Call for silent protest Wednesday am at legislative committee; video and discussion Friday night 6:30 pm

Aug 29, 2016

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Dear friends --

I wanted to let you know about two upcoming events this week.

First, Carol Miller of Peaceful Skies sent this request today:

Please help us greet the Legislative Military and Veterans Affairs Committee as they meet in Albuquerque on Wednesday morning 8/31/16 at 8:30 am. The committee meeting begins at 9 am and will be in the Student Resource Center on the main campus of CNM in the Richard Barr Boardroom.

We would like to show the legislators that New Mexicans care about peace, not just endless war. 5 or 10 people will be a good showing, they usually have the meetings in Clovis, Roswell and other distant communities.

I will be there with a banner. VFP flags, peace signs and posters welcome. The Legislative Committee meeting is open to the public, but this committee does not allow public comment. We will have to make our public comment with our presence.

Second, this Friday night 9/2/16 we will have another "movie night," showing Michael Moore's recent film, "Where to Invade Next," at 6:30 pm at Astrid Webster's house, 901 Solano Dr. NE (map). We are approaching the end of Valentina's summer fellowship (next week, aaugh!), so please come and wish her godspeed and safe travels home! Please invite your younger friends to this event.

Future events are listed on our calendar. For now, we aim to have some sort of action or discussion weekly, and a larger discussion once a month or so.

Astrid and Trish have been trying to set up meetings with our congressional delegation in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, so far without success. We will let you know if and when we are successful. The congressional recess is rapidly drawing to a close; it seems unlikely that either senator or either Democratic representative will meet with any of us. Whether we succeed or fail in organizing these meetings we will need to put other plans in motion. 

I (Greg) have just returned from an interesting week-long trip to Washington, meeting with the usual mix of administration officials, congressional staff, NGO colleagues, and independent watchdog agencies. There is exciting news, which I won't attempt to relay tonight or to this relatively small list. There is also in many quarters, and I am afraid they are becoming more dominant, a persistent and quickening drumbeat for greater confrontation with Russia and China, and for war. But you already knew that last part. What was interesting was to hear how the perceived "need" to make Russia back down (expressed as, "negotiate from a position of strength") plays into local nuclear projects.

Third, while I haven't been attempting to summarize the huge influx of nuclear news for people outside the office and few volunteers, I do however want to draw your attention to this interview ("'This Ship is Sinking' Says Former Bush Official," 24 minutes) by Abby Martin at TeleSur with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was Secretary of State Colin Powell's Chief of Staff. We need to be realistic about what real political change will require.

See you soon, on Wednesday or Friday I hope!

Greg, Trish, Valentina, and gang