Baltimore Activist Alert Mar. 3 – Mar. 9, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert Mar. 3 – Mar. 9, 2014

"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.

Tune into the Maryland Progressive Blog at http://mdprogblog.org.

1] Books, buttons & stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists
4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa
5] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Mar. 3 – Mar. 7
6] Hearing/phone banking on Getting Money Out of Maryland politics – Mar. 3, 4 & 12
7] Hearing on the State of Drones in Maryland – Mar. 3
8] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – Mar. 3
9] Companion animal bereavement support group – Mar. 4
10] Stop a war with Iran – Mar. 4
11] Activating Palestine’s UNESCO Membership – Mar. 4
12] Support Senate Bill 706/House Bill 1201 – Mar. 4
13] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Mar. 4
14] Protest JHU’s drone research – Mar. 4
15] Farmworker Justice Fundraiser – Mar. 4
16] Betty Medsger at Goucher – Mar. 4
17] Edward Snowden: Traitor or Patriot? – Mar. 5
18] Stop the Dangerous Trans-Pacific Partnership – Mar. 5
19] Film "Trailblazers in Habits" – Mar. 5
20] Stop anti-free speech legislation – Mar. 5 & 6
21] Peace Circles – Mar. 5
22] Jump-Start Your Union – Mar. 5
23] Film “Before the Revolution!” – Mar. 5
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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Donate your books to Max. Call him 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 mobuszewski at Verizon dot net. 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 mobuszewski at Verizon dot 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/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.

Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month. Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered. Send it to Adela Hirsch, 5358 Eliots Oak Rd., Columbia, MD 21044. Be sure you indicate ground (G) or bean (B) for each type of coffee ordered. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Adela at 410-997-5662 or via e-mail at adela4peace@verizon.net.

5] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 AM on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org. The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.

6] – On Mon., Mar. 3 at 1 PM attend the hearing on HJ 7 in the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, House Office Building, Room 142, 6 Bladen St., Annapolis 21401. Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/. March is Get Money Out - Maryland Victory Month. There was a very successful hearing in the Senate, and it is presumed there will be a favorable Committee report. The hearing is in the House Rules Committee on Monday, March 3. Contact your Senators and Delegates.

There is a phone bank party most Tuesday evenings in Towson, starting at 6:30 PM. Novices & newbies are welcome at the home of Joe Adams. RSVP to Joe at 410-231-3323 or joeadamsmd@gmail.com. You must bring a cell phone and charger; a laptop is recommended but optional. There is a phone bank on Mar. 4 and Wed., Mar. 12. There are phone bank parties on Sundays in Rockville at 17 Watchwater Way. Take the Metro Red Line to the Rockville exit and pick up the 56 or 47 bus to Darrell’s home. Darrell will provide a return ride from his home to the Metro. Bring a phone, and a laptop/tablet if you have one, and chargers. RSVP to Darrell at darrell.tschakert@comcast.net or 240-453-0678. For a VIRTUAL phone bank, call the teleconference to get instructions at 1 (619) 326-2772, code 1136243#. Then make calls from home. RSVP to charlie@getmoneyoutmd.org or call 410-849-0670.

There is a virtual phone bank party for on Tues., Mar. 4 at 5:30 PM. Here's how to contact your Delegates and Senator: 1] go to http://mdelect.net; 2] put in your address, and contact info for you Delegate(s) and Senator will come up. Call or write (email less effective) asking for their support for Senator Raskin's (SJ 6) or Delegate Hixson’s (HJ 7) resolution for Free and Fair Elections.

7] – There is a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on Mon., Mar. 3 at 4 PM in 3 East Miller Senate Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis 21401-1991, on the State of Drones in Maryland. Call 410-946-5510.

8] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence. The next meeting will be on Mon., Mar. 3. The proposed agenda will include a report on the appeal of conviction of the CIA Five, GMO legislation and other bills in Annapolis, anti-drone activities, including the Spring Actions, lobbying against Citizens United, Rep. Sarbanes and the sentencing of the Plowshares. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

9] – Andrew Mazan leads a free monthly companion animal bereavement support group that meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road. Call 410- 833-8848 to RSVP. Go to http://www.baltimorehumane.org.

