APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied

During the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala dinner (Sat. Nov. 12, 2011 in Honolulu for 21 world leaders, including President Obama, and other global economic elite,  Hawaiian guitarist Makana, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket and dress shirt to reveal a home-made “Occupy with Aloha” T-shirt. Then, instead of simply playing the expected instrumental background music, he interjected and repeatedly sang his protest ballad released earlier that day. The ballad, called “We Are the Many,” includes lines such as “The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw…. And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw,” and ends with the refrain: “We’ll occupy the streets, we’ll occupy the courts, we’ll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.”  For more on the story see http://www.yeslab.org/APEC
See the music video of Makana’s ballad at http://bit.ly/we-are-the-many
We extend our aloha and say mahalo to Makana.  It took real courage to sing for the many, while standing amid the few!  Below are the complete lyrics to the song.

 “We Are the Many”

1.  Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw

Chorus: We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

2.  Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

Chorus:

3.  You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

Chorus:

4.  You can’t divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can’t buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

Chorus:
Repeat chorus

We are the many
You are the few

End the Wars and Corporate Domination!
Make Peace — Work for Justice!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc.  5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622.  Email ja@interpac.net   http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Nov. 18, 2011 – 530th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Here is the statement from the alternative APEC conference:

Moana Nui Statement

We the peoples of Moana Nui (the great ocean), connected by the currents of our ocean home, declare that we will not cooperate with the commodification of life and land as represented by APEC’s (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) predatory capitalistic practices, distorted information and secret trade negotiations and agreements.

We invoke our rights to free, prior and informed consent.  We choose cooperative trans-Pacific dialogue, action, advocacy and solidarity between and amongst the peoples of the Pacific, rooted in traditional cultural practices and wisdom.

E mau ke ea ‘o ka ‘aina i ka pono,  A mama.  Ua noa. (The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.  The prayer is said.)

************************************************************************

Be sure to hear the new Makana song and see the video with it.  It’s great.  Link below.

November 13, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied
Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many

Video and photos: www.yeslab.org/APEC

Honolulu – A change in the programmed entertainment at last night’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.

http://makanamusic.com/?slide=we-are-the-many

 Veterans Day! 11-11-11

Support Veterans! Stop the Wars &

Bring the Troops Home!

We support veterans, and all people, being given the best possible medical care and other support services. But supporting veterans does not mean support for America’s wars.  We are opposed to war, including the present U.S. wars that only benefit Wall St. Bankers, arms makers, and the oil companies, while producing more and more disabled veterans.  We need to ask –who profits, and who suffer and die, in these wars, and why?

Every citizen has a moral and legal duty to speak out clearly against these wars of aggression and occupation including the occupation of Hawaii.  They are illegal and immoral.  The Nuremberg principles, which the U.S. helped to establish following WWII, state:  a war of aggression is the supreme war crime;  following orders is no excuse in committing war crimes; citizens have a duty to act in resistance to the crimes of their government.  Participating in illegal wars is not service to country, be it in Nazi Germany, or present day U.S.A.  Today, the U.S. is descending into high-tech barbarism with ever expanding use of targeted assassinations by special operation teams and the use of drones (unmaned aerial vehicles).  Now even U.S. citizens  have been intentionally assassinated by U.S.drone attacks, citizens deprived of their constitutional rights and life itself, without any due process of law.

Let us reflect this Veterans Day on the confessional words of Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, who was twice awarded the U.S. medal of honor. General Butler’s words are as true today as they were when spoken nearly 80 years ago.

“War is a racket… I spent most of my time ( 33 years and 4 months in the Marines) being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the Bankers.  In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism….  I helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests…  I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank Boys to collect revenues in.  I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long.  I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers…  I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American Sugar interests…  In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested…  Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints.  The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts.  I operated on three continents.”

This Veterans Day, let us act to protect the health and safety of active duty troops, veterans, and all residents and visitors here on Hawaii Island.  For years, the Army has been stonewalling the community seeking the full truth about confirmed radiation contamination at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA).  Let us affirm the July 2008 Hawaii County Council’s unanswered call for stopping all live-fire, and any activities that create dust, that could possibly spread the radiation at PTA.   Let us support the citizen call for comprehensive, independent testing and monitoring to determine the full extent of radiation contamination at PTA.  Everyone has a right to know the true facts.

Make Peace! Work for Justice!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc.
5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622.  Email ja@interpac.net   http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Nov. 11, 2011 – 529th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office