Menstuff® is actively compiling information, books and resources on the issue of men and war. If the government believes in truth in advertising, would it not be more appropriate, now, to rename the Defense Department what it was originally called, the War Department?
What constitutes torture? A large percentage of our GI's seem to agree with President Bush that we don't need to follow the Genevia Accord regarding torture. They think torture is okay to get information. So, if the US doesn't go along with the Accord, that means other countries don't need to either. I just wonder if they would want their fellow GIs to be on the other end of what Iraques might do. See www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0524072torture1.html
See www.ccmep.org/2002_articles/Iraq/102702_pictures_of_anti.htm
to view photos of peace rallies around the world before we attacked.
If you don't have DSL, it takes a while to load, and it's worth the
wait.
See www.truthout.org/docs_2005/H021805A.shtml and www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5365.htm for pictures this administration doesn't want you to see.
See www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20040909_THOUSAND_GRAPHIC/index_PICTURES.html
for the aftermath. The New York Times has posted an incredibly
moving gallery of photographs of the American soldiers killed in
Iraq. Spending a few minutes looking at their pictures really brings
home the magnitude of our loss. Tracking the troops who have died in
the war in Iraq, based on the 994 dead for whom detailed information
was available. Ninety-eight percent of the deaths were men (970)
versus 24 women (2%). Hostile deaths represented 75% of the
casualities (749) with 245 nonhostile casualties. The dead come from
all branches of the armed services and represent the highest toll
since the Vietnam War. It's up to us, evidently, to show this
administration what it means to support our troops by bringing them
home.
Teaches boys what the downside of war is like through
Splatball.
War
Religious War
War's Human Toll
One Day = $720
million
Iraq War Deaths
(Not counting Iraq police, civilians or freedom fighters -
estimated to be over 600,000 dead)
Wounded Warriors
Terrorism
Refugees
Landmines
Conclusion
People Who Have Served our
Nation
A Call for a U.S. Department of
Peace
No War Against Iraq
President Bush's New World
Map
Madonna's Anti War
Anthem
Cindy Sheehan's Vigile
at Bush ranch
9-11 Dollar Bill
Ongoing World Conflicts as of September
11, 2001
Murderball -
a review and commentary - When Men come Back from the War
Middle East Madness
Latest
on Weapons of Mass Destruction
Peter Houston
"If
women ran the country, it would be different." In what
way?
Butt-Kickin'
Babes of the Golden Era
Women in Combat
Peace
Prayers for
Peace
Heroes
Vets
Welcome Home: A welcome home with honor
This triumph of the spirit
belongs to men
Snippets
POWs
The Draft
Agent Orange
Mesothelioma Cancer
Depleted Uranium
(DU)
Anthrax, Small Pox and Other Potential
Biological Weapons
Contact
the Veterans Administration
Newsbytes
Books on war,
warriors, gangs,
abuse-boys,
abuse-child,
sexual-incest,
abuse-ritual,
abuse-sexual,
violence-rape,
violence-sexual
Resources
Plus over 25
web sites on the subject.
Currently there are over 30 armed conflicts or "wars" taking place around the world.
War's Human Toll
The number of U.S. military deaths in major wars is listed below.
This does not include the deaths of allies, the opposition or of the
civilian population, which are much greater in all cases:
Civil War - 529,332 (includes estimate of Confederate deaths.)
World War I - 116,516
World War II - 405,399
Korean War - 36,576
Vietnam War - 58,200
Persian Gulf War - 382
Afganastan conflict - Not included in Iraq War
Iraq War- 3,034 (3/19/03 to
1/15/07.)
Source: Defense Department
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a
person or an organized group against people or property with the
intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often
for ideological or political reasons. (Editor's
note: I wonder what the people of other countries call our CIA
and Special Forces who are active in their countries without the
public's general knowledge.) 
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says there are 21 million people in the world who are "of concern" to them. Of these, at least 12 million people are entitled to international protection because they are refugees. Most refugees are women and children.
The roads and paths, forests and pastures of an estimated 70 countries around the world have been made treacherous by landmines. Landmines affect some of the most impoverished people in the world. Each year, 26,000 people are killed or mutilated by landmines of which 8,000 are children. Roughly 3 people every hour, 71 per day are injured or killed by landmines. There are currently estimated to be somewhere between 60-100 million landmines in the ground worldwide, this remains a rough estimate since few accurate records were kept when mines were deployed.
It costs $3 - $30 to purchase an Anti-personnel Landmine. To remove a single mine could cost as much as $1000. Landmines inhibit tourism and other potential investments and development opportunities in some of the world's poorest countries. Landmines destroy livestock and prevent the cultivation of arable land. Rebuilding war torn communities and economies are extremely difficult in these conditions. In many communities, recovery, reconciliation and long-term development are all but impossible due to landmines.
If the people of the Earth do not learn to live together in
harmony we will cease to exist-the apathy, greed, conspiracy,
desperation and hate in the world must be replaced with peace,
caring, cooperation, understanding and hope.
UNITED STATES
MIDDLE EAST
ASIA
AFRICA
EUROPE
LATIN AMERICA
Palestinians and Israelis are engaged in fierce gun battles across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Suicide bombers are killing civilians and children. Israeli troops are also killing civilians and children. Intentional or not, innocent people on both sides are being killed. Total number of Palestinian deaths in West Bank & Gaza since Sept 29th, 2000 is 1,421, injuries 18,553. Israeli deaths are a 434.
The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Jews is a modern phenomenon, which began around the turn of the 20th century. Although these two groups have different religions (Palestinians include Muslims, Christians and Druze), religious differences are not the cause of the conflict. It is essentially a struggle over land. Until 1948, the area that both groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine. But following the war of 1948-49, this land was divided into three parts: the state of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip. This is a small area: approximately 10,000 square miles, or about the size of the state of Maryland.
Jewish claims to this land are based on the biblical promise to Abraham and his descendants, on the fact that this was the historical site of the Jewish kingdom of Israel (which was destroyed by the Roman Empire), and on Jews' need for a haven from European anti-Semitism.
Palestinian Arabs' claims to the land are based on continuous residence in the country for hundreds of years and the fact that they represented the demographic majority. They reject the notion that a biblical-era kingdom constitutes the basis for a valid modern claim. If Arabs engage the biblical argument at all, they maintain that since Abraham's son Ishmael is the forefather of the Arabs, then God's promise of the land to the children of Abraham includes Arabs as well.
During the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab States, the American intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked for 75 minutes in international waters by Israeli aircraft and motor torpedo boats.
Israel reports that they they mistook the American intelligence
ship USS Liberty for the out-of-service Egyptian horse carrier El
Quseir .The attack was preceded by more than six hours of intense
low-level surveillance by Israeli photo-reconnaissance aircraft,
which buzzed the intelligence ship thirteen times, sometimes flying
as low as 200 feet directly overhead. The assault that followed was
initiated by high-performance jet aircraft, was followed up by slower
and more maneuverable jets carrying napalm, and was finally turned
over to torpedo boats which fired five torpedoes. Four missed. The
one torpedo that hit the ship blasted a forty-foot hole in the ship's
side. The attack inflicted 821 rocket and machine-gun holes.
Thirty-four men died and 171 were wounded.
Explaining War to Our Children
A war of aggression violates the United States Constitution, the United Nations Charter, and the principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal. It violates the collective law of humanity that recognizes the immeasurable harm and unconscionable human suffering when a country engages in wars of aggression to advance its government’s perceived national interests.
No Congressional resolution and no U.N. resolution can legalize an illegal war. With pen to paper and votes of support, they can only commit to wilful ratification, complicity and responsibility for illegal acts by endorsing a criminal enterprise.
The millions of signatures on these referendums will be a powerful
expression of the will of the people. The goal is not merely to give
expression to the majority anti-war sentiment but to organize locally
and nationally to reclaim the authority of government through mass
democratic action. Included are over 25
web sites on the subject.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The King chose the second picture. Do you know why?
"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a
place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to
be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.
That is the real meaning of peace."
People Who Have Served our Nation
|
. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Men |
|
96 |
|
96 |
|
94 |
|
Women |
|
4 |
|
4 |
|
6 |
|
Total |
|
100 |
|
100 |
|
100 |
Wounded Vets Told to Repay Bonuses
Members Warn of
"National Crisis" in Military Readiness
A Different Picture
of Iran
Iraq Vets Face Mental Challenges
Amazing War Images Promote War
Man's Antiwar T-Shirt Lands Him in
Custody
According to the criminal complaint filed Monday night, Stephen Downs was wearing a T-shirt bearing the words "Give Peace A Chance" that he had just purchased from a vendor inside the Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, N.Y., near Albany.
"I was in the food court with my son when I was confronted by two security guards and ordered to either take off the T-shirt or leave the mall," Downs said.
When Downs refused the security officers' orders, police from the town of Guilderland were called and he was arrested and taken away in handcuffs, accused of trespassing "in that he knowingly enter(ed) or remain(ed) unlawfully upon premises," the complaint read.
Downs said police tried to convince him he was wrong in his actions by refusing to remove the T-shirt because the mall "was like a private house and that I was acting poorly."
Downs, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, is the director
of the Albany Office of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct,
which investigates complaints of misconduct against judges. Police, a
local prosecutor and mall officials were not available for comment.
Downs could face up to a year in prison if convicted.
Source: Los Angeles Times, Wednesday,
March 5, 2003 on page A8
Editor's note:
Regarding these two stories, I called the
Crossgates Mall at 518.869.9565. When I asked if the mall has a
web site, the woman curtly replied "No we don't" and immediately
hung up. I called again to ask for security, which previously when no
one answered was #2 on a touchtone. The same woman answered. I asked
for security. She said it was on the second floor. I said
I wanted to reach them by phone, she said she was in security. I
asked about the story and was given their PR firm at
716.854.8182. They faxed me the attached
statement. We responded
on 3/5/03 and will report when we get a response. Also see a copy of
the Complaint
filed with th e Local Criminal Court in Guilderland, and the three
page deposition(page one,
two
and three.
Man Arrested for Wearing Peace T-Shirt
-2
Mall security approached Stephen Downs, 61, and his 31-year-old son, Roger, on Monday night after they were spotted wearing the T-shirts at Crossgates Mall in a suburb of Albany, the men said.
The two said they were asked to remove the shirts made at a store there, or leave the mall. They refused.
The guards returned with a police officer who repeated the ultimatum. The son took his T-shirt off, but the father refused.
"'I said, All right then, arrest me if you have to,'" Downs said. "So that's what they did. They put the handcuffs on and took me away."
Downs pleaded innocent to the charges Monday night. The New York Civil Liberties Union said it would help with his case if asked.
Police Chief James Murley said his officers were just responding to a complaint by mall security.
"We don't care what they have on their shirts, but they were asked to leave the property, and it's private property," Murley said.
A mall spokeswoman did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment.
Monday's arrest came less than three months after about 20 peace
activists wearing similar T-shirts were told to leave by mall
security and police. There were no arrests.
Source:Damita Chambers, Associated Press
Writer
Objectionable Clothing at Crossgates
Mall
Phil:
Thanks for faxing the statement from Tim Kelley. Would you forward this to Karen Liberatore as requested in the fax since the Mall's contact number was x'ed out.
It is obvious from his statement that the Management agrees with their complaining customer and their security people that the T-shirts being worn were objectionable to the Mall ("...coupled with their clothing, to express to others their personal views on world affairs ...").
We would like to see a copy of Crossgates Mall's dress code for customers and we would assume Mall shop employess. Does the Mall dress code prohibit all t-shirts with messages on them or just certain ones? And, if some are allowed, what kind of statements could be wore on t-shirts and what ones can not.
We would suggest that the Mall management not allow those objectoinable t-shirts to be sold within the private property of the Mall, since, in selling them, they are not only displaying the objectionable message within the Mall but encouraging people to purchase and wear them.
Gordon Clay
The birth of Osama bin Laden's terrorism
network
A Congressional investigation from 1976-1979 found a
"probable conspiracy" in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and
recommended the Justice Department investigate further. As of 1991,
the year the film was released, the Justice Department has done
nothing, the files of the House Select Committee on Assassinations
are locked away until the year 2029. However, following the film
Congress created the 1992 Assassination Materials Disclosure Act?
Most Victims were Male Professionals, Many
were Parents
''We saw the deaths of a lot of young fathers and fathers with young children,'' says David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, a think tank on family issues. ''It makes the whole thing that much more tragic.''
A USA Today analysis of more than 2,100 missing and dead identified by families, companies and the government shows:
The effects of the attacks on companies and organizations will be mixed. For firefighters, the loss of experience is devastating, especially in what is a relatively small, tight-knit community. In the securities industry, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands of employees, many will suffer the personal loss of friends and coworkers, but the businesses will go on with little problem, says Roy Smith, a finance professor at New York University.
Replacing top company leaders can be more difficult. At Fred Alger Management, President David Alger was one of 35 employees reported missing. Since the attacks, his brother Fred, who founded the firm in 1964, resumed running the business. He appeared on Good Morning America a week after the attacks and has posted a message on his company Web site to reassure clients.
Fred Alger, who retired in 1995, still knew the workings of the business. ''From a corporate standpoint, we're really lucky,'' he says.
Other businesses that lost their top leaders might find it more difficult, he says.
Even so, other, incalculable losses remain. For Alger, who lost his brother along with 34 other employees, there is just the hope that they all died instantly.
''It's unimaginable, to lose so many people from one company,'' Alger says. ''I don't know; I'm sure God is shedding a tear for all of us.''
Source: Paul Overberg and Cheryl Phi, USA Today,
www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010927/3487489s.htm
Source: Tal Pinchevsky, Gear,
10/01
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany,
Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon-not once, but several times-and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, America!"
Washington Times Has Trouble
Reporting Men's Pain
Imagine this story: A group of women living in a remote Asian village are summarily removed from their families, lined up against a wall, and gunned down. The headline would be evocative and compelling: "35 Innocent Women Massacred." A photograph would depict the crumpled bodies. The coverage would allude to the discrimination that women around the world face. The obligatory quote from a feminist spokesperson would make a shrill remark about the "international war on women."
Compare this with the actual coverage of the slaughter of 35 men in Kashmir. The 18-word headline gives not the slightest hint that the victims are male. We don't learn until the third paragraph that the gunmen shot all the "males" at pointblank range. "Male," of course, is the more biological, sanitized version of the word "men." Although the article is over 500 words long, there are only two other references to the sex of the victims. Even the closing quote, by Gurbachan Jagat, fails to mention the painfully obvious fact, that all the victims are flesh-and-blood men.
A man's life is worth just as much as a woman's. To imply otherwise, is the worst form of sexism imaginable. (Editor: Actually, we're lucky that they used the word man at all. Many times the only describer used is if women or children are involved. I remember a headline and story "107 Die - Lithuanian Jet Goes Down." The story only mentioned that 5 women and children were killed. So, things are looking up towards the possibility that maybe the people writing these stories will recognize what sex the victims are and report the whole story.)
So, what did the Washington Post do the next day?
Russian girl's Chechnya ordeal displays a
different view of war
1 of 6 able-bodied men in the American colonies fought in the Revolutionary War.
Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it!-- John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, April 26, 1777
"What other job lets you die for a living?" Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H* (Oil riggers, Alaskan Pipeline to name two, but they pay better.)
Only in America do we have a general in charge of the post office and secretary in charge of defense.
Instead of hating people you think are warmongers, hate the appetites and disorders in your own soul which are the causes of war. Thomas Merton
America...just a nation of two million
used-car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no
qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us
uncomfortable. - Hunter S. Thompson
 |
|
 |
