Baltimore Activist Alert December 27, 2014 – January 19, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert December 27, 2014 – January 19, 2015

"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] Protest drone warfare -- Dec. 27
6] Olney Peace vigil – Dec. 27
7] West Chester, PA demo – Dec. 27
8] Silent peace vigil – Dec. 27
9] Protest at Drone War Command Center – Dec. 27
10] “Winter Festival and Pancake Breakfast” – Dec. 28
11] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Dec. 29 – Jan. 2
12] Pentagon Vigil – Dec. 29
13] Pledge/FOC meeting – Dec. 29
14] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Dec. 30
15] No JHU Drone Research – Dec. 30
16] Presents for the Animals – throughout December
17] Go to Cuba – Jan. 5 to Jan. 15
18] Delegation to Honduras – Jan. 9 - 19
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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] – Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore is going back to the Air and Space Museum, 600 block of Jefferson Drive SW (Mall side) on Sat., Dec. 27 from 10 AM to noon to help educate our fellow citizens about drone warfare. The museum will be a popular spot for people coming to D.C. over the holidays, and hopefully we can reach some of them with a message they’re unlikely to hear elsewhere.

Weather permitting—and it’s looking very good at this point—a Reaper drone replica will be there to attract attention, and handouts will be given out to people about the reality of drone killing. Call 703-772-0635.

6] – Friends House, 17715 Meeting House Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860, hosts a peace vigil every Saturday, 10:30 to 11:30 AM, on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia Ave. [Route 97] in Olney, MD. The next vigil is Dec. 27. Call Chuck Harker at 301-570-7167.

7] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.

8] – There will be a peace vigil on the West Lawn of the Capitol at noon on Sat., Dec. 27. Look for the blue banner with the message, "Seek Peace and Pursue It.--Psalms 34:14." The vigil lasts one hour and is silent except when one responds to the occasional questions. Go to http://www.quaker.org/langleyhill/seekpeace.htm or email seekpeacevigil@yahoo.com.

9] – The Drone War Command Center in Horsham, PA is to be operational in 2015. The area is closer each day to being a place where remote-controlled killing will take place. Stand against drone warfare on Sat., Dec. 27 from noon to 2 PM. Protest the establishment of the Drone War Command Center at the Horsham Air Guard Station, Route 611/Easton Road and County Line Road, Horsham, PA. Contact Brandywine Peace Community at 610-544-1818 or go to www.brandywinepeace.com/events.

10] – 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. However, on Dec. 28, as 2014 flies out the door, the BES will host “Winter Festival and Pancake Breakfast” as a celebration with a hearty breakfast and a time to connect. Pancakes are on flap, with a variety of expert chefs turning out to turn things over. If you would like to volunteer to help, to bring a side dish to go with pancakes, or another breakfast/brunch-type food item, please contact Jayme Smith. Everyone is invited to bring a warm article of clothing such as gloves, scarves, hats, socks to adorn our mitten tree. Coffee, tea, and juice beverages will be provided. The Pancake Breakfast is free and open to all. This year warm items provided as mitten tree decorations will be donated to TurnAround, which provides support services to victims of domestic violence. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

11] – 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.

12] -- There is usually a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. However, the next vigil is Mon., Dec. 29 at noon, hosted by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Jonah House communities. Due to a number of factors, there will not be a Holy Innocents Faith and Resistance retreat this year. Instead there will be a nonviolent witness at the Pentagon to commemorate the Massacre of the Innocents. Contact Kathy Boylan at 202-882-9649 regarding hospitality. Meet on the corner of Army-Navy Drive and S. Eads St. @ 11:30 AM. Help proclaim, in the form of New Year's Resolutions, the hope for a world of nonviolence, peace and justice. Bring a resolution to offer during this witness.

Pray for each other during this Holy Season and seek to make the Word flesh in building, ever wider and stronger, the beloved community. Recommit ourselves to ending the slaughter of innocents everywhere. Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker at 202-882-9649 or artlaffin@hotmail.com and the Jonah House at 410-233-6238 or disarmnow2@verizon.net.

13] – 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. 29. The proposed agenda will include anti-drone activities, including getting a resolution passed in Baltimore’s City Council, the CIA’s admission that the killer drone program is a failure, no fracking in New York, preparing for legislation in Annapolis, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, a march from the EPA to the Pentagon and a talk about ISIS. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

14] – 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 Dec. 30. Call 215-426-0364.

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

16] – Throughout December, the Maryland SPCA is collecting toys for the cats and dogs in the adoption center. The goal is to collect enough toys in one month to entertain the homeless animals in the shelter throughout the coming year by filling the sleigh! You can help by bringing new cat and dog toys and treats to the Maryland SPCA. Some of the toys the pets like best are Kongs, Buster Cubes, toy mice (without catnip) and plush squeaky toys. Having toys and treats in the shelter environment helps socialize pets, reduces stress and improves health.

Bring Presents for the Animals to the adoption center at 3300 Falls Rd., Baltimore 21211 or Project Adopt at White Marsh Mall (next to JCPennys). If you would like to donate a toy or treat but can't get to the MD SPCA, you can purchase from an Amazon and AmazonSmile wish list, and your item(s) will be shipped directly to the MD SPCA. Go to www.mdspca.org/amazonsmile. Visit www.mdspca.org/presents4pets.

17] – Witness for Peace has organized a Cuba: Education Delegation from Mon., Jan.5 through Thurs., Jan. 15. The Delegation Coordinator is Dixie Olmstead (651-271-6558 or dixie_olmstead@yahoo.com). Visit www.witnessforpeace.org.

18] – Witness for Peace has organized Honduras: Honduran Families and Communities Under Threat: Learning from Indigenous Groups, Campesinos, and Human Rights Defenders from Fri., Jan. 9 through Mon., Jan. 19. The Delegation Coordinator is Elise Roberts (920-421-2269, wfpumw@witnessforpeace.org). Visit www.witnessforpeace.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