Sun |
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thur |
Fri |
Sat |
Future |
TJR EVENT ARCHIVE |
Additional Local Event Announcements at:
|
Louis Elisa is an advisor to Boston City Councilor Charles Yancey and co-founder of World Disaster Management, serving now as its director of international outreach for Africa and Europe. He was a coordinator/advisor in the campaigns of Deval Patrick for Governor and John Kerry for President, and is often seen as a political analyst on television. Mr. Elisa held several high-level appointments at the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 1994 to 2001. And prior to FEMA he worked in three comprehensive administrative positions for the Commonwealth of MA-- from 1978 to 1994.
Mr. Elisa will speak about what we value as Americans, who and what sets our agenda and prospective in life. Have we made progress toward a color-blind society, equity or justice? Can we ever succeed?
Interested in joining the Lucy Parsons collective? Come to the new collective member training party the first Sunday of the month from 2-3:30pm. Find out about how the center works, what the training process is, and other fun stuff. Next session is March 2nd.
"The global water crisis is one of the most serious issues of our time. Maude Barlow is an outstanding leader who has pioneered people’s and nature’s right to water for the last decade. Blue Covenant [her book] will inspire civil society movements around the world." Vandana Shiva, physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of Biopiracy and Stolen Harvest
The "water wars" are on the horizon. Just like oil today. We suffer a moral predicament as big corporations reap windfall profits from privatizing water while billions go thirsty. Bottled water today sells for many times more per gallon than gasoline as public water systems decay. Instead of our policy makers pressing for conservation, corporations are set to make billions on energy-intensive technologies to desalinate and clean sewage water and sell it back to consumers.
But who owns our water in the first place? How can we protect this common resource for all, now and forever?
There is no one better to address this issue than Canadian anti-corporate activist, and world renowned expert on water rights, Maude Barlow. She will discuss how protecting our water sources from corporate interests is as crucial as curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, she will lay out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water- just world - a "blue covenant" for all.
Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizens’ advocacy organization with over 100,000 members and 70 chapters across Canada. Maude Barlow is also the co- founder of the Blue Planet Project which works to stop commodification of the world’s water.
There is no one better to address this issue and provide us with hopeful direction than world renowned global expert on water rights, Maude Barlow. Maude will discuss how protecting our water sources from corporate interests is as crucial as curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, she will lay out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water-just world - a "blue covenant" for all.
Maude's new book "Blue Covenant" will be for sale at the event.
This event is coordinated by Grassroots International, Institute for Policy Studies, Food and Water Watch, and Jamaica Plain Forum. Co-sponsors: Massachusetts Global Action, Corporate Accountability International, The Tellus Institute, and Boston Climate Action Network.
On Monday, March 3, at 7:00 PM, Dr. Peter Walker, director of the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University and renowned scholar and activist on famine, will be presenting at Brookline High School on the causes of famine, responses to it, and how U.S. citizens can take action.
Co-sponsored by the Friedman School at Tufts University and the Brookline High School group Student Action for Justice and Education, the event will take place in BHS's Robert-Dubbs Auditorium.
Dr. Walker will speak and present images of famine.
For more information, contact: bhsSAJE@gmail.com.
This event is part of the US Speaking & Film Screening Tour of The Movement Against Apartheid in Palestine.
Mansour Mansour, a Palestinian from Biddo, is a member of Northwest Jerusalem Popular Committee and the Biddo Popular Committee. He is the Executive Director of Biddo Community Development, and has also been a Campaign Coordinator and nonviolent trainer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) since 2004.
Shai Carmeli Pollak is a prominent Israeli director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His film Bil'in Habibti is about the village of Bil'in and its struggles against the construction of Israel's "separation barrier" through Palestinian land. The film won the Wolgin Award for Full-length Documentary Film at the Jerusalem International Film Festival in 2006.
Sponsored by ...
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights
BostontoPalestine
and Friends of Sabeel - New England
Come hear from Bianco factory workers what’s happening today with the 361 workers who were detained last March.
Learn about stepped up ICE raids over the past year and what you can do to support communities to resist them.
See a film on the raid, and hear music and rap to support the workers.
Enjoy some typical Guatemalan snacks
Organized by Organization Maya K’iche’, Centro Presente & Center to Support Immigrant Organizing
Sponsored by Proyecto Hondureño, Boston May Day Coalition, AFSC, MIRA, Chelsea Collaborative, MataHari: Eye of the Day, Guatemala Solidarity Cttee of Boston, City Life/Vida Urbana
For more information call Centro Presente in Boston at 617-497-9080 or OMK in New Bedford at 508-994-7396; e- mail CSIO.
Free and Open to the Public. Refreshments will be served
Join the North Shore Labor Council to see SiCKO and talk about labor's fight for healthcare in the 2008 elections! Please RSVP to Rosa at 781-595-2538 or northshorelaborcouncil@gmail.com by Monday March 3rd.
Ms. Hammer weaves a World War II documentary on female fighter pilots, newsreel footage of Eleanor Roosevelt and a heaping helping of 3 minute 8MM old Lesbian porn loops into a montage of images and stories about our place in the world; what's changed and what hasn't. The film isn't a Stonewall outrage but a fun and playful exploration of a much more innocent time.
Your voice is needed! Join with community leaders and other supporters of Cape Wind across Massachusetts to call for Rep Markey's active support of the Cape Wind Project. We will deliver 8,000-plus signed postcards calling for his endorsement of the project.
Who else will be joining us:
MCAN Chapters from Markey's district
Representatives from IBEW Local #103, the Pile Drivers
Local #2404, the Maritime Trade Council,
Civil Society Institute, CLEAN
Barbara Hill from Clean Power Now
Fred Schlicher from Mass. Climate Action Network
Student leaders from MA colleges and universities
Grassroots Sponsors: Belmont Climate Action Network, Clean Power Now, Greenpeace USA, IBEW Local 103, Lexington Global Warming Coalition, Mass. Climate Action Network, Mass. Interfaith Power & Light, Medford Climate Action Network, Sustainable Arlington, Sustainable Winchester
How to Get to Medford Square:
Using Orange Line: bus #101 from Malden, bus #95 or
#101 from Sullivan, bus #134 from Wellington.
Using Red Line: bus #94, #96 from Davis Square, bus
#96 from Harvard Square. ...
The Bolivarian Circle of Boston answers the call for a demonstration on March 6 in support of the call put out by the Movement of Victims of State Crimes in Colombia (MOVICE). The location will be Park St. Station of the Green Line in Boston, MA., at 4:00pm.
Colombia Support Network asked us to organize a vigil in remembrance of the hundreds of thousands of Colombians who have been murdered or forced from their homes by illegal paramilitaries, often in collaboration with the Colombian Army or Police. The Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) and a coalition of social and human rights organizations in Colombia are organizing a march to be held on March 6, 2008 in Bogota and other Colombian cities and they seek solidarity of individuals and human rights groups in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. The purpose of the march and vigils is to focus attention on the victims of paramilitary and state-sponsored violence, whose situation has been largely overlooked by those who have focused attention on the crimes of the FARC guerrillas.
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
phone: (608) 257-8753
e-mail
On the book: "When Jim Gordon set out to build a wind farm on Cape Cod, he could not imagine the firestorm that would erupt. Steeped in history and local color, this is also a cautionary tale about how money can hijack democracy while America lags behind the rest of the developed world in adopting clean energy."
Provides the most moving testimony available on war atrocities by American GI’s themselves. This is part of the Winter Soldier Hearings held by the Vietnam Veterans against the War in Detroit in the early 70’s during the height of the movement by anti-war GI’s. Narrated by Vietnam Veterans.
A short separate film by veterans of the current Iraq war will also be screened.
PLEASE NOTE IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW} IS ORGANIZING THE "WINTER SOLDIER":IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN HEARINGS IN WASHINGTON,D.C. THIS MARCH 13-16. THEIR VOICES WILL MARK THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THIS WAR.
Extended informal discussion after the film. Refreshments will be served.
There is an inexpensive parking garage next to the library and some parking on the street. Pearl Street is just off Mass. Ave in Central Square.
Presented jointly by the Women's lnternational League for Peace and Freedom and the Cambridge Peace Commission.
For further information call 617-244-8054
Admission is free.
Please join us for a stimulating night out; bring your friends! Free film, free refreshments, & free door prizes. [donations are accepted]
On March 16th, 2003, an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer 2-stories high crushed to death 23-year old Rachel Corrie, an American student and non-violent human rights activist. According to numerous witnesses and photographic documentation, she was killed intentionally.
Rachel and a handful of others practicing Gandhian nonviolence in the Gaza Strip had been pleading with Israeli soldiers for 2 hours not to destroy the home of a Palestinian physician and his family.
The US has yet to condemn this atrocity by an ‘ally’ who receives more US funding than any other nation on earth, well over $10 million per day.
The US media have yet to accord this horror the attention it would normally get. There were NO stories about the memorial service in Gaza that was broken up and an Israeli tank – while the bulldozer drove exultantly by. There were NO stories about the Israeli forces blocking the ambulance carrying her remains from exiting Gaza. NO stories about Rachel’s grieving parents and siblings. NO STORIES.
This film contains interviews and footage of Rachel Corrie in Palestine.
On the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day:
March 8, 1908-March 8, 2008
Take to the Streets and Fight Back!
Rally at 12 Noon, Roxbury Crossing T Station (Orange Line)
March to South Bay Prison, 33 Bradston St.
Unite and Demand:
Stop the War on Women, At Home and Abroad!
Money for Jobs & Schools and Programs for Youth, Not
Jails and War!
Forclose the War, Not Our Homes!
Stop ICE raids and Police Home Invasions
End CORI's
Stop Racism and Police Brutality
End Violence Against Women
Every Issue is a Women's Issue!
Sponsored by :
Women's Fightback Network
284 Amory Street,
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-522-6626
This is a documentary film about the 1971 women's takeover of a Harvard building, a significant but overlooked event in the history of second wave feminism, which led to the establishment of the Women's Center, the longest continuously operating community women's center in the US. Projects originating at the center include the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, the Elizabeth Stone House, Transition House, Lesbian Liberation, Women of Action, and many others. The film shows this action in the context of the community, national, and international protest movements of the time.
Co-sponsors: Cambridge Women's Center, The History Project, Cambridge Women's, Human Rights, and Peace Commissions
Partially funded by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities
888 Women's History Project, Inc
69 Spring Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
womentakeover888@yahoo.com
617-738-9524
There is no such thing as victory in war. The question becomes: how profound is the defeat. History and current events teach us that the most vulnerable of humanity suffer the defeats of war most deeply. From the women of Troy to the women of the Congo, slavery and rape change their lives forever. Today, women as combatants also suffer sexual abuse at the hands of their fellow warriors. We hear and we pray a prayer of lament. "God Almighty, have mercy."
Valerie Elverton Dixon is a womanist scholar interested in ethics, hermeneutics, postmodern, postcolonial and neo-pragmatist thought. She also works on issues of peace and justice. Her Ph.D. dissertation, "Reading the Clarence Thomas Hearings: Ideology, Context, Discourse and Meaning," made her, likely, the only person to read the entirety of his appointment hearings. Dixon is currently working on a book, its working title is "Jumping Double Dutch: Musings of a Womanist Mind at Play."
NAFTA Failure and Alternatives for the Future: Stop SPP and the US Colombian Trade Agreement
Don't miss this great program this Sunday in Cambridge! Sponsored by Boston Cambridge Alliance, North Bridge Alliance for Democracy and other local groups! Featuring speakers from Canada, Mexico, the US and Colombia!
Learn about the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a "super-NAFTA" package of trade and security initiatives organized behind closed doors between corporate leadership and the Mexican, Canadian, and US governments, and the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (Colombia FTA), a “free-trade” deal built on a history of neoliberal repression of workers rights.
Find out how you can stop these undemocratic pro- corporate giveaways, and protect the rights of people, communities, and ecosystems threatened by “free trade.”
Co-sponsored by the Greater Boston Latin American and Caribbean Coalition, Boston/Cambridge Alliance for Democracy, North Bridge Alliance for Democracy, AFSC Project Voice, MIT Western Hemisphere Project, Colombia Vive, Massachusetts Global Action, Jobs with Justice, Grassroots International and Global Exchange.
For information, please call Barbara at 781-894-1179, or email us.
We hope to raise money so that members of our organization and veterans of the Iraq War can travel to the capitol to participate in the Winter Soldier event, which will be an opportunity for those who have been to Iraq to talk about what they experienced there.
We are very proud to have Colonel Ann Wright at our special event. Col. Wright has recently published a book,Voices of Conscience: government insiders speak out against the War in Iraq.
On March 19, 2003, the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ann Wright cabled a letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell, stating that without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the invasion and occupation of a Muslim, Arab, oil-rich country would be a disaster. Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. She fasted for a month, picketed at Guantanamo, served as a juror in impeachment hearings, and has been arrested numerous times for peaceful, nonviolent protest of Bush's policies, particularly the war on Iraq. She lives in Honolulu.
We invite you to share in a wine tasting which will feature locally available wines selected by MFSO member Bob Fuhro with friend of MFSO, Lionel Joseph. There will be non-alcoholic delights as well.
Live music performed by Andy Celley, jazz keyboardist, composer and producer.
We seek a donation of $50 per person (or whatever you can offer) to support our efforts to bring the war to an end and to lobby for care for veterans when they return.
Our fund raiser will be held on Sunday, March 9 (7:30PM), at the Eliot Church (corner of Centre St. and Church St. in Newton Corner) and will feature a film produced by IVAW featuring a preview of some of the testimonies to be given in Washington.
Giving a donation to Jewish Voice for Peace, JVP, right now is a way to take action to support an end to the siege of Gaza.
In late January, a convoy of Israeli peace and human rights organizations, in partnership with Palestinian civil society groups, drove to the entrance of the Gaza Strip to deliver badly needed food and medical supplies. Thousands of you wrote letters to your legislators to ask them to help end the siege. JVP supporters across the country stood on street corners, spoke to the media, and raised funds to support the convoy. On February 18, over 6 tons of supplies from the convoy were finally let through.
But the blockade goes on and JVP is not stopping its work on the Call to End the Siege of Gaza.
A gift of $35, $80 or $100 will bring thousands of people to support our work. The larger we are, the more powerful we are!
Join JVP's Call for an End to the Siege of Gaza. Donating is easy and will raise our voices to end the injustices in Gaza and the needless deaths of Palestinians and Israelis..
Mass. House Bill #4477, if passed, would finally make it illegal for drivers of motor vehicles in Massachusetts to use hand-held phones while driving (as in NY and elsewhere). This bill recently passed the House and now is languishing in the Senate and may not come to the floor for a vote unless you phone or send a message to your friends in various towns and cities to have them urge their state senators (617-722- 5551) to vote for this bill.
According to Senate Assistant Majority Leader Marian Walsh, what needs to happen is for senators to get many phone calls from their constituents in favor of this bill. Passing House #4477 is a matter of public safety. Please call your senator and what would make a significant difference is for you to contact your friends throughout Massachusetts so House Bill #4477 becomes law.
Ed O'Reilly (PDA-endorsed candidate who advocates for single-payer health care, impeachment, stopping our current wars, and marriage equality) seeks the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by John Kerry.
In addition to making sure that Ed's name appears on the ballot, this is a great opportunity to identify new supporters and expand our network. So we really hope you can participate by gathering signatures from your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.
To get on September's primary ballot Ed needs 10,000 signatures from registered Democrats and unenrolled (independent) voters. We need to file the signatures with city and town clerks no later than 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, on May 6, 2008.
Call the campaign (866-716-2008) and we will mail nomination signature forms for you to use.
U.S. war provocation against Iran: Another Tonkin
Gulf? Take Action NOW to Stop War on Iran!
The Bush Administration has initiated an extremely dangerous war provocation just off Iran's coast, in the Strait of Hormuz. With Bush on his way to the Middle East to mobilize a collection of oil-rich U.S. client states against Iran, the U.S. government is working overtime to create a phony public-relations incident to heighten tensions in the region and threaten a new war.
An aide to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) says the Lieberman/Warner climate change bill (S. 2191) “would be the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States.” (E&E Daily, February 8, 2008)...
S. 2191 is expected to be debated on the Senate floor this Spring. Your help is needed.
For more information visit the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Congressman Robert Wexler's campaign office says that (unlike most of our Democratic Reps) he is pushing hard to force a committee hearing on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment, recently introduced into the House of Representatives and referred to the Judiciary Committee.
This fight is not over. We must continue the pressure on our representatives or else Congress and its fellow lackey media will take no notice. That would be a historic mistake – one we must prevent Congress from making.
We stand at a critical juncture in our efforts. Forget all of those arguments that it is too late or that we have run out of time. You can’t run the clock out on our Constitution. Those of us dedicated to this fight – Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the online community, and millions of patriotic Americans – must keep the pressure on. Please continue to spread the word and help deliver accountability to the corrupt Bush-Cheney administration.Congressman Conyers needs a huge kick in the tail.
Please sign on to Congressman Robert Wexler's petition to help push the issue.
TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS FOR THE U.S. CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD
US House of Representatives Web Sites
Another Day, Another FISA Veto Threat By The Bully In The White House
Yesterday, Bush again put the self interest of himself and his giant telecom criminal co-conspirators above our national security, by threatening to veto the FISA update bill unless we gave them all get out of jail free cards. And if Congress were to bend over yet again, he would still probably veto it to demand even more changes and/or defy other major provisions with a signing statement, as he so outrageously did with the recent defense bill.
We must be just as relentless as the criminals who are working overtime to gut our constitution. We have had two successful filibusters so far, and it looks like we're going to need a third. And we need strong opposition in the House too, for that is our last bulwark.
Tell your Congressional Representative to vote against this awful legislation, which has passed the Senate and returned to the House. The House has stood up to pressure to provide telecom immunity to date, so don't let them buckle to pressure from the White House and Senate.
S 1959 "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" must be stopped at all costs. (It's already been approved by the House of Representatives by a HUGE majority.)
Pick up your phone and contact our US Senators' offices to instruct them to vote "NO" on S.1959, titled "To establish the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, and for other purposes".
If this bill is passed, and becomes law, your words and actions could be considered terrorism. S 1959 EVISCERATES FREE SPEECH, and empowers the govt. to declare ANYTHING they deem an "extremist belief system", instantly make you a terrorist, resulting in stripping of US citizenship, torture, and/or execution, with no habeas corpus rights, no ability to challenge even in the US Supreme Court.
What part of exercising power doesn't Harry Reid get? The Washington Post reports him "pleading" with the White House. And yet, it is his decision which version of the FISA bill to have the Senate consider, and by choosing to bring forward the bad one, he is knowingly forcing opponents of yet another "get out of jail free card" for Cheney cronies to get 60 votes to strip it out of the bill. Or filibuster yet again.
And what greater hero do we have than Dennis Kucinich, still standing strong as ever on every issue that matters. Here is his own leadership statement opposing telecom immunity.
And yet, even now, powerful corporations are pouring money into Dennis's district, to try to buy his seat out from under him by threatening him in his own primary. They are running malicious attack ads in heavy rotation. Please consider making a donation to Dennis now, to help him fight back.
Call the Harvest Cooperate at 617-661-1580 and ask for Marc Cutler, Manager of Operations. Tell him to stop union busting and give Deon Furtick his job back with back pay for hours missed!
Contact the Harvest Employee Organizing Committee
Matthew Andrews
617-633-1857
At the end of January, thousands of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, and dialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centers, in the context of hundreds of decentralized self-organized actions. They will mobilize over a one-week period in January, culminating in a Global Day of Mobilisation and Action on the 26th to show that another world is possible.
At the same period, the "old" world will meet in Davos for the World Economic Forum, bringing together its economists, experts, ideologies and techniques that produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster, depriving people of human rights and our Earth of its resources.
The World Social Forum is an open space where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organisations come together to raise issues, debate ideas, formulate proposals, share experiences, and build networks for effective action. These movements are opposed to a world ruled by capitalism and all forms of imperialism and domination.
Since the first worldwide encounter in 2001, the World Social Forum has become a permanent global process seeking and building alternatives to neo-liberal policies.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at different sites throughout the world every year for the past seven years, and this spirit of diversity will continue to be reflected in the activities planned for the Global Day of Mobilisation and Action in 2008.
Our website is the main connection tool for all participants in the decentralized WSF 2008. Invite your friends to join and contribute through action spaces, present your action, upload your videos, publish news and connect your actions with those of others.
Comcast has given us a glimpse of a world without Net
Neutrality, and it's a chilling sight.
An investigation by the Associated Press caught the
cable giant secretly inspecting online communications
and crippling users' ability to share information with
one another.
On 11-1-07, Free Press filed a legal complaint
demanding that the FCC take action to protect the free
flow of information on the Internet. By joining our
complaint, you can help stop Comcast and other
gatekeepers.
The MBTA on October 10th started broadcasting
continuous [corporate] radio ads and "music" at South
Station, North Station and Airport Station with a plan
to expand the continuous radio broadcast system-wide
after Thanksgiving. This will adversely monopolize
this historic First Amendment public space:
1. Curtail and Interfere with Conversations of all
MBTA patrons
2. Curtail and Interfere with Reading of all MBTA
patrons
3. Target ads to all School Children who use the MBTA
4. Eliminate Subway Musician Performances
We, the undersigned, support the diversity of
expression of patrons and artists in the subway. We
petition Governor Deval Patrick and Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority Board of Directors to stop
the T-Radio broadcast.
Congress will be debating war appropriations again, and the Senate - as the Republicans have routinely demonstrated - has the power to filibuster any appropriations it doesn't like. A filibuster in the Senate would effectively force an end to the war. So if each of us does our part in exposing the filibuster option, then we can apply tremendous pressure on our senators, the likes of which they haven't felt in decades!
