Letters from Caledonia/Six Nations to air this Sunday, Sept 24th on CBC News Sunday

Letters from Caledonia/Six Nations asks four people :

Doreen Silversmith from Kanonhstaton,
a Six Nations resident, Dawn Martin-Hill,
the spokesperson of the Caledonian Citizens' Alliance, Ken Hewitt and
a Caledonian resident, Joe Zammuto

- at the core of the struggle to reflect on its origins and exchange solutions. Including a separate interview with Barbara McDougall, federal representative at the negotiating table.

Produced by Audrey Huntley and Sarah Kapoor.

Tune in this Sunday and send your feedback to Sunday@cbc.ca

CBC News: Sunday airs on CBC-TV at 10:00 am, and on CBC Newsworld at 9:00 a.m. ET CBC News: Sunday Night airs on CBC-TV at 10:00 pm, and on CBC Newsworld at 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (ET)

Audrey Huntley
Associate Producer
http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/missingwomen.html 416-205-8912

posted by Annamarie at 11:16 PM | 2 comment(s)

Six Nations: Update from Hazel Hill, Sept. 22nd

RECENT UPDATE FROM HAZEL HILL

Kanonhstaton, September 22nd, 2006

Well, did everyone get to watch the 2nd part of the show 'Indian Summer, the Oka Crisis' which aired tonight on CBC? I am so emotional right now and my thoughts are everywhere I don't know where to begin. Watching them come out of the pines and the brutality used against our people who were only doing exactly what we have all been doing or trying to do, and that is to uphold our Law, and protect the future of our people. I cried so hard it made me sick. Sick to know that nothing, in the last 16 years has changed in the thinking of the Canadian government. Nothing in their
attitude toward the original people of this land. The force they used then is the same force they used on April 20th when they came in to Kanonhstaton. They beat people, they had weapons drawn, and they had no care of whether or not we were entitled and justified in our stand.

I think the trauma of being tackled and kicked and kneed by the police on April 20th has finally surfaced. I had the opportunity to speak at Guelph University a couple of nights ago, and recounting what had happened on the day of the raid; and then watching the Oka movie tonight brought out all of that mixed emotional baggage I've been carrying around since then. What do you do with those emotions but let them go, and gain strength in knowing that the power that they give to each and everyone of us by their actions will be what defeats them. I didn't recall the date when the
people came out of the pines in 1990, but when I noticed the date tonight when watching the show, and realized that the appeals court date is September 26th, it resounded deep within the pit of my stomach and the date echoed throughout my mind like the ripples from a rock being dropped in the lake.

Co-incidence? Who knows. Perhaps another attempt at utilizing certain dates in history in the hopes of re-creating an outcome that absolves them from having to take any responsibility for their actions. They never resolved anything then, and they have no intention of resolving anything now.

I am filled with such an unbelieveable anger at the ignorance of this so-called country of Canada and the treatment of our people that I am left with an emptiness and numbness inside. They have no remorse because they continue with the same practices today. They would rather kill us than look at what they have done to the very people who welcomed them, fed them, and who supported their very existance since their arrival. Why is it they can't see that the lands which they built their country, the resources that financed their empire, and the freedom that they enjoy
today, was built on the backs of the Onkwehonweh, our ancestors? They call us criminals and terrorists and yet they forget that they are the descendants of people who were considered criminals and diseased and were sent to this continent because they were unwelcomed in their own. They are afraid to look in the mirror because they cannot handle the truth of what is staring back at them.

Today, we sit at a table and we talk, we negotiate, about trivial things like the return of a bobcat, about the noise and lights that bother our Caledonia neighbours, about police buffer zones, and relationship building; and always, always it is about their needs and in the best interest of their people who are now occupying stolen lands. Since 1784 when the land was granted through the Haldimand in one hand, they stole it and gave it away from the other. Even the so-called Indian Agents at the
time who were suppose to be looking out for the interests of the Six Nations, were looking out solely for the interests of the squatters and their compensation of improvements that they made to the land. It is exactly the same policy they are working with today.

Never mind the fact that we didn't ask them to improve anything. We didn't ask them to come and squat on our land, and honestly, we don't give two squats on whether or not they've been compensated for it. They don't give two hoots about what they did to our people, the frauds they committed or the negligence and downright theft of the lands, our trust monies and our resources. It is and always will be what is best for, and how it serves them. Not once have they ever considered how their
genocidal and assimilation practices have affected our people. Not once in their manipulative ways of frauding away our lands did they consider the effects that it would have on our environment, on our hunting and fishing and our respect and relationship with the land. Today they want us to consider our neighbours on how the land will be used and how it will affect them. Did they ever give consideration to our people when they stole our lands, built their towns and townships and left us boxed in on a little 'reserve'? Did they ask us before they stripped the earth of our trees and polluted our rivers with their industrial waste? Do they ask us
as they continually develop lands that they know they have no title to? And yet they want us to consult with and work together with the people of Caledonia before we even plant a tree at Kanonhstaton. They want us to bring down the flags because some people don't like the looks of them, or they find them offensive. I guess when they bring down all of their Canadian flags flying around our country we may consider it.

I don't know if they've learned anything or not over the past several decades. I know they hoped that by now we would have been good little Indians and succumbed to the ways of the white man because afterall, they were the dominate and better race. They had to save us from our heathenistic ways, even ordering fumigation of our community hall after any of our gatherings and ceremonies. They had to beat our children out of using our language because it was for our own good. Why, they even had to steal our children and place them in residential schools so their ministers could rape our young women and educate us to their ways to make us a better people. They had to use their guns and force to bring in their Indian Act because it would help us to govern ourselves in a way that was more appropriate and more civilized than the Kaienerekowah, the law given to us by the Creator. They had to save us from our spiritual practices because they were considered evil.

Today, that word is still being used by some when referring to our Confederacy Council and the Onkwehonweh. We are an evil people because we dare to resist colonialism and oppression. We dare to hold on to the original teachings and Law that supercedes any man made laws. We dare to uphold our obligation and responsibility that was given to us not only for our own good, but also for the good of all of Creation, including all of the other races of the world. We are an evil people because we dare to resist the Indian Act and the imposition of foreign laws by our modern day Indian agents. If upholding and respecting the oldest and purest law of peace and light and love makes us evil, then I guess that is what we are.

That Indian Act is still their trump card because they're hoping that that is what will continue to divide our people. It has been working since 1924, and they are counting on that to hold true. They are counting on us to get tired of the stall tactics that they use at the negotiations. They are hoping that if they wait long enough, we'll turn on each other and this will all go away. But I have faith in the people of Six Nations. I have faith that our people will realize that this fight is not between the Confederacy and the Band Council. This is about centuries of spiritual, mental, emotional and physical abuse and manipulation. It is about the
arrogance and downright superioristic attitude of a race of people who abandoned the very Peace that we are trying to protect, who turned their back on their Messenger and hung him on a cross; all for a semblance of power and righteousness. Not in the spirit of which it was intended, but in the means of dominance and control and monetary gain.

They take innocent men and women and create armies and invade other countries all in the name of Peace. They have not learned that all of the riches of the world will never give them the peace that is supposed to come from within. I am asking all of the Six Nations people and our supporters to remember and look to that Peace that is within. Remember that if we continue to walk the path that the Creator set us on this earth to do, to uphold and respect the Peace with each other as we were
instructed, and to remember those 5 arrows that He bound together as ONE in UNITY; that we will succeed in our duties of protecting the future for our generations to come, and we will have honoured the Creator in doing so. It does not matter if you support the elective system or confederacy council. If you go to church or follow the traditions of the longhouse. It doesn't matter if you're Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneido or Onondaga, Tuscarora or any of the other Nations who have taken shelter under the umbrella of that great tree. As Onkwehonweh we have a responsibility that
cannot be left to our children or our grandchildren to deal with. We are the original united nations, the keepers of Peace, and we must continue to inflict peace in whatever we do. Having said all that, I only have one thing left to say, Peace on you Canada!

Hazel

posted by Annamarie at 10:41 PM | 0 comment(s)

Support Six Nations: Ontario Court of Appeal to Rule on Marshall Decision

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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25: ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL TO RULE ON MARSHALL DECISION

COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF FIRST NATIONS' STRUGGLE FOR LAND AND SOVEREIGNTY GATHERING IN

SUPPORT OF SIX NATIONS AND GRASSY NARROWS
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Please join us:
Monday, September 25, 2006:
Queen’s Park
12 noon

Speakers will include:
Chrissy Swain, Grassy Narrows
Zainab Amadahy, Indigenous Caucus of the Coalition in Support of
Indigenous Sovereignty

** Also, scroll down for revised information about writing letters of support for Six Nations. **

WHY MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25th?

On Monday, September 25th, the Ontario Court of Appeal will revisit the ruling made by Justice Donald Marshall on August 8, 2006. In his ruling, Marshall stated that the government should refuse to negotiate with native leaders until court orders are respected, all contempt charges laid in the early spring are enforced, and the land reclamation has ended. As part of his order, Marshall stated an injunction obtained by Henco Industries in March would not be dissolved until people were removed from the site, part of ‘Douglas Creek Estates’.

The Attorney General of Ontario promptly filed for an appeal of Marshall’s decision. On August 22nd, the Ontario Court of Appeal stayed the decision, pending a full appeal. On Monday, this appeal of Marshall’s order will be heard. The proceedings are scheduled for two days, and a decision is expected on Tuesday, September 26.

During the August 22nd court proceedings, a three-judge panel of the appeal court did rule that a contempt order against the people of Six Nations reclaiming the land now called Kanonhstaton (The Protected Place) ran out on July 5, when the province bought the Caledonia property from Henco Industries Limited.

“The province owns Douglas Creek Estates,” the panel wrote. “It doesn’t claim the protesters are on its property unlawfully. It is content to let them remain. We see no reason why they should not be permitted to do so.”

The judges rejected Ontario Superior Court Justice David Marshall’s opinion that people had to be evicted from the site, in order to restore the rule of law in Caledonia.

The aboriginal protesters occupying a disputed land development site on the edge of Caledonia “are not there unlawfully,” a lawyer for the province told the Ontario Court of Appeal in August.

The negotiations, which began again on September 11th, went ahead without fear that any party to them — the federal and Ontario governments, the elected chiefs of the Six Nations or the traditional band council — would be found in contempt of court.

In fact, the Court of Appeal found in August that the court order arising from the judgment, signed by Judge Marshall, made no mention of the negotiations.

“As events turn out, what Justice Marshall said is nothing more than an expression of his opinion,” said Chief Justice Dennis O’Connor. “There is no legal effect.” But lawyers for Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General wanted the Appeals Court to stay the order anyway, to clear up any confusion over the ruling.

The court proceedings on Monday will finally resolve what impact, if any, the Marshall decision can have on the people of Six Nations and the talks that continue between representatives of their Nation and Canada.

Come and stand with us on Monday, to show our support for the continued and resilient resistance of the Six Nations people. Come out to show your recognition for the demand of the Onkwenonweh people that: “In order to resolve the outstanding land issues concerning Onkwehonweh Territories including the Haldimand Tract, full negotiations with the Six Nations people, on a nation-to-nation basis, must continue”.

Please join us:
Monday, September 25, 2006:
Queen’s Park
12 noon

Speakers will include:
Chrissy Swain, Grassy Narrows
Zainab Amadahy, Indigenous Caucus


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SUPPORT SIX NATIONS: CALL FOR LETTERS
WRITE TO FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL NEGOTIATORS/LEADERS TODAY!

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Find out how you can support - a sample letter is included below.
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Scroll down for the sample letter.

To voice your concerns send an email, phone or fax:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and
Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians
Parliament Hill: House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4275
Fax: (613) 947-9475
Email: Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca

Barbara McDougall, Federal Negotiator
Former Cabinet Minister
c/o Jim Prentice

Jane Stewart
Provincial Negotiator, Province of Ontario
Former Brantford MP and former Federal Indian Affairs Minister
c/o Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A1
Phone Number: (416) 325-1941
Fax Number: (416) 325-3745

To send your thoughts and suggestions to Premier McGuinty, visit
http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/ and send your message through the secure online form.

Find and contact your own MP:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Language=E&source=sm


SAMPLE LETTER

To: Stephen Harper Prime Minister
Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
And Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians

I am writing to you for two reasons, both are in regards to the current land reclamation taken by the Six Nations at the portion of the Haldimand Tract known commonly by many as Kanonhstaton and known to others as the Douglas Creek Estates, Caledonia.

First, the group known as Caledonia Citizen’s Alliance, actively and openly promotes acts of violence and race based hate crimes as defined within the Criminal Code of Canada against the Native people of the Six Nations Territory. Their (Caledonia Citizen’s Alliance) actions are considered acts of terrorism, which in turn perpetuate colonialism. I urge you to address both the threats of violence and the actual acts of hate and violence being conducted by Caledonia citizens and their supporters against the people of Six Nations during this historic event.

Secondly, I am also writing to demand that the corporation known commonly as the Canadian government, as an agent of the British Crown, uphold its responsibilities to honour treaties and land rights and return full title of Kanonhstaton AKA Douglas Creek Estates, Caledonia to the people of Six Nations. Land rights as part of Aboriginal rights are protected by law in the Canadian Constitution.

In order to resolve the outstanding land claims concerning Onkwehonweh Territories including the Haldimand Tract, full negotiations with the Six Nations people, on a nation-to-nation basis, must continue. We understand that the precedence for this process has already begun and commend the corporation known commonly as the Canadian government, as an agent of the British Crown for your attempts to reverse the colonialism endured by the Onkwehonweh since/around the time of European contact, by continuing negotiations with the traditional Royani representatives of the Six Nations Confederacy.

I strongly urge you to heed these words and take action to ensure continued peace and individual accountability during these talks and deal fairly with the Onkwehonweh.

Sincerely,

posted by Annamarie at 10:14 PM | 0 comment(s)

Tomgram: Lost in a Bermuda Triangle of Injustice

The Facts on the Ground

Mini-Gulags, Hired Guns, Lobbyists, and a Reality Built on Fear
By Tom Engelhardt

This August, a site of shame, shared by Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush, was emptied. Abu Ghraib prison is the place where Saddam's functionaries tortured (and sometimes killed) many enemies of his regime, and where Bush's functionaries, as a series of notorious digital photos revealed, committed what the U.S. press still likes to refer to as "prisoner abuse." Now, there are no prisoners to abuse and the prison itself is to be turned over to the Iraqi government, perhaps to become a museum, perhaps to remain a jail for another regime whose handling of prisoners is grim indeed. The emptying was clearly meant as a redemptive moment or, as Nancy A. Youssef of the McClatchy Newspapers put it, "a milestone" for the huge structure. After all the bad media and the hit American "prestige" took around the world, Abu Ghraib was finally over.

Of course, its prisoners who remained generally uncharged and without access to Iraqi courts, weren't just released to the winds. Quite the opposite, over 3,000 of them were redistributed to two other U.S. prisons, Camp Bucca in Iraq's south and Camp Cropper at the huge U.S. base adjoining Baghdad International Airport, once dedicated to the holding of "high-value" detainees like Saddam Hussein and top officials of his regime.

Camp Cropper itself turns out to be an interesting story, but one with a problem: While the emptying of Abu Ghraib made the news everywhere, the filling of Camp Cropper made no news at all. And yet it turns out that Camp Cropper, which started out as a bunch of tents, has now become a $60 million "state-of-the-art" prison. The upgrade, on the drawing boards since 2004, was just completed and hardly a word has been written about it. We really have no idea what it consists of or what it looks like, even though it's in one of the few places in Iraq that an American reporter could safely visit, being on a vast American military base constructed, like the prison, with taxpayer dollars.

Had anyone paid the slightest attention -- other than the Pentagon, the Bush administration, and whatever company or companies had the contract to construct the facility -- it would still have been taken for granted that Camp Cropper wasn't the business of ordinary Americans (or even their representatives in Congress). Despite the fact that the $60 million dollars, which made the camp "state of the art," was surely ours, no one in the United States debated or discussed the upgrade and there was no serious consideration of it in Congress before the money was anted up -- any more than Congress or the American people are in any way involved in the constant upgrading of our military bases in Iraq.

While Iraq and future Iraq policy are constantly in the news, almost all the American facts-on-the-ground in that country -- of which Camp Bucca is one -- have come into being without consultation with the American people or, in any serious way, Congress (or testing in the courts).

Camp Bucca is a story you can't read anywhere -- and yet it may, in a sense, be the most important American story in Iraq right now. While arguments spin endlessly here at home about the nature of withdrawal "timetables," and who's cutting and running from what, and how many troops we will or won't have in-country in 2007, 2008, or 2009, on the ground a process continues that makes mockery of the debate in Washington and in the country. While the "reconstruction" of Iraq has come to look ever more like the deconstruction of Iraq, the construction of an ever more permanent-looking American landscape in that country has proceeded apace and with reasonable efficiency.

Click here to read more of this dispatch.

posted by Annamarie at 12:18 AM | 2 comment(s)

Mississauga Coalition for Peace & Justice: New Website and Organizing Mtg. Sunday 24

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posted by Annamarie at 4:27 PM | 0 comment(s)

Canadian Warship Crew Freaks at Site of Peace Banner During Toronto Stopover

Matthew Behrens of Homes Not Bombs sent this poignant report about a Canadian warship in Toronto Harbour and a couple of peace protesters. It is a telling true tale about our 'war culture'.

After reading Matthew's article, you can find out about upcoming Homes Not Bomb events in Southern Ontario. Please support our efforts toward Peace by attending as many of these events as you can!

Canadian Warship Crew Freaks at Site of Peace Banner During Toronto Stopover


Peaceful Duo Confront Canadian Warship During Toronto Recruitment Tour

HMCS Fredericton Brass Freak at the Site of Peace Banner, and Canadian Navy
shows Itself Vulnerable to the Freedom Virus

TORONTO, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006 -- The Canadian military is often the butt of jokes about its supposed firepower deficiencies. But what proved obvious to the duo who stood vigil today in front of the warship HMCS Fredericton was that the military is not lacking killing power, but rather an understanding of the "freedom and democracy" rhetoric that is used to defend their missions overseas.

The warship was in Toronto on a "Great Lakes Deployment" mission. It's part of "a period of aggressive expansion" under the military's "Operation CONNECTION," described as "an initiative ...to connect with Canadians through a broad range of coordinated community based activities in order to attract and enroll quality recruits to meet strategic intake requirements."

Any interference with the propaganda blitz -- any effort, perhaps, to question why war remains a first resort of governments around the globe, or asking if recruiters explain the War Dept.'s shabby history when it comes to treating veterans with dignity, respect, and proper compensation -- is met with panic.

Within seconds of unfurling their peace banner in front of the warship, two members of Homes not Bombs had caught the nervous attention of the ship's brass, who immediately convened an emergency meeting on the deck, cell phones at the ear, to figure out what to do with this tiny bit of freedom and democracy that had broken out on shore.

The sailor posted to greet visitors on the ground seemed to have no problem with us being there, smiling and exchanging a few words, but he was ordered from the ship not to speak with us. Given that it proved irresistible to talk with banner holder Kirsten Romaine, who continued asking questions about his life and mission. the young crew member tried responding, but again was subject to the snapped order from on board -- NO!

The visit by the warship was the latest in an ongoing military propaganda blitz that included a large presence at the Canadian National Exhibition, where uniformed soldiers lifted children into battle tanks and warplane cockpits and illustrated how to load and fire artillery pieces.

The HMCS Fredericton, whose nickname is "Stalker of the Seas," carries an impressive array of weaponry that was shown off before yet another crowd of folks in search of a "family" outing. Among the heavy-duty stuff is a Harpoon missile that can "deliver" a 227 kg warhead to a range in excess of 130 km and a "Sea Sparrow vertical launch surface-to-air missile [that] uses semi-active radar homing to deliver a 39 kg warhead at speed Mach 1.6 to a range of 15 km." In addition to torpedoes and other
weaponry there is their Bofors gun, "capable of firing 2.4 kg shells at a rate of 220 rounds/min at a range of more than 17 km.

We reflect on the tragic shootings that took place in Montreal earlier this week, and wonder how we constantly express surprise that such things occur in a culture that glorifies guns. The young man involved in the shooting at Dawson College, it was reported earlier in the morning, had taken a course with the Canadian military, introducing him first-hand to the culture of violence. One of our placards quotes Canadian General Hillier, a local warlord who proudly (and very accurately) proclaims, "We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people."

And the Fredericton can kill a lot of people. No doubt a tour "highlight" is the Raytheon/General Dynamics Phalanx Mark 15 Mod 1 close-in weapon system, which fires 3,000 rounds of ammunition a minute (a new upgrade allows 4,500 rounds per minute).

It certainly has left an impression on a group of young boys who, having toured the ship, amble over to speak with us.

We posit that anything that fires 3,000 rounds of ammunition per minute is a criminal abomination.

"They told us it's 4,5000 rounds a minute," one of them immediately responds.

We look up to see the brass still huddled on deck. It appears they have an idea! Suddenly, an advance shore team makes its way down the gangplank to confront us. One uniformed man introduces himself as a "Force Protection Officer." We suppose that means he is there to protect the force that his ship represents, but against...us?

"These images are disturbing," says a member of the Military Police in reference to a placard that asks "Why War?" above a series of photos of the human targets of war.

"War is disturbing," Kirsten replies.

The Military Police officer insists he is not trying to cause us any problems or difficulties, but they want us to stand far way from the ship, the bulk of which is hidden from the main roadway by the tennis club, where people play their games as if a major piece of killing machinery simply is not there. People sit in a nearby restaurant as well as if nothing is out of place on this fine afternoon.

"We're not saying you can't hold your banner," the officer insists.

"In fact, you are saying exactly that," we reply.

He pleads with us to head to the Queen's Quay, where we might be seen by some passing traffic, but our message would be set against the backdrop of a huge indoor tennis structure, and not in front of the warship. People from the road seeing our banner might conclude that we are a thoroughly confused twosome who will never convince fellow Canadians of the dastardly connections between tennis and war.

"There's nothing wrong with you being here, it's just that we want you over there," he tries again.

"If there's nothing wrong with us being here, why do we have to move?"

Frustrated, he brings things to a close.

"Well, it looks like my efforts at mediation just aren't working," he sighs, as if this concession should make us feel guilty, roll up our banner, and go away.

"Well, this isn't mediation," we point out. "Mediation means that there is a neutral party who works with two opposing groups towards a conclusion satisfactory to both parties. You're telling us what to do, and there's an implied threat that we will be physically removed if we don't comply with your orders. If that's the military's idea of mediation, no wonder it isn't working in Afghanistan."

"Look, I don't want to get political here," he says.

"It's too late -- you've already gotten political by asking us to leave."

At this point, the owner of the dockside restaurant appears. We offer him a leaflet, but he laughs and says he has no time for leaflets. Look, he says, be reasonable, we have 100 kids and their parents booked for a special promotion today that includes a tour of the ship.

"All those kids can't see this," he says, pointing to our banner. "Look, they've been promised an exciting thing for today."

"Well, if it's being advertised like that, it's a problem. War keeps getting advertised to kids as exciting, and we need to be here to show another side of war. That's what democracy is supposed to be about, isn't it?"

The restaurant owner says that he does not want to "get political" (the standard line, it seems, whenever someone just doesn't want to talk about the issues right in front of our faces!).

Meanwhile, some people take flyers, while others sneer at us with that "what right do you think you have expressing an opinion" look on their faces.

"The military seem to be able to get their message out wherever they please," Kirsten says. "So why can't we be here?"

We are asked not to "make them" do something they don't want to have to do (i.e., remove us from the facility). We point out that we are not blocking anything and, next to the huge warship, we are only a small message of peace that is causing no harm. Besides, we only planned to be there for an hour, and the amount of time we have spent discussing whether or not we should be there has kept us standing there for most of that time, getting our message out in spite of every effort to prevent us from doing so. (Note to others facing removal for "trespass": keep the dialogue going
and your banner up, the message continues getting out!)

The group of young boys who approached us earlier are now killing time, hanging out while their parents continue their tour of the warship. They wander back over to ask if they can have some extra flyers to hand out to people while they wait for their parents. We're more than happy to share the leafletting load, as the dialogue with the military police and Force Protection Officer has made it difficult for our own "operation connection" to be as active as we would have liked.

At 2 pm, we fold up our banner and head to the recruiting booth where we pick up the multi-coloured, glossy cards that promise youngsters a "world of opportunities" in the military, along with CD-ROMs that advertise the "exciting" career move that may lay ahead for the new recruits.

On our way out, we run into the young boys who had helped us leaflet, who are about to leave as well. Their parents frown disapprovingly at our message, but the kids, as they clamber into the back seat of the car, wink at us, smiling, and one of them gives us the thumbs up.

Mission accomplished? Hopefully.

(report from Matthew Behrens of Homes not Bombs)

NOTE: Operation Connection continues along the Great Lakes. Peace-loving folks interested in "greeting" the navy can do so on the following days.

Meantime, check the War Dept. website (www.dnd.ca) for updates on where recruiting activities will be taking place this fall in malls, schools, and other inappropriate venues for advertising the opportunities for killing.

Montreal, QC 19 - 20 September 2006
Ship open to visitors: 19 Sept. 1400-1600, 20 Sept. 1530-2000.

Sept-Iles, QC 22-23 September 2006
Ship open to visitors: 22 Sept. 1330-1600, 23 Sept. 0900-1200.


UPCOMING HOMES NOT BOMBS EVENTS IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO

1. Tuesday, Oct. 3, 12 Noon to 1 pm, Join us on the 5th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan at Moss Park Armoury, Queen and Jarvis

2. Saturday, October 14, 10 am to 4 pm Training in Nonviolent Direct Action and Creative Protest, Kitchener-Waterloo

3. Saturday, October 21, 10 am to 4 pm Training in Nonviolent Direct Action and Creative Protest, London

4. Wed., Oct. 25, 7 pm: Innis Town Hall, U of T: Screening of Mothers Day at Wescam and The Camden 28, two films about nonviolent resistance to the war in Vietnam and Canadian military production. The Camden 28 were one of the largest groups involved in a draft board raid (part of a movement that destroyed upwards of 1 million US government draft files, seriously hampering the draft) after which they faced a potential 47 years in prison.

They were eventually acquitted and recall through archival footage and re-enactments of court testimony this remarkable period. The Mothers Day film documents two days of nonviolent actions at Burlington's L-3 Wescam, the self-proclaimed #1 "defence" company in Canada, a major manufacturer of military targetting equipment for Hellfire missiles, material used to prevent refugees access to asylum, tools to repress demonstrations, and other insidious stuff. Parent company L-3 also provides torture teams for Iraq and Afghanistan. (Both films screen in Hamilton on October 19 at
McMaster University)

5. Sat., Oct, 28 and Sun, Oct 29, 7 pm (call 416-651-5800 to confirm): Country Music Fans Against War welcomes the Dixie Chicks to the Air Canada Centre. Join a welcoming committee that will hand out flyers to the thousands of Dixie Chicks fans who will be coming to the concerts. The Dixie Chicks have taken a lot of heat for speaking out against the war in Iraq, including having their music banned throughout North America from radio airplay, as well as death threats, but as they say in their new CD, they are not ready to make nice. "I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready
to back down, I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time to go round and round and round..." All people, even those who do not care for twang and twin fiddles in their music, are welcome.

6. Saturday, November 4, 10 am to 4 pm Training in Nonviolent Direct Action and Creative Protest, Hamilton

7. Tuesday, Nov. 7, 12 Noon to 1 pm, Join us for our monthly vigil and food and clothing distribution at Moss Park Armoury, Queen and Jarvis. It must be turned from a war training facility into affordable, not-for-profit housing!

8. Friday, November 10, 7 pm, Reel Activism: Screening of Conviction, a documentary about three nuns who spent over three years in jail for a symbolic act of nonviolent resistance to nuclear weapons. Bloor Street United Church, Toronto

9. Saturday, November 11, Training in Nonviolent Direct Action and Creative Protest, Guelph

10. Saturday, November 18, Training in Nonviolent Direct Action and Creative Protest, Toronto

11. Monday, Nov. 20, late morning: Legal Rally, Street Theatre, and Mass Nonviolent Direct Action at L-3 Wescam in Burlington, Ontario. Join affinity groups from across Ontario as we seek to transform L-3 Wescam from a war profiteer into a company that actually makes stuff to help people. Get in touch to join affinity groups preparing for the day

Information on these and more: Call Homes not Bombs at (416) 651-5800,
tasc@web.ca, and visit: www.homesnotbombs.ca

posted by Annamarie at 12:07 AM | 9 comment(s)

Bush's Empty Words to the U.N.

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, George W. Bush invoked the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and said its principles are "as true today as they were when they were written." The only problem is that Bush is violating about one-third of those human rights tenets, including bans on arbitrary arrests, unfair trials and mistreatment of detainees.

For the full story of this latest Bush hypocrisy, go to Consortiumnews.com.

posted by Annamarie at 11:57 PM | 0 comment(s)

Tomgram: Mike Davis on Manifest Destiny, the Sequel

Recently, when the Saudi government announced plans to build a 560-mile electrified fence along its border with Iraq, U.S. officials were angered. According to Yochi J. Dreazen and Philip Shishkin of the Wall Street Journal ("Growing Concern: Terrorist Havens in ‘Failed States,'" September 13), they "communicated ‘unease'" to the Saudis, seeing their decision as a potential "slap in the face of the new Iraqi government." And remember, the people heading across the Saudi border from Iraq are far less likely to be carrying snipping shears and hoes than your basic set of bombs and RPGs.

Now, tell that to the House of Representatives which just passed a bill that included support for a 700-mile-long, double-layered fence on the Mexican border. Okay, it won't make it through the Senate and was essentially meant to embarrass the Democrats -- especially in southwestern states -- on the immigration issue as mid-term elections near, and it's not a slap in the face of Iraq, but still...

Our image of the West was once, "Don't Fence Me In." Of course, that song was written by Cole Porter, who never made it much west of New York City, and was most famously sung by Bing Crosby, son of Tacoma, Washington, resident of Hollywood (both on the west coast but not in the official "West"). So maybe it was all entertainment myth and someone should produce a new all-American song called, "Please Fence Me In."

Let me point out one problem though: Fences don't work if you've got your own plane. As Mike Davis points out below, no one is paying a whit of attention to the reverse immigration crisis in which Orange County Republicans (and other Americans of a certain age) leave their (illegal) Mexican gardeners behind to make sure the weeds don't push the plants out of the old California hacienda, and fly down to their property on Mexico's Baja peninsula. They are part of an overflow of largely unnoticed gringos heading south for Mai Tais and retirement. So consider the latest piece from Mike Davis, co-author of a new book, No One is Illegal, actual news about an overlooked reverse immigration crisis. Tom

posted by Annamarie at 11:44 PM | 0 comment(s)

Caledonia Group Plans Public Forum in Support of Six Nations

On Saturday, September 30, the Caledonia based group CommUNITY Friends for Peace and Understanding with Six Nations will be holding a public forum in Caledonia entitled “Moving Beyond Conflict and Blame: Why Canadians Should Support Six Nations Land Rights."

The meeting is aimed at bringing together people in Caledonia and surrounding communities to discuss the Douglas Creek reclamation and the larger issue of indigenous land rights in Canada.

The event will be held from 1-4 p.m. at the McKinnon Park Secondary School
(91 Haddington Street) in Caledonia.

It will begin with a series of presentations that will include: Jan Watson a Caledonia resident and spokesperson for the Community Friends group, Andrew Orkin a lawyer specializing in indigenous land claims, and Rolf Gerstenberger the
President of United Steelworkers Local 1005.

According to Community Friends spokesperson and Caledonia resident Jan Watson, “we are holding this event as a way to try overcome the tension and conflict in our community as well as to show that there are good reasons why Canadians should demand that the government honour the treaties and obligations it has made with First Nations peoples."

The objective of this meeting is to provide a forum for peaceful and respectful discussion on the issue of the Douglas Creek reclamation and the larger question of indigenous sovereignty and land rights in Canada. As Watson notes "the primary aim of the meeting is to show that the standoff over Douglas Creek Estates should not be simply portrayed as a conflict between native people and non-native people, but rather one based on larger questions of human rights, social justice and nation to nation relationships."

For more information about the event, please contact the Community Friends group at smiley100@mountaincable.net or by phone at 289-284-0154. The group's web site can be found at www.honorsixnations.com.

CommUNITY Friends for Peace and Understanding with Six Nations

posted by Annamarie at 11:30 PM | 0 comment(s)

Nuclear Power is NOT OK!

This link gives the complete text of the February 28, 2006 letter from the International Institute for Public Health to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Note the extensive scientific studies of carcinogenic and mutagenic effects from low-level radiation. Note also how such radiation is emitted into our waters and air all too often from Candu reactors, among other sources.

As the cancer toll rises through the next century or two, the perpetrators of nuclear power and warfare will be long gone, but their deadly legacy will remain as a ghoulish memorial to our society's short-sighted and blind greed.



Shortcut to: http://www.iicph.org/docs/response-to-opa.htm
You can also download this as a PDF here.

Tags for this entry: Nuclear Energy, Ontario, Dalton McGuinty.

posted by Annamarie at 10:23 PM | 0 comment(s)

E-petition to the Foreign Affairs Minister for an ArmsTrade Treaty

All Canadians concerned about gun violence and the global illicit arms trade should click the link below to find out more and sign the online petition to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. So far, 1120 signatures have been collected. Please add yours!

E-petition to the Foreign Affairs Minister for an ArmsTrade Treaty

In our continuing campaign to control the arms trade, Ploughshares, Amnesty International and Oxfam Canada have today launched an on-line petition that calls on our government to support and strengthen an International Arms Trade Treaty resolution at UN meetings and encourage other states to follow suit. For more information and to sign this e-petition, click here.


Grant Birks
Program Associate
Project Ploughshares
57 Erb Street West
Waterloo, ON N2L 6C2
Tel: 519-888-6541, ext, 706
Fax: 519-888-0018
Email: gbirks@ploughshares.ca

posted by Annamarie at 1:09 AM | 0 comment(s)

Rice's visit to Halifax

No to U.S. Intrusion into Canada's Political Affairs!

A secretary of state in a modern civilized world is a representative of a nation-state on the global stage. Cultured behaviour of such a statesperson includes not interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice violated this civil code of behaviour during a recent visit to Halifax, Canada.

Secretary Rice publicly criticized a Canadian political party represented in the House of Commons and its position on U.S.-led NATO aggression and occupation of Afghanistan. The ramifications of this absence of diplomacy immediately appeared as a front page headline in the September 13 Montreal Gazette: "RICE HAMMERS NDP PLANK."

Secretary Rice has no business politicking for or against Canadian political parties or viewpoints of the Canadian polity. The government of Canada should tell Secretary Rice that internal Canadian politics are not part of her diplomatic duties. While in Canada she must behave according to civilized rules of conduct and not attack Canadian political parties and viewpoints. Why did Foreign Minister Peter MacKay not inform her that she should refrain from such undiplomatic behaviour in the future, or she will not be allowed to return to Canada? Perhaps he thinks Canadians will conclude how powerful his Party is because it has the U.S. President's closest confidante on its side? Does this make Rice's intrusion and his silence any more appropriate? It does not. It merely shows the disgraceful situation the Harper government is creating for Canada and that the hooligan culture based on "we do it because we can" must be opposed.

Such hooligan behaviour on the part of U.S. politicians and their Canadian counterparts is not acceptable and it is despised by law-abiding Canadians. The U.S. empire-builders give themselves the right to not only criticize and comment on the internal affairs and way of life of sovereign nations, but to interfere with funds, candidates and public relations agencies in their elections. When they fail to take over states in this manner, they launch wars of aggression and occupation also in the name of high ideals. This is also what they did to change the mandate of NATO and send NATO forces to Afghanistan in the first place. NATO was established as an aggressive military organization ostensibly for operations in Europe. After the fall of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the U.S. expanded NATO's field of operations beyond the North Atlantic and while some NATO states agreed, the peoples of the member nations had no say in the decision.

A broad section of legitimate Canadian public opinion is opposed to NATO and demands Canada's withdrawal from it, demands its dismantling and demands the immediate removal of NATO armed forces that are attacking and occupying Afghanistan and other sovereign nations. More importantly, Canadians want to deliberate on the mission in Afghanistan because they stand for peace and don't want to support a mission which does not contribute to peace. The views of Condoleezza Rice are not welcome in this debate.

Let us see if a political party in the House of Commons will raise the matter of Secretary Rice's ugly intrusion into Canadian political affairs and demand official rebuke by the government.


No to U.S. Intrusion into Canada's Political Affairs!

posted by Annamarie at 1:00 AM | 2 comment(s)

Mississauga Coalition for Peace and Justice - Organizing for October 28

posted by Annamarie at 12:26 AM | 0 comment(s)

Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone

Five former Soviet republics have signed a ground-breaking treaty to set up a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia. You would think the Bush Administration would be happy about this. But quite the contrary seems to be the case.

*Five Former Soviet Republics Give Up Nukes*
By Aaron Glantz
OneWorld US

Wednesday 13 September 2006

San Francisco - The Bush Administration is objecting to a groundbreaking treaty that set up a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia.

Under the treaty signed Friday, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan committed themselves not to produce, buy, or allow the deployment of nuclear weapons on their soil.

But the United States, along with Britain and France, refused to attend the signing ceremony in the Kazakh capital, Almaty, citing a 1992 treaty that Russia signed with four of the five nations that Moscow claims could allow missiles to be deployed in the region.

In a fresh statement issued Monday, the US Embassy in Kazakhstan warned that "other international treaties could take precedence over the provisions of this treaty, and thus obviate the central objective of creating a zone free of nuclear weapons."