10] – Did you see AIPAC's fear-mongering op-ed in the New York Times this weekend? The authors call for a renewed push to pass the dangerous Senate sanctions bill that we already worked so hard to defeat. The article is a critical reminder of just how much anti-diplomacy forces are riling up their troops as we approach Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu's upcoming visit to Washington. If you think the powerful interests pushing war and sanctions have given up, this is a stunning reminder that they are redoubling their efforts to get back into the driver’s seat to steer U.S.-Iran policy towards war. We can't let that happen. On Tues., Mar. 4, AIPAC's lobby day on Capitol Hill, Iranian Americans across the country will deliver petitions to their legislators, showing strong and unequivocal support for peace and diplomacy in this critical diplomacy moment. You are needed to sign the Act for Peace petition. And if you can spare an hour of your day on March 4, join in delivering those petitions in your state during NIAC's Act for Peace day. Contact Yasmin Radjy, outreach director for the National Iranian American Council, at yradjy@niacouncil.org.

11] – Activating Palestine’s UNESCO Membership is the topic for discussion on Tues., Mar. 4 from 12:30 to 2 PM at the Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW. Join the Jerusalem Fund for a discussion with Nidal Sliman and Valentine Azarov. Palestine gained membership of UNESCO in 2011 but its representatives have not yet made best use of this new status due in part to pressure by Israel and the United States. Sliman and Azarov will review the value of UNESCO in the quest to fulfill Palestinian rights and to apply the relevant international law instruments to the case of Palestine. They will make a compelling argument that Palestine can gain significant practical advantages from its UNESCO membership, including reasserting sovereignty over its land and sea and obliging third states to hold Israel accountable for its obligations. Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/44078.

12] – Support Senate Bill 706/House Bill 1201, an important piece of environmental justice legislation that has been introduced in Annapolis. If passed, SB 706/HB 1201 will protect communities with environmental and public health issues caused by pollution. This cumulative impacts assessment bill will require the Maryland Department of Environment, when making certain permit decisions regarding large polluting facilities, review and consider the cumulative impacts. The hearing for the Cumulative Impacts bill is being held on Tues., Mar. 5 at 1 PM in the Environmental Matters Committee. Come to the hearing, and contact your legislators. Call Andy Galli at Clean Water Action at 410-235-8808 or 443-631-0355.

13] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th Street & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is Mar. 4. Call 215-426-0364.

14] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 34th & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil. The next vigil is Mar. 4 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

15] – Get over to the Farmworker Justice Fundraiser: Fair Food Nation on Tues., Mar. 4 from 6 to 9 PM at Haydees Restaurant, 3102 Mt. Pleasant St. NW. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has announced their spring action! The Now Is The Time Tour (March 5th-15th)! DC Fair Food is going too! They will be joining the massive action taking place in Columbus, Ohio at Wendy's flagship store and headquarters on March 8th-9th!

Thousands of students, activists, artists, faith leaders, and allies from the Northeast will be caravanning to OH to tell Wendy’s that “Now is the Time” to end exploitation in the tomato fields of Florida. They will be marching for farmworker justice, a fair food nation, a food system that respects worker's /consumer's dignity and living wages for our sisters and brothers who work the land! They are telling Wendy’s: "Now is the time" to sign on the Fair Food Program and join the Fair Food Nation! They need your help to get to Columbus! So, come to Haydee’s Restaurant to help raise funds for transportation from D.C. to Columbus, Ohio! Son Cosita Seria will be performing. Email ecarmenmason@gmail.com.

16] – Betty Medsger, the former Washington Post reporter, discusses her new book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI” on Tues., Mar. 4 at 7:30 PM at Goucher College, Buchner Hall in the Alumnae/i House, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Baltimore 21204. Call 410-337-6333 or go to http://goucher.edu/tickets.

In March 1971, Medsger was the first journalist to publish the story revealing FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had—for nearly a half-century—distorted the mission of the most powerful law enforcement agency and one of the nation’s most venerated institutions. This event, the 2014 Myra Berman Kurtz ’66 Seminar, is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved at www.goucher.edu/tickets or by calling 410-337-6333.

17] – Hear a debate Edward Snowden: Traitor or Patriot? On Wed., Mar. 5 at noon at the Kay Spiritual Life Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW (in Letts Formal Lounge).RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED. This is part of the Table Talk Lunch Series at which the University community meets to discuss matters of moral, social, and ethical concern. A buffet lunch is provided free to students. A donation of $5 each is requested from faculty and staff to help offset the cost of the program. RSVP at 202.885.3321 or at ksle@american.edu.

18] – Amazon Watch invites you to a "Green-Bag Lunch" presentation: Stop the Dangerous Trans-Pacific Partnership, Where the Battle Stands and What You Can Do with Melinda St. Louis, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, and Ilana Solomon, Sierra Club, on Wed., Mar. 5 from noon until 1:30 PM at Amazon Watch / CIEL conference room, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100 (South Dupont, above Panera / Cosi), WDC. Now in its fourth year of negotiations, the TPP is a "free trade" agreement only in name that would set binding rules on non-trade matters such as environmental regulation, food safety, internet freedom, medicine costs, financial regulation, and more.

