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Don't miss this event this week - in NYC and live on the web: April 2: Drones & Dirty Wars: Prelude to Drone Days of Action 2014 Wednesday 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Community Church 40 E. 35th Street, NYC Click here to share the image above on Facebook A live program & international webcast in support of the Spring Days of Action – 2014, a coordinated campaign in April and May to End Drone Killing, Drone Surveillance and Global Militarization. Featuring: Madiha Tahir, film maker, Wounds of Waziristan An independent journalist reporting on conflict, culture and politics in Pakistan, she has followed the U.S. drone attacks there for years. Maria LaHood, Senior Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights who specializes in international human rights litigation, seeking to hold government officials and corporations accountable for torture, extrajudicial killings, and war crimes abroad. Carl Dix, Vietnam War resister & Revolutionary Communist Party. A leader of protests against police brutality, stop-and-frisk, & founder, with Cornel West, of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. With information from the Granny Peace Brigade, kNOwdrones and World Can't Wait on what you can do to in your schools & communities to create a political situation where the U.S. is forced to back off from using targeted killing in our name. Sponsored by kNOwdrones & World Can't Wait, Action for Justice Committee / The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist More info: 866 973 4463 kNOwdrones.com / worldcantwait.net Flier in English Flier in Spanish Watch live: ustream.tv/stopmotionsolo ►Invite your friends via Facebook Monsters in the Sky: watch and share this video by Jill McLaughlin Announcing the “Chelsea Manning Support Network” (formerly the Private Manning Support Network) Messages from Chelsea Manning and attorney Nancy Hollander: How Chelsea sees herself, as interpreted by artist Molly Crabapple Chelsea Manning writes: “I would like to thank all of you for your support. Without your efforts–including organizing, fundraising, and public education–my court martial would not have been nearly as visible to the public, and many of the serious issues in my case would have gone unnoticed... “I hope that you will continue supporting my fight for justice.  My case impacts important issues that affect many, if not all Americans.  These include the rights of an accused not to be subjected to harsh and unnecessary pretrial punishment, the right to a speedy trial, the right to timely and complete access to relevant evidence held by the government, and the right to a public trial.  Your support for my case going forward can even help to define the limits of power held by the military’s convening authorities, the Executive Branch, and the US Government. “Again, thank you for your overwhelming support thus far.  I have stayed–and continued to be–optimistic throughout all of what has happened.  I sincerely hope that we can continue working together to change history.” Bereaved Yemenis to Launch National Drone Victims’ Organisation A group of people who have lost loved ones to US drone strikes in Yemen will next week (Tuesday April 1) launch a national organisation with the aim of supporting affected communities and highlighting the civilian impact of the covert programme. Protesting the “Elder Statesman” War Criminal Henry Kissinger From the Chicago Chapter of World Can't Wait: Henry Kissinger, one of the top war criminals in the world, was invited to Chicago to give the key note address at a March 20th fund raising dinner for the Illinois Holocaust Museum. “Humanitarian or War Criminal?” was the question posed by a broad coalition of groups, with World Can’t Wait Chicago among the core, that came together to say loudly, “War Criminal,” a man who deserves to be behind bars, not dishonoring the memory of all who perished in the Holocaust. Over 40 people came out to deliver that