United States of America

Mon

Jan

2015

There Is No Future in War: Youth Rise Up, a Manifesto

New translation available

A peace sign printed on the American Flag is raised during a protest against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Archive / History Channel)

Submitted by Gary

Statement written by Ben Norton, Tyra Walker, Anastasia Taylor, Alli McCracken, Colleen Moore, Jes Grobman, Ashley Lopez / Codepink -

Once again, US politicians and pundits are beating the drums of...

Wed

Nov

Anti-war group decries USF's ties to military

Submitted by Gary on Wed, 26/11/2014 - 00:07

Gage Lacharite, center, head of the local branch of Students for a Democratic Society, prepares to hand out “counter-recruiting” fliers at USF's Marshall Student Center. JAY CONNER

by Jerome R. Stockfisch / Tampa Tribune

TAMPA — Counter-recruiting. Demands that the university break ties with the military. A mass die-in.

It may not be the 1960s, but Students for a Democratic Society is dusting off the old playbook to launch an anti-war, anti-U.S. military campaign at the University of South Florida.

SDS, perhaps the largest and most influential radical student organization of the 1960s, is springing back to life in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. SDSers from USF have scheduled a news conference today to demand that the university sever memorandums of understanding it has entered into with U.S. Central Command based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, and U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

Thu

Nov

Bundeswehr ties to put best boot forward

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 20/11/2014 - 12:13

In the middle of Berlin, the German defense minister is opening a new showroom. The aim is to bring more young people into the Bundeswehr's barracks - but there were a few uninvited guests at the grand opening.

Jörg Jankowsky of the Bundeswehr's career center explained the purpose of a new showroom the German military opened in an unassuming office in the middle of Berlin. It is on the ground floor, near the capital's Unter den Linden boulevard with its fast-food restaurants, fashion shops, and bakeries. In between a shoe shop and a pharmacy, the new military showroom offers free information about career opportunities in the German armed service.

'Advertising death'

Inside the new information center, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is talking to a group of 10th grade students from a Berlin school, and her handlers don't want the press disturbing them as they have their pictures taken with the politician.

Fri

Nov

Reflection on My Time as Project YANO’s Student Intern

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 15:12

Jesus Mendez-Carbajal - In the past nine months as Project YANO’s 2013-2014 student intern, I have learned an immense amount of information about U.S. militarism, its far reach, and counter-recruitment. I have been directly impacted on multiple levels. I have grown mentally through the knowledge I have gained and also personally through the interactions and relationships I have built with youth, advisors, teachers, mentors, and Project YANO supporters, volunteers and board members. I have had the pleasure of working with students who look like me, engaging low-income youth of color who have stories and backgrounds similar to my own.

Thu

Nov

The US Military’s Totally Cool Mobile Enlistment Exhibits

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 06/11/2014 - 13:18

Image: The Extreme Truck, a 15,700-pound mobile recruitment vehicle that roams the country dazzling prospective soldiers. Photo courtesy of the US Army

For decades, the US military has been using souped-up mobile exhibits to recruit prospective soldiers. In July of this year, the military deployed the latest addition to a fleet that roves the country hoping to win the hearts and minds of American youth. The new vehicle, known as the Extreme Truck, is equipped with two 32-inch gaming stations, a 60-inch flat-screen television, several smaller TVs, and pull-up and push-up platforms. It has its own Facebook page, which, at press time, has been liked 111 times.

Fri

Oct

Competing Messages: Mass Media Effects on Recruiting

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 16:53

This study examines how the mass media’s portrayal of the military, including the war in Iraq, affects U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps recruiting. A telephone survey of households in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas was conducted to measure parents and young adults’ exposure to information about the military in various media sources and how much attention they paid to those sources of information for information about the military. This study was hampered by a small sample size (N=119) that limits the ability to claim significant findings for several hypotheses. However, the study did uncover a pattern that indicated that greater use of newspapers and entertainment television reduced chances of young adults joining the military, whereas use of movies depicting the military enhanced the likelihood of joining. Also, media use predicted people’s attitudes about the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Fri

Oct

Protesters disrupt conference on military space law

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 10:02

This action took place as part of the International Week of Action for Military-Free Education and Research #milifreeedu

“A rational dialogue with the administration will not solve the issues at hand.”

These were the words of a protester at the disturbance of McGill’s Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL)’s five-day Strategic Space Law Intensive Program on October 28. The program is meant to train lawyers in how to navigate space law. About ten people, mostly McGill students, disrupted the conference taking place at the Best Western hotel with chanting and condemnations of the program before pushing past security and escaping arrest.

Mon

Oct

David Hartsough, Waging Peace -Seattle Oct24, 2014

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 05:24

Published on Oct 25, 2014

David Hartsough, longtime activist and author of Waging Peace -Seattle Oct 24, 2014

David Hartsough, Waging Peace -Seattle Oct24, 2014

Tue

Oct

No draft, but not signing up can be hurdle

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 21/10/2014 - 09:46

The last time Danieldevel Davis got out of prison it was 2012 and he was 38.

He'd been locked up for six years, which was the longest he'd ever lived in one place. Davis grew up in foster homes, dropped out of school in the 11th grade, and then hit the revolving door: streets, juvenile detention, streets, prison. He's never possessed a driver's license. He's never had a bill in his name.

"I've never had anything in my name," he says.

So, this is what happened when Davis went to fill out his financial aid paperwork at a Virginia Beach technical college.

"Have you registered for the Selective Service?" the financial aid officer asked.

"What do you mean?" Davis said.

"Did you register to be drafted?"

"Huh?"

Mon

Oct

Why is the U.S. Military Pushing K-12 Students to Build Drones in Dayton?

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 20/10/2014 - 00:13

By: Seth Kershner

As a journalist and researcher, I’ve spent the last several years investigating the expanding network of links between public education and the U.S. military. With my colleague Scott Harding, I’ve also been researching the grassroots response to this phenomenon: the counter-recruitment movement.

Fri

Oct

‘That’s all I ever wanted’: Uncle Sam needs American youths

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 10/10/2014 - 15:14

by Ehab Zahriyeh

“If something happens with Russia,” said one cadet to his classmate at Fishburne Military School, “I’m pretty sure all of us are a little bit, you know, maybe not excited but ready. Because that’s what we want to do.”

Another cadet chimed in, saying, “For our whole lives … since I was a little kid, that’s all I ever wanted to do.”

Harold McCoo, however, was less sanguine about the prospects of the battlefield and his schoolmates’ eagerness to enter war. “I don’t want to see them on one of those plaques that we have over in the foyer for former Fishburne cadets who have passed away,” he said.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.