Bits & Peaces

EVENTS

Shopping for Change, 12/14 (6-10 pm), 12/15 (10 am-9 pm), 12/16 (11 am-6 pm); Spontaneous Celebrations, 45 Danforth St., Jamaica Plain, MA; purchase Fair Trade holiday gift items made by artisans from around the world; co-sponsored by Spontaneous Celebrations (617/524-6373) & A Thread of Hope Guatemalan Fair Trade, POB 1764, Brookline MA 02446-0014; 617/308-7026; www.athreadofhope.org

Occupation 101 (film), 12/19, 7 pm; Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St, Savings Bank Meetingroom, Watertown, MA; Award-winning film chronicling historical root causes of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, explained first-hand by activists, scholars, & humanitarian workers who are silenced in American media; Sponsored by Watertown Citizens; 617/926-8560; www.watertowncitizens.org

Jewish Voices Say End the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, 1/16, 7 pm; St. John's United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall, 80 Mt. Auburn St, Watertown MA; Forum & discussion sponsored by Watertown Citizens; 617/926-8560; www.watertowncitizens.org

Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing; author Louise Dunlap will join readers at several Boston area events to celebrate the publication of this important resource: 12/11, 5-7 pm, Wheatley Student Lounge (4th floor), UMass Boston, sponsored by the Labor Resource Center (www.cpcs.umb.edu/lrc); 12/15, 10:30 am-4 pm, "Lift Your Voice with Other Women," writing feedback workshop for women at Haymarket Peoples Fund, 42 Seaverns Ave, Jamaica Plain, $20-50 sliding scale, contact Stacy at 617/522-7676 or stacy@haymarket.org; 1/10, 7:30 pm, Reading & book-signing at Porter Square Books, Cambridge; www.portersquarebooks.com

NATO Game Over, 03/22/08, Resist Military Globalisation! Five years after the Iraq war started: an international action weekend at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. www.wri-irg.org

OPPORTUNITIES

The American Friends Service Committee seeks two Community Social Advocates for its Gulf Coast Program, based in New Orleans, LA; The program is a 4-year effort to respond to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Program activities include community organizing, empowerment & networking in the Gulf Coast Area & rebuilding & recovery efforts; resume & cover letter by 12/19 to Charlie Kaften, Associate Regional Director, at ckaften@afsc.org or by fax at 404/525-4728; for full job description visit www.afsc.org/jobs

DART Organizers Institute seeks applicants for its paid field school created to recruit & train great community organizers; Graduates of the DART Organizers Institute have gone on to build powerful congregation-based community organizations; 7-day classroom training plus 4-month placement in one of DART's 21 affiliated organizations; for the spring 2008 institute, application deadline 1/1/08; contact DART, POB 370791, Miami FL 33137-0791; 305/576-8020; www.thedartcenter.org

The Brick Awards, honor young people (age <=25) in the US and Canada for their efforts to address problems in their local or global communities. Nine Brick Award winners will receive a minimum of $10,000 in community grants and scholarships One will be selected for a $100,000 grant. www.dosomething.org

CAMPAIGNS

Help Small-scale Organic Farmers Fight the National Animal Identification System; the Northeast Organic Farming Association has called upon Douglas Petersen, the newly appointed Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture, to halt his department's latest attempt to turn over to the federal government data showing the locations of all livestock animals in the state. In addition, the group has urged state farmers & animal owners to "opt out" of the program. According to NOFA, the program is designed to reassure foreign markets that US meat animal production can be traced in the event of a disease outbreak, & it is not appropriate for small scale producers who raise food for themselves or for local markets. The costs to small farmers of complying could put them out of business & restrict the already small supply of animal products raised outdoors on pasture. To learn more, read NOFA's statement, & find out how to get involved, visit www.nofamass.org

