Archive for October, 2010

Election Issues?

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Why aren’t wars, the costs of militarism , and DU

major election issues?

American journalist, Amy Goodman, raises an important question about U.S. election issues.  Goodman writes: “Just days away from crucial midterm elections, WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, unveiled the largest classified military leak in history.  Almost 400,000 secret Pentagon documents relating to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq were made available online.  The documents, in excruciating detail, portray the daily torrent of violence, murder, rape and torture to which Iraqis have been subjected since George W. Bush declared “Mission Accomplished.” The WikiLeaks release, dubbed “The Iraq War Logs,” has been topping the headlines in Europe.  But in the U.S. it barely warranted a mention on the agenda-setting Sunday talk shows.” (See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/27 Also see http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/26/wikileaks_founder_julian_assange_on_iraq)

Trillions of dollars have been spent on armaments and the illegal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now widening to Pakistan, and elsewhere with no end in sight.  Millions of people have been killed, injured, and/or made refugees by these wars.  Meanwhile in the U.S. tens of millions of people are out of work or underemployed, losing their homes, life savings, and standing in food bank lines.  The trillions spent on the wars and armaments to kill and destroy abroad, could and should be used to create much needed jobs at home, to keep people in their homes, feed people, provide medical care, and clean up the environment, etc.  In short, the wars and military spending are stealing and wasting the resources for everything that is genuinely needed.

Here on Hawaii Island, the military continues bombing at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) known to be contaminated with Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation, and very few, if any, candidates are speaking out to stop it.

The Army is stonewalling community involvement in seeking the truth about the full extent of radiation contamination at PTA.  The Army has repeatedly made unreliable safety claims based on questionable assumptions, scientific methodology, and no peer reviewed studies.  The bottom line is this. The Army does not want to risk having to shut down Pohakuloa if it is determined that the presence of DU and other military toxins pose a threat to the health and safety of the troops who train there and residents and visitors of Hawaii Island.  While the Army says that health and safety are the primary concerns, in truth, continuing the military mission trumps all.

Malu ‘Aina calls for an immediate end to the U.S. illegal wars of occupation, and major cuts in military spending and increased spending to meet human needs.  Locally, we call for an end to all live-fire and activities at PTA that create dust.  Comprehensive independent monitoring and clean up of DU, unexploded ordnance, and other military toxins should be done at military expenses.  The entire process needs to be transparent and have the confidence of the community, which to date is sorely lacking.

Political candidates and citizens alike — where are our voices on these important issues?

Why the silence?

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 (Oct. 29, 2010 – 476th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Peace pot luck and kanikapila canceled for Oct. 31st

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Aloha peace ohana,
Due to Halloween, the peace pot luck and kanikapila originally set for this coming Sunday Oct. 31st is canceled.  Please let others know who may have been planning on coming.  Sorry for the inconvenience.
Mahalo.
Jim

Peace meeting and Kanikapila!

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

Aloha kakou,
There will be a peace organizing meeting on Monday, Oct. 25th from 7-9PM at the Keaau Community Center.
Among topics for discussion: Update on DU contamination, NRC status, meeting with county council, UH, connecting the dots on economics and the war: jobs, debt, etc.
Elections and effects on peace and justice?
Please pass the word and come with your ideas.
There will be a peace potluck and kanikapila (let’s play music) on Sunday, Oct. 31st.   Pot luck at 5PM music at 6PM.  All at the Keaau Community center.  Pass the word to friends and bring an instrument if you have one.
Mahalo.
Jim

Mortgage/Foreclosure Scandal

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Forest Gump Again Explains

Mortgage Backed Securities!

Below is a slightly revised leaflet we originally issued on Oct. 24, 2008.  Since then the mortgage/foreclosure scandal has increased in magnitude by the same major Wall Street banks that created the financial crisis in 2008.  Yet no one is being held accountable for this ongoing, illegal Ponzi scheme. Republican and Democrat administrations, Congress, and government regulators are all complicit in the crimes.  No bankers or government officials have gone to jail for massive fraud, malfeasance, and shirking fiduciary duty. (See the new movie “Inside Job” for names and faces.)  In fact, these banksters — robber barons of the 21st century — have received billions of dollars in bonuses and golden parachute retirement packages at tax payer expense.

Forrest says Mortgage Backed Securities are like boxes of chocolates.  Criminals on Wall Street stole some chocolates from the boxes and replaced them with turds.  Their criminal buddies rated these chocolates AAA Investment Grade chocolates.  These boxes were then sold, repackaged, and resold  all over the world to investors.  Eventually somebody bites into a turd and discovers the crime.   And there’s not just one, but lots of turds in lots of boxes.  Suddenly nobody trusts American chocolates anymore worldwide.

Then Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, got American taxpayers to buy up and hold all these boxes of turd-infested chocolates for $700 billion dollars until the market for turds returned to normal.  Well turds are still turds.  Meanwhile Hank, his replacement Tim Geitner, and all their government and Wall Street buddy crooks who stole all the good chocolates in the first place are not being investigated , arrested, or indicted.  Mama always said:  “Sniff the chocolates first Forest.”

Jail the Wall Street & Washington Banksters!

Jobs & Housing Now!  Foreclose the War Machine!

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 (Oct. 22, 2010 – 475th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Military Land Abuse In Hawaii

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

See attached map.  Please make copies and post in your communities and share with others.
Mahalo.

map

The U.S. military has 57 known present or former military sites on Hawaii island totaling over 400 square miles that are littered with unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other military toxins, including radiation contamination (Depleted Uranium) at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of our island home.  The high winds that travel through the saddle area, vehicle traffic,  and ongoing military live-fire risk spreading the contamination all over the island.

Jim Albertini