PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER
Published by the Thomas Merton Center
Published by Occupy Pittsburgh
VOL. 42 No. 10, November 2012
OCCUPY PITTSBURGH INSERT
Issue No. 9, November 2012
IN THIS ISSUE - Drone Warfare Immoral - Budget Cuts Threaten All
Thirty-five activists, including Medea Benjamin from Code Pink, Women for Peace (a US anti-war group) gathered in the Pakistani capital this past October to march in South Waziristan, one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border, which is a hotbed of Taliban militancy. Source: Riehl World News. Medea Benjamin is scheduled to speak at the Thomas Merton Center 40th Anniversary Dinner on November 8, where she will be accepting the Peace and Justice award.
Medea Benjamin Protests Drones in Pakistan with the Victims of War by K. Briar Somerville
Anniversary Dinner. Benjamin tweeted October 2 that the Sporting neon pink vests proclaiming them “American delegates who arrived in Islamabad “AMERICANS AGAINST DRONES,” a today were met by a huge group of Pakistanis delegation from peace group CODEPINK went who threw rose petals and said thanks.” On to Pakistan last month to engage with locals October 3 the group pressed U.S. Ambassador affected by the CIA’s drone to Pakistan Richard strike program, which was Thomas Merton Hoagland with questions Center 40th designed to target supposed about his involvement in Anniversary terrorists. The program is signing off on drone Celebration controversial because of the strikes and the likelihood long-distance weaponry Nov. 8, 6:00 pm of a plan to compensate Sheraton Station that impedes the ability of victims, receiving Square Hotel the human behind the inconclusive answers and technology making life-and leaving him with a copy Honoring -death judgment calls to be Medea Benjamin of Benjamin’s Drone merciful as the occasion Warfare and a petition to Register now at www.thomasmertoncenter.org. demands, resulting in the end the strikes. loss of innocent lives. On October 6 and 7, Leading the activists, who are seeking the CODEPINK delegation, which also compensation for civilian victims and an end to included veterans, activists who opposed the strikes was CODEPINK cofounder Medea the Vietnam War, medical professionals, Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by artists, educators, and others, joined popular Remote Control, who will be presented with the Pakistani politician Imran Khan in making Peace and Justice Award on November 8 in international headlines with a two-day Pittsburgh at the Thomas Merton Center’s 40th (See DRONES on page 8)
Where are the Blessed Peacemakers? Why it’s so hard for Christians to understand the logic of nonviolence in their own traditions by Elizabeth Drescher September’s killings of Americans in Libya has sparked new reflection on the relationship between religion, politics, and violence. Among many thoughtful responses to the attacks that challenge the mind-numbing cravenness of the Romney campaign’s response, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks have perhaps most clearly defined the intimate relationship between religious faith and peacemaking at the heart of both political diplomacy and world religions: In times like these, it can be easy to despair that some differences are irreconcilable, some mountains too steep to climb; we will never reach the level of understanding and peacefulness that we seek, and which I believe the great religions of the world call us to pursue. But that’s not what I believe, and I don’t think it’s what you believe. Part of what makes our country so special is we keep trying. (See PEACEMAKERS on page 10)
TMC works to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression and environmental justice. TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. November 2012
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THRIFTY HOUSE—info coming from Loarplease THRIFTY OPEN needs volunteer truck drivers...if youLinda can help call Shirley, Shawna, or Dolly at (412) 361-6010. From left to right: Linda Loar, Dolly Mason, Becky, Shawna and little John Romeo, Shirley and Sarah, pose for a picture at Thrifty during a busy afternoon at the store!
TMC Board of Directors Rob Conroy, Kathy Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Patrick Fenton, Carol Gonzalez, Mary Jo Guercio, Wanda Guthrie, Shawna Hammond, Edward Kinley, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Francine Porter, Molly Rush
TMC Standing Committees of the Board of Directors Board Development Committee Recruits board members, conducts board elections Building Committee Oversees maintenance of 5123-5129 Penn Ave. sites Membership Committee Coordinates membership goals, activities, appeals, and communications 40th Anniversary Committee Plans and oversees activities to celebrate TMC’s 40th year of service Editorial Collective Plans, produces and distributes The NewPeople newspaper Finance Committee Ensures financial stability and accountability of TMC Personnel Committee Oversees staff needs, evaluation, and policies Project Committee Oversees project applications, guidelines, and policies Special Event Committees Plans and oversees TMC fundraising events with members and friends
TMC COMMITTEES & PROJECTS Anti-War Committee info@pittsburghendthewar.org www.pittsburghendthewar.org
Pittsburgh Campaign for Democracy NOW! 412-422-5377, sleator@cs.cmu.edu www.pcdn.org
Association of US Catholic Priests Fr.Survil@EmbraceAllOflife.us
Pittsburgh Works! (labor history documentaries) connections05@hotmail.com
Book‘Em (Books to Prisoners) bookempgh@gmail.com www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem CodePink (Women for Peace) codepinkpgh@aol.com, 412-389-3216 www.codepink4peace.org East End Community Thrift Shop 412-361-6010, shawnapgh@aol.com
Roots of Promise 724-327-2767, 412-596-0066 rootsofpromise@gmail.com (Network of Spiritual Progressives) spiritualprogressives.pgh@gmail.com Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition jumphook@gmail.com; www.pittsburghdarfur.org
Economic Justice Committee economicjustice@thomasmertoncenter.org
Urban Arts Project mbbpgh@yahoo.com
East End Thrift Store
TMC AFFILIATES Allegheny Defense Project, Pgh Office 412-559-1364 www.alleghenydefense.org Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750 B.a.finch@att.net Amnesty International info@amnestypgh.org www.amnestypgh.org The Big Idea Bookstore 412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org Black Voices for Peace Gail Austin 412-606-1408 CeaseFirePA
http://www.ceasefirepa.org info@ceasefirepa.org
Global Solutions Pittsburgh 412-471-7852 dan@globalsolutionspgh.org www.globalsolutionspgh.org
Pittsburgh Committee to Free Mumia 412-361-3022, pghfreemumia@gmail.com Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition 412-563-1519 lisacubasi@aol.com Pittsburgh Independent Media Center info@indypgh.org www.indypgh.org North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition 412-369-3961 www.northhillscoalition.com Pittsburgh North People for Peace 412-367-0383 pnpp@verizon.net Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee
info@pittsburgh-psc.org www.pittsburgh-psc.org
Raging Grannies 412-963-7163, eva.havlicsek@gmail.com
www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com
Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 ojomal@aol.com
Citizens for Social Responsibility of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, evolve@atlanticbb.net
School of the Americas Watch of W. PA 412-371-9722, soapittsburgh@gmail.com
Haiti Solidarity Committee jrothermel@gpcfb.org 412-271-8414 www.thomasmertoncenter.org/hs
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org
PA United for a Single-Payer Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 2102 Murray Avenue Pgh, Pa 15217 412-421-4242
Urban Bikers urbanbikes@yahoo.com
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Martha Connelly (412) 361-7872 osterdm@earthlink.net
Voices for Animals voicesforanimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA
Fight for Lifers West 412-361-3022 to leave a message fightforliferswest@yahoo.com http://fightforliferswest.mysite.com
Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook Call 412-363-7472 tvnotebook@gmail.com www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv
Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up (prisoner support and advocacy) 412-802-8575, hrcfedup@gmail.com www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens Group/ Roots of Promise 724-327-2767 murrysvillemarcellus@gmail.com
Marcellus Shale Protest Group melpacker@aol.com (412) 243-4545
The Pittsburgh Totebag Project P.O. Box 99204, Pittsburgh, PA 15233 www.tote4pgh.org
Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network 412-621-9230/office@piin.org
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 edith.bell4@verizon.net
Whose Your Brother? 412-928-3947 www.whosyourbrother.com
Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi 412-761-4319
Interested in getting more involved? Contact the emails / phone numbers above.
marcellusprotest.org Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance 412-867-9213
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Veterans for Peace Icwheaties@aol.com
Activists’ Visions Mike Stout is “In Your Face” (with Love) by Charlie McCollester In the spring of 1967, I was delivering used cars to make money to travel, and it seemed that protest songs dominated the airwaves during the drafts for the Vietnam War. Today, wars are fought by "professionals" segregated from the rest of society, and the corporate music media keep voices of protest and anger off the air unless it supports their control. There is no more dramatic example than Mike Stout. Mike has composed a body of protest music characterized by the title of his latest album: In Your Face. He has recorded more than one hundred original songs deeply rooted in the experience of the Pittsburgh working class. These are not simple tunes, but complex compositions performed by a group of loyal and dedicated musicians. The twelve songs on the new album combine an equal measure of protest and love songs. The protest songs include two general anthems: “In Your Face with Love” and “We Will Occupy!” Mike urges the 99% to ‘Let the rebel in you rise until this devil system dies.’ The album’s title song drives home the plea to wake up as our abused planet heats up into deeper crisis. Two other songs reflect Stout’s deep commitment to Workers’ Memorial Day where he sings as part of a yearly program honoring all workers who have died on the job during the preceding year. Mike has written a new song nearly every year and the most recent two are on this album. Both are rooted in anniversaries of major disasters where workers were killed. “We Came to Work, Not to Die” linked the 150th anniversary of the Arsenal explosion where 89 mostly young girls were killed in the
worst civilian accident of the Civil War to a recent explosion at the Clairton Coke Works. Mike sang this tribute right before one of the Clairton workers, Rich Doyle, gave the keynote. The other Worker’s Memorial Day song, “The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire,” tells the story of how the tragic deaths of 146 workers sparked a wave of reform that culminated in Courtesy of Mike Stout
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Stout links this iconic American event to a recent incident in Bangladesh where workers were trapped and jumped to their death. The final two protest songs are rooted in two local struggles: the danger of the gas drillers invasion of Western Pennsylvania is celebrated in “Stop the Frack Attack”; and in “We Are Still Alive,” the fight the citizens of Braddock waged against UPMC’s closing of their community hospital. ‘Who will stand up if we don’t they said Speaking truth to power every day every hour… Greed will breed resistance. We are still alive!’
Like the protest songs, the love songs range from the general to the particular. “I’ll Be There For You” is a pledge of solidarity ‘when the beast is loose.’ “America’s Favorite Son” is a tender love song to Woody Guthrie. “Old Warrior” is a tribute to Staughton Lynd, a mentor to many in his untiring efforts with his wife Alice for justice and peace, for workers and prisoners. “Frankie Domagala” celebrates one of the key steelworkers activists in the Homestead Local 1397 during the fight waged by the Rank and File movement to resist the closing of the mill by U.S. Steel. The final love songs bring the album home, one for the wedding of a daughter with tribute to Mike’s younger brother who died in a tragic accident in Jamaica, extending the album’s connection to the personal and familial. At a recent concert to raise money for the Merton Center, Mike demonstrated his range spanning from Doo-wop and The Beatles to the rocking plea from the gut: ‘We need a new system!’ While there is no Do-wop on this album, there is plenty of both love and struggle. Stout’s band of musicians unites some of the best in the Burgh and the quality of his compositions shines through their efforts. This is not music for the corporate media; this is music for struggle. The benefit raised $1,000 each for the Merton center and Healthcare4allPA. To purchase Mike's new CD, he can be contacted at: mikestout619@comcast.net, or go to www.mikestoutmusic.com to listen to samples from the new album. If you identify yourself as a Thomas Merton Center member or supporter, you can purchase the CD for only $10. Charlie McCollester is a member of the editorial collective.
New Economy Campaign Underway by Molly Rush At the October 9th meeting of our New Economy working group, we agreed to begin outreach in the community with a number of events and activities. What is the New Economy? Plans are underway for a series of Potluck Suppers with speakers active in ongoing projects in Pittsburgh. The first will be held on Monday, December 3, from 6:30-8:30 pm, at the Merton Center. More details TBA. We are developing Resilience Circles, small groups where people come together to increase their personal security through learning, mutual aid, social action, and community support. Luka Carfagna, a graduate student at Boston College involved in a local circle there, will lead a Train the Trainers session on January 5th for neighborhood facilitators. We are reaching out for participants from key neighborhoods.
who is active in Cleveland. (Hear Gar Alperovitz, pictured here, speak about the New Economy at — http:// vimeo.com/31841684)
Gar Alperovitz
Photo and Video Source: Creative Commons
Involving cooperatives, Charles McCollester is helping to arrange to bring in a speaker in the spring from the Mondragon cooperative in Spain at CCAC. Charlie sees that to retrofit Pittsburgh we need cooperatives to support people in low-income neighborhoods to pass the apprenticeship exams for the building trades.
