Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 01.12.06

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     01.12.06

1. Knit-in             1.12 12noon
2. Eagan peace vigil   1.12 4:30pm
3. Eagan peace vigil   1.12 4:30pm
4. Great River Park    1.12 6pm
5. Cam/W2 town meeting 1.12 7pm
6. Midway SuperTarget? 1.12 7pm
7. Peace standards     1.12 7pm
8. Plan Colombia/film  1.12 7:30pm
9. Holocaust           1.12 7:30pm
10. Dump Bachmann      1.12 7:30pm

11. Counter recruit    1.13 12noon
12. Palestine vigil    1.13 4:15pm
13. Brazil/film        1.13 6pm

14. Holly Sklar     - Happy New Year, American Dream
15. William Pitt    - Attack on Iran: a looming folly
16. Byyron Williams - Rediscovering democracy
17. Paul C Roberts  - Will the US need an IMF bail out?
18. ed              - Visit a great America (poem)

--------1 of 18--------

From: Bonnie [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Knit-in 1.12 12noon

Thursday-Saturday, January 12-14, Leaders of Today and Tomorrow host their
annual Women Making a Difference Public Policy Seminar at the Radisson
Hotel and Conference Center in Plymouth.  Thursday evening event in
conjunction with the White House Project includes keynote by Alish Thomas
Morgan from Georgia's state legislature, also the annual Justice Rosalie
Wahl fundraiser.  Friday includes activities at the Capitol and the
evening's Public Policy Career Exploration Dinner.  On Saturday, there are
workshops and closing message from Arvonne Fraser.  www.lwvmn.org/LOTT

Thursday, January 12, Noon-2PM at the Capitol Rotunda, National Council of
Jewish Women sponsors a Knit-In.  Before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortions,
knitting needles were used by women desperate to end unintended
pregnancies. NCJW will use them for their intended purpose:  creating
garments, making scarves for children in need.  If you are not a knitter
and want to learn how, they will teach you.  More info from
judie [at] mn.rr.com.

Also Thursday January 12, 5:30-8PM at the Minnesota Women's Building,
annual meeting of Women In the Trades.  This group is recruiting new board
members, if you are a tradeswoman interested in supporting women entering
an/or thriving in your field.  Info at 651/793-4801.


--------2 of 18--------

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 1.12 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.


--------3 of 18--------

From: Jesse Mortenson <jmortenson [at] Macalester.edu>
Subject: Small is beautiful 1.12 5pm

1.12 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.
http://www.gpsp.org/goodbusiness


--------4 of 18--------

From: Elizabeth Dickinson <eadickinson [at] mindspring.com>
From: "Tim Griffin, Design Center" <sprc [at] riverfrontcorporation.com>
Subject: Great River Park 1.12 6pm

National Great River Park Community Workshops  
Final Two Will Be Held in January    

The Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation has been collaborating with the
Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation and the Saint Paul Department
of Planning and Economic Development, and now Saint Paul District Councils
and neighborhood residents to lead a community effort to transform the 17
miles of Saint Paul riverfront parks, natural resources, cultural
amenities and community sites into a single National Great River Park.

The 17 mile stretch has been divided into four distinct areas
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=zdvyjrbab.0.wzw6nrbab.mpi7oyn6.4038&p=http%3A%2F%2F
www.riverfrontcorporation.com%2FGRP_overview.asp> :  Gorge Reach, Flood
Plain Reach, Downtown Reach and Valley Reach.  A workshop has been
organized for each "reach" to involve and educate the communities in that
area. Help Shape the National Great River Park You'd Like to See

Third of Four Workshops
Downtown Reach
Wigington Pavilion
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=zdvyjrbab.0.9zw6nrbab.mpi7oyn6.4038&p=http%3A%2F%2F
www.stpaul.gov%2Fdepts%2Fparks%2Fspecialservi>
Harriet Island
Saint Paul, MN  55107

Thursday, January 12, 2005
6:00 p.m.  Open House - History of the National Great River Park
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.  Meeting/workshops

Fourth of Four Workshops
Valley Reach
Hillcrest Recreation Center
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=zdvyjrbab.0.8zw6nrbab.mpi7oyn6.4038&p=http%3A%2F%2F
www.stpaul.gov%2Fdepts%2Fparks%2Frecprograms%2Fhillcrest.htm>
1978 Ford Pkwy
SaintPaul, MN 55116

Tuesday, January 17, 2005
6:00 p.m.  Open House - History of the National Great River Park
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.  Meeting/workshops
   Learn more online:
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=zdvyjrbab.0.nf798obab.mpi7oyn6.4038&p=http%3A%2F%2F
www.greatriverpark.com>

Please RSVP to sprc [at] riverfrontcorporation.com.

