Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 11.15.05

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     11.15.05

1. AsianAm women       11.16 8:30am
2. Jesse Mortenson 64A 11.16 10am
3. Yoo/torture/demos   11.16 12noon/6:30pm
4. PRT                 11.16 7pm

5. Eagan peace vigil   11.17 4:30pm
6. Small is beautiful  11.17 5pm
7. Environ policy      11.17 6pm
8. Sultan/Beirut       11.17 7pm
9. Women/violence      11.17 7pm
10. Global health/tv   11.17 7pm
11. Wal-Mart/film      11.17 7pm
12. US Empire          11.17 7pm
13. Imperial amnesia   11.17 7pm
14. Living wages       11.17 7pm
15. Holocaust oratorio 11.17 7:30pm
16. Wetterling/Iraq    11.17 8pm
17. Kirk Kelly/JoeHill 11.17 8pm

18. Lydia Howell   - Torture in your name
19. Michael DeLang - The terms of my surrender
20. ed             - Haiku for torturer Yoo

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From: "Krista Menzel (Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace)" <web [at] mppeace.org>
Subject: AsianAm women 11.16 8:30am

Gender and Equity for Asian American Woman: Wednesday November 16th from
8:30 am -9:30 am at the Midtown YWCA, 2121 E Lake Street, Minneapolis MN.
What are the experiences and realities of Asian American Women? Hear the
truths about their circumstances, and be amazed and inspired by what you
will find as get to know them. Register by November 14th by contacting
Heidi at (612) 337-5010 or <mailto:heidi [at] wfmn.org>heidi [at] wfmn.org.


--------2 of 20--------

From: Jesse Mortenson <jessemortenson [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Mortenson 64A 11.16 10am

Dear Greens and supporters,

I'm happy to announce that I'm running for Minnesota House of
Representatives seat 64A in St. Paul next year. I will be seeking the
endorsement of the party that I have given much of my last several years
of free time to; the party led by people who believe in values like
nonviolence and ecological wisdom and actually sticking to them: the Green
Party.

I'll be making the official announcement this Wednesday the 16th, at 10
AM, in room 125 of the State Capitol building. I'd love for you to come
down and join me in celebrating the kickoff of the next political year for
Greens in St. Paul.

http://www.jessemortenson.com for more information

I live in the precinct where Elizabeth Dickinson won the most votes in the
primary election. District 64A is very green, but it's going to take
starting early and going strong all the way to the election to win this
seat. Moreover, we need to sustain and build on the strength that
Elizabeth's campaign earned us. I think this race is a good opportunity to
do that. It will be an open seat, as DFLer and current occupant Matt
Entenza has announced that he's running for Attorney General next year.

If you want to help, visit my website now to sign up and let me know how
you can volunteer or pledge a contribution:
http://www.jessemortenson.com/?q=volunteer

I want to build a campaign that is fun, champions the fundamental changes
we want to see in our society, seeks out innovative ideas, and builds the
party here in St. Paul. Specifically I'm starting out with three issues
that I care deeply about:

--Help Local Businesses Send Wal-Mart Packing: I helped to organize St.
Paul against the Wal-Mart that moved into St. Paul last year, and I helped
to start the Metro Independent Business Alliance. We need to grow our
local economy, not Wal-Mart's or other big box stores' stock prices.

--Bring Home the Minnesota National Guard: If elected I will introduce
legislation calling on the Governor to do everything possible to bring
home the Minnesota Guard from Iraq, and to require the Governor to refuse
future foreign deployments as is his right to do as state
Commander-in-Chief.

--Provide Healthcare for All: As a young person and a small business
owner, I understand some of why a third of a million Minnesotans have no
health insurance. For many small businesses it is too costly and confusing
to deal with. For thousands of Minnesotans, it plain isn't an option. We
need healthcare for all without the administrative waste perpetuated by
the insurance industry.

Please contact me as soon as you can to let me know how you'd like to help
out. I want your help to build my platform and campaign.

Jesse Mortenson Merriam Park, St. Paul 651-647-4261
jessemortenson [at] gmail.com


--------3 of 20--------

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 08:46:45 -0600
From: R. Terence Lamb <rtlamb [at] usfamily.net>
Subject: Yoo/torture/demos 11.16 12noon/6:30pm

Confront torture advocate John Yoo!

Wednesday, Nov. 16, protest the appearance of John Yoo, author of Justice
Department memos justifying torture:

12noon Univ. of St. Thomas Law School, 1000 LaSalle Ave., Minneapolis;

6:30pm Univ. of Minnesota Law School, Mondale Hall (West Bank) 229 19th
Ave. S. Mpls.

Yoo was the principal author of memos asserting that the protection
accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions did not apply to
members of Al-Qaida or the Taliban.  The most scandalous of the torture
memos, dated August 1, 2002, declared that "physical pain amounting to
torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious
physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or
even death."