We have already found widespread interest in creating some real alternatives to the current corporate/banking system and its stranglehold on government that is endangering the livelihoods of families and We will do mapping and analysis of local the very environment in which we live and breathe. By coming together we can and regional groups involved in the many aspects of building a new economy from the strengthen one another’s efforts and create a ground up. Through research and interviews, larger and more inclusive vision of what is possible. we hope to learn more about the widely diverse and creative groups working right Next Meeting: Monday, November 12 at here and to help build relationships with and 10:00 am at the Thomas Merton Center, 5129 among them. Harvey Holtz will take Penn Ave., Garfield. Bring your ideas and the lead, working with interns and energy. RSVP: molly.rush@verizon.net. volunteers. Contact him at iamholtz@iup.edu. Molly Rush is co-founder of the Thomas Looking ahead, we will be planning some Merton Center, board member, and co-chair larger events in 2013 featuring leaders in the of the editorial collective. national new economy movement, such as CHUCK COLLINS of the Institute for Policy Studies and economist GAR ALPEROVITZ November 2012
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Activist Actions Building Unity for Public Transit: You’re Invited by Helen Gerhardt and Alicia Williamson Claudia Hudson, International Representative of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), closed her eyes, remembering the bad old days before she and her fellow bus drivers had a union to represent them. “Five-year-old kids looking after one-year-olds. Was some better when us mama drivers took all our kids and we put them together in one house so that the older ones could look after the really little ones. That’s just how it used to be. That’s the only way we could make it. “We’d be driving buses 12, 14 hours sometime – and even when the hours weren’t so long, most all the time we had split shifts that didn’t let us get back and forth from home…not enough money to pay for child care…and we’d be so tired, we could hardly drive straight sometime.” Here in Pittsburgh, our own bus drivers gave up a great deal to keep the buses running – some of them worry that the bad old days might come back again. The ATU Local 85 has already made unprecedented concessions for tens of millions of dollars in savings per year—$93 million in their previous contract and $60 million in their most recent one. The August 2012 contract doubles workers’ contributions to the pension fund to 10.5% of their salaries. Their wages, starting at $16.05/hr and topping out at $24.50/hr, are comparable to those of other transit systems the same size as the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT) which are facing austerity budgets across the nation. Driving a bus requires a commercial license and hundreds of
hours of training per route. Drivers work a stressful job with long and often split shifts wherein they are responsible for the safety and well-being of hundreds of people. They work on all days of the week, at all sorts of times, through all kinds of weather and during holidays. PAT management often prefers or even requires driver overtime because it is cheaper than hiring and training new employees. Moreover, studies show that companies who do not provide their drivers with competitive wages and benefits for performing a very demanding job have such a high turnover rate that the additional costs they spend on hiring and training negates any savings they may get by compensating workers less. The catastrophic 35% service cut to our public transportation system slated for September 2012 was averted through local and state contributions along with sacrifices made by the Port Authority and ATU 85 transit workers. However, these measures are just a band-aid for this fiscal year alone, which means that we’ll be facing yet another round of cuts next fall and every year after until we have an adequate, growing source of dedicated public funding for mass transit in our region. We need to put a stop to the cycle of crises, cuts, and bailouts—the only way to do so is to create a sustainable source of revenue for transportation at the state level. ATU International President Larry Hanley and Andrew Austin, the executive director of the nonprofit Americans for Transit, have led the way nationally in spearheading efforts to boost riders unions. Leading the way locally, ATU Local 85 will be working closely with Pittsburghers for
Public Transit in their efforts to engage riders and other transit supporters across our region to fight with drivers for the funding and working conditions that support a healthy transit system. PPT will be working to show how transit systems support healthy, “livable” cities and the economies which fund roads and bridges for the rest of Pennsylvania. PPT invites all Pittsburghers to join teams of transit drivers, riders and supporters working together to defend and expand mass transportation in our region. Come to our meetings every third Saturday of the month at the Thomas Merton Center to find out how you can contribute to local and statewide campaigns to secure long-term dedicated transit funding. And we will soon be publicizing regular trainings for volunteers. You can help us adapt the lessons of successful fights for public transit led by grassroots organizations across the United States to your own neighborhoods and region. For more information: www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org Join our group on Facebook: Pittsburghers for Public Transit Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pgh4PubTransit and Contact us at: pghfortransit@gmail.com. Helen Gerhardt and Alicia Williamson are organizers working for the Pittsburghers for Public Transit.
Preparing for a Fracking Moratorium with Sen. Jim Ferlo Submitted by the Environmental Justice Committee At a press conference on October 2, 2012, State Senator James Ferlo addressed environmental issues facing Pennsylvanians. Here is some of what he said: “In the early 30’s Will Rogers used to say, ‘You gotta buy land because they just ain’t making any more of it.’ But now the MarcellusUtica-Delaware Shale industry executives, modern day robber barons, tell us ‘you can buy the land, but we own the mineral rights and we will extract any natural resources out of it, and what’s more, we hired Gov Tom Corbett and DEP Secretary Krancer as our deputy sheriffs.’ “Since the beginnings of the now-booming natural gas industry here in Pennsylvania, I have
been calling for a more cautious process for allowing hydraulic fracturing into our Commonwealth. I have advocated for studies, moratoriums, stronger regulations, a stronger state statute, and a fair and equitable gas extraction tax that appropriately compensates state and local governments for the many associated impacts of drilling. “We need substantial reform to the recently adopted Act 13 which was the Legislature’s weak attempt at providing oversight of oil and gas drillers, and we need to continue our fight for a drilling moratorium in order to provide a qualified and professional group of unbiased citizens the opportunity to make recommendations on the statutory and regulatory framework necessary to protect our Commonwealth.” (Continued on page 9)
Make it Our UPMC Dear Allegheny County Council: It's time we had a serious conversation about UPMC's business practices and its tax breaks. As the recent Post-Gazette series on its real estate dealings showed, UPMC operates with very little accountability - spending almost any amount on property it wants, inflating real estate markets, and acting more like a giant for-profit corporation than the non-profit charity they are supposed to be. UPMC also avoids paying $42 million in property taxes because of its non-profit status. At a time we’re taking teachers out of 4 - NEWPEOPLE
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classrooms and cutting transit service to the bone, we don't believe we can afford to subsidize UPMC’s land buying binges. UPMC’s questionable behavior isn’t just limited to its real estate transactions. Despite making $351 million in operating profits last year and having $4 billion in reserves , many UPMC employees live in poverty and earn less than a family-sustaining wage. We are calling County Council to hold a public hearing to investigate UPMC's behavior and make sure they live up to their responsibilities as a non-profit charity.” For more information see the website at: http://action.makeitourupmc.org/page/s/ upmccountypetition. Statement prepared by the SEIU Healthcare for Pennsylvania.
Courtesy of the Creative Commons
Help Us Get Money Out of Politics! by Edith Bell If you want to get money out of politics, get rid of corporations’ rights as persons, and want to get our democracy back, you probably know that it will take an amendment to the Constitution to change the current situation, in order to get rid of the best government money can buy. Several states have already passed resolutions to that effect. Many organizations are working on this issue: Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Move To Amend, Move On, Coffee Party, Public Citizen, Common Cause and more. Locally as our first action we are working on a petition drive to convince our Pennsylvania legislature to get on board. We plan on being at the polls (as many as we can find volunteers for—that depends on you) on Election day with petitions, literature and signs. We believe that most people are pretty fed up with all the nasty negative advertising before the elections, and will gladly sign a petition to change that. So please join us! We have a training session scheduled for Thursday, November 1, at 7:00 pm at the Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave. in Garfield, and we may schedule an additional one. Contact Edith at 412-661-7149 or edith.bell4@verizon.net. Edith Bell is Coordinator of the Pittsburgh based Women’s League for International Peace and Freedom.
Activists Against Budget Cuts Individualism vs. Communitarianism: Selfishness vs. Altruism by Al Condelucci I’ve been associated for 39 years with western PA.‘s UCP/CLASS, a support service for people with disabilities. We’ve advocated for many important federal, state, and local programs that benefit them and their families. While we’ve had ups and downs, mostly we’ve made great progress in moving people out of institutions and living independently through: · including community and independent living as key parts of the federal Rehabilitation Act; · the 1984 passage of Act 150 which created the Attendant Care program in PA, provided thousands with the support needed to live in the community; · and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act providing for the first time civil rights to people with disabilities We’re thankful and proud that these and many other policy and regulatory changes have enabled countless individuals and families to participate in the basic elements of community living. Today, however, major shifts in political perspectives threaten the very fabric of community with the potential to alter and dilute all we have worked so hard to attain. Under the specter of a challenging economy, our current leaders are debating the fundamental role of government, how it should be run and what services we should provide. This debate is being driven by two polar opposite assumptions. One side argues that government is too big and inefficient and shouldn’t provide human and social services. Suspicious of government or affiliated organizations, they contend that people be responsible for themselves and that society shouldn’t bail out people who run into trouble. This “rugged individualistic” approach suggests that as a society we aren’t responsible for problems or failures of others. The other side, grounded in the notion of cooperation, collaboration and support for one
another, sees government playing an important role, that the strong should support the weak, thus strengthening the collective whole. This spirit, that from those who are seen as successful, much is expected, recognizes that all is not equal or fair in life and that those without certain advantages may be more at risk so we need Government as the most effective vehicle to level the playing field, to Courtesy of UCP/Class achieve greater equality. Al Condelucci This debate might be called “individualism vs communitarianism” or even “selfishness vs altruism.” While an oversimplification, it does capture the essence of the poles. These two perspectives appear in our headlines every day. Further complicating the debate are the issues of taxes and investments in society. Government has developed programs to assist the less fortunate. Now the costs of these services have grown. Some see this as a key reason for our economic struggles. Personalized, issues becomes emotional red meat, drawing people to choose one side or another. Consider the current issue of public transit in Allegheny County. Some people have their own cars or use other ways to get around and question why their tax dollars should support transit services they don’t use. Others who once used public transit “bettered themselves” and expect others to do the same. Certainly the challenge of funding public transit is never this simple, but sometimes this is how the debate is framed.
The same with public housing, public welfare, hunger and homeless programs. Some see people who use (or even abuse) these programs as the real problem. If only they’d take responsibility and get a job, all would be well. Why should we carry the burden of those who fail to succeed? This is not an easy debate, but in many ways UCP and the programs we’ve worked hard to improve, are caught in the crosshairs of this argument. If people question why their tax dollars should go for public transit or public welfare, it’s a very short step to ask why support programs for people with disabilities. It’s simplistic to blame the victim, or suggest that people created their own problems, but this attitude is unfolding before our very eyes. We all know of instances of abuses or irresponsibility, but what’s happening is that entire programs are changed, or drastically cut, with innocent people caught in an emotional tidal wave based on sensationalized headlines. Thoughtful people understand that extreme positions solve nothing and that the best answers are usually somewhere in the middle. Instead of dismantling essential programs and services to people in need, can we refocus as a society and recognize how fortunate we are if we don’t need these supports? Instead of complaining about abuses we should focus on how essential they are to the lives of so many. As a young boy, my parents’ two consistent messages to me and my brother and sisters were 1) to develop a strong compassion for those in need and 2) learn to think through the decisions we make. I know that if you want people to “better themselves” we must provide adequate support services. I know that the great majority of people receiving services truly need them. I see this in my work every day. There, by the grace of God, go I. I just hope when I too need help we’ll still have a support system. Al Condelucci is CEO of UCP/CLASS, a program serving people with disabilities in their homes.
Independence of Homebound PA Citizens at Risk by Molly Rush Forty years of progress in the care and support that allows people with disabilities and frail seniors to live in their communities is in the process of being dismantled in Pennsylvania by the Corbett Administration. Last year the Republican-dominated state legislature, under the guise of “eliminating waste, fraud and abuse,” passed Act 22. It gave the Department of Public Welfare authority to make sweeping changes. Secretary Gary Alexander did so with a vengeance. He didn’t even consult with programs that have for years provided a wide range of complex services. Next month Governor Tom Corbett will outsource 500 jobs to a Massachusetts forprofit firm.
