Sandra Finley

2011-05-02 WikiLeaks Exposes North American Integration Plot

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Julian Assange, Wikileaks, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, Arjen Kamphuis, Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 102011
 

Thanks to Tony for sending this in.   It is sobering.

There is a strong link between the North American Integration Plot and Lockheed Martin.  As you read the leaked information, remember that Ron Covais, “President of the Americas for Lockheed Martin” was a spokesperson for the SPP (so called “Security and Prosperity Partnership” between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico).  He is quoted in Maclean’s Magazine in the  Meet NAFTA 2.0  article,  Sept 2006, explaining how the corporations will bypass democratic process to get what they want from “the Ministers” through the SPP.

 

I did a bit of googling around.  There seems to be a black-out on coverage (of anything from wikileaks?).

It is spelt out very clearly by CNN in this youtube  NORTH AMERICAN UNION EXPOSED  on Lou Dobbs w/ Marcy Kaptur & Bill Tucker.

I wonder why people don’t take to the streets in consternation and protest?

WikiLeaks Exposes North American Integration Plot   just confirms the unfolding we have been watching over the last few years:

http://coto2.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/wikileaks-exposes-north-american-integration-plot/  

Written by Alex Newman
Monday, 02 May 2011 21:00

By Alex Newman
New American

As early as January of 2005, high-ranking officials were discussing the best way to sell the idea of North American “integration” to the public and policymakers while getting around national constitutions. The prospect of creating a monetary unit to replace national currencies was a hot topic as well.

Some details of the schemes were exposed in a secret 2005 U.S. embassy cable from Ottawa signed by then-Ambassador Paul Cellucci. The document was released by WikiLeaks on April 28. But so far, it has barely attracted any attention in the United States, Canada, or Mexico beyond a few mentions in some liberty-minded Internet forums.

Numerous topics are discussed in the leaked document — borders, currency, labor, regulation, and more. How to push the integration agenda features particularly prominently.

Under the subject line “Placing a new North American Initiative in its economic policy context,” American diplomatic personnel in Canada said they believed an “incremental” path toward North American integration would probably gain the most support from policymakers. Apparently Canadian economists agreed.

The cable also touts the supposed benefits of merging the three countries and even mentions what elements to “stress” in future “efforts to promote further integration.” It lists what it claims is a summary of the “consensus” among Canadian economists about the issues, too.

Merging the United States, Canada, and Mexico

Integration is a little-used term employed mainly by policy wonks. But while it may sound relatively harmless, it generally describes a very serious phenomenon when used in a geopolitical context — the gradual merging of separate countries under a regional authority.

Similar processes are already well underway in Europe, Africa, and South America. And according to critics, the results — essentially abolishing national sovereignty in favor of supranational, unaccountable governance — have been an unmitigated disaster. But the U.S. government doesn’t think so.

In North America, integration has been proceeding rapidly for years. The New American magazine was among the first to report on the efforts to erect what critics have called a “North American Union,” encompassing Canada, the United States, and Mexico. But more recently, the topic has received more attention:

After the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)  — similar in many ways to the European Common Market that preceded the political union in Europe — the integration scheme has only accelerated. And the bipartisan efforts have been going on for years.

Under President George W. Bush, integration occurred through the little-known “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.” And with the Obama administration, the process,  now virtually out in the open, is only accelerating.

Back in 2005, the cable released recently by WikiLeaks explained how it would be done. And looking back, the document was right on the mark.

Moving Forward

The best way forward, according to the cable, is via gradual steps. “An incremental and pragmatic package of tasks for a new North American Initiative (NAI) will likely gain the most support among Canadian policymakers,” the cable states in its summary.

“Our research  leads us to conclude that such a package should tackle both ‘security’ and ‘prosperity’ goals,” the document claims, using the two key words that have been emphasized at every step along the way. “This fits the recommendations of Canadian economists who have assessed the options for continental integration.”

Toward the end, the cable offers more advice on how to advance the integration agenda by tailoring the narrative. “When advocating [the North American Initiative to integrate the three countries], it would be better to highlight specific gains to individual firms, industries or travelers, and especially consumers,” the cable states, noting that it’s harder to “estimate the benefits” on a national or continental scale.

Unsubstantiated Claims

In a section headlined “North American Integration: What We Know,” the cable offers nothing but praise for the merging of the continent’s once-sovereign nations that had already been achieved.

“Past integration (not just NAFTA but also many bilateral and unilateral steps) has increased trade, economic growth, and productivity,” it claims, despite the fact that countless economists disagree. Of course, true free-trade advocates also correctly point out that the thousands of pages of regulations making up the agreements should hardly be considered examples of genuine free trade.

So-called “security,” the other big integration selling point, is featured prominently in the document as well. “A stronger continental ‘security perimeter’ can strengthen economic performance,“ the cable states. “It could also facilitate future steps toward trilateral economic integration, such as a common external tariff or a customs union.”

And law enforcement “cooperation” is good too, the embassy and the U.S. ambassador claim matter-of-factly.

“Cooperative measures on the ‘security’ side, a critical focus of current bilateral efforts, can deliver substantial, early, and widespread economic benefits,” the cable alleges, offering no evidence to substantiate the assertions.

“Security and law enforcement within North America have evolved rapidly since 9/11,” it continues. “Collaboration to improve these processes could yield efficiency improvements which would automatically be spread widely across the economy, leading to general gains in trade, productivity, and incomes.”

The Alleged “Consensus”

According to the document, “many” economists agree with the scheme. The cable says they support the principle of “more ambitious integration goals” such as a customs union, a single market, and even a continental currency to replace the dollar. On top of that, they supposedly believe such a union should involve all three major North American countries — the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

The cable cautions, however, that “most” of the economists believe the gradual approach is “most appropriate” — for now, at least. And all of them apparently agree that such an approach “helps pave the way to these goals if and when North Americans choose to pursue them.”

The embassy cable also included a summary of what it calls the “professional consensus” among Canadian economists on various issues related to integration.

“At this time, an ‘incremental’ approach to integration is probably better than a ‘big deal’ approach,” the document states under the “process” subheading, supposedly referring to the economists’ opinions. “However, governments should focus on choosing their objectives, and not on choosing a process.”

Next in the cable is the question of “border vs. perimeter,” as the formerly secret document puts it. “Even with zero tariffs, our land borders have strong commercial effects,” the embassy said. However, “some” of the effects — such as law enforcement and “data gathering” — are described as “positive.”

“Canada and the United States already share a security perimeter to some degree; it is just a question of how strong we want to make it,” the 2005 document notes. Apparently Canadians’ main reason for seeking a perimeter approach to security and borders, as opposed to a border between the two nations, is to avoid the “risk” that “discretionary” U.S. decisions to stop terror or disease might impede commerce. And evidently, the nations’ rulers did decide to make the perimeter stronger.

As The New American reported in February, U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met in Washington, D.C., to hammer out a deal on solidifying the common “perimeter” around the two countries. Also part of the agreement, which conspicuously bypassed both countries’ legislatures, was a diminished role for the nations’ shared border. The development of a biometric system to track North Americans was agreed to as well, as were numerous other controversial measures.

In terms of labor markets, the so-called “consensus” among the unidentified Canadian economists is also — surprise! — the pursuit of even more integration. “Many Canadian economists point to labor markets — both within and among countries — as the factor market [sic] where more liberalization would deliver the greatest economic benefits for all three countries,” the document states.

Next, the cable release by WikiLeaks highlights another startling proposition about how to achieve an end-run around the Canadian Constitution. “Inter-provincial differences [in regulation] are important here, since Canada’s federal government does not have the benefit of a U.S.-style ‘interstate commerce’ clause,” the document states. “While much of the problem is domestic in nature, an international initiative could help to catalyze change.”

Yes, the U.S. embassy referred to the wildly abused and misapplied “commerce clause” as a “benefit” that Canada lacks. And it actually suggested, hiding behind unnamed “economists,” that the constitutional “problem” could be minimized by foisting an “international initiative” on the Canadian people.

The cable also claims the “economists” support a customs union, a feature developed in the European Union once the integration process was well established. “A common external tariff, or a customs union which eliminated NAFTA’s rules of origin (ROO), is economically desirable,” it states.

And finally, the document summarizes the “consensus” on the subject of a currency union. It said the supposed economists were “split” on the issues of returning to fixed exchange rates or even abolishing Canada’s fiat dollar and replacing it with American Federal Reserve fiat currency.

The cable gives the final word on the topic of a currency union to the Canadian central bank boss. He is quoted as saying that “monetary union is an issue that should be considered once we have made more progress towards establishing a single market.”

Secrets, Backers

The scheme to merge North America into a political unit with its own legislature and currency is largely the brainchild of the world government-promoting Council on Foreign Relations. But though documents leaked earlier this year revealed that governments were trying to keep the process under wraps, integration is now proceeding out in the open for the most part.

Where the campaign will eventually end remains to be seen. But if North American Union advocates get their way, the U.S. Constitution and its Mexican and Canadian counterparts could soon be rendered irrelevant. After that, plugging the regional units into a global system would be a relatively simple matter, critics and supporters both agree.

####

05OTTAWA268, PLACING A NEW NORTH AMERICAN INITIATIVE

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Reference ID 05OTTAWA268
Created 2005-01-28 15:56
Released 2011-04-28 00:00
Classification UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Origin Embassy Ottawa

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

281556Z Jan 05
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 000268
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR WHA/CAN – BREESE AND HOLST
WHITE HOUSE/NSC – SHIRZAD
STATE PASS USTR FOR CHANDLER
USDOC FOR 4320/OFFICE OF NAFTA/GWORD/TFOX;
3134/OIO/WESTERN HEMISPHERE
TREASURY FOR IMI
GENEVA FOR USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV CA
SUBJECT:  PLACING A NEW NORTH AMERICAN INITIATIVE IN ITS ECONOMIC POLICY CONTEXT

REF:  (A) 04 Ottawa 3431  (Regulatory agenda)
(B) 04 Ottawa 066   (Canadian trade policy)

SUMMARY/INTRODUCTION
——————–

¶1. THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE USG CHANNELS.

¶2.    (SBU) An incremental and pragmatic package of tasks for a new North American Initiative (NAI) will likely gain the most support among Canadian policymakers.  Our research leads us to conclude that such a package should tackle both “security” and “prosperity” goals.  This fits the recommendations of Canadian economists who have assessed the options for continental integration.  While in principle many of them support more ambitious integration goals, like a customs union/single market and/or single currency, most believe the incremental approach is most appropriate at this time, and all agree that it helps pave the way to these goals if and when North Americans choose to pursue them.

