Mike Ferner

Veterans For Peace deliver 23,000 impeachment petitions to House Judiciary Chair Conyers

Mike Ferner — 2008-06-30T13:35:00Z

Yesterday, a 17-member delegation of Veterans For Peace presented some 23,000 petitions to Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), demanding the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Conyers, chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, is the Member of Congress with the authority to call for impeachment hearings. (...) - MikeFerner.org

How Sick of It Are You?

Mike Ferner — 2008-02-29T22:10:00Z

We have screamed at the heavens and cried bitter tears. We've marched and picketed and gone to jail. And we are sick. Sick of the corruption…sick of the liars…sick of this war!

On March 19, the day the U.S. invaded Iraq five years ago, we'll be sick of it yet again. But on that revolting day we can do something nonviolently revolutionary. We can withdraw our consent from this sick system – by calling in sick. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Clinton Campaign Office Re-occupied by Peace Activists on Day of Iowa Voting

Mike Ferner — 2008-01-31T10:00:00Z

Des Moines – Hours before voting begins in the nation's first presidential poll, peace activists placed the Iraq war front and center again this afternoon as they occupied the Iowa headquarters of Senator Hillary Clinton for the second time since campaigning began last fall. (...) - MikeFerner.org

Obama and Romney Iowa Campaign Offices Occupied by Peace Activists

Mike Ferner — 2008-01-31T09:55:00Z

Des Moines – Opponents of the occupation of Iraq today occupied the Iowa campaign headquarters of presidential candidates U.S. Senator Barak Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, waiting for a response to a letter requesting them to oppose any more spending for the war or occupation and foreswear an attack on Iran. (...) - MikeFerner.org

Peace Activists Occupy Huckabee's Iowa Campaign Office

Mike Ferner — 2008-01-31T09:50:00Z

Des Moines – With 40 percent of Iowa's Republican caucus voters expected to come from the ranks of conservative Christians, peace activists occupied Mike Huckabee's campaign headquarters in Iowa's capital city today with signs asking the former Baptist minister, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” (...) - MikeFerner.org

God Bless the Senate Republicans

Mike Ferner — 2007-11-26T09:01:00Z

Into every tragically depressing world situation some light must shine if you wait long enough and the planets align just right.

That glimmer of light came yesterday from, of all places, the Death Star known by many as Washington, D.C., from deep within one of the most unfathomable quadrants of that bleakness – the chambers of the United States Senate. Even more remarkably, it sprang from what some consider a true black hole – the Republican caucus.

But light it is, and in these times we need to celebrate every photon that comes our way. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Giuliani and Clinton taste occupation in Iowa

Mike Ferner — 2007-11-09T23:53:07Z

DES MOINES — A new campaign to place the Iraq war in the center of Iowa's presidential caucus races kicked off in Des Moines yesterday. But as often happens, it wasn't so much the protest that made the story as the reaction to it.

"Seasons Of Discontent—A Presidential Occupation Campaign," or SODAPOP as its organizers dubbed it, targeted the campaigns of Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, taking over their offices in the Iowa state capital and disrupting both campaigns for several hours before a total of 19 people were arrested. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

They Met the Resistance

Mike Ferner — 2007-11-02T21:41:24Z

On one of those beautiful, fall Sunday mornings that can make you feel all is right with the world, filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors discussed their new documentary about Iraqis fighting the U.S. occupation, “Meeting Resistance,” 84 minutes of unflinching wallop destined to unhinge the way millions of Americans see their country's role in the world.

In May 2003, the same month that George W. Bush stood on an aircraft carrier off California declaring “Mission Accomplished,” and a month after Iraqis began organizing a grassroots armed resistance, Bingham, was on assignment in Baghdad's Adhamiya district, hot on the trail of the last sighting of Saddam Hussein. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Interrupting the Empire 30 seconds at a time

Mike Ferner — 2007-09-29T09:52:53Z

The massive U.S. Capitol Building is situated to dominate Washington, D.C. from every angle. Its brightly lit facade dominates the night skyline even more. (...) - MikeFerner.org

Free Speech Takes a Capitol Beating

Mike Ferner — 2007-09-29T09:50:00Z

Washington – Free speech took a beating with another round of arrests September 18 in the nation's capital. It was administered by the police at a rally sponsored by the most unlikely-sounding group to be involved in such a thing: Veterans for Freedom.

U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman, John McCain and Lindsey Graham were among the featured speakers at the rally held in Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill. About 150 people attended the rally to support the group's pro-war position, as did about 30 people who were not in support. Before the rally concluded, Leah Bolger, David Barrows, Christine Rainwater, Anne Kitridge, and Anne Katz were arrested by Capitol Police. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Can We Talk?

Mike Ferner — 2007-09-29T09:45:00Z

Washington – This began as a story about the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) “Truth in Recruiting” campaign. But by the end, it seemed more like a story about whether or not we can still talk with each other in this country.

In the early morning chill of September 17, on the plaza in front of Union Station, members of IVAW set out literature and donuts on a card table and waited for the young International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition activists to arrive. After a briefing, four-person teams left for various military recruiting offices and the campaign was underway. In addition to handing flyers to people walking into recruiting offices, the effort includes “Befriend a Recruiter,” a tactic intended to waste as much of a recruiter's time as possible by talking with youth who have no intention of joining the military. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

New Day in the Anti-war Movement?

Mike Ferner — 2007-09-18T10:40:00Z

Other demonstrations against the war in Iraq have been larger, but the one that happened in Washington, D.C. this past Saturday was significant in another way because of a very different feel about it.

Contingents of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) www.ivaw.org and Veterans for Peace www.veteransforpeace.org lined up at the front of the march, sponsored by the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, stepping off on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. Hundreds of mostly youthful "marshalls" formed a long line on either side of the route, holding hands and placing themselves between the crowds filling the sidewalks and the marchers, later estimated by wire services at 100,000 people. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

"I Will Salute No More Forever"

Mike Ferner — 2007-09-07T06:15:00Z

St. Louis – His government broke his heart but it could not break Air Force veteran Charles Powell's spirit. Fighting back tears, the 64 year-old vet stood tall and resolute in front of 400 of his comrades, describing in verse the final steps of a painful disillusionment.

Each summer during the national convention of Veterans For Peace, time is reserved for a Veterans' Speakout, where any member can rise to say whatever is on their mind. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Former Enemies Find New Way Forward

Mike Ferner — 2007-08-23T08:43:00Z

St. Louis — A young man from Palestine and another from Israel riveted 400 U.S. military veterans to their seats last week in this city on the Mississippi River. What captivated the audience was their recent decision to put down the guns they'd pointed at each other for years.

The two members of Combatants For Peace addressed the mid-August national convention of Veterans For Peace, a 7,000 – member organization dedicated to abolishing war.

Yonaton Gur, a 28 year-old Israeli journalist and Tel Aviv University student spoke first. (...)

- MikeFerner.org

Collateral Genocide

Mike Ferner — 2007-05-11T00:53:00Z

Two elements are necessary to commit the crime of genocide: 1) the mental element, meaning intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, and 2) the physical element, which includes any of the following: killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births; or forcibly transferring children to another group.

Considering that such clear language comes from a UN treaty which is legally binding on our country, things could start getting a little worrisome – especially when you realize that since our government declared economic and military warfare on Iraq we've killed well over one million people, fast approaching two. (...)

- MikeFerner.org