Protests At BIW Warship Launch On April 27: Convert Weapons Industry To Address Climate Change

This press release goes out to Maine news media this week. Please share!

MEDIA ADVISORY: PROTESTERS AT WARSHIP LAUNCH AT BIW WILL CALL FOR CONVERSION OF THE SHIPYARD TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE

Statewide peace groups will gather to protest the “christening”[sic] of a Zumwalt class warship at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works shipyard on April 27. The ship will be named for President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), who was driven from office by anti war protesters over his conduct of the Vietnam War.

Bruce Gagnon of Brunswick, a member of Veterans for Peace (VFP) who became a activist while in the Air Force during the Vietnam era, said, “Our real security needs as a nation are to urgently address climate change and plan for sea level rise that is already underway. How will this affect BIW’s shipyard in Bath?"

"Continuing to build expensive, provocative and polluting weapon systems like Zumwalt destroyers ignores climate change as the biggest threat to our collective safety.”

Left to right: Bruce Gagnon and Mary Beth Sullivan outside General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard, February 2018

Gagnon has helped organize protests at BIW for the past several years. In 2018 he fasted for 37 days to oppose a tax giveaway by the state of Maine to General Dynamics.

The Pentagon has identified climate change as the greatest national and global security threat---yet, at the same time, the Pentagon has the largest carbon footprint on the planet.

War machines endanger all life and exacerbate climate change.

A 2017 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report projected at least a six inch sea level rise by 2050.

Banner by the Artists' Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) of the Maine Union of Visual Artists

“Endorsing the Conversion Campaign addresses these truths and provides a rational “lens” through which to “see” an apocalyptic reality,” says Dud Hendrick of VFP, one of a dozen organizations sponsoring the BIW Conversion Campaign. “The absolute imperative of “Conversion” is all the more undeniable to us in Maine, having the longest coastline in the nation. And, a widely predicted collapse of the lobster fishery in Maine waters due to the associated rising water temperatures would be cataclysmic in every conceivable respect for my home town of Deer Isle.”

“Conversion” should influence every decision our Congressional delegates make in the conduct of their work as our representatives,” concluded Hendrick.

“Making warships at BIW is not even a good jobs policy. Researchers have consistently found that investment of the same resources in sustainable energy solutions like commuter trains or wind turbines would produce many more jobs,” said Mary Beth Sullivan of PeaceWorks of greater Brunswick. “We need conversion of the BIW shipyard now.”

Sullivan referenced the UMass Amherst study in 2011, “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update” by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier.

Civil resistance action at BIW on April 1, 2017 resulted in nine arrests for criminal trespass; all defendants were acquitted of the charge, with the judge ruling that they were exercising their 1st amendment right to free speech.

Another PeaceWorks member has spent the past year gathering names of people willing to engage in civil resistance on April 27. Karen Wainberg of Brunswick says she had more than 50 names on her list at this time.

Mark Roman of Solon plans to be there representing the Maine Natural Guard, an organization dedicated to pointing out the Pentagon’s enormous carbon footprint.

“I cannot stand by and watch lawmakers waste our tax dollars on warships that are huge polluters when that money could be spent on climate change solutions, or on housing and food for the 43,000 children in Maine living in poverty,” said Roman.

He has been active in the Bring Our War Dollars Home campaign at BIW since 2009.

Naming the warship after LBJ supports the Pentagon’s attempt at revisionist history around America’s most unpopular war. VFP, which was founded in Maine by Vietnam War veterans, maintains a website called Vietnam Full Disclosure to counter the Pentagon’s efforts to whitewash that war. Several VFP members from around the U.S. are expected at the April 27 protest.

Organizations sponsoring the April 27 protests and resistance include Americans Who Tell the Truth, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Durham Quaker Meeting, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Island Peace & Justice, Maine Natural Guard, Maine Veterans for Peace, Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center, Midcoast Peace & Justice Group, Pax Christi Maine, Peace Action Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, and Peninsula Peace & Justice.

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Turning The Military Against The Regime

When George W. Bush received the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia on Armistice Day, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans shouted “SHAME!” during his speech. Source: AboutFaceVeterans.org  Photograph by Ryan Harvey

While preparing my Armistice Day post I stumbled across some encouraging news of military personnel who aren't buying the so-called war on terror. Following dissenter Brittany DeBarros on Twitter -- a little late, since her 14 day campaign to share some truth about U.S. military deployments was last summer -- led me to this evidence of the war criminal Bush being held accountable:

Happening now: Iraq & Afghanistan #veterans have blocked entrances to the National Constitution Center in #Philadelphia where @JoeBiden is awarding the "Liberty Medal" to @GeorgeWBush. Dozens of veterans of his wars are outside refusing to leave. #veteransday #vereransday2018 pic.twitter.com/Vodh6r8xbC

— Ryan Harvey (@ryanharveysongs) November 12, 2018

DeBarros articulates the rage of veterans who mourn the dead and maimed while the wealthy sweep past them in fur coats on their way into $1,000 a plate dinners like the one held for Bush.

