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Rolla Peace News March 29, 2016 |
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================================= Dear Friends:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, March 31, 2016 2. THE OTHER VICTIMS 3. THE ISLAND OF ALL TOGETHER 4. BERNIE AND THE BIRD 5. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) TDD/TIF b) Friends Don't Let Friends Commit War Crimes c) The People Before You Were Destroyed...
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We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016, (and all subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 50s. 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. 2. THE OTHER VICTIMS While the outraged coverage of the Brussels attack has been all over the media, another more deadly incident has received almost no coverage. Perhaps you did not even know that a day or two earlier, 120 people were killed in a U.S.-supported Saudi bombing attack on a market in north Yemen, including 20 children. The whole Western world mourned the victims of the Paris terror attacks, but who mourns the thousands of Iraqi, Libyan, Afghan, Syrian, Pakistani, and Yemeni men, women and children who have died from our drones and bombs since the war on terror began? Most of these go unnoticed, except by their decimated families — we don't know their names, their occupations, their hopes and dreams. Most of the time, we don't even know what has happened to them. As Glenn Greenwald says, this is on purpose. The mainstream media, and the powers that control them, don't want you to know about these victims. They want you to believe that only “terrorists” would hurt innocent civilians. Greenwald discusses in depth how Americans (and presumably other Western citizens) are brought to think that anything our countries do in the name of the War on Terror is right and just. Please read his article. 3. THE ISLAND OF ALL TOGETHER On the island of Lesbos, Greece, there are around 50,000 refugees from Syria and Afghanistan being held in camps, awaiting deportation to Turkey, the idea being to stop them from coming into Europe proper. A Dutch couple have made a video pairing refugees with European tourists for a little conversation, aided by in-the-ear translators. Their idea was to show that the refugees are just fellow human beings, not marauding hordes, and they were successful. Remember, these are the same people whose friends and relatives are victims of our bombs and drones. They were just lucky enough to escape from the war zone. It's people like these that we are killing by the thousands. It's to be hoped that seeing them as real people like ourselves will convince more Westerners that it's time to stop the slaughter. 4. BERNIE AND THE BIRD I'm sure you all know about the little sparrow that landed on Bernie's podium while he was speaking. Here's the video, in case you haven't seen it. 5. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) TDD/TIF b) Friends Don't Let Friends Commit War Crimes c) The People Before You Were Destroyed... TDD/TIF Lot's of new stuff posted on the “Move Rolla Transportation Development District” (TDD) and the “Westside Marketplace Tax Increment Financing” (TIF). The proposed TDD will add an additional one cent sales tax to most businesses in Rolla, while the proposed TIF will abate taxes belonging to our schools, parks, library, etc. For an estimated $37 million, Rolla will get a Menards which will then compete unfairly with Lowes, Meeks and the Family Center. Check it out here. And if you haven't watched John Oliver's 15 minute video on Special Taxing Districts, prepare yourself for a humorous and informative experience. FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS COMMIT WAR CRIMES In the speech that Bernie did not give at the AIPAC annual conference (He give it in Utah instead), he points out with reference to the United States' relation with Israel: “To my mind, as friends – long term friends with Israel – we are obligated to speak the truth as we see it. That is what real friendship demands, especially in difficult times.Here's an article which includes a video of Israeli soldiers shooting and killing a wounded man lying still on the ground — a clear war crime. What's notable is that this appears to be so commonplace that it is hardly worth even taking note of. Emad Abu Shamsiya who took the video is now being intimidated for speaking out. Please visit Jewish Voice for Peace and consider signing the letter of solidarity with Emad Abu Shamsiya. Meanwhile, for all the other candidates that did attend the AIPAC annual meeting and expressed their fawning allegiance to Israel, truths like this are never spoken of. Why do we even tolerate politicians who express such fawning allegiance to a foreign power? THE PEOPLE BEFORE YOU WERE DESTROYED... “The people before you were destroyed because they inflicted legal punishments on the poor and forgave the rich.”Here's a couple of excellent examples from this week's news: Bill Quigley writes about two Texas mothers who, lacking $1,740 for bail, were held in a Louisiana jail for allegedly stealing two hot dogs. Incidentally, one of the mothers is vegan. Meanwhile, Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy who is responsible for the 2010 mine explosion which killed 29 miners, was found guilty of conspiracy to violate mine safety laws. Maximum sentence: one year in prison. Likely, he won't even have to serve that. Why wasn't this prosecuted as domestic terrorism? ================== 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 Grassroots Rolla: 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, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com ### |