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What Happens When You Talk With Americans About Drone Murders
By Joy First
Mount Horeb, Wisc. -- Bonnie Block, Jim Murphy, Lars and Patty Prip, Mary Beth Schlagheck, and I were at Rest Area 10 along I- 90/94, about 5 miles south of Mauston, from 10:00 am – noon on Thursday October 9, 2014. We had a model drone and a stack of flyers "6 Things You Should Know About Drones" to help us in reaching the public and so they can learn more about what is going on just up the road at Volk Field Air National Guard Base. We were there in solidarity with others around the country as part of "Keep Space for Peace Week" and global days of actions against drones sponsored by Code Pink, Know Drones, and other groups.
We chose to leaflet at this particular rest area because it is the closest one to Volk Field Air National Guard Base, about 20 miles south of the base. We, as Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, have been vigiling outside the gates of Volk Field for almost three years, protesting the training there of pilots who operate the Shadow Drones. We are at the base with our signs every 4th Tuesday of the month from 3:30-4:30. At 4:00 pm around 100 cars leave the base and drive right past us and so we have a lot of exposure.
Jim has been urging us to try leafleting at the rest area for a couple of years and it turned out to be an excellent opportunity for public education. We were able to connect with a real cross-section of middle America and we had a chance to hand out our leaflets and talk to people about what is going on at Volk Field, as well as in the drone wars overseas. A fair number of people were very supportive and engaged with us. Quite a few seemed like they did not have a lot of feelings about drone warfare one way or the other. There were a small number of people who were very unhappy to see us there and let loose with some pretty unfriendly language.
Shortly after we arrived at the rest area and began setting up the drone, the manager of the rest area came out and told us we would have to pack up and leave. We said we were on public property and that we planned to stay there until noon. We also told her that we would not block anyone or act threatening, and we gave her a flyer. She became upset and angry when we told her this and she said that if we didn't leave she would have to call the State Patrol and she didn't think that we would want it to go that far. We responded that we would like her to call the State Patrol because we knew we had the right to be there. She left in a huff.
It was 15 minutes or so before a plain clothes officer dressed in a suit with a neat crew cut and a badge around his neck approached us. He said that he had been told there was a disturbance, and he asked us if there was a disturbance. Jim responded by asking if it looked like there was a disturbance. The officer angrily replied that he would be asking the questions and we would answer.
We explained to him what we were doing, that we were on public property and it was our constitutional right to be there. We told him we were not blocking anyone and if they didn't want a flyer we didn't push it.
At that point a uniformed State Patrol officer arrived at the scene. The officer we were talking to said that the uniformed officer would be taking over. After the two of them talked for several minutes, the uniformed officer came over and we told him what we were doing. He told us that some people might not appreciate our position, and he said that if they started saying things we didn't like we should turn the other cheek. We told him we practice nonviolence and are good at de-escalating those kinds of situations. He told us to have a good day and walked away. It felt like this was a small win for us. It is not often that the police are called and they end up telling us to go ahead and keep doing what we are doing.
Several minutes later a Juneau County Sheriff car pulled into the rest area and parked. He didn't talk to us, but spent several minutes talking to someone in an unmarked police car before they both drove away. Citizen activism seemed to have won out for the day.
I want to relate a story about one man I talked to. As I handed him a leaflet, he said he was supportive of what we are doing. But, he said, his grandson was in the military and operated a camera for the drones and he didn't kill children. (One of our signs said "Drones Kill Children".) I replied that there are many innocent people, including many children, who are being killed by drone attacks in countries overseas. He said again that his grandson didn't kill children. I told him that we had a list of names of many of the children who have been killed. He said again that his grandson was a family man with four children and he wouldn't kill children. He added that he had been a nurse assisting in surgery with children for many years and he knew what it was like for traumatized children and his grandson would not kill children.
This story really illustrates the disconnect and denial going on in our society, about how much we want to believe that we are the good guys, that we wouldn't hurt others. Yet, people are dying all around the world as a result of our government's policies. It seems like there are not enough people speaking out against what is going on because so many people refuse to really look at the death and destruction our military is leaving all around the globe. It is so much easier to close our eyes. I think this was a genuinely good man that I talked to, and there are so many good people like him. How do we get these good people to wake up and join the fight, to be able to admit to and take responsibility for the horrors that our government, and we, are perpetrating around the world?
All six of us who were there felt like it was a successful venture and we all agreed that we need to go back to the rest area where we can reach people who would otherwise not be reached. It is impossible to know what kind of impact we may have had, but we are hopeful that we touched a few people.
Please consider rest areas near you as a possible place for demonstrations. We no longer have town squares. It is illegal, at least in Wisconsin, to protest at shopping malls because they are privately owned. It is not always easy to find a public space where there are a lot people, but this was a good test today and we discovered that the police will not try to prevent us from demonstrating at a rest area in Wisconsin. But then again, who knows what may happen the next time. All I know for sure is that we will be back.
Drone victims sue German government for facilitating strikes in Yemen
From REPRIEVE:
A Yemeni man, whose nephew and brother-in-law were killed in a 2012 drone strike, has travelled to Germany to sue the government for facilitating drone strikes of the sort in which his relatives died.
Faisal bin Ali Jaber, an engineer for the Yemeni environmental protection agency, lost his brother-in-law Salim, a local imam known for preaching against al-Qaeda, and his nephew Waleed, a policeman, in a drone strike in August 2012. Mr bin Ali Jaber has filed litigation asking the German government to stop the use of Ramstein Air Base in assisting the US' covert drones programme. Mr bin Ali Jaber is also asking that the German government acknowledge that allowing the US to use Ramstein to facilitate drone strikes in Yemen – a country with which the US is not at war - is unlawful.
Ramstein Air Base, in South West Germany, is the crucial connector for all data transfer between the US and Yemeni air space. The data – which enables the pilots in the US to operate the drones in real time – is transferred via fibre optic cable from the US to Germany and the Air Base Ramstein. From there the data is transmitted through a satellite-relay-station to the drone which is started by technicians at the US military base in Djibouti.
Faisal is represented in the litigation, which was filed today, by international human rights NGO Reprieve and the European Centre for Constitutional Human Rights (ECCHR).
Faisal bin Ali Jaber, said: "Were it not for the help of Germany and Ramstein, men like my brother-in-law and nephew might still be alive today. It is quite simple: without Germany, US drones would not fly. I am here to ask that the German people and Parliament be told the full extent of what is happening in their country, and that the German government stop Ramstein being used to help the US' illegal and devastating drone war in my country."
Kat Craig, Legal Director at Reprieve, said: "The US' covert drone war has killed thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, in countries with which we are not at war. Without the help of the British and German governments these deaths would never have been possible. Europe cannot hide behind the US: by allowing the use of bases, personnel or technology, we are complicit in this drone war. If European governments withdrew their support, people like Faisal and his children would have a better chance for a future without this paralyzing threat from the skies."
Andreas Schueller, head of the international crimes and accountability programme at ECCHR, said: "Ramstein is crucial for US drone warfare. Germany has to bring it to an end – if not it is complicit in the death of civilians. The German government must no longer hide behind status-of-forces agreements and admit its responsibility for civilian deaths caused by US drone warfare."
Honolulu Participates in The Global Day of Action Against Drones
World Can't Wait Hawai`i reports: "Saturday our drone replica was flying above the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu Avenues in Waikiki. About a dozen people held signs and banners or passed out brochures against drone warfare and surveillance. This busy corner in front of the Honolulu Zoo and across from Waikiki Beach is a spot where there residents, tourists and a significant number of military personnel pass by. Trolleys and buses loaded with tourists pass by on their way to popular tourist spots. Responses were tremendously mixed. A number of drivers of tourist trolleys and buses honked their horns. A taxi driver stopped to ask whether there were military drones in Hawai`i (yes!).
Challenging Drone Warfare in a U.S. Court
By Kathy Kelly
On October 7, 2014, Kathy Kelly and Georgia Walker appeared before Judge Matt Whitworth in Jefferson City, MO, federal court on a charge of criminal trespass to a military facility. The charge was based on their participation, at Whiteman Air Force Base, in a June 1st 2014 rally protesting drone warfare. Kelly and Walker attempted to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the Base Commander, encouraging the commander to stop cooperating with any further usage of unmanned aerial vehicles, (drones) for surveillance and attacks.
The prosecutor, USAF Captain Daniel Saunders, said that if Kelly and Walker would plead guilty to the charge, he would seek a punishment of one month in prison and a $500 fine. Kelly and Walker told the prosecutor that they could accept a "no contest" plea but were not willing to plead guilty. The prosecutor then said he would recommend a three month prison sentence and a $500 fine. The judge refused to accept a "no contest" plea. Kelly and Walker then requested a trial which has been set for December 10, 2014.
Brian Terrell, who also attended the hearing, has previously been tried before Judge Whitworth on the same charge. In October of 2012, Whitworth sentenced him to the maximum penalty of six months in prison. His co-defendant, Ron Faust, also went to trial and was initially sentenced to five years probation which was later reduced to one year. Mark Kenney, also a co-defendant, had pled guilty and received a four month sentence.
Kathy Kelly noted that drone strikes on October 7, 2014 killed seven people in Pakistan and that this is the third day in a row of drone attacks in Pakistan's Waziristan area. On October 6th, eight people were killed and six wounded. Today also marks the thirteenth year of U.S. war in Afghanistan, a country which was considered, in 2013, to be the epicenter of drone warfare.
