Can you hand out peace diplomas at 8 AM on May 23 at JHU commencement?

Friends,

Can you help distribute peace diplomas at JHU’s commencement from 8 to 9 AM on May 23 outside the football stadium on University Parkway? At 9 AM we will enjoy breakfast at One World Café. RSVP to Max at mobuszewski at Verizon.net or 410-366-1637.

Kagiso,

Max

PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE-Baltimore/Fund Our Communities, 325 East 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218 Ph: 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES & FAMILIES May 23, 2013

We, members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, bestow this Peace Diploma with the hope your life will be one of seeking peace and working for justice.

As you depart from Johns Hopkins University, the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq seem unending. Sadly, Barack Obama has continued the policies of the previous administration.

JHU contributes to the death and destruction caused by U.S. military invasions. The U.S. Department of Defense [sic] announced on February 15, 2013, that "The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), Laurel, Md., is being awarded a five-year, sole source, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, task order contract (N00024-13-D-6400) for research, development, engineering, and test and evaluation for programs throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). The maximum ceiling amount is $2,296,583,964 for up to 11,964,743 staff hours of research and development in the core competency areas approved for JHU/APL by DoD which include: strategic systems test and evaluation; submarine security and survivability; space science and engineering; combat systems and guided missiles; theater air defense and power projection; and information technology (C4ISR/IO); simulation, modeling, and operations analysis."

And the JHU/APL has a contract for research on unmanned aerial vehicles/Reaper and Predator killer drones. We concur with the opinion stated in the May 3, 2012 editorial “THE APL drones on and on” in The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, “We do, however, object to the APL’s involvement with General Atomics, contributing to the production of these aerial combat drones used by the CIA in covert operations abroad.”

Get involved with the Human Rights Working Group at Johns Hopkins University, and sign its petition--http://hrwgjhu.wordpress.com/drone-petition/. On May 8, 2012 nine members of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance occupied the office of President Ronald J. Daniels’ office in Garland Hall for about eight hours. A letter was sent to Daniels and to Dr. Ralph Semmel, the APL director, seeking information about the killer drone research and requesting a meeting. The letter was ignored. No information was shared, and no meeting took place.

As a Canadian citizen, President Daniels does not have a Top Security clearance, and is not able to review the classified research at the weapons lab. This is clearly an example of the military tail wagging the educational dog.

As pointed out in the letter sent to the Hopkins ’ officials, the Nuremberg Principles obligate citizens to act where they can to prevent international law violations. These Principles forbid wars of aggression, attacks on civilians and extrajudicial assassinations, all associated with drone warfare. For example, the ACLU filed a lawsuit demanding the Obama administration release legal and intelligence records on the killing of the three US citizens in Yemen.

We in the peace movement will continue to speak out. We urge you to add your voices.