¶3.    (SBU) The economic payoff of the prospective North American initiative – in terms of higher incomes and greater competitiveness – is available, but its size and timing are unpredictable, so it should not be oversold.  Still, a respectable economic case has been made for such an initiative, and this message spells it out.  We believe that, given growing Canadian concern about “border risk” and its effects on investment, a focus on the “security” side could also produce the most substantial economic/trade benefits.

END SUMMARY/INTRODUCTION

CANADIAN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
—————————–

¶4.   (SBU) Canadian economists in business, academia and government have given extensive thought to the possible options for further North American integration.  Nearly all of this work assumes that each of the three countries is pursuing standard economic policy goals – growth, productivity and competitiveness (rather than more specific concerns raised by Mexican analysts such as migration management, regional development, or environmental protection).  Since 9/11, Canadian economists working in this area have generally endorsed a comprehensive initiative with the United States on security, trade, and immigration. Following is our summary of the professional consensus:

PROCESS:  At this time, an “incremental” approach to integration is probably better than a “big deal” approach.  However, governments should focus on choosing their objectives, and not on choosing a process.

BORDER VS. PERIMETER:  Even with zero tariffs, our land borders have strong commercial effects.  Some of these effects are positive (such as law enforcement and data gathering), so our governments may always want to keep some kind of land border in place.  Canada and the United States already share a security perimeter to some degree; it is just a question of how strong we want to make it.

BORDER RISK:  The risk that business will be obstructed at the border by discretionary U.S. actions, such as measures to defend against terrorism or infectious disease, in addition to growing congestion, have become major risks to the economy, inhibiting investment in Canada.  For small businesses, the complexities of navigating the border are apparently even more intimidating than the actual costs.  Reducing this risk is Canada’s top motive for pursuing further integration.

LABOR MARKETS:  Many Canadian economists point to labor markets – both within and among countries – as the factor market where more liberalization would deliver the greatest economic benefits for all three countries. They advocate freeing up professional licensing laws, and developing a quick, simple, low-cost work permit system, at least for U.S. and Canadian citizens.

REGULATION:  Canadian economists agree that Canadian regulations (if not their standards, then their complexity) are needlessly restricting foreign investment and impeding food, communications and other industries.  (Inter-provincial differences are important here, since Canada’s federal government does not have the benefit of a U.S.-style “interstate commerce” clause).  While much of the problem is domestic in nature, an international initiative could help to catalyze change.

CUSTOMS UNION:  A common external tariff, or a customs union which eliminated NAFTA’s rules of origin (ROO), is economically desirable.  NAFTA’s ROO are so restrictive that importers often prefer to pay the tariff rather than try to prove North American origin.  However, economists differ on the size of the benefits available and on whether these would justify the effort of negotiation.  One study estimated that a full customs union which eliminated ROO would only raise national income by about one percent.

CURRENCY UNION:  Canadian economists are split on whether a return to a fixed exchange rate, or adopting the U.S. dollar, would benefit Canada in current circumstances.  (Canada last tied its dollar to the U.S. dollar from 1962 to 1970).  The central bank governor has taken the position that “monetary union is an issue that should be considered once we have made more progress towards establishing a single market.”

NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION:  WHAT WE KNOW
—————————————–

¶5. (SBU) Past integration (not just NAFTA but also many bilateral and unilateral steps) has increased trade, economic growth, and productivity.  Studies suggest that border efficiency and transportation improvements (such as the lower cost and increased use of air freight) have been a huge part of this picture. Indeed, they may have been more important to our growing prosperity over the past decade than NAFTA’s tariff reductions.  Freight and passenger aviation are critically important to our continent’s competitiveness, and businesses are very sensitive to the timing, security, and reliability of deliveries – hence the “border risk” which so concerns Canadian policymakers.

¶6. (SBU) A stronger continental “security perimeter” can strengthen economic performance, mainly by improving efficiency at land borders and airports.  It could also facilitate future steps toward trilateral economic integration, such as a common external tariff or a customs union, if and when our three countries chose to pursue them.  Paradoxically, the security and law enforcement aspects of the envisioned initiative could hold as much – or more – potential for broad economic benefits than the economic dimension.
WHERE’S THE UPSIDE?
——————-
¶7. (SBU) Some international economic initiatives (such as FTAs) produce across-the-board measures that generate broad benefits for a country’s industries and consumers on a known time-line.  This was true of NAFTA but it is less likely to be true of the economic aspects of the NAI.  Non-tariff barriers such as standards and regulations generally must be tackled one- by-one.  This is a piecemeal process and the ratio of payoff to effort is likely to be lower than with across-the-board measures.  Governments naturally focus on resolving the problems which their firms or citizens bring to their attention.  While this approach has merits, it tends to deliver the payoffs toward particular interests.  If there are hidden costs, there might be little impact on national performance.  As we move toward a list of barriers to tackle, it will remain important to balance those interests.  For example, some Canadian economists have suggested that NAFTA fell short of expectations with respect to increasing consumer choice in Canada; that may be a theme we should stress as efforts to promote further integration take shape.

¶8. (SBU) In contrast, cooperative measures on the “security” side, a critical focus of current bilateral efforts,  can deliver substantial, early, and widespread economic benefits.  Security and law enforcement within North America have evolved rapidly since 9/11, leading to many less-than-perfect processes for handling legitimate international traffic.  Collaboration to improve these processes could yield efficiency improvements which would automatically be spread widely across the economy, leading to general gains in trade, productivity, and incomes.

A NOTE OF CAUTION
—————–

¶9. (SBU) There is little basis on which to estimate the size of the “upside” gains from an integration initiative concentrating on non-tariff barriers of the kind contained in NAI.  For this reason, we cannot make claims about how large the benefits might be on a national or continental scale.  When advocating NAI, it would be better to highlight specific gains to individual firms, industries or travelers, and especially consumers.

CELLUCCI

2005-01-04 Census: Background Info on Lockheed Martin

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 092011
 

http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/pipermail/margins-to-centre/2005-January/000085.html

[m2c] Background Info on Lockheed Martin

(at May 2012, text below and at above link.  The original link is invalid – http://www.actagainstwar.org/article.php?id=165)

Background Info on Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin:  World’s Largest Weapons Manufacturer

Included below is information on Lockheed’s Contribution to:

  • “Shock and Awe” campaign
  • Arms exports and human rights violations
  • Land mines and depleted uranium weapons
  • Nuclear and ballistic missile defense contracts
  • Violation of corporate ethics
  • Health and environmental concerns
  • Influence peddling: abuse of political connections

I.    Lockheed’s contribution to “Shock and Awe”

The current US war against Iraq is based on a campaign of Shock and Awe.

Lockheed Martin Corporation manufactures several of the tactical strike weapons including air to surface and cruise missiles (AGM-142 and HAVE LITE air to ground missiles, AUP and BLU-109 conventional “bunker buster” missiles and the JASSM long range conventional air to ground missiles) used in this Shock and Awe campaign.

“Shock and Awe” warfare explicitly targets civilian infrastructure such as water supplies, food processing, electricity power grids and sanitation. It emphasizes bombing in such a way as to “create fear” and cause severe, widespread “psychological and emotional effects.”i This is in explicit violation of a 1977 protocol of the Geneva Convention, Article 54 “Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population”.  For actual text go to: http://www.deoxy.org/wc/wc-proto.htm.

The “smart” weapons manufactured by Lockheed Martin have been used in the US bombing within Baghdad and throughout Iraq resulting in over 1000 confirmed civilian casualties (for the most recent numbers go to http://www.iraqbodycount.net/) so far ii. Some examples include:

  • March 2nd at approximately 9:45 AM the UK and US use tactical air strike capabilities to strike target in Basra killing six civilians.iii
  • March 22nd at approximately 11:30 AM Basra is bombarded using missiles and cluster munitions killing up to 77 civilians and injuring hundreds.iv
  • March 22nd missiles strikes kill approximately 100 civilians in the Vicinityof Khormal, Kurdistanv
  • March 23rd an air to surface missile strikes a Syrian passenger bus carrying Syrian civilians out of Iraq killing at least 5 people and injuring many more.vi
  • March 26th cruise missiles hit Al-Shaab neighborhood in Baghdad killing approximately 15 civilians and injuring hundreds.
  • March 29th Explosion at a Baghdad market that killed at least 62 civiliansvii
  • April 1st At least 11 civilians, most of them children, were killed when U.S. bombs hit a residential district in the town of Hilla in central Iraqviii

These numbers do not reflect the overall number of casualties in Iraq. They do not show the number of Iraqi soldiers or government personal that have been killed. These figures also ignore deaths caused by factors such as bombed water treatment plants, destruction of medical facilities and supplies, toxic residues from weaponry (such as Depleted Uranium), and
malnourishment resulting from social disruption. These numbers also do not show the exact numbers of Iraqi people permanently injured from US / UK attacks. In supplying missiles for the “shock and awe” tactic that directly affects non-combatant populations and severely damages key civilian infrastructure, Lockheed Martin missiles has contributed to the violation of
international humanitarian law.

II. Arms exports and Human Rights Violations

Since 1992, the United States has exported more than $142 billion dollars worth of weaponry to states around the world.ix  The U.S. dominates this international arms market, supplying just under half of all arms exports in 2001, roughly two and a half times more than the second and third largest suppliers.x  U.S. weapons sales help outfit non-democratic regimes, soldiers who commit gross human rights abuses against their citizens and citizens of other countries, and forces in unstable regions on the verge of, in the middle of, or recovering from conflict. The United States supplied arms or military technology to more than 92% of the conflicts under way in 1999.xi

In addition to paying billions of dollars every year to support weapons exports, Americans may also feel the impact of increasing instability overseas. The United States military has had to face troops previously trained by its own military or supplied with U.S. weaponry in Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan and now in Iraq.

Lockheed Martin with a share of 24% of US arms exports  xii  is the world’s largest arms exporting company. Former company CEO Norman Augustine was a major lobbyist on behalf of the more than $7 billion per year in grants and subsidized loans that the U.S. government provides to U.S. arms exporters each year to help them hawk their products around the world.

Both Augustine and company Vice President Bruce Jackson have also been major supporters of the expansion of NATO, in hopes of selling combat aircraft and other weapons systems to new NATO members states.

Lockheed Martin’s most lucrative export item is the F-16 combat aircraft.  The company has sold over 3,000 F-16s to overseas customers since the  mid-1970s, and the client list for the plane includes Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Egypt, and Venezuela. In late 2001, the company won what has been touted as “the largest defense
contract in history,” a $19 billion development contract for the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter program. Potential customers are Germany, Turkey and Israel in addition to the US and UK Armed forces.

A report by Human Rights Watch on the decade-long conflict in Kurdistan, Turkey (in which about 2,200 Kurdish villages have been destroyed, and an estimated 19,000 people, many of them civilians, have died) said “The US is deeply implicated in the Turkish government’s counterinsurgency policy and practices through its provision of arms and political support, and is aware of the abuses being committed, but has chosen to downplay Turkish violations for strategic reasons.” Among the weapons sold to Turkey are those produced by Lockheed Martin including the F-16 fighter jet.

Israel has violated International Humanitarian Law by using Lockheed Martin’s ‘Hellfire’ missiles to attack civilian facilities in Lebanon and kill hundreds of Lebanese civilians. It has used helicopters manufactured by Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Longbow LLC to carry out more than 50 extra-judicial executions of Palestinians.xiii

III. Landmines, Depleted Uranium Weapons

Some of most blatant violation of Human Rights that Lockheed Martin is actively participating in is the production of anti-personnel landmines and depleted Uranium weapons.

Anti-personnel mines are inherently indiscriminate and therefore are a violation of international human rights law. Global landmine contamination has been recognized by the international community as a pressing humanitarian crisis. In some sixty-eight nations, fields, deserts, forests, roads and waterways are littered with an estimated 110 million mines.

Antipersonnel mines claim a victim every twenty minutes–more than 26,000 each year. Almost all of the killed and maimed are civilians, often women and children, nearly always after the cessation of active hostilities. Mines have an average life span of fifty to one hundred years. Many are nearly undetectable because of their low metallic content. Some of the most popular varieties of antipersonnel mines cost as little as $3. Companies around the world have declared that they will not longer be involved in the production of anti-personal land mines. Lockheed Martin and many other companies, have refused to stop the production of anti-personnel mines.

Lockheed Martin produces AUP -3(M) Depleted Uranium missiles. The US is using depleted Uranium shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction alongside nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, napalm, and cluster bombs. The 2002 UN sub commission report ruled that the use of Depleted Uranium weapons breaches humanitarian and human rights laws including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the charter of the United Nations, the Genocide Convention, the Convention against Torture, the four Geneva conventions of 1949, the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980 and the Hague conventions. Depleted Uranium contaminates land, causes respiratory ailments, cancers and other diseases among the soldiers using the weapons, the armies they target and civilians, leading to birth defects in children. It is cited as the most likely cause of the six to ten-fold increase in cancer in Iraq after the Gulf war of 1991.xiv

IV. Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missile Defense Contracts

Lockheed Martin is a major developer of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile defense.

The company received over $2 billion for nuclear weapons design work from the Department of Energy. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Trident II Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), a multiple-warhead, long-range missile which is produced for deployment on the Trident submarine. The Trident II is the only long-range U.S. nuclear missile currently in production. The company is also involved in the design and production of nuclear warheads through its role as the prime contractor for Sandia National Laboratories, a nuclear weapons engineering and design lab funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The company also has a major subcontract at the Nevada Test Site to carry out “subcritical testing” of new nuclear weapons designs, a form of testing that attempts to exploit possible loopholes in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (which the United States has failed to ratify.)

Even as it profits from working on the next generation of nuclear weapons, Lockheed Martin is also heavily invested in ballistic missile defense. The company is the lead contractor for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program, a system designed to intercept medium-to-long-range ballistic missiles. Even though the THAAD system has failed in 6 out of 8 tests to date, last year the company received a contract extension worth up to $4 billion for continuing work on the system. Lockheed Martin is also designing and building the payload launch vehicle which is slated to be used to launch the interceptor and “kill vehicle” for the land-based version of National Missile Defense; serving as prime contractor for the Space-Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), a space-based early warning system for missile defense which has been plagued by cost overruns and technical problems; serving as a major contractor for the Space-Based Laser (SBL)  program, a favorite of Star Wars boosters which is currently scheduled for its first test in 2012, but may be accelerated under the Bush/Rumsfeld missile defense plan; and playing a central role in “Team ABL”, a partnership which involves Boeing, TRW, and Lockheed Martin in the design and production of the Airborne Laser (ABL), which is meant to place lasers on 747 aircraft for use in attacking medium-range ballistic missiles in their boost or ascent phases.

According to World Court Opinion (July 8, 1996) “the threat or use of  nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict.” Ballistic Missile Defense is contrary to the requirements of the U.S.-Russia Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty of 1972 which is called “the cornerstone of the contemporary process of nuclear deterrence and non proliferation” and Article VI of the 1970  Non-Proliferation Treaty. It encourages other countries to build more nuclear weapons and delivery systems to overwhelm any missile defense system.xv By developing nuclear weapons and Ballistic Missile Defence systems, Lockheed Martin Missiles is guilty of violating international law.

V. Lockheed Martin’s systematic violation of corporate ethics    xvi

Lockheed Martin has been convicted in numerous cases of violating corporate ethical principles

Contract violations – In May 2000, a $4.25 million settlement agreement was reached between the Government and Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems. Lockheed Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds were improperly used while performing a FMS contract with Egypt to upgrade four sonar systems used by the Egyptian military.

Foreign Corrupt Practices – Lockheed was convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) during the sale of three cargo planes to Egypt in 1993 and was fined a total of $24.8 million. In 2000, Lockheed received the largest fine in the history of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act for illegal technology transfers to China that may have been utilized to improve Beijing’s ballistic missiles.

Conspiracy and Retaliation – In 1996, Lockheed was sued by a former employee who alleged a conspiracy to prevent him from testifying during the 1993 FCPA  trial mentioned above and then retaliated against him by firing him after he testified.

Bribery – According to Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with the New York Times, “Lockheed has a criminal history that includes paying millions of dollars in bribes.” From the late 1970s when Lockheed admitted to paying $22 million in bribes to win contracts in Europe and Japan in the infamous ‘Lockheed scandal’, Lockheed has a history of convictions for bribing government officials including those of Japan, Holland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and Egypt. It is the second largest repeat corporate offender in the US with 63 violations, having paid total fines and settlements of  over $230 million since 1990xvii. Lockheed is currently barred from bidding on contracts in New York City where officials of Mayor Dinkins were caught showing it favoritism during a contracting bid.

Racism – In 2000, workers at Lockheed’s plant in Marietta, Georgia, filed a lawsuit charging Lockheed with racial and other forms of discrimination. The workers claimed that corporate officials systematically passed over the group of mostly black workers for promotions, discriminated in pay, and fostered a hostile work environment. In one case a worker whose supervisor was a member of the Ku Klux Klan with his robes openly displayed in the office, was forced to get a pass to go to the restroom and had to be escorted there. In another case a worker found a hangman’s noose in his workplace. The parties arrived at a partial settlement.

Payoffs for Layoffs – When Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 they used U.S. taxpayer money to fund the $1 billion cost of plant shutdowns and employee relocations and then fired 19,000 taxpaying workers. During the same merger, the two companies rewarded their top officials with $31 million in federal money, one-third of the total bonus package they gave themselves.

VI. Health and Environmental Concerns

Lockheed Martin has systematically polluted the environment surrounding its weapons manufacturing plants.

In November 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that a former Lockheed plant is the likely cause of the contamination of water wells with per chlorate (a toxic component of rocket fuel) in San Bernardino County. In 2001, the EPA began national testing of water supplies for per chlorate in preparation for setting national regulations on the chemical.  If Lockheed Martin can persuade the state and EPA not to set strict standards for per chlorate allowed in drinking water, the company will save millions of dollars in cleanup costs. The Times reported that on behalf of Lockheed Martin, Loma Linda University is conducting the first large-scale tests of per chlorate on human subjects (up to 83 time the current ‘safe’ level) by paying 100 people $1000 each to eat a six-month daily dose — a step medical researchers and environmentalists called morally unethical and scientifically invalid.

Lockheed has caused significant toxic contamination in Silicon Valley and elsewhere and has been sued by workers for exposing them to toxics in irresponsible ways. In Palo Alto, Lockheed has a toxic leach site. In 1986 the state Health Services Department sued Lockheed for illegal storage and treatment of hazardous wastes (including toxic leaks and removal of hazardous waste pipelines) at its Sunnyvale plant. Lockheed agreed to pay $1.3 million. In 1988 1,500 gallons of water containing chromium flowed into a storm drain at the plant. In the same year a Lockheed employee sued saying her stillborn baby’s defects were caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy while working at the Sunnyvale plant.xviii  As of 1989 toxic plumes were identified in both shallow and deep groundwater under the Lockheed Sunnyvale site and were spreading. (They are now believed to be contained but not eliminated.) In 1991 when selling its surplus land in Burbank, Lockheed spent an estimated $200 million to cleanse contaminated soil but recovered most of the cost from the Department of Defense at taxpayer expense xix

Press reports in l988 note that the secrecy imposed by Silicon Valley military contractors hinders toxic inspectors, requiring inspectors to give weeks or even months notice before they are given access. Firefighters have been impeded in their work by company security guards and employees’ doctors are often not told about their patients’ toxic exposures. In Burbank, California, Lockheed workers sued in l988 over toxic exposure in the plant believed to have built the Stealth fighter airplane. Over 160 workers, nearly all working in the same area of the plant became ill. Citing national security, Lockheed refused to allow inspectors without security clearances full access to the plant and workers said that they were not allowed to explain to their own doctors what they thought might be causing them to become ill.

In Paducah, Kentucky workers at the enriched uranium plant operated by Lockheed Martin from l984 until the spring of 2000 suffered extreme exposure to uranium and plutonium. Workers there worked in a fog of uranium and plutonium contaminated dust that coated the floor, their skin and even their teeth. They were told that uranium was non-hazardous and were not told that some of the material they handled was contaminated with highly dangerous plutonium. Despite the extreme negligence, the plant’s status as a nuclear production plant and as a Superfund site limits lawsuits. The National Resources Defense Council has, nonetheless, brought suit on behalf of the U.S. government. They argue that Lockheed obtained money from the government fraudulently since it disposed of radioactive waste illegally and violated federal regulations concerning worker health and safety.xx

Martin Marietta was also an illegal polluter prior to its merger with Lockheed. William Sanjour, chief of he Hazardous Waste Technology and Assessment Branch from l974 to l978, writes that DOE contractor Martin Marietta knowingly shipped radioactive waste to incinerators not permitted to accept radioactive waste, while taking pains to eradicate that fact from the shipping papers. At present, in Russia, Lockheed Martin is disposing of its used rocket engines by a process so toxic it is outlawed in the US.

VII. Influence Peddling: Lockheed Martin’s Political Connections

Lockheed Martin is the “leader of the PACs” * Political Action Committees * among U.S. weapons manufacturing firms. According to data assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics, the company made over $10.6 million in campaign contributions to candidates and party committees from 1990 to 2000, including $3.4 million in donations in the run-up to the year 2000 elections. The company’s contributions are targeted towards the politicians that are in the position to do it the most good. For example, Lockheed Martin served as one of a select group of corporate sponsors that pitched in $60,000 each to support the “Lott Hop,” a dance party fundraiser that was held in honor of then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott during the Republican convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 2000. The company has also pledged a $1 million contribution in support of the “Trent Lott Leadership Institute” at the University of Mississippi. Lockheed Martin was the top corporate contributor to members of the House Armed Services Committee during 1999/2000, and among the top ten contributors to the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The company has strong ties to both major parties. Lockheed Martin Vice-President Bruce Jackson was a top fundraiser for the Dole for President campaign in 1996, and he was the chief drafter of the foreign policy platform of the Republican party for the year 2000 elections. Meanwhile, former Lockheed Martin board member and major shareholder Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral Space, was a top soft money donor to the Democratic Party during the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections, contributing $601,000 and $1.1 million to Democratic committees during those election cycles, respectively.

—————————————————————————-

i “Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance” by Harlan K. Ullman, James P. Wade et. al. NDU Press
ii Iraq Body Count Project
iii Reuters 03 Mar
iv Reuters 23 Mar
v ABC[AU] 22 Mar
vi Reuters 24 Mar
vii The Independent,UK 02 April
viii Reuters 01 April
ix Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deliveries and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) deliveries, FY1990-FY2000
x “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1993-2000.” CRS Report for Congress, R.F. Grimmet.
xi World Policy Institute.
xii SIPRI arms industry database, 1999.
xiii Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment(LAW)
xiv The Sunday Herald, UK
xv “A Maginot line in the sky – International perspectives on Ballistic Missile Defense” edited by D. Krieger & C. Ong
xvi ‘The Real Rogues’, K. Martin et. al., Z magazine, 2000
xvii Project on Government Oversight fact sheet
xviii San Jose Mercury News
xix Los Angeles Times, 1992
xx Amicus Journal of the NRDC, Winter, 2000

1997-12-03 Census Lockheed Martin: Antipersonnel Weapons (land mines), Baltimore Chronicle

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 092011
 

http://baltimorechronicle.com/spot_anti_persnell.html

SPOTLIGHT ON:
Antipersonnel Weapons

BY MAX OBUSZEWSKI

Vietnam Veterans of America tell us that landmines kill or maim 26,000 people, mostly civilians, a year. This maddening slaughter motivated President Bill Clinton to announce on May 16, 1996: “Today I am launching an international effort to ban antipersonnel landmines…. The United States will lead a global effort to eliminate these terrible weapons and to stop the enormous loss of human life.”

Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric, the U.S. refuses to ban or even suspend production of anti-personnel mines. So it is important to keep the pressure on Clinton to support the Canadian-led diplomatic initiative for a comprehensive treaty, to be signed in Ottawa December 3-4, banning production, stockpiling, export and use of antipersonnel mines.

Historically, the U.S. has been one of the world’s biggest producers and exporters of antipersonnel landmines. Until the mid 1970s, these were “dumb” mines, which can remain active for decades. Today, the Pentagon promotes the use of “smart” mines, those which carry a self-destruct mechanism. Four million dumb mines remain in the Pentagon stockpile of 15 million antipersonnel weapons. The stockpile includes one million Claymore mines, which the Pentagon prefers to call command-detonated munitions, rather than landmines. From 1969 to 1992, the U.S. exported 4.4 million mines to some 32 countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Chile and El Salvador.

Clinton, like other fawning presidents, called to congratulate teams for winning the World Series, the National Basketball Association title and the Super Bowl. However, when Jody Williams, Coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmine (ISBLM], won a Nobel Peace Prize, she did not hear from the White House.

The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines, a coalition of more than 180 nongovernmental organizations across the country, is part of the ICBLM. Human Rights Watch, which serves as chair of USCBL’s Steering Committee, produced an invaluable resource [April 1997]: Exposing the Source U.S. Companies and the Production of Antipersonnel Mines. Exposing the Source indicates there are 47 U.S. companies which have been involved in the manufacture of mines, two of them from Maryland-Lockheed Martin, 6801 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817 (301-897-6561 or FAX: 301-8976252) and AAI Corp., P.O. Box 126, Hunt Valley, MD 21030-0126 (410-628-8710 or FAX: 410-683-6498). The report states that there is no production of antipersonnel mines currently underway.

Human Rights Watch wrote letters to the 47 companies notifying them they would be named in a report and would be a target of a stigmatization campaign carried out by USCBL. Surprisingly, 17, Motorola being the first, responded by agreeing to renounce future involvement in antipersonnel mine production. But the “Dirty Thirty” refused.

Lockheed Martin tried to have its name removed from the landmine list, claiming it has not produced landmines since the Vietnam era. Actually, though, Lockheed Martin New Jersey received landmine production contracts worth $52 million from 1985-90, and Lockheed Martin California obtained a landmine contract worth $850,000 in 1990.

AAI also expressed concern and requested that its name be removed from the Human Rights list as it would no longer accept landmine contracts. After receiving a congratulatory letter, though, AAI wrote back: “We do not wish to be so named.” It is assumed AAI would consider future contracts.

Alliant Techsystems in Hopkins, Minnesota was the major landmine-producing corporation, receiving $336 million in Pentagon contracts from 1985-95; and its Wisconsin subsidiary, Accudyne Corp., was awarded similar contracts worth $150 million in 1985-95.

Alliant CEO Richard Schwartz responded to Human Rights Watch’s letter: “The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has served an invaluable role in shedding light on a terrible problem that must be addressed.” But he refused to accept personal responsibility: “It is irresponsible to imply in any way that companies such as Alliant Techsystems have contributed to the world’s landmine problems. To do so wrongly maligns responsible U.S. citizens, and diverts resources that could be applied toward stigmatizing the governments that violate international law.”

Activists in Minnesota took umbrage with Alliant and blockaded the entrance to the company in April to protest its stance on landmines. In court, a Minnesota jury deadlocked for two days in late September trying to decide the fate of nine of the protesters. An arrangement was reached between the prosecution and the defense to allow the nine defendants to represent the other 70 also arrested at the demonstration. After an offer from the prosecution to accept wholesale acquittal if the jury acquitted any one of the defendants, the jury expeditiously returned a verdict of eight convictions and one acquittal. So the judge acquitted all Alliant protesters.

An estimated 110 million landmines are littered about in sixty-eight countries, Angola suffering from about 10 million of these weapons. Human Rights Watch believes that any use of antipersonnel mines is a violation of existing international humanitarian law. The weapon is inherently indiscriminate, and its use clearly fails to meet the proportionality test of humanitarian law: the short-term military benefits are far outweighed by the long-term human and socio-economic costs.

Supporters of a landmine ban might consider contacting the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, 2001 S. St., NW, Suite 740, Washington, D.C. 20009 1PH: 202-483-9222 or FAX: 202483-9312]) or Human Rights Watch, 1522 K Street, NW, #910, Washington, D.C. 20005-1202 (202-371-6592 or E.Mail: hrwdc  AT   hrw.org.) Stay tuned for further actions.

——————————————————————————–

Copyright © 2003 The Baltimore Chronicle and The Sentinel. All rights reserved. We invite your comments, criticisms and suggestions.

Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

This story was published on December 3, 1997.

Lockheed Martin Census and War: land mines and cluster munitions

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 092011
 

A number of postings deal with the question of Lockheed Martin’s products and services.   The early ones are related to weapons, the later ones related to surveillance.  This is an early capture of information, in case of need.

The Govt of Canada out-s0urces work to Lockheed Martin.   LM is a manufacturer of land mines and cluster munitions.  Both products are in contravention of Canadian and International Law.

The Government must impose sanctions, at the very least, on entities that are in contravention of the Law.  In a democracy people who break the law are to be prosecuted.   The harms done through the illegal activity of  Lockheed Martin are far greater than any committed by any inmate in Canada.

It is not as easy to pin down Lockheed Martin on the land mines as it is to nail them down on the cluster munitions.  The cluster munitions treaty is sufficiently recent that the pages from the  LM website were captured before they took them down (remove the evidence).

I will look in Bill Hartung’s book.

This report explains the land mines situation and has more info related to LM and cluster munitions.  I have used the work of these people in the past.

/Sandra

First, DEFINITION:  AP Mines

Anti-personnel mines are a form of land mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines … Anti-personnel mines may be classified into blast mines or fragmentation mines ….

The mines are often designed to injure, not kill, victims in order to increase the logistical (mostly medical) support required by enemy forces that encounter them. Some types of anti-personnel mines can also damage the tracks on armoured vehicles or the tires of wheeled vehicles. …

=  = = == = = = == = ==

April 2004 Report

http://www.mineaction.org/downloads/1/netwerk_cluster%20bombs,%20landmines%20and%20banking.pdf

Page 18:

The most important producers and exporters of landmines over the last 25 years have been Italy, the former Soviet Union and the United States. In the same period, 200 million AP mines have been produced in 50 countries. 55

China, Russia and the United States belong to the 44 countries that have never signed the Ottawa Treaty on landmines.56

Recent use of landmines

The United States has revealed that in 1991 it dropped 117,634 landmines in Iraq and Kuwait. Of these, 27,967 were AP mines, primarily dropped as part of GATOR cluster bombs.57

In the same war, the British Air Force dropped cluster bombs that included 21,500 HB876 AP mines. Since then, the UK has signed the Ottawa Treaty and destroyed her stocks of HB876 mines.58

(INSERT, Sandra:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-personnel_mine     The GATOR mine system is a US system of air-dropped anti-tank and anti-personnel mines developed in the 1980s to be compatible with existing cluster dispensers. It is used with two dispenser systems—the Navy 230 kg (500 lb) CBU-78/B and the Air Force 450 kg (1,000 lb) CBU-89/B. …

 Note:  The CBU’s (Cluster munitions) are Lockheed Martin’s.  See the posting  Lockheed Martin (Census) in cluster munitions and DU (“Depleted” Uranium).  CPP also.

The United States has apparently not used landmines in the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, the American army has made use of mine fields from the Soviet era, in order to defend itself.  The US has refused to rule out the use of landmines in the war against Iraq.59

At least 90,000 landmines were held by the United States in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.60

Page 21:

2.2. Companies involved in the production of landmines

Top secret

The production of landmines is a secret business. Even in the defence sector, where companies are not normally shy about their products, companies involved in the production of landmines do not like to advertise this fact. In many countries that is logical. In the 152 countries that have signed the Ottawa treaty, it is forbidden to produce anti-personnel mines.

Even in countries that have not signed the treaty, companies do not boast about their involvement with landmines. You will not find this product advertised on their websites.

It is not surprising that it is very difficult to gather reliable and complete information about the production of these weapons.

Page 23:

American producers

In 1997, Human Rights Watch issued a report concerning companies in the US involved in the production of landmines. In this report, they identified 47 American companies that were involved in one way or another with the production of anti-personnel mines, or components.

After president Clinton made a call in 1996 to work towards a worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to each of these companies asking them to refrain from future involvement in the production of AP mines. 17 companies stated that they wished to fully withdraw from this involvement. The most well known example is Motorola.

The other American companies refused to rule out future involvement with landmines. Amongst these companies are three industry leaders: ATK (Alliant Techsystems), Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

= = = =  = = = = = = = = =

Page 10

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is not only the largest weapons producer in the world, but also the greatest supplier of weapons to the Pentagon, and the largest weapon exporting company in the world. It is not surprising that Lockheed Martin is involved in the production and trade in cluster munitions.

The company, and more specifically the division Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is the producer of the MLRS system (Multiple Launch Rocket System), a highly mobile missile launching system that in less than 1 minute can fire 12 MLRS missiles.29

MLRS is used to fire ground-launched missiles.

The missiles used in the MLRS system are missiles with cluster munitions. These are also produced by Lockheed Martin.

A short overview30:

  • The basic MLRS missile (M26) consists of a warhead with 644 M77 sub-munitions (DPICM) and has a range of 32 km. This means that a total of 8000 sub-munitions can be fired per minute.

• The ERR missile (M26 A1/A2) has a range of 45 km and contains 518 M77 sub-munitions • The “guided” MLRS XL30 missile has a range of 60 km and contains 402 DPCIM sub-munitions (in production since April 2003).

• The ATACMS Block 1 missile has a range of 165 km, and contains 950 M74 anti-personnel/anti-material sub-munitions

• The ATACMS Block 1A has a range of 300 km and contains 275 M74 sub-munitions

In March and April 2003 MLRS cluster munitions were used in the war against Iraq.

The use of ground-launched sub-munitions (including the MLRS) by American and British ground troops was the largest cause of civilian casualties in the war. These weapons were used in populated areas including Baghdad, Basra, al-Hillal, al-Najaf and Karbala.

There is still a great lack of clarity about the total number of sub-munitions used in Iraq, but the Third Infantry, the First Airborne Division and the 214th Field Artillery Brigade have reported the use of 1014 MLRS missiles and 330 ATACMS missiles. The MLRS cluster munitions were primarily used at long ranges. The majority of the American-used sub-munitions were DPICMs. In Iraq, it was standard practice to fire salvos of six MLRS missiles. Each salvo launched 3864 sub-munitions over a target area with a radius of 1 km. According to a report by the American ‘Office of the Under Secretary of  29 http://www.army-technology.com/projects/mlrs/ 30 The description of these products can be found on the website of Lockheed Martin,http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=20&sc=400www.mijngeldgoedgeweten.be 10

A campaign of Netwerk Vlaanderen vzw, in cooperation with Forum voor Vredesactie, For Mother Earth and Vrede vzw

The MLRS systems fires a ATACMS Block 1 rocket composed of 950 sub-munitions (Lockheed Martin)

Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics’ MLRS sub-munitions have a failure rate of 16%. 31

Before the start of the war in Iraq, Human Rights Watch asked the United States to rule out the use of four specific types of cluster munitions. Amongst others, the use of MLRS missiles with M77 submunitions was considered by HRW to be very dangerous for civilians.32

The MLRS system is supplied by Lockheed Martin to 14 countries, including the US, Israel, Bahrain and the Netherlands.

Lockheed Martin is also the producer of the WCMD, the Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser. This is an extension for existing cluster munitions (CBU-87, -89, and -97) that makes it possible to use cluster munitions in unfavourable weather conditions including high wind speeds. Most cluster bombs dropped by the American Air Force in the last war in Iraq were equipped with WCMDs from Lockheed Martin. 33

Lockheed Martin played an important role behind the scenes in support of the war in Iraq. In 2002, the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq was formed with the support of the Bush administration.

The former vice chairman of Lockheed Martin, Bruce Jackson, became the chairman of the Committee. The group promoted Bush’s plans for the war against Iraq. Jackson was also involved in the issuing of the statement of the Vilnius 10; ten Central and East European States – the so-called New Europe – that supported Bush in the run up to the war in Iraq. The divide between ‘Old’ Europe (Germany and France) and ‘New’ Europe helped Bush to acquire support for his war against Iraq.

The wife of Vice President Dick Cheney was a member of the Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin.

The slogan of Lockheed Martin is “We never forget who we’re working for”.

Lockheed Martin’s Cluster Munitions

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  No Responses »
May 092011
 

Please go to:  2008-12-20   Lockheed Martin changed its website to say that it does not manufacture cluster munitions

I copied evidence here as a back-up copy.  But the information didn’t copy very well.   Best to go to   2008-12-20.

Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles
Appendix 5: Guided Bombs
WCMD
 
Copyright © 2006 Andreas Parsch

Lockheed Martin WCMD (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser)
(CBU-103/B, CBU-104/B, CBU-105/B, CBU-107/B, CBU-113/B, CBU-115/B)

WCMD (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser) is a modification kit to equip submunition dispensers of the TMD (Tactical Munitions Despenser) family (SUU-64/B, SUU-65/B and SUU-66/B) with a guidance system. Development began in the 1995/96 time frame, and low-rate production by Lockheed Martin started in 1998. In 2000, WCMD was declared ready for operational use (on B-52 and F-16 aircraft), and in 2001 full-rate production began. More than 10000 WCMD kits have been delivered so far, and the U.S. Air Force has a requirement for up to 40000 units.

Photo: Lockheed Martin
WCMD tail kit

The WCMD guidance kit can replace the tail of any TMD-based cluster bomb. The baseline WCMD incorporates an inertial navigation system (INS), and has flip-out control fins to steer the bomb. Additional GPS guidance was considered unnecessary, because the delivery aircraft are equipped with a GPS system. The latter is used to update the WCMD‘s INS immediately before release, and the resulting accuracy of about 26 m (85 ft) CEP is good enough for cluster bombs. After release, the WCMD guidance corrects for launch errors and winds aloft, and computes the optimum flight path and submunition release point. When dropped from 12200 m (40000 ft), a WCMD guided cluster bomb has a stand-off range of about 16 km (10 miles).

Photo: Lockheed Martin
WCMD

The following cluster munitions have been cleared for use with a WCMD tailkit:

  • CBU-87/B CEM (Combined Effects Munition): 430 kg (950 lb) multi-purpose cluster bomb, consisting of 202 1.5 kg (3.4 lb) BLU-97/B CEBs (Combined Effects Bomblets) in an SUU-65/B dispenser. After release, each BLU-97/B descends under a cone-shaped decelerator and detonates on ground impact. A CEB has a triple charge, incorporating a fragmenting case against soft targets, an anti-armour shaped charge, and an incendiary device.
     
    Photos: via GlobalSecurity.org
    CBU-87/B   BLU-97/B
  • CBU-89/B “Gator”: 320 kg (700 lb) anti-personnel/anti-tank cluster bomb, consisting of 72 2 kg (4.3 lb) BLU-91/B anti-tank and 22 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) BLU-92/B anti-personnel mines in an SUU-64/B dispenser. Both submunition types are armed on ground contact. The BLU-91/B is detonated by a magnetic influence fuze, and the BLU-92/B by four trip wires.
    Photo: Hill Aerospace Museum
    CBU-89A/B
  • CBU-97/B SFW (Sensor Fused Weapon): 415 kg (914 lb) anti-tank cluster bomb, consisting of 10 BLU-108/B in an SUU-66/B dispenser. A BLU-108/B unit carries four independent Skeet anti-tank submunitions. After release from the dispenser, each BLU-108/B descends under a parachute to a pre-set altitude. Then a small rocket sends the BLU-108/B upwards and into a rapid spin, so that the Skeet warheads are released outwards. Each Skeet falls independently, scanning the ground with its IR sensor for the signature of a tank. When a target is detected, the Skeet detonates, firing an EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator) directly downward, and a ring of fragments outwards (against soft targets in the vicinity). If no target is detected, the Skeet explodes immediately above the ground.
     
    Photos: Textron Systems
    CBU-97/B   BLU-108/B
  • PAW (Passive Attack Weapon): 1000 lb class cluster bomb with 3750 non-explosive penetrator rods in an SUU-66/B dispenser. This weapon was developed within three months in late 2002 to destroy soft area targets (like e.g. fuel storage depots) with a minimum of collateral damage.

