[pjw] REPORT BACK: Fracturing principles: Friday rally #163 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again peaceful people

At this week's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice, six of us rallied and 
seven marched. The weather was mild and expected rain didn't start until 
about 1/2 hour after we were done. We had some support from drivers and 
pedestrians, but everything seemed kind of muted. I think about 30 fact 
sheets were handed out. I will make a fact sheet count before Tuesday's 
IAG meeting and report it out here next week. One driver slowed down to 
record us on their cell phone (hmm, no comment here on the questionable 
safety/legal issues) and so the consequent horn honk was to get them to 
move out of the way. And there's no way to know if they were recording to 
say "wow, this is great," "what is wrong with these people?" or "here you 
go, FBI, here are the dissidents."

So what did we talk about?

--The US has denied involvement in a drone strike on Kremlin. But then 
again they said Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction so do you believe 
them?

  https://tass.com/world/1613619

--OK, so correct me if I'm wrong but NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization. That's probably why no Asian countries have ever housed an 
office for NATO. Until now, when Japan will be opening one. On the 
PACIFIC. Part of the "pivot" and general acceleration of WW III.

  https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/NATO-to-open-Japan-office-deepening-Indo-Pacific-engagement

--The US is sending troops to the border. While this article refers 
obliquely to the posse comitatus act prohibiting the use of American 
troops on US soil, it doesn't sit right to militarize the humanitarian 
issues of migration, particularly when it's transparently for politics.

  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-us-troops-border-migration-title-42/

--While it's good not to support countries run by their military (or 
fighting over which militia rules), we know that blanket sanctions on a 
country end up hurting ordinary people. Yet President Biden has ok'd a 
wide range of sanctions against Sudan.

  https://archive.is/OBfeM
  https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/biden-signs-executive-order-to-levy-sanctions-related-to-sudan-crisis-d8d2c3fc

--In Britain, even though the military claimed the Depleted Uranium 
they're sending to Ukraine can't cause cancer, courts there strongly 
disagree and found that the radioactive material is harmful.

  https://declassifieduk.org/depleted-uranium-courts-accept-cancer-risk-denied-by-army/

--Several Arab nations met in another step toward finding a solution to 
Syria's 12-year-long "civil" war. This discussion is an outgrowth of 
China's mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The US isn't interested 
in talking, they just want to protect the oil fields.

  https://apnews.com/article/syria-jordan-arab-saudi-meeting-ac313e450f9e8b77c9d05d1b321dce28

---Also in Syria, a US drone strike killed a sheep herder. A real menace 
to society, I'm sure.

  https://www.syriahr.com/en/297946/?doing_wp_cron=1683161876.6174941062927246093750

--A lot of hullabaloo happened when Iran captured a Kuwaiti oil tanker, 
but less-mentioned is this followed the US capturing a tanker full of 
Iranian oil.

  https://archive.is/KeKNo
  https://www.ft.com/content/8781270a-bcdb-440f-9cfa-305cdc101cdf

--Iran's Ayatollah Khameni said this week that even one American in 
Iraq is too many. The Iraqi government did not respond by expelling the 
2500 troops who are still there, but there's still time.

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/29/even-one-american-in-iraq-is-too-many-irans-khamenei-says

--This week as the White House correspondents dinner. President Biden told 
the crowd that journalism is not a crime. As this article points out, he 
seems to have forgotten to express his support for Julian Assange or 
Shireen Abu Akleh.

  https://news.antiwar.com/2023/05/02/biden-says-journalism-is-not-a-crime-as-he-seeks-assanges-extradition/

In local news, our "esteemed" Mayor Ted Wheeler is proposing to add $5 
million to the police budget to hire 43 more police, even though there are 
about 100 officers who have not been fully trained at the state academy 
and are thus not on the streets yet. Maybe try waiting to see if those 
cops' presence make a difference before spending more money on local 
military?

  https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/05/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-unveils-71b-budget-to-address-communitys-most-pressing-challenges.html

Also yesterday marked 20 years since Officer Scott McCollister shot and 
killed Kendra James at a traffic stop. After they arrested the three other 
people in the car, James feared for her safety and jumped into the 
driver's seat. McCollister grabbed her by the hair (her wig), shot her as 
the car moved forward (and he was beside it), then thought she was 
"faking" as she lay bleeding to death. He was suspended for 180 days but 
had his job reinstated by an arbitrator.

  http://www.portlandcopwatch.org/james.html

Along the march route I gave two headlines about Israel/Palestine:

1) An Israeli airstrike killed at least one man in Gaza.

  https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestinians-agree-ceasefire-gaza-bombardment

2) Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes is up 46% from a year ago, 
with 290 buildings torn down already this year. And what is the US doing? 
Continuing to send financial aid.

  https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-razed-290-palestinian-properties-so-far-2023-un

As we got toward the end of the route, I talked about an article I read 
saying that global military spending is at least $2.24 trillion, money the 
author notes should be spend to rebuild health care systems and address 
our environmental catastrophe.

  https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/surge-in-global-military-spending-is-squeezing-funds-from-health-and-climate-fight-amid-a-worsening-debt-crisis/ar-AA1ay7EL

In an abundance of caution against bad vibes nobody said anything about 
the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign, yet the power shut off just a few 
steps onto the block by the Gucci store. It flickered back on at the 
march's endpoint, as it sometimes does.

The World Health Organization says COVID is no longer an "emergency" but 
is still a threat. Six people I know have had COVID in the last month, so 
it's still out there. Thursday will be the end of the emergency in the US. 
We'll continue to consider our policies at PJW, but it's sobering that 
over 3500 people died worldwide last week (meaning nearly 200,000 could 
die this year). So remember to be cautious.

If you're up for it, feel free to come down any Friday at 5 PM and we'll 
be there-- heads up, though: Next week we will wrap up a little early so I 
can get to the Keaton Otis annual vigil, this time marking 13 years since 
he was killed by the Portland Police.

peace
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group