Left In Lowell

Some of you might remember when the hateful Fred Phelps came to Dracut and Lowell. The best way to fight a person like this isn’t to give him the attention he craves and didn’t get from his mother as a child, but to use him to make progress instead. We raised over $600 for equality groups in MA in two counter-rallies where we asked people to give a pledge “for every minute that hate stands here.”

In other words, the longer he and his ilk stood in hate, the more money we raised for equality. Go gay agenda!

Well, now this moron is planning to come to Boston to picket the show “The Laramie Project” at the Boston Center for the Arts, and it’s time to use him like a cheap tissue once again to raise awareness - and cash! - for gay rights. Chris Mason posts at BMG that they are using the same exact idea, pledging per minute. Donations this time are for Driving Equality, an “85-day trek across America to all of the lower 48 states to advance LGBT equality.” You can pledge here.

Today on TOL, we’ll be talking to Paul Marion, Executive Director for Outreach at UMass Lowell, about this year’s F. Bradford Morse Distinguished Lecture taking place on Monday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the F. Bradford Morse Federal Building on Merrimack Street. The guest lecturer this year is Prof. Padraig O’Malley of UMass Boston, who will talk about his efforts on reconciliation in Iraq and his history working for peace.

The event is open to the public, and is free.

Join us at 10am, either at 91.5FM or streaming online live.

Look, I know that boycotts during the Bush years were a dime a dozen and can be exhausting. But this one is very important.

The passage of Prop 8 - the hate amendment to the CA constitution that invalidates hundreds of CA same-sex marriages and bans future ones, was largely funded (and for a decade, planned) by the Mormon Church and its hard-right allies. There MUST be consequences. Past boycotts have worked. Don’t go spending your vacation money in Utah, and don’t spend one penny at any Marriott Hotel anywhere in the world.

AMERICAblog writes:

Our friend Brent Andrus, who is a lead donor to Prop 8, in fact runs a series of hotels, including (big surprise here), Courtyard Marriott, Fairfield Inn Marriott, Residence Inn Marriott, and Spring Hill Suites Marriott. Never, ever stay at a Marriott again. It’s clear that what people have been whispering about Marriott for years is true. It’s not just some independent company. It’s part and parcel of the Mormon Church and their bigoted agenda.

Never, EVER stay at a Marriott Hotel ever again.

I’m not the biggest watcher in the country of either the summer or winter Olympics, but this year, I will not watch one damned second of the Games. Why? Because though the Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of cooperation and open spirit, China has actually become more repressive in the lead up to the opening ceremony.

Whatever possessed the idiots on the selection committee anyway? I could have told them this was the worst idea back when they chose China. Hey, where are the next Olympics going to be? North Korea?

China hasn’t changed, I don’t care how many upstart millionaires there are there now. The government is still repressive (Tibet, anyone?) and is paranoid-delusional, they think a few thousand monks are dangerous to their rule. The Chinese are not a free people. They do not have free access to information, they are not free to vote as they will, or move as they will, or determine a lot about their lives. So what is so Olympic in spirit about China? Nothing, absolutely nothing, and anyone who watches the Olympics this year needs to be a little ashamed, for in some small fashion enabling this regime to do this to their own people. Let’s see this Olympics have the worst viewership in history - boycott watching any part of this once-august tradition, now sullied by the host country which may have moved mountains, but not its politics, to obtain the honor.

I refuse to take part. Will you?

Employees at Lifelinks, Inc, a Lowell and Chelmsford group that provides care to those with developmental disabilities via both day and residential programs, will go on a one-day strike on Monday. Strikers are demanding better wages and training. They cite high turnover as detrimental to the clients of Lifelinks, and the average paycheck is just around $11 an hour, which if you ask me, accounts for the turnover in employees.

From the statement of the employees, via SEIU Local 509:

We are even willing to tie our paychecks to training, but the company has rejected our proposals. Our average wage is little over $11.00 per hour. Many of us must work 2-3 jobs to support our own families. Management of the company has rejected these common sense ideas and has insisted on numerous take backs from the employees.

“We want better training, and we’re willing to tie our paychecks to better training, but the company keeps saying no,” according to Agnes Irungu, a direct care worker at LifeLinks who assists developmentally disabled people. “Our clients deserve better than they are getting and we’re willing to fight to make sure they get it.”

These are not “mere” service jobs, like cleaning houses (for which $11/hour is not a living wage either). This is human services, which requires skills, caring, and trusted employees. There is no way to argue that paying $11/hour for these jobs is helping anyone, least of all the clients.

