Peace Movement

Dirty Wars and Drones: Real National Security?

May 5, 2013 by Source

Jeremy Scahill
Author Jeremy Scahill Examines the Ugly Reality
By Jay Powell / San Diego Free Press

Thursday night, Jeremy Scahill, author of “Blackwater” gave a preview of his new book “Dirty Wars” to a full house at Hoover High School auditorium in City Heights a community that is home to many refugees from countries torn by war.

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OB Rag Poll on the Use of Drones: 82% Oppose Drones in the U.S.

April 8, 2013 by Frank Gormlie

Recently, the OB Rag ran a readers’ poll on the use of drones by the US government either in America and/or abroad. The results of the week-long poll are in: 82% of respondents oppose the use of drones in the United States.

36% of the respondents replied that they are okay with the use of the unmanned flying vessels in other countries by our government. 17% indicated that they are okay with their use in America.

45% of the 108 readers who responded specifically feel that the use of drones in America is unconstitutional or that they should not be used in our country. Another 37% replied that they specifically opposed their use overseas as well.

26% said that their use in America is “absolutely unconstitutional”. Another 19% were okay with their use in hunting down terrorists abroad, but opposed their deployment here in this country.

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March 28th Is the 42nd Anniversary of the Largest Community-Police “Disturbance” in Ocean Beach History

March 28, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Today, March 28th, marks the 42nd anniversary of the infamous Collier Park Riot – the largest “disturbance” between the community and police in the history of Ocean Beach.

Hundreds of OBceans and students from area colleges were gathered on March 28, 1971, at a peaceful anti-Vietnam War protest that was combined with a community clean-up of a large corner lot for parkland when they were attacked by police. This unprovoked assault by police resulted in a riot that spread from Soto and Greene Streets all the way to the beach and lasted for hours into the night. Fifty people were arrested, many injured, a patrol car was burned, but over time, the wounds were healed, the war ended, and a park was created in northeast OB: Collier Park.

Here are a series of articles about the Collier Park Riot and what it meant for Ocean Beach.

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Did Richard Nixon Commit Treason By Sabotaging Vietnam Peace Talks?

March 20, 2013 by Source
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Newly-released tapes record LBJ saying Nixon committed treason.

By Eric Brown / International Business Times / March 17 2013

Newly released tapes recorded during Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency have confirmed long-held rumors that in 1968, then-presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon worked to sabotage Vietnam War peace talks.

The LBJ tapes were recently declassified and released by the Johnson library in Austin, Texas. According to the BBC’s summary of the tapes, not only did Nixon possibly commit treason, but LBJ knew about it and decided not to expose him in the closing days of an election that Nixon barely won.

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Debate Over San Diego Lifeguards – Diversity, Gender, Salaries and Politics

March 12, 2013 by Source
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Editor: We found an important debate going on in the pages of the Point Loma Democratic Club, and decided to repost the following positions. The first is by Michael Russell, a former San Diego lifeguard, who raises serious questions about gender, diversity, salaries and politics of the lifeguard union, Teamsters Local 911. The second is a response by Ed Harris, union steward for Teamsters 911 (quotes in italics are from Russell’s piece).

San Diego Lifeguards – Questions Raised Concerning Gender, Diversity and Salaries

by Michael Russell / Point Loma Democratic Club / March 8, 2013

Thank you for inviting me to your monthly meeting to listen to Ed Harris present his case for your support. As a former San Diego Lifeguard, I was interested in hearing his plea to Democrats for help in swaying the San Diego City Council. His quest as Union Steward for Teamsters 911 is to build and replace three Lifeguard Towers in Ocean Beach, South Mission Beach, and North Pacific Beach.

I agree that these City infrastructure projects are probably ripe, because of the low cost of current construction in this economic recession. Having worked at all these towers in the past, I agree that they are out of date and require constant upgrades, for such beach safety stations are necessary and appropriate. They are all major projects, costing millions, and must take into account long-term issues like sea level rise and changing beach demographics.

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Anti-Nuke Events Proliferate as the Holiday Season Arrives

November 29, 2012 by Doug Porter
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It may be the season for shopping for consumers. It may be a time to recharge for political campaigners. But for the anti-nuclear activists in the region it’s time to intensify their efforts. Inside are a half dozen programs, protests and events compiled by the Peace Resource Center for the coming days. Remember to make your holiday season about more than a trip to the mall.

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Saying Good-bye to George McGovern and Russell Means – Heroes of the 1970′s

October 22, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
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When heroes from our past pass on, sometimes it seems like there’s a rush to the exit doors. This weekend and today, both George McGovern and Russell Means passed through that door. Both of these heroes of the Seventies lived and died in South Dakota.

George McGovern, the peace candidate from South Dakota, a former Congressman and Senator from that state, who won the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 1972, died early Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was 90.

And Russell Means, a former American Indian Movement activist who helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, reveled in stirring up attention and appeared in several Hollywood films, died early Monday at his ranch in Porcupine, S.D. He was 72 years old and had fought throat cancer.

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The Maimed – On Eleven Years of War In Afghanistan

October 8, 2012 by Source
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Chris Hedges gave this talk Sunday night – October 7th – in New York City at a protest denouncing the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. The event, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was led by Veterans for Peace.

By Chris Hedges

Many of us who are here carry within us death. The smell of decayed and bloated corpses. The cries of the wounded. The shrieks of children. The sound of gunfire. The deafening blasts. The fear. The stench of cordite. The humiliation that comes when you surrender to terror and beg for life. The loss of comrades and friends. And then the aftermath. The long alienation. The numbness. The nightmares. The lack of sleep. The inability to connect to all living things, even to those we love the most. The regret. The repugnant lies mouthed around us about honor and heroism and glory. The absurdity. The waste. The futility.

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No Country for Young Men as Old Men Play for Time: The End in Afghanistan is Totally Predictable

May 24, 2012 by Source
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Editor: Last Sunday outside the NATO conference, dozens of American Iraqi and Afghan veterans threw their medals away in protest of the wars. A very similar protest by veterans was held during the anti-Vietnam war days in 1971. .

By Dave Lindorff / Nation of Change and This Can’t Be Happening / May 22, 2012

Once again American troops are being asked to keep fighting for a mistake — this time the 2001 fantasy of the Bush/Cheney administration that it could make a client state out of Afghanistan.

John Kerry, back before he was a pompous windsurfing Senate apologist for American empire, back when he wore his hair long and was part of a movement of returned US military veterans speaking out against the continuation of the Vietnam War, famously asked the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing, “How do you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?”

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Veterans Throw Medals Into the Street as Protest Against Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

May 21, 2012 by Source
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See here for Chicago braces for final day of anti-NATO protests as demonstrators march on Boeing HQ

Reuters / May 20, 2012

Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played “Taps,” which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.

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Craziness in Chicago: NATO, Protests, Nurses, Vets Throw Away Medals, and Trumped Up ‘Terrorism’ Charges?

May 19, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
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This weekend is the crazy weekend for Chicago. NATO is meeting about Afghanistan, protests are happening, nurses storm the streets demanding taxes on the rich wearing Robin Hood masks on, Iraq and Afganistan veterans are throwing away their medals in protest of the wars – and now, an attempt to trump it all, we have “terrorism” charges against some activists which are being met with swift denials and charges of “set up”.

President Obama had a sleep-over for world leaders at Camp David, getting ready for a G8 meeting on Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, dozens of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars plan on leading a march of thousands on Sunday, May 21, alongside Vietnam veterans, and will be presenting their medals to NATO officials during. This anti-war march will proceed through Chicago’s downtown area to the convention center where NATO is holding its summit.

