[pjw] REPORT BACK: Happy? Earth Day: Friday rally #109 since stay-at-home orders

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

At this week's Friday Rally for Peace and Justice we had five people 
present, one of whom was attending for the first time. We're still asking 
people to mask up even though a Trump-appointed judge in Florida 
overturned the transit mask mandate. "CDC continues to recommend that 
people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/cdc-spurs-doj-to-affirm-plan-to-appeal-ruling-that-lifted-federal-mask-mandate
And as noted, PJW will make a policy decision if and when CDC stops making 
that recommendation.

We had a lot of supportive honks-- the sign about honking from the last 
few weeks was gone, but a smaller, new one said "Honk if you (heart) 
(peace sign)." It felt like we had fewer people stopping to talk to us-- 
which is too bad because I had set out the Governor, City Council and 
Sheriff's questionnaires in the literature rack for people to take.

https://pjw.info/peacequestionnaire2022.html
https://tinyurl.com/CWqre22

Ballots should be showing up in people's mailboxes this week!

This was the second time in sixteen weeks where we had a little drizzle-- 
as with the previous time, there had been heavy rain before and after but 
we were mostly spared on our march.

What did we talk about this week?

--First off, it was Earth Day! So I talked about how the US military,
one of the world's biggest polluters, is looking to reduce energy 
consumption. I have a better idea-- SHUT IT DOWN!

  https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/22/pentagon-marks-earth-day-2022-push-funding-combat-climate-change.html

---On a related note, President Biden said he has a plan to make all 
military vehicles climate friendly. Again, why not just stop pouring money 
into militarism?

  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/22/joe-biden-unveils-plan-make-every-us-military-vehicle-climate/

--Speaking of throwing money to warmakers, Biden also announced another 
$1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine, which is mostly ($800 M) artillery and 
drones. More fuel to the fire.

  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-says-us-will-send-13-billion-in-additional-military-and-economic-support-to-ukraine/ar-AAWs6bM?ocid=BingNewsSearch

---And to show that the people's voices should be heard over the 
governments, a poll reveals a majority of Russians fear nuclear war with 
the Untied States.

  https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-invasion-us-russia-china-nuclear-cold-war-1699626

--As "the wheels come off the bus" for international norms about 
cross-border military attacks, Pakistan has been conducting airstrikes in 
eastern Afghanistan. The Afghan UN Envoy lodged a complaint at the UN, but 
the Afghan government said that didn't represent their opinion.

  https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-177665

---And Turkey has launched more air and ground assaults in northern Iraq, 
chasing against Kurdish independence fighters, leading the Iraqi 
government to complain to the Turkish representative.

  https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/iraq-summons-turkey-envoy-protest-kurdistan-offensive

--Despite a cease-fire holding fairly well in Yemen, the US has decided in 
its great wisdom to put warships in the Red Sea, threatening the stability 
of the tentative truce.

  https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/yemens-houthis-criticise-new-us-led-task-force-red-sea

In local news, next Friday, there will be a "Fariness Hearing" to 
determine whether the eight remedies proposed by the City and US Dept of 
Justice are "fair, adequate and reasonable" to bring the City back into 
compliance after the excessive force used during the 2020 racial justice 
protests.

  https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/01/portlands-feds-reach-tentative-pact-on-police-reforms-to-comply-with-settlement.html
  https://ord.uscourts.gov/index.php/ct-calendar/day.listevents/2022/04/29/228|229|227|604

(Notably, the only article I could find about the amendments is from 
January...)

Along the march route, I noted that we are in the amazing confluence of 
time where last Sunday was Easter, this past week was Passover, and this 
month is Ramadan. Yet with these celebrations Israelis have been storming 
the Al Asqa Mosque, one of the holiest sites of Islam. The UN Security 
Council met to ask for calm, but not to lay blame.

  https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-envoy-avoids-casting-blame-for-jerusalem-violence-during-security-council-huddle/

As we headed back to the Square, addressing money being used for war and 
not human needs (such as universal health care, or caring for the 
environment), the Military has asked for $21 billion more than Biden's 
proposed $813 B budget, including a recent add-on of $1 B for 
cybersecurity and anti missile weapons.

  https://rollcall.com/2022/04/18/new-requests-bring-militarys-unfunded-priorities-above-21-billion/


The Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign was back in action this week, and 
made it a few feet past the Gucci store's entrance, froze up, then went 
out. At least the generator is working ok!

(Oh, and by the way, last Sunday I fixed the ramp heading to the office 
door.)

Once again I announced the Col. Ann Wright livestream event we're 
planning for Monday June 20; the flyer is up on our website:

https://pjw.info/ann_wright_livestream062022.pdf

I also had copies to hand out yesterday. The full announcement should be 
up and out on Monday.

So as the pandemic waxes and wanes, we want people to make their own 
choices about safety and venturing out into the world, but if you want to 
join us, we're continuing the weekly Friday rallies for the foreseeable 
future.

peace
--dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group