• Greenpeace activists posed as the Four Horsement of the Apocalypse and rode through downtown Copenhagen yesterday to remind world leaders of the consequences of inaction on climate change. Each represented one of the potential impacts of climate change: death, pestilence, war and famine.

• The G77, a group which represents 130 developing countries, staged a walkout at the UN Climate summit yesterday to protest what they called inadequate aid offers from rich countries.

• Saharawi non-violent activist Aminatou Haidar, known by many as the “Saharan Gandhi” entered the 29th day of her hunger strike yesterday. Doctors say she may be hours away from death, a risk she is willing to accept unless her single demand—to be allowed to return to her country—is met.

• Iranian men are posting pictures of themselves on the Internet wearing women’s head scarves in an effort to protest the recent arrest of a male anti-government protester, who was shown in a press photo wearing a female garment. Bloggers believe the photo was manipulated to embarass the man. So they are showing that there is nothing wrong with women or veiling.

• Native Hawaiians staged a protest yesterday morning near the Hawaii State Capitol over alleged attempts by Hawaii’s U.S. senators to sneak the Native Hawaiian Recognition Act onto one of the large federal appropriations bills. They say it reduces Native Hawaiians to a tribal status and does not address the true issue of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

• Dozens of children from a Jewish Sunday school marched from Boston Common to the Hyatt Hotel in center city, chanting denouncements of Hyatt’s firing of 98 housekeepers in August. Upon reaching the hotel, the leaders of the march read a statement to hotel workers before handing over a petition.

• 1,000 homeowners occupied the lobby of 1 Chase Plaza, in New York’s financial district, where JPMorganChase has offices, to protest the bank’s broken promise of modifying troubled mortgages.

• Gay rights activists marched in front of New York State Sen. Carl Kruger Brooklyn home Sunday to protest his decision to vote against gay marriage. Organizers of the event say they intend to protest at the homes and offices of many of the 38 senators who voted against the bill.

• British Airways cabin crew voted to strike for almost two weeks over Christmas and New Year in protest over cost-cutting measures introduced by the airline.

As many as 100,000 took part in a four mile march on Saturday from Copenhagen’s Parliament Square to the Bella Center, where climate negotiators from 192 countries are meeting. It was reportedly the largest demonstration for climate justice in world history. Unfortunately it came at a pretty severe cost. Police arrested nearly 1,000 people, cuffing and forcing them to sit in rows for hours without food or toilets in freezing temperatures.

It seems a large segment of those arrested include anarchists participating in a black bloc, a tactic, according to Wikipedia, “whereby individuals wear black clothing, ski masks and motorcycle helmets with padding, steel-toed boots and often carrying their own shields and truncheons.” There were also reports of minimal property damage, such as smashed windows.

As with most large actions, these are the news items that tend to dominate, stealing attention away from the positive power of the protest and “legitimizing” state force. Apparently, in addition to the trumped up police units, the Danish military has been making its presence known as well, contributing to what’s become the largest mobilization of law enforcement in the country’s history.

All but a dozen were released by yesterday, but according to the BBC, “another march pressing for action on global warming near the harbour on Sunday saw dozens more people arrested.”

Riot police stopped the unauthorised demonstration outside the Oesterport station and carried out security checks on participants.

Police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch told the Associated Press that bolt-cutters and gas masks had been found inside a lorry at the front of the march, and that 200 activists had been detained.

The protests and demonstrations will no doubt continue throughout the week thanks to the thousands of courageous people from around the world attending Cop15. As the climate youth activist blog It’s Getting Hot In Here pointed out, it will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday, when thousands plan to march on the Bella Center and “establish a People’s Assembly in a parking lot outside.”

At the same time, the Reclaim Power protestors will call on delegates and activists from the Global South to stage a walkout from the heavily-compromised COP-15 negotiations, and join the People’s Assembly outside.

