Lancaster's Video Surveillance Program
by Bill Adams

The attention of the nation was focused on Lancaster for a brief moment due to its unique video surveillance program.  No where else nationally is blanket video surveillance utilized to surveil whole neighborhoods  with a ratio of one camera to 300 residents.  Why Lancaster?  How did this occur without extensive public dialogue?  What are the results?  Is it effective?  What type of oversight exists at a federal, state and local levels?  All reasonable questions.

Read more...

Help Haiti
The Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice encourages its members and readers to donate to the Haitian relief effort through the Mennonite Central Committee.  Use the link below to make a donation.

Click here: Home - Haiti Earthquake | Mennonite Central Committee

Bus Trip to the March 20 Rally in DC

March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the war of aggression launched against Iraq. The demonstration will demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead of war, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing.

Tentative Cost: $20 for the round trip, which will be collected in advance.

To reserve a seat and get more information please contact Paul Sayko (pnsayko@yahoo.com) or Josh Redd (jtredd05@gmail.com).

Interested parties can also find an event page on Facebook here.

Spring Peace forum with Dr. Trita Parsi
Thursday, 8 APR 2010 • 7:30 PM
Franklin & Marshall, Stahr Auditorium • College Avenue • Lancaster PA
Dr. Trita Parsi will speak on the topic:   "Between War and Democracy – Iran, Israel and the US." Dr. Parsi is founder and president of the National Iranian American Council and an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian politics, and the balance of power in the Middle East. He is the author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States (Yale University Press 2007), for which he conducted more than 130 interviews with senior Israeli, Iranian and American decision-makers. Treacherous Alliance is the silver medal winner of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic and non-Muslim who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins' School for Advanced International Studies where he received his Ph.D.

Parsi has followed Middle East politics through work in the field and extensive experience on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. He is frequently consulted by Western and Asian governments on foreign policy matters. Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN, where he served in the Security Council, handling the affairs of Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan and Western Sahara, and in the General Assembly's Third Committee, addressing human rights in Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Iraq.

Health Care Rally at Penn Square

A health care rally was held Saturday between between 10:00AM and 1:00PM at Penn Square in downtown Lancaster. The rally was sponsored by the Social Justice Advocates of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster and included participation by other community churches and health care advocacy groups.

View pictures of this event...

Single Payer Health Care Rally at Capitol Draws over 1,000

Over 1,000 supporters of HB 1660 and SB 400 currently before the state legislature rallied in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday, Tuesday, Oct. 20, in support of a single-payer health care system for the Commonwealth. Activist  from seven states and 20 regional health care advocacy organizations that support the proposed single-payer system joined the Healthcare for All Pennsylvania, organizer the event.

Jerry Policoff from Progressives 4 Pennsylvania estimated that Lancaster County had the largest delegation present counting at least 50 residents among the estimated 1200 participants.

The rally featured several speakers, including Sen. Jim Ferlo, sponsor of Pennsylvania Senate Bill 400 creating a statewide health care plan; Wendell Potter, former Cigna executive turned health care reform spokesman; and Bill George, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.

A report released on the day of the event by Healthcare for All Pennsylvania estimates that the combined saving on employee healthcare for nearly all taxing bodies within PA's 66 counties and the Commonwealth would top $2 billion. Under the PA House and Senate bills, the single payer system would operate like Medicare, funneling healthcare payments directly to private providers. Individuals would pay a tax of 3% on personal income and employers would pay a 10% charge, a savings on average of 5% for workers and five to ten percent for employers.

View pictures of this event...

View fact sheet about the proposed single-payer plan...

View cost savings document on estimated savings per county...

LCPJ and Local Area Health Advocates Mount Counter-Protest at Buchanan Park on Monday

Thank you to all who came out on Monday in the heat to support healthcare reform. Despite such short notice to counter-protest the "Patients First " teabagger bus stop at Buchanan Park in Lancaster, 69 people joined forces to rally and speak out against the fear mongers trying to derail healthcare reform. Only 4 teabagger supporters attended.

CBS 21, WGAL, FOX43 and Intell/New Era reporter P.J. Reilly covered the event. CBS aired a fair story on the 5:00 news, although  they stated the number of people gathered as 30, instead of  69. Seems the media consistently minimizes participants in progressive events. I did a head count twice, so my figure was accurate. But overall the afternoon was a success !

Sherry Wolfe
APR585@aol.com
717-341-3056

The LCPJ and local health care reform advocates, and peace and justice advocates organized a counter-protest rally at Buchanan Park on Monday to protest a planned anti-health care rally by a group called "Patients First."

The “Patients First” Bus Tour will be coming to Lancaster Monday, Aug. 10 to pursue their “grass roots” protest against health care reform.  This group is bankrolled by wealthy right wing special interest as well as the Republican Party and the health insurance pharmaceutical industries.

The protest being organized on Monday by Patients First has been advertised as a "grass-roots rally". However, Patients First is operated by the well-known national right-wing organization known as the Americans for Prosperity, the same organization involved in the planning of other right-wing "grassroots" protests including February's anti-stimulus rallies, and the infamous "Tea Parties" held in April and July.

Afghanistan Working Group

The Lancaster Coalition for Peace and Justice is forming a working group to gather background material on Afghanistan and to keep current on the situation there. The group will also keep track of the growth of militarism in the United States.

Louise Imm-Cooper will be leading this working group. Anyone interested in being part of this group - which will meet periodically - should contact Louise at (717) 393-5042 or at bookwitch@msn.com.