clarity Press: 2003). His newest book is 
"The Palestinian Right of Return under International Law" (Clear Day Books, 
forthcoming)."

*Thursday 18 November, 5:30pm. University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign.
"Ordinary People" (2009), a film by Serbian director Vladimir Perisic. "One 
quiet afternoon, a busload of young soldiers is unexpectedly forced to question 
the morality of their profession after being enlisted to execute civilian 
prisoners at a remote facility in the Serbian countryside." 
<http://www.globalfilm.org/lens10/ordinary_people.htm>. Free and open to everyone!

*Thursday 18 November, 7pm. Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana
"9500 Liberty," a film that tells the story of Prince William County, Virginia, 
and its 2007 Immigration Resolution - a law similar to Arizona's SB 1070 that 
requires police to question anyone that they have "probable cause" to suspect is 
undocumented. "The film is as close as anyone can come to a crystal ball for 
Arizona, and it's not pretty. Not only did the Immigration Resolution bitterly 
divide the community, but it created a shocking economic impact that you will 
have to watch to believe."

*Friday-Sunday, 19-21 November. Fort Benning, Georgia (USA).
School of the Americas Watch annual "Nonviolent Direct Action to Close the 
SOA/WHINSEC" -- a combat training school for Latin American soldiers. "The SOA, 
frequently dubbed the School of Assassins, has left a trail of blood and 
suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. Graduates have 
consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. The 
website for SOA Watch has links to a rideboard, list of hotels and camping, and 
some valuable information on nonviolence training and principles, and a database 
of those people who have graduated from the SOA.

*Saturday 20 November, 7:30am-1pm. AWARE table at the indoor Farmer's Market; We 
have peace calendars for 2011. If you would like to work the table, contact 
Stuart Levy; slevy at illinois dot edu

*Saturday 20 November, 7pm-9pm.  Fellowship Hall of the Unitarian Church at 309 
W. Green, Urbana.
"Feeding Body and Soul," C-U Storytelling Guild benefit; proceeds benefit the 
Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Donation requested.

*Monday 6 December, 6pm.  St. Jude Catholic Worker House, 317 S. Randolph St., 
Champaign
Potluck and Roundtable.  We'll watch "Money as Debt," an animated short film 
that gives the history of currency, banking, and our government's "fractional 
reserve system:" the creation of money through citizens' debt

*Saturday 4 December, 2-4pm. Main & Neil Sts., Champaign
"The Main Event" - AWARE's monthly peace demonstration. Bring a sign or use one 
of ours; we'll hand out information about the war to motorists and passers-by.
***

The AWARE Presents committee is planning a public program on suicides in the 
military and their effect on our community. Interested? Please contact Conrad 
Wetzel <mc-wetzel at hotmail.com>. Planning meeting will likely be in the Mennonite 
church.

AWARE is happy to provide anti-war speakers and discussion leaders for local 
events.  See our Facebook page, our website at <anti-war.net>, or write 
<cge at shout.net>. AWARE is an independent organization that works with other 
political groups and parties opposed to US war, but it is not a member of them.

***
Let the dead of November rest!
For us the living there's quite enough to do.
For these are not those who have awakened
and have imagined themselves perpetrators of the same thing.
Neither written-off nor tax-free is the profit
from the debts for which I am responsible.

--from Guenter Grass, Novemberland

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