A cautionary tale: Farmworker
women win massive judgment in sexual assault, retaliation case against Florida
farm…
EEOC case a powerful
reminder of:
1) The ongoing epidemic of sexual violence in Florida’s fields outside the bounds of the Fair Food Program, and 2) The hypocrisy of retailers and the failure of the corporate social responsibility approach to stop the violence. Last Friday’s announcement of a massive jury verdict in favor of five farmworker women who filed sexual assault and retaliation complaints against Moreno Farms (a small, now defunct eggplant, tomato, and squash farm outside of Immokalee) provides a valuable moment for reflection on the urgent need for justice in Florida’s fields and the failure of existing systems — from the courts to corporate social responsibility — to secure that justice. That’s a lot to chew on, so first, here are the facts, from Friday’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) press release:
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This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Support The Florida Farmworkers-La Lucha Continua!
Keep Space for Peace Week-October 3-10, 2015
Keep Space for Peace Week-October 3-10, 2015
October 3-10, 2015
Keep Space for Peace Week
International Week of Protest to
Stop the Militarization of Space
Stop Drones Surveillance & Killing
No Missile Defense
No to NATO
End Corporate Domination of Foreign/Military Policy
Convert the Military Industrial Complex
Deal with climate change and global poverty
List in formation
- Bath Iron Works, Maine (Oct 3) Vigil across from administration building on Washington Street (Navy Aegis destroyers outfitted with “missile defense” systems built at BIW) 11:30-12:30 am Smilin’ Trees Disarmament Farm (207) 763-4062
· Boryong, South Korea (Oct 4) No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
· Chongju, South Korea (Oct 7) At Bus terminal. No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
- USAF Croughton, England (Oct 3) National March & Rally at U.S. satellite communication and intelligence base. (Space communications, drones, bomber guidance, missile defence and command & control functions.) 12.00 midday to 3:30 pm. Special guest Robb Johnson. Evening peace concert after rally at Friends Meeting House in Oxford at 7:00 pm. Oxfordshire Peace Campaign, oxonpeace@yahoo.co.uk
· Daejeon, South Korea (Oct 6) At Chungnam university, Mokwon Univ, Daejeon Univ. No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
- Janakpurdham, Nepal (Oct 5) Introductory/ interaction meeting about Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and my experience of Okinawa, Kyoto and Hiroshima conferences. Social Development Path (SODEP) http://www.sodep.org.np/
· Jeonju, South Korea (Oct 3) At Jeonbuk University, Korean traditional village touring site. No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
- Kemijärvi, Finland (Oct 3) Peace defenders will hold a street protest against drone testing and war training area where NATO is feared to be preparing for war with Russia. kerstin.tuomala@pp.inet.fi
- King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (Oct 10) Noon, Demonstration and kite flying in front of Lockheed Martin (L-M) at intersection of Mall & Goddard Boulevards. L-M is making a killing in drone war and surveillance technology, building the remote-controlled unmanned planes and satellites that direct the drones and launch their deadly Hellfire missiles which L-M also builds. For more info Brandywine Peace Community, (610) 544-1818 brandywine@juno.com or www.brandywinepeace.com
- Kolkata, India (Oct 11) Public Meeting at Kolkata organised by Mrs. Arundhoti Roy Chouddhury (arundhoti@gmail.com). Global Network board member J. Narayana Rao to speak.
- Kyoto, Japan (Oct 3) Kyoto Coalition against the U.S. X-band Radar Base in Ukawa village will hold indoor rally and march.
