Beehive Collective at the Foundry

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
The Foundry, 298 Northampton, Buffalo, NY
Doors open/dinner* 5:30 p.m.; presentation at 6:30 p.m.

www.BeehiveCollective.org

www.thefoundrybuffalo.org

The Beehive Collective depicted a wonderful power point presentation of art and graphics and how trade agreements have been injurious to millions of people in Latin America. Several LASC members were in attendance plus 100 more young people. One of the presenters  had  our event for April 28th  announced. As you know we where a co-sponsor of the event and gave $100 for their effort which have had presentations throughout the world. Report by Wayne Alt and Terry Bisson

Our April 28th LASC event:

Latin America Solidarity Committee April Coffeehouse
Globalization
Latin American Politics
and Education
Speaker: Prof. Fernanda Astiz (Canisius College) 
Teacher Education & Director of the Latin American Studies Program
An Argentine native, Dr. Astiz has published extensively on education governance and policy, minority acculturation, and consequences of globalization for curricular control in national education systems here and in Latin America.
7-9 pm Monday April 28, 2014
Wick Student Center, Alumni Lounge Daemen College, 4380 Main Street 

March 26, 2014: 33rd annual Latin American Event, Daemen College

The Latin American Solidarity committee of the WNY Peace Center Presents
     The 33rd Annual Father A. Joseph Bissonette Latin America Event
7:30PM Wednesday, March 26, 2014.    Daemen college, 4380 Main Street, Wickes Center
Run for your Life: Mexicans fleeing ultraviolence on the Juarez side of the international bridge

Speaker ex-Buffalonian Crystal Massey meets those fleeing for their lives from uncontrolled violence in Mexico. As she walks them towards a less than receptive encounter with U.S. immigration she prepares them for what is coming, including 24 hours of isolation. And she is there for them when that is over, when many must go into hiding Crystal has lived in and loves Mexico. She works for the
Southwest Asylum & Migration Institute in El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico. She has taught adults and high school students in Mexico as well as in elementary and middle schools in the United States. She also works to support Mayan weaving cooperatives in Chiapas.

Social and refreshments (wine & cheese) at 6:30 PM Speaker at 7:30PM

Tickets STANDARD: $20/Person,  PATRON: $25+/Person (includes LASC membership)

Students admitted free with ID

Proceeds Will Benefit LASC’s Humanitarian Aid efforts

Checks payable to WNY Peace Center/Humanitarian Aid

send to:  LA Event, WNY Peace Ctr., 1272 Delaware Ave. Buffalo, NN 14209

SPONSORED BY: The Father A. Joseph Bissonette Memorial Foundation,

The Latin American Solidarity Committee of the WNY Peace Center, 

Pax Christi/ WNY, Western New York Presbytery, Canisius College Language Department

www.lascwny.org facebook.com/pages/LASC-wny/

posted by Terry, for LASC

The Danger of Testing Drones in Upstate New York

In response to a law directing the FAA find ways for unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to fly safely within US airspace, the agency chose 6 sites around the US for drone research and testing. Griffiss International Airport was chosen because it had ready access to the northeast's congested airspace. The FAA says research at the Rome NY airport will focus on drones sensing and avoiding other aircraft. Enjoy your Buffalo to Albany NY flight. 

Rome NY is very close to 3 nuclear power plants located at Scriba NY: Nine Mile Point 1, 2 and Fitzpatrick --just 54 miles  west of Griffiss. Forty miles further west is one more nuclear power reactor -- Gina -- in Ontario NY. There are 4 nuclear power reactors in within 100 miles of the proposed drone testing base in Rome NY. Scriba NY is 7 miles east of Oswego NY.

What’s the concern? While the crash of an uncontrolled drone into  structurally hardened dome ...the containment structure....covering a nuclear reactor is unlikely to cause a problem, a similar crash into the buildings housing the spent fuel is another story.  Nuclear/environmental expert Robert Alvarez says those buildings "....are made from materials commonly used to house big-box stores and car dealerships".

A Congressional Research Service report released this month highlighting the problem of building integrity "[spent fuel storage is].... located outside the reactor containment structure, particular concern has been raised about the vulnerability of spent fuel to attack by aircraft or other means." 

And the amount of spent fuel radioactivity stored at the Scriba NY power plants is enormous...almost 300 million Curies --  3 times that of the troubled reactors at Fukushima Japan.

 About 80% of the spent fuel rods are kept in pools of circulating water to prevent self-igniting fires and subsequent  release of radioactivity to the atmosphere. Alvarez claims that a spent-fuel fire could cause an area of up to 340,000 square miles to become uninhabitable. An equivalent area is a circle with a radius of 330 miles, the distance between Scriba NY and Washington DC.

Leaks of water from those pools -- due to seal and fitting failures -- have occurred about ten times in the last 10 years. The frequent leaks underscores the vulnerability of spent fuel.

At a minimum, a drone crashing into a building housing spent-fuel rods could breech the seals surrounding the pools causing release of radioactive water into the environment, a subsequent fire and release of more radioactivity into the atmosphere.

On Nov 12 a MQ-9 Reaper drone -- under the control of a student pilot from the 174th Attack Wing -- based at Hancock Field near Syracuse NY -- crashed near the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, not far from the three Scriba nuclear power plants. That drone took off from Wheeler-Stack Army air base at Camp Drum NY and has yet to be found.

The Syracuse Post-Standard says the 174th Attack Wing  "...flies them across a wide swath of Upstate New York, from west of Rochester eastward to near Blue Mountain Lake, and from Syracuse north to the Massena area." That area includes the three nuclear power plants at Scriba NY and one at Ontario NY.

When the Rome NY drone base becomes active as the second drone base in NY, we will have two drone bases each about 50 miles from the three Scriba NY nuclear power plants.

It appears we will have many drones operating in test-mode in airspace over four operating nuclear reactors.

Charley Bowman
Renewable Energy Task Force
WNY Peace Center
email: RenewableEnergy@WNYPeace.org


Sources:

1. Reducing the Hazards from Stored Spent Power-Reactor Fuel in the United States, by Robert Alvarez, Jan Beyea, Klaus Janberg, Jungmin Kang, Ed Lyman, Allison Macfarlane, Gordon Thompson, Frank N. von Hippel
Science and Global Security, 11:1–51, 2003

2. Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the U.S.: Reducing the Deadly Risks of Storage, by Robert Alvarez
Institute for Policy Studies, May 2011.

3. Nuclear Power Plant Security and Vulnerabilities by Mark Holt and Anthony Andrews, Congressional Research Service January 3, 2014. RL34331

4. Military Drones Grounded in Central New York following Crash in Lake Ontario, by Tim Knauss. Syracuse Post Standard (Syracuse.com) , Nov. 13, 2013.

All of these are freely available on the internet.

Oral historian Rosalie Riegle, speaking in Buffalo, February 2014

Oral historian Rosalie Riegle will be in Buffalo (WATCH FOR DETAILS) presenting her new book on war resisters who say no to war-making in the strongest way possible—by engaging in civil disobedience and paying the consequences in jail or prison.

   Doing Time for Peace: Resistance, Family, and Community

   a book edited by Rosalie G. Riegle – Introduction by Dan McKanan

In this compelling collection of oral histories, more than seventy-five peacemakers (some of whom are dedicated freinds of ArtRage) describe how they say no to war-making in the strongest way possible—by engaging in civil disobedience and paying the consequences in jail or prison. These courageous resisters leave family and community and life on the outside in their efforts to direct U.S. policy away from its militarism. Many are Catholic Workers, devoting their lives to the works of mercy instead of the works of war. They are homemakers and carpenters and social workers and teachers who are often called “faith-based activists.” They speak from the left of the political perspective, providing a counterpoint to the faith-based activism of the fundamentalist Right.

In their own words, the narrators describe their motivations and their preparations for acts of resistance, the actions themselves, and their trials and subsequent jail time. We hear from those who do their time by caring for their families and man- aging communities while their partners are imprisoned. Spouses and children talk frankly of the strains on family ties that a life of working for peace in the world can cause. The voices range from a World War II conscientious objector to those protesting the recent war in Iraq. The book includes sections on resister families, the Berrigans and Jonah House, the Plowshares communities, the Syracuse Peace Council, and Catholic Worker houses and communities.

Rosalie is a professor emeriti in English at Saginaw Valley State University.  She lives in Evanston, Illinois and has published two previous oral histories: Voices from the Catholic Worker and Dorothy Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her. Rosalie G. Riegle is an oral historian who taught English at Saginaw Valley State University from 1969 to 2003. She raised four daughters and co-founded two Catholic Worker houses in Saginaw, Michigan.

This text comes from her fall visit to Syracuse:
http://artragegallery.org/book-signing-doing-time-for-peace#sthash.3XRgM6Ky.dpuf

justice for the Cuban 5, December 2013 letter in Buffalo News

LASC member Ned Cuddy's letter on justice for the Cuban 5 - in the BN, Dec. 27, 2013

Ball is in Obama’s court regarding Cuban ‘swap’

Ruth Marcus (“Nightmare for an American left behind in Cuba”) was half-right when she urged the Obama administration to negotiate a “swap” to free Alan Gross from a Cuban prison in exchange for releasing the “Cuban Five,” in American prisons. Gross, a contractor for the State Department, was imprisoned for smuggling Internet equipment into Cuba.

Marcus was well off the mark when she claimed that Gross was “a victim of the repressive Cuban regime.” In fact, Havana had promoted the swap. It was President Obama who rejected the deal, claiming that the Cubans had their “due process rights” – ignoring the evidence that the Cubans had been tried by a kangaroo court in Miami, a city rife with anti-Castro hatred. “The possibility of selecting 12 [impartial] citizens” was virtually “zero,” according to witness sociologist Lisandro Perez.

Moreover, Marcus was too hard on the Cubans, claiming they “are not the heroes of Cuban lore,” and too soft on Obama when she said that “Gross hasn’t been abandoned, just prioritized.” Havana had sent the Cubans to Florida to expose the Cuban-American terrorists who had been attacking their homeland for decades, leading to thousands of deaths. Instead of nabbing the militants, Washington convicted the Cubans of espionage.

When their attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for review in 2009, Obama urged the court to reject the case. The judges rejected the review without explanation.

“Prioritized”? The ball is already in Obama’s court. Either he accepts the swap or he slams the doors for both Gross and the Cubans.

Edward Cuddy

Kenmore

Close Guantanamo, January 5th to the 13th, 2014 in Washington

WNY Peace Center members were at this year's  fast, vigil and actions to close Guantanamo:
       Close Guantanamo- January 5th to the 13th  in Washington D.C     
Any questions, contact Tom Casey through the Peace Center or Pax Christi. 
Post by Terry Bisson, for LASC

see also:  http://witnesstorture.org/blog/2013/12/28/despair-at-guantanamo-join-us-in-january/


Tom's report:   "It was a nourishing privilege to represent Pax Christi WNY in DC last week. See especially the link below at the end of the first paragrph to Ken Butigan's column.  You are all welcome to join us next year. One week of fasting (plenty of liquids), a comfortable church floor with mats and an amazing community of focused hope that was founded by about 25 people including many Catholic workers. Hopefuly Gunatanamo will be closed and we will be fasting, reflecting, vigiling and educating for another need."   tom casey
                                                                       
http://paceebene.org/blog/ken-butigan/making-guantanamo-history

Hancock 17 Drone War Crimes Resisters Trial, January 2014

The first day of the trial of the Hancock 17 Drone War Crime Resisters began Friday, January 3 to a packed courtroom of over 75 supporters.and ended just after midnight early Saturday morning, January 4. The trial continues Monday, January 6 at 5 pm at the Town of Dewitt Court, 5400 Butternut Drive, East Syracuse, NY.

The first day included powerful opening statements for the group by Ed Kinane and Clare Grady, which began with a moment of silence for people killed by drone attacks. Ed powerfully stated that the defense was the convergence of two paths - the paths of legalism and of justice and conscience - and that the activists came not to break laws, but to uphold International Law.

Clare then spoke movingly that "law is here to serve humanity NOT the other way around" and that very important laws have been signed and agreed upon by the nations of the world that reflect this. "When we go to Hancock," she affirmed, "we go to call a halt to drone War Crimes.We breath life into treaties and agreements that are the supreme laws of our land. These laws, treaties and agreements, are designed to lead us toward peace and away from war."

The prosecutor called his first two witnesses, including Col. Earl Evans, who had been responsible for the activists being subjected to orders of protection ever since they were arrested on October 25, 2012, which state, among other things, that they stay away from his place of work. The two witnesses agreed that no one was violent or seemed dangerous or threatening. There was much discussion about the base property lines, in particular about where the road easement ended and where the base property started.

The activists are all from the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, a decentralized, grassroots organization that represents diverse peace and justice organizations from different cities. We seek to educate the public and Hancock Air Base personnel about the war crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan with the MQ9 Reaper Drone piloted from Hancock Air National Guard Base just outside Syracuse.     See http://upstatedroneaction.org/

Great News, Jan. 10, 2014: BAN ON FRACKING IN ERIE COUNTY!

Jan.10, 2014: GREAT NEWS - citing "overwhelming support," Poloncarz BANS FRACKING IN ERIE COUNTY!

http://j.mp/1hDXWbI

Thank you, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz for listening to the science and your constituents and signing the bipartisan bill!

