Upcoming events in the Asheville area

UPCOMING EVENTS

NOW PLAYING: CHASING ICE
Acclaimed National Geographic photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. In Chasing Ice, Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. This is at the Fine Arts Theatre; please see http://www.fineartstheatre.com/ for more information.

03/11/13 to 03/31/13 PARALLEL JOURNEYS: EXHIBIT AT UNCA
“Parallel Journeys: World War II and the Holocaust” tells the stories of dozens of teenagers who were witnesses, participants, and often victims of this brutal conflict. Profiles of well-known teens, not all of whom were heroic, are part of the exhibition. Elie Wiesel (Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner), members of the resistance group the White Rose, and Traudl Junge (Adolf Hitler's secretary) will be included. Lesser-known teens, who survived the concentration camps, hid from the Nazis, led rescue efforts, served as soldiers, remained on the home front, or aided individuals who were targets of Nazi oppression, such as the handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses, and political prisoners, will finally have their stories told. The "Parallel Journeys" exhibit invites visitors to contemplate ways in which their actions can make a difference in the world today. Located in UNCA Karpen Lobby. For more information email dmiles@unca.edu or call 828-232-5024.

03/11/13 MOVE TO AMEND MEETING
This meeting will be held at Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville. Time is 7 PM. Contact Lew at patrie.wncpsr@main.nc.us for more information.

03/12/13 TALK ON IRAN, ISRAEL AND THE BOMB
Paul J. Magnarella directs the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Warren Wilson College, Asheville, N.C. He will speak to the current situation with Iran, Israel and The Bomb. This will be at 7:30 PM at UNCA’s Reuter Center.

03/13/13 TALK ON IRAN, ISRAEL AND THE BOMB
Paul J. Magnarella directs the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Warren Wilson College, Asheville, N.C. He will speak to the current situation with Iran, Israel and The Bomb. This is part of the Great Decisions Lecture Series at Blue Ridge Community College.  Time is 10 AM to Noon and location is BRCC Thomas Auditorium. Cost is $10 per person. An additional program will be from 3 to 4:30 PM at Brevard College’s Myers Dining Hall. Registration required, call 884-8251.

03/13/13 CO-CREATING THE NEW ECONOMY IN WNC BY TRANSITION ASHEVILLE
On Wednesday, March 13th, at 7:00pm, in the community room of EarthFare (Westgate), there will be a meeting of people interested in Co-creating the New Economy in WNC. Visit the facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/wncneweconomy  to sign up for the March 13th meeting.

03/13/13 ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS
WNC Alliance Director Julie Mayfield will be speaking about the potential forced merger of the water system. North Carolina’s General Assembly is about to take the unprecedented step of seizing a municipal-run water system from a city, which in this case has owned and operated it for more than 100 years. Socializing begins at 5:30 PM; programming at 6:00 PM. Location is Olive or Twist Restaurant and Bar, 81 Broadway Street in Asheville.

03/14/13 THE MOST IMPORTANT ERA IN US HISTORY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
Dr. James Loewen will present a lecture on the subject presented above at 7 PM at Rhodes-Robinson Lecture Hall, Room 125 at UNCA.  Dr. Loewen is the author of the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me:  Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.” For more information, please call 828.251.6304 or email amartine@unca.edu.

03/14/13 CRITICAL CONVERSATION ON AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE IN NC
Please join us as WNCAP hosts a Community Forum on Medicaid expansion and the Insurance Exchange, March 14, 2013, at 6 PM in the Mountain View Room at the Sherrill Center, UNCA. Medicaid expansion would increase health care access to 500,000 working poor; provide reimbursement to hospitals for uncompensated care; and create an estimated 23,000 health care industry jobs. Despite these figures, NC lawmakers have voted to block Medicaid expansion. Find out what we can do now. https://www.facebook.com/events/275744815891441/?ref=22

03/14/13 ETHICAL INVESTING
Lenoir-Rhyne College will host a program on ethical investing and socially responsible investment strategies. Info and registration go to www.asheville.lr.edu or call 407-4263. Time is 7 PM and location is 36 Montford Avenue in Asheville.

03/15/13 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MEETING
The next WNC PSR monthly meeting will be at a private home near the VA Hospital. Brown Bag lunch at noon with meeting from 12:30 to 2 PM. Everyone is welcome. Please go to www.wncpsr.org  for more information, which includes how to get there and other details.

03/16/13 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
This group will hold a protest against Soda Stream, which is made in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Time is Noon to 1 PM at Vance Monument. To confirm, or for further information, call 669-2073.

03/17/13 THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT
There will be a FREE local all day event held in Asheville, NC at the Hi-Fi Café (45 S. French Broad Ave.) on Sunday March 17th, 2013 from 10am to 5pm as part of the annual global ZDay 2013 campaign. Local Zeitgeist activists will be present to give talks and hold Q&As. Contact Gary at gkentnc@gmail.com or call 828-675-8750 for more information.

03/17/13 ETHICAL SOCIETY OF ASHEVILLE PLATFORM MEETING
“What We Live For” will be presented by Bart Worden, Executive Director of the American Ethical Union, at the Sunday, March 17th meeting of the Ethical Society of Asheville. In 1876 the founder of the first Society for Ethical Culture, Felix Adler, said the following in his inaugural address: “There is a great and crying evil in modern society. It is want of purpose. It is that narrowness of vision which shuts out the wider vistas of the soul. It is the absence of those sublime emotions which, wherever they arise, do not fail to exalt and consecrate existence.” Time is 2 – 3:30 PM and location is Asheville Friends Meeting at 227 Edgewood Road in Asheville. Free, open to the public.

03/19/13 TRANSITION ASHEVILLE PERMACULTURE POTLUCKS
Each month in 2013, a different local teacher will present new permaculture principle. Time is 5:30 PM and the location is Community Action Opportunities at 25 Gaston Street in Asheville. This month’s principle is “Obtain a Yield” with Andrew Goodheart Brown.

03/20/13 OPENING RECEPTION AND KEYNOTE FOR “PARALLEL JOURNEYS”
This was rescheduled from 03/06/13, due to bad weather. Opening Reception is from 5:30-6:45 PM at UNC Asheville Karpen Lobby. Opening Keynote is at 7 PM at Highsmith Student Union Alumni Hall. “How the Holocaust Shaped My Life” is the topic with Dr. Walter Ziffer speaking. From March 4 - 31, “Parallel Journeys: World War II and the Holocaust” tells the stories of dozens of teenagers who were witnesses, participants, and often victims of this brutal conflict. Profiles of well-known teens, not all of whom were heroic, are part of the exhibition. Elie Wiesel (Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner), members of the resistance group the White Rose, and Traudl Junge (Adolf Hitler's secretary) will be included.  For more information email dmiles@unca.edu or call 828-232-5024.

03/22/13 CELEBRATING WORLD WATER DAY BY TRANSITION ASHEVILLE
World Water Day will be celebrated in Asheville at the Wesley Grant Southside Community Center. Time will be 11 AM to 6:30 PM. More information on the “Fix a Leak” program below.

03/26/13 MOVIE AT UNCA
"On Coal River" takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into the Coal River Valley of West Virginia—a community surrounded by lush mountains and a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a David-and-Goliath struggle for the future of their valley, their children, and life as they know it. Local filmmakers Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood will be available for a Q&A after the screening. See the trailer at oncoalriver.com. Time is 7 PM and location is Highsmith Union Grotto.

03/26/13 UNITED FOR MARRIAGE VIGIL
Join us for an Asheville vigil to call for full LGBT equality. Vigils will be taking place across the country as the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Prop 8 and DOMA cases on March 26 and 27. Time is 7 PM at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville. Hosted by Campaign for Southern Equality and cosponsored by Youth OutRight, Western NC Citizens to End Institutional Bigotry, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, and Land of the Sky UCC. Childcare provided.

03/27/13 MOUNTAIN HERO: JUNIOR WALK
From living with contaminated water in his own home as a child, to being kicked out of the house for speaking out against the coal company, Junior Walk's path to activism was not an easy one. His courage and clear voice calling for change has been widely recognized. Today Walk works with Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, and RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival) to end mountaintop removal mining. He travels the country with the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation educating people about the long-term environmental, health and community degradation caused by coal mining. He was a recipient of the prestigious Brower Youth Awards in 2011. The late renowned environmentalist David Brower famously said, “Tough mountains build bold leaders.”  Junior Walk is one of the many courageous and bold leaders whom the Appalachian Mountains have built. Time is 7 PM and location is Highsmith Union, Alumni Hall.

04/01/13 SPEAKERS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
The Academia and Activism Speaker Series will have a presentation by Alan Jenkins at 7 PM in Jensen Lecture Hall. For more information call 771-2083.

04/01/13 GREEN PARTY MEETING
The Buncombe County GREEN Party's business meeting is open to the public. It is held on the first Monday of the month. Time is 6 PM and location is the Fortune Building (upstairs), at 729 Haywood Rd., West Asheville. Parking in back and on the street. Contact Ronald @ 828-LUCK-180 or Larry @ 828-225-4347 for more information.

04/02/13 MOVIE ON FRACKING FROM CLEAN WATER NC
This evening there will be a potluck snack and a presentation on fracking in North Carolina.  It is called “Message from Marcellus” and sponsored by Clean Water NC. Location is Asheville Friends Meeting at 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville. Time is 7 PM. Free, donations accepted.

04/03/13 SIERRA CLUB MEETING
Topic is North Carolina’s energy future, climate change and energy efficiency. Time is 7 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville (corner of Charlotte & Edwin). Contact: judymattox@sbcglobal.net, or 828-683-2176 for more information.

04/04/13 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville. VFP Chapter 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

04/04/13 to 04/07/13 CARING FOR GOD’S CREATION
Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, will be joining Caring for Creation 2013 via SKYPE. Over 20 environmental experts will provide leadership at the 2013 event. Join us at Lake Junaluska to discover your residential and faith communities' role in environmental care. Visit www.lakejunaluska.com/caring-for-creation for more information or to register.

04/04/13 ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT FILM SERIES
This will be at the Fine Arts Theatre, and “The Gatekeepers” will be shown at 7 PM. Film will be followed by a discussion, and regular ticket prices will apply. Go to http://www.fineartstheatre.com/ for more information. This is sponsored by UNCA Hillel, Belk Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities, Jewish Community Center, and Beth HaTephila.

04/06/13 APRIL ACTION AT THE Y12 NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX
www.orepa.org

04/06/13 FUNDRAISER FOR START FROM SEED
Start From Seed, our volunteer doula program, presents an evening with Ina May Gaskin and the screening of 'Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives,' at Ferguson Auditorium on the campus of AB Tech. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with exhibits, film starts at 6:30 and will be followed at about 8 p.m. by a 90-minute panel discussion that will include Ina May Gaskin and Stephen Gaskin, midwives, doctors, and other local birth professionals. Tickets are $25 and all proceeds go to Start From Seed. To buy tickets, visit birthstoryasheville.eventbrite.com.

04/06/13 WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL
The Western North Carolina Alliance invites the community to the 2013 Wild & Scenic Film Festival, featuring a selection of 14 short films that put our work–and yours–into the broader environmental and social context and serves to remind us that we’re participants in a global movement for a more wild and scenic world. Free raffle ticket with entry. Time is 7 to 10 PM. Location is Fine Arts Theatre. For ticket prices and raffle information, go to http://www.fineartstheatre.com/.

04/08/13 to 04/10/13 APRIL DAYS OF ACTION IN DC FOR THE SOA WATCH
http://www.soaw.org/take-action/april

04/09/13 TALK:  MORAL LUCK
Dr Jonathan Shay, psychiatrist at the Boston VA hospital and author of many books on veterans' experiences with PTSD will be visiting UNC Asheville to give three talks from April 9th-11th. This one will be at 7:30 PM in the Mountain View Room at the Sherrill Center at UNCA. For more information, contact Sophie Mills, Professor, UNCA at 828-251-6296.

04/10/13 TALK: THEATRE OF WAR: COMMUNALIZATION OF TRAUMA THROUGH ARTS
Dr Jonathan Shay, psychiatrist at the Boston VA hospital and author of many books on veterans' experiences with PTSD will be visiting UNC Asheville to give three talks from April 9th-11th. This one will be at 7:30 PM in the Alumni Hall in the Highsmith Center at UNCA. For more information, contact Sophie Mills, Professor, UNCA at 828-251-6296.

04/11/13 TALK:  OPEN DISCUSSION ON SLEEP, COMMUNITY, OTHER HOBBY HORSES
Dr Jonathan Shay, psychiatrist at the Boston VA hospital and author of many books on veterans' experiences with PTSD will be visiting UNC Asheville to give three talks from April 9th-11th. This one will be at 7:30 PM in the Mountain View Room at the Sherrill Center at UNCA. For more information, contact Sophie Mills, Professor, UNCA at 828-251-6296.

04/15/13 SPEAKERS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
The Academia and Activism Speaker Series will have a presentation by Nithya Raman at 7 PM in Jensen Lecture Hall. For more information call 771-2083.

04/18/13 ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT FILM SERIES
This will be at the Alumni Hall at UNCA. Time is 7 PM. The movie is “5 Broken Cameras” and will be followed by a discussion. Free. For more information email hillel@unca.edu. This is sponsored by UNCA Hillel, Belk Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities, Jewish Community Center, and Beth HaTephila.

04/18/13 DANCE LIKE THERE’S NOBODY WATCHING
This is a fundraiser for the WNC Health Alliance. Our third annual dance party with live music, raffle items and more. Starts at 6 PM and the location is Altamont Brewing Company at 1042 Haywood Road in Asheville. Suggested minimum donation of $12

04/26/13 SISTER PREJEAN SPEAKING – AND THE PLAY “DEAD MAN WALKING”
Sister Prejean will be speaking about abolishing the death penalty. Time is 2:30 to 3:30 PM at Lipinski Auditorium, UNCA. The movie “Dead Man Walking” was based on her life. Her talk will be called “Dead Man Walking – The Journey Continues”. Free. At 8 PM, there will be a presentation of the play called “Dead Man Walking” at Lipinski Auditorium. No information on cost, if any.

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ONGOING EVENTS
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MONDAY

TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville.

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square (Asheville) on the first Friday of the month.
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the City Hall in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard.