Homebound seniors and people with disabilities will lose services that allow them to choose and hire their own caretakers.
Agencies with long experience providing financial services, including payroll, taxes, etc. were not consulted. Imagine your elderly neighbor or wheelchair bound friend having to phone a stranger in Boston to respond to their needs. Caring workers at local programs such as UCP/CLASS, whom
they’ve relied upon for personal attention, are laid off, along with many other support persons, due to budget cuts. The result? A simple one step response to a request for a service became a bewildering and complex bureaucratic maze, adding to the work of agencies already Sketch by Robert Meganck understaffed due to HO severe budget cuts. ME BO Many people may lose UN their ability to live D independently as members of the community, made possible with assistance to work, shop, and visit friends. What will happen to them? In 1975, The Committee to Improve Kane Hospital issued a report on the old Scott Township facility which basically warehoused hundreds of elderly and people with disabilities. After years of struggle by employees and community members, it was closed and four mini-Kanes opened around the County. At the same time United Cerebral Palsy, now UCP/CLASS, was growing and expanding its services and advocacy for the basic civil rights of people with disabilities: UCP Bill of Rights for the Disabled o "The Right to prevention, early diagnosis and proper care. o The right to a barrier-free environment and
accessible transportation. o The right to necessary assistance given in a way that promotes independence. o The right to a choice of lifestyle and residential alternatives. o The right to an income for a lifestyle comparable to the able-bodied. o The right to training and employment as qualified. o The right to petition social institutions for just and humane treatment. o The right to self-esteem." Under the capable leadership of UCP/CLASS CEO Al Condelucci, staff and volunteers have made a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people. Now he’s having to make painful layoff decisions and challenge new policies of an administration deaf to the voices of those most affected, and seemingly hostile to the notion of public service. Clients (and their families) fear they may lose that independence. Institutionalization would cost $75,000 a year compared to $25,000 for home support. But even that alternative may not be available. The shortage of institutional beds would require building costly new facilities. Ideology and campaign contributions have replaced common sense and the idea that the government is meant to work for the common good. You can email Gov. Corbett at Governor@pa.gov or call 717-787-2500. Molly Rush is cofounder of TMC and a cochair of the Editorial Collective. November 2012
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Activists Fight for The Forgotten How Will Tax and Budget Cuts Impact You? by Carlana Rhoten Cuts in budgets, staff, resources, research and development result in thousands of deaths every year. Extreme tax cuts began in 1980, and the health, safety and welfare of citizens have been abandoned. Here is how tax and budget cuts have affected government operations. Department of Transportation - Bridges collapse; bad roads cause accidents; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fails to keep up with most modern equipment; air controllers are understaffed and overworked; trains crash into each other or derail. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - Workers are injured or killed on the job. Health and Human Services (HHS) - Approximately 50,000 Americans die every year because they can't get insurance or qualify for Medicaid to pay for healthcare. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and State Health Departments - Understaffed, with not enough laboratories and limited prevention capabilities. Barely able to respond to the normal incidence of disease outbreaks or food and drug poisonings, they are not prepared for a pandemic or for increasing numbers of drug resistant bacteria. National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Do not have enough funds for research projects needed to get ahead of the curve and respond to the threats mentioned above, as well as to common diseases and conditions that are causing early deaths. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - Not enough staff or labs to deal with tainted drugs and food, contaminated imports and counterfeit medi-
ships, boats, helicopters or personnel for rescue operations, interdictions and monitoring of toxic substances such as the massive oil spill in the Gulf and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Army Corps of Engineers - Flood control in jeopardy. Environmental Protection Agency - Politicians block enforcement of clean water, air and soil laws to allow Marcellus Shale fracking, oil sands through the XL pipeline and deep water drilling everywhere, including the Arctic. National and State Parks - Understaffed and unable to protect visitors and wildlife habitat and to respond to foreign species that can crowd out native species and destroy forests and water. Serious diseases that need professional response can be spread among wildlife. Diversity of wildlife, plants and trees is destroyed by mining, drilling, pipelines and industrial activities. Police, Firefighters, and Paramedics Needed to respond to wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes, natural- and human-caused catastrophes. Equipment and trained professionals will not be available when needed to save lives. Department of Energy - Crumbling infrastructure and toxic byproducts present dangers in the mining, drilling, refining and transport of gas, oil and coal and the generation of electricity and nuclear power. Many nuclear plants far exceed their lifespan and present a clear and present danger of massive fatalities/loss of property. Policies favor fossil fuels and work against renewables. U.S. Department of State - Budget for security cut during period when attacks were increasing.
cines. Department of Agriculture - Can't protect citizens from diseases and tainted foods from factory farms and processing plants. Research has been cut for crops and farm animals. Land grant colleges and extension offices have been downgraded, and some will be eliminated. Runoff from agriculture is destroying ocean life and beach use. Consumer Product Safety Commission Cannot inspect more than a fraction of domestic products, imported products and container ships for content of dangerous products. Actions do not come until after people are injured or exposed to toxic substances. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Unable to proceed as quickly as it could if it were fully funded to warn the nation and world of potential dangers, e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, heatwaves, snow storms, floods, droughts, forest fires. Other countries will become the primary source of such information as Carlana Rhoten is the producer of Progressive the U.S. falls behind. Pittsburgh Notebook, Public Access TV. U.S. Coast Guard - Does not have enough
A Letter to Governor Corbett by Joyce Rothermel
food pantries in the effort to help meet the “musthave” nutritional needs of our most vulnerable In both of Governor Corbett's budget citizens. Each of these uses of the SFPP addresses, and again in his directions to state appropriation are important and worthy of agencies for their submissions to the 2013-14 support. Governor’s Executive Budget, he draws a Since the onset of the recession, state support distinction between “must-haves and nice-tofor SFPP has declined - from $18.75 million to haves.” the current level of $17.3 million. For the current fiscal year $5 million of this appropriation was set aside to meet the expenses associated with accessing federal TEFAP commodities. This is not a problem in and of itself, but rather a symptom of the larger problem - an overall lack of adequate resources for the State Food Purchase Program. The impact of this action is being felt across the Commonwealth as food assistance For this reason, Food Banks are seeking providers in every county attempt to cope with support from congregations and other reductions in SFPP allocations averaging 20 organizations to join together to recommend percent. This only adds to the burden for food inclusion of a $24 million appropriation for the banks that have struggled over the years to meet a State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) in the rising demand, while at the same time state Department of Agriculture budget for next fiscal support has not kept pace with that demand, and year. has, in fact, eroded. The Thomas Merton Center stands with them. As the leaders of organizations throughout the SFPP makes possible the acquisition and Commonwealth, we see the continuing impact of distribution of millions of pounds of nutritious the economic downturn on the people of food for our neighbors in need. It is the Pennsylvania and the resulting increase in the Commonwealth's most significant contribution to number of our neighbors struggling with hunger the effort to feed the children, seniors, people and food insecurity. While Governor Corbett with disabilities, working poor, underemployed recognized and appreciated the efforts of Food and unemployed Pennsylvanians who rely upon Banks and sustained funding for SFPP in his first food banks, food pantries and other providers for two budgets, we also know that continued essential nutritional assistance. inadequate funding makes it impossible for the SFPP provides greatly - indeed desperately benefits of the State Food Purchase Program to be needed resources to all 67 counties for the fully realized. Level funding in the face of purchase of food and nutritional supplements, for increased demand and rising food and fuel costs critical food provider transportation and means less food for our Commonwealth’s most infrastructure needs, and to cover the charges vulnerable residents. With the elimination of associated with accessing federal food General Assistance for thousands across the state commodities under The Emergency Food and the cuts to many programs that serve them, Assistance Program (TEFAP). SFPP is an they have moved into even deeper poverty and essential tool for Pennsylvania's food banks and become even more food insecure.
At the most basic level of human needs, food is clearly one of the “must-haves.”
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November 2012
We understand that there are many competing demands for state funds and that this will be another difficult year for crafting a state budget. Governor Corbett is in a singular position to make a strong statement that reflects compassion toward Pennsylvanians challenged by hunger. He is in the best position to recognize that allowing hunger to persist hurts us all, and to make certain that adequate state resources are provided to help meet these challenges. If a congregation or organization you are connected with wants to stand in solidarity with Food Banks, please consider signing onto their organizational letter to Governor Corbett. Contact Dennis McManus at 412-460-3663 x283 or through e-mail at dmcmanus@pittsburghfoodbank.org We reach out to Governor Corbett to request that he be mindful of the impact of his decisions on the many Pennsylvanians in need of food. To continue to make vital nutritional assistance available to our neighbors threatened by hunger, our food banks and other charitable food assistance providers - churches, community organizations, and other faith-based and nonprofit groups throughout Pennsylvania - need a strong State Food Purchase Program. (This article contains much of the content of the organizational sign-on letter to Governor Corbett.) Joyce Rothermel is a retired CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Federal Budget Cuts Divide Lame Duck Session Threatens the 99% by Joyce Rothermel The current Congress has yet to take action on several funding and policy bills that require votes before the end of the year. A very important one for farmers and people who are food insecure and at risk of hunger is the Farm Bill which authorizes and funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Many international food aid programs are also approved through the Farm Bill. Current versions of the bill in both the Senate and the House propose severe cuts to these food assistance programs, especially SNAP. Two important tax credit programs for low income families are set to expire by the end of the year and need to be reauthorized: the
New Wave of Elderly Homelessness Predicted by Diane McMahon With poverty rates at epidemic levels and baby boomers entering retirement years, a perfect storm is on the horizon. Will aging baby boomers (20% of all Americans in 2020) be able to survive on meager social security checks, if social security exists at all in the years ahead? In cities across America, homeless shelters are seeing record numbers seeking out emergency stays. In New York City alone, shelters are reporting numbers similar to rates experienced in the 1920’s. (The New York Daily News, October 17, 2012) To cope, many low-income seniors have been forced to live in RV’s, minivans, motels or rooming houses or have doubled up with relatives. This comes at a time when new housing is being planned by community development groups looking to serve the most well-to-do Americans. Rehabbing existing houses receives low priority on planning agendas. Without a plan we will continue to see homeless encampments springing up under bridges and along the rivers, recalling the shantytowns that lined our local rivers during the Great Depression. Perhaps the only difference today is that poorhouse stays have transitioned into jailhouse stays as the homeless are unable to pay the steep fines that they are assessed for sleeping in public places. Many of our swelling prisons are now run for profit instead of being maintained by government, one more sign of the systemic and deep-rooted oppression that the 99% faces when judicial and government structures are aligned with for-profit development ventures. In the 1930’s, policy makers strategizing during the Great Depression created the life-saving social security net. Because of their efforts, millions of elderly Americans, many of whom were dying on the streets, began to experience the safety and security made possible when public focus is on the “common good.” Given the current state of affairs in America, it is hard to imagine similar actions being taken by today’s policy makers (republican and democrat) whose rhetoric suggests that social security is destined to be cut back rather than increased to meet the needs of the poor.
earned income tax credit program and the tax credit for children. Another decision looming is what to do about the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts which will expire at the end of the year. Then, starting on January 2, across the board federal spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over ten years are to begin. These automatic spending cuts, called sequestration, were put on the federal calendar to force Congress to enact comprehensive deficit-reduction legislation. To date, lawmakers have been unable to agree on a plan. At risk are many federal programs that would be severely curtailed, including but not limited to nutrition for pregnant women, education for children from low-income households, services for people who are homeless and access to vital medicine for people living with AIDS. While this so-called "fiscal cliff" is feared, the challenge presents government leaders with the opportunity to institute a comprehensive and balanced approach to deficit reduction. The deficit can be reduced by raising additional tax revenues without further burdening low-income families. Many people of conscience believe it is a role of government to end hunger and address basic human needs. To that end, they see the federal budget as a moral document prioritizing our national values. After the national election on November 6, our government leaders will convene to vote on significant budget proposals. To the extent that they see hunger and poverty as central election issues, it can help them shape the lame duck session and move the national focus to one of ending hunger and poverty. Regionally, a Bread for the World Team of voters, is meeting with our elected officials to encourage them to take the important action and provide the needed leadership to address these challenges. To learn more about how you can help and be involved, visit www.bread.org All are invited to our next Bread Team meeting on Thursday, November 15, at 10 a.m. at Waverly Presbyterian Church at the corner of Forbes and Braddock Avenues in the East End. For more information, please call the Thomas Merton Center at 412-361-3022. Joyce Rothermel is Co-Chair of the SW PA Bread Team. Courtesy of the Creative Commons
How will we meet the housing needs of the growing number of elderly poor who are being forced to live in the streets? If government programs are not expanded, and social security does not remain in place, then we can expect to see exponential increases in elderly homelessness. New initiatives, strategies, and approaches must be planned for. Even as you read this article, there are many alternative new economic models springing up across the nation today to support people of all economic levels. One example is the work of a group in Boston - known as HEARTH - ENDING ELDER HOMELESSNESS. For more information go to their website at http://www.hearth-home.org/ Locally, Molly Rush, Craig Stevens, Harvey Holtz and other community activists are working on developing a public campaign that will bring to light some of our best options to care for and strengthen the growing 99%, including the elderly, families, adults and children. Many of these new economic models exist right here in the city of Pittsburgh. Although having limited financial resources may be viewed as a detriment, being the majority that has vast resources of talent, skills and compassion for each other will be the key to our success. To become involved in the Thomas Merton Center’s New Economy Campaign and Initiative call (412) 361-3022 or email Molly.Rush@verizon.net. Diane McMahon is an advocate on homelessness, managing director of the Thomas Merton Center and member of the editorial collective.
PITTSBURGHERS TRAVEL TO FORT BENNING, GEORGIA TO PROTEST SOA—November 16-19. Call (412) 361-3022.
Please join us! Every year thousands of activists travel to Ft. Benning, GA, the army base where The School of the Americas, (SOA), otherwise known as the School of the Assassins is located. This event takes place on the last weekend before Thanksgiving and its avowed purpose is to generate momentum so that the US Government will close down this school for training Latin American soldiers in torture and counterinsurgency. The founding of the School and its operation has the guiding principle that the "people", that is the population at large, is the enemy that the army has to control, subjugate and fight. That is what they call maintaining "national security". SOA graduates have been linked to major human rights violations in Latin America for over 50 years. SOA soldiers murdered Cleveland church women Jean Donovan and Sister Dorothy Kazel in 1980 and numerous others since! There can be no healing and reconciliation without truth, an apology, and reparations to the thousands who have suffered from SOA violence and oppressive U.S. foreign policies. Each year we gather at the gates of Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia, and demand justice for the martyrs and for the thousands who continue to suffer the brutal consequences of the combat training at the SOA. November 2012
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Activism to End Wars STOP DRONES from front page motorcade for peace headed for South Waziristan. CODEPINK claims, “This was the first time that the Pakistani government has admitted foreigners into the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in nearly a decade.” The march eventually found its way blocked by the Pakistani authorities but succeeded in drumming up worldwide attention on the drone issue. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism tallies between 474 and 884 reported civilian deaths caused by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, of total reported Pakistani drone killings numbering between 2,593 and 3,365. CODEPINK met with some of the families of those killed. Medea Benjamin says, “They are outraged by killing and vow to take revenge,” observing that the anti-terrorist drone strike program seems to exacerbate extremism and anti-Americanism among the Pakistanis. Karim Khan, whose
brother, a teacher, and whose son, a student, were killed by drones told Benjamin.
“Violence will only end when Americans stop killing.”
CODEPINK calls themselves “a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.” While in Pakistan, their delegation offered sympathies and $1,000 to the school of young peace activist Malala Yousafzai, after, as DronesWatch reports, “a faction of the Taliban claimed credit for attacking [the 14-year-old] from the Swat region on October 9 in retaliation for her outspoken opposition to its attempts to keep girls home from school.” The same day Malala Yousafzai was shot, the American activists were fasting for peace in solidarity with the drone victims. K. Briar Somerville is an intern for the editorial collective and has a history with Occupy Wall Street and the National Organization for Women.
Forum on the Impact of the Wars on Pittsburgh: Report-back by Pete Shell On October 6, the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee (AWC) and Black Voices for Peace held a forum on the impact of the wars on Pittsburgh. Endorsed by 13 other Pittsburgh groups, it was part of a weekend of nationwide actions for peace on the 11-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Our goal was to highlight the devastating effect that the endless U.S. wars and massive military spending are having on people’s lives and jobs right here in the city. Despite the Great Recession, the military misadventures and out of control spending continue, deepening the economic crisis in our city and throughout the country, and yet they are ignored by the mainstream parties and press.
As the economic crisis drags on, it’s our challenge to clearly point out the contributions that the war and military spending have on economic problems at home. As the National Priorities Project shows (see www.CostOfWar.com), Pittsburghers’ share of the federal tax dollars for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars alone are now over a billion dollars. That doesn’t include the cost of soldiers' regular pay, future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, additional interest payments on the national debt from higher deficits due to war spending, and the growing number of other wars, drone attacks, and military occupations and bases around the world. About 50 people heard from a representative of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers union, transit advocates, and service providers – all of whose funding has been drastically cut while the wars rage on. Veterans, military families, and a representative of the Veterans Administration discussed the tragic consequences of the wars for veterans and their families. Diane Santoriello, whose son was killed in the war in Iraq, revealed that the only TV station that he and his fellow soldiers were allowed to watch was Fox News. In the final part of the forum, we strategized about how we can rebuild the antiwar movement in a way that connects to local institutions and struggles, and strengthens alliances between groups working for peace. Many good ideas were raised, and the intensity of the discussion showed me that people really want to continue the movement. A follow-up meeting was planned and we hope to build on the momentum created at the forum. To get involved and see when our next meeting is, visit www.PittsburghEndTheWar.org Pete Shell is a member of the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee., one of the four focus areas or our peace and justice organization. 8 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2012
The Thomas Merton Center is committed to saving the earth! We rely on wind power, provided by Citizen Power, to maintain the electrical needs of our offices and thrift store!
Environmental Activism builds, and we see the disturbing health impacts of the industry on our residents, we need to take a step back and assess where we’ve been and where we are going. Just as the Republican majority saw fit to create an (continued from page 4) “Senate Democrats is to give back local zoning powers to municipalities so “immaculate exception” in Southeast Pennsylvania, we need to do this in that they can protect the public health, safety and welfare of our citizens. In the rest of the state. “So today, I am beginning a new effort to impose a moratorium on the addition to legislative reform, the Senate Democratic Caucus has filed an issuance of new permits by the DEP for hydraulically fracked wells. The amicus brief to support the seven municipalities that are challenging the moratorium will last until January 1, 2018, just as the Southeastern state law before the State Supreme Court. moratorium does, while a study commission determines the best methods “Commonwealth Court rightly ruled, based on Judge Pellegrini’s well for allowing drilling while protecting our public health and the reasoned opinion, that the Legislature overstepped its powers by stripping environment. The study commission will release its report by January 1, local governments of their essential land use-making decisions. We must overturn this law. We must return power to local decision makers. We must 2017, giving the legislature and state agencies a full year to adopt the make real our Constitutional provision in the Declaration of Rights, Sec 27 recommendations and as best possible mitigate the impacts the industry has to clean air, pure water and to the preservation, natural, scenic, historic and on our state. None of this will happen unless we educate, advocate and start practicing and employing “in your face” direct action to our elected aesthetic values of the environment. In addition to these measures, I am calling for a hydro-fracturing moratorium since there are more than 10,000 officials, the media and industry officials.” already in the permitting process. As the number of driller infractions Submitted by the Environmental Justice Committee
Preparing for a Fracking Moratorium
Is Our Water Safe?
Environmental Justice Committee Update
and Local Authority of Western Pennsylvania. What's at Stake Here? The Beaver Run Reservoir is a 1,300-acre lake and the main source of drinking water for 150,000 by Wanda Guthrie residents in southwestern Pennsylvania. It also rests atop the enormous Marcellus Shale gas Is shale gas drilling near the reserve. Over the past decade or so about 100 Beaver Run Reservoir a good idea? shallow natural gas wells have been drilled Join us on Monday, November 19, 7-9 pm, throughout the reservoir. at the Murrysville Community Center The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland 3091 Carson Avenue, Murrysville, PA 15668 County, the local water utility, leased the For more information contact Melissa, watershed in 1999 to cash in on drilling 724-455-4200 ext. 6# opportunities. The agency gets a 12.5 percent payment rate on the gas produced by wells on the Community stakeholders have been invited to reservoir. Utility officials say leasing Beaver Run discuss this issue in a public forum. Interested allows it to raise money for infrastructure citizens will be able to have their questions and upgrades without increasing customer rates. concerns about the shale gas well drilling at Westmoreland County appears to be the only Beaver Run Reservoir addressed by a panel that local water authority in the state to have leased will include the Municipal Authority of acreage to drillers. Westmoreland County; Department of Should there be regulations to bar drilling in Environmental Protection Water Quality; Raina watersheds that provide a primary drinking water Rippel, South West Pennsylvania Environmental source or an all out prohibition? If there is a Health Project; Dr. Cynthia Walter, and Jim demand to enact a prohibition it will definitely Morrison, Murrysville Chief Administrator. meet resistance from our governor and the gas We have also invited Senator Jim Ferlo to industry. Some of us are outraged. attend and speak. His district borders the Beaver Fracking began at Beaver Run in 2008 — one Run Reservoir and he is sponsoring a Moratorium year, incidentally, after the municipal authority Legislation. Please read his statement beginning upheld a fishing ban in the reservoir due to public on page 4. health concerns. The plans are for up to 30 shale This event has been organized by the Local gas wells at the reservoir from five different chapters of League of Women Voters and the drilling sites. Westmoreland residents wonder Green Party as well as Westmoreland Marcellus how drilling was permitted in a reservoir Citizen Group, Mountain Watershed Association watershed where virtually all other activities are
November Pizza Book Study: Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Governance by Cormac Cullinan Saturdays, November 3, 10 and 24, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 Find a comprehensive list of those harmed by Marcellus Drilling (so far) at: http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair. wordpress.com/the-list/ For more info contact environment@thomasmertoncenter.org or call 412-596-0066.
Some of the hundreds of people who gathered at the final ALCOSAN input session on Oct. 19 to review their gray plan to solve the sewage in the rivers problem. The crowd urged the authority to use system wide green infrastructure instead. Photo by Tom Hoffman
banned. We are also angry because we weren't informed about the gas development and had no chance to make a public decision! We believe it is dangerous to allow any drilling to take place on a reservoir property, where even hiking and fishing from the banks are prohibited for fear of pollution. We now have a chance to both question the judgment of the water utility and hear about Sen. Jim Ferlo’s proposed moratorium legislation. There was a time when Westmoreland County's streams flowed orange from acid mine drainage. The damage was so extreme that local creeks were given names like Coal Tar Run. Hydrofracking involves injecting huge amounts of water, sand and chemicals at high pressures to open up cracks in rock formations and unleash the gas that lies thousands of feet below. One well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater laced with corrosive salts and carcinogenic and radioactive materials. The frack pits store an unusually high concentration of toxins, and they sit uphill from the reservoir. As time has gone by we know that residents in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia have suffered from natural gas drilling and seeping fluids that have migrated into their underground drinking water supplies and the industry is still maintaining the practice is safe! Wanda Guthrie is chair of the Environmental Justice Committee of the Thomas Merton Center and a member of Local Authority Western Pennsylvania.
Sierra Club Responds to Firing of Director of Pennsylvania State Park System Statement of Jeff Schmidt, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, October 9, 2012 "Sierra Club condemns the firing of Pennsylvania's State Parks Director John Norbeck by the Corbett administration. Mr. Norbeck has dedicated more than 30 years of his professional life to protecting public lands. We are concerned that the Corbett administration sacked Mr. Norbeck for resisting its plans to compromise our public lands for short-term commercial gain. . We now know that the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is planning to open our award-winning State Park system to commercial timbering, surface mining, and gas drilling. Mr. Norbeck worked to limit these activities, and he has now paid the price by losing his job, while trying to defend our public lands from exploitation. We are concerned that the Corbett administration will replace more dedicated conservation professionals in DCNR with political cronies that have no experience managing public lands. These political appointments can pave the way for the mining, timber and natural gas industries to invade and exploit our precious parks and forests with impunity. We don't think that campaign contributions to Gov. Corbett should drive policy decisions to overturn long-standing protections of our parks and forests. We urge the Corbett Administration to halt its purge of conservation professionals. We urge the General Assembly to investigate the firing of Mr. Norbeck to determine whether any improper actions occurred." Statement released by the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter. November 2012
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Activism and Faith PEACEMAKERS continued from front page (Continued from page 1)
justice, to the rejection of violence as a solution for personal, familial, social, or political We keep working. disagreements. Yet, while violence on the international stage So why am I not hearing much about this in has captured our attention, our continued efforts Sunday sermons? toward peace surely belong at home, where in the One reason is the complex theology behind the space of just a bit more than a month, from July Gospel message of activist, transformative 20 to August 24, 33 people were killed and nonviolence that is easy for a homilist to set aside another 99 were wounded in a series of mass in favor of God-loves-you! shootings—a summer of the gun. Sunday messages often demand little from On each deadly occasion, there have been believers beyond robust self-esteem and a vague passionate, if woefully brief, conversations about acceptance of God’s expectation that we the need to reexamine gun regulation in the generally do right by others. Thus, dusted off United States, particularly with regard to the during Lent and the Easter season, the premodern lapsed ban on assault weapons and laws language of sin, suffering, sacrifice, and protecting interstate and, by extension, online salvation, as theologian Marcus Borg has argued, ammunition sales. and Pew researchers have tracked, are poorly Perhaps Chris Hedges is right: “We have understood by Christians themselves. created and live in a world where violence has A recent New York Times commentary by become the primary form of communication.” Colleen Oakley on the religious mullings of Which leaves us where with regard to a national disidentified Christian agnostics makes clear that conversation on violence? Dead in the water? many Christians are hard-pressed to explain what it means to say The Armor of God? “Jesus was the son Oh, if only there were a place where of God,” or “Jesus people could gather on a regular basis to died for our sins.” talk about causes, effects, and solutions This widespread for escalating public violence, I thought ignorance among on my way to church recently. It turned Christians— out to be a Sunday when most Catholics perhaps especially and mainline protestants were reading, in those who think of the Apostle Paul’s “Letter from a Roman themselves as more Jail to the people of Ephesus,” a progressive in their paradoxical inversion of the rhetoric of beliefs and violence as pervasive in the first century practices— as the twenty-first: encourages “Put on the whole armor of God, so cooptation by those that you may be able to stand against the with an appetite for wiles of the devil. … Therefore take up domination, the whole armor of God, so that you may violence, and be able to withstand on that evil day, and exploitation. At the having done everything, to stand firm. same time, it Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth invites wider misunderstanding and an around your waist, and put on the breastplate of understandable disdain among non-Christians for righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on what appears as a valorizing of violence in the whatever will make you ready to proclaim the Christian tradition. gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all Theology is Complicated the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the Much of this has had to do with the slow helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, evolution of normative Christian theology, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17) particularly with regard to what is known as Now, of course, other religious traditions have atonement theology—the explanation for why highly developed theologies and philosophies of Jesus, at once son of God and “true God from true nonviolence. But, in the West, it is Pauline God,” was allowed to die a criminal’s death in a Christianity which has most deeply shaped both public execution. If Jesus is God, or even if Jesus rhetorics of hate and violence and counterwas merely God’s son, people have asked through narratives of justice and nonviolence. So, the centuries, why would God as Jesus himself or understanding what Paul might have been up to God as the father of Jesus not save himself/him and how he has been misread in influential from such a shameful, horrific death? And how, passages such as the one above is particularly the questioning continues, does Jesus’ death important not only for the majority of selfeffect the salvation of humankind that Christians identified Christians who populate the United claim? States, but also for those who must contend with This relationship between Jesus’ death and the various Christian ideologies and practices that salvation is at the center of atonement theology remain, despite cries of an encroaching anti- or and of Christian faith. Perhaps more importantly post-Christian secularism, deeply embedded in for those of us wondering how to address the culture. violence today, it is at the center of Christian The “armor of God,” too often turned to violent practices of activist nonviolence. Christians are purposes, is comprised of truth, righteousness, called to nonviolence, that is, not because God and peace. Paul’s “helmet of salvation”—that asks them to be nice people, but because of why which protects the center of human thought and and how the God they worship through Jesus reason—and “sword of the Spirit” are not of Christ ministered in the world, was executed, and course acts of aggression, but words. Hence, was resurrected. likewise, the sword of justice wielded in the The “do unto others,” “turn the other cheek,” Revelation of John (Rev. 19:11-15)—the New “love your neighbor as yourself” philosophies Testament book most often cited in violent, that many Christians and non-Christians do apocalyptic Christian fantasies—extends from the identify as among the teachings of Jesus matter mouth of the white-robed representation of the only when they are held against the reality of risen Christ. He slays the forces of cosmic evil intolerance, injustice, and violence to which Jesus not with physical aggression, but with the same succumbed and over which, in Christian belief, he “Word of God” that Paul calls out as the triumphed as the risen Christ. Absent the social fundamental instrument of Christian faith, and theological meaning of his violent death, righteousness, and peace. Jesus’ teachings are merely the bumper sticker This peace—the “Peace of Christ” in Christian slogans of a hippy prophet and the resurrection is tradition—is the heart of Christian teaching and but the twisted magic trick of a sadomasochistic practice, upon which rests everything from god. faithful stewardship of creation, to economic 10 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2012
No Satisfaction
The bullet-point version, if you will, of classic Christian atonement theories offers up five categories: ransom, satisfaction, substitution, moral influence, and solidarity. The first four go something like this: Ransom: Adam and Eve sold their souls to Satan when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge, tainting all of humanity with “original sin.” With Jesus’ death, God reclaimed humanity from the devil, human disobedience having been traded for divine obedience. Satisfaction: Jesus died on behalf of humankind, whose sinfulness offended the feudal Lord God, creating a debt of honor that humanity could not possibly repay. The death of Jesus is the only thing that could satisfy this debt. Substitution: This variation on satisfaction theology has it that humanity was so sinful that God should have wiped out the lot of us, but had made a covenant with Noah after the Great Flood not to do so. Thus, Jesus stands in for sinful humanity, allowing God to avoid violating the covenant while satisfying the debt owed to God. Moral Influence: Here, Jesus’ death was not seen primarily as a means to satisfy God, who needs nothing from humanity and whose mind is unchangeable, but to influence moral change in humans through the example of Jesus’ perfect obedience to God, including suffering death at the hands of sinful humans. From the early church to the Reformation, these theologies of atonement, with various adaptations, made sense to most Christians. The language of “ransom,” “redemption,” “satisfaction” and “obedience” are shot throughout Christian liturgies, regardless of the ideological leanings of particular denominations. You are as likely to hear “Jesus was ransomed for us sinners” from the pulpit of a progressive Lutheran church as you are from that of a conservative evangelical mega church. The trouble, however, with all of the classic atonement theories is that they allow that violence is necessary to establish the authority of God and, perhaps more incomprehensibly, God’s love for humanity. Jesus may have been the wrong mark for Roman imperial violence tinged with antiSemitism, but in these models of atonement, violence itself, injustice, and the abuse of power are presented as not inherently problematic. They’re merely misdirected.
Enlightened Nonviolence
It’s taken literally centuries for most mainstream Christian theologians to move away from what for many Christians and nonChristians alike seem unfathomably cruel, violence-legitimizing interpretations of Jesus’ execution as ransom to Satan, satisfaction or substitution for a debt owed by sinful humanity to God, or as an abusive object lesson in obedience. The trickle-down from seminary to pulpit may be slow, but the now common theological interpretation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ moves well away from the idea of divinely sanctioned violence, the echoes of which have long been seen in justifications for aggression against non-Christians, non-Westerners, women, children, and so on. Since at least the late 1950s, liberation theologians like Leonardo Boff, Katie Geneva Cannon, Gustavo Gutiérrez,William Stringfellow, and Dorothee Sölle, have emphasized the solidarity with humans who suffer—the poor; ethnic, racial, and sexual minorities; women; the disabled; the sick and dying—as a result of sinful human cultural, economic, political, and religious systems as essential to any meaningful understanding of why God became human, ministered among those at the margins of society, and was executed at the hands of the powerful. Atonement theologies that highlight God’s solidarity through Jesus with those who suffer eschew the structures and vocabularies of Continued on page 11
Activism and Faith PEACEMAKERS continued from page 10 domination and violence that Jesus encountered in his life and that brought about his death. An enlightened, nonviolent version of classic moral influence theories, theologies of radical Christian solidarity argue that God became human as Jesus to make known, as only a divinity choosing to be present in human form could, the tragic vulgarity of the systematized human impulse to domination, exploitation, and violence. Against this backdrop, Jesus’ teachings about the “Kingdom of God” available “on earth as it is in heaven” and his resurrection are much more than slick marketing brought home with a jaw-dropping divine parlor trick. They are powerful critiques of the social striving, accumulation of material wealth, religious self-righteousness, and the often violent means used to enforce elite status that corrupt human cultures. The lowly birth, bottom-up ministry, criminal execution, and miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ are, likewise, for Christians proclamations that salvation is not a passive, ringside, spectator sport viewed from a mystical kingdom in the sky. Christians are called by faith in the here and now to be “all in” with regard to justice, compassion, and nonviolence—though the response to this call has been rare enough that those who have attempted to make it a way of life came to be called “saints” in a specialized way that St. Paul surely never intended. Or, as the British Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton famously put it, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” Demographically speaking, Christianity may well be on the wane, but selfidentified Christians still make up nearly 80% of the U.S. population and Christian theologies and practices are deeply woven into the fabric of American culture. Given the violence that has shown itself in such a pronounced way over a long, hot summer of discontent across the country, it seems reasonable that Christian believers should be called—by Christians themselves and those of other or no faith tradition—to enact the commitments of their faith in the service of nonviolence and practices of
Vatican Council II, the 50th Anniversary
by Rev. Neil McCauley It has been called the greatest religious event of the 20th century and beyond. The 21st Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church (Vatican Council II) produced 16 documents which were often revolutionary. The four major documents dealt with 1) revelation; 2) liturgy (worship); 3) the Church; and 4) the Church in the Modern World. They were called Constitutions. Some of the smaller documents were very powerful and ground-breaking, like the Declarations on Religious Freedom, Ecumenism and the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Others were "sleepers," bringing about enormous changes perhaps not foreseen but in full accord with the mind of the Council and Pope John XXIII. Beginning in this issue of The New People and following in subsequent ones, significant quotes from the Council documents will be shared. They will highlight the "garden of delights" of spiritual inspiration planted 50 years ago. The first of these quotes is at right. Rev. Neil McCauley is the retired pastor of St. Stephen's in Hazelwood and now serves at Epiphany and St. Mary of Mercy Church in uptown and downtown Pittsburgh. He is a past president of the National Federation of Priests' Councils and member of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests.
justice and compassion that support it. It’s been a more than a generation since Christian churches—black churches, for the most part—were seen, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, as centers of nonviolent social engagement. For a remarkable season of dissent and meaningful, if incomplete, social transformation, the Christian gospels and the letters of St. Paul were the very soul of a lived rhetoric of peace and justice. This theology of solidarity and nonviolence did not fail to express its own maddened sense of frustration, disappointment, and outrage, but managed to do this without recourse to the gun-fueled violence, destruction, and death it often faced. It is this tradition to which Secretary Clinton harkened in her remarks after the Libya attacks: When Christians are subject to insults to their faith, and that certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. When Hindus or Buddhists are subjected to insults to their faiths, and that also certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. The same goes for all faiths, including Islam. I can’t speak for other world religions. But, as a Christian and as an American, I can insist that it is time for Christians to begin living actively within this tradition of nonviolent peacemaking again. It is time for Christian churches—all of them—to start speaking and acting out of a zeal for justice and peace more than out of a desire for personal comfort as though that counted for spiritual meaning. It is time, that is, for Christian churches to atone for their own role in the culture of violence within which we all suffer by standing actively against it week upon week upon week in the pulpit and on the street. Dr. Elizabeth Drescher is a native of Western Pennsylvania. She teaches religious studies and pastoral ministry at Santa Clara University and researches ordinary believers. She is the author of Tweet If You ♥ Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and, with Keith Anderson, Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible. Her website is www.elizabethdrescher.com
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton To Speak on Peace by Joyce Rothermel All are invited to hear the final speaker in the 2012 Fall Series of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. His topic will be “The Challenge of Peace in a Violent World.” The event takes place Monday, November 19, at 7:30 pm at the Kearns Spirituality Center. The center is beside LaRoche College and behind the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine Providence in the North Hills. Bishop Gumbleton is a historic advocate for peace and justice. He is the founding President of Pax Christi, a Catholic peace advocacy organization, and a continuing ambassador for the peace movement. Now retired Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Bishop Gumbleton has participated in protests against nuclear war and the war in Iraq. He continues to speak out on the issues of our day, consistently in favor of non-violence. His weekly homilies are published in the National Catholic Reporter. Suggested donation for the evening is $15. For reservations (although not necessary), call Sr. Joan Coultas at 412-366-1124 or e-mail kearnssc1@pghcdp.org For information about the Association of Pittsburgh Priests or to suggest a speaker for 2013, contact Fr. John Oesterle at 412-232-7512. Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the Church Renewal Committee of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests.
APP "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts." - Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Vatican Council II
Association of Pittsburgh Priests November 2012
NEWPEOPLE - 11
International Activism Nobel Peace Prize Goes to War-Makers, While Peacemakers Are Shunned by Dan Kovalik
war going. Incredibly, though, it was Obama who was awarded the Nobel Prize, despite the fact that "There are two types of people in the world -he has helped stoke the Colombian conflict, most those that love and create, and those that hate and recently by sending military advisers to Colombia; destroy." -- Jose Marti continued the war in Afghanistan; maintained the While the Nobel Prize Committee has again shameful gulag in Guantanamo Bay; expanded the awarded the Peace Prize to a war-maker on a grand war to Pakistan; started a war in Libya; and scale; this time to the EU, which, through NATO, threatened further conflict in both Syria and Iran. has been carrying out war continuously for decades in such far-flung places as Yugoslavia, Libya and Afghanistan. It is important to remember that there are indeed peacemakers in the world deserving of the prize. However, these deserving peacemakers may not be people you would think of because they have either been vilified or completely ignored by the Western press. Contemplate this story from The Guardian, titled, "Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez played role in Colombia's peace talks with FARC" guerillas: “The ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Their help, according to The New York Times, together with Venezuela's recently re-elected prevented Haiti from being overrun by the cholera leader Hugo Chavez, played a critical role in epidemic. Again, this use of peaceful means to bringing the Colombian government and the... provide desperately-needed aid to the poorest FARC guerrilla group together for peace talks that country in our Hemisphere, in contrast to the U.S.'s could end one of Latin America's longest-running usual violent means, seems worthy of the Nobel civil wars, the Observer has learned. According to Prize. sources closely involved in the peace process, In addition, there are other brave men and which sees historic talks opening in Oslo on women living in Colombia who have for many Wednesday, the key breakthrough, after almost years risked their lives to try to bring peace to that four years of back-channel talks between the two country. Foremost among these is former Senator sides, came during a visit earlier this year by Piedad Cordoba, who has been a key figure in Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, to jumpstarting the Colombian peace talks. Ms. Cuba, where he met both Castro and Chávez, who Cordoba has sacrificed her political career for was in Cuba being treated for cancer.” peace, having been stripped of her right to stand Spending almost four years to end a bloody and run for political office because of her contacts civil war that has been going on for more than 50 with the FARC guerillas. These contacts were years, and which has cost tens of thousands of necessary to bring about the release of captives lives, certainly seems a feat worthy of a peace held by the FARC as well as to advance peace prize. Undoubtedly, this outshines the efforts of the discussions. It is unsung heroes like Piedad who U.S., which, through three different deserve to be singled out for their sacrifices in the administrations, including the Obama interests of peace. administration, has spent more than $8 billion in The Nobel Committee should also consider military aid to the Colombian regime to keep the
Meanwhile, while Obama's "assistance" to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake consisted of sending 14,000 armed troops, it was Fidel and Chavez who sent doctors and medical assistance to Haiti.
giving the Peace Prize to La Marcha Patrotica in Colombia, led by such brave souls as my friend Carlos Lozano, who has also played a key role in advancing the peace in that country. La Marcha has worked closely with those at the center of the conflict, poor peasants, to pressure the Colombian government to come to the negotiating table. For their efforts, a number of the leaders and rank and file members of La Marcha have been vilified, threatened, jailed, murdered and disappeared. Again, the Nobel Prize was created to reward the type of courage shown by such peacemakers. I also think of my friend Marino Cordoba, who escaped from Colombia to the U.S. after multiple attempts upon his life by right-wing paramilitary groups. They were closely aligned with the military, which the U.S. has been funding for years. He recently returned to Colombia in the interest of accompanying fellow Afro-Colombians in their struggle for peace and justice. AfroColombians have been particularly affected by the conflict in Colombia. More than 12 percent of Afro-Colombians have been internally displaced, disproportionately filling the ranks of the more than 5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Colombia has the largest IDP population on earth. Marino, without any means of support, has put everything on the line for this effort. He left his wife and three children behind in the U.S. while risking his life for peace in Colombia. Sadly, however, it is not such people who are considered for the Nobel Prize these days. Instead, the Prize is going to the world's most powerful, like Obama and the EU, who wield their power destructively, in the interest of war rather than peace. Meanwhile, those truly working for peace are ignored or ridiculed. This is the upside-down world in which we find ourselves. Dan Kovalik is a labor and human rights attorney living in Pittsburgh and teaches International Human Rights Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Unrest in Haiti Continues as Inflation Rises by Joyce Rothermel
particular, pregnant women, lactating mothers, women with disabilities, and the elderly face Haiti is again in crisis. Still reeling from the increased hardships due to constrained mobility January 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 and greater need for health services, food, and people, created more than a thousand amputees, water that are in short supply. and still more homeless as a deadly cholera The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission epidemic set in, the country is now experiencing a (IHRC), established in April 2010, continued to severe inflation, food prices rising by 40 percent. operate through most of 2011. However, an Haitians are taking extension of the to the streets to IHRC has not been demonstrate their Rising inflation brings Haitians to the streets. forthcoming, making discontent and to its future uncertain. Associated Press demand the The Commission’s resignation of mandate is to oversee President Martelly. billions of dollars in For some Haitians reconstruction aid, to this has meant tear conduct strategic gas and billy club planning, and to beatings by a coordinate multinational police bent lateral and bilateral on keeping order donors, NGOs, and and curbing dissent. the private sector. Former US President Bill Along with this humanitarian crisis that many Clinton is still a co-chair of the IHRC and UN Haitians continue to experience, are the chronic special envoy for Haiti. Thousands of human rights problems, including violence organizations and Haiti's diaspora here and against girls and women, inhuman prison abroad are lifelines to many people struggling in conditions, and past human rights abuses for Haiti, staving off desperation and further which there has been no accountability. hardship. Still, government stability and Women often suffer a double consequence cooperation are needed for economic conditions when inflation makes necessities inaccessible. to improve and violence to decrease. Human Rights Watch found that women’s lack of We must encourage our government to provide economic security leads some women to trade sex the money pledged to Haiti at the time of the for food or other necessities, increasing chances earthquake to help ensure the availability of for unintended pregnancy and disease. In affordable food and shelter to those who continue 12 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2012
to lack these basic necessities. All of us, organizations and individuals, can also help by supporting the western Pennsylvania-based organizations that are helping to rebuild and improve life in Haiti. Partners in Progress is assisting two rural communities in Haiti in the rebuilding and building of their schools. You can help. Visit www.piphaiti.org Joyce Rothermel is a member of the Pittsburgh Haiti Solidarity Committee and board member of Partners in Progress, supporting rural sustainable development in Haiti.
The Second Annual Anne Mullaney's Dream for Haiti
benefit is being held on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 at 6:30 PM at Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle on 24th and Penn Avenue in the Strip District. The cost is $100 and includes an open bar, full buffet, live music and an auction. Make check payable to Partners in Progress and mail to David Regan, Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle, 2329 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, call
David at the Harp & Fiddle at 412-642-6622.
International Activism 2012 Venezuelan Election: Dictatorship or Democracy? by Robin Alexander
new police academy designed to train the police in human rights and eliminate corruption. “We are not going back,” they said. All were proud of the election process and didn't think there would be violence, despite media pronouncements and rumors to the contrary. Impressive technology with 17 audit processes also contributed to confidence in the process. The These questions were raised in Pennsylvania by morning of the election, each machine is put through its paces and, with the poll workers, party our new voter registration law and they were on my mind as I traveled to Venezuela last witnesses and soldiers present, is unlocked with a code. It then generates a tape that indicates that week as part of a large international no votes have yet been registered. Voters place delegation. I knew that Jimmy Carter had their fingers in a reader linked to a data base to declared that the Venezuelan system was “the generate their ID number and photo. This best in the world,” but was still unprepared for unlocks the voting machine, permitting the voter what I found. to press the picture of the candidate and party of Venezuela's constitution has added an independent electoral branch of government, the his or her choice. The machine issues a paper National Electoral Council (CNE). It has earned receipt with the name of the candidate, permitting the voter to double check that the vote was respect across the political spectrum. A few nights prior to the election, opposition candidate properly recorded and to fold and place the paper in a ballot box. The final steps are to dip one's Henrique Capriles Randonski claimed he would win, urged his supporters to vote, and expressed pinky in indelible ink and to sign and place a fingerprint in the registry as a final backup check. his total confidence in the electoral system. When the polls close, 54% of the paper ballots In contrast to the US where certain groups are cast are checked manually against the final tally being targeted for exclusion, the CNE has issued by the voting machines. This was the most engaged in extensive outreach, increasing voter moving part of a long and exhausting day, as I registration to 96.5%. The number watched the final stage in the election drama play of polling places has nearly doubled and a out. With great care the machine was shut down massive education campaign has informed and encouraged voters. This election served as a and issued its final tape of the day: a breakdown by candidate and party of all the votes that had referendum on Chavez' leadership and vision for the future, also contributing to the turn- been cast – 290 votes for Chavez, 94 for Capriles, none for the other five candidates and 4 null out of over 80%. Capriles supporters votes. Seated on tiny chairs in a grade school complained about inflation, corruption, crime, classroom, two young women carefully listed the and length of time in office. Some told me they names and parties of all of the candidates. Then, had voted for Chavez in the last election. “Time in complete silence, with intense concentration, for a change,” they said. Chavez supporters told the ballot box was opened and another poll me about the new labor law, the number of new worker began pulling out the folded pieces of houses that are being built, the elimination of extreme poverty, the distribution of land, and the paper one by one while the young women marked
Is it fair? Will groups of people be disenfranchised? Will the outcome reflect the will of the people?
the results on their master sheet. More than five hundred names later, they confirmed a perfect match. It was a tiny piece of a democratic process that was repeated in schools throughout the country. No exit polls are permitted, so we all waited, anxious for the results of this hard fought campaign. While past history suggested that Chavez would win, the opposition clearly had many supporters, and the margin of victory would be important. The results were reported several hours later: with 90% of the votes counted, the results were 54.4% for Chavez, 44.9% for Capriles (although in the final tally, Chavez’ margin was slightly greater). Soon after, Capriles appeared on national TV. He began by saying: “The will of the people is sacred.” Chavez spoke a bit later from the balcony of the national palace: “I congratulate the opposition leadership who recognized the victory of the people. I call to you to dialog and to work together for Venezuela.” Despite long lines in some locations and occasional minor glitches with the machines, the day had been totally peaceful. The country did not go up in flames. The violence predicted by the media did not occur. Instead, Venezuelans flooded into the streets of Caracas for a giant party. Robin Alexander is Director of International Affairs for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE). She traveled to Venezuela as part of an eight-member delegation representing the National Lawyers Guild, in turn part of a much larger delegation of some two hundred members of parliaments, election commissions, journalists, professors, judges and representatives women's, human rights, and other NGOs from across the world.
Local Activists Continue to Raise Concerns over Sweatshops interpretation of the anti-sweatshop ordinance in the current Allegheny County Code of Conduct In Allegheny County by the procurement department. They are In a recent meeting with County Executive unwilling to require factory disclosures from the Rich Fitzgerald, representatives of the Black suppliers who seek county contracts saying they Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) were lack the authority under the current ordinance. In assured that Allegheny County was not procuring order for the workers in sweatshops to be products produced in sweatshops. Last month, I successful in their human and labor rights’ went into the CCAC South Student Life office struggle, they need the leverage of those who and there saw with my own eyes, t-shirts made by contract for their products with factory Gildan in their sweatshops in Haiti. management. We then secured a meeting with John Deighan At Gildan and David Foreman from Allegheny County Workers’ actions are escalating at Gildan in Procurement to call attention to this profound ways. Their new logo — four unions in discrepancy. Meeting with them were Jay four different countries — illustrates their Marano, Trademarks and Licensing Director at Carnegie Mellon University, Navada Green of B- demand to negotiate with Gildan jointly and with one voice. PEP, and myself, co-founder of the Pittsburgh Our colleagues at the Workers Rights Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance Consortium, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, and (PASCA). They showed us contracts used to United Students Against Sweatshops have a procure Gildan apparel for both the Parks and meaningful, coordinated effort in support of Juvenile Correction Departments. We reviewed organizing that explicitly transcends the national testimony from union organizers from Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua describing labor laws through use of both Gildan's own Code of Conduct and our Codes of Conduct here in sweatshop labor conditions in Gildan factories where they work. Mr. Deighan and Mr. Foreman Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh. Primary resources and insights about the seemed convinced that the Allegheny County Gildan organizing came from Liana Foxvog with Code of Conduct would be applicable to these SweatFree Communities. The procurement facilities. We all seemed to agree that the meeting with Allegheny County might not have Allegheny County Code of Conduct could occurred at all, were it not for B-PEP’s emphasis usefully transcend national labor laws and help on human rights and labor rights. these workers exercise their human rights. We expect Allegheny County to utilize their In Bangladesh purchasing position to leverage remediation of The National Garment Workers Federation of these factory conditions. Bangladesh has called on Secretary Hillary Also discussed at the meeting was the limited Rodham Clinton and the U.S. State Department to
by Kenneth Miller
help protect garment workers’ jobs in Bangladesh by continuing to provide tax incentives for export of garments made with cotton from the southern U.S. They have launched a Safe Workplace Campaign to report unsafe conditions in factories and neighborhoods. In the past two months, neighborhoods where workers live have burned to the ground. Hundreds of workers have died in factory fires this year alone. Even as these fires raged, workers continued to act in solidarity by holding protest marches for the miners in South Africa and by encouraging Wal-Mart workers in the Pittsburgh area to organize with them. In Other Sweatshop News The 2012 Presidential race seems devoid of any sincere enthusiasm for labor rights. The Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights issued a report, Romney/Bain Invested in brutal Chinese sweatshops. PASCA is having Steel Valley Printers print copies of this report for our Major League Sweatshop Media Team for distribution at Pirate Fest 2013 in December at the David L Lawrence Convention Center. The Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance develops relationships with apparel industry union organizers in the world and brings their testimony to Allegheny County. For more information and to get involved, contact Kenneth Miller at Globallabourrights.org (412) 867-9213.
Kenneth Miller is cofounder of Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance. November 2012
NEWPEOPLE - 13
Activists on Organizing This Election B(r)ought to You B(u)y . . . an opinion piece by Josh Zelesnick Seth Kline from US News and World Report recently mused on what Obama and Romney would look like if the presidential race were on the NASCAR circuit—with the names and logos of their sponsors on their bodysuits: Obama with a big Microsoft stencil across his chest, Romney with Goldman Sachs. According to OpenSecrets.org (which is based on Federal Election Commission data), as of October 21st, Obama has raised more than $555 million dollars to Romney’s $355 million. Obama has raised about $14 million from the finance, insurance, and real estate industry, while Romney has raised over $40 million. Top contributors for Obama include University of California ($706,931), Microsoft Corp. ($544,445), and Google Inc. ($526,009). Top contributors to Romney include five banks, four of which received TARP funds: Goldman Sachs ($891,140), Bank of America ($668,139), JP Morgan Chase & Co ($663,219), and Morgan Stanley ($649,847). Let’s pause for a moment and analyze this. Many—especially liberals—may say that they would much prefer to support a candidate who was receiving funds from what seem like benevolent donors, like the ones listed for Obama, rather than the four banks listed for Romney. Please do not be deceived by this. Microsoft would love to have a monopoly over the software industry (and it practically does). It’s been developing inferior products like the Xbox for years and using its wealth and power to close markets from competitors. In July 2012, The Gates
Foundation gave $10 million to British scientists to support genetically modified crops (GMOs) that seem to decrease yields over time. This isn’t surprising considering that Bill Gates owns more than 500,000 shares of bio-tech giant Monsanto’s stock. Google is no different. Why compete when you can buy the competition? Google bought Frommer’s Travel Guides in August 2012 as it continues to move into the publishing market. Forbes Magazine’s Jeff Bercovici asks an apt question: "How long can Google be a fair arbiter of all the world’s information when it increasingly has information of its own that it wants to promote?" In October 2010, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Google cut its taxes by $3.1 billion since 2007 using a strategy that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda. As noted by a professor of Economics at Reed College, “Such ‘income shifting’ costs the U.S. government as much as $60 billion in annual revenue.” Loopholes like this allow Google’s effective tax rate to be about 22.2 percent instead of the 35 percent it’s supposed to pay (the standard US corporate income-tax rate). Thousands of U.S. companies do this same thing—Microsoft too—it’s a standard practice. University of California may seem the most benevolent, but when students are locked into debt cycles that threaten to be the next big bubble, and universities continue to rely on contingent (part-time), grossly underpaid labor to cut costs, a university giving money to a candidate creates a conflict of interest where Obama could be beholden to the administration of UC.
However, money given directly from corporations is still chump change compared to cash given by bundlers - powerful individuals who often work for powerful corporations. These "individuals" have contributed close to $143 million to Obama’s campaign. One of these bundlers, who gave at least $500 thousand, is former Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine, whose company, MF Global, was investigated for "misplacing" hundreds of millions of dollars in customer funds. Strangely, Obama even has a bundler from Romney’s "ex-corporation" Bain Capital. Romney’s hundreds of bundlers, whom he’s decided not to disclose (except for registered lobbyists that the FEC requires to be disclosed) have given millions of dollars as well. One of his bundlers (and a lobbyist), Patrick Durkin has given more than $1 million alone. He works for Barclay’s Capital—a bank recently forced to pay a $453 million fine for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to its own benefit (a key global market interest rate). As of October 21st, Super PACs have spent just shy of $190 million during the 2012 election. Super PACs are not allowed to make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but they can engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns. In the last four weeks, Super PACs in support of Mitt Romney have spent more than $15 million while those geared towards Obama spent about $18 million. Joshua Zelesnick teaches at Duquesne University. He is a poet and activist and is on the volunteer organizing committee for the Duquesne Adjunct Faculty Association.
Social Justice Organizing 101: Grant Applications by Anne E. Lynch This month, I want to go through what Three Rivers Community Foundation (TRCF) looks for in a grant application, to assist any potential applicants in bettering their chances of getting funding from us as we enter the new grantmaking cycle! What all applications eventually come down to, for us, is that they are endeavoring to create social change. We know that social services (providing food for the hungry, housing for the homeless, etc.) are much needed. However, in the words of Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP:
“It’s through community
organizing and advocacy that any real impact can take place. It is great to fund service. Service is needed, but service is more of a band aid as opposed to longterm policy and system change.” We’re looking for those who are working for long-term policy and system change. There are lots of foundations and agencies that will help feed the hungry. We want people to ask the question, “Why are there still hungry people in one of the richest countries in the world?” and demand change. So one of the key things you have to ask yourself, if you are considering applying to us, is whether what you are doing is providing a service, or actually creating change. One of the big parts of working for social justice and creating social change is that you’re 14 - NEWPEOPLE
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not just going into a community, pointing out a problem and telling the community how to solve it. We want to see that you are actual members of the community with the problem or at the very least that you are working with groups that are integrated with the community.
the choir. You know you have the support of your constituents. You know who your likely allies are. Don’t stop there! Say you’re organizing an event to combat homophobia. Yes, advertise the event in all the LGBTQ news outlets, friendly businesses, and so on.
And “community” means more But to truly have an effect on than just a neighborhood. All too often, eradicating homophobia, you have to we see projects come in that are categorized as reach outside the LGBTQ youth issues. However, the project seems to be community. You have to be bold and walk designed by adults, to address a problem they see with “the youth.” We will have “the youth” do this. We will have “the youth” do that. We will provide this for “the youth.” Well, where is the youth input? Have you actually talked with youth and is this project what they want? We love seeing applications come in from groups that are promoting youth activism – but we want to see that youth are involved in ALL planning stages, from coming up with the idea, to carrying it out! Provide support for youth organizers, yes, but let them own the project!
We also love to see collaborations!
inside places like grocery stores and houses of worship, and put a flyer on the bulletin board. You have to reach the people who are causing the problem. This goes back to change versus service – it’s great to teach women ways that can lessen their chances of getting raped. That’s a service. Working with men to teach them respect for women and how to stand up and be allies to survivors of rape and domestic violence – that’s CHANGE. You’re no longer just treating the symptoms of a problem, you’re striking at the root.
Getting as many people and groups to the table on a project lets you know that you have a better Anne E. Lynch is the Manager of chance of success, and will see lots of different Administrative Operations at Three Rivers perspectives. Community Foundation. We’d also encourage you to think “outside the box.” Reach out to groups that focus on different issues (see last month’s “Intersectionality 101” article!). It’s likely that you’ll find some common ground on an issue and can become great allies. Finally for this month, let’s talk preaching to
Activist Community Updates Interns at TMC Further Our Peace and Justice Mission Information Science at Pitt after transferring from I am now studying for NYU, where she was my Master of Social treasurer of the chapter of Work at the the National Organization University of for Women. Briar is Pittsburgh. I am from interning for the editorial China, and my hobby collective and excited to is playing the piano and Chinese zither. see this issue in print. My mother is a collector of Chinese Xinpei He I have paintings. In the early stages of Chinese charity organizations, the fundraising was always related always been concerned about social justice and I to auctions. Because of my mother’s influence, I want devote myself to promoting equality of have had the chance to be in touch with charity human beings in the future. Working with the organizations in China, and in my sophomore Thomas Merton Center provides me a way to year, I was a volunteer teacher in Zhoukou, learn from the values, programs and projects that Shenqiu, Henan province. The kids there were concentrate on achieving human wellbeing. I am eager to learn but their parents all went far away also interested in the administration of nonprofit to work due to economic pressure. During that organizations and I want to start my career at one summer, I learned that every dream should be of the NPOs in China. irrigated, and every child should be loved. During my internship, I However, because of the long-term economic will help with grant and political factors in China, social welfare and research, Book‘Em, Code charity organizations are not well organized. Pink and other projects. The Thomas Merton Center would be a This internship offers me a great model for Chinese charity organizations. chance to meet and work My concentration of my MSW is in community with different people with organization and social administration, which I diversity that can improve think has a great connection with the tasks here. my professional skills as a America is a beautiful country in my eyes, and social worker. doing social work here is enjoyable and Lilly Joynes Lilly is a meaningful. sophomore transfer student at the University of Briar Somerville spent much of the last Pittsburgh. She grew up in Mechanicsburg, year distributing books to NYC homeless through Pennsylvania and completed various internships the Occupy Wall Street Library, and got arrested in publishing during high school. Lilly spent her practicing non-violent civilly disobedient singing freshman year in Boston at Emerson College, to disrupt the auctioning of foreclosed homes where she participated in Student Government with Organizing 4 Occupation. Briar now studies and worked on campus as an office assistant for
Minghua He
Frances Sutter Celebrates 100 by Shirley Gleditsch On October 10, 2012, Frances Sutter of Mars, Pennsylvania, celebrated her 100th birthday. A lifelong peace and justice advocate and worker, she has dedicated much of her life to making positive changes in the world. Frances was born in 1912, lost her mother to influenza in 1918 and was raised, with five siblings, by her father. She married Walter Sutter in 1934, and they had two daughters, Anne and Sue. Walter died in 1988. Frances Named to the Pennsylvania Voters Sutter Hall of Fame, Frances has not missed voting in a federal, state or local election since the 1930s. She founded Pittsburgh North People for Peace almost thirty years ago and is still active in the group as Secretary. When she was 90, Frances, a member of the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition, received the coalition’s Diversity Award. Over the years, Frances has written countless letters to political advocates from her home in the North Hills. Looking back, she recalls her work for the Allegheny County Department of Parks and for James Hughes, father of Joe, Liz and David Hughes, all active TMC members. She remembers baby sitting for Joe, who said, "I can't remember that,
the Communication Studies Department. Lilly hopes to graduate in 2015 with a degree in Communication and a certificate in Public & Professional Writing. Lilly is creating a new brochure for the TMC and will be working on The NewPeople as well. Russell Noble Russell grew up in Warrington, Pennsylvania, a small suburb of Philadelphia. He is currently a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, from which he hopes to graduate with majors in philosophy and political science, as well as a minor in mathematics. To Russell, justice is an ideal goal that every individual – and every society – should strive for. He eventually hopes to go to a prestigious law school and get a degree in criminal law. In addition to working at TMC, Russell is actively involved with Amnesty International and STAND, two activist groups on Pitt’s campus. He loves Thai food, and in his free time he enjoys Scuba diving, hiking, and ultimate Frisbee.