That’s VETS saying it’s past time to sound the alarm that we continue to bomb 7 countries & lay the blame for millions of dead Iraqi & Afghan ppl, for thousands of killed/wounded Americans at the feet of corporations & politicians who warmonger for profit #DropTheMIC #MoMoreWar

— Brittany DeBarros (@BrittDeBarros) November 12, 2018

I was reminded of veteran-led dissent while attending a training for future action at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard. Our two fine nonviolent action trainers Jessica and David challenged us to think about the various audiences for action at BIW. This helped me realized my audience is school age children, who hold the keys to our collective future. This will inform my planning for messaging at the next warship christening[sic]. For example, using images of the animals harmed by the U.S. Navy could be a good tactic:

Bruce said that his target audience is the crew of the warship, who used to march down the sidewalk in dress uniforms before entering the gate where our actions take place. (Now they are hustled through a back entrance where they can't see us.) That's Bruce's preferred audience because he was once a conservative young man who enlisted in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Seeing protests outside the base where he was stationed led to debates inside that changed his mind and heart about war forever.

The working class youth who sign up for the military have far more in common with the working class youth who don't than with the titans of industry like General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic who makes millions every year on the backs of U.S. taxpayers.

Some of the workers realize this.

Historically, the ruling class has feared that the working class military would turn against their regimes.

The so-called Sepoy Mutiny saw Indian soldiers turn against their British masters. It is seen as the first battle in the Indian war for independence that ended successfully following widespread nonviolent actions led by Gandhi.

They should fear this, because once consent is withdrawn it is difficult to regain. I believe that's why U.S. wars are increasingly fought by robots.

What a hell of a way to die is a self-described socialist podcast series by two reservists who can make sad and infuriating things sound funny. In a Paste magazine review of the series, podcaster Francis Horton explained why he joined the military:

It’s a job better than anything you can get at the age of 18. 

There are good benefits for you and your family. For 18 years I’ve been doing this but I also hit a point where I believe that this is gross. But then you get a $10k signing bonus. My patriotism was third on the list of priorities when I first joined. It’s the post office with guns.

Once they've taken the bait, many veterans wind up injured, broke, even homeless. They're right back in the same lousy job pool they escaped by enlisting.

Speaking of jobs, many folks in the nonviolent action training talked about the audience mostly present at warship events: the shipyard workers and their families. In the context of a poor state like Maine, these are lucrative jobs unavailable elsewhere. 

But building weapons of mass destruction is a demonstrably bad jobs program.

Research by economist Heidi Garret-Pelletier at Brown University continues to find that investment in sectors that build sustainable solutions to climate change would produce millions more jobs. Education is another sector where investments produce far more jobs. Many at the next BIW action will call on the shipyard to convert to building for life rather than for death.

This history major cherishes the hope that working class people turn away from the racist wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that have killed half a million people since 2001. Of those who died, 6,951 were U.S. military personnel. 

Honor the war dead: demand the truth.

Headline Sums Up The Mess We're In: Tax Breaks For BIW, World War III For Us

Is it alarmist to suggest that corporate welfare for the 5th largest weapons corporation in the world will lead to WWIII, as did Portland's the bollard in its February issue? I don't think so.

The giant warships known as destroyers that are built by General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Maine are indeed sent to menace China.

Destruction of a UN World Heritage Site coral reef over the last several years to create a deep water port for those destroyers on Jeju Island, South Korea was resisted vigorously by the people who live and fish there. They did not want their coastline used as a staging area for a showdown between their powerful neighbor and the U.S. -- of which South Korea is a client state since it was partitioned during the Cold War.

One of the best quotes I've ever seen from the many articulate protesters who have gathered at BIW warship christenings[sic] was from Peter Morgan, a Veteran for Peace. He reportedly told the Portland Press Herald of a warship that cost $4.1 billion to build,

"I’m not sure how the destroyer addresses terrorism, exactly."

Hmm...