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ACTIONS AND READINGS
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Transition Asheville and many other local businesses and organizations are supporting the "Fix a Leak Week" program put together by Warren Wilson College.  This is part of the annual national campaign of the Environmental Protection Agency to identify and repair plumbing leaks and reduce water consumption.  The final celebration will be held at the Center at 285 Livingston Street, from 11 am til 6:30 pm.  Transition Asheville will be demonstrating and facilitating the use of A-frame levels to mark contours, plus making and having A-frame levels available for purchase.  We will have a 3-D topographic map and hope to install some infiltration basins around existing vegetation.  We may help give tours of the facility and even have a poster about composting and the watershed finished!

Water conservation kits will be given away at these pick-up locations, dates and times:
-Warren Wilson College Plumbing Dept; 18th–22nd, 9:00AM-4:30PM
-Asheville GreenWorks; 18th-22nd, 11:00AM-3:00PM
-Little Green Frog; 18th, 20th, 22nd, 11:00AM-4:00 PM
-PlumbSmart Technologies, Inc; 18th-22nd, 9:00AM-5:00PM
-Shiloh Community Center; 18th, 21st, 3:00PM-8:00PM
-Wesley Grant Community Center; 22nd, 11:00AM-6:30PM
Come out and help us mark the importance of water and educate residents in the need to provide for changes in climate and the importance of providing for and using local resources!  To learn more, visit http://www.fixaleakweek.org/.  Contact Sherry at si726@aol.c if you want to help out.

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Stop US military "aid" to Israel

The Dixie Chicks were heroines!

God bless the Dixie Chicks.  They spoke up when it was important, and they were the ones who were moral and good and just. To anyone who attacked them: you are a mass murderer in my eyes.

It was ten years ago that the Dixie Chicks spoke out. I will always admire them for doing that.

Gun deaths vs number of guns in the population

In honor of Hugo Chavez

What he did for the poor, and the children, of his country is simply amazing.

How ALEC works....

In prison for a poem.....

The poem below came to me from a Code Pink email. This man is in Qatar, and had been sentenced to life in prison for this poem, per Code Pink. This sentence has been reduced to 15 years. Code Pink requested this action:  Please call the Qatar Embassy at (202) 274-1600 (press 1 four times to leave a message with the ambassador's office). Ask them to set the poet al-Ajami free.

We are all Tunisians (Tunisian Jasmine)

Mr. Prime Minister Mohamed al-Ghannoushi
You don’t hold constitutional power
We don’t wax nostalgic for Ben Ali or his times
For us that’s past history

The dictatorship of a despotic and oppressive regime
Against which the people have raised their revolutionary voice
We only criticize the disgrace and the horror
And when we praise somebody it’s only because of our personal convictions

Oh revolutionary hail the struggle with the blood of the people
Carve the value of rebellion in the soul of the free
And tell those who are holding their shroud
That every victory bears its ordeals

Ah, when shall it be the turn of that country whose foolish king
Believes he can rely on the American military
Ah, when shall it be the turn of the country whose people are empty bellied
While its government time and again praises the growth of finance?

Ah, when shall it be the turn of the country where you go to sleep a citizen
And you wake up stateless the next morning?
Ah, when shall it be the turn of that repressive and hereditary regime?
Until when shall you remain a slave to selfishness?
Until when shall the people remain unaware of its value
And fail to choose its own government?
Enough with tyrannical regimes!

Tell the one who torment his people
That tomorrow someone else will take his place
He should not rest assured that the country belongs to him or his offspring
Because the country belongs to the people and so does glory

Join your voices in a chorus for a single destiny
We are all Tunisian in the face of repression
Governments and Arab governments
Are all- without exception
A gang of thieves.

And there is a question that rings obsessively in the minds of those who wonder
But shall never be answered by the official sources:
If we import all kinds of things from the West
Why can’t we import freedom and the rule of law?

Putting weapons in schools is vastly stupid

For starters, Columbine had an armed guard - he was checking out the kids in the smoking area when that massacre started. Having an armed guard on duty did not stop those killers from planning and executing their crime. And at Virginia Tech, they had a police department right on campus.

But here are a few other examples of what can go wrong when you have adults walking around with guns:

#1. Leave gun unattended in the bathroom.

'Firearms instructor' Hired As School Guard Leaves Handgun in Student Bathroom

#2. Forget about gun in purse, and then allow access for a student to steal the gun.

Jacksonville High Student Steals Gun From Teacher, Both Arrested

#3. School janitor manages to shoot himself during training to carry a gun at the school where he works.

Van ISD Employee Shot at Handgun Training Class

Of course, there is also the problem of having adults in authority who are pedophiles.  Allowing them a gun will only make it much easier to rape a child and keep the child quiet.

But the "more guns will make us safer" crowd are not capable of thinking this through rationally. They only know that a gun makes THEM feel less scared, so they conclude that their fears are telling them the truth. The truth is they are PISS-YOUR-PANTS-SCARED of damn near everything and all the guns in the world will not change that.

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week

UPCOMING EVENTS

03/04/13 to 03/31/13 PARALLEL JOURNEYS: EXHIBIT AT UNCA
From March 4 - 31, “Parallel Journeys: World War II and the Holocaust” tells the stories of dozens of teenagers who were witnesses, participants, and often victims of this brutal conflict. Profiles of well-known teens, not all of whom were heroic, are part of the exhibition. Elie Wiesel (Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner), members of the resistance group the White Rose, and Traudl Junge (Adolf Hitler's secretary) will be included. Lesser-known teens, who survived the concentration camps, hid from the Nazis, led rescue efforts, served as soldiers, remained on the home front, or aided individuals who were targets of Nazi oppression, such as the handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses, and political prisoners, will finally have their stories told. The "Parallel Journeys" exhibit invites visitors to contemplate ways in which their actions can make a difference in the world today. Located in UNCA Karpen Lobby. For more information email dmiles@unca.edu or call 828-232-5024.

03/04/13 GREEN PARTY MEETING
The Buncombe County GREEN Party's business meeting is open to the public. It is held on the first Monday of the month. Time is 6 PM and location is the Fortune Building (upstairs), at 729 Haywood Rd., West Asheville. Parking in back and on the street. Contact Ronald @ 828-LUCK-180 or Larry @ 828-225-4347 for more information

03/04/13 WNC ALLIANCE HAPPY HOUR
Where: 5 Walnut Wine Bar (5 Walnut St, Asheville) When: Monday, March 4th 6-8 PM.
This will be a great place to get more info on upcoming events and how you can do more to fight climate disruption locally. Join the local climate movement.

03/04/13 THOMAS WOLFE AND RACE RELATIONS
Darin Waters will discuss the role of race relations in Wolfe’s “The Child by Tigar” and “Welcome to our city” Time is 6:30 PM and will be held at the YMI at 39 S. Market Street. Free. For more info, call 2504740.

03/04/13 ORGANIZING FOR PICKETING OF DUKE ENERGY PLANS
ON Monday 4 pm those interested in participating in picketing outside the county courthouse at the Progress Energy Rate hike hearing on Tuesday afternoon are meeting to plan our action. The purpose of the action is to protest Progress' proposed rate hike, support the testimony of the public inside the courthouse and to mount a challenge to the City's limitations on free speech in public places. We will meet in McGuire Park which is area halfway between Vance monument and city Hall. Please come, and bring a support person if you can. Call Steve if you need more information at 828-777-7816.

