[Afsckc-peacealert] KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts – June 16, 2011
Ira Harritt
IHarritt at afsc.org
Thu Jun 16 19:17:17 EDT 2011
KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts – June 16, 2011
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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<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org>
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“The World is my country,
all mankind are my brethren,
and to do good is my religion."
~ Thomas Paine.
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Dear Peacemakers,
Slowly, slowly the powers that be are beginning to respond to the continuing pressure of the people and acknowledge the need for change.
Signs of change-- a recent letter from twenty-seven Senators who wrote President Obama asking for “a shift in strategy and the beginning of a sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.” They went on to warn that maintaining a significant number of troops would be “misguided.”(See below for more.) Further a resolution calling for a speedier withdrawal of troops and a quicker end to the war is being introduced tomorrow at the U.S. Conference of Mayors (See below.)
Change is beginning but those who see the need must continue to make themselves heard!
We invite you to join with us in our efforts to creatively work for a more just and peaceful world. We are excited about our work but we need your involvement.
Please consider joining one of our planning committees to:
* End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan- Next meeting –Tuesday, July 12; 6:30pm at the AFSC Office, 4405 Gillham Rd.,
* “Move the Money” in our federal budget from military spending to investing in people and jobs for our future; or
* Deepen our community members’ vision of a just and peaceful world. - Click this link to see notes from our previous meeting.<https://docs.google.com/document/d/182B3gdtu2-E9wLPOgAX-UyH44l_GNl7_pwL4SGMS7Mo/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CK23yOUE>. Click the following link to help participate in and schedule the next planning meeting for the October 2011 Visions of Peace at the Crossroads Festival http://doodle.com/gfdt3y7trwce38np
Contact us at afsckc at afsc.org<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org> to volunteer
See below for a description of our committees and work.
And complete the New Priorities Network online Federal Budget Poll below. Record your support for a budget that serves the common good not just the super rich and war profiteers.
Also join us on Monday, June 20 at the forum, The U.S. Federal Budget As An Instrument For The Common Good and at our annual Patriots Picnic AFSC fun(d) raiser.
Thank you for your support and work for a peaceful and just community and world.
Peace,
Ira Harritt
KC AFSC Program Coordinator
iharritt at afsc.org<mailto:iharritt at afsc.org> 816 931-5256
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Get involved in KC AFSC Peacemaking Work
We have restructured this work and are forming three committees to better plan and carry out peace campaigns. We are dividing our work among:
· Anti-War Committee – will organize campaigns to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Libya…) including: organizing actions to mark the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 and the Afghan war and planning events for the Windows & Mirrors Afghan Mural exhibit in November and December – (http://afsc.org/project/windows-and-mirrors) – Next meeting Monday, June 13, 6:30pm;
Click this link to view the “Windows and Mirrors: Our Mothers' Tears” video providing powerful reflections from the Windows and Mirrors exhibit in North Carolina > http://afsc.org/video/windows-and-mirrors-our-mothers-tears
· Cutting Military Spending / U.S. Budget Priorities Committee– will organize education and advocacy campaigns on military spending and budget issues including a people’s budget resolution campaigns; (Join us and spread the word about the The Federal Budget As An Instrument For The Common Good Greens Foundation Forum on June 20 –See details below.)
· Peace-building Committee – will organize activities to promote a positive vision of peace including holding an annual Visions of Peace at the Crossroads Festival, October 7, 2011 – we just received confirmation that we can hold the event at the same parking lot as we used last year.
Elizabeth Tembo, our Youth Outreach Intern, is working to involve high school-aged youth in two projects: making murals as part of the KC display of the Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan<http://afsc.org/project/windows-and-mirrors> exhibit and making short videos for the ”If I Had A Trillion Dollars” Youth Film Festival<http://afsc.org/resource/2nd-annual-if-i-had-trillion-dollars-ihtd-youth-video-festival>.
