november 2012 newpeople
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The November 2012 issue of the NewPeople, an activist newspaper published by the Thomas Merton CenterTRANSCRIPT
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 1
THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE.
PITTSBURGH, PA 15224 NON-PROFIT ORG.
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PITTSBURGH, PA
PERMIT NO. 458
TMC works to build a consciousness of values and to
raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war,
poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, oppression
and environmental justice.
TMC engages people of diverse philosophies and faiths
who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to
bring about a more peaceful and just world.
PITTSBURGH’S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER Published by the Thomas Merton Center VOL. 42 No. 10, November 2012
by K. Briar Somerville
Sporting neon pink vests proclaiming them
“AMERICANS AGAINST DRONES,” a
delegation from peace group CODEPINK went
to Pakistan last month to engage with locals
affected by the CIA’s drone
strike program, which was
designed to target supposed
terrorists. The program is
controversial because of the
long-distance weaponry
that impedes the ability of
the human behind the
technology making life-and
-death judgment calls to be
merciful as the occasion
demands, resulting in the
loss of innocent lives.
Leading the activists, who are seeking
compensation for civilian victims and an end to
the strikes was CODEPINK cofounder Medea
Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by
Remote Control, who will be presented with the
Peace and Justice Award on November 8 in
Pittsburgh at the Thomas Merton Center’s 40th
Anniversary Dinner.
Benjamin tweeted October 2 that the
“American delegates who arrived in Islamabad
today were met by a huge group of Pakistanis
who threw rose petals and said thanks.” On
October 3 the group pressed U.S. Ambassador
to Pakistan Richard
Hoagland with questions
about his involvement in
signing off on drone
strikes and the likelihood
of a plan to compensate
victims, receiving
inconclusive answers and
leaving him with a copy
of Benjamin’s Drone
Warfare and a petition to
end the strikes.
On October 6 and 7,
the CODEPINK delegation, which also
included veterans, activists who opposed
the Vietnam War, medical professionals,
artists, educators, and others, joined popular
Pakistani politician Imran Khan in making
international headlines with a two-day
(See DRONES on page 8)
OCCUPY PITTSBURGH INSERT Published by Occupy Pittsburgh Issue No. 9, November 2012
Where are the
Blessed Peacemakers?
by Elizabeth Drescher
September’s killings of Americans in Libya has
sparked new reflection on the relationship between
religion, politics, and violence. Among many
thoughtful responses to the attacks that challenge
the mind-numbing cravenness of the Romney
campaign’s response, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton’s remarks have perhaps most clearly
defined the intimate relationship between religious
faith and peacemaking at the heart of both political
diplomacy and world religions:
In times like these, it can be easy to despair that
some differences are irreconcilable, some mountains too steep to climb; we will never reach
the level of understanding and peacefulness that we
seek, and which I believe the great religions of the
world call us to pursue. But that’s not what I
believe, and I don’t think it’s what you believe. Part
of what makes our country so special is we keep
trying.
(See PEACEMAKERS on page 10)
Medea Benjamin Protests Drones
in Pakistan with the Victims of War
Why it’s so hard for Christians to
understand the logic of nonviolence
in their own traditions
Thomas Merton
Center 40th
Anniversary
Celebration
Nov. 8, 6:00 pm
Sheraton Station
Square Hotel
Honoring
Medea Benjamin
Register now at www.thomasmertoncenter.org.
Thirty-five activists, including Medea Benjamin from Code Pink, Women for Peace (a US anti-war group) gathered in the Pakistani capital this past October to march
in South Waziristan, one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border, which is a hotbed of Taliban militancy. Source: Riehl World News.
Medea Benjamin is scheduled to speak at the Thomas Merton Center 40th Anniversary Dinner on November 8, where she will be accepting the Peace and Justice award.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Drone Warfare Immoral - Budget Cuts Threaten All
2 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE THOMAS MERTON CENTER
5129 PENN AVE., PITTSBURGH, PA 15224
Office Phone: 412-361-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540
Website: www.thomasmertoncenter.org
TMC Editorial Collective Rob Conroy, Ginny Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka,
Martha Garvey, Carol Gonzalez, John Haer, Lilly Joynes, Shahid Khan, Bette
McDevitt, Charlie McCollester, Diane McMahon, Kenneth Miller, Jibran Mushtaq,
Mike Rosenberg, Joyce Rothermel, K. Briar Sommerville, Jo Tavener, Molly Rush
TMC Staff, Volunteers and Interns Diane McMahon, Managing Director
Marcia Snowden, Office Coordinator
Joyce Rothermel, Membership Chair Person
Jibran Mushtaq, Community Organizer / IT Director
Roslyn Maholland, Finance Manager, Mig Cole, Assistant Bookkeeper
Shirley Gleditsch, Manager, East End Community Thrift Store
Shawna Hammond, Manager, East End Community Thrift Store
Dolly Mason, Furniture Manager, East End Community Thrift Store
Michael Rosenberg, Shahid Khan, Minghua He, Xinpei He, Interns from Pitt
Social Work Program and Russell Noble from Pitt Arts and Sciences.
TMC Board of Directors Rob Conroy, Kathy Cunningham, Michael Drohan, Patrick Fenton,
Carol Gonzalez, Mary Jo Guercio, Wanda Guthrie, Shawna Hammond,
Edward Kinley, Jonah McAllister-Erickson, Francine Porter, Molly Rush
TMC Standing Committees of the Board of Directors
Board Development Committee
Recruits board members, conducts board elections
Building Committee
Oversees maintenance of 5123-5129 Penn Ave. sites
Membership Committee
Coordinates membership goals, activities, appeals, and communications
40th Anniversary Committee
Plans and oversees activities to celebrate TMC’s 40th year of service
Editorial Collective Plans, produces and distributes The NewPeople newspaper
Finance Committee
Ensures financial stability and accountability of TMC
Personnel Committee
Oversees staff needs, evaluation, and policies
Project Committee
Oversees project applications, guidelines, and policies
Special Event Committees
Plans and oversees TMC fundraising events with members and friends
Anti-War Committee [email protected]
www.pittsburghendthewar.org
Association of US Catholic Priests
Book‘Em
(Books to Prisoners)
www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem
CodePink
(Women for Peace)
[email protected], 412-389-3216
www.codepink4peace.org
East End Community Thrift Shop
412-361-6010, [email protected]
Economic Justice Committee
Fight for Lifers West
412-361-3022 to leave a message
http://fightforliferswest.mysite.com
Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up
(prisoner support and advocacy)
412-802-8575, [email protected]
www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup
Marcellus Shale Protest Group
(412) 243-4545
marcellusprotest.org
Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop
Community Alliance
412-867-9213
Pittsburgh Campaign for
Democracy NOW!
412-422-5377, [email protected]
www.pcdn.org
Pittsburgh Works!
(labor history documentaries)
Roots of Promise
724-327-2767, 412-596-0066
(Network of Spiritual Progressives)
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition
www.pittsburghdarfur.org
Urban Arts Project
Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook
Call 412-363-7472
www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens
Group/ Roots of Promise
724-327-2767
The Pittsburgh Totebag Project
P.O. Box 99204, Pittsburgh, PA 15233
www.tote4pgh.org
Whose Your Brother?
412-928-3947
www.whosyourbrother.com
Allegheny Defense Project, Pgh Office 412-559-1364 www.alleghenydefense.org
Association of Pittsburgh Priests Sr. Barbara Finch 412-716-9750
Amnesty International [email protected] www.amnestypgh.org
The Big Idea Bookstore
412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org
Black Voices for Peace
Gail Austin 412-606-1408
CeaseFirePA
http://www.ceasefirepa.org
Global Solutions Pittsburgh
412-471-7852 [email protected] www.globalsolutionspgh.org
Citizens for Social Responsibility
of Greater Johnstown Larry Blalock, [email protected]
Haiti Solidarity Committee
[email protected] 412-271-8414
www.thomasmertoncenter.org/hs
PA United for a Single-Payer
Health Care www.healthcare4allPA.org
www.PUSH-HC4allPa.blogspot.com 2102 Murray Avenue Pgh, Pa 15217
412-421-4242
Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the
Death Penalty
Martha Connelly (412) 361-7872
Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network
412-621-9230/[email protected]
Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi
412-761-4319
Pittsburgh Committee to Free Mumia 412-361-3022, [email protected]
Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition
412-563-1519 [email protected]
Pittsburgh Independent Media Center
[email protected] www.indypgh.org
North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition
412-369-3961 www.northhillscoalition.com
Pittsburgh North People for Peace
412-367-0383 [email protected]
Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee
[email protected] www.pittsburgh-psc.org
Raging Grannies
412-963-7163, [email protected] www.pittsburghraginggrannies.homestead.com
Religion and Labor Coalition 412-361-4793 [email protected]
School of the Americas Watch of W. PA 412-371-9722, [email protected]
United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America (UE) 412-471-8919 www.ueunion.org
Urban Bikers
Veterans for Peace
Voices for Animals
[email protected] 1-877-321-4VFA
Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163
Interested in getting more involved? Contact the emails / phone numbers above.
TMC AFFILIATES
HOURS of OPERATION
Thomas Merton Center Monday—Friday
10 am. to 3 pm.
Saturday—10 am. to 1 pm.
East End Thrift Store Tuesday—Friday
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday—Noon to 4 p.m.
CONTACT INFORMATION
General information….........…….http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org
Submissions ……....http://thomasmertoncenter.org/newpeople/submit-article
Events & Calendar Items…thomasmertoncenter.org/calendar/submit-event
TMC COMMITTEES & PROJECTS
THRIFTY OPEN HOUSE—info coming from Linda Loar
THRIFTY needs volunteer truck drivers...if you can help please
call Shirley, Shawna, or Dolly at (412) 361-6010.
From left
to right:
Linda Loar,
Dolly Mason,
Becky,
Shawna and
little John
Romeo, Shirley
and Sarah, pose
for a picture at
Thrifty during a
busy afternoon
at the store!
East End Thrift Store
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 3
by Molly Rush
At the October 9th meeting of our New
Economy working group, we agreed to begin
outreach in the community with a number of
events and activities.
What is the New Economy? Plans are
underway for a series of Potluck Suppers with speakers active in ongoing projects in
Pittsburgh. The first will be held on Monday,
December 3, from 6:30-8:30 pm, at the
Merton Center. More details TBA.
We are developing Resilience Circles,
small groups where people come together to
increase their personal security through
learning, mutual aid, social action, and
community support. Luka Carfagna, a
graduate student at Boston College involved
in a local circle there, will lead a Train the
Trainers session on January 5th for
neighborhood facilitators. We are reaching
out for participants from key neighborhoods.
We will do mapping and analysis of local
and regional groups involved in the many
aspects of building a new economy from the
ground up. Through research and interviews,
we hope to learn more about the widely
diverse and creative groups working right
here and to help build relationships with and
among them. Harvey Holtz will take
the lead, working with interns and
volunteers. Contact him at
Looking ahead, we will be planning some
larger events in 2013 featuring leaders in the
national new economy movement, such as
CHUCK COLLINS of the Institute for Policy
Studies and economist GAR ALPEROVITZ
who is active in
Cleveland.
(Hear Gar Alperovitz,
pictured here, speak
about the New
Economy at — http://
vimeo.com/31841684) Photo and Video Source: Creative Commons
Involving cooperatives, Charles McCollester
is helping to arrange to bring in a speaker in
the spring from the Mondragon cooperative in
Spain at CCAC. Charlie sees that to retrofit
Pittsburgh we need cooperatives to support
people in low-income neighborhoods to pass
the apprenticeship exams for the building
trades.
We have already found widespread
interest in creating some real alternatives to
the current corporate/banking system and its
stranglehold on government that is
endangering the livelihoods of families and
the very environment in which we live and
breathe. By coming together we can
strengthen one another’s efforts and create a
larger and more inclusive vision of what is
possible.
Next Meeting: Monday, November 12 at
10:00 am at the Thomas Merton Center, 5129
Penn Ave., Garfield. Bring your ideas and
energy. RSVP: [email protected].
Molly Rush is co-founder of the Thomas
Merton Center, board member, and co-chair
of the editorial collective.
New Economy Campaign Underway
Activists’ Visions Mike Stout is “In Your Face” (with Love)
by Charlie McCollester
In the spring of 1967, I was delivering used
cars to make money to travel, and it seemed that
protest songs dominated the airwaves during the
drafts for the Vietnam War. Today, wars are
fought by "professionals" segregated from the
rest of society, and the corporate music media
keep voices of protest and anger off the air
unless it supports their control. There is no
more dramatic example than Mike Stout.
Mike has composed a body of protest music
characterized by the title of his latest album:
In Your Face. He has recorded more than one
hundred original songs deeply rooted in the
experience of the Pittsburgh working class.
These are not simple tunes, but complex
compositions performed by a group of loyal
and dedicated musicians.
The twelve songs on the new album
combine an equal measure of protest and love
songs. The protest songs include two general
anthems: “In Your Face with Love” and “We
Will Occupy!” Mike urges the 99% to ‘Let
the rebel in you rise until this devil system
dies.’ The album’s title song drives home the
plea to wake up as our abused planet heats up
into deeper crisis.
Two other songs reflect Stout’s deep
commitment to Workers’ Memorial Day where
he sings as part of a yearly program honoring all
workers who have died on the job during the
preceding year. Mike has written a new song
nearly every year and the most recent two are on
this album. Both are rooted in anniversaries of
major disasters where workers were killed.
“We Came to Work, Not to Die” linked the
150th anniversary of the Arsenal explosion
where 89 mostly young girls were killed in the
worst civilian accident of the Civil War to a
recent explosion at the Clairton Coke
Works. Mike sang this tribute right before one
of the Clairton workers, Rich Doyle, gave the
keynote. The other Worker’s Memorial Day
song, “The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire,” tells the
story of how the tragic deaths of 146 workers
sparked a wave of reform that culminated in
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Stout links
this iconic American event to a recent incident in
Bangladesh where workers were trapped and
jumped to their death.
The final two protest songs are rooted in two
local struggles: the danger of the gas drillers
invasion of Western Pennsylvania is celebrated
in “Stop the Frack Attack”; and in “We Are Still
Alive,” the fight the citizens of Braddock waged
against UPMC’s closing of their community
hospital. ‘Who will stand up if we don’t they said
Speaking truth to power every day every hour…
Greed will breed resistance. We are still alive!’
Like the protest songs, the love songs range
from the general to the particular. “I’ll Be There
For You” is a pledge of solidarity ‘when the
beast is loose.’ “America’s Favorite Son” is a
tender love song to Woody Guthrie. “Old
Warrior” is a tribute to Staughton Lynd, a
mentor to many in his untiring efforts with his
wife Alice for justice and peace, for workers and
prisoners. “Frankie Domagala” celebrates one of
the key steelworkers activists in the Homestead
Local 1397 during the fight waged by the Rank
and File movement to resist the closing of the
mill by U.S. Steel.
The final love songs bring the album home,
one for the wedding of a daughter with tribute to
Mike’s younger brother who died in a tragic
accident in Jamaica, extending the album’s
connection to the personal and familial.
At a recent concert to raise money for the
Merton Center, Mike demonstrated his range
spanning from Doo-wop and The Beatles to the
rocking plea from the gut: ‘We need a new
system!’ While there is no Do-wop on this
album, there is plenty of both love and struggle.
Stout’s band of musicians unites some of the
best in the Burgh and the quality of his
compositions shines through their efforts. This is
not music for the corporate media; this is music
for struggle. The benefit raised $1,000 each for
the Merton center and Healthcare4allPA.
To purchase Mike's new CD, he can be contacted
at: [email protected], or go to
www.mikestoutmusic.com to listen to samples
from the new album. If you identify yourself as a
Thomas Merton Center member or supporter, you
can purchase the CD for only $10.
Charlie McCollester is a member of the editorial
collective.
Courtesy of Mike Stout
Gar Alperovitz
4 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
by Helen Gerhardt and Alicia Williamson
Claudia Hudson, International Representative
of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), closed
her eyes, remembering the bad old days before
she and her fellow bus drivers had a union to
represent them. “Five-year-old kids looking after
one-year-olds. Was some better when us mama
drivers took all our kids and we put them together
in one house so that the older ones could look
after the really little ones. That’s just how it used
to be. That’s the only way we could make it.
“We’d be driving buses 12, 14 hours sometime
– and even when the hours weren’t so long, most
all the time we had split shifts that didn’t let us
get back and forth from home…not enough
money to pay for child care…and we’d be so
tired, we could hardly drive straight sometime.”
Here in Pittsburgh, our own bus drivers gave up
a great deal to keep the buses running – some of
them worry that the bad old days might come
back again.
The ATU Local 85 has already made
unprecedented concessions for tens of millions of
dollars in savings per year—$93 million in their
previous contract and $60 million in their most
recent one. The August 2012 contract doubles
workers’ contributions to the pension fund to
10.5% of their salaries.
Their wages, starting at $16.05/hr and topping
out at $24.50/hr, are comparable to those of other
transit systems the same size as the Port Authority
of Allegheny County (PAT) which are facing
austerity budgets across the nation. Driving a bus
requires a commercial license and hundreds of
hours of training per route. Drivers work a
stressful job with long and often split shifts
wherein they are responsible for the safety and
well-being of hundreds of people. They work on
all days of the week, at all sorts of times, through
all kinds of weather and during holidays.
PAT management often prefers or even requires
driver overtime because it is cheaper than hiring
and training new employees. Moreover, studies
show that companies who do not provide their
drivers with competitive wages and benefits for
performing a very demanding job have such a
high turnover rate that the additional costs they
spend on hiring and training negates any savings
they may get by compensating workers less.
The catastrophic 35% service cut to our public
transportation system slated for September 2012
was averted through local and state contributions
along with sacrifices made by the Port Authority
and ATU 85 transit workers. However, these
measures are just a band-aid for this fiscal year
alone, which means that we’ll be facing yet
another round of cuts next fall and every year
after until we have an adequate, growing source
of dedicated public funding for mass transit in our
region. We need to put a stop to the cycle of
crises, cuts, and bailouts—the only way to do so
is to create a sustainable source of revenue for
transportation at the state level.
ATU International President Larry Hanley and
Andrew Austin, the executive director of the non-
profit Americans for Transit, have led the way
nationally in spearheading efforts to boost riders
unions. Leading the way locally, ATU Local 85
will be working closely with Pittsburghers for
Public Transit in their efforts to engage riders and
other transit supporters across our region to fight
with drivers for the funding and working
conditions that support a healthy transit system.
PPT will be working to show how transit systems
support healthy, “livable” cities and the
economies which fund roads and bridges for the
rest of Pennsylvania.
PPT invites all Pittsburghers to join teams of
transit drivers, riders and supporters working
together to defend and expand mass
transportation in our region. Come to our
meetings every third Saturday of the month at the
Thomas Merton Center to find out how you can
contribute to local and statewide campaigns to
secure long-term dedicated transit funding. And
we will soon be publicizing regular trainings for
volunteers. You can help us adapt the lessons of
successful fights for public transit led by
grassroots organizations across the United States
to your own neighborhoods and region.
For more information:
www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org
Join our group on Facebook:
Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Pgh4PubTransit and
Contact us at: [email protected].
Helen Gerhardt and Alicia Williamson are
organizers working for the Pittsburghers for
Public Transit.
Building Unity for Public Transit: You’re Invited
Activist Actions
Make it Our UPMC Dear Allegheny County Council:
It's time we had a serious conversation about
UPMC's business practices and its tax breaks.
As the recent Post-Gazette series on its real
estate dealings showed, UPMC operates with
very little accountability - spending almost any
amount on property it wants, inflating real estate
markets, and acting more like a giant for-profit
corporation than the non-profit charity they are
supposed to be.
UPMC also
avoids paying
$42 million in
property taxes
because of its
non-profit
status. At a time
we’re taking
teachers out of
classrooms and cutting transit service to the
bone, we don't believe we can afford to
subsidize UPMC’s land buying binges.
UPMC’s questionable behavior isn’t just
limited to its real estate transactions. Despite
making $351 million in operating profits last
year and having $4 billion in reserves , many
UPMC employees live in poverty and earn less
than a family-sustaining wage.
We are calling County Council to hold a
public hearing to investigate UPMC's behavior
and make sure they live up to their
responsibilities as a non-profit charity.”
For more information see the website at:
http://action.makeitourupmc.org/page/s/
upmccountypetition.
Statement prepared by the SEIU Healthcare
for Pennsylvania.
Help Us Get Money Out of Politics!by Edith Bell
If you want to get money out of politics, get
rid of corporations’ rights as persons, and want
to get our democracy back, you probably know
that it will take an amendment to the
Constitution to change the current situation, in
order to get rid of the best government money
can buy. Several states have already passed
resolutions to that effect.
Many organizations are working on this issue:
Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom, Move To Amend, Move On, Coffee
Party, Public Citizen, Common Cause and more.
Locally as our first action we are working on
a petition drive to convince our Pennsylvania
legislature to get on board.
We plan on being at the polls (as many as we
can find volunteers for—that depends on you)
on Election day with petitions, literature and
signs. We believe that most people are pretty
fed up with all the nasty negative advertising
before the elections, and will gladly sign a
petition to change that. So please join us!
We have a training session scheduled for
Thursday, November 1, at 7:00 pm at the
Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave. in
Garfield, and we may schedule an additional
one. Contact Edith at 412-661-7149 or
Edith Bell is Coordinator of the Pittsburgh
based Women’s League for International
Peace and Freedom.
Courtesy of the Creative Commons
Submitted by the Environmental Justice
Committee
At a press conference on October 2, 2012,
State Senator James Ferlo addressed
environmental issues facing Pennsylvanians.
Here is some of what he said:
“In the early 30’s Will Rogers used to say,
‘You gotta buy land because they just ain’t
making any more of it.’ But now the Marcellus-
Utica-Delaware Shale industry executives,
modern day robber barons, tell us ‘you can buy
the land, but we own the mineral rights and we
will extract any natural resources out of it, and
what’s more, we hired Gov Tom Corbett and
DEP Secretary Krancer as our deputy sheriffs.’
“Since the beginnings of the now-booming
natural gas industry here in Pennsylvania, I have
been calling for a more cautious process for
allowing hydraulic fracturing into our
Commonwealth. I have advocated for studies,
moratoriums, stronger regulations, a stronger
state statute, and a fair and equitable gas
extraction tax that appropriately compensates
state and local governments for the many
associated impacts of drilling.
“We need substantial reform to the recently
adopted Act 13 which was the Legislature’s
weak attempt at providing oversight of oil and
gas drillers, and we need to continue our fight for
a drilling moratorium in order to provide a
qualified and professional group of unbiased
citizens the opportunity to make
recommendations on the statutory and regulatory
framework necessary to protect our
Commonwealth.” (Continued on page 9)
Preparing for a Fracking Moratorium with Sen. Jim Ferlo
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 5
Individualism vs. Communitarianism: Selfishness vs. Altruism
by Molly Rush
Forty years of progress in the care and support that allows people with disabilities and frail seniors to live in their communities is in the process of being dismantled in Pennsylvania by the Corbett Administration.
Last year the Republican-dominated state legislature, under the guise of “eliminating waste, fraud and abuse,” passed Act 22. It gave the Department of Public Welfare authority to make sweeping changes. Secretary Gary Alexander did so with a vengeance. He didn’t even consult with programs that have for years provided a wide range of complex services.
Next month Governor Tom Corbett will outsource 500 jobs to a Massachusetts for-profit firm.
Homebound seniors and people with disabilities will lose services that allow them to choose and hire their own caretakers.
Agencies with long experience providing financial services, including payroll, taxes, etc. were not consulted.
Imagine your elderly neighbor or wheelchair bound friend having to phone a stranger in Boston to respond to their needs. Caring workers at local programs such as UCP/CLASS, whom
they’ve relied upon for personal attention, are laid off, along with many other support persons, due to budget cuts.
The result? A simple one step response to a request for a service became a bewildering and complex bureaucratic maze, adding to the work
of agencies already understaffed due to severe budget cuts. Many people may lose their ability to live independently as members of the community, made possible with assistance to work, shop, and visit friends. What will happen to them?
In 1975, The Committee to Improve Kane Hospital issued a report on the old Scott Township facility which basically warehoused hundreds of elderly and people with disabilities. After years of struggle by employees and community members, it was closed and four mini-Kanes opened around the County.
At the same time United Cerebral Palsy, now UCP/CLASS, was growing and expanding its services and advocacy for the basic civil rights of people with disabilities:
UCP Bill of Rights for the Disabled o "The Right to prevention, early diagnosis
and proper care. o The right to a barrier-free environment and
accessible transportation. o The right to necessary assistance given in a
way that promotes independence. o The right to a choice of lifestyle and
residential alternatives. o The right to an income for a lifestyle
comparable to the able-bodied. o The right to training and employment as
qualified. o The right to petition social institutions for
just and humane treatment. o The right to self-esteem." Under the capable leadership of UCP/CLASS
CEO Al Condelucci, staff and volunteers have made a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people. Now he’s having to make painful layoff decisions and challenge new policies of an administration deaf to the voices of those most affected, and seemingly hostile to the notion of public service.
Clients (and their families) fear they may lose that independence. Institutionalization would cost $75,000 a year compared to $25,000 for home support. But even that alternative may not be available. The shortage of institutional beds would require building costly new facilities.
Ideology and campaign contributions have replaced common sense and the idea that the government is meant to work for the common good. You can email Gov. Corbett at [email protected] or call 717-787-2500.
Molly Rush is cofounder of TMC and a cochair of
the Editorial Collective.
Independence of Homebound PA Citizens at Risk
by Al Condelucci
I’ve been associated for 39 years with western
PA.‘s UCP/CLASS, a support service for people
with disabilities. We’ve advocated for many
important federal, state, and local programs that
benefit them and their families. While we’ve had
ups and downs, mostly we’ve made great
progress in moving people out of institutions and
living independently through:
· including community and independent
living as key parts of the federal
Rehabilitation Act;
· the 1984 passage of Act 150 which
created the Attendant Care program in PA,
provided thousands with the support needed
to live in the community;
· and the 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act providing for the first time
civil rights to people with disabilities
We’re thankful and proud that these and many
other policy and regulatory changes have enabled
countless individuals and families to participate in
the basic elements of community living.
Today, however, major shifts in political
perspectives threaten the very fabric of
community with the potential to alter and dilute
all we have worked so hard to attain.
Under the specter of a challenging economy,
our current leaders are debating the fundamental
role of government, how it should be run and
what services we should provide. This debate is
being driven by two polar opposite assumptions.
One side argues that government is too big and
inefficient and shouldn’t provide human and
social services. Suspicious of government or
affiliated organizations, they contend that people
be responsible for themselves and that society
shouldn’t bail out people who run into trouble.
This “rugged individualistic” approach suggests
that as a society we aren’t responsible for
problems or failures of others.
The other side, grounded in the notion of
cooperation, collaboration and support for one
another, sees government playing an important
role, that the strong should support the weak, thus
strengthening the collective whole.
This spirit, that from those who are seen as
successful, much
is expected,
recognizes that
all is not equal or
fair in life and
that those
without certain
advantages may
be more at risk
so we need
Government as
the most
effective vehicle
to level the
playing field, to
achieve greater
equality.
This debate
might be called “individualism vs
communitarianism” or even “selfishness vs
altruism.” While an oversimplification, it does
capture the essence of the poles. These two
perspectives appear in our headlines every day.
Further complicating the debate are the issues
of taxes and investments in society. Government
has developed programs to assist the less
fortunate. Now the costs of these services have
grown. Some see this as a key reason for our
economic struggles. Personalized, issues becomes
emotional red meat, drawing people to choose
one side or another.
Consider the current issue of public transit
in Allegheny County. Some people have their
own cars or use other ways to get around and
question why their tax dollars should support
transit services they don’t use. Others who once
used public transit “bettered themselves” and
expect others to do the same. Certainly the
challenge of funding public transit is never this
simple, but sometimes this is how the debate is
framed.
The same with public housing, public welfare,
hunger and homeless programs. Some see people
who use (or even abuse) these programs as the
real problem. If only they’d take responsibility
and get a job, all would be well. Why should we
carry the burden of those who fail to succeed?
This is not an easy debate, but in many ways
UCP and the programs we’ve worked hard to
improve, are caught in the crosshairs of this
argument. If people question why their tax dollars
should go for public transit or public welfare, it’s
a very short step to ask why support programs for
people with disabilities. It’s simplistic to blame
the victim, or suggest that people created their
own problems, but this attitude is unfolding
before our very eyes.
We all know of instances of abuses or
irresponsibility, but what’s happening is that
entire programs are changed, or drastically cut,
with innocent people caught in an emotional tidal
wave based on sensationalized headlines.
Thoughtful people understand that extreme
positions solve nothing and that the best answers
are usually somewhere in the middle. Instead of
dismantling essential programs and services to
people in need, can we refocus as a society and
recognize how fortunate we are if we don’t need
these supports? Instead of complaining about
abuses we should focus on how essential they are
to the lives of so many. As a young boy, my
parents’ two consistent messages to me and my
brother and sisters were 1) to develop a strong
compassion for those in need and 2) learn to think
through the decisions we make. I know that if you
want people to “better themselves” we must
provide adequate support services.
I know that the great majority of people
receiving services truly need them. I see this in
my work every day. There, by the grace of God,
go I. I just hope when I too need help we’ll still
have a support system.
Al Condelucci is CEO of UCP/CLASS, a
program serving people with disabilities in
their homes.
Activists Against Budget Cuts
Courtesy of UCP/Class
HOMEBOUND
Al Condelucci
Sketch by Robert Meganck
6 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
by Carlana Rhoten
Cuts in budgets, staff, resources, research and development result in thousands of deaths every year. Extreme tax cuts began in 1980, and the health, safety and welfare of citizens have been abandoned. Here is how tax and budget cuts have affected government operations. Department of Transportation - Bridges col-lapse; bad roads cause accidents; Federal Avia-tion Administration (FAA) fails to keep up with most modern equipment; air controllers are un-derstaffed and overworked; trains crash into each other or derail. Occupational Safety and Health Administra-tion (OSHA) - Workers are injured or killed on the job. Health and Human Services (HHS) - Ap-proximately 50,000 Americans die every year because they can't get insurance or qualify for Medicaid to pay for healthcare. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and State Health Departments - Understaffed, with not enough laboratories and limited prevention capa-bilities. Barely able to respond to the normal in-cidence of disease outbreaks or food and drug poisonings, they are not prepared for a pandemic or for increasing numbers of drug resistant bacte-ria. National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Do not have enough funds for research projects needed to get ahead of the curve and respond to the threats mentioned above, as well as to common diseases and conditions that are causing early deaths. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - Not enough staff or labs to deal with tainted drugs and food, contaminated imports and counterfeit medi-
cines. Department of Agriculture - Can't protect citi-zens from diseases and tainted foods from factory farms and processing plants. Research has been cut for crops and farm animals. Land grant col-leges and extension offices have been down-graded, and some will be eliminated. Runoff from agriculture is destroying ocean life and beach use. Consumer Product Safety Commission - Cannot inspect more than a fraction of domestic products, imported products and container ships for content of dangerous products. Actions do not come until after people are injured or exposed to toxic substances. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admini-stration (NOAA) - Unable to proceed as quickly as it could if it were fully funded to warn the na-tion and world of potential dangers, e.g., hurri-canes, tornadoes, heatwaves, snow storms, floods, droughts, forest fires. Other countries will be-come the primary source of such information as the U.S. falls behind. U.S. Coast Guard - Does not have enough
ships, boats, helicopters or personnel for rescue operations, interdictions and monitoring of toxic substances such as the massive oil spill in the Gulf and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Army Corps of Engineers - Flood control in jeopardy. Environmental Protection Agency - Politi-cians block enforcement of clean water, air and soil laws to allow Marcellus Shale fracking, oil sands through the XL pipeline and deep water drilling everywhere, including the Arctic. National and State Parks - Understaffed and unable to protect visitors and wildlife habitat and to respond to foreign species that can crowd out native species and destroy forests and wa-ter. Serious diseases that need professional re-sponse can be spread among wildlife. Diversity of wildlife, plants and trees is destroyed by min-ing, drilling, pipelines and industrial activities. Police, Firefighters, and Paramedics - Needed to respond to wildfires, volcanoes, earth-quakes, natural- and human-caused catastrophes. Equipment and trained professionals will not be available when needed to save lives. Department of Energy - Crumbling infrastruc-ture and toxic byproducts present dangers in the mining, drilling, refining and transport of gas, oil and coal and the generation of electricity and nu-clear power. Many nuclear plants far exceed their lifespan and present a clear and present danger of massive fatalities/loss of property. Policies favor fossil fuels and work against renewables. U.S. Department of State - Budget for security cut during period when attacks were increasing.
Carlana Rhoten is the producer of Progressive
Pittsburgh Notebook, Public Access TV.
How Will Tax and Budget Cuts Impact You?
A Letter to Governor Corbett
Activists Fight for The Forgotten
by Joyce Rothermel
In both of Governor Corbett's budget
addresses, and again in his directions to state
agencies for their submissions to the 2013-14
Governor’s Executive Budget, he draws a
distinction between “must-haves and nice-to-
haves.”
At the most basic level of
human needs, food is clearly
one of the “must-haves.”
For this reason, Food Banks are seeking
support from congregations and other
organizations to join together to recommend
inclusion of a $24 million appropriation for the
State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) in the
Department of Agriculture budget for next fiscal
year.
The Thomas Merton Center stands with them.
SFPP makes possible the acquisition and
distribution of millions of pounds of nutritious
food for our neighbors in need. It is the
Commonwealth's most significant contribution to
the effort to feed the children, seniors, people
with disabilities, working poor, underemployed
and unemployed Pennsylvanians who rely upon
food banks, food pantries and other providers for
essential nutritional assistance.
SFPP provides greatly - indeed desperately -
needed resources to all 67 counties for the
purchase of food and nutritional supplements, for
critical food provider transportation and
infrastructure needs, and to cover the charges
associated with accessing federal food
commodities under The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP). SFPP is an
essential tool for Pennsylvania's food banks and
food pantries in the effort to help meet the “must-
have” nutritional needs of our most vulnerable
citizens. Each of these uses of the SFPP
appropriation are important and worthy of
support.
Since the onset of the recession, state support
for SFPP has declined - from $18.75 million to
the current level of $17.3 million. For the current
fiscal year $5 million of this appropriation was set
aside to meet the expenses associated with
accessing federal TEFAP commodities. This is
not a problem in and of itself, but rather a
symptom of the larger problem - an overall lack
of adequate resources for the State Food Purchase
Program. The impact of this action is being felt
across the Commonwealth as food assistance
providers in every county attempt to cope with
reductions in SFPP allocations averaging 20
percent. This only adds to the burden for food
banks that have struggled over the years to meet a
rising demand, while at the same time state
support has not kept pace with that demand, and
has, in fact, eroded.
As the leaders of organizations throughout the
Commonwealth, we see the continuing impact of
the economic downturn on the people of
Pennsylvania and the resulting increase in the
number of our neighbors struggling with hunger
and food insecurity. While Governor Corbett
recognized and appreciated the efforts of Food
Banks and sustained funding for SFPP in his first
two budgets, we also know that continued
inadequate funding makes it impossible for the
benefits of the State Food Purchase Program to be
fully realized. Level funding in the face of
increased demand and rising food and fuel costs
means less food for our Commonwealth’s most
vulnerable residents. With the elimination of
General Assistance for thousands across the state
and the cuts to many programs that serve them,
they have moved into even deeper poverty and
become even more food insecure.
We understand that there are many competing
demands for state funds and that this will be
another difficult year for crafting a state budget.
Governor Corbett is in a singular position to make
a strong statement that reflects compassion
toward Pennsylvanians challenged by hunger. He
is in the best position to recognize that allowing
hunger to persist hurts us all, and to make certain
that adequate state resources are provided to help
meet these challenges. If a congregation or
organization you are connected with wants to
stand in solidarity with Food Banks, please
consider signing onto their organizational letter to
Governor Corbett. Contact Dennis McManus
at 412-460-3663 x283 or through e-mail
We reach out to Governor Corbett to request
that he be mindful of the impact of his decisions
on the many Pennsylvanians in need of food. To
continue to make vital nutritional assistance
available to our neighbors threatened by hunger,
our food banks and other charitable food
assistance providers - churches, community
organizations, and other faith-based and non-
profit groups throughout Pennsylvania - need a
strong State Food Purchase Program.
(This article contains much of the content of the
organizational sign-on letter to Governor Corbett.)
Joyce Rothermel is
a retired CEO of
the Greater
Pittsburgh
Community Food
Bank.
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 7
by Joyce Rothermel
The current Congress has yet to take action on several funding
and policy bills that require votes before the end of the year. A very
important one for farmers and people who are food insecure and at
risk of hunger is the Farm Bill which authorizes and funds the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Many
international food aid programs are also approved through the Farm
Bill. Current versions of the bill in both the Senate and the House
propose severe cuts to these food assistance programs, especially
SNAP.
Two important tax credit programs for low income families are
set to expire by the end of the year and need to be reauthorized: the
earned income tax credit program and the tax credit for children.
Another decision looming is what to do about the 2001 and 2003
tax cuts which will expire at the end of the year. Then, starting on
January 2, across the board federal spending cuts of $1.2 trillion
over ten years are to begin. These automatic spending cuts, called
sequestration, were put on the federal calendar to force Congress to
enact comprehensive deficit-reduction legislation. To date,
lawmakers have been unable to agree on a plan.
At risk are many federal programs that would be severely
curtailed, including but not limited to nutrition for pregnant
women, education for children from low-income households,
services for people who are homeless and access to vital medicine
for people living with AIDS.
While this so-called "fiscal cliff" is feared, the challenge presents
government leaders with the opportunity to institute a
comprehensive and balanced approach to deficit reduction. The
deficit can be reduced by raising additional tax revenues without
further burdening low-income families. Many people of conscience
believe it is a role of government to end hunger and address basic
human needs. To that end, they see the federal budget as a moral
document prioritizing our national values.
After the national election on November 6, our government
leaders will convene to vote on significant budget proposals. To the
extent that they see hunger and poverty as central election issues, it
can help them shape the lame duck session and move the national
focus to one of ending hunger and poverty.
Regionally, a Bread for the World Team of voters, is meeting
with our elected officials to encourage them to take the important
action and provide the needed leadership to address these
challenges. To learn more about how you can help and be involved,
visit www.bread.org All are invited to our next Bread Team
meeting on Thursday, November 15, at 10 a.m. at Waverly
Presbyterian Church at the corner of Forbes and Braddock Avenues
in the East End. For more information, please call the Thomas
Merton Center at 412-361-3022.
Joyce Rothermel is Co-Chair of the SW PA Bread Team.
Lame Duck Session Threatens the 99%
by Diane McMahon
With poverty rates at epidemic levels and baby boomers entering
retirement years, a perfect storm is on the horizon. Will aging baby
boomers (20% of all Americans in 2020) be able to survive on meager
social security checks, if social security exists at all in the years ahead?