Such a protest would heavily delegitimize the business-as-usual negotiation process that has prevailed thus far at the COP-15; organizers hope that it would force the Global North cabale that has dominated the talks thus far to grant the Global South countries a greater voice. And this plan perhaps explains why the Danish police – acting together with the UNFCCC – are trying so hard to crack down on anyone trying to challenge the carefully-managed perception that any deal at “Hopenhagen” (even one that flies in the face of democratic process) will be a good deal for all the people of the world.

Several hundred women, many holding pictures of murdered relatives, took to the streets of Kabul to demand that President Hamid Karzai purge anyone connected to corruption, war crimes, or the Taliban from his government. In a rare display of men allowing women to lead, about 500 men followed the protest group in support. (Photo: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times)

• Over 20,000 members of the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) are planning on taking part in strike action against listed retailer Pick n Pay today, to protest alleged racial discrimination at the company.

• In Norway, thousands of people took to the streets of Oslo Thursday as President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Police arrested 33 people who were protesting budget cuts and fee hikes at San Francisco State University to end a sit-in at a campus building.

• Several thousand people in Indonesia, many of whom were students, marched through the capital of Jakarta on Wednesday against government corruption.

• More than 400 Queensland Rail workers walked off the job in Rockhampton on Wednesday to protest against the State Government’s decision to publicly list the company.

• On Tuesday, “Hungry for Justice at Vassar College,” began a hunger strike aimed at getting the school to reverse planned job cuts that have or will hit 13 support workers. Also, the Campus Solidarity Working Group held a sing-in at the main building for the same cause, that was followed by a vigil.

• World No. 1 copper producer Codelco said an indefinite union worker blockade that began on Wednesday has halted mining activities at its massive Chuquicamata mine complex.

• A Canadian citizen, who had staged a hunger strike to protest his planned deportation from Australia, has won a reprieve.

The earliest Christian emperors (including Constantine I himself), as a matter of course, waited until their deathbeds to be baptized. They knew, in a way so many of our Christian leaders have forgotten, that the violence they felt compelled to enact in office was utterly antithetical to Christian teaching. Only when they knew they would do no evil—when they knew they couldn’t possibly do anything else‚ actually—was it safe to wash their sins away in baptismal water.

As he accepts his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today, only days after announcing his decision to commit tens of thousands more American troops to Afghanistan (not to mention contractors and drones), President Barack Obama sounds like he wishes he could do as the emperors did. Receiving a prize for peace is something he’d like, perhaps—just not yet, while there’s still dirty work to be done.

I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. … But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. … I’m responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill, and some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict — filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

Nevertheless, he took the opportunity to insist on the inevitability and necessity of making war in today’s world. He begins by justifying the ever-familiar disjuncture in American politics: celebrating the nonviolent legacy of civil rights while retaining the right to exercise catastrophic violence abroad:

We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: “Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.” As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King’s life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there’s nothing weak — nothing passive — nothing naïve — in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

Once again, it is breathtaking to hear a politician declare that violence is the best answer to the threat of al Qaeda after it has been failing for seven profoundly costly years. Or that the deadliest conflict the world had ever seen was the best possible response to the crisis in Europe of the 1930s and 40s. We say no; we say better ways are possible (see, for instance, Bryan’s recent essay on WWII). They’re simply not tried with the appalling tenacity, commitment, and perseverance that we seem so eager to devote to war-making.

As the Nobel Committee itself said, the prize came to Obama as a challenge, a “call to action.” So far, he has failed to live up to it. He has failed, in turn, to challenge the world order to live up to higher ideals, to renounce violence and imperial habits. He knows that his practice falls far short of even his ideals. But why should a president be expected to do differently than Rome’s emperors?

I think it’s time, finally, that one should.

Danish police wasted no time in taking advantage of a new law that allows for preemptive action against protesters who arrived in Copenhagen for the climate summit this week. According to an article in the Guardian:

Danish police last night raided a climate campaigners’ accommodation centre in Copenhagen, detaining 200 activists and seizing items including paint bombs and shields which they claimed could be used for acts of civil disobedience.

About 200 police arrived at the shelter on Ragnhild Street, in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, at 2.30am. They locked activists into the building for two hours, and searched some of the nearby properties. Campaigners say they took away various items including a power drill, an angle grinder, and some wooden props. No arrests were made.

Police confirmed the raid took place and issued a statement saying among the items they had found were “58 fluorescent tubes containing a mixture of paint and oil, closed in both ends with candle wax, 193 riot shields, nine metal cages measuring 4x2m, which are capable of rolling and constructed inside with milk cartons, which could be used for staircases.”

A spokeswoman for Climate Justice Action (CJA), one of the activist groups, said: “People were enormously frightened and alarmed. We really don’t know why the police handled it like this: the Danish government has provided this accommodation for activists and now the police are acting unnecessarily. We’ll be asking for the items they confiscated back.”

This move by the Danish authorities reminds me of the preemptive raids by police on protesters in St. Paul and Minneapolis before the Republican National Convention last year. If this scary trend continues, protesters will need to take this possibility into consideration as future nonviolent actions are planned. And while I don’t normally like the idea of secrecy, there are times when it may be necessary. Plowshares activists, for example, are very tight-lipped before their actions.

At the end of November, just before Obama announced the escalation of the Afghan War, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), with the help of World Can’t Wait, staged a unique and powerful protest at the Westlake Center in Seattle.

As a form of “street theater,” the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, dressed in their military uniforms and pointing imaginary guns, stormed through the crowd, tossing other protesters – who were disguised as innocent civilians going about their business at the shopping mall – to the ground and arresting them.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer explains the reaction from the passers-by:

But many people were caught off-guard by the unorthodox scene… where lines of young kids waited their turn to ride the carousel and shoppers hurried by with their bags.

As the “soldiers” screamed profanities at the “civilians” on the ground, many frightened young children were asking their parents what was going on. Meanwhile, some adult shoppers walked by – seemingly oblivious to the freaky scene.

Dubbed “Operation First Casualty,” members of IVAW first carried out this unusual type of protest, which gives onlookers just a small taste of what war is like for ordinary Iraqis or Afghans, at various locations in New York City back in 2007. After getting significant media coverage, IVAW took their show to Washington, San Francisco, and to Denver during the Democratic National Convention.

Since I first heard of this idea, and saw pictures and videos of these actions, I thought they were a brilliant and shocking way to dramatize the ugly reality of war for the average American. They also provide great opportunities for those of us in the peace movement to work closely with veterans to resist the ongoing wars.

My only regret is that these types of protest cannot be more widespread. If ordinary people were simply to dress as soldiers and carry out this street theater, critics could legitimately argue that that they don’t really know what war is like. And I wonder if it would offend sympathetic veterans, who are or could potentially be our allies. Any thoughts?

• 19 Greenpeace activists were arrested on Monday in Ottawa after dodging security and scaling two of Canada’s Parliament buildings where they unfurled banners that read “Harper-Ignatieff: Climate Inaction Costs Lives” and “Stop the Tarsands” in French and English.

• 29 people were arrested Monday morning for blocking the entrance to Chevron’s headquarters in San Ramon, CA. They were protesting efforts by Chevron to undermine the fight against global warming.

• More than 30 youth activists from around the world  staged a “die-in” on Monday outside the main plenary at COP15 with the message – “The World Wants a Real Deal” and “Real Deal Saves Lives”.

• Over 300 coalfield residents and their allies rallied at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection yesterday to protest the blasting of Coal River Mountain and support a transition to a clean energy future.

• More than 200 people were arrested in Tehran on Monday during protests by tens of thousands at universities nationwide, marking the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months. Thousands continued protesting for a second day yesterday, as Iran threatened a tougher crackdown on the opposition.

• Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets yesterday to protest the killings of 15 civilians by U.S. forces during an overnight raid on Armal village.

• Crow Creek Sioux tribal members and supporters in South Dakota are planning to set up tepees on land auctioned by the Internal Revenue Service. Tribal Chairman Brandon Sazue intends to fast and pray on the land “until I drop.”

As the UN Copenhagen climate talks began yesterday, a series of strict new laws went into effect. Danish police now have sweeping power to preemptively arrest protesters, enact harsh fines and dole out extended sentences for those engaging in civil disobedience. According to the New York Times, holding facilities that contain approximately three dozen small steel cages and can accommodate up to 350 protesters have already been set up around the city. Police have also been making public displays of their newly acquired anti-riot gear.

All this money and effort has had the effect of turning one of Europe’s most open and democratic cities into a virtual police state for anyone who considers the certain failure of a climate treaty worth protesting. But those not interested in saving the planet–like say, delegates from rich nations–can rest assured that Copenhagen still allows prostitution. In fact, the city expects UN delegates to take advantage of this freedom. But realizing that it is not exactly befitting of a government official attending a landmark conference, the city is requesting that the delegates not patronize Danish sex workers. According to Spiegel Online:

Copenhagen’s city council in conjunction with Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to ‘Be sustainable – don’t buy sex’.

“Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes,” the approach to hotels says.

So, just to be clear, when it wants to dissuade people from taking legitimate action against life-threatening policies, the city of Copenhagen is willing to reform its laws, enact draconian police measures and spend millions in the process. But when it wants to dissuade world leaders from engaging in an act that is illegal in most other countries, during a historic future-in-the-balance conference, the city of Copenhagen sends out postcard warnings.

Of course, this has upset sex workers, who are now firing back at the city by offering a special deal: free sex to anyone who can produce one of the postcards and their COP15 identity card. No joke! What a time to be a sex crazed and completely unaccountable UN climate delegate.

A new coalition of antiwar groups called End US Wars has organized an emergency rally at the White House this Saturday, December 12th, from 11am to 4pm, to call for an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the drone attacks (and covert ops) in Pakistan.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, former Sen. Mike Gravel, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly, Chris Hedges and a host of antiwar leaders will take part and speak at the demonstration.

If President Obama does not meet these demands, the coalition promises to step up opposition, which will include supporting real antiwar candidates in the next election.

(One group that seems to be planning more dramatic action beginning this March is called Peace of the Action. Their site says participants will “bring forward a historic escalation of Peace Activism like we have not seen in the United States in a long time.” Without getting more specific, they plan to disrupt “business as usual” by committing “courageous deeds of civil resistance [on a daily basis] until our demands are met.”)

If you live in DC or can make it there, the protest this weekend will be a good opportunity to voice your opposition to our never-ending wars. And if you can’t get there, organizing a rally in your local area in solidarity with this action would be just as important.

Click here for the Event Guide, including map and transportation arrangements.

Get regular updates here as a Facebook fan of End The Wars.

Click here to read the Open Letter to the President.

At The Immanent Frame today, I interview Mark Johnson, executive director of the pioneering Christian pacifist organization, the Fellowship of Reconciliation. (I wrote about the Fellowship in a recent book review for Commonweal.) We discuss the FOR’s current work, its legacy, and how it is adapting to the the challenges of religious (and non-religious) diversity in its ranks.

NS: How is the FOR’s religious identity evolving today?

MJ: We’re forced to ask ourselves what it means to do peacemaking in an interreligious—or even a secular—world. There’s quite a bit of anxiety among many people, who are asking, if the community consciously opens itself more broadly to humanists and avowed atheists, what confidence do we have that we will share basic values in common? But you can argue, I think, that atheism or agnosticism or humanism are as much religions as any denomination or sect in terms of having an identifiable set of values and, eventually, sets of rituals that shape how people think about and act in the world. A lot of what we struggle with is simply a matter of words. I love Charles Taylor’s arguments about the emergence of the secular age. We’re also reading Peter Berger and Anton Zijderveld’s very nice new book, In Praise of Doubt. Doubt lies at the heart of the practice of pacifism. You can never know, ultimately, how you’re going to respond when confronted by violence. Absent a total conviction or confidence that you’ll act nonviolently, can you characterize yourself as a pacifist? Part of the conversation that we’re having, also, is about how doubt can create the space for being more accepting of more people.

Read more at The Immanent Frame.