[The Times Record, April 10]Protesters to descend on BIW; plan panel talk in Brunswick (Fwd)

[아름드리 나무]

(Fwd by Bruce Gagnon)

http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2014-04-10/Front_Page/Protesters_to_descend_on_BIW_plan_panel_talk_in_Br.html

Protesters to descend on BIW; plan panel talk in Brunswick

The Times Record

BATH

April 10, 2014

As thousands of people gather inside the gates of Bath Iron Works Saturday to witness the christening of the Zumwalt, the first of the Zumwalt DDG 1000 class of ship, several peace groups plan to hold a protest outside the celebration Saturday atWashington and Hickley streets from 10 a.m. to noon.; followed with an evening panel discussion in Brunswick.

According to a news release issued for the events, “The primary theme of the protest will be the call for the diversification and conversion of the shipyard.”

The protesters argue their case was made by former President Bill Clinton, Sen. George Mitchell, Rep. Tom Andrews and leaders of the International Association of Machinists Union at a Labor Day rally at BIW in 1994 when “All of these people called for BIW conversion ... and we will play back their words to those assembled.”

Maine Veterans for Peace member Bruce Gagnon argues in a release, “This more than $4 billion Zumwalt stealth destroyer’s mission will be to sneak up on China’s coast and blast them with new electromagnetic ‘rail guns’ right out of a sci-fi movie.”

“The corporations that control our government,” Gagnon said, “are running our foreign and military policies these days. Endless war is big business and our communities are addicted to military spending. It’s virtually the only game in town anymore.”

Veterans for Peace and co-sponsoring groups will share the conversion message with the thousands who line up at BIW to enter the christening ceremony. The peace groups are calling on the Maine Legislature to pass a law creating a permanent commission to plan for conversion. Connecticut, they note, very reliant on military spending, recently passed such a law and many other states are now working on similar legislation.

“Maine workers know that when military spending cuts do come, jobs will be lost,” the release states. “Planning for conversion and diversification is a good fail-safe strategy.”

Other sponsors for the protest at BIW include: Smilin’ Trees Disarmament Farm; Maine Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom; Pax Christi Maine; CodePink Maine; Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space; Vital Connections; and Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, an International Panel on U.S. ‘Pivot’ to Asia-Pacific will be held at the new Unitarian Universalist Church in Brunswick. Speakers from India, Japan, Korea and the U.S. will discuss the implications of moving 60 percent of U.S. military forces into the Asia-Pacific area to “control” China.

Speakers include Joseph Gerson, director of the AFSC’s Peace and Economic Security Program and convener of the national Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific; Subrata Ghoshroy, research affiliate at MIT’s Program in Science, Technology and Society and former staff member of the House Armed Services Committee in Washington; Fumi Inoue, graduate student at Boston College studying modern Japanese history and the history of Japan- U.S. relations who has worked with atomic bomb survivor organizations in Japan; and Hyun Lee, a member of Nodutdol, which opposes U.S. militarism and works for peaceful unification on the Korean peninsula. Lee also co-produces Asia Pacific Forum, a weekly radio show on culture and politics of Asia and the Asian diaspora.

A potluck supper begins at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. panel discussion. The public is invited.

For more information, call 422-3479 or email globalnet@mindspring.com.