INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
MUPJ C.B. Highlights………………..……...
1
Death Penalty Moratorium…………..……...
1
16th Annual
Peace Conference Highlights..1
Co-sponsors
…………………………….…… 2
Justice Resolution…………………………...
2
Benjamin Peace Awards…………………….
2
Prize Winning Essay…………………………
3
Kudos …………………………………………. 3
Please Help missing books …….…………..
3
Vision for Women in the 21st
Century…..… 3
Public Citizen News………………………….
4
Farewell compadres…………………………. 4
Note:
All opinions expressed in this publication are those solely of their authors
and do not necessarily reflect those of MUPJ and/or its members. Many thanks to Carol Solomon, Ron Solomon,
and Paulette Hammond for helping with this issue.
Coordinating
Body Meeting
The spring
MUPJ C.B. meeting was held on Saturday, 17 March 2001, 10:00 am at Bert Donn’s
in Greenbelt, MD. We observed a moment of silence in memory of our friend
and colleague, Denis Renaud, who recently passed away.
Present
were: Esther Webb, Bert Donn, Ron Solomon, Chuck Frascati, Bernie Brown, Carol
Solomon, Mary and Phi Chenoweth, and Paulette Hammond (scribe)
Financial
Reports
MUPJ,
Inc.: Chuck reported that we have about $3000 in our treasury. Ron said we
have about $700 more coming in. We
raised about $1000 on the Sweet Honey in the Rock concert, of which $935.20
will be split evenly between WILPF Baltimore and Catonsville WILPF ($467.60
each).
Institute
for Positive Action: Carol reported that IPA has about $3300 in the bank,
not including the $5000 in each of two mutual funds.
Committee
Reports
Peace
Essay 2001: Ruth said that so far we have 3 essays, 2 posters, and 1
poem. The deadline is the 18th,
but we’ll accept entries after that.
Peace
Conference 2001: We decided to dedicate the conference to Denis Renaud.
. Newsletter:
The Winter issue will come out with the next calendar.
Membership:
Ron suggested putting red dots on the address labels to remind people to renew. CHECK YOUR LABEL — IF YOU DON’T HAVE A RED
DOT, IT’S TIME TO RENEW!
Retreat:
This has been rescheduled for Sept. 22 at the Solomons’. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend.
Caucus
Reports
Prince
George’s County: The Caucus will meet on the March 21st.
MoCo
County: Peace Action will hold a fundraising luncheon on the same date as
our Conference, with Dennis Kucinich as the keynoter. We guess we need better communication about our activities. The date had been in the calendar for some
time.
Baltimore
Area: The Baltimore Development Commission will hold their yearly meeting
on April 22nd. Chuck will
attend for us.
Western
Maryland: Can we meeting there for our next Coordinating Body meeting? How about our next conference?
Anne
Arundel County: Peace Action is a cosponsor of the Conference.
Unfinished
Business
Legislative
Issues:
Death Penalty Moratorium (DPM): Ron will email
Miller urging him to get the bill on the floor to vote. See info, page 2.
HR 57 Electoral Reform, Defazio/Leach. We need the MD Congressional Delegation to
support. Email, write or call them.
SB 233, HB Res. 9: Pinsky, Study proportional
representation. We support it.
UHCAN plan for Citizen’s Health Initiative
McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance Reform
Balto. City Council: HIV drugs to Africa, Bernie
will tell them we support this.
2002
BSO fundraiser for BAJA: The Mambo Kings! Paulette has already reserved
seats for this. Hold the date! Saturday, June 1, 2002 at the Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall, 8 pm. Reception to follow. Chuck suggested doing another one
for Victims of Torture. Chuck will
email Paulette with the info.
New Business
Fundraising:
Linda Murdock, Consultant: we will invite her to our retreat, send
calendar, newsletter to put on website.
Make sure she doesn’t apply to R.E.S.I.S.T. for a grant (we already have
one!) Paulette/Ron will oversee. “MUPJ” Technology Grant” is a possibility.
Progressive Maryland: Should MUPJ
join? Sean Dobson sdobson@erols.com. They are against the ICC, for Campaign
reform, for a Living wage.