Arms control groups believe the Bush administration is being disingenuous.

"The reason that many of us suspect the US is opposed to this is more fundamental," the independent Arms Control Association's Daryl G. Kimball told OneWorld. "This is a very strategic region. The US is reticent to give up the option of deploying nuclear weapons in this region in the future."

In May, the journal Foreign Policy named Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan one of the six most important US military bases in the world. The base was originally established as a hub for multinational operations following the September 11th attacks five years ago.

"In addition to its proximity to Afghanistan," the Foreign Policy article stated, "Manas is located near the immense energy reserves of the Caspian Basin, as well as the Russian and Chinese frontiers."

According to Jackie Cabasso, who heads up the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland, California, "the United states had drawn up a battle plan for the potential use of nuclear weapons in Iraq and the Untied States has been involved in planning potential nuclear use scenarios for Iran."

"The United States is now involved in a massive program to overhaul its nuclear arsenal," she added. "In fact they're working to replace every nuclear warhead and all of the existing delivery systems in the arsenal to ensure prompt precision global strike capabilities. So the United States is openly using the threatened use of nuclear weapons around the world."

David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation added that members of the Bush administration "like to talk about expanding the use of nuclear weapons and talk about the 'preventive use' of nuclear weapons [but seem] to be negative toward a group of countries trying to create a ban on nuclear weapons within their territory."

By contrast, arms control experts argue, former Soviet republics in Central Asia have every reason to want to rid themselves of their nuclear legacy.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used a facility at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan to test new nuclear weapons. Between 1949 and 1989 almost 500 nuclear explosions were carried out there, equaling the explosive power of 20,000 Hiroshima bombs.

According to the country's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, those explosions caused irreparable damage to the health of more than 1.5 million Kazakh citizens, blighted lives, and rendered vast stretches of land useless for generations.

Western States Legal Foundation's Cabasso told OneWorld the central Asian nation has one of the strongest anti-nuclear movements in the world.

She described a visit to Kazakhstan, made in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union.

"It was amazing," Cabasso said. "When we flew from Moscow to the capital Almaty, there were people on the run-way in traditional costumes holding signs like 'Let the Generals Build Their Summer Houses on the Nuclear Test Site.'"

Cabasso said the movement for a nuclear free Central Asia began with a poet and member of the Soviet Duma named Olzhas Suleimenov. In 1989, after discovering that some of the underground nuclear tests had leaked radiation into the atmosphere, he went on television and called for a mass meeting at the writers' union hall. Over 5,000 people showed up the next day.

"They organized on a massive scale," Cabasso said. "Ten thousand copper miners went out on strike, there were billboards at the airport. Imagine if you had anti-nuclear demonstrations going on during half-time at the Super Bowl. They were calling for a peaceful non-nuclear transition to the 21st century back in 1990 and now they have completed that transition in a way."

The treaty between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan created the first nuclear-weapons free zone in the Northern Hemisphere. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Africa have already pledged to remain nuclear free.

Tags for this entry: Nuclear Weapons, USA, Central Asia.

posted by Annamarie at 10:46 PM | 0 comment(s)

Six Nations: Update from Grand River Sept. 15th 2006

This is Six Nations spokesperson Hazel Hill's update from the Grand River.

Sago from Grand River. Today was our 200th day on the Land Reclamation of Kanenhstaton. Interestingly enough, it was also the day that CBC aired Part 1 of the movie "Indian Summer, the Oka Crisis". To say the least, it was definitely a good reminder of how things work for our people. It brought to surface all of the feelings we've all been having for the last 200 days right up to the forefront again. There is alot of similarities in what happened in 1990 to what's happening today and it is hard to watch to say the least. Watching this first part leaves me wondering what's going to happen. There is no question that our people have learned from the past.

The question really is, has the government of Canada? I know that our people never forget, and seeing the backdoor meetings of the government officials, watching the treatment of our people by the SQ, and witnessing the racist behaviours of the people in Chatequay are not much different than what's happening today. It really makes you think about what really is going on. The resolve of the people is no different. The focus of title and jurisdiction and the Sovereignty of the Haudenesaunee is forefront in the minds of all who have made this stance. We have our delegates meeting with representatives of the Crown and they are meeting in good faith, but it does bring to question whether or not the Crown has a real understanding of the enormity of this reclamation, and the support of the Onkwehonweh around the world. At the last meeting of the main table I requested that each of the parties involved in the negotiation process watch this movie. I asked because from our perspective we knew that the tactics of the government of canada and the similarities of the negotiation process haven't changed much.

I wanted them to understand that to our people, the land is as important as the air we breathe. We are part of the land. There is no separation. We have gone through the demands of removing the barricades and we have gone through the backpeddling of the government on promises made, and then changed or broken to suit their needs.
We are continually being met with demands of disengagement when we ultimately know that when we walk away from the land, they will walk away from the table. It does not take a genious to figure out that our Confederacy representatives are at the table because of our reclamation. It also doesn't take a genious to figure out that all the while they are negotiating with our Chiefs and delegated representatives of
the people, that behind closed doors they are making simulataneous deals with individuals of the illegal entity known as the band council and are strategizing on how to get our people off the land so that they can go back to working with the party they created as an arm of the federal government. Elected Chief Dave General has made it clear that he does not support the reclamation and ultimately does not support the people. He continually pushes the land exploration process that the government of canada has designed that does nothing to have the land returned to our people, does
nothing to recognize or hold accountable the Crown for the theft, nor does it address the underlying title and jurisdiction; but instead offers minimal monetary compensation that secures nothing for the future generations. Now mind you, not all of the band councillors are party to this deceit. Some of them are working just as hard and have recognized the need to have the Confederacy deal with the long out-standing theft of our land and the misappropriation of our trust because they recognize that they are the only ones who can represent our treaties and our sovereignty. This is something that our people have waited over 80 years to be able to deal with. Not with the interference of the Crown, but within the Six Nations
ourselves. It is the governance of Six Nations. The initial meeting to begin that process will happen tomorrow morning. We will begin the long process of hashing out and undoing the mess that was created by the undeniable interference of the Crown in our internal affairs. From my perspective, there is no doubt that the only true government of the Haudenesaunee lies within the Great Law, and that is with the people. The avenue from which the Confederacy Council takes it's direction. The band council is and always will be an administrative body. That should be it's
only function. It mimics canada's parliament and does not truly represent the people. It is the people within Six Nations who have to make that position loud and clear. It is not for Ottawa to decide. Recently I was given documentation from someone who's uncle had kept for years. It was a declaration of resistance by the people at Six Nations against the illegal imposition and invasion of the Imperial Government of Great Britain in their attempt to impose foreign made laws upon us. This document and petition was dated in July of 1923 and had the signatures of 100's of our people. It was definitely a voice stronger and larger than the 9 or so signatures of people
who the crown used to bring in their Indian Act council in 1924. It really makes it clear that back then, just as now, the crown will use a minority of people who they can manipulate or buy to suit their needs. Today, we have to show the crown that their interference in our side of the Two Row will no longer be tolerated. We have international recognition for our Sovereignty as a Nation and must utilize that recognition and demand the Crown uphold it's responsibilites not only to the treaties but also in its responsibility of having created the situation we are in today.