The memos paved the way for the torture, and sometimes the killing, of
prisoners seized by the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Further, Bush and Cheney affirm Yoo's reasoning in opposing Senator
McCain's measure that would ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of
prisoners held by the military - which is already against American law and
a longstanding treaty.  They threaten a veto of any legislation which
includes the McCain amendment - unless the president is given the power to
allow government agencies outside the Defense Department (the C.I.A.) to
torture prisoners as long as that behavior was part of "counter terrorism
operations conducted abroad" and they were not American citizens.  (For
information call: Bob Lamb, 612-729-3106 or FNVW, 651-917-0383.)

---
From: Lynne Mayo <lynnne [at] usfamily.net>

Anti-Torture Demonstrations: NOTE THE CHANGE IN TIME FOR GATHERING FOR
THE EVENING PROTEST.

Second Anti-Torture Demo: 6:30pm. University of Minnesota Mondale Law
School, Minneapolis. Sponsored by WAMM Tackling Torture at the Top (3T)
and other organizations.  WE WILL BE MEETING IN FRONT OF THE DOORS at the
Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Ave. South, Mpls: 6:30PM.  John Yoo will be
speaking at 7pm. Contact Phone number: 612-722-1165.  Leave a message.


--------4 of 20--------

From: Andrea Walker <walk828 [at] gmail.com>
Subject: PRT 11.16 7pm

7pm Wednesday Nov 16
Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit
This meeting is going to be in the  Shakopee Police Department
Training/Community Room, 475 Gorman Street, Shakopee, MN.

Personal Rapid Transit is an automated transportation system where
passengers ride in 2 to 4 person vehicles on elevated guideways non-stop
from where they started all the way to their destination. The guideways
provide a network not unlike our current system of freeways except that
the vehicles on the guideways are all computer controlled. This allows
optimum use of the time and space, (no traffic jams, no accidents) and all
merging and exiting to off-line stations is handled automatically.  come
learn more about this innovative technology.


--------5 of 20--------

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 11.17 4:30pm

CANDLELIGHT PEACE VIGIL EVERY THURSDAY from 4:30-5:30pm on the Northwest
corner of Pilot Knob Road and Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan. We have signs
and candles. Say "NO to war!" The weekly vigil is sponsored by: Friends
south of the river speaking out against war.


--------6 of 20--------

From: Jesse Mortenson <jmortenson [at] Macalester.edu>
Subject: Small is beautiful 11.17 5pm

11.17 5pm
Cahoots coffeehouse
Selby 1/2 block east of Snelling in StPaul

Limit bigboxes, chain stores, TIF, corporate welfare, billboards; promote
small business and co-ops, local production & self-sufficiency.


--------7 of 20--------

From: Ady Wickstrom <awickstrom [at] lwvmn.org>
Subject: Environ policy 11.17 6pm

Building a Safer World and the Role of Environmental Policy Making
Thursday, November 17
Reception:  6-7pm.   Panel Presentation and Discussion: 7-8:30pm.
University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus -- Continuing Education Conference
Center
1890 Buford Avenue South, St. Paul, MN  55108

The impacts of high profile natural disasters like the tsunami in Sri
Lanka or Hurricane Katrina in the U. S. A. are compounded by pre-existing
environmental damage.

How does environmental policy interact with preparedness and response to
disaster? What are the effects on the people, economy, and social services
in our shared global world? How can environmental policy be shaped and
integrated into development policy to mitigate damage from natural
disasters?

What types of international environmental norms would facilitate planning
for disaster preparedness and response?  How can we as nations strive to
integrate environmental policy with economic and development activities?

Speakers will include:
 Fatimata Moroh Diakite, Niger Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow on Policy as
Cause
 Sarath Jayamanne, Sri Lanka Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow on Policy as
Response
 Sanjay Kundu, India Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow on Policy as Preparation
 Robert Munson, Director, Emergency Services Minneapolis Red Cross
International humanitarian disaster relief efforts from the U.S.
perspective
 Professor Elizabeth Wilson, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs on
Integration of Policy Perspectives

Directions: http://www.cce.umn.edu/conferencecenter/directions.html
For more information:  www.thepeoplespeak.org or www.lwvmn.org  or call
651-224-5445

Event is free and open to the public.  Please RSVP:  IFP [at] hhh.umn.edu

This event is funded by a grant from THE PEOPLE SPEAK and the LEAGUE OF
WOMEN VOTERS EDUCATION FUND in cooperation with the Hubert H. Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Ady Wickstrom office: (651) 224-5445 LWVMN Webmaster home:  (651) 780-5245
email: awickstrom [at] lwvmn.org / webmaster [at] lwvmn.org website: www.lwvmn.org


--------8 of 20--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Sultan/Beirut 11.17 7pm

Thursday November 17, 7pm.
Cathy Sultan
A Beirut Heart: One Woman's War

AMAZON Bookstore, 4755 Chicago Ave. S.,Minneapolis

The unforgettable story of an American woman who lived amidst the Lebanese
Civil War for eight years and through it all attempted to sustain a life
with her Lebanese husband and two small children.  A Beirut Heart offers a
unique illustration of the unsung heroes of war - the women who assume the
awesome task of keeping the family united during war time.

Cathy Sultan is also the author of Israeli and Palestinian Voices: A
Dialogue with Both Sides. She and her husband reside in Eau Claire,
Wisconsin. Sultan currently sits on the Executive Board at the National
Peace Foundation where she directs Middle East educational projects. She
is also involved with "Women in Black" - a group that stands in silent
vigil to protest war, ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses-and is in
the process of writing another book about the Middle East.


--------9 of xc--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Women/violence 11.17 7pm

Women's Human Rights Film Series
The Women's Human Rights Program at Minnesota Advocates and The Friends
of the Saint Paul Public Library present Women's Human Rights Film Series.
Free and open to the public. All films begin at 7pm

November 17 at the Arlington Hills Branch Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street:
Basta! Women Say No to Violence, the personal stories of more than a
dozen survivors of violence, who share the steps they took to overcome
abusive situations. After the film, Minnesota Advocates staff attorney
Rebecca Palmer will facilitate discussion and include a brief presentation
on the Battered Refugee and Immigrant Women Project, addressing domestic
violence in the refugee and immigrant community here in the Twin Cities.

November 29 at the Hamline Midway Branch Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha
Avenue: "Peace by Peace: Women on the Frontlines", a documentary that
celebrates women who work to build peace out of conflict and crisis.
Malinda Schmiechen, staff attorney in Minnesota Advocates' Refugee and
Immigrant Program, will facilitate discussion after the film.

Sign language interpretation and other accommodations are available with
advance notice. To request this service, contact The Friends at
651-222-3242 or friends [at] thefriends.org
For more information, contact Mary Hunt at 612-341-3302, ext. 107,
mhunt [at] mnadvocates.org, or visit The Friends at www.thefriends.org


--------10 of 20--------

From: Lee Dechert <LDechert [at] tpt.org>
Subject: Global health/tv 11.17 7pm

For those who get NOW's weekly previews, or may have visited NOW's Web
site, the one-hour NOW special, "Global Health: America's Response," that
PBS will air 11/17, 7-8pm on tpt-17; it precedes a repeat of "Rx For
Survival 101," the first two hours of the terrific six-hour PBS series
that concludes tonight on tpt-2; it has an equally informative Web site.


--------11 of 20--------

From: Madeleine Baran <madeleine.baran [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Wal-Mart/film 11;17 7pm

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price Set To Debut in Minneapolis Thursday,
Nov. 17 th 7pm
Minneapolis Screening One of Over 3,000 Across the Nation;
Part of National Premiere Week to Debut New Greenwald Film
www.WalMartMovie.com <http://www.walmartmovie.com/>\

Minneapolis - The controversial new film *Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low
Price* will debut in Minneapolis Nov. 17th as part of Wal-Mart Premiere
Week, an unprecedented grassroots effort that will see over 3,000
screenings across the nation from November 13-19, 2005.

The screening - on Thursday, November 17, 2005, at 7pm - will take place
at Arise Bookstore, 2441 Lyndale Ave S, in Minneapolis. Immediately
following, there will be a group discussion about the effect Wal-Mart is
having on Minneapolis, and the entire nation.

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is the newest film from director
and producer Robert Greenwald, and the first from his new venture, Brave
New Films.

The film takes the viewer on a deeply personal journey into the every day
lives of families struggling to fight against a goliath. From a small
business owner in the Missouri to a preacher in California, from workers
in Florida to a poet in Mexico, dozens of film crews on three continents
bring the story of an assault of families and American values. Current and
former employees, managers and executives will tell all about the
corporation's inner-workings. *Wal-Mart* is based on individual human
beings, all over the world, at all levels of society, telling their story
in very personal terms.

 The event is open to the media. Please RSVP to attend. You can RSVP online
at: http://action.bravenewfilms.org/event/wm_screening.jsp?event_KEY=7625

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price *screening and conversation
Arise Bookstore, 2441 Lyndale Ave S. Mpls
Thursday, November 17, 2005, at 7:00 pm


--------12 of 20--------

From: Joe Schwartzberg <schwa004 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: US Empire 11.17 7pm

THIRD THURSDAY GLOBAL ISSUES FORUM
Thursday November 17,  7-9pm
Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Avenue Minneapolis
(at Lyndale & Hennepin). Free parking in church parking lot.
Free and open to the public.

THE POLITICS AND RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS OF U.S. EMPIRE

On their 2003 Christmas card Dick and Lynn Cheney cite the following
question based a brief passage in Matthew's Gospel: "And if a sparrow
cannot fall to the ground without His [God's] notice, is it probable that
an empire can rise without His aid?" U.S. Empire, in this view, reflects
God's will and intent.  This presentation will examine the nuts and bolts
of imperial politics, including reasons for the invasion and occupation of
Iraq, and will also explore the destructive expressions of Christianity
that fuel imperial ambitions.

Presenter:  JACK NELSON-PALLMEYER. Jack holds a Master of Divinity degree
from New York's Union Theological Seminary. He is a powerful speaker and
the author of many articles and books on faith, hunger, the arms race and
U.S. foreign policy. His most recent books are Worship in the Spirit of
Jesus: Theology, Liturgy, and Songs without Violence, coauthored with Bret
Hesla, and, Saving Christianity from Empire. Jack, has extensive overseas
experience, served as National Program Coordinator of the Politics of Food
Program with Clergy & Laity Concerned (1977-81) and directed the
Lutheran-sponsored, Minnesota-based Hunger and Justice Project (1982-84).
Now an Associate Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University
of St. Thomas, Jack is also active in the faith-based Community of St.
Martin.


--------13 of 20--------

From: rachleff <rachleff [at] macalester.edu>
Subject: Imperial amnesia 11.17 7pm

Public talk
Imperial Amnesia: Race and Multiculturalism in a Global City
by Biju Mathew
At the Macalester Chapel Macalester College
Thursday, Nov. 17 7:00 pm

author of Taxi! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City/
Biju Mathew, a professor of business at Rider University and longstanding
organizer of the New York Taxi Workers' Alliance, will speak about the
politics of race, immigration and empire as these intersect in the taxi
industry of NewYork City.  Mathew's analysis, rooted in his close
interactions with the drivers of New York City's taxis, reveals the story
of an industry that has come to typify the ruthless exploitation of modern
business. Come hear the the author speak about the themes presented in his
new book /Taxi!/: the political task of immigrant labor organizing,
gender, race, multiculturalism, the neo-liberal political economy, and the
imaginaries that fuel global cities like New York.

/Co-ponsored by the Departments of American Studies, Religious Studies,
and History at Macalester College, The Dean of Academic Programs Office,
South Asian Progressive Alliance, and The Mellon-Mays Undergraduate
Fellowship Program/


--------14 of 20--------

From: Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council <kyle [at] mplscluc.com>
Subject: Living wages 11.17 7pm

Last week, a strong coalition of labor, community, and faith groups
successfully pushed a Living Wage Ordinance through the Minneapolis City
Council. One of the coalition partners, ISAIAH, is hosting a special
inter-faith worship service to celebrate and give thanks for our success.
Please join us!

"For the Just Reward of Labor, We Give Thanks!"

Thursday, November 17
7-8:30pm
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 2315 Chicago Ave.

ISAIAH congregations, public officials and Living Wage Coalition members
join together for an evening of song, ritual and celebration. We'll give
thanks for the campaign we've won together, for work and workers and a
just reward for labor. And we'll acknowledge that we do it all inthe grace
and guidance of a Greater God.

ISAIAH is people of faith acting powerfully in the world, casting a
stirring vision of a vital faith community that has the courage to
declare, commit and act upon a set of values. For more information on
ISAIAH, go to http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/qpzRu1Y1Rcg7/.


--------15 of 20--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Holocaust oratorio 11.17 7:30pm

Thursday, 11/17, 7:30 pm, world premier of Basilica Holocaust Memorial
Oratorio with MN Orchestra, Basilica Cathedral and others, at Basilica of
St. Mary, Minneapolis.  www.minnesotaorchestra.org or 612-371-5656.


--------16 of 20--------

From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Wetterling/Iraq 11.17 8pm

Patty Wetterling supports a troop withdrawal date, calling for the
Administration to end our involvement in Iraq by Thanksgiving 2006.  That
makes Patty one of the first Senate Candidates to announce support for a
serious exit strategy from Iraq.  As you know, most Senate Democrats don't
have a position on Iraq, and many of them still support the war there.
Many of us in the peace group movement are way ahead of Washington
politicians on Iraq, so when a candidate takes a courageous stand on Iraq
and troop withdrawal, we need to do more than believe in the cause, we
need to take action.  Check out her detailed position at
<http://www.pattywetterling.com/blog/?displayType=1&id=29>http://www.pattywetterling.com/blog/?displayType=1&id=29

Patty Wetterling will be in Woodbury November 17, at 8 pm, so we invite
you to come and meet her and thank her for her courageous stand on the
Iraq war.

