Thursday, May 4, 2017

orothy Day's granddaughter at the Viva House on May 4/Nearly 500K People Urge Congress to "Take Away Trump's Nuclear Football"

Friends,

  Get over to the Viva House Catholic Worker, 26 South Mount Street, Baltimore 21223, on Thurs., May 4 from 6 to 8 PM for A Conversation with Author and Dorothy Day's Granddaughter Kate Hennessy.  "Dorothy Day: The World Will be Saved by Beauty" is a new biography by Day's youngest grandchild. Dorothy Day (1897-1980), with philosopher Peter Maurin, formed the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933. The work continues to this day, focusing on the corporal works of mercy: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and the prisoners, bury the dead and give alms to the poor. And resist the crown. From the streets of New York City during the Great Depression, the Catholic Worker Movement today has over 200 houses of hospitality worldwide. Its flagship newspaper, Catholic Worker, is published eight times a year and still sells for one penny, as it did in 1933. A case for sainthood is being made for Day in the Catholic Church. In her early life, Day was a writer and newspaperwoman, at home in the bars and cafes of Chicago and New York's Greenwich Village. Her only child, Tamar Teresa, was born out of wedlock to Day and her partner Forster Batterham. From this unconventional life in the 1920s comes a legacy of charity and compassion on an international scale. Call 410-233-0488.

Kagiso,

Max

Nearly 500K People Urge Congress to "Take Away Trump's Nuclear Football"

Wednesday, May 03, 2017

New legislation would prohibit president from launching nuclear strike without declaration of war from Congress



https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/nuclear_weapon_0.jpg?itok=1tJNsyBu
"The current nuclear launch approval process, which gives the decision to potentially end civilization as we know it to a single individual, is flatly unconstitutional." (Photo: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons/flickr/cc)

Close to 500,000 people have signed a petition, delivered to Congress on Wednesday, that urges lawmakers to take President Donald Trump's finger off the nuclear button.

  The petition supports the "Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act," legislation introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) that would prohibit Trump from launching a nuclear weapon without Congress first authorizing a declaration of war.

   "No American president should be allowed to launch an unprovoked nuclear war," Markey said at the press conference marking the petition delivery. "The Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, and we should not allow President Trump—or any president—to use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack against the U.S. or our allies."

    More than a dozen advocacy groups helped circulate the petition, from the anti-nuclear Peace Action to the democracy watchdog Public Citizen.
"It's terrifying that Trump currently has unchecked authority to press the button to launch thousands of nuclear weapons at his command in a matter of moments," said Tessa Levine, campaign manager for the action group CREDO, which also endorsed the petition. "Trump's first 100 days have been marked by series of horrifying demonstrations of his recklessness and incompetence, we cannot trust Trump to make rational or informed decisions about the safety of our country and the world."
"It's time to take away Trump's nuclear football," Levine said.

Many highlighted the destructive power of modern weapons—especially when handed over to a president with a temper and a shaky grasp of geopolitics.
"Our Constitution created a government based on checks and balances and gave the power to declare war solely to Congress," said Lieu. "A nuclear first strike, which can kill hundreds of millions of people and invite a retaliatory strike that can destroy America, is war. The current nuclear launch approval process, which gives the decision to potentially end civilization as we know it to a single individual, is flatly unconstitutional."

"Furthermore, the single individual currently possessing the sole power to start WWIII is Donald J. Trump. The president has demonstrated a frightening ignorance of the nuclear triad, crowed about being 'unpredictable' with our nuclear arsenal, and taken to Twitter to make provocative statements about U.S. nuclear posture," Lieu added. "The fate of humanity just may be at stake."

  Lillyanne Daigle, network campaigner for Global Zero, added, "One modern nuclear weapon is more destructive than all of the bombs detonated in World War II combined—yet there is no check on Trump's ability to use the thousands of nuclear weapons at his command. His power to do so is absolute, and once he hits the proverbial red button there would be no take-backs."

   "That such devastating power is concentrated in one person is an affront to America's founding principles," Daigle said. "The proposed legislation is an important first step to reining in this autocratic system and making the world safer from nuclear catastrophe."

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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

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