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Standing for peace since January 1, 2003

Still standing for peace on March 26, 2008, marking the death of the 4000th U. S. military service member in Iraq.

Quote of the Week

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missles and misguided men.

CANOPAS Table at the Chelsea Farmers Market

CANOPAS will have a table at the Chelsea Farmers Market on Saturday, July 4 and again on August 1. Stop by if you're in the area. See the Events page for more details and how to volunteer.

Indefinite Detention, Plus Accountability for Torture

Jan Bernath, June 27, 2009

Dear Senators Levin and Stabenow,

I am most concerned about the indefinite detention of prisoners whose guilt or innocence is not determined being considered by our CURRENT administration. As you know, many of these people ended up where they are due to being handed over by people who received money to produce suspects. This indefinite detention does not represent our country's values.

Further, I want those iwho are responsible for making the torture "legal" by our PREVIOUS administration brought to justice. This undermines our country's credibility and is NOT the country we should be. Unless people are held accountable and prosecuted under the law for these unspeakable acts, we cannot stand on our core values.

Please let me know what EACH of you are doing about both of these issues that puts our country in a perilous position. Make both of these grievous situations right.

Memorial Day Heroes

Lynn Meadows, June 2, 2009

Memorial Day gives us a particular time to pause and consider. We honor all those many thousands of young men and women who have died in wars and conflicts. I would like to challenge us to consider if the results have truly justified these deaths. It also took great courage for those conscientious objectors to go beyond popular thought and honor the highest command: Thou shall not kill. I believe that when we are truly a civilized nation, we will not need MIGHT to be RIGHT.

n the Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery our President said, We have laid a wreath at the grave of the “Unknown Soldier” in times of War and times of Peace… I ask “What times of Peace?” MLK, Rosa Parks and others have shown us another way.

Is it time to move beyond the model of Might makes Right, and begin to consider alternatives to solving political problems? Do we teach our children to look for peaceful ways to reconcile differences? Do we model diplomacy and problem solving in our board rooms and social organizations? Can we begin to work with similar solutions in our relations with other governments? When will our country outgrow its “Wild West” mentality? That will be a day to Celebrate!

Memorial Day Peace Presence

Lynn Meadows, May 25, 2009

I could not believe that we would not be marching! We had planned on it all along. Someone even checked with Palmer to make sure it would be available. I could not believe that I was the only one who questioned it--other than Libby (who did get several direct responses to her thoughtful comments when they were sent out.) I kept planning on marching with SOMEONE. Then I finally got a message from Arny saying he would be out of town. And then Mike's family death. When I reached Bob, the last Vet for Peace that I knew, he had to work. THEY weren't marching! So I called Palmer and asked if we could carry the banner even if he did not want to march. He said "Sorry." (Is it HIS banner? I was under the impression that he had offered to do it for US.)

Finally last night I called other CANOPAS as I could. Talked and listened, talked and listened. Still I felt that *I* needed to represent a Presence of Peace on this very "Military" celebration day! All I have these days is one small "Peace Sign" on a stick and some flags. So I was on "our" corner at 9:30 this morning, dressed in black, with what I had. Marijo came and joined me. Then Sandra Zanaki came too. (She couldn't understand why we weren't marching.) The 3 of us stood there with 1 small peace sign and 2 small American flags until the street was bare. I will say,we did not get much response. (But I did not have the spirit to do my usual waving and smiling.) One toot and wave as I arrived, another woman expressed "get a life" is all that I was aware of. But I did what I could.

I still am amazed at this turn of events. How did this happen?

Positive Things Are Not Actually Happening

Libby Hunter, May 22, 2009

Palmer, this is in reply to your sentences: "our country is relying less on armed intervention and torture, as it restores reliance on diplomacy, the Geneva Conventions, habeas corpus, and the rule of law. But the balance is still tenuous in my opinion,..."

i keep reading (beneath the mainstream media surface) the most disturbing reports that the positive things you mention are actually not happening. as much as i'd love to believe they are. just this morning i rec'd an email from amnesty international stating:

"Obama's administration keeps defending illegal, immoral and ineffective policies. Policies like the Justice Department's continued use of the "state secrets" argument to withhold even basic information from defendants. Or re-vamping the widely discredited military commissions to try suspects."

my belief at this point is that obama is really just another politician. slick words to please "libs", but established policies will continue, with some being ramped up or strengthened. we've all read or heard at this point that troop levels are increasing, not decreasing as he promised way back when.

here are some articles, among many to be found, written by people trying to speak the truth - which is hard to come by in mainstream media. it may be there now & then, but important things are underreported or information "modified." i've gotten to the point where i don't rely on NPR or air america for accuracy and a true picture of what's going on. they exist in part to prop up the system.

all this is obviously my opinion only, and i'm open to any new ideas at any time.

if you have time to scan or even read these, i think you may be dismayed that our new president is not as concerned about the things you mention as we all had hoped. his actions don't match his words, at any rate.

one last general personal comment on vigils, demos, protests, parade actions, etc etc: it's gotten to a point for me that i'm usually ready to step outside of my comfort zone to express dissent. even here in A2 it's a lonely business. where wealth has increased, dissent seems to disappear. like i said, i'm USUALLY ready to take action. not always, but i'm always disappointed in myself when i don't. i think that when we step back and join the majority complicit population, we are not true to our own beliefs, and not helping to push back against the propaganda which is squelching democracy.

