Text Fwd: Kennebec dredging prompts renewed river classification questions

* Text fwd by Bruce Gagnon on May 7, 2011 with the words that

"Here is a story from our local paper about the conflict over dredging the river at BIW for the Aegis warships. Lots of environmental consequences info that might be useful to you all on Jeju."
_____________________________________
http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/05/06/news/doc4dc414caaa4d7355961617.txt
Kennebec dredging prompts renewed river classification questions
By Seth Koenig, Times Record Staff
Published:
Friday, May 6, 2011 2:09 PM EDT

PHIPPSBURG — Lawmakers, shellfish harvesters, environmentalists, shipbuilders and Navy sailors are among the vast number of stakeholders waiting to see whether a study of the Kennebec River bottom later this month shows sufficient depth for a destroyer to sail away from Bath Iron Works.

Wide-ranging controversy surrounds a proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the channel this August to make way for the departure of the DDG-111 USS Spruance in early September.

Phippsburg clammers and local environmentalists argue that the summer dumping of dredge spoils in the river will devastate area clam flats, while fishing guides and seasonal business owners expressed concerns that the loud, unsightly process will scare away tourists at a time of year crucial for their businesses.

Bath Iron Works and Navy officials counter that the livelihoods of thousands of shipbuilders depend on their ability to keep the channel deep enough for ship departures and that the impacts of the dredging project on the ecosystem will be less severe than opponents claim.

Debate over whether the summer dredging should be allowed — dredging has long been permitted during winter months, when riparian wildlife and businesses are less active — has given way to a larger battle over the official water quality rating of the Kennebec.

Where the debate goes from here hinges, in part, on the outcome of the Army Corps’ proposed hydrographic survey of the river near Doubling Point around May 20. If the buildup of river-bottom sand recently seen as jeopardizing the warship’s departure has been naturally washed away by swells that come with spring runoff, pressure to dredge will lessen.

“The shoaling — especially at Doubling Point — is somewhat unpredictable,” William Kavanaugh, of the Army Corps of Engineers, told The Times Record. “Our plan is to survey the channel around the middle of May to determine to what extent the runoff has affected the shoaling. There is a possibility that the runoff has completely dispersed the shoaling. However, given what we’ve heard about there being a lesser snowpack on the mountains this year, we have to err on the side of caution and proceed as if there is still shoaling that we have to address.”

SA or SB

Members of the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted this week to table discussion of LD 1398 pending the outcome of the Army Corps’ research.

Included in the language of LD 1398, an omnibus bill proposing a multitude of tweaks to Maine Department of Environmental Protection rules and designations, is what department officials describe as a clarification of the river classification.

Opponents of the move deem it a “reclassification.” The standoff on verbiage is rooted in a disagreement over what state environmental regulators 20 years ago intended when they most recently classified the waters in the area.

Department of Environmental Protection officials say their predecessors intended for the waters of the Kennebec to be Class SB waters, and the language in LD 1398 aims to codify that interpretation.

Representatives of several local groups — including the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and Phippsburg Shellfish Committee — believe the waters in question have always been the more restrictively regulated Class SA waters, in which the discharge of dredging spoils would be illegal.

“Our position is that what we are doing in LD 1398 is a correction,” Patricia Aho, deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, told The Times Record. “We believe that the intent in 1989 and 1990, based on the documentation and testimony we have, was to make the waters in the Popham Beach area SA, and going upriver, SB. And if you look at how the department has been managing the river over the past several years, it’s obvious the department has always considered this area SB.”

Jon Fitzgerald, vice president and general counsel for BIW, agreed, telling The Times Record that the shipyard has done almost annual dredging projects of smaller scales than what’s being proposed at Doubling Point, and state regulators have routinely dealt with the projects as though the waters are Class SB.

Department documents clearly indicate that tidal waters east of longitude 69-degrees-50-minutes-05-seconds west, and west of longitude 69-degrees-47-minutes-00-seconds west — a stretch that spans the ocean face of Popham Beach — are Class SA waters.

The documents do not include latitudinal boundaries for the Class SA patch, however, and if the east-west parameters are extended infinitely in the north-south directions, the encompassed waters would include the Phippsburg side of the Kennebec. Steve Hinchman, an attorney representing the opponents of the August dredging project, said that’s what state officials had in mind when they drafted the documents in 1990.

“(If followed upriver, the SA water boundaries) capture high value clam flats on the western shore of the river, and since that designation was made, those have been cleaned up,” Hinchman said. “Consistent with the SA designation, Phippsburg has gone out and prohibited overboard discharges in these waters. To them, it’s very important. It’s an important piece of maintaining and protecting the natural resource based economy. When you dump in the river, it buries clam flats and lobster traps, and leaves spoils washing up on the shores.”

Bob Cummings, a longtime member of the Phippsburg Shellfish Committee and a former town selectman, recalled the time period in which the water classifications were established by state regulators.

“As a board 20 years ago, selectmen ... strongly urged the upgrading of the river to SA,” Cummings wrote in testimony prepared last month for the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee. “Now we are being told, belatedly, that the reclassification was just a mistake, a mistake so heinous that it doesn’t even warrant having the DEP board follow the state law that requires public hearings in or near the communities affected by water classification changes.”

BIW’s Fitzgerald countered that the eastern longitude provided in the 20-year-old documents intersects with a bar of land reaching into the mouth of the river, creating a natural northern boundary and rendering a state latitudinal boundary unnecessary. In documentation describing water classifications elsewhere in the state, Fitzgerald said, the language clearly refers to “tidal waters of the river” when the intention is to include waters upriver as well.

Such a reference is missing regarding the Kennebec, he said. Seemingly undisputed in the debate over LD 1398 is the fact that the Georgetown side of the river flows with waters classified as SB.

“It would be illogical, if not impossible, to manage a river where one side is SA and one side is SB,” Aho said.

To the river go the spoils

The decision before the legislative committee is whether to endorse the omnibus bill as is, cementing the waters in question as Class SB waters, or to pull that issue from the bill and debate it as part of separate legislation.

Hinchman said that even if the Phippsburg side of the Kennebec is ultimately declared to be SB, opponents of the in-river dredging disposal have a legal argument on their side. He said studies show the water quality on both sides of the river to reach SA standards, begging the question of whether the river waters can legally be considered anything less.

Hinchman added that even in Class SB waters, activity deemed detrimental to the environment is prohibited.

“There are valid arguments you can’t dump in class SB waters, and we’re going to make those arguments,” Hinchman said. “There’s nothing good to be gained by this ‘clarification,’ only harm. The time has come to stop dumping dredge spoils in the middle of the river. It keeps the channel open, but it drives out all the other uses, and that’s not fair.”

Even the question of whether dredging is detrimental to the environment is contested.

The proposed August dredging project involves moving 70,000 cubic yards of sediment from spots near Doubling Point and Popham Beach, and depositing the spoils off the shore of Popham Beach at a location known as Jackknife Ledge, as well as in-river at a site along the so-called Kennebec Narrows.

In speaking with The Times Record, Fitzgerald echoed a statement made by the Army Corps’ Kavanaugh at a Feb. 24 public hearing on the dredging project held in Phippsburg, saying that more than 98 percent of the dredging spoils is made up of sand — not the thicker sediment believed to be most detrimental to maturing shellfish populations.

Dredging, said Fitzgerald, has a similar effect on the river water as a heavy rainstorm, which temporarily kicks up sand, but has little longterm effect.

Stephen Dickson, a geologist with the Maine Department of Conservation, wrote in an email to a colleague that disposing of the dredge spoils in-river would likely be favorable to transporting the material offshore or bringing it upland. He wrote that the river-bottom sands following the water flow naturally replenish the sandy Popham Beach at the mouth of the Kennebec.

“Permanent removal of large volumes of sand from portions of the river near Bath could possibly affect Popham Beach in the future,” Dickson wrote, in part. “Disposal of sand within the Kennebec River is certain to avoid and minimize long-term beach impacts.”

Hinchman acknowledged Dickson’s argument, but argued it’s one thing for the sands to be carried to the beach by natural means, and another for humans to recreate the process unnaturally.

“Their idea is that you need to keep the dredge spoils in the river to replenish the beach,” Hinchman said. “But what dredging does is artificially creates those conditions on clean, non-high weather days. You’re essentially taking the normally clean-water month of August and turning it into a particularly nasty and stormy March, according to the water quality conditions. The problem with dredging is it overloads the system. You’re taking one of the cleanest months of the year from a water quality perspective and making it one of the dirtiest.”

Navy perspective

Cmdr. Tate Westbrook, commanding officer of DDG-111, said even if the Army Corps’ hydrographic survey reports that the sand buildup receded, he hopes the dredging project will continue on as planned.

He said even sailed away as light as possible, the destroyer will need 29 feet of water depth to get out of the river. Without the troublesome shoaling observed recently at Doubling Point, Westbrook said the channel there has an average depth of about 27 feet. The highest of high tides adds between six or seven feet, which allows Navy warships to pass.

“Until I see a dredge in the river at that spot, I will continue to be concerned,” Westbrook said.

When the DDG-111 navigated out to the Atlantic Ocean on a previous occasion for sea trials, Westbrook said ship operators observed a sonar depth between the bottom of the 9,000-ton destroyer and the river floor to be two feet. That’s way too close for comfort, he said.

“I would characterize the Kennebec River transit as one of the most challenging navigation details one would be asked to do in the Navy,” Westbrook told The Times Record. “Compared to other transits going into foreign or domestic ports or Navy ports around the world, the twists and turns make it already one of the most challenging navigation details we might face.

“The concern is that anything shallower than 29 feet, and we’ll touch bottom,” he continued. “Touching bottom is bad. I’m the captain of a $1 billion asset, and I’m in charge of 275 sailors’ lives, and safely getting the ship down the river and protecting the environment is first and foremost in my mind.”

Westbrook described himself as an “environmentalist” and acknowledged that “the last thing I want to do is mess up somebody’s fishery.”

But he said rolling the dice with shallow water — or by navigating the ship in deeper waters to the east of the federally designated channel, but closer to the shore, as some have suggested — risks an even greater environmental disaster than the dredging project is claimed to be.

“The one thing that hasn’t been discussed is a situation where I’m steaming down the river in my ship in a nonstandard, abnormal and high risk (condition), and I’m transiting that much closer to a rock bottom,” Westbrook said. “If, God forbid, I happen to touch bottom not on a soft sandy spot, but a sharp granite spot, and that rips open the hull plating of my ship, it’s no longer just speculation about the environmental impact. Who knows what the public impression would be if 500 gallons, 1,000 gallons or 10,000 gallons of fuel are discharged into the river following a grounding?”

Solutions?

While all eyes will be on the Army Corps’ hydrographic survey later this month, the battle over the designated water classification of the Kennebec River, and whether the disposal of in-river dredge spoils should ever be allowed again, will likely press on regardless of the results.

The urgency with which that battle is waged may be lessened if the Army Corps decides the proposed August dredging is not needed.

Ed Friedman, president of the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay, hopes the question of whether the eastern Kennebec is Class SA or SB can be discussed without the looming deadline of an August dredge.

“We are not here to argue against dredging, but to suggest all parties could have their objectives met through a series of project changes to be made outside of this legislation and without the proposed (classification) downgrade,” he wrote in testimony submitted to the Natural Resources Committee.

Among the variables at play are the levels at which the dredging takes place — could an amount less than 70,000 cubic yards, but enough to get the DDG-111 through, be removed, Friedman pondered recently — and where the spoils are dumped. Hinchman suggested using an approved dredge disposal site off the coast of Portland in the immediate future to avoid any damage to clam flats and lobster traps.

For the Army Corps and BIW, the costs associated with either of the two suggestions are problematic.

Kavanaugh told attendees of the Feb. 24 public hearing that it’s not cost-effective for the Army Corps to move the dredging equipment to Maine for multiple small dredging jobs, compared to one project which will deepen the channel for several years. The last time the Army Corps dredged near Doubling Point was 2003, he said.

Fitzgerald said that to transport dredging spoils to a location off the coast of Portland during the shipyard’s regular, smaller scale dredges would increase the costs of the projects “five- or sixfold.”

“For the Army Corps, they don’t have a lot of money to come dredge, so they want to come up and do five to seven years’ worth of dredging at once,” Hinchman said. “Well, you can’t do that to these people in August. Now is not the time to overdredge. There has to be a solution that allows for the rest of the uses of the river to continue with the least amount of impact.”

skoenig@timesrecord.com




Copyright © 2011 - Times Record

_____________________
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)


Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

Text Fwd:[Translation] WHAT DO THESE SHIPS DO? 이 배들은 무엇을 하는가?

The below is the Korean translations of the links. Click the links to see the articles in the original English language version.

5월 7일 배쓰 철강 공장(Bath Iron Works: BIW) 에서 또 하나의 [건조된] 이지스 구축함이 “세례식”을 받을 것입니다.
양교수님이 이지스 구축함들을 정박할 남한 제주도의 해군 기지 건설에 항의하며 단식 30일째 김옥에 있습니다.
레이시온이 지은 “미사일 방어”의 요격 미사일이 이지스 구축함으로부터 발사되고 있습니다.
______________________________

http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-do-these-ships-do.html
2011년 5월 5일
이 배들은 무엇을 하는가?
브루스 개그논

저는 오는 6월 17일부터 19일까지 메사추세츠 근처에서 열릴 글로벌 넷워크의 19번째 연간 우주 조직 회담에 관련된 제일들의 제 속도에 박차를 가하고 있습니다. 우리는 행사에서 레이시온 회사의 우주 기술 작업에 초점을 맞출 것인데 그것들이메사추세츠에 기반하고 최근 가장 불안정하게 하는 무기 시스템들중 많은 것들을 바로 우리 눈앞에서 짓고 있기 때문입니다.

우연히, 오는 토요일 메인주 베쓰에서 여러분께서 위의 사진에서 보듯 스탠다드 3 (SM3) 미사일 방어” 요격기의 발사대인또다른 이지스 구축함의 건조, “세례식”이 있을 것입니다. 그러므로 이 두 행사가 요즈음 제 일을 묶고 있습니다.

메인주에서 이 이지스 전함들이 정말 무엇을 하는지 아는 사람은 별로 없습니다. 사람들은 케네디 강으로 차를 몰고 가 배쓰 철강공장 밑 선박장에 보통 정박해 있는 1~2 개의 이지스들을 볼 때야 그것들을 주목할 지 모릅니다. 사람들은 배쓰 철강 공장이국가에서 가장 큰 비정부 고용주이며 배쓰가 선박 건조의 긴 역사를 갖고 있다는 것을 압니다. 그러나 그것으로 끝납니다.대부분의 사람들은 그 배들이 미국(누구로부터?)을 방어한다고 생각하고 놔둡니다, 사실, 대부분의 메인주 사람들은 그 것 이상을알려고 원하지 않는데 왜냐하면 배쓰 철강 공장에서 일할 지 모르는 이웃들과 갈등에 있고 싶어하질 않기 때문입니다.

몇년전에 환경 운동에 유행처럼 “생물 지역” 이란 문구가 있었습니다. 그 생각은 좋은 환경 운동론자는 그것들과 일을 지키기위해 생물 보전에 대해 더 친숙해야 한다는 것입니다. 그러나 저는 그 말이 다른 운동들에도 적용되어야 한다 봅니다. 우리는모두 미군사 제국이 우리의 생태-지역에서 일하고 있는지 알고 그것이 우리의 국가와 세계에 좋은 일인가에 대한 대중 토론을북돋아야 합니다.

레이시온에 위해 만들어지는 이지스 구축함들과 요격기들 경우, 이 시스템들은 오늘날 미 국방부에 위해 배치되는 가장 도발적인무기들입니다. 제가 과거에 많이 묘사한 것처럼, 그것들은 러시아와 중국의 경계를 따라 찔러지며 그 양쪽의 국가들의 대항움직임을 강요하고 잇습니다. 이는 우리를 위험하고 비싼 새로운 무기 경쟁으로 이끕니다.

우리 주가 재정적 위기에 있음을 보임에 따라 여기 메인주에서 우리는 깊은 큰 구멍들이 있는 도로들 위에서 차를 몰며 우리의많은 다리들은 수선을 필요로 하며 교육 및 사회 프로그램들은 삭감됩니다. 진보적 활동가들은 경탄스럽게도 이 삭감들에 항의하나미국 군사 지출에 대한 치명적 연결을 하는 이들은 많지 않습니다-그리고 그들은 우리의 셍태 지역의 군사 생산 장소들에 대한거대한 돈의 지출을 특별히 무시합니다.

이 글을 쓰는 와중에 양윤모 교수는 남한 제주도의 감옥에서 30째 단식일을 보내고 있습니다. 그의 신성한 생태-지역 파괴에대한 비폭력적 저항으로 인한 수감은 메인주 철강 공장과 메사추세츠 레이시온에 직접적으로 연결되어 있습니다.

우리의 생태 지역들 각각을 연결하는 하나의 원이 있으니 그것은 안타깝게도 폭력과 파괴의 하나입니다. 이지스 구축함들은 오늘날리비아, 제주도, 그리고 메사추세츠와 메인주에서 새로운 10억 달러 전함들을 지불하기 위해 사회 진보 생명을 파괴하고 있으며우리 모두를 위해 미래를 불안전하게 만들 것입니다.

관련 링크: 우주의 무기와 핵을 반대하는 글로벌 넷워크 19번째 연간 우주 조직 회담, 메사추세츠, 안도버
http://www.space4peace.org/actions/gnconf_2011.htm
_________________________________________________
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/protest-of-aegis-christening-planned-in.html

그 들 나라의 “미사일 방어” 시스템들로 장착된 이지스 구축함들 정박에 항의하는 일본 활동가들

미국 해군의 이지스 구축함들을 정박하는데 사용될 환경적으로 민감한 섬의 해군 기지건설에 항의하는 제주도의 한국인들


http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/protest-of-aegis-christening-planned-in.html
2011년 4월 26일
메인주에서 계획된 이지스 "세례식" 항의 시위
브루스 개그논


[미] 해군은 5월 7일 토요일, 메인주 배쓰 아이런 웍쓰에서 또다른 구축함을 “세례” 할 것이다. 평화 단체들은 오전 8시30분 부터 10시까지 그 행사에서 항의 시위를 벌일 계획이다. 시위 후에 사람들은 배쓰의 아담스 멜만 하우스(센터 스트리트212)의 정오 점심에 오도록 초청된다.

시위는 미소하는 나무들의 비무장 농장, 우주의 무기와 핵을 반대하는 글로벌 넷워크, 메인주 평화 재향 군인회, 그리고 메인주코드 핑크에 의해 후원된다.

“미사일 방어” 시스템들이라 불리는 것들로 장착될 이 구축함들은 핵 보복 군사력을 무력화하기 위해 러시아와 중국 경계들 주위에이지스 배치를 부르는 공격적 미 국방부 군사 전략의 열쇠들이다.

남한 제주도에서 현재 해군 기지 건설에 반대하여 진행되는 힘들게 싸워지는 투쟁들은 해군이 이 배들의 증가하는 함대를 위해 더많은 항구들을 필요로 함에 따라 이 이지스 구축함들에 연결되어 있다.

120만 달러가 지출되는 리비아에 대한 개개의 크루즈 미사일 공격들은 이 이지스 전함들에 의해 발사되었다.

연구들은 군사 생산에 십억 달러를 소비하는 것은 8,555개의 직장들을 창조한다 한다. 그러나 같은 10억 달러가 BIW 와같은 철도 시스템들을 짓는데 투자되면 19,795개의 직장들을 얻을 것이다.

대중은 오늘날 직장으로 아우성 치고 있다. 기업들은 더 싼 해외의 노동에 끌리기 때문에 거대한 세금 삭감에도 불구, 이곳미국에 투자하고 있지 않다. 그러므로 우리가 이 나라에서 더 많은 직장을 원하면 우리는 현재 끝없는 전쟁에 낭비되는 연방 세금달러들을 취하고 BIW 와 같은 시설들에 철도 시스템들, 풍력 터빈들, 그리고 태양력 시스템들을 짓는데 투자해야 한다.

더 많은 정보는 (207) 763-4062 or (207) 443-9502에 연락하시길.

Text Fwd: PROTEST OF AEGIS "CHRISTENING" PLANNED IN MAINE

Japanese peace activists protesting porting of Aegis destroyers outfitted with "missile defense" systems in their country

South Koreans, on Jeju Island, protest the construction of a Navy base on their environmentally sensitive island that will be used to port U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers
________________________________
Organizing Notes
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/protest-of-aegis-christening-planned-in.html
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
PROTEST OF AEGIS "CHRISTENING" PLANNED IN MAINE

The Navy will "christen" another Aegis destroyer on Saturday, May 7 at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Maine. Peace groups plan to hold a protest at the event from 8:30 - 10:00 am. Following the protest people are invited to come to the Addams-Melman House (212 Centre St) in Bath for a pot luck lunch at noon.

The protest is being sponsored by the Smiling Trees Disarmament Farm, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine Veterans for Peace and CodePink Maine.

These destroyers, with so-called "missile defense" systems on-board, are keys to the aggressive Pentagon military strategy that calls for Aegis deployments around Russian and Chinese borders in order to neutralize their nuclear retaliatory forces.

The hard fought struggle of villagers now going on at Jeju Island in South Korea against the construction of a Navy base is linked to these Aegis destroyers as the Navy needs more ports of call for the ever-expanding fleet of these ships.

The recent cruise missile attacks on Libya, costing $1.2 million each, were launched from Aegis warships.

Studies show that spending $1 billion on military production creates 8,555 jobs. But if that same $1 billion was invested in building rail systems at places like BIW we'd get 19,795 jobs.

The public is clamoring for jobs these days. Corporations, despite huge tax cuts, are not investing here in the U.S. because they are attracted to cheaper labor overseas. So if we want more jobs in this country we've got to take our federal tax dollars, that are presently being wasted on endless war, and invest them in building rail systems, wind turbines, and solar systems at facilities like BIW.

For more information please contact (207) 763-4062 or (207) 443-9502.

Text Fwd: DEMANDING CONVERSION AT BIW

On May 7 another Aegis destroyer will be "christened" at Bath Iron Works and a protest will be held beginning at 10:00 am

Organizing Notes
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/demanding-conversion-at-biw.html
Saturday, April 16, 2011
DEMANDING CONVERSION AT BIW



Today was the 6th weekly vigil at Bath Iron Works (BIW) here in Maine during the Lenten season. Organized by the Smiling Trees Disarmament Farm, these weekly vigils have been a mainstay outside the Navy ship yard for many years.


Since our house is so close it is one of the few protests we can actually walk to - a very nice thing for us.


I held a sign today that has a train painted on it by an artist friend and reads "Built in Bath" across the top. As the Saturday shift workers drove by at noon it was clear that many of them understood the message - and many of them agree - that something different could and should be produced at BIW. There is growing support amongst the workers to consider the idea of conversion. But in order to make it happen the workers inside these military production facilities are going to have to become more vocal.


These Aegis destroyers, with so-called "missile defense" systems on-board, are keys to the aggressive Pentagon military strategy that calls for deployments around Russia and China's borders in order to neutralize their nuclear retaliatory forces.


The hard fought struggle now going on at Jeju Island in South Korea against the construction of a Navy base is linked to these Aegis destroyers as the Navy needs more ports of call for the ever-expanding fleet of these ships.


