Baltimore Activist Alert -- November 27 -- 30, 2019

29] Climate Action Coffee – Nov. 27

30] Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit – Nov. 27 - 29

31] Food Drive for the animals – Nov. 27 – 29

32] Winter Holiday Gift Drive – Nov. 27 -- 30

33] Thanksgiving at the Franciscan Center – Nov. 27

34] Food Rescue – Nov. 27

35] Necessity of the Reconstruction Laws – Nov. 27

36] Be kind to animals, especially turkeys – Nov. 28

37] Food Rescue – Nov. 28

38] Food Rescue – Nov. 28

39] Fire Drill Friday – Nov. 29

40] White House vigil – Nov. 29

41] WIB peace vigils – Nov. 29

42] Rally for Indigenous People's Day Recognition – Nov. 29

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29] – On Wed., Nov. 27 from 7:30 AM to 9 AM, get over to Climate Action Coffee with Takoma Park Mobilization at Busboys and Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC 20012.  The Climate Action Coffee is an every-Wednesday gathering at Busboys and Poets Takoma, a cooperative production of Busboys and the Takoma Alliance for a Local Living Economy (TALLE), a working group of the Takoma Park Mobilization.

This weekly series is meant to provide an organizing workspace with action-oriented discussion circles focused on building the kinds of markets, society, food systems and resiliency that we want for our region; raising watershed and environmental justice consciousness; and following youth climate leaders in taking immediate action to reverse the dramatic disruption of our climate systems. Bring your vision and passion for reshaping our communities and local economies in the service of resiliency, racial equity, and carbon-neutrality. More info at http://tpmobilization.org/talle.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2536864976380836/?event_time_id=2536864993047501.

30] – On Wed., Nov. 27, Thurs., Nov. 28 and Fri., Nov. 29 from 8 AM to 5 PM, visit the Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit, hosted by the New Village Press, 1957 E St. NW, WDC 20052-0041.  November 15, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War Mobilization March on Washington, a gathering of over half a million demonstrators against the war. The George Washington University offers a series of events to educate students and the general public about often overlooked facets of the history of US involvement in Vietnam, including the impact that antiwar GIs and veterans had on ending the war. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/508974299680430/?event_time_id=513544722556721.

31] – On Wed., Nov. 27, Thurs., Nov. 28 and Fri., Nov. 29 from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM, help with the Food Drive for SPCA Food Bank at the Annapolis Cat Hospital, 2244-48 Bay Ridge Ave., Annapolis 21403.  Consider donating to an animal in need. Details about donation drop off days, times, and items accepted can be found below. Your donations mean so much, and the entire Annapolis Cat Hospital staff thanks you! Donations accepted are unopened canned or bagged dog and cat food.  No boxed foods or treats. Call Annapolis Cat Hospital at 410-268-2287 or Bay Ridge Animal Hospital at 410-268-6994.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/397186717891355/?event_time_id=397186731224687.

32] – On Wed., Nov. 27, Thurs., Nov. 28, Fri., Nov. 29 and Sat., Nov. 30 from 9 AM to 5 PM, get with the Winter Holiday Gift Drive organized by Project PLASE, Inc. , 3601 Old Frederick Rd., Baltimore 21229. Help the clients out for a hopeful holiday season by hosting a Winter Holiday Gift Drive at your office, club, school, or organization! Email Jordan at jborkoski@projectplase.org or call 410-837-1400 ext. 121 if you would like to host a drive! Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/2183186298648674/?event_time_id=2183186435315327.

33] – On Wed., Nov. 27 from noon to 5 PM, enjoy Thanksgiving at the Franciscan Center, 101 W. 23rd St., Baltimore 21218.  The Center will host families and individuals from throughout our City to give thanks for all that we have.  All are invited. If you would like to volunteer, contact Angela Hall at AHall@fcbmore.org.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/516292269161965/.

34] – On Wed., Nov. 27 from noon to 1 PM,  get over to Food Rescue Baltimore at Baltimore Free Farm, 3510 Ash St., Baltimore 21211.  The long-time Wednesday Food Rescue at the Baltimore Free Farm continues. Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious, free rescued food. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2335352913149645/?event_time_id=2335352959816307.

