Baltimore Activist Alert - December 14 - 16, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert December 14 – December 16, 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] Ready to Enroll -- Dec. 14
6] Great Awakening -- Dec. 14
7] Watch the film JOYEUX NOEL – Dec. 14
8] Protest at the NRA – Dec. 14
9] “God: Mystery and Manifestation” – Dec. 14
10] Watch the film JOYEUX NOEL – Dec. 14
11] Pentagon Vigil – Dec. 15
12] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Dec. 15 – 19
13] Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories – Dec. 15
14] Restaurant Worker Community Pot-Luck – Dec. 15
15] Green Neighbors meeting – Dec. 15
16] Pledge/FOC meeting – Dec. 15
17] From Ukraine to Central Asia: Cascading Risk – Dec. 16

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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] –We can't stop here. Millions of people still need to get health insurance, and the deadline is Sun., Dec. 14. Organizing for Action volunteers and partner organizations are getting together in Baltimore. The Ready to Enroll event in Baltimore is at 5700 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore 21215 on Sun., Dec. 14 at 10 AM. RSVP at https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs8d7p.

6] - 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 Dec. 14, Hugh Taft-Morales will give a platform address titled “Great Awakening” in which he will explore the waves of “righteous” social change that periodically wash over the United States and the possibility that there is a righteous humanist wave of compassion and activism on the horizon.

Beginning with the 18th century, an angry god of “The First Great Awakening” roused Americans from our slumber. At the beginning of 19th century, “The Second Great Awakening” sounded the alarm of public social reform. At the start of the 20th century, progressivism woke us up to our government’s responsibility for those in need. In the spring of the 21st century, what might be our “great awakening?” Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. He also serves as Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

7] – The Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter of Veterans For Peace invites you to a different kind of Christmas celebration, honoring the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce, when sanity prevailed for a few hours on the World War 1 battlefield. See a screening of “Joyeux Noel,” Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film of 2006, at Stony Run Friends Meetinghouse, 5116 North Charles St. at 1 PM on Sun., Dec. 14. After the film, military veterans will lead a discussion of soldier resistance in WW1 and other wars. Refreshments will be served.

8] – On Sun., Dec. 14 from 2 to 3 PM, join an NRA Protest and Interfaith Vigil at 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA. Supporters are invited to commemorate the 2nd Anniversary of the Mass Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. There will be guest speakers. Gather to remember those killed, injured and harmed by gun violence. Protest the National Rifle Association’s ruthless and implacable obstruction of sensible reform to our nation’s gun laws.

9] -- The Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Society of Washington's next dialogue will be on Sun., Dec. 14 at 2:30 PM at the Islamic Center of Maryland, 19411 Woodfield Rd., Gaithersburg. The topic will be “God: Mystery and Manifestation.” The panel consists of an imam, a traditional Catholic, an unabashed atheist and a Jew. Go to www.jids.org.

10] – On Sun., Dec. 16 at 4:30 PM watch "JOYEUX NOEL” (Merry Christmas) 2005, 116 mins., PG-13. This large screen showing, with magnificent sound, of a true anti-war Christmas classic was written and directed by Christian Carion, with English, French, and German subtitles. The Oscar nominated film (2006, Best Foreign Language Film) tells the true story of the World War I unauthorized truce, Christmas Eve 1914, and inspired John McCutcheon to write the song "Christmas in the Trenches", listen to it now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJi41RWaTCs. This is part of the Brandywine Peace Community Monthly Potluck Supper/Program at the University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., Phila., 19104. Bring a main dish, salad, or dessert to share. Program begins at 5:30 PM.

To get to the University Lutheran Church, go to www.septa.com. Call Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or go to www.brandywinepeace.com/events.

11] -- 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., Dec. 1, 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.

12] – 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.

13] – On Mon., Dec. 15 from 10 AM to 3:30 PM, the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories is holding a public meeting at the Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Dr., Room 1301, Alexandria, VA. RSVP to Karen Gibson at crenel@hq.doe.gov.

14] – Go to 1100 Florida Ave. NW, WDC, on Mon., Dec. 15 from 1 to 3 PM for the Restaurant Worker Community Pot-Luck. Restaurant Opportunities Center D.C. is sponsoring a pot-luck for restaurant workers. Come learn about the campaign to raise the minimum wage for all restaurant workers and other programs, like free bar-tending and fine dining classes. RSVP at jeremiah@rocunited.org or visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1554286651450634/.

15] -- On Mon., Dec. 15 at 6:30 PM at the Petworth Library Conference Room, 4200 Kansas Ave. NW, WDC, join with Green Neighbors, an all-volunteer group of residents of the Petworth, Park View, Brightwood and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. Their mission is to lower the neighborhoods’ emissions of carbon and other pollutants that contribute to global warming and to make renewable energy and other sustainable resources more accessible to everyone in the community. They see themselves as part of a larger district-wide, regional, national and international movement to preserve our climate and planet for future generations. Contact cathsen5@gmail.com.

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., Dec. 15. The proposed agenda will include anti-drone activities, including getting a resolution passed in Baltimore’s City Council, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, a march from the EPA to the Pentagon, Police Brutality protests, lobbying Rep. Sarbanes, a protest at the CIA and a talk about ISIS. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

17] – On Tues., Dec. 16 from 2 to 4 PM, catch From Ukraine to Central Asia: Cascading Risk at the U.S. Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave. NW, WDC 20037 All guests are required to enter via the 23rd street entrance for building access. Arrive at least 30 minutes in advance. RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-ukraine-to-central-asia-cascading-risk-tickets-14762409765.

Whether it is the risk of violent extremism, the ongoing politics of energy and infrastructure or Russia's Eurasian Economic Union, Central Asia sits at the crossroads of the major geopolitical trends of our time. While it is tempting to view this space as a single "region," each country in Central Asia faces these challenges in its own way, seeking various balances, alliances and strategies and addressing significant internal weaknesses. The panel of experts are William B. Taylor, acting president, U.S. Institute of Peace, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Kathleen Kuehnast, director, Center for Gender and Peacebuilding, U.S. Institute of Peace, Marlene Laruelle, research professor, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Jacob Zenn, analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs, The Jamestown Foundation; and Scott Smith, moderator, director, Afghanistan & Central Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace.

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