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Mother's Day Proclamation-1870
By Julia Ward Howe
Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." Blood does not wipe our dishonor, nor violence the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace...each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality, may be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient and the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
Celebrating Anna Cox as the Peacemaker of the Year 2008
 Someone described the Arkansas WAND Mother's Day Peace Luncheon as "a perfect event." I'm inclined to agree. When you have 150+ women and a few men gathering to honor mothers who work for peace and specifically "A" mother like Anna Cox, you have the beginnings of a perfect event. Anna chooses to spend untold hours and days making life better for those who are most marginalized - even feared. The thousands of incarcerated people who have very little contact with the world outside their prison walls can find solace and courage from the Dharma Friends newsletter that Anna writes and circulates. They can communicate with other prisoners and with their own family members and volunteers through this newsletter. Many write Anna to say how the teachings of Buddha have helped them find a measure of peace in their individual circumstances.
Susan McDougal, author of The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk, Why I Refused To Testify Against The Clintons And What I Learned In Jail, spoke of her own incarceration and the young women who she knew who are imprisoned, primarily for non-violent offenses. Most of those attending could have listened to her for much longer than was possible at the luncheon. In a culture where true valor is so rare, it was inspiring to hear from a person who had the courage of her convictions, one who couldn't be intimidated by those who used the judicial system to further their own ends.
Given these two extraordinary women and their commitment to peace and justice, a beautiful spring day, the company of so many peace makers, lovely flowers and a delicious, healthful meal, how could this Mother's Day Peace Luncheon not be a grand success.
Anncha Briggs, Antje Harris and their committee did Arkansas WAND proud.
Submitted by Caroline Stevenson, WAND Board Member
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Arkansas Democrat Gazette writes about Susan McDougal's remarks at WAND's Mother's Day Luncheon, Arkansas Section, page 3B, Sunday, Mother's Day.
And Arkansas Demcrat Gazette writes about the rally in the State Capitol for "Arkansas Voices for the Children Left Behind", advocacy organization for chilcren of imates founded by Dee Ann Newell, in the Arkansas Section, page 6B, Sunday, Mother's Day.
http://epaper.arkansasonline.com/Daily/Skins/Arkansas/
Click on "photo gallery" at the top of this page and look at the pictures in the Mother's Day 2008 album.
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What was WAND doing in 2007?
January 1: Candlelight Vigil for 3,000 troops dead in Iraq with Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice (ACPJ)at the Hillcrest Promenade
January 10: WAND Annual Meeting /Potluck for Peace at Jean's
January -February: Supported Unembedded ACPJ sponsored photo exhibit at UAMS and Philander Smith
February 20: WAND meeting with Vic Snyder in his Little Rock office to discuss Iraq war
February 22: Arkansas Interfaith Alliance breakfast to share about WAND & ACPJ
February 26: Gods and Gumbo (First Presbyterian) talk about WAND and ACPJ at the Oyster Bar
March 8: International Women's Day on Markham with Code Pink and ACPJ with Tribal Motion Dancers
March 17: Fourth Anniversary of War in Iraq at War Memorial with ACPJ
April 9: Lilly's Dim Sum Fund-raising Dinner, Silent Auction and Antje's Modern Day Lysistrata
April 21: Sponsored Support for Earth Day at the Clinton Center with April Ambrose
May 2: Protest against more Iraq War Funding passing in Congress at the Hillcrest Promenade
May 10: Fourth Annual Mother's Day for Peace Luncheon honoring the Woodruff School Nonviolence Program
August 21: Meeting with Rep. Vic Snyder in his Little Rock office to discuss the Iraq war. Gave him the book, Nonviolence: The history of a Dangerous Idea
July 4: The Beacon of Peace and Hope's 4th of July Fund-raiser postponed due to high water until August 31st by the AIMM in NLR
September 14-15: Co-Sponsored with ACPJ the Second Annual Culture of Peace Conference
September 28 -30: National Wand Conference in Washington , D.C. and Jean and Anncha attended
September 30: Caroline is honored by receiving the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Bishop Hicks First Annual Peacemaker Award
October 8: Fast for Peace with the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance at United Universalist Church
October 13: WAND booth at the Natural State Expo next to ACPJ
October 16: Just Communities of Central Arkansas (JCCA) honors Jean with Father Biltz Award
October 23: Potluck for Peace at Jean's with Ghida Krist talking about Lebanon/refugees
October 27: Saturday noon Peace Demonstration with ACPJ at Chenal & Bowman
November 1-2: Teachers Convention booth educating about peace
November 4: JCCA Walk As One --First WAND team
November 12: Veterans Day Program at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church
December: WAND receives a contribution to document the Woodruff School Nonviolence Program
And WAND was also:
Agreeing to be a supporter of the Moratorium against the Death Penalty with ACADP
Protesting the War in Iraq every single Tuesday at the corner of Kavanaugh and Palm at 11:45
Organizing Weekly Program Committee Meetings every week at noon on Tuesdays at the Laughing Moon Café
Making money for WAND activities selling signs and note cards designed by Anncha Briggs
Working on the website and membership lists
Sending WAND Alerts out regularly to membership
Keeping National WAND well informed about our Arkansas WAND activities
Completing WAND Case Statement to be used to promote WAND
Compiling wonderful WAND scrapbooks
Continuing Beacon of Peace and Hope fund-raising
Holding monthly WAND Board Meetings
Peace!!!
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PEACE DEMONSTRATIONS
Back by popular demand: We will be demonstrating again at noon on the first Saturday May 3rd. This event will be at the corners of Bowman and Chenal in Little Rock. Please remember that these are peaceful demonstrations and that we are always supportive of the troops and their families. We believe that Peace is Patriotic! We need good signs with large print giving positive messages for peace and for an end to war. Invite your friends, neighbors and family members to come with you.
A reminder: the weekly protests Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice (ACPJ) and Arkansas WAND have been holding for almost two and a half years are continuing in 2008. They are held for fifteen minutes every Tuesday at 11:45 at the corner of Kavanaugh and Palm in Little Rock. This can be a very rewarding experience when men and women who have served in Iraq or have family members who have been in Iraq stop and tell us that they really thank us for what we are doing as we call for an end to the war. We would appreciate you taking out those few minutes in your busy life to join us in support of the troops. Or at the very least, drive by and Honk for Peace!
Every Tuesday/ 11.30/ Peace Demonstration/ Capitol and Broadway/ for more info -
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Death-penalty foes launching state campaign
They’re seeking moratorium, more research on sentencing
By Andy Davis
Friday, April 18, 2008
LITTLE ROCK — After her son was killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Caroline Stevenson had to think about what kind of punishment he would have wanted his killers to face.
Her conclusion: “I really knew that he would not want his death to cause another person’s death,” Stevenson said. “He was really a peace-loving person.”
Stevenson, 72, of Little Rock was among the speakers Thursday at a news conference launching a campaign calling for a moratorium on executions in Arkansas and the appointment of a panel to study how death sentences are handed out.
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MORATORIUM CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE
904 West Second Street, Suite 1
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-2102
REQUEST FOR MORATORIUM AND STUDY COMMISSION
SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL. We believe it is time for Governor Beebe to appoint a special commission to study the effectiveness of the death penalty as a public policy, to make a review of this state program as we have other programs such as the severance tax and early childhood education. He should also declare an official moratorium on executions while the commission completes its study and the recommendations are considered by the General Assembly.
BACKGROUND. The state of Arkansas reinstated the death penalty in 1976 after the United States Supreme Court declared it constitutional in its Gregg v. Georgia decision. In this modern era, the state has executed 26 men and one woman. There are currently 38 men on Death Row.
In 1991, the General Assembly exempted the mentally retarded from the death penalty. A public opinion poll taken at that time showed that 80 percent of the respondents favored the death penalty. However, more than half preferred a sentence of life without parole and financial payments to the victim's family rather than the death penalty.
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Bush Administration Wastes Trillions in Worthless Weapons
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig
Posted on April 3, 2008, Printed on April 3, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/81099/
A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there, and soon you're talking real money. But when it comes to reporting on what the Bush war legacy has cost American taxpayers, the media have been shockingly indifferent to the highest run-up in military spending since World War II. Even the devastating defense spending audit released Monday by the Government Accountability Office documenting the enormous waste in every single U.S. advanced weapons system failed to provoke the outrage it, and five equally scathing previous annual audits, deserved.
