[Afsckc-peacealert] KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts (April 15, 2008)

Tue Apr 15 17:24:32 EDT 2008

KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts (April 15, 2008)

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Educate Yourself. Share your knowledge. Take Action!

For information about the American Friends Service Committee,

contact us at 816 931-5256 or afsckc at afsc.org

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Every gun that is made, every warship launched,

every rocket fired signifies in the final sense,

a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,

those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers,

the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

This is not a way of life at all in any true sense.

Under the clouds of war,

it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

- Dwight Eisenhower, 1953 speech 

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Dear Advocates for Peace and Justice,

Today, Tax Day, offers a special opportunity to raise question about
spending of our tax dollars on war or for human needs at home and in
Iraq. According to the National Priorities Project
<http://www.nationalpriorities.org/taxday2008>  the federal government
in 2007 spent 42.2% of every income tax dollar on military spending
(this does not include already incurred future costs of the Iraq war)
while education received just over 4 percent.

Congress is now considering continuing funding the war in Iraq and
cutting funding to human needs programs. With the economy getting worse,
it's urgent that Congress change direction and choose the right
priorities now.

Please join us TODAY at the DEFUND / REFUND TAX DAY DEMONSTRATION,
Tuesday, April 15th from 5:30 to 8:00pm outside Union Station / KCMO
Main Post Office at 30 W. Pershing Rd., KCMO. (If you are able please
arrive by 5:15pm.) Free 3-hours of parking is available in the parking
lot north of Union Station- turn North in the drive on the West side of
the Station. (Also use the toll free number listed below to call your
Senators and Congressperson!)

We have hung 720 "million dollar bills" (the cost of one day of the Iraq
War) on five hundred and fifty feet of rope. 

We will need forty to fifty people to help with the demonstration and
hold the hundreds of feet of "million dollar bills," Cost of War Banners
and leaflet people coming to pay their taxes. Please come for the whole
demonstration or for a part. Come and help end the war! 

During the week of April 14, the House Appropriations Committee will
consider a bill that could continue funding the Iraq war. The full House
of Representatives may consider the bill as soon as April 21. That week,
the House will decide whether to include food stamps, unemployment
benefits, state fiscal relief and other human-needs provisions in a new
economic stimulus plan. In addition, the House and Senate need to pass a
budget resolution soon that sets a total funding level for human needs
programs for the budget year starting October 1, 2008. The majority in
this country wants to end the war in Iraq and to help people meet their
basic needs. They don't want to fund tax breaks for corporations and the
wealthy few at the expense of the common good for all.

AFSC has also set up a toll free 800 number to call your Senators' and
Representative's offices on Tax Day. The number will be available from
Monday, April 14 through Friday, April 18th. We ask that you call
1-800-473-6711, the Capitol Hill switchboard on Tuesday, April 15. Ask
for the office of your member of the House of Representatives and
Senator. If you are not sure who your Representative or Senator is, go
to Congressional directory.
<http://support.afsc.org/site/PageNavigator/CongressDirectory>  to find
your legislator.

Thanks for all of your efforts for justice and peace. 

So thank you for continuing your work for justice and peace and thank
you for keeping the faith!

Peace,

Ira Harritt

KC AFSC

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Kay and Carol helping prepare some of the 550 feet / 720 million dollar
bills for the Tax Day Demonstration. - 

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Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities

Click on link or scroll down for more information about the peace and
justice activity

Peace and Justice Teach-ins will be on a break. For up to date
information go to: http://peaceandjusticecoffeehouse.blogspot.com/   

April 15, Tuesday, from 5:30 to 8:00pm Defund / Refund Tax Day
Demonstration Outside Union Station / KCMO Main Post Office at 30 W.
Pershing Rd., KCMO (If you are able please arrive by 5:15pm.)

April 15-20, The Wheels of Justice Tour is coming through Lawrence, KS
and Kansas City. Featuring: Kathy Kelly (Iraq speaker) is the
co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence; and, Nora
Barrows-Friedman (Palestine speaker) is the Senior Producer & co-host of
Flashpoints, a daily investigative  Pacifica Radio program.   See below
for details

April 17, 8:00 to 9:30AM Clergy Breakfast A Morning with Rev. Dr.
Wallace Hartsfield: The Balance of Pulpit and Public Ministry sponsored
by Mainstream Voices of Faith, Colonial Church, 7039 Mission Road,
Prairie Village, KS, RSVP to boo at mainvoice.org and/or by calling (913)
649-3326. 

April 18 and 19, Friday & Saturday, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m.The Fifth Biennial
KC Conference on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut Street,
Kansas City, Missouri, 64111

April 25, Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., KC Green Summit 2008
<http://www.rainkc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.detail&eventID=1>
Help us define how the integration of Green Solutions can assist Kansas
City, Missouri in meeting regulatory requirements and reducing sewer
overflows that pollute our waterways. Bartle Hall Ballroom, 16th and
Wyandotte, Kansas City's first certified LEED Silver Building Register
now at KC Green Summit Registration
<http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=156952> 

April 26, SATURDAY, 8:30am-4:30pm, Beyond Walls of Fear: Faith
Resistance to Unjust Immigration Policies and Practices -Workshops,
Roundtables, Keynote Presentation! De La Salle Education Center, 3740
Forest Avenue, KCMO 

April 28th, Monday, 6:30pm, KC Iraq Task Force Planning Meeting This
will be the regular fourth Monday monthly meeting. We will work on the
4,000th Death Chalk Project, Defund /Refund Tax Day Action and other
activities. Come to the AFSC office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO for
information call 816 931-5256.

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EVERY Sunday: Iraq Peace Vigil, 4pm, JC Nichols Fountain, 47th & Main,
Streets, Kansas City, MO http://www.kciraqtaskforce.org/  

EVERY Tuesday, JOIN THIS Peace Demonstration Every Tuesday between 5PM -
6 PM in the median strip on the south corner of the   intersection at
63rd & Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Mo. For more information email '63rd
Street Patriots' at  schwartzkatz at sbcglobal.net 

Every Wednesday, 5:00pm, Iraq Anti-War Protest, College and Quivira,
Overland Park, KS (NW corner). Send a message to Sen. Pat Robert that
it's time to end the war!  

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Join the

Chalk Project

Marking the 4,000 death of American Troops in Iraq

with Respect and Messages of Peace

 Help rouse the public's conscience over the growing deaths in the Iraq
occupation and call for a change from war making to making peace in the
world -through diplomacy, feeding the hungry, healing the sick,
supporting human rights...

Join with others in creating an organic memorial to those who have died
in the Iraq occupation by creating body chalk outlines on streets,
sidewalks or other locations (it works best working with a partner) and
then to chalk the message "Too Many Have Died In Iraq" - and add your
own message of peace-for example: Education Not War; Healthcare Not
Bombing; Butter Not Bullets; Renewable Energy Not Oil warring, Diplomacy
Not Ultimatums, etc.(We ask that you keep it positive. Not curse words
or name calling.)

Our goal is for area activists to make 4,000 body outlines spread
throughout the city. 

We offer this caution-it is possible that creating these outlines may be
considered breaking anti-graffiti laws in some places. To help you avoid
this make sure you use only chalk and be willing to wash the chalk away
if a business or homeowner complains.

We would also like to document the outlines created, messages left,
locations and times seen. When you see a Chalk Project body outline we
ask that you e-mail your "sighting" to dmellicker at afsc.org. 

Please include  in your email the location e.g.  "SW corner of 48th
Street and Oak, KCMO),  the messages in the outline, and times you saw
it. Please also attach a digital photos in jpeg or pict format if you
are able to take one. Sightings will be posted on a website to be
determined. For info call 816 931-5256.

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Volunteer to help at the 

Defund / Refund Tax Day Demonstration 

Tuesday, April 15 from 5:30 to 8:00pm

Outside Union Station / KCMO Main Post Office at 30 W. Pershing Rd.,
KCMO

Come and help hold 720 million dollar bills hung from five hundred and
fifty feet of rope, representing the cost of one day of the Iraq War! 

We will need 40 to 50 people to hold the ropes, Cost of War Banners and
leaflet people coming to pay their taxes.

(If you are able please arrive by 5:15pm.)

Please sign up and help end the war!

Email us at iharritt at afsc.org or call 816 931-5256 to volunteer

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A Morning with Rev. Dr. Wallace Hartsfield:

The Balance of Pulpit and Public Ministry

Clergy Breakfast

Sponsored by Mainstream Voices of Faith

8AM to 9:30AM 

April 17, 2008

Colonial Church

7039 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 66208

RSVP to boo at mainvoice.org 

and/or by calling (913) 649-3326. 

Please forward this invitation to your networks and colleagues. 

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Activism for Human Rights

The Fifth Biennial Kansas City Conference

The United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

and

Convention on Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Friday, April 18, 2008, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m.

6:30, Reception: UNICEF in Darfur

And 

Saturday, April 19, 2008, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For more information go to 
www.kcglobalconcepts.org/2008%20Program_%20printer%20copy.pdf

All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church

4501 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64111

A joint project of:

The Global and Multicultural Education Center

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Women's Center

United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City

in cooperation with

All Souls Church UU-UNO

Soka Gakkai International (S.G.I.)

Young Professionals for International Cooperation (Y.P.I.C.)

www.kcglobalconcepts.org <http://www.kcglobalconcepts.org/>  

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The Wheels of Justice Tour 

is coming through Lawrence, KS and Kansas City 

Come listen to eyewitness accounts directly from Iraq and Palestine:

Tue., April 15, 7pm

Lawrence Public Library

707 Vermont, Lawrence, KS

Wed., April 16, 4-9pm

Potluck/Presentation 4-6pm

Discussion 6-8pm

Ecumenical Christian Ministries

1204 Oread, Lawrence, KS

Kathy Kelly (Iraq speaker) is the co-coordinator of Voices for Creative
Nonviolence. She helped initiate Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to
end the UN/US Iraq sanctions in 1996 and she has been to Iraq 24 times
since January 1996, most recently in May 2006. She was also in Beirut,
Lebanon during the final days of the Israeli war in the summer of 2006.

www.vcnv.org

Nora Barrows-Friedman (Palestine speaker) is the Senior Producer &
co-host of Flashpoints, a daily investigative Pacifica Radio program.
Since 2004, she's reported regularly from occupied Palestine. She also
volunteers with the Ibdaa Cultural Center in  in the Dheisheh refugee
camp, working with refugee youth in journalism and digital media arts.
She is a contributor to Left Turn Magazine and electronicIntifada.net.
She is a mother, photographer & musician. www.norabf.com & 
www.flashpoints.net

Sponsored by the Lawrence Coalition for Peace & Justice and Voices for
Palestine. www.lcjp.org, www.justicewheels.org

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In Kansas City:

Tune in to here them on the radio on 

KKFI's Every Woman, 90.1 FM Sat, 

April 19th, 3-4 PM www.kkfi.org - live stream

Sunday morning, April 20, 9:15am

Fellowship Hall of Broadway United Methodist Church

406 W. 74th Street, Kansas City, MO 64114

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Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat

Dear friends:

On April 26-28, the Kansas City Catholic Worker communities will host
the annual Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat.  This
year's theme is:

Beyond Walls of Fear:

Faith Resistance to Unjust Immigration Policies and Practices

Please join us for as much or as little of this event as you can!!

SATURDAY 4/26/08 

WORKSHOPS, ROUNDTABLES, KEYNOTE PRESENTATION!

(Especially this part - you don't want to miss it!!)

-  Maryada and Walt Stanton, humanitarian activists from No More Deaths
border action and Casa Maria Catholic Worker in Tucson, Arizona will
share their experiences of offering direct hospitality to people
struggling with oppressive immigration issues.  

(They will present their talk around 9 am! Join us!)

STICK AROUND FOR SATURDAY ROUNDTABLES!!

Suzanne Gladney, Legal Aid of Western Missouri and the Migrant
Farmworkers Project -- 

'Immigration 101'

Angela Ferguson, Activist and Immigration lawyer -- 'The New Sanctuary
Movement'

Catholic Worker panel -- Hear how other Catholic Worker houses from
around the country are responding!

Eric Garbison, Cherith Brook Community -- A closer look at the
Scriptures: Insiders? Outsiders?

Richard Flamer, Joining us from the Chiapas, Mexico CW community!! --
What's actually going on in Mexico?

Judy Ancel and Megan Hope, Cross Border Solidarity Network -- NAFTA,
CAFTA -- what are all of those trade policies? What about economics do I
need to know?

Linda Callen, Westside CAN Center -- A story of advocacy success from
the KC area!

And, in the CW tradition, you never know what other topics might pop up!

WHERE WILL THIS HAPPEN, YOU ASK??

De La Salle Education Center

3740 Forest Avenue

8:30-4:30 

The rest of the weekend...RETREAT! 

(You are also welcome to join us for this part)

Sunday will include liturgy and reflection on what action the CW
communities will prepare to protest the unjust immigration policies and
practices that contribute to a continued system of walls of fear.  

MONDAY, the CW communities (and all of you who choose to join us) will
converge downtown to perform an action (most of the details will be
decided on Sunday 4/27).

JOIN US!

Questions? Comments? Feel a burning urge to RSVP?

Never hesitate to contact us!

Flyer's attached!

love and peace,

Holy Family House, Shalom House, and Cherith Brook

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Connecting: A Film and Discussion Series

          Join Citizens for Peace and Justice in the Holy Land for a
series of films that will introduce us to the people and the trials of
those living in Israel and Palestine.  Guided discussion and
refreshments will be served!

              May 3: The Iron Wall will take us to the Occupied
Territories and teach us about the Security Fence that Israel has
constructed and how that wall impacts the lives of the Palestinians.

This film and discussion series will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic
Church on the first Saturdays of March, April and May from 9:30 to 11:30
a.m.  Holy Spirit is located at 1800 SW 150 Hwy in south Lee's Summit.
There is no charge.  For information contact Ann Hayles, 816-537-6990.
RSVPs are requested.

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Are you a Mother?

Have you ever had a Mother?

This Mothers Day, be a part of the celebration as it was originally
intended, a voice for peace and against war. 

On May 11, 2008, we will honor the work of mothers to teach, in the
words of Mothers Day founder Julia Ward Howe, patience, charity and
mercy.

Stand for Peace

Mothers Day 2008

May 11, 2008, 3:00

Julia's Voice is dedicated to reclaiming Mothers Day as it was intended
by originator Julia Ward Howe, a day to promote peace and speak out
against war.

Join us as we peacefully assemble along the public sidewalk on 95th
Street between Nieman and Quivera, in Overland Park, rain or shine.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, we will line the sidewalk joined by Julia
Ward Howe re-enactors, musicians and other special guests. 

Mother's Day was first organized 138 years ago by abolitionist,
suffragette and poet Julia Ward Howe.  In 1870 she organized a Mothers
Day for Peace to promote peace and speak out against war.

Julia's Voice is a group of "mothers and others" joined together to
return Mothers Day to its original intent.  Sponsors include the Shawnee
Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, True Blue Women of Kansas, Iraq
Veterans Against the War, the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church
and American Friends Service Committee of Kansas City.

For more information go to http://www.juliasvoice.org/home.html

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News and Action Alerts

Iraq Update (14 April 2008): Defund the War and Refund Human Needs in
the U.S. and Iraq
<http://support.afsc.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6522.0&dlv_id=9981> 

*****************

Iraqi Refugee Crisis

*****************

We just uploaded spring/summer versions of "The Iraqi Refugee Crisis"
(formerly the Iraqi Cost of War) and "Iraqi Refugee Resettlement" to the
resources section of the Wage Peace website. These handouts give an
overview to the consequences of the U.S. invasion and occupation from an
Iraqi perspective. The refugee crisis piece outlines the humanitarian
catastrophe of the war, and the refugee resettlement piece talks about
Iraqi families coming to the United States and tells people what they
can do to support this growing community. It includes a seven-point
section on the path forward. These resources will be part of a larger
collection of resources called "Consequences of War and Occupation." I
hope you will find them helpful for your organizing. You can always
download Iraq Program literature at ww.afsc.org/iraq/guide/

Download "The Iraqi Refugee Crisis" (spring/summer update)
http://afsc.org/iraq/guide/documents/Overview.pdf 

Download "Iraqi Refugee Resettlement" (new) 

http://afsc.org/iraq/guide/documents/Resettlement.pdf

***********************

War Funding Supplemental

***********************

Healing the Wounds of War: Alternatives to War Funding 

http://www.afsc.org/iraq/guide/documents/HealingtheWoundsofWar-March2008
.pdf

Peacebuilding Measures Outlined in the Document

1)      Stop funding the U.S. military presence in Iraq

2)      Negotiate a timetable for a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces

3)      Withhold funding allocated for arming Iraq's sectarian militias
and armed forces

4)      Suspend plans to implement a $60 billion U.S. arms package to
the region

### END ###

Peter Lems

American Friends Service Committee

1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, 19102

Tel: 215/241-7170 | Fax: 215/241-7177

http://afsc.org/Iraq

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Published on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
<http://www.commondreams.org>  

Tax Day Gifts for the Rich

by Holly Sklar

When it comes to cutting taxes for the wealthy, President Bush can truly
say, "Mission accomplished."

The richest 1 percent of Americans received about $491 billion in tax
breaks between 2001 and 2008. That's nearly the same amount as U.S. debt
held by China - $493 billion - in the form of Treasury securities.

Do you want our government to mortgage more of our nation's future to
finance tax breaks for the rich?

Tax cuts have already helped the richest 1 percent - whose annual
incomes average about $1.5 million - increase their share of the
nation's income to a higher level than any year since 1928 on the eve of
the Great Depression.

Wall Street's five biggest firms paid "a record $39 billion in bonuses
for 2007, a year when three of the companies suffered the worst
quarterly losses in their history" and are eliminating thousands of jobs
as losses mount from the subprime mortgage market collapse, reports
Bloomberg.

The International Monetary Fund says the United States is in the worst
financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yet, we are borrowing money
with interest to finance tax cuts for Wall Street executives.  

More> http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/15/8293/ 

Published on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 by Inter Press Service
<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41976>  

Global Hot Spots of Hunger Set to Explode

by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - As food prices continue to escalate worldwide, some of
the poorest nations in the developing world are in danger of social and
political upheavals. 
<http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0415_10.jpg> 

The unrest, which is likely to spread to nearly 40 countries, has been
triggered largely by a sharp increase in the prices of staple
commodities, including wheat, rice, sorghum, maize and soybeans,
according to the United Nations.

Following last week's food riots in Haiti, which claimed the lives of
four people, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to international
donors for urgent assistance to one of the poorest countries in the
Caribbean.

A meeting of the world's finance ministers in Washington over the
weekend warned that rising food prices were more of a threat to
political and social stability than the current crisis in global capital
markets.

More> http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/15/8310/ 

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We need your support to keep our life affirming peacemaking work alive.

Contribute. Volunteer. Spread the word!

Contact us and mail your tax deductible contribution to:

American Friends Service Committee

4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110

(816) 931-5256

The information and events described in AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts
are intended to educate and assist members of our community in becoming
active in working for a more just and peaceful world. Inclusion of a
listing does not necessarily imply that AFSC KC agrees with all points
of view that will be represented at the event.

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice,
peace, and humanitarian service.

Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and
faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice

Ira Harritt

Kansas City Program 

American Friends Service Committee

4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110

(816) 931-5256

Fax (816) 561-5033

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