On Feb. 14, Ash Wednesday and Valentines’s Day, the violence done at Parkland School took place. What a way to start the Lenten season! “Whoever is a Christian, that is, who truly abides by Christ’s teaching, may not touch a murder weapon and does not need a rifle, a revolver, a canon, or poison gas. His defense is nonviolence, and his weapons are love, goodness, compassion, patience, and gentleness. If our remarks are correct, and we are deeply convinced that they are, all churches, starting with the Catholic Church, instead of supporting the right of self-defense and the right to wage war, have to forbid their members to fight in wars and to defend themselves with weapons or any kind of violence because these are incompatible with Christianity.” (Johannes Ude) Many claim that it is righteous to kill those who kill. What good is it to kill some people to save other people? Do we prove killing is wrong by killing? Do we do violence to those who do violence to prove violence is wrong? Why did Christ heal the ear of the soldier who was arresting him when he could have run away into safety after Peter cut off the ear of the soldier? Christ lived out what he preached. Longevity was not his main goal. His main goal was to love his enemies, and hope that others would follow him. We have 17 high school kids dead because we have chosen to do the opposite of what Christ lived and taught. ---Don Timmerman
There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to solve.---Miroslov Volf
DON’S JOKES
If money is the root of all evil, why do they ask for it at church? Apparently you can’t use “beefstew” as a password. It’s not stroganoff.
After church on Sunday , a young boy suddenly told his mother, “Mom, I’ve decided to be a minister when I grow up.” “That’s fine, son,” said the mother, “ but what made you want this?” “Well,” the boy replied, “If I have to go to church anyway, I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell.”
What is the difference between Jews and Christians? Jews get really angry, but Christians just get a little cross. A woman visiting Israel goes into a shop with clocks in the window and asks if her clock could be repaired. The man says, “Madam, I do not repair clocks. I am a rabbi. I do circumcisions.” She says, “Then why do you have all the clocks in the window?” And he says, “And what should I have in the window?” “What did your daddy do for a living?” “My daddy is dead.” “What did your daddy do for before he died?” “He sort of clutched his chest and fell over.”
INTERESTING FACTS
A significant amount of US weapons have made their way into the hands of ISIS. The U.S. has dropped a huge amount of weapons in ISIS territories. -----Potus, 2/1/18
Lynn Maalouf of A.I. called on the international community to “halt arms transfers that could be used in the conflict.” To heed Maalouf’s call, the international community must finally thwart the greed of transnational military contractors that profit from selling billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other countries in the Saudi-led coalition. For instance, a November, 2017 Reuters report said that Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy about $7 billion worth of precision guided munitions from U.S. defense contractors. The UAE also has purchased billions in American armaments. Raytheon and Boeing are the companies that will primarily benefit from a deal that was part of a $110 billion weapons agreement coinciding with President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May. ----Reuters
Acres of land owned by John Malone, the biggest private landowner in the U.S.: 2,200,000 It is 3.3 times the size of Rhode Island. ----Harper’s Index
Toffiq al-Bihani has been stuck in Guantánamo Bay for 14 years without charge or trial — take action now and demand his transfer. Toffiq al-Bihani has been cleared for transfer since 2010. He has faced torture and which is a crime under international law. Human rights violations are committed against detainees. President Trump has also insisted that “torture works.” He plans to expand the prison. The Pentagon requested a half-billion dollars for construction to expand the base. Funds have already been approved to build new barracks for 848 “prison troops” there-----Miami Herald
This year is the 115th anniversary of the U.S. seizure and illegal occupation of Guantanamo, Cuba. The U.S. is still holding 41 prisoners there who have not been charged with any crime and are not permitted to present their cases in a court of law. This is a violation of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ---World Beyond War
The NRA Foundation gave a $10,827 grant to an air rifle program that gunman Nikolas Cruz participated in at his high school. According to one of his teammates, Cruz was a “very good shot.” The NRA has awarded nearly $335 million in grant funding in support of the shooting sports since 1990.-----Associated Press
There have already been 18 school shootings in 2018. The Parkland school shooting was the 290th one since 2013, In 2012 alone, more than 400 people have been shot in over 200 school shootings. -----New York Times
Americans have to be 21 before they can legally buy alcohol. But in most states, they can buy an AR-15 military-style rifle starting at age 18 . Cruz was in the JROTC program at the school. ----ThinkProgress
Just 3 miles from Mandalay Bay, on the day of the shooting, the gun industry had one of their biggest gun shows --- The Daily Beast, 2/12/18 If guns made us safe why is not the U.S. the safest place on earth? It was found that 3.6 out of 100,000 people are killed with a gun in the U.S. The country that has close to that number of killings is Canada with 0.5 killings with guns per l00,000 people. ---American Journal of Medicine, 2015
A private school in Florida is holding a charity golf tournament giving away an assault rifle as a prize. Lawn darts were banned in 1987 after a girl was killed playing lawn darts, yet we let people own machine guns.
Marco Rubio received $3,303,355 from the NRA. --- N.Y. Times On Feb. 28, 2017, President Trump revoked the Obama-era gun checks for people with mental illness. The mentally ill could get guns, but not health care. Only about 4% of interpersonal violence in the United States can be attributed to mental illness, yet close to 40% of news stories about mental illness connect it to violent behavior that harms other people. People with severe mental illnesses are more than 10 times more likely to be victims, not perpetrators of violent crimes, than people in the general population.---Time, 6/6/18 Isn’t it strange that mental illness massacres hardly ever happen to anyone in England, Australia or Canada?
Behind barbed-wire fences of a camp in Jordan, about 33,000 Syrians—half of them children—are housed in rows of rudimentary shelters that barely protect them from the winter cold. Drinking water must be brought in daily by dozens of tanker trucks or pumped from desert boreholes that overexploit Jordan's largest groundwater basin. The world's refugee crisis is large and growing. Some 66 million people are displaced.---EcoWatch
The Israeli government has launched a mass deportation plan aimed at expelling up to 40,000 African asylum seekers from Israel. Most of the refugees are from Eritrea or Sudan are fleeing war or persecution The Israeli government began distributing notices warning they’d be jailed if they do not leave within two months. Democracy Now, 2/6/18
The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency cannot account for $800 million in construction projects. The U.S. military cannot account for $6.5 Trillion it received in the past. Their reward is $700 billion plus an extra $32 billion recently approved by Congress. ---Politico, 2/5/18
"At least 197 environmental activists and eco-defenders around the world were murdered in 2017 - nearly four deaths per week. ---- Global Citizen and Guardian
Congress ended up authorizing $700 billion, adding $32 billion to the Pentagon’s request. ----The Independent
********
Thurs.,March 8 ---Vigil on Immigration, asking for DACA children to stay in the U.S. and no more deportations and detentions at Noon at ICE, Broadway & Knapp Sts. All should be welcome here.
Thurs., March 15 ----Vigil at Marquette U. ROTC to stop wars and training students to use violence against enemies deemed so by the U.S. government from Noon to 1 p.m. at 15th & Wisconsin.
Thurs., March 22 ----No More Guns Vigil, Noon to 1 p.m. at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd& Lincoln.
Don’s memoirs are now available in a book called “Midwife of Grace” which can be bought through Amazon.
No one is permitted by law to sell drugs in the U.S., but guns are sold with impunity. The argument that “guns don’t kill. People do.” Can be applied to drugs as well. Drugs don’t kill. People do. Gun sellers need to be held responsible just like the drug sellers. Gun sellers, like drug dealers, are accomplices of the crimes committed with them. There have already been 166 accidental shooting so far this year—with over 2,000 such incidents last year alone.---DN 2/2/18
This past month I have been impacted by death. Lucille, my daughter in law’s mother, died. She was 89 years old. She had lived a good llfe. She had the joy of seeing her children become adults and the joy of watching her grandchildren flourish. On Valentine’s day, 17 people were murdered. A young, disturbed teen came into a school with an AR15 and killed young people, teachers and a coach. I was very saddened by Lucille’s death, but happy for her well lived life. The 17 people who died did not get to appreciate the fruits of a life well lived. I was angry and saddened by our society that continues to dance to the tune of the NRA. Greed rules over our legislators. The incentive of money to help politicians keep their positions is the threat of NRA money to defeat those who will not dance to their tune. I am encouraged by the students from Florida who have spoken out. Don and I have have had monthly anti-gun vigils for over 20 years. We plan on joining and supporting the students in any actions they plan. May our society wake up and take notice. The young are leading the way. Bless them, encourage them, support them. They are our best hope. Peace, Roberta
We wish you all a happy Easter! He has risen! May we rise as well; and rid ourselves of greed, violence, hatred and injustice. May we make it easier for people to be good.
There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to solve.---Miroslov Volf
DON’S JOKES
If money is the root of all evil, why do they ask for it at church? Apparently you can’t use “beefstew” as a password. It’s not stroganoff.
After church on Sunday , a young boy suddenly told his mother, “Mom, I’ve decided to be a minister when I grow up.” “That’s fine, son,” said the mother, “ but what made you want this?” “Well,” the boy replied, “If I have to go to church anyway, I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell.”
What is the difference between Jews and Christians? Jews get really angry, but Christians just get a little cross. A woman visiting Israel goes into a shop with clocks in the window and asks if her clock could be repaired. The man says, “Madam, I do not repair clocks. I am a rabbi. I do circumcisions.” She says, “Then why do you have all the clocks in the window?” And he says, “And what should I have in the window?” “What did your daddy do for a living?” “My daddy is dead.” “What did your daddy do for before he died?” “He sort of clutched his chest and fell over.”
INTERESTING FACTS
A significant amount of US weapons have made their way into the hands of ISIS. The U.S. has dropped a huge amount of weapons in ISIS territories. -----Potus, 2/1/18
Lynn Maalouf of A.I. called on the international community to “halt arms transfers that could be used in the conflict.” To heed Maalouf’s call, the international community must finally thwart the greed of transnational military contractors that profit from selling billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other countries in the Saudi-led coalition. For instance, a November, 2017 Reuters report said that Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy about $7 billion worth of precision guided munitions from U.S. defense contractors. The UAE also has purchased billions in American armaments. Raytheon and Boeing are the companies that will primarily benefit from a deal that was part of a $110 billion weapons agreement coinciding with President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May. ----Reuters
Acres of land owned by John Malone, the biggest private landowner in the U.S.: 2,200,000 It is 3.3 times the size of Rhode Island. ----Harper’s Index
Toffiq al-Bihani has been stuck in Guantánamo Bay for 14 years without charge or trial — take action now and demand his transfer. Toffiq al-Bihani has been cleared for transfer since 2010. He has faced torture and which is a crime under international law. Human rights violations are committed against detainees. President Trump has also insisted that “torture works.” He plans to expand the prison. The Pentagon requested a half-billion dollars for construction to expand the base. Funds have already been approved to build new barracks for 848 “prison troops” there-----Miami Herald
This year is the 115th anniversary of the U.S. seizure and illegal occupation of Guantanamo, Cuba. The U.S. is still holding 41 prisoners there who have not been charged with any crime and are not permitted to present their cases in a court of law. This is a violation of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ---World Beyond War
The NRA Foundation gave a $10,827 grant to an air rifle program that gunman Nikolas Cruz participated in at his high school. According to one of his teammates, Cruz was a “very good shot.” The NRA has awarded nearly $335 million in grant funding in support of the shooting sports since 1990.-----Associated Press
There have already been 18 school shootings in 2018. The Parkland school shooting was the 290th one since 2013, In 2012 alone, more than 400 people have been shot in over 200 school shootings. -----New York Times
Americans have to be 21 before they can legally buy alcohol. But in most states, they can buy an AR-15 military-style rifle starting at age 18 . Cruz was in the JROTC program at the school. ----ThinkProgress
Just 3 miles from Mandalay Bay, on the day of the shooting, the gun industry had one of their biggest gun shows --- The Daily Beast, 2/12/18 If guns made us safe why is not the U.S. the safest place on earth? It was found that 3.6 out of 100,000 people are killed with a gun in the U.S. The country that has close to that number of killings is Canada with 0.5 killings with guns per l00,000 people. ---American Journal of Medicine, 2015
A private school in Florida is holding a charity golf tournament giving away an assault rifle as a prize. Lawn darts were banned in 1987 after a girl was killed playing lawn darts, yet we let people own machine guns.
Marco Rubio received $3,303,355 from the NRA. --- N.Y. Times On Feb. 28, 2017, President Trump revoked the Obama-era gun checks for people with mental illness. The mentally ill could get guns, but not health care. Only about 4% of interpersonal violence in the United States can be attributed to mental illness, yet close to 40% of news stories about mental illness connect it to violent behavior that harms other people. People with severe mental illnesses are more than 10 times more likely to be victims, not perpetrators of violent crimes, than people in the general population.---Time, 6/6/18 Isn’t it strange that mental illness massacres hardly ever happen to anyone in England, Australia or Canada?
Behind barbed-wire fences of a camp in Jordan, about 33,000 Syrians—half of them children—are housed in rows of rudimentary shelters that barely protect them from the winter cold. Drinking water must be brought in daily by dozens of tanker trucks or pumped from desert boreholes that overexploit Jordan's largest groundwater basin. The world's refugee crisis is large and growing. Some 66 million people are displaced.---EcoWatch
The Israeli government has launched a mass deportation plan aimed at expelling up to 40,000 African asylum seekers from Israel. Most of the refugees are from Eritrea or Sudan are fleeing war or persecution The Israeli government began distributing notices warning they’d be jailed if they do not leave within two months. Democracy Now, 2/6/18
The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency cannot account for $800 million in construction projects. The U.S. military cannot account for $6.5 Trillion it received in the past. Their reward is $700 billion plus an extra $32 billion recently approved by Congress. ---Politico, 2/5/18
"At least 197 environmental activists and eco-defenders around the world were murdered in 2017 - nearly four deaths per week. ---- Global Citizen and Guardian
Congress ended up authorizing $700 billion, adding $32 billion to the Pentagon’s request. ----The Independent
********
Thurs.,March 8 ---Vigil on Immigration, asking for DACA children to stay in the U.S. and no more deportations and detentions at Noon at ICE, Broadway & Knapp Sts. All should be welcome here.
Thurs., March 15 ----Vigil at Marquette U. ROTC to stop wars and training students to use violence against enemies deemed so by the U.S. government from Noon to 1 p.m. at 15th & Wisconsin.
Thurs., March 22 ----No More Guns Vigil, Noon to 1 p.m. at Brew City Shooters Supply, 43rd& Lincoln.
Don’s memoirs are now available in a book called “Midwife of Grace” which can be bought through Amazon.
No one is permitted by law to sell drugs in the U.S., but guns are sold with impunity. The argument that “guns don’t kill. People do.” Can be applied to drugs as well. Drugs don’t kill. People do. Gun sellers need to be held responsible just like the drug sellers. Gun sellers, like drug dealers, are accomplices of the crimes committed with them. There have already been 166 accidental shooting so far this year—with over 2,000 such incidents last year alone.---DN 2/2/18
This past month I have been impacted by death. Lucille, my daughter in law’s mother, died. She was 89 years old. She had lived a good llfe. She had the joy of seeing her children become adults and the joy of watching her grandchildren flourish. On Valentine’s day, 17 people were murdered. A young, disturbed teen came into a school with an AR15 and killed young people, teachers and a coach. I was very saddened by Lucille’s death, but happy for her well lived life. The 17 people who died did not get to appreciate the fruits of a life well lived. I was angry and saddened by our society that continues to dance to the tune of the NRA. Greed rules over our legislators. The incentive of money to help politicians keep their positions is the threat of NRA money to defeat those who will not dance to their tune. I am encouraged by the students from Florida who have spoken out. Don and I have have had monthly anti-gun vigils for over 20 years. We plan on joining and supporting the students in any actions they plan. May our society wake up and take notice. The young are leading the way. Bless them, encourage them, support them. They are our best hope. Peace, Roberta
We wish you all a happy Easter! He has risen! May we rise as well; and rid ourselves of greed, violence, hatred and injustice. May we make it easier for people to be good.