Progressive Calendar 08.26.05 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001![]() |
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Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 15:15:13 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 08.26.05 1. Dickinson meet/greet 8.26 5:30pm 2. CUAPB garage sale 8.27 9am 3. Picnic for Peace 8.27 12noon 4. Family stories/950AM 8.27 1pm 5. Student walkout plan 8.27 2pm 6. A-bomb/peace garden 8.27 6pm 7. This black soil/film 8.27 7pm 8. GenderBlurr 8.27 8pm 9. Stone Arch arts 8.27 10. Lee Stustar - High stakes for all unions: showdown at Northwest 11. Lucinda Marshall - How not to mention the war: the Dem unraveling 12. Ralph Nader - Make the Iraq war personal: ring dem bells 13. ed - Ring dem bells --------1 of 13-------- From: David Shove <shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu> Subject: Dickinson meet/greet 8.26 5:30pm Meet & Greet in St. Anthony Park Friday August 26 5:30-7:30pm Home of Bob Winston and Dottie Uhlman, 2225 Hillside Avenue, St. Paul --------2 of 13-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net> Subject: CUAPB garage sale 8.27 9am CUAPB Garage Sale Saturday August 27 9am to dusk Walker Church, 3104 16th Ave S, Minneapolis Start putting aside all those items that are taking up space and that you keep meaning to get rid of. We'll take clothes, furniture, toys, computer equipment and electronics (please make sure they work), tools, books, records, CDs--just about anything. Call our hotline at 612-874-7867 to arrange a pick up or just bring your items on the day of the event. Be sure to stop by that day for some wonderful bargains and help our worthwhile cause. [junk for justice -ed] --------3 of 13-------- From: alan dale <ajdale98 [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Picnic for Peace 8.27 12noon Picnic for Peace SATURDAY AUGUST 27 Noon to 3pm Picnic Area #2, Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis The picnic area is located on Godfrey Road, east of Minnehaha and Hiawatha Aves. Paid parking lots are close by. Come enjoy a picnic for peace and build support for the Sept 24 National March on Washington against the war in Iraq. Donations of $5-25 accepted to help subsidize bus seats for students and others going to Washington. No one turned away. Get on a plane, get in a car, get on a train! Get on the bus! But get to Washington on Sept. 24! For information about buses leaving from Minneapolis/St. Paul contact: Anti-War Committee: 612-379-3899 or Women Against Military Madness: 612-827-5364 Picnic for Peace sponsored by: Iraq Peace Action Coalition --------4 of 13-------- From: Larry Johnson <elent7 [at] comcast.net> Subject: Family stories/950AM 8.27 1pm Tune in to TOP STORY at 1pm August 27 on AM950 Air America Minnesota. We're live with THE FAMILY STORYTELLING CENTER. Elaine will tell her story of being 13 and meeting Coya Knutson, first woman from Minnesota to go to Congress. We will tell some State Fair tales dating back to a time when All the Milk You Can Drink was a dime. We expect call-in stories from the Bailey children of Unity Christ Church in Golden Valley. Both of them published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press/Minnesota Children's Museum writing contest; and you might hear how we just worked with all the children at Unity to create a video animation of the "Lion Lay Down With the Lamb" Quaker painting of the Peaceable Kingdom. You will hear some of the stories of COUSIN CAMP and how eight grandchildren came from far and wide to spend a week telling stories, making video, camping, hiking, and more with the grandparents. We expect you will run out screaming about telling and collecting your own family stories before its over. So mark it down, 1 p.m. Saturday, August 27, on AM950 Air America Minnesota. Check the station out at www.AirAmericaMinnesota.com You'll be glad you did. We'd also love to come to your group and help you with the importance of collecting and telling family stories. We've been working with it professionally as well as in the family for over 30 years. When it comes to storytelling, the family is where its at. If the family is together, the world has more chance to do the same. Larry Johnson and Elaine Wynne KEY OF SEE STORYTELLERS 1-866-893-2637 (toll-free) 612-747-3904 (Larry's cell) 763-639-3838 (Elaine's cell) --------5 of 13-------- From: PRO826 [at] aol.com From: tytymo [at] gmail.com YAWR Subject: Student walkout plann 8.27 2pm STUDENT WALKOUT PLANNING MEETING Saturday, August 27 2-5pm Walker Community United Methodist Church 3104 16th Ave S (one block from Lake St. and Bloomington Ave.) Minneapolis, MN 55407 Youth Against War and Racism, a growing network of Twin Cities high school activists, is calling for metro-wide student walkouts on November 2, the anniversary of Bush's re-election, to protest the war on Iraq and military recruitment in our schools. YAWR chapters across the country and other groups are also building for walkouts and protests on November 2. To make this walkout a success, young people need to get organized NOW, before classes start. This meeting is for anyone interested in building for the walkout at their school or starting a new chapter of YAWR. Be there and drag your friends with you! For more information: against.war [at] gmail.com 612-760-1980 www.yawr.org --------6 of 13-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: A-bomb/peace garden 8.27 6pm Saturday, 8/27, 6 pm, A-bomb survivor Sachiko Yasui and others from Nagasaki will visit Lyndale Park Peace Garden, Lake Harriet, Mpls. All welcome. --------7 of 13-------- From: Carrie Anne Johnson <v0teyourheart [at] yahoo.com> From: teresa k <tontheroad [at] yahoo.com> Subject: This black soil/film 8.27 7pm Below is a press release for my film "this black soil." This is a fundraiser to help me go to New Zealand for a film fest in mid-september where this film will be screened. please forward this to people you know. any contributions graciously accepted!!! -thanks teresa this black soil: a story of resistance and rebirth (and other goodies) documentary screening and discussion with filmmaker Teresa Konechne This fundraiser is to help the filmmaker attend some great film festivals. in the coming weeks, this black soil will show in Honolulu, Aukland, New Zealand, Toronto, Chicago and Hot Spring, AK. Help her go to New Zealand to represent her film. Saturday August 27, 7pm Center for Independent Artists El Colegio 4137 Bloomington Avenue South, Minneapolis 612.724.8392 www.c4ia.org CONTACT: Teresa Konechne 612.871.2576 This video documentary chronicles the inspiring struggle of Bayview, Virginia, a small and severely impoverished rural African-American community. Catalyzed by defeating the state's plans to build a prison in their backyard, the powerful women leaders and residents created the Bayview Citizens for Social Justice (BCSJ) non-profit organization, have secured $10 million, purchased the prison site land and are building a new community from the ground up. Against formidable odds -- which at times included state and county governments, the funding process, and themselves -- the community developed and now manages a complex and innovative development project. "This is the story of people who help themselves and destroy the myth that being poor means ignorance, apathy or surrender." -- Cleveland International Film Festival "Their success is a model for grassroots organizing, but it also speaks to the importance of local governance. This video documentary...allows Bayview's story to unfold through the words of the people--mostly women--who led the struggle. This sort of human triumph makes for an inspiring experience, but Konechne ensures that her doc also provides the tools for others who wish to follow in the footsteps of Bayview's activists." Caroline Palmer - City Pages Bayview's story has been featured in national and international media including: CBS - 60 Minutes, the New York Times, Washington Post, People magazine, and the BBC. Teresa Konechne, now living in the Twin Cities, began this project in 1999 with her video art students at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is distributed by Bullfrog Films. --------8 of 13-------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: GenderBlurr 8.27 8pm Sat Aug 27:genderBLUR cabaret Patrick's Cabaret - 3010 Minnehaha Ave S (at E Lake St)-Minneapolis Spoken word! Video! Music! Drag! Martial arts! And more! Featuring: Ellen Marie Hinchcliffe, Blythe Anderson, Venus, Cocoa Puff & Spicarela, Hattie, Kim Thompson, Crystal Brinkman, & Ariel Cafarelli Hosted by Micol Alexandra Cafarelli of the Psycick Slutz. Doors open at 7:30pm; show starts at 8pm. $0-$10 suggested donation, with no one turned away due to lack of funds. As always, everyone welcome! genderBLUR Providing social events for the trans, genderqueer and allied communities. genderBLUR is: All-ages, alcohol-free, smoke-free No-Scent Policy: so that everyone can be comfortable, please don't wear perfume or other scented products! Wheelchair accessible, with accessible parking lot. On bus routes 21 and 7. This event is made possible in part by a grant from PFund (http://www.philanthrofund.org). To Be More Involved: Volunteer! genderBLUR needs volunteers to help at our events. Come to a meeting to become a volunteer, or call 612-823-1152 or send an email to genderBLUR [at] genderBLUR.org Join the Collective! Attend one of our open meetings, held every Monday at 6:30pm at the Riverview Cafe, 3753 42nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, to find out more. --------9 of 13-------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Stone Arch arts 8.27 Please mark your calendars for an incredible weekend event - starting sunrise August 27 and ruunning for 24 hours at the Stone Arch Bridge! More than 100 performers will be there - check out the miraculous facts at www.localstrategy.org! WHAT IS LANDMARK: 24 HOURS @ THE STONE ARCH BRIDGE An endless line of dancers moves across the bridge, repeating sturdy, elegant chorography. A boat travels through the locks of St. Anthony with 12 brass musicians playing their horns. Lines of poetic text appear and disappear on the banks of the river. And YOU are in the middle... At sunrise on Saturday, August 27, an interconnected system of performances and installations will emerge from the landscape of the Stone Arch Bridge/St. Anthony Falls area, and stay in continuous motion until sunrise on Sunday, August 28. The events are inspired by the history, geology and natural wonder that are embedded and alive in this site. Throughout the day, images will appear and disappear. Some will feel enormous and occur over a number of hours; others will be smaller and appear and disappear in the course of five minutes.[IMAGE] LANDMARK is designed to be moved through, engaged with and discovered over the course of 5 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours, or 24 hours. Please come and go, or come and STAY, for as long as you like. The longer you stay the deeper into the site you'll go --------10 of 13------- High Stakes for All Unions Showdown at Northwest By LEE SUSTAR CounterPunch August 26, 2005 Will organized labor stand by as Northwest Airlines--backed by Wall Street and the White House--tries to destroy the striking mechanics union? The walkout by 4,400 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) August 20 has posed that question point-blank. But unions in both factions of the split at this summer's AFL-CIO convention in Chicago have scores to settle with AMFA and have refused to offer support. The International Association of Machinists (IAM), loyal to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, has not only instructed its members to cross AMFA's picket lines, but do some of their work. Having lost several representation elections to AMFA, most recently at United Airlines, IAM President Thomas Buffenbarger is more interested in wrecking AMFA than holding the line on Northwest's and other airlines' demands for concessions. The Airline Pilots Association, which struck Northwest in 1998, is flying planes maintained by scab mechanics. For its part, the AFL-CIO is repaying Buffenbarger for his support by providing justifications for this strikebreaking. Before the strike, the federation's organizing director, Stewart Acuff, denounced AMFA as a "renegade, raiding organization," adding that AMFA is "not in the house of labor." The IAM has made similar arguments, accusing AMFA members of having an elitist attitude toward less-skilled ramp workers. But while AMFA's go-it-alone craft unionism marks a retreat from the solidarity of industrial unionism, IAM officials have no one to blame but themselves for mechanics' decision to abandon their union, which has presided over one disaster after another. It was this same charge of "elitism," after all, that the AFL-CIO used to withhold support from striking air traffic controllers in the PATCO union in 1981. They were abandoned as President Ronald Reagan fired 10,500 strikers and destroyed their union. Since then, U.S. union leaders have solemnly vowed never to allow such a thing to happen again. Except, apparently, where AMFA is involved. George W. Bush, who promised early in his first term to ban airline strikes, has given the green light to this one following extensive briefings from Northwest lobbyists. This constitutes the most direct White House intervention in a labor battle since Bush invoked the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act during the lockout of West Coast dockworkers in 2002. Airline security, supposedly a paramount concern in the post-September 11 era, is a much lower priority for the administration than crushing a strike. Meanwhile, Wall Street was "rooting" for AMFA to go on strike, as the New York Times put it. The way the big financial houses see it, Northwest management's strategy of running scabs, prepared over an 18-month period, is a no-lose proposition. Northwest has already cut the number of AMFA jobs in half since 1998. When the strike began, the company announced that 865 AMFA members who clean airplanes will be permanently replaced, and has hinted that it may soon do the same to mechanics. If management prevails, other airlines will demand similar cuts or provoke strikes, drawing on a pool of unemployed mechanics created by years of layoffs and outsourcing to low-wage, nonunion maintenance shops. Even if the strike drives Northwest into bankruptcy, there's a silver lining for the industry. A bankruptcy court judge would no doubt push concessions--as has happened both at US Airways and United, driving industry labor costs still lower. If Northwest or another airline ends up out of business, overcapacity in the industry would be reduced, and profits for the survivors would improve. In short, the AMFA strike, while involving a relatively small number of workers, will have a far-reaching impact on the airline industry. It highlights the fact that airline unions--AMFA included--haven't avoided an all-out battle by accepting concessions, but merely postponed it until the employers decided that the time was right. If AMFA goes down to defeat, a similar onslaught awaits other unions in the airlines and far beyond. This might seem an ideal moment for leaders of the breakaway Change to Win union coalition to grab the spotlight from the AFL-CIO by making good on their tough talk and championing AMFA's cause. Instead: silence. That's because Teamsters President James Hoffa saw his union replaced with AMFA by Southwest Airlines mechanics in 2002, and he's no more eager than Buffenbarger to see AMFA score a victory. (The Teamsters were also ousted as representatives of Northwest's flight attendants in 2002, replaced by the independent Professional Flight Attendants Association, or PFFA, which is also crossing AMFA's picket lines). Besides rivalry, there's another factor in AMFA's isolation: Its willingness to strike when leaders of other airline unions only bluff and bluster about fighting back, even as jobs are slashed, pensions wiped out, and wages and benefits cut. In the calculation of union leaders like Buffenbarger, it's better to accept concessions to try to preserve "partnership" with management rather than risk a strike that could lead to the collapse of one or another airline. A coordinated strategy to fight concessions and protect jobs--between unions and across the industry--is inconceivable to such officials. They wouldn't dream of replicating the kind of solidarity action seen recently at British Airways in the U.K., where picket lines by a small group of workers at a food service contractor shut down the entire airline. That example could be followed in the U.S.--legally. That's because transportation is the one private-sector industry in the U.S. where such secondary boycotts are legal, since the industry is governed by the Railway Labor Act, rather than the Taft-Hartley law. Pickets could legally be spread to shut down operations throughout the airline industry. But instead of official labor solidarity, there is scabbing--ordered by top union officials. Fortunately, the response is better on the picket lines themselves. Mechanics from other unions and labor activists have turned out to support AMFA in several airports across the U.S. Strike support committees are being set up in the Northwest hub cities of Detroit and Minneapolis, as well as in San Francisco. Rank-and-file union members and labor activists have a sense of the high stakes in this fight, and they're working to build the solidarity that's needed to win. Lee Sustar is a regular contributor to CounterPunch and the Socialist Worker. He can be reached at: lsustar [at] ameritech.net --------11 of 13-------- How Not to Mention the War The Democratic Unraveling By LUCINDA MARSHALL CounterPunch August 25, 2005 Democratic Senators Nancy Pelosi and Hilary Clinton recently sent out a fundraising letter. An acquaintance of mine who received the letter tells me that it also included a questionnaire asking him which issues were on his mind. But there was something very strange about the questionnaire. It seems that in the list of issues you could check off, they forgot to include anything about Iraq. My friend was rather peeved about that because as it turns out, he is mighty concerned about Iraq. But perhaps the omission isn't so strange after all. Indeed, as the Washington Post points out, the Democratic leadership seems to be of the opinion that the crucial issue is how best to achieve success in Iraq. Given that, it is unlikely they want folks telling them they're concerned that the 'war on terror' is going badly. Maybe it's just me but...how exactly are they defining success? We aren't going to find any weapons of mass destruction. We've already deposed Saddam. We insisted that they hold an election, which we deemed a success, never mind the irregularities, that happens a lot here in the good ol' U.S. of A. too, no big deal. Not only that, but the Iraqis are just inches away from putting the finishing touches on a brand spanking new Constitution. It's most notable feature is that it is likely to give much more strength to Islamic law, effectually taking away many of the rights that Iraqi women previously enjoyed. Not to worry, in a recent interview with David Gregory on Meet The Press, Reuel Marc Gerecht, the Director of the Middle East Initiative for the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) tells us Gilda Radner-style to never mind all that hoopla about women's rights before the war, "Women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy." * Sounds pretty darned successful to me. Unless of course you mind daily car-bombings, the continued deaths of U.S. military personnel (and a whole lot of Iraqis), our continued lack of progress in rebuilding what we knocked down (despite billions of funds allocated for the purpose), or the lack of reliable electricity and potable water throughout Iraq. I know, picky, picky. At a time when most Americans are beginning to wonder, "Where's the exit?", the Dems seem hell-bent on trying out for the dance band on the Titanic. Little wonder that their approval rating is even lower than the President's rating. A June Washington Post/NBC poll showed that just 42 % of Americans approved of the Congressional Democrats' performance. David Sirota gives some excellent insights into the head-in-sand thinking that seems to be prevailing among the Democratic leadership. According to Sirota, the party line of the day seems to be keep mum about Iraq, and if pressed, bad-mouth the war critics and call them un-American. However, as Sirota astutely points out, there is nothing un-American about wanting to bring the troops home, "Frankly, it's the other way around: there is something "anti-American soldier" about wanting to indefinitely leave our troops in a shooting gallery without an exit strategy, without proper body armor and without any semblance of a plan." Out here in the hinterland, Sirota's assessment appears to be right on target. Over at the Kentucky State Fair, the Democratic faithful are busy drumming up support for the troops, offering those who visit the party booth a chance to write a message to send to the troops in a ploy clearly designed to show that the Donkeys are just as patriotic as the Elephants because by golly, they support the troops too. Apparently the DNC party leadership hasn't seen the recent polls that indicate that most Americans no longer support this war. We know we've been lied to and we want accountability. Above all, we are tired of seeing our loved ones come home in body bags for reasons that keep shifting. The Dems delusion that the name of the game is to convince voters that they can do a better job of winning the war is insupportable. This isn't a 'winnable' war and it is well past time to acknowledge that the Empire is butt-naked. What Americans want is a plan to end this deadly misuse of our military might. *It really needs to be asked why David Gregory, who was subbing for Tim Russert, did not see fit to question this statement, which while no doubt far more likely an accurate reflection of Bush Administration thinking than the pre-war propaganda, clearly contradicts the official White House position. Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network. --------12 of 13-------- American Detachment It's Time to Make the Iraq War Personal By RALPH NADER CounterPunch August 25, 2005 "President Bush has successfully avoided making the war in Iraq personal. Americans are denied photos of the returning caskets, the injured enter Walter Reed Medical Center in the dark of night so no one can see, the president attends no funerals but only appears in front of select audiences who are chosen to cheer him on. This summer that began to change with Cindy Sheehan her encampment during the president's vacation began to personalize the impact of the war. Now, joined by other mothers and fathers more faces come before Americans of families affected by the war. "In the article below, Ralph Nader suggests another way to keep the 'Texas heat' on the president when he returns to work after his greater than one-month vacation churches and other religious institutions should chime a bell each day for each of the fallen soldiers and add one for the Iraqi casualties. This will result in Americans realizing that every day there is death because of the U.S. occupation. The President avoided meeting with Cindy Sheehan so far but with the tolling of bells a growing chorus throughout the nation will begin to ask: "What is the noble cause for which all of these people are dying?" We know it is not weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. We know it is not any threat of a 'mushroom cloud' over the United States. Is it an Islamic Republic that puts religion ahead of the rights of women, free speech and an independent media? Is it the division of Iraq into three regions with the Sunni region so impoverished that is becomes a source for destabilization of the Middle East and world? Please Mr. President tell us the truth about your war." --Kevin Zeese While George W. Bush keeps saying that the United States is at war, for most of the United States, apart from the soldiers and military families, the people seem detached from the daily devastation in Iraq. Reporters and anti-war activists have made this observation repeatedly over the past months. To be sure, the polls are showing a growing majority opposed to the war believe it was a costly mistake to invade Iraq, and 61% disapprove of how Bush is handling "the situation in Iraq." Yet most people find their daily lives at work and play untouched by any unusual sacrifices or inconveniences that go with being at war. There is no draft to roil through the population those anxieties that tie more people to the feeling of war. No products are being rationed or restricted because of the conflict. The grown children of the corporate oligarchs and the political rulers are not sweating it out in the Sunni Triangle, thereby lending more media notice and gravity to the fighting in Iraq. No extra taxes are being imposed to pay nearly $2 billion a week that the war is costing Americans. Rather, the reverse is the case. Mr. Bush, unlike all previous "wartime" Presidents, has cut the taxes on the wealthy twice, including himself, Cheney and Rumsfeld, and is financing the war on the backs of children who will have to pay off this huge debt later. Granted, there are economic impacts, such as reductions in funding for many health, safety and economic necessities of those Americans in dire need, but they are not attributed to the war. Cuts in housing assistance are not accompanied by the message to poor tenants saying - "sorry, nation at war." Still the times may be changing on this score. The galvanizing effect of the fallen Casey Sheehan's mother Cindy down in Crawford, Texas has been a rallying point which is spreading around the country. Cindy Sheehan has made her grief a personal appeal to see the President, thus sweeping aside his flacks, handlers and PR buffers and leaving him exposed to judgments of his character day after day. Mother Cindy has personalized this automated war and its scripted Presidential promoter who lowballs U.S. casualties and prevents families and reporters from going to Dover, Delaware, where the deceased are returned from Iraq. It is the nature of civic movements that sparks tend to make what is simmering erupt. For the civil rights drive, it was Rosa Parks' refusal to go to the rear of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Cindy Sheehan is performing this role of arousing people, if not to act, at least to start conversing and arguing about the war-occupation - its purpose, its impact on our country and how to end it. We need additional sparks so that, in the words of one military mother, "the architects of this war, who have no children at risk, start listening to those families who do." There are hundreds of pastors who are opposed to this violent quagmire in which our country has been plunged. Every morning their churches could toll their bells for each U.S. soldier lost the previous day one bell for each ultimate sacrifice. And one long bell for the Iraqis who lost their lives that day. On Sunday, the bells could be rung at the same time everywhere in the memory of the weeks' total casualties. The National Council of Churches, outspoken before the war with compassionate prescience, can lead this effort with rapid effectiveness. These bells of sorrow and reminder will get millions of Americans thinking and talking with one another where it counts - in communities North, South, East and West. People would transcend the bromides and slogans that the Bush people trumpet daily over the television and radio and give themselves a daily opportunity to ask and contemplate the fundamental question - for whom does the bell toll? Asking this question puts our society on the road to finding the answers, as if people matter here and in Iraq first and foremost. Ralph Nader is a former presidential candidate. You can comment on this by visiting his blog on www.DemocracyRising.US. --------13 of 13-------- Ring Dem Bells, wrote Duke Ellington. At last chime time is prime! Ring Dem Bells! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments
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