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Rolla Peace News March 9, 2021 |
Dear Friends:Editor's note: Please consider writing for our newsletter. It's always very exciting to be able to publish submissions from our readers.In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021 2. FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST EMPTY PROMISES, FRIDAY, MARCH 12 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Making War in the Greater Middle East and Afghanistan: Will Joe Biden be #8? b) Rochester, NY Rivals Our Southern Border for Child Abuse Capital of The United States c) The Philippines and the Comoros Ratify Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons d) Fukushima, Ten Years Later, Still Leaking Deadly Radiation e) Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Meet. 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, MARCH 11, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until Peace is established). Please join us this Thursday in saying NO WAR AGAINST IRAN or any other country. The temperature is predicted to be in the 60s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. Note 1: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. Note 2: In case of inclement weather, vigils may be canceled or terminated early. Note 3: On February 19 we began our 15th year of weekly vigils for Peace at the Rolla Post Office. 2. FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST EMPTY PROMISES, FRIDAY, MARCH 12 To my knowledge, nothing has been planned yet for Rolla. Let us know and we'll publicize it next week. Alternatively, we welcome all climate activists to join us on Thursday, March 11 at Noon in front of the Post Office and demonstrate against empty promises. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Making War in the Greater Middle East and Afghanistan: Will Joe Biden be #8? b) Rochester, NY Rivals Our Southern Border for Child Abuse Capital of The United States c) The Philippines and the Comoros Ratify Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons d) Fukushima, Ten Years Later, Still Leaking Deadly Radiation e) Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Meet. Making War in the Greater Middle East and Afghanistan: Will Joe Biden be #8? Those of us who had hoped that Joe Biden would become a somewhat more peaceful president than his seven predecessors are quickly becoming disillusioned. Seems like Biden wants to renegotiate the Peace Agreement with the Taliban and may renege on the May 1 deadline for all foreign troops to exit Afghanistan. That's a stupid move. The Taliban seems to hold all the aces. They are far stronger now than they were after George W. Bush's 2001 “cake walk” through Afghanistan with the Northern Alliance of Warlords and a coalition of almost 50 countries. The Taliban has successfully resisted the US occupation for almost 20 years now. I suspect they will continue to resist for another 20 years if that's what it takes to get foreign troops out of their country. They don't call Afghanistan the “Graveyard of Empires” for nothing. And next door in Iran: Biden is resisting rejoining the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) insisting on Iran making “concessions.” Hey, the United States left the agreement. Indeed, it is the only party to have left the agreement. If the US wants to rejoin, shouldn't it be the first to return to compliance? Rochester, NY Rivals Our Southern Border for Child Abuse Capital of The United States A few weeks ago, the Rochester Police handcuffed a nine-year old, put her in the back of a police car and pepper-sprayed her, apparently because she was hysterical and crying for her daddy. Interim Police Chief, Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, responded to this incident by proclaiming that this is, “just not who we are.” Well, guess what? Some of the same police officers involved in the pepper-spray incident mentioned above just tackled and pepper-sprayed a mother holding a three-year-old. No, Ms. Herriott-Sullivan, that is exactly who we are. ICE authorities on the border who separate children from their parents and keep them in cages have nothing on Rochester, NY. To tie this together with the previous snippet: Is it any wonder that in places as diverse as Iraq, Afghanistan and Okinawa, folks want nothing more than for US troops to leave? The Philippines and the Comoros Ratify Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The Philippines and the Comoros have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons bringing the total number of state parties to 54. The Treaty went into force on January 22, 2021. Sadly, the nine Nuclear Weapon States: US, Russia, France, UK, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea are still missing in action and hold all of humanity hostage to their nuclear weapons. Lets hear a loud “Hip Hip Hooray!” for the Philippines and the Comoros. Fukushima, Ten Years Later, Still Leaking Deadly Radiation March 11 will mark the 10th anniversary on the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan. Fukushima, like Chernobyl, will threaten the world with deadly radiation for decades to come. Isn't it long past time to decommission and cleanup all these dangerous nuclear power plants? Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Meet. Pope Francis traveled to Iraq and met with Islamic leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. This is unprecedented. I pray that this meeting will help put the world on a path toward Peace. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |