[pjw] REPORT BACK: Friday rally #26 under stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi again supporters of peace and social justice

I'm just realizing the significance of yesterday being the 26th rally that 
PJW has hosted-- with 52 weeks in a year that means it's been half a year 
now we took over hosting duties from Portland Peaceful Response Coalition. 
Amazing. This means also (since we noted the week before we started, March 
20, was week 960) that this was the 986th consecutive Friday rally.

The six of us who attended wore masks and were abundantly lucky both that 
the rain had washed away the unhealthy air _and_ had ended just prior to 
our event. A couple of pedestrians picked up literature (including one 
Copwatch newsletter) and many cars gave us thumbs ups and honking horns. 
Both kinds of traffic were still relatively light.

I started the rally by acknowledging the late breaking and incredibly sad 
news that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had died. I made the sarcastic joke that the 
Republicans had said President Obama should not fill a seat when there was 
an election coming up and would be thoroughly consistent this time.

Not so much.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-republicans-have-e2-80-9cobligation-e2-80-9d-to-fill-supreme-court-vacancy/ar-BB19diQy

In other news I noted that Donald Trump was nominated for a Nobel Peace 
Prize, no joke, for this work getting UAE and Bahrain to recognize Israel. 
Not so much peace for the Palestinians though.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/09/trump-nominated-nobel-peace-prize-uae-israel.html

We also talked about how there were just two countries which voted against 
the idea of global cooperation in the face of the pandemic. Guess who. (If 
you said US and Israel, you get an Ignobel prize):

https://www.rt.com/news/500528-un-covid-us-israel-objected/

(Bonus link: Ig Nobel prize: https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/ )

One of the attendees relayed that the US was helping patrol the waters off 
of Guyana to ratchet up tensions in Venezuela-- er, interdict drugs:

https://news.yahoo.com/u-guyana-launch-joint-maritime-035030310.html

And, in once again announcing our upcoming events on Sept 25 (next Fri!) 
on Syria and October 2 and 6 on Afghanistan, I noted that the US is about 
to send 100 more troops to Syria (due to increased conflicts with 
Russia??):

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/pentagon-sending-troops-syria-after-clashes-between-u-s-russian-n1240319

and the "peace talks" between Afghanistan and the Taliban are underway, 
while violence rages on in that country:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-talks-doha/afghanistan-government-says-it-hopes-to-reach-ceasefire-in-doha-talks-with-taliban-al-jazeera-idUSKBN26834R

One passer-by (wearing an "Enjoy Capitalism" t-shirt in Coca-Cola font, 
apparently unaware it is supposed to be ironic) asked us why we had a sign 
against war in Iran. We gave him a history lesson but he seemed 
unconvinced, though civil. And this just in (post-rally), the US is 
determined to impose sanctions outlined in the "nuclear deal" even though 
they withdrew from that agreement.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/us-to-break-with-un-security-council-and-reimpose-iran-snapback-sanctions/ar-BB19cx0u

Finally, along the route I talked about how the Portland Police are asking 
for an extra $1.5 million for overtime due to the protests. I noted (a) 
that they are the ones deciding to send officers out night after night and 
(b) that like the military budget swallows up our human needs on a 
national scale, those funds should instead be used to help people here in 
Portland.

https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/09/17/28837035/police-estimate-going-over-annual-budget-by-at-least-15-million

Please RSVP if you are able to attend the special events on Sept 25, 
October 2 or October 6 so we can keep the size down to the state-mandated 
25 person limit. I'll send out a full reminder on Monday.

  http://pjw.info/IAGrallies09_10_20.html

In non-news news, the Ann Huntwork Memorial sign once again conked out in 
the area of SW 5th and Yamhill, this time in the middle of the 
intersection. I plan to do more follow up.

Stay safe out there!

--dan handelman
Peace and Justice Works
    Iraq Affinity Group
    PO Box 42456
    Portland, OR   97242
    (503) 236-3065
    iraq at pjw.info
    http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html
    Donate on line: http://www.pjw.info/pjwdonate.html