Baltimore Activist Alert - September 21 - 23, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert September 21 – September 23, 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] Food drive – through Nov. 8
6] People’s Climate March/Peace & Justice Assembly – Sept. 21 – 22
7] Campaign Nonviolence – Sept. 21 - 27
8] “Afghanistan: What Can We Each Do?”– Sept. 21
9] Peace and Pancakes – Sept. 21
10] 9/11 Unity Walk – Sept. 21
11] Interfaith Celebration of Creation – Sept. 21
12] Memorial to the Lost – Sept. 21 - 27
13] "War, Whistleblowing, and Independent Journalism" – Sept. 21
14] The Vela Incident – Sept. 22
15] Pentagon Vigil – Sept. 22
16] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Sept. 22 – Sept. 26
17] International Peace Day Celebration – Sept. 22
18] "War, Whistleblowing, and Independent Journalism" – Sept. 22
19] Go Solar – Sept. 22
20] DISCUSSION WITH SEN. JAMIE RASKIN – Sept. 22
21] Pray for Peace – Sept. 22
22] Push D.C. Council to pass renewables legislation – Sept. 23
23] Campaign Nonviolence at the White House – Sept. 23
24] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Sept. 23
25] No Drone Research at JHU – Sept. 23
26] PAX CHRISTI AROUND THE WORLD – Sept. 23
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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] – The Men and Families Center, 2222 Jefferson St., Baltimore, continues its food drive through Sat., Nov. 8. The organization is collecting canned and unperishable goods so that food pantries in the center are stocked for the holidays! Call Quandra or Rodney at 410-614-5353 or email menandfamiliescenter.org.

6] – Join United For Peace and Justice in New York City for the Peace and Justice contingent in the People’s Climate March on Sun., Sept. 21. The march steps off at 11:30 AM. A Peace and Justice rally will precede the march starting at 10 AM. Meet at 77th St. and Central Park West. Enter from 77th St. For the Subway, use 1 line to 79th St. Look for the UFPJ banner! The rally will feature Bill McKibben, Jim Hightower, Tony DeBrum, Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands, Medea Benjamin, Antonia Juhaz, Holly Near, Dar Williams, Emma’s Revolution and more. Go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/190EfCa1bzDs129GsGN1VYjzekNlzDZmPXovpbhc4wiA/viewform. There are many buses coming from Maryland.

UFPJ invites member groups, friends and allies to join a Peace and Justice Assembly, Mon., Sept. 22 from 10 AM to 1 PM and 2 to 4 PM at 1199 SEIU, 310 W. 43rd St., NYC, and share information about what groups are doing and explore a strategic direction for the coming months.

7] – Campaign Nonviolence has organized a series of actions from Sun., Sept. 21 through Sat., Sept. 27. Go to http://paceebene.org/programs/campaign-nonviolence/. Nonviolence, according to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is "the love that does justice." Campaign Nonviolence is a long-term movement to build a culture of peace by mainstreaming active nonviolence and by joining the enduring nonviolent struggle to abolish war, end poverty, reversed climate change, and challenge all violence...

8] - 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., Sept. 21, the question is “Afghanistan: What Can We Each Do?” Alicia Lucksted, associate professor of psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, will answer it. People in Afghanistan have faced decades of roiling devastation and war; many somehow remain persistent and determined to survive and rebuild. How can we offer solidarity from afar? She will offer personal observations and examples of how her volunteer group, Afghan Women’s Fund, works in partnerships with women and whole villages, in rural Afghanistan. She
has been involved in volunteer solidarity work with grassroots women’s groups in Afghanistan since 1998. This includes the Afghan Women’s Fund since 2000, where she is a volunteer and the Baltimore area point person for AWF’s work helping people and communities in rural Afghanistan on projects they prioritize for survival and rebuilding (www.afghanwomensfund.org) with emphasis on women’s empowerment. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

9] - 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.

10] - Join the 9/11 Unity Walk, which brings together people of all ages, backgrounds and faiths to learn to respect each other through a framework of experiential education, compassionate leadership and intentional service. Unity Walk seeks to create a world where all are united, rather than divided, by the many faiths. It will begin at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, 3935 Macomb St. NW, WDC, on Sun., Sept. 21 at 1:30 PM. It will end at 5 OM. "Meet someone of a different faith and you will discover we are brothers and sisters. You will walk and walls of suspicion will fall - Archbishop Desmond Tutu." See http://911unitywalk.org/.

