Blackwater: American Mercenary Army

For those of you who aren't aware, only 2/3 of the American military forces in Iraq are employed by the American Government. The rest? Mercenaries. Private military contractors. Whatever you want to call them. Better trained than Navy SEALS, and higher paid too, these guys are the Men in Blacks and the Rambos of military forces... for the right amount. Although most of their contracts are with the U.S. Government, there are private firms that hire Blackwater (one of the best known private military companies) employees.

There are certainly perks to being a part of Blackwater as opposed to being in the U.S. Army, Navy, or Air Force. At Blackwater you'll get better training for starters. Think the kind of stuff you see in movies. These guys are the best of the best, and probably have tricks up their sleeves that we wouldn't even think of. In addition to that, they get to choose their assignments. Rather than getting shipped of to some other country without any say in the matter, they can play it safe and go with the simple jobs if they want. Of course, there is more money to be earned doing more dangerous work.

They are the strongest, the smartest, and the most determined (it costs $20,000 just to get their training). They do a lot of bodyguard and military escort, kind of work, but if there is a need for front line stuff they can handle that too. They are starting to rent out their services to international customers in need of 'peace keeping forces.' It seems like it is only a few short steps before it is a full-fledged mercenary army; highly trained soldiers and good guns, about $1,000 per day per man, they have what it takes to demolish just about any force they go up against. Military superiority to the highest bidder.

There is a very good and quite extensive article on Blackwater here: http://hamptonroads.com/node/66331

Kalamazoo's Chapter of Food Not Bombs

This was my final project for my journalism class, a class which was mostly a waste of time, but has somewhat shown me that I don't have to work for the Times to report news. I plan to start writing about things close to me, my friends, my region, and whatever I consider to be newsworthy. Perhaps profiles, local hard news, critics, bringing awareness to new issues, and essays are all possibilities. That being said...

LOCAL NON-ORGANIZATION RECYCLES FOOD

“We've had cops walk by and look,” said August Spies, 25. “They don't do anything, but they know we're here and we know they're there.” The small group of people gather around the picnic table, full of smiles and happy conversation, but that doesn't stop police officers from being suspicious. Most people have never even heard of the group, so it is understandable that the police officers and other people walking by don't know what the people are doing in the park.

The previous Sunday, half a dozen people sat in a meeting room in the basement of Kalamazoo's public library on Sunday afternoon. There was casual talk and informal introductions, but the purpose of their meeting wasn't to get to know each other. They had a plan: to make a vegetarian meal for the next weekend, and to give it away to anyone who wanted to eat.

“We are not an organization,” said Pidge Smit, 24, of Kalamazoo, and one of the people who cooked the meal this week. “We are a group of people centered around an idea.” They are part of an independent grassroots movement called Food Not Bombs. Their goal is to make use of food which would otherwise be wasted in order to feed people who would otherwise be forced to pay for food.

The first Food Not Bombs group was started in Massachusetts in the early 1980's by anti-nuclear activists, but it wasn't long before various activists all over the country started their own chapters in a form of franchise activism. According to the group's official website, there are more than 400 independent groups making and serving food now, almost half of which are outside the US.

Each chapter is independent, tied to the others only by the philosophy of consensual decision making, nonviolence, and vegetarianism. The group's core belief is that if governments spent as much energy feeding people as they do causing wars, then no one would go hungry. According to Smit, It would only take 4 billion pounds of food to feed all the hungry people in the U.S. for a year, and 46 billion pounds of food is thrown out annually. “We want to raise awareness of how much food people throw away and how many mouths it can feed,” said August, one of the organizers and a Kalamazoo resident.

This group is not the first Food Not Bombs that has been in Kalamazoo. In the past several years there have been at least one group working through the Peace Center in Kalamazoo, attempting to make and give away food, but it eventually failed, along with the other attempts to create a local Food Not Bombs.

Kalamazoo's current chapter of Food Not Bombs was established in June, and they have operated successfully the entire time with a budget of zero dollars. The commitment to a non-profit and non-spending group is a part of their commitment to resource recycling. According to the group, they will not waste energy or money buying something that can be recovered, recycled, or reused.

It only takes about one hour of food collection by one or two people, and three to four hours of cooking by another small group to prepare for each meal. Every other Sunday evening they gather in Bronson Park, set up on the picnic tables, and offer food to anyone who passes by. There aren't strict requirements for being able to eat with them. “We've never turned anyone away. The requirements for eating are an appetite,” said Spies.

When the group began planning for the next Sunday's meal, people volunteered to “bottom line” food collection, transportation, cooking, and outreach. Smit described bottom lining and taking responsibility for a certain area, and making sure that it doesn't fall through. Included in the responsibility of bottom lining was encouraging other people to help, rather than designating tasks to them. In line with the group's anti-authoritarian attitude, no one was assigned any tasks, and no rules were made. The work was completely voluntary. “I think that something a lot of people have trouble with is our complete lack of hierarchy,” said Spies. Smit added “No one is in charge here. Any one of us knows enough to answer your questions.”

At 4:50 p.m. on Sunday evening Bronson Park was completely empty, and the cold air made it seem all the more so. Within a few minutes, some people showed up and began to commandeer one of the park's picnic tables. They had made vegetable soup, homemade applesauce, apple pie, and mashed potatoes. They even had a box of donuts that they had dumpster dived and were giving away.

“Call it civil disobedience if you want. I don't care if [dumpster diving] is illegal or not. It feeds people who wouldn't be able to eat otherwise. I believe that eating is a right, not a privilege,” said Spies. Perishable food items can be safely eaten after removing any inedible or unhealthy parts. According to Spies, often food is thrown out merely due to dents in the can, or because it was replaced by a newer item. The many people who eat this kind of food everyday prove that just because someone else threw it away, eating it won't necessarily make you sick. Not all of their food is scavenged, though. The People's Food Co-op regularly gives food to the group rather than letting it go to waste in a trash bin.

There are several regulars who come to eat each time. Some are friends of the organizers, and some are hungry people who happened to be walking by and decided to have a bite. There are almost always some new people whose curiosity encourages them to take a bite, and the food and company encourages them to stick around. Smit calls across the park to some people who are walking by: “You want some free food? It's homemade! Fresh apple pie, mashed potatoes, hot vegetable soup!” Sometimes they come and join the party, but usually people respond that they're not hungry and just walk by. “We need to work a lot more on outreach,” Smit commented. “The past few weeks we've been going home with lots of leftover food, and I don't know what to do with it all.” The people who are sitting at the picnic table, as well as those standing around eating, laugh at the distrustfulness of strangers and continue to enjoy their hot meal.