Dozens of people attended a rally in Northampton on April 9 to protest President Trump's military attack on Syria. Sabine Merz spoke at the rally. "The way to help Syria is to open our borders to them," she told the Valley Post. The event was outside city hall. It was organized by the American Friends Service Committee of Western Massachusetts www.afscwm.org.

Trump tried to ban Syrian refugees from entering the USA. A judge has temporarily overturned the ban. According to a December 2016 article in U.S. News and World Report, Lebanon has accepted more than 1 million refugees from Syria, and Sweden has accepted about 53,000 refugees from Syria. The USA was not on the list of the 10 nations that had accepted the most Syrian refugees.

According to the U.N. web site, “The United Nations came into being in 1945, following the devastation of the Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of international peace and security.” Trump last month announced he would cut the amount of money the USA pays the U.N. annually by 40 percent. Last year, the USA paid the U.N. about $9 billion. This year, the USA is set to spend about $1.5 trillion on its own military. That's according to:

www.warresisters.org/sites/default/files/fy2018piechart_color2.pdf

On April 7, nationally known peace activist Medea Benjamin said Trump was wrong to have bombed Syria on April 6. Her comments are at:

www.democracynow.org/2017/4/7/peace_advocates_if_trump_wanted_to

On February 27, Chicago Tribune staff writer Dahleen Glanton said,
“Trump has a 43.7 percent approval rating, according to an average of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics. It's the lowest of any U.S. president this early in his administration since 1953. And it keeps going lower. The only thing that could get Trump out of this slump is a war.” Glanton gave examples of previous presidents who did better in polls by starting a war. The full article is at:

www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/glanton/ct-trump-war-glanton-2017...

In other news from the Valley, on April 5 in Greenfield, workers held a picket line outside the factory where they work. They were calling for workplace justice and democracy. They have a web site at www.UEunion.org. They work at Kennametal, a company that makes tools at 34 Sanderson Street. The picket was at that location. The below photo shows the picket line. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Chad McGinnis