Baltimore Activist Alert August 3 – 4, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert August 3 – 4, 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] GUTSY: Taking the Fear Factor Out of Feminism – through Aug. 8
6] Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity – through Aug. 31
7] Special Education – Aug. 3
8] Peace and Pancakes – Aug. 3
9] Feed the Hood – Aug. 3
10] Pentagon Vigil – Aug. 4
11] NATIONAL CALL IN DAY FOR RAFIL DHAFIR – Aug. 4
12] Empowered Africa - Dialogue on Sustainability, Peace and Democracy – Aug. 4
13] Support workers before the NLRB – Aug. 4
14] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Aug. 4 – Aug. 8
15] Vigil in Support of Central American Children Fleeing Violence – Aug. 4
16] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – Aug. 4
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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 Francine Sheppard at 5639B, Harpers Farm Rd., Columbia 21044. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Francine at 410-992-7679 or FrancineMSW@aol.com.

5] – GUTSY: Taking the Fear Factor Out of Feminism is a group exhibit of female artists whose work deals with feminist issues, themes, and aesthetics, and it runs through Fri., Aug. 8 at Gallery CA, 440 East Oliver St. Twenty percent of the sales go to Power Inside, an organization that serves women and girls who are survivors of gender-based violence and oppression. Call 410-528-9239 or http://galleryca.org.

6] – See the exhibit Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity, which delves into the various ways technology affects lives through the perspective of inventors, futurists and 40 plus visionary artists. The intent is to bring new thoughts on artificial intelligence, robotics, genetics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, and big data, and you can see it through August 31 at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Call 410-244-1900. Go to http://avam.org. A ticket costs $20.

7] - Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 AM to noon. On Sun., Aug. 3, hear about “What Does the Term ‘Special Education’ Mean?” by Jayme Smith. She will include an overview of special education including a definition of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) (see http://goo.gl/4dvEFQ), services, and how students can be served outside public education. One example of a non-public school is the High Road School of Perryville, and the talk will provide an overview of this school. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

8] - Join the Kadampa Meditation Center for Peace and Pancakes on Sundays at 10:30 AM at KMC Maryland, 2937 North Charles St. All are invited to participate in guided meditation and chant praying for world peace. There will be a talk based on Buddhist thought followed by brunch. Call 410- 243-3837. Brunch is $5.

9] – Gather at the intersection of MLK Ave. SE and Malcolm X Ave. SE on Sun., Aug. 3 at 2 PM for the National Black United Front (#NBUF) Feed the Hood Project. See http://www.eventbrite.com/e/nbuf-feed-the-hood-project-washington-dc-tickets-10660394527?aff=eac2.

10] -- There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Mon., July 28, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649. The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro. By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr., and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

11] – There is a NATIONAL CALL IN DAY FOR a PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE RAFIL DHAFIR on Mon., Aug. 4. On June 18th Dr. Rafil Dhafir was removed to a special housing (isolation) unit. The purpose of the national call in day is to get the warden to return Dr. Dhafir to the general population. He is a United States citizen, oncologist, humanitarian and spiritual leader, and has served 12 years of a 22-year sentence for breaking the horrifically cruel U.S. and U.K. sponsored U.N. sanctions on Iraq which caused the death of 500,000 children under the age of 5 and 1,000,000 others. Dr. Dhafir gave aid through a charity he established to help children and adults in Iraq who were starving or sick from depleted uranium munitions and the lack of fresh water.

Call Brian Cincotta, (pronounced "sin-COT-tuh) case manager FMC Devens at 978-796-1000 Dial O, or stay on the line. Give Rafil Dhafir's inmate locator number - 11921-052 - and ask to speak with Mr. Cincotta. Ask to leave a message in his voice mail if he can’t be reached. You can also ask for the Public Information Officer or a member of the warden’s staff.

You can write Warden Jeffrey Grondowski, at FMC Devens, PO Box 880, Ayer, MA 01432 or by fax (978) 796-1118 or by email DEV/ExecAssistant@bop.gov. Some points that could be raised in letters and phone calls: Why was he put into the special housing unit? When is he getting out? He has been in for 40 days. Work on his 2255 legal motion, the deadline for which is November, is being interrupted by keeping him away from his legal papers. His right to religious expression was violated during Ramadan because he was denied an alarm clock. The right for Muslims to pray five times daily in a group was upheld in a case involving the Communications Management Unit in Terre Haute Indiana by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. See: http://indianalawblog.com/documents/lindh%207-19-13.pdf.

Does Rafil have stamps, paper, envelopes, address book, Quran, eyeglasses and legal papers? Phone time should be increased to an hour a week minimum. The Chaplain should make arrangements for an Imam from a nearby mosque to visit him. Write to Rafil Dhafir 11921-052, FMC Devens, FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER, PO BOX 879, AYER, MA 01432. Email poetapoetus@taconic.net or call 518-766-2992.

12] – On Mon., Aug. 4 from 8 AM to 5:30 PM, check out Empowered Africa - A Progressive Dialogue on Sustainability, Peace and Democracy at Howard University, Washington D.C. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/empowered-africa-dialogue-registration-12080078841. Join the US-Africa network, Howard University’s Department of African Studies, and other partners in a conversation with African civil society leaders. The Empowered Africa Dialogue takes place on the eve of President Obama’s African Leaders Summit. It provides a space for African and United States citizen-activists, scholars, progressive NGOs and community organizers to critique significant issues related to US-Africa policy and generate ideas for moving these conversations forward.

13] – On Mon., Aug. 4 at 9 AM, workers from Tito Contractors will finally get a hearing in front of the NLRB, 1099 14th St. NW, to expose sweeping retaliation for trying to organize to improve working conditions at their company. For years immigrant workers were exploited- under abusive supervisors and with overtime stolen out of their paychecks. Last year workers decided to organize to improve conditions and to form a union with the Painters District Council 51. Then, Tito's started to retaliate, taking away necessary work equipment and even firing workers who tried to stand up for their rights. Supervisors threatened to call immigration to silence workers, and the owner himself blamed the situation on the workers because they are immigrants.

Workers at Tito's have been courageous in their determination to hold their boss accountable despite being left vulnerable to retaliation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Join workers as they testify about exploitation and retaliation at Tito Contractors, and demand workers' rights protection in enforcement reform. Contact Natalie Patrick-Knox, Jobs with Justice, at 503-915-5701 or Natalie@jwj.org.

14] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 to noon 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.

15] – On Mon., Aug. 4 at 6:30 PM, be at a Vigil in Support of Central American Children Fleeing Violence at 16th and H Sts. NW. This is organized by a group which is part of the DC-MD-VA Coalition in Support of Children Fleeing Violence and represents youth organizations who believe protecting children and youth is a priority. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/313020295539450/.

16] – 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., Aug. 4. The proposed agenda will include the appeal of the conviction of the CIA Five, anti-drone activities, including the arraignment of the NSA Three, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, bigotry on the border, Gaza, Norman Finkelstein and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

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