Tag Archives: Politics

Broken Spear Vision Interview with Judy Bello

Judy

 

Judy Bello | Fellowship of Reconciliation 

A local journalist has taken the lead in drawing attention to the victims of drone strikes in Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Persistent drone attacks in this region have terrorized the community and disorganized the society that is the basis of support for the people. Noor Behram has dedicated himself to bringing the tragedy imposed on his community by a foreign army pursuing its own aims. He has compiled a dossier of photographs of child victims of the attacks, and of the general devastation of destroyed homes and lives.

According to Shahzad Akbar of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights in Islamabad, Noor came to town a year ago with his photos and asked for assistance in finding a venue where he could show his photos. When he couldn’t get a gallery to support a showing, he set them up on the street. Since then, his pictures have appeared in numerous news outlets from the Guardian of London to Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC. On October 7, 2012, posters made from these photos adorned and identified our buses as we headed for South Waziristan with Imran Khan’s Peace March.

Noor attended a meeting we held with some family members of victims of drone attacks. During the introductions, he busily sifted through a large envelope full of photos. When he spoke, he held up the images that would illustrate his words. Noor says that he has about 100 photos of children who have been killed by drone attacks, but there are many more whose bodies were torn to pieces by the Hellfire missile that took their lives, or who were already buried by the time he was able to arrive.

https://archive.org/details/TheBrokenSpearVision19

http://blog.deconstructedglobe.com/

Broken Spear Vision Interviews with Gary Pudup

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https://archive.org/details/TheBrokenSpearVision20

Gary was born in Rochester, NY and raised in rural Chili.

He attended St. Helen school in Gates, and was a member of Boy Scout Troop 157

He graduated from McQuaid Jesuit High School in 1972 where he played football and was an undefeated City-Catholic League wrestling champ.

Gary was fortunate enough to be accepted at the University of Rochester where he played offensive guard for the Yellow Jackets football team.

Wishing to pursue a career in law enforcement  he transferred to RIT and earned a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice.

Gary Pudup as a Young CopGary-Irondequoit PoliceGary began his law enforcement career in the New York Attorney General’s Office as a criminal investigator. He was also in the Rochester Police Department, Irondequoit Police Department and settled in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Andy Meloni. He had many assignments ranging from patrol deputy to watch commander. This included assignments in the western part of the county where he had responsibilities in Parma, Ogden and Greece. He was also heavily involved in the training program for Critical Incident Management and Command Post Operations. This training emphasized cooperation between emergency medical services, the fire services and law enforcement during critical incidents such as active shooter, terrorist and mass casualty scenarios such as chemical spills.

Gary retired after more than 29 years of service rising through the ranks to become a watch commander and head of the Internal Affairs Unit.

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Kathy Gary and daughter Kelly PudupDuring this time he became an FAA certified pilot and worked as a private contractor traffic watch pilot, FAA certified flight instructor and commercial Part 135 pilot to help pay for his daughter’s education.

Upon retirement he continued work as a pilot and returned to school going to St. John Fisher College to work on a masters degree in preparation to enter the private sector. Always interested in helping others he studied human services administration and served on several local non-profit boards.

Gary has on many occasions given  back to the community in a host of capacities, including being a member of the Center for Dispute Settlement’s Police-Community Advisory Committee, a school tutor for underprivileged children, a tax-preparer for low income families and senior citizens, a volunteer advocate for women’s issues and as a hiking trail maintenance worker for the ADK . Gary has also served on a variety of church committees and is a supporter of the Greece Historical Society.

Gary and Kathy Pudup at a hockey game

Gary is a long time Greece resident who resides with his wife of 36 years, Kathy, a life-long Greece resident. Kathy retired from the Rochester City School district where she helped children with hearing challenges as an educational audiologist. Their daughter Colleen attended Greece schools and is a now a special education teacher.