Archive for May, 2021
Stop Bombing Pohakuloa Protest June 2, 2021 PTA Main Gate 10AM
Monday, May 24th, 2021Stop Bombing Pohakuloa!
Stop the Desecration of our Sacred ʻAina
Protest: Wed. June 2, 2021 Pohakuloa Main Gate 10AM – 11:30 AM
Carpools from Hilo side leaving Komohana & Saddle Rd at 9AM Please join the protest and pass the word. Mahalo.
When asked why he was traveling to Kaho’olawe in 1977, this was his reply:
“Simply … the reason is … I am a Hawaiian and I’ve inherited the soul of my kupuna. It is my moral
responsibility to attempt an ending to this desecration of our sacred ʻāina …” ~ George Helm ~
[George Helm on the boat to Kaho’olawe, 1977]
George Helm lost his life in the struggle to stop the bombing of Kaho’olawe in March of 1977. Finally in 1990, after a decades long struggle, the bombing of Kaho’olawe was stopped.
The Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) located in the center of Hawaii Island is a 133,000-acre military live-fire training area for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines., and foreign countries too. PTA is nearly 5 times the size of Kaho’olawe. The area has been bombed for more than 75 years, with more than 14 million live-rounds fired annually. (Current figures are secret.) Military toxins, including lead, cancer causing Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation, perchlorate, PFAS, etc. contaminate the area. Some contaminants, including DU oxide particles can be carried long distances by the wind.
B-2 & B-52 Strategic bombers fly non-stop from Missouri, Louisiana, and Guam to bomb Pohakuloa. Where are the voices of our religious leaders, government representatives at the county, State and Federal level and ordinary citizens speaking out to say enough? Sign the petition to not renew the lease of State lands at PTA ($1 for 65 years of 23,000 acres of Public lands). Sign here: https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/do-not-extend-1-lease-on-27-000-acres-of-hawai-i-state-lands-in-pohakuloa-training-area?bucket=&fbclid=IwAR1WzgovPkxJdZbcB0tBKSmMx2FzHJMFI1mOJABKB8C3VKhLZF0g7_rEAbk
On June 4th there will be a PTA change of command from Lt.Col. JR Borce to Lt. Col. Kevin Kronin.We’ve been through a lot of these before. Same old… Same old! The bombing continues and promises are broken.
Pohakuloa is a Training Ground for Nuclear War!
Stop the Desecration! Stop the Bombing! Aloha ‘Aina!
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject violence & war as solutions. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, anti-Black, anti-Asian, etc.
5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawaii 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622
Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts. For more information www.malu-aina.org
May 28, 2021 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1026– Fridays 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
-- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
Pohakuloa Training Area government Facebook page Censorship
Sunday, May 23rd, 2021Borce, Loreto V Jr LTC USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <loreto.v.borce.mil@mail.mil>, Donnelly, Michael O’Malley CIV USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil>, Gray, Harold W Jr CSM USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <harold.w.gray.mil@mail.mil>, Mathers, Gregory S CIV USARMY 25 ID (USA) <gregory.s.mathers.civ@mail.mil>
To LTC Borce, Harold Gray, Forrest Blake Doll, Gregory Mathers, and Mike Donnelly,
Aloha kakou,
Below is the email I received from PTA PAO Mike Donnelly. Mr. Donnelly drove up to our 1025th Hilo Peace Vigil on Friday, May 21, 2021 at the downtown Hilo Post Office/Federal Bldg. as we were packing up our signs around 5:15PM
I told him that I viewed his email response (below) emailed to me on 5/17 as a “FRAUD.” The reason I say that is because I was not simply “having trouble commenting on the PTA Facebook posts,” as stated in Donnelly’s email, as if it was merely a technical problem. I was being censored (banned) for the 2nd in time in 2 years. (And I rarely submit a comment) The fact is the PTA Facebook page is a government sponsored forum on militarism. In such forums Donnelly needs to be told by his superiors in crystal clear terms that citizens have rights. It appears he has not been told clearly or he did not transmit that clear message to me. I guess Mr. Donnelly was not given the “Lava Tube Award” for darkness by the Big island Press Club for nothing.
Please Speak Up clearly! Show that you truly believe “in the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Protect the rights of the majority and the minority.
Mahalo.
Jim Albertini
bc: media, officials, ACLU, etc.
Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
May 17, 2021 email from Mike Donnelly below
Aloha Mr. Albertini: Mahalo for your correspondence. We are sorry if you are having trouble commenting on PTA Facebook posts. Please know that as this site represents Pohakuloa Training Area, a subunit of the U.S. Army, therefore it is not an open forum for others to post as they may wish. We have explored your specific case and you should be able to comment. Thank you for your patience, and please read and be familiar with the USER Agreement at https://www.facebook.com/PohakuloaTrainingArea/about/?ref=page_internal . See “Additional Information”. Mahalo and Warmest Aloha, Mike —————————- Michael O. Donnelly Public Affairs Officer US Army Garrison Hawaii at Pohakuloa Training Area Building 93, Room 1 MM 35 Highway 200 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Desk: (808)-969-2411 DSN: 469-2411 Cell: (808)-824-1474
On 5/12/21 5:40 PM, Borce, Loreto V Jr LTC USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) wrote:
Mr. Albertini,
I acknowledge your email and will discuss with the PTA team. Mike Donnelly will reply to you by the end of the week. For your situational awareness, Mr. Greg Fleming moved to USACE so Mr. Blake Doll (cc’d) is filling as the PTA DCO. Thanks.
v/r,
LORETO V. BORCE, JR
LTC, FA
Garrison Commander
USAG-Pohakuloa Training Area, HI
Office: (808) 969-2407
Work Cell: (808) 228-6598
NIPR: loreto.v.borce.mil@mail.mil
SIPR: loreto.v.borce.mil@mail.smil.mil
Pohakuloa Training Area Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PohakuloaTrainingArea/
“GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
From: Jim Albertini <ja@malu-aina.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2021 12:02 PM
To: Donnelly, Michael O’Malley CIV USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil>
Cc: Borce, Loreto V Jr LTC USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <loreto.v.borce.mil@mail.mil>; Fleming, Gregory R CIV USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (USA) <gregory.r.fleming4.civ@mail.mil>
Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Pohakuloa Training Area government Facebook page Censorship?
All active links contained in this email were disabled. Please verify the identity of the sender, and confirm the authenticity of all links contained within the message prior to copying and pasting the address to a Web browser.
To Mike Donnelly, PTA Public Affairs Officer May 12, 2021
michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil < Caution-mailto:michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil >
Aloha Mike,
I noticed recently when I went to the official Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) GOVERNMENT Facebook page, that I am not allowed to comment on PTA Facebook posts. I know of at least one other friend who also is NOT provided a “Comment” option of the PTA Facebook page. Other people are allowed to comment.
This looks like government censorship to me and a violation of US First Amendment free speech rights.
Please immediately provide a “Comment” option for all people, myself included, on the PTA GOVERNMENT Facebook page.
Mahalo.
Jim Albertini
— Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760
Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
cc: copies of this email are being sent to government elected officials, news media, and attorneys including the ACLU
— Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
Israel “Mows the Grass” again May 21, 2021 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet
Tuesday, May 18th, 2021Israel “Mows the Grass”
Again!
Israeli racist hardliners call the Anti-Arab killings of a new generation of Palestinians as “mowing the grass,” a process underway again-and-again in ongoing massive bombardments of Gaza.
Let’s be clear. What Israel is doing to Palestinians is ethnic cleansing, It’s apartheid. It’s racist. It’s settler colonialism. The U.S. voted 3 times this past week AGAINST a cease-fire at the UN Security Council. It was the only NO vote. As many have said: the U.S. must stop being an apologist for the Israeli government. Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land. For Israel to claim it has the right to defend it’s illegal occupation of Palestine is not only ridiculous, it is criminal. It is a crime against humanity. The U.S. needs to immediately end it’s complicity in Israel’s criminal abuse of Palestinians.
Israel needs to: return all Palestinian lands it occupies; cede control of the groundwater under the West Bank to the Palestinians who live there; release its Palestinian political prisoners; dismantles all settlements that have displaced Palestinians; halt its nighttime raids of Palestinian homes and detention of children; take down the separation wall it has constructed through Palestinian farmers’ lands; stop restricting access to certain Muslim and Christian places of worship; lift it’s blockade and siege of Gaza; disarm itself of nuclear weapons; and no longer receive U.S. military aid. Each year $3.8 BILLION of U.S. tax payers money is invested in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. Israeli bombs being dropped on Gaza are “Made in the USA.” Israel’s current war against Gaza is benefiting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is helping him stay out of jail on corruption charges. All violence between Israel and Palestine must end, but there is no comparison between Israeli violence and Palestinian violence.
Being against Israel’s war crimes is NOT anti-semitism. End U.S. Military funding to Israel now.
Shabbat! Shalom! Peace with Justice for All!
For a comprehensive view of Israel/Palestine see the links below and article by Chris Hedges: Israel,
the Big Lie https://consortiumnews.com/2021/05/14/chris-hedges-israel-the-big-lie/
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject violence & war as solutions. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, anti-Black, anti-Asian, etc.
