Baltimore Activist Alert August 16 – 18, 2014

Baltimore Activist Alert August 16 – 18, 2014

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com. If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.

Tune into the Maryland Progressive Blog at http://mdprogblog.org.

1] Books, buttons & stickers
2] Web site for info on federal legislation
3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists
4] Buy coffee through HoCoFoLa
5] Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity – through Aug. 31
6] Gaza discussion – Aug. 16
7] Farewell to Mary Benns Gresh – Aug. 16
8] Learn about Ubuntu – Aug. 17
9] Peace and Pancakes – Aug. 17
10] Support Gaza vigil– Aug. 17
11] Workshop on alternative instrument building – Aug. 17
12] Pentagon Vigil – Aug. 18
13] Marc Steiner on WEAA – Aug. 18 – Aug. 22
14] Pledge of Resistance/Fund Our Communities meeting – Aug. 18
15] Book talk “Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” – Aug. 18
16] Philadelphia Peace Vigil – Aug. 19
17] No Drone Research at JHU – Aug. 19
18] See the film “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One”– Aug. 19
-----
1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Donate your books to Max. Call him at 410-366-1637.

2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR]. It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed. It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq. To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski at Verizon dot net. Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe. It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing. To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to mobuszewski at Verizon dot net.

4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale. For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.

Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month. Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered. Send it to Francine Sheppard at 5639B, Harpers Farm Rd., Columbia 21044. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Francine at 410-992-7679 or FrancineMSW@aol.com.

5] – See the exhibit Human, Soul & Machine: The Coming Singularity, which delves into the various ways technology affects lives through the perspective of inventors, futurists and 40 plus visionary artists. The intent is to bring new thoughts on artificial intelligence, robotics, genetics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, and big data, and you can see it through August 31 at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Call 410-244-1900. Go to http://avam.org. A ticket costs $20.

6] – On Sat., Aug. 16 from 3 to 5:30 PM at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Ave. NW, WDC, the Nation Magazine Discussion Group will meet to discuss the situation in Gaza. The fact that there are different narratives in a conflict is not surprising. What is surprising is how deeply the different narratives have divided the U.S. Jewish community in trying to help resolve this tragic crisis by getting the US to put pressure on Israel to change its relationship of domination over its Palestinian neighbors. Contact Bob Griss, coordinator, at 703-944-2433.

7] – You are invited to attend a wine and cheese-plus Farewell Reception for Mary Benns Gresh on Sat., Aug. 16 from 5 to 8 PM at the home of Sharon and Cindy, 115 Springside Drive, Timonium, MD 21093. Community activist, key organizer of the anti-apartheid movement during the 1980’s, treasured paraprofessional in the Baltimore City Public Schools, voter registrar par excellence, mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, comrade, Mary will be leaving Baltimore to live with her granddaughter in North Carolina at the beginning of September. Help give Mary a warm send-off. RSVP at 443-604-2298.

A $15 donation for the People’s World Online, Mary’s favorite online paper, will be requested at the door. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Checks can be made out to The People’s World or to Longview Publishers. If you cannot make the Farewell Party but would like to contribute, send your contribution to People’s World, c/o Cindy Farquhar, 115 Springside Drive, Timonium, MD 21093.

8] - Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 AM to noon. On Sun., Aug. 17, hear about Ubuntu, “Socially Responsible Software.” It is an open source operating system developed on a collaborative/Wiki basis which makes an ideal replacement for Windows XP. Hear how it works and what programs are available. Ubuntu and open source software are developed by professionals and amateurs to promote computer usage and literacy. It is mainly used as the operating system for low cost and older computers distributed in third world countries to help educate children and improve the lives of the poor. Open source software is application software with the same mission. The idea is to distribute capable software for free or very low cost to everyone. Open source software is often referred to as “free” software not because of its price but because the source code is available to everyone. The “free” refers to freedom because the source code isn’t owned as intellectual property. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

9] - Join the Kadampa Meditation Center for Peace and Pancakes on Sundays at 10:30 AM at KMC Maryland, 2937 North Charles St. All are invited to participate in guided meditation and chant praying for world peace. There will be a talk based on Buddhist thought followed by brunch. Call 410- 243-3837. Brunch is $5.

