Hi Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here are a few events Global HOPE has going on this semester:
Wednesday, January 24, (today) 6pm Campus Center 115
Come see why John Jeavons best selling book, "How to Grow More Vegetables…," and biointensive agriculture techniques are used in over 130 countries. Find out how to attend the upcoming workshop with John Jeavons on February 3, 2007 in Honoka'a.
This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information call: HOFA 969-7789
Made possible with funding from Hawaii County Research & Development and Big Island Resource, Conservation & Development Council
Tuesday, January 30 6pm Ka Huina Art Gallery
* Paul Cienfuegos has been doing grassroots community organizing since the late 70's. He co-founded Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (California) in 1996. He is the co-author of 'Measure F: The Arcata Advisory Initiative on Democracy and Corporations' which was passed by the voters in 1998. Paul is a founding (and current) member of the City of Arcata Committee on Democracy and Corporations< http://arcatacityhall.org/com_com/demo_corp.html> which had its origins in 'Measure F'. It is the first committee of its kind in US history, and works to "ensure democratic control over corporations conducting business within the city..." Paul (and co-author) are currently working on a book for mainstream Americans on how to dismantle corporate rule. Paul also owns an online bookstore: < http://www.100fires.com> which carries thousands of books to help create a better world.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007 Campus Center Room 301
Got Stryker? How Strykers will affect you and Hawaii...health, environment & community
A panel of speakers will discuss the impact of the Stryker Brigade presence on the Big Island.
Take care,
Justin
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
-Thomas Jefferson
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here are a few events Global HOPE has going on this semester:
Wednesday, January 24, (today) 6pm Campus Center 115
Come see why John Jeavons best selling book, "How to Grow More Vegetables…," and biointensive agriculture techniques are used in over 130 countries. Find out how to attend the upcoming workshop with John Jeavons on February 3, 2007 in Honoka'a.
This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information call: HOFA 969-7789
Made possible with funding from Hawaii County Research & Development and Big Island Resource, Conservation & Development Council
Tuesday, January 30 6pm Ka Huina Art Gallery
* Paul Cienfuegos has been doing grassroots community organizing since the late 70's. He co-founded Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County (California) in 1996
Tuesday, February 6, 2007 Campus Center Room 301
Got Stryker? How Strykers will affect you and Hawaii...health, environment & community
A panel of speakers will discuss the impact of the Stryker Brigade presence on the Big Island.
Take care,
Justin
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
-Thomas Jefferson
VOTE "yes" for the 2 % initiative to preserve the aina
Hi Friends,
Please get to the polls today and vote YES for the 2% ballot initiative to preserve beautiful lands forever.
The polls are open from 7am-6pm. To find where you vote call:
Elections' Office: 961 8277
Thanks,
Justin
Neocons turn on Bush for incompetence over Iraq war
Julian Borger in Washington, Saturday November 4, 2006 The Guardian
Several prominent neoconservatives have turned on George Bush days before critical midterm elections, lambasting his administration for incompetence in the handling of the Iraq war and questioning the wisdom of the 2003 invasion they were instrumental in promoting.
Richard Perle and Kenneth Adelman, who were both Pentagon advisers before the war, Michael Rubin, a former senior official in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, were among the neoconservatives who recanted to Vanity Fair magazine in an article that could influence Tuesday's battle for the control of Congress. The Iraq war has been the dominant issue in the election.
Article continues
"I think the influence will be on morale [among Republicans]," said Steven Clemons, the head of the American Strategy Programme at the New America Foundation. "I think they are confusing the right. What this is yielding is ambivalence, and people will stay at home."
Mr Perle, a member of the influential Defence Policy Board that advised the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in the run-up to the war, is as outspoken in denouncing the conduct of the war as he was once bullish on the invasion. He blamed "dysfunction" in the Bush administration for the present quagmire.
"The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly," Mr Perle told Vanity Fair, according to early excerpts of the article. "At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible."
Asked if he would still have pushed for war knowing what he knows now, Mr Perle, a leading hawk in the Reagan administration, said: "I think if I had been delphic, and had seen where we are today, and people had said, 'Should we go into Iraq?', I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists'." The Bush administration admits it was mistaken in believing that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but the president and other top officials maintain that Iraq is better off as a result of his removal.
An overwhelming majority of Americans, however, now believe the war was not worth the cost in blood and resources. The public rethink by top neocons comes at a time of rising violence, with the US death toll climbing steadily towards 3,000 and the United Nations estimating that many Iraqis may be being killed by the conflict each month.
Kenneth Adelman, another Reagan era hawk who sat on the Defence Policy Board until last year, drew attention with a 2002 commentary in the Washington Post predicting that liberating Iraq would be a "cakewalk".
He now says he hugely overestimated the abilities of the Bush team. "I just presumed that what I considered to be the most competent national security team since Truman was indeed going to be competent," Mr Adelman said.
"They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the postwar era. Not only did each of them, individually, have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional."
He too takes back his public urging for military action, in light of the administration's performance. "I guess that's what I would have said: that Bush's arguments are absolutely right, but you know what, you just have to put them in the drawer marked 'can't do'. And that's very different from 'let's go'."
Mr Adelman, a senior Reagan adviser at cold war summits with Mikhail Gorbachev, expressed particular disappointment in Mr Rumsfeld, who he described as a particular friend. "I'm crushed by his performance," he said. "Did he change, or were we wrong in the past? Or is it that he was never really challenged before? I don't know. He certainly fooled me."
Mr Adelman said the guiding principle behind neoconservatism, "the idea of using our power for moral good in the world", had been killed off for a generation at least. After Iraq, he told Vanity Fair, "it's not going to sell".
Michael Rubin, who worked on the staff of the Pentagon's office of special plans and the coalition provisional authority in Baghdad, accused Mr Bush of betraying Iraqi reformers.
The president's actions, Mr Rubin said, had been "not much different from what his father did on February 15 1991, when he called the Iraqi people to rise up and then had second thoughts and didn't do anything once they did".
Mr Frum, who as a White House speechwriter helped coin the phrase "axis of evil" in 2002, said failure in Iraq might be inescapable, because "the insurgency has proven it can kill anyone who cooperates, and the United States and its friends have failed to prove that it can protect them". The blame, Mr Frum said, lies with "failure at the centre", beginning with the president. # # #
Julian Borger in Washington, Saturday November 4, 2006 The Guardian
Several prominent neoconservatives have turned on George Bush days before critical midterm elections, lambasting his administration for incompetence in the handling of the Iraq war and questioning the wisdom of the 2003 invasion they were instrumental in promoting.
Richard Perle and Kenneth Adelman, who were both Pentagon advisers before the war, Michael Rubin, a former senior official in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, were among the neoconservatives who recanted to Vanity Fair magazine in an article that could influence Tuesday's battle for the control of Congress. The Iraq war has been the dominant issue in the election.
Article continues
"I think the influence will be on morale [among Republicans]," said Steven Clemons, the head of the American Strategy Programme at the New America Foundation. "I think they are confusing the right. What this is yielding is ambivalence, and people will stay at home."
Mr Perle, a member of the influential Defence Policy Board that advised the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in the run-up to the war, is as outspoken in denouncing the conduct of the war as he was once bullish on the invasion. He blamed "dysfunction" in the Bush administration for the present quagmire.
"The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly," Mr Perle told Vanity Fair, according to early excerpts of the article. "At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible."
Asked if he would still have pushed for war knowing what he knows now, Mr Perle, a leading hawk in the Reagan administration, said: "I think if I had been delphic, and had seen where we are today, and people had said, 'Should we go into Iraq?', I think now I probably would have said, 'No, let's consider other strategies for dealing with the thing that concerns us most, which is Saddam supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorists'." The Bush administration admits it was mistaken in believing that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but the president and other top officials maintain that Iraq is better off as a result of his removal.
An overwhelming majority of Americans, however, now believe the war was not worth the cost in blood and resources. The public rethink by top neocons comes at a time of rising violence, with the US death toll climbing steadily towards 3,000 and the United Nations estimating that many Iraqis may be being killed by the conflict each month.
Kenneth Adelman, another Reagan era hawk who sat on the Defence Policy Board until last year, drew attention with a 2002 commentary in the Washington Post predicting that liberating Iraq would be a "cakewalk".
He now says he hugely overestimated the abilities of the Bush team. "I just presumed that what I considered to be the most competent national security team since Truman was indeed going to be competent," Mr Adelman said.
"They turned out to be among the most incompetent teams in the postwar era. Not only did each of them, individually, have enormous flaws, but together they were deadly, dysfunctional."
He too takes back his public urging for military action, in light of the administration's performance. "I guess that's what I would have said: that Bush's arguments are absolutely right, but you know what, you just have to put them in the drawer marked 'can't do'. And that's very different from 'let's go'."
Mr Adelman, a senior Reagan adviser at cold war summits with Mikhail Gorbachev, expressed particular disappointment in Mr Rumsfeld, who he described as a particular friend. "I'm crushed by his performance," he said. "Did he change, or were we wrong in the past? Or is it that he was never really challenged before? I don't know. He certainly fooled me."
Mr Adelman said the guiding principle behind neoconservatism, "the idea of using our power for moral good in the world", had been killed off for a generation at least. After Iraq, he told Vanity Fair, "it's not going to sell".
Michael Rubin, who worked on the staff of the Pentagon's office of special plans and the coalition provisional authority in Baghdad, accused Mr Bush of betraying Iraqi reformers.
The president's actions, Mr Rubin said, had been "not much different from what his father did on February 15 1991, when he called the Iraqi people to rise up and then had second thoughts and didn't do anything once they did".
Mr Frum, who as a White House speechwriter helped coin the phrase "axis of evil" in 2002, said failure in Iraq might be inescapable, because "the insurgency has proven it can kill anyone who cooperates, and the United States and its friends have failed to prove that it can protect them". The blame, Mr Frum said, lies with "failure at the centre", beginning with the president. # # #
Lt. Watada & U.S. Marine Ivan Brobeck's Web-Blogs
Click Here for new Web-blog in support of Lt. Watada coordinated by Shannon Taylor. (Posted Aug. 12, 2006) Note: Doing a recent "google" with the lieutenants name came up with over 400,000 sites!
See U.S. Marine Ivan Brobeck's open letter to President Bush, released on Nov. 6, 2006 . (Click Here ).
Drive out the Bush Regime !
Join the national movement to Drive out the Bush Regime! Click Here for details of the World Can't Wait organization. (Posted Aug. 9, 2006)
Join Nagasaki Silent Peace Vigil Aug. 8, Kona 6:30 p.m.
Message from Gordana Leonard:
As I write this, the anniversary spoken of in this excellent, thought provoking article draws to a close...
>>--> http://www.commondreams.org
Today, Tuesday, Aug. 8, (Aug. 9 in Japan) we intend to join in remembrance of Nagasaki in our Hale Halawai vigil area on Alii Drive in Kona at 6.30p.m., not to condemn, but to silently affirm our beliefs about war, peace, nuclear weapons, and our personal intention and part, and then return to our private and public lives, more alive and proactive...
Namaste!
~~ ALOHA ~~ PEACE ~~ SHALOM ~~ PAX
!!! Within & Without !!!
Reminder: Scroll down to review other Aug. events, e.g. Aug. 16 "Iraq War Legal?" forum at UH-Hilo.
Justin Avery on Kucinich visit Thurs. Aug. 10
Aloha friends!
I'm sure many of you have heard (see our Aug. 4 posting below) that Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich will be visiting the island this Thursday, August 10 from 4-5pm in Volcano at the Volcano Cooper's Center and at then at the Keauu Middle School Cafeteria from 5:20-6pm. Chili will be served. For more info please contact George Yokiyama at 961-2681
http://www.kucinich.us/
Congressman Kucinich has been a long time peace advocate who recently ran for president of the U.S.. Kucinich has been advocating peace issues since he became the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city in 1977. Since then he has been advocating for peace and inclusion on a local and federal level. More below...
Take care,
Justin
"I hold in my heart that rebellious spirit of youth that demands change."
Dennis Kucinich
About Dennis
Dennis Kucinich's courageous and visionary presidential campaign excited a new generation of young Americans to involvement in the 2004 Democratic Primary elections. His speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention will long be remembered as a clarion call to purpose in the Democratic Party.
Kucinich's Presidential candidacy was a continuation of his challenge to the war in Iraq. He led 125 Democratic Members of Congress in opposition to the war. His "Prayer for America" speech in Los Angeles in February of 2002 inspired tens of thousands of emails, many urging him to run for President. He insisted early on there was no proof of any "weapons of mass destruction". He toured the country, warning America about the dangers of attacking a nation which did not attack us. Today he is seen as the prophet who predicted hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, countless lives lost, America's credibility in the world severely undermined. Today he insists that the United States must withdraw from Iraq.
Kucinich has advocated the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Peace, to make non-violence an organizing principle within our society. He believes that peace, not war, is inevitable, if we are willing to work for peace. He sees the world as being interconnected and interdependent. This vision always strives to find the commonalities, the points where unity can be formed.
He believes the United States can best lead the way through full support of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention; joining the International Criminal Court, signing the Landmine Treaty and the Small Arms Treaty. As we rejoin the world in full support of principles of international law, we help build the cause of human unity, he believes.
In his fifth term in the United States House, Kucinich has been a leader for Universal Health Care, a full employment economy, fully-paid tuition at public colleges and universities, repeal of the Patriot Act, the development of bio-fuels as alternative energy and restoration of America's basic manufacturing and infrastructure. He is currently leading an effort to support the role of NASA in the development of basic research for civil aeronautics.
Kucinich first came to national prominence in 1977 when he was elected mayor of Cleveland at age 31; the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city. In 1978, Cleveland's banks demanded that he sell the city's 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to city government. Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light. In an incident unprecedented in modern American politics, the Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million. Kucinich lost his re-election bid in 1979. Fifteen years later, Kucinich made his first step toward a political comeback, winning election to the Ohio Senate on the strength of the expansion of the city's light system which provides low-cost power to almost half the residents of Cleveland. In 1998 the Cleveland City Council honored him for, "having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system." (For more on battle over Cleveland power)
Kucinich was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 8, 1946. He is the eldest of 7 children of Frank and Virginia Kucinich. He and his family lived in twenty-one places, including a couple of cars, by the time Kucinich was 17 years old. "I live each day with a grateful heart and a desire to be of service to humanity," he says.
Kucinich has promoted a national health care system, preservation of Social Security, increased Unemployment Insurance benefits, and the establishment of wholesales cost-based rates for electricity, natural gas and home heating oil. When the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory arbitration could be a condition of employment, Kucinich introduced a bill to reverse the Court's decision.
In his Cleveland, Ohio district, Kucinich has been recognized by the Greater Cleveland AFL-CIO as a tireless advocate for the social and economic interests of his community. He is currently leading a civic crusade to save Cleveland's 90 year-old steel industry and the thousands of jobs and retiree benefits it provides. While hundreds of community hospitals have been closed throughout the country, Kucinich led a powerful citizens' movement which reopened two Cleveland neighborhood hospitals. He was prepared to block a railroad merger at the Surface Transportation Board until he gained an agreement from the nation's largest railroads which improved rail safety while diverting a heavy volume of train traffic away from heavily populated residential areas. His promotion of rail safety improvements gained him the top award from the Ohio PTA in 2000. His efforts on behalf of Cleveland's poor gained the recognition of the National Association of Social Workers. He continues to be a local and national advocate for the homeless.
Congressman Kucinich acts upon his belief that protection of the global environment is fundamental to preserving the life of all species. He has been honored by Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters as a champion of clean air, clean water and an unspoiled earth. He was an early critic of nuclear power as being risky economically, and environmentally, raising questions about nuclear waste byproducts. As a state senator he raised so many questions about a planned siting of a nuclear waste dump in Ohio that the idea was eventually scrapped. Early in his first term in Congress he thwarted an effort to repeal a provision of the Clean Air Act. As a congressional representative to the global climate treaty talks, Congressman Kucinich encouraged America to lead the way toward a sustainable, shared stewardship of the planet through carbon reduction, and investment in alternative energy technologies.
