Next meeting of the WNC Peace Coalition will be on May 20, 2008 at 7 PM at Atlanta Bread Company on Merrimon Avenue. (NEW location just for May and June meeting only – we will be back at UU Church in July.) Hope you can join us!
Three authors this week:05/18/08 Colonel Ann Wright will read from her book "Voices of Dissent" at Firestorm Café & Books from 4 to 6 PM. This will be followed by a discussion. Free and open to the public. This is sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
05/22/08 Actor, Activist and veteran Mike Farrell will present his book "Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist" at Malaprop's at 7 PM.
05/23/08 Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! will speak at 7:30 PM at Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech. She will present her book "Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times."
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PEACE VIGILS and WEEKLY EVENTS
Sunday, 5:30 to 6 PM All Souls Episcopal Church [Biltmore Village]
Tuesday, 4:30 to 5:30 PM Vets for Peace Vigil [Vance Monument]
Wednesday, 4:30 PM Haywood Neighbors for Peace at Waynesville Post Office
Wednesdays, 5:30 PM Votive Mass for Peace at St. Mary Episcopal Church in Asheville
Friday, 5 to 6 PM Women in Black Vigil A'ville [Vance Monument]
Friday, 12 to 12:30 PM Women in Black Vigil H'ville [Main St at Old County Court House]
Saturday, 12 to 1 PM Transylvania County Vigil for Peace [County Courthouse]
Other: Tuesday, 6 PM Run for Peace; Run for Impeachment at Vance Monument
Other: Food Not Bombs: 3:30 on Saturday at Pritchard Park. Info at 303-929-9713
Other: The Street Action Group (SAG) will hold meetings to plan actions, hold a potluck, and to work on projects most Sundays at 3 PM. Contact Kindra at impeach_now@bellsouth.net for location.
Other: Asheville Citizen Awareness (COP WATCH) meets at 6:30 PM at St. James AME Church at 44 Hildebrand Street in Asheville on Wednesday.
Other: Veteran's Voices on WPVM at 5 PM on Wednesday. 103.5 FM or www.wpvm.org
OTHER EVENTS
05/18/08 Ethical Culture Society will meet at 2 PM at the Botanical Gardens at UNCA.
05/18/08 Colonel Ann Wright will have a "Meet and Greet" at Malaprop's Bookstore from Noon to 2 PM.
05/18/08 Colonel Ann Wright will read from her book "Voices of Dissent" at Firestorm Café & Books from 4 to 6 PM. This will be followed by a discussion. Free and open to the public. This is sponsored by Veterans for Peace.
05/20/08 WNC Peace Coalition will hold a meeting at 7 PM at Atlanta Bread Company. All are welcome, for more information contact Susan at dancewater2@gmail.com
05/22/08 Sierra Club meeting at Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville. Social is at 7 PM and program is at 7:30 PM. Dave Erb will discuss "Sustainable Transportation: A Future Worth Creating"
05/22/08 to 05/25/08 Building A New World Conference at Radford University in Virginia. More information at www.wpaconference.org or http://www.afterdowningstreet
05/22/08 Actor, Activist and veteran Mike Farrell will present his book "Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist" at Malaprop's at 7 PM.
05/23/08 Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! will speak at 7:30 PM at Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech. This is a fundraiser for MAIN/WPVM and to promote her new book, "Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times."
05/23/08 to 06/03/08 Congressional Memorial Day recess
05/28/08 Panel and lecture series called "Assessing the Bush Presidency" in Greenville, SC. Chris Hedges, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, will be the Keynote Speaker. This is at Furman University, Younts Center at 7 PM. Email Susan at dancewater2@gmail.com to carpool or get a ride.
05/30/08 to 06/01/08 National Activist Summit on Radioactive Waste in Columbia, South Carolina. Please drop a message to Mary Olson nirs@main.nc.us or call 828-675-1792 if you want to be part of this event or want to get updates. We will follow up with a more detailed program and registration details soon. Note: due to industry attempts to participate in recent events intended for activists, there will be a pre-registration process. This event is open to all who are working positively for the end of the production of more radioactive waste (stop making it)! Attendance for the whole weekend costs around $110, and the meeting begins 1 PM Friday, May 30. In an event open to the public, Dr. von Hippel and Mr. Frishman will be speaking Friday evening at 7:30 at the Public Forum on Nuclear Waste, at the Green Quad of USC in Columbia, S.C. Please help spread the word about this event. Please RSVP to Mary Olson, NIRS, < nirs@main.nc.us> or 828 675-1792, or call Tom Clements, F.O.E. 803-834-3084.
05/31/08 The current White House resident will be giving a speech at the Furman University Graduation ceremony this evening. This is in Greenville SC.
06/01/08 Dr. Arjun Makhajani will be in Asheville to give a talk at the Owen Center at 7 PM. The talk is free and open to all. The talk will be preceded by a dinner with Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy, in honor of the work of NIRS and WISE -- organizations supporting community efforts towards a non-nuclear energy policy for the past 30 years. The dinner will include a BOOK AUCTION of copies of Carbon Free, Nuclear Free, signed by Arjun in three languages. For more information, contact Mary Olson at nirs@main.nc.
06/08/08 to 06/10/08 ACLU has it's Membership Conference in DC. More information at http://www.aclu.org/conference
06/06/08 to 06/08/08 National Conference for media reform in Minneapolis. More information at this link: http://www.freepress.net
06/09/08 No More Victims – Asheville will hold an organizational meeting at 7 PM at North Asheville Library. For more information, contact Anne at tcraig@buncombe.main.nc.us.
06/15/08 Ethical Culture Society will meet at 2 PM at the Botanical Gardens at UNCA.
06/17/08 WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility will hold a meeting at UU church. Brown bag lunch starts at noon, with the meeting starting at 12:30 PM.
06/17/08 WNC Peace Coalition will hold a meeting at 7 PM at Atlanta Bread Company. All are welcome, for more information contact Susan at dancewater2@gmail.com or call the Peace Line at 271-0022.
06/20/08 to 06/22/08 Southeastern Time For Our Power! Conference in Asheville. Theme is "Women Bringing Change to the World". The purpose of this 3-day event is to provide a forum for women of all ages, and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to gather, learn, grow and become inspired to personally and collectively bring powerful, positive and much needed change to their own lives and to the world. More information at http://www.timeforourpower.com/
06/25/08 Mountain Green Sustainable Development Conference at Warren Wilson College. 7:30 AM to 5 PM. Call 828-771-3781 or email pgibson@warren-wilson.edu for more information.Friday, Aug. 8 – Monday, Sept. 8: Congressional summer recess
06/28/08 to 06/29/08 National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation in Cleveland Ohio. More information at http://www.natassembly.org/
07/09/08 UNCA Diversity Education and other community members will host an exhibit on Hiroshima and have a speaker this evening who survived the attack on Hiroshima. More information as plans are finalized, but information on the exhibit can be found here: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima
07/18/08 to 07/20/08 Peace Action will hold their 50th Anniversary National Congress in DC. This will be followed by two days of lobbying the US Congress. More information at http://www.peace-action.org
08/06/08 Names and Remembrance ceremony at Y12 in Oak Ridge. www.stopthebombs.org
08/06/08 The movie "White Light, Black Rain" will be shown at UNCA in honor of Hiroshima Day. More information to follow.
08/09/08 Peace Lantern ceremony in Knoxville. www.stopthebombs.org
08/22/08 to 08/24/08 Southern Energy and Environment Expo 2008 at the Western NC Agricultural Center.
09/11/08 to 09/12/08 "National Summit on Torture: Religious Faith, Torture, and Our National Soul" at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. More information at: http://www.nrcat.org/index.php
10/17/08 to 10/18/08 5th Annual GandhiKing Conference on Peacemaking. This will be held at Christian Brothers University in Memphis TN. See www.GandhiKingConference.org
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Please mark Thursday, JUNE 10th to call Senator and House offices as part of a National Call-in Day on Iran organized by the Campaign for New American Policy on Iran --the coalition Physicians for Social Responsibility is working with to promote real diplomacy with Iran: http://www.newiranpolicy.org
1. Just Say No to Bush's request for $102 billion more for Iraq
2. Cosponsor Lynn Woolsey's HR 5507 and safely bring all the troops home.
Rep. Shuler at 252-1651, Senator Dole at 202-224-6342 and Senator Burr at 202-224-3154
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The White Rose by Lillian Groag
North Carolina Stage Company
May 15-25, Thurs–Sat at 7:30 (2:00 Matinee on Sunday the 25th)
Admission $15, Student Rush Tickets $10
Call 828-350-9090
In 1942, a group of students in Munich stood up against Hitler's regime in six anonymous leaflets titled The White Rose. Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and Alexander Schmorell used these leaflets to wage a war of propaganda in the hearts of the German people in the closing months of World War II. The movement eventually spread across all of Germany, becoming a voice for its people who were against what was happening to their country.
"Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be 'governed' without opposition by an irresponsible clique the has yielded to base instinct."
—The 1st Leaflet of the White Rose
The play centers on the arrest of five members of the White Rose and the following five days leading up to their trial. Through a mixture of these days and flashbacks, the audience is shown the complete progression of the movement from the groups' conception as an idea, to their decision to take action against the injustices they see, to their apprehension and interrogation.
"This is the struggle of each and every one of us for our future, our freedom, and our honor under a regime conscious of its moral responsibility… The name of Germany is dishonored for all time if German youth does not finally rise, take revenge, and atone, smash its tormentors and set up a new Europe of the spirit."
—The 6th Leaflet of the White Rose
Zealot was formed in 2006 and is now in their second season. Previous endeavors include Sam Shepard's politically charged dark comedy The God of Hell as part of the NCStage Catalyst Series, A.R. Gurney's absurd one-act The Problem as part of the NCStage performathon, and David Mamet's courtroom farce Romance at the BeBe Theatre.
The White Rose will be Zealot's second performance in The Catalyst Series. North Carolina Stage Company sponsors The Catalyst Series to provide a way for area grassroots theatre companies to produce thought provoking theatre while NCSC absorbs many of the costs that would be involved with these shows. For more information about the series please visit www.ncstage.org.
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The Senate voted almost unanimously to throw out the FCC's flawed rules that would allow for more media consolidation. This is a tremendous victory, and it wouldn't have happened without the tens of thousands of activists like you contacting your Senators and saying "Enough is enough." Now it's time to take that momentum to the fight in the House of Representatives. We need the House to act fast to join the Senate in passing a Resolution of Disapproval of the media consolidation rules. Please take action right now.
www.commoncause.org/VetoBigMedi
To remind you why this is so important, I'm forwarding one of the first messages we sent to you about the effort to rollback the FCC's giveaway to Big Media. Please take a moment to re-read it, and then contact your Representative.
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Save the date -- National Activist Summit on Radioactive Waste
May 30 -- June 1, 2008 Columbia, South Carolina
*We as a community say "stop making more" radioactive waste since we understand that the failure to find a real solution to this problem is the failure of the technologies that produce it;
*We as a community demand responsible management of radioactive waste;
*We stand firm against false "solutions;"
*We reject the idea that this waste should be exported -- to Indigenous Lands -- or anywhere else;
*We call for better security and improved management and containment where ever the waste is now;
*We focus on the hazards of transporting radioactive waste and materials -- particularly in the case of irresponsible, false "solutions"
Today the nuclear industry is trying to revive: both the electric power nuclear generating infrastructure (with new nuclear reactors breaking out like pox) and the move to expand the Bombplex. The military/civilian distinction is diminishing (if there ever was one). It is time for us to come together--to find and re-affirm that "We" -- in the sense of The People, in the sense of impacted communities--and essentially as activists.
This event was born in a moment at a 'break-out' session of a conference on Precautionary Action in Greensboro, NC in November 2007--and is being carried forward by a planning group including participation from:
David Kraft -- Nuclear Energy Information Service
Debbie Grinnell -- C-10
Diane D'Arrigo -- Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Glenn Carroll -- Nuclear Watch South
Janet Marsh -- Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Judy Treichel -- Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force
Kevin Kamps -- Beyond Nuclear
Leslie Minerd
Mary Olson -- NIRS Southeast
Rochelle Becker – Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
Sara Barczak -- Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Susan Corbett -- Sierra Club, South Carolina Chapter
Tom Clements -- Friends of the Earth
The Summit will convene on the evening of Friday May 30 with an event also promoted to the public in Columbia: Keynote presentation by Dr. Frank von Hippel on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership -- with panel of discussants including Steve Frishman, Kevin Kamps and Diane D'Arrigo to bring into focus the new challenges we face in the arena of nuclear expansionism.
Saturday morning our activist community will convene, get acquainted/tell our stories. Saturday afternoon we will share information and ideas in issue and technical break-out sessions. Saturday evening will be a combination of time to think together and party! Sunday morning we will share our vision and formulate messages that we can all stand behind. We will wrap up with a Keynote presentation by Dr. Arjun Makhijani on his new Carbon Free, Nuclear Free: A Roadmap for US Energy Policy to inspire us with real solutions.
Costs will be nominal--we are working on having some modest support funds to assist far-flung communities to be represented at the Summit. The site includes dorm-style private rooms with shared baths. Food will be simple. We are working to keep registration (with food and lodging) well under $100.
Please drop a message to Mary Olson nirs@main.nc.us or call 828-675-1792 if you want to be part of this event or want to get updates. We will follow up with a more detailed program and registration details soon.
Note: due to industry attempts to participate in recent events intended for activists, there will be a pre-registration process. This event is open to all who are working positively for the end of the production of more radioactive waste (stop making it)!
Mary Olson
Southeast Regional Coordinator
NIRS Southeast Office
PO Box 7586 Asheville, NC 28802
828-675-1792 nirs@main.nc.us
http://www.nirs.org/southeast
Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
6930 Carroll Ave, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-NIRS fax 301-270-4291 nirsnet@nirs.org http://www.nirs.org
NIRS affiliated with World Information Service on Energy (WISE) in 2000 -- the NIRS / WISE Network serves grassroots activists on 5 continents
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Stop the Importation of Radioactive Waste
Dear Activist,
Should the United States be a dumping ground for other countries' nuclear waste? While the answer would seem obvious to most, EnergySolutions--the largest commercial nuclear waste dump in the U.S.--thinks otherwise. The company has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for permission to import 20,000 tons of low-level nuclear waste from defunct nuclear reactors in Italy. The waste would be shipped through ports in South Carolina and Louisiana, incinerated in Tennessee, and then some of the waste would be sent to EnergySolutions' low-level nuclear waste dump in Utah for disposal. Besides being the largest proposal of its kind, and the first time a company has specifically asked to dispose large quantities of foreign generated nuclear materials in the U.S., the plan would also set a precedent for the U.S. to become the world's nuclear waste dump.
That is why Congressmen Bart Gordon (D-TN), Jim Matheson (D-UT), and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) have introduced bipartisan legislation--HR 5632 -to ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste into the United States. HR 5632 is important not only to prevent EnergySolutions from opening the door to foreign nuclear waste disposal in the U.S., but also to preserve our country's ability to handle our own low-level nuclear waste disposal needs. Your Congressperson, sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that will be the first to hear this bill next Tuesday, May 20th. Please call and ask your representative to support HR 5632 and to pass this important legislation out of committee.
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