"Who Runs America? The Impotent President" 5/14/09
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts05142009.html

"The Grant Park Dream Has Died" 5/20/09
by Paul A. Moore
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/grant-park-dream-has-died
What a difference four months make. On November 4, 2008, tears "tears flowed like a mighty river" from half a million pairs of eyes in Chicago's Grant Park, where Barack Obama made his victory speech. Today, "Obama has no intention of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and ending that war," "there will be no genuine single payer national health care system under this president," and Obama invites "voucher and charter school boosters to the White House." The dream has turned into a hoax.

"The March of Folly Continues The Afghanistan Escalation" 5/21/09
By NORMAN SOLOMON
http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon05212009.html

"Caught in a Lie, U.S. is Using White Phosphorus in Afghanistan as a Weapon" 5/20/09
By Dave Lindorff
http://blog.buzzflash.com/lindorff/238

"Obama and the Warlord Courting Hekmatyar" 5/21/09
By GARY LEUPP
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/21894

"The Drones Are Coming: New War On Civilians" 5/15/09
By Ramzy Baroud
http://www.countercurrents.org/baroud150509.htm

No Banner in Memorial Day Parade

Palmer Morrel-Samuels, May 20, 2009

I have decided not to walk with the banner on Memorial Day this year, and want to let you know what has precipitated my change of heart. I had (as you know) planned to update and carry the banner, which by the way, now stretches an additional 50 feet to accommodate all the recent casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I now understand something that I had not realized until I spoke with a number of acquaintances here in town. I took some time to talk at length with, and listen to, the person at the American Legion who organizes our parade in Chelsea, as well as several other veterans in town that I know and respect. All three veterans were unambiguous about their reaction to the banner, and I have to admit their opinion surprised me: In their view, there was no way to carry the banner without having it be deeply offensive to many in the community. I had expected that carrying the names of the dead would be controversial and thought provoking, but I frankly had not realized that it would be deeply offensive. After all, I had reasoned, if my attitude is one of respect—as it is, having lost a close relative in the military myself—wouldn't that be enough to make my meaning clear? Apparently not. One of the veterans I spoke with said that he didn't know of a single person who didn't see the banner as a political protest; another said that he wouldn't want his name carried on a banner down the middle of the street. So, despite my intentions, it became clear that carrying the banner during the Memorial Day parade was, in general, not viewed as thought provoking and respectful, but merely as divisive and offensive.

I am as adamantly committed to promoting peace as ever; and I certainly am relieved to see that our country is relying less on armed intervention and torture, as it restores reliance on diplomacy, the Geneva Conventions, habeas corpus, and the rule of law. But the balance is still tenuous in my opinion, so I'll keep adding names to my banner, and will consider unfurling it on other days, in other places, in hopes that it will engender a bit more insight, and a bit less offence.

A Veteran's View of Memorial Day

Arny Stieber, May 20, 2009

Memorial Day is a very sad day for me. I'm a military veteran (Army, infantry, Viet Nam) and as I get further down the path, my grasp of life and humanity increases. We are all on this planet together and we are all related. The Golden Rule applies to everyone. "They" are not the "enemy". The "leaders" tell us that if we (the working class) send our children to kill all of "them", then we will be safe and our children who die or are physically and/or mentally wounded are heroes. The words of the "leaders" are hollow. They sell fear and we buy and become the pawns.

Two time Medal of Honor recipient Marine Major General Smedley Butler said "War is a racket". I agree. Weapons are our #1 export product. To keep our weapons industry going we promote conflicts and wars. We have over 700 military bases in over 140 countries. Our military is the largest violence educational institution in the world.

On this Memorial Day think about the death and destruction that is being perpetrated in our name all over the world. It's not about freedom or democracy, it's about profit. It's for "US interests". As I read about Memorial Day events I get sad. I suspect many of the people who attend are thinking like pawns.

Support Fair Immigration Policies

Marijo Grogan, May 19, 2009

I'd like to offer some information on an important story that our media is not covering. In the past year, raids on the homes of undocumented workers living in Washtenaw County have escalated at an alarming rate. Very few of these immigrants have any criminal history yet the "crime" of being an undocumented worker in this country warrants brutal tactics, intimidation, imprisonment, and the separation of workers from their families. Children born in this country are considered U.S. citizens. They are even put in our foster care system while their parents are deported.

