Bush Protest Kings Point

SafeTALK: Suicide Alertness for Everyone
“In September of this year I attended a Suicide Prevention workshop run by Dr. Max Banilivy of Pedersen-Krag. Though I have been a pastor for over thirty years and worked with people around issues of attempted suicide and the loss of family members to suicide, this workshop taught me to develop antennae for those contemplating suicide. When someone shares a deep personal discouragement with us, you and I become frontline helpers. Though the situation is obviously awkward, Suicide Prevention encourages us to engage a person in sensitive conversation and direct them to seek help. Through this workshop, I became a better informed and more skillful listener.”
Rev. Jimmy Hulsey, First Presbyterian Church, Smithtown
SafeTALK: Suicide Alertness for Everyone Tuesday January 19, 2010 9:30 – 12:30  First Presbyterian Church, 175 East Main Street, Smithtown, led by Dr. Max. Banilivy, Ph.D., Director of Family Wellness Center, Administrator, Pederson-Krag Center
SafeTALK is a training course that prepares anyone to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources. Most people with thoughts of suicide invite help to stay safe. Alert helpers know how to use these opportunities to support that desire for safety. As a safeTALK- trained suicide alert helper, you will be better able to:  Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid suicide;  Identify people who have thoughts of suicide  Apply the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and KeepSafe) Fee, $10 Prior Registration is required; this workshop has a minimum of 15 registrants
To Register Call 631-821-2255 or e-mail info@prcli.org

*Free Counseling for Soldiers and Their Families
The Soldiers Project, which started in California and is now on Long Island, is a group of volunteer psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, marriage counselors, and family therapists
Who provide free, confidential counseling for military service members of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and for their families. Veterans and their wives, husbands, children, parents, and other loved ones are all affected by military service and the challenges of returning home. Project Soldier can make the transitions easier. For further information, call (toll free) 1-877-576-5343, email info@thesoldersproject.org, or visit www.thesoldiersproject.org.

Dear Peacemaker,

Here's some VERY disturbing news from Cheryl Wertz of Peace Action NYS. I think this demands attention, letters, calls, whatever to say NO!

Peace,

Rosemarie

Subject: Fwd: Predator Drones are coming to NY State!
To: Ecvl@aol.com

Dear PANYS Steering Committee members,

While I was upstate this weekend I had a number of conversations that I considered to be deeply disturbing. The US military predator drones are coming to NYS and there has been very little publicity about it outside of Syracuse!

As many of you know, at the present time, the predator drones operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan are piloted in Nevada. Men and women there use video game style consoles to kill people half a world away and then go home to eat dinner and watch baseball.

The US government wants to bring this same program to Hancock Airport in Syracuse! Hancock Air Field is a local commercial airstrip for private and commercial flights, not a military base (although the local National Guard has a base directly next door and shares the air field).

At the moment, there is a proposal to train local contractors on how to fly the drones. There has been a lot of local opposition in Syracuse around safety issues. There is a concern that the drones pose a risk to local private and commercial aircraft, particularly because they try to avoid appearing on radar and do not respond to air traffic control. How does air traffic control keep commercial aircraft out of their way in a busy airport corridor, without knowing where they are?

Once the local contractors have been trained, the drones from Syracuse will be transported to the Middle East and the pilots at Hancock will use them to fly missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

There is more information in this week's New Yorker. Here's the link to the abstract, (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer) but you have to have a subscription to read the entire article.

Groups in Syracuse, primarily organized by the Syracuse Peace Council, but supported by a number of other local allies and peace and justice groups, including Peace Action of Central New York, have planned a major demonstration against the drones on Sunday, Nov. 15th. The exact details are still being determined, but it looks like the program will start at 12 noon and end at around 2:30. There is going to be a conference call to plan the protest on Thursday, Oct. 29th at 8pm. The call-in number 1-219-509-8020. The access code is 955381.

I think this is a major concern for PANYS members all over the state and would like to see the state office get more involved in this issue. What do the rest of you think?

If you have questions on the details of the opposition, to RSVP for the call, or to RSVP for the protest, call Carol Baum of the Syracuse Peace Council at 315-472-5478.

Thanks everyone.

Cheryl