"I feel we're compelled by our conscience, " Georgia Walker told a gathering of 35 people in Kansas City, the previous evening. "We're compelled by our own spirituality, to keep speaking up and to keep getting people to know that silence is complicity. We have to speak out to say 'Not in my Name.'"
"I'm sure that Georgia and I didn't commit a crime," said Kathy Kelly. "We tried to send out an alarm about a crime that's being committed at the base. Innocent people, including children are killed by the drone strikes."
Kelly and Walker later met with supporters and attorneys to discuss plans for a vigorous defense on December 10th, International Human Rights Day.
Kathy Kelly (firstname.lastname@example.com) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)
Three Women to Be Tried on October 9 for Protesting Drones
Three long-time activist women will stand trial on Thursday 9 October, 2014, in US District Court in Baltimore, MD, for protesting National Security Agency surveillance which provides targeting information for US drone attacks around the world.
- Court Interpreter/Translator Manijeh Saba from Somerset, NJ,
- Headstart Case Manager Marilyn Carlisle from Baltimore, MD, and
- US Army veteran and full-time peace activist Ellen Barfield from Baltimore, MD,
each face 3 charges with assessed fines totalling over $1300 for seeking on 3 May, 2014 to present at the NSA gate at Ft Meade, MD a letter requesting a meeting with National Security Agency Director Vice-Admiral Michael Rogers to discuss NSA drone targeting and citizen abhorrence of that practice.
The women will go Pro se, or defend themselves in court, with expert advice from DC Attorney Mark Goldstone. They hope to elicit expert testimony on NSA targeting for murderous US drone attacks from Medea Benjamin, a leader of women's peace group
Code Pink, and Col. (Rtd.) Ann Wright, a former Army officer and diplomat now active with Veterans For Peace and Code Pink.
Supporters are urged to attend the trial at 101 W Lombard St, Baltimore,MD, 21201, in Courtroom 7-C beginning at 10am.
79-Year-Old Sentenced to Prison for Protesting Drone Murders
October 1, 2014, Syracuse, NY.
John "Jack" Gilroy, 79, of Endwell, NY and Upstate Drone Action, was sentenced to three months incarceration, three years probation, and $1000 fine by De Witt (NY) Town Judge Robert Jokl.
"It's time for our justice system to identify the real criminals...not those who carry the message to stop the killing to the gates of Hancock Air Base," said Gilroy in his sentencing statement. Gilroy was convicted by a six-person jury on July 15th of trespass and obstructing government administration after a two day jury trial.
The trial was based on Gilroy's participation in a solemn funeral procession and die-in outside Hancock's main gate. The event symbolized the terrorizing and killing of innocent people by MQ9 Reaper drone missiles and bombs piloted by Hancock's 174th Attack Wing. Hancock, near Syracuse, is one of many drone bases perpetrating US drone attacks in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
"I was proud of the way Jack spoke truth to power, stood for nonviolence instead of war, and brought the reality and names of victims of drones into the court," said Fr. Tim Taugher,Gilroy's long-time friend and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Binghamton. "Our courts can't allow the truth to be heard. This is one of many ways our country is trying to squelch truth, debate, dialogue, and discussion of the morality of the use of drones."
Immediately upon sentencing, Gilroy, a military veteran and retired high school teacher, was taken in handcuffs to Jamesville Penitentiary.
On Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. Upstate Drone Action will host (legally permitted) street theatre at Hancock's front gate, 6000 East Molloy Rd, Town of DeWitt. (Park in BOCES lot on Thompson Rd.) Bicyclists against drone warfare, artists, teachers, medical people, union activists and others against drone warfare will converge at Hancock as part of the world-wide Global Action Day Against the Use of Drones for Surveillance & Killing.
Donations for Jack Gilroy's fine and appeal can be sent to:
Syracuse Peace Council
2013 E Genesee St,
Syracuse, NY 13210.
Please note in memo: "Gilroy fine and appeal fund."
What laws of war? We do what we want!: Obama Admits US Bombing Attacks in Syria Pay Little Heed to Protecting Civilians
By Dave Lindorff
In a perverse way, maybe it's progress that the US is now admitting that it doesn't really care about how many civilians it kills in its efforts to "decapitate" a few suspected terrorist leaders.
Who's On First?: The War of the Heads
By John Grant
Ain't no time to wonder why.
Whoopee, we're all gonna die.
- Country Joe MacDonald
Drone Protester Faces Sentencing for Exercising His Rights
Jack Gilroy, 79, member of the Upstate Drone Coalition, will be sentenced by Judge Robert Jokl on Wednesday, October 1st at 4:30 PM at the DeWitt Court House, 5400 Butternut Drive, East Syracuse, NY 13057-8509.
Gilroy was convicted of trespass and obstructing government administration. The maximum penalty is one year and 15 days in Jamesville Penitentiary.
Gilroy's trial was based on participation in a solemn funeral procession and die-in to illustrate the death and destruction of innocent people by drone missiles and bombs fired out of MQ9 Reaper drones piloted from Hancock Air Force Base near Syracuse, NY.
Hancock is one of many drone bases around the United States doing assassinations of Muslim suspects in foreign nations. Gilroy had an opportunity to plead guilty without penalty but noted that "the guilty are not those who carry the message to stop the killing."
Gilroy and the scores of others arrested at the gates of the 174th Attack Wing all take oaths of non- violence. The Gandhian Wave of nonviolent resisters to drone warfare by the 174th Air National Guard has been ongoing for the past four years.
On Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 pm, the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars will be hosting a permitted street theatre including bicyclists against drone warfare, artists, teachers, medical people, union activists and all others against drone warfare will be protesting at Hancock Airbase as part of the world wide protests of the Global Days of Action.
Read an interview of Gilroy here.
Drone Protester Found Guilty, Could Face Years in Prison
Republicans, Democrats, War and Corporate Profits
In 1969, at the height of the U.S. war against Vietnam, Edwin Starr recorded a song called 'War', that reached number one on the charts. Among the lyrics are these:
War: What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Much as one would like to believe these simple lyrics, there are facts that belie them. In a report from the Financial Times from March of 2013, it is stated that private contractors earned at least a whopping $139 billion dollars from the U.S. war against Iraq up to that time, and that total is ever increasing. Kellogg, Brown and Root, a former subsidiary of Haliburton, the company once run by former Vice President Dick Cheney, the architect of this war, earned nearly $40 billion.
Another Drone Protester Found Not-Guilty
From upstatedroneaction.org
Eve Tetaz, 83, found NOT GUILTY last night in De Witt town court for opposing Reaper Drone War Crime at 174th Attack Wing at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse, NY
Immediately after Onondaga County prosecutor Jordan McNamara rested his case against DC peace and justice activist Eve Tetaz, DeWitt town judge David Gideon granted Ms Tetaz' motion to dismiss. Ms Tetaz represented herself pro se with the support of DC attorney Mark Goldstone.
Ms. Tetaz had been arrested on April 28, 2013, along with 30 others as she stood reading aloud Preamble to the UN Charter and the First Amendment of the Constitution on the edge of the driveway leading into the Hancock Reaper drone base on East Molloy Rd., Town of De Witt. The prosecution's video of Ms Tetaz' arrest showed the arresting officer grabbing those documents from her hands and tossing them aside.
When police ordered her to stop, Ms Tetaz continued her reading aloud, facing the base, thereby expressing her First Amendment right to peacefully "petition my government for redress of grievances" – i.e. the war crimes being committed by the weaponized Reaper drone robots piloted over Afghanistan by the Hancock Attack Wing.
Ms. Tetaz' trial is one of the ongoing series of trials of those arrested on April 28, 2013 scheduled through spring of 2015. Many will be jury trials due to the misdemeanor charge of obstruction of government administration. The next jury trial -- that of Bronx Catholic Worker Mark Colville -- will begin at 8:30 a.m. this Thursday, Sept 18.
Drone firms bought influence at NATO summit
By REPRIEVE
Arms companies which provide key components for the drones used by the US to carry out secret strikes in violation of international law bought access to last week's NATO summit, research by legal charity Reprieve has found.
Among the firms which paid up to £300,000 to 'exhibit' at the summit in Newport, Wales were:
- General Dynamics, manufacturer of the Hellfire missiles used in the vast majority of drone strikes.
- Raytheon, manufacturer of the targeting system for the 'Reaper' drone which, along with the 'Predator,' is used by the CIA and other covert agencies to carry out strikes outside of warzones.
- Lockheed Martin, which acts as a contractor to provide support services for the Reaper and Predator.
- MBDA, a European firm which is producing 'Brimstone,' a variant of the Hellfire missile which it is promoting for use by Reaper and Predator drones.
Strikes carried out by Predators and Reapers flown by the CIA or Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) have proved controversial as they have been carried out in countries with which or in which the US is not at war – such as Yemen and Pakistan. As a result, they are in violation of both international and domestic law.
Despite having been responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths, they take place with little or no oversight – with President Obama refusing even to formally acknowledge that such strikes are taking place.
Commenting, Reprieve Legal Director, Kat Craig said: "The illegal use of drones to carry out secret bombings is one of the most controversial issues around, so it is deeply worrying to see those firms who may profit most from it able to buy access to such a high-level summit. It is unacceptable that the US' drone campaign, and the UK's support for it, has been allowed to remain in the shadows for so long. President Obama must be far more open about it, as must his European allies, especially the UK and Germany, about the support they provide. Allowing drone manufacturers to buy access to our politicians behind closed doors is no way to ensure we get the transparency we need."