5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawaii 96760
Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts. For more information www.malu-aina.org
May 21, 2021 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1025– Fridays 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
-- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
Military Backpedals on Free-Speech Facebook ban: reinstates “comment” option for peace activist Jim Albertini
Monday, May 17th, 2021Military Backpedals on Free-Speech Facebook ban: reinstates “comment” option for peace activist Jim Albertini
Press Release For Immediate Release 4PM Monday, May 17, 2021 further contact: Jim Albertini 966-7622 ja@malu-aina.org
Jim Albertini, president of Malu Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action believes he has won a small,but important, Free Speech battle with the military. The Military has Backpedaled on its Free-Speech Facebook ban and has reinstated a “comment” option for peace activist Jim Albertini on the Pohakuloa Training Area Facebook page. Albertini discovered a few weeks ago he was unable to “comment” on the government run Military Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) Facebook page found at the link below.
Pohakuloa Training Area Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PohakuloaTrainingArea/
May 2021 was not the first time Albertini was censored by the military from being able to comment of the government PTA Facebook page. It happened in March of 2019 when Albertini wanted to comment on the upcoming Experience Pohakuloa Day events surrounding Earth Day, when PTA invites school children from schools all over the island to come to the bombing base. Albertini is concerned about the extensive contamination on PTA from a host of military toxins, including Depleted Uranium (DU) radiation, which the military downplays. DU oxide particles are formed when the DU metal is burned after being hit with high explosives. The tiny DU oxide particles can be carried long distances by the wind and if inhaled can stay in the body for decades causing a wide range of cancers. When Albertini tried to raise concerns for the health and safety of the children by a respectful post, his post was banned. When he raised free speech concerns he was reinstated, but after the Experience Pohakuloa Day event in Mid April 2019. Albertini said “It appears it’s OK to desecrate and contaminate the land through military bombing, but not OK to criticize the bombing, or raise concerns about possibly endangering the lives of children on a government run, taxpayer funded, Facebook page.” Below is something I also wanted to post in 2019
Decades from now will the same be said about Depleted Uranium (DU) oxide at Pohakuloa, etc. ? Not only poisoning its own soldiers but our Big island community as well?
U.S. finally admits Agent Orange residue poisoned its own soldiers
Albertini said “Let’s hope this is the last time citizens will be censored on government run social media accounts. It is important for all government officials (The military included) to respect the right of dissent. Free Speech and a Free Press are the foundation of a democratic society.”
Below are two links from the American Civil Liberties Union on the responsibilities of government officials with respect to citizen rights on government social media accounts.
ACLU information on the responsibilities of government officials with respect to their social media accounts: https://www.acluhi.org/en/know-your-rights-interacting-government-representatives-social-media
ACLU letter sent to Governor Ige in early 2019 that provides ACLU’s views on this issue: https://www.acluhi.org/sites/default/files/2019/01/governor-ige-letter.pdf
Applies to Military banning critical comments from it’s official government Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) Facebook page
Below is the recent email exchange between Jim Albertini and PTA Public Affairs Officer Mike Donnelly
To Mike Donnelly, PTA Public Affairs Officer May 12, 2021
michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil < Caution-mailto:michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil >
Aloha Mike,
I noticed recently when I went to the official Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) GOVERNMENT Facebook page, that I am not allowed to comment on PTA Facebook posts. I know of at least one other friend who also is NOT provided a “Comment” option of the PTA Facebook page. Other people are allowed to comment.
This looks like government censorship to me and a violation of US First Amendment free speech rights.
Please immediately provide a “Comment” option for all people, myself included, on the PTA GOVERNMENT Facebook page.
Mahalo.
Jim Albertini
—
Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
From: michael.o.donnelly.civ@mail.mil Monday, May 17, 2021 at 1:12PM
To: ja@malu-aina.org
Aloha Mr. Albertini: Mahalo for your correspondence. We are sorry if you are having trouble commenting on PTA Facebook posts. Please know that as this site represents Pohakuloa Training Area, a subunit of the U.S. Army, therefore it is not an open forum for others to post as they may wish. We have explored your specific case and you should be able to comment. Thank you for your patience, and please read and be familiar with the USER Agreement at https://www.facebook.com/PohakuloaTrainingArea/about/?ref=page_internal . See “Additional Information”. Mahalo and Warmest Aloha, Mike —————————- Michael O. Donnelly Public Affairs Officer US Army Garrison Hawaii at Pohakuloa Training Area Building 93, Room 1 MM 35 Highway 200 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Desk: (808)-969-2411 DSN: 469-2411 Cell: (808)-824-1474
