US military spending far exceeds the combined spending of other countries. Do our national priorities really need to emphasize military investment over human needs? Where is our peace investment?
3B. Send it separately to your elected representatives.
* NOTE: The Peace Resource Center is a local affiliate of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. The Peace Tax Return is part of the "Days of War Tax Action 2016: Invest in People; Divest From the Pentagon" by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. For more info, visit www.nwtrcc.org and check out the press release: prcsd.org/pdf's/PressReleaseDTA2016-NWTRCC.pdf
This conversation gathering is inspired by our recent series of films and conversations on race. If you missed any/all sessions before, it's okay!
As a group, we wanted to continue to have space to talk about the issues surrounding race, privilege, and systems of inequity. We also wanted to somehow move forward, beyond watching films... so...
This 3-hour program is a facilitated conversation space around race and related systems. Activities will include trust building, small breakouts, large group sharing,and action steps! We will examine our embedded assumptions, discover new questions, and explore avenues for change.
We know that our criminal justice system is not serving us well. State budgets for education have steadily decreased while funds for prisons increase. We are incarcerating minorities at an alarming rate, often for nonviolent offenses. With their zero tolerance policies, schools are calling on police to arrest children for behaviors that would have meant a visit to the principal's office in decades past.
One solution is Restorative Justice.
But what is it? How does it work? And what makes it better than what we currently do? As an advocate for social justice, what can you tell people about it?
Advocating for peaceful and just solutions in our own communities requires us to be informed... Join us for a closer look at "RJ" and its proactive sister, Restorative Practices.
Co-hosted by Peace Resource Center of San Diego and SD First Church of the Brethren
All, below & attached is the agenda for the March 14 SDCPJ meeting. Please note, much additional material is included in the attached, please read; and bring printed copy to the meeting with you. THANKS ALL -
Craig
SAN DIEGO COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
- In the Peace Resource Center Office at the Friends Center -
3850 Westgate Place, San Diego, CA 92105
Monday, March 14, 2016 – 7:00 PM
Agenda
Tonight's Facilitator: TBD
Welcome, Introductions
Note taker for this evening's meeting will be:
Next regular SDCPJ meeting: Monday, April 11, 2016 (to be confirmed)
Facilitator_____________
"So much ingenuity to wage war, still no clue how to wage peace. I am living in a mad house."
Update/Report Backs
-Any issues/events updates will be heard
Discussion/Action Items
-Discussion/Action: "No Drones" Actions (see information attached); call for caravan for March 31 – April 2 Creech AFB Action
-Discussion: October 7-10, Nogales, Arizona, first bi-national convergence at the U.S./Mexico border to demand a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy (see information attached)
-Discussion: Interest? Grassroots "Activist Fair" (follow-up to PRISMS) – range of issues/organizations; possible date(s)
-Discussion:Possibility, desire to restructure SDCPJ into media/messaging vehicle
Announcements (see attached plus other announcements at the meeting)
"What started as a natural disaster, turned into one of the worst industrial accidents in human history and a reminder that humanity must urgently turn its efforts towards safe, clean renewables." — Junichi Sato, Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan.
"Those responsible, in particular TEPCO and the Japanese government, must be held to account for this manmade disaster and prioritise public safety and the environment as they struggle to deal with the ongoing crisis at the plant and in Fukushima prefecture. Today's shutdown of the Takahama unit 3 reactor following a historic ruling by a court on 9 March is a signal that nuclear power has no future in Japan," —Shaun Burnie, senior nuclear specialist with Greenpeace Germany.
" ... The Fukushima disaster is the single largest release of radioactivity into the ocean and one of only two Level 7 nuclear disasters in world history - the other being Chernobyl. Evidence of the effects of radiation on the natural environment are already becoming apparent, ranging from DNA-damaged wildlife, to mutations in trees."
From: Jackie Cabasso <wslf@earthlink.net> Date: March 6, 2016, 12:56:16 PM Subject:STAND WITH THE MARSHALL ISLANDS - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT HEROES! Reply-To:wslf@earthlink.net
From 1948 – 1956 the United States detonated 67 nuclear weapons test explosions over the Marshall Islands, a tiny nation in the South Pacific. During this period, the equivalent of 1.7 Hiroshima-sized bombs were detonated daily. Several islands were vaporized, others will remain uninhabitable for thousands of years. Many Marshallese died, babies were born with birth defects never seen before, and residents of the islands are still battling with cancers and other radation related diseases.
From March 7 – 16 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the judicial branch of the United Nations, will hear oral arguments in the Marshall Islands' cases against the UK, India and Pakistan.* The cases concern whether the UK is complying with Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and whether India and Pakistan are complying with what the Marshall Islands contends, building on the 1996 ICJ opinion, is a customary international law obligation to pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament, including cessation of the nuclear arms race.
Tony DeBrum, former Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands will be making opening statements on behalf of the Marshall Islands on Monday and Tuesday.
These hearings concern preliminary issues as to whether the cases are suitable for adjudication on the merits. While the cases will concern preliminary issues, the substance of the cases will certainly come up in various ways.
I will be in The Hague, working with Rick Wayman of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to support the Marshall Islands by doing media outreach and social media. Here's how you can follow the hearings from wherever you are.
·Watch the hearings for yourself. Video webcasts will broadcast live and posted on the International Court of Justice website at: www.icj-cij.org/multimedia
If you're in nearby Europe, please consider coming to The Hague to support the Marshall Islands by your presence in the courtroom. Three press releases issued by the ICJ (one for each of the cases) provide the hearing schedule and admission procedures to the court. There is no advance registration procedure.
Please help spread the word. WE STAND WITH THE MARSHALL ISLANDS: NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT HEROES!
*You may be wondering why only three cases only are going forward. In April 2014 the Marshall Islands filed lawsuits against all 9 nuclear-armed states. Regrettably, the United States, Russia, China, France, Israel and North Korea do not accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ and are ignoring the cases brought against them.
@ Peace Campus, 3850 Westgate Place, San Diego 92105
** Note: This is our 3rd session (different films). If you missed one or both before, it's okay! Also, put Mar 26th on your calendar for a 4th session - details to be determined.
This 3-hour program includes one film showing and group dialogue. Together, we will examine our embedded assumptions around race and systems of oppression, discover new questions, and explore avenues for change.
Co-hosted by the Peace Resource Center & San Diego First Church of the Brethren.
Refreshments provided by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee as part of their effort to "highlight the connection between U.S. militarism and misplaced priorities on local issues" and nonviolent strategies for social change.
ABOUT THE FILM
"Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity" asks America to talk about the causes and consequences of systemic inequity. Designed for dialogue, the film works to disentangle internal beliefs, attitudes and pre-judgments within, and it builds skills to address the structural drivers of social and economic inequities. The film features moving stories from 24 racial justice leaders including Amer Ahmed, Michael Benitez, Barbie-Danielle DeCarlo, Joy DeGruy, Harley Eagle, Ericka Huggins, Yuko Kodama, Peggy McIntosh, Rinku Sen, Tillman Smith and Tim Wise.