Moratorium Act of 2001
Legislation to place a moratorium on executions by the Federal
Government and urge the States to do the same, while a commission reviews the
fairness of the death penalty has been introduced in both the House and Senate
(S. 233/H.R. 1038). Research indicates
2/3 of law enforcement officers do not believe the death penalty is an
effective deterrent. It costs 2 to 6
times more to prosecute a capital murder case then to prosecute a murder with a
life in prison sentence—including incarceration costs. Racial minorities are
prosecuted under federal death penalty law far beyond their proportion in the
general population or the population of criminal offenders. Since 1900, six countries—Iran, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the US—have executed people for crimes they
committed as children with the US leading in these executions. Please contact Senators Paul S. Sarbanes
and Barbara Mikulski and your Representative at 800-374-6702 and urge them to
support and co-sponsor The National Death
Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001.
Highlights of 16th
Annual Maryland Peace and Justice Conference
Although
the Sixteenth Annual Peace, Justice & Environmental Conference competed
with three other events (a plethora of riches!) it was deemed a success. Entitled “Peace and Justice in the New
Millennium,” it was held on Saturday, May 12, 2001at the River Road Unitarian
Church, 6301 River Road in Bethesda. It
was sponsored by MARYLAND UNITED FOR
PEACE AND JUSTICE, INSTITUTE FOR POSITIVE ACTION. The conference was
dedicated to the memory of our friend and colleague, DENIS RENAUD.
Following a heartfelt welcome and meditation
by the Rev. Lynn Thomas Strauss, the Keynote Address by given by the Hon.
Dennis Kucinich, US House of Representatives. Drawing on his experiences in
Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia, he spoke of his desire to see established a
Department of Peace, a cabinet level agency that would oppose violence as a
policy tactic. It would instead promote
and utilize non-violent conflict resolution practices to solve national and
international conflicts. When asked
what we could do to further this goal, he responded by asking us to urge our
congressional delegation to co-sponsor the bills when they are introduced into
Congress, participate in town meetings that will be held to gather citizen
input, have our organizations endorse the bill, educate the public about the
value of the new Department, and resolve on a personal level to practice
nonviolence.
Three Networking Sessions centered
on Peace, Justice (Human Rights), and the Environment were then held in which
participants shared their issues, activities and ideas. For notes of some of
these sessions, contact Paulette Hammond 410-747-3811, phamm001@earthlink.net.
Following
this a Plenary Session was held in which the three groups reported back. The Justice session presented a proposal
which the attendees endorsed (see page 3 for text.)
Following
LUNCH by Gail’s Vegetarian Catering, the Fred Benjamin Awards Ceremony was
held. Peter Benjamin, spoke briefly
about his father’s life and generous decision to endow this award so that high
school students would be encouraged to further peace and justice in their lives
and the world. Two of the essay winners
and four of the poster winners were present, along with two of their sponsoring
teachers, family members and friends.
WORKSHOPS were given twice
and included:
Star Wars/Missile Defense: Scott Lynch, Peace Action,
Washington Office
Peace in Palestine/Middle
East: Odile
Hugonot-Haber, WILPF, Chair, Middle East Committee, Michigan
Colombia, Another Vietnam, Tom F. Driver and Anne L.
Barstow, Witness for Peace, New York
D. Electoral
Dimensions of Peace and Justice, Eric Olson, Deputy Director of the Center
for Voting and Democracy,
Washington, D.C.
E. Chiapas:
Jessica Marques, Legislative Coordinator of the Mexico Solidarity Network,
Washington D.C.
After a closing and sharing
period, the MUPJ Annual Meeting was held.
The following officers were unanimously elected:
Paulette Hammond and Tony Langbehn, Co-convenors
Chuck Frascati, Treasurer
Lora Burgess, Secretary
We also agreed to endorse Rep.
Dennis Kucinich’s bill establishing a Department of Peace, once it is
introduced into Congress.
Thank you for making this conference possible!
Adelphi
Friends Meeting
Alternative Press Center
American Civil Liberties Union,
Montgomery County Chapter
Anne Arundel Peace Action
Baltimore Ethical Society
Center for the Study of Conflict
C.H.O.I.C.E.S.
