National Priorities: What Does Real Homeland Security Look Like?

Please join us for a talk by Dr. Barb Chalfonte on “National Priorities: What Does Real Homeland Security Look Like?” at the Walpole Public Library on Tuesday, November 18, at 7:00 PM. Dr. Chalfonte, a Senior Research Associate at the National Priorities Project, will consider what it really means to be secure at home as a nation. From the perspective of our current federal budget, homeland security primarily means military defense, but what about food, energy, jobs, health care, and housing security? Dr. Chalfonte will look at the role of the federal government in meeting those security needs. She will also talk about tradeoffs between excessive military spending on war and fossil fuel access versus social needs spending. You may be surprised to hear how much the U.S. spends on defense compared to all other developed countries of the world. Dr. Chalfonte will also examine the impact of federal budget priorities on towns like Walpole and discuss how individuals can advocate to make those budget priorities reflect their own.

The National Priorities Project, NPP, is a research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels.

Dr. Chalfonte has a background in science and technology research as well as in organizing for social and economic justice. Prior to joining the NPP, she worked at Bell Communications Research and was on the faculty of Mt. Holyoke College. Dr. Chalfonte has written and lectured on how people understand and remember information and how to design technology to support that understanding. She has also worked on several political campaigns and served on the boards of political action committees. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a B.A. from Williams College.

People should note that the talk starts at 7:00 PM, which is earlier than the usual time for talks sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group.

Bacevich Dedication Sat Nov 8 10AM

The Dedication of the Bacevich Memorial on the Walpole Common will take place tomorrow, Saturday, November 8th at 10 AM. The public is invited. Dr. Bacevich will speak. Come if you can.

Updates:

Soldier honored at Walpole fountain rededication
Evangelical foreign policy is over

The Costs of War, Violence, and Denial

Claude Anshin Thomas, the author of the best selling book “At Hell's Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace,” will speak at the Walpole Public Library on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 7:30 PM. In this talk Claude recounts his dramatic coming-of-age story and spiritual odyssey from combat soldier to Zen Buddhist monk and advocate of nonviolence. He offers profound insight into ways we can end suffering and violence in our own lives and in our world. His struggle to deal with the trauma of Vietnam and to find personal peace and spiritual insight is a prism through which to view America over the last thirty years – our difficulty in coming to terms with the legacy of Vietnam, our spiritual hunger, and our need to come to terms with our massive power and our use of violence.

“Everyone has their Vietnam,” Claude writes, “everyone has experienced trauma and everyone, if they want, can find healing and peace through looking deeply at the nature of their suffering. War is a collective expression of individual suffering.” The seeds of war and violence are planted early and often, and it is only through our actions and insights personally that we can hope to end war globally. What is startling in these days of the “war on terrorism” is that we rarely hear from the soldiers themselves. As a highly decorated helicopter crew chief who was wounded in battle and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, Claude speaks with an authenticity and an honesty that is extremely compelling to a wide audience. He can speak with direct experience about the realities of war, about what we are sending young men and women to do, and about the effect that making war has on all of us.

Claude Anshin Thomas went to Vietnam at the age of eighteen, where he received numerous medals, including twenty-seven Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. Today he is a monk in the Soto Zen tradition and an active speaker and Zen teacher, traveling the world speaking about war and teaching meditation. He also leads peace pilgrimages through war-torn and war-scarred places around the world. Claude is the founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes peace and non-violence. The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is open to the public.

Boston Peace March October 11th

Please join members of the Walpole Peace and Justice Group  on October 11th in Boston for a peace march and rally to stand up for peace in the Middle East and calling for an end of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and to bring our troops home now. The march is on the anniversary of the day Congress approved the “Iraq War Resolution” in 2002 that granted the Bush administration authorization to invade Iraq. The march and rally was organized by a broad regional network of anti-war, human rights, and peace and justice groups. It is calling for:

- Stop the wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan
- Money for jobs, education, healthcare and housing - not for war and occupation
- No sanctions or attack on Iran
- Stop the racist scapegoating of Arabs and Muslims
- Stop the assault on human rights and civil liberties

The rally starts at 12:00 noon at the Boston Common at the corner of Beacon Street and Charles Street. After a 2 hour program of speakers and musicians, there will be a march to Copley Square and back to the Boston Common. More information can be found at the Oct11 web site, http://www.oct11boston.org

You are invited to join us to go into Boston via the commuter train from Walpole. We will be taking the 11:01 AM train that will arrive at Back Bay Station at 11:38 AM and South Station at 11:45 AM. The fare is $5.75 each way. Trains leave Boston at 5:20 PM, 7:20 PM, 9:20 PM, and 5 minutes later from Back Bay. Parking should be available at the top of the station. Look for us on the platform. 

This march and rally is an opportunity for us to speak out against this disastrous “preemptive war” that was started using false pretenses. This war was totally unjustified and has resulted in the deaths of over 4,150 U.S. solders and up to 1,000,000 Iraq civilians and has destroyed much of Iraq.   
 

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Next Speaker Series:  Claude Anshin Thomas on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at the Walpole Public Library, 7:30 PM

Claude Anshin Thomas is the author of the best selling book “At Hell's Gate.” In this talk Claude recounts his dramatic coming-of-age story and spiritual odyssey as well as offering his profound insights into suffering and violence, and how we can end them in ourselves and in our world. Claude Anshin Thomas went to Vietnam at the age of eighteen, where he received numerous medals, including twenty-seven Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. Today he is a monk in the Soto Zen tradition and an active speaker and Zen teacher, traveling the world speaking about war and teaching meditation. He also leads peace pilgrimages through war-torn and war-scarred places around the world. Claude is the founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes peace and non-violence.

Documentary Film on School of the Americas

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group will show the documentary film, On The Line, at the Walpole Public Library on September 16th at 7:30 PM. On The Line is an inside look at the people behind one of the largest nonviolent movements in America today: the movement to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC, a U.S. Army school that trains Latin American soldiers. Why should the school be closed? Many of it's graduates have been involved in some of the worst human rights abuses in Central and South America. The rape and murder of four U.S. nuns, the killing of six priests, and the murder of Archbishop Romero in El Salvador are just some of the more familiar atrocities for which School of America graduates have been responsible.

The movement to close the school of the Americas was started by Fr. Roy Bourgeois in 1990 when he founded the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) and along with 9 others fasted at the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. Since then, over 225 people have been arrested for performing acts of civil disobedience at these demonstrations. They have collectively served more than 95 years in a federal prison and paid thousands of dollars in heavy fines. Many of those arrested are people of faith (ministers, priests, nuns); veterans, college students, grandmothers and grandfathers. In other words, people from all walks of life from all over the country have been moved by their conscience to do what they can to close this school that operates with our tax dollars.

After our country was attacked on 9/11, President Bush said that we need to shut down all terrorist training camps around the world. Come see why Fr. Roy Bourgeois responded that a good place to start would be Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.

Peace Vigil on Sat Sep 6

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is holding a peace vigil on Saturday, September 6, 10:00 to 11:00 AM at the Walpole Common across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank, near the water trough. Note that we have moved the location of the vigil. The vigil will be held pending the weather and how tropical storm Hanna tracks.

We thank all those who joined us at the last vigil, especially those who traveled from other towns. We believe it is important to continue holding vigils calling for our country to withdraw all our troops from Iraq and bring them home. This war was started under false pretenses and has caused untold destruction and death. We mourn for all who have been killed in this war. We honor our service men and women and our veterans and believe the best way to support them is to bring them home.

The next speaker series will be on September 16, 2008 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library.

Bill Moyers Interviews Andrew J. Bacevich

"As campaign ads urge voters to consider who will be a better "Commander in Chief," Andrew J. Bacevich — Professor of International Relations at Boston University, retired Army colonel, and West Point graduate — joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to encourage viewers to take a step back and connect the dots between U.S. foreign policy, consumerism, politics, and militarism."

Video after the jump ...