!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> Rolla Peace Newsletter, May 5, 2015

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Rolla Peace News

May 5, 2015

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Dear Friends:

          In this newsletter is:

1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
2. BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT
3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) A Fundamental Misunderstanding of Nonviolence
          b) California Dreamin'
          c) Well, What Did You Expect?

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1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015

We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, MAY 7, 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 80s. 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. BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT

It's official: Bernie Sanders is running for President. Finally, someone I can feel positive about voting for (as opposed to “lesser of 2 evils”.) Bernie is a socialist, which gets him a lot of criticism. But what is socialism, really? It's a philosophy of government that seeks the highest good for every citizen, not just the wealthy and powerful. What's not to like about that?

I believe if Bernie could get the Democratic nomination, he could win the presidency — but getting the nomination is far from a sure thing. Hillary Clinton has the support of most of the money in the Democratic party, since she votes their way. But it's a hopeful sign that Bernie Sanders raised $1.5 million in the first 24 hours of his candidacy, most of it from small donors. Worst case, Hillary will be forced to move a little to the left, as Peter Dreier points out.

This article gives an outline of Bernie Sanders' agenda for this campaign. It would be hard to argue that humanity and the planet would not be better off if we adopted his plans.

Below is a link to a very short (2+ minutes) video of Bernie Sanders' first campaign event. He's got charisma, which should help against Hillary, who doesn't.

3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) A Fundamental Misunderstanding of Nonviolence
          b) California Dreamin'
          c) Well, What Did You Expect?

A FUNDAMENTAL MISUNDERSTANDING OF NONVIOLENCE
“A monopoly on violence is a terrifying monopoly to hold.” — Deborah Orr
I can think of nothing more arrogant than the violent preaching Nonviolence to their victims. And this is what happened in Baltimore in the wake of demonstrations against the police murder of Freddie Gray. Maybe the politicians and the police ought to try a little nonviolence themselves, instead of claiming that they, and only they, have the Right to be violent. This article by Ta-Nehisi Coates tells it straight.

I've never thought of myself as a nonviolent person. I know the violence inside me. Yes, I struggle against it; but, it's a part of me. It's like struggling against your right arm. Nevertheless, the older I get, the more I see the futility of violence. While we struggle violently against one another, our planetary support system continues to collapse. That ought to tell us something about ourselves and Nonviolence.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

As California slouches into its fourth year of drought, its forests lie littered with the dry remains of 12.5 million trees that died in the previous years' drought — dry tinder for this years forest fires. With streams, lakes, aquifers and reservoirs drying up and water rationed, maybe its time to bring Woody Guthrie's famous song up to date:
“California was a Garden of Eden,
A Paradise to live in and grow;
But believe it or not, now it's boiling hot,
'Cause it ain't got the H-2-O.”

WELL, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is upset that the Pentagon is apparently making no progress against sexual assault in the military. Well, Senator Gillibrand, what did you expect? Don't you know that rape and violence are an integral part of military culture? You might just is well be upset by the law of gravity.

It's been a long time since I've linked to Fred Reed's article on soldiering, so here it is again. WARNING! VERY GRAPHIC.

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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

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