34] TPP threatens – Oct. 28
35]
Climate chaos – Oct. 28
36] Afghanistan Security
– Oct. 28
37] Nuclear
Free Future Awards – Oct. 28
38] Household
Workers Unite – Oct. 28
39] “Erased from
Space and Consciousness” – Oct. 28
40]
Pope calls us to action – Oct. 28
41] Laudato Si – Oct. 28
42] Egyptian repression
– Oct. 28
43]
Inequality – Oct. 28
44] Health
crisis for children in Gaza – Oct. 29
45]
Nuclear Free Award Winners speak – Oct. 29
-----
33] – As Tunisia
struggles to build a stable democracy from its 2011 Arab Spring revolution, it
must overcome terrorist attacks, high unemployment, a refugee crisis and the
threat of social turmoil. The stakes are region-wide, as Tunisia remains the
only one of five Arab Spring countries to be treading a nonviolent, democratic
path. A critical figure in Tunisia's evolution-Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the
leader of the Islamist movement Nahda, visits the US Institute of Peace, United
States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave., WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 from
10 to 11:30 AM to discuss how his country can consolidate its progress-
Democratizing Under Fire: Can Tunisia Show the Way?
Sheikh Ghannouchi is a vital voice.
His movement, Nahda, led the first post-revolution government, which wrote the
country’s new, more democratic, constitution. It is now a coalition partner in
the secularist government led by President Beji Caid Essebsi. Sheikh Ghannouchi
will deliver remarks on the challenges facing his homeland and its region. He
then will join Ambassador William Taylor and author Robin Wright in a
discussion that will include questions from the audience. Go to http://www.usip.org/events/democratizing-under-fire-can-tunisia-show-the-way.
34] – Amazon Watch, Sierra Club and Global Trade Watch Invite You to a
"Green-Bag Lunch" presentation about a "trade pact" that
threatens our climate, communities and democracy on Wed., Oct. 28 from 12:30 to
2 PM at the Amazon Watch / CIEL Conference Room, 1350 Connecticut Ave.
NW, #1100, (above Cosi, Dupont Circle South), WDC. After more than 5 years of
negotiation, countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
announced that they reached a deal on the agreement this month. Despite the
fact that this "trade" agreement would have massive impacts on our
environment, healthcare, workers' rights, and much more, TPP governments have
negotiated it in secrecy with input from "advisers" from huge
multinational corporations. Learn from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and
Sierra Club about how the TPP has been negotiated, how it threatens our
environment and communities, and what people can do to fight back against
harmful trade policies. The presenters are Jessa Boehner, International Program
Associate at Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, where she helps lead the
international campaign against the TPP, and Courtenay Lewis, the Campaign
Representative for the Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Program.
35] – In December, negotiators from
around the world will convene in Paris to negotiate and agree to a deal to
address the challenge of climate change. While most attention has been on the
position of major economies like China, Europe, and the United States, one
group that has played a role in the negotiations far beyond the size of their
populations are the Alliance of Small Island States. Their clear moral
authority, as "front-line" states of climate change, shows how soft
power can accelerate diplomacy.
On Wed., Oct. 28 from
12:30 to 1:30 PM, join ASP, 1100 New York Ave. NW, 7th Floor, West
Tower, WDC, as it hosts Tony de Brum, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of the Marshall Islands. He will discuss the importance of the upcoming COP in
Paris and how effective climate diplomacy can still prevent the worst impacts
of climate change. At this event, ASP will formally launch a new
Perspective Paper - "Climate Diplomacy and American Leadership."
Lunch refreshments will be served from noon to 12:30 PM. Arrive for
registration at noon. Check out http://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-change-diplomacy-and-national-security-a-conversation-with-foreign-minister-tony-de-brum-tickets-18958381028.
36] – The fall of the northern city
of Kunduz to the Taliban ignited serious concerns about the ability of the
Afghan National Security Forces to maintain stability in their country. While
Afghan forces recaptured Kunduz with international support, Taliban forces
continue to pressure other northern cities while carrying out operations
elsewhere. President Obama announced a reversal of his decision to remove
all U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, saying that 5,500
would remain. The fall of Kunduz was a blow to Afghanistan's "national
unity" government, which so far has given the impression of being more
focused on internal rivalries than on its core responsibilities. How did
divisions within the government contribute to the fall of Kunduz? And might the
city's ordeal prompt better internal coordination?
Join The United States
Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Ave, NW, WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 from
2:30 to 4:30 PM for a discussion among experts on
these questions and what they may mean for stability in Afghanistan. Visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/implications-for-afghanistan-the-taliban-seizure-of-kunduz-tickets-19194981707.
37] – On
Wed., Oct. 28 from 6 to 9 PM (with a reception at 5 PM), Sister Megan Rice,
Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed and several other persons including the
Foreign Secretary of the Marshall Islands and Austria's Director of Arms
Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament will receive this year's Nuclear Free
Future Awards. The ceremony will be in Room B-338 at the Rayburn House Office
Building. RSVP by emailing Victoria Pennacchio, vlpenn17@g.holycross.edu.
Beside the Oak Ridge protesters, the
Cree First Nation and six individuals are to be honored for their work in the
anti-nuclear movements. The awards are sponsored by Beyond Nuclear, Green Cross
International and the Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington, and will take place
in B-338 Rayburn House Office Building, WDC. Sister Megan, the
85-year old nun who in July 2012, along with fellow Transform Now Plowshares
protesters, Walli and Boertje-Obed, will receive the award in the category of
Resistance for their act of nonviolent civil disobedience against the
immorality of nuclear weapons.
Awards are given for “Resistance,”
“Education” and “Solutions.” Each award comes with a $10,000
honorarium. The Award ceremony will be hosted by Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, and
will feature music by Paul Winter and David Amraml. Tony de Brum, Foreign
Secretary of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), will receive the award
for Solutions. De Brum has led efforts by RMI to get the nine nuclear
weapons states to fulfill their disarmament duties under the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty, including serving as a co-agent in a law suit against
them at the International Court of Justice. The Marshall Islands were the
site of 67 U.S. atomic tests during the Cold War that left the region
contaminated with deadly radioactivity, forced the evacuation of entire islands
and caused long-lasting deadly health effects among the island
populations. Minister de Brum personally experienced the atomic
detonations as a young boy including the massive 1954 Castle Bravo shot at
Bikini atoll, the largest nuclear detonation the world has ever seen. De
Brum has been a resolute voice in calling for the complete abolition of nuclear
weapons.
Cornelia Hesse-Honegger, a Swiss
scientific illustrator, will be honored in the category of Education. In
1987, one year after the Chernobyl nuclear power disaster in Ukraine,
Hesse-Honegger began illustrating deformed insects she found in
Sweden. Her findings of deformities and mutations in the insect realm
caused by exposure to radiation eventually led her to similar studies around
Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the Nevada test site, near German and French
nuclear installations and elsewhere. She concluded the damage to insects
was “likely to be caused by the ingestion of radioactive particles.”
In the winter of 2014, youth members
of the Cree First Nation community of Mistissini walked nearly 850 kilometers
to Montreal from their village in northern Quebec to protest uranium
exploration in the province. The march was the culmination of several
years’ struggle to stop uranium mining including a 2012 Earth Day rally in
Montreal where they led a parade of more than 250,000. Their relentless
pursuit of justice for their community resulted in a unanimous decision by delegates
of the Grand Council of the Crees’ General Assembly in 2012 to adopt a
resolution banning uranium exploration, mining and waste emplacement on their
land, known as Eeyou Istchee or “The People’s Land.” Members of the Cree
Youth will be honored with a Special Recognition Award.
Ambassador Alexander Kmnett,
Austria’s Director of Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will also receive a Special Recognition award. His
voice was instrumental in Austria’s call, during the International Conference
on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in December, 2014 in Vienna, that
the nuclear weapons nations fully disarm. Kmnett spoke forcefully on the
humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons at the 2015 Five-Year Review
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in April in New York
City. This was instrumental in the call by Austria’s foreign minister for a
global ban on nuclear weapons because of their catastrophic humanitarian
effects, an initiative backed by 159 countries. Go to http://www.ladailypost.com/content/oak-ridge-protesters-among-winners-2015-nuclear-free-future-award.
The honorary co-hosts
of the evening are Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Congressman Jim P. McGovern
(D-MA), and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA). Beyond Nuclear and Green Cross
International (GCI) are the NGO co-hosts. Seven-time Grammy award-winning
saxophonist Paul Winter, and composer and musician David Amram, winner of the
2012 Pete and Toshi Seeger Power of Song Award, will provide the musical
entertainment.
38] – Join the Institute for Policy
Studies’ Black Worker Initiative and the National Domestic Workers Alliance for
a deep discussion of compelling personal stories from the leaders and
participants on the front lines at Busboys & Poets. 5th and K Sts, 1025 5th
St. NW, WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 from 6:30 to 8 PM. Premilla Nadasen, author
of “Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who
Built a Movement,” will discuss and sign the new book, which tells the stories
of African American domestic workers and the little-known history of the
domestic worker movement with perspectives on race, labor, feminism, and
organizing.
Resurrecting a little-known history
of domestic-worker activism from the 1950s to the 1970s, Nadasen shows how
these women were a far cry from the stereotyped passive and powerless victims;
they were innovative labor organizers who tirelessly organized on buses and
streets across the United States to bring dignity and legal recognition to
their occupation.
