Blogs

Veterans Direct Action in DC

Submitted by madmal on Sun, 11/16/2008 - 8:16am.
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On Saturday, November 15, at 8:00 am, at the National Archives Building
on Connecticut Ave., eight military veterans and a military mother
climbed a 9-foot retaining fence and occupied a ninety-foot high
scaffolding to raise two 450 square foot banners stating, "DEFEND OUR
CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!" and "WE WILL NOT
BE SILENT."


The same message will also be
displayed at demonstrations in the Los Angeles area on Saturday.
Members of Veterans for Peace (VFP) chose the Archives for their
nonviolent protest because it is symbolic of their military oath to
"defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic."

In September they occupied the Archives for 24 hours, and plan to
stay longer this time. "The offenses of Bush, Cheney, and their
accomplices are appalling," said Kim Carlyle, a VFP member and Army
veteran. "Their misdeeds have killed or maimed more than a million
people - American soldiers, innocent civilian children, women, and men.
They have displaced almost five million people, with millions seeking
refuge in other countries. Their total disregard for international
agreements has severely tarnished the reputation of America in the
world. Their unlawful wars have squandered billions of dollars that
could have bolstered a troubled economy."

The veterans are demanding Bush administration be tried for war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace; asking the
media to clearly inform the public of the administration's crimes; and
encouraging citizens to take similar nonviolent actions. According to
Tarak Kauff, a VFP member, "People say Bush and Cheney will be gone
soon so what's the point? The point is, there is no statute of
limitations on war crimes, and if not held accountable, criminality
will continue regardless of who is in office. We either are or we are
not a nation of law."

THOSE STAGING THE OCCUPATION ARE: Elliott Adams VFP: 61, Sharon Springs, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper, Viet Nam

Ellen Barfield VFP: 52, Baltimore, MD, former Army Sgt.

Kim Carlyle VFP: 61, Buncombe County, NC, former Army Spec 5

Doug Zachary VFP: 58, Austin, TX, VFP staff, former USMC Lance Cpl.

Tarak Kauff VFP: 67, Woodstock, NY, former PFC, Army Airborne

Will Covert VFP: 63, San Diego, CA, VFP lifetime member, former E4 Navy

Elaine Brower MFSO: 54, Staten Island, NY, Military Families Speak
Out, National Steering Committee, mother of USMC Sgt. James Brower on
third tour in Iraq

Matthis Chiroux IVAW: 24, Army Sergeant, served in Afghanistan, refused deployment to Iraq

PROVIDING GROUND SUPPORT: Mike Ferner VFP: 57, Toledo, OH, former
Navy corpsman Debbie Tolson VFP: 52, Potomac, MD, associate member of
VFP

Michelle White MFSO: 24, Clarksville, TN, Military Families Speak Out, wife of Iraq war vet currently serving in Afghanistan

Michael Marceau VFP: 59, Rockville, MD, VP VFP Chapter 16, former Army, Viet Nam

Bruce Berry VFP: 62, Minneapolis, MN, former SPC 4 Army, Viet Nam Fred Nagel VFP: 65, Rhinebeck, NY, former SPC 4 Army

Jay Wenk VFP: 82, Woodstock, NY, former rifleman, 90th Infantry Div., WWII

Tony Teolis VFP: 703-402-1763

Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people opposed to
the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones currently in the
military or in the military since the fall of 2002. Formed by two
families in November of 2002, MFSO membership now numbers over 3,400
military families, plus contacts throughout the U.S. and other
countries.

homepage:
homepage: http://www.vfpchapter72.org

 

UPDATE:  As of 4pm 11/16/08 the Archives crew are being placed under arrest.  Please take a moment to offer up good thougths and/or prayers for these valiant defenders of the Constitution; that they will be brought down with thought and care for their safety and treated well.  

Below are some UTube links to video showing the banner drops:


http://tinyurl.com/57hqlv 1 of 5 first banner drop

http://tinyurl.com/6jfdwm 2 of 5 surprised security

http://tinyurl.com/5stl7h 3 of 5 song

http://tinyurl.com/67gkxq 4 of 5 second banner drop "People got the Power"

http://tinyurl.com/5e4o5n 5 of 5 MLK Riverside NYC 4/4/1967

FINAL UPDATE:  At 4pm the DHS Police climbed the scaffolding and removed the banners, leaving the Veterans to go their own way!  At this writing all are down safely and enjoying hot meals and showers.  

