Thursday, December 10, 2009

Baltimore Activist Alert

Baltimore Activist Alert Dec. 10, 2009 – Jan. 7, 2010

 

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours.

The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center.  Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com.  If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.  Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.

 

The Baltimore IndyMedia Center publicizes peace-related events. Go to http://www.radicalendar.org/group/_baltimore.

 

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  

4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLA  

5] Used stamps for humanitarian causes

6] Bring DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE to Baltimore

7] Activist Awards Grassroots Gala – Dec. 10

8] Amnesty International event – Dec. 10

9] Single Payer Now – Dec. 10

10] Film on Gaza Strip – Dec. 10

11] BCAN planning meeting – Dec. 10

12] Film NO IMPACT MAN – Dec. 10

13] Music, A Vehicle for Peace -- Dec. 10

14] DOE protest – Dec. 11          

15] Regulating nuclear weapons – Dec. 11            

16] WIB Inner Harbor peace vigil – Dec. 11

17] WIB Roland Park vigil – Dec. 11          

18] White House vigil – Dec. 11            

19] Justice for Palestine/Israel vigil – Dec. 4

20] Silent vigil at Homewood Friends – Dec. 11

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available.  “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

 

2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/.  Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.


3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].  It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed.  It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq.

 

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to donmuller@msn.com.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

 

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe.  It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing.  To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.  

4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale.  For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2009/08/check-out-our-new-cafe-quetzal-order-form-1.html.

Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. Make the check out to HoCoFoLA and send it with your order form to HoCoFoLA, PO Box 94, Columbia, MD  21045. Contact Pat McLaine at 410-964-0960 or pamcl@aol.com.  The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up.

5] – Brad Hathaway spearheads an effort to sell donated used stamps to raise money for different humanitarian causes around the world. Go to www.mattapoisettquakers.org, and click the link for the stamp ministry.  Carefully clip canceled postage stamps and send to Quaker Missions, PO Box 795, Mattapoisett, MA 02739. Send no small flag stamps or Liberty Bell Forever stamps.

 

6] – Unfortunately, the Off Center Media documentary DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE about William Kunstler is not scheduled for screening in Baltimore. However, the National Lawyers Guild is working on bringing the film by his two daughters Emily and Sarah Kunstler to Baltimore.  The Guild needs help in convincing the distributor that Baltimore cinephiles want to see the movie. Check out the website http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com and you will be able to click on “demand” that the film comes to Baltimore.  Watch the trailer: http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com/Trailer.htmlGo to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/William-Kunstler-Disturbing-the-Universe/40742962303?ref=mf.

 

7] – The Washington Peace Center is reminding you of the 5th annual Activist Awards Grassroots Gala, scheduled for Thurs., Dec. 10 from 6 to 9 PM at All Souls Church, 2835 16th St., NW.  Tickets are $10-$30 (sliding scale) or $50 Premier Entry with a gift. There are two keynote speakers: Kathy Kelly, founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, and Fahima Vorgetts, director of Afghan Women's Fund and winner of the "UN Human Community Award" by the UN Association of the National Capital Area. Email mailto:sonia.wpc@gmail.com.

 

8] – On Thurs., Dec. 10 from 6 to 8 PM at Bus Boys & Poets, 1025 5th St. NW, WDC; Amnesty International invites you to commemorate International Human Rights Day on and help shine a light of hope for prisoners of conscience like Birtukan Mideska, imprisoned by the Meles Zenawi regime in Ethiopia. Ebenezer Akwanga, human rights activist from Cameroon, will discuss his arrest, torture and sentence of 20 years.  An AI campaign obtained his release and his refugee status in the United States.  

 

9] – Steven Strauss, M.D., Baltimore Physician and staff writer, Freedom Socialist Newspaper, will argue We Need Single Payer Now Obama’s Failed Approach to Healthcare Reform on Thurs,, Dec. 10 from 7 to 9 PM at the Howard County Library, East Columbia Branch, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045.  The event is sponsored by the Freedom Socialist Newspaper.  Email fspbaltimore@hotmail.com, visit www.socialism.com or call 410-598-2003.

 

10] – At Red Emma’s on Thurs., Dec. 10 at 7 PM, TO SHOOT AN ELEPHANT is a film portrait of Gaza under the Israeli embargo. Director Alberto Arce was embedded with the International Solidarity Movement, one of the few aid organizations still operating in the area. There is insight into everyday life in the region through a series of vignettes filmed between Dec. 25, 2008 and Jan. 16, 2009, focusing particularly on the ambulance services that pick up the wounded and the dead. The aid workers are risking their own lives, too, because in contravention of the Geneva Convention, the Israeli forces shoot to kill. Three amazing free events happening at Red Emma's this week.  Childcare is available.  Email me.sine@gmail.com at least 48 hours before the event. 

 

11] – There is a BCAN planning meeting by conference call on Thurs. Dec. 10 at 7 PM.  To participate, RSVP to get the call-in number at mail@baltimoreclimate.org or 410-812-1447. Provide your phone number. Newcomers are encouraged to attend, usually on the 2nd Thursday of each month. The conference call alternates with an in-person meeting.

 

12] – Transition Town Takoma and The Center for A New American Dream present a screening of NO IMPACT MAN on Fri., Dec. 11 from 7 to 9 PM at Seekers Church, 276 Carroll St NW, WDC 20012 (1 block from the Takoma Metro Station). NO IMPACT MAN, an Oscilloscope film, tells the story of Colin Beavan’s decision to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for a full year. It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, buses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage. No problem – at least for Colin. But when his wife Michelle and their two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own. This event is open to the public and free, although donations will be welcome to help cover costs.  RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/480818140. Contact Harrison Walford, The Center for a New American Dream at 301-891-3683 or harrison@newdream.org.

 

13] – There is a concert on Thurs., Dec. 10 at 7:30 PM co-sponsored by Global Coalition for Peace: "Music, a Vehicle for Peace" by Piraí Vaca, one of the world's greatest living guitarists. It will take place at the Embassy of Bolivia, 3012 Mass. Ave., NW, WDC 20008, and tickets are $20.  Call 202-415-3240 or email    piraiconcert@gmail.com.  Go to www.piraivaca.com.

 

14] – Join the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in a Christmas-Themed Street Theater against Taxpayer-Backed Nuclear Power Loan Guarantees at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters, Forrestal Bldg., 1000 Independence Ave., SW, WDC on Fri., Dec. 11 at 11 AM. The nearest Metro station is Smithsonian on the Blue and Orange Lines. Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition, Friends of the Earth and other groups will be protesting Energy Secretary Chu's threat to rush $18.5 billion in taxpayer-backed nuclear power loan guarantees out the door for the building of new atomic reactors, despite the financial risks and safety flaws with the reactor designs on DOE's short list. Secretary Chu is also rushing out another $2 billion in federal loan guarantees for new uranium enrichment facilities in the U.S. to fuel a new generation of atomic reactors. The street theater is being held in conjunction with the international "Don't Nuke the Climate" days of action around the world. More than 300 partner organizations in 42 countries will hold actions to "Block the Path to Nuclear Power," in conjunction with efforts to block the nuclear power industry from peddling its false, risky "solution" to the climate crisis at the Copenhagen, Denmark climate negotiations. To sign a petition go to http://www.dont-nuke-the-climate.org/?lang=en. Contact Kevin Kamps at Beyond Nuclear (cell 240-462-3216, kevin@beyondnuclear.org) if you have any questions, would like to play a role in the street theater, or for messaging ideas for signs or banners.

 

15] – On Fri., Dec. 11 from 11 AM to 1 PM, Miles Pomper, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Nikolai Sokov, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and Tarja Cronberg, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, will discuss "Reducing and Regulating Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe" at the Embassy of Finland, 3303 Massachusetts Ave., WDC. RSVP to monterey.cns.rsvp@gmail.com.

 

16] – Women In Black sponsor a peace stand/vigil on Fri., Dec. 11 from noon-1 PM at the Inner Harbor, corner Pratt and Light.  Everyone welcome, wear black if you can.  See http://www.peacepath911.com/ or write wibbaltimore@hotmail.com or call 410-467-9114.

 

17] – There is also a noon vigil on Fri., Dec. 11 at Roland Park Place at 830 W. 40th St.  Call 410-467-9114. 

 

18] – A peace vigil takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM on Pennsylvania Ave., by the press gate to the White House. It is organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Call 202-882-9649.

 

19] – A vigil for Justice in Palestine/Israel (now in its 8th year) takes place every Friday from noon to 1 PM at 19th & JFK Blvd., Philadelphia (across from Israeli Consulate.  It is sponsored by Bubbies & Zaydes (Grandparents) for Peace in the Middle East. Email cswartz@pil.net. Go to http://phillyjewishpeace.org/.

20] – There is a silent vigil on Fri., Dec. 11 from 5 to 6 PM outside of Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St., in opposition to war with Iraq. Placards say: "War Is Not the Answer." The silent vigil is sponsored by AFSC, Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings.

To be continued

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