NOW HIRING, NOW FIRING--GUNS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT "JOBS" PROGRAM

I often take my four year old grand niece to her preschool at St. Mary’s here in Port Huron. C.C. is part African-American, sharp as a tack, cute as a button, and lives with her mom in apartments near the junction of I-94 with Pine Grove. It’s a low to mid income area, and one day last early November in our routine travels, I noted a new sign that had popped up on the south bound grassy shoulder, right where people from C.C.’s neighborhood would stop, before entering or crossing I-94.


Often such printed quickie signs with metal stick legs appear at these busy intersections advertising “we’ll buy your property now” or “make easy $ from your home”. But this was different, much more professional looking, and fatally misinforming. The Army would do the hiring; you could be required to do the firing—automatic weapons. This is not just a job, it’s the armed services. Basic training for the job requires proficiency in lethal force. In such a poor economy, and with an apparent appeal to minorities, the sign needed a clarification.


My wife and I have gone to both local high schools numerous times in the last nine years, acting as non paid concerned parents, recruiting students for AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, just giving contact information and encouragement. There are alternative nonviolent ways to serve your country, receive valuable training, experience, and financial support for further educational opportunities. [A statement on one of our brochures, “You need not learn to kill, before you’re taught a skill.”]


Going home I created a companion sign [appears below] to provide truth in advertising, and placed it alongside Sergeant Melvin Lunkins’ sign the evening of the next day. Two days later his was gone, and mine was still standing. It was decent and fair that he’d retreated at that point, but left my sign intact. By itself it didn’t mean anything, so I took mine down also, but started looking for his in front of the armed services recruiting office near the Krafft Rd. shopping center.


On my next bike shopping trip to Kroger’s a day later, there it was, where I thought it would be. It was late evening, the sun was going down, but I’d brought my camera so I could take a picture, and have the number to talk with the sergeant later if necessary. As I took a couple shots [concentrating on a new digital camera’s technology] I felt a presence by my side. Sure enough, in spotless fatigues, looking just like his picture, stood Sergeant Lunkins. “You’re quite interested in this sign,” he deadpanned. “Yes, I’m your competition,” I responded, glad to have the chance for dialogue.


He seemed most willing to talk. There followed a 15 minute discussion of the personal aspects of war & peace, with some disagreement on whether soldiers were required to be capable of firing a gun aimed at people. He said he’d never had to in 14 years. I thought it was still certainly a large part of the general purpose. When I mentioned Martin Luther King was against war, he appeared moved for a few minutes. The conversation was concerned and considerate, on both sides I believe. In the end, I thanked him for taking the time to talk, and said I would feel it necessary to bring back my sign and place it next to his again. We left it at that, and the back of the mind knowledge that any signs on the roadside boulevards of Port Huron are technically against the rules. The next morning on the way up to work at the Lexington clinic, I replanted my message next to his, and took this picture.


[Date incorrect-new camera. Actual date 11-11-09, Veterans Day—didn’t dawn on me till later that day.]

My sign was gone two days later [remarkable duration], and his, by two weeks later. On the far right corner of my sign you’ll see an envelope that was addressed to him, in which I requested he save the sign for me, even if his office decided they had to remove it. Later he told me he’d been out of the office when my sign disappeared, not returning until the next week. He’d found the envelope then on his desk, read it, but knew nothing more about the sign. He would look into it. Talking with him today months later, he still can’t say what happened to it, but with both signs gone, the conversation continues.


May we all work, and speak the truth, taking up the recruiting challenge of Jesus to true service, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Martin Luther King was following this mandate when he set up his first principle of organizing for civil rights and peacemaking: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.

SIGN MISSING IN ACTION

Michael McCarthy, Faith Perspective on War & Peace, Port Huron, MI


1-23-10

AS MARTIN LUTHER KING RECOGNIZED, WE NEED A PEACE CORPS BIGGER THAN THE MARINE CORPS

It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social change is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the silence of the so-called good people."--Martin Luther King. Jr

Bring on the Season for Nonviolence, Port Huron, to start Jan. 30th, in all possible practical and spiritual manifestations!

