Progressive Guam Mentions
They cover an interesting spectrum of political possibilities.
The list of Guam Mentions is so oddly diverse, it was collections like this which made my dissertation such a strange trip to write.
Guam is a military base, an independent country, a territory within just a few hundreds words of text. It is quintessentially American in one article, a foreign country in another, the edges of its empire in one and then the breakdown of its soul and its morality in the next.
To see what I mean, check out the articles below:
*********************
World Watches North Korea, But No Missiles Yet
Deadline came and went, but US intel believes chances of test launch remain 'very high'
Deadline came and went, but US intel believes chances of test launch remain 'very high'
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Following weeks of growing tensions, Wednesday April 10 was the day officials in Pyongyang had threatened to test one or more of its Musudan ballistic missiles on the Korean Peninsula, stirring fears that war could break out between North Korea and South Korea.
On Tuesday, the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a mouth-piece for North Korea (or Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK), issued the following statement on Tuesday via state media outlet KCNA:
The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermonuclear war due to the evermore undisguised hostile actions of the United States and the south Korean puppet warmongers and their moves for a war against the DPRK.
The prevailing situation is seriously affecting peace and security not only on the peninsula but in the rest of the Asia-Pacific.But as Wednesday came and went in Seoul, there was no sign that missiles had been fired, despite movement in recent days on the nation's eastern coast. The KCNA website—often used to carry announcements from the DRPK and its leader Kim Jong-Un—was silent throughout the day.
As The Christian Science Monitor asksed as midnight approached, "Have North Korea’s heated rhetoric and threats been bluffs?" Their reporting continued:
“The general principle is to escalate tensions in order to later be able to negotiate from a position of strength,” says Leonid Petrov, a researcher in Korean studies at Australian National University.
Musudan missiles have a range of about 1,875 miles, meaning they could reach anywhere in South Korea, Japan, or the US territory of Guam.
But as the Musudan missiles have never been flight-tested by North Korea, their launch might be unlikely, as the North would be wary of the loss of face that would come with an unsuccessful launch attempt.
According to analysts, the raising of tensions may be a deliberate ploy to create an atmosphere of nervousness about North Korea’s next move and thereby strengthen Pyongyang’s hand when it comes time to negotiate next with the international community.However, NBC reports that US officials were still on high alert, calling the chance of a launch 'very high.' Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports:
U.S. defense officials are "highly confident" that North Korea is planning the imminent launch of a medium-range missile, echoing warnings from South Korea that the probability of Pyongyang carrying out its threat is "very high."
The North has been threatening the United States and its "puppet" South Korea almost daily in recent weeks, and the Commander of U.S. Pacific Command told Congress on Tuesday that he could not recollect a more tense time in the region since the end of the Korean War.
World leaders have shown alarm at the prospects of a conflict.
******************
'Legislative Assault' on Women: Arkansas Passes Nation's Most Restrictive Abortion Law
Arkansas House, Senate override Governor's veto banning abortion after 12 weeks
Arkansas House, Senate override Governor's veto banning abortion after 12 weeks
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Arkansas has just passed the nation's most restrictive abortion law, marking another "legislative assault" on women.
On Wednesday the Arkansas House voted to override a veto from Democratic Governor Mike Beebe on a measure banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, following an earlier vote by the state Senate also overriding the veto.
Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel at the ACLU, wrote that it was "a sad day, not only for the women and families of Arkansas, but for women across the country," and called the vote "yet another sign that politicians are laser-focused on taking away women’s access to critical health care."
The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act prohibits abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, after a fetal heartbeat is detected, and would revoke the medical license of person performing an abortion after a heartbeat is detected.
Jezebel writer Katie J.M. Baker writes that the law "means Arkansans would be cut off from the state's already scant legal abortion services way before the point of viability, which is typically around 24 weeks of pregnancy." And the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that states can't ban abortion before a fetus becomes viable.
Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe said the bill "blatantly contradicts the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court," and Baker frames it as "the most egregious challenge to Roe v Wade passed by a state or territorial legislature since Guam tried to ban all abortions in 1990."
The Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Arkansas are gearing up to fight "this legislative assault on women."
"The politicians supporting this legislative assault on women have made clear both their indifference to the lives and health of the women of Arkansas and their hostility toward the fundamental rights guaranteed to women by the U.S. Constitution," Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.
"We intend to make it equally clear that no one’s constitutional rights are subject to revision by lawmakers intent on scoring political points, and that attempts such as this to turn back the clock on reproductive rights will not stand," stated Northup.