- Maine Walk for Peace: Pentagon’s Impact on the Oceans (Oct 9-24) Join us in shedding light on the Militarization of the Seas as the US Navy (outfitted with missile defense and space-directed missiles) ramps up their global operations to encircle Russia & China. We will explore environment impacts of Navy on the oceans. Walk from Ellsworth to Portsmouth. See flyer at www.vfpmaine.org
- Menwith Hill, England (Oct 6) Demonstration at U.S. NSA/NRO Spy Base in Yorkshire. 6-7:30 pm. Sponsored by CAAB mail@caab.corner.org.uk or percy@phonecoop.coop
- Nagpur, India (Oct 3) Mass Rally at Motibalgh jointly by S.E.C. Rly Pensioners Assn and Pragatisjheel Railway Mahila Samaj. Coordinator J. Saraswati. jnrao193636@gmail.com
· Nagpur, India (Oct 3) Program on the dangers of weaponization of space at 11 AM to be held at the Women's College. jnrao193636@gmail.com
· Nagpur, India (Oct 3) Program on the dangers of weaponization of space at 2:00 with the students at the National Social Work College. jnrao193636@gmail.com
· Nagpur, India (Oct 4) Bernie Mayer (American Gandhi) will address a women's rally at 4:00 pm on how the masses can be attracted to struggle against space weaponisation through Gandhian technique. jnrao193636@gmail.com
· Nonsan, South Korea (Oct 5) No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
· Pyongtaek, South Korea (Oct 8) At Railroad station. No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
· Seongnam, South Korea Oct 9 (At traditional market) No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
· Seoul, South Korea (Oct 23) No to THAAD only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy protest rally when Security Meeting of US and S. Korea is being held. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
· Suwon, South Korea Oct 10 No to THAAD ‘missile defense’ system protest only for the sake of US and Japan destroying peace and economy. Organized by SPARK spark946@hanmail.net
- Tucson, Arizona (Oct 6) Vigil at Raytheon Missile Systems. Join the Raytheon Peacemakers as we demonstrate against war and those who profit from it. Survival demands better ideas, not better weapons. Hermans Road entrance. (3rd traffic light south of Valencia on Nogales Highway, the extension of South 6th Avenue). Park off Nogales Highway, between railroad tracks and highway. Signs provided, or bring your own! More info: 520-323-8697.
· Vandenberg AFB, California (Oct 7) Vigil in solidarity with "Keep Space for Peace Week" at the main gate of space warfare base from 3:45pm to 4:45pm. For info, contact Dennis Apel at (805) 878-2614.
- Keep Space for Peace Week is co-sponsored by the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom
Resources:
· Download our full-size space week poster at: http://www.space4peace.org/actions/Keep%20Space%20for%20Peacer%20Poster%202015.pdf
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)
Maine veterans to protest military's impact on oceans
Maine veterans
to protest military's impact on oceans
Group's peace walk to end in
Portsmouth
YORK, Maine – Maine Veterans for Peace will hold a 175-mile peace walk along Route 1 from Ellsworth to Portsmouth, N.H., from Oct. 9-24.
The walk will draw attention to what the group alleges are the links between the Pentagon’s environmental impact on the oceans and climate change. According to the veterans, the Pentagon has the largest carbon footprint on Earth and was exempted from the Kyoto Protocols. Military operations, the group says, consumes massive amounts of fossil fuels and lays waste to significant environmentally sensitive places on the planet, particularly the oceans.
Navy sonar blasts wreak havoc on marine creatures, disrupting their lives, leaving animals more susceptible to disease and lowered reproductive success, and sometimes injuring and killing them, says Maine Veterans for Peace.
“If the seas die so do humans on Earth and much of the wildlife,” said Maine VFP secretary and walk coordinator Bruce Gagnon. “Now is the time to speak out for ending the massive military impacts on the world’s oceans and for conversion of our fossil fuel dependent military industrial complex to sustainable technologies.”
Walkers will be hosted each night in local churches for community suppers where they will hold public programs about the purpose of the walk. The public is invited to walk for an hour, a day or more. The walk will be led by monks and nuns from the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order that does peace walks around the world. This will be the fourth time VFP has organized a peace walk through Maine in recent years.
The walk is being sponsored by Maine Veterans for Peace, PeaceWorks, CodePink Maine, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats, Peace Action Maine, Veterans for Peace Smedley Butler Brigade, Seacoast Peace Response of Portsmouth and Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1QJwHL7.
Action Center Forum on Syria-In Boston
Action
Center Forum on Syria
cosponsored by Workers World and Fight Imperialism, Stand Together
Saturday, Sept 19, 4 PM
at Action Center in the Brewery
284 Amory St (near Stonybrook on the Orange Line), Jamaica Plain,
Boston
(Preceded by a 2 PM Meeting of Team Solidarity reviewing the current
status of the Boston School Bus Drivers Struggle)
The
hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homeland of Syria are now a
headline in the corporate media. But the war that is forcing them to flee is
not, and when it is, it is filled with inaccuracy. The reality is that since
2011, the US and its regional allies of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar,
Israel and NATO countries have waged a proxy war inside of Syria for the
purposes of regime change. When Syrians and anti-war forces globally condemned
Obama's escalation of the war in August of 2013. the imperialist alliance
regrouped and turned the terrorist group ISIS into a pretext to justify
airstrikes in Syria. It is this imperialist destabilization campaign that is
driving Syrians and peoples throughout the region from their homelands and into
the racist states of Europe.
