WHAT: Peace Action Maine event: RECLAIM MAINE PRISONS

WHO: Retired ATF and INTERPOL agent and author, James P. Moore.

WHERE: The Meg Perry Center, 644 Congress Street, Portland, Maine

WHEN: Friday May 16, 2008 from 7:30-9:30 PM

Peace Action Maine is proud to bring this hard nosed former cop to The Meg Perry Center. Since retirement in Maine James Moore has written freelance for several periodicals, including, Newsweek. Mr. Moore has written a suspense thriller, Official Secrets, and a history of ATF, Very Special Agents.

The two books Human Sacrifice and State Secrets are the result of Moore’s determination and dedication to find the truth in a most disturbing case of law enforcement mishandling and cover-ups. This discussion will not be an easy one for those who believe in the assumption of innocence until proven guilty.

For more information please contact Peace Action Maine at 772-0680. To learn more about Human Sacrifice and State Secrets: www.trialanderrordennis.org
For more on the event write to Sue: rodepast [at] msn [dot] com

“The bride is beautiful but she’s taken.”
In 1897, who said that about what?

Israel celebrates its 6oth anniversary: what is missing from the picture?

What happened to the 800,000 Palestinians who lived there before 1947-48?

Joel Kovel (Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine)

Samy Qarmout (Bates College Palestinian refugee)

Eric Hooglund (Bates College)

William Slavick (USM retired)

Saturday, May 17, 6:30 p.m. (films, 5 p.m.),
Sunday, May 18, 12:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m. (films, 11 a.m.)
302 Payson-Smith Hall, USM, 96 Falmouth St., Portland Books for sale. Contributions welcomed.

Maine Peace and Justice in Israel/Palestine
For more information, call 774-1110 or 773-6562

Gaia Statue Arrangement

Come join our May dances this coming Saturday at Portland Yoga Studio, 616 Congress St from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

We’ll make this our last gathering (summer break) until September 20. Please let me know if you plan to come.

I’m including a photo Jan took last month of the cool plant she brought and of our Millenium Gaia’s statue. I’ll bring her again on Saturday since this striking Gaia reflects the fertility of springtime which our dances will celebrate.

Here are some dances I’m preparing:

Now I Walk in Beauty

Seed of God

Andalusian Zikr

I am the vine, you are the branches (in Aramaic - Inana gpetha wa aton…

Woman as divine messenger

Ev Du Hashem B’Simcha - very joyous Jewish dance

I’ll be sending you an invitation to come to our permaculture open house this summer.

Peace, Shlama (in Aramaic),

Elaine

From: jcsanford [at] verizon [dot] net

The film “Life & Debt” tells the little-known story of the devastating impact of globalized “free markets” upon the formerly agrarian & self-reliant island of Jamaica. With a vibrant Reggae soundtrack and voice-over of Jamaica Kincaid, this film is powerful and beautifully made.

It is sponsored by the Peace and Justice Group of Waldo County and will be shown at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 in the Abbot Room of the Belfast Free Library, High and Miller Streets in Belfast, Maine. For information call 338-4920.

Saturday, June 7, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, The Hannaford Lecture Hall at the University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Center, Portland Campus.

About the Speakers, their Topics and their Professional Backgrounds

Penny Coleman—“Soldiers’ Heart: Old News and Disingenuous Surprise”

Penny Coleman is the widow of a Vietnam veteran who took his own life after coming home. 25 years later, she published “Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide and the Lessons of War” (Beacon, 2006). She has continued to write, mostly as a columnist for AlterNet, and to speak about war and combat-related suicides. In December, she was asked to testify before the House Veterans Affairs Committee about the issue.

Coleman has co-authored a play, also called “Flashback,” based on interviews she did for the book.

She is a documentary photographer and taught photography at SUNY and the International Center for Photography in New York City until recently. In 2000, she published “Village Elders”, a book of photographic and written portraits of the oldest members of New York’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual community.

Coleman currently lives with her partner in upstate New York.

Tod Ensign, J.D.

“Legal and Political Issues Facing Soldiers and Veterans with War-Related Mental Illness”

Tod Ensign, a lawyer, is Director of Citizen Soldier, a GI and veterans rights advocacy organization based in New York City. CS is co-sponsor of the “Different Drummer Internet Cafe” near Ft Drum, N.Y. which is the first soldier-rights coffeehouse of the Afghan and Iraq wars. Ensign has represented several Iraq war veterans who’ve been denied effective treatment for their mental health problems by the US military. He also recently filed a request for an official Court of Inquiry to be appointed by the Secretary of the Army. It would be empowered to conduct a comprehensive investigation of Army policies which have led to the denial of mental health treatment for thousands of soldiers and their families.

Ensign is author of “America’s Military Today: The Challenge of Militarism”, (New Press, 2005), “Military Life: The Insider’s Guide” (Prentice-Hall, 1991) and co-author, “GI Guinea Pigs” (Playboy Press 1980).

Rosemary Masters, J.D., L.C.S.W.

Member, Doctors of the World, “Stress, Trauma, and the Brain: What is PTSD? How do we recognize it and what can help?”

Rosemary Masters is the Director of the Trauma Studies Center of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.

She also has a private practice of psychotherapy. Her areas of advanced expertise include treatment of trauma survivors, individual and family therapy with a focus on the impact of trauma on relationships and individual functioning. In the early 1990’s she ran a support group for people with AIDS. During the same period she worked with survivors of rape and childhood sexual abuse. Following Hurricane Katrina, she was part of a group of volunteer therapists who provided Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing therapy to a large group of state employees who had participated in rescue efforts in flooded areas of New Orleans. Currently she provides assessments and assistance to asylum petitioners who have endured persecution and torture in their home countries.

Who would benefit from attending the Symposium on PTSD: The Hidden Costs of War?

*Health care professionals from a wide spectrum of disciplines.

*Servicemen and women currently serving in the armed forces.

*Military veterans of past wars.

*Loved ones of servicemen, servicewomen, and of veterans.

*Individuals working in a war zone or anyone subject to violence of any kind.

*Peace and social justice advocates.

*Any and all with a special concern for the physical and emotional well-being of our military veterans

Schedule:

9:00 am—Welcome

9:15 am—Opening Remarks from Dr. Michael Uhl

9:30 am—Penny Coleman: “Soldiers’ Heart”

10:30 am—Tod Ensign: “Legal and Political Issues Facing Soldiers and Veterans with War-Related Mental Illness”

11:30 am—Rosemary Masters: “Stress, Trauma, and the Brain”

12:30 pm—Panel of Speakers to answer questions

1:00 pm—Lunch

2:00 pm—Concurrent Workshops:

Penny Coleman: “A Conversation About Posttraumatic Stress Injuries”

Tod Ensign: “In the Trenches: A Conversation About Legal and Political Issues of PTSD”

Rosemary Masters: “Living with PTSD: Coping Strategies for Survivors, Their Families, and Their Friends”

3:30 pm—Closing Remarks

Registering for the Symposium:

Registration will begin at 8:30 am. Sessions will run from 9 am to 4:30 pm with a one-hour break for lunch.

The registration fee for veterans and for individual family members for the all-day program is $25 recommended. Sliding scale $15-25 available.

Registration fee for health care professionals is $50 (CEU’s Available).

Both fees include lunch.

For advance registration, send check ($25 or $50 per person) with names of those attending, address and phone number to:

Dud Hendrick, President
Maine Veterans for Peace #001
P.O. Box 10
Deer Isle, ME 04627
email: dudhe [at] verizon [dot] net
Phone: 1-207-409-7432

Presented by:

Veterans for Peace, Maine Chapter 001

Co-sponsored by:

USM Sociology Department

June 23-29, 2008

Voluntown, CT

ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT ENDING WAR? Are you an environmentalist; LGBT activist; concerned with immigrant rights; an artist? How do these issues intersect with war? Are you interested in building a nonviolent force in this country strong enough to shake the very foundations of militarism?

Sign up to be part of an organizing training where activists from around the country will gather to train and strategize on how to build a mass movement for peace?

Then come to the War Resisters Organizer Training Institute, where folks from around the nation will gather and collectively strategize about how to build leadership, capacity, organization and a mass movement.

You will walk away with a solid grounding in:

*Organizing Skills

*Campaign Strategy

*Nonviolent direct action

*GI resistance support

*Counter military recruitment

*Anti-racism & Anti-Sexism

*Revolutionary nonviolence

*And much more

Individuals: $300

Organizationally Sponsored Individuals: $400

Costs include housing and food for the entire week. Scholarships are available to those in need of financial assistance. Does not include travel expenses.

For Application and more information visit www.warresisters.org/summertraining

Applications are due on May 19th.

The Flatbread Company and Peace Action Maine present a Rent Party benefit at The Meg Perry Center featuring Marissa Nadler, Glenn Jones, Arborea, and Bird Microphone on Thursday, June 26, 2008 from 8:00 to 11:00 PM. This will take place at The Meg Perry Center, 644 Congress Street, Portland, Maine. Suggested donation is $8-15. This is an all-ages event.

Marissa Nadler needs no introduction to the Portland musical community. Her appearances at The Space Gallery have made her an artist in heavy demand locally. A veteran of Terrastock and an internationally touring artist, Marissa is fitting this Portland benefit into a very busy show schedule. One of the great voices and songwriters of this age, Marissa will be featuring songs from her critically acclaimed CD releases, including her latest “Songs III: Bird On the Water.”

Glenn Jones, another Terrastock veteran, is no stranger to The Meg Perry Center stage. His finger-picking guitar mastery is influenced by his mentors John Fahey and Robbie Basho, who Glenn had befriended before their passing. Glenn will feature songs from his latest release “Against Which the Sea Continually Beats.”

Arborea is the duo of Buck and Shanti Curran. Veterans of the stage at The Meg Perry Center, Arborea has already been an opening act for both Glenn Jones and Marissa Nadler. They will be featuring selections from their just-released self-titled sophomore CD release.

Bird Microphone is the project of L’animaux Tryst label recording artist Alyce Ornella, also of Cursillistas. The Meg Perry Center is eager to have her grace the performance space again with her music.