Yesterday I noticed news that the U.S. government is set to borrow $955 billion in 2018, a huge increase over previous years. This is likely in response to revenue lost because of the tax "reform" that slashed taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals. Much of what is borrowed will funnel back to those same corporations in the form of lucrative contracts to build massive weapon systems. And those same corporations will give campaign contributions to the legislators who voted for their big tax break.

When I protested at BIW with a sign that said WAR = DEBT I meant this literally. 

Today faux news is reporting that ISIS is "defeated" and that the U.S. will be redeploying troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. (What could go wrong?)

ISIS, a direct result of the U.S. invading and occupying Iraq, has largely been funded by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. If it is "defeated" I'm guessing this means its funding streams are drying up.

With China and Russia as enemies to justify mad borrowing that funds "defense" spending, who really needs Islamic militants?

If the U.S. is indeed pulling troops out of Iraq (as they've promised many times to do) I'm guessing it may have something to do with the fact that "our" moderate rebels shot down a Russian warplane over Syria a couple of days ago.

As we hold our breath in fear of nuclear war, this is an alarming development.

Chris Busby of the bollard has the sense to connect the dots of LD1781, which is a bill before the Maine Legislature to provide a $60 million tax break for GD/BIW, and the threat of global war.

I was arrested while holding the WAR = DEBT sign in front of BIW's gate. Justice Dan Billings just ruled that the shipyard was wrong to exclude me from a public event just because they didn't like my message. Also that the Bath Police Department was really wrong to be taking its orders from BIW.

It's the karmic debt of our warmongering for profit that worries me most. Sixteen plus years in Afghanistan and no end in sight. U.S. bases proliferate around the globe. Africa is crawling with Pentagon outposts established during the Obama administration. People want foreign military bases out of their countries: Okinawa, Italy, Germany, Australia, and so on. 

Politicians in the U.S. will go on claiming that Pentagon contracts are a good jobs program. They are not.

The Ottoman Empire, the British Empire and the French monarchy found what happens when a nation keeps borrowing to fund wars it cannot afford.

The German and Japanese people found where the road led from committng their national manufacturing might to weapons and death dealing.


The U.S. is on that same road right now, and more corporate welfare for weapons manufacturers will only hasten our demise.

Chalk Up A Victory For The Little Guys: #Aegis9 And First Amendment Prevail

It was February 1 now and it was snowing. Again.

A handful of us had gathered on the pavement thinking about our government building weapons of mass destruction and polluting our relation the Kennebec River. Tormenting sea creatures with sonar and destroying the habitat of millions to create ports for gigantic nuclear-capable ships aptly called destroyers.

The Aegis 9 at the Bath Police Department after booking

On April 1, 2017 nine of us had been arrested outside General Dynamics shipyard in Maine, an historic site called Bath Iron Works (BIW), named after the town we were in. Our signs and banners as we stood outside the lovely old courthouse the morning before the trial called for war dollars to be brought home and for tax giveaways to return to state coffers. Called for BIW to build trains or sustainable energy systems. Cynthia Howard, dressed as a polar bear, called out the Pentagon as the biggest polluter on the planet. She was probably warmer than I was.

"I just saw a good omen," my husband said as morning commute traffic advanced by fits and starts through the slushy intersection. A mouse had run into the road from across the street where our friends stood with their signs. It froze as vehicles passed, then ran a few more feet and froze again. Mark expected to see it crushed but it somehow made it all the way across the busy street without harm. Chalk up a victory for the little guy.

Other members of the Aegis 9 began to arrive. They had all been arrested with us in a snowstorm in April protesting in front of the 5th largest WMD maker in the world.

A juror -- whose family including herself had worked for BIW for years -- had slipped through the jury selection process and was now eliminated just before the trial got underway. Her late husband's obituary made much of his relationship to the Navy and its wealthy contractor in this company town.

Eliminating juror #92 was our first win of the day.

Justice Dan Billings had been general counsel to Maine's Governor Paul LePage before ascending to the bench. He now presided over Sagadahoc County Superior Court in the matter of the State of Maine v. Bob Dale (who is 92 years old) et al.

The Zumwalt 12 at the Bath Police Department after booking

Known as a libertarian, Justice Billings had previously convicted three of the Aegis 9 of obstructing a public way when they sat down in the road in front of BIW where the christening[sic] of a Zumwalt destroyer was underway. Now those three stood with us again, this time charged with criminal trespass for allegedly being on BIW property protesting the christening[sic] of an Aegis destroyer.


