In 2018, the United States dropped 7,632 bombs on Afghanistan, more than any other full calendar year since the U.S. Air Force began documenting its attacks in 2006. In 17 years the U.S. and its allies have dropped 271,880 bombs on other Middle Eastern nations. The U.S. continues to sell weapons to these nations. The United Arab Emirates has just bought $1.6 billion worth of patriot missile launchers from the U.S. arms merchant, Raytheon. Each year, through a vast constellation of global training exercises, operations, facilities, and schools, the United States trains around 200,000 foreign soldiers, police, and other personnel. From 2003 to 2010, for example, the U.S. carried out this training regime at no fewer than 471 locations in 120 countries and on every continent but Antarctica. Most of it goes on behind closed doors. The U.S. has supported fascists, drug lords and terrorists in 35 different countries and still today supports 5 dictators; namely, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said of Oman, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbassogo of Equatorial Guinea, and Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan (We Week 2/3/19) . Imagine all the destruction of life, limb and property caused by this. Think of all the enemies the U.S. is making by such violent undertakings. I say we need to repent. ---Don Timmerman
“Christianity is a lifestyle, a way of living in this world that is simple, nonviolent, shared and loving. However, we made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One can be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is ‘one’s personal Lord and Savior’ …. The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on earth is too great.” Richard Rohr
DON’S JOKES
Everyone has a photographic memory, but some just don’t have film. Don: “Can I have your phone number? Jim: “It’s in the phone book.” Don: “But I don’t know your full name.” Jim: “It’s in the phone book too.” Son: “Dad, I got a part in the play. I play the husband.” Dad: “Too bad they didn’t give you a speaking role.”
A farmer was milking his cow. He noticed that a fly had gone into the cow’s ear. A little while later, he noticed a fly in his milk pail. The fly went in one ear and out the udder. I felt a lump in my breast. Lucky for me, it was my belt buckle. What do rednecks call duct tape? Chrome.
When the Irish say that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland, what they don’t tell you is that he was the only who actually SAW any snakes. A little boy saw his friend about to step on the weight scales. He yelled at his friend, “Don’t do it. Don’t get on the scales. Everybody who does ends up crying. Whoever coined the phrase “the pitter-patter of little feet” clearly never heard a 4 year old walk.
INTERESTING FACTS
The International Labor Organization, reporting two months ago, said Afghanistan has the highest unemployment rate of any country in the world. According to the United Nations, in the first nine months of 2018, there was a 39 percent rise in the number of casualties from airstrikes, compared to the same period of the previous year. -Voices for Creative Nonviolence in TruthOut, Feb. 17
On February 13 Israeli forces destroyed and confiscated underground pipes in the Palestinian villages of Jinba, Khallet Athaba, Ar Rakeez and Al-Mufaqarah. Soldiers detained the mayor of the Palestinian village of Tuwani and the head of the council of Masaffer Yatta. The confiscation has disrupted the water supply to villages and schools throughout Masafer Yatta. Recently, Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on uprooted 23 olive trees on Palestinian land near Tuwani in Humra Valley. ---Casandra Dixon of Mary House C.W.
In 2014, Israeli firm,Elbit, was given $145 million by the U.S. to provide Border Protection with sensors, cameras, radars and “Integrated Fixed Towers” in the desert along the Arizona border with Mexico. The towers are part of a border militarization policy has led to thousands of deaths in the US-Mexico borderlands since the 1990s.
A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has found that Amazon will likely pay no federal taxes for a second year in a row, even though it reported over $11 billion in profit in 2018. Instead, the company will receive a $129 million federal income tax rebate.---Democracy Now
Across the country, imprisoned people earn as little as $0.09 an hour for mandated labor. In some states, like Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas, it’s legal to not pay them anything. Yet, a majority of them are required to work 40 hour work-weeks and are punished if they don’t. ---Daily Kos
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in terms of basic necessities. People there are starving yet the U.S. continues to support the bombings in the country. Do we really care about these people? Ever wonder why the Venezuelan people are so poor? The U.S. and its allies have through embargos deprived Venezuela of $7 billion in assets, resulting in $11 billion in export losses for the year. That’s on top of the $6 billion it lost when the Trump Administration put financial sanctions on Venezuela. On Jan. 28, Trump imposed more sanctions against Venezuela that amounted to an oil embargo. --Independent Media Institute
Some 26 billionaires now own as much as the world’s 3.8 billion poorest people. The wealth of billionaires increased by $900 billion last year, or $2.5 billion a day. The poorest of the world saw its wealth decline by 11 percent. ----AlterNet
Four women were found guilty of misdemeanors and are facing possible prison time for leaving jugs of water and canned food in the Arizona desert for migrants braving the scorching triple-digit temperatures during the summer of 2017. Why are acts of kindness and compassion considered criminal?----Common Dreams
Five million women in Indian made a 350 mile women’s wall to demand equality & dignity for women.---CNBC
A study released recently counted 137 oil spills in the U.S. in 2018. ----Democracy Now. 2/12/19
Nearly one-third of all food produced in the world is discarded or wasted for various reasons. That equates to nearly 1.3 billion tons every year. Not surprisingly, industrialized countries like the U.S. waste more food than developing nations. It wastes a huge amount of water, too. According to the World Resources Institute, 24% of all the water used for agriculture is lost through food waste every year. That's 45 trillion gallons.----EcoWatch
They have poisoned the groundwater at 121 military bases across the US, the DoD disclosed in 2018. The contamination casts a very long shadow over New Mexico’s all-important dairy business – the leading agricultural industry in the state, generating more than $1.3bn annually. Some farmers have sold out because no one wants their poisoned milk and meat. -----The Guardian. 2/20/19
NOTES FROM 21ST STREET: The weather in February has been bleak and bitter. Yet every once in a while we have had a day with a bright blue sky and beautiful sunshine. A day such as that reminds us that spring is near. Some people in our lives are like that bright blue sunny day. They are gifts. One such person in my life has been poet Mary Oliver. She died this past month. I mourn at her passing. She connected with nature in such a way that it would take my breath away and make me open my mind to the beauty in this world. Her poetry would find my soul when I was despondent about the situations in our world. The following are a few stanzas from some of her poetry. “Oh, mother earth, your comfort is great, your arms never withhold. It has saved my life to know this. Your rivers flowing, your roses openings in the morning. Oh, motions of tenderness!” “I don’t care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It’s enough to know that for some people they exist, and that they dance.” “So it is if the heart has devoted itself to love, there is not a single inch of emptiness. Gladness gleams all the way to the grave.”
I will miss her insights on our connectedness to all things. May we all learn to have such reverence and work diligently and lovingly to protect all living things. Peace, Roberta
March 2 -14: Boot the Braids Campaign. People are asked to boycott Wendy’s until they give the farmworkers a just wage for the tomatoes they pick, Call 239-657-8311
March 6: Ash Wednesday Vigil Protesting R.O.T.C. on Marquette U. campus starting at Noon at Gesu Church, 12th & Wisconsin.
Thurs., March 7: Jericho Walk at 9 a.m. and Vigil at Noon to Stop Deportation, Detention and Separation of immigrant families , at ICE, Knapp & Broadway.
Fri., March 8: International Working Women’s Day: Global Women’s Strike at King’s Gallery and Studio, 2775 N. MLK Dr., Doors open at 6 p.m. and film, Say Her Name, the Life and Death of Sandra Bland at 6:30 p.m. followed by a Panel Discussion
March 15-17: Midwest CW Faith and Resistance Retreat in Des Moines IA. The focus this year is the building of a National Guard Armed Drone Command Center. Contact Jacob at 785-340-2458
Thurs., March 21: Anti-Gun Vigil at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at Noon. A child is killed by a gun every 2 hours and 48 minutes in the U.S.
“Christianity is a lifestyle, a way of living in this world that is simple, nonviolent, shared and loving. However, we made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One can be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is ‘one’s personal Lord and Savior’ …. The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on earth is too great.” Richard Rohr
DON’S JOKES
Everyone has a photographic memory, but some just don’t have film. Don: “Can I have your phone number? Jim: “It’s in the phone book.” Don: “But I don’t know your full name.” Jim: “It’s in the phone book too.” Son: “Dad, I got a part in the play. I play the husband.” Dad: “Too bad they didn’t give you a speaking role.”
A farmer was milking his cow. He noticed that a fly had gone into the cow’s ear. A little while later, he noticed a fly in his milk pail. The fly went in one ear and out the udder. I felt a lump in my breast. Lucky for me, it was my belt buckle. What do rednecks call duct tape? Chrome.
When the Irish say that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland, what they don’t tell you is that he was the only who actually SAW any snakes. A little boy saw his friend about to step on the weight scales. He yelled at his friend, “Don’t do it. Don’t get on the scales. Everybody who does ends up crying. Whoever coined the phrase “the pitter-patter of little feet” clearly never heard a 4 year old walk.
INTERESTING FACTS
The International Labor Organization, reporting two months ago, said Afghanistan has the highest unemployment rate of any country in the world. According to the United Nations, in the first nine months of 2018, there was a 39 percent rise in the number of casualties from airstrikes, compared to the same period of the previous year. -Voices for Creative Nonviolence in TruthOut, Feb. 17
On February 13 Israeli forces destroyed and confiscated underground pipes in the Palestinian villages of Jinba, Khallet Athaba, Ar Rakeez and Al-Mufaqarah. Soldiers detained the mayor of the Palestinian village of Tuwani and the head of the council of Masaffer Yatta. The confiscation has disrupted the water supply to villages and schools throughout Masafer Yatta. Recently, Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on uprooted 23 olive trees on Palestinian land near Tuwani in Humra Valley. ---Casandra Dixon of Mary House C.W.