This is not about the waste of taxpayer dollars -- already pushing a trillion -- in funding the Iraq war, which, while reprehensible enough, pales in comparison to the big-ticket military systems purchased in the wake of 9/11. In the horror of that moment, the floodgates were lifted and the peace dividend promised with the end of the Cold War was washed away by a doubling of spending on ultra-complex military equipment originally designed to defeat a Soviet enemy that no longer exists, equipment that has no plausible connection with fighting stateless terrorists. Example: the $81-billion submarine pushed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, presumably to fight al-Qaida's navy.
That's the huge scandal the media and politicians from both parties have studiously avoided. But as the GAO's authoritative audit details, the costs are astronomical. The explosion of spending on expensive weaponry after 9/11 had nothing whatsoever to do with the attacks of that day. The high-tech planes and ships commissioned for trillions of dollars to defeat an enemy with no navy, air force or army, and using $3 knives as its weapons arsenal, were gifts to the military-industrial complex that will go on giving for decades to come.
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Arkansas Democrat Gazette took pictures at the March 25 candle light vigil for the 4000 soldiers killed in Iraq and posted them on Arkansas Online. This sad event was sponsored by WAND and Arkansas Coalition of Peace and Justice, ACPJ. View the pictures at the link below.
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Grandmothers, including Atlanta WAND's Bobbie Paul, arrested at Atlanta recruiting station.
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Ploughshares’ President Warns Congress About Inflated Missile Threats
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.jpg) Joseph Cirincione started his first day as president of Ploughshares Fund by testifying before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee about the administration's $12.3 billion request for anti-missile programs. Cirincione's testimony concluded that the ballistic missile threat today is declining. “There is every reason to believe that the threat can be addressed through diplomacy and measured military preparedness,” he told the committee. Cirincione warned that “the administration will produce weapons independent of a concrete threat and deploy them irrespective of the weapons' operational performance.” Read his complete testimony and listen to a clip from the question and answer period that followed. Read more.
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CLICK ON "PHOTO GALLERY" AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE AND CHECK OUT THE NEW ALBUM OF ANNUAL MEETING PICTURES. ENJOY!
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Toward a Nuclear-Free World
By George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn
Originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 15, 2008
The accelerating spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear know-how and nuclear material has brought us to a nuclear tipping point. We face a very real possibility that the deadliest weapons ever invented could fall into dangerous hands.
The steps we are taking now to address these threats are not adequate to the danger. With nuclear weapons more widely available, deterrence is decreasingly effective and increasingly hazardous.
One year ago, in an essay in this paper, we called for a global effort to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons, to prevent their spread into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately to end them as a threat to the world. The interest, momentum and growing political space that has been created to address these issues over the past year has been extraordinary, with strong positive responses from people all over the world.
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The bipartisan consensus on U.S. military spending
Glenn Greenwall, Salon, January 2, 2008
Global Security has taken the Fiscal Year 2008 U.S. budget and prepared a new chart illustrating the most significant and under-discussed political fact in the United States, one that substantially affects every other issue:
  
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Purchase WAND’s “Wage Peace” note cards and signs
Purchase WAND’s “Wage Peace” note cards. Write your thank you, happy birthday, get well soon, thinking of you messages on these beautiful note cards printed on tree-free kenaf paper. Kenaf is a fibrous plant grown in North America that uses no harmful chemicals in processing and is fully recyclable. Give your friends a Peace Present.
Packet of 5 “Wage Peace” note cards is $5.00.
Put a “Wage Peace” sign in your yard or window or on your door. Put one in all three places and let your neighbors know exactly where you stand. Buy them as Peace Presents for your friends.
“Wage Peace” sign is $10.
The beautiful peace dove design is by Anncha Briggs, WAND board member.
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| Support the Beacon of Peace and Hope Project |
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Many of you already know of The Beacon of Peace and Hope project that Arkansas WAND is sponsoring. This 36' sculpture will be built on the North side of the Arkansas River at the site of the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM).
We hear enough about the need for weapons and war. This will be a statement about making our children and grandchildren - and future generations - safer by waging PEACE.
We are going to build it as a tangible focal point in our community where we can honor those who work for peace. We hope you will want to be a part of this important undertaking. Please contact Caroline Stevenson
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Gratefully,
The Board of Arkansas WAND
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Latest News and Information Posted |
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