"Obama Must Target Pentagon" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 01/26)

Written by Jane Dugdale, CFPA Main Line Chapter Coordinator

Three cheers for the President, whose State of the Union address targeted some of the culprits of economic woe for millions of Americans -- fraudulent lenders and corporate off-shorers of jobs -- and vowed relief  in the form of prosecution and tax code reform, to hold accountable those who have profited from lax law enforcement and tax loopholes.  He even braved the rough waters of Pentagon spending cuts, by offering to use war savings to plug the deficit and mend our infrastructure, an offer guaranteed to bring crocodile tears from the Pentagon, used to ever-growing budgets [Read More]

"Honoring Doctor King's Memory" (01/16, Princeton Packet)

Yesterday the nation and local groups and organizations celebrated the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Princeton University held its annual King Day celebration with speaker Bob Moses, a veteran of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

He is the founder and president of the Algebra Project, a national nonprofit organization that has helped thousands of students in urban and rural school districts develop essential mathematical skills.    Such education is in the spirit of Martin Luther King.

The Princeton Clergy Association held an interfaith service with the Rev. Robert Moore of the Coalition for Peace Action as the speaker.

Such a sharing of faiths and beliefs is also in the spirit of Dr. King. [Read More]

"Gallery: Interfaith vigil to stop gun violence held in Princeton" (Trenton Times, 01/09)

Majahne Williams, 14 years old, takes part in a candlelight vigil to highlight the need to combat gun violence. Majahne lost her mom, Natalie Williams to domestic violence involving a gun, in December 2000. The vigil was held inside Niles Chapel in Princeton.

Click Here to see the all of the Trenton Times photos from the Vigil.

"Anti-war group celebrates in Mercer after military exits Iraq" (Trenton Times, 12/31/11)

Click Here to see a PDF of the front page coverage!

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP — With toasts, music and solemn moments of silence, peace activists celebrated the end of U.S. involvement in the Iraq War this week and paid tribute to both the soldiers and Iraqis killed in the nearly 9-year conflict.

“The last U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq about a week ago, and they were promised to be withdrawn by the end of 2011,” said Rev. Robert Moore, the executive director of the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action. “We have reached that milestone.”

There were whoops and cheers from the 65 or so people gathered Thursday night at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton to mark the end of the second-longest war in U.S. history, a war activists called unjust, unnecessary and far too costly in terms of dollars and lives. The group’s commemoration continues with a candelight vigil tonight in Trenton. [Read More]

Letter to the Editor by CFPA Executive Director Rev. Robert Moore in 12/20/11 Trenton Times
Relentless peace activists brought troops home

While most Americans celebrate the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, most analysis to date suggests it was President Barack Obama who single-handedly accomplished this. At least Time Magazine made “the Protester” its person of the year.

It was actually the persistent activism of millions of concerned citizens that pressured Congress and even a Republican president to commit to bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by the end of this year. [Read More, second letter down]

12 Minute Documentary Video Towards a World of Peace of Rev. Robert Moore and the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) in conjunction with his 30th Anniversary as CFPA Executive Director

Special thanks to Terry Lyons, George McCollough, and Anna Savoia who collaborated in making this excellent documentary very quickly!

Coalition for Peace Action Holiday Peace Vigil 12/12/11, Palmer Square in Princeton (Trenton Times photo in 12/14/11 edition)

Members of the Coalition for Peace Action hold their annual Holiday Peace Gathering on Palmer Square in Princeton with the theme Swords into Ploughshares. From left, Rev. Carol Haag, Gold Star Mother Sue Neiderer and Rev. Robert Moore, the coalition's executive director. Michael Mancuso/The Times

"Princeton Group Hosts Forum on the Occupy Wall Street Movement" (Trenton Times, 11/23)

A recent report from New Jersey Policy Perspective on the state of middle- and working-class families didn’t reveal much to be optimistic about. Median household income has fallen over the past 10 years, and there are fewer jobs.

“We called 2000 to 2010 the ‘lost decade’ because what we’ve seen since the turn of the century is pretty much a complete loss of the gains made during the boom time,” said Deborah Howlett, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts research on public policy issues in New Jersey.

Howlett made the comment Sunday night during a panel discussion on economic inequality and the Occupy Wall Street movement. The session was hosted by the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO).

Kate Whitman, assistant director of Princeton nonprofit Coalition for Peace Action, and Princeton University politics professor Nolan McCarty argued that the Occupy movements sprouting across the country are a natural response to the government’s failure to halt rising inequality. [Read More]

The Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Coalition for Peace Action address the crowd during the National Day of Action We are the 99% Jobs Rally, sponsored by the Mid Jersey Move On Council and other labor groups in front of the N.J. Statehouse in Trenton. (Star Ledger, 11/17)

Click Here to watch a video of all of the speeches at CFPA's 32nd Annual Conference, "Smart Security: Reducing Military Spending to Fund Urgent Needs at Home." Special thanks to Leigha Cohen of Princeton Community TV for this video!

"Fitzpatrick: Start Troop Drawdown Now" (The Intelligencer, 11/16)

Congratulations to Buxmont chapter leaders and members, who have consistently met with and pressured Fitzpatrick on this issue!

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick wants the drawdown of U.S. military troops in Afghanistan to begin now, and not in 2014 as planned by the Obama administration.

Fitzpatrick, who spent last week in the Middle East with four other congressmen, said his decision is based on conversations he had with service members in Afghanistan. Their “consistent message,” Fitzpatrick said, was more personnel are needed to get the job done.

Without a significant increase in their fighting force, Fitzpatrick said, “the people I spoke to say bring us home, and I agree.” [Read More]

"Smart Security, or Dumb Dollars?" (OpEdNews.com, 11/13)

Special thanks to Marta Steele for writing this blog post!

The urgent need for U.S. budget priorities to shift from war to peace was the theme of the Thirty-Second Annual Conference of the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) on the Princeton University Campus today.

Among the featured speakers were Dr. Gordon Adams, a professor of foreign policy at American University who worked as a senior advisor to the president on national security and foreign policy, and Judith LeBlanc, National Field Director of Peace Action and former national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ).

A resident of Washington, DC, Adams (pictured above) spoke of his hometown as a "puzzle palace" faced with two major issues at a crucial point in history he referred to as an "inflection point": correct budget allocations and appropriate relations with the rest of the world. [Read More]

"Krugman is Among Panel of Experts to Address Despair of Joblessness" (Town Topics, 11/09)

With unemployment only a percentage point away from Depression-era level and protesters holding demonstrations across the country, the American economy is in serious jeopardy. But there are positive steps to be taken, a panel of three experts, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, told a capacity crowd during a discussion on Sunday, November 6 at Nassau Presbyterian Church.

Sponsored by the Mid-Jersey MoveOn Council and several other organizations including the Coalition for Peace Action, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization [PCDO] and the Witherspoon/Jackson Neighborhood Organization, the discussion began with individual presentations and concluded with an extensive question-and-answer period. The event, which featured Mr. Krugman; Larry Hamm, state chair of the People’s Organization for Progress; and Carol Gay, president of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, was part of the American Dream Movement’s national campaign to focus on the jobs crisis. [Read More]

"Panel in Princeton borough offers perspective on job crisis and what voters can do" (Trenton Times, 11/09)*

PRINCETON BOROUGH — A national unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent is bad enough, but the jobless situation in Newark, where unemployment rates in some wards reach 70 percent, is “disastrous,” said Larry Hamm, president of People’s Organization for Progress.

For Princeton University economist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, who argued that the problem of unemployment and its solutions are well-understood, the fact that “enormous suffering” like that in Newark continues is “surreal.”

* This event was co-sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action

"Krugman: Spending and Government Loans Needed" (Princeton Packet, 11/07)*

PRINCETON — History does repeat itself and the job crisis that happened after the Great Depression is happening again. Government spending is the solution, according to panelists who spoke about the uncertainties in the jobs market and the ongoing economic crunch this weekend.

”From my perspective we are living in surreal times in a bad way,” said Paul Krugman, Noble Prize winner and Woodrow Wilson School Professor of Economics. “What makes it so surreal is that it is not a mystery why this is happening and it is not a mystery of how to solve it.”

His solutions: spending and government loans.

”There is just not enough spending, because my spending is your income and vice versa,” Mr. Krugman said at the event hosted by Mid-Jersey MoveOn at the Nassau Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon. “If there is not enough spending in the economy, then you end up with a mass of unemployment, which is what we have.”

* This event was co-sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action.

Click here to watch the November 6 Job Creation Forum with Paul Krugman, organized by the Mid-Jersey MoveOn Council and Co-Sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action. Special thanks to Leigha Cohen of Princeton Community TV for this video!

CFPA's Buxmont Chapters Received a "Thumbs Up!" from the Bucks County Courier Times!

"More Jobs, Less War, Demand Protesters" (Courier Times, 10/13)

Bucks County residents took a cue from New York’s Occupy Wall Street movement protesting corporate greed to stage their own demonstration at Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick’s office in Middletown on Wednesday.

While Fitzpatrick was in Washington, D.C., participants in the peaceful grassroots protest waved signs outside demanding jobs before packing into his office to deliver an inch-thick packet of about 100 note cards signed by area residents. Each card asks that the congressman work to reduce military spending, fund community needs and end wars. [Read More]

"War in Afghanistan Causes Much Suffering" (the Rev. Robert Moore's letter to the Editor, Trenton Times, 10/12)

I thank The Times for the excellent pictures in its Oct. 8 edition of the previous day’s rally on the Statehouse steps, protesting the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Times readers might be interested in a summary of the speakers’ main points:

Jean Athey, who recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan, said there was tremendous suffering there, and that the people she met felt the U.S. was part of a proxy war being fought in their villages. While they disliked and feared the Taliban, most felt the presence of U.S. troops was only making the problem worse. [Read More; Rev. Moore's letter is the third one down on the page]

"Protest Calls for War's End" (Asbury Park Press, 10/7)

TRENTON — Even if the U.S. remains on a present path toward handing Afghanistan control of its security by 2014, anti-war protesters outside the Statehouse on Friday say the exit date is too far off.

The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action organized the demonstration to mark the 10th anniversary of the beginning of war in Afghanistan, making it the longest conflict the U.S. has been involved in since Vietnam.

About 70 people participated in the rally, which featured several speakers, entertainment from a folk musician, and plans for a vigil on the Morrisville, Pa., side of the “Trenton Makes, The World Takes” bridge, where members were to wave anti-war posters and banners to rush-hour traffic leaving Trenton. [Read More]

"Activist Urge Peace on Anniversary (Courier Times, 10/9)

On Friday, the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, peace activists greeted evening rush hour commuters with anti-war signs.

Members of the BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action stood in front of the Trenton Makes bridge in Morrisville to protest the war during Friday’s vigil.

“This war should have been stopped long ago, but we can’t undo history. “ said Robert Moore, the executive director of Coalition for Peace. “We can let the government know that it needs to stop now.” [Read More]

Click Here to watch a video of CFPA's Afghanistan War 10th Anniversary Vigil on 10/7 in Morrisville, PA

"Opinions Vary on Afghan War" (Courier Times, 10/07)

It was America’s first big counterstrike against terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001. Ten years later the debate goes on about the Afghanistan War.

Many feel the war, which began on Oct. 7, 2001, was and continues to be necessary, while others claim it’s been a tremendous drain on resources and question its effectiveness. People on both sides wonder why we’re still there after a decade. [Read More]

"When fear overrides caution: Duped by the cheerleaders of war" (Op-Ed by CFPA member Ellen Guerriero, Bucks County Courier Times, 10/02)

Please don’t call me a progressive. I am a liberal. Therefore you would think I trust what I read in the New York Times to be the truth. I don’t, not since 10 years ago when America was on the brink of another war and the Times printed articles that added to the war hysteria and repeated misinformation that helped lead us into a war built on bogus information.

On Oct. 7 we will mark 10 years at war. My mistrust of the media goes back to Watergate and Vietnam and was heightened by the press, television and radio coverage leading up to today’s wars. Many liberal reporters, editors and TV and radio pundits became in their own words “Bush’s useful idiots.” They were not alone. Many politicians, left and right, became cheerleaders for war. Some described themselves as Hawkish liberals, an oxymoron if I ever heard one. One of the most highly regarded men of our times, Colin Powell, was induced to speak out and propel us toward our first preemptive war. Who knows what price he paid for that? [Read More]

"County Voting Machines Get Chip Upgrade" (The Daily Journal, 09/26)

BRIDGETON -- Cumberland County recently replaced computer chips in all its voting machines and completed background checks on five technicians who service them as a safeguard against tampering and inaccuracy. [Read More]

"Folk Singer Offers Songs of Peace" (Cranbury Press, 08/18)

MONROE — Singer-songwriter Sharleen Leahey entertained the Monroe Township Coalition for Peace on Wednesday morning with her folk songs and political satire.

The Monroe Coalition for Peace began the event five years ago in response to the war in Iraq, and this year it attracted a few dozen people.

”Mainly, we keep hollering ‘bring our troops home.’ That’s our main thing,” said Betty Kletter, one of the founders of the Coalition for Peace.

”Our emphasis is on peace, peace, peace,” she said. “President Obama promised to bring our troops home by August. I don’t see the promise being fulfilled. If you have heard of any parades welcoming our troops home, I’d like to know of them because I’d really like to attend.” [Read More]

"Put an End to the Endless War...Stop Paying for it" (a letter to the editor by CFPA Lower Bucks County Chapter Chair Cathy Leary; published in the Bucks County Courier Times, 7/13/11)

I had the opportunity to attend Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick's town hall meeting on July 5 in Washington Crossing. When we arrived, the congressman was outside greeting people. As I said hello to the congressman I asked him why he continued to vote to fund war. He assured me that he was with me and voted against funding war in Libya. I then proceeded inside with my friends for the town hall.

The meeting began with a PowerPoint presentation on what the congressman feels needs to be done to get this country back on its feet. His theme of the night seemed to be to cut spending and create jobs. According to Fitzpatrick, we are spending too much money, period. He went on to say how we could save money by cutting back on spending on our domestic needs. The congressman mentioned cuts to the budget everywhere — except the military budget. The proposed Pentagon budget for 2012 is $530 billion, with $118 billion allocated for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Read More]

Click Here to watch a video of Rep. Barney Frank's keynote speech at CFPA's 30th Anniversary Membership Dinner! Thanks to George McCollough, Director of Princeton Community TV, for this video!

"Peace Group Honors Terrorist's Son" (Bucks County Courier Times 7/4/11)

It has been more than a year since Zak Ebrahim of Doylestown began speaking publicly about the fact that he is the son of El-Sayyid Nosair, who was convicted in 1995 as a co-conspirator in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center that killed six people.

On Sunday afternoon, the 28-year-old nonviolence lecturer from Doylestown stood before about three dozen other peace advocates at the Fallsington Friends Meetingshouse in Falls to receive one of four awards given out during the Coalition for Peace Action's 11th annual Peace is Patriotic event. [Read More]

Rev. Moore's Letter to the Editor re Rep. Frank's Presentation (published in Trenton Times, Home News Tribune, Princeton Packet, and The Record of Hackensack)

On June 18, Rep. Barney Frank spoke to a full house of 225 at the Coalition for Peace Action’s 30^th Anniversary Membership Dinner in Princeton. With Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Frank co-chaired the bipartisan Sustainable Defense Task Force that included experts such as Dr. Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Rep. Frank asserted that US military spending was continuing as if we still faced an existential threat, as from Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union. Those threats were over by 1989, when the Cold War ended. Yet US military spending has continued at unsustainably high levels, adding up to about $700 billion last year.

Rep. Frank’s Task Force recommended cuts of $1 trillion in military spending over the next ten years. That comes to about $100 billion per year. Rep. Frank explained that only included cuts from the core military budget.  In addition, about $150 billion per year could be saved by ending US deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, making total annual military savings $250 billion.

