Posts Tagged: Social & Racial Justice

Moana Nui 2011 conference videos are online!

Videos of the Moana Nui 2011 conference are now online.   Of particular interest for the DMZ-Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina site is the panel on Militarization and Resistance in the Pacific. Walden Bello, keynote speech NATIVE RIGHTS, ECONOMIES, GOVERNANCE–RESISTING GLOBAL POWERS Passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), coupled with advancing… Read more »

Senate votes to authorize indefinite detention of U.S. citizens

Last week, the U.S. Senate voted to authorize the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens accused of supporting terrorism without due process.  Please take action to demand that President Obama veto this dangerous bill! Coleen Rowley, a former FBI Special Agent wrote in the Huffington Post: The political, military industrial, corporate class in Washington DC continues… Read more »

APEC and Economic Justice

Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch October 25, 2011 4:00 PM University of Hawai’i Art Auditorium 2535 McCarthy Hall Sponsors: School of Social Work Department of American Studies School of Pacific and Asian Studies Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs  

The Invisible Army: trafficked humans make the war machine go

Sarah Stillman wrote an excellent article in the New Yorker about the “invisible army” of foreign workers or “third-country nationals” (TCNs) staffing U.S. military bases in war zones. She reports that “armed security personnel account for only about sixteen per cent of the over-all contracting force. The vast majority—more than sixty per cent of the… Read more »

U.S. backs Saudi military intervention in Bahrain

The U.S. has a keen interest in suppressing the popular uprising in the tiny Persian Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain.  Since WWII, the U.S. has stationed its 5th Fleet in Bahrain and has  propped  up the ruling family, which is Sunni and allied with Saudi Arabia. But the Bahraini population has traditionally been Shia and… Read more »

Army violated Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations regarding Depleted Uranium

The Army appears to have violated Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations by conducting activities to remove and disturb depleted uranium contamination in the Schofield Range on O’ahu.  A letter from the NRC to Lieutenant General Rick Lynch, dated 4/5/11 “APPARENT VIOLATION OF U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGULATIONS AND REQUEST FOR PREDECISIONAL ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE” states: On March… Read more »

A win for Micronesians in Hawai’i

As reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, Micronesian islanders in Hawai’i who are part of the group of Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations won a court victory to restore health insurance benefits several days ago: A federal judge ordered the state yesterday to restore lifesaving health benefits to low-income legal migrants from Micronesia, the… Read more »

Court Denies Hawaii’s Request for Dismissal of Suit against Basic Health Hawaii

As Yokwe Online reports, U.S. District Court Judge Seabright denied the State of Hawai’i motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit brought by Hawai’i residents from the Compact of Free Association (COFA) countries of Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of Palau.   The State of Hawai’i cut off health insurance for… Read more »

Peace Crimes

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” John F. Kennedy, 1962 >><< Source: http://www.truth-out.org/peace-crimes62612 Peace Crimes Sunday 12 September 2010 by: Diane Lefer, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed Hector Aristizábal lay on a table in Medellin, Colombia, his head covered with a black cloth. Twenty-eight years… Read more »

Suit seeks restored health benefits for Pacific migrants

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that Pacific islanders from nations that have Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the U.S. living in Hawai’i are suing to restore health care benefits for these Micronesian residents who need critical care that would be denied under the separate and unequal “Basic Health Hawaii” plan created for COFA residents…. Read more »