The next "christening" of an Aegis at BIW will be on Saturday, May 7 so we will once again put out the call for peace activists to join us there for a protest of these war ships. Many of Maine's leading politicians, including our new Republican governor, will be on-hand for the event. We will gather at 10:00-11:30 am in order to be there as the thousands of people file into the ship yard to watch the ceremony. We'll hook up a portable sound system and hear speeches from representatives of many peace groups in the state. After it is over we'll hold a pot luck lunch at the Addams-Melman House in Bath.


We'll be talking alot that day about jobs. Studies show that spending $1 billion on military production creates 8,555 jobs. But if that same $1 billion was invested in building rail systems at places like BIW we'd get 19,795 jobs. That's a huge difference and you'd think that the media, unions, politicians, and the public would be all over this little known bit of good news.


People are clamoring for jobs these days. Corporations, despite huge tax cuts, are not investing here in the U.S. because they are attracted to cheaper labor overseas. So if we want more jobs in this country we've got to take our federal tax dollars, that are presently being pissed down the rat hole, and invest them in building rail systems, wind turbines, solar systems back here at home.


This won't happen though unless we demand it and we must do it repeatedly. We'll have another opportunity to do so at BIW on May 7.

Text Fwd: DOUBLE DUTY AT THE STATE CAPITAL

Early on (the governor's office is right behind the stairs but he was hiding out on the beaches in Jamaica after only three months on the job)
Dud Hendrick, president of Maine Veterans for Peace

CodePink Maine's Lisa Savage talks about the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign

Former State Senator Michael Brennan (Portland) on impact of proposed social spending cuts in Maine
The view from the top of the stairs during the "mural" controversy portion of the protest double-header

Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/double-duty-at-state-capital.html
DOUBLE DUTY AT THE STATE CAPITAL

The view from the top of the stairs during the "mural" controversy portion of the protest double-header

It was a great day in Augusta today. We had long planned this as our day to hold a rally calling on all elected officials in Maine to demand that we Bring Our War $$ Home. Due to bad weather last Friday we were asked by the Union of Maine Visual Artists to share our rally permit with them. Without hesitation we agreed and by the end of the day 400 people had turned out to take part in a protest double-header.


The Bring Our War $$ Home campaign led off the event with an hour of speakers and music. One stirring moment occurred when the fiery Mayor of Biddeford, Joanne Twomey, joined us and took the microphone to say that she is tired of cutting jobs and social programs in her city. She said that at the last city council meeting she brought up cutting war spending as an alternative to these cutbacks and then told the roaring crowd "I offer a challenge to every mayor in Maine to say we need to Bring Our War $$ Home." Maine public radio aired some of her strong words in their evening news report from the capital.


The rally began with singing by the Raging Grannies and then Dud Hendrick, president of Maine Veterans for Peace, underscored the importance of the day as it was the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. who many believe was killed because he spoke out against the Vietnam War - calling it a war on "programs of social uplift" as well as morally bankrupt.


Following a quick change of signs the chanting crowd switched gears and gave their full attention to speakers lined by the Union of Maine Visual Artists who came to protest the controversial decision by our new governor to pull down a labor oriented mural from the walls inside the state Department of Labor. You can see some news coverage of the rally here


Today was a good example of group solidarity and connecting the dots between the issues. I was proud that the Bring Our War $$ Home rally showed how addiction to war is tied to our addiction to oil. Our speakers linked climate change, militarism, social spending cuts, attacks on labor and civil liberties, and the need to protect one another.


In my opening words I said the following: "We're at a crucial time - No more going it alone - no more of the 'business model of organizing' where everyone/every group just looks out for themselves. Those days are over. They will pick us off one at a time if we continue to do that. We are all in this together now - it's gotta be all for one and one for all.....or nothing. It's time we showed the links between all the issues and put out an alternative sustainable vision for the future."

See more coverage here and here

Text Fwd: REMEMBERING PLOWSHARES ACTION 20 YEARS LATER

Organizing Notes
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2011/04/remembering-plowshares-action-20-years.html
Saturday, April 02, 2011
REMEMBERING PLOWSHARES ACTION 20 YEARS LATER

Before dawn on Easter March 31, 1991 Phil Berrigan, Daniel Sicken, Barry Roth, Tom Lewis, and Kathy Boylan boarded the USS Gettysburg, an Aegis destroyer that was docked at Bath Iron Works in Maine. They hammered and poured blood on the missile hatches. It became a huge story in Maine. The charges were dropped the day before they were set to go to trial.

On Friday, April 1 the surviving members (Daniel, Barry and Kathy) of the Aegis Plowshares held a 20th anniversary reunion vigil at BIW and then a pot luck supper at the Addams-Melman House in Bath. A severe snow storm that same day though hampered the turnout but still twenty hearty souls turned up for the vigil at the shipyard and the pot luck that followed. Then again this morning another vigil was held at the shipyard as the Saturday shift was getting out of work.

It was a wonderful reunion for the Aegis plowshares and their supporters.

The ships are outfitted with "missile defense" (MD) systems and are key components in the U.S first-strike attack system. Their job would be to knock out a given country's nuclear retaliatory forces after the initial U.S. attack.

One of these Aegis MD systems was used by the Pentagon to hit a falling U.S. military satellite in 2008 proving they also had the capability to serve as an anti-satellite weapon. Obama is now deploying these Aegis destroyers with their MD systems around Russia and China.

A very fine article about the reunion vigil appeared in our local newspaper yesterday. See it here

Text Fwd: ANOTHER DAY AT THE STATE CAPITAL

Click on the photos so you can read the signs

Organizing Notes Monday, March 07, 2011
ANOTHER DAY AT THE STATE CAPITAL

I left early this morning to head to Maine's state capital in Augusta with friends Dan Ellis and Peter Woodruff. There was a 9:30 am rally inside the capital by organizations representing the elderly, the homeless, and the poor. They gathered to protest our Republican governor's proposed two-year budget that would drastically slash social spending while giving more tax cuts to the rich.

We were there early enough that Dan and I could leaflet every one of the 250 folks who showed up for the event. When they called for people to gather on the stairway behind the podium, seven of our Bring Our War $$ Home supporters took their signs up onto the staircase. Most of the signs made by the groups that organized the event were mild by our standards, ours were more direct and to the point about taxing the rich and ending war spending.

Following the rally people signed up to speak before the joint House and Senate committee that is now holding hearings on the governor's proposed budget. After two hours of listening to a staff analysis they took a couple hours of public comment and then switched back to another hour of staff analysis. I finally got to speak for my three-minutes around 3:00 pm, after an almost five hour wait.

All day long people predominantly talked about their one specific area of concern - don't cut seniors medical care; don't cut HIV patients care; don't cut homeless housing assistance; don't cut aid to families. These were important and at times heart breaking stories but one thing was missing. None of the representatives I heard from AARP, United Way, poor people's organizations, or the legal agencies that represent the poor did any kind of deeper analysis of the situation at hand.

When I spoke I tried to do this by acknowledging that the governor was, despite his claims otherwise, undertaking class warfare on the working class and poor people. I mentioned that the proposed income tax cuts and estate tax cuts for those at the top would only increase the wealth divide between the 1% in the country who now control the equivalent wealth of all the rest of us on the bottom of the pyramid. This is leading us to a new feudalism I said.

The governor's claims that tax cuts for the rich would increase jobs is not supported by economic data that instead shows that state funding for education and infrastructure actually creates more jobs.

And I suggested, this economic crisis will be even worse next year. What was needed is a real solution.

I then read from the leaflet that we handed out today that said: The total debt of all 50 state governments is now $130 billion. The U.S. will spend $170 billion on our wars in Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan this year. Maine's share of war spending since 2001 is now right at $3.4 billion according to the National Priorities Project.

Imagine, I said, how those dollars could have been used to fund education, health care, and other human needs in our state. Many more of our tax dollars will be wasted as long as these wars continue.

We must, I concluded, call upon all of Maine's local, state, and federal elected officials to speak up and tell President Obama and Congress to Bring Our War $$ Home now. I also suggested that the Maine legislature might consider passing a resolution calling on Washington to Bring Our War $$ Home.

At this point I had nine seconds left on the clock to finish my last line. But the chair of the committee interrupted me to say "It's time to wrap up." I'd been watching him for hours let many people go over their time without interruption.

So I increased my volume and stared right into the eyes of the chair and said, "We should all begin to make the connections between endless war spending and our economic crisis here at home. Thank you."

It was a long wait to speak for three-minutes but I think our presence in the capital brought a broader dimension to the day, something I am very proud of our folks for doing. We can talk all day about how bad cuts in social funding are but we have a responsibility to clearly articulate the path out of this deep hole if we hope to restore the economy and protect social justice.

Text Fwd: MORE HARSH CUTS COMING

Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes
Friday, January 21, 2011
MORE HARSH CUTS COMING

The other day I saw a story on the TV news that the city of Camden, New Jersey was laying off a bunch of firemen and police due to their budget crisis. I wonder if any of those being let go thought about war spending? It would have been great if these angry public service workers would have gone on the news and said something like, "If we were not wasting $10 billion a month in Afghanistan I wouldn't be losing my job today."

In yesterday's Washington Post an article called House GOP group proposes deep spending cuts over next decade reported that Republican proposals in the House of Representatives would require cuts of about 15 % at agencies other than the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. The Republican Study Committee (a Tea Party group) plan, by contrast, would reduce most agency budgets by about 30 %.

If cuts were made on that magnitude the Post said, "The federal prison system would have to fire 5,700 correctional officers, the Agriculture Department would have to cut about 3,000 food safety inspectors, and the Head Start early-childhood education program would be forced to cut about 389,000 children from its rolls."

Here in Maine, the state has a budget shortfall of $800 million and heavy cuts will be made this spring. Public education and social spending will take another huge hit. That means more school closers, teacher lay-offs, cuts in grants to social service delivery groups, and cuts in health care assistance to the poor, elderly, and mentally ill. Wouldn't it be nice to turn on the news and hear the teachers union or social service leaders talking about the need to end war spending so those funds could be shifted to the states that are in fiscal crisis?

Imagine the massive lay-offs all over the nation as the federal government cuts social spending and the states do the same thing. Where will these folks find new work? Answer: they won't.

I recognize that the nation has a large budget deficit and something must be done to deal with it. But rather than shut down social progress, wouldn't it be much better to end the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and stop the widening war into Pakistan? If those funds were brought home and invested in our society we'd not only see a big change in our debt crisis, we'd also stop the hemorrhaging of jobs.

These are the points that are not being talked about in the mainstream media. It is obvious that the oligarchy is closing the door on any public discussion except for ways to destroy social progress and return us to a feudal society.

What do you think we can do to spur this much needed debate?

Text Fwd: [Bruce Gagnon] U.S. LOOKING FOR A FIGHT

* Image source: same as the link

Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes blog
U.S. LOOKING FOR A FIGHT
Nov. 27, 2010

The Advent vigils (four weeks in a row) began today at Bath Iron Works (BIW) here in Maine. BIW is the place where Navy Aegis destroyers are built that are presently being used as part of the U.S.-South Korea (ROK) war games which are bumping up against the coastline of North Korea. I noticed that the USS Cowpens is a part of this U.S. naval battle group that is being led toward North Korea by the aircraft carrier named the USS George Washington.

I know about the USS Cowpens because it was the ship that fired the first shot (cruise missiles) in the 2003 U.S. shock and awe attack on Iraq. I know this because the woman who was driving the USS Cowpens at that historic moment has become a friend of our family and was at our home for Thanksgiving just two days ago.

This young woman was a Lieutenant in the Navy and was the Officer of the Deck at the time of the Cowpens attack on Iraq. She has since gotten out of the Navy and is now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). She has not yet gotten over the pain of her role in that unprovoked, immoral, and illegal attack on Iraq.

North Korea knows all about the U.S. proclivity to attack smaller countries for no good reason. In years past the world has watched the U.S. beat up on Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Granada, Panama, Libya, Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. North Korea must wonder if their day is coming soon as well.

As I noted in other recent blogs on this subject, the U.S. and South Korea have been running aggressive military war games each month since last July and these massive drills are directed right at North Korea. North Korea must each time put their military and their population on alert because they can't take any chances. Having seen the U.S. record of attacking weaker countries they must consider that this time the war games could be for real.

As I stood on the sidewalk in front of BIW for the hour-long vigil today I held a sign with a picture of a train painted on it by one of our local artist friends. The sign read "Built in Bath". Some of the passing Saturday early-shift workers got the message and smiled as they drove home. The truth is that a number of those working inside BIW know that their "product" is a first-strike attack military machine. They'd rather be building rail systems or wind turbines. But we make weapons and we make war in America today and military production is one of the few jobs around in our declining economy. It's like those who worked in the death camps for Hitler's Army during WW II. It was a job and they wanted to believe that their country was right - Germany uber alles. In America we say - USA, USA, #1!

The U.S. is outfitting these Navy Aegis destroyers with "missile defense" systems and activists in South Korea and Japan clearly understand the role of these warships in U.S. military strategy. The U.S. intends to use these MD systems to pick-off retaliatory strikes after a Pentagon first-strike attack on North Korea or China. The U.S. is doubling its military presence in the Asian-Pacific region for a clear reason.

Like any bully, the U.S. military is poking a sharp stick at North Korea (and China) and basically daring them to fight back. The U.S. (and their junior partners in South Korea and Japan) are out to militarize the region and are just itching for a military response that would then "justify" an overwhelming response.

The U.S. weapons corporations love this game of hardball, or as it used to be called, gunboat diplomacy. The power tripping U.S. government intends to keep pushing North Korea into a corner and will keep pissing on them until they get another response. At the rate things are now going it likely won't take long.

The key factor in all of this is China. How long will China allow the U.S. to keep pouring gasoline on the hot fire in the Asian-Pacific? They hold our debt yet know that if they cut the U.S. loose then the entire global economy will suffer even more. But China is quickly getting fed up with U.S. military bravado in their back yard.

China must support North Korea because if that country is toppled then the U.S. would put military bases right on China's border. This was an important reason for the Korean War in the first place, the U.S. wanted to take control of the entire Korean peninsula and thus have bases right alongside Russia and China.

If the American people knew half of what was going on in their name they'd be freaking out but due to corporate control of the media, and generations of government brainwashing, most of our citizens are in the dark. Virtually all they know about any of what is going on right now in Korea is what they are told by the same people who are stirring the boiling pot of war.

Sadly most Americans have to learn the hard way. Hopefully it won't take a shooting war with China to wake the public up from their deep sleep.

Text Fwd: [Veterans for Peace in Maine] COVERAGE IN BATH [미 메인주 평화 재향 군인회]배쓰 행진 기사로

Bruce Gagnon blog
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
COVERAGE IN BATH

March message focuses on the cost of war
Peace Activists march along the Sagadahoc Bridge into Bath on Monday.

(Troy R. Bennett / The Times Record)
By Seth Koenig

BATH — For the city of Bath, the total is $20.8 million.

Maine Veterans for Peace marchers in the midst of a 10-day trek from Farmington to Portland are carrying with them a list of dollar amounts. The numbers represent each town or city’s share of the country’s cost, so far, to fight the ongoing war in Afghanistan since 2001. The cost for the state of Maine over that time is $2.9 billion.

Bruce Gagnon, a longtime peace advocate who helped lead the walkers into his hometown of Bath on Monday afternoon, has been among those trying to draw attention to those figures through various events and activities for months. The number of marchers trekking from Farmington to Portland has fluctuated along the way, Gagnon said, but Monday’s contingent was around 40 people.

“We’re talking about the cost of war and going through 43 Maine communities,” he told a reporter from The Times Record as the group paused along the way in Woolwich. “We’re trying to get people to connect the dots between these wars and the economic problems this country is facing.

“We’re spending $8 billion a month in Afghanistan today,” he continued. “How can there be any economic recovery if we’re spending that much a month on a war? We’re trying to ask people how their communities might have been able to better spend that money locally.”

READ MORE
_________________________________________________________

*Related blog 관련 블로그

Organizing Notes
Monday, November 08, 2010
VIGIL AT BATH IRON WORKS
배쓰 철강 공장 침번

* 배쓰 철강 공장은 이지스 구축함을 만드는 곳임

See the blogs on Veterans for Peace
평화 재향 군인회 관련 블로그

Photo Fwd: [ Maine, United States campaign] Bring Our War $$ Home [미 메인주 켐페인] 전쟁 자금을 고국의 기본적 필요로 돌리라

* Image source: same as the link

From Bruce Gagnon blog
ROLLING INTO ROCKLAND
Nov. 7, 2010

Excerpt

'This photo is from a national meeting held in New York City over the weekend. Notice our Maine banner hanging over the crowd. The meeting was to further plan the growing national effort to connect war spending to the economic collapse. One of our Maine Bring Our War $$ Home campaign leaders, Gary Higginbottom. went to represent us at the meeting.'

* For more on Maine Campaign, Bring Our War Dollar Home, go to HERE

[Video Fwd] [Veterans for Peace, Maine] PEACE WALK NEWS CLIP [미 메인주 평화 재향 군인회] 평화 행진 뉴스 클립

Bruce Gagnon blog
PEACE WALK NEWS CLIP
Nov.6, 2010



See also

Saturday, November 06, 2010
PEACE WALKERS MAKE IT TO BANGOR
평화만드는 사람들, 방고르로 행진

Friday, November 05, 2010
UNITY IN UNITY유나이티에서 연합(유나이티)을

Thursday, November 04, 2010
WET IN WATERVILLE
워터빌에서 [비를 맞아] 다 젖어 버리다

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Text Fwd: MAINE PEACE WALK BEGINS IN FARMINGTON TUESDAY
미 메인주 평화 재향 군인회, 평화 행진, 파밍턴에서 화요일 시작

Saturday, October 30, 2010
Event Fwd: [Veterans for Peace, Maine]PEACE WALK EVENING PROGRAM SCHEDULE
미국 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 , 11월 2~11일 평화 행진

Text Fwd: MAINE PEACE WALK BEGINS IN FARMINGTON TUESDAY 미 메인주 평화 재향 군인회, 평화 행진, 파밍턴에서 화요일 시작

Peace walkers last spring in Lewiston, Maine at the peace bridge named after Dr. Bernard Lown who grew up in that city

Bruce Gagnon blog
Monday, November 01, 2010
MAINE PEACE WALK BEGINS IN FARMINGTON TUESDAY

By Ann Bryant, Staff Writer
Lewiston Sun Journal
Nov 01, 2010

FARMINGTON — Maine Veterans for Peace will begin a 10-day peace walk in Farmington with a celebratory potluck meal and program at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Old South First Congregational Church. The public is welcome.

The Maine Walk for Peace, Human Needs and Veterans Care, starts Wednesday morning when a core group will head for Skowhegan then on to Waterville, Bangor, Belfast, Rockland, Bath, Freeport and Portland to join the Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11.

Because of the distances between, there will be a shuttle for part of each day, but an average of 18 miles or less will be walked each day, said Bruce Gagnon of Bath, a member of Maine Veterans for Peace.

People are welcome to join the walk for an hour, a day or the whole trip, he said. A core group of about 20 people intend to make the whole trek. Local groups in each town will host an evening potluck meal and program and provide housing and breakfast for those on the trek.

Tuesday's first meal in Farmington is a celebratory kickoff with a student peace group from the University of Maine at Farmington helping, he said. UMF President Theodora Kalikow will provide a welcome and Douglas Rawlings from UMF and a founding member of Maine Veterans for Peace, will say a few words. The Nipponzan Myohoji order of Buddhist monks and nuns with the Rev. Gyoway Kato will lead the 128-mile walk, Rawlings said.

The Buddhist monk order has participated in several walks and conferences around Maine, Gagnon said.

When the group reaches Skowhegan on Wednesday night, doctors, social workers and teachers will provide a presentation on what they are seeing in life, a decline of social progress, he said.

Each night's presentation will be different and is intended to start a conversation with community members on their reason for the walk.

Concerns about war, the cost of the war in Afghanistan and the cost to returning veterans whose rates of suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders are high, were noted as motivators for the walk.

“Few people know that the cost of the war is more than $8 billion a month ... with the country spending that much money, there's no money available for much else,” Gagnon said. "We want to shine a light on these deep concerns and create a discussion as we go through."

Several towns on the route are college towns as the group wants to get students and young people involved. They want to start them talking about the future and the demise of social progress in America.

A new peace group started on the UMF campus this semester, Peace Activists in Training, or PAINT, is helping with the meal Tuesday, Rawlings said. He is an adviser for the group.

That the start of the peace walk falls on election night is partially intentional. No matter which party controls Congress, the war goes on, Gagnon said. With massive bases being built there, there's no intent to come home. The group hopes to garner more legislative attention and action.

Veterans for Peace is a national organization that started in Maine 25 years ago, Gagnon said. There are now 100 chapters comprised of veterans from all wars. This past summer the state group hosted the 25th national convention.

Veterans for Peace is committed to working on the cost of war and bringing attention to post traumatic stress disorder by offering conferences and education for not only soldiers but also their families, he said.

Notes and videotapes taken along the peace walk will be posted on its website.

The public is welcome to walk or attend the evening potlucks and programs. Information on the schedule is posted at www.vfpmaine.org/vfp.htm

Event Fwd: [Veterans for Peace, Maine]PEACE WALK EVENING PROGRAM SCHEDULE 미국 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 , 11월 2~11일 평화 행진

* Image source: same as the link

Bruce Gagnon blog
Thursday, October 28, 2010
PEACE WALK EVENING PROGRAM SCHEDULE


Below please find the full schedule of Maine Veterans for Peace potluck supper/program events during the November 2-11 Walk for Peace, Human Needs, and Veterans' Care.

Potluck supper/program schedule

* Farmington potluck supper/program on November 2 (Tuesday) to kick-off the peace walk at 6:00 pm
Old South First Congregational Church
227 Main St
Farmington
293-2580


* Skowhegan potluck supper/program on November 3 (Wednesday) at 6:00 pm
Skowhegan Community Center
39 Poulin Drive
Showhegan
643-2356


* Waterville potluck supper/program on November 4 (Thursday) at 6:00 pm
Pleasant Street UMC Church
61 Pleasant St
Waterville
643-2356


* Bangor potluck supper/program on November 5 (Friday) at 6:00 pm
St. Johns Episcopal Church
235 French St
Bangor
944-2609


* Belfast pot luck supper/program on November 6 (Saturday) at 6:00 pm
UU Church
37 Miller Street
Belfast
338-9509


* Rockland potluck supper/program on November 7 (Sunday) at 6:00 pm
Rockland UU Church
345 Broadway
Rockland
596-7784


* Bath potluck supper/program on November 8 (Monday) at 6:00 pm
Grace Episcopal Church
1100 Washington St
Bath
319-9188


* Freeport potluck supper/program on November 9 (Tuesday) at 6:00 pm
First Parish Congregational Church
40 Maine St
Freeport
865-0655


* Portland potluck supper/program on November 10 (Wednesday) at 6:00 pm
Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Church Hall
80 Sherman St at Mellen
Portland
773-6562

On November 11 (Thursday) walkers will participate in the Veterans Day parade in Portland and afterwards will join a potluck lunch and Draw-a-thon at Space Gallery (538 Congress St)

We would like for you to let us know if you plan to be with us for any part of this peace walk so we can more effectively make our logistical plans. Contact us at danellis@vfpmaine.org and let us know the date(s) you plan to walk with us, your name, and contact information for each person.