**************
Will US Military's 'Pivot' Bring Vieques Redux to Pacific?
Proposals to use entire island of Pagan for air, land and water weapons trainings could bring 'irreparable harm'
Proposals to use entire island of Pagan for air, land and water weapons trainings could bring 'irreparable harm'
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams
May 16, 2013
As the U.S. military continues “forging a broad-based military presence” in the Pacific, proposals to use an entire island and surrounding waters to practice mine warfare, dropping bombs and amphibious strikes have set off fierce opposition.
Located in the Northern Marianas Islands a few hundred miles from Guam, where military activities are "already being used to capacity," the Pacific island of Pagan may be taken over by live training exercises that could cause "irreparable harm" to the environment.
Marianas Variety reports:
OVER what they consider potential irreparable harm to the environment and the people, the indigenous people of the islands through the Northern Marianas Descent Corporation passed a resolution opposing the U.S. military proposal to develop live-fire ranges and training areas on Pagan island.
The resolution, signed by NMD Corp. officers — Ana S. Teregeyo, president; Karl T. Reyes, vice president; Daniel O. Quitugua, secretary; and Rose Taman Ada-Hocog, treasurer —on May 10, “unequivocally oppose[s] and unanimously disapprove[s] the proposed U.S. military development and tactical exercise activities on our culturally, historically, and environmentally rich, serene and irreplaceable homeland island of Pagan unlike any other on earth.”NMD Corp. says the most alarming statement regarding Pagan is the US military’s intention to use the entire island for joint training activities, using a broad spectrum of weaponry.
What it would entail:
The proposed military training on the volcanic island would include air warfare, amphibious warfare, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare. mine warfare, strike warfare, electronic combat and naval special warfare.The opposing voices are also concerned over secrecy the military has shown with the weapons it tests. The Saipan Tribune reported that the NMD Corporation said that historically,
the U.S. military is best known for covert operations, keeping secret anything they used or plan to use that may be harmful to the area, affecting and displacing people, animals, plants, wildlife, marine life, water, air and sea, permanently damaging and/or destroying the overall human habitat, landscape, flora, fauna, land and marine environment.Just look to the Puerto Rico's Vieques or training areas in Hawaii to see the toxic, dangerous legacy U.S. military training can leave, the opponents say.
The Associated Press adds that while the island is sparsely populated, previous residents who were evacuated due to an earthquake in 1981 worry the U.S. military takeover could prevent their resettlement.
**************
Urban Shield: 'The Epitome of State Repression' Coming to a Town Near You
Meeting of SWAT teams and military contractors from around the world faces local opposition in Oakland, CA
Meeting of SWAT teams and military contractors from around the world faces local opposition in Oakland, CA
by Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Common Dreams
October 24, 2013
SWAT teams, police forces, and military contractors from across the world will converge in Oakland, California this weekend—October 25-28—for a little-known 'Urban Shield' global training exercise and weapons technology expo that is bankrolled by millions of dollars from the Department of Homeland Security and arms manufacturers and is billed as a program to fight 'terrorism.
They will be met on Friday by protesters from over 30 Bay-Area community and peace and justice organizations who say this gathering, that stands at the nexus of global and domestic militarization, is not welcome in their city.
"What Urban Shield represents to us is the epitome of state repression that has been impacting communities of color and immigrant communities for decades," said Lara Kiswani of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center in an interview with Common Dreams. "Different strategies of surveillance against Arabs and Muslims and brown and black people are being used as tactics against our people back home. This is the militarization of the police."
Coordinated this year by Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern, whose office is receiving $7.5 million in federal grants according to the War Resisters League, Urban Shield is a national effort overseen by a California-based private firm Cytel Inc. It is hosted by the Bay Area Urban Security Initiative that has been building collaboration between California police departments since 2006 and raking in Homeland Security funding since 2011. Its location moves annually.
Despite its global scope, the event has largely moved forward without the consent or knowledge of local residents and even some city council members.
SWAT Teams will hail from countries including Israel, Bahrain, Brazil, Guam and Qatar. As Max Blumenthal of Mondoweiss points out, past participants have included the Israeli Border Police Unit Yamam, which carries out extra-judicial assassinations of Palestinians, as well as Bahraini units that play a key role in violently repressing the country's ongoing mass protests.
Attendees will carry out war games in Alameda County, as well as sample products from companies that produce tear gas, spying and surveillance systems, and military weapons.
