Thursday, May 25, 2017

OMNI PEACE FORCES DAY #4, MAY 20, 2017

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
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 and Justice for All Day (Flag Day)
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
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: Kill Anything That Moves
Orange, From Vietnam War to Kent State
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
Lanza del Vasto, France’s Gandhi
OMNI’s National Days Project



END OMNI PEACE FORCES DAY NEWSLETTER #4, May 20, 2017

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