Can you attend a meeting on October 31 with an aide to Rep. Ruppersberger to discuss North Korea, legislation, and nuclear weapons?

Friends,

We are scheduled to meet with the Military Legislative Assistant to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger on Tues., October 31 at 1 PM.  This meeting will take place in 2416 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515-2002.  Below are our points of discussion.

Let me know if you are interested in coming to the meeting.  We have been gathering insight as to what might be going on in Congress regarding our points of interest. 

We have met with aides to Senator Cardin and Rep. John Sarbanes.  We hope to set up a meeting with an aide to Sen. Chris Van Hollen.  Let us stop the next war before it starts.

Kagiso,

Max

Ask #1 – Ask Rep. Ruppersberger to co-sponsor the Lieu legislation which gives First Strike authority to Congress.

#2 – Support the Iran Agreement.

#3 – Speak out for Diplomacy with North Korea

#4 – Speak out against the wasteful “modernization” of the nuclear arsenal.

#5 – Show support for the UN declaration making nuclear weapons illegal.

#6 – Stop the Saudi assault on Yemen. Co-sponsor H Con Res 81, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/81 ), title "Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Republic of Yemen." 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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

Honor, Sacrifice and Imperial Duplicity: Four Dead in Niger. Anybody Know Why?

Published on Portside (https://portside.org)

Honor, Sacrifice and Imperial Duplicity: Four Dead in Niger. Anybody Know Why?

http://thiscantbehappening.net/print/3680

October 28, 2017

John Grant

Friday, October 20, 2017

This Can’t Be Happening

  John Kelly’s defensive scolding from an official White House podium nicely symbolizes the quandary in which US leadership often puts members of our military. On one hand, it was a cry-from-the-heart calling for respect (a return to a “sacred” status of yore) for young soldiers asked to put their lives on the line for US foreign policy. This was given with restrained emotion and gravitas, due to the loss of his own son, Robert, in Afghanistan and the fact he has a second son on a fifth combat deployment. A Marine commander during some very bloody years in the Iraq War, Kelly noted his role sending men (like his sons) to their deaths. Politics aside, one had to respect his candor.

  But, then, he blew it. He shifted from his experiences to a crass political attack on Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, a former teacher and school principal now in her fourth term representing the 24th District in the Miami area, an area with many poor, black kids. Speaking to the ambush death of Sergeant LaDavid Johnson in Niger, Kelly shifted radically from bottom-up words about soldierly sacrifice to top-down political mud-slinging in defense of his boss, maybe the most flagrant, bald-faced liar in White House history.

   Thursday night, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell pointed out, like Kelly, he's a white male product of segregated Boston, a northern city that went through an ugly and painful integration struggle. O’Donnell rightfully honored Kelly for the cry-from-the-heart part of his remarks. But, then, he raked the man over the coals relentlessly for a shameless, ignorant and possibly racist political reprisal attack on Ms. Wilson. He came off as completely ignorant of the fact Ms. Wilson is more than LaDavid and Myeshia Johnson’s US congresswoman; she is a long-time personnel friend of the Johnson family. As a boy, LaDavid Johnson was her pupil in school and went on to participate through high school in a mentoring program she started. She has spent her life in rough areas helping to make decent young men like LaDavid Johnson. Kelly never even mentioned Wilson's name, instead called her an “empty barrel” (whatever that means) and suggested her presence in the car with Johnson’s widow and her listening in on the conversation, which was on speaker-phone, was somehow show-boating. "These are people I've known since they were little children," Wilson told The View. "His uncle went to my elementary school. I was his principal." Johnson's mother died when he was five and he was raised by his uncle and aunt, who were in the limousine with Mrs. Johnson and Ms. Wilson.

  What's going on here? General Kelly has created in his mind, for one reason or another, an idea of Rep. Wilson that comes out like Al Sharpton processed through the mind of Sean Hannity. He, then, did his best to humiliate that figment of his mind by reducing the human being it represented to an “empty barrel” -- that is, someone unworthy of his time. It's clear, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson did not reach where she is by being a shrinking violet. This is a woman with some edge; she bites back. In this case, she dared to express offense at the president’s attitude and his remarks. In General Kelly's mind, she was in a class below that of military warriors and their code of honor. That a professional military man looks upon a dedicated educator with such disdain should tell us something about our militarized culture.

  Kelly may be “the adult in the room” keeping a self-centered Donald Trump in line, but in this instance, he sadly exhibited a quite Trumpian self-centeredness and insensitivity. Donald Trump’s problem is one of rewarded narcissism, even sadism; General Kelly exhibited a different problem. His righteous self-centeredness was based on personal suffering and the ever-more-exclusive clubbyness of our professional military. For instance, during his press conference, he insisted that only Gold Star parents could ask him a question. If you’re not an intimate part of today’s elite military, if you’re not “one of us,” you can’t understand and, accordingly, you don’t have the right to say anything. Of course, anyone familiar with political science will tell you that's an anti-democratic formula for authoritarianism.

   So there you have it. On one hand, since the end of World War Two, US leadership has asked young American men and women to don uniforms and without a lot of real information to go and fight in strange, distant lands. They're not expected to ask questions. When I was in the Army, the joke was, "When I say 'Jump!' don't ask me 'Why?' ask my 'How high?" When young American soldiers get to their foreign deployments they too often run afoul of US leadership’s misguided and arrogant mid-understandings of the history and human realities of that foreign place. That is, the politics of Washington DC acts like a template overlaid over this mysterious foreign place and its problems; too often that template’s unreality leads to disaster for young troops on the granular level. I knew an Iraq veteran who came home and shot himself in the head because, in my view, in his young mind he could not match what-was-supposed-to-be with what-really-went-down. That is, he could not match the coding of the top-down warrior brotherhood with the bottom-up realities and his own inadequacies. I know numbers of wounded US servicemen who feel as I do. I know veterans rotting in prison due to crimes rooted in the violent training and experiences of their service. These men would be sneered at by the likes of General Kelly, maybe be reduced to "empty barrels."

   In his remarks, John Kelly lamented the loss of “sacredness” for our soldiers and, especially, for Gold Star families when their loved-ones are killed-in-action. A fair plea. Was he, then, expecting the American people to not see the political hack nature of his attack on a close friend of a dead soldier and his family because this friend was a US congresswoman with real power vis-a-vis him and his boss? Was that her offense? Maybe it’s true that the Johnson family never liked Donald Trump anyway and, thus, the call was perceived as hostile. Then, maybe it was a matter of the president’s inexperience in these matters and his peculiarly self-obsessed nature. General Kelly even took some blame for Trump’s remarks by telling the press conference he had told the inexperienced president that the “casualty officer” assigned to him when his son was killed had said to him in intimate terms -- terms a gruff infantry general could understand -- that his son “knew what he was getting himself into.” This would be understood by a military general familiar with sending men into battle. But it clearly did not work when translated by Donald J. Trump via cell phone on speaker in a limousine directed to a young pregnant widow with two small children as they were all being driven to the airport to receive the closed-casket remains of her husband. The casket was closed because Sergeant Johnson’s body had apparently been excruciatingly mangled to the point morticians could do nothing with it. All evidence suggests Rep. Wilson was in the car as a personal friend to comfort Mrs. Johnson and for no other reason. The fact Rep. Wilson may not like President Trump doesn't change that connection.

   So why did President Trump call Mrs. Johnson? He called her because he was on the spot; he was feeling attacked and beleaguered over the mysterious deaths of four Green Beret soldiers in Niger. The whole flap about calling Gold Star relatives stemmed from a press question about the four soldiers in Niger: Why hadn't the president commented on the four deaths? Given how Mr. Trump’s mind works, he took it as a hostile question aimed at him and went into a defensive crouch that ended by doing what he does best: He attacked President Obama. Obama didn't call Gold Star families! No one was criticizing him for not calling anyone, and General Kelly and a presidential historian both say calling Gold Star families on the phone is not necessary in order for the US commander-in-chief to show respect for the men and women he sends into harm’s way. That respect is shown in other ways, such as making sure the rug isn't pulled out from under them once they're there.

  This is where the matter gets very confusing and enshrouded in fog. On a micro canvas, President Trump avoided questions about the dead Green Berets in Niger and General Kelly emphasized the lack of respect for the sacrifices of our troops. On a macro canvas, both avoided like the plague any question that touched on post-WWII US imperial overreach. Right. That issue. The one mere voting civilians aren’t supposed to think about as bridges and sewer systems corrode, climate change is causing havoc, our education system is not delivering and the nation is breaking apart.

   Exactly what were those four Special Forces troops doing in Niger? Like everything concerning our military overseas, this information is secret. Civilians can’t understand, so they can't be informed of these facts. They might act irresponsibly. We have to leave it to those who go forth to bleed and die so soft Americans can live their comfortable lifestyles unaware and unable to appreciate the esprit-de-corps and sacrifices of our revered warriors. Worship those four dead men for their service to the nation, but don’t ask why they died and whether they died for a good cause or folly. And if you insist on asking, well, we’re going to have to turn the game back at you and abuse you for using our heroic troops as political footballs. Everybody knows you should be ashamed of yourself for doing that. Even though the president set in motion the whole circus by evading a serious question.

  The trouble is, the racoon is out of the bag loose in the house and he's a nasty, hissing scrapper; there are too many real questions for this potential scandal to go away. Rep. Wilson calls it "Trump’s Benghazi.” And this lady ain't gonna let go easily; she has lots of very powerful allies. Is it a case of an inexperienced, unprecedented far-right administration tripping over its manhood and discovering the hard way that it hung its soldiers out to dry in a far-flung desert region? Maybe. Rachel Maddow took a stab on Thursday night to put what is knowable together. It’s still very foggy. But more and more, thanks to the incredible degree of secrecy under which our military acts in the world, the only tools the press and the American people have to figure out what’s going on is their educated speculation and the responsible application of their imaginations. It's not ironic that these are the tools often used by resistances in authoritarian governments elsewhere in the world. So Maddow tossed out what she learned and connected some dots. If the Military and the Government feel she’s off-base they can tell us the “truth.” And other media sources, writers and producers can delve deeper into the fog. The point is not to let up.

   What Maddow was suggesting is this: She sketched out the nations of Mali, Niger and Chad as a “region” in the sense of an anti-terror militarist response the US has an interest in. The ISIS conquest of Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012 was important. Then French troops helped the Mali forces take back Timbuktu. What matters, here, is that Chad is the best organized and strongest military of these three sub-Saharan nations. A multi-nation military base was established in Chad after the re-taking of Timbuktu. At this point, Donald Trump ascended to the White House and instituted several manifestations of his notorious “Muslim ban.” As the courts responded, some countries were taken off the list and new ones were added. Iraq was taken off, and Venezuela and North Korea were added -- for obvious political reasons. For some strange and unspoken reason, Chad was also added to the list, meaning that citizens of Chad would have a much harder time getting into the United States. Diplomats from Chad and all over the world expressed in no uncertain terms that this decision was truly baffling. In response, apparently a bit miffed that its cooperation with the US was not respected, Chad decided to pull its troops from Mali and Niger. These troops were in process of returning to Chad when the four special forces troops were ambushed and killed as they undertook a normally peaceful patrol; for months, they had done these patrols traveling to towns to visit, do humanitarian things, “show the flag” and that sort of thing. No hostilities. After the ambush, Sergeant Johnson went missing for days. His badly mangled body was recovered by Niger troops. But it possibly gets even uglier. Just before Chad was oddly added to the “Muslim ban” list, Chad had filed an international lawsuit against the Exxon Corporation for multi-billions in fines. Did this have something to do with the decision to add Chad to the list? As we know, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of the Exxon Corporation before joining the Trump White House.

   Again, this involves speculation based on limited information and a little responsible imagination to fill in the blanks. If there is no “there” there, instead of dismissing such speculation as “fake news,” the US government and military should be honest and tell the American people what the real story is. What were the circumstances that led to the deaths of these men? So far, they have exhibited no interest in doing this. They're “investigating.” Am I too cynical? Why does this sound like “getting our stories straight.”

    The ball is in the Trump court. What were those four men doing in Niger? Is our military presence making things better or worse there? Did US leadership make a bad decision that had unforeseen consequences? Are they relying on secrecy to cover up an embarrassment? And the big question: Is the United States mobilizing its military in Africa? Are we embarking on a huge new foreign adventure? On a large, historic canvas, one can look at the Vietnam and Iraq Wars in this light, as the growth of imperial militarism with expanding commitments of young men and women in uniform. Which brings us back to General Kelly’s schizophrenic press conference: On one hand, there’s his moving call for recognizing the sacrifice of our soldiers and their families. Then, there’s his shameful political attack on a congresswoman who he did not realize had real skin in the game -- skin that happened to be darker than his white, privileged Boston skin. The general wonders why the honor and glue of America isn’t what it used to be in the glory days of World War Two, which was a defensive war. Those "values" no longer prevail; something else is going on. General Kelly needs to realize, when he becomes an attack dog for someone like Donald Trump, he’s not on a foreign battlefield -- he’s in the trenches of Washington DC, which a recent article in the conservative National Review compared to the climate in the HBO hit Game of Thrones.

   Washington politics is uglier than it has been in a long time. Secrecy, dishonesty and corruption are epidemic. As long as our military is rooted in such amoral soil, the respect and sacredness for our soldiers that General Kelly seeks will remain far out of reach.

John Grant, a Vietnam veteran, noir genre writer and peace activist with Veterans for Peace, is a founding member of the This Can’t Be Happening News Collective [1].

Source URL: https://portside.org/2017-10-28/honor-sacrifice-and-imperial-duplicity-four-dead-niger-anybody-know-why

Links:

[1] http://thiscantbehappening.net/

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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

Baltimore Activist Alert October 29, 2017 to May 5, 2018

Baltimore Activist Alert October 29, 2017 to May 5, 2018

"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 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  

4] Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore

5] Think about Donald Trump? – Oct. 29, Nov. 12 & Dec. 6

6] One Black Transgender Woman – Oct. 29

7] Protest this murderous policy by the Burmese Government – Oct. 29

8] Lunch Patrol – Oct. 29

9] BALTIMORE GREEN FORUM -- Oct. 29

10] Protest at the Pentagon – Oct. 30

11] Protest child violence -- Oct. 30 – Nov. 5

12] Hear Erin Brockovich – Oct. 30

13] Women's Empowerment Workshop – Oct. 30

14] Foods to Help You Live Healthier – Oct. 30

15] Info on RAF grants – Oct. 30

16] Converse with a supporter of the Iran Deal – Oct. 30

17] Get Money Out of Maryland Teleconference -- Oct. 30

18] Symposium on Money Mechanics and Moral Economy -- Oct. 31

19] Peace vigil – Oct. 31

20] Protest drone research – Oct. 31

21] “Not a Crime to Be Poor” -- Oct. 31

22] Help deliver a Healthcare not Warfare petition – Nov. 6

23] Stop War on North Korea and End Nuclear Weapons – Nov. 11

24] Join SOA Watch -- Nov. 10 - 12

25] Protest ROTC -- Nov. 16

26] Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases -- Jan. 12 - Jan. 14, 2018

27] Catonsville Nine Commemoration – May 4 – 5, 2018

-------

1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available.  “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

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.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 ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.

4] – Janice and Max are looking to buy a house in Baltimore.  Let Max know if you have any leads—410-323-1607 or mobuszewski 2001 at comcast dot net. 

5] – On Sun., Oct. 29 at 9 AM, catch How (Much) To Think about Donald Trump? This will take place at Stony Run Friends Meeting, 5116 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21210.  Winter is approaching. The days grow shorter. It can also feel like a time of political darkness, one that can trigger dark feelings. How important it is to nurture and share the light! For both his supporters and opponents the president looms large in the news, and in our minds. It seems we cannot not think about him. But how to think about him is a daily question. Hold him in the Light, or take a stance of resistance? Follow political events closely, or detach? Discuss personal strategies for processing this presidency and leadings provided by common Quaker values. This is one of three conversations happening as well on Sun., Nov. 11, and Sun., Dec. 6. Call (443) 703-2590.

6] – 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.  On Sun., Oct. 29, the Sunday Platform is “The Ethics of Race and Gender as Experienced by One Black Transgender Woman.”  In this talk, Monica Yorkman will be sharing ways in which colonialism, white supremacy, misogyny, trans-misogyny, and other forms of unethical behaviors impact and inform unhealthy self-views of transgender women of color. Through sharing personal experience, she intends to draw a clearer picture of the unintended negative consequences created by liberal thought perceptions of black transwomen. Finally, she will talk about what ethics look like to a black transgender woman who grew up as an inner city child in a poor family.

Ms. Yorkman comes from a family of activists. Her mother, Doris Yorkman along with her best friend Gussie Tweedy were instrumental setting examples for her as far back as the 60’s when they started voter’s registration drives in their neighborhood. Her father marched with Dr. King and was present for the “I’ve Got a Dream” speech. She transitioned in 2002. In 2013, she co-founded The Baltimore Transgender Alliance as a means to unify Baltimore’s Trans communities, empower our Trans and gender non-conforming individuals, and increase our political effectiveness.  Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

7] – The plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma continues to worsen every day.  Already 500,000 have fled the country, many more than 3000 have been murdered, and countless villages have been burned and private property seized by government forces and anti-Muslim groups. The Burmese government has been blocking all known avenues of escape, causing even more deaths and injuries among Rohingya refugees.  Speak out against this Genocide on Sun., Oct. 29 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Lafayette Square and Park.  Protest this murderous policy by the Burmese Government, and help protect innocent people who seek only to live in peace.  Go to http://www.geotrees.com/ftp/Rohingya-MedAdv-1029-2016.pdf.

8] – On Sun., Oct. 29 at noon, join the Lunch Patrol, hosted by B & Dee's Baltimore Love at the Weinberg Housing and Resource Center, 620 Fallsway, Baltimore 21202.  This is a brown bag lunch distribution to those in need throughout Baltimore City, and it happens on the last Sunday of every month starting at noon. Each month, there will be a focus on a different part of Baltimore City. 

9] – The BALTIMORE GREEN FORUM, a monthly environmental education and discussion forum, takes place on Sun., Oct. 29.  The presentation and Q&A goes from 4 to 5:15 PM, followed by announcements & networking from 5:15 to 5:45 PM.  Finally there will be a Roundtable Discussion from 5:45 to 6:30 PM.  The forum is at 1105 Providence Road, Towson 21286. Go to http://www.mpchurch.org/location-2/.    This day’s topic is What is the Future for Green Activism?  Can We Understand the Mindset of the Anti-Green Voters?  The moderator is Sam Hopkins. 

The Baltimore Green Forum seeks to educate about and stimulate dialogue about what humans can do to make modern civilization more sustainable, including adjusting to finite resource limits and preserving biodiversity and a healthy environment. The topics are far ranging. They vary from local to planetary and from philosophical to scientific to very practical.

BGF is open to the public and is free of charge, but donations to Maryland Presbyterian Church are collected during the meeting to thank the church for their generous gift of the space. RSVP at BaltimoreGreenForum@gmail.com or call Sam Hopkins at 410 554-0006.  Go to http://www.baltimoregreenforum.org.

10] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop.  The next vigil is Oct. 30, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker.  Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.  The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro.  By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr.,  and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM.  No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

11] – From Mon., Oct. 30 through Sun., Nov. 5, 3 to 4 PM each day, join the Greenmount West Community Boycott to protest the sale of bb guns, ski masks and pellets to community youth that has resulted in the arrest and youth violence in the community. The sale of anything that promotes violence in Greenmount West is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Protest Honey Carryout every day in conjunction with Cease Fire. On Nov. 4a BB gun trade in will be held at the Greenmount West Community Center where youth can turn in their guns and pellets for a $10 gift card exchange from 4 to 5 PM. This event is in partnership with Dallas Nichols School, Johnston Square, Baltimore Design School and the Montessori school. Please contact the GWCA at greenmountwestcc@gmail.com.

12] –  On Mon., Oct. 30 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, participate in the US Acute Care Solutions Women’s Dialogue Series at ACEP at The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW, WDC 20005. Go to www.usacs.com.  Erin Brockovich will do a real-life discussion. and she knows motivation is the steam that keeps us going.

13] – Heather Mizeur presents "Discovering Your Inner Wonder Woman, Women's Empowerment Workshop" at St. Matthew Church Hall, 5401 Loch Raven Boulevard

Baltimore 21239 on Mon., Oct. 30 from 6 to 8 PM. This is a ticketed event.  Get tickets at http://mizmaryland.org/events/.

14] – Roots Cares: Foods to Help You Live Healthier, Stronger, and Longer will be hosted by Dana Simpler, MD, & Certified Health Coach Sharon McRae on Mon., Oct. 30 from 7 to 9 PM at Great Sage, 5809 Clarksville Square Drive, Clarksville 21029.  Learn about the latest evidence on what foods prevent cancer and cancer recurrence, and what foods may be making you sick. Class includes cooking demonstrations and food tastings that teach you to prepare quick, healthy, delicious food options so you feel satisfied and more energetic. You’ll leave with supporting printed materials, recipes and plenty of inspiration!  Simpler is a board certified Internist, graduate of University of Maryland Medical School and has been in private practice in Baltimore for 29 years. McRae is a plant-based Certified Health Coach residing in Columbia, MD, who has been applying principles of health and nutrition in her own life for more than three decades. Go to www.eatwell-staywell.com.

15] – The deadline for Research Associates Foundation (RAF) grant submissions is Mon., Nov. 6, 2017. This is an excellent opportunity for activists, both individuals and organizations, to get up to $2500 to fund transformative social change projects in the Baltimore, MD area.  Please go to the website (www.rafbaltimore.org) to see the guidelines and download applications. 

There is an information session, scheduled for prospective grantees. Listen, ask questions and/or get help with your application on Mon., Oct. 30 at 7 PM at St. John's United Methodist Church, 2640 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218.  Email info@rafbaltimore.org.

16] – On Mon., Oct. 30 from 7 to 9 PM, catch a Conversation with Uzi Eilam, hosted by Baltimore Jewish Council at 5750 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21215.  Eilam, a supporter of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("the Iran deal"), will talk about its continued effects on Israel's security under President Trump's administration, as well as other Israeli security issues. RSVP to Noah Mitchel at nmitchel@baltjc.org or 410-542-4850.

Uzi Eilam’s military career spanned decades.  He has served as Senior Research Fellow at The Jaffee Center since 2002. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Bob Freedman, visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, scholar on international relations, and member of the Baltimore Jewish Council’s board.

17] – Join the Get Money Out of Maryland Teleconference every Monday evening. On Mon., Oct. 30 at 8:30 PM, call 605-475-6711, 1136243#.  Focus on the petitioning drive and continue to plan public outreach events.

18] – Get Money Out of Maryland’s purpose is to make our elections truly democratic. In an era when millions have lost their homes and government has bailed out the banks to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, should our currency and banking systems also be subject to the democratic control of the people? To expand your knowledge of one of the most fundamental aspects of our society, attend this event: The New Abolitionism: Symposium on Money Mechanics and Moral Economy on Tues., Oct. 31 from 9 AM to 4:30 PM at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, 9832 Piscataway Road, Clinton, MD 20735.  GMOM is proud to be an ally of Pastor Delman Coates. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Democracy Amendment Resolution, a serious student of the financial system, and a visionary for equality and economic democracy. He wants to protect the most vulnerable from being casualties of our economic system. We urge you to join him, if you can for this groundbreaking free conference. Panelists will include economists, financial professionals, staff of the Federal Reserve Board, and a former member of the House Financial Services Committee. An interfaith panel of religious leaders will discuss the historic and contemporary position of money and debt in major world religions. Email charlie@GetMoneyOutMD.org.

19] –  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 Oct. 31.  Call 215-426-0364.

20] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on Oct. 31 from 5:30  to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-323-1607.   

21] – Peter Edelman has written a book “Not a Crime to Be Poor,” and on Tues., Oct. 31 at 7 PM will be at Politics and Prose Bookstore, WDC.  One revelation of the Justice Department’s Ferguson Report was racially biased policing, and another is a system of laws and fees that have effectively made poverty a crime. By levying fines for trespassing, failure to appear in court, and other minor transgressions, then jailing those who can’t pay, the government targets people already caught in cycles of poverty and keeps them there. Edelman, a former advisor to Robert Kennedy and now Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy and the faculty director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown University Law Center, argues that this is a retributive system that harms both individuals and their communities.

22] – Can you join the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance on Mon., Nov. 6 at noon to help deliver a Healthcare not Warfare petition to Captain Mark A. Kobelja, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 4494 North Palmer Road, Bethesda 20889. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net. Can you sign on to the petition?  If yes, please provide name, hometown and your organization to Max.

23] – There is a National Mobilization to Stop War on North Korea and End Nuclear Weapons.  The main Maryland Action in Baltimore is at 11 AM on Sat., Nov. 11. Trump has threatened “to totally destroy North Korea.”  Secretary of War Mattis has told the U.S. Army “to be ready” for war. We are on a dangerous path towards a military confrontation that could kill millions and engulf the world in a nuclear holocaust. Come say no war with North Korea—and no nuclear weapons!