For more information contact the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation at
651.293.6860.


--------5 of 18--------

From: Cam Gordon <camgordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Cam/W2 town meet 1.12 7pm

During last year's campaign, I committed to stay connected to the people
of the second ward using a variety of different methods.  One of these was
to hold regular town hall meetings in the ward.

I'm delighted to announce the first of these: I will hold a Ward 2 Town
Hall meeting this Thursday, 1-12-06 at Matthews Park, 2318 28th Ave S, in
Minneapolis, from 7-9 PM.  Please attend and share your concerns and
hopes, and help set priorities and make plans for the future.

Cam Gordon Council Member, Minneapolis Ward 2 673-2202


--------6 of 18--------

From: Jesse Mortenson <teknoj [at] gmail.com>
From: Russ Stark <rstark [at] universityunited.com>
Subject: Midway SuperTarget? 1.12 7pm

As you may have heard, Target Corporation purchased the Midway Sheraton
with plans to build a SuperTarget.  How will this proposed SuperTarget fit
into the surrounding urban neighborhoods?  Board members and staff from
the Lexington-Hamline Community Council and the Hamline-Midway Coalition,
and the Executive Committee of University UNITED held two meetings with
Target representatives to ask this question. At our most recent meeting we
asked that Target meet with the larger community to share their vision for
a Midway SuperTarget.

Please join us for an opportunity to meet with Target representatives to
discuss the proposed Midway SuperTarget:

Thursday, January 12
7-9pm
Model Cities BROWNstone
839 University Avenue

Agenda
7:00pm - 7:10pm - Sign-in
7:10pm - 7:30pm - Retail from a community perspective
7:30pm - 8:15pm - Target Presentation
8:15pm - 9:00pm - Q&A from the community

Jessica Treat, MURP Executive Director Lexington-Hamline Community
Council, District 13 1221 Marshall Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55104
651.645.3207 phone 651.645.7578 fax

[Things that suck: Big boxes, WalMart & SuperTarget. -ed}


--------7 of 18--------

From: "Murphy, Cathy" <CMurphy [at] analysts.com>
Subject: Peace standards 1.12 7pm

Thursday, 1/12, 7 pm, mobilization meeting to craft "peace standards"
for upcoming precinct caucuses for Peace First!, the 2006 version of
Peace in the Precincts, Peace Presbyterian Church, 7624 Cedar Lake Rd,
St. Louis Park 55426. Contact: Cathy Murphy, 952-935-8653
www.peaceintheprecincts.org or 651-917-0383.


--------8 of 18--------

From: David Kremer <kreme011 [at] tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Plan Colombia/film 1.12 7:30pm

Thursday, January 12 at 7:30pm "Plan Colombia" will be shown at Michael
Servetus Unitarian Society at 6565 Oakley Dr. NE, Fridley.

After Israel and Egypt, Colombia gets the most U.S. military aid.  What is
the conflict about, and what are our tax dollars doing?  The movie
features the late Paul Wellstone. The film begins at 7:30 p.m.  For more
information, David at 612-529-4136.


--------9 of 18--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Holocaust 1.12 7:30pm

January 12 - Lecture by Daisy Brand with illustrations of her work.
7:30pm.  Cost: Free and open to the public.

About Daisy Brand, resident of Newton Centre, MASS.

Daisy Brand is a survivor of the Holocaust from Czechoslovakia. She was
deported to Auschwitz and survived that camp, and was then transported to
Riga as a slave laborer. Other camps followed until liberation. She now
lives in the Boston, having immigrated to the USA from Israel in 1966. She
was educated at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Boston
University. She has exhibited her ceramic work frequently in New England
and in Europe, including France, Italy, England and Canada. She was part
of a large exhibition curated by Monice Bohm-Duchen in London during 1995,
"After Auschwitz". Brand is an artist who challenges Theodor Adorno's
notion that to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. Her own ceramic
art incorporates her wartime experiences. "My father was a banker in
Bratislava. He was given a posting to the eastern part of Czechoslovakia,
near the border with Rumania and Ukraine. While we were there, we were
rounded up and transported to a Jewish ghetto. We were then transported to
concentration camps. I myself spent time in seven different camps,
including Auschwitz. I was only fourteen years old when I was incarcerated
and I subsequently saw my entire family murdered."

Artist's Statement

One of the principles underlying my work is the wish to give testimony to
an era and communicate an experience that is totally unique in history and
which I was a part of. I was interested in drawing since early childhood.

After the Second World War as a teenage survivor of the Holocaust, I had
no opportunity to pursue art, while trying to grow on my own, and survive
in postwar Czechoslovakia.

Much later, when life became more stable, at the age of thirty-two I
enrolled in art school, majoring in ceramics. For years I worked in
various techniques in clay, making functional pottery, teaching and
turning to sculptural forms eventually in order to better express personal
concerns. Gradually expressions of my Holocaust experience started to
penetrate this work in the early 1980s.

My references are suggestive and deliberately ambiguous. I try to keep the
exact meaning of some of the symbolism in my work private, and I hope to
evoke an emotional response in the viewer to the power and meaning of that
symbolism, which I believe is universal as well as personal.

The material I work with, namely porcelain as well as other clays,
undergoes a dramatic metamorphosis from soft, smooth, almost sensual, to
hard and resilient. To bring about this metamorphosis, the clay has to go
through intense heat, radiating an orange glow from the cracks of the
kiln, not unlike the crematoria in the night sky of Auschwitz. In my use
of colours I allude to this analogy. The process in clay work is as old as
civilization itself. Somehow the fascination for me is that fire in this
case creates, rather than destroys, which I hope to apply to my life as
well.

Co-sponsored by CHGS, JCRC, Sabes JCC, CHAIM (Children of Holocaust
Survivors in Minnesota).
Location: Room M-49 "activities center," Sabes JCC, 4330 Cedar Lake Rd. S,
St Louis Park, MN. 55416


--------10 of 18--------

From: Eva Young <lloydletta [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Dump Bachmann 1.12 7:30pm

Dump Michele Bachmann January Meetup
Thursday, January 12, 7:30 PM
Savories 108 N Main Street Stillwater, MN 651-430-0702

We will be going back to our usual location at Savories in Stillwater.
Meet other Bachmann constituents who want to defeat Bachmann in the
political arena.


--------11 of 18--------

From: sarah standefer <scsrn [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Counter recruit 1.13 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


--------12 of 18--------

From: peace 2u <tkanous [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine vigil 1.13 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.


--------13 of 18--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Brazil/film 1.13 6pm

Friday, 1/13, 6 pm, free film "The Landless: On the Paths of America," a
documentary about Brazil's landless movement, Resource Center of the
Americas, 3019 Minnehaha, Mpls.  www.americas.org


--------14 of 18---------

Happy New Year, American Dream
By Holly Sklar
January 12, 2006
ZNet Commentary
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-01/12sklar.cfm

The American Dream doesn't need to go on a diet in the new year. It's been
shrinking for years.

We are becoming a nation of Scrooge-Marts and outsourcers - with an
increasingly low-wage workforce instead of a growing middle class. Even
two-paycheck households are struggling to afford a house, college, health
care and retirement.

The American Dream is becoming the American Pipe Dream.

"The vast majority of American workers (70 percent) think 'the American
Dream' has been or will be harder for them to financially achieve than it
was for their parents' generation," according to the Principal Financial
Well-Being Index.

We are living the American Dream in reverse.

The hourly wages of average workers are 11 percent lower than they were
back in 1973, adjusted for inflation, despite rising worker productivity.
CEO pay, by contrast, has skyrocketed - up a median 30 percent in 2004
alone in The Corporate Library survey of 2,000 large companies.

Median household income has fallen an unprecedented five years in a row.
It would be even lower, if not for increased household work hours.
Americans work over 200 hours more a year on average than workers in other
rich industrialized nations.

We are breaking records we don't want to break. Record numbers of
Americans have no health insurance. The share of national income going to
wages and salaries is the lowest since 1929.

Middle-class households are a medical crisis, outsourced job or busted
pension away from bankruptcy.

The congressional majority voted the biggest cut in history to the student
loan program at a time when college is more important, and more expensive,
than ever. Public college tuition has risen even faster than private
tuition, jumping 54 percent over the last decade, adjusted for inflation.

Our shortsighted government, beholden to powerful campaign contributors
and lobbyists, is cutting rungs from the ladders of upward mobility while
cutting taxes for the superwealthy.

That's not the American Dream.

Contrary to myth, the United States is not becoming more competitive in
the global economy by taking the low road. We are in growing hock to other
countries. We have a huge trade deficit, hollowed-out manufacturing base
and deteriorating research and development. The infrastructure built by
earlier generations has eroded greatly, undermining the economy as well as
public health and safety.

Households have propped themselves up in the face of falling real wages by
maxing out work hours, credit cards and home equity loans. This is not a
sustainable course. The low road is like a "shortcut" that leads to a
cliff.

We will not prosper in the 21st century global economy by relying on
1920s' corporate greed, 1950s' tax revenues, pre-1970s' wages, and
global-warming energy policies.

We will not prosper relying on disinvestment in place of reinvestment. We
can't succeed that way any more than farmers can "compete" by eating their
seed corn.

As Business Week put it in a special issue on China and India, "China's
competitive edge is shifting from low-cost workers to state-of-the-art
manufacturing. India is creating world-class innovation hubs, and its
companies are far better performers than China's."

The United States will not succeed by shifting increasingly from
state-of-the art manufacturing and world-class innovation hubs to low-cost
workers.

Contrary to myth, many European countries are better positioned for the
future than the United States, with healthier economies and longer healthy
life expectancies, greater math and science literacy, free or affordable
education from preschool through college, universal health care, less
poverty, and more corporations combining social responsibility and
world-class innovation.

Among the world's 100 largest corporations in 2005, just 33 are U.S.
companies while 48 are European. In 2002, 38 were U.S. companies and 36
were European. CEO-worker pay gaps are much narrower at European companies
than American.

The United States dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 in the global information
technology ranking by the World Economic Forum, whose members represent
the world's 1,000 leading companies among others. The top four spots are
held by Singapore, Iceland, Finland and Denmark, with Sweden No. 6.

Instead of pretending the problem is overpaid workers and accelerating
offshoring, we need to shore up our economy from below and invest in smart
economic development. Let's make that our New Year's resolution for the
American Dream.

Holly Sklar is co-author of "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work
for All Of Us" (www.raisethefloor.org). She can be reached at
hsklar [at] aol.com. Copyright (c) 2005 Holly Sklar

[The ruling class is stealing us blind, and wrecking the country and our
lives. The RP-DP duopoly works day and night to help them. Yet we wouldn't
want to do anything "radical". - ed]


--------15 of 18--------

Attack on Iran: A Looming Folly
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 09 January 2006

The wires have been humming since before the New Year with reports that
the Bush administration is planning an attack on Iran. "The Bush
administration is preparing its NATO allies for a possible military strike
against suspected nuclear sites in Iran in the New Year, according to
German media reports, reinforcing similar earlier suggestions in the
Turkish media," reported UPI on December 30th.

"The Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel this week," continued UPI, "quoted
'NATO intelligence sources' who claimed that the NATO allies had been
informed that the United States is currently investigating all
possibilities of bringing the mullah-led regime into line, including
military options. This 'all options are open' line has been President
George W Bush's publicly stated policy throughout the past 18 months."

An examination of the ramifications of such an attack is desperately in
order.

    *1.  Blowback in Iraq*

The recent elections in Iraq were dominated by an amalgam of religiously
fundamentalist Shi'ite organizations, principally the Dawa Party and the
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). Both Dawa and
SCIRI have umbilical connections to the fundamentalist Shi'ite leadership
in Iran that go back decades. In essence, Iran now owns a significant
portion of the Iraqi government.

Should the United States undertake military action against Iran, the
ramifications in Iraq would be immediate and extreme.

In the first eight days of January, eighteen US troops have been killed in
Iraq, compounded by another twelve deaths from a Black Hawk helicopter
crash on Saturday. Much of the violence aimed at American forces is coming
from disgruntled Sunni factions that have their own militias, believe the
last elections were a sham, and hold little political power in the
government.

If the US attacks Iran, it is probable that American forces - already
taxed by attacks from Sunni factions - will also face reprisal attacks in
Iraq from Shi'ite factions loyal to Iran. The result will be a dramatic
escalation in US and civilian casualties, US forces will be required to
bunker themselves further into their bases, and US forces will find
themselves required to fight the very government they just finished
helping into power. Iraq, already a seething cauldron, will sink further
into chaos.

    *2.  Iran's Armaments*

Unlike Iraq, Iran has not spent the last fifteen years having its
conventional forces worn down by grueling sanctions, repeated attacks, and
two American-led wars. While Iran's conventional army is not what it was
during the heyday of the Iran-Iraq war - their armaments have deteriorated
and the veterans of that last war have retired - the nation enjoys
substantial military strength nonetheless.

According to a report issued by the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in December of 2004, Iran "has some 540,000 men under arms and
over 350,000 reserves. They include 120,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards
trained for land and naval asymmetrical warfare. Iran's military also
includes holdings of 1,613 main battle tanks, 21,600 other armored
fighting vehicles, 3,200 artillery weapons, 306 combat aircraft, 60 attack
helicopters, 3 submarines, 59 surface combatants, and 10 amphibious
ships."

"Iran is now the only regional military power that poses a significant
conventional military threat to Gulf stability," continued the CSIS
report. "Iran has significant capabilities for asymmetric warfare, and
poses the additional threat of proliferation. There is considerable
evidence that it is developing both a long-range missile force and a range
of weapons of mass destruction. It has never properly declared its
holdings of chemical weapons, and the status of its biological weapons
programs is unknown."

A MILNET brief issued in February 2005 reports, "Due to its position
astride the Persian Gulf, Iran has constantly been a threat to the Gulf.
The so called 'Tanker' wars in the late 1980s put Iran squarely in the
bullseye of all nations seeking to transport oil out of the region. Even
the small navy that Iran puts to sea is capable enough to harass shipping,
and several cases of small boat operations against oil well heads in the
Gulf during that period made it clear small asymmetrical tactics of the
Iranian Navy could be quite effective."

"More concerning," continued the MILNET brief, "is the priority placed on
expanding and modernizing its Navy. The CSIS report cites numerous areas
where Iran has funded modernization including the most troublesome aspect,
anti-shipping cruise missiles: 'Iran has obtained new anti-ship missiles
and missile patrol craft from China, midget submarines from North Korea,
submarines from Russia, and modern mines.'"

It is Iran's missile armaments that pose the greatest concern for American
forces in the Gulf, especially for the US Navy. Iran's coast facing the
Persian Gulf is a looming wall of mountains that look down upon any naval
forces arrayed in those waters. The Gulf itself only has one exit, the
Strait of Hormuz, which is also dominated by the mountainous Iranian
coastline. In essence, Iran holds the high ground in the Gulf. Missile
batteries arrayed in those mountains could raise bloody havoc with any
fleet deployed below.

Of all the missiles in Iran's armament, the most dangerous is the
Russian-made SS-N-22 Sunburn. These missiles are, simply, the fastest
anti-ship weapons on the planet. The Sunburn can reach Mach 3 at high
altitude. Its maximum low-altitude speed is Mach 2.2, some three times
faster than the American-made Harpoon. The Sunburn takes two short minutes
to cover its full range. The missile's manufacturers state that one or two
missiles could cripple a destroyer, and five missiles could sink a 20,000
ton ship. The Sunburn is also superior to the Exocet missile. Recall that
it was two Exocets that ripped the USS Stark to shreds in 1987, killing 37
sailors. The Stark could not see them to stop them.

The US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is currently deployed in the
Persian Gulf, with some 7,000 souls aboard. Sailing with the Roosevelt is
the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Force, which includes the USS Tarawa, the
USS Austin, and the USS Pearl Harbor. The USS Austin is likewise deployed
in the Gulf. The Sunburn missile, with its incredible speed and ability to
avoid radar detection, would do terrible damage these ships if Iran
chooses to retaliate in the Gulf after an American attack within its
borders.

Beyond the naval threat is the possibility of Iran throwing its military
muscle into the ongoing struggle in Iraq. Currently, the US is facing an
asymmetrical attack from groups wielding small arms, shoulder-fired
grenades and roadside bombs. The vaunted American military has suffered
2,210 deaths and tens of thousands of wounded from this form of warfare.
The occupation of Iraq has become a guerrilla war, a siege that has lasted
more than a thousand days. If Iran decides to throw any or all of its
23,000 armored fighting vehicles, along with any or all of its nearly
million-strong army, into the Iraq fray, the situation in the Middle East
could become unspeakably dire.

    *3.  The Syrian Connection*

In February of 2005, Iran and Syria agreed upon a mutual protection pact
to combat "challenges and threats" in the region. This was a specific
reaction to the American invasion of Iraq, and a reaction to America's
condemnation of Syria after the death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri, which was widely seen as an assassination ordered from Damascus.
An attack on Iran would trigger this mutual defense pact, and could
conceivably bring Syria into direct conflict with American forces.

Like Iran, Syria's military is nothing to scoff at. Virtually every
credible analysis has Syria standing as the strongest military force in
the Middle East after Israel. Damascus has been intent for years upon
establishing significant military strength to serve as a counterweight to
Israel's overwhelming capabilities. As of 2002, Syria had some 215,000
soldiers under arms, 4,700 tanks, and a massive artillery capability. The
Syrian Air Force is comprised of ten to eleven fighter/attack squadrons
and sixteen fighter squadrons, totaling somewhere near 650 aircraft.

Syria also possesses one of the largest arsenals of ballistic missiles in
the region, comprised primarily of SCUD-derived systems. Iran, North Korea
and China have been willing providers of state-of-the-art technologies.
Compounding this is the well-based suspicion that Syria has perhaps the
most advanced chemical weapons capability in the Persian Gulf.

    *4.  China and the US Economy*

While the ominous possibilities of heightened Iraqi chaos, missiles in the
Gulf, and Syrian involvement loom large if the US attacks Iran, all pale
in comparison to the involvement of China in any US/Iran engagement.

China's economy is exploding, hampered only by their great thirst for
petroleum and natural gas to fuel their industry. In the last several
months, China has inked deals with Iran for $70 billion dollars worth of
Iranian oil and natural gas. China will purchase 250 million tons of
liquefied natural gas from Iran over the next 30 years, will develop the
massive Yadavaran oil field in Iran, and will receive 150,000 barrels of
oil per day from that field. China is seeking the construction of a
pipeline from Iran to the Caspian Sea, where it would link with another
planned pipeline running from Kazakhstan to China.

Any US attack on Iran could be perceived by China as a direct threat to
its economic health. Further, any fighting in the Persian Gulf would
imperil the tankers running China's liquefied natural gas through the
Strait of Hormuz. Should China decide to retaliate against the US to
defend its oil and natural gas deal with Iran, the US would be faced with
a significant threat. This threat exists not merely on a military level,
though China could force a confrontation in the Pacific by way of Taiwan.
More significantly, China holds a large portion of the American economy in
the palm of its hand.

Paul Craig Roberts, writing for The American Conservative, said in July of
2005 that "As a result of many years of persistent trade surpluses with
the United States, the Japanese government holds dollar reserves of
approximately $1 trillion. China's accumulation of dollars is
approximately $600 billion. South Korea holds about $200 billion. These
sums give these countries enormous leverage over the United States. By
dumping some portion of their reserves, these countries could put the
dollar under intense pressure and send U.S. interest rates skyrocketing.
Washington would really have to anger Japan and Korea to provoke such
action, but in a showdown with China - over Taiwan, for example - China
holds the cards. China and Japan, and the world at large, have more dollar
reserves than they require. They would have no problem teaching a
hegemonic superpower a lesson if the need arose."

"The hardest blow on Americans," concluded Roberts, "will fall when China
does revalue its currency. When China's currency ceases to be undervalued,
American shoppers in Wal-Mart, where 70 percent of the goods on the
shelves are made in China, will think they are in Neiman Marcus. Price
increases will cause a dramatic reduction in American real incomes. If
this coincides with rising interest rates and a setback in the housing
market, American consumers will experience the hardest times since the
Great Depression."

In short, China has the American economy by the throat. Should they decide
to squeeze, we will all feel it. China's strong hand in this even extends
to the diplomatic realm; China is a permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council, and could veto any actions against Iran proposed by the
United States.

    *5.  American Preparedness*

American citizens have for decades taken it as a given that our military
can overwhelm and overcome any foe on the battlefield. The rapid victory
during the first Gulf War cemented this perception. The last three years
of the Iraq occupation, however, have sapped this confidence. Worse, the
occupation has done great damage to the strength of the American military,
justifying the decrease in confidence. Thanks to repeated deployments to
Iraq and Afghanistan, recruiting is at an all-time low. Soldiers with
vital training and know-how are refusing to re-enlist. Across the board,
the American military is stretched to the breaking point.

Two vaunted economists - one a Nobel Prize winner and the other a
nationally renowned budget expert - have analyzed the data at hand and put
a price tag on the Iraq occupation. According to Linda Bilmes of Harvard
and Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University, the final
cost of the Iraq occupation will run between $1 trillion and $2 trillion,
surpassing by orders of magnitude the estimates put forth by the Bush
administration. If an engagement with Iran envelops our forces in Iraq,
and comes to involve Syria, our economy will likely shatter under the
strain of fighting so many countries simultaneously. Add to this the
economic threat posed by China, and the economic threat implicit in any
substantial disruption of the distribution of Mideast petroleum to the
globe.

If Iran and Syria - with their significant armaments, missile technologies
and suspected chemical weapons capabilities - decide to engage with the
relatively undersized US force in Iraq, our troops there will be fish in a
barrel. Iran's position over the Gulf would make resupply by ship and air
support from carriers a dangerous affair. In the worst-case scenario, the
newly-minted American order of battle requiring the use of nuclear weapons
to rescue a surrounded and imperiled force could come into play, hurling
the entire planet into military and diplomatic bedlam.

    *Conclusion: Is Any of This Possible?*

The question must be put as directly as possible: what manner of maniac
would undertake a path so fraught with peril and potential economic
catastrophe? It is difficult to imagine a justification for any action
that could envelop the United States in a military and economic conflict
with Iraq, Iran, Syria and China simultaneously.

Iran is suspected by many nations of working towards the development of
nuclear weapons, but even this justification has been tossed into a cocked
hat. Recently, Russian president Vladimir Putin bluntly stated that Iran
is not developing its nuclear capability for any reasons beyond peaceful
energy creation, and pledged to continue assisting Iran in this endeavor.
Therefore, any attack upon Iran's nuclear facilities will bring Russia
into the mess. Iran also stands accused of aiding terrorism across the
globe. The dangers implicit in any attack upon that nation, however, seem
to significantly offset whatever gains could be made in the so-called "War
on Terror."

Unfortunately, all the dangers in the world are no match for the
self-assurance of a bubble-encased zealot. What manner of maniac would
undertake such a dangerous course? Look no further than 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue.

George W. Bush and his administration have consistently undertaken
incredibly dangerous courses of action in order to garner political power
on the home front. Recall the multiple terror threats lobbed out by the
administration whenever damaging political news appeared in the media.
More significantly, recall Iraq. Karl Rove, Bush's most senior advisor,
notoriously told Republicans on the ballot during the 2002 midterms to
"run on the war." The invasion of Iraq provided marvelous political cover
for the GOP not only during those midterms, but during the 2004
Presidential election.

 What kind of political cover would be gained from an attack on Iran, and
from the diversion of attention to that attack? The answer lies in one
now-familiar name: Jack Abramoff. The Abramoff scandal threatens to
subsume all the hard-fought GOP gains in Congress, and the 2006 midterms
are less than a year away.

Is any of this a probability? Logic says no, but logic seldom plays any
part in modern American politics. All arguments that the Bush
administration would be insane to attack Iran and risk a global
conflagration for the sake of political cover run into one unavoidable
truth.

They did it once already in Iraq.


-------16 of 18--------

Rediscovering democracy
Time to return to first principles in Washington
Byyron Williams
byronspeaks.com
01.09.06

"The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic
paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colors
breaking through."
-- Alexis de Tocqueville

Could 2006 be the year that we reclaim our democracy?

As we begin the new year, reclaiming our democratic traditions seems to
be a priority greater than even the war on terror.

In the four-plus years since 9/11, we have methodically surrendered
small pieces of our democracy for the illusion of safety. We have
acquiesced as more and more power was concentrated into the executive
branch.

The understandable post-9/11 fear caused the nation to rationalize
actions that conservatives and liberals alike would have abhorred otherwise.

Without much resistance, the Patriot Act became law, torture became a
key ingredient in fighting the war on terror, and the president
justified wiretapping without the requisite due process or congressional
oversight.

Yet, the war on terror remains a war that only requires sacrifice from a
few. The spigot is wide open with a ceaseless flow of tax cuts for the
wealthiest, but has dried up when it comes to services for those who
need help most.

It is hard to imagine such policies being tolerated by a people
committed to democratic values.

Why should we bother to send elected representation to Washington? The
president believes he can unilaterally determine any policy that is
remotely related to a war that has no definable end. And he does so
without regard for the rule of law or our democratic values.

We have long passed the point of moral self-reflection when the
commander in chief can brazenly state that he ordered wiretaps on U.S.
soil, justifying it with the notion that the rule of law is trumped by
the war on terror.

How long can we remain content believing that 9/11 changed everything?
Was the impact of 9/11 so great that we now believe that the president
is above the law?

If so, those of us in dissent owe the president and vice president an
apology. Moreover, we would also need to declare Osama bin Laden the victor.

Time is the only antidote to fear-based emotionalism. And the further
away we are from 9/11, the clearer we can see how much our democratic
traditions have needlessly been relinquished.

The collective burden is on the American people to reclaim the courage
that is at the root of our democracy. Nowhere can one peruse the texts
of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Federalist
Papers and find justification for the bad intelligence leading to
pre-emptive war, the torture policies or domestic wiretapping without
obtaining a warrant.

We must be prepared to remove any elected official, regardless of party,
who is not willing to put the country first.

The post-9/11 experience should remind us that a democratic nation never
has the luxury of putting its values on autopilot. We entrusted the
president with keeping us safe, and in the process with few exceptions,
promised not to question.

This may have been one of the great Faustian bargains in U.S. history:
absolute power in return for the perception of safety. That is not how
democracies work. Unlike totalitarian regimes, they require a constant
conciseness and commitment to the values they proclaim.

For in the words of George Bernard Shaw, "Democracy is a device that
ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." Byron Williams
writes a weekly political/social commentary at Byronspeaks.com. Byron
serves as pastor of the Resurrection Community Church in Oakland,
California.

We must be prepared to remove any elected official, regardless of party,
who is not willing to put the country first.
(c) 2005, byronspeaks.com


--------17 of 18--------

Bush's Con Jobs:
Will the US Need an IMF Bail Out?
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch - Jan 10, 2006
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01102006.html

President George W. Bush has destroyed America's economy along with
America's reputation as a truthful, compassionate, peace-loving nation
that values civil liberties and human rights.

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University
budget expert Linda Bilmes have calculated the cost to Americans of Bush's
Iraq war to be between one and two trillion dollars. This figure is 5 to
10 times higher than the $200 billion that Bush's economic adviser, Larry
Lindsey, estimated. Lindsey was fired by Bush, because Lindsey's estimate
was three times higher than the $70 billion figure that the Bush
administration used to mislead Congress and the American voters about the
burden of the war. You can't work in the Bush administration unless you
are willing to lie for dub-ya.

Americans need to ask themselves if the White House is in competent hands
when a $70 billion war becomes a $2 trillion war. Bush sold his war by
understating its cost by a factor of 28.57. Any financial officer any
where in the world whose project was 2,857 percent over budget would
instantly be fired for utter incompetence.

Bush's war cost almost 30 times more than he said it would because the
moronic neoconservatives that he stupidly appointed to policy positions
told him the invasion would be a cakewalk. Neocons promised minimal US
casualties. Iraq already has cost 2,200 dead Americans and 16,000
seriously wounded--and Bush's war is not over yet. The cost of lifetime
care and disability payments for the thousands of US troops who have
suffered brain and spinal damage was not part of the unrealistic rosy
picture that Bush painted.

Dr. Stiglitz's $2 trillion estimate is OK as far as it goes. But it
doesn't go far enough. My own estimate is a multiple of Stiglitz's.

Stiglitz correctly includes the cost of lifetime care of the wounded, the
economic value of destroyed and lost lives, and the opportunity cost of
the resources diverted to war destruction. What he leaves out is the war's
diversion of the nation's attention away from the ongoing erosion of the
US economy. War and the accompanying domestic police state have filled the
attention span of Americans and their government. Meanwhile, the US
economy has been rapidly deteriorating into third world status.

In 2005 for the first time on record consumer, business, and government
spending exceeded the total income of the country. Net national savings
actually fell.

America can consume more than it produces only if foreigners supply the
difference. China recently announced that it intends to diversify its
foreign exchange holdings away from the US dollar. If this is not merely a
threat in order to extort even more concessions from Bush, Americans'
ability to consume will be brought up short by a fall in the dollar's
value as China ceases to be a sponge that is absorbing an excessive
outpouring of dollars. Oil producing countries might follow China's lead.

Now that Americans are dependent on imports for their clothing,
manufactured goods, and even high technology products, a decline in the
dollar's value will make all these products much more expensive. American
living standards, which have been treading water, will sink.

A decline in living standards is an enormous cost and will make existing
debt burdens unbearable. Stiglitz did not include this cost in his
estimate.

Even more serious is the war's diversion of attention from the
disappearance of middle class jobs for university graduates. The ladders
of upward mobility are being rapidly dismantled by offshore production for
US markets, job outsourcing and importation of foreign professionals on
work visas. In almost every US corporation, US employees are being
dismissed and replaced by foreigners who work for lower pay. Even American
public school teachers and hospital nurses are being replaced by
foreigners imported on work visas.

The American Dream has become a nightmare for college graduates who cannot
find meaningful work.

This fact is made abundantly clear from the payroll jobs data over the
past five years. December's numbers, released on January 6, show the same
pattern that I have reported each month for years. Under pressure from
offshore outsourcing, the US economy only creates low productivity jobs in
low-pay domestic services.

Only a paltry number of private sector jobs were created--94,000. Of these
94,000 jobs, 35,800 or 38% are for waitresses and bartenders. Health care
and social assistance account for 28% of the new jobs and temporary
workers account for 10%. These three categories of low tech, nontradable
domestic services account for 76% of the new jobs. This is the jobs
pattern of a poor third world economy that consumes more than it produces.

America's so-called first world superpower economy was only able to create
in December a measly 12,000 jobs in goods producing industries, of which
77% are accounted for by wood products and fabricated metal products--the
furniture and roofing metal of the housing boom that has now come to an
end. US employment declined in machinery, electronic instruments, and
motor vehicles and parts.

2,600 jobs were created in computer systems design and related services,
depressing news for the several hundred thousand unemployed American
computer and software engineers.

When manufacturing leaves a country, engineering, R&D, and innovation
rapidly follow. Now that outsourcing has killed employment opportunities
for US citizens and even General Motors and Ford are failing, US economic
growth depends on how much longer the rest of the world will absorb our
debt and finance our consumption.

How much longer will it be before "the world's only remaining superpower"
is universally acknowledged as a debt-ridden, hollowed-out economy
desperately in need of IMF bailout?

Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has
contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate
economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University of
California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is coauthor of The
Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at:
paulcraigroberts [at] yahoo.com


--------18 of 18--------

 Visit A Great America

 We can visit a
 great America only
 via time travel.


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