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Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance Day - George's Island
We will take the 10:00am Ferry to George's Island to hold a service in commemoration of the atrocious human rights abuse and atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Ferry dock is located at Long Warf at Christopher Columbus Park. Ferry tickets are $14.00 for adults and $10.00 for seniors. If you would like to come but cannot afford the ticket, no problem, let Jason know. Please bring picnic food to share.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs in Japan, in the city of Hiroshima, ushering in a new and terrible kind of warfare and a new chapter in the history of humanity's fascination with war. We gather on this anniversary to mourn the losses of every war and to boldly proclaim, "Never again."
Old South Church opens its doors to the city, to tourists from near and far, to the needy, to an array of building users, and to a congregation (of members, friends, and family-both the curious and the committed) who call this their church home. Join us for fellowship and refreshments in Gordon Chapel immediately following worship.
Today's ASL Interpreter: Michael Sullivan
CD recordings of today's service may be obtained by
calling Jessica Goodknight at 617/536-1970 or emailing
NOTES ON TODAY'S MUSIC
This morning we mark with sorrow the anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, as we continue to pray for peace throughout the world. The Old South Choir will offer an unusually poignant anthem which appears in The New Century Hymnal. "Sekai no Tomo" was composed for the fourteenth World Council of Christian Education in 1958 by Tokuo Yamaguchi, a pastor who has served many Japanese churches. The text is set to an ancient Japanese Gagaku mode. Gagaku (literally "elegant music") is the oldest continuously performed orchestral and dance music in the world and is preserved by the Imperial Court and a number of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan. As William P. Malm states in his essay, Japanese Music, "Much of the pleasure of Gagaku is in its rare archaic flavor. To those who are accustomed to the dynamic drive of Western symphonic music, the static beauty of Gagaku may seem very strange. In the West, music has been defined in terms of aural form in motion, but in Gagaku both the formal and progressive elements have been minimized, leaving only the beauty of sound, the exotic creature in a slightly clouded drop of amber."
The French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) is represented today in an affecting Andante for cello and organ as the prelude, and in his beloved choral work, "Cantique de Jean Racine" (op. 11), written when he was only 19 years old. The text, "Verbe égal au Trés-Haut," a fervent morning invocation, is a paraphrase by Jean Racine (Hymnes traduites du Bréviaire romain, 1688) of the pseudo-ambrosian hymn for Tuesday matins, Consors paterni luminis.
Join Boston Anti-Zionist Action (BAZA) to protest against the rally.
On Sunday August 3, there will be a pro-war rally against Sudan and China in Institute Park in Worcester. The rally is sponsored by the "Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur" which is a frontgroup for JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council). The main speaker at the rally will be Congressman Jim McGovern.
McGovern has also not consistently opposed the war in Iraq. He has voted for some of the appropriations bills for the war (See afterdowningstreet.org/supplemental) and has disappointed anti-war activists by promising to take action regarding the war in Iraq and not following through.
McGovern is also a supporter of the current government of Israel. In 2006, on July 20 during the Zionist war of aggression cluster-bombing against Lebanon, McGovern voted 'yes' for a US congressional resolution supporting Israel and supporting Israel's attacks on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. It is a heinously worded racist resolution turning facts around, demonizing the Palestinian and Lebanese victims, supporting the Zionist aggressors, and even demonizing Iran and Syria. http://www.innercitypress.com/lockheed101507.html
We hope some people will join BAZA's protest in Worcester on Sunday. If you need a ride or more info you can call Elaine Antonia at 781-341-0052. On Sunday you can reach us by cell phone after 1 PM at 617-462-6252 Please bring signs and flags. We have Palestinian flags and a Sudanese flag but we need a Chinese PRC flag so please let us know if you have one we can use.
Info: Elaine Antonia at 781-341-0052
Nancy Pelosi will be at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum to speak about her new autobiography. We will join people from across the country to tell Nancy Pelosi that we are watching her this election season and will try to hold her accountable to the will of the people. Please join us as we hold signs outside this event.
Take the T Red Line to JFK/UMASS Station. There is a free shuttle bus to the Library every 20 minutes. Take the buses marked "JFK."
Instead of listening to the people...
NIRS (Nuclear Information and Resource Service) is pleased and proud to again be a co-sponsoring group of the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action (action camp)
August 5—August 11, Central VA -- Sophia House in Louisa County Virginia
This summer, join people of all ages and backgrounds from throughout the Southeast and beyond for the second annual Southeast Convergence for Climate Action. After the resounding success of last year’s convergence we are excited to continue the struggle for climate justice in the southeast with an engaging week of workshops, strategizing, and direct action! This year’s convergence will be hosted in Virginia where communities are fighting uranium mining, nuclear power, mountaintop removal coal mining, and new (as well as old) coal plants. Once again we will unite to fight the coal industry’s stranglehold on our region while rejecting the deadly nuke industry’s attempt to position itself as the solution to the climate crisis.
The convergence is a place to strengthen our movement, network with new allies, and take action against dirty energy while working to build a sustainable world. Workshops will include: community organizing, direct action 101, debunking false solutions to climate change, blockades, sustainable living systems, media, disaster response, fighting nukes and coal, and much more. The convergence will culminate in an empowering action to show that the southeast is serious about tackling climate change.
For more information Email: risingtide@mountainrebel.net
Refreshments; free and open to the public.
Co-sponsors:
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
Massachusetts Chapter;
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights;
Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service
Committee.
For more information, call 617 491-2313
7pm: "Discovering Dominga"
Directed by Patricia Flynn and Mary Jo McConahay.
Guatemala. 2002. Biography. 60 min.
Living in Iowa, Denese Becker was haunted by memories of her Mayan childhood. A quest for her lost identity in Guatemala turns into a searing journey of political awakening that reveals a genocidal crime and the still- unmet cry for justice from the survivors. In Discovering Dominga, Denese's journey home is both a voyage of selfdiscovery that permanently alters her relationship to her American family and a political awakening that sheds light on an act of genocide against this hemisphere’s largest indigenous majority.
Directions: Take the Red Line to Central Square, walk 1 block on Mass Ave. towards Boston, take your first right onto Pearl Street. Parking available next door.
Each movie will have a formal introduction and free refreshments will be available during the event.
For more information, call Jacob Carter at 860-459-7428.
Participants from all over the world will present their alternative technology prototypes that they have been working on for the preceding three weeks and explain their plans for implementing their projects. Please join us for a reception celebrating their work.
"Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask" is a complex, perceptive meditation on the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon, an Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist and political activist whose writings have become essential texts for liberation movements everywhere. The writings of psychiatrist Frantz Fanon had tremendous impact on the European anti-colonialist movement. His books Black Skin White Mask and The Wretched of the Earth explore the effects upon colonialism on both the conquerors and the conquered. The latter book is considered by many to be the bible of anticolonialist activists. Fanon was born on the French-controlled Caribbean island of Martinique. As a French citizen, he fought with the Resistance during WWII, but his loyalty was not reciprocated and Fanon was no stranger to hatred and bigotry. After earning his degree in psychiatry, he moved to Algeria to open a clinic. It was there that he began expressing his rage against colonialist policies. This led him to join in the struggle to free Algeria from French rule. He was eventually exiled from the country and fled to Tunisia where he continued with the fight.
7-9PM: Commemoration of Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings
Watertown Square
NO NUKES: United States, Russia, United Kingdom,
France, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel – Abolish
Your Nuclear Weapons …
NO THREATS: and Stop Nuclear Proliferation Through
Disarmament and Diplomacy.
Join us in remembering the victims of the first use of
nuclear weapons – the United States’ bombing of the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima (8/6) and Nagasaki (8/9)
in 1945.
7:00 pm – Commemorative Vigil Charles River Dock
(Please bring signs that express your sentiments about the nuclear attack
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
8:00 pm – Songs and Reflections
8:45 pm – Candle Boat Launching
9:00 pm – Closing Song
Never Again – No More Victims: Sixty-three years ago
the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki killed over 200,000 people
instantaneously, the vast majority of whom were
civilians. Hundreds of thousands more suffered
agonizing burns, leukemia, and infections for the rest
of their short lives, and generations of the
survivors’ children inherited horrible radiation-
induced illnesses, cancers, and premature deaths.
Today there are nearly 30,000 nuclear weapons in the
world more powerful and devastating than those used at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the number could increase
unless the nuclear nations begin to disarm their
nuclear arsenals.
Sponsored by:
Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety (WCES) –
Watertown’s Voice for Peace, the Environment, and
Social Justice.
For more information, visit our website,
or call 617-926-8560 mailbox 2.
On August 6, 2008, at 7:00 PM the RI Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation, a committee of area peace/antiwar groups, is holding a forum on Iran in the Social Room at the Beneficent Church at 300 Weybosset Street in Providence.
