Baltimore Activist Alert - August 20 -21, 2014

19] Re:Imagining Our Stories with Center for Story-Based Strategy – Aug. 20
20] Visit Rep. Sarbanes’ office – Aug. 20
21] Get Money Out - Maryland meeting – Aug. 20
22] "Climate Change Action" Webinar – Aug. 20
23] Stop the torture of pigs at JHU – Aug. 21

19] – On Wed., Aug. 20 noon to 2 PM, Join Bread for the City and others at Bread for the City SE Center, 1640 Good Hope Rd., for the first workshop in a three part series called: Re:Imagining Our Stories with Center for Story-Based Strategy. Certificates will be given for attendance at all three trainings. Bus tokens are available. Contact Joni at 202-553-7248 or jpodschun@breadforthecity.org.

20] – As part of the national "Educate Congress" Campaign Letter Drops, on Wed., Aug. 20 at 4:30 PM, the Pledge of Resistance will go to Rep. John Sarbanes’ office, 600 Baltimore Ave., Suite 303, Baltimore, MD 21204. At no time have corporations--economic entities of our creation--exercised "rights" reserved for natural persons--until very recently. Without constitutional basis, and by the slimmest margins, the US Supreme Court has unilaterally imposed a radical doctrine of corporate personhood. While inside, we will deliver a letter calling on him to support the people, not corporations and to call for an end to the use of killer drone strikes, which we believe to be illegal and unconstitutional. Let Max know if you can sign on to the letter and go to Sarbanes’ office--410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net. Are you a constituent?

21] – Enjoy wine, refreshments, discussion and a presentation by GMOM (Get Money Out - Maryland), specifically for Baltimore City. Learn about an exciting new way to get money out of politics. We all know about the problem of corruption in our political system. But getting Congress to fix it seems impossible. It turns out the solution need not involve Congress. We can do this in the individual states. Vermont & California have done it, and a dozen states are poised to join them, including Maryland.

All-volunteer GMOM (Get Money Out - Maryland) has grown and is now forming *local* groups across the state. We're the Maryland affiliate of www.Wolf-Pac.com. This is an invitation to a meeting for Baltimore City residents on Wed., Aug. 20 at 7 PM at Govans Presbyterian Church, 5828 York Rd., Baltimore 21212. Enter from York Road and bear to your right on the driveway to go behind the Church. Park in the lot behind the church (in front of the cemetery) or continue further south to the adjacent lot. Follow the sign to Sanctuary/Church Offices, walk up the ramp and make a U-turn. The door says Church Office and Peace Study Center.

Call 410-849-0670 or contact Joe Adams at joeadamsmd [at]gmail.com. If you can't make it, let them know you're interested at 410-849-0670 or admin@GetMoneyOutMD.org. If you can, let them know your phone number, and where you live. Go to http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/.

22] – Physicians for Social Responsibility is hosting a "Climate Change Action" Webinar on Wed., Aug. 20 at 8 PM ET for a presentation on writing an effective letter to the editor on climate change and the importance of supporting the EPA carbon rule. Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1291751700460087041.

PSR's "Climate Action Team" webinar series is designed to equip members like you to speak and act effectively to fight climate change. Wednesday's webinar will go over how to raise your voice by writing strong letters to the editor.

23] – Join the Physicians Committee supporters on Thurs., Aug. 21 at 11 AM outside the Johns Hopkins Hospital Main Entrance, 600 N. Wolfe St. (near McElderry St.), Baltimore 21287, to help stop Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's use of live animals in medical student training. Physicians Committee staff and supporters have repeatedly asked Johns Hopkins to end this animal use. However, the school's decision-makers don't seem to be getting the message that they are one of the last medical schools in the United States using animals for this purpose. Ninety-eight percent of medical schools use superior training methods that don't harm or kill animals, including human-based simulators. Email Greg Mazur at gmazur@pcrm.org.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine directs students "to practice suture and knot-tying skills and to perform simple surgical procedures" on live pigs as part of the third- and fourth-year surgery rotation, which takes place several times each year. The pigs are killed at the end of each session. Non-animal training methods are widely used by medical schools across the country, making this use of animals not only cruel but unnecessary.

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