At http://bluewatersnv.com/20090924/opening-ceremony/



This letter to the editor call to action of one year ago has yet to be answered positively by our President. It would make a great state of the nation proclamation. We continue to hope for a strong, skilled, nonviolent national service program. With it in place, we could be sending 1000 creole speaking relief workers to Haiti to help give well-directed aid in this time of terrible disaster. Peace Corps members fluent in the local language--capable listeners, and other technicians, could later assist in a comprehensive [as per The End of Poverty by J. Sachs], grass roots redevelopment of Haitian society, replacing the U.S. military occupation solutions that have failed the people miserably, so many times in the past.


January 14, 2009
Dear Editor,

I urge President Obama to come to the University of Michigan, soon after inauguration, and challenge the American people to a new level of service—a renewed expanded Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. At U of M, where President Kennedy began something, let’s finish the job. Recruit us to a new informed, competent nonviolent national service that includes but goes way beyond the Peace Corp’s 9000 volunteers and AmeriCorp’s 75,000.

It would be a call to young and old, for one or two years of service, to help solve international conflicts and meet local needs. The learning of a foreign language would be one of the main weapons of the resurgent Peace Corps, aided by cooperation between university language departments and State Department Foreign Service school resources. The military would be invited to share in this development of language and cultural competency. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country and the world. The investment in a national nonviolent service project should rival the amount spent for the armed services. Let’s get serious about peacemaking.

Kwame Kilpatrick and Elliot Spitzer and others may have fallen by the wayside hamstrung by the weight of power and their own transgressions. But watch out Wall Street, Washington politicos, and swift boaters all. Move on over Karl Rove and Charlie Black, Charlie Wilson, Blackwater, and Company. Its Martin Luther King’s spirit that got out the vote for Barak Obama! MLK’s spirit is a movin’ in our land. And its time America cast off the shackles of its prejudices, and listen to its multiracial heartbeat. Embrace the politics of hope, and reject the politics of fear. It’s time to stop cowering behind the wall of Homeland Security enforced by a Military Industrial Petroleum Complex. Instead, let’s boldly go out into the world with diplomacy and understanding and faith in God as our shield, our inspiration.

We need to be on the deep and true offensive, and go beyond the limits of the Marine Corps, to bring real resolution of conflict with a fully equipped Peace Corps. We need to invest our billions to meet the Millennium Challenge, to eliminate poverty in the world and stimulate its creative industry. Where our treasure is our heart will be. We need to stop producing the world’s most advanced expensive weaponry--to repent of these evil means and beat these swords into plowshares. It’s our destiny as the most powerful and diverse, to lead the nations towards the promised land of disarmament, security provided by social - not military - investment. Continuing on the treacherous path--robbing the poor by rewarding the rich with massive defense contracts--will kill us all body and soul in the end.

The peaceable kingdom does exist here on earth if we will all begin to put away the sword. There are enough bread and fish to feed the multitudes. Martin Luther King and his Lord and Savior lead the way, if we will just become our birthright—beloved communities—standing tall for truth, justice and a spiritually expansive American way.

The spirit of King is with us, and the forces of negativity cannot stop the idea, the hope-filled belief in the goodness of humanity, whose time has finally come in the USA.

The celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday January 15th, coincides with the annual celebration of Nuestro Senor de Tila, an ebony black Christ crucified, in the Mayan mountain communities of Chiapas, Mexico. The Chol people of that area are successfully struggling against the violence of the Mexican military. Since our Michigan Peace Teams have connected with the area, they know that they have this special relationship in time with MLK, apostle of nonviolence.

THE DEPLORABLE SUCCESS OF UNSUCCESSFUL AIRPLANE BOMBERS

The best evaluation of the mental quagmire that the U.S. "War on Terrorism" has gotten itself into is the WSJ article I respond to below, on the real effects to our society of terror suspects like the "Christmas Day bomber." Please take the time to read it at

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704130904574644651587677752.html

The author outlines how they are gaming us--any small incursion provokes our outlandish over-reactions costing us so much more than any possible direct damage done. From the article:

"These rules help explain the otherwise inexplicable wave of hysteria that has swept over our government in the wake of the failed attempt by a rather pathetic aspiring terrorist to blow up a plane on Christmas Day. For two weeks now, this mildly troubling but essentially minor incident has dominated headlines and airwaves, and sent politicians from the president on down scurrying to outdo each other with statements that such incidents are "unacceptable," and that all sorts of new and better procedures will be implemented to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Meanwhile, millions of travelers are being subjected to increasingly pointless and invasive searches and the resultant delays,..."

His recommendation to the government for a better plan starts with, "...Stop treating Americans like idiots and cowards." At present our nation's political authority is making travel imposingly difficult, moving towards confining us to our barracks behind the blind walls of Homeland Security. This affects us here in Port Huron as well, where the Blue Water Bridge Plaza project will destroy a recently built customs plaza, hobble international trade & local business for 5 to 10 years, for a smattering of local jobs, and all in the name of an unobtainable national security.

And as regards airline security, in the history of aviation I can think of only two successful in-flight terrorist bombings: over Lockerbie, Scotland in the mid-80's by Lybians, and an airliner bound for Venezuela in the mid-70's by homegrown Cuban-American terrorists. The general security provisions put in place by the 90's have been effective prevention. Securing the pilots' cabin since 911, has stopped the use of the plane itself as a bomb.

Lets be reasonable. The risk is so small compared to what we lose in our hyper-preparedness. Wise as serpents, gentle as doves. Follow the Gospel mandate--Be not afraid.


P.S. From WSJ 12-28-09 article on the explosive PETN: "'...the Nigerian...was looking for a chemical reaction that would be hot enough to initiate' the PETN and cause it to explode. 'It's not impossible, but its's not easy either and it obviously didn't work for him,' Prof. Oxley said."




Dear Editors of the Wall Street Journal,

Bravo, Paul Campos! His article, “Undressing the Terror Threat” 1-9-10, is an excellent review of our status of forces in the Homeland Security battle.

At last, a sensible analysis of the black hole the U.S. rushes into in its “War on Terrorism.” I would add a flashback to an al Qaeda video released in Nov. 2004 as reported by CNN 11-1-04.

"… Bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al Qaeda about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001, an amount that he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States.

"Every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said. "As for the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars.”

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen [or neophyte airplane bombers] to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said.

"We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy…”
Things have not gotten better for our economy since 2004. Osama Bin Laden is not the mastermind of our demise, but we must not allow anyone to bank on our self-imposing a national fear factor—an impossible, contrived, outlandishly expensive homeland security brainwashing.

Martin Luther King called on us to reject the fear and hate-filled response. “Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.” We need to stop fighting the fire of terror with fire, and renew our commitment to creative life-respecting engagement with the rest of the world. Thank you again, Paul Campos.

Yours truly,
Michael McCarthy

NEW YEAR--A CONTINUED PLEA FOR CONVERSION--UNJUST UNWINNABLE WAR, TO CREATIVE PEACEMAKING

As we approach this new year, we continue to work and pray, with the intercession of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, who would not fight in Hitler's wars, for and end to the war mentality, at home and worldwide. I reprint here personal, and open letters sent in the past year to President Obama, in hopes that we can all begin to study, and invest in, the ways of peace--a much needed new year's resolution.

In addition to the four books cited at the end , I would now add "Peace in the Post-Christian Era," by Thomas Merton, just published after almost 50 years sequestration. In the reading of Merton's book, substitute "terrorism" for "communism" to reveal how little moral progress has been made this half century.



FEBRUARY 26,2009
DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA,

OUR FAMILY WORKED HARD FOR YOUR ELECTION, TO END THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. PLEASE DON'T INCREASE ARMED FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN--WHY 30,000 MORE, WHEN >30,000 FOR 7 YEARS HAS BROUGHT ONLY GREATER CIVILIAN DEATHS, AND STRONGER TALIBAN? WE NEED TO COME PREPARED FOR 3 CUPS OF TEA, AND EXPAND THE EISENHOWER ROADWAYS IN AFGHANISTAN, THAT MADE THE USA RESPECTED DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE COLD WAR.

OUR BOOTS ON THEIR GROUND, AND KILLER DRONES IN THE AIR, ARE THE PROVOCATION FOR PROLONGED VIOLENCE IN THESE MUSLIM COUNTRIES. WE DESPERATELY NEED MORE WELL TRAINED PEACE CORPS, IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, SHARING APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, NOT FURTHER INUNDATIONS OF WEAPONS EXPORTS & MILITARY BASES. THANKS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

YOURS TRULY,
MICHAEL MCCARTHY


********************************


AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

November 24, 2009
Dear President Barack Obama,

As you consider new policy directions in Afghanistan, please consider this fundamental change in our national defense policy, starting with our role in Afghanistan. Thanks for your consideration.

STOP ALL FURTHER TROOP DEPLOYMENT TO UNWINNABLE WARS IN AFGANISTAN AND IRAQ—START RETURNING ALL SOLDIERS HOME

Unjust wars can never be ultimately won. America has been marshaled into unlimited premeditated unnecessary war. A War on Terror that daily creates more terror. 911 was perpetrated by Saudis, and we’re not about to invade there. Afghanistan was only to provide the excuse to invade Iraq and take its oil. The American public was to be softened up by a few quick victories there, then on to the real goal—Saddam’s oilfields. But eight years later we’re still bogged down, in both quagmires. Our soldiers were sent into combat by politicians acting as armchair generals, belligerent bureaucrats full of themselves and the beauty of single superpower status that they thought their responsibility to wield unrestrainedly.

Stop! No more troops should be deployed to unwinnable battles against whole populations. Support our soldiers, bring them home. Bring the conflicts to resolution by removing the occupation provocations. Time to look for real lasting solutions to the ongoing fatal confrontation between haves and have-nots in our world.

A first step is to thoroughly re-think the way we spend our time and resources. I suggest a national read/study/discuss program to include the elements outlined below. As my conservative Roman Catholic Republican mechanical engineer Dad would say, “Engage brain before opening mouth [and spilling forth contents of the public purse].

How big can we build the golden calf--Military Industrial Complex—before we feel the thunder from God’s mountain and suffer at the hands of our own folly?

Yours truly,

Michael McCarthy PA-C
Blue Water Pax Christi
Port Huron, MI 48060
mccpax@comcast.net



*******************************

{Leaflet distributed in front of the NYSE on 7-2-09, on moving my daughter to first job, in new Bldg. 7 of the Trade Towers}

FOUR BOOKS TO READ FOR THIS NEW MILLENNIUM—A CHALLENGE TO PUT FINANCIALS AT THE SERVICE OF THE GREATER GOOD

• Connect the dots from Wall St. to Washington’s Pentagon—Unjust wars have had a multiplier effect on fiscal irresponsibility, and our collective demise.
• We invaded Afghanistan and Iraq to fight terrorists who came from Saudi Arabia, and, more likely, to secure future oil access & profits.
• Our leaders have rallied us to fight an unending War on Terror with off-budget imaginary supplemental funds, unlimited public spending.
• Instead of sacrifice, citizens were urged to splurge, ramping up patriotic unsecured personal spending.

Let’s inform ourselves about the opportunity for deep and lasting change. Time for America to repent of devotion to the war industry, and fully invest in the future of our children, and the spiritual & material development of ourselves and all the world’s people. There are practical ways to do this—tools to create better life, discoveries to be made by removing our dependence on implements of destruction.

Please consider spending time with the books listed below. Read, think, contemplate, pray over the ideas presented by their authors. Discuss with friends, family, competitors and opponents. May God bless our efforts to discern the difficult yet effective way that leads to a true happiness that can be realized by all.


• The Three Trillion Dollar War by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize in economics at Columbia University, and Linda Bilmes of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. The costs of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars, outlined herein, continue to escalate.

• Enough by John Bogle, a founder of Vanguard Funds. Like a grandfather, compassionate & conservative in his concern for his extended kin, the author pleads for a return to moral values in the financial marketplace. He contends there is also a calculated increased value to be gained, by investment, as opposed to speculation.

• The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. By answering the Millennium Challenge the most developed nations’ focused investment in the least developed can give those countries the tools to work themselves out of poverty.

• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. A man who climbed mountains in Pakistan’s impenetrable tribal areas, now, listening to and sharing these Muslim people’s needs, builds schools, according to their design, that serve both boys and girls. They provide a real alternative to some madrases in these territories that recruit for Bin Laden. They exist through the will of local communities wanting a better choice—and finally being respected by an outsider.