03/05/13 PUBLIC HEARING ON DUKE ENERGY PLANS
The Asheville Public Hearing by the NC Utilities Commission will be held at the Buncombe County Courthouse in the basement in District Courtroom 1. Time is 7 PM. Progress Energy/Duke is proposing a 14% rate hike, and their business plan does not include wind, solar or expansion of energy efficiency.

03/05/13 PROTEST PRIOR TO THE DUKE ENERGY PUBLIC HEARING
Please meet at 5:30 at the Courthouse prior to the meeting. This is organized by the Non-Violent Direct Action Group of Occupy Asheville. Contact Jim at 828-777-4433 for more information.

03/05/13 ASHEVILLE TRANSIT COMMISSION MEETING
The regular meeting of Asheville Transit Commission will be at 3:30 PM at City Hall in the first floor conference room. For more information go to www.ridetheart.com

03/05/13 MARCH ON UBS
In collaboration with Mountain Justice Spring Break, the UBS: Hands Off Appalachia! Campaign is holding six days of successive actions across Southern Appalachia aimed at UBS and their funding of mountaintop removal coal mining. Come support and participate in the Asheville branch of actions. There will be street theater. Meet at 11:30 AM at 138 Charlotte Street in Asheville. More information about the groups sponsoring this event: http://mountainjustice.org/ and http://handsoffappalachia.wordpress.com/.

03/06/13 SIERRA CLUB MEETING
Topic is North Carolina’s energy future, clean energy solutions and renewables. Time is 7 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville (corner of Charlotte & Edwin). Contact: judymattox@sbcglobal.net, or 828-683-2176 for more information.

03/06/13 OPENING RECEPTION AND KEYNOTE FOR “PARALLEL JOURNEYS”
See description of this exhibit above under 03/04/13. Opening Reception is from 5:30-6:45 PM at UNC Asheville Karpen Lobby. Opening Keynote is at 7 PM at Highsmith Student Union Alumni Hall. “How the Holocaust Shaped My Life” is the topic with Dr. Walter Ziffer speaking. For more information email dmiles@unca.edu or call 828-232-5024.

03/07/13 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville. VFP Chapter 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

03/08/13 ASHEVILLE RISING CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
They plan on walking or standing (flash mob) in downtown Asheville with signs calling for the ERA to be ratified. They will meet at 5:30 PM at College and Charlotte Streets and move to downtown areas. Check here for updated information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333843030062908/

03/11/13 MOVE TO AMEND MEETING
This meeting will be held at Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville. Time is 7 PM. Contact Lew at patrie.wncpsr@main.nc.us for more information.

03/13/13 TALK ON IRAN, ISRAEL AND NUCLEAR PROGRAMS
Paul J. Magnarella directs the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Warren Wilson College, Asheville, N.C. He will speak to the current situation with Iran, Israel and Iran’s nuclear power program. This is part of the Great Decisions Lecture Series at Blue Ridge Community College.  Time is 10 AM to Noon and location is BRCC Thomas Auditorium. Cost is $10 per person.

03/14/13 THE MOST IMPORTANT ERA IN US HISTORY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
Dr. James Loewen will present a lecture on the subject presented above at 7 PM at Rhodes-Robinson Lecture Hall, Room 125 at UNCA.  Dr. Loewen is the author of the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me:  Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.” For more information, please call 828.251.6304 or email amartine@unca.edu.

03/14/13 CRITICAL CONVERSATOIN ON AFFORDABLE CARE IN NC
Please join us as WNCAP hosts a Community Forum on Medicaid expansion and the Insurance Exchange, March 14, 2013, at 6PM in the Mountain View Room at the Sherrill Center, UNCA. Medicaid expansion would increase health care access to 500,000 working poor; provide reimbursement to hospitals for uncompensated care; and create an estimated 23,000 health care industry jobs. Despite these figures, NC lawmakers have voted to block Medicaid expansion. Find out what we can do now.

03/15/13 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MEETING
The next WNC PSR monthly meeting will be at a private home near the VA Hospital. Brown Bag lunch at noon with meeting from 12:30 to 2 PM. Everyone is welcome. Please go to www.wncpsr.org  for more information, which includes how to get there and other details.

03/16/13 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
This group will hold a protest against Soda Stream, which is made in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Time is Noon to 1 PM at Vance Monument. To confirm, or for further information, call 669-2073.

03/17/13 THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT
There will be a FREE local all day event held in Asheville, NC at the Hi-Fi Café (45 S. French Broad Ave.) on Sunday March 17th, 2013 from 10am to 5pm as part of the annual global ZDay 2013 campaign. Local Zeitgeist activists will be present to give talks and hold Q&As. Contact Gary at gkentnc@gmail.com or call 828-675-8750 for more information.

03/21/13 VETERANS FOR PEACE FILM AND DISCUSSION PROGRAM
This will be held at the Courtyard Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Building in the RAD, Asheville. Time is 5:30 PM. Open to the public, donations accepted. The film will be “Bush and Obama: The War on Terror” by Oliver Stone. Call Veterans for Peace at 258-1800 for more information.

03/26/13 MOVIE AT UNCA
"On Coal River" takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into the Coal River Valley of West Virginia—a community surrounded by lush mountains and a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a David-and-Goliath struggle for the future of their valley, their children, and life as they know it. Local filmmakers Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood will be available for a Q&A after the screening. See the trailer at oncoalriver.com. Time is 7 PM and location is Highsmith Union Grotto.

03/27/13 MOUNTAIN HERO: JUNIOR WALK
From living with contaminated water in his own home as a child, to being kicked out of the house for speaking out against the coal company, Junior Walk's path to activism was not an easy one. His courage and clear voice calling for change has been widely recognized. Today Walk works with Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, and RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival) to end mountaintop removal mining. He travels the country with the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation educating people about the long-term environmental, health and community degradation caused by coal mining. He was a recipient of the prestigious Brower Youth Awards in 2011. The late renowned environmentalist and climber David Brower famously said, "Tough mountains build bold leaders." Junior Walk is one of the many courageous and bold leaders whom the Appalachian Mountains have built. Time is 7 PM and location is Highsmith Union, Alumni Hall.

04/01/13 SPEAKERS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
The Academia and Activism Speaker Series will have a presentation by Alan Jenkins at 7 PM in Jensen Lecture Hall. For more information call 771-2083.

04/02/13 MOVIE ON FRACKING FROM CLEAN WATER NC
This evening there will be a potluck snack and a presentation on fracking in North Carolina.  It is called “Message from Marcellus” and sponsored by Clean Water NC. Location is Asheville Friends Meeting at 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville. Time is 7 PM. Free, donations accepted.

04/03/13 SIERRA CLUB MEETING
Topic is North Carolina’s energy future, climate change and energy efficiency. Time is 7 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville (corner of Charlotte & Edwin). Contact: judymattox@sbcglobal.net, or 828-683-2176 for more information.

04/04/13 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville. VFP Chapter 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

04/04/13 to 04/07/13 CARING FOR GOD’S CREATION
Dr. James Hansen, head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, will be joining Caring for Creation 2013 via SKYPE. Over 20 environmental experts will provide leadership at the 2013 event. Join us at Lake Junaluska to discover your residential and faith communities' role in environmental care. Visit www.lakejunaluska.com/caring-for-creation for more information or to register.

04/06/13 APRIL ACTION AT THE Y12 NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX
www.orepa.org

*******************************************
ONGOING EVENTS
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MONDAY

TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 4:30 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville.

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe.

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square (Asheville) on the first Friday of the month.
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the City Hall in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard.

*******************************************
ACTIONS AND READINGS
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Subject: Medicaid Expansion

Hi,

I signed a petition to The North Carolina State House, The North Carolina State Senate, and Governor Pat McCrory which says:

“Accepting Federal money for Medicaid expansion in NC will benefit everyone. It will bring billions of dollars into our economy, create about 23,000 jobs, save money for employers, support our health institutions, and produce a net savings in the budget. More importantly, it will save up to 2,700 lives a year. Please vote to allow Medicaid expansion to move forward.”

Will you sign this petition? Click here:

http://signon.org/sign/medicaid-expansion-3?source=s.em.cp&r_by=181732

Thanks!

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

Promote Solar Energy in North Carolina

Climate change is becoming less of a debate and unfortunately more of a reality. 2012 is now officially the hottest year ever recorded in the continental United States and scientists overwhelmingly agree that the burning of fossil fuels is tied directly to climate change. It's time for North Carolina to get serious about expanding our commitment to clean renewable energy like solar power and to begin to reduce our dependence on oil and natural gas. Expanding our commitment to this form of clean renewable energy would promote competition, create local North Carolina jobs, and allow us to become more energy independent.

Send a message to Governor McCrory below and tell him it's time to make solar energy a priority for North Carolina.


https://secure3.convio.net/nccn/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=809

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

CALLING ALL OF YOU ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS, SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS, OCCUPIERS, PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH AND HUMANITY!!!

We had an amazing time in Charlotte on Thursday night where, in a packed courtroom, we spoke out against Duke Energy's plans for continued dirty and dangerous energy production and for clean renewables and efficiency. Over 90 speakers advocated to send Duke/Progress back to the drawing board including children who were awesome in their eloquence. The hearing lasted from 7p.m. till 1:30 a.m. Many speakers were from Asheville who gave up at least a day of their busy lives to speak truth to power. If you haven't yet, here is your chance. We have momentum. It's so important that you help keep this momentum going. Below is an e-mail from Bill Gupton, coordinator of Consumers Against Rate Hikes. He has set a personal goal to get 25,000 written comments. Can yours please be one?

Below is info on where to send it. You can simply say something like...."As a captive customer of Progress/Duke, I object to their current Integrated Resource Plan which relies on dirty and dangerous coal, nuclear and gas with virtually no plans for increasing efficiency, conservation and clean renewable energy sources. I urge the North Carolina Utilities Commission to reject this IRP and send Duke back to the drawing board."

Thanks so much! For our future...and our children's.....Anne

From: Bill Gupton
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2013 9:47 AM

We Made History! Now is the time to take it to the next level!

I've set a personal goal of getting 25,000 written comments submitted to the NCUC docket. That's not petition signatures, that's 25,000 personal stories. I have no idea if it is possible but I know that if we all work together we CAN make it happen. Will you join me?

Submit your personal written comments opposing the Duke Progress Integrated Resource Plan and calling for the NC Utilities Commission to reject the proposed IRPs! Comments can be directed to statements@ncuc.net with “Docket # E-100 Sub 137″ referenced in the subject line. For snail mail, send your comments to the  North Carolina Utilities Commission, 4325 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC  27699-4325. Don’t delay, do it today!

Will you help to make this happen?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle & Rethink...
Bill Gupton
 


The Constitution of the State of North Carolina
Article XIV, Section 5
“It shall be the policy of this State to conserve and protect its lands and waters for the benefit of all its citizenry, and to this end it shall be a proper function of the State of North Carolina and its political subdivisions to acquire and preserve  park, recreational, and scenic areas, to control and limit the pollution of our air and water, to control excessive noise, and in every other appropriate way to preserve as a part of the common heritage of this State its forests, wetlands, estuaries, beaches, historical sites, open lands, and places of beauty.”

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

A question from an Iraqi child

February 2013 News

FEBRUARY 2013

A TORTURING WORLD – More than 50 countries helped the CIA outsource torture.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/54-countries-rendition/

Map here, along with explanation why South America is not part of the gulag noted above: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34013.htm

Turkey – Suicide bomber attacks US embassy, kills self and a guard. [Blowback for putting Patriot missiles in Turkey. February 1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21293598

Libya – Christians being driven out of Libya. [They have been driven out of Iraq and Syria also, because of US-led violence.] http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Christians-being-driven-out-of-Libya-20130201

Libya – Two years after violent revolt, Libya faces a host of problems – control of it’s borders, smuggling of weapons, and managing regional militias that refuse to disarm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/world/africa/2-years-after-revolt-libya-faces-host-of-problems.html

Egypt – More than 50 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a week of violent protests against the government of President Mohamed Morsi. Law and order have broken down in the Suez Canal town of Port Said, and armed gangs have looted an international hotel chain in the heart of Cairo. [Title is “Can the Egyptian army keep the peace?” Time will tell. February 2] http://www.salon.com/2013/02/01/can_the_egyptian_army_keep_the_peace_partner/

Mali – Timbuktu celebrates as France President visits. Thousands of Timbuktu residents gathered in the main square, used until recently by the zealots for public whippings and amputations, to cheer Hollande, who plunged into the crowd, beaming and clasping Malians' hands as part of a lightning-like visit. [February 2] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mali-france-hollande-20130203,0,2729507.story

Mali – France bombs Mali’s north. [February 3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21314779

Mali – As France drove Islamic militants from cities and towns in northern Mali in recent weeks, corpses of noncombatants also started turning up, many of them Tuareg and Fulani herders, traditionally nomadic people who have roamed the region for centuries, oblivious of borders. Some have been killed by soldiers for having no identification papers.

…. In recent days, Human Rights Watch has reported numerous ethnic reprisal killings by the army, with the danger likely to rise sharply once France withdraws its troops — possibly as early as March — and leaves the Malian military in charge. 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mali-army-violence-20130210,0,4303549.story

Mali – French soldier killed in Mali along with 20 Islamist rebels. [February 19] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/19/french-soldier-killed-mali

Mali – US Air Force crews deliver troops to Mali. US also provides financial and “intelligence” assistance. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/19/183567/us-air-force-crews-deliver-supplies.html

Mali – Thirteen Chadian and 65 Islamist rebel fighters have been killed in fighting in northern Mali. [February 22] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21555898

Mali – Car bomb killed seven at checkpoint in northern Mali town. Checkpoint staffed by group in support of France’s military intervention. [February 26] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21595018

Africa – Heavily armed Mali rebels spreading across Africa. "We are now in the last phase of the operation," Hollande said. [Like hell you are.] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article8419174.ece

Cameroon – Militants kidnap French family. [Retaliation. February 19] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/19/us-cameroon-kidnapping-idUSBRE91I0MA20130219