In 2014, Israeli firm,Elbit, was given $145 million by the U.S. to provide Border Protection with sensors, cameras, radars and “Integrated Fixed Towers” in the desert along the Arizona border with Mexico. The towers are part of a border militarization policy has led to thousands of deaths in the US-Mexico borderlands since the 1990s.
A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has found that Amazon will likely pay no federal taxes for a second year in a row, even though it reported over $11 billion in profit in 2018. Instead, the company will receive a $129 million federal income tax rebate.---Democracy Now
Across the country, imprisoned people earn as little as $0.09 an hour for mandated labor. In some states, like Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas, it’s legal to not pay them anything. Yet, a majority of them are required to work 40 hour work-weeks and are punished if they don’t. ---Daily Kos
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in terms of basic necessities. People there are starving yet the U.S. continues to support the bombings in the country. Do we really care about these people? Ever wonder why the Venezuelan people are so poor? The U.S. and its allies have through embargos deprived Venezuela of $7 billion in assets, resulting in $11 billion in export losses for the year. That’s on top of the $6 billion it lost when the Trump Administration put financial sanctions on Venezuela. On Jan. 28, Trump imposed more sanctions against Venezuela that amounted to an oil embargo. --Independent Media Institute
Some 26 billionaires now own as much as the world’s 3.8 billion poorest people. The wealth of billionaires increased by $900 billion last year, or $2.5 billion a day. The poorest of the world saw its wealth decline by 11 percent. ----AlterNet
Four women were found guilty of misdemeanors and are facing possible prison time for leaving jugs of water and canned food in the Arizona desert for migrants braving the scorching triple-digit temperatures during the summer of 2017. Why are acts of kindness and compassion considered criminal?----Common Dreams
Five million women in Indian made a 350 mile women’s wall to demand equality & dignity for women.---CNBC
A study released recently counted 137 oil spills in the U.S. in 2018. ----Democracy Now. 2/12/19
Nearly one-third of all food produced in the world is discarded or wasted for various reasons. That equates to nearly 1.3 billion tons every year. Not surprisingly, industrialized countries like the U.S. waste more food than developing nations. It wastes a huge amount of water, too. According to the World Resources Institute, 24% of all the water used for agriculture is lost through food waste every year. That's 45 trillion gallons.----EcoWatch
They have poisoned the groundwater at 121 military bases across the US, the DoD disclosed in 2018. The contamination casts a very long shadow over New Mexico’s all-important dairy business – the leading agricultural industry in the state, generating more than $1.3bn annually. Some farmers have sold out because no one wants their poisoned milk and meat. -----The Guardian. 2/20/19
NOTES FROM 21ST STREET: The weather in February has been bleak and bitter. Yet every once in a while we have had a day with a bright blue sky and beautiful sunshine. A day such as that reminds us that spring is near. Some people in our lives are like that bright blue sunny day. They are gifts. One such person in my life has been poet Mary Oliver. She died this past month. I mourn at her passing. She connected with nature in such a way that it would take my breath away and make me open my mind to the beauty in this world. Her poetry would find my soul when I was despondent about the situations in our world. The following are a few stanzas from some of her poetry. “Oh, mother earth, your comfort is great, your arms never withhold. It has saved my life to know this. Your rivers flowing, your roses openings in the morning. Oh, motions of tenderness!” “I don’t care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It’s enough to know that for some people they exist, and that they dance.” “So it is if the heart has devoted itself to love, there is not a single inch of emptiness. Gladness gleams all the way to the grave.”
I will miss her insights on our connectedness to all things. May we all learn to have such reverence and work diligently and lovingly to protect all living things. Peace, Roberta
March 2 -14: Boot the Braids Campaign. People are asked to boycott Wendy’s until they give the farmworkers a just wage for the tomatoes they pick, Call 239-657-8311
March 6: Ash Wednesday Vigil Protesting R.O.T.C. on Marquette U. campus starting at Noon at Gesu Church, 12th & Wisconsin.
Thurs., March 7: Jericho Walk at 9 a.m. and Vigil at Noon to Stop Deportation, Detention and Separation of immigrant families , at ICE, Knapp & Broadway.
Fri., March 8: International Working Women’s Day: Global Women’s Strike at King’s Gallery and Studio, 2775 N. MLK Dr., Doors open at 6 p.m. and film, Say Her Name, the Life and Death of Sandra Bland at 6:30 p.m. followed by a Panel Discussion
March 15-17: Midwest CW Faith and Resistance Retreat in Des Moines IA. The focus this year is the building of a National Guard Armed Drone Command Center. Contact Jacob at 785-340-2458
Thurs., March 21: Anti-Gun Vigil at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at Noon. A child is killed by a gun every 2 hours and 48 minutes in the U.S.