Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 01.08.06

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     01.08.06

i. Sensible vigil      1.08 12noon
2. Circles/change      1.08 1pm
3. KFAI/uprising       1.08 4pm
4. Christ/empire       1.08 7pm
5. CrocusH N4P         1.08 7pm

6. Ihlan ceremony      1.09 5:30pm
7. Vs death penalty    1.09 5:30pm
8. Broderick/peace/ed  1.09 6pm
9. GLBT equality       1.09 6:30pm
10. Shoreham pollution 1.09 7pm
11. Power/change       1.09 7pm
12. Rhoda Gilman/TV    1.09 8pm
13. KidsClothing drive 1.09-13

14. Greg Mitchell - Newspapers urge president to quit
15. Wayne Madsen  - On Bush Iran military strike
16. Philip Larken - The explosion (poem)
17. ed            - God, the church, and priests (poem)

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From: skarx001 <skarx001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Sensible vigil 1.08 12noon

The sensible people for peace hold weekly peace vigils at the intersection
of Snelling and Summit in StPaul, Sunday between noon and 1pm. (This is
across from the Mac campus.) We provide signs protesting current gov.
foreign and domestic policy. We would appreciate others joining our
vigil/protest.


--------2 of 17--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Circles/change 1.08 1`pm

January 8 St Paul Yoga Center, 1:00 to 5:00: CIRCLES FOR CHANGE Workshop
with Seattle author, acitivst, facilitator MARGOT ADAIR (admission FREE
donations gratefully accepted)

Circles For Change: a  new way to form communities for Change.

Margot Adair will present about an exciting nation wide project:  Circles
for Change. These Circles are a space for truth seeking, heart sharing,
and vision making.  Designed to develop community through the sharing of
story, food, deep reflection and dialog, they offer an opportunity to
explore ways to respond to the call of the times. By fostering the
creation of strong base communities, Circles provide an environment of
sustenance and inspiration, supporting people in making their
contributions to turning the tide and healing the future.  Join with
others at:

St Paul  Yoga Center   January 8th 1:00 to 5:00   ( admission free,
donations gratefully accepted)

For more information see www.toolsforchange.org
Register by calling 1 800-99tools or write info [at] toolsforchange.org

ABOUT Margot Adair and THE TOOLS FOR CHANGE INSTITUTE

The Tools for Change Institute is a Seattle-based non-profit organization
at the forefront in the emergent field of spirit and politics.  Based on
the visionary work of Institute Co-founder, Margo Adair, the Institute's
programs teach people and organizations to overcome internal and cultural
obstacles to change using Applied Meditation and other transformative
practices.  Applied Mediation, developed by Margo Adair, is the basis of
two books by Adair, Meditations on Everything Under the Sun (New Society
Publishers, 2001)  and Working Inside Out (Sourcebooks, 2003).  Working
with visualization, intuition, and mindfulness, Applied Meditation enables
us to reprogram old patterns and behaviors and allows people from
differing traditions to encounter spirit in their own way.  When used with
groups or organizations it allows people to experience their intrinsic
connectedness.  The Institute's programs are offered to social change
organizations, activists, and to individuals seeking to engage more deeply
with their communities.

For more information about the Tools for Change Institute or Margo Adair
visit www.toolsforchange.org or www.instituteforchange.org


--------3 of 17--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: KFAI/uprising 1.08 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for January 8, 2006

Part One: *MOUNTAINS MADE ALIVE: NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONSHIPS WITH SACRED
LAND* by Emily Cousins, Cross Currents, Winter 96/97, Vol. 46.

"The phrase "sacred land" is used frequently these days, both by Native
Americans trying to protect land and by non-Natives sensitive to this
cause. Yet despite its increased use, the meaning of the phrase remains
elusive to many non-Natives, who relate to land mostly through property
lines or hiking trails. Traditional Native American cultures, on the other
hand, have defined geography through myth, ritual ceremonies, and spirit
power. This difference highlights perhaps the widest gulf between the two
cultures. It also represents a place where we must meet, as both cultures
face environmental crisis.

European settlers arrived in this country thinking they could teach the
indigenous people how to live off the land. Perhaps it is time for
non-Natives to listen to the experience of people who have lived here for
thousands of years. What we stand to learn is not how to appropriate
Native customs and ceremonies, but how to respect the land and the
traditions it sustains..."

"Since the land is comprised of living beings, most Native American
cultures have a tradition of entering into relationships with the land.
Relating to non-human beings is possible because, unlike Western
categories which draw dichotomies between human and animal, animate and
inanimate, natural and supernatural, most Native American traditions
stress interrelatedness among all things. This relatedness is most often
rooted in the perception of a shared spiritual reality. that transcends
physical differences. Some believe this common essence is the life breath,
others refer to it as the presence of the Great Spirit."

Emily Cousins is a writer and editor living in Missoula, Montana. She has
collaborated with Joseph Epes Brown on a book entitled/ Teaching Spirits:
Towards An Understanding of Native American Religious Traditions/.
Excerpts of this article appear in that volume.
 _http://www.crosscurrents.org/mountainsalive.htm_.

* * * *
Indian Uprising is a one-half hour Public & Cultural Affairs radio
program for, by, and about Indigenous people & all their relations,
broadcast each Sunday at 4:00 p.m. over KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and
106.7 FM St. Paul.  Current programs are archived online after broadcast
at www.kfai.org, for two weeks.  Click Program Archives and scroll to
Indian Uprising.


--------4 of 17--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Christ/empire 1.08 7pm

Sunday, 1/8, 7 pm, St. Thomas peace prof Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer speaks on
"Saving Christianity from Empire," White Bear Lake United Methodist Church,
1851 Birch St., WBL.  FFI: Pat Dahlman, 651-429-3689.


--------5 of 17--------

From: Linda Winsor <ljwinsor [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: CrocusH N4P 1.08 7pm

Dessert Potluck Party for Peace
Sunday, Jan. 8, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Saint John the Evangelist Church
60 North Kent Street, Saint Paul
(1 block north of Summit, 1 block east of Dale)

The Crocus Hill / West 7th Neighbors for Peace group invites you to join
us on Sunday, Jan. 8.  We will be viewing "THE MAGIC GREEN SCHOOL BUS,"
a new half-hour documentary portrait of Paul Wellstone. Created by kids at
Lake Country Montessori School in Minneapolis working with their teacher
Malinda Holte and the artist Media Mike Hazard, it is for people of all
ages.

See what lessons we can learn from the life of the late teacher and
senator from Minnesota. Zoom to www.thecie.org for more.  Mike Hazard,
Larry McDonough, and one of the kids will share their experiences in
making the film.

Bring neighbors, friends, and a snack or dessert to share.
Non-perishable food items for Neighborhood House will be collected.  We
hold Dessert Potluck Parties for Peace every second Sunday of the month.
Linda Winsor / ljwinsor [at] yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crocushillpeace/


--------6 of 17--------

From: Amy Ihlan <amyihlan [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Ihlan ceremony 1.09 5:30pm

Invitation to City Council Swearing In Ceremony Monday Night

Dear Friends,
I would like to invite you to my swearing-in ceremony at the city council
meeting Monday night.  There will be a cake and coffee reception in the
City Hall lobby beginning at 5:30, followed by council members' oaths of
office beginning at 6:00 p.m.  I'm honored to have Lucy Hulme, a dedicated
campaign supporter and Roseville community activist, performing the
swearing-in.


--------7 of 17--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Vs death penalty 1.09 5:30pm

January 9 - Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights: House Party to Support
Death Penalty Project.  Time: 5:30 7:30 p.m..

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights invites you to a party to support our
Death Penalty Project.  Please join us in honoring Sandra Babcock and Joe
Margulies for their local, national and international advocacy against the
death penalty.

Sandra Babcock and Joe Margulies together have more than 30 years of
advocacy against the death penalty.  Both began their legal careers at the
Texas Capital Resource Center representing men and women on Texas death
row. They have gone on to represent capital defendants in more than 25
state and federal courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court and the
International Court of Justice. Sandra currently directs the Mexican
Capital Legal Assistance Program, Mexico s pioneering project to assist
its nationals in capital cases at trial and on appeal.  Joe, a faculty
member of the University of Chicago Law School, is an expert on capital
and criminal defense, as well as civil liberties in the wake of September
11.

