By Stacia Glenn and George Watson - Article Launched: 02/03/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5149376
The alliance has chapters in all 50 states and has converged on Washington, D.C., this weekend to exchange ideas and prepare for meetings with senators and congressmen. A bill to create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is currently before the House. It has been pitched nearly 90 times since 1955, but those involved hope the response will be different now that Democrats are in charge.
[Duchess Note: Along with hundreds of other passionate, peaceful activists; I too was at this amazing, inspiring and awesome 4th annual peace conference on Saturday and Sunday. I also participated in the 3rd annual peace conference back in September 2005. We had about 450 in attendance then and this weekend it was up to 685. The times are changing and more people are standing up demanding peace, not war nor violence. To learn more, go to www.thepeacealliance.org OR if you live in NYC, go to www.nyc-dop.com AND if you wish to support, volunteer or donate to the Kucinich for President Campaign, go to www.kucinich.us As Gandhi said “we must be the change we wish to see in the world”]
News from the 2007 - Annual Peace Alliance Conference - Greetings from the Annual Peace Alliance Conference in Washington, DC!
All of us here wanted to let those of you that couldn't join us, to know you are in our thoughts. This conference is already a huge success. Sold out and standing room only for some events. More requests from the media than we've ever had in the past. And it couldn't have happened without all of the work everyone has done over the past year. Those who were able to make it to the conference and all of those who couldn't join us in person. We know you are here in spirit and that it is our work and energy together that continues to nourish this movement.
For all of those who have been writing to tell us you wish you were here and sending your best wishes, we will try to bring some of the conference to you via a new blog section on the website and through some informal reporting on our forum. We'll have posts from our participants, as well as a special youth and student section with updates on their program. Kerrie W., we will try to stream you in. We set up a YouTube account and will post links in the forum and blog if we can get the equipment to cooperate and let us get some video posted.
Here are the links to Peace Conference blog:
Blog http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/blogsection/19/178/
Conference Forum http://www.thepeacealliance.org/forum/index.php?f=391
Breaking news: we now have 9 Members of Congress confirmed to join us at the Conference Finale on Monday night and that, thanks to you, we already have 41 congressional co-sponsors for the re-introduction of the bill. If you have not yet called your representative, we urge you to do so. Right now, at least 210 meetings with Representatives and Senators have been scheduled by our citizen lobbyists supporting the Department of Peace legislation. The Gift of Peace play proved to be a most excellent way to kick off the Conference. As tired as everyone was having traveled all day to get here, over 400 chose to attend the play. The audience laughed and there were some tears spotted as emotions danced up and down the scale. Yet the main message of personal empowerment was not lost and no doubt it's what energized the frequent, "right on's" and cheering.
QUOTE OF THE DAY … True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice. Martin Luther King
Surge for Peace
Liza Featherstone
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0202-22.htm
Remembering Molly
Bill Moyers
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0202-28.htm
Dems Indicate They Will Do Little to Stop Bush Troop Surge
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0202-04.htm
[Duchess Note: I strongly urge you to contact (ie: fax, email & call) your Congressperson and Senator. Tell them to do MORE in stopping Bush Regime’s troop surge. It won’t help anything and only escalate more deaths of our soldiers. I don’t want to see more death, destruction and maiming. Do you?!? These people in DC work for the American people, not the other way around. It’s time to put their feet to the fire and make them dance to truth, justice and peace. Make that call today. Thank you.]
ACTION ALERT - Call your Members of Congress today! Department of Peace bill Re-introduction
Today, February 5th, legislation to establish a U.S. Department of Peace will re-introduced into the House of Representatives. (The new bill number will be sent to you tomorrow, February 6th). Nearly 700 of us are in D.C. as part of our national conference. We will be visiting our members of Congress all day today and tomorrow. You can increase the impact of our visits! Simply contact your Representative (and Senators) today as we arrive on Capitol Hill. We need your support to help make this bill law call, fax and/or email your Representative and also spread the word to everyone you know (you can copy this alert and forward to your email address book.) Nothing you can do will have as much impact as contacting your member of Congress. Further instructions are given below.
TAKE ACTION NOW! *** CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ***
Contact your Representative at the U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. To find your Representative, visit http://www.congress.org Tell the staffer who answers your call that you want your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Department of Peace legislation. Request a written response explaining your member's position and the reasoning behind it. (You can call your local office as well.) It is most effective if you call the D.C. office first, then follow-up with a fax or email. Inform them a bill number will be available on the 6th (reference bill number HR3760 from the last, 109th, Congress)
To write your Representative, click below to get started. This will allow you to send a fax and email to your congressperson. http://www.thepeacealliance.org/action
Please contact your Senators as well. There is no bill number as legislation has yet to be re-introduced into the Senate. Urge your Senator to be an initial sponsor in the Senate (reference bill number S.1756 from the last Congress).
ABOUT THE LEGISLATION
There is currently a bill before the Houses of Representatives to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. This landmark measure will augment our current problem-solving options, providing practical, nonviolent solutions to the problems of domestic and international conflict.
Domestically, the Department of Peace will develop policies and allocate resources to effectively reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse, and various other forms of societal discord. Internationally, the Department will advise the President and Congress on the most sophisticated ideas and techniques regarding peace-creation among nations. Learn more at The Peace Alliance website: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/
Join us now. Create a Department of Peace. Help make history. Together, we can do this.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE Dept of Peace LEGISLATION:
Provide much-needed assistance to efforts by city, county, and state governments in coordinating existing programs; as well as develop new programs based on best practices nationally
• Teach violence prevention and mediation to America's school children
• Effectively treat and dismantle gang psychology
• Rehabilitate the prison population
• Build peace-making efforts among conflicting cultures both here and abroad
• Support our military with complementary approaches to peace-building
• Create and administer a U.S. Peace Academy, acting as a sister organization to the U.S. Military Academy.
The Police Reunion tour May Stop At Fenway Park
WBZ Boston
http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_036132508.html
Secret Police On The Move
Darren Parkman, Sun Media
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/P/Police/2007/02/05/3531833-sun.html
[Duchess Note: I hardly ever watch the Grammy Awards, but this Sunday I AM watching it to see and hear my beloved POLICE sound. Oh gosh, hell no, Sting is not my fav. Its guitarist Andy Summers and I've been following his solo music career since the mid-1980s.]
Molly Ivins, 1944-2007: Legendary Texas Journalist Dies After Long Bout With Breast Cancer
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1529226
The syndicated columnist and best-selling author Molly Ivins passed away last week following a long bout with breast cancer. Her weekly column appeared in over 400 newspapers making her the most widely read progressive columnist in the country.
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