In cities across America, homeless shelters are seeing record numbers
seeking out emergency stays. In New York City alone, shelters are
reporting numbers similar to rates experienced in the 1920’s. (The New
York Daily News, October 17, 2012)
To cope, many low-income seniors have been forced to live in RV’s,
minivans, motels or rooming houses or have doubled up with relatives.
This comes at a time when new housing is being planned by community
development groups looking to serve the most well-to-do Americans.
Rehabbing existing houses receives low priority on planning agendas.
Without a plan we will continue to see homeless encampments
springing up under bridges and along the rivers, recalling the shantytowns
that lined our local rivers during the Great Depression.
Perhaps the only difference today is that poorhouse stays have
transitioned into jailhouse stays as the homeless are unable to pay the
steep fines that they are assessed for sleeping in public places. Many of
our swelling prisons are now run for profit instead of being maintained by
government, one more sign of the systemic and deep-rooted oppression
that the 99% faces when judicial and government structures are aligned
with for-profit development ventures.
In the 1930’s, policy makers strategizing during the Great Depression
created the life-saving social security net. Because of their efforts,
millions of elderly Americans, many of whom were dying on the streets,
began to experience the safety and security made possible when public
focus is on the “common good.”
Given the current state of affairs in America, it is hard to imagine
similar actions being taken by today’s policy makers (republican and
democrat) whose rhetoric suggests that social security is destined to be
cut back rather than increased to meet the needs of the poor.
How will we meet the housing needs of the
growing number of elderly poor who are
being forced to live in the streets?
If government programs are not expanded, and social security does not
remain in place, then we can expect to see exponential increases in
elderly homelessness. New initiatives, strategies, and approaches must be
planned for.
Even as you read this article, there are many alternative new economic
models springing up across the nation today to support people of all
economic levels. One example is the work of a group in Boston - known
as HEARTH - ENDING ELDER HOMELESSNESS. For more
information go to their website at http://www.hearth-home.org/
Locally, Molly Rush, Craig Stevens, Harvey Holtz and other
community activists are working on developing a public campaign that
will bring to light some of our best options to care for and strengthen the
growing 99%, including the elderly, families, adults and children. Many
of these new economic models exist right here in the city of Pittsburgh.
Although having limited financial resources may be viewed as a
detriment, being the majority that has vast resources of talent, skills and
compassion for each other will be the key to our success.
To become involved in the Thomas Merton Center’s New Economy
Campaign and Initiative call (412) 361-3022 or email
Diane McMahon is an advocate on homelessness, managing director of
the Thomas Merton Center and member of the editorial collective.
New Wave of Elderly
Homelessness Predicted
Federal Budget Cuts Divide
Courtesy of the Creative Commons
PITTSBURGHERS TRAVEL TO FORT BENNING, GEORGIA
TO PROTEST SOA—November 16-19. Call (412) 361-3022.
Every year thousands of activists travel to Ft. Benning, GA, the army base where
The School of the Americas, (SOA), otherwise known as the School of the Assassins
is located. This event takes place on the last weekend before Thanksgiving and its
avowed purpose is to generate momentum so that the US Government will close
down this school for training Latin American soldiers in torture and counter-
insurgency. The founding of the School and its operation has the guiding principle
that the "people", that is the population at large, is the enemy that the army has to
control, subjugate and fight. That is what they call maintaining "national
security". SOA graduates have been linked to major human rights violations in
Latin America for over 50 years. SOA soldiers murdered Cleveland church women
Jean Donovan and Sister Dorothy Kazel in 1980 and numerous others since! There
can be no healing and reconciliation without truth, an apology, and reparations to the
thousands who have suffered from SOA violence and oppressive U.S. foreign
policies. Each year we gather at the gates of Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia, and
demand justice for the martyrs and for the thousands who continue to suffer the
brutal consequences of the combat training at the SOA.
Please join us!
8 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
motorcade for peace
headed for South
Waziristan. CODEPINK
claims, “This was the
first time that the
Pakistani government
has admitted foreigners
into the Federally
Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) in nearly
a decade.” The march
eventually found its way
blocked by the Pakistani
authorities but succeeded
in drumming up
worldwide attention on
the drone issue.
The Bureau of
Investigative Journalism
tallies between 474 and
884 reported civilian
deaths caused by U.S.
drone strikes in Pakistan, of total reported
Pakistani drone killings numbering between
2,593 and 3,365. CODEPINK met with some
of the families of those killed. Medea
Benjamin says, “They are outraged by killing
and vow to take revenge,” observing that the
anti-terrorist drone strike program seems to
exacerbate extremism and anti-Americanism
among the Pakistanis. Karim Khan, whose
brother, a teacher, and whose son, a student,
were killed by drones told Benjamin.
“Violence will only
end when Americans
stop killing.”
CODEPINK calls themselves
“a women-initiated
grassroots peace and social
justice movement working to
end U.S. funded wars and
occupations, to challenge
militarism globally, and to
redirect our resources into
health care, education, green
jobs and other life-affirming
activities.” While in Pakistan,
their delegation offered
sympathies and $1,000 to the
school of young peace
activist Malala Yousafzai,
after, as DronesWatch
reports, “a faction of the
Taliban claimed credit for
attacking [the 14-year-old]
from the Swat region on
October 9 in retaliation for
her outspoken opposition to
its attempts to keep girls home from school.”
The same day Malala Yousafzai was shot,
the American activists were fasting for peace
in solidarity with the drone victims.
K. Briar Somerville is an intern for the
editorial collective and has a history with
Occupy Wall Street and the National
Organization for Women.
STOP DRONES from front page
Forum on the Impact of the Wars
on Pittsburgh: Report-back
by Pete Shell
On October 6, the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee (AWC) and Black
Voices for Peace held a forum on the impact of the wars on Pittsburgh. Endorsed by
13 other Pittsburgh groups, it was part of a weekend of nationwide actions for peace
on the 11-year anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Our goal was to
highlight the devastating effect that the endless U.S. wars and massive military
spending are having on people’s lives and jobs right here in the city.
Despite the Great Recession, the military misadventures and out of control
spending continue, deepening the economic crisis in our city and throughout the
country, and yet they are ignored by the mainstream parties and press.
As the economic crisis drags on, it’s our
challenge to clearly point out the contributions that
the war and military spending have on economic
problems at home. As the National Priorities Project shows (see www.CostOfWar.com),
Pittsburghers’ share of the federal tax dollars for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
alone are now over a billion dollars. That doesn’t include the cost of soldiers'
regular pay, future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war,
additional interest payments on the national debt from higher deficits due to war
spending, and the growing number of other wars, drone attacks, and military
occupations and bases around the world.
About 50 people heard from a representative of the Pittsburgh Federation of
Teachers union, transit advocates, and service providers – all of whose funding has
been drastically cut while the wars rage on. Veterans, military families, and a
representative of the Veterans Administration discussed the tragic consequences of
the wars for veterans and their families. Diane Santoriello, whose son was killed in
the war in Iraq, revealed that the only TV station that he and his fellow soldiers
were allowed to watch was Fox News.
In the final part of the forum, we strategized about how we can rebuild the antiwar
movement in a way that connects to local institutions and struggles, and strengthens
alliances between groups working for peace. Many good ideas were raised, and the
intensity of the discussion showed me that people really want to continue the
movement. A follow-up meeting was planned and we hope to build on the
momentum created at the forum. To get involved and see when our next meeting is,
visit www.PittsburghEndTheWar.org
Pete Shell is a member of the Thomas Merton Center Antiwar Committee., one of
the four focus areas or our peace and justice organization.
Activism to End Wars
The Thomas Merton Center is committed to saving the earth!
We rely on wind power, provided by Citizen Power, to
maintain the electrical needs of our offices and thrift store!
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 9
by Wanda Guthrie
Community stakeholders have been invited to
discuss this issue in a public forum. Interested
citizens will be able to have their questions and
concerns about the shale gas well drilling at
Beaver Run Reservoir addressed by a panel that
will include the Municipal Authority of
Westmoreland County; Department of
Environmental Protection Water Quality; Raina
Rippel, South West Pennsylvania Environmental
Health Project; Dr. Cynthia Walter, and Jim
Morrison, Murrysville Chief Administrator.
We have also invited Senator Jim Ferlo to
attend and speak. His district borders the Beaver
Run Reservoir and he is sponsoring a Moratorium
Legislation. Please read his statement beginning
on page 4.
This event has been organized by the Local
chapters of League of Women Voters and the
Green Party as well as Westmoreland Marcellus
Citizen Group, Mountain Watershed Association
and Local Authority of Western Pennsylvania.
What's at Stake Here?
The Beaver Run Reservoir is a 1,300-acre lake
and the main source of drinking water for 150,000
residents in southwestern Pennsylvania. It also
rests atop the enormous Marcellus Shale gas
reserve. Over the past decade or so about 100
shallow natural gas wells have been drilled
throughout the reservoir.
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland
County, the local water utility, leased the
watershed in 1999 to cash in on drilling
opportunities. The agency gets a 12.5 percent
payment rate on the gas produced by wells on the
reservoir. Utility officials say leasing Beaver Run
allows it to raise money for infrastructure
upgrades without increasing customer rates.
Westmoreland County appears to be the only
local water authority in the state to have leased
acreage to drillers.
Should there be regulations to bar drilling in
watersheds that provide a primary drinking water
source or an all out prohibition? If there is a
demand to enact a prohibition it will definitely
meet resistance from our governor and the gas
industry. Some of us are outraged.
Fracking began at Beaver Run in 2008 — one
year, incidentally, after the municipal authority
upheld a fishing ban in the reservoir due to public
health concerns. The plans are for up to 30 shale
gas wells at the reservoir from five different
drilling sites. Westmoreland residents wonder
how drilling was permitted in a reservoir
watershed where virtually all other activities are
banned. We are also angry because we weren't
informed about the gas development and had no
chance to make a public decision!
We believe it is dangerous to allow any drilling
to take place on a reservoir property, where even
hiking and fishing from the banks are prohibited
for fear of pollution. We now have a chance to
both question the judgment of the water utility
and hear about Sen. Jim Ferlo’s proposed
moratorium legislation.
There was a time when Westmoreland
County's streams flowed orange from acid mine
drainage. The damage was so extreme that local
creeks were given names like Coal Tar Run.
Hydrofracking involves injecting huge
amounts of water, sand and chemicals at high
pressures to open up cracks in rock formations
and unleash the gas that lies thousands of feet
below. One well can produce over a million
gallons of wastewater laced with corrosive salts
and carcinogenic and radioactive materials. The
frack pits store an unusually high concentration of
toxins, and they sit uphill from the reservoir.
As time has gone by we know that residents in
Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Texas and West
Virginia have suffered from natural gas drilling
and seeping fluids that have migrated into their
underground drinking water supplies and the
industry is still maintaining the practice is safe!
Wanda Guthrie is chair of the Environmental
Justice Committee of the Thomas Merton Center
and a member of Local Authority Western
Pennsylvania.
Is shale gas drilling near the
Beaver Run Reservoir a good idea?
Join us on Monday, November 19, 7-9 pm,
at the Murrysville Community Center
3091 Carson Avenue, Murrysville, PA 15668
For more information contact Melissa,
724-455-4200 ext. 6#
Environmental Activism
Some of the hundreds of people who gathered at the final ALCOSAN input session on Oct.
19 to review their gray plan to solve the sewage in the rivers problem. The crowd urged the
authority to use system wide green infrastructure instead. Photo by Tom Hoffman
Is Our Water Safe?
Preparing for a Fracking Moratorium
(continued from page 4)
“Senate Democrats is to give back local zoning powers to municipalities so
that they can protect the public health, safety and welfare of our citizens. In
addition to legislative reform, the Senate Democratic Caucus has filed an
amicus brief to support the seven municipalities that are challenging the
state law before the State Supreme Court.
“Commonwealth Court rightly ruled, based on Judge Pellegrini’s well
reasoned opinion, that the Legislature overstepped its powers by stripping
local governments of their essential land use-making decisions. We must
overturn this law. We must return power to local decision makers. We must
make real our Constitutional provision in the Declaration of Rights, Sec 27
to clean air, pure water and to the preservation, natural, scenic, historic and
aesthetic values of the environment. In addition to these measures, I am
calling for a hydro-fracturing moratorium since there are more than 10,000
already in the permitting process. As the number of driller infractions
builds, and we see the disturbing health impacts of the industry on our
residents, we need to take a step back and assess where we’ve been and
where we are going. Just as the Republican majority saw fit to create an
“immaculate exception” in Southeast Pennsylvania, we need to do this in
the rest of the state.
“So today, I am beginning a new effort to impose a moratorium on the
issuance of new permits by the DEP for hydraulically fracked wells. The
moratorium will last until January 1, 2018, just as the Southeastern
moratorium does, while a study commission determines the best methods
for allowing drilling while protecting our public health and the
environment. The study commission will release its report by January 1,
2017, giving the legislature and state agencies a full year to adopt the
recommendations and as best possible mitigate the impacts the industry has
on our state. None of this will happen unless we educate, advocate and start
practicing and employing “in your face” direct action to our elected
officials, the media and industry officials.”
Statement of Jeff Schmidt, Director,
Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, October 9, 2012
"Sierra Club condemns the firing of Pennsylvania's State Parks Director
John Norbeck by the Corbett administration. Mr. Norbeck has dedicated
more than 30 years of his professional life to protecting public lands. We
are concerned that the Corbett administration sacked Mr. Norbeck for
resisting its plans to compromise our public lands for short-term
commercial gain. .
We now know that the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources (DCNR) is planning to open our award-winning State
Park system to commercial timbering, surface mining, and gas drilling. Mr.
Norbeck worked to limit these activities, and he has now paid the price by
losing his job, while trying to defend our public lands from exploitation.
We are concerned that the Corbett administration will replace more
dedicated conservation professionals in DCNR with political cronies that
have no experience managing public lands. These political appointments
can pave the way for the mining, timber and natural gas industries to invade
and exploit our precious parks and forests with impunity. We don't think
that campaign contributions to Gov. Corbett should drive policy decisions
to overturn long-standing protections of our parks and forests.
We urge the Corbett Administration to halt its purge of conservation
professionals. We urge the General Assembly to investigate the firing of
Mr. Norbeck to determine whether any improper actions occurred."
Statement released by the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.
Sierra Club Responds to Firing of Director
of Pennsylvania State Park System
En
vir
on
men
tal
Ju
stic
e
Co
mm
itte
e U
pd
ate
November Pizza Book Study: Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Governance by Cormac Cullinan
Saturdays, November 3, 10 and 24, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the
Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Find a comprehensive list of those harmed by Marcellus Drilling
(so far) at: http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.
wordpress.com/the-list/
For more info contact
[email protected] or call 412-596-0066.
Submitted by the Environmental Justice Committee
10 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
We keep working. Yet, while violence on the international stage has captured our attention, our continued efforts toward peace surely belong at home, where in the space of just a bit more than a month, from July 20 to August 24, 33 people were killed and another 99 were wounded in a series of mass shootings—a summer of the gun. On each deadly occasion, there have been passionate, if woefully brief, conversations about the need to reexamine gun regulation in the United States, particularly with regard to the lapsed ban on assault weapons and laws protecting interstate and, by extension, online ammunition sales. Perhaps Chris Hedges is right: “We have created and live in a world where violence has become the primary form of communication.” Which leaves us where with regard to a national conversation on violence? Dead in the water?
The Armor of God? Oh, if only there were a place where people could gather on a regular basis to talk about causes, effects, and solutions for escalating public violence, I thought on my way to church recently. It turned out to be a Sunday when most Catholics and mainline protestants were reading, in the Apostle Paul’s “Letter from a Roman Jail to the people of Ephesus,” a paradoxical inversion of the rhetoric of violence as pervasive in the first century as the twenty-first: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. … Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17) Now, of course, other religious traditions have highly developed theologies and philosophies of nonviolence. But, in the West, it is Pauline Christianity which has most deeply shaped both rhetorics of hate and violence and counter-narratives of justice and nonviolence. So, understanding what Paul might have been up to and how he has been misread in influential passages such as the one above is particularly important not only for the majority of self-identified Christians who populate the United States, but also for those who must contend with the various Christian ideologies and practices that remain, despite cries of an encroaching anti- or post-Christian secularism, deeply embedded in the culture. The “armor of God,” too often turned to violent purposes, is comprised of truth, righteousness, and peace. Paul’s “helmet of salvation”—that which protects the center of human thought and reason—and “sword of the Spirit” are not of course acts of aggression, but words. Hence, likewise, the sword of justice wielded in the Revelation of John (Rev. 19:11-15)—the New Testament book most often cited in violent, apocalyptic Christian fantasies—extends from the mouth of the white-robed representation of the risen Christ. He slays the forces of cosmic evil not with physical aggression, but with the same “Word of God” that Paul calls out as the fundamental instrument of Christian faith, righteousness, and peace. This peace—the “Peace of Christ” in Christian tradition—is the heart of Christian teaching and practice, upon which rests everything from faithful stewardship of creation, to economic
justice, to the rejection of violence as a solution for personal, familial, social, or political disagreements. So why am I not hearing much about this in Sunday sermons? One reason is the complex theology behind the Gospel message of activist, transformative nonviolence that is easy for a homilist to set aside in favor of God-loves-you! Sunday messages often demand little from believers beyond robust self-esteem and a vague acceptance of God’s expectation that we generally do right by others. Thus, dusted off during Lent and the Easter season, the premodern language of sin, suffering, sacrifice, and salvation, as theologian Marcus Borg has argued, and Pew researchers have tracked, are poorly understood by Christians themselves. A recent New York Times commentary by Colleen Oakley on the religious mullings of disidentified Christian agnostics makes clear that many Christians are hard-pressed to explain what
it means to say “Jesus was the son of God,” or “Jesus died for our sins.” This widespread ignorance among Christians—perhaps especially those who think of themselves as more progressive in their beliefs and practices—encourages cooptation by those with an appetite for domination, violence, and exploitation. At the same time, it
invites wider misunderstanding and an understandable disdain among non-Christians for what appears as a valorizing of violence in the Christian tradition.
Theology is Complicated Much of this has had to do with the slow evolution of normative Christian theology, particularly with regard to what is known as atonement theology—the explanation for why Jesus, at once son of God and “true God from true God,” was allowed to die a criminal’s death in a public execution. If Jesus is God, or even if Jesus was merely God’s son, people have asked through the centuries, why would God as Jesus himself or God as the father of Jesus not save himself/him from such a shameful, horrific death? And how, the questioning continues, does Jesus’ death effect the salvation of humankind that Christians claim? This relationship between Jesus’ death and salvation is at the center of atonement theology and of Christian faith. Perhaps more importantly for those of us wondering how to address violence today, it is at the center of Christian practices of activist nonviolence. Christians are called to nonviolence, that is, not because God asks them to be nice people, but because of why and how the God they worship through Jesus Christ ministered in the world, was executed, and was resurrected. The “do unto others,” “turn the other cheek,” “love your neighbor as yourself” philosophies that many Christians and non-Christians do identify as among the teachings of Jesus matter only when they are held against the reality of intolerance, injustice, and violence to which Jesus succumbed and over which, in Christian belief, he triumphed as the risen Christ. Absent the social and theological meaning of his violent death, Jesus’ teachings are merely the bumper sticker slogans of a hippy prophet and the resurrection is but the twisted magic trick of a sadomasochistic god.
No Satisfaction The bullet-point version, if you will, of classic Christian atonement theories offers up five categories: ransom, satisfaction, substitution, moral influence, and solidarity. The first four go something like this: Ransom: Adam and Eve sold their souls to Satan when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge, tainting all of humanity with “original sin.” With Jesus’ death, God reclaimed humanity from the devil, human disobedience having been traded for divine obedience. Satisfaction: Jesus died on behalf of humankind, whose sinfulness offended the feudal Lord God, creating a debt of honor that humanity could not possibly repay. The death of Jesus is the only thing that could satisfy this debt. Substitution: This variation on satisfaction theology has it that humanity was so sinful that God should have wiped out the lot of us, but had made a covenant with Noah after the Great Flood not to do so. Thus, Jesus stands in for sinful humanity, allowing God to avoid violating the covenant while satisfying the debt owed to God. Moral Influence: Here, Jesus’ death was not seen primarily as a means to satisfy God, who needs nothing from humanity and whose mind is unchangeable, but to influence moral change in humans through the example of Jesus’ perfect obedience to God, including suffering death at the hands of sinful humans. From the early church to the Reformation, these theologies of atonement, with various adaptations, made sense to most Christians. The language of “ransom,” “redemption,” “satisfaction” and “obedience” are shot throughout Christian liturgies, regardless of the ideological leanings of particular denominations. You are as likely to hear “Jesus was ransomed for us sinners” from the pulpit of a progressive Lutheran church as you are from that of a conservative evangelical mega church. The trouble, however, with all of the classic atonement theories is that they allow that violence is necessary to establish the authority of God and, perhaps more incomprehensibly, God’s love for humanity. Jesus may have been the wrong mark for Roman imperial violence tinged with anti-Semitism, but in these models of atonement, violence itself, injustice, and the abuse of power are presented as not inherently problematic. They’re merely misdirected.
Enlightened Nonviolence It’s taken literally centuries for most mainstream Christian theologians to move away from what for many Christians and non-Christians alike seem unfathomably cruel, violence-legitimizing interpretations of Jesus’ execution as ransom to Satan, satisfaction or substitution for a debt owed by sinful humanity to God, or as an abusive object lesson in obedience. The trickle-down from seminary to pulpit may be slow, but the now common theological interpretation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ moves well away from the idea of divinely sanctioned violence, the echoes of which have long been seen in justifications for aggression against non-Christians, non-Westerners, women, children, and so on. Since at least the late 1950s, liberation theologians like Leonardo Boff, Katie Geneva Cannon, Gustavo Gutiérrez,William Stringfellow, and Dorothee Sölle, have emphasized the solidarity with humans who suffer—the poor; ethnic, racial, and sexual minorities; women; the disabled; the sick and dying—as a result of sinful human cultural,
economic, political, and religious systems as
essential to any meaningful understanding of why
God became human, ministered among those at
the margins of society, and was executed at the
hands of the powerful.
Atonement theologies that highlight God’s
solidarity through Jesus with those who suffer eschew the structures and vocabularies of
(Continued from page 1)
PEACEMAKERS continued from front page
Activism and Faith
Continued on page 11
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 11
PEACEMAKERS continued from page 10 domination and violence that Jesus encountered in his life and that brought
about his death. An enlightened, nonviolent version of classic moral
influence theories, theologies of radical Christian solidarity argue that God
became human as Jesus to make known, as only a divinity choosing to be
present in human form could, the tragic vulgarity of the systematized human
impulse to domination, exploitation, and violence.
Against this backdrop, Jesus’ teachings about the “Kingdom of God”
available “on earth as it is in heaven” and his resurrection are much more
than slick marketing brought home with a jaw-dropping divine parlor trick.
They are powerful critiques of the social striving, accumulation of material
wealth, religious self-righteousness, and the often violent means used to
enforce elite status that corrupt human cultures. The lowly birth, bottom-up
ministry, criminal execution, and miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ are,
likewise, for Christians proclamations that salvation is not a passive,
ringside, spectator sport viewed from a mystical kingdom in the sky.
Christians are called by faith in the here and now to be “all in” with regard to
justice, compassion, and nonviolence—though the response to this call has
been rare enough that those who have attempted to make it a way of life
came to be called “saints” in a specialized way that St. Paul surely never
intended.
Or, as the British Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton famously put it,
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found
difficult and left untried.”
Demographically speaking, Christianity may well be on the wane, but self-
identified Christians still make up nearly 80% of the U.S. population and
Christian theologies and practices are deeply woven into the fabric of
American culture. Given the violence that has shown itself in such a
pronounced way over a long, hot summer of discontent across the country, it
seems reasonable that Christian believers should be called—by Christians
themselves and those of other or no faith tradition—to enact the
commitments of their faith in the service of nonviolence and practices of
justice and compassion that support it.
It’s been a more than a generation since Christian churches—black
churches, for the most part—were seen, at the height of the Civil Rights
Movement, as centers of nonviolent social engagement. For a remarkable
season of dissent and meaningful, if incomplete, social transformation, the
Christian gospels and the letters of St. Paul were the very soul of a lived
rhetoric of peace and justice. This theology of solidarity and nonviolence did
not fail to express its own maddened sense of frustration, disappointment,
and outrage, but managed to do this without recourse to the gun-fueled
violence, destruction, and death it often faced.
It is this tradition to which Secretary Clinton harkened in her remarks after
the Libya attacks:
When Christians are subject to insults to their faith, and that certainly
happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. When Hindus or
Buddhists are subjected to insults to their faiths, and that also certainly
happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. The same goes for all
faiths, including Islam.
I can’t speak for other world religions. But, as a Christian and as an
American, I can insist that it is time for Christians to begin living actively
within this tradition of nonviolent peacemaking again. It is time for Christian
churches—all of them—to start speaking and acting out of a zeal for justice
and peace more than out of a desire for personal comfort as though that
counted for spiritual meaning. It is time, that is, for Christian churches to
atone for their own role in the culture of violence within which we all suffer
by standing actively against it week upon week upon week in the pulpit and
on the street.
Dr. Elizabeth Drescher is a native of Western Pennsylvania. She teaches
religious studies and pastoral ministry at Santa Clara University and
researches ordinary believers. She is the author of Tweet If You ♥ Jesus:
Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation and, with Keith
Anderson, Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible. Her website is
www.elizabethdrescher.com
by Joyce Rothermel
All are invited to hear the final speaker in the 2012
Fall Series of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests,
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. His topic will be “The
Challenge of Peace in a Violent World.” The event
takes place Monday, November 19, at 7:30 pm at
the Kearns Spirituality Center. The center is beside
LaRoche College and behind the Motherhouse of the
Sisters of Divine Providence in the North Hills.
Bishop Gumbleton is a historic advocate for peace
and justice. He is the founding President of Pax
Christi, a Catholic peace advocacy organization, and
a continuing ambassador for the peace movement.
Now retired Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, Bishop
Gumbleton has participated in protests against nu-
clear war and the war in Iraq. He continues to speak
out on the issues of our day, consistently in favor of
non-violence. His weekly homilies are published in
the National Catholic Reporter.
Suggested donation for the evening is $15. For
reservations (although not necessary), call Sr. Joan
Coultas at 412-366-1124 or e-mail
[email protected] For information about the Association of Pittsburgh Priests or to sug-
gest a speaker for 2013, contact Fr. John Oesterle at 412-232-7512.
Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the Church Renewal Committee of the Association of Pitts-
burgh Priests.
by Rev. Neil McCauley
It has been called the greatest religious event of
the 20th century and beyond. The 21st Ecumenical
Council of the Catholic Church (Vatican Council
II) produced 16 documents which were often
revolutionary. The four major documents dealt
with 1) revelation; 2) liturgy (worship); 3) the
Church; and 4) the Church in the Modern World.
They were called Constitutions. Some of the
smaller documents were very powerful and
ground-breaking, like the Declarations on
Religious Freedom, Ecumenism and the Relation
of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Others
were "sleepers," bringing about enormous changes
perhaps not foreseen but in full accord with the
mind of the Council and Pope John XXIII.
Beginning in this issue of The New People and
following in subsequent ones, significant quotes
from the Council documents will be shared. They
will highlight the "garden of delights" of spiritual
inspiration planted 50 years ago. The first of these
quotes is at right.
Rev. Neil McCauley is the retired pastor of St.
Stephen's in Hazelwood and now serves at
Epiphany and St. Mary of Mercy Church in
uptown and downtown Pittsburgh. He is a past
president of the National Federation of Priests'
Councils and member of the Association of
Pittsburgh Priests.
Vatican Council II, the
50th Anniversary
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
To Speak on Peace
Activism and Faith
"The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of
the people of this age, especially those who are poor or
in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes,
the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. In-
deed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in
their hearts."
- Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World, Vatican Council II
Association of Pittsburgh Priests
APP
12 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
by Dan Kovalik
"There are two types of people in the world -- those that love and create, and those that hate and
destroy." -- Jose Marti
While the Nobel Prize Committee has again awarded the Peace Prize to a war-maker on a grand scale; this time to the EU, which, through NATO,
has been carrying out war continuously for decades in such far-flung places as Yugoslavia, Libya and Afghanistan. It is important to remember that there
are indeed peacemakers in the world deserving of the prize. However, these deserving peacemakers may not be people you would think of because
they have either been vilified or completely ignored by the Western press.
Contemplate this story from The Guardian, titled, "Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez played role in Colombia's peace talks with FARC" guerillas:
“The ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, together with Venezuela's recently re-elected leader Hugo Chavez, played a critical role in
bringing the Colombian government and the... FARC guerrilla group together for peace talks that could end one of Latin America's longest-running
civil wars, the Observer has learned. According to sources closely involved in the peace process, which sees historic talks opening in Oslo on
Wednesday, the key breakthrough, after almost four years of back-channel talks between the two sides, came during a visit earlier this year by
Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, to Cuba, where he met both Castro and Chávez, who
was in Cuba being treated for cancer.”
Spending almost four years to end a bloody civil war that has been going on for more than 50
years, and which has cost tens of thousands of lives, certainly seems a feat worthy of a peace prize. Undoubtedly, this outshines the efforts of the
U.S., which, through three different administrations, including the Obama administration, has spent more than $8 billion in
military aid to the Colombian regime to keep the
war going. Incredibly, though, it was Obama who
was awarded the Nobel Prize, despite the fact that he has helped stoke the Colombian conflict, most recently by sending military advisers to Colombia;
continued the war in Afghanistan; maintained the shameful gulag in Guantanamo Bay; expanded the war to Pakistan; started a war in Libya; and
threatened further conflict in both Syria and Iran.
Meanwhile, while Obama's "assistance" to Haiti after the
2010 earthquake consisted of
sending 14,000 armed troops,
it was Fidel and Chavez who sent doctors and medical
assistance to Haiti.
Their help, according to The New York Times, prevented Haiti from being overrun by the cholera epidemic. Again, this use of peaceful means to
provide desperately-needed aid to the poorest country in our Hemisphere, in contrast to the U.S.'s usual violent means, seems worthy of the Nobel
Prize. In addition, there are other brave men and women living in Colombia who have for many
years risked their lives to try to bring peace to that country. Foremost among these is former Senator Piedad Cordoba, who has been a key figure in
jumpstarting the Colombian peace talks. Ms. Cordoba has sacrificed her political career for peace, having been stripped of her right to stand
and run for political office because of her contacts with the FARC guerillas. These contacts were
necessary to bring about the release of captives held by the FARC as well as to advance peace discussions. It is unsung heroes like Piedad who
deserve to be singled out for their sacrifices in the interests of peace. The Nobel Committee should also consider
giving the Peace Prize to La Marcha Patrotica in
Colombia, led by such brave souls as my friend Carlos Lozano, who has also played a key role in advancing the peace in that country. La Marcha
has worked closely with those at the center of the conflict, poor peasants, to pressure the Colombian government to come to the negotiating table. For
their efforts, a number of the leaders and rank and file members of La Marcha have been vilified,
threatened, jailed, murdered and disappeared. Again, the Nobel Prize was created to reward the type of courage shown by such peacemakers.
I also think of my friend Marino Cordoba, who escaped from Colombia to the U.S. after multiple attempts upon his life by right-wing paramilitary
groups. They were closely aligned with the military, which the U.S. has been funding for years. He recently returned to Colombia in the
interest of accompanying fellow Afro-Colombians in their struggle for peace and justice. Afro-Colombians have been particularly affected by the
conflict in Colombia. More than 12 percent of Afro-Colombians have been internally displaced, disproportionately filling the ranks of the more
than 5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Colombia has the largest IDP population on earth.
Marino, without any means of support, has put everything on the line for this effort. He left his wife and three children behind in the U.S. while
risking his life for peace in Colombia. Sadly, however, it is not such people who are considered for the Nobel Prize these days. Instead,
the Prize is going to the world's most powerful, like Obama and the EU, who wield their power destructively, in the interest of war rather than
peace. Meanwhile, those truly working for peace are ignored or ridiculed. This is the upside-down world in which we find ourselves.
Dan Kovalik is a labor and human rights attorney
living in Pittsburgh and teaches International
Human Rights Law at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Law.
Nobel Peace Prize Goes to War-Makers, While Peacemakers Are Shunned
by Joyce Rothermel
Haiti is again in crisis. Still reeling from the
January 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000
people, created more than a thousand amputees,
and still more homeless as a deadly cholera
epidemic set in, the country is now experiencing a
severe inflation, food prices rising by 40 percent.
Haitians are taking
to the streets to
demonstrate their
discontent and to
demand the
resignation of
President Martelly.
For some Haitians
this has meant tear
gas and billy club
beatings by a
national police bent
on keeping order
and curbing dissent.
Along with this humanitarian crisis that many
Haitians continue to experience, are the chronic
human rights problems, including violence
against girls and women, inhuman prison
conditions, and past human rights abuses for
which there has been no accountability.
Women often suffer a double consequence
when inflation makes necessities inaccessible.
Human Rights Watch found that women’s lack of
economic security leads some women to trade sex
for food or other necessities, increasing chances
for unintended pregnancy and disease. In
particular, pregnant women, lactating mothers,
women with disabilities, and the elderly face
increased hardships due to constrained mobility
and greater need for health services, food, and
water that are in short supply.
The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission
(IHRC), established in April 2010, continued to
operate through most of 2011. However, an
extension of the
IHRC has not been
forthcoming, making
its future uncertain.
The Commission’s
mandate is to oversee
billions of dollars in
reconstruction aid, to
conduct strategic
planning, and to
coordinate multi-
lateral and bilateral
donors, NGOs, and
the private sector. Former US President Bill
Clinton is still a co-chair of the IHRC and UN
special envoy for Haiti. Thousands of
organizations and Haiti's diaspora here and
abroad are lifelines to many people struggling in
Haiti, staving off desperation and further
hardship. Still, government stability and
cooperation are needed for economic conditions
to improve and violence to decrease.
We must encourage our government to provide
the money pledged to Haiti at the time of the
earthquake to help ensure the availability of
affordable food and shelter to those who continue
to lack these basic necessities. All of us,
organizations and individuals, can also help by
supporting the western Pennsylvania-based
organizations that are helping to rebuild and
improve life in Haiti. Partners in Progress is
assisting two rural communities in Haiti in the
rebuilding and building of their schools. You can
help. Visit www.piphaiti.org
Joyce Rothermel is a member of the Pittsburgh
Haiti Solidarity Committee and board member
of Partners in Progress, supporting rural
sustainable development in Haiti.
Unrest in Haiti Continues as Inflation Rises
International Activism
The Second Annual Anne Mullaney's Dream for Haiti benefit is being held on Saturday,
Nov. 17, 2012 at 6:30 PM at Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle on
24th and Penn Avenue in the Strip District. The cost is $100 and includes
an open bar, full buffet, live music and an auction. Make check payable to Partners in Progress and mail to
David Regan, Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle, 2329 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, call
David at the Harp & Fiddle at 412-642-6622.
Rising inflation brings Haitians to the streets.
Associated Press
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 13
by Robin Alexander
Is it fair? Will groups of
people be disenfranchised?
Will the outcome reflect the
will of the people?
These questions were raised in Pennsylvania by
our new voter registration law and they
were on my mind as I traveled to Venezuela last
week as part of a large international
delegation. I knew that Jimmy Carter had
declared that the Venezuelan system was “the
best in the world,” but was still unprepared for
what I found.
Venezuela's constitution has added an
independent electoral branch of government, the
National Electoral Council (CNE). It has earned
respect across the political spectrum. A few
nights prior to the election, opposition candidate
Henrique Capriles Randonski claimed he would
win, urged his supporters to vote, and expressed
his total confidence in the electoral system.
In contrast to the US where certain groups are
being targeted for exclusion, the CNE has
engaged in extensive outreach, increasing voter
registration to 96.5%. The number
of polling places has nearly doubled and a
massive education campaign has informed
and encouraged voters. This election served as a
referendum on Chavez' leadership and
vision for the future, also contributing to the turn-
out of over 80%. Capriles supporters
complained about inflation, corruption, crime,
and length of time in office. Some told me they
had voted for Chavez in the last election. “Time
for a change,” they said. Chavez supporters told
me about the new labor law, the number of new
houses that are being built, the elimination of
extreme poverty, the distribution of land, and the
new police academy designed to train the police
in human rights and eliminate corruption. “We
are not going back,” they said. All were proud of
the election process and didn't think there would
be violence, despite media pronouncements and
rumors to the contrary.
Impressive technology with 17 audit processes
also contributed to confidence in the process. The
morning of the election, each machine is put
through its paces and, with the poll workers, party
witnesses and soldiers present, is unlocked with a
code. It then generates a tape that indicates that
no votes have yet been registered. Voters place
their fingers in a reader linked to a data base to
generate their ID number and photo. This
unlocks the voting machine, permitting the voter
to press the picture of the candidate and party of
his or her choice. The machine issues a paper
receipt with the name of the candidate, permitting
the voter to double check that the vote was
properly recorded and to fold and place the paper
in a ballot box. The final steps are to dip one's
pinky in indelible ink and to sign and place a
fingerprint in the registry as a final backup check.
When the polls close, 54% of the paper ballots
cast are checked manually against the final tally
issued by the voting machines. This was the most
moving part of a long and exhausting day, as I
watched the final stage in the election drama play
out. With great care the machine was shut down
and issued its final tape of the day: a breakdown
by candidate and party of all the votes that had
been cast – 290 votes for Chavez, 94 for Capriles,
none for the other five candidates and 4 null
votes. Seated on tiny chairs in a grade school
classroom, two young women carefully listed the
names and parties of all of the candidates. Then,
in complete silence, with intense concentration,
the ballot box was opened and another poll
worker began pulling out the folded pieces of
paper one by one while the young women marked
the results on their master sheet. More than five
hundred names later, they confirmed a perfect
match. It was a tiny piece of a democratic process
that was repeated in schools throughout the
country.
No exit polls are permitted, so we all waited,
anxious for the results of this hard fought
campaign. While past history suggested that
Chavez would win, the opposition clearly had
many supporters, and the margin of victory would
be important. The results were reported several
hours later: with 90% of the votes counted, the
results were 54.4% for Chavez, 44.9% for
Capriles (although in the final tally, Chavez’
margin was slightly greater). Soon after, Capriles
appeared on national TV. He began by saying:
“The will of the people is sacred.” Chavez spoke
a bit later from the balcony of the national palace:
“I congratulate the opposition leadership who
recognized the victory of the people. I call to you
to dialog and to work together for Venezuela.”
Despite long lines in some locations and
occasional minor glitches with the machines, the
day had been totally peaceful. The country did not
go up in flames. The violence predicted by the
media did not occur. Instead, Venezuelans
flooded into the streets of Caracas for a giant
party.
Robin Alexander is Director of International
Affairs for the United Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers of America (UE). She traveled
to Venezuela as part of an eight-member
delegation representing the National Lawyers
Guild, in turn part of a much larger delegation
of some two hundred members of parliaments,
election commissions, journalists, professors,
judges and representatives women's, human
rights, and other NGOs from across the world.
2012 Venezuelan Election: Dictatorship or Democracy?
International Activism
Local Activists Continue to Raise Concerns over Sweatshops by Kenneth Miller
In Allegheny County
In a recent meeting with County Executive
Rich Fitzgerald, representatives of the Black
Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) were
assured that Allegheny County was not procuring
products produced in sweatshops. Last month, I
went into the CCAC South Student Life office
and there saw with my own eyes, t-shirts made by
Gildan in their sweatshops in Haiti.
We then secured a meeting with John Deighan
and David Foreman from Allegheny County
Procurement to call attention to this
discrepancy. Meeting with them were Jay
Marano, Trademarks and Licensing Director at
Carnegie Mellon University, Navada Green of B-
PEP, and myself, co-founder of the Pittsburgh
Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance
(PASCA). They showed us contracts used to
procure Gildan apparel for both the Parks and
Juvenile Correction Departments. We reviewed
testimony from union organizers from Haiti,
Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua describing
sweatshop labor conditions in Gildan factories
where they work. Mr. Deighan and Mr. Foreman
seemed convinced that the Allegheny County
Code of Conduct would be applicable to these
facilities. We all seemed to agree that the
Allegheny County Code of Conduct could
usefully transcend national labor laws and help
these workers exercise their human rights. We
expect Allegheny County to utilize their
purchasing position to leverage remediation of
these factory conditions.
Also discussed at the meeting was the limited
interpretation of the anti-sweatshop ordinance in
the current Allegheny County Code of Conduct
by the procurement department. They are
unwilling to require factory disclosures from the
suppliers who seek county contracts saying they
lack the authority under the current ordinance. In
order for the workers in sweatshops to be
successful in their human and labor rights’
struggle, they need the leverage of those who
contract for their products with factory
management.
At Gildan Workers’ actions are escalating at Gildan in
profound ways. Their new logo — four unions in
four different countries — illustrates their
demand to negotiate with Gildan jointly and with
one voice.
Our colleagues at the Workers Rights
Consortium, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, and
United Students Against Sweatshops have a
meaningful, coordinated effort in support of
organizing that explicitly transcends the national
labor laws through use of both Gildan's own Code
of Conduct and our Codes of Conduct here in
Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh.
Primary resources and insights about the
Gildan organizing came from Liana Foxvog with
SweatFree Communities. The procurement
meeting with Allegheny County might not have
occurred at all, were it not for B-PEP’s emphasis
on human rights and labor rights.
In Bangladesh The National Garment Workers Federation of
Bangladesh has called on Secretary Hillary
Rodham Clinton and the U.S. State Department to
help protect garment workers’ jobs in Bangladesh
by continuing to provide tax incentives for export
of garments made with cotton from the southern
U.S. They have launched a Safe Workplace
Campaign to report unsafe conditions in factories
and neighborhoods. In the past two months,
neighborhoods where workers live have burned to
the ground. Hundreds of workers have died in
factory fires this year alone. Even as these fires
raged, workers continued to act in solidarity by
holding protest marches for the miners in South
Africa and by encouraging Wal-Mart workers in
the Pittsburgh area to organize with them.
In Other Sweatshop News
The 2012 Presidential race seems devoid of any
sincere enthusiasm for labor rights. The Institute
for Global Labor and Human Rights issued a
report, Romney/Bain Invested in brutal Chinese
sweatshops. PASCA is having Steel Valley
Printers print copies of this report for our Major
League Sweatshop Media Team for distribution at
Pirate Fest 2013 in December at the David L
Lawrence Convention Center.
The Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community
Alliance develops relationships with apparel
industry union organizers in the world and
brings their testimony to Allegheny County. For
more information and to get involved, contact
Kenneth Miller at
(412) 867-9213.
Kenneth Miller is co-
founder of Pittsburgh
Anti-Sweatshop
Community Alliance.
Globallabourrights.org
14 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
This Election B(r)ought to You B(u)y . . . an opinion piece by Josh Zelesnick
Seth Kline from US News and World
Report recently mused on what Obama and
Romney would look like if the presidential
race were on the NASCAR circuit—with the
names and logos of their sponsors on their
bodysuits: Obama with a big Microsoft
stencil across his chest, Romney with
Goldman Sachs.
According to OpenSecrets.org (which is
based on Federal Election Commission data),
as of October 21st, Obama has raised more
than $555 million dollars to Romney’s $355
million. Obama has raised about $14 million
from the finance, insurance, and real estate
industry, while Romney has raised over $40
million. Top contributors for Obama include
University of California ($706,931),
Microsoft Corp. ($544,445), and Google Inc.
($526,009). Top contributors to Romney
include five banks, four of which received
TARP funds: Goldman Sachs ($891,140),
Bank of America ($668,139), JP Morgan
Chase & Co ($663,219), and Morgan Stanley
($649,847).
Let’s pause for a moment and analyze this.
Many—especially liberals—may say that
they would much prefer to support a
candidate who was receiving funds from what
seem like benevolent donors, like the ones
listed for Obama, rather than the four banks
listed for Romney. Please do not be deceived
by this. Microsoft would love to have a
monopoly over the software industry (and it
practically does). It’s been developing
inferior products like the Xbox for years and
using its wealth and power to close markets
from competitors. In July 2012, The Gates
Foundation gave $10 million to British
scientists to support genetically modified
crops (GMOs) that seem to decrease yields
over time. This isn’t surprising considering
that Bill Gates owns more than 500,000
shares of bio-tech giant Monsanto’s stock.
Google is no different. Why compete when
you can buy the competition? Google bought
Frommer’s Travel Guides in August 2012 as
it continues to move into the publishing
market. Forbes Magazine’s Jeff Bercovici
asks an apt question: "How long can Google
be a fair arbiter of all the world’s information
when it increasingly has information of its
own that it wants to promote?" In October
2010, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that
Google cut its taxes by $3.1 billion since
2007 using a strategy that moves most of its
foreign profits through Ireland and the
Netherlands to Bermuda. As noted by a
professor of Economics at Reed College,
“Such ‘income shifting’ costs the U.S.
government as much as $60 billion in annual
revenue.” Loopholes like this allow Google’s
effective tax rate to be about 22.2 percent
instead of the 35 percent it’s supposed to pay
(the standard US corporate income-tax rate).
Thousands of U.S. companies do this same
thing—Microsoft too—it’s a standard
practice.
University of California may seem the most
benevolent, but when students are locked into
debt cycles that threaten to be the next big
bubble, and universities continue to rely on
contingent (part-time), grossly underpaid
labor to cut costs, a university giving money
to a candidate creates a conflict of interest
where Obama could be beholden to the
administration of UC.
However, money given directly from
corporations is still chump change compared
to cash given by bundlers - powerful
individuals who often work for powerful
corporations. These "individuals" have
contributed close to $143 million to Obama’s
campaign. One of these bundlers, who gave at
least $500 thousand, is former Goldman
Sachs CEO Jon Corzine, whose company,
MF Global, was investigated for "misplacing"
hundreds of millions of dollars in customer
funds. Strangely, Obama even has a bundler
from Romney’s "ex-corporation" Bain
Capital. Romney’s hundreds of bundlers,
whom he’s decided not to disclose (except for
registered lobbyists that the FEC requires to
be disclosed) have given millions of dollars
as well. One of his bundlers (and a lobbyist),
Patrick Durkin has given more than $1
million alone. He works for Barclay’s
Capital—a bank recently forced to pay a $453
million fine for manipulating the London
Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to its own
benefit (a key global market interest rate).
As of October 21st, Super PACs have spent
just shy of $190 million during the 2012
election. Super PACs are not allowed to make
contributions to candidate campaigns or
parties, but they can engage in unlimited
political spending independently of the
campaigns. In the last four weeks, Super
PACs in support of Mitt Romney have spent
more than $15 million while those geared
towards Obama spent about $18 million.
Joshua Zelesnick teaches at Duquesne
University. He is a poet and activist and is
on the volunteer organizing committee for
the Duquesne Adjunct Faculty Association.
Activists on Organizing
by Anne E. Lynch
This month, I want to go through what Three
Rivers Community Foundation (TRCF) looks for
in a grant application, to assist any potential
applicants in bettering their chances of getting
funding from us as we enter the new grantmaking
cycle!
What all applications eventually come down to,
for us, is that they are endeavoring to create social
change. We know that social services (providing
food for the hungry, housing for the homeless,
etc.) are much needed. However, in the words of
Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi
NAACP:
“It’s through community
organizing and advocacy that any
real impact can take place. It is great to
fund service. Service is needed, but
service is more of a band aid as opposed to long-
term policy and system change.”
We’re looking for those who are working for
long-term policy and system change. There are
lots of foundations and agencies that will help
feed the hungry. We want people to ask the
question, “Why are there still hungry people in
one of the richest countries in the world?” and
demand change. So one of the key things you
have to ask yourself, if you are considering
applying to us, is whether what you are doing is
providing a service, or actually creating change.
One of the big parts of working for social
justice and creating social change is that you’re
not just going into a community, pointing out a
problem and telling the community how to solve
it. We want to see that you are actual members of
the community with the problem or at the very
least that you are working with groups that are
integrated with the community.
And “community” means more
than just a neighborhood. All too often,
we see projects come in that are categorized as
youth issues. However, the project seems to be
designed by adults, to address a problem they see
with “the youth.” We will have “the youth” do
this. We will have “the youth” do that. We will
provide this for “the youth.” Well, where is the
youth input? Have you actually talked with youth
and is this project what they want? We love
seeing applications come in from groups that are
promoting youth activism – but we want to see
that youth are involved in ALL planning stages,
from coming up with the idea, to carrying it out!
Provide support for youth organizers, yes, but let
them own the project!
We also love to see collaborations! Getting as many people and groups to the table on
a project lets you know that you have a better
chance of success, and will see lots of different
perspectives.
We’d also encourage you to think “outside the
box.” Reach out to groups that focus on different
issues (see last month’s “Intersectionality 101”
article!). It’s likely that you’ll find some common
ground on an issue and can become great allies.
Finally for this month, let’s talk preaching to
the choir. You know you have the support of your
constituents. You know who your likely allies are.
Don’t stop there! Say you’re organizing an event
to combat homophobia. Yes, advertise the event
in all the LGBTQ news outlets, friendly
businesses, and so on.
But to truly have an effect on
eradicating homophobia, you have to
reach outs ide the LGBTQ
community. You have to be bold and walk
inside places like grocery stores and houses of
worship, and put a flyer on the bulletin board.
You have to reach the people who are causing the
problem. This goes back to change versus service – it’s
great to teach women ways that can lessen their
chances of getting raped. That’s a service.
Working with men to teach them respect for
women and how to stand up and be allies to
survivors of rape and domestic violence – that’s
CHANGE.
You’re no longer just treating the symptoms of
a problem, you’re striking at the root.
Anne E. Lynch is the Manager of
Administrative Operations at Three Rivers
Community Foundation.
Social Justice Organizing 101: Grant Applications
November 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 15
Frances Sutter Celebrates 100
Minghua He I am now studying for
my Master of Social
Work at the
University of
Pittsburgh. I am from
China, and my hobby
is playing the piano and Chinese zither.
My mother is a collector of Chinese
paintings. In the early stages of Chinese charity
organizations, the fundraising was always related
to auctions. Because of my mother’s influence, I
have had the chance to be in touch with charity
organizations in China, and in my sophomore
year, I was a volunteer teacher in Zhoukou,
Shenqiu, Henan province. The kids there were
eager to learn but their parents all went far away
to work due to economic pressure. During that
summer, I learned that every dream should be
irrigated, and every child should be loved.
However, because of the long-term economic
and political factors in China, social welfare and
charity organizations are not well organized.
The Thomas Merton Center would be a
great model for Chinese charity organizations.
My concentration of my MSW is in community
organization and social administration, which I
think has a great connection with the tasks here.
America is a beautiful country in my eyes, and
doing social work here is enjoyable and
meaningful.
Briar Somerville spent much of the last
year distributing books to NYC homeless through
the Occupy Wall Street Library, and got arrested
practicing non-violent civilly disobedient singing
to disrupt the auctioning of foreclosed homes
with Organizing 4 Occupation. Briar now studies
Information Science at Pitt
after transferring from
NYU, where she was
treasurer of the chapter of
the National Organization
for Women. Briar is
interning for the editorial
collective and excited to
see this issue in print.
Xinpei He I have
always been concerned about social justice and I
want devote myself to promoting equality of
human beings in the future. Working with the
Thomas Merton Center provides me a way to
learn from the values, programs and projects that
concentrate on achieving human wellbeing. I am
also interested in the administration of nonprofit
organizations and I want to start my career at one
of the NPOs in China.
During my internship, I
will help with grant
research, Book‘Em, Code
Pink and other projects.
This internship offers me a
chance to meet and work
with different people with
diversity that can improve
my professional skills as a
social worker.
Lilly Joynes Lilly is a
sophomore transfer student at the University of
Pittsburgh. She grew up in Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania and completed various internships
in publishing during high school. Lilly spent her
freshman year in Boston at Emerson College,
where she participated in Student Government
and worked on campus as an office assistant for
the Communication
Studies Department. Lilly
hopes to graduate in 2015
with a degree in
Communication and a
certificate in Public &
Professional Writing.
Lilly is creating a new
brochure for the TMC and
will be working on The
NewPeople as well.
Russell Noble Russell grew up in
Warrington, Pennsylvania, a small suburb of
Philadelphia. He is currently a sophomore at the
University of Pittsburgh, from which he hopes to
graduate with majors in philosophy and political
science, as well as a minor in mathematics. To
Russell, justice is an ideal goal that every
individual – and every society – should strive for.
He eventually hopes to go to a prestigious law
school and get a degree in criminal law. In
addition to working at
TMC, Russell is actively
involved with Amnesty
International and
STAND, two activist
groups on Pitt’s campus.
He loves Thai food, and
in his free time he enjoys
Scuba diving, hiking, and
ultimate Frisbee.
TMC welcomes our creative and talented interns
and thanks them for their contributions to our
shared peace and social justice mission.
Interns at TMC Further Our Peace and Justice Mission
We Remember
During this past month, three friends and supporters of the
Merton Center have died. We are grateful for their lives and
ask for peace and comfort for their families and loved ones.
JOYCE A. DURDEN
MAX LAUFFER
W. NEWLON TAUXE
We also remember GEORGE MCGOVERN with a debt of
gratitude for his generous life of public service.
by Shirley Gleditsch
On October 10, 2012, Frances Sutter of
Mars, Pennsylvania, celebrated her
100th birthday. A lifelong peace and jus-
tice advocate and worker, she has dedi-
cated much of her life to making positive
changes in the world. Frances was born
in 1912, lost her mother to influenza in
1918 and was raised, with five siblings,
by her father. She married Walter Sutter
in 1934, and they had two daughters,
Anne and Sue. Walter died in 1988.
Named to the Pennsylvania Voters
Hall of Fame, Frances has not missed
voting in a federal, state or local election
since the 1930s. She founded Pittsburgh North People for Peace almost
thirty years ago and is still active in the group as Secretary. When she
was 90, Frances, a member of the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition,
received the coalition’s Diversity Award.
Over the years, Frances has written countless letters to political advo-
cates from her home in the North Hills. Looking back, she recalls her
work for the Allegheny County Department of Parks and for James
Hughes, father of Joe, Liz and David Hughes, all active TMC members.
She remembers baby sitting for Joe, who said, "I can't remember that,
but do know that Frances works constantly for peace."
Among those honoring Frances for her birthday was Dutilh United
Methodist Church, where she has been active for more than 50
years. Pittsburgh North People for Peace honored her at a luncheon at
Salem United Methodist Church, where a proclamation from her con-
gressman was read, and her good friend, the late Alice Neuenschwan-
der, a former Merton Center staff member, was remembered as Fran-
ces’ inspiration.
Frances says that she prays daily for our country and our world as she
knows “we are not as good as we can be."
Thank you, Frances, for all you do for the cause of peace and justice
in our world. You are an inspiration to us all.
Shirley Gleditsch is the manager of the East End Community Thrift
Store (Thrifty).
Activist Community Updates
Frances Sutter
16 - NEWPEOPLE November 2012
November Activist Events
Sunday Monday
Tuesday Thursday 1 Friday 2 Wednesday Saturday 3 Green Party Meeting
7:00-9:00pm
2121 Murray Avenue
Pgh, PA 15217 (2nd
Floor) 412-784-0256
Malalathon Basketball
Benefit Planning
Meeting
7:00-8:30pm
Salvation Army CC,
1060 McNeilly Road,
Mt. Lebanon, PA 15226
Editorial Collective
Meeting
10:30am-12:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
First Friday Action:
1:30-3:00pm
Post Office, Downtown
Tony @ 412-462-9962
Black Voices for Peace
Vigil to End the War
1:00pm
Corner of Penn and
Highland in East Liberty
TMC Environmental
Justice Book Study and
Potluck
4:00-6:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
TMC Economic Justice
Committee Meeting
4:00-5:30pm
Thomas Merton Center
Book’em Packing Day
4:00-7:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
Capital's End
7:30-11:00pm
Istanbul Grille,
4130 Butler St. Pgh,
PA 15201
4 5 ISO Meeting
7:30-9:00pm at TMC
6 8 9 7 10 Write On! Letters for
Prisoner Rights
7:00pm at TMC
PADP Meeting
7:00-8:00pm
First Unitarian Church
Darfur Coalition Meets
5:00-7:30pm
Room C, Carnegie Library,
Squirrel Hill
MOVEPGH Workshops
1:00-3:00pm, Kaufmann
Center AND 6:00-8:00pm, Carnegie Library E. Liberty
TMC 40th 6 pm
Anniversary Dinner
Sheraton Station Sq.
Call (412) 361-3022.
MOVEPGH
Prioritization
Workshops 1:00-3:00pm University of Pittsburgh, Alumni Hall
AND
6:00-8:00pm
Brashear Center,
2005 Sarah Street
MOVEPGH Peer
Cities Summit
2:30-4:00pm
5032 Forbes Avenue
Film Screening: We Are
Alive: The Fight to Save
Braddock Hospital 7:00-10:00pm
Regent Square Theater
Black Voices for Peace
Vigil to End the War:
1:00pm
Corner of Penn and
Highland in East Liberty
Project to End Human
Trafficking (PEHT)
10:00am-12:00pm
Carlow Campus,
Antonian Room #502
TMC Project
Committee Meeting
2:30 pm
11 12 ISO Meeting
7:30-9:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
W.O.M.I.N. Meeting: 7:30-8:30pm
18 Schubert St.
Pgh, PA 15212
13 15 16 14 17 Dr. Ehrenreich, Poverty
and Cult of Cheerfulness
6:00-8:00pm
GRW Theater, PPU 414 Wood St.
PUSH Meeting:
6:15-8:00pm 2101 Murray Ave
Write On! Letters for
Prisoner Rights:
7:00pm at TMC
Merton Study & Catholic
Worker Potluck
6:30-8:30pm at TMC
Quaker Public Policy
Institute & Lobby Day
8:30am-5:30pm
Washington Plaza Hotel
10 Thomas Circle
Washington, DC
SW PA Bread for the
World Team Meeting
10:00am-12:00pm
Waverly Presbyterian
590 S. Braddock Ave.
Trip to Fort Benning
to Protest the SOA
Nov. 16-19
Call TMC to reserve
(412) 361-3022.
Quaker Public Policy
Institute & Lobby Day
8:30am-5:30pm
Washington Plaza Hotel
10 Thomas Circle
Washington, DC
Fight for Lifers West
meeting
10:00am-12:00pm
325 N. Highland Ave.,
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Black Voices for Peace
Vigil to End the War
1:00pm
Corner of Penn and
Highland in East Liberty
TMC Economic
Justice Committee
Meeting
4:00-5:30pm
Thomas Merton Center
Book’em Packing Day
4:00-7:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
Capital's End
7:30-11:00pm
Istanbul Grille
18 19 ISO Meeting
7:30-9:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
20 22 23 21 24 Darfur Coalition Meets
5:00-7:30pm
Room C, Carnegie
Library, Squirrel Hill
Write On! Letters for
Prisoner Rights
7:00pm at TMC
Black Voices for Peace
Vigil to End the War
1:00pm
Corner of Penn and
Highland in East Liberty
TMC Environmental
Justice Book Study and
Potluck
4:00-6:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
Association of
Pittsburgh Priests
Speakers' Series
Bishop Gumbleton
7:30-9:30pm
9000 Babcock Blvd.
Allison Park, PA 15101
TMC Anti-War
Committee Meeting
2:00pm TMC Economic Justice
Committee Meeting:
4:00-5:30pm
Thomas Merton Center
Book’em Packing Day
4:00-7:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
Capital's End
7:30-11:00pm
Istanbul Grille
25 26 ISO Meeting
7:30-9:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
27 29 30 28 Write On! Letters for
Prisoner Rights
7:00pm at TMC
TMC NEEDS
VOLUNTEERS AND
INTERNS TO HELP
WITH OUR
IMPORTANT PEACE
AND JUSTICE
WORK.
CALL MICHAEL AT
(412) 361-3022 TO
FIND OUT MORE.
Become a Member of TMC AND THE NEW PEOPLE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU!
TMC membership benefits include monthly
mailings of the New People to your home
or email account, weekly eblasts focusing
on peace and justice events, and special
invitations to membership activities.
Join at thomasmertoncenter.org/join-
donate or mail your membership fee to us.
$45—Individual Membership
$100– Family Membership
$75—Organization Membership
(below 25 members)
$125—Organization Membership
(above 25 members)
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW)
2013 LABOR HISTORY CALENDAR ON SALE
The theme of the 2013 IWW Labor History Calendar is OCCUPY. It features 16
examples of the labor occupations. It is the gift of labor education and occupation
that lasts all year long. It will help all of the Occupiers and labor people affirm a
useful narrative about ourselves, which is a classic IWW narrative. The calendar is
published by the Hungarian Workers Literature Fund in collaboration with the
Kansas City IWW. For many years the IWW Labor History Calendar has been a successful fundraiser
for the Pittsburgh IWW. It is great deal for $12. Almost half of that money will then be used to support
IWW organizing goals. The IWW organizes the worker, not the job. Recently the Pittsburgh IWW has
taken on the goal of education and support of healthcare workers. The Pittsburgh IWW was one of the
unions that occupied People's Park/BYN Mellon Green. They organized in support of transit and
participated in May Day with the Pittsburgh Occupy group. Many Pittsburgh IWW members are also
Occupiers. Join the IWW Today, union membership, includes all the rights proscribed by the IWW
Constitution and representation at the annual Delegate's Convention. Members of the Pittsburgh IWW
will be glad to sell you a $12, 2013 IWW Labor History Calendar. The Pittsburgh IWW has two
officers and 3 delegates that can help you join the IWW today. For more information call Kenneth
at (412) 867-9213.
Women in Black
Monthly Peace Vigil 10:00-11:00am
Ginger Hill Church, Slippery Rock, PA
TMC Anti-War
2:00pm
Peace Forum: Illegal
Guns: 3:00-5:00pm
9000 Babcock Blvd., McCandless, PA
TMC Economic Justice
Committee Meeting
4:00-5:30pm
TMC Board
Meeting Thomas Merton
Center
6:00-9:00pm
Book’em Packing Day
4:00-7:00pm TMC
Capital's End
7:30-11:00pm
Istanbul Grille
ISO Meeting
7:30-9:00pm
Thomas Merton Center
W.O.M.I.N. Meeting 7:30-8:30pm
18 Schubert St.
Pgh, PA 15212
Write On! Letters for
Prisoner Rights
7:00pm at TMC
TMC Membership
Meeting
4:00-5:00pm
Dr. Ehrenreich, Poverty
and Cult of Cheerfulness
6:00-8:00pm
GRW Theater, PPU 414 Wood St.
PUSH Meeting
6:15-8:00pm 2101 Murray Ave
Merton Study & Catholic
Worker Potluck
6:30-8:30pm at TMC
Esther Tuzman
Memorial Holocaust
Teach-In
3:00pm – 6:30pm Gratz College
7605 Old York Road,
Melrose Park, PA
TMC Economic Justice
Committee Meeting
4:00-5:30pm Thomas Merton Center
Book’em Packing Day
4:00-7:00pm Thomas Merton Center
TMC Project
Committee Meeting
2:30 pm
Thomas Merton Center
Capital's End
7:30-11:00pm
Istanbul Grille,
4130 Butler St. Pittsburgh, PA
MOVEPGH Peer
Cities Summit
2:30-4:00pm
5032 Forbes Avenue
Film Screening: We Are
Alive: The Fight to Save
Braddock Hospital 7:00-10:00pm
Regent Square Theater
Project to End Human
Trafficking (PEHT)
10:00am-12:00pm Carlow Campus, Antonian
Room #502
State of Black Pittsburgh
9:00am-3:00pm
5000 Forbes Ave.
Diabetes EXPO
9:00am-4:00pm
D. L. Lawrence Convention
Haiti Solidarity Com.
10:00-12:00 @ TMC
Shalefield Action Camp
11:00am-9:00pm 606 Columbiana Rd.
Bessemer, Pennsylvania
Black Voices to End War
1:00pm in East Liberty
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
CAPITAL’S END ISTANBUL GRILLE
A social space for the full diversity of individuals and groups creating and
working for social change.
November Programs
Nov. 4 - “The New Economy” Nov. 11 – Sustainability and the Environment Nov. 18 – The Wars – Preventing/Ending Nov. 25 – Movements vs. Electoral Politics
Live local music, poetry, talk, collective karaoke, open mike, display/sale of art, a “call to arms”
and an opportunity to build friendships, community & solidarity.
Purchase FINE TURKISH CUISINE (BYOB) 4130 Butler St. Pgh, PA 15201 -- (412) 251-0441
Further information: [email protected] 724-388-6258