OMNI
PEACE FORCES DAY (ARMED
FORCES DAY) NEWSLETTER #4, May 20, 2017 3RD
Saturday of May.
Compiled by Dick
Bennett for a Culture of Peace.
(#1 May 21, 2011; #2
May 19, 2012; #3 May 18, 2013).
OMNI NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL D A Y S
PROJECT
http://omnicenter.org/donate/
What’s at stake.
I devote many
newsletters to US militarism and imperialism.
The catastrophe of the enormous US military reminds us of the ten years of the Nazi Wehrmacht (the unified armed
forces of Nazi
Germany from 1935 to 1945--the Heer/army,
the Kriegsmarine/navy, and the Luftwaffe/air force); four years of preparation,
six years of shock and awe conquering Europe, N. Africa, and much of the USSR. The US invasion of Afghanistan
has lasted 16 years, the invasion and occupation of Iraq fifteen—veritably unceasing
wars, now covering the planet in a so-called War Against (of) Terrorism to
justify six global military Commands, 800 military bases abroad, 10 carrier
battle groups, large-scale killing and torturing, and an annual budget now near
a trillion dollars not spent on US and global urgent human needs.
“Since 9-11,” Tom Engelhardt
writes, a “theocratic warrior class” has developed in the US, “a religion of
perpetual conflict whose doctrines tend to grow ever more extreme. . . . whose
purpose is to carry out a Washington-based version of global jihad, a perpetual
war in the name of the true faith.” (Shadow Government, 7).
The German people have been
criticized for keeping silent. We must
speak out, lest we deserve the same criticism.
( However, climate catastrophe
precedes all this in priority, let’s not forget, since the potential damage to
the planet from warming exceeds that of
wars even when endless, because US Empire is only one
though probably the major single source of CO2 and warming. .See the many newsletters and OMNI
activities committed to resistance to warming. )
We are not defenseless, unless
we choose not be a part of the peace, justice, and ecology movement.
Contents: Peace Forces Day Newsletter #4
President Trump’s
Proclamation and “Rebuilding” the Armed Services
Rebuild? Jeffrey Sachs, A $900 Billion Budget
Restore? Mittelstadt, Military Welfare Unprecedented
De-Celebrating
Armed Forces: OMNI Countering National and International Days for Violence and
War
OMNI’s Peace
Force: Selected Newsletters
Distinguishing 3 of the Many Days Celebrating
Armed Violence
Memorial Day is the day we memorialize
and celebrate those who died in military service for the United States.
Veterans Day we celebrate those who previously served in the
United States military.
Armed Forces Day (3rd
Saturdays of May) we celebrate those currently serving
in the United States military.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/.../president-donald-j-trump-proclaims-third-saturday-ea...
6 days ago - On Armed Forces Day, we salute the bravery of
those who defend our ... Because our Armed Forces must constantly adapt to new
threats, our ...
Trump’s Vow to Rebuild Military
BY MAX GREENWOOD. The
Hill, 05/20/17
247
Vice President Pence
marked Armed Forces Day Saturday by
touting the Trump administration's commitment to "rebuild" the U.S.
military.
"I'm just here on
President Trump's behalf, while he's on the other side of the world, simply to
say thank you," Pence said to a crowd at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
in Dayton, Ohio.
"I want to assure you, President Donald Trump is
fighting tirelessly every day, and we will rebuild our military, restore the
arsenal of democracy and we will, once again as a nation, give our soldiers,
sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard the resources and training you deserve
to accomplish your mission and come home safe."
REBUILDING? RESTORE?
JEFFREY SACHS: “…what we really spend on the military. We have another
$60 billion on addition to the $600 billion of the Pentagon. That is the
intelligence agencies. We have Homeland Security. We have military expenses
hidden in the Department of Energy. Of course, we have the incredible costs,
the human damage and health in the Veterans Administration. If you add it all
up, it’s probably closer to $900 billion
a year. It completely swamps everything else that we’re doing right now.
And now [Trump is] going to add on top of that [$54 billion more for the wars]—and
propose tax cuts for rich people and for corporations. From Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
UNPRECEDENTED WELFARE ALREADY
The Rise of the Military Welfare State
Jennifer Mittelstadt. Harvard UP, 2015.
