A happy Halloween
Dear parents, teachers and the community, thank you so much for the wonderful young people who came knocking at our door on Halloween. Our visitors were a delight! They were very polite and grateful for the candy they received. I even had to talk them into taking more than one piece of candy! Seeing them and talking with them gave me great hope for the future. Something we could all use right now.
— Nancy Ponedel Parsons, Pacific Grove
Preserving norms
Driving down a narrow road, oncoming headlights just feet away, my husband remarked that in this country we really do trust each other. You have to have confidence that everyone will follow the rules – especially the people who are going the opposite direction. And (barring a couple of nuts) most everyone does.
So you’d think we’d all yell when a bunch of rich guys drive their billion-dollar bulldozers right down the middle of the road, sending cars into the ditches left and right. No matter what your destination, we the people must speak up against this destruction of norms. Failure to do so quickly will result in ruined laws and shattered trust. Preserve and defend the rules of the road or we’ll all end up walking through rubble.
— Helen Spiess Shamble, East Garrison
Veterans Day
As Veterans Day approaches, we should remember what it was meant to commemorate: the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, Armistice Day, a day to end all wars. In 1954, during another war, Congress renamed it Veterans Day, shifting its meaning from honoring peace to glorifying war.
This year, we can reclaim the spirit of Armistice Day by standing against authoritarianism and creeping fascism at home. Veterans For Peace joins all who defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. We know militarism abroad is tied to repression at home, when ICE kidnaps immigrant neighbors, when troops occupy U.S. cities, when voices for justice are silenced in the name of “security.”
Veterans know the cost of war. We say: No Racist ICE. No Troops in Our Streets. No More Wars of Empire.
Let us honor Veterans Day by demanding an end to endless wars and investing instead in health care, housing, and human rights.
To all veterans: join us in reclaiming the true spirit of Armistice Day. Come to the Peace and Justice Center on Tuesday, 5–7 p.m. for an open-mic and potluck gathering to share stories, food, and solidarity for Peace at Home, Peace Abroad.
— Justin Loza, president Veterans For Peace Chapter 46
Venezuela policy
The Monterey Peace and Justice Center condemns continued U.S. aggression toward Venezuela. The Justice Department’s recent approval of Trump-era military strikes in the Caribbean Sea is unconstitutional without congressional authorization and violates international law. Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
The build-up of U.S. military assets in the region, including the largest naval deployment in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and covert CIA operations have nothing to do with combating narcotics. They reveal motives of regime change and control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and have been widely condemned as violations of the UN Charter. Latin America is a designated Zone of Peace.
We call on the United States to end its crippling sanctions, stop illegal extrajudicial killings in international waters, and respect Venezuela’s sovereignty and right to self-determination.
— Catherine Crockett, president and Sidney Ramsdem Scott, vice-president, Monterey Peace and Justice Center
Washington has justified its hostility toward Venezuela by invoking the language of democracy and the war on drugs. Yet the true engine of U.S. policy has always been petro-politics, not narcotrafficking.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves — oil that, before Hugo Chávez’s nationalizations, was largely controlled by U.S. and allied corporations. When Caracas redirected that wealth toward domestic consumption and forged energy ties with China and Russia, it crossed a red line: independence in the oil market.
The “drug-kingpin” sanctions and rhetoric that followed have been a convenient moral cover for a campaign to reassert control over a critical energy source. Venezuela is not a major cocaine producer; it is, however, a major oil competitor. By freezing assets, blocking exports, and even backing coup attempts, the United States and its partners have deepened a humanitarian disaster while claiming to fight corruption and narcotics.
It is time to recognize that these policies are about power over petroleum, not purity from drugs. Honest debate about U.S. energy strategy—rather than moral posturing—would do more for both Venezuelans and Americans than another round of sanctions or imposed regime change.
— Thomas F. Lee, Monterey
The East Wing
Watching in shock as a demolition crew tore down the East Wing of the White House, to be replaced by an unnecessary ballroom, I was reminded of President Trump’s solemn promise not to even touch the outer wall of the East Wing, out of respect and reverence for its storied history. Then again, he promised to uphold the Constitution too, and that looks to be headed to rubble also.
— Glenn Nolte, Carmel Valley