The Death Penalty Project

The capricious and arbitrary administration of the death penalty results
in an enormous need for competent lawyers to assist death row inmates with
their post-conviction appeals. The Death Penalty Project was organized in
1991 to recruit Minnesota attorneys to respond to this need. In addition
to working to protect the rights of capital defendants in death penalty
states, the Project provides education and advocacy in Minnesota on death
penalty issues.

Please RSVP to Katie Vang at 612-341-3302 ext. 100 or
kvang [at] mnadvocates.org. Location: Minnesota Center for Photography, 165
13th Avenue NE Minneapolis 55413


--------8 of 17--------

From: MARIAN WOLTERS <mewolters [at] prodigy.net>
Subject: Broderick/peace/ed 1.09 6pm

Como Park Neighbors for Peace
invites you to hear about
Helping to Create a Peaceful World Through Education
a discussion lead by Richard Broderick

Monday, January 9
6-8pm
The Coffee Grounds
1579 N Hamline Ave.
651-644-9959
Richard Broderick teaches English and Journalism at Anoka Technical
College. He started Poets Against War and was the Green Party candidate
for the St. Paul School Board in 2003.


--------9 of 17--------

From: Bonnie [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: GLBT equality 1.09 6:30pm

January 9, 6:30-8:30pm at Sabathani Community Center, 210 38th Street
East, 3rd floor, Minneapolis 55409, OutFront Minnesota and others sponsor
the People of Faith Roundtable to support GLBT equality and oppose the
constitutional amendment barring legal recognition of same-sex couples.
The January 9 meeting offers training and skill building for religious
leaders and others wanting to strengthen their communications skills on
these issues.  www.outfront.org/events


--------10 of 17--------

From: Gayle Bonneville <catspj [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Shoreham pollution 1.09 7pm

So far pollution investigations related to Shoreham Yards, Minneapolis'
largest polluted site, have spread as far south as the Sheridan
neighborhood. Several other Northeast Minneapolis neighborhoods have also
been found to be contaminated by Shoreham, and the "plume" of pollution is
still being defined. This is no longer an issue confined to Shoreham
Yards. Where it ends is anyone's guess right now, yet clean-up plans are
in the works that will affect us now and into the future.

* What does this mean for these Minneapolis neighborhoods?
* What Shoreham cancer-causing contaminants have been found in Northeast
Minneapolis?
* What does this mean for our health?
* Is it not a problem since we drink from the city's water supply?
* What if the contamination reaches the Mississippi River?
* What are the implications for the businesses and employees who use  the
contaminated wells?
* Does this affect the air?
* What if you have an old well on your property?
* What about the cumulative effects of living among Northeast Minneapolis'
industries?
* What are the paths of exposure, and do you need to be concerned?

The Shoreham Area Advisory Committee (SAAC) has invited Dr. William
Toscano of the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health to
discuss with our community the contamination spreading from Shoreham Yards
on Monday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. at East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700
Second St. NE (room B-19 on the lower level), Minneapolis. Please help us
spread the word on this meeting, and please plan to attend. (SAAC will
resume its regular monthly meetings on Feb. 13, 7 p.m. at the Holland
neighborhood office. All are invited to those as well.)

Below is additional information on Dr. Toscano and the Jan. 9 special
meeting.

Shoreham Area Advisory Committee
saac-mpls [at] earthlink.net
www.shorehamyards.org
 ________

Jan. 9 Special Meeting to Explore Shoreham Pollution Health Implications

University of Minnesota Professor of Environmental Health Sciences William
Toscano will discuss health implications of pollution spreading from
Northeast Minneapolisı Shoreham Yards at a Jan. 9 community meeting. The
discussion begins at 7 p.m. at East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700
Second St. NE, Minneapolis.

Shoreham Yards is Minneapolisı largest polluted site. Groundwater
contamination from the site has thus far spread at least one mile off site to
the south, southeast and southwest. Contaminants include several
cancer-causing substances. Dioxin, PCP, TCE, PCE and VOCs have been identified
at or as originating from Shoreham. At least three businesses in Northeast
Minneapolis are currently using wells contaminated by Shoreham Yards
pollution. The state has cautioned Northeast residents to cease using private
wells for such activities as drinking, outdoor watering and car washing.
Residentsı homes are supplied drinking water from the Mississippi River via
the cityıs water facility.

The exact boundaries of pollution spreading from Shoreham, 2800 Central
Ave. NE, are still under investigation by the state and property owner
Canadian Pacific Railway. Investigation wells have recently been drilled
as far south 17th Avenue and Second Street NE as well to the southeast
near Fillmore Street and 20th Avenue NE, and near Lincoln and 27th Avenue
NE. Some residents have expressed concern that the pollution could
possibly reach the Mississippi River. In addition, they have questioned
the cumulative effects of multiple Northeast Minneapolis pollution sources
and whether Shorehamıs proposed clean-up plans may result in additional
air pollution.

Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Toscano was on the faculty at
the Harvard School of Public Health and the Tulane School of Public Health and
Tropical Medicine. He received a BS and MS in chemistry from Indiana
University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of
Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. He was a postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology at the
University of Washington. His research interests include the action of dioxins
and other polychlorinated compounds on fetal development, the effects of
environmental signals on human reproduction, and systems biology. His teaching
interests include general environmental health, environmental genomics, and
environmental, occupational, industrial toxicology.

Toscanoıs program is sponsored in part by a grant from the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as part of the Midwest Consortium for
Hazardous Waste Worker Training. The Shoreham Area Advisory Committee (SAAC)
has assisted in organizing the Jan. 9 meeting.

The meeting will take place in Room B-19 on the lower level of East Side
Neighborhood Services. For further information, contact SAAC at (612)
782-8241, saac-mpls [at] eathlink.net or www.shorehamyards.org.


--------11 of 17--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Power/change 1.09 7pm

January 9 - The Compassionate Rebel Cafe: Discovering YOUR Power to
Promote Positive Social Change.  Time: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m..  Cost: Free.

The Compassionate Rebel Cafe: Discovering YOUR Power to Promote Positive
Social Change with co-author Rebecca Janke of the Nautilus Award Nominated
book, The Compassionate Rebel: Energized by anger and motivated by love.

Welcome to the Compassionate Rebel Cafe - A Think Tank for Social Change
Agents. At January's meeting Rebecca will lead us through a unique
storytelling process which not only allows us to get to know each other in
ways that usually takes months or years, but it reveals what she calls
"our personal living metaphors,"  - metaphors that have become a living
breathing entity within ourselves and often hold the key to doing more
powerful and meaningful work than ever imagined. Come as early as 6:30 -
browse the Human Rights and Peace Store's latest social change tools and
resources, settle in with a hot drink and enjoy an evening of
companionship and provocative dialogue.

To register for January's Compassionate Rebel Cafe, e-mail your response
to peace [at] umn.edu so we can assure you space since seating is limited.

Community organizer, journalist, peace educator and co-author of The
Compassionate Rebel: Energized by anger and motivated by love, Burt
Berlowe will be the Compassionate Rebel Cafe host February 7th. Location:
Mississippi Market Co-op Selby Community Room, 622 Selby Avenue, St. Paul,
MN


--------12 of 17--------

From: Elizabeth Dickinson <eadickinson [at] mindspring.com>
Subject: Rhoda Gilman/TV 1.09 8pm

Our own Rhoda Gilman has been on tv quite a bit lately, including "The
History of the Land"...keep an eye out for the next one!

"James J. Hill: Empire Builder"
It will show on TPT 2 at 8 pm Jan. 9 (followed by "Cass Gilbert: Standing
the Test of Time" at 8:30).


--------13 of 17--------

From: stpaulunions.org <llwright [at] stpaulunions.org>
Subject: Kids clothing drive 1.09-13

Jean Jones Kids Initiative - Winter Clothes for Kids

The St Paul Area Trades and Labor Assembly Community Services Program is
collecting new or gently used children's coats, jackets, snow pants and
boots for the students at Frost Lake Magnet School. Frost Lake is an
elementary school in St Paul and serves 600 students.

The school represents a diverse and particularly needy segment of the
City's population. 71% are eligible for the Federal Free & Reduced Lunch
Program, 86% are students of color and 63% receive ESL instruction.

Winter clothing appropriate for both boys and girls, ages five through
twelve, would be greatly appreciated.

We will be collecting items through Friday, January 13th. Please call
Lynne Larkin-Wright at 411 Main Street 651-222-3787 ext 16 for more
information.

Thank you in advance for helping these students stay warm this winter!


--------14 of 17--------

Newspapers Urge President to Quit
By Greg Mitchell
Editor & Publisher
Friday 06 January 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010706Y.shtml

Outrageous, out of the question? Of course. Then again, here's what
happened in the summer of 1998 when the president was named Clinton.
Dozens of editorial pages clamored for him to quit (see this list). "He
should resign," the Philadelphia Inquirer declared, "because his repeated,
reckless deceits have dishonored his presidency beyond repair."

What did "I" do? On Dec. 21, I wrote a little news story for this site
about the sudden appearance of the "I" word - impeachment, that is - in
reputable publications. The outrage over revelations about President
Bush's approval of spying on Americans without a warrant was then at its
height, before subsiding to its current level of
what-will-they-think-of-next cynicism.

We got a lot of negative mail about that article, even though we didn't
take a position on the matter, but simply pointed out that the "I"  word
was now being uttered in some surprising places (Barron's magazine?).
Certainly, it's no "slam dunk" - to coin a phrase - that the president
should be impeached, and most Democrats don't even want it to happen,
either because they think they can make hay in the November elections with
Bush still in office, and/or they fear a short but perhaps brutal reign of
our own King Richard I.

Still, it amazes me when people make fun of the very notion that a
president under a dark cloud might be asked to leave office, or given a
push, in light of the very recent experience involving one William
Jefferson Clinton. This seems especially poignant, in light of President
Clinton leaving office with an approval rating over 60%, while the current
occupant of the White House sits at around 40%. Then there's the perennial
debate over the relative demerits of fooling around with an intern vs.
fooling an entire country into going to war based on false evidence (and
anything else you'd care to add on top of that).

In any case, while still not taking a position on impeachment, I thought
it would be interesting to look back at how the press reacted to the
Clinton Crisis of 1998. Did newspaper editorials condemn Clinton for his
screwing around, and lying about it, and leave it at that, or did they
come out squarely for his exit from office?

What follows, from an Associated Press rundown on September 15, 1998, is a
long list of newspapers that "called for President Clinton's resignation."
AP added that some of those listed "did so before the release of Kenneth
Starr's report on Sept. 11."

Indeed, the Philadelphia Inquirer responded to the coming of the Starr
report this way: "Bill Clinton should resign. He should resign because his
repeated, reckless deceits have dishonored his presidency beyond repair."

The Los Angeles Times pointed out: "The picture of Clinton that now
emerges is that of a middle-aged man with a pathetic inability to control
his sexual fancies."

The New York Times, on its Howell Raines-led editorial page, thundered
that until the Starr turn, "no citizen ... could have grasped the
completeness of President Clinton's mendacity or the magnitude of his
recklessness." Yet a Washington Post poll that month showed that while a
majority of Americans wanted Congress to censure Clinton, they did not
want it to boot him out of office.

Here is that AP partial list of newspapers calling for Clinton to quit
(other papers no doubt joined in later):

     National:
     USA Today

     Alabama:
     The Mobile Register
     Montgomery Advertiser

     Arizona:
     Tucson Citizen

     California:
     San Jose Mercury News
     The Orange County Register
     The North (San Diego) County Times
     The Record, Stockton

     Colorado:
     The Denver Post

     Connecticut:
     The Day of New London
     Norwich Bulletin

     District of Columbia:
     The Washington Times

     Flordia:
     The Orlando Sentinel
     The Tampa Tribune

     Georgia:
     The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
     The Augusta Chronicle

     Illinois:
     Chicago Tribune

     Indiana:
     The Indianapolis Star
     Chronicle-Tribune of Marion
     South Bend Tribune
     The Times of Northwest Indiana

