I see by the wmtc tag “graphic novels” that I intended to write about graphic books I read and enjoyed…and I see by the scant number of posts with that tag that I have not been doing so! The last wmtc post tagged for graphic novels is from four years
Continue readingTag: war and peace
wmtc: 11.11: remembrance day readers’ advisory
I’ve posted 11 anti-war songs, and I’ve done Labour Day readers’ advisory, but I don’t think I’ve ever done anti-war readers’ advisory. Here are 11 great books with an anti-war themes. 1. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins 2. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut 3. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning,
Continue readingwmtc: a must-read if you’re responding to ignorance and bigotry about omar khadr’s settlement
In case everyone hasn’t seen this yet, written by someone named Ben Feral Selinger. July 6 Okay, I’m fucking sick of the idiocy and done with writing a diatribe every single time a friend posts about how they’re upset that Trudeau is giving a terrorist $10m. You people are…. wilfully
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Nobel Laureates Assailed Honorary Canadian Citizen Aung San Suu Kyi Over Myanmar’s Persecution Of Rohingya People
In a recent scathing open letter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other Nobel Laureates assail fellow laureate, human rights icon, and honorary Canadian citizen, Aung San Suu Kyi, over her country’s ongoing genocidal persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state. The post Nobel Laureates Assailed Honorary Canadian
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Dmitry Medvedev on US airstrikes on Syria: “On the verge of a military clash with Russia”
Responding to the US airstrikes on Syria, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev declared in a Facebook post: “On the verge of a military clash with Russia”. Justifying the airstrikes, PM Justin Trudeau said Assad’s “use of chemical weapons and the crimes the Syrian regime has committed against its own people cannot
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: With Syria missile strikes, Trump turns from non-intervention to waging war
The US’ cruise missile strikes against Syria’ Shayrat airforce base mark President Donald Trump’s first big foreign policy test. For foreign policy realists, Trump’s swift turn from non-intervention to waging war raises fears about his administration’s inconsistent and chaotic approach to world affairs. The post With Syria missile strikes, Trump
Continue readingwmtc: chelsea manning will be free!!!!
This is the best news I’ve seen in a long, long time. Chelsea Manning, the US army soldier who became one of the most prominent whistleblowers of modern times when she exposed the nature of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who then went on to pay the price with
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: How the everyday use of militaristic jargon makes us more combative
The language of warfare and violence dominates public discourse in the United States and around the world, even when war isn’t part of the conversation. Nan Levinson, a writer, teacher, and journalist covering civil and human rights, culture, and the military, discusses how the normalization of militaristic jargon is making
Continue readingwmtc: 11.11
Anthem for Doomed Youthby Wilfred OwenWhat passing-bells for these who die as cattle? — Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: How the ‘use of force’ industry drives police militarization and makes us all less safe
The growing militarization of law enforcement agencies, fueled by the “use of force” industry, has anti-police violence groups protesting and arguing that governments should prioritize human needs over militarization and violence. The post How the ‘use of force’ industry drives police militarization and makes us all less safe appeared first
Continue readingwmtc: solidarity from scotland to palestine via soccer
At a football (soccer) match between the Scottish Celtic team and an Israeli team, Hapoel Beersheba, hundreds of Celtic fans defied Scottish law to show their solidarity with Palestine and protest the Israeli occupation.Mondoweiss reports:There could b…
Continue readingwmtc: solidarity from scotland to palestine via soccer
At a football (soccer) match between the Scottish Celtic team and an Israeli team, Hapoel Beersheba, hundreds of Celtic fans defied Scottish law to show their solidarity with Palestine and protest the Israeli occupation.
Mondoweiss reports:
There could be serious consequences for Celtic thanks to the protest, carried out in front of Israelis themselves. Fines and closures of their fans seating sections are possible, under UEFA rules. And a 2012 Scottish law against provocative political speech at sporting events makes the flag display an arrestable offense, although authorities reportedly did not take the offending fans into custody. There were dozens of them, photographs show.
Although the flag politics of the region are contrarian, the feelings of political solidarity are real.
“Since at least the late 80’s Palestine flags have been seen at Celtic Park and Celtic fans have shown their support for the Palestinians. Celtic fans have always had a radical history with support for Irish resistance to British rule and it is from there that support for Palestine stems. Also following support for Palestine among other football and sports fans and figures,” reads a Facebook page called Celtic Fans for Palestine, with about 3,300 members.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) will weigh what could happen, but it might involve the closing of some of the stands in the stadium for a Champions league game, writes Neil Cameron in the Herald, a Scottish paper, in an opinion piece chiding protesters for risking the forfeiture of other fans tickets. European football carries out collective punishment against fans, apparently.
Watch this beautiful video from AJ+.
Continue readingwmtc: rest in power, daniel berrigan and michael ratner
The world lost two great fighters for peace and justice this past week.Daniel Berrigan was a lifelong peace activist, a man who was ready and willing to put his body and soul on the line. He was a writer, a thinker, a pacifist, an idealist, a pragmatis…
Continue readingwmtc: u.s. iraq war resisters: the struggle continues
Still war resisters. Still in Canada. Still fighting to stay.So far, the change in government hasn’t helped the Iraq War resisters who remain here, nor the ones who were forced out of Canada who would like to return. The Trudeau government could do thi…
Continue readingwmtc: u.s. iraq war resisters are still in canada. call on justin trudeau to let them stay.
Remember the war resisters I used to blog about all the time? It may surprise you to learn that many are still in Canada. And are still fighting to stay.For these men and women, it’s as if the recent change of government never happened. Of course I rea…
Continue readingwmtc: iraq war resisters still need your help: tell the liberal government to let them stay
I rarely blog about the War Resisters Support Campaign anymore, but the war resisters are always on my mind. In fact, they’re in my thoughts more than ever, now that the nightmare of the Harper Government has finally ended. With the newly elected Liber…
Continue readingwmtc: remembrance day: 11 anti-war books
Remembrance Day readers’ advisory: eleven books to help us contemplate the reality of war, and thus oppose it. 1. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque 2. War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Christopher Hedges 3. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 4. The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang
Continue readingwmtc: m*a*s*h re-watch update: still funny and other observations
Back in August, I started re-watching M*A*S*H end to end on Netflix. I promised updates… and here we are. (tl;dr: it’s great.) Random thoughts below. A huge number of M*A*S*H episodes have no plot whatsoever, but are a series of unconnected scenes or vignettes. These aren’t clip shows, as the scenes
Continue readingwmtc: thoughts on re-watching m*a*s*h, one of the greatest tv shows of all time
Can the comedy-before-sleep slot be filled with overt social and political relevance? We’ll soon find out. After struggling through the last seasons of 30 Rock, I’ve rewarded myself by starting M*A*S*H from season 1, episode 1. (Thank you, Netflix!) It’s no coincidence that M*A*S*H, one of the best and most
Continue readingwmtc: let them stay week 2015: january 25-31: make your voice heard
Allan guest post Since September 2014, seven US Iraq War resisters have received negative decisions in their cases. Two veterans were given removal dates (i.e., dates by which they must leave the country). One resister received a stay of removal and the government rescinded the second removal order at the
Continue reading