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Looking for a room to rent in Norman or OKC
By jmb | June 29, 2009
What I’m looking for: Looking for a room to rent (or an affordable studio or one bedroom apartment) in the OKC Metro area. Would prefer it be located within a couple of miles of either the OU campus area of Norman or the Paseo area of Oklahoma City.
The place must be pet-friendly as I have a very sweet 40 lb. lab mix who would be living with me. I’m pretty laid back and also will be gone a lot with work (1-2 weeks per month is pretty typical — and don’t worry, my dog either comes with me or stays at a kennel when I travel)
I’m a lower-income activist attorney so rent must be reasonable. No more than $500/month including utilities.
Read on for friends who want to know what this is about:
Life is hard.
Pretty much everyone knows this, but it’s becoming clearer to me of late. I love parts of my job a great deal, other parts leave much to be desired. The biggie though is that it is hard to maintain balance and have a normal non-working life when you are on the road all of the time.
I love my home (the farm at Pine Ridge that I talk about some on here), but it is pretty far off the beaten path. It’s close to Ft. Sill which is nice (30 minutes but 45 minutes or so due to the roads) but is 1-1/2 hours away from my church, the quaker meeting I like to attend, good law libraries, and most of the OK peace community that I need to connect with pretty often. And certainly it is a long ways from any kind of social life that I feel accepted in.
The problem is that I love the farm and want it to be a big part of my life. I love the peace and quiet of the place and I love keeping a family connection to this very dear bit of land.
The other issue though is beyond the farm. I’m gone a lot. Some recent months I’ve actually spent more of the month in motel rooms (or camping while on the road) than I have at home. I enjoy traveling but also know I can’t travel like this for ever. It is just too much.
So, after a lot of conversations with friends and whatnot, I’ve decided that I’m going to do a few things to regain some sanity in my life.
1. I’m going to refocus my law practice. With the exception of important resistance cases (and of course cases I’ve already committed to), I’m only going to be taking cases from this region: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Colorado.
2. I will start taking more cases from other branches (mostly Air Force) if they are close to home. And to make ends meet, I’ll take more full-price military criminal cases (mostly drug cases).
3. I’m especially going to focus my energy and attention on Fort Hood. I have a tremendous network of support there through the Under the Hood GI Coffee house, and Ft. Hood is base that is frequently deployed. (thankfully I just found a friend in the area who will rent me a room there in Killeen for the cheap!)
4. I’m going to treat the farm as a retreat (and for storage), but find a place in cool part of the OKC metro to live in. And once I get a place in OKC, I’m going to get involved with purely fun things like good music, good art, and of course good drink (maybe even start homebrewing beer, something I’ve always wanted to do)
5. Once I’m back in the OKC metro, I’m going to start seeing my counselor regularly again. I miss seeing her and I think it will help me to maintain some level of balance in my life.
Anyway that’s the plan for now. If you know of a good place in OKC or Norman to rent, please let me know.
Topics: Personal | No Comments »
In memory of Newcastle High School’s best teacher
By jmb | June 8, 2009
This post can be found here: GIRightslawyer.com: In memory of Bob Sperry
Topics: Oklahoma, Peace | No Comments »
A call for unity inside and outside of IVAW
By jmb | May 19, 2009
Dear IVAW members and friends of IVAW,
I’m writing this as an interested outsider, in response to the recent number of IVAW members who have chosen to publicly leave the organisation and post their grievances online.
I’m not a veteran and hence not an IVAW member. I have though, done all I can to support IVAW and its members for some time in my work as a G.I. rights attorney (and before that as a paralegal g.i. rights counselor). I did legal support for the first IVAW Winter Soldier event and have traveled with IVAW members on one of the base tours. I’ve also helped out a little bit in local organizing in some pretty tough territory.
In this work, I’ve had the chance to get to know many IVAW members. They are an incredibly diverse group of folks — combat vets and non-combat vets, young and not so young, many different ethnicities, many different religious perspectives. And politically, the views are all over the map. I know gun-toting libertarians. I know black flag waving anarchists. I know pragmatic Obama-fans. I know old school constitutional conservatives. I know Socialists and Communists.
And the views on how to resist war are varied too. Many IVAW members are pacifists, others aren’t. Some think that they should work to end war but still stay in the military. Others refuse to serve at all and are willing to go to jail for it.
All of this is to say, that IVAW members are very diverse. I think this was a good thing. The points of unity were clear and serve as the unifying grounds to come together, but otherwise folks were pretty different.
Now, things are shifting. A lot of folks are leaving the organization. I’m sure they have good reasons for it. I’m friends with several of them.
I know lots of other folks who are staying, and I’m friends with many of them. And I know a few a-holes who are enjoying the disunity way too much. (and I got to admit, I keep wondering who the FBI moles are that is stirring this shit up in the first place)
I wish there was a way to recapture what I thought was the original vision of IVAW, that is that it was an ecunemical organization for vets committed to ending the war in Iraq. Other issues were relevant and open to discussion and action, but no one would be excluded because they didn’t toe the party line on issues beyond the points of unity.
Maybe this vision is impossible now. It certainly isn’t something that non-vets like myself can change. But, I still have my opinions and I’m going to share them. I hope I’m not intruding by stating them…
1. If possible, a strong commitment to unity needs to made within IVAW. The decision to decentralize the organization is a good start but it needs to be fleshed out more so that there is room in IVAW for all vets opposed to the Mideast wars. As for outside groups, they are welcome to work with IVAW, but IVAW should maintain its independence and autonomy.
2. If this isn’t possible, or for those individuals who are hurt to much to continue working within IVAW, then fine. But don’t just gripe and complain and certainly don’t quit the movement. Folks will die if we don’t keep fighting for peace. Keep agitating. Start your own organization. Publish your own newspaper. You don’t need permission from own high to do any of these things.
Whatever happens though, the work must continue! It’s time to disband the circular firing squad and get back to work.
Anyway I appreciate y’all hearing me out.
James M. Branum
P.S. #1 - And, please know that I’m in the corner of any veteran or servicemember who is working for peace, even if we don’t agree on other issues.
P.S. #2 - I’m speaking only for myself. My views don’t necessarily represent the views of any of the organizations I work with.
Topics: Iraq War | 1 Comment »
MEDIA ADVISORY: Cliff Cornell to face court-martial
By jmb | April 27, 2009
From: GIRightsLawyer.com:
WHO: PFC Cliff Cornell, a native of Mountain Home, Arkansas, who was recently deported from Canada after having fled there to avoid the illegal war in Iraq
WHAT: The U.S. Army has prosecuted PFC Cornell under a General Court-Martial. A hearing will be held to accept PCF Cornell’s guilty plea and to argue over what the sentence should be.
WHEN: April 28, 2009, 2:15 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Stewart Courthouse, near Hinesville, GA
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Civilian attorney James M. Branum will be available for interviews following the trial by telephone at 405-476-5620 or 1-866-933-ARMY. (we anticipate this will be in the evening)
News about the ongoing campaign to free PFC Cornell from being unjustly imprisoned for his beliefs can be found soon at www.couragetoresist.org.
Topics: Constitutional/Human Rights Law, Iraq War, Military/GI Rights Law, Radical/Progressive Law | 2 Comments »
Why I regret voting for Obama
By jmb | April 16, 2009
Most of my regular readers know that my decision to vote for Obama for President was a very hard decision. In Oklahoma we only had 3 choices — Obama, McCain or leaving it blank (we get no third party or write-in choices), so I was left with only two possible choices, Obama and NOTA (none of the above).
Despite my indecisiveness, I swung to Obama after he made clear statements about his intent to close down GITMO and because I hoped he would at least listen to the other side. I still though was very fearful that he being elected would placate the peace movement and that he would in fact do even worse things than Bush did because he felt the need to prove how much of tough Prez he was (think LBJ in Vietnam or Clinton in Serbia).
So have my fears come true? Thus far, sadly yes.
Obama has chosen to keep the same man at the top of the DOD (Gates). He is rapidly expanding the war in Afghanistan. And now he is backtracking on plans to end the war in Iraq on even the pathetically slow timetable he committed to.
And now to top it all of, we get this news…
… The Obama administration last month released nine legal memos related to the interrogation program, and probably will release more as the lawsuit proceeds. But the four released Thursday represent the fullest accounting by the government of the methods authorized and used, and is the complete list, the officials said.
There is very little redaction, or blacking out, of detail in the memos, the officials said.
The methods include keeping detainees naked for long periods, keeping them in a painful standing position for long periods, and depriving them of solid food. Other tactics included using a plastic neck collar to slam detainees into walls, keeping the detainee’s cell cold for long periods, and beating and kicking the detainee. Sleep-deprivation, prolonged shackling, and threats to a detainee’s family were also used.
President Obama and AG Holder are in my opinion now complicit in these crimes. Their argument that the CIA agents were relying on legal advice is a crock of ****. I’m sure Nazi lawyers said the holocaust was “legal” too.
If the CIA agents and other responsible for torture are not prosecuted, then the message is sent to the whole world that torture is ok. And if torture is ok, then God help us all. What kind of monsters have we become?
Topics: Constitutional/Human Rights Law, Democrat Party, Iraq War | 7 Comments »
Live blogging the debate in the Canadian parliament re: U.S. war resisters
By jmb | March 26, 2009
Watch the debate live right now at: CPAC.ca
My commentary can be read at: Canada, Iraq War, Peace | 1 Comment »
Statement by Daniel Sandate on the pending deportation of Kimberly Rivera from Canada
By jmb | March 22, 2009
Daniel Sandate was the second known US war resister to be deported after having first fled to Canada. (I was his lead civilian legal defense attorney in his court-martial at Fort Carson) After having been convicted of desertion, he was sentenced to 8 months of confinement. He is now free and living in Oklahoma City.
I asked Daniel to write a short statement to people in both Canada and the US on the importance of supporting Kimberly Rivera and other war resisters facing deportation in Canada. (Kimberly is currently facing deportation on March 26th) He gave me permission to share what he wrote . . .
My name is Daniel Sandate. I was in a sense a simple soldier in the infantry that was deployed to Iraq. When there, I was subject to IED attacks and small arms fire. Upon my return, I was still subject to these things in my mind. They never escaped me.
Within us all, there is a place that one can find solace and peace. For such soldiers as myself that relive the horrors, such a place lays in ruins. Destroyed, this refuge is still guarded in the night from what dreams may bring. Time alone can not set the cornerstone for rehabilitation; when said soldier is ignorantly shunned by the service branch of which he or she may serve, the consequences are dire and sometimes deadly..
Upon my return from Iraq, I was stationed at Ft. Carson, Colorado. Having being ignored for both my physical and mental ailments, I fled to Canada. In Canada, I went into hiding to avoid being found, but mostly, I was hiding from myself and the problems that I could not shake. After a serious suicide attempt, I was found and put into the system to be returned to the US Army’s control. While in Canadian custody, I was promised by the US consolate in Canada that my mental health was “paramount”. With that promising hope, I found myself fighting to return to military custody.
Once I was handed over to the Army, I was tumbled through the nightmarish processes of the military criminal justice system. With my ailments still effecting and limiting my body and mind, I was still denied the services that are said to be available by my rights as a soldier. Denied despite the fact that I was not yet found guilty. Denied to mental health treatment by both the Army and the jail that housed me while awaiting the condemning court-martial.
Irrepairable harm has been done. The Canadian Supreme Court has already ruled that Robin Long would not suffer such harm and was. As it is, presently, I am a prime example of the Army’s failure to return quality service to the ones that do serve and have valiantly served it. I have suffered such harm. Not to malicious actions, but to apathetic necglect.
With this, I ask that you support such soldiers that are in Canada. Whether they are in hiding or fighting their appeals to be able to stay (to avoid prosecution for taking part in an illegal war). There are many reasons that a soldier runs. Like a trapped and neglected animal, a trapped and neglected soldier will run. To return a soldier (or any service member) to the impersonal machine that does not care for its own is, in my opinion wrong and morally irresponsible. Therefore I ask that those who feel the same reach out to support these soldiers in any way they can.
In summation, I ask that I be seen as an example of what happens when a soldier is kicked to the curb, so to speak, and is then punished for it. One such soldier that will face the same hardships is Kimberly Rivera. She is currently facing deportation and will be going through the same processes of custody that I had to endure.. One way that this can be avoided is if the people stand up and shine a light on these issues that are afflicting the servicemen and servicewomen and the ones around them. I call on to those with a conscience to stand up and voice their wants for radical reform to the governments that are apathetically doing these harms in the name of justice.
Topics: Canada, Iraq War, Oklahoma | No Comments »
Protest planned for protest of homophobia by the Grandfield High School administration and Westboro Baptist Church
By jmb | March 16, 2009
From: Facebook.com: Protest homophobic actions by Grandfield, Oklahoma High School
Grandfield, OK high school teacher Debra Taylor was suspended and later forced to resign over her using the Laramie Project as part of her curriculum in her ethics class.
Meanwhile, the School’s superintendant Ed Turlington has been quoted in the press as saying that the Laramie Project is “obscene” and made comments to students (in the English class taught by his wife) that homosexuality is immoral and that gays caused AIDS.
And now to make matters worse, the Westboro Baptist Church (led by Fred Phelps, creator of the hate website godhatesfags.com) has announced a protest in support of the school’s homophobic actions.
It’s time for all lovers of equality and academic freedom to show up for a counter-protest.
Please bring signs and banners in support of equality, but we ask that all participants in this counter-protest commit to non-violence.
Our protest will happen from 2:30-4 p.m. in front of the Grandfield High School. You can find a link to a map of this location by clicking here
Topics: LGBT Issues, Oklahoma | 7 Comments »
Congress is trying to outlaw backyard gardning!
By jmb | March 13, 2009
The People’s Forum: HR 875 The food police, criminalizing organic farming and the backyard gardener
Red flags I found and I am sure there are more………..
* Legally binds state agriculture depts to enforcing federal guidelines effectively taking away the states power to do anything other than being food police for the federal dept.
* Effectively criminalizes organic farming but doesn’t actually use the word organic.
* Effects anyone growing food even if they are not selling it but consuming it.
* Effects anyone producing meat of any kind including wild game.
* Legislation is so broad based that every aspect of growing or producing food can be made illegal. There are no specifics which is bizarre considering how long the legislation is.
* Section 103 is almost entirely about the administrative aspect of the legislation. It will allow the appointing of officials from the factory farming corporations and lobbyists and classify them as experts and allow them to determine and interpret the legislation. Who do you think they are going to side with?
* Section 206 defines what will be considered a food production facility and what will be enforced up all food production facilities. The wording is so broad based that a backyard gardener could be fined and more.
* Section 207 requires that the state’s agriculture dept act as the food police and enforce the federal requirements. This takes away the states power and is in violation of the 10th amendment.There are many more but by the time I got this far in the legislation I was so alarmed that I wanted to bring someone’s attention to it. (to the one person who reads my blog)
Didn’t Stalin nationalize farming methods that enabled his administration to gain control over the food supply? Didn’t Stalin use the food to control the people?
OpEdNews.com: Monsanto’s Dream Bill, HR 875
HR 875, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto.
The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international “industrial” standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means
Here’s the letter I just sent to Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas (minority leader of the Ag committee) on the subject:
Dear Congressman Lucas,
I just found out about HR 875. I am very concerned about it, because it would mandate that state departments of agriculture would enforce federal regulations and could in turn lead to the end of organic gardening and agriculture.
The government has no business in my garden. I live on my late grandparents’ old farm and try to grow as much of my own food as possible, using sustainable and organic methods. I am afraid that HR 875 could some day lead to the government being able to regulate or even forbid me from doing this, as it defines “food production facility” very broadly, effectively meaning that a garden that grows produce for my own consumption could potentially fall under governmental regulation.
I understand that you are on the committee that will be considering this bill. Please do all you can to kill it.
Thanks,
James M. Branum
I also will add that I for one will be breaking this law if it passes.
Topics: Constitutional/Human Rights Law, Ecology | 4 Comments »
Is religion less popular or is something else going on?
By jmb | March 9, 2009
PeaceArena.org: Hark! Good news - religions less popular
Rena’s article quotes from Huffington Post, but also saw this article discussed on today’s front page of USA Today
My conclusions are a different than Rena’s, but I admit my own bias as progressive ecunemical Christian is to see religion as force of good, or at least potential good. So take my thoughts with that bias in mind.
First of all though, relating this story to more local trends, the survey reports that 34% of Vermonters identify as “nones” (no religion) while only 4% of Oklahomans identify as nones. This means that despite the national trends, religion is and will be for some time, the dominant cultural force in Oklahoma. While I am a-ok with expressions of all viewpoints and connections and partnerships with non-believers, I think it is critical that peace and justice movements in Oklahoma continue to find connecting points with religious communities. (I don’t see that as a real danger at this point of course. If anything, I think religious peacemakers are sometimes not respectful enough of diversity and non-belief. But still this is a good thing to remember, when trying to reach out to the religious 96% in Oklahoma.)
Second, I think many people within the category of “none” actually are very spiritual, even if not religious. During my time in the liberal mecca of Austin, I encountered many people who were critical of religion and didn’t consider themselves religious (it seemed to be the majority viewpoint of the UT campus population and the Austin activist community), yet were deeply spiritual. Some found beliefs in other religious traditions (picking and choosing what felt right to them — which by the way, I think is a-ok). Others took more free form paths, or even just had a deep and abiding faith in the power of collective humanity.
I think all of these things, while not “religous,” are spiritual in nature. A belief in a power higher than oneself, a belief in the connectedness of all existence, a belief that consciousness may continue in some way after a death, a belief that there is more to existence than that experienced through our senses . . . I think all of these things are a kind of spiritual belief.
I know that there are many who are truly atheists (which is also ok in my book… as a believer in God, I tend to think God loves everyone and believes in everyone. God doesn’t “need” our love to be able to love and care for us. And since I’m a heretic and don’t believe in hell, I don’t think atheists, infidels or anyone is going to be tormented in the afterlife), but I think most who describe themselves as atheists or agnostics, are still spiritual even though they reject religion.
So, I guess to me this survey leaves more questions than answers. And in the long-run, maybe the trends shown here will be good ones.
Or to tackle these questions from another point of view, many Americans (and especially young Americans) are increasingly finding religion to be irrelevant because it doesn’t offer an alternative vision of the world. Religion so often is a defender of the status quo and the gods of our religions are made into deities with all of the same prejudices that we have. So as we grow dissatisfied with the world as we see it (and believe me, more will feel this way as the economy continues to tank and the wars drag on), we will move away from traditional religions.
Yet, religions that are open to the prophetic voices, for the truly original spiritual connections with the divine, could take root and grow. Religion that criticizes that status quo and creates a new reality and a new vision, that could be a good thing. Instead of the institution of “The Church,” with its defense of the status quo, there could instead be alternative communities of faith.
So, time will tell what this all means, but as a person of faith, I’m not scared by these trends, Rather, I see that it could in the end be a really good thing. Jesus himself said there would come a time when hypocrisy and false faith would be thrown aside. Maybe that day is coming, and what will last and survive will be something worth believing in.
P.S. One last thing, this survey didn’t really discuss the fact that many people today practice more than one religion or who syncretize different faith traditions. I think this will be a growing trend in the future.
Topics: Theology | 3 Comments »