From the statement again:

The decision to strike is not one that we take lightly; unfortunately we feel we are being forced into an unacceptable situation. All of us care deeply about the individuals we serve. We have been working hard to improve turnover and the quality of care not just at Lifelinks, Inc. but in the Human Services field in general. The company is rejecting common sense contract language that will not cost them a cent, allow the company to access new state revenue and improve training at our agency. In addition management wants to reduce leave time and reduce job security for many staff at the agency.

The 24-hour strike begins at 7:00 am on Monday, May 12, with a rally at 12 noon at 55 Middlesex Street. If anyone has any questions, they can call Cliff Cohn at 617-924-8509 x530.

Sadly, this is still as relevant today as it was before the war in Iraq started. So if you aren’t coming to my house for free beer, please join Greater Lowell for Peace and Justice this Sunday for their monthly vigil.

Because this month the 19th falls on a Sunday we’re changing both the time and the place of our vigil:

Time: Sunday, August 19, 11:00AM to 12:00PM
Place: intersection of Merrimack & Kirk Streets, near St. Ann’s church.

Hope to see many of you there, we have lots of signs and flags to hold, or bring your own.

I got an email from the organizer of the March to Re-Energize NH, a five-day effort to jump start the discussion about renewable energy. It will go on from August 1st (tomorrow) until the 5th. The kickoff is tonight in Nashua.

I’ve often said that I don’t understand why people aren’t marching in the street in response to the Iraq War or global warming, or the health care crisis. Well, these people are doing it for renewable energy - from Nashua to Concord in five days. Why NH (and Iowa)? Because they are still the traditional first primary and caucus states in the union, despite the now front-loaded primary schedule for 2008. They want to make this discussion a part of the 2008 election, because that’s the front lines of policy decision-making for the future of our nation.

They’ve asked if they could send us details about their march on a regular basis, which I will be posting. I actually suggest you go sign up and join them, forget reading about it.

Yesterday’s post, which I couldn’t get online because I had to leave:

March to ReEnergizeNH - 6 Days Left: Farming for the Future

6 days, thousands of Granite Staters from all walks of life will gather on the State House lawn, calling for national action on global warming.

You can sign up at:
http://www.climatesummer.org

You should see our office:  coffee donations  stacked high, green flags and green shirts, maps and laptops, the lavender walls barely showing beneath lists of our endorsers and newspaper clippings.  It’s not that we’re messy (well, that could be true); people just keep showing at our door, asking to help - friends, neighbors, and the guy from the bagel shop downstairs.

And it’s not just the office that’s swelling with activity - it’s the whole Granite State.  Now we have a bus coming from Portsmouth and carpools from Hanover.  Newspapers are publishing letters from natives of Hooksett, Amherst, and Nashua daily.  A woman we met at the Canterbury Fair yesterday remarked, “You guys are everywhere.”

It certainly feels like it - one second I’m on the phone with the Governor’s secretary, and the next I’m wondering if I bought enough pancake batter for Saturday night’s celebration of New Hampshire maple syrup.  Amidst the hype and excitement growing all across the state, it’s easy to forget why exactly Granite Staters are set on walking
five full days in the first place.

One farmer reminded us this morning.  Eero Ruutila looked out over his rows of summer squash and said, “For the past three years, it’s flooded.  It hurts everything.  The climate never used to be like this.”  He’s in his 21st year of managing the Nesenkeag Cooperative farm, where the March to Re-Energize New Hampshire will stop on Wednesday night.

Farmer by summer, artist by winter, and an every season advocate for the land he works, Eero knows what it takes to build a community around a green enterprise.  The farm cultivates nearly 100 organic crops:  the specialty varieties go to restaurants in the area, and the others he sells for no profit to food banks to feed low-income
families.  A walking, breathing almanac, Eero’s spoken at nearly every National Organic Farming Association (NOFA) conference across the state, and he educates on the importance of sustainable farming.

We weeded the garlic, built a stage, dried the rye, and strung our banners, visible from the road.  Eero stepped back, approved, and said, “Now we just need people to come.”

And I hope you do.  There could not be a better place, or a better time, than right here and right now to send a call to action for real, national global warming solutions.  Join the March to Re-Energize New Hampshire - walk for an hour, a day, or all five.  By the time we get to the State House Lawn on Sunday, August 5 at noon, we’ll be
thousands strong!

