May 2008 – Pie and Coffee

No jail time for Claire Schaeffer-Duffy in Gitmo protest

Claire Schaeffer-Duffy received a suspended 10-day sentence for her role in a protest against the Guantanamo prison at the Supreme Court. Twelve of the defendants (including DC Catholic Worker Art Laffin, whose quote Jeff Barnard admired), received 1-15 days in jail. The Witness Against Torture site hasn’t been updated with the details yet, but I’m sure it will be.

Update: Brendan Melican comments. Note that his post contains quoted comments from the T&G website. Treat with caution, as you would toxic waste.

508 #37: Sitting on a couch

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, I sat on a couch with Brendan Melican and Jeff Barnard and talked about the city. Here’s a photo of us.

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Relevant links: The Catholic Free Press ran a better story about the Planned Parenthood hearing than the T&G; the T&G moderates comments in odd ways; Start On The Park is a great arts event Sunday 11am-4pm in Beaver Brook Park; Claire Schaeffer-Duffy was found guilty for her Gitmo protest; Mike’s federal trial is in a couple weeks, please come out and support him; last night we rejected Worcester’s lame marketing slogans at the Dive Bar. (And Kate Toomey bought Mike a beer!)

People at the Dive Bar representing Worcesterite, I Heart Peanut Butter, 4-rilla, Daily Worcesteria, Wormtown Taxi, and Pie and Coffee.

Also: Worcester Magazine wrote about Charter’s web monitoring plans, despite Charter being one of their biggest advertisers; Bruce Russell has been entered into the “We Got the Beat” casting call; the InCity Times celebrate’s Godwin’s Law; the diocese should make better use of its young Catholics; Mike’s new favorite blog is Cascading Waters.

Note: Brendan recommends this Ted talk on letting your kids do “dangerous” things; Mike name-drops Ted speaker Paul Rothemund.

And: You can sign up to be a poll worker, and we plan to interview renegade blogger Marc Reese.

Plus: We’re really mad about that kid who got suspended for having a bullet casing.

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Items

Is bottled water from the devil?
Today the Poland Spring guy was making a delivery in downtown Worcester. The woman accepting the delivery told him that some churches were encouraging a boycott of bottled water.

He said, “I guess I’ll boycott church, how’s that.”

I don’t think a persuasive case has been made against bottled water in progressive circles. It’s not uncommon for someone to walk into a meeting of activists, plunk a case of bottled water on the table, and say, “Look what I brought!”, while about half the people scowl at him.

I’ve never had much interest in bottled water, but just because it seemed nuts, not for political reasons. I used to drink a lot of San Pellegrino sparkling water back in the day. My office gets bottled water delivered, though not from Poland Spring.

Utah Phillps has died
He was very connected with the Catholic Worker movement, via Ammon Hennacy. Lots of YouTubes about him.

Oprah: temporary vegan
Did you know that Oprah Winfrey has gone vegan for 21 days as part of a “cleanse?” She’s also mentioned the ethical dimension of abstaining from animals. I first went vegan for a mere 7 days, and for similarly goofy (though different) reasons. I bet that for thousands of the people joining Oprah, that first taste of veganity will be irresistable.

Worcester’s original peoples
WCCA TV13 now has a locally-produced talk show about Native American affairs, Drum of the People.

Imagine no more slogans

This Thursday, May 29, the City of Worcester, which has suffered under many a failed and crappy slogan, will unite without any slogans at all and drink some beers.

Worcester’s slogans include Do You Woo, The Heart of the Commonwealth, City that Reads, City on the Move, Moving in the Right Direction, Choose Worcester, Right Place/Right Time, and So Much/So Close. Discussion thread here.

Worcester has a few decent slogans mixed in there: Paris of the Eighties, Port au Prince of the Nineties, and The City that Screws Turtles all come to mind.

I say rejecting these slogans is a small price to pay for a day without the rest.

Worcester parishioners make rosaries to end the war

A few weeks ago a friend handed me Worcester’s InCity Times and pointed to a notice about local Catholics sending rosaries to our troops in Iraq. He suspected this was some sort of pro-war statement. To me, though, sending rosaries to the troops seemed like a great idea, whatever the political background.

According to a front page article in today’s Telegram & Gazette, we were wrong to be suspicious of the rosary-makers’ agenda:

â€œWith enough prayer over there, weâ€™re hoping that something will happen where this war will end,â€ Ms. Mason said over the Memorial Day weekend.

And that couldnâ€™t come soon enough for her, especially since her son, U.S. Navy Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Raymond R. Mason, 39, of Worcester, is scheduled to return to the war zone this summer.

