Houstonian stirs a ruckus in Australia (history teacher jailed in protest of war in Iraq)

Houston Chronicle ^ | September 17, 2005 | EDWARD HEGSTROM

[Cincinatus' Wife]

In Houston, Scott Parkin lived a mostly inconspicuous life as a part-time history teacher and peace activist.

But in Australia, he has become a media sensation, a symbol of dissent and a topic of fervent Australian senate debate. When he was arrested this month after participating in a Sydney protest against the Houston-based company Halliburton, some Australians started describing him as the country's first "political prisoner."

"It's crazy," Parkin, 36, said in an interview Friday, hours after his return to Houston. He said he was not accustomed to being the subject of a "media frenzy."

And though he has vowed to put the experience behind him now that he is back in Houston, it might not be that simple. The Australian government has announced that it will try to bill him for more than $8,000, which includes the cost of his two government escorts to the United States and his time in jail.

The government said the bill for being in prison was $190 a night. The prison "was the most expensive place I stayed in Australia," Parkin said.

A native of the Dallas area, Parkin lived in Montrose and taught American history at San Jacinto College's Clear Lake campus from 1999 until last December. He was a co-founder of the Houston Global Awareness Collective, a group originally formed to oppose globalization but which now works in opposition to the war in Iraq. Friends describe him as a follower of the Ghandi school of nonviolent protest.

He was arrested during a Greenpeace protest in Dallas and at another protest in Washington, D.C., but was never charged with a crime here, he says. He protested at the Republican National Convention last year in New York, where he said he wanted to tell the world that "not everyone from Texas is a cowboy, and not everybody believes in yee-haw as a foreign policy."

He took his backpack and set off for Australia in June, planning to spend six months touring the country and relaxing. But as an inveterate activist, he soon found himself in the company of others who shared his opposition to the war in Iraq.

He participated in some protests, as well as teaching at protesters' how-to seminars. On Aug. 31, he protested outside the Sydney headquarters of Halliburton subsidiary KBR. In an interview broadcast on Australian national television, he called Halliburton "the poster child of war profiteering in Iraq."

Seen as security threat

Less than two weeks later, he was arrested, though he was never charged with a crime.

In an exchange in the Australian senate, Justice Minister Chris Ellison explained that the Australian intelligence service had made an "adverse security assessment" of Parkin, which meant he was considered a threat to Australian national security. Without elaborating, Ellison said there were two incidents that made it apparent that Parkin's "intentions had changed whilst he was in Australia."

The government revokes the visas of anyone considered a security risk, Ellison explained. After five days in prison, Parkin was required to leave the country, and he arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, before going on to Houston.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard, Australia has backed the war in Iraq. This has generated some protest in the country, particularly among critics who accuse Howard of being too close to Washington.

Few firm plans

Australian newspapers have carried speculation that Parkin's removal from Australia may have been done under pressure from Washington. But even Parkin doesn't believe that.

Representatives of the U.S. consulate visited him in prison and showed a sincere interest in his welfare, he said. Besides, "I'm really not much of a threat to Washington," he said.

With his extended Australian holiday abruptly ended, Parkin said he's not sure what he'll do now. He's staying temporarily with friends in Houston, and wants to visit the East Coast. He might return here to teach again, though he's not sure.

Nor is he certain if he'll ever try to go back to Australia.

"The Australian people really rallied around me," he said. But the government might not allow him back in.

And there's still that matter of the outstanding $8,000 bill.

edward.hegstrom@chron.com

[Cincinatus' Wife]

American peace activist Scott Parkin has been escorted under guard to Melbourne Airport. (ABC)

He got his fifteen minutes.

Now he can go back to poisioning the minds of his students against their country.

I wonder if it might cross his mind to help people displaced by Katrina.

________________________________________________________

Bringing Down The Pillars: People power strategies against war and capitalism

Cancelled by the police state

Workshop: Irene's warehouse: 5 Pitt St. Brunswick, Saturday September 10th, 1pm to 5pm.

Scott Parkin, an experienced community organiser, activist and trainer from Houston, Texas works with Houston Global Awareness, campaigning to get the corporate war profiteer, Halliburton, out of Iraq.

This cross-movement workshop/forum will be a chance for Melbourne activists to hear about and discuss international experiences, innovations and emerging trends in organising for grassroots direct action campaigns.

Scott and local activists will discuss strategic organising and SmartMeme's "Battle of the Story", an activist framing strategy for media and messaging.

Houston Global Awareness are using a "people power" strategy of direct action and popular education to exact social, political and economic cost on Halliburton for their operations in Iraq. In the spirit of the Serbian Otpor movement, privatisation resistors in Bolivia and the Filipino "People Power" movements, Houston activists are using community dialogue, teach-ins, film screenings, Halliburton counter-recruitment, and nonviolent direct action to stop the war profiteers. The strategy targets key pillars of support in the occupation of Iraq.

