Wednesday, February 27, 2019

2/26 Kissinger at MIT's Schwarzman College counter-events Charlie Welch

Charlie Welch<cwelch@tecschange.org>
To  act-ma@act-ma.org  
From MIT Students Against War <mit.coc.protest@gmail.com>

*There are two events we are hosting in response to the Schwarzman CoC
and Kissinger’s invitation: first is AI Can’t Fix This; MIT,
Imperialism, and the Future of AI
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-cant-fix-this-mit-imperialism-and-the-future-of-ai-tickets-56731752198> TODAY,
Feb 26, room 3-270, 5:30pm. Second is a **protest
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1243584455808686/> at 2:30pmon the
28th. Below you can find details on the 26th event. Updates on protest
forthcoming. Also**we have a petition*
<https://www.change.org/p/mit-no-more-tech-for-militarism-and-endless-profits?fbclid=IwAR3IK6-p4x0cP8azGsc0EbiVsbE2Qv2VqHrhKHw_7mIxgue0CIOGeWtS1H4>!!!*Pls
sign and share!*
**
Hi all,
As many of you already know, MIT is celebrating the inauguration of its
Schwarzman College of Computing from today, Feb 26, until the 28th.
There are serious concerns regarding this college
<https://thetech.com/2019/02/14/celebrating-war-criminals>, however, and
so some of us MIT folk are putting on a pair of events to voice these
concerns.
Our first event, a teach-in titled AI Can’t Fix This; MIT, Imperialism,
and the Future of AI
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-cant-fix-this-mit-imperialism-and-the-future-of-ai-tickets-56731752198>, is
TODAY, Feb 26, in room 3-270. Doors will open at 5:30 with snacks, and
the teach-in itself will begin at 6:00.
*Some remarks about the teach-in and its purpose:*
This teach-in was prompted specifically by MIT’s decision to invite the
war criminal Henry Kissinger as a speaker for the College of Computing
celebrations. However, it important to note that MIT’s decision to honor
Kissinger as a speaker is not an anomaly given the Institute’s
consistently questionable approach to advancing scientific research and
social change. Thus, our teach-in hopes to cover topics that are far
broader than simply Henry Kissinger and the College of Computing events
occurring this week. We have four main goals in mind –

1. To provide context about the ethical issues surrounding technology –
regarding both its inability to completely address large-scale
social issues, such as climate change and poverty, and its potential
for perpetuating violence, such as through increased surveillance
and military interventions.
2. To provide context about the history of MIT, and the way it has been
implicated in this violence, such as through the financial
partnerships it builds and through the military research it conducts
3. To describe steps that MIT has taken thus far regarding the College
of Computing, and why these decisions, within the context of MIT’s
problematic history, make us skeptical that the College of Computing
will be used to promote positive change in the world
4. To provide a vision for what the College of Computing /should/ look
like and offer some steps forward that we as community members can take.

The structure of the event will be as follows: we will begin with brief
introductions and statements from each of our panelists. Then, we will
move into a panel discussion in which our moderator, Gabby, will pose
pre-prepared questions to the panelists. Finally, we will end with
questions from the audience.

We hope to see you all there! Remember to *share facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/events/352766885319625/> and/or eventbrite
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-cant-fix-this-mit-imperialism-and-the-future-of-ai-tickets-56731752198>,
and to sign/share the petition!
<https://www.change.org/p/mit-no-more-tech-for-militarism-and-endless-profits?fbclid=IwAR3IK6-p4x0cP8azGsc0EbiVsbE2Qv2VqHrhKHw_7mIxgue0CIOGeWtS1H4>*

MIT Students Against War


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Feeling the Bern Our Revolution Nina Turner

Our Revolution Nina Turner<info@ourrevolution.com>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  

Our Revolution

Friends,
For almost two years I have traveled across the country to states including Hawai’i, Alaska, California, Arizona, North Carolina, Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire because the political revolution begins with you -- the grassroots. As your president, I have brought your stories of success and struggle with me in our collective pursuit to build a progressive movement.
Together we have grown Our Revolution into a powerful grassroots organization made up of people from all walks of life. Now more than ever we need you to continue the work we started.
As you may have heard, I am taking a leave of absence to serve as a co-chair for Senator Sanders 2020 campaign. I am joining his team to make a tangible impact on behalf of African Americans, women, working people, and others who feel left behind politically and economically. While I will be serving our movement in a new capacity, I will remain on the board of Our Revolution.
I could not transition without letting you all know how proud I am of the work we have done together. We are the keepers of the flame and our movement is winning.
As we all know, the stakes are too high for any of us to sit this campaign out. As brother Frederick Douglass put it, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” We are pushing to create a system that works for the poor and working class. We are pushing to protect Mother Earth for ourselves and future generations. We are pushing to ensure that folks in this country have high quality health care and not just access to health insurance. We are pushing to create systems of political, economic and racial equality.
The struggle for progress is real and the establishment class of politicians, corporations and greedy billionaires will do everything they can to try to stop our movement and prevent Senator Sanders from becoming President of the United States of America. Therefore, we must strengthen our resolve and rededicate ourselves to the mission ahead of us, which is to secure for ourselves and our progeny a future steeped in opportunity.
Sen. Sanders needs every single one of us to keep fighting for Medicare for All, a clean and just energy system, and to put an end to rising income inequality. When our movement is strong we can all rise together. When our broad coalition works hand-in-hand there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Thank you for all you have done and will do. I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.
In solidarity,
Nina Turner
President
Our Revolution
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Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee. Our Revolution is a 501(c)(4) organization. Donations to Our Revolution are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes. All donations are made to support Our Revolution’s general mission and are not designated for any specific activity.
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Fuel the 4 for Fair Food Tour! Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Coalition of Immokalee Workers<workers@ciw-online.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  
The Fair Food Nation has long known the power of uniting across the supply chain. We’ve known the power of encuentro – that deep experience when consumers and farmworkers are able to stand together, to see eye-to-eye, and to work for that which we dream: a world where human rights violations that have plagued the fields for generations are not just remedied, but prevented. A world without victims.


Together, we have taken on some of the world’s largest corporations, awakening them to the disturbing reality of poverty, sexual violence, and forced labor that lay behind their glossy brands. When executives claimed it was not their responsibility, key institutions – universities, religious denominations, and community organizations – refused to do business with their companies until they signed legally binding Fair Food agreements with the men and women who harvest their produce. The result was the Fair Food Program, which has, with unprecedented speed and unparalleled power, transformed the tomato industry and guaranteed rights and respect for 35,000 women and men laboring on Program farms in seven states.

One might think, given the extraordinary success of the Fair Food Program, that this battle for Worker-driven Social Responsibility would have been won and that other corporations would be lining up to participate.

But not Wendy’s. Wendy’s is attempting to undermine the very foundation upon which the Fair Food Program is based: farmworker leadership in the design, monitoring, and enforcement of their own human rights. The company’s toothless code and corporate-controlled auditing are a masquerade of social responsibility; deemed a “sham” by a leading international human rights expert, Wendy’s approach to social responsibility is fatally flawed by design and ruthlessly deployed as a shield. Comments by executives claiming conditions in greenhouses are “inherently better” reflect an arrogance that gambles they will not be called out on the truth.


Students on four public university campuses, with the backing of farmworkers in Immokalee, have called on their administrations to cut ties with Wendy’s; to not tarnish their good name by looking the other way and get off the sidelines in this moral battle.

And we’ve proven that we can win: Just last week, we announced that the University of Michigan will not be bringing Wendy’s back to campus.

Help us ride the incredible energy and momentum of the Michigan victory to even more wins in the Boot the Braids Campaigns at OSU, UF and UNC. Students across these institutions have invited CIW to join them on campus, to break through the universities’ refusal to see the sharp difference between Wendy’s approach to social responsibility that excludes the human beings whose human rights are at stake and the Fair Food Program.

Click here to support the 4 for Fair Food Tour Bus!
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
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Sign the petition: End military draft registration once and for ALL! Courage to Resist

Courage to Resist Jeff Paterson<jeff.paterson@couragetoresist.org>
To  alfredjohnson34@comcast.net  
Courage to Resist
end draft registration
Sign the petition: End military draft registration once and for ALL!
Federal Court rules current men-only mandatory registration unconstitutional 
SIGN THE PETITION
"I join many in voicing my opposition to expending mandatory draft registration to women. Now that the men-only registration requirement has been ruled unconstitutional, I urge that mandatory draft registration be ended for everyone, once and for ALL!" - petition to the military service commission a…
hasbrouckA Federal District Court judge issued a declaratory judgement on Friday, 22 February 2019, that the current requirement for men, but not women, to register with the Selective Service System for a possible military draft is unconstitutional.
How did this happen? What did the Court say? Is this a surprise? What does this decision mean? What will happen next? What should happen next?...
Congress should repeal the Military Selective Service Act in its entirety, abolish the Selective Service System, and expunge all registration records. Failing that, Congress should at minimum repeal the current registration requirement. In either case, Congress should also repeal all provisions requiring compliance with draft registration as a condition for other programs, and restore eligibility for these programs to those who never registered with the Selective Service System.
Perhaps most importantly, Congress, the President, and the Pentagon should revise their thinking and planning to recognize that a draft is not an option, even as “Plan F for Fallback” after Plan A (active-duty troops), Plan B (reserves), Plan C (National Guard), Plan D (allied forces and proxy warriors), and Plan E (mercenaries/contractors). The real victory of draft resistance will not be in preventing a draft, important though that is as a step in the right direction, but in reining in military adventurism.
Until that happens, young people should continue to resist or evade draft registration, and all of us should support them in their noncompliance.
Edward Hasbrouck will be an expert witness before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service on April 25th at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. This is a public meeting. Please attend if you can.

Read Edward Hasbrouck's compete report couragetoresist.org

D O N A T E
to Support Resistance to War & Empire
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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