Vigil on Saturday, October 20, 2012, 10 to 11 AM, in Norwood in support for Non-binding Referendum Concerning Social Security, Taxes, Military Spending and Jobs

Please join us on Saturday, October 20, 2012, 10:00 - 11:00 AM to stand in support of the Massachusetts Budget For  All Referendum: Stop the Cuts, Invest in Jobs, Tax the 1%, End the Wars, and Cut the Military Budget. We will be meeting at 10:00 AM  in Norwood at the Norwood Common, on the corner of Route 1A and Nahatan Street, across from the Norwood Town Hall.

Residents of Norwood and  Walpole precincts 1, 2, 6 and 7 ( Massachusetts Twelfth Norfolk Representative District) will have the opportunity to send a message to congress on key issues that lie at the heart of the national election by voting, November 6, on a non-binding referendum question concerning social security, taxes, military spending, and jobs. The ballot question asks “Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the Congress and the President to: (1) prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance; (2) create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services; (3) provide new revenues for these purposes and reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000; and (4) redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now?”

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group joined a network of over 50 community and labor organizations and peace groups around the state to put the question on the ballot in 91 cities and towns in Massachusetts, including Walpole. About one million voters will have the opportunity to vote on these critical matters of national policy. Other towns in the Walpole-Norwood area that will have the opportunity to vote on the questions are Dedham, Dover, Millis (part), Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, and Westwood.

We are holding an Information Session on the Budget for All Referendum on Tuesday, October 30, 7:00 PM at the Walpole Public Library.

Talk on 'What is Sikhism?' by Siri Karm Singh Khalsa, Thursday, Oct. 18, 7:00 pm, Walpole Library

Please join us for a talk on ‘What is Sikhism?’ by Siri Karm Singh Khalsa on Thursday, October 18th at 7:00 pm in the Community Room of The Walpole Public Library. Come learn about the believers of Sikhism, who recently have been subjected to hate crimes and religious intolerance. Siri Karm is a member of the Guru Ram Das Ashram, a Sikh spiritual community located in Millis. He is also founder & president of The Boston Language Institute and a teacher of Kundalini Yoga. He is looking forward to sharing his experiences and discussing Sikhism with all who come. Refreshments will be served. The Walpole Public Library is located at 143 School Street. This program is sponsored by the Walpole Peace & Justice Group.

Peace Vigil on Saturday

For those who can attend, we will meet in Walpole this week from 10 to 11 AM at the corner of Common and Main St, on the corner where the Gazebo. We have the new signs!

Peace Vigil on Saturday, October 6, at Walpole, 10-11 AM

We will hold the vigil in Walpole tomorrow 10-11 AM, with signs supporting the 4 issues on the ballot question. We will be on the Common across from the Walpole Coop Bank.

Sorry for the late notice.

Walpole Peace and Justice Group Peace Vigil, Saturday, August 4, 2012, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

The Walpole Peace and justice Group is holding a vigil on Saturday, August 4, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the corner of Main St. and West St. in Walpole to speak out for funding our communities and reducing military spending and for ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States spends almost as much on the military as all the other countries of the world combined. More than half of all US annual discretionary spending goes to the military and war fighting. We call for cutting military spending and instead keep funding our nation’s social programs, like housing, education, Medicare, and Medicaid, that are so critical to people. We support the Fund Our Communities / Reduce Military Spending 25% Campaign as well as the People’s Budget. We also call for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Who Watches the Watchers? The Threat to Privacy in the United States

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring a talk on June 5, 2012 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library by Kade Crockford on ‘Who Watches the Watchers? The Threat to Privacy in the United States.’ The closing decades of the 20th century brought something new: the potential for mass surveillance made possible by the evolution of computer technology. Since 9/11, the government has dramatically expanded its powers of surveillance on all people, not just those suspected of wrongdoing. Our international phone calls, our emails, our financial records, our travel itineraries, and our images captured on digital cameras now swell a mountain of data that is being collected in the name of mining for suspicious patterns and associations.

But while the government has gained more and more power to watch us, it has largely kept us in the dark about what it is doing, building a new architecture of domestic surveillance, about which we know very little. Kade will speak about the growing threat to our privacy and liberty posed by the militarization of the police, developments in surveillance technology without attendant legal reforms, and the prosecutorial and legislative attacks on the Bill of Rights.

Kade Crockford is Principle Investigator and Manager of the Technology and Liberty Project at the ACLU of Massachusetts. Her work at the ACLU includes mobilizing an integrated advocacy team comprised of litigators, lobbyists, educators and field organizers to develop and implement strategies for fighting the growing surveillance state in Massachusetts and nationwide. Kade developed and maintains the website privacysos.org, and has spoken out on privacy issues on local and national media outlets, including CBS radio, Fox News, and WBUR.

The talk will be in the Community Room at the Walpole Public Library, 143 School Street, Walpole, MA. Refreshments will be served.

Walpole Peace and Justice Group Peace Vigil, Saturday, May 5, 2012, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

The Walpole Peace and justice Group is holding a vigil on Saturday, May 5, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the corner of Main St. and West St. in Walpole to speak out for funding our communities and reducing military spending and for ending  the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On March 29, 2012 the House  passed a budget that slashes domestic spending while increasing the military budget. The United States spends almost as much on the military as all the other countries of the world combined.  More than half of all US annual discretionary spending goes to the military and war fighting. We call for cutting military spending and instead keep funding our nation’s social programs, like housing, education, Medicare, and Medicaid,  that are so critical to people. We support the Fund Our Communities / Reduce Military Spending 25% Campaign as well as the People’s Budget.  We also call for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also tonight, Wednesday, the Peace and Justice for Palestine (PfP), West of Boston, Pax Christi, and  MetroWest are sponsoring a showing of the film The Iron Wall  about the conflict in the Mideast between Israel and Palestine.  The showing is at the Natick Library, lower hall, 14 East Central Street, Wednesday,  May 2, 2012, at  6:45 PM. The film will be followed by a discussion, facilitated by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy from the Catholic Worker House in Worcester. Claire is a journalist who has visited Palestine several times to work with the Palestinian and Israeli people.