| Progressive Calendar 11.11.05 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001 tc.umn.edu)
|
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| Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:37:20 -0800 (PST) | |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 11.11.05
a few computer problems today...
1. KFAI record sale 11.11-13 4pm
2. Kids/cultures 11.12 8am StCloud MN
3. PeaceJam slam 11.12 9am
4. Vets resource fair 11.12 10am
5. Who benefits 11.12 10am Belle Plaine MN
6. Environment roundtable 11.12 10am
7. MN battered women 11.12 10am
8. Precautionary principle11.12 10am
9. NWA strike 11.12 10am
10. Nicaragua/health 11.12 10am
11. CAMS/v recruitment 11.12 10:30am
12. Northtown vigil 11.12 1pm
13. Radioactive waste 11.12 1pm LaCrosse WI
14. Babylon/resist 11.12 1pm
15. AntiWarMN 11.12 1pm
16. YAWR planning 11.12 2pm
17. Activist get together 11.12 5:30pm
18. Nonpartisan party 11.12 6pm
19. PrecautionaryPrinciple11.12 7pm
20. Erik Hare/book 11.12 7pm
21. Moore/Howell - Walkout
22. Joshua Frank - The liberals' ridiculous defense of President Bill
23. John Pilger - The rise of America's new enemy
24. ed - In the belly of the beast
--------1 of 24--------
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 04:56:38 -0600
From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: KFAI record sale 11.11-13 4pm
KFAI's Fall Record Sale is Friday, November 11 through Sunday, November
13. The sale will be held as part of Midwest Mountaineering's Outdoor
Adventure Expo. Find new and used CDs and LPs for dirt cheap. All proceeds
go to KFAI. The sale will be held in an exhibition tent behind Midwest
Mountaineering at the intersection of Cedar and Riverside on the West
Bank.
There is a great selection of CDs and LPs this year. 70s Rock, Punk,
Blues, Jazz, World Music, Folk, Classic Country. You can't miss this
event!
All full length CDs are just $5. LPs are just $1.
Here are the hours:
Friday, November 11 from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM
Saturday, November 12 from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM
Sunday, November 13 from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM
--------2 of 24--------
From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Kids/cultures 11.12 8am StCloud MN
November 12 - Third Annual Children of Multiple Cultures Conference.
8am-3:15pm. Cost: Cost is $30 per participant.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This conference is open to anyone who works with children and youth child
care providers, teachers, early childhood and preschool educators, health
care and human service providers, faith community members, volunteers,
college students planning careers with children, parents and others
wanting to learn more about the topic.
EVENT DIRECTIONS
From U.S. Highway 10 - Exit at Hwy. 23 west (Division St.). Follow
Division until you get to Washington Memorial Dr. (Wendy s restaurant on
the corner). Turn left. Go to University Ave. (formerly 10th St. S.). Turn
left. Turn right onto 15th Ave. S. Go two blocks to the school. Enter the
front door of the building. From Interstate 94 - Exit at Hwy 15. Turn
right on 2nd St. S. (first stoplight). Turn left onto Washington Memorial
Dr. Go to University Drive South (formerly 10th St. S.). Turn right. At
15th Ave. S., turn right again. Drive two blocks to the school. Enter the
front door of the building.
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS:
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: All children are reachable: the key is positive relationships
Goldee Schear, a risk-taking educator
This talk looks at how to create positive relationships with children.
BREAKOUT SESSIONS - MORNING (PICK ONE)
A1. Attachment needs and issues for children - Jane Ellison, First Steps Early
Childhood educator
B1. What adults/teachers need the most - Goldee Schear, a risk-taking
educator
C1. The significance of your story Louis Alemayehu, Multicultural
Crossroads director
D1. Transforming the difficult child: the nurtured heart approach Kristen
Wheeler Highland, experienced trainer and consultant
CONFERENCE GOALS
Learn strategies for creating and building positive cross-cultural
relationships.
Understand the changing Central Minnesota community and its families, as
well as the opportunities this presents.
Gain practical ideas for working with children and creating a more
welcoming multi- cultural view.
See creatively through a multi-cultural lens.
Understand and respond to people s gifts and the uniqueness within each
of us.
AGENDA:
8-8:30 a.m. - Registration
8:30-8:45 a.m. - Welcome/Performance: Kim Washington, Opening Song
8:45-9:45 a.m. - Keynote Address
9:45-10 a.m. - Performance: Mixed Unity, Song & Dance
10-10:15 a.m. - Break
10:15-11:45 a.m. - Breakout Sessions
11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Lunch
12:30-2 p.m. - Breakout Sessions
2-2:15 p.m. - Break
2:15-2:45 p.m. - Performances: Double Dutchers Venturers, Valandra, Guitar
2:45-3 p.m. - Closing Speaker
3-3:15 p.m. - Closing (Evaluation/Certificates)
Breakout sessions are geared toward people who work with these age groups:
A: Birth - Preschool
B: Kindergarten - 6th Grade
C: Junior and Senior High
D: All Ages
BREAKOUT SESSIONS - AFTERNOON (PICK ONE)
A2. Can I come to your house and play? - Mechelle Severson, independent
diversity consultant and certified conflict mediator
B2. What's at stake for Latino youth? - Ramon Querales and Nancy Cordes,
teachers from Cold Spring and Plymouth
C2. Mentoring relationships with girls of color: a collaborative model -
Drs. Niloufer Merchant and Lalita Subrahmanyan, professors at St. Cloud
State University, and Decontee Kofa, youth services coordinator at Central
Minnesota Sexual Assault Center
D2. Child sexual abuse: fact, fiction and prevention - Valandra, MSW,
LGSW, College of St. Benedict
A late registration fee of $5 will be added for registrations postmarked
after Wednesday, Nov. 2. Space is limited. Early registration encouraged.
Mail registrations to: Child Care Choices, 640 54th Ave. N., Suite A, St.
Cloud, MN 56303. If you have questions regarding this conference, or have
special needs, please call Child Care Choices at (320) 251-5081, ext. 16.
Interpreters are available upon request.
Location: South Junior High School, 1120 15th Ave South, St. Cloud, MN
--------3 of 24--------
From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: PeaceJam slam 11.12 9am
Saturday, 11/12, 9 am to 4 pm, PeaceJam Slam youth gathering "Our Time is
Now," with expos, keynote, team building, workshops, youth activists from 6
different countries, at U of St. Thomas. FFI: Donna Gillen, 651-646-8008.
--------4 of 24--------
From: Dorie Rae Gallagher <hoboanne [at] velotel.com>
Subject: Vets resource fair 11.12 10am
A RESOURCE FAIR for Iraq and Afghanistan Vets and Their Families
Saturday, November 12
10 am to 1 pm at
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
24th St and Chicago Ave.
Minneapolis
oursavioursmpls.org
--------5 of 24--------
From: Janet & Bill McGrath <mcgrath1 [at] rconnect.com>
Subject: Who benefits 11.12 10am Belle Plaine MN
Next presentation of my talk entitled "Who Benefits" will occur at 10am
Saturday, Nov. 12, at the public library in Belle Plaine.
Behind the wars and cultural wedge issues, the economic security ("money")
of our middle class is being transferred rapidly to approximately 145,000
households, each of which has an average annual income of $3.2 million.
That's the common thread running through tax cuts, outsourcing of jobs,
and recent legislation regarding prescription drugs, health insurance,
Social Security, pensions, bankruptcy, class action lawsuits and labor
unions.
At each one of these talks, there will be a one-hour presentation by me,
followed by your discussion that will focus on possible solutions.
My resume: Lived 27 years in Northfield. Former newspaper reporter. For 18
years, I've owned a small business publishing & selling car repair
manuals.
These talks are not connected to any political party, candidate or
organization. They are continually being presented, especially in the
Second Congressional District. Thank you. -- Bill McGrath
--------6 of 24--------
From: Elizabeth Dickinson <eadickinson [at] mindspring.com>
Subject: Environmental roundtable 11.12 10am
Saint Paul residents are coming together to create a vision for a healthier,
cleaner, more livable Saint Paul. You can help!
The Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable is a series of meetings designed to
identify the pressing issues regarding Saint Paul¹s environment, especially
those issues where local action can make a positive impact. Join us for the
next topic presentation and community discussion!
Saturday, November 12, 10am-12noon
Macalester College, Weyerhauser Chapel (1600 Grand Avenue)
Map of the area and campus: http://www.macalester.edu/about/mapbynumber.html
Volunteer Roundtable members will present information about smarter, cleaner
energy in Saint Paul.
Energy use and choices can have enormous environmental impacts. Saint
Paul, like the rest of Minnesota, relies overwhelmingly on dirty sources
of energy. As every one who pays a gas bill knows, energy is becoming
increasingly expensive. Help us support Saint Paul's commitment to
fighting global warming, and get cleaner air and water, by improving Saint
Paul's support for smarter, cleaner energy.
Come to the meetings and tell us what you think!
To be updated about Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable community
meetings, please send your contact information to
roundtable [at] eurekarecycling.org .
Roundtable Topics and Schedule:
Smarter, cleaner energy (Nov 2005/Jan 2006)
Greening the built environment (Jan/Feb 2006)
Improving the quality & quantity of green space (Feb/Mar 2006)
Clean water stewardship (Mar/Apr 2006)
For more information: Call (651) 222-7678 or visit
www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable
<http://www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable>
The Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable, a collaboration of individuals
from neighborhoods, organizations, and businesses throughout the city, was
convened by Eureka Recycling. The Roundtable provides citizens with the
opportunity to be more informed about what Saint Paul is already doing to
protect Saint Paul's quality of life and to identity and recommend viable
actions that can be taken by the city, citizens and organization to
further protect and improve Saint Paul's environment.
--------7 of 24--------
From: Doris G. Marquit <marqu001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: MN battered women 11.12 10am
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Metro Branch, invites
everyone to our November "Coffee With" talk and discussion.
"Coffee With" -- Saturday, Nov 12, 10am to noon
Van Cleve Community Center, 901 15th Ave. SE, Minneapolis.
"History of the Development of Shelters for Battered Women: The Minnesota
Story"
Presenter: Terri Hawthorne, feminist scholar and author, teacher at Metro
State University, involved in the founding of the shelter movement.
Free; refreshments served.
FFI 651-458-7090 or wilpf [at] earthlink.net
--------8 of 24--------
From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Precautionary prin 11.12 10am
November 12 - The Precautionary Principle. 10am
Author Carolyn Raffensberger will speak on The Precautionary Principle,
the need to act on threats against people and ecosystems even in the
absence of full scientific certainty. Raffensberger is an environmental
lawyer and founding director of Science and Environmental Health Network.
This is an opportunity to learn how to reshape the discussion of
environmental policy-making.
Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Ave, Minneapolis
--------9 of 24--------
From: Solidarity Committee <nwasolidaritymsp [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: NWA strike 11.12 10am
Please attend this Saturday morning meeting at 10am. The meeting will be
in the usual location at the AMFA office. We will divide up all of the
events for the Change to Win Coalition's WAL-MART HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
WEEK. We will attend the events, build their success, and circulate the
flyers to make our own event a success. There are dozens of events around
the region in the next 10 days, and we will need many hands to cover all
locations.
Finally, this SUNDAY at 2pm we will have the weekly Solidarity Committee
Picket. Bring your red SUPPORT NORTHWEST WORKERS paraphernalia, and meet
at STRIKE HEADQUARTERS, in the AmeriSuites parking lot on the I-494
frontage road across from the airport, at 2pm sharp.
--------10 of 24--------
From: Mary Turck <mturck [at] americas.org>
Subject: Nicaragua/health 11.12 10am
Saturday, November 12 - PML medical delegation to León! Minnesota medical
students and professionals traveled to Nicaragua - hear their report on
the challenges of providing health care in Nicaragua, lessons for the
United States and ways to stand in solidarity.
(Coffeehour: A weekly talk and discussion with a featured speaker.
Saturdays, 10-11:30 a.m. $4 ($3 for members). Resource Center of the
Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis.)
--------11 of 24--------
From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: CAMS/v recruitment 111.12 10:30am
Saturday, 11/12 (and the 2nd Saturday of each month), 10:30 am, CAMS
(counter-recruitment group) meets at Twin Cities Friends Meeting, 1725
Grand, St. Paul. Contact Mary at wamm [at] mtn.org
--------12 of 24--------
From: Helen or Lennie <major18 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Northtown vigil 11.12 1pm
The Mounds View peace vigil group has changed its weekly time and place.
We will now be peace vigiling EVERY SATURDAY from 1:00 to 2:00 pm at the
at the southeast corner of the intersection of Co. Hwy 10 and University
Ave NE in Blaine, which is the northwest most corner of the Northtown
Mall area. This is a MUCH better location.
We'll have extra signs. Communities situated near the Northtown
Mall include: Blaine, Mounds View, New Brighton, Roseville, Shoreview,
Arden Hills, Spring Lake Park, Fridley, and Coon Rapids.
For further information, email major18 [at] comcast.net or call Lennie
at 763-717-9168
--------13 of 24--------
From: Nukewatch <nukewatch [at] lakeland.ws>
Subject: Radioactive waste 11.12 1pm LaCrosse WI
Radioactive Waste and Public Safety:
Municipalities, Counties, and Tribal Governments
Private Fuel Storage, Skull Valley Utah, and You:What you Need to Know
Saturday Nov 12
1-5 PM
University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Cartwright Center
free and open to the public
1741 State St.,
La Crosse WI 54601
directions: www.uwlax.edu/map <http://www.uwlax.edu/map>
for more info: (608)785-8838 or < www.uwlax.edu/native>
workshops 1 PM and 2 PM
keynote speaker 3 PM
speakers:
Margene Bullcreek
Goshute tribal voice of Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia
(Timber Setting Community in Goshute) Awareness
Bob Halstead Transportation Advisor
Agency for Nuclear Projects, State of Nevada
Kevin Kamps Nuclear Waste Transport Specialist
Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Washington D.C.
John La Forge Co-Director of Nukewatch
environmental action group based in WI
Oscar Shirani Exelon Corporation employee,
whistle-blower concerning the Holtec nuclear waste cask design
Alfred Meyer Physicians for Social Responsibility
WI chapter
sponsored by
UW-L Native American Student Association
Nukewatch
Nuclear Information Resource Service
WI Physicians for Social Responsibility
Mid-West Treaty Network
UW-L Progressives
NUKEWATCH P.O. BOX 649 LUCK, WI 54853 Telephone: 715-472-4185 Fax:
715-472-4184 Cell: 715-491-3813 www.nukewatch.com
--------14 of 24--------
From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Babylon/resist 11.12 1pm
Saturday, 11/12, 1 pm, Babylon Collective hosts a meeting of artists at the
Wolf's Den (nearly Maria's Cafe on Franklin & 11th, S. Mpls) to plan
creative resistance in early Janury. megbabylon [at] hotmail.com or
612-251-1746.
--------15 of 24--------
From: Jess Sundin <jess [at] antiwarcommittee.org>
Subject: AntiWarMN 11.12 1pm
Please join us at the Anti-War Committee office tomorrow for a fun-filled
day with fellow volunteers. We'll be there from 1 to 3pm, with much of
work being to prepare and paint signs for our International Human Rights
Day protest next month. We also need help getting ready for our craft sale
(12/3), and the office basics (like data entry). If you can help us out
for any part of the day, please just drop in!
VOLUNTEER DAY/LAWN SIGN COLLECTION
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 @ 1PM TO 3PM
AWC OFFICE - 1313 5TH ST SE #213, MINNEAPOLIS
SPECIAL NOTE: If you or your neighbors have lawn signs that are left over
from the elections campaigns, please donate them to us. We will give them
new life as protest signs! Drop off lawn signs at our office during
Saturday's volunteer day.
Sorry for the late notice, I thought this note was sent out earlier in the
week. Whoops! We still really do need your help. Please join us.
--------16 of 24--------
From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: YAWR planning 11.12 2pm
Metro-wide YAWR meeting
send delegates from your school!
Topic: After the walkout, what are the next steps for Youth Against
War and Racism?
Saturday, November 12
2-4pm
Resource Center of the Americas (downstairs, Victor Jara room)
3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis - by Lake St.
Bus to the Resource Center
The #21 bus, the #7 bus, and the Light Rail all have nearby stops
The November 2nd walkout was an amazing show of antiwar sentiment among
Twin Cities youth. But the walkout needs to be just the beginning of
building a larger and more powerful youth antiwar movement. Please make
sure to send delegates from your school to this important meeting to plan
out the next steps for our movement.
AGENDA IDEAS:
1. Looking ahead - how to get our school boards to pass resolutions
banning military recruiters from our schools.
2. Do we want to organize another major protest or walkout next spring?
3. Planning the December 8th YAWR concert at the Triple Rock
(featuring Los Nativos, others).
4. How to start a chapter of YAWR at your school.
5. How to protest military recruiters out of your school.
6. How to organize an antiwar teach-in at your school
Feel free to come with other ideas for what we need to talk about and what
we should be doing in the coming weeks and months.
--------17 of 24--------
From: Linncrusier [at] aol.com
Subject: Activist get together 11.12 5:30pm
The Great Activist Get Together: Nov. 12, Macalester College (Ismail
Gallery at Olin Rice Building).
Beginning 5:30 and throughout the evening- Potluck and Tabling!
(bring food/drinks to share. To reserve a table email
grassroots_fair [at] yahoo.com or call david at 651-6967121. cost: $10 to Eric
Angell, 535 Asbury St. #5, St. Paul, MN 5540, before Nov. 6th or $20 at
the door. May sell merchandise)
6:15- Spoken word by Ismail Khalidi (Actor/author of Truth Serum Blues)
6:25- Welcome and Very Brief account of April 16 Activist Roundtable
(by Chris Spotted Eagle, evening's emcee)
6:35- Panel Discussion: The Glories and Challenges of Alliances Across
Issues and Social Borders. Speakers: Javier Morillo-Alicea Change to
Win Coalition Tara Widner, labor-environmental alliances Dick Bernard
from MAP Other panelists to be confirmed.
7:30- Music by Granary Girls
8:00- Brief report by working groups from Activist Roundtable, followed by
break out sessions for those interested. For the rest tabling and more
good food!!!!!
8:30-Open Mic (what are your views on collaboration?)
8:50- Closing: Spoken word by Mary Jane Lavigne
A closing peace song by the Granary Girls
9:10- Dance party with live music by SalsaBrosa!!!!
Admission: $5, sliding scale, no one turn away for lack of funds
--------18 of 24--------
From: "Melendez, Brian" <BMelendez [at] faegre.com>
Subject: Nonpartisan party 11.12 6pm
The Third Annual Nonpartisan Party
From: Carleton Crawford
Elizabeth Dickinson
Lee Eklund
Darrell Gerber
Brian Melendez
Connie Nompelis
Sue Ponsford
David Weinlick
You and your friends are cordially invited to the third annual
"Nonpartisan Party" on Saturday 12 November, from 6 p.m. until Whenever,
at Brian Melendez's home, 1777 Dupont Avenue South, Minneapolis. (Please
see below for directions.)
The Concept
The inaugural Nonpartisan Party was held in 2003, when -- for the first
time in many years -- there were neither federal, state, legislative, nor
municipal elections scheduled in Minneapolis. The first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November came and went without a general election.
The co-hosts -- then as now -- were volunteer activists in different
political parties. We spend practically all our volunteer time around
politics, helping get our candidates elected. But some of the most decent
and interesting folks that we have met in local politics are not
necessarily members of the same party as we are. Unfortunately, those
folks seldom deal with each other outside the partisan political context,
so building relationships and actual friendships with each other is tough.
But local politics would be much more civil, and perhaps focused more on
issues and less on personalities, if there were more opportunities for
building relationships and friendships among volunteers across party
lines.
To that end, we threw the first Nonpartisan Party as an opportunity for
volunteer leaders in all the political parties to meet and mingle outside
partisan politics. The event was a success, so we have turned it into an
annual event -- a chance for coming together after an actual election,
taking off our hats as partisans for a moment and looking at the
candidates and at each other as neighbors and fellow citizens.
The Rules
There will be a few ground rules:
1. The party is a private event, hosted by individuals and not by
political parties, organizations, or titles. Everyone who cares about
local politics, regardless of partisan affiliation (or lack of
affiliation), is welcome.
2. No agenda or program.
3. No handouts, leaflets, or other propaganda. It's a party, ya know?
4. The party is mostly in honor of volunteer activists. Publicly elected
officers are more than welcome. So are candidates for those offices. But
nobody gets a soapbox or a formal introduction.
5. No campaigning allowed. (Gossip and speculation are okay.)
6. No speeches!
We will supply some beverages and munchies (and maybe even some Krispy
Kreme donuts). You don't need to bring anything. But if you do want to
bring something, you can bring a favorite beverage or snack for sharing.
Bert Black will again furnish the musical accompaniment.
The Directions
1777 Dupont Avenue is a red-brick house with white trim, in Lowry Hill,
three blocks west of Hennepin Avenue, between Summit and Douglas (three
blocks north of Franklin). You can park on the street in front. Brian's
phone number is 612.377.1777.
--------19 of 24--------
From: david unowsky <rdu [at] ruminator.com>
Subject: Precautionary principle 11.12 7pm
Do you care about your environment? Do you worry about your children's
health? Of course you do. Please join Carolyn Raffensperger in a
discussion about how to reshape environmental policy using precautionary
tools at Magers and Quinn Booksellers on Saturday, November 12, at 7 p.m.
Carolyn Raffensperger is a leading proponent of an idea that poses new
solutions that are being tried by governments, businesses, and
institutions of faith around the world. The precautionary principle is on
the leading edge of environmental policy decisions in the world today.
Can we in this country move beyond blue states and red states and work
together to become green states? Bring your voice to the
discussion.$25.00/£16.95 (PAPER)
The precautionary principle calls for taking action against threatened
harm to people and ecosystems even in the absence of full scientific
certainty. The rationale is that modern technologies and human activities
can inflict long-term, global-scale environmental damage and that
conclusive scientific evidence of such damage may be available too late to
avert it. The precautionary principle asks whether harm can be prevented
instead of assessing degrees of "acceptable" risk. This book provides a
toolkit for applying precautionary concepts to reshape environmental
policies at all levels. Its compendium of regulatory options, detailed
examples, wide-ranging case studies, and theoretical background provides
both citizens and policymakers with the basis for acting on any issue in
any situation -- whether it's pesticide use at local schools or a new
international regulatory system for chemicals.
Precautionary Tools for Reshaping Environmental Policy describes the
analytical and ethical bases of the precautionary principle as well as
practical options for implementing it. It provides a "precautionary
checklist" that can serve as a springboard for discussion and decisions.
And it offers a variety of case studies that show the precautionary
principle in action -- from elk and cattle farming to marine fisheries,
from the protection of indigenous cultures against bioprospecting to the
restoration of the federal court system as a safety net for people harmed
by products and chemicals. A hands-on interdisciplinary guide, the book
demonstrates the advantages of a precautionary approach and addresses
criticisms that have been leveled against it.
For updates and more information on the precautionary principle at work,
visit www.sehn.org/precaution.html by clicking on the link to the left.
Nancy J. Myers is Communications Director of the Science and Environmental
Health Network.
Carolyn Raffensperger is an environmental lawyer and the founding director
of the Science and Environmental Health Network.
Endorsements
"Finally--a book that exposes the precautionary principle for what it
really is: a rational, practical, fair-minded, powerful, science-based
approach for making the world a safer, more livable place. From
playgrounds in Texas to courtrooms in Wisconsin, from elk farms and marine
fisheries to hospitals and architectural firms, here are portraits of
precaution in action. All together, they serve as a template for
environmental transformation. Bravo!" --Sandra Steingraber, Ithaca
College, author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the
Environment
"A unique and comprehensive synthesis and compendium of heretofore
disparate writings on and critiques of the precautionary principle,
incorporating both European and American legal, political, and cultural
traditions and perspectives. Theoretically sound and practically oriented,
this book will be a must-read for policy analysts and policymakers,
environmentalists, enlightened industrialists, citizens and activists, and
students of government and regulation." --Nicholas A. Ashford, Professor
of Technology and Policy, MIT, and coauthor of Environmental Law, Policy,
and Economics: Reclaiming the Environmental Agenda
--------20 of 24--------
From: Cristy A. De La Cruz <cristy.delacruz [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Erik Hare/book 11.12 7pm
'Wanted to let you know about an exciting event hosted at the Saint Paul
Gallery (aka Thune's place) at 943 West Seventh Street the Saturday after
next for local author and SPIF list member Erik Hare. The party starts at
7pm November 12th and it will surely be a good time for socializing and
enjoying the great literary tradition that is alive and well in Saint
Paul.
Downriver, Erik's first novel, is a story that reflects ancient texts into a
new perspective on modern feelings of powerlessness and social upheaval. It
is set entirely in real places between Shakopee and Saint Paul, and uses the
imagery of these places to build the plot and the point. I promised some of
you already that there are NOT thinly-veiled attempts to cover up characters
we could identify as neighbors... but perhaps you'll have to read the book
yourself to find out. :
Books will be available for signing at the event, but you can click the link
below if you'd like an advance copy to read prior to the event (if you're a
geek like me, who always likes to do the reading before meeting a real live
author).
This post is relevant to the list because: 1) the themes of the book are
both local and political, and 2) Erik is one of the early (perhaps original)
list members, and 3) there are transportation themes that I don't want to
give away but are in line with Erik's expertise that he has previously
shared on this forum.
--------21 of 24--------
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 06:19:10 -0600
From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Reply-To: Youth Against War and Racism <YAWR-LIST [at] LISTS.UMN.EDU>
Subject: [YAWR-LIST] Reply to Star Tribune Red-baiting column
NOTE from Lydia Howell: Consider writing a letter to the editor to the
Strib re: Kersten's stupid slam against students' walkout aganst war. My
submission to the Letters' Editor follows at end of msg.LH
Hello all,
Last friday the Star Tribune's Katherine Kersten dedicated her regular
right-wing column to attacking the November 2nd walkout and, in
particular, the role of Socialist Alternative. The general thrust of her
argument was that student activists were mainly after media attention and
that "kids" were being deceptively "used" by the evil reds. I called the
Star Tribune's opinions editor and asked for a response column, and he
appeared open to giving us one, but it has now been several days since we
submitted the response and nothing has appeared.
Below is a link to Kersten's column, followed by the response I submitted
to the Star Tribune (withing the 700 word limit).
Katherine Kersten, recently taken on as a columnist with the Star Tribune,
has a long resume including founder and former chairperson of the Center
of the American Experiment, a prominent conservative think tank linked to
the Heritage Foundation and and important Pawlenty ally.
Check out the Center of the American Experiment here:
http://www.amexp.org/index.php
Check out Kersten's profile and resume here:
http://startribunecompany.com/p15579
-Ty
---
Students should take another look at antiwar rally
By Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune, 11/4/05
http://www.startribune.com/stories/191/5707602.html
---
Stop red-baiting antiwar youth
A reply to Katherine Kersten
By Ty Moore, 11/7/05
The student walkout on November 2nd seems to have shaken up more than just
the 40 plus schools that were immediately affected. When the likes of
Katherine Kersten, founder of the Center of the American Experiment (the
rightwing think-tank), dedicates her column in the Star Tribune (11/04/05)
to attacking student antiwar activists, we can feel confident we are
making a political impact.
Kersten begins her column by characterizing high school protesters as
mindless attention seekers. Apparently the students who dedicated long
hours between classes, homework, and after-school jobs to build for this
protest, to educate themselves and their peers, were motivated by a desire
for media glory, to "[revel] in the stares of other, less enlightened
folks."
The notion that students are genuinely outraged at Bush's murderous policy
in Iraq or the hundreds of billions politicians have stolen from education
and social programs to pay for war wasn't featured in Kersten's
sociological study.
But this oversight is understandable when we see that Kersten's
patronizing characterization of antiwar "kids" is mainly designed to
create the premise for red-baiting. As if McCarthy's ghost was feeding her
lines, Kersten dedicates the second half of her column to whipping up fear
and suspicion of Socialist Alternative who, alongside the Antiwar
Organizing League and Youth Against War and Racism, built the November 2nd
walkout.
As though uncovering a dirty secret, Kersten quotes our website
(www.socialistalternative.org <http://www.socialistalternative.org>),
exposing our "struggle to overthrow the rule of big business and global
capitalism."
She's caught us red-handed. Socialist Alternative disagrees with a system
where the drive for profit takes our country into wars of aggression to
plunder the oil wealth of others. We want to end the system that relegates
half the world's population to miserable poverty while the richest 0.01%
of Americans saw their income rise by 250% (adjusted for inflation) since
1980.
We look to overthrow the rule of big business in the medical industry,
which leaves 45 million uninsured. We want to end a system where youth
from low-income areas are seven times less likely to graduate college than
youth from high-income areas.
What future does this system offer young people? Americans under 25 face
poverty and unemployment rates twice the national average. Upon graduation
from under-funded schools, working class youth are faced with a bleak
choice between dead-end jobs, unemployment, or military enlistment.
On October 7th the Senate voted 97/0 to give Bush $50 billion more for
war, despite over half the country demanding an end to the occupation of
Iraq according to recent polls. The war on Iraq has exposed the complete
rottenness of this system, and a lot of people are asking deeper questions
these days.
We want to replace capitalism with a system democratic control of the
economy from below. Instead of industry and government being run by the
super-rich, we believe the top 500 corporations should be put under the
control of elected workplace committees, and production organized around a
democratic plan. All economic decisions, from foreign policy to wage
scales, should be decided democratically, based on human and environmental
needs, not the short term profit drive of CEOs and wealthy investors.
This has nothing to do with the Stalinist dictatorships that Kersten
implies we are aiming to recreate.
Kersten asks: "Did the kids from Bloomington Kennedy and Minneapolis South
high schools know what sort of organization was using them?" If Kersten
had bothered to ask any of the student activists she accuses of ignorance,
she would have discovered the students at Kennedy and South who began
Youth Against War and Racism last year were themselves active members of
Socialist Alternative.
What may horrify Kersten even more than socialists displaying red banners
at protests, is the reality that among the rising generation there is
widespread distrust and anger at the free market system she has spent her
life defending. Far from a shallow attempt to "get their picture in the
paper" the November 2nd walkout shows the growing political sophistication
of young people and, among the most active youth, an understanding that
brutal wars of aggression are inevitable under capitalism.
* Ty Moore is an antiwar organizer with Socialist Alternative. He can be
reached at tytymo [at] gmail.com <mailto:tytymo [at] gmail.com>.
---
Lydia's Letter to the Editor
Katherine Kersten ridiculously revives anti-communism to attack TC high
school students' walkout, to protest campus military recruitment and war
in Iraq. Has Kersten paid attention to recent budget battles with proposed
cuts to student loans for college, children's health, food stamps and Head
Start, while the $100 billion (so far) failed "Star Wars" space weapon
demands more? Didn't she hear about Pentagon expendeitures for the $20 ice
cube trays and the unchecked/unaccountable military budget? Has she
noticed the unemployment rates for young people under 25--especially youth
of color?
Lt. Gen. Robert van Antwwerp, head of the Army's recruiting division, was
on CSPAN's Washington Journal, Wed. Nov. 9th. He called youth 17-24,
military recruiters' "target market". Seems reasonable that that "market"
might have an opinion about being channeled away from higher education and
job training into fighting in Iraq.
Seeing youth engage in basic citizenship on issues that directly affect
them ought to be something praised, not condemned. Ms. Kersten obviously
needs a refresher course in high school civics.
Lydia Howell (INCLUDE PHONE NUMBER, ADDRESS-- NEITHER is published but,
must be ncluded to have your letter considered)
--------22 of 24--------
Talking Points Propaganda
The Liberals' Ridiculous Defense of President Bill Clinton
by Joshua Frank
www.dissidentvoice.org
November 10, 2005
It seems that liberals will go to any lengths in order to protect the
sanctity of President Clinton's legacy, and it is getting downright
aggravating. Take Joshua Micah Marshall, the Ivy League liberal who
publishes Talking Points Memo, an enormously popular online political blog
with a pwog-centrist tilt, a la Eric Alterman. As Marshall recently wrote:
"[T]he president's defenders have fallen back on what has always been
their argument of last resort -- cherry-picked quotes from Clinton
administration officials arranged to give the misleading impression that
the Clintonites said and thought the same thing about Iraqi weapons of
mass destruction as the Bushies did".
Yeah, you're not the only one, it makes my head spin too. I'm not exactly
sure how one can cherry-pick President Clinton's 1998 Iraq Liberation Act,
which gave the US government the green light to whack Saddam for the
slightest annoyance, whether fabricated or not. In fact, it was the former
Iraq dictator's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction that were part of the
Act's foundation.
As the Act provided:
Since March 1996, Iraq has systematically sought to deny weapons
inspectors from the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM)
access to key facilities and documents, has on several occasions
endangered the safe operation of UNSCOM helicopters transporting UNSCOM
personnel in Iraq, and has persisted in a pattern of deception and
concealment regarding the history of its weapons of mass destruction
programs.
President Clinton was attempting to justify an attack on Iraq on the
grounds that Saddam had a lethal arsenal of WMD. I am not sure how that is
all that different from Bush's rhetoric. But logic is meaningless when
party loyalty is involved. Just ask Josh Marshall, who continues:
But even arguing on this ground understates the full measure of
administration mendacity in the lead up to the war since it ignores half
the story. WMD was only half the administration equation for war. The
other half was Iraq's alleged tie to Islamist terrorist groups like al
Qaida and including al Qaida. On top of that, of course, was the big
enchilada, the Cheney favorite, those frequent and intentionally ambiguous
suggestions that Saddam Hussein played a role in the 9/11 attacks.
Oh my, what a stretch. I'd put WMD at about 75 percent of Bush's
justification for invading. And remind me again how the Democrats opposed
Cheney's favorite Iraq lie? Oh yeah, they didn't. That aside, Marshall
doesn't acknowledge the bigger picture, as I describe in my book, Left
Out!:
In 1993, Clinton himself bombed Iraqi intelligence centers for what he
said was retaliation for the attempted assassination of George Bush Sr.
"He said publicly that the U.S. strike on Iraqi intelligence headquarters
was retaliation for Saddam's attempt to kill [ex-president] George Bush,"
Laurie Mylroie, who worked as Clinton's Iraq specialist during his 1992
campaign, told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg. "[But] he also meant it for
the Trade Center bombing ... Clinton believed that the attack on Iraqi
intelligence headquarters would deter Saddam from all future strikes
against the United States," she claimed. "It was hopelessly naive."
Clinton didn't try to tie Saddam Hussein to the crime, he just went ahead
and bombed on his own accord. No matter that the CIA was blaming bin Laden
and not Saddam. So much for Dick Cheney being the only one pointing
fingers in Saddam's direction when it was undeserving.
How soon Marshall forgets that in 1996 the Clintonites bombed several
civilian targets and military facilities -- without the approval of the UN
or any international alliance, for that matter. The Iraqi government and
even the Pentagon reported dozens of deaths and millions of dollars worth
of damages. The war on Iraq, despite popular belief, didn't start with
Bush Jr.
How can we forget President Clinton's callousness toward Iraqi civilians?
The United Nations estimated in 1995 that as many as 576,000 Iraqi youth
died as a result of the sanctions that the US had imposed and supported
since 1991. But we're talking bombs here, not sanctions.
Soon after the Iraq Liberation Act was signed into law, Clinton, in what
many criticized as an effort to deflect attention from his impeachment
trial, tried his luck with Saddam one more time on December 16, 1998.
Unlike previous attacks on Iraq, which paled in comparison, this attack
was waged with primitive anger. As President Clinton asserted in a
national televised address on the day of the first U.S. offensive.
"Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and
security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission
is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and
its military capacity to threaten its neighbors ... Their purpose is to
protect the national interest of the United States, and indeed the
interests of people throughout the Middle East and around the world".
"Six weeks ago," he continued, "Saddam Hussein announced that he would no
longer cooperate with the United Nations weapons inspectors called UNSCOM.
They are highly professional experts from dozens of countries. Their job
is to oversee the elimination of Iraq's capability to retain, create, and
use weapons of mass destruction, and to verify that Iraq does not attempt
to rebuild that capability. The international community had little doubt
then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will
use these terrible weapons again".
I'm not mincing words and I'm not sure how in the heck President Clinton's
word-for-word rationale for bombing Saddam could be considered
"cherry-picked" as Josh Marshall puts it.
I just don't think there is any question that Joshua Micah Marshall's
beloved Bill Clinton laid the groundwork for George W. Bush's Iraq
invasion. He most certainly did. As my granddad used to tell me, "the
proof of the pudding is in the eating".
Chew on that for a while, Mr. Marshall.
Joshua Frank is the author of Left Out!: How Liberals Helped Reelect
George W. Bush, published by Common Courage Press. You can order a copy at
a discounted rate at www.brickburner.org. Joshua can be reached at
Joshua [at] brickburner.org.
Listen to an interview with Joshua Frank about Left Out! from KUCI's (CA)
Weekly Signals program. Read an excellent review of Left Out! by Adam
Engel.
--------23 of 24--------
The Rise of America's New Enemy
By John Pilger
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 10 November 2005
I was dropped at Paradiso, the last middle-class area before barrio La
Vega, which spills into a ravine as if by the force of gravity. Storms
were forecast, and people were anxious, remembering the mudslides that
took 20,000 lives. "Why are you here?" asked the man sitting opposite me
in the packed jeep-bus that chugged up the hill. Like so many in Latin
America, he appeared old, but wasn't. Without waiting for my answer, he
listed why he supported President Chavez: schools, clinics, affordable
food, "our constitution, our democracy" and "for the first time, the oil
money is going to us." I asked him if he belonged to the MRV, Chavez's
party, "No, I've never been in a political party; I can only tell you how
my life has been changed, as I never dreamt."
It is raw witness like this, which I have heard over and over again in
Venezuela, that smashes the one-way mirror between the west and a
continent that is rising. By rising, I mean the phenomenon of millions of
people stirring once again, "like lions after slumber / In un-vanquishable
number", wrote the poet Shelley in The Mask of Anarchy. This is not
romantic; an epic is unfolding in Latin America that demands our attention
beyond the stereotypes and cliches that diminish whole societies to their
degree of exploitation and expendability.
To the man in the bus, and to Beatrice whose children are being
immunized and taught history, art and music for the first time, and
Celedonia, in her seventies, reading and writing for the first time, and
Jose whose life was saved by a doctor in the middle of the night, the
first doctor he had ever seen, Hugo Chavez is neither a "firebrand" nor an
"autocrat" but a humanitarian and a democrat who commands almost two
thirds of the popular vote, accredited by victories in no less than nine
elections. Compare that with the fifth of the British electorate that
re-installed Blair, an authentic autocrat.
Chavez and the rise of popular social movements, from Colombia down to
Argentina, represent bloodless, radical change across the continent,
inspired by the great independence struggles that began with Simon
Bolivar, born in Venezuela, who brought the ideas of the French Revolution
to societies cowed by Spanish absolutism. Bolivar, like Che Guevara in the
1960s and Chavez today, understood the new colonial master to the north.
"The USA," he said in 1819, "appears destined by fate to plague America
with misery in the name of liberty."
At the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001, George W Bush
announced the latest misery in the name of liberty in the form of a Free
Trade Area of the Americas treaty. This would allow the United States to
impose its ideological "market", neo-liberalism, finally on all of Latin
America. It was the natural successor to Bill Clinton's North American
Free Trade Agreement, which has turned Mexico into an American sweatshop.
Bush boasted it would be law by 2005.
On 5 November, Bush arrived at the 2005 summit in Mar del Plata,
Argentina, to be told his FTAA was not even on the agenda. Among the 34
heads of state were new, un-compliant faces and behind all of them were
populations no longer willing to accept US-backed business tyrannies.
Never before have Latin American governments had to consult their people
on pseudo-agreements of this kind; but now they must.
In Bolivia, in the past five years, social movements have got rid of
governments and foreign corporations alike, such as the tentacular
Bechtel, which sought to impose what people call total locura capitalista
- total capitalist folly - the privatizing of almost everything,
especially natural gas and water. Following Pinochet's Chile, Bolivia was
to be a neo-liberal laboratory. The poorest of the poor were charged up to
two-thirds of their pittance-income even for rain-water.
Standing in the bleak, freezing, cobble-stoned streets of El Alto,
14,000 feet up in the Andes, or sitting in the breeze-block homes of
former miners and campesinos driven off their land, I have had political
discussions of a kind seldom ignited in Britain and the US. They are
direct and eloquent. "Why are we so poor," they say, "when our country is
so rich? Why do governments lie to us and represent outside powers?" They
refer to 500 years of conquest as if it is a living presence, which it is,
tracing a journey from the Spanish plunder of Cerro Rico, a hill of silver
mined by indigenous slave labor and which underwrote the Spanish Empire
for three centuries. When the silver was gone, there was tin, and when the
mines were privatized in the 1970s at the behest of the IMF, tin
collapsed, along with 30,000 jobs. When the coca leaf replaced it - in
Bolivia, chewing it in curbs hunger - the Bolivian army, coerced by the
US, began destroying the coca crops and filling the prisons.
In 2000, open rebellion burst upon the white business oligarchs and
the American embassy whose fortress stands like an Andean Vatican in the
centre of La Paz. There was never anything like it, because it came from
the majority Indian population "to protect our indigenous soul". Naked
racism against indigenous peoples all over Latin America is the Spanish
legacy. They were despised or invisible, or curios for tourists: the women
in their bowler hats and colorful skirts. No more. Led by visionaries like
Oscar Olivera, the women in bowler hats and colorful skirts encircled and
shut down the country's second city, Cochabamba, until their water was
returned to public ownership.
Every year since, people have fought a water or gas war: essentially a
war against privatization and poverty. Having driven out President Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada in 2003, Bolivians voted in a referendum for real
democracy. Through the social movements they demanded a constituent
assembly similar to that which founded Chavez's Bolivarian revolution in
Venezuela, together with the rejection of the FTAA and all the other "free
trade" agreements, the expulsion of the transnational water companies and
a 50 per cent tax on the exploitation of all energy resources.
When the replacement president, Carlos Mesa, refused to implement the
program he was forced to resign. Next month, there will be presidential
elections and the opposition Movement to Socialism (MAS) may well turn out
the old order. The leader is an indigenous former coca farmer, Evo
Morales, whom the American ambassador has likened to Osama Bin Laden. In
fact, he is a social democrat who, for many of those who sealed off
Cochabamba and marched down the mountain from El Alto, moderates too much.
"This is not going to be easy," Abel Mamani, the indigenous president
of the El Alto Neighborhood Committees, told me. "The elections won't be a
solution even if we win. What we need to guarantee is the constituent
assembly, from which we build a democracy based not on what the US wants,
but on social justice." The writer Pablo Solon, son of the great political
muralist Walter Solon, said, "The story of Bolivia is the story of the
government behind the government. The US can create a financial crisis;
but really for them it is ideological; they say they will not accept
another Chavez."
The people, however, will not accept another Washington quisling. The
lesson is Ecuador, where a helicopter saved Lucio Gutierrez as he fled the
presidential palace last April. Having won power in alliance with the
indigenous Pachakutik movement, he was the "Ecuadorian Chavez", until he
drowned in a corruption scandal. For ordinary Latin Americans, corruption
on high is no longer forgivable. That is one of two reasons the Workers'
Party government of Lula is barely marking time in Brazil; the other is
the priority he has given to an IMF economic agenda, rather than his own
people. In Argentina, social movements saw off five pro-Washington
presidents in 2001 and 2002. Across the water in Uruguay, the Frente
Amplio, socialist heirs to the Tupamaros, the guerrillas of the 1970s who
fought one of the CIA's most vicious terror campaigns, formed a popular
government last year.
The social movements are now a decisive force in every Latin American
country - even in the state of fear that is the Colombia of Alvaro Uribe
Velez, Bush's most loyal vassal. Last month, indigenous movements marched
through every one of Colombia's 32 provinces demanding an end to "an evil
as great at the gun": neo-liberalism. All over Latin America, Hugo Chavez
is the modern Bolivar. People admire his political imagination and his
courage. Only he has had the guts to describe the United States as a
source of terrorism and Bush as Senior Peligro (Mr. Danger). He is very
different from Fidel Castro, whom he respects. Venezuela is an
extraordinarily open society with an unfettered opposition - that is rich
and still powerful. On the left, there are those who oppose the state, in
principle, believe its reforms have reached their limit, and want power to
flow directly from the community. They say so vigorously, yet they support
Chavez. A fluent young anarchist, Marcel, showed me the clinic where the
two Cuban doctors may have saved his girlfriend. (In a barter arrangement,
Venezuela gives Cuba oil in exchange for doctors).
At the entrance to every barrio there is a state supermarket, where
everything from staple food to washing up liquid costs 40 per cent less
than in commercial stores. Despite specious accusations that the
government has instituted censorship, most of the media remains violently
anti-Chavez: a large part of it in the hands of Gustavo Cisneros, Latin
America's Murdoch, who backed the failed attempt to depose Chavez. What is
striking is the proliferation of lively community radio stations, which
played a critical part in Chavez's rescue in the coup of April 2002 by
calling on people to march on Caracas.
While the world looks to Iran and Syria for the next Bush attack,
Venezuelans know they may well be next. On 17 March, the Washington Post
reported that Feliz Rodriguez, "a former CIA operative well-connected to
the Bush family" had taken part in the planning of the assassination of
the President of Venezuela. On 16 September, Chavez said, "I have evidence
that there are plans to invade Venezuela. Furthermore, we have
documentation: how many bombers will over-fly Venezuela on the day of the
invasion . . . the US is carrying out maneuvers on Curacao Island. It is
called Operation Balboa." Since then, leaked internal Pentagon documents
have identified Venezuela as a "post-Iraq threat" requiring "full
spectrum" planning.
The old-young man in the jeep, Beatrice and her healthy children and
Celedonia with her "new esteem", are indeed a threat - the threat of an
alternative, decent world that some lament is no longer possible. Well, it
is, and it deserves our support.
--------24 of 24--------
Here in the belly
of the beast we smell it as
it belies itself
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar
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