More details later.....

Winter Soldier Media

Submitted by kelly on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 12:22pm.
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Check out these great photos of Winter Soldier Northwest by Jim Lommason.

 

Here is coverage by Dahr Jamail from IPS

US/IRAQ: "We Have to Share This Pain"

Dahr Jamail

PORTLAND, Oregon, Oct 20 (IPS) - Veterans from the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, along with Iraqis, Afghanis, Vietnam veterans, and family members of U.S. military personnel converged in this west coast city over the weekend to share stories of atrocities being committed daily in Iraq, in a continuation of the "Winter Soldier" hearings held in Silver Spring, Maryland in March.

At the Unitarian Church downtown, some 300 people gathered to hear the testimonies, which left many in tears. The five-hour event was comprised of three panels; Voices of Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, The Human Costs of War, and Building Resistance to War.

The goal of the event is to give veterans a platform by which to disseminate information about their experiences abroad to the general public.

"War changes people. You do not come out of a combat zone the same," Iraq war veteran Chanan Suarez Diaz told the audience while moderating the veteran's panel. "War is very numbing...it comes to a point that you see so much destruction you become numb. This bullshit about bringing democracy or liberation is nonsense -- we've killed over one million Iraqis."

Jan Critchfield, an Army National guard specialist, discussed his job working in Iraq as an army "journalist", that in his words, "I was a propagandist, pure and simple." 


Read more

 

And coverage in the Oregonian:

Anti-war movement revives 'Winter Soldier'

Ex-soldiers testify against the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

 

 

VIDEO:: WINTER SOLDIER tape 1

Submitted by Joe Anybody on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 11:32am.
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I went to the NW WINTER SOLDIER at The First Unitarian Church on 10 18 2008

I filmed the three panels onto 5 seperate tapes

This is tape 1 - Panel one

More videos coming and will be posted here on PDX peace (asap)

The videos are archived and hosted on Archive.org website

 

http://www.archive.org/details/wintersoldierNW1

 

 

VIDEO:: Exit Wounds and Interview with Camilo Mejia - part 1

Submitted by Joe Anybody on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 9:25pm.
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I was able to film a 20 min interview with war resister Camilo Mejia and Dan Shea

This is part 1 of 2 videos

 

In this clip (#1) Camilo talks about his life and activism with war resisting. There is also a gallery reception going on that is an exhibit of pictures from Iraq and of soldiers who were there or still are. Camilo Mejia, a National Guard staff sergeant who after fighting for five months in Iraq, became the first combat soldier to refuse to go back to Iraq. He spent 9 months in prison for resisting. He now serves as Chair of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War and is the author of Road from ar Ramadi. He is now a IVAW activist and strong advocate for peace. 

 This is a 20 minute interview of Camilo by Dan Shea who is a Vietnam Veteran lives in Portland and is a member of Veterans for Peace chapter 72. and he also works with PDXpeace as many of you know.

Dan has a monthly Saturday show (every 4th Saturday) for Veterans on Metro East cable TV.  I was fortunate to film this interview with him for his show, and  priviliged to film some of the pictures of Photographer Jim Lommason exhibit at the same time.

Which can be seen over at -->  New American Art Union, on 922 SE Ankeny Street (behind KBOO)They exhibit will be on display October 17 to November 30, 2008Thursday - Sunday, Noon - 6PM + By appointment. 

This video is part one of two video from that evening at The New America Art Studio

The next video (with Dan Shea & Dahr Jamail) will be posted as a comment under this link when it is completed. 

I copied this below from the info on PDXpeace home page about Jim's photo-exhibit: 

The Myth of Return 

Photographer Jim Lommasson will present a series of photographs and interviews with American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The soldiers speak the truth about war, their participation, and the effects on themselves and those caught in the crossfire. This exhibit examines and raises questions about a generation of soldiers largely invisible to the American public. The stories are profound and timeless.

Returning soldiers have always had to process the real and transformative traumas of battle while integrating into a new civilian culture that lacks the clarity, meaning, and sense of ‘mission’ that war can provide. But how will these returning ‘silent warriors’ shape the social fabric into which they must now incorporate? With bodies and minds completely attuned to the violence and exigencies of war, what is the psychic space these young veterans inhabit after their tours?