And of course, inside the summit will be President Obama and other world leaders. The City of Chicago is bracing for major protests. Organizers are hoping the rally, which caps a week-long series of anti-NATO actions, will draw thousands. The Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam veterans will hold a reconciliation

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The Afghan Syndrome

April 11, 2012 by Source

Vietnam Has Left Town, Say Hello to the New Syndrome on the Block

By Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch.com / April 10, 2012

Take off your hat. Taps is playing. Almost four decades late, the Vietnam War and its post-war spawn, the Vietnam Syndrome, are finally heading for their American grave. It may qualify as the longest attempted burial in history. Last words — both eulogies and curses — have been offered too many times to mention, and yet no American administration found the silver bullet that would put that war away for keeps.

(OB Rag Editor: please go to the original post for all the many links – TomDispatch.com )

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Occupy the Martin Luther King Day Parade in San Diego -January 15th

January 10, 2012 by Source

OCCUPY the ML King Parade in San Diego

Sunday, January 15 2012
2:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Alongside the San Diego Harbor
Grape Street and Harbor Blvd
San Diego, CA

Restore the true message of Martin Luther King

The once great San Diego Martin Luther King Parade has fallen in recent years from its noble stature, into a near-perversion of it original purpose. In the parade this year on Sunday, January 15th, OCCUPY will change that with your help.

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San Diegans Rally to Support America’s Soldier of Conscience – Bradley Manning

December 19, 2011 by Rocky Neptun
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Julia Glover pulls on her knitted gloves, wraps her scarf tighter around her shoulders as the chilly breeze whips through San Diego’s newly named Freedom Plaza. Fixing her eyes grimly on the costumed patrons of the ballet in tuxedos and firs as they line up for the annual Nutcracker presentation at the Civic Theatre, across the square from the Occupy San Diego base camp, she shivered and said sadly, “there they go, the fools of empire, the subsidiaries of the 1 percent, they will never understand, much less appreciate what Bradley Manning did for us.”

From Florida, she was visiting a friend in San Diego and was determined to spend her 68th birthday marching for Pfc. Manning on their shared birthday, December 17th. As she waited for the Saturday march to begin, listening to San Diego Occupiers discuss strategy at their daily General Assembly gathering in the plaza, she commented “we need to occupy Ft. Meade; all of us, thirty or forty thousand from across the nation, marching upon the base, requiring our government to release this young hero.”

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Shameful Iraq War – Based on Bush’s Lies – Is Finally “Over”

December 16, 2011 by Frank Gormlie

The American military’s involvement in Iraq is over, with the formal ending of the engagement being announced yesterday by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at a very low-key ceremony at the Iraqi airport. Attended, by the way, by very few Iraqi politicians and civilian leaders.

This war – which cost 4500 American lives and 32,000 wounded, and over (a conservative estimate) 100,000 dead Iraqis – which forced us to spend $1 trillion, was one of the most shameful periods in modern American history.

This has to be said – as the corporate media, the pundits and politicians declare how proud they are of American combat troops while saying nothing about all the lies that the Bush administration pushed in order to invade that country in March of 2003.

In this celebratory atmosphere – we need to remind ourselves of the lies that got us there.

Lie No. 1: Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction. None were ever found.

Lie No. 2: Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Totally not true.

Lie No. 3: the Iraqis had connections with al Queda. Totally not true.

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Ocean Beach: first San Diego community to call for end to Iraq war – finally gets its demand.

December 16, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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It was the Fall of 2002 and the winds of war were whipping mightily from Washington, DC. President Bush and his cabinet were banging the drums for an attack on Iraq. They had weapons of mass destruction, were tied into the attacks of 9/11 – fresh in the nation’s conscience -, harbored Al Queda terrorists. All lies that everyone now accepts as misrepresentations.

But there were already chants emanating from the citizenry: “no war!” and “Peace now!”

And in Ocean Beach, that cute, little waterfront village of hippies and retirees, several hundred people were marching and rallying – calling for no war, attempting to galvanize their neighbors to join in calls to keep the peace.

The rallies in OB were organized by the Ocean Beach Grassroots Organization (OBGO) – now defunct – but back then, a very vibrant local group that returned grassroots organizing to OB.

