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Friday, April 22, 2005

Upcoming Peace and Justice Events (Announcment from the Thomas Merton Center)

I keep on getting these announcments from the Thomas Merton Center. So, I'll post them here at Mirror Universe, although not at the main site over at www.threeriversonline.com. I did offer to blog for them but they said no thanks. Perhaps its that atheist thing. Hey, it didn't stop me from working at Faith Tech for a year... Here's their weekend and beyond list of activist things to do.

Remember the Weekly Peace Vigils Every Saturday!

Noon: Alternative to Warfare Vigil. Unitarian Church, North Ave and Resaca (Northside)

Noon: Regent Square Peace Vigil. Corner of Forbes and Braddock (Regent Square)

1pm: Black Voices for Peace Anti-War Protest. Corner of Penn and Highland (East Liberty)

1pm: Beaver County Peace Links Weekly Saturday Peace Vigil. Beaver County Courthouse, 3rd Street (Beaver)

Monday, April 25: Encourage Specter to Protect Democracy

On Monday, April 25, at 4:15 pm in front of Senator Arlen Specter’s Pittsburgh Office Regional Enterprise Tower (old Alcoa Building - 425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1450) join Planned Parenthood in encouraging Specter to stand firm against Republican pressure to railroad conservative judges into life-long appointments! Planned Parenthood and others concerned about preserving the democratic process will rally in front of Senator Arlen Specter’s office to encourage him to oppose using the “nuclear option.” Specter is said by many to be one of the most important votes on the “nuclear option” which the Republican leadership wants to employ to block senators’ ability to stop the most extreme Bush appointees from gaining life-long positions.

The "Nuclear Option" is a proposed change to Senatorial rules that would eliminate the possibility of a filibuster against judicial nominees or legislation. Without the filibuster, nothing stands in the way of the majority party from confirming judges who will roll back basic rights and protections that most Americans take for granted.

* If you have extra time, drop by Planned Parenthood’s downtown offices, 933 Liberty Ave. (at the intersection with Smithfield) at 3:00 p.m. on Monday to make signs. For more info, 412-434-8957 x 119 or efricke@ppwp.org.

Tuesday, April 26: Make Your Voice Heard for Quality and Accountability

Press Conference and Public Hearing on Right To Know/Provider Report Card Legislation on Tuesday, April 26th at 4pm at the United Way Building (1 Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh). To RSVP or for more information, please contact EJ at 412-828-5100 ext. 47.

Seven members of Allegheny County Council are leading the fight for quality and accountability in mental retardation services by sponsoring Right to Know/Provider Report Card legislation. The Provider Report Card will reveal important information on every MR provider agency; like top management salaries, the average wage and length of service of direct care workers, and incidents of abuse and neglect. Members of ADSA have been working hard to draw public attention to this legislation and the workforce crisis it begins to address. In response, the County’s MH/MR Advisory Board has scheduled a hearing to get public comment on the legislation. This is our opportunity to make the public and politicians aware of the problems we face everyday in the MR system.

For more information on the Right to Know Campaign and the Provider Report Card legislation, please visit www.disabilityservicesalliance.org

Thursday, April 28: Workers Memorial Day Observation

On Thursday, April 28 at noon in Market Square (downtown) there will be Workers Memorial Day which is an international day of remembrance to honor workers killed on the job and to focus on the struggle for improved workplace safety. The Allegheny County Labor Council Workers Memorial Day Committee will be joining hundreds of communities across the US and more than 29 countries worldwide to observe Workers Memorial Day in a ceremony held at noon, April 28th at Market Square in Pittsburgh, PA. The recent killing of 15 refinery workers and the injury of more than 100 in the BP oil refinery explosion in Texas, the drowning of 4 boatman in the tugboat accident on the Ohio River as well as the recent increase in serious accidents and deaths in the steel industry makes this year’s observation all the more meaningful, important and poignant.

Every year about 6000 people are killed at work and about 50, 000 die from occupational diseases caused by asbestos, pesticides, solvents and chemicals.

OSHA lacks the resources to protect the 100 million workers under its jurisdiction. OSHA’S current budget of $475 million amounts to about $4 per worker. Federal OSHA has only about 900 safety inspectors and can only inspect workplaces on average once every 100 years. The number of hours spent per OSHA inspection continues to decrease. The number of cases “downgraded” to less serious violations is rising. Penalties for serious violations remain low and are routinely reduced through a process called abatement. The average penalty for a serious violation is around $900. This downgrading combined with inadequate workers’ compensation laws make it impossible to hold negligent employers criminally and civilly liable. It is a MISDEMEANOR to kill a worker by willfully violating safety laws. The maximum sentence is 6 months in jail.

Workers Memorial Day 2005 is the day we rededicate ourselves to correcting these inadequacies. American workers need a strong workplace safety agency that puts workers first. Unsafe working conditions cannot be excused and dead workers cannot be an accepted cost of doing business.

For more info, contact Joe Delale at 412-456-6851 or jrd@uwac.org.

Sunday, May 1: Remembering Haymarket -- MayDay 2005

On Sunday, May 1 at 3pm at the Thomas Merton Center (5125 Penn Ave in Garfield) there will be a presentation and discussion on the events surrounding and involving the martyrdom of the Haymarket anarchists. Come for vegan snacks and historical narration and speeches about and by Lucy Parsons, Albert Parsons, August Spies, Sam Fielden, etc.

Come and learn about the struggle for the eight-hour day. Fall in love again with the radicals whose sacrifices are uncelebrated and suppressed by those who are still afraid of the ideas of those who were willing to fight and die for a freer society. Honor with us the history of resistance passed on to us by the Haymarket 7-not the history of oppression passed on to us by this capitalist, imperialist system.

Bring your sympathy, passion, and open minds. Come and remember how their sacrifice lives on in our resistance! Sponsered by your friendly, neighborhood. Bloomfield Free State anarchists.

For more info, contact: haymarket2005@yahoo.com.

Monday, May 2: Build Your Own Political Power

On Monday, May 2 at 8pm at St. Andrews Lutheran Church 304 Morewood Ave. (corner of Centre Ave.) will be the first session of the Build Your Own Political Power series - a series of seminars to discuss various tactics and techniques.

The “Build Your Own Personal Political Power” seminars will be led by Jonathan Robison. Jon is a long-time activist in politics, the peace movement, and the community. He has worked in over a hundred campaigns, going back to Gene McCarthy in ’68, and ran three times for Pittsburgh City Council. He is an attorney and vice-chairperson of the 4th Ward Democratic Committee in Oakland.

Jon Robison says: “Many people are active politically for various candidates and for causes such as peace, the environment, economic justice, lesbian and gay rights, reproductive rights, and civil liberties. Especially in the wake of the extreme right victory last year, there are many new people. People want to do politics effectively. If you are in it for the long haul want to increase your own personal political power so that they can better help their candidates and their causes. Building you own political power can help accomplish personal goals for you and your community, and also can be fun…

“We will discuss how you can use your involvement in the upcoming May 17 primary to increase your own political power. The session will NOT discuss and recruit you for any individual candidates. We assume that by May 2 you will already have a candidate in whom you are interested. We will discuss how you can help that candidate in ways that do the most for that candidate and also build your own political power. The session will be right after the MoveOn May meetup, which is at that church at 7. However, you are welcome regardless of whether you are associated with MoveOn, DFAPittsburgh, the Sierra Club, the Thomas Merton Center, or anyone or no one. There will be more sessions later. Possible topics include: the Democratic Party Structure, Duties and Responsibilities of Committee people, Circulating Nomination Petitions, Turnout - “Pulling” Voters, The Structure of a Winning Campaign, Electoral Politics and/or Direct Action?, Third Party or First?, Anarchism - the Third Thread in Progressive Politics Today, the Internet and Electoral Politics, Absentee Ballots/Provisional Ballots, and From Paper Ballots to Touch Screens. The seminars will be planned to be especially useful to new committee people and people considering running for the Democratic Committee next year. Please share any ideas for topics.

The sessions may be on a regular monthly basis, structured so that people can attend ones that interest them. Interested groups will be consulted on the schedule, and those at the May 2 seminar will be asked about dates and a place.

For more information or comments, contact Jon at 412-683-0237 or jonmary1@juno.com.

Check out http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/calendar for more information on the above events and for a complete listing of other events this week/end.

Thomas Merton Center

5125 Penn Ave.

Pittsburgh, PA 15224

412-361-3022
412-361-0540 (fax)

info@thomasmertoncenter.org

www.thomasmertoncenter.org

Serving the peace and justice community since 1972

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