AMERICAN POLITICS:

ANOTHER SORT OF FIRST OF JULY:

Well now that the great raison d'être for America's far flung wars is safely swimming with the fishies it might just be time for that country to question why they continue to fight. A peace coalition called the Three Million Strong March On Washington is planning to drive this point home next July 1. Here's their announcement.

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Anti-War Rallies and Demonstrations
Friday, July 1 at 8:00am - July 4 at 4:00pm

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Location Everywhere USA

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More Info

Glen Ford recently wrote in the Black Agenda that Americans no longer support the Anti- War movement because there is a Democratic President in office. Let's prove him wrong on his analysis. Party Politics Be Damned when it comes to war - we should all be working towards a more peaceful and just planet. www.htp://threemillionstrong.yolasite.com/organize-locally.php is an organize locally page for the Three Million Strong March on Washington. I challenge each of you to use it to organize an Anti-War rally in your area over the 4th of July weekend. Let's show the world what the American people are really about.

Three Suggestions -
1. You should be peaceful and respectful
2. You should not condemn our brothers and sisters in Uniform. They are not the problem of war, they are simply doing what they believe is right for their country.
3. Since this is the month President Obama has made clear he will begin withdrawal from Afghanistan, your protest/rally should reflect that.

Printable flyers at http://threemillionstrong.yolasite.com/organize-locally.php

Once you've organized please announce your action here, no matter how big or small...it's important, even if you only have a few folks, every person, or group of people count. Also - please photograph your action/s and send them to us --so we can organize pictures prior to, during, and after-wards.

CANADIAN POLITICS:

THE HIDDEN PUPPET STRINGS BEHIND THE F-35 PURCHASE:

The military procurement bill for the multibillion dollar purchase of F-35 "stealth figheters" for the Canadian airforce is slowly wending its way through parliament, obstructed as usual by the secrdcy of the Harper government. Why you may ask does Canada need a "stealth fighter" whose only obvious function is offensive rather than defensive ? Perhaps it doesn't even have much to do with the ever present desire of "patriots" to earn "glory" by sacrificing other peoples lives as mercenaries in other countries' wars. Perhaps the motive even more venal. Here's a piece about Steven Staples of Ceasefire.ca and his exposure of some of the machinations behind this waste of taxpayer money.

CFCFCFCFCFCF
The silent U.S. hand guiding Canada’s
F-35 debate
Embassy Scott Taylor Feb 9 2011

With all the buzz around Ottawa about a potential spring election, there remains a drought of hot-button political issues over which the coming campaign will be contested. One exception to this, of course, is the Conservative government’s controversial commitment to acquire 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Although no actual contract has been signed, the Harper Tories remain adamant that they will proceed with the purchase of the stealth aircraft, which, at an initial cost of $9 billion and an estimated $7 billion in future maintenance expenses, would make this the largest military project expenditure in Canada’s history.

The Liberals sense there is a natural public aversion to spending such vast sums on military equipment and with the NDP are advocating that a competition be held to select Canada’s next generation of fighter aircraft, rather than continuing with a sole-source purchase of the F-35. The Bloc Quebecois could care less which jet we buy as long as it results in high-tech jobs in Quebec.

Thanks to recent revelations made public via WikiLeaks, it is safe to surmise that the U.S. State Department is the unseen puppeteer making Harper do the F-35 dance. The embarrassing documents contain American diplomatic correspondence detailing how they used a public “carrot” and a private “stick” approach to convince Norway to buy the F-35.

A “lessons learned” cable from the U.S. embassy in Oslo reads: “We needed to avoid any appearance of undue pressuring…. We opted for ‘choosing the JSF will maximize the relationship’ [between the U.S. and Norway] as our main public line. In private we were much more forceful.”

The backroom strong-arm tactics of the U.S. State Department obviously did the trick as the American Embassy subsequently reported to Washington, “The tide has turned in Norway…. The media have recently run a number of articles from active duty and retired officers extolling the strengths of the F-35.”

While those cables may have been penned in 2008, it would seem that there is no need to change a winning playbook. Fast-forward to the Jan. 24 edition of the Ottawa Citizen, wherein former Canadian air force generals Angus Watt and Paul Manson penned a joint editorial entitled, “The truth about those jets.” This was written as a myth vs. reality, 10-item opinion piece, the gist of which was to extol the strengths of the F-35. Sound familiar?

While Mr. Manson may have been telling the truth as he sees it, unfortunately he did not tell the whole truth about his career credentials.

While he was indeed once the chief of the defence staff for the Canadian Forces and a top project officer on the acquisition of the air force’s current fleet of CF-18 fighter aircraft, Manson forgot to mention his post-military stint as the president of Lockheed Martin Canada. Given that Lockheed Martin is the main manufacturer of the F-35, this should be considered a salient point to note for readers.

Luckily, Steven Staples, director of the Rideau Institute and a long-time thorn in the side of the military establishment, ousted Manson’s Lockheed Martin association in a letter to the editor the following day.

