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Rolla Peace News December 6, 2016 |
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================================= Dear Friends:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016 2. BUEHLER PARK — UPDATE — YOUR HELP IS STILL NEEDED 3. CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION, BUT IT'S NOT OVER 4. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Non-Violence b) Another For The History Books c) Do You See It
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We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016, (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 20s. 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. BUEHLER PARK — UPDATE — YOUR HELP IS STILL NEEDED The Rolla City Council did not discuss the proposed Rolla dog-park at their first meeting in December. If you have not already done so, Please sign the petition; and ask your friends and family to sign too. Your phone calls and emails have been very helpful. Please keep them coming. Contact the City of Rolla and ask them not to build a dog-park in Buehler Park: (573)426-6948, citycouncil@rollacity.org. For more information click here. Thank you for your help in preserving Buehler Park as the lovely little park that it is for all local residents and visitors to enjoy. 3. CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION, BUT IT'S NOT OVER By now most people know that the Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters received a last-minute miracle the day before they were due to be forcibly evicted from the Oceti Sakowin encampment. President Obama, via the Army Corps of Engineers, denied the permit for passage of the pipeline under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River. That was not the only miracle that day. Thousands of American veterans came to the camp to support and defend the water protectors. They also came to ask forgiveness for all of us whose ancestors invaded the Native Americans' land, killed so many of their people, and tried unsuccessfully to obliterate their culture. A healing took place there which will have a rippling effect throughout the collective consciousness of all Americans, native and non-native. A video of that powerful encounter is in this article; have your hankies handy. It's important to keep in mind that this is only one battle in an ongoing war between those who choose to defile the planet for profit, and those who will defend her. Energy Transfer Partners is already preparing to fight the permit denial, and rumor has it that Donald Trump has stated his intent to open up the Keystone Pipeline issue. Meanwhile, it's bitter cold in North Dakota, and the people there still need food, shelter, thoughts and prayers. They know it isn't over. Let's not forget them. 4. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Non-Violence b) Another For The History Books c) Do You See It NON-VIOLENCE Helen sent me this article by Charles Eisenstein a few days before the Corps of Army Engineers denied a permit for Energy Transfer Partners to drill underneath Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access Pipeline. I think it's the best short article on non-violence I've read in a long long time; and I hope you will all take the time to read it carefully. Eisenstein points out that only through non-violence can we protect the Earth from those who would do violence to her. “Around the globe, powerful interests are destroying ecosystems and landscapes, clearcutting, stripmining, and polluting. In every case, the destroyers have more military, political, and financial power than those who would resist them. If this planet and our civilization is to heal, it cannot be through winning a contest of force.”Had the water protectors met violence with violence, surely they would have failed; but having met extreme violence: (attack dogs, mace, pepper spray, water cannons, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades) with peaceful prayer, they won an unexpected victory. Who would have thought that five centuries of defeat after defeat for indigenous Americans would suddenly be reversed at Standing Rock through peaceful prayer? Perhaps this victory at Standing Rock in which violence has been overcome with peaceful prayer can be translated into many more such victories, in many more such places. Perhaps in this way, the Earth may be saved from the ravages of human violence. Eisenstein writes: “when we choose love in the face of enormous temptation to hate, we are issuing a powerful prayer for a world of love.” and “Each time you refuse the invitation onto the warpath, you become more powerful. Those who can stay peaceful in the face of any terror or threat become virtual miracle-workers.” Indeed, our brothers and sisters at Standing Rock are truly Miracle-Workers. ANOTHER FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS On the heels of the hottest driest autumn that the Southern Appalachians have experienced in recorded history, fire engulfed the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee last week killing 14 . In their presidential primary, 333,000 Tennesseans voted for Donald Trump who says climate-change is a Chinese hoax, 245,000 voted for Hillary Clinton who doesn't believe in doing anything much to reverse climate-change, and only 120,000 voted for Bernie Sanders who wanted to make reversing climate-change a national priority. In the November election, 1.5 million Tennesseans voted for Donald Trump who says climate-change is a Chinese hoax, 869,000 voted for Hillary Clinton who doesn't believe in doing anything much to reverse climate-change, and only 16,000 voted for Jill Stein who wanted to make reversing climate-change a national priority. If Tennesseans had a chance to vote again, in light of the Gatlinburg fire, I wonder how many would change their vote. DO YOU SEE IT? If you do nothing else today, watch this very powerful three minute video. ================== 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 ### |