He not only believes in sustainability, he practices it. Congressman Kucinich is one of the few vegans in Congress, a dietary decision he credits not only with improving his health, but in deepening his belief in the sacredness of all species. In the 106th Congress, his call for labeling and safety testing of all genetically engineered foods provoked a $50 million advertising campaign by the biotech industry. Kucinich hosted an international parliamentary session, attended by officials of 18 countries, on the social, economic, political and health impact of genetic food technologies. More recently he was one of the principal speakers at an international conference on water rights, where he called for governments to reserve public ownership of water resources.
Kucinich is a dynamic, visionary leader who combines a powerful activism with a spiritual sense of the essential interconnectedness of all living things. His holistic worldview carries with it a passionate commitment to public service, peace, human rights, workers rights, and the environment. His advocacy of a Department of Peace seeks not only to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society, but to make war archaic. His is a powerful, ethical voice for nuclear disarmament, preservation of the ABM treaty, banning weapons in outer space, and a halt to the development of a 'Star Wars' - type missile defense technology.
He has been recognized for his advocacy of human rights in Burma, Nigeria and East Timor. Together with the late Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass), he has led a concerted effort to close the School of the Americas, which has been an incubator of human rights violations in Central America. On the eve of the World Trade Organization's Seattle conference, Rep. Kucinich organized 114 Democrats to help convince President Clinton to seek human rights, workers rights and environmental quality principles as preconditions in all US trade agreements. Kucinich marched with workers through the streets of Seattle protesting the WTO's policies and with students through the streets of Washington, DC, challenging the structural readjustment policies of the IMF.
» Dennis Kucinich is the 2003 recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Observances
Aug. 6, Sun. 9 a.m. March with the Code Pink / Malu Aina contingent with "Never Again Hiroshima" banners in today's "Festival of the Pacific", 9 a.m., Hilo (It's the 61st anniverary of the bombing of that city, the first detonation of a nuclear bomb on civilian populaton). (For more info. see Code Pink link, left column)
Aug. 6, Sun. 6:30 p.m., Candlelight vigil at Hale Halawai, Kona, organized by Gordana Leonard who sent in the following notice:
"Please join me (Sunday, at 6.30pm) to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the Hiroshima A-bombing, by the Hale Halawai, with a candlelight vigil. As is appropriate, let us commemorate the Nagasaki bombing on Tuesday (Aug. 8) same time, same place... "
"With civilian lives being lost or ruined as I write and you read this, with children dying or being maimed or orphaned daily, with nuclear proliferation as yet unchecked even in our own country, I am inviting us to take a stand and to perhaps inspire one or more others to do the same, while there is still time. If possible, please bring your own candle w/ hand protector. "
"Needless to say, please invite others in the general Kailua area to join us, especially if it is geographically or otherwise inconvenient for you to attend :) "
Watada related Follow-up Big Island:
Thurs. Aug. 10: Volcano, Cooper Center, 4-5 p.m. and Kea'au Middle School Cafetorium, 5:30 - 6 p.m. Former Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka have questioned the legality of the Iraq war. Both will be available to "talk-story" with constituents at Volcano and Kea'au at the noted time-slots. (Posted Aug. 4, 2006)
Wed. Aug. 16: Brown-bag forum, UH-Hilo, library lanai to discuss the question: "Is the Iraq War legal?", as part of the national education day observance. 11:30-12:30 p.m., led by Professor Tim Freeman. (Posted Aug. 4, 2006)
ALERT: The HUNTER BISHOP News Column is "up"! Finally, an alternative to the virtual monopoly of Big Island daily print media! Click Here for Hunter Bishop's new on-line newspaper! (Posted July 30, 2006)
Thurs. Aug. 3: Lt. Ehren Watada's Dad, Bob Watada, is coming to Hilo, to speak at the showing of "Yes Sir! No Sir!" a documentary about large-scale mutiny of U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam war -- Palace Theater, 7 p.m. Lobby to open at 6 p.m. with information tables sponsored by volunteers, Code Pink, Voter Registration volunteers, Malu Aina and other community groups. Bob Watada will be in the lobby to talk-story with folks. Coordinators: Shannon Taylor & Caci Kennedy. For background on Lt. Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq, Click Here. (Posted July 24, 2006)
Thurs. Aug. 10: Volcano, Cooper Center, 4-5 p.m. and Kea'au Middle School Cafetorium, 5:30 - 6 p.m. Former Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka have questioned the legality of the Iraq war. Both will be available to "talk-story" with constituents at Volcano and Kea'au at the noted time-slots. (Posted Aug. 4, 2006)
Wed. Aug. 16: Brown-bag forum, UH-Hilo, library lanai to discuss the question: "Is the Iraq War legal?", as part of the national education day observance. 11:30-12:30 p.m., led by Professor Tim Freeman. (Posted Aug. 4, 2006)
----------- earlier postings -------------
ALERT: The HUNTER BISHOP News Column is "up"! Finally, an alternative to the virtual monopoly of Big Island daily print media! Click Here for Hunter Bishop's new on-line newspaper! (Posted July 30, 2006)
Thurs. Aug. 3: Lt. Ehren Watada's Dad, Bob Watada, is coming to Hilo, to speak at the showing of "Yes Sir! No Sir!" a documentary about large-scale mutiny of U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam war -- Palace Theater, 7 p.m. Lobby to open at 6 p.m. with information tables sponsored by volunteers, Code Pink, Voter Registration volunteers, Malu Aina and other community groups. Bob Watada will be in the lobby to talk-story with folks. Coordinators: Shannon Taylor & Caci Kennedy. For background on Lt. Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq, Click Here. (Posted July 24, 2006)
ALERT: Facts on Depleted Uranium
Click Here for facts on depleted uranium used by the military in Hawaii. For a comprehensive report on the dangers of depleted uranium Click Here. (Mahalo to Lance for sharing the info.) (Posted July 8, 2006)
Stolen Election in 2004?
See Michael Parenti's July 2006 Znet op-ed titled STOLEN ELECTION. Then check out Greg Palast's TruthOut op-ed on how Republicans blocked AFRICAN AMERICAN voters in the last election. (Posted July 2, 2006)
MESSAGE from JUSTIN AVERY (June 26, 2006)
ALOHA FRIENDS,
I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer!There has been a lot going on these days. Lt. Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful Iraq War and occupation. He is from Honolulu and he needs our support. This Tuesday, 6/27/06 there will be a National day of action to "Stand Up with Lt. Ehren Watada!" www.thankyoult.org or www.couragetoresist.orgIn Hilo..."There will be a Hilo 4-5:30PM June 27th support vigil for Lt. Ehren Watada at the intersection of Kamehameha Ave. and Pauahi St. on Hilo Bayfront. (more info contact 808-966-7622) In Kona...Support vigil on the grass verge by The Pines business center on Nani Kailua at 4.30. (more info contact vbright@kona.net)
Mahalo to our Senators!An amendment to the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Russ Feingold that would have required virtually all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by July 1, 2007, was defeated Thursday morning, June 22, in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 86 to 13. Akaka and Inouye were two of thirteen Senators to vote FOR this Kerry-Feingold amendment.If you would like to thank our senators.
"An Inconvenient Truth" Palace Theater, HiloAl Gore's movie on Global Warming. We will be registering people to vote before and after the move. Hope to see you!
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
Date/ShowTimes: Fri 6/30 7:30pmSat 7/1 7:30pm Sun 7/2 7:30pm \nMon 7/3 7:30pm Tue 7/4 2:30pm Tue 7/4 7:30pm Fri 7/7 7:30pm Sat 7/8 7:30pmSun 7/9 2:30pm Mon 7/10 7:30pm Tue 7/11 7:30pm
You seen Syriana? This is a great movie that depicts the tangled international web of the oil business. Unfortunately, a lot of the US\'s involvement leads to our support of dictators and criminals as opposed to leaders that actually want to help their countries. Check it out!
http://syrianamovie.warnerbros.com
"Corruption charges...corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the street. Corruption...is why we win." Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton to Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday, Syriana
(Posted June 25, 2006)
ALOHA FRIENDS,
I hope you are all having a wonderful Summer!There has been a lot going on these days. Lt. Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to the unlawful Iraq War and occupation. He is from Honolulu and he needs our support. This Tuesday, 6/27/06 there will be a National day of action to "Stand Up with Lt. Ehren Watada!" www.thankyoult.org or www.couragetoresist.orgIn Hilo..."There will be a Hilo 4-5:30PM June 27th support vigil for Lt. Ehren Watada at the intersection of Kamehameha Ave. and Pauahi St. on Hilo Bayfront. (more info contact 808-966-7622) In Kona...Support vigil on the grass verge by The Pines business center on Nani Kailua at 4.30. (more info contact vbright@kona.net)
Mahalo to our Senators!An amendment to the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Russ Feingold that would have required virtually all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by July 1, 2007, was defeated Thursday morning, June 22, in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 86 to 13. Akaka and Inouye were two of thirteen Senators to vote FOR this Kerry-Feingold amendment.If you would like to thank our senators.
"An Inconvenient Truth" Palace Theater, HiloAl Gore's movie on Global Warming. We will be registering people to vote before and after the move. Hope to see you!
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
Date/ShowTimes: Fri 6/30 7:30pmSat 7/1 7:30pm Sun 7/2 7:30pm \nMon 7/3 7:30pm Tue 7/4 2:30pm Tue 7/4 7:30pm Fri 7/7 7:30pm Sat 7/8 7:30pmSun 7/9 2:30pm Mon 7/10 7:30pm Tue 7/11 7:30pm
You seen Syriana? This is a great movie that depicts the tangled international web of the oil business. Unfortunately, a lot of the US\'s involvement leads to our support of dictators and criminals as opposed to leaders that actually want to help their countries. Check it out!
http://syrianamovie.warnerbros.com
"Corruption charges...corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the street. Corruption...is why we win." Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton to Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday, Syriana
(Posted June 25, 2006)
Purple Heart Photo Exhibit Up Feb 3 - 17
Nine Berman, the prize-winning photo-journalist will be at a book-signing event from 4 p.m. , Fri. Feb. 3, at the UH-Hilo Library Lanai to kick-off the openning of her traveling photo exhibit of young American soldiers who were wounded in Iraq. The exhibit is co-sponsored by the UH-Library system and Global Hope. Berman's works have been published in Newsweek and Time magazine. The current exhibit at UH-Hilo is also in her latest book which will be available at bookstores across the nation.