Next up to bat was none other than Lt.-Gen. André Deschamps, the current chief of air staff. In the latest edition of the official Canadian Military Journal, Deschamps opined that the F-35 “is the right fighter aircraft for Canada.” The format of the article is that of six rhetorical questions followed by predictable answers invariably extolling the strengths of the F-35.

The first question Deschamps posed to himself is one that I’m sure many Canadians have asked after hearing that this project will set us back $16 billion in tax dollars, and that is: “Why fighters?”

According to Deschamps, “manned fighters are essential to our ability to exercise control and sovereignty over our airspace in Canada, and to conduct operations abroad. This is a fact of modern airpower and all industrialized nations acknowledge it as such.”

In an era where the trend in aviation development is that of unmanned aerial vehicles and pilot-less aircraft, one could argue that Deschamps’s “because everyone else is doing it” argument is somewhat short-sighted. Back at the turn of the last century, the armies of all industrialized nations still fielded large formations of cavalry. In retrospect, that fact in itself would not have justified the investment of billions of dollars into faster and stronger horses.

These are of course only the opening salvos in what promises to be a long and heated battle over the F-35 purchase. One can only wonder just how “forceful” the U.S. State Department will be with Harper before the dust settles.

Scott Taylor is editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.


See also "Staples Outs the Brass" in Esprit de Corps.

HUMOUR:

A QUICK AND EASY GUIDE TO WHAT IS TERRORISM:

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS HAITI:

MORE AID FEWER GUNS:

The following petition to the US Ambassador to the UN is sponsored by the SOA Watch group.

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Haiti: One Year Later
Click here to send a fax to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to demand a withdrawal of military troops and a redirection of funds to humanitarian aid.

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic earthquake in Haiti that left 230,000 Haitians dead, hundreds of thousands injured, and over 1.5 million homeless. In spite of an initial massive outpouring of international solidarity, over a million Haitians remain in temporary shelters and over 90% of promised aid has not arrived.

However, one organization in Haiti is receiving over $1 million dollars a day for its operations. That organization is MINUSTAH, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, created in 2004 shortly after the coup that toppled President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Currently, there are over 9,000 military and 3,000 police in Haiti, from over a dozen countries, including the US, Canada, France, Japan, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Korea, Ecuador, Argentina and Uruguay.

The original mandate of MINUSTAH, according to the UN, was to “establish a secure and stable environment, which would encourage the development of a healthy political process, strengthen government institutions and assist in restoring and maintaining the rule of law and promote and protect human rights". MINUSTAH itself felt first hand the tragedy of the quake, losing its chief officer, his deputy and the acting police commissioner. However, six years after the arrival of the "blue helmets", Haitians are calling for an end to what they consider to be a military occupation of their country by MINUSTAH. Among the concerns expressed by Haitians and international human rights organizations are numerous citations of human rights abuses, including responsibility for the killings of slum dwellers, political activists and even a mourner at the funeral of human rights activist-priest Father Jean Juste. Currently, the Brazilian contingent of MINUSTAH is being tried at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the death of another Haitian activist.

Adding to the wounds of the nation is the recent outbreak of cholera that led to over 2,000 deaths. The outbreak of the disease has been linked to contamination from the Nepal contingent of MINSUTAH.

In addition to concerns for the human rights abuses, the presence of thousands of UN troops in Haiti violates the right to self-determination and sovereignty of a nation under the guise of humanitarian aid after the earthquake. MINUSTAH is the only significant UN military mission in a country with no peace agreement between parties of conflict. Exiled President Jean Bertrand Aristide calls MINUSTAH the “neo-colonial occupation of Haiti.” In a country where 70 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, MINUSTAH costs the UN more than 1 million dollars a day, and is requesting to more than double the funds, to $850,000,000 when its renewal is up for approval next October.

On the eve of this tragic earthquake, the SOA Watch movement expresses its solidarity with the people of Haiti, and calls upon member nations of the U.N to immediately halt the MINSUTAH foreign military occupation and redirect funds from guns and ammunition to houses, schools and food. We also join people throughout the Americas who are honoring the victims of Haiti's quake by calling for a complete withdrawal of MINUSTAH from Haiti. Click here to ad your voice by sending a fax to Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

SOMOS UNA AMERICA. We are One America in our struggle to resist militarization and promote a culture of peace.

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THE LETTER:

Please go to this link to send the following letter to the US Ambassador to the United Nations.

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As Haitians continue to suffer from the devastating earthquake one year ago, with over 1 million people living in temporary shelters and schools and other basic infrastructure still destroyed, the United Nations continues to spend over 1 million dollars a day to maintain 9,000 military troops and 3,000 police from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

While we honor the sacrifices of many of the leaders and members of the MINUSTAH who, like 230,000 Haitians, lost their lives in the tragic earthquake, we join our voices with those of the majority of Haitians in calling for a withdrawal of these troops. Rather than keep the peace, as was the original mandate of MINUSTAH, its members have been cited by numerous human rights organizations as being responsible for abuses directed against citizens of poor communities and political activists.

In a country shattered by one of the most devastating earthquakes of modern times, where 90% of promised international aid has yet to be delivered and where a majority of citizens earn less than $1 a day, it is abominable that the world’s most significant international body has spent over $380 million on military and police force rather than using these funds to express true international solidarity.