35] – On Wed., Nov. 27 from 4 to 5:30 PM, hear about the Necessity of the Reconstruction Laws, hosted by the National Mall and Memorial Parks at the Lincoln Memorial, 2 Lincoln Memorial Circle NW, WDC 20037.  In discussing the Emancipation Proclamation Act, follow the course that led to the Thirteen, the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Amendments.  This is a Ranger Talk.  Meet at Lincoln Memorial Plaza by the Alaska/Hawaii Plaque.  Contact Ranger Station at (202) 426-6841.  Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/542816056439356/.

36] – On Thurs., Nov. 28 be kind to animals, especially turkeys.

37] – There is a Food Rescue at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1303 Orleans St., Baltimore 21231 on Thursdays from noon to 1 PM.  Food Rescue Baltimore partners with Baltimore’s esteemed Enoch Pratt Free Library at the Orleans Street Branch. Come to the library, bring a bag, and take home delicious free food. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/567424937414955/?event_time_id=567425064081609.

38] – On Thursdays from 4 to 5 PM, Food Rescue Baltimore is working with Dovecote Café, 2501 Madison Ave., Baltimore 21217.  Bring a bag, bring a friend, and take delicious, nutritious, free rescued food.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/2095151417235683/?event_time_id=2095151543902337.

39] – Inspired by the Swedish student, Greta Thunberg, the student strikers and Naomi Klein's new book "On Fire: The Burning Case for the Green New Deal," Jane Fonda decided to upend her life, left her comfort zone and move to Washington, D.C. for four months to focus on climate change. As Greta said, "This is a crisis. We have to act like our house is on fire, because it is.”  So, every Friday she will host an action called — Fire Drill Friday — at 11 AM on the East Lawn of the Capitol Building, followed by a direct action.  Each Friday focus on a different aspect of the climate crisis and what needs to be done moving forward. On November 29, that Friday will make the connection with Food Justice & Agriculture.

Here’s the deal: We are living at the last possible moment in human history when we can do something about climate change or fail to do so, thereby denying hundreds of millions of people a livable future. Last year, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its regular report which stated in no uncertain terms that given the worsening disasters we’re already seeing and the additional warming that is already baked in because we didn’t act 30 years ago, we do not stand a chance at changing course in time without profound, systemic economic and social change in the next 11 years. Visit https://www.codepink.org/firedrillfridays.

40] – The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker will host a peace vigil at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Nov. 29 at noon.  Contact the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker: 202-882-9649, artlaffin@hotmail.com.  

41] – Women in Black VIGILS FOR PEACE take place on Fri., Nov. 29 from noon to 1 PM.  One is at McKeldin Square, corner of Light and Pratt Sts., in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore.  Use the purple circulator line.  Enjoy an AFTER VIGIL LUNCH from the food trucks in the Inner Harbor.  Bring Your Own Sandwich or stop by one of the food trucks in the McKeldin Square.

Another is at Roland Park Place, 830 W. 40th St., Baltimore.  Free Parking available. Vigil from noon to 1 PM. Lunch in the Bistro at 1 PM. If there's a storm, there is no vigil, but there will be lunch. Contact Anne: awyattbr@gmail.com.  The final vigil is in Chestertown, Kent County on the Eastern Shore at Memorial Park at Cross Street and Park Row. Email wibbaltimore@peacepath911.org.

42] -- On Fri., Nov. 29 from 1 to 3 PM, Rally for Indigenous People's Day Recognition, hosted by Jennifer Folayan at 300 S. President St., Baltimore 21202. Please indicate if you are actually “going”. There is a need for an accurate count. In his own journals, Columbus graphically describes raping indigenous women and sex-trafficking children (“those from nine to ten are now in demand.)” His men would cut of the hands of Taino people who did not bring them the required amount of gold, tying their severed hands around their necks. Within 50 years of Columbus landing on the island, 95 percent of the Taino population had died. Introduce important legislation to change the name of the holiday that celebrates a purveyor of genocide, to a holiday that celebrates the Native American community that calls Maryland home. Maryland has the opportunity to demonstrate its place in politics and history as a progressive state that shows solidarity to the other states who honor Indigenous People's Day.  Join in for a day of Indigenous speakers, dancers and drummers to show support for Indigenous People's Day! This is a great way to finish off National American Indian Heritage month and prepare for a new year of making America NATIVE again!  Meet at the Columbus statue at the Inner Harbor.  Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/406879693526265/.

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

The Canadian who shocked the White House

Friends,

  Check out the video, as this was a great action. If you have not seen the video, Nixon welcomes the Ray Conniff Singers to the White House. He says he likes them because they are "square." Even the squares were against that awful war.  Note that another of the singers held the banner with Carole Addesso.