Peak Oil - End of Suburbia
Resource use, limiting consumption, self-sufficiency -- Discussions with Yen Chin, Ann Weller and Dr. Shepard Bliss -- at the La'akea Community in Puna.
When? Sat. Jan. 28, 2006, 1:30 - 6:30 p.m. Pot luck dinner to follow presentations and a film "End of Suburbia"
Where? La'akea Community in Puna
For more info: Click Here and call Yen Chin at 966-4108.
When? Sat. Jan. 28, 2006, 1:30 - 6:30 p.m. Pot luck dinner to follow presentations and a film "End of Suburbia"
Where? La'akea Community in Puna
For more info: Click Here and call Yen Chin at 966-4108.
Flash: National Group formed to Elect a Congress to Impeach the Shrub
Initial meeting set for Fri. Jan. 6 on Oahu.
Initial meeting set for Fri. Jan. 6 on Oahu.
Republican Senator Blasts Bush
Nov. 16, ABC News: In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday (11/15/05), United States Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) criticized the Bush Administration for its recent pushback against Iraq war critics.
"The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and elsewhere and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy, nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years," Hagel said.
During the question and answer period that followed his speech, Hagel warned that "there will be consequences . . . if the Bush Administration continues to demonize critics of the Iraq war . . . The American people will not put up with that," he said.
In a departure from Republican orthodoxy, Hagel said the United States "should begin drawing down forces in Iraq next year." # # #
"The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and elsewhere and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy, nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years," Hagel said.
During the question and answer period that followed his speech, Hagel warned that "there will be consequences . . . if the Bush Administration continues to demonize critics of the Iraq war . . . The American people will not put up with that," he said.
In a departure from Republican orthodoxy, Hagel said the United States "should begin drawing down forces in Iraq next year." # # #
Death of Public Education? Halloween Rally set for Oct. 31
Monday, Oct. 31: Rally and march in custumes to State Building. Ask your student government representative or Justin Avery for details of this BIG event -- tentatively set for noon at the Campus Center, UH Hilo with music, games and speeches followed by the short march to the State Buidling.
ATTENTION: Because of Stephanie Coontz forum (below), our first meeting of the semester will be from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in Rm. 301 Campus Center (above the cafeteria) instead of the usual 12:30-1:30 p.m. time.
******Tuesday, 9-6-05 12:30-1:30 CCPlaza
Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, will speak on "Courting Disaster? The Past and Future of Marriage," on Tuesday, September 6, 12:30-1:30 p.m., at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The talk will be held at the new Campus Center Plaza and is free and open to the public.Coontz's discussions on the history of marriage frequently place her at the center of the family values debate. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of American family history and comparative family history and has testified before Congress on her findings. Coontz is well known for her op-ed contributions in major national news publications across the country as well as appearances on national television and cable news programs. She contributes to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune. Her writings have also been published in Life, Harper's, Modern Maturity, Vogue, and many other magazines. Her television appearances include Oprah, Crossfire, CBS This Morning, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News, and Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters specials.
more at http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/news/press/view.php?release=432
****Wednesday, 9-7-05 UCB 111 7:30-10, Free
Global HOPE movie night presents TEAM AMERICA
In TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, a group of marionette puppets form Team America, an international police force dedicated to maintaining global stability. Discovering that a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong II, plans to destroy the world and is brokering weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, the team enlists the undercover help of Broadway star Gary Johnston and embarks on a harrowing mission to save the world. Opposed to this, is the Film Actors' Guild, or F.A.G., whose members include puppets representing actors Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. In spite of the lack of support they receive, the team sticks to their plan of saving the world and putting an end to terrorism.
Hang out afterwards for the discussion
******Tuesday, 9-6-05 12:30-1:30 CCPlaza
Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families, will speak on "Courting Disaster? The Past and Future of Marriage," on Tuesday, September 6, 12:30-1:30 p.m., at the University of Hawaii at Hilo
more at http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/news/press/view.php?release=432
****Wednesday, 9-7-05 UCB 111 7:30-10, Free
Global HOPE movie night presents TEAM AMERICA
In TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, a group of marionette puppets form Team America, an international police force dedicated to maintaining global stability. Discovering that a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong II, plans to destroy the world and is brokering weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, the team enlists the undercover help of Broadway star Gary Johnston and embarks on a harrowing mission to save the world. Opposed to this, is the Film Actors' Guild, or F.A.G., whose members include puppets representing actors Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. In spite of the lack of support they receive, the team sticks to their plan of saving the world and putting an end to terrorism.
Hang out afterwards for the discussion
Message from Cindy Sheehan - read up!
Saturday 20 August 2005
The media are wrong. The people who have come out to Camp Casey to help coordinate the press and events with me are not putting words in my mouth, they are taking words out of my mouth. I have been known for sometime as a person who speaks the truth and speaks it strongly. I have always called a liar a liar and a hypocrite a hypocrite. Now I am urged to use softer language to appeal to a wider audience. Why do my friends at Camp Casey think they are there? Why did such a big movement occur from such a small action on August 6, 2005
I haven't had much time to analyze the Camp Casey phenomena. I just read that I gave 250 interviews in less than a week's time. I believe it. I would go to bed with a raw throat every night. I got pretty tired of answering some questions, like: "What do you want to say to the President?" and "Do you really think he will meet with you?" However, since my mom has been sick I have had a chance to step back and ponder the flood gates that I opened in Crawford, Tx.
I just read an article posted today on LewRockwell.com by artist Robert Shetterly who painted my portrait. The article reminded me of something I said at the Veteran's for Peace Convention the night before I set out to Bush's ranch in my probable futile quest for the truth. This is what I said:
I got an email the other day and it said, "Cindy if you didn't use so much profanity ... there's people on the fence that get offended.
And you know what I said? "You know what? You know what, god damn it? How in the world is anybody still sitting on that fence? If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out."
This is what the Camp Casey miracle is all about. American citizens who oppose the war but never had a conduit for their disgust and dismay are dropping everything and traveling to Crawford to stand in solidarity with us who have made a commitment to sit outside of George's ranch for the duration of the miserable Texan August. If they can't come to Texas, they are attending vigils, writing letters to their elected officials and to their local newspapers; they are setting up Camp Casey branches in their hometowns; they are sending flowers, cards, letters, gifts, and donations here to us at Camp Casey. We are so grateful for all of the support, but I think pro-peace Americans are grateful for something to do, finally.
One thing I haven't noticed or become aware of though is an increased number of pro-war, pro-Bush people on the other side of the fence enlisting to go and fight George Bush's war for imperialism and insatiable greed. The pro-peace side has gotten off their apathetic butts to be warriors for peace and justice. Where are the pro-war people? Everyday at Camp Casey we have a couple of anti-peace people on the other side of the road holding up signs that remind me that "Freedom isn't Free" but I don't see them putting their money where their mouths are. I don't think they are willing to pay even a small down payment for freedom by sacrificing their own blood or the flesh of their children. I still challenge them to go to Iraq and let another soldier come home. Perhaps a soldier that is on his/her third tour of duty, or one that has been stop-lossed after serving his/her country nobly and selflessly, only to be held hostage in Iraq by power mad hypocrites who have a long history of avoiding putting their own skin in the game.
Contrary to what the main stream media thinks, I did not just fall off a pumpkin truck in Crawford, Tx. on that scorchingly hot day two weeks ago. I have been writing, speaking, testifying in front of Congressional committees, lobbying Congress, and doing interviews for over a year now. I have been pretty well known in the progressive, peace community and I had many, many supporters before I even left California. The people who supported me did so because they know that I uncompromisingly tell the truth about this war. I have stood up and said: "My son died for NOTHING, and George Bush and his evil cabal and their reckless policies killed him. My son was sent to fight in a war that had no basis in reality and was killed for it." I have never said "pretty please" or "thank you." I have never said anything wishy-washy like he uses "Patriotic Rhetoric." I say my son died for LIES. George Bush LIED to us and he knew he was LYING. The Downing Street Memos dated
23 July, 2002 prove that he knew that Saddam didn't have WMD's or any ties to Al Qaeda. I believe that George lied and he knew he was lying. He didn't use patriotic rhetoric. He lied and made us afraid of ghosts that weren't there. Now he is using patriotic rhetoric to keep the US military presence in Iraq: Patriotic rhetoric that is based on greed and nothing else.
Now I am being vilified and dragged through the mud by the righties and so-called "fair and balanced" main stream media who are afraid of the truth and can't face someone who tells it by telling any truth of their own. Now they have to twist, distort, lie, and scrutinize anything I have ever said when they never scrutinize anything that George Bush said or is saying. Instead of asking George or Scotty McClellan if he will meet with me, why aren't they asking the questions they should have been asking all along: "Why are our young people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq? What is this noble cause you are sending our young people to Iraq for? What do you hope to accomplish there? Why did you tell us there were WMD's and ties to Al Qaeda when you knew there weren't? Why did you lie to us? Why did you lie to the American people? Why did you lie to the world? Why are our nation's children still in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you lied? Why do you continually say we have to "complete the mission" when you know damn well you have no idea what that mission is and you can change it at will like you change your cowboy shirts?"
Camp Casey has grown and prospered and survived all attacks and challenges because America is sick and tired of liars and hypocrites and we want the answers to the tough questions that I was the first to dare ask. THIS is George Bush's accountability moment and he is failing ... miserably. George Bush and his advisers seriously "misunderestimated" me when they thought they could intimidate me into leaving before I had the answers, or before the end of August. I can take anything they throw at me, or Camp Casey. If it shortens the war by a minute or saves one life, it is worth it. I think they seriously "misunderestimated" all mothers. I wonder if any of them had authentic mother-child relationships and if they are surprised that there are so many mothers in this country who are bear-like when it comes to wanting the truth and who want to make meaning of their child's needless and seemingly meaningless deaths?
Camp Casey movement will not die until we have a genuine accounting of the truth and until our troops are brought home. Get used to it George, we are not going away.
The media are wrong. The people who have come out to Camp Casey to help coordinate the press and events with me are not putting words in my mouth, they are taking words out of my mouth. I have been known for sometime as a person who speaks the truth and speaks it strongly. I have always called a liar a liar and a hypocrite a hypocrite. Now I am urged to use softer language to appeal to a wider audience. Why do my friends at Camp Casey think they are there? Why did such a big movement occur from such a small action on August 6, 2005
I haven't had much time to analyze the Camp Casey phenomena. I just read that I gave 250 interviews in less than a week's time. I believe it. I would go to bed with a raw throat every night. I got pretty tired of answering some questions, like: "What do you want to say to the President?" and "Do you really think he will meet with you?" However, since my mom has been sick I have had a chance to step back and ponder the flood gates that I opened in Crawford, Tx.
