On Sunday, December 17th, 2023 a Nativity scene will be set in front of the Syracuse Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception before the 9:45 AM Mass for people to view and comment on; it suggests that Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus would likely be incinerated if being under Roman occupation, Herod had killer drones. Syracuse has one of a growing number of killer drone bases in the United States.

The churches in the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, are canceling the celebration of Christmas because their fellow Palestinians in Gaza are being slaughtered by Israel aided by United States approval and assistance. Many American Christian churches are silent about the ongoing genocide inflicted by Israel and are not promoting the nonviolent message of Jesus. More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza; thousands more remain uncounted under the rubble caused by Israeli terror from planes, tanks, howitzer 155mm shells, and other weapons of mass destruction. Since Oct. 7^th, 50,897 people have been injured. We deplore US Senator Schumer who has given total cooperation to the Israeli slaughter of Gazans and led the US Senate to refuse to support a permanent ceasefire.

This Christmas, we applaud and join Pope Francis in his renewed call for an immediate permanent humanitarian ceasefire, and we call for an end to the occupation.  Palestinians need to be free from the ongoing unequal apartheid system of control and given full autonomy, and respect for their human rights with dignity.  We call for an end to the genocide. We pray that Christians will return to the true meaning of Christ’s birth, the proclaimed Prince of Peace. Join in our demand to end sending weapons and funding to Israel.

This is a local issue in Syracuse, protested since 2009; as Hancock Drone Airbase, one of the largest training and maintenance centers for drone assassinations, kills civilians abroad just as Israeli drones are used in Gaza. In attendance are members of Pax Christi Upstate NY, Upstate Drone Action, Ithaca Catholic Workers, Friends of Ben Salmon, Syracuse Peace Council, and many people of conscience who want the slaughter to end.

Ceasefire Now!

Directions to Syracuse Cathedral, 259 E Onondaga St, Syracuse, NY 13202

(https://www.google.com/maps/search/259+E%C2%A0+Onondaga+St,+Syracuse,+NY+13202?entry=gmail&source=g)

The Call of the Churches in Bethlehem to Cancel Christmas Celebrations and Find Baby Jesus in the Rubble: https://youtu.be/22curZplBl0?si=mLIIDunSuDa_QxLO

https://www.yahoo.com/news/110-freeway-reopens-cease-fire-201246388.html

Contact: Ann Tiffany, anntiffany6235@gmail.com  315-478-4571

Mary Anne Grady Flores, gradyflores08@gmail.com 607-280-8797

*Featured Image: A Lutheran church in Bethlehem has a Christmas Nativity centered on the war and suffering in Gaza.A Lutheran church in Bethlehem has a Christmas Nativity centered on the war and suffering in Gaza.

According to event organizer Jack Gilroy, a group of over 100 people protested outside General Dynamics in a cold rain in Scranton, PA, Joe Biden’s home town.  This factory manufactures ammunition required by both Israel and Ukraine to keep the U.S. backed slaughterhouse in business.  Sponsors for this action include:  Ban Killer Drones, The Merchants of Death Tribunal, Broome County Peace Action,  Broome County Veterans For Peace and Upstate Drone Action.

The event was given positive coverage by WVIA News in Scranton, which published a great slideshow on their website.

Veterans for Peace Director Mike Fermer lays in front of the gate to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant. Src: WVAI

The Press Release is below:

Following talks with Blinken, Israel has resumed bombing of Gaza, including the south, where Israel told Palestinian civilians to go in what UNICEF spokesperson James Elder is calling “a war on children.” An Israeli spokesperson states its forces are unleashing “the mother of all thumpings” on Gaza. The Israeli +972 Magazine published the piece “‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza.” See Al Jazeera live stream and X/Twitter list. There have been major protests around the world, from South Africa to Denmark to Jordan.

This weekend, a coalition of groups protested in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Penn.

Video by Vera Scroggins.

The protests centered around a General Dynamics facility which the coalition states “makes 155 mm shells which have been used by Israeli artillery to bomb Gaza where over 15,000 people have been killed with 75 percent being children and women. The geographic area of Gaza is just one-third the size of Lackawanna County [where Scranton is located]. Israel has dropped 25,000 tons of explosives on tiny Gaza — equal to the explosive force of two nuclear bombs. … The Biden administration ordered 57,000 155 mm shells to be delivered to Israel.”

The groups include Northeast Pennsylvania for Palestine, Veterans for Peace and Democratic Socialists of America. The coalition states: “Genocide Joe is attempting to remove all restrictions currently in place on Israel’s access to U.S. stockpiles in the region as a way of sidestepping congressional approval. The killing must stop.”

Video by John Amidon:

The coalition cites the “Leahy Law that prohibits sending weapons to known human rights violators” and vows to block the main gate of General Dynamics facility.

“Josh Paul, a former senior State Department official overseeing arms sales who resigned in protest last month, said that Israel is in violation of international law. ‘Israel is committing war crimes in its actions in Gaza right now,’ he said. ‘And it’s not just my opinion. I’ve actually heard from officials across government, including elected officials at a very senior level, who share that opinion but aren’t willing to say it in public.’

“Hospitals had become refuge for many, and they have been bombed, along with actual refugee camps. Even during this ‘humanitarian pause’ Gazans who have attempted to return home in the North have been fired on by the Israeli Forces.
 
“While we are pleased to see the reunification of families … we must remember the Israeli government has vowed that they will continue their campaign of carnage after the temporary ‘humanitarian pause.’

“We in no uncertain terms condemn Rep. Matt Cartwright, Sen. Bob Casey, and Sen. Fetterman for providing rhetorical cover for the genocide of Palestinians. We condemn President Biden, who could stop this genocide with a phone call and who has been a vehement supporter of the brutal Israeli occupation his entire political career.”

Speakers at the rally at noon on Sunday included:

Mike Ferner, Director of Veterans for Peace USA
Nick Mottern, National Board of Directors of VFP

Ariel Gold, Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation 
Jamie Santiago, University of Scranton student
Julia Stanley, Binghamton NY Peace and Justice advocate
Lori Watson, Scranton Peace and Justice advocate
Jack Gilroy, Pax Christi USA/VFP

*Featured Image: Protesters outside General Dynamics in Scranton, protesting US weapons sales to Ukraine and Israel which result in tens of thousands of pointless deaths while US corporations receive billions of $$. src ~Vera Scroggins Video above.

For more information about the activities of US weapons manufacturers,  check out the Merchants of Death Tribunal.  It has already begun with an introductory session on November 5, followed by new sessions released on zoom every Sunday night at 8pm.  The schedule can be found on merchantsofdeath.org and the video presentations from each session are on Rumble.

Subpeona for Senator Schumer

Subpeona for Senator Gillibrand
d

Fat Cat Banker Introduces Medea

Medea Benjamin Clip

Diane Sare clip

Subpoena for JP Morgan Chase

Procession to The Chancellery of the Diocese of Syracuse

Subpeona for Bishop Lucia

Subpoena for Base Commander

Hancock: Ed Kinane

Hancock: Chuck Kline

Hancock: Rose McPartland

by Jack Gilroy, published in Veterans For Peace Newsletter | Spring 2023 25

An Earth Day celebration mocking the clever fools of the war machine produced a lot of grim fun in Syracuse, New York, on Friday, April 21. A coalition of peace groups including Upstate Drone Action, Veterans For Peace Chapter 90, Peace Action, UpState PaxChristi, and Ithaca Catholic Worker had already issued subpoenas to six merchants of death and their enablers in the Syracuse community to testify at the November 2023 Merchants of Death Tribunal. Now it was time to hear from the war enablers themselves.

Speaking outside the federal building offices of Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Senator Schumer, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate (played by Jack Gilroy) said: “Just imagine if we followed JFK’s call for disarmament and friendly relations with the Russians 60 years ago…? We wouldn’t be the leaders we are now in weapons production and… [kicking] ass around the world. Sure, we usually get our own asses kicked, but hey! A lot of people get rich in the process—it’s a capitalist country, no?” Our sign illustrated his point: “Chuck Schumer Takes More $$ from the Merchants of Death than any other U.S. politician.”

LEFT: Jack Gilroy plays Chuck Schumer in a political skit out in front of the New York Senator’s Syracuse office building. RIGHT: JP Morgan (Todd Sadler) and fellow Fat Cats cheer on the politicians. Photos: John Amidon

Binghamton actress Judy McMahon, playing Senator Gillibrand, told how lucky she was to marry a Brit whose family pretty much controlled BAE (formerly British Aeronautical Engineering), now one of the top ten merchants of death. Sen Gillibrand told how she received a half million dollars from her Brit relatives to help her become a Senator who sits on the  Armed Services Committee and enjoys not only voting for the military budget each year but increasing it. “My aides tell me that millions struggle to have food stamps, but I say guns over butter. Let them make cake! We need more tanks and planes. How will we very be able to blow our enemies to smithereens if we don’t spend a trillion dollars to upgrade our nuclear weapons system? Some say we should spend some of those needed nuke  dollars to pay for mental help needs. How crazy is that?”

Colonel Glorious Guano (played by Kirsten Whistle), the new commander of the 174th Attack Wing of the N.Y. State National Guard, told the crowd, “We sit on our asses as we decide who lives and dies in faraway places… We’re the U.S. Chair Force! We miss finding targets in Afghanistan, but thankfully we have a president who has given us new opportunities to hone our killing skills with his after-Afghanistan policy, Beyond the Horizon, keeping us busy right here in Syracuse doing assassinations without worrying about church leaders or other ‘moralists’ interfering with our ability to keep our boy’s and girls’ boots off the ground.”

Diane Sare gave a brilliant talk on the messed-up U.S. Intelligence system now desperate to find new draconian ways to arrest and imprison people who speak out in opposition to wars concocted in secret by privileged captains of industry.

Medea Benjamin, our USA Activism for Justice Rock Star, played her usual captivating self, and pantomimed distributing dollars to Schumer and Gillibrand for real needs.

Diane Sare played “We’re In The Money” on her trombone, as the crowd of Fat Cats and sign carriers followed the band to nearby Chase Bank, where JP Morgan (Todd Sadler in top hat) did a spoof at the bank that included reading a subpoena that he ordered taken to the CEO of JP Morgan Chase.

Actors playing Bishop Lucia of Syracuse and Pope Francis (barely visible in the rear of this photo) joined in the walk to the Syracuse Diocese headquarters led by trombonist Diane Sare playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Photo: Michelle Erin

On the chancery steps of Syracuse Diocese headquarters, Pope Francis congratulated Bishop Lucia for his initiative in bringing about an apology from the Vatican for 500 years of domination of aboriginal people in the Western Hemisphere, The Doctrine of Discovery. Then the Pope admonished the Bishop for his silence abut the assassination drone base near his office, and for not speaking up forcefully to condemn environmental damages caused by the Merchant of Death, Lockheed Martin, in his own diocese.

LEFT: Jack Gilroy plays Chuck Schumer in a political skit out in front of the New York Senator’s Syracuse office building. RIGHT: JP Morgan(Todd Sadler) and fellow Fat Cats c

Press Release: For Immediate Release

Contact: Jack Gilroy 607-321-8537 jgilroy1955@gmail.com
                Mary Anne Grady Flores 607-280-8797 gradyflores08@gmail.com

Join us! Guest Speaker: Medea Benjamin of Code Pink

Friday! April 21st, EARTH DAY Actions in Syracuse sponsored by UpstateDroneAction.

SUBPOENAS WILL BE DELIVERED TO MERCHANTS OF DEATH (e.g. LOCKHEED) and their allies, calling them to give account at the November Merchants of Death Tribunal for making huge profits from war while causing the suffering of millions of victims and severe destruction to the earth and all her creatures. The Earth and her people cry out for relief. No More Weapons for War! Lockheed is the world’s largest weapons dealer and profiteer. Their CEO is on the NATO board. All countries who sign on must spend 5% of their GDP buying Lockheed weapons and parts. According to Vets for Peace, the US military has the largest institutional output of greenhouse gases, more than 145 countries combined, supplying 800 US bases around the world, sending rockets to put satellites to conduct all our wars and surveillance. Lockheed feeds the beast of war. We go to the gates of Lockheed, Merchant of Death to say Peace is the Way. “We used to make weapons for war! Now we make wars for weapons!”

