The Walpole Peace and Justice Group continues its speakers series on January 9th, 2007, with a screening of Tom Jackson's new film "Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change" at the Walpole Public Library, at 7:30PM. The screening is open to the public.
This holiday season, as we approached the eighteenth anniversary (March 24th) of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a decision was handed down from a federal appeals court in San Francisco: the Valdez settlement has been cut in half, from $5 billion to $2.5 billion. Last year, Exxon earned $36.1 billion (the highest amount ever by a US corporation), and has spent more than $3 billion to appeal this case; Exxon believes it owes no more than $25 million in damages to the people affected by the spill.
Mr. Jackson's new film highlights not only Exxon's part in this ecological and economic disaster, but ExxonMobil's deliberate efforts in fabricating a debate around the science of climate change – introducing "junk science" to cast doubt on the unnatural effects of our energy economy on global climate systems. Here is the filmmaker's statement:
"'Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change' shows the influence that the largest company in the world has on governments, the media and citizens and what can be done about global warming. While the Earth’s climate is pushed further out of balance by increasing use of fossil fuels, ExxonMobil continues to assert undue influence around the world—making record profits while ignoring climate science for which there has been overwhelming consensus for over ten years.
'Out of Balance' does not just critique ExxonMobil, it also offers challenging, large-scale ideas for the global social changes that must take place if there’s any chance of having a livable planet for future generations."
Mr. Jackson's production company, Joe Public Films (http://www.joepublicfilms.com/), is based in Portsmouth, NH. It is an independent video & filmmaking resource that is committed to exposing under-reported human rights-related news stories from around the world, at any and every available level of media, from grassroots screenings to broadcast television.
The film is about an hour, and we hope to have some time after the screening for discussion. It is the second film by Mr. Jackson that the Group has shown; the Group screened "Worlds Apart" in February 2006.
Winston Chou
East Walpole
Friday, December 29, 2006
Peace Vigil in Walpole Dec 30th
Please join us for a peace vigil on Saturday, December 30th at the Walpole Common from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM as we stand in protest of the Bush administration’s Iraqi war policy. Unbelievably the president is apparently considering a ‘troop surge’ despite all the evidence that the U.S. presence is making the situation worse. The U.S. service dead are approaching 3,000 while Iraqi civilian causalities are estimated as high as 600,000. With the increasing sectarian violence, the U.N. estimates that 1.8 million Iraqis have left the country while hundreds of thousands more have been internally displaced. A May 2006 study by the U.N. World Food Program, ‘Food Security and Vulnerability in Iraq,’ found 15% of Iraqis in ‘dire need of humanitarian assistance’ and 23% of Iraqi’s as being ‘food insecure.’ The U.S. invaded Iraq on blatantly false pretenses that the Bush administration continues to use to justify this tragic war. So please join us if you are able at the start of this New Year as we stand together for peace.
For the Walpole Peace and Justice Group
Philip Czachorowski
For the Walpole Peace and Justice Group
Philip Czachorowski
Friday, December 22, 2006
The Cost of War
To the Editor (of the Walpole Times),
After reading Jeffrey Symanski’s letter last week about the need for more money for our schools, I felt compelled to write about one area that is a major cause of the shortage of money in Walpole, namely, the military spending of the U.S. government. The Pentagon currently has a $460 billion budget. With a population of 300 million, that breaks down to $1,533 per person in taxes. For simplicity’s sake, that equals $6,132 for a family of 4 and using a rough figure of 25,000 for the population of Walpole this equals about $39 million that the people of Walpole pay towards our military budget. If you add in the cost of the Iraq war at about $100 billion a year that equals about $8 million more that the people of Walpole are paying towards the military budget. If you factor in the military’s portion of the budget that goes to pay the interest on our debt then there is another $5 million that all of us in Walpole are paying. If you add all of the above, the people of Walpole are paying about $52 million a year on our military.
According to Truemajority.org, there are many former Admirals, Generals and Pentagon officials who agree that we could safely cut the Pentagon’s budget by 13% or $60 billion. This would be a savings of $5 million a year for the people of Walpole and if we weren’t bogged down in Iraq, we would be saving another $8 million. If we had $13 million staying in Walpole, I don’t think we would have any trouble funding our schools or any of the other needs of our town.
To put this military spending in perspective, the United States represents less than 5% of the world’s population but the pentagon’s budget represents about 50% of all the military spending in the world!
The following quote by James Madison, our fourth president, best sums up what is at stake as far as our country’s future is concerned if we don’t get this military spending under control: “Of all the enemies of liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies: from these proceed debts and taxes ….. known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few …… No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”
There are very powerful interests who are making billions in profits off of our war-like military budget while people in communities like Walpole fight amongst themselves to meet their basic needs.
Paul Peckham
Dec. 18, 2006
After reading Jeffrey Symanski’s letter last week about the need for more money for our schools, I felt compelled to write about one area that is a major cause of the shortage of money in Walpole, namely, the military spending of the U.S. government. The Pentagon currently has a $460 billion budget. With a population of 300 million, that breaks down to $1,533 per person in taxes. For simplicity’s sake, that equals $6,132 for a family of 4 and using a rough figure of 25,000 for the population of Walpole this equals about $39 million that the people of Walpole pay towards our military budget. If you add in the cost of the Iraq war at about $100 billion a year that equals about $8 million more that the people of Walpole are paying towards the military budget. If you factor in the military’s portion of the budget that goes to pay the interest on our debt then there is another $5 million that all of us in Walpole are paying. If you add all of the above, the people of Walpole are paying about $52 million a year on our military.
According to Truemajority.org, there are many former Admirals, Generals and Pentagon officials who agree that we could safely cut the Pentagon’s budget by 13% or $60 billion. This would be a savings of $5 million a year for the people of Walpole and if we weren’t bogged down in Iraq, we would be saving another $8 million. If we had $13 million staying in Walpole, I don’t think we would have any trouble funding our schools or any of the other needs of our town.
To put this military spending in perspective, the United States represents less than 5% of the world’s population but the pentagon’s budget represents about 50% of all the military spending in the world!
The following quote by James Madison, our fourth president, best sums up what is at stake as far as our country’s future is concerned if we don’t get this military spending under control: “Of all the enemies of liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies: from these proceed debts and taxes ….. known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few …… No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”
There are very powerful interests who are making billions in profits off of our war-like military budget while people in communities like Walpole fight amongst themselves to meet their basic needs.
Paul Peckham
Dec. 18, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Peace Vigil in Walpole Dec 16th
Walpole Peace Group Peace Vigil
Walpole Common
Saturday, December 16th at 10:00 to 11:00 AM
Join us for a Peace Vigil on Saturday, December 16th on the Walpole Common from 10:00 to 11:00 AM as we stand in opposition to the U.S. policy in Iraq. The President continues to distort the truth and persist in following a failed policy while the situation is worst then ever. It is important that we stand in opposition to the war and call for our leaders to be held accountable for this tragic war.
Walpole Common
Saturday, December 16th at 10:00 to 11:00 AM
Join us for a Peace Vigil on Saturday, December 16th on the Walpole Common from 10:00 to 11:00 AM as we stand in opposition to the U.S. policy in Iraq. The President continues to distort the truth and persist in following a failed policy while the situation is worst then ever. It is important that we stand in opposition to the war and call for our leaders to be held accountable for this tragic war.
Monday, December 04, 2006
"Hidden in Plain Sight" Date Change
Please note that the film, "Hidden in Plain Sight", has been moved to Tuesday, 12/12, at 7:30 at the Library. Thanks, Paul
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