Invited Guests Include City Council Candidates:
Wes Bellamy, Michael Farruggio,
Bob Fenwick, Melvin Grady, Adam Lees,
Kristin Szakos, and Charles Weber

Join Casa Alma for "Stations of the Cross: Walking the Way of Justice" on Good Friday, March 29, from 5:30-6:30pm. We will meet in front of the Federal Courthouse (corner of West Main and McIntire/Ridge), journey to several sites on and along the mall, and conclude at the Free Speech Wall at the opposite end of the mall. As we commemorate the passion and death of Jesus, we will reflect on the many types of suffering and injustice seen in our world today and on how we, as followers are Christ, are called to take up our crosses and to stand as voices of hope.

The theme of the day is "The Demands of Environmental Justice," and we will welcome as our main speaker Fr. John Rausch, who has worked extensively in the areas of environmental justice, economic justice, and mountaintop removal with the people of southwest VA and eastern KY. He will draw from his own experiences and also talk about the connections between ecology, simplicity, and spirituality.

RSVP by Monday, March 18, so that we can plan appropriately, especially for lunch.

The challenge and promise of nonviolence is embodied and entrusted with the peacemakers of the planet. Will you be a peacemaker?

This JustFaith Ministries module was created as a resource for small groups to deepen their understanding and practice of peacemaking. At the core of the module is the intentional building of relationships at every level of society—relationships that are dedicated to:

§ nonviolent transformation of conflict,
§ the pursuit of social justice, and
§ the creation of cultures of sustainable peace.

Incarnation’s Just Peacemaking group will meet weekly on Thursdays (12 weeks).

GREEN FIRE: ALDO LEOPOLD AND A LAND ETHIC FOR OUR TIME (2011)
The film shares highlights from Leopold's life and extraordinary career, explaining how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and still inspires people today. Although probably best known as the author of the conservation classic A Sand County Almanac, Leopold is also renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist, and wilderness advocate. Co-sponsored event with Piedmont Environmental Council.

International Peacemaker from Syria to Visit Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Adult Education Committee and the Peace and
Justice Committee are pleased to be hosting Majd Lahham, International Peacemaker from Syria, as our guest speaker on Wednesday, October 10,
7:00 – 8:30 pm, in the Church Library. The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and World Mission work together each year to offer the opportunity
for Presbyterians to hear firsthand from one of our international partners in places of conflict. Majd Lahham, from Damascus, Syria, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, serves as assistant director of the program for Iraqi refugees with International Orthodox Christian Charities, providing education, vocational training, community service projects, material relief, and psychosocial support. He looks forward to speaking about
relief work for displaced Syrians, the Christian presence in the Middle East, and his work in outreach and relief to Iraqi refugees in Syria.
His is a timely voice in understanding the conflict in Syria and the Christian presence that seeks peace and reconciliation.
For more information, contact Dee Weikle (Adult Ed Chair, dweikle@gmail.com),
Vicky Bethel (Minister of Christian Education, vbethel@westminsterva.org), or
Betty Gallagher (Peace and Justice Chair, bettygalla@comcast.net).

Directions: 400 Rugby Road (by Beta bridge). Parking behind the church, reached by Gordon Ave., then 17th St. The Church Library is reached by entering Fellowship Hall, which is to the left when facing the church from Rugby Ave. Or see attached map.

Cut out the middle wo/man and donate directly to the recipients. During Food Not Bombs regular weekly meal and fresh food give away at Tonsler Park, you are invited to bring clothing, household or other items to be set out for the taking. Left overs will donated to local area non-profits.

Joint Meeting
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville City Council, Albemarle County Service Authority Board of Directors, Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors
Public Hearing and Review of Plan for Urban Water System Compliance with EPA Stage 2 Rule for Disinfection Byproducts

The meeting will begin with a brief staff presentation, followed by a Public Hearing. Any local citizen who wishes to speak at the Public Hearing on this particular issue will be allowed up to two minutes to make oral comments to the joint boards. Out of courtesy for others please observe the time limit. Written comments of any length may also be submitted and will be included in the meeting record. Following the Public Hearing, members of the joint boards will initiate a discussion among themselves, and may ask questions of staff or the consulting engineer, in an attempt to reach a consensus that would lead to a decision by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority Board of Directors on the following:
1.Should implementation of a project for the Urban Water System to convert secondary disinfectant to chloramines in 2014 continue, or should there be a change in direction to Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) while retaining free chlorine as the secondary disinfectant?

2.If GAC is to be pursued, does RWSA direct that its design be for installation on the basis of full-time operation at 100% of the water treatment rate to get the best quality of water achievable with this technology, or does RWSA pursue strategies to use GAC only as necessary for EPA Stage 2 compliance in an attempt to reduce GAC costs?

Ray McGovern worked as a CIA analyst from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush. Ray’s duties included chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s most senior national security advisers from 1981 to 1985.

In January 2003, McGovern helped create Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. On the afternoon of the day (Feb. 5, 2003) Secretary of State Colin Powell misled the UN Security Council on Iraq, VIPS sent an urgent memorandum to President George W. Bush, in which VIPS gave Powell a C minus for content.

On March 2, 2006, McGovern returned the Intelligence Commendation Medallion given him at retirement for “especially meritorious service,” explaining, “I do not want to be associated, however remotely, with an agency engaged in torture.”

On May 4, 2006, in Atlanta, McGovern made national news by confronting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on live TV with pointed questions like: “Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties?”

Ray’s opinion pieces have appeared in many leading newspapers in the United States and abroad. He has debated at the Oxford Forum and appeared on Charlie Rose, The Newshour, CNN, and numerous other TV & radio programs and documentaries. Ray has lectured to a wide variety of audiences.

Ray leads the “Speaking Truth to Power” section of Tell the Word, an expression of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He also teaches at its Servant Leadership School.

Medea Benjamin will speak at Random Row Books in Charlottesville, Va. at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 4th.

Free. Open to the Public.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of Global Exchange and of CodePink: Women for Peace. She is the author of the new book "Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control" and was an organizer of the Drone Summit held this past weekend in Washington, D.C.

Benjamin was forcibly removed on Monday from a speech by White House Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan, who defended the use of drones to kill in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.

Medea asked him: "How many people are you willing to sacrifice? Why are you lying to the American people and not saying how many innocents have been killed? I speak out on behalf of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old in Pakistan, who was killed because he wanted to document the drone strikes. I speak out on behalf of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a 16-year-old born in Denver, killed in Yemen, just because his father was someone who we don’t like. I speak out on behalf of the Constitution, on behalf of the rule of law. I love the rule of law, I love my country, you are making us less safe by killing so many innocent people."

Benjamin was a guest last week on Talk Nation Radio
http://davidswanson.org/talknationradio

And on Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/27/as_obama_expands_drone_war_activis...

Associated Press: "Pakistan on Monday condemned a U.S. drone strike that killed three suspected Islamist militants in the northwest, the first since the country's parliament demanded that Washington end the attacks two weeks ago."
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/red-cross-british-worker-k...

Domestic Drones Flying from Five Locations in Virginia, Sixty-Three in United States

Welcome home, war!

The FAA has released a list of drone certificates. Drones are being flown by the military, by police forces, by drone companies, by universities, small towns, and counties.

Here in Virginia, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg has an active drone flying certificate. VCU in Richmond has one that's listed as expired. The Marines in Quantico, the U.S. Army in Northern Virginia, and DARPA in Northern Virginia also fly drones, but nobody knows where in the U.S. they fly them.