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Rolla Peace News June 9, 2015 |
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================================= Dear Friends:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015 2. A CHEMICAL COMPANY BY ANY OTHER NAME (STILL SUCKS) 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) Our Broken System of Criminal Injustice ================================ 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 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. A CHEMICAL COMPANY BY ANY OTHER NAME (STILL SUCKS) Monsanto, which needs no introduction, is hoping to move its headquarters to the United Kingdom and merge with a Swiss company, Syngenta. They also would propose a new name for the combined companies “to reflect its unique global nature.” Or maybe, to hide the wolf in sheep's clothing. At present, Syngenta isn't having any, which says something about Monsanto's popularity quotient. As the Huffington Post put it, “You know you're unpopular when not even a company notorious for selling chemicals banned in Europe for harming defenseless invertebrates wants anything to do with you.” 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) OUR BROKEN SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL INJUSTICE It seems like practically every day I come across a new injustice perpetrated by our Criminal Injustice System, usually but not always the perpetrators are white and the victims are non-white: After 43 years in prison, mostly in solitary, Albert Woodfox has been ordered freed. Judge James Brady not only ordered Woodfox unconditionally released, but also barred the State of Louisiana from retrying Woodfox, noting, “lack of confidence in the state to provide a fair third trial, the prejudice done onto Mr. Woodfox by spending over 40 years in solitary confinement, and finally the very fact that Mr. Woodfox has already been tried twice and would otherwise face his third trial for a crime that occurred over 40 years ago.” Kalief Browder was arrested at age 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack. He never got a trial. He was held in solitary at Rikers Island and tortured for two years before finally being released. He claimed, “I'm not all right. I'm messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that's not going to help me mentally. I'm mentally scarred right now.” Saturday he killed himself at age 22 . A white police officer in McKinney, Texas crashed a teenage pool party and assaulted a 15-year-old black girl in a bikini throwing her to the ground by her hair and pinning her arms behind her. In Salinas, California, five police officers beat mentally ill Jose Velasco sensless with batons. And this is just what I found on the Common Dreams website in the last few days. With so much injustice dispensed by our Criminal Injustice System, can we really say that there is a single prisoner that deserves to spend one single additional day incarcerated? Isn't it time, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “to preach good tidings unto the meek ... to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;” And what about those who are released from prison? As Ralph Nader documents, they are discriminated against in employment, housing, education, and in every way imaginable. There is no such thing anymore as “paying your debt to society” and starting fresh. No wonder recidivism rates are so high. Nader concludes his article, “Not very smart for a country that thinks so much of itself.” ================== 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 ### |