11] – Consider going to the Interfaith Celebration of Creation on Sun., Sept. 21 at 3 PM at the Stony Run Friends Meetinghouse, 5116 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21210. The event is in support of the People's Climate March in NYC. World leaders are coming for a historic United Nations summit on climate chaos. The Climate March is expected to be the largest-ever demonstration demanding action on climate change, and in Baltimore people will reflect on how we can shift to cleaner energy in our communities and collectively. If the weather is nice, the gathering will be outdoors, so bring a chair. This celebration is sponsored by Central Maryland Ecumenical Council in partnership with the Interfaith Power and Light (DC.MD.NoVA), Campaign Nonviolence (Pacem e Bene) and other groups. RSVP at to cmec.reservations@gmail.com, or go to https://www.facebook.com/events/7481984119.

12] - Starting Sun., Sept. 21 through Sat., Sept. 27, Heeding God’s Call - Pax Christi’s D.C. Chapter’s Memorial to the Lost – will be at the Arlington Presbyterian Church, Arlington, VA. This is a T-Shirt Memorial remembering the 176 gun violence death victims in the Washington, D.C. area during 2013. The Memorial will be outside the church this week to remind people passing by of the tragic loss of life that takes place each year due to gun violence in our area. This is a Campaign Nonviolence event.

13] – On behalf of the RootsAction Team, on Sun., Sept. 21 come to "War, Whistleblowing, and Independent Journalism" at the Real News Media Center, 231 Holliday St., Baltimore 21202. The evening will began at 6 PM with the screening of a documentary "Body of War," co-produced and co-directed by Phil Donahue, followed by a discussion with whistleblowers and journalists. At 7:30 PM, participate in the Q&A with Donahue. Finally, at 8 PM, there will be a panel discussion (with welcoming comments from Paul Jay of The Real News Network and Norman Solomon of RootsAction.org and ExposeFacts.org). Several whistleblowers--William Binney, NSA, Thomas Drake, NSA, and Kirk Wiebe, NSA--will join others on the panel. Go to www.RootsAction.org.

14] – On Mon., Sept. 22, it is the 35th anniversary of the "Vela Incident," a nuclear explosion over the South Indian Ocean off the Cape of Good Hope, probably conducted by South Africa with the assistance of Israel. Also known as the South Atlantic Flash, it was an unidentified "double flash" of light detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on Sept. 22, 1979, near the Prince Edward Islands off Antarctica, which many believe was of nuclear origin. The most widespread theory among those who believe the flash was of nuclear origin is that it resulted from a joint South African and Israeli nuclear test. The topic remains highly disputed today.

While a "double flash" signal is characteristic of a nuclear weapons test, the signal could also have been a spurious electronic signal generated by an aging detector in an old satellite, or a meteoroid hitting the Vela satellite. No corroboration of an explosion, such as the presence of nuclear byproducts in the air, was ever publicly acknowledged, even though there were numerous passes in the area by U.S. Air Force planes specifically designed to detect airborne radioactive dust. Other examiners of the data, including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and defense contractors, have come to the conclusion that the flash was not a result of a nuclear detonation. Much information about the event remains classified.

15] -- 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., Sept. 22, 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.

16] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 AM 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.

17] – Enjoy an International Peace Day Celebration by attending an interactive town hall discussion of how we get to peace, with Andy Shallal, Barbara Wien, and David Swanson. It is happening from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM on Mon., Sept. 22 in the SIS Founders Room, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. WDC 20016.

18] – On behalf of the RootsAction Team, on Mon., Sept. 22 come to "War, Whistleblowing, and Independent Journalism" at the American University’s Butler Board Room (located on the 6th floor above the Bender arena sports complex). The evening will began at 6:30 PM with the screening of a documentary "Body of War," co-produced and co-directed by Phil Donahue, followed by a Q&A with Donahue. Finally, at 8:15 PM, there will be a panel discussion, moderated by Norman Solomon of RootsAction.org and ExposeFacts.org. Several whistleblowers--William Binney, NSA, Thomas Drake, NSA, and Kirk Wiebe, NSA--will join others on the panel. Go to www.RootsAction.org. This event is sponsored by RootsAction.org and the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, and co-sponsored by ExposeFacts.org.

19] – By going solar as a group, participants will save up to 30% off the cost of a solar electricity system, and will have the support of the co-op throughout the process instead of having to go it alone. These buying groups are being sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light and are open to any Baltimore-area or Northern Virginia homeowner. Baltimore homeowners can come to an information session to learn more about the basics of solar and how the co-op works on Mon., Sept. 22 at 7 PM at the Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/292665360916785/. Email BaltimoreInterfaith@communitypowernetwork.com. Call 202-709-7641 or email program@gwipl.org.

20] – Get Money Out - Maryland urges you on Sept. 22, 2014 at 7 PM to check out a TOWN HALL MEETING AND DISCUSSION WITH SENATOR JAMIE RASKIN at UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, 333 Dubois Road, Annapolis 21401. Learn about the movement sweeping the country to win a revival of popular democracy in our nation and talk to one of its leaders. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/308411895986271/?ref=br_tf.

Raskin led the successful floor fights for marriage equality, repeal of the death penalty, and legislation to allow medical marijuana in Maryland. He is a constitutional law professor at American University and bestselling author of “Overruling Democracy: the Supreme Court versus the American People” and “We the Students.” He was one of only three experts invited to testify before the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee in June, 2014, on a proposed constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United v. FEC and to enable the people to get corporations and big money out of our politics. The event is co-sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry. Visit http://www.getmoneyoutmd.org/.

21] – Pray for Peace at 7:30 PN on Mon., Sept. 22 at Loyola Blakefield, 500 Chestnut St., Towson (corner of Chestnut and North Charles Sts.) Email ccloughen@episcopalmaryland.org or call 410-321-0199.

22] – Speak Out for Local Solutions to a Global Challenge on Tues., Sept. 23 from 9 to 10 AM at the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC. The faith community will welcome the D.C. Council on their first day back in session and encourage them to act on climate! Ask the D.C. Council to pass bills that divest city funds from fossil fuels and clean up the clean energy law.

23] – On Tues., Sept. 23 at 10 AM, there will be a Campaign Nonviolence Action at the White House to call on the administration to do more to end war, poverty and environmental degradation. The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) along with several other groups will hold a demonstration including civil resistance. Gather on Pennsylvania Avenue for a short program with Medea Benjamin, David Swanson and John Dear before crossing to the White House to deliver a letter that outlines the changes needed in our domestic and foreign policies—specifically—poverty, war, and the climate crises. The letter urges President Barack Obama to end all drone warfare, establish a living wage for all workers, and initiate policies that address climate change. The demonstration will be highlighted by civil resistance to emphasize to urgency of a change in the current policies. Call Contact Max at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski at Verizon dot net. He can provide a ride from Baltimore.
81] – ANOTHER WAY IS POSSIBLE! On Tues., Sept. 23 at 1O AM at the White House, concerned citizens will seek a meeting with President Obama or a member of his staff about such concerns as climate chaos and environmental degradation, militarism and poverty. This action IS JUST one OUT OF 150 ALL AROUND THE US! SOME OF the CONCERNS are as follows, climate change/chaos, environmental degradation, poverty, militarism, a living wage for all, a new Middle East Policy, NSA-US Government-corporate spying, TORTURE, Shutting down Guantanamo, and ending the US drone program NOW!

We, the people, have been excluded from the decision-making about how our resources have been used, and ignored when we speak out. As a result we are faced with the destruction of our environment and the continued influence of the fossil fuel industry, the continuing wars of aggression and the bloated Pentagon budget, the profiteers of war and torture and the violations of human rights. We have been dismissed while poverty grows and human need is ignored at the expense of the wealthy corporate financial interests. ANOTHER WAY IS POSSIBLE! Email september23nonviolence@gmail.com or mobuszewski at Verizon dot net, the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance.

24] – 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 St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is Sept. 23. Call 215-426-0364.

25] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil on Sept. 23 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

26] – On Tues., Sept. 23 at 7:30 PM, participate in “PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL: PAX CHRISTI AROUND THE WORLD.” The featured speakers are Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International since 2007, and former executive director of Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns; Bishop Kevin Dowling, the Bishop of Rustenberg, South Africa and co-president of Pax Christi International, and Jose Henriquez, from El Salvador, the secretary general of Pax Christi International since 2012. The event will be hosted by St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 11701 Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, and co-sponsored by Pax Christi Metro D.C.-Baltimore and the St. Francis of Assisi Pax Christi group.

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