TIMING:  

• (Part 1) @ 12 noon -1:30 pm (1 1/2 hrs)
• BREAK & LUNCH 1:45 – 3 pm (1 1/4 hr)
• (Part 2) @ 3:15 – 4:30 pm  (1 1/4 hr.)

Part 1 Downtown: 

Guest Speakers:

    Medea Benjamin, Diane Sare

(Street Theatre & Delivery of Subpoenas to allies of Merchants of Death)

Special Appearances:

    Drummers, Trumpeters, Fat Cats in Top Hats, Senators & the Pope! 

1st Stop: 12 noon @ Federal Bldg,

Sen. Schumer & Gillibrand’s Offices.
        (Senator allies of Pentagon contractor, Lockheed).
– 100 S Clinton St, Syracuse, NY 13261  (park across from Fed. Bldg)

—————  then walk 2 blocks

2nd Stop: 12:30 pm  Chase Bank 

   (Major investor in Merchants of Death, weapons contractors).
– 110 W. Fayette St. (near Washinton St.) address correction confirmed by Ann Tiffany.

—————   then walk 5 or 6 blocks

3rd Stop -1 pm  Syracuse Diocese Office

          (Calling Catholic Bishop Lucia to not be silent on issues of war-making & drone killing.)
– 240 E Onondaga St, Syracuse, NY 13202

BREAK & LUNCH 1:45 – 3 pm

    (Tuna & Egg Salad, Rum Cake, & any goodies you bring)
Ed Kinane & Ann Tiffany’s Home
– 340 Midland Ave, Syracuse, NY 13202
—————   14 minutes or 7.4 miles to Lockheed from Ed & Ann’s house

Part 2 – The Immediate Perpetrators

4th Stop – 3:15 -3:45 pm (1/2 hr.)  Lockheed Martin
      (World’s Largest Weapons Dealer & Profiteer)
– 497 Electronics Pkwy, Liverpool, NY 13088

—————   then drive 15- 20 mins to Hancock Base

5th Stop – 4 – 4:30 pm (1/2 hr.) Hancock Drone Assassination Base

– 6001 E Molloy Rd, Syracuse, NY 13211

Map with Directions from Ann & Ed’s house to Lockheed.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kBMYG58DYezttQ318?g_st=ig

**  Questions? Contacts are above.

by Drago Bosnic, published on InfoBRICS, March 28, 2023

There’s very little doubt that warfare has changed dramatically in recent decades, with the tactical gap between leading militaries and those of local powers (or even the usually overlooked small countries) narrowing as the proliferation of unmanned systems continues unabated. With the advent of the information era, the abundance of war footage has essentially eliminated the once-assured readiness of tens of millions to go to war, leaving militaries around the globe struggling to meet their recruitment quotas. Losing even a hundred drones is certainly preferable to having ten soldiers (or even one) killed and/or wounded in action, particularly for politicians and their respective parties seeking reelection. As a result, drones, robots and other unmanned vehicles have become increasingly important.

The combination of these factors created the “perfect storm” for the dramatic rise and adoption of unmanned systems by most militaries around the world. Perhaps the best proof of this has been the mass usage of drones by both sides of the Ukrainian conflict. Ranging from commercial quadcopters to HALE (high-altitude, long-endurance) military drones, these weapons are changing the face of warfare in a manner no less revolutionary than airplanes and tanks did during the First World War. Interestingly, as both the Russian military and the Kiev regime forces deploy advanced long-range air defenses (particularly the former), the role of larger drones has subsided, leaving smaller platforms as the more cost-effective alternative, while also providing significant tactical advantages.

Aside from circumventing advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems, miniature drones offer an important upper hand in terms of first-strike capabilities and forward reconnaissance. Apart from Russia and the Kiev regime, the US-led political West is also taking this into account, especially when considering the fact that NATO’s massive ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) capabilities have been used to observe virtually every inch of the vast Ukrainian battlefields. Precisely this is pushing the belligerent alliance to equip the Neo-Nazi junta forces with the latest unmanned technologies, both as a way of providing its favorite puppet regime with weapons to counter the Russian military, as well as battle-testing the said drones against an advanced state adversary.

And while the Kiev regime’s pompous announcements of an upcoming offensive may be dismissed as routine propaganda stunts, Russian intelligence found solid evidence that such weapons are being supplied to the Neo-Nazi junta. Needless to say, the political West sending advanced weapons to Kiev is hardly breaking news, but what’s unusual is the participation of Taiwan. Apparently, China’s breakaway island province is working directly with the US on developing and manufacturing the new unmanned systems. Another novelty in this particular case is the ostensible ability of these drones to autonomously coordinate their attacks and act as a swarm, or more precisely, “swarms-of-swarms“, as the program’s name clearly indicates.

The project, named AMASS (Autonomous Multi-Domain Adaptive Swarms-of-Swarms), is directly supervised by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the Pentagon’s top advanced weapons programs agency. In order to accomplish the task of controlling hundreds of drones simultaneously, the use of advanced artificial intelligence (AAI) is a given in this case. Considering that AAI is one of DARPA’s main fields of study, its involvement in the project is effectively guaranteed. Military experts estimate that several hundred kamikaze drones can function within one network, further connected to a much larger system that includes thousands of drones. DARPA’s share in the project is by far the largest, although Taiwan seems to be providing key manufacturing facilities.

Back in early February, several media reports emerged that the AMASS project was fast-tracked by DARPA due to Pentagon’s plans to create a “swarms-of-swarms” system that would “simultaneously counter multiple adversarial assets and enable warfighters to operate within the A2/AD [anti-access/area denial] environment”. With Russia and China being the only countries with such capabilities, it’s essentially guaranteed they are the primary targets. This is further reinforced by the involvement of the government in Taipei, which clearly aims to counter China’s A2/AD “bubbles”. These still represent an insurmountable obstacle against which the Taiwanese military is effectively powerless, both in terms of offensive and defensive capabilities.

However, before the possible deployment of AMASS in Taiwan, the system needs to be battle-tested in Ukraine. If it were to be proven effective, Washington DC and Taipei would certainly mass-produce it. Thus, it’s extremely likely that the project was discussed by Russian and Chinese military delegates during President Xi Jinping’s latest visit to Moscow, as it’s in the interest of both to see the program fail. Otherwise, if it proves successful in Ukraine, the Chinese military itself would most certainly face it in Taiwan, endangering the success of a possible amphibious operation in case of a US-orchestrated escalation. And while China has advanced systems capable of countering such weapons (including its own drone swarms), the best possible defense is preventing their deployment altogether.

Nevertheless, with the Russian military poised to be the first to encounter weapons such as the AMASS, Moscow has already started crucial upgrades to its air defense systems. Still, Russia’s A2/AD, better known as “echeloned defense” in Russian military nomenclature, is only one segment of its (recently revised) strategy, with the so-called “active defense” being the key to neutralizing immediate threats. This includes adopting new offensive capabilities and precisely this could have been one of the main topics of behind-closed-doors talks about Sino-Russian technological cooperation, which almost certainly includes the exchange of information on drone swarms.

Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst

Planned Actions in Syracuse, NY 

In Syracuse, NY, USA, peace and justice groups will bond in solidarity to commemorate Earth Day, the day before, April 21st from 12 noon to 4 PM. We’ll expose the crimes of the war machine focusing on political, financial, church, industry, and military. The war machine enablers will be exposed at five locations:

Medea Benjamin an Diane Sare will be joining us.  We hope that you will as well.

1) Starting outside the local offices of Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand, we will spoof the crimes of both Schumer, who takes more weapons makers’ blood money than any other US politician, and Gillibrand , who sits on the Senate Defense (sic) Committee and like Schumer, votes every year to increase the US military budget. We will deliver people’s subpoenas to both, calling upon them to testify at our November 10-13 Merchants of Death Tribunal.

2) Two blocks away in downtown Syracuse at one of the many JP Morgan Chase banks, we’ll do Fat Cats parodies outside and deliver the subpoena to the bank manager, Ms Lynn Nunez.

3) Processing with music, we’ll stand before the headquarters of the Diocese of Syracuse and deliver a subpoena to the local Roman Catholic Bishop Douglas Lucia, calling upon him to break his silence and testify in our Merchants of Death Tribunal to the war crimes happening in his diocese. These include, just hiking distance from his office, the activities of the Hancock Killer Drone base, home of the NY National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing.

4) We will then caravan just 15 minutes to one of Lockheed Martin’s war factories near Syracuse. Lockheed Martin is the king of the Merchants of Death. No other war corporation makes so much profit spreading mayhem around the Earth as Lockheed Martin. We won’t be allowed inside their gates but will attach a subpoena to their compound fence. Last fall, Brad Wolf, the mainstay organizer of merchantsofdeath.org, and others including Ret. Army Colonel Ann Wright, delivered a subpoena to the headquarters of Lockheed Martin’s national headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.

5) A short drive from Lockheed Martin will take us to the 174th Attack Wing of the NYS National Guard which once bragged that Afghanistan was their prime target. We don’t know what unfortunate foreign people are their target now but we do know that their MQ9 Reaper drones are armed with Hellfire Missiles (made by Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Fl ) and Paveway bombs (made in a Lockheed factory in Archbald, Pa).

Dayshift workers at the East Malloy Rd Syracuse killer drone base will be finishing their day’s work when we greet them with our banners and signs. At the front gate, we’ll attempt to deliver a subpoena to the base commander, Col. William “Rhino” McCrick III. We don’t expect to be arrested this time but over the past 13 years of protest scores of us have been arrested, usually charged with trespass and disorderly conduct. And a bunch of us have done time in the local Jamesville Penitentiary for our scrupulously nonviolent civil resistance to Reaper drone terror. Sometimes we die-in or do colorful street theatre blocking the main gate (see video footage at upstatedroneaction.org). Hundreds of arrests have occurred and many of us have been jailed for nonviolent resistance to drone terrorism.

Originally published on Veterans for Peace, March 09, 2023

This Earth Day weekend a coalition of peace and justice groups are taking action to expose the merchants of death and their enablers by delivering subpoenas to each merchant/enabler with a demand they testify at the worldwide Merchants of Death Tribunal. The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal (November 10-13, 2023) will hold accountable — through testimony of witnesses — U.S. weapons manufacturers who knowingly produce and sell products which attack and kill not only combatants but non-combatants as well. These manufacturers may have committed Crimes Against Humanity as well as violated U.S. Federal criminal laws. The Tribunal will hear the evidence and render a verdict.

Peace and justice groups are encouraged to take action in their local communities on Friday, April 21st (Friday is the better media day and more offices are open). Each peace and justice organization nationwide can decide what to do to highlight the crimes of the war merchants and their enablers.

Organized by Up State Drone Action, VFP Chapter 90, Pax Christi Upstate NY, and Peace Action of New York

Action Ideas (From the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal Website)

• Call press conferences outside of your US Senate offices and/or US House of Representatives offices when delivering a subpoena to these congressional representatives.
• Download corporate subpoenas from the Merchants of Death website and deliver to the four corporate war-maker Merchants of Death under indictment by the Tribunal that have offices in your area (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Atomics).
• Issue subpoenas to Church leaders who may be complicit by their silence or outright support of the merchants of death.
• Issue subpoenas to major banks or investment firms with major holdings in the war industry (e.g. Raytheon, Boeing, etc).
• Go to military bases and issue them subpoenas to testify along with all the others in the US Murder Inc. system.
• Read more here!

Syracuse, NY, January 23rd, 2023 On Sunday, January 22nd, the 38th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. S.U. Celebration was attended by almost 2,000 people dining inside the huge Syracuse University Dome in Central NY. It was an evening of great celebration and reunion, especially for the Black community members and churches of Syracuse, ending a three year COVID hiatus. This year the attendees enjoyed a different twist to the event. Highlights of Dr. King’s message of anti-militarism were shared through flyers and a banner in solidarity with the celebration.

Upstate Drone Action members joined with Veterans for Peace and Broome County Peace Action to visit BAE Systems in Endicott, NY and Lockheed Martin in
Photos by Gary Ingrahm and Mary Anne Grady Flores