Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 01.24.06

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     01.24.06

1. Salon/discussion    1.24 6:30pm

2. War/churches        1.25 8am
3. Economic divide     1.25 2:30pm
4. Togo/democracy      1.25 5:30pm
5. Anti-torture        1.25 6:30pm
6. Caucus training     1.25 7pm
7. Democracy/books     1.25 7pm
8. Dept of peace       1.25 7pm
9. Peace candidate?    1.25 7pm
10. Peace/justice      1.25 7pm Chippewa Falls WI

11. Eagan peace vigil  1.26 4:30pm
12. Intercultural ed   1.26 4:30pm
13. Small is beautiful 1.26 5pm
14. Progress/women     1.26 7pm
15. Classes at Mizna   1.26 6:30pm
16. Red pedagogy       1.26 6:30pm
17. Public education   1.26 7pm
18. Conspiracy theory  1.26 8:30pm
19. Against forgetting 1.26

20. Bob Nichols - VA depleted uranium scandal
21. John Brown  - Our Indian wars are not over yet
22. Mike Ingram - US government demands Google internet search data
23. ed          - Cheesemakers, sharp and dull (poems)

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From: Patty Guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Salon/discussion 1.24 6:30pm

The Conversational Salon for this Tuesday, January 24, is Open Discussion.
Come and share what is on your mind or listen to what is on other people's
minds.

Pax Salons ( http://justcomm.org/pax-salon ) are held (unless otherwise
noted in advance): Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Mad Hatter's Tea House, 943
W 7th, St Paul, MN

Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats.
Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information.


--------2 of 23--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: War/churches 1.25 8am

January 25 - Do Wars Rely on Christian Churches for Their Support?
8-9:30am

Al Bostlemann and members of Every Church a Peace Church education
committee will present.  Al is a clinical social worker, combat trained
infantry vet, member of Vets for Peace and other peace groups.  He has
helped lead the movement called Every Church a Peace Church.

St. Martin s Table, 2001 Riverside, Minneapolis


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From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Economic divide 1.25 2:30pm

January 25 - Inequality Matters: A Public Forum on the Consequences of the
Growing Economic Divide in America.  2:30-4:30pm.

Several prominent national and local experts will speak on the topic.

Sponsored by Mn Council of Nonprofits and Demos, with support from
Citizens League, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Itasca Project,
Midwest States Center and Minneapolis Foundation.  Free, but please rsvp
Stephanie Haddad at Stephanie [at] mncn.org or 651-642- 1904 x 227 www.mncn.org
Location: Children s Home Society and Family Services, 1605 Eustis St St.
Paul


--------4 of 23--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Togo/democracy 1.25 5:30pm

January 25 - World Chat: Togo Issues of Democracy and Human Rights.
5:30pm.  Cost: MIC members and students FREE; Non-members $15.

World Chat: Togo Issues of Democracy and Human Rights; speaker Paul Amla.

Please register in advance MIC s living room seats only 25 people.  YOU
CAN REGISTER SECURELY ON-LINE FOR MANY OF OUR PROGRAMS BY CLICKING
http://www.micglobe.org/ Location: MIC, 711 East River Road, Minneapolis.
Limited free on-site parking available


--------5 of 23--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Anti-torture 1.25 6:30pm

Wednesday, 1/25, 7pm, weekly meeting of anti-torture group Tackling
Torture at the Top, at Center School, 2421 Bloomington Ave. S., Mpls.
Meeting will be preceded by a self-education session at 6:30 for those who
are interested.


--------6 of 23--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Caucus training 1.25 7pm

Wednesday, 1/25, 6 to 8 pm, Wellstone Action! free caucus training for
campaigns, (NEW LOCATION) CWA Local 7200, 3521 E Lake St, Mpls.  RSVP to
chris [at] wellstone.org or 651-645-3939.


--------7 of 23--------

From: Noelle Douglas <joyeux [at] visi.com>
Subject: Democracy/books 1.25 7pm

DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA BOOK CLUB
A monthly book group for progressives focused on political and social
issues.

Book:  Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis by Jimmy Carter
Wednesday, January 25th at 7pm
Dunn Brothers Café, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 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.


--------8 of 23--------

From: Brenda Rozycki <pbsrroz [at] msn.com>
Subject: Dept of peace 1.25 7pm

Wednesday, Jan 25 Meeting: Minneapolis residents for a City Council
Resolution supporting the passage of a national Department of Peace.
7pm Betsey's Back Porch, 54th and Nicollet Ave. S. Minneapolis.  FFI:


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From: "Don,Rachel Christensen" <chris385 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Peace candidate? 1.25 7pm

Even if you do not live in the 5th Congressional District, consider
attending this meeting.

Peace Studies Professor Contemplating Run for Congress

One of Minnesota's most prophetic and powerful voices for peace and
justice in American foreign policy is considering a run for a seat on the
U.S. House of Representatives.

Author and St. Thomas Peace Studies professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is
holding a community dialogue next Wednesday to get a read from citizens in
the 5th District as to whether there is enough passion for a peace agenda
to warrant a run for Congress.

If you live in Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Columbia Hieghts, Hilltop,
Richfield, Robbinsdale, St. Anthony, Crystal, Fridley, Spring Lake Park,
Hopkins or New Hope, and if you're passionate about peace, then you need
to be a part of this dialogue.

Join us for the discussion!

Wednesday, January 25
7-9 p.m.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
2730 E. 31st St, Minneapolis, MN (1 block south of
Lake St. on 27th Ave.)


--------10 of 23--------

From: scot bol <earthmannow [at] usgo.net>
Subject: Peace/justice 1.25 7pm Chippewa Falls WI

Wednesday, January 25--Chippewa Falls, WI
7pm. Join with others of our community to exchange ideas about how we as
individuals and as community can better contribute to peace and justice in
the world.St. Charles Borromeo Church Narthex, 810 Pearl Street. Contact
Connie Sprague <mailto:wissotaj [at] charter.net>wissotaj [at] charter.net


--------11 of 23--------

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 1.26 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.


--------12 of 23--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Intercultural ed 1.26 4:30pm

January 26 - MIC CLASSROOM PROGRAM: Effective Use of Intercultural
Resources in the Classroom. 4:30-8:30pm.  Cost: Teachers and educators $75
(includes three free presentations by an international speaker, meal and
CEUs); International students FREE.

MIC is offering training workshops for teachers and educators interested
in having an international speaker at their school and for international
students wishing to learn more about the MIC Classroom Program.
Educators may receive 0.4 Continuing Education Units through the
University of Minnesota.

For more information or to register: Contact Robin or call 612.625.4421
Location: MIC, 711 East River Road, Minneapolis. Limited free on-site
parking.


--------13 of 23--------

From: Jesse Mortenson <jmortenson [at] Macalester.edu>
Subject: Small is beautiful 1.26 5pm

1.26 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


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From: info [at] economicprogress.net
Subject: Progress/women 1.26 7pm

The Center for Economic Progress, a nonprofit action "think tank"
dedicated to changing the way society thinks and talks about women's
economic worth and potential, is proud to announce an exciting upcoming
event!

The Center for Economic Progress Opens Its Doors in Upcoming Meet & Greet
Event

Are you looking for a new organization to volunteer with for 2006?  Maybe
you have been thinking about volunteering but have yet to find the right
organization to donate your time?  Make 2006 the year you get involved in
a dynamic and growing nonprofit organization!  Join The Center for
Economic Progress as it hosts a Meet & Greet Thursday, January 26 from
6:00-8:00pm at Board Member Trout J. Lowen's house in Minneapolis [for
complete address and directions please contact the CEP office].

This event is a chance for you to get to get acquainted with The Center
for Economic Progress' mission and outlook; network with other players in
the nonprofit arena; and learn more CEP's current Board Member and
volunteer openings. Joining The Center for Economic Progress' team is a
wonderful opportunity for people who are interested in women's issues and
economic equality, looking for experience in the nonprofit world or just
want to donate their time to a worthy cause.

To attend CEP's Meet & Greet, please contact Kristina Shaw, CEP Executive
Director, at info [at] economicprogress.net / 651-293-1222.  Admission to the
Meet & Greet free and light refreshments will be served.  More information
available at: www.economicprogress.net.


