http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/2015/February

Follow @peaceresource Vol. XXXV, Number 2 February 2015
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/2015/February

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Speaking Truth to Power Since 1981

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BREAKING: CODEPINK
Attempts Citizen’s Arrest Of Kissinger

RESIST! CHILE, VIETNAM, WAR CRIMINAL,
WARS AND MILITARISM
By Medea Benjamin and Alli McCracken,
www.codepink.org January 29th, 2015

CODEPINK / Protesters attempt Citizens Arrest of Henry Kissinger for War Crimes.

Washington, DC –– On Thursday, January 29, CODEPINK protesters spoke out during Senate
Armed Services Committee hearing attempting to perform a citizens’ arrest on Henry Kissinger.

Holding handcuffs and large signs that read: KISSINGER: WAR CRIMINAL and ARREST
KISSINGER FOR WAR CRIMES, activists read aloud a citizens’ arrest [pasted below].

In response, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Committee,
called the human rights activists “lowlife scum” and said it was “the most
disgraceful and despicable demonstration he had ever seen.”

“CODEPINK is really proud of our action in the Senate today, speaking out on behalf of the people of Indochina, China, East Timor and peace-loving people everywhere,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin, “Henry Kissinger is responsible for the deaths of millions. He’s a murderer, a liar, a crook, and a thug, and should be tried at the Hague.”

more at http://www.theportlandalliance.org/codepink

LONDON: After analysing over f
our years of data from NASA’s
Kepler spacecraft, a team of
astronomers has discovered a star
that is 11.2 billion years old
and has at least five Earth-size planets.

“The findings show that Earth-size
planets have formed throughout
most of the universe’s 13.8-billion-
year history, leaving open the possibility
for the existence of ancient life in the galaxy,”
said Tiago Campante, research fellow at the
University of Birmingham who led the research project.
The paper describes Kepler-444, a star that is 25 percent
smaller than our Sun and is 117 light years from Earth.

the rest of the story…
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/planetary

Why Obama can kill anyone, anywhere,
anytime, for any reason…
or without providing any reason at all.

President Obama gives himself permission to kill

Did you consent to a government that can kill whom it wishes?

After stonewalling for more than a year… the Obama administration sent a summary of its legal memos to an NBC newsroom. This is the “secret legal research” justifying the presidential use of drones to kill persons overseas — even Americans. The administration claimed the research was so sensitive and secret it could not be revealed without serious consequences, So here it is…

ben The undated and unsigned 16-page document leaked to NBC refers to itself as a Department of Justice white paper. …
Its rationale could be used to justify any breaking of any
law by any “informed, high-level official of the U.S. government.”

The memo claims that any unnamed “high-level official,” not necessarily the president, has the lawful power to decide when to suspend constitutional due process whatsoever.
This is the power claimed by kings and tyrants…
Now, under Obama, it has become U. S. policy.

the rest of the story: https://thewordsmithcollection.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/why-obama-can-kill-anyone-anywhere-anytime-for-any-reason-or-without-providing-any-reason/

A Community On The Move opens Feb. 1. Photo Credit: Oregon Historical Society (image cropped)

The Oregon Black Pioneers partnered with the Oregon Historical Society
to present A Community On The Move, an in-depth exhibit about the impact of WWII Shipyards, the Vanport Flood, and urban renewal programs on Portland-area black families and businesses in the 1940s and 50s.A Community On The Move aims to show the connection between
past local policies and present issues within the Portland African
-American community.

Designed in partnership with Alchemy of Design, the exhibit draws
on historic artifacts, personal photographs, and hands on experiences
to illuminate Portland’s vibrant black community, which has thrived
despite the major setbacks of discrimination and displacement.

As present-day gentrification impacts historically black neighborhoods,
the exhibit organizers say the importance of acknowledging and
understanding this little-known history is critical to our collective future.
A Community on the Move has therefore been designed ryso that viewers
can connect past conditions with present realities.
more of the story:
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/oregonhistoricalsociety

Homage to a beheading royal–really?

The Chairman of the US
Joint Chiefs–the military sworn to defend democracy and the same military currently bombing ISIS
thugs who have been rightly vilified
for beheadings–now
wants his members to
honor a Saudi royal whose regime beheaded countless
dissidents and allowed flogging
women for flirting.
for the rest of the story, checkout:
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/hastings

New NAACP President JoAnn Hardesty on Civil Rights Now

This is a volunteer gig. I’m a broad-based community organizer. I hope readers will understand our leadership team intends to be inclusive… We’ll recruit mindful of folks’ passions. Whether it’s fair wages, climate justice, immigration reform, campaign finance restructuring, or concerns over New Jim Crow’s school-to-prison pipelines that has turned out thousands to hear my sister Michelle Alexander. The Portland Chapter seeks influence it hasn’t had in a while. To do that, we’re going to need all hands on deck.

JoAnn Hardesty gears up to galvanize
some new energy into the Portland
chapter of the NAACP, now it its
101^st year of operation. One of her first moves to rebuild the organization is to recruit 101 new members in commemoration of the renowned organization’s tenure.Photo provided by Joann Hardesty

see more of the story and part of the
inteview:http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/skanner

Mult. Co. Sheriff to preserve in-person visitations

by Street Roots Staff | 27 Jan 2015 Photo by Steve Brase

https://i0.wp.com/news.streetroots.org/sites/default/files/Securus-Video%281%29.jpg

This Securus video visiting terminal is similar to the
terminals going into Multnomah County jails.

Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton says he will
continue in-person, “through the glass” visiting for
visitors to Multnomah County jails, bowing to pressure
from public concerns over replacing all visits with video kiosks.

rest of story: http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/streetroots

Portland police officer resigned after testing positive for steroids

“A Portland police officer tested positive
for steroids during a random drug test last February and resigned last spring, months before the Police Review
Board unanimously recommended that he be fired, according to bureau documents released this month.

The officer is the second to have a drug test come back positive since the Police Bureau started random drug
testing in 2012. But the officer who resigned is the first
to do so after results showed evidence of steroids.

more information: ThePortlandAlliance.org/police Police Updates

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Howard Zinn who is best known for his “People’s History of the United States” which looks at history from the bottom up, through the lenses of classism, racism and sexism.

Bill Bigelow writes about Zinn’s concerns about nationalism, American exceptionalism and militarism. Zinn said that patriotism does not mean blind obedience to government because that is “the definition of patriotism in a totalitarian state.”

Zinn believed it was essential for students to learn the true history of the US so that they could question and debate whether they want to stay on that same path. Those in power work to hide this true history and to foster obedience without questioning so that the machine of American empire continues to run.

We remember Zinn for the advice he gave activists a year before his death. When he was asked what should people be doing, he gave advice that is good no matter what the era:

Go where you are not supposed to go;
Say what you are not supposed to say; and
Stay when they tell you to leave.
for more: http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/occupation

Really Walmart?
Calling the police on your own workers.

2015 January 25

by admin

ish Meet Ismael Nunez, an 11 year associate who has been standing up for better working conditions at Walmart for it’s associates and customers. Understaffing in the store and associates earning a living wage are just some of the things Ismael has been speaking up about.

Recently, Ismael was disciplined for productivity despite being tasked to do the job of several people. What’s more, a manager called the police on Ismael and had him escorted from the store. Walmart managers at the Klamath Falls store wanted to send a clear message to workers: if you speak out, you will be disciplined.

Walmart should be rewarding hardworking associates like Ismael not calling the police on them.

more info at The Walmart Portal at The Alliance
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/walmart

PRESS RELEASE
RACE TALKS

The groundbreaking
“Community/Police Forums”
were developed to help improve
communication between the
Portland Police and the Public.

To this end, RACE TALKS 2 is working in cooperation with the
Albina Ministerial Alliance and the Portland Police Bureau to
sponsor a series of Community-Police Forums.

Events will be held monthly at different locations throughout the Portland area.
Details will be posted on the RACE TALKS Facebook page and in our Social
Justice Alerts as they are scheduled. All events will follow the same timeline:

FREE Dinner @ 5:30 PM Program: 6 – 9 PM Jefferson High School Cafeteria
Tuesday, Feb.3, 2015 5210 N. Kerby Ave. between N. Killingsworth & Alberta
Portland, OR 97217

more info: http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/dontshoot

U.S. ground troops could be needed in Iraq: Chuck Hagel –Deployment would be in addition to 4,500 U.S. troops already in Iraq | 30 Jan 2015 | Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview on Friday the United States might eventually need to send non-combat ground troops to Iraq to help turn back Islamic State forces. Hagel, who announced his resignation under pressure in November, told CNN all options must be considered in Iraq, including sending troops for non-combat roles such as gathering intelligence and locating Islamic State targets. Hagel’s comments echoed testimony by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Congress last fall when he said U.S. troops might have to take a larger role on the ground in Iraq.

U.S. Appears Edging Toward Arming Ukraine’s Military Forces, Officials Say | 1 Feb 2015 | Gen. Philip M. Breedlove now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s [Nazi] forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, American officials said Sunday. President Obama has made no decisions on providing such lethal assistance. But after a series of striking reversals that Ukraine’s forces have suffered in recent weeks, the Obama administration is taking a fresh look at the question of military assistance…Fueling the broader debate over policy is an independent report to be issued Monday by eight former senior American officials, who urge the United States to send $3 billion in defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine, including anti-armor missiles, reconnaissance drones, armored Humvees and radars that can determine the location of enemy rocket and artillery fire.

the rest of the story: The Portland Alliance Portal to: CLG Breaking News..