Letter to the Judge Who Sentenced My Husband to Federal Prison for Protesting Nuclear Weapons
by Michele Naar-Obed. Michele is married to Greg Boertje-Obed who was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison in November 2006 for hammering on the concrete lid covering the missile silo which houses the Minuteman III nuclear missile.
Dear Judge Hovland,
Thank you for making the arrangements for me to visit Greg in jail after you sentenced him to a year and a day in federal prison. The jail officials had been rather adament in their unwillingness to allow me to visit, so your intervention made the visit possible. (more…)
Nov 29, 2006: the Jeremy Scahill video is temporarily unavaible for technical reasons. Thank you for your patience. We will make is available online as soon as possible. - Traprock Peace Center
Annie Hassett (playing guitar) leading “Oh! Freedom” as part of an informal sing at Traprock Peace Center on Woolman Hill, Deerfield. With Sunny Miller (on right, Executive Director of Traprock Peace Center), the late Wally Nelson and Juanita Nelson (on left, esteemed pioneers of the US civil rights and war tax resistance movements) and Jude and Jontz Johnson (in back). Recorded by Charles Jenks, summer 1999. (We don’t have the exact date because an FY2K bug redated all of our photos at that time to January, 2000!)
A true giving of thanks for people of conscience
by Silvia Brandon Pérez
On the eve of the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States, and
while thousands across the land battled each other for yet another
nonsensical and highly expensive toy, I have returned from what I may
characterize as one of the most emotionally and spiritually uplifting events
of my life, and of some 40+ years of activism of one sort or another. (more…)
Martín Espada - poet, essayist, editor and translator, recited his stirring poem - ” Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100″ on May 1, 2006 at the Amherst Common. The rally held there was part of the National Boycott for Immigrant Rights.
This is a slideshow with audio of her stirring talk at Socialism 2006 in NYC on June 24, 2006. This was an emotional talk before a wildly enthusiastic audience, and with her pending sentencing, with a possible 30 year sentence. The place was full and rocking, with over 1100 registrants to the conference.
See more on the Conference, with photos, audio of the entire plenary session, workshops on “The Myth of Humanitarian Intervention” with Jeremy Scahill; “Iraq” Graveyard of US Imperialism” with Annie Zirin and Michael Letwin; and “Soldiers and Famlies Against the War” with Kelly Dougherty, Camilo Mejia, and Pablo Paredes (moderated by Eric Ruder.)
Lynne Stewart was sentenced to 28 monts on October 14th; she is now free pending appeal. Join her at 7 PM Saturday, Dec 9, 2006 at the Judson Memorial Church for “An Ode to Joy and Struggle.” See her website.
Aimee Allison an amazing speaker. She is a veteran, conscientious objector and counter-recruiter, and was a featured speaker at the national counter-recruitment confernece held at UCAL/Berkeley, October 22, 2005. It was jointly sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) and MOOS-Bay (Military Out of Our Schools). Over 650 attended; it was also CAN’s annual national conference.
Led by Anja Daniel (vocals and guitar) and Debbie (dance instruction), with Kate Marks on percussion. Touchstone Farm and Yoga Center, http://www.sacredcircles.com is located in Easthampton, MA. Anja and Debbie lead sacred circle dancing internationally, and led dances and singing at Traprock Peace Center’s annual July 4th picnic (2006).
Ahmed Shawki, Editor in Chief of the International Socialist Review, spoke on the necessity of combining activism and education, practice with theory, and joining with other movements that have shared goals. Citing the the immigrant rights movement, he linked it with working class rights and working class power.
This is a short clip of his speech. He shared the stage with human rights attorney Lynne Stewart; Shujaa Graham, and Nativo López, with moderation by Sherry Wolf. See full details, with photos, audio of the entire rally, and coverage of workshops with Jeremy Scahill, Annie Zirin, Michael Letwin, Kelly Dougherty, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and Eric Ruder.
The musical group Mixed Nuts gave a rousing concert of peace at Traprock on July 4, 2006. This clip features two of their original songs “Walk in Sunshine” and “Golden Rule.”
The accomplished musicians behind Mixed Nuts have distinguished careers in jazz to folk to new world music. They join together as “Mixed Nuts” with music that is enjoyed by the entire family. And the more dancing the better!
Mixed Nuts that day included :
Lynne Meryl - vocals, guitar
(Sunflower seed… nickname “Sunflower”)
David Wertman — Bass
Hazelnut Jones… nickname “Hazelnut”)
Barbara Ween - vocals, percussion
(Barbara Brazilnut…. roll the “r’s”)
Karen Copeland - vocals,congas
(Karen KoKonut…nickname “KoKo”)
John Sprague - flute, congas
(John Almond….nickname “J’almond”)
Zack Danziger - vocals,guitar
(Zack Mackadamia…nickname “Zackademia” …. because he’s a teacher)
Nick Mottern discusses ExxonMobil’s profit mongering from the Iraq War and explains the rationale for the ExxonMobil War Boycott, which was initiated by Consumers for Peace. See the Consumers for Peace website and more resources on the war at Traprock’s website.
Traprock Peace Center
info@traprockpeace.org
413-773-7427
On May 18, 2006 Cindy Sheehan led a delegation of activists and citizens to the White House gates to deliver the Don’t Attack Iran petition, signed by over 42,000 people. Now, over 80.000 people have signed it. Sign it online, and see the list of supporting organizations, at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/iran
Video and audio are copyright Traprock Peace Center and may be posted and aired noncommercially and for non-profit use, with attribution to Traprock as producer and notice to charles@traprockpeace.org. Photos are copyright 2006 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved.
Public awareness of the lies that led to the war and the crimes committed during the war helps build public demand for the troops to come home. Not every committee in Congress can work fulltime on simply ending the war: a legislative process that must be pursued but which will be uphill and subject to veto or signing statement. Many committees in the House and Senate, without taking any energy away from ending the war, can finally conduct the investigations that have gone undone for 6 years, exposing evidence that could very well lead to criminal, civil, or political accountability, as well as pressure to end the war and precedent to help prevent the next war.
Ask your Representative and Senators to conduct investigations. (more…)
This is vintage Scott Ritter. Video quality is poor (2002 afterall, taken with a digital still camera.) Five clips are included; please excuse the poor video quality - it was 2002 afterall. He debunks the claims that Iraq was developing nukes, and the often stated lie that Iraq kicked the inspectors out of Iraq in 1998 (right before the Clinton Administration started the Desert Fox cruise missile bombing campaign. Ritter asked for help in getting called as a witness to the upcoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings. Traprock sent several hundred faxes to John Kerry asking for his assistance (he is on the committee). Sen. Kerry not only wouldn’t have Ritter called, he refused to meet with Ritter or his antiwar constituents before he voted for the war resolution in October, 2002. Sen. Kerry has blood on his hands, as surely as the Bush Administration, in this writer’s opinion (Charlie Jenks). After his vote for war, Kerry locked his constituents out of his WMass office. See more on Kerry’s complicity at http://traprockpeace.org/john_kerry_was_misled.html
And see much more on Scott Ritter at http://traprockpeace.org/scott_ritter.html
You’ll see Traprock’s history with Scott Ritter, which included a national tour before the War Resolution vote, and resources, including audio, video and transcripts.
Video copyright Traprock Peace Center; all rights reserved. For permission to copy or distribute, contact Traprock at charles@traprockpeace.org
Blood-Pouring Anti-Nuke Clowns Sent to Prison: Weapons of Mass Destruction Protected
By Bill Quigley.
Three men protesting the presence of weapons of mass destruction in North Dakota were sentenced to federal prison terms of over three years and ordered to pay $17,000 in restitution by a federal judge in Bismarck. The three dressed as clowns and went to the Echo-9 launch site of the intercontinental Minuteman III nuclear missile in rural North Dakota in June 2006. They broke the lock off the fence and put up peace banners and posters. One said: “Swords into plowshares - Spears into pruning hooks.” They poured some of their own blood on the site, hammered on the nuclear launching facility and waited to be arrested. (more…)
The New Media Offensive for the Iraq War
By Norman Solomon
The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
In the latest media assault, right-wing outfits like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial page are secondary. The heaviest firepower is now coming from the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA — the front page of the New York Times. (more…)
- Bush/Cheney appear benched by Baker/Daddy Bush “Coup”.
- What can we expect from the Baker Iraq Study Group?
- New plans for taming resistance likely to be very bloody.
By Nick Mottern, Director, Consumers for Peace
The removal of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense is being described in the press as a step planned by President George W. Bush even before the Democrats swept both houses of Congress to clear the way for changes in U.S. policy and action in Iraq. It is a step that has raised hopes of less bloodshed and an early return home of U.S. troops. But in spite of Democratic statements calling for quick withdrawal, this hope may not be realized any time soon. (more…)
Robin Hood in Reverse: Corporate and Government Looting of the Gulf Coast
By Bill Quigley. Bill is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He can be reached at Quigley@loyno.edu. If you want to know more, check out www.justiceforneworleans.org and look at the CorpWatch report, “Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast.”
Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor. On the Gulf Coast, the reverse is happening. Federal state and local governments are teaming up with corporations and developers to systematically steal hurricane relief funds from the poor to enrich themselves. (more…)
Joel Geier, Associate Editor of the International Socialist Review, spoke on “Resisting US Empire” at the Midwest Socialism Conference, held at the Universtiy of Illinois at Chicago, 11/04/06.
[Please note: Any audio file may be played or posted with email notice to Traprock at charles@traprockpeace.org and attribution to program speakers and sponsors. Any playing or posting shall include a reference to Traprock having copyright to the audio, or another copyright holder if indicated, with all rights reserved. No programs may be edited or sold without prior written approval of the copyright holder.]
Martín Sanchez, Venezuela’s consul general in Chicago, spoke on “The Struggle for Self-Determination in Venezuela” at the Midwest Socialism Conference, November 4, 2006 at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.