Kimberly Freeman Brown, author of
“And Still I Rise: Black Women Labor Leaders’ Voices, Power and Promise,” will
discuss the Institute for Policy Studies report on black women, unions, and
economic and racial justice. Natalicia Tracy from the Brazilian Workers Center
in Boston will also be a panelist.
39] – Come to Takoma Park, 235
Carroll St. NW, WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM as Noga
Kadman will discuss her book, “Erased from Space and Consciousness,” which
analyzes how Israelis perceive the dramatic transformation that took place in
the landscape and demography of Israel after the 1948 war, when hundreds of
Palestinians towns and village were depopulated.
A dramatic transformation took place
in the landscape and demography of Israel after the 1948 war, as hundreds of
Palestinian villages throughout the country were depopulated, and for the most
part physically erased. How has this transformation been perceived by
Israelis? Kadman's book suggests some answers, based on research that
systematically explores aspects of Israeli discourse concerning the depopulated
Palestinian villages. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1642718589350851/.
40] – On Wed., Oct. 28 at 7 PM
go to St. Vincent’s Speaker’s Series: The Cry of the Earth - How Pope
Francis Calls Us to Action on Saving Our Common Home. This is the last of
three talks, and it will be held at St. Vincent DePaul Church, 120 N. Front
St., Baltimore 21202. The speaker is Mary Evelyn
Tucker, Yale University, she will elaborate on social action and climate
change.
41] – On Wed., Oct. 28 from 7 to 9
PM, participate in A Closer Look, the last of a three part series
examining and discussing Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, Laudato Si.
Questions and discussion materials will be mainly drawn from Father Tom
Reese’s, “A Readers’ Guide to Laudato Si,” National Catholic Reporter, The
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Interfaith Power and Light.
This is happening at St. Rose of Lima parish, 11701 Clopper Road,
Gaithersburg.
42] – Professor Emad Shahin of
Georgetown was sentenced to death in absentia by the Egyptian regime in May
2015 on fabricated charges. He will be speaking about his experience and his
analysis of the regime's escalating repression and crimes against humanity at
301 A St. SE, WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 from 7 to 9 PM.
Shahin is a visiting professor of
political science at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and
the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. His talk
is sponsored by The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Taskforce for U.S.
Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa Region, St. Mark's Mid-East
Working Group, Amnesty International, and the National Lawyers Guild-DC
Chapter. Contact Benjamin Douglas at Benjaminevandouglas@gmail.com.
43] –Our economic system has created
vast amounts of wealth and opportunity. Indeed, the free market is a defining
aspect of America’s identity. But in recent years it has created troubling
levels of inequality. Companies by and large are doing well: stock market
valuations are high, and corporations are flush with cash. But the benefits
aren’t being widely shared. Few good jobs are being created. And the disparity
between rich and poor is becoming far greater.
This year’s Ignatius Forum will
bring together a prominent panel of experts at the Washington National
Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, WDC, on Wed., Oct. 28 at 7:30 PM. The
Nancy and Paul Ignatius Program was created in recognition of Nancy and Paul’s
service and commitment to Washington National Cathedral and the inspiration
they have given to so many to “focus on things that matter.” The fund dedicated
in their names helps support this annual program on issues of importance at the
intersection of faith and public life. Go to https://tix.cathedral.org/TheatreManager/1/login?event=703&utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20151005%20Ignatius%20Invitation%20(3)&utm_content=.
44] – Come to the Palestine Center,
2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Oct. 29 from 9 to 10 AM for a
discussion with Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei, Executive Director of Gaza Community
Mental Health Programme, and Ran Goldstein, Executive Director of Physicians
for Human Rights, Israel, who will discuss the mental and physical health
crisis for children in Gaza and the impact of the blockade. Dr. Abu-Jamei and
Mr. Goldstein are on a U.S. tour at the invitation of Rebuilding Alliance, the
Gaza Mental Health Foundation, and dozens of medical institutions,
universities, faith groups, and advocates including the Seattle Physicians for
Social Responsibility, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Harvard School
of Public Health, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and Jewish Voice for
Peace. Check out http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/56050.
45] – At
the Goethe Institut, 812 7th St. NW, WDC, on Thurs., Oct. 29 from 11 AM
to 5 PM, the 2015 winners of the
international Nuclear-Free Future Award will talk about their efforts to end
the uranium fuel chain and offer peaceful, sustainable alternatives to nuclear
power and nuclear weapons. The event will be moderated by Gordon Edwards,
president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and recipient of
the 2006 Nuclear-Free Future Award. Organized by Beyond Nuclear, Green Cross
International and the Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington. Go to http://www.eventbrite.com/e/think-nuclear-free-symposium-the-nuclear-free-future-award-tickets-15312779937 or www.goethe.de/washington.
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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