Presentation on Iran

Citizen diplomats -- Priscilla Fairbank, Jonathan Hill and Barbara Spring -- will share visuals and experiences from their December 2007 tour in Iran on Wednesday March 5 at the Sanctuary for Independent Media, 3361 6th Ave., Troy.

The group traveled with Fellowship of Reconciliation to meet with ordinary people of all ages: casual bazaar shoppers, high school and college students, children and parents on the street or in public parks, clerics in mosques. They were in Iran when the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran was released in the U.S. which confirmed that Iran had abandoned it’s nuclear weapons program.

Potluck dinner, including Iranian goodies, at 6pm, presentation at 7:00pm.
For more information call 518-463-0095.

Today's special election

The special election in the 48th Senate District (the Oswego area, as well as Jefferson-St. Lawrence counties) may help determine who controls the state Senate. The Times Union writes on its blog:

Here's a photo, at approximately 3 pm, of part of the vast underground parking lots at the state Capitol complex. The Legislature is in session, and rarely are so many open spaces available in one place. The reason? I’m told its due to the scores of Senate staffers who are up in the 48th SD campaigning for their respective candidates.

It is not unusual in the Capitol for staffers to "volunteer" to work on special elections around the state. At least one wag in the Capitol calls this the politicians' version of public funding of political campaigns.

Social Action Conference

Social Action Conference
Friday - Saturday, February 29-March 1
10am-4:30pm
Campus Center
University at Albany

The Social Action Conference is a two-day Conference that will feature panels and workshops on contemporary issues including the War in Iraq, Violence Against Women, Voting Rights, Media Reform, Environmental Advocacy, and more! The purpose of the Conference is to open a dialogue between students, faculty, community members, and community organizations about global issues.

Organizers want to encourage local activism and local solutions to global conflicts. For more information contact: revolutionaryfever@gmail.com

Poverty in the Diocese of Albany

The Albany diocese has updated its report on poverty in the diocese, which is available here. We at Albany Catholic urge you to read it. In his letter at the start of the docment, Bishop Howard Hubbard writes:

I am pleased to invite you to read, study and respond to the challenges and opportunities presented in “Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good.” I expect that, like myself, you will be troubled by the portrait of our neighbors in need and inspired to double our efforts to reduce poverty in our midst. This paper, prepared by our Diocesan Catholic Charities staff, is our local response to a report issued by Catholic Charities USA that calls on all Americans “to steadily decrease poverty in our nation so that by the year 2020 the rate of poverty will be reduced at least by half.” The national report , “Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good,” portrays poverty as a moral issue, details the reality of poverty across the country and suggests public policies to reduce poverty.

In my role as chairman of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I have seen the ravages of poverty throughout the country, most notably in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In my upcoming role as chair of the Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, I will be part of efforts to address poverty in all corners of the globe.

People to People in Iran

Citizen diplomats, Priscilla Fairbank, Jonathan Hill and Barbara Spring will share visuals and experiences from their December 2007 tour in Iran:

Thursday, February 7 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Ave, Delmar, and on March 5 at the Sanctuary for Independent Media, 3361 6th Avenue in Troy, with potluck dinner, including Iranian goodies, at 6:00 p.m., and the presentation at 7:00pm.

The group traveled with Fellowship for Reconciliation to meet with ordinary people of all ages: casual bazaar shoppers, high school and college students, children and parents on the street or in public parks, clerics in mosques. They were in Iran with the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran was released in the U.S. which confirmed that Iran had abandoned it’s nuclear weapons program.

Global warming in upstate New York?

From the Times Union earlier this week:

A NASA scientist from a Nobel Prize-winning climate panel agreed Wednesday with Cheryl Rogowski, an Orange County vegetable farmer: Global warming is changing farming in the state and more change is inevitable.

While scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig helped put together a global climate database for the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rogowski needed to look no further than her hot pepper crop.

What two decades ago was a two-week harvest season at Rogowski's farm for jalapenos has now grown to nearly six weeks, as spring has begun arriving earlier and summers have become warmer, she said. "We are able to start our planting two weeks earlier than we used to."

The two spoke as part of a panel sponsored by the Honest Weight Food Co-Op, an Albany store that focuses on natural and organic foods. The panel took place at the state Legislative Office Building.

Click here for the full article.