Documentary "Why We Fight", Walpole Public Library, Tuesday, May 13

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group will be showing the documentary, “Why We Fight,” at the Walpole public library on May 13 at 7:30 PM. “Why We Fight,” which was a Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is an unflinching look at the anatomy of American war making. Granted unparalleled Pentagon access, the film launches a nonpartisan inquiry into the forces – political, economic, and ideological – that drive America to fight.

The film opens with President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address in which he warned Americans about the dangers of the “military industrial complex”.


Filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki, then goes on to show that the “military industrial complex” has expanded to include Congress and think tanks and has today resulted in all these interests becoming alarmingly entangled in the business of war.

The film interviews both conservatives, such as, William Kristol, Richard Perle and John McCain and liberals, such as Chalmers Johnson and Gore Vidal. John McCain states, among other things, that the “military industrial complex” today “borders on corruption both in industry and the Pentagon” and that, ”our priorities are set by what benefits corporations as opposed to what benefits the country.”

This is a very important topic that has a profound impact on all our lives. For fiscal 2008, defense related spending will exceed $ one trillion! Doing very basic math, this equates to roughly $83 million for the people of Walpole! Our own town budget is roughly $65 million. Every town in the U.S. will continue to struggle financially unless we find a way to get our military spending under control.

Come and bring a neighbor, tell a friend. Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, 7:30 PM, Walpole Library.

Peace Vigil Sat May 3 10AM to 11AM

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group invites you to join us for a peace vigil tomorrow morning, Saturday, May 3, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on the Walpole Common, across from the Post Office. Peace vigils are held on the first and third Saturdays of the Month.

Peace Vigil Sat Apr 19 10AM to 11AM

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group invites you to join us for a peace vigil tomorrow morning, Saturday, April 19, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on the Walpole Common, across from the Post Office. Peace vigils are held on the first and third Saturdays of the Month.

The Hidden Story behind Immigration

Please join us for a talk on "The Hidden Story behind Immigration" at the Walpole Public Library on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 PM. The two speakers are Lisa Fuller and Laura Embree-Lowry. Lisa is the chapter coordinator for Boston Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Laura has worked as a filmmaker since 2002, documenting popular social movements through oral histories. Her work with the People’s History of Texas has included projects on labor struggles, a cooperative underground press and Chilean solidarity organizing. Laura is currently an active member of CISPES, and along with Lisa she is organizing locally to support the Salvadoran popular movement and self-determination in El Salvador.

The talk will focus on the underlying causes of immigration, and use the circumstances in El Salvador as a model. Seven hundred people flee El Salvador every day. One third of all Salvadorans on earth live in the United States. El Salvador has been the playground for policies conceived of and instituted by the United States. Free trade, privatization and sweatshops overrun the country and concentrate wealth in the hands of the Salvadoran elite and their transnational business partners. Popular movements to change the system are met with brutal repression and violence that is sanctioned and funded by the U.S.

The economic situation today is worse than in the 1970’s, when it led to a bloody 12 year civil war. Migration is a means of survival for Salvadorans. And migration equals profits for big business. This is the hidden side of the “immigration problem” that politicians and the corporate media don’t mention.

Next Peace Vigil: Saturday, April 5, 2008 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on the Walpole Common across from the Post Office.

Why We Need Single Payer Health Care Reform

Please join us for a talk by Dr. Patricia Downs Berger, Co-Chair of Mass-Care, on “Why We Need Single Payer Health Care Reform” at the Walpole Public Library on Tuesday, March 4th at 7:30 pm. In 2006, the Massachusetts legislature passed the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law in an effort to provide health coverage by mandating the purchase of insurance with subsidies. The Massachusetts plan has served as the model for health care proposals of many presidential candidates. This talk is especially relevant given the importance of this issue in the upcoming presidential election.

In the talk, Dr. Berger will relate her own experience as a practicing physician to critique the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law and show why a single payer health system is needed. She will show how the medical-industrial complex is destroying our health system and why we need true health reform rather than incremental reforms. Dr. Berger will define the basic principles of health insurance, comparing the singer payer system versus a market based system. She will describe the major provisions of the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law, and discuss the challenges of cost, complexity, sustainability, and affordability. Dr. Berger will conclude by defining how single payer systems work, showing how they are funded, how they provide quality health services, and how they have been successfully implemented in many countries.

Dr. Berger is the Co-Chair of Mass-Care, an umbrella organization with more than 100 member organizations. Their mission is to “establish a single payer health care system in Massachusetts so that all residents of the Commonwealth will have access to comprehensive, quality, affordable and equitable health care.” Dr. Berger has practiced medicine in a variety of settings in Massachusetts. Having seen the inequities in the health care system first hand, she is committed to working for single payer health care reform. She is passionate in her belief “that access to comprehensive, equitable, high quality health care is a human right and is the foundation for a healthy and compassionate society” and that “a single payer health care system is the best way to achieve affordable, patient centered medical care supported by the broad community.”

March 1 Peace Vigil Cancelled Due to the Snow Storm

March 1 Peace Vigil Cancelled Due to the Snow Storm

Two Talks - Homeless and Health Reform

February 27th, 7:30 PM: Talk on the challenges faced by the homeless in the Greater Boston area - St Catherine of Siena Church, Norwood Carrie Eldridge-Dickson, Manager of Volunteer Services and Community Partnerships at Boston Health Care for the Homeless will be talking on the current challenges faced by homeless individuals and families in the Greater Boston area. All are welcome to join us in the discussion of our ability to respond as a vibrant faith community to the needs of our brothers and sisters who are homeless. Sponsored by the St Catherine of Siena Church Social Justice Committee. The meeting will be in the former convent on Nahatan Street.

March 4th at 7:30 pm: Why We Need Single Payer Health Care Reform Dr. Patricia Downs Berger, Co-Chair of Mass-Care, will speak on "Why We Need Single Payer Health Care Reform" at the Walpole Public Library on Tuesday, March 4th at 7:30 pm. The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is open to the public. In 2006, the Massachusetts legislature passed the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law in an effort to provide health coverage by mandating the purchase of insurance with subsidies. The Massachusetts plan has served as the model for health care proposals of many presidential candidates.

In the March 4th talk, Dr. Berger will relate her own experience as a practicing physician to critique the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law and show why a single payer health system is needed. She will show how the medical-industrial complex is destroying our health system and why we need true health reform rather than incremental reforms. Dr. Berger will define the basic principles of health insurance, comparing the singer payer system versus a market based system. She will describe the major provisions of the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law, and discuss the challenges of cost, complexity, sustainability, and affordability. Dr. Berger will conclude by defining how single payer systems work, showing how they are funded, how they provide quality health services, and how they have been successfully implemented in many countries.

Dr. Berger is the Co-Chair of Mass-Care, an umbrella organization with more than 100 member organizations. Their mission is to "establish a single payer health care system in Massachusetts so that all residents of the Commonwealth will have access to comprehensive, quality, affordable and equitable health care." Dr. Berger has practiced medicine in a variety of settings in Massachusetts. Having seen the inequities in the health care system first hand, she is committed to working for single payer health care reform. She is passionate in her belief "that access to comprehensive, equitable, high quality health care is a human right and is the foundation for a healthy and compassionate society" and that "a single payer health care system is the best way to achieve affordable, patient centered medical care supported by the broad community."