Does your faith community, neighborhood or civic group have a summer youth group which might want to be involved in one of these projects? Contact us to find out how they could be involved!
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Volunteer To Help Rem Learn To Drive
Do you have a few hours over the next several weeks to help Rem, an Iraqi refugee, learn and practice her driving skills? She lives in NE Johnson County.
Call Roz if you can help at– 913) 722-6583 or 816) 668-9909.
Just a little of your time can make a big difference in Rem’s life!
AFSC will no longer be receiving contributions
for Iraqi Refugees
No new Iraqi refugees are scheduled to arrive in the coming months.
If you have items you want to donate for refugees contact:
Catholic Charities at 913.621.5255 or
Jewish Vocational Services at 816) 471-2808; ext. 1123
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Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities
Click on link or scroll down for more information about the peace and justice activity
June 20, Monday, 7:00 to 9:00pm, Forum: The U.S. Federal Budget As An Instrument For The Common Good. Panel members will discuss how the Federal Budget can be a tool to move this country to a prosperous, peaceful and just future. Panelists will identify ways the budget can be used to redirect our resources away from war and destruction to improved the quality of life, invest in job creation and correct the increasing disparity of income and wealth. Various budgets will be discussed including the Paul Ryan’s House Republican budget, the Progressive Caucus’ Peoples Budget, The Obama Budget, and the New Freedom Budget.
Panel members will include: Ira Harritt, KC AFSC Program Coordinator; Sharon Lockhart, certified financial planner, KKFI “Every Woman” radio host and peace activist; and Dee Berry, KC Greens activist. At Aquarius Book Store, 3936 Broadway, KC, MO (Park in back and use back stairs)
June 23, Thursday, 6:30 till 8:00, The Past & Present Death Penalty in Missouri, Special Guest Harriett C Frazier, Licensed Attorney, PhD in English, Retired Criminal Justice Law Professor, Author of 5 books including Death Sentences in Missouri 1803-2005, Plus Jermey Kroening, MADP's Western Field Organizer, Sponsored by the KC Chapter of MADP at the Bluford Library, 31st and Prospect, KCMO.
June 25 and 26, 10am -5:00pm, KC Urban Farm and Garden Tour, See below for information.
July 4, 2011, 11:00am to 2:30pm, Patriots Picnic Fun-raiser for the American Friends Service Committee, Picnic fare, live music, great company and more at 8336 Sagamore, Leawood, KS 66206 Suggested donation $25 / family
July 12, Tuesday, 6:30pm, AFSC Anti-War Organizing . Join us to organize actions to mark the 10th Anniversary of 9-11; campaigns to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plan for the Windows & Mirrors Afghan Mural exhibit… At 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO. For more information call 816 931-5256 or afsckc at afsc.org<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org>. (http://afsc.org/event/kc-afsc-anti-war-organizing-meeting )
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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<mailto:schwartzkatz at sbcglobal.net>
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We invite Educators and Youth Program Leaders to use
[cid:image003.jpg at 01CC2C51.9F5EE030]the “Lends Us Your Hands for Peace” Art Activity
The “Lends Us Your Hands for Peace” Art Activity is a creative and positive youth activity. Use it with youth you work with and at the same time help support the “Visions of Peace at the Crossroads” festival.
We encourage you to help us by creating with your class or youth program participants “Lend Us Your Hands for Peace” pictures. As an incentive to utilize this art activity you will have the chance to win a “Day of Pizza” for your organization.
Organizations providing 50 or more “Lend Us Your Hands for Peace” pictures will be placed in a drawing to receive a “Day of Pizza” consisting of the delivery of six medium pizzas at a time and location of the organizations choosing. To be included in the drawing pictures must be received by September 22nd.
The purpose of “Visions of Peace at the Crossroads” is to inspire deeper visions for peace and justice in our world. We will use the arts, performance, poetry, storytelling and music to engage First Friday Crossroads Arts Walk attendees and encourage them to express their hopes for peace. We will also provide easy ways for festival attendees to take actions for a peaceful, just and sustainable future. (See link to more information about the festival.)
Click the link to review the Lend Us Your Hands for Peace lesson plan which can be used to conduct a 30 to 40 minute art activity. We encourage you to send us completed pictures (or contact us to pick them up) and we will display them at the October 7th Visions of Peace at the Crossroads festival.
Pictures can be sent to the American Friends Service Committee, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110 or you can contact us to arrange for them to be picked up at 816 931-5256 or iharritt at afsc.org<mailto:iharritt at afsc.org> .
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
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Global Days of Listening
Inspired by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers<http://ourjourneytosmile.com/>,
Afghans For Peace<http://afghansforpeace.org/>, and the
Iraqi & American Reconciliation Project<http://globaldaysoflistening.org/http/reconciliationproject.org/>.
Talk with ordinary people from Afghanistan, Iraq,
Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Yemen, and other countries.
Listen to, and talk about, what it is like to live in war-torn countries & about the wish to live without wars.
On June 19, 2011 GMT
Listen online: LiveStream<http://globaldaysoflistening.org/pages/livestream>
If you would like to talk . . .
Plan Ahead - Review the General<http://globaldaysoflistening.org/pages/GeneralSchedule> and Actual<https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvtBPQ-oXcp0dHNQOXVTenBZWGlnb0lLbERZU2xRRVE&hl=en_US#gid=0> Schedules
Register here<http://globaldaysoflistening.org/pages/user-login-register> to get a call-in time.
North America Call: (661) 673-8600 & access code: 295191#.
For info to to: http://globaldaysoflistening.org/
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Support IVAW’s
Operation Recovery: A Campaign to End the Deployment of Traumatized Troops<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_150686925000528>
Service members who experience PTSD, TBI, MST, and combat stress have the right to exit the traumatic situation and receive immediate support, and compensation.
Too often, service members are forced to redeploy back into dangerous combat, or train in situations that re-traumatize them. We say, individuals suffering from trauma have the right to remove themselves from the source of the trauma. Service members who are not physically or mentally healthy shall not be forced to deploy or continue service. –IVAW http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery
William Stewart-Starks<http://www.facebook.com/n/?profile.php&id=16827807&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>, Iraq Veterans Against the War Invites you to support the Operation Recover campaign on FaceBook and to become a member of the Facebook group.
William Stewart-Starks posted in Operation Recovery: A Campaign to End the Deployment of Traumatized Troops<http://www.facebook.com/n/?home.php&sk=group_150686925000528&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>.
View Post on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/n/?home.php&sk=group_150686925000528&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>
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(My garden is even one of those featured in the tour- Ira Harritt, AFSC Program Coordinator)
Urban Farm & Garden Tour Invite
Greetings friend,
Here is an update invitation to the upcoming Urban Farms & Gardens Tour.
Events for the fourth biennial Urban Farms & Gardens Tour will kick off in just two weeks on Wednesday, June 15th, launching a 12 day celebration of growing and eating of good food in our city. All event details are now available on the tour website: www.urbanfarmstourkc.com<http://www.urbanfarmstourkc.com/>.
The self-guided Tour, organized by Cultivate Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture) and many volunteers, gives people the opportunity to connect with the farmers that feed them and explore the diverse and wonderful ways that people are growing food in our city. This year's theme is "Get Your Grow On!" with hopes to inspire YOU to get out, get engaged, and find a way to grow, eat and advocate for more fresh, healthy food in our city.
On Saturday & Sunday, June 25th & 26th, thirty-eight urban farms, community gardens, school gardens, and urban homesteads across the metro area will be open to the public from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. with live music, cooking demonstrations, and children's activities lined up throughout the weekend.
If you are interested in volunteering during the pre-tour events or the weekend of the tour, please fill out this form<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=41857612&msgid=139061&act=1X33&c=834947&destination=https%3A%2F%2Fspreadsheets.google.com%2Fviewform%3Fhl%3Den%26formkey%3DdEFhOFRiSHdDbmtHQWJUbjNiUGtMYVE6MQ%23gid%3D0> and our volunteer coordinator will be in touch with you shortly.
Visit our website<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=41857612&msgid=139061&act=1X33&c=834947&destination=http%3A%2F%2Furbanfarmstourkc.com%2F> for farm biographies, a tour map, complete pre-tour event descriptions, bike tour maps and details, and all tour updates!
Special thanks to our Major Harvest sponsors: UMB Big Bash, DST Systems, and Boulevard Brewing Company, and to all of our generous sponsors for making this event possible and supporting the vision of growing and eating fresh, healthy food in our city's neighborhoods.
Janet Brown Moss,
BridgeWorks
email: janetbridgeworks at sbcglobal.net<mailto:janetbridgeworks at sbcglobal.net>
News and Alerts
Democratic senators press Obama on Afghanistan pullout
By Alexander Bolton - 06/15/11 08:25 PM ET
Nearly half the Senate Democratic Conference, including 10 committee chairmen, sent a letter to President Obama pressing him to shift his strategy in Afghanistan and begin a major drawdown of troops.
Those 24 senators were joined by one Independent and two members of the Senate Tea Party Caucus, all of them urging the president to make significant policy changes as Obama’s self-imposed July deadline for a troop drawdown approaches.
“We write to express our strong support for a shift in strategy and the beginning of a sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, beginning in July 2011,” the lawmakers wrote Wednesday.
“There are those who argue that rather than reduce our forces, we should maintain a significant number of troops in order to support a lengthy counterinsurgency and nation-building effort. This is misguided,” they argued.
Move> http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/166679-democratic-senators-press-obama-on-afghan-pullout
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Move the Money
Take the Federal Budget Poll
FEDERAL BUDGET
PREFERENCE POLL
Let your voice be heard
in the federal budget debate!
Choose between the three very different federal budget choices proposed for fiscal year 2012:
* President Obama's Budget Framework
* The "People's Budget" proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)
* The GOP Budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI)
A coalition of national and local groups from all over the country are part of the New Priorities Network campaign to Move the Money from wars and Wall Street to communities and Main Street.
AFSC is part of this work and hopes that you will participate!
To participate, take the New Priorities Network poll and choose between the GOP Budget, the Obama budget and the Congressional Progressive Caucus "People's Budget."
You can find out more about the three budgets and cast your vote here<https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com> or go to https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com/<https://questionpro.com/t/CKFScZ>:
You can “vote” to cut military spending and end the wars, increase taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals, create jobs, and strengthen our safety net.
Find out more about the New Priorities Network<http://www.newpriorities.org>.
Cast your vote<https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com>
Poll closes on July 5, 2011
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Published on Thursday, June 16, 2011 by Huffington Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/us-mayors-to-push-for-ani-war-resolution_n_877817.html>
US Mayors To Push For First Anti-War Resolution Since Vietnam
by Sam Stein
WASHINGTON -- As the Obama administration readies plans for U.S. offices in Afghanistan, it's not just national office-holders who are demanding an expedited drawdown.
On Friday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors will introduce a resolution calling for a quicker end to the war and a speedier withdrawal of troops. If it passes -- a vote will come on Monday -- it will be the first time the body has formally called for an end to an military engagement since Vietnam.
The mayors' formal address of the conflict -- which is still being debated, politically, at the federal level -- illustrates how widespread skepticism about Afghanistan has become.
Just this week, several top candidates in the Republican presidential field raised serious concerns over the sustainability of current troop levels. On Wednesday, 27 senators signed a letter to the president pressing him for a new strategy and a major troop drawdown.
Unlike senators, mayors have no power of the purse. Nor do any of them currently aspire to serve in the role of commander-in-chief. But the resolution that they are set to consider still serves as a reflection of the current mood with respect to Afghanistan and Iraq.
More> http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/16-0
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Fighting City Hall's Nuclear Weapons
Joe Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund
Posted: 06/15/11 05:08 PM ET, Huffington Post
Kansas City wants to build nuclear weapons. Some of its citizens don't think that's such a good idea.
Kansas City is about to become the first city in the nation to own a nuclear bomb factory. For over 60 years, the U.S. has produced non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons at a facility -- commonly called the "Kansas City Plant" -- in the Bannister Federal Complex<http://goo.gl/maps/D2tV> in Kansas City, Missouri. With the building aging, the federal government is preparing to move the plant's operations to a new facility 10 miles down the road.
This time, Kansas City itself will own the new building, financed by a new municipal bond. But some taxpayers oppose the scheme on budgetary, policy and environmental grounds.
The Rube Goldberg plan is for the taxpayer-funded Kansas City Planned Industrial Expansion Authority to lease the project to a development company, which will sublease the project to another company, which will then sub-sublease the project to the federal government. After 20 years, the plant will become the property of the original lessee, CPZ Holding LLC, a private corporation.
More> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cirincione/fighting-city-halls-nucle_b_877756.html
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"June 16 Vote: Tell Kansas City Council Get City Out of Building Nuclear Weapons," http://www.change.org/petitions/june-16-vote-tell-kansas-city-council-get-city-out-of-building-new-nuke-weapons (thanks to Ann Suellentrop, Rachel MacNair--wow!--2,504 signers by now...gotta sign by 3 today, I think) – I think it is still taking signers -IH
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Published on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 by TomDispatch.com<http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175404/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_american_militarism_is_not_a_fairy_tale/>
Six Wars and Counting
Washington Reaches for the Record Book
by Tom Engelhardt<http://www.commondreams.org/tom-engelhardt>
President Obama recently reshuffled his top Washington warriors, sending CIA Director Leon Panetta, a man who knows Congress well, on to the Pentagon to replace retiring Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In turn, the president is bringing in General David Petraeus, present Afghan War Commander, former Centcom commander, and former Iraq War commander (as well as “Bush’s<http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175266/robert_dreyfuss_the_president_chooses_the_guru> general”), to run the Agency.
Whatever the local politics involved, and the Petraeus appointment ensures that the potentially popular general will be on the political sidelines<http://www.businessinsider.com/president-obama-ponders-how-to-bury-general-david-petraeus-2011-3> for campaign year 2012, these moves catch the zeitgeist of our Washington moment. Since the bin Laden assassination, in which U.S. military special operations forces “commanded”<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/jan-june11/panetta_05-03.html> by Panetta took out the al-Qaeda leader, a new face of American war<http://www.fpif.org/articles/the_new_face_of_war>, “where sovereignty is irrelevant, armies tangential, and decisions are secret,” has been emerging according to Foreign Policy in Focus analyst Conn Hallinan.
With the latest news (revealed last week<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/world/middleeast/09intel.html> by the New York Times) that the U.S. has launched a significant “intensification” of its secret air campaign against Yemeni tribesmen believed to be connected with al-Qaeda, the U.S. is now involved in no less than six wars. Count ‘em, if you don’t believe me: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and what used to be called the Global War on Terror.
In anyone’s book, that certainly qualifies as a working definition of “endless” war, but that doesn’t mean endlessly the same kind of war. Let’s look at this, war by war:
More> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/15
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
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list go to:
http://list.afsc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/afsckc-peacealert
Ira Harritt
KC Program Coordinator
American Friends Service Committee
816 931-5256
iharritt at afsc.org
Ira Harritt
KC Program Coordinator
American Friends Service Committee
816 931-5256
iharritt at afsc.org
http://afsc.org/office/kansas-city-mo
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