We have a decision to make as to whose laws we choose to obey. The officials of the U.S. are telling us that their laws are more important than God’s law. This is exemplified in the way the U.S. is treating its immigrants. One day, a young man saw our signs at the Stand for Peace which said “The U.S. military “lost” $8.5 trillion. Stop the six wars!” He yelled out to me, “Do you know immigrants cost us $32 billion a year?” His implication is that it is better to spend money on war than on undocumented people. I told the young man that immigrants pay taxes as well, but they do not receive any of the money taken from their pay checks. He sped off in his car in a huff. How sad is this? Here are some numbers regarding Honduran refugees. As many as 86,000 Honduran immigrants lost legal U.S. residency when the President rescinded their Temporary Protected Status on May 4, and 53,500 U.S. born children must move to Honduras with their parents or be left behind. The poverty rate in Honduras is 60%, and there are 44 homicides in Honduras per 100,000. The U.S. sent $115,000,000 for security aid for the repressive Honduran government from 2009 to 2017. Meanwhile, 190,000 Hondurans have been internally displaced by conflict and violence as of 2017. Recently there has been a 43% increase in ICE arrests. In 2017 there were 39,322 immigrants held in private, corporation owned detention centers costing U.S. taxpayers $500,000. We presently are giving hospitality not only to 4 families at Casa Maria, several women hoping to get their children back in Sr. Pat’s House, several women with mental illness in Mapendo House but also 2 refugee families from Honduras at Harmony House. We are still choosing to follow God’ law of Love. We have learned that the secret to happiness is loving all people, even our enemies; and doing good to them. ----Don Timmerman
“To plant a tree is an act of faith; to sit in its shade is a gift.” ---Russell Heyer, a close friend, who passed over on June 4th. May he now rest in the peace only God can give.
“I am not a liberal snowflake. My feelings aren’t fragile. My heart isn’t bleeding. I am a strong believer in human rights. My toughness is tenderness. My strength is in the service of others. There is nothing more fierce than formidable, unconditional love. There is not a thing more courageous than compassion. But if my belief in equity, empathy, goodness, and love indeed makes me or people like me snowflakes, then you should know---winter is coming.”---Soulseeds
DON’S JOKES
Tom and Harry are on a cruise. “It seems to have gone quiet on the deck,” says Tom. “That must mean they are all watching the band.” “What band,” says Tom. “I don’t know,” says Harry, “but earlier I definitely hard someone shouting out “A band on ship.” A group of thieves stole 100 Jars of instant coffee. I don’t know how these people sleep at night. “Horse sense is the good judgement that prevents horses from betting on people.” Did you hear the joke about the fire-eater? She hiccupped and cremated herself. Two fellows are having lunch. One of them starts coughing and gasping for breath. The other fellow says, “Are you choking? “No”, the other wheezes, “I ‘m serious. Waiter, there’s a hair in my soup. What do you expect at this price…a whole wig? I am leaving snacks all over the floors in the house in case I fall and can’t get up. My aunt died, God bless her, at a ripe old age of 104. We called her Aunt Tique.
INTERESTING FACTS
Frontier, Southwest and United airlines refuse to transport immigrant children separated from parents by the government. The companies that supply the space, food, beds, etc. for cash are complicit with this violation of human rights.
In Yemen, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition bombed a new Doctors Without Borders cholera clinic in Yemen’s northwestern Abs region. Doctors Without Borders said that before the strike the group had provided the coordinates of the clinic to the Saudi-led coalition and that the roof of the building clearly identified it as a medical site. The ongoing U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war in Yemen has sparked the world’s worst cholera epidemic, with more than 1 million people affected. U.S. Weapons Worth $500 Million Vanish in Yemen raising alarms that the hardware may have ended up with al-Qaeda or Iranian-backed rebels.
In Syria, the United Nations says nearly 1 million people were displaced inside Syria during the first four months of this year—the highest levels of internal displacement since the Syrian conflict began seven years ago. In total, more than 6 million Syrians are displaced inside the country, with another five-and-a-half million Syrian refugees displaced outside Syria’s borders. ---Democracy Now, 6/14/18
The United States has conducted approximately 550 drone strikes in Libya since 2011; more than in Somalia, Yemen, or Pakistan, according to interviews and an analysis of open-source data." ----RSN
in a report released titled Grand Theft Paycheck: the Large Corporations Shortchanging their Workers’ Wages, is eye-opening: There have been 4,220 cases of corporate wrong-doing since the turn of the millennium with penalties totaling $9.2 billion.---RSN 6/13/18
Three Trump properties posted 144 job openings. Only one went to a U.S. worker. ---RSN
In Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, Hazara girls joined young Pashto boys to sing Afghanistan’s national anthem as a welcome to Pashto men walking 400 miles from Helmand to Kabul. The walkers are calling on warring parties in Afghanistan to end the war. Most of the men making the journey are wearing sandals. At rest stops, they must tend to their torn and blistered feet. But their mission grows stronger as they walk. -----Voices for Creative Nonviolence
The U.N. Human Rights Commission reported that the countries with good human rights records In the world are Iceland, New Zealand and Austria. The U.S. did not make the list.
The world's richest countries continue to subsidize at least $100 billion a year in subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil and gas, despite repeated pledges to phase out fossil fuels by 2025. ----EcoWatch
Many top U.S. corporations—from Walmart to Bank of America to AT&T—"have fattened their profits by forcing employees to work off the clock or depriving them of required overtime pay.-----Common Dreams, 6/6/18
In Kings Bay, GA, Kathy Kelly, Steve Baggarly, Ken Jones and Beth Brockman fasted for 5 days for nuclear disarmament June 18-22 at a "Hunger for Nuclear Disarmament" event led by Voices for Creative Nonviolence The four fast participants are calling for the exoneration of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, a group of peace activists who were arrested April 4 after they entered the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood to hang banners and place crime-scene tape. There is a 12 day Kings Bay walk planned for Sept. 3. For info, please call 773-619-2418.
+++++++++++++
Every Thursday there is a Jericho Walk in front of ICE, Knapp & Broadway, starting at 9 a.m. in response to families being separated by I.C.E. We also have prayer vigils the first Thursday of the month at the same spot. Call Voces de la Frontera at 41`4-643-1620 for other events.
Sat., July 7 ---Stand For Peace at Lincoln Memorial & Michigan from Noon to 1 p.m. The U.S. military and its invasions of other countries is destroying not only the lives of people in those countries but people in our country as well. Stop the wars! Stop paying for them. The U.S. military continues to receive taxpayer money without being accountable for it’s use. Up to , $8.5 trillion—yes, trillion—taxpayer dollars doled out by Congress since 1996 has never been accounted for.---Fiscal Times
Thursday, July 19 ---No More Guns Vigil at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at Noon. The NRA Spent $30 Million to elect Trump.-Vanity Fair The F.B.I. reported that most mass shooters had legal guns and were not diagnosed with mental illness. A gun’s only purpose for being made is to do violence to another.
In almost every country where people are fleeing, seeking a safe haven, the U.S. has had some part in creating the violence, poverty and suffering from which the people are trying to escape. Yet our government will not welcome these people into our country. What hypocrisy! I came upon a letter we received in April, 2011 from our humble priest friend, Jerry Zawada. He followed Christ’s example of love for all, especially the oppressed. He wrote, “I do get to go to the Mexican border once or twice a week, traveling near the migrant trails hoping to come across some of our desperate “family members” from Latin America. As I explain to some asking why, they are my teachers telling me something about the heart of God and what it might mean to accompany them on their journey for survival.” Jerry is no longer with us, but his words have special meaning at this time in U.S. history. He knew that we will be judged by how we treat the weakest in our society. The refugees are Christ knocking at our door. Will we harden our hearts to their pleas or will we open our arms and welcome them as brothers and sisters, who they surely are? Peace, Roberta
HOUSE NEEDS: 1) A moving dolly since the ones we had were all stolen. 2) People willing to help Jim and Chris with pick ups of furniture, beds, etc. 3) Lists of places where desks, closets and bunk beds are needed. We have lots, and the storage space needs them out in a month. 4) laundry soap, size 3 and 4 diapers, baby wipes, toilet paper and dish soap.
We sincerely thank all those who have helped us in the past. We are close to having enough to get a good used stake bed truck. We thank all those who have donated so much.
“To plant a tree is an act of faith; to sit in its shade is a gift.” ---Russell Heyer, a close friend, who passed over on June 4th. May he now rest in the peace only God can give.
“I am not a liberal snowflake. My feelings aren’t fragile. My heart isn’t bleeding. I am a strong believer in human rights. My toughness is tenderness. My strength is in the service of others. There is nothing more fierce than formidable, unconditional love. There is not a thing more courageous than compassion. But if my belief in equity, empathy, goodness, and love indeed makes me or people like me snowflakes, then you should know---winter is coming.”---Soulseeds
DON’S JOKES
Tom and Harry are on a cruise. “It seems to have gone quiet on the deck,” says Tom. “That must mean they are all watching the band.” “What band,” says Tom. “I don’t know,” says Harry, “but earlier I definitely hard someone shouting out “A band on ship.” A group of thieves stole 100 Jars of instant coffee. I don’t know how these people sleep at night. “Horse sense is the good judgement that prevents horses from betting on people.” Did you hear the joke about the fire-eater? She hiccupped and cremated herself. Two fellows are having lunch. One of them starts coughing and gasping for breath. The other fellow says, “Are you choking? “No”, the other wheezes, “I ‘m serious. Waiter, there’s a hair in my soup. What do you expect at this price…a whole wig? I am leaving snacks all over the floors in the house in case I fall and can’t get up. My aunt died, God bless her, at a ripe old age of 104. We called her Aunt Tique.
INTERESTING FACTS
Frontier, Southwest and United airlines refuse to transport immigrant children separated from parents by the government. The companies that supply the space, food, beds, etc. for cash are complicit with this violation of human rights.
In Yemen, the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition bombed a new Doctors Without Borders cholera clinic in Yemen’s northwestern Abs region. Doctors Without Borders said that before the strike the group had provided the coordinates of the clinic to the Saudi-led coalition and that the roof of the building clearly identified it as a medical site. The ongoing U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war in Yemen has sparked the world’s worst cholera epidemic, with more than 1 million people affected. U.S. Weapons Worth $500 Million Vanish in Yemen raising alarms that the hardware may have ended up with al-Qaeda or Iranian-backed rebels.
In Syria, the United Nations says nearly 1 million people were displaced inside Syria during the first four months of this year—the highest levels of internal displacement since the Syrian conflict began seven years ago. In total, more than 6 million Syrians are displaced inside the country, with another five-and-a-half million Syrian refugees displaced outside Syria’s borders. ---Democracy Now, 6/14/18
The United States has conducted approximately 550 drone strikes in Libya since 2011; more than in Somalia, Yemen, or Pakistan, according to interviews and an analysis of open-source data." ----RSN
in a report released titled Grand Theft Paycheck: the Large Corporations Shortchanging their Workers’ Wages, is eye-opening: There have been 4,220 cases of corporate wrong-doing since the turn of the millennium with penalties totaling $9.2 billion.---RSN 6/13/18
Three Trump properties posted 144 job openings. Only one went to a U.S. worker. ---RSN
In Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, Hazara girls joined young Pashto boys to sing Afghanistan’s national anthem as a welcome to Pashto men walking 400 miles from Helmand to Kabul. The walkers are calling on warring parties in Afghanistan to end the war. Most of the men making the journey are wearing sandals. At rest stops, they must tend to their torn and blistered feet. But their mission grows stronger as they walk. -----Voices for Creative Nonviolence
The U.N. Human Rights Commission reported that the countries with good human rights records In the world are Iceland, New Zealand and Austria. The U.S. did not make the list.
The world's richest countries continue to subsidize at least $100 billion a year in subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil and gas, despite repeated pledges to phase out fossil fuels by 2025. ----EcoWatch
Many top U.S. corporations—from Walmart to Bank of America to AT&T—"have fattened their profits by forcing employees to work off the clock or depriving them of required overtime pay.-----Common Dreams, 6/6/18
In Kings Bay, GA, Kathy Kelly, Steve Baggarly, Ken Jones and Beth Brockman fasted for 5 days for nuclear disarmament June 18-22 at a "Hunger for Nuclear Disarmament" event led by Voices for Creative Nonviolence The four fast participants are calling for the exoneration of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, a group of peace activists who were arrested April 4 after they entered the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood to hang banners and place crime-scene tape. There is a 12 day Kings Bay walk planned for Sept. 3. For info, please call 773-619-2418.
+++++++++++++
Every Thursday there is a Jericho Walk in front of ICE, Knapp & Broadway, starting at 9 a.m. in response to families being separated by I.C.E. We also have prayer vigils the first Thursday of the month at the same spot. Call Voces de la Frontera at 41`4-643-1620 for other events.
Sat., July 7 ---Stand For Peace at Lincoln Memorial & Michigan from Noon to 1 p.m. The U.S. military and its invasions of other countries is destroying not only the lives of people in those countries but people in our country as well. Stop the wars! Stop paying for them. The U.S. military continues to receive taxpayer money without being accountable for it’s use. Up to , $8.5 trillion—yes, trillion—taxpayer dollars doled out by Congress since 1996 has never been accounted for.---Fiscal Times
Thursday, July 19 ---No More Guns Vigil at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at Noon. The NRA Spent $30 Million to elect Trump.-Vanity Fair The F.B.I. reported that most mass shooters had legal guns and were not diagnosed with mental illness. A gun’s only purpose for being made is to do violence to another.
In almost every country where people are fleeing, seeking a safe haven, the U.S. has had some part in creating the violence, poverty and suffering from which the people are trying to escape. Yet our government will not welcome these people into our country. What hypocrisy! I came upon a letter we received in April, 2011 from our humble priest friend, Jerry Zawada. He followed Christ’s example of love for all, especially the oppressed. He wrote, “I do get to go to the Mexican border once or twice a week, traveling near the migrant trails hoping to come across some of our desperate “family members” from Latin America. As I explain to some asking why, they are my teachers telling me something about the heart of God and what it might mean to accompany them on their journey for survival.” Jerry is no longer with us, but his words have special meaning at this time in U.S. history. He knew that we will be judged by how we treat the weakest in our society. The refugees are Christ knocking at our door. Will we harden our hearts to their pleas or will we open our arms and welcome them as brothers and sisters, who they surely are? Peace, Roberta
HOUSE NEEDS: 1) A moving dolly since the ones we had were all stolen. 2) People willing to help Jim and Chris with pick ups of furniture, beds, etc. 3) Lists of places where desks, closets and bunk beds are needed. We have lots, and the storage space needs them out in a month. 4) laundry soap, size 3 and 4 diapers, baby wipes, toilet paper and dish soap.
We sincerely thank all those who have helped us in the past. We are close to having enough to get a good used stake bed truck. We thank all those who have donated so much.