Kagiso,

Max

The Canadian who shocked the White House

nowtoronto.com/news/the-canadian-who-shocked-the-white-house/

Justin Trudeau's recent visit to Washington reminded one Torontonian about the time she challenged Richard Nixon

by Matthew Behrens

March 16, 2016

7:00 PM

  The gushing coverage of last week’s Justin Trudeau-Barack Obama “bromance” in Washington, DC, had one former Canadian visitor to the White House scratching her head. 

When Cabbagetown-born Carole Addesso (née Feraci) attended the Reader’s Digest 50th anniversary party at the White House as one of the Ray Conniff Singers in January, 1972, she defiantly challenged Richard Nixon to his face over his ongoing war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

  Addesso, by then a Hollywood veteran who had appeared frequently on The Smothers Brothers Show and sung with everyone from Johnny Mathis to the Doodletown Pipers, had been invited two weeks earlier to join the Conniff singers for the unpaid White House gig. 

She originally turned it down, because “I didn’t want to sing for a man who’s killing people. But after thinking about it, I thought I should go and say something.”

  Planned protest in mind, she found herself on a pre-show tour of the White House. Recalling the incident by phone from her home in Temecula, California, Addesso says, “We were in the Oval Office, and Nixon and his gang were next door in the war room planning their next moves in Vietnam, and I thought, ‘Man, I am so glad I am here.’ Thinking about what they were doing gave me a lot of courage to do what I was going to do.”

   As the singers in elegant gowns filed onto the stage, Addesso pulled a handwritten banner from her dress that read “Stop the Killing.” 

   She then said: “Mr. President, stop the bombing of human beings, animals and vegetation. You go to church on Sunday and pray to Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ were in this room tonight, you would not dare to drop another bomb. Bless the Berrigans and Daniel Ellsberg,” Addesso added, referring to two Catholic priests then in jail for destroying draft records and the whistle-blower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, the Edward Snowden of his day.

   “I looked at him the whole time. Nixon was sitting there with a frozen smile, and he never bloody moved a muscle.”

   The star-studded gala included Bob Hope, American jazz legend Lionel Hampton, preacher Norman Vincent Peale, Charles Lindbergh, Rev. Billy Graham and the complete cast of what would later be the long-running TV saga known as Watergate.

  After the first song, Conniff apologized to the audience, saying to Nixon, “I guess I’ll have to make sure from now on that my singers listen to your speeches. They don’t seem to know what’s going on.”

  As cries of “Throw the bum out” filled the room, Martha Mitchell, the wife of U.S. attorney general John Mitchell, shouted out that Addesso should be torn “limb from limb.” Conniff asked Addesso to leave, and with typical Canadian politeness, she replied, “Certainly.” 

She was taken downstairs to a room where secret service personnel, White House counsel John Dean and chief of staff H.R. Haldeman were waiting for her. 

   “Dean and Haldeman were just freaking out, and they kept saying, ‘It’s an incident, it’s an incident! We have to be careful how we handle this,’” she laughs. Both men would soon be facing their own questioning over -illegal actions in the Watergate scandal. 

  “Then they started questioning me. Is there [mental] illness in the family? Did I plan to kill the president? All kinds of dumb ****. I told them, ‘You didn’t hear a word I said.’”

The interrogation eventually ended and they called her a cab, even though that went against White House protocol.

  “I was very calm throughout,” Addesso says. “I knew what I wanted to say, and nothing was going to stop me. I would do whatever I could to stop the war.”

  Addesso became the subject of almost daily conversation at the White House, as we know since the release of the Nixon tapes. 

“For the next three months, every day when they had their Oval Office meetings I was talked about. What is she doing? Is she going to sue us? They were worried I would start an even bigger problem.” 

   She found herself the target of the FBI and was constantly hounded by the press. Job offers dried up, and when she faced deportation to Canada, she received calls from the era’s leading civil rights lawyers, including Mark Lane and William Kunstler of Chicago 7 fame.

    She has no regrets. She remembers being just outside Selma, Alabama, during historic anti-segregation demonstrations while on tour in the mid-60s with Johnny Mathis and the Young Americans, a racially integrated singing group. 

  “We were at a truck stop where they refused to serve the two black members of the group, so I said, ‘We’re not eating here,’ and we got up and left. A short time later, a big truck caught up with us and tried to run us off the road.”