10] – Can you attend a silent vigil for Gaza on Sun., Aug. 17 at Park Heights Ave. and Slade Ave. , Baltimore? Show your opposition to Israel’s violence in Gaza, and call to end the occupation. Stand at the intersection on the grass from 11 AM to 1 PM. RSVP to rjochs@comcast.net. Bring signs. Here are suggestions: stop occupation, justice for Palestine, stop massacre or stop US arms & aid to Israel. You can park in the lot at Baltimore Hebrew Synagogue.

11] – The Flor Veinte Collective presents Amplified on Sun., Aug. 17 at 3 PM in the Free School Classroom at Red Emma's Bookstore Cafe, 30 W. North Ave., Baltimore 21201. This is a workshop on alternative instrument building, improvisation and performance for womyn, trans* and gender non-conforming musicians. Amplified is led by Regina Larre Campuzano and Valerie Perczek, and through this workshop, Flor Veinte seeks to enhance the role of traditionally underrepresented voices in music, by offering a two hour program which covers basic electronics, improvisation, movement, and creative writing. RSVP to florveintecollective@gmail.com. Call 443-602-7585. Go to http://www.redemmas.org.

12] -- There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Mon., Aug. 18, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649. The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro. By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr., and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

13] – The Marc Steiner Show airs Monday through Friday from 10 to noon on WEAA 88.9 FM, The Voice of the Community, or online at www.weaa.org. The call-in number is 410-319-8888, and comments can also be sent by email to steinershow@gmail.com. All shows are also available as podcasts at www.steinershow.org.

14] – The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore usually meets on Mondays at 7:30 PM, and the meetings take place at Max’s residence. The next meeting will be on Mon., Aug. 18. The proposed agenda will include the appeal of the conviction of the CIA Five, anti-drone activities, including the arraignment of the NSA Three and getting a drone resolution passed in Baltimore’s city council, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, bigotry on the border, Gaza, and the farewell to Mary Benns Gresh. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net for directions.

15] – Landrum Bolling will speak about his new book “Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” and do a book signing on Mon., Aug. 18 at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA), 4444 Arlington Blvd., corner of George Mason Drive and Route 50, Arlington, VA. The Northern Virginia Chapter of UU's for Justice in the Middle East are sponsoring this talk. According to Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., former president, Foundation for Middle East Peace, Bolling's book "breaks new and controversial ground on advocating a permanent solution to the conflict. It commands attention."

Bolling is a political scientist who has taught at Brown University and Beloit and Earlham Colleges; president of Earlham for 15 years, he also has been a war correspondent, headed the Lilly Endowment and the Council on Foundations, served as Rector of Tantur, the Vatican's ecumenical center near Jerusalem, and for the past 18 years has been Director-at-Large for Mercy Corps' international work. The recipient of over 30 honorary doctorates, Landrum Bolling's deep Quaker faith has led to a lifelong quest to help bring about peace in the Holy Land. In pursuit of this goal Bolling worked with many of the political leaders in the Middle East and served as an unofficial interlocutor between President Carter and Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

16] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is Aug. 19. Call 215-426-0364.

17] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. Join this ongoing vigil on August 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-366-1637.

18] – On Tues., Aug. 19 from 7 to 9 PM at Bloombars, 3222 11th St. NW, join BloomBars and DC Moving Pictures for a groundbreaking experimental film “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One” (1968, 75 min.). This is a 1968 experimental docu-drama film written, directed, and conceived by African-American film director and documentarian William Greaves. Go to http://tinyurl.com/symbio-trailer. In his one-of-a-kind fiction/documentary hybrid director William Greaves presides over a beleaguered film crew in New York’s Central Park, leaving them to try to figure out what kind of movie they’re making. A couple enacts a break-up scenario over and over, a documentary crew films a crew filming the crew, locals wander casually into the frame: the project defies easy description. Yet this wildly innovative sixties counterculture landmark remains one of the most tightly focused and insightful movies ever made about making movies.

Although “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One” was never released theatrically, the film is now considered a cult classic. After the screening, there will be an audience discussion lead by Chris Rue, of DC Moving Pictures – a movie screening project dedicated to showcasing great movies and great filmmakers at local spaces in and around the District. The suggested donation is $10. Proceeds support BloomBars. Enjoy free organic popcorn. BloomScreen Indie Film Night is a weekly series of independent and foreign films, accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, experts and other guests. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1494949330752156/?ref=6&ref_notif_type=plan_user_invited.

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs