April 30 is the anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the official end of the U.S. war in Vietnam. Massive amounts of deadly cluster munitions remain in SE Asia indiscriminately killing and maiming civilians 33 years later. Take 5 minutes from your day and call Senator Collins and ask her to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S. 594). read more »
pam's blog
PAM Peace Supper, April 26, 2008
Join us for food, presentations on our 2008 programs, speakers and our Annual Peacemaker Awards
Keynote Speaker: Frida Berrigan
Frida Berrigan is Senior Program Associate of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. Previously, she served for eight years as Deputy Director and Senior Research Associate at the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute at the New School in New York City. She has also worked as a researcher at The Nation magazine. read more »
A Personal Appeal and What You Can Do to Help People in Burma
Hey everyone,
I wanted to get in touch with everyone about the cyclone in Burma. A number of you have called or emailed me to ask what you can do to help. I have been reading reports from inside Burma constantly over the past few days and I have been in touch with aid workers. There is a lot the popular press has not picked up on yet. I am going to give you all a quick news update and then let you know what you can do to help. read more »
100,000 Dead: Regime Still Blocks Aid, China Complicit
Here’s What You Can Do
Dear Friends,
The news is staggering and in many ways unfathomable. Yesterday, Shari Villarosa, the leading US diplomat in Burma said that 100,000 may have died and 95% of the buildings in the affected areas could be wiped out. The death tolls could increase as water born diseases such as cholera are beginning to spread, and in these worst hit areas aid has not to arrive. read more »
"Dismantling Peace Movement Myths"
Thanks so much for inviting me and for making me feel so welcome. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to say this evening.
Frankly, it is a tall order to stand up in front of a group of people who have just eaten and be expected to say anything that can compete with the natural digestive process. And it is tough to fly from New York and assume that what I would prepare to say would automatically be relevant or interesting to this Maine community as you come together to celebrate and honor a few of your own. read more »
Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says
Bloomberg.com - May 05, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&si...
May 5 (Bloomberg) — The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government’s top psychiatric researcher said.
Community mental health centers, hobbled by financial limits, haven’t provided enough scientifically sound care, especially in rural areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in read more »
"Race, Gender, and Class in American Politics: Anything New?"
Throughout the world, May 1 is celebrated as May Day - the international workers’ day. The only exception is the United States. The irony is that May Day is celebrated in memory of an American event - the Haymarket Riot in Chicago. On May 1, 1886, in many U.S. cities workers engaged in a general strike in support of an eight-hour day. In Chicago, 80,000 workers marched down Michigan Avenue. On the fourth day of the demonstrations, at the very end of a rally in Haymarket Square, violence broke out. Its origin is contested to this day, but some policemen were killed. read more »
Victory in the Trial of the Bangor 6!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BANGOR, ME- Today, jurors in the Case of the ‘Bangor Six’, the veterans for peace anti-war protestors arrested in the Margaret Chase Federal Building in protest of Senator Susan Collins for her refusal to end the war funding and occupation, brought back a decisive verdict of ‘not guilty’. Speaking as a juror, Derek Gordon said that the jurors felt that this case was “a good thing, that it got the message across peacefully.” read more »
Africa's food shortage knows no bounds
Originally posted at www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.200804...
The United Nations’ food agencies in Rome are now openly warning that food shortages threaten famine in the poorest African countries, among them Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal. But what about the wealthier African countries? Is all well there? read more »
What About the War, Benedict?
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the United States last week against a macabre backdrop featuring reports of torture, execution and war. He chose not to notice. Torture: Fresh reporting by ABC from inside sources depicted George W. Bush’s most senior aides (Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rice and Tenet) meeting dozens of times in the White House during 2002/03 to sort out the most efficient mix of torture techniques for captured “terrorists.” read more »
