Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 09.24.05

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E    C A L E N D A R   09.24.05

1. CEP/think/wine     9.24 8am
2. Community solar    9.24 8:30am
3. GP workshops       9.24 10am
4. NWA strike         9.24 10am
5. Fair trade         9.24 10am
6. Veteran's event    9.24 10am
7. Shallow footprints 9.24 11am New Ulm MN
8. Latino festival    9.24 12noon
9. DC rally/AM950     9.24 1pm
10. Big peace rally   9.24 2pm
11. Peace vigil       9.24 2pm Belle Plaine MN
12. Peace rally       9.24 2pm Brainerd MN
13. Energy/suburbs    9.24 2pm
14. Counter recruit   9.24 4pm
15. Colombian culture 9.24 6pm
16. Ritz theater      9.24 7pm
17. Argentina/play    9.24 8pm
18. Beer not bombs    9.24 9pm

19. Steven Thomma  - Top Democrats won't attend anti-war rally in DC
20. Farheen Hakeem - RT sucks less
21. David Price    - Hurricane Katrina and Davis-Bacon profiteering
22. Robert Sandels - Fighting international populism
23. Reddy B Esser  - Democratic Party dies; funeral scheduled

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From: info [at] economicprogress.net
Subject: CEP/think/wine 9.24 8am

The Center for Economic Progress, a nonprofit action "think tank"
dedicated to changing the way society thinks and talks about women's
economic worth and potential, is proud to announce this upcoming
event.

The Center for Economic Progress is hosting a Fundraising Event at the
beautiful, Alexis Bailly Vineyard on Saturday, September 24th.
Participants will pick grapes, enjoy a delicious meal and wine, and
support the work of CEP and a woman-owned business!  The day starts at
8:00 AM and runs until 4:00 PM with lunch served around noon. Your $25.00
contribution includes meal with wine and is 100% tax-deductible.

Full directions to this vineyard, located in Hastings, MN, available at:
http://www.abvwines.com/index.  This is once in a lifetime chance to help
prepare a season's worth of wine and meet some wonderful people! RSVP NOW
by accessing CEP's website: www.economicprogress.net; emailing the office
at info [at] economicprogress.net or calling us at (651) 293-1222

Kristina Shaw Executive Assistant Center for Economic Progress (651) 293 -
1222 www.economicprogress.net


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From: CarolGwood [at] aol.com
Subject: Community solar 9.24 8:30am

Community Solar Project Planning Workshop September 24, 2005 (Sat.), 8:30
am - 4:30 pm, Dodge Nature Center - West St. Paul This is a free,
inspiring and practical workshop about developing a community solar energy
project. At a time of soaring oil prices and broken communities, this
workshop will empower you to change your community, build relationships,
acquire resources, and apply solar energy technology to your school,
organization, religious institution, or business.

Hear inspiring stories of successful Community Solar projects; learn from
experts on financing, incentives, community organizing, and solar
technology; and work with a facilitator to start developing a plan for
your community. Whether you have a new idea or have started the process,
this workshop is for you. If possible, it is suggested that multiple
people attend from the same organization.

Thanks to Solar Minnesota members, the U.S. Department of Energy: Million
Solar Roofs Initiative, and the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society this
workshop on September 24th is free to participants!

Please see the flyer at
http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us/next/CommunitySolarDayFlyer.pdf and
contact Michelle Gransee-Bowman, coordinator at 612/308-4757 or
gransee_bowman [at] frontiernet.net <mailto:gransee_bowman [at] frontiernet.net>  to
register. Spaces are limited; register today!


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From: Wyn Douglas <wyn_douglas [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: GP workshops 9.24 10am

THREE GREEN PARTY OF MN WORKSHOPS (9/24)

10am to 11: Organizing As If We Mean It The time is ripe for good
organizing. Find out what's needed to help strengthen the Green Party of
MN.

11:15am to 12:15pm: Speaking As If We Mean It This workshop will help
continue to find our true voices for justice through physical, mental and
visceral channels.

12:30pm to1:30: Meeting Preparation, Facilitation and Consensus

Learn the ins and outs of moving the GP agenda and energizing our base.
Preparing for a meeting, facilitating a meeting and using consensus
processes will all be covered

LOCATION: The Green Party of MN office: 621 Lake St. W. #205, Minneapolis,
MN 55408. 612/871-4585

We have limited space so please contact Ken if you can make any or all of
the times.  kenpentel [at] yahoo.com, 612/387-0601


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From: Solidarity Committee <nwasolidaritymsp [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: NWA strike 9.24 10am

Just a brief reminder of two upcoming Solidarity Commttee events.  First
of all, this Saturday morning is our regular weekly planning meeting.
Anyone interested in joining the effort to support Northwest workers and
the strike is invited to attend.  Details are as follows:

WHERE: 8101 34th Avenue South in Bloomington.  Exit I-494 at 34th Avenue.
Proceed South (away from the airport).  Turn left at Appletree St.  Cross
the lightrail tracks.  Make a right into the first parking lot.  Enter the
building through the doors on the parking lot side, and follow the signs
to the meeting area.  Transit riders may ride the Hiawatha Light Rail line
and exit the train at Bloomington Central, or ride the number 54 bus.
Visit www.metrotransit.com for more information.

Saturday September 24, 10am

Discussion will include but not be limited to:
-Next major public event and direct action to support the strikers
-September 30th fundraiser
-October 5th Anne Feeney concert


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From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Fair trade 9.24 10am

September 24 - Saturday Morning Coffee Hours: Birds, Coffee and Fair
Trade. 10-11:30am.  Cost: $4 ($3 for members).

Keith Olstad will show slides of previous birding trips to Nicaragua, and
discuss the interconnected issues of ecology and fair trade, as well as
answering any questions about the upcoming Center for Global
Education/Project MN-Leon/RCTA trip to Nicaragua in March 2006.

Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis


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From: Guy Gambill <gambillgt1 [at] YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Veteran's event 9.24 10am

I would like to present more detailed information on the Veteran's Event
that will be held on September 24, 2005 at the Minnesota Veteran's Home
located at 5101 Minnehaha Avenue South, Minneapolis (right behind
Minnehaha Park) from 10:00-12:00.

Organizations that have participated in the planning of this event are
as follows; HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development), MHFA
(Minnesota Housing Finance Agency), the Barbara Schneider Foundation, The
Department of Veteran's Affairs, VAMC staff members, Veteran's Outreach
and Veteran's Health Outreach, the Minnesota Veteran's Home, CABoH
(Hennepin County and City of Minneapolis Community Advisory Board on
Homelessness, MACV (Minnesota Assistance Council on Veterans, MCH
(Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless), the Governor's Office to End
Long-Term Homelessness, and the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness.

   Speakers will include;

 1). MN Senator Jane Ranum
 2). Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman
 3). Commissioner of Veteran's Affairs Clark Dyrud
 4). Laura Kadwell, Gov. Pawlenty's Director to End Long-Term Homelessness
 5). HUD Field Operations Director Dexter Sidney
 6). Major Cynthia Rasmussen (88th Surgeon, Regional coordinator Combat
      Stress Team)
 7). Kathleen Vitalis of MACV
 8). Reggie Worlds (DVA-Legion Outreach & Benefits)
 9). City Council Member Paul Zerby
 10. Jo Weable (VAMC-Veteran's Health Outreach)
 11).Dr. Paula Phillips (MVH Interagency Task Force).
 12).Guy Gambill (CABoH, US Army veteran)

**We have also asked 2 US Senators and 2 US Reps to speak and are waiting
for confirmations.

The format of the event will be that two panels 6 legislators on one
panel and 6 veterans and vets service providers, be seated upon the stage
in the main auditorium. The Providers will track a veteran in trouble
through the veteran's service system, from Outreach to supportive services
and follow-up.

Mike Siebenaler (VAMC Congressional Liaison) will moderate. The 6
Legislators will then review past, current and possible future legislative
measures relating to veterans.

At the end of the 90 minute session, informational tables will be set
up outside the main auditorium in the concourse outside the chapel and
service and community providers can answer questions and exchange
information with eachother and members of the community.

Veterans from Korea, Vietnam, and the Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
will be represented on the panels. One of the main concerns will be
whether we have enough services to meet the men and women who have already
returned and those yet to return from the Middle East. We also intend on
dealing with the situations of Veterans who fought in other conflicts.

We sincerely hope that the members of our community will come out in
support of this event.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like further details.
Guy T. Gambill


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From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Shallow footprints 9.24 11am New Ulm MN

September 24 - Shallow Footprints Fair. 11am-4pm

Experience a remarkable new environmental learning center in Southern
Minnesota. Learn to leave shallow footprints on our planet with free
activities, prizes, and exhibits for the whole family!

Featuring:
-9 Hole Minature Golf
-Arts and Crafts Projects
-Educational Games
-Ron Bolduan - nature photographer
-Butterfly Garden Clinic
-Bicycle Rental

Exhibits By:
-Izaak Walton League
-Gustavus Adolphus Environmental Studies Program
-MN Department of Natural Resource
-National Wildlife Federation
-Population Connection
-United Nations Association of MN
-Warner Nature Ctr
-Sierra Club
-And Many More!

FFI: 507-354-PUTT (7888) / www.puttinggreen.org
Location: Putting Green Environmental Adventure Park, 20th Street South at the
Minnesota River, New Ulm, MN


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From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Latino festival 9.24 12noon

The festival includes booths from more than 100 Latino businesses and 30
nonprofits, live music, prizes and scholarship awards.  More on the event
at the link on the front page of MCTC's website http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/

The event is from noon to 6 pm at MCTC(on Loring Park) this Sat. Sept.
24th.


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From: Larry Johnson <elent7 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: DC rally/AM950 9.24 1pm

Our TOP STORY radio show is on again, Saturday, September 24, 1-2pm on
AM950 Air America Minnesota.

This time we're coming to you from the massive PEACE AND JUSTICE RALLY in
Washington D.C.  David West, storyteller and musician friend will be in
the AM950 studio with some stories of his own.  We will have just been at
the rally in D.C. and ready to go on the march when the show comes on.
We'll do part of the show from the Lincoln Memorial and part from the
Vietnam Wall, and the stories will emerge from the energy of the event.

We expect we'll tell the story of THE PRAYER FOR PROTECTION, written for
all soldiers on all sides in World War II, and we will have a D.C. guest,
Cindy Guthrie, long-time storyteller friend and spouse of an Episcopal
Priest.  Cindy now works as a librarian in D.C. and will tell a story
reflecting the faith community's concern.  Larry was a medic during
Vietnam and is now a member of Vets for Peace.  Elaine was part of Women's
Strike for Peace in the 60s.  Together they've told stories of PEACE AND
JUSTICE all over the world.  Who knows what other stories and storyteller
guests will surface from this important event.  ONLY THE SHADOW KNOWS.

Our show is paid for this month by the timely, gas-saving fuel additive we
carry in our business.  If you'd like to know how to keep more of BIG
OIL'S money in your pocket, not theirs, call Larry at 612-747-3904 or
respond to this email and ask for the flyer to be sent.

TOP STORY is a monthly production on Air America Minnesota Radio.  Get
full schedule and information at www.airamericaminnesota.com


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From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Big peace rally 9.24 2pm

MINNESOTANS SEND MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON
Bring Them Back from Iraq!
Saturday, September 24
Intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues, StPaul
2pm:  Gather for Rally, Sign Postcards, March to a Mail Box

Peace activists from across the country are traveling to Washington DC on
September 24 to protest the continuing war and occupation in Iraq. In
solidarity, hundreds of rallies will take place in cities nationwide.

The Twin Cities peace community will gather at the intersection of Summit
and Snelling Avenues in St. Paul, MN, on Saturday, September 24, 2005, at
2pm.

Featured speakers at the rally will be August Nimtz, a University of
Minnesota political science professor, renowned justice and peace
activist, and inspiring leader for social change. Also, a Gold Star Family
member will speak about her tragic loss.

As participants gather, they will sign postcards addressed to President
Bush, telling him:

It's time end the war and occupation in Iraq. Too many people have died.
There was no reason for this war. There were no weapons of mass
destruction. There was no connection between Iraq and 9-11. Iraq was no
threat to our national security. The war has made us less safe and more
vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

We would like our tax dollars to be spent on what's been neglected at
home: education, jobs, health care and domestic infrastructure. We want
our soldiers to come home and the people of Iraq to be in charge of their
own country.

After a short rally, participants will walk together to a local post box
to mail their postcards to the White House.

WAMM member Roxanne Abbas, one of the event's planners, says, "This month
the Bush administration's mismanagement lost precious lives on the Gulf
Coast and in Iraq. Their policies are dismantling our safety net at home
and fanning the flames of terrorism abroad. Who can change this dangerous
course if not us?"

"Many people in the country accepted this war at first, but they are
changing their minds", says Anne Benson, co-founder member of Merriam Park
Neighbors for Peace and another of the event's organizers. "People are fed
up, and ready to stand up for common sense and for peace. We invite
everyone - especially those who haven't protested publicly before - to
join us on September 24."

Sponsored by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Merriam Park Neighbors
for Peace and Veterans for Peace: Chapter 27. Co-sponsored by Crocus
Hill/West 7th Neighbors for Peace, Friends for a Non-Violent World, Twin
Cities Peace Campaign, Fellowship of Reconciliation, St. Thomas University
Justice and Peace Department, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Sisters of St.
Joseph Carondolet and Youth Against War and Racism.

Contact:  Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), 612-827-5364


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From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Peace vigil 9.24 2pm Belle Plaine MN

Saturday, 9/24, 2 pm, local vigil (at Veteran's Park, reading names of
fallen MN troops) and march (to Heritage Park, with John Varone and Coleen
Rowley speaking), Belle Plaine. darfarmer [at] yahoo.com


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From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Peace rally 9.24 2pm Brainerd MN

Saturday, 9/24, 2 to 4 pm, local rally for peace in Iraq, Gregory Park (just
n. of the Sawmill Inn) then march on Washington (Street), Brainerd.
leftylady_upnorth [at] yahoo.com


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From: will donovan III <vote4democracy [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Energy/suburbs 9.24 2pm

Come to a meeting to plan how we will mobilize support for Renewable
EnergyStandards (RES) in the Western Suburbs. The Steelworkers are working
with residents of the Western suburbs to support renewable energy and we'd
like your help.

We'll be meeting this Saturday, September 24, 2-3pm, Minnetonka Community
Center 14600 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka

Please help spread the word about the meeting to anyone you think might
beinterested in helping out!*For more information about the campaign, take
a look at a flyer on theeffort at:
https://www.uswa.org/uswa/program/adminlinks/docs//RES%20Newsletter.pdf

The agenda:
 1. The Renewable Energy Standards and the vision it supports.
 2. Update on ideas from last week's meeting with Betty McCollum in St.
Paul
 3. Brainstorm: How can we best get the word out about this issue?
 4. Planning for public meeting with legislators about RES5. Who will do
what by when?

Please feel free to call or e-mail Danny with any questions - (651)
260-0468or dannyschw [at] gmail.com.


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From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Counter recruit 9.24 4pm

Hello YAWR/Youth Against War & Racism folks,

The first metro-wide meeting for Youth Against War and Racism
activists/supporters will be:

Saturday, September 24
4pm
Cahoots Coffee Bar
1562 Selby Ave (by Snelling Ave), St Paul
(651) 644-6778

The meeting will be just after the Sept. 24th anti-war demonstration
(which starts at 2pm at the intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues,
St. Paul, and will finish around 3:30 just a couple blocks from Cahoots
Coffee). We'll send a seperate email with more protest details later.

Please make sure at least one student from your school can make it to this
important meeting. We will be planning how to spread the word for the
November 2nd metro-wide student walkout, how to organize against military
recruitment in your school, and how to build your YAWR group.

Also, if you are a community supporter (i.e. not a high school student)
that would like to help build YAWR and the walkout, you are also invited
to come to the meeting. Please RSVP by calling 612-760-1980.

We will send out a reminder email about this meeting with a more detailed
agenda proposal early next week, but mark your calendars now!

GETTING TO THE MEETING...

If you will need a ride to or from the meeting, that CAN be arranged.
Please call 612-760-1980 and we can make some arrangement. ALSO, if you
can GIVE a ride to someone else who needs one, please email back or give
me a call.

A number of bus lines go right by the meeting place. Go to
www.metrotransit.org, go to the "trip planner" and type in the address of
Cahoots Coffee Bar (address listed above).


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From: Rosita Balch <rbalch [at] americas.org>
Subject: Colombian culture 9.24 6pm

Building Relationships with Colombian Communities
"The Right Plan Colombia"

Colombia Support Network Minnesota Invites you to
"A night of Colombian Culture in Minnesota"
September 24
Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church
2836 33 Av S Minneapolis

"Fuego Latino"  Colombian Dances
DJ Henry El Colombiano
Colombian Meal
Ticket $10

September 24
Doors Will Open at 6pm - Meal Will Be Served at 6:30pm.
Proceeds Will Be Used To Support Two Way Delegation to Mogotes Our Sister
Community

For more information contact Rosita Balch 612-276-0788 Ext. 12

Colombia Support Network is an activist grassroots organization that works
through sister communities to help Colombians create a peaceful
participatory democracy and an economically just Colombian society. We
condemn violations of human rights by all actors involved in the conflict,
including guerrilla groups, military, paramilitary, police, multinational
corporations and foreign agents, including U.S. defense contractors. We
support and provide political space for organizations and individuals that
work for a non-violent, just political solution to the conflict in
Colombia.


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From: steve and ginny <riverannex [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Ritz theater 9.24 7pm

This is a great, community-based art project on 13th Ave NE. Thanks.
In honor of her birthday, Ginny Sutton and Eastside Food Co-op invite you
to a Ritz Foundation Celebration!

The RITZ Theater Let's turn on the lights!

Sat Sept 24,  7-11pm, 2551 Central Ave NE

We'll have refreshments, music for dancing, and video presentations of
Ballet of the Dolls' performances, as well as updates on the renovation
and photography from the Ritz Theater archives.

Come celebrate the Ritz Theater and become a part of this great community
project. Let's turn on the lights!

$20 suggested donation
Proceeds support the Ritz Theater renovation. All contributions are tax
deductible.

For further information, contact Ginny Sutton at riverannex [at] earthlink.net
or 612-788-4252. Event sponsored by Ginny Sutton and the Eastside Food
Cooperative.


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From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Argentina/play 9.24 8pm

THEATRE UNBOUND PRESENTS "FINDING VOICE"
PLAYWRITING CONTEST WINNER*
"Small Stone" chronicles Argentina's Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo*

Theatre Unbound presents a staged reading of "Small Stone" by Adina L.
Ruskin on Saturday, September 24th at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.

"Small Stone" follows three Argentine mothers whose grown children are
"disappeared" by the military dictatorship - and who discover their
strength as they come together to demand the truth about the fate of their
loved ones. Ms. Ruskin's script is the winner of Theatre Unbound's
"Finding Voice" script contest for work by women playwrights, which drew
53 entries from 20 states and Canada.

"Small Stone" will have one performance only: Saturday, September 24, 8pm.
Mixed Blood Theatre is located at 1501 South 4th Street, in the 7 Corners
neighborhood of Minneapolis. Admission is free; donations gratefully
accepted.


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From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: Beer not bombs 9.24 9pm

beer not bombs!
Party Against Bush's War
Saturday,  September 24
9pm
2521 17th Avenue S., Minneapolis
(near corner of  Cedar and 25th Avenue)

A fundraiser for the november 2 metro-wide anti-war student walkout. $2
beers (requested donation) - all funds go to the joint efforts of Youth
Against War and Racism, Sociailist Alternative, and the Anti-War
Organizing League to build for the November 2 walkout.

Walking/bus DIRECTIONS to the party from the U of M:
 * Under 30 minute walk - From West Bank head south down Cedar, past
Franklin, to 25th St, take a right, walk 3 blocks to 17th Ave...
 * OR, take #2 bus westbound from Coffman, get off on Cedar/Franklin.
Walk south on Cedar to 25th St, take a right, walk 3 blocks to 17th Ave.
 * OR take #19 bus southbound from Cedar/Riverside to 25th St, walk west
(right) 3 blocks to 17th Ave.

For directions or more info call 612-760-1980


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Top Democrats won't attend anti-war rally in Washington
BY STEVEN THOMMA
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Knight Ridder - Sep 22, 2005
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/12715225.htm

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - As the anti-war movement arrives in Washington this
weekend, many top Democrats are leaving.

Nationally known Democratic war critics, including Howard Dean, chairman
of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of
New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts,
won't attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in
Washington.

The only Democratic officeholders who plan to address the rally are Reps.
Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and John Conyers of Michigan.

Today's leading Democrats head a party divided over the war, and many
leaders are wary of standing with anti-war activists, who represent much
of the party's base. The divide between anti-war activists and Democratic
leaders underscores a challenge the party faces in the 2006 congressional
elections and beyond. Some activists say that Democrats such as Clinton
and Kerry who criticize the war but refuse to demand a timetable for
withdrawal are effectively supporting the status quo - and may not merit
future support.

En route to Washington for the rally, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan
protested outside Clinton's New York office. "She knows that the war is a
lie, but she is waiting for the right time to say it," Sheehan told about
500 cheering supporters. "You say it or you are losing your job."

Spokesmen for the Democrats who are skipping the anti-war event all said
they had schedule conflicts. But some leading anti-war activists aren't
buying it.

"There are a lot of people here who are wondering, where are the
Democrats?" said Tom Andrews, a former Democratic House member from Maine
who's now the national director of Win Without War, one of several groups
that are organizing three days of protests against the war in Washington
starting Saturday.

"The Democratic Party has an identity crisis on this issue. We need
voices. We need leadership," Andrews said. "But fear is driving them."

The rally comes at a time when a growing number of Americans want a
timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, a proposition that both
President Bush and many leading Democrats reject.

A poll this week by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 51
percent of Americans want to keep troops in Iraq until it's stabilized,
but the ranks of those who want to set a timetable to withdraw have grown
to 57 percent from 49 percent in July. (Some people chose both answers.)

At the same time, a growing number of grassroots Democrats are
dissatisfied with their party's leadership in Congress. The percentage of
Democrats who are happy with their leaders dropped from 64 percent in May
to 49 percent now, the Pew survey found.

Dean, who rallied anti-war activists with his fervent opposition to the
war during his 2003-2004 presidential campaign, already was scheduled to
spend the weekend meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, spokesman
Josh Earnest said.

"His views on the president's handling of the war in Iraq are well
documented," Earnest said. The anti-war rally, he said, is "not something
the party was involved with."

Kerry planned to be in his home state this weekend, a spokeswoman said. At
Brown University on Monday, the senator ripped Bush's conduct of the war,
saying the president should admit "countless" mistakes in the war and
proclaiming that "real leadership stands up to special interests and sets
the course for future generations."

Feingold was scheduled to be out of town, a spokesman said. Feingold is
the only national Democrat weighing a 2008 presidential campaign who's
endorsed setting a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Clinton also didn't plan to attend, a spokesman said.

"Our job is to make them pay a price for continuing to support this war,"
said Bill Dobbs, a spokesman for United for Peace and Justice, another
group that's organizing the anti-war weekend in Washington.

Sixty-six members of Congress have formed an "Out of Iraq Congressional
Caucus" that wants either immediate withdrawal or a timetable to withdraw.
None of the party's congressional leadership and none of the likely
candidates for president are members.

Anti-war organizers said they expected 100,000 people Saturday. A rival
group plans a rally Sunday in Washington to show support for the war.

© 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.


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Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 02:01:17 +0000
From: Farheen Hakeem <farheenhakeem [at] hotmail.com>

R.T. Sucks Less
By Farheen Hakeem

First, as a Green Party endorsed candidate, I would like to thank all who
supported me in my efforts to run for Mayor. Second, I am not endorsing or
supporting R.T. Rybak or Peter McLaughlin. I thought the title would keep
the "Anybody but Rybak" McLaughlin supporters quiet for a while.

I met with Peter last weekend, where he tried to convince me that I have
more in common politically with him than with R.T. So, I decided to make a
quick analysis of whether this is true. Let us take the four issues that I
focused on in my campaign.

First is sustainable economics. My vision for the city is to become
financially independent from state and county funding by creating more
revenue. This included organizing community members to start a Wind Energy
Cooperative, which would be managed by the city. This has been extremely
successful in many cities throughout the US, and makes sense given that
Minnesota is the second highest wind producing areas in the nation. Peter
stated that he has started co-ops in the past. Cooperatives, by definition,
can not be started by an individual; rather they are a creation of community
based economics made up of community members. I have never witnessed R.T.
Rybak say anything about cooperatives.

Second is a living wage. I fully support the living wage ordinance and will
continue to fight for this outside of city hall. Peter has shown up to
events where a living wage is the topic of discussion but has yet to make a
commitment. I do not know his record on the county level, which is worth
investigating. R.T. stated in his Democracy for Minnesota screening that
there was no issue with a living wage, and we have a living wage policy.

Third, is affordable housing. I have no idea if Peter has worked on any of
this as Hennepin County Commissioner, but do know that his good friend,
Jackie Cherryholmes is a lobbyist for developers. R.T. is clueless about the
potential crisis we are heading towards. Neither of them have talked about
how homelessness and affordable housing are linked, how 30 percent of the
people who live in Minneapolis can not afford any type of housing, and the
many overpriced condominiums that are randomly being built.

Lastly, there was an anti-racist approach to public safety. The nicest way
I can put this is both of these candidates just don't get it. The Federal
Mandate, the shooting of Abu Kassim Jelani (R.T. still can't pronounce his
name correctly), and the fact that only 1 of the 40 discipline
recommendations which were given to Chief McManus by the Civilian Review
Authority were acted upon, shows R.T. is completely incompetent in this
area. Peter wants to increase the police force, has not stated anything
about reforming the police, and does not see the difference between
diversity and racism. In his own words, he explains that if we diversify
the police force, then we are fighting racism. I know plenty of situations
where there is diversity and rampant racism (like the South African
Apartheid).  For those of us that have worked hard for years to fight
racism find this approach to be frightening. To be honest, all three of us
are guilty of not mentioning one important point, which we have Marcus
Harcus to thank: Police accountability. In the history of Minneapolis, no
police officer has ever been indicted for excessive force. Yet, we have
paid millions of dollars in settling law suits against the city.

So in the final analysis, politically, I don't think that I have too much
in common with either of the two DFL candidates. As for whom I will be
voting for as mayor, I am writing in myself. Anyone that is willing to
spell F-A-R-H-E-E-N H-A-K-E-E-M is welcome to do the same. Most
importantly, please remember to vote! Don't let the usual suspects assume
they have power they have never earned. Every person that lives in the
city of Minneapolis is the boss to the Mayor of Minneapolis. Your vote
enables you to be part of the hiring committee. My candidacy proves that
people are thirsty for the issues and want to see action and results. So
please, vote on November 8th, and watch for me in next year's elections.
The movement has only just begun, and I'm not done yet.


--------21 of x--------

Workers Get Hit Twice
Hurricane Katrina and Davis-Bacon Profiteering
By DAVID PRICE
CounterPunch
September 23, 2005

President Bush stands confused and silent as his geographical base is
first hammered by forces of unbridled nature, and then more brutally
abused by those corporate profiteers who will emerge to lay claim to the
devastated regions' rebuilding. While the revocation of the Davis-Bacon
Act conveniently limits the meager wages of devastated construction
workers, we hear nothing about limiting the corporate profits to be made
by these disasters.

The timidity of the Democrats is not surprising given their post-Lakoffian
commitment to constructing their own Orwellian linguistic frames to
counter Republican advances in bold dishonesty. Its too bad they are
content to wage slogan wars without substance, because if America had an
opposition party, it could rise in power by whipping-up some political
outrage over the post-storm unrestrained profiteering for developers and
re-building financiers, while local workers' wages are legally set at
substandard levels.

Forget about Kansas. The corruption trailing Katrina and Rita could make
Florida, Louisiana, costal Texas and chunks of the southern heartland up
for grabs to politicians willing to challenge the corporate strategies
that will commodify human misery. But don't get your hopes up, first we'd
need a party interested in supporting workers with more than words.

Any politician interested in class warfare is being handed some pretty
easy pickings. Those looking for safe poses could even hearken back to the
glories of our past world wars, where beloved presidents castigated those
who would profit from American suffering. Even before America entered into
the Second World War, President Roosevelt declared that he did not "want
to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result
of this world disaster," and Senator Truman described war profiteering as
"treason." It should be easy to convert these sentiments to the current
disasters. But today Democratic leaders wait patiently while Bush stammers
in confusion, declares a national day of prayer, then acts like a Walmart
Manager hurrying to cut workers wages. There is silence concerning the
millionaires who will be created by this world disaster.

America must expand discussions of reconstruction cost-limits beyond those
of laborers and look to past crises efforts to limit the profits of
owners, not workers. Politicians should look beyond the 1931 Davis-Bacon
Act, back to the 1917 establishment of the United States General Munitions
Board as it limited profits to be made by the American armament industry
during the First World War. The Munitions Board, with some success (and
some failures) limited the greed and profits to be made by human misery by
limiting wartime profits to the modest limit of "cost-plus-ten-percent."

While the First World War cost-plus wartime schemes, and those that
followed in the Second World War had some significant problems (most
notably involving tax relief schemes and inflated costs) they did limit
cost overruns and succeeded in swelling workers wages at record rates.
During World War II, federal cost-plus profiteering programs did not
wholly eliminate price gouging, but they did limit the extent of war
profiteering while simultaneously raising workers' wages - for obvious
reasons given owners' new motivations to increase costs.

But Democrats and Republicans alike remain loyal to their corporate base,
and the risks of changing loyalties from management to workers all but
guarantee that no politician will seriously focus (even for purely
partisan purposes) on Bush's suspension of Davis-Bacon as an act of
contempt for the working peoples whose lives have been devastated by the
storm, and the economic prospects to follow.

David Price teaches anthropology at St. Martin's University in Olympia,
Washington. He is the author of Threatening Anthropology: McCarthyism and
the FBI's Surveillance of Activist Anthropologists (Duke, 2004). His next
book is entitled: Weaponizing Anthropology: American Anthropology and the
Second World War. He can be reached at: dprice [at] stmartin.edu


-------22 of x--------

Fighting International Populism
Militarizing the Market
By ROBERT SANDELS
CounterPunch
September 23, 2005

After years of obsessing over Cuba, the United States has decided to
obsess over the whole of Latin America because now it turns out that the
Cuba threat wasn't all it was cracked up to be. After all, what's
communism compared to the scourge of international populism?

Today, the perceived threat to national security is the subversive effect
of popular dissatisfaction with the neoliberal free market and the U.S.
drive to globalize it under the cover of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA). Thus, a new germ theory takes its place beside the old
theory of how communism invades the body politic: Weakening of the market
anywhere in Latin America provides an opening for the subversive germs of
international populism.

                          Fishing for friends

Administration officials have been trolling recently in Latin American
waters for someone, anyone who might agree that Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez is directing an axis of populism devoted to overthrowing
governments to stray from the free market. Cuba, now seen in Washington as
a Venezuela without money, is demoted to a junior partner in crime.

These fishing trips have usually failed. The split between the United
States and Latin America, which Bush is now belatedly trying to patch
over, goes back at least to the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Chile, when
delegates were more interested in bringing Cuba back into the Organization
of American States (OAS) than signing on to the FTAA. In hindsight it
seems obvious that the U.S. campaign to integrate the hemisphere on U.S.
terms has led to Latin Americans thinking of doing it on their terms.

In May 2003, the OAS Permanent Council responded to pressure from
Secretary of State Colin Powell to pass a resolution condemning Cuba by
offering up a weak, non-binding statement that failed to get a majority
vote. The next month OAS delegates ignored his request for help in
"hastening" Fidel Castro's downfall.

In April 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went around Latin
America armed with the invective and unsupported accusations against
Venezuela and Cuba that pass these days as fact. Rice had established at
her confirmation hearings in January the "fact" that Chavez was a
troublemaker and Cuba "an outpost of tyranny"(The Miami Herald, 01/18/05).
But in Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva objected to her
comments as "defamation and insinuations" against a friendly state (Los
Angeles Times, 04/02/05). In Chile, President Ricardo Lagos reminded Rice
that Chavez was "legitimately and duly elected" (Prensa Latina, 04/29/05).

                 Militarizing the Guardians of Capital

The Bush administration has tried to put in place a strategy of
militarizing the free market against populism just as it has militarized
its response to terrorism. However ludicrous the invective against Cuba
and Venezuela may be, the Bush administration has tried to give it
intellectual rigor by providing a policy framework wherein even the most
trivial of social or economic disruptions can signal the need for
cleansing, multilateral action.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld introduced the strategy in November
2004, at an OAS Defense Ministers meeting in Quito, Ecuador. He proposed a
multi-national military force managed by the Inter-American Defense Board
[headquartered in Washington, DC] that would intervene in states that did
not meet certain democratic standards.

The plan was promoted as a fight against terrorism, drug trafficking,
common crimes, and other destabilizing threats. In essence, the plan
recommends unifying military and police functions and re-thinking the once
rejected central role of the military in regional affairs.

Instead of encouraging generals to unseat governments in the name of
anti-communism, Rumsfeld would have them make the world safe for the free
market.

The intellectual underpinning for the plan is found in a report titled
Fostering Regional Development drawn up for the Pentagon by the Council of
the Americas. It urges heightened security against every sort of crime to
foster a climate more conducive to foreign investment.

The approach is based on the Williamsburg Principles adopted at the first
Defense Ministerial of the Americas (DMA) held in Williamsburg, Virginia
in 1995. The principles call for protecting democracy through mutual
security, recognizing "that the development of economic security
profoundly affects defense security and vice versa."

The report alludes to the growing dissatisfaction in Latin America with
neoliberal market economics and the resulting "foothold" gained by
populism. Populism is the euphemism for popular movements not approved by
the White House. The report urges the defense ministers to discuss in
Quito what some people may not know exists: "the defense-related aspects
of open market development."

While the concept of defense-related aspects of the spread of
neoliberalism may be an unfamiliar one, according to Rumsfeldthink, a
multilateral military force - presumably led by the United States - must
rid every country of terrorists, crooks, cocaine sniffers, and populists
if direct foreign investment is to freely flow.

The authors of the report rightly note the prevalence in Latin America of
poverty, crime, and official corruption, but the alleviation of these
scourges is left largely to the magic of the marketplace, whose unseen
hand arguably caused them in the first place.

It should be noted in passing that the Bush administration has come to
rank the free-market model equal in importance to democracy among the
virtues of statecraft without raising much discussion and without any
basis in international consensus. It could be said that crony capitalism,
the protected domestic market, subsidized exports, and other features of
the U.S. economy make this country ineligible for membership in its own
free-trade inventions.

To see how muscle properly applied to the free market can work, the report
directs our attention to China where success in capital accumulation was
helped along by its willingness to suppress domestic opposition.

To assess progress made by the concept of multilateral security
cooperation in this hemisphere, the report's authors invite us "to look no
further" than the peacekeeping efforts in Haiti by forces from various
American states.

Looking further however, one must ask how the forcible removal of
democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by the United
States in 2004, and his replacement with an armed thuggery conforms to the
first of the Williamsburg Principles, namely, "that the preservation of
democracy is the basis for ensuring mutual security." In effect, the
report congratulates the DMA for sending soldiers to maintain in power an
illegitimate U.S. client government in that country.

Following the recent trend, the delegates at the Quito meeting rejected
Rumsfeld's plan and in the final document pointedly endorsed national
sovereignty instead of a militarized market.

But Rumsfeld is sticking to the multilateral defense of the market against
evildoers. In his April 2005 sales trip to South America, Rumsfeld
lectured Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte on the Cuba-Venezuela axis
and the need for multilateralism.

Duarte told Rumsfeld that Paraguay's relations with Cuba and Venezuela
were normal, and praised Venezuela for helping his country's economic
development through oil aid. Duarte later told a local newspaper that
Paraguay received little aid from the US and called for the United States
to open its market to Paraguayan products (Agence France-Presse,
08/17/05).

Paraguayan Defense Minister Roberto Gonzalez released a statement that
seemed to close the door on Paraguayan support for the FTAA. "We agree,
said the statement, "on the need to construct a united South America with
greater political power in world decisions, especially in the economy,
finances, and the distribution of information and knowledge" (Spanish News
Service EFE, 08/20/05).

Undeterred, Rumsfeld went on to Peru where President Alejandro Toledo's
government, besieged by allegations of massive corruption and with a
barely measurable approval rating, was in an advanced state of
decomposition. But it was not the effect on Peruvians of Toledo's bungling
that concerned Rumsfeld but the possibility that misgovernance might open
the door to "antisocial, destabilizing behavior," just the kind of
instability Chavez could capitalize on and for which Rumsfeld has his
military solution.

Rumsfeld has also been concerned that Cuba and Venezuela are trying to
dominate Bolivia and meddle in the tri-border region where Argentina,
Brazil, and Paraguay meet, a concern that has overshadowed his earlier
claim that Islamic terrorists were operating there. This is same region
where the United States has its Mariscal Estigarribia military base and
where U.S. troops carry out "exercises.

Before leaving Asuncion, Rumsfeld proclaimed another of his "facts":
"There certainly is evidence that both Cuba and Venezuela have been
involved in the situation in Bolivia in unhelpful ways." (Telegraph,
08/19/05). But Admiral Marco Antonio Justiniano, chief of the Bolivian
Armed Forces, said he had seen nothing to support such a charge (Deutsche
Presse-Agentur, 08/17/05).

In June 2005, undeterred both by the long series of rejections and by
Rumsfeld's failure in Quito to militarize the protection of capital, Rice
went to the June 2005, meeting of the OAS General Assembly in Fort
Lauderdale, asking for an agreement permitting Iraq-like pre-emptive
interventions to preserve democracy in Latin America. Governments judged
to fall short of standards set by the Inter-American Democratic Charter of
2001 would be subject to sanctions. The delegates rejected the proposal.

Interestingly, Cuba would not be eligible for punishment because it is not
a member of the OAS. But Venezuela is a perfect fit because Rice aimed the
concept at intervention against democratically-elected leaders who don't
do the right thing.

Having tailored the concept of intervention to fit the
democratically-elected but apparently populist Chavez, Cuba's strategic
importance in U.S. Latin America policy appears to be on the decline.

Robert Sandels writes about Cuba and Latin America for the Latin America
Database at the University of New Mexico and other publications.. He
received a B.A. in Spanish literature in 1958 from the University of the
Americas in Mexico City. He also received an M.A. in American history in
1962 and a Ph.D in Latin American history in 1967 from the University of
Oregon. He has taught at Chico State University in California, at San
Francisco State University, and at Quinnipiac College in Connecticut.


--------23 of x--------

Reddy B. Esser
Democratic Party dies; funeral scheduled

Washingtone DC - A funeral has been scheduled for the national Democratic
party. Due to the advanced state of decay of the body, the casket will be
closed.

The Republican party has graciously stepped in to serve its functions.

"Fortunately, Reddy, it's pretty easy," says aide George Cheney. "We don't
want to speak ill of the dead, but, well, they haven't done much for years
- they'll hardly be missed.

"We have lots of fun, though, with performing their few remaining
functions: rolling over, sitting up and begging, playing dead, waiting to
bite the goodie on our nose until the master says OK, holding doo-doo
until we're let out in the yard (you don't know how difficult that is
until you've tried it!), drooling long drools in the presence of food, and
trying to look innocent after being bad."

Spokesperson Dick Bush said another corporate-friendly party has been
manufactured by helpful right-wing thunk-tanks. "We can't make it without
the appearance of an opposition party. We tried making one just like the
late lamented DP, but even our own people said, Hey, no one will believe a
party THAT spineless - give us something a self-respecting person can
BELIEVE! So we gave it a little more backbone, and we'll let it win a
small battle every now and then. It's ever so much more sporting!"

In just 4 days, the general public has forgotten there ever was a DP.
"Democratic party? What's that? Any women there?"

After a long search for someone who remembered more, your reporter found
Wilma Pilkington, age 83, of Fridley MN. "Hey, they used to have sometbing
to do with social security - whatever that was. And they ate beans, lots
of beans - I remember that from when I was a little girl - bean feeds,
they called 'em. And you didn't want to be around there very long if it
was, you know, inside, and too cold to let in fresh air! Whew! I'll never
forget it!


Reddy B Esser lives in Tail Stretcher VT. He works and walks Washington
DC, looking for the life people have repeatedly told him to get.


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