TMC welcomes our creative and talented interns and thanks them for their contributions to our shared peace and social justice mission.
but do know that Frances works constantly for peace." Among those honoring Frances for her birthday was Dutilh United Methodist Church, where she has been active for more than 50 years. Pittsburgh North People for Peace honored her at a luncheon at Salem United Methodist Church, where a proclamation from her congressman was read, and her good friend, the late Alice Neuenschwander, a former Merton Center staff member, was remembered as Frances’ inspiration. Frances says that she prays daily for our country and our world as she knows “we are not as good as we can be." Thank you, Frances, for all you do for the cause of peace and justice in our world. You are an inspiration to us all. Shirley Gleditsch is the manager of the East End Community Thrift Store (Thrifty).
We Remember During this past month, three friends and supporters of the Merton Center have died. We are grateful for their lives and ask for peace and comfort for their families and loved ones. JOYCE A. DURDEN MAX LAUFFER W. NEWLON TAUXE We also remember GEORGE MCGOVERN with a debt of gratitude for his generous life of public service. November 2012
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November Activist Events Sunday
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Become a Member of TMC AND THE NEW PEOPLE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU! TMC membership benefits include monthly mailings of the New People to your home or email account, weekly eblasts focusing on peace and justice events, and special invitations to membership activities. Join at thomasmertoncenter.org/joindonate or mail your membership fee to us.
$45—Individual Membership $100– Family Membership $75—Organization Membership (below 25 members) $125—Organization Membership (above 25 members)
4 Esther Tuzman Justice TMC Economic Memorial Holocaust Committee Meeting Teach-In 4:00-5:30pm 3:00pm 6:30pm Center Thomas–Merton Gratz College Book’em Packing Day 7605 Old York Road, 4:00-7:00pm Melrose Park, PA Thomas MertonJustice Center TMC Economic Capital's End Committee Meeting 7:30-11:00pm 4:00-5:30pm Thomas IstanbulMerton Grille,Center Book’em Packing Day 4130 Butler St. Pgh, 4:00-7:00pm PA 15201 Thomas Merton Center
11 Women in Black Monthly Peace Vigil 10:00-11:00am Ginger Hill Church, Slippery Rock, PA TMC Anti-War 2:00pm Peace Forum: Illegal Guns: 3:00-5:00pm 9000 Babcock Blvd., McCandless, PA TMC Economic Justice Committee Meeting 4:00-5:30pm
18 TMC Economic Justice Committee Meeting 4:00-5:30pm Thomas Merton Center Book’em Packing Day 4:00-7:00pm Thomas Merton Center Capital's End 7:30-11:00pm Istanbul Grille
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TMC Project ISO Meeting TMC Project Committee Meeting 7:30-9:00pm at TMC Committee Meeting 2:30 pm isopgh@gmail.com 2:30 pm Thomas Merton Center
12 TMC Board Meeting Thomas Merton Center 6:00-9:00pm
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6:30-8:30pm at TMC 6:30-8:30pm at TMC
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20 ISO Meeting 7:30-9:00pm Thomas Merton Center
Friday 2
MOVEPGH Prioritization Workshops 1:00-3:00pm University of Pittsburgh, Alumni Hall AND 6:00-8:00pm Brashear Center, 2005 Sarah Street
Black Voices for Peace Vigil to End the War 1:00pm Corner of Penn and Highland in East Liberty TMC Environmental Justice Book Study and Potluck 4:00-6:00pm Thomas Merton Center
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MOVEPGH MOVEPGH Peer Peer Cities Cities Summit Summit 2:30-4:00pm 2:30-4:00pm 5032 5032 Forbes Forbes Avenue Avenue Film Film Screening: Screening: We We Are Are Alive: Alive: The The Fight Fight to to Save Save Braddock Braddock Hospital Hospital 7:00-10:00pm 7:00-10:00pm Regent Regent Square Square Theater Theater
State Voices of Blackfor Pittsburgh Black Peace 9:00am-3:00pm Vigil to End the War: 1:00pm 5000 Forbes Ave. Diabetes EXPO Corner of Penn and 9:00am-4:00pm Highland in East Liberty D. L. Lawrence Convention Project to Solidarity End Human Haiti Com. Trafficking (PEHT) 10:00-12:00 @ TMC Shalefield Action Camp 10:00am-12:00pm 11:00am-9:00pm Carlow Campus, 606Room Columbiana Project to End Human Antonian #502 Rd.
Trafficking (PEHT) 10:00am-12:00pm Carlow Campus, Antonian Room #502
15 Quaker Public Policy Institute & Lobby Day 8:30am-5:30pm Washington Plaza Hotel 10 Thomas Circle Washington, DC
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Bessemer, Pennsylvania Black Voices to End War 1:00pm in East Liberty
16 Trip to Fort Benning to Protest the SOA Nov. 16-19 Call TMC to reserve (412) 361-3022. Quaker Public Policy Institute & Lobby Day 8:30am-5:30pm Washington Plaza Hotel 10 Thomas Circle Washington, DC
SW PA Bread for the World Team Meeting 10:00am-12:00pm Waverly Presbyterian 590 S. Braddock Ave.
Saturday 3
Editorial Collective Meeting 10:30am-12:00pm Thomas Merton Center First Friday Action: 1:30-3:00pm Post Office, Downtown Tony @ 412-462-9962
8 TMC 40th 6 pm Anniversary Dinner Sheraton Station Sq. Call (412) 361-3022.
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TMC Membership Dr. Ehrenreich, Poverty Meeting and Cult of Cheerfulness 6:00-8:00pm 4:00-5:00pm Dr. Theater, Ehrenreich, GRW PPUPoverty and CultSt. of Cheerfulness 414 Wood PUSH Meeting:6:00-8:00pm GRW Theater, PPU 6:15-8:00pm 414 Wood St. 2101 Murray Ave PUSH Meeting Write On! Letters for 6:15-8:00pm Prisoner Rights: Write On! Letters for 7:00pm at 2101 TMC Murray Ave Prisoner Rights Merton MertonStudy Study&&Catholic Catholic 7:00pm at TMC Worker Potluck Worker Potluck
ISO ISO Meeting Meeting 7:30-9:00pm 7:30-9:00pm Thomas Thomas Merton Merton Center Center W.O.M.I.N. W.O.M.I.N. Meeting Meeting: 7:30-8:30pm 7:30-8:30pm 18 18 Schubert Schubert St. St. Pgh, Pgh, PA PA 15212 15212
Book’em Packing Day 4:00-7:00pm TMC Capital's End 7:30-11:00pm Istanbul Grille
Association of Pittsburgh Priests Speakers' Series Bishop Gumbleton 7:30-9:30pm 9000 Babcock Blvd. Allison Park, PA 15101
7 Write On! Letters for Prisoner Rights 7:00pm at TMC PADP Meeting 7:00-8:00pm First Unitarian Church Darfur Coalition Meets 5:00-7:30pm Room C, Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill MOVEPGH Workshops 1:00-3:00pm, Kaufmann Center AND 6:00-8:00pm, Carnegie Library E. Liberty
Capital's End 7:30-11:00pm Istanbul Grille, 4130 Butler St. Pittsburgh, PA
Green Party Meeting 7:00-9:00pm 2121 Murray Avenue Pgh, PA 15217 (2nd Floor) 412-784-0256 Malalathon Basketball Benefit Planning Meeting 7:00-8:30pm Salvation Army CC, 1060 McNeilly Road, Mt. Lebanon, PA 15226
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17 Fight for Lifers West meeting 10:00am-12:00pm 325 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Black Voices for Peace Vigil to End the War 1:00pm Corner of Penn and Highland in East Liberty
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Darfur Coalition Meets 5:00-7:30pm Room C, Carnegie Library, Squirrel Hill Write On! Letters for Prisoner Rights 7:00pm at TMC
24 Black Voices for Peace Vigil to End the War 1:00pm Corner of Penn and Highland in East Liberty TMC Environmental Justice Book Study and Potluck 4:00-6:00pm Thomas Merton Center
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
25 TMC Anti-War Committee Meeting 2:00pm TMC Economic Justice Committee Meeting: 4:00-5:30pm
Thomas Merton Center Book’em Packing Day 4:00-7:00pm Thomas Merton Center Capital's End 7:30-11:00pm Istanbul Grille
26 TMC NEEDS VOLUNTEERS AND INTERNS TO HELP WITH OUR IMPORTANT PEACE AND JUSTICE WORK.
27 ISO Meeting 7:30-9:00pm Thomas Merton Center
28 Write On! Letters for Prisoner Rights 7:00pm at TMC
CALL MICHAEL AT (412) 361-3022 TO FIND OUT MORE.
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW) 2013 LABOR HISTORY CALENDAR ON SALE The theme of the 2013 IWW Labor History Calendar is OCCUPY. It features 16 examples of the labor occupations. It is the gift of labor education and occupation that lasts all year long. It will help all of the Occupiers and labor people affirm a useful narrative about ourselves, which is a classic IWW narrative. The calendar is published by the Hungarian Workers Literature Fund in collaboration with the Kansas City IWW. For many years the IWW Labor History Calendar has been a successful fundraiser for the Pittsburgh IWW. It is great deal for $12. Almost half of that money will then be used to support IWW organizing goals. The IWW organizes the worker, not the job. Recently the Pittsburgh IWW has taken on the goal of education and support of healthcare workers. The Pittsburgh IWW was one of the unions that occupied People's Park/BYN Mellon Green. They organized in support of transit and participated in May Day with the Pittsburgh Occupy group. Many Pittsburgh IWW members are also Occupiers. Join the IWW Today, union membership, includes all the rights proscribed by the IWW Constitution and representation at the annual Delegate's Convention. Members of the Pittsburgh IWW will be glad to sell you a $12, 2013 IWW Labor History Calendar. The Pittsburgh IWW has two officers and 3 delegates that can help you join the IWW today. For more information call Kenneth at (412) 867-9213. 16 - NEWPEOPLE
November 2012
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CAPITAL’S END ISTANBUL GRILLE A social space for the full diversity of individuals and groups creating and working for social change. November Programs Nov. 4 - “The New Economy” Nov. 11 – Sustainability and the Environment Nov. 18 – The Wars – Preventing/Ending Nov. 25 – Movements vs. Electoral Politics Live local music, poetry, talk, collective karaoke, open mike, display/sale of art, a “call to arms” and an opportunity to build friendships, community & solidarity. Purchase FINE TURKISH CUISINE (BYOB) 4130 Butler St. Pgh, PA 15201 -- (412) 251-0441
Further information: iamholtz@iup.edu 724-388-6258