WILPF NEWS
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
East Bay Branch
Visit our web page www.WILPFEastBay.org
Contact us at wilpf@wilpfeastbay.org
Meetings are 2nd Saturday of the Month 10am-noon
110 41st St. (Piedmont Gardens) just off Piedmont Avenue in Oakland.
You are invited to join us Saturday February 9th, 10-12am
YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
TO PREVENT MASSACRES AND GUN VIOLENCE
Keep the pressure on Congress, support President Obama. It is critically important to act now! Email or mail a letter to the President now. Here is a sample letter, but your personal appeal is most effective:
Dear President Obama,
WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) has long protested that the biggest US export is weapons, especially small arms. The tolerance of the sale of military style weapons and ammunition to citizens needs to end. Australia has had no massacres and a 50% reduction in suicide and murders after they bought back military style weapons and outlawed them. Your leadership in this is applauded and welcomed.
For an excellent discussion read Marian Wright Edelman’s of the Children Defense
Fund “Protect Children’s Not Gun” the Truth about Guns with links to sources for an excellent comprehensive review of the myths about guns. “For more than 20 years, Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has produced a gun report “Protect Children, Not Guns” which documents the epidemic of gun violence in America. A child or teen dies or is injured from guns every 30 minutes. Gun violence saturates our children’s lives. More children and teens die from guns every three days than died in the Newtown massacre. The number of children under 5 killed by guns in 2010 was more than the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty that same year. Between 1979 and 2010, 119,079 children and teens died from guns. This is more deaths in 32 years than U.S. soldiers killed in action in the Vietnam, Korean, Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined. Download our new fact sheet “The Truth About Guns”, http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-data-repository/the-truth-about-guns.pdf .
Distribute the most up-to-date key facts on child and teen gun deaths and injuries and take action by signing a petition to the President and members of Congress demanding they #ProtectChildrenNotGuns.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/
For an excellent read about what is working to prevent massacres, murder and suicide in other developed countries see http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-australia-japan-britain-gun-control-2013
ACTIONwrite or email letters of support to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20500
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
Senator Diane Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3841
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-355
https://boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm
ARE GUN MANUFACTURERS SUPPORTING THE NRA?
Posted by Eugene Kiely on 1/ 15/ 2013 Filed under The FactCheck Wire:
“The National Rifle Association of America, on the other hand, reported $227.8 million in revenues in 2010 — nearly half of which came from member dues ($100.5 million) and program fees ($6.6 million).
This is not to say that the NRA does not benefit from gun sales. It does. Not only does it receive contributions from willing gun customers at the point of purchase, but gun manufacturers are major contributors to the NRA. Smith & Wesson in May became a member of the NRA’s “Golden Ring of Freedom,” which is for donors who contribute more than $1 million. In 2008, the Beretta Group — another “Golden Ring of Freedom” member — exceeded $2 million in donations.
In one case, the gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Company tied its donations directly to gun sales in a program called the “Million Gun Challenge.” According to an April 2012 press release, Ruger promised to donate $1 to the NRA-ILA for each gun it sold over the course of a year, from May 2011 to May 2012. The “Million Gun Challenge” exceeded its goal and raised $1.25 million.”
For more info link to Violence Policy Center report “Blood Money who supports the NRA?” http://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney.pdf
Minutes of WILPF East Bay Planning Meeting January 12, 2013
It was announced that Rita Maran will represent WILPF Eastbay and the local United Nation Association at the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN.
We voted to send our members the article by Marian Wright Edelman’s of the Children Defense Fund : “Protect Children Not Gun: the Truth about Guns” with links to sources for an excellent comprehensive review of the myths about guns.
We voted to support elimination and buy back of all military assault weapons.
We voted to visit Barbara Boxer with representatives of the local Gray Panthers and Children’s Defense Fund to lobby for her support of strong gun control legislation. She has since made a public statement of her support. (See lead article). We also discussed the possibility of getting a speaker from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. There will be more discussion of both of these proposals at our February meeting.
We voted to support the Global Women’s Strike’s protest of the Red Cross’ theft of aid money for Haiti. This is a WILPF US sponsored group.
Barbara Nielsen discussed the work of the WILPF Earth Democracy group, including work on the Precautionary Principle and Guardian of the Commons. To see an excellent video of Caroline Raffensperger on this issue, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHYKBnI-Kfw&feature=youtu.be
East Bay WILPF plans to host WILPF’s California Earth Democracy Spring Tour.
These WILPF members are enthusiastic about bringing the idea of Guardianship of Future Generations and the Precautionary Principle to all our California members and branches. The program will connect environmental, legal, social and economic justice issues. Discussion would focus on our particular local issues. Such as fracking in the Monterey Valley, risk of nuclear contamination at Livermore Lab and need for GMO labeling.Stay tuned for future announcements.
The first ever meeting of WILPF-CALIFORNIA will be this Saturday, January 19th at Piedmont Gardents. There will be representatives from most of the California branches of WILPF. WILPF-CALIFORNIA will actively promote legislative bills and ballot measures as determined by the California WILPF Branches and at-large members at each Cluster Meeting and by inter-branch communication as the need arises.
Sandy Thacker, membership chair and treasurer of East Bay WILPF announced we collected $695 so far in dues as a result of the annual dues and donation letter . You can still send in your dues and donations in the envelope provided. If you would prefer to renew and/or donate online, you can go at any time to: www.wilpfus.org click “join or Renew membership”
YOU ARE INVITED TO : THE HEALTH CARE MOVIE
Narrated by Keifer Sutherland
Thursday, January 31, 2013 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Oakland Public Library 125 14th St Oakland,
California 94612
Phone: 510-238-3134 Free of charge
This 65-minute documentary tells the real story of how the health care system in Canada turned out to be so completely different from that in the United States, given that at one point they were essentially the same:
• How it originated
• How it works for ordinary Canadians
• How it is paid for
• How it compares to its American counterpart
Sponsored by Campaign for a Healthy California and the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
DISCUSSION
Explore questions this movie raises about healthcare in California:
• What does the national Affordable Care Act(ACA) mean for health care reform in California?
• How can California make healthcare affordable for everyone?
