Healing Children of Conflict Hosts Its First Event
A new group committed to healing the wounds of war has formed in West Michigan and will host its first public event. According to their website, Healing Children of Conflict:
“heals families and communities by facilitating medical treatment for children seriously wounded in conflicts involving the United States, and thereby educates others about the root causes of those conflicts. By taking responsibility for healing children with traumatic injuries from war arsenal we seek to spread healing and reconciliation between one community, the war zone, to another—Grand Rapids and West Michigan.”
The group came together after inspiration and conversation that grew out of a visit from Cole Miller, founder of the group No More Victims. No More Victims has been helping Iraqi children who have been wounded as a direct result of US bombing or military attacks.
Healing Children of Conflict is following a similar model and the group decided to assist children from Iraq and children wounded as a result of the most recent Israeli military attacks on Gaza. The group believes that since the US provides $3 billion a year in funding for Israel and many of the weapons used in the attacks are manufactured in and provided by the US that we have an obligation to heal the wounds of this violence.
The Healing Children of Conflict event is a fundraiser and will be held this Thursday, November 5 at 7pm. For details, visit their website at http://www.healingchildrenofconflict.org/home.html
On Sunday the Grand Rapids Press ran a front page story entitled, “All eyes on endgame as war decision looms.” The story, written by Press reporter Ted Roelofs, begins by focusing on a local soldier who was “singled out for bravery last month” in Afghanistan. The soldier’s father is then cited in the article making comments in support of his son.
Roelofs then writes that the upcoming decision to send more troops to Afghanistan “is dividing US citizens and making it difficult for Obama to follow through on goals outlined in his campaign.” Unfortunately for readers, the Press reporter never states what those campaign goals were as it relates to Afghanistan.
The article then provides readers with comments from another military family, Donna & Bob Roush, who think the US should not pull out of Afghanistan. “Those are bad guys over there. I would like the president to take the advice on the ground. I don’t understand this waffling and waiting.” Here the Press reporter doesn’t bother to verify or clarify what is meant by “bad guys over there.”
The reporter then says that, “a majority of Americans either oppose the war or question whether it is worth continuing to wage.” This statement is based on a Washington Post-ABC News poll, but the Press doesn’t tell readers when the poll was taken, nor which questions were asked of those polled. The Press is providing its own poll with three voting options: 1) Add troops and continue counterinsurgency, 2) Maintain current strength, focus on militants along the Pakistan border, or 3) Pull out of Afghanistan entirely. While it is interesting that the Press is conducting its own poll it should be noted that President Obama has said that withdrawal from Afghanistan is not an option.
The rest of the story is devoted to other comments on what the US should do in Afghanistan. Representatives Vern Ehlers and Pete Hoekstra both support send more troops and Senator Carl Levin wants to “see a large increase in the Afghan army be the major way in which this is successful.” We have pointed out in previous postings how Levin’s position supports the US strategy in Afghanistan, but doesn’t agree with some of the tactics.
Another source cited in the story are Mary Alice Williams, an Obama supporter, who said, “the troops should come home.” However, her comments are drowned out by two more comments from pro-military families. One mom says that her son thinks the US should stay in Afghanistan and “we need to be there and get the job done.” A comment from the military parent who lost a son in Afghanistan in August concludes the article by saying, “His buddies want to finish the job. I would like us to see it through.”
This is the first article written by a Press reporter since President Obama took office that deals with the US war in Afghanistan that didn’t just report on troop deaths. However, like most of the reporting we have seen in the Press in recent months, this story does not deal with the real policy issues that will ultimately determine what the current administration will do in Afghanistan, instead it presents numerous claims about should be done with no evidence to support any of the claims, particularly those made by politicians.
Bailed Out Banks are Financing Cluster Bomb Production
A new report from IKV Pax Christi and Netwerk Vlaanderen was recently release that might give more cause for rage directed at US banks. The report is entitled “Worldwide investments in Cluster Munitions: A Shared Responsibility.” One of the more revealing aspects of this report was the fact that some of the US-based banks that were bailout out by taxpayers last year are also financing the production of Cluster Bombs.
The report found that since January 2007 at least 138 financial institutions from 16 different countries have invested in eight producers of cluster munitions. These companies include: Alliant Techsystems ATK (USA), Hanwha (South Korea), L-3 Communications (USA), Lockheed Martin (USA) Poongsan (South Korea), Roketsan (Turkey), Singapore Technologies Engineering (Singapore) and Textron (USA).
Banks and other financial investment companies were found to be involved in the Cluster Munitions industry in three ways:
- Investment banking services to companies producing cluster munitions: HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Merril Lynch, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase provided the largest amount of investment banking services since Jan. 2007
- Loans to companies producing cluster munitions: Twelve of the largest banks provided 58% of the loans. Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays and Goldman Sachs provided the largest amount of loans since Jan. 2007
- Asset management services that invest in companies producing cluster munitions: Fidelity, Vanguard Group, AXA, BlackRock and T Rowe Price Group provided the largest asset management services based on their portfolio (by summer 2009).
The US banks and other financial institutions that benefited from the taxpayer bailout last year and are funding cluster bomb munitions are Goldman Sachs, Merril Lynch, Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase. Many of these same institutions also gave their CEO’s huge bonuses, despite the taxpayer bailout and now it is documented that they are war profiteers as well.
We mentioned in a posting last week about the US use of Cluster Bombs in the occupation of Afghanistan, despite the fact that over half of the world’s nations are signatories to the Convention on Cluster Bombs. As of now, the US is not a signatory to that convention.
Local Artists Host “Day of the Dead” Event
Local artists Alynn Guerra and Brett Colley are hosting an art exhibit and celebration of the traditional Mexican festival, Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead. The art exhibit features small prints from a variety of people who were invited to create a piece for this show.
The Dead End Prints exhibit is this Friday & Saturday
October 30 & 31
5 – 10 PM (both days)
Location: Red Hydrant Press Studios
314 Straight St. SW, Door M, Grand Rapids
Below are three videos we posted that are related to the event.
The first video is a montage of all the prints submitted for the exhibit.
The second video is with Alynn Guerra talking about print making, the use of skeletons in her work and the Mexican tradition of print making.
The third video is with Brett Colley talking about the Dead End Prints event, print making and the Day of the Dead, and some of the themes represented in the prints that work submitted for this exhibit.
The Grand Rapids Press and the Afghanistan Narrative
On Wednesday, the Grand Rapids Press ran a front-page story from the Associated Press that dealt with the ongoing debate in Washington about whether or not the US should increase troop levels in Afghanistan.
The article is framed with the assumption that what the US and NATO military commanders are doing is to bring more stability to that country. Troop levels should increase, the reporter writes, is because there is a growing Taliban insurgency. However, nowhere in the story does it question whether or not the Taliban’s growing influence is a result of the eight-year US/NATO occupation.
The article does cite to counter-insurgency experts, Andrew Bacevich from Boston University and Ljubomir Stojadinovic, a military analyst from Serbia. The comments from both experts are vague, which is unfortunate, since Bacevich has very clear analysis of why increasing US troops levels would be problematic. Recently, Bacevich was sourced as saying:
Implementing the McChrystal plan will perpetuate the longstanding fundamentals of US national security policy: maintaining a global military presence, configuring US forces for global power projection, and employing those forces to intervene on a global basis. The McChrystal plan modestly updates these fundamentals to account for the lessons of 9/11 and Iraq, cultural awareness and sensitivity nudging aside advanced technology as the signature of American military power, for example. Yet at its core, the McChrystal plan aims to avert change. Its purpose – despite 9/11 and despite the failures of Iraq – is to preserve the status quo. . . .
If the president assents to McChrystal’s request, he will void his promise of change at least so far as national security policy is concerned. The Afghanistan war will continue until the end of his first term and probably beyond. It will consume hundreds of billions of dollars. It will result in hundreds or perhaps thousands more American combat deaths – costs that the hawks are loath to acknowledge.
As the fighting drags on from one year to the next, the engagement of US forces in armed nation-building projects in distant lands will become the new normalcy. Americans of all ages will come to accept war as a perpetual condition, as young Americans already do. That “keeping Americans safe” obliges the United States to seek, maintain, and exploit unambiguous military supremacy will become utterly uncontroversial.
The Press version of the article also omits roughly two-thirds of the original AP story. In addition, there is a box embedded in the article that directs readers to an additional story with the heading, “US officials say militants trying to scare Afghans from voting.” This article affirms the premise that whatever problems confront Afghanistan civil society is due to the behavior of the Taliban and continues a narrative that supports current US policy, which is the same conclusion we came to with a recent 100-day study.
Republic Windows & Doors Workers at GVSU
Last night, union members from Chicago who were involved in the Republic Windows & Doors factory occupation, spoke at GVSU’s downtown campus. Armando, one of the representatives who participated in the occupation, spoke briefly about what happened. He talked about how the company was moving equipment out of the factory and some semi-trailers were hauling equipment outside of Chicago in November of last year and that it what tipped them off to the threat of the factory being closed.
People began to talk and the labor union (UE) suggested that an occupation might be a good strategy. 270 workers appeared the day they decided to occupy the plant. They asked for volunteers to take on certain tasks and discussed the risks involved. Next they went to Bank of America, the bank that had told the company they would not provide any more loans or credit. The workers asked for an extension of the credit to keep the factory open and Bank of America said no, despite the fact that they received $15 Billion in the government bailout.
The workers received thousands of letters and e-mails and roughly 3,000 different people came to bring food and provide support to the workers during the occupation. After six days they won their demands and received back pay, holiday and vacation pay.
Once the occupation was over they began to think, “What could we do after the occupation?” They began doing research about doing research in the area to determine where they might want to organize workers who were also as vulnerable as they were. Abe Mwaura, another organizer from Chicago, asked the audience where their cell phones made and most responded “China.” Abe then asked how these products came to the US. He said after the products are shipped to the US, most of it get sent to warehouses on the west coast or Chicago. In fact, Abe said that 65% of train freight in the US goes through Chicago. He also said there were 100,000 warehouse workers in Chicago alone.
So the UE started doing outreach this year to speak with warehouse workers, most of them temp workers, with a majority being Latina women. Many of these workers make less than minimum wage, have work injuries but don’t ask for help, either because they don’t know their rights or out of fear of deportation. Abe shared the story of one woman who was 6 months pregnant while working in a warehouse. She asked to be moved and they refused. She was sent to the hospital where they induced childbirth and 2 days later the child died. Abe asked those in the audience if their cheap cell phones were worth the price of this dead child?
Organizing warehouse workers in the Chicago area seems to be their next major project. Abe and Armando said this is an opportunity to organize workers and to create a new economy. “Imagine,” Abe said, “if workers in a Wal-Mart warehouse began an occupation just weeks before Christmas demanding change, what impact would that have on the country?”
The workers said that they will have a website up soon at warehouseworkers.org and they encouraged people to get involved in labor struggles locally and build solidarity for more actions like the Republic Windows & Doors occupation.
Afterwards we were able to interview Abe Mwaura. The interview is in two parts.
Media Bites – Froot Loops & Child Marketing
This week’s Media Bites takes a look at a recent Kellogg’s Froot Loops commercial, where children are used to market the sugar cereal as a healthy choice. We look at the actual ingredients listed in the cereal and discuss the growing trend of using kids to sell products, a theme that is explored in the documentary Consuming Kids.
The GR Press, Green and Grassroots?
On the front page of Sunday’s Grand Rapids Press the headline read, “From the Grass Roots: It’s Up to Advocates to Fund Green Initiatives.” The article by reporter Jim Harger tells the public that while the City of Grand Rapids is getting ready to finish up with its revised Master Plan, there is no money for some of its “Green” initiatives.
The first section of the article cites the new City Manager Greg Sundstrom who says the city has no money to implement the recommendations that came out of the Green Gathering meetings hosted by the City of Grand Rapids. Also cited in the first part of the article is one of the Green Grand Rapids Committee members Jack Hoffman. Hoffman thinks that the volunteers in this effort can create a “Green Power movement.”
The rest of article is a summary of the six areas that Green Grand Rapids has identified; bicycling, local water, local parks, the Grand River, urban trees and local food.
Bicycling is the first theme presented and the Press story tells readers that the demand for more bike paths has resulted in a Bike Summit and a local bike coalition, but there are no plans offered on how the City will become more bike-friendly. The section ends with City Planner Suzanne Schulz saying, “A design team that reviews all city street projects will make sure bicycles are considered.” Not exactly a clear commitment.
The section on Parks and Recreation cites Steve Faber, the Executive Director of Friends of Grand Rapids Parks. Faber states that for the City to protect the existing urban green space “This is going to take an investment from private and public dollars to make this dream come true.” The organization asks people to spend time in the parks, participate in park clean ups and to contribute money.
There are two sections that deal with water, one specifically for the Grand River and the other for local streams and water runoff. The focus of this section is on efforts to make the river more accessible for Kayakers and cites someone with the group Grand Rapids Whitewater. The group is focused on recreation and not on improving the water quality of the Grand River.
The other water section deals with contributing streams and storm water runoff. The West Michigan Environmental Action Council is sourced in this section, since the group makes local stream projects a priority. WMEAC does stream clean ups, education and some stream restoration such as planting trees near streams. Nothing was mentioned about the current condition of the streams and whether or not local industry contributes to contamination.
WMEAC is also the lead group for the urban forestry section. The article cites a member of the Urban Forestry Committee about the importance of protecting and expanding trees. “Green Grand Rapids wants the City to add 500 trees a year plus replace the ash trees that die.” However, there is no information about how this will happen and if there is any money available. The article does provide a link to the Save Your Ash Campaign, but that link does not include information on how saving trees or planting trees will be funded.
The last section to be dealt with is local food. The emphasis here is on the need to have more community gardens and local farmers markets. Some ideas are listed in the article but the only concrete plan seems to be to have a year-round farmers market downtown that is being spearheaded by a group called Grand Action. Grand Action was founded by local businessman such as John Canepa, David Frey and Dick DeVos. This “non-profit development group” was behind the construction of the arena and the convention center. Here the reporter doesn’t ask any questions about whether or not the effort to bring a year-round farmers market to downtown Grand Rapids would benefit the downtown business community primarily, particularly the friends of DeVos, Canepa and Frey.
While there is certainly a great deal to be done to make Grand Rapids a more sustainable community, the Grand Rapids Press needs to do a better job at investigating the claims made by such efforts as Green Grand Rapids in order for residents to be better informed about what is really being done in their name.
Workers to Talk About Factory Occupation This Tuesday
Several members of UE Local 1110 in Chicago will be in grand Rapids this Tuesday to speak about their historic factory occupation from last December.
260 workers occupied the factory of Republic Windows and Doors where it was announced that they would not only lose their jobs, but their severance pay as well. The workers defied the law and convention union practice and thought that an occupation of the factory was their only recourse. After nearly a week-long occupation, the company was forced to concede.
Members of the Republic Windows and Doors will share their story and show a documentary about the occupation at an event that is FREE and open to the public.
Tuesday, October 27
7pm
GVSU Downtown Campus – Loosemore Auditorium
WOOD Radio Posts News Story that Promotes Station’s Programming
On Friday, WOOD Radio News aired a story the essentially promotes some of the syndicated shows the Clear Channel owned station hosts.
WOOD Radio reporter Rod Kackley, using an October 22 story on Politico.com, interviewed GVSU political science professor Erika King. Kackley wanted King to respond to the Politico story which made the claim that the “flamboyant rhetoric and angry tone” of talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck could be a liability for the Republican Party.
King thinks that people who tune in to listen to Limbaugh, Beck and others will not negatively impact financial donations to the GOP. “Those are people who frequently listen to the talk radio and television shows, and really are enthused and fired up by those commentators.”
This comment by King is followed by other comments, which downplay the issued raised by the Politico article and focuses instead on partisan strategy. “For half of the election campaign you really need the base. For the second half of the campaign, the general election, you need to reach out beyond the base.”
The issue that Politico was raising has to do with the ongoing and consistent incendiary language used by talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Beck and Michael Savage. Researchers like Rory O’Connor have documented the content of numerous syndicated talk show hosts and have concluded that they engage in “hate speech.”
So not only does WOOD Radio news avoid discussing a serious issue like hate speech, they use the story as an opportunity to promote their own programming.
