Peace Action intern Ian Garland will present a talk on his study of the problems of defense industrial base conversion. Garland is graduating from the University of Massachusetts Boston this month with a degree in Philosophy and Public Policy. In the fall he will be commencing graduate studies at the Institute of World Politics in Washington D.C. studying national security affairs and international relations. The paper by Mr. Garland may be downloaded at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5578602/Garland-Defense%20Conversion.pdf.
Wednesday, June 1, 1pm, at the First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden St., in the Hastings Room. A light lunch will be served. A donation of $5.00 is requested; no one, however, will be turned away. This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action.
In the next two days, the House of Representatives will be voting on the 2012 Defense Authorization bill. United for Peace and Justice is banding together with more than 20 national groups for a call-in today Tuesday May 24 demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan. The Friends Committee on National Legislation is providing all groups with a toll-free number 1-888-231-9276.
Please call today!
Tell your member of Congress “It is time we brought our troops home from Afghanistan and stopped wasting the billions we urgently need for domestic programs on a senseless war. The last thing Congress should be doing is authorizing endless war, but that’s exactly what the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act does. ”
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When President Obama announced in December 2009 that he would escalate the Afghanistan war by sending 30,000 additional troops, he promised the American people that troop withdrawals would start in July 2011. More recently, he said in Lisbon in November 2010 that the war will be turned over to Afghans by the end of 2014.
It will soon be time for the President to follow through on his commitment and start drawing down troops to reduce the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan. How large a withdrawal will Obama announce?
Thursday, May 19, 7pm
All Saints Parish, 1773 Beacon St., Brookline (corner of Dean Rd)
Matthew Hoh heads the Afghanistan Study Group, a group of Washington policy analysts, scholars and former government officials who advocate for withdrawing the bulk of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by next year. He is a former Marine officer and worked for the State Department in Afghanistan before resigning in 2009 with a devastating public critique of the Administration’s Afghanistan policy.
Hoh spoke for Peace Action in Cambridge in November last year. At this event, he will bring us an updated picture of the fraying Washington consensus over Afghanistan policy, and take questions.
A Peace Action representative will give an update on what we can do to influence President Obama’s expected withdrawal announcement.
$5 requested donation – no one turned away. Sponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action and Brookline PAX. Download the flyer!.
Just back from Egypt! Phyllis Bennis to Speak in Cambridge May 16!
Tunisia. Egypt. Bahrain. Yemen. Libya. Syria. For the past four months dramatic and often hopeful events have been sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East.
What are the various forces operating within each country?
What are the policies and goals of the United States amidst all these uprisings?
What is the implication of these developments for Israel and the Palestinians?
And what are the implications for our peace and justice movement?
Come to a presentation, discussion and slide show on these historic events with Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies and Ashraf Elkern of the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester.
Monday, May 16, 2011, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cambridge Friends Meeting Center • 5 Longfellow Place • off Brattle St. near Harvard Sq T • Cambridge
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By Bill Shein – Reason Gone Mad
May 4, 2011
I’d like to propose that we, as Americans, reserve boisterous chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” for events other than war, killing, and death.
Instead, let’s repeat our nation’s initials and wave American flags when we cut our ballooning child-poverty rate in half, and then by three-quarters, and then to zero.
Let’s rally outside the White House on that day when no American goes without quality health care or is forced into bankruptcy because of illness. Or to celebrate bold action to address the environmental crises that are rapidly destroying what’s necessary for human life.
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