There will be a demonstration with street theatre, banners, and the People’s Peace Treaty at McKeldin Square, Pratt and Light Sts., Baltimore.  This event is organized by Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility and MD Peace Action. Contact Jean Athey at jeanathey@verizon.net.

If you do not want to go down to the Inner Harbor, Max will hold a demonstration at Centre and Charles Sts. starting at 11 AM on Sat., Nov. 11 – Armistice Day.  To join him, call 410-323-1607 or email him at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

24] – From Fri., Nov. 10 through Sun., Nov. 12, Witness for Peace staff, along with human rights activists, torture survivors, anti-war veterans, students, families, union workers, artists, and educators will converge in Eloy-Tucson-Ambos Nogales for the SOA Watch Border Encuentro. Register at https://org.salsalabs.com/o/727/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=99936. 

Join with SOA Watch for three days of vigils, workshops, rallies (including at the Mexico-US border), music, and other collaboration to deepen the resistance against US-led militarism and other harmful policies throughout the Western Hemisphere.  Join WFP at a happy hour to connect with teams from around Latin America, meet grassroots organizers from across the U.S., and learn more about work on both sides of the border.  It is on Sat., Nov. 11 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Quality Hotel Americana, 639 N Grand Ave., Nogales, AZ, 85621.

25] – On Thurs., Nov. 16 there will be Nationwide Nonviolent Actions Demanding Jesuit Universities Not Teach War and Killing by sponsoring ROTC on Christian campuses.  One of the protests will be at Loyola University in Baltimore.  Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

26] – Attend a Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases from Fri., Jan. 12 through Sun., Jan. 14, 2018 at the University of Baltimore, Learning Commons Town Hall, 1415 Maryland Ave., Baltimore 21201, hosted by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases.  Thirteen prominent peace and justice organizations in the United States are collectively organizing this conference.  Some of the groups are Black Alliance for Peace, CODEPINK, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Popular Resistance, Veterans For Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and World Beyond War.  The conference will feature national and international experts. Several expert panels will discuss the economic, political, environmental and health costs and impact of U.S. foreign military bases in various regions of the world, including South America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The conference will be live streamed for the international audience.  For more information and to register for the conference, go to http://noforeignbases.org/conference-on-u-s-foreign-military-bases/?epl_action=process_cart_action&cart_action=add&event_id=723&_rand=59d50af323702.

27] –   Save the Dates.  The fiftieth anniversary of the Catonsville Nine draft board raid will be commemorated  There will be a CATONSVILLE NINE SYMPOSIUM on FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2018 from 4 to 10 PM at the Shriver Center, University of Maryland – Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Cir, Catonsville, MD 21250. Enjoy Films, Lectures, Discussion Panels and Dramatic Readings.  There will be more CATONSVILLE NINE COMMEMORATION ACTIVITIES on SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2018 from 9 AM to 2 PM at the Baltimore County Public Library Catonsville Branch, 1100 Frederick Rd., Catonsville, MD 21228.  Enjoy more Films, Lectures, Discussion Panels and Dramatic Readings.  Go to http://www.catonsville9.org/50th-anniversary-commemoration/.

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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

"New Gilded Age" Reaches New Heights With World's Billionaires Owning Staggering $6 Trillion

"New Gilded Age" Reaches New Heights With World's Billionaires Owning Staggering $6 Trillion

Friday, October 27, 2017

By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams | Report

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/42399-new-gilded-age-reaches-new-heights-with-world-s-billionaires-owning-staggering-6-trillion

(Photo: PM Images / Getty Images)

In an analysis (pdf) published Thursday that throws into stark relief the "unjust and unsustainable" nature of what economists have termed the New Gilded Age, the Swiss financial firm UBS found that the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 17 percent in 2016, bringing their combined fortune to a record $6 trillion -- more than double the gross domestic product of the United Kingdom.

The report also found that there are 1,542 billionaires in the world and more than 563 in the United States alone, more than any other country.

Josef Stadler, lead author of the UBS analysis, told the Guardian that the firm's findings demonstrate that the world is "now two years into the peak of the second Gilded Age."

The extent of the world's wealth concentration -- just eight men now own as much wealth as half of the global population -- raises a number of questions, one of which is whether the world's population will continue to tolerate such vast inequities, Stadler said.

