Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 02.14.06

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    02.14.06

1. Transport net       2.14 8:30am
2. Immigrants day      2.14 9am
3. Lerner/KFAI         2.14 11am
4. Holocaust in film   2.14 11:15am
5. Peacemakers         2.14 11:30am
6. Out of Iraq         2.14 12noon
7. Cusps of law        2.14 3:30pm
8. Love(nudge) poems   2.14 6:30pm
8. Malcolm X/TV        2.14 7pm
10. Fanny Lou Hamer/TV 2.14 9:30pm
11. Black quilts/TV    2.14 11pm

12. Police brutality   2.15 9am
13. Immigrant          2.15 12noon
14. Mpls tasers buy    2.15 1:30pm
15. Lerner/Birchbark   2.15 2pm
16. Save Grand Av      2.15 5:30pm
17. Anti-torture       2.15 6:30pm
18. Health reform      2.15 6:30pm
19. Bayard Rustin/film 2.15 7pm
20. Green buildings    2.15 7pm
21. Lerner/JoaOfArc    2.15 7:30pm
22. LakeStBridge vigil 2.15 time?
23. Mizna/register

24. Deck Deckert - Eternal war
25. John Pilge r - The next war - crossing the Rubicon
26. ed           - Fountain of Evil (poem)

--------1 of 26--------

From: Todd Graham <tgraham [at] mindless.com>
Subject: Transport net 2.14 8:30am

The University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies cordially
invites you to attend the:

CTS Spring Research Seminar
"Beyond 'Business as Usual':
Ensuring the Network We Want Is the Network We Get"
Tuesday, February 14
8:30-10am

This program will be held in conjunction with the CTS Transportation and
the Economy Research Council Meeting.

If Minnesota leaves its current construction policies in place, would the
network we get meet our future needs? In this project, Associate Professor
David Levinson is comparing networks forecast under alternative budget
scenarios with networks constructed according to a set of decision rules
developed with Mn/DOT and Met Council staff. Using a set of performance
measures, Levinson then evaluates the alternative futures to determine
whether the network we would get in the absence of a change in policies
outperforms or underperforms the networks developed by applying the
suggested decision rules. This evaluation framework enables new decision
rules for network construction to be tested, suggesting a path beyond
"business as usual." The presentation will report on work in progress for
this ongoing project, which extends the Mn/DOT "If They Come, Will You
Build It" project.

David Levinson is an associate professor in the Department of Civil
Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

ABOUT THE SERIES
This seminar is offered as part of the CTS Research Seminar Series. The
seminars are open to anyone interested in learning more about
transportation research at the University of Minnesota.  Undergraduate and
graduate students, faculty, and practitioners are encouraged to attend.
There is no cost to attend, and registration is not required. Each seminar
qualifies for one Professional Development Hour (PDH).

Seminars are held in conjunction with meetings of the CTS Research
Councils. A brief council business meeting will be held prior to the
seminar, and all attendees are welcome to participate.

For more information about the Center for Transportation Studies, and for
updates on the seminars, visit the Seminar Series Web page at
www.cts.umn.edu/education/seminars/

LOCATION
University of Minnesota Twin Cities - East Bank
Mechanical Engineering Building, Room 1130
111 Church Street SE
Minneapolis
http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/MechE

COST There is no cost to attend.  Registration is not required.

SEMINAR SERIES CONTACT AND MORE INFORMATION
Visit the Seminar Series Web page at
www.cts.umn.edu/education/seminars/  or contact Stephanie Jackson,
sjackson [at] cts.umn.edu, 612-624-8398.

PARKING AND TRANSIT
Parking is available at the Washington Avenue Ramp
(http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/WashRamp) across from the Radisson, or at
the Oak Street Ramp (http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/OakRamp) two blocks
further east. For transit information call Metro Transit at
612-373-3333 or visit www.metrotransit.org.


--------2 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Immigrants day 2.14 9am

Tuesday, 2/14, 9 am to 5 pm, community rally "Dia del Inmigrante" (Day of
the Immigrant) to show support against Pawlenty immigrant-bashing, at Nuevo
Rodeo, Lake at 27th Ave, Mpls.  gambillgt1 [at] yahoo.com

--
From: Guy Gambill <gambillgt1 [at] yahoo.com>
February 14th, "Dia del Inmigrante:

Come join in this commemoration in which we will celebrate our identity
as immigrants and prove our value within the community!

1). If possible, do not work on this day. If you cannot get off work,
please wear a brown armband to show your support for immigrants.

2). To Latino and non-Latino employers and businesses that support this
initiative we kindly ask that you allow your employees to participate in
this celebration and to share with us by not opening your businesses that
day. We also ask you to not retaliate against your employees who
participate in the celebration on this day.

3). We invite everyone to join us at the Nuevo Rodeo from 9:00-5:00 pm.
There will be an information Center to offer the attendants the chance to
talk to immigration attorneys, experts in labor issues, and supporters of
this initiative. At Noon, we will be hosting a press conference to tell
the truth about immigration and the immigrants in our community. There
will also be live Latin music and much more entertainment.

4). Finally, we are asking everyone to make purchase from Immigrant-owned
businesses on this day as a demonstration of support.


--------3 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Lerner/KFAI 2.14 11am

Progressive Rabbi Speaks of New "Spiritual Politics" in Minneapolis
by Lydia Howell

Facing George W. Bush's second term, attributed by some to "values
voters", progressive religious leaders are raising their voices. Last
spring, liberal evangelical pastor, Jim Wallis' bestseller "God's
Politics" challenged the rightwing monopoly of Christianity. Speaking in
Minneapolis on February 15th, progressive Rabbi Michael Lerner weighs in
with his newest book "The Left Hand of God:Taking Back Our Country From
The Religious Right".

"Progressive, liberal activists need to welcome people with religious and
spiritual beliefs," Lerner asserts. "We're also challenging the misuse and
misdirection of rightwing religious communities that use the Bible but,
missed the points about 'turning the other cheek' or the poor and the
committment people in religious, spiritual traditions to care about the
powerless."

Lerner edits TIKKUN, a progressive Jewish magazine, and co-chair, with
progressive African-American minister and distinguished professor Cornel
West, the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP). Lerner says NSP is "a
whole different vision of what politics should be about", taking
progressive positions from anti-racism to anti-war, grounding them in
spiritual values and offering fresh solutions his new book explores.

"People have heard progressives be about a fairer distribution of money
and political rights - which we are totally for. We totally believe
spiritual vision has to incorporate inclusion and material fairness, but,
that's not enough," Lerner explains."It doesn't speak to the hunger people
have for a framework of meaning and purpose to their lives that trancends
the materialism and competition of the marketplace. A politics of meaning
or a spiritual politics addresses those needs. We're about restructuring
our institutions, so, they're no longer judged by the old bottom line,
which says people are valuable to the extent that they maximize money,
power or the egos of those who control our society's institutions."

Lerner's proposed New Bottomline boldly redefines 'success', by
prioritizing values other than the current ones of competition and profit:
love, caring, kindness, generosity, ethical and ecological sustainability
with enhancing what he calls "our capacities to respond to the universe
with wonder and radical amazement."

Lerner's book "Left Hand of God" concretely applies these idealistic aims
with eight planks of a Spiritual Convenant that takes on the most serious
issues of our time: beleagureed families - of all formations from
'traditional' to single parents and GLBT - working longer hours with fewer
social supports; poverty at home and globally;crime, environmental
destruction, war. This expands some projects, such as reparative justice
initiated by Tikkun, 15 years ago.

"You start seeing that people engaging in crime are human beings,
distorted by the realities of their lives, doing stuff that runs counter
to the impluse we all have to be caring. They've LOST an essential part of
their humanity. We need to help repair them," Lerner explains."It's also
extremely important they engage in acts of reparation to those they've
hurt, to deeply understand what their victims' lives are like and how
they've been hurt."

Former criminals would also be part of prevention, sharing their own
transformation to guide others - especially youth - away from crime.

Corporate crime would be addressed by passing the Social Responsiblity
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Corporations making $50M or more
annually would be required to have their charter renewed every decade.
Corporations would have to prove they're socially responsible. Juries of
ordinary citizens would make that determination based on testimony by
workers, community organizations and the corporation.

Lerner recognizes poverty's role in war, calling for a global Marshall
Plan, alluding to America's post-WWII rebuilding of Europe and Japan.

"It's possible to protect our country from the crazies in the world by
putting 5% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the U.S. and other
industrial Western nations towards ending global poverty, homelessness,
hunger, inadequate education and healthcare. That's a different vision for
being a human being and being safe, "he says. " For 5,00 years, people
have been taught that the way to deal with violence is more violence That
we have to be MORE violent than the violent ones and then, there will be
less violence. For 5,000 years that has NOT worked. It's time for a
differnt strategy."

Lerner is most known for what he calls "a progresive middle path that is
both pro-Israael and pro-Palestinian". He's abhorred Palestinian suicide
bombers as well as, Israel's violent repression in the Occupied
Territories, earning the ire of some on both sides.

May 17-20, the Network of Spiritual Progressives hosts a conference in
Washington, DC. (www.spiritualprgressives.org). Lerner sums up the
perspective he hopes to inspire,"The fundamental change we need is to
recognize that our individual well-being and our society's well-being
depends on the well-being of every person on the planet."

Hear an interview with him Tues Feb 14, 11am on "Catalyst" and Thur. Feb.
16, 11am "Write On Radio", KFAI 90/1fm Mpls 106.7fm St Paul www.kfai.org


--------4 of 26--------

From: Stephen Feinstein <feins001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Holocaust in film 2.14 11:15am

Pier Marton, Professor of Film Studies at Washington University in St.
Louis will speak on campus Tuesday, February 14 at 11:15-12:30 in Room 250
Anderson Hall, West Bank, U of M Campus.

His topic will be: "The Holocaust in Film: Approaching the issue of
truth/trauma/representation and documentary/fiction film and the
spectacle."

Marton is also part of a group show at the Phipps Gallery in Gudson,
Wisconsin, and will be speaking twice at St. Cloud State University.

For information on his film about the Second Generation of Holocaust
survivors, "Say I'm a Jew," see:
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/marton.html

and his biography can be seen at:
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~marton/martonR1.html
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~marton/index1.html
Free and open to the public.


--------5 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Peacemakers 2.14 11:30am

Tuesday, 2/14, 11:30am to 1:30pm, delegate meeting of MN Alliance of
Peacemakers, Longfellow Room, Hennepin Ave. United Methodist Church.


--------6 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Out of Iraq 2.14 12noon

Tuesday, 2/14, noon, bannering in front of Coffman Union with Anti-War
Organizing Committee "No Love for War-Mongers, U.S. Out of Iraq!"
mnawol [at] gmail.com


--------7 of 26--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Cusps of law 2.14 3:30pm

February 14 - Professor Oren Gross: "The Cusps of Law".  3:30pm

On the occasion of his appointment as the Irving Younger Professor of Law,
Professor Oren Gross will give a lecture entitled "The Cusps of Law."
One hour of CLE credit will be requested.

Professor Gross is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of
national security law, international law, and international trade.  He is
also an expert on the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Professor Gross holds an LL. B. degree (magna cum laude) from Tel Aviv
University, where he served on the editorial board of the Tel Aviv
University Law Review, and obtained both his LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from
Harvard Law School while a Fulbright Scholar.

Professor Gross was a member of the faculty of the Tel Aviv University Law
School in Israel from 1996-2002.  He also has taught and held visiting
positions at Princeton University, Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law, the
Max Planck Institute for International Law and Comparative Public Law in
Heidelberg, Germany, the Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast (while
a British Academy visiting professor), Queen's University in Belfast, and
Brandeis University.  Between 1986 and 1991, he served as senior legal
advisory officer in the international law branch of the Israeli Defense
Forces' Judge Advocate General's Corps.  In 1998, he served as senior
legal advisor to an Israeli delegation that negotiated an agreement with
the Palestinian Authority's senior officials concerning the economic
component of a permanent status agreement between Israel and Palestine.
Professor Gross joined the University of Minnesota in 2002and was
appointed as the Vance K. Opperman research scholar in 2003 and the Julius
E. David Professor of Law in 2004.  In 2004 he was also the receipient of
the John K. & Elsie Lampert Fesler Research Grant.

Professor Gross has recently co-authored a book, Law in Times of Crisis,
which is to be published this year by Cambridge University Press.
Professor Gross practiced law at Sullivan and Cromwell in New York from
1995-1996.

The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Dean's Conference Room.
Please RSVP to 612-625-4544 or lawevent [at] umn.edu.

Location: Lockhart Hall (Room 25), Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota
Law School, West Bank, Minneapolis, MN


--------8 of 26--------

From: Patty Guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Love(nudge) poetry 2.14 6:30pm

Conversational Salon
This Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and it will be a evening of poetry of
love.  Bring a poem or come to listen as we read beautiful or sappy
[or salacious or socially unredeeming or just plain dirty -ed] love
poems.

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.


--------9 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Malcolm X/TV 2.14 7pm

American Experience: Malcom X: Make it Plain
tpt17 Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7PM

This portrait of the man who expressed the anger of African Americans and
their insistence on dignity and freedom, reflects the intellectual journey
of a complex man whose ideas continue to resonate. To create this
definitive documentary biography of Malcolm X, producer Orlando Bagwell
spent two years collecting the unprecedented interviews with associates
and family members including Malcolm's brothers and sisters, and wife
Betty Shabazz.


--------10 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Fanny Lou Hamer/TV 2.14 9:30pm

Fanny Lou Hamer: Courage and Faith
tpt17 Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 9:30PM

Mrs. Hamer attended the 1964 Democratic National Convention as a member of
the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party and challenged the all-white
Mississippi delegation. Her spirited plea for justice was captured by
network television and struck a cord throughout the country. Many credit
her presence at the Convention as the impetus for the passage of the 1965
Voting Rights Act. This program steps back into that period of time and
explores the struggles and presents personal recollections from those who
worked side by side with this extraordinary woman. Interviews include
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Dorothy Height, president of
the National Council of Negro Woman; Rutgers University history professor
Clement Price; and numerous members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic
Party.


--------11 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Black quilts/TV 2.14 11pm

The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend
tpt2 Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 11PM
tpt17 Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7PM

For more than 150 years, the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama, have made
quilts reflecting their history and daily lives. Over generations, they
worked in isolation, continuing to inhabit the remote plantation land
their parents once slaved. Today, art critics worldwide compare them to
the great creative enclaves of the Italian Renaissance.


--------12 of 26--------

Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:57:12 -0600
From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net>
Subject: Police brutality 2.15 9am

CLASS ACTION SUIT GOES TO COURT!  BE THERE!
FEBRUARY 15 & 16, 9am--PACK THE COURTROOM!
Federal Court Hearing on Our Community Lawsuit
Federal District Court
300 S 4th St, Minneapolis

This is the community class action lawsuit that was filed when it became
clear that the city had hijacked the federal mediation process.  The
purpose of the lawsuit has been to force policy and practice changes
within the Minneapolis police department.  The city has settled on a
number of the community's demands but there are still some issues
outstanding, including justice for Darryl Robinson, the main named
plaintiff in the lawsuit.  This will be a meaty, exciting court hearing
and we need to pack the room to the rafters.  Plan now to be there.

Darryl was beaten by a Minneapolis cop while another watched, when all he
had been doing was walking down the street.  His eardrum was ruptured when
the officer stomped on his head and the cop who did it then poured seltzer
water into his ruptured ear, causing excruciating pain.  The cops left him
lying in the alleyway and never charged Darryl with any crime or even
filed a police report.

Darryl took himself to the hospital and demanded to make a complaint
against the officer.  MPD sent a sergeant to HCMC to interview him, but
somehow the audiotape of that interview got "lost."  Darryl tried to
follow up, but no one at the City would do anything.  Someone even told
him that if he kept asking questions, he would be harassed.  Darryl
contacted us when it was clear the MPD was not going to do anything to
investigate criminal charges against one of their own.  He feels that this
shows a systemic problem in the MPD, and we agree.  That's when Darryl
decided to be part of a legal action designed to force changes.

Darryl is a brave man and a true hero to the community.  Since becoming
the named plaintiff, he has been harassed repeatedly and has even had to
give up driving due to constant traffic stops.  Yet he has continued to
stand strong in his demand for justice and for changes within the
Minneapolis police department.  This court hearing will be the opportunity
for the community to hear first hand Darryl's story along with issues
related to accountability within the MPD.  COME TO COURT AND STAND WITH
DARRYL AND OTHERS WRONGED BY POLICE VIOLENCE AND MISCONDUCT.



--------13 of 26--------

From: Stephen Feinstein <feins001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Immigrant 2.15 12noon

CGES speaker Ernestine Bradley on "My Immigrant Experience," W
2/15, 12 noon, 215 HHH

Prof. Ernestine Schlant Bradley
"My Immigrant Experience: A German Childhood, An American Life"

Wednesday, 2/15
12noon-1:30pm
215 Hubert Humphrey Center (Wilkins Room)
(a light lunch will be served)

In cooperation with the American Council on Germany (ACG) and the U of M
Immigration History Research Center, the Center for German & European
Studies will host Ernestine Schlant Bradley to speak about her most recent
book _The Way Home_. In this moving and candid memoir, readers meet an
extraordinary immigrant woman. A professor of literature, an outspoken
feminist, and the wife of former senator and presidential candidate Bill
Bradley, she stood out among Senate wives. Her story is one of personal
and public triumph against great odds.

Ernestine Schlant Bradley is Professor Emerita of German and Comparative
Literature at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, NJ. She also
taught at Spelman College in Atlanta and at the State University of New
York at Stony Brook and held visiting professorships at Yale and Columbia
Universities. She has authored numerous articles on 20th century German
and Austrian literature and lectured widely on German-Jewish
reconciliation in the postwar era.


--------14 of 26--------

Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:57:12 -0600
From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net>
Subject: Mpls tasers buy 2.15 1:30pm

NEW TIME!
Public Hearing on MPD Purchase of Additional Tasers
February 15, 2pm.
City Council Chambers
Minneapolis City Hall
350 S. 4th Street, Minneapolis

We've been letting you know about this very important public hearing on
whether the city of Minneapolis should spend $163,000 on 160 new Tasers
for the Minneapolis police department.  We just learned that the city
plans to slightly gum up the works on this public hearing--which was
originally scheduled for 1:30--by holding a joint meeting between the
PS&RS committee and the HE&E committee on a new report about the Civilian
Review Authority's procedures and policies.  At this point, it appears the
public hearing on Tasers won't start until about 2:00.  However, this
joint meeting regarding the CRA is likely to be plenty spicy so we'd
encourage you to come at 1:30 for that and stay for the Taser public
hearing.

Here's the scoop on the Taser public hearing and our concerns:

The MPD wants to buy 160 new X26 Tasers.  These Tasers use a special
technology that makes them even more powerful than the M26 model they now
use (and believe us, those Tasers are bad enough).  They currently have
150 Tasers in their arsenal.  Chief McManus stated at the previous
committee meeting that they would be replacing 100 of these with the new
purchase--which means they would end up with 210 of these dangerous
weapons.

Across the country, there have been over 200 deaths after Tasering.  In
our own area, seven deaths have occurred after Tasering.  The mechanism
for death is generally ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib), a condition in
which the heart beats in an extremely rapid, uncoordinated fashion so it
is unable to pump blood throughout the body.  The only solution is
defibrillation, which must occur in minutes.  For this reason, many
experts are warning against routine Taser use and others--including police
departments--are either requiring the availability of defibrillators on
the scene of any Taser use or are banning the devices outright.

In addition to deaths, Tasers have also caused numerous head, neck and
other orthopedic injuries (from people falling without the ability to
catch themselves) and burns.  There are also reports of lingering
neurological problems and one report of fetal death after Tasering of a
pregnant woman.  Little is known about the long-term effects of Tasering
and, for these reasons, Canada and other countries have banned the use of
Tasers on children, the elderly, pregnant women and other vulnerable
populations.

Current MPD policy requires that only CIT (crisis intervention team)
officers carry these devices.  It is not clear that the MPD will retain
this policy.  We also have concerns that Tasers will end up in the hands
of school resource officers, the cops who patrol Minneapolis public
schools.

It is very important that the council hear your opinion on these weapons
and whether we should add more of them to the police arsenal.  The public
hearing on this matter will be on February 15th at 2:00 p.m. in the
council chambers at City Hall.  We'll already be downtown at the federal
court for our class action lawsuit hearing, so some of us will take a
break from court to testify at this hearing.  It's important that you join
us.  If you're not able to be there, please take a minute to let your
council member know your feelings on this topic.  Go to
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ to find your council member's
email address and phone number.


--------15 of 26--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Lerner/Birchbark 2.15 2pm

February 15 - Rabbi Michael Lerner Speaking on New Book.  2pm
Birchbark Books, 2115 W 21st St, Mpls

Rabbi Michael Lerner of TIKKUN, will speak, and sign copies of his new
book, The Left Hand of God.  Rabbi Lerner is an outstanding and
internationally known advocate for reaching a solution agreeable to both
Palestinians and Israelis.

FFI: Bruce Fisher bifsales [at] aol.com and www.tikkun.org


--------16 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Save Grand Av 2.14 5:30pm

A really important step in trying to get Grand Avenue development under
control is taking place on Wednesday, Feb 15 when the City Council
considers the District 16 plan. Councilmember Thune said that packing the
room is extremely important to help push adoption of the proposed D16
plan.  The Planning Commission voted against the entire overlay district
for Grand Avenue (which would make it harder for CVS and Best Buy-type
stores to come on the Avenue), preferring instead to stick with the status
quo.  We really need support and your faces and help would be a wonderful.

[Andy Driscoll] Again, success, according to all experience, requires a
huge turnout at the 5:30 PM public hearing before the St. Paul City
Council on the 3rd Floor of City Hall. Councilmembers must see just how
deep and rabid we are about maintaining the golden goose that has been
Grand Avenue for several decades. This Rodeo Drive-ization stuff is
killing it, turning us into just another suburban-styled mall, albeit
unraveled.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!
on the District 16 Neighborhood Plan

You can make a big difference in the adoption of the District 16!

The more people the City Council hears from, the better.
To encourage the City Council to adopt the proposed District 16 Plan,
please do one or more of the following:

1.Attend the City Council Public Hearing on the District 16 Plan!!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006 at 5:30 pm
City Council Chambers, St. Paul City Hall

Your presence makes a difference: more people = bigger voice!

Please confirm public hearing schedule a few days in advance by checking
the City Council agenda on the City website
[http://www.stpaul.gov/council] or by calling SHA office at 222-1222.

2.Sign a petition in support of the proposed District 16 Plan.  Petitions
available at SHA office in Linwood Rec. center or at Amore Coffee, 917
Grand Av.

3.Call or e-mail City Council members (before 2/15/06) and ask them to
support the plan.
Deborah Montgomery - Ward 1  / 651-266-8610; fax: 651-266-8574 /
ward1 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Dave Thune - Ward 2  / 651-266-8620; fax: 651-266-8574 /
ward2 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Pat Harris - Ward 3  / 651-266-8630; fax 651-266-8574 /
ward3 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Jay Benanav - Ward 4  / 651- 266-8640; fax 651-266-8574 /
ward4 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Lee Helgen - Ward 5  / 651-266-8650; fax: 651-266-8574 /
ward5 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Dan Bostrom - Ward 6  / 651-266-8660; fax: 651-266-8574 /
ward6 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us
Kathy Lantry - Ward 7  / 651-266-8670; fax 651-266-8574 /
ward7 [at] ci.stpaul.mn.us

If you have questions or wish to learn more about the review and approval
process for the District 16 Plan, please contact our office at 222-1222 or
email [summithill [at] visi.com].

Below is the exact wording of key elements in the proposed District 16
Neighborhood Plan that are not supported by the Planning Commission and
the City staff.  (To review City staff objections and suggested changes as
adopted by the Planning Commission, please visit SHA website at
www.summithillassociation.org.)

Design Standards.  Adopt TN2 design standards for East Grand Avenue in
an overlay district. These design standards reinforce human-scale building
characteristics, promote quality in architectural materials, reinforce a
pedestrian-focused streetscape, promote underground parking for mixed use
developments, and visually-screened surface parking for smaller,
single-use developments, and promote signage that is consistent with
building architecture and business function, and complements the eclectic
nature of the avenue.

Commercial Spillover. The approval of site plans and licenses should be
contingent on the mitigation of parking and traffic problems to a level
acceptable to the majority of immediately-affected businesses and
residents. (Note:  This wording would not be codified, such as 50% of
property owners within a certain distance voting on it, instead it is a
statement of general intent--that concerns about serious spillover
problems be taken seriously by the City in decision-making.)

Locally-Owned Businesses.  SHA recommends implementing mechanisms for
supporting and retaining small, locally-owned businesses. This includes
exploring the adoption of standards to limit the number of formula
business establishments on East Grand Avenue. Where strategies are best
implemented through changes to City regulations or procedures, meet with
City staff (Planning and Economic Development, and Licensing, Inspections,
and Environmental Protection) to pursue code revisions.

Scale and Height Limits.  Adopt limitations of the height and scale on
new buildings on East Grand Avenue in an overlay district as follows:
1. Limit new buildings to a footprint of 25,000 square feet or less.
2. Limit new building total size, above ground, to 75,000 square feet or
less, including parking.
3. Limit building height to three (3) stories or to thirty feet (30)
for commercial projects and to thirty-six feet (36) for mixed
commercial and residential projects, whichever is lower. No additional
height will be allowed, even with setbacks.
4. Work with the City to adopt the desired limitations in an overlay
district for East Grand Avenue.

Parking Supply. Eliminate the Rule of Five parking regulation on East
Grand Avenue

Height and Footprint Examples from Grand Avenue
Building
Location
Height
Footprint
The Lexington Restaurant
SE corner at Lexington
30 ft
   not available

Cafe Latte / Bonfire Bldg
SE corner at Victoria
19 ft
21,000 sq ft  (same as NW corner)
Victoria Plaza / Grand Place
SW corner at Victoria
32 ft
34,000 sq ft
Muska Lighting / Edina Rlt
South btw St. Albans and Grotto
30 ft
20,500 sq ft
745 Grand Ave. condos
NW corner at Grotto
58 ft
    not available
Oxford Hill
SW  corner at Oxford
48 ft
23,000 sq ft
Restoration / Smith Hawken
NE corner at Avon
1 story
18,000 sq ft
Milton Mall
NW corner at Milton
1 story
24,000 sq ft (28,000 if squared out


---------17 of 26--------

From: Dave Bicking  <dave [at] colorstudy.com>
Subject: Anti-torture 2.15 6:30pm

This Wednesday 1/11, and every Wednesday, meeting of the anti- torture
group, T3: Tackling Torture at the Top (a sub-group of WAMM).  Note new
location:  Center School, 2421 Bloomington Ave. S., Mpls.

We have also added a new feature:  we will have an "educate ourselves"
session before each meeting, starting at 6:30, for anyone who is
interested in learning more about the issues we are working on.  We will
share info and stay current about torture in the news.


---------18 of 26--------

From: John Schwarz <john [at] unitedhealthsystem.org>
Subject: Health reform 2.15 6:30pm

Announcing UHS Progressive Health Reform Seminar
A free 3-week seminar open to all. Wed's. 2/15, 2/22, 3/1. 6:30-8pm.
Mpls location.

The seminar will explain our current health system(s), general health
policy issues, economic and political principles inherent in any health
system or market, and progressive reform options. Learn about resources on
how to continue expanding your health system knowledge and
who/what/where/how to get involved in progressive reform efforts. No
special knowledge needed. Valuable for beginners to those with advanced
health system/policy knowledge.

United Health System--UHS. A non-profit (317a) group dedicated to health
system/policy research, education, and advocacy of progressive reforms.

UHS is structured as a volunteer, staff-based think-tank organization, not
a membership group, welcoming those that want to work on particular
projects and other initiatives. The seminar instructor is John Schwarz, a
UHCAN-MN member, longtime health system/policy analyst, and
single-payer/universal system advocate.

Questions and comments welcome.

Please see our website for more detailed info on the seminar at
http://unitedhealthsystem.org/education.php

Send an email to either address listed below.
education [at] unitedhealthsystem.org or john [at] unitedhealthsystem.org


--------19 of 26--------

From: bkucera [at] csom.umn.edu
Subject: Bayard Rustin/film 2.15 7pm

'Brother Outsider' tells story of fighter for racial justice

"Brother Outsider," which chronicles the unique life of civil rights
activist Bayard Rustin, screens Wednesday, Feb. 15, as part of the Labor &
Community Film Series sponsored by the University of Minnesota Labor
Education Service.

The 7pm showing will be in Room 125 of Willey Hall on the West Bank of the
university's Minneapolis campus. It is free and open to the public.

Long before the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. became a national figure,
Rustin routinely put his life on the line as an organizer for racial
justice. "Brother Outsider" chronicles how his story reflects the
intersection of the labor, gay and civil rights movements. This film
showing is cosponsored by Pride at Work.

The Labor & Community Film Series highlights recently released films that
give voice to workers and communities in the Americas. For directions or
more information, visit www.laboreducation.org.


--------20 of 26--------

From: "Environmental Roundtable" <roundtable [at] eurekarecycling.org>
Subject: Green buildings 2.15 7pm

Help make St. Paul's buildings greener!

Saint Paul residents are coming together to create a vision for a
healthier, cleaner, more livable Saint Paul. You can help!

The Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable is a series of meetings designed
to identify the pressing issues regarding Saint Paulšs environment,
especially those issues where local action can make a positive impact.
Join us for the next topic presentation and community discussion!

Wednesday, March 15, 7-9pm.
Hamline Law Grad Room 106, 1492 Hewitt Avenue
Volunteer Roundtable members will discuss their work on recommendations for
Greening the Built Environment.

Constructing and operating buildings consumes a great deal of our energy
and resources. Setting sustainability requirements for new buildings and
renovations in Saint Paul will allow us to continue developing our city
while enjoying the healthy ecology of green building practices. What do
you know, or want to know, about green buildings? Read the draft
recommendations online
<http://www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable/> , and come to
the meeting to contribute your comments, questions, and ideas!


--------21 of 26--------

From: david unowsky <david.unowsky [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Lerner/JoanOfArc 2.15 7:30pm

Magers and Quinn Booksellers present Rabbi Michael Lerner at Saint Joan of
Arc Church, 4457 3rd Ave. S. Minneapolis Wednesday, February 15, 7:30 pm.
Rabbi Lerner will discuss his new book: The Left Hand of God: Taking Back
Our Country From the Religious Right. A booksigning will follow. The event
which is free and open to the public is co-sponsored by the Vincent L.
Hawkinson Foundation for Peace and Justice.

For further info: David Unowsky 612-822-4611 or davidu [at] magersandquinn.com


--------22 of 26--------

From: Tracy Molm <molm [at] umn.edu>
Subject: LakeSt Bridge 2.15 time?

Show your love for Iraq on the Bridge
Wednesday, Feburary 15th @ Lake/Marshall Street Bridge

Join the AWC as we sponsor a Valentine's day theme at the Peace bridge.
Since the sanctions on Iraq the Twin Cities Peace Campaign - Focus on Iraq
has been getting people to the bridge to show opposition to the US
sanctions, war, and now occupation on Iraq.


--------23 of 26--------

Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 08:01:05 -0800
From: mizna-announce <mizna-announce [at] mizna.org>
Subject: Mizna/register

Register for Mizna's classes!

Beginning Arabic class is almost full. Arabic II is filling up. Watercolor
from photographs starts next week.  This is your last week to register for
Mizna classes which begin on February 20!  Register today to insure your
spot. Space is limited.

Go here to register:  http://www.mizna.org/classes/index.html

All classes take place in Mizna's cultural center in Northeast
Minneapolis.

Mizna is an Arab American forum that values diversity in our community. Go
to our website to learn more about all of our activities.
http://www.mizna.org

Email us at Mizna [at] Mizna.org


--------24 of 26--------

Eternal War
by Deck Deckert
February 13, 2006
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/rdeck057.html

(Swans - February 13, 2006)  There is so much wrong with the country, with
the world, that it's impossible to know where to start discussing it.

And the most important things seem to bring the least attention.

For example, nobody is paying much attention to the fact that the US
election process has been totally corrupted, so corrupted that we may soon
have a one-party state. I don't mean the War Party, the alliance of
Democrats and Republicans which has ruled as one party for decades. I mean
the Republican Party, permanently in power.

There is some concern that we are approaching the end of American democracy
as we've always known it, with its checks and balances among the three
branches of government. But this concern is shared by relatively few people.
Congress held an anemic hearing on President Bush's claim of absolute power
to wiretap anyone he wants as part of the War on Terror. Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales argued that the president has unlimited war powers. And
basically Congress did nothing. If Congress can't make a stand even on
that, they are in danger of becoming totally irrelevant. The presidency is
now approaching complete domination.

We don't worry about global warming, except in the most vague and general
terms. Global warming probably isn't going to change anything in the near
term. Oh, we may see more severe weather all around the world in the next
few years, but probably nothing catastrophic on the world scale. So we
don't pay much attention, although we could very easily be at or near the
tipping point, the point where we can do nothing to prevent global
disasters that can threaten all of civilization.

These things and at least a dozen more should be, MUST be, examined. But
right now I'd like to spend some time on the idea of Eternal War.

The Eternal War

The U.S. has always been in one war after another, starting with the
genocidal wars against Native Americans and continuing until World War I.
I was born just before World War II, and there has been at least one war
or military action in every decade of my not particularly-short life.

Korea was "my" war. It happened when I was in high school, and by the time
I got to college and met some Korean War vets, I actually felt guilty for
not having gone to war. That's the power of our national myth, that every
generation has at least one war, and that every man has a duty to fight in
it.

I was too old for Vietnam but probably would have gone despite the fact
that it was genocidal slaughter that I was bitterly opposed to. The
choices are never good when you are at odds with your own government.

I've always ranked people during the Vietnam era in the following order --
from most admired to least admired:
Those who went to jail rather than fight;
Those who went to Canada rather than fight;
Those draftees who fought because they had no choice;
Officers who chose to fight;
and lastly,
The bastards who sent them there.

The "War on Terror" is not the first eternal war that we have fought. The
first modern eternal war was, of course, the Cold War. It was a fraud. The
idea that the Communists were going to take over the world unless we built
up massive armaments, including scores of thousands of nuclear weapons,
was pure malarkey. But it served the ruling elite exceedingly well. The
Cold War was fought by the military-industrial complex that came to power
in World War II and that President Eisenhower warned us about.

That same military-industrial complex, with the addition of the neocons,
is still firmly in power and waging the War on Terror.

It is our leaders who get us into war, but we the people are so easily led
into them.

Americans have never met a war they didn't like. There are always antiwar
forces, but they're always in the minority. Even in Vietnam, there was a
plurality in favor of the war right to the bitter end.

War on a Tactic

But the War on Terror is something new. Even the Cold War was directed at
nations -- the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, etc. The War on Terror is
a war on a tactic.

Oh yes, we are fighting a nation, Iraq, in the name of the War on Terror,
even though the Iraqis were not involved in any terrorist actions against
us. But basically, the War on Terror is a war on a tactic used by the weak
to fight the powerful.

Powerful nations use tanks and warplanes to slaughter people. Civilians
hurt or killed, are simply "collateral damage."

Guerrillas and rebels use roadside bombs, suicide bombers, and if you
believe the official 9-11 story, fly airlines into buildings. Civilians
they hurt are, of course, victims of depraved acts of terrorism.

And because it is a war on a tactic, it can never end.

There is no nation to defeat, and no one to offer to surrender. Even if
Osama bin Laden is captured or killed, the War on Terror will not be over.
Someone else, many someone elses, will adopt the same tactic and continue
to fight.

A soldier recently asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld: When will
the worldwide fight against terrorism be over? "I mean, should I get my
3-year-old ready for air assault school?" he asked.

"I wish I could give you a date, but I can't," Rumsfeld answered. That
would be like estimating when a town will no longer need firefighters or
police, he told the soldier.

And if that doesn't send shudders down your spine, I don't know what would.
If the War on Terror lasts as long as the need for police, it will never end.

And in its name, we must destroy the Constitution and turn the president
into a king, with unlimited powers.

Start preparing those three-year-olds to be cannon fodder.


--------25 of 26--------

The Next War -- Crossing The Rubicon
By John Pilger
February 15
Znet

Has Tony Blair, the minuscule Caesar, finally crossed his Rubicon? Having
subverted the laws of the civilised world and brought carnage to a
defenceless people and bloodshed to his own, having lied and lied and used
the death of a hundredth British soldier in Iraq to indulge his profane
self-pity, is he about to collude in one more crime before he goes?

Perhaps he is seriously unstable now, as some have suggested. Power does
bring a certain madness to its prodigious abusers, especially those of
shallow disposition. In The March of Folly: from Troy to Vietnam, the
great American historian Barbara Tuchman described Lyndon B Johnson, the
president whose insane policies took him across his Rubicon in Vietnam.
"He lacked [John] Kennedy's ambivalence, born of a certain historical
sense and at least some capacity for reflective thinking," she wrote.
"Forceful and domineering, a man infatuated with himself, Johnson was
affected in his conduct of Vietnam policy by three elements in his
character: an ego that was insatiable and never secure; a bottomless
capacity to use and impose the powers of his office without inhibition; a
profound aversion, once fixed upon a course of action, to any
contradictions."

That, demonstrably, is Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the cabal
that has seized power in Washington. But there is a logic to their idiocy
- the goal of dominance. It also describes Blair, for whom the only logic
is vainglorious. And now he is threatening to take Britain into the
nightmare on offer in Iran. His Washington mentors are unlikely to ask for
British troops, not yet. At first, they will prefer to bomb from a safe
height, as Bill Clinton did in his destruction of Yugoslavia. They are
aware that, like the Serbs, the Iranians are a serious people with a
history of defending themselves and who are not stricken by the effects of
a long siege, as the Iraqis were in 2003. When the Iranian defence
minister promises "a crushing response", you sense he means it.

Listen to Blair in the House of Commons: "It's important we send a signal
of strength" against a regime that has "forsaken diplomacy" and is
"exporting terrorism" and "flouting its international obligations". Coming
from one who has exported terrorism to Iran's neighbour, scandalously
reneged on Britain's most sacred international obligations and forsaken
diplomacy for brute force, these are Alice-through-the-looking-glass
words.

However, they begin to make sense when you read Blair's Commons speeches
on Iraq of 25 February and 18 March 2003. In both crucial debates - the
latter leading to the disastrous vote on the invasion - he used the same
or similar expressions to lie that he remained committed to a peaceful
resolution. "Even now, today, we are offering Saddam the prospect of
voluntary disarmament . . ." he said. From the revelations in Philippe
Sands's book Lawless World, the scale of his deception is clear. On 31
January 2003, Bush and Blair confirmed their earlier secret decision to
attack Iraq.

Like the invasion of Iraq, an attack on Iran has a secret agenda that has
nothing to do with the Tehran regime's imaginary weapons of mass
destruction. That Washington has managed to coerce enough members of the
International Atomic Energy Agency into participating in a diplomatic
charade is no more than reminiscent of the way it intimidated and bribed
the "international community" into attacking Iraq in 1991.

Iran offers no "nuclear threat". There is not the slightest evidence that
it has the centrifuges necessary to enrich uranium to weapons-grade
material. The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, has repeatedly said his
inspectors have found nothing to support American and Israeli claims.
Iran has done nothing illegal; it has demonstrated no territorial
ambitions nor has it engaged in the occupation of a foreign country -
unlike the United States, Britain and Israel. It has complied with its
obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to allow inspectors to "go
anywhere and see anything" - unlike the US and Israel. The latter has
refused to recognise the NPT, and has between 200 and 500 thermonuclear
weapons targeted at Iran and other Middle Eastern states.

Those who flout the rules of the NPT are America's and Britain's anointed
friends. Both India and Pakistan have developed their nuclear weapons
secretly and in defiance of the treaty. The Pakistani military
dictatorship has openly exported its nuclear technology. In Iran's case,
the excuse that the Bush regime has seized upon is the suspension of
purely voluntary "confidence-building" measures that Iran agreed with
Britain, France and Germany in order to placate the US and show that it
was "above suspicion". Seals were placed on nuclear equipment following a
concession given, some say foolishly, by Iranian negotiators and which had
nothing to do with Iran's obligations under the NPT.

Iran has since claimed back its "inalienable right" under the terms of the
NPT to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. There is no doubt this
decision reflects the ferment of political life in Tehran and the tension
between radical and conciliatory forces, of which the bellicose new
president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is but one voice. As European governments
seemed to grasp for a while, this demands true diplomacy, especially given
the history.

For more than half a century, Britain and the US have menaced Iran. In
1953, the CIA and MI6 overthrew the democratic government of Muhammed
Mossadeq, an inspired nationalist who believed that Iranian oil belonged
to Iran. They installed the venal shah and, through a monstrous creation
called Savak, built one of the most vicious police states of the modern
era. The Islamic revolution in 1979 was inevitable and very nasty, yet it
was not monolithic and, through popular pressure and movement from within
the elite, Iran has begun to open to the outside world - in spite of
having sustained an invasion by Saddam Hussein, who was encouraged and
backed by the US and Britain.

At the same time, Iran has lived with the real threat of an Israeli
attack, possibly with nuclear weapons, about which the "international
community" has remained silent. Recently, one of Israel's leading military
historians, Martin van Creveld, wrote: "Obviously, we don't want Iran to
have nuclear weapons and I don't know if they're developing them, but if
they're not developing them, they're crazy."

It is hardly surprising that the Tehran regime has drawn the "lesson" of
how North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, has successfully seen off the
American predator without firing a shot. During the cold war, British
"nuclear deterrent" strategists argued the same justification for arming
the nation with nuclear weapons; the Russians were coming, they said. As
we are aware from declassified files, this was fiction, unlike the
prospect of an American attack on Iran, which is very real and probably
imminent.

Blair knows this. He also knows the real reasons for an attack and the
part Britain is likely to play. Next month, Iran is scheduled to shift its
petrodollars into a euro-based bourse. The effect on the value of the
dollar will be significant, if not, in the long term, disastrous. At
present the dollar is, on paper, a worthless currency bearing the burden
of a national debt exceeding $8trn and a trade deficit of more than
$600bn. The cost of the Iraq adventure alone, according to the Nobel
Prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz, could be $2trn. America's military
empire, with its wars and 700-plus bases and limitless intrigues, is
funded by creditors in Asia, principally China.

That oil is traded in dollars is critical in maintaining the dollar as the
world's reserve currency. What the Bush regime fears is not Iran's nuclear
ambitions but the effect of the world's fourth-biggest oil producer and
trader breaking the dollar monopoly. Will the world's central banks then
begin to shift their reserve holdings and, in effect, dump the dollar?
Saddam Hussein was threatening to do the same when he was attacked.

While the Pentagon has no plans to occupy all of Iran, it has in its
sights a strip of land that runs along the border with Iraq. This is
Khuzestan, home to 90 per cent of Iran's oil.  "The first step taken by an
invading force," reported Beirut's Daily Star, "would be to occupy Iran's
oil-rich Khuzestan Province, securing the sensitive Straits of Hormuz and
cutting off the Iranian military's oil supply."  On 28 January the Iranian
government said that it had evidence of British undercover attacks in
Khuzestan, including bombings, over the past year. Will the newly
emboldened Labour MPs pursue this? Will they ask what the British army
based in nearby Basra - notably the SAS - will do if or when Bush begins
bombing Iran? With control of the oil of Khuzestan and Iraq and, by proxy,
Saudi Arabia, the US will have what Richard Nixon called "the greatest
prize of all".

But what of Iran's promise of "a crushing response"? Last year, the
Pentagon delivered 500 "bunker-busting" bombs to Israel. Will the Israelis
use them against a desperate Iran? Bush's 2002 Nuclear Posture Review
cites "pre-emptive" attack with so-called low-yield nuclear weapons as an
option. Will the militarists in Washington use them, if only to
demonstrate to the rest of us that, regardless of their problems with
Iraq, they are able to "fight and win multiple, simultaneous major-theatre
wars", as they have boasted? That a British prime minister should collude
with even a modicum of this insanity is cause for urgent action on this
side of the Atlantic.

With thanks to Mike Whitney. John Pilger's new book, Freedom Next Time,
will be published by Bantam Press in June


--------26 of 26--------

 The Fountain of Evil
 runneth over. All shall be
 baptized or be drowned.


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