Haiti does not need more tanks nor arms nor ammunition, it needs schools, hospitals, housing and functioning institutions, industries and farms. Call for a withdrawal of MINUSTAH and a redirection of these funds to true humanitarian aid.

CANADIAN POLITICS:
CANADA'S ROLE IN THE WAR IN IRAQ:


The Canadian army continues its role in the unwinable war in Afghanistan, with the federal Conservatives gradually "softening up" the public for participation that may last yet another decade (or until the USA realizes defeat and declares victory and gets out). This attempt at 'extension by attrition' is, of course, rather deceptive, but it is hardly the first instance of our federal government waging "war by deceit". Canada did indeed participate in the American invasion of Iraq, no matter how loudly the governments of the day stated that they were not a party to that conflict. Here's a new book out from the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) that lays out this hidden story.
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Canada at War in Iraq!
New 54-page COAT report‏

"At last the surprising truth of the Canada's military complicity in the Iraq War.
A cry for peace. Brilliantly orchestrated."
Victor Levant, author, Quiet Complicity: Canadian Involvement in the Vietnam War

Did you know that about 2,000 Canadian sailors -- aboard eight, multi-billion dollar Canadian warships -- participated in the Iraq War?
Or that Canadian pilots flew warplanes in Iraq-war missions, including U.S. C-17s, a British MR2 and Canadian C-130s and CP-140s?
Or that Canadian Army generals received Canadian and American medals after leading tens of thousands of troops in Iraq?

These are just a few of the surprising facts detailed in this new 54-page report:
"Operation SILENT PARTNER: Canada’s Quiet Complicity in the Iraq War"
This report, published by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT), will be mailed to subscribers of Press for Conversion! this week. (Would you like a copy? See below for details.)

COAT's latest publication is the most comprehensive resource available on the role of Canada's Navy, Air Force and Army in the Iraq war. It contains many original, previously-unpublished articles, with over 300 references, and is illustrated with dozens of photographs showing:
* high-ranking Canadian military officers involved in the Iraq war,
* the U.S., Canadian and British medals they received for their roles in Iraq, and
* Canadian warplanes and warships that were deployed by Liberal and Conservative governments alike.

Preview some of the articles in this issue

When Liberal politicians proclaimed that Canada was refusing to join the U.S. “Coalition of the Willing” against Iraq, many Canadians were understandably proud. Unfortunately, it was all a smoke-and-mirrors game. In reality, Canada did join the Iraq war in 2003 and has contributed in many significant ways ever since. However, Canada's quiet complicity in the Iraq War has gone largely unnoticed. By exposing the remarkable yet largely-unknown history of Canada's participation in the Iraq war, we can try to avoid a similar fiasco from happening again. Please learn more, and help...

Be among the first to read this latest COAT exposé. Order a copy of this issue ($8) or subscribe ($25). (Subscribers receive copies of four different issues.)
Visit the COAT website and use Paypal, a safe easy way to send money online. Or, simply mail a cheque to COAT, at 541 McLeod St., Ottawa ON K1R 5R2.

cheers,
Richard Sanders
Coordinator, COAT

P.S. A limited number of free copies are available for journalists, and activists who will help spread the word. Reply to this email asap if you'd like a sample copy of this issue.

P.P.S. This report was kindly printed by the Canadian Labor Congress (CLC) and the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).

P.P.P.S. Press for Conversion! makes a good stocking stuffer.

MUSIC:
FAMOUS ANTI-WAR SONGS:

It's almost time to close out another Remembrance Day, but just to leave you with something a little less dry here's a couple of songs that give something other than a glorification of militarism. Yeah I know, just when you thought you were finally really and truly free of 'Molly's Poetry Corner'. Well I promise you no 'high culture' this time. No promises for the future.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

'AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA'

It seems like this should be the granddaddy of them all, but this was actually written in 1971 by singer songwriter Eric Brogle. It tells a story of an old Australian veteran and his bitter thoughts at the commemoration of ANZAC Day, the Australian version of Remembrance Day and Veterans' Day. You can hear this song sung by Marjorie Roswell at this link.


AND THE BAND PLAYED
WALTZING MATILDA
When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
Here's another one, 'I Ain't Marching Anymore' by Phil Ochs. This was originally released in 1965 for the album of the same name during a period of time when America's war in Vietnam was building up. This song became Ochs' most famous piece. It takes the point of view of a soldier from all the wars in American history from 1812 on. You can see a video of Ochs performing this song at this link.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

Phil Ochs
I Ain't Marching Anymore

Oh I marched to the battle of new orleans
At the end of the early british war
The young land started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain't marchin' anymore

For I've killed my share of indians
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the little big horn
I heard many men lying
I saw many more dying
But I ain't marchin' anymore

It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the sabre and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all

For I stole california from the mexican land
Fought in the bloody civil war
Yes I even killed my brother
And so many others
And I ain't marchin' anymore

For I marched to the battles of the german trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain't marchin' anymore

(chorus)

For I flew the final mission in the japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning
I knew that I was learning
That I ain't marchin' anymore