  As Addesso surveys the current American scene, she despairs at the widespread obsession with celebrity in American politics. 

  “I don’t get it. How could they go and feel like it’s an honour to be there when they’re sitting in a den of killers? It’s just crazy.”

news@nowtoronto.com | @nowtoronto

by Matthew Behrens

March 16, 2016

7:00 PM

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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

Nuclear Lies and Broken Promises

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

Nuclear Lies and Broken Promises

Conn Hallinan

November 22, 2019

Foreign Policy In Focus

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an economic meeting in the city of Sivas this September that Turkey was considering building nuclear weapons, he was responding to a broken promise.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the government of Iran of lying about its nuclear program, he was concealing one of the greatest subterfuges in the history of nuclear weapons.

And the vast majority of Americans haven’t a clue about either.

U.S. Cover for Israel

Early in the morning of September 22, 1979, a U.S. satellite recorded a double flash near the Prince Edward islands in the South Atlantic. The satellite, a Vela 5B, carries a device called a “bhangmeter” whose purpose is to detect nuclear explosions. Sent into orbit following the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, its job was to monitor any violations of the agreement. The treaty banned nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, underwater, and in space.

Nuclear explosions have a unique footprint. When the weapon detonates, it sends out an initial pulse of light. But as the fireball expands, it cools down for a few milliseconds, then spikes again.

“Nothing in nature produces such a double-humped light flash,” says Victor Gilinsky. “The spacing of the hump gives an indication of the amount of energy, or yield, released by the explosion.” Gilinsky was a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a former Rand Corporation physicist.

There was little question who had conducted the test. The Prince Edward islands were owned by South Africa, and U.S. intelligence knew the apartheid government was conducting research into nuclear weapons. But while South Africa had yet to produce a nuclear weapon, Israel had nukes — and the two countries had close military ties. In short, it was almost certainly an Israeli weapon, though Israel denied it.

In the weeks that followed, clear evidence for a nuclear test emerged from hydrophones near Ascension Island and a jump in radioactive iodine-131 in Australian sheep. Only nuclear explosions produce iodine-131.

But the test came at a bad time for U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who was gearing up his re-election campaign, a cornerstone of which was a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. If the Israelis were seen to have violated the Partial Test Ban, as well as the 1977 Glenn Amendment to the Arms Export Control Act, the U.S. would have been required to cut off all arms sales to Israel and apply heavy sanctions. Carter was nervous about what such a finding would have on the election, since a major part of Carter’s platform was arms control and non-proliferation.

So Carter threw together a panel of experts whose job was not to examine the incident but to cover it up. The Ruina Panel cooked up a tortured explanation involving mini-meteors that the media accepted and, as a result, so did the American public.

But nuclear physicists knew the panel was blowing smoke and that the evidence was unarguable. The device was set off on a barge between Prince Edward Island (South Africa’s, not Canada’s) and Marion Island with a yield of between 3 and 4 kilotons. A secret CIA panel concurred but put the yield at 1.5 to 2 kilotons. For comparison, the Hiroshima bomb was 15 kilotons.

It was also clear why the Israelis took the risk. Israel had a number of Hiroshima-style fission bombs but was working on producing a thermonuclear weapon — a hydrogen bomb. Fission bombs are easy to use, but fusion weapons are tricky and require a test. That the Vela picked it up was pure chance, since the satellite had been retired. But its bhangmeters were still working.

From Carter on, every U.S. president has covered up the Israeli violation of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, as well as the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). So when Netanyahu says Iran is lying about its nuclear program, much of the rest of the world —  including the U.S. nuclear establishment — rolls their eyes.

Nuclear Apartheid

  As for Turkish president Erdogan, he is perfectly correct that the nuclear powers have broken the promise they made back in 1968 when the signed the NPT. 

  Article VI of that agreement calls for an end to the nuclear arms race and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Indeed, in many ways Article VI is the heart of the NPT. Non-nuclear armed countries signed the agreement, only to find themselves locked into a system of “nuclear apartheid” — where they agreed not to acquire such weapons of mass destruction, while China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and the U.S. get to keep theirs.

  The “Big Five” not only kept their weapons, they are all in the process of upgrading and expanding them. The U.S. is meanwhile shedding other agreements, like the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Agreement. Washington is also getting ready to abandon the START treaty that limits the U.S. and Russia to a set number of warheads and long-range strategic launchers.

  What is amazing is that only four other countries have abandoned the NPT: Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and India (only the latter three have been sanctioned by the U.S.). But that situation cannot hold forever, especially since part of Article VI calls for general disarmament, a pledge that has been honored in the breach. The U.S. currently has nearly the largest defense budget in its history and spends as much on its military as 144 other countries combined.

  While the U.S. doesn’t seem able to win wars with that huge military — Afghanistan and Iraq remain disasters — it can inflict a stunning amount of damage that few countries are willing to absorb. Even when Washington doesn’t resort to its military, its sanctions can decimate a country’s economy and impoverish its citizens. North Korea and Iran are cases in point.

If the U.S. were willing to cover up the 1979 Israeli test while sanctioning other countries that acquire nuclear weapons, why would anyone think that this is nothing more than hypocrisy on the subject of proliferation? And if the NPT is simply a device to ensure that other countries cannot defend themselves from other nations’ conventional and/or nuclear forces, why would anyone sign on or stay in the treaty?

  Turkish President Erdogan may be bluffing. He loves bombast and uses it effectively to keep his foes off balance. The threat may be a strategy for getting the U.S. to back off on its support for Israel and Greece in their joint efforts to develop energy sources in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. 

  But Turkey also has security concerns. In his speech, Erdogan pointed out “There is Israel just beside us. Do they have [nuclear weapons]? They do.” He went on to say that if Turkey did not response to Israeli “bullying,” in the region, “we will face the prospect of losing our strategic superiority in the region.”

Iran may be lying about the scope of its nuclear ambitions — although there is no evidence that Tehran is making a serious run at producing a nuclear weapon — but if they are, they in good company with the Americans and the Israelis.

The Path to Sanity

  Sooner or later, someone is going to set off one of those nukes. The likeliest candidates are India and Pakistan, although use by the U.S. and China in the South China Sea is not out of the question. Neither is a dustup between NATO and Russia in the Baltic. 

  It is easy to blame the current resident of the White House for world tensions, except that the major nuclear powers have been ignoring their commitments on nuclear weapons and disarmament for over 50 years. 

The path back to sanity is thorny but not impossible:

One: The U.S. should rejoin the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, thus making Russia’s medium range missiles unnecessary, and reduce tensions between the U.S. and China by withdrawing ABM systems from Japan and South Korea.

  Two: The U.S. should reinstate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Agreement and find a way to bring China, India, and Pakistan into it. That will require a general reduction of U.S. military forces in Asia coupled with an agreement with China to back off on its claims over most of the South China Sea. Tensions between India and Pakistan would be greatly reduced by simply fulfilling the UN pledge to hold a referendum in Kashmir. The latter would almost certainly vote for independence. 

  Three: The U.S. must continue its adherence to the START agreement, while the Big Five countries need to halt the modernization of their existing arsenals — and begin, at long last, to implement Article VI of the NPT in regards to both nuclear and conventional forces.

Pie in the sky? Well, it beats a mushroom cloud.

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Foreign Policy In Focus columnist Conn Hallinan can be read at dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com and middleempireseries.wordpress.com. 

FPIF tackles critical issues getting short shrift by policymakers and in the mainstream media: military outsourcing, drone attacks, immigration, Islamophobia, terrorism, military bases, and so much more.

This work requires time, energy, commitment, and money. Please give what you can to ensure that FPIF continues to provide timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and to catalyze concrete actions to change how the United States behaves in the world.

The United States is still at war. The military budget is still monstrously high. FPIF's critical voices and actions are needed now more than ever.  Click HERE to donate.

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Source URL: https://portside.org/2019-11-24/nuclear-lies-and-broken-promises

