A quick no loopholes letter

Slightly adapted from CJPME:

I truly believe that leadership requires the courage to close policy gaps that facilitate reckless violence.

The Arms Trade Treaty was meant to prevent the very violations we are seeing today. Whether it is the US-armed genocide in Gaza, the kidnapping of a head of state in Venezuela, or the attempted coup in Iran, the US and Israel are destabilizing the world.

What will be harmed by slowing down? Obscene profits do not need protection. Just slow down. In fact, why should we even be selling weapons to anyone else? so they can toss them back at us? Caution and rule following is the least we can do! Preferably not make any weapons at all.

Please at very least support Jenny Kwan’s Bill C-233 to end the special treatment given to the completely out of control and lawless United States of Avarice, and ensure that human rights are the primary factor in every arms export decision.

There's a whole campaign because the second half of second reading is coming up and this could shift the needle. It's not just about Gaza (although the scale of horror there is certainly enough); it's also about Venezuela and Sudan and ICE in Minneapolis.

Comments

It's a girl!

I awoke this morning to the sound of my phone ringing. It wasn't the first time the bells and whistles had attempted to pull me from my slumber so I knew it meant one of two things: either I'd overslept and my boss was calling to find out where I was, or the much anticipated baby had announced her intention to make an entrance. Felicitously, it was the latter. After a lightning fast labour lasting a mere 2 hours, Mai-Anh Esther made her entry into the world at 8:35 am (the preferred interval for Braun babies. Jon, Rebecca, and I were all born between 8 and 8:30 in the morning while Lien was born around 8 in the evening.) She is a hearty 9 lbs 2 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. "She's already got more hair than Lien does!" was the first comment made by both Jon and me. She's a perfectly contented, sleepy little girl who's hardly opened her eyes once, even to let mommy see them, and she had no objection to being passed from person to person all evening, nor to Li...

Flights

I've got tickets! In faith that all the money will come together, my tickets have been purchased. So now I have to go! There was a significantly cheaper flight option with Air Maroc that involved an overnight in Paris and in Casablanca, but I opted for the same Air France flight from Paris to Douala that Dan and Lisa will be on. Frankly, I'm somewhat relieved the latter option was available. Obviously, I must have some sense of adventure to be willing to spend 10 months in Cameroon--and I do--but it's not quite up to the former challenge just yet. I'll likely be quite wound up as it is--the last thing I'll need in my state of excitement and fretful anticipation is to spend three days alone trying to reach my destination, getting no sleep, dealing with unfamiliar languages, and arriving alone to spend a half-day cartrip down roads in less than perfect condition with a local stranger. Now I'm not saying I'm unwilling to be challenged or that any one of these ...

entering the blog world

I've finally given in to the lure of blogging. Actually, if it weren't for Cameroon, I probably wouldn't be doing this; my excuse for succumbing to the pull of popular culture is that a blog is a very pragmatic way to keep in touch with people at home while I'm gone. Thus the title -- the focus is on my journey to and experience in Cameroon. So you likely shan't see much here till things heat up a bit more.

kar0ling

Read more posts by subject (label)

Search This Blog