Now the labor leader's screamin' when they close the missile plants,
United fruit screams at the cuban shore,
Call it "peace" or call it "treason,"
Call it "love" or call it "reason,"
But I ain't marchin' any more.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
Finally we have Buffy Ste. Marie's 'Universal Soldier'. A little local patriotism here. Ste. Marie was born a mere 20 miles or so from where I grew up in the Quapelle Valley. this song debuted in 1964. it gathered little attention at first but took off when it was rerecorded by folk singer Donovan in 1965. You can see various videos of Ste. Marie performing this song at this link.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

Universal Soldier
Buffy Sainte-Marie
He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

HUMOUR:

REMEMBER:

HISTORY:

REMEMBER AND PREVENT:

November 11 is Remembrance Day in the anglosphere, a day set aside to remember the war dead and hopefully resolve to avoid such tragedies in the future. But how much of this remembrance is actually glorification of militarism ? This is especially apt in the case of WW1, where the actual reasons for the war cannot be honestly discussed without criticizing societies founded on profit and the state. Here's a Remembrance day item from the Canadian anti-militarist group Cease Fire asking your opinion.

RDRDRDRDRDRD

Is Remembrance Day too much about war, and not enough about peace?
Add your comment below


Remembrance Day is changing as the veterans of the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War, pass away. Today more attention is being paid to the veterans of recent conflicts, such as Afghanistan, and the speeches from Government officials freely connect the battles of the past, such as Vimy Ridge, with the current fighting in Kandahar.

This is leaving many to wonder why we gather together each November 11. Is it to mourn the dead, or to adulate them? Do we lament war, or commemorate it?

Remembrance Day was first marked within the British Commonwealth (which included Canada) on November 11, 1919, at 11 a.m. to commemorate the end of the First World War upon the German signing of the Armistice.

According to the Government of Canada, we continue to celebrate this date to

“… honour those who fought for Canada in the First World War (1914-1918), the Second World War (1939-1945), and the Korean War (1950-1953), as well as those who have served since then.”
Red poppies became a popular symbol of Remembrance Day due to John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” and their blood-red colour. His famous poem is hardly a call for peace. Instead, through McRae, the voices of the dead soldiers urge the reader to fight on, and “Take up our quarrel with the foe.”


However, this militarized focus on Remembrance Day is not shared by all. One of the most prominent examples of this is the white poppy campaign, which dates back to 1933. This poppy is meant to symbolize the need for peace and to commemorate the war-related deaths of both civilians and service men and women.

The white poppy campaign is not without controversy even today, as some peace groups seek to revise the anti-war symbol. The Royal Canadian Legion and other groups feel that it denigrates the symbol of those who have died while serving their country (as well as infringing on the Legion’s trademark of the red poppy symbol, used in their fundraising – page 41 of the Poppy Manual).

What is your opinion?

Do you feel that Remembrance Day has become a commemoration of war, or does it remain a time to think about peace?

HUMOUR;

THINGS TO DO AS THE EMPIRE FALLS APART:

CANADIAN POLITICS:

NO TO THE STEALTH FIGHTERS:

This just in from CeaseFire.ca , a public education conference call on the Harper government's plans to blow $16 billion dollars on 'stealth fighters'. One might think that in light of the government's ballooning deficit that they should be a bit more "conservative" with our money. Ah well, for some things there will be to times of austerity. One should note that "stealth" fighters are pretty well the definition of an offensive weapon. They are only useful over somebody else's airspace. In any case the amount that may be spent on such toys has more or less been buried by the feds. Can we call this "Stealth by stealth" ? Here's the invite from CeaseFire.ca.

SFSFSFSFSF

Join our Canada-wide campaign conference call
Canada-wide campaign conference call
NO STEALTH FIGHTERS
Thursday, October 28, 2010
12:00 noon ET
(1:00 AT, 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, 9:00 PT)

With Steven Staples and
special guest Michael Byers

Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. His work focuses on Arctic sovereignty, the law and politics of military force, and international humanitarian law. He is the author of War Law (2005), Intent for a Nation (2007) and Who Owns the Arctic? (2010).

Join us to learn more about Stephen Harper's plan to spend $16 billion on "shock and awe" stealth fighters.

Send in your question or campaign idea. Find out how you can get involved.

HUMOUR:

FLYING PIGS IN AFGHANISTAN:

Click on the graphic for better viewing.

HUMOUR:

YES WE CAN ?

HUMOUR:

WAR AND LIBERTY:

LOCAL EVENTS WINNIPEG:

CHALK FOR PEACE:

There's an interesting, novel and fun protest coming up at the end of this month here in Winnipeg. I speak of the 'Chalk for Peace' events on Saturday, August 28 down at Vimy Ridge Park. Rather than marching up and down and at the end of it listening to boring political speeches from the 'official left' people are invited to express their individual creativity using the sidewalks as a canvas. Here's the announcement >>>

CFPCFPCFP
Chalk 4 Peace (August 28th)
Time August 28 · 2:00pm - 11:00pm

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Location Vimy Ridge Park
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More Info

Chalk 4 Peace is a global event. It happens in many cities across the planet and spreads to more and more every year.

The first Chalk 4 Peace in Winnipeg was started by Sathya Dhara back in 2007, with help from friends.

Come out and draw some art on the sidewalks and see how the pavement transforms throughout the day. With everything going on in this crazy planet of ours the world can always use a little bit more peace. If anybody wants to get involved and help out in any way that would be awesome, just give us a shout.

Invite your friends and spread the word!

Chalk 4 Peace is Saturday, August 28th. If it rains the event will be postponed until the following day, August 29th.

***We will be taking donations on-site for War Child Canada.***
http://www.warchild.ca/

There will be bands (acoustic), drum jams, face painting, fire spinning and some other surprises.

More info TBA.

Peace!!!

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS COSTA RICA:

STATEMENT OF LA LIBERTAD:

Through much of the last century the country of Costa Rica stood as a beacon in the troubled region of Central America. Its early decision to refuse having any standing army and a succession of mildly social democratic governments insulated it against the 'thug politics' of military coups of much of the region. Its policies also guaranteed it a gradually increasing standard of living that was the envy of its neighbours and actually exceeded that of the communist dictatorship of Cuba. In sum Costa Rica was somewhat on its way to being the "Scandinavia of the South". In recent years this country has drawn away from its earlier wise policies, as the following article from the Anarkismo website lays bare. the original authors of the following are the Costa Rican anarchist group La Libertad, publishers of the (very) irregular anarchist magazine of the same name. Costa Rica is gradually abandoning its neutrality and anti-militarism in hopes of placating the Yankee giant to the north. The end result of this will not be increased prosperity but rather increased poverty and the end of freedom. Here's the story.

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Costa Rica: No cheeks left to turn
Statement on the growing militarization of the Caribbean & Central America

Statement by the Colectivo La Libertad from Costa Rica on the increasing militarization of Central American-Caribbean area, the growing repression of the popular movement and of any form of social protest, and their position on the approval for the stationing of thousands of US Marines on Costa Rican territory.
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No cheeks left to turn

Since early July this year, plantation workers, peasants and indigenous people of the province of Changuinola in Bocas de Toro (Panama), have been on strike to defend basic labour rights threatened by the so-called "Jailhouse Law" and "Sausage Law" passed by Martinelli's militaristic right-wing government.


More than 4,000 workers affiliated to the Confederación de Trabajadores de la República de Panamá and 700 workers from the Convergencia Sindical, demonstrated on 8 July against the cancellation of the right to strike, restrictions of the freedom of association, the criminalization of protest, punishable with prison, and the elimination of union dues, when they were brutally repressed by police forces whose violence and batons left at least seven people dead, over 100 hospitalized and about 30 arrested.

These actions sparked protests in every province and the convening, by a national meeting of leaders of popular organizations, syndicates and trade unions, of a national strike for Tuesday 13 July. The worker and peasant organizations, threatened with extinction after the establishment, by law, of a Trade Union Central loyal to the government, demanded the release of the imprisoned workers and investigation into political killings.

However, the violence of the State, the official pressure and the media circus have again, as so many times in the past in this region, permitted "negotiations" and gave birth to a "way out" of the conflict. But this case is yet another example of the ways in which today the capitalist system and the State commit murder in Central America; it is an example of the barbarism which the fascist right is capable of reaching in order to impose its plans for economic liberalization, the extraction of resources and the commodification of life.

This is a trend that has been developing for several years and has been taking shape under the aegis of militarist, neo-liberal States in the region, from Mexico and Honduras, through Costa Rica, to Panama and Colombia. There is no coincidence in the close relationship of the current president of Costa Rica with Martinelli's Panamanian government (which in its most vulgar form consists of Costa Rican police involvement in acts of repression across the border inside Panama), nor the role that this country has played in the international legitimization of the coup in Honduras and the unthinkable government of Porfirio Lobo.

Nor is it a coincidence that the home-grown military presence has increased in recent months, alongside the influence and military intervention of the USA. The permission to land more than 7,000 soldiers, 46 warships and 200 US Army helicopters by the ruling governmental, evangelical and freedom-killing alliance in the Costa Rican parliament, shows in all its harshness the absence of any national sovereignty in Costa Rica, and the clear willingness of the local oligarchy to follow the orders of the gringo government's geopolitical plans.

So the lie that every day we tell ourselves about this peaceful Costa Rica of ours and about our perpetual, sacrosanct neutrality is laid bare: the American soldiers will enjoy absolute immunity from Costa Rican justice, the Marines will be able to enter and leave the country at will and move throughout the country in uniform, carrying their weapons. Nobody is alarmed at the huge number of international reports of assaults, rapes and intimidation by US personnel against citizens of other occupied countries.

But do not think that this is new. The government's strategy of militarization could already be glimpsed in the exchange agreement with the Italian government to give the Costa Rican police military training in exchange for carbon credits for the European country. ( Think of this for a moment. Translated into realistic English this means that Costa Rica is trading "permission to pollute" to Italy via some mythical balancing act of its forests in exchange for "training to kill" from the Italians. One can only hope that the Italian military lives down to its historical reputation. Old joke..Q. What's the shortest book in the world. A.The list of Italian war heroes. )Not to mention the numerous occasions since 2007 when landings have been approved, similar to the above: 5 warships and 17 Coast Guard gunships 3 years ago, 13 warships with a crew of approximately 20 officers and 200 enlisted men each in 2009 (all with airplanes and helicopters), and many other aircraft landing permits for the US Coast Guard. All this supposedly in view of democratic security and the war on drugs.

