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Rolla Peace News April 28, 2015 |
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================================= Dear Friends:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015 2. GOOD NEWS FOR THE EARTH (EXCEPT POLITICS) 3. CHRIS HEDGES ON THE NEW BLACK MILITANTS 4. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Against the Assault of Laughter b) Swedish Police Show New York How It Should Be Done c) Civil Disobedience is Back ================================ 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015, (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 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. 2. GOOD NEWS FOR THE EARTH (EXCEPT POLITICS) Renewable energy is becoming a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels. The global cost of solar energy has been cut in half in the last 5 years, thanks partly to the lower cost of solar panels and related technology. Japan, whose nuclear plants have all been shut down since Fukushima, has produced so much electricity with renewables, largely solar, that it is planning to shut down a bunch of its polluting fossil-fuel plants early next year. If Japan can do it, the rest of the world can, too. Germany is now getting over a quarter of its energy from renewables, and its economy has benefited. Eleven percent of electricity in Texas comes from wind, of which they have an elegant sufficiency. Readers of Juan Cole's article who watch Comedy Central will probably get what is referred to in the first paragraph — I didn't, because I don't watch television. The rest of the article, though, explains in very clear language why we aren't getting a transition to renewable energy any time soon: “The major problem the world faces in avoiding climate disruption is not economic or technological. It is plain old-fashioned greed and mule-headedness.” Not to mention corruption and dishonesty and indifference to the suffering of others. 3. CHRIS HEDGES ON THE NEW BLACK MILITANTS While we are on the subject of greed, mule-headedness, corruption, dishonesty and indifference to the suffering of others, these particularly deadly sins on the part of our governments have given rise to a new class of protesters and activists. These are mostly young black people who aren't interested in going through channels, baby steps, writing polite letters to their representatives in Congress — all those things that haven't worked. They understand that behind the poverty and racism and oppression is the corporate power structure that promotes and aggravates those problems, and feeds off of them. Hedges reports a conversation with T-Dubb-O, a hip-hop artist from St. Louis. You might want to discount what he says because of his funny name, or his version of the Queen's English, but in my humble opinion, his assessment of the situation is right on: “As long as the powers that be are in control, the oppression isn’t going to go anywhere. It’s really going to take people to unite worldwide, not just in America, not just in St. Louis, not just in one particular city or state. It’s gonna have to be people identifying their struggles with each other worldwide, internationally, and say enough is enough. That’s the only way oppression will ever leave.” 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Against the Assault of Laughter b) Swedish Police Show New York How It Should Be Done c) Civil Disobedience is Back AGAINST THE ASSAULT OF LAUGHTER If you haven't seen an episode of Halal in the Family, you are in for a treat. Halal in the Family is a sitcom in the tradition of All in the Family. It makes fun of all things islamophobic. There are four episodes posted on their website. My favorite is the Halloween episode where Aasif Qu'osby wants to out-do his neighbors on Halloween and turns his house into a haunted terrorist training camp and plans to dress up in a Zombie Bin-Laden costume If Mark Twain was even half right when he wrote, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand,” islamophobia is as good as dead. Halal means legal, permitted, good for you; and Halal in the Family is certainly halal. SWEDISH POLICE SHOW NEW YORK HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE Four Swedish police officers vacationing is New York City witnessed a fight on the subway, broke it up, made sure no one was injured, and did all the stuff police officers are supposed to do, except if they work in St. Louis, Baltimore, New York, Chicago or some other big city in the United States. No one got shot, tasered, killed or brutalized. Unbelievable! You know, maybe we ought to send our police to Sweden for training, or hire Swedes to police our cities. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS BACK! People are wising up and saying, NO. No to business as usual; no to burning dirty fossil-fuel; no to police killings; no to over-testing our children; no to corporate-friendly trade agreements; no to drone strikes that kill civilians; ... no to lots of things that ought not to be happening. Me? I'm still standing in front of the Rolla Post Office at Noon on Thursdays saying NO to war. You are welcome to join me. While I find all these protests and demonstrations very positive, it will be difficult to make lasting progress on these issues as long as we remain in a state of perpetual war. ================== 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 ### |