Dear Canada: Let US war resisters stay! The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to hear appeals from US war resisters Jeremy Hinzman & Brandon Hughey seeking refuge in Canada. The War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada is holding protests & working to increase pressure for a political solution, focusing on a forthcoming debate in the Canadian Parliament. In collaboration with these efforts, Courage to Resist has sent thousands of letters to Canadian officials on behalf of individual signers. What we do now by expanding these efforts could make all the difference for the future of hundreds of Iraq & Afghan War sanctuary seekers & their families currently in Canada. If you have not yet already done so, please sign the appeal today. Please encourage others to so as well, either online or by petition & postcards. For information & materials, contact Courage to Resist, 484 Lake Park Ave # 41, Oakland CA 94610; 510/488-3559; www.couragetoresist.org

RESOURCES

Sheroes Womyn Warriors 2008 Calendar presents a thumbnail sketch & photo/drawing of a different womyn each day; learn throughout the year about womyn from around the globe, & across the centuries, who have rebelled against the powers-that-be; $15 + $3 s&h; checks payable to the Gustavus Myers Center, 300 The Fenway, Simmons University, Boston MA 02115; www.sheroescalendar.org

War Resisters League 2008 Peace Calendar: Nonviolence & Resistance in the Middle East & Beyond; 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" desk calendar, spiral bound; $13.95 each, 4 for $50, + 3.50 per calendar s&h; from the Near East & North Africa, the Arab & Muslim worlds, Israel, & Palestine come stories of nonviolent action & resistance to oppression, showing that people in the Middle East have not given up on each other or on the desire to live in peace.

Fair Trade Gifts available from Ten Thousand Villages (www.tenthousandvillages.com); Global Exchange (http://store.gxonlinestore.org); One Village (www.onevillage.org)

Video Record of US Nuclear Testing Now Available Online; In 1997, anti-nuclear activist Mike McCormick purchased the only publicly available collection of 73 declassified US Nuclear Test Films. He assumed that more would be released on a yearly basis. Today few people here in the US realize that the US government conducted over 1000 nuclear "tests" beginning at the end of WWII. These "tests," primarily conducted in Nevada & the South Pacific, exposed millions of people in the US & worldwide to radioactive fallout. This collection represent the tip of the iceberg.  Full release of all film records is overdue. Citizens should demand lawmakers open the archives & make all remaining films available to the public. See films at www.nuketestfilms.com

Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement, by Robert Cooney, Jr.; 496 pp; 960 photographs & illustrations; $85 hb; depicts the color & excitement of a central, inspiring, but nearly forgotten chapter in US history; American Graphic Press, POB 8403, Santa Cruz, CA, 95061; www.americangraphicpress.com

Manifestos on the Future of Food & Seed, Vandana Shiva, ed.; essays by Michael Pollan, Carlo Petrini, Prince Charles, & Vandana Shiva; South End Press, 7 Brookline St #1, Cambridge MA 02139; www.southendpress.org

Rainforest Action Resources for Educators, Rainforest Heroes resources for K-6 educators, RAN Youth Sustaining the Earth resources for middle and high school educators, from Rainforest Action Network, www.ran.org

GATHERINGS

Walk for a New Spring 2008: For Abolition of Nuclear Weapons & Renunciation of War, 1/6-2/15; Boston MA to Washington DC; for a full schedule of the walk & to learn more about its origins & goals, contact Nipponzan Myohoji - New England Peace Pagoda, 100 Cave Hill Rd, Leverett MA 01054; 413/367-2202; walk4spring@gmail.com

True Spin: A National Conference on Media Relations for Progressives, 1/31-2/1; Denver CO. Flacks from progressive advocacy groups around the country will exchange ideas & learn new & creative PR tactics; with Medea Benjamin, Andy Bichlbaum, Robert Perez, many more speakers, panels, workshops; sponsored by Cause Communications, 1836 Blake St #200, Denver CO 80202; 303/292-1524; learn more & register online at www.truespinconference.com

Women, Action, & the Media Conference, 3/28-30, MIT's Stata Center in Cambridge, MA. Share facts and ideas, develop skills, build collaborations, and create action plans to amplify progressive women's public voices in society. Keynotes by Helen Thomas and Iraqi columnist Haifa Zangana. Co-sponsored by the Center for New Words and MIT Women's Studies, 7 Temple Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617/876-5310, www.centerfornewwords.org/wam/