The false war on drugs - whose main objectives are never the local and international mafia bosses, nor representatives of the narcopolitics of governments in the region - is just an illusion, a show of words to divert attention from the real interests: increasing US military presence in Central America and consolidating the hegemony of the neoliberal project. It comes as no surprise, then, that throughout the world those countries with the greatest US military presence are those with the largest increases in the production and marketing of drugs.

We are now seeing the consequences of these mechanisms almost daily: political repression, criminalization, the dismantling of the legal structure for rights, the criminalization of protest, media stigmatization of social struggle. This permanent war against the "other" (the immigrants, the criminal, the communist, gangs, but also the peasant, the indigenous, the poor), especially in its version known as the drug war, is actually, as we have said, a "war against the peoples" (see http://www.elpais.cr/articulos.php?id=28871), "a war that does not reach the affluent North America", or is interested in seriously addressing a resolution of any conflict.

This so-called war is a systematic and calculated attack on the region. It is the explicit expression of implicit momentum: the control and dominion over the population and the resources. Business strategies serve to hide strategies for looting, cooperation initiatives serve to hide interests for control, regional security policies serve to hide policies for geopolitical domination. Examples of these forms are the free trade agreements, the Mérida Initiative ("Plan Mexico"), Plan Colombia, but also more specific signs such as the Obama-Uribe Treaty for the use of seven Colombian military bases by the United States, the recent reactivation of the Fourth Fleet, the coup d'état in Honduras, the military occupation of Haiti and the granting of new military bases in Panama.

In Central America, the rule of law begins only with its negation. Security begins only with its negation. Peace begins only with its negation. Our people live under assault from the law, unsafe, amidst constant violence. The only promise that the powers make us is that they will never tire of beating us, striking that "other cheek" that we tirelessly offer them. Thus, the only promise we can make to ourselves is to arm ourselves with dignity and ensure that no more cheeks are offered.


Colectivo La Libertad
San José, Costa Rica
July 2010

CANADIAN POLITICS INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

NO TO ATTACK ON KANDAHAR:

It's summer, and an old general's fancy heavily turns to thoughts of mayhem. Or at least that is the way it is in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan as American troops and their various bands of mercenaries prepare to once more launch attacks. Heaven help the civilians in the way. The Canadian organization 'Cease Fire' has a petition to the various political parties asking that the carnage be cancelled. Here's the story.

CANCANCAN
Help Stop the Attack on Kandahar
Send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders

Your help is needed. Civilians are paying a heavy price in Afghanistan as thousands of U.S. Marines, leading Afghan and Canadian troops, prepare to attack Kandahar and surrounding areas.



Please send your letter to Stephen Harper and all party leaders, calling on them to urge the U.S. and NATO to call off the attack and make sure that Canadian forces are not involved in the offensive.

With the attack looming, aid agencies are warning about more casualties. “More troops have led to more fighting, which has always left more casualties,” said the International Committee of the Red Cross this week.

This week an Afghan human rights group reported that 1,074 civilians have been killed and more than 1,500 injured in war-related incidents this year.

Most of the casualties were caused by insurgents fighting Western forces, like Canada. But still, the U.S. and NATO forces were responsible for more than 200 civilian deaths.

In a desperate attempt to regain the upper hand, the U.S. general leading the Afghan war is considering lifting restrictions on the use of heavy weapons and air strikes when civilians are close to the fighting. This will mean many more civilian deaths.

CANCANCAN

THE PETITION:

Please go to this link to sign the following petition to the leaders of Canada's federal parties and to your MP.

CANCANCAN

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I urge you to tell the U.S. and NATO to call off the attack on Kandahar, and to ensure that Canadian troops are not involved in the planned offensive.

Countless civilians are at risk. More than 2,400 civilians were killed last year in fighting by both sides. Now, the U.S. general leading the attack is reportedly considering allowing greater use of heavy weapons and air strikes when civilians are present during fighting.

Please stop the bloodshed, and end Canada’s war in Afghanistan right away.
++

Cher premier ministre Harper

Je vous conjure de demander aux États-Unis et à l’OTAN de décommander l’attaque contre Kandahar et de vous assurer qu’aucun soldat canadien ne sera engagé dans cette offensive planifiée.

La vie d’innombrables civils est en jeu. Plus de 2400 civils ont été tués l’an dernier dans les combats initiés par les deux parties en présence. Aujourd’hui, on apprend que le général américain qui dirigera l’offensive envisage de recourir de façon plus intensive aux armes lourdes et aux frappes aériennes, alors que des civils sont autour pendant les combats.

Nous vous prions de mettre un terme au bain de sang et de cesser immédiatement la guerre du Canada en Afghanistan.

HUMOUR:
MILITARISM:
The following is especially appropraite in view of the CANSEC Arms Fair in Ottawa.

CANADIAN POLITICS-OTTAWA:

CANSEC IS COMING-OPPOSE IT:

The following call to oppose the upcoming 'Cansec' arms fair in Ottawa comes from the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT). Those who profit by selling the mechanisms of deaths, the arms traders, may qualify as the lowest examples of human life on Earth. Look to following to see how you can help oppose them.

+++++++++++++++

Oppose the CANSEC War Machine!‏

Learn more about CANSEC and join the campaign to oppose it.
CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show. It's coming to Ottawa next week. Wherever you may be, please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing this blatant symbol of Canada's role in the burgeoning international arms trade.

For more info., see the list of weblinks at the end of this email to learn more about CANSEC and how you can help COAT to expose and oppose it!

Here is a media advisory that COAT released yesterday.

Rally for Peace – Oppose the CANSEC War Machine
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/MediaAdvisory.htm

Ottawa – Peace advocates, human rights groups and environmentalists, are gathering to denounce CANSEC 2010, our nation’s largest weapons trade show. CANSEC is a symbol of Canada’s commitment to the business of war and our role in the profitable, international arms trade.

Richard Sanders of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade says, “CANSEC is a blatant manifestation of our country's part in fuelling major global conflicts through the sale and export of weapons systems and their components.”

This year's effort against CANSEC is the latest chapter in a struggle that began over two decades ago when the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) campaigned against ARMX, a now-defunct arms bazaar. COAT's work against ARMX led the City of Ottawa to ban arms exhibitions on municipal property. CANSEC is returning to Lansdowne June 2 and 3, because last year City Council overturned this municipality's historic 20-year ban on weapons shows.

“This trade show is a symbol of Canadian government subsidization of an industry involved in producing and promoting weapons of destruction,” added City Councillor Alex Cullen, candidate for Mayor in the 2010 municipal election. “It graphically illustrates the part we play in aiding and abetting wars and human rights abuses.”

CANSEC exhibitors supply parts and services for many of the world’s deadliest weapons systems used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza and elsewhere around the world. Research by COAT names 60 CANSEC exhibitors supplying parts for weapons systems in Iraq. That war alone has killed 1.3 million since 2003. Diane Holmes, City of Ottawa Councillor says, “These weapons and weapons systems have caused destruction around the world. They have taken an immeasurable toll on the lives and livelihoods of innumerable innocent people, their families and their children.”

Peace groups, human rights and environmental groups, will hold a RALLY for PEACE on June 2, 2010 at Lansdowne Park on Bank Street, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Politicians, citizens, poets and musicians will speak against profiting from war weapons, and for peace in the world.

For more information, media contact :
Richard Sanders, Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) and Editor, Press for Conversion! magazine;
Tel: (613) 231-3076

Renseignements médias:
Hélène Lebrun, les Soeurs du Sacre-coeur de Jesus;
Tel: (613) 237-6607

Inquiries:
website: http://coat.ncf.ca
email: overcoat@rogers.com

===============================================================

Learn more about CANSEC and COAT's campaign

CANSEC is Canada's largest and most important War-Industry Trade Show.
Please join the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) in opposing it.

Here is an annotated list of weblinks about CANSEC and how you can help expose and oppose it:

Summary Article: What is CANSEC, and why do we oppose it?
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010article.htm

"CANSEC: War is Business" (50-page COAT publication. Get the nitty gritty)
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm

"Rally for Peace," June 2, 5-7 pm, Ottawa
Includes a list of speakers, poets and musicians, and links to their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm

Spread the word about COAT's "Rally for Peace"
Fliers: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/fliers/fliers.htm
Posters: http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Posters.htm

Other antiCANSEC events: What to do in Ottawa on June 2, 2010
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/June2events.htm

Decorate CANSEC's Fence: Submit graphics/statements online, or bring them yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116566681687834&v=wall&ref=ts

How you can help: Join the opposition to CANSEC, wherever you are!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm

CANSEC 2010 Exhibitors: Links to info about 275 exhibitors and their websites.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/CANSEC2010Exhibitors.htm

"Peace Bus" from Toronto to Ottawa, June 2: All aboard for the antiCANSEC rally
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/TOPeaceBus.htm

Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade website (for CANSEC updates and more)
http://coat.ncf.ca

Support COAT: Donate, subscribe, order "CANSEC: War is Business"
http://coat.ncf.ca/support_us/support_us.htm

CANADIAN POLITICS:

STAYING IN AFGHANISTAN FOREVER:

Recent news reports have touted the idea that Canadian troops should stay in Afghanistan past their projected withdrawal date in 2011. The general idea is that they would stay as "trainers" of a so far mythical well disciplined and effective army of quislings who would carry out the dictates of the present invaders of that country. If this doesn't strike you as an "odd" ambition then perhaps you should consider the phrase "mass desertions". This is, of course, an exercise in "high bullshit". As the history of all guerrilla wars in the last 100 years shows, "advisers rapidly become combatants". The transition (if there was any at all) would, of course, be properly lied through. One suspects that the lies would be accepted by a minority of the population in the same way as previous reports of impending victory, "development aid" (ie about 5% of what the Soviets did when they were the occupiers), and "projects' (ie building roads that can carry tanks as opposed to goats) were accepted. Such are the true believers. Seems that there will be several other such trial balloons as Sneaky Stevie, our "beloved" Prime Minister, searches for ways to rat on his previous promise to withdraw in 2011.

Here's a campaign from the Canadian anti-militarist group Cease Fire to petition our politicians about our involvement in what may be an endless war.

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
KEEP YOUR PROMISE-WITHDRAW FROM AFGHANISTAN:
I was astonished to read this on the front page of the newspaper: “U.S. to press for Canada to keep troops in Afghanistan.”

We can be certain that the retired generals and the defence contractors in the pro-war lobby are cheering, because this will put pressure on Canada to keep fighting the war even longer.

We need to act now, to tell Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff that we do not want to extend the war, and want Canada to be a UN peacekeeper again.

Please send your letter to Prime Minister Harper, opposition leaders, and your local MP, right away.

We have also prepared a campaign kit for you, if you want to help spread the word. After you have sent your letter, consider ordering your Peacekeeping Campaign Kit, or visit our Ceasefire.ca Gear page directly.

Thank you for everything you do for peace.

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

The Letter:

Here's the letter that Cease Fire would like you to send to the Prime Minister and other politicians. Please go to this link to sign.

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
I want our troops to return from Afghanistan in 2011, or even sooner.

The end of the Afghanistan mission is an opportunity for the Canadian Forces to contribute troops to United Nations peacekeeping operations. More than 80,000 troops are deployed on dangerous and important UN missions, but less than 60 of them are from Canada.

I urge you to end the military mission in Afghanistan, and contribute more troops to UN peacekeeping operations. Make Canada a proud peacekeeper, once again.

++

Je demande que nos soldats en Afghanistan rentrent au pays en 2011, voire avant.

La fin de sa mission en Afghanistan permet au Canada de contribuer aux opérations de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies auxquelles participent actuellement plus de 80 000 soldats, déployés dans des missions dangereuses et importantes. Or, moins de 60 de ces soldats sont du Canada.

Je vous demande avec instance de mettre fin à la mission militaire en Afghanistan, et d’envoyer davantage de soldats contribuer aux opérations de maintien de la paix de l’ONU. Retrouvons la fierté d’aider au maintien de la paix.

CANADIAN POLITICS:

WAR IS BUSINESS:

'War is Business' is a new online resource now available from the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT). Concerned about the growing militarism is Canada ? check out this resource. here's the blurb.

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

"WAR is BUSINESS" New ONLINE Canadian resource‏:
"WAR is BUSINESS" A new ONLINE RESOURCE for Canadian activists, researchers and the media

Read it now ---> http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm

Few Canadians know much about this country's war profiteers, or the billions in military technologies that they export to dozens of countries at war. Between 2003 and 2006, Canadian war industries exported at least $7.4 billion in military hardware to 62 countries with troops fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and elsewhere.

And, the Canada Pension Plan forces us to invest in many of the world's largest weapons manufacturers. Taxpayers are also complicit in the immoral business of war, because -- for many decades -- Canadian governments (Liberal and Conservative) have transferred billions in publicly-funded corporate welfare to this country's most profitable arms exporters.

Learn about Canada's war industries, what they produce, where it is exported and how the government is aiding and abetting the whole sordid process. Find out about the government-funded lobby group that represents 700 Canadian war industries and their huge arms bazaar, called CANSEC, which is returning to Ottawa municipal property, June 2-3, 2010.

"CANSEC: War is Business," is the latest 50-page issue of Press for Conversion!, a magazine published by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT).

This new resource -- including all of the articles, photos, graphics, cartoons, tables and charts focusing on Canada's major role in the international arms trade -- is NOW ONLINE:

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/64/64.htm

If you haven't already SUBSCRIBED, please consider doing so! http://coat.ncf.ca/support_us/subscribe.html

Thanks for supporting COAT's efforts!

Cheers,

Richard Sanders

Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

Editor, Press for Conversion!

P.S. Dozens of previous issues of COAT's magazine are also online -- full text -- at COAT's website:

http://coat.ncf.ca

HAITI:

Four of COAT's publications focus exclusively on Canadian complicity (and particularly CIDA's despicable role) in backing the 2004 coup that overthrew Haiti's elected government and imposed a brutal dictatorship:

**Lies without Borders: How CIDA-funded 'NGOs' waged a propaganda war to justify Haiti’s 2004 coup

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/63/63.htm

**Putting the Aid in Aiding and Abetting: CIDA's Agents of Regime Change in Haiti's 2004 Coup

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/62/62-TOC.htm

**CIDA's Key Role in Haiti's 2004 Coup d’état: Funding Regime Change, Dictatorship and Human Rights Atrocities, one Haitian 'NGO' at a Time

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/61-TOC.htm

**A Very Canadian Coup d’état in Haiti: The Top 10 Ways that Canada’s Government Helped the 2004 Coup and its Reign of Terror

http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/60/60.htm