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Annual Peace Bazaar in City Heights – Today, Sat. Dec 10th

December 10, 2011 by Staff
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Jane Fonda: The Truth About My Trip to Hanoi

July 25, 2011 by Source
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By Jane Fonda

I grew up during World War II. My childhood was influenced by the roles my father played in his movies. Whether Abraham Lincoln or Tom Joad in the Grapes of Wrath, his characters communicated certain values which I try to carry with me to this day. I remember saying goodbye to my father the night he left to join the Navy. He didn’t have to. He was older than other servicemen and had a family to support but he wanted to be a part of the fight against fascism, not just make movies about it. I admired this about him. I grew up with a deep belief that wherever our troops fought, they were on the side of the angels.

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“I was in a sit-in at UCSD when we heard about the killings at Kent State.”

May 4, 2011 by Source
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Originally posted May 4, 2009.
May 4th, 1970, is forever etched in my brain and memory cells. I was a student at UCSD, and we had just taken over the 5th floor of Urey Hall – a Science building – in protest of the University’s complicity in the Vietnam War, when we heard the bad news from Kent State. It came over a small radio someone had perched on a chair out on the balcony overlooking the Quad. …

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May 4, 1970: ’4 Dead In Ohio’ … We Won’t Forget

May 4, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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May 4, 1970: Four students murdered, nine wounded by National Guardsmen, on the campus of Kent State in Kent, Ohio.

Allison Krause, William Schroeder, Jefferey Miller and Sandra Scheuer were killed in the 13 second fusillade of 67 shots fired by the Guardsmen, after an order to fire was given.

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May 4, 1970 – Kent State: How It’s Connected to OB

May 4, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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(Originally posted May 4, 2010)
I was sitting on my porch this afternoon pondering the meaning of Kent State. I had more tears last year when I wrote a post about it. Yet – here it is – the 40th anniversary. Kent State, hmmm, OB, hmmmm. Something was there.

And then I figured it out! I figured out how Ocean Beach is connected to the Kent State massacre of May 4th, 1970. Or vice versa.

I was in college when it happened. I was attending UCSD and in my senior-year when it all came down. I had been involved in the campus anti-Vietnam movement and was deeply affected by Kent State,

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Osama bin Laden is dead. Get the troops out now!

May 3, 2011 by Staff
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On Sunday night, we learned that U.S. forces killed Osama Bin Laden. After 10 years of war, it’s time to bring the troops home from Afghanistan.

Please sign this petition immediately which will be presented to the White House to begin a swift withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. (Come inside for links to the petition.)

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Giving Young Seekers of Peace and Justice their Due – Mission Bay High, MEChA

April 26, 2011 by Ernie McCray
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Posing in a picture on the desktop of my iMac are some of the most brilliant people I’ve ever known, members of MEChA, a Chicano student organization at Mission Bay High led by Luis Villanueva, a remarkable educator who constantly seeks ways to create learning experiences that are relevant to their lives. Each of them is a budding community leader and exemplary American citizen.

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“We Are One”- Join the Nationwide Day of Action and Solidarity – April 4th

April 3, 2011 by Staff
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On April 4th, We Are One!

Join the Nationwide Day of Action and Solidarity

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life.

SAN DIEGO : Candlelight Solidarity Vigil

6:30pm to 8pm at Civic Center Plaza – 1200 3rd Ave.

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Update on Bradley Manning – alleged source of Wikileaks

April 1, 2011 by Source
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Accused Whistle-blower Now Charged With Capital Offense

By Kathleen Gilberd

Think of yourself as a soldier. Working at a desk job, you see shocking messages, reports and pictures about military activity that seems wrong and sometimes horrifying. And then, one day, you see a video recording of US soldiers laughing as they shoot unarmed civilians from a helicopter.

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Understanding the State of Society on the 8th Anniversary of the War in Iraq

March 23, 2011 by Source
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by Jeoffry Gordon, MD, MPH

Our country is at the edge of a precarious cliff that presents the biggest danger to the survival of our democracy than anything since the Civil War…….Or like Wiley Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons – we may have run off the precipice already – but it just has not yet sunk in. The problem is one of domestic social justice and economics.

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