This is a photo from our weekly bridge vigil. This month marked the 15th year of coming to the bridge with my husband; we met there protesting the impending Shock and Awe attacks on Iraq. Seven U.S. troops died there just last week when their helicopter went down near the border with Syria.
Fifteen years in and we're still bleeding money and actual blood, as are the unfortunate targets of all our many missiles and bullets.
A hardy core of us keep coming back to the bridge bring the anti-war message to roughly 1,000 people driving by each Sunday. That, and it keeps our own heads from exploding.
Abby and Fang changed up their signs recently producing REGIME CHANGE 4 AMERICA on the one hand and the message visible in my sunglasses on the other: KLEPTOCRACY IS GOVERNMENT OF THIEVES. Because I was walking backwards in front of Abby and another friend, they noticed the reflection of Ab's sign. You can see her hand and her phone above the sign as she photographs it.
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| Aegis 9 protesters about to be arrested for alleged criminal trespass, a charge for which we were acquitted. |
Yet another example of the government of, by, and for corporations came to light this week when the police chief in the town where General Dynamics operates its Bath Iron Works shipyard refused to share information with a journalist. The Freedom of Access request filed by Alex Nunes sought to know what communications pass between the police and the corporate managers around security for warship "christenings" where protesters gather.
According to Nunes, Bath PD Chief Michael Field wrote,
“The document relating to the planning and communications between the Bath Police Department and the Bath Iron Works were related to security planning and procedures and risk assessment. As such, these are not public records and are exempted under the provisions of 1 M.R.S. Section 402(3)(L).”
According to text of the Freedom of Access law posted online by the Maine Legislature, the exemption cited by Field allows police to block the release of
“Records describing security plans, security procedures or risk assessments prepared specifically for the purpose of preventing or preparing for acts of terrorism, but only to the extent that release of information contained in the record could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the physical safety of government personnel or the public.”
Not surprisingly, Chief Fields has not responded to Nunes' request for clarification of the claim that non-violent protests at the shipyard constitute terrorism.
video of Justice Billings' ruling at conclusion of the Aegis 9 trial
Justice Dan Billings ruled that Bath Iron Works had "outsourced" its security to the Bath Police Department at our trial in February for criminal trespass as the Aegis 9. He also granted the motion for acquittal of those charges and chided the police for following BIW's orders to arrest us. "That's not how it's supposed to work," he said.
I guess Justice Billings has not gotten the memo about our government under corporate influence. Or, more likely, he is committed to the idea of an independent judiciary.
General Dynamics had profits in the billions last year based on Pentagon contracts funded by the tax-paying public. Its subsidiary Bath Iron Works receives tax breaks from both the city of Bath and the state of Maine, and is also quite profitable.
Now, there is a gigantic fight on to block legislation to grant Bath Iron Works another $45 million in state tax giveaways over the next 15 years.
Their original ask of $60 million has been reduced by 25% in the face of huge opposition from ordinary people in Maine who are worried about hungry children, crumbling bridges and other proper recipients of public funding.
A press conference at the Maine State House last week drew only a handful of mainstream news reporters. Channel 8 was among the few who showed up to interview Bruce Gagnon who has been on a hunger strike against LD1781 that has now lasted more than a month. No one has been able to find the coverage archived on Channel 8's website, but activist Bob Klotz did manage to get this screen grab when the segment aired:
Why aren't more Maine news outlets interested in reporting on opposition to the corporate welfare bill?
Why did none of them investigate the development that BIW's largest union, S6, split 50/50 in the vote on whether to endorse LD1781 (a bill being sold as benefiting workers by providing jobs)?
Why haven't any news outlets in Maine pursued the very interesting story of multiple layers of taxpayer support for every project at Bath Iron Works, including arresting peaceful protesters who object to building weapons of mass destruction?
In a kleptocracy, who does the for-profit press works for?
Luckily, citizen journalists like Martha Spiess, Regis Tremblay, Brian Leonard, and Alex Nunes are on the job. And hundreds of letters to the editor have now been sent, with only a fraction of those being published (I've sent four myself that have yet to appear).
Spiess' video of testimony against LD1781 in the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_gnyaO6cZI
I appreciate the dedication and skills of citizen journalists, and I will continue to share the very important information they provide in my ongoing struggle against corporate government.
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