Category: Uncategorized

When The Power Goes Out

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Shelly Altman, New Haven JVP, New Haven Register OpEd, Wed., Sept. 20, 2017

The visit this week of former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor to the Slifka Center at Yale [was] a good time to reflect on Israel’s management of its relationship with Gaza since it “ended its occupation” in 2005, under the steward-ship of Ambassador Prosor.

While there are no longer Israeli settlements in Gaza, Israel controls all land entry points to Gaza, with the exception of the Rafah crossing to Egypt. It also enforces a blockade of the Mediterranean coast of Gaza, with a 6-nautical mile buffer zone where Gazan fishermen may operate. The blockade prevents any departures or arrivals at Gazan ports. The only airport in Gaza closed in 2001 after being severely damaged by the Israel Defense Forces. This gives Israel nearly complete control of whom and what enters and exits Gaza.

Read the whole article in the Register Citizen here: http://www.registercitizen.com/opinion/article/Forum-When-the-power-goes-out-12215751.php

Shelly Altman is a New Haven resident and chairperson of the Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven.

Korea: Don’t Let Trump Normalize Genocide

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by Stanley Heller, PEP

At a meeting in early August President Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” He was worse at the U.N. this week. There talking about the U.S. he said, “if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” Totally destroy? A country has a right to defend itself from an actual attack, but not to wipe out the entire nation of the offending government. That’s the immense crime of genocide. Trump threatened genocide and the corporate media just blandly reported it. The politicians were deafeningly silent.

photo: CodePink

photo: CodePink

There seems to be no limit to what crimes you can threaten in this brutal world. Talking about North Korean Supreme Leader Kim this month, John McCain said “If he acts in an aggressive fashion, the price will be extinction.”

For its part (if corporate media translators are to be believed) Kim’s government uses similar language to make monstrous threats. In April his Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Han threatened a “pre-emptive” nuclear attack if North Korea felt it was going to be attacked. In July a spokesperson said if there was the “slightest hint” that the U.S. was trying to remove Kim there would be a “merciless blow in the heart of the U.S.” with our “powerful nuclear hammer.”

The difference, of course, is that while North Korea is developing a nuclear force, the U.S. could actually annihilate North Korea right now.

The U.S. public is quiet, either buying Trump’s line or acting as if both side were just blowhards who would never dare to go through with their warnings. Yet even if Trump and Kim don’t really want nuclear war things have a habit of getting out of hand. People get angry, accidents happen, mistakes are made and … The point is not to get hysterical and start a nuclear war.

Read the whole article at peacenews.org.

CT Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound Job Openings

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CFE and Save the Sound are hiring for three job openings on their Development and Green Projects teams.

Chief Development Officer A senior fundraising professional to continue CFE/Save the Sound’s proven record in major gift development and provide strong leadership to our solid philanthropic program. The Chief Development Officer will manage a motivated team of seven, already successful with foundation and government grants, individual donor solicitation and stewardship, and our newly expanded membership and events programs, and will lead our major gifts individual giving program. Additional responsibilities include partnering with the Board of Directors’ Development Committee and Communications staff on marketing and communications efforts.

Green Infrastructure Project Manager A full-time Green Infrastructure Project Manager to coordinate community-based design and construction of green infrastructure projects that will filter stormwater pollution, provide neighborhood resiliency and flood protection, and steward watershed planning efforts while improving Long Island Sound’s water quality and resilience.

Grant Writer (20 hours/week) An experienced grant writer to research foundation, government, and corporate funding opportunities; prepare grant applications/funding proposals; prepare narrative and financial reports to funders; communicate grant deliverables and deadlines to staff; and maintain grant records.​

These positions are based in our New Haven office, 900 Chapel St., Upper Mezzanine, New Haven. For more information, phone (203) 787-0646 or go to our website www.ctenvironment.org/employment.

Next Deadline for Newsletter Articles: Friday, May 19, 2017

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Please submit copy to PAR’s e-mail address: parnewhaven@hotmail.com.

No e-mail? Call Paula at (203) 562-2798 to find out how to submit your article. There is a 350 word limit.

Next Planning Meeting date is Tues., May 2 at 3:45 p.m. … all welcome … call (203) 562-2798 for location. Subscription: $13 (or $10 if paid before June 1) for 10 issues, check payable to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT  06504

Legislative Actions Needed in Connecticut

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by CT Sierra Club

In the remaining weeks of the 2017 Connecticut legislative session, two priority bills for the environment are winding through the legislature and need your advocacy:

Senate Bill (SB106): We need you to support amendments to SB 106 (1) to remove subsidies for nuclear and waste incineration because they are dangerous and dirty and (2) to increase the Renewable Portfolio Standard requiring use of wind and solar for electricity generation in the state because they lower wholesale energy costs and create jobs in Connecticut and New England. Our state RPS needs to call for far more renewable energy than it does currently.

Senate Joint Resolution (SJ39): Support the proposal to amend the state constitution to protect state lands. This will create a transparent review process for ensuring that a proposal to remove these lands from state ownership is in the public interest. The amendment will help Connecticut reach our goal of setting aside 21 percent of our land into protected open space. The amendment is expected to help restore public trust so individuals will be confident that bequeathing private land to the state is a good idea.

How can you help? Volunteer to help lobby these bills: participate in one or more Wednesday lobby days between now and June 7 at the state capitol in Hartford. Help pass these bills that we need to protect open space and to defend our land, air and climate.

For more information, contact Chapter Program Manager, John Calandrelli, connecticut.chapter@sierraclub.org or (860) 236-4405.

Thank you from the CT Chapter Sierra Club Legislative Team!

Health Care Is a Right, Not a Privilege!

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by Coalition For People

The Coalition for People is organizing for universal, comprehensive, single-payer health care. The following is from a flyer they created for this campaign.

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What Is Single Payer Healthcare?

The United States is the only country in the developed world that does not guarantee access to basic health care for residents. Countries that guarantee health care as a human right do so through a “single-payer” system, which replaces the thousands of for-profit health insurance companies with a public, universal plan.

Does that sound impossible to win in the United States? It already exists – for seniors! Medicare is a public, universal plan that provides basic health coverage to those age 65 and older. Medicare costs less than private health insurance, provides better financial security, and is preferred by patients.

Under the single-payer legislation in Congress (H.R. 676):

  • Everyone would receive comprehensive healthcare coverage under single-payer;
  • Care would be based on need, not on ability to pay;
  • Employers would no longer be responsible for health care costs and coverage decisions;
  • Single-payer would reduce costs by 24%, saving $829 billion in the first year by cutting administrative waste and allowing negotiation of prescription drugs;
  • Single-payer would create savings for 95% of the population. Only the top 5% might pay slightly more.

For more information, call Robin Latta (203) 481-0894.

Call your Legislators NOW! Single-payer NOW!

Fight for Single-Payer Healthcare! National Day of Action, Saturday, April 8

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The Coalition for People is currently working on a flyer to be handed out in New Haven on April 8, the National Day of Action for Improved Medicare for All. We are organizing for single-payer healthcare and would like to work with individuals and groups that want to help bring a decent healthcare plan for ALL into being. Please e-mail coalitionforpeople@hotmail.com or call Robin at (203) 481-0894

[The following article was written by the Healthcare-Now! organization before last week’s vote. It’s a great victory that the GOP plan did not pass. Now we need to push all the harder for single-payer, real health care reform, without the entanglements and profit motives of the pharmaceutical and medical industries and health insurance companies controlling our healthcare. Please go to www.healthcare-now.org/ for more information.]

The Campaign for Guaranteed Healthcare is calling for a National Day of Action for Improved Medicare for All on Saturday, April 8th.

The Campaign is asking local activists and organizations to organize rallies or speak-outs at medical institutions, to draw attention to the local impacts that the GOP’s American Health Care Act will have, and to call for single-payer as the only moral and sustainable “replacement” plan.

April 8 will come at a crucial moment as it’s also the first day of a two-week “April recess” when Members of Congress return to their districts and will have to face constituents at town halls, on conference calls, office visits, etc. and should provide a great hook for the press.

An example of an action: here in Boston, a coalition of single-payer groups (Mass-Care, PNHP) and others are planning an event outside of a hospital that serves as a safety net institution in the state (treating a high percentage of Medicaid and uninsured patients). We’ll have both providers and patients speak out about the impact the AHCA would have at that hospital and others and talk about how single-payer would allow us to control costs while caring for all patients.

News from and about the PAR Planning Committee, and a Call for Volunteers

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Wishing a wonderful 95th birthday to Mary Johnson! The Progressive Action Roundtable and our newsletter team are indebted to Mary for her leadership in PAR as well as in many other New Haven and state organizations.

Planning Committee members Ruth Friedland, Elizabeth Neuse and PAR webmaster Chris Zurcher are all doing much better and mending from their various illnesses/accident/hospital visits January and February.

The convergence of health issues on the Planning Committee gave us a head’s up that we need more people to use their computer skills, proofreading and grammar expertise and sense of graphic design to help produce this newsletter. Are you interested? Our meetings are at the beginning of the month, and they’re never longer than two hours. Please e-mail parnewhaven@hotmail.com if you’d like to become part of the PAR team!

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