Previous Dec. 13, 2013 posting on Facebook said:

"We did it! After a year of tireless organizing, we've passed a fracking ban on Erie County-owned lands — and we've banned toxic fracking wastewater from entering our county. This was a landslide victory, with 9 out of the 11 legislators voting in support of the ban.

Without all of your hard work, this never could have happened. We'd also like to thank the bill sponsor, County Chair Betty Jean Grant, who stood on the side of the people and protected our air, land and water by introducing this bill. Please leave a sincere message of thanks on her Facebook wall!"

HONDURAS: Human Rights & Elections. Jan.27, 2014

Latin America Solidarity Committee January Coffeehouse
HONDURAS: Human Rights & Elections

7-9 pm Monday January 27, 2014 Daemen College
Wick Student Center, Alumni Lounge, 4380 Main Street


Since the 2009 military coup, resistance movements of Honduras have struggled against repression. A coalition political party, Libertad y Refundacion (LIBRE), formed in response, and ran in the Nov. 24 presidential elections. Many predicted that the LIBRE candidate would win, but official results went otherwise. Internationals saw an election overshadowed by violence, intimidation and fraud, unreported in Honduran and international media. Come hear first-hand about the election, U.S. and Canadian actions to legitimize and benefit from the coup, and the courage and spirit of Honduras' pro-democracy movements.

Speaker: Peter Dawson (Sociology, York University, Toronto) with work on human rights and indigenous communities. He was delegate on recent "Common Frontiers" election watch in Honduras, where he met with indigenous leaders there opposing planned model city programs there.

<http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/>

Ring in the New Year with Peace, Jan.15, 2014

Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm at at the amazing 464 Gallery  in Buffalo, NY;

a celebration "Ring in the New Year with Peace". 

2013 was a great year for theWNY Peace Center and 2014 looks to be even bigger. 

The movement toward Peace and Social Justice is growing.

Think about how you can grow with it.   JW

https://www.facebook.com/events/194926807368918/Join

LASC, Dec. 2013: Background

Bill Jungels spoke about the economic crisis for Mayan campesinos in Highland Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost, poorest and most indigenous State. The corn crop on which they depend for a large part of their diet failed and they are forced to buy their corn. Coffee sold at a very low price (about 70 cents a pound for those lucky enough to have a small plot) eliminating a main source of cash. And sales of women’s weavings have been off due to recession in places like the U.S. where they hope to get a just price for their work.

In this context there has been a heating up of paramilitary activity, with people being violently forced off uncultivated land they occupied in the wake of the 1994 Zapatista uprising. From Puebla, township of Chenalho, 98 persons have been forced to flee to Acteal (in the same township) site of the 1997 massacre of 45 unarmed members of the Catholic organization, the Abejas (Bees).  Most of those who fled are Catholics who were trying to rebuild a church. Some fear that things could escalate to new mass killings by paramilitaries. In Chiapas religious and political affiliating often go together and those driving the people out are from protestant sects allied with the PRI, the most powerful and corrupt party in Mexico. Padre Manuel, the Catholic pastor of Chenalho was held by the paramilitaries for four hours, beaten and threatened with having gasoline poured on him and being set on fire. The 98 people who fled to Acteal are living in sub-human conditions crowded into a very small dwelling and sharing a single kitchen (where food is cooked over an open wood fire).

To  purchase weavings from 3 cooperatives: http://www.weaving-for-justice.org

For information and actions on human rights violations in Chiapas, including the Puebla incidents: http://www.frayba.org.mex   (English and Spanish available, with some documents only in Spanish. For the Puebla conflict look on the Spanish site under “Acciones Urgentes”) 

Dec. 2013 LASC Coffeehouse

The December 2013 LASC Coffeehouse was held 7-9 pm Monday, Dec. 16, 
at El Buen Amigo, 114 Elmwood Ave.   Lots of people came to hear REPORTS FROM CHIAPAS
presented by Tom Potts and Bill Jungels, just returned from projects in Chiapas, Mexico.
Many brought food to share, and we had a celebration in the setting of the most beautiful store.
Santiago and Anne and Mike at the store graciously and enthusiastically made room for us all.

The event was co-sponsored by the Latin American Cultural Association (LACA at Buen Amigo)

and by the Latin America Solidarity Committee (LASC, a taskforce of the WNY Peace Center).

Tom Potts told us of his free dental project there, and how it runs; the cross-section of people he treats,  the politics of the township, the work the committee there, the valuable assistance of a local translator from indigenous languages to spanish, the way the word gets out to the outlying communities, and the possibilities and problems of funding a scholarship for a local person to study to eventually carry-on the project year-round.  Suggestions included a kickstart campaign or medical school in Cuba.

Tom also mentioned the huge privatization of the mexican energy enterprise, which involves constitutional changes and massive opportunities for corruption.

Bill Jungels told of terrible agricultural problems in the area this year: of falling  revenue from coffee growing, and failed corn crops.   He also told of the work of the weaving cooperatives and tensions in some nearby communities that reminded him of the paramilitary lead up to the Acteal massacres.

Questions were asked: protests planned for the 20 anniversary of NAFTA, celebrations of 20 years of autonomous Zapatista communities, differences between politics in Mexico and Colombia, versus other progressive politics in Latin America.

We hope to post some links here:


El Buen Amigo (the Good Friend) opened on Elmwood in 1989 as part of the Latin American Cultural Association, a non profit organization formed in 1977 to spread the culture of Latin America and raise awareness of present-day social and economic struggles of the region. The store deals directly with craftspeople, cooperatives and small family businesses, and returns profits to the artists and their communities. Everyone welcome to our party.

November 2013 LASC

The Latin America Solidarity Committee November Coffeehouse was titled:

              Immigration Reform & Justice for Farmworkers

The date was 7-9 pm       Monday       November 18
It was held at  Wick Student Center,  Alumni Lounge, Daemen College,      4380 Main Street
Speakers were Lory Ghertner, Chava Redonnet, Peter Mares.

Dr. John 'Lory' Ghertner, cofounder of Greater Rochester Coalition for Immigration Justice, and                    
     Migrant Support Services of Wayne County, advocating for his Latino farmworker neighbors.

Chava Redonnet, pastor of Iglesia de Sam Remero, ministering to needs of farmworkers in Albion

Peter Mares, Wayne County outreach worker for Catholic Charities and Rural and Migrant Ministry.

The speakers gave us the first-hand picture of the effects of unjust, upside-down laws that create a system that destroys lives.  Jim Bittner,  a Niagara County farmer, also came and spoke eloquently about the fears and hopes of farmworkers.

Many Daemen students attended, and there was very active discussion, especially about immigration issues and how to make contact with organizations aiding farmworkers locally.

We hope to have more information posted here soon.

Photo: www.afteripickthefruit.com/    

     

             

October 2013 LASC

THE October LASC Coffeehouse was a showing of the Guatemala Film: GOLD FEVER,

part of a national effort by Rights Action  (http://www.rightsaction.org/) to draw attention to communities abused by terrible mining activities in Latin America.

500 years after the conquistadors, caught in the cross-hairs of another global frenzy for gold, resisting the arrival of Goldcorp Inc to a remote Guatemalan village. The film  addresses larger political and environmental realities around international relations and business, shaped by the interests of a tiny elite - at the expense of communities and the environment.  Gold Fever received the 2013 Rigoberta Menchú Grand Prix at the Montréal First Peoples Festival.

Film web site with trailer: www.goldfevermovie.com

the showing was 7-9 pm Mon. October 21, 2013 

at HALLWALLS 341 Delaware Ave Buffalo.

Lively discussion afterwards was led by Emma Feldman, from her work with MICLA, a McGill Research Group Investigating Canadian Mining in Latin America.    http://micla.ca/

September 2013 LASC

The Latin America Solidarity Committee 

SEPTEMBER 2013 COFFEEHOUSE, titled

    IN SOLIDARITY WITH HAITI

was about local projects around solar power and micro-loans.

The date was  7-9 pm Monday, September 23;  the place was

Network of Religious Communities 1272 Delaware Avenue.

     The  speakers:

Paige Mecca directs Solar Liberty Foundation (WNY), with Haitian solar    projects in Port-au-Prince and Ile-a-Vache.   www.solarliberty.org

Katherine Mang works with Mothers Clubs of Haiti, a successful micro-lending program offering hope to rural Haitian families. She reported on recent work-visits.   www.mclubsh.org

It was a very lively and inspiring presentation, with lots of questions and discussion, and lots of ideas generated.

Letter: Call from Obama might have prevented gas attack

Call from Obama might have prevented gas attack
Letter to Buffalo News, published on September 7, 2013

As the world justly condemns the horrific gas attacks in Damascus, Syria, killing over 1,400 people, the debate in Washington and elsewhere over what to do about it is just beginning, and some sort of military action is at the top of the list. There are two items that need to be part of the upcoming congressional discussion.

First, although the Obama administration initially welcomed a U.N. investigation in an Aug. 21 press briefing, it puzzlingly turned 180 degrees around on Aug. 30 when Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States should not wait for the conclusion of the U.N. investigation before deciding on a course of action. What’s the hurry?

Secondly, on Aug. 30 the White House released an assessment on Syria’s use of chemical weapons. It says three days prior to the gas attack, the United States collected much information pointing to an impending chemical weapons attack. The report did not say President Obama called President Bashar Assad during that three-day period prior to the gas attack telling him: “Don’t do it.” Such an effort by Obama may have prevented the attack, if indeed it was carried out by the Syrian government on orders from Assad. Why didn’t Obama make that phone call?

Charley Bowman, WNY Peace Center,  Buffalo

Letter: More violence is not the solution in Syria

More violence is not the solution in Syria. ce:   By Victoria Ross
Published by Buffalo News on September 4, 2013

“Those who have not been killed by chemical weapons will be killed by American weapons.”
– Local Syrian-American woman

Violence begets violence. Nonviolence is basic to virtually all religions (although man has also somehow inserted violence into every religion, too). Yet we treat violence as our ace in the hole. We must believe, and act, in nonviolence and love.

We grieve for the people of Syria. We know Bashar Assad’s regime is brutal – torturing and murdering – and violence is escalating all around. We must stop it.

We grieve, but don’t know who actually gassed people. There are conflicting reports. Although our government claims Assad gassed his people, we also know that “truth is the first casualty of war.” Our government has often lied to go to war – e.g., Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin and the mythical weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Whoever gassed people in Syria, it was a terrible crime, and the terror continues. Adding to it will clearly result in more innocents dying. Targeted assassination is a specialty of drones, yet many civilians die in drone strikes. In Pakistan, for example, estimates of civilians killed range from 10 percent, per the New America Foundation, to near 98 percent, per Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute. The broad-ranging terror is indisputable.

We can and must take decisive action. Let us strengthen international law, organizations and community. We need to work through U.N. peacekeeping. We need to work with the international community to halt fighting (and arming), and to promote communication and negotiation.

We must recognize the U.N. International Criminal Court, the proper venue for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court originated in 2002, and has been ratified by 122 countries. We originally signed but then reneged. Might our own war crimes – war of aggression on Iraq, extra-judicial assassination via drones – have something to do with our reluctance?

The international community is like any other community – a culture is created and perpetuated by the actions of its members. As the No. 1 arms merchant and military spender, determined that our world dominance be unchallenged, our belligerence has only encouraged others to behave badly. Let us instead promote the rule of law internationally, including the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which outlawed war, signed by the United States in 1928.

Let us take the side of compassion, and work hard to create a culture of peace at home and abroad. Even a fraction of the time and energy spent on violence could make all the difference.

Victoria Ross is a peaceful conflict resolution consultant for the Interfaith Peace Network and the WNY Peace Center.

One of the statements read at tonight's peace vigil in Buffalo.

LCWR Statement on US Action in Syria.           Fri., Sep 6, 2013
[Silver Spring, MD]  We, the members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, are compelled to work toward a world where reverence for all living beings finds expression in an approach to life free from violence. We stand in solidarity with the victims of violence everywhere, with a majority of the American people, and with the leaders of our Catholic Church as we heed the Gospel call to peace, reconciliation, and universal love.

Like so many, we are horrified at the violence we witness in our world and appalled by the continued carnage in Syria. We wholeheartedly condemn the use of chemical weapons along with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, and other violations of international humanitarian law.  In the face of so much pain and suffering; confronted by so much evil and immorality; we know that we must act.

However, we reject the false choice currently being offered by our political leaders in Washington, DC.  We need not choose between military action and doing nothing.  Like Pope Francis we know that, “Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence.” Only aggressive diplomacy and deliberate dialogue can end the violence and bring about peace in Syria.

We urge the US Congress and the President, working with the international community at the United Nations to provide the leadership necessary to:

De-escalate the violence by stopping the flow of arms to all sides and seeking a ceasefire.
Provide humanitarian assistance to the millions of Syrians forced to flee their homes by the continuing violence.
Pursue a just political settlement with all of the stakeholders including members of civil society.
Bring to justice those responsible for these egregious violations of international law and crimes against humanity.
We will act to stop the killing and end the violence. We join with Pope Francis in appealing for an end to violence everywhere and calling on all people of good will to observe a day of prayer and fasting for peace on September 7. Let us pray for the grace to respond to violence, conflict, and war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation, and love.

