Chemical warfare is a war crime and those perpetrating its use are war criminals. But as Tulsi Gabbard describes, there has been absolutely no evidence shared with anyone indicating that these attacks were launched by Syria. Also included, plans for Santa Fe and Albuquerque climate actions. And the Mayor will join others at Retake’s Early Childhood Open House Activism this afternoon.
For almost 20 years, every Friday at noon, the Veterans for Peace have been standing at Cerrillos and St. Francis. Retake supporters joined about 50 Veterans for Peace activists on Friday, the day after US missile attacks on Syria. See more on this and a very compelling video statement from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard below. She points to there being no evidence presented that verifies that Syria had launched the chemical attacks, and that Congress is supposed to be consulted before any use of military force. The larger issue, addressed below is that there are moral outrages perpetrated across the globe on an ongoing basis: Is the US going to forever be the world’s self-appointed adjudicator of justice? Or are we going to work with allies to form consensus before taking action?Santa Fe & Albuquerque Climate Justice Actions in April
April 22, 10AM Downtown Santa Fe Public Library, 145 Washington Ave. Join the Climate Justice Contingent for the Science March. Help get the word out. Meet-up at the Santa Fe Public Library where we will assemble & march behind a single climate justice banner (with all of our signs and banners behind) to join the science march at the plaza which will depart at 10:30 for the Roundhouse. 11AM-2PM we will have a climate justice table at the event — your organization is welcome to contribute information and if you can help at the table, please let us know. If you want to help make signs for the event, join us at 9AM for a last-minute sign-making party at New Energy Economy’s office at 343 East Alameda.
Retake Our Democracy, an Emerging Leadership Core. The emerging leadership of Retake Our Democracy participated in a half-day retreat on Saturday to begin the process of clarifying the organizational purpose, prioritizing strategies, and distributing leadership, roles and responsibilities. Mark Diaz Truman (far left) facilitated the process and will continue this work over the coming weeks. It was a tremendous process, and it is clear that Mark’s deep understanding of community organizing and organizational development will help Retake significantly increase its scope and impact. While much more work needs to be done to form a cohesive leadership community, this is the important nuts and bolts work necessary to create a sustainable organization. Great Day. Thanks Mark!
More on the Syrian Attacks
As reported by CNN, the US attack on Syria did not inflict long-term damage, and within a day of the US attack Syrian planes were again in the air and bombing the same city, Khan Sheikhoun, that had been attacked with chemical weapons last Tuesday. So what has been accomplished? NATO reports that Russia has launched the largest build up of forces in decades in the middle east. Click here for a detailed report on the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, the US missile assault on Shayrat, and the base’s return to action yesterday.
I think the larger issue here is that Trump is increasingly demonstrating his reckless disregard for democratic process. In conversations with many on Friday and Saturday, there is growing concern and significant uncertainty about where this leads. As noted in Friday’s post, there is very likely to come a time when a line has been crossed and where all of us will need to respond with courage. It is important that community leaders prepare for that moment. I will keep you posted on continuing conversations seeking to develop a citywide capacity for a quick and powerful response to future actions that offend our sensibilities.
So often a voice of reason, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard describes her views below.
In solidarity,
Roxanne & Paul
Categories: Actions, Foreign Affairs, Syria, Uncategorized
Hi Paul, mon night is beginning of Passover… might not mpact attendence at Rebecca and Paul’s.? I called them but got an answering machine for a Rebecca at a studio? Pamela
Somewhat disappointed in talkmat temple re morality and religion… yes, to theoretical… but certainly worth the attempt… what happened re the Buddhist community? Odd that they weren’t present as they are very visible in SF…perhaps no spokesperson….
The volunteers who organized the event reached out to leaders in the Buddhist community but were unable to get a commitment on dates that were available to others. It was too bad, indeed. While the first question to the panel elicited a kind of “history” of each faith’s origins and that didn’t resonate with many, after that the questions became far more germane. And the questions from the audience were tremendous and generated very rich conversation. Lesson learned.
Hi! Will we be having a march this Sat re. trump revealing his tax returns? I sure think we should.
I do not know of one and Retake is not organizing one. We will gladly promote one if there are others organizing such a thing, but I think many are focusing on the following two week of climate marches and are also cognizant that on Easter weekend, many do not turn out. In addition, we are shying away from organizing events just now as we are doing a good deal of organizational and leadership planning to build for the longer-term and building alliances with other organizations….both designed to build capacity for the longer term. Thanks for question and if others know of a march, let me know.