DRONE ACTION ORGANIZERS BULLETIN – August 12, 2014
From KnowDrones.com
Edited by Nick Mottern – Coordinator, Network to Stop Drone Surveillance and Warfare.
Next organizers' conference call: August 27, 2014 at 9 pm EST
Call in number: (605) 562-3000 - Access code: 484539#
1. Editorial: GAZA, IRAQ AND OUR TRAGIC DRONE FANTASY
Drone Protester Aquitted by Jury
ACQUITTED! Vietnam Vet Drone Resister
Syracuse July 31, 2014 After two hours of deliberation,Vietnam Veteran and Buffalonian Russell Brown, was acquitted tonight by a six person jury in DeWitt Town Court, East Syracuse. He was facing charges of Obstruction of Governmental Administration (OGA), a misdemeanor carrying up to a year incarceration and up to $1000 fine, as well as Disorderly Conduct charge, a violation. Mr. Brown who went before the court Pro Se (he served as his own counsel) was assisted by Buffalo Attorneys Daire Irwin and Paul Fallon.
Mr. Brown was arrested during a nonviolent protest at Hancock Air National Guard Base on April 28, 2013. In a roadway across from the Airbase, he lay down to symbolize the death of drone victims. There are biweekly demonstrations at Hancock Airbase. Several times a year there are larger demonstrations and nationally coordinated events. On six occasions there have been arrests, leading to six trials since 2011. Mr. Brown's trial is the second acquittal. There are twenty activists are facing prosecution, working with Upstate Drone Action.
During testimony, Russell told what he did leading up to the "Global April Days of Action" gathering in Syracuse. This included his writing a poem that links the drone attacks conducted at Hancock with the missions he conducted in Vietnam. A marine from 1965 - 1967, he told of the war he experienced. His participation in senseless killing and brutality in Vietnam informed his understanding of the Drone War Program at the 174th Attack Wing. Russell now finds allegiance with the victims of the drone attacks.
Laying on the street with "blood" spattered clothes lifted a weight of guilt from Russel. Transforming guilt to regret makes possible a voice: poet, marcher in a 'legal' protest, drone victim laying in the street were deemed protected speech. The message was closely attended by the jury. Brian Hynes said, "They saw the human power of the message and the public value of the method used to deliver it. Drones kill senselessly and illegally and traumatize our airmen."
Russell said that the wars of the last decade brought back his experiences in Vietnam. "Lying in that road was the most peaceful moment I've experienced since I left Vietnam," he said. "I was silent then in the face of those atrocities and I can't be silent anymore."
The jury was smiling as they returned to give the verdict. Later one juror asked a supporter to "Thank Russell for us! My brother was in the Vietnam War and lost his leg. We know what the vets went through." The juror also acknowledged the PTSD drone pilots experience. Another juror said, "We did what was needed to be done. It was fair and just".
Hancock Air National Guard Base, home of the 174th Attack Wing, is a domestic hub for drone assassinations, support and operation, particularly in Afghanistan. The Niagara Falls Air Base is also embarking on a mission to operate weaponized drones. The Hancock emerged following arrests at Creech Airforce Base in Nevada, and the Gandhian Wave of protest there has spearheaded national and international movements against the use of drones for assassination in countries we are not at war with and wars of occupation.
The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, supported by local organizations such as the WNY Peace Center, works nonviolently to stop the scourge of assassination and community terror perpetrated by weaponized drones. The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones is in coalition with the global movement to end the drone assassinations and to stop US imperialism and militarization.
$10,000 Bail Reduced to $100 for 2 Drone Resisters
Vietnam Vet Drone Resister's Trial Ongoing in DeWitt Town Court
Syracuse July 31, 2014 Vietnam Veteran and Buffalo resident Russell Brown's trial began today in DeWitt Town Court in East Syracuse. Mr. Brown is representing himself and is facing charges stemming from his arrest during a nonviolent protest at Hancock Air National Guard Base, home of the 174th Attack Wing, on April 28, 2013. Mr. Brown laid down peacefully with red paint to symbolize the death of drone victims in a roadway across from the Airbase. He is charged with Obstruction of Governmental Administration (OGA), a misdemeanor carrying up to a year incarceration and up to $1000 fine, as well as Disorderly Conduct charge, a violation.
Mr. Brown's trial follows about a dozen trials since 2011 in the DeWitt Town Court and is one of 20 upcoming trials of drone resisters working with Upstate Drone Action there.
Judge David S. Gideon imposed an Order of Protection (OOP) on Mr Brown on behalf of Colonel Greg Semmel, the Hancock commandant. The OOPs have been imposed on more than 50 nonviolent civil resisters arrested at the Hancock Reaper drone hub in DeWitt since October 2012. Under oath, a military official acknowledged that the protesters were acting nonviolently and posed no threat to the Airbase or military personnel.
Before a six-person jury, defense witness Jessica Azulay testified on Wednesday that Mr. Brown was well beyond the military base and was not obstructing traffic as the roadway had been blocked by local police ahead of the demonstration. She spoke in support of his constitutional right to protest.
Mr Brown said that the wars of the last decade brought back his experiences in Vietnam. "Lying in that road was the most peaceful moment I experienced since I left Vietnam," he said.
In other news of drone resistance, two upstate drone resisters had their bail drastically reduced after being arrested on July 23 outside Hancock. Clare Grady of the Ithaca Catholic Worker and Martha Hennessy from New York Catholic Worker had been charged with violating an Order of Protection. Judge Jokl of the DeWitt Town Court set their bail at $10,000 each. During a bail reduction hearing Monday Ms. Hennessy's bail was reduced to $100. Yesterday, Ms. Grady's bail was also reduced to $100. Both women have been released, having been incarcerated for several days in the Onondaga County Justice Center.
Three other co-defendants, Joan Pleune, 75 year-old, Civil Rights Movement Freedom Rider, and NYC Catholic Workers Erica Brock and Felton Davis remain in jail on $2,500 bail each. Ms. Pleune has a bail reduction hearing Thursday morning in Syracuse.
Hancock Air National Guard Base, home of the 174th Attack Wing, is a domestic hub for drone assassinations, support and operation, particularly in Afghanistan. The Niagara Falls Air Base is also embarking on a mission to operate weaponized drones. The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars [also known as Upstate Drone Action], supported by local organizations such as the Western NY Peace Center, works nonviolently to stop the scourge of assassination and community terror perpetrated by weaponized drones. The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones is in coalition with the global movement to end the drone assassinations and to stop US imperialism and militarization.
Hancock Air National Guard Base, home of the 174th Attack Wing, is a domestic hub for drone assassinations, support and operation, particularly in Afghanistan. The Niagara Falls Air Base is also embarking on a mission to operate weaponized drones.
The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars [also known as Upstate Drone Action], supported by local organizations such as the Western NY Peace Center, works nonviolently to stop the scourge of assassination and community terror perpetrated by weaponized drones. The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones is in coalition with the global movement to end the drone assassinations and to stop US imperialism and militarization.
Seven Arrested at Hancock Air Base Calling a Halt to Drone War Crimes: Order of Protection Delivered for the Children of the World
Seven Arrested at Hancock Air Base
Halt Drone War Crimes!
Order of Protection Delivered for the Children of the World
Syracuse July 23, 2014 Earlier today eight Atlantic Life Community activists joined with Upstate Drone Action at the main gate of Hancock Air Base, in Syracuse, New York. Hancock is the home of the 174th Attack Wing of the New York State Air National Guard. The 174th Attack Wing pilots weaponized MQ9 Reaper drones over Afghanistan – killing and terrorizing an uncountable number of civilians.
The eight delivered a People's War Crimes Indictment to the Hancock chain of command by affixing it to the fence after being refused by the base personnel. Also delivered was an Order of Protection on behalf of the children of the world who are subject to U.S. drone surveillance and attack.
The eight issued a statement that began with a list of names of persons who have been killed by drone strikes; "Syed Wali Shah, 7 years old, killed by an American drone strike. Momina Bibi, mother and midwife, killed by an American drone strike. Tarik Aziz, 16, killed by an American drone strike… This Must Stop! We are a community of peacemakers who resist war, racism and greed. We stand … in solidarity with men, women and children being terrorized by US military aggression."
The group blocked the entrance to the base and took up positions for vigil. Brian Hynes, NYC Catholic Worker, was allowed to vigil on the side of the main entrance, usually prohibited. Seven from the group – from Vermont, Maryland, New York City, and Ithaca were arrested.
The seven are being charged with Trespass. Two of the defendants, Clare Grady and Martha Hennessy were also charged with violation of an Order of Protection. Liz McAlister and Erica Brock were charged with Disorderly Conduct. Clare Grady and Martha Hennessy are being held on $10,000 bail. Felton Davis, Erica Brock, and Joan Pleune are all being held on $2,500 bail.
Three of the arrested are grandmothers. On July 10th, 2014, drone activist and grandmother, Mary Anne Grady Flores, was sentenced to one year in jail for violation of the same Order of Protection, taken out on behalf of the Colonel of the base. She is currently out on $5,000 bail pending appeal. A higher court has found the order to be invalid.
The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Warswww.upstatedroneaction.org
Eight Activists Blockade Entrance Gate at Hancock Air Base, Syracuse, NY
Syed Wali Shah 7 years old, killed by an American Drone strike. Momina Bibi, mother and midwife, killed by an American drone strike. Tairk Aziz, 16, killed by an American drone strike… This Must Stop!
We, members of the Atlantic Life Community, come to Hancock Air Force Base, the national maintenance and control center of the MQ9 Reaper Drone, to protest these lethal drones, the latest weapon being used in endless war. We are a community of peacemakers who resist war, racism and greed. We stand here today in solidarity with the men, women and children being terrorized by US military aggression. Our witness mourns the senseless deaths of our brothers and sisters, victims of drone strikes from this base and adds our voice to all people of the world who cry for peace.
Today we deliver to the base two important documents central to our witness: a war crimes indictment addressed to President Obama, Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel, the full military chain of command, and the local police and Sheriffs Department of the Town of De Witt, NY. By continuing to protect the war crimes of drone warfare, these public officials perpetuate a legacy of violence and racism first imposed upon indigenous people on this land. The second document is a People's Order of Protection, which asks the 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard to stay away from the Children of the World and their families, including their homes, schools, places of play and work.
The terror and bloodshed caused by the Reaper drones lies on all of our shoulders. As Thomas Merton once wrote, "if you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another." Therefore, we come to the gates today in atonement for our complicity in these crimes and to resist the atrocities of drones, to resist our nation's endless wars and to cultivate a culture of love and not fear.
Bill Ofenloch NYC Catholic Worker
Liz McAlister Jonah House, MD
Felton Davis NYC Catholic Worker
Martha Hennessy NYC Catholic Worker
Clare Grady Ithaca Catholic Worker
Joan Pleune Granny Peace Brigade
Erica Brock NYC Catholic Worker
Talk Nation Radio: A Year in Prison for Protesting Drone Murders
Mary Anne Grady Flores (pictured, far right) and Judy Bello have long been among those protesting drone murders in Afghanistan conducted at Hancock Air Base in Upstate New York. Grady Flores is out on bail and facing a year behind bars for allegedly violating an Order of Protection, a legal order normally used to protect someone from domestic violence but currently used to "protect" the commanders of an Air Force base from some 50 nonviolent demonstrators. Learn more:
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Harassing the Drones, by Kathy Kelly.
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Harassing the Drones
By Kathy Kelly, written for teleSUR English, which will launch on July 24
Kabul-- On July 10, 2014, in New York State, Judge David Gideon sentenced Mary Anne Grady Flores to a year in prison and fined her $1,000 for photographing a peaceful demonstration at the U.S. Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing at Hancock Field (near Syracuse) where weaponized Reaper drones are remotely piloted in lethal flights over Afghanistan. Dozens have been sentenced, previously, for peaceful protest there. But uniquely, the court convicted her under laws meant to punish stalkers, deciding that by taking pictures outside the heavily guarded base she violated a previous order of protection not to stalk or harass the commanding officer.
Mary Anne is a 58 year-old grandmother of three, from Ithaca, New York, where she is part of the Upstate Drone Action.
Since late 2009 this grassroots group has persistently raised awareness about the consequences of drone attacks in Afghanistan, the global epicenter of U.S. drone warfare. In December 2012, the U.S. Air Force revealed that U.S. drones had struck targets in Afghanistan 477 times during just the preceding year. Members of the Upstate Drone Action, alarmed by the proliferation of drones and the ease with which they kill suspects far from any battlefield, are troubled in general to live in a society that so automatically and heedlessly chooses warfare over other available solutions to its problems.
Hundreds have gathered in Syracuse, NY, for events the Coalition has organized, including nonviolent civil resistance at the Hancock base.
Frustrated by the tenacity of war resisters willing to risk arrest, the commander at the base, Colonel Earl Evans, has sought and received an "Order of Protection Grant" - a restraining order - from the DeWitt Town judges, claiming that peace activists posed a threat to his personal safety as an individual when they protested there.
At first, the thought of such an order imposed on nonviolent demonstrators seems merely laughable. These orders of protection are typically used in domestic violence cases, against stalkers, or to protect a victim of (or witnesses to) a crime. How could a U.S. military commander, living in a fortified base, surrounded by advanced weaponry and the soldiers preparing to use it, be threatened by unarmed civilians like Mary Anne? She, like most of her companions in the coalition, has worked throughout her adult life to prevent bloodshed and killing.
But De Witt courts have upheld Colonel Evans's right to be protected from the peace activists, and so everyone with an OOP who crosses the boundary (which isn't clearly marked) outside the military base risks being charged with contempt of court for violating the order. Mary Anne had lingered for a few moments with the group she wanted to photograph to ask her sister, Ellen, something about the camera she was using.
During her court case and at her sentencing hearing, Mary Anne tried to help Judge Gideon understand that young people like the Afghan Peace Volunteers, (APVs), with whom I'm now living, here in Kabul, are threatened by the drones. She and other coalition members have already presented the court with a letter from Raz Mohammed, an APV whose brother-in-law was killed by a drone, asking that the U.S. courts issue a mandate protecting him and his family from sudden annihilation by remote control.
In Syracuse, NY, a Probation Department pre-sentencing report had recommended no jail time at all for Mary Anne, noting that she has been the major caregiver for her mother and that the infraction didn't warrant incarceration. But Judge Gideon worried aloud that if he didn't jail Mary Anne, she might thumb her nose at the courts and again risk arrest.
Judge Gideon has tried numerous peace activists in the De Witt Town Court for their actions protesting drone warfare. "This has got to stop," he declared, in a moment of exasperation following an earlier court hearing. It seems that he imposed this sentence on Mary Ann because he and other authorities want to deter activists from gathering peaceably to petition, as the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment phrases it, "for redress of grievances."
"I hope she feels proud," said Abdulhai, a member of the APVs here in Kabul, when he learned that Mary Anne was sentenced to a year in prison. "She has a good heart. She thinks about other people far away." Abdulhai's smiling face appears on many of the posters carried by activists when they appear in court and when they demonstrate at the base. In the photo, he's wearing a blue scarf which the APVs use to symbolize the same blue sky shared by all humans. His sign says: "We want to live without war."
Mary Anne Grady Flores wearing the blue scarf in court
"Laws should be made to protect human beings," said Faiz, also part of the APV community. "Laws shouldn't protect ways to kill other people. Here in Afghanistan, the U.S uses drones to kill children, moms, and ordinary people. I hope the judge will think about this."
At her sentencing hearing, Mary Anne told Judge Gideon that a series of judicial perversions brought her before him. "The final perversion," she concluded, "is the reversal of who is the real victim here: the commander of a military base whose drones kill innocent people halfway around the world, or those innocent people themselves who are the real ones in need of protection from the terror of US drone attacks?"
Is it a crime to take photos of peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment right, or is it a crime to take multiple drone reconnaissance photos of private Afghan homes in villages and subsequently use the information to target and kill Afghans without detention or trial?
Mary Anne and the Upstate Drone Action activists have a deep grievance. They object to using Reaper drones to fire Hellfire missiles into homes and communities where Afghan civilians, including children, could be killed. They raise crucial questions about the likelihood of drone attacks exacerbating and prolonging wars, conflicts and other armed strife. Aerial spies insertable anywhere, ready to kill suspects by missile strikes, make the entire world a battlefield where the U.S. is a combatant. What's more, this is a technology other nations and non-nation groups are seeking to acquire. Blowback could cause spiraling levels of lethal exchanges. Even think-tanks like the Stimson Center, itself in part funded by weapons manufacturing corporations, have begun publicly questioning the effectiveness of drone warfare.
As peace activists, we should voice our concerns about the U.S. military's accelerating reliance on weaponized robotics before every branch of government, including the judicial branch.
The problem is not that Mary Anne lacks appreciation for the law of the land. She's exercising her First Amendment right to assemble peaceably for redress of grievance. The problem is that Judge Gideon refuses to challenge military elites, some of whom never, ever want people of compassion and conscience to interfere with their use of threat, force, and even assassination to control people in other lands.
Mary Anne has appealed her case, and a NY judge has released her from prison until the appeal is resolved. Another activist, Jack Gilroy, awaits sentencing, and in coming days and weeks, more activists will be tried on similar charges in the De Witt Town court. Judge Gideon and his fellow DeWitt Court Judge Robert Jokl have many more opportunities to think about these critical issues. I hope they'll be influenced by having encountered some of the finest people in the world as they hear the cases of peace activists in upstate New York.
Kathy Kelly (email@example.com) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)
DRONES: Free Online Screening on July 30th -- You'll Want to See This
There's a chance to watch DRONES, the movie, online on July 30th and then to join a discussion with filmmakers and experts. There's a preview video below. The movie's website is at http://dronesthefilm.com and the free screening is at http://demandprogress.tv/drones
I saw a screening of this film back in November at the drone summit in DC. It's wonderful. I was a bit put-off and staggered, to be frank, at the time, because someone involved with the film bragged about how inexpensively it had been made, and yet the budget was so unfathomably huge that I knew that if an anti-war organization had that kind of money we could hire organizers all over the world and quite possibly make the abolition of war a major mainstream force.
And, of course, you can't simply ask if the money was well spent, because no one will say that it was spent to end the practice of drone murder. The director and the cast, of course, say they wanted to make a socially important film about a serious issue, but not what they wanted to accomplish, beyond raising questions and being entertaining. Everyone's always happy to say that a film opposes racism or cruelty to animals or bullying, but not war.
But, you hundreds of millions of odd-balls who, like me, happen to give a damn whether your government is murdering people in your name with your money will, in fact, want to make this film a huge viral success. I'm telling you, right now, it's a good one. It is indeed entertaining. It's not simple, predictable, pedantic, or preaching. But neither is the film itself reluctant to face head-on the banal, evil, arrogant mass-murder engaged in by these young people who dress up in pilots suits to sit at desks in trailers taking orders from military bureaucrats and private contractors, and ultimately from a president who reviews a list of potential men, women, and children to murder on Tuesdays.
Drones look like a golden opportunity to war makers who don't want to ask Congress or the U.N. or the public, don't want to send in armies, just want to target people and groups for death anywhere in the world and obliterate them with the push of a button from an air-conditioned -- or, sometimes not so air-conditioned -- office.
But drones also look like a golden opportunity to those of us who have been trying to point out that murder and war are distinguished only by scale. I suspect that many who cannot see the bombing of a city as murder will see the drone-targeting of an individual as nothing else -- particularly if they watch this film.
If you can watch the film and not want to Ban Weaponized Drones, watch it again.
Drone Activist Mary Anne Grady Flores Released on Appeal of Violation of Order of Protection
Last night Mary Anne Grady Flores was released on $5,000 bail from the Syracuse Justice Center after appearing before County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller who granted a stay of execution of her one year sentence, pending appeal of the Order of Protection granted to Col. Earl A. Evans by the DeWitt Town Court judges requiring drone protesters to stay away from the Hancock Airbase.
"The local judges of the Town of DeWitt have helped shut down the protests of the murder of Afghan civilians by drones piloted from the airbase. They have prevented us from exercising our First Amendment rights by issuing the Orders of Protection on behalf of the base," said John Hamilton of Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones.
Hancock is a training center for drone pilots, technicians and maintenance workers, as well as a hub of drone activities. From the base the unmanned aircraft are flown over Afghanistan, where they kill people, including numerous civilians.
Grady Flores, grandmother of three, was the first alleged violator of the 50 drone activists who have been given the Order of Protection in 2012. She was tried and sentenced for a year in jail. Despite being out on bail, she still faces returning to jail. Her appeals process will take months.
"There are 30 upcoming trials over the next year. DeWitt Town judges threaten to sentence activists to a year in jail, many of them in their 60's and 70's," said Judy Bello of Rochester. Bello noted that donations are essential to meet the costs of bail for so many as well as $5,000 transcripts for the appeals to move forward.
"This is far from over! The drones are still flying and the killing continues. We invite people to join the non-violent witness at the base," said Rae Kramer of the Syracuse Peace Council.
The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Warswww.upstatedroneaction.org
Another Hancock Anti-Drone Protester Convicted of a Misdemeanor
PDF available at: http://upstatedroneaction.org/
Drone Memo - What's Not Legit Re: US Targeted Killing
By Debra Sweet Since 2009, when Obama began the targeted killing rampage in Pakistan & Yemen, killing uncounted thousands, World Can't Wait has demanded an end to it. Others have demanded "transparency" in knowing how the targeting decisions were made.Last month, they got their wish, to a point. Because The New York Times and the ACLU filed a lawsuit to get it, parts of a redacted Office of Legal Counsel memo on targeted killing were released.
Drone Resister Sentenced to One Year in Prison; Base's Order of Protection Begs Judgement
On July 10, grandmother of three, Mary Anne Grady Flores was sentenced to one year in prison for being found guilty of violating an order of protection. A packed courtroom of over 100 supporters was stunned as she was led away, and vowed to continue the resistance.
These orders of protection, typically used in domestic violence situations or to protect a victim or witness to a crime, have been issued to people participating in nonviolent resistance actions at Hancock Air Base since late 2012. The base, near Syracuse NY, pilots unmanned Reaper drones over Afghanistan, and trains drone pilots, sensor operators and maintenance technicians. The orders had been issued to "protect" Colonel Earl Evans, Hancock's mission support commander, who wanted to keep protesters "out of his driveway."
Mary Anne began her sentencing statement with, "Your honor, a series of judicial perversions brings me here before you tonight." She concluded that the "final perversion is the reversal of who is the real victim here: the commander of a military base whose drones kill innocent people halfway around the world, or those innocent people themselves who are the real ones in need of protection from the terror of US drone attacks?"
The orders of protection are being challenged on many legal grounds.
Mary Anne had been issued a temporary order in 2012. The next year, she photographed a nonviolent witness at the base, not participating herself because she did not want to violate the order. The irony is that those who actually participated in the action were acquitted, while Mary Anne was charged with violating the order.
Even though the pre-sentencing report recommended no jail time, Judge Gideon sentenced Mary Anne to the maximum of a year in prison. As he imposed his sentence, the judge referred to his previous Hancock decision. He had stated then and insinuated now, "This has got to stop."
In addition, Mary Anne was fined $1000 plus a $205 court surcharge and a $50 fee to have her DNA collected.
Her verdict is being appealed.
For information on how to support Mary Anne, contact Ellen Grady at firstname.lastname@example.com.
So That's Why They Kept the Drone Kill Memo Secret
Now that the U.S. government has released parts of its We-Can-Kill-People-With-Drones memo, it's hard to miss why it was kept secret until now.
Liberal professors and human rights groups and the United Nations were claiming an inability to know whether drone murders were legal or not because they hadn't seen the memo that the White House said legalized them. Some may continue to claim that the redactions in the memo make judgment impossible.
I expect most, however, will now be willing to drop the pretense that ANY memo could possibly legalize murder.
Oh, and yall can stop telling me not to use the impolite term "murder" to describe the, you know, murders -- since "murder" is precisely the term used by the no-longer secret memo.
The memo considers a section of the U.S. code dealing with the murder of a U.S. citizen by another U.S. citizen abroad, drawing on another section that defines murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought."
David Barron, the memo's author, needed a loophole to make murder-by-missile a lawful killing rather than an unlawful killing, so he pulls out the "public authority justification" under which the government gets to use force to enforce a law. It's a novel twist, though, for the government to get to use force to violate the law, claiming the violation is legal on the Nixonian basis that it is the government doing it.
Alternatively, Barron suggests, a government gets to use force if doing so is part of a war. This, of course, ignores the U.N. Charter and the Kellogg Briand Pact and the illegality of wars, as well as the novelty of claiming that a war exists everywhere on earth forever and ever. (None of Barron's arguments justify governmental murder on U.S. soil any less than off U.S. soil.)
In essence, Barron seems to argue, the people who wrote the laws were thinking about private citizens and terrorists, not the government (which, somehow, cannot be a terrorist), and therefore it's OK for the government to violate the laws.
Then there's the problem of Congressional authorization of war, or lack thereof, which Barron gets around by pretending that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force was as broad as the White House pretends rather than worded to allow targeting only those responsible for the 911 attacks.
Then there are the facts of the matter in the case of Anwar al Awlaki, who was targeted for murder prior in time to the actions that President Obama has claimed justified that targeting.
Then there are the facts in the other cases of U.S. killings of U.S. citizens, which aren't even redacted, as they're never considered.
Then there are the vastly more numerous killings of non-U.S. citizens, which the memo does not even attempt to excuse.
In the end, the memo admits that calling something a war isn't good enough; the targeted victim has to have been an imminent threat to the United States. But who gets to decide whether he or she was that? Why, whoever does the killing of course. And what happens if nobody ever even makes an unsupported assertion to that effect? Nothing, of course.
This is not the rule of law. This is savage brute force in minimal disguise. I don't want to see any more of these memos. I want to see the video footage of the drone murders on a television. I want to see law professors and revolving-door State Department / human rights group hacks argue that dead children fall under the public authority justification.
Pakistan court orders case against CIA drone attacks
A Pakistani High Court ordered Pakistani police to lodge a complaint against former CIA station chief Jonathan Banks on Thursday, for the killing of civilians in U.S. drone strikes along the country's northwestern border with Afghanistan.Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of Islamabad High Court made the order in a case filed by Karim Khan, a North Waziristan resident and an anti-drone activist whose son and brother were both killed in a drone strike in 2009.


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The Top 10 World Soccer Jerseys of 2014
Here's a complete listing of the Top 10 World Soccer Jerseys from Fanatics - the Ultimate World Soccer Store. The appearance of the 2014 World Soccer Jerseys are as diverse as the national teams they represent. This event only comes every four years, so represent your nation as they compete for the Cup in the largest soccer competion!
Top 10 Soccer Jerseys - 2014 World Soccer
1. Argentina Jerseys
Argentina's 2014 Jersey has been redesigned with a new Argentina federation team crest, embroidered adidas logo, and bold gradient bands across the torso. It also features adidas ClimaCool technology to keep you cool and comfortable as you cheer on Argentina. Fanatics stocks jerseys for your favorite Argentina national team players including one of soccer's greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi, alongside his teammate, Sergio Aguero.
2. Portugal Jerseys
The 2014 Portugal World Soccer Jersey features an embroidered Portugal team badge which displays the years 1914 and 2014, commemorating the 100 years since Portugal's national football team was founded. These jerseys are designed with stripes, giving off the illusion of quickness and energy, which perfectly encompasses the team's abilities on the field. Fanatics stocks many Portugal team players, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Alves, Luis Nani, and Raul Meireles.
3. Brazil Jerseys
Brazil's 2014 World Soccer features Brazil's traditional colors, but with a newly designed Y-shape neckline, which allows for better comfort and fit, along with a slightly larger, updated crest. The Brazil national crest features a weave of gold metallic, which gives it a light reflecting, shiny effect. Nike Dri-Fit technology handles the sweat while you cheer on team Brazil in the hottest weather. Fanatics stocks Brazil favorites, such as Neymar Jr., Fred, Dani Alves, David Luiz, Marcelo Vieira, and Thiago Silva.
4. Spain Jerseys
Spain won the Cup in 2010 and the 2014 revision of the authentic Spain World Soccer Jersey has a badge woven on the right-side chest to remind their competition who the world's reigning champs are. With a classic ribbed crewneck and pinstripes down the frame of the jersey, the 2014 Spain World Soccer Jersey displays a polished and refined appearance. With adidas' ClimaCool technology, you'll keep cool while you cheer on favorites like, A. Iniesta, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas, Jesus Navas, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, and Xavi.
5. USA Jerseys
The 2014 USA World Soccer Jersey features a classic polo style cut, with accents of red striping on the sleeves and collar. The authentic USA World Soccer Jersey is timeless and durable, just like the American spirit and with ultra comfortable Nike Dri-FIT technology, you'll be ready to cheer on the Stars & Stripes' favorites like Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, and Graham Zusi.
6. England Jerseys
England is taking on the world in classic, elegant style with their 2014 England World Soccer Jersey. Similar to the USA's World Soccer Jersey, the England kit features the official England team badge and Nike logo embroidered on the chest. This authentic, V-neck style jersey features Nike Dri-FIT technology for ultimate comfort and a mesh back for increased breathability. Cheer on the Three Lions with authentic Joe Hart and Frank Lampard kits as they vie for the chance to be the newest Cup holders.
7. Netherlands Jerseys
The 2014 Netherlands World Soccer Jersey is as much of a standout as the Netherlands style of play is. It features a new team badge, with the years 1889 and 2014 in orange, representing Oranje's 125th year anniversary of playing for the Cup. Nike Dri-FIT technology keeps you cool and dry while the action heats up and Netherlands favorites like Arjen Robben, Nigel de Jong, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, and Rafael van der Vaart go to battle against the world in style.
8. Italy Jerseys
Italy is right behind Brazil, winning four World Soccer titles and they are looking to win their fifth Cup in 2014. The new Italy kit is a classic polo style and features an Italy federation crest, alongside an embroidered Puma logo. DryCell technology wicks the moisture away and keeps you cool as you cheer on Italy's finest like Mario Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo as they fight for the chance to become the 2014 World Soccer champs.
9. Germany Jerseys
The bold stripes of the new adidas Germany jersey, represents Deutschland's bold style of play perfectly as they contend for their fourth World Soccer title since 1990. The polo styled Germany kit features the German football association badge placed on the right side of the chest and the adidas logo embroidered on the left. ClimaLITE technology allows for ultimate comfort, by wicking away moisture and keeping you cool as you cheer on Philipp Lahm, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
10. Uruguay Jersey
Uruguay, aka La Celeste, is fighting for their chance to become the new Cup holders in 2014 and their new Puma World Soccer Jersey features a sporty neckline, as well as the Uruguay federation team crest and PUMA logo on the chest. Uruguay's country flag is represented under the back collar and the fabric features moisture-wicking technology to keep you cool as you cheer on Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez in their attempt to win the world title.
Shop All: Soccer Gear

subset: commoncrawl


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As farmers here brace for farm modernization, they also look forward to trying new things such as the adoption of a Vietnamese onion technology to boost their productivity. Backed by the Department of Agriculture led by Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, the new Vietnamese technology which uses onion tubers as planting materials instead of seeds will be tested in Ilocos Norte's onion growing towns for possible adoption by local farmers. Unlike the seeds which took a longer time to germinate, onion tubers, as big as an average thumb and initially grown in a nursery, could be harvested after two months.
2016, September
Filipinos of this generation associate nipa palm with the rooftops of old farm huts in the middle of fields tended by their grandparents. But residents of Brgy. Cabaggan in this Cagayan town have known for decades that sap extracted from nipa palm helps the neighborhood make "lambanog" (local wine). Now comes a team of experts from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) which may have discovered a new by- product of the community's vast nipa stands along the stretch of the Pamplona River— bioethanol. Producing as much as 26,000 liters of alcohol in a hectare a year, nipa is four times more productive than sugarcane, which is also a source of alcohol. A hectare of sugarcane generates 6,700 liters of alcohol. With a capacity to produce 850 liters of bioethanol each day, the Pamplona distillery is expected to lead the way as the first local trading center of ethanol supply in the country.
2016, August 31
Gearing for its Aerodrome Certification, Laoag International Airport (LIA) officials and employees staged a successful series of emergency drills. The drills are part of the requirements for LIA's application to become Aerodrome-certified. The drills aim to ensure LIA's preparedness, along with their mutual aid partners, to effectively and safely respond to an aircraft accident at the airport or areas within its vicinity. The drills also hone LIA's capabilities on "alert and alarm"; communications; onsite incident management (ICS); rescue, triage and treatment; transportation to medical facilities; and site security.
2016, August 29
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in this city is drug-free. J/Chief Insp. Herminigildo Rivera made this announcement after the mandatory drug testing result was released. The Ilocos Norte police crime laboratory team conducted the drug testing. Mr. Rivera said he and his 15 personnel tested negative. The testing was done through urine samples. He explained that if any detainee turns out a positive test, this will be investigated and a confirmatory test will also be conducted. If it is jail personnel, however, the result will be forwarded to the BJMP regional national headquarters for sanctions. He also disclosed that they have also conducted a random search in jail cells holding detainees facing drug charges. He added that this is to ascertain whether illegal drugs are entering the city jail.
2016, August 26
Attended by airport personnel, local government units' officials and representatives of the PLDT Group and its wireless unit Smart Communications, the public Wi-Fi was officially launched at the airport's arrival area to provide fast and reliable internet service to all. With this in mind, the LIA officials officially launched an ultra-fast public Wi-Fi on August 26, 2016. With a speed of 200 mbps but depending on the number of active users, Finina Tabuena- Gorres, PLDT and Smart Vice President for enterprise customer operations management sector said this new high speed service Wi-Fi offers internet service "without interruption, without delay and without the buffering."
2016, August 20
VETERAN actress Lilia Cuntapay who was dubbed as the country's "Horror Queen" died at 81 years old at her son's home in Pinili, Ilocos Norte. Ms. Cuntapay, who died due to a spinal cord illness, was the icon of Ilocos Norte's annual horror festival 'Semana ti Araria' and a mainstay of the 'Parada Iloca-locana' [Ghost Parade] which has been drawing thousands of local and foreign tourists to the province since 2010. Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda "Imee" R. Marcos mourns the passing of the great actress whom she described as "a vibrant and gracious Ilocana."
2016, August 19
Showing that the country's correctional system may still work, the Laoag City Bureau of Jail Management and Penology celebrated the graduation of 17 detainees from the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Accreditation and Equivalency Program of the Dept. of Education. Jail Chief Insp. Herminigildo Rivera congratulated the graduates for SY 2015-2016 during the graduation exercises held at the city jail's therapeutic center on August 19. Four detainees graduated for the elementary level, while 13 finished their secondary equivalent education.
2016, August 11
Responding to the needs for more professionals in the field of renewable energy sector, the staterun Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) launched another specialized course program to advance professional training and managerial capability building of engineers and other concerned stakeholders here. Dr. Prima Fe Franco, MMSU acting president said the Professional Science Master's in Renewable Energy Engineering is a pioneering two-year program of MMSU in partnership with the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and the Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) project funded under the United States Agency for International Development. Being the first in the country and Southeast Asia to offer such program, Ms. Franco said this would open a lot of opportunities for Ilocanos who may want to pursue this course, which is more of a hands-on training with partners from the renewable energy industry.
2016, August 10
Two well-known cities in the country formalize their bonds through a sisterhood relationship agreement (SRA), which was signed at the Laoag City Hall Auditorium With both their lady mayors representing the city governments, Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and San Juan mayor Guia G. Gomez signed the agreement with their respective department heads and punong barangays as witnesses. With both their lady mayors representing the city governments, Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and San Juan mayor Guia G. Gomez signed the agreement with their respective department heads and punong barangays as witnesses. Ms. Fariñas thanked Ms. Gomez for returning to this city and for bringing her whole delegation to visit Laoag. She also thanked the San Juan officials for choosing Laoag as their first sister city. The two-term Laoag mayor added that "the sister city relationships between the two cities is very vital and important as they both inspire and stimulate each other's best practices and new innovations in becoming more progressive and more developed cities."
2016, August 10
The next time you buy your 'Abel Iloko' [handwoven cloth] product, chances are these may have become more intricate and stylish that goes with modern style. Leading the way in reinventing the modern fashionista style of unique abel products in Paoay town are some 10 highly-skilled women from the Nagbacalan Loomweavers Multipurpose Cooperative (NLMC) who were taught new designs courtesy of the state-run Mariano Marcos State University. Marcos State University. In partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implementer, the Research Triangle Institute, MMSU professor Ciriaco Ragual said the new patterns and designs transferred to the Paoay loom-weavers were produced by employing mathematical procedures. The new designs and patterns were showcased at the University Guest House in Batac City.


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Invite Poseidon to your under the sea event!
Our Poseidon and Trident Statue Standee is printed on sturdy cardboard and is one sided. The Poseidon and Trident Statue Standee is 8 feet 6 inches high and 4feet 8 inches wide. Easy Assembly.
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On Tap for Today: How to start the holidays
And so it begins. This week it's Thanksgiving and then before you know it, it's Black Friday. Welcome, holiday season
It's all moving so quickly. Let's take some time to prepare. A little mood music on the radio, perhaps. Maybe a tour of some holiday lights or the start of this year's Christmas cards. »Read Full Blog Post(1)
Looking for a restaurant that's open on Christmas?
It can be hard to find a restaurant that's open Christmas Day — or at night on Christmas Eve, for that matter.