Sign up at:
http://www.climatesu…

Peace,
Sierra & the whole ReEnergize NH Team
http://www.climatesu…
reenergizenh@gmail.com
(610) 220-5378

[The March to ReEnergizeNH is sending us guest posts about their time on the road marching for renewable energy in NH. You can join them on all or any of those days, from August 1 through the 5th. This is Tuesday’s post. I’m backdating it to sit below my last post about this March. –Lynne]

All of us, organizers and volunteers, are in the campaign office. Laptops, phone lists, signups on the walls, folded chairs, empty juice bottles strewn everywhere. There’s a nervous excitement in the air.

This evening – Tuesday, July 31 at 6:30pm – the March to Re-Energize New Hampshire is celebrating its kickoff in Greeley Park, at 105 Concord St. in Nashua. Granny D, no stranger to long journeys for a cause, will talk to us about the power of walking, and give her blessings as we prepare to go.

Join us for the March to Re-Energize NH! July 31, 6:30pm: kickoff celebration in Greeley Park, Nashua, 6:30pm; Aug. 1-5 (walking through various locations, see our schedule), or the noon rally in Concord NH on Sunday, Aug. 5.

www.climatesummer.org/march

We’ve devoted the last two months of our lives to organizing the March to Re-Energize New Hampshire. Wednesday morning, dozens of marchers will leave Nashua’s City Hall, bound for Concord to issue one of the loudest calls yet for real global warming solutions.

We know that soon – very, very soon – it’s going to be out of our hands, and into yours.

All that we’ve been able to do, all summer, is to create a container. We’ve set aside an empty space, which you and others can fill with your energy, voices, and power to create positive change. Quite literally, on Sunday August 5th, downtown Concord will be empty, ready to be filled with our feet, our voices, and our call for a prosperous, clean energy economy.

Can we move America towards cutting carbon 80% by 2050, and creating millions of clean energy jobs? If there’s anyone in this country that has this power, it’s Granite Staters, right here, right now. We know how to get things done, and we don’t wait around for someone else to make it happen. It’s time to tell our leaders to follow our lead.

What is it about walking that will give this movement its power? I have a feeling that our walking will deepen our commitment, to each other and to this wonderful, challenging and worthy endeavor. Plus, it’s not too often you see hundreds of people simply walking, from one place to another. We might just catch a bit of attention along the way, that we might not have otherwise. Here in New Hampshire, we are, in fact, holding the national megaphone; that means, we have a special privilege and responsibility to speak at this crucial and historic moment.

It’s out of our hands now, and up to you to make this happen. If ever there were a moment to move America towards a clean energy economy, it’s here and now.

Sign up to join us for the March to Re-Energize NH: Aug. 1-5, or the rally on Sunday, Aug. 5:

www.climatesummer.org/march

Regards,
Zo Tobi

Greater Lowell for Peace and Justice is holding weekly vigils to support ending the war:

On March 19, the Fourth Anniversary of the beginning of the War in Iraq, Greater Lowell for Peace and Justice staged a demonstration in Kearney Square demanding an end to the war. Over forty people participated and spread the message to passing rush-hour motorists and pedestrians. Quite a few people who were passing through the area decided to join us. The Lowell Sun printed a very good article describing the event.

This Thursday we’ll be starting a weekly “Bring the Troops Home” vigil in Lowell.

Come and make your voice heard in Kearney Square (corner of E. Merrimack and Prescott Streets) this Thursday, April 5 from 6:00-7:00 PM. Bring your own sign, or use one that will be provided. If you can’t make it this Thursday, we’ll be there next week, and the next, and the next! A map showing the location of Kearney Square may be found here.

Help us convince Congress to end the war and bring our troops home where they belong!

Every person of conscience should turn out for this rally against the war - downtown Lowell, at the office of Rep. Meehan, to show our support for his opposition to keeping and sending more troops in harm’s way. Also added to the event calendar in the left sidebar.

Please join Greater Lowell for Peace and Justice and other local groups for a rally in support of the Jan. 27 National Peace March in Washington, D.C. organized by United for Peace and Justice.

Date: Saturday, January 27th, 11:00 AM - Noon
Place: In front of Martin Meehan’s office,
11 Kearney Square, Lowell, MA

To voice support for:
o No funds for escalation
o Bringing the troops home
o Diplomacy not war

To thank Meehan for:
o Opposing supplemental Iraq funding in the past three years
o His Jan. 9, 2007 (H. Res. 41) resolution opposing a surge in US Forces in Iraq
o Earning a 100% voting record rating by the Peace Action Education Fund.

Sponsored by Grassroots Actions for Peace, www.grassrootsconcord.org