Archive for January, 2013

Replica of MQ-9 Reaper drone to be displayed at UH Hilo

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

Press Release: A replica of an MQ-9 Reaper drone (1/5 scale) will be on display at UH Hilo Library lanai from 11AM to 1PM Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013

further contact: Jim Albertini 966-7622
Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622 Emai ja@malu-aina.orghttp://www.malu-aina.org

Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright will be giving a presentation on
“Killer Drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza and the US” at UH Hilo, Jan. 17th from 6:30-8PM at STB 108. 
(new building on Lanikaula St. across from the Church of the Holy Cross)free street parking and in parking lot near STB after 4PM

This free presentation will be followed by Q&A and the public is invited

Sponsored by UHH Sociology, Philosophy, and Women’s Studies Dept., and Malu ‘Aina

Where are Drones Taking Us?

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

The World’s

Deadliest Drone:

MQ-9 REAPER

 

– The MQ-9 Reaper (originally the Predator B) is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) (also known as a Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for use by the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, Italian Air Force, and the Royal Air Force. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance

– Although the MQ-9 can fly pre-programmed routes autonomously, the aircraft is always monitored or controlled by aircrew in the Ground Control Station and weapons employment is always commanded by the pilot. Hence the preference to refer to the MQ-9 as a Remotely Piloted Vehicle

– Operators can hunt for targets and observe terrain using a number of sensors, including a thermal camera. One estimate has the on-board camera able to read a license plate from two miles (3.2km) away

– An operator’s command takes 1.2 seconds to reach the drone via a satellite link

– An MQ-9 with two 1,000 pound (450 kilogram) external fuel tanks and a thousand pounds of munitions has an endurance of 42 hours. The Reaper has an endurance of 14 hours when fully loaded with munitions

– The MQ-9 carries a variety of weapons including the GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb, the AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles, the AIM-9 Sidewinder.[13] and recently, the GBU-38 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition)

For more info see www.knowdrones.comhttp://twistedsifter.com/2010/05/worlds-deadliest-drone-mq-9-reaper/#.UOOIhLdmWfI.emailhttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33503.htm

 Drones Kill Innocent People!

 Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622 Emai ja@malu-aina.orghttp://www.malu-aina.org

Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright — Killer Drones talk, and Pohakuloa Protest

Thursday, January 10th, 2013

Killer Drones

Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright

Ann Wright is a retired Army Colonel and State Department Diplomat who recently made trips to Pakistan, Gaza and Afghanistan . She will talk about her experiences concerning the use of drones in all three countries.

This free presentation will be followed by Q&A and the public is invited.

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013

6:30 – 8 pm UH Hilo

Science & Technology Bldg (STB) Room 108

(new building on Lanikaula St. across from the Church of the Holy Cross)

free street parking and in parking lot near STB after 4PM

Sponsored by UHH Sociology, Philosophy, Women’s Studies Dept., and Malu ‘Aina

Ann Wright will also be speaking at 4PM on Jan. 17th during the 3-8PM Aloha Uprising gathering at the Kamehameha Statue on Hilo Bayfront marking the 120th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893

Aloha ‘Aina Pohakuloa “Stop the Bombing” Protest

Saturday, January 19, 2013

10 AM – till Noon

Pohakuloa Main Gate on Saddle Rd.

(car pools leave Hilo bayfront parking lot makai/Hamakua side of Pauahi St. Kamehameha Ave. intersection at 9AM sharp. Bring water, sunscreen, and be prepared for cool, possibly wet, weather)

Pohakuloa is the largest U.S. live-fire training area outside the continental U.S. It is 133,000-acres, nearly 5 times the size of Kaho’olawe. The base is known to be contaminated with Depleted Uranium (DU) and other military toxins. Continued bombing risks spreading the radiation and other toxic contamination.

Pohakuloa is also used for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Drone) training. The U.S. is using drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, the Philippines, etc. for surveillance and targeted assassinations. Thousands of people, including many innocent children, have been killed by U.S. drones resulting in increasing hatred of the U.S. around the world.

Aloha, Not Killer Drones!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622 Emai ja@malu-aina.orghttp://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Jan. 11, 2013– 590th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

 

“Killer Drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Gaza and the

US”

Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013

6:30 – 8 pm UH Hilo

Science & Technology Bldg (STB) Room 108

(new building on Lanikaula St. across from the Church of the Holy Cross)

free street parking and in parking lot near STB after 4PM

This free presentation will be followed by Q&A and the public is invited

Sponsored by UHH Sociology, Philosophy, and Women’s Studies Dept., and Malu ‘Aina

   Well-known and outspoken Ann Wright, a citizen activist with extensive experience standing up for peace, human rights and the rights of war resisters and other veterans and government whistle-blowers, will give a slide-talk on US drone strikes: their increasing use, the dire effects on civilian populations, and implications for US domestic and foreign policy.

In October, November, and December, 2012, Wright made separate trips to Pakistan, Gaza and Afghanistan.  She will talk about her experiences concerning the use of drones in all three countries.  She will also talk about being a witness in a court hearing in Istanbul on the indictment of 4 senior Israeli officials for the murder of 9 activists and the wounding of 50 more on the ship Mavi Marmara in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. 

Background about our speaker:    Ann Wright holds a Master’s and a law degree from the Universityof Arkansasand a master’s degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval War College.   She spent  13  years in the U.S. Army and 16  additional years in the Army Reserves, retiring as a Colonel.

In 1987, Col. Ann Wright joined the Foreign Service and served as U.S. Deputy Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2,500 people from the civil war in Sierra Leone, the largest evacuation since Saigon. She was on the first State Department team to go into Afghanistan and reopen the Embassy there in December 2001. Her other overseas assignments include Mongolia, Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada, Micronesia, and Nicaragua.

After her distinguished 16 years in the Foreign Service, on March 19, 2003, the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ann Wright cabled a letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell, stating that without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the invasion and occupation of a Muslim, Arab, oil-rich country would be a disaster.

Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. She fasted for a month, picketed at Guantánamo, served as a juror in impeachment hearings, and has been arrested numerous times for peaceful, nonviolent protest.  She is an activist for peace and human rights who participated in the Gaza Freedom March and the the Gaza aid flotillas of 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Ann’s home is in Honolulu. She is the co-author of the book “Dissent: Voices of Conscience”  (www.voicesofconscience.com).

Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622 Emai ja@malu-aina.orghttp://www.malu-aina.org

Aloha ‘Aina


Stop the Bombing!

Pohakuloa Protest

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013

10AM till Noon

Pohakuloa Main Gate

(car pools leave Hilo bayfront parking lot makai/Hamakua side of Pauahi St. Kamehameha Ave. intersection at 9AM sharp. Bring water, sunscreen, and be prepared for cool, possibly wet weather)

Pohakuloa is the largest U.S. live-fire training area outside the continental U.S. It is 133,000-acres, nearly 5 times the size of Kaho’olawe. The base is known to be contaminated with Depleted Uranium (DU) and other military toxins. Continued live-fire, and other activities that create dust, risks spreading the radiation and other toxic contamination.

Pohakuloa is also used for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Drone) training. The U.S. is using drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, the Philippines, etc. for surveillance and targeted assassinations, including Americans. Thousands of people, including many innocent children, have been killed by U.S. drones resulting in increasing hatred of the U.S. around the world.

Joining the protest will be Army Col. (Ret) and former State Department Diplomat, Ann Wright. In October, November, and December, 2012, Wright made separate trips to Pakistan, Gaza and Afghanistan.  She will talk about her experiences concerning the use of drones in all three countries.

Make Peace! Work for Justice!

Free Hawaii Now!

Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.

Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org

The ‘War on Terror’ Designed to Never End

Saturday, January 5th, 2013

Excellent piece.  This is how the National Security State works for vested interests!

http://tinyurl.com/auj432f

Beware of Killer Drones — MQ-9 Reaper!

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

WHERE ARE DRONES TAKING US?

Endless Wars for Resources?

      The Race for What’s Left, by Michael Klare describes intensifying struggles among industrialized nations for access to oil, clearly with the full intention of industrialized nations to burn up as much of it as possible. Klare calls for a crash plan to develop renewable energy sources and other basic materials. A dramatically urgent program to cut burning of fossil fuels is needed, not only for peace but to stop global warming.

AMERICAN LEGACY by Steve Fryburg www.missingpeaceart.org

      Currently, the US government is bent on using its military (at more than $1 trillion a year) to gain and hold access to oil and other resources worldwide. The drone has a unique role in this drive for control because, unlike any other weapon, it can monitor the lives of individuals and groups for days on end and kill by remote control at a moment’s notice, without any accountability. US drones are attacking now in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Uganda and the Philippines, in absolute disregard for international law and the US Constitution. Thousands of people have been killed by drones and tens of thousands are living drone-terrorized lives. Military drone training takes place on Oahu, and at the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island.

      If we are to begin a serious, effective mobilization to get off fossil fuels, we must first close the door to the use of the military to “capture” oil. Military action for access to oil must no longer be an option. A ban on drone surveillance and killer drones worldwide can be and must be the first step in that direction. For more info see www.knowdrones.com http://twistedsifter.com/2010/05/worlds-deadliest-drone-mq-9-reaper/#.UOOIhLdmWfI.email http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33503.htm

Drones Kill Innocent People!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622 Emai ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Jan. 4, 2013– 589th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Off