The Afghanistan war grinds on, the Pentagon budget keeps growing, corporations and the 1%’ers are paying lower taxes than their secretaries, Social Security and other benefits are under attack, and next to nothing is being done to create jobs.

 
Instead of addressing these problems, the House of Representatives showed that it is still gripped by deficit fever when it passed the draconian Ryan budget, and gave only 78 votes to the alternative presented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

 
A coalition of community, labor, and peace groups are organizing to put the Budget for All Referendum on the November ballot across Massachusetts. We need to collect 200 signatures of registered voters in each State Rep district by July 3.

 
The wording of the Budget for All Referendum is:

Shall the state Representative (or Senator) from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the Congress and the President to:

Saturday, June 2, 2012, 7:30 pm
Harvard-Epworth Methodist Church
1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
near Harvard Law School • wheelchair accessible

 
Victor Rosenbaum, Piano
Sergey Antonov, Cello
Laura Bossert, Violin
Paula Maierfeld, Viola

All Beethoven Program

Piano Sonata no. 30 in E major, opus 109
Cello Sonata no. 3 in A major, opus 69
Piano Quartet in E-flat major, opus 16

 
Victor Rosenbaum, pianist, recently returned from performing concerts in Japan, is well known to Boston audiences and is a long-time faculty member of New England Conservatory. He also teaches at the Mannes College of Music in New York.

 
Sergey Antonov, cellist, has toured world-wide since winning the Gold Medal at the 2007 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow.

 
Laura Bossert, violinist, and Paula Majerfeld, violist, are faculty members at the Longy School of Music and CoDirectors of Lyrica Boston, a chamber music series and summer festival. Laura Bossert is also on the faculty of Wellesley College.

 
Reception with the artists after the program.

The concert supports Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund’s statewide peace education and advocacy work.

Tickets $40 – reserve online now or send check to 11 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138. The portion of your donation above $20 per ticket is tax-deductible.

Occupy Boston Community Gathering

Monday, April 23, 6:00 to 8:30 pm
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St, Boston &bull Park St T

Presentation: The Price of War

A short presentation from the New Priorities Network

Panel: Community Impact

A discussion with activists from the local community, peace,
labor, and veteran movements about how the war impacts their communities:

• Tyrek Lee | Vice President, 1199 SEIU Massachusetts
• Oliver Hendricks | City Life / Vida Urbana, Coalition to Fund Our Communities / Cut Military Spending by 25%
• Duncan McFarland | United for Justice with Peace
• Rachel McNeill | Veterans For Peace

Discussion: Where do we go from here?

ORGANIZED BY THE FREE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY
For more information, email fsu@lists.occupyboston.org, or visit wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/fsu.

Do your part to fund our communities — just like the rest of us.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Dewey Square • Summer St & Atlantic Ave, Boston • South Station T

 
For most Massachusetts residents, April 17 is the deadline to file our income taxes — but for some Boston-area corporations, Tax Day never comes.

Military contractors like General Electric are among the worst corporate tax dodgers. Taxpayers will pay GE $421 million this year to build aircraft engines in Lynn, Massachusetts — principally engines for jet fighters like the F-18, which are used for wars we don’t need — and GE doesn’t even pay taxes on it income.

Despite billion-dollar profits, these corporations have managed to avoid taxation altogether, with some even raking in hundreds of millions in tax refunds. This rampant corporate tax dodging is bankrupting our communities, forcing mass layoffs, slashing vital services and closing schools and community centers.

 
Enough is enough. It’s time for big businesses and the wealthiest amongst us to pay their fair share, just like the rest of us do. On Tax Day — Tuesday, April 17 — Boston is taking to the streets to send a clear message to corporations and the 1%: PAY YOUR TAXES!

Tax Day March & Rally

 
3:00 Rally at General Electric, 125 Summer St., one block from Dewey Sq. Please let us know you’ll be there!
5:30 Rally at Dewey Square (Summer St & Atlantic Ave)
6:00 March through the Financial District

 
BRING A NOISE MAKER! (Ie: drums, pots, pans)

 
Sign-up to participate: taxdayboston.org.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Teach-in on Iran

Saturday, April 28, 1:00 pm
Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston
Park Street T

Live Video Stream

 
The situation in the Middle East is tense and dangerous. The US wants oil, strategic position and regime change in Iran. Already there are harsh economic sanctions, assassinations and naval patrols of the Persian Gulf. Israel warns of a possible military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations as “all options are on the table.” We must stop a big new war in the Middle East!

Andrew Bacevich Boston University	Elaine Hagopian Simmons College	Irene Gendzier Boston University
Gary Goldstein Tufts University	Alex Shams Graduate Student, Harvard University	Denise Provost State Representative, Somerville
Afshin Razani Berkeley College, New Jersey	Jeff Klein Dorchester People for Peace	Shahrzad Noorbaloochi Boston University Anti-War Coalition

 
Themes:
o the war danger
o Iran’s nuclear program
o economic sanctions
o history of US/Iran relations
o Israel, Palestine and Syria
o opportunities for dialogue and peace

 
ACTION PANEL TO STOP THE WAR

 
$5 donation; no one turned away
Free for Suffolk University and Faculty with ID
info@justicewithpeace.org • 617-383-4857

 
Live Video Stream: http://masspeaceaction.org/1980

 
Sponsored by: United for Justice with Peace, Dorchester People for Peace, Boston University Anti-War Coalition, and the Suffolk University Department of Government