A protester and a predator square off
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)

NEW YORK — December 18, 2013. The killing of Yemeni wedding goers by U.S. military personnel is a tragic example of unrestricted drone warfare’s fatal dialectic: “collateral damage” as an inevitable byproduct of “near certainty” in targeting alleged terrorists — for remote control assassination.

Drone assassinations violate international law
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)

 
On Wednesday, December 18, activists held a vigil in front of Manhattan’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral, mourning 15 Yemeni wedding-goers killed on December 12, 2013 by a US drone strike. The vigil offered passersby a chance to acquire that most dangerous item: uncensored and unmanipulated knowledge.

 
The timing of the event was in part a response to the recent tragedy in Yemen, and in part a reminder of what Christians celebrate during the busiest shopping period in the corporate liturgical calendar.

The demand: stop the killings
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)

 
“St. Patrick’s is chosen for the vigil,” said Nick Mottern, coordinator of KnowDrones.org, “as a reminder one week before the birth of Jesus Christ of his witness on behalf of poor and outcast people, his message of reconciliation and peace and his challenge to the religious and political establishments of his time. In this spirit, we urge Pope Francis and other religious leaders to condemn drone warfare everywhere in the world.”

Outreach…
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)

 
The vigil included a large-scale model of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, the workhorse of US drone assassinations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Mottern estimates that over 5,000 people have been killed in US drone strikes since they began in 2001.

Remembering the dead: sons, daughters, mothers, fathers…
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)

 
Organizations participating in the outreach effort included: the Granny Peace Brigade; Veterans for Peace; the War Resisters League, and; the World Can’t Wait.

 

View Photos From The Event…

(Photo courtesy of John Kubinski)

 
SECAUCUS, N.J. — On Black Friday labor activists visited Walmart stores across the country — not to shop but to protest Walmart’s always low wages and poor treatment of workers.

Protesting the elimination of small businesses
(Photo courtesy of John Kubinski)

 
In Secaucus, New Jersey, 13 protesters were arrested for taking part in a civil disobedience held to draw attention to the issues. In several states Walmart workers participated in the protests.

Members of Staten Island’s Middle Class Action Project
(Photo courtesy of John Kubinski)

 
John Kubinski, a UCFW member and organizer with the Staten Island based Middle Class Action Project, was at the Secaucus protest, standing with the Walmart workers. Kubinski was joined by a number of young MCAP members.

Labor organizer John Kubinski (left) at the Black Friday protest
(Photo courtesy of John Kubinski)

 
“Walmart has made the choice to wage a war on workers, by cutting hours, altering schedules and failing to properly compensate their employees ….that’s their choice. We choose to stand up against their corporate greed and to fight for the working class in this country. That’s our choice,” Kubinski said.

(Photo courtesy of John Kubinski)