Rising Tide Member Found Not Guilty for May 27 Vermont Gas Protest

by Sara Sullivan, Rising Tide Vermont, Nov. 20

The trial of Henry Harris, charged with trespassing at Vermont Gas Systems’ (VGS) headquarters in South Burlington on May 27, ended today with a not guilty verdict. Harris and other members of Rising Tide Vermont blockaded the main entrance of VGS and dropped a massive banner from the roof, demanding the company immediately cancel its plans to build the fracked gas pipeline.

Harris, a volunteer organizer with Rising Tide Vermont, said, “Today, the court ruled in my favor because the jury recognized Vermont Gas and the state of Vermont had no basis in their charges against me. The state’s prosecutor, with pressure from VGS and the Shumlin administration, was attempting to stifle future protests against the fracked gas pipeline and Shumlin’s hypocritical climate and energy policies.”

Since the May 27 protest, hundreds of Vermonters have taken part in rallies, blockades, and an occupation of the Governor’s office to demand an end to the pipeline project. The 64 activists who were arrested at the occupation on Oct. 27 are also facing charges of trespass. “We asked the Governor to revoke his support of the fracked gas pipeline,” said Stuart Blood, 63, an organizer with Keystone XL Resistance from Thetford Center, “and to recognize the need to ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure, because new fossil fuels move us in the wrong direction.”

Read the article at: http://vtdigger.org/2014/11/20/rising-tide-member-found-guilty-may-27-vermont-gas-protest.

Drop All Charges Against Luis Anglero, Jr!

End Police Brutality from Hartford To Ferguson.

Demand justice on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8 a.m. at the Hartford Courthouse, 101 Lafayette St.

Less than two weeks after the murder of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson MO., Hartford police officer Shawn Ware used a taser on Luis Anglero, Jr., in an unjustified use of force that was captured on video and shocked all who viewed it. Luis was injured from the resulting fall to the pavement, and was subsequently charged with “breach of Peace in the second degree” and “interfering with police.”  This was an attempt to turn the victim into the criminal.

On August 27, 2014, nearly 100 community members from Hartford and the surrounding towns rallied and marched to Hartford Police headquarters to present a People’s Manifesto with a list of demands. Chief among those demands were for an immediate dismissal of all charges against Luis Anglero, Jr., and for charges to be brought against Officer Shawn Ware. To date, neither of those demands has been met. Court proceedings have continued against Luis, with his next hearing now scheduled for Wednesday, December 10, 2014. We, the people will be there to demand that the charges be dropped. Join us! For information: [email protected] or [email protected].

‘Badhoneywell’ Makes Its Nationwide Debut | Truthout

The US government’s complicity in the Israeli siege of Gaza is no secret. Israel has the eleventh largest military in the world, which is in large part due to US military aid of over $3 billion annually. What remains in the shadows, however, is the alarming extent to which United States corporations profit from the Israeli war machine.

A prime example is Honeywell International Inc. The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, a Canadian group, has documented a long-lasting and profitable economic relationship between Honeywell and the Israeli military, with many of their collaborations traceable directly to war crimes committed by the IDF. The 2010 attack in the waters outside Gaza against the “Freedom Flotilla,” in which nine activists were killed in an attempt to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Israeli blockade, was perpetrated by a Sa’ar V Corvette, built by another US company, Northrop-Grumman. Yet that ship was armed by Honeywell-built torpedoes.

This relationship, in which Honeywell profits from some component of weapons production without appearing to be prominently involved, appears frequently.

via “Badhoneywell” Makes Its Nationwide Debut.

Darren Wilson not charged in shooting death of Michael Brown

As we go to press, the decision has just been announced by the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri. Police officer Darren Wilson will not be charged in the shooting death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, eighteen-year-old African-American who was shot and killed on August 9, 2014.

The St. Louis Grand Jury refused to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson. This decision is a failure of the justice system — but President Obama and US Attorney General Holder can make sure justice is served by taking action. The Department of Justice has the power to prosecute Officer Wilson under federal criminal charges. Raise your voice today to ensure our national leaders step in where Missouri’s politicians have failed, and secure justice for Mike Brown immediately.

A Ferguson Solidarity rally and march has been planned for Nov. 25 in downtown New Haven. Check next month’s PAR newsletter for an update.

In New Haven contact: [email protected] or [email protected].

Israeli Journalist in New Haven, Wed., Oct. 29

by Stanley Heller, MECC

Ofra Yeshua-LythOfra Yeshua-Lyth is a veteran journalist and author. She was a correspondent for Israel’s second largest news-paper Maariv in Germany and in the US. She’s a member of the Committee for One Secular Democratic State in Palestine-Israel. Her book The Case for a Secular New Jeruslaem is subtitled: “A Memoir.” Her grandmothers came to Palestine in the early days of Zionist settlement and her book is rich in personal stories.

An article about her on Mondoweiss is available at mondoweiss.net/2014/10/ofra-yeshua-israeli
Come meet her in New Haven Wednesday, October 29, at 7 p.m. in the NH Public Library, 133 Elm St.

Sponsored by the Middle East Crisis Committee

“My Name is Rachel Corrie” Nov. 1, New Haven

by Shelly Altman, Jewish Voice for Peace

On Nov. 1, 8 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University, Charles Garner Auditorium, Engleman Hall (C112), join us for the one-night only performance of “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” a one-woman play about the American peace activist Rachel Corrie who was killed in Gaza in 2003 at the height of the Second Intifada while working with the International Solidarity Movement to prevent home demolitions. The play was a hit in London and New York. It is based entirely on Rachel’s own diary entries and emails from her mid-adolescence through her coming of age, to her untimely death.

Read more

Exciting Sustainability Workshops Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, New Haven

by Maria Tupper, the New Haven Bioregional Group

On Nov. 1 and 2 the Bioregional Group, New Haven Land Trust, Food Policy Council, Common Ground, New Haven Farms and other groups from the New Haven community are co-sponsoring workshops by Jonathan Bates, Permaculturist. We are able to offer the event for free because of a grant we received from the New Haven Green Fund.

On Nov. 1, we will be at Barnard School, 170 Derby Avenue, 7- 9 p.m. and Nov. 2 at New Haven Friends Meeting House, 223 East Grand Avenue, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. People can attend one or both events.

Jonathan Bates

Jonathan Bates

In “Edible Forest Gardening: Living Sustainably in the City,” Jonathan Bates, owner of Food Forest Farm and contributing author of “Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City,” will show you how he transformed a blighted urban yard into an edible paradise. By using permaculture design he’s created both beauty and abundance, meeting human needs while improving ecosystem health.

Read more

“People and Nature before Profits” — People’s World Amistad Awards Dec. 7

by Joelle Fishman, CT People’s World

This year’s Amistad Awards will be presented by the People’s World on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. at a “People & Nature Before Profits” anniversary rally in New Haven at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, 177 College St. (entrance corner of College and Crown).

Rising inequalities, climate change and war are giving rise to new organizing by youth, low-wage workers and the 99% for a society that values the needs of people and nature before corporate profits.

The event will celebrate the contributions of Meg Riccio, Alberto Bernandez and Daniel Durant, three leaders and role models who challenge economic and racial inequality and who are in the forefront to get out the vote for jobs, health care, union rights, immigrant rights and the needs of youth.

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Milada Marsalka’s Memoirs Now Available in New Haven

by the PAR Planning Committee

Milada Marsalka, founding member of PAR (1993), long-time president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, New Haven County Branch, and a fiery activist in countless struggles for peace, labor rights, equality and justice, had the foresight to write about her life. She died in 2000 at the age of 95, leaving a manuscript that could inform and inspire others.

Through the diligence of Milada’s nieces, Regina Stevenson and Catherine Nathan, “Pursuing Peace: Memoirs of Milada Marsalka” has been published.

Thanks to New Haven/León Sister City Project, a box of books was shipped to New Haven. You can purchase your copy of Pursuing Peace from PAR for $15. Please call Paula at (203) 562-2798 to arrange your pick-up. This book makes a great gift!

For a description of the book go to the publisher’s site: https://wordassociation.com/memoir%20book%20page/pursuingpeace.html.

Marketing Help for Non-Profits 5 p.m. Nov. 22, West Hartford

by Judi Friedman, People’s Action for Clean Energy

This is an amazing free opportunity to learn more about marketing a non-profit organization! On Nov. 22 at 5 p.m., Brian Keane, author and president of SmartPower, will give a talk at the Friends Meeting House, 144 S. Quaker Lane, West Hartford. SmartPower has just been named “The Best Nonprofit Marketing Firm in the United States” by Wealth and Management.

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Women’s Studies Program at SCSU

by Bina Walker, Graduate Assistant

The Women’s Studies Program at Southern Connecticut State University is committed to integrating scholarly inquiry, critical problem-solving methods, professional training, cooperative leadership skills, and practical strategies for intervention in real-life situations affecting the well-being of women locally and globally. Faculty and students share a commitment to human rights advocacy around the world.

Compatible with many different areas of study, Women’s Studies allows students to explore the nature of women’s status, circumstances, and objectives across the boundaries of academic disciplines, cultures, and historical time periods.

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Pastors for Peace: Why the World Needs Cuba

by Augusta Girard, Program Director, PEP

At 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3 the annual Mark Shafer Lecture, sponsored by Promoting Enduring Peace, will feature Gail Walker, Director of Pastors for Peace and the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization. Held at the Yale Divinity School, 409 Prospect Street, Niebuhr Hall N12, parking is available and the event is free and open to the public.

Ms. Walker has staffed more than 15 caravans of humanitarian aid to Cuba and Central America and worked extensively with marginalized communities including the Garifuna in Honduras and Nicaragua. She is an award-winning radio producer, on-air host and journalist and holds an MA in Media Studies from the New School.

Gail Walker is interviewed by a television crew.

Gail Walker is interviewed by a television crew.

She is the daughter of Rev. Lucius Walker, the recipient of the 1993 Gandhi Peace Award. It is especially meaningful for PEP to have the daughter of a Gandhi Peace Award recipient as our featured speaker. To be able to carry on the work of such a noble and peace-loving man as her father is very rewarding for us to see. Read more

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