!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> Rolla Peace Newsletter, June 16, 2015

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Rolla Peace News

June 16, 2015

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Dear Friends:

          In this newsletter is:

1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015
2. JULY 4 VIGIL AT LIONS CLUB
3. A SETBACK FOR FAST TRACK
4. FREEDOM OF CHOICE
5. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) Civil Disobedience Is Back
          b) Academic Freedom?
          c) Our Courts Fail — Again

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1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 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. JULY 4 VIGIL AT LIONS CLUB

On Saturday, July 4, 2015, we will have our annual vigil in front of Lions Club Park, the last day of the carnival. We will meet at 6 p.m., when the carnival starts, and stay until 7 p.m. as usual. Please try to join us.

3. A SETBACK FOR FAST TRACK

Opponents of TPP have won a big battle, though not the war. The House of Representatives finally voted on Friday to delay final decision on Fast Track. Proponents hoped, and many expected, that it would pass easily, and that the TPP could then be rammed through before many Americans knew what was going on. It's not going to be that easy now, but don't think the corporations are giving up; they won't. After all, what they are after is total control of the world's economy, and TPP will all but give it to them.

An interesting article by Robert Kuttner talks about why so many House Democrats didn't support Obama's position on TPP and Fast Track. He feels that a lot of Democrats are tired of the President aligning himself with the interests of the corporate elite. I hope that's true! If so, this would give Bernie Sanders a better chance to defeat Hillary Clinton for the Presidential nomination. Here's a quote from Kuttner: “It's fine for Republicans and their corporate allies to promote this stuff. We expect it of them. But the 99 percent deserve a party of our own. If a Democratic White House doesn't get that, this steamrolling is well-deserved. Maybe now we can have a debate in which we discuss how globalization might be used to raise social standards rather than do favors for elites.”

Here's another take on what the House vote means: Robert Reich says that most Americans have figured out that, while free trade means cheaper consumer goods, it also means lower-paying jobs for them, and huge gains for the 1%. How does it help working people to be able to buy cheap stuff at Walmart, when a Walmart job is the only job left that they can get? Reich feels that public opinion will likely kill this deal; I hope he's right.

4. FREEDOM OF CHOICE

Here is a very short article that is the best rebuttal of the “school voucher” idea that I have ever seen. It will only take a minute to read, so I won't spoil its elegance by trying to add anything.

5. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) Civil Disobedience Is Back
          b) Academic Freedom?
          c) Our Courts Fail — Again

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS BACK

“Kayaktivists” in Seattle attempted (unsuccessfully) to prevent Shell's drilling rig from leaving Seattle for the Arctic. However the fight to save the Arctic (and the world) from the ravages of our addiction to fossil fuels will continue.

Pope Francis in a leaked draft encyclical meant not just for Catholics but for all the people of the world writes, “[the Earth] is protesting for the wrong that we are doing to her, because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has placed on her.”

Massive protests derailed (at least temporarily) the Trans-Pacific Partnership which would give corporations and the super-wealthy increased authority to continue trashing the Earth for profit. Helen writes more on this above.

Sister Megan Rice and her two Plowshares colleagues were released from prison last month, when their conviction for sabotage at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons facility was overturned. Says Sister Megan. “As long as there’s one nuclear weapon existing, nobody is free.”

Every single nuclear weapon in the United States, Russia, China, The United Kingdom and France is illegal. These five nuclear powers signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which came into force in 1970, agreeing to nuclear disarmament at an early date. They have not even begun to fulfill their treaty obligations.

As Bernie Sanders points out, we need a MASS MOVEMENT to take back America from the billionaire class and those who profit from war and climate change.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM?

At the University of Illinois, tenured professors can say what they believe as long as they don't criticize Israel or anger wealthy Jewish donors. The American Association of University Professors has censured the University of Illinois for the firing of tenured professor Steven Salaita who was dismissed for public statements critical of the Israel's most recent massacre in Gaza. Salaita's attorneys described the censure as “a serious blemish on the university’s record.”

Meanwhile the Israeli Defense Forces have absolved themselves of all wrong-doing in the murder of four children playing on the beach in Gaza.

OUR COURTS FAIL — AGAIN

Last week I reported that a federal judge ordered that Albert Woodfox who has served 43 years in solitary confinement be released from prison, and that the State of Louisiana was barred from retrying Woodfox. The State of Louisiana appealed and will be allowed to keep Woodfox in prison during the appeal. Isn't 43 years in solitary punishment enough for any crime?.

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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).

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Wage peace,

Helen
helenm (at) fidnet.com

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