My friend and I are so keenly interested in rosaries and the war because we’re going to court June 17 on federal charges for praying the rosary in the Worcester federal building as part of a Lenten prayer, fast, and vigil for an end to the Iraq War.

(You may recall that we mentioned this rosary project a few weeks ago on the 508 podcast, and that I disagreed with the rosary-makers’ statement that “There is no greater power than to place in the hands of our soldiers the rosary,” believing that both God and any sacrament, for example, are greater powers than that.)

Those looking to renew their habit of saying the rosary might read Garry Wills’s recent book The Rosary. (Interview about the book.)

An interview with Claire Schaeffer-Duffy

Long-time Worcester Catholic Worker Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is one of 35 people on trial in Washington, DC, Tuesday for nonviolent civil disobedience at the Supreme Court against torture and denial of habeas rights to Guantanamo detainees. I talked to her shortly before she left on the bus to DC.

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508 #36: Metrics

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell.

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The march for criminal records (CORI) reform went well; WCCA has the kickoff and the Metro reported along the way. The Telegram & Gazette reports that legislative efforts are hung up in committee. We hear Gary Rosen (who Brendan praises for his wiley ways) speak up for CORI reform.

Brendan comments on this quote from Police Chief Gemme:

The single most effective way to reduce fearâ€¦is foot patrols.

Mike brings in this quote from Bill Randell:

Do me a favor walk around the Commons some day and even walk into the street level of City Hall. Do you feel safe, or better yet would you want your mother walking around by herself? I would not.

The locally-produced film “We Got the Beat” is now looking for actors! Mike talks Bruce into auditioning. Brendan mentions the Bruce Willis film now shooting in Worcester.

Please find this man a speaking role.

Worcester Magazine still hasn’t mentioned Charter’s plans to sell data about its internet customers.

John Monfredo wrote an article about keeping your kids safe on the net in the InCity Times; Brendan ridicules this article. A listener takes issue with Cory Doctorow’s portrayal of Tor in Little Brother. (Mike mentions counter-measures used against British Telecom that he now can’t find….)

WCCA’s contract with the City has been extended a few months, giving more time to hammer out a long-term contract. Sheriff Guy Glodis was on WCCA and at least mentioned the federal report on the county jail.

Worcester City employee salaries won’t increase for the moment. Mike suggests the City Manager’s salary be a multiple of the median income in Worcester.

We finish up with a pledge drive from maximumfun.org.

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New Englanders march for an end to Darfur genocide

Ten New Englanders travelled to Washington, DC for a march yesterday against China’s support for the government of Sudan’s genocidal practices in the Darfur region.

The group included one person who had been to Darfur and four who had been arrested for protesting the violence in Darfur with nonviolent civil disobedience.

The day before this march, Human Rights Watch issued a press release saying, “Darfur: â€˜Scorched Earthâ€™ Tactics Warrant UN Sanctions.”

The march began at the Chinese Embassy’s “Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office,” which seemed to be in some sort of mall/office complex. We handed out a few fliers and had many honks of support from cars driving by.

Continue reading “New Englanders march for an end to Darfur genocide”

Catonsville Nine: 40th anniversary

The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholics who burned draft records (with homemade napalm) to protest the Vietnam War on May 17, 1968.

One of the nine was our friend, the late Tom Lewis. We interviewed him in January about the anniversary.

Recent articles about the anniversary include Joe Tropea’s “Hit and Stay” and “Lessons from the Catonsville Nine” by Ron Manuto and Sean Patrick OÂ’’Rourke.

508 #35: No coffee

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Mike skips his coffee, with predictable results. Brendan Melican, by contrast, is sharp as ever. (Note that Brendan now appears on WTAG Mondays at 6:30.)

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Mike loved the Dragon Sorcerer, and interviews author Asa Needle.

The City Council and other city employees got raises this week. If Charter cable provides your internet service, they’re now selling info about your browsing habits to an ad company. (Related: how to encrypt your Gmail e-mail.)

Mike reads the InCity Times.

There was a hearing about Planned Parenthood changing its Worcester location. Critics of PP, including local blogger JayG, come off looking like nuts in press coverage; this is possibly their own fault.

Worcester CORI-reform activists are walking to Boston next week. The feds say the county jail has problems; Brendan expands upon his blog post on the subject. Mike is going to DC next week to ask the Chinese and Sudanese governments to stop supporting genocide in Darfur. WCCA is holding (and broadcasting live) a public meeting on an impending funding crisis at the station. “To this date, we have no contract with the City, and no real assurances for the continuity of WCCA’s future.”

We talk more about Charter recording information about users’ internet habits, and finish with an explanation of Tor from the audiobook of Cory Doctorow’s great young adult novel Little Brother.

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