Check out http://www.houstonglobalawareness.org and http://www.smartmeme.com

Irene's warehouse: 5 Pitt St. Brunswick, Melbourne
Gold coin donation
For more info and to RSVP contact: 03 9415 6642 or
ptchang@office.minihub.org

Presented by Forest Action Trust, Pt'chang Nonviolence Training Project, and Friends of the Earth Melbourne

Direct Action Against War

http://disobedience.nomasters.org/?q=node/view/91

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A great quote from another site:

I do hope, however, he arrived in Australia on a small, makeshift sampan. Don’t want him flying in airplanes. Why, the amount of big companies making money from that airplane ticket - the oil company, the airline, the catering company… all to be used in torturing innocent Iraqis (like dying their fingers purplish blue...)

Plus, all of them are taxed, and that taxed monies are then transfered to the military that continuially tries violates the Iraqi (and other permanent residents in Iraq) human right to blow themselves up in a Shi’ite procession…

Posted by Rajan R on 09/14 at 01:55 AM • permalink

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/comments/left_friendly_texan_seized

[Cincinatus' Wife]

***.....So what the hell was he doing in Australia, exactly? Here's some more info on Parkin from a Counter Punch interview.

'Zeese: What organization are you with? What organizations are you working with on this project? Parkin: I am a community organizer with Houston Global Awareness, a local anti-empire global justice group in Houston, Texas. Over the past year, we have worked extensively with Global Exchange and Code Pink on the Halliburton campaign. We have also worked with a number of local peace groups such as the Houston Peace and Justice Center, Mama's Brigade and different anti-authoritarian groups in town. We also recently connected with the Austin spokes council who does similar work in Austin.'

He's an avowed socialist. The generic terms 'peace and justice' are hallmarks of socialist (communist) organisations in western societies. Parkin is a professional protestor. Pure and simple agit-prop. The terms of his visa appear to be based on tourist conditions, of which there are several generalised conditions that the Australian government stipulate are to be abided by for entrants....*** Source

[Echo Talon]

What a frickin' IDIOT!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Where did you find that picture?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It never fails to amaze me how many of these little fringe groups there are.

Houston GLobal Awareness

At their sites they LINK to each other. It sounds like Parkin was assisting in cross-group connections.

[kb2614]

These morons crack me up! Some parody's write themselves.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Source for info below

For more information Houston Global Awareness Collective at www.houstonglobalawareness.org Halliburton Watch at www.halliburtonwatch.org

Committee on Government Reform Minority Office http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov Links from DemocracyRising.US under “U.S. Corporations in Iraq and the Cost of the War” See interview with Jim Donahue of Halliburton Watch http://democracyrising.us/content/view/90/164/

_____________________________________________________

Henry A. Waxman's site above: democrats.reform.house.gov [check it out]

[martin_fierro]

I wonder if it might cross his mind to help people displaced by Katrina.

Nope.

Not unless there's a way for his activities to be all about him.

That's the single, consistent thread to his useless, pathetic life. It is always, always about him.

He can't understand how he got in the middle of a "media frenzy"? Hogwash. That's exactly where he longs to be.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

You nailed it.

......If others could understand your truth, you would not think of yourself as a "vanguard." You would no longer inhabit the morally charmed world of an elite, whose members alone can see the light and whose mission is to lead the unenlightened towards it. If everybody could see the promised horizon and knew the path to reach it, the future would already have happened and there would be no need for the vanguard of the saints.

.....Their cynicism flows from the very perception they have of right and wrong. They do it for higher ends. They do it for the progressive faith. They do it because they see themselves as having the power to redeem the world from evil. It is that terrifyingly exalted ambition that fuels their spiritual arrogance and justifies their sordid and, if necessary, criminal means. .... Source

[Echo Talon]

Where did you find that picture?

The picture of Napolean Dynamite? If so, I took it myself about an hour ago. :D

[Aussiebabe]

Of course, as usual, the press has it wrong. He wasn't arrested for protesting Halliburton (in fact he wasn't arrested at all at the protest). He was at the protest against Steve Forbes' CEO conference and the protesters were protesting against capitalism (I actually saw some of the protest, it was pretty silly, only a few of the protesters got violent). The government won't say why he was arrested, but I suspect one of two things, he was here on a 6-months tourist visa and he started to teach classes on how to conduct protests (this would be in violation of this visa) or he may not have admitted he had been arrested before in the USA when he filled out his tourist visa application or immigration card.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

That sounds like two good reasons to give him the boot.

Thank you for the information.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Okay. There is a resemblance.

Professors take on role as high priests of activism***...Like most Southern universities, Texas campuses historically have not been politically active. At UH, the level of activism is further constrained because 90 percent of the students commute.