Counsel for the defendants not representing themselves in the matter was Logan Perkins of Belfast, Maine. Perkins herself had been on trial for criminal trespass in her younger days, before going to law school and being accepted as a member of the bar. Pro bono work on behalf of those facing criminal charges for protesting was a special interest of hers. Her expertise would be on display throughout the day, and on a conference call the previous evening Logan had expressed excitement in anticipation of an expected two days in court.

Jessica Stewart under arrest

Our second win came when the judge ruled not to allow the prosecutor's motion to introduce evidence of prior convictions by some of the defendants.

Jessica Stewart, Catholic mother of three and paralegal, had been found guilty of trespass at BIW as a teenager, cutting the fence and entering the shipyard to pour blood on warships under construction there. Did the state prosecutor know this? As Stewart remarked to me later, "It was all in the discovery. I never made any attempt to conceal it."

Unfortunately for the state's young prosecutor, his superiors had decided to join the nine cases into one for the trial. And Justice Billings was of the opinion that introducing the priors could prejudice jurors against the other defendants. (Actually my husband and I had a prior arrest at the White House for failure to disperse while protesting on an anniversary of the war on Iraq during the Obama administration. We had pled out, payed a fine, and been released. Did the State of Maine know about that?)




Some of us gave opening statements: Bruce Gagnon, Jason Rawn and Mark. Logan spoke on behalf of Jessica, myself and a Veterans for Peace member from Massachusetts who was unable for health reasons to be present.

The artist Natasha Mayers took off her carbon footprint which would not fit in the police van.

The state had opened its case by claiming that we had been arrested because we were trying to enter the event, were trying to block the gate after failing to enter, and had intended to disrupt the christening[sic] ceremony. Perkins was brilliant in cross examining the state's witnesses: Stan Cielensky, chief of security at BIW, and Lt. Savary of the Bath Police Department. They testified of their close collaboration on that snowy April Fool's Day, in between Cielensky scrambling to get more salt delivered through a different gate into the slippery shipyard.



Videos shared by the defense and the prosecution showed the Aegis 9 standing in a curving line with our backs toward the gate where the public could enter, about 10 feet behind us. An aerial photo of the shipyard showed an alleged property line we had crossed, barely visible in key locations. Logan descibed the line's appearance as "scuffed" and noted that it was snowing on April 1st. Lt. Savary agreed and then Logan asked a classic Maine question: "Was it stickin'?" Lt. Savary wasn't sure, but he did remember being cold. 

Cielensky made a crucial error when he elaborated after being shown the aerial photo and asked by the prosecutor if this is what the area at BIW near the south gate looks like. "Yes," said and then inexplicably added, "in the summer."

We had expected our defense to rely on a white line in the snow that most of us were unaware of having crossed, but by the time the state rested it was clear to Logan that they had failed to make their case "beyond a reasonable doubt." Much of their testimony, including cross examination, had admitted that we protesters were excluded while other people were allowed inside the event to which the public had been invited. Excluded because of our signs and their messages in opposition to building or christening[sic] warships funded by taxpayers.

Cielensky even volunteered that BIW employees who were seen talking to  protesters were barred from entering such events.

Jason Rawn in costume as Senator "An-gas" King

These events are lavish public relations opportunities for the biggest employer in town. Senator Angus King was seen entering on April 1, and we knew it was likely that all of Maine's congressional delegation were on hand to "celebrate" with General Dynamics, a reliable source of campaign funding.

I was dressed as Senator Susan Collins that day, with my power suit displaying the logos of many of the corporations that Collins accepts money from.

BIW is embarrassed by our presence across the street, in full view of people entering the south gate. Bruce estimated he has protested at BIW about 100 times over the years. BIW was drawing a line in the snow at tolerating our presence on "their" side of the street. Even though they have buildings up and down both sides of Washington Street, the south gate is where their celebratory banners are hung and where the crews of new ships customarily parade through in their dress white uniforms.

Corporate news outlets fawn over the shipyard owners, the crew, the workers, and the politicians in puff pieces that rarely mention the scores of protesters. (One reporter told protesters that if he was seen talking to them, he wouldn't be allowed in to the event.)

Our day in court came to an abrupt end on February 1 as Justice Billings agreed with Logan's opinion that the state had failed to prove that our arrests were reasonable. An early indication of the way the wind was blowing was when he asked the prosecutor -- who was arguing that we could have put down our signs and walked through the gate like anyone else -- "Do you seriously think Bruce Gagnon would ever get through that gate?" He had also asked the prosecutor, "If someone blogs about how evil Walmart is --and lots of people do that -- but they don't do anything else, does that mean that they aren't allowed in Walmart's stores?"



