The Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending is a newly formed coalition of over 30 community organizations, housing counseling agencies, legal services groups and others who have come together to work on the sub-prime foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts.

We are proud to welcome their homepage to WorcesterActivist.org: Link

E-mail from Gordon Davis:

Hello Everyone,

The City Clerk and City Solicitor have confirmed that the Worcester Peace Works Petition to City Council is suitable. The petition is to seek money in lieu of taxes from military entities in Worcester , including recruiting offices and bases. The money would then go to the City's Veterans Affairs Offices for services to veterans in need This would relieve the burden on the taxpayers of Worcester whose taxes now fund that office.

The second part of the petition is to have the City Council go on record in favor of an immediate end to hostilities in Iraq as a means to reduce the wounded veterans and the tax burden on the City.

The petition is on the agenda for April 29, 2008. If you know a City Councillor please call hom or her to allow Worcester PeaceWorks to speak on the petition and to vote in favor of it. Also if you could come to the Tues. April 29, 2008 , 7PM. meeting it would add strength to the petition.

This petition could open up a new discussion about how war adversely affects the economy, how the military is given no tax status, how the wounded and sick are not taken care of by the military. The recruiters should pay forward for the harm that they do to all of us.

I bet this will be super-helpful. Link

Interview with WPI professor John Sanbonmatsu about "Animal Liberation, Critical Theory, and the Left." Via VegWorcester.

All the info is here.

*WHAT*: Fossil Fools Rally! A rally and street theater that will target Bank of America's investment in the coal industry.

Clark Sustainability Initiative (CSI) will be creating a boxing ring for the fight of the 21st century! Come watch as the Billionaires and their court of fossil fools coach and cheer for Coal, trying to keep this dirty energy source in the game with their funding and power. On the other side, Students and other community activists will be rallying their clean energy behind The Wind Turbine.

*WHEN*: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 1pm- 2pm. Or meet at Clark in Red Square to walk downtown at noon.

*WHERE*: Worcester Common across from the Bank of America at 100 Front St. Worcester, MA

*WHO*: Everyone! Come tell Bank of America that they need to stop investing in coal and start investing for a clean energy future! Be a part of the action of the boxing match (it's interactive!) and come to rally around the cause!

*WHY*: The rally is part of actions across the globe to insist that the fossil fuel industry stop fooling with our lives by continuing to contribute to climate change.

Globally, coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which makes coal the leading cause of global climate change. Bank of America is one of the largest investors in the coal industry. In 2005, Bank of America helped finance $525 million for Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), which operates 27 surface mines throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Bank of America, has pledged to invest in cleaner businesses and practices. In reality, the pledge only commits less than two percent of the company's $1.2 trillion assets to fighting global warming. Furthermore, this money will be spread out over the next ten years.

Bank of America also funds companies that practice mountaintop removal, a highly destructive method of coal mining that is responsible for the loss of millions of acres of Appalachian forests, the destruction of over 450 mountains, and the displacement of many communities in southern Appalachia.

Clark Sustainability Initiative, a student organization from Clark University, is a driving force towards furthering environmental sustainability at Clark University and defeating global climate change in the broader society.

For more information about the actions, check out: www.fossilfoolsday.org/

For more information about Bank of America's funding of coal, go to: www.dirtymoney.org

by Mike Benedetti, Eileen Botti, Rachel Hamilton, Artur Janc, Cody Rank, Jaclyn Marie Kateri Snow Sargent, Allison Vasallo, and Drew Wilson

We challenge every self-proclaimed vegetarian and vegan in the city to hand out one (1) booklet about factory farming to a college student this semester.

Last semester, along with our friends, we handed out more than 1,000 booklets about the cruelties of modern animal agriculture to local students. It was time well-spent, both because of the many positive comments we received and because if only 1% of those students make a change in diet, thousands of animals will be spared needless suffering.

On one of our last days leafleting in 2007, a local vegan came to join us when we had only a single booklet left. We were surprised at what a positive experience it was to get a new person involved even in such a small way.

We'd like to see this positivity repeated hundreds of times in Spring 2008. If you'd like to leaflet with "Team Worcester," or just pick up a free Vegan Outreach booklet to hand out on your own, please contact us: info@vegworcester.com or 305-393-3250.

We wish you a happy and cruelty-free Spring!

Clive McFarlane has the story in the T&G.

Well, a $100 fine each for defacing public property and up to a $500 fine and five months in jail for disturbing the peace could have happened had the students taken their case to trial and lost.

So they put their youthful idealism aside and copped a plea — a three-month unsupervised, pretrial probation without any admission of wrongdoing.

If they pay their $21 per month probation fee and stay out of trouble, the case will go away.

Woah! There's a new vegan Chinese restaurant opening in Worcester! Buddha Hut has great food, a quaint atmosphere, it's inexpensive, and it's in a pretty good location. Definitely worth a visit!

Buddha Hut
415 Chandler Street
phone: 508-459-0367

Monday-Thursday: 11am - 9pm
Friday-Saturday: 11am-10pm
Closed Sundays

My Review

With vegetarian mock-meat entrées like kung pao chicken, sesame beef, and heavenly chicken, even the most meat-loving among us will be able find something they like. Add some fried chicken drumsticks, spring rolls or wonton soup as an appetizer and you've got yourself a solid meal. This all-vegetarian restaurant is a nice place to grab a quick lunch or sit down with the family for a nice dinner.

Entrées are reasonably priced at around $7 or $8, but with appetizers and drinks your meal will likely come out closer to $10. If you're really pinching pennies, try their lunch specials. The portions are the same size, but only costs 5 bucks. Each lunch special comes with rice, a spring roll and a fried wonton. Hard to beat for 5 bucks!In addition to the deep-fried goodness of their mock-meat dishes, they also have a good selection of fancy-pants fruit smoothies. I was impressed by the strawberry and coconut milk smoothie. It made for a nice desert.

The people behind Buddha Hut are the same folks who created Quan Yin, one of Central Mass' top veg restaurants. Quan Yin is located at 56 Hamilton St in Worcester and has a similar menu, but slightly cheaper prices and a different atmosphere. Buddha Hut is larger and more geared towards formal dining than Quan Yin. Despite the similarities, the two restaurants don't see each other as competitors. I'm certainly of the opinion that there is room enough for both places here in the heart of Massachusetts.

Give it a try! The grand opening is on March 31. You'll get 10% off your order and you'll even get some free pound cake to boot! The place will be open everyday until then, but they're still working out some kinks. When I went on Friday, they were processing credit cards by hand and they're still figuring out how to efficiently accommodate big parties (8+). Anyway, hope to see you at the grand opening!

Join the grand opening event on facebook.