message, including Gay Liberation Network, Jewish Voice for Peace, 8th Day Center for Justice and more. Rabbi Brant Rosen, author of “Wrestling in the Daylight” and a member of the rabbinical counsel of Jewish Voice for Peace who could not be present, sent a message stating, "I cannot understand how a man who was the architect of our nation's war crimes in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, who was instrumental in the brutal coup in Chile and other acts of illegal international intervention around the world could possibly be considered an appropriate speaker at a gathering that celebrates humanitarianism.” Henry Kissinger has been dogged by protests any time he appears in public and many of us in Chicago were proud to continue that trend. Cheers to “The California Department of Corrections!” Thanks to the California Department of Corrections, which urges transparency in the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners. Or should we continue to allow the military to hide forced feeding and solitary confinement because the prisoners aren't "American?" Oh wait, they do that in California to "American" prisoners, too. See correctionsdepartment.org Share this message: Thursday April 3 World Can't Wait Conversation Invite your friends to the Facebook Event. We'll be joined by Ross Caputi of the Justice for Fallujah Project. Watch his film, Fear Not the Path of Truth... This documentary follows Ross Caputi, veteran of the 2nd siege of Fallujah, as he investigates the atrocities that he participated in and the legacy of US foreign policy in Fallujah, Iraq. We are collecting questions now, so that we can make the most use of our one hour conference call. Send your comments, questions, or a particular area you'd like to explore in the conversation. You can also post questions on the Facebook event for this call. Register for dial-in details. Upcoming Events Thursday April 3 Public Hearing: General David Petraeus & His Legacy in Iraq & Afghanistan 6:00 - 8:00 pm Facebook Event CUNY Graduate Center 356 5th Avenue NYC April 3-4 Stop Mass Incarceration Network Strategy Session to Plan an October 2014 month of resistance. John Jay College. Write for details. Fri/Saturday April 11-12 Emergency Actions to Stop the War On Women. Contact Stop Patriarchy. Save the date: Friday May 23 Guantanamo is Still NOT Closed Nation-wide protests on the year anniversary of President Obama's second promise to close it. World Can't Wait Needs YOU to Sustain Its Mission Renew your commitment to sustaining the movement putting humanity and planet the first; sustaining an organization that won’t stop until the crimes do. Hi, Debra -- Tho I often feel inundated ... underwater ... overloaded with email feeds on many issues in my stuffed email In Box, I just wanted to thank you for the accessible and readable and scannable email you sent "The State of the 'Union' from the Outside." Hope to join the February conference call, especially on extreme cognitive dissonance of Edward Snowden vs.blather about keeping America "safe" ... and the travesty of left-behinds and hunger strikers at Gitmo. Keep the flame hot! Regards, Marie M. Upstate NY Hi Debra, Thanks for the in-depth report on your encounter at the 'MSA West' conference. I was amused to find myself surprised that the Muslim students you described were as ignorant of the drone war as the average American student is (I suspect without real knowledge) and then realized I was stereotyping them with the expectation that, as Muslims (and therefore with a presumably bigger 'dog in the fight') they'd be far more aware of the issues than your article describes rather than seeing them as just another segment of the American student population. Nonetheless, it's evident that WCW did a great job of consciousness raising at that conference!  I appreciate the e-mails you (all) send and continue to be proud how you put my small contribution to work for 'the cause'. In solidarity, Rael Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait

If you were forwarded this message and would like to subscribe directly, sign up here. World Can't Wait | (866) 973-4463 | 305 West Broadway #185 NY, NY 10013 Make a donation online | Make a tax-deductible donation online Send checks or money orders, payable to "World Can't Wait": World Can't Wait 305 W. Broadway #185 New York, NY 10013 To make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more in support of World Can't Wait's educational activities, please make checks out to "World Can't Wait/Alliance for Global Justice," a 501(3)(c) organization.

Extreme Makeover: Florida tomato industry edition… Before: The CIW’s Modern-Day Slavery Museum visits Washington, DC in June of 2010 After: CIW members celebrate new rights under Fair Food Program in Lakeland in March of 2013 In the space of just a few years, the CIW’s Fair Food Program has transformed the Florida tomato industry and created a “model” for the protection of human rights in global supply chains “elsewhere in the world.” How could something so good for business make the US Chamber of Commerce so mad?  A reflection in two parts… Introduction In January of this year, the CIW signed its twelfth Fair Food agreement with a multi-billion dollar food industry leader, this time with the multi-billion-dollar-est of them all, Walmart. Walmart representatives John Amaya (left), Tom Leech (center) and CIW’s Lucas Benitez, Gerardo Reyes Chavez, and Nely Rodriguez (far right) sign historic agreement at a Lipman Produce farm outside of Immokalee. The agreement symbolized the almost unimaginable transformation that has taken place in the Florida tomato industry over the past several years as a result of the Fair Food Program on several levels: on the retailer level, Walmart was the first major retailer to sign a Fair Food Agreement not as the result of a public campaign of any kind, but thanks, rather, to the demonstrated success of the Fair Food Program at eliminating longstanding human rights violations in the Florida tomato industry; on the grower level, the fact that the agreement was signed at a packing shed on a local tomato farm was a compelling reflection of the powerful new partnership that has taken root and begun to flourish under the Fair Food Program; on the worker level, the CIW’s place at the table in the Florida tomato industry, as an equal voice in the decisions that affect workers in the fields, was cemented with that twelfth agreement; on the consumer level, Florida tomato purchases can now be made with full confidence that the fruit was grown and harvested under the highest, most rigorously monitored and enforced human rights standards in the nation. That confidence was underscored by the participation at the Walmart signing ceremony of the Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Alexandra Guaqueta.  In a statement on behalf of the UN Working Group, the Chairperson explained that she was attending the ceremony “to support the Immokalee workers and the Fair Food Program, which offers such promise for us all.”  She went on to praise the Program’s “smart mix” of monitoring and enforcement tools, including “market incentives for growers and retailers, monitoring policies and, crucially, a robust and accessible mechanism to resolve complaints and provide remedy.”  She concluded her remarks, “We are eager to see whether the Fair Food Program is able to leverage further change within participating businesses, and serve as a model elsewhere in the world.” In light of this unprecedented progress to date — and of the promise of still much more to come in the months and years ahead as the Program prepares to expand outside of Florida and to crops beyond tomatoes — why in the world has the US Chamber of Commerce suddenly decided to attack the CIW and the Fair Food Program?... For more about the forthcoming series on the Florida tomato industry's extreme makeover, visit the CIW website.

The Class Struggle Continues...

Drone testing coming to Cape Cod

DECEMBER 31, 2013 - 8:45AM | BY MICHAEL P. NORTON, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

 

Role for Cape as FAA picks NY site for drone research

Area around Joint Base Cape Cod effected until February 13, 2017

The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen Griffiss International Airport in northern New York as one of six unmanned aircraft systems research and test sites, a choice with ramifications for Massachusetts researchers and the airspace over Cape Cod.
As a partner with Griffiss, MassDevelopment will manage testing facilities at Joint Base Cape Cod, with test site areas for what are commonly called drones including restricted airspace over the base and in "warning areas" off the Massachusetts coast. The base covers 22,000 acres on Upper Cape Cod.
"Lately, we have been engaged with multiple in-state and federal agencies who have taken advantage of our offer to 'host' them for different projects," Colonel Jim LeFavor, commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, on Cape Cod, said in a statement. "One of our main commodities is plenty of space and willingness to assist."
MassDevelopment reported Monday that "in anticipation of Massachusetts' potential selection," the agency and the Massachusetts National Guard established the MA UAS Test Center on Camp Edwards and "began to host active UAS use in the restricted airspace over the Army Guard's training area." Under current law, test site operations may continue until February 13, 2017.
One of six test sites nationally
The FAA announced its six test sites Monday following a ten-month process involving 25 proposals from 24 states - a MassDevelopment official said Massachusetts did not submit its own proposal

Louise Bruyn - Reading from She Walked For All Of Us

 When: Sunday, April 13, 2014, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Where: Grace Episcopal Church • 76 Eldredge St • (on Church St. one block east of Center St. - Exit 17, Mass Pike) • Newton Corner

 

 

Join Newton Dialogues on Peace and War for an evening with longtime Peace and Environmental Activist Louise Bruyn reading from her recently published book "She Walked For All Of Us - One Woman's 1971 Protest Against an Illegal War".
1971 — America has been at war in Vietnam for almost six years. The death toll is rising, both for the U.S., and for the “enemy.” Louise Bruyn had enough! It was time to do something. What could one woman do that would make Congress take notice of her protest?