If we make these sensible cuts, we would still have a military budget of $450 billion per year, more than the next ten highest nations combined.  That would be a more than adequate defense. The $250 billion saved could create jobs and address the continuing economic crisis in the US.

Every soldier deployed in Afghanistan costs $1.2 million per year. For every soldier we bring home, 24 jobs at $50,000 each could be created here in the U.S. If we bring home all 100,000 from Afghanistan, that would create almost 2.5 million new jobs!

It’s time the US stopped trying to be the world’s policeman, and stopped getting into one endless war after another. This is a key to getting our economy back on track. Draconian cuts in basic human services will only make things worse. We need to move toward Smart Security, rather than tolerating ever-increasing budgets for military adventurism.

Those wanting further information, and/or to get involved can contact the Coalition for Peace Action at www.peacecoalition.org or (609) 924-5022.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Robert Moore

The writer, who lives and works in Princeton Boro, NJ, is Executive Director of the Coalition for Peace Action and Pastor of East Brunswick Congregational Church.

"Rep. Barney Frank Addresses Coalition for Peace Action" (Princeton Packet 6/23/11)

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., gave the keynote address at the Coalition for Peace Action’s 30th anniversary Membership Dinner and Gathering on Saturday, June 18, at the McKay Campus Center of Princeton Theological Seminary.

Speaking to an audience of about 225, Rep. Frank talked about reducing Pentagon spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years. He said we were still doing military budgets as if we had a threat to the existence of the United States, as we did from former Soviet Union. [Read More]

"Rep. Barney Frank Advocates Pentagon Spending Cuts" (All Princeton Web Site, 6/21/11)

Speaking to the Anniversary Dinner of the Coalition for Peace Action in Princeton Saturday, Rep. Barney Frank talked about the need to reduce Pentagon spending. He said we were still doing military budgets as if we had an existential threat to the U.S., like from the Nazis or the former Soviet Union, even though all that changed as of 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down.

Given the tough economic times and strains on the federal budget, Frank  advocated substantial reductions in the Pentagon budget: $150 billion from stopping the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars; and another $100 billion per year from the core Pentagon budget. This would reduce total military spending from about $700 billion per year to about $450 billion per year. That would still have the US spending more than the next ten largest national military budgets (of other nations) combined. [Read More]

"Fairfield Candidates Contest Election Results, Blaming Touch Screen Machines" (The News of Cumberland County, 6/20/11)

FAIRFIELD TWP. — Fewer than 50 people stepped up to a single Sequoia touch-screen voting machine on Primary Election day.

Admittedly, that’s a low voter turnout total but apparently enough to cause controversy.

Due to the alleged unreliability of that brand of touch-screen voting machines, two candidates want the results voided and a recount or new election held. [Read More]

"Keep Urging Legislators to Bring the Troops Home" (Princeton Packet 06/10, Trenton Times 06/13)

I want to congratulate U.S. representatives from our region who voted on May 26 to support the McGovern/Jones amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill, calling for a plan to expeditiously and safely bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. While the amendment failed narrowly, 204-215, it gained 42 votes over last spring’s vote on the same amendment.

Congress members in our region who changed from “no” votes last year to “yes” this year include New Jersey Reps. Chris Smith and Robert Andrews and Pennsylvania Democrat Allyson Schwartz. I applaud all three of these for their responsiveness to their constituents, who oppose continuing the Afghanistan war by large margins. I encourage readers who are in their districts to contact them to thank them. [Read More]

"Protestors decry Fitzpatrick vote on Medicare" (The Intelligencer, 5/6)

(Chris) Bursk, a member of the Lower Bucks Coalition for Peace Action, said the U.S. could better save money by ending its military involvement in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq.Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the federal government has approved $1.28 trillion for military operations, according to a March 29 report by the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress.

That figure of $1.28 trillion reportedly includes estimates for base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans' health care for Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. [Read More]

"Activists hope bin Laden's death will hasten peace" (Times of Trenton, 5/3)

PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Local peace activists expressed hope yesterday that the death of Osama bin Laden will hasten the end of the war in Afghanistan.

"In October we will have been in Afghanistan for 10 years, and it's time to get out," said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Coalition for Peace Action. "We hope this is part of what will happen as a result of bin Laden's death, that we will have closure in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Moore said he does not feel bin Laden's capture in any way vindicates this country for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but is further evidence the wars were a mistake.

"They were basically irrelevant and counterproductive," he said. "More than 6,000 Americans have died, tens of thousands have been wounded, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed, and we have spent more than $1.3 trillion on the two wars combined. Most of that effort and money did nothing to help us find and capture bin Laden. We sent a small group of Navy Seals, who tracked him down using intelligence." [Read More]

"Bucks reacts - What people are saying about bin Laden's death" (Courier Times, 5/3)

* Includes reactions from Bill Deckhart and Cathy Leary, CFPA Buxmont Chapter Leaders

Cathy Leary, Middletown

"The initial hope was always that Obama would announce that they're withdrawing the troops, but instead they say the troops are staying in Afghanistan. The other thing is, no media says that we helped train bin Laden and Mujahedeen forces. We created this, and it came back to bite us in the butt. I would have liked to see bin Laden come to trial. Nobody talks about going beyond and finding the reasons why terrorists want to attack America. Maybe if we address these issues, we could make the world and ourselves safer. But this knee-jerk reaction to his death, even though he's an evil man, isn't the sort of thing that should bring out patriotic fervor in us. Also, we shouldn't be bringing out a huge army. To fight terrorism, you need police work, undercover work and precise action. The invasion of Iraq was a miscalculation. Where does Iraq fit into this at all? Why aren't people decrying Bush and Cheney as mass murderers for what they did in Iraq? We are proponents of nonviolence. We would like there to be no terrorism, regardless of the root causes. The way to fight terrorism is to remove the need for terrorism and that involves being on the right side of issues of social justice."

Bill Deckhart, Falls, coordinator of BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action

"I was channel surfing when I came upon Celebrity Apprentice.' It is a show I never watch, but I tuned in for a few minutes. During that time, NBC flashed that the president would be delivering a speech. No details were offered. My immediate assumption was that it related to Libya. In the meantime, I accessed Facebook where a friend's son - who is in his freshman year at West Point - posted the simple message 'Osama bin Laden killed.' The President addressed the nation about 45 minutes later." [Read More]

Coverage on CFPA's 2011 Tax Day Penny Poll

"Princeton-based group's annual Tax Day 'Penny Poll' favors education, environment spending" (Times of Trenton )

Click here for photo gallery and video!

PRINCETON BOROUGH —

More tax dollars should go to education, the environment and health care, and less to the military — at least according to people who were mailing in their tax forms in Palmer Square Monday.

The Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action conducted its annual tax-day “Penny Poll” on federal spending priorities in front of the Palmer Square post office, asking postal customers and passers-by to prioritize categories of programs.

“This year’s results remain consistent with results from over many years,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, CFPA’s executive director.

“We encourage taxpayers to contact their elected representatives to urge them to support more peaceful federal budget priorities.”

Each participant was handed 10 pennies and asked to distribute them among tubes marked Education, Health Care, Environment, Housing and Military.

The sixty-five people who participated gave education the most votes with 226 pennies, or 35 percent of all coins cast.

“It usually comes out on top,” Moore said.

Military spending garnered the least support, with 60 pennies or 9 percent backing.

The participants also received a handout with information on last year’s federal spending, Moore said.

The government spent 51 percent or $689 billion on the military budget, compared to 8 percent on education, according to federal figures Moore provided.

Click here for photo by the Daily Princetonian

Click here for allprinceton.com website coverage

Letters: Serious budget cutting means cutting military

(Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly Burbs on 4/18)

As the tax-filing deadline ("This year you get an automatic extension," Friday) arrives, and a debate on deficits and federal budget priorities begins, one major area of the federal budget appears to be largely off the table: military spending.

Yet this accounts for 51 percent of the discretionary spending, the part of the budget that Congress can allocate however it chooses. That comes to over $750 billion, an average of nearly $6,000 per taxpaying household. Under Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed budget, it would continue to increase, and President Obama's alternative would only slow the rate of increase.

The bipartisan Sustainable Defense Task Force chaired by Reps. Ron Paul and Barney Frank concluded that military spending could be safely cut by 25 percent, providing an annual savings of $175 billion.

Those who agree are urged to contact the Coalition for Peace Action www.peacecoalition.org to help educate and advocate for such change.

Rev. Robert Moore

Princeton

Federal Budget a Moral Matter by Main Line Chapter Leader Jane Dugdale

(Published in Main Line Media News on 4/18)

To the Editor:

As I write this, Congress is debating massive cuts in spending that will virtually eliminate early-childhood and teacher-training programs, as well as housing, job training, health and energy assistance for the poor and homeless, in the name of deficit reduction. At the same time, the wealthiest Americans are paying less and less in taxes, including the largest corporations. GE, the largest corporation in the nation, paid no tax last year and even received tax rebates. In addition, government spending for war-making continues to balloon, now twice what it was 10 years ago, much of it spent on an empire of close to a thousand foreign bases. Economists at the nonpartisan National Priorities Project estimate our military now spends $1.2 trillion/year of our tax dollars. This is well over half of the federal discretionary spending budget.

A budget is a moral document. It reflects our values. Does this budget reflect American values? To overflow the coffers of war-makers like GE by throwing money at wasteful weapons systems and on military personnel around the world while communities here at home go bankrupt? To allow the most powerful to trample on the least among us and cast them aside?

I know this budget does not reflect my values, and I challenge our congresspeople and their constituents to discern if it truly reflects their own values.

Sincerely,

JANE SWIFT DUGDALE

Bryn Mawr

We Must Work for  Non-Nuclear Future by Jo Schlesinger, Western PA Coordinator

(Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 04/13)

The dangers and catastrophic consequences of radiation and nuclear waste continue to leach out of Japan through contamination of water, air and the food chain. Although we've been "sold" on nuclear energy as relatively safe and clean, it is evident now that the risk is too great.

Even as we intend to upgrade or make new reactors, where to store the waste still poses a problem. As plutonium, radioactive water and other toxins enter our environment, it's time to rethink the end result.

Nuclear weapons, too, are vulnerable to human error and unintended disasters. As we get further away from the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, we must not forget the devastation left behind. We are bound not only by our humanity, but by our interconnectedness. The radioactive iodine spewing into the ocean and the chilling International Atomic Energy Agency Update Log (www. iaea.org) are daily reminders. In addition, the safety and security of accidents involving fissile material has long been noted.

As more and more countries get their hands on nuclear materials, be it for arms or energy, it's time to keep Fukushima in mind as we work toward a non-nuclear future. The health of our planet depends on it.

JO SCHLESINGER
Edgewood

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11103/1138833-110.stm#ixzz1Jts5aOLp

 

Coverage on CFPA's Iraq War Anniversary Rally

• Click Here for Princeton Packet Photos of CFPA's Iraq War 8th Anniversary Rally in Princeton

• Click Here for Op-Ed News Coverage on the Rally

• Click Here for Photos and a Blog Entry on the Rally by former Board Member (now living in DC) Marta Steele

"Coalition for Peace Action Considers Nuclear Risks" (AllPrinceton Blog)

February 24, 2011 PRINCETON - Commander Robert Green, who served 20 years in the British Navy piloting nuclear armed aircraft, was the featured speaker at the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) Membership Renewal Party Wednesday evening at the Trinity Church in Princeton.

Commander Green resigned in 1982 over Prime Minister Thatcher’s decision to upgrade Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet.  He is the author of four books on nuclear weapons issues, and autographed copies of his most recent, Security Without Nuclear Deterrence, were on sale at this event. [More]

Check Out CFPA's New Vimeo Channel from Princeton Community Television!

"Finding a Way Back from the Nuclear Abyss" (Times of Trenton)

February 26, 2011, TRENTON - Commander Robert Green is intimately familiar with the consequences of nuclear warfare. Green, retired after a 20-year career with the British Royal Navy, is now working, along with the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action, to abolish nuclear deterrents.

Green's motivation, though, is unusual: He knows from his time as a pilot of nuclear-armed aircraft just what it would mean to drop an atomic bomb.

These experiences were the subject of Green's speech Wednesday evening to about 30 members of the Coalition for Peace Action who gathered at Princeton's Trinity Church for a membership renewal party. [More]

"YWCA Princeton: Irene Etkin Goldman Honored with Two Awards" (US1)

Irene Etkin Goldman sums up what drives her to seek fairness and truthfulness in five simple words: "If it's unfair, it's unfair."

That principle –– that everyone, regardless of who they are, what they look like or what they believe, is entitled to fairness –– is at the core of what she does in her life. Accordingly, she tackles one situation, one problem, and one person at a time, whether it's someone imprisoned wrongly in the former Soviet Union for revealing state secrets, rescuing "misappropriated" Russian artwork, or bringing together people of all faiths to enjoy Muslim and Jewish comedians, if it needs doing, Goldman gets it done.

In honor of her lifetime spent defending fairness, justice, and human rights, Goldman has been named a 2011 Tribute to Women honoree and recipient of its Fannie Floyd Racial Justice Award. [More]

"Activists Urge Cuts to Defense Budget" (Bucks County Courier Times)

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP - Near Lockheed Martin, protesters said defense spending needs to be trimmed to reduce
the deficit and put Americans to work.

If the country is hurting for money, the solution is to cut the military budget and stop making defense contractors richer, area residents said Wednesday.

About a dozen members of the BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action and Brandywine Peace Community stood along the Newtown Bypass near the Lockheed Martin facility in Newtown Township holding signs such as one that read, "Resist Lockheed Martin the Face of War Making Today." [More]

"Ex-Marine Speaking Out at Princeton Against War" (Trenton Times)

Click here to see the beginning of the front-page article and photo; Click here for coverage of the Bucks County event.

PRINCETON — A U.S. official who publicly resigned in protest of the war in Afghanistan came to Princeton this week to discuss his feelings on the 10-year-old conflict.

New Jersey-native Matthew Hoh, a former Marine Corps captain in Iraq who went on to become a State Department Consultant in Afghanistan, spent close to two hours Tuesday night talking to and taking questions from the large crowd that packed the small auditorium of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton. [More]

Reverend Moore's Letter to the Editor on the Tuscon Rampage (Herald News)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 -- Bring back ban on big ammunition clips

The horrifying gun rampage on January 8 in Tucson demonstrates again the devastating effects of  allowing a lobby (the NRA and its allies) whose main goal is to encourage the sales and profits of the gun industry to dictate gun laws. [More]

"Hoh to address peace coalition" (Trenton Times)

January 08, 2011, PRINCETON BOROUGH -- The Coalition for Peace Action will host a presentation by Matthew Hoh, who became a senior official in the Foreign Service before resigning in 2009 in protest of the Afghan war, which he felt did not serve United States' interests. [More]

"Peace Group Pops a Cork for START Treaty" (Trenton Times)

DECEMBER 31, 2010, PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- President Barack Obama isn't the only one celebrating the U.S. Senate's recent ratification of a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

On Wednesday, Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) toasted the treaty with champagne and a hearty round of congratulations at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton. [More]

"A message of peace: The Rev. Moore celebrates 30 years as coalition director "(Princeton Packet)

Front page lead story on Friday, December 24, 2010

Wednesday was a day of celebration with the ratification of the new START treaty in the U.S. Senate, particularly for those like the Rev. Robert Moore who had worked feverishly into the late hours of the evening this week to encourage constituents in swing states to call their senators to vote in favor. It’s likely to be one of the major highlights of the Rev. Moore’s 30th year as the executive director for the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA).

Click here to see remainder of front page lead story

 

Watch Reverend Moore's December 14th Interview With Princeton Community Television Here.

Watch Princeton Community Television's Video of Bob Smith's Talk on Federal Spying of Peace Groups Here.

"Tianamen Square Experience Discussed" (Times of Trenton)

Sunday, December 12, 2010 PRINCETON BOROUGH --When Donna Liu, former CNN news producer and manager, assembled her crew in Beijing in the spring of 1989, she expected to cover Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to China.

Instead, Liu found herself at the site of the pro-democracy demonstrations at Beijing's Tiananmen Square that ended in bloodshed that year.

Liu, who won an Emmy Award for her coverage of the events at Tiananmen Square, is now director for strategic initiatives at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.

She discussed her experiences in China with a small audience Friday at the Paul Robeson Center here. Liu said such discussions are essential to understanding and moving beyond the events at Tiananmen Square.

Charlie Wang, a junior at Princeton High School, organized the event with the co-sponsorship of the Coalition for Peace Action. [More]

"How to Beat Swords into Plowshares and Create Good Jobs in America" (Courier News)

December 9, 2010 A workshop on How to Beat Swords into Plowshares and Create Good Jobs in America is being sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, December 14 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road (just up the hill from the light at the intersection of Route 206 and Cherry Hill). [More]

"Hard Times, Violent Crime? Offenses are Up, says Report" (The Final Call)

Last Updated Dec. 4, 2010 [...]Rev. Bob Moore, of the Princeton, N.J.-based Coalition for Peace Action, said that there must be a more concentrated effort in New Jersey to do away with guns.

“We need a national solution to this problem,” he told The Final Call.

“While we understand that crime is definitely tied to poverty, hopelessness and racism, we are fighting to stop the flow of guns into our state,” Rev. Moore said. “We wish we could address the whole picture, but for now our priority is to stop the easy access to guns.” [More]

Reverend Moore's Letter to the Editor: Senators Must Get On Board With START Treaty (Courier News)

Last April, the New START Treaty was signed by U.S. President Obama and Russian President Medvedev. During the last six months of exhaustive hearings and briefings, Secretary of Defense Gates, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the head of the Missile Defense Agency, every Director of SAC (which has control of all U.S. nuclear weapons), and numerous former Republican and Democratic officials all gave our senators the same message: the New START treaty makes us safer and should be ratified by the Senate. [More]

Nagasaki bombing survivor recounts her experience (Trenton Times)

PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- In three days, it will have been 65 years since the United States dropped the second of two atomic bombs on Japan, an event that devastated the city of Nagasaki where Yasuko Ohta worked as a 15-year-old student.

Ohta, now 80, was just 1.3 kilometers -- less than a mile -- from ground zero at Nagasaki when the atomic bomb detonated. [More]

"War Games Lure Recruits For 'Real Thing'" (NPR)

July 31, 2010 A controversial Army Experience Center in a northeast Philadelphia shopping mall will soon close its doors after a two-year pilot program. With regard to its military outreach efforts, the multimillion-dollar facility has declared "mission accomplished," but opponents question the Army's version of reality.

At the center, teenage boys sit in a row of Army-green recliners facing flat-screen monitors. They square off in video war games like the popular Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Once visitors register and prove they're 13 years or older, they're given free access to the facility's array of war-themed games. [More]

"Keeping Pennsylvanians safe, or unwarranted domestic spying?" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Rev. Moore's Letter to the Editor: "Senate Should Ratify US-Russia START Treaty" (Princeton Packet)

April 22, 2010 The START treaty between the US and Russia is a good start towards reducing the threat from nuclear weapons. The Senate should quickly ratify it. Fewer nuclear weapons make America and the world safer from the growing threat of nuclear weapons being used again. It sends the right message to the rest of the world: the place to begin reducing nuclear weapons is with the U.S. and Russia, who continue to have 95 percent of the world’s arsenals. [More]

Trenton Times article and photos of CFPA's State House Protest on Seventh Anniversary of Iraq War, 3-20-10. Click here

"Protest aims to shut down Army Center" (Bucks County Courier Times)

A dozen demonstrators vowed to keep protesting until the closing of what they called an immoral operation.

Protester chants to close the Army Experience Center rang through the entertainment corridor of Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

"We remember Dr. King. Close the A-E-C."

"For peace - Close the A-E-C."

"For justice - Close the A-E-C," chanted about a dozen local peace group members, as they paid homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his passion for peace while calling for the closure of what they termed an "immoral" operation. [more]

"All In a Day's Work" (an interview with Bob Moore) (Town Topics)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - I’m the son of a navy officer. My dad fought in World War II and the Korean War. I was about 12 at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I was full of bravado. I thought, “hey, let’s blow ‘em off the face of the earth.” Of course there are millions of human beings living in Cuba; how could you say something so cavalier? But I was twelve years old. I was a hawk on Vietnam as well.

I liked building things, so when I got to college I majored in engineering. My very first semester, I was going to the student center where Dow Chemical was recruiting and of course, they were the makers of napalm. There were protesters outside showing pictures of children who were burned by napalm, and I said, “Wait a minute — this isn’t what the good guys are supposed to be doing.” That really got me thinking, and led me to the journey I’ve been on since I was 18 years old. ... [more]

 

"Survivors Mark Anniversary of Hiroshima, Nagasaki" (Times of Trenton)

Thursday August 6, 2009, PRINCETON TOWNSHIP - Katsuyuki Nigahisa was playing in the school yard when he saw a mushroom-shaped cloud rising from the direction of Hiroshima. The 10-year-old didn't know what to make of the strange, huge cloud in the sky. It wasn't until the next day, when a neighbor arrived from Hiroshima covered in burns and soot, that Nigahisa's family learned of the catastrophic event described in Japanese as the "Pkia don" -- the flash and boom.

When he and his family set out for Hiroshima to find out if their relatives were safe, they saw a vision of complete devastation along the way: mangled remains of buildings, miles of burnt ruins, a dead cart horse lying with his belly up facing the scorching sun, but no bodies, because they had been cremated. For three days, they searched for their relatives and finally found them, all badly injured, their homes destroyed. They didn't realize during the tearful reunion that within a year, a grandmother and a cousin would die from the aftereffects of radiation. Sixty-four years later, the sorrows of a childhood shadowed by the dropping of the atomic bomb remain in the hearts of those who were there. Some, like Nigahisa, have taken that sadness and channeled it into helping other victims and pushing for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Nigahisa was one of two atomic bomb survivors, known as Hibakusha, who shared their stories last night at the commemoration of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than 65 people attended the annual event at the Institute for Advanced Study, sponsored by the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action and the Fellowship In Prayer. ... [more]

Minister Urges Unity (Times of Trenton)

Friday, July 3, 2009, PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Religious communities across the country need to join together to stop gun violence and should recruit young people in their cause, a Philadelphia minister told area peace activists yesterday. . . .More than 50 people attended the event to kick off the Fourth of July holiday weekend, relaxing with a picnic and peace songs before the awards presentation that focused on gun violence and peace in Iran.

"Peace is indeed patriotic," said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the coalition. "It's the most patriotic thing we can do." Moore used the occasion to remind attendees about the power people have in a democracy to unite and organize for change. Recalling the peace movement's victory in the effort to halt the repeal of the assault weapons ban in New Jersey, he said, ""We are powerful. We have power for peace, power for preventing violence." ... [more]

"Sheehan Brings Activism to Bucks" (Bucks County Courier Times)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 -- The anti-war crusader said she'll continue to speak against U.S. policies despite the new administration. Cindy Sheehan's methods have evolved since she first took her anti-war message to the streets. The California-based activist said this week she doesn't put much stock in peace marches and petitions anymore. She encourages people instead to shift the country's balance of power by supporting independent media sources, growing food at home and discouraging people from enlisting in the military. That was some of the advice she gave a crowd gathered Monday at the BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Warrington, Sheehan's latest stop to promote her new electronic book, "Myth America." ... [more]

"Activist: Peace Effort Losing Steam" (Times of Trenton)

Monday, June 22, 2009 -- The woman best known for holding a vigil in front of George W. Bush's Texas ranch to protest the war in Iraq encouraged area activists yesterday to continue their efforts in the struggle to promote peace. Gold Star mother Cindy Shee han addressed about 50 people at the Unitarian Universalist Congre gation of Princeton yesterday as part of a weekend of talks organized by the Delaware Valley Veterans for America and sponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action and the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War." . . . [more]

"Forward March: Three Faiths Walk in Pursuit of Peace" (New Jersey Jewish News)

Monday, June 8, 2009 -- "Carrying a banner decorated with stars of David, crosses, and crescents, nearly 100 Jews, Christians, and Muslims marched together in Trenton during the Tri-Faith Walk on Sunday, May 31. Cosponsored by the Coalition for Peace Action and Fellowship in Prayer, the 3.7-mile walk was the second of three events inspired by Rep. Rush Holt’s (D-Dist.12) statewide initiative to promote religious understanding and appreciation of diversity." . . . [more]

 

 

"Shortchanging Voters" (The New York Times, Editorial)

Saturday, January 5, 2009 -- More than three years have gone by since the New Jersey Legislature required the state to install modern voting machines that provide printouts of each vote -- the paper trail that experts regard as essential to far and accurate elections. The machines are still nowhere in sight.

Deadlines have been imposed and proved meaningless. The latest dealine was New Year's Day, which of course has passed. Technically, the state is in violation of its own law, but nobody seems to care. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will do something . . . [More]

 

"Votes that count" (Trenton Times, Editorial)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 -- The New Jersey Senate did the state's voters a big favor last week when 21 of them voted against a pilot project to equip some voting machines with printers. But wait. Isn't the proverbial paper trail exactly what voting- reform advocates have been after since the Florida 2000 hanging chad debacle? A verifi able receipt system is, in fact, what reformers have pushed for, but the pilot project proposal in the Senate last week was a clunker from the start.. . . [More]

"Looking at new and expensive ways to fix NJ's voting system" (Gannet News Service -- Asbury Park Press, Bergen Record, Star Ledger)

Sunday, December 21, 2008-- Now certain to miss a year-end deadline to have voting machines that produce a paper trail, state officials are mapping out alternate ways to fix New Jersey's voting system that could include replacing touch-screen machines with optical scanners. . . . [More]

"A vote for optical scan" (Trenton Times, Editorial)

Monday, December 15, 2008 -- Today, the state Legislature is expected to consider a bill to remove the requirement that voting machines produce voter-verified paper records by Jan. 1, 2009, and to replace that re quirement with a pilot program for adding printers to a few of New Jersey's voting machines.If the results of that pilot program prove acceptable, the rest of the state's electronic voting machines will be retrofitted, . . . [More]