City Wide Coalition
Committee on the Environment,
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
Howard County Friends of Latin
America
(Maryland) Interfaith
Coalition for the Environment
Interfaith
Fairness Coalition of Maryland
Jubilee USA Network
Korea Truth Commission
Latin American Women and
Supporters (LAWS)
Men Can Stop Rape
Mexico Solidarity Network
Peace Resource
Center of Frederick County
The Prejudice Institute
Proposition One Committee
Rights Action
River Road Unitarian Church,
Social Justice Council
St. John’s of
Baltimore City United Methodist Church
Seniors for
World Security, Leisure World, MD.
Spoutwood Farm CSA
Washington Area
War Tax Resistance
Washington Peace Center
Woman’s
International League for Peace and Freedom
SPECIAL DONATIONS
RESIST, Inc.
John S. Winder Jr.
William Wilson
Endorsed May 12, 2001
As peace
and justice activists, we are concerned about the expanding influence of
corporation into all facets of our lives.
Increasingly the answers proposed to social issues are to turn the
problem over to private concerns. This
is true whether the issue is health care, social security, and problems in our
schools or drug abuse. And it is true
whether the privatization works or not.
We do not share this uncritical acceptance of corporations.
We believe
there needs to be a greater emphasis on public solutions that actually meet the
need of the majority of people, not the few who would profit from the corporate
approach. While the Bush Administration
pushes for budget and tax cuts that would severely limit the role of government
and funding of social problems, what most Americans really want are effective
solutions to the lack of affordable good-quality health care, a secure
retirement system, a livable wage, etc.
We believe this growing corporate influence
and power affects all the peace and justice issues on which we work, whether it
be Star Wars/Missile Defense, Peace in Palestine and the Middle East, the “drug
war” in Colombia, voting rights for minorities, or justice for indigenous
peoples in Chiapas.
Submitted by: Wally Malokoff,
301-587-5559, malokoff@starpower.net
Fred Benjamin Peace Awards
Winners
First
Prizes
Essays
Rachel Flamenbaum
Seneca Valley High School
Sponsor: Mrs. Debbie Fickenscher
Cecelia Krute
Seneca Valley High School
Sponsor: Mrs. Debbie Fickenscher
Poster
Robin Weinhold
Frost School
Sponsor: Jonathon Langsum
Runner-up
Richard Bearns
Frost School
Sponsor: Jonathon Langsum
Honorable Mentions
Jessie Dulaney
Loch Raven High School
Sponsor: Mrs. Carolyn Herman
Yu Gan
Loch Raven High School
Sponsor: Mrs. Carolyn Herman
Saunoah Hamidi
Watkins Mill High School
Sponsor: Dr. Ambush
Sarah Minner
North Caroline High School
Sponsor: Mrs. Beverly Ward
Helen Young Seide
Hammond High School
Sponsor: Ms. Joyce Pfister
Wendy Wogman
Watkins Mill High School
Sponsor: Dr. Ambush
Here is
the 1st place essay of Rachael Flamenbaum. We will
publish the other 1st place essay in the next issue.
“WHAT IS
DEMOCRACY? DO WE HAVE IT IN THE US?
Democracy is
marked by freedoms & privileges;
freedom of expression freedom of religion, freedom of assembly,
etc. These rights & others act to
limit a government’s ability to oppress its governed in a variety of ways. A true democracy also places a huge emphasis
on the voice of the people & their individual input in legislation,
following the ideal set forth, albeit in a somewhat skewed form by the
Greeks. They allowed each citizen to
meet in whole assembly to discuss & decide on the governmental matters of
the day. Citizenship, however, was
limited to native-born males of high social & financial rank. This provides another tenet of a true democracy; citizenship is in no way limited to an
elitist class. No one, regardless of
age, gender, race, or other demographic criterion, can be excluded from
citizenship in a democracy.
The U.S. is
known the world over for being a pioneer of democratic ideals, and is quite
possibly the most democratic in the world.