     Iowa:
     The Des Moines Register

     Kansas:
     The Topeka Capital-Journal

     Louisiana:
     The Times-Picayune of New Orleans
     The News-Star, Monroe

     Michigan:
     The Grand Rapids Press
     Detroit Free Press

     Minnesota:
     Post-Bulletin of Rochester

     Mississippi:
     Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo

     Missouri:
     Jefferson City News-Tribune

     Nebraska:
     Lincoln Journal Star

     Nevada:
     Reno Gazette-Journal

     New Jersey
     The Trentonian, Trenton

     New Mexico:
     Albuquerque Journal
     The Santa Fe New Mexican

     New York:
     Sunday Freeman of Kingston
     Utica Observer-Dispatch

     North Carolina:
     The Herald-Sun of Durham
     Winston-Salem Journal

     Ohio:
     The Repository, Canton
     The Cincinnati Enquirer
     The Cincinnati Post

     Oklahoma:
     The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
     Tulsa World

     Oregon:
     Statesman Journal, Salem

     Pennsylvania:
     The Philadelphia Inquirer
     The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

     South Carolina:
     The State, Columbia

     South Dakota:
     Argus Leader, Sioux Falls

     Texas:
     San Antonio Express-News
     El Paso Times

     Utah:
     Standard-Examiner, Ogden
     The Spectrum, St. George
     The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City
     Deseret News, Salt Lake City

     Virginia:
     Daily Press of Newport News

     Washington:
     The Seattle Times

     Wisconsin:
     The Post-Crescent, Appleton
     The Journal Times, Racine

Greg Mitchell is editor of E&P and author of numerous books on politics
and history, including Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady.

[Simple. The ruling class hated Clinton, who bent when they screamed at
him. The ruling class loves Bush. Fascism is good for fortunes. The media
are prostitutes to power. -ed]


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Intelligence Indications
And Warnings Abound
On Bush Iran Military Strike
By Wayne Madsen
http://www.rense.com/general69/rm.html
  1-3-6

Intelligence and military sources in the United States and abroad are
reporting on various factors that indicate a U.S. military hit on Iranian
nuclear and military installations, that may involve tactical nuclear
weapons, is in the final stages of preparation. Likely targets for
saturation bombing are the Bushehr nuclear power plant (where Russian and
other foreign national technicians are present), a uranium mining site in
Saghand near the city of Yazd, the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz,
a heavy water plant and radioisotope facility in Arak, the Ardekan Nuclear
Fuel Unit, the Uranium Conversion Facility and

Nuclear Technology Center in Isfahan, the Tehran Nuclear Research Center,
the Tehran Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility,
the Tehran Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories, the Kalaye Electric
Company in the Tehran suburbs, a reportedly dismantled uranium enrichment
plant in Lashkar Abad, and the Radioactive Waste Storage Units in Karaj
and Anarak.

Primary target: Bushehr nuclear reactor and hundreds of Russian technicians

Other first targets would be Shahab-I, II, and III missile launch sites,
air bases (including the large Mehrabad air base/international airport
near Tehran), naval installations on the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea,
command, control, communications and intelligence facilities. Secondary
targets would include civilian airports, radio and TV installations,
telecommunications centers, government buildings, conventional power
plants, highways and bridges, and rail lines. Oil installations and
commercial port facilities would likely be relatively untouched by U.S.
forces in order to preserve them for U.S. oil and business interests.

There has been a rapid increase in training and readiness at a number of
U.S. military installations involved with the planned primarily aerial
attack. These include a Pentagon order to Fort Rucker, Alabama, to be
prepared to handle an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 trainees, including
civilian contractors, who will be deployed for Iranian combat operations.
Rucker is home to the US Army's aviation training command, including the
helicopter training school.

In addition, there has been an increase in readiness at nearby Hurlburt
Field in Florida, the home of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations
Command. The U.S. attack on Iran will primarily involve aviation (Navy,
Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps) and special operations assets.

There has also been a noticeable increase in activity at Marine Corps Air
Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California, a primary live fire
training activity located in a desert and mountainous environment similar
to target areas in Iran.

From European intelligence agencies comes word that the United States has
told its NATO allies to be prepared for a military strike on Iranian
nuclear development and military installations.

On November 17, 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent seven hours
in secret discussions with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
during the the opening ceremonies in Samsun, Turkey for the
Russian-Turkish underwater Blue Stream natural gas pipeline, festivities
also attended by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

According to sources knowledgeable about the meeting, Erdogan promised
Putin, who has become a close friend, that Turkey would not support the
use of its bases by the United States in a military attack on Iran. That
brought a series of high level visits to Turkey by Bush administration
officials, including CIA chief Porter Goss, FBI Director Robert Mueller,
and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Although Erdogan listened to Goss's and Rice's pleas for Turkish
logistical, political, and intelligence help for an attack on Iran and
Turkish Army Chief Yasar Buyukanit heard much the same from Pentagon
officials during his recent trip to Washington, the word is that Putin now
has enough clout in Ankara to scuttle any use of Turkey by the U.S.  for
an attack on Iran. [Mueller delivered Ankara intelligence "proof" of
Iranian backing for Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas in Turkey.
Intelligence agencies and business intelligence units around the world are
now discounting any intelligence coming from the Bush administration as
neocon propaganda invented by think tanks and discredited intelligence
agencies in Washington, Tel Aviv-Herzliya, and Jerusalem].

A U.S. Attack on Iran: The Perfect Storm for wider nuclear conflict

U.S. political and military officials have also approached Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, Oman, and Azerbaijan seeking their support for a
U.S. attack on Iran. Ina replay of the phony pre-war intelligence on Iraq,
Washington is trying to convince various countries that a link exists
between Iran and "Al Qaeda."

Polish intelligence sources report that Poland's Defense Minister Radek
Sikorski assured Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of Poland's support for
any U.S. strike against Iran. Sikorski is a former American Enterprise
Institute colleague of such neo-cons as Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, and
Lynne Cheney, the so-called "Second Lady" of the United States. Sikorski
and Polish Foreign Minister Stefan Meller assured Rumsfeld and Rice,
respectively, that Poland would stand by the United States during the
split in NATO that will occur as a result of the American strike. Polish
intelligence sources, who are unhappy with the arrangement of the new
right-wing government in Warsaw with the Bush administration, leaked the
information about the recent U.S. demarche to NATO in Brussels about
preparation for the attack.

Similar intelligence "leaks" about the U.S. attack plans were also leaked
to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

European intelligence sources also report that the recent decision by
Putin and Russia's state-owned Gazprom natural gas company to cut supplied
of natural gas to Ukraine was a clear warning by Putin to nations like
Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia,
Moldova, France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, and Germany that
it would do the same if they support the U.S.  attack on Iran. Gazprom
natural gas is supplied, via pipelines in Ukraine, from Russia and
Turkmenistan to countries in Eastern and Western Europe. The Bush
administration charged Russia with using gas supplies as a "political
tool."

Putin has additional leverage on Western Europe since former German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder accepted an appointment to the board of a
joint Russian-German North European Gas Pipeline Consortium that is
controlled by Gazprom. The pipeline will bring Russian gas to Scandinavia,
Germany, Netherlands, and Britain, giving Putin additional leverage over
Washington in Europe.

Southeast Asian intelligence sources report that Burma's (Myanmar's)
recent abrupt decision to move its capital from Rangoon (Yangon) to remote
Pyinmana, 200 miles to the north, is a result of Chinese intelligence
warnings to its Burmese allies about the effects of radiation resulting
from a U.S. conventional or tactical nuclear attack on Iranian nuclear
facilities. There is concern that a series of attacks on Iranian nuclear
installations will create a Chernobyl-like radioactive cloud that would be
caught up in monsoon weather in the Indian Ocean.

Rangoon (Yangon) capital moved 200 miles north over fears of monsoon
season Iran nuclear fallout?

Low-lying Rangoon lies in the path of monsoon rains that would continue to
carry radioactive fallout from Iran over South and Southeast Asia between
May and October. Coastal Indian Ocean cities like Rangoon, Dhaka,
Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, and Colombo would be affected by the
radioactive fallout more than higher elevation cities since humidity
intensifies the effects of the fallout. Thousands of government workers
were given only two days' notice to pack up and leave Rangoon for the
higher (and dryer) mountainous Pyinmana.

In neighboring West Bengal, the leftist government and its national
leftist allies around the country are planning massive demonstrations
during Bush's upcoming trip to India. They are protesting the war in Iraq
as well as the threats against Iran.

Reports from Yemen indicate that western oil companies are concerned about
U.S. intentions in Iran since the southern Arabian country catches the
edge of the monsoon rains that could contain radioactive fallout from an
attack, endangering their workers in the country.

The Bush administration aborted last minute plans to attack Iranian
nuclear and political installations prior to the 2004 presidential
election. On October 9, Rumsfeld met with defense minister colleagues on
the now decommissioned USS John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf to seek
support for the attack. That meeting has been confirmed by the Danish
Defense Minister who was in attendance, however, the topic of the meeting
was not discussed. According to U.S. naval personnel on board the Kennedy,
a special "war room" was set up to coordinate the attack.  Britain,
Australia, Italy, Netherlands, and Japan did not attend the meeting
because of their opposition to the attack plans.

Intelligence and military officials around the world are also bracing for
the results of a U.S. attack on Iran. This includes the distinct
possibility of a major Shia retaliatory attack in Iraq, the Eastern
Province of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates,
Lebanon, and Afghanistan against U.S. military, diplomatic, and economic
targets in the region. Radioactive fallout from a conventional or tactical
nuclear attack on Iran will result in major problems with Pakistan, India,
China, Russia, Japan, and other downwind countries in Asia and the Pacific
Rim, possibly including the fall of the Pervez Musharraf government in
Pakistan and replacement by a radical Islamist regime having possession of
nuclear weapons. That would provoke a military response from nuclear power
India.

In a counter-attack, Iran would immediately launch its Shahab I and II
missiles at the U.S. Green Zone in Baghdad, the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar,
the US Navy base in Bahrain, Camp Doha base in Kuwait, Al Seeb airbase in
Oman, Baghdad International Airport, the U.S. base in Kandahar,
Afghanistan. Iran would also launch its long-range Shahab III missiles on
the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, Eilat, and the Israeli
nuclear complex at Dimona. Iranian missiles would also be launched at US
naval ships in the Persian Gulf and oil installations in Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait.

The virtual end of NATO as a viable defense organization may also result
from an attack that will drive a final wedge between Washington and
Europe. And China may elect to respond financially and militarily against
the United States since Iran is China's second largest source of imported
Middle East oil after Saudi Arabia and plans to use an Iranian terminal
for the export of natural gas from Turkmenistan. [China now imports 60
percent of its oil needs, and Iran represents 17 percent of those
imports].

Russia recently participated in, through the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), a three-way military exercise (code named "Indira
2005") between Russia, China, and India to prepare for any new U.S.
power projections in Asia, including an attack on Iran, a prospective SCO
member. Last August, Russia and China held their first-ever joint
land-sea-air military exercises.

Iran also held a large military exercise in early December in Bandar Abbas
on the Gulf. An Iranian C-130 carrying Iranian journalists from Mehrabad
airport to Bandar to cover the exercise crashed into a Tehran apartment
building on December 6, killing at least 116 people, including 68
journalists.

Within the U.S. military and across the globe, there is heightened tension
about the intentions of the neocon Bush administration and its allies in
Israel.

http://waynemadsenreport.com/

[The US ruling class dreams it can take out anyone in its way. When are
all those anyones going to get together to take out the US ruling class?
And will there still be a world then, or will the US ruling class have
taken it out? -ed]


--------16 of 17--------

From: Richard Broderick <lc_richb [at] pop.webblake.com>
This is a good time to post Philip Larken's 1970 elegy for a coal mining
accident that occured that year in Wales.

Philip Larken
THE EXPLOSION

On the day of the explosion
Shadows pointed towards the pithead:
In the sun the slagheap slept.

Down the lane came men in pitboots
Coughing oath-edged talk and pipe-smoke,
Shouldering off the freshened silence.

One chased after rabbits; lost them;
Came back with a nest of lark's eggs;
Showed them; lodged them in the grasses.

So they passed in beards and moleskins,
Fathers, brothers, nicknames, laughter,
Through the tall gates standing open.

At noon, there came a tremor; cows
Stopped chewing for a second; sun,
Scarfed as in a heat-haze, dimmed.

"The dead go before us, they
Are sitting in God's house of comfort,
We shall see them face to face -- "

Plain as lettering in the chapels
It was said, and for a second
Wives saw men of the explosion

Larger than in life they managed --
Gold as on a coin, or walking
Somehow from the sun towards them,

One showing the eggs unbroken.


--------17 of 17--------

 God, the church, and priests
 are sure to keep you from death
 - or your money back.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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