Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 12.27.05

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    12.27.05

1. Zapatista/film       12.27 7:30pm

2. Union blood drive    12.28 2pm
3. Service/children/war 12.28 6:30pm
4. Amy Barankovich/bene 12.28 7pm
5. Political book club  12.28 7pm

 Best to check with the events with added ? after the date, for schedule.

6. Eagan peace vigil    12.29? 4:30pm

7. Counter recruit      12.30? 12noon
8. Palestine vigil      12.30? 4:15pm
9. POPoganda/film       12.30 7:15pm

10. Northtown vigil     12.31? 1pm

11. A patriotic proposal
12. Danny Schechter - It's time to honor our media heroes
13. Greg Szymanski  - UofM Philosophy professor joins 9/11 fight
14. Louis Proyect   - After the 2004 elections
15. Bolivia: Morales wins
16. ed              - Corporate big-wigs (poem, + news item)

--------1 of 16--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Zapatista/film 12.27 7:30pm

Tuesday, 12/27, 7:30 pm, free film "Storm from the Mountain," about
history and future of the Zapatista movement from Chiapas, Mexico, Mapps
Coffeehouse, 1810 Riverside Ave, Mpls.


--------2 of 16--------

From: stpaulunions.org <llwright [at] stpaulunions.org>
Subject: Union blood drive 12.28 2pm

GIVE A GIFT THAT'S PRICELESS!
Join us for our Annual Blood Drive
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
2-7pm
411 Main Street

To schedule an appointment that is convenient for you,
please call Kera at 651-222-3787 extension 18.

This drive is co-sponsored by:
St. Paul Area Trades and Labor Assembly
St. Paul AFL-CIO Community Services Committee
Greater Twin Cities United Way
American Red Cross/North Central Blood Services


--------3 of 16--------

From: braun044 <braun044 [at] tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Service/children/war 12.28 6:30pm

I invite you to the eighth annual Candlelight Service for the Children of
Iraq and Other Child Victims of War
Wednesday December 28, 6:30pm
St. Joan of Arc Church
4537 Third Avenue South in Minneapolis.

In this service, we will commemorate the children who have been and
continue to be victimized by war.  By keeping alive in our hearts the
memory of these innocent children, we hope to renew and re-energize our
resolve to change the conditions that caused their suffering and death.
And, so, in the midst of our struggles for peace and justice, we pause to
remember the children.

The Candlelight Service is also a call to action.

Last year at this time, we reported that the city of Falluja lay in ruins
. . . a recent report by the Italian state television revealed another
horrible truth about the attack on Falluja.  The United States used
incendiary white phosphorus munitions against men, women and children
during that siege.  White phosphorus, banned by the Treaty on Chemical
Weapons, burns bodies and melts the flesh right down to the bone, while
leaving one's clothes intact.

We continue to hear other very disturbing reports.  Human rights
organizations tell horrible stories of arrests, torture and the killing of
large numbers of civilians, stories of other cities being leveled, stories
which almost never find their way into the mainstream media. We have
learned of the infiltration of Iraqi's police force by Shiite militia
members, with hundreds of accounts of Sunni killings and abductions by
police officers affiliated with these militias.  We hear, too, of secret
prisons run by the Iraqi interim government, where people have been
illegally detained and exposed to beatings, torture and very cruel and
inhumane treatment.  Other reports talk of secret CIA prisons in Eastern
Europe and the administrations ongoing support of torture through vehicles
such as extraordinary rendition and the dismantling of habeas corpus.

We also learned recently about the alleged memo from President Bush to
Tony Blair indicating that the president wanted to bomb Al Jazeera, and
that the U.S. is paying journalists to write articles/plant propaganda in
the Iraqi media favorable to the war and occupation.

While President Bush talks of "victory" in Iraq, the situation for many
Iraqis has become unbearable.  The tragedy that has unfolded in Iraq is
all a part of what Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the madness of
militarism" and we must not remain silent in the face of these atrocities.
The attempt by the administration to make the unacceptable -- the
flattening of entire cities, legitimizing torture, the use of white
phosphorus and depleted uranium munitions, the killing of innocent
civilians -- acceptable will dehumanize all of us.

The hopeful news is that more and more people are calling for an end to
the war and occupation of Iraq, and reparations to the people of that
country who have suffered so much from two wars and thirteen years of
devastating sanctions.  Most Iraqis want the U.S. military out of their
country, and, at a recent meeting in Cairo, leaders of the major political
parties in Iraq asked the U.S. for a timetable for departure of U.S.
troops from their country.  While the people of Iraq will continue to
experience much suffering as a result of this devastating illegal and
immoral war and occupation, it seems clear that continued U.S. presence
will only exasperate the problem.

[The above is only the latest from the US ruling class, the main source of
the US Empire of Evil. It is time we taxed away their billions, and
rendered them incapable of buying the horrors described above. In
addition, we must destroy their tools of evil: end corporate personhood,
and break up big businesses into many small ones and co-ops. Then
publicize the life-giving alternatives to toxic capitalism, so the public
is ready to fight for better life, against the constant threat of
parasitic individuals attempting to bring back billionaire fortunes and
toxic capitalism. No small battle, but we are approaching the point where
the rich will destroy the earth with war and anti-environmental action.
-ed]

This is the time to increase our resistance against the war and
occupation.  We have learned from Cindy Sheehan and Congressman John
Murtha that one person can make a big difference if she/he has the courage
to stand up and speak truth to power.  But it also takes many small
actions by ordinary people to create the momentum needed for lasting
change.

