Dear Friends:
In this newsletter is:
1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011
2. MEDIA COVERAGE OF OCCUPY WALL STREET
3. THE WAR AGAINST THE POOR
4. HERE COMES THE SUN
5. VETERANS DAY BALLOON RELEASE
6. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
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1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011
We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011, (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 high 40s and sunny. 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. MEDIA COVERAGE OF OCCUPY WALL STREET
The reason this article caught my attention is that I have noticed that no one in the mainstream media is focusing on the problem that the Occupy Wall Street movement is highlighting: i.e., that the whole economic and political system in this country and most of the world is not only unfair to 99% of the people - it's broken. Instead, the media focuses on questions like: "Who are these people?" "Who are their leaders?" (In other words, "How can we classify them in a way that makes them look bad?" and "Who can we blame and punish for this?") The fact is that they are us, and we are waking up and smelling the fishy smell, and we want things to change. It's true that not everyone in the movement has the same goals, and some probably have no particular goal except wanting to be included in an action that many people with whom they identify are joining. It's also true that most of us have no idea how to effect the changes that need to be made - but how can we when we have been shut out for so many years from having any significant participation in the politics or economy of our countries? What I hope will happen is that people will sit down together in groups and brainstorm a new system from the ground up - one that would be fair to everyone and invite everyone's participation. If anyone here is interested in doing that, we have an Occupy group here in Rolla, and anyone is welcome to meet with us and discuss it.
Here's
a link to Russ Baker's article; and
here is the full text of the NY Times article Mr. Baker is referring to.
3. THE WAR AGAINST THE POOR
If anyone still feels that the Occupy Movement and the Peace Movement have nothing to do with each other, this article will make the connection. Poor-bashing has become much more fashionable since the Great Recession began around 2008, but it's been around for a long time. It has been very easy for the privileged few who control the media to pit the working poor against the single mothers on welfare, the unemployed, blacks and immigrants - both legal and illegal. The scenario that has been portrayed by the powers that be is that the poor, hardworking middle class has been made poor by having to pay for benefits for all these lazy, stupid and irresponsible folks in the categories above. And that just is not true! People have talked about a War on Poverty for decades - but it has been fought against the people who are poor, not against the root causes of poverty, which are mainly the insatiable greed and power hunger of the ruling class. And yes, we do have one in this country - it has just been hiding behind fine words.
Here is
an article by Frances Fox Piven which eloquently describes the war against the poor.
4. HERE COMES THE SUN
And finally, here is some good news! Solar energy is becoming a viable option - and what's more, the New York Times is actually saying so. I find it very heartening that a major newspaper would print something that essentially says that the politicians and corporations are so heavily invested in fossil-fuel technology that they have been lying to us about the cost-effectiveness of solar energy. And if solar energy becomes prevalent on the planet, we will not need to go to war to capture more oil reserves for our energy-hungry society. How about that? So enjoy -
good news is rare enough.
5. VETERANS DAY BALLOON RELEASE
The third annual Veterans Day balloon release honoring the victims of Agent Orange will be held Friday, November 11, 2011, at Veterans Park (behind Casey's Hwy 72 gas station) at 12 noon. Please come and honor the veterans who have suffered so many health problems, including death, from our country's use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam war. Bring bright latex orange balloons if you can.
6. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
ISRAELI PIRATES TERRORIZE MEDITERRANEAN
Israeli pirates have captured an Irish and a Canadian ship bound for Gaza, beating and otherwise maltreating the crew and passengers. The two unarmed vessels were bound for Gaza in a non-violent attempt to break the blockade and bring relief to the 1.6 million Gazans which Israel holds in the world's largest open-air prison. About half of the 1.6 million Gazans are children. What kind of people would keep 800,000 children in prison? What kind of world would permit this mass maltreatment of children? There can be no real solution to our domestic problems as long as we remain complicit in the ill-treatment of Gaza.
I'lLL PICK UP MY MARBLES AND GO HOME
Miffed by UNESCO's decision to admit Palestine as a full member, the US picks up its $60 million contribution and goes home pouting. It appears that much of the world is fed-up with the US-Israeli maltreatment of Palestine.
PREPARED FOR ANOTHER WAR?
And our next war will be ... You guessed it! ... Iran. In the past we've backed off from all out war with Iran; but there are signs that this one is the real McCoy. First and foremost, things have gotten so bad in the US, that we really need a good war to get peoples minds off their troubles and put them in the mood to sacrifice even more of their civil liberties and freedoms, and stoically endure more foreclosures, job loses, and pay cuts. Click here and here for two articles on the march toward war against Iran. And one final question: When US bombs begin to fall on Iran, where will the Occupy movement stand?
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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 (links below Tom's photo on upper left of home page).
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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