Niger – US troops arrive in Niger and set up drone base. [They are ‘supporting’ the French fighting in Mali. February 22] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-troops-arrive-in-niger-to-set-up-drone-base/2013/02/22/2a3348c0-7d01-11e2-9e84-3fbb5d2ef2a9_story.html

Syria – Refugees living in appalling conditions. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21297013

Syria – Refugees flee to Jordon under great hardship and terror. [February 3] http://www.channel4.com/news/syrian-refugees-tonight-we-died-many-deaths 

Syria – At least 19 Syrian security forces killed in two car bombings targeting intelligence headquarters. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/20132695511608916.html

Syria – Rebels are forging child soldiers into ‘killing machines’. http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/syrian-rebels-are-forging-child-soldiers-into-killing-machines

Syria – Aleppo Bishop speaks out against Christian kidnappings. http://is.gd/V11Qum

Syria – A bombing at a bus stop near a military factory killed 54 civilian workers. [February 6, 2012] http://gulftoday.ae/portal/63cf0c84-fb62-4d88-8da4-04c7c0ccbc2a.aspx

Syria – Minibus explosion on Syria-Turkey border, killing at least 13. [February 11] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21409661

Syria – Rebels control Syria’s largest dam, controlling water and electricity supplies to wide areas. [February 11] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/rebels-seize-syrias-largest-dam-taking-control-of-water-and-electricity-to-parts-of-country/2013/02/11/d0a659e8-7461-11e2-9889-60bfcbb02149_story.html

Syria – Six Jordanian nationals killed fighting in Syria. [There are reports of Americans, Moroccans, Libyans, Egyptians, Bosnians, and others fighting alongside the rebel forces.]

http://is.gd/1eMpiQ

Syria – Civilians plight is ‘catastrophic’ said the International Committee of the Red Cross. http://is.gd/zAyqtv

Syria – Rocket kills at least 31 people in Aleppo. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21508468

Syria – In ruins. A story of horror and death and destruction. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/19/syria-civilians-military-stalemate

Syria – Pro-Assad militia now key to Syrian government’s war strategy. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/19/183574/pro-assad-militia-now-key-to-syrian.html

Syria – A massive car bomb in Damascus kills at least 53 and injures another 200. [Other reports put the death toll at about 100 dead. This was near the headquarters of the Baath Party, so we can pin this on the rebels. And both Saudi Arabia and Qater are pressing for more aid to these terrorists.] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21529634

Syria – Heavy weaponry being sent to the rebels in the south. “The idea was to get heavier stuff, intensify supply and make sure it goes to the good guys,” said an Arab official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. “If you want to weaken al-Nusra, you do it not by withholding [weapons] but by boosting the other groups.” [And what could possibly go wrong?] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-syria-new-influx-of-weapons-to-rebels-tilts-the-battle-against-assad/2013/02/23/a6bf2bc0-7dfb-11e2-9073-e9dda4ac6a66_story.html

Syria – Unlawful missile attacks kill more than 140 in Aleppo, per Human Rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/26/syria-unlawful-missile-attacks-kill-more-140

Iraq – At least 16 people have been killed as suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a police HQ in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, medical sources say. [Other reports say over 33 were killed. February 3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21311931

Iraq – Suicide bomber kills 22 and injures 44 north of Baghdad. They were members of Sahwa, who are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq. [February 4] http://dawn.com/2013/02/04/suicide-blast-near-baghdad-kills-22-injures-44/

Iraq - Attacks north of Baghdad, including a third suicide blast in as many days, killed at least eight people, officials said, amid a spike in violence that has left almost 70 people dead in all. [February 6] http://gulftoday.ae/portal/4484bc63-227e-499a-a85d-760917664ace.aspx

Iraq – Car bomb attacks in Iraq Shi’ite cities kill at least 34. [February 8]

http://srnnews.townhall.com/news/us/2013/02/08/at-least-21-killed-in-car-bomb-attacks-in-iraq-shiite-cities-sources-n1507966  

Iraq – Spate of attacks in northern Iraqi province prompts authorities to warn return of Al Qaeda. http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2013/02/201325174955528131.html

Iraq – A series of attacks killed eleven more people in Iraq. [February 12]

http://is.gd/kpFr03

Iraq – Serial bombings kill 37 and wound over 100. [February 17] http://gulftoday.ae/portal/c7929413-70ad-4769-a50b-04c13cb336ab.aspx

Iraq – A decade on from the US-led invasion of Iraq, the destruction caused by foreign occupation and the subsequent regime has had a massive impact on Iraqis' daily life – the most disturbing example of which is violence against women. At the same time, the sectarian regime's policy on religious garb is forcing women to retire their hard-earned rights across the spectrum: employment, freedom of movement, civil marriage, welfare benefits, and the right to education and health services. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/25/iraqi-women-american-promise-democracy 

Iraq – Leaflets warn Baghdad resident to leave, stirring fearful memories. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/leaflets-warn-baghdad-residents-to-leave-stirring-fearful-memories-as-sectarian-tensions-rise/2013/02/25/cce1c2dc-7f17-11e2-a671-0307392de8de_story.html

USA – Obama administration lawyers have asserted that it would be lawful to kill a United States citizen if "an informed, high-level official" of the government decided that the target was a ranking figure in Al Qaeda who posed "an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States" and if his capture was not feasible, according to a 16-page document. [It is a provable fact that they killed people with drones that they could have easily captured. February 5]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/politics/us-memo-details-views-on-killing-citizens-in-al-qaeda.html

USA – White House directed the Justice Department to release to the two Congressional Intelligence Committees classified documents discussing the legal justification for killing, by drone strikes and other means, American citizens abroad who are considered terrorists. [Released on February 7] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/us/politics/obama-orders-release-of-drone-memos-to-lawmakers.html

USA – UN report says US is violating human rights of children. http://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights/us-violating-human-rights-children-says-un-committee

USA – Major US newspapers admit to honoring CIA demands. http://rt.com/usa/news/us-cia-drone-saudi-669/  

USA – Human Rights Watch claims hundreds of Afghan children killed by US drones. [US denies it.] http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/05/us-act-protect-children-conflict 

USA – Announces new Iran sanctions. The United States blacklisted Iran’s state broadcasting authority, Internet-policing agencies and a major electronics producer on Wednesday, an action that widened the American sanctions effort to pressure the Iranian government over not only its disputed nuclear program but also over the stifling of domestic dissent and access to information. [I seem to recall a stifling of the Occupy movement, otherwise known as domestic dissent, here in the USA.] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/world/middleeast/united-states-announces-new-iran-sanctions.html?ref=middleeast&_r=1&

USA – At least 20 CIA prisoners still are missing. http://www.propublica.org/article/at-least-20-cia-prisoners-still-missing

USA – U.S. Border Patrol agents in western New York have been rewarded with cash bonuses and Home Depot gift cards, an incentive program that has grown at the same time as has an overly aggressive enforcement culture, a new study states. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130214/NEWS01/302140049/Border-Patrol-in-our-area-aggressive-study-says

USA – Nine arrested at Hancock Air Base for opposing drone war crimes. http://vcnv.org/nine-arrested-at-hancock-air-base-for-opposing-reaper-drone-war-crimes

USA – Senator Graham states that 4,700 people killed by US drones. He does not say how many were “bad guys” and how many were innocent victims. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/graham-drones/

USA – Six leaking tanks at Hanford reservation raise serious concerns about urgency of nuclear cleanup. [Nuclear power will end up killing a lot of people.] http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/states+governor+says+underground+tanks+Hanford+nuclear/8004417/story.html

Pakistan – Militants attacked an isolated army checkpoint in Pakistan's restive northwest today, with at least 35 people killed in the initial assault, subsequent crossfire and a rocket attack on a house. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in response to a US drone strike in neighbouring North Waziristan last month in which two commanders were killed. [February 2] http://is.gd/5bfuKR

Pakistan – At least five persons were killed when a US drone targeted a house in North Waziristan. Sources said that the house was set on fire, as six missiles were fired from the drone. [February 6] http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-86946-US-drone-strikes-kill-five-in-North-Waziristan---

Pakistan – Three killed by US drone. [February 7] http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/07/world/asia/pakistan-violence/index.html

Pakistan – US drones kill nine in northwestern tribal belt on February 8. http://www.france24.com/en/20130208-us-drones-kill-nine-pakistan-officials

Pakistan – A bomb attack on a crowded grocery market in a Shia-dominated neighborhood has left at least 84 people dead and many more wounded. About 30 of them were Afghan refugees. [February 16] http://www.khaama.com/30-afghan-refugees-among-84-killed-2205

Italy – Italian court convicts over two dozen Americans (CIA) in the 2003 abduction in Milan of an Egyptian cleric. www.nydailynews.com/news/national/american-sniper-author-chris-kyle-fatally-shot-article-1.1254181

Saudi Arabia – Hosts secret US drone base. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/brennan-nomination-opens-obama-to-criticism-on-secret-targeted-killings/2013/02/05/8f3c94f0-6fb0-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html

Tunisia – Opposition leader was assassinated, leading to violence and a labor union strike. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21377564  

Afghanistan – Five killed in restaurant bombing kills 5 in northern Afghanistan. [February 5] http://is.gd/LzbJbJ

Afghanistan – Two women killed and three children injured following a military operation by US Special Forces in Heart province. [February 5] http://is.gd/XqM7bX

Afghanistan – Afghan civilians, a woman and three children, were found dead following fighting between coalition forces and insurgents in Herat province. [February 6]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/02/06/Civilians-reported-killed-in-Afghanistan/UPI-19651360157328/

Afghanistan – A UN committee has expressed "alarm" over reports that hundreds of children have been killed by US military forces in Afghanistan in the past five years. [Afghan government confirms the killings.] http://is.gd/BW1XSx

Afghanistan – A NATO bombing in eastern Afghanistan killed ten civilians, including five women and four children. It also killed three Taliban commanders. [February 12] http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/13/world/asia/afghanistan-air-strike/index.html

Afghanistan – UN report shows fewer killings of Afghan civilians for the first time in six years. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/world/asia/un-reports-decline-in-killings-of-afghan-civilians.html

Afghanistan – US Special Forces ordered out of Wardak province, due to allegations of disappearances and torture by Afghans that are part of those forces. Decision made by Afghan Security Council. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21566295 More on this, including murder charges: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/24/world/asia/afghanistan-us-special-forces/

Afghanistan – And over in Helmand province, Afghan forces are “just like criminals” including charges of sexual abuse of boys, murder, police high on drugs and kidnapping and extortion. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-forces-are-just-like-criminals-8508260.html

Yemen – Government forces kill 21 suspected al Qaeda militants on February 3. http://is.gd/euI7SE

Yemen – Six killed and two held captive in northern Yemen sectarian clashes. [February 5] http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10022409.html

Philippines – Twenty two killed in clash of Filipino extremists and rebels. A Muslim rebel group said it attacked Abu Sayyaf gunmen after the al-Qaida-linked militants refused to free hostages. http://is.gd/TxeIzX

Palestine – Israel destroys West Bank protest camp. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/20132915611391106.html

Palestine – Hamas and Fatah are talking about reconciliation. US Congress seeks to stop that. http://mondoweiss.net/2013/02/israel-arrests-lawmakers.html

Palestine – Prisoner was tortured before dying in Israeli jail. [Israel’s claims about cause of death appear bogus.] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/24/violence-west-bank-custody-death  

Nigeria – Nine women administering polio vaccines to children to two separate locations were shot dead. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21381773

Bahrain – A teenager was killed during protests. Anti-government demonstrators set up road blocks and clashed with security forces, and Amnesty International has called for the release of 22 Bahraini’s prisoners of conscience. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21450053 

Bahrain – Another one dies. [Notice how the Obama administration does not give a rat’s ass about democracy in Bahrain. February 22] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21547109

Iran – Iran urges destruction of all nuclear arms after North Korea’s third nuclear test.

http://is.gd/GHXPGj

Iran – Four U.S. congressmen met an Iranian dissident leader and urged President Obama to treat her group as an alternative to Tehran's government, four months after its removal from a list of terrorist organizations. [This will not end well.] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/17/us-iran-opposition-usa-idUSBRE91G0GC20130217

Burma – Police used white phosphorous on mine protesters. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21455087

Mexico – Mexico said Wednesday that it had records of more than 27,000 cases of “disappeared people” that it would make public soon in an effort to clarify the circumstances under which they vanished. Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report that called Mexico the Western Hemisphere’s hot spot for “enforced disappearances,” in which police or the military arrest citizens who are never seen again. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/20/183679/rights-group-lashes-mexico-over.html

DR Congo – Peace accord is signed. Regional African leaders have signed a UN-brokered accord which aims to bring peace to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. As many as 800,000 people have been displaced since the March 23 rebel group took up arms against the Kinshasa government last May. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21563949

Drone bombings

Bill Moyers:  “The Times told of a Muslim cleric in Yemen named Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber, standing in a village mosque denouncing Al Qaeda. It was a brave thing to do - a respected tribal figure, arguing against terrorism. But two days later, when he and a police officer cousin agreed to meet with three Al Qaeda members to continue the argument, all five men - friend and foe - were incinerated by an American drone attack. The killings infuriated the village and prompted rumors of an upwelling of support in the town for Al Qaeda, because, the Times reported, "such a move is seen as the only way to retaliate against the United States.”

I believe, and the evidence available supports it, that the US drone bombings are inspiring more terrorism rather than reducing it. I believe that is the intention of the US government. Drone bombings are immoral and anyone who supports them is supporting evil. 

****************************** 

I sent the above message on a postcard to Obama, McHenry, Burr and Hagan. 

I sent this in February 2013.

What the frack is going on?

THE DAY THE WORLD SAID NO TO WAR!!

I got the following off the United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) listserve, and thought it worth sharing. It was an incredible day - THE DAY THE WORLD SAID NO TO WAR!

Dancewater

==================================

The Day the World Said No to War

February 15, 2013 - By Phyllis Bennis

Our movement changed history. While we did not prevent the Iraq war, the protests proved its clear illegality, demonstrated the isolation of the Bush administration policies, helped prevent war in Iran, and inspired a generation of activists.

Ten years ago people around the world rose up. In almost 800 cities across the globe, protesters filled the streets of capital cities and tiny villages, following the sun from Australia and New Zealand and the small Pacific islands, through the snowy steppes of North Asia and down across the South Asian peninsula, across Europe and down to the southern edge of Africa, then jumping the pond first to Latin America and then finally, last of all, to the United States.