Here are some places that will be open for business, traditional and non-traditional choices. In many cases, reservations are recommended. »Read Full Blog Post(5)
Hear Milwaukee singer Mario Brown's take on 'This Christmas'
It's not Dec. 25 just yet, so its not too late to hear a new take on a standard Christmas song. »Read Full Blog Post
On Tap for Today: What to do on Christmas Eve day
The kids are so excited they're about to squirm out of their skin. When you're young, the clock doesn't move fast enough on Christmas Eve.
Here are a few daytime diversions: »Read Full Blog Post(1)


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Date: 1941-10-19 ca.
Description: Workers use an industrial tractor to move factory machinery into place at International Harvester's St. Paul Works. Original caption reads: "Medium Caliber...
Date: 1924-02
Description: View from behind of two horses (probably pulling a sleigh) on a snowy road, now Highway 42, near Zion Lutheran Church in Sister Bay. The horse on the left...
Date: 1945 ca.
Description: Wisconsin State Board of Health Tuberculosis Survey bus with staff posing in front.
Date: 1960-03-04
Description: Wisconsin Secretary of State Robert C. Zimmerman, seated, looks over papers of incorporation for the Wisconsin Retail Merchants Association. Looking on are...
Date: 1937-11-10
Description: Two men work at an oil well site powered by an International Model P-30 power unit mounted on a truck.
Date: 1914 ca.
Description: Well-dressed man driving an International Model M truck along a rural dirt road lined with trees. There is a guard fence on the left side of the road.
Date: 1950
Description: Letterhead for the Wisconsin State Fair, with a blue ribbon against a red band on the left-hand side. The state fair ribbon includes the state seal and dat...
Date: 1946-05
Description: Mrs. Bong, Chief Justice Rosenberry, Mrs. Goodland, Governor Goodland, Marge Bong, Mr. Bong and Mr. Fred (president of the UW) await presentation of Major...
Date: 1907 ca.
Description: Factory workers manufacturing cream separators at International Harvester's Milwaukee Works. The poster at the back of the room says "Dairymade" while the...
Date: 1928-05-01
Description: H.C. and W.J. Aldridge stand in front of their International truck. The men operated an International Harvester dealership - the Aldridge Hielscher Impleme...
Date: 1925-03-13
Description: A Model 103 International truck owned by the Great Western Oil Company of Cleveland, Ohio parked on a cobblestone street in a residential area. A man stand...
Date: 1953-01-14
Description: UW boxer Lavern Lewison punches Robert Judson, a contender from Chicago. Lewison won the first championship in the finals of the Tournament of Contenders.
Date: 1947
Description: Fred Platner driving a Volkswagen for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; Bergen Belsen, Germany.
Date: 1967
Description: Front of a poster advertising the International Cub Cadet lawn and garden tractor. Includes a color photograph of a woman mowing a lawn with the Cub Cadet...
Date: 1900 ca.
Description: View of the old Bigalk homestead.
Date: 1961-07-25
Description: Navy reservists train at the Naval Training Center at Truax Field.
A diesel marine engine is checked over by reservists (L-R) Paul Ferguson, 1423 Spaight...
Date: 1902-05-09
Description: A group portrait of strawberry pickers who work at Paul C. Goetsch's farm. Ernst Goetsch and Alexander Krueger stand elevated behind the pickers. Paul Goe...
Description: Granton (vicinity), Clark County, Wisconsin. About 1945. Gathering maple syrup.
Date: 1956
Description: VF-190 rolls off Fort Wayne assembly line. Powered by 478 CID, V8 gas engine. Long wheelbase.
Date: 1915-12-01
Description: Lindsey Reese of International Harvester's Agricultural Extension Department delivering a lecture on livestock and agriculture to a crowd of people and a d...
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By Peter Schroeder - 03/25/13 08:36 PM EDT
Next up in seniority on the Banking Committee is Sen. Charles SchumerCharles SchumerElection-year politics: Senate Dems shun GOP vulnerables Democrats press Wells Fargo CEO for more answers on scandal 78 lawmakers vote to sustain Obama veto MORE (D-N.Y.), who serves in Senate Democratic leadership as vice chairman of the Democratic caucus. Schumer's New York roots give him ties and experience with the financial industry, but if he is unwilling to leave a leadership gig for the top spot on Banking, the gavel would then fall to Sen. Robert MenendezRobert MenendezDemocrats press Wells Fargo CEO for more answers on scandal Dem senator: Louisiana Republican 'found Jesus' on flood funding Taiwan and ICAO: this is the time MORE (D-N.J.).
Menendez is already occupied with another chairmanship, recently taking over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and might not be interested in leaving that behind for the Banking gavel.
That would leave Brown, a major Wall Street critic who has advocated for breaking up the nation's biggest banks and one of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) fiercest advocates on Capitol Hill.
Brown recently introduced Richard Cordray before the committee as Cordray tried again to win Senate confirmation to stay on as director of the CFPB. In his introduction, Brown railed against "Wall Street special interests and their allies in Congress" for blocking Cordray's nomination, accusing Republicans of "unprecedented" obstructionism.
Brown has also introduced legislation that would cap bank size and accused big banks of enjoying "too big to fail" perks. On Friday, he and Sen. David VitterDavid VitterGOP pressures Kerry on Russia's use of Iranian airbase Louisiana needs Caroline Fayard as its new senator Louisiana Republicans: This isn't like Sandy MORE (R-La.) worked to include an amendment in the Senate Democrat budget that would theoretically eliminate any subsidy a big financial institution receives because of its size. It was agreed to unanimously.
A panel led by Brown would take a strikingly different tone than the one helmed by Johnson.
Johnson was subject to some grumbling by consumer advocates, who noted his previous support of industry interests, when he first took control of the committee. As chairman, Johnson took a deliberate approach in leading the committee, emphasizing the need for bipartisan agreement when it came to advancing legislation.
He also served as a staunch defender of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, refusing to consider even slight changes for fear that opponents of the law would maneuver to weaken it. He has walked in lock-step with President Obama on financial regulatory matters.
While Brown has railed against "too big to fail," the White House is adamant that the idea is dead and buried thanks to Dodd-Frank tools that help regulators address failing financial institutions without a bailout.


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on January 26, 2014 - 12:01 AM
Supervisor Dino J. Fudoli took a little heat this week from a few residents over why the Town Board's first meeting and reorganization session of the year was held Jan. 6, just as bad weather was beginning that ended up developing into a blizzard by the following morning.
Fudoli explained that he was inside Town Hall at the time, late in the afternoon of Jan. 6, and did not realize just how bad the weather was becoming. "There was a travel advisory at the time, and no driving bans," he said. "The procedure to cancel a meeting would have been too difficult. It was a judgment call."
Fudoli noted that it's up to the supervisor to call the meetings and cancel them. "It's on my shoulders," he said.
Also weather-related, Highway Superintendent Daniel Amatura noted during the town's work session Monday that with the tough winter weather so far, his department has already had to use about half of the budgeted salt supply. Also, one third of his department's overtime budget has already been spent for the year. "It is what it is," Amatura said. "We saved on it last year."
The matter of a switch in appointments of a new member to the Lancaster Industrial Development Agency board came up again in conversation at Town Hall.
Fudoli, a Republican, had wanted Robert Klaczyk re-appointed to the LIDA board for 2014, but the Democratic-controlled Town Board instead decided not to re-appoint him and instead appointed Village Trustee Kenneth O'Brien III to the position.
Resident Lee Chowaniec asked why Klaczyk was not reappointed, and Fudoli told him to ask the Town Board. "It was their appointment. I was told I didn't have enough votes to stop it," Fudoli said, noting he voted against the appointment of O'Brien.
Councilman Mark Aquino, a Democrat, said that O'Brien was interested in appointment to the IDA board a year ago. "I felt he was a good candidate and had banking experience," Aquino said. "I thought it was proper to have a village official on the board. We thought Mr. O'Brien was a better fit, with the development going on in the village. Plus, Mr. Klaczyk missed five of 10 IDA board meetings last year."
The Village of Lancaster has learned from Erie County environmental and planning officials that its sidewalk improvement project was not recommended for funding through the 2014 Community Development Block Grant program.
The village also is on the verge of signing a contract for architectural services to help complete a village application for the National Register of Historic Places District Nomination project, with funds received from a local grant and required village matching funds.
In addition, the Village Board on Monday is poised to approve an agreement with Donald Gallo, a consulting engineer, for $83,700 for engineering services for the design, construction and inspection of the West Main Street Extension project.
Also this week:
• The Lancaster Village Board meets in a work session at 6 p.m. Monday, followed by a regular business session at 7 p.m. in the Lancaster Municipal Building, 5423 Broadway. At 7:15 p.m., there is a public hearing on road markings on Central Ave.
• The Lancaster School Board meets at 7 p.m. Monday in the former Central Avenue School Building, immediately followed by a work session.


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The Cast of Happy Endings Needs a Morning Poop, and Other Things We Learned About Stars' Morning Routines at Vulture Festival
Fred Armisen needs his Grape Nuts.By Adam Banicki
Fred Armisen needs his Grape Nuts.By Adam Banicki
Krysten Ritter, the cast of Happy Endings, Justin Theroux, Shonda Rhimes, and more.By Krista Schlueter and Dolly Faibyshev
No grand superpowers, just the sense of real human power.By Heather Buckley
It's bigger than ever!By Vulture Editors
"She's very unlikable, in the studio sense of the word. But I don't find her unlikable."By Phoebe Reilly
Get the backstories.By Ira Madison III
"My chest and my arms were burning."By Abraham Riesman and Heather Buckley
And why she wants the show to grab people who aren't into superhero stuff.By Abraham Riesman
"I was kind of bummed that I wasn't exposed to comics as a little girl."By Kat Ward
He'll star opposite Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones in Marvel's Netflix series.By Nate Jones
In Netflix's Jessica Jones.By Lindsey Weber
Keeping up with the (potential) Joneses.By Nate Jones
No one else would even make sense.By Halle Kiefer
It is the strangest, most terrifying Don't Trust the B---- reunion ever.By Jesse David Fox
"Aaron, I love you, but you can't hit me this hard!"By Krysten Ritter
Asthma, about indie rockers in New York.By Zach Dionne
Ryan Hansen, too.By Caroline Bankoff
As an assistant.By Caroline Bankoff
Plus: The Gaslight Anthem performed "Here Comes My Man," and more, on our daily late-night roundup.By Caroline Shin
And James Van Der Beek was there!By Jamie Miles


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Follow HitFix Follow @hitfix
Review: 'Happy Valley' is a confounding look at Penn State post-scandal
Amir Bar-Lev's Sundance doc should spark post-screening debate
Amir Bar-Lev's "Happy Valley," a documentary premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, is not a film about the sex scandal that rocked Penn State University in late 2011,
Make no mistake, you won't come away with any ambiguity regarding the allegations against Jerry Sandusky or the crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced to what amounts to a life sentence.
But this is not a documentary about interviewing witnesses, investigating timelines or attempting to get to the root of Sandusky's criminal behavior. The accepted supposition is that Sandusky did what he was accused of doing and, with one major exception, the victims probably aren't ready for extended feature-length interviews (plus, it's all on the record anyway).
As its title might indicate if you happen to have any awareness of Penn State and Penn State football, Happy Valley is about a place and about a state of mind, both of which were crushed and vilified by the Sandusky case and its repulsive and saddening revelations.
And that's going to prove an immediate barrier-to-entry for many potential viewers who really won't be incorrect if they say, "Yes, it's unfortunate that many innocent people associated with Penn State saw their university's good name spoiled by this and it's probably disappointing to some fans of a powerhouse sports program that innocent athletes are being punished for the actions of a reprehensible assistant coach and it's arguably unfair to blame an entire community for this ugly mess, but... Sexual abuse. Children. Let's concentrate on the actual victims here and maybe down the road we can get around to restoring the joy of the tailgating experience for bushy-tailed coeds."
It's not that "Happy Valley" cheapens what happened to the victims in any way, but there are definitely people within the documentary whose sense of perspective is a wee bit askew and they're given ample platform. And there will certainly be viewers who think that any focus that looks away from Sandusky's actions is invariably a focus in the wrong place.
That's why "Happy Valley" is probably going to leave many viewers, possibly most viewers, angry. The question is just at the direction of the anger. Many people will just have a generalized anger because if the Jerry Sandusky scandal doesn't piss you off, you're not paying attention. But I know some people with Penn State sympathies or affiliations who are going to feel like "Happy Valley" is too hard on the show and I'm certain that many people outside of the bubble are going to feel it's too lenient.
Probably that's what director Amir Bar-Lev wants, though he continues to be a director who sells himself short by rushing to cover big stories.
[More after the break...]
Bar-Lev's last Sundance documentary was "The Tillman Story," which at least waited six years to explain what happened to former NFL safety Pat Tillman. In "the Tillman Story," Bar-Lev wasn't doing original reporting, but he did an excellent job of synthesizing the facts at hand. That allowed the documentary to deliver a fair amount of clarity in a quintessentially blurry fog of war friendly fire incident.
I liked "Tillman," but I preferred Bar-Lev's earlier "My Kid Could Paint That," in which the answers weren't so easy to suss out and in which a genuine ambiguity existed regarding Marla Olmstead and the entirety of modern art.
"Happy Valley" has the currency of "The Tillman Story" and then-some. A finite number of dominos have fallen. Sandusky was convicted. Joe Paterno was relieved of his job and died. Penn State's president and AD were fired. The Freeh Report was released, documenting certain evidence regarding who at the university knew what and what they did with that information. The Paterno family commissioned another series of investigations into the case and the results, as you'd guess, explained why nobody actually could have known anything and therefore why nobody was responsible for anything more than they did.
But we don't know what tomorrow will reveal and neither does "Happy Valley."
In what would be a nod to "My Kid Could Paint That" except that it isn't, Bar-Lev is able to use art to illustrate the fungibility of not so much "truth" but "perception" in a case like this. Local artist Michael Pilato has a famous mural titled "Inspiration," which features portraits of various State College luminaries. Over the duration of the movie, we see Pilato paint Sandusky out of existence, paint a halo on Joe Paterno's head to mark his death, remove said halo as the tide turned against Paterno and then make one last augmentation.
"Inspiration" shifts and so too does the mood of both the community and the pressure from outside influences. So "Happy Valley" isn't about the news story so much as the impact of the news story and the flux of the news story. "Happy Valley" isn't the same film it would be five years from now or 10 years from now. Heck, a film that was completed in the early fall as Bill O'Brien was leading a resurrection of the football program and Nittany Lion pride isn't the same as the film that might have been made two weeks ago as O'Brien left his rebuilding project after only two years and headed for the less controversial pastures of the NFL. If new James Franklin wins 10 games next season, a 2015 "Happy Valley" might be one increasingly hopeful film, but he loses 10 games and the Beaver Stadium crowd turns on him and ugliness stirs in predictable quarters, a 2016 "Happy Valley" could add a new darkness on top of established sadness.
That, of course, is a big part of one of the arguments being made in "Happy Valley," that an obsession with athletics and one form of success led certain people to ignore what is alleged to have been the open secret of some [certainly not all] of Sandusky's behavior.
For many viewers, that will seem the common sense view, but perhaps because of the availability of sources, that's where Bar-Lev's focus is invariably strongest.
I don't know the legal logistics preventing any of the Sandusky victims from talking to Bar-Lev, nor for former Penn State President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley or former graduate assistant Mike McQueary. I assume Bar-Lev reached out to Sandusky's wife Dottie, but it's not surprising she didn't want to talk. The people with the closest involvement to the scandal are largely missing, either the victims or the people who knew those different things at different times and responded in ways that different sanctioning bodies have deemed insufficient.
The linchpin interview with Matt Sandusky, the family's adopted son, is sad and conflicted, but you sense that there's a part of the story that either he didn't want to discuss, couldn't discuss or wasn't pushed by Bar-Lev to discuss. I don't know. I only know that Matt Sandusky's story is heavily centered on his early interactions with Sandusky, the life Sandusky saved him from, and only hovers around the testimony he was prepared to give at trial had it been required. One could argue that Matt Sandusky's role in "Happy Valley" is to reenforce the subterfuge of Jerry Sandusky's good acts, not in any way as a justification for what Jerry Sandusky did, but as the explanation for how people outside of the immediate sphere of the scandal might not have known.
While the victims have only Matt Sandusky and a lone attorney to speak for them, Joe Paterno, even in death, is represented by a legion of defenders. Sons Jay and Scott, plus wife Sue are variably aggressive in their maintenance that Joe Paterno did all that was legally required of him in the case and that he was the victim of a witch hunt meant to clear out all symbolic ties to Jerry Sandusky without addressing the real scandal. Nobody related to Paterno is going to give the slightest acknowledgement that legal requirements and ethical/moral in loco parentis requirements might be different things and who would expect them to be? Sportswriter and Paterno biographer Joe Posnanski has been in the awkward position of semi-official Paterno apologist for two years now and it's a role he maintains. Posnanski, truly one of my favorite baseball writers and author of a 100 Greatest Players series that has been an absolutely Godsend standing in Sundance lines, gets to be the amanuensis for the revelation that an ailing Paterno confessed to him that he wished he had done more, but Posnanski's position has always been one of insisting that the totality of Paterno's life needed to be remembered and honored, not just the scandal. If you still view Paterno as a hero, you'll cheer these talking heads. And if you have doubts, you'll cringe. And in a perfect world, I guess you'll bicker with the person who was watching with you, unless you happen to have watched with a room full of people who don't especially care about football.
The fight over Paterno's legacy will probably be one that continues for decades and it provides "Happy Valley" with some of its most gripping and awkward moments. The heated fights between pilgrims and protestors at a since-removed Paterno statue will probably produce cringing no matter how you feel about a coach who graduated players, ran a clean program, won football games, but also felt that notifying university authorities about Sandusky was enough.
The Paterno statue is a flashpoint for controversy and, at one point, somebody says that this is why you don't erect statues to living people. I realize that this is the second time I've made a statue/documentary comparison in two days, but Bar-Lev is staring down the challenge of constructing a documentary around a living story. Bar-Lev is making the version of "Happy Valley" that he has the access to make at this second, but the movie he's made exposes some of the differences between news reporting and documentary filmmaking. A news report one day can be embellished with the changes to the story that come the next. A documentary has to sit there and be the thing it is, the thing that the director steered to towards being and the thing that access allowed it to be.
You can probably tell that I'm battling with my feelings about "Happy Valley." Bar-Lev is a good filmmaker and on all technical levels, "Happy Valley" has polish and momentum. I just wonder if, like Michael Pilato, Bar-Lev is going to look at this movie and constantly wish he could go in and repaint and eradicate the halos, as it were.
Other Sundance reviews: