From briandolinar at gmail.com Mon May 1 15:01:10 2017 From: briandolinar at gmail.com (Brian Dolinar) Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 10:01:10 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Final Open Scene Showcase&Art Auction w/ works by Langston Allston Message-ID: Rad folx, We're going to have a final showcase for Open Scene and art auction featuring 8 new posters by Langston Allston! Come see some of CU's rising stars, and buy some amazing art! The culminating event will be this Saturday, 2-5pm at the IMC! https://www.facebook.com/events/678850335650857/ Please share with friends! Thanks! BD ps Happy May Day! Remember Haymarket ! -- Brian Dolinar, Ph.D. briandolinar.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Open Scene final showcase.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 221138 bytes Desc: not available URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Mon May 1 15:12:13 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 10:12:13 -0500 Subject: [Peace] summer arts camp for kids, June 12--June 30--free! Message-ID: Hi friends---As part of our 3 week session 'Construct Your Humanism', School for Designing a Society is offering a *FREE summer arts camp for kids ages 8--12, * *June 12---June 30th.* We'll meet Monday,Wednesday and Friday 4-6pm, making theater and photography in a dual-language context. A final showing will be on Friday, June 30th. Please contact me in you have a child in mind. We're excited! -- *Susan Parenti* *Educational Coordinator * *The School for Designing a Society *www.designingasociety.net *Like us on Facebook !* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CYH kidsposter.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 3174867 bytes Desc: not available URL: From briandolinar at gmail.com Mon May 1 18:22:27 2017 From: briandolinar at gmail.com (Brian Dolinar) Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 13:22:27 -0500 Subject: [Peace] My story on police killing of Richard "Richie" Turner Message-ID: Public i exclusive! Support Indy media! BD http://publici.ucimc.org/the-cops-killed-richie/ *The Cops Killed Richie* By Brian Dolinar ​No matter how much training or technology, the cops just can’t stop killing Black people. On a Wednesday morning, November 16, 2016, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Champaign police received a call about a “disorderly” subject, Richard “Richie” Turner, a homeless man well known by many students and community members in Campustown. Richie was chased by police into the back alley of Penn Station. There he was tackled and pinned down by four officers from the Champaign Police Department (University of Illinois Police were not involved in the incident): Officer Christopher Young, Officer Andrew Wilson, Officer Michael Talbott, and Sergeant Thomas Frost. Police pushed Richie’s face into the concrete, cuffed him by his wrists and ankles, what is known as being “hog-tied.” After a short struggle, Richie stopped breathing and laid motionless. Richie’s death was called an accident, but his sister is not willing to accept this explanation. “To me, it was not an accident,” Chandra Turner told me. What follows is a look into Richie’s death from an investigation conducted by the Illinois State Police obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a report released by the office of Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup, and correspondence with Richie’s sister, Chandra Turner, who is determined to find out what happened to her brother. *“Out of Sorts”* Police were responding to a call made by a woman who later told police she was “familiar” with Richie and saw him “almost every day.” On this morning, Richie was in front of the Firehaus bar on Sixth Street with a bottle of wine at 8:30 a.m.. She called police to check on him because he seemed “out of sorts.” When Officer Christopher Young arrived, Richie was sitting on the ground in front of the Home Town Pantry convenience store at Sixth and Green. As soon as he saw the police, Richie “abruptly moved around trying to stand up.” He is described by police as “yelling” and “largely unintelligible.” After Young approached him, Richie grabbed a construction sign and threw it on the ground. Young “yelled” at him to put it back and told Richie to “leave the area.” Richie crossed the intersection at Sixth and Green and headed north. Police then “followed” Richie yelling at him to stop. Richie is described in police reports as “running.” But according to Richie’s sister, Chandra Turner, he had a bad leg from falling one winter and could not have run too fast. Officer Andrew Wilson called an ambulance seeking an “involuntary submittal for evaluation.” This story is partly about the failure of police to adequately address people with mental illness, or if they should be called upon at all to deal with people often afflicted by paranoia. In the alley behind the Penn Station restaurant, police stopped Richie. Officer Wilson was the first to put his hands on Richie, grabbing his right arm. Wilson was aware of Richie’s history of “mental illness” from “several interactions” with him in the past. Sgt. Thomas Frost wrote in his report that Richie appeared “very manic and was thrusting his arms up and down, back and forth. Additionally, he when he moved his head it moved rapidly from side-to-side.” His said this behavior was a “mirror image” from April 2016 when police took him to Carle hospital for a mental health evaluation. *Relax* At this point, as Officer Young describes, they all three “fell to the ground.” Police had Richie face down on the concrete. Officer Wilson turned Richie’s right arm around his back. Officer Young was on top of him, with his right knee on Richie’s left shoulder. Young wrote in his report, “I used my right hand to stop Richie’s head from lifting/turning.” While pushing his face into the concrete, Officer Young was “constantly telling Richard to relax.” Officer Michael Talbott then took hold of Richie’s legs, while Officer Thomas Frost put a “hobble” around his ankles. A police hobble can be tied around the feet, and then connected by a rope to handcuffs. This restraining of an individual by hands and feet is known as “hog tying.” This practice has contributed to other deaths in police custody in Los Angeles and Memphis . Although Sgt. Frost had a Taser with him, he did not use it. Whether the outcome would have been different is questionable, as Tasers have been linked to deaths in custody. “At that time,” Officer Young reported, “we noticed Richard was no longer resisting or moving.” When police rolled Richie over on his back, “he did not seem to be breathing.” Richie was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to Carle hospital. Deputy Coroner Sara Rand concluded that Richie’s death was “accidental,” but a contributing factor was “physical and mental stress during restraint by law enforcement.” Police interviewed witnesses who give another perspective. Two homeless men were nearby, and although they did not see police kill Richie, they witnessed events before and after. One man followed police in their pursuit of Richie and said they “tackled” him. A second man said he saw police put Richie into an ambulance and heard one of the officers say, “who had they knee on his neck?” A University of Illinois student was also interviewed. In his opinion, police were “a little aggressive” in the way “one officer kneeled on him.” None of the four Champaign officers had body cameras. *“Something ain’t right.” * Richie’s sister Chandra reached out to me after receiving the coroner’s report. She was surprised at the test results. Richie was found to have a minimal blood alcohol content (0.004%), he was clearly not drunk. There were also no drugs in his system, only coffee and tobacco. “He would not be dead if it wasn’t for [the police]” Chandra explained to me. She pointed out that police had Richie’s hand behind his back, and his feet tied. “They didn’t try to save him,” she said. “Something ain’t right.” I spoke with Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb about the incident. He told me there was an internal investigation still underway and he could not comment. Asked when his investigation would be done, he could not provide a timeline. Richie’s death raises the question of whether police should be used to respond to individuals with mental illness. As I have reported, during the 1990s, Champaign County operated an award-winning Crisis Team , made up of trained professionals who answered calls about people who were suicidal or mentally ill, whether in the local jail, or on the street. Such mental health services were eliminated and privatized by Sheriff Dan Walsh soon after he came into office. Since then, CU has seen a rise of deaths in police custody. In 2015-2016, there were three deaths in the county jail. In recent years, out of the debate over a new jail, local mental health services providers, county officials, and local police briefly attempted to create a Detox Center for people in need of drug addiction and mental health services, but the idea has been abandoned by several bureaucratic committees. Sunny Ture, an organizer with Black United Front UIUC, responded, “The murder of Richard Turner is a tragedy for his family and another reminder of the Champaign Police Department’s destructive relationship with the Black community. The many mistakes their officers made have been obscured and ignored because Richard was Black, poor, and homeless. His life did not matter to Sheriff Dan Walsh who has a history of cutting mental health services in favor of more tools of criminalization. Richard Turner’s murderers should be held accountable for their crimes, and the Champaign Police Department should immediately end the practice of commanding armed officers to interact with people that have mental illness.” -- Brian Dolinar, Ph.D. briandolinar.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Richie Turner.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 61844 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Tue May 2 12:44:53 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 02 May 2017 07:44:53 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Trump the authoritarian? In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> The malign and self-serving fantasy of the US political establishment - who produced Obama-Clinton and killed thousands, in war around the world: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/02/donald-trump-authoritarian-look-actions-not-words From dalqadi at gmail.com Tue May 2 16:42:56 2017 From: dalqadi at gmail.com (Dana Alqadi) Date: Tue, 2 May 2017 11:42:56 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Tonight at the Art Theater Message-ID: Hello! Champaign’s Art Theater is participating in an international film series called the Seventh Art Stand, a cinematic act of solidarity against Islamophobia and the Travel Ban. The showings will take place May 2, 9, and 16 with post-show discussions. Tonight, they are showing Cairo in One Breath (Egypt)- a film that looks at the religious politics surrounding the athan (Muslim call to prayer). The film has won Best of Fest awards at multiple film festivals in the last 6 months and I highly recommend it. For additional information, please see the attached press release. Thank you! -dana Preview attachment TheArtTheater-7thArtStandpressrelease.pdf TheArtTheater-7thArtStandpressrelease.pdf 85 KB -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From niloofar.peace at gmail.com Tue May 2 20:19:10 2017 From: niloofar.peace at gmail.com (Niloofar Shambayati) Date: Tue, 2 May 2017 15:19:10 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Finding Oscar May 4 6:30 1090 Lincoln Hall In-Reply-To: <50924A0D-3923-4CCA-A5A1-1D6C57B6626C@illinois.edu> References: <50924A0D-3923-4CCA-A5A1-1D6C57B6626C@illinois.edu> Message-ID: The story of Oscar was told a few years ago on *This American Life.* Those interested to see the film, may also want to take a listen. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kaplan, Brett Ashley Date: Tue, May 2, 2017 at 9:53 AM Subject: Finding Oscar May 4 6:30 1090 Lincoln Hall To: "cwl-grads-l at lists.illinois.edu" , " js-list at lists.illinois.edu" , " jewish_studies_majors_and_minors at lists.illinois.edu" < jewish_studies_majors_and_minors at lists.illinois.edu>, " hgms-studies at lists.illinois.edu" Cc: "Pomonis, Anthony A" The Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, Memory Studies, the Department of English, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Program in Comparative and World Literature will present a free screening of the moving film *Finding Oscar. *Directed by LAS English Alumnus Ryan Suffern the film tells the story of a child survivor of the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala. The child was raised by one of the soldiers who carried out the attack. An article about Ryan along with an announcement for the film are here. Please tell your friends, your students, everyone! Thanks! Brett http://www.las.illinois.edu/news/article/?id=21684&/news// news/2017/findingoscar17/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FO- University of Illinois(3).pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1748797 bytes Desc: not available URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Wed May 3 16:03:30 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 11:03:30 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Lend us a twin or full mattress for 3 weeks in June? Message-ID: Hi friends---do you have a spare twin or full mattress we could borrow for June 10--July 2? We have 20 people coming from out of state/country for the Construct Your Humanism session of School for Designing a Society, and we're looking for around 10 mattresses. We'll pick them up and return them in good shape. Please let me know! susan 217-344-1439 -- *Susan Parenti* *Educational Coordinator * *The School for Designing a Society *www.designingasociety.net *Like us on Facebook !* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 4 12:18:46 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 12:18:46 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: emergency rally at Davis' officeThursday 9 a.m. References: Message-ID: > > > The House of Representatives will vote on the American Health Care > Act, the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, on > Thursday in the early afternoon. We need you at Congressman Davis' > office at 9 am Thursday morning to remind him that his constituents DO > NOT want the ACA repealed. Bring 3 people with you. > > ADDITIONALLY: > The House Rules Committee is accepting comments on the bill through > the night: 202-225-9191 > > Call Governor Rauner and tell him to stand up for the ACA. Repeal of > the ACA would be devastating to the state of Illinois. > Springfield Phone: 217-782-0244 > Chicago Phone: 217-782-0244 > > Share the Facebook event. > > https://www.facebook.com/events/534255910295229/?notif_t=event_calendar_create¬if_id=1493863428175822 > > If you can't be there at 9, be there when you can. We need to be at > Davis' office until the vote is canceled. > > Congressman Rodney Davis -Champaign District Office > 2004 Fox Drive > Champaign, IL 61820 > > This event is organized by The People’s Agenda. > > From niloofar.peace at gmail.com Sat May 6 01:30:01 2017 From: niloofar.peace at gmail.com (Niloofar Shambayati) Date: Fri, 5 May 2017 20:30:01 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Yemen Press Advisory In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Peace activists in Chicago will have an event in the streets to raise consciousness about the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. They'll also be asking the passers-by to contact their representatives demanding the U.S. to stop assisting Saudi Arabia in its bombing and blockade of Yemen that will soon lead to widespread famine. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Voices for Creative Nonviolence Date: Fri, May 5, 2017 at 5:34 PM Subject: Yemen Press Advisory To: niloofar.peace at gmail.com *PRESS ADVISORY:* On Tuesday, May 9th, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. members of Voices in the Wilderness and World Beyond War will engage passers-by outside the Kluczynski Federal Building (230 S. Dearborn) in a “penny poll” regarding humanitarian relief for war and famine-stricken Yemen. The poll device contains series of tubes which represent how people would like to direct U.S. funds. UN officials say that 17 million Yemenis lack access to food, 7 million of whom are on the brink of famine. A Saudi-led coalition, supported by the U.S., has steadily bombed Yemeni cities, towns and infrastructure since March of 2015. The Saudis have also imposed a naval blockade on the country, aiming to starve and eliminate Houthi tribal rebels who have been party to a civil war with Yemen’s president and his supporters. The Saudis claim the Houthis are supported by Iran. Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense recently said that his country will be able to tire the tribal fighters out through prolonged conflict. *Press Release* *For immediate release** May 5, 2017 * *Contact:* *Kathy Kelly Kathy at vcnv.org **773-619-2418 <(773)%20619-2418>*; *Mary Dean* * Mary at worldbeyondwar.org * 773-459-3941 <(773)%20459-3941> *Yemen Is Starving: Peace activists, alarmed by the mounting humanitarian crisis in Yemen, to hold a penny poll outside the Federal Building* Chicago -- *On May 9, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.,* in the Kluczynski Federal Building plaza at 230 S. Dearborn, Voices for Creative Nonviolence and World Beyond War activists will engage passersby in a penny poll regarding humanitarian relief for war and famine-stricken Yemen. Using the poll device, people can “spend” symbolic wooden pennies to assist Yemenis in averting famine or direct their “pennies” to continue supporting military contractors that are shipping weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis, through two years of airstrikes and blockades, have escalated the conflict in Yemen and exacerbated near famine conditions. *Ravaged by war, blockaded by sea, and regularly targeted with Saudi and U.S. airstrikes, Yemen is now on the brink of total famine.* Yemen is currently being ravaged by a brutal conflict, with injustices and atrocities on all sides. More than 10,000 people have been killed, including 1,564 children , and millions have been displaced from their homes. UNICEF estimates that more than 460,000 children in Yemen face severe malnutrition, while 3.3 million children and pregnant or lactating women suffer acute malnutrition. The U.S. backed Saudi-led coalition is also enforcing a sea blockade on rebel-held areas. Yemen imports 90% of its food; because of the blockade, food and fuel prices are rising and scarcity is at crisis levels. While Yemeni children are starving, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, are profiting from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia. *At this critical juncture, U.S. people should call on their elected representatives to urge an end to the blockade and airstrikes, a silencing of all guns, and a negotiated settlement to the war in Yemen.* With Congress in recess, this is an ideal time to call elected representatives and urge them to join colleagues in letters to: 1. Secretary of State Tillerson asking that the Department of State work urgently with stakeholders to persuade combatants to permit humanitarian groups increased access for delivering much-needed assistance to vulnerable communities 1. to Prince Mohammed bin Khalid, Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia, urging that the crucial Yemeni port of Hodeida be protected from military assault. *Photo Credit: Oxfam* *Copyright © 2017 Voices for Creative Nonviolence, All rights reserved.* You are receiving this e-mail because you have been members of Voice's delegations. *Our mailing address is:* Voices for Creative Nonviolence 1249 W Argyle St Chicago, IL 60640 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 6 02:47:20 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 6 May 2017 02:47:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Demonstration in Champaign Saturday May 6th, focus on war and starvation in Yemen. References: <1DA8A68B-3D5B-4341-B11B-46766206CE9A@illinois.edu> Message-ID: http://dissidentvoice.org/2017/05/in-yemen-shocked-to-his-bones/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 6 02:52:18 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 6 May 2017 02:52:18 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Demonstration in Champaign Message-ID: Tomorrow: Saturday May 6th, downtown Champaign at the corner of Church and Neil Sts. 2:00-4:00 pm Flyers will focus on war and starvation in Yemen. Anti-war signs will be available, and everyone is welcome to join us. From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat May 6 23:35:15 2017 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 6 May 2017 23:35:15 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Rep. Davis has office hours Tues 5/9 References: <30D3D608-80F5-4F94-8DD9-A0F3A91D301C@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Rep. Davis has office hours Tues 5/9 Date: May 6, 2017 at 6:32:12 PM CDT To: peace-discuss > Davis plans Tuesday office hours in Champaign Fri, 05/05/2017 - 10:48am | The News-Gazette [cid:A8C6D56E-0B4B-40A5-96C0-D429EBA9B8F7][cid:CB032329-358F-4C7D-B5F3-1207C49DBF0C][cid:EAE4D248-3828-48FA-B6CA-D8F0BA399909][cid:4BC9436F-E8C9-4034-8999-8DE70EB0A4CE] U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis will hold open office hours at his Champaign office, 2004 Fox Drive, next Tuesday afternoon. The House of Representatives is on a short district work period and isn't scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., until May 16. The Taylorville Republican said Friday that he'll be able to meet with individuals or small groups of constituents from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. Davis also arranged to meet with constituents in his Normal office Monday afternoon. "Meetings will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis. No appointments necessary," said an announcement from the congressman's office. "Due to office space constraints, meetings will be limited to no more than three people at a time. Each meeting will have up to 10 minutes to discuss any issue of their choosing." For more information, call Davis' Champaign office at 403-4690. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 32-facebook.png Type: image/png Size: 269 bytes Desc: 32-facebook.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 32-twitter.png Type: image/png Size: 462 bytes Desc: 32-twitter.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: print.png Type: image/png Size: 3534 bytes Desc: print.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: send4.png Type: image/png Size: 3770 bytes Desc: send4.png URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 7 17:42:43 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 7 May 2017 17:42:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?=C2=A0Colonel_Lawrence_Wilkerson=3A=C2=A0Longes?= =?utf-8?b?dMKgVS5TLsKgV2FywqBXaWxswqBHb8Kgb27CoGZvcsKgRGVjYWRlcw==?= Message-ID: Col. Wilkerson is only one of many, former USG employees confirming what some of us have been saying for some time: Watch this video from The Real News Network, or read the below: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival= Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making." ________________________________ transcript [Wilkerson on Afghanistan: The Longest U.S. War Will Go on for Decades]Aaron Mate: It's 'The Real News,' I'm Aaron Mate. Afghanistan is the longest US war, and it's deadlier than ever. The new US government report says the toll for Afghan civilians and military forces last year was the highest on record. The violence forced more than 660,000 people to flee their homes, also the most to date. US generals have requested thousands of additional troops. In a recent interview, national security advisor, H.R. McMaster hinted at a looming escalation. H.R. McMaster: This is really the modern day frontier between barbarism and civilization. With those high stakes in mind, recognizing that the Taliban groups that we're fighting here, that the ISIS groups that we alongside, really the Afghan forces are really fighting and we're just enabling them in the Eastern part of the country, are a threat to all civilized peoples. Aaron Mate: The Taliban is said to control at least one-third of Afghanistan, more than 15 years after the US invasion. A recent Taliban attack on an Afghan base was one of it's worst to date, killing some 160 Afghan soldiers. The violence could only rise as the spring fighting season begins. Joining me is Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell; now a distinguished professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Colonel Wilkerson, welcome back. Col. Wilkerson: Good to be here. Aaron Mate: We have talk now of President Trump sending more US troops back to Afghanistan at the rest of it's generals. What amazes me about this discussion is that it wasn't too long ago, in 2011 at the height of President Obama's surge, we had 100,000 US troops there. That wasn't sufficient to beat the Taliban, so now with about 9,000 troops, there's talk of sending a few thousand more; as if that could somehow make a difference. What do you make of what is this never ending US war in Afghanistan, almost 16 years old? Col. Wilkerson: The first thing I make of it is that I've heard this before. I guess I'm getting too old. I've heard generals ask from foreign theaters for more troops, enough times to know that none of them have succeeded with those more troops; and that it seems to be the only thing that generals know how to ask for, more troops. That said, the situation in Afghanistan is truly bad. It's probably as bad as it has been in the past 16 years. The Taliban, as you indicated, control more territory now probably than they have at any time since the inception of the conflict, when they more or less were the government of the state of Afghanistan. It's looking pretty bad. That said, I think the strategic rationale for staying in Afghanistan is shifting. Let me back up just a moment and say that if it is going to shift, then the major impediment to what has been, according to the generals, the problem in Afghanistan, too few troops, is going to be exacerbated majorly. We simply do not have enough troops to do all these brush fire wars, these peripheral empire wars. We just don't have enough troops. If we're going to do these things, and we're going to do them more effectively, we'd better think about conscription, or at least a much larger armed force than we have. Given recruitment details of late, there's no way we could recruit an all volunteer force of that size, so as I said, we probably need to be thinking about conscription. All of that to say that I think the strategic rational has shifted, I think we're staying in Afghanistan for the next 50 years. The reason I say that is because Afghanistan presents us with the only opportunity, land opportunity, territory opportunity upon which to put US forces that can, at any given time that they desire to, that the president orders it, interdict, interfere with, or give the Chinese some trouble with their one belt, one road theory; essentially building a new silk road from Xinjiang Province all the way through the region and up into Europe. The only way the United States can impact that with hard military force would be from a position somewhere along that route. We discovered, with regard to the Eastern Mediterranean in Afghanistan, for example, that it's extremely difficult, if not well nigh impossible to do it out of the Eastern Mediterranean with naval air forces and air forces. I don't see that we are going to leave Afghanistan if this is indeed the shifting strategic rationale any time soon. Aaron Mate: Okay, so this is a reasoning that is not mentioned, if ever mentioned, as a reason for the US being in Afghanistan. You're saying that it is not linked to Taliban control of Afghanistan, and their original harboring of Al Qaeda, but actually US designs when it comes to China. When you served under the Bush administration, back in 2001 when this invasion was launched, was China a consideration back then? Col. Wilkerson: China was a consideration only in the sense that we knew we were getting very close. After all, we'd had an experience with getting close to the Chinese border when we ran Korea in '50, you may recall. The Chinese entered with 300,000 volunteers. Situations changed a lot, but we were somewhat concerned about having a border with China, and being in Afghanistan, that features that border. People looking at it at that time made sure that the Chinese knew that we were not going to linger. Well, we've lingered for 16, almost 17 years now. We're looking at a whole different tapestry of possibilities now, too. We're looking at the possible Israeli now financed I understand largely by people like Goldman Sachs. Wow, wonder why Donald Trump has Goldman Sachs in the White House. Pipeline, running up from. Aaron Mate: Well, wait a second, Colonel Wilkerson. Are you suggesting that Goldman Sachs being in the White House is somehow linked to the Israeli government's financial ties to Goldman? Col. Wilkerson: How in the world would anyone ever not think that? I mean how could I be so naïve to think that I don't believe Goldman Sachs is connected in some way to the leadership in Israel, and the Israeli leadership connected to Goldman Sachs? Aaron Mate: Well, that may be true, but that doesn't mean that, that's why Trump has them in the White House. I mean it could just be, as many administrations have close ties to Wall Street, Trump is just following that trend; certainly as a billionaire with a lot of billionaire friends, that's not very implausible. Col. Wilkerson: Oh absolutely, absolutely. President Obama, President Bush, everybody has Goldman Sachs in the White House, whether it's Bob Reuben, the most powerful member of Clinton's administration, or it's Larry Summers, or whomever. We always have Goldman Sachs in the White House, as it were. That's how influence is exerted. You stopped me as I was trying to tell you about the pipeline coming out of Israel and going up into Europe. The pipeline coming out of Iran, and going ostensibly into Europe. The old TAPI pipipeline, the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. There are so many pipelines running across there at the tune of billions and billions of dollars in investment and potential investment, and ultimate profit, that one boggles when one looks at a map at what's happening in this area both East, West, and North and South now. It's very difficult for me. Now, I have to realize that we don't have too many strategic thinkers in the White House, nor apparently anymore do we have too many in the Pentagon. If there are any, they've got to be looking at things like this. They got to be looking at Afghanistan and saying, "Voila! Look what we have here. We have a place where we have military forces in the middle of all of this." If I were a military professional and I saw that, I don't believe I'd be recommending to the Commander in Chief that we remove those military forces any time soon. Aaron Mate: Okay, let me put you the conventional reasons that we hear for arguing against the US withdrawal. It's said that now we don't just have the Taliban, but there's also the remaining Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Now we also have ISIS with a foothold there, especially on the border with Pakistan. We also have the Haqqani network, another militant group. Then, there's the central argument also that if the US withdraws, it's feared that, that would destabilize Pakistan. How do you address those issues? Col. Wilkerson: Those are all serious issues. Of course, had we not invaded Iraq in March of 2003, all of that would probably be a hell of a lot lesser level than it is right now. I read an analysis, I believe it was by the Soufan Group recently, where we had so many thousands of Al Qaeda, for example, in the world immediately after 9/11, and now we have so many more thousands of them. We have all kinds of other organizations, too, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's ISIS, which came out of Iraq, and the Al Qaeda. The policies of the United States have indeed created lots more problems in the world, particularly problems with burgeoning and growing terrorist groups, who are burgeoning and growing on account of our policies with regard to them. So yes, but I would not look at that except as a tactical issue. Bad, got to be dealt with, of course; but it's a tactical issue. The strategic issue, the issue of trillions of dollars, the issues of two clashing economies, the issues indeed of the two giants of the world, the United States and China, criss-cross nicely in Afghanistan; and Pakistan, who happens to be ostensibly a US ally that seems more often a Chinese ally than it does US. Yes, your point is well taken, but I pull it up into the grand strategic issues, rather than the tactical issues and say this is all about the great game. The great game used to be Russia and England, and so forth. The great game is now the United States and China. Aaron Mate: You mention Pakistan being a Chinese ally. There are elements in Pakistan that are also closely tied to the Taliban. The Taliban itself, as a foe, as a US foe, now they did harbor Al Qaeda but aside from that, correct me if I'm wrong, but they do not pose an international terrorist threat. They don't attack people abroad, as far as I know. Is there a possibility of making peace with them right now in Afghanistan with them controlling so much territory, and this war just never seeming to end? Col. Wilkerson: I think I'd be moving that way if I were the United States and I had a brain. I'd be moving that way, because as I said, this is a much bigger game than just these regional terrorist groups, or even as you say, terrorist groups with a global capability. Which, to this point, has only been Al Qaeda. I say that because you're looking at a nuclear country in Pakistan. You're looking at a nuclear country in India, and of course, China. You're looking at the intersection of all the interests of these countries, plus the imperial power, the United States, all coming to bear right there. You've got India and Pakistan still not settled, in terms of the main issues between them. You've got Pakistan supporting the Taliban to per debate Afghanistan because that gives India heartburn. You've got Kashmir, again, bubbling a little bit. You've got Modi in India and what he's done to stabilize India; but the problem between the Muslims and the Hindus in that country. You've got India as a major, shall we say bulwark against China. More and more are closely associated with the United States; particularly, it's navy. You've got all these powers aligning themselves from time to time in different ways, but basically, laying themselves down as China versus the United States; and the others having to choose from time to time which side diplomatically or otherwise they'll be on, on any given issue. It's all about power. It's all about grand strategic power. Frankly, these terrorists are insignificant to that. They're a problem. They're a problem that has to be dealt with by all of those countries in the region. Rashkari Kayaba, for example, in Kashmir. They're not the grand strategic problem that the interstices and the interplay of all these great powers and near great powers in the region are. Aaron Mate: Now, on the issue of foreign powers in Afghanistan, I want to play for you the comment of General John Nicholson, the Commander of US forces in Afghanistan. He recently suggested that Russia is now arming the Taliban. This is what he said. John Nicholson: We continue to get reports of this assistance, and of course, we have the overt legitimacy lent to the Taliban by the Russians, that really occurred late last year, beginning through this process they've been undertaking. Reporter: You're not refuting that there's any weapons. John Nicholson: Oh no, I'm not refuting that. Aaron Mate: Colonel, there's a certain irony here, whether or not the charge is true or not; because in the 80s, we all remember that it was the US that waged sort of this proxy fight against Russia through support of the forces that eventually became the Taliban ... Drawing Russia into this long, protracted war inside Afghanistan that lasted about ten years. Now the US is inside Afghanistan as an occupying force of it's own, has been there even longer. It's been there 15 years. Now, we have the US accusing Russia of arming the Taliban, who the US long ago armed to weaken Russia. Col. Wilkerson: You just named the great game. The partners change, the side fluctuate a bit, but the great game goes on. If I were to ... I'm not saying that I believe General Nicholson. I'm not saying that I believe that the Russians are arming the Taliban, but if I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban. I would be turning the tables on the other empire in the world, the United States. I would be doing it for good reasons, good, solid, strategic reasons because the United States is in Afghanistan. That's very close to my borders. I don't like the United States in Afghanistan. I don't like it in Georgia. I don't like it in Ukraine. I don't like it in Latvia, Estonia, or Lithuania, either. This is all about power. It's about strategic power. If I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban against the United States in Afghanistan in an effort to get the United States out of Afghanistan. Aaron Mate: Okay, so I'm sorry to end on this grim note, but you've mentioned all these different foreign powers and their [inaudible 00:15:44] inside Afghanistan. You mentioned you thinking that the US will be there for decades to come. What does this mean then for the people of Afghanistan? Col. Wilkerson: As with the people of all the satellite countries that the United States and the Soviet Union, they then to contesting imperial powers, per debated with their proxy wars and everything, probably the same thing. I mean I recall Central Africa, I recall Angola, I recall Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southeast Asia in general, South America, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras. These are places where the great powers play in their proxy wars. It's all shifted now. Not completely, of course. There's still some things going on in other places, too, like Yemen. It shifted and it's major focus now, instead of being in South America, in Africa, or wherever, it's major focus is right there in Central Asia on the old silk road, if you will, and the contestation between some fairly formidable powers: China, India, Russia, the United States. This is history. It's happening. It's about real power interests. It's about real economic and financial interests. It's going to go on. We use terrorism as an excuse to be places or to do things when in fact, it has very little to do with terrorism and everything to do with great power, economics, and the finances associated with that great power. Aaron Mate: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, now a professor at the College of William and Mary. Colonel, thank you as always. Col. Wilkerson: Thanks for having me. Aaron Mate: Thank you for joining us on 'The Real News.' END -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 7 17:42:43 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 7 May 2017 17:42:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?=C2=A0Colonel_Lawrence_Wilkerson=3A=C2=A0Longes?= =?utf-8?b?dMKgVS5TLsKgV2FywqBXaWxswqBHb8Kgb27CoGZvcsKgRGVjYWRlcw==?= Message-ID: Col. Wilkerson is only one of many, former USG employees confirming what some of us have been saying for some time: Watch this video from The Real News Network, or read the below: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival= Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making." ________________________________ transcript [Wilkerson on Afghanistan: The Longest U.S. War Will Go on for Decades]Aaron Mate: It's 'The Real News,' I'm Aaron Mate. Afghanistan is the longest US war, and it's deadlier than ever. The new US government report says the toll for Afghan civilians and military forces last year was the highest on record. The violence forced more than 660,000 people to flee their homes, also the most to date. US generals have requested thousands of additional troops. In a recent interview, national security advisor, H.R. McMaster hinted at a looming escalation. H.R. McMaster: This is really the modern day frontier between barbarism and civilization. With those high stakes in mind, recognizing that the Taliban groups that we're fighting here, that the ISIS groups that we alongside, really the Afghan forces are really fighting and we're just enabling them in the Eastern part of the country, are a threat to all civilized peoples. Aaron Mate: The Taliban is said to control at least one-third of Afghanistan, more than 15 years after the US invasion. A recent Taliban attack on an Afghan base was one of it's worst to date, killing some 160 Afghan soldiers. The violence could only rise as the spring fighting season begins. Joining me is Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell; now a distinguished professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Colonel Wilkerson, welcome back. Col. Wilkerson: Good to be here. Aaron Mate: We have talk now of President Trump sending more US troops back to Afghanistan at the rest of it's generals. What amazes me about this discussion is that it wasn't too long ago, in 2011 at the height of President Obama's surge, we had 100,000 US troops there. That wasn't sufficient to beat the Taliban, so now with about 9,000 troops, there's talk of sending a few thousand more; as if that could somehow make a difference. What do you make of what is this never ending US war in Afghanistan, almost 16 years old? Col. Wilkerson: The first thing I make of it is that I've heard this before. I guess I'm getting too old. I've heard generals ask from foreign theaters for more troops, enough times to know that none of them have succeeded with those more troops; and that it seems to be the only thing that generals know how to ask for, more troops. That said, the situation in Afghanistan is truly bad. It's probably as bad as it has been in the past 16 years. The Taliban, as you indicated, control more territory now probably than they have at any time since the inception of the conflict, when they more or less were the government of the state of Afghanistan. It's looking pretty bad. That said, I think the strategic rationale for staying in Afghanistan is shifting. Let me back up just a moment and say that if it is going to shift, then the major impediment to what has been, according to the generals, the problem in Afghanistan, too few troops, is going to be exacerbated majorly. We simply do not have enough troops to do all these brush fire wars, these peripheral empire wars. We just don't have enough troops. If we're going to do these things, and we're going to do them more effectively, we'd better think about conscription, or at least a much larger armed force than we have. Given recruitment details of late, there's no way we could recruit an all volunteer force of that size, so as I said, we probably need to be thinking about conscription. All of that to say that I think the strategic rational has shifted, I think we're staying in Afghanistan for the next 50 years. The reason I say that is because Afghanistan presents us with the only opportunity, land opportunity, territory opportunity upon which to put US forces that can, at any given time that they desire to, that the president orders it, interdict, interfere with, or give the Chinese some trouble with their one belt, one road theory; essentially building a new silk road from Xinjiang Province all the way through the region and up into Europe. The only way the United States can impact that with hard military force would be from a position somewhere along that route. We discovered, with regard to the Eastern Mediterranean in Afghanistan, for example, that it's extremely difficult, if not well nigh impossible to do it out of the Eastern Mediterranean with naval air forces and air forces. I don't see that we are going to leave Afghanistan if this is indeed the shifting strategic rationale any time soon. Aaron Mate: Okay, so this is a reasoning that is not mentioned, if ever mentioned, as a reason for the US being in Afghanistan. You're saying that it is not linked to Taliban control of Afghanistan, and their original harboring of Al Qaeda, but actually US designs when it comes to China. When you served under the Bush administration, back in 2001 when this invasion was launched, was China a consideration back then? Col. Wilkerson: China was a consideration only in the sense that we knew we were getting very close. After all, we'd had an experience with getting close to the Chinese border when we ran Korea in '50, you may recall. The Chinese entered with 300,000 volunteers. Situations changed a lot, but we were somewhat concerned about having a border with China, and being in Afghanistan, that features that border. People looking at it at that time made sure that the Chinese knew that we were not going to linger. Well, we've lingered for 16, almost 17 years now. We're looking at a whole different tapestry of possibilities now, too. We're looking at the possible Israeli now financed I understand largely by people like Goldman Sachs. Wow, wonder why Donald Trump has Goldman Sachs in the White House. Pipeline, running up from. Aaron Mate: Well, wait a second, Colonel Wilkerson. Are you suggesting that Goldman Sachs being in the White House is somehow linked to the Israeli government's financial ties to Goldman? Col. Wilkerson: How in the world would anyone ever not think that? I mean how could I be so naïve to think that I don't believe Goldman Sachs is connected in some way to the leadership in Israel, and the Israeli leadership connected to Goldman Sachs? Aaron Mate: Well, that may be true, but that doesn't mean that, that's why Trump has them in the White House. I mean it could just be, as many administrations have close ties to Wall Street, Trump is just following that trend; certainly as a billionaire with a lot of billionaire friends, that's not very implausible. Col. Wilkerson: Oh absolutely, absolutely. President Obama, President Bush, everybody has Goldman Sachs in the White House, whether it's Bob Reuben, the most powerful member of Clinton's administration, or it's Larry Summers, or whomever. We always have Goldman Sachs in the White House, as it were. That's how influence is exerted. You stopped me as I was trying to tell you about the pipeline coming out of Israel and going up into Europe. The pipeline coming out of Iran, and going ostensibly into Europe. The old TAPI pipipeline, the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. There are so many pipelines running across there at the tune of billions and billions of dollars in investment and potential investment, and ultimate profit, that one boggles when one looks at a map at what's happening in this area both East, West, and North and South now. It's very difficult for me. Now, I have to realize that we don't have too many strategic thinkers in the White House, nor apparently anymore do we have too many in the Pentagon. If there are any, they've got to be looking at things like this. They got to be looking at Afghanistan and saying, "Voila! Look what we have here. We have a place where we have military forces in the middle of all of this." If I were a military professional and I saw that, I don't believe I'd be