And across the globe, the call came in scores of languages, “the world says no to war!” The cry “Not in Our Name” echoed from millions of voices. The Guinness Book of World Records said between 12 and 14 million people came out that day, the largest protest in the history of the world. It was, as the great British labor and peace activist and former MP Tony Benn described it to the million Londoners in the streets that day, “the first global demonstration, and its first cause is to prevent a war against Iraq. - What a concept - a global protest against a war that had not yet begun - the goal, to try to stop it.”

It was an amazing moment - powerful enough that governments around the world, including the soon-famous “Uncommitted Six” in the Security Council, did the unthinkable: they too resisted pressure from the United States and the United Kingdom and said no to endorsing Bush’s war. Under ordinary circumstances, alone, U.S.-dependent and relatively weak countries like Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, Mexico and Pakistan could never have stood up to Washington. But these were not ordinary circumstances. The combination of diplomatic support from “Old Europe,” Germany and France who for their own reasons opposed the war, and popular pressure from thousands, millions, filling the streets of their capitals, allowed the Six to stand firm. The pressure was fierce. Chile was threatened with a U.S. refusal to ratify a U.S. free trade agreement seven years in the making. (The trade agreement was quite terrible, but the Chilean government was committed to it.) Guinea and Cameroon were threatened with loss of U.S. aid granted under the African Growth & Opportunity Act. Mexico faced the potential end of negotiations over immigration and the border. And yet they stood firm.

The day before the protests, February 14, the Security Council was called into session once again, this time at the foreign minister level, to hear the ostensibly final reports of the two UN weapons inspectors for Iraq. Many had anticipated that their reports would somehow wiggle around the truth, that they would say something Bush and Blair would grab to try to legitimize their spurious claims of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, that they would at least appear ambivalent enough for the U.S. to use their reports to justify war. But they refused to bend the truth, stating unequivocally that no such weapons had been found.

Following their reports, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin responded with an extraordinary call, reminding the world that “the United Nations must remain an instrument of peace, and not a tool for war.” In that usually staid, formal, rule-bound chamber, his call was answered with a roaring ovation beginning with Council staff and quickly engulfing the diplomats and foreign ministers themselves.

Security Council rejection was strong enough - enough governments said no - that the United Nations was able to do what its Charter requires, but what political pressure too often makes impossible: to stand against the scourge of war. On the morning of February 15, just hours before the massive rally began at the foot of the United Nations, the great actor-activist Harry Belafonte and I accompanied South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu to meet with then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan on behalf of the protesters. We were met by a police escort to cross what the New York Police Department had designated its ‘frozen zone’ - not in reference to the bitter 18 degrees or the biting wind whipping in from the East River, but the forcibly deserted streets directly in front of UN headquarters. In the secretary-general’s office on the 38th floor of the United Nations, Bishop Tutu opened the meeting, looking at Kofi across the table and said, “We are here today on behalf of those people marching in 665 cities all around the world. And we are here to tell you, that those people marching in all those cities around the world, we claim the United Nations as our own. We claim it in the name of our global mobilization for peace.”

It was an incredible moment. And while we weren’t able to prevent that war, that global mobilization, that pulled governments and the United Nations into a trajectory of resistance shaped and led by global movements, created what the New York Times the next day called “the second super-power.”

Mid-way through the marathon New York rally, a brief Associated Press story came over the wires: “Rattled by an outpouring of international anti-war sentiment, the United States and Britain began reworking a draft resolution. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the final product may be a softer text that does not explicitly call for war.” Faced with a global challenge to their desperate struggle for UN and global legitimacy, Bush and Blair threw in the towel.

Our movement changed history. While we did not prevent the Iraq war, the protests proved its clear illegality, demonstrated the isolation of the Bush administration policies, helped prevent war in Iran, and inspired a generation of activists. February 15 set the terms for what ‘global mobilizations’ could accomplish. Eight years later some of the Cairo activists, embarrassed at the relatively small size of their protest on February 15, 2003, would go on to help lead Egypt's Arab Spring. Occupy protesters would reference February 15 and its international context. Spain’s indignados and others protesting austerity and inequality could see February 15 as a model of moving from national to global protest.

In New York City on that singular afternoon, some of the speakers had particular resonance for those shivering in the monumental crowd. Harry Belafonte, veteran of so many of the progressive struggles of the last three-quarters of a century, called out to the rising U.S. movement against war and empire, reminding us that our movement could change the world, and that the world was counting on us to do so. “The world has sat with tremendous anxiety, in great fear that we did not exist,” he said. “But America is a vast and diverse country, and we are part of the greater truth that makes our nation. We stand for peace, for the truth of what is at the heart of the American people. We WILL make a difference - that is the message that we send out to the world today.”

Belafonte was followed by his close friend and fellow activist-actor Danny Glover, who spoke of earlier heroes, of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, and of the great Paul Robeson on whose shoulders we still stand. And then he shouted “We stand here today because our right to dissent, and our right to participate in a real democracy has been hijacked by those who call for war. We stand here at this threshold of history, and we say to the world, “Not in Our Name! Not in Our Name!” The huge crowd, shivering in the icy wind, took up the cry, and “Not in our Name! Not in Our Name!” echoed through the New York streets.

Our obligation as the second super-power remains in place. Now what we need is a strategy to engage with power, to challenge once again the reconfigured but remaining first super-power. That commitment remains.
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Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. Her books include Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN defy U.S. Power. She served on the steering committee of United for Peace & Justice during the run-up to February 15 and beyond.

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Thanks for this inspiring recollection of that incredible day...or at least, some parts of the incredible day. The story of what was going on in the UN on and around Feb. 15th is an important one that too few people have heard. It's another layer of the power of the work we did.

While I'm very glad you told this story, I must say I'm a little disappointed that you never mentioned United for Peace and Justice as the key player in the U.S. piece of the Feb. 15th international day of action. It was UFPJ that organized the NYC demo - fighting the police, the mayor, and the feds the whole way. It was UFPJ that put out the call and encouraged the local actions around this country that weekend - and in the end over 400 such actions took place. It was within the process set up by UFPJ that the slogan of “The World Says No To War” was developed - I recall the meeting when that happened. And it was UFPJ that represented the U.S. in the international network of organizers all working together to mobilize those tens of millions of people that day.

It's hard to know how the history books will describe Feb. 15, 2003, or how accurately they will tell the story and relate the history. At least we should try our best to tell this story as clearly and honestly as possible and that means UFPJ should be mentioned when we recall that incredible day.

With much respect for all of your work, your friend, Leslie

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Leslie!  You’re absolutely right.  I’m so sorry; don't know what I was thinking that I didn't include UFPJ’s extraordinary work in creating February 15. For what it's worth, I talked about it a lot in London the weekend before, where I was helping celebrate the 10th anniversary of UFPJ’s counterpart, the Stop the War Coalition.

Where all questions/comments/praise/etc from folks there were ALL about UFPJ.

Which doesn't make it okay that I just somehow left it out.  And I’m very sorry for that.

You more than anyone, who kept the core of UFPJ focused and on track, know the reality of what that amazing 1400-organization strong coalition made possible.  And your role in it was a big chunk of what made it work.  So thank YOU for all of that.

Much love and many thanks to you, Phyllis