However, it does not have a democracy in the truest sense of the
word. This would imply a direct
democracy, in which each individual citizen contributes directly to the
legislative process by voicing opinions & ideas. While citizens can contribute to legislation through lobbying
& active participation in interest groups, the current governmental system
dictates that citizens elect officials to represent them & their opinions
in government. When representatives
follow the wishes of their constituents then the system becomes a
representative democracy. By being only
representative, however, it is far too easy for this system to fall to the
whims of influences outside of the people, namely interest groups & PACs. When these groups provide much needed
funding in a effort to turn legislators in their favor, they take attention
away from the voice of the perhaps less organized public.
There is also
the issue of the electoral process.
While the idea is to place a person in office who has been chosen by the
people & who has enough experience to capably lead a superpower, those on
the path to this goal often must turn to undemocratic means to achieve it. To get their message out, most candidates
use gargantuan sums of money in advertising & campaigning all over the
country. Because of this, many people
who would be very eligible candidates for office never even seriously consider
the presidency because they lack the financial resources to campaign. This infringes democracy because money has
the opportunity to play a larger role in the process than the actual leadership
skills of the individuals running for office.
The situation is further confused by the Electoral College, which has
the possibility of placing a candidate in office who did not win the popular
vote. This means that the voice of the
people, which is absolutely key in a democracy, is being hampered.
The
following
are some responses to the 16th Annual Maryland Peace
Conference. We thought we would share
them with you…
§§§§§§
Dear MUPJ:
Merci beaucoup for yet
another exciting conference—in yet another beautiful; setting—location that’s
not difficult to find--& your obvious highly careful planning was
thoroughly evident—totally the personal touch--& what fun for it to be an
intergenerational event, albeit w/just adults (except for student awards). I know you worked extremely hard to give it
to us!! Gracias!!
Deborah Cunningham
§§§§§§
Dear Ron:
This is [a note about] the
very good conference at River Road Unitarian Church on May 12. Thanks and congratulations to you and Carol,
also Paulette and Tony, for all your hard work in making that event so
worthwhile. Thanks, too, for giving
Penny and me the opportunity to host and become acquainted with Odile
Hugonot-Haber and Alan Haber. Their
“Megiddo Project” [website: www.umich.edu/~megiddo/
is appealing to me. I suggested to Alan
that he should talk to Cora and Peter Weiss and Bill Pace to explore the
possibility of making their proposed international gathering at Megiddo an
observation and celebration, in 2004 or 2009, of the 5th or 10th
anniversary of the Hague Appeal for Peace.
Best regards,
Ray Watts
Several books on conscientious objection and war tax resistance
were missing from the Washington Area War Tax Resistance table at the 16th
Annual Maryland Peace and Justice Conference.
If you inadvertently took them without paying for them, please contact
Steve Kretzmann, 6613 Virginia View Ct.
Bethesda, MD 20816. 301-229-6384. As he had them “on consignment”, he will have to pay for them out
of his own pocket. Thank you for your
response, whoever you are.
Vision for Women in the 21st Century
The following
was penned by Cora Weiss, member of Woman’s International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) on March 7. 2001 at the Hague Appeal for Peace in Capetown,
South Africa.
I
dream
Not
day dreams
Nor
nightmare dreams.
Not impossible dreams
I dream, “what if” dreams.
What if
AIDS were only a verb. As, She aids her aging parents. What if the people
fighting pharmaceutical companies and people for peace and justice would
support each other. It would multiply our numbers and our strength.
What if the
nearly one billion guns and small arms that are in uncontrolled circulation
used to kill nearly 6 million people a year - more than die from malaria and
HIV- what if they were all destroyed.
What if the
arms trade were taxed, or stopped?
What if
children went to school and learned a new skill. Reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic,
AND reconciliation. What if peace was learned? I dream that peace is integrated
into all school curricula.
What if we
all learned non-violent options to conflict?
What if
nuclear weapons were all abolished?
What if
half the candidates running for office at every level in every country were
women.
I dream
that the women of East Timor are half the members of parliament, half the new
government.
What if
women were at every negotiating table.
Women, my
friends, are the glue that hold societies together.
I dream
that human rights are never separated from peace and justice.
I dream -
what if everyone understood the 50 points of the Hague Agenda for Peace and
Justice for the 21st Century? It’s the way to get from a culture of violence to
a culture of peace.
I dream
that every child reads and understands the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
I dream
the results of the Tokyo Women’s
Tribunal for the trial of Japanese Sexual Slavery, be known to all people.
I dream
that no country is allowed to have a military budget that is larger than its
health and education budgets combined.
I dream
that boys learn that penis does not mean power; that race does not mean class.
I dream
that women never settle for token numbers anywhere, anymore.
Men have
run the world since the beginning of time and from the point of view of
violence, illiteracy, poverty, racism and gender inequality- they have failed.
So I dream
that one day men will move over and let us run the show.
Finally, I
dream that the resolution that women wrote and was unanimously passed by the
Security Council, # 1325, is fully implemented.
What if,
just as slavery, colonialism and apartheid have been abolished, so, too, war
will be abolished. Our laws and our taxes would no longer support men to make
weapons and train young people to go to war to kill and destroy.
I dream of
peace and justice.
I dream
women will make it happen.
Public Citizen News
What does
the food irradiation industry have to do with peace issues? A lot, it turns
out.
Titan
Corporation, which worked on the Star Wars missile defense program, developed a
linear accelerator that blasts food with enough radiation to kill a person
6,000 times over. This process blows apart the DNA of both beneficial organisms
such as the bacteria that tells your nose that food has gone bad and food borne
bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella and listera. Titan’s subsidiary, SureBeam, has been aggressively marketing this
technology both in the U.S. and abroad as a way to address the increasing
number of E. coli, etc. breakouts and to extend the shelf life of food. Of
course, this technology will allow corporate agribusiness to move more of its
growing operations overseas to countries with lax environmental and labor laws,
further damaging American small farmers’ ability to survive.
Another
technology used to create the ionizing radiation relies on cobalt 60 or cesium
132. The latter radioactive isotope can
be generated from nuclear weapons production waste. At this time, fortunately,
cesium 132 is not widely used due to industry fears about clean up costs. Over a decade ago one company had to pay
more than $40 million to address the damage done by the leakage of one very
small cesium 132 capsule at a Georgia food irradiation plant.
The Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
legalized food irradiation as an easy fix for the problem of industrialized farming and food processing
practices that leave meat contaminated with feces, urine and pus.
Despite
government approval and assurances from the food industry, exposing food to
enough ionizing radiation is not safe.
In addition, radiation doesn’t even kill all the bacteria and it
certainly doesn’t eliminate the filth left from dirty food processing
facilities.
Many kinds of food can now be irradiated, including fruits,
vegetables, beef, poultry, lamb, pork, eggs, sprouting seeds and spices. Irradiation creates new chemicals in food,
called unique radiolytic products, many of which have not been identified, much
less tested for safety. Enough scientific evidence exists to cause concern,
including possible chromosomal damage.
Foods that have been exposed to ionizing radiation have second-rate
nutrition; even at low doses, some irradiated foods lose 20% of vitamins such
as A, C, E and B complex. Irradiation also increases the shelf life of food
resulting in reduced costs and increased profits for the food industry. Because irradiation breaks down the food’s
cell walls, accelerated vitamin losses occur during storage—up to 80%. These findings are overwhelmed by scientific
evidence that some of the “unique radiolytic products” created by irradiating
food, are mutagenic and carcinogenic. Unfortunately, the FDA ignored these
studies when it approved irradiation in 1986.
According to FDA and USDA regulations, irradiated food must be
labeled when sold in retail stores such as supermarkets. However, labeling is not required in
restaurants, schools, hospitals, or by food caterers or food service
providers. The American public
overwhelmingly believes that irradiated food should be labeled. Why?
Because they don’t want to buy or eat it! Polls show that Americans won’t buy meat, vegetables or fruit
that has been irradiated. Unfortunately, the FDA is considering weakening or
eliminating food labeling requirements altogether.
Please join us in the fight to stop
irradiated food from being sold in the United States, by contacting Public
Citizen at:
215
Pennsylvania Avenue, SE,
Washington,
DC 20003
202-546-4996
or
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/rad‑food/radfoodindex.htm
