Showing of "Inside Job" is big success

We had about 30 people at our latest film. A good discussion followed and we collected $110 for Occupy Wall Street. Afterwards, many in the crowd went over to support the occupation which was under a 11:00 pm evacuation order from the city. Over 200 supporters of Occupy Poughkeepsie stood around the perimeter until about 12:30 am.

We take part on Occupy Wall Street: Poughkeepsie

Members of Dutchess Peace have been visiting Occupy Poughkeepsie during the last week. Several of us marched in a Saturday rally. Fred and Eli spent Saturday night, a interesting and rewarding experience. If you want to know what the next generation's democracy looks like, visit the encampment to talk, or to spend the night. Bring some food and a willingness to talk about grassroots political change.

Pumpkin Festival in Beacon

We had a windy but very busy day in Beacon. Many stopped and talked. We handed out many cards, flyers, etc. The dock is a great area, since most people taking the boat go right by our table. Thanks to those who came out to help us.

Fred

Dutchess Peace and the Adriance Library

Dutchess Peace donates to the Adriance Public Library and

gets a plaque near the section on peace studies. Pat and

Jim (a World War II vet) stand under our plaque.

THE DUTCHESS PEACE COALITION

THE DUTCHESS PEACE COALITION

By Pat Lamanna

The Dutchess Peace Coalition was founded early in 2003 by a group of Dutchess County citizens concerned that the United States was preparing to invade Iraq.    When the invasion began shortly after, continued meeting and continued to protest the actions of the Bush Administration.    We joined in demonstrations in New York City and Washington, D.C., and locally began a campaign to inform the public about the hastily-passed U.S.A. Patriot Act.  At some point, however, we made the decision to return to our original mission: to promote peace.   

Over the years, we have tabled at many community events; showed a wide variety of antiwar films; and participated in various larger demonstrations in Kingston, New York City, and Washington.  We’ve also handed out anti-recruitment flyers at Poughkeepsie and Beacon High Schools.   We discovered a book of poetry by prisoners of Guantanamo, and put together a creative and moving presentation in which members of our group, clad in orange jump suits and black hoods, read their poems and told their stories at poetry coffeehouses in the area.   

We affiliated with PANYS in 2008.    Three of us attended the PANYS annual meeting this year, and two of us participated in Lobby Day on June 30 by visiting Senator Schumer’s Hudson Valley office and speaking with an aide about Afghanistan.

You’ll find video, photos and a great deal of information about the organization at our web site, http://www.dutchesspeace.org, which is ably mastered by Fred Nagel.

Meeting in Schumer's Office

Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 9:57 PM

To: Rabenstein, Andrew (Schumer)
Cc: Dutchesspeace@yahoogroups.com Subject: Thank you

Hello Andrew,
I'm writing to thank you for meeting with Brook Nam and myself last Thursday, June 30 in your office. We appreciate your taking the time to discuss the very important issues of war and peace with us.

We also appreciate that you gave us a copy of the letter to President Obama, which Senator Schumer and other senators signed, expressing support for a "sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan." I believe that you had mentioned that you would send me a list of the other signatories to that letter. I would appreciate it if you would do so at your earliest convenience.

Our group would also like to stress that we would like to see a more rapid timetable for withdrawal than the President has set forward, and that we want to see not only uniformed service members, but also private contractors, moved out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, with no permanent military bases left behind.

We are also concerned about the seeming buildup to military action in Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and other countries, and we want to emphasize that we do not want troops removed from Afghanistan and redeployed to any other nation, except the United States.

Please convey these sentiments to Senator Schumer as soon as possible, and again, thank you for inviting us to state our case.

Sincerely,
Pat Lamanna

Lobbying Day to end Mideast wars.

Hello Andrew,

I'm writing to thank you for meeting with Brook Nam and myself last Thursday, June 30 in your office. We appreciate your taking the time to discuss the very important issues of war and peace with us.

We also appreciate that you gave us a copy of the letter to President Obama, which Senator Schumer and other senators signed, expressing support for a "sizable and sustained reduction of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan." I believe that you had mentioned that you would send me a list of the other signatories to that letter. I would appreciate it if you would do so at your earliest convenience.

Our group would also like to stress that we would like to see a more rapid timetable for withdrawal than the President has set forward, and that we want to see not only uniformed service members, but also private contractors, moved out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, with no permanent military bases left behind.

We are also concerned about the seeming buildup to military action in Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and other countries, and we want to emphasize that we do not want troops removed from Afghanistan and redeployed to any other nation, except the United States.

Please convey these sentiments to Senator Schumer as soon as possible, and again, thank you for inviting us to state our case.

Sincerely,
Pat Lamanna