As far as whats been happening at the site, things have been relatively quiet. There have been a few incidents of individuals from the Caledonia Citizens Alliance trying to create violence by taking down signs along the roadway in front of the site, and trying to come into the site on the pretense of having a picnic and in the spirit of peace, in the meantime being intoxicated and ultimately looking for a fight. Their latest move was a letter written to Premier McGuinty requesting permission to have a 20,000 person rally on the land at Kanonhstaton on October 15th. Their reasoning?
"The Indians have had use of the land for 6 months, we're entitled to 1 day". They've invited Jane Stewart, the lead Provincial negotiator to partake in their plans, but we have been told that she declined because of her involvement in the peaceful negotiation process. It would be good if the Canadian government reminded the CCA that the land at Kanonhstaton is not public land. It is being held in trust by the Province at this time, yes, but it has been reclaimed by the people of Six Nations. We have remained peaceful, in spite of the gossip and rumours pegging us as
terrorists, and we will continue our unarmed reclamation of our land while this process continues. The whole issue of lights and noise, atv's, fireworks and police buffer zones continues to take precedence over the land at the table, even though we have respected the concerns of our Caledonia neighbours months ago, and even created a buffer zone well in excess of 100' which our people have respected, but the government fails to recognize. They want it in writing. Well, we all heard how that plan works. Continually demand further encroachments of police lines until they have you boxed in. Wasn't that Bourassa's plan in 1990? Whichever government rep it
was, we're not buying into it. The 100' buffer zone exists. All the Crown has to do is remind the individuals within caledonia who haven't respected it. The OPP have told the government that it is a policing issue. They have also re-affirmed our position that we have been most respectful of boundaries, there are no incidents of loud noises, atv's driving around all night, or lights being shone in windows. The only threat of violence is coming from the CCA. It could be just another of those government tactics to justify an invasion, or it could be individuals who don't have an understanding or respect for the truth. Whatever and whoever it is, the onus is on the crown to deal with it. It is clearly on their side of the wampum and if nothing else has been learned to date, our delegates have been consistent in reminding the crown exactly how that Two Row is suppose to work.

Today CCA representative Jim Smith and a few others held a protest against the OPP and what their terming as a "two-teared" justice system. I don't know if they meant 'two-tiered' but again I have to admit, Jim Smith is absolutely right. That justice system that he refers to is two-tiered and biased. The only people being charged are from Six Nations, inspite of overwhelming evidence and facts clearly indicating that the violence and openly admitted possible use of weapons as a resolve, is coming from within the CCA. I think 1 Caledonian compared to over 50 or more from Six Nations has been charged so I guess Jim's claim's that the Onkwehonweh have been
receiving 'special treatment' are true to a certain degree. It's just that, that treatment of the Onkwehonweh, is nothing new, special, nor is it surprising. It
just is. It would be good if some of the people who truly believe in justice, who truly want to see racism and violations of human rights be stopped, and who truly believe in a peaceful resolution process; begin calling Jane Stewart, Dalton McGuinty, Stephen Harper, Barbara McDougal and Jim Prentice just to name a few, and demand that the idiotness of the 20,000 person rally be stopped immediately to prevent a possibly volatile situation, and that the Federal Government pull up its briches and begin taking an active role in this resolution process and stop passing everything off over to the Province. As duly representatives of the Crown, and as recently pointed out to me, representatives of Her Majesty's Privy Council, it is not a choice, it is an obligation.

In Peace, Love and Light,

Hazel

posted by Annamarie at 10:43 PM | 0 comment(s)

Let Rawad Stay - Please Distribute Widely - Immediate Action Required

Rawad is a 21 year old student of Lebanese descent who has been living in Canada for the past five years. He has been denied permission to attend post secondary school and was asked to leave the country immediately. His village in south Lebanon was
bombed to rubble this summer. His aunts in Beirut are struggling to survive since their apartment buildings were bombed as well. If Rawad returns to Lebanon, it will be to a hopeless situation.

As a student at Jarvis Collegiate, Toronto, Rawad was an outstanding leader where he helped raise huge amounts of money for the United Way and AIDS in Africa. He is a young man who has much to contribute to Canadian society.

For more on Rawad's story you can visit the site at www.letrawadstay.com. There is a form letter on "How to help" page that you can send to the Immigration Minister.

posted by Annamarie at 10:28 PM | 0 comment(s)

Tomgram: Robert Lipsyte, America Juiced on Sports

In 1975, Robert Lipsyte -- by then, a sportswriter for fourteen years and a New York Times sports columnist as well -- published Sportsworld, An American Dreamland, a fabulous, acerbic, goodbye-to-all-that. In it, he wrote: "By puberty, most American children have been classified as failed athletes and assigned to watch and cheer for those who have survived the first of several major ‘cuts'… Sportsworld heroes exist at sufferance, and the path of glory is often an emotional minefield trapped with pressures to perform and fears of failure. There is no escape from Sportsworld, for player or spectator or even reporter, that watcher in the shadows who pretends to be in the arena but above the fray."

And then, as if to prove his point, Lipsyte, an addict like the rest of us, came back and did it all over again at the Times -- even better. In fact, from Muhammad Ali to NASCAR racing, he's never stopped chewing over the subject of sports and American life.

Oh, and he was also part of a cadre of novelists who broke the staid field of Young Adult fiction wide open back in the 1960s. My kids grew up on his novels: The Contender, The Brave, One Fat Summer. I read them myself in those years. Lipsyte has always tested the boundaries of the Young Adult form. This season he's done it again with his newly published Raiders Night, a down-and-dirty locker-room tale of Jock Culture and high-school football at its well-tested worst, of how one jock, one team captain, tries to deal with the pressures of juiced-up sports parents, enhancement drugs, and sex as brute domination. Like the best of Young Adult fiction, stripped down to narrative and ready for action, it's absolutely gripping.

Of course, I'm a sports-watcher like most of the rest of male (and increasingly female) America and it always seemed to me that some essential part of our lives, our culture, our strangeness would be missing from Tomdispatch if the spectacle of sports didn't take a bow here from time to time. That was a dream. Now, Lipsyte makes it a reality with the first of what will be periodic missives from the sports front. So check out the steroid scandals and a host of other sports matters, Lipsyte-style. Myself, I wouldn't miss it for the (sports)world. Tom

posted by Annamarie at 10:24 PM | 0 comment(s)

Hamilton Event: Mahtma Gandhi Peace Festival -- First Nations Peacemakers, Sept. 30th!

2006 Theme:
>
>First Nations Peacemakers: Building Inclusive Communities
>
>Peace Walk
>
>Admission is FREE and ALL are Welcome
>
>Refreshments, Speechs, Live Music, Free Hot Vegetarian Lunch, Display Tables
>
>Hamilton City Hall, 71 Main St. W. Hamilton, ON
>
>Saturday September 30 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
>
>
>Invited Speakers: Wendy Hill (Cayuga Nation, Bear Clan)
>
> Allen McNaughton (Mohawk Traditional Chief)
>
>
>
>PROGRAM
>
>10 a.m. Meet at City Hall.
>Information Fair about ongoing peace/social justice/human rights work in
>Hamilton;
>Free Refreshments
>
>11 a.m. Guest Speaker
>
>12 Noon Peace Walk/Dance through the streets (to the beat of drums)
>
>
>1 - 4 p.m. Free Lunch (Vegetarian Indian food)
>Music and Dance presentations by local artists
>
>
Contact Info:
>
>Gandhi Peace Festival Coordinators: gandhi.peace.festival@gmail.com
>phone: 905 525 9140 ext 20060
>
>Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University: peace@mcmaster.ca
>www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/gandhi
>
>*****************
>
>"We must be the change we wish to see in the world"
>
>_________________________________________________________________

posted by Annamarie at 3:14 PM | 3 comment(s)

Toronto secret trial family needs a car--anyone looking to sell or donate?

Friends

The family of one of the long-serving secret trial detainees is in desperate need of a used car, and can pay a bit towards the cost if you are looking to sell or donate. The individual involved has severe back problems and difficulty getting her kids to school, shopping, and of course making the long journey to Kingston to visit her husband at Guanatanamo Bay North without a vehicle,. If you or someone you know is trying to sell a vehicle, we can certainly talk about prices--the individual in question is able to pay SOME money, but not market prices. Please contact the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada at (416) 65105800 or tasc@web.ca if you can help.

Thanks!

Matthew Behrens
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada

posted by Annamarie at 3:06 PM | 0 comment(s)

Tomgram: Nick Turse on 12-Pentagon Steps to a Misfit Military

Recently, the Washington Post, and then the New York Times, reported a top-secret assessment by the Marines' Chief of Intelligence that focused on the catastrophic situation of his undermanned Corps in the heartlands of Iraq's Sunni insurgency. He concluded, according to the Post's Tom Ricks, that "the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there."

Couldn't get much worse, you'd think. Then, Major General Richard C. Zilmer, the senior Marine commander, decided to "dispute" both news accounts. His argument, according to Michael Gordon of the Times was that "he had sufficient forces to carry out his mission but that the mission did not include defeating the insurgency."

Come again? Fortunately, in a front page piece, "Growing Concern: Terrorist Havens in ‘Failed States'" on the possibility that Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan might all turn into the kinds of terrorist safe territories that only Afghanistan had been prior to September 11, 2001, the Wall Street Journal's Yochi J. Dreazen and Philip Shishkin sum up the latest "desired endstate" of the Bush administration this way: "U.S. officials acknowledge their main goal in Iraq now is to prevent it from turning into a place run by fundamentalists who export terrorism to the region."

Um, come again? That's the "strategy for victory"? Well, what can you expect from an overstretched empire enmeshed in a grinding, hopeless set of wars, with increasingly strained ground forces. The U.S. Army, its equipment wearing down and with almost no nondeployed combat-ready brigades at hand, now has "fully two-thirds" of its active forces officially classified as "not ready for combat." (And that's considered good shape, compared to the state of the completely overstressed National Guard.)

With military stress and strain in mind, it's great to welcome Nick Turse back to the writing ranks of Tomdispatch. He's re-upped after a stint co-reporting and co-authoring a powerful series on American war crimes in Vietnam at the Los Angeles Times. Below he gives new meaning to the military recruitment side of imperial overstretch. Tom

posted by Annamarie at 12:46 AM | 0 comment(s)

Eyewitness Lebanon - Delegation from Campaign for Accountability

September 11, 2006

Campaign for Accountability
Fact-Finding & Solidarity Delegation in Lebanon

Today, a fact-finding delegation organized by Ramsey Clark and the Campaign for Accountability arrived in Beirut, Lebanon. The delegation will be visiting the devastated country throughout the coming week and filing daily reports.

This fact-finding and solidarity delegation is the next step after the very successful August 30th opening session of the Campaign for Accountability. This meeting, held at the UN Church Center in NYC, drew more than 250 people for a program that included eyewitness and expert testimony, video, and written evidence. For an initial report and to download some of the materials from the meeting, go to PeopleJudgeBush.org.

The delegation is planning to head to southern Lebanon tomorrow, to view some of the areas hit hardest by the U.S./Israeli attacks. It is vital that the people of the U.S. let the people of Lebanon know that we do not support the brutal foreign policy of George W. Bush. This delegation is a concrete way to demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Lebanon, and with all of the people of the region who struggle against U.S./Israeli oppression and occupation.

The delegation will also be meeting with political leaders and community organizers in Lebanon. We cannot leave it to the State Department to decide what voices can be heard, and we cannot allow them to criminalize as 'terrorists' anyone who defies Bush's plans for a 'New Middle East.'

The delegation will be filing daily written reports, as well as photos and audio interviews. For updates, see the Eyewitness Lebanon blog at http://eyewitnesslebanon.blogspot.com.

We need your help to continue to build this Campaign for Accountability. With the materials gathered by the delegation and assembled in the initial forum of the Campaign for Accountability, we plan to assist and organize meetings, teach-ins, and forums across the U.S. We need your help to do this. Please contact us if you are interested in organizing a local meeting. We also need help with the enormous costs of this campaign--renting meeting spaces, printing literature, producing multimedia presentations, etc. Please consider making a donation to help build this campaign.



HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Donate: http://www.iacenter.org/acctabilitydonate.shtml

Endorse: http://www.peoplejudgebush.org/acctabilityendorse.shtml

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Report from Lebanon


Day 1
Leilani Dowell

"The Lebanese people are not against the people of the United States. We know the difference between the people of the U.S. and its government, and it is its terrorist government that we are against."

We arrived in Beirut, Lebanon today after flying into Amman, Jordan yesterday--where the first signs as we walked into the terminal in Amman were those of greeters waiting to receive people off our flight from DynCorp and Black Water--the same mercenary corporations that the rich hired in New Orleans to protect their property after Katrina. These free-lance mercenaries were most likely headed to Iraq.

Today, we went to the neighborhood of Haret el Hreik in South Beirut, a large Shiite community, where Hezbollah has strong support and Hezbollah television station Al Manar was housed. Israel razed the station in their first days of bombing, as well as most of the neighborhood of seven or eight story apartment buildings, to the ground. Huge craters were all that remain of many buildings--craters created not by the excavation of the debris, but by the magnitude and force of the bombs dropped.

The woman we are staying with told us that Israeli planes dropped flyers telling the people to flee their homes before the bombing began. When we asked her whether she had copies of the flyer, she said no--like others, she was too afraid to leave the house because Israel was randomly targeting people on the street.

Under a rain of thousands of bombs targeting hundreds of buildings, people fled the neighborhood. Today we could see men, women and children returning to the area to sort through the rubble for anything they could find that remained of their homes. The destruction is devastating in a way that I can't even put into words.

And yet the work of cleaning out the debris -- a monumental task -- has already been undertaken by Hezbollah. The resistance movement has crews in the area, loading debris onto trucks and cleaning out shattered apartments. We watched several workers carefully removing furniture from an apartment on the fifth floor of a ruined building, as a service to the family that resided there. And with all this work going on, workers today had hosed down a large area and were setting up plastic lawn chairs and speakers for a religious event they were having tonight--we were told that Hezbollah organized it so that the neighborhood could feel like it was getting back to its life.

On our way, we passed one of the many highway overpasses that had been bombed during the Israeli assault. While traffic was definitely slower because of the damage, what we noticed was that the area beneath the break had already been cleaned, and people were sitting around it leisurely, even selling their wares to cars that passed by. The images of a trip I took to New Orleans after Katrina came to my mind over and over today--where, in the same amount of time, nothing had been done to restore the area for the people who lived there; and where, I know, one year later, little-to-nothing has been done.

We were able to talk to some of the workers and neighborhood residents. What struck me the most about our conversations is that every single person told us, "The Lebanese people are not against the people of the United States. We know the difference between the people of the U.S. and its government, and it is its terrorist government that we are against." There was a clear understanding that this most recent attack of Israel on Lebanon was sanctioned and funded by the U.S.

Hezbollah has adopted the slogan "The Divine Victory," and beautiful signs can be seen throughout Beirut with this message in English and Arabic--some emblazoned with pictures of katuschkas, some of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Other billboards emphasized the overwhelming civilian toll with pictures of wounded children and the Israeli term that they only struck, "extremely precise targets." On top of the ruins of bombed out apartments and other buildings, signs read "Made in U.S.A." and "The New Middle Beast." It appears that the "Divine Victory" slogan serves not only as a reminder of the great triumph that the Lebanese resistance movement has just won; but also as motivation for the ongoing struggle, the struggle against imperialism that the resistance movement here is confident will be won.

Tony Blair was in Beirut today, and protests were scheduled. There is also a demonstration being called to mark the anniversary of the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, here in Beirut, on Friday. Stay posted.

Daily updates will be posted at http://eyewitnesslebanon.blogspot.com/

posted by Annamarie at 12:36 AM | 0 comment(s)