recommending to the Commander in Chief that we remove those military forces any time soon. Aaron Mate: Okay, let me put you the conventional reasons that we hear for arguing against the US withdrawal. It's said that now we don't just have the Taliban, but there's also the remaining Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Now we also have ISIS with a foothold there, especially on the border with Pakistan. We also have the Haqqani network, another militant group. Then, there's the central argument also that if the US withdraws, it's feared that, that would destabilize Pakistan. How do you address those issues? Col. Wilkerson: Those are all serious issues. Of course, had we not invaded Iraq in March of 2003, all of that would probably be a hell of a lot lesser level than it is right now. I read an analysis, I believe it was by the Soufan Group recently, where we had so many thousands of Al Qaeda, for example, in the world immediately after 9/11, and now we have so many more thousands of them. We have all kinds of other organizations, too, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's ISIS, which came out of Iraq, and the Al Qaeda. The policies of the United States have indeed created lots more problems in the world, particularly problems with burgeoning and growing terrorist groups, who are burgeoning and growing on account of our policies with regard to them. So yes, but I would not look at that except as a tactical issue. Bad, got to be dealt with, of course; but it's a tactical issue. The strategic issue, the issue of trillions of dollars, the issues of two clashing economies, the issues indeed of the two giants of the world, the United States and China, criss-cross nicely in Afghanistan; and Pakistan, who happens to be ostensibly a US ally that seems more often a Chinese ally than it does US. Yes, your point is well taken, but I pull it up into the grand strategic issues, rather than the tactical issues and say this is all about the great game. The great game used to be Russia and England, and so forth. The great game is now the United States and China. Aaron Mate: You mention Pakistan being a Chinese ally. There are elements in Pakistan that are also closely tied to the Taliban. The Taliban itself, as a foe, as a US foe, now they did harbor Al Qaeda but aside from that, correct me if I'm wrong, but they do not pose an international terrorist threat. They don't attack people abroad, as far as I know. Is there a possibility of making peace with them right now in Afghanistan with them controlling so much territory, and this war just never seeming to end? Col. Wilkerson: I think I'd be moving that way if I were the United States and I had a brain. I'd be moving that way, because as I said, this is a much bigger game than just these regional terrorist groups, or even as you say, terrorist groups with a global capability. Which, to this point, has only been Al Qaeda. I say that because you're looking at a nuclear country in Pakistan. You're looking at a nuclear country in India, and of course, China. You're looking at the intersection of all the interests of these countries, plus the imperial power, the United States, all coming to bear right there. You've got India and Pakistan still not settled, in terms of the main issues between them. You've got Pakistan supporting the Taliban to per debate Afghanistan because that gives India heartburn. You've got Kashmir, again, bubbling a little bit. You've got Modi in India and what he's done to stabilize India; but the problem between the Muslims and the Hindus in that country. You've got India as a major, shall we say bulwark against China. More and more are closely associated with the United States; particularly, it's navy. You've got all these powers aligning themselves from time to time in different ways, but basically, laying themselves down as China versus the United States; and the others having to choose from time to time which side diplomatically or otherwise they'll be on, on any given issue. It's all about power. It's all about grand strategic power. Frankly, these terrorists are insignificant to that. They're a problem. They're a problem that has to be dealt with by all of those countries in the region. Rashkari Kayaba, for example, in Kashmir. They're not the grand strategic problem that the interstices and the interplay of all these great powers and near great powers in the region are. Aaron Mate: Now, on the issue of foreign powers in Afghanistan, I want to play for you the comment of General John Nicholson, the Commander of US forces in Afghanistan. He recently suggested that Russia is now arming the Taliban. This is what he said. John Nicholson: We continue to get reports of this assistance, and of course, we have the overt legitimacy lent to the Taliban by the Russians, that really occurred late last year, beginning through this process they've been undertaking. Reporter: You're not refuting that there's any weapons. John Nicholson: Oh no, I'm not refuting that. Aaron Mate: Colonel, there's a certain irony here, whether or not the charge is true or not; because in the 80s, we all remember that it was the US that waged sort of this proxy fight against Russia through support of the forces that eventually became the Taliban ... Drawing Russia into this long, protracted war inside Afghanistan that lasted about ten years. Now the US is inside Afghanistan as an occupying force of it's own, has been there even longer. It's been there 15 years. Now, we have the US accusing Russia of arming the Taliban, who the US long ago armed to weaken Russia. Col. Wilkerson: You just named the great game. The partners change, the side fluctuate a bit, but the great game goes on. If I were to ... I'm not saying that I believe General Nicholson. I'm not saying that I believe that the Russians are arming the Taliban, but if I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban. I would be turning the tables on the other empire in the world, the United States. I would be doing it for good reasons, good, solid, strategic reasons because the United States is in Afghanistan. That's very close to my borders. I don't like the United States in Afghanistan. I don't like it in Georgia. I don't like it in Ukraine. I don't like it in Latvia, Estonia, or Lithuania, either. This is all about power. It's about strategic power. If I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban against the United States in Afghanistan in an effort to get the United States out of Afghanistan. Aaron Mate: Okay, so I'm sorry to end on this grim note, but you've mentioned all these different foreign powers and their [inaudible 00:15:44] inside Afghanistan. You mentioned you thinking that the US will be there for decades to come. What does this mean then for the people of Afghanistan? Col. Wilkerson: As with the people of all the satellite countries that the United States and the Soviet Union, they then to contesting imperial powers, per debated with their proxy wars and everything, probably the same thing. I mean I recall Central Africa, I recall Angola, I recall Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southeast Asia in general, South America, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras. These are places where the great powers play in their proxy wars. It's all shifted now. Not completely, of course. There's still some things going on in other places, too, like Yemen. It shifted and it's major focus now, instead of being in South America, in Africa, or wherever, it's major focus is right there in Central Asia on the old silk road, if you will, and the contestation between some fairly formidable powers: China, India, Russia, the United States. This is history. It's happening. It's about real power interests. It's about real economic and financial interests. It's going to go on. We use terrorism as an excuse to be places or to do things when in fact, it has very little to do with terrorism and everything to do with great power, economics, and the finances associated with that great power. Aaron Mate: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, now a professor at the College of William and Mary. Colonel, thank you as always. Col. Wilkerson: Thanks for having me. Aaron Mate: Thank you for joining us on 'The Real News.' END -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 7 18:38:09 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 7 May 2017 18:38:09 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Another excellent interview with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, this in relation to N.Korea, on "The Real News" Message-ID: ________________________________ May 2, 2017 Wilkerson: U.S. Incoherence, THAAD Missile System Disrupt the Korean Peninsula Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says the Trump administration's mixed messages on North Korea and the new THAAD missile system are sowing confusion in the Korean Peninsula ahead of a crucial South Korean vote ________________________________ Full Episode The Wilkerson Report [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-05-01/lwilkerson0501afghanistan-thumb.jpg] Wilkerson on Afghanistan: The Longest U.S. War Will Go on for Decades [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-04-01/lwilkerson0501nkorea-thumb.jpg] Wilkerson: U.S. Incoherence, THAAD Missile System Disrupt the Korean Peninsula [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-02-01/lwilkerson0227mcmaster-thumb.jpg] Wilkerson: Trump's New National Security Advisor Believes in Empire, More Realpolitik than Flynn [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-02-01/gcohen0223epa-thumb.jpg] Global Warming is a Public Health Nightmare [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-02-01/lwilkerson0213trump-thumb.jpg] How Trump Could Widen Divisions Within the Republican Party [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2017-01-01/lwilkerson0123report-thumb.jpg] Invoking God, Trump Calls for International War Against ISIS - Is Iraq Next? [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-10-01/lwilkerson1031report-thumb.jpg] Larry Wilkerson: A Solution for Syria Will Require the United States to Concede on Assad [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-10-01/lwilkerson1017mosul-thumb.jpg] After Mosul, Whither ISIS? [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-10-01/lwilkerson1017syria-thumb.jpg] US-Russia Tensions Escalating Over Fate of Assad [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-04-01/lwilkerson0425troops-thumb.jpg] Obama Pressures Germany to Commit More Troops for NATO Exercises on Ukraine Border [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-04-01/lwilkerson0411isis-thumb.jpg] The Problem of International "Terrorism" Is Here To Stay [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2016-02-01/lwilkerson0215syria-thumb.jpg] What Turkey & Saudi Arabia Aim to Gain with Possible Ground Invasion in Syria [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-11-01/lwilkerson1130assad-thumb.jpg] Ousting Assad is Counterproductive and Illegal, Says Congresswoman [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-11-01/lwilkerson1123capitalism-thumb.jpg] Wilkerson: The Hypocrisy of U.S. Syria Policy (2/2) [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-11-01/lwilkerson1123assad-thumb.jpg] Wilkerson: The Hypocrisy of U.S. Syria Policy (1/2) [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-11-01/lwilkerson1116avf-thumb.jpg] Paris Evokes 9/11 in State of Fear and Revenge [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-09-01/lwilkerson0921report-thumb.jpg] Skin in the Game: Poor Kids and Patriots [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-08-01/lwilkerson0824fraud-thumb.jpg] Computer Voting and Stealing Democracy [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-07-01/lwilkerson0728iranturkey2-thumb.jpg] Will Congress Unravel the Iran Nuclear Deal? [http://therealnews.com/media/trn_2015-07-01/lwilkerson0728iranturkey-thumb.jpg] Turkey Enters Fight Against ISIS, But Target is Still Assad [http://therealnews.com/permalinkedgraphics/video_page_banner.png] ________________________________ audio [Share to Facebook] [Share to Twitter] [http://therealnews.com/permalinkedgraphics/webml_share.png] [http://therealnews.com/t2/images/donate_btn.png] "The Real News Network" delivers as the title indicates -"Real News". Not news cycle trash or fluff. - Laviero Log in and tell us why you support TRNN ________________________________ biography Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making." ________________________________ transcript [Wilkerson: U.S. Incoherence, THAAD Missile System Disrupt the Korean Peninsula]Aaron Mate: It's the Real News. I'm Aaron Mate. Amid ongoing tensions, President Trumps says, "We'll see" on military action in North Korea. Donald Trump: Would not happy. If he does a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I can tell you also, I don't believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either. Reporter: Not happy, you mean military action? Donald Trump: I don't know. I mean, we'll see. Aaron Mate: In recent days, Trump has made threats like that, and also said he's open to talks with the North Korean regime. A North Korean missile test this weekend failed for the second time in two weeks. Tensions remain high with the U.S. aircraft carrier, Carl Vinson, still in the Korean peninsula. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson is former chief of staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, now professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Colonel, welcome. Col. Wilkerson: Thanks. Aaron Mate: We have all different kinds of talk coming from the Trump administration. Secretary of State Tillerson said that the White House could open direct talks. Now we have Trump saying, "We'll see" on military action. Can you help us make sense of what this administration's approach is to this very serious issue? Col. Wilkerson: I wish I could make sense of this administration. I don't even pretend to be able to. I can only surmise that on the positive side, what they're trying to do is they're trying to build as much leverage as possible, in other words, in sort of like street talk, they're trying to scare Kim Jong Un and his generals enough so that when they do get to the talks, which they inevitably will get to, they have a high ground from which to negotiate. That's the only rationale thing I can assume here. The frightening side of both that and what might be just plain ineptitude is that one, the high ground for leverage might lead us to an unexpected exchange of fire and war, and two, it might not be what I'm saying it is. It might simply be ineptitude. It might the fact that these people don't know what they're doing. And that scares me to death. There are 250,000 American citizens in and around Seoul. A noncombatant evacuation operation which is contemplated with any war plan, would simply be untenable. You couldn't do it. So you'd lose many of those Americans in the first onslaught. And that first onslaught would be pretty bad. I mean, yes, we'll win against North Korea, we being the United States and our allies, the South Koreans, but it's going to be a bloody fight in that first 90 to 120 days, and we're going to lose a lot of soul and we're going to lose a lot of people, Koreans and Americans. Aaron Mate: Now from ineptitude, I want to go to altitude. That's a terminal high altitude area of defense, this new THAAD missile defense system that's just been put online in South Korea by the U.S. What is the significance of that? Col. Wilkerson: It has a lot of significance that is insignificant, and what I mean by that is, we don't even know if it'll work. That's the first real problem. And it could be a lot of egg on our face if it doesn't, in the event of a firing and our having to fire it. Second, it's extraordinarily expensive and probably is as much where it is in Europe and now on the Korean peninsula to pay off military contractors who get huge profits from this system. And third, it is a destabilizing instrument in the sense that China sees it, its radar in particular, as being against them and not necessarily the North Koreans, just as the Russians do with our systems in Europe. So it's very destabilizing. We're not sure it'll work and it costs unbelievably. And when Donald Trump came out and said that the Koreans were probably going to pay the billion dollar cost for this deployment, I knew the Koreans were going to come back and say, "Ha, in a pig's eye, we are." And of course, he had to back down on that. They're going to have an election. And they're very likely going to elect a president who is not going to be very favorable towards THAAD, and so to get it in there like that, before this president gets elected and therefore hope that's a fait accompli and that we've tied the hands of the new president, was a little bit disingenuous and even stupid, but that's the way this administration operates. So you can see why I'm deeply concerned over what they might cause to happen on the peninsula. Aaron Mate: Yeah, so you mentioned this upcoming election. It's in about a week. The THAAD system has been an issue in this election campaign, and so has relations with North Korea. There's been a conservative government in South Korea for close to a decade, mostly recently under Park Geun-hye who was forced to resign over some corruption issues. But now though, with potentially a progressive government coming in, wanting to revive the Sunshine Policy of better relations with North Korea, what does that portend for the future of this conflict? Can South Korea play more of a role here in diffusing tensions between North Korea and the U.S.? Col. Wilkerson: I certainly hope they can. One of the things that I noted constantly when I was in the George W. Bush administration was that in meeting after meeting after meeting, we rarely, rarely thought about or even considered our ally on the peninsula. It was always about us. It was always this or that thing that pertained to us or our interests, and I would always have to bring up the question of, "What about our ally's interests?" "What about the South Koreans?" I mean, after all, it's going to be their soil upon which the nuclear weapons fall more than likely. So I hope that what you just asked about is answered with yes. The South Koreans are going to get more and more involved, they're going to get more and more attuned to their own interests. Not that they should become a troublesome ally, if you will, but we should pay more attention to what their interests are and what they want to do on the peninsula. And I have to say, because most of my friends, my colleagues, and my contacts, are in the more or less conservative groups in South Korea, but I have to say that the only time that we seem to make any progress with regard to reunification of the peninsula on some decent, stable, prosperous, even terms is when these other governments get in, governments with whom I have not a great deal of contact and don't know a great many people within their political circles. But they do seem to be the only ones who are willing to stand up for Korea as it were, and that needs to happen. Aaron Mate: That's a really interesting revelation about the Bush administration's internal talks about South Korea and the danger from North Korea, because not only are they on the front line there, but also they're hosting 25,000 U.S. troops. So you'd think that people in the government would be also concerned for that purpose, because you have so many American forces there. Col. Wilkerson: Yes. And one could argue that all the exercises, all the Carl Vinsons steaming towards the peninsula, and all the rhetoric, especially this brinksmanship-like rhetoric which is trying to match Kim Jong Un for any brinksmanship deed he does, is very alarming and very disturbing. And it's not the United States that this artillery, Passchendaele or Verdun-like artillery concentrations are going to fall on. It's Korea. It's the capital city of Seoul, one of the most thriving and multifaceted and incredible cities on the face of the earth right now - some 15 million or so souls within its metropolitan area, and that's where these artillery rounds are going to fall. And I can't tell you how many meetings I've been in where we're talking about this situation and we don't even mention our allies. After all, like the Germans, when we were talking about taking Russia on with nuclear weapons on the plains of Europe, the Germans would sometimes look and you know, those weapons are going to fall on our soil. Well, that's what happens when you forget about the people you're allegedly ostensibly defending in the first place. Aaron Mate: You know, in that clip we heard earlier of President Trump, he mentioned the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, as he does often when he talks about North Korea. What do you make of the Trump administration's strategy so far, which appears to be effectively outsourcing the North Korea issue to the Chinese government? Col. Wilkerson: Well, this has been a very interesting series of events with President Trump. First we had one China policy, maybe that's out the door. "I think I'm going to take a telephone call from the president of Taiwan. I might even let the president of Taiwan pass through the United States like a normal human being." And then all of a sudden you get, "Oh no, the one China policy is still operational, and aw yeah, I don't want to hear anymore from those people on Taiwan." And then you get the meeting at Mar-a-Lago and "I'm eating a beautiful piece of chocolate cake while I'm telling the premiere of China or the president of China that I'm sending 59 cruise missiles into Syria." This is all, if it has any coherence at all, and I'm not one who's going to assign it any coherence, but if it has any coherence, it's real estate. It's negotiations. It's let's scare everybody to death. Let's make some people think we're insane. Let's really gain some leverage here, and then let's negotiate. So you really go after China big time. You make Xi feel like he doesn't even know where we're coming from and you try to get him to bring pressure on North Korea. Now, what's going to really happen? What's really going to happen is Xi Jinping is going to act like, and his polit bureau and others are going to act like they've brought more pressure to bear on the DPRK. But are they really going to bring more pressure to bear, because they've got vital stakes in this game, too, and North Korea is a buffer they're never going to give up, not unless they're forced to. So, are they really going to do anything? Yeah, they'll do a little bit. It'll look like things are happening and so forth, and maybe a little bit of pressure will be brought. And maybe that's when we'll say, "Aha, pressure was brought by China. Now we can talk, and we'll sit down and talk." Great. Praise God if we do that. But it'll all be a charade in essence. But if the charade works and we sit down and talk, I'll be the first one to clap. Aaron Mate: Yeah, when you say buffer, just bringing us back to a point we touched on earlier in the conversation, North Korea for China is also a buffer against those 25,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. Col. Wilkerson: Absolutely. And against the potential ... And here's the real slammer here. If you look at the war plans and you look at the flow of forces in those war plans, and remember, I mentioned earlier that those forces are getting slimmer and slimmer and slimmer, but nonetheless, they're still fairly formidable, especially what we call blue air, and that's U.S. air flowing on the peninsula in the event of executing a war plan. It's pretty formidable. I mean, when you talk what's going to come to that peninsula in a very short period of time, under 5027, 5028, 5029, any of the war plans, it's formidable. I mean, you're looking at a lot of bomb dropping capability, of precision guided munition capability coming to that peninsula in a very short time under any one of the war plan scenarios, and primarily to go after that artillery to try and get it before it's shot an eighth or a ninth or a tenth round. So it's awesome, what's coming to that peninsula in the event of executing a war plan. So, yeah, the north needs to know that and they need to be apprised of that. Aaron Mate: Finally, let me ask you about what the North Korea issues means for the broader problem of nuclear proliferation. I imagine that one reason North Korea has been hesitant to give up its nuclear weapon is that it's a bargaining chip, and it's a bargaining chip that deters attacks from countries like the U.S. who have a long history of military action in the peninsula, going back to the Korean War, and threatening North Korea with action over many years. What does North Korea's experience say or portend for other countries viewing nuclear weapons, given that arguably what's prevented a U.S. attack on the regimen in North Korea is the fact that they possess a nuclear weapon? Col. Wilkerson: I think it's a terrible signal that's gone out. Just as terrible as the signal the United States sent by invading Iraq, by attacking Libya and unseating Muammar Gaddafi by sending TLAMs into Syria and so forth. I think we've been sending a signal that other leaders around the world, be they good, bad, or indifferent, have interpreted as I would have interpreted had I been they. And that is, the United States will attack anybody at any time and you better be careful. And if you have a nuclear weapon in your storehouse, you're probably a little bit safer than you would be without one. Well, that sends a signal to people who have the technical and at least the funds to build a nuclear weapon to do so. That's not a very positive signal to be sending out. And ultimately, as I indicated, the United States is responsible for that signal going out. Aaron Mate: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, now professor at the College of William and Mary. Colonel Wilkerson, thank you. Col. Wilkerson: Thanks for having me. Aaron Mate: And thank you for joining us on the Real News. END -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 8 12:38:13 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 12:38:13 +0000 Subject: [Peace] From "The Real News" a worthwhile article Message-ID: * Jobs * Log In Earth Day Denial that War Causes Climate Change FRIDAY, 28 APRIL 2017 06:55 0 Comments By David William Pear, April 26, 2017 The liberal-middleclass is brain dead about the wars. They do not want to hear about war, speak about war or see war protesters. The liberal-middleclass has emotionally numbed out. They have a complete lack of empathy for the millions of people that the USA has slaughtered, the nations that the USA has bombed to piles of rubble, and the suffering the USA has caused to tens of millions of people. Out of sight and out of mind, the USA has destroyed millions of minds, bodies, homes and lives forever. The indifference of the liberal-middleclass is mind boggling. Some sadistically see the war images as entertainment and even beautiful displays of power. I am still reeling from Earth Day and the March for Science. Where was the message that war is destroying the Earth? The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. Why was the Pentagon given a pass on Earth Day? Do scientists deny that war causes global warming? The liberal-middleclass should not feel superior to Republicans and Donald J. Trump about climate change. They have their heads stuck in the sand too. At least the Republicans are honest in their stupidity of denial about climate change. The liberal-middle-class’s dishonest stupidity is to lie by omission and not confront war as the number one polluter. The Pentagon and militarism are the greatest danger to the Earth and every living creature on it. The world is racing headlong towards nuclear war and the liberal-middleclass is in deep denial. Earth Day and the March for Science were more hypocrisy and feel good faux solidarity of concern for the Earth. Earth Day was carefully stage-managed to not offend or affect any change. Earth Day was just a fun day. Those that attended appeared to be mostly liberal-middleclass families, couples, singles and students. It was a sterile showing of solidarity, with the bonus activity of hugging science. Science is worth hugging, but scientists were mum on Earth Day that the Pentagon, militarism and war are the number one threat to the Earth. There were very few speeches, posters or demonstration against war. None of the “Top Ten Posters” were antiwar. Talking about war was a conversation stopper and spoiled the fun for others who just wanted to enjoy organic snacks, browse among sustainable gadgets and grandstand. George Orwell wrote about the mind control effect of conformist demonstrations. They let the public blow off a little steam without any risk, and they reinforce the status quo. It also gives the Thought Police an opportunity to take names of anybody that does not conform. Earth Day was like Orwell’s two minutes of hate. Climate Change is the liberal-middle-class’s hated Emmanuel Goldstein. Big Brother and the main stream media know how to co-opt dissent and make it meaningless, while letting the people feel relevant and powerful. Real protests and real power of the people are brutally crushed by the police state. Any act considered unpatriotic was discouraged during Earth Day. There was no mourning for the millions of people the USA has slaughtered in the past couple of decades. There was no mention of the USA poisoning South Asia with uranium and burn pits billowing out a smorgasbord of carcinogenic chemical pollution. There was no scientific discussion of the poisonous ingredients in the Mother of All Bombs and the pollution caused by war. No discussion of nuclear winter, radiation sickness, and mass starvation from a nuclear war. Nor were there any pledges by scientists not to work for the military industrial complex. Like Mark Twain said about the weather: everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. And they won’t until there is a stop to war. Until then there will be no budget for doing something about climate change. Nor will there be any budget for healthcare, education, mass transportation and relieving suffering and ignorance. Lacking is a massive anti-war movement. I had the personal experience of being a spoiler on Earth Day. I belong to St. Pete for Peace in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It is an anti-war group that has been able to survive the peace drought after the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003. We thought it would be a good idea to take an anti-war rally to Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg where there was an Earth Day fair. Our reception was anything but warm. It was like a cold bucket of Agent Orange. We were warned not to take our anti-war posters into Williams Park. It was not the police that warned us, it was the organizers of St. Pete Earth Day. They told us to stay on the corner across the street and out of sight or they would have us arrested. Thinking that I had a Constitutional right to do so, I walked through the park anyway with an upside down American flag as a freedom of speech statement. I was immediately accosted and told that no demonstrations were allowed. I thought Earth Day was supposed to be a demonstration, and a protest against the continued destruction of the Earth and all its living creatures. Florida is one of those “Stand Your Ground” states. So we stood our ground with open carry of anti-war signs. We were not going to go quietly. As we walked through the fair with our anti-war signs we said “Happy Earth Day” to the vendors and attendees. Their responses were a few polite “thank you’s”. Mostly we got cold stares or avoidance of eye contact. My upside down flag of distress got a few hoots and confrontations. But few people wanted any dialog about war. Normally I do not write about myself, but Earth Day has been eating away at me. It left me angry and dumbfounded. I keep asking myself, “is the liberal-middleclass braindead?” Is it possible for people to want to do something about climate change and not see the connection to war, militarism and empire? They just don’t get it: war, climate change, war, climate change, war… The liberal-middleclass is as stuck in the American mythology as conservative Republicans. They still think that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds; that America is the best country in the world; that America cares about democracy and human rights; and that being anti-war is unpatriotic. The liberal-middleclass are too comfortable in their isolated world of high rise condominiums and SUV’s. What will it take to bring them down from their ivory tower in the mostly white Northside of St. Petersburg? Do they ever think about the mostly black Southside of St. Petersburg and its lack of basic social services? During the rainy season in Florida, the Southside is flooded with raw sewage because the city closed the Albert Whitted sewage treatment plant for lack of funds. The city saved $32 million a year by letting raw sewage flood the black neighborhood and flowing into Tampa Bay where it pollutes the water. What has happened in St. Petersburg has happened in cities all over America. It is called austerity. Funding that should be going to education, housing, mass transportation, healthcare, poverty programs and infrastructure are being sucked out of the economy. The money is going for militarism, war making and war profiteering. The money spent by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the Police State are making us less secure, less safe, and less free. Empire building, imperialism and war are perverting the domestic economy, sucking out its resources and denying citizens of the socialist programs that the Bernie Revolution talked about. Even Bernie Sanders does not take on the military industrial complex. Either Bernie is just another politician or he suffers from cognitive dissonance. His supporters made excuses for him that being anti-war during his 2016 presidential campaign would be “political suicide”, and that secretly Bernie was anti-war. If being anti-war would be political suicide, then how did Bernie’s supporters think that the country could pay for popular social programs like healthcare for everyone and free college? There is not enough money for Bernie’s boondoggle F-35 that doesn’t fly right, never ending wars that cannot be won and popular socialist domestic programs? In a recent CNN interview Bernie said: "Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated, but I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East.” Bernie is part of the problem, not the solution. “Assad has to go and ISIS has to be defeated” is magical thinking without “getting bogged down in perpetual war”. Thinking so is unconsciously letting the warmongers continue the status quo. It is saying more war, more destruction, more death and more climate change. Bernie’s revolution has melted like the Arctic ice. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of significance is going to improve in America until the dogs of war are leashed. Education will not improve. There will be no single payer healthcare, no mass transportation, no free college, no antipoverty programs, no reparations for the oppressed, and no progress made against climate change until we stop the wars. Foreign wars and empire mean more austerity at home. We can be relevant, powerful and do something about climate change and save millions of lives. We can hit the streets with mass protests against war. Support whistleblowers and those that refuse to obey illegal orders. Refuse to cooperate. Be disruptive. Use non-violent civil disobedience to sabotage the war machine. Otherwise, wars have doomed us to the ravages of climate change. Nuclear war is a real possibility that the public is in denial about. A group of scientists just advanced the Doomsday Clock to 2 ½ minutes until midnight at which time we are doomed permanently. Is anybody listening to these scientists? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 8 16:51:49 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 16:51:49 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Excellent Counterpunch article Message-ID: MAY 5, 2017 War and Empire: the American Way of Life by PAUL ATWOOD * * * * Email * * [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2015/07/print-sp.png] [Screen Shot 2017-05-05 at 9.37.19 AM] Photo courtesy of CC BY 2.0 A few months ago I received a message from a professor at the Khomeini Institute for Education and Research in Tehran, Iran, informing me that my 2010 book “War and Empire: The American Way of Life” (London, Pluto Press) had been translated into Farsi. He requested that I write an Introduction for Iranian readers. What follows is that Introduction. Two years ago the Xinhua Peoples’ Press in Beijing, China also published a translation in Mandarin. In the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s 1991 attempt to annex Kuwait the U.S. deliberately destroyed much of Iraq’s water and sewer infrastructure. The Pentagon even admitted on its website that these acts would lead to mass outbreaks of disease. These were certifiable war crimes under international law. After Saddam’s defeat the U.S. also imposed widespread sanctions on his regime that included preventing necessary medicines from reaching Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens perished as a result. In an infamous interview in 1996 Madeleine Albright, then the Secretary of State, was asked to justify the deaths of 500,000 children. She defended these atrocities by saying “I think this is a very hard choice but we think the price is worth it.” Twenty-one years have elapsed since Albright uttered her rationalization of this vicious barbarity and it has been virtually “disappeared” from the collective memory of Americans. But it is far from being the only one. Today much the same is being visited upon the children of Mosul, Syria and Yemen. Fifty thousand more marines are slated for deployment to Afghanistan and the new Defense Secretary’s bellicose rhetoric threatens Iran. When I undertook to write this book I could not imagine that it would ever be translated into Farsi or Mandarin Chinese. Over the course of my teaching career I had become increasingly concerned about the vacancy of knowledge about their nation’s past on the part of my students and by extension many millions of my fellow American citizens. This condition of ignorance is the effect of the incomplete and, too often, dishonest orthodoxy in required school texts and by the distortion of the real past by popular culture, Hollywood films and corporate controlled network television, especially the purported “news.” George Orwell was correct. “Who controls the present controls the past.” What the majority of Americans are conditioned to think they know about their past (and that of many other peoples) is myth, and too often, sheer illusion. Misdirection and manipulation about proclaimed threats from abroad since 1945 has led directly into wars and unjust armed interventions and coups in many other nations. The results are always tragic on a colossal scale. None of this is accidental or new. Since the end of World War II the U.S. ruling elites have set forth an agenda claimed to foster what they call a “liberal world order” in which democracy and human rights for all are the declared goals. But little about real U.S. actions in the world supports these claims. Washington has overthrown elected governments and waged catastrophic war upon helpless civilians in many nations since 1945. The public is told that national security and “vital interests” are at stake and the corporate controlled media ensure that key realities are omitted, or distorted. It is no secret that today much of the human species is living in existential crisis-whether from war, economic exploitation or dire effects of climate change- and the profound ignorance about how the past shapes the present is a major factor in our failure to fashion a more peaceful and beneficial future. This volume is simply an attempt to illuminate much of the hidden history of the United States in the hope that more citizens in the United States will realize that we cannot continue on this destructive path and must find a way to cooperate with other nations instead of seeking to dominate them or outcompete them in a self-defeating contest for diminishing resources. Many American officials pay lip service to international cooperation but they really mean collaboration with the overarching American agenda. The words of those who have formulated the grand strategy for American global dominance since the U.S. emerged as the most militarily dominant nation after WWII must be taken seriously but desires for global dominance were evident long before. Consider the oft-quoted language of George F. Kennan, the U.S. State Department’s architect of the Cold War with the Soviet Union immediately after World War II. In a top secret document circulated only to other key officials he took notice of the fact that the American population was (in 1948) only 6.3% of the world’s but that the U.S. effectively controlled about 50% of the world’s resources. The object of U.S. policy, he declared, should be to maintain that disparity and employ “straight power tactics” to enforce this global inequality, while avoiding all rhetoric about commitment to human rights, raising other peoples’ living standards, democratization and the like. Kennan’s vision, coupled with the U.S. creation of the World Bank and International Monetary fund, anticipated a globalized economy under firm control by American and allied European banks and industries, and backed by American firepower. Much closer in time to the present is the comprehensive plan for complete American dominance of the planet projected in brutally frank and exacting detail by former national security chief Zbigniev Brzezinsky in his book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geo-strategic Imperatives. Eurasia is the globe’s largest continent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominates Asia would dominate two of the three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over Eurasia would almost automatically entail Africa’s subordination…About 75 percent of the world’s people live in Eurasia and most of the world’s wealth is there as well…Eurasia accounts for about three-fourths of the world’s energy resources. Upon assuming the presidency of the U.S. in 2001 George W. Bush filled his administration with so called Neo-Conservatives, members of the Project for a New American Century, who, with their allies in the Pentagon, called for nothing less than “full spectrum dominance” of planet Earth. Exploiting the hysteria mounted in the U.S. after the events of September 11, 2001 Bush II then proceeded to call for all-out war against what he termed the “axis of evil.” General Wesley Clark, a 2004 Democratic Party candidate for president, later revealed that the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld Administration had secret plans all along to overthrow the [warempire] governments of Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia and Sudan, and “finish off” Iran. All that was needed was a “new Pearl Harbor” and the events of September 11, 2001 provided that pretext, launching a state of permanent war primarily against the Muslim world. Citizens of the U.S., like myself, who have long studied these matters and have opposed our nation’s imperial policies know that what these men, and many others like them, have proposed is exactly what they accused Nazi Germany and Communist Russia of attempting. Of course, proponents of what the first Bush deemed the “New World Order” in 1991 allege that this American imperium will constitute a radical departure from past empires and will instead usher in and guarantee a new age of democracy and human rights for all humanity. They assert this even as their bombs and those of their allies shatter the lives literally of millions in the Islamic world. The U.S. began its history as a colony of the early British Empire and an outpost of nascent capitalism though this essential fact is de-emphasized in standard accounts in favor of the claim that the primary incentive for the colonial project was “freedom of religion.” The earliest British colonies in North America, Virginia and Massachusetts, were established as joint-stock companies, precursors of the modern corporation, to return profits to the mother country from resources of fish, game, furs, lumber and later, tobacco, cotton and the industries that followed. Acquisition of these valued assets required the conquest, displacement or extermination of the native populations already living here. The name, Massachusetts, for example, the state where I live, is all that remains of the people who once inhabited the area of what is now Boston. Later, the profits derived from forcible acquisition of the land, and the slave labor to cultivate it underwrote the industrial revolution and this catapulted the United States into position as the richest nation on earth and soon the militarily most powerful. Only a century after breaking away from British rule the United States itself leapt upon the stage of empire to compete with other Europeans for dominance in the world, taking the former Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam by force, and annexing Hawaii. Brooks Adams, the descendant of two presidents, exulted that “this war is the first gun in the battle for ownership of the world.” In the Senate Albert Beveridge proclaimed that “The power that rules the Pacific rules the world.” U.S. entry into both World Wars and all subsequent armed interventions is almost always mystified and characterized as a defense of democracy and human rights. In no case was American national security remotely threatened if by that we mean the vulnerability to invasion and military defeat. Since the end of World War II the United States has waged numerous full scale wars and many smaller conflicts in the name of national security and claims of principle and high ideals. Americans are unremittingly habituated to believe Madeleine Albright’s all-encompassing contention that the United States is “the indispensable nation.” The end result of our actions has been many millions dead, maimed, reduced to penury, and desolated with grief. Americans are encouraged to see ourselves as humanitarians yet the widespread denial of our collective responsibility for the raw misery for those on the receiving end of our military firepower is nothing less than indefensible. Until WWII the U.S. was perceived, if not exactly as a benevolent friend of Muslim peoples, at least it was not yet seen as one more imperial power set upon exploiting the greater Middle East. This positive estimation changed virtually the moment that war ended and the regional shift toward virulent anti-Americanism originated in Iran. During World War II Iran had been co-occupied by Soviet, British and American troops. The Allies violated Iran’s declared neutrality because they thought that the country’s ruler, Reza Shah, was too friendly with Nazi Germany and they wished to use Iranian territory to transship supplies from the Persian Gulf to the USSR. The British owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now British Petroleum) had virtually monopolized production and profits from the industry and the Allies also wanted to prevent the country’s oil reserves from potential access by Germany. The three nations had agreed to withdraw from Iran within six months after the war’s end. In March of 1946 Soviet troops had still not withdrawn and Washington claimed that this was evidence of Stalin’s desire to expand communism and threaten the entire region. The reality was that the Soviet Union had suffered immense damage from the war and needed energy supplies to rebuild. Russians wanted some guarantee from Iran that they could purchase a certain quota of Iranian oil for this purpose and sought to gain an oil concession in the Azerbaijani region of Iran, which bordered the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. Washington and the Iranian government feared that the Soviets might act to annex the territory when Iranian Azerbaijanis declared a separate republic. President Truman later claimed that he threatened the USSR with American military intervention. The U.S. State Department advised the Iranian prime minister, Ahmad Qavam, to negotiate and when Iran accepted the oil concession the Red Army withdrew. However, the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, later disavowed the agreement. These actions undertaken by Washington constituted the first direct American intervention in the Middle East as well as the first skirmish of the post-WWII Cold War. Anti-Soviet rhetoric claimed that the Soviet Union was bent on “world conquest” and pointed to the occupation of Eastern Europe by the Red Army. Omitted was all mention of the fact that as Nazi Germany had marched through the nations of Eastern Europe it had subjected their governments and made them allies. Then many waged war themselves against the USSR. Thus, the Red Army was occupying those nations for the same reason the United States and Britain were occupying Germany, Austria and Italy. American elites had plans for the reconstruction of Europe that would reintegrate the entire region into a revived capitalist order under American authority and communist Russia’s occupation of Eastern Europe was seen to obstruct those goals. No consideration was given to the very real security concerns that the Soviets had, especially about their eastern borders from whence twice in the early 20th Century they had been invaded. In fact, Russian non-actions at the time, not only with respect to Iran, indicated exactly the opposite of what Washington wanted the world to believe. The Red Army could easily have re-entered Iranian territory after the Majlis reneged on the oil concession and there was nothing, short of the atomic bomb that could have dislodged them. But it did not. Within a few years Soviet troops also withdrew from Austria and Manchuria quite in contradiction to the American assertion that they were intent on global conquest. There was no evidence whatever of Soviet designs to expand beyond what it declared to be its security zone in Eastern Europe. The U.S. had committed itself to an adversarial relationship with its former ally, in the absence of which the Nazis would never have been defeated, and it had initiated its long-term intervention into the internal affairs of Iran and many other nations, which, of course, continue to this day. When the Shah was overthrown in 1979 few Americans had any sense of why this occurred, especially because most journalists supinely omitted any reportage of crimes committed by the “king of kings” against the Iranian people. The public had been conditioned to believe for decades that Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was a benevolent sovereign, beloved by his people, a staunch ally of the United States, and a pillar of stability in the region. Most had no sense that the Shah was installed by the Central Intelligence Agency when it conspired with other Iranians to topple the elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 because he had the temerity to insist that the oil resources of his nation were the birthright of the Iranian people rather than the property of western oil companies. The public had no understanding of how brutal the Shah’s dictatorship was in fact and no comprehension of the role Washington had played in enabling his feared secret police, the SAVAK, to terrorize all Iranians who objected to his policies. To the extent that the general public took any notice at all of Iran they accepted the claim that the Shah was America’s “policeman in the Gulf,” aiding the United States in its efforts to “contain” the threat of the Soviet Union. The real menace to the interests of American corporate elites emanated from the upsurge in nationalism among all peoples around the globe who had been victims of western colonialism. World War II effectively finished Europe’s empires and nations from Indonesia, Vietnam, India, to Kenya, Congo, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile and many others were rising in the post-war period to obtain independence, and who, like Iran in the early 1950s, sought to nationalize their resources. From the perspective of the would-be American overlords this was their cardinal sin. Such appropriations of national reserves like Vietnam’s independence movement, Egypt’s nationalization of the Suez Canal, Mossadegh’s actions, or Qassim’s appropriations of oil in Iraq in 1956, if successfully carried out and allowed to stand, would have thwarted the grand strategy of the U.S. to exert American corporate control over such assets, markets and cheaper foreign labor and the immense profits that would acrue to American industrial and banking giants. Since communist ideology also promoted national independence for western colonies intense government and media propaganda convinced the American citizenry that resistance to the American agenda and global turmoil was all the work of the Soviet devil. Even before WWII ended key members of the ruling elite sought preventive measures against a return to depression and mass unemployment. Sixteen million veterans were returning to civilian life. Would they face renewed unemployment and soup kitchens as so many had in the Great Depression of the 1930s? The director of war production, who had formerly been chief executive officer of the General Electric Company, a giant in what President Dwight Eisenhower would later designate the “Military-Industrial Complex,” argued that the U.S. needed a “permanent war economy.” Many of the massive corporations that now dominate the American political economy either grew exponentially during WWII or got their start as a result of government contracts financed by new taxation and borrowing. Only such massive government intervention put citizens back to work or in the military regiments. Given the nature of capitalism few among elite decision makers in the postwar could imagine restructuring such production to meet purely domestic purposes primarily because there was less profit to be made. War or the manufactured threat of war is the lifeblood of the military corporations and their financiers. Thus the ally that had been indispensable in the defeat of Nazism overnight became the new menace to American national security, despite the fact that the USSR had suffered upwards of 30 million deaths and its principal cities lay in ruins. From that moment on the “Cold War” became the ideological organizing touchstone of American society. Even then many citizens resisted the new precepts. Henry Wallace, who had been vice president under Roosevelt, led the popular movement for cooperation between the two post-war giants but he was reviled by the high priests of political orthodoxy as a “fellow traveler” of the communists, as were any who dissented from the new agenda. Inside the inner sanctum of the new “National Security State” a top secret document, NSC-68, specified a comprehensive blueprint to militarize American society, called for a tripling of taxation to expand the military budget and achieve nuclear supremacy by creating the hydrogen bomb. Even so the populace resisted until in the words of Secretary of State Dean Acheson “Thank God Korea came along.” Though Acheson himself had declared that Korea was outside of America’s “defensive perimeter,” warhawks in Washington and on Wall Street declared that the civil war between Korean factions on the other side of the planet imperiled the “free world.” What actually was at risk was the new militarized superstate, and the tax guaranteed profits to the corporations embedded in the war economy. The war that followed left 3 million Koreans and 37,000 US soldiers dead, threatened China with nuclear destruction, leading the Chinese to deploy their own nukes in short order. To cite only some cases, from 1947 to the present the United States has intervened politically or violently in Iran, China, Ukraine, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Vietnam, Guatemala, Indonesia, Congo, Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Laos, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and most recently has intruded brutally in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Syria. Though internal domestic opposition to American interventions and wars has always surfaced the majority of the public historically succumbs to the incessant propaganda projected by U.S. governments of either party and their corporate allies and the media that military action is necessary for reasons of national security or to protect favored allies. Recently “humanitarian intervention” has surfaced as justification for American deployments in Muslim countries. The doctrine’s principal exponent, former UN ambassador Samantha Power, was instrumental in toppling the Libyan regime of Muammar Qaddafi, with catastrophic results for innumerable civilians. Along with her boss Hillary Clinton, and National Security adviser Susan Rice, these “gentle” women also encouraged the Obama administration to support and arm the rebellion against the Assad regime in Syria leading to today’s incessantly violent chaos, uncountable deaths, the outflow of hundreds of thousands of refugees and the destabilization of numerous nations from Africa to Europe. In 1991 the pretext of the communist menace disappeared with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. That brief window of peaceful cooperation closed rapidly and Russia was soon demonized again as the principal menace to “liberal order.” The Trump Administration won election in great part because it promised a more cooperative relationship with Russia, one of the only ray’s of light in that dismal campaign. But what is now termed the American “deep state” is fostering a renewed condition of militarized tension with that nation. Trump also promised millions that he would renew the American economy and bring back jobs for millions who feel betrayed and impoverished by the flight of investment capital overseas in search of cheaper labor and the robotization of such industries that remain. “America First” is Trump’s watchword. Yet he has turned management of the U.S. economy over to the very bankers who orchestrated the swindles that led to the near collapse of the world economy in 2008. As I write these words Trump has launched missiles at a Syrian airfield, employed the U.S.’s deadliest weapon short of nukes in Afghanistan, bombed Yemen, and sent troops to Somalia. His Secretary of Defense, former General James Mattis, affectionately called “mad dog” by his troops, threatens Iran, falsely accusing it of violations of the recently signed agreement on nuclear proliferation. Trump is recklessly threatening North Korea, potentially creating an extreme risk of a nuclear event that would certainly also engage China. He has called for an increase in military spending that by itself is almost larger than the entire military budget of any other country. Despite promises of prosperity for all the taxes to fund all this will fall on the shoulders of the broad American middle class and generations to come, not on the giant corporations that are all but tax exempt- as it appears Trump himself has been for decades. Rather than sanely reducing the risk of war as he promised his presidency looks increasingly worrying. As his foreign policies take shape they are indistinguishable from those of his Democratic Party opponents and the global dominance doctrines of Bush’s neo-conservatives. They are all fated to fail and unless derailed ensure yet more widespread war and suffering. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 8 20:49:35 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 20:49:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] The lesson of East Timor, by John Pilger Message-ID: * * * * * * ort * Op-Edge * In vision * In motion * RT360 * Shows * More HomeOp-Edge The universal lesson of East Timor [John Pilger] Journalist, film-maker and author, John Pilger is one of two to win British journalism’s highest award twice. For his documentary films, he has won an Emmy and a British Academy Award, a BAFTA. Among numerous other awards, he has won a Royal Television Society Best Documentary Award. His epic 1979 Cambodia Year Zero is ranked by the British Film Institute as one of the ten most important documentaries of the 20th century. Published time: 8 May, 2017 11:36 Get short URL [The universal lesson of East Timor] An aerial view of East Timor's town of Dili during sunset. © Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters 21 Filming undercover in East Timor in 1993 I followed a landscape of crosses: great black crosses etched against the sky, crosses on peaks, crosses marching down the hillsides, crosses beside the road. They littered the earth and crowded the eye. The inscriptions on the crosses revealed the extinction of whole families, wiped out in the space of a year, a month, a day. Village after village stood as memorials. Kraras is one such village. Known as the "village of the widows", the population of 287 people was murdered by Indonesian troops. Using a typewriter with a faded ribbon, a local priest had recorded the name, age, cause of death and date of the killing of every victim. In the last column, he identified the Indonesian battalion responsible for each murder. It was evidence of genocide. I still have this document, which I find difficult to put down, as if the blood of East Timor is fresh on its pages. On the list is the dos Anjos family. In 1987, I interviewed Arthur Stevenson, known as Steve, a former Australian commando who had fought the Japanese in the Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1942. He told me the story of Celestino dos Anjos, whose ingenuity and bravery had saved his life, and the lives of other Australian soldiers fighting behind Japanese lines. Steve described the day leaflets fluttered down from a Royal Australian Air Force plane; "We shall never forget you," the leaflets said. Soon afterwards, the Australians were ordered to abandon the island of Timor, leaving the people to their fate. When I met Steve, he had just received a letter from Celestino's son, Virgillo, who was the same age as his own son. Virgillo wrote that his father had survived the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975, but he went on: "In August 1983, Indonesian forces entered our village, Kraras. They looted, burned and massacred, with fighter aircraft overhead. On 27 September 1983, they made my father and my wife dig their own graves and they machine-gunned them. My wife was pregnant." The Kraras list is an extraordinary political document that shames Indonesia's Faustian partners in the West and teaches us how much of the world is run. The fighter aircraft that attacked Kraras came from the United States; the machine guns and surface-to-air missiles came from Britain; the silence and betrayal came from Australia. Read more [Notorious Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot pictured during his show trial July 25, 1997, at the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng in northern Cambodia. © Reuters]From Pol Pot to ISIS: The Blood Never Dried The priest of Kraras wrote on the final page: "To the capitalist governors of the world, Timor's petroleum smells better than Timorese blood and tears. Who will take this truth to the world? ... It is evident that Indonesia would never have committed such a crime if it had not received favourable guarantees from [Western] governments." As the Indonesian dictator General Suharto was about to invade East Timor (the Portuguese had abandoned their colony), he tipped off the ambassadors of Australia, the United States and Britain. In secret cables subsequently leaked, the Australian ambassador, Richard Woolcott, urged his government to "act in a way which would be designed to minimise the public impact in Australia and show private understanding to Indonesia." He alluded to the beckoning spoils of oil and gas in the Timor Sea that separated the island from northern Australia. There was no word of concern for the Timorese. In my experience as a reporter, East Timor was the greatest crime of the late 20th century. I had much to do with Cambodia, yet not even Pol Pot put to death as many people - proportionally - as Suharto killed and starved in East Timor. In 1993, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Australian Parliament estimated that "at least 200,000" East Timorese, a third of the population, had perished under Suharto. Australia was the only western country formally to recognise Indonesia's genocidal conquest. The murderous Indonesian special forces known as Kopassus were trained by Australian special forces at a base near Perth. The prize in resources, said Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, was worth "zillions" of dollars. In my 1994 film, Death of a Nation: the Timor Conspiracy, a gloating Evans is filmed lifting a champagne glass as he and Ali Alatas, Suharto's foreign minister, fly over the Timor Sea, having signed a piratical treaty that divided the oil and gas riches of the Timor Sea. I also filmed witnesses such as Abel Gutteras, now the Ambassador of Timor-Leste (East Timor's post independence name) to Australia. He told me, "We believe we can win and we can count on all those people in the world to listen - that nothing is impossible, and peace and freedom are always worth fighting for." Remarkably, they did win. Many people all over the world did hear them, and a tireless movement added to the pressure on Suharto's backers in Washington, London and Canberra to abandon the dictator. But there was also a silence. For years, the free press of the complicit countries all but ignored East Timor. There were honourable exceptions, such as the courageous Max Stahl, who filmed the 1991 massacre in the Santa Cruz cemetery. Leading journalists almost literally fell at the feet of Suharto. In a photograph of a group of Australian editors visiting Jakarta, led by the Murdoch editor Paul Kelly, one of them is bowing to Suharto, the genocidist. Read more [A Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jet lands at the Avalon Airshow in Victoria, Australia, March 3, 2017. © Australian Defence Force]Australia is sleepwalking into confrontation with China From 1999 to 2002, the Australian Government took an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue from one oil and gas field in the Timor Sea. During the same period, Australia gave less than $200 million in so-called aid to East Timor. In 2002, two months before East Timor won its independence, as Ben Doherty reported in January, "Australia secretly withdrew from the maritime boundary dispute resolution procedures of the UN convention the Law of the Sea, and the equivalent jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, so that it could not be compelled into legally binding international arbitration". The former Prime Minister John Howard has described his government's role in East Timor's independence as "noble". Howard's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, once burst into the cabinet room in Dili, East Timor, and told Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, "We are very tough ... Let me give you a tutorial in politics ..." Today, it is Timor-Leste that is giving the tutorial in politics. After years of trickery and bullying by Canberra, the people of Timor-Leste have demanded and won the right to negotiate before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) a legal maritime boundary and a proper share of the oil and gas. Australia owes Timor Leste a huge debt - some would say, billions of dollars in reparations. Australia should hand over, unconditionally, all royalties collected since Gareth Evans toasted Suharto's dictatorship while flying over the graves of its victims. The Economist lauds Timor-Leste as the most democratic country in southeast Asia today. Is that an accolade? Or does it mean approval of a small and vulnerable country joining the great game of globalisation? For the weakest, globalisation is an insidious colonialism that enables transnational finance and its camp-followers to penetrate deeper, as Edward Said wrote, than the old imperialists in their gun boats. It can mean a model of development that gave Indonesia, under Suharto, gross inequality and corruption; that drove people off their land and into slums, then boasted about a growth rate. The people of Timor-Leste deserve better than faint praise from the "capitalist governors of the world", as the priest of Kraras wrote. They did not fight and die and vote for entrenched poverty and a growth rate. They deserve the right to sustain themselves when the oil and gas run out as it will. At the very least, their courage ought to be a beacon in our memory: a universal political lesson. Bravo, Timor-Leste. Bravo and beware. On May 5, John Pilger was presented with the Order of Timor-Leste by East Timor's Ambassador to Australia, Abel Gutteras, in recognition of his reporting on East Timor under Indonesia's brutal occupation, especially his landmark documentary film, Death of a Nation: the Timor Conspiracy. John Pilger -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Tue May 9 02:03:46 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 21:03:46 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Do you know folks in Bloomington-Normal or Springfield? Message-ID: If you do, please pass this info along to people you know there who may be interested. === IL-13 Listening Session: Bloomington-Normal Hosted by Carol Ammons Thursday at 6 PM - 8 PM Normal Public Library https://www.facebook.com/events/1734564276834066/ IL-13 Listening Session: Springfield Hosted by Carol Ammons Saturday at 2 PM - 4 PM Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation 745 Woodside Rd, Springfield, Illinois 62711 https://www.facebook.com/events/1969554906610770/ === Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Tue May 9 16:17:39 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 09 May 2017 11:17:39 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: AWARE will distribute the following flyer at the Champaign Art Theatre Tuesday, May 9, before the 7pm showing of the film "Sonita," part of THE SEVENTH ART STAND, the Theater's film series against Islamophobia & the #MuslimBan ["Two-time Sundance Film Festival award winner Sonita tells the inspiring story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Going Up the Stairs) poignantly shifts from observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita’s story unfolds in this personal and joyful portrait. An intimate portrait of creativity and womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining the next generation."] ================================== The U.S. is Illegally Making War in the Mideast Pres. Trump: Bring U.S. Troops and Weapons Home The U.S. military is today killing people in seven Mideast and African countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these countries, although most Americans don’t know that. In addition, the 70,000-member U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ - American death squads - are active in three-quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. [Map of Iran, surrounded by US military bases] The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to the drone assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. Since World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. has attempted to exercise military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and mercenaries throughout the Mideast. Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and around the world, call upon President Trump to ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, and human rights; ~ (2) end U.S. wars in the Mideast and war provocations against Russia (in Eastern Europe) and China (in the South China Sea), and stop the drone assassinations; ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); bring U.S. troops (and weapons) home; ~ (4) stop U.S. support for human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia; and ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at : ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ ================================== From cge at shout.net Wed May 10 22:00:49 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 17:00:49 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Comey-dian... In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: [John Steppling] "I keep reading postings about how Trump firing the head of the FBI is an assault on democracy, or the American way of life, or something. The front page of the Huffington Post is hysterical with cries for the need to investigate Russian hacking. I have had three friends (sic) refuse to discuss this with me when I questioned their sanity in believing the russian hacking narrative. Not argue it...but refuse to argue it. Not one, but three. There is no evidence of anything out of the ordinary here. If there were, trust me we would have heard about it by now. "So what I take from this is that the white establishment....to which the aforementioned friends belong, really, is in crises. If Obama had fired the head of the FBI what would the reaction have been? (the answer is nothing.) "But how is the US/Saudi assault on a defenceless Yemen not an assault on Democracy? I mean congress didnt authorize it did they? Or how is the orgy of state murder in Arkansas...including the suppression of new evidence that might have exonerated one of the men executed.....how is that not an assault on Democracy? How is the illegal assassination of Qadaffi not an assault on Democracy or the coup orchestrated by Clinton as secretary of state in Ukraine not an assault on Democracy? How is the coup in Honduras or the current attacks on Venezuela not ....well...you get the idea. How is the war on Syria.....and it is ON SYRIA.....how is that not cause for outrage? None of these things matter to liberal America. Dead Arab children....pshaw...can't be bothered. The execution of mentally impaired men, from the underclass, denied adequate representation....meh, cant be bothered. BUT....but when Trump fires the head of a notoriously corrupt organ of surveillance and arrest and worse.....an organization founded to quell dissent and rid the nation of commies and minority troublemakers......how am I supposed to care exactly?" --CGE From mickalideh at gmail.com Wed May 10 23:22:54 2017 From: mickalideh at gmail.com (Harry Mickalide) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 18:22:54 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: It still seems weird to me that AWARE is willing to engage in the long-term work of education, but will not support Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 doing concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus. On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 11:17 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > AWARE will distribute the following flyer at the Champaign Art Theatre > Tuesday, May 9, before the 7pm showing of the film "Sonita," part of THE > SEVENTH ART STAND, the Theater's film series against Islamophobia & the > #MuslimBan > > ["Two-time Sundance Film Festival award winner Sonita tells the inspiring > story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks > of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of > becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other > teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different > future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. Iranian director > Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Going Up the Stairs) poignantly shifts from > observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita’s story unfolds in > this personal and joyful portrait. An intimate portrait of creativity and > womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting > contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining > the next generation."] > > ================================== > The U.S. is Illegally Making War in the Mideast > Pres. Trump: Bring U.S. Troops and Weapons Home > > The U.S. military is today killing people in seven Mideast and African > countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. > Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these countries, although most > Americans don’t know that. In addition, the 70,000-member U.S. ‘Special > Operations Command’ - American death squads - are active in three-quarters > of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping > (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. > > [Map of Iran, surrounded by US military bases] > > The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact > creating terrorists - in response particularly to the drone assassinations, > “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed > more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. > > Since World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. has attempted to exercise > military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. > doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by > America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them > gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - > a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one > percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a > million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and > mercenaries throughout the Mideast. > > Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and > around the world, call upon President Trump to > ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, > and human rights; > ~ (2) end U.S. wars in the Mideast and war provocations against Russia (in > Eastern Europe) and China (in the South China Sea), and stop the drone > assassinations; > ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 > foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); > bring U.S. troops (and weapons) home; > ~ (4) stop U.S. support for human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi > Arabia; and > ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. > > ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at > : > ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast > ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ > ================================== > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mickalideh at gmail.com Wed May 10 23:26:13 2017 From: mickalideh at gmail.com (Harry Mickalide) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 18:26:13 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: Like, we in AWARE want to distribute power more evenly across the world, but we are unwilling to support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university. On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 6:22 PM, Harry Mickalide wrote: > It still seems weird to me that AWARE is willing to engage in the > long-term work of education, but will not support Black Students for > Revolution or Project1000 doing concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work > on campus. > > On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 11:17 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> AWARE will distribute the following flyer at the Champaign Art Theatre >> Tuesday, May 9, before the 7pm showing of the film "Sonita," part of THE >> SEVENTH ART STAND, the Theater's film series against Islamophobia & the >> #MuslimBan >> >> ["Two-time Sundance Film Festival award winner Sonita tells the inspiring >> story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks >> of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of >> becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other >> teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different >> future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. Iranian director >> Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Going Up the Stairs) poignantly shifts from >> observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita’s story unfolds in >> this personal and joyful portrait. An intimate portrait of creativity and >> womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting >> contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining >> the next generation."] >> >> ================================== >> The U.S. is Illegally Making War in the Mideast >> Pres. Trump: Bring U.S. Troops and Weapons Home >> >> The U.S. military is today killing people in seven Mideast and African >> countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. >> Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these countries, although most >> Americans don’t know that. In addition, the 70,000-member U.S. ‘Special >> Operations Command’ - American death squads - are active in three-quarters >> of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping >> (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. >> >> [Map of Iran, surrounded by US military bases] >> >> The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in >> fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to the drone >> assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - >> which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and >> hundreds of children. >> >> Since World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. has attempted to exercise >> military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. >> doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by >> America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them >> gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - >> a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one >> percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a >> million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and >> mercenaries throughout the Mideast. >> >> Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and >> around the world, call upon President Trump to >> ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, >> and human rights; >> ~ (2) end U.S. wars in the Mideast and war provocations against Russia >> (in Eastern Europe) and China (in the South China Sea), and stop the drone >> assassinations; >> ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 >> foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); >> bring U.S. troops (and weapons) home; >> ~ (4) stop U.S. support for human rights abusers, notably Israel and >> Saudi Arabia; and >> ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. >> >> ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at >> : >> ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast >> ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ >> ================================== >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 02:18:30 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 21:18:30 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: <19D31995-628F-42C0-BC1C-205F0E09A25A@illinois.edu> Harry— It would be helpful to members and friends of AWARE (‘Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort’) - and others - if you would set out (1) what the "concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus” being done by Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 consists of; and (2) what "support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university” are asking for. Regards, Carl > On May 10, 2017, at 6:26 PM, Harry Mickalide via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Like, we in AWARE want to distribute power more evenly across the world, but we are unwilling to support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university. > > On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 6:22 PM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: > It still seems weird to me that AWARE is willing to engage in the long-term work of education, but will not support Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 doing concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus. > > On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 11:17 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: > AWARE will distribute the following flyer at the Champaign Art Theatre Tuesday, May 9, before the 7pm showing of the film "Sonita," part of THE SEVENTH ART STAND, the Theater's film series against Islamophobia & the #MuslimBan > > ["Two-time Sundance Film Festival award winner Sonita tells the inspiring story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Going Up the Stairs) poignantly shifts from observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita’s story unfolds in this personal and joyful portrait. An intimate portrait of creativity and womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining the next generation."] > > ================================== > The U.S. is Illegally Making War in the Mideast > Pres. Trump: Bring U.S. Troops and Weapons Home > > The U.S. military is today killing people in seven Mideast and African countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these countries, although most Americans don’t know that. In addition, the 70,000-member U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ - American death squads - are active in three-quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. > > [Map of Iran, surrounded by US military bases] > > The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to the drone assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. > > Since World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. has attempted to exercise military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and mercenaries throughout the Mideast. > > Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and around the world, call upon President Trump to > ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, and human rights; > ~ (2) end U.S. wars in the Mideast and war provocations against Russia (in Eastern Europe) and China (in the South China Sea), and stop the drone assassinations; > ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); bring U.S. troops (and weapons) home; > ~ (4) stop U.S. support for human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia; and > ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. > > ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at > : > ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast > ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ > ================================== > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kmedina67 at gmail.com Thu May 11 03:46:54 2017 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 22:46:54 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Message-ID: Amen, Harry.Amen, Project1000Amen, Black Students for Revolution -karen medinaAWARE member Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: Harry Mickalide via Peace-discuss Date: 5/10/17 18:26 (GMT-06:00) To: "C. G. Estabrook" Cc: Peace List , Peace-discuss List , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Like, we in AWARE want to distribute power more evenly across the world, but we are unwilling to support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university. On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 6:22 PM, Harry Mickalide wrote: It still seems weird to me that AWARE is willing to engage in the long-term work of education, but will not support Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 doing concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus. On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 11:17 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: AWARE will distribute the following flyer at the Champaign Art Theatre Tuesday, May 9, before the 7pm showing of the film "Sonita," part of THE SEVENTH ART STAND, the Theater's film series against Islamophobia & the #MuslimBan ["Two-time Sundance Film Festival award winner Sonita tells the inspiring story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different future planned for her: as a bride she’s worth $9,000. Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Going Up the Stairs) poignantly shifts from observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita’s story unfolds in this personal and joyful portrait. An intimate portrait of creativity and womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining the next generation."] ================================== The U.S. is Illegally Making War in the Mideast Pres. Trump: Bring U.S. Troops and Weapons Home The U.S. military is today killing people in seven Mideast and African countries - Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan. Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these countries, although most Americans don’t know that. In addition, the 70,000-member U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ - American death squads - are active in three-quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. [Map of Iran, surrounded by US military bases] The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to the drone assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. Since World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. has attempted to exercise military control over the Mideast and its energy resources. The U.S. doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - a chokehold which benefits only the American economic elite, the one percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and mercenaries throughout the Mideast. Those of us in AWARE, like other anti-war groups in the United States and around the world, call upon President Trump to ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, and human rights; ~ (2) end U.S. wars in the Mideast and war provocations against Russia (in Eastern Europe) and China (in the South China Sea), and stop the drone assassinations; ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); bring U.S. troops (and weapons) home; ~ (4) stop U.S. support for human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia; and ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at : ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ ================================== _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kmedina67 at gmail.com Thu May 11 03:57:48 2017 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 22:57:48 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Message-ID: Carl,   You have seen a copy of the demands of the Students. Months ago. It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands.-karen medina Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: "Carl G. Estabrook via Peace" Date: 5/10/17 21:18 (GMT-06:00) To: Harry Mickalide Cc: peace , "C. G. ESTABROOK" , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Harry— It would be helpful to members and friends of AWARE (‘Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort’) - and others - if you would set out  (1) what the "concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus” being done by Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 consists of; and  (2) what "support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university” are asking for. Regards, Carl  -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 04:15:15 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 23:15:15 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5AF4642D-553F-42BA-AFB4-A0A63B9D84BC@illinois.edu> I recall reading that. It seemed to me at the time susceptible to e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >. AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE > On May 10, 2017, at 10:57 PM, kmedina67 wrote: > > Carl, > > You have seen a copy of the demands of the Students. Months ago. > > It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. > -karen medina > > Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "Carl G. Estabrook via Peace" > Date: 5/10/17 21:18 (GMT-06:00) > To: Harry Mickalide > Cc: peace , "C. G. ESTABROOK" , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List > Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm > > Harry— > > It would be helpful to members and friends of AWARE (‘Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort’) - and others - if you would set out > > (1) what the "concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus” being done by Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 consists of; and > > (2) what "support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university” are asking for. > > Regards, Carl > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Thu May 11 04:36:38 2017 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 04:36:38 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] From "The Real News" a worthwhile article In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <2600401A-2B87-4430-852C-9BF8E46DA054@illinois.edu> Pretty good, but weak on the science, as, for example in the statement: The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. He lets his antiwar feelings mislead him on the science of global warming and what it is due to. —mkb On May 8, 2017, at 7:38 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: * Jobs * Log In Earth Day Denial that War Causes Climate Change FRIDAY, 28 APRIL 2017 06:55 0 Comments By David William Pear, April 26, 2017 The liberal-middleclass is brain dead about the wars. They do not want to hear about war, speak about war or see war protesters. The liberal-middleclass has emotionally numbed out. They have a complete lack of empathy for the millions of people that the USA has slaughtered, the nations that the USA has bombed to piles of rubble, and the suffering the USA has caused to tens of millions of people. Out of sight and out of mind, the USA has destroyed millions of minds, bodies, homes and lives forever. The indifference of the liberal-middleclass is mind boggling. Some sadistically see the war images as entertainment and even beautiful displays of power. I am still reeling from Earth Day and the March for Science. Where was the message that war is destroying the Earth? The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. Why was the Pentagon given a pass on Earth Day? Do scientists deny that war causes global warming? The liberal-middleclass should not feel superior to Republicans and Donald J. Trump about climate change. They have their heads stuck in the sand too. At least the Republicans are honest in their stupidity of denial about climate change. The liberal-middle-class’s dishonest stupidity is to lie by omission and not confront war as the number one polluter. The Pentagon and militarism are the greatest danger to the Earth and every living creature on it. The world is racing headlong towards nuclear war and the liberal-middleclass is in deep denial. Earth Day and the March for Science were more hypocrisy and feel good faux solidarity of concern for the Earth. Earth Day was carefully stage-managed to not offend or affect any change. Earth Day was just a fun day. Those that attended appeared to be mostly liberal-middleclass families, couples, singles and students. It was a sterile showing of solidarity, with the bonus activity of hugging science. Science is worth hugging, but scientists were mum on Earth Day that the Pentagon, militarism and war are the number one threat to the Earth. There were very few speeches, posters or demonstration against war. None of the “Top Ten Posters” were antiwar. Talking about war was a conversation stopper and spoiled the fun for others who just wanted to enjoy organic snacks, browse among sustainable gadgets and grandstand. George Orwell wrote about the mind control effect of conformist demonstrations. They let the public blow off a little steam without any risk, and they reinforce the status quo. It also gives the Thought Police an opportunity to take names of anybody that does not conform. Earth Day was like Orwell’s two minutes of hate. Climate Change is the liberal-middle-class’s hated Emmanuel Goldstein. Big Brother and the main stream media know how to co-opt dissent and make it meaningless, while letting the people feel relevant and powerful. Real protests and real power of the people are brutally crushed by the police state. Any act considered unpatriotic was discouraged during Earth Day. There was no mourning for the millions of people the USA has slaughtered in the past couple of decades. There was no mention of the USA poisoning South Asia with uranium and burn pits billowing out a smorgasbord of carcinogenic chemical pollution. There was no scientific discussion of the poisonous ingredients in the Mother of All Bombs and the pollution caused by war. No discussion of nuclear winter, radiation sickness, and mass starvation from a nuclear war. Nor were there any pledges by scientists not to work for the military industrial complex. Like Mark Twain said about the weather: everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. And they won’t until there is a stop to war. Until then there will be no budget for doing something about climate change. Nor will there be any budget for healthcare, education, mass transportation and relieving suffering and ignorance. Lacking is a massive anti-war movement. I had the personal experience of being a spoiler on Earth Day. I belong to St. Pete for Peace in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It is an anti-war group that has been able to survive the peace drought after the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003. We thought it would be a good idea to take an anti-war rally to Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg where there was an Earth Day fair. Our reception was anything but warm. It was like a cold bucket of Agent Orange. We were warned not to take our anti-war posters into Williams Park. It was not the police that warned us, it was the organizers of St. Pete Earth Day. They told us to stay on the corner across the street and out of sight or they would have us arrested. Thinking that I had a Constitutional right to do so, I walked through the park anyway with an upside down American flag as a freedom of speech statement. I was immediately accosted and told that no demonstrations were allowed. I thought Earth Day was supposed to be a demonstration, and a protest against the continued destruction of the Earth and all its living creatures. Florida is one of those “Stand Your Ground” states. So we stood our ground with open carry of anti-war signs. We were not going to go quietly. As we walked through the fair with our anti-war signs we said “Happy Earth Day” to the vendors and attendees. Their responses were a few polite “thank you’s”. Mostly we got cold stares or avoidance of eye contact. My upside down flag of distress got a few hoots and confrontations. But few people wanted any dialog about war. Normally I do not write about myself, but Earth Day has been eating away at me. It left me angry and dumbfounded. I keep asking myself, “is the liberal-middleclass braindead?” Is it possible for people to want to do something about climate change and not see the connection to war, militarism and empire? They just don’t get it: war, climate change, war, climate change, war… The liberal-middleclass is as stuck in the American mythology as conservative Republicans. They still think that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds; that America is the best country in the world; that America cares about democracy and human rights; and that being anti-war is unpatriotic. The liberal-middleclass are too comfortable in their isolated world of high rise condominiums and SUV’s. What will it take to bring them down from their ivory tower in the mostly white Northside of St. Petersburg? Do they ever think about the mostly black Southside of St. Petersburg and its lack of basic social services? During the rainy season in Florida, the Southside is flooded with raw sewage because the city closed the Albert Whitted sewage treatment plant for lack of funds. The city saved $32 million a year by letting raw sewage flood the black neighborhood and flowing into Tampa Bay where it pollutes the water. What has happened in St. Petersburg has happened in cities all over America. It is called austerity. Funding that should be going to education, housing, mass transportation, healthcare, poverty programs and infrastructure are being sucked out of the economy. The money is going for militarism, war making and war profiteering. The money spent by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the Police State are making us less secure, less safe, and less free. Empire building, imperialism and war are perverting the domestic economy, sucking out its resources and denying citizens of the socialist programs that the Bernie Revolution talked about. Even Bernie Sanders does not take on the military industrial complex. Either Bernie is just another politician or he suffers from cognitive dissonance. His supporters made excuses for him that being anti-war during his 2016 presidential campaign would be “political suicide”, and that secretly Bernie was anti-war. If being anti-war would be political suicide, then how did Bernie’s supporters think that the country could pay for popular social programs like healthcare for everyone and free college? There is not enough money for Bernie’s boondoggle F-35 that doesn’t fly right, never ending wars that cannot be won and popular socialist domestic programs? In a recent CNN interview Bernie said: "Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated, but I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East.” Bernie is part of the problem, not the solution. “Assad has to go and ISIS has to be defeated” is magical thinking without “getting bogged down in perpetual war”. Thinking so is unconsciously letting the warmongers continue the status quo. It is saying more war, more destruction, more death and more climate change. Bernie’s revolution has melted like the Arctic ice. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of significance is going to improve in America until the dogs of war are leashed. Education will not improve. There will be no single payer healthcare, no mass transportation, no free college, no antipoverty programs, no reparations for the oppressed, and no progress made against climate change until we stop the wars. Foreign wars and empire mean more austerity at home. We can be relevant, powerful and do something about climate change and save millions of lives. We can hit the streets with mass protests against war. Support whistleblowers and those that refuse to obey illegal orders. Refuse to cooperate. Be disruptive. Use non-violent civil disobedience to sabotage the war machine. Otherwise, wars have doomed us to the ravages of climate change. Nuclear war is a real possibility that the public is in denial about. A group of scientists just advanced the Doomsday Clock to 2 ½ minutes until midnight at which time we are doomed permanently. Is anybody listening to these scientists? _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kmedina67 at gmail.com Thu May 11 04:48:20 2017 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 23:48:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Message-ID: Point to items on their list of demands that are identity politics. -------- Original message --------From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Date: 5/10/17 23:15 (GMT-06:00) To: kmedina67 Cc: Harry Mickalide , peace , "C. G. ESTABROOK" , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm I recall reading that. It seemed to me at the time susceptible to e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort.   —CGE   On May 10, 2017, at 10:57 PM, kmedina67 wrote: Carl,   You have seen a copy of the demands of the Students. Months ago. It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands.-karen medina Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: "Carl G. Estabrook via Peace" Date: 5/10/17 21:18 (GMT-06:00) To: Harry Mickalide Cc: peace , "C. G. ESTABROOK" , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Harry— It would be helpful to members and friends of AWARE (‘Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort’) - and others - if you would set out  (1) what the "concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus” being done by Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 consists of; and  (2) what "support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university” are asking for. Regards, Carl  -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 05:02:10 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 00:02:10 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0B97F573-46D6-4F75-A93B-A69C8F9C227D@illinois.edu> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > On May 10, 2017, at 11:48 PM, kmedina67 via Peace-discuss wrote: > > > Point to items on their list of demands that are identity politics. > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "Carl G. Estabrook" > Date: 5/10/17 23:15 (GMT-06:00) > To: kmedina67 > Cc: Harry Mickalide , peace , "C. G. ESTABROOK" , prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List > Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm > > I recall reading that. It seemed to me at the time susceptible to e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: > > >. > > AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. > > We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. > > But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. > > —CGE > > >> On May 10, 2017, at 10:57 PM, kmedina67 > wrote: >> >> Carl, >> >> You have seen a copy of the demands of the Students. Months ago. >> >> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >> -karen medina >> >> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: "Carl G. Estabrook via Peace" > >> Date: 5/10/17 21:18 (GMT-06:00) >> To: Harry Mickalide > >> Cc: peace >, "C. G. ESTABROOK" >, prairiegreens at lists.chambana.net , Peace-discuss List > >> Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm >> >> Harry— >> >> It would be helpful to members and friends of AWARE (‘Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort’) - and others - if you would set out >> >> (1) what the "concrete anti-racist anti-capitalist work on campus” being done by Black Students for Revolution or Project1000 consists of; and >> >> (2) what "support the students trying to seize power and democratize our own university” are asking for. >> >> Regards, Carl >> > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 11:24:56 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 11:24:56 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] From "The Real News" a worthwhile article In-Reply-To: <2600401A-2B87-4430-852C-9BF8E46DA054@illinois.edu> References: <2600401A-2B87-4430-852C-9BF8E46DA054@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Mort Are you saying that he is wrong, the Pentagon isn’t the number one polluter of the Earth? On May 10, 2017, at 21:36, Brussel, Morton K > wrote: Pretty good, but weak on the science, as, for example in the statement: The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. He lets his antiwar feelings mislead him on the science of global warming and what it is due to. —mkb On May 8, 2017, at 7:38 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: * Jobs * Log In Earth Day Denial that War Causes Climate Change FRIDAY, 28 APRIL 2017 06:55 0 Comments By David William Pear, April 26, 2017 The liberal-middleclass is brain dead about the wars. They do not want to hear about war, speak about war or see war protesters. The liberal-middleclass has emotionally numbed out. They have a complete lack of empathy for the millions of people that the USA has slaughtered, the nations that the USA has bombed to piles of rubble, and the suffering the USA has caused to tens of millions of people. Out of sight and out of mind, the USA has destroyed millions of minds, bodies, homes and lives forever. The indifference of the liberal-middleclass is mind boggling. Some sadistically see the war images as entertainment and even beautiful displays of power. I am still reeling from Earth Day and the March for Science. Where was the message that war is destroying the Earth? The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. Why was the Pentagon given a pass on Earth Day? Do scientists deny that war causes global warming? The liberal-middleclass should not feel superior to Republicans and Donald J. Trump about climate change. They have their heads stuck in the sand too. At least the Republicans are honest in their stupidity of denial about climate change. The liberal-middle-class’s dishonest stupidity is to lie by omission and not confront war as the number one polluter. The Pentagon and militarism are the greatest danger to the Earth and every living creature on it. The world is racing headlong towards nuclear war and the liberal-middleclass is in deep denial. Earth Day and the March for Science were more hypocrisy and feel good faux solidarity of concern for the Earth. Earth Day was carefully stage-managed to not offend or affect any change. Earth Day was just a fun day. Those that attended appeared to be mostly liberal-middleclass families, couples, singles and students. It was a sterile showing of solidarity, with the bonus activity of hugging science. Science is worth hugging, but scientists were mum on Earth Day that the Pentagon, militarism and war are the number one threat to the Earth. There were very few speeches, posters or demonstration against war. None of the “Top Ten Posters” were antiwar. Talking about war was a conversation stopper and spoiled the fun for others who just wanted to enjoy organic snacks, browse among sustainable gadgets and grandstand. George Orwell wrote about the mind control effect of conformist demonstrations. They let the public blow off a little steam without any risk, and they reinforce the status quo. It also gives the Thought Police an opportunity to take names of anybody that does not conform. Earth Day was like Orwell’s two minutes of hate. Climate Change is the liberal-middle-class’s hated Emmanuel Goldstein. Big Brother and the main stream media know how to co-opt dissent and make it meaningless, while letting the people feel relevant and powerful. Real protests and real power of the people are brutally crushed by the police state. Any act considered unpatriotic was discouraged during Earth Day. There was no mourning for the millions of people the USA has slaughtered in the past couple of decades. There was no mention of the USA poisoning South Asia with uranium and burn pits billowing out a smorgasbord of carcinogenic chemical pollution. There was no scientific discussion of the poisonous ingredients in the Mother of All Bombs and the pollution caused by war. No discussion of nuclear winter, radiation sickness, and mass starvation from a nuclear war. Nor were there any pledges by scientists not to work for the military industrial complex. Like Mark Twain said about the weather: everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. And they won’t until there is a stop to war. Until then there will be no budget for doing something about climate change. Nor will there be any budget for healthcare, education, mass transportation and relieving suffering and ignorance. Lacking is a massive anti-war movement. I had the personal experience of being a spoiler on Earth Day. I belong to St. Pete for Peace in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It is an anti-war group that has been able to survive the peace drought after the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003. We thought it would be a good idea to take an anti-war rally to Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg where there was an Earth Day fair. Our reception was anything but warm. It was like a cold bucket of Agent Orange. We were warned not to take our anti-war posters into Williams Park. It was not the police that warned us, it was the organizers of St. Pete Earth Day. They told us to stay on the corner across the street and out of sight or they would have us arrested. Thinking that I had a Constitutional right to do so, I walked through the park anyway with an upside down American flag as a freedom of speech statement. I was immediately accosted and told that no demonstrations were allowed. I thought Earth Day was supposed to be a demonstration, and a protest against the continued destruction of the Earth and all its living creatures. Florida is one of those “Stand Your Ground” states. So we stood our ground with open carry of anti-war signs. We were not going to go quietly. As we walked through the fair with our anti-war signs we said “Happy Earth Day” to the vendors and attendees. Their responses were a few polite “thank you’s”. Mostly we got cold stares or avoidance of eye contact. My upside down flag of distress got a few hoots and confrontations. But few people wanted any dialog about war. Normally I do not write about myself, but Earth Day has been eating away at me. It left me angry and dumbfounded. I keep asking myself, “is the liberal-middleclass braindead?” Is it possible for people to want to do something about climate change and not see the connection to war, militarism and empire? They just don’t get it: war, climate change, war, climate change, war… The liberal-middleclass is as stuck in the American mythology as conservative Republicans. They still think that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds; that America is the best country in the world; that America cares about democracy and human rights; and that being anti-war is unpatriotic. The liberal-middleclass are too comfortable in their isolated world of high rise condominiums and SUV’s. What will it take to bring them down from their ivory tower in the mostly white Northside of St. Petersburg? Do they ever think about the mostly black Southside of St. Petersburg and its lack of basic social services? During the rainy season in Florida, the Southside is flooded with raw sewage because the city closed the Albert Whitted sewage treatment plant for lack of funds. The city saved $32 million a year by letting raw sewage flood the black neighborhood and flowing into Tampa Bay where it pollutes the water. What has happened in St. Petersburg has happened in cities all over America. It is called austerity. Funding that should be going to education, housing, mass transportation, healthcare, poverty programs and infrastructure are being sucked out of the economy. The money is going for militarism, war making and war profiteering. The money spent by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the Police State are making us less secure, less safe, and less free. Empire building, imperialism and war are perverting the domestic economy, sucking out its resources and denying citizens of the socialist programs that the Bernie Revolution talked about. Even Bernie Sanders does not take on the military industrial complex. Either Bernie is just another politician or he suffers from cognitive dissonance. His supporters made excuses for him that being anti-war during his 2016 presidential campaign would be “political suicide”, and that secretly Bernie was anti-war. If being anti-war would be political suicide, then how did Bernie’s supporters think that the country could pay for popular social programs like healthcare for everyone and free college? There is not enough money for Bernie’s boondoggle F-35 that doesn’t fly right, never ending wars that cannot be won and popular socialist domestic programs? In a recent CNN interview Bernie said: "Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated, but I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East.” Bernie is part of the problem, not the solution. “Assad has to go and ISIS has to be defeated” is magical thinking without “getting bogged down in perpetual war”. Thinking so is unconsciously letting the warmongers continue the status quo. It is saying more war, more destruction, more death and more climate change. Bernie’s revolution has melted like the Arctic ice. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of significance is going to improve in America until the dogs of war are leashed. Education will not improve. There will be no single payer healthcare, no mass transportation, no free college, no antipoverty programs, no reparations for the oppressed, and no progress made against climate change until we stop the wars. Foreign wars and empire mean more austerity at home. We can be relevant, powerful and do something about climate change and save millions of lives. We can hit the streets with mass protests against war. Support whistleblowers and those that refuse to obey illegal orders. Refuse to cooperate. Be disruptive. Use non-violent civil disobedience to sabotage the war machine. Otherwise, wars have doomed us to the ravages of climate change. Nuclear war is a real possibility that the public is in denial about. A group of scientists just advanced the Doomsday Clock to 2 ½ minutes until midnight at which time we are doomed permanently. Is anybody listening to these scientists? _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kmedina67 at gmail.com Thu May 11 14:06:18 2017 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 09:06:18 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm Message-ID: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: "Carl G. Estabrook"  Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort.   —CGE Carl,   It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands.-karen medina -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 14:20:45 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 09:20:45 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re >: > ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). > See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : > > "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. > "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. > "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. > > It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) > It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. > >. > > AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. > And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. > > I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl > On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace wrote: > > > Carl, Google it. > > Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "Carl G. Estabrook" > > Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > > >> > wrote: >> >> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >> >> >. >> >> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >> >> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >> >> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >> >> —CGE >> >> >>> >>> >>> Carl, >>> >>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>> -karen medina >>> > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Thu May 11 15:02:31 2017 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 15:02:31 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] From "The Real News" a worthwhile article In-Reply-To: References: <2600401A-2B87-4430-852C-9BF8E46DA054@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <4688CA43-AD2A-4D86-9460-BFE90022A922@illinois.edu> Insofar as CO2 emissions and climate change, yes. On May 11, 2017, at 6:24 AM, Karen Aram > wrote: Mort Are you saying that he is wrong, the Pentagon isn’t the number one polluter of the Earth? On May 10, 2017, at 21:36, Brussel, Morton K > wrote: Pretty good, but weak on the science, as, for example in the statement: The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. He lets his antiwar feelings mislead him on the science of global warming and what it is due to. —mkb On May 8, 2017, at 7:38 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: * Jobs * Log In Earth Day Denial that War Causes Climate Change FRIDAY, 28 APRIL 2017 06:55 0 Comments By David William Pear, April 26, 2017 The liberal-middleclass is brain dead about the wars. They do not want to hear about war, speak about war or see war protesters. The liberal-middleclass has emotionally numbed out. They have a complete lack of empathy for the millions of people that the USA has slaughtered, the nations that the USA has bombed to piles of rubble, and the suffering the USA has caused to tens of millions of people. Out of sight and out of mind, the USA has destroyed millions of minds, bodies, homes and lives forever. The indifference of the liberal-middleclass is mind boggling. Some sadistically see the war images as entertainment and even beautiful displays of power. I am still reeling from Earth Day and the March for Science. Where was the message that war is destroying the Earth? The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. Why was the Pentagon given a pass on Earth Day? Do scientists deny that war causes global warming? The liberal-middleclass should not feel superior to Republicans and Donald J. Trump about climate change. They have their heads stuck in the sand too. At least the Republicans are honest in their stupidity of denial about climate change. The liberal-middle-class’s dishonest stupidity is to lie by omission and not confront war as the number one polluter. The Pentagon and militarism are the greatest danger to the Earth and every living creature on it. The world is racing headlong towards nuclear war and the liberal-middleclass is in deep denial. Earth Day and the March for Science were more hypocrisy and feel good faux solidarity of concern for the Earth. Earth Day was carefully stage-managed to not offend or affect any change. Earth Day was just a fun day. Those that attended appeared to be mostly liberal-middleclass families, couples, singles and students. It was a sterile showing of solidarity, with the bonus activity of hugging science. Science is worth hugging, but scientists were mum on Earth Day that the Pentagon, militarism and war are the number one threat to the Earth. There were very few speeches, posters or demonstration against war. None of the “Top Ten Posters” were antiwar. Talking about war was a conversation stopper and spoiled the fun for others who just wanted to enjoy organic snacks, browse among sustainable gadgets and grandstand. George Orwell wrote about the mind control effect of conformist demonstrations. They let the public blow off a little steam without any risk, and they reinforce the status quo. It also gives the Thought Police an opportunity to take names of anybody that does not conform. Earth Day was like Orwell’s two minutes of hate. Climate Change is the liberal-middle-class’s hated Emmanuel Goldstein. Big Brother and the main stream media know how to co-opt dissent and make it meaningless, while letting the people feel relevant and powerful. Real protests and real power of the people are brutally crushed by the police state. Any act considered unpatriotic was discouraged during Earth Day. There was no mourning for the millions of people the USA has slaughtered in the past couple of decades. There was no mention of the USA poisoning South Asia with uranium and burn pits billowing out a smorgasbord of carcinogenic chemical pollution. There was no scientific discussion of the poisonous ingredients in the Mother of All Bombs and the pollution caused by war. No discussion of nuclear winter, radiation sickness, and mass starvation from a nuclear war. Nor were there any pledges by scientists not to work for the military industrial complex. Like Mark Twain said about the weather: everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. And they won’t until there is a stop to war. Until then there will be no budget for doing something about climate change. Nor will there be any budget for healthcare, education, mass transportation and relieving suffering and ignorance. Lacking is a massive anti-war movement. I had the personal experience of being a spoiler on Earth Day. I belong to St. Pete for Peace in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It is an anti-war group that has been able to survive the peace drought after the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003. We thought it would be a good idea to take an anti-war rally to Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg where there was an Earth Day fair. Our reception was anything but warm. It was like a cold bucket of Agent Orange. We were warned not to take our anti-war posters into Williams Park. It was not the police that warned us, it was the organizers of St. Pete Earth Day. They told us to stay on the corner across the street and out of sight or they would have us arrested. Thinking that I had a Constitutional right to do so, I walked through the park anyway with an upside down American flag as a freedom of speech statement. I was immediately accosted and told that no demonstrations were allowed. I thought Earth Day was supposed to be a demonstration, and a protest against the continued destruction of the Earth and all its living creatures. Florida is one of those “Stand Your Ground” states. So we stood our ground with open carry of anti-war signs. We were not going to go quietly. As we walked through the fair with our anti-war signs we said “Happy Earth Day” to the vendors and attendees. Their responses were a few polite “thank you’s”. Mostly we got cold stares or avoidance of eye contact. My upside down flag of distress got a few hoots and confrontations. But few people wanted any dialog about war. Normally I do not write about myself, but Earth Day has been eating away at me. It left me angry and dumbfounded. I keep asking myself, “is the liberal-middleclass braindead?” Is it possible for people to want to do something about climate change and not see the connection to war, militarism and empire? They just don’t get it: war, climate change, war, climate change, war… The liberal-middleclass is as stuck in the American mythology as conservative Republicans. They still think that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds; that America is the best country in the world; that America cares about democracy and human rights; and that being anti-war is unpatriotic. The liberal-middleclass are too comfortable in their isolated world of high rise condominiums and SUV’s. What will it take to bring them down from their ivory tower in the mostly white Northside of St. Petersburg? Do they ever think about the mostly black Southside of St. Petersburg and its lack of basic social services? During the rainy season in Florida, the Southside is flooded with raw sewage because the city closed the Albert Whitted sewage treatment plant for lack of funds. The city saved $32 million a year by letting raw sewage flood the black neighborhood and flowing into Tampa Bay where it pollutes the water. What has happened in St. Petersburg has happened in cities all over America. It is called austerity. Funding that should be going to education, housing, mass transportation, healthcare, poverty programs and infrastructure are being sucked out of the economy. The money is going for militarism, war making and war profiteering. The money spent by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the Police State are making us less secure, less safe, and less free. Empire building, imperialism and war are perverting the domestic economy, sucking out its resources and denying citizens of the socialist programs that the Bernie Revolution talked about. Even Bernie Sanders does not take on the military industrial complex. Either Bernie is just another politician or he suffers from cognitive dissonance. His supporters made excuses for him that being anti-war during his 2016 presidential campaign would be “political suicide”, and that secretly Bernie was anti-war. If being anti-war would be political suicide, then how did Bernie’s supporters think that the country could pay for popular social programs like healthcare for everyone and free college? There is not enough money for Bernie’s boondoggle F-35 that doesn’t fly right, never ending wars that cannot be won and popular socialist domestic programs? In a recent CNN interview Bernie said: "Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated, but I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East.” Bernie is part of the problem, not the solution. “Assad has to go and ISIS has to be defeated” is magical thinking without “getting bogged down in perpetual war”. Thinking so is unconsciously letting the warmongers continue the status quo. It is saying more war, more destruction, more death and more climate change. Bernie’s revolution has melted like the Arctic ice. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of significance is going to improve in America until the dogs of war are leashed. Education will not improve. There will be no single payer healthcare, no mass transportation, no free college, no antipoverty programs, no reparations for the oppressed, and no progress made against climate change until we stop the wars. Foreign wars and empire mean more austerity at home. We can be relevant, powerful and do something about climate change and save millions of lives. We can hit the streets with mass protests against war. Support whistleblowers and those that refuse to obey illegal orders. Refuse to cooperate. Be disruptive. Use non-violent civil disobedience to sabotage the war machine. Otherwise, wars have doomed us to the ravages of climate change. Nuclear war is a real possibility that the public is in denial about. A group of scientists just advanced the Doomsday Clock to 2 ½ minutes until midnight at which time we are doomed permanently. Is anybody listening to these scientists? _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mickalideh at gmail.com Thu May 11 15:13:47 2017 From: mickalideh at gmail.com (Harry Mickalide) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 10:13:47 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary > organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, > Karen. > > This is from six months ago, re : > > ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and > provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). > See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : > > "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a > class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the > expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in > which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. > "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique > of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally > naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups > supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I > have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral > economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the > resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, > 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions > were LGBT people. > "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more > unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves > candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in > service to, the ruling class” reed-identity-politics-is-neoliberalism/>. > > It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise > from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces > killers?) > It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class > conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since > WWII, we should be clear about causes. > in-37-nations-since-wwii/>. > > AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and > why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world > today. > And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur > says. > > I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. > —CGE > > > Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, > that still seems right to me. > > Regards, Carl > > > > On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: > > > Carl, Google it. > > Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device > > -------- Original message -------- > From: "Carl G. Estabrook" > > Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > > > > wrote: > > Point to items on their list that are identity politics > > -------- Original message -------- > e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: > > . > > AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - > and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. > > We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to > do that as well. > > But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and > therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism > effort. > > —CGE > > > > > Carl, > > It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you > can Google their demands. > -karen medina > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Thu May 11 15:38:58 2017 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 10:38:58 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <351518DF-262B-427F-BA42-B849F8942FE4@gmail.com> Well argued, Harry Deb Sent from my iPhone > On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide via Peace wrote: > > Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. > > Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. > https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands > > From demand 1 > "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." > > From demand 8 > "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." > > From demand 13 > They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." > > Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. > >> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: >> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >> >> This is from six months ago, re : >> >>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>> >>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . >>> >>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>> . >>> >>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>> >>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >> >> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >> >> Regards, Carl >> >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace wrote: >>> >>> >>> Carl, Google it. >>> >>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>> >>> -------- Original message -------- >>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>> >>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>> >>> >>>> > wrote: >>>> >>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>> >>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>> >>>> . >>>> >>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>> >>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>> >>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>> >>>> —CGE >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Carl, >>>>> >>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>> -karen medina >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace mailing list >>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 16:27:30 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 16:27:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Harry, First, on behalf of AWARE let me thank you for your contributions to AWARE and the Student Greens, but most especially your participation at the COL U of I last fall. You were really great. Now, I was afraid, you were complaining that some of us didn’t show up enough at bsfruiuc events on campus, which made me wonder why they would care about a few old, white people, aside from one or two, with no ties to the University anymore. Frankly we find it difficult enough to make it to our own Anti-war events much of the time, but out of concern for future generations, we make the effort. As to signing on support for bsfruiuc, I thought we had, given Stuart, Karen Medina, David Johnson and I, once I had actually seen the website and “demands,” all supported this action. David Green and Carl did not express support as I recall, but AWARE does not require a consensus. I am especially pleased with #13 which is something AWARE has called for, and the inclusion of Myanmar is especially pleasing to me, given my past work with the Burmese Student activists, ABSDF, and the killings that the military government has perpetrated against their Muslim population, which is a “genocide”. I agree with everything Carl says in respect to “Identity Politics,” but I also believe that to build mass movements against the US government, the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, and all those in power functioning within our system of corporate capitalism, the U of I, being one, we need to support and unite with others who are fighting for their rights, as much as we possibly can. We need to do this without watering down or muting that which, like climate change, is the most destructive issue facing humanity today, war. So I am suggesting to my colleagues within AWARE that we support the Demands of the bsfr group at the U of I, as we continue our work related to “anti-war” and hope that some young people on campus will join us in this endeavor. On May 11, 2017, at 08:13, Harry Mickalide via Peace-discuss > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 16:32:55 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 11:32:55 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl > On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide wrote: > > Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. > > Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. > https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands > > From demand 1 > "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." > > From demand 8 > "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." > > From demand 13 > They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." > > Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. > > On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: > More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. > > This is from six months ago, re >: > >> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >> >> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >> >> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >> >. >> >> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >> >> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE > > Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. > > Regards, Carl > > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >> >> >> Carl, Google it. >> >> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >> >> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >> >> >>> > wrote: >>> >>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>> >>> -------- Original message -------- >>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>> >>> >. >>> >>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>> >>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>> >>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>> >>> —CGE >>> >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Carl, >>>> >>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>> -karen medina >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 16:37:28 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 16:37:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] From "The Real News" a worthwhile article In-Reply-To: <4688CA43-AD2A-4D86-9460-BFE90022A922@illinois.edu> References: <2600401A-2B87-4430-852C-9BF8E46DA054@illinois.edu> <4688CA43-AD2A-4D86-9460-BFE90022A922@illinois.edu> Message-ID: So the science is wrong. Is it so far off that “climate change” deniers have a case to make in respect to the data? My purpose in posting this article from a website known and supported by some within AWARE is to point out the lack of “concern” across the nation, in respect to war. It is I believe a result of too many serious issues today. On May 11, 2017, at 08:02, Brussel, Morton K > wrote: Insofar as CO2 emissions and climate change, yes. On May 11, 2017, at 6:24 AM, Karen Aram > wrote: Mort Are you saying that he is wrong, the Pentagon isn’t the number one polluter of the Earth? On May 10, 2017, at 21:36, Brussel, Morton K > wrote: Pretty good, but weak on the science, as, for example in the statement: The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. He lets his antiwar feelings mislead him on the science of global warming and what it is due to. —mkb On May 8, 2017, at 7:38 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: * Jobs * Log In Earth Day Denial that War Causes Climate Change FRIDAY, 28 APRIL 2017 06:55 0 Comments By David William Pear, April 26, 2017 The liberal-middleclass is brain dead about the wars. They do not want to hear about war, speak about war or see war protesters. The liberal-middleclass has emotionally numbed out. They have a complete lack of empathy for the millions of people that the USA has slaughtered, the nations that the USA has bombed to piles of rubble, and the suffering the USA has caused to tens of millions of people. Out of sight and out of mind, the USA has destroyed millions of minds, bodies, homes and lives forever. The indifference of the liberal-middleclass is mind boggling. Some sadistically see the war images as entertainment and even beautiful displays of power. I am still reeling from Earth Day and the March for Science. Where was the message that war is destroying the Earth? The Pentagon is the number one consumer of fossil fuels and the number one polluter of the Earth. Why was the Pentagon given a pass on Earth Day? Do scientists deny that war causes global warming? The liberal-middleclass should not feel superior to Republicans and Donald J. Trump about climate change. They have their heads stuck in the sand too. At least the Republicans are honest in their stupidity of denial about climate change. The liberal-middle-class’s dishonest stupidity is to lie by omission and not confront war as the number one polluter. The Pentagon and militarism are the greatest danger to the Earth and every living creature on it. The world is racing headlong towards nuclear war and the liberal-middleclass is in deep denial. Earth Day and the March for Science were more hypocrisy and feel good faux solidarity of concern for the Earth. Earth Day was carefully stage-managed to not offend or affect any change. Earth Day was just a fun day. Those that attended appeared to be mostly liberal-middleclass families, couples, singles and students. It was a sterile showing of solidarity, with the bonus activity of hugging science. Science is worth hugging, but scientists were mum on Earth Day that the Pentagon, militarism and war are the number one threat to the Earth. There were very few speeches, posters or demonstration against war. None of the “Top Ten Posters” were antiwar. Talking about war was a conversation stopper and spoiled the fun for others who just wanted to enjoy organic snacks, browse among sustainable gadgets and grandstand. George Orwell wrote about the mind control effect of conformist demonstrations. They let the public blow off a little steam without any risk, and they reinforce the status quo. It also gives the Thought Police an opportunity to take names of anybody that does not conform. Earth Day was like Orwell’s two minutes of hate. Climate Change is the liberal-middle-class’s hated Emmanuel Goldstein. Big Brother and the main stream media know how to co-opt dissent and make it meaningless, while letting the people feel relevant and powerful. Real protests and real power of the people are brutally crushed by the police state. Any act considered unpatriotic was discouraged during Earth Day. There was no mourning for the millions of people the USA has slaughtered in the past couple of decades. There was no mention of the USA poisoning South Asia with uranium and burn pits billowing out a smorgasbord of carcinogenic chemical pollution. There was no scientific discussion of the poisonous ingredients in the Mother of All Bombs and the pollution caused by war. No discussion of nuclear winter, radiation sickness, and mass starvation from a nuclear war. Nor were there any pledges by scientists not to work for the military industrial complex. Like Mark Twain said about the weather: everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. And they won’t until there is a stop to war. Until then there will be no budget for doing something about climate change. Nor will there be any budget for healthcare, education, mass transportation and relieving suffering and ignorance. Lacking is a massive anti-war movement. I had the personal experience of being a spoiler on Earth Day. I belong to St. Pete for Peace in Saint Petersburg, Florida. It is an anti-war group that has been able to survive the peace drought after the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003. We thought it would be a good idea to take an anti-war rally to Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg where there was an Earth Day fair. Our reception was anything but warm. It was like a cold bucket of Agent Orange. We were warned not to take our anti-war posters into Williams Park. It was not the police that warned us, it was the organizers of St. Pete Earth Day. They told us to stay on the corner across the street and out of sight or they would have us arrested. Thinking that I had a Constitutional right to do so, I walked through the park anyway with an upside down American flag as a freedom of speech statement. I was immediately accosted and told that no demonstrations were allowed. I thought Earth Day was supposed to be a demonstration, and a protest against the continued destruction of the Earth and all its living creatures. Florida is one of those “Stand Your Ground” states. So we stood our ground with open carry of anti-war signs. We were not going to go quietly. As we walked through the fair with our anti-war signs we said “Happy Earth Day” to the vendors and attendees. Their responses were a few polite “thank you’s”. Mostly we got cold stares or avoidance of eye contact. My upside down flag of distress got a few hoots and confrontations. But few people wanted any dialog about war. Normally I do not write about myself, but Earth Day has been eating away at me. It left me angry and dumbfounded. I keep asking myself, “is the liberal-middleclass braindead?” Is it possible for people to want to do something about climate change and not see the connection to war, militarism and empire? They just don’t get it: war, climate change, war, climate change, war… The liberal-middleclass is as stuck in the American mythology as conservative Republicans. They still think that capitalism is the best of all possible worlds; that America is the best country in the world; that America cares about democracy and human rights; and that being anti-war is unpatriotic. The liberal-middleclass are too comfortable in their isolated world of high rise condominiums and SUV’s. What will it take to bring them down from their ivory tower in the mostly white Northside of St. Petersburg? Do they ever think about the mostly black Southside of St. Petersburg and its lack of basic social services? During the rainy season in Florida, the Southside is flooded with raw sewage because the city closed the Albert Whitted sewage treatment plant for lack of funds. The city saved $32 million a year by letting raw sewage flood the black neighborhood and flowing into Tampa Bay where it pollutes the water. What has happened in St. Petersburg has happened in cities all over America. It is called austerity. Funding that should be going to education, housing, mass transportation, healthcare, poverty programs and infrastructure are being sucked out of the economy. The money is going for militarism, war making and war profiteering. The money spent by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the Police State are making us less secure, less safe, and less free. Empire building, imperialism and war are perverting the domestic economy, sucking out its resources and denying citizens of the socialist programs that the Bernie Revolution talked about. Even Bernie Sanders does not take on the military industrial complex. Either Bernie is just another politician or he suffers from cognitive dissonance. His supporters made excuses for him that being anti-war during his 2016 presidential campaign would be “political suicide”, and that secretly Bernie was anti-war. If being anti-war would be political suicide, then how did Bernie’s supporters think that the country could pay for popular social programs like healthcare for everyone and free college? There is not enough money for Bernie’s boondoggle F-35 that doesn’t fly right, never ending wars that cannot be won and popular socialist domestic programs? In a recent CNN interview Bernie said: "Assad has got to go. ISIS has got to be defeated, but I do not want to see the United States get sucked into perpetual warfare in the Middle East.” Bernie is part of the problem, not the solution. “Assad has to go and ISIS has to be defeated” is magical thinking without “getting bogged down in perpetual war”. Thinking so is unconsciously letting the warmongers continue the status quo. It is saying more war, more destruction, more death and more climate change. Bernie’s revolution has melted like the Arctic ice. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of significance is going to improve in America until the dogs of war are leashed. Education will not improve. There will be no single payer healthcare, no mass transportation, no free college, no antipoverty programs, no reparations for the oppressed, and no progress made against climate change until we stop the wars. Foreign wars and empire mean more austerity at home. We can be relevant, powerful and do something about climate change and save millions of lives. We can hit the streets with mass protests against war. Support whistleblowers and those that refuse to obey illegal orders. Refuse to cooperate. Be disruptive. Use non-violent civil disobedience to sabotage the war machine. Otherwise, wars have doomed us to the ravages of climate change. Nuclear war is a real possibility that the public is in denial about. A group of scientists just advanced the Doomsday Clock to 2 ½ minutes until midnight at which time we are doomed permanently. Is anybody listening to these scientists? _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mickalideh at gmail.com Thu May 11 17:23:25 2017 From: mickalideh at gmail.com (Harry Mickalide) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 12:23:25 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote: > Harry— > > I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three > points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a > universal basic income.) > > But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - > constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. > > That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that > have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. > > AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the > purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. > > I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. > > Regards, Carl > > > On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: > > Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black > Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of > being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that > BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. > > Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. > https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands > > From demand 1 > "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are > making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on > wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at > the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s > education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and > students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free > reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an > immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state > funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." > > From demand 8 > "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human > rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in > ensuring that for all people." > > From demand 13 > They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or > enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, > Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private > military contractors and weapons manufacturers." > > Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse > to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared > blackness? That seems hella racist to me. > > On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary >> organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, >> Karen. >> >> This is from six months ago, re : >> >> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and >> provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >> >> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a >> class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the >> expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in >> which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the >> critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto >> equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into >> groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we >> do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that >> moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the >> resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, >> 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions >> were LGBT people. >> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more >> unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves >> candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in >> service to, the ruling class” > eed-identity-politics-is-neoliberalism/>. >> >> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise >> from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces >> killers?) >> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class >> conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since >> WWII, we should be clear about causes. >> > 20-million-in-37-nations-since-wwii/>. >> >> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and >> why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world >> today. >> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur >> says. >> >> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that >> effort. —CGE >> >> >> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands >> seem, that still seems right to me. >> >> Regards, Carl >> >> >> >> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace < >> peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: >> >> >> Carl, Google it. >> >> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >> >> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >> >> >> > wrote: >> >> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >> >> . >> >> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism >> - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >> >> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to >> do that as well. >> >> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and >> therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism >> effort. >> >> —CGE >> >> >> >> >> Carl, >> >> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you >> can Google their demands. >> -karen medina >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 17:33:01 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 12:33:01 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: AWARE has traditionally operated by consensus. > On May 11, 2017, at 12:23 PM, Harry Mickalide wrote: > > So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? > > On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: > Harry— > > I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) > > But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. > > That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. > > AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. > > I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. > > Regards, Carl > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: >> >> Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. >> >> Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. >> https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >> >> From demand 1 >> "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >> >> From demand 8 >> "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >> >> From demand 13 >> They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." >> >> Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. >> >> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: >> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >> >> This is from six months ago, re >: >> >>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>> >>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >>> >>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>> >. >>> >>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>> >>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >> >> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >> >> Regards, Carl >> >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >>> >>> >>> Carl, Google it. >>> >>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>> >>> -------- Original message -------- >>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>> >>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>> >>> >>>> > wrote: >>>> >>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>> >>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>> >>>> >. >>>> >>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>> >>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>> >>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>> >>>> —CGE >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Carl, >>>>> >>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>> -karen medina >>>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace mailing list >>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davegreen84 at yahoo.com Thu May 11 17:45:01 2017 From: davegreen84 at yahoo.com (David Green) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 17:45:01 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <1082906546.10000890.1494524701393@mail.yahoo.com> I personally did not support the substance of at least one of the demands, nor the tone of many of them. Nevertheless, it was not my intention to object to consensual support of others. DG On Thursday, May 11, 2017 12:34 PM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: AWARE has traditionally operated by consensus.  On May 11, 2017, at 12:23 PM, Harry Mickalide wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them.  That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U.  AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl       On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it.https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our- demands >From demand 1"While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says.  I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me.  Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message --------From: "Carl G. Estabrook"  Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort.   —CGE Carl,   It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands.-karen medina ______________________________ _________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mai lman/listinfo/peace ______________________________ _________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mai lman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 17:53:00 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 17:53:00 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 18:05:30 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 18:05:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Now, are we all happy? I think we’ve beaten up on Carl enough for one day. I hope the bfsuiuc appreciate our worthy contribution of support and feel a sense of obligation to support us, in our efforts to prevent the killing and devastation of people of color around the world. War does have an impact on “people of color” here in the US. They are the ones who suffer the most from our wars, either through conscription or loss of social services, and the militarization of the US police forces across the nation. On May 11, 2017, at 10:53, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 18:13:35 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 13:13:35 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. I think endorsing identity politics does, too. —CGE > On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram wrote: > > We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. > > Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. > > I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. > > So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: >> >> So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? >> >> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >> Harry— >> >> I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) >> >> But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. >> >> That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. >> >> AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. >> >> I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. >> >> Regards, Carl >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: >>> >>> Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. >>> >>> Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. >>> https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >>> >>> From demand 1 >>> "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >>> >>> From demand 8 >>> "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >>> >>> From demand 13 >>> They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." >>> >>> Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. >>> >>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: >>> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >>> >>> This is from six months ago, re >: >>> >>>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>>> >>>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >>>> >>>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>>> >. >>>> >>>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>>> >>>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >>> >>> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >>> >>> Regards, Carl >>> >>> >>> >>>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> Carl, Google it. >>>> >>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>>> >>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>>> >>>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>>> >>>> >>>>> > wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>>> >>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>>> >>>>> >. >>>>> >>>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>>> >>>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>>> >>>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>>> >>>>> —CGE >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Carl, >>>>>> >>>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>>> -karen medina >>>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Peace mailing list >>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace mailing list >>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>> >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 18:27:44 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 18:27:44 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. I think endorsing identity politics does, too. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 18:37:20 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 13:37:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> Message-ID: You should plan to talk about it on AOTA. I’ll attack IP. —CGE > On May 11, 2017, at 1:27 PM, Karen Aram wrote: > > Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. > > If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. > > The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. > > If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >> >> I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. >> >> I think endorsing identity politics does, too. >> >> —CGE >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>> >>> We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. >>> >>> Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. >>> >>> I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. >>> >>> So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. >>> >>> >>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: >>>> >>>> So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? >>>> >>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>> Harry— >>>> >>>> I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) >>>> >>>> But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. >>>> >>>> That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. >>>> >>>> AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. >>>> >>>> I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. >>>> >>>> Regards, Carl >>>> >>>> >>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. >>>>> >>>>> Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. >>>>> https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >>>>> >>>>> From demand 1 >>>>> "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >>>>> >>>>> From demand 8 >>>>> "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >>>>> >>>>> From demand 13 >>>>> They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." >>>>> >>>>> Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: >>>>> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >>>>> >>>>> This is from six months ago, re >: >>>>> >>>>>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>>>>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>>>>> >>>>>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>>>>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>>>>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >>>>>> >>>>>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>>>>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>>>>> >. >>>>>> >>>>>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>>>>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>>>>> >>>>>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >>>>> >>>>> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >>>>> >>>>> Regards, Carl >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Carl, Google it. >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>>>>> >>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>>>>> >>>>>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> —CGE >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Carl, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>>>>> -karen medina >>>>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Peace mailing list >>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 18:58:13 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 18:58:13 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Join us to leaflet the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> Message-ID: That will be fun. I have spoken of it, but I meant to say “success” not “support” below. I get IP, but if we reject everything that appears to be IP in contrast to that which maybe a priority, we become “purists.” Harry, and the student group isn’t asking for our “first born grandchild,” they’re not even asking us for “monetary contributions.” They are simply asking us to support, with our name, their concerns and issues. Most of which we support. See you Saturday at the market. On May 11, 2017, at 11:37, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: You should plan to talk about it on AOTA. I’ll attack IP. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 1:27 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. I think endorsing identity politics does, too. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 20:00:28 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 15:00:28 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Identity politics (IP) In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <7E620F7F-EA39-42C1-96E5-9B03C0FD1836@illinois.edu> Many of my ancestors were Puritans. IP is 'the left wing of neoliberalism’ - capitalism’s protean disguise. In order to have the appearance of credibility, IP must in fact attack real, existing evils (e.g. racial discrimination) - but it displaces "the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power [including war] onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do.” Thus the root of the problems is thought to be ‘white supremacy’ or ‘Islamic terrorism’ - rather than class struggles. (Reread the hundred-year-old “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.”) In short, concentrating on identity (a position we choose - see the current debate over the Hypatia article) interferes with understanding why the governmnet we’re responsible for has killed more than 20 million people in 37 nations since the end of WWII - and what we might do about it. —CGE > On May 11, 2017, at 1:58 PM, Karen Aram wrote: > > That will be fun. > > I have spoken of it, but I meant to say “success” not “support” below. > > I get IP, but if we reject everything that appears to be IP in contrast to that which maybe a priority, we become “purists.” > > Harry, and the student group isn’t asking for our “first born grandchild,” they’re not even asking us for “monetary contributions.” They are simply asking us to support, with our name, their concerns and issues. Most of which we support. > > See you Saturday at the market. > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 11:37, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >> >> You should plan to talk about it on AOTA. >> >> I’ll attack IP. —CGE >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 1:27 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>> >>> Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. >>> >>> If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. >>> >>> The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. >>> >>> If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. >>> >>> >>>> On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>> >>>> I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. >>>> >>>> I think endorsing identity politics does, too. >>>> >>>> —CGE >>>> >>>> >>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>>>> >>>>> We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. >>>>> >>>>> Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. >>>>> >>>>> I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. >>>>> >>>>> So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? >>>>>> >>>>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>>>> Harry— >>>>>> >>>>>> I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) >>>>>> >>>>>> But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. >>>>>> >>>>>> That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. >>>>>> >>>>>> AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. >>>>>> >>>>>> I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards, Carl >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. >>>>>>> https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >>>>>>> >>>>>>> From demand 1 >>>>>>> "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >>>>>>> >>>>>>> From demand 8 >>>>>>> "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >>>>>>> >>>>>>> From demand 13 >>>>>>> They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: >>>>>>> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> This is from six months ago, re >: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>>>>>>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>>>>>>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>>>>>>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>>>>>>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>>>>>>> >. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>>>>>>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Regards, Carl >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Carl, Google it. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>>>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>>>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> —CGE >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Carl, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>>>>>>> -karen medina >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>> >>>> >>> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 20:31:22 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 20:31:22 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Identity politics (IP) In-Reply-To: <7E620F7F-EA39-42C1-96E5-9B03C0FD1836@illinois.edu> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> <7E620F7F-EA39-42C1-96E5-9B03C0FD1836@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Carl, who is “concentrating” on IP? We’re simply lending our name in support of their issues. Some of which maybe IP, some is not. One could say “war in Asia” is IP for me, because my daughters are half Asian, because my husband was Asian. Its not, given that I was anti-war long before I met him or had them. Is IP, when someone who is of Muslim origin, should not be protesting against war in the Middle East because for them that would be IP? I understand very well, why IP is a “problem,” when it becomes a distraction from the larger issues. As far as I’m concerned this conversation is a distraction. An all day discussion in relation to AWARE support for a student group on campus in relation to issues most of us support? If they were Nazi’s or the KKK, then it might be worth this much discussion or attention…… I’m finished. On May 11, 2017, at 13:00, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Many of my ancestors were Puritans. IP is 'the left wing of neoliberalism’ - capitalism’s protean disguise. In order to have the appearance of credibility, IP must in fact attack real, existing evils (e.g. racial discrimination) - but it displaces "the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power [including war] onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do.” Thus the root of the problems is thought to be ‘white supremacy’ or ‘Islamic terrorism’ - rather than class struggles. (Reread the hundred-year-old “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.”) In short, concentrating on identity (a position we choose - see the current debate over the Hypatia article) interferes with understanding why the governmnet we’re responsible for has killed more than 20 million people in 37 nations since the end of WWII - and what we might do about it. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 1:58 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: That will be fun. I have spoken of it, but I meant to say “success” not “support” below. I get IP, but if we reject everything that appears to be IP in contrast to that which maybe a priority, we become “purists.” Harry, and the student group isn’t asking for our “first born grandchild,” they’re not even asking us for “monetary contributions.” They are simply asking us to support, with our name, their concerns and issues. Most of which we support. See you Saturday at the market. On May 11, 2017, at 11:37, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: You should plan to talk about it on AOTA. I’ll attack IP. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 1:27 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. I think endorsing identity politics does, too. —CGE On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Harry— I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands From demand 1 "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." From demand 8 "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." From demand 13 They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. This is from six months ago, re : ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” . It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. . AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. Regards, Carl On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: Carl, Google it. Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: "Carl G. Estabrook" Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) > wrote: Point to items on their list that are identity politics -------- Original message -------- e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: . AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. —CGE Carl, It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. -karen medina _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From divisek at yahoo.com Thu May 11 20:38:38 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 20:38:38 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] free market vs crony capitalism References: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> There's a vast difference between the free market, meaning a level playing field, and crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed with each other.  Many folks on the left use the term "capitalism" to refer to both. Dianna -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 11 20:43:35 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 20:43:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] free market vs crony capitalism In-Reply-To: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> References: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The updated version of “crony capitalism” is “corporate capitalism”. On May 11, 2017, at 13:38, Dianna Visek via Peace > wrote: There's a vast difference between the free market, meaning a level playing field, and crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed with each other. Many folks on the left use the term "capitalism" to refer to both. Dianna _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 20:54:27 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 15:54:27 -0500 Subject: [Peace] free market vs crony capitalism In-Reply-To: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> References: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Critics of capitalism have assumed (not just since Marx) that there can be no level playing field between those who own the means of production and those who have to sell their work of head and hands if they want to eat regularly. “Capitalistic economic relations perpetuate a form of bondage which, as early as 1767, Simon Linguet had declared to be 'even worse than slavery' - writing 'It is the impossibility of living by any other means that compels our farm laborers to till the soil, whose fruits they will not eat, and our masons to construct buildings in which they will not live. It is want that drags them to those markets where they await masters, who will do them the kindness of buying them. It is want that compels them to go down on their knees to the rich man in order to get from him permission to enrich him. What effective gain has the suppression of slavery brought him? "He is free," you say. That is his misfortune. These men, it is said, have no master. They have one, and the most terrible, the most imperious of masters: that is, need. It is this that that reduces them to the most cruel dependence.' "And if there is something degrading to human nature in the idea of bondage, as every spokesman for the Enlightenment would insist, then it would follow that a new emancipation must be awaited, what Fourier referred to as the third and last emancipatory phase of history. The first having made serfs out of slaves, the second wage earners out of serfs and the third which will transform the proletariat freemen by eliminating the commodity character of labour, ending wage slavery and bringing the commercial, industrial and financial institutions, under democratic control.” [Chomsky] —CGE > On May 11, 2017, at 3:38 PM, Dianna Visek via Peace wrote: > > There's a vast difference between the free market, meaning a level playing field, and crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed with each other. Many folks on the left use the term "capitalism" to refer to both. > > Dianna > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 21:05:51 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 16:05:51 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Identity politics (IP) In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> <7E620F7F-EA39-42C1-96E5-9B03C0FD1836@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <7EDA5B9C-0D02-416C-A3FB-FCF5A4F7613C@illinois.edu> As the Clinton campaign showed (Obama too), the owners of our society think that IP is their best tool to cover their tracks. IP means ignoring the objective differences of class (you belong to one, whether you know it or not) for subjective differences (whom you think of yourself as). According to IP, "a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people…" —CGE > On May 11, 2017, at 3:31 PM, Karen Aram wrote: > > Carl, who is “concentrating” on IP? We’re simply lending our name in support of their issues. Some of which maybe IP, some is not. > > One could say “war in Asia” is IP for me, because my daughters are half Asian, because my husband was Asian. Its not, given that I was anti-war long before I met him or had them. > > Is IP, when someone who is of Muslim origin, should not be protesting against war in the Middle East because for them that would be IP? > > I understand very well, why IP is a “problem,” when it becomes a distraction from the larger issues. > > As far as I’m concerned this conversation is a distraction. An all day discussion in relation to AWARE support for a student group on campus in relation to issues most of us support? > > If they were Nazi’s or the KKK, then it might be worth this much discussion or attention…… > > I’m finished. > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 13:00, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >> >> Many of my ancestors were Puritans. >> >> IP is 'the left wing of neoliberalism’ - capitalism’s protean disguise. >> >> In order to have the appearance of credibility, IP must in fact attack real, existing evils (e.g. racial discrimination) - but it displaces "the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power [including war] onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do.” Thus the root of the problems is thought to be ‘white supremacy’ or ‘Islamic terrorism’ - rather than class struggles. (Reread the hundred-year-old “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.”) >> >> In short, concentrating on identity (a position we choose - see the current debate over the Hypatia article) interferes with understanding why the governmnet we’re responsible for has killed more than 20 million people in 37 nations since the end of WWII - and what we might do about it. >> >> —CGE >> >> >>> On May 11, 2017, at 1:58 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>> >>> That will be fun. >>> >>> I have spoken of it, but I meant to say “success” not “support” below. >>> >>> I get IP, but if we reject everything that appears to be IP in contrast to that which maybe a priority, we become “purists.” >>> >>> Harry, and the student group isn’t asking for our “first born grandchild,” they’re not even asking us for “monetary contributions.” They are simply asking us to support, with our name, their concerns and issues. Most of which we support. >>> >>> See you Saturday at the market. >>> >>> >>>> On May 11, 2017, at 11:37, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>> >>>> You should plan to talk about it on AOTA. >>>> >>>> I’ll attack IP. —CGE >>>> >>>> >>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 1:27 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Then we can remain our own little clique of anti-war activists known as AWARE? If we don’t grow, if we don’t recruit new people, young people who will inherit the mess that further war creates, then what is the point, other than making us feel good about ourselves. >>>>> >>>>> If after so many years, we aren’t making progress, then its time to try something else. We have been ineffective in countering the growing, perpetual war, machine. By we, I mean the national anti-war movement. >>>>> >>>>> The only real reason to demonstrate, protest, educate, speak out is to build mass movements, to frighten our elected Representatives into supporting the will of the people, not the corporations lining their pockets. >>>>> >>>>> If that means supporting some with their IP issues, then so be it. Though as I said, I really like #13, it highlights an issue I have been attempting to make for the past couple years with much effort and little support. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 11:13, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> I thought airing his views distracted from AWARE’s purpose. >>>>>> >>>>>> I think endorsing identity politics does, too. >>>>>> >>>>>> —CGE >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> We set a precedent last year, when a person approached us to be on the program, someone on this list who has made his views known, that of anti-semitism, holocaust denier, blames the Jews for everything. I openly was opposed to having a known racist on the program. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Ron, Stuart, Karen M. in their support for “freedom of speech” disagreed with me, Carl wasn’t sure given he supports freedom of speech, but the program has limited time. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I, given I was alone on this issue, insisted on bringing David Johnson, and David Green into the picture, and they agreed with me. Karen M. then took the position that we weren’t preventing this person from his freedom of speech, he could get his own program. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> So, from my perspective the vote, majority rules, set a precedent. We need not always be in agreement on every issue. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:23, Harry Mickalide via Peace > wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> So that's Harry Mickalide, David Johnson, Karen Aram, Stuart Levy, and Karen Medina all for having AWARE sign on as officially supporting the demands. What is AWARE's policy on organization-wide decisions? Do we need consensus or a majority vote? >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>>>>>>> Harry— >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I and I’m sure other members and friends of AWARE support those three points (and perhaps stronger versions, including free tuition and a universal basic income.) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> But the bulk of the 13 demands - containing some legitimate complaints - constitute identity politics as Reed describes them. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> That’s separate from and at worst a distraction from the politics that have animated the "Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort” of C-U. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> AWARE members may support the demands, but I think it’s outside the purpose of AWARE as an organization to do so. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I hope members of both groups will cooperate in combatting war and racism. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Regards, Carl >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide > wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. >>>>>>>>> https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> From demand 1 >>>>>>>>> "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> From demand 8 >>>>>>>>> "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in ensuring that for all people." >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> From demand 13 >>>>>>>>> They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > wrote: >>>>>>>>> More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss archives, Karen. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> This is from six months ago, re >: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton campaign). >>>>>>>>>> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature. >>>>>>>>>> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >>>>>>>>>> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among Special Forces killers?) >>>>>>>>>> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >>>>>>>>>> >. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. >>>>>>>>>> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as Hotspur says. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to that effort. —CGE >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the demands seem, that still seems right to me. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Regards, Carl >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace > wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Carl, Google it. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>>>>>> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> -------- Original message -------- >>>>>>>>>>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> >. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective ways to do that as well. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> —CGE >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Carl, >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>>>>>>>>>> -karen medina >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Thu May 11 22:57:02 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 11 May 2017 17:57:02 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Identity politics (IP) In-Reply-To: <7EDA5B9C-0D02-416C-A3FB-FCF5A4F7613C@illinois.edu> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <4265F060-4D39-4773-8B8E-01C4C493BA75@illinois.edu> <8353A809-11EB-4743-8582-9F7425F8E5D1@illinois.edu> <7E620F7F-EA39-42C1-96E5-9B03C0FD1836@illinois.edu> <7EDA5B9C-0D02-416C-A3FB-FCF5A4F7613C@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <165C861B-3935-47EA-92F4-048BB4C42218@illinois.edu> [IP is a substitute for left politics] The defensible heart of identity politics is its commitment to opposing forms of discrimination like racism, sexism, and homophobia. I share that commitment. But opposing discrimination today has no more to do with a left politics than do equally powerful ethical commitments against, say, violence or dishonesty. Why? Because the core of a left politics is its critique of and resistance to capitalism—its commitment to decommodifying education, health care, and housing, and creating a more economically equal society. Neither hostility to discrimination nor the accompanying enthusiasm for diversity makes the slightest contribution to accomplishing any of those goals. Just the opposite, in fact. They function instead to provide inequality with a meritocratic justification: If everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, there’s no injustice when some people fail. This is why Adolph Reed and I have been arguing that identity politics is not an alternative to class politics but a form of it: It’s the politics of an upper class that has no problem with seeing people being left behind as long as they haven’t been left behind because of their race or sex. That’s why elite institutions like universities make an effort to recruit black people as well as white into the ruling class. They’re seeking to legitimate the class structure, not abolish it. Of course, if we’re going to accept a ruling class, one that’s open to people other than straight white men is preferable. But shouldn’t the left be more committed to doing something for the vast majority of people of all races, genders, and sexual orientations who will never belong to that class? We’ve never thought the fact that a few white people get to become rich was a victory for poor white people, so why should substituting in a few black people change the equation? It’s not racism that creates the difference between classes; it’s capitalism. And it’s not anti-racism that can combat the difference; it’s socialism. We’re frequently told that black poverty is worse than white poverty—more isolating, more concentrated—and maybe that’s true. But why, politically, should it matter? You don’t build the left by figuring out which victim has been most victimized; you build it by organizing all the victims. When it comes to the value of universal health care, for example, we don’t need to worry for a second about whether the black descendants of slaves are worse off than the white descendants of coal miners. The goal is not to make sure that black people are no sicker than white people; it’s to make everybody healthy. That’s why they call it universal. Discrimination is neoliberalism’s theory of inequality. Even poor whites have started to buy it—a large number appear to think anti-white bias is their real problem! Obviously, they’re wrong, but when, as Barbara and Karen Fields point out, the language of victimization has become so impoverished that it consists of nothing but discrimination, you go with what you’ve got. A new left politics will need to change that. Instead of a more complicated understanding of identity—of race, sex, and intersectionality (that opiate of the professional managerial class)—we need a more profound understanding of exploitation. --Walter Benn Michaels, The Nation, December 18, 2016 From divisek at yahoo.com Fri May 12 00:28:37 2017 From: divisek at yahoo.com (Dianna Visek) Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 00:28:37 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] free market vs crony capitalism In-Reply-To: References: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <375780239.10366263.1494548917962@mail.yahoo.com> Cronies don't have to be corporate.  They can be well-placed individuals. Dianna On Thursday, May 11, 2017 3:43 PM, Karen Aram wrote: The updated version of “crony capitalism” is “corporate capitalism”. On May 11, 2017, at 13:38, Dianna Visek via Peace wrote: There's a vast difference between the free market, meaning a level playing field, and crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed with each other.  Many folks on the left use the term "capitalism" to refer to both. Dianna _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri May 12 01:06:08 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 01:06:08 +0000 Subject: [Peace] free market vs crony capitalism In-Reply-To: <375780239.10366263.1494548917962@mail.yahoo.com> References: <788922317.10547388.1494535118492.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <788922317.10547388.1494535118492@mail.yahoo.com> <375780239.10366263.1494548917962@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Yes, thats certainly true, but it is now referred to as “corporate capitalism,” the current usage is no longer “crony.” Just as we no longer refer to the “Establishment,” the current trendy term is “Deep State.” On May 11, 2017, at 17:28, Dianna Visek via Peace > wrote: Cronies don't have to be corporate. They can be well-placed individuals. Dianna On Thursday, May 11, 2017 3:43 PM, Karen Aram > wrote: The updated version of “crony capitalism” is “corporate capitalism”. On May 11, 2017, at 13:38, Dianna Visek via Peace > wrote: There's a vast difference between the free market, meaning a level playing field, and crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed with each other. Many folks on the left use the term "capitalism" to refer to both. Dianna _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 13 00:44:16 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 00:44:16 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Worldwide Cyber Attack today Message-ID: I saw it this morning on Sky News International, NHS was hit, at least 40 or their hospitals and organizations. Only later was I able to acquire the link below from RT.com https://www.rt.com/usa/388187-leaked-nsa-exploit-ransomware/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sat May 13 01:17:35 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 20:17:35 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE at Farmer's Market - and SJP UIUC #SaltwaterChallenge - and Black Students for Revolution UIUC's demands In-Reply-To: References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <8fa0951d-d6d6-d538-12d6-53bb8dbffe35@gmail.com> AWARE will have a table at the Farmer's Market, for the first time this season, tomorrow morning -- Saturday, May 13th, 8am-noon. We'll have a collection of anti-war flyers, as well as buttons and bumper stickers. I'll also bring some copies of the Black Students for Revolution's demands - we can talk about them with whoever stops by. On the whole I think that they're admirable. Another admirable effort - hearing about this now - is the #SaltwaterChallenge international campaign, which Students from Justice in Palestine UIUC is participating in, in solidarity with some 1700 Palestinians in Israeli prisons who are protesting the only way they can: through a hunger strike, now in its 21st day. Theirs is a risky effort which merits our awareness and support. SJP UIUC thanks several other UIUC student groups as supporting them in that effort, including Black Students for Revolution , Black United Front UIUC , UIUC Beyond Coal , UMMA UIUC , and Arab Student Association at UIUC . Stuart On 5/11/17 10:13 AM, Harry Mickalide via Peace-discuss wrote: > Carl, here is my frustration. You continue to assert that BSFR (Black > Students for Revolution) is engaging in identity politics at the > expense of being anti-capitalist and anti-war when multiple people > have told you that BSFR is very much anti-capitalist and anti-war. > > Here are some quotes from their list of demands to prove it. > https://www.bsfruiuc.com/our-demands > > From demand 1 > "While students are being handcuffed with loans, private lenders are > making a profit and the federal government is spending public funds on > wars, drones, wall street bailouts, and corporate subsidies. Situated > at the intersection of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, > today’s education model marginalizes and excludes both the working > class and students of color. As a first step towards a tuition-free > and debt-free reality within higher education, we demand that tuition > hikes come to an immediate and permanent end, and that MAP Grants, > regardless of state funding, should continue to be issued to recipients." > > From demand 8 > "We believe adequate shelter, food, water, and health care are human > rights owed to all workers, and that a living wage is a first step in > ensuring that for all people." > > From demand 13 > They call for divestment from "corporations which actively support or > enable states currently carrying out human right’s abuses (e.g., > Israel, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar), all private prison corporations, and > all private military contractors and weapons manufacturers." > > Despite this clear overlap between the goals of AWARE and BSFR, you > refuse to support them because they are also choosing to rally around > their shared blackness? That seems hella racist to me. > > On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:20 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace > > wrote: > > More useful than Google (not, perhaps, the most revolutionary > organization...) is the ‘Search’ function on the Peace-discuss > archives, Karen. > > This is from six months ago, re > >: > >> ...The list certainly raises (once again) questions of the nature >> and provenance of identity politics (the mainstay of the Clinton >> campaign). >> See Adolph Reed's mordant description … : >> >> "[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it >> is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of >> neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a >> political order and moral economy in which capitalist market >> forces are treated as unassailable nature. >> "An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the >> critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class >> power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity >> that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we >> essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, >> following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a >> society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the >> resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were >> black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the >> appropriate proportions were LGBT people. >> "It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses >> more unambiguously the social position of people who consider >> themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant >> staff positions in service to, the ruling class” >> > >. >> >> It’s difficult to see how a serious critique of US war-making can >> arise from identity politics. (Not enough blacks and women among >> Special Forces killers?) >> It would seem that US war-making arises from domestic and foreign >> class conflicts; given that we’ve killed more than 20 million in >> 37 nations since WWII, we should be clear about causes. >> > >. >> >> AWARE has seen as its task for 15 years to encourage awareness of >> how and why the US government is the greatest purveyor of >> violence in the world today. >> And to do that we must tell the truth and shame the devil, as >> Hotspur says. >> >> I’m not convinced that endorsing these demands contributes to >> that effort. —CGE > > Six months on, and as worthwhile as some of the goals of the > demands seem, that still seems right to me. > > Regards, Carl > > > >> On May 11, 2017, at 9:06 AM, kmedina67 via Peace >> > wrote: >> >> >> Carl, Google it. >> >> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: "Carl G. Estabrook" >> >> Send me their list of demands (and read Reed…) >> >> >>> > wrote: >>> >>> Point to items on their list that are identity politics >>> >>> -------- Original message -------- >>> e.g. Adolph Reed’s critique: >>> >>> >> >. >>> >>> AWARE was founded to foster local opposition to US war-making >>> and racism - and, by implication, capitalism, the source of both. >>> >>> We should be willing to cooperate with others who have effective >>> ways to do that as well. >>> >>> But as Reed explains, identity politics is a defense of >>> capitalism - and therefore at best only accidentally useful in >>> an anti-war anti-racism effort. >>> >>> —CGE >>> >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Carl, >>>> >>>> It is online. I can't copy and paste the url from my cell >>>> phone. But you can Google their demands. >>>> -karen medina >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Sat May 13 01:58:31 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 20:58:31 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE at Farmer's Market - and SJP UIUC #SaltwaterChallenge - and Black Students for Revolution UIUC's demands In-Reply-To: <8fa0951d-d6d6-d538-12d6-53bb8dbffe35@gmail.com> References: <362A6EB4-3C49-4054-877F-4EE7E0F0BF27@illinois.edu> <8fa0951d-d6d6-d538-12d6-53bb8dbffe35@gmail.com> Message-ID: Stuart— If the AWARE table will include copies of the Black Students for Revolution's demands, I’d like also to distribute flyers containing the comments of Adolph Reed and Walter Benn Michaels on identity politics. (Both statements have recently been posted to the AWARE fb page.) As you know, I think AWARE should concentrate on anti-war work, especially at this time when war politics have been so propagandized by the last administration and this one. We should be trying to cut through the fog, not increasing it with IP. Regards, Carl > On May 12, 2017, at 8:17 PM, Stuart Levy wrote: > > AWARE will have a table at the Farmer's Market, for the first time this season, tomorrow morning -- Saturday, May 13th, 8am-noon. > > We'll have a collection of anti-war flyers, as well as buttons and bumper stickers. > > I'll also bring some copies of the Black Students for Revolution's demands - we can talk about them with whoever stops by. On the whole I think that they're admirable. > > Another admirable effort - hearing about this now - is the #SaltwaterChallenge international campaign, which Students from Justice in Palestine UIUC is participating in, in solidarity with some 1700 Palestinians in Israeli prisons who are protesting the only way they can: through a hunger strike, now in its 21st day. Theirs is a risky effort which merits our awareness and support. > > SJP UIUC thanks several other UIUC student groups as supporting them in that effort, including Black Students for Revolution , Black United Front UIUC , UIUC Beyond Coal , UMMA UIUC , and Arab Student Association at UIUC . > > Stuart -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From enslin.mark at gmail.com Sat May 13 14:34:43 2017 From: enslin.mark at gmail.com (mark enslin) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 09:34:43 -0500 Subject: [Peace] A few spaces & scholarships still available for SDAS in West Virginia Message-ID: If your schedule for June has unexpectedly open up ... ... or you know someone for whom this might be the right time to try this program ... ... the School for Designing a Society session at the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia, May 28-June 18 still has a few spaces and scholarships available. We can be flexible about timing. The land is inspiring, the people involved so far are fascinating, and the program is fun, deep, embodied, and varied. We might even be able to help with transportation there and back. Email or phone me at (212) 518-3018. Facilitators: Elizabeth Adams, composer from New York involved in the Free University; Dario Solina, Italian-Danish organizer of humanitarian clown trips for Gesundheit; Michael Miller, social worker and activist from Louisville, and myself. Guests presenters include Lina Bergeron, professor of community psychology from Montreal, Patch Adams, and activists from the Headwaters Defense anti-fracking group from Fayatteville, WV. "The political climate has sharpened our need for strategic togetherness ... " in solidarity, Mark -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: poster 3 wv sdas 2017.2.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 1191333 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Sat May 13 21:36:13 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 16:36:13 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Identity politics poses the danger of irrelevancy to the anti-war movement In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: [Last month the journal 'Historical Materialism' presented a forum at New York University. Here's a description from .] ...Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject of war. The words “imperialism,” “war,” “Iraq,” “North Korea,” “Afghanistan,” “Libya” and “Somalia” do not appear in any panel title. Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as “Queer(ing) Marxism,” “Women’s Strikes in the Age of Feminization,” “The International Women’s Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement,” “Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory,” “Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions,” “Adorno: Subjectivity and Critique,” “New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory,” “Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus,” and “Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.” Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives. From davegreen84 at yahoo.com Sat May 13 21:56:12 2017 From: davegreen84 at yahoo.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 21:56:12 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Identity politics poses the danger of irrelevancy to the anti-war movement In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: <492338020.654432.1494712572144@mail.yahoo.com> https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/20/pseu-a20.html This is the correct link-- On Saturday, May 13, 2017 4:36 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: [Last month the journal 'Historical Materialism' presented a forum at New York University. Here's a description from .] ...Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject of war. The words “imperialism,” “war,” “Iraq,” “North Korea,” “Afghanistan,” “Libya” and “Somalia” do not appear in any panel title. Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as “Queer(ing) Marxism,” “Women’s Strikes in the Age of Feminization,” “The International Women’s Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement,” “Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory,” “Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions,” “Adorno: Subjectivity and Critique,” “New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory,” “Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus,” and “Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.” Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sat May 13 22:07:28 2017 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 17:07:28 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Identity politics poses the danger of irrelevancy to the anti-war movement In-Reply-To: <492338020.654432.1494712572144@mail.yahoo.com> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <492338020.654432.1494712572144@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: On Sat, May 13, 2017 at 4:56 PM, David Green via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/04/20/pseu-a20.html > > This is the correct link-- > So....the same one that Carl had at the bottom of his post? > On Saturday, May 13, 2017 4:36 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > [Last month the journal 'Historical Materialism' presented a forum at > New York University. Here's a description from .] > > ...Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject > of war. The words “imperialism,” “war,” “Iraq,” “North Korea,” > “Afghanistan,” “Libya” and “Somalia” do not appear in any panel title. > > Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as “Queer(ing) > Marxism,” “Women’s Strikes in the Age of Feminization,” “The > International Women’s Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement,” > “Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory,” > “Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions,” “Adorno: > Subjectivity and Critique,” “New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory,” > “Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus,” and > “Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.” > > Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to > anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis > they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. > War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really > interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davegreen84 at yahoo.com Sat May 13 22:16:04 2017 From: davegreen84 at yahoo.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 22:16:04 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Identity politics poses the danger of irrelevancy to the anti-war movement In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <492338020.654432.1494712572144@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1280968841.679220.1494713764677@mail.yahoo.com> My bad, when I first clicked on Carl's link it brought up a different article. Don't know why. On Saturday, May 13, 2017 5:07 PM, John W. wrote: On Sat, May 13, 2017 at 4:56 PM, David Green via Peace wrote: https://www.wsws.org/en/ articles/2017/04/20/pseu-a20. html This is the correct link-- So....the same one that Carl had at the bottom of his post?   On Saturday, May 13, 2017 4:36 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: [Last month the journal 'Historical Materialism' presented a forum at New York University. Here's a description from .] ...Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject of war. The words “imperialism,” “war,” “Iraq,” “North Korea,” “Afghanistan,” “Libya” and “Somalia” do not appear in any panel title. Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as “Queer(ing) Marxism,” “Women’s Strikes in the Age of Feminization,” “The International Women’s Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement,” “Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory,” “Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions,” “Adorno: Subjectivity and Critique,” “New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory,” “Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus,” and “Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.” Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives. ______________________________ _________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana. net https://lists.chambana.net/ mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss ______________________________ _________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/ mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 13 22:35:20 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 13 May 2017 22:35:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Identity politics poses the danger of irrelevancy to the anti-war movement In-Reply-To: <1280968841.679220.1494713764677@mail.yahoo.com> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <492338020.654432.1494712572144@mail.yahoo.com> <1280968841.679220.1494713764677@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Good article, one of the reasons I use the WSWS.Org as a reference much of the time. The author didn’t mention the ISO’s Ashley Smith, being one of those “supporting war” in Syria, with his “we need to support the rebels” and anyone who doesn’t is a supporter of “Assad the Dictator.” On May 13, 2017, at 15:16, David Green via Peace > wrote: My bad, when I first clicked on Carl's link it brought up a different article. Don't know why. On Saturday, May 13, 2017 5:07 PM, John W. > wrote: On Sat, May 13, 2017 at 4:56 PM, David Green via Peace > wrote: https://www.wsws.org/en/ articles/2017/04/20/pseu-a20. html This is the correct link-- So....the same one that Carl had at the bottom of his post? On Saturday, May 13, 2017 4:36 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: [Last month the journal 'Historical Materialism' presented a forum at New York University. Here's a description from >.] ...Of the 60 scheduled panels, not a single one relates to the subject of war. The words “imperialism,” “war,” “Iraq,” “North Korea,” “Afghanistan,” “Libya” and “Somalia” do not appear in any panel title. Instead, the NYU panel features discussion topics such as “Queer(ing) Marxism,” “Women’s Strikes in the Age of Feminization,” “The International Women’s Strike and the Anticapitalist Feminist Movement,” “Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory,” “Concerning Violence: Subjections, Resistance, Subversions,” “Adorno: Subjectivity and Critique,” “New Directions in Marxist/Feminist Theory,” “Race, Repetition, Rebellion: The Political Economy of Surplus,” and “Late Althusser: Politics and Theoretical Practice.” Any connections that the radicalized middle class once had to anti-imperialism or socialism are long gone. The categories of analysis they employ have nothing to do with class or historical materialism. War, social inequality and poverty all take a back seat to what really interests them: race, gender and their own sex lives. > ______________________________ _________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana. net https://lists.chambana.net/ mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss ______________________________ _________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/ mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 14 13:22:24 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 13:22:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?b?RndkOiBEb25hbGTCoFRydW1wOsKgVGhlwqBSYXfCoGFu?= =?utf-8?b?ZMKgTmFrZWTCoEZhY2XCoG9mwqBhwqBTeXN0ZW3CoFRoYXTCoFNob3dlcnM=?= =?utf-8?b?wqBTcGVjdWxhdG9yc8Kgd2l0aMKgT2JzY2VuZcKgUmljaGVzwqA=?= References: Message-ID: > > Watch this video from The Real News Network, I think you’ll find it interesting. Or read the brief article. > > http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996 From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon May 15 02:49:57 2017 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 21:49:57 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Donald Trump: The Raw and Naked Face of a System That Showers Speculators with Obscene Riches Message-ID: There didn't seem to be a video. On Sun, May 14, 2017 at 8:22 AM, Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Watch this video from The Real News Network, I think you’ll find it > interesting. Or read the brief article. > > > > http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996 > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 15 11:34:12 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 11:34:12 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Donald Trump: The Raw and Naked Face of a System That Showers Speculators with Obscene Riches In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry, they may have taken it down. You’ll just have to read it. “The Real News” is a pretty good online news network. On May 14, 2017, at 19:49, John W. > wrote: There didn't seem to be a video. On Sun, May 14, 2017 at 8:22 AM, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: > Watch this video from The Real News Network, I think you’ll find it interesting. Or read the brief article. > > http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996 _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Mon May 15 16:28:09 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 11:28:09 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE leaflets the Art Theatre on Tuesday, May 16, 6-7pm, on U.S. crimes in Yemen In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: [Champaign's Art Theatre is presenting films and a panel on Yemen tomorrow.] "'The Mulberry House' This screening is part of THE SEVENTH ART STAND Tue, May 16 at 7:00pm "Filmmaker Sara Ishaq grew up in Yemen to a Yemeni father and a Scottish mother. As a teenager, she became increasingly suffocated by the constraints of her surroundings, and at age 17, finally decided to move to Scotland, where her mother now resides. Her father, however, would only approve under the condition that she would not forsake her Yemeni roots – a promise she made, but could not keep. Ten years later, in 2011, Sara returns to Yemen prepared to reconnect with her long-severed roots, only to find her country teetering on the brink of a revolution. THE MULBERRY HOUSE focuses on the shifting dynamics between women and men within the context of a modern Yemeni family, testing all preconceived ideas about identity, customs, and familial and social bonds. (2013, Sara Ishaq, Yemen-Scotland, 65 min, HD, Eng subs) "Preceded by: KARAMA HAS NO WALLS (2013, 26 min, digital. In Arabic with English subtitles.) Ishaq’s earlier film is a gripping, eye-witness account of the tragic day – March 18, 2011 – that changed the course of the revolution in Yemen, when pro-government snipers opened fire on a peaceful gathering of protesters, sparking national outrage and ultimately leading to the end of 33 years of autocratic rule. "Post-show discussion w/ Hadi Esfahani & Angela Williams (Center for South Asian & Middle Eastern Studies)" ==================================================== [The Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana will be distributing the following flyer outside the theater before the film. You're welcome to join us for leafleting and discussion.] VOICES FOR CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS | MARCH 20, 2017 {outline map of MENA - Mideast and North Africa} REALITY AND THE U.S.-MADE FAMINE IN YEMEN | KATHY KELLY {Kathy Kelly (kathy at vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)} This week at the Voices for Creative Nonviolence office in Chicago, my colleague Sabia Rigby prepared a presentation for a local high school. She’ll team up with a young friend of ours, himself a refugee from Iraq, to talk about refugee crises driven by war. Sabia recently returned from Kabul where she helped document the young Afghan Peace Volunteers’ efforts to help bring warmth, food and education to internally displaced families living in makeshift camps, having fled the Afghan War when it raged near their former homes. Last year Sabia had been visiting with refugees in “the Calais Jungle,” who were fleeing the Middle East and several African countries for Britain. Thwarted from crossing the English Channel, a large mass of people were stopped in this refugee camp in Calais, France, from which French authorities eventually evacuated them, defying their careful solidarity and burning their camp to the ground. As part of her high school talk, Sabia prepared a handout to show where refugees are the most welcomed. One detail astonished her. In FY 2016, the U.S. admitted 84,995 refugees, but Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world took in 117,000 new refugees and migrants in 2016, and hosts more than 255,000 refugees from Somalia. Yemen is now beginning to host the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. What’s more, the country is regularly targeted by Saudi and U.S. airstrikes. Since we are also planning a week of fast and action related to the tragic circumstances Yemen faces, we were astounded when we realized Yemen is a path of escape for Somalis fleeing the Horn of Africa, refugees of one conflict, stranded in their flight, and trapped in a country where deadly conflict is precipitating into deadlier famine. After years of U.S. support for dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, civil war has wracked Yemen since 2014. Its neighbor Saudi Arabia, itself among the region’s cruelest dictatorships and a staunch U.S. ally, became nervous in 2015 about the outcome and, with support from nine regional allies, began subjecting the country to a punishing barrage of airstrikes, and also imposed a blockade that ended the inflow of food and supplies to Yemen through a major port. This was accomplished with massive, ongoing weapons shipments from the U.S., which has also waged independent airstrikes that have killed dozens of civilians, including women and children. Pummeled by airstrikes and fighting, facing economic collapse and on the brink of famine, how could this tiny, impoverished country absorb thousands upon thousands of desperate migrants? Yemen imports 90% of its food. Because of the blockade, food and fuel prices are rising and scarcity is at crisis levels. UNICEF estimates that more than 460,000 children in Yemen face severe malnutrition, and 3.3 million children and pregnant or lactating women suffer acute malnutrition. More than 10,000 people have been killed, including 1,564 children, and millions have been displaced from their homes, but worse is the groundwork laid for the far greater devastation of famine. Iona Craig, in the IRIN publication, recently wrote: In the middle of a vast expanse of grey scrubland, a rapidly growing population of more than 120 families huddle under parched trees. Escaping the latest wave of conflict on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, they walked two days to get to this camp southwest of Taiz city. But on arrival, the scores of women and children found nothing. No support from aid agencies. No food. No water. No shelter. The elderly talk of eating the trees to survive, while children beg for water from local farmers. A mother cradles her clearly malnourished baby in her arms. Now comes word that on March 16th, forty-two Somali people were killed in sustained gunfire from the air as they set forth in a boat attempting to flee Yemen. “I took cover in the belly of the ship,” said Ibrahim Ali Zeyad, a Somali who survived the attack. “People were falling left and right. Everyone kept screaming, ‘We are Somali! We are Somali!’” But the shooting continued for what felt like half an hour. The attack on Yemen traps both Yemenis and fleeing Somalis in the worst of four developing crises which collectively amount, one U.N. official warns, to the worst humanitarian crisis in the history of the U.N. As of this writing, no one has taken responsibility for the strike, but survivors say they were attacked by a helicopter gunship. The boat was carrying 140 people as it headed north off the coast of Yemen. Meanwhile, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, profit massively from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia. In December, 2017, Medea Benjamin wrote: “Despite the repressive nature of the Saudi regime, U.S. governments have not only supported the Saudis on the diplomatic front, but militarily. Under the Obama administration, this has translated into massive weapons sales of $115 billion.” At this critical juncture, all member states of the UN must call for an end to the blockade and airstrikes, a silencing of all guns, and a negotiated settlement to the war in Yemen. The worst malefactors, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, must abandon cynical maneuvering against rivals like Iran, in the face of such an unspeakable human cost as Yemen is being made to pay. U.S. people bear responsibility to demand a radical departure from U.S. policy which exacerbates the deadly tragedy faced by people living in Yemen. Choosing a path of clear opposition to U.S. policies toward Yemen, U.S. citizens should demand elected representatives stop all drone attacks and military “special operations” within Yemen, end all U.S. weapon sales and military aid to Saudi Arabia, and provide compensation to those who suffered losses caused by U.S. attacks. Our group of activists long functioned under the name “Voices in the Wilderness,” a campaign to defy U.S. economic warfare against Iraq, a form of war through imposition of economic sanctions which directly contributed to the deaths of over 500,000 children. Lost in a culture of hostile unreality and unbearable silence concerning economic warfare, we were evoking, perhaps unconsciously, the plight of refugees seeking survival. We didn’t succeed in lifting the brutal economic sanctions against Iraq, but we surely learned harsh realities about how callous and reckless U.S. policy makers could be. We must ground ourselves in reality and in solidarity with the greater part of the world’s people. As our neighbors around the world flee in desperation across borders or within the confines of their own countries, we must continually educate ourselves about the reality of what our nation’s actions mean to the world’s poor. Building toward a time when our voices may unite and be heard, we must raise them now in crying out for the people of Yemen. {ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~} ### From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 15 18:33:07 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 18:33:07 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Trump(ets) of Doom: On Bringing der Fuehrer Back Home References: <11050395.2818.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: No mention of our expanded wars under Obama, but the point has been made. It’s also amusing: Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Smoke and Mirrors [http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/71c401cdd13b08a361e28195c5cae882?s=32&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Femails%2Fblavatar.png] [http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/5af2cf3964f6ce7ef87f07a4f8c6bf0e?s=50&d=identicon&r=G] Trump(ets) of Doom: On Bringing der Fuehrer Back Home by mjw51 As a 60s teen who read Camus and Sartre and fancied himself an existentialist, I used to think that all serious moral-ethical-political challenges were in the past and all we could do now was ask ourselves what we would have done had we been German in the 30s or whether we would have gone to fight like Orwell in the Spanish Civil War. Somehow growing long hair, dropping acid and protesting the Vietnam war, or getting kicked out of high-school for refusing to stand for the Lord's Prayer (among other things), just didn't quite reach the level of the political and ethical challenges to personal integrity that confronted so many in the 30s. It never occurred to me then that hindsight (especially the hindsight embodied in a historical tendency to valorize "the left" in the literary world that I entered almost every time I opened a book) might have been creating a clarity that people alive at the time could not possibly have experienced in reaching for a decision about which road to take. I realize now that part of the reason nothing in my then-contemporary environment seemed to require the level of moral-political commitment that had characterized the left in the 30s was due to the elevation of fascism, especially in its Nazi variety, to the heights of metaphysical evil. I mean, LBJ was bad, but he wasn't Hitler, right? Ultimately the Vietnam war killed around 3 million SE Asians and devastated 3 countries. The United States used chemical weapons, anti-personnel bombs and massive non-stop terror bombing as well as torture and assassination in a pointless and ultimately fruitless display of callous disregard for international law and human life. But within a few years, American politicians, American media and Americans in all walks of life were wallowing in self-pity over the Vietnam Syndrome and the high cost of gasoline. Oh, and the 58 thousand American soldiers who died so that 3 million SE Asians--men, women and children-- would never again threaten American freedoms. By the end of that episode of mass murder in the service of democracy, a majority of Americans had come around to the view that the war was a bad thing. The mind boggled. The combination of Richard Nixon and the Kent State shootings had somehow trumped the mindless slaughter and finally motivated Americans to oppose the war. In recent years, various Arab dictators have been promoted to "Hitler-status" as the American public is primed for yet another war on yet another poor country filled with yet more non-white people whose children will die in massive numbers so that freedom and democracy can replace the Hitler du jour who oppresses them. While domestic politics in the United States often revolves around what looks like nothing more or less than a game of "victim-victim, who is the victim?", foreign policy often revolves around the question of "who is the Hitler that the American war machine needs to take out next?" This is known as liberal interventionism. So it's liberal. Putting aside the utility of maintaining a pervasive awareness of a "Hitler-Nazi = Ultimate Evil" equation for the apartheid and genocidal state of Israel, it is even more obvious that by never quite reaching the levels of iniquity of Nazi Germany, Americans can usually obscure their own marked tendency to mass slaughter from themselves. The Vietnam War in popular memory was not so much an American travesty as it was a Nixon crime. Gulf War II was not an American crime against humanity so much as it was a Bush crime, a Rumsfeld crime, a Cheney and a neocon crime. It is never about America and Americans and their constant rush to support American wars. But along comes Trump, a genuinely ugly and vulgar man from the get-go. Suddenly Americans are able to envision a homegrown Hitler and an American Fascism sprouting all around them like unwelcome weeds on the otherwise pristine suburban lawn surrounded by the white picket fence of American feigned innocence. The man isn't in office for a month and "Antifa" are out in skinny jeans and hoodies bashing fashis and setting off fireworks in order to keep media darlings like Ann Coulter from speaking at universities. A "Resistance" springs up, and immediately all kinds of folks who'd gladly bomb the shit out of brown folks are "anti-fascist". It's almost as if history began, yet again, on the day Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. And what distinguishes Trump and "the Trump era" and "Trumpism" from all the other American administrations that have deliberately and consciously slaughtered millions of non-white poor people? Racism apparently. Who knew? mjw51 | May 15, 2017 at 2:43 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pKmIb-Js Comment See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Smoke and Mirrors. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://mjw51.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/trumpets-of-doom-on-bringing-der-fuehrer-back-home/ Thanks for flying with [https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/blavatar-default.png] WordPress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue May 16 20:06:35 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 16 May 2017 15:06:35 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Leafletting tonight 6-7pm Message-ID: AWARE will be distributing the appended leaflet at the Art Theatre tonight 6-7pm, before the showing of a film on Yemen and a panel discussion. Join us, if you wish. ============== VOICES FOR CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS | MARCH 20, 2017 REALITY AND THE U.S.-MADE FAMINE IN YEMEN | KATHY KELLY This week at the Voices for Creative Nonviolence office in Chicago, my colleague Sabia Rigby prepared a presentation for a local high school. She’ll team up with a young friend of ours, himself a refugee from Iraq, to talk about refugee crises driven by war. Sabia recently returned from Kabul where she helped document the young Afghan Peace Volunteers’ efforts to help bring warmth, food and education to internally displaced families living in makeshift camps, having fled the Afghan War when it raged near their former homes. Last year Sabia had been visiting with refugees in “the Calais Jungle,” who were fleeing the Middle East and several African countries for Britain. Thwarted from crossing the English Channel, a large mass of people were stopped in this refugee camp in Calais, France, from which French authorities eventually evacuated them, defying their careful solidarity and burning their camp to the ground. As part of her high school talk, Sabia prepared a handout to show where refugees are the most welcomed. One detail astonished her. In FY 2016, the U.S. admitted 84,995 refugees, but Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world took in 117,000 new refugees and migrants in 2016, and hosts more than 255,000 refugees from Somalia. Yemen is now beginning to host the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. What’s more, the country is regularly targeted by Saudi and U.S. airstrikes. Since we are also planning a week of fast and action related to the tragic circumstances Yemen faces, we were astounded when we realized Yemen is a path of escape for Somalis fleeing the Horn of Africa, refugees of one conflict, stranded in their flight, and trapped in a country where deadly conflict is precipitating into deadlier famine. After years of U.S. support for dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, civil war has wracked Yemen since 2014. Its neighbor Saudi Arabia, itself among the region’s cruelest dictatorships and a staunch U.S. ally, became nervous in 2015 about the outcome and, with support from nine regional allies, began subjecting the country to a punishing barrage of airstrikes, and also imposed a blockade that ended the inflow of food and supplies to Yemen through a major port. This was accomplished with massive, ongoing weapons shipments from the U.S., which has also waged independent airstrikes that have killed dozens of civilians, including women and children. Pummeled by airstrikes and fighting, facing economic collapse and on the brink of famine, how could this tiny, impoverished country absorb thousands upon thousands of desperate migrants? Yemen imports 90% of its food. Because of the blockade, food and fuel prices are rising and scarcity is at crisis levels. UNICEF estimates that more than 460,000 children in Yemen face severe malnutrition, and 3.3 million children and pregnant or lactating women suffer acute malnutrition. More than 10,000 people have been killed, including 1,564 children, and millions have been displaced from their homes, but worse is the groundwork laid for the far greater devastation of famine. Iona Craig, in the IRIN publication, recently wrote: “In the middle of a vast expanse of grey scrubland, a rapidly growing population of more than 120 families huddle under parched trees. Escaping the latest wave of conflict on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, they walked two days to get to this camp southwest of Taiz city. “But on arrival, the scores of women and children found nothing. No support from aid agencies. No food. No water. “No shelter. The elderly talk of eating the trees to survive, while children beg for water from local farmers. A mother cradles her clearly malnourished baby in her arms.” Now comes word that on March 16th, forty-two Somali people were killed in sustained gunfire from the air as they set forth in a boat attempting to flee Yemen. “I took cover in the belly of the ship,” said Ibrahim Ali Zeyad, a Somali who survived the attack. “People were falling left and right. Everyone kept screaming, ‘We are Somali! We are Somali!’” But the shooting continued for what felt like half an hour. The attack on Yemen traps both Yemenis and fleeing Somalis in the worst of four developing crises which collectively amount, one U.N. official warns, to the worst humanitarian crisis in the history of the U.N. As of this writing, no one has taken responsibility for the strike, but survivors say they were attacked by a helicopter gunship. The boat was carrying 140 people as it headed north off the coast of Yemen. Meanwhile, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, profit massively from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia. In December, 2017, Medea Benjamin wrote: “Despite the repressive nature of the Saudi regime, U.S. governments have not only supported the Saudis on the diplomatic front, but militarily. Under the Obama administration, this has translated into massive weapons sales of $115 billion.” At this critical juncture, all member states of the UN must call for an end to the blockade and airstrikes, a silencing of all guns, and a negotiated settlement to the war in Yemen. The worst malefactors, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, must abandon cynical maneuvering against rivals like Iran, in the face of such an unspeakable human cost as Yemen is being made to pay. U.S. people bear responsibility to demand a radical departure from U.S. policy which exacerbates the deadly tragedy faced by people living in Yemen. Choosing a path of clear opposition to U.S. policies toward Yemen, U.S. citizens should demand elected representatives stop all drone attacks and military “special operations” within Yemen, end all U.S. weapon sales and military aid to Saudi Arabia, and provide compensation to those who suffered losses caused by U.S. attacks. Our group of activists long functioned under the name “Voices in the Wilderness,” a campaign to defy U.S. economic warfare against Iraq, a form of war through imposition of economic sanctions which directly contributed to the deaths of over 500,000 children. Lost in a culture of hostile unreality and unbearable silence concerning economic warfare, we were evoking, perhaps unconsciously, the plight of refugees seeking survival. We didn’t succeed in lifting the brutal economic sanctions against Iraq, but we surely learned harsh realities about how callous and reckless U.S. policy makers could be. We must ground ourselves in reality and in solidarity with the greater part of the world’s people. As our neighbors around the world flee in desperation across borders or within the confines of their own countries, we must continually educate ourselves about the reality of what our nation’s actions mean to the world’s poor. Building toward a time when our voices may unite and be heard, we must raise them now in crying out for the people of Yemen. {Kathy Kelly (kathy at vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org )} ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT - on Facebook at ~ U.S. troops & weapons out of the Mideast ~ Medicare for all ~ Universal basic income ~ ### -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: middleeast_770-740x493.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 162768 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Wed May 17 15:51:16 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 10:51:16 -0500 Subject: [Peace] This week's AWARE ON THE AIR In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> Message-ID: <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> Recorded at Urbana Public Television on Tuesday 16 May: . ### From cge at shout.net Wed May 17 15:58:32 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 10:58:32 -0500 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune In-Reply-To: <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> Message-ID: <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SD5QEEHNps&list=PL459B599460673620 From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Wed May 17 18:57:11 2017 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 13:57:11 -0500 Subject: [Peace] could we borrow your bike for 3 weeks--June 11-July1? Message-ID: <3F1FAD45-AE03-4D0E-9DD9-099234DD9B5B@gmail.com> Hi—Could you lend us your bike for the participants of the 3 week Construct Your Humanism session (june 11-July 1)? We have over 20 people coming into town from all over the world—they’ll be living at (what was once) the Catholic Worker House on State Street in Champaign, and will need to ride over to the Parkhouse at 122 Franklin Urbana daily to attend classes here. If your bike doesn’t have a lock, we’ll buy one for these weeks, and then give it to you. We can put air in tires, clean off the bike. I don’t think we know how to do any serious fixing of it… Please let me know— Susan 217-344-1439 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Humanism-poster-final-toSend.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 138007 bytes Desc: not available URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri May 19 18:29:30 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 18:29:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Colleen Rowley, former FBI on the Real News Message-ID: If the VDO isn’t available, one may have to read: http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19120:Special-Counsel-Investigating-Trump-Campaign-Has-Deep-Ties-to-the-Deep-State -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Sat May 20 01:41:46 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 20:41:46 -0500 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune, May 19 In-Reply-To: <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ3hOFbbSzo From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 20 13:52:28 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 20 May 2017 13:52:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace] My comments on This week's AWARE ON THE AIR In-Reply-To: <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> Message-ID: I agree with both Carl and W.B. Michaels, the Black Agenda Report etc., and what they have to say in respect to the definition and genesis of Identity Politics, but I wonder how we would have reacted during the 60’s in relation to the Civil Rights movement? That was certainly IP, but it was something very necessary, way past due, and did bring about equality for many. Not all, given our neoliberal, capitalist system. It was however, a first step in the process. MLK recognized this fact and had he not been murdered by the USG, he would have continued in this endeavor. Not to give all credit to MLK as most of the groundwork had been completed when CORE etc., invited him to take a leading role. My point, is when viewing various programs, organizations I think we must be cautious not to judge too quickly whether they be IP or not. That being said, we need to also determine what is meant by "support." Diluting the anti-war movement, our program on AOTA, should be guarded against, and calls to focus on either local issues or IP, as well as the “ iscussions" related to IP become a "distraction" in and of themselves, from US foreign policy which is diluting funds from necessary social services across the nation, killing millions and flooding Europe with refugees, and creating chaos for all. I also agree with Stuarts suggestion that we reach across the aisle to support other groups, in an effort to unite. I refer to that as “ evolution 101" as only when groups unite in common cause against a government that is corrupt, unjust, and abusive will there be any chance for success. Remaining divided on issues, is exactly what IP was designed to accomplish. Though I myself have failed in my efforts to unite with others, I support those who do try, and hope they are successful, otherwise as the film “Obey” clearly points out, we are doomed. On May 17, 2017, at 08:51, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Recorded at Urbana Public Television on Tuesday 16 May: . ### _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 20 13:57:47 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 20 May 2017 13:57:47 +0000 Subject: [Peace] My comments on This week's AWARE ON THE AIR In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> Message-ID: Spell check has changed the word revolution to evolution, in the last paragraph, a significant difference. On May 20, 2017, at 06:52, Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: I agree with both Carl and W.B. Michaels, the Black Agenda Report etc., and what they have to say in respect to the definition and genesis of Identity Politics, but I wonder how we would have reacted during the 60’s in relation to the Civil Rights movement? That was certainly IP, but it was something very necessary, way past due, and did bring about equality for many. Not all, given our neoliberal, capitalist system. It was however, a first step in the process. MLK recognized this fact and had he not been murdered by the USG, he would have continued in this endeavor. Not to give all credit to MLK as most of the groundwork had been completed when CORE etc., invited him to take a leading role. My point, is when viewing various programs, organizations I think we must be cautious not to judge too quickly whether they be IP or not. That being said, we need to also determine what is meant by "support." Diluting the anti-war movement, our program on AOTA, should be guarded against, and calls to focus on either local issues or IP, as well as the “ iscussions" related to IP become a "distraction" in and of themselves, from US foreign policy which is diluting funds from necessary social services across the nation, killing millions and flooding Europe with refugees, and creating chaos for all. I also agree with Stuarts suggestion that we reach across the aisle to support other groups, in an effort to unite. I refer to that as “ evolution 101" as only when groups unite in common cause against a government that is corrupt, unjust, and abusive will there be any chance for success. Remaining divided on issues, is exactly what IP was designed to accomplish. Though I myself have failed in my efforts to unite with others, I support those who do try, and hope they are successful, otherwise as the film “Obey” clearly points out, we are doomed. On May 17, 2017, at 08:51, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: Recorded at Urbana Public Television on Tuesday 16 May: . ### _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 20 15:26:36 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 20 May 2017 15:26:36 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune, May 19 In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> Message-ID: Excellent program as always. I particularly liked David’s question in relation to the impact on the US working class, if our current administration is successful at promoting peace as opposed to war, in relation to China. Of course prevention of nuclear war, is the first and most worthy goal, but I would like to hear a little more discussion in relation to “US jobs won’t “come back” whether we have war or peace, which is why we need at the very least a guaranteed income for all, along with universal healthcare for all. Socialism as opposed to capitalist neoliberalism, etc. > On May 19, 2017, at 18:41, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ3hOFbbSzo > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 21 16:34:21 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 21 May 2017 16:34:21 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Chris Hedges interviews author Russell Banks "On Contact" Message-ID: https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/389096-us-russell-banks-humanity/#.WSGr0JVp13M.facebook -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun May 21 16:43:36 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 21 May 2017 16:43:36 +0000 Subject: [Peace] War Message-ID: “Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies: from these proceed debts and taxes, and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bring the many under the domination of the few…..No nation could reserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” James Madison, "Political Observations,” 1795 From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 22 01:12:03 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 01:12:03 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Counterpunch Message-ID: MAY 19, 2017 “Hegemony How-To”: Rethinking Activism and Embracing Power by BRUCE E. LEVINE * * * * Email * * [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2015/07/print-sp.png] Occupy Wall Street insider Jonathan Smucker’s recently published Hegemony How-To: a Roadmap for Radicals (AK Press, 2017) is the post-Occupy guide for how to be smarter about politics. Smucker, a long-time grassroots organizer, does not dismiss what Occupy did right but is honest about its failures. The 99% remain just as powerless as ever, and we still have endless wars, corporate control, and increasing social and economic injustices. In the tradition of Saul Alinsky and Antonio Gramsci, Smucker points out that “knowledge of what is wrong with a social system and knowledge of how to change the system are two completely different categories of knowledge.” Before touching on how Hegemony How-Tospeaks directly to my own experience, a feel for Smucker’s punches. Smucker spares nothing and no one—including himself—in his passion to achieve political victory. Smucker asks himself: “How many times, I wondered, had I favored a particular action or tactic because I really thought it was likely to change a decision-maker’s position or win over key allies, as opposed to gravitating toward an action because it expressed my activist identity and self-conception? How concerned were we really, in our practice, with political outcomes?” Smucker concludes, “We often seemed more preoccupied with the purity of our political expression than with how to move from Point A to Point B. It felt as if having the right line about everything was more important than making measurable progress on anything.” Smucker does not ignore what Occupy Wall Street did well. “OccupyWall Street,” for many Americans, was a way of saying “Fuck Wall Street” and standing up to it. Through its language of the 99% and the 1%, Occupy compelled the mainstream media to talk about class injustice, and so Occupy helped restore some sense of class consciousness. Occupying public space gave powerless people a taste of power and gave many alienated people a taste of community. However, Smucker is frustrated that Occupy couldn’t move to the next level and actually accomplish political goals such as creating greater economic and social justice. And so Smucker, like a good coach, replays the game film to see how his team caught the 1% by surprise, gained an advantage—but then lost the game. Failed social movements, Smucker tells us, often don’t overcome the political identify paradox. Specifically, social movements need to foster a group identify and have a dedicated core willing to put in many hours. But fostering this group identity can lead to [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2017/05/hegemonyhowto.jpg] isolation and failure to connect with others outside the group. The group that only cares about cohesiveness and maintaining its identity is not going to accomplish anything but just that. Focusing exclusively on creating a strong identify can “create a wall between them and potential allies.” Smucker observes, “Building a community, for example, is a worthy pursuit. But these motivations become a problem when they trump our motivation to accomplish our ostensible political goals.” One byproduct of focusing too much on group identity is being dismissive of potential allies because they were not radical enough. For Smucker, “Every time a prominent supporter was snubbed, a message was sent to all potential supporters: ‘Your support is not wanted. This thing is ours.’ ” Successful social movements build a large base of support “outside the choir,” and they put great effort into actively courting influential supporters. Smucker tells us, “Occupy Wall Street had an incredible opportunity to do this—indeed, many influential supporters were courting us—but too often we did precisely the opposite.” While most people would label Smucker as a major “activist,” Smucker disdains the word activist, and he encourages people to abandon it. He proclaims, “I dislike the label activist. . . It lets everyone else off the hook!” This “activism” self-identification simply sets you apart from the broader society that you need to engage in. Smucker reflects that activism “has morphed into a specific identify that centers on a hobby—something akin to being a skier or a ‘theater person—rather than a civic or political responsibility that necessarily traverses groups and interests.” When activists seek only mutual validations from likeminded activists, Smucker points out, “some of the most idealistic and collectively minded young people in society remove themselves voluntarily from the institutions and social networks that they were organically positioned to influence and contest.” If people want change, they must continue connecting with the greater society. At a deeper level, the Occupy movement, and many radicals, fail because of what Smucker calls their “humanistic ambivalence toward power”—they are uncomfortable with power, while their opposition is not. Hegemony refers to leadership or predominant influence, and Smucker tells us, “I am well aware that the title of this book may be read by some of my comrades as a provocation, insofar as it suggests that hegemony is not in and of itself something to stand against, but rather something to attain. To be clear, it is intended to be a provocation.” Smucker reacquaints us with Martin Luther King’s observations about power, “Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose . . . And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.” King concludes, “It is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our times.” One reason that the civil rights movement in the 1960s was successful was that movement members across its spectrum, from Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, while differing on the strategies for acquiring power, embraced the need for power. Smucker’s book provides some much needed “linguistic-political therapy.” For example, he points out that the phrase “the personal is political” is now often used to mean something almost completely opposite of its original meaning. He reminds us that the phrase was first used by Carol Hanisch in 1969 to mean that when we talk among ourselves, we realize that what we may have considered to be our individual personal problems are societal and structural problems that require collective political actions. However, today, the phrase has come to mean that individual actions, such as consumer ones, are political actions; and the phrase is used to justify not being involved in collective political actions. Buying “green” is not a bad thing, but the loss of the true meaning of “the personal is political” is one other way that we have become politically impotent. In addition to providing linguistic therapy and not pulling any punches in his analyses, Smucker’s book is replete with “how-to” specifics in the areas of building a larger base, creating a “leaderful” (not leaderless) movement, organizing, and teamwork. Hegemony How-To speaks directly to my own experiences on a couple of different levels. For the last twenty years, I have been involved in the social justice movement for truly informed choice in mental health (the “go to” publication for this movement is Mad in America). Despite our movement having been repeatedly proven scientifically correct (for example, our claim of psychiatric diagnosis invalidity is now affirmed by the National Institute of Mental Health), we continue to lose the political battle to giant drug companies and their allies in psychiatry. We are losing the political battle for exactly the reasons that Smucker addresses in Hegemony How-To. Smucker’s book speaks to me on another level. Like Smucker, I also have been frustrated by progressives’ exclusive focus on what’s wrong with the system while neglecting the real politics necessary to change it. In the “pre-Occupy era,” I observed how many progressives were behaving as if the general public was not politically engaged because they were ignorant of political realities. However, the polls showed that the majority of people did get how they were being screwed. In that era, it appeared to me that progressives were neglecting the reality that many Americans had become politically “broken” and demoralized; that the truth was not setting them free to act; and that a psychology of oppression had been created which required a liberation psychology. I wrote about this in Get Up, Stand Up, published in the spring of 2011; and in the summer of 2011, I was happy to hear some Occupy organizers were reading it. When Occupy Wall Street took off in the fall of 2011, my publisher donated 100 copies to the Occupy Wall Street library. However, within a few months, these books, along with the rest of the library and the encampment, had gotten thrown in dumpsters by the New York City Police Department during its Zuccotti Park invasion. After that, it appeared to me that all that we—myself included—had accomplished were our own ego trips. But now owing to Smucker, I am happy to say that we can gain more out of the Occupy movement than ego trips. We can learn something from what Occupy did manage to pull off but we can learn even more from the movement’s mistakes, and we can learn to embrace power, become politically smarter, and focus on what it actually takes to win. Join the debate on Facebook Bruce E. Levine, a practicing clinical psychologist, writes and speaks about how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. He is the author of Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2011). His webs -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 22 14:33:02 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 14:33:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Chilling Trump speech, listen to Media Benjamin and Trita Parsi analysis on DN.Org Message-ID: Democracy Now covers Trumps speech in Saudi, which is really chilling. Listen to what Medea Benjamin and Trita Parsi have to say. See: WWW.DemocracyNow.Org From cge at shout.net Mon May 22 16:14:04 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 11:14:04 -0500 Subject: [Peace] President's speech in Saudi Arabia In-Reply-To: References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> Message-ID: <732e53f32e95c5347b2620f67bb496b3@shout.net> To the editor, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette: The US launched an aggressive war against Iraq in 2003 and killed perhaps a million people - but then lost the war to the Iraqi Shia, allied with Iran. The US has been torturing Iran since the CIA overthrew a democratic government there in 1953, but Iran has now largely freed itself of US control. On his visit to Saudi Arabia, President Trump announced a new crusade against Iran - a second round of the Iraq debacle - but the matter is complicated now (as it wasn't in 2003) by the Mideast presence of Russia (and China). Of course US war-making is illegal under the UN charter (and the US Constitution), while Russia's presence - at the invitation of the legitimate governments of Syria and Iran - is legal. But that doesn't stop the US from fomenting war by means of its clients in the KSA and the GCC, in order to continue its generations-long control of oil from the region - to the profits on the US 1%. American leaders of this and earlier administrations are liable for prosecution as the German leaders were at Nuremberg, for initiating “a war of aggression ... the supreme international crime...” The Clinton administration admitted its sanctions killed a half million children in Iraq in the 1990s; the Obama and Trump administrations have placed similar sanctions on Iran. We must demand that the government for which we are responsible stop killing men, women, and children in the Mideast and bring all US troops (and weapons) home. --C. G. Estabrook From cge at shout.net Mon May 22 16:26:11 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 11:26:11 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Trump on the Sunni Side of the Straits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00c07fbadd267f081eb784c59c68583a@shout.net> http://morningbriefing-global.handelsblatt.com/i/sbZsTRa0wV-YysIbIjNT5VIq8BJAU6WCCD6SfLxSoqA A conventional summary of the day's economic news, but the title is too good to ignore. --CGE From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 22 20:26:34 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 20:26:34 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] Counterpunch References: Message-ID: My personal opinion on this article in relation to the Occupy Movement, is that they were very successful. Perhaps not in their ultimate goal, but successful in organizing and bringing together in common cause, people of differing issues. Those issues were related, whether war, or impoverishment and they focus of their grievances was accurate Wall Street. Wall Street is one of the major influences on US foreign as well as domestic policy. As to “power,” I like what Chris Hedges said recently “it’s not for us to acquire power, it’s for us to scare the shit out of “power.” Unfortunately, power may have grown too powerful, to be scared of the people. MAY 19, 2017 “Hegemony How-To”: Rethinking Activism and Embracing Power by BRUCE E. LEVINE * * * * Email * * [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2015/07/print-sp.png] Occupy Wall Street insider Jonathan Smucker’s recently published Hegemony How-To: a Roadmap for Radicals (AK Press, 2017) is the post-Occupy guide for how to be smarter about politics. Smucker, a long-time grassroots organizer, does not dismiss what Occupy did right but is honest about its failures. The 99% remain just as powerless as ever, and we still have endless wars, corporate control, and increasing social and economic injustices. In the tradition of Saul Alinsky and Antonio Gramsci, Smucker points out that “knowledge of what is wrong with a social system and knowledge of how to change the system are two completely different categories of knowledge.” Before touching on how Hegemony How-Tospeaks directly to my own experience, a feel for Smucker’s punches. Smucker spares nothing and no one—including himself—in his passion to achieve political victory. Smucker asks himself: “How many times, I wondered, had I favored a particular action or tactic because I really thought it was likely to change a decision-maker’s position or win over key allies, as opposed to gravitating toward an action because it expressed my activist identity and self-conception? How concerned were we really, in our practice, with political outcomes?” Smucker concludes, “We often seemed more preoccupied with the purity of our political expression than with how to move from Point A to Point B. It felt as if having the right line about everything was more important than making measurable progress on anything.” Smucker does not ignore what Occupy Wall Street did well. “OccupyWall Street,” for many Americans, was a way of saying “Fuck Wall Street” and standing up to it. Through its language of the 99% and the 1%, Occupy compelled the mainstream media to talk about class injustice, and so Occupy helped restore some sense of class consciousness. Occupying public space gave powerless people a taste of power and gave many alienated people a taste of community. However, Smucker is frustrated that Occupy couldn’t move to the next level and actually accomplish political goals such as creating greater economic and social justice. And so Smucker, like a good coach, replays the game film to see how his team caught the 1% by surprise, gained an advantage—but then lost the game. Failed social movements, Smucker tells us, often don’t overcome the political identify paradox. Specifically, social movements need to foster a group identify and have a dedicated core willing to put in many hours. But fostering this group identity can lead to [http://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/dropzone/2017/05/hegemonyhowto.jpg] isolation and failure to connect with others outside the group. The group that only cares about cohesiveness and maintaining its identity is not going to accomplish anything but just that. Focusing exclusively on creating a strong identify can “create a wall between them and potential allies.” Smucker observes, “Building a community, for example, is a worthy pursuit. But these motivations become a problem when they trump our motivation to accomplish our ostensible political goals.” One byproduct of focusing too much on group identity is being dismissive of potential allies because they were not radical enough. For Smucker, “Every time a prominent supporter was snubbed, a message was sent to all potential supporters: ‘Your support is not wanted. This thing is ours.’ ” Successful social movements build a large base of support “outside the choir,” and they put great effort into actively courting influential supporters. Smucker tells us, “Occupy Wall Street had an incredible opportunity to do this—indeed, many influential supporters were courting us—but too often we did precisely the opposite.” While most people would label Smucker as a major “activist,” Smucker disdains the word activist, and he encourages people to abandon it. He proclaims, “I dislike the label activist. . . It lets everyone else off the hook!” This “activism” self-identification simply sets you apart from the broader society that you need to engage in. Smucker reflects that activism “has morphed into a specific identify that centers on a hobby—something akin to being a skier or a ‘theater person—rather than a civic or political responsibility that necessarily traverses groups and interests.” When activists seek only mutual validations from likeminded activists, Smucker points out, “some of the most idealistic and collectively minded young people in society remove themselves voluntarily from the institutions and social networks that they were organically positioned to influence and contest.” If people want change, they must continue connecting with the greater society. At a deeper level, the Occupy movement, and many radicals, fail because of what Smucker calls their “humanistic ambivalence toward power”—they are uncomfortable with power, while their opposition is not. Hegemony refers to leadership or predominant influence, and Smucker tells us, “I am well aware that the title of this book may be read by some of my comrades as a provocation, insofar as it suggests that hegemony is not in and of itself something to stand against, but rather something to attain. To be clear, it is intended to be a provocation.” Smucker reacquaints us with Martin Luther King’s observations about power, “Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose . . . And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.” King concludes, “It is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our times.” One reason that the civil rights movement in the 1960s was successful was that movement members across its spectrum, from Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, while differing on the strategies for acquiring power, embraced the need for power. Smucker’s book provides some much needed “linguistic-political therapy.” For example, he points out that the phrase “the personal is political” is now often used to mean something almost completely opposite of its original meaning. He reminds us that the phrase was first used by Carol Hanisch in 1969 to mean that when we talk among ourselves, we realize that what we may have considered to be our individual personal problems are societal and structural problems that require collective political actions. However, today, the phrase has come to mean that individual actions, such as consumer ones, are political actions; and the phrase is used to justify not being involved in collective political actions. Buying “green” is not a bad thing, but the loss of the true meaning of “the personal is political” is one other way that we have become politically impotent. In addition to providing linguistic therapy and not pulling any punches in his analyses, Smucker’s book is replete with “how-to” specifics in the areas of building a larger base, creating a “leaderful” (not leaderless) movement, organizing, and teamwork. Hegemony How-To speaks directly to my own experiences on a couple of different levels. For the last twenty years, I have been involved in the social justice movement for truly informed choice in mental health (the “go to” publication for this movement is Mad in America). Despite our movement having been repeatedly proven scientifically correct (for example, our claim of psychiatric diagnosis invalidity is now affirmed by the National Institute of Mental Health), we continue to lose the political battle to giant drug companies and their allies in psychiatry. We are losing the political battle for exactly the reasons that Smucker addresses in Hegemony How-To. Smucker’s book speaks to me on another level. Like Smucker, I also have been frustrated by progressives’ exclusive focus on what’s wrong with the system while neglecting the real politics necessary to change it. In the “pre-Occupy era,” I observed how many progressives were behaving as if the general public was not politically engaged because they were ignorant of political realities. However, the polls showed that the majority of people did get how they were being screwed. In that era, it appeared to me that progressives were neglecting the reality that many Americans had become politically “broken” and demoralized; that the truth was not setting them free to act; and that a psychology of oppression had been created which required a liberation psychology. I wrote about this in Get Up, Stand Up, published in the spring of 2011; and in the summer of 2011, I was happy to hear some Occupy organizers were reading it. When Occupy Wall Street took off in the fall of 2011, my publisher donated 100 copies to the Occupy Wall Street library. However, within a few months, these books, along with the rest of the library and the encampment, had gotten thrown in dumpsters by the New York City Police Department during its Zuccotti Park invasion. After that, it appeared to me that all that we—myself included—had accomplished were our own ego trips. But now owing to Smucker, I am happy to say that we can gain more out of the Occupy movement than ego trips. We can learn something from what Occupy did manage to pull off but we can learn even more from the movement’s mistakes, and we can learn to embrace power, become politically smarter, and focus on what it actually takes to win. Join the debate on Facebook Bruce E. Levine, a practicing clinical psychologist, writes and speaks about how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. He is the author of Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2011). His webs _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon May 22 23:05:42 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 23:05:42 +0000 Subject: [Peace] The Death of the Republic by Chris Hedges Message-ID: Published on Monday, May 22, 2017 by Truthdig The Death of the Republic by Chris Hedges * * * * * * * 28 Comments [https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/views-article/screen_shot_2017-05-22_at_10.09.59_am.png?itok=o4-P-rS1] The damage to the republic is deeper than Donald Trump. And even when he does, the threat of anti-democratic tyranny will remain. (Cartoon: Mr. Fish/TruthDig) The deep state’s decision in ancient Rome—dominated by a bloated military and a corrupt oligarchy, much like the United States of 2017—to strangle the vain and idiotic Emperor Commodus in his bath in the year 192 did not halt the growing chaos and precipitous decline of the Roman Empire. Commodus, like a number of other late Roman emperors, and like President Trump, was incompetent and consumed by his own vanity. He commissioned innumerable statues of himself as Hercules and had little interest in governance. He used his position as head of state to make himself the star of his own ongoing public show. He fought victoriously as a gladiator in the arena in fixed bouts. Power for Commodus, as it is for Trump, was primarily about catering to his bottomless narcissism, hedonism and lust for wealth. He sold public offices so the ancient equivalents of Betsy DeVos and Steve Mnuchin could orchestrate a vast kleptocracy. "The vast disconnect between the purported values of the state and reality renders political discourse absurd." Commodus was replaced by the reformer Pertinax, the Bernie Sanders of his day, who attempted in vain to curb the power of the Praetorian Guards, the ancient version of the military-industrial complex. This effort saw the Praetorian Guards assassinate Pertinax after he was in power only three months. The Guards then auctioned off the office of emperor to the highest bidder. The next emperor, Didius Julianus, lasted 66 days. There would be five emperors in A.D. 193, the year after the assassination of Commodus. Trump and our decaying empire have ominous historical precedents. If the deep state replaces Trump, whose ineptitude and imbecility are embarrassing to the empire, that action will not restore our democracy any more than replacing Commodus restored democracy in Rome. Our republic is dead. Societies that once were open and had democratic traditions are easy prey for the enemies of democracy. These demagogues pay deference to the patriotic ideals, rituals, practices and forms of the old democratic political system while dismantling it. When the Roman Emperor Augustus—he referred to himself as the “first citizen”—neutered the republic, he was careful to maintain the form of the old republic. Lenin and the Bolsheviks did the same when they seized and crushed the autonomous soviets. Even the Nazis and the Stalinists insisted they ruled democratic states. Thomas Paine wrote that despotic government is a fungus that grows out of a corrupt civil society. This is what happened to these older democracies. It is what happened to us. Our constitutional rights—due process, habeas corpus, privacy, a fair trial, freedom from exploitation, fair elections and dissent—have been taken from us by judicial fiat. These rights exist only in name. The vast disconnect between the purported values of the state and reality renders political discourse absurd. Corporations, cannibalizing the federal budget, legally empower themselves to exploit and pillage. It is impossible to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or ExxonMobil. The pharmaceutical and insurance industries can hold sick children hostage while their parents bankrupt themselves trying to save their sons or daughters. Those burdened by student loans can never wipe out the debt by declaring bankruptcy. In many states, those who attempt to publicize the conditions in the vast factory farms where diseased animals are warehoused for slaughter can be charged with a criminal offense. Corporations legally carry out tax boycotts. Companies have orchestrated free trade deals that destroy small farmers and businesses and deindustrialize the country. Labor unions and government agencies designed to protect the public from contaminated air, water and food and from usurious creditors and lenders have been defanged. The Supreme Court, in an inversion of rights worthy of George Orwell, defines unlimited corporate contributions to electoral campaigns as a right to petition the government or a form of free speech. Much of the press, owned by large corporations, is an echo chamber for the elites. State and city enterprises and utilities are sold to corporations that hike rates and deny services to the poor. The educational system is being slowly privatized and turned into a species of vocational training. Wages are stagnant or have declined. Unemployment and underemployment—masked by falsified statistics—have thrust half the country into chronic poverty. Social services are abolished in the name of austerity. Culture and the arts have been replaced by sexual commodification, banal entertainment and graphic depictions of violence. The infrastructure, neglected and underfunded, is collapsing. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, arrests, food shortages and untreated illnesses that lead to early death plague a harried underclass. The desperate flee into an underground economy dominated by drugs, crime and human trafficking. The state, rather than address the economic misery, militarizes police departments and empowers them to use lethal force against unarmed civilians. It fills the prisons with 2.3 million citizens, only a tiny percentage of whom had a trial. One million prisoners work for corporations inside prisons as modern-day slaves. The amendments of the Constitution, designed to protect the citizen from tyranny, are meaningless. The Fourth Amendment, for example, reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The reality is that our telephone calls, emails, texts and financial, judicial and medical records, along with every website we visit and our physical travels, are tracked, recorded and stored in perpetuity in government computer banks. The state tortures, not only in black sites such as those at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan or at Guantanamo Bay, but also in supermax ADX [administrative maximum] facilities such as the one at Florence, Colo., where inmates suffer psychological breakdowns from prolonged solitary confinement. Prisoners, although they are citizens, endure around-the-clock electronic monitoring and 23-hour-a-day lockdowns. They undergo extreme sensory deprivation. They endure beatings. They must shower and go to the bathroom on camera. They can write only one letter a week to one relative and cannot use more than three pieces of paper. They often have no access to fresh air and take their one hour of daily recreation in a huge cage that resembles a treadmill for hamsters. The state uses “special administrative measures,” known as SAMs, to strip prisoners of their judicial rights. SAMs restrict prisoners’ communication with the outside world. They end calls, letters and visits with anyone except attorneys and sharply limit contact with family members. Prisoners under SAMs are not permitted to see most of the evidence against them because of a legal provision called the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA. CIPA, begun under the Reagan administration, allows evidence in a trial to be classified and withheld from those being prosecuted. You can be tried and convicted, like Joseph K. in Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” without ever seeing the evidence used to find you guilty. Under SAMs, it is against the law for those who have contact with an inmate—including attorneys—to speak about his or her physical and psychological conditions. And when prisoners are released, they have lost the right to vote and receive public assistance and are burdened with fines that, if unpaid, will put them back behind bars. They are subject to arbitrary searches and arrests. They spend the rest of their lives marginalized as members of a vast criminal caste. The executive branch of government has empowered itself to assassinate U.S. citizens. It can call the Army into the streets to quell civil unrest under Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, which ended a prohibition on the military acting as a domestic police force. The executive branch can order the military to seize U.S. citizens deemed to be terrorists or associated with terrorists. This is called “extraordinary rendition.” Those taken into custody by the military can be denied due process and habeas corpus rights and held indefinitely in military facilities. Activists and dissidents, whose rights were once protected under the First Amendment, can face indefinite incarceration. Constitutionally protected statements, beliefs and associations are criminalized. The state assumed the power to detain and prosecute people not for what they have done, or even for what they are planning to do, but for holding religious or political beliefs that the state deems seditious. The first of those targeted have been observant Muslims, but they will not be the last. The outward forms of democratic participation—voting, competing political parties, judicial oversight and legislation—are meaningless theater. No one who lives under constant surveillance, who is subject to detention anywhere at any time, whose conversations, messages, meetings, proclivities and habits are recorded, stored and analyzed, who is powerless in the face of corporate exploitation, can be described as free. The relationship between the state and the citizen who is watched constantly is one of master and slave. And the shackles will not be removed if Trump disappears. © 2017 TruthDig [Chris Hedges] Chris Hedges writes a regular column for Truthdig.com. Hedges graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. He is the author of many books, including: War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, What Every Person Should Know About War, and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. His most recent book is Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Tue May 23 09:44:30 2017 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 04:44:30 -0500 Subject: [Peace] please sign this petition for The People's Budget Message-ID: Folks, We must push back on the destructive Trump/Republican agenda that would gut social services, give more tax breaks to the wealthy, and further bloat the military/industrial complex: Please sign this petition for The People's Budget: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/peoples-budget-citizen-cosponsor-prog-dems Please sign and share widely. Thanks, Deb From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue May 23 12:46:25 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 12:46:25 +0000 Subject: [Peace] $1.7 trillion in social cuts coming our way. Message-ID: * Print * Leaflet * Feedback * Share » Trump calls for $1.7 trillion in social cuts 23 May 2017 The Trump administration will unveil a fiscal year 2018 budget today that includes $1.7 trillion in cuts to major social programs. The plan marks a new stage in a bipartisan social counterrevolution aimed at eviscerating what remains of programs to fight poverty and hunger and provide health care for millions of workers. The unveiling of the budget underscores the reactionary character of the Democrats’ response to a gangster government headed by a fascistic-minded billionaire and composed of Wall Street bankers, far-right ideologues and generals. The Democratic Party has chosen to base its opposition to Trump not on his assault on working and poor people, his attacks on democratic rights, or his reckless militarism, but on his supposed “softness” toward Russia. In the political warfare in Washington, the Democrats are aligned with those sections of the intelligence apparatus and the “deep state” that are determined to compel Trump to abandon any notion of easing relations, and instead continue the Obama administration’s policy of escalating confrontation with Russia. As the Democrats and the so-called “liberal” media pursue their anti-Russia campaign, the Trump administration continues to advance its brutal domestic agenda. Trump’s budget is the opening shot in a stage-managed tussle between the two big business parties over social cuts that will end with the most massive attack on core social programs in US history. The budget includes a cut of $800 billion over a decade in Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people jointly administered by the federal government and the states. More than 74 million Americans, or one in five, are currently enrolled in Medicaid, including pregnant women, children and seniors with disabilities. Like the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed earlier this month by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Trump’s budget plan would put an end to Medicaid as a guaranteed benefit based on need, replacing it with per capita funding or block grants to the states. The AHCA would also end the expansion of Medicaid benefits under Obamacare and allow states to impose work requirements for beneficiaries. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that an earlier version of the Republican plan would result in 10 million people being stripped of Medicaid benefits. Trump’s budget would also cut $193 billion over a decade from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, a 25 percent reduction to be achieved in part by limiting eligibility and imposing work requirements. Welfare benefits, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, would be cut by $21 billion. Spending on the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which benefit mainly low- and middle-income families, would be reduced by $40 billion. The budget reportedly includes changes in funding for Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program, which provides cash benefits to the poor and disabled. While gutting social programs, Trump proposes to sharply reduce taxes for the wealthy. In addition to slashing income tax rates for the rich, he is proposing to dramatically cut estate, capital gains and business tax rates. At the same time, he is demanding a huge increase in military spending. While Democrats will make rhetorical criticisms of the Trump budget, the fact is that the administration is escalating a decades-long assault on the working class overseen by both big business parties. The outcome can be seen in the reality of social life in America: Poverty More than 13 percent—some 43.1 million Americans—were living in poverty in 2015. Of these, 19.4 million were living in extreme poverty, which means their family’s cash income was less than half of the poverty line, or about $10,000 a year for a family of four. The poverty rate for children under 18 was 19.7 percent. These are the official poverty rates, based on absurdly low income baselines. In reality, at least half of the population is living in or on the edge of poverty. These are precisely the people targeted by Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, welfare and food stamps. Hunger Almost one in eight US households, 15.8 million, were food insecure in 2015, meaning they had difficulty providing enough food for all their members. Five percent of households had very low food security, meaning the food intake of household members was cut. Three million households were unable to provide adequate, nutritious food for their children. Lack of health care In 2016 under Obamacare, 28.6 million people of all ages, or about 9 percent of the US population, remained uninsured. Many of those insured under plans purchased from private insurers on the Obamacare exchanges were unable to use their insurance because of prohibitively high deductibles and co-pays. Many who gained insurance under Obamacare did so as a result of the expansion of Medicaid. Trump plans to reverse this, throwing millions of people back into the ranks of the uninsured. A bipartisan assault In the wake of Trump’s budget proposal, the Democrats have responded with their standard empty rhetoric. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer—one of Congress’ biggest recipients of Wall Street campaign money—decried Trump’s “hard-right policies that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle-class.” Just three weeks ago, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were hailing the passage of a bipartisan fiscal 2017 budget that cut food stamps by $2.4 billion, slashed funding for education and the environment, and added billions more for the military and border control. Obamacare paved the way for the present assault on Medicaid and the coming attacks on Medicare and Social Security by further subordinating health care to the profit demands of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries and imposing higher costs for reduced benefits on millions of workers. Nothing less than a mass movement of the working class will prevent the destruction of Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, public education and every other social gain won by the working class. But this movement must be completely independent of the Democratic Party, the historic graveyard of social protest in America. That includes left-talking demagogues like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. It is not a matter of appealing to or seeking to pressure the Democrats or any other section of the political establishment. They are all in the pocket of Wall Street. The working class needs its own program to secure its basic social rights—a decent-paying job, education, health care, a secure retirement. These rights are not compatible with a capitalist system that is lurching inexorably toward world war and dictatorship. Workers and youth must intervene in this crisis with a socialist and revolutionary program geared to the needs of the vast majority, not the interests of an obscenely rich and corrupt financial oligarchy. Kate Randall WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue May 23 14:31:01 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 14:31:01 +0000 Subject: [Peace] A must listen References: Message-ID: Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump. http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ [https://i2.wp.com/davidswanson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/boylesm.jpg?resize=250%2C254] Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. Total run time: 29:00 Host: David Swanson. Producer: David Swanson. Music by Duke Ellington. Find this show on Youtube. Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive. Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport. Syndicated by Pacifica Network. Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at http://TalkNationRadio.org and at https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks -- David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue May 23 14:36:30 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 09:36:30 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] A must listen In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Trump is not the problem: US war-making is. The ‘Impeach Trump’ movement (along with ‘Russiagate’) is an attempt by the US political establishment (Democrats-neocons-Pentagoners-spooks) to coerce the Trump administration into keeping the Obama-Clinton war provocations against Russia-China-(and Iran) going. It seems to be working. —CGE > On May 23, 2017, at 9:31 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote: > > >> >> Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump >> >> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump . >> >> http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ >> >> Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. >> >> Total run time: 29:00 >> Host: David Swanson. >> Producer: David Swanson. >> Music by Duke Ellington. >> >> Find this show on Youtube . >> >> Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive . >> >> Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport . >> >> Syndicated by Pacifica Network. >> >> Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! >> >> Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! >> >> Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at >> http://TalkNationRadio.org >> and at >> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks >> >> -- >> David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org . Swanson's books include War Is A Lie . He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org . He hosts Talk Nation Radio . He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. >> Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook . > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue May 23 14:40:21 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 14:40:21 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] A must listen In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: As noted by Prof. Boyle in the discussion. On May 23, 2017, at 07:36, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: Trump is not the problem: US war-making is. The ‘Impeach Trump’ movement (along with ‘Russiagate’) is an attempt by the US political establishment (Democrats-neocons-Pentagoners-spooks) to coerce the Trump administration into keeping the Obama-Clinton war provocations against Russia-China-(and Iran) going. It seems to be working. —CGE On May 23, 2017, at 9:31 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump. http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ [https://i2.wp.com/davidswanson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/boylesm.jpg?resize=250%2C254] Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. Total run time: 29:00 Host: David Swanson. Producer: David Swanson. Music by Duke Ellington. Find this show on Youtube. Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive. Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport. Syndicated by Pacifica Network. Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at http://TalkNationRadio.org and at https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks -- David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue May 23 14:46:00 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 09:46:00 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] A must listen In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: But the discussion is billed “How to Impeach Trump” - the establishment talking point. So long as they can keep Americans talking about how to impeach Trump, the war party has nothing to worry about. > On May 23, 2017, at 9:40 AM, Karen Aram wrote: > > As noted by Prof. Boyle in the discussion. > >> On May 23, 2017, at 07:36, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >> >> Trump is not the problem: US war-making is. >> >> The ‘Impeach Trump’ movement (along with ‘Russiagate’) is an attempt by the US political establishment (Democrats-neocons-Pentagoners-spooks) to coerce the Trump administration into keeping the Obama-Clinton war provocations against Russia-China-(and Iran) going. >> >> It seems to be working. >> >> —CGE >> >> >>> On May 23, 2017, at 9:31 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: >>> >>> >>>> >>>> Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump >>>> >>>> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump . >>>> >>>> http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ >>>> >>>> Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. >>>> >>>> Total run time: 29:00 >>>> Host: David Swanson. >>>> Producer: David Swanson. >>>> Music by Duke Ellington. >>>> >>>> Find this show on Youtube . >>>> >>>> Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive . >>>> >>>> Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport . >>>> >>>> Syndicated by Pacifica Network. >>>> >>>> Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! >>>> >>>> Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! >>>> >>>> Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at >>>> http://TalkNationRadio.org >>>> and at >>>> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks >>>> >>>> -- >>>> David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org . Swanson's books include War Is A Lie . He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org . He hosts Talk Nation Radio . He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. >>>> Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook . >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue May 23 14:49:24 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 09:49:24 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] A must listen In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: NYT: “John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, said Tuesday that he became concerned last year that the Russian government was trying to influence members of the Trump campaign to act — wittingly or unwittingly — on Moscow’s behalf." > On May 23, 2017, at 9:46 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: > > But the discussion is billed “How to Impeach Trump” - the establishment talking point. > > So long as they can keep Americans talking about how to impeach Trump, the war party has nothing to worry about. > > >> On May 23, 2017, at 9:40 AM, Karen Aram > wrote: >> >> As noted by Prof. Boyle in the discussion. >> >>> On May 23, 2017, at 07:36, Carl G. Estabrook > wrote: >>> >>> Trump is not the problem: US war-making is. >>> >>> The ‘Impeach Trump’ movement (along with ‘Russiagate’) is an attempt by the US political establishment (Democrats-neocons-Pentagoners-spooks) to coerce the Trump administration into keeping the Obama-Clinton war provocations against Russia-China-(and Iran) going. >>> >>> It seems to be working. >>> >>> —CGE >>> >>> >>>> On May 23, 2017, at 9:31 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>> >>>>> Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump >>>>> >>>>> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump . >>>>> >>>>> http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ >>>>> >>>>> Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. >>>>> >>>>> Total run time: 29:00 >>>>> Host: David Swanson. >>>>> Producer: David Swanson. >>>>> Music by Duke Ellington. >>>>> >>>>> Find this show on Youtube . >>>>> >>>>> Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive . >>>>> >>>>> Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport . >>>>> >>>>> Syndicated by Pacifica Network. >>>>> >>>>> Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! >>>>> >>>>> Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! >>>>> >>>>> Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at >>>>> http://TalkNationRadio.org >>>>> and at >>>>> https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org . Swanson's books include War Is A Lie . He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org . He hosts Talk Nation Radio . He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. >>>>> Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook . >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >>> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue May 23 15:43:18 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 15:43:18 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [Peace-discuss] A must listen References: Message-ID: Talk Nation Radio: Francis Boyle on How to Impeach Trump https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump. http://davidswanson.org/talk-nation-radio-francis-boyle-on-how-to-impeach-trump/ [https://i2.wp.com/davidswanson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/boylesm.jpg?resize=250%2C254] Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Professor Boyle has served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He has represented the Blackfoot Nation, the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. And he has been a strong advocate over the years for the proper use of the power of impeachment. Total run time: 29:00 Host: David Swanson. Producer: David Swanson. Music by Duke Ellington. Find this show on Youtube. Download from LetsTryDemocracy or Archive. Pacifica stations can also download from Audioport. Syndicated by Pacifica Network. Please encourage your local radio stations to carry this program every week! Please embed the SoundCloud audio on your own website! Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at http://TalkNationRadio.org and at https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/tracks -- David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Tue May 23 16:44:48 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 11:44:48 -0500 Subject: [Peace] 7pm Tuesday at CPL: the Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home (CCHCC) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7c67cea8-b3a4-21f6-808b-d340e4a5863c@gmail.com> >From Champaign County Health Care Consumers: Community Meeting: The Champaign County Nursing Home Tuesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. Please save the date for a special event organized by Champaign County Health Care Consumers: *The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home – Community Meeting*. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. *_Brief Background_* The Champaign County Nursing Home (CCNH) has been facing financial struggles for a number of different reasons. As a result, the Champaign County Board placed two referenda regarding the CCNH on the ballot this past April 4. One question asked about a property tax levy to help support the CCNH. A majority of voters voted against raising the property tax levy for the CCNH. The other question asked about “sale or disposal” of the CCNH. A majority of voters voted yes to this question. And now the Champaign County Board is struggling with the future of the CCNH. *_Community Meeting – The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home_* /Must/ the Champaign County Nursing Home be sold? Isn’t there /something/ that can be done to save the Champaign County Nursing Home and keep it as a publicly owned and operated nursing home? Is anyone /doing/ anything to try to save the CCNH? What is so/special/ about the Champaign County Nursing Home? These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed at the upcoming community meeting. *_WHAT:_* Community Meeting on The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home *_WHEN:_* Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. *_WHERE:_* Champaign Public Library, Robeson Rooms A & B 200 W. Green Street, Champaign *_WHO:_* Champaign County Health Care Consumers Free Parking • Accessible • Refreshments will be provided. *_Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) Position on the CCNH_* CCHCC believes that we, as a community, should work to save the Champaign County Nursing Home. Selling this important public health care asset to a for-profit corporation would be a tremendous loss to our community, and there are many reasons to fear a decline in quality of care. We hope to see you at this important community meeting! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cwjenne at gmail.com Tue May 23 18:57:47 2017 From: cwjenne at gmail.com (Wayne Jenne) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 18:57:47 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Chilling Trump speech, listen to Media Benjamin and Trita Parsi analysis on DN.Org In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, May 22, 2017 at 9:33 AM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Democracy Now covers Trumps speech in Saudi, which is really chilling. > Listen to what Medea Benjamin and Trita Parsi have to say. > > See: WWW.DemocracyNow.Org > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > I thought about Media all through Trump's speech. It was great to talk to her when she came here just before the election. After the election I read Lewis Lapham's "Age of Folly" which covers the end of the Cold War to Trump the candidate. Here's a beautiful quote from the preface regarding the fall of the Soviet Union: "A precious asset, communist ogre in the totalitarian snow, and in 1990 sorely missed. Absent the Cold War with the Russians, how then to defend, honor, and protect the cash flow of the nations military-industrial complex pumping air and iron into the conspicuous consumptions of the American Dream" What comes home to me is not so much the issue of Enemies in Politics, but the issue of why so many of us don't want to hear or talk about it. Content to relegate the issues of war and climate change to the pro & con debates on corporate media and hold on to whatever piece of that dream we still have. We are addicted to fossil fuels and don't want to hear about the death and destruction we cause. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue May 23 19:35:32 2017 From: galliher at illinois.edu (Carl G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 14:35:32 -0500 Subject: [Peace] 7pm Tuesday at CPL: the Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home (CCHCC) In-Reply-To: <7c67cea8-b3a4-21f6-808b-d340e4a5863c@gmail.com> References: <7c67cea8-b3a4-21f6-808b-d340e4a5863c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1664D4F5-1088-420B-A548-DA1E296BAD45@illinois.edu> Please post to this list what actions come out of this meeting. Thanks, CGE > On May 23, 2017, at 11:44 AM, Stuart Levy via Peace wrote: > > From Champaign County Health Care Consumers: > > Community Meeting: > The Champaign County > Nursing Home > > Tuesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. > > > Please save the date for a special event organized by Champaign County Health Care Consumers: The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home – Community Meeting. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. > > Brief Background > The Champaign County Nursing Home (CCNH) has been facing financial struggles for a number of different reasons. As a result, the Champaign County Board placed two referenda regarding the CCNH on the ballot this past April 4. One question asked about a property tax levy to help support the CCNH. A majority of voters voted against raising the property tax levy for the CCNH. The other question asked about “sale or disposal” of the CCNH. A majority of voters voted yes to this question. And now the Champaign County Board is struggling with the future of the CCNH. > > Community Meeting – The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home > Must the Champaign County Nursing Home be sold? Isn’t there something that can be done to save the Champaign County Nursing Home and keep it as a publicly owned and operated nursing home? Is anyone doing anything to try to save the CCNH? What is sospecial about the Champaign County Nursing Home? > > These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed at the upcoming community meeting. > > WHAT: Community Meeting on The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home > > WHEN: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. > > WHERE: Champaign Public Library, Robeson Rooms A & B > 200 W. Green Street, Champaign > > WHO: Champaign County Health Care Consumers > > Free Parking • Accessible • Refreshments will be provided. > > Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) Position on the CCNH > CCHCC believes that we, as a community, should work to save the Champaign County Nursing Home. Selling this important public health care asset to a for-profit corporation would be a tremendous loss to our community, and there are many reasons to fear a decline in quality of care. > > > > We hope to see you at this important community meeting! > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Tue May 23 21:17:51 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 16:17:51 -0500 Subject: [Peace] 7pm Tuesday at CPL: the Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home (CCHCC) In-Reply-To: <1664D4F5-1088-420B-A548-DA1E296BAD45@illinois.edu> References: <7c67cea8-b3a4-21f6-808b-d340e4a5863c@gmail.com> <1664D4F5-1088-420B-A548-DA1E296BAD45@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <85b5176d-e351-5ec5-b75a-1da19a57601d@gmail.com> I won't be able to attend this meeting tonight, though it's a very important local issue. Karen Medina won't either. Hope some on this list can go, and let us know if there are things that supporters of the nursing home should be doing ... One I expect they'll mention, for those of us in County Board districts (including mine!) that voted clearly No on allowing sale of the home and Yes on the property tax, will be to let our board members know that we still don't want them to go ahead with privatization. Any sale still requires a 2/3rds vote of the whole county board. On 5/23/17 2:35 PM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote: > Please post to this list what actions come out of this meeting. Thanks, CGE > > >> On May 23, 2017, at 11:44 AM, Stuart Levy via Peace wrote: >> >> From Champaign County Health Care Consumers: >> >> Community Meeting: >> The Champaign County >> Nursing Home >> >> Tuesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. >> >> >> Please save the date for a special event organized by Champaign County Health Care Consumers: The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home – Community Meeting. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. >> >> Brief Background >> The Champaign County Nursing Home (CCNH) has been facing financial struggles for a number of different reasons. As a result, the Champaign County Board placed two referenda regarding the CCNH on the ballot this past April 4. One question asked about a property tax levy to help support the CCNH. A majority of voters voted against raising the property tax levy for the CCNH. The other question asked about “sale or disposal” of the CCNH. A majority of voters voted yes to this question. And now the Champaign County Board is struggling with the future of the CCNH. >> >> Community Meeting – The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home >> Must the Champaign County Nursing Home be sold? Isn’t there something that can be done to save the Champaign County Nursing Home and keep it as a publicly owned and operated nursing home? Is anyone doing anything to try to save the CCNH? What is sospecial about the Champaign County Nursing Home? >> >> These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed at the upcoming community meeting. >> >> WHAT: Community Meeting on The Future of the Champaign County Nursing Home >> >> WHEN: Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. >> >> WHERE: Champaign Public Library, Robeson Rooms A & B >> 200 W. Green Street, Champaign >> >> WHO: Champaign County Health Care Consumers >> >> Free Parking • Accessible • Refreshments will be provided. >> >> Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) Position on the CCNH >> CCHCC believes that we, as a community, should work to save the Champaign County Nursing Home. Selling this important public health care asset to a for-profit corporation would be a tremendous loss to our community, and there are many reasons to fear a decline in quality of care. >> >> >> >> We hope to see you at this important community meeting! >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Wed May 24 12:32:40 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 07:32:40 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Draft flyer for distribution by AWARE In-Reply-To: <732e53f32e95c5347b2620f67bb496b3@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> <732e53f32e95c5347b2620f67bb496b3@shout.net> Message-ID: <2e08009753ad14de91ac93644cf71785@shout.net> President Trump: End war in the Mideast! Get U.S. troops, weapons, mercenaries, and ‘coalition partners’ (NATO) out of the Mideast. Stop supporting human rights violators - notably the allies, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel. No war with Iran, with whom the U.S. has a treaty. In the 1930s and 1940s, the countries most responsible for war in the world were Germany and Japan. Today the country most responsible for war is the one for which we are responsible, the United States. Since World War II ended in 1945, U.S. presidents have killed more than 20 million people in 37 nations. The U.S. is - as Martin Luther King said - “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” At this moment our government is making war and killing people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Thousands of U.S. troops are fighting in these wars, although most Americans are not aware of it. In addition, the 70,000-members of the U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ are active in three-quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities include kidnapping (‘rendition’), torture, and murder. As the rest of the world recognizes - but Americans don’t - they are nothing less than American death squads - out to get ‘bad guys’ as they say, who might be thought of as affecting ‘American interests’ - usually financial. We rightly deplore “radical Islamic terrorism,” in spite of the fact that the US government set it up 40 years ago to use against Russia, and cooperates with it in various places today. But we are by far the greatest terrorist regime in the world. Why is our government terrorizing the world to the point that international polls show the US is by far the most feared country in the world - not Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran? The answer is simple and horrible. The US is killing people to protect the profits of the 1%, the American economic elite. The U.S. doesn’t need oil from the Mideast, but Mideast gas and oil are needed by America’s economic competitors in Europe and Asia, and so control over them gives the U.S. a major advantage over China, Germany, and other countries - a chokehold which benefits only that American economic elite, the one percent. In 2003 the US illegally invaded Iraq - and killed perhaps a million people for that purpose - and now has thousands of troops and mercenaries throughout the Mideast. The U.S. government says that we’re fighting terrorism, but we are in fact creating terrorists - in response particularly to our drone assassinations, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - which have killed more than 5,000 people, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of children. Anti-war groups in the United States and around the world call upon President Trump to ~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, human rights, and respect for the sovereignty of other nations; ~ (2) end the wars (in the Mideast and elsewhere) and stop the drone attacks; ~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 700 foreign military bases (neither Russia nor China has more than twelve); bring US troops (and weapons) home; and withdraw US ‘special forces’ who’ve been sent into 3/4 of the world’s countries; ~ (4) stop US support of human rights abusers, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia; and ~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament. {AWARE of Champaign Urbana Illinois} -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: TXT.rtf Type: text/rtf Size: 5304 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cge at shout.net Wed May 24 12:53:54 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 07:53:54 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Prairiegreens] Draft flyer for distribution by AWARE - CORRECTION In-Reply-To: <2e08009753ad14de91ac93644cf71785@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> <732e53f32e95c5347b2620f67bb496b3@shout.net> <2e08009753ad14de91ac93644cf71785@shout.net> Message-ID: <03636e50358d8fd0dbbc3c0f69a995fb@shout.net> The txt. file sent with this message was an early draft. The correct one is attached. --CGE -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: TXT.rtf Type: text/rtf Size: 4964 bytes Desc: not available URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Wed May 24 17:40:53 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 12:40:53 -0500 Subject: [Peace] (from Peace Action) -- Help protect the Iran Nuclear Deal before it's too late In-Reply-To: <3959203361.-2037884293@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> References: <3959203361.-2037884293@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: <6bdb6c4d-ecdb-be4b-f903-13fe1a043d0c@gmail.com> Calling our Senators about this Corkery-Menendez bill, S. 722, which would impose new sanctions on Iran and (says the Peace Action alert below) "would violate the spirit, and perhaps the letter, of the Iran agreement." 202-224-2152 Sen. Richard Durbin 202-224-2854 Sen. Tammy Duckworth Neither of our Senators is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but the alert suggests they think this is likely to come to the full Senate. -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Help protect the Iran Nuclear Deal before it's too late Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 09:00:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Jon Rainwater, Peace Action Reply-To: peaceact at reply.salsalabs.com To: stuartnlevy at gmail.com *1-202-224-3121 Call your Senators _TODAY_! Urge them to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill * Dear Stuart, Do you remember the massive grassroots efforts in 2015 that ensured Congress upheld the Iran nuclear agreement? *Thank you* for participating in that successful push. Those efforts have more than paid off. *For well over a year now, the Iran agreement has been working, ensuring that all of Iran’s potential pathways to obtaining nuclear weapons are blocked.* They have also had an added benefit of empowering moderates in Iran like President Hassan Rouhani who just won re-election in a landslide, a clear sign that the people of Iran want to continue to see relationships with the West improve. *Unfortunately, politics too often supersedes good policy in the halls of Congress.* The Senate is gearing up for a floor vote on a new sanctions bill introduced by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), S. 722, that would violate the spirit, and perhaps the letter, of the Iran agreement. *Please call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202-224-3121. Ask for your Senators and then say: “I am a constituent and I want (SENATOR’s NAME) to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill, S. 722. My name is _________ and I live at ___________. I would like a response please.” *(Note: some offices don’t count callers that do not provide address information.) The Corker-Menendez bill is overly broad and poorly timed. The very premise of the Iran agreement was that Iran would experience relief from economic sanctions in exchange for opening up its nuclear facilities to inspections. By piling on new sanctions, this legislation threatens to undermine the agreement by preventing Iran from receiving the very economic benefits central to the success of the Iran accord. Moreover, while the U.S. has concerns about Iran’s policies around missile development and terrorism, sanctions have proven time and time again to be entirely ineffective at changing Iran’s behavior. During the Bush-era sanctions ramp-up targeting Iran’s nuclear program, that very program vastly expanded. It became possible to resolve concerns over Iran’s nuclear program only when both President Obama and President Rouhani were willing to come to the negotiating table. More recently, both the Obama and Trump administrations have sanctioned Iran in response to its ballistic missile testing, and tests have continued nonetheless. Simply put, the best way to address tensions and concerns over Iran’s policies is through ongoing dialogue, which more sanctions tend to put a serious damper on. *Please call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose S. 722, the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill. Be sure to tell them your name and address so they know you’re a constituent, and ask for a response.* With your help, we’ve consistently reminded Members of Congress that without the Iran agreement, war with Iran becomes much more likely. Needless to say, any military engagement directly between the U.S. and Iran could easily spiral into a full scale war, which could well surpass the Iraq war in both human and economic costs. *Yet in many ways, the Trump administration appears to be actively seeking a broader conflict with Iran**,* or at least actively trying to bait Iran into overreacting to its prodding. Since taking office, the Trump administration has announced that it’s “officially putting Iran on notice,” has imposed new sanctions on Iran, and has recently even targeted Iranian-backed militias in Syria’s civil war for the first time. On top of that, Trump just signed the largest arms deal in American history to Iran’s arch rival in the region, Saudi Arabia. Piling on a broad sanctions bill on top all these provocations would bring us closer to a direct confrontation with Iran. *Please call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202-224-3121. Ask for your Senators and then say: “I am a constituent and I want (SENATOR’s NAME) to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill, S. 722. My name is _________ and I live at ___________. I would like a response please.”* (Remember: some offices don’t count callers that don’t provide address information.) Thank you for standing with us. Humbly for peace, Jon Rainwater Executive Director Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund P.S. *The Senate Foreign Relations Commitee begins work on this bill Thursday. Please call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose S. 722, the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill. Be sure to tell them your name and address so they know you’re a constituent, and ask for a response.* Lastly, please share this important action with your family, friends and colleagues to maximize your impact. *Click here to support Peace Action's campaigns today.* Facebook Twitter Blog Contact us Click here to unsubscribe empowered by Salsa -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed May 24 18:36:19 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 18:36:19 +0000 Subject: [Peace] A brief statement from Tariq Ali on Democracy Now Message-ID: https://www.democracynow.org/2017/5/24/tariq_ali_manchester_bombing_is_part -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu May 25 11:51:17 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 11:51:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Sen. Rand Paul to force a vote on a $110 billion defense deal President Trump signed with Saudi Message-ID: © Greg Nash A message from Kathy Kelly, longtime peace activist. CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW: Sen. Dick Durbin (202) 224-2152 Sen. Tammy Duckworth (202) 224-2854 Sen. Rand Paul intends to force a vote on a $110 billion defense deal President Trump signed with Saudi Arabia, according to an aide to the Kentucky Republican. Paul is expected to introduce a measure to disapprove of the sale later on Wednesday, the aide said, over concerns that the deal may pull the U.S. into Yemen's civil war. The move will allow Paul to force a vote in early June. Under the Arms Export Control Act, he can bring the measure up on the Senate floor after 10 calendar days, but the Senate is leaving town on Friday for a week-long Memorial Day break. The Senate in September overwhelmingly rejected a similar move from Paul to halt a $1.15 billion arms sale between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Paul argued that that deal, which the Obama administration approved last August, would interject the U.S. in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition supporting the former Yemeni government. Trump last Saturday signed a deal with Saudi Arabia aimed at addressing the kingdom’s defenses amid threats from terrorist groups and Iran. The package is expected to include U.S. missiles, bombs, armored personnel carriers, Littoral Combat Ships, terminal high altitude area defense missile systems and munitions. “That was a tremendous day,” Trump said of the deal, according to a pool report. “Hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the United States and jobs, jobs, jobs.” Trump was visiting Saudi Arabia as part of his first foreign trip as president, which includes stops in Israel and the Vatican. --Jordain Carney contributed to this report, which was updated at 2:57 p.m. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri May 26 15:49:28 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 15:49:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Excellent discussion on RT.s Crosstalk, a worthwhile 30 minutes. Message-ID: https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/389783-american-media-against-trump/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri May 26 16:50:43 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 16:50:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Interview with John Pilger, brief but to the point Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYtGOjqnNGU If the link doesn’t work try RT.Com and the program “Going Underground” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cge at shout.net Sat May 27 01:02:17 2017 From: cge at shout.net (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 20:02:17 -0500 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune In-Reply-To: <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> References: <5880c407a1db5_222964d980682c3@asgworker-qmb2-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> <3014b58c3080570ba473a4b2bdcb0659@shout.net> <1f26ef3688b593a338a8fbc7cd45b7a6@shout.net> <67ddb84dcd90b85ed6339a05eaf437a4@shout.net> Message-ID: <03888a7961195446e7dd985988e8dfe9@shout.net> News from Neptune - recorded Friday 26 May at Urbana Public Television: a 'L'ordre règne" edition, for NATO: . Carl Estabrook and David Green discuss the news of the week and its coverage by the media. From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sat May 27 02:50:10 2017 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (stuartnlevy) Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 21:50:10 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE at Farmer's Market again tomorrow, 5/27, 8-noon Message-ID: Hello all, AWARE returns tomorrow to the Urbana Farmer's Market, 8am to noon.  Come and talk war and peace with us! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sat May 27 12:02:11 2017 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sat, 27 May 2017 07:02:11 -0500 Subject: [Peace] NYT: Few in St. Louis Knew Confederate Memorial Existed. Now, Many Want It Gone. Message-ID: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/us/st-louis-confederate-monuments-south.html Few in St. Louis Knew Confederate Memorial Existed. Now, Many Want It Gone. By JULIE BOSMAN MAY 26, 2017 ST. LOUIS — The angry, divisive fight over public symbols of the Confederacy has swept through Columbia, S.C., Birmingham, Ala., and New Orleans. This week, the debate made its way some 600 miles north, up the Mississippi River, to St. Louis, the home of a Confederate memorial many residents did not know was in their midst. Here in a graceful public park stands this city’s own grand monument to the Confederacy, a 32-foot-tall granite column adorned with an angel and bronze sculpture of a stoic group of figures. It rises in a thicket of trees, next to a trail teeming with runners, bicyclists and wanderers. Many residents said that until very recently, they had no idea that the 103-year-old memorial honored Confederate soldiers. “Not till they started making all that hoopla over it,” said Larry Randall, 54, who was setting off on a bike ride one afternoon this week in front of the memorial. “I’ve been coming out here for years. I never paid it no mind.” Mr. Randall, who is African-American, said he understood why some people are now calling for it to be removed. “If it’s causing problems, then they should get rid of it. Or maybe just polish the words off,” he said. “I could give a hoot.” This monument has emerged from obscurity in the last few weeks, as four prominent memorials to the Confederacy and its aftermath in New Orleans were pulled down amid protests. The debate has rippled across the South. On Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama signed a measure that blocked the “relocation, removal, alteration, renaming or other disturbance” of “architecturally significant” monuments that have been on public property for at least 40 years. In Hampton, Ga., a museum said on its Facebook page that it would close next week after a county official asked that it remove all Confederate flags from its building. Here, a vocal group of activists has turned its attention to this city’s Confederate Memorial, arguing that it, too, should be carted away, out of its prominent place in Forest Park, one of the most beloved public spaces in St. Louis. The antimonument activists have a powerful lineup of city officials on their side, including Lyda Krewson, the newly elected mayor of St. Louis, who said that she favored removing the Confederate Memorial from the park permanently. “My own opinion is that it is hurtful,” Ms. Krewson, who is white, said in an interview on Thursday. “It reveres something that, you know, we’re not proud of.” Tishaura O. Jones, the city treasurer, started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the monument’s removal. In about a week, she has gathered more than $11,000. She passes the memorial during her weekly drive to the grocery store, usually with her 9-year-old son in tow. “What I’m trying to do is set the record straight,” she said. “The Confederates, in my opinion, were traitors. And in this country, we honor patriots.” Other St. Louisans are resisting the move, arguing that removing it would be tantamount to blotting out the history of the Civil War. Some have said that the enormous monument is too heavy and expensive to move, particularly when it doesn’t have an obvious new home. Still others say that the monument has rarely attracted attention for more than a century — why should St. Louis be caught up in a debate that, in their view, belongs to the Deep South? “My first choice would be that everyone forget it was there, like before,” said George Stair, 77, who paused at the monument on an evening walk with his wife, Jane Yu, who agreed that it should stay. Mr. Stair gazed at the sculpture. “I feel like it’s O.K. to honor ordinary soldiers,” he said. “People went to Vietnam even though they didn’t agree with it.” Missouri, once a slave state, was torn between North and South during the Civil War, a border state where families and neighbors sympathized with warring sides and were often pitted against one another. “It was a divided state, which explains why we have so many of these problems here today,” said Mark L. Trout, the executive director of the Missouri Civil War Museum outside St. Louis. (Mr. Trout said his museum would be happy to accept the memorial as a gift, though he did not have a place for it to be displayed at the moment.) Divisions over the Confederate Memorial turned especially sharp this week, when demonstrators calling for its removal gathered in the park on Tuesday evening. They were joined by a handful of counter-protesters, men who told reporters that they were from outside St. Louis and who carried a Confederate flag. One opponent of the statue, Amy Maxwell, said that people from both groups were carrying handguns, and at one point someone snatched the Confederate flag and ran off, instigating a chase from the pro-monument group. Sometime during the night, the monument was spray-painted in blue with the phrases “This is treason” and “Black lives matter.” Workers were seen on Wednesday morning removing the words. Out for a run on Wednesday, Ms. Maxwell, a 22-year-old student at Saint Louis University, paused in front of the memorial, stepped around the metal barriers and spat on it. Ms. Maxwell, who is white, said she planned to demonstrate every week until it is removed. “It would be nice to have some black abolitionists memorialized in this city.” Dorothy Bohnenkamp, 51, a psychotherapist who was born and raised in St. Louis, was taking her usual run in the park on Wednesday, directly past the memorial. She said she had rarely given the monument a thought until recently, when it appeared in the news, and was not cheering for its removal. “Personally, I don’t see where it represents anything specifically related to racism,” Ms. Bohnenkamp, who is black, said. “So they take it down. What does that represent? It’s still the same history.” Ms. Krewson, the mayor, said she would like to act quickly, drawing up a plan for removal within the next three weeks. She has seen cost estimates of close to $130,000, and envisions using a mix of public and private money for the project. For now, the memorial has become an object of curiosity in the park. Passers-by stopped to inspect the monument, snapped cellphone pictures and traced their fingers over the worn and stained surface. Ayana Parker, 12, was exercising with her mother, Shalonda Bolden, in the park when they paused to read the lettering on the memorial. “It’s nice that it’s honoring soldiers,” Ayana said. Her mother gently explained that the memorial was honoring Confederate soldiers in particular. “It’s for the people who wanted to keep slavery?” Ayana said, her eyes returning to the monument. She grew quiet. “Oh.” Ms. Bolden said she didn’t believe the memorial should be destroyed. “They should put it in a museum so people can get an explanation of what it is,” she said. “It just shouldn’t be here.” === Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat May 27 19:44:54 2017 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 27 May 2017 19:44:54 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film on Netflix Message-ID: The film “War Machine,” starring Brad Pitt, is based upon the book “The Operators” written by the late Michael Hastings. It’s about Gen. Stanley A Mc Chrystal’s time in Afghanistan. It may not be a very good or moving film, its attempt at comedy is a bit overdone and falls short. But it is an anti-war film that even the simplest person can understand. As we send more troops back there now.