Friday, February 26, 2016

Black Lives Matter vigil/potluck/screening of BABE/'We Do Not Need a Militia of Toddlers': Handguns for Kids Law Advances in Iowa

  There is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, outside the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St.  The next scheduled vigil is on Mar. 4. Black Lives Matter.  Since this is a First Friday, there will be a potluck dinner afterwards, followed by a DVD showing.

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES.  The DVDs will be shown at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, usually on the First Friday. At 7:15 PM, from January through June, a DVD will be shown with a discussion to follow.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available. The series theme is CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.  

  On Fri., Mar. 4 see BABE [Australia & USA, 1995] One of the best films about nonviolence, this comedy-drama family film was co-written and directed by Chris Noonan. It is an adaptation of Dick King-Smith's 1983 novel “The Sheep-Pig,” also known as “Babe: The Gallant Pig” in the USA, which tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic pigs and Border Collies.

After seven years of development, BABE was filmed in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia.  The talking-animal visual effects were done by Rhythm & Hues Studios and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film was a box office success and grossed $36,776,544 at the box office in Australia.  It has received considerable acclaim from critics: it was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best PictureBest Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning Best Visual Effects. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film.  Call 410-323-1607 or email mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.


Thursday, February 25, 2016

'We Do Not Need a Militia of Toddlers': Handguns for Kids Law Advances in Iowa

If approved, bill would allow children of all ages to use handguns as long as they are under adult supervision

http://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/kids_0.jpg?itok=U3-2k7By
   In Iowa, children under 14 may soon be able to handle "a pistol, revolver or the ammunition" under parental supervision. (Photo: yakiim sem/flickr/cc)

   A bill allowing children of all ages to handle real guns passed the Iowa House of Representatives on Tuesday and is on the way to the state Senate, where lawmakers will consider making it legal for minors under 14 to have "a pistol, revolver or the ammunition" under parental supervision.

   The bill passed 62-36 in the state House. Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt, a Democrat who voted against the bill, told local media that the bill "allows for one-year-olds, two-year-olds, three-year-olds, four-year-olds to operate handguns."

  "We do not need a militia of toddlers," Running-Marquardt said.

   Currently, children in Iowa can use shotguns and long guns while under adult supervision, but not handguns. The bill would allow them to do so as long as the parents are at least 21 years old and maintain "visual and verbal contact at all times with the supervised person."

   Rev. Cheryl Thomas, policy director at Iowans for Gun Safety, said the bill was designed to weaken the state's gun laws. The advocacy group petitioned the House on Monday, urging lawmakers to reject the bill.

   Last week, the gun control advocacy group Violence Policy Center released a report that found the firearms industry is advertising to children as young as grade-school age "for financial and political gain."

  "As household gun ownership has steadily declined and the primary gun market of white males continues to age, the firearms industry has set its sights on America’s children," the report states. "Much like the tobacco industry’s search for replacement smokers, the gun industry is seeking replacement shooters."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; 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

No comments: