Appeal Decision Reverses Order of Protection for Hancock Protester

Posted on by
1

On February 26, Cornell Law Professor Steve Shiffrin argued an Appeal based on Habeas Corpus before Acting NYS Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti in Syracuse.   He was appealing the Order of Protection issued to Dan Findlay, who was arrested on April 28 of 2013 protesting outside the gate of Hancock Air National Guard Base.    Like all the protesters arrested at Hancock since October of 2012, Findlay had been issued a restraining order, an Order of Protection requested by one of the Base Commanders.    In Mid March, Judge Brunetti issued his decision, vacating Findlay’s Order of Protection.  This is a huge victory for the protesters at Hancock, and for protesters across the state, where Orders of Protection are being used to restrain protesters from exercising their first amendment rights. Continue reading →

Share Button

Mary Ellen O’Connell at Le Moyne

Posted on by
Reply

Mary Ellen O’Connell spoke at Le Moyne College on Wednesday Evening.  Her Topic was: Drones, Cyber Weapons and Autonomous Robots, Law and Morality.


Recording by Judy Bello, 3/26/14

My Flip ran out of juice just at the end of the talk, so I made an audio recording of the Q&A on my phone. Unfortunately it isn’t as loud as I would like, so you may want to listen on speakers or head phones that can amplify.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Share Button

The Morality of Weaponized Drones

Posted on by
Reply

Hellfire from Heaven:  The Morality of Weaponized Drones

The 2014 Trovato Lecture
given by Harry Murray, 2/20/2014 at St. John Fisher College

I’m especially grateful for the opportunity to talk about drones from a spiritual, even a Catholic, perspective.  Usually I discuss drones either in the classroom or in the courtroom, where religious beliefs must take a back seat to sociological and legal arguments.  So, it’s a pleasure to be able to talk from my faith perspective.  I know, however, that not everyone in this audience shares this faith perspective, so I hope to speak in  a way that addresses all, not only Catholics or Christians.

In this talk I plan to describe weaponized drones and give some sense of what’s at stake.  Then I will take a religious and moral perspective, beginning with some Biblical reflection, moving to an analysis using Just War Principles, and concluding with a discussion of the future and of resistance to the drones.  Continue reading →

Share Button

Fly Kites not Drones

Posted on by
Reply

On Saturday Rochester Upstate Anti Drone Activists came out in solidarity with the Afghan Peace Volunteers and Voices for Creative Nonviolence, UK Fly Kites Not Drones  campaign to celebrate Nao Roz, the Afghan New Year, by flying kites.  VCNV UK flew their kites over Waddington Air Base home to Reaper and Predator Drones; the Afghan Youth flew theirs on a hilltop outside Kabul; we flew ours at a local park near a busy highway. It was 35 degrees under a steel grey sky, here in Rochester, with 20 mph winds, uncomfortable for humans, but glorious for keeping a kite aloft.

Posted to Rochester Indy media by Al Brundage.

On March 22 the Afghan Peace Volunteers called for an International Weekend of kite flying in opposition to the piloting of lethal Reaper and Predator drones over the towns and cities in Afghanistan threatening their homes and their families.  The local event was sponsored by Rochester Against War. Continue reading →

Share Button

Photo’s of Drone Victims

Gallery

Posted on by
DV-11

This gallery contains 45 photos.

Compiled by Joy First. It seems unnecessarily abstract to say this is a devastating reflection of American Foreign Policy. Maybe it’s more clear to call these images reflections of an unconscious and reflexive evil; dead children, wrecked houses, shattered lives … Continue reading →

Share Button

FOR Hosts Panel Discussion on Drone Wars

Posted on by
Reply

On Friday, I participated in an Internet discussion on America’s Drone Wars hosted by Fellowship of Reconciliation on Vonvo.com, last week. Vonvo combines live images of the speakers with a chat box for comments and questions. Lela Zand moderated Noor Mir of CodePink, Nick Mottern of Know Drones and myself in a very interesting discussion about the connections between Drone Wars and Colonialism and Racism, and about protests going on across the country against the use of Drones for targeted assassination, and increasing Drone surveillance on the American continent as well as around the globe. You can see a recording of the conversation below:

Share Button

Drones Bury Beautiful Lives

Posted on by
1

Drones Bury Beautiful Lives

by Vicki Ross

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Lyrics to “Drones Bury Beautiful Lives“

Drones bury beautiful lives
Drones bury innocent lives
Killings sons, fathers, daughters and wives
Drones bury beautiful lives.    

Five young men were killed having tea
They’d gathered quite innocently
Since the death of my brother-in-law
I have no peaceful mind left at all.

While at home I can’t keep on the light
folks fear a drone strike by mistake
Children, families – all of us quake.

(Refrain) Drones bury beautiful lives . . . etc. Continue reading →

Share Button

Elliott Adams’ Sentencing Statement, 2/25/14

Posted on by
Reply

Elliott Adams of the Hancock 17,  was not able to be in court on the day the rest of the defendants were sentenced.   He was sentenced for Disorderly Conduct to 14 days in jail and a fine of $250 and given a 2 year permanent restraining order to keep away from Col Evans (i.e. Hancock Air National Guard Base).

Here is what he had to say:

As our government puts me behind bars I feel I am able to offer one small voice for those who are screaming voicelessly under the war crimes of our government. Note I say our government for if it is not ours or we don’t make it ours, than we are as complicit as the so called “Good Germans” were who allowed the Nazis to convert their country to despotism. Continue reading →

Share Button

Sentencing Statements from Hancock 17

Posted on by
Reply

February 7, 2014, the 13 remaining defendants in the Hancock 17 trial were convicted of Disorderly Conduct by Judge David Gideon in DeWitt Town Court for participating in a protest on October 25, 2012 where they symbolically blocked the gates of Hancock Air National Guard Base to protest the very real piloting going on within the base of deadly MQ9 Reaper Drones over Afghanistan.

Each defendant was fined of $250, served with a 2 year Restraining Order on behalf of Col Earl A. Evans and and sentenced to 15 days in jail.    Click here to view videos of their responses to the verdict. Continue reading →

Share Button

Drones in US: Should We Question Who Really Benefits?

Posted on by
Reply

by Ed Kinane, Reprinted from Truthout.org

On December 30, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated six US regions as test sites for the domestic development of drone technology. One of those regions includes Syracuse, NY, my hometown. We “host” the Hancock Air Base 174th Attack Wing, now piloting weaponized Reaper drones over Afghanistan.

Here in the United States, the multibillion-dollar drone industry generates an enormous amount of hype. Various corporations stand to make huge profits, not only from ongoing military contracts, but increasingly from the domestic and commercial development of drones.     Continue reading →

Share Button