War show demo – June 2nd, 2013, 10am

STOP RECRUITING CHILDREN FOR WAR                                              

REDIRECT MILITARY SPENDING: HOUSING, HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, CHILDCARE

Contact us to get involved! Meet us there.  The Air Show is at the Waterloo International Airport in Breslau.

See here for event info.

Redirect Military Spending is a campaign initiated by the Canadian Peace Alliance. Please click here for more information.

Reasons to Oppose the Waterloo Air Show Include:

– A CF-18 fighter jet is on display with a captain whose claim to fame is that he dropped bombs during the Afghanistan and Libya missions.

– Lockheed Martin recently donated a drone-pilot simulator to the Air Cadets stationed at the local base. It will be on display in an interactive manner, for kids.

– At last year’s show there was a Special Ops land assault display at the Waterloo Air Show – part of the Harper’s militarization of our culture.

– Air shows are, unfortunately, always about recruiting our children.

– The impact on the poor old environment is significant – and Nestle, is a sponsor.

Recruiting Our Children For War:

Scroll through the info at the following link, it describes the fighter jet display and the drone simulator for kids.
It also highlights the appeal to children, with the inclusion of a cartoon airplane character:

http://www.waterlooairshow.com/blog

Meet and greet for local kids with pilot who dropped bombs on kids in faraway places:

The following two links give more info on the CF-18 display, including Captain Patrick “Flocho” Pollen, whose claim to fame includes dropping bombs in Afghanistan and Libya.

http://www.waterlooairshow.com/performers/in-the-air

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/v2/cf18/page-eng.asp?id=1861

The Captain is also speaking at the M Museum for kids to get autographs.

http://themuseum.ca/events/canadian-forces-pilot-captain-pollen-cf-18-demonstration-team

http://stufftodowithyourkidsinkw.blogspot.ca/

Please note that the M Museum is also exhibiting ‘Bob Marley, One Love’ and ‘World Refugee Art Exhibit’ during the Month of June.

http://worldrefugeedaykw.ca/

http://www.themuseum.ca/exhibitions

Drone Simulators, Gift of Lockheed Martin’s Campaign to Recruit Children into Military Industrial Complex:

The following 2 links tell more about those drone simulators for youngsters. By LM’s own admission the simulators are designed to attract a large number of youngsters into the war industry through the seduction of high-tech gadgets:

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/922053–new-technology-gives-local-cadets-a-chance-to-soar

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martin-launches-academic-prepar3d-simulation-software-as-a-learning-tool-for-students-144204465.html

Environmental impact:

Check out the sidebar half-way through the article at this link:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/03/21/f-cf18-hornet-bg.html

If the facts given in the CBC link are correct and have been properly converted between kg/litres at jet fules 0.81 average density and not water’s density, then a full armed CF-18 has a maximum fuel capacity of 15 780 litres.  It can travel 2 340 km before refueling.

Therefore CF-18 fighter jet burns 674 litres/100km of denser, heavier, more toxic jet fuel

An average car in NA burns an average of 12 litres/100km
A Volkswagen burns an average of just 0.9 litres/100km of lighter, less polluting automobile fuel

Pro-Military Air Show’s Psychological Effect On Children:

Check out the following documentary, produced by the Dundas Independent Video Association.  In it we see a Homes Not Bombs placard.

** Stop Recruiting Our Children For War banner was created by Maine artists Natasha Mayers and Nora Tryon and was used during protests at the 2012 ‘Great Maine Air Show’ in Brunswick, Maine **  See for details:  http://space4peace.blogspot.ca/2012/08/two-day-airshow-protest.html

TWITTER campaign info:  http://povertymakesussick.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/twitter-campaign-to-oppose-waterloo-air-show/

Screening of ‘The Many Trials of One Jane Doe’ – NVSDA endorsed event, Tuesday April 30th

ADDRESSING MALE VIOLENCE
~FILM AND DISCUSSION SERIES~

SCREENING OF ‘THE MANY TRIALS OF ONE JANE DOE’
TUESDAY APRIL 30, 7-9PM

ALL WELCOME. FREE ADMISSION.

155 CHERRY ST, UNIT 301; ASGARD GREEN CO-OP COMMUNITY ROOM

ramp entrance with apartment-unit sized door, one single occupancy washroom, near iron horse trail, kids and babies welcome – no change table, fridge and stove available for care needs

ABOUT:
This film series is presented by males and is intended to create discussions among male-identified people about our individual and collective accountability.

We seek to unmask and name the many faces of male violence, while working together to change ourselves.

This is one small contribution towards a world without male violence

**Please note: film content is disturbing**

CONTACT:  addressingmaleviolence@gmail.com
ON FACEBOOK:  www.facebook.com/events/149722511872942/

NVSDA Launch Event: Close the School of the Americas

CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
April Days of Action in KW + Launch of the Non Violent School of Direct Action

~Join us for an educational evening of documentary shorts, speakers and info booths from groups opposing militarism~

Learn more about the School of the Americas/WHINSEC and the vibrant struggle to close it

Wednesday April 10, 2013; 6-9pm
Queen Street Commons Cafe*, 43 Queen South, Kitchener

6 – 6:30pm – Information-sharing/tabling including Non-Violent School of Direct Action, SOAWatch, Conscience Canada, KW Anti-Torture Coalition, War Resisters and the official launch of the NVSDA!

6:30 – 9pm – Speaker and documentary screening on the School of the Americas/WHINSEC and the work of SOAWatch, with discussion to follow.

* No purchase necessary, kid and baby friendly, one single-occupancy washroom, wheelchair accessible, vegan and gluten free options for sale, near bus terminal

Backgrounder:
Every Spring, the SOA Watch movement converges on Washington DC to meet with lawmakers and military officials and to demand the closure of the ‘School of the Assassins’/(WHINSEC) – “where the killers are trained”. This year, from April 7-10th, activists will be attending trainings, lobbying members of Congress, and joining the anti-militarization contingent for the Citizenship for 11 Million Immigration Reform rally.

Locally, each November, students, activists and (other community members) from across Southern Ontario travel to Fort Benning, Georgia, to join thousands of others from across the Americas in the annual vigil to remember the victims of SOA violence and celebrate resistance to this School of death and destruction (this year to be held November 22nd-24th).

Dwyer Sullivan, one of the primary Canadian coordinators of SOAWatch, has been the key organizer of these trips. He will speak on the history of the School and the atrocities committed by SOA graduates. Dwyer will share information about the ongoing work to close the SOA. A number of short documentaries will be screened with discussion to follow.

This Kitchener event will reflect the growing resistance across the Americas to this US training academy of torture and repression and will highlight Canadian involvement both in the School itself, and within the movement for change.

This event also serves as the launch of the Non-Violent School of Direct Action. The NVSDA seeks to foster skills for action in a growing movement for justice, peace and sustainability. In addition to this type of info night, the NVSDA will offer trainings in a wide variety of direct action skills, history and theory. Look out for upcoming events!

History
The School of the Americas (SOA) is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 2001 renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

It was initially established in Panama in 1946 however it was expelled from Panama in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty (article iv) and reinforced under the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal (article v).

Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA have left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned. For this reason the School of the Americas has been historically dubbed the “School of Assassins”.

Since 1946, the SOA has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.

On January 17, 2001 the School of the Americas was replaced by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. In a media interview last year, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter, the late Paul Coverdell, characterized the DOD proposal as “cosmetic” changes that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur. The new military training school is the continuation of the SOA under a new name. It is a new name, but the same shame.

To date six countries have pulled out of the SOA/WHINSEC: Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.

see: soaw.org
Contact: nvsdakw@gmail.com

Presented by the Non-Violent School of Direct Action (NVSDA)
Endorsed by the Latin American Caribbean Solidarity Network Canada (LACSN).
For more information about the LACSN and events during their month of action:
http://lacsn.weebly.com/month-of-solidarity—april-2013.html
or www.facebook.com/events/146151078886501/?fref=ts.