When fitted with a WCMD guidance kit, these CBUs receive new designations. As guided cluster munitions, WCMD weapons qualify for both the GBU (guided bomb) and CBU (cluster bomb) categories, and the USAF decided to designate them in the latter. The following table lists all known WCMD-equipped cluster bombs:

Designation Base CBU Payload
CBU-103/B CBU-87/B 202x BLU-97/B in SUU-65/B
CBU-103A/B CBU-87A/B 1
CBU-103B/B CBU-87B/B 202x BLU-97A/B 2 in SUU-65/B
CBU-104/B CBU-89/B 72x BLU-91/B + 22x BLU-92/B in SUU-64/B
CBU-104A/B CBU-89A/B 3
CBU-105/B CBU-97/B 10x BLU-108/B in SUU-66/B
CBU-105A/B CBU-97A/B 10x BLU-108A/B 4 in SUU-66/B
CBU-105B/B CBU-97B/B 10x BLU-108B/B 4 in SUU-66/B
CBU-105C/B CBU-97C/B 10x BLU-108C/B 4 in SUU-66/B
CBU-107/B — 5 3750 non-explosive penetrator rods in SUU-66/B

Notes:

  1. Details about the differences between the CBU-87/B and -87A/B are not available.
  2. Details about the differences between the BLU-97/B and -97A/B are not available.
  3. Details about the differences between the CBU-89/B and -89A/B are not available.
  4. The BLU-108A/B has a different SAD (Safety & Arming Device). The BLU-108B/B is the P3I (Preplanned Product Improvement) version, which features improved performance against countermeasures, increased footprint because of Skeet release at higher altitude, amd Skeet submunitions with a dual mode (active/passive) sensor and a redesigned multi-mission warhead. The BLU-108C/B was an interim upgrade of the BLU-108A/B because of delays in the P3I program, and had modified Skeet warheads with insensitive munitions filling.
  5. There is no non-WCMD version of the CBU-107/B.

The CBU-103/B and CBU-105/B have been used operationally for the first time during the war in Afghanistan in 2001, and the CBU-107/B was used in combat in Iraq in 2003.

WCMD-ER

In June 2003, Lockheed Martin received a contract to develop and test the WCMD-ER extended range version of the WCMD guidance kit. WCMD-ER adds a wing kit to increase stand-off range to 40-65 km (30-40 miles), as well as additional GPS guidance to maintain WCMD‘s accuracy. In May 2005, Lockheed Martin started low-rate production of WCMD-ER kits for the CBU-97/B SFW.

When fitted with a WCMD-ER guidance kit, the Combined Effects Munition (CBU-87/B) is designated in the CBU-113/B series, while the Sensor Fused Weapon (CBU-97/B) is designated in the CBU-115/B series. At the time of this writing, the only weapon actually planned for WCMD-ER is the CBU-97B/B, which will probably result in a CBU-115B/B designation. The CBU-114/B designation was probably either skipped or formally assigned to a WCMD-ER equipped “Gator” (CBU-89/B), but the “Gator” is being phased out by the USAF and therefore won’t be fitted with WCMD-ER.

Designation note: CBU numbers 108 through 112 are apparently unassigned so far. Therefore it appears that the WCMD-ER CBU designators were assigned out-of-sequence to implement an easy to remember scheme, where CBU-11x/B (WCMD-ER) corresponds to CBU-10x/B (baseline WCMD).

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for WCMD dispenser:

Length 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in)
Diameter 40.6 cm (16 in)

Main Sources

[1] GlobalSecurity.org Website
[2] Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control Website

Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 5

Last Updated: 15 May 2006

2011-05-09 Count me out on (pointless) census day, Ottawa Citizen, François Dumaine

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  1 Response »
May 092011
 

Ottawa Citizen

Count me out on (pointless) census day
�
Let me be clear: I’m not advocating civil disobedience. But I will not associate my name to the 2011 census fiasco. After senselessly disfiguring the mother of all data in Canada, our minister responsible for Statistics Canada is now reminding me to fill out a largely meaningless, yet mandatory, short-form questionnaire, while leaving it up to me to either complete the national household survey questionnaire or use it to get a nice camp fire going this summer. Apparently, it’s completely up to me and it’s all good, and it’s all cool. But I won’t do it.

Green Day said it best in its American Idiot hit song: “Welcome to a new kind of tension … where everything isn’t meant to be OK.” Nothing is OK with the 2011 census. It will be the most expensive process (more than $600 million or the equivalent of two federal elections) to produce numbers barely worth anything more than a poll conducted on how we felt about the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Remember those stats? Probably not. We’ve moved on.

The census is dead, evidencebased decision-making is ridiculed, and we may as well start teaching that Adam and Eve just popped up one day. The rule of law, a pillar of democracy, requires citizens to understand and respect the law of the land. I’m all for it. But it also requires governments to act responsibly, fairly, and transparently. On the census issue, the government has misled Canadians and, in fact, has lied about the nature of the data being gathered.

If the government can lie to me about the census, I have every right to exclude myself from this sad parody. And I will.

François Dumaine, Past-president of the Canadian Evaluation Society, Ottawa

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/letters/Count+pointless+census/4748982/story.html

Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

 Culture and Ethics, Empowerment, Knowledge Base  No Responses »
May 072011
 

I would like everyone to read  “Women Who Run with the Wolves”!  Google — there’s lots of information.  Here are the first two articles I tried, both excellent:   

http://www.radiancemagazine.com/issues/1994/wolves.html

Women Who Run with the Wolves
An interview with author and analyst
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
By Isabella Wylde

From the Radiance Winter 1994 Issue

“I am built close to the ground and of extravagant body.” So writes the Jungian analyst and cantadora storyteller Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés in her number 1 New York Times best-seller, Women Who Run with the Wolves (Ballantine Books, 1992). Remaining on the prized list for one year (as of August 1993), her book uses multicultural myths and folk and fairy tales to help women reconnect with their instinctual selves.

Having struggled with body size most of my life, I was especially curious about Dr. Estés, and fascinated by her book and audio tapes (available through Sounds True, Boulder, Colorado). In Denver bookstores, where brochures and fliers announce upcoming workshops, I found that several local women had begun to offer workshops and ongoing groups to facilitate “finding the creative Wild Woman.” Dr. Estés’s work was catching on. Further proof came when her name appeared as a clue in a New York Times crossword puzzle!

I was eager to attend a conference for women where Dr. Estés was scheduled to speak in Boulder. After the introductions, a large woman in a black dress with a blue yoke climbed the stage steps. Her dark hair was pulled back and adorned with a red bow at the nape. The audience began to applaud immediately. Suddenly, everyone stood up, clapping and yelling to honor this woman who had not, as yet, spoken one word. It was obvious that many women at the conference had been touched deeply by Dr. Estés’s work.

Though skeptical when I had first bought her tape, I found myself listening to “The Wild Woman Archetype” over and over again. I gained emotional strength from each hearing. I began to feel more alive, excited, empowered. I told friends about it, I bought her book, and I soon found women in all walks of life who were being strengthened by Estés’s words, by the stories that she calls soul vitamins.

They seemed to reach me at a subconscious level. The stories affirmed my inner core self and reminded me that I am valuable, creative, important. Her stories and interpretations strengthened my resolve to dig out more of my own inner feelings and desires, and to put time and energy into them; to value what my sometimes rigid family and community do not – creativity, vision, personal power; and to trust my own oft-trampled intuition, my wounded “inner child.”

Estés was raised in the rural midwest near the Great Lakes. She describes her childhood environment poetically in the introduction to her book. “There, thunder and lightning were my main nutrition. Cornfields creaked and spoke aloud at night. Far up in the north, wolves came to the clearings in moonlight, prancing and praying. We could all drink from the same streams without fear.”

This early exposure to nature and a later study of wildlife biology, focusing on wolves, led Estés to make a comparison of women to wolves. “Healthy wolves and healthy women share certain psychic characteristics,” she writes. “Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength. They are deeply intuitive, intensely concerned with their young, their mate, and their pack.”

Her analogy continues: “Yet both have been hounded, harassed, and falsely imputed to be devouring and devious, overly aggressive, of less value than those who are their detractors. Separation from the wildish nature causes women to become confused and lose their way.”

And when women hear the term wild woman, it is like “the fairy-tale knock at the door of the deep female psyche” and “an old, old memory is stirred and brought back to life. The memory is of our absolute, undeniable, and irrevocable kinship with the wild feminine, a relationship which may have become ghosty from neglect, buried by overdomestication, outlawed by the surrounding culture, or no longer understood anymore. We may have forgotten her names,” Estés writes, “but in our bones we know her, we yearn toward her; we know she belongs to us and we to her. A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life-giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, and roving.”

In her book, Estés explains that she uses the word wild to mean living “a natural life, one in which the criatura, creature, has innate integrity and healthy boundaries.” She stresses that balance is necessary and good, and that women should beware of overdoing it in any area of their lives, even in creative work.

The wild and instinctual nature means “to establish territory, to find one’s pack, to be in one’s body with certainty and pride regardless of the body’s gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one’s behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one’s cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as we can.”

Estés put herself through college and then earned a Ph.D. in psychology after a divorce and a year spent on welfare with her young daughters. She next earned a postdoctoral diploma that certified her as a Jungian analyst. Working as a psychotherapist, Estés soon recognized that traditional psychology looked at women as men would have them be, missing the “deeper issues important to women: the archetypal, the intuitive, the sexual and cyclical, the ages of women, a woman’s way, a woman’s knowing, her creative fire.”

In 1976 Estés developed the first psychology course on women in Colorado and taught it at a local community college. She had seen women in her psychotherapy practice with a similar problem. They, like the larger patriarchal society surrounding them, did not value women’s creativity but rather their “niceness.” This effectively squashes, and drives deep within, women’s true nature and creative gifts. In her practice, Estés found that telling stories worked better than traditional psychology in helping both women and men find their strengths.

Each of her ethnic heritages – Mexican and Hungarian – has contributed to Estés’s love and immense knowledge of stories and myths. In her adult years she traveled and spent time with people of many cultures, including Native Americans from the north, throughout the west, and down to Central and South America. She writes in her book that she became a “gypsy scholar” traveling in a little trailer in which she would “drive down any dirt road [she] could find and see who was at the end of it.”

I’ve traded stories at kitchen tables and under grape arbors, in hen-houses and dairy barns, and while patting tortillas, tracking wildlife, and sewing the millionth cross-stitch. I’ve been lucky to share the last bowl of chili, to sing with gospel women so as to raise the dead, and sleep under stars in houses without roofs. I’ve sat down to the fire or dinner, or both, in Little Italy, Polish Town, the Hill Country, Los Barrios, and other ethnic communities throughout the urban Midwest and Far West, and most recently traded stories about sparats, bad ghosts, with storytellers in the Bahamas.

In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Estés uses nineteen folk tales to empower and enlighten women. She attempts to reconnect us with the Wild Woman hidden somewhere deep within each of us. From the tale of “La Loba – The Wolf Woman,” through “Bluebeard,” “Vasalisa The Wise,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “The Red Shoes,” to “The Handless Maiden,” Estés offers solutions to the common pitfalls of women’s lives.

Originally Dr. Estés attempted to publish her work with the Jungian presses, but was rejected. She then made several audio tapes available by mail-order, which sold well by word of mouth. Luckily, one of her tapes reached a New York editor, and the publisher came to her.

Dr. Estés is now writing a second book, one of several in the works. It is called When This Tree Has Stood Winter: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype. A former executive director of the C. G. Jung Institute in Denver, Estés currently spends time writing and keeping a small practice. In addition, she is a longtime human rights activist who has developed and heads the Guadalupe Foundation, which has as one of its missions broadcasting strengthening stories via radio to troubled areas throughout the world.

During the open microphone sessions at the conference I attended, many participants thanked Estés further for her book. One woman said that no book had helped her deal with the aftereffects of a rape as much as Women Who Run with the Wolves.

“That’s because it isn’t self-help!” Estés exclaimed.

Several days later, when I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Estés, she explained what she had meant.

“People are starved for poetry, starved for things that strengthen them,” she began. “There are any number of so-called self-help books and tapes on the market, but I don’t think that people are needing or wanting self-help as much as they want to be strengthened. It is useful, most definitely, but it leaves out the underworld, the deep inner life. Deep inner life,” she emphasized. “It also leaves out the spirit.”

Estés described for me her method of healing. “I come from the Curanderisma healing tradition from Mexico and Central America. In this tradition a story is ‘holy,’ and it is used as medicine. The story is not told to lift you up, to make you feel better, or to entertain you, although all those things, of course, can be true. The story is meant to take the spirit into a descent to find something that is lost or missing and to bring it back to consciousness again. For some people that may sound mystical . . . and it is!” she added, laughing.

I recalled the advice for her daughters that Estés had listed at the conference. 1) Be friendly but never tame. 2) Misbehave with integrity. 3) Don’t let the bastards grind you down! I asked if she thought her own daughters were Wild Women.

“I would say that they have a good start as pretty strong pups. They have a really good connection to their instinctual life,” she answered. “What I mean is not that they live within that bound all the time, but that they know immediately when they are out-of-bounds and make actions to correct it.

“The injunction in our culture is to ‘be perfect,’ which is ridiculous, impossible, and not only that – it is boring! Perfection means that you have to be totally still, that nothing can ever change. To live that way would be disastrous.”

Estés explained how our egos interfere with our instinctual nature by convincing us of false paths. “A gorgeous person walks into our lives and we drop everything and go off. Or we take a job we hate for the money we love, or think that if we just do something, that somehow life will be made miraculously better. That’s the kind of out-of-boundary that most people struggle with. If you don’t have a sense of the instinctual nature, then sometimes you are outside of your own cycles rather than in them.

“The cycles are birth, light, and energy, and then depletion, decline, and death. Then incubation and new life comes. Cycles, that is how we are supposed to meet everything,” she emphasized. “Our children, our work, our lovers – everything goes through that cycle. There is the time to say that is enough, to incubate, and then to come back with new energy and new life again.

“And when a woman is in that mystical and practical sensibility called the instinctual nature, then she knows when it is time to make things live and time to let things die.”

Estés told me two life circumstances that had contributed to her unusually strong self-esteem in relation to body size.

“I was born of Mexican heritage and adopted as an older child by Hungarian immigrants,” she began. “My adopted family had bought the culture lock, stock, and barrel. They did not want people to know that they could not speak English very well, that they could not read or write. They also bought into the cultural injunction against the natural female body, so my foster mother and her sisters all tried to starve themselves – to be thin, to wear to church the pointy high heels, and girdles – all the devices of torture.

“After the Second World War, when I was about eight or nine, my foster father searched throughout Europe for any living relatives who might have survived the war. He found four of his sisters who had lost their husbands and all of their children. He managed to bring them to the United States.

“Here they came off the train in Chicago.” Estés laughed as she went on. “These four big women. And I mean huge women. Their clothes were hanging on them, which means that they had been even bigger before they were starved. They were tall and broad. They came here with hair down to their ankles, braided and wrapped around their heads, and with only a few clothes.

“They treated me as though I were a ‘Child of God,’ because I was the only living child in the family. They could not hug me enough. I can remember them hugging me and hugging me and hugging me. They were always wanting to hold me. I was older, but they carried me around like I was a baby.” She laughed out loud at this memory. “I just loved them – they were so wonderful!

“They grew bigger and bigger as they were recovering, and they returned to their natural size, which was big. I was just so thrilled with them. They raked and hoed and spaded and seeded and watered and harvested. They spun and wove and chrocheted and tatted, and they made lace.

“I can remember sitting beside them at night as they told stories with their arms around me, and their large hips – how big and how comforting the aunts were. How safe I felt near them.

“You know the phrase thunder-thighs?” Estés asked. “‘She makes thunder when she walks’ – you are supposed to be able to hear a woman coming by her thighs brushing against each other – that is what my aunts taught me!”

The second event that influenced her life occurred when Estés was in her early thirties.

“I went back to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico to meet some of my ancestral family members. I found this huge group of big women. They thought I was too thin and they were astounded at the idea of a ‘diet.’ Astounded. They kept trying to put dieting into a religious context – like purification, or strengthening oneself in a spiritual way.

“I said to them, ‘No, no, only so that you can attract men.’

Estés continued, “They are the Tehuana. They are a matriarchy, and they would put their hands on their hips and would say, ‘Que?’ (What?) And they were really not only puzzled but also outraged. ‘They do this to women far up north?’ they asked me.

“‘Yes, women do it to themselves far up north,’ I said to them.

“My blessing that I received from them I would call a rebirthing for my own body. They lived in a way that I found I could also live by seeing the body as a vehicle. Some people naturally have a small body, and that is their vehicle. But some women and men have very large bodies.”

After that visit, Estés stopped dieting. “I never, ever again went on a diet, because I felt that my body was meant to be large. I also saw that I came from a long line of women who were proud and stood tall. They were totally empowered, and they also had large bodies.”

Estés added, “I think that it is all right if people want to control their weight, as long as they don’t make themselves sick about it. But I also think that there is something to be said for not causing a woman to spend a huge amount of her entire life preparing food, shopping for food, fixing food, and eating food in order to maintain a weight that’s less than her body would like to be.

“Robbing women’s creative life from them – to set them after a foolish task – that happens in fairy tales and in mythology a lot. It shows the separation of the person form their own soul life. The person is set upon a foolish task, and finally in the midst of their life they wake up and say, ‘Oh, my, this is a foolish task.'” Estés laughed.

“I can’t even imagine that we were put on the face of this Earth in order to be thin. I think most of us are here on a mission different from a job or a career. I think we’re here to do helping and healing and discovery and creation.

“I think the idea of body size is a diversion and a distraction from the real work. The process of being here is the most important, and we must honor that with respect and love.”

I was reminded of an incident I had observed at the Boulder conference. Estés had been invited to join the panel of presenters on the stage after a lunch break. As she ascended the stairs, she noticed only one empty chair. She hesitated.

Glancing from the chair to the audience, she said, “One thing large people learn is to check out a chair with arms before sitting, or else when you get up you may be wearing it!” She walked bent over, demonstrating how she would look with a chair stuck to her backside.

The humorous way she handled what could have been an embarrassing moment was refreshing to me. Later, when I mentioned this to her, she said, “It’s like with shoes. I have a size 9 foot, and I wouldn’t try to put it into a size 7 shoe.” Simple, no excuses.

At the closing ceremony of the conference, when a Native American woman began performing a ritual with drums and chants, Estés had already gathered her things and left the stage. Hesitating at the foot of the stage, she looked as though she wanted to make a hasty exit, but still didn’t want to miss anything.

The drumming and chanting proceeded. Estés suddenly kicked off her shoes, put down her purse and glasses, and, with her arms raised high, swayed and danced to the drumbeat. As she continued to move around the large auditorium, other women left their seats to dance with her, and one of the women on the panel left the stage to join in.

Such life, such beauty in her movement! Estés’s glorious large body was dancing with abandon and grace. This image has stayed with me, this image of a woman who truly loves and cherishes her own body.

For information on the audio tapes available by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, write to Sounds True Audio, 735 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302, or call 303-449-6229.

ISABELLA WYLDE is a free-lance writer and social worker who is trying to live up to her new last name. She is currently working on a book about women and alcoholism.

– – – – – – – –  – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

http://www.homestar.org/bryannan/estes.html

Women Who Run with the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.

Ballantine Books, 1992

Reviewed by Laura Bryannan

Every once and a while a truly great book for women comes along. Sometimes the book calls us to arms, sometimes it provides us with important new information about ourselves or our bodies, and sometimes–like this book–it will nourish our souls.Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a Jungian analyst and cantadora, a collector and teller of stories. She has birthed a book about the archetype of the Wild Woman that has so much gut-level wisdom in it, you immediately sense that Estes is a woman who is really living her life (as opposed to simply existing in it). Estes has gotten past mentalized “good ideas,” and presents material that applies to the total being: body, heart, mind and soul. This book is for any woman who longs in her secret self for something more, who knows that her mind works better than her heart, who feels as if she’s stretched too thin, who has forgotten how to create, have fun, get dirty, laugh, cry or growl. Estes offers the “medicine” of folk and fairy tales to these wounds with insight and care. She shows how the archetype of the Wild Woman can be a model of wholeness for the modern woman.

Who is this Wild Woman? If you’re thinking this is a book about how to be wild and crazy, you would be a little bit right, but mostly wrong. The Wild Woman is not wild in the sense of being crazy, angry or out-of-control, she is wild because she has not lost her connection to life, death and rebirth–or, to put it more simply, nature.

“A healthy woman is much like a wolf: robust, chock-full, strong life force, life-giving, territorially aware, inventive, loyal, roving. Yet separation from the wildish nature causes a woman’s personality to become meager, thin, ghosty, spectral. We are not meant to be puny with frail hair and inability to leap up, inability to give chase, to birth, to create a life. When women’s lives are in stasis, ennui, it is always time for the wildish woman to emerge; it is time for the creating function of the psyche to flood the delta…It means to establish territory, to find one’s pack, to be in one’s body with certainty and pride regardless of the body’s gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one’s behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one’s cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as we can.”

