April New People

April, 2012 NEWPEOPLE - 1

THOMAS MERTON CENTER, 5129 PENN AVE.

PITTSBURGH, PA 15224

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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.

War Resisters Pie Chart—See Where Your Money Really Goes

PITTSBURGH‘S PEACE & JUSTICE NEWSPAPER Published by the Thomas Merton Center VOL. 42 No. 4, April, 2012

- Occupy Pittsburgh Insert

In This Issue... Page #

April Showers ..........1, 6

PA State Budget ........1, 10

New Voter ID Law ..........1, 4

New Cracker Plant ..............3

Tour De Frack ..............4

Head to Chicago ..............5

Protest G8/NATO ..............5

Paul Ryan Budget ..............6

Celebrating Molly ……......7

Activist Events ..............8

Transit Hearing ..............9

Trayvon Rally CMU ..............9

We Are One Teach-In ............10

Appreciating Iran ............14

War on Hunger ............14

Gun Loopholes ............15

Activist Calendar ............16

Inequality for All: Taxes, Budget, and Voter ID

OCCUPY PITTSBURGH INSERT Produced by Occupy Pittsburgh VOL. 3 No. 4, April, 2012

It is April and taxes are due on almost all public

sector levels.

Here in Pennsylvania, Governor Corbett proposed

his version of what he thinks the budget for

Pennsylvania should be for 2012-13, which

includes the expenditure of the taxes collected

from all of us.

Many believe government resources should be

directed to the common good in order to promote

the general welfare of its people.

It was not a surprise to most of us that the

proposed balanced budget (required by state law)

contains cuts in many areas that are important to

us and many of our most vulnerable fellow

Pennsylvanians.

Projected expenditures are $27.14 billion, down by

$20 million (.1%) from this current year's

budget. (See information on page 10.)

(Continued on page 10)

This article outlines the new voter ID law. The

information was provided by the ACLU. More is

available at http:/ tinyurl.com/74ffqx7

Even if I have voted for many years at the

same precinct, will the new voter ID law

require me to show photo ID now? Yes.

Does this photo ID requirement apply to

absolutely everyone? No. There is one

exception, which is for people who have a

religious objection to having their picture taken.

Religious objectors can still vote by presenting a

valid non-photo driver‘s license or other non-

photo ID issued by the PA Department of

Transportation (PennDOT).

When does this new photo ID requirement

start? The law will be enforced for the first time

in the November 2012 election. For the April

primary election, the law calls for what‘s known

as a ―soft rollout.‖


April Showers

Bring Mayflowers and Taxes

What is the source of money spent by the

Federal Government?

Individual taxes at 44% constitute the

major share of the Federal money pot,

followed by Social Insurance and

Retirement Receipts at 36%. Corporate

income tax contributes 12%, excise tax 3%

and another 5% from other miscellaneous

sources. (This information is available

within the National Priorities Project /

Budget from U.S. Fiscal Year 2011,

historical tables 2.1 and 2.5).

During the 1950‘s under President

Eisenhower the highest earners paid up to

90%. Now it is 35% and only 28% on

income from dividends, mostly benefiting

the affluent sector of society. Corporate

taxes are low because of many exemptions

and loopholes, some pertaining to overseas

holdings.


The PA Proposed State Budget

and the Common Good

New Voter ID Law

Information from the ACLU

Page 5—On Our Way

To Chicago

How These Figures Were Determined

The War Resisters Pie Chart and

background information is online at

http:tomyurl.com/4bffro.

―Current Military‖ includes Department of

Defense ($653 billion), the military portion from

other departments ($150 billion), and an additional

$162 billion to supplement the budget‘s misleading

and vast underestimate of $38 billion for the ―war

on terror.‖

―Past Military‖ represents veteran benefits plus

80% of the interest on debt. These figures are from

an analysis of detailed tables in the ―Analytical

Perspective‖ book of the Budget of the United

States Government, Fiscal Year 2009.

- Page 7—Activist Molly Rush

Speaks Out

2 - NEWPEOPLE April, 2012

IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE THOMAS MERTON CENTER

5129 PENN AVE., PITTSBURGH, PA 15224

Office Phone: 412-301-3022 — Fax: 412-361-0540

Website: www.thomasmertoncenter.org

TMC Editorial Collective Joyce Rothermel, Jo Tavener, Diane McMahon, Martha Garvey, Rob Conroy,

Michael Drohan, Russ Fedorka, Corey Carrington, Kenneth Miller, James Lucius,

Jordana Rosenfeld, Molly Rush, Bette McDevitt, Edith Bell

TMC Staff, Volunteers and Interns

Diane McMahon, Managing Director

Jibran Mushtaq, Thomas Merton Center 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

Corey Carrington, Public Ally, Yiwei Zhang, Pitt MSW Intern

Jordana Rosenfeld, New People Intern

TMC Board of Directors Nina Barbuto, 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

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

Planning 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

Plan and oversee TMC fundraising events with members and friends

Anti-War Committee [email protected]

www.pittsburghendthewar.org

Association of US Catholic Priests

[email protected]

Book‗Em

(Books to Prisoners)

[email protected]

www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem

CodePink

(Women for Peace)

[email protected], 412-389-3216

www.codepink4peace.org

Diversity Footprint

(art, justice, community)

[email protected]

East End Community Thrift Shop

412-361-6010, [email protected]

Economic Justice Committee

[email protected]

Fight for Lifers West

412-361-3022 to leave a message

[email protected]

http://fightforliferswest.mysite.com

Human Rights Coalition / Fed Up

(prisoner support and advocacy)


www.thomasmertoncenter.org/fedup

In Sisterhood:

The Women‘s Movement in Pgh 412-621-3252, [email protected]

Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop

Community Alliance

412-867-9213

Pittsburgh Campaign for

Democracy NOW!


www.pcdn.org

Pittsburgh Works!

(labor history documentaries)

[email protected]

Roots of Promise

724-327-2767, 412-596-0066

[email protected]

(Network of Spiritual Progressives)

[email protected]

Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition

[email protected];

www.pittsburghdarfur.org

Urban Arts Project

[email protected]

Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook

Call 412-363-7472

[email protected]

www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv

Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens

Group/ Roots of Promise

724-327-2767 murrysvillemarcel-

[email protected]

The Pittsburgh Totebag Project

P.O. Box 99204, Pittsburgh, PA 15233

www.tote4pgh.org

The Africa Project

412-657-8513, [email protected] www.africaproject.net

Allegheny Defense Project, Pgh Office

412-559-1364 www.alleghenydefense.org

Amnesty International [email protected] www.amnestypgh.org

Association of Pittsburgh Priests

Molly 412-343-3027 [email protected]

The Big Idea Bookstore

412-OUR-HEAD www.thebigideapgh.org

Black Voices for Peace

Gail Austin 412-606-1408

Cease Fire PA

http://www.ceasefirepa.org

[email protected]

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

[email protected]

Pittsburgh 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

[email protected]

Veterans for Peace

[email protected]

Voices for Animals

[email protected] 1-877-321-4VFA

Women‘s International League for

Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Eva 412-963-7163 [email protected]

TMC AFFILIATES

Thomas Merton Center

HOURS of OPERATION

Monday-Friday 10 am to 3 pm

Saturday 10 am to 1 pm

CONTACT INFORMATION

General information……….………...www.bit.ly/merton-contact

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Events & Calendar Items ……….…www.bit.ly/merton-calendar

The East End Community Thrift Shop

FASHION SHOW IS ALMOST HERE!

APRIL 14, 2012 East Liberty Presbyterian Church Social Hall

116 South Highland Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206

For more information call Shirley at (412) 361-6010.

TMC COMMITTEES & PROJECTS

11 am to 2 pm

Featuring volunteers

and friends as models

of Thrifty fashions!

$15 Admission

$5 Low Income

All funds raised

benefit the Thrift

Store operations.


(Continued from page 1)

Under the new law, is any photo ID

acceptable? No. Only some photo ID‘s are approved under the

law and if you don‘t have one from the approved

list you will not be allowed to cast a regular

ballot. So, for instance, a valid driver‘s license

with your picture on it from another state will

not be accepted.

What are the approved types of photo ID?

Here‘s the list, but pay very careful attention

because there are rules that even some of these

may not be allowed.

▪ A current Pennsylvania driver's license, or one

that expired after November 2011

▪ A current non-driver Pennsylvania photo ID

card issued by PennDOT, or one that expired

after November 2011

▪ A current U.S. passport

▪ A U.S. military or Pennsylvania National

Guard photo ID (but the fine print in the new

law says that the ID must include ―a designation

that the expiration date is indefinite‖)

▪ A U.S. government-issued photo ID, e.g.,

agency employee

▪ A photo ID issued by the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania (the only one we are aware of

would be a state employee ID)

▪ A current employee photo ID issued by a

Pennsylvania county, city, town, township or

borough

▪ A current photo ID issued by a Pennsylvania

college or university (but the fine print says that

only ID‘s containing an expiration date can be

used)

▪ A current photo ID issued by a licensed

nursing, personal care or assisted-living facility

(but again the fine print says that only ID‘s

containing an expiration date can be used)

So if I have one of the photo ID‘s listed above

(and it satisfies the fine print), will I definitely

be allowed to vote without a problem?

Probably, but not necessarily. There are a few ways that your vote could be

challenged. The name on the ID has to

―substantially conform‖ with the name on the

voter registration record. If you got married and

change your name or you use a nickname on one

but your given name on the other you are likely

to have the ballot challenged. Also, the picture

in the ID must look substantially like you.

So any current driver‘s license will work?

No, only ones from Pennsylvania.

If I have a student photo ID could I still have

a problem voting in November? Yes. Only student photo ID‘s from accredited

Pennsylvania colleges and universities are

approved, and even then the ID must have on it

an expiration date. Therefore, if you have a

University of Pittsburgh photo ID, and it

contains an expiration date, you should have no

problem. But if you go to Penn State, Drexel or

LaSalle, and the photo ID does not have the

expiration date, you cannot use it to vote in

November. Check your Pennsylvania college or

university student ID right now and if it does not

have an expiration date you will need to get a

different, approved photo ID (see below).

If I‘m an elderly or disabled person in a

nursing or personal care home, can I vote

without a photo ID? No. The photo ID requirements apply to everyone.

If I‘m in a nursing or personal care home

that issues a photo ID, can I use that? Maybe.

You must be in a facility licensed by the state

and the photo ID must have an expiration date.

If either of these conditions isn‘t satisfied, the

ID will not be accepted when you go to vote.

What if I‘m disabled and cannot travel to get

a photo ID? If you are disabled and your

polling place is not accessible, you are eligible

to vote by alternative ballot. The new voter ID

law doesn‘t require you to show proof of

identification if you vote by alternative ballot.

Can I use my welfare or public assistance

card to vote? No. None of the welfare or public assistance cards is

an approved form of photo ID.

Poll workers know me at my polling place, so

won‘t they just let me vote even if I don‘t

have the right photo ID? No.

They cannot. The law says that poll workers

―shall examine the proof of identification

presented by the elector and sign an affidavit

stating that this has been done.‖ So poll workers

open themselves up to a perjury prosecution if

they let people vote without proper ID. In the

legislative debates over the law, it was said that

poll workers couldn‘t let even family members

vote if they didn‘t have the right photo ID.

PROVISIONAL BALLOTS

Supporters of the law say no one will be

refused the right to vote on Election Day,

even if they don‘t have the right photo ID. Is

that true? Yes and no. If you don‘t have an approved photo ID you will

have to vote by ―provisional ballot,‖ but that

means there‘s a strong chance the vote will not

be counted (see below).

What does it mean to vote by ―provisional

ballot?‖ If you go to vote on Election Day and

you do not have an approved form of photo ID

or there is some other problem with it, you will

be given a ―provisional ballot.‖ You will not be

allowed to vote on an electronic voting machine.

You will then fill out this paper ―provisional

ballot,‖ but it will not be counted unless within 6

days you can get and present to your county (or

Philadelphia) elections bureau an approved

photo ID. It will be close to impossible to get a

new, approved photo ID in 6 days.

Aren‘t provisional ballots counted and just as

good as a regular ballot? No and no.

Provisional ballots will only be counted if you

can present an approved photo ID to your

county elections board within 6 days of the

election (see previous question).

Where can I find my County Board of

Elections? For a listing of all County Boards of

Election in the state go to www.votespa.com.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Do I need to show ID to vote by absentee

ballot? Unless you are a military or overseas

voter applying for an absentee ballot, you must

prove your identity by providing one of the

following on your application for an absentee

ballot: Your driver‘s license number, the last

four digits of your Social Security

number (if you don‘t have a driver‘s

license) , a copy of any photo ID that

would be acceptable if you were voting

in person, or a non-photo driver‘s license

or other non-photo ID issued by

PennDOT (if you have a religious

objection to being photographed).

What happens if my absentee ballot is

rejected? If you don‘t prove your

identify properly, or your proof can‘t be

verified by the County Board of

Elections, you will get a notice from the

Board (along with the absentee ballot)

that you must provide acceptable proof

or your absentee ballot won‘t count. You

have six calendar days after an election

to do this.

GETTING APPROVED PHOTO ID

So if I don‘t have an approved form of

photo ID, how can I get one?

You can apply to PennDOT for a photo

ID to use for voting only by submitting

an application containing a signed

declaration, under oath or affirmation, that you

don‘t have an acceptable form of ID in order to

vote.

How much will it cost me to get a photo ID

just to vote? The ID itself is free, but you may

have to pay to get the necessary documents, like

an official birth certificate, and of course for any

postage and transportation costs. Getting an

official Pennsylvania birth certificate will cost

about $10, and up to $45 in other states.

Where can I find the nearest PennDOT

office? A listing of all PennDOT offices around

the state is available here: www.dot.state.pa.us.

What documents will I need in order to get a

PennDOT ID card for voting? You must

produce an official Social Security card AND

one of the following types of identification:

▪ An official birth certificate, i.e., one that has a

―raised seal.‖ (You can‘t use a photocopy or a

hospital registration)

▪ U.S. citizenship certificate

▪ Naturalization certificate

▪ Valid U.S. passport

Unless you‘re a naturalized U.S. citizen, the

only document most people are likely to have is

the birth certificate. Additionally, you will need

to present two forms of proof of residency from

the following list: tax records, lease agreement,

mortgage documents, W-2 form, current gun/

firearm permit, and current utility bill.

Where can I find out what I need to do to get

a new or replacement Social Security card?

Please note that Social Security card is only

needed to obtain a PennDOT ID card – not to

vote. You can find out how to get a new or

replacement Social Security card at

http://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber.

So if I have a birth certificate I should be able

to get a PennDOT photo ID? It‘s not just any

birth certificate. It has to be a ―raised seal‖

certificate, which is the official one issued by

the state. It cannot be a photocopy of that and it

cannot be a hospital certificate or registration.

But if you have the ―raised seal‖ birth

certificate, the official Social Security card and

the two proofs of residency you should be able

to get the PennDOT photo ID.

What if I‘m homeless and don‘t have proof of

residency? You should be able to present a

letter from a homeless shelter saying you are

staying there. If PennDOT officials don‘t accept

that, contact the ACLU (contact information

below).

Produced by the ACLU of Pennsylvania .

For more information about the voter ID law,

contact the ACLU of Pennsylvania at

(717) 238-2258 or [email protected].

New Photo ID Voter Law


A group of grassroots organizers from the

shale fields of Western Pennsylvania and

neighboring states, concerned about the negative

effects of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and

its supporting infrastructure, are planning a 14-

day bike ride from Western PA to Washington,

D.C. from July 15 - 28.

Michael Bagdes-Canning, an organizer of the

event, reports; ―We are planning concerts,

increasing public awareness, encouraging

activism, collecting testimony, circulating a

petition, and, finally, meeting with

our elected officials from a bike

seat.‖

Jason Bell, another organizer,

continues, ―Traveling by bike

connects you to a place that no other

mode of transportation does. It

allows you to see people, land, and

even time, from a new perspective.

There is something inherently human

about the experience, and this is

what we want to do—highlight action in

motion.‖

Jason continues, ―This is really the heart of

this event. We are using hand signed petitions,

human powered transportation, and showcasing

the human spirit to act and overcome.‖

The organizers are gathering personal

accounts into a storybook that will be presented

to different bodies in Washington. ―We want

people to know that they aren‘t alone in this and

to aid them in discovering the strength to turn

their voices into a powerful story‖ added Mike.

Although Mike and Jason can be easily

distracted by the promise of a ride through

quaint river towns and some of the most

spectacular landscapes that the east coast has to

offer, they quickly return to their focus, and the

reason for the ride.

―The outdoor heritage of Butler is being

fractured by the gas industry and it is a harbinger

of what‘s to come in the shale fields of

Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and

Virginia if people don‘t stand up.‖ states Mike.

―It is endangering our health, our rights, and

the long-term sustainability of our major

economies,‖ says Jason. ―We believe that once

people see the human cost, they will wake up

and deal with it in a meaningful way.‖

More information about the bike tour is

available online at www.tourdefrack.com.

By John Detwiler

Shell Oil grabbed headlines with plans for

a new ‗cracker‘ plant, for turning Marcellus

Shale ‗natural gas liquids‘ into petro

chemicals, to be built on a brownfield site in

Beaver County.

Breathless coverage in the mainstream press

implied that the plant is a ‗done deal.‘ Yet all

that actually happened was that Shell signed a

‗land option agreement‘ with the occupants of

the site (Horsehead Corp., which had already

taken steps to leave).

No terms were disclosed, but the agreement

provides Shell an option to buy the property

and (apparently) a year to decide. Since

Horsehead wasn‘t swamped with buyers, Shell

needn‘t have paid a lot for the option, nor (we

assume) would it lock-in a generous price at

which to consummate the purchase. So Shell

probably hasn‘t spent much money, but it has

bought a strong grip around Gov. Tom

Corbett‘s political throat.

While Mr. Corbett leaped forward to take

credit for winning the site selection, Shell‘s

own version of the story shows that it has not

yet begun to squeeze. In its March 15 press

release, Shell said, ―The next steps for this

project include additional environmental

analysis of the preferred Pennsylvania site

[and] continued evaluation of the economic

viability of the project.‖

Shell went on, ―We look forward to working

with communities in Pennsylvania … as we

continue our efforts.‖ In plain language, Shell

is staking out the grounds on which the real

negotiations will soon begin: environmental

and economic concessions. Similarly,

working with elected officials is

the industry‘s code (familiar to all, from the

Marcellus Shale Coalition) for dealing behind

closed doors.

As Shell‘s preferred site, Pennsylvania gets

to be first in the barrel, while Ohio and West

Virginia stand in reserve, helping Shell apply

the heat. Merely to get into that barrel,

Governor Corbett has (Pittsburgh Tribune-

Review states):

Guaranteed zero state and local

taxes for 15 years, by re-defining

the Keystone Opportunity

Zone. That is: no property tax, no

corporate net income, capital

stock and franchise, sales and use

taxes — no taxes at all.

Set aside $12 million for

additional sweeteners.

Agreed to keep the

negotiations secret. (Secret from

the citizens, that is. Shell, on the

other hand, knows all about Mr.

Corbett‘s $12 million sugar

bowl.)

By making the deal his to lose, Mr. Corbett

has put himself just where Shell wants

him. He has already claimed credit for ‗jobs‘,

and for proving that his no-severance-tax

position is delivering on its trickle-down

promises. (In fact, not only has Shell not

obligated itself to deliver those alleged jobs, it

hasn‘t even needed to speculate about them in

public. All the jobs talk is coming from

industry fronts, like the American Chemistry

Council, and from politicians themselves,

including democratic state representative

leader Jay Costa.)

The governor has backed himself into a

corner with no choice but to give Shell

whatever it wants in order to keep the happy

talk flowing. And we need only to look at

Ireland, Nigeria, and other regions ‗blessed‘

with fossil hydrocarbons, for a glimpse of how

‗whatever Shell wants‘ can become reality.

Article submitted by John Detwiler, local

Pittsburgh environmental justice activist.

Here We Go Again. Shell Targets Western PA for ‗Cracker‘ Site;

Corbett Claims Credit for Jobs, and Promises ‗No Taxes.‘

Issues That Need to be Raised

Before Shell’s Cracker Plant

Is Considered for Beaver PA

* What are the number of long-term local jobs

that a cracker plant provides?

* What other petrochemical companies will be

drawn to the area for use of products made by

cracker plan and by-products of natural gas

fracking?

* What kind of jobs will these plants provide?

Chemists and engineers or working class jobs

requiring only high school diplomas? How many

of each type of job will be provided?

* How will local working class families be able

to afford the education to get these white collar

jobs?

* How much in local tax funds will be given to

companies to locate their companies here?

* What kinds of demands are the cracker plant

companies making related to shaping local

regulations that safeguard water and air quality?

* What kind of regulations and oversight

mechanisms are necessary to safeguard the local

environment? Is the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) equipped to handle oversight of a

new cracker plant?

* Is it required that the EPA regulate operations?

* What is the EPA‘s track record of regulating

cracker plants?

* What is the track record of Shell in Texas and

Louisiana to date? What has happened in these

petrochemical zones as it relates to jobs, wages,

land depreciation, pollution, illnesses, disasters,

and leaks?

* What do states like New York do to protect

themselves from cracker plant impacts? Have

moratoriums been instituted, independent pre-

approval studies been underwritten by health

agencies, etc.?

(Questions provided by Jo Tavener.)

Taken from Sierra Club


Announced by President Obama,

the G8/NATO meeting promised to

be the biggest thing to hit Chicago

since the 1968 Democratic National

Convention. NATO (the North

American Treaty Organization) and

the G8 (the leadership of the world's

eight largest economies) were to

meet in Chicago the same weekend.

This dual convergence of the forces

of war and poverty was expected to

draw tens of thousands of activists

from around the country and from

around the world for a nationally

permitted demonstration from May

18-20. But, apparently, someone

from among the "powers that be"

blinked. On the afternoon of

Monday, March 5, the White House

announced that the G8 summit was

being moved from the rough and

tumble of the Windy City to the

secluded, sylvan presidential retreat

of Camp David in Maryland.

G8 may have "chickened out", but

NATO is still planning to meet in

Chicago. So are we, activists from

around the globe. The Thomas

Merton Center (TMC) Anti-War

Committee (AWC) is organizing

transportation so that interested

Pittsburghers can participate in

the rally and march on Sunday,

May 20. We will be there to protest

NATO, which serves as the military

arm of what the mainstream media

usually call the "world

community.‖ In fact, the term

"world community" is a euphemism

for the United States and its

normally subservient Western

European "allies.‖ Despite the fact

that the G8 has decided to turn tail

and run into the Maryland woods,

we will be shouting down its policy

of austerity for the 99% so that the

1% can continue to wallow in

luxury.

The travel arrangements are as

follows: vans chartered by the

TMC-AWC will leave Pittsburgh

on Saturday evening, May 19,

travel all night to Chicago,

participate in the rally, and

march, and then depart from

Chicago sometime Sunday

evening, and arrive back in

Pittsburgh in the early hours of

Monday morning, May 21.

The fare will be $55, but a

number of half-price scholarship

seats will be available for persons

of limited incomes. For further

information visit

www.pittsburghendthewar.org. NATO was founded in 1949

ostensibly to counter the armies of

the former Soviet Union, then

stationed in central and eastern

Europe. Of course, the fact that

Russia, the political and military

center of the USSR, is located in

Europe, at least partially explains

why its armies were located there.

When the Soviet Union collapsed

and disappeared in the early 1990s,

so did the reason for the existence of

NATO. Nevertheless, some 20 years

later, NATO is still with us, and

more active than ever.

Indeed, the first time that NATO

actually used military force was in

1995, a few years after the demise

of the USSR, when it intervened in

the conflict in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. This was a time when

the former Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia was breaking apart and

several of its constituent republics

were seceding.

What was happening was a civil

war with the Yugoslav central

government, located in Serbia,

resorting to warfare to hold the

nation together, much as the United

States government did in 1861-

1865. A few years later, in 1999,

NATO, at the behest of U.S.

President Bill Clinton, launched a

massive 78- day bombing campaign

against Serbia which, among other

objectives, targeted civilian

infrastructure such as bridges and

power plants in the capital city of

Belgrade.

The stated purpose of that

campaign was to protect the

predominately Muslim population of

the province of Kosovo, which at

the time was attempting to secede

from Yugoslavia. Ironically, the

majority of Serb massacres of

Kosovars occurred after the

bombing campaign began, and in

retaliation for the bombing.

NATO's most recent military

adventure involved its campaign last

year to "protect" anti-Gaddafi

civilians in Libya by bombing pro-

Gaddafi civilians. To paraphrase

Napoleon, the pig in George

Orwell's Animal Farm: All civilians

are equal; but some civilians are

more equal than others.

The core principle of NATO is

contained in Article 5 of the North

Atlantic Treaty wherein members

agree that "an armed attack against

one or more of them in Europe or

North American shall be considered

an attack against all of them" and

that such an attack entitles them to

exercise the right of either

individual or collective self-defense

recognized by Article 51 of the

Charter of the United Nations.

Since the September 11, 2001,

attacks upon the World Trade

Center and the Pentagon, NATO has

used Article 5 as a justification for

participating in various ways in the

U.S. so-called "war on terror".


Join Us on the Bus to Chicago in Support of the 99%

By Michael Drohan

On Sunday March 18, more than 30 anti-war

activists gathered at Pitt Student Union for a

Forum on U.S. wars around the globe and how

to resist the global attack on the 99 percent. The

Forum began with presentations by five

panelists on some of the wars that the U.S. is

engaged in. Carlos Brossard of Black Voices for

Peace spoke about the Africa Strike Force,

organized out of Stuttgart and Southern Italy.

The strike force identifies situations in Africa

which may endanger U.S. access to natural

resources and indicates when military

intervention is appropriate. Brossard mentioned

specifically the material coltan, an essential

ingredient of cell phones, that comes from the

Congo. Preservation of access to this natural

resource is high on U.S. interests in Africa.

Karina Goulordava of Students for Justice in

Palestine (SJP) at Pitt spoke about U.S. war

against Palestinians. The U.S. gives annually $3

billion of US taxpayer money to Israel to fund

its military occupation of Palestine. One of the

most ominous developments in regard to Israel/

Palestine, she emphasized, was the ambition of

Israel to become a member state of NATO. If

Israel is admitted to the NATO exclusive club,

then this organization of 28 European states

would be obliged to assist Israel should

it launch an attack on Iran and Iran retaliated.

Also, were membership of NATO to materialize,

Israeli troops in Palestine could be replaced by

NATO troops, making the occupation of

Palestine a direct enterprise of the U.S. and its

NATO allies. At present Israel joins NATO in

military exercises in the region, but, due mainly

to Turkey, it has not succeeded in gaining

membership.

Helen Gerhardt, a veteran of the Iraqi War,

spoke as a member of Occupy Pittsburgh. She

told the story of a class action suit brought

against the Titan Corporation in Iraq for

atrocities committed in Iraq. The class action

suit was registered in a court in California but

sadly on June 27,2011 the U.S. Supreme Court

dismissed the case. This story illustrates the

impunity with which contractor companies such

as Titan and Blackwater Act in the war zone of

Iraq. The war on Iraq was a united enterprise of

the military-industrial-judicial complex of the

US to gain control over the oil and other

resources of the Middle East. For the

reconstruction of Iraq, U.S. taxpayers paid $9

billion. However, there is scant record of how it

was used other than that the monies were given

to U.S. military contractors. Much of this money

flowed back into the U.S. into the coffers of the

corporate military contractors.

Tayfun Gol of the Answer Coalition in

Pittsburgh made a presentation on Iran and the

attacks of the US/Israel on that country. It is a

mistake to believe that the war against Iran has

not yet begun, Tayfun asserted. In the case of

Iran, the first stage of the war is the economic

embargo. In this stage the objective is to destroy

the economy of the country, peel away the

support of the masses from the political regime

in Iran and sow unrest. All of this lays the

ground for a military attack exactly as with Iraq.

Iran is in compliance with all the requirements

of the International Atomic Energy Association

(IAEA) and has signed the Non-Proliferation

Treaty. On the other hand, Israel possesses

hundreds of nuclear weapons, does not allow

inspections by the IAEA and is not a signatory

to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Hypocrisy

supreme.

Pete Shell spoke on behalf of the Anti-War

Committee of the Thomas Merton Center. At

present the committee is engaged in mobilizing

Pittsburghers to go to Chicago from May 19-20

to protest the NATO meeting in that city. Both

the G8 and NATO were to have met in Chicago

but the G8 meeting has now been moved to

Camp David. This development alone, Shell

indicated, represents a victory for the popular

anti-war movement. Although the organizers did

not advertise the combined meeting as the

coming together of the economic and military

wings of globalization, the protestors definitely

did. In Chicago, they had formed the Coalition

Against NATO and G8 (CANG8) to protest both

events. It is the hope of the Anti-War Committee

to bring several van loads of protestors from

Pittsburgh. The cost of travel is $55 per person,

and one can reserve a seat and pay for it online.

See the article below.

After the presentations there was a lively

exchange of ideas and opinions on how to

strengthen the anti-war movement. Fred Ware,

Black Voices for Peace, emphasized the

importance of linking the costs of the war to the

local economy. Cuts in funding for education,

public transport and infrastructure upkeep are all

related to the trillions spent on foreign military

adventures. Much disappointment with the

Obama administration on the question of ending

overseas adventures was registered. Faith in the

present incumbent of the presidency or any

possible successor to end the wars was generally

esteemed to be a delusion. The only way the

senseless military enterprises will be brought to

a halt is through civilian pushback, protest, and

resistance. A GOOD REASON TO GET ON

THE BUS TO CHICAGO.

Michael Drohan is

board member of the

Thomas Merton

Center and a

member of the Anti-

war committee.

Pittsburgh Anti-War Organizers Head to Chicago



Where does this money go? Why are there no

resources for education, transportation, human

services, etc.?

The Federal budget is complicated. Different

people come up with different statistics; but all

agree, the military takes the biggest chunk.

Government statistics show 22% for defense,

21% social programs; 15% physical and human

community development, 5% interest; 2% law

enforcement; and 34% Social Security,

Retirement and Medicare. However, Social

Security and Medicare are a separate Trust Fund

and should not be included in the overall

budget.

During the Vietnam War President

Lyndon Johnson first decided to include

this item into the general budget, to make

military spending appear a smaller part of

all Federal expenditures. These statistics

also absorb spending on past wars (veterans

affairs, interest on past wars) into social

programs and overall interest.

The War Resisters League‘s pie chart of

the Federal budget does not include Social

Security. It shows 30% for current military,

which includes $117 billion for the wars in

Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and 18%

for past military, for a total of 48% and

$1,372 billion; 38% for Human Resources,

8% General Government and 6% for

Physical Resources.

The Friends‘ Committee on National

Legislation (FCNL) statistics deal with

discretionary funds alone, which is the part voted

on every year. The rest of the budget goes for

mandatory spending, which cannot be changed

from year to year. These numbers show an

astonishing 60% for the military, which includes

Department of Defense, War, Veterans Affairs,

and Nuclear Weapons Programs. It leaves 6%

each for Health and Human Services, and for

Transportation, 4% for State, 4% Education, 4%

other programs, 3% Homeland Security, 3%

Housing and Urban Development, 2% each

Justice and Agriculture and 1% each for NASA,

Energy, Labor, Treasury, Interior, EPA,

Commerce. FCNL calculates that our

government spends $2.1 million per minute on

wars.

The President‘s budget for 2012 proposes

spending cuts across the board on discretionary

spending, however ―security‖ spending is

exempt from the cuts, although it will be capped,

meaning that increases will not keep up with

inflation.

Why is the U.S. spending so much?

China, the next largest military power, has

just increased its military expenditures to $100

billion. In 2009 the US spent $965 billion on

―current military‖, including the wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan, plus $484 billion on ―past military.

The military–industrial complex, of which

President Eisenhower warned us, has become

very influential in the Halls of Congress. It is

difficult to change, because research and

production take place all over the country, and

Congressmen don‘t like losing these jobs in their

districts, even though statistics show that the

same amount of money spent on defense, if

spent on education or healthcare, would create

more jobs.

The US military buildup creates the desire in

other countries to equally increase their defenses

and weapons supplies, much of which is sold to

them by the US. Unfortunately money spent on

the military cannot be spent on education,

healthcare, food, energy or anything else.

What the world spends on wars could instead

help eliminate malaria forever, provide

necessary healthcare all over the world and

provide safe water sources. We could

comfortably feed the population of the world, if

we would stop destroying the world‘s

resources.

You get what you pay for…

**Sen. Bernie Sanders Ten, as of 3/11/2012

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in

2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income

taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate

from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax

refund from the IRS last year, although it made

$4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout

from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury

Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3) Over the past five years, while General

Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United

States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from

the IRS.

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund

from the IRS last year after it made $10

billion in profits in 2009.

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion

contract from the Pentagon to build 179

airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund

from the IRS last year.

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company

in America with $68 billion in sales last

year received a $157 million tax refund

check from the IRS and, over the past three

years, it received a $134 million tax break

from the oil and gas manufacturing tax

deduction.

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1

percent of its income in taxes even though it

earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an

almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve

and U.S. Treasury Department.

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion

in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It

received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal

Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company

in the United States, made $16 billion in profits

from 2007 through 2009, but received $451

million in tax breaks through the oil and gas

manufacturing deduction.

10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise

Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but

its federal income tax rate during those years

was just 1.1 percent.

Edith Bell leads the Women’s International

League for Freedom and Peace in Pittsburgh.

April Showers Bring May Flowers and Taxes

By Deborah Weinstein

In announcing the Republicans

new budget and tax plan Tuesday,

House Budget Committee Chair man

Paul Ryan said ―We are sharpening

the contrast between the path that

we‘re proposing and the path of debt

and decline the president has placed

us upon.‖

Ryan is right about sharpening the

contrast. But the plan doesn‘t do

much to reduce the debt. Even by its

own estimate the deficit would drop

to $166 billion in 2018 and then

begin growing again.

The real contrast is over what the

plan does for the rich and what it

does to everyone else. It reduces the

top individual and corporate tax rates

to 25 per cent. This would give the

wealthiest Americans an average tax

cut of at least $150,000 a year.

The money would come out of

programs for the elderly, lower-

middle class families, and the poor.

Seniors would get subsidies to buy

private health insurance or Medicare

– but the subsidies would be capped.

So as medical costs will increase,

and seniors would fall further and

further behind.

Other cuts would come out of

food stamps, Pell grants, which

offset the college tuition of kids from

poor families, and scores of other

programs that now help middle-

income and poor people.

The plan also calls for repealing

Obama‘s health-care overhaul,

thereby eliminating health care for

30 million Americans and allowing

insurers to discriminate against (and

drop from coverage) people with pre

-existing conditions.

The plan would carve

an additional $19 billion

from next year‘s

―discretionary‖ spending, over and

above what Democrats agreed to last

year. Needless to say, discretionary

spending includes most programs for

lower-income families.

Not surprisingly, the Pentagon

would be spared.

So what‘s the guiding principle

here? Pure social Darwinism, which

rewards the rich and cuts off help to

anyone who needs it.

Ryan says too many Americans

rely on government benefits. ―We

don‘t want to turn the safety net into

a hammock that lulls able-bodied

people into lives of dependency.‖

Well, I have news for Paul Ryan.

Almost 23 million able-bodied

people still can‘t find work. They‘re

not being lulled into dependency.

They and their families could use

some help. Even if the economy

continues to generate new jobs at the

rate of the last three months, we

wouldn‘t see normal rates of

unemployment until 2017.

And most Americans who do have

jobs continue to lose ground. New

research by professors Emmanual

Saez and Thomas Pikkety shows that

the average adjusted gross income of

the bottom 90 per cent was $29,840

in 2010 — down $127 from 2009

and down $4,842 from 2000 — and

just slightly higher than it was forty-

six years ago in 1966 (all figures

adjusted for inflation).

We could use better schools,

access to higher education, lower-

cost health care, improved public

transportation, and lots of other

things that Ryan and his colleagues

are intent on removing.

Deborah Weinstein is the Executive

Director of the Coalition on Human

Needs— see www.chn.org for more

information.

Paul Ryan Budget Weakens Nation

JOIN US!

6th Annual Tax Day Rally

& Penny Poll

Noon to 3 PM At Darlington & Murray

(Next to the Squirrel Hill Post Office)

The Raging Grannies will perform!

Organized by the Women‘s International League

for Peace and Freedom and the

PA American Friends Service Committee Program


THOMAS MERTON CENTER ACTIVIST FORUM

Celebrating Molly Rush

By Jo Tavener

When did you dream up the Citizen’s Budget

Campaign and what was it about?

In the early 1990s we opened a local chapter of

the national Citizen‘s Budget Campaign. The

planning committee, about eight to or ten of us,

met monthly. Key issues were the military

budget, budget priorities, and the growing

inequalities. Mostly, we used information from

United for a Fair Economy, which focused on

inequality.

We got the word out through reports, educational

programs, and actions on tax day. We did a four-

page report in the New People. We organized

folks to lobby Federal and State officials. We

also held hearings at City Council. Rep. Mike

Doyle chaired a hearing at Hill House; over 20

groups testified to the skewed budget priorities.

While the hearings didn‘t get into the paper

much, we focused on getting organizations to

look at our information. We did street theater,

which did get radio and TV coverage.

How successful were you?

We didn‘t stop military budget or inequality from

increasing but we did give out lots of good

information to religious and peace groups and

those working on poverty. We tried to provide

good handles on what was not covered well in

the media. Look how long it‘s taken! Not until

Occupy came along did the papers really pick up

on the inequality issue. Of course, it was known

on a personal level but we didn‘t have a handle

on just how unequal we were as a society.

Of course, now the widening gap between the 1%

and everyone else makes it easier to see.

Yes, that‘s so but even then it was obvious.

Alongside workshops and speakers, we did the

ten chair exercise, started by United for a Fair

Economy. We put out ten chairs, one person per

chair, then they were allocated by the actual

distribution of wealth. The richest ten percent,

that is, one person, stretched out over 7 chairs

while the other nine tried to squeeze together to

fit on the remaining three chairs. It was such a

fun event yet graphically illustrated the terrible

fact of just how unequal we were. I recently

found the same exercise being used by Occupy

Boston. I got a kick out of that.

We used another tactic, the penny exercise, to

show how different the public‘s priorities were

from those of the Federal Government. We

would give people pennies and ask them to put

them in a jar marked ‗military budget‘ or one

marked ‗other priorities.‘ The ‗other priorities‘

jar filled up quickly while the ‗military budget‘

jar did not, showing graphically how much

people disagreed with the Federal budget. Now,

of course, the military takes at least forty-eight

percent of our income taxes.

How come there is no national campaign now

when the need is so great?

By 2004, there wasn‘t much energy left to fight

the ballooning military budget, given the Iraq

War and the need felt by most of the nation to

support the troops. The Center was putting our

energy into opposing the war. We had 5000

people in the streets protesting the war in 2003

before it even began!

Things were getting much worse. We were

discouraged so we decided to call a meeting

about single payer health care. Sixty people came

to the first meeting. That‘s where PUSH

(Pennsylvanians United for Single Player Health

Care) began.

What do you think about popular discontent with

the current state and federal budgets?

There is opposition to drones, opposition to

nuclear weapon plants being built but not much

to the overall military budget that has become a

monster. It‘s always been a monster but now it‘s

gone ballistic. There are so many issues hitting

the public at once: transit cuts, job loss,

skyrocketing education costs. It‘s all related to

the military that just sucks money out of the

economy but that fact hasn‘t been front and

center. There are groups working on torture, on

what‘s going on in Africa, on our hidden wars

but no focus that I see on the military budget.

It‘s a different case at the state level. Teachers

and transit workers are organizing against the

Corbett budget. All over the state hundreds are

organizing around unemployment insurance.

What I don‘t see happening yet is a developing

coalition to work on these issues together. What

I‘m looking at is the tax situation. Seventy-five

percent of all Pennsylvania corporations paid

zero taxes in 2011. If we look at the budget and

state taxes together, we‘d see that the money is

there to pay for the services.

Everyone‘s talking about the cuts and what‘s

being lost. But the fact is that the money would

be there if the tax rules were changed, if the

governor‘s priorities were different. Taxes are so

skewed that millionaires as well as corporations

don‘t pay their fair share, if they pay at all, and

this at a time when we are giving away our

natural resources to Marcellus shale gas drillers.

Some complain that income taxes are keeping

corporations out of the state even though 75%

don‘t pay anything! At the same time the cuts to

child health care, education and transit are

destroying the economy and hurting small

businesses and job growth. Corbett‘s budget isn‘t

economically feasible. If workers can‘t get to

their jobs and gas prices stay high as they must

given the nature of today‘s fossil fuels, how are

businesses to thrive?

If we aren‘t educating children for the future,

what jobs will there be for them? If we can‘t

keep our citizens healthy, what does any of it

matter? The latest budget proposal is insane!

So what’s to be done?

When people realize that all these battles are

basically the same battle, they will start to

coalesce. Fr. Jack O‘Malley put it clearly: While

some people say that Occupy has to come up

with the answers he said, ―It‘s up to the rest us to

follow through.‖

Maybe what we need are different graphs

identifying those items that connect the dots

between actions and money, between taxes and

expenditures. But it takes a national group with

that kind of information to connect the dots, to

show us how military budget shapes our lives

and our government budgets. That‘s why national

groups are so important. There needs to be a

major coalescence of forces coming together to

impact what is going on.

I want to see the TMC help build such coalitions

but we need a larger staff to do it. We are not in

position to do such coalition building now

without raising more money to hire organizers.

That‘s what an organizer does, facilitate, connect

and make sure that people get engaged and

involved and use their energy and their ideas to

move ahead. When people come together, that‘s

how organizing happens, that‘s how to build

power.

I think that‘s what Occupy is trying to do. We

recently got together with Occupy and other

single payer groups to plan the February 11

action around health care. We need the same kind

of coalition-building around the budget. It would

be great if the initiative came from Occupy with

all the groups protesting both the distribution of

taxes and the state and federal budgets.

Occupy changed the conversation and now it‘s

time to move from conversation to united action.

Jo Tavener taught film production studies at

New York University Film School before

retiring as Assistant Professor of Critical

Media and Cultural Studies at the University

of Pittsburgh.

This year give PEACE a chance. Become an Active Member of the Thomas Merton Center and Help Change the World!

Together, we can create a more peaceful and just world.

Already a member? Now is the time to renew your membership!

2012 marks the Center‘s 40th Anniversary! With you we will carry on our mission: to instill a consciousness of values and to raise the moral

questions involved with war, racism, poverty, environmental degradation and oppression. Our members are people from diverse philosophies and

faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. Since the Center's beginning, thousands of

people have joined with us to work together on this important mission. Through protests, as well as by organizing projects, the active involvement of

our members has been the backbone of our work. Over twenty organizing campaigns and projects are supported by the Center. Our monthly

newspaper, The NewPeople, is a key source of information for activists interested in participating in justice-oriented advocacy strategies and events.

To become a member go to http://thomasmertoncenter.org/join-donate/ mail, or call the Center at (412) 301-3022.

http://thomasmertoncenter.org/join-donate/


April Activist Events in Pittsburgh

Unite Against the War on Women

The Pennsylvania branch of UNITE Women announced the addition of 3

speakers to their roster for April 28, 2012 - Unite Against The War on

Women. This event was launched on February 19, 2012, with a call to

march and rally in every state to say ―Enough is Enough.‖

Newly confirmed speakers for the Pennsylvania rally at the Capitol

building in Harrisburg from 10 am -2 pm include Kate Michelman, past

president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Lois Herr, Executive Director of

the Lancaster County Democratic Committee in 2007-08, and PA Senator

Daylin Leach who represents the 17th district, which includes parts of

Delaware and Montgomery counties. He has been a strong advocate for

women‘s rights legislation since he was elected in 2002.

On Saturday, April 28, in cities across America, a new and growing

movement will march and rally to Unite Against the War on Women. April

28th will be a day for Americans to loudly denounce the ongoing attacks on

women from the extreme right as well as to continue the fight for the

freedom of women.

The events are open to everyone who shares our outrage and wants to join

us in honoring and protecting the liberty and rights of all Americans from

the abuse of government power as we promote resolutions and legislation

that uphold the integrity of the truths we as Americans hold to be self-

evident.

For more information about the Pennsylvania march, visit: http://

www.wearewomenmarch.net/groups/pennsylvania-we-are-women-march/

For national information visit: http://www.wearewomenmarch.net.

Transportation details will be published soon.

Chatham University's F.A.C.E organization (Feminist Activists

Creating Equality) is planning a two-mile Walk for Congo Women on

April 14, 2012, on Chatham University's Campus.

The purpose of this event is to raise awareness of the conflict in the

Democratic Republic of Congo where women are subjected to brutal

gang rape and torture on a daily basis. All proceeds from this event

will be sent to the Women for Women International's Congo program.

WfWI's program works with the women of the Congo through direct

financial assistance, job skills training, rights awareness education, and

trauma counseling. More than 31,000 Congolese women have

participated and benefited from the program's expansion in 2004.

Registration begins at 9:15 am and the walk begins at 10:00 am on

April 14th. Registration for this event will be in the Jenny King Mellon

Library's parking lot on Chatham University's Campus, accessible

through Murray Hill Avenue.

Registration fee for this event is $10 dollars for the public, $5 for

non-Chatham students, and free for Chatham students with a suggested

donation of $5. Walkers are encouraged to ask family members and

friends for monetary sponsorship for this worthy cause. Any further

donations for Women for Women International can be brought on the

event day.

Anyone interested in participating in the walk is encouraged to

register early and pay the event fee online at

walkforcongowomenchathamuniversity.eventbrite.com.

Walk for Congo Women

Please join us for our annual Way of the

Cross/Way of Compassion on Good Friday

April 6th. Please note that our route this year is

considerably shorter than last year! We will

gather at the Greyhound Bus Station at 8:45

AM and process to the Federal Building and

then down Grant St. ending at Mellon Park

stopping at the Court House, the County

Building, and the UPMC Building among

others, ending by 10:30 am.

Please bring a cross to carry. We will be

taking up a collection for the Merton Center in

honor of its 40th Anniversary. We hope you

can join us.

Questions? Call, 412-831-8312.

Peace,

Mimi Darragh for Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi

Pax Christi Annual - Way of the Cross / Way of Compassion

Courtesy of Catholic Lane

This was the largest rally I‘ve ever seen at CMU. You could feel

the energy and passion in the air. Speaker after speaker cried out

for justice. Even CMU students, who are relatively well off,

expressed their feelings of vulnerability that they too could be

targeted for walking while Black.

We passed out flyers for a march against police brutality and

justice for Jordan Miles and Trayvon Martin on April 21,

and they went very fast.

Pete Shell, TMC Anti-War Committee Leader

Justice Rally for Trayvon Martin, March 26 at CMU

Battle of Homestead Foundation

2012 SCHEDULE OF PUMP HOUSE EVENTS

April 14, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―FROM MEMPHIS TO MADISON:

REVIVING MARTIN LUTHER KING‘S GOSPEL OF LABOR RIGHTS

AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE.‖ Michael Honey, Wali Jamal and Mike Stout.

April 26, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - CROSSING THE AMERICAN

CRISES: FROM COLLAPSE TO ACTION. Film by Silvia Leindecker and

Michael Fox. Estreito Meio Productions, 2011. 82 mins.

May 19, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―THE CRISIS OF PUBLIC

TRANSIT.‖ HERE/UNITE, ATU, UFCW, Pittsburghers for Public Transit.

May 31, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - UE LEADING THE FIGHT (excerpts)

and WORKERS‘ REPUBLIC. Film by Andrew Friend. Sponsored by UE

(the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers‘ Union).

Insurgent Productions, 2010. 60 mins.

June 23, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―WHEN JOBS DISAPPEAR.‖

Robert W. Bednarzik, Joe Szalanski, and Norm Koehler.

June 28, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - FOOD STAMPED. Film by Shirah &

Yoav Potash. Summit Pictures, 2011. 62 mins.

July 14, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―INEQUALITY AND THE LABOR

MOVEMENT.‖ The Bernie Kleiman Lecture. Leo Gerard with Paul Le Blanc.

July 26, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - SICK AROUND THE WORLD.

Frontline, PBS, 2008. 56mins. MOUSELAND, Canada, (1944). 8 mins.

August 18, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―COMMEMORATING THE ‗BREAD

AND ROSES‘ STRIKE‖ and ―REMEMBERING FANNIE SELLINS.‖

Millie Beik and Richard Gazarik.

August 30, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - SHOUT YOUNGSTOWN. Produced

and directed by Carol Greenwald and Dorie Krauss.