We encourage you to:

 1.  Call/meet with your representatives and demand that our government
bring the troops home now.
 2.  Help build the resistance to this war and occupation through
educational forums in your neighborhoods, in colleges and universities, in
your churches and in rural towns around Minnesota.
 3.  Participate in/organize demonstrations/vigils against the war in your
neighborhood.
 4.  Support local counter recruitment efforts.  See www.worldwidewamm.org
 5.  Insist that Congress pass a strong Anti-torture Amendment.
 6.  Participate in the Peace Vigil on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue
bridge held every Wednesday, 4:30 - 5:30 pm.
 7.  Join the AlliantAction Vigil at Alliant Techsystems held every
Wednesday 7:00 - 8:00 am.
 8.  Write letters to the editor of your city and neighborhood newspapers
 9.  Keep abreast of the latest world news by listening to Amy Goodman's
Democracy Now at 12:00 noon on KFAI (90.3 in Minneapolis and 106.7 in St.
Paul) and at 10:00 pm on Channel 75 in Mpls. and 7:00 am on Channel 15 in
St. Paul or on the internet at www.democracynow.org

And on December 28, we encourage you to join us at the Candlelight Service
to keep alive the memory of the child victims of war, to renew our hope,
and to recommit ourselves to speaking out publicly against war, injustice
and the "politics of empire."

Peace and hope in the struggle,
Marie Braun for Twin Peace Cities Campaign-Focus on Iraq 612-522-1861


--------4 of 16--------

From: Anne Tiller <amtsunflower984 [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Amy Barankovich/bene 12.28 7pm

The Friends of Amy Barankovich Variety Show and Benefit
Wednesday, December 28, 7-10pm.
Walker Community Methodist Church, 3104 16th Avenue S., Minneapolis
Donations at the door (suggested $15.00+) and Live Auction
Contact:  Anne Tiler at 651-487-9147 or amtsunflower984 [at] hotmail.com

A scintillating mix of known and lesser known local talents will perform a
variety of music, dance, spoken word, and more.  These diverse artists are
coming together on one special night for the benefit of Amy Barankovich
who nearly lost her life in a medical emergency this fall and will need
the community's help to stay above water.  If you love Amy or just love a
fun show, you're welcome to join the gang.  Spread the word!


--------5 of 16--------

From: Noelle Douglas <joyeux [at] visi.com>
Subject: Political book club 12.28 7pm

DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA BOOK CLUB
A monthly book group for progressives focused on political and social
issues.
Book:  The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things
by Barry Glassner
Wednesday, December 28th at 7pm
Dunn Brothers Café, 201 3rd Avenue, Minneapolis

Our goals are:
* To have fun, chatting and debating with other progressive folks!
* To help each other to become better informed
* To strengthen community among progressives and promote networking
For further information, please contact Drea at
Mplsprogressivebookclub [at] yahoogroups.com


--------6 of 16--------

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 12.29? 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.


--------7 of 16--------

From: sarah standefer <scsrn [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Counter recruit 12.30? 12noon

Counter Recruitment Demonstration
 Our Children Are Not Cannon Fodder
Fridays   NOON-1
Recruiting Office at the U of M
At Washington and Oak St.  next to Chipolte
for info call Barb Mishler 612-871-7871


--------8 of 16--------

From: peace 2u <tkanous [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine vigil 12.30? 4:15pm

Every Friday
Vigil to End the Occupation of Palestine

4:15-5:15pm
Summit & Snelling, St. Paul

There are now millions of Palestinians who are refugees due to Israel's
refusal to recognize their right under international law to return to
their own homes since 1948.


-------9 of 16--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: POPoganda/film 12.30 7:15pm

12/30 to 1/05, 7:15 & 9:15 pm (no evening shows Saturday), film
"POPoganda:  the Art and Crimes of Ron English," who does
billboard-liberation, painting on hundreds of pirated billboards, Bell
Auditorium, 10 Church St. SE, Mpls.  www.mnfilmarts.org

---
From: Adam Sekuler <adam [at] mnfilmarts.org>

A modern-day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue, painter Ron English becomes
larger than life in this mercilessly funny film about culture-jamming and
billboard-liberation. English paints, perverts, infiltrates, reinvents and
satirizes modern culture on canvas, in songs, and directly on hundreds of
pirated billboards. Shot guerilla-style, the film chronicles an artistıs
universe where spin is wrung dry, nothing is sacred, and there's always
room for a well-merited poke in the eye.

Screening with USO JUSTO

Coleman Millerıs first narrative creation is like nothing you have seen
before. Or since. Uso Justo (roughly translated: ³Fair Use²) is
restructured completely from an obscure 1959 Mexican film. Miller reaches
deep into this black and white melodrama with both hands and turns it
inside out. When an experimental filmmaker arrives to shoot his next film
in the fictional town of Uso Justo, things start getting strange. The
townsfolk are both thrilled and confused by the sudden arrival of this
mysterious artist. As the invisible filmmaker pulls the strings, the
unfolding story proves to be existential and hilarious, intelligent and
stupid.

The Bell Auditorium is the nationıs only dedicated year-round non-fiction
film screen. It is located at 10 Church Street SE in Minneapolis inside
the Bell Museum of Natural History. More information can be found at
www.mnfilmarts.org/bell or by calling 612.331.7563


--------10 of 16--------

From: Lennie <major18 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Northtown vigil 12.31? 1pm

We will now be peace vigiling EVERY SATURDAY from 1-2pm 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


--------11 of 16--------

A Patriotic Proposal
A patriotic proposal from a Des Moines activist who was subpoenaed before
a federal grand jury a couple years ago.
http://www.afsc.org/pwork/0403/040315.htm

Friends,

This morning I tried calling 1(800) CALL-SPY, the US Department of Defense
(sic) hotline featured this week on NBC news for citizens to report
"suspicious activities" of their neighbors to military authorities. My
intention this morning was to report that I had heard a rumor of a most
suspicious activity, that is that the Defense Department is illegally
keeping a database on the "suspicious activities" of citizens engaged in
nonviolent protest of crimes committed by the Defense Department.