"We're at an inflection point," Stadler argued. "Wealth concentration is as high as in 1905, this is something billionaires are concerned about. The problem is the power of interest on interest -- that makes big money bigger and, the question is to what extent is that sustainable and at what point will society intervene and strike back?"

But despite insistence from leading economists and institutions like the International Monetary Fund that raising taxes on the wealthy is necessary to shrink the growing gap between the billionaires and everyone else, many global powers are doing precisely the opposite.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week made what economist Thomas Piketty called a "historical error" by drastically slashing the country's wealth tax as part of his sweeping pro-business economic agenda.

The Republican-controlled US Congress, meanwhile, is moving rapidly to adopt a tax plan that would deliver massive gains to the already wealthy while slashing safety net programs that low-income and middle class families depend on for survival.

According to an analysis by the People's Policy Project, the top one percent in the US already owns a "stunning" 77 percent of the wealth. Meanwhile, those in the bottom ten percent are "net debtors." Non-partisan analyses have found that the GOP tax plan would make this gap even larger.

As Common Dreams reported earlier this month, even some billionaires agree that inequality is out of control, and that a more progressive tax code is necessary to remedy the problem.

"Three decades of data prove that tax cuts for the wealthy do not 'trickle down' to working people or grow the overall economy," billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer concluded in a recent op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. "Let's raise taxes on the rich.... Let's boost wages to stimulate economic growth and job creation. It's the only way we will create broad prosperity, rebuild the middle class, and give working families a fair shake."

We need your help to stay hot on the trail of injustice and corruption. It only takes a moment -- click here to support independent reporting!

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license.

JAKE JOHNSON

Jake Johnson is a staff writer for Common Dreams. Follow him on Twitter: @johnsonjakep.

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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: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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

Here is what to ask your senators and representatives on both nuclear and conventional wars.

Friends,

  I believe that the Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq is the greatest foreign policy disaster in U.S. history.  Maryland’s peace community worked hard to get our delegation to vote against the resolution allowing Bush-Cheney to invade Iraq.  However, on October 10, 2002, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 296 to 133 to affirm the resolution, and the following day the Senate voted for affirmation 77 to 23.

Our two Democratic senators, Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes voted against war, as did three House members from Maryland—Democrats Ben Cardin and Elijah Cummings and Republican Connie Morella.  Voting for this still ongoing fiasco were these House members from Maryland--Republicans Roscoe Bartlett, Robert Ehrlich and Wayne Gilchrest, and Democrats Steny Hoyer and Albert Wynn. The effects of allowing Bush and Cheney to invade Iraq in March 2003 are still with us today.  For example, the devastating assault on the Iraqi people led to the creation of ISIS.

   During our annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration, we decided to form an ad hoc anti-nuclear group. It can be argued that we are facing the gravest nuclear crisis since October 1962.

    With Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility taking the lead, we have decided to do as much lobbying as possible in the State of Maryland to challenge the Trump Administration’s rancorous and threatening talk about using nuclear weapons.  Also greatly involved in the lobbying efforts is Peace Action.

  We have engaged in several meetings with various legislative aides, and plan to do more.  We would encourage all of you to consider doing lobbying, calling and emailing your legislators during this time of crisis. Below are the asks we have presented to the legislative aides:

Ask #1 – If it is a senator’s office, inform the aide that the senator should co-sponsor S200 introduced by Sen. Markey, and if the aide is with a representative co-sponsor HR669 introduced by Rep. Lieu.

#2 – Support the Iran deal.

#3 – Speak out for Diplomacy with North Korea

#4 – Speak out against the wasteful “modernization” of the nuclear arsenal.

#5 – Show support for the UN declaration making nuclear weapons illegal.

#6 – Stop the Saudi assault on Yemen. If you are lobbying a representative, s/he should sign on to H Con Res 81, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/81 ), title "Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Republic of Yemen."  If you are lobbying a senator, inform her/him to introduce similar legislation in the Senate.   

  It is very important to place pressure on senators and representatives as first the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be debating the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force on October 30; and second in the House, four Members of Congress — Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Republican Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Walter Jones (N.C.) — have introduced legislation in the House to require the removal of U.S. forces from the ongoing conflict in Yemen, unless Congress votes to authorize the American involvement. The measure should be simple common sense: Under the War Powers Act of 1973, direct U.S. military involvement in an overseas conflict is supposed to require explicit congressional consent. A vote is expected in early November.

Kagiso,

Max

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.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