These closed-door talks between the United States and 11 other Pacific rim nations have included over 600 official corporate "trade advisors" while hiding the text from the public, the press, and even many of our state and national elected officials. Leaks from the environment and investment chapters provide a window into the dangers for policies to protect the environment and biodiversity and combat climate change.

The deal is at a critical juncture with an intense push to conclude talks before Obama's trip to Asia in April, and mounting opposition in Congress to "fast tracking" the TPP. Come hear the latest from the recent meeting of Trade Ministers in Singapore in late February and the current debate over Fast Track trade authority in Congress, and strategize about how to weigh in to make a difference now.

19] – See "Trailblazers in Habits" on Wed., Mar. 5 at 7 PM at Goucher College's Kelly Lecture Hall followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Vivien Ng, Sister Jeanne Houlihan and Sister Betty Ann Maheu. The film is an intimate portrait of a group of American Catholic nuns, the Maryknoll Sisters, who have accompanied the disenfranchised in many parts of the world in their struggle for social justice. Insightful and inspirational, this documentary is a revealing portrait of these courageous women. The film chronicles 100 years and several continents, celebrating the intelligence and tenacity, the love, compassion and generosity of these early feminists.

Following the screening, Dr. Vivien Ng, Associate Professor and Chair of Women's Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY and principal researcher and associate producer of the documentary, will facilitate a panel discussion with two of the Maryknoll Sisters featured in the film. The event is co-sponsored by the Peace Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Programs and supported by the Stimson Lecture Endowment. Email sdawit@goucher.edu.

20] – Help stop the Maryland legislature from using the threat of withdrawing funding from public universities to stifle free speech. There will be hearings in the Maryland House and Senate on bills that would cut funding for universities to punish them for participating in professional associations that some Maryland legislators are mad at for adopting human rights resolutions. Hearings on the legislation are scheduled for Wed., Mar. 5 at 2:30 PM in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and on Thurs., Mar. 6 at 1 PM at the House Appropriations Committee. Urge your legislators and Governor O'Malley to oppose Senate Bill 647 and House Bill 998.

Maryland State Senator Joan Carter Conway and Delegate Benjamin Kramer have introduced companion bills that threaten freedom of speech and academic freedom in Maryland. These bills are opposed by the American Association of University Professors (1) and the ACLU of Maryland. (2) Urge your representatives in the legislature and Governor O'Malley to oppose Senate Bill 647 and House Bill 998, which threaten free speech and academic freedom in Maryland. Go to http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/maryland-free-speech. These bills would, by threat of a reduction in funding, prohibit public universities from reimbursing faculty participation in professional organizations that adopt resolutions that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel for its policies toward the Palestinians.

21] – The D.C. Trainers Network Monthly Skillshare will focus on Peace Circles on Wed., Mar. 5 at 6:30 PM at St Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St. NW--convenient to the 14th and 16th Sts. buses and the Columbia Heights Metro. Peace Circles are a transformative communication model based on indigenous wisdom and practices. The circle keeper holds a space that encourages authenticity, values all voices and connects shared values. The keeper asks coaching type questions and encourages increased awareness of ourselves and others. Participants will experience the circle process and learn some basic techniques that can be used in multiple settings. Contact Noor Mir at 202-234-2000 or noor@washingtonpeacecenter.org.

22] – Jump-Start Your Union: Labor Notes Book Event takes place on Wed., Mar. 5 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Busboys and Poets, 1025 5th St. NW. Join Labor Notes for a discussion of Labor Notes' new book, "How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers," presented by Busboys and Poets' Bread and Roses Labor Series. Hear from Washington Teachers Union President Elizabeth Davis and Empower DC Education Organizer Daniel del Pielago about local teacher struggles and the fight against school closures in D.C., and meet one of the book's authors, Labor Notes director Mark Brenner. This book explains how activists transformed their union by engaging their co-workers and neighbors and unleashing the smarts of rank-and-file members. Readers will learn how to work with their communities, organize a caucus, run for office, rebuild a stewards network, train new leaders, run a contract campaign, and strike. Contact Julia Kann at 718-284-4144 or julia@labornotes.org or go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1466623336890041/.

23] – There will be an NIAC screening of “Before the Revolution!” on Wed., Mar. 5 at 7 PM at the Bethesda Row Cinema, 7235 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda 20814, followed by an insightful question and answer session with the film's Israeli director, Dan Shahur. Tickets are $12. All proceeds of the tickets will benefit Heymann Brothers Films. The Q&A session with the director will be moderated by Reza Marashi. Email Yasmin Radjy at yradjy@niacouncil.org.

To be continued.

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/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs