Month: March 2009

The “Catholic Worker Peace Team” model

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy and Brenna Cussen discuss the “Catholic Worker Peace Team” model for international peace trips.

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mp3 link, more formats

Elements of the Catholic Worker Peace Team model:

  • Short duration
  • Personalist (non-governmental)
  • Spiritually-based
  • Direct service to those in need
  • Information gathering
  • Nonviolent direct action to make the situation better

Scott and Brenna are planning a May 2009 trip to Gaza, Sderot, and the West Bank. Their trip to Darfur and its aftermath was the first project documented on Pie and Coffee.

508 #67: Stone Soup damaged by fire

This morning I stepped off a Greyhound in Worcester, turned on my phone, and saw this text message: “Everybody is fine but stone soup had a big fire.”

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Kevin Ksen photo

Stone Soup, Worcester’s beloved arts, activism, and community center at 4 King Street, was damaged by a fire late Thursday, March 26. The fire began in the basement–the cause is as yet unknown. No one was injured.

The Stone Soup community is committed to continuing and rebuilding, whether at King Street or another site. The building is currently unusable, and member groups are temporarily meeting at the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, 301 Pleasant Street.

Stone Soup is in need of donations of time, money, and other items. Donations can be mailed to Stone Soup c/o Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, 301 Pleasant St., Worcester, MA 01609. Lists of specific needs are being compiled, and will be posted at stonesoupworcester.org.

More photos and news updates at Indymedia.

Fujichia: FIRE AT STONE SOUP, NATURAL MODIFICATION

Telegram & Gazette, March 28: Stone Soup plans next story

Worcester Magazine: From the Ashes

Fundraiser: HBML closes forever April 1, with all proceeds going to Stone Soup.

NECN news story:

WCCA story:

mp3 link

A march to nowhere and other items

Linda LeTendre, in DC this week to join the 100 Days Campaign, reviews the recent antiwar march in DC, which I skipped:

There was a “standoff” between some demonstrators and some police officers, with the demonstrators taunting the officers. This was high idiocy for two reasons: (1) It did not promote peace, and (2) The officers were armed, the taunters were not. The officers were called to some other part of the event and as they left the taunters cheered as if they had won some great victory — further raising their level on the idiocy scale.

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Three items of interest: Church, Guantanamo, Action

“The coming evangelical collapse”
Michael Spencer:

Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

Michael Bell runs the numbers. As a New England Catholic, whose own church is in steep decline while local evangelical churches seem to be thriving, these articles were full of surprises for me.

During last summer’s Catholic Worker National Gathering it struck me that the Catholic Worker movement is one of the few things about my church that’s not either in decline or in a defensive mode–the CW communities are doing great, with a good mix of ages, marked by openness, faith, and courage. I wish I could say the CW is a good model for the “future of the Church,” but interest has waxed and waned over the decades, and most people number their association with the CW in years rather than decades, so I think we’ll have to look elsewhere for that.
Continue reading “Three items of interest: Church, Guantanamo, Action”

Podcast: Michael Ratner on “The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld”

Last night’s talk by Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights as part of the 100 Days Campaign. Georgetown Law School, Washington, DC, March 18, 2009.

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Download the mp3 (41MB, 85 min), see other formats, or subscribe to the 100 Days podcast feed.

He does get into accountability/prosecution, but starts off with a great explanation of where we’ve been and where we are with America’s policies of torture and indefinite detention.

Remebering Tom Lewis at the Peace Abbey, April 4

Via e-mail:

Remembering Tom Lewis

April 4th, 2009

5pm-6pm

It was a year ago on the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination that Tom passed away. This year a portion of his cremation ashes will be buried on CO Hill at The Peace Abbey. He joins several other CO’s at this burial site, including Pat Farren, Chuck Matthei, Wally Nelson and Dave Dillenger.

Please join us with your presence and any story of Tom that reflects his life journey as a CO and peacemaker.

You are invited to bring light refreshments to share afterwards.

The Peace Abbey

2 N. Main Street

Sherborn, MA 01770

508-655-2143

Wish I could be there.

Day 50: Letters to the Senate

This is Obama’s 50th full day in office, and the mid-point of the 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo and End Torture.

Today, the vice-presidential motorcade drove by the vigil. The last time this happened was the morning of Inauguration Day. A nice way to mark day 50.

We also hand-delivered letters about the Uighurs to every Senate office today. We’re hoping some of the Senators draft their own letter to Obama soon. It is time to get this thing done with.

More daily updates, you could go to the 100 Days site, or follow us on Twitter.

Lent day 7

Today 12 people in orange jumpsuits from the 100 Days Campaign attended Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s “Getting to the Truth Through a Nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry” hearing. (Several folks were amused this was a hearing about forming a commission; see also I Think We Should Start Talking About Starting A Band.)


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