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 – November 24 - 29, 2019

Baltimore Activist Alert – November 24 - 29, 2019

"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] Get involved with NCNR   

4] Lawyers Against War

5] Call to protect Human Rights for Palestinian Children  

6] Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit – Nov. 24 - 26

7] Winter Holiday Gift Drive – Nov. 24 - 26

8] Nature’s Witness: Wildlife Photography Exhibit through Feb. 28

9] Co-governance training – Nov. 24

10] “Urgency and Radicalism” -- Nov. 24

11] Jewish perspective on social justice – Nov. 24

12] Heed the pope’s call to abolish nuclear weapons – Nov. 24

13] Fall Food Drive -- Nov. 24

14] Thanksgiving dinner – Nov. 24

15] Jamming for Justice – Nov. 24

16] Musical protest at the White House – Nov. 24

17] Anti-Imperialist Forum – Nov. 24

18] Pentagon Peace Vigil – Nov. 25

19] Picket with Striking Metrobus Workers– Nov. 25 - 29

20] Urge Congress to Hold Hearings on the ERA – Nov. 25

21] Food Drive for SPCA Food Bank – Nov. 25 -26

22] Liz McAlister interview – Nov. 25

23] Food Rescue Pop-Up at Flourish – Nov. 25

24] “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” – Nov. 25

25] Get Money Out of Maryland – Nov. 25

26] DC Statehood Phone Bank – Nov. 26

27] Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West – Nov. 26

28] Protest killer drone research at JHU – Nov. 26

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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 U.S. wars.

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

4] – Jeff Ross, an attorney in Maryland, is interested in gathering with other lawyers to discuss ways in which the legal profession and the law generally can be conceptualized as a peace-building and war-resisting institution and redirected to these ends. Areas to explore might include: 1) ways in which this group could support with legal analysis/writing those lawyers who are representing peace-builders/war-resisters in criminal prosecutions; 2) ways in which, from a more theoretical perspective, the law might be grounded in an ethic of non-violence; and 3) ways in which law students and young lawyers might be exposed to a non-violent vision of the law. All religious, philosophical, and critical perspectives on the law are welcome. The group might want to call itself Lawyers against War. Jeff can be reached at 443-690-6872 and jross50@hotmail.com.

5] -- CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE:  SUPPORT  HR 2407 -- “The Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act,” which would prohibit U.S. foreign aid from contributing to “the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of children in violation of international humanitarian law.” Additionally, it would authorize $19 million dollars annually to fund NGOs monitoring human rights abuses associated with the military detention of children and provide physical and mental health services to children who have been victims of military detention, abuse, and torture.  The Bill was introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum from Minnesota, and has found co-sponsors...BUT NOT IN MARYLAND. What if Maryland had some women in its delegation?   And, right now with the vacant seat following Rep. Cummings' death, don't hesitate to call another office and ask that your voice be heard. Call the main switchboard 202- 225-2131 and ask to be transferred to any of the following Maryland Representatives: Brown, Harris, Hoyer, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes or Trone.

6] - On Sun., Nov. 24, Mon., Nov. 25 and Tues., Nov. 26 from 8 AM to 5 PM, visit the Waging Peace in Vietnam Exhibit, hosted by the New Village Press, 1957 E St. NW, WDC 20052-0041.  November 15, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War Mobilization March on Washington, a gathering of over half a million demonstrators against the war. The George Washington University offers a series of events to educate students and the general public about often overlooked facets of the history of US involvement in Vietnam, including the impact that antiwar GIs and veterans had on ending the war. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/508974299680430/?event_time_id=513544722556721.

7] - On Sun., Nov. 24, Mon., Nov. 25 and Tues., Nov. 26 from 9 AM to 5 PM, get with the Winter Holiday Gift Drive organized by Project PLASE, Inc. , 3601 Old Frederick Rd., Baltimore 21229. Help the clients out for a hopeful holiday season by hosting a Winter Holiday Gift Drive at your office, club, school, or organization! Email Jordan at jborkoski@projectplase.org or call 410-837-1400 ext. 121 if you would like to host a drive! Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/2183186298648674/?event_time_id=2183186435315327.

8] - On Sun., Nov. 24, 2019 through Feb. 28, 2020 from 9 AM to 5 PM, see Nature’s Witness: Wildlife Photography Exhibit hosted by the National Wildlife Federation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science,

1200 New York Ave. NW, WDC 20005. Come marvel at “Nature’s Witness,” an exhibition of 50 powerful wildlife photographs chosen to inspire conservation. Free and open to the public, this National Wildlife Federation exhibit will run until Feb. 28, 2020.

All 50 images were entries in annual National Wildlife® Photo Contests, which draw more than 22,000 images from around the world every year. Within the exhibit, one group of images titled “Nature’s Challenge” will raise awareness about some of the threats putting wildlife at risk today, including habitat loss, invasive species, disease and climate change. Another set of photographs titled “Life’s Essentials” will explore how people can help species thrive by gardening for wildlife. Kids attending the exhibit — a family-friendly event — will also be able to pick up a copy of Ranger Rick®, Ranger Rick Jr.™, Ranger Rick Cub™ or one of the National Wildlife Federation’s many other children’s publications. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/2707182892665780/?event_time_id=2707182935999109.

