2010
Notes from US WILPF Gathering July 14-18, 2010
Wednesday, July 14
4:00 pm: Early birds welcome
6:30 pm: Dinner. After dinner: celebration of Bastille Day (the Bastille Prison in Paris was stormed on July 14, 1789) led by our local French culture enthusiast, Professor Sandy Baird.
Thursday, July 15
8:00 am: Breakfast
10:00 am: Democracy in the Balance: Dismantling Personhood - Mary Zepernick, Administrator of the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy and co-chair of WILPF's Committee on Corporations v Democracy.
12:00 pm: Lunch.
2:00 pm: Sustainability and Survival:
Virginia Pratt - Foreclosure Stories
Francis Crowe - Does Your Lifestyle Contribute to War?
Jen Guarino - Sustainability Education in Randolph
4:00 pm: The Vermont Secession Movement - Cheryl Diersch and Robin Lloyd.
6:00 pm: Dinner.
7:30 pm: A new initiative in the Congo: a "Dear Hillary" campaign to pressure Hillary Clinton to make the crisis in East Congo a foreign policy priority for the US. A screening of the Longest Silence and discussion with Laurie Gagne, Director of the Center for Peace and Justice at St. Michael's College.
Friday, July 16
8:00 am: Breakfast.
9:30 am: GAZA and the Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement, with Fran Stoddard, host on VT Public TV recently returned from a trip to the Middle East; and Marc Estrin, acclaimed author (Insect Dreams) and member of Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel.
12:00 pm: Lunch.
2:00 pm: Abolishing Nuclear Weapons & Nuclear Power: Opportunities & Challenges on Our Way to a Nuclear Free Future with Claire Gosselin and Hattie Nestel. A report on the NPT Conference in NYC this May, and future challenges.
4:00 pm: Report from the US Social Forum and preview of the Albany Peace Conference with Robin, Pat O'Brien, Laura Roskos, Nancy Munger and Cheryl Diersch.
6:00 pm: Dinner.
7:00 pm: Maybe Columbia; and Singing
Saturday, July 17
8:00 am: Breakfast.
9:30 am: US WILPF: Report from the co-presidents.
12:00 pm: Lunch.
2:00 pm: Ending the war in Afghanistan with Joan Ecklein and Marge VanCleef. Screening of film Rethinking Afghanistan.
Sunday, July 18
8:00 am: Breakfast.
10:00 am: What's happening in Haiti with veteran correspondent and videographer Jane Regan, and Joni Zweig, President of AMURTEL USA. AMURTEL is an NGO which provides disaster relief, sustainable development and community service in Haiti and many other countries. Also, June Levinsohn and Nadine Dominique.
12:00 pm: Lunch.