After arriving at UH in 1995, Buzzanco said, "I decided I would do whatever I could to invigorate things."

He helped organize campus and community demonstrations and became a frequent guest on a bellicose radio show on KPFT-Pacifica Radio, a stridently leftist network based in Berkeley, Calif.

But not until 1999 did Buzzanco begin to take his role as campus agitator "seriously," he said. ...***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A CLASS STRUGGLE: Tenure of Avowed Marxist Controversy jolts College***...."In a nutshell, it means I have a fundamental disagreement with capitalism," he said. "I think that capitalism is a system based on exploitation and oppression and domination and racism and war and lots of other things.

"So I'm totally opposed to capitalism, and I think that the majority of the people of this country ought to get together and transform the system," he said. "I think we need to replace capitalism with some kind of democratic socialism."...***

[Byron_the_Aussie]

You're amazing, Cincy! Trust you, to be on top of this story. No media meltdown, though. Parkin's deportation has been sidelined news-wise, due to Downunders' fixation this week on the Latham Meltdown.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

From your LINK:

Australia didn’t merely dodge a bullet last year by declining to elect Mark Latham ... we dodged a freakin’ firestorm:

Bump!

[Servant of the 9]

A native of the Dallas area, Parkin lived in Montrose and taught American history at San Jacinto College's Clear Lake campus from 1999 until last December.

In plain words, a homosexual.

He was a co-founder of the Houston Global Awareness Collective, a group originally formed to oppose globalization but which now works in opposition to the war in Iraq. Friends describe him as a follower of the Ghandi school of nonviolent protest.

He was arrested during a Greenpeace protest in Dallas and at another protest in Washington, D.C., but was never charged with a crime here, he says. He protested at the Republican National Convention last year in New York,......

A radical leftist.

.... where he said he wanted to tell the world that "not everyone from Texas is a cowboy, and not everybody believes in yee-haw as a foreign policy."

Isn't that precious.

So9

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...He participated in some protests, as well as teaching at protesters' how-to seminars...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

..............A radical leftist.......

But they pass themselves off as peace activists.

David Horowitz: ***....Ever since abandoning the utopian illusions of the progressive cause, I have been struck by how little the world outside the left seems to actually understand it. How little those who have not inhabited the progressive mind are able to grasp the ruthless cynicism behind its idealistic mask or the fervent malice that drives its hypocritical passion for "social justice."

No matter how great the crimes progressives commit, no matter how terrible the future they labor to create, no matter how devastating the catastrophes they leave behind, the world outside the faith seems ever ready to forgive them their "mistakes" and to grant them the grace of "good intentions."

It would be difficult to recall, for example, the number of times I have been introduced on conservative platforms as "a former civil rights worker and peace activist in the 1960s." I have been described this way despite having written a detailed autobiography that exposes these self-glorifying images of the left as so many political lies. Like many New Left leaders whom the young Mrs. Clinton once followed (and who are her comrades today), I regarded myself in the 1960s as a socialist and a revolutionary. No matter what slogans we chanted, or ideals we proclaimed our agendas always extended beyond (and well beyond) the immediate issues of "civil rights" and "peace."

............If you were active in the so-called "peace" movement or in the radical wing of the civil rights causes, why would you tell the truth? Why would you tell people that no, you weren't really a "peace activist," except in the sense that you were against America's war. Why would you draw attention to the fact that while you called yourselves "peace activists," you didn't oppose the Communists' war, and were gratified when America's enemies won?

What you were really against was not war at all, but American "imperialism" and American capitalism. What you truly hated was America's democracy, which you knew to be a "sham" because it was controlled by money in the end. That's why you wanted to "Bring the Troops Home," as your slogan said. Because if America's troops came home, America would lose and the Communists would win. And the progressive future would be one step closer.

But you never had the honesty-then or now-to admit that. You told the lie then to maintain your influence and increase your power to do good (as only the Chosen can). And you keep on telling the lie for the same reason.

Why would you admit that, despite your tactical support for civil rights, you weren't really committed to civil rights as Americans understand rights? What you really wanted was to overthrow the very Constitution that guaranteed those rights, based as it is on private property and the individual-both of which you despise.

It is because America is a democracy and the people endorse it, that the left's anti-American, but "progressive" agendas can only be achieved by deceiving the people. This is the cross the left has to bear: The better world is only achievable by lying to the very people they propose to redeem.

Despite the homage contemporary leftists pay to post-modernist conceits, despite their belated and half-hearted display of critical sentiment towards Communist regimes, they are very much the ideological heirs of Stalinist progressives, who supported the greatest mass murders in human history, but who remember themselves as civil libertarian opponents of McCarthy and victims of a political witch-hunt. (Only the dialectically gifted can even begin to follow the logic involved.) .......................*** Source