Contact:
Sister Annmarie Sanders, IHM
Associate Director for Communications
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
301-588-4955
asanders@lcwr.org


The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. The conference has more than 1400 members, who represent more than 80 percent of the approximately 51,600 women religious in the United States.

Charlie's Farewell Post as Director

Peacemakers,

This will be my last Weekly Update as Interim Exec. Director of the WNY
Peace Center. As some of you know, I am stepping down to lighten the load
on my reduced energy levels and tomorrow I will be undergoing extensive
medical tests  (the allergy theory now occupies the top of the infinite
list having displaced bacterial, viral infections, and more serious stuff 
– so the tests continue and the fee-for-service rate structure continues
to  help  out the doc(s), so at least one of us will feel better at the
conclusion of the tests).

Having zero experience at organizational leadership when Jim Anderson and
Lynda Schneekloth hired me March 2011, I was unsure I would last more than
a few months. I could not have predicted the learning path upon which I
was about to embark. 

Starting in October of 2011,Occupy Buffalo was absolutely terrific! I now know how to order porta potties, and many churches, secular organizations and individuals stepped up to fund that critical infrastructure on Niagara Square. The only person
to get pooped out about the 99%’s  three-month occupation of Niagara Square was Buffalo’s Mayor Byron Brown.

The occupation of Niagara Square represented a perfect reminder  of  the
extreme wealth disparity in this country, and the imperialistic symbolism
expressed by the monument to President McKinley and his foreign
adventures.

The Peace Center’s credit union account grew 4 fold in 2011 because we did
not pay anyone during that time and because about 400 members continued
expressing hope through their checkbooks and volunteer time – perfectly
happy with a highly inexperienced Executive Director.

We had no task forces in March 2011. During the summer  of 2011, we
mounted an unsuccessful effort to get the Cost of War Clock mounted on
Buffalo City Hall. Mayor Brown never responded to our infinite number of
requests for a meeting with him. Eric Gallion formed the Global Economic
Task Force and Bruce Beyer formed a task force to support military
resistors residing in Canada. Russell Brown formed the Resist Militarism!
Task Force which now focuses on drones and military recruitment.   

During the summer of 2012, Occupy Buffalo and PC members paraded the Peace
Center’s drone in front of Buffalo’s City Hall, much to the dismay of city
hall officials who said they would call the police --- the police were
already double-parked in front of City Hall and they didn’t seem to care
about the drone, so we continued parading the drone in an effort to get
the Common Council to vote on a drone ban ordinance: it remains tabled. 

In the spring of 2013, that task force began anti-drone vigils at Niagara
Falls Air Reserve Station. They also participate in Gandhian anti-drone
efforts at Hancock Field near Syracuse NY. This year, Russell Brown,
Valerie Niederhoffer  and Bonny Mahoney were arrested at the April event:
total bail was $5,000. The Peace Center picked up $4,500 and the Peace and
Education Fund of Riverside Salem UCC/DC picked up $500. Two years ago,
Vicki Ross was arrested at Hancock Field at the same event. Those efforts
will continue.  

LASC came back to the WNY Peace Center, and they began
hosting their monthly talks at Daemen College, in an effort to educate
young people. They will continue that great effort during the fall of 2013.  

In the fall of 2011, Rita Yelda and Frank Gage taught me the evils
of hydrofracking. They then  formed the Anti-Hydrofracking TF, and Rita
organized the effort to force the City of Niagara Falls to ban the
transport of hydrofracking waste water into Niagara Falls NY for
“treatment”  (i.e., send the toxic solids to a landfill and send the toxic
radioactive liquid over Niagara Falls). That victory continues to pay huge
dividends for the environment, because it increased the costs to gas
companies to deal with their waste water and continues to do its part in
delaying hydrofracking in NY State.  

John Washington formed the  Economic Empowerment TF that works to inform homeowners in debt how to deal with banks. Jean Dickson recently formed the Middle East TF and its first meeting was a classic: about 40 people showed up and a spirited discussion on Palestine and Israel ensued –- an excellent catharsis for lots of angst on all sides and the catharsis lasted for several months.

 We now have 7 busy task forces and pay 3 people non-living wages --  all
supported by your continued generosity.

Prompted by Buffalo News articles in the spring of 2012 about drones
coming to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, we created an alternative
vision for that unneeded military base: a gigantic solar array. The United
State’s industrial policy is totally war-related  and we need to extricate
ourselves from the military thinking box, as the world is nearing a point
of no return in terms of global warming: 20-30 years from now the Arctic
sea ice will disappear if we continue burning fossil fuels as we do. 

The melting sea ice will raise sea levels inundating low lands, and  the
warming oceans will power more terrible storms. A recent report indicates
the bacteria that hold the soil structure together are also at risk. 

All this anthropogenic warming will create climate shifts and subsequent
migrations in human populations: if it continues, global warming will
create the perfect conditions for global war  -- and lots more countries
will have nuclear arms and drones by then. WWII will be considered a
temporary skirmish by comparison, if it’s remembered in the history books
at all.

So we need to immediately lower atmospheric and human emotional
temperatures with renewable energy and renewable spirit respectively.

Perhaps the WNY Peace Center should have a new vision statement: Peace
Through Justice, Renewable Energy and Spirit.

Our two Peaceful Conflict Resolution specialists – Vicki Ross and Carlanda
Wilson – continue to do their wonderful work on reducing human emotional
temperatures. And Peggy Matteliano – our office manager – will keep the
Peace Center’s office functioning properly.

I will continue working on the solar array project, and recently testified
at SUNY Fredonia about switching the Dunkirk Coal Plant to natural gas:
Bad idea. Renewable energy is a better idea.

From now on, Board member Eric Gallion will take over the Weekly Update.
If you want to have your event  posted in that extensive listing, send
your event to: weeklynews@wnypeace.org. Eric and Peggy – our office
manager – will monitor Director@wnypeace.org and respond accordingly.

In the absence of a director, it’s not clear how the Peace Center will
handle requests for Peace Center endorsement of events. Most likely your
request will be decided at the Peace Center’s monthly board meeting. So
get your request in 2 months ahead of time to assure adequate timing.

Over the past 2 weeks I received many kind notes and I thank each one of you.

Peace,

--- Charley

LASC-Pastors for Peace BBQ, July 12, 2013

Please Come to a BBQ fun time & fundraiser for
this year's Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba
Friday July 12  5 - 9 PM
74 Wellington Rd. near Hertel Ave. in Buffalo, phone 835 4705 for info
(suggested donation $10 - $20 +)
WITH Dave Thomas,Canadian Cuban Friendship Association, Niagara Chair who
spends months in Cuba motor cycling & also caravanistas past & present.
AND music by La Marimba:
Tiffany Nicely, Ringo Brill, and Gabriel Gutierrez perform original
arrangements of traditional music from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
See them on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj5_4k2fPBhEH6C7YuFqTsNvwxoZRWRXG

IFCO/Pastors for Peace in Buffalo, NY this year, through an exciting educational and
cultural program will celebrate the 24th Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba! In July 2013 the
caravan will travel visiting 100 US and Canadian cities, educating people about the
blockade.

     CARAVAN ROUTE SCHEDULE
July 8-15 Cuba Caravan Week:  Organizing          
        events throughout the US*and Canada
July 16 Travel to Mexico City/ Participant  orientation
July 17 Participate in major event in
                     Mexico City
July 18 Depart from Mexico City
July 19- 29 Caravan program in Cuba
July 29 Return to Mexico City
July 30 Return to the Hub City & Report  Back

P4P will go directly to Santiago de Cuba to help reconstruct after Hurricane Sandy and to
be part of the 60th Anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks. This year P4P will
not be traveling on school busses, but first fly from our hub cities to Mexico City, where
we will join our Mexican partners in a gala event. Cuba is well known for its rich culture
& focus on human development – all which comes from investment in human beings. We will
meet the young scientists, doctors, teachers, social workers, artists, musicians and
community activists who are increasingly at the forefront of developing their own society
and participating in internationalist missions to assist the peoples of other countries.
P4P is accepting the advice that Fidel gave: "Victory is winning the Battle of Ideas".  We
want to end the Blockade. P4P is organizing on a new & exciting model this year, so stay
tuned for details!

WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED Join us on a voyage of friendship and discovery!

•Join the caravan as a caravanista – contact P4P for an application form.
email cucaravan@igc.org

•Sponsor a young person or encourage others to apply – distribute our
brochure; sponsor someone from your community.

•Get involved locally – host a caravan event in your community and come
* Friday July 12 to a BBQ fun time & fundraiser:
5 - 9 PM 74 Wellington Rd. near Hertel Ave. in Buffalo, phone 835 4705 for info
(suggested donation $10 - $20 +)
with speakers from Canada & and also caravanistas past & present.

Contact Info: IFCO/Pastors for Peace
418 W. 145th St., New York, NY 10031
Ph: 212-926-5757 Fax: 212-926-5842
Email: p4p@igc.org      web site:   www.pastorsforpeace.org