What happens when battle-bred virtues, such as a heroic disregard for one’s life and pain, become a liability or even contemptible in their new home?

Exit Wounds looks at some of the trials of reintegration for this generation of invisible warriors and asks whether they do in fact get to ‘come home.’  

video part #2 coming soon in the comment section below this post here on PDXpeace.org

Winter Soldier Northwest wrapup

Submitted by barry on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 4:35pm.
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Wrapping up this amazing event - Winter Soldier Northwest

I took notes on the 3 panels:

Live Blogging Winter Soldier - Panel 1 - Veterans

Live Blogging Winter Soldier - Panel 2 - The Human Costs of War

Winter Soldier Northwest - Panel 3: Building Resistance to War



 

How To: Adding a blog post or image to PDXpeace

Submitted by peacelover on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 11:39am.
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This is a 16 minute Google video which shows ...

"How To" log in and post a blog and an image on PDXpeace.org Covering the topics in the video:.signing up.logging in

.posting a blog

.adding a video

.adding a picture

 

____________

Here is text explaining

How To add an image to your blog

 To add an attachment (image) on the PDXpeace blogs do the following when you have the blog edit page open for a new post
 

  1. click on (icon) tiny picture of the green tree located up-top in the font area of the blog page to insert your image or picture
  2. a small new pop-up box opens
  3. look to the very top first line in the small pop-up box for the words ..... insert URL (next to the empty fill-in-line for the Image URL)

   4.  notice the small box to the right of those words (well click on the small box to the right with lines inside it) (dont fill in any text)
   5.  a newer bigger pop-up opens on top of the smaller previous one
   6.  look in new pop-up at bottom left corner for the BROWSE tab (click on it) (it will open a pop-up to allow you to look for your picture)
   7.  when you find your picture (attachment) that your 'browsing for" in your hard drive (click/open) to send picture from your hard drive
   8.  you now just identified your picture, if thats the correct picture (click tab) right next to the browse tab (it will say INSERT)(bottom left corner)
  10.  now you just inserted your picture and you may see it now centered in that same pop-up box with a text line above it
  11.  from now on all your uploaded picture attachments will show here when you open this pop-up to insert 
  13.  this means all those images you upload ....are latter at your finger tips for future use with out going through all the upload routine (again)
 
 
your almost done
 

  1. when you see the picture in the center of the bigger pop-up and the text at the top ...look close at the text line across the top (your image info)
  2. the filename is the first you see ...then size...then dimensions... then date.... then notice the last column "operations"
  3. Right below where it says "operations" click the word add (there is also a delete which is obvious what will happen if you click it)
  4. When you click on add your picture just "got added to their server"
  5. Once you have clicked add your done with that bigger pop-up box ... and it will disappear
  6. You will see the 1st small pop-up that had the box with lines in it
  7. Next to that tiny box you will see the insert URL line is FILLED IN WITH YOUR ATTACHMENT
  8. Just click INSERT at bottom of that small pop-up box and your picture is now on your blog (finish writing blog and then SUBMIT it)


______________________________
 

5 sec Run down


 

  • click green tree icon - Box Opens - click small square box with lines inside it... on the first line (right side of pop-up)
  • new bigger pop-up opens .... click "browse" bottom left corner
  • find picture to insert from your hard drive (click the open tab to choose your image)
  • now next to the "browse" on the bigger pop-up, click the INSERT tab
  • you will see your picture in center of pop-up..... look above it in same pop-up box for the text line <top>....follow it across look for add tab click on it
  • the big pop-up goes away and your small pop-up box is left (its all filled in now with your image info) just click INSERT at bottom of that small pop-up


                                                              Your done

Effects of Depleted Uranium Forum

Submitted by Remediation on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 5:40pm.
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flyer for depleted uranium event

 

On December 6th from 12-5pm Re:Mediation
will be hosting an event at Trillium Charter School to raise awareness
about the civilian costs of war on both sides of the conflict in the
Middle East. In addition to raising awareness, the group hopes to raise
funds for the purpose of alleviating some of the stresses caused by
this conflict. Proceeds will be used in the best ways possible, whether
that means providing our own direct help or in aiding other groups with
similar goals. The vision of this event is to create community
consciousness around how the world’s people are affected by war,
reaching across to both sides of the fence and collaborating and
educating on what we can do to help, while also accumulating funds to
reinforce the cause.

Throughout the evening there will be student power points, public
speakers, live music, traditional cuisine, dance performances and
African drumming. We are also encouraging open mic sessions so that
everyone has a chance to voice their ideas, opinions and thoughts.
Having open conversation and dealing with these topics on a community
level is key to our organization, and we invite all people to be apart
of this.

Child care will be available, and there will also be a recommended donation, though no one will be turned away.

Please contact us via phone or email if you have any questions or concerns.

The event is located at Trillium Charter School 5420 N Interstate Ave. 97217

 

VIDEO: Stand For Peace November 15 2008

Submitted by Joe Anybody on Wed, 11/19/2008 - 11:44am.
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"Stand for Peace"

Thus vigil near the Lloyd Center on 13th street has been going for over 4 years

I stopped by on 11.15.08 and filmed a 3 min YouTube video of the 1/2 dozen protesters who all were "Standing for Peace" along the sidewalk in NE Portland. This vigil happens every Saturday at 11am - 1pm rain or shine

Get Active - Make Change Happen -

Feedback on UFPJ documents

Submitted by kelly on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 9:31am.
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Compiling our collective feedback on UFPJ documents

As a member group of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), PDX Peace is being asked to provide collective feedback on key UFPJ documents in advance of the upcoming national assembly in December. We are holding a special meeting of PDX Peace members on November 17, 6:30-7:30 to compile our feedback to send to UFPJ, and to decide on who we are sending to the assembly to represent us. Please come to the meeting having read the three documents with the questions below in mind. Be prepared to share with the group your 2-3 answers that you feel are most important. 

Read the current drafts of the Unity Statement, Strategic Framework and Program Outline. 

Questions to consider:

Feedback on Unity Statement
From the perspective of your group, does this revised draft of the UFPJ Unity Statement articulate the priority issues and perspectives that should define UFPJ, especially in the context of the new political landscape of the country?

If your group thinks something is missing, what is that? And why is this important to include in the Unity Statement?

Is there anything in this version of the Unity Statement that should be removed? If so, what is it and why?

Is anything in this version not clear or anything that you think needs to be more fully explained?

Feedback on Strategic Framework
From the perspective of your group, does this new draft of the UFPJ Strategic Framework adequately define the new political moment? If not, what is missing?

Does this draft articulate the strategic priorities that should define UFPJ in the coming period, especially in the context of the new political landscape of the country? If not, what do you disagree with and/or what does your group suggest?

Is anything in this version not clear or anything that you think needs to be more fully explained?

Does this draft focus on areas of work that your group thinks should be a major focus for our work in the coming period? If not, what's missing?

If your group thinks anything is missing, what is that? And why is this important to include in the Strategic Framework?

Is there anything in this version of the Strategic Framework that should be removed? If so, what is it and why?

Feedback on Program Outline
What, if any, of these areas of work is your group currently involved in?

Are there some areas of work your group is not involved in but is considering taking up in the future?

Can you indicate which of these areas of work your group believes should be a priority for UFPJ as a national coalition?

Are there any other areas of work or issues you believe UFPJ as a national coalition should take up in the coming year to 18 months?

Any other comments or suggestions?

Armistice Day

Submitted by BOHICA on Sun, 11/09/2008 - 8:49am.
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On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

 

All Oregonians are welcome and encouraged to join in a gathering for
Peace with Veterans for Peace chapter 72, Tuesday, November 11th, at
the South Park Blocks between SW Columbia and Jefferson in Portland, at
the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, to share
in stories, observations, and solemn observance to honor sacrifices of
the World's veterans and the innocent victims of war by embracing the
goal of Peace for all the Peoples of the World.

In the center of
the block between Columbia and Jefferson is a very different sculpture,
also installed in 1984. In Peace Chant, comprised of three large
granite pillars, Steve Gillman wished to express his own advocacy for
peace as well as that of the nearby churches. In May 1985 the Portland
City Council named this block Peace Plaza

 

 

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World
War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with
these words:
...Whereas it is fitting that the recurring
anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and
prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and
mutual understanding between nations...

An Act (52 Stat.
351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of
November in each year a legal holiday - - a day to be dedicated to the
cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day."

Date: Tuesday, November 11

Time: 11:00 AM

Place: The Peace Plaza at the South Park blocks, between SW Columbia and Jefferson

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