A View From The Left-Stop Racial and Religious Profiling in Massachusetts-And Other Matters

Stop Racial and Religious Profiling in MassachusettsA federal surveillance program called Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is targeting Massachusetts, and it endangers Muslims, people of color, and political dissidents . The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) has announced it will work with federal prosecutors to carry out this campaign, and health and social service workers may soon be encouraged to profile their clients for signs of so-called "radicalization" or "extremism." Similar programs in the United Kingdom didn't stop violence: they only brought widespread racial and religious profiling.

Ask EOHHS not to participate in the federal program. A sample letter is online at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=19411.

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The Clinton-Backed Honduran Regime Is Picking Off Indigenous Leaders

Hillary Clinton will be good for women. Ask Berta Cáceres. But you can’t. She’s dead. Gunned down yesterday, March 2, at midnight, in her hometown of La Esperanza, Intibuca, in Honduras. Cáceres was a vocal and brave indigenous leader, an opponent of the 2009 Honduran coup that Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, made possible. In The Nation, Dana Frank and I covered that coup as it unfolded. Later, as Clinton’s emails were released, others, such as Robert Naiman, Mark Weisbrot, and Alex Main, revealed the central role she played in undercutting Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, and undercutting the opposition movement demanding his restoration. In so doing, Clinton allied with the worst sectors of Honduran society.   More 

 

Tell Congress: Vote for the People's Budget!

Each year, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) offers an alternative budget resolution to the “austerity” budgets supported by the House Majority and Speaker Ryan. The People's Budget offers a solid blueprint to:

·                     Invest more than $1 trillion in housing, education, transportation, clean energy and safe water to create millions of jobs

·                     Prevent cuts, restore social spending and reduce poverty by half in 10 years

·                     Increase educational opportunities, provide Pre-K and debt-free college for all

·                     Increase, not cut, Social Security and health care

·                     Close corporate tax loopholes, tax Wall Street speculation and raise taxes on the top 2%

·                     Redirect wasteful Pentagon spending and direct to peoples needs, ending Pentagon pork and the overseas contingency "slush fund" 

The People's Budget is backed by hard numbers and research by the Economic Policy Institute.

Send your message to Congress here.

 

And tell Mayor Walsh and Governor Baker: Make GE Pay Its Taxes!

On April 4, Mayor Walsh and Gov. Baker are hosting a Public Forum with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt at 60 State Street in Boston.  Let’s welcome GE to Boston and tell our mayor and governor: Make GE Pay Its Taxes!

 

Demonstration: Monday April 4, 3:30-6 pm, 60 State Street (near City Hall and the Orange Line State Street stop)

 

Mayor Walsh promised GE a $25 million tax break and a $90 million bridge over Fort Point Channel. $25 million could stop budget cuts in the Boston Schools or provide rent vouchers for the homeless.   And $90 million would be better spent to rebuild the bridge to Long Island to reopen facilities for people in recovery.  

 

Governor Baker promised GE $125 million in tax breaks.  $125 million would help reduce MBTA fare hikes, lower public college costs, move homeless families out of motels, and support jobs, not jails!  Not a penny for GE until it cleans up its pollution of the Housatonic River in Western MA!

 

Meanwhile, GE has parked $119 billion in profits overseas, avoiding over $30 billion in federal taxes. If GE paid their fair share, billions would be available for public schools, low cost housing, fixing the T, renewable energy, green jobs and countless other needs.  GE also receives federal funds for weapons used to commit war crimes in the Middle East.

 

April 4 is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. 

 Dr. King died protesting racial and economic injustice and misplaced budget priorities. 

 

Sponsors: Union of Minority Neighborhoods • Budget for All Campaign • Jewish Voice for Peace –Boston • Neighbor to Neighbor • Right to the City/Boston • Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants • Progressive Mass American Friends Service Committee • Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom • Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network • New England War Tax Resistance • Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine • United for Justice with Peace • Massachusetts Peace Action Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee • Housatonic River Initiative • NoBoston2024

 

 

INVESTING IN PEOPLE MATTERS: A Black Man’s perspective on The People’s Budget

If adopted by Congress, The People’s Budget would reduce poverty by half in ten years, fund DOJ programs that reduce recidivism, and provide investment in communities of color. While many argue that investing in law enforcement and prisons increase safety and promote law and order, the evidence proves otherwise…  True crime deterrence relies on our ability to provide opportunities (mental health services, drug treatment, employment, etc.) to all members of society; this is why investing in people matters.  To solve the challenges created by the historic marginalization of the urban poor, and current trends in criminal justice policy, we must stop dealing with social challenges such as homelessness, mental illness, drug abuse, and poverty through incarceration.  Instead, we must recognize the value of all members of our society and addresses social issues in a humane and thoughtful way.  The People’s Budget is a good first step in reducing the nation’s incarceration rate and increasing access to opportunity for all.    More

  

Survey: AMERICAN VOTERS WOULD CUT DEFENSE SPENDING BY AT LEAST $12B

While some Republican presidential candidates have called for increased defense spending, a new survey shows that a majority of American voters would actually decrease it by at least $12 billion.  They would also cut the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and one aircraft carrier, showed the survey, which was conducted by the University of Maryland's non-partisan Program for Public Consultation, between Dec. 20 and Feb. 1.   "There's been some surprise that there hasn't been more support for increases, particularly on the Republican side...given how much the Republican candidates have emphasized that," said the survey's director, Dr. Steven Kull.  In the survey, a representative sample of approximately 7,000 registered voters across the country were given detailed, non-partisan information vetted by congressional staffers and experts about the 2016 defense budget.  The majority trimmed the 2016 defense budget by $12 billion, including cutting $4 billion for ground forces, $3 billion for nuclear weapons, $2 billion for air power, $2 billion for naval forces and $1 billion for missile defense.   More

 

F-35: Trillion Dollar Warplane’s Radar Doesn’t Work

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of austerity, it was the age of a trillion dollar warplane that no one could make work.   The financial sink hole known as the F-35 continues to fail the most basic flight and sensor tests. The warplane, estimated to have a total cost around $1.5 trillion, has already come up short in simulated dogfights with the F-16. Yes, the new and improved model is worse than a plane introduced in 1978… Now, The Guardian is reporting the plane’s radar does not operate effectively and often requires the pilots to “turn it off and on again.” Might that be important for a fighter jet?  … The costs continue to spiral on this trillion dollar turkey. Even if the plane worked, no one needs it nor does it fulfill any current combat missions, such as striking terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda which have no air force.   More

 

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PRIMARY SEASON . .  after Michigan

 

The Transformative Power of Democratic Uprisings

Bernie Sanders's insurgent presidential campaign has opened up a debate about how social change happens in our society. The official version of how progress is won -- currently voiced by mainstream pundits and members of a spooked Democratic Party establishment -- goes something like this: politics is a tricky business, gains coming through the work of pragmatic insiders who know how to maneuver within the system. In order to get things done, you have to play the game, be realistic, and accept the established limits of debate in Washington, D.C… Social change is seldom either as incremental or predictable as many insiders suggest. Every once in a while, an outburst of resistance seems to break open a world of possibility, creating unforeseen opportunities for transformation…  The beauty of impractical movements is that they confound established expectations about the political future, which means it’s difficult to predict when and where new outbreaks of defiance and hope will succeed in capturing the public imagination.   More

  

Majority US Public Opinion is Mocked by the Ongoing Presidential Election

Most Americans continue to favor real national health insurance on the single-payer Canadian model over corporate health insurance; large-scale government job programs over “deficit reduction;” a significant “peace dividend” to move federal resources from the giant Pentagon budget to meeting social needs; serious environmental regulation and protection over the destruction of livable ecology; and a significantly more democratic distribution of wealth and income.  The United States’ unelected and interrelated “deep state” dictatorships of money and empire go back long before Trump came on the scene as a serious presidential candidate. They have always given a cold response to such popular sentiments: So what? Who cares?   More

 

Andrew Bacevich: Why Is No Candidate Offering an Alternative to Militarized U.S. Foreign Policy?

Well, if we look at the remaining Republican candidates, they are all clearly different flavors, but they’re all militarists. I would certainly evaluate Secretary Clinton as an exceedingly hawkish Democrat. Her principal achievement, if you want to call it that, as secretary of state was in pushing the intervention in Libya, which has produced catastrophic consequences.  Senator Sanders, however, is largely—it seems to me, hasn’t laid out his position. One might anticipate that given his general left-leaning view of the world, that he might be somewhat less inclined to rely on U.S. military power, might be more willing to consider alternatives to military power, but he has not yet, at least to my knowledge, really spelled out in detail where he stands on these matters. And frankly, I wish he would. I think he—I think he needs to, in order to move his candidacy beyond the economic and social justice themes that have been the core of his campaign thus far.   More

TWILIGHT OF THE NEOCONSERVATIVES?

The once-fringe neoconservative movement, in the space of a few short years, had seized first their party's intellectual power centers, then its legislative agenda, and now the commanding heights of American leadership itself. Against all odds, they had won.  Today, less than two decades after seizing the Republican Party, they are on the verge of losing it. The party's two leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, are promising to break from neoconservatism — and voters seem to be responding.  Neoconservatives are fighting back, but they're losing. Republican elites might still support them, but the voters do not seem to…  Neoconservative party elites are now announcing they will vote against Trump if he wins the primary, and that they may even leave or seek to divide the party itself. But it appears possible it is the party that is leaving them.    More

 

Hedge Funds Pumping Money into 2016 Election

Hedge fund managers are upping their game in this election season, with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted Cruz the biggest beneficiaries, Reuters' review of Federal Election Commission filings found. "About $47 million has been lavished on presidential candidates and lawmakers and the political action committees that support them by two dozen of the industry's top managers in the first 13 months of this election season," the news agency reports. In fact, hedge fund managers are on track "to more than double the amount they gave in the 2012 election campaign."   More

 

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NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

 

'Iraq syndrome' will limit new president's options

For a generation, the so-called Vietnam syndrome kept the United States from undertaking any large-scale foreign military operations. The mere suggestion that a conflict could become "another Vietnam" was enough to galvanize public opinion against the dispatch of U.S. troops to some far corner of the world.  It wasn't until the end of the 1991 Gulf War that President George H.W. Bush could say, "By God, we've kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all!"  Today, 25 years later, U.S. public opinion has turned against the Iraq war, which is widely viewed as a "big, fat mistake," as Trump put it during the Feb. 13 Republican debate in North Carolina. Trump's criticism of the Iraq war puts him at odds with the other Republican candidates, as well as the establishment wing of the party.  The split is just as pronounced in the Democratic race.   More

 

We Are Witnessing the Decline of Saudi Arabia as a Major Power

Just as the Arab Spring provided the opportunity for the Saudis to intervene in Libya, so too did it provide the Saudis with the pretext for regime change in Syria and in other theaters where it fantasized about Iranian influence (Bahrain, Yemen and Lebanon). The Saudi ambition was to erase Iran’s presence. Five years later, the detritus of that policy is clear: Libya, Syria and Yemen are destroyed, whereas Bahrain has been reduced to a prison of dreams…  But much of the Saudi dream, given encouragement by the United States, has now turned. Syria and Yemen have been destroyed, but they remain standing. Iran has been welcomed into the fraternity of nations, whether with the slow erasure of the nuclear sanctions regime or integration into the Chinese and Russian networks. Saudi Arabia’s oil civil war has served to bankrupt Saudi Arabia as much as its adversaries.   More

 

ENERGY WARS OF ATTRITION

U.S. and Canadian producers were adding millions of barrels a day in new production to world markets at a time when global demand was incapable of absorbing so much extra crude oil.  An unexpected surge in Iraqi production added additional crude to the growing glut.  Meanwhile, economic malaise in China and Europe kept global oil consumption from climbing at the heady pace of earlier years and so the market became oversaturated with crude…  Threatened by this new reality, the Saudis and their allies faced a painful choice.  Accounting for about 40% of world oil output, the OPEC producers exercise substantial but not unlimited power over the global marketplace.  They could have chosen to rein in their own production and so force prices up.  There was, however, little likelihood of non-OPEC producers like Brazil, Canada, Russia, and the United States following suit, so any price increases would have benefitted the energy industries of those countries most, while undoubtedly taking market share from OPEC. However counterintuitive it might have seemed, the Saudis, unwilling to face such a loss, decided to pump more oil.  Their hope was that a steep decline in prices would drive some of their rivals, especially American oil frackers with their far higher production expenses, out of business.    More

 

Iran Deal Opponents Keep Trying. . .

Leading Democrats and Republicans join forces on Iran sanctions

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and ranking member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) are preparing legislation to slap additional sanctions on Iran in response to a recent spate of ballistic missile launches. While the tests do not themselves violate the Iranian nuclear deal that took effect in January, officials believe they fly in the face of other international prohibitions and weaken the spirit of compliance needed to sustain the nuclear pact… If the Senate can produce a package of sanctions, it stands a good chance of getting an audience in the House, where Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said Tuesday that Congress would “continue to press for new sanctions against Tehran” in light of the most recent ballistic missile tests.   More

 

Iran's latest missile test launches do not violate nuclear deal, U.S. says

The Obama administration labeled the missile launches provocative, but said the firings did not violate the terms of last year’s nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, including the United States… Biden told reporters in Jerusalem that U.S. officials were closely watching Iran’s “conventional activity outside the [nuclear] deal.” He repeated U.S. vows to take action should Tehran be found to be violating the terms of the nuclear pact… The high-profile tests, analysts said, have a dual purpose: to demonstrate Iran’s missile capabilities to outside adversaries — including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States — while reassuring a domestic constituency that the nation’s military might remains robust, despite the nuclear pact, at a moment of high regional tension.    More

 

Your Tax Dollars Are Enabling Police Brutality in Egypt

Ever since the Black Lives Matter movement exploded into the headlines, violence by American police officers has come under fire from activists and ordinary citizens alike. Less discussed, however, is how the U.S. government winks at the police brutality of its client states abroad.  The military government in Egypt, for example, is cracking down hard on its restive citizenry — harder than any time in memory. And the United States, which sends the country over a $1 billion a year in security aid, is looking the other way. The cops on the beat in Egyptian cities are a menace. They demand bribes from motorists on any pretense and mete out lethal violence on a whim. On February 18, a Cairo policeman shot 24-year-old Muhammad Sayed in the head because the youth asked him for a few extra dollars to do the cop a favor. The policeman is facing murder charges. But, as in the United States, it’s common for Egyptian courts to acquit officers or send them away with a slap on the wrist.  Beatings and other abuses are rampant at the country’s police stations.  More

 

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ISRAEL, PALESTINE . . . and the U.S.

 

48% of Israeli Jews Back ‘Expulsion’ or ‘Transfer’ of Arabs, New Pew Survey Says

Almost half of all Israeli Jews are in favor of transferring or expelling the state’s Arab population, a major U.S. survey of Israeli public opinion has found.  That staggering statistic comes from the Pew Research Center’s report on Israel’s religiously divided society, released on March 8. The Israelis polled were not responding to an Israeli government policy proposal, but rather the broad concept of transfer and expulsion. Forty-eight percent of Israeli Jews strongly agree or agree with the idea while 46% strongly disagree or disagree… According to Steven M. Cohen, a research professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and an adviser on the Pew study, in addition to the implications inside Israel, the new data on transfer could further alienate American Jews from the Jewish state.

“American Jews project their view of the world on Israelis and when you have something so intolerant and anti-democratic, it runs counter to the American Jewish ethos,” he said.   More

 

The Campaign to Legislate Support for Settlements: Taking the Battle to the States

In 2014, opponents of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel began promoting legislation in various U.S. states denouncing the BDS movement.  In 2015, these efforts shifted/expanded to mirror efforts in the U.S. Congress to hijack concerns about BDS against Israel in order to pass legislation mandating that Israeli settlements be treated, in effect, as part of sovereign Israel. At the outset of 2016, it is already clear that these efforts are continuing and building. Indeed, the clear trend at the state-level is moving away from anti-BDS resolutions in favor of binding legislation to – in effect – have states boycott, divest from, and sanction companies that engage in BDS against Israel, or that in any concrete way differentiate between Israel and the settlements.   More

 

Second Massachusetts anti-boycott bill in the works

Rep. Steven Howitt (R-Seekonk) introduced HD4156, “An Act relative to pension divestment from companies that boycott, divest, and sanction the State of Israel” to the House Rules Committee on Oct. 1, 2015. It has languished in the joint House-Senate Public Service committee since Oct. 31… According to one Jewish legislator, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston is working with Howitt to revise his bill. The council frequently works with legislators on issues related to the Massachusetts Jewish community.

  

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OTHER EVENTS

 

Saturday, April 2: Reducing the Dangers of Nuclear War, @ 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, MIT Room 34-101, 50 Vassar St, Cambridge. + Google Map Responding to the continuing risk of nuclear war or accident, this conference is intended to focus on reducing the risks of a nuclear event. The conference will address the political and economic realities and will attempt to energize a local, social movement that will ultimately influence national policy.  Locating it at MIT builds on the long tradition of support for nuclear disarmament by MIT faculty including Vicki Weisskopf, Philip Morrison, Herman Feshbach, Randall Forsberg, Bernard Feld, Henry Kendall, Kosta Tsipis, Aron Bernstein and… Find out more »

 

Tuesday-Thursday, April 5-7: Mirna Perla on Human Rights in Central America

Mirna Antioneta Perla Jimenez is a human rights activist from El Salvador, a lawyer and a teacher. Ms. Perla has been a judge in Youth Court and Magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice. Currently, she is a member and co-founder of the “Herbert Anaya Sanabria” Human Rights Collective and works with youth at risk, gang members and families in urban and rural communities throughout the country. She traveled to Honduras after the assassination of Berta Cáceres.

 

Tuesday April 5, from 5:30-7:30, at the Chelsea Collaborative: Fighting Gang Violence, Defending Human Rights: A Conversation between Community Organizers and Human Rights Activists from Central America and Chelsea Mass

 

Wednesday, April 6, from 6:30-9:00, at Encuentro5, 9 Hamilton Pl, Suite 2A, Boston (close to Park St Station and the OrpheumTheater)

An evening with Mirna Perla. In the light of Berta Cáceres’ assassination, raids targeting Central American families and the militarization of the Border.  An informal gathering and discussion to share experiences, ideas and strategies with Mirna Perla. Snacks will be provided.

 

Thursday, April 7, from 6:00-7:30 at 250 Dockser Hall at Northeastern University: The Human Rights of Migrants: A Central American Perspective. Presented at part of: Transcending Borders: Human Rights and Migration Week at Northeastern.

Sponsored by the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, Northeastern University School of Law and Boston CISPES. Participation is free but you need to register at mirnaperla.eventbrite.com.

 

For more information and questions, contact boston@cispes.org.

 

 

Saturday, April 9: Music for Peace: The Three Brahms Violin Sonatas,  @ 7:30 pm, Harvard-Epworth Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge. + Google Map  In the final concert of our 2015-16 Music for Peace Concert Series, two of America's leading chamber musicians perform the Three Brahms Violin Sonatas.Sonata in G major, Opus 78Sonata in A major, Opus 100Sonata in D minor, Opus 108Benefits Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund; part of the Music for Peace Series. Reserve seats for $25 in advance for Mass. Peace Action members, $35 for non-members, $10 for students, $35 at the door. Series of 3 concerts: member $65, non-member $80, student $25.

 

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CONTACTING DPP and Joining Our Work:

 

To make it easier to get involved with DPP, we've decided to publish contact info for our coordinators in every issue of this update. We will also regularly publish upcoming meetings of work committees, create a brochure or flyer about DPP, and greet new people at monthly meetings with an explanation of how we work. Here's how to reach them.

 

 

From The Archives Of International Labor Defense (1925-1946)-LABOR'S MARTYRS

From The Archives Of International Labor Defense (1925-1946)-LABOR'S MARTYRS

In Cambridge April 12-Ken O'Keefe

Don't miss probably the last chance to see & hear Ken O'Keefe in the US The Legend, THE Man of TRUTH, conscience and compassion,,,, "Seeking the truth and acting on the truth, this is the path to a better world, nothing can be done overnight, it is a constant, unrelenting commitment to the truth that will liberate humanity." ~ Ken O'Keefe This gem of a guy is not afraid to tell it like it is; and he has a plan - a simple plan - for all us fellow earthlings fed-up to the gills with the psychopaths that are ruining the planet - and with those who support and /or ignore them.  Thank you Kathleen, Joe, et al for arranging Ken's visit to Massachusetts. Thank you Barton for filling me in tonight on the final plans! Massachusetts: Tues, APRIL 12 7-10pm Harvard Epworth Methodist Church 1555 Mass Ave, Cambridge free, donations welcome [He'll be in VT, April 19th; for where else, check out his website or facebook page] A little background - a resend of Kathleen's email that i forwarded last January: [thank you, Kathleen!!! ] Hi, all. This link brings you to an update on Ken O’Keefe’s World Citizens’ Solutions campaign—a strategy to peacefully end our participation in funding the insanity imperiling our world.  As you may know, Ken has dedicated his life and energy to bringing truth, justice and peace to the world.  You can find Ken on YouTube and at his website: worldcitizen.uk.net.  Some may find his firm and insistent approach to truth—his willingness to call out and expose liars and their lies for what they are—off putting.  I welcome it and find it refreshing—especially under the circumstances.  Please watch (under 8 minutes) and consider visiting Ken’s campaign site and donating.  If Ken’s campaign misses its goal, your donation will be returned to you.  Also, if you support Ken’s efforts, please spread the message.  Kathleen [as of today, 1368 of us have contributed - in just 2 months raised $111,440; i would not have known about this were it not for Kathleen; the power of the net :-* ]   [VIDEO at right: Nov 14, 2015, Ken O'Keefe on the Paris false-flag attack] From indigogo, World Citizens Solutions campaign: “Humanity’s challenge at this decisive point in history is to face a monster that is desperately attempting to expand it’s tyrannical system of human enslavement. Simultaneously human consciousness is growing with unparalleled expansion and this is a grave threat to the tyrants. Only one of these forces, humanity or tyranny, can succeed and the world we handover to our children and future generations will be defined by our success or failure in this regard. The irony is that the tyrants have no power but that which we have unwittingly relinquished to them… in order to create a better world we simply need to take our power back. That is my ultimate goal; a better world. My wisdom in this matter comes from the knowledge that the attainment of this goal is not up to me, it is up to us.” Ken O'Keefe, Nov. 2015 WHAT CAN I DO? Finally you can create real and lasting change!  You, as an individual, can positively impact and influence all of humanity, not just for now but for all future generations. We are excited to introduce the pre-launch for the world citizen solution, a no compromise yet peaceful and lawful way to extract ourselves from tax obligations that literally make us accomplices to perpetual war.  Or in other words, financiers of war crimes and crimes against humanity. We are 100% entirely dedicated to ending the perpetual cycle of war and ushering in a lasting era of justice and peace. The success of this Indiegogo Campaign will ensure that by March 2016 you will be part of something 'game changing'. Ken O'Keefe and his team are currently developing a legal and social strategic initiative that will have profound effects on releasing humanity from its current paradigm. It’s time to stand up for what you know is right. It’s time for your voice to be heard. The time is now. Stand for those who have no voice, for those who are set to inherit what we leave behind, for our children and their children. Make a stand for real peace and real transformation. Be part of this growing movement of change and ensure a peaceful future for those you love. WHAT IS THE FUNDING FOR? Funds raised for this project will be allocated for the following: -  Legal documentation and support -  Copywriting -  Website development -  Staff costs -  PR / Media / Branding -  Video / Editing -  Administration Costs Our dedicated team and the contracted individuals involved will be paid for their time while spearheading this initiative. Such a solutions focused project requires complete and confidential commitment and we are proud to support our team members with monetary appreciation for their time, effort and skills. Should we not meet the required funding target we will not proceed with the project and allocate funds to the parties involved for their time and the remainder to a nominated charitable organisation. THE IMPACT It is our conviction that success will bring forth a highly effective and robust, revolutionary strategy ready for immediate implementation. This strategy will enable the good people of the earth to break free from the control systems we have unwittingly submitted to. This will result in the cessation of mass murder due to war and ongoing world conflicts. RISKS AND CHALLENGES Such an endeavour does not come without its risks and challenges, aspects we are not ignorant to and will do our best to overcome. The greatest challenge at this birthing stage of the project is exposure and funding. This is where we need you! HOW CAN I HELP? If you resonate with this project, are tired of the never ending cycle of war and want a better world for your children then please SHARE this with your friends, family and acquaintances. Your donation, your time and your efforts to share and broadcast our mission across the world is symbolic of so many of the great leaders before you. Make your mark and be part of the movement. We are inviting you to join us, by challenging the existing concept of social responsibility, to create genuine security through justice with a real and lasting peace on earth. As with all great endeavours, it is the follow through and commitment of those involved that will define success or failure.  But arguably the most critical elements of all with such a potentially world changing mission is that of timing and presentation.  The question of timing is critical and it is our position that we are indeed at that time in history wherein billions of people around the globe are completely opposed to war and genuinely seeking a way to end this madness. ABOUT KEN "Ken O'Keefe is the true big brother everyone wishes they grew up with. There is hardly anyone I admire and respect more than this courageous, honourable and love driven soul. He speak unspoken truths plainly with clear and honest conviction, and all with a profound compassion for those who cannot speak for themselves. Ken is a true warrior laying truth bare, while calling others to arise and reach out to help their fellow humans in distress." Zen Gardner:  "Ken O'Keefe is one of the greatest voices of truth, justice and peace of this generation. His eloquence, passion and gritty credibility makes him and undeniable force to be reckoned with" Chris Duane: "Ken is the ultimate voice of dissent - a hero of peace and justice. He is a true charismatic orator who grasps the world in which we live and fights to make it a better place for  all." Gilad Atzmon, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/world-citizen-solutions#/

In Cambridge-April 2, Reducing the Danger of Nuclear War

SATURDAY: Reducing the Danger of Nuclear War

Saturday, April 2, 9am - 5pm

MIT Building 34, 50 Vassar St., Cambridge

Responding to the continuing risk of nuclear war or accident, this conference is intended to focus on reducing the risks of a nuclear event. The conference will address the political and economic realities and will attempt to energize a local, social movement that will ultimately influence national policy.  
Plenary sessions include: The Dangers of Nuclear War; Destabilizing Factors; Nuclear Winter and Climate Change, Mobilizing to Reduce the Dangers.
Workshops include: engaging youth; reducing international tensions through negotiations and treaties; examining state and federal budgets; de-alerting; divestment; modernization.
Speakers: Rutgers Prof. Alan Robock, MIT Prof. Max Tegmark, Former Secretary of Defense William Perry, Harvard Prof Elaine Scarry, Mayor Denise Simmons, Dr. Lisbeth Gronlund, Joseph Gerson, Dr. Ira Helfand, Cole Harrison, Jonathan King.
Read a February 11th New York Times editorial authored by Alan Robock (with Owen Brian Toon), who will be one of the featured speakers of the conference.
Agenda
8:45 am. Registration and Coffee
9:15 am. Welcome from City of Cambridge: Mayor Denise Simmons
9:25 am. Welcome from MIT: Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research (MIT)
9:35 am. Program for the Day: Prof. Jonathan King (MIT, Peace Action)
9:45 am. I. Direct Effects of Nuclear Weapons Deployment and Use:
- Consequences of a Megaton Explosion over Boston – Dr. Ira Helfand, (Physicians for Social Responsibility)
- Climatic Consequences of Nuclear War: Prof. Alan Robock, (Environmental Science, Rutgers U).
- Nuclear Weapons Undermine Democracy: Prof. Elaine Scarry, (Harvard University).
10:45 am. II. Destabilizing Factors:
Chair: Subrata Ghoshroy (MIT)
- Dangers of Hair Trigger Alert: Lisbeth Gronlund (Union of Concerned Scientists).
- International Tensions and Risks of further Nuclear Proliferation – Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee).
- Nuclear Modernization Reduces our Security – Prof. Aron Bernstein (MIT, Council for a Livable World).
- Accidents and Unexpected events – Prof. Max Tegmark, (MIT, Future of Life Institute).
12:00 pm.  Pick up Lunches and Proceed to Workshops
12:30 Lunch  Workshops 
a) Engaging Students and their Teachers in Nuclear Disarmament Initiatives - Chair: Caitlin Forbes (Peace Action); Abel Corver (Harvard Peace Action), Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts U), Lucas Perry (Boston College, Future of Life Institute).
b) Strengthening the Connection between Efforts to Avert Long Term Climate Change and Efforts to Avert Nuclear War – Chair, Prof. Guntram Mueller (Peace Action); Geoffrey Supran (Fossil Free MIT); Prof. Alan Robock (Rutgers U), Sue Donaldson (350 Massachusetts).
c) No to the Trillion Dollar Nuclear Weapons Triad Modernization - Chair, Elaine Scarry (Harvard U); Erica Fein (WAND/WiLL); Joseph Cirincione (Ploughshares Fund); Cole Harrison (Massachusetts Peace Action).
d) Reducing International Tensions through Treaties and Negotiation – Chair, Prof. Nazli Choucri (MIT), David Wright (UCS), Sonja Amadae (Univ. of Helsinki).
e) People’s Budget Campaign to Cut the Nuclear Weapons Spending – Chair, Paul Shannon (AFSC); John Ratliff (Mass Senior Action); Jay Livingstone (Mass State Representative).
f) Building the de-alerting campaign - Mary Popeo (Global Zero); Lisbeth Gronlund (UCS).
2:00 pm. Session IV. Mobilizing to Reduce the Dangers:
Chair: Cole Harrison (Massachusetts Peace Action):
- The People’s Budget: Mobilizing New Constituencies by Publicizing the Social and Economic Costs of Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Prof. Jonathan King (MIT and Peace Action).
- Divesting from Nuclear Weapons Investments: Susi Snyder (Don’t Bank on the Bomb).
- Letter to President Obama Campaign: Denise Simmons (Mayor of Cambridge).
2:45 pm. Session V. Current Prospects:
- The Necessity of Nuclear Disarmament – William Perry (Former Secretary of Defense).
- How to Stop the New Trillion Dollar Triad - Joseph Cirincione (Ploughshares Fund).
- Senate Steps Toward Nuclear Disarmament – (Invited) U.S. Senator Edward Markey
 
4:30 pm. Closing Panel: The Role of Physicists in promoting Nuclear Disarmament
- Prof. Max Tegmark (MIT); Charles Ferguson (FAS), Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts), and Prof. Frank Wilczek (MIT).
5:00 pm - Adjourn
Program Committee: Prof. Aron Bernstein (MIT, Council for a Livable World), Abel Corver (Harvard University), Joseph Gerson (AFSC), Subrata Ghoshroy (MIT), Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts University), Cole Harrison (Massachusetts Peace Action), Jonathan King (MIT and Massachusetts Peace Action), Guntram Mueller (Mass Peace Action), Mary Popeo (Global Zero), John Ratliff (Massachusetts Peace Action, Mass Senior Action), Mareena Robinson (Global Zero), Prof. Elaine Scarry (Harvard University), Prof.Max Tegmark (MIT, Future of Life Insitute), Patricia Weinmann (MIT Radius). 
Program Staff: Patricia-Maria Weinmann, Asst. Coordinator, Radius at MIT; Christina English, Communications Coordinator, Radius at MIT; Cynthia Woolley, Administrative Asst, MIT Dept. of Biology; Cole Harrison, Executive Director, Massachusetts Peace Action
Sponsored by Radius at MIT, MIT Global Zero, Massachusetts Peace Action, American Friends Service Committee, the Future of Life Institute, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Boston Branch
For information on the individuals participating in this conference, click here.

Download the Poster:  11x17 or 2 up
Directions to MIT room 34-101:  
By Red Line: Exit the Kendall Square Red Line Station and walk west (away from Boston) past Ames Street to Vassar Street. Turn left and walk halfway down Vassar to 50 Vassar St. (MIT building 34) (broad stairs, set back entrance).
By #1 Bus: Exit  in front of MIT Main Entrance (77 Mass. Ave.).  Walk 1/2 block back on Mass Ave to Vassar Street. Turn right and walk half block to 50 Vassar St. (MIT Building 34) (broad stairs, set back entrance).
By car: Public Parking Structures are available nearby on Ames Street, between Main and Broadway. A smaller surface lot is on the corner of Mass Ave and Vassar St.

Thanks to our sponsors, registration is free and includes lunch. We expect this event to sell out, so make sure to get your tickets early; first-come, first served! 
Register:  bit.ly/nuclear-war

Anne Baxter In The Blizzard -With The Film O. Henry’s Full House In Mind

Anne Baxter In The Blizzard -With The Film O. Henry’s Full House In Mind

 

By Zack James

 

“The turn of the 20^th century short story author known as O. Henry sure knew how to do the ‘hook,’ knew how to grab a reader and throw him or her a curve ball,” Jack Callahan was telling Sam Lowell after he had just seen a DVD that he had ordered from Netflix, O. Henry’s Full House, a black and white film anthology produced in 1952. Jack further mentioned “this cinematic effort to put some of O. Henry’s more famous short stories on the screen was interesting. What they did was pick five beauties from his treasure trove of work, had five different screenwriters shape up the plotlines for film, brought in five different director and not B-film hacks either, and a slew of stars famous then or would be famous later like Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne and wrap the thing up with a bow. The bow being bringing the big time writer, John Steinbeck, a guy who was very familiar with the ‘hook’ in his stories from desperate Tom Joad Grapes of Wrath to the Cain and Abel lusts of East of Eden to introduce each story.”         

Sam Lowell who fancied himself an amateur writer told Jack that he was surprised that he had seen the film since usually Jack’s interests were with detective stories or sci fi eyes treats. He told Jack, “I remember reading O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi as part of anthology of great American short stories for English class sophomore year in high school and telling you guys about the twist in the story when we were sitting at Jimmy Jack’s Diner over on Thornton Street chewing the fat one Friday night when for some reason we had nothing else to do, no dates and no dough for dates, the usual story, and you all rained hell down on me for even talking about a school subject. I remember you said, I think it was you because you used your favorite expression back then, “you didn’t give a rat’s ass” about a couple of goofs getting mixed up getting each other the wrong Christmas gifts. That’s right isn’t it?”

Jack thought for a moment and said he was not sure that is what he said, or whether he even said it but he probably had. He realized that Sam was trying as usual to one-up him when it came to so-called literary matters just like always so he uttered, “Sam, I glad you brought that up because that is a classic case of where if you “deconstruct” what O. Henry did you will see what I mean about his ability to use the “hook” to draw you in. You know I could, Chrissie too who watched that segment with me, relate to the part about the young couple “from hunger” but desperately in love just like us getting their signals mixed up. She goes off to sell her hair to get him a geegad for his heirloom watch he had eyed at a jewelry store and he on his own hook gets her some barrettes for her long hair that she had eyed at another store after he sold his precious watch. Yeah, great hook.”

Sam, knowing that Jack had for once set the bait for him, had tried to one-up him so he let it pass, let Jack have the point although he felt a ping of regret about doing so as he asked Jack what the other segments had in the way of the “hook.” Jack responded, “One story I forgot the name of it was about a bum, a high-style fancy talking bum, played by grizzled old actor Charles Laughton, who once winter came in cold ass New York City would do something illegal to get himself put in jail to ride out the cold. Spend the winter in the cooler with three squares at city expense. That year though he couldn’t get anybody to arrest him no matter what he tried to do and so he had an epiphany, decided to go straight, but while he is making that decision outside a church a brutal looking bull of copper pulled him in and the judge gave him his him three months. So much for going straight. Not as good a hook as that Magi thing but the way Laughton played it was funny in its own way.”

Sam thinking seriously about the name of that short story that Jack could not remember knew he had read at some point, probably in another anthology since he did not remember reading any O. Henry collected stories when he was younger asked Jack, “Was the name of the story The Cop and the Anthem?”  Jack snapped his fingers, an old habit from the corner boy days, “Oh yeah, I think that was the name.”         

Jack continued after thinking for a couple of minutes about the plots of the other segments, “Another segment titled The Clarion Call had Richard Widmark, you know the guy who played all those psycho criminals like Tommy Uno which won him an Oscar, in another criminal role as this burglar who wound up killing a the guy at one of his break-ins. The only clue the coppers had was a dropped at the scene gold pen engraved with the words Camptown Races like the old, old song by that name that my grandmother used to sing while she was doing her household chores which he had won when he was kid in some kind of barbershop quartet competition.”

Sam interrupted, “Didn’t we sing that song in Mister Dasher’s Music class in seventh grade over at Myles Standish?” “Yeah, that’s the one and the reason that is important is that it just so happened that one of the coppers at the precinct in which the crime took place had been in that same quartet. So he knew exactly who had done the crime,” Jack laughed. “Just coincidence right, and there would be no problem finding old Widmark and bringing him to justice. Except this copper, played by Dale Robertson whom I didn’t recognize at first but who played on television in some Western when we were kids was in Widmark’s debt. See he had gotten in over his head with some high- roller gamblers, had written a bad check for a thousand bucks and Widmark covered him, covered him with the proviso that he would get paid back some day. Well that killing was the pay-back day and since, if you can believe this, although I can believe anything about coppers these days just like when they hassled us when we were kids, old Dale couldn’t pay up. Widmark walked away, walked away laughing at Dale as he made his plans to get out of town.

“But you know as well and I do since we saw a million 1930s and 1940s gangster films at the Majestic Theater on those Saturday matinee double-headers whether we had money for popcorn or not, that no stone-cold killer was going to get away  with murder. What Dale did was to go to the editor of the town newspaper The Clarion and have him put out a reward for a thousand bucks for information leading to the killer of that guy who was robbed. Of course Dale stone-cold knew who the killer was and grabbed the dough. Grabbed it and paid Widmark off. All even, right. A little gunplay ensued when Widmark resisted but Dale brought his man in, no problem. Sam chortled, “How many times have we seen that same scenario, or something like it, in gangster movies and then the guy gets grabbed anyway. Those gangster scriptwriters were ripping off O. Henry just like I do when I read something that hits me between the eyes. Go on”                                      

Jack told Sam that he had dozed off through something called the Ransom of Red Cloud. “It was nothing but a goof story about a couple of city-slickers who are con men looking to fleece some rube farmers down in rural Alabama by kidnapping their kids for ransom. They picked the wrong kid in this one, a wild boy who would just as soon kick your ass, big or small, as look at you, like Billy Bradley used to in elementary school, except this kid thought his was channeling some Indians or something. The long and short of it was that the con men were so baffled by the situation they paid the rube farmers to take the kid off their hands. Like I said a snoozer.”

Jack pleaded tiredness, said he didn’t want to talk about the last segment he had not mentioned yet but suggested that he would let Sam take the DVD  home and watch the segment (watch it soon because he wanted to return the DVD so he could get Out Of The Past with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas  which was next on his list and the faster he returned it the quicker he would get his next selection that he really wanted to see, see after having not seen it for many years since he had seen it as part of a film retrospective at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge).

Sam did so, actually watched the whole film since Jack had been so clever about the literary device that many authors use, the hook, to draw a reader in, had watched the missing segment titled The Last Leaf, starring Anne Baxter. That night after he had watched the film though when he went to bed he had a dream, a dream connected back to the time when he had had a serious schoolboy “crush” on Ms. Baxter after seeing her in her devilish role in All About Eve.  Everything got a little mixed up when he started to write about the dream the next day in his journal in hopes of getting some story out of the experience for the blog he wrote for occasionally, The Black and White Film Classics:

A young man, a little disheveled as befits a struggling artist new to town, new to New York City and its delights and hassles as he tries to get his first recognition as a budding new star, is looking through a narrow window in his small garret apartment, the normal student art league fold-up bed and kitchenette complex that a thousand students occupy through the Village. Through that narrow portal he see a  young woman, a young women that he vaguely recognizes through her artist carrying bag and her stolid hat not worthy of the day’s weather struggling as the winds howled in all directions and the snow is blowing fiercely every which way blocking his view at times after she had come down the stairs from the apartment building across the street.

A few minutes early also on occasion blocked from a clear view out that frosted window he had seen that same young woman arguing, or maybe better, pleading, with a man, an older man with mustaches, dapper, well-dressed, or at least his dressing jacket and the fine crystal holding a good portion of what looks like high-grade liquor in his hand tells that tale, a man whom seemed at first glance recognizable, seen in the newspapers, no, on stage, an actor, that makes sense since at the corner of the street as we zoomed in on the scene we can see a sign which says McDougall Street, which means nothing other than Greenwich Village, the Village in New York City at earlier age when the immigrants, the artists, the actors all vied for space in the cheap rent districts while they waited for their fortunes to come in. The look on the man’s face and his surroundings indicate some success, that of the young woman not so, she has the look of being one in a long line of beauties who have succumbed to the older man’s charms and is now being shown the door, maybe a rising starlet who even in the times we are talking about, the early 1900s knew that one way to stardom was through the casting couch, or the couch of a leading male actor.     

The pleading fruitless, endlessly fruitless, at times half-hysterical at others an almost murderous look on her face but that might have been his imagination plotting out some headline grabbing scenario, all the while the Lothario was exquisitely indifferent, she had dragged herself in a heap to the door and down the stairs. That is where the young artist picked her up again. She was next seen walking, walking bareheaded, having taken off the ill-fitting and inadequate for the weather conditions despite the snows swirling madly about her, despite the shawl she has in her left hand that could have been used to cover that long luscious black hair that she owned, handbag in her right hand. That is when the young man decided in a fit of hubris or maybe just curiosity to throw on his oilskin jacket and run down the stairs of his own building and see where she was headed. Once on the street he could she had stopped and started going down one street and up another and over time as he followed within a block she had crisscrossed many blocks, stopping occasionally in anguish, then moving on almost unaware of the traffic in the street, the horse-drawn carriages and transoms which she could have taken to wherever she was going.

More blocks, more snow, the snow swirling in such a manner that it could only be a blizzard she is attempting hatless to walk in, a couple of stops to moan, then gather herself, a couple of gentlemanly offers of a ride, and who knows what else but she finally makes it to Green Street, Green Street and home at the south end of Greenwich Village, the place where the newest arrival immigrants from Southern Europe, but mainly artists and actors down here, find themselves shelter when they hit the city looking, well, looking for something not to be found in Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, hell, Lima, Ohio either.

At the corner of a six-story building on Green Street she ran into an older man, an artist of some sort from the framed painting he has in his left hand sheltering it against the winds and snows. The young man decided that she had not spied him as some kind of stalker walked on pass them and walking slowly overheard part of the conversation, she had begun to unburden herself to the old man who worried about her health as she moaned, moaned the moan that the old artist as a man of the world, a man of the old country, and wise knew meant that she had been forsaken by that gigolo Joe Stella, whom he had told her over and over again was nothing but a womanizer, and liar too. Ah, that is where that older man across the apartment street, this Stella, had seen him on student rush day on Broadway in Hamlet.

Yes now the young man too knew what the Oldman was wailing about, knew that she is now “tarnished” goods having given herself mistakenly to that bastard hoping that would ease the way for her onto the Broadway stage. Such has been the fate of women since Adams’s evil apple time. The old man groaned the groan of the knowing and tells her to get upstairs and get the wet clothes off and dry her hair which has become a Medusa mass of snarls in the wind and snow. The young man just shook his head in sorrow for the naiveté of the young woman since he too had been taken in by an older person, a woman in this case when he was “from hunger” even worse that his situation now and she had forced him to do naughty things to her, and let her do things to him that  no man should have had to suffer before she one day without notice and without leaving him a parting “salary” left for Italy, Rome, Italy on a transatlantic steamer without as much as a fare you well. Probably had some silly pretty boy Italian to work her evil on by now.  

Back to our lady in distress though. As she stumbles and rumbles up the stairs she can barely make it to her third floor apartment but does so, knocking faintly. Her sister, let’s call her Sue, as we will call our bedraggled beseecher, Anne, Anne Baxter, of the long black hair, opens the door into their studio apartment, a sure sign that they are newcomers (later finding out they had arrived from upstate Albany a few months before so he was not wrong in the greenness factor) Sue the budding young artist and Anne, well, Anne as the besmirched young actress. Sue is appalled at Anne’s appearance and orders her to bed, orders that old man artist Anne had talked to on the street, called Cezanne, who had just come up the stairs as she was closing the door since he lives above them to fetch the doctor. Pneumonia, pneumonia, but not fatal in a young heart determined to live another day. Some medicines are bought and things look on the surface to be going okay.                    

Sue of course having lost her own formerly cherished virtue to a fellow Art Student League member whose whereabouts these days is unknown although she had no regrets surrounding what she had to surrender to the lad as it turned out knew full well what ailed Anne, had like a million young women moved from the country and small towns to the big city lost her moorings and lost her virginity to Stella, for no gain. She is distraught, cannot sleep is feverish, as she keeps to her bed, her shelter from the storms in her body, in her life outside the studio as she watches the winds blow against some remaining leaves from a tree that shed late, late before the early winter blizzard was coming to finish the task.

Strange what thoughts the feverish, the lost, the forsaken will draw from the slightest object. Anne had been in the throes of her fever counting the leaves as the fell off the single cityscape tree. Dying down in the alley somewhere to be fertilizer for some future tree, perhaps. The dying leaves, Anne dying inside (Sue suspects the worse that Anne is with child and tries to approach her on the subject of, a delicate matter, then and now, abortion so more dying to no avail) has cast a spell on her romantic imagination. She will cast her fate with the blizzard blown last leaf. If that cannot withstand the swirl and whirl of winter’s hardest blows then she cannot either. The morning light will tell the tale. Anne threatens seven kinds of hell if Sue does not open the night curtain to expose the branch, expose that one last life-giving leaf. No leaf. After a few awful days of struggle for the death she craved they buried Anne several days after that up in the family plot in Albany.       

 

The Easter Uprising-1916-From The British Broadcasting Company Of All Places

The Easter Uprising-1916-From The British Broadcasting Company Of All Places

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/easterrising/