By Harvey Wasserman
The roll call of U.S. sailors who say their health was devastated when they were irradiated while delivering humanitarian help near the stricken Fukushima nuke is continuing to soar.
So many have come forward that the progress of their federal class action lawsuit has been delayed.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.nationofchange.org/toll-mounts-among-us-sailors-devastated-fukushima-radiation-1389540068
Fr: Buzz Davis, member, Veterans for Peace
Oh, where are the great legislative protectors of our armed forces when you need them?
All those talkative senators and reps don’t want to talk about what happened after the earthquake in Japan near the nuclear power plants. That would remind people of all our US nuclear power plants sitting on lakes, river and oceans in the US.
And now we have hundreds or thousands of sick military personnel who were ordered by commanders to move in and help the stricken people of Fukushima.
Truman bombed the two Japanese cities at the end of WWII after many top military commanders thought the Japanese were already defeated. The atomic bombing of those cities was unnecessary. The US effort to produce atomic weapons, which may destroy civilization on this planet yet, has unleashed upon us potential destructive forces we have shown we are not smart enough to handle.
Long ago I was training to be an infantry officer during the Vietnam war and we have a field exercise on nuclear weapons. I asked how can we protect our people if such bombs go off. The sergeant said have your men hide under their rain ponchos. We all laughed we thought he was kidding. He was serious. I thought we are all dead meat.
The poncho will protect the bare skin from flash burns but nothing else.
Read the story below and you will be shocked.
I bet a dollar that trained officers and enlisted men and women said “we shouldn’t send our ships in to help or all will be contaminated.” But in the ships went. What would you have ordered if you were the ship commander or President Obama?
Peace
Buzz
This billboard went up a few days ago, 4 miles east of I-95 on Hwy 70 in Johnston County, NC. The Johnston Co. Airport is home to Aero Contractors, notorious torture taxis that delivered “suspects” to Guantánamo and other black sites.
Dear Veteran:
I am conducting an on-line survey designed to collect data regarding the transition to civilian life, and identify tools that may better assist future Veterans in this transition. I am conducting this survey as part of a program requirement for a Master’s of Science degree from Saint Joseph’s University and under advisement from professors in the Organization Development and Leadership Department
The survey consists of 13 multiple-choice questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete.
Your participation in the survey is completely voluntary. Please note that at no point will your name or e-mail be linked to your responses, making your participation completely confidential and anonymous.
I have identified you as a Veteran or leader in the Veteran’s Community, which is why I am soliciting your participation. I would also sincerely appreciate your willingness to forward this email and survey to other Veterans.
Survey responses are requested by January 28, 2013.
Click here to participate: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZQWFLSB
By now, it’s well known that the National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting troves of data about law-abiding Americans. But the NSA is not alone: a series of new reports show that state and local police have been busy collecting data on our daily activities as well.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.alternet.org/it-aint-just-nsa-your-local-cops-could-be-spying-you?paging=off
We are coming up on the 50th anniversary of key moments in the American war in Viet Nam. As peace and justice activists, we believe it is crucial that the realities of the war be faced squarely. President Obama has announced his plan for a 13-year-long commemoration funded by Congress at $65 million, featuring a full panoply of Orwellian forgetfulness and faux-patriotism. On May 25, 2012, President Obama proclaimed: “As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect with solemn reverence upon the valor of a generation that served with honor. We pay tribute to the more than 3 million servicemen and women who left their families to serve bravely, a world away from everything they knew and everyone they loved … fighting heroically to protect the ideals we hold dear as Americans. Through more than a decade of combat, over air, land, and sea, these proud Americans upheld the highest traditions of our Armed Forces.”
March 14-16, 2014
Santa Barbara, California
The 2014 Global Network space organizing conference will be held near Vandenberg AFB, California on March 14-16. We will meet at the La Casa de Maria Retreat and Conference Center in Santa Barbara. On Friday, March 14 we’ll organize a 4:00 pm vigil at the front gate of Vandenberg and on the evening of March 15 we will hold a public event at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara.
Speakers at the March 15 event will include: David Krieger (Nuclear Age Peace Foundation), Dave Webb (Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament-UK & Global Network board convener), Dennis Apel (Guadalupe Catholic Worker House), Christine Hong (Korea Policy Institute and UC Santa Cruz), Andrew Lichterman (Western States Legal Foundation), and Mary Beth Sullivan (social worker & peace conversion activist). Music will be provided by singer/songwriters Tom Neilson and Holly Gwinn Graham.
We will have limited sleeping space (dormitory style) available at the La Casa de Maria Retreat center so reservations will be necessary. (Other hotel information will be available if you would prefer those arrangements.) We will provide meals for those staying at the conference center. A sliding scale charge will run from $50-$150 (pay what you can best afford.)
There will be no charge for the Saturday, March 15 public event that will be held at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara.
More Information: http://www.space4peace.org/actions/gnconf_2014.htm
You would probably never fall for a scam like this but pass the word as this VA pension scam is going around. This is from VVA National:
BE AWARE
Be cautious if someone offers to move your assets around for you to qualify for VA pension. This type of scam is often directed toward Veterans and family members who do not actually qualify for VA pension. You could be required to repay these benefits to the government.
Examples of possible pension poaching scams:
• Organizations that cold call Veterans, charge money for assisting with a VA pension claim, and take credit card information from Veterans over the telephone
• People who charge as much as $6,000 upfront to represent claimants before VA, with a percentage of any eventual back payment from VA as a portion of the ultimate fee
For more information about VA pension eligibility requirements—which include special monthly pension benefits—go to www.benefits.va.gov/pension or call 1-800-827-1000.
On Monday December 16th 2013 I did an interview with author of
“War No More” David Swanson this was just before he was to speak at a Laughing Horse Bookstore before a crowded room of Portland Oregon folks all eager to hear David make the argument for the abolition of war.
The interview is in two parts and is raw video as I am not able to edit.
MVI 3121 Interview with Author David Swanson Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDystGNEdk
MVI 3122 Interview with Author David Swanson Part II