The forum is featuring an outstanding panel of speakers on Iran. One is Dr. Kaveh Afrasiabi, the author of numerous books and articles on Iran, including the forthcoming book entitled Iran Foreign Policy after September 11, which he co-authored with Abbas Maliki. Dr. Afrasiabi is currently at the Paris Institute for Strategic Studies and serves on the Board of Directors of CASMII (Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran.) He will be speaking on the culture of Iran and the current political thinking and attitudes of the Iranian people..
Dr. Jo-Anne Hart, a visiting professor at the Watson Institute at Brown University, whose area of expertise includes US strategy in the Middle East, will talk about the political implications of any attack against Iran. Dr. Hart was featured on MSNBC¢s Hardball where she faced off against John Bolton on the consequences of a "limited" attack on Iran. Michael Jackson, a researcher at Brown and professor of political science at Stonehill College, will give the audience an overview of the history of the ancient country of Persia, now known as Iran..
Given the increasingly hostile rhetoric against Iran coming from the Bush Administration, the topic is a particularly timely one. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion after the presentations. The forum is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
RI Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation For more information.
6PM: DELEGATION REPORT BACK FROM EL SALVADOR
Symposium Books
526 Commonwealth Ave, Boston 02215
near Kenmore T stop
Accounts from meetings with:
--Political prisoners
--Revolutionary student organizers
--U.S. Ambassador Charles Glazer
The historic revolutionary leftist party may sweep the Salvadoran right-wing out of power in 2009. With the right-wing in disarray, the sense of hope and change is palpable in El Salvador. Nonetheless, the Salvadoran right's greatest ally--the US government-- remains poised to protect one of its last strongholds in Latin America.
With the elections just a few months away come and hear how the powerful Salvadoran movement - and the U.S. government - are gearing up for these crucial elections!
Laura Embree-Lowry traveled to El Salvador as part of a fact-finding delegation, to gather information on potential fraud, political violence and electoral manipulation during this critical pre-elections period. She met with historic ex-guerillas who are now leaders in the FMLN, recently released political prisoners, Salvadoran electoral experts, and participated in a heated meeting with US Ambassador Charles Glazer. She also visited community clinics and youth centers in FMLN-controlled municipalities, where the FMLN vision for a better, healthier El Salvador has become a reality.
Come hear her experiences and join in a discussion about how you can be part of this critical moment in Salvadoran history that may shake the status quo of our hemisphere.
For more information, contact:
Boston CISPES
2161 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
tel: 617.576.1709
6:30 PM – Gather for info, exhibit, and refreshments
6:45 PM – Film: The Last Atomic Bomb
8:20 PM – Report Back from Japan: “Legacies of
Hiroshima Today”
8:30 PM – Discussion
From The New York Times review of The Last Atomic Bomb
(2007):
"As Iraq devolves into chaos, and North Korea and
others strive to join the nuclear nations, the
exhortations of The Last Atomic Bomb ring with an
uncomfortable currency… it is an unvarnished
emotional plea for nuclear disarmament voiced
primarily by Sakue Shimohira, a survivor of Nagasaki.
A tiny, tireless woman reinforced by tragedy, she epitomizes the persuasive power of oral history, and helps frame a remarkable collection of declassified films and photographs... it's impossible to remain detached; its images speak for themselves. Via interviews with historians and government officials, the film touches on the reasons for using the bomb, the restrictions imposed on U.S. press concerning information about its effects, and the Japanese discrimination against mushroom cloud victims. Its star, however, is Ms. Shimohira, a woman determined to use her past to change our present."
Join us for a free screening of this powerful, new film, an exhibit on the impact of the bomb, a brief report back on a recent U.S. peace delegation trip to Japan, and a discussion about what we can do now to push for a peaceful, nuclear-free future!
Light refreshments will be served.
RSVPs are appreciated (617.354.2169).
All are welcome to attend. Please join us and spread the word!
Co-Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action and the Cambridge Peace Commission.
Contact Peace Action at 617.354.2169 for more information.
The 5-star documentary, "Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I", will be shown by the the Community Film and Discussion Club in the AIR-CONDITIONED Raytheon Room at Wayland Public Library.
Synopsis: Our national debate about effective Middle East foreign policy continues, while lives are lost, and gas prices and oil-based energy become increasingly pressing problems. This film reveals that the foundation for this conflict was laid by the resolution World War I involving this region, and the conflict has continued because of international states' and corporations' political efforts to control the oil throughout the past 90 years.
Discussion will follow the film. Refreshments served.
Free and open to the public.
For more information contact Sandy Coy, 508-653-6014.
Please join us for a stimulating night out; bring your friends! Free film, free refreshments, & free door prizes. [donations are accepted]
"A look at the psychological impact of the occupation in the West Bank, but there's a lot of layers to it. In the literal sense, its looking at how society is divided with tangible things like the wall, checkpoints and roadblocks, but it’s also looking at individual people and saying that the same things happening in society as a whole are happening inside individuals. The documentary really focuses on children. Adults fit in to the extent that they discuss children's experiences." - Dylan Bergeson, filmmaker
The world is complex; this is what makes art possible, not to mention life itself, and it's why education never ends. But an institution like the State or the military can't afford to acknowledge this; its actions, like all acts of violence, must be based on brutal, simple premises. Such is the reality of war, and such is the reality of Occupation, which is war institutionalized.
Dylan Bergeson's debut documentary This Body is a Prison, shot on video over four months, captures the reality of Palestinians' lives under Israeli occupation. In one short hour, it manages to convey existence in a world where complexity is denied by violence, where everyday life is a struggle, and yet, through that struggle, art and education persist. It is an achievement for any filmmaker to make a film as powerful as Bergeson has, let alone a first-time filmmaker. The film manages to make a statement, but is not overly pedantic; it captures a situation's complexity but is far from myopic.
"We’ve had 50 years of assault on Palestinian rights. They’re the most terrorized people on earth and have been for so many years. Practically every Palestinian lives in constant harassment, threat of violence, humiliation. It’s been that way for a long, long time". ~ Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General
Why should YOU care? It's your money that pays for the occupation & illegal Israeli settlements.
DON'T MISS OUT U.S. POPULAR PALESTINIAN NATIONAL CONFERENCE:
RECLAIMING OUR VOICE, ASSERTING OUR NARRATIVE
Register Today
REGISTRATION
Registration fees include 5 meals. Register early to take advantage of the early registration discount.
REGISTRATION FEES WILL INCREASE AFTER JULY 23rd
HOTEL
Registration fees DO NOT include hotel stay. Call the hotel directly at (847) 297-1234 to reserve your room(s).
Mention USPCN to get the special rate of $89 a night, plus tax.
THE $89 RATE WILL EXPIRE JULY 16th
Contact us at conference@palestin econference.org
or (888) 48 NAKBA with any questions.
Partial list of conference speakers and presenters:
Archbishop Atallah Hanna (by video)
Tamim Barghouthi (world-renowned poet)
Rasmiya Masoud
Norman Finkelstein (invited)
Dr. Jamil Fayez
Grace Said
Phillip Farah
Dr. Thomas Abowd
Michael Deutsch (attorney for Muhammad Salah, Palestinian political prisoner)
Laila Al-Arian (daughter of political prisoner Sami Al-Arian)
Asma Ashqar (wife of political prisoner Abdelhaleem Ashqar)
A universal single-payer health plan has again been introduced in Congress by Rep. Conyers (D-MI), this time with the support of 90 other members, numerous unions, and independent groups.
HR676.org, PO Box 882122, Port Saint Lucie FL 34988
800-680-9310
info@HR676.org
Cindy Sheehan is making a courageous run for the Congressional seat in San Francisco, to challenge Nancy Pelosi, who has done nothing but cave in to the Bush/Cheney criminal war agenda, while the approval rating of Congress drops into single digits for the first time ever.
But FIRST Cindy needs to get on the ballot, and to do that as an independent she still needs another 6,000 petitions signatures in the next couple weeks.
Even with her many valiant volunteers, you can really help now by making a donation to put more paid signature gatherers for Cindy Sheehan on the street to give the voters of San Francisco a pro-courage choice. Help put Cindy safely over the top with enough margin of petition signatures that they cannot keep her off the ballot.
Cindy Sheehan Petition Donations
In one month, the Free Gaza Movement will sail on a mission of civil resistance: breaking into the prison that is Gaza.
We are students and teachers, human rights observers and aid workers, lawyers, medics, activists - parents and grandparents. We are Americans and Europeans, Israelis and Palestinians, Australians, South Africans, and more. We are of all ages and backgrounds. Collectively, we have years of experience volunteering in Gaza and the West Bank. Because of our human rights work, the state of Israel has banned many of us from re-entering Palestinian areas. Because of the ongoing blockade, the rest of us find it almost impossible to enter Gaza at all. Despite deteriorating conditions, the great need for international assistance, and the invitations of our Palestinian partners - the Israeli Government will not allow us into Gaza to help. Will you help?
We must break the siege of Gaza. Conditions there are already catastrophic. We have to raise international awareness about the prison-like closure of Gaza and deeply pressure Israel and the international community to lift the blockade and end the Occupation. As people of conscience our actions must be commensurate with the crisis.
We've tried to enter Palestine by land. We've tried to arrive by air. Now we're getting serious. We're taking a ship. Please look into your hearts and ask yourselves if the collective punishment and virtual imprisonment of one and a half million human beings can ever be justified. If your answer’s “no,” then we want your help this August when we break into Gaza and try to break out of this siege.
If you’d like more information, or if you can donate money or medical supplies (such as hearing aids), please visit their website at FreeGaza.org.
Boston Palestine Film Festival
Asking for contributions now.
Festival is October 4 thru 12, 2008.
2007: With over 40 films, BPFF brought authentic
Palestinian perspectives, experiences and culture to
venues as prestigious and diverse as the Museum of
Fine Arts, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Kendall Square
Cinema, Harvard Film Archive, Harvard University and
Boston College. BPFF featured several US premieres
and included appearances by many noted international
filmmakers. Please visit BPFF online to view the
substantial coverage we received in the Boston Globe,
the Boston Phoenix and on WBUR, a local affiliate of
National Public Radio—to name just a few media
outlets.
2008: This year’s festival is every bit as exciting
and compelling as last year’s. We are now finalizing
our 2008 program for this coming fall, October 4th-
12th. We hope that we can count on your support to
build on the achievements of last year,
Carlos Arredondo has traveled thousands of miles with his pick up truck decorated as a memorial to his son Alex who died in Iraq . I remember when I first heard about his action as a distraught father who set himself on fire when he heard the news of his son's death. An article about Carlos appears in the Nation. Since then, as a member of Military Families Speak Out, I have come to know and love Carlos and his wife Melida as two dedicated activists for peace. You can read about Carlos' actions for peace on Democracy Now!.
Carlos and Melida would have certainly had every right to sit back and mourn the death of their son. Instead they have taken every opportunity and often at great personal expense to remind people of the true cost of war. They have traveled to every demonstration, vigil, poltiical rally, memorial and meeting with politicians to tell their story of loss, and the deep concern they feel for others who have suffered or daily face the possible loss of a family member to this endless occupation of Iraq.
Many of you have met Carlos or heard of him. You have seen his hopefulness in the face of grief. Now it's time for all of us to help put his (OUR) truck back on the road where it belongs. $20 collected from one hundred people should do it! If the travel weary truck cannot be repaired one more time, the money will go to the down payment on a new or newer truck.
Please make out checks to Carlos Arredondo and send them to me so I can present them in a lump sum
Sarah Fuhro, 8 Abbott Road Natick, Ma 01760
Sign petition against US missile offense in Poland
In a few days, the US government will likely sign an agreement with the Czech Republic government allowing the US to place a radar satellite system in that country. The satellite system is part of the US "missile defense" installations designed to be placed in Poland.
We can join our voices in support of the Czech people to say "no" to a US radar system in their country.
Please add your voice to support this effort by signing the petition.
Understanding that this empire-building strategy by the US could lead to a new arms race which threatens the Czech people, the majority of whom oppose this project. The opposition which began with a few activist voices now includes over 70 percent of the population who oppose any US military presence in the Czech Republic.
Even thought the Czech President may sign the agreement, it has to be ratified by the Czech Parliament. And the situation is far from clear, because the government has a very small mandate - not even have a majority. They were only able to pass a confidence vote after seven months of negotiations, and thanks to some two members of parliament that didn't vote against them. So they have a very weak mandate, and it is far from clear how the vote will go.
The Czech people have asked for support from around the world to bolster their campaign. They are looking for a million signatures on their petition to take to the parliament to defeat the agreement.
Sign petition on McCain/Obama statements to AIPAC
FROM Jewish Voice for Peace...
We are deeply concerned by statements that both Senator McCain and Senator Obama made at the AIPAC Conference. Please sign our petition calling on Senators Obama and McCain to moderate their stances in the interests of a peaceful future:
In particular:
1) Senator Obama declared that Jerusalem "must remain undivided." We believe the future status of Jerusalem must be negotiated.
2) Both Senators McCain and Obama promised enormous sums of unconditional military aid to Israel. We believe the U.S. must hold Israel accountable for using U.S. weapons against civilians.
3) Both Senators McCain and Obama continued to demand the exclusion of Hamas from the negotiating table. We believe peace agreement cannot be achieved without Hamas at the table.
Global Exchange Delegations to Venezuela. Here are planned events in 2008:
Democracy, Development, and Regional Integration- A New Vision for the Americas
August 09 - 19, 2008
Labor, Land Reform, and Agriculture
September 06 - 16, 2008
Health and Healing
October 04 - 14, 2008
Popular Democracy : Observing the 2008 Regional Elections
November 15 - 25, 2008
Democracy, Development, and Regional Integration- A New Vision for the Americas
December 05 - 15, 2008
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
April 16, 2008
Dr. Al-Arian Faces Shocking Abuse in New Facility
Yesterday morning, Dr. Sami Al-Arian was transported
by immigration agents to the Hampton Roads Regional
Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia. Since arriving at the
facility, he has been subjected to numerous, shocking
abuses, even worse than those he experienced at a
detention center in Maryland.
Take Action: call 757-488-7500
And if you haven't already, sign the petition.
See also:"USA vs AL-ARIAN"
To everyone in the Boston area progressive community, After months of development and testing by a few dozen folks, Open Media Boston, the new progressive news, views and arts web portal, has just launched and is now ready for your participation. (Site is still labeled "beta.")
We have quietly been working away at TecsChange in Roxbury to refurbish computers. We recently sent one of our bigger shipments of 15 computers to a series of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico.
We work most Thurday evenings and Saturday afternoons
(1pm to at least 4 PM, usually longer)
We have one day a week where daytime volunteers come in. Presently it's Mondays but it might change soon.
Please call if you are interested.
TecsChange Office
617-442-4456
Mass. House Bill #4477, if passed, would finally make it illegal for drivers of motor vehicles in Massachusetts to use hand-held phones while driving (as in NY and elsewhere). This bill recently passed the House and now is languishing in the Senate and may not come to the floor for a vote unless you phone or send a message to your friends in various towns and cities to have them urge their state senators (617-722- 5551) to vote for this bill.
According to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Marian Walsh, what needs to happen is for senators to get many phone calls from their constituents in favor of this bill. Passing House #4477 is a matter of public safety. Please call your senator and what would make a significant difference is for you to contact your friends throughout Massachusetts so House Bill #4477 becomes law.
Ed O'Reilly (PDA-endorsed candidate who advocates for single-payer health care, impeachment, stopping our current wars, and marriage equality) seeks the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by John Kerry.
Ed Received 22.5% of the vote at the June Primary Nomination vote to qualify for the fall primary (15% minimum required). For further information, call the campaign at 866-716-2008.
U.S. war provocation against Iran: Another Tonkin
Gulf? Take Action NOW to Stop War on Iran!
The Bush Administration has initiated an extremely dangerous war provocation just off Iran's coast, in the Strait of Hormuz. With Bush on his way to the Middle East to mobilize a collection of oil-rich U.S. client states against Iran, the U.S. government is working overtime to create a phony public-relations incident to heighten tensions in the region and threaten a new war.
S 1959 "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" must be stopped at all costs. (It's already been approved by the House of Representatives by a HUGE majority.)
Pick up your phone and contact our US Senators' offices to instruct them to vote "NO" on S.1959, titled "To establish the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, and for other purposes".
If this bill is passed, and becomes law, your words and actions could be considered terrorism. S 1959 EVISCERATES FREE SPEECH, and empowers the govt. to declare ANYTHING they deem an "extremist belief system", instantly make you a terrorist, resulting in stripping of US citizenship, torture, and/or execution, with no habeas corpus rights, no ability to challenge even in the US Supreme Court.
And what greater hero do we have than Dennis Kucinich, still standing strong as ever on every issue that matters. Here is his own leadership statement opposing telecom immunity.
And yet, even now, powerful corporations are pouring money into Dennis's district, to try to buy his seat out from under him by threatening him in his own primary. They are running malicious attack ads in heavy rotation. Please consider making a donation to Dennis now, to help him fight back.
Comcast has given us a glimpse of a world without Net
Neutrality, and it's a chilling sight.
An investigation by the Associated Press caught the
cable giant secretly inspecting online communications
and crippling users' ability to share information with
one another.
On 11-1-07, Free Press filed a legal complaint
demanding that the FCC take action to protect the free
flow of information on the Internet. By joining our
complaint, you can help stop Comcast and other
gatekeepers.
Doris Tennant and Ellen Lubell (of Newton) are representing a Guantanamo prisoner pro bono, so they are providing their time at no charge. However, their costs, including their own travel and that of a translator, translator fees, and Freedom of Information Act requests, are running at least $20,000 for this year, and will likely continue at that same pace or more. Most of the other attorneys who are representing Guantanamo detainees are members of large law firms that can cover these types of expenses, but in their case the two of them are the firm.
If you would like to make a contribution to help them defray costs, it would be much appreciated. Please make your check payable to "Tennant Lubell Detainee Fund." Your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible, but they promise to put it to good use to help provide fundamental legal rights to a man who remains in indefinite detention.
Doris Tennant, Esq.
Tennant Lubell, LLC
288 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Newton, MA 02460
617-969-9610, X 101
Fax: 617-969-9611
Action Alert: The Alliance for Democracy warns us to oppose Holt bill (HR 811). We call for a ban on the use of Direct Recording Electronic voting equipment (DREs) and to require the use of paper ballots.
AFD urgently calls upon all citizens to call their Representatives to demand amendments to rectify the defects in HR 811, specifically to ban the use of DRE voting machines and require the use of paper ballots in all elections in the United States.
1. DRE systems must be banned.
2. All voting must be by voter marks on a paper ballot.
3. All recounts must be by hand counting of paper ballots.
4. All elections must have a statistically significant verification.
5. All recounts at every level of government must be by hand counting.
6. All software must be subject to public disclosure.
7. No connections to the Internet should be allowed.
8. All election records should be available to the public.
Go to for on-line information and a link to a printable flier.
A call for all people of conscience
to donate to its Lebanon Palestine Emergency Relief Fund.
All donations will be used to help Palestinian and
Lebanese victims of the latest Israeli aggression.
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail link
This oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC works with 15 different small farming cooperatives. PARC is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, and is the only Palestinian organization that has received the Palestine Standards Institution certification for its olive oil. PARC recently received the top BIOL award for excellence in olive oil in a competition in Puglia, Italy which included 300 participants from Italy and abroad.
Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family’s annual income. As the political and economic situation in Palestine continues to deteriorate, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.
We hope that you will continue to support us in this endeavor, as it is more important than ever to help sustain the Palestinian economy. On our most recent trip to the region in June 2008, we found that conditions are worse than ever, with unrelenting, tightening restrictions on movement making life incredibly difficult.
Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.
These are the meetings where we decide on events and discuss strategies to end the war. Anyone is welcome -- from seasoned activists to beginners and we look forward to building a dialogue with anyone opposed to the war. Our main tenent is that we are independent of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, such that we can build an anti-war movement that survives elections and continues to oppose the war, regardless of which candidate is in office.
Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.
Southeast corner of Rt 27 and 30 (nearest to Brooks Pharmacy).
Come for all or part. Bring a candle, lantern, or flashlight.
Organizer: Sandy Coy.
Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#
Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston
listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.
Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.
In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.
On this day, Friday and from there on!, we hereby declare the
establishment of a new DeMilitarized Zone where all those who wish can
congregate to denigrate and repudiate the war machine and celebrate the
growth of the new movement from coast to coast willing to oppose the war and opression in
this country and around the world. Bring your signs, and minds, let's
chalk, talk, play music, paint art with caring and sharing and declaring
that we are "chilling *against* the villins" in this zone to show our
independence!!!!!
We declare our solidarity with the people of the Middle East who share
the misfortune of living on top of the largest oil reserves on the
planet which is the reason behind the current war on Iraq. We declare
our condemnation of those who support this criminal war commanded by
criminals who promote a criminal ideology with criminal intent and
crimes against humanity. We repudiate with prejudice the general assault
on our rights: abuses, excuses, jailings, raids, lies, spies,
xenophobia, torture, extraordinary rendition, and the general police
state system that says we must stand together and support this
generalized oppression. We are no longer the silent generation but are
now willing to Stand Apart and against the mass murdering villins who
are doin the real killin. Join us in the DMZ!!
Chillin against the villin's!!!
Our *DMZ* and our Independence.