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Rolla Peace News April 30, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter043019.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, May 2, 2019 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, MAY 16, 6:30PM 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Rolla: Year of the Woman b) The Most Warlike Nation in History c) Some Unexpected Consequences of Global Warming d) Today's Coup Attempt in Venezuela Appears to Have Failed 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, May 2, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, May 2 FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 70s. 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. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, MAY 16, 6:30PM Newly formed Rolla chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby will meet in the meeting room of the Rolla children's library at 6:30pm, Thursday, May 16. Everyone is welcome. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Rolla: Year of the Woman b) The Most Warlike Nation in History c) Some Unexpected Consequences of Global Warming d) Today's Coup Attempt in Venezuela Appears to Have Failed ROLLA: YEAR OF THE WOMAN In the April municipal elections, Rolla elected three women to the City Council: Rachel Schneider, Marie Allen and Christine Ruder. They join Ann Murphey, Jody Eberly and Tiffany Henry, who were elected to the Council last year, making the Rolla City Council 50% women. Two years ago, the Rolla City Council was 100% male. When I pointed this out in a public council meeting two years ago, I was met by snickers and guffaws. Some of the sexist comments my presentation elicited are really choice. You can view the meeting here. My presentation and council comments are from 1:27:00 to 1:30:15. Rolla has not had a female mayor since Lou McFarland (1978-1982). Rolla will elect a new mayor in 2022. Perhaps, it's time for a female mayor. THE MOST WARLIKE NATION IN HISTORY Jimmy Carter, who at 94 is the oldest living former president of the United States ever, has pointed out that the reason China has surpassed the United States in so many ways is that the US has squandered its lead by fighting wars, while China has gone from a third world country to become the world's economic powerhouse in four short decades. President Carter, who was responsible for the normalization of relations between the US and China, and whose administration comprised four of the only five years in which the United States has not been at war, remarked in a Sunday sermon, “It’s more than you can imagine. China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that’s why they’re ahead of us in almost every way.” Here's a short article on the subject by Brett Wilkins, and another by Fred Reed. Fred Reed writes in very colorful language. He refers to the way the United States has squandered its position in the world over the past 40 years as “national suicide” — a very apt description in my opinion. SOME UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL WARMING Here's two articles I ran across in my reading this past week. I'm sure there are many more similar articles. Seems that under a warming climate, waves are growing taller. This bodes ill for those living close to the ocean. And monster storms, particularly in the US midwest, are pumping water vapor into the stratosphere, which then attacks the ozone layer, which shields us from cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation. But, we are too busy fighting wars to give this much thought; and besides, it's only a Chinese hoax anyway. TODAY'S COUP ATTEMPT IN VENEZUELA APPEARS TO HAVE FAILED While it is too early to tell for sure, today's coup attempt in Venezuela appears to have failed. Coup leaders and supporters are taking refuge in foreign embassies. Let's face it. Venezuelans do not want their country turned into another Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya by the United States. All that money squandered on attacking Venezuela could have been spent on non-polluting renewable energy, replanting trees, health care, education, rebuilding our dilapidated infrastructure... No wonder China is getting so far ahead of us. I bet the Chinese are having a great laugh over this one. 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: at 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, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |