Podcast: A Conversation with Drone Resister Ed Kinane

Ed Kinane (left) and Danny Burns at the Big Books action

Listen to OVOC Podcast 7 on iTunes.

Press Release from the Syracuse Peace Council:

Four drone resisters, James Ricks, Daniel Burns, Brian Hynes and Ed Kinane, from the 2015 Big Books action at Hancock Air Base were found innocent of all charges at 11pm Thursday, March 2, at the Dewitt Town Court. After deliberating for only about a half hour, the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty on all charges. Applause erupted in the courtroom.

The four had been charged with obstruction of government administration, disorderly conduct, and trespass and faced a year in jail. Following the rendering of the verdict, a juror approached Brian Hynes and said “I really support what you are doing. Keep doing it.”

During the trial, Brian Hynes told the jury, “This is not a case about contested facts, this is a case about contested meanings.” Hynes went on to explain to the jury that they could, in the words of the 4th Circuit of Appeals, acquit for any reason which appeals to their logic or passion.

In powerful testimony, James Ricks told the jury about meeting the families of drone victims and seeing the wreckage of hellfire missiles. Jurors were brought to tears several times. Daniel Burns said, “Would any of us deem it acceptable for our precious loved ones to be sacrificed for another nation’s anticipatory self defense? Of course not!  Moreover, if drones were being aimed at my children by another country, I would hope with all my might that the citizens of that country might try and stop their country’s illegal and immoral actions.” Ed Kinane told the jury in clear and powerful language about his time living in Iraq during the war and about the terror sown by drones. Closing arguments were given by lawyers Daire Irwin and Jonathon Wallace as well as James Ricks and Brian Hynes.

The trail resulted from an action on March 19, 2015. On the 12th anniversary of the U.S.’ illegal invasion of Iraq, seven members of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars shut the main gate of the Hancock Drone Base (near Syracuse, NY) with a giant copy of the UN Charter and three other giant books – Dirty Wars (Jeremy Scahill), Living Under Drones (NYU and Stanford Law Schools), and You Never Die Twice (Reprieve).

The nonviolent activists also held a banner quoting Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, stating that every treaty signed becomes the supreme law of the land. They brought the books to Hancock to remind everyone at the base of the signed treaties that prohibit the killing of civilians and assassinations of human beings. The group attempted yet again to deliver a citizens’ indictment for war crimes to the Hancock Air base chain of command.

Podcast: A Conversation with Ray McGovern

This is a recording of my skype conversation with ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern, in two parts. Among other things, we spoke about the strained relations between the US and Russia, and the underlying causes.

Part 1 (OVOC Podcast 4): On iTunes.

Part 2 (OVOC Podcast 5): On iTunes.


The following are links referred to in, or relevant to, the interview:

Part 1:

Ray McGovern's statement at the 2015 UNAC Conference

Bill Bradley on Russia and NATO

Victoria Nuland plots the US-backed coup in the Ukraine

Part 2:

President Obama and Russian President Medvedev - Open Mic

Zbigniew Brzezinski on the global political awakening

Vladimir Putin's speech

The William Casey quote: "We'll know our disinformation campaign is complete when everything the American public believes is false."

The Cantonsville Nine burn draft records (1968)

Inaugurate the Resistance!

Washington, D.C.; January 21, 2017

Panelists:

Chris Hedges, Jill Stein, Tim Canova, Kshama Sawant, Chase Iron Eyes, Bryan Koulouris

Listen to the 58:00 podcast on iTunes.

From the Organizers:

Trump's pro-billionaire agenda and plans to wage war on the environment, deport three million immigrants, undermine public sector unions, and nominate a reactionary Supreme Court justice are not just idle threats. Yet the neoliberal leaders of the Democratic Party cannot stop Trump now, anymore than during the election. How can we build powerful mass movements capable of decisively defeating the right and providing a real alternative for ordinary working people, immigrants, LGBTQ people and youth? Can the Democratic Party be reformed, or does the left need to build independently?

This event is part of Occupy Inauguration's weekend of resistance, sponsored by the Green Party, Socialist Alternative, Occupy Wall Street, Movement for the 99%, and the Stein/Baraka campaign.

Related Links:

Truthdig
Progress for All

9/11 Fifteen Years Later - What Have We Learned?

 

Binghamton University; September 9, 2016

This talk is also available as a 58 minute podcast on iTunes.

Today the U.S. and its allies are entangled in wars both known and unknown throughout much of the world, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Pakistan. What have we learned in the years and wars since 9/11, and where do we go from here?

This video features a short introductory talk by Donna Marsh O'Connor, who lost her pregnant 28 year-­old daughter Vanessa on 9/11. Donna is a national spokesperson for September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.

Next is a talk by ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. Ray served as a CIA analyst for 27 years, from JFK to George H. W. Bush, and from 1981 to 1985 briefed one-­on-­one to President Ronald Reagan’s five most senior national security advisers.

Introduction by Caleb Schwartz, President of Binghamton University Peace Action.

 

Left Forum 2016 - A Dialogue On Israel and Palestine with Tariq Ali and Norman Finkelstein

 

This is a panel from the 2016 Left Forum, held May 20 -22 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The conference theme was "Rage, Rebellion, Revolution: Organizing Our Power."

Moderator: Paul Jay

Panelists: Tariq Ali, Norman Finkelstein

Listen to the 58 minute podcast on iTunes.

David Swanson - War is a Lie: What Your Tax Dollars Buy

 

David Swanson spoke at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, NY on April 24, 2016 as part of a tour for his book War Is a Lie.

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015 and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

Listen to the 58 minute podcast on iTunes.

From the Organizers:

Swanson will speak about and take questions on a variety of approaches to resisting, reducing and eliminating war, from counter-recruitment in schools, ending the draft, and conscientious objection, to lobbying, protesting, and dramatically disrupting the machinery of war. He will focus, however, on the process of educating people to recognize false justifications for war and to reject them.

Swanson argues that, while the prevention of a U.S. bombing campaign in Syria in 2013 and the upholding of a nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015 left much to be desired, they also provide grounds for encouragement, and were built on the public understanding of the lies about Iraq that had been promoted in 2002-2003. Swanson argues for a different understanding of current U.S. wars in Western Asia from that most often promoted on television. Frightening beheading videos, he suggests, were intended to draw the United States into war, and succeeded only because the U.S. public is not yet sufficiently resistant to such manipulation.

Author David Swanson was invited by the UUSO Social Action Committee.

This event was funded by a grant from the New York State Convention of Universalists.

Co-sponsors:

Schoharie County Peacemakers
SUNY Oneonta Social Justice Society
SUNY Oneonta Africana and Latino Studies Club