She decided to walk—from her home in Newton, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. to make her point. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Representative Robert Drinan met her on the Capitol steps.

What a point she made! People all over the country rallied to support her. Finally, someone was saying what so many citizens wanted to, and had no idea how to, say—”Stop this War!”

This is her diary, day-by-day, detailing her struggles with fear, her encounters with people along the way, and the many wonderful people who opened their homes, encouraged her, and helped her on her way.
The presentation will be followed by discussion and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Sponsored by Newton Dialogues on Peace and War

United for Justice with Peace is a coalition of peace and justice organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social and economic justice. Help us continue to do this critical work! Make a donation to UJP today.
info@justicewithpeace.org	617-383-4857	www.justicewithpeace.org

Upcoming Events: 

The Politics of Water: From Israel and Palestine to Chelsea and Beyond	Thu Apr 3	6:00pm	Chelsea Collaborative	Chelsea
Nonviolent Action: The Teachers of Norway	Wed Apr 9	7:00pm	Boston College Newton Campus	Newton
Campaign Nonviolence Training	Sat Apr 12	9:00am	Cambridge Friends Meeting	Cambridge
We Pay our Taxes. Are we getting what we need?	Sat Apr 12	12:30pm	Emmanuel Church	Boston
Pivoting for Peace in Asia/Pacific	Sat Apr 19	9:30am	Cambridge Friends Meeting	Cambridge
Jobs Not Jails Rally on Boston Common!	Sat Apr 26	12:00pm	Boston Common	Boston
Sing-Along to Pete Seeger Songs	Sat May 24	7:00pm	Calvary United Methodist Church	Arlington

More Peace and Justice Events.    How to Submit Events 

Part One: “The New Day is not something that’s going to happen, the New Day is happening right now”… Since 2010, a metamorphosis has been underway in the Florida tomato industry, while in Mexico the industry’s counterpart has only sunk deeper into a morass of violence, corruption, poverty, and exploitation… The quotation at the top of this post came from the Rev. Roy Terry of the United Methodist Church of Naples.  Rev. Terry spoke those words during a candlelight vigil held at the Duke University Chapel as part of last month’s Now Is the Time Tour.  The vigil was captured beautifully in the simple but moving video above.  It bears watching before reading on, if you haven’t already. We begin Part One of this two-part series, entitled “Extreme Makeover: Florida Tomato Industry Edition,” with Rev. Terry’s words because in those words can be found the central theme of this post.  In short: In the space of just a few short years, a New Day of respect for fundamental human rights has dawned in Florida’s tomato fields, and that New Day has brought new life to an industry that, before the transformation, was fighting for its very survival. Through its partnership with the CIW in the Fair Food Program, the Florida tomato industry has left behind its often brutal past and found its way toward a more humane, more sustainable future, a future in which Florida tomato growers can embrace the demands of the 21st century marketplace with a product they can be proud of.  This new era of transparency and humane labor conditions now starkly differentiates Florida tomatoes from their principal competition in the marketplace, tomatoes from Mexico, where conditions have grown increasingly harsh — and prospects for independent oversight and protection of workers’ rights increasingly dim — during this same period. Exactly how has this come to pass?  Let’s take a closer look at recent history on both sides of the border... Don't miss this sweeping examination of two starkly different realities of 21st century agriculture at the CIW website.

The Class Struggle Continues...

