SOME EVENTS FOR PROGRESSIVES IN BROWARD AND PALM BEACH COUNTIES-219
Bob Bender
SOME EVENTS FOR PROGRESSIVES IN BROWARD AND PALM BEACH COUNTIES
War vs Human Needs South Florida has taken a special interest over the past two years in supporting the Obama Administration's vital participation in critical negotiations with the new Iranian political leadership to reach an international agreement—DIPLOMACY—about Iranian nuclear involvement and trade sanctions.
Many Congressional Democrats as well as Republicans have been obstructionists on this issue.
In addition to our traditional efforts to support diplomacy over sabre-and-weapons-of-mass-destruction rattling, we have gathered petitions from more than 500 of our friends and neighbors at public and private events and delivered them to all members of Congress representing South Florida.
Please now call Senators Bill Nelson (202-224-5274) and Marco Rubio (202-224-3041) and your representative in the House to urge their support for this welcome—though difficult—diplomatic process.
War is not the Answer!
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Sunday
November 2, 2-2:30 p.m. PinkSlip Broadcast
Folk and Acoustic
Music with Michael Stock
WLRN Radio Interview and Live Performance
91.3 FM (Miami NPR Affiliate)
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Sunday November 2, 3-5 p.m. The Palestine/Israel Conflict: Alternative Narratives and Actions for Peace
Dr. Gail Burnaford, FAU faculty member, conducted a study and participated on a peace delegation tour in Palestine/Israel where she explored the impact of the occupation on Palestinians and Israelis, with an emphasis on women and children, and participated in an interfaith delegation to learn more about options
for peace. The month-long study enabled her to visit more than 20 cities and villages in the West Bank and Israel as well as hear experts and ordinary people tell their stories and provide comment on the conflict.
First Congregational UCC
1415 North K Street
Lake Worth 33460
Tuesday November 4, 5 p.m. Rally in Support of Rasmea Odeh
On Tuesday, November 4th, Rasmea Odeh's trial will begin. POWIR Sofl asks the pro-peace and pro-justice communities of south Florida to continue to show support from south Florida.
Sixty-six year old Rasmea Odeh is a Palestinian-American feminist, activist, educator and community leader. She has served as the associate director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) in Chicago since 2004. On October 22, 2013 the Department of Homeland Security arrested Rasmea in her home for alleged immigration fraud as part of an ongoing witch-hunt that targets Arabs and Muslims who criticize U.S. and Israeli policy and labels them “terrorists.”
The national Drop the Charges against Rasmea Now campaign is working hard to ensure that Rasmea is free to fight for justice. POWIR Sofl asks that you join our rally.
U.S. Federal Building
299 E Broward Blvd
Fort Lauderdale 33301
https://www.facebook.com/events/635273279927459/
Sign the petition here: http://www.stopfbi.net/sign-petition-rasmea-odeh
Wednesday November 5, 7-8:30 p.m. PinkSlip Multi-Media Program
BLEECKER STREET AND
BEYOND: The Greenwich Village Music Scene of the 60's
FAU-Jupiter Lifelong
Learning-Rosenthal Complex
Florida Atlantic University-Jupiter
5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter (Donald Ross Road Exit off I-95, go east)
TICKETS: $25/member;
$35/non-member (+$5 if at the door) More info: 561-799-8547
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Thursday November 6, 7 p.m. War vs. Human Needs, South Florida—an affiliate of Peace Action
The Wounds of Waziristan, a documentary film which gives several first-hand accounts about the United States’ use of armed drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
You’ve heard about drones. You know what they do. You know that we use them to fight terrorism and protect American soldiers from the risks they would face on the ground. Yet the Obama administration, when deciding to employ drones, may not have considered those most affected: innocent civilians. In Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, drones have become an integral part of civilians' lives. Even those who have not lost a loved one cannot ignore the noise and the damage.
Since the U.S. started using drones in 2004, hundreds of civilians have been killed in Pakistan alone. 200 of them are believed to be children. The United States government is a world leader in the use of drones and OUR tax dollars are financing them. Like most technologies, drones are not intrinsically good or evil. It depends on how they are used. We citizens need to educate ourselves about this new technology.
This film will help you understand what life is like for ordinary people living under the constant threat of drone strikes.
Marie Spike of Delray Beach is the discussion leader. After the film she will lead an open discussion about how drones are currently being used and how they may be used in the future. Are drones legal? Are they effective? Are there unresolved privacy or civil liberties issues? What else should we be thinking about? What can we do? Please bring your questions and concerns.
Cost of admission: Free.
Discussion about drones: Priceless.
United Church of Christ
1415 North K Street
Lake Worth 33460
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Friday November 7, 8 p.m. Songwriter’s Circle
Three of Florida’s premier artists in the round:
Amy Carol Webb
Rod MacDonald
Marie Nofsinger
Stonzek Theater (at Lake Worth Playhouse)
713 Lake Avenue
Lake Worth
The box office is open for advance ticket sales – highly recommended for this intimate 62-seat theater! Advance tickets, $20. 561-296-9382. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/907120
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Saturday November 8, 2-3:30 p.m. PinkSlip
IMAGINE: The Story and Song of John Lennon: Nixon's Pariah, the Left's Messiah
Mandel Public Library
of West Palm Beach
411 Clematis Street
West Palm Beach 33401
561-868-7782 www.mycitylibrary.org No charge
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Saturday November 8, 6 p.m. Capital Punishment in Florida
Sister Helen Prejean—author of Dead Man Walking and Death of Innocents headlines a discussion with Herman Lindsey—Florida’s twenty-third exonerated Death Row survivor; Howard Finkelstein—Broward County Public Defender; Melisa McNeill and Betsy Benson—Assistant Public Defenders Homicide Division; and Terry Lenamon—founder of the Florida Capital Resource Center.
The Sanctuary Church
1400 N. Federal Highway
Ft. Lauderdale
For more information, call Pastor Dwayne Black, 954-564-7600, or email in...@sanctuarychurchftl.org
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Saturday November 9, 4-6 p.m. Awake PBC
Post-election brainstorming: All interested activists for social and economic justice are welcome to join us.
Minister’s Hall
First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches
635 Prosperity Farms Road
N Palm Beach 33408
Directions from I-95: exit east on Northlake Blvd., past Alternate A1A, then left (north) on Prosperity Farms Road about a mile, over a small bridge, immediate left into parking lot by the big sign.
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Sunday November 16, 12 noon MoveOn Council of South Palm Beach/North Broward, an affiliate of Move to Amend
Films for Thought 2014: Join us one Sunday of every month for an update on local MoveOn activities followed by a viewing and informal discussion of a thought-provoking film.
South of the Border, Oliver Stone’s 2009 film on South America and the role the United States has played in the area, is "a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents." (imdb)
Most of us who were educated in the U.S. never learned about the America south of us. This film might show you why.
The film and discussion are free, but we encourage a purchase of drink or snack from the coffee shop to show appreciation for allowing us to show these films there. Likewise, please don't bring in outside food.
Gizzi’s Coffee Shop
2275 S Federal Highway
Delray Beach 33483
https://www.facebook.com/events/811037542291968/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
Contact Joni A albre...@earthlink.net with RSVPs so we can keep track due to limited space.
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Monday November 24, 6:30 p.m. FOOD CHAIN$
From a producer of Food Inc. and Fast Food Nation comes a powerful and shocking expose about what feeds our country. This powerful true story of one small group of workers overcoming corporate greed to end slavery and abuse in America’s fields will inspire you to demand your food be fair!
Featuring Eric Schlosser and Eva Longoria. Film hosted by Joni Albrecht.
The tickets are on pre-sale as of October 21, after which we have three weeks in which to pre-sell 87 tickets for the event to happen. The price set by the theater is $12 each.
Here is the link to pass on to those you think might be interested: http://www.tugg.com/events/11421
Let’s make this happen…just before people start to gather for Thanksgiving.
City Place Theater
Muvico Parisian 20 & IMAX
545 Hibiscus Street
West Palm Beach 33401
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/27/the-biggest-threat-to-a-nuclear-deal-isnt-irans-hardliners/
How Congressional hawks plan to kill Obama's Iran deal
By Trita Parsi
October 27, 2014
Negotiations with Iran over the future of its nuclear program have not even concluded yet some members of Congress are preparing to manufacture a political crisis over a deal. Their beef? President Barack Obama may initially bypass Congress and suspend sanctions imposed on Iran to make a deal possible and only later ask lawmakers to end them permanently when it is determined that Iran has complied fully with its obligations under the deal.
Of course, many of the lawmakers complaining about the potential presidential end run voted to give him the right to waive sanctions when they passed sanctions legislation in 2010 and 2011. And, of course, only Congress can lift the sanctions permanently, so there wouldn’t be any circumventing to begin with.
So what’s really going on?
It’s very simple: If you prefer war with Iran over a deal with Iran – even one that would prevent it from building a bomb — your best and possibly last opportunity to kill the deal is immediately after the nuclear talks have concluded. That’s when distrust of Iran’s intentions will remain pervasive and when its commitment to carry out its side of the deal will still have to be demonstrated. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor pursued this tactic in Januaryafter an interim agreement was reached in November last year.
Ironically, Iranians, too, seek an immediate vote on lifting the sanctions, though for reasons quite different from hawkish lawmakers in Congress. The hawks want a quick vote the better to kill the deal. The Iranians want a quick vote the better to get permanent sanctions relief sooner.
In the middle is the Obama administration, which is seeking a path that would make the deal durable by offering Tehran reversible economic relief at the outset of the deal with a promise to make it permanent once Iran has fully delivered on its end of the bargain.
And that is precisely what congressional opponents fear: Obama’s strategy will persuade the Iranians to accept significant limits to their nuclear program, allow inspectors to roam its nuclear facilities and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency on compliance — paving the way for a final nuclear deal and permanent sanctions relief for Iran. Such a scenario would undermine congressional opposition because the Iranians would be allowed to prove over at least the course of a year that they are a trustworthy partner living up to their commitments under the deal. A vote soon after a deal is struck in November would keep distrust alive.
The taming effect of Obama’s diplomacy with Iran on Congress was visible in July. When the nuclear talks failed to reach an agreement, negotiators extended them for four months. Most lawmakers expected the extension would open the door for the hawks to derail the process by pushing new sanctions. But unlike the sanctions gambit in January, the new legislation was designed so as not to violate the interim accord, which would have given Tehran a pretext to exit the negotiations and undermine the ongoing diplomacy.
Yet contrary to expectations, the four-month extension did not generate a political showdown over diplomacy and sanctions. Three factors explain why the hawks ended up losing the fight even before it began. First, the focus of the hawks was divided between the interim deal and defending Israel over its war with Hamas. Second, supporters of the president’s diplomacy had prepared the ground in Congress and mobilized resources in defense of it. And third, and perhaps most important, the interim nuclear deal had been a success.
According to all accounts, the Iranians had delivered on all their promises and commitments. They had not dragged their feet. They had not tried to cheat. Six months of continued good news had cleared much of the poison out of the atmosphere in Congress and rendered anti-Iran measures far more difficult to pass.
The hawks in Congress have learned their lesson. They now fear more good news coming out of the nuclear talks in Vienna. To kill these negotiations and pave the way for war, they need a vote now. Not later.