For full walk schedule, route maps, and registration information see http://vfpmaine.org/vfp.htm

Thanks for your support. See you on the road.

Maine Veterans for Peace
865-0655 or 443-9502
http://www.vfpmaine.org/

Photo Fwd: Bring Our War $$ Home

* Copyright 2010 Roger Leisner
Photograph by the Maine Paparazzi

Bring Our War $$ Home, Maine, United States

Video Fwd: Two Videos from the Veterans for Peace Convention, Maine 미국 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 회담 관련 2 개의 비디오

From Bruce Gagnon blog on Aug. 29, 2010
2010년 8월 29일 브루스 개그논 블로그 로부터

VFP MARCH AS CONVENTION FINALE
미국 평화 재향 군인회의 회담 마지막 날 행진



'TV news coverage of the VFP march in Portland this morning as the convention ended. We had 300 people in the march, although the TV announcer said we had 1,000. Not very often the media so dramatically over estimates our numbers.' For more reading, click HERE.

'포틀랜드에서 회담이 끝난 이 후 미 평화 재향 군인회 행진을 다룬 TV 뉴스. TV 어나운서가 천 명이라 말했으나 사실 300 여 명의 사람들이 행진에 있었읍니다. 언론이 우리 [시위자들] 숫자를 그렇게 극적으로 과대 평가하는 것은 흔한 일이 아니죠. 더 많은 읽기는 여기를 클릭.

______________________________________________________

From Bruce Gagnon blog on Aug. 29, 2010
2010년 8월 29일 브루스 개그논 블로그 로부터

MORE TV COVERAGE OF VFP CONFAB
미국 평화 재향 군인회 회담 관련 더 많은 TV 뉴스




'Another news spot from the first day of the convention.'
'회담 첫번째 날 뉴스 기사'

___________________________________________________________

* Related blog 관련 블로그

Saturday, August 28, 2010 2010년 8월 28일
Photo Fwd: [From the VfP Convention, U. S.] A Banner for the Solidarity bet. the Veterans for Peace in Corea & U.S.
사진: [미 평군 회담] 한미 평화 재향 군인회 연대를 위한 배너

Photo Fwd: [From the VfP Convention, U. S.] A Banner for the Solidarity bet. the Veterans for Peace in Corea & U.S. [미 평군 회담] 한미 평화 재향 군인회 연대를 위한 배너

* Image source: Bruce Gagnon blog브루스 개그논 블로그:
Click the image for larger view 이미지를 클릭하시면 화면이 확대 됩니다.
________________________________________________

* The above photo is uploaded, too, in the website of the Veterans for Peace, Corea (by Mr. Kim Hwan-Young, Secretary of the VfP, Corea): Click
위의 사진은 평화 재향 군인회 웹사이트에도 올려져 있읍니다 (김환영 평군 사무 국장님): 클릭
________________________________________________
* See also Bruce Gagnon blog, here.
여기 브루스 개그논 블로그를 또한 보시길.
________________________________________________

• On Aug. 28, 2010, Bruce Gagnon has thankfully informed the above photo for the members of the Veterans for Peace, Corea, after the below workshop during the VfP national convention in Portland, Maine, United States, Aug. 25 to 29. The No Gun Ri movie is also screened during the convention. The members of the VfP, Corea could not join the convention for financial reason. The VfP members in the photo above are holding the banner of the VfP, Corea that the members of the VfP, Corea had presented to the members of the Veterans for Peace, Maine chapter, through Bruce Gagnon, as an expression of thanks to Tom Sturtevant who had brought the banner of the VfP, U.S., for the Corean members during the International Conference against the Asia Pacific Missile Defense and for the End of Arms Race, last April 16-18, 2009. The Maine state is where the Veterans for Peace movement first started 25 years ago. The small letters in the upper side of the banner says, ‘Army for Nation, Army for Democracy, [and] Army for Peaceful Unification.’ The bigger green letter at the bottom side of banner reads, Veterans for Peace, [Corea]. For more information on it, please see here.

2010년 8월 28일, 브루스 개그논은 8월 25일부터 29일에 걸쳐 진행되고 있는 메인주 포틀랜드 미 전역 평화 재향 군인회 회담 기간에 있었던 아래의 워크샵 이후 한국 평화 재향 군인회에 사진을 보냈읍니다. 노근리 영화가 회담 동안 또한 상영됩니다. 한국 평화 재향 군인회는 재정적 이유로 그 회담에 참여할 수 없었읍니다. 위의 사진의 회원들은 지난 2009년 4월 16일부터 18일까지 아시아 태평양 미사일 방어망 반대와 군사 경쟁 종식을 위한 국제 회담 기간동안 한국 평화 재향 군인회 회원들을 위해 미 평화 재향 군인회 깃발을 가져온 탐 스터트번트에 대한 감사의 표시로 한국 평화 재향 군인회 회원들이 브루스 개그논을 통하여 메인 지부 평화 재향 군인회 회원들에게 전한 한국 평화 재향 군인회의 배너를 들고 있읍니다. 메인주는 25년 전에 평화 재향 군인회 운동이 처음 시작된 곳입니다. 배너 윗쪽의 작은 글자들은 ‘민족 군대, 민주 군대, [그리고] 평화 통일을 위한 군대’ 입니다. 아래의 더 큰 녹색 글자는 [한국] 평화 재향 군인회 입니다. 더 많은 정보는 여기를 보시길.

* Image source 이미지 소스: Click here 여기 and 와 here 여기를 클릭

Bruce Gagnon and Veterans for Peace, Corea, holding the banner of the Veterans for Peace, United States, presented to the VfP, Corea by Tom Sturtevant, Aug. 20, 2009
2009년 8월 20일 탐 스터트번트가 함국 평화 재향 군인회에 증정한 미 평화 재향 군인회의 깃발을 들고 있는 브루스 개그논과 한국 평화 재향 군인회 회원들.

Citation from Bruce Gagnon's blog 브루스 개그논의 블로그 일부를 인용하면:

'Korean war veteran, and Maine VFP member, Tom Sturtevant has been the keeper of the banner since I brought it back from Korea.

'한국 전쟁 베테란이며 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 회원인 탐 스터트번트는 제가 그 배너를 한국에서 갖고 온 이후 배너를 계속 보관해왔었읍니다.

Most of the VFP members in the workshop yesterday had served in Korea during the war or since then. They all feel a strong sense of duty to help bring true peace and reunification to Korea. But as one of the guys said yesterday, "It's hard to convince people today that Korea is still an important issue after 60 years."

어제 워크샵의 대부분의 회원들은 [한국 전쟁중] 또는 그 이후에 한국에 있었읍니다. 그들은 모두 Korea에 진정한 평화와 통일을 가져오는데 도울 수 있길 강한 의무감을 느낍니다. 그러나 어제 한 사람이 말하듯, “[전쟁 이후] 60년이 지나도 한국이 아직도 중요한 이슈라고 오늘날 많은 사람들을 확신시키는 것이 어렵습니다.”

I tried to address this problem in my words during the workshop as I put Korea into the larger context of U.S. military strategy in the Asian-Pacific region. I talked about NATO expansion into the region and U.S. military moves to surround China.

저는 워크샵 기간동안 한국 아시아 태평양 지역 미국 군사 전략의 더 큰 콘텍스트 안에 한국을 위치함으로서 이 문제를 제 말로 역점을 두어 풀어가려고 노력했읍니다. 저는 그 지역으로의 나토 확장 및 중국을 봉쇄하기 위한 미국 군대의 움직임에 대해 말했읍니다.

The U.S. pretense about concern over North Korea is only a justification for the Pentagon to dramatically escalate its operations throughout the Asian-Pacific. U.S. bases are being expanded in Guam, Okinawa, Japan, and South Korea - including major deployments of "missile offense" systems.'

미국이 북한에 대해 염려하는 젠 체를 보이는 것은 단지 아시아 태평양에 걸쳐 극적으로 작전들을 점증시키려는 것입니다. 미국 기지들은 “미사일 공격” 시스템들 배치를 포함, 괌, 오키나와, 일본, 그리고 남한으로 확장되고 있읍니다.'