Petition to sign.
"We do not support construction of new nuclear
reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis.
Available renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner
strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than
nuclear power."
Doris Tennant and Ellen Lubell (of Newton) are representing a Guantanamo prisoner pro bono, so they are providing their time at no charge. However, their costs, including their own travel and that of a translator, translator fees, and Freedom of Information Act requests, are running at least $20,000 for this year, and will likely continue at that same pace or more. Most of the other attorneys who are representing Guantanamo detainees are members of large law firms that can cover these types of expenses, but in their case the two of them are the firm.
If you would like to make a contribution to help them defray costs, it would be much appreciated. Please make your check payable to "Tennant Lubell Detainee Fund." Your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible, but they promise to put it to good use to help provide fundamental legal rights to a man who remains in indefinite detention.
Doris Tennant, Esq.
Tennant Lubell, LLC
288 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Newton, MA 02460
617-969-9610, X 101
Fax: 617-969-9611
Action Alert: The Alliance for Democracy warns us to oppose Holt bill (HR 811). We call for a ban on the use of Direct Recording Electronic voting equipment (DREs) and to require the use of paper ballots.
AFD urgently calls upon all citizens to call their Representatives to demand amendments to rectify the defects in HR 811, specifically to ban the use of DRE voting machines and require the use of paper ballots in all elections in the United States.
1. DRE systems must be banned.
2. All voting must be by voter marks on a paper ballot.
3. All recounts must be by hand counting of paper ballots.
4. All elections must have a statistically significant verification.
5. All recounts at every level of government must be by hand counting.
6. All software must be subject to public disclosure.
7. No connections to the Internet should be allowed.
8. All election records should be available to the public.
Go to for on-line information and a link to a printable flier.
A call for all people of conscience
to donate to its Lebanon Palestine Emergency Relief Fund.
All donations will be used to help Palestinian and
Lebanese victims of the latest Israeli aggression.
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail link
We are happy to report that a new shipment of olive oil has arrived. The most recent harvest was excellent and per case prices are less than they were last year.
As with our previous shipments, this oil comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees, PARC, a non-profit, non- governmental organization in the West Bank. PARC works with 15 different small cooperatives. This shipment comes from the Mazare' Al Nubani/ Ramallah and the Kufr Thulth, Jayous and Azzoun cooperatives. The labels are printed in the West Bank and the oil is bottled at the PARC bottling facility in Aram. PARC is a member of the International Fair Trade Association, and is the only Palestinian organization that has received the Palestine Standards Institution certification for its olive oil.
OLIVE BRANCH OLIVE OIL DONATIONS
As with past shipments, a percentage of the proceeds of olive oil sales is donated back to organizations working directly with Palestinians. Past recipients include:
Palestinian Medical Relief Society Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Birthright Unplugged American Friends Service Committee-Middle East Crisis Fund American Near East Refugee Aid Olive Harvest Coalition Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees Ibdaa Cultural Center International Solidarity Movement US OMEN Ta’ayush
THE IMPORTANCE OF OLIVE OIL TO THE PALESTINIAN ECONOMY
Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family’s annual income. Olive trees, many of which are hundreds of years old, hold a deep significance in the culture and economy of the Holy Land. As the political and economic situation in Palestine continues to deteriorate, with increased restrictions on the mobility of people, goods and services, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.
PARC assists at every stage of the olive oil production process, from helping farmers to reclaim rocky land, conserve water and implement sensible environmental practices (like re-cropping, dry-land farming and recycling of waste materials) to setting up regional labs for farmers to test their olive oil. PARC strictly monitors the quality of the oil, testing and re-testing it at its main laboratory to ensure that it meets all specifications. Extra-virgin olive oil comes from the first pressing of the olives, contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil.
Palestinian farmers traditionally care for their trees without the use of pesticides or sprays. PARC is currently working with international agricultural organizations to obtain organic certification for its olive oil, which should be finalized in the next few months. Because both light and heat are known enemies of olive oil, Olive Branch Olive Oil comes in a dark green glass bottle that is optimal for storage.
Available in 750ml bottles, by the case (12 bottles, $145), or more.
For ordering and other info, please email us at palestinebostonoliveoil@yahoo.com or call Susie at 781-648-6307.
Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.
Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.
Southeast corner of Rt 27 and 30 (nearest to Brooks Pharmacy).
Come for all or part. Bring a candle, lantern, or flashlight.
Organizer: Sandy Coy.
Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#
Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston
listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.
Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.
In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.