You can hear the judge's reasoning for dismissing the charges against us in the video made for community access tv by Regis Tremblay, one of many supporters present in the courtroom.

Logan said later that evening as we celebrated at a pot luck dinner,
"The 1st Amendment is alive and well in the State of Maine, and I appreciate that the court was willing to hold the Bath Police Department to the standards contained in the U.S. Constitution."
 
Amen to that, sister.

Logan Perkins of Belfast Criminal Law and me celebrating after our day in court.

Now if we could only chalk up our next victory blocking the $60 million corporate tax giveaway bill before the Maine legislature submitted on behalf of General Dynamics. LD1781 is set for a work session where the public may listen but not participate. The Taxation Committee in Augusta has a Work Session on LD 1781 on Thursday, February 8 at 1:00 pm in the State House Room 127.  

REVISED: Corrected day of LD731 work session to February 8.

Charges Dropped Against Capitol Activists After Police Chief Tweets Asking To Join Their Action

Stop the War Machine: Export Peace banner used by those arrested on the Capitol steps July 12, 2017. Photo: Art Laffin from The Nuclear Resister

Reposting news of this great action and the report back from Max Obuszewski in Baltimore (emphasis added via bold sections of text is mine):

The government decides not to prosecute the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance Six, arrested on the U.S. Capitol steps for pleading for an end to war funding

It was a long and winding road for six citizen activists arrested on July 12, 2017 by the Capitol Police, but the case was finally concluded on August 24 when our “Stop the War Machine: Export Peace” banner and a red sash were finally released from police custody.  On that oppressively hot July 12, the anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s 200th birthday, Joy First, from Wisconsin, Malachy Kilbride, a Quaker from Maryland, Max Obuszewski from Baltimore, Phil Runkel, an archivist of Dorothy Day’s papers at Marquette University, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, also from Baltimore, and Alice Sutter, a retired nurse from New York City, visited the offices of the Senate and House leadership from both parties.

A petition pleading for an end to war funding was taken to the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell and later to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office.  One of Schumer’s aides, who was of Pakistani heritage, engaged the group in a lengthy discussion, especially over the question of the legality of drone strikes.   From there, the petitioners went to Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office, where a staff person accepted the petition.  Our final stop was to the door of Rep. Paul Ryan’s office.  On Ryan’s door, which was locked, there was a sign “Only people with a scheduled meeting were allowed to enter.”  We knocked, but there was no answer.  So a petition was then slipped under the door with a flyer condemning U.S. military operations.  

We then proceeded to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, just across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court , and unfurled the banner and red sash, which represented the blood pouring out of the Capitol as our legislators consistently vote to fund the war machine.  We were wearing bloody tee shirts to signify what happens to the victims of war funding. Surrounded by Capitol Police officers, we took turns reading the petition.  We were given four warnings to cease or be arrested.  The reading kept getting interrupted as one-by-one, we were taken into custody.  Janice, a Roman Catholic woman priest, insisted to the police that she was going to finish reading the petition, and the police did not interfere. 

Alice, Janice and Joy at Paul Ryan's office in Washington DC

We were not handcuffed, were given cold water and were allowed to keep all possessions without  being frisked.  There was no fingerprinting, but a photograph of each activist was taken. Then tables and chairs were brought out of a police van, and the officers gathered our personal information before giving the defendants a citation release document. We were charged with Crowding, Obstructing and Incommoding and ordered to report on July 13 to U.S. Capitol Police Headquarters to request a court date.  Actually, we had fifteen days to report.   

Based on many arrests by the U.S. Capitol Police, I had never experienced one without being handcuffed.  I have no idea why someone in the Capitol Police hierarchy decided to follow this procedure.  I was arrested on those same Capitol steps during President Obama’s last State of the Union address in January 2016.  We spent 6 ½ hours in jail before being released.    

On July 13, four defendants did appear at the Capitol Police Headquarters, and were given an arraignment date of July 26 to appear in D.C. Superior Court. Janice and I went to the headquarters on July 16, and were given August 2 as our arraignment date.   On July 25, Mark Goldstone, a renowned First Amendment attorney, was informed by the U.S. Attorney’s office that Alice, Joy, Malachy and Phil had their cases no-papered.   On our arraignment date, Janice and Max went online and discovered that we were not listed on the Superior Court docket.  So we presumed our cases were also not papered.  Now we began the saga to get the banner and sash released by the Capitol Police.  It took four visits to police headquarters, and the assistance of an Assistant Attorney General, before Janice could pick up the property. 

Members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR] petitioned the Congressional leadership on behalf of the voiceless, the poor, the middle class, the immigrants and people whose pleas are ignored.  And this was done on the 50th anniversary year of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech at the Riverside Church in Manhattan, entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” 

It was important, as well, to read the petition on the Capitol steps as part of the Rivers of Blood II action. On September 20, 2007, the original Rivers of Blood action included a die-in by 31 peace activists in the crypt of the U.S. Capitol. So what has changed in ten years? Congress still consistently  allocates tax dollars which go toward death and destruction in many parts of the world, most especially the Middle East.   

On July 11, Joy received an email from “Andrew:” “I am wishing for more information on the call for action at the Capitol tomorrow.

I have been arrested previously for non violent [sic] demonstrations and want to seek more justice.  What time are we expected to demonstrate and what specific location.  Thank you.” 

I had an opportunity to chat with the Capitol Police commander after the arrest and noticed his nameplate.  He was the mysterious Andrew who sent the email.  

Of course, it is unethical for a police officer to lie, but not illegal.  We intended to subpoena “Andrew” to appear in court to testify during the trial. Was this the reason the charges were no-papered?  Did the other arrests taking place in July inside the Senate and House of Representatives buildings over Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act overwhelm the court dockets? 

Regardless of the reason our cases were dismissed, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is gearing up for another action in the fall called Healthcare Not Warfare.  We will make a demand for improved Medicare for All. 

Let me know if you would like to join us.  Again the action is planned to be commemorative of the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s Riverside Church speech.Another anniversary to commemorate in 2017 is that of the ending of the Great War in 1917.  Randolph Bourne, a writer who died in 1918 of the flu epidemic brought on by World War I, understood a predicament which we are still protesting today: “War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate co-operation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.” 

Have common sense, not larger herd sense, and join us in direct action calling for funding healthcare for all instead of the profiting from warfare by the few. 

Max Obuszewski is with the Baltimore Nonviolence Center 

“One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

War Profiteers Winning In Afghanistan, School Kids Losing In USA

The announcement that more resources would pour into the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan confirms that, no matter who is in the White House, war profiteers are in the driver's seat of U.S. government. Photo: TheNewsDoctors.com

It's no surprise that the swamp got the demagogue with bad hair to embrace imperial overreach and come out as a supporter of ramping up the 16 year war in Afghanistan.

War profiteers like Erik Prince of Blackwater -- which made a bundle on the U.S. war in Iraq -- are insiders in a regime that has incorporated ever more military personnel into supposedly civilian posts like Chief of Staff. War profiteers like Lockheed meanwhile pour millions of dollars a month into lobbying members of Congress who are alleged to represent the people.

How to fund these long, expensive, designed not to be winnable wars?

A recent action alert from my union, the National Education Association, gives a hint:

The FY 2018 education funding bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently is a frightening read in its disregard for the welfare of the millions of students who attend public schools, and the educators who teach in them. 

The House spending bill:

• Cuts education spending by $2.4 billion.

• Completely eliminates Title II (within ESSA), which funds class-size reduction, professional development, and more.

• Slashes 21st Century Community Learning Centers that provide afterschool services to students most in need.

• Fails to increase funding for Title I, despite record numbers of low-income students in need of the services it provides.

Third grade teacher Teresa Danks made international news this summer by literally begging for the $2,000 or so she spends annually in her classroom. She's been a teacher in for decades and her annual salary in Oklahoma is around $35,000. She says: “I want the proper tools to do my job well. I wouldn’t ask somebody to build my house with a spoon.”

I've objected to U.S. imperial wars on the basis that they're morally wrong, that they're racist, that they churn out tons of carbon pollution, that they harm or kill soldiers and their families, and that we can't afford to pay for them.

"Drug War? American Troops Are Protecting Afghan Opium. U.S. Occupation Leads to All-Time High Heroin Production" Globalresearch.ca

I could also add that the occupation of Afghanistan specifically is fueling the U.S. heroin crisis by making the byproduct of opium poppies cheap and readily available (ka-ching goes the CIA cash register). 

All these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. There is no reason to believe that the militaristic cabal brought the demagogue with bad hair to heel will listen to the voice of the people.

My government no longer represents me. But it hasn't succeeded in silencing me yet, and so as another school year begins -- when hungry children who need sneakers and backpacks and a safe place out of the weather come trundling back to school -- I say:

BRING OUR WAR $$ HOME!