9] -- On Sun., Nov. 24 join a co-governance training in Annapolis from 10 AM to 5 PM. Space is limited; to sign up or get information contact Beth M at beth@progressivemaryland.org. Veteran Chicago and People's Action organizer Richard Hatch examines what the emerging strategy of "co-governance is coming to mean in practice:  co-governance means that once elected, officials will continue to listen to and actively work with our communities – rather than corporate lobbyists – to draft policies and move them forward, together. We don't vote and then turn our backs, and neither should the folks we vote into office.

10] -- Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 2521 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion at 10:30 AM.  On Sun., Nov. 24 hear about “Urgency and Radicalism.”  How urgent are the crises we face? How radical should our responses be? What do different answers to these questions do to the cohesion of communities? How should we react to extremism expressed by those who feel their very survival is threatened? Hugh Taft-Morales explores these questions through the historical lens of environmentalism and anti-racism, particularly focusing on radical environmental activists and the Black Panthers. Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. He also serves as Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia.  Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org. 

11] -- Join Chizuk Amuno Congregation for a series of Sunday morning learning sessions on a Jewish perspective on social justice. Each session begins with studying relevant Jewish texts, followed by presentations by guest speakers/teachers who bring an informed and personal perspective to these issues. On Sun., Nov. 24 from 10:30 AM to noon, the issue is Criminalization of Poverty with Caryn York, CEO, Job Opportunities Task Force. Chizuk Amuno Congregation is at 8100 Stevenson Rd.  RSVP at https://www.chizukamuno.org/events/social-justice-and-jewish-values-2019-10-27/.

12] -- From Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Philadelphia and elsewhere SOUND the Message of Pope Francis: ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS; Support the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty.  On Sun., Nov. 24 at 10:30 AM in front of the Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral Basilica, 18th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, east side of Logan Square, you are invited to continue to convey the Pope's abolish nuclear weapons message of peace during the 11 AM. Mass. Join the Brandywine Peace Community, Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Germantown Friends Meeting Working Group for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, and the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia.  Call 484-574-1148 or visit www.brandywinepeace.com. 

13] – On Sun., Nov. 24 from 1 to 3 PM,  get with Eddie's Fall Food Drive, as part of GEDCO's CARES, 6213 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21212-1113. Join Eddie’s of Roland Park in supporting local hunger relief efforts during the fall series of nonperishable food drives—every weekend from now until Thanksgiving! On Saturdays it is from 1-3 PM at Roland Avenue; and on Sundays from 1 to 3 PM at North Charles Street.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/546818352787255/.

14] – On Tues., Nov. 26 from 3 to 7 PM, Safe Streets provides Thanksgiving dinner in the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay neighborhood at Empowered Church Ministries, 433 E. Patapsco Ave., Brooklyn, MD 21225-1829, hosted by Catholic Charities of Baltimore.  In addition to violence intervention, the core of Safe Streets' work is providing community programming. See https://www.facebook.com/events/2368921756569816/.

15] – Join the DC Poor People’s Campaign for Jamming for Justice on Sun. Nov. 24 at 4 PM, hosted by Maceo Kemp and Bonnie Burnett at North Capitol at Plymouth, 5233 N. Capitol St. NE, WDC 20011.Email washingtondc@poorpeoplescampaign.org. Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/709514569534230/.

16] –  On Sun., Nov. 24 and continuing through Sun., Dec. 15 from 6 to 7 PM, enjoy the music at the White House aimed at protesting the criminality, racism, sexism, bigotry, corruption and treason of the Trump administration.  This is a rally to advocate for civil rights, humane treatment of refugee children, democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and civility in American life. https://www.facebook.com/events/427929587801694/?event_time_id=509390132988972.