Ms. Estes begins her book with a story that introduces us to La Loba, The Wolf Woman, one of the hundreds of Wild Woman’s names. (To you students of the Goddess: are your whiskers twitching yet? The ancient, female being of many names and places…yes, of course, who else could Wild Woman be but the Great Mother herself!) Estes then expertly leads us down the pathway to Her door; a pathway often so perilous with briars, bogs or other mysterious oogly-wooglies we would never even try it without someone like Estes’ help! The titles of the chapters are evocative in and of themselves: Stalking the Intruder: the Beginning Initiation. Nosing out the Facts: the Retrieval of Intuition as Initiation. The Mate: Union with the Other. Hunting: When the Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Finding One’s Pack: Belonging as Blessing. Joyous Body: the Wild Flesh. Self- Preservation: Identifying Leg Traps, Cages and Poisoned Bait. Homing: Returning to Oneself. Clear Water: Nourishing the Creative Life. Heat: Retrieving a Sacred Sexuality. Marking Territory: the Boundaries of Rage and Forgiveness. Battle Scars: Membership in the Scar Clan. La Selva Subterranea: Initiation in the Underground Forest. Shadowing: Canto Hondo, the Deep Song.

Estes writes in a casual, lively style, full of good humor. This is not a dry, analytical, passionless discussion, and you will not find one ounce of psychobabble anywhere. As one friend of mine exclaimed, “This woman talks like me!” As I read, I found myself laughing, crying, and nodding my head in agreement. It sparked such a sense of longing I felt my heart would burst at times–something deep in my bones woke up, stretched and sniffed the breeze. I remembered what it was like to be alive in this way, and I saw how “civilized” I had become. Just as pictures can tell a thousand words, I’d like to quote a little tale Estes learned from her late Uncle Vilmos which will clearly show what happens in this civilization process:

“A man came to a szabo, tailor, and tried on a suit. As he stood before the mirror, he noticed the vest was a little uneven at the bottom.
‘Oh,’ said the tailor, ‘don’t worry about that. Just hold the shorter end down with your left hand and no one will ever notice.’
While the customer proceeded to do this, he noticed that the lapel of the jacket curled up instead of lying flat.
‘Oh that?’ said the tailor. ‘That’s nothing. Just turn your head a little and hold it down with your chin.’
The customer complied, and as he did, he noticed that the inseam of the pants was a little short and he felt that the rise was a bit too tight.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ said the tailor. ‘Just pull the inseam down with your right hand, and everything will be perfect.’ The customer agreed and purchased the suit.
The next day he wore his new suit with all the accompanying hand and chin ‘alterations.’ As he limped through the park with his chin holding down his lapel, one hand tugging at the vest, the other hand grasping his crotch, two old men stopped playing checkers to watch him stagger by.
‘M’Isten, oh, my God!’ said the first man. ‘Look at that poor crippled man!’

The second man reflected for a moment, then murmured, ‘Igen, yes, the crippling is too bad, but you know I wonder…where did he get such a nice suit?'”Just like the man with the new suit, we often develop personas that display to everyone how good, caring, nice, etc., we are. To the outside world everything is perfect, but inside our true natures are crippled. Women often get so much support for these pleasing personas, we lose touch with how much they narrow our choices, cut us off from life, and bring us unnecessary pain. Women Who Run with the Wolves helps us see that we have become like the tailor’s gullible customer. Perhaps we have been hobbling around in our fancy suits for so long we have forgotten we weren’t always a cripple. Estes’ book will show you where you have lost touch with your heart, your guts, your creativity, your wildness–your life! The stories she presents, and her insightful analysis of those stories, will gently lead you back to yourself. Even if you are unmoved by this review, I would ask you to run to the nearest bookstore and read the introduction. Let Estes’ own words touch you. This is one of those powerful books that, if you are ready for it, it will call you. If, at the next full moon, I hear howling at midnight, I’ll know someone out there heard the call.

2005-04-13 Marge Piercy: The Low Road

 Empowerment  1 Response »
May 072011
 

From an excellent website:

Marge Piercy: The Low Road

(from We Are Everywhere)

The Low Road

What can they do to you?
Whatever they want..

They can set you up, bust you,
they can break your fingers,
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can’t walk, can’t remember.
they can take away your children,
wall up your lover;
they can do anything you can’t stop them doing.

How can you stop them?
Alone you can fight, you can refuse.
You can take whatever revenge you can
But they roll right over you.
But two people fighting back to back
can cut through a mob
a snake-dancing fire
can break a cordon,
termites can bring down a mansion

Two people can keep each other sane
can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.

Three people are a delegation
a cell, a wedge.
With four you can play games
and start a collective.
With six you can rent a whole house
have pie for dinner with no seconds
and make your own music.

Thirteen makes a circle,
a hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity
and your own newsletter;
ten thousand community
and your own papers;
a hundred thousand,
a network of communities;
a million our own world.

It goes one at a time.
It starts when you care to act.
It starts when you do it again
after they say no.
It starts when you say we
and know who you mean;
and each day you mean
one more.

– Marge Piercy

Posted by Thivai Abhor at 8:16 AM

2 comments:

Brett said…

I like this piece of work. I really enjoy the comparisons the author makes between two opposing lifestyles. At first I was unsure about the title but after consideration I feel that it aids in supporting the postitive lifestyle as being right. Everyone needs to be more aware of how we treat each other. The low road is the absolute lowest human mind set. We must be aware of what we are capable of and realize that we can all make this world a better place starting with how we treat each other as human beings.

11:10 PM

Thivai Abhor said…

. . .  Poercy’s poem moved me because it reminds me that through the bonds of fellowship/collaboration/community/activism we can move toward effective change. Oftentimes sensitive people who are hurt by the system end up lashing out mindlessly and destructively, acting alone with no plan… (I did for a long time)… what happens when we act together with focused intent?

2011-05-05 Selection of next president for University: The Chancellor is appointed as the Representative for the Senate on the Search Committee.

 Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Take back the University  No Responses »
May 052011
 

UPDATE, SELECTION OF NEXT PRESIDENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY,    no comment

DATE:  Tue 5/10/2011 4:56 PM

SUBJECT:  appointment of Dr. Vera Pezer as Senate member to the presidential search committee

Greetings to all,

 I am writing to inform all members of Senate that Dr. Vera Pezer will serve as the Senate member on the presidential search committee. The appointment occurred by unanimous motion at a duly constituted meeting of the Senate executive committee on May 5, 2011. 

I also wish to thank those members of Senate who submitted their name for consideration by the Senate executive committee.

Sincerely,

 Sandra Calver

Acting University Secretary

2011-05-04 Lockheed Martin CENSUS: What a riot!

 Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials)  1 Response »
May 042011
 

Please consider forwarding this to fellow citizens.

For those who are not aware of Lockheed Martin’s (the American military’s) role in the Canadian census and in Canada, check out Lockheed Martin, Census, Trial, War Economy.   The large influence of Lockheed Martin, their intentions, and the seriousness, is apparent.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Did you recently receive your “2011 Census” in the mail?

Birgit did.  I did.

It’s a buff-coloured envelope that unfolds.  It is one page of directions for how to obtain your census form:

  1. Online using the “secure access code” provided.
  2. By phoning a 1-800 number and inputting your “secure access code” for them to send you a paper form.

My census information for the Government is 3 words  “No Lockheed Martin”.

The sub-title on the envelope is “Complete the census – it’s the law.”

IT’S THE LAW ?! 

  • Hmm . . . the Prime Minister is the “leader” for our country.
  • The Government of Stephen Harper was found guilty of contempt of Parliament.  That’s about the highest breaking-of-the-law there is for the Prime Minister of Canada.  Unprecedented.
  • If I follow my leader, Stephen Harper,  I will . . . break the law with impunity.  Everyone is equal under the law.  I guess the way Stephen Harper sees himself in relation to the law (it doesn’t apply) is the way that I should see myself in relation to the law.   HOWEVER!  … continue
  • However,  I value democracy.  I have put a lot of effort into supporting the rule-of-law.   Scroll down to  on-going warnings to the Government of Canada, starting as early as 2005.  They are undermining the rule-of-law.  Stephen Harper is just the pinnacle.
  • The awarding of lucrative Government contracts to corporations that are in contravention of  Canadian and International Law is

From my election brochure:  The leadership of Canada believes no one cares if they break the law. No rule of law means no Democracy.  Danger zone.

It turns out it’s up to citizens to enforce the rule of law in Canada.   If we do not, as is so clear in the case of the census,  the laws are used as instruments of intimidation and coercion against us.  In the census example, the threat of prosecution, jail time and a fine are used to take away our Charter Right to Privacy of Personal Information.

Note that although the Harper Government announced last year that the census long form is no longer mandatory,  they never did change the law.   They did ONE BETTER!  They made the census long form into the “National Household SURVEY” which enables the collection of data on an on-going basis, year-in and year-out.

REASSURANCE OFFERED BY CHIEF STATISTICIAN, WAYNE SMITH:  

Wayne Smith concludes his 2011 Census instructions saying:

  • “By law, your responses will be kept confidential”

That is an absurd statement:

  1. The Prime Minister of Canada does not believe in the rule-of-law.
  2. The stories about serious breaches of security around electronic data bases are on-going and too numerous to keep up with.  The most spectacular is the leaking of massive volumes of confidential U.S. Government files to Wikileaks.

Wayne Smith is relying on our wish to feel secure.  He just has to tell us that everything is fine, Big Daddy is looking after our best interests.

OUR ROLE, according to StatsCan:  PUT WHAT WE KNOW ASIDE, and fall into the ever-loving arms of Wayne Smith and the American military (Lockheed Martin).

Creatures who are naïve do not survive.

WHAT A RIOT!

People are doing wonderful, creative and funny things with the census!

NOTE:  I am hoping that a couple of people will re-send their input on the census – I lost it.  I was laughing out loud!  Good stuff to share with others.  But then I maxed out on Outlook capacity – again – and had to delete emails.

(UPDATE:  See the Comments below.  Also.   2011-07-13   Don’t know what to do about the census? What’s happening to other people? some actual questions and answers might be helpful. )

GREAT RESOURCES! 

GOVERNMENT UNDERMINING THE RULE OF LAW, WARNINGS THAT GO BACK TO 2005:  

I have been telling the Government through official channels (e.g. Privy Council Office) that they are undermining the rule of law.  Click on:

It turns out it’s up to citizens to enforce the rule of law in Canada.

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My census information for the Government is  “No Lockheed Martin”.

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