Great Movies 6/7/12 - "Koch Brothers Exposed", by Robert Greenwald, 7:30 PM, Thursday at the PT Community Center, 620 Tyler Street (at Lawrence) Port Townsend, WA, sponsored by Move to Amend/Port Townsend and co-sponsored by Jefferson County MoveOn. Sir! No Sir! - The landmark 2006 film by David Zeiger that revealed the suppressed story of the GI Movement to end the Vietnam War. ****** 3/10/12 Veterans for Peace in Afghanistan Report on Afghan Youth Peace Volunteer activities at 3/18/12 at Rosewind Common House A veterans delegation to Afghanistan will report on their September, 2011 collaboration on water resources with Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers (AYPVs) on March 18 at 1:00 PM in the Rosewind Common House at 3121 Haines Street in Port Townsend. The talk and slideshow is co-sponsored the the Tony van Renterghem Chapter of Veterans for Peace and the Port Townsend Friends Meeting (Quakers), and will be preceded by a potluck at 11:30. The presentation as well as the potluck are free and the public is cordially invited. The Afghanistan Peace and Clean Water Delegation traveled this past September to Kabul and Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan to share their lives with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. Larry Kerschner, Doug and Jody Mackey will speak about their journey to central Afghanistan and their experiences meeting the Afghan people where they live and work. Jointly with the AYPVs, they brought training and materials for constructing bio sand water filters for the dire need for clean water now facing the Afghan people. Through slides, videos and stories, they will share their first-hand experiences with the Gandhian youth group. Jody will speak about the situation faced by Afghan women. The story of the Afghans they met and worked among has inspired and confounded many as a result of the several presentations they have made since their return. The Mackeys live in Olympia and Kerschner lives in Centralia where they have all been active with Veterans for Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Friendly Water for the World and other social justice efforts. Jody manages Traditions Fair Trade Cafe, a hub for social justice activities in Olympia. She is a six year Air Force veteran. Douglas coordinates Global Days of Listening with the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. Larry is the editor for Pacific Call, the periodical of Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation. He is a retired Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner who began his medical career at Jefferson General Hospital in nursing. He is a Vietnam infantry combat veteran and has helped organize several Veterans for Peace chapters. In the photograph are Hazara, Tajik and Pashtun ethnic Afghans of the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. The veterans in the photo are from left to right, Larry Kerschner, Doug Mackey and Jody Mackey. The scarves worn by all are bright blue and symbolic of the blue sky that links all peoples together around the planet earth and a hope for peace. ****** 7/16/11 Right to Know ... What is the Navy is Doing on Indian Island? Come to the Port Townsend City Council Chamber Monday, July 18th 6:30pm when we petition our City Council to ask our Senators to block section 1014 Editor, the Leader: Federal Law gives the public a right to know about explosives, harmful chemicals and emergency response plans for military bases such as NAVMAG Indian Island. Recently, Glen Milner of Seattle won in the Supreme Court the right to continue to press the Navy for explosives arc maps and emergency procedures at the Weapons Transfer Base. In the perspective published in the Leader June 22nd Milner said he was pursuing "information used for safety purposes, not to determine the amount of explosives at a specific location at the base." In an attempt to nullify the outcome of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision the Department of Defense has asked Congress for a new exemption to block the release of this information. Section 1014 of Senate 981, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012, would allow records essential for Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) requirements to be blocked. Since the US military has a presence in almost every Congressional District, if this exemption passes, the public may no longer be able to find out about dangers military industrial activities pose to their communities. When T-AKE class ammunition ships began arriving at NAVMAG in 1996 the amount of ammunition loaded on a ship increased by 33%. Milner states that the Navy is probably hiding facts about enlarged explosive arcs that encroach on nearby neighborhoods. I believe that loading ships with millions of pounds of ammunition puts our town at risk – including our hospital. The Freedom of Information Act gave Americans the right to access the records of federal agencies. In 1974, after Watergate the act was amended to force greater agency compliance. The EPCRA laws were set up in reaction to the disaster in Bhopal, India in 1984, where more than 2,000 people were injured or killed. Ask our Senators and our Representative to say no to the proposed Department of Defense exemption to the Freedom of Information Act. Click on the link below to get to the petition entitled "Department of Defense assault on the Freedom of Information Act." http://signon.org/sign/department-of-defense?source=s.fwd&r_by=372547 PLEASE DO THIS EVEN IF YOU HAVE SIGNED THE LOCAL PETITION RECENTLY. Join me & other activists in the Port Townsend City Council Chamber Monday, July 18th 6:30pm when we petition our City Council to ask our Senators to block section 1014, thereby defending our right to know. Thanks! Doug Milholland

6/24/11
"Mr. President, Double Pre-Surge Level Is Not Acceptable Bring our troops and war dollars home!"
Read more on Progressive Democrats website.

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6/3/11
Top Democrat Norm Dicks becomes war critic
Please Thank Rep. Norm Dicks

Norm Dick's Port Angeles staffer, Judith Morris, reported that Rep. Dicks voted for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have required an end to the war in Afghanistan. For details and an easy way to thank Dicks (to encourage him in this direction) see the article by Matt Southworth in the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

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Pentagon's Dirty Pool
Sunday, May 28, 2011

Costa Rican production: URANIUM 238 - The Pentagon´s Dirty Pool wins best short film category of the First International Uranium Film Festival which ended Saturday night (28th of May 2011) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. See the film in four segments below ... Segment One - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EUp5j1481g Segment Two - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNgZs1lyuGQ Segment Three - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4h6IeCalo Segment Four - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uodiHzrefI

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BUDGETARY PEACEMAKING
by Bob Schultz
4/30/11

As Congress members return from recess to attend to the 2012 federal budget, it’s time to press them to create a more peace-oriented budget. Patty Murray is a senior member of the Senate Budget Committee. Call her to ask that Pentagon spending be subject to the kind of serious cuts that are planned for social service budgets. Leave a message at 202/224-2621 or 866/481-9186. In the House, a senior Republican is proposing to cut U.S. contributions to the UN, just as the UN's work is more needed--not less--around the globe. Rep. Dicks is the #1 appropriator on the Democrat side. He’ll probably do the right thing on this, but he doesn’t lack for anti-UN constituents here in the 6th District, so letting him know what we think matters. The website of the Friends Committee on National Legislation has details. Visit www.fcnl.org, click on "What's New," then on "UN Funding in Danger," and then on "Urge Your Representative." From there on it's easy to get your message to Norm's office in the Rayburn Building.

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TAX DAY DEMONSTRATION
4/18/11

The Ten Biggest Tax Evaders

About 150 people demonstrated in front of the Bank of America in Port Townsend on April 18, 2011. Here is a link to the video shot by our own Nancy B. Wonderful footage.

Read more ...

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May Day Rally For Immigrants and Workers Rights Sunday, May 1, 2011 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Intersection of East First and Penn Street Port Angeles, WA See Flyer

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Benjamin Prado, AFSC San Diego, and Pedro Sosa, AFSC Portland, provided a very instructive workshop today in Forks, WA. The workshop included a review of the historical background and made use of several videos documenting Border Patrol and ICE raids in San Diego.

Read more on the Border Patrol Free website News.