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Rolla Peace News October 2, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter100218.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, OCT. 4, 2018 2. WIN ONE, LOSE ONE 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Kavanaugh: The Gentleman Doth Protest Too Much b) Trump: Against The Assault Of Laughter Nothing Can Stand c) Treaty On The Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons: Four New Ratifications, One Accession & Ten New Signatures 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 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 around 70. 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. WIN ONE, LOSE ONE Jeff Bezos appears to have at least a rudimentary conscience — or at least cares what people think of him. Today, after months of pressure from workers and progressives, Amazon workers were granted a $15/hr minimum wage. Bernie Sanders, who was instrumental in calling attention to Amazon workers' low wages and horrible working conditions, said “This is what the political revolution is all about.” On the other hand, this very same day, the District of Columbia City Council voted to begin the repeal process for Initiative 77, which would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers (currently at $3.89/hr) to match the city's regular minimum wage, by 2026. This initiative was approved in June by 55% of voters in the district, but the big restaurant owners immediately started putting pressure on the Council to get rid of it. By the way, the D.C. City Council is mostly Democrats, not Republicans. The Council has sent a clear message to its constituents: “Your votes don't mean a damn thing to us.” Sound familiar? In 2008, Missourians voted for Proposition C, instituting a mandatory renewable energy policy, with a very modest goal of 15% renewables by 2021. Our state legislature has since eviscerated the law, and we lost a challenge in the State Supreme Court. So much for representing the people's will. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Kavanaugh: The Gentleman Doth Protest Too Much b) Trump: Against The Assault Of Laughter Nothing Can Stand c) Treaty On The Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons: Four New Ratifications, One Accession & Ten New Signatures KAVANAUGH: THE GENTLEMAN DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH While Kavanaugh's angry denials become increasingly difficult to believe, his friends in Congress continue to push his appointment to the Supreme Court forward. Well, suppose he is confirmed. The Supreme Court will be known forevermore as the Rape Court (especially when they make their inevitable decisions against the Rights of women) and will likely lose whatever public respect it still has after the disastrous Citizens United decision. And while we have all been so mesmerized by the Brett Kavanaugh circus... TRUMP: AGAINST THE ASSAULT OF LAUGHTER NOTHING CAN STAND The whole world laughed at our president. When Trump bragged in front of the UN General Assembly that “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the entire history of our country,” there were laughs and guffaws. I think Trump is the first US president to have ever been laughed at in the General Assembly. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. Meanwhile, the US has been sidelined as the rest of the world moves on. Korea and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons are two such examples. TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: FOUR NEW RATIFICATIONS, ONE ACCESSION & TEN NEW SIGNATURES Since I last reported on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in early August; the Treaty has garnered four ratifications (Gambia, Samoa, San Marino and Vanuatu), one accession (Cook Islands, legally equivalent to ratification) and ten signatures (Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Benin, Brunei, Colombia, Guinea-Bissau, Myanmar, St Lucia, Seychelles and Timor-Leste). Let's hear a loud Hip Hip Hooray for all these brave nations that are standing up against big-power nuclear bullying. The Treaty now has 69 signatories and 19 ratifications (or equivalent). 31 more ratifications and the treaty becomes international law; but sadly, only for those states that have ratified the treaty. Of the nine nuclear-weapon states, (USA, Russia, France, UK, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea); North Korea is the only one to express interest in de-nuclearizing if its security can be guaranteed in other ways. You will find very few reports of this in the media, even in the so-called progressive media. But I think this is important — much more important than what happens to Brett Kavanaugh. 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: near 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 |