Some of my own questions about immigration issues were answered when I recently attended a meeting of the Washtenaw interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights. Like others, I wondered if it was fair that our tax dollars should go to paying for medical and education services for undocumented worker's and their families. I learned that most of these workers pay some sort of tax including FICA which to date is estimated at having contributed an additional 6-8 billion dollars to our national wealth. These workers will never use these social security benefits.

I also learned that U.S. economic policies have contributed to the current problems we are facing with the increased immigration of undocumented workers. Under NAFTA the United States has been allowed to export many cheaper agricultural and industrial products that have undermined local family farms and small businesses in Central American countries. At the same time, while the U.S. had originally promised to create more jobs in these countries by building business enterprises, most of these markets have migrated to China and other oversees countries where the cost of labor is even lower.

How can we as citizens support fair immigration reform policies? Ask our congressional representatives to decrease tax dollars going to support enforcement and increase those going to offset imbalances in NAFTA policies and processing the backlog of visa applications. Also, it makes sense to allow those workers who have been in this country for a period of time, sometimes ten years and more, to receive green cards or take other steps to becoming legal residents and/or citizens. Feel free to contact WICIR, co-founder, Laura Sanders at 734-355-2707, for more information.

Don't Like Female Soldiers? Stop the Wars

John Gourlay, April 13, 2009

I recently saw the documentary film "Lioness", a provocative film which looks into the lives of several female soldiers who were ordered into urban combat during the battle for Ramadi, Iraq in 2003. Because it is against U.S. military policy to send women into combat, these women were not fully trained for the job, nor did they expect to do what they were ordered to do. Nevertheless, they did their jobs responsibly and with competence, just like their male counterparts. Also just like their male counterparts, some of them have suffered from post-traumatic stress resulting from the things they saw and did. Unlike the men, however, partly because of policy, the women have been written out of the history of the events, and are having trouble getting recognition for their roles, something that is critical for their military careers, and important for their own healing and self esteem.

In modern, high-tech military activity it is possible for women to equal men. For example, the Army gives male and female helicopter pilots exactly the same training, including SERE training where the pilots go through a simulated crash, enemy evasion, capture, and interrogation. The Army even teaches in flight school that females, on the whole, make better pilots than males. Women can and should be judged on their qualifications for specific jobs, not on their gender.

It is time for the U.S. military, politicians, and public to overcome the Victorian attitude that women are inherently incapable of doing many things, and that it is somehow more immoral for women to fight and kill than it is for men. If we don't like what these and thousands of other women are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, then we should object to the men doing it too, and our country and the world will be a better place for it.

Security Means Feeding the Hungry

Lynn Meadows, April 5, 2009

I have a bumper sticker on my car that says "Peace begins when the hungry are fed." A world where half of the people live in extreme poverty is neither just nor secure.

Our security depends on more than military might; it depends on other people's security, well being and a hope that replaces fear and anger. We cannot remove the threats of war until all people share in global security. Only then will we remove the fear that leads inevitably to conflict and violence. Ending the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., requires a surge in diplomacy and development, not military escalation

CANOPAS to Co-sponsor Peace Films

John Gourlay, January 26, 2009

CANOPAS and Veterans for Peace have decided to co-sponsor a peace movie and lecture series the fourth Monday of each month at the McKune Memorial Library in Chelsea. Veterans for Peace had been conducting the movie series on its own, but it is hoped by both groups that CANOPAS can bring more ideas, publicity, and participation to it.

The first co-sponsored movie will be on Monday, February 23, at 6:30 p.m., a showing of "Winter Soldier". "They went to war and did what their government told them to do. Then they came home and told their stories. This documentary covers the first Winter Soldier testimony in Detroit in 1971 (Viet Nam) and the 2008 Winter Soldier testimony in Silver Springs, MD (Iraq). The weapons have changed, but the effect on the soldiers is the same." See below on this page for a personal reflection by Arny Stieber about the Winter Soldier events.

The second date in the series is Monday, March 23. The event for this day is still being planned, but will either be a talk on the subject of the Israel-Palestine issue, or a showing of the movie "A Force More Powerful". Save the date.

Winter Soldier

Arny Stieber, February 4, 2009

They came from across the country. Mostly in their 20s. Sharply dressed, intelligent, articulate. They came to tell their stories. Stories not told by the government or the corporate media. These young men and women, after experiencing mayhem, death and destruction, needed to tell the world what was going on. And they did for four days. It was March of 2008 in Silver Springs, MD. The event was called "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations".

Strange name "Winter Soldier." It comes from Thomas Paine. In 1776 he wrote: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." The crisis then was the tyranny of the British Empire. In this era it is the tyranny of the US Empire.

The original Winter Soldier hearing took place in Detroit in late January of 1971. The government had crammed the Viet Nam war down the throats of the people for too long and Viet Nam vets spoke up. They told about the brutality, death and destruction and its effect on the people on both sides. The major media didn't want to hear it. Fortunately an independent group filmed it. You can see this hearing on DVD, www.WinterSoldierFilm.com.

I was in the military in Viet Nam in January of 1971. When I got home in March of 1971 I did my best to block out everything military. I was successful until January of 2003 when I accidentally watched the movie "Platoon". I came in just as a US patrol was entering a village. I saw the kids, and it all came back. I could feel it. I could smell it. I erupted, not in violence, but in research. One of my discoveries was Vvaw.org and Winter Soldier.

When I heard that Iraq Veterans Against the War (ivaw.org) was planning a Winter Soldier hearing I knew I had to be there. I put the word out and found several other veterans who wanted to go. I drove from MI to MD with Bob Davis. Bob is a WW2 vet, had a recent hip replacement, and has a smile that rarely quits. He had also been the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor during most of Viet Nam, and the hearings were at the National Labor College.

We spent four days helping out and listening to the testimony of these young active and former military people. Many of them augmented their statements with video. The corporate media were invited, but none showed. Foreign media were there and so were independent media.

The auditorium was packed with veterans and military families all four days. Hearing the stories was much more than deeply emotional. Speaking from the heart - some angry, some fighting back the tears, some both - these young people talked about war - real war - not the video game, Hollywood movie version. And they showed the video clips. I wanted to grab every politician who voted for war, every flag waver, every businessperson who makes money on war, every religious person who does not speak out against war, and stick their nose in it.

I encourage the viewing of both Winter Soldier hearings. The technology of war changes. The inhumanity stays the same. War is not a movie or a video game. The effects are life long. The recent Winter Soldier can be viewed at ivaw.org. They also have a newly released book. DemocracyNow.org has many clips on their web site. The most extensive video coverage is at FreeSpeech.org.

These young folks - from 1971 and 2008 - showed true courage and true patriotism. They did what their government told them to do. Then they stood up and said, "this is wrong". They stood up when the government was telling them to sit down. They stood up and spoke out. That is, they did what a democracy demands. No summer soldiers or sunshine patriots here. They are Winter Soldiers.

Open Letter to My Brother

Ron Clark, December 31, 2008

Dear Brother,

Sunday, January 4, 2009. Last scheduled Sunday morning demonstration of CANOPAS. (Chelsea Area Network of Peace Activists). Certainly, not the disbandment of he organization nor the abandonment of its ideals.

Why is it that when people think about an anti-war protester that they think that the protester does not love, respect, admire, thank, and appreciate all that both vets and the kids in Iraq have done, are doing, and have sacrificed for our freedom and way of life? John and Kathy Gourlay, the two who have worked the hardest in the anti-Iraq conflict demonstrations have a daughter who is a Captain and pilot of Blackhawk helicopters in combat in Iraq. I have never heard a protester disrespect a soldier... ever! (And some are vets themselves.)

I've sat in a Vietnam vets' bar and proudly bought rounds of drinks. But I would never buy George Bush a drink to celebrate the 4221 dead kids that his policies have created. (So far.) I walk next to memorials in Washington for Civil, Spanish-American, Korean, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and cry. I watch historical documentaries about the soldiers in all of those conflicts and feel proud and shed tears for them. We don't have a memorial for the Iraq dead so far, but I (with pride!) on Memorial Day help carry a banner 400 feet long through Chelsea with the names, hometowns, ages, and dates of death of all the kids who have given their lives for their country, for their president, and for me.

But, this war is wrong; wrong reasons, wrong directions, wrong management, wrong results, wrong everything. And I think that my president was wrong. And when I see images of Iraq, of the soldiers, the civilians, and the damaged, divided country, I feel it is my duty to stand up and say that it is a wrong war. And if I didn't, I would be a poor example of that duty and freedom that all of these men and women have fought and died for.

Yes, we are all hoping that the new administration will be able to bring an end to the conflict, but it seems wrong to stand in protest to an administration's policies when that administration no longer exists. I plan to give my new president support and my confidence.

But, if or when I feel that his policies are wasting our young, dedicated soldiers' lives, I will stand on the corner again, and again, and again.

Keep buying the vets at the VFW beers. When I visit you next, I will go with you and buy a round or two.

CANOPAS Final Weekly Demonstration and Celebration

November 30, 2008

Because of the changed political climate in relation to the Iraq war, CANOPAS has decided to move its focus away from the weekly Sunday Vigil toward other activities.

CANOPAS will have its final weekly peace demonstration outside the Post Office on Sunday, January 4, at the usual time, 12 to 1 pm. Immediately following will be a potluck and program to celebrate the uninterrupted six years of Sunday demonstrations and to turn the group's attention and energy toward future plans. This celebration is at the Michigan Friend's Center. The indoor program will consist of songs (including at least one sing along), a short review of CANOPAS's activities over the years, a time for individuals to share their own memories of CANOPAS's experiences, and the potluck lunch. At the end of the lunch people will be invited to think about and write down ideas for future CANOPAS activities. After this the group will bundle up and go outside to a bonfire and ceremony including more singing honoring the people whose names are on our 50 or more boards of our wall of names of those who have died in the Iraq war.

Everyone who has ever supported CANOPAS's activities or has appreciated CANOPAS's work is invited to attend with their friends and family. Feel free to come to either one or both events. Directions to the Michigan Friends Center.

CANOPAS Demonstrations to End

Elizabeth Hammer, November 16, 2008

On Sunday, November 16, a group of those CANOPAS members who regularly have come to the post office vigil met and decided, by vote, that the weekly vigils will be suspended indefinitely, after Jan. 4, which will be the 6th anniversary of CANOPAS first vigil against the war in Iraq.

There were several reasons for the decision to suspend the weekly vigils, with the primary one being that the Status of Forces agreement, currently accepted by the Iraqi president and cabinet and poised for a vote by the Iraqi Parliament, establishes the road map for withdrawal of troops. While about 6 years too late, leaving Iraq is one of the main messages we have held up to the community, and the time and energy we all give to the greater cause of peace will be better spent in other processes and venues in the future.

Further discussion established that:

• Occasional vigils may still be held, to mark commemorative dates or (hopefully not) major death vigils (e.g., 5,000).
• The CANOPAS e-mail list and web site will still be maintained.
• A pot-luck meeting will be held at 5 pm on Sunday, Nov. 30, at Jan Bernath's home, 238 Harrison Street in Chelsea. Jan says bring only a dish to pass---she'll have the rest.

For those who would like to participate in defining "next steps" for CANOPAS, there will be two major agenda items:

• Planning for a community event (probably pot-luck) to follow the last regular vigil, on Jan. 4.
• Deciding on specific actions to take in the future, to assure that our voice for peace is not lost in this community.

Elizabeth Hammer has agreed to write a draft of an article/op-ed piece which will be shared on the 30th, and eventually sent to the Chelsea Standard re CANOPAS decision and change of focus.

Even if you cannot attend the planning meeting on Nov. 30, those who have stood with us and have supported our group are invited to share their ideas for inclusion in the article. Send your thoughts to her at ejhammer@fastem.com. If you wish to be quoted exactly, please indicate that, and give me the way you want to be identified--she will do the best she can to use your thoughts verbatim. Otherwise, your thoughts will be used to enrich and deepen the piece, but likely not used with attribution or your exact words.

If you have lengthy thoughts, you are encouraged to write a letter to the editor, planning to mail it after Christmas so that it will appear in the Jan. 8 (Thursday after our last vigil) edition.

Children's Books on Peace

The Friends Committee on National Legislation has prepared a timely list of children's books on peace.

Let's Change How We Vote

John Gourlay, September 25, 2008

I have always been someone who feels an obligation to participate in public affairs by volunteering, making my opinions known, and by voting. At the same time, however, I have always been repelled by the political process that makes otherwise respectable candidates malign their opponents and pander to the middle, and that sometimes makes me feel that I must vote for the second-best candidate because my first choice can't win.

In a book published this year, Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It), William Poundstone describes in horrifying detail all of those things that I detest about elections. Poundstone devotes a good part of the book to case after case of "spoiler" candidates who have thrown elections to opponents at the opposite end of the political spectrum. Almost everyone still remembers Ralph Nader running for president in 2000 and taking enough votes from Al Gore to make the less-popular George Bush the winner. But, of the 45 presidential elections held under the modern rules, at least five were decided by spoilers. Also, in 2006 alone, three of the six senate seats that the Democrats needed to gain a majority were won with the help of conservative spoilers. Our "plurality" voting system, in which we can vote for only one candidate even if three or more are running, has elected many unpopular candidates. As Poundstone puts it, "Were the plurality vote a car or an airliner, it would be recognized for what it is---a defective consumer product, unsafe at any speed."

Many alternative methods of voting exist in which voters have the ability to rank or rate several candidates, rather than just one. These have a long history of use throughout the world from the Renaissance and even before. Approval voting, for example, in which voters may vote for all of the candidates they find acceptable, was used in Venice for over 500 years, and in our own Electoral College in its early years. Instant-runoff voting was used throughout Europe and the United States until the middle 1900s. In this type of voting voters rank the candidates, and voters' second choices can be counted if their first choices do not achieve a majority. What happened in the middle of the century, among other things, was that Nobel-laureate economist Kenneth Arrow listed a set of desirable properties that everyone can agree should hold for all voting systems, and then proceeded to prove mathematically that no ranked-voting system can satisfy all five simultaneously. It appeared that all voting systems were flawed, so why struggle with anything more complicated than simple plurality voting?

Arrow's theorem damped interest in voting methodology to such an extent that it has taken half a century for further research by mathematicians and social scientists to clarify the picture, but it appears now that the pessimism was unfounded. One observation is that there are voting systems that do not fall within the control of Arrow's theorem. Approval voting is one example, and so is range voting, in which voters give numeric ratings or letter grades to the candidates. In range voting, the candidate wins who gets the highest total rating. Another development is that mathematician Warren Smith, with the help of computers unavailable in Arrow's day, has been able to simulate the behavior of voting systems under various scenarios of candidates' and voters' beliefs. What Smith has found, for example, is that voters are likely to be much more satisfied with the results of instant-runoff voting compared to plurality voting, in spite of the fact that both voting systems are flawed according to Arrow. In other words, in practice the flaws of instant-runoff voting are less likely to offend voters than those of plurality voting. Smith has also found that the outcomes of range and approval voting are likely to make voters happier yet.

Another advantage to these alternatives to plurality voting is that voters who support more than one candidate can indicate that support on their ballots. Third-party candidates no longer will be spoilers. Moreover, candidates need not feel that they must tear down their opponents to get votes, and elections under these alternative voting rules are more positive than the ones we’ve come to expect. With third-party candidates no longer a threat, there will be more of them, adding a welcome diversity of ideas to our elections. Finally, one of the most important benefits of these alternative voting systems is economic. Allowing voters to evaluate many candidates at once on a single ballot can make primary elections unnecessary, saving large amounts of money for the government and for candidates.

Gaming the Vote is a lively, detailed book worth reading and discussing. (You can get it at the Chelsea Library.) In this election season in which all of the candidates are emphasizing change, let's urge our representatives to make a fundamental change that will help change everything else. Let's change the way we vote.

The Earth is the Center

Arny Stieber, September 21, 2008

My talk this morning is titled - "The earth is the center." At this point in my life I believe my role is to plant seeds and create dialogue. My hope is to do that this morning.

Thank you for allowing me to be here on this International Peace Day and the autumn equinox. They are related.

The autumn equinox is when day and night are EQUAL. EQUALITY. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that" we are ALL created EQUAL.

The International Day of Peace is also about equality. For with equality comes peace. The "others" are not "illegal", not "terrorists", not "evil". They are equal. They "are endowed by their creator with certain UNALIENABLE rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

But there are those who say this is not true. The "others" are not equal. They are illegal. They are terrorists. They are evil. That makes as much sense to me as those who once said the earth is the center of the universe.

At one time the earth was the center. There was no doubt. The leaders said so. The religious said so. The teachers said so. It was fact. There is a concept called the Learning Curve. It says that to retain a thought, you must hear it, and/or see it, at least six times. Thus if EVERYONE says the earth is the center, and you hear it over and over, then the earth is the center.

Some, those dissidents, those unfaithful, spoke out and said the earth can't be the center. Look at how the stars move in the sky. Look at the length of the days. They are long in the summer and short in the winter. Look at this time of year. It is a transition time. Light and dark are equal.

How dare you question!!! The earth is the center. The earth is the center. The earth is the center. The earth is the center. The earth is the center. The earth is the center. There. End of dissent.

Galileo - what say you? (I call on a person in the audience who I've coached to be Galileo and they say - the sun is the center). Seize that person. They speak lies. Off with their head.

If we hear it enough, we believe it. If we see it enough, we believe it. Violence is the solution. It is sold to us everyday, in many ways.

Go into any park in any town and you will most likely see a military statue, or a canon. Veterans' memorials are everywhere. Veterans and the military lead parades. The military carries the flag into sporting events. POW-MIA flags fly from Post Offices and other buildings. Highways are named after wars, war veterans, and generals. Battleships are named after Presidents. We have civil war re-enactments. We call the military "service".

We let violence into our language - "I could just kill my kids", "bullet points", and sports announcers inject "kill", "beat", "destroyed" into their descriptions. The more overt influences are easy - video games, TV shows, weapon toys, paint ball parks. We cheer when the politicians "get tough" and say they want to "take out" someone, or a group of people, or a country.

Violence is the solution and the earth is the center, and there is no other way. And some people wondered.

Several years ago I toured the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati. I had read about slavery and I thought I knew what it was. But as I toured, I began to REALLY feel what slavery was/is. It felt vaguely familiar. The oppression, the hatred, the total domination, the violence, the tearing apart of families brought back many memories from my time in the military. But I also began to realize "the other side" of slavery. On the other side is the money and the righteous - the people who were not only comfortable with slavery, but promoted it. The preachers, the politicians, the teachers, the business people, the pillars of society said slavery was not only necessary, it was the only way the country could survive. The slaves weren't people. They weren't human. It was OK to torture them and shoot them and hang them. It was OK to use dogs on them and beat them. They didn't have a brain. The Golden Rule didn't apply to them.

Some, those dissidents, those unfaithful, spoke out and said slavery can't be right. Look at these people, they are just like us. They have eyes, noses and ears. They come in all sizes. They laugh and cry like we do. They are our brothers and sisters. They are equal.

Slavery is the solution and the earth is the center, and there is no other way - those in power said. And some people wondered - isn't slavery much like war?

Hermann Goering (Gestapo/Nazi leader). Testimony to Nuremberg war crimes trial, 1946. said: "Why of course the people don't want war . . . but after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along. Whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship . . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Folks - at one time it was very difficult to get the facts. We had to relay on the leaders to tell us "the earth is the center". With the internet, and satellite communications we can get information from many sources around the world. We can reach outside the US corporate controlled media and look at the world and see that it is round, it is not the center of the universe, and the US is just a small part of it. We can gather multiple inputs and use our maturity to wonder and ask "why?", "what are the options?", "Is there another way?".

The last six words of the Pledge of Allegiance are - "with liberty and justice for ALL".

This is the International Day of Peace. Tomorrow is the autumn equinox. They are about relationships with ourselves, our neighbors, this community, this country, this world, this universe. They are about persistence. They are about asking "why?" They are about the connectedness of life. They are about equality.

Galileo - what say you? (I call on a person in the audience who I've coached to be Galileo and they say - the sun is the center).

Constitution Day

Arny Stieber, September 17, 2008

September 17th is the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Public schools are required to teach the Constitution on this day. It would be a good day for all of us to read the Constitution and remember that this document is much more than a piece of paper. It is the foundation of our country. Unless we know the Constitution and demand that it be followed, those in power will abuse our sovereign rights and defile our foundation.

Article VI, Section 2 states that "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land . . .".

This means that all treaties must be followed. Those in power often ignore, or side step the Constitution. Several examples include the treaties signed with Native Americans, the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo which guarantees the right to speak the Spanish language and the Geneva Convention which covers the laws of war and the treatment of prisoners.

I am a Vietnam veteran and I often hear people say that freedom isn't free. I agree. Freedom requires that we the people understand our laws and vigorously demand that they be enforced. Democracy is a verb, and without our constant vigilance, we are no more than pawns.

Read the Constitution. Talk to your kids, family and friends about it. It is who we are as a nation.

Farmer's Market Report

Elizabeth Hammer, June 28, 2008

The day started out raining, and drizzled most of the morning with a major downpour around 10. Park Street was torn up down to the mud, ready for resurfacing, so no one could park and few wanted to drive. Several regular vendors stayed home. Even with the dispiriting surround and the diminished foot traffic, the CANOPAS booth at the Saturday Farmer’s market was successful in attracting both the curious and the supportive.

This is the first time since 2005 that we have had a presence at the market, and we prepared carefully with a theme built around “De-fund the war, Re-fund the country”. We used a real pie, and cut it into segments representing portions of the federal budget. Passersby were invited to “play the budget pie game,” by using small cards with labels of the different budget categories. Most people were able to guess the largest category, “current and past wars” (44.5%), and then most became engaged with trying to guess how the other 56% was divided among the remaining 5 categories. Most were surprised to find “health care,” at 19%, was 2nd largest, and ruefully not surprised to learn that “diplomacy and human needs abroad” was the smallest, at 1.5%. (The data is from the FCNL Wage Peace campaign, www.FCNL.org.) Good conversations ensued, and folks were interested in taking our literature with them.

At the end of the morning, as all vendors were packing to go home at noon, another vendor came over to us to say how glad she was that we were there—how important it was to bring awareness of these issues forward, and to create an informed electorate. So, despite the dreary weather and low turn-out, it was a good day, with the summer rain an apt metaphor as we planted seeds of peace.

Memorial Day and "Service"

Arny Stieber, May 23, 2008

"They died in service to our country". That sentence will be heard may times as the nation observes Memorial Day.

I'm a father, a businessperson and a Viet Nam veteran. Over the past several years I've examined my military experience. Two time Medal of Honor recipient, Marine Major General Smedley Butler helped me. He finished his career, looked back and wrote a booklet titled "War is a Racket". He said he was a thug for big business. My studies confirm what the General said. Behind all of the flag waving, and the shouts of freedom, democracy and service, is a massive empire devoted to profit by any means. Weapons are our number one export product. The military is a tool. We are taught to puff our chests, and honor the military—alive and dead—but we are never taught to question the business of war.

They died in "service" to our country. I hope we think about those words.

Memorial Day Parade Report

John Gourlay, May 26 2008

About 20 Chelsea Area Peace Activists turned out for the Memorial Day Parade and helped to carry the 250-foot-long banner of over 4000 names updated, as always, by Palmer Morel-Samuels. The banner received polite applause all along the parade route, and toward the end of the route a young man, apparently an off-duty marine, joined the line and picked up some slack in the banner. When we reached the cemetery and were rolling the banner up, a number of people stopped to talk about it. Most of the people understood that the banner listed the U. S. war dead in Iraq, and they shook their heads at the large number of names. Incredibly, however, there were several people who imagined that the banner listed all of the U. S. war dead from all wars, and they were dumbfounded to learn that this list was just for Iraq. We need to do a better job of educating people about the cost of this war.

Barbarians

Arny Stieber, February 7, 2008

Barbarians—bizarre, primitive, wild or uncivilized. That word burst into my mind as I watched the State of the Union talk. Here was a President talking to elected representatives about killing people, and they were cheering and clapping and giving standing ovations.

I'm a father, businessperson and a Viet Nam veteran. I woke up to my military experience five years ago. I have learned much since then. My motto is—If you have to hurt someone to solve a problem, you are the problem. Barbarians would disagree.

Gore Book Discussion

Jim Grenoble, October 5, 2007

On Sunday, September 30, I attended the discussion of Al Gore’s book Assault on Reason, held at the Manchester District Library, and hosted by The Manchester Area People for Peace. The discussion was paneled by Pat Swaney of MAPP, Pat Vailliencourt, Manchester Village President, and Daniel Lai, editor of the Manchester Enterprise newspaper.

The event was attended by around 30 people.

Various reading material was spread out on a table in the back of the room, along with a petition to “draft” Al Gore for president.

At first, the panel talked about the book, then, a Q & A took place with the audience. About half of them hadn’t read the book (I had), but everyone pretty much knew the gist of it. It is about the insane hypocracy and corruption of the Bush administration, congress’s inability to stand up to it, and the corporate media’s role of non-investigative reporting and backing.

President Vailliencourt asked why no one would stand up against only two men (Bush & Cheney), and how these two could weld so much power.

Someone in the audience wondered why the antiwar movement was ineffective and not more mobile against the war in Iraq, and thought the movement is in limbo, unlike the resistance to the Vietnam War was in the ‘60s. I responded to this question by referring them to a book by Tom Hayden, seasoned antiwar activist from that era. In his book, Ending the War in Iraq, Hayden reminds us that in the ‘60s, a demonstration of 20,000 protesters was all over the news. A few weeks ago there was a demonstration in Washington, D.C., where over 100,000 protesters took part and the media didn’t cover it. It was not big news to them. In fact, millions of people protest this war and the Bush administration’s policies, not only in this country, but all over the world all the time, but it gets practically no coverage by the media, except in independent news. The Ann Arbor News mentioned this particular event with only two paragraphs on page 5, with two more paragraphs reporting the much smaller group of Bush supporters mounting a counter-protest. This is truly part of the “Assault on Reason”.

Think about all the antiwar organizations such as CodePink, MoveOn, & United for Peace & Justice. There are HUNDREDS more. Not to mention all the periodicals such as The Nation and Mother Jones magazines, and a million bloggers on the internet. Plus, now we have Air America Radio, and DemocracyNow! with Amy Goodman. These things just weren’t available in the ‘60s, and certainly not active in such as speedy pace as it became for this war.

Standing in front on the post office in Chelsea last Sunday, and talking to the good people of CANOPAS, I saw that the people of Chelsea who drove past us are more against this war now than just a few months ago. This is because THE PEACE MOVEMENT IS STILL ALIVE! You are making a difference. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. For the prospect of peace is a slow and arduous process, but eventually reason will catch up to the people, as long as we’re all out there every week in front of the library, as few as we are in Chelsea, reminding them about it for long as this hideous war continues. REASON WILL PREVAIL! Eventually.

Special Access Ended for Military Recruiters at Manchester High School

Eileen Parker, Manchester Area People for Peace, September 19, 2007

Good news! Our campaign to end the special access given to military recruiters at Manchester High School has succeeded!

MAPP approached the School Board in the spring with this request. The school counselor visited each classroom shortly after school started this fall to announce that military recruiters would no longer be allowed to set up in the school lunchroom. They will now have the same access as college recruiters and employers: they will be available to meet with students by appointment in the counseling office and at special career fairs. The school counselor also explained the Opt Out process to students who do not want their name and contact information released to military recruiters.

And, we have a group of students this year who hope to start a Peace Club at MHS. They are currently looking for a teacher to sponsor their club.

Please call the school if you have a chance and thank them for this policy change.