Baltimore Activist Alert - Oct. 19 - Nov. 9, 2013

48] Apply for a radio station license – Oct. 15 - 29 49] Power Shift 2013 – Oct. 18 - 21 50] Olney Peace vigil – Oct. 19 51] West Chester, PA demo – Oct. 19 52] “Innovation for the Greater Good" Conference – Oct. 19 53] Silent vigil at Capitol – Oct. 19 54] Trans-Pacific Partnership discussion – Oct. 19 55] Fusion Fundraiser – Oct. 19 56] PSR dinner – Nov. 9 57] Support Pvt. Manning 58] Max is seeking a place to live 59] Support the Transform Now Plowshares 60] Support Red Emma’s in its move 61] Sign up with Washington Peace Center 62] Join Fund Our Communities 63] Submit articles to Indypendent Reader 64] Donate books, videos, DVDs and records 65] Do you need any book shelves or file cabinets? 66] Join Global Zero campaign 67] War Is Not the Answer signs for sale 68] Join Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil ------ 48] – This October, you’ll have a chance to apply for a license to launch your very own community radio station! The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications from Oct. 15–29, 2013. Free Press and the Prometheus Radio Project have created a handy how-to guide that walks you through the process of applying for a license and starting a station. So don’t delay ... download a guide today! It takes years to build a community radio station, but you can get your application together in a matter of weeks. And time is on your side: If the FCC grants you a license, you’ll have years to put your awesome radio station together. Go to www.freepress.net. 49] – There is an environmental justice conference on Oct. 18-21 in Pittsburgh—Power Shift 2013. The Goucher Energy Action Revolution (GEAR) is determined to take over 84 Goucher students to Power Shift, but the group desperately needs the generous support of a donor who will match up to $1000 of the funds raised. Goucher College needs students that are applying their education in the classroom to the many causes in the community. Baltimore desperately needs well-trained activists and organizers who are committed to demanding environmental justice for Baltimore, Maryland and the mid-Atlantic. Visit www.wearepowershift.org. To donate see http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/help-goucher-get-to-power-shift/95746. 50] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is Oct. 19. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167. 51] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com. 52] – On Sat., Oct. 19 from 11 AM to 5 PM, Fusion Partnerships presents “Innovation for the Greater Good" Conference at the MICA Graduate Studio Center, 131 W. North Ave. To learn more about the conference and especially the many workshops, visit http://tinyurl.com/Fusionconferencepreview. Register at https://www.wepay.com/events/fusion-partnerships-innovation-for-the-greater-good-conference-15th-anniversary-celebration. 53] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Oct. 19. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com. 54] – The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is such an "overreach" by the global capitalist class and its political representatives in both parties, that it provides an unmistakable teachable moment about the vital need for protecting democracy from the corporate influences of Citizens United, the McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission case that the Supreme Court has just taken to remove all caps on aggregate contributions by wealthy persons to political campaigns, and limiting privatization trade policies that would enable corporations to challenge all government regulations that protect wages, jobs, and working conditions, quality standards, public health impacts, and environmental protections as "illegal trade barriers". See http://www.flushthetpp.org. The next Nation Magazine Discussion Group meeting on the TPP will take place on Sat., Oct. 19 from 3 to 5:30 PM at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Ave., on the second floor. Contact Bob Griss, coordinator, Nation Magazine Discussion Group in D.C., at 703-639-0437. 55] – On Sat., Oct. 19 from 7 to 11 PM, attend the Fusion Fundraiser @ 2640 St. Paul St. with Jah Works & DJ Selah. The price is $20. Visit www.fusiongroup.org. Email strongheart1@comcast.net. 56] – The Chesapeake Chapter of the Physicians for Social Responsibility invites you to its Annual Chapter Dinner on Sat., Nov. 9 from 6 to 9 PM at the Episcopal Diocesan Center, 4 East University Parkway, Baltimore. The featured speaker is Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. Dr. Makhijani holds a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and is an expert on clean energy and nuclear power. His Institute's website is http://ieer.org/projects/carbon-free-nuclear-free. A vegetarian dinner will be served at 6:30 PM, and Dr. Makhijani will speak at 7:30 PM. Hear about Arjun's carbon-free and nuclear-free energy strategy for Maryland. The cost of the dinner is $35. Limited financial assistance is available. RSVP to twhitehouse@psr.org or 240-246-4492 by Oct. 25. 57] – As part of Pvt. Manning's application to Convening Authority Major General Buchanan for leniency, we are collecting letters from professors, law experts, human rights advocates, politicians, artists, veterans, and concerned citizens. Please help us collect well-written letters to include. The letters should be one-page long and submitted by November 1. You can find the full list of guidelines on our website: http://www.bradleymanning.org/featured/write-a-letter-supporting-pvt-mannings-request-for-clemency. 58] – Max is seeking a place to live. Let him know of any possibilities. He can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.dot net. 59] – You can support the Transform Now Plowshares resisters by writing the judge and the prisoners. Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice are currently in the Irwin County Detention Facility in Ocilla, GA, awaiting their sentencing on January 28, 2014. The three were found guilty by a jury in Tennessee in May on two counts. Judge Amul Thapar revoked their pre-trial release saying they were technically guilty of a crime of violence and must be held. Here are the addresses: Gregory Boertje-Obed 22090 Irwin County Detention Center 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774 ***Michael Walli 4444, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. Megan Rice 22100, Irwin County Detention Center, 132 Cotton Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774. You must make sure to include your entire return address on the outside of the envelope. No staples or paperclips can be included in your mail; no oversized envelopes. Magazines and books must be sent directly from the publisher or bookstore/Amazon. Photocopies of brief articles are likely to be permitted (based on our past experience). If you include inappropriate material or fail to comply with these rules, your mail will not get through—it will be returned to you. The second thing you can do is send a letter to Judge Thapar. We have suggested guidelines for your letter, and we are asking people to send their letter to Bill Quigley, lawyer for Mike Walli (address below), so they can be collected and delivered to the judge. If you want to send a copy of your letter to us, that would be great—our address is also below. Invite Judge Thapar to think about sentencing in light of the fact that this was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience intended to awaken the conscience of the nation, and no evidence was presented that it was an act of terrorism meant to harm anyone. You could write that you share the court's concern that Congress would write a law that wouldn’t allow a judge to distinguish between peace activists and terrorists, and are disturbed that the government defines the crime they stand convicted of as a violent "crime of terrorism.” As testimony of the defendants showed during trial, they carried out their action in a spirit of nonviolence and hope. Without making it the focus of the letter, you could mention that the action was carried out with the clear understanding of the illegality and immorality of nuclear weapons, and intent to uphold higher laws. Encourage him to consider downward departures from the high guidelines for the charges, and to use his discretion at sentencing to bring more justice into the situation by recognizing that the defendants are NOT violent terrorists as the government has implied through its interpretation of the crime; and remind him of the intentions of the three nonviolent activists: to follow the words of the prophet Isaiah to beat swords into plowshares, and build a safer and more secure world for all. Our purpose with these letters is not to reargue the case, nor is it to condemn nuclear weapons production—the judge is not engaging those issues at this time. Our purpose is to address the legal system’s distortion of the nonviolent action of the TNP resisters and to provide support to the judge for a sentencing decision that takes into account the nature of their action and their nonviolent behavior throughout their action. Letters should be sent to US District Judge Amul R Thapar, c/o Professor Bill Quigley, Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, 7214 St. Charles Ave., Campus Box 902, New Orleans, LA 70118. If you care to send a copy to OREPA that would also be appreciated--orep@earthlink.net or OREPA, PO Box 5743, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. 60] – Red Emma's has closed the location at 800 St. Paul St., and is reopening in a much larger new space on North Avenue in the fall. The collective is seeking your help. It's time to reinvent the project started in 2004 to build a self-sustaining progressive space in Baltimore, committed to providing a daily reminder that another world was possible and that there were people working in the city to build it. Here's how you can help: donate money, provide skilled help, and share these needs. Email john@redemmas.org or go to http://indiegogo.com/redemmas2. 61] – The Washington Peace Center has a progressive calendar & activist alert! Consider signing up to receive its weekly email: info@washingtonpeacecenter.org. 62] – Fund Our Communities campaign is a grass roots movement to get support from local organizations and communities to work together with their local and state elected officials to pressure Congresspersons and senators to join with Congresspersons Barney Frank and Ron Paul, who have endorsed a 25% cut to the federal military budget. Bring home the savings to state and county governments to meet the local needs which are under tremendous budget pressures. Go to www.OurFunds.org. 63] – MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Baltimore's Indypendent Reader is looking for individuals interested in creating media - written, photo, audio, or video - that relates to issues like...economic justice, race, prisons & policing, environment, gender & sexuality, war & peace and more! If you would like to create social justice media, then email indypendentreader@gmail.com. Visit http://www.indyreader.org. 64] – If you would like to get rid of books, videos, DVDs or records, contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 65] – Can you use any book shelves? Can you use any file cabinets? Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. 66] – Join an extraordinary global campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons: http://www.globalzero.org/sign-declaration. A growing group of leaders around the world is calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and a majority of the global public agrees. This is an historic window of opportunity. With momentum already building in favor of Zero, a major show of support from people around the world could tip the balance. When it comes to nuclear weapons, one is one too many. 67] – WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER signs from Friends Committee on National Legislation are again for sale at $5. To purchase a sign, call Max at 410-366-1637. 68] – Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil takes place every day in Lafayette Park, 1601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 24 hours a day, since June 3, 1981. Go to http://prop1.org; call 202-682-4282. Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/. "One is called to live nonviolently, even if the change one works for seems impossible. It may or may not be possible to turn the US around through nonviolent revolution. But one thing favors such an attempt: the total inability of violence to change anything for the better" - Daniel Berrigan