17] – On Sun., Nov. 24 from 5 to 7 PM, attend an Anti-Imperialist Forum in Solidarity with Bolivia, Chile, & Cuba, hosted by the Socialist Unity Party in Baltimore. Enjoy dinner and beverages. Discuss the recent U.S.-backed racist coup against the Bolivian people's socialist leader Evo Morales and the Indigenous resistance, as well as the popular movement in Chile against the brutal Piñera regime. Hear from speaker Leonardo Flores who was a staffer in the Venezuelan embassy in D.C. before it was invaded and seized by the U.S. and its imperialist puppet government. Flores participated in the Embassy Protection Collective and is a CODEPINK: Women for Peace activist.  Activists who attended the Anti-Imperialist Conference for Solidarity and Against Neoliberalism in Havana, Cuba will be giving report-backs on the 3-day long event that was attended by 1,200 activists from 95 different countries and featured keynote speakers Miguel Díaz-Canel (president of Cuba) and Nicolás Maduro (president of Venezuela)  See https://www.facebook.com/events/2417599055221903/.

18] – 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 Nov. 25, 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.

19] --  On Mon., Nov. 25 through Fri., Nov. 29 from 7:45 to 9:45 AM and then from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, join the  WMATA HQ Picket with Striking Metrobus Workers at 600 5th St. NW, WDC 20001-2610.  Go here for the schedule: https://www.facebook.com/events/2310195405775260/. This secondary WMATA HQ picket will run from 7:45-9:45 a.m. and from 11:30-1:30 p.m. each day. See https://www.facebook.com/events/553753515478162/?event_time_id=553753548811492.

20] – Urge Congress to Hold Hearings on the ERA, which would be supported by Katrina's Dream.  Each Monday, including Nov. 25, at 8 AM, make calls to Senator Graham at (202) 224-5972 and your senators for the ERA. Hold hearings on S.J. Res 6, and S.J. Res. 5 which calls for the removal of a deadline for passage of the ERA. Click on this link https://bit.ly/2T1B8wp, and check out https://www.facebook.com/events/246467582967063/?event_time_id=246467699633718.

21] – On Mon., Nov. 25 from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Tues., Nov. 26 from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM and more dates, help with the Food Drive for SPCA Food Bank at the Annapolis Cat Hospital, 2244-48 Bay Ridge Ave., Annapolis 21403.  Consider donating to an animal in need. Details about donation drop off days, times, and items accepted can be found below. Your donations mean so much, and the entire Annapolis Cat Hospital staff thanks you! Donations accepted are unopened canned or bagged dog and cat food.  No boxed foods or treats. Call Annapolis Cat Hospital at 410-268-2287 or Bay Ridge Animal Hospital at 410-268-6994.  Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/397186717891355/?event_time_id=397186731224687.

22] – On Mon., Nov. 25 from noon to 1 PM, Tom Hall on MIDDAY at 88.1 FM will interview Elizabeth McAlister, a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares.  She and her six co-defendants were convicted on four charges on October 24, and will be sentenced in early 2020.

23] – On Mon., Nov. 25 from 3 to 4 PM, there is a Food Rescue Pop-Up at Flourish, 3418 Belair Road, Baltimore 21213-1233.  Bring a bag, and take home healthy, free food! View https://www.facebook.com/events/301851223848295/?event_time_id=301851350514949. This will continue into the future. 

24] – Progressive Maryland activists and your communities can find out more about the Kirwan proposals: The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” coalition, including Progressive Maryland and teachers’ organizations statewide, has set information sessions including a Washington County Forum on Mon., Nov. 25 at 5:30 PM at the Hagerstown Branch, Washington County Free Library, 100 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown.  Go to https://www.marylandblueprint.org/.

25] – Join the Get Money Out of Maryland Teleconference on Mon., Nov. 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 PM.  Call 605-475-6711, code 1136243#.  Work only on brainstorming ideas for participation in the upcoming General Election.

26] –  Can you participate in a DC Statehood Phone Bank on Tues., Nov. 26 from 10 AM to 6 PM at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC 20004 in room G-9. Join the Washington, DC Statehood Office for a DC Statehood Phone Bank. Call state legislatures across the US to raise awareness of DC residents' lack of full and equal voting representation in Congress.   Phones, scripts, materials, and light refreshments will be provided. The Phone Bank continues each Tuesday. See https://www.facebook.com/events/673834763077915/?event_time_id=673834836411241.

27] – On Tues., Nov. 26 from noon to 1 PM, and continuing each Tuesday, come to a Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West, 1510 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore 21217.  Enjoy fresh, delicious, and free food. Bring a bag. Bring a friend! Take what you want.  See https://www.facebook.com/events/403785397093000/?event_time_id=403785490426324.

28] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" at 33^rd and N. Charles Sts. on Tuesday, Nov. 26 from 5 to 6 PM. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607. 

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