As the East Bay Express notes, in addition to hefty federal backing, sponsors also include major arms companies including ATK, which produces depleted uranium ammunition. Numbered among its sponsors is the company Safariland, which the Facing Tear Gas Campaign of the War Resisters League has criticized for exporting tear gas to governments across the world, from Oakland to Israel to Tunisia, to be used as tools of repression and social control.
According to the War Resisters League, Ahern test flew a drone at last year's Urban Shield, prompting him to move forward with plans to purchase drones for Alameda County.
"The United States exports repression globally," said Kiswani. "The way the occupations in the Arab world repress people, and Israel represses the people of Palestine, these are the same strategies used against communities of color and poor people at home."
"We see events like Urban Shield as one of the main engines of militarization of the police and everyday life," said Ali Issa of the War Resisters League in an interview with Common Dreams today.
As Urban Shield opens Friday so will a community protest, which will feature the testimony of Oakland residents who have directly faced violence and abuse at the hands of police. Organizers will also present statements from pro-democracy activists in Bahrain, Palestine, Canada, and Turkey.
California resident Dionne Smith-Downes told Common Dreams that she plans to protest the militarization of U.S. police that she says has tragically touched her own life. "My unarmed son was shot with military weapons by the police," she said, explaining her son died from his wounds. "I feel that military weapons should not be used in a community."
"Pressuring those that have the most to gain from the militarization of US police like Safariland—and letting people know that these companies have ties to everyday products like phones, bikes, and public universities—is going to be the most effective way to roll this police-state process back," said Issa.
"The Bay Area has a long legacy of organizing against police violence," Kiswani declared. "We are making those links and trying to raise awareness in our own communities and across communities. We must be prepared to protect our communities in the face of these repression strategies."
********************
Toll of US Sailors Devastated by Fukushima Radiation Continues to Climb
Common Dreams
January 12, 2014
The roll call of U.S. sailors who say their health was devastated when they were irradiated while delivering humanitarian help near the stricken Fukushima nuke is continuing to soar.
So many have come forward that the progress of their federal class action lawsuit has been delayed.U.S. sailors irradiated while delivering humanitarian help near the stricken Fukushima nuke say their health has been devastated.
Bay area lawyer Charles Bonner says a re-filing will wait until early February to accommodate a constant influx of sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other American ships.
Within a day of Fukushima One’s March 11, 2011, melt-down, American “first responders” were drenched in radioactive fallout. In the midst of a driving snow storm, sailors reported a cloud of warm air with a metallic taste that poured over the Reagan.
Then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, at the time a nuclear supporter, says “the first meltdown occurred five hours after the earthquake.” The lawsuit charges that Tokyo Electric Power knew large quantities of radiation were pouring into the air and water, but said nothing to the Navy or the public.
Had the Navy known, says Bonner, it could have moved its ships out of harm’s way. But some sailors actually jumped into the ocean just offshore to pull victims to safety. Others worked 18-hour shifts in the open air through a four-day mission, re-fueling and repairing helicopters, loading them with vital supplies and much more. All were drinking and bathing in desalinated water that had been severely contaminated by radioactive fallout and runoff.
Then Reagan crew members were enveloped in a warm cloud. “Hey,” joked sailor Lindsay Cooper at the time. “It’s radioactive snow.”
The metallic taste that came with it parallels the ones reported by the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and by Pennsylvania residents downwind from the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island.
When it did leave the Fukushima area, the Reagan was so radioactive it was refused port entry in Japan, South Korea and Guam. It’s currently docked in San Diego.
The Navy is not systematically monitoring the crew members’ health problems. But Cooper now reports a damaged thyroid, disrupted menstrual cycle, wildly fluctuating body weight and more. “It’s ruined me,” she says.
Similar complaints have surfaced among so many sailors from the Reagan and other U.S. ships that Bonner says he’s being contacted by new litigants “on a daily basis,” with the number exceeding 70.
Many are in their twenties, complaining of a terrible host of radiation-related diseases. They are legally barred from suing the U.S. military. Tepco denies that any of their health problems could be related to radiation from Fukushima. The company also says the U.S. has no jurisdiction in the case.
The suit was initially dismissed on jurisdictional grounds by federal Judge Janis S. Sammartino in San Diego. Sammartino was due to hear the re-filing Jan. 6, but allowed the litigants another month to accommodate additional sailors.
Bonner says Tepco should be subject to U.S. law because “they are doing business in America … Their second largest office outside of Tokyo is in Washington DC.”
Like the lawsuit, the petitions ask that Tepco admit responsibility, and establish a fund for the first responders to be administered by the U.S. courts.
In 2013 more than 150,000 citizens petitioned the United Nations to take control of the Fukushima site to guarantee the use of the best possible financial, scientific and engineering resources in the attempted clean-up.
The melted cores from Units One, Two and Three are still unaccounted for. Progress in bringing down Unit Four’s suspended fuel assemblies is murky at best. More than 11,000 “hot” rods are still scattered around a site where radiation levels remain high and some 300 tons of radioactive water still flow daily into the Pacific.
But with U.S. support, Japan has imposed a state secrets act severely restricting reliable news reporting from the Fukushima site.
So now we all live in the same kind of dark that enveloped the USS Reagan while its crew was immersed in their mission of mercy.
Petitions in the sailors’ support are circulating worldwide on NukeFree.org, MoveOn, Avaaz, RootsAction and elsewhere.
So many have come forward that the progress of their federal class action lawsuit has been delayed.U.S. sailors irradiated while delivering humanitarian help near the stricken Fukushima nuke say their health has been devastated.
Bay area lawyer Charles Bonner says a re-filing will wait until early February to accommodate a constant influx of sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other American ships.
Within a day of Fukushima One’s March 11, 2011, melt-down, American “first responders” were drenched in radioactive fallout. In the midst of a driving snow storm, sailors reported a cloud of warm air with a metallic taste that poured over the Reagan.
Then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, at the time a nuclear supporter, says “the first meltdown occurred five hours after the earthquake.” The lawsuit charges that Tokyo Electric Power knew large quantities of radiation were pouring into the air and water, but said nothing to the Navy or the public.
Had the Navy known, says Bonner, it could have moved its ships out of harm’s way. But some sailors actually jumped into the ocean just offshore to pull victims to safety. Others worked 18-hour shifts in the open air through a four-day mission, re-fueling and repairing helicopters, loading them with vital supplies and much more. All were drinking and bathing in desalinated water that had been severely contaminated by radioactive fallout and runoff.
Then Reagan crew members were enveloped in a warm cloud. “Hey,” joked sailor Lindsay Cooper at the time. “It’s radioactive snow.”
The metallic taste that came with it parallels the ones reported by the airmen who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and by Pennsylvania residents downwind from the 1979 meltdown at Three Mile Island.
When it did leave the Fukushima area, the Reagan was so radioactive it was refused port entry in Japan, South Korea and Guam. It’s currently docked in San Diego.
The Navy is not systematically monitoring the crew members’ health problems. But Cooper now reports a damaged thyroid, disrupted menstrual cycle, wildly fluctuating body weight and more. “It’s ruined me,” she says.
Similar complaints have surfaced among so many sailors from the Reagan and other U.S. ships that Bonner says he’s being contacted by new litigants “on a daily basis,” with the number exceeding 70.
Many are in their twenties, complaining of a terrible host of radiation-related diseases. They are legally barred from suing the U.S. military. Tepco denies that any of their health problems could be related to radiation from Fukushima. The company also says the U.S. has no jurisdiction in the case.
The suit was initially dismissed on jurisdictional grounds by federal Judge Janis S. Sammartino in San Diego. Sammartino was due to hear the re-filing Jan. 6, but allowed the litigants another month to accommodate additional sailors.
Bonner says Tepco should be subject to U.S. law because “they are doing business in America … Their second largest office outside of Tokyo is in Washington DC.”
Like the lawsuit, the petitions ask that Tepco admit responsibility, and establish a fund for the first responders to be administered by the U.S. courts.
In 2013 more than 150,000 citizens petitioned the United Nations to take control of the Fukushima site to guarantee the use of the best possible financial, scientific and engineering resources in the attempted clean-up.
The melted cores from Units One, Two and Three are still unaccounted for. Progress in bringing down Unit Four’s suspended fuel assemblies is murky at best. More than 11,000 “hot” rods are still scattered around a site where radiation levels remain high and some 300 tons of radioactive water still flow daily into the Pacific.
But with U.S. support, Japan has imposed a state secrets act severely restricting reliable news reporting from the Fukushima site.
So now we all live in the same kind of dark that enveloped the USS Reagan while its crew was immersed in their mission of mercy.
Petitions in the sailors’ support are circulating worldwide on NukeFree.org, MoveOn, Avaaz, RootsAction and elsewhere.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Comments