Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert - June 17-18, 2015

45] Privacy and Security: A Comparative Constitutional Law Conversation – June 17
46] Welcome Honduran Immigrants – June 17
47] Support janitors – June 17
48] Lobby Rep. Sarbanes June 17
49] Book talk on Rachel Carson – June 17
50] Film WITNESS BAHRAIN June 17
51] Wind Energy Webinar – June 17
52] “Nixon's Nuclear Specter: The Secret Alert of 1969, Madman Diplomacy and the Vietnam War,” – June 18
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45] – On Wed., June 17 from 12:30 to 3 PM, hear a discussion Privacy and Security: A Comparative Constitutional Law Conversation at the Goethe-Institut Washington, 812 7th St. NW, WDC.  The Snowden revelations raised pointed questions in the United States and Germany about the future of privacy and security, particularly in light of our thoroughly networked and digitized age. A number of circumstances justify a focus on the U.S. and German perspectives. The U.S. intelligence activities in Europe—and Germany in particular—have strained vital transatlantic partnerships in recent years. The different reactions to the so-called “NSA-Affäre” on opposite sides of the Atlantic have posed challenges to our assumptions about shared transatlantic values. As two of the most established—and respected—constitutional democracies, the newly-exposed differences regarding privacy in the United States and Germany present a unique opportunity for comparative constitutional reflection.  This lunch-time dialogue will feature David Cole (Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center) and Russell Miller (Professor of Law at Washington & Lee University School of Law). RSVP is required for this event at http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/ver/en14421231v.htm.
 
46] – Go to the street between the White House and Lafayette Park on Wed., June 17 at 2 PM and JOIN THE DC COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS TO WELCOME THE CARAVAN OF HONDURAN MIGRANTS FROM AMIREDIS AS THEY ARRIVE TO WASHINGTON, DC.  AMIREDIS is the association of migrants who have become disabled or lost limbs after suffering serious accidents from the northward train known as LA BESTIA. Join us to hear their testimonies and spread the word about the REAL consequences of US policies that are forcing people risk life and limb to head north.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/387556748094268/.
 
47] – Get over to McPherson Square NW, WDC on Wed., June 17 from 4 to 5 PM to support janitors. Bargaining is currently underway for 10,500 Janitors in the D.C. Area. There will be activities all week throughout the area centered on creating more full-time opportunities for workers. The march will start in McPherson Square Park, the closest Metro Station is McPherson Sq. - Blue and Orange Lines. Go to https://www.google.com/calendar/render?eid=cGg1ajc0cG9pZDc4NDAwb3NibWY4cWg2NG8gY2dhcmxvY2tAZGNsYWJvci5vcmc&ctz=America/New_York&sf=true&output=xml#eventpage_6.
 
48] – As part of the national "Educate Congress" Campaign Letter Drops, on Wed., June 17 at 4:30 PM, the Pledge of Resistance will go to Rep. John Sarbanes’ office, 600 Baltimore Ave., Suite 303, Towson, MD 21204, to deliver a letter.  The letter urges him to cosponsor the Voter Empowerment Act (H.R. 12), the Democracy Restoration Act (H.R. 1459), the End Racial Profiling Act (H.R. 1933), the Commission to Study Reparations for African Americans Act (H.R. 40), the Formerly Incarcerated Voter Registration Act (H.R. 871), and the New Columbia Admissions Act (H.R. 317).  Finally, we are seeking 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?
 
49] – Catch a book talk with Dr. Robert K. Musil, author of “Rachel Carson and Her Sisters: Extraordinary Women Who Have Shaped America’s Environment” for a presentation about women active in the nascent environmental movement during Woodrow Wilson’s time
on Wed., June 17 from 5:30 to 7 PM at the President Woodrow Wilson House, 2340 S St. NW, WDC 20008.  Tickets are $15.  Contact Sarah Andrews at 202-792-5807.
 
Although “green” is not the first term that comes to mind when you think of President Wilson, he was an advocate of protecting our natural resources and established the National Park Service in 1916.  In Woodrow Wilson’s first inaugural address on March 4, 1913 he stated, “With riches has come inexcusable waste. We have squandered a great part of what we might have used, and have not stopped to conserve the exceeding bounty of nature, without which our genius for enterprise would have been worthless and impotent, scorning to be careful, shamefully prodigal as well as admirably efficient.”  Many people of the early 20th century had come to see that with industrialization had come great cost.  These early activists, writers and scientists pioneered the modern environmental movement. Dr. Musil is the President and CEO of The Rachel Carson Council, Inc. and Senior Fellow, Adjunct Professor at The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, School of Public Affairs, American University. Go to http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/ai1ec_event/booktalk-rachel-carson-and-her-sisters-3?instance_id=.
 
50] –Join Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) in the Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave. SW, WDC on Wed., June 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM for a Capitol Hill screening of filmmaker Jen Marlowe's new documentary,” Witness Bahrain.” The event is open to the public, but due to limited seating RSVP @: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/witness-bahrain-documentary-screening-on-capitol-hill-tickets-17230426670.  The film is a piercing look inside Bahrain, two years after the start of Bahrain's uprising. The film follows a Bahraini activist as she travels all over Bahrain, uncovering stories of Bahrainis, including doctors arrested and tortured under trumped up charges, nurses treating injured protestors at underground clinics, the family of a boy killed by riot police, and the arrest of human rights defender Nabeel Rajab. Scores of ordinary Bahrainis are also featured: women explaining why they protest, people praying on the remains of their demolished mosques, and youth clashing daily with riot police. The DC premiere of the film is sponsored by Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA).  After the film, the director and former Bahraini MP Matar Matar will engage with the audience in a brief Q&A. Light refreshments will be served. See https://www.facebook.com/events/911105535614636/.
 
51] – Unlike Don Quixote, the group, Physicians For Social Responsibility, is no longer fruitlessly "tilting at windmills." In fact, wind energy is the fastest-growing source of power in the U.S. Join in on a Wed., June 17 Climate Health Action Team webinar. It will focus on wind energy and how to advocate for clean, efficient and healthy wind power to be a major part of our energy future. Wind Power: Clean, Efficient and Healthy is schedule for 8 to 9 PM EST.  REGISTER at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2412091380717740545.  Email psrnatl@psr.org.
 
52] – On Thurs., June 18 at noon, Jeffrey Kimball and William Burr, will do a book discussion of “Nixon's Nuclear Specter: The Secret Alert of 1969, Madman Diplomacy and the Vietnam War,” at the National Archives, McGowan Theater, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC. There will be a webcast on YouTube of the event--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa0NBRKMzzU.
 
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  

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