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From: mizna-announce <mizna-announce [at] mizna.org>
Subject: Classes at Mizna 1.26 6:30pm

CLASSES AT MIZNA
Mizna is beginning its winter class schedule.

Note the following:
In addition to Mizna's regular class offerings, Mizna is adding an
Advanced Level Arabic to begin Thursday, January 26.

Advanced Arabic
Thursday evenings
January 26 - March 16
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
$150.00
Instructor:  Antoine Mefleh

Please email Mizna [at] Mizna.org or call us at 612-788-6920 if you are
interested or for more details on this class.

COMING IN FEBRUARY:
Beginning Arabic I and II (Monday evenings), Arab Writers Group, Workshops
in traditional embroidery. More details out soon.  Check our website for
updates or email us for more information.

Visit our website:  http://www.mizna.org


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From: Seehwa Cho <seehwac [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Red pedagogy 1.26 6:30pm

The Indigenization of America: Toward a Red Pedagogy for the 21st century:
Dr. Sandy Marie Anglás Grande (Connecticut College) Jan. 26 (Thursday),
6:30-8:30pm

University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis Campus
Terrence Murphy Hall, Thornton Auditorium
1000 LaSalle Ave., Minneapolis, MN
(Corner of 10th Street and LaSalle Avenue)

Prof. Sandy Grande (Quechua) will discuss her book Red Pedagogy, which
explores Native American social and political thought in the context of
current events ranging from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina.

In contrast to the predominant view that, as internal sovereign nations,
American Indian tribes are inherently destabilizing to democracy, Grande
asserts that the only real threat to democracy has been the historical
failure to recognize tribal sovereignty. She maintains that
acknowledgement of such rights would not only affirm democracy, but also
signal that the United States is indeed a nation of laws, not random
power, and is a self-determined citizenry, not a kingdom of blood or
aristocracy.

Sponsored by Critical Pedagogy Doctoral Program at the University of St.
Thomas: www.sthomas.edu/education.


--------17 of 23--------

From: Brian Joyce <gasman1960 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Public education 1.26 7pm

NEAT ( Network of Education Action Teams )
January 26, 2006
Rondo Education Center, 560 Concordia Avenue,
(Concordia and Dale) St. Paul

Are We at a Crossroads for Public Education?
Keynote Speaker: Mary Cecconi, Executive Director
Parents United For Public Schools
7:00-8:30 P.M. GREEN Atrium
http://www.stpaulneat.org/060126.html

During the 2005 legislative session, Minnesota public schools saw their
first substantial funding increase in over 14 years. Are schools now flush
with dollars? Why did this increase happen now?  What was it that
policymakers responded to? Are there lessons to be learned?

Our public schools have become a political issue on the state as well as
the federal level so what does the future hold for our public schools?

Parents United believes a public conversation needs to take place, a
conversation about what an adequate education involves and how to fund
this essential element of a democracy. What would the completion of the
Governor' Education Finance Reform Task Force bring into this mix? Might
the completion of this study be the impetus for a conversation that might
include: How public schools should be funded in the future; the state'
responsibility in that funding; the responsibility of the local taxpayer;
the role of the individual vs. the common good.  Are we at a crossroads
for public education?  Only by developing a better understanding of how
our leadership is dealing with public education can citizens be involved
at a substantive level.

Brian Joyce West Side NEAT Board Member


--------18 of 23--------

From: leslie reindl <alteravista [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Conspiracy theories 1.26 8:30pm

Altera vista show
Thurs Jan 26, 8:30pm:  "Conspiracy Theories: JFK, 9/11, and Wellstone:
Part 4.  Comments and questions."  Prof. Jim Fetzer, Duluth-U of M.  Altera
Vista program showing on St. Paul cable SPNN Channel 15.


--------19 of 23--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Against forgetting 1.26

1/26 to 4/1, photo exhibit "Against Forgetting: Beyond Genocide and Civil
War" with works of Abdi Roble (the Somali diaspora), Paul Corbit Brown
(Rwanda, 11 years later) and Mike Rosen (Jewish death-camp memorials),
Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls.  www.intermediaarts.org


--------20 of 23--------

VA depleted uranium scandal
Bob Nichols
Project Censored Award Winner
San Francisco Bay View - Jan 11, 2006
http://www.sfbayview.com/012605/headsroll012605.shtml

Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can
truly be called a nuclear war.

Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans
Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the
growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.

Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau,
executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated,
The real reason for Mr. Principis departure was really never given, however
a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted
uranium as the definitive cause of the Gulf War Syndrome has fed a growing
scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.

Bernklau continued, This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of
our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the
cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now
being revealed.

He added, Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf
War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on
Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of Disabled Vets means
that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of
permanent medical problems! The disability rate for the wars of the last
century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.

The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,
wrote Bernklau. He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these
facts, but now, thanks to Morets report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or
to cover up!

Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA
Central Office, recently reported that Gulf Era Veterans now on medical
disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans, said Berklau.

The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual
death sentence, stated Berklau. Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who
retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also
involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid
malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as spectacular and a
matter of concern!

When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for destroying things and
killing people, Fulk was more specific: I would say it is the perfect weapon
for killing lots of people!

Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.

References

1. Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death
sentence here and abroad by Leuren Moret,
http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml

2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY
11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax
516-474-1968.

3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls,
gkohls [at] cpinternet.com <mailto:gkohls [at] cpinternet.com>, with Subscribe in
the subject line.

[The ruling class cares not how many soldiers die. If you don't hang out
at the country club, you're expendable. As far as they're concerned, you
have no rights, just duties to them to make them richer by killing and
stealing. If you die a horrible radiation-caused death, big deal. If lots
of innocent Iraqis die from the same cause, who cares - their names aren't
on the social register. The fundamental malignant cancer is the ruling
class itself.  Removing it would be the biggest public health advance
ever. -ed]


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Our Indian Wars Are Not Over Yet
By John Brown
(originally posted on TomDispatch.com)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006F.shtml
Thursday 19 January 2006

Ten ways to interpret the War on Terror as a frontier conflict.

The Global War on Terror (GWOT) is, like all historical events, unique.
But both its supporters and opponents compare it to past US military
conflicts. The Bush administration and the neocons have drawn parallels
between GWOT and World War II as well as GWOT and the Cold War. Joshua E.
London, writing in the National Review, sees the War on Terror as a modern
form of the struggle against the Barbary pirates. Vietnam and the
Spanish-American War have been preferred analogies for other commentators.
A Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Anne Applebaum, says that the war in
Iraq might be like that in Korea, because of "the ambivalence of their
conclusions." For others, the War on Terror, with its loose rhetoric,
brings to mind the "war on poverty" or the "war on drugs."

I'd like to suggest another way of looking at the War on Terror: as a
twenty-first century continuation of, or replication of, the American
Indian wars, on a global scale. This is by no means something that has
occurred to me alone, but it has received relatively little attention.
Here are ten reasons why I'm making this suggestion:

     1. Key supporters of the War on Terror themselves see GWOT as an
Indian war. Take, for example, the right-wing intellectuals Robert Kaplan
and Max Boot who, although not members of the administration, also
advocate a tough military stance against terrorists. In a Wall Street
Journal article, "Indian Country," Kaplan notes that "an overlooked truth
about the war on terrorism" is that "the American military is back to the
days of fighting the Indians." Iraq, he notes, "is but a microcosm of the
earth in this regard." Kaplan has now put his thoughts into a book,
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground, which President Bush
read over the holidays. Kaplan points out that "'Welcome to Injun Country'
was the refrain I heard from troops from Colombia to the Philippines,
including Afghanistan and Iraq... . The War on Terrorism was really about
taming the frontier."

As for Max Boot, he writes, "'small wars' - fought by a small number of
professional US soldiers - are much more typical of American history than
are the handful of 'total' wars that receive most of the public attention.
Between 1800 and 1934, US Marines staged 180 landings abroad. And that's
not even counting the Indian wars the army was fighting every year until
1890." A key GWOT battlefield, Boot suggests, is Afghanistan, noting that
"if the past is any indication of the future, we have a lot more savage
wars ahead."

     2. The essential paradigm of the War of Terror - us (the attacked)
against them (the attackers) - was no less essential to the mindset of
white settlers regarding the Indians, starting at least from the 1622
Indian massacre of 347 people at Jamestown, Virginia. With rare
exceptions, newly arrived Europeans and their descendants, as well as
their leaders, saw Indians as mortal enemies who started the initial fight
against them, savages with whom they could not co-exist. The Declaration
of Independence condemned "the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless
Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions." When governor of Virginia
(1780), Thomas Jefferson stated:

"If we are to wage a campaign against these Indians the end proposed
should be their extermination, or their removal beyond the lakes of the
Illinois River. The same world would scarcely do for them and us."

President Andrew Jackson, whose "unapologetic flexing of military might"
has been compared to George W. Bush's modus operandi, noted in his "Case
for the Removal [of Indians] Act" (December 8, 1830):

"What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a
few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities,
towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which
art can devise or industry execute, ... and filled with all the blessings
of liberty, civilization, and religion?"

Us vs. them is, of course, a feature of all wars, but the starkness
of this dichotomy - seen by GWOT supporters as a struggle between the
civilized world and a global jihad - is as strikingly apparent in the
War on Terror as it was in the Indian Wars.

     3. GWOT is based on the principle of preventive strike, meant to put
off "potential, future and, therefore, speculative attacks" - just as US
Army conflicts against the Indians often were. We have to get them before
they get us - such is the assumption behind both sets of wars. As
Professor Jack D. Forbes wrote in a 2003 piece, "Old Indian Wars Dominate
Bush Doctrines," in the Bay Mills News:

"Bush has declared that the US will attack first before an 'enemy' has the
ability to act. This could, of course, be called 'The Pearl Harbor
strategy' since that is precisely what the Japanese Empire did. But it
also has precedents against First American nations. For example, William
Henry Harrison, under pressure from Thomas Jefferson to get the American
Nations out of the Illinois-Indiana region, marched an invading army to
the vicinity of a Native village at Tippecanoe precisely when he knew that
[Shawnee war chief and pan-tribal political leader] Tecumseh was on a tour
of the south and west."

     4. While US mainstream thinking about GWOT enemies is that they are
total aliens - in religion, politics, economics, and social organization -
there are Americans who believe that individuals in these "primitive"
societies can eventually become assimilated and thus be rendered harmless
through training, education, or democratization. This is similar to the
view among American settlers that in savage Indian tribes hostile to
civilization, there were some that could be evangelized and Christianized
and brought over to the morally right, Godly side. Once "Americanized,"
former hostile groups, with the worst among them exterminated, can no
longer pose any threat and indeed can assist in the prolongation of
conflicts against remaining evil-doers.

     5. GWOT is fought abroad, but it's also a war at home, as the
creation after 9/11 of a Department of Homeland Security illustrates. The
Indian wars were domestic as well, carried out by the US military to
protect American settlers against hostile non-US citizens living on
American soil. (It was not until June 2, 1924 that Congress granted
citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.) While
engaged in the Indian wars, the US fought on its own, without the help of
foreign governments; such has essentially been the case with GWOT, despite
the support of a few countries like Israel, the creation of a weak
international "coalition" in Iraq, and NATO participation in Afghanistan
operations.

     6. America's close partner Israel, which over the years has taken
over Arab-populated lands and welcomes US immigrants, can be considered as
a kind of surrogate United States in this struggle. Expanding into the
Middle East, the Israelis could be seen as following the example of the
American pioneers who didn't let Indians stand in their way as they
settled, with the support of the US military, an entire continent, driven
by the conviction that they were supported by God, the Bible, and Western
civilization. "I shall need," wrote Thomas Jefferson, "the favor of that
Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from
their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the
necessities and comforts of life." Less eloquently, Ariel Sharon put it
this way: "Everything that's grabbed will be in our hands. Everything we
don't grab will be in their hands."

     7. As for the current states that are major battlefields of GWOT,
Afghanistan and Iraq, it appears that the model for their future, far from
being functional democracies, is that of Indian reservations. It is not
unlikely that the fragile political structures of these states will sooner
or later collapse, and the resulting tribal/ethnic entities will be
controlled - assuming the US proves willing to engage in the long-term
garrisoning in each area - by American forces in fortified bases, as was
the case with the Indian territories in the Far West. Areas under American
control will provide US occupiers with natural resources (e.g., oil), and
American business - if the security situation becomes manageable - will
doubtless be lured there in search of economic opportunities.
Interestingly, the area outside of the Green Zone in Baghdad (where
Americans have fortified themselves) is now referred to as the Red Zone -
terrorist-infested territory as dangerous to non-natives as the lands
inhabited by the Redskins were to whites during the Indian wars.

     8. The methods employed by the US in GWOT and the Indian wars are
similar in many respects: using superior technology to overwhelm the
"primitive" enemy; adapting insurgency tactics, even the most brutal ones,
used by the opposing side when necessary; and collaborating with "the
enemy of my enemy" in certain situations (that is, setting one tribe
against another). What are considered normal rules of war have frequently
been irrelevant for Americans in both conflicts, given their certainty
that their enemies are evil and uncivilized. The use of torture is also a
feature of these two conflicts.

     9. As GWOT increasingly appears to be, the Indian wars were a very
long conflict, stretching from the seventeenth century to the end of the
nineteenth - the longest war in American history, starting even before the
US existed as a nation. There were numerous battles of varying intensity
in this conflagration with no central point of confrontation - as is the
case with the War on Terror, despite its current emphasis on Iraq. And
GWOT is a war being fought, like the Indian wars in the Far West, over
large geographical areas - as the Heritage Foundation's Ariel Cohen puts
it, almost lyrically, "in the Greater Middle East, including the
Mediterranean basin, through the Fertile Crescent, and into the remote
valleys and gorges of the Caucasus and Pakistan, the deserts of Central
Asia, the plateaus of Afghanistan."

     10. Perhaps because they are drawn-out wars with many fronts and
changing commanders, the goals of GWOT and the Indian Wars can be subject
to many interpretations (indeed, even Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld at one
point was eager to rename the War on Terror a "Global Struggle Against
Violent Extremism"). For many abroad, GWOT is a brutal expression of a
mad, cowboy-led country's plans to take over the world and its resources.
In the United States, a large number of Americans still interpret these
two wars as God-favored initiatives to protect His chosen people and allow
them to flourish. But just as attitudes in the US toward Native Americans
have changed in recent years (consider, for example, the saccharine 1990
film Dances with Wolves, which is sympathetic to an Indian tribe, in
contrast to John Wayne shoot-the-Injuns movies), so suspicious views among
the American public toward the still-seen-as-dangerous "them" of GWOT
might evolve in a different direction. Such a change in perception,
however, is unlikely to occur in the near future, especially under the
current bellicose Bush regime, which manipulates voters' fear of
terrorists to maintain its declining domestic support.

John Brown, a former Foreign Service officer who resigned from the State
Department over the war in Iraq, compiles a near-daily "Public Diplomacy
Press Review," available free upon request. The title for this paper comes
from a 1692 quotation by Puritan preacher and witch-hunter Cotton Mather.


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US government demands Google hand over Internet search data
By Mike Ingram
21 January 2006
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jan2006/goog-j21.shtml

The US Department of Justice has asked a federal judge in San Jose,
California, to compel Internet search giant Google to comply with a
subpoena issued last year to turn over records that detail millions of
Internet searches.

Google denied requests for the data, while rivals Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL
have all handed over records to government lawyers, who claim they need
the data to bolster claims that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA)
does not violate the Constitution. The act was introduced by the Clinton
administration in 1998 under the auspices of protecting children from
online pornography. It established criminal penalties for any commercial
distribution of material harmful to minors. The legislation was suspended
a year later after a successful suit by the American Civil Liberties Union
and others claiming the act violated the constitutional right to free
speech.

Like all such legislation, its scope was far broader than its supposed
target, making it an offense for web sites to post material deemed
"harmful to minors," which, as civil rights campaigners said at the time,
could criminalize sites of some art galleries and book stores.

The request for search data is said to be part of an attempt to overturn
the decision of the Supreme Court, which in 2004 upheld a lower-court
injunction against enforcement of COPA. The Justice Department claims it
needs the data in order to show that filtering software is no alternative
to COPA, and therefore the suspension of the act should be lifted.

Even if this were the whole story, Google is absolutely correct in
refusing to hand over the data, and there is no legal basis for compelling
it to do so. As the San Jose Mercury News said in its editorial of January
20, "The request is not an appropriate use of subpoena power. The
government wants Google's data not as evidence in a case, but rather to
conduct an experiment which it hopes will show that Internet porn filters
are ineffective. In short, the government wants Google to help make its
case, using the company as a research arm."

But this is far from the whole story. The subpoena serves to highlight the
extent of the Bush administration's attacks upon privacy and democratic
rights. The government's demand for search data was first made in August
last year. In the same month, the Bush administration issued an order for
the extension of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
(CALEA) to cover broadband Internet access services and voice-over-IP
telephony services. CALEA requires that companies make it possible for law
enforcement agencies to intercept any conversation carried out over their
networks and that communication records be made available. It also
requires that the person being monitored not be told. This was only the
latest in a string of antidemocratic legislation introduced in the
aftermath of the terror attacks of September 2001, the most notorious of
which are the multiple provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

Access to data held by Google and the other main search engines
potentially goes much further in that it does not target named individuals
but is essentially a fishing operation among random Internet users.

Assurances from the Justice Department that it is not interested in
identifying individual users is of little comfort to those concerned about
civil liberties, given recent revelations about illegal wiretaps and state
spying on American citizens. It has been widely reported in recent weeks
that the US government has gained access to vast databases of telephone
records and e-mails provided to it by telecommunications companies. It
will no doubt seek to do the same for Internet activity by working with
service providers and search engines.

The subpoena dated August 25 requests, "All URL's that are available to be
located through a query on your company's search engine as of July 31,
2005" and "All queries that have been entered on your company's search
engine between June 1, 2005 and July 31, 2005, inclusive."

As a result of Google's objections, the request was narrowed to 1 million
URLs and one week of search data-still a massive amount of data. In a
response dated October 10, 2005, Google objected to the request as
"overbroad, unduly burdensome, vague, and intended to harass." It added
that "Google's acceding to the request would suggest that it is willing to
reveal information about those who use its services. This is not a
perception that Google can accept. And one can envision scenarios where
queries alone could reveal identifying information about a specific Google
user, which is another outcome that Google cannot accept."

Any possibility that specific users could be identified from the data
requested is extremely troubling, given that the three largest search
engines other than Google have all complied with government requests.

Yahoo spokesperson Mary Osako confirmed that the company complied with the
Justice Department's request, but added, "We are rigorous defenders of our
users' privacy. We did not provide any personal information in response to
the Department of Justice's subpoena. In our opinion, this is not a
privacy issue," she said according to Information Week.

A Microsoft statement said the company "did comply with their request for
data in regards to helping protect children in a way that ensured we also
protected the privacy of our customers. We were able to share aggregated
query data (not search results) that did not include any personally
identifiable information."

Whatever the extent of the information passed to the government in this
case, it sets a dangerous precedent for the future and raises fundamental
questions about the amount of personal data that is kept by Internet sites
such as Google. Through the use "cookies," a small file placed on the
user's computer hard drive, Google keeps track of what searches are made
by a user and what sites he or she chooses to visit.

In a statement published on its web site, the civil liberties group
Electronic Freedom Frontier (EFF), while applauding Google for refusing to
hand over the data, cited EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston who said, "The
only way Google can reasonably protect the privacy of its users from such
legal demands now and in the future is to stop collecting so much
information about its users, delete information that it does collect as
soon as possible, and take real steps to minimize how much of the
information it collects is traceable back to individual Google users."
Bankston added, "If Google continues to gather and keep so much
information about its users, government and private attorneys will
continue to try and get it."

Google's refusal to comply with the order does deserve some credit. Had it
taken the same position as its rivals, it may never have come to light
that such a request had been made. If the company were serious about
protecting the privacy of its users, however, it would immediately destroy
any data it currently holds on them. Such an action is extremely unlikely.
The user data collected by Google is among its greatest assets due to the
revenue it raises from targeted advertising and other services.


--------23 of 23--------

 Cheese makers

 His cheese was so sharp
 so good and awe-ful, because
 it was aged five years.

 Her cheese was so dull,
 so bad and awful, because
 she was aged five years.


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