________________________________________________

Workshop on Korean War, in the VfP convention 평군 회담 한국 전쟁 관련 워크샵:

*Quote from the convention workshop site 회담워크샵 사이트에서 인용

'U.S. MILITARISM IN THE ASIA PACIFIC: A DISCUSSION ON UNENDING WAR WITH A FOCUS ON KOREA: PETER BRONSON, WOODY POWELL, TOM STURTEVANT, BRUCE GAGNON, GEORGE MCANAMAS, AND VIRGINIA RODINO [SOMERSET ROOM]

‘아시아 태평양에서의 미 군사 주의: 한국 전쟁에 촛점, 끝나지 않은 전쟁에 대한 토론: 피터 브론슨, 우디 파웰, 탐 스터트번트, 브루스 개그논, 조지 맥나마스와 버지니아 로디노 [서머셋 룸]

In observing the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, this workshop will reflect on the continuing tragedy and costs of this lingering war. The presenters believe that it is urgent now to replace the Korean War cease-fire agreement with a peace treaty. After showing a short video about the Korean War, members of VFP-Korea Peace campaign will lead a roundtable discussion about the hidden history of the war, obstacles to ending the war, and what we can do to end it. Participants are encouraged to bring any pictures, art work, or mementoes of the war to share in the workshop.'

한국 전쟁 발발 60 주년을 맞아, 이 워크샵은 계속되는 비극 및 이 끌어지는 전쟁의 비용을 돌아볼 것이다. 참여자들은 한국 전쟁 정전 협정을 평화 조약으로 바꾸는 것이 현재 절박하다고 생각한다. 한국 전쟁에 대한 짧은 비디오를 보인 후 평화 재향 군인회 한국 평화 캠페인 회원들은 전쟁의 숨은 역사, 전쟁 종식의 장애들, 그리고 우리가 무엇을 할 수 있는 지에 대한 대등한 토론을 끌어갈 것이다. 참가자들은 이 워크샵에서 공유하기 위해 전쟁에 관한 어떤 그림들, 예술품들, 기념품들을 가져올 것을 격려받는다.
________________________________________________

About No Gun Ri Movie in the VfP convention 평군 회담 중 노근리 영화 상영:

Dr. Chung Koo-Do, Director of the No Gun Ri Institute, advisor of documentary says:
(*From the description site of movies screened during the workshop)

노근리 연구소 소장이자 다큐멘타리 자문 위원 정구도 박사는 말하길:
(*워크샵 동안 상영되는 영화들 소개난에서)

'The No Gun Ri incident is a civilian massacre incident happened around late July, 1950 during the early Korean War. Many civilians were massacred and I am one of the bereaved family members of those victims. Due to the No Gun Ri incident, my elder brother and sister (at the age of five and two, respectively) were killed and my mother was seriously wounded and narrowly escaped the death.

'노근리 사건은 한국 전쟁 초기 1950년 7월 말경 일어났던 사건이다. 많은 시민들이 학살되었으며 나는 그 희생자 유가족들 중 한 사람이다. 노근리 사건으로 인해 나의 형과 여동생(각각 5살과 2살이었던)이 살해되었으며 나의 어머니는 심하게 상처를 입고 가까스로 죽음을 탈출했다.

For such a long time, I've considered the No Gun Ri incident as one of the most significant cases that teach the importance of human rights and peace. In that sense, I've always though it's very important to make the No Gun Ri documentary. While making the documentary, I had a chance to serve as an adviser.'

오랜 세월동안, 나는 노근리 사건을 인권과 평화의 중요성을 가르키는 가장 중요한 사건의 하나로 고려해 왔다. 나는 노근리 다큐멘터리를 만드는 것을 항상 매우 중요하게 생각했다. 다큐멘타리 제작시 나는 자문 위원으로서 일할 기회를 가졌다.'
________________________________________________________

* Related sites and blogs 관련 사이트 및 블로그들 :

Veterans for Peace_Corea 한국 평화 재향 군인회

Veterans for Peace, United States 미국 평화 재향 군인회

VFP National Convention - 25th Year Anniversary Celebration!
미 평화 재향 군인회 국가 회담- 25주년 창설 축하!
Aug. 25 to 29, 2010 2010년 8월 25일 ~29일

[Upon 6oth anniversary of the Korean War]
Veterans of the Korean War Call for a Real Peace Treaty
[국문 번역][60주년 기념] 한국 전쟁 [미] 재향 군인들, 진정한 평화 조약을 요구하다.
June 25, 2010 2010년 6월 25일


[Bruce Gagnon blog] VIDEO OF VFP CONFAB MARCH [on Aug. 29, 2010]
[브루스 개그논 블로그] 또 다른 비디오: [2010년 8월 29일] 평군 회담 행진
September 08, 2010 2010년 9월 8일

[Bruce Gagnon blog]Video: ANOTHER SPEAKER AT VFP RALLY: Lisa Savage, Code Pink[on Aug. 29, 2010]
[브루스 개그논 블로그]비디오: [2010년 8월 29일]평군 회담의 또 한 명의 연설자: 리사 새비지, 코드 핑크
Friday, September 03, 2010 2010년 9월 3일

Text Fwd: Antiwar rally by Veterans for Peace caps convention
[국문 번역] 반전 집회가 [미] 평화 재향 군인회의 회담을 마무리하다.
Aug. 30, 2010 2010년 8월 30일

Video Fwd: Two Videos from the Veterans for Peace Convention,
Maine, Aug. 28, 2010
2010년 8월 29일, 미국 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 회담 관련 2 개의 비디오

[Bruce Gagnon blog], Tuesday, August 24, 2010
[Video]VFP CONFAB COVERAGE CONTINUES
브루스 개그논 블로그: [비디오]평군 회담 기사 계속되다, 2010년 8월 24일

[Bruce Gagnon blog] Sunday, August 22, 2010
PROMOTING VFP CONFAB
브루스 개그논 블로그: 평군 회담 홍보, 2010년 8월 22일

Video Fwd: [Bruce Gagnon blog] Tom Sturtevant from Maine Veterans for Peace
비디오 포워드:[ 브루스 개그논 블로그] 탐 스터트번트: 메인주 평화 재향 군인회

[Three International Petitions] to End the Korean war and peace treaty
(or peace resolution)
한국 전쟁 종식과 평화 협정(또는 평화 결의안) 실현을 위한 [세 개의 국제 서명]

[국문 번역][Bruce Gagnon blog 브루스 개그논 블로그] Massacre at No Gun Ri 노근리의 학살
Oct. 14, 2010 2010년 10월 14일

No Gun Ri Incident 노근리 사건
_ English, 영문,
_ Korean, 국문

No Gun Ri related Chungjoo MBC programs (Sorry, only Korean!)
노근리 관련 청주 MBC 프로그램들은 여기서 보실 수 있읍니다.

No Gun Ri fiction movie 노근리 픽션 영화:
"작은 연못 (A Little Pond. 2009)"

[Japan Focus] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea:Uncovering the Hidden Korean War
Kim Dong choon
The Other War: Korean War Massacres
[재팬 포커스] 한국 진실과 화해 위원회: 숨겨진 한국 전쟁을 열며
김동천
또다른 전쟁: 한국 전쟁의 학살

Korean War Armistice Agreement, July 27, 1953 (English)
한국 전쟁 정전 협정, 1953년 7월 27(영문)
For Korean above, see Here or Here
국문은 여기 또는 여기를 클릭

Peace Agreement for the Korean Peninsula (English, proposed draft)
by the Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea
평화와 통일을 여는 사람들 한반도 평화 협정 제안 (영문, 제안 초안)

Peace Agreement for the Korean Peninsula (Korean, proposed draft)
by the Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea
평화와 통일을 여는 사람들 한반도 평화 협정 제안 (국문, 제안 초안)

여기를 또한 보시길.