Cinema Guild, 2006, c. 1984. 45 mins.

September 22, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―WOODY GUTHRIE

CONCERT.‖ Mike Stout and other musicians.

September 27, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - SPLIT ESTATE.

Bullfrog Films, 2009. 76 mins.

October 13, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm - ―LIKE A MAN GONE MAD.‖

Sam Hazo. Poetry at the Pump House.

October 25, 2012, Thursday, 7:30 pm - Woody Guthrie:

Ain‘t Got No Home. Peter Frumkin Productions, 2007. 90 mins.

The Pump House is on Waterfront Drive in Munhall, PA


Testimony at Transit Hearing About Proposed Cuts in Services

By Rob Conroy

Gun violence is killing Pennsylvania citizens—

many of whom are law enforcement officers-and

communities alike. Despite widespread protests

and substantial public outcry, our state

government has done absolutely nothing to

combat this problem. Now, unfortunately, if

either H.B. 1523—a state House Bill introduced

by Cranberry‘s own Daryl Metcalfe and co-

sponsored by 45 other legislators—or its state

Senate companion Bill, S.B. 1438, passes when

it is voted upon early in April, local

governments who enact regulations designed to

curb gun violence will be forced to pay

exorbitant financial penalties to the National

Rifle Association (NRA) for doing so.

Please consider the following:

1) The vast majority of Pennsylvania gun crime

is committed with illegal guns. Of the illegally

owned firearms recovered at crime scenes by

Pittsburgh police, more than ninety percent

(90%) are ―lost or stolen‖ firearms—i.e., guns

that were at one time lawfully registered to a

citizen but that have since left that citizen‘s

possession through either a loss, a theft, or an

unlawful transfer. Some common unlawful

transfers occur between relatives and/or friends,

during illicit drug transactions, or through straw

purchasing—the act of lawfully purchasing a

firearm with the express purpose of unlawfully

transferring that firearm to a different,

unlicensed individual.

2) Of the more than 90% of ―lost or stolen‖

crime guns recovered by the Pittsburgh police,

only one-half of these ―losses‖ or ―thefts‖ are

reported prior to recovery.

As a result, in 2009, City Councils in both

Pittsburgh and Philadelphia chose to fight straw

purchasing by enacting a ―Lost or Stolen

Handgun‖ ordinance that requires gun owners in

the City of Pittsburgh to report to the police the

loss or theft of a handgun within 24 hours of

discovery. This ordinance is designed to

recognize and penalize—first with a $500 fine,

then, upon additional convictions, with heftier

fines and/or potential jail time—those who are

intentionally and repeatedly engaged in the

unlawful transfer of firearms, as such individuals

would obviously not report such transfers to the

police.

Since then forty-six other Pennsylvania

municipalities have enacted similar ―Lost or

Stolen‖ ordinances or resolutions.

Unfortunately, thanks in no small part to our

state politicians‘ innate fear of the gun lobby,

none of these laws are currently being

enforced. In fact, when a statewide ―Lost or

Stolen‖ Bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania

House of Representatives in 2008, it failed, with

128 of our state Representatives—including

many from the Western PA delegation—voting

against it.

The NRA has filed multiple Pennsylvania

lawsuits attempting to strike/invalidate local

―Lost or Stolen Handgun‖ laws, and on each of

these occasions, the courts (including the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court) have struck down

the NRA‘s lawsuit. Thus thwarted, the NRA has

now concocted (via Representative Metcalfe and

company) H.B. 1523 and S.B. 1438, which

render ―Lost or Stolen‖ towns liable for up to

three times actual damages, attorneys‘ fees and

court costs in the event of a lawsuit challenging

the ―Lost or Stolen‖ laws even if the underlying

―Lost or Stolen‖ legislation continues to be

upheld by our state Courts.

Worst of all, H.B. 1523 and S.B. 1438 will

now allow the NRA—as an organization whose

membership could be ―adversely affected‖ by

such laws--to file arbitrary lawsuits designed

to bankrupt municipalities by granting it

automatic legal standing to do so, essentially

allowing a lobbying organization to legally

challenge municipal ordinances on ideological

grounds without having suffered any tangible,

provable damage.

Simply stated, H.B. 1523 and S.B. 1438

subvert the role of the judicial branch of our

state government—and, in effect, bully local

governments into submission--without any

elucidated authority to do so.

This is a violation of our state‘s ―separation

of powers‖ clause and an abdication of our state

government‘s moral and legal obligation to

protect the health, safety, and welfare of our

citizenry. To call this legal precedent

―dangerous‖ would be a massive

understatement.

Regardless of how one feels about firearms

regulation, anyone concerned with local

governments and their need to do more with less

during tough economic times should oppose this

legislation, as should anyone in support of equal

justice under the law.

H.B. 1523 and S.B. 1438 simply must be

stopped before it‘s too late. On February 14, the

Council of the City of Pittsburgh—led by

District 3 Councilman Bruce Kraus—

unanimously passed a Will of Council urging the

State Assembly and Governor Corbett to reject

H.B. 1523. It‘s time for the rest of us to follow

suit.

Rob Conroy is the Western PA Field

Coordinator for CeaseFirePA and a member of

the Thomas Merton Center Board of Directors.

Guns, Guns Everywhere

Molly Rush testified at the transit hearing

for proposed cuts in services this past month in

support of all Pittsburgher’s who will be

impacted by devastating losses of transportation

services.

Proposed cuts in service /layoffs of hundreds of

PAT employees will have a devastating effect on

our region, our jobs and our very lives. If we‘re to

prevent a human and economic disaster, we need

to ask a basic question.

Why? We‘re told there‘s no money available:

we have to balance the state budget. Well, a

budget includes income and expenses. Let‘s look

at the income side. Go where the money is.

A November 2009 study by the Institute on

Taxation & Economic Policy [ITEP] named

Pennsylvania as one of the ―Terrible Ten‖ states

that ―stand out for the extraordinary degree to

which they have shifted the cost of funding public

investments to their very poorest residents.‖

twenty percent of non-elderly Pennsylvanians

with incomes below $19,000 pay 11.2% in state

and local taxes. The average income of the

poorest 20% is $10,500; those workers pay

$1100 a year. The middle 20% with income

averaging $45,200 pay 9.1%, or over $4000 a

year in state and local taxes.

As income goes up, the tax rate goes down.

11.2% paid by the poorest fifth; the richest 1%,

whose average yearly income is $1,369,600, pay

just 3.9%.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states without a

graduated income tax. Our sales tax is very

regressive: the poorest 20% pay nearly 6% of

income on sales and excise taxes, the top 1% pay

less than 1%.

Then there‘s the corporate tax, ―too high‖ at

9.9%, we‘re told. But major corporations

headquartered in PA. pay far less than that. For

instance, between 2008 and 2010, Heinz paid

under 1%, PNC Financial paid 1.5%, Consol

3.6% and PPG 4%.

If you earned over $33,000 last year you paid

more in income taxes than 85% of PA.

corporations. About three out of four major

corporations didn‘t pay a dime! Yet corporate

profits have just hit a 50-year high.

Why? Well they just go to Delaware. It‘s a tax

haven, ―a place of refuge or rest; a sanctuary.‖ In

fact, just one building in Wilmington, Delaware

houses 14,000 shell corporations, refugees who

fled from paying taxes. It‘s called the ―Delaware

loophole.‖ And it costs Pennsylvania taxpayers

$500 million a year.

So don‘t let anyone tell you we can‘t afford to

provide basic services such as mass transit to the

people of Pennsylvania. What we can‘t afford is a

Governor or a Legislature who will wreak havoc

on our people, our economy, and our future while

sheltering our wealthiest citizens and major

corporations from paying their fair share.

Molly is a founder of the Thomas Merton

Center, serves on the board, and leads the

editorial collective. Photo by Corey Carrington

The PA Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program

may be eliminated in the near future by the

Administrative Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

This program has allowed the courts to manage

foreclosure cases in a way that lets banks and

homeowners resolve the problem of delinquent

mortgages without banks taking properties that they

do not want from families who desperately need to

keep their homes. Get involved in actions to stop this

and find out more at pasaveourhomes.org.

Photo Courtesy of Celeste Taylor

Celeste Taylor (left)

promotes voter

participation in the

election - to oppose

Governor Corbett‘s

impact on the 99%.

Photo courtesy of pasaveourhomes.org


Pennsylvania‘s Proposed State Budget for FY 2012-2013


We hear from many in state government that

current state revenues are running behind

projections by about $700 million. There is hope

that some of this will be made up by the end of

June with improvements in the economy and,

with it, tax collections. Governor Corbett

proposes to make up the shortfall in next year's

budget.

Additional challenges to be considered are:

Matches in state funds that are required for

federally mandated programs are more and

more costly

The big gap between the rich and the poor

with continued need for state assistance by

the economically disadvantaged and those

with disabilities

Continued tax cuts and tax loopholes for

multi-billion dollar corporations, and

No new taxes

Recently, an Allegheny County State Senator,

Jay Costa, spoke to students and human service

providers at the School of Social Work at the

University of Pittsburgh about the proposed

2012-13 state budget. While the presentation was

factual and insightful, its content was very

disturbing, moving all of us in the audience to

commit ourselves to advocate for improvements

before a final budget is decided this summer.

Here are some of the concerns:

Education:

Cutting $100 million from school districts

Cutting higher education institutions 20-30%,

$8.8 million less for community colleges

and $80 million less for state sponsored

universities

Cutting $27.2 million from student financial

aid

Welfare:

Eliminating cash assistance to poor adults

(the General Assistance monthly allocation of

$205 to 68,800 destitute Pennsylvania men

and women without dependent children)

Cutting 20% from county-run social service

programs, which includes cutting $168

million in mental health services, child

welfare and other critical human services

Reducing reimbursements to hospitals and

nursing homes serving those who are poor

Re-introducing assets test on people seeking

to receive food stamps (now called the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program -

SNAP).

Agriculture:

Even though the funds which help food

banks: the State Food Purchase Program is

proposed at this year's funding level, with the

proposed cuts in education and welfare, it is

likely that additional food assistance will be

needed by struggling people throughout PA

Democracy requires that citizens take

responsibility and get involved. Now is the time

to do just that.

I invite you to:

1) Continue to get informed about the proposed

state budget and its impact

2) Contact your PA Representative and Senator

with your concerns and suggestions

3) Write a letter to the editor or speak out on a

radio talk show on the issues

4) Join others who will be advocating for a better

2012-13 PA budget that makes the common good

a priority and does not leave needy

Pennsylvanians behind

Below are some organizational website

contacts that can help achieve these goals.

1) www.justharvest.org

Just Harvest 412-431-8960

2) www.pittsburghfoodbank.org

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank 412-460-3663

3) www.forbesfunds.org/sector-leadership/gpnp

Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership 412-394-2634

This information is available online at:

http://tinyurl.com/7ojrsyx.

Joyce Rothermel is Co-Chair of the SW PA

Food Security Partnership.

As Gov. Corbett and the PA State

Legislature escalate their attacks and budget

cuts against public education, reducing

funding for public education in Southwestern

Pennsylvania by $171,780,572* since 2010,

three hundred Pittsburgh-area parents,

community members, teachers, and students

came together on March 3 to coordinate a

response.

Following two hours of information- and

idea-packed, spirited discussion, a hundred

participants braved a cold wind in a spirited,

chanting march across Penn Avenue to the

Verizon Wireless store in Bakery Square.

Verizon is one of the companies which has

taken advantage of the ―Delaware loophole.‖

Incorporated in Delaware, Verizon is

among many high-profit-making businesses

which paid no Pennsylvania taxes last year.

Teach-in speakers and participants pointed

out that this type of Corbett-supported tax

loophole is one of many places the state

could go to raise the revenues necessary to

fund K-12 and higher education.

The teach-in style gathering, organized by

One Pittsburgh, met at the former Reizenstein

Middle School building (now Pittsburgh

Obama IB). Nina Esposito-Visits, president

of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers,

welcomed participants, then turned the chair

over to Rick Adams, executive director of

community relations at the Community

College of Allegheny County, and former

member of Pittsburgh‘s school board and

human relations commission. Ron Cowell,

long-time former chair of the PA House

Committee on Education, and current head of

the Education Policy and Center, gave

participants a detailed report on the state of

education funding in Pennsylvania. Former

PA State Senator Allen Kukovich added a

powerful look at the political landscape in

which funding for prisons and open doors to

gas frackers has been replacing meeting the

basic human needs of the people of our state.

Participants reflecting a cross-section of

Pittsburgh met in informal workshops, then

presented ideas on how to restructure the

state budget to re-fund both K-12 and higher

education.

The presentations reflected, and are

reflected in, this list as published by the

public education advocacy group,

Yinzercation:

Close the Delaware Loophole, one of the

single largest forms of corporate welfare

costing our state $500 million in tax revenue

every year. More than 20 other states have

already closed this loophole and there is no

reason we can‘t too.

Tax Marcellus shale — even the drilling

companies have said they‘re willing to pay a

severance tax and not having one has cost

Pennsylvania over $314 million since

October of 2009.

Eliminate the bonus depreciation rule,

passed by the Revenue Department last year

without a legislative vote (cost us $260

[million] the first half of this fiscal year

alone).

Repeal the sales tax exemptions for

things like coal ($120 million) and candy

($90 million) which essentially give away

state revenue.

Stop Corbett‘s plan to eliminate the

Capital stock and franchise tax, which are

paid by corporations and will cost the state

$200 million in revenue each year.

Impose a moderate tax increase.

As we left the teach-in and march, many

participants shared a renewed sense of

optimism, determination, and unity. We had

come together from many parts of town, and

from many vantage points, but our outrage at

the attacks on public education, and our

commitment to work together to save our

schools and children, reminded us of the

potential power of the 99%. n

Some of the organizations whose websites

and Facebook pages contain up-to-date

information on the fight for public education

include:

Yinzercation

(http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/)

Education Policy and Leadership Center

(http://www.eplc.org/)

Education Voters Pennsylvania

(www.educationvoterspa.org/)

One Pittsburgh

(www.onepittsburgh.org)

Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

(www.pft400.org)

A+ Schools

(www.aplusschools.org/)

* For a county-by-county breakdown of

budget cuts by school district, see http://

tinyurl.com/7nt5onr.

Kipp Dawson is a middle school teacher in

the Pittsburgh Public School system.

Three Hundred Attend “We Are One” Education Teach-In


TMC Anniversary Events and Membership News

Janet Richardson Remembers Just over twenty

- five years ago,

I made my first

visit to the

United States.

The plan was to

go to St Louis,

but at the last

minute things

changed and it

was Pittsburgh

instead. I was

looking forward to St Louis, having done my

home work and looked at its extraordinary

history, but also its location on the Missouri

River right in the middle of the continent.

We arrived in 1985 in a bitterly cold and

snowy January. If St Louis had the Missouri,

Pittsburgh has three wonderful rivers;

Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio. So no

wonder it is known as River City.

But what was I going to do in an unknown

city, in an unknown country, with two young

children and a husband teaching at Carnegie

Mellon. I had one contact. I had met Molly

Rush at Greenham Common Women's Peace

Camp, in England, when she had visited the

previous year. I got in touch with Molly and

everything moved on from there. ―'Come to the

Thomas Merton Centre where I work‖ was how

she welcomed me. So of course I did. I do not

believe we have any equivalent in Britain. The

Thomas Merton Centre seemed to me quite

extraordinary in its consistent and determined

pursuit of justice and peace. People involved

with the centre (excuse English spelling)

seemed to be everywhere. Molly, Liane Norma

and her daughter Marie designed the most

beautiful leaflets for the River City campaign.

Others were involved in researching the issues

we were involved with, in order to be well

briefed when out campaigning and were likely

to be cross questioned by people who did not

understand why we were protesting about

horrendous weapons being designed and built

under their noses.

I soon became involved in one aspect of the

Centre's work, the River City Peace campaign.

Carnegie Mellon, where my husband was

teaching architecture, was the home of Star

Wars research and I sometimes found myself

demonstrating there, handing out fliers - an odd

situation. There was also a group of scientists

opposing the work and a number of very

informative seminars were held. I also went to

work with the local Steelworkers Union. The

aim was to Save Dorothy Six, one of the steel

plants in Homestead. I truly believe we nearly

did it, but not quite. When I visited Pittsburgh a

few years later I could not believe my eyes – not

a trace was left of the steel works in Homestead.

In this recollection, I have concentrated on

the things I became involved in in Pittsburgh

during my only too short a stay. But The Merton

Centre people were (like Greenham women)

everywhere. This reminds me of the little

'action' Molly and I did, when I visited shortly

after my original stay. We spray painted

Greenham Women are Everywhere on a huge

wall that was guarding a site where some

unpleasant new corporation building was going

up.

I follow the work of the Merton Centre

through the website, Facebook and wonderful e-

mails from Molly. Occasionally I spot old and

familiar names. You are all tireless and

wonderful.

In peace Janet Richardson

Janet Richardson lives in London, England

Lois Goldstein Reflects As a relative newcomer to Pittsburgh in the

mid 1980‘s I was extremely honored to be

invited to join the board of the TMC. I was

familiar with the organization because of Molly

Rush‘s reputation as a member of the

Ploughshares 8 and its anti-war work. My

involvement with the peace movement at that

time was as staff for Pennsylvania Peace Links,

an anti-nuclear women‘s group working to

educate about the need to find alternative ways

to settle conflict.

I was impressed by the Merton Center‘s

desire to expand its board and membership to

include not only those whose orientation was

faith based, but also had room for those who

were secular humanists or who otherwise

defined themselves.

I joined the personnel committee, chaired by

Art McDonald, and when he left the area, I

assumed that position. During this time I

interviewed and then recommended the hiring of

Bette McDevitt, who had just moved to

Pittsburgh.

Another high spot for me was when fellow

board member, Jan Neffke and I, worked hard to

ensure that staff members were paid the federal

minimum wage rate, as low as that was, so that

working at the Center didn‘t mean one had to

have support from some other source. Another

change approved by the board was to pay a

stipend toward the cost of their medical care

coverage. In order to help finance these changes

we encouraged members to pledge monthly

contributions.

I was still on the Board into the 90‘s when

Shirley Gleditsch came to us with her proposal

to establish a thrift shop next door that would be

of service to the community, as well as a source

of income to the Center. For almost 20 years it

has more than accomplished both goals.

One of the unique aspects of the Center has

been its willingness to serve as an umbrella to a

whole variety of groups working on diverse

peace and justice projects, supplying space, and

general support of their efforts.

Summing up, I feel that my years on the TMC

board gave me more than I was able to give in

return.

Lois Goldstein, [email protected].

Regal Remembers

My first encounter with the Thomas Merton

Center was in the late 1970‘s during a visit home

from college. The Soviets had invaded

Afghanistan, and draft registration had been

reinstated, so I dropped in to attend a planning

meeting for a peace demonstration.

Little did I imagine that several years later I‘d

be working at a borrowed desk in the Merton

Center‘s back room. Jump ahead to 1986, when

Hunger Action Coalition -- which the Center had

helped to found a decade earlier -- was closing

down and its program was being re-organized

into Just Harvest and what is now known as

Hunger Services at the Urban League.

The office space we planned on fell through,

so when Just Harvest was supposed to officially

open its doors as a brand new organization, there

were no actual doors yet to open. After a couple

of weeks of trying to work from my house, Just

Harvest was rescued by the Merton Center.

With Molly Rush, Joyce Rothermel, and Pat

Burns on our founding board, the negotiations

were pretty friendly.

And so together with my colleagues Joni

Rabinowitz and the late Ann Conley, we got Just

Harvest off the ground thanks in large part to the

hospitality and solidarity of our Merton friends.

Skip ahead a quarter century. Just Harvest

has grown steadily and I‘m proud to still be one

of our co-directors. But I‘m especially proud to

know firsthand the reason that the return address

on Volume 1 Number 1 of our newsletter said

―Just Harvest, c/o The Thomas Merton Center,

5125 Penn Ave.‖ Congratulations on 40 years of

struggle for peace and justice and thank you.

-- Ken Regal, is a Merton Center member and

friend for about 30 years.

THOMAS MERTON

BOOK STUDY GROUP

STARTING

The Thomas Merton Center

community is convening a Merton

Book Study group as part of our 40th

Anniversary celebration, hosted at Calvary

Episcopal Church (parish hall) on Shady Ave in

the East End. All are welcome. Initial dates are:

April 18 (Wed.) – 7 pm

May 9 (Wed) - 7 pm

June 6 (Wed) - 7 pm

We begin with Jim Forest's "Living with

Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton."

If you'd like to receive a common reading plan,

please email Carol Gonzalez for info at

[email protected].

You can also participate via facebook at

"Merton Study Group."

TMC Membership Re-energized

Since the Merton Award Dinner last

November, TMC volunteers and staff have

been surveying TMC members with the goal of

listening to the interests in issues and opinions

of our members. To date about one third of our

members have been contacted and we thank

you for your participation.

Many members have been with the Center for

a majority of its past 40 years. Like many

organizations, we are committed to attracting

younger members to join our efforts. Some of

you have since renewed your membership.

Others have joined committees at the Center

and are bringing your gifts of time, talent and

experience to the Center's mission.

If you have not yet completed your

survey, it is not too late. Please contact us and

we can resend the survey, provide it to you on-

line, or complete it with you over the

phone. We can be reached at 412-361-3022 or

via e-mail [email protected],

or better yet, stop in for a visit at 5129 Penn

Avenue in Garfield, Monday through Friday

from 10 AM to 3 PM or on Saturdays from 10

AM to 1 PM.

Throughout the remainder of our 40th

anniversary year, together with several of our

members, we will be hosting some membership

outreach gatherings throughout the Pittsburgh

area. We hope to meet with our members and

interested friends and neighbors to spread the

word of the Center and increase our

membership. If you would like to host such a

gathering in your area, please contact me

through the Center. Together we will create a

more peaceful and just world!

Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the TMC

Membership Committee .


Many often think of poverty when the name

of the country of Haiti is mentioned, and well

they should, having the distinction as the

poorest country in the western hemisphere. The

answer to the question of poverty in Haiti has

deep roots in its history as well as current

policies and international factors. Needless to

say, the devastating earthquake in January 2010

was a major setback, not only in terms of the

hundreds of thousands of people whose lives

were taken, but also in terms of all those left

without limbs, and the cleanup and rebuilding

that is necessary just to take steps forward.

Government weaknesses and failures aside,

the private sector is challenged to determine its

own destiny; to make their own dreams come

true for a better life. One such shining example

is Fonkoze (translated Shoulder to Shoulder),

Haiti's alternative bank for the organized poor,

a microcredit lending bank. Founded in 1996 by

Haitian Spiritan priest Fr. Josephe Philippe,

Fonkoze works with low income women to

assist them with the building blocks of

economic security.

From the humble beginnings of one bank

office, nine employees, 110 loan clients, 193

depositors, value in deposits of $78,387, and

loans outstanding of $23,234, Fonkoze,

(according to their 2010 annual report) now has

43 branches, 840 employees, 50,533 loan

clients, 234,312 depositors, value of deposits of

over $24 million with loans outstanding at

$10,264,774.

After the earthquake, Fonkoze was making

money available even before commercial banks.

Here are the results of their efforts:

Distributed one-time cash grants to

earthquake victims and their families benefiting

89,150 people

Provided a one-time cash grant to almost

44,000 clients, and family members serving as

host families, to reduce financial burden

Paid $95,816,784 in remittance transfers

into the Haitian economy from January through

December 2010

Disbursed 10,869 new loans to earthquake

victims who were ready to recapitalize their

businesses

Educated 2,372 clients and family members

in Leyogan on disaster preparedness and risk

reduction strategies with short-term plans to

teach over 56,000

Piloted an innovative catastrophe micro-

insurance solution, which led to the launch of

"Lore W" (Reinforce You) in January 2011, and

has already helped thousands of clients recover

from devastating rains in early June 2011

Over the 16 years of its history, Fonkoze has

developed what they call, "The Staircase out

of Poverty." They offer an innovative

sequence of products and services designed to

meet clients wherever they are and accompany

them on their journey out of poverty.

Fonkoze has learned that many people are not

prepared to join together with other women to

take out a loan to begin or support a small

business. Therefore, they started Chemen Lavi

Miyo (pathway to a better life) that works with

women to build their confidence, train them in

the world of enterprise and assists them with

basics needs, including food, housing and

health services. When they are ready, the Ti

Kredi (little credit) program is available for

education, close monitoring, and participation

in a solidarity group.

In these solidarity groups, education

continues. Some move onto the final phase

which is business development where women

can obtain individual loans and assistance in

transitioning into the formal business sector of

Haiti economic life.

How does all of this get accomplished? A

huge part of Fonkoze's success is due to its

employees. They are quiet heroes! Locally, the

Pittsburgh Haiti Solidarity Committee has

hosted 30 students (Fonkoze employees) who

have received scholarships from Duquesne

University over the past 15 years. Together we

have learned more about the important work

that they do in strengthening Haiti.

One of this year's Haitians from Fonkoze

who attends Duquesne University, Nikelson

Pierre-Louis says, "After becoming aware of

the outstanding job that Fonkoze has been

doing in the development of the country by

helping poor people, specifically women, I

decided to join the staff to share my knowledge

and my ability so the institution will keep

growing and reaching its objectives. I do

understand what Fonkoze means for the market

women in Haiti because my mother used to be

one of them. Working for Fonkoze is about

taking part in the socio-economic development

of Haiti.‖

When asked about the importance of his

year's time in Pittsburgh, Nikelson continues,

"This experience helps me to improve my

ability in communication and management, and

to enhance my skills with computers. With my

classes at Duquesne University, I have a better

understanding of groups of people and how to

manage them. I believe this experience is going

to help Fonkoze in its mission and also Haiti in

its projects of development."

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to

visit www.fonkoze.org. You are also most

welcome to join the Pittsburgh Haiti Solidarity

Committee. We are seeking host families for

two new students from mid-August 2012 to

early May 2013. Our next meeting is Saturday,

April 14 from 10 AM to noon at the Thomas

Merton Center. Also, we are hosting a farewell

reception for this year's students on Sunday,

April 29, from 3:30 - 5:30 PM, at Sacred

Heart‘s Rectory basement located at the corner

of Shady Avenue and Alder Street in

Shadyside.

Joyce Rothermel is the Secretary/Treasurer of

Pittsburgh Haiti Solidarity Committee, a TMC

affiliate.

A Pearl of Great Value in Haiti: Fonkoze

Photo Credit: www.fonkoze.org

This is a photo

of a Martin

Luther King Day

celebration in

2010, where

Jonathan

Christensen

represented both

the Pittsburgh

Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance and the

Industrial Workers of the World at an event in

Dhaka with the US Embassy's Human Rights

Officer.

Then, on February 17, 2012, members of the

National Garment Workers Federation launched

a Safe Workplace Campaign. Factories that sew

apparel that we buy in Pittsburgh for major

corporations like the Pittsburgh Pirates is being

sewn in dangerous sweatshops where some

workers have died in fires. Kalpona Acter of

the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity

presented testimony in Pittsburgh City Council

and to the Pittsburgh Pirates about this. The

Pittsburgh Pirates deny any responsibility for

factory conditions. The National Garment

Workers Federation of Bangladesh organizes

general strikes throughout the garment sector

in Bangladesh.

Members of the Pittsburgh IWW will feature

solidarity support for the Safe Work Place

Campaign on May Day, featuring what workers

and students in Pittsburgh have in common with

workers and students in Bangladesh For info

contact Kenneth Miller 412-867-9213. .

Celebrating the National Garment Worker

Federation's Safe Workplace Campaign

Photos courtesy of Kenneth Miller

tel:412-867-9213


Shirley Gleditsch has been with the Merton

Center since the beginning. As founder of the

East End Community Thrift shop (known to the

community as Thrifty), she‘s been--really been--

through fire and water. More about that later.

In 1972, Shirley was attending Salem United

Methodist Church, where the minister spoke out

against the war. ―He stuck his neck out. He knew

exactly what was happening and was very

articulate. The four of us were delighted,‖ she

recalled. The four she spoke of were to become

early members of the Merton Center--Mabel

Karsch (now deceased), Mary Sheehan, Alice

Neuenschwander (also deceased), and Shirley

herself. ―We would place ourselves throughout

the congregation,‖ she said, ―and when it was

time for announcements, we would get up, one

after another, and talk about the upcoming

events in the peace community.‖ They had a

small peace group in Zelienople, a group that has

since grown into the very active Pittsburgh North

People for Peace.

During those early years, Shirley worked

selling cars at an agency in the North Hills,

which has not traditionally been the most fertile

ground for peace and justice activity. The

reaction of her co-workers when she got arrested

at Senator John Heinz‘s office for protesting the

proposed deployment of U.S. troops to Honduras

was interesting. According to Shirley, ―They

didn‘t ostracize me, but they couldn‘t believe

that someone they knew would do that. They

thought people who did those things were from

some other country like Russia.‖ At the time,

Shirley had just returned from a trip to

Nicaragua with Witness for Peace and had seen

the preparations for an invasion from Honduras.

―I was highly motivated to prevent that from

happening,‖ she said. ―Witness for Peace

delegations nationwide did protests on the same

day and it was a victory: the troops were not

sent.‖

Her second arrest occurred during protests

against apartheid, protests that focused on the

South African currency, the Krugerrand. ―We

were all downtown at a gold shop,‖ Shirley

reminisced, ―and the policeman asked Eliza

Critchlow how old she was. Eliza gave her age--

somewhere in the seventies--and the policeman

told her she was too old to be doing this sort of

thing. Then he asked Mabel Karsch her age, and

she replied that she was in her eighties. That was

pretty funny. We all got arrested. ‖

While working at the automobile agency,

Shirley made a contact that was to change her

life. ―One day, I passed the new receptionist on

my way to the parts department, and she was

reading a book, unusual in itself. I asked her

what she was reading, and she said she was re-

reading The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas

Merton. ‘Pardon me?’ I said.”

The receptionist, Kathleen Conlogue, was a

former Eastern Orthodox nun, and her husband

was a former member of the clergy. Shirley took

them to the Merton Center‘s annual dinner, and

when they learned of the Center‘s need for

money, Kathleen said, ―I know what I‘d do if I

were you, Shirley: I‘d open a thrift shop.‖ And

so she did.

Kathleen and her husband shared with Shirley

their experience of operating a family homeless

shelter in California funded by the proceeds from

a thrift shop, and Shirley presented the idea of

opening a similar shop to the Merton Center

Board. ―The Board was cautious with lots of

questions,‖ she recalled. ―I told them there was

too much work involved to do this without their

support and they came around.‖

The shop opened in 1993 across the street

from its present location and in 1994 they moved

to 5123 Penn Avenue. In the winter of 2000, a

fire destroyed the inside of the shop. However,

after everyone affiliated with the shop chipped in

labor and money, the shop re-opened in the fall

of 2001, brighter and better than ever. But the

elements were yet to have their way with the

new shop: one bitter winter, freezing pipes burst

and caused some flooding. Once again, everyone

pitched in to repair the damage.

There are many good things about the

relationship between the Center and Thrifty, in

addition to the funds the shop turns over every

month to support the Center. Shawna Hammond,

Thrifty manager, has been a longtime hard

working TMC Board member. Also, the shop

brings people of varied backgrounds together to

work as a team. Linda Loar, a longtime

volunteer, claims that the best day of her week is

the day she volunteers at Thrifty.

While thinking about Thrifty‘s history,

Shirley recalled the words of Kim, who was a

volunteer and a customer of Thrifty. Kim told

her that before she found the Thrift store and

started volunteering, she couldn‘t decorate her

house; after she started volunteering, she was

finally able to decorate. ―I always think of her,‖

Shirley said. ―Before she came here, she had just

the bare essentials.‖ Thanks, Shirley, for

bringing so many of us beyond the bare

essentials.

Bette McDevitt, an active member of the New People

Editorial Collective and past staff person of the

Thomas Merton Center.

Shirley Gleditsch, Founder of the East End Community Thrift Shop

Shirley Gleditsch, Founder of Thrifty

Photo Courtesy of Shawna Hammond

Why Do You Volunteer at East End Community Thrift?___

Janet M: I volunteer at Thrifty because it gives me both peace of mind and a huge help with my budget. It‘s a blessing

to see the customers‘ smiling faces when they see how far a dollar goes.

Mig C: It‘s just a joy interacting with everyone, both customers and volunteers. And I love the prices!

Shirley B: I volunteer because it is wonderful for the community and there is something for everyone.

Hazel J: I like to have fun with the people; I enjoy them.

Penny L: I volunteer because I am learning to give more and take less. I love the people who work at Thrifty and the

people who come in! I love doing ―hook-ups‖ with the fabulous clothes that come in.

Linda L: The stimulating conversations with great people like Dolly, Shirley, Alice and Dorothy. My favorite day of

the week is the day I volunteer at Thrifty.

Wanda T: Because I like to make people smile and find some way to give to them that feeling of being needed.

Sophia E: I volunteer because I love the people I work with and the people who come to Thrifty.

Alice W: I volunteer at EECT because I‘m a strong supporter of the Thomas Merton Center.

Ola D: I love to help others because I remember when I needed help.

Karen P: I volunteer at EECT to give back to and strengthen the spirit of the community.

Shawna H: While my kids were in elementary school, I needed something to do and Thrifty became my second home.

The youngest is now a junior in college and Thrifty is still my home away from home.

Cheryl D: I volunteer at Thrifty because I feel that I should do something for someone instead of people doing for me.

Sheila K: Thrifty has wonderful goods for sale at bargain prices. I volunteer and donate items to make these available to

people and to help finance the important work of the Thomas Merton Center.

Sharon J: I volunteer at Thrifty for the community that it is, people helping people.

Anne K: Let me ask that question in a slightly different way: What makes the presence of Thrifty so important to

Garfield, to Pittsburgh and to the World?--Every action we do for another affects the whole world, and Thrifty is busy

doing that. The thrift shop serves those who give to it and those who receive from it. There is fellowship and caring,

room for anyone who wants to be of use to the needs of others and to their own needs. Those needs might be a snazzy

two piece silk suit for an award ceremony or serious clothing for job interview. You may find a basket of treats at the

side of the counter or donated bread. Sometimes there are handmade ceramics and artwork, shoes and galoshes, and

even furniture and lamps to light our way. What a place! It has heart and soul and love and THAT is how Thrifty

changes Garfield, Pittsburgh and the World. And that is why I volunteer at Thrifty.

Local neighbors and

friends will be the featured

models at Thrifty‘s

Affordable Chic Luncheon

and Fashion Show on April

14 at East Liberty

Presbyterian Church in the

Social Hall. Lunch is

included. We look forward

to seeing you there!

Shawna Hammond and Shirley at TMC

Model Anna Bowman


Thomas Merton Center 40th Anniversary Event

Focuses on the Life of Thomas Merton

More about “Fourth and Walnut” from the diaries of Thomas Merton

In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that

I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It

was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness.

The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream. Not that I question the reality of my vocation, or of my monastic life: but the

conception of "separation from the world" that we have in the monastery too easily presents itself as a complete illusion ....

[W]e are in the same world as everybody else, the world of the bomb, the world of race hatred, the world of technology, the world of mass

media, big business, revolution, and all the rest .... This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me

that I almost laughed out loud .... To think that for sixteen or seventeen years I have been taking seriously this pure illusion that is implicit in

so much of our monastic thinking .... I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As

if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize

this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

(Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, By Thomas Merton New York: Doubleday, 1996)


NEW PERSONS

AWARDS

Honoring

OCCUPY

PITTSBURGH

May 31, 2012

7 to 9:30 PM East Liberty

Presbyterian Church

Social Hall

$20 general admission / $15 low-income

Reserve online at

http://tinyurl.com/6qug3zf


Join Us in Chicago (Continued from page 5)

The G8, consisting of the world's

eight largest economies, is a global

forum for the 1%. It began in 1975

when then-French President Valery

Giscard d'Estaing invited leaders

from the governments of the United

States, the United Kingdom, Italy,

West Germany and Japan to his

country for a summit conference.

The Group expanded to seven

nations in 1976 when Canada

joined, and became G8 in 1997 with

the inclusion of Russia. The G8

holds a three day conference every

year and follows a "no topics off

limits" policy for these meetings.

Over the past thirty-seven years, a

wide variety of topics has been

covered from trade issues to foreign

affairs, "terrorism,‖ health, the

environment, labor and economics.

With the exception of Russia and

Japan, every other current member

of the G8 is also a member of

NATO.

Last year's meeting was held in

Deauville, France, and, according to

the World Socialist website, G8

leaders demanded an intensification

of austerity programs across the

globe at the very moment that

billions of dollars were being spent

upon the NATO bombing campaign

against Libya. Criticism at the

meeting by the U.S. delegates,

among others, called into question

the handling the so-called European

"debt crisis." This led to increased

pressure upon Greece to create more

austerity measures and

privatizations.

These pressures were later

extended to Italy, which led to an

ouster in both nations of

democratically elected leaders with

replacements made by unelected

agents of bankers.

All of this follows a familiar

pattern throughout the capitalist

world community in which money

for imperialist military

"interventions" is readily available,

but money for the service of human

needs is deemed increasingly scarce.

Demonstrators coming to Chicago

will be greeted by a series of ultra-

repressive measures pushed through

by Chicago‘s Mayor (Barack Obama

pal) Rahm Emanuel. Among these

measures organizers are required to

pre-register any sign that requires

more than one person to carry it.

Resisting arrest at the event

includes the act of going limp. This

form of resistance can result in a

$1000 fine. Although permits have

been issued for the May 19 rally and

march, they carry the proviso that

they can be abrogated by the Secret

Service or Homeland Security.

It is imperative that those who

are able to go to Chicago not only

protest the depredations of NATO

and the G8, but that they also stand

up and defend out First Amendment

rights to free speech and peaceable

assembly.

Michael Drohan is a member of the

Thomas Merton Center Board and

an organizer working to end the

war on the Anti-War Committee.

By Scilla Wahrhaftig

It was not your typical potluck

dinner. Iraqi refugees and U.S.

veterans of the Iraq War were

sharing a meal together in a

Pittsburgh art gallery on a Sunday

afternoon. Surrounding them were

murals, three dozen of them,

depicting the human cost of the war

in Afghanistan.

The unusual group was marking

the end of American Friends Service

Committee (AFSC) Windows and

Mirrors exhibit in Pittsburgh, which

had drawn over 1,100 people in the

course of its one month stay. But

they were doing something else

too. They were picking up the

threads of a conversation.

When AFSC‘s Pittsburgh program

inspired the launching of the War

Dialogues project created by Joyce

Wagner, the idea seemed simple:

open up a dialogue between an Iraqi

war refugee and a U.S. veteran who

served in Iraq. But when Iraqi

refugee Mina Al Doori and US

veteran Joyce Wagner first met and

began sharing the memories of their

experiences in Iraq—those feelings

were not so simple.

―I‘ve talked to other vets about the

war, of course,‖ says Joyce. ―But

talking with Mina, I had to think

about it in a different way, a more

accountable way.‖ At first Mina was

nervous, too. ―I wasn‘t sure if it was

right to share my real feelings with

an American. I mean, I can‘t speak

for all the Iraqi people. Everyone has

a different opinion.‖

The relationships each woman had

built with AFSC‘s Pittsburgh

program helped them build trust with

one another. When Windows and

Mirrors opened in Pittsburgh, it

opened with a special addition, a

collaborative installation created by

Joyce and Mina through stories and

art over the past year. The two artists

were joined by other speakers and

audiences in a series of events

organized by AFSC‘s Pittsburgh

program to compliment the exhibit.

Sawsan Alobaidi spoke about

raising a baby in Iraq during

sanctions, the Kuwait war, and the

Iraq war. Iris Kaminski talked about

her experiences in the Israeli army

and her peace work in Pittsburgh.

Judith Kelly, who was part of a

recent delegation to Afghanistan,

shared stories of the Afghani people

she met there. Peter Lems brought

his perspective as AFSC‘s Program

Director for the Middle East. And

the Pittsburgh Playback Theatre

moved audiences to tears with their

interpretations of the murals and

reflections shared.

The potluck dinner for Iraqi

refugees and U.S. war veterans

brought Windows and Mirrors to a

fitting close, but it certainly did not

mark the end of the conversations,

learning, and healing begun in

Pittsburgh.

In fact the occasion inspired two

more pairs of refugees and veterans

to step forward and begin dialogues

of their own. The unique voices that

they will bring to Pittsburgh‘s War

Dialogues have only just begun to be

heard.

Scilla Wahrhaftig is the Program

Director American Friends Service

Committee in PA.

The War Dialogues


S O C I A L A C T I O N C A L E N D A R A P R I L 2 01 2

See calendar on TMC Website for more details about events. www.thomasmertoncenter.com/calendar/

-Amnesty Int‘l Letter

Writing Salon 4-6pm

Kiva Han Oakland,

weekly

-Book‘Em Packing Day

4-7pm Merton Center

weekly

-Anti-War Meeting

2pm at the Thomas

Merton Center

HAPPY EASTER!

TMC 40th Anniversary Event

―ALIVE at 4th and

Walnut‖—Play @

Thomas Merton 4-6 pm

Synod Hall Oakland (free)

-Anti-War Meeting 2pm

at TMC

-Book‘em Packing

4-7pm at TMC

-Human Rights Letter

Writing Salon 4-6 pm

Kiva Han on South Craig

9th PIIN Banquet

4-7:30 pm

Westin Convention Ctr

RSVP (412) 621-9230

Amnesty Int‘l Letter

Human Rights Letter-

Writing Salon 4-6pm

Kiva Han Oakland

-Book‘Em Packing Day

4-7pm Merton Center

weekly

Economic Justice Mtg. at

TMC 4-5:30pm

-Anti-War Meeting

2pm at the Thomas

Merton Center

--Book‘Em Packing Day

4-7pm Merton Center

weekly

Amnesty Int‘l Letter

Book‘em Packing

4-6pm Kiva Han Oakland

8

15

22

29

Bread and Puppet at

the Brew House 7-8pm

2100 Mary St. Pgh 15203

www.artup.org

In early May

Martin Delaney Lives

Wali Jamal‘s work

commemorating the 200th Birthday of Martin

Delaney one of

Pittsburgh‘s best. August Wilson Center

May 1-6

Call 412-583-6395 to

make reservations

9

16

23

Tax Day Rally & Penny

Poll Noon-3pm

Squirrel Hill by Post Office

Highmark‘s potential

purchase of West Penn

Hospital 9am/7pm

Public Hearings

Westin Convention Ctr.

CCAC Labor Mgmt

Forum 3pm Forester Hall Allegheny Campus

10

17

24

Green Party Mtg—7-9pm

2121 Murray Ave.

Citizen Power Offices

People & Labor in China

7:30-8:30pm Friends

Meeting House

Business/Political Networking Mixer at Hosanna House 5:30-6:30pm 807 Wallace St. Wilkinsburg, PA 15221

―Crossing the

American Crisis‖

Movie at the Pump

House in Homestead

7:30-9:00 PM

Thurs 5

12

19

26

Pax Christi—Way of the

Cross/ Way of Compassion

Pgh. Greyhound Bus Station

8:45 AM (In support of TMC)

First Friday Action on

Unemployment Comp. 1:30-3pm at the Post Office,

Grant and 7th Avenue,

Downtown, Contact Tony at

412.462.9962

New People Editorial

Collective Meeting at Thomas Merton Center 10:30

Equal Pay Day Rally

Market Square

Noon-1pm Women /Girls Fdt.

Let‘s Talk Diversity

3-4:45 pm (Free)

Pitt School of Law

Ground Floor, Teplitz Rm

CAUSE lecture

4:30-6:30pm

Dr. Michael Honey

CMU Baker Hall Steinberg Auditorium


Collective Meeting at


10:30 am


Collective Meeting at


10:30 am

Workers Memorial Day

Market Square

11:30 am

Mindfulness Retreat with

Dharma Teacher

Chan Huy

April 27-29 caontact

Nuin Center on Bryant St In Highland Park Pgh

Fri 6

13

20

27

Darfur Coalition Meeting

Meeting Room C

Carnegie Library

5:30—7 pm Contact [email protected]

PUSH MEETING

6:15-8:00 pm

Health Care 4 All

2101 Murray Avenue Squirrel Hill

TMC 40th Anniversary Event

Thomas Merton Book

Study at Calvary

Episcopal Church

7-8:30pm

Write On! Letters for

Prisoner Rights

7-10pm TMC

Darfur Coalition Meeting

Meeting Room C

Carnegie Library

5:30—7 pm Contact [email protected]


Prisoner Rights

7-10pm TMC

11

18

25

Women in Black

Monthly Peace Vigil

10-11am In Slippery Rock

Ginger Hill Unitarian Church

Haiti Solidarity

Committee Meeting 10 AM to noon at TMC

Sat 7

TMC Thrifty Fashion Show Noon –3pm East Liberty

Presbyterian Church Hall

Walk for Congo Women 9-11 am Chatham University


Anti-War Protest 1pm Corner Penn & Highland 15206

Peace Vigil 1pm– Beaver

Mike Honey at the Pump

House 1:30—3:30 PM

Career Fair 10 am-6 pm Hosanna House

Labor Organization as a

Human and Civil Right

9-11:30am

Pallisades in McKeesport

Fight for Lifers West Mtg

10-Noon Crossroads United Methodist

Church—325 Highland Dr.

East Liberty


Anti-War Protest

1pm at the corner of Penn

and Highland

Bread for the World

Workshop 9:30-12:30pm

Good Shepherd Church,

4503 Old William Penn Hwy Monroeville, 15146

Jazz Royalty Series

New Hazlett Theater

Roy Ayers—8 pm


Anti-War Protest

1pm at the corner of Penn

and Highland

14

21

28

ADVERTISE IN THE NEW PEOPLE The New People circulation is 3,000 monthly. Additional 10% discount for non-profit organizations /faith-based groups. PAGE SIZE MONTHLY 6 MONTHS @10% off 12 Mos.@ 20% off

Full $250 $1350 ($225) $2200 ($200)

Half $130 $702 ($117) $1144 ($104)

Quarter $70 $378 ($63) $616 ($56)

Sixth $50 $270 ($45) $396 ($36)

Eighth $40 $216 ($36) $352 ($32)

Business card $15 $81 ($14) $132 ($12)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT DIANE - 412-301-3022 or email

[email protected].

TMC CLASSIFIED SECTION IN THIS EDITION

THOMAS MERTON CENTER has partnered

with OCCUPY PITTSBURGH‘s Communication

Work Group to support their production of a four

page insert.

The opinions expressed in the Occupy Insert

are those of the individuals who wrote

them and are neither endorsed, approved

or censored by the Merton Center.

Progressive Pittsburgh Notebook

(www.ProgressivePghNotebook.blip.tv).

Carlana Rhoten Producer ―Let‘s Talk About Sweatshops @ PNC Park‖ Kenneth Miller

Producer (412-867-9213)

Free Speech TV— AL JAZEERA, Public

Access TV

Democracy Now - 8 am-Mon-Fri@ 8 am; AJ

Stream @ 9 am, & Faultlines at @ 9:30

Part-time Office Coordinator Position available at TMC

The Thomas Merton Center (TMC) is looking to hire a part-time Of-

fice Coordinator to work 20 hours during the week and occasional

Saturdays and weekday evenings. Hours worked will primarily fall

between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Skills needed for this position in-

clude expertise with Microsoft: Publisher, Word, Excel and Access.

The Office Coordinator welcomes visitors and acts as a special event

assistant and support person to staff, board, interns, volunteers, and

committee leaders. Responsible for overseeing the donor database,

ordering supplies, and assisting with accounting tasks. Paid sick and

vacation time are offered. $12 hourly rate. Please send resume and

cover letter to [email protected] by April 15, 2012.


Prisoner Rights

7-10pm TMC

PA Alternative to the

Death Penalty 7-8pm

First Unitarian Church Ellsworth/Morewood Aves.

Shadyside

TMC Membership

Meeting Noon at TMC

Lobby Day and Rally to

Restore the HEMAP

Program in Harrisburg,

1-2 pm Call John Dodds 215-557-0822

TMC Project Committee

Meeting at 2:30 at the


Anti-War Meeting

2pm at the Thomas Merton

Center

Book‘Em Packing Day

4-7pm Merton Center

weekly

Lawrenceville Historical

Society Tour 1 pm

Liberty and Herron Aves

Sun 1 Mon 2 Tues 3 Wed 4

TMC Board Mtg

6pm Potluck

7-9pm Meeting

(CLOSE the School

of the America’s

(SOA) Washington

DC from April 14 to

17. More information

is available at

www.soaw.org)

http://www.progressivepghnotebook.blip.tv/

April New People

Documents

Transcript of April New People