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The CIA tortured! That's new? No... but the debate over how much we get to know about it is big news. People working to expose the truth on the torture camps -- including Guantanamo, Bagram, but some still secret "black sites" -- have been demanding for years that the Senate Intelligence Committee's report of their investigation be made public.  On Wednesday the still-classified content of the report was making headlines, with MSNBC saying "CIA Lied About Torture to Justify Using It": A Senate intelligence committee investigation found that the Central Intelligence Agency employed brutal interrogation methods that turned out to be largely useless and then lied about their effectiveness, according to The Washington Post. It's not news that Dianne Feinstein, that most prominent backer of all things NSA, and who heads the Senate Committee, was in on the torture virtually from the beginning, as a Congressional leader who was briefed on it. Now she's all, "that never should have happened" — but it was the Democrats in power — in collusion with the Bush Regime who allowed and fostered torture in the name of "national security." The most  crucial part of this story is still unfolding.  More infighting over the potential that revelations could lead to more investigation -- which could, if we mount the requisite demand for it -- mean prosecution for those at the top of the torture regime.  It would take a huge political fight, but it's the one we need to expose the utter illegitimacy of what the U.S. did -- and is still doing. Is anyone at the top who was responsible for torture going to be investigated, charged, prosecuted or imprisoned?  There is disagreement at some levels of the government over this -- but it's going to take a much louder outcry from people to bust this huge web of lies open.  It's time, and it matters. Thanks to the National Religious Campaign Against Torture for staying on this, and getting religious leaders to demand the report's release to the public. RIP Casey Sheehan 5/27/79 – 04/04/04 & Thank YOU Cindy Sheehan Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of the death of Casey Sheehan in Sadr City, Iraq Casey was a mechanic, forced to pick up a gun and pushed into battle, his life, wasted by a regime bent on spreading empire.  It was Cindy Sheehan who unmasked the Bush Regime, asking, at Camp Casey outside Bush's ranch, "what noble cause" her son died for. Cindy and her family will be together marking this anniversary.  You can send her a message which we will forward as a group commemoration. We continue to appreciate Cindy's actions in 2005, especially, which re-ignited the anti-war movement and touched millions of people who knew the war was wrong. American University students walk out on 'war criminal' Cheney CHEERS for the students at American University in DC who protested Dick Cheney — and forced him to deny being a war criminal. “More than two dozen American University students staged a walk-out protest during an address by former vice president Dick Cheney at the Washington, DC school on Thursday. “Some of the students called Cheney a ‘war criminal’ as they left the speech, which was hosted by The Kennedy Political Union, MSNBC reports. Cheney denied the ‘war criminal’ charge, saying that ‘the accusations are not true,’ according to The Eagle, American University's student newspaper. ‘Some people called it torture, it wasn't torture,’ Cheney told American University student television station ATV, referring to the so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ approved for use against terrorism suspects by the highest-ranking Bush administration officials. “While insisting that the interrupted drowning technique known as waterboarding isn't torture, in 2011 Cheney acknowledged that it would be unacceptable for Iranian interrogators to waterboard an American citizen. Still, Cheney was unapologetic following the American University protest. ‘If I would have to do it all over again, I would,’ Cheney insisted during the ATV interview. ‘The results speak for themselves.’” Continue reading and watch the video at warcriminalswatch.org. April 5, 2010: Collateral Murder hit the internet, immediately concentrating the debate over whether the U.S. military's actions of killing civilians, and laughing about it are legit. Collateral Murder is the military's own video of 12 Iraqis being shot and killed from a US helicopter circling above. No one has been charged in connection with these killings. However, (former) Pfc. Chelsea Manningm then known as Bradley Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after leaking this video to Wikileaks. World Can't Wait is distributing copies of this harrowing video so that many more people in the US see what is being done in their names. Watch online. Due to the overwhelming response to our offer to provide copies at no charge, supplies have been exhausted. We will gladly send copies at the cost of production & postage (price: $4.00). Purchase now. Share this message: TONIGHT World Can't Wait Conversation Invite your friends to the Facebook Event. 10 pm EST - 7 pm PST We'll be joined by Ross Caputi of the Justice for Fallujah Project. Watch his film, Fear Not the Path of Truth... This documentary follows Ross Caputi, veteran of the 2nd siege of Fallujah, as he investigates the atrocities that he participated in and the legacy of US foreign policy in Fallujah, Iraq. We are collecting questions now, so that we can make the most use of our one hour conference call. Send your comments, questions, or a particular area you'd like to explore in the conversation. You can also post questions on the Facebook event for this call. Register for dial-in details. World Can't Wait Needs YOU to Sustain Its Mission Thank you to everyone stepping forward to keep this movement going! 6 more sustainers are needed to meet basic operating expenses by April 18, 2014. One of our most generous sustainers just sent a semi-annual donation, and submitted a "matching" request to his employer.  A song writer musician supporter of World Can't Wait just paid a year's sustainer by check.  You can pay by check, or securely online...and it can be tax deductible. Thanks to everyone who attended last night's event Drones & Dirty Wars: Prelude to Spring Days of Action 2014.  You can watch the webcast now. kNOwdrones.org is the place to find all the events for the next two months, and an excellent weekly bulletin on the Spring Days.  Also see Granny Peace Brigade.  Thanks to Cat Watters for photos, and SlowMotionSolo for live-streaming; The Justice in Action Committee of Community Church, and Resistance Cinema. And especially to the speakers, Carl Dix, Maria LaHood, and Madiha Tahir. Madiha, Carl & Maria.  Photo: Cat Watters Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait

If you were forwarded this message and would like to subscribe directly, sign up here. World Can't Wait | (866) 973-4463 | 305 West Broadway #185 NY, NY 10013 Make a donation online | Make a tax-deductible donation online Send checks or money orders, payable to "World Can't Wait": World Can't Wait 305 W. Broadway #185 New York, NY 10013 To make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more in support of World Can't Wait's educational activities, please make checks out to "World Can't Wait/Alliance for Global Justice," a 501(3)(c) organization.

"Mexico's tomato-farm workers toil in 'circle of poverty'..." If you haven't had a chance yet, you won't want to miss Part One to the new series of posts on the "Extreme Makeover" of the Florida tomato industry.  To offer another slice of this extensive analysis on the two realities of tomato production in Florida and in Mexico, here is a second short excerpt: [...] So that’s what’s been happening in Florida since 2010.  But what about Mexico?  What has taken place in the Mexican tomato industry over that same period?  What one can see — though through a glass, darkly, for sure, because transparency in Mexico is non-existent, news is scant and workers’ voices are silent — is anything but a transformation, unless perhaps, in the opposite direction. Mexico since 2010… Not nearly as much is known today about conditions for workers in Mexico’s tomato fields as is now known here in Florida. There is no CIW in Mexico, no Fair Food Standards Council, no effective national consumer movement, nothing like the elements that combined in Florida to confront the old farm labor system and replace it with today’s renaissance.  There is no Fair Food Program in Mexico because it would simply be too dangerous.  Violence and corruption are commonplace there, and in industries where significant money can be made, organized crime is never far away. Despite the near total lack of transparency, however, some news does manage to escape, and from that news we pull here a few headlines: Mexican authorities have rescued at least 275 people who were being held in slave-like conditions at a camp where tomatoes are sorted and packed for export, officials said. Thirty-nine teenagers were among those being held against their will at the Bioparques de Occidente camp in Toliman, in the western state of Jalisco, regional prosecutor Salvador Gonzalez said late Tuesday. Five foremen were arrested for “grave violations and crimes, including the illegal privation of liberty and human trafficking,” Gonzalez told AFP… … But while a short list of landowners make millions, the planting, weeding, pruning and picking of the vegetables fall to armies of workers from Mexico’s poorest states — Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas — who have little opportunity for schooling or other forms of legal employment. So they are here in these fields, recruited by enganchadores — or “hooks” — who round them up in their home villages, and working in conditions that vary from producer to producer but that many critics say amount to indentured servitude. Felipa Reyes, 40, from the violent state of Veracruz, has been toiling in the fields of Sinaloa for seven years. “You have to do the work they want, or you don’t earn anything,” she said. Complain? “And I’d end up with nothing.”… Don't miss the truly extraordinary big picture provided Part One of the Florida tomato industry "Extreme Makeover" series at the CIW website.