Hear Danny Pforte, organizer for Fight Imperialism, Stand Together, and
author of the following article:
Boston demonstrators demand peace for Syria
By Danny Haiphong posted on September
1, 2015
The Syrian American Forum mobilized people
to gather in Copley Square in Boston to call on the Obama administration to help
end the ongoing war in Syria. A group of Syrians and their supporters
demonstrated on Aug. 29 outside of the Boston Public Library to demand peace for
Syria.
The
Syrian American Forum has been at the forefront of the struggle for peace and
self-determination in Syria since the war began in 2011. Forum activists raised
Syrian flags and carried signs that condemned U.S. allies such as Turkey and
Saudi Arabia for their support for rebel groups in the country.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has estimated the war has caused the death
of over 200,000 Syrians. The U.S., Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have
provided diplomatic and material support for “rebels“ inside of Syria in their
efforts to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. In the summer of 2013,
the Obama administration sought congressional approval for military intervention
in Syria to achieve this objective.
At
the time, Russia brokered a deal that prevented a potential world war scenario.
Ever since, the U.S. and its allies have continued the war under the guise of
fighting ISIS. A coalition, led by the U.S. and Turkey, has conducted numerous
airstrikes in Syria without the approval of the government in Damascus or even
the United Nations. These strikes have killed Syrian civilians, including 52 in
May of 2015.
The
Syrian American Forum press release for the demonstration states: “The [U.S.]
American and international battle against terrorism continues to be short of
achieving its objectives. This is due to … the refusal of the U.S. and its
allies to acknowledge that an alliance which includes Syria is the only path to
a strong alliance to defeat ISIS, Al-Nusra, and other terrorists.”
Syrians
at the demonstration made it clear they want Washington to play a role in
bringing peace to the war-torn nation. When asked what people in the U.S. can do
to help, a Syrian American Forum representative answered, “Stop listening to the
American government.”
The
war on Syria is part and parcel of the world capitalist system’s drive to expand
global profits at the expense of workers and oppressed people.
Self-determination is a critical principle in the fight against capitalism and
for a new socialist world. It is of absolute necessity that people in the U.S.
stand with Syrians in their just fight to defend the sovereignty of their
nation. Long live Syria!
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WArs Abroad-Wars At Home
WARS
ABROAD, WARS AT HOME
Indispensable
public intellectual Ta-Nehisi Coates has written a long and important article
situating the issue of mass incarceration within the historic African American
experience of “unfreedom” and the evolving forms of social control deployed to
enforce it. Read it all (at the link below) if you can. No excerpt can
remotely do it justice.
TA-NEHISI
COATES:
The
Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration
The
United States now accounts for less than 5 percent of the world’s
inhabitants—and about 25 percent of its incarcerated inhabitants…
The
blacks incarcerated in this country are not like the majority of Americans. They
do not merely hail from poor communities—they hail from communities that have
been imperiled across both the deep and immediate past, and continue to be
imperiled today… For African Americans, unfreedom is the historical norm… Under
Jim Crow, blacks in the South lived in a police state. Rates of incarceration
were not that high—they didn’t need to be, because state social control of
blacks was nearly total. Then, as African Americans migrated north, a police
state grew up around them there, too. That early-20th-century rates of black
imprisonment were lower in the South than in the North reveals how the carceral
state functions as a system of control. Jim Crow applied the control in the
South. Mass incarceration did it in the North. After the civil-rights movement
triumphed in the 1960s and toppled Jim Crow laws, the South adopted the tactics
of the North, and its rates of imprisonment surged far past the North’s. Mass
incarceration became the national model of social control. Much More!
Woman
held in mental health facility because police didn't believe BMW was hers
A
woman is suing New York City after she claims she was forced to spend eight days
in a mental health facility and given a $13,000 (£8,500) bill because a police
officer didn’t believe the BMW she was driving was hers. Kamilah Brock, 32, who
is a banker, said that police had initially pulled her over at a red light in
Harlem and… was then asked to get out of the car… Brock was then taken into
custody and transported to the NYPD’s 30th precinct where she says she was held
for several hours before being released without charges… She goes on to say that
when she returned to claim the car, police said they didn’t believe she was the
rightful owner of the vehicle… She was taken to Harlem hospital psychiatric
ward, where she claims medical records obtained by her attorney, Michael
Lamonsoff, show she was forced to take lithium and injected with powerful
sedatives. More
Ferguson
"People's Report" Unveils Bold Plan To Achieve Racial Equity
A
panel of activists, researchers, community members, and other volunteers on
Monday unveiled a new report with 189 "calls to action" to address the scourge of
racial inequity in and around St. Louis, Missouri, illuminated by a year of
protests following the police shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael
Brown last August… the Ferguson Commission's venture has been particularly
anticipated, due in part to its solicitation of local residents and activists,
rather than outside experts, to identify the complex elements at the core of
those systems—and how to break down and rebuild them within the affected
communities. The report, entitled "Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity" (pdf),
candidly addresses race as an issue to be confronted and worked through… the
commission outlined 189 proposals to tackle issues such as police brutality,
racial profiling, criminalization of poverty, and barriers to equality in
majority-black schools. More
The
U.S. government just formally renewed the “State of Emergency” it declared in the aftermath
of 9/11 for the 14th time since that attack occurred, ensuring that the country
remains in a state of permanent, endless war. , subjected to powers that are
still classified as “extraordinary” even though they have become entirely
normalized. As a result of all of this, a minority group of close to 3 million people is routinely targeted with bigotry
and legal persecution in the Home of the Free, while fear and hysteria reign
supreme in the Land of the Brave. What happened in Irving, Texas, yesterday to a 14-year-old Muslim
high school freshman is far from the worst instance, but it is highly
illustrative of the rotted fruit of this sustained climate of cultivated fear
and demonization… You can’t have a government that has spent decades waging
various forms of war against predominantly Muslim countries — bombing seven of them in the last six years alone — and then
act surprised when a Muslim 14-year-old triggers vindictive fear and persecution
because he makes a clock for school. More
VIDEO: The Youth
recounts what happened here
Trump
Pledges to Investigate Muslim-Americans for “Terror Camps”
On
Thursday, Trump in Rochester, NH, tried out a town hall format and took
unfiltered oral questions from the audience. And that his audience was full of
people who are not entirely well became quickly apparent.
MAN:
“We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. You know our current
president is one. You know he’s not even an American.”
TRUMP:
“We need this question. This is the first question.”
MAN:
“Anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my
question: When can we get rid of them?”
TRUMP:
“We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things. You know, a lot of
people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are
happening. We’re going to be looking at that and many other things.”
More
*
* * *
Campaign
TO Fund Our Schools and Transportation
The best way to
help working families and build a stronger economy for us all is to make sure
that we have quality public schools for our children, affordable higher
education, and a transportation system that lets people get to work and
customers get to businesses. Without investment in these common goals, working
families fall behind and our communities suffer. New revenue is necessary to
improve our public schools, rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, make college
affordable, and invest in fast and reliable public transportation. To move
forward, the campaign must gather 64,750 certified signatures in 2015 and get at
least 50 votes in the state Legislature in two constitutional conventions before
going to the ballot in 2018. To achieve these goals, the campaign is building a
broad coalition that brings together leading organizations on transportation and
education with business leaders and community, labor and faith organizations.
What Our Constitutional
Amendment Would Do
Our proposed
constitutional amendment would create an additional tax of four percentage
points on annual income above one million dollars. The new revenue generated by
this tax could only be spent on quality public education, affordable public
colleges and universities, and for repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and
public transportation. To ensure that the tax continues to apply only to the
highest income residents, who have the ability to pay more, the one million
dollar threshold would be adjusted each year to reflect
cost-of-living
increases.
increases.
To find out more or
to volunteer to work on the Constitutional Amendment Campaign see here.
Weekly Veterans For Peace E-Letter
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Friday,
September 18, 2015 Peace Day Statement: Dignity For AllThe General Assembly of the United Nations has declared the 21st of September as an International Day of Peace. This day is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Partnerships for Peace – Dignity for All” which recognizes the importance of all segments of society to work together to strive for peace. <Full VFP Statement>
It's not to late, TAKE ACTION on International
Peace Day!
Visit our webpage for ideas on
Back to Top The Golden Rule Continues Her Voyage for PeaceIn Santa Cruz, as at many other stops, the Golden Rule was welcomed enthusiastically by community members, including Veterans For Peace and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). <More> Back to Top Save the Dates: Nov 20-22 - SOA Watch VigilThe SOAW annual mobilization is one of the largest anti-militarization convergences in the US. It connects activists from across America who come together to denounce failed policies, the militarization of the hemisphere, and the daunting effects of imperialism as well as to remember the long and ongoing history of brutal US intervention in Latin America that the SOA/WHINSEC represents to perfection. BUT we also come together to listen, learn and be inspired by each other, to raise awareness about and draw connections between struggles, and to celebrate the beauty of creativity and resilience. The Vigil weekend is an opportunity to grow stronger together and to build grassroots power!Hourly Shuttle Info from Atlanta to Columbus Travel Opportunities for Activistsjim@travelingman.net 323-436-5223 Here is the itinerary http://cubaexplorer.com/tours/jrjan/ (Click on Book Now to see prices)
Back to Top |
In This Issue: Peace Day Statement: Dignity For AllThe Golden Rule Continues Her Voyage for PeaceSave the Dates: Nov 20-22 - SOA Watch VigilTravel Opportunities for ActivistsUpcoming VFP ElectionThe Warrior ConnectionWeek of Moral Action for Climate Justice in DC
Upcoming VFP Endorsed
Actions/Events
Upcoming VFP ElectionIn accordance with VFP Bylaw, Article VII, Section 2 ballots will be mailed out no later than October 31, 2015. VFP National will have proposed resolutions on the website in the next couple of weeks. You can view the 2016 Board candidates by clicking here.Article VII, Section 2 (a) In October, or six (06) weeks after the Annual Convention, the Secretary shall mail to all full members (as of the prior Annual Convention) a ballot with the names of all the nominees. The mailing will contain a brief biographical statement on each candidate. (b) The ballots must be returned postmarked by a deadline published on the ballot and calculated as four weeks after the initial ballot mailing. (c) The nominees receiving the largest number of votes shall fill the full-term vacancies which exist. The nominees who receive the largest number of votes shall fill the longest terms of office available, in declining order. (d) The ballots will be counted according to rules determined in advance by the Board of Directors and published to the Annual convention. Counting of ballots may be done by staff of the National Office or by an outside agency. Any Full Member may be present during the counting of the ballots. Ballots will be retained for two (02) years. The Warrior ConnectionJoin one of the six day October retreats in beautiful Dummerston, VT to male and female veterans. Experienced veteran facilitators lead the discussions. Food and housing are provided. Cost of the retreat is $150. Anyone interested in the retreat will be required to have a phone or in-person interview and are are not self-medicating on drugs or alcohol. 2015 Warrior Woman’s Retreats October 1-6 2015 Warrior Retreats for Men October 15-20 Board member Tarak Kauff has participated in these retreats and found them very inspiring. Feel free to email Tarak If you have questions at takauff@gmail.com. Week of Moral Action for Climate Justice in DCBook your seat for travel to Moral Action for Climate Justice at National Mall in Washington, DC without the hassles of driving, parking, or navigating traffic. Invite friends to join you on a high-end bus with on-board restrooms and other amenities, stay up-to-the-minute on trip details with the Rally Bus app, then relax and enjoy your ride. Rally Bus makes it easy to get together and go!
Upcoming VFP Endorsed
Actions/Events
Aug 28 -
Oct 15 - Golden Rule Schedule of EventsSep 21 - International Peace Day in your city Sept 24 - 30 - Iowa Speaking Tour with Ray McGovern and Coleen Rowley Oct 7 - Anniversary of U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan Oct 9-24 - Maine Walk For Peace Nov 20-22, 2015 - SOA Watch 25th Anniversary Vigil Did you know? In 1999, VFP became a member of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Coalition to Ban the Sale and Use of Landmines. |
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Veterans For Peace,
1404 N. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
Veterans For Peace appreciates
your tax-exempt donations.
We also encourage you to join our ranks.
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