Saturday, February 09, 2019

Objector Registry now open; Join us online Sunday night Courage to Resist Jeff Paterson

Courage to Resist Jeff Paterson<jeff.paterson@couragetoresist.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  
Courage to Resist
Hi Alfred. Courage to Resist is working closely with our new fiscal sponsor, the Objector Church, on a couple projects that we're excited to share with you.
objector registry
Objector Registry launches as draft registration of women nears
The first ever Objector Registry (objector.church/register) offers a declaration of conscience for anyone to assert their moral opposition to war, regardless of age, gender, or religious affiliation. This serves to create a protective record of beliefs and actions with which to oppose a later forced draft. Given last week's release of the report by the Congressionally mandated commission on military service, this free registry is coming online just in time. Please sign up yourself and share with friends!
weekly meetup
You're invited to join us online weekly
This is a great way to find out more about the Objector Church and why we might be the religious humanist interfaith peace and justice community you have been looking for! Our live meetups are lead by Minister James Branum from Oklahoma City. This Sunday at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern, if your not excited by the NFL's "big game", pop online and check us out at objector.church/meetup
COURAGE TO RESIST ~ SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT!
484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland, California 94610 ~ 510-488-3559
www.couragetoresist.org ~ facebook.com/couragetoresist
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US-China Relations and the Rising Danger of War: A People’s Perspective | Saturday, February 9 | 12:00 – 2:00 PM

Center for Marxist Education<centermarxisteducation@gmail.com>
To  act-ma@act-ma.org  
*Saturday, February 9 | 12:00 – 2:00 PM*
*US-China Relations and the Rising Danger of War: A People’s Perspective*
Panelists: Richard Pendleton, Duncan McFarland, and Yu Weihai
US-China relations are deteriorating and the danger of conflict is
increasing. US national security policy has now targeted China is a
principal obstacle to American interests. Tensions are rising as the US
navy patrols the South China Sea despite Chinese objections and Trump
persists in his tariff war. Meanwhile, mainstream media conducts a
campaign to vilify China while many on the Left remain silent.
What can we do to work for peace? People-to-people relations assume great
importance at this time in promoting understanding and friendship. We will
celebrate the Chinese New Year and discuss how people can take the
initiative in building relationships and presenting a balanced and more
accurate picture.

The program will feature presentations by a panel: (followed by
discussion): (1) Richard Pendleton, President of New England Chapter of
US-China Peoples Friendship Association, will describe his trip to China in
1971 and talk about the history of China friendship work in the Boston
area. (2) Duncan McFarland, coordinator of the China Study group at the
Center for Marxist Education, will review Chinese foreign policy especially
towards the US. (3) Yu Weihai, professor and dean of Center for Marxist
Parties in Foreign Countries of China Central Normal University in Wuhan,
will comment on current issues from a Chinese perspective.

Co-sponsored by US-China Peoples Friendship Association-New England and
Center for Marxist Education, and endorsed by United for Justice with Peace.


*Center for Marxist Education *
*550 Massachusettes Ave., 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA *

The February 2019 CME Events Schedule is now available at
www.centerformarxisteducation.org
<http://www.centerformarxisteducation.org/eventschedule.html>.

*We need your support to pay the rent! *You can easily donate online
<http://www.centerformarxisteducation.org/donate.html> or mail your check
to: Center for Marxist Education, P.O. Box 390459, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Make checks payable to BookMarx. Thank you for your continual support!

*Looking for a meeting space?* The Center welcomes organizations and
individuals from a wide range of progressive viewpoints. Reserving the
space is easy - just submit a simple Reservation Request
<http://www.centerformarxisteducation.org/reserve-the-center.html>.
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Tell Congress to Save This Treaty and Put Human Survival Ahead of Nuclear Missile Profits! GRAPHIC: Sign here button Share this action on Facebook Share this action on Twitter Please donate 3 dollars President Trump has declared his intention to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a key nuclear disarmament pact with Russia signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and approved by the U.S. Senate.

RootsAction Team<info@rootsaction.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  



GRAPHIC: Sign here button
 Share this action on Facebook
 Share this action on Twitter
Please donate 3 dollars
President Trump has declared his intention to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a key nuclear disarmament pact with Russia signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and approved by the U.S. Senate. 

Now is the time for Congress to take action to keep the United States in the treaty. And either house of Congress alone has the power to refuse to fund any weapons prohibited by the treaty.

Click here to email your Representative and your two Senators.

Nine Senators have just introduced the Prevention of Arms Race Act of 2019 to block any funding for weapons that violate the INF Treaty. Now members of Congress need to hear from us again and again until this bill is made law.

Make no mistake, there are those who see more nuclear weapons in the world as wonderful news. Militarists are already talking up the supposed need for more weapons aimed at China as well as Russia.

Click here to get all of Congress listening.

Congressman Ro Khanna has tweeted: "I am alarmed that President Trump is withdrawing from the INF treaty with Russia. This action plunges us back into a nuclear arms race and endangers our troops, allies, & the world, while wasting taxpayer dollars to prepare for a nuclear war that must never be fought."

The INF prohibits the United States and Russia from deploying both nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,420 miles. These are among the weapons most likely to lead to miscalculation or misadventure in a crisis.

Following ratification of the INF, the United States destroyed almost 1,000 missiles, and the Soviet Union almost 2,000. "But," writes Jon Schwarz at The Intercept, "arms control treaties are never about weapons and numbers alone. They can help enemy nations create virtuous circles, both between them and within themselves. Verification requires constant communication and the establishment of trust; it creates constituencies for peace inside governments and in the general public; this reduces on both sides the power of the paranoid, reactionary wing that exists in every country; this creates space for further progress; and so on."

Conversely, withdrawal from arms control treaties can feed vicious cycles of distrust, animosity, and militarization.

Click here to stop this disaster in its tracks.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which now shows the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, points out: "The INF withdrawal is part of a pattern. It is not the first nuclear treaty the U.S. has terminated; at the end of 2001 the United States walked out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty it had signed with the Soviet Union in 1972."

Both the United States and Russia currently accuse each other of violating the INF Treaty. Wherever the truth lies, the solution is not to pull out of the treaty, but to redouble diplomatic efforts to resolve the allegations.

The United States and Russia control more than 90 percent of the world’s nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons. It is unlikely that any of the other nuclear-armed powers will be willing to engage in negotiations to control or eliminate these extraordinarily dangerous armaments if the United States abandons arms control.

A ratified treaty is a part of the “supreme law of the land,” former Senator Russell Feingold has noted — “which should logically mean that it could only be undone by Congress and the President, or at least by a vote of the Senate.”

Tell the first branch of government in the U.S. Constitution to step up and do its job.

After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.

This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now. 



-- The RootsAction.org Team

P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.

Background:
>> Statement from the President Regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
>> Prevention of Arms Race Act of 2019
>> David Cortright, The Nation: “The Peace Movement Won the INF Treaty. We Must Fight to Preserve It.”
>> Russell Feingold, NBCnews.com: “Donald Trump can unilaterally withdraw from treaties because Congress abdicated responsibility”
>> Zia Mian, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “The INF Treaty and the crises of arms control”
>> Jon Schwarz, The Intercept: “What Trump and John Bolton Don’t Understand About Nuclear War”
>> Ira Helfand, CNN.com: “Sheer Luck Has Helped Us Avoid Nuclear War So Far – Now We Need to Take Action”
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2/23 "Two Films by Peter Miller: Sacco and Vanzetti/The Internationale" (Saturday)

Bill Bumpus<wbumpus62@comcast.net>
To  Bill Bumpus  
*Two films by director Peter Miller*

*Saturday, February 23 – 1:00 p.m.*

*Somerville Library - 79 Highland Avenue, Somerville*


*Sacco and Vanzetti * presents interviews with researchers and
historians of the lives of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, and
their trial. It also presents forensic evidence that refutes that used
by the prosecution during the trial. Prison letters written by the
defendants are read by voice actors with Tony Shalhoub as Sacco and John
Turturro as Vanzetti. Interviewees include Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel and
Arlo Guthrie.

*The Internationale *draws on people’s stories of an emotionally charged
radical song (the long-time anthem of socialism and communism) to
celebrate the relationship between music and social change, and to
evaluate the uncertain fate of once thriving movements of the left.

Boston Labor Solidarity Committee - bostonlsc.wordpress.com
Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society – saccoandvanzetti.org

Free and open to the public

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Trump says "America will never be a socialist country" Socialist Alternative

Socialist Alternative<newsletter@socialistalternative.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  
Al,
In his State of the Union address last night, Trump said that “America will never be a socialist country.” We, along with millions of American workers, completely disagree. Since 2013, when Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant was elected as the first socialist onto Seattle's City Council in a century, the hunger for an alternative to pro-corporate, pro-capitalist politics has only grown. A recent Gallup poll found that less than half of young Americans view capitalism positively, down 20% since the beginning of the 2008 financial collapse.

In 2016, Bernie Sanders’ democratic socialist presidential campaign had a profound impact on the political discussion in the U.S. Since then, the Democratic Socialists of America has grown nearly tenfold and last fall, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib were elected as self-identified socialists to the U.S. Congress.
 
Donate $15, $50 or $100 to help re-elect Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant and PROVE TRUMP WRONG.

American workers and young people are rising up against corporate politics and capitalism. In the three years since Trump’s election, we’ve seen the biggest days of action in U.S. history. From the women’s marches, to the airport shutdowns against Trump’s anti-Muslim ban, to a resurgence in labor struggle with the #RedforEd movement, we’ve proven over and over again: when working people get organized, we can beat back racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-worker attacks.

With Trump calling in his speech for increased “bipartisanship” to fund his racist border wall, we should be clear about what really caused Trump to retreat on the government shutdown and what type of approach will be needed to stop his attacks. Under pressure from below, the Democrats refused to accept his demand for wall funding, but they were in no way prepared to mobilize the forces needed to win that fight. Ultimately, it was the threat of working-class action from TSA workers and air traffic controllers that forced Trump’s hand.

We also can’t forget: last year, when DACA was under attack, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said they would consider billions in funding for a border wall in exchange for protecting Dreamers. And while it’s positive that Democrats pushed back this time, we should be clear that fighting Trump can’t mean throwing one section of the working class under the bus to protect another. This actually feeds into Trump’s “divide and rule” agenda.

Instead, what’s required is building movements alongside working people against the Billionaire in Chief. That’s why Kshama Sawant called for the need to resist Trump from day one, and Socialist Alternative organized protests that helped bring out hundreds of thousands of people immediately after his election. That's why we worked alongside other activists to organize mass nonviolent civil disobedience at SeaTac against Trump's racist Muslim ban, with 5,000 people shutting down the airport and helping to block the ban.

In the era of Trump, we need elected officials who will build fighting movements against Trump’s bigoted, billionaire-backed agenda to defend those in the crosshairs of his attacks.

Last night, Trump bragged about the state of the economy, pointing to raises in wages and conveniently leaving out the fact that one of the only reasons for raises amongst the lowest paid workers was our successful struggle for the $15 minimum wage – spearheaded by Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative right here in Seattle in 2014.

Trump also claimed credit for a “massive tax cut for working families.” In reality, his tax plan overwhelmingly benefits the super rich and gives major handouts to corporations and his billionaire buddies while slashing social programs. In a world where six billionaires have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population, these tax cuts make the super rich even richer at the expense of growing hardship for working people.

Nowhere is the failure of “trickle-down economics” more apparent than right here in Seattle. The world’s two richest billionaires live in King County at the same time that working people, small businesses, people of color, and LGBTQ people are being rapidly gentrified out of our city. Our transportation systems, schools, healthcare, and other vital social services have long been at the breaking point, while Amazon threatened to take away 7,000 jobs over a small tax on big business only last year.

We stand with other socialist politicians like NYC’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in calling for a 70% tax rate on the super rich nationally, and we think we need bold action to eliminate these gross inequalities right here in Seattle. Our city has been the national leader in the number of construction cranes three years running, yet the crisis of affordable housing in Seattle remains among the worst in the country, with the average rent now over two thousand dollars a month.

We need rent control and a massive expansion of social housing – paid for by taxing Amazon and big business – to provide an alternative to the broken private development system.

With unprecedented environmental disasters becoming the new norm and climate change getting worse, Trump’s fossil fuel friendly approach – boasting about how the US has ramped up up production of coal and natural gas – will impact working people hardest.That’s why we’re fighting for a Green New Deal with a just transition for all fossil fuel workers – to make Seattle 100% renewable by 2025, with a free, world-class mass transit system in Seattle.

Because unlike Trump and the billionaire class, we know that a socialist America and a socialist world is possible. The fight for a different kind of society, based on the needs of working people and the environment, is one of the many reasons you should join the grassroots movement to re-elect Kshama Sawant.
 
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