Let her know how much we appreciate her position.  With your enthusiasm,
lets turn the attention of the Minnesota Senate campaign onto this
important issue. The time is right, with the majority in the country
opposing President Bush, and Patty's move is smart and courageous.

For more information on Patty's stand, go to:
<http://www.pattywetterling.com/blog/?displayType=1&id=29>http://www.pattywetterling.com/blog/?displayType=1&id=29

Meet Patty Wetterling at Woodbury City Hall, Valley Creek Rd and Radio
Drive Thursday November 17, 8 pm

This event is a part of the regular Senate District 56 monthly meeting,
and Patty will speak from approximately 8 to 8:30 pm.

For more local information call scot at 651 430 9111
earthmannow [at] comcast.net


--------17 of 20--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Kirk Kelly/Joe HIll 11.17 8pm

New York-based singer/songwriter Kirk Kelly, dubbed "a modern day son of
Joe Hill" by the Village Voice, Thur Nov 17, 8pm at the Black Dog Cafe,
308 Prince Street, Lowertown St. Paul. No charge for admission. For
information, call 651/295-4521. e-mail: richb [at] lakecast.com


--------18 of 20--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Torture In Your Name

TORTURE IN YOUR NAME
a commentary by Lydia Howell
(independent journalist & host of KFAI's "Catalyst")

Since the release of photographs of U.S. soliders brutalizing Iraquis in
Saddam Hussien's most infamous dungeon, Abu Graibe, Americans can not
credibly say "we did not know torture is being committed in our name".

But, until very recently, public discourse has been primarily
hair-splitting between what's considered actual torture and minimalizing
what we saw as "only" abuse. It reminds me a bit of the differences in how
our legal system deals with rape: if a woman is sexually assaulted by a
stranger, it's a serious crime; if she knows her attacker - which is the
case 80% of the time - it's likely to be trivialzed or not believed at
all.

The Monday, Nov.14th edition of ABC's NIGHTLINE interviewed two Iraqui
businessmen who were arrested, by American soldiers and held several
months. You decide if what they described is torture or not:

*Beaten during arrest.
*Threatened with being put into a cage with lions.
*Being forced to run between a gauntlet of soldiers and hit with
sticks.
*Mock executions with prisoners lined up agianst a wall and soldiers
firing above their heads---laughing.
*Deprived of food, water and sleep for days
*Repeatedly shocked with a stun gun, causing unconsciousness
*Threatened with dogs
*Being denied the toilet and then, when allowed, taken there by members
of the opposite sex
*Forced to be stripped naked for days
*Being hooded
*Having one's genitals roughly groped
*Being threatened with rape

ALL of these actions are considered torture by the Geneva Convention,
internal human rights law that the U.S. has signed on to and also American
laws.

An unnamed Army official told NIGHTLINE only that the claim of being
"threatend by a lion was not credible". The official did not comment at
all on any other aspect of the Iraqui men's account of their ordeal.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that 28 men have died while being held by
the U.S. military.

The two men have, w/the ACLU and Human Rights First, have filed a lawsuite
against Sec. of State Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld has alternately denied any
torture takes place, that Abu Graibe was the work of a "few bad apples"
and that it was only "abuse" anyway. George Bush threatens to VETO Sen.
John McCaine's amanedment BANNING torture and Dick Cheney has been
strong-arming members of Congress to reject McCain's amanedment.

Meanwhile the American people are all too silent.

Also on Monday, Nov.14th, Sen.Lindsey Graham, who supported McCain's
torture ban, has pushed through another amendment which destroys a pillar
of basic human rights and the U.S. Constitution: those that Bush calls
"enemy combatants" and "terrorists" are to be denied habeas corpus. This
Latin term means "holding the body" and has existed since the 13th century
Magana Carta and is also in the US Constitution. It means due proces -
that is, no person can be inprisoned without access to the the courts to
determine if the State has a legitamate reasaon to hold them. The Bush
Adminstration has said none of these so-called "enemy combatants" has a
right to a lawyer though though persistent effort lawyers have seen some
prisoners.

At Gitmo, of the 520 men held there, 200 are on hunger strike. Their plea
is simply to have a trial. They've said they would rather starve
themselves to death than live under the daily torture.

Some of my fellow Americans say "The terrorists deserve no rights" - and
that is, Bush and Graham's argument as well. But, it's a circular one,
since no more than a handful of the THOUSANDS held in Afganistan, Iraq and
Guantanamo Bay have been determined to be actual terrorists. At Abu
Graibe, 70-90% of those held there were found to be INNOCENT of ANY crime
- except being Iraqui. The two Iraqui businessmen on NIGHTLINE were also
relased as innocent.

Sadly, it is NOT unusal that many Americans are willing to allow brutal
human rights abuses to be committed by those we've "authorized" to committ
violence. The beatings the two Iraqui men suffered are similar to what
thousands of of people - most of them people of color - endure every year
at the hands of police in America. In Minneapolis alone, one person a week
reports police bruality to the NAACP. The US Justise Dept. says that about
350 people a year are KILLED by police. It's no mere conicidence that two
of the U.S. soldiers convicted of crimes at Abu Graibe had previously been
prison guards. In 1998, Amnesty Intnational finally reported on the
widespread human rights abuses in the United States - brutality committed
by police, border patrol and prison guards.Unless souch violence is caught
on video tape - as with Rodney King or recently, the retired teacher in
New Orleans, white Americans tend to blame the victims for police
brutality. The 2 million people in American prisoners are INVISIBLE.

Anyone who's followed the annual efforts to close down the US Army's Scool
of the Americas at Ft.Benning,Georgia knows that our government has a LONG
history of teaching torture techniques to Latin American militaries.
Torture was certainly a practice in the Vietnam War - not only by the
North Vietnamese but also by U.S. soldiers.

There are hundreds more gruesome trophy pictures taken by U.S. soldiers
at Abu Graibe that the Pentagon has fought being released.

But, we've all seen the hooded Iraqui man standing on a box with
electrircal wires attached to him. We've seen the police dogs attacking
naked men. We've seen the grinning thumbs up over a dead prisoner's corpse.

The arguemnt has often been made that the majorty of Americans will act
with human decency IF they only KNOW what their government is doing.

I've seen more than enough to know that torture is being committed in my
name and it must be stopped. Will my fellow Americans remain silent - like
all those so-called "good Germans" who did nothing as atrocities were
committed by their government using rationales about Jews and other groups
being a danger to the State? Will we believe our eyes and loudly call our
government to account?

I put the video of Rodney King next to the photographs from Abu Graibe
and tremble with fear and outrage for my country.

*TAKE ACTION*

PROTEST TORTURE WED NOV 16

Wednesday, November 16, 12 NOON, St. Thomas Law School, 1000 LaSalle
St.,downtown Minneapolis
(Parking in St. Thomas Law School ramp adjacent).

1st Demo Against John Yoo, and his counterpart Robert Delahunty who
teaches at the University of St. Thomas Law School. Both men were in the
U.S. Justice Dept. and wrote memos offering legal rationale for the use of
torture. John Yoo will also be speaking at the University of Minnesota Law
School the same day at 7pm. Help needed with handing out literature
educating on and opposing torture.

*2nd Anti-Torture Demo: 6:30pm. University of Minnesota Mondale Law
School,Minneapolis. Sponsored by WAMM Tackling Torture at the Top (3T) and
other organizations.  WE WILL BE MEETING IN FRONT OF THE DOORS at the
Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Ave. South, Mpls: 6:30PM.  (John Yoo will
be speaking at 7pm.)

*Contact Phone number: 612-722-1165.  Leave a message.
EMAIL (to get on info list) Tackling Torture at the Top<t3 [at] justcomm.org


--------19 of 20--------

The Terms Of My Surrender...
by Michael DeLang
Swans

For decades he had acted in the belief that his intellect and sensibility
led him to reject a world whose products were unbearable to either
intellect or sensibility, but were always available to criticism by the
same. But now... he was forced to concede that all his clear thinking and
stubborn adherence to the principles of 'sober ratiocination' counted for
nothing, since as long as this town, which he took to be representative of
the world, persisted in maintaining its lethal reality, that earthy muddy
smell he found such a particularly terrible trial would persist in
emanating from it. It was no use struggling; he had to understand that his
customary mode of wit was of no help to him here, for the phrases he
thought of failed abysmally to establish his proud superiority over the
world; the meaning of words had faded like the light in a run-down
flashlight; the objects words might have referred to crumbled under the
weight of the fifty or so years that had passed and given way to the
unlikely trappings of a ... stage-set in the face of which every sober
word and thought confusingly lost its meaning... In an empire that was
prepared to sweep away... not ignorance or opposition but whatever did not
fit,...he had nothing to do... He had lost all interest in what was
happening out here, in what calamity would follow the tide of rubbish, in
fact he had lost interest in everything except how someone that had
blundered into the arena might seek safer soil 'before the performance was
over', how he might disappear like 'a gentle melody in the midst of
cacophony' and be hidden away indoors, secreted where nobody could find
him; and this thought kept nagging away like some faint persistent
recollection that at least one figure representative of him - 'some
strangled, orphaned vaguely poetic sensibility' had, once upon a time,
really, quite physically existed.
-Laszlo Krasznahorkai, The Melancholy of Resistance

(Swans - October 24, 2005)  Several years ago, I sharply cut down on the
time I was spending gazing at the television set. It was due to no
specific conscious plan or objective. I was just finding myself with less
time for it and a declining level of interest. During this time of limited
viewing, I must have seen something that disgusted me so much that I just
simply shut it off for the last time, convinced that if there were
anything of any value at all being broadcast, it was just too
insignificant for me to bother searching out.

Then, last fall while I was visiting some friends in Phoenix who were kind
enough to put me up during my stay, I was re-exposed to television news
broadcasts. It was my hosts' daily ritual to sit with a cup of coffee
before the TV and gather in the morning news before heading off to their
jobs. On returning home from work in the early evening, the TV again was
turned on to catch up on any updates pertaining to roughly the same
stories to which they were treated in the morning. Usually a tolerant,
easy-going, go with the flow kind of a guy, I was a little surprised to
find myself unable to even stay in the room during these television
sessions, I had to remove myself to another part of the house until we got
together for dinner.

What drove me away wasn't as simple as the offense one sometimes takes
with a particularly obnoxious commercial which prompts a change of
channels or the turning off of a car radio. There was something more
profoundly disturbing in the experience; a more jarring assault on my
consciousness, opening a subtle, but real, rift in the fabric of my
perception and understanding.

It was sufficiently unsettling to me that I felt compelled to try to
analyze the experience and its underpinnings in an attempt to better
understand where it had come from and what it might mean. In the course of
my investigation and analysis I began to develop the sketch of a theory
that I believe to be relevant to the apparent disconnect I would sense
whenever I found myself exposed to broadcast news.

As part of my investigation and ongoing experiment, I have now also turned
off my radio, no longer read newspapers or magazines, and have abstained
from visiting web sites whose content is related to current events. My
wife tells me that the position I'm taking is unnecessarily extreme. But
when she says that I've thrown out the baby with the bathwater, I'm only
reminded of the classic line from Lynch's cult nightmare, Eraserhead, "If
it even is a baby, Mother."


Towards the beginning of our history as social beings, men and women
conducted their lives according to information about the space around them
as acquired through the medium of their own senses. Some actions may have
been influenced by the power of mythology and superstition, but for the
most part they lived in a finite, definable space and reacted to what they
saw, heard, smelled, and felt within that space. It was a small space, but
they knew it well and their means of gathering information about it proved
reliably sufficient for survival.

As bolder members of the tribe occasionally wandered far beyond the small
space inhabited by the tribe and returned with stories of their travels
and experiences of unfamiliar things, men received their first dose of
mediated information. These tales may have sparked a curiosity regarding a
world beyond the village, but likely would have had little other impact on
how men interacted with or understood the realities of the space they
occupied.

Much of this mediated information brought back by travelers may well have
also been met with a cautious measure of skepticism. But that initial
spark of curiosity regarding the beyond spurred further travel and
exploration, and, in time, as tales overlapped and corroborated other
received information gleaned from returned travelers, we began to adopt a
point of view that recognized and accepted the existence and reality of a
world greater than that we inhabited. Goods began to be exchanged, trade
routes were established, and the greater world began to have a practical
and tangible impact on the everyday lives of even those who chose to stay
at home.

Still, our behaviors and actions continued to be governed largely by
perceptions connected to our provincial surroundings. Centuries later, the
emergence of the telegraph and mass distributed newspapers greatly
increased both the volume and the currency of our access to mediated
information about the larger world. The occasional gap or discrepancy that
arose between the mediated data and that of direct experience could be,
and was, bridged by reason, and the empirically derived perspective
continued to hold sway. It proved to be a sensible balance which served us
tolerably well for a number of decades preceding the advent of the
electronic age.

It was the dawning of the broadcast era, I believe, which upset this
balance, and ushered us into what Huxley termed a "brave new world." Radio
quickly became a mesmerizing force easily accessible to the general
population. Television was supremely magical. The dispatches we received
each day from these enchanted sources shimmered with an immediacy and
assumed authority that was difficult to resist.

The machinery that served us the news took on a cloak of invisibility. Any
sense of the process of mediation was lost as the dynamic shifted, tipping
away from the influence of reason and experience in favor of an
unquestioning acceptance of the received news. Instead of trying to
rationally bridge the gaps between direct experience and the mediated
"facts," our cognitive faculties began to adapt to accommodate the blind
faith we'd developed in our new electronic sources.

The very way in which we process the information we receive gradually
evolved to eliminate the gaps by simply shutting down our response to any
empirical evidence that failed to fit comfortably into the provided
tableau. Like the proverbial frog in the pot of water being raised to
boiling one degree at a time, we failed to note that critical moment when
we finally surrendered our powers of observation and reason, shifting our
allegiance to a new and fully mediated world.

And it wasn't long before the purveyors of our stream of information began
to recognize the influence they had acquired over our behavior and
thinking, and moved to realize the potential profits and power of their
craft. More care was taken with the "packaging" of our news. Issues of
accuracy and relevancy became secondary to the primary job of holding our
attention long enough to sell the sponsor's product. Concurrent with these
changes, our cognitive processes continued to mutate and adapt to
accommodate the ever-widening gaps.

Because a majority of the key agents involved in providing our daily
stream of mediated information, (editors, copy writers, program directors,
broadcast producers, etc.) developed their skills in an already thriving
electronic environment, fully indoctrinated, nearly from birth, in their
allegiance to the world of packaged illusion, the levels of distortion and
disconnect are now growing exponentially. It seems we have created a true
artificial intelligence, continually mutating according to an internal
algorithm, and feeding on its own impetus, drawing its strength from our
collective inability to resist its hypnotic allure. It's a form of mind
control, to be sure. But no one is any longer manning the controls.
Consequently, we find ourselves daily awash in an amniotic sea of
unquestioned and heavily mediated information, riding a relentless tide
which is carrying us further and further from the shores on which our
human sensibilities once held root and blossomed with meaningful
connection.

Tens of thousands of people will, each day and for years to come, be
forced to live the daily reality of the loss and devastation visited on
them by the 2005 hurricane season. For the rest of us, the disaster ends
whenever as the networks conclude that the story has lost its punch, and
decide that it's time to hurry us along to the next spectacle or crisis.
Or, if our own volition comes into play first, when the thumb lands on the
channel button of the remote. I'm not saying that we have, as individuals,
lost the capacity to register and act on feelings of genuine compassion.
It's just that, as a society, we have become far too accustomed to the
conveniences offered by the optional version.

Half A Million Iraqi Children Starve To Death In Wake Of Western
Sanctions, click, Semen Stain On Lewinsky Garment Seals White House
Scandal, click, America Chooses Character Over Competence; Bush Wins Close
Election, click, Massive Vote Fraud Uncovered In Florida; Dems Shrug And
Slink Away To Begin Raising Funds For Next Campaign, click, US Economy
Circles The Drain; Bush Signs Over Tax Gift To Wealthy, click, Terrorist
Hijackers Attack WTC And Pentagon, Thousands Perish, click, Patriots Stun
Rams In Most Exciting Super Bowl Ever, click, Bill Of Rights Scrapped By
Patriot Act For Security; Mission Accomplished, click, Some Professional
Athletes May Use Performance Enhancing Drugs, click, Weapons Of Mass
Destruction; Saddam Must Go, Says Bush, click, Michael Jackson Arrested On
Molestation Charges, click, Facts Confirm WMD Evidence To Be Fabricated,
click, Jury Acquits Michael, click, Trade Agreements And Tax Cuts Push
American Worker Into Poverty, click, Saddarn Hussein Captured, click, Bush
Wins Re-Election In Closest Vote Ever, click, Massive Election Fraud
Confirmed In Ohio; Dems Shrug And Slink Away To Begin Raising Funds For
Next Campaign, click, Halliburton Receives Contract To Construct Camps And
Ovens For War Protesters And Other Recalcitrant Abettors Of Terrorism,
click, Ghost Of Lacey Weds Ghost Of Elvis, Gives Birth To Tiny Bearded
Nostradamus. Click, click, click, click, click.

BLOW UP YOUR TELEVISION. Rip out your cables and satellite dishes and
smash your radio. Shovel all of your newspapers and magazines into the
pile, douse generously with kerosene, and drop a match on the whole mess.
When the fire is plenty hot, toss your desktop computer atop the flames.
Following the conflagration, when all of the ashes, rubble, and mental
debris have been swept away, a solitary relevant question will remain.

Where from here? Which way to turn? On what moral or intellectual
framework will you hang the conduct of your remaining days once you have
come to understand that everything you know is wrong? As for myself, I'm
bugling retreat. I've engaged in a complete withdrawal from the
marketplace of political and social exchange, retiring to an unfurnished
cave whose reduced dimensions are better suited to my new perspective.
Many in the ranks of activism and social consciousness will rush to decry
my action as a coward's exit. While I'd not deny that there may well exist
an element of underlying truth in support of that characterization, I must
respond by stating, without equivocation, that after careful
consideration, I've made my choice acting on the absolute conviction that
any other path I might choose would only carry me on a fool's errand
anyhow.

In further pursuit of the reclamation of my humanity, I have enrolled in a
rehabilitation program of my own design. In keeping with Thoreau's
admonition to simplify, I've pared down the regimen to three basic
precepts, or steps. First, to act only on information gathered directly
through the agency of my own five senses. Next, to respect my neighbor
always. And finally, whenever it should occur that his need happens to
coincide with my ability, to help him with his load.


--------20 of 20--------

 Haiku for torturer Yoo

 Rue a new Yoo coup.
 Do not parlez vous with Yoo.
 Pew on Yoo. Screw Yoo.

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   - David Shove             shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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