NOTES FROM 21ST STREET: We were with our family when we heard the news of the violence and burning of buildings in the Sherman Park area of Milwaukee. People expressed surprise and outrage at the events that occurred on Saturday and Sunday nights. People living in Milwaukee who walked with the family of Dontre Hamilton were not surprised. People who are aware of the many other incidents when police have overreacted to black men and women are not surprised. We in the city are saddened, saddened that steps have not been taken to allow for justice when police use lethal methods when dealing with the city’s black community. I have heard people say that the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has given rise to the riots. Those people could hardly be more removed from the truth. Every community that has racial disparity in how the police treat the black community should be happy for the BLM movement. BLM is a nonviolent movement which will risk arrests to draw attention to the unjust treatment of the black community. Milwaukee has simmered with social injustice for a long time, and BLM and other related groups allow for the search for justice to be put out there for the community to look at in a nonviolent way. A pressure cooker will explode if steam is not allowed to escape. The same is true for Milwaukee if there is not a movement to speak to the injustices, and if they are not listened to and acted upon there will be an explosion of violence. We have a wonderful city with beautiful people. We must demand that all are treated fairly with respect, and may we work toward that beautiful society which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of. Peace, Roberta
JOKES
Two Priests are walking down the street when a drunk man comes up to them. He says, to the first Priest," I'm Jesus Christ." The Priest replies," No son, you're not!" So he says to the second, "I'm Jesus Christ." He says, ,"No, son, you're not." The drunk says," Look I can prove it." He takes the two Priests into the bar. The bartender takes one look at the drunk and says," JESUS CHRIST YOU'RE HERE AGAIN!!!"
Why is a doctor always calm? Because she has lots of patients. Why should you never breakup with a goalie? Because he’s a keeper.
Parent: “Doctor, what can I do? My child has swallowed my pen!” Doctor: “Use a pencil until I get there.”
A man is madly in love with a princess and wants to propose, but an evil witch has cast a spell on him, and he may say only one word a year. So he waits 14 agonizing years. accumulating all his words before coming to his beloved. Finally, the big day arrives. When he sees her his heart skips a beat. He gathers his nerve, drops to his knees, and intones, “My
darling, I have waited many years to say this. Will you marry me?” The Princess turns around, smiles, and says, “Pardon.”
INTERESTING FACTS: As of March 2016, there were approximately 28,600 DOD contractor personnel in Afghanistan, compared to 8,730 U.S. troops,” They outnumber troops 3 to 1. According to the DOD, roughly 10% are providing security, and the majority are providing logistics and maintenance for U.S. and Afghan troops. The data also reveals the high economic costs: According to the report, from 2007 to 2015, the DOD spent roughly $220 billion for private contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.--------AlterNet, 8/19/16
The U.S. military cannot account for $6.5 trillion given it by taxpayers. Meanwhile $30 billion a year could end starvation and hunger worldwide, and $11 billion a year could provide clean drinking water to everyone who needs it. All the green energy projects that could preserve life on earth would cost much less than the unaccounted money of the Pentagon. The Pentagon recently gave a no-bid contract for mercenaries and spies to fight ISIS in Syria. In 2001, the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion. Our “heroes” are bankrupting the U.S. ----CLG, 8/ 10/16
In the last 3 years, Gilead Sciences, one of the most valuable pharmaceutical corporations in the world, has stashed $29 billion in profits offshore on which it owes American taxpayers nearly $10 billion. ---Americans for Tax Fairness
Recently, Israeli settler bulldozers under the protection of Israeli army and intelligence forceed uprooted hundreds of olive trees from Palestinian lands in the village of Iskaka in eastern Salfit . ---International Business Times
The Palestinians in Gaza are denied clean water. Some 90 to 95% of the water is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. -----Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
With U.S. and British support, Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen for 17 months, causing the majority of the conflict’s civilian casualties. Last week, the U.S. approved the sale of more than $1 billion of new weapons to the Saudis. Since taking office, the Obama administration has approved more than $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.----Democracy Now, 8/18/16 We are accomplices of the many innocent deaths in Syria.
"The Navajo Nation sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, one year after 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater spilled into three states from an abandoned Colorado gold mine." --- Reuters
The Pentagon has announced it’s released 15 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay. The 15 men were sent to the United Arab Emirates. Each had been imprisoned by the United States for about 14 years without trial. There are now 61 prisoners remaining at Guantánamo. Of them, 20 have been cleared for release—some have been cleared for more than a decade. President Obama promised to close the prison at the beginning of his first term in office nearly eight years ago.---Democracy Now, 8/15/16
As many as 152 U.S. federal prisoners were mistakenly held longer than they should have been between 2009 and 2014. ----Harper’s Index, Aug. 2016
By the year 2020, the U.S. is expected to have on its hands a growing stockpile of munitions nearing 1.1 million tons that are no longer considered useful to the military. As a means of disposal, these munitions, including small arms cartridges, rockets, mortars, artillery shells, tactical missiles and other wastes, have for decades been burned or detonated on large trays out in the open at military bases across the country. While the open burning of hazardous waste was prohibited at the federal level back in the 1970s, the military was given an exemption to open-burn munitions under the proviso that no alternative disposal methods were available.---AlterNet, Aug. 23
No one knows exactly how big a problem wage theft is, but in 2012 federal and state agencies recovered $933 million for victims of wage theft. By comparison, all the property taken in all the robberies of all types in 2012, solved or unsolved, amounted to a little under $341 million.: Research suggests American workers are denied wages amounting to $20 billion to $50 billion annually. -----The Week, 8/17/16
Minimum number of U.S. colleges that have agreed to open food pantries for students and staff : 311
Estimated total amount held on prepaid Starbucks rewards cards : $1,200,000,000
Number of hedge funds that began operating during the first quarter of 2016 : 206 Number that shut down : 291
Amount of aid Connecticut agreed in May to provide Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge
fund : $22,000,000 ----Harper’s indexNOTE
We have liturgy each Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Casa Maria. All are welcome in this place!
Thurs.Sept. 8 ---STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES AND DEPORTING PEOPLE at ICE, Knapp & Broadway Sts., starting at Noon
Thurs. SEPT. 15 ----STOP SELLING GUNS! VIGIL AT BREW CITY SHOOTERS SUPPLY, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at noon. The U.S. has at least 30,000 gun deaths a year while the whole of Europe has only a handful. Easy available gun possession leads to more injury and death. Violence is never the answer, and guns are instruments of violence. Please join us!
Mon.,SEPT. 19 ----CLOSING OF MARQUETTE ROTC starting at Noon on 16th St. between Wisconsin and Michigan Aves. Milwaukee No Christian institution is to have a school training the young to kill or maim their neighbors in violation of Christ’s command to love one’s enemies, and do good to them. Call 414-342-0158 or 414-379-4162. Please join us!
FRIDAY, SEPT. 30----- Protest outside the Child Welfare Partnership Council where the heads of the Milwaukee child welfare industry will be meeting, poor families are targeted for child removals while agencies allow children to face abuse, sometimes even to the point of death, under their corporate guardianship, 11:30am to 12:30pm, 26th and Wisconsin Ave.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” ----Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Fear is the enemy. Many people are controlled by fear of one another. Many people fear for their lives Police fear for their lives. If a police officer stops someone for a city violation, that officer does not know if the perpetrator has a gun or not. After all, concealed carry now allows anyone to have a gun on her/his person. Fear of people with guns along with racism drives the officers to kill or maim others. They could use tasers to stop someone from harming another, but they prefer the deadly gun as their recourse, in spite of the fact that guns do not protect. It is a fact that those who own guns are 4 times more likely to be shot with a gun than those without access to a gun Fear causes people to do terrible things. . People are afraid to accept the truth about the 9/11 event. It is so frightening that they cannot bring themselves to believe the truth. Fear causes the people to accept the illegal and immoral invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan and others. Fear causes people to waste money, property and sacred lives. All the Pentagon has to do is tell people that they need to fear others, and people will spend a fortune on weapons, war and military training. We spend almost 50% of collected taxes on the military. Fear always produces more fear just like violence produces more violence. The blood shed from one person spatters onto so many others. We have yet to learn that only love can rid us of fear. Love drives out fear. If you truly love, you fear no one. I do not fear anyone because I believe in another life after this one. I may lose my earthly body, but that does not mean that I will cease to be. I believe I will live forever. I believe that many people have great fear of death and, as a result, do everything they can, even mutilate or kill others, to hold on to this earthly life. If we want true happiness, we must shed our fear of death and of one another , and begin to love others as ourselves. “Do not be afraid.” (Christ) ---Don Timmerman
JOKES
Two Priests are walking down the street when a drunk man comes up to them. He says, to the first Priest," I'm Jesus Christ." The Priest replies," No son, you're not!" So he says to the second, "I'm Jesus Christ." He says, ,"No, son, you're not." The drunk says," Look I can prove it." He takes the two Priests into the bar. The bartender takes one look at the drunk and says," JESUS CHRIST YOU'RE HERE AGAIN!!!"
Why is a doctor always calm? Because she has lots of patients. Why should you never breakup with a goalie? Because he’s a keeper.
Parent: “Doctor, what can I do? My child has swallowed my pen!” Doctor: “Use a pencil until I get there.”
A man is madly in love with a princess and wants to propose, but an evil witch has cast a spell on him, and he may say only one word a year. So he waits 14 agonizing years. accumulating all his words before coming to his beloved. Finally, the big day arrives. When he sees her his heart skips a beat. He gathers his nerve, drops to his knees, and intones, “My
darling, I have waited many years to say this. Will you marry me?” The Princess turns around, smiles, and says, “Pardon.”
INTERESTING FACTS: As of March 2016, there were approximately 28,600 DOD contractor personnel in Afghanistan, compared to 8,730 U.S. troops,” They outnumber troops 3 to 1. According to the DOD, roughly 10% are providing security, and the majority are providing logistics and maintenance for U.S. and Afghan troops. The data also reveals the high economic costs: According to the report, from 2007 to 2015, the DOD spent roughly $220 billion for private contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.--------AlterNet, 8/19/16
The U.S. military cannot account for $6.5 trillion given it by taxpayers. Meanwhile $30 billion a year could end starvation and hunger worldwide, and $11 billion a year could provide clean drinking water to everyone who needs it. All the green energy projects that could preserve life on earth would cost much less than the unaccounted money of the Pentagon. The Pentagon recently gave a no-bid contract for mercenaries and spies to fight ISIS in Syria. In 2001, the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion. Our “heroes” are bankrupting the U.S. ----CLG, 8/ 10/16
In the last 3 years, Gilead Sciences, one of the most valuable pharmaceutical corporations in the world, has stashed $29 billion in profits offshore on which it owes American taxpayers nearly $10 billion. ---Americans for Tax Fairness
Recently, Israeli settler bulldozers under the protection of Israeli army and intelligence forceed uprooted hundreds of olive trees from Palestinian lands in the village of Iskaka in eastern Salfit . ---International Business Times
The Palestinians in Gaza are denied clean water. Some 90 to 95% of the water is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. -----Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
With U.S. and British support, Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen for 17 months, causing the majority of the conflict’s civilian casualties. Last week, the U.S. approved the sale of more than $1 billion of new weapons to the Saudis. Since taking office, the Obama administration has approved more than $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.----Democracy Now, 8/18/16 We are accomplices of the many innocent deaths in Syria.
"The Navajo Nation sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, one year after 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater spilled into three states from an abandoned Colorado gold mine." --- Reuters
The Pentagon has announced it’s released 15 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay. The 15 men were sent to the United Arab Emirates. Each had been imprisoned by the United States for about 14 years without trial. There are now 61 prisoners remaining at Guantánamo. Of them, 20 have been cleared for release—some have been cleared for more than a decade. President Obama promised to close the prison at the beginning of his first term in office nearly eight years ago.---Democracy Now, 8/15/16
As many as 152 U.S. federal prisoners were mistakenly held longer than they should have been between 2009 and 2014. ----Harper’s Index, Aug. 2016
By the year 2020, the U.S. is expected to have on its hands a growing stockpile of munitions nearing 1.1 million tons that are no longer considered useful to the military. As a means of disposal, these munitions, including small arms cartridges, rockets, mortars, artillery shells, tactical missiles and other wastes, have for decades been burned or detonated on large trays out in the open at military bases across the country. While the open burning of hazardous waste was prohibited at the federal level back in the 1970s, the military was given an exemption to open-burn munitions under the proviso that no alternative disposal methods were available.---AlterNet, Aug. 23
No one knows exactly how big a problem wage theft is, but in 2012 federal and state agencies recovered $933 million for victims of wage theft. By comparison, all the property taken in all the robberies of all types in 2012, solved or unsolved, amounted to a little under $341 million.: Research suggests American workers are denied wages amounting to $20 billion to $50 billion annually. -----The Week, 8/17/16
Minimum number of U.S. colleges that have agreed to open food pantries for students and staff : 311
Estimated total amount held on prepaid Starbucks rewards cards : $1,200,000,000
Number of hedge funds that began operating during the first quarter of 2016 : 206 Number that shut down : 291
Amount of aid Connecticut agreed in May to provide Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge
fund : $22,000,000 ----Harper’s indexNOTE
We have liturgy each Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Casa Maria. All are welcome in this place!
Thurs.Sept. 8 ---STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES AND DEPORTING PEOPLE at ICE, Knapp & Broadway Sts., starting at Noon
Thurs. SEPT. 15 ----STOP SELLING GUNS! VIGIL AT BREW CITY SHOOTERS SUPPLY, 43rd & Lincoln, starting at noon. The U.S. has at least 30,000 gun deaths a year while the whole of Europe has only a handful. Easy available gun possession leads to more injury and death. Violence is never the answer, and guns are instruments of violence. Please join us!
Mon.,SEPT. 19 ----CLOSING OF MARQUETTE ROTC starting at Noon on 16th St. between Wisconsin and Michigan Aves. Milwaukee No Christian institution is to have a school training the young to kill or maim their neighbors in violation of Christ’s command to love one’s enemies, and do good to them. Call 414-342-0158 or 414-379-4162. Please join us!
FRIDAY, SEPT. 30----- Protest outside the Child Welfare Partnership Council where the heads of the Milwaukee child welfare industry will be meeting, poor families are targeted for child removals while agencies allow children to face abuse, sometimes even to the point of death, under their corporate guardianship, 11:30am to 12:30pm, 26th and Wisconsin Ave.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” ----Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Fear is the enemy. Many people are controlled by fear of one another. Many people fear for their lives Police fear for their lives. If a police officer stops someone for a city violation, that officer does not know if the perpetrator has a gun or not. After all, concealed carry now allows anyone to have a gun on her/his person. Fear of people with guns along with racism drives the officers to kill or maim others. They could use tasers to stop someone from harming another, but they prefer the deadly gun as their recourse, in spite of the fact that guns do not protect. It is a fact that those who own guns are 4 times more likely to be shot with a gun than those without access to a gun Fear causes people to do terrible things. . People are afraid to accept the truth about the 9/11 event. It is so frightening that they cannot bring themselves to believe the truth. Fear causes the people to accept the illegal and immoral invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan and others. Fear causes people to waste money, property and sacred lives. All the Pentagon has to do is tell people that they need to fear others, and people will spend a fortune on weapons, war and military training. We spend almost 50% of collected taxes on the military. Fear always produces more fear just like violence produces more violence. The blood shed from one person spatters onto so many others. We have yet to learn that only love can rid us of fear. Love drives out fear. If you truly love, you fear no one. I do not fear anyone because I believe in another life after this one. I may lose my earthly body, but that does not mean that I will cease to be. I believe I will live forever. I believe that many people have great fear of death and, as a result, do everything they can, even mutilate or kill others, to hold on to this earthly life. If we want true happiness, we must shed our fear of death and of one another , and begin to love others as ourselves. “Do not be afraid.” (Christ) ---Don Timmerman