I just read an article posted today on LewRockwell.com by artist Robert Shetterly who painted my portrait. The article reminded me of something I said at the Veteran's for Peace Convention the night before I set out to Bush's ranch in my probable futile quest for the truth. This is what I said:
I got an email the other day and it said, "Cindy if you didn't use so much profanity ... there's people on the fence that get offended.
And you know what I said? "You know what? You know what, god damn it? How in the world is anybody still sitting on that fence? If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out."
This is what the Camp Casey miracle is all about. American citizens who oppose the war but never had a conduit for their disgust and dismay are dropping everything and traveling to Crawford to stand in solidarity with us who have made a commitment to sit outside of George's ranch for the duration of the miserable Texan August. If they can't come to Texas, they are attending vigils, writing letters to their elected officials and to their local newspapers; they are setting up Camp Casey branches in their hometowns; they are sending flowers, cards, letters, gifts, and donations here to us at Camp Casey. We are so grateful for all of the support, but I think pro-peace Americans are grateful for something to do, finally.
One thing I haven't noticed or become aware of though is an increased number of pro-war, pro-Bush people on the other side of the fence enlisting to go and fight George Bush's war for imperialism and insatiable greed. The pro-peace side has gotten off their apathetic butts to be warriors for peace and justice. Where are the pro-war people? Everyday at Camp Casey we have a couple of anti-peace people on the other side of the road holding up signs that remind me that "Freedom isn't Free" but I don't see them putting their money where their mouths are. I don't think they are willing to pay even a small down payment for freedom by sacrificing their own blood or the flesh of their children. I still challenge them to go to Iraq and let another soldier come home. Perhaps a soldier that is on his/her third tour of duty, or one that has been stop-lossed after serving his/her country nobly and selflessly, only to be held hostage in Iraq by power mad hypocrites who have a long history of avoiding putting their own skin in the game.
Contrary to what the main stream media thinks, I did not just fall off a pumpkin truck in Crawford, Tx. on that scorchingly hot day two weeks ago. I have been writing, speaking, testifying in front of Congressional committees, lobbying Congress, and doing interviews for over a year now. I have been pretty well known in the progressive, peace community and I had many, many supporters before I even left California. The people who supported me did so because they know that I uncompromisingly tell the truth about this war. I have stood up and said: "My son died for NOTHING, and George Bush and his evil cabal and their reckless policies killed him. My son was sent to fight in a war that had no basis in reality and was killed for it." I have never said "pretty please" or "thank you." I have never said anything wishy-washy like he uses "Patriotic Rhetoric." I say my son died for LIES. George Bush LIED to us and he knew he was LYING. The Downing Street Memos dated
23 July, 2002 prove that he knew that Saddam didn't have WMD's or any ties to Al Qaeda. I believe that George lied and he knew he was lying. He didn't use patriotic rhetoric. He lied and made us afraid of ghosts that weren't there. Now he is using patriotic rhetoric to keep the US military presence in Iraq: Patriotic rhetoric that is based on greed and nothing else.
Now I am being vilified and dragged through the mud by the righties and so-called "fair and balanced" main stream media who are afraid of the truth and can't face someone who tells it by telling any truth of their own. Now they have to twist, distort, lie, and scrutinize anything I have ever said when they never scrutinize anything that George Bush said or is saying. Instead of asking George or Scotty McClellan if he will meet with me, why aren't they asking the questions they should have been asking all along: "Why are our young people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq? What is this noble cause you are sending our young people to Iraq for? What do you hope to accomplish there? Why did you tell us there were WMD's and ties to Al Qaeda when you knew there weren't? Why did you lie to us? Why did you lie to the American people? Why did you lie to the world? Why are our nation's children still in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you lied? Why do you continually say we have to "complete the mission" when you know damn well you have no idea what that mission is and you can change it at will like you change your cowboy shirts?"
Camp Casey has grown and prospered and survived all attacks and challenges because America is sick and tired of liars and hypocrites and we want the answers to the tough questions that I was the first to dare ask. THIS is George Bush's accountability moment and he is failing ... miserably. George Bush and his advisers seriously "misunderestimated" me when they thought they could intimidate me into leaving before I had the answers, or before the end of August. I can take anything they throw at me, or Camp Casey. If it shortens the war by a minute or saves one life, it is worth it. I think they seriously "misunderestimated" all mothers. I wonder if any of them had authentic mother-child relationships and if they are surprised that there are so many mothers in this country who are bear-like when it comes to wanting the truth and who want to make meaning of their child's needless and seemingly meaningless deaths?
Camp Casey movement will not die until we have a genuine accounting of the truth and until our troops are brought home. Get used to it George, we are not going away.
Award winning Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Robert Lopez will be on campus on Wed. and Thurs. (Aug. 31 & Sept. 1) for Brown Bag Lunch sessions in the UHH Campus Center private dining room, 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on. Bring your own lunch and join Robert!
On Friday, Sept. 2 he delivers a keynote address on "Investigating International Gangs in the U.S. and Central America" at 12 noon in UCB 127. Free. Sponsors: UHH/HawCC Board of Student Publication.
On Friday, Sept. 2 he delivers a keynote address on "Investigating International Gangs in the U.S. and Central America" at 12 noon in UCB 127. Free. Sponsors: UHH/HawCC Board of Student Publication.