Since the end of the draft, the
U.S. Army has prided itself on its patriotic volunteers who heed the call to
“Be All That You Can Be.” But beneath the recruitment slogans, the army promised
volunteers something more tangible: a social safety net including medical and
dental care, education, child care, financial counseling, housing assistance,
legal services, and other privileges that had long been reserved for career
soldiers. The Rise of the Military Welfare State examines how
the U.S. Army’s extension of benefits to enlisted men and women created a military welfare system of unprecedented
size and scope.
And the Pentagon
Propaganda Godzilla never stops: google Armed Forces Day and continue clicking
on “Next”.
But
there is a peace movement in the US, and Arkansas has OMNI and in Little Rock
ACPJ.
This
newsletter continues OMNI’s NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS PROJECT.
Half of the Project affirms nonviolent DAYs, such as Human Rights Day,
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The other
half offers alternatives to violent, imperial, or generally misdirected days,
as with the following:
Feb. 14:
Standing on the Side of Love Day (formerly commercialized Valentine’s
Day)
May,
2nd Sunday: Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day for Peace (Mother’s Day
another Day drowned in advertising)
3rd Sat. in
May: Peace Forces Day (Armed Forces Day)
May,
last Monday: Day of Mourning for Victims
of Wars (Memorial Day)
June
14: Liberty
June,
3rd Sunday: Father’s Day for
Peace (Father’s Day)
September
11 (9-11): Peaceful Tomorrows Day
(Patriot Day)
Oct., 2nd Monday: Indigenous People of the
Americas Day (Columbus Day)
Nov.
11: World Unity Day (Veterans Day) (Or
Armistice Day in 1918 when WWI ended).
November:
Fourth Thursday: National Day of
Gratitude and Atonement (Thanksgiving)
December
7: Pacific Colonial War Day (Pearl Harbor Day)
December
25: Love, Giving, and Peacemaking Day
(Christmas)
EXAMPLES OF OMNI’S PEACE FORCE: selected newsletters
Activism Newsletter:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2011/06/activism-and-activists-for-peace.html
Islam Peacemaking Newsletter:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/03/islam-peacemaking.html
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/03/islam-peacemaking.html
Nonviolence and Pacifism Newsletter:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2012/12/nonviolence-and-pacifism-newsletter-6.html
Refugees Newsletter:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/04/omni-refugees-newsletter-3.html
May Day/ International Workers Day:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2014/04/may-day-un-international-workers-day.html
Empathy, Compassion:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2013/11/empathy-compassion-newsletter-1.html
Nuclear Weapons Abolition:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2014/07/nuclear-weapons-abolition-newsletter-20.html
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2013/06/nuclear-abolition-day-june-2-2013.html
Constitution
Day:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2008/09/omnis-constitution-day.html
Women’s Equality:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2014/08/womens-equality-day-august-26-2014.html
Social, Economic
Restorative Justice:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2013/07/social-economic-restorative-justice.html
Anti-war:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/12/anti-war-newsletter-5.html
Economic Justice:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2014/01/us-economicsocial-justice-newsletter-6.html
Wikileaks:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2011/02/wikileaks-6.html
Marshall
Islands Nuclear Zero Lawsuits:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2015/03/nuclear-victims-and-survivors.html
United Nations:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/03/united-nations-achievements.html
War Prevention:
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2011/02/causes-and-prevention-of-wars.html
Family Planning/Population:
Contents #3 May 18, 2013
Truthtelling is Peacemaking
Dick, Deceiving
the Troops
IVAW Organizing
for Manning and Truth
Rachel Maddow, Drift , US
Permanent War from VN to Afghanistan
Nick Turse, Vietnam
Jeremy Scahill,
Dirty Wars (book and film), US Covert
Wars
PEACEMAKERS
Lennon/Ono
Grant for Peace
Beller and Chase,
20th Century (mainly recent) Peacemakers
DeBenedetti, 20th Century Peacemakers
Salim Ali and Peace Parks
Mairead
Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
OMNI’s National
Days Project
END OMNI PEACE FORCES DAY NEWSLETTER #4, May 20, 2017
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