Imagine my disappointment when my call did not go through but was answered
with an automated voice telling me that 1 (800) CALL-SPY's memory was
full! Upon reflection, though, my personal frustration and concern for the
national security gave way to satisfaction that others, like myself, who
had just heard about the hotline from the media were exercising their
civic duty by reporting suspicious activities to the proper authorities.

I will try my call again on Monday and will endeavor to call 1(800)
CALL-SPY whenever I see or hear of a suspicious activity and encourage all
good citizens to do the same. In these and frightening crucial times a day
does not go by when a citizen does not witness or hear of "suspicious
activity" that may be related to terrorism and these should all be
reported

A few examples of suspicious activities to report: Men in uniform are seen
hanging around your local high school handing out pencils and key chains,
telling lies and promising bribes of "cash bonuses" to recruit students
for wars of aggression - call 1(800) CALL-SPY.

The President of the United States is reported to admit that he ordered
the invasion of a sovereign nation based on faulty intelligence, killing
30,000 of that country's inhabitants - call 1(800) CALL-SPY. Your congress
representative voted against banning the use of cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment of detainees in US custody - report him/her to 1(800)
CALL-SPY. It comes to your attention that banned weapons of mass
destruction are being planned, produced or stored at a nearby military or
industrial site - call 1(800) CALL-SPY. Your local police do not allow you
to hold a sign on a public street but shunt you off to an innocuous, out
of sight "free speech zone" - call 1(800) CALL-SPY to report this attack
on the constitution. The vigilant citizen could easily make reporting to
1(800) CALL-SPY a daily chore.

When news broke that protests our group in the Midwest have acted out at
Offutt Air Force Base made the cut as a "credible threat" in the Defense
Department's list, we heard from organizers of other efforts around the
country complaining that their nonviolent protest activities are every bit
as suspicious and threatening as ours and deserve to be mentioned too.
We who aspire to nonviolence should rise above such petty envy and
jealousy, but the point is well taken. Rather than grumble ineffectively
to those lucky ones who made the list, however, I would suggest to these
disgruntled activists that they call in their own "suspicious activities"
to 1(800) CALL-SPY.  In fact, if we all call 1(800) CALL-SPY every time we
participate in a protest against the war, we would be sure that our
protest is not ignored. Readers of Orwell know that in a true totalitarian
state, the good citizen always informs on oneself.

Peace activists regularly calling the hotline would be making a classic
Gandhian gesture of nonviolence, reaching out and communicating with those
with whom we disagree. We would be informing the Defense Department that
we are concerned about the danger of terrorism and willing to cooperate
with them for the common good.

Do your part! Call 1(800) CALL-SPY and call often! Pass the word.


--------12 of 16---------

The Envelope Please: It's Time to Honor our Media Heroes
by Danny Schechter
Published on Sunday, December 18, 2005 by CommonDreams.org

Cue the music, the models, and the melodrama. The award season has begun.
An anthropologist from another cultureor planetwould find our obsessive
need for validation through statuettes, plaques and trophies amusing.

Those envelopes listing honors and tributes are often devoutly to be
sought because the recognition they convey translates invariably into
higher status and sometimes more money or opportunities. They also often
spur opportunities for shameless self-promotion as I discovered after I
became an Emmy-Award winner even though most people have no idea what that
means.

There are awards expanding. amoeba like, in every field and every flavor.
No wonder the awards business has become an industry in itself spawning
armies of event planners, bookers and publicists. Spectacles R Us! Our
increasingly entertainment-oriented media obliges with fawning footage of
grinning actors in borrowed gowns and jewelry strutting on contrived red
carpets.

The Academy Awards is the mother of all awards shows. Oscars' value is
assessed by movie moguls more in terms of box office impact than artistic
achievement Many run expensive marketing campaigns to lobby for and snag
them. Its all about the marketing, not the meaning.

I will spare you a run down of all the knock-offs, clones and competitors
on every imaginable channel. When TV programmers can't think of what to do,
they come up with an awards show. Stay tuned for the Home Shopping awards
for an award for the best imitation jewelry and toilet cleaner. The
mainstream media has the Pulitzers and TV programmers have the Peabodys.
But in this age of the decline and devolution of journalism, something new
is needed to honor courageous truth-telling by gutsy reporters and
analysts. We need to say thank you to media outlets, writers and reporters
so admired and relied upon by those of us who are dismayed by the way many
media organizations are selling out -- or, is it "selling-in?"

WHAT'S MISSING?

With some chutzpah and conscience I would "nominate a new award -- "The
IZZY" -- in the spirit of the late (gone but not forgotten) IF Stone who
knew a thing or two about speaking truth to power.

And lest you think this proposal is a plot to receive one, I am happy to
drop out for reasons of advanced age. According to media writer Michael
Wolff in the foreword to my new book When News Lies, I have "become
something like the 2000 year old media critic."

Its time to take the ME out of Media for the moment to ask: would/could be
considered?

Mediachannel.org gave its first Truth in Media award to Helen Thomas, the
Dean of the White House press corps, who has been denigrated by the Bush
Administration for asking too many embarrassing questions. In accepting
the award in New York on December 13, Thomas observed:

"The great journalism we have known is in a state of demise.
 And even more unfortunate is the timidity and lack of nerve on the part
of reporters these days to call them as they see them. No reporter with
eyes and ears wide open could have mistaken the fact that President Bush
wanted to go to war from the moment he stepped foot in the White House and
nothing would stop him...

"... I believe the press could have stopped the mayhem before it started
by not defaulting on its one weapon-skepticism.
  It would have called on reporters to demand every day news conferences
to pin the president down and to show how bereft his reasons were to go to
war.
  But reporters were holier than thou caught up in the intimidating - and
for some exciting - atmosphere of patriotism and then war itself"

If there was an "Izzie," Helen Thomas would be a logical candidate for its
lifetime achievement award.

THE "NOMINEES"

Some other categories and nominees that come to mind:

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING:
Seymour Hersh (who has been doing it longer and better than most) but there
are many others. Bob Parry of Consortium News, Russ Baker (Tom Paine.Com),
Josh Marshall, and Greg Palast,

MEDIA CHAMPIONS OF DEMOCRACY
Bill Moyers (In a class by himself)

MEDIA CHAMPION OF WORKING PEOPLE
Studs Terkel (Still doing it in his 90's)

MEDIA GURU
Noam Chomsky with 81 books to his credit.

MEDIA WEBSITES
FAIR, Mediachannel.org, Media Reform.net, Media Matters for America, Spin
Watches in the US and UK, Project Censored

MEDIA REPORTING
Editor & Publisher (Greg Mitchell), CJR.org, Media Lens (UK), Center for
International Media, John Nichols (Nation)

THE DEBUNKING OF JUDITH MILLER AWARD
Alexander Cockburn (Counterpunch), Michael Massing (NY Review of Books);
Jack Schafer, (Slate); Russ Baker (Tom Paine.com), Arianna Huffington
(Huffington Post)

NEWS AGGREGATORS
BuzzFlash.com, Common Dreams.org. The Daily Chimp, Information Clearing
House, WilliamBowles.info, The Geeze

OP-ED COLUMNISTS
Norman Solomon, Frank Rich, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert, Robert
Scheer, Clarence Page, Barbara Ehrenreich, Rami Khoury (Daily Star)

WEB-BASED NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Daily Kos, TruthOut, Sam Smith's Progressive Review, Asia Times, TheNation.com

IRAQ COVERAGE
Dahr Jamail, Riverbend's Baghdad Burning Blog, JuanCole.com,
IraqProject.org, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, Electronic Iraq

MIDDLE EAST REPORTING
Robert Fisk (Independent); Ha'aretz (Israel), Al Ahram Weekly, Egypt,
Mosaic (Link TV), Arab News (Saudi Arabia)

AFRICA REPORTING
AllAfrica.com, RAIN, Mail & Guardian,

TV NEWS WITH AN EDGE
Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, International World Television (Emerging), Free
Speech TV

INNOVATION IN JOURNALISM
Oh My News (South Korea) for citizen journalism; Wikki News for interactive
news;
The Daily Show for comedy News; IndyMedia.org (and roving IMC reporters
like Scotland's Paul O' Hanlon) for news with an edge

RADIO REPORTING
Amy Goodman & Team (Pacifica), Larry Bensky (KPFA); Dennis Bernstein (KPFA)
Between the Lines (Indy), Laura Flanders (Air America). Peter B.Collins.

BLOGGERS
Brad's Blog, Media Are Plural, Daily Kos, Direland (Doug Ireland), Tom
Dispatch.com, et.al.

THINK TANKS
Center for American Progress, Center for Public Integrity, NACLA, Media
Center at the American Press Institute,, World Association of Newspapers

WORLD NEWSPAPERS OF CONSCIENCE
Le Monde Diplomatique, The Guardian Weekly. The Indypendent, La Jornada
(Mexico), Liberation, (France;) L'Unita and L'Manifesto (Italy)

THE CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE
I am sure I left out many worthy candidates. (Yes, I do have "senior
moments" as befits a 2000 year old critic.) No slights intended. As I
prepared this tentative list of award categories and potential nominees, I
thought back to Helen Thomas's insights this past week on our contemporary
media culture:

"Reporters obviously are under pressure to play ball. But if the goal is
access all they will get from this administration is spin. It is amazing to
me how gullible the press has been, how stenographic they must see their
role. How sad..."

This is why we need to celebrate the media we believe in and thank our own
role models. Add your own favorites. Even in an age of media decline, we
have many of our own heroes and sheroes to honor. The independent media
tradition is fragile but getting stronger with our help. Our obligation as
readers: 'If we want our say, we have to pay' -- to help fund indy media.

I will give Ms. Thomas the last word: "... I do not believe all is lost.
But I do think that journalism is the last line of defense and the
protector of the peoples' right to know. We cannot continue to fall down on
the job as we have. We have too much riding on us to follow the truth
wherever it leads us.

"So ask now for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for all of us and let's give
peace a chance and let it begin with us."

News Dissector Danny Schechter is "blogger in chief" at Mediachannel.org
with two new books, "When News Lies (Select Books) and "The Death of the
Media" (Melville). See www.newsdissector.org/store.htm. Comments to
dissector [at] mediachannel.org


--------13 of 16--------

Distinguished University of Minnesota Philosophy Professor Joins 9/11
Fight, Saying the Truth Must Be Uncovered
By Greg Szymanski
16 Dec 2005

James H.Fetzer, PhD., has publicly thrown his hat in the ring to support
other professors seriously questioning and casting doubt on the official
9/11 story.

A University of Minnesota philosophy professor, like an unexpected
Christmas snowstorm, has dropped a large bundle of holiday cheer on the
9/11 truth movement, as this week he has thrown his hat into the ring with
others seeking the truth.

"I stand with Steve Jones, professor of physics at BYU and David Ray
Griffin, professor emeritus of Theology at Claremont and other students
and scholars of 9/11, who believe that extraordinary times require
extraordinary measures," said James H. Fetzer, PhD., a distinguished
McNight University professor at the University of Minnesota at Duluth.

Professor Fetzer now becomes another in a long list of academicians,
including Jones and Griffin, who have cast severe doubt on the credibility
of the government's official 9/11 story, calling for a renewed debate and
independent investigation to get at the truth.

Fetzer has published more than 100 articles and reviews as well as 20
books in the philosophy of science and on the theoretical foundations of
computer science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science.

According to his biography on this web page, his publications have been
divided by area, including special vitae for computer science, artificial
intelligence, cognitive science, evolution and cognition, and his applied
philosophical research on the death of JFK.

Fetzer, who just entered the public 9/11 arena this week, agreed to appear
next Monday on Greg Szymanski's nationwide radio show, the Investigative
Journal, on the Republic Broadcasting Network at _www.rbnlive.com_
(http://www.rbnlive.com/)  to explain why he has joined in the 9/11 truth
fight.

As expected, a philosophy professor digs deep into the heart of the
matter, dissecting words and meanings Before talking about specific
evidence, Fetzer provides this illuminating discussion on "conspiracy
theories," relating to 9/11 in a recent paper he wrote called "Thinking
About Conspiracy Theories:  9/11 and JFK."

"One fascinating aspect of 9/11 is that the official story involves
collaboration between some nineteen persons in order to bring about
illegal ends and thus obviously qualifies as a conspiracy theory," wrote
Fetzer.

"When critics of the government offer an alternative account that
implicates key figures of the government in 9/11, that obviously qualifies
as a "conspiracy theory", too.  But what matters now is that we are
confronted by alternative accounts of what happened on 9/11, both of which
qualify as "conspiracy theories".  It is therefore no longer rational to
dismiss one of them as a "conspiracy theory" in favor of the other.  The
question becomes, which of two "conspiracy theories" is more defensible?"

After setting the record straight on conspiracy theories, Fetzer in his
paper delves into an analysis of the 9/11 evidence, saying that the
controlled demolition of the WTC must be taken seriously.

"Most Americans may not realize that no steel-structure high-rise building
has ever collapsed from fire in the history of civil engineering, either
before or after 9/11," wrote Fetzer. "If we assume that those fires have
occurred in a wide variety of buildings under a broad range of conditions,
that evidence suggests that these buildings do not have a propensity to
collapsed as an effect of fire.  That makes an alternative explanation,
especially the use of powerful explosives in a controlled demolition, a
hypothesis that must be taken seriously."

Besides the WTC, Fetzer also provides a detailed analysis of the Pentagon
crash, questioning as many before him, "What Really Happened?" In his
paper, he states:

"If a small fighter jet rather than a Boeing 757 had hit the Pentagon,
that would tend to explain the small impact point, the lack of massive
external debris, and a hole in the inner ring of the building, which the
fragile nose of a Boeing 757 could not have created.

"It would also suggest why parts of a plane were carried off by
servicemen, since they might have made the identification of the aircraft
by type apparent and falsified the official account.  A small fighter also
accommodates the report from Danielle O'Brien, an air traffic controller,
who said of the aircraft that hit, "Its speed, maneuverability, the way
that it turned, we all thought in the radar room - all of us experienced
air traffic controllers - that it was a military plane."

In concluding his academic look at 9/11, Fetzer boldly asks Americans to
Endeavour to seek the truth in every possible way, suggesting the
"government-dominated" mass media has presented one of the biggest
obstacles.  "Which raises the question, who had the power to make these
things happen and to cover it up," asks Fetzer.  "Once the evidence has
been sorted out and appropriately appraised, the answer is no longer very
difficult to find.  Like the assassination of JFK, the events of 9/11
required involvement at the highest levels of the American government.

"This conclusion, moreover, receives confirmation from the conduct of our
highest elected officials, who took extraordinary steps to prevent any
formal investigation of 9/11 and, when it was forced upon them by
tremendous political pressure, especially from the survivors of victims of
these crimes, they did whatever they could to subvert them.  There are
good reasons for viewing The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) as the
historical successor to and functional equivalent of The Warren Report
(1964).

"I therefore believe that those of us who care about the truth and the
restoration of responsible government in the United States have an
obligation to make use of every possible media venue from talk radio and
the internet to newspapers and television whenever possible.  The American
people can act wisely only when they know the truth.

"So, while the truth is said to "make us free", the truth only matters
when the American people are able to discover what is true.  Obstacles
here that are posed by the government-dominated mass media, including the
use of stooge "reporters" and of prepackaged "news releases", only make
matters that much more difficult.  As John Dean asks in Worse than
Watergate (2004), if there has ever been an administration more prone to
deceiving the American people in our history, which one could it be?"


--------14 of 16---------

After the 2004 Elections
by Louis Proyect
Swans Commentary - Dec 19, 2005
http://www.swans.com/library/art11/lproy32.html

(Swans - December 19, 2005)  Last year radical supporters of John Kerry
kept insisting over and over that unless George W. Bush was removed from
office, the consequences for Third World peoples would be disastrous.
Tariq Ali warned that a Bush victory would be a mandate for stepped up
economic penetration of the South and military intervention against any
nation impudent enough to resist such penetration. Urging a vote for Ralph
Nader was tantamount to scabbing against struggles for national
liberation.

Domestically, refusing to vote for Kerry was interpreted as being
indifferent to the nation's elderly who would be forced to fend for
themselves as Social Security was abolished in favor of a privatization
scheme designed to favor Bush's Wall Street backers.

As it turned out, these looming threats and others just as dire failed to
materialize. Bush has been on the defensive on foreign policy, especially
in Latin America. With things going so bad in Iraq, it would be impossible
for him to invade Venezuela or Cuba. He simply lacks the political support
for such an adventure. On Social Security, his privatization schema was
dead in the water not long after it was proposed.

Pundits offering advice to this failed president have urged him to retreat
from the neoconservative agenda, the New York Times's David Brooks most
notably. In a December 8 Op Ed column, Brooks wrote:

  Conservatives are in power but out of sorts. Fifty years after the
  founding of the modern right, conservatives hold just about every
  important government job, yet the conservative agenda has stalled.
  Federal spending has surged. Social Security reform is dead. And
  when voters are asked which party they trust on key issues, they
  decisively reject conservative ideas.
  On the economy, Democrats are trusted more, 56 to 34. On education,
  it's Democrats 55 to 32. On taxes, Democrats 48 to 38. On health
  care, Democrats 54 to 29.
  For members of a movement that is supposed to be winning the battle
  of ideas, conservatives are in a mess.

If any other arguments were required against leftist supporters of John
Kerry, it has been the utterly abject refusal of the party to take a
strong stand against Bush. Kerry, Biden and Hillary Clinton, three of the
party's most powerful leaders, continue to urge that the USA stay the
course. They offer all sorts of criticisms about how the war has been
conducted, but refuse to back the only sensible course: immediate
withdrawal. Despite the limitations of Congressman John Murtha's proposal,
which stops short of immediate and unconditional withdrawal, Kerry made
sure to disassociate himself from it. When the question of a timetable for
withdrawal came up in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Kerry stated,
"You set out a timetable, not for withdrawal, but for success, that allows
you to withdraw." If there is any difference between this formula and
George W. Bush's, it would require somebody trained in Talmudic logic to
detect it.

If Americans are getting fed up with the president, they show no signs of
switching allegiance to the Democrats. In a Harris poll conducted in
November, only a quarter of Americans polled give Democrats a positive
rating, compared with 31% in August, while Republicans' approval ratings
fell to 27% from 32%.

The basic problem is that on broad policy questions, there is very little
to differentiate the two major capitalist parties. And when there are
differences, the Democrats show very little fighting spirit to resist
Republican initiatives. This was most obvious in the vote for Supreme
Court nominee John Roberts, who received the vote of Russ Feingold, a
prominent Democratic Party liberal who, despite all evidence to the
contrary in the nominee's record, stated,

  Judge Roberts's impeccable legal credentials, his reputation and
  record as a fair-minded person, and his commitment to modesty and
  respect for precedent have persuaded me that he will not bring an
  ideological agenda to the position of Chief Justice of the United
  States and that he should be confirmed.

In the New York Review, by no means a voice of the radical movement,
William L. Taylor wrote:

  Roberts was first employed in 1981 and 1982 as a special assistant
  to the attorney general, William French Smith. He went from there
  to the Reagan White House in November 1982, where he served as
  associate counsel to the President for three and a half years.
  During this period, Roberts played an important part in the
  administration's efforts to curtail the rights of
  African-Americans, to deny assistance to children with
  disabilities, and to prevent redress for women and girls who had
  suffered sex discrimination. He also justified attempts by the
  state of Texas to cut off opportunities for the children of poor
  Latino aliens to obtain an education. Roberts was in favor of
  limiting the progress of African-Americans in participating in the
  political process and of making far-reaching changes in the
  constitutional role of the courts in protecting rights.
  (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18291)

The Nation Magazine, which provided most of the left-of-center firepower
for John Kerry's campaign, seems to be rebelling somewhat against the
Democratic Party's tendency to tail-end the White House. In a widely-noted
editorial from the November 9 issue, they promised, "We will not support
any candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the
war in Iraq a major issue of his or her campaign."

In reviewing some of the major possible candidates, the aforementioned
Russ Feingold passed muster: "To their credit, would-be presidential
candidate Senator Russell Feingold and former Senator Gary Hart have
recently made strong antiwar statements."

A closer look at Russ Feingold might be in order. In an October 10
interview with salon.com, he stressed that he was only opposed to keeping
ground troops in Iraq. Air power would still be used to defeat
"terrorists."

  So the first thing is, I want the plan to recognize that drawing
  down our troops in a logical and safe way is a way to defuse the
  intensity of the insurgency, especially the continuing and growing
  presence of foreign insurgents. The second recognition of the plan
  should be that the current troops-on-the-ground military mission is
  not really the future for Iraq... The plan should recognize that it
  is our intention to continue joint military operations with the
  Iraqi government, with their permission, but targeted, laserlike
  attacks on terrorist elements, just as we are doing with other
  countries around the world, in the Philippines, Indonesia and other
  countries. In other words, we are not invading those countries. We
  are cooperating.

He adds, "This is not just leaving as we did in Vietnam or as we did in
Somalia. That's a mistake." Such a juggling act makes one wonder what
persuaded The Nation that Feingold had put forward a "strong" antiwar
statement. As long as we have their "permission," we will use laserlike
attacks on terrorist elements. This is simply another way of saying that
the U.S. will have a continued presence in Iraq for the foreseeable
future. The Bush administration itself has come up with a plan in which US
troops would gradually withdraw to four heavily fortified air bases in the
four corners of Iraq. From there, B-52s, F-104s, and Blackhawk helicopters
would presumably be used to blow "terrorists" to smithereens.

Here's a reminder of the kind of "laserlike" capabilities that are in
store for Iraqi "terrorists" under a Feingold peace plan:

  The airstrikes in Falluja in the past three days by American
  warplanes and helicopter gunships have been the most intense aerial
  bombardment in Iraq since major combat ended nearly a year ago,
  military officials said Thursday.
  In the past 48 hours, Air Force F-15E and F-16 warplanes, and
  carrier-based F-14 and F-18 fighter-bombers, have dropped about
  three dozen 500-pound laser-guided bombs in three different
  sections of Falluja, Air Force officials said, destroying more than
  10 buildings and 2 sniper nests identified by troops as sources of
  attacking fire, and other targets.
  By day, AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters have hovered over the city,
  launching Hellfire missiles at guerrillas who fire on the Marines.
  By night, lumbering AC-130 gunships have pounded trucks and cars
  ferrying fighters with the distinctive thump-thump of
  105-millimeter howitzers. British Tornado ground-attack planes are
  also flying missions over Falluja, and remotely piloted Predator
  reconnaissance aircraft prowl the skies.
  (New York Times, April 30, 2004)

Now these bases in and of themselves may not be sufficient to guarantee
victory over the resistance. At best, they will be capable of guaranteeing
misery and destruction from the air for years to come. It was exactly this
sort of "low intensity warfare" that marked the Reagan era, when US ground
troops were conspicuous by their absence except in places where the
"enemy" was particularly weak and isolated, like Grenada. In any event,
the left has no business voting for somebody like Russ Feingold whose
"peace plan" for Iraq conceals naked imperialist ambitions.

Despite the Iraq litmus test -- such as it is -- there are signs that any
kind of Democratic Party victory will mollify the Nation Magazine. In John
Nichol's profile on Tim Kaine, who was just elected governor of Virginia,
the reader might be left with the conclusion that he was just forwarding
campaign literature: Kaine "is a graduate of Harvard Law School, a savvy
legal advocate who made a name for himself working with the American Civil
Liberties Union and other groups to battle housing discrimination, and a
multilingual world traveler who responds to questions with references to
Federico Fellini's films and Mario Vargas Llosa's novels." Can't get much
better than that, right? Yet the reference to the Peruvian reactionary
Vargas Llosa might be a tip-off.

Kaine is a Catholic who is opposed to the death penalty on religious
grounds, but promised to carry it out since "it is the law." This was a
blatant maneuver to undercut Republican attacks on his suitability to be
governor. Obviously, you are not fit unless you are ready to send mostly
black and poor people to meet their maker. But Kaine's main appeal to
voters is that he would continue to carry on with the program of the
outgoing governor Mark Warner, whom he served as lieutenant governor.

Warner was a keynote speaker at the last Democratic Leadership Council in
Ohio. The DLC is the caucus of centrist politicians in the party,
including Hillary Clinton and Albert Gore. It is also mainly responsible
for the disaffection of Democratic Party voters, who remain uninspired by
the DLC's Republican-lite vision. Kaine told the DLC gathering that the
Democrats will become the majority party once again by following these
guidelines:

  Well, I think we start by simply telling the truth -- simply
  telling the truth; by being straight with people on issues ranging
  from fiscal matters to America's role in the world, and by
  recognizing in a very real way in 2005 the issues in this country
  are no longer Left versus Right or liberal versus conservative,
  it's about the future versus the past.

It is entirely possible that Warner himself might be tapped as the party's
presidential candidate next election since he appears to be the second
coming of Bill Clinton, an apt symbol of the party's breach with
progressive politics. Just as Clinton cut welfare, so would Warner cut
Medicaid, especially the funds being allocated to keep octogenarians in
nursing homes. They would be much better off in their children's homes,
just as they were before New Deal type legislation began to socialize the
costs of caring for the very poor and the very sick.

Contrary to Warner, the issues are still very much ones of Left versus
Right no matter how much our friends on the Left defend those issues one
day and then urge a vote for Right-leaning politicians the next.

İ Louis Proyect 2005. All rights reserved.

[All Dems seeking the 2008 Dem nomination know they must be acceptable to
the ruling class. Any Dem acceptable to the ruling class (eg for war, vs
most citizens) is unacceptable to us. Therefore the 2008 Dem candidate for
president will be unacceptable to us. We know this now. So there is no
point waiting around; we know now we must do something _different_ and
_more radical_ to save ourselves, the country, democracy, and the
Constitution.  -ed]


--------15 of 16--------

Bolivia: Morales Wins
BBC World News - Dec 19, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4539454.stm

Leftist claims victory in Bolivia

"We have won," Evo Morales told thousands of cheering supporters as some
exit polls suggested he had passed the 50% barrier for outright victory.
Earlier exit polls gave him 42% to 45% of the vote - still far ahead of
former President Jorge Quiroga.

Mr Quiroga has admitted defeat and offered Mr Morales his congratulations.
As well as a president, Bolivia elected a new parliament, or Congress, and
regional governors on Sunday. Under Bolivian election rules, if no
candidate polls 50% of the vote, the election does not go to a run-off but
is decided by Congress instead.

But the leftist candidate seems certain to be confirmed as Bolivia's first
indigenous president, whether through the official result or when MPs
gather in several weeks' time.

'Finally in power'

Seconds after the first exit polls went out, celebrations could be heard
in El Alto, the town high in the mountains around La Paz where support for
Evo Morales is strong.

In a speech, Mr Morales said: "We have won and now we are going to change
this country. All the majority together. The people are finally in power."
He said his political party, the Movement towards Socialism (Mas), would
never "extort" foreign investors.

What many Bolivians had been dreading was a close vote, leaving Congress
the almost impossible decision of whom to choose for president, the BBC's
Daniel Schweimler reports.

The third-place candidate, businessman Samuel Doria Medina, has already
said he will support in Congress whichever of the two front-runners
receives the most votes at the ballot boxes.

It appears that Mr Morales, as well as surpassing expectations in his own
strongholds, did well in Jorge Quiroga's home city, the business centre
Santa Cruz The television pictures tell the story, our correspondent says:
long faces in the Quiroga camp and wild celebrations among the Evo
Morales' supporters.

However, tens of thousands of people complained their names did not appear
on electoral registers and their complaints are being investigated.

Cocaine row

Bolivia, South America's poorest state, has had five presidents in four
years.

Bolivia's indigenous people, who make up more than half the population,
generally support the man who pledges to legalise the production of the
coca leaf, a food staple, although not the cocaine manufactured from it.He
also promises to make foreign oil and gas investors pay what he says is a
fairer share to Bolivians.

Washington has said it expects any future Bolivian government to honour
previous commitments to fight the production of illegal drugs.Mr Morales,
an admirer of Fidel Castro, said on Sunday that he wanted ties with the US
but "not a relationship of submission".

BBC NEWS:VIDEO AND AUDIO Evo Morales' supporters celebrate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4539454.stm

--
Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com
Bolivia: Evo Morales Begins Transition

La Paz, Dec 19 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales
started to make up the government he will lead as of January 22, following
a historic election win that surpassed predictions.

After 80 percent of the ballots have been counted, congressman Morales,
leader of the Movement toward Socialism (MAS), obtained 51 percent of the
voters´ support, so he doesn´t have to wait for Congress to choose between
the two most voted presidential hopefuls.

That majority, which should shortly be officially confirmed, ensures the
MAS leader the presidency without a runoff.

Under the law of the land, for a presidential hopeful to win the elections
must have more than 50 percent of the votes. In case none of the running
candidates reach that figure, then Congress decide who is the next
president between the two most voted politicians.

MAS landslide victory, considered the most crushing of the last decades,
thwarted predictions by the right that predicted a low margin between
Morales and neoliberal ex President Jorge Quiroga, who won 31 percent of
the ballots.

People´s voting also did away with the US predictions of a likely
post-election string of violence.

Following the announcement, people rejoiced at the MAS win, and tensions
only came from Otto Reich, former US special envoy to Western Hemisphere
for the Secretary of State, who threatened to take reprisals if the
movement implements its policies.

Thousands of Morales supporters chanting "We feel it, Evo president," set
off fireworks and danced in the streets of La Paz, as well as the eastern
cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz as election results were announced.

The new government will surely faced the rightwing hostility opposing
changes, as they won important provincial governments.

We are living a new time "and the Third Millennium belongs to peoples, not
to the Empire," stated the indigenous leader on Sunday.

Results proved the MAS will ensure governance, he pointed out, and
ratified he is willing to receive the cooperation of legislators from
other parties seeking to change the nation. He said he´s open to talk with
all sectors.

The new president elect vowed to solve the thorniest problems of the
majority, restructure the economic model and fight neoliberalism because
it will be like combating the blockade of the economic growth.

He pledged to open a new Bolivian chapter of equity, justice and peace
with social justice, tasks he considered attainable only with the work of
leaders, lawmakers, social bodies and the entire nation.

Morales also called to raze discrimination, historic hatred and contempt
for indigenous people "to live in unity and diversity by changing the
neoliberal model and eliminating the neocolonial state."

The Bolivian people´s victory can become a paradigm in Latin America
"because we need allied triumphant movements in the region to rebuild the
Tahuantinsuyo (Inca Empire) and the Great Motherland Bolivar dreamed of.

[More evidence that the avant garde of democracy has moved to Latin
America. Fortunately the US ruling class is tied down elsewhere and thus
unable to wring its neck, as it would so dearly and passionately love to
do. -ed]


--------16 of 16--------

 Corporate big-wigs
 wallow bloated in greed, dull
 round pigs in square holes


News Item

"The world is my toilet" exclaimed USCo CEO BM "Whizzer" Brown. "If I, or
any of my associated companies, wish to take a whiz or a dump anywhere
anytime on anything or anyone, we not only may or can but must. That's how
our system works. It demands that wherever possible, you pay, not us.
Being one down means you get to be whizzed and dumped on by the ones up.
If you don't like it, what are you doing down there? What makes this
system truly great is that, with a silver tongue and tin ethics, YOU can
be one of the one-up, whizzing and dumping on the loathsome one-downs."

This, the closing statement at the $10,000 a plate EIEIO dinner, was
greeted with resounding applause by the assembled guests. This was
followed by the ritual tossing of left-over food on the floor, followed by
the ritual cleaning by lower-class women and children on their knees.
During this came the traditional highlight of the evening, the Charity
Brawl. During the cleaning, guests were encouraged to toss nickels and
dimes and even quarters to the cleaners, who would fight for possession.
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world!" exclaimed Skylar Wentworth III,
"they are such animals! This beats cock fights or bear baiting anyday!"
Mrs Babington B Babington, the gracious president of EIEIO, proudly
announced that "The videos of the Brawl are our biggest seller, by far.
Return on investment is fabulous! Every country club wants to be first
with the latest one!"


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