CONTENTS:

PHILLY AREA ACTION:

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ACTION:

COMMENTARY:

==========

PHILLY AREA ACTION:

 

The celebration of "Trees of Reconciliation: A Tu B'Shvat Seder of Healing and Reparation." 

 

We hope that for many, this will be the capstone on a day of service

 for Martin Luther King Day here in Philly.

            Monday, January 21, 6-8 p.m. 

            Germantown Friends Meeting, 47 W Coulter St. Phila Pa 19147

 

Jewish Voice for Peace has created a new Hagaddah which weaves liturgy, poetry and song to explore the legacy of trees in Jewish tradition and in Israeli and Palestinian culture.  The seder is political - the writers (Philly's own Hannah Schwarzschild and Elliott Bat Tzedek) complete re-imagined the Tu B'Shvat ritual focusing on Israel-Palestine, the struggle for land, trees as political/economic icons, (forests, Palestinian olive groves), and the effect of the separation wall on the land as well as on Palestinian lives and livelihoods. 

      This is the first step of launching the "Trees of Reconciliation" initiative, which will seek in the coming years to raise money to replant olive trees in the West Bank and, at the same time, to raise consciousness among U.S. Jews and others about the realities of the Israeli occupation.  We are excited about both aspects of this new initiative, and look forward to build an ongoing economic and educational program beginning with this year’s Tu B'Shvat seder.

 

Hold the date -- January 21st! Info: marlena @ marlsan@cavtel.net/ 215-247-4385

__________________________________

 

The Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia announces:

Peace Activist, Col Ann Wright: Philly Book Signing, "Dissent: Voices of Conscience"

(www.voicesofconscience.com).

See Col Ann Wright’s Bio: http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/ann_wright.html

      Wednesday, January 30, 6:00 p.m.

      Robin's Bookstore, 108 South 13th Street,

      Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-735-9600 ( Larry Robins, larry@robinsbookstore.com )

 

Ann will also be reading on Saturday, February 2, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Moravian Book Shop,

428 Main Street,  Bethlehem, PA 18018, Contact: Stephanie

1-888-661-2888, stephanie@moravianbookshop.com , www.moravianbookshop.com 

 

 Ann  would be glad to do another speaking event earlier in the day on Jan 30 or on Feb 2.

 She would really appreciate your help in publicizing these events!!

 

Happy Holidays and Peace! Ann Wright, 808-741-1141

___________________________________________________

 

 

FACING GUANTÁNAMO: Six Years Later

JANUARY 11, 2008, will mark the six-year anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.

      Thursday, January 10, 2008, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

      National Constitution Center, Kirby Auditorium, 5th & Arch St., Philadelphia

      Featuring: Christopher J. Huber, Esq.pro bono attorney for two current prisoners

Co-sponsored by:  ACLU of Pennsylvania, Amnesty International of Eastern PA, National Lawyers Guild Philadelphia Chapter, Brandywine Peace Community, The Liberty Center for Survivors of Torture, and the American Friends Service Committee Pennsylvania Program

                  Event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit: www.aclupa.org or www.aclu.org/closeguantanamo

 

Friday, January 11, Noon, National Day of Action to Close Guantanamo (vigil)

Meet at Philadelphia Federal Courthouse, 601 Market St., Philadelphia, process through historic district, For info, email brandywine@juno.com.

 

7:00 p.m., Free Screening of "Sicko"

Unitarian Universalist Church of Cherry Hill, 401 N. Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill, NJ

For info, email brownmayola@comcast.net

 

Saturday, January 12, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

T-shirt Bundling for MLK Day volunteers

W.S. Peirce School, 24th & Christian Sts., Philadelphia, PA

Sponsored by Greater Philadelphia MLK Day of Service- For info, email bward@uwsepa.org.

 

Sunday, January 13, 4:30 p.m.

Brandywine Peace Community's Monthly Potluck Supper & Program "Fighting for National Health Insurance: A Civil Rights Movement

 for Universal (Single Payer) Healthcare" with Dr. Walter Tsou, University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

Please bring a salad, main dish or dessert to share - For info, email brandywine@juno.com.

 

Monday, January 14

7:00 p.m., Prep Meeting for Martin Luther King Day Civil Disobedience at Lockheed Martin

Tabernacle Church, 37th & Chestnut Sts., Philadelphia, PA

For info, email brandywine@juno.com

 

Saturday, January 19

1:00-4:00 p.m., Family Chess Day--bring the kids

African American Museum, 701 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA

Honor Dr. King's memory by promoting an alternative to violence/after school program

Registration required - Email wjordan@phillyasap.org

 

7:00 p.m. Celebrating Songs of Resistance, Struggle & Peace--Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Concert with Tom Mullian & Friends and special musical guest Jerry Burruss.

Peace Center of Delaware County/Springfield Friends Meetinghouse, 1001 Old Sproul Rd., Springfield, PA- Admission is $5, For info, email brandywine@juno.com

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Event

Sunday January 20, 2008, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location: Near the home of Senator Arlen Specter

West Schoolhouse Lane (between Henry Avenue and Gypsy Lane) in East Falls City State Philadelphia, PA 19129.......Phone: 215-843-4256

      `Twenty-four peace groups will hold a Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Event. They want Specter to cut off funding for the U.S. occupation of Iraq and to bring the troops home, now.

 

Monday, January 21, ALL DAY--DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HOLIDAY

Noon: "Make War No More" Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Nonviolent Resistance (including civil disobedience) Lockheed Martin, Mall & Goddard Blvds., Valley Forge, PA

For info, email brandywine@juno.com.

 

Wednesday, January 23,  8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Training Seminar: "Hazing and Harassment: Prevention, Intervention and Legal Issues for Schools"

CORA, 8540 Verree Rd., Philadelphia- Cost is $5 - For info, call 215-701-2702.

 

Thursday, January 24, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

People's Emergency Center's Young Friends Event

Strikes Bowling Lounge, 4040 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA

$30 contribution requested, For info, email youngfriendsevent@pec-cares.org.

 

Friday, January 25, ALL DAY - Shadowing Day

Philadelphia 9th grade students will shadow employees in workplaces around the city

To get involved in the Mentoring program, call 866-MENTOR3.

 

Saturday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.

Latin Music from Sol y Canto

Calvary Center for Culture and Community, 48th & Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA

Sponsored by Crossroads Music

Tickets are $10-20, For info, email info@corssroadsconcerts.org.

 

Tuesday, January 29,  11:00 a.m.

Day of Action to Ban Mandatory Overtime for Health Care Workers in PA

Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg, PA , For info, email sippk@seiuhealthcarepa.org.

 

Tuesday, February 5

ALL DAY--NJ PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY--DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

 

Sunday, February 10,  4:30 p.m.

Brandywine Peace Community's Monthly Potluck Supper & Program "Another Cataclysm of this War--A Million Iraqi Refugees" with Peter Lems, AFSC

University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

Please bring a salad, main dish or dessert to share- For info, email brandywine@juno.com.

_______________________________________________________

 

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ACTION:

 

Can you sign this urgent petition asking local, state, and federal officials to require paper Ballots for our votes?

 

 Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/paper2008/o.pl?id=11873-6403956-1wIurt&t=3

The petition says: "We must act quickly to secure our elections with paper ballots and audits before November."

 

________________________

 

COMMENTARY:

 

1. Plan Mexco, SPP, and NAFTA (shortened version)

    Posted by: "Joy Truskowski" joypoop@hotmail.com

   

Information about a U.S. Congress bill circulating to renegotiate NAFTA

 

Public pressure for the bill and the boycott of U.S. products in Mexico are both worthy things to pursue.  [Justiceforbrad] Plan Mexco, SPP, and NAFTA

 

> I think it's important that work around Plan Mexico be done in a context

> of SPP/NAFTA Plus and ultimately NAFTA itself. Right now there is a lot of

> momentum (well, a lot of hot air from the politicians, but that's because

> they realize the issue strikes a nerve with the public) behind NAFTA

> reform or abolition, I think framing Plan Mexico as a component of NAFTA

> expansion will allow us to invoke the negative public opinion on NAFTA

> when addressing this issue.  I think it's also important to illustrate

> that NAFTA is directly responsible for expanding and facilitating the

> Mexican drug trade: http://www.today.ucla.edu/2001/010522freetrade.html

>

> So, I think the campaign should be framed as "No NAFTA, No SPP, No Plan

> Mexico" with a focus on all three.

>

> There's actually legislation in Congress right now to overhaul or abolish

> NAFTA, so there is a concrete proposal on the table that we can support

> (see below).  And the leading Democrats in the Presidential Primary are

> now competing with each other to see who can issue the sternest anti-NAFTA

> rhetoric.

>

> Here's some info on Plan Mexico, SPP, and NAFTA:

 

According to the Washington Post the package, dubbed “Plan Mexico”, would

> include U.S. arms and surveillance equipment, espionage technology and

> programs, and training for Mexico’s police and army to combat drug

> cartels. The Post reports that most are predicting that the aid package

> will be well-received in Washington, despite the fact that many in

> Congress have complained about the secrecy of the negotiations. It is

> possible that it will be presented to Congress as early as this month, as

> an emergency supplemental appropriation for next year’s foreign aid

> budget, following the same process of the approval and implementation of

> Plan Colombia in 1999.

 

> Civil society, labor, environmental organizations, and researchers who

> have documented many of NAFTA’s negative impacts have not (up to this

> point) had any voice in SPP development, which purports to be defining the

> future of North America. During this year’s summit, civil society found

> itself on the other side of a thick security cordon and its protests were

> met with tear gas as has been the case throughout the years as trade

> agreements are negotiated. Not only is civil society missing from the

> conversation, but so is Congress, which has Carlsen describing the SPP as

> a “gentlemen’s agreement between the executive branches and major

> corporations in the three nations.” Unlike NAFTA, the SPP is not one

> package but a series of side initiatives, often escaping Congressional

> oversight.

>

> Big business has not had the same problem as Congress and civil society.

> The North American Competitive Council (the NACC), comprised of

> representatives of big business such as Walmart, General Electric, and

> Chevron, gave specific input and concrete recommendations during the

> summit. The NACC was formed at the second annual SPP summit in 2006 so

> that "leadership from governments recognize the importance of business

> issues to the overall social welfare, and empowers the private sector to

> engage substantively and pragmatically on trade and security issues

> without undue deference to political sensibilities," according to a NACC

> report. In late August the Mexican daily La Jornada reported that the

> Calderon administration will now follow the agenda and recommendations of

> the NACC to improve “Mexico’s competitiveness” while determining economic

> policy. The secrecy that surrounds the SPP makes both these policy

> “recommendations” and their impacts difficult to detect.

 

 

 HON. MARCY KAPTUR OF OHIO, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

> WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2006

>    Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that America is losing its

> independence as goods that used to be made here are displaced by

> foreign imports. In fact, America is in unchartered waters today. We

> have an accumulated trade deficit of nearly $1 trillion a year.

>    Today, I want to talk a little bit about super NAFTA and what the Bush

> administration is planning to lock NAFTA in even tighter in this

> country and across the continent.

>    There is something called the Agreement on Security and Prosperity that

> is being negotiated by the Bush administration very quietly. No

> hearings are being held in this Congress. Most Americans have never

> even heard the term, but it really is the successor to NAFTA.

>    In addition to what it anticipates in terms of a new transportation

> corridor that will come up through Mexico and the American highway into

> the United States, it also includes the incentives to major

> corporations, such as Ford Corporation of our country that is laying

> off people in our country, now an additional 30,000 jobs to be lost

> here in the United States, and Ford is planning to employed over

> 150,000 more workers in Mexico, announcing it will be investing over

> $9.2 billion in Mexico.

>    It is hard to explain to the American people how big that investment

> really is, but truly it will employ 15 percent or 1 of 7 of all

> unemployed people in Mexico, so many of them having been uprooted from

> their farmsteads, because NAFTA included no transition provisions to

> allow people to have a life and to survive inside of Mexico's rural

> areas, and over 2 million families have been uprooted from Mexico's

> farm communities and are doing what, they are moving north to eat.

>    At the heart of our illegal immigration problem is NAFTA's disruption

> of the Mexican countryside.

>    My question is, how much democracy will that agreement actually have in

> it? Will it be prosperity for all, or just for people who are rich

> enough to own global companies, like Cintra, that will invest anywhere,

> don't know the people in our communities, frankly don't care, and are

> willing to move production anywhere?

>    The people of the United States had better wake up. We'd better ask

> ourselves why are Americans having to work so hard for less? Why is it

> more expensive for them to send their children to college, and then

> those kids graduate with huge debts? Why isn't your pension plan

> secure? Why are you having to pay so much more for health care? Why is

> not your retirement benefit there forever?

>    Because these kinds of interests don't want you to have it because they

> are so filthy rich off the investments they are making globally. They

> don't care about you, they don't care about this country, they don't

> care about where you come from, and, my friends, they don't care about democracy. END

>

> H.R.4329, NAFTA Accountability Act (Introduced in House)

> 110th CONGRESS, 1st Session

> To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ),

> to require further negotiation of certain provisions of the NAFTA , and to

> provide for the withdrawal from the NAFTA unless certain conditions are met.

> IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

> December 6, 2007

> Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HARE, Mr.

> KUCINICH, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. SUTTON, and Mr. GRIJALVA)

> introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways

> and Means

>

> A BILL

> To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ),

> to require further negotiation of certain provisions of the NAFTA , and to

> provide for the withdrawal from the NAFTA unless certain conditions are met.

> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

> States of America in Congress assembled,

-------------------------

MEXICO SOLIDARITY NETWORK, WEEKLY NEWS AND ANALYSIS, DECEMBER 31 – JANUARY 6, 2008

 

1. ZAPATISTAS CELEBRATE WOMEN'S ENCOUNTER, 14TH ANNIVERSARY

More than 2,000 participants from 30 countries celebrated the Comandante

Ramona Women's Encounter in La Garrucha, one of five centers of indigenous

culture and resistance in Chiapas, from January 29-31.  Women led dozens of

workshops on the history of the Zapatista movement, the role of women in the

rebellion, and the future of women's participation, while men were assigned

housekeeping tasks.  The Revolutionary Women's Law, first promulgated in

Zapatista communities in 1992, was the unstated foundation of the encounter,

which celebrated the rapidly changing roles of women in indigenous

communities in Zapatista communities.  By the evening of January 31, the

official anniversary celebration of the Zapatista uprising, more than 5,000

participants crowded La Garrucha, enjoying speeches, songs and dancing.

 

The international Encounter unfolded amidst precarious security conditions

in Zapatista communities, especially in the North and Selva regions.

 Paramilitary groups aligned with the PRI, the army and State officials from

the Office of Agrarian Reform have mounted a series of actions recently,

some armed, attacking Zapatista villages located on lands that were

liberated during the 1994 uprising.  The attacks are of such intensity that

the Zapatista National Liberation Army recently postponed its ambitious

plans for participation in the Other Campaign.  Subcomandante Marcos

announced in mid December the EZLN leadership would not appear in public for

at least several months as the rebel army prepares for expected increases in

paramilitary activity.  Solidarity activists are encouraged to participate

in Peace Camps organized by the Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center and

CAPISE.

 

2. ARIZONA LAWS THREATEN MIGRANTS

A new Arizona law that threatens serious sanctions against employers who

hire undocumented immigrants took effect on January 1.  The law mandates all

150,000 businesses registered in Arizona to utilize E-Verify, a federal

program that verifies the immigration status of employees.  Businesses found

with undocumented employees face losing their license for two weeks for the

first offense and three years for the second.  To date, only 6% of Arizona

businesses are registered with E-Verify, which is a costly and

time-consuming bureaucratic procedure that will likely lower wages for all

Arizona workers in the medium term.

      Arizona approved seven anti-immigrant laws during the past year, two of

which are currently being implemented, and another eight laws are either

pending approval or are facing judicial review.  One law allows officials to

confiscate remittances if there is suspicion of money-laundering.  To date,

11,000 immigrants have been affected and more than US$17 million has been

confiscated.  While narco-traffickers generally enjoy access to legal venues

to challenge the confiscations, undocumented workers do not.  Another law

prohibits selling an automobile without checking the legal status of the

purchaser.  In addition, Arizona police are enforcing federal immigration

laws.  The federal government offers training for local police that choose

to enforce federal immigration laws, but few law enforcement agencies have

been willing to assume the added costs and ruin relationships built up over

years with immigrant communities.  With many immigrants leaving the

inhospitable state, one wonders who will do all of the landscaping,

janitorial and home construction services that prevail in Arizona's

retirement communities.

 

- In related news, the Bush administration recently contracted a photographic

service to take pictures of secondary and high school students who cross the

border daily at Imperial to attend schools in southern California.  Federal

agents will provide the photos to local school officials, who will

presumably expel the students.

 

* ANTI NAFTA DEMONSTRATIONS OPEN THE NEW YEAR

Anti-NAFTA demonstrators blocked the commercial bridge linking El Paso and

Ciudad Juarez for 36 hours staring January 1, searching trucks for imported

corn and beans.  The demonstrators were part of a national coalition dubbed

"Sin Maiz no Hay Pais, Sin Frijol Tempoco" (Without Corn and Beans there is

no Country).  On January 1, the full provisions of NAFTA took effect,

abolishing protective tariffs on corn, beans, powdered milk and sugar.  The

impact in the Mexican countryside, already reeling from subsidized imports

of US agricultural grains, is expected to be devastating

 

* Back Home, a Struggle to Reconnect

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010708T.shtml

The Boston Globe's Anna Badkhen says, "No mortar rounds slam into Kim Luce's two-story house in Central Massachusetts. No medevac helicopters throb outside at 3 a.m. No wounded soldiers moan to get her attention. After a year as a chief ward master for an American military hospital in Iraq, Army Reserve Master Sergeant Luce is back in her spacious Shrewsbury home."

 

* Polar Bears May Lose Ground to Oil

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010708EA.shtml

Deborah Zabarenko of Reuters reports: "The US government will soon decide whether polar bears are in danger because global warming is melting their icy habitat. But last week, the government offered some of that habitat as a place to drill for oil."

 

* The San Francisco Chronicle | Global Warming Goes to Court http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010708EB.shtml

An editorial in The San Francisco Chronicle states that "The Environmental Protection Agency can't say it wasn't warned. By denying California - and another 16 states - a chance to set tailpipe limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the fumbling feds are lining up for a painful ordeal in the courtroom and on Capitol Hill."

 

* Subject: Juan Cole, "Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007"

http://www.juancole.com/2007/12/top-ten-myths-about-iraq-2007.html

 

* Cloned livestock poised to receive FDA clearance

By JANE ZHANG in Washington, JOHN W. MILLER in Brussels and LAUREN ETTER in Chicago

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119938649276665241.html

Get ready for a food fight over milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring. After more than six years of wrestling with the question of whether meat and milk from them are safe to eat, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to declare as early as next week, they are.

 

* Five Million Iraqi Orphans

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00011.htm  Here, also, is Owen's note:  "I am about to write a nasty letter to my congressman as well as to our aiding and abetting senators.  Five million orphans is  a crime against humanity. As an ex-teacher, mentor and surrogate dad, I just can't let this go. The deaths are one thing, but those who must struggle through a whole life ahead of them?"

 

* EPA Sued for Denying States' Right to Curb Emissions

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010208R.shtml

Margot Roosevelt of The Los Angeles Times reports: "California and 15 other states filed suit against the federal government today for denying them the right to restrict carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks, a major cause of global warming."

 

* Will Tanzman | The Man Who United Labor and the Environment

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010208LB.shtml

In AlterNet.org, Will Tanzman writes about Tony Mazzocchi, "a leader in the movement to make industrial production less harmful to workers and the natural environment."

 

* A Voice for Rural Women of China

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010208WA.shtml

John M. Glionna, The Los Angeles Times, reports: "Xie Lihua's parents wanted a boy. But on the day Xie was born in a poor village in rural Shandong province, her mother learned she had given birth to a second daughter. She wept in anger. And she slapped her new baby."

 

* ITALIAN SAYS 9-11 SOLVED

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/9-11_solved118.html

It's common knowledge, he reveals, CIA, Mossad behind terror attacks By the Staff of American Free Press.  Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, who revealed the existence of Operation Gladio, has told Italy's most widely read newspaper that the 9-11 terrorist attacks were run by the CIA and Mossad, and that this was common knowledge among global intelligence agencies.

 

* Victories in 2007, By Robert Weissman, December 31, 2007

http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/editorsblog