Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 03.13.06

[David Shove (shove001]

              P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     03.13.06

1. Cam/office hours   3.14 9:30am
2. Labor/pulpits      3.14 5:30pm
3. GPSP ecology       3.14 6pm
4. Cavlan/salon       3.14 6:30pm
5. Clean water        3.14 7pm
6. Pratt/history      3.14 7pm
7. Coldwater walk     3.14 7pm
8. Immigration        3.14 7pm

9. Decentralize       3.15 8:30am
10. Death penalty     3.15 12noon (RSVP 3.14)
11. Stop HF1443/voter 3.15 12:30pm
12. Informed voters   3.15 6:30pm Pine City MN
13. Anti-torture      3.15 6:30pm
14. Palestine         3.15 7:30pm
15. CP study/Iraq     3.15 7:30pm

16. Michel Collon - Milosevic: test your media
17. ed            - Let there be blight (poem)

--------1 of 17--------

From: Cam Gordon <CamGordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Cam/office hours 3.14 9:30am

Office Hours: I am happy to announce that beginning in February I will be
holding office hours every Tuesday morning in the Second Ward from
9:30-11am.  The locations will rotate as follows, so that I can meet with
residents in their own neighborhoods:

Second Tuesdays:
Prospect Park / East River Road neighborhood
Pratt School, 66 Malcolm Ave SE


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

From: stpaulunions.org <llwright [at] stpaulunions.org>
Subject: Labor/pulpits 3.14 5:30pm

What are your plans for May Day Weekend?

Spread the word about what the rest of the world celebrates as
International Workers Day - get involved in Labor in the Pulpits.

Volunteer to speak about the role unions play in your life, in the fight
for economic justice and to improve communities for us all. Don't think
you can do that? Then get your congregation to participate instead.

Labor in the Pulpits/On the Bimah/In the Minbar connects union members
with dozens of Twin Cities churches, synagogues and other faith
communities who actually invite union workers to speak that weekend.

No one can do better than union members in talking about equality, fair
treatment and other issues of workplace justice. No one can do better than
union members in reminding other people of faith how much we have in
common.

Afraid to speak up? Don't be. We'll provide materials, training and advice
from union members who have done this before.

Want to get yourself or your congregation involved? Contact Lynne
Larkin-Wright, 651-222-3787 x16 or by email: llwright [at] stpaulunions.org

Training and information sessions

* Tues March 14: 5:30-7pm, StPaul Labor Center, 411 Main St ,St. Paul

*Thurs, March 23: 5:30-7 p.m., United Labor Center, 5th floor, 312 Central
Ave., Minneapolis

* Thurs, March 30: 5:30-7 p.m., St. Paul Labor Center, 411 Main St, St
Paul

* Mon, April 3: 5:30-7 p.m., United Labor Center, 5th floor, 312 Central
Ave., Minneapolis

* Tues, April 25: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Minnesota Nurses Association, 1625
Energy Park Drive, St. Paul

Labor in the Pulpits is sponsored locally by the Twin Cities Religion and
Labor Network, Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, and Saint Paul
Trades and Labor Assembly.

It is organized nationally by the AFL-CIO and Interfaith Worker
Justice.


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

From: David Shove <shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu>
Subject: GPSP ecology 3.14 6pm

NEW!  NEW!  NEW!  NEW!  NEW!  NEW!
tuesday tuesday tuesday tuesday

From: Krisrose02 [at] aol.com

GPSP/4th CD Ecology Committee
Contact: Kristen Olson - _kristenolson [at] mngreens.org_
(mailto:kristenolson [at] mngreens.org), 651-210-0789
Meets second Tuesday, monthly.
The Coffee Grounds, Falcon Heights/Roseville, 6pm
[Hamline Av 3 blocks S of Larpenteur Av]

The GPSP cology Committee is committed to exploring the ecological
concerns of residents of St.Paul and the 4th Congressional District.  We
will work to promote responsible ecological practices and policy in our
District, and to implement the environmental justice section of our Green
Vision which reads:

"Clean air, clean water, and land free from toxic substances are keys to
quality of life and fundamental to the health of our citizens, especially
children.

"As a Green city, St. Paul will work to reduce all local sources
of air pollution, including automobile traffic and coal-burning power
plants.

"It will eliminate lawn chemicals that poison the Mississippi and will
follow up on the great step it made in separating the storm and sanitary
sewer systems by constantly monitoring and upgrading its waste-treatment
facilities.

"But there are factors that St. Paul alone cannot wholly control:
agricultural chemicals from upstream farms pollute the Mississippi, while
mercury and fine particulates from unregulated power plants to the west
contribute to its increasing number of air-quality alerts. These will
require active work on the state and national level."

-end-

----fwd David Shove


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

From: DoriJJ [at] aol.com
Subject: Cavlan/salon 3.14 6:30pm

It has come to our attention recently that some people say they  don't know
Michael Cavlan.  There is the perfect opportunity to meet him  and learn what
his issues and intentions are as a candidate for the US  Senate.

Please come to the Conversational Salon on next Tuesday, March 14,  at 6:30
PM, where you may meet him and ask him questions.  The Salon is  held at the
Mad Hatter's Tea House at 943 W. 7th St. in St. Paul's West  End.

There will be refreshments available.  A donation of $3  to  $5 is requested,
although no one will be turned away.

--Dori Ullman Campaign Manager The Committee to Elect Michael Cavlan to
the US Senate 2006


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

From: Alan Carlson <discern [at] visi.com>
From: 	Eureka Recycling <roundtable [at] eurekarecycling.org>
Subject: Clean water 3.14 7pm

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 Paul's environment,
especially those issues where local action can make a positive impact.
Join us for the next topic presentation and community discussion!

March 14, 7-9pm
South Saint Anthony Recreation Center, 890 Cromwell Avenue
Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable Meeting - Clean Water Stewardship

For most of us in Saint Paul, a quick turn of the faucet and we have
instant access to water, so we don't realize how fragile a resource it is.
The quality of our water is affected by everything from urban lawns to
farm fields, parking lots to parks, pesticides to road salt. Even though
the watershed we live in doesn't stop at the city limits, there is plenty
we can do within the city of Saint Paul to protect and clean the water our
health and our quality of life depend on. At this meeting we'll review and
discuss draft recommendations to the City of St. Paul regarding improving
water quality. Bring your ideas and questions. We hope to see you there!

To be updated about Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable community
meetings, please send your contact information to
roundtable [at] eurekarecycling.org <mailto:roundtable [at] eurekarecycling.org> .

Remaining Roundtable Topics and Schedule:
Improving the Quality and Quantity of Green Space
Wednesday, March 15, 7-9pm
Hamline's Law & Graduate Schools Building, Room 106, 1492 Hewitt Avenue

Tuesday, April 4, 7-9 p.m.
MN Humanities Commission, 987 East Ivy Avenue

For more information: Call (651) 222-7678 or visit
www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable
<http://www.eurekarecycling.org/environmentalroundtable>

The Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable, a collaboration of individuals
from neighborhoods, organizations, and businesses throughout the city, was
convened by Eureka Recycling. The Roundtable provides citizens with the
opportunity to be more informed about what Saint Paul is already doing to
protect Saint Paul's quality of life and to identity and recommend viable
actions that can be taken by the city, citizens and organization to
further protect and improve Saint Paul's environment.


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

From: "info [at] gallery13.com" <info [at] gallery13.com>
Subject: Pratt/history 3.14 7pm

Gallery13 302 13th Ave. Ne. Minneapolis, MN 55413
Gallery Hours: Fri. & Sat : 1-8pm Thu. & Sun. 1-7pm or By Appointment. Ph:
(651) 592-5503 email: info [at] gallery13.com Web: www.gallery13.com

Greta Pratt "Using History"

This is an Exhibition of Greta Pratt's new work from her recently
published book: "Using History", Steidl Press, 2005 Gallery13 will be the
first to exhibit these new works which will include an installation of
'The Nineteen Lincoln's.'

Exhibition Dates:  March 14th - April 23rd

Artist Lecture and Book Signing : Co Sponsored by Minnesota Center for
Photography & Gallery13
Tuesday March 14 7-8:30pm : Lecture and Book Signing Minnesota
Center For Photography.
Following Gretas' lecture Gallery13 will host desert reception and
exhibition preview for 'Using History'

After viewing a commemorative history pageant in a small town in South
Dakota featuring Lewis and Clark, followed by pioneers stomping out
prairie fires to the tune of Great Balls of Fire, a reenactment of the
Battle of the Little Bighorn, and finally gold prospectors and ranchers,
Pratt wondered how one interpretation of history becomes the standard and
another version is forgotten.

Professor Karal Ann Marling, who wrote an afterword for Using History,
will introduce Pratt's talk. Marling, an award-winning and widely
published scholar specializes in American culture, has been teaching at
the University since 1977.


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

From: Sue Ann <mart1408 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Coldwater walk 3.14 7pm

Don't miss this beautiful early spring walk near the Mississippi River on
Tuesday, March 14, at 7pm.  No special theme this month - just a pleasant
walk and good company.

Learn more about historic Coldwater Springs.  The Coldwater area that
surrounds the Springs is the historical center of Fort Snelling and
Minnehaha Park and the Birthplace of Minnesota.

Gather at 7 PM, Walk at 7:15 PM.  Meet at south end of Minnehaha Park in
the pay parking lot off East 54th Street.

Directions: from Hwy 55, turn East (toward the Mississippi) at East 54th
Street, follow the road around (to the left) into the parking lot.

Sunset is at 6:18 pm and Moonrise at 6:13 pm.  All times are Central Time
Zone, sun and moon rise and set in Minneapolis, MN.

P.S.  A couple of years ago, a very knowledgeable geologist attended the
Full Moon Walk.  We are interested in having him lead a Full Moon Walk. If
he is on this list, or anyone knows who he is, please contact me at
mart1408 [at] umn.edu --Thanks!  Sue Ann


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Immigration 3.14 7pm

Tuesday, 3/14, 7 to 9pm, Immigration Policy: Is There Another Way? with
StPaul mayor Coleman, Mexican Consul Nathan Wolf, etc., at Central
Presbyterian Church, 500 Cedar, St. Paul.


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

From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Decentralize 3.15 8:30am

March 15: Women's Foundation of MN
Decentralizing Our Government? Relationships with the People? It's Time
with Speaker Elaine Fleming, MS, Education; MFA, Creative Writing Chair,
Social & Behavioral Sciences Department, Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass
Lake Mayor.

8:30-9:30am. Midtown YWCA, 2121 E. Lake Street, Minneapolis. RSVP to
Heidi at 612/337-5010.


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

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Death penalty 3.15 12noon (RSVP 3.14)

March 15 - How Legal Breakthroughs in the Field of Mental Retardation Have
Helped to Open the Door to the Complete Abolition of the Death Penalty.
12noon-1pm

Presented by Robert Perske. This presentation will discuss the legal
breakthroughs since Atkins v. Virginia, as well as provide an overview of
the mentally retarded persons who have been executed since 1976. In
addition, Mr. Perske will discuss individuals with mental retardation who
confessed to crimes they did not commit and were later found to be legally
innocent. Application will be made for one CLE credit. This presentation
is a brown bag lunch. Beverages will be provided.

Speaker biography

Robert Perske tracks, works with and writes about persons with
intellectual disabilities who were coerced into confessing to murders they
did not commit as well as those on death row. He has directly or
indirectly followed over 100 of these cases. Perske was the first non-
lawyer to receive the American Bar Association s Paul Hearne Award for
Service to Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Washington, DC, August
12, 2002. In 1999, The National Historic Preservation Trust on Mental
Retardation honored Robert and Martha as two of the 35 persons who made
major contributions in the field of mental retardation in the 20th
Century. Robert and his illustrator wife, Martha, received The Healing
Community Arts and Letters Award for their work in the developmental
disability field, at the United Nations in 1987. Perske traveled the
country and wrote the case vignettes for the 1976 Report to President
Nixon, Mental Retardation: Century of Decision. He traveled the country
again ! and authored the 1978 Report to President Carter, Mental
Retardation: The Leading Edge Service Programs that Work (President s
Committee on Mental Retardation). In 1968, Perske received the Rosemary F.
Dybwad International Award for traveling and studying mental retardation
programs in Sweden and Den mark. He has written numerous books including
Circles of Friends, Show Me No Mercy, Unequal Justice and Deadly
Innocence.

Please R.S.V.P. to Rosalyn Park at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights by
Tuesday, March 14. Phone: (612) 341-3302 ext. 106 Email:
rpark [at] mnadvocates.org Location: Dorse & WhitneyMinnesota Room, 15th Floor,
50 South 6th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402


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

>From eadickinson [at] mindspring.com Mon Mar 13 02:46:53 2006
From: "Keith Ellison" <keith [at] keithellison.org>
Subject: Stop HF1443/voter 3.15 12:30pm

If you care about the right of all people to vote, then I need you to
call, write or email the following legislators and ask them NOT to support
the HF1443 (Emmer) Voter registration proof of citizenship and voter
picture identification required.

This bill should be called the Voter Suppression Bill.  A similar version
of this bill was passed by the Georgia state legislature and was
subsequently found unconstitutional by a federal district court. These
voter ID bills, which are being introduced in state legislatures all over
the country, will knock out between 6 percent and 10 percent of the
electorate, including senior citizens, poor people (many are people of
color), homeless people, young voters, and others.

If you want to imagine who does not possess a picture ID, then just think
of the people stranded by Katrina.  The folks you saw on the roof tops in
New Orleans are the folks who probably didn't have cars because if they
had them, they would have driven out of the Huricane.  If the folks didn't
have cars, then they probably didn't need ID.  In other words, many people
don't have picture ID, but they are still citizens and have every right to
vote.  Nearly 20 percent of nursing home residents do not have ID.

This Voter ID movement is all based on allegations of fraud; however, the
chief author of the bill (Rep. Tom Emmer) admits that Minnesota does not
have any problems with voter fraud.  Call these legislators. Write these
legislators. Email these legislators.  Stop HF 1443, the "voter
suppression" bill.

Chair:  Jeff Johnson (R)   651-296-5511  rep.jeff.johnson [at] house.mn
V-Chair:  Chris DeLaForest (R)  651-296-4231  rep.chris.delaforest [at] house.mn
Lead-DFL:  Nora Slawik (DFL)  651-296-7807  rep.nora.slawik [at] house.mn
  Laura Brod (R)   651-296-4229  rep.laura.brod [at] house.mn
  Matt Dean (R)   651-296-3018  rep.matt.dean [at] house.mn
  Keith Ellison (DFL)  651-296-8659  rep.keith.ellison [at] house.mn
  Tom Emmer (R)   651-296-4336  rep.tom.emmer [at] house.mn
  Bill Hilty (DFL)   651-296-4308  rep.bill.hilty [at] house.mn
  John Lesch (DFL)   651-296-4224  rep.john.lesch [at] house.mn
  Peter Nelson (R)   651-296-5377  rep.peter.nelson [at] house.mn
  Steve Simon (DFL)  651-296-9889  rep.steve.simon [at] house.mn
  Torrey Westrom (R)  651-296-4929  rep.torrey.westrom [at] house.mn

If you want to attend the hearing on this terrible bill or to testify check
out the date, time and location below:
WEDNESDAY, March 15
12:30 PM
Room: Basement State Office Building
Chair: Representative Jeff Johnson
Agenda: HF1443 (Emmer) Voter registration proof of citizenship and voter
picture identification required.

Keith Ellison 612-588-9122 office 651-296-5486 (legis)


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

From: John Birrenbach <john [at] birrenbach.com>
Subject: Informed voters 3.15 6:30pm Pine City MN

In what I think is the first of it's kind I am starting an Informed Voters
of MN.  The purpose is to provide a non-partisan place for two purposes

 1.  Get people involved in the political process and get them to the
polls
 2.  Get people informed about who they have to vote for in an election.
Be it local, state, of federal

We are having our first meeting at Froogies in DT Pine City on Wed March
15th at 6:30pm till about 8:30pm.  The first meeting is just an
information meeting about what is intended for this organization.  After
that weekly we will be having various speakers, those running for office,
come and speak to our group of collected individuals.  This is an open
forum for people of ANY political party or non-affiliated persons.

I think this is a great grassroots way to get people involved in the
political process and informed about who they have to vote for.  It is
also a great grassroots way for people seeking office to come and speak
before the local people who will be putting them there.

I am also looking for other people in MN who think this is a good idea to
set up similar things in their areas.  If your interested please feel free
to contact me and I will give you some idea's on how to find a place to
hold such an event, and also help you find people to come and speak at
your events.

If you happen to work for a campaign and would like your candidate to
speak before our group please feel free to contact me off list we
would love to have candidates come and speak.

John Birrenbach john [at] birrenbach.com


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

From: Dave Bicking  <dave [at] colorstudy.com>
Subject: Anti-torture 3.15 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.


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

From: "Don,Rachel Christensen" <chris385 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Palestine 3.15 7:30pm

The Minnesota FOR invites you to a special presentation on "The Role of
Nonviolence in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict".

Wednesday, March 15
St. Martin's Table, 20th and Riverside, Mpls.
7:30pm

Topics that will be addressed include the separation wall, settlement
construction, the Israeli peace movement, Palestinians and nonviolence,
Christian Peacemaker Teams and the divestment campaign.

Presenters Phil Stoltzfus and Candace Lautt recently participated in an
FOR Interfaith Peacebuilder delegation to Israel and Palestine.  Phil
Stoltzfus is assistant professor of religion at St. Olaf College. Candace
Lautt is a massage therapist and former coordinator of Acting in the
Community Together at Carleton College.  Candace is also a former member
of the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.


--------15 of 17--------

From: Michael Wood <mwood42092 [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: CP study/Iraq 3.15 7:30pm

COMMUNIST PARTY [CP] STUDY GROUP
March 15 AND 22
Wednesdays, 7:30-9pm
Mayday Bookstore,
301 Cedar Avenue
Minneapolis
Info: call Harry McAllister @ (651) 776 - 2027 or visit the website at
http://csminn.cpusa.org

Description:

" What would Rosa and Lenin think of the occupation of Iraq? "

Come join the MN Communist Party USA study group about two of history's
great anti-war activists: Rosa Luxemburg and V.I. Lenin. On March 15, we
will look at Rosa Luxemburg's pamplet from WW1 called the "Junius
pamphlet". Then, on March 22, we will examine V.I. Lenin's very important
critique of Rosa's pamphlet. In the time of Bush and state-monopoly
capitalism, these readings raise issues that are vital today such as the
need to oppose imperialist wars and support the self-determination of
oppressed nations.

Rosa Luxemburg, a Marxist activist, wrote the "Junius pamphlet" while
imprisoned for opposing WW1. She was later murdered by the German
government. Rosa is an anti-war militant who is also known for her serious
theoretical and political mistakes. V.I Lenin is the Communist leader who
ended Russia's involvement in WW1, became the country's leader, and called
for the belligerent nations to end the war.  He criticised Rosa's "Junius
pamphlet" for not validating wars fought to win a nation's freedom from
oppression. He reminds her that the American people fought for liberation
in 1776 against England and urged her not to lump all wars together as
imperialist.

"What would Rosa and Lenin think of the occupation of Iraq?". What can the
"Junius pamphlet" from WW1 and Lenin's criticism of it teach us? Will it
inspire us to struggle even more against Bush and the capitalist system
that breeds wars? You're invited to join the MN Communist Party USA study
group and come find out! We'll have coffee brewing just for you!


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

MILOSEVIC: TEST YOUR MEDIA
By MICHEL COLLON
sent by Michel Collon (Belgium) - Mar 12, 2006
http://www.michelcollon.info/mailinglist_en.php

It becomes a little less difficult to determine whether we have been
informed correctly about Yugoslavia. Did they have a right to present the
Nato war as "humanitarian"? Did the Great Powers have secret strategies?
Were there media lies told and war propaganda spread?

We recommend that you take this brief Media test in order to have a clear
view, and to test how your medias are going to inform you in the coming ho
urs.

MEDIA QUIZ

How good is our information on the destruction of Yugoslavia?

1 Did the war begin in 1991 with the secessions of Slovenia and Croatia?
O Yes O No O Don't know

2 Did Germany deliberately provoke the civil war?
O Yes O No O Don't know

3 Did the US really remain 'passive and disinterested' during this war?
O Yes O No O Don't know

4 Did the World Bank and the IMF help destroying this country?
O Yes O No O Don't know

5 Did the media give a phony image of 'our friends' Tudjman & Izetbegovic?
O Yes O No O Don't know

6 Did the media hide the essential history and geography of Bosnia?
O Yes O No O Don't know

7 Was the topic 'Serb aggressors, Croat and Muslim victims' correct?
O Yes O No O Don't know

8 Did Serbia initiate a program of ethnic cleansing?
O Yes O No O Don't know

9 Did the media correctly report on Srebrenica?
O Yes O No O Don't know

10 Were the first victims of the war killed by the Serbs?
O Yes O No O Don't know

11 Was the famous image of the 'concentration camps' false?
O Yes O No O Don't know

12 Were we given the true stories on the three large massacres in Sarajevo?

O Yes O No O Don't know

13 Was the largest ethnic cleansing of the war committed by the Croat Army?

O Yes O No O Don't know

14 Did the US use depleted uranium weapons also in Bosnia?
O Yes O No O Don't know

15 Was the war against Yugoslavia the US's 'only good war'?
O Yes O No O Don't know


ANSWERS:

1 1991 OR EARLIER?  Did the war begin in 1991 with the secessions of
Slovenia and Croatia?

NO. In 1979, the BND (German CIA) sent a team of secret agents to Zagreb.
Mission: to support Franjo Tudjman, a racist who actively promoted ethnic
hatred and did all he could toward the break-up of Yugoslavia. Germany
supported and financed this Croatian Le Pen, and sent him arms before the
war.

To what end? Berlin never acknowledged the existence of the unified
Yugoslav state which had courageously resisted German aggression in the
two world wars. By once more breaking Yugoslavia into easily dominated
mini-states, Germany sought to control the Balkans. An economic zone it
could annex in order to remove it from local authority, to export German
products to it,and to dominate it as a market. And a strategic route
toward the oil and gas of the Middle East and the Caucasus. In 1992, the
Bavarian Interior Minister declared: "Helmut Kohl has succeeded where
neither Emperor Guillaume nor Hitler could." (see the parallel maps
'Yugoslavia in 1941--in 1991', Liars' Poker, pp 68-69)

2 GERMAN WILL?  Did Germany deliberately provoke the civil war?

YES. At the beginning of the Maastricht Summit in 1991, German Chancellor
Kohl was alone in wanting to break up Yugoslavia and precipitously to
recognize the 'independence' of Slovenia and Croatia, in defiance of both
International Law and the Yugoslav Constitution. But the rise of German
power would impose this madness on all its partners. Paris and London fell
right in line.

According to The Observer of London: "Prime Minister Major paid dearly for
supporting German policies toward Yugoslavia which all observers said
precipitated the war." In effect, all the experts had warned that this
'recognition' would provoke a civil war. Why? 1. Nearly every Yugoslav
Republic was a mix of diverse nationalities. Separating the territories
was as absurd as dividing Paris or London into ethnically pure municipal
districts. 2. By favoring the neo-fascist Tudjman and the Muslim
nationalist Izetbegovic (who had in his youth collaborated with Hitler),
it was certain that panic would be provoked among the important Serb
minorities who had lived for centuries in Croatia and Bosnia. Every Serb
family had lost at least one member to the horrible genocide committed by
the fascist Croats and Muslims, agents of Nazi Germany in 1941-45.

Only Tito's Yugoslavia had been able to bring about peace, equality and
coexistence. But Berlin, then Washington, wanted once and for all to break
this country they saw as being 'too far to the Left' (see question 4).

3 A PASSIVE USA?  Did the US remain 'passive and disinterested' during
this war?

NO. Lord Owen, special European Union envoy to Bosnia, and later a
well-placed observer, wrote in his memoirs: "I greatly respect the United
States.  But in recent years (92-95) this nation's diplomacy has been
guilty of needlessly prolonging the war in Bosnia."

What was its aim? While the Germans were busy taking control of
Slovenia, Croatia and, eventually, Bosnia, Washington put pressure on
Izetbegovic, the Muslim nationalist leader in Sarajevo: "Don't sign any
peace agreements proposed by the Europeans. We will win the war for you on
the ground." Washington then prolonged for two years the horrible
suffering inflicted on all the people of Bosnia.

By what means? 1. Setting aside all the advantages Berlin had gained in
this strategic region of the Balkans. 2. Dividing and weakening the
European Union. 3. Installing NATO as the Continental European policeman.
4.Restricting all Russian access to the Mediterranian Sea. 5. Imposing its
military and political leadership on all the other wars being prepared.

Because the war against Yugoslavia was at the same time a non-declared war
against Europe. After the fall of the Berlin wall, US strategies were
geared toward stopping, at all costs, the emergence of a European
superpower. So everything was done to weaken Europe militarily and
politically.

4 WORLD BANK & IMF Did the World Bank and the IMF help destroying this
country?

YES. In December 1989, the IMF imposed draconian conditions on Yugoslavia
which forced liberal prime minister Markovic to beg for aid from George
Bush Sr. This 'help' was aimed at destabilizing and bankrupting all large
state-owned businesses. The World Bank dismantled the banking system, laid
off 525,000 workers in one year, then ordered the immediate elimination of
two out of every three jobs. The quality of life fell dramatically.

These policies and the growing incidence of work stoppages in solidarity
with displaced workers in all the Republics heightened the contradictions
among the leaders of the various Republics to whom Belgrade could no
longer provide financing. To get themselves out of this mess, the leaders
had to resort to divisive tactics and invested greatly in nationalist
hatreds. This war was ignited from abroad. Like so many others.

The war against Yugoslavia was a war of globalization. All the great
Western powers sought to liquidate the Yugoslav economic system which they
found too Leftist: with a strong public sector, important social rights,
resistance to the multinationals... The real reason for these various wars
against Yugoslavia can be read in this reproach (this threat?) from the
Washington Post: "Milosevic was unable to grasp the political message of
the fall of the Berlin wall. Other Communist politicians accepted the
Western model, but Milosevic went the other way." (4 August 1996).

5 "OUR FRIENDS" Did the media give a phony image of 'our friends' Tudjman
& Izetbegovic?

YES. The hyper-nationalist Croat and Muslim leaders were presented as the
pure victims, great anti-racist democrats. But their past as much as their
present should have alerted us:

When he took power, Franjo Tudjman declared: "I'm happy my wife isn't a
Jew or a Serb." He hurriedly renamed the streets that had carried the
names of antifascist partisans, reinstated the money and the flag of the
old genocidal fascist regime, and changed the Constitution in order to run
off the Serbs.

During his 1990 electoral campaign, Izetbegovic reissued his 'Islamic
Declaration': "There can be neither peace nor coexistence between the
Islamic religion and those social and political institutions that are
non-Islamic."He set up a corrupt and mafia-ridden regime based primarily
on the lucrative black market and the hijacking of funds from
international aid. He called for assistance, with Washington's blessings,
from Islamic mercenaries, most notably from al Qaeda.

Once the war had started, serious crimes were committed by all three
camps, but by hiding these histories, the situation was rendered
incomprehensible.

6 HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY Did the media hide the essential history and
geography of Bosnia?

YES. We were made to believe that the Serbs were the aggressors, that they
had invaded Bosnia from outside its borders. In reality, three national
groups had been living in Bosnia for a long time: the Muslims (43%), the
Serbs (31%), the Croats (17%). And one should not forget that 7% of
'Yugoslavs' were born of mixed marriages or preferred to eschew narrow
national identities.

Dividing Bosnia according to nationalities, as the EU did, was absurd and
dangerous. Because this diverse population was completely intermingled:
the Muslims lived primarily in the cities while the Serbs and Croats made
up the peasantry and were dispersed throughout the sub-regions. Bosnia
could not be divided without civil war.

In fact, the Serbs of Bosnia did not fight to invade the territories of
'others', but to save their own lands and establish corridors of
communication between them. It was an absurd and bloody situation, with
all the ravages of a civil war, but this civil war was provoked by the
great powers.

7 "GOOD GUYS" AND "BAD GUYS"  Was the presumption of "Serb aggressors,
Croat and Muslim victims" correct?

NO. In command of the UN forces in Bosnia from July 1993 to January 1994,
Belgian general Briquemont was well placed to declare: "The disinformation
is total (...) Television needs a scapegoat. For the moment, there is
complete unanimity in condemning the Serbs, and that in no way facilitates
the search for a solution. I don't think one can view the problem of
ex-Yugoslavia and of Bosnia-Herzegovina only from the anti-Serb angle. It
is much more complicated than that. One day in the middle of the
Croat-Muslim war, we gave some information on the massacres committed by
the Croatian army. An American journalist said to me: 'If you give out
that sort of information, the American public won't understand anything.'"

It is not a question of denying the crimes committed by the Serb forces.

The ideology one finds in the writings of Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic is
extremely right wing. But in reality, after the break-up of Yugoslavia, on
all sides, certain criminal and political forces used the methods of war
to seize territory and riches. In the three camps - Croat, Muslim and Serb
- militias committed grave crimes. To the detriment of all the people.
Thus, in August 1994, the Muslim nationalist leader in Sarajevo,
Izetbegovic, attacked the Muslim region of Bihac, controlled by Fikret
Abdic, who had distanced himself from Izetbegovic and wanted to live in
harmony with his Serb and Croat neighbors. In this offensive, Izetbegovic
was aided by six US generals.

Remaining silent to the crimes of 'our friends' but demonizing whoever
resists us is classic war propaganda. Numerous media lies were totally
fabricated by a US public relations firm, Ruder Finn. Colleagues of the
famous Hill & Knowlton, who created the media lie about Kuwaiti incubators
stolen by the Iraqis.

8 "ETHNIC CLEANSING"?  Did Serbia initiate a program of ethnic cleansing?

NO. If one believes that ethnic cleansing was actually the program of 'the
dictator Milosevic', one has to admit that this program was sadly
ineffective. Because throughout the war years and still today, one of
every five inhabitants of Serbia is a non-Serb.  In Belgrade there are and
have alwaysbeen many minorities living without any difficulty: Muslims,
Gypsies, Albanians, Macedonians, Turks, Hungarians, Gorans . . .

In reality, contrary to the image given by the press, Serbia is today the
only state of the ex-Yugoslavia, along with Macedonia, that remains
'multinational'. On the other hand, all the NATO protectorates - Croatia,
Bosnia and Kosovo - practiced an almost total ethnic purification.

Milosevic objected to the excesses committed by the Serb militias in
Bosnia. His wife made several declarations against them. An embargo was
even applied by Serbia against Karadzic. Certainly, part of Serb public
opinion was influenced by racist nationalism. But this was due precisely
to Germany and the great powers having plunged the country into civil war
and thus into hatred.

9 SREBRENICA Did the media correctly report on Srebrenica?

NO. First element. Even if it's a matter of condemning abominable crimes,
historical truth - necessary for reconciliation - is not served by the
propagandistic processes that unreflexively use the term 'genocide', by
the obfuscation of the fact that that some of the victims died in combat
or by the systematic exaggeration of the numbers. Inquests have determined
that many of the 'victims' were found some months later voting in
subsequent elections or even taking part in other battles with
Izetbegovic's army. This information was and remains obscured. We won't
here go into the argument over numbers which only serious historians will
be able to sort out definitively.

Second element. Why did the media hide the events essential to an
understanding of this drama? In the beginning, this region was inhabited
by Muslim AND Serbs. The latter were run off in 1993 by an ethnic
cleansing committed by the Muslim nationalist troops of Izetbegovic.
French general Morillon, who commanded the UN force there, charges: "On
the night of the Orthodox Christmas, the holy night of January 1993,
Nasser Oric led raids on Serb villages. . . . There were heads cut off,
abominable massacres committedby the forces of Nasser Oric in all the
neighboring villages." (Documents of information from the French National
Assembly, Srebrenica, t 2, pp. 140-154) The desire for vengeance does not
excuse the crimes committed later. But why systematically hide the crimes
of 'our friends'?

Third element. Like other so-called demilitarized 'safe havens',
Srebrenica was in reality an area used by the forces of Izetbegovic to
regroup, the UN protecting them from total defeat. Astonishingly, Oric's
troops retreated from Srebrenica just a week before the massacre. French
general Germanos: "Oric had widely declared that they had abandoned
Srebrenica because they'd wanted Srebrenica to fall. The 'they' was
Izetbegovic."

And why? It is interesting to return to a curious UN report, written a
year and a half earlier by Kofi Annan: "Izetbegovic had learned that a
NATO intervention into Bosnia was possible. But it would happen only if
the Serbs forced their way into Srebrenica and massacred at least 5,000
people [sic]." A massacre predicted a year and a half before it happened!
(UN Report of 28-29 November)

General Morillon also informed us that "It is Izetbegovic's people who
opposed the evacuation of all those who had asked to be taken out, and
there were many." His conclusion: "Mladic fell into a trap at Srebrenica."

10 FIRST VICTIMS Were the first victims of the war killed by Serbs?

NO. June 28, 1991, the Slovenian police executed (at least) two unarmed
soldiers of the Yugoslav national army who had surrendered at Holmec, a
post on the Austrian border. This was acknowledged by the newspaper
Slovenske Novice. It has also been 'established from the very beginning'
that three soldiers of this same Yugoslav army were executed at a post on
the Italian border after surrendering themselves. (Facts and testimony
reported to the ICY at The Hague, cfr Forgotten Crimes, Igor Mekina, AIM
Ljubljana, 11/02/99).

11 CONCENTRATION CAMPS?  Was the famous image of the 'concentration camps'
false?

YES. Fabricated by Bernard Kouchner and Medecins du Monde, this image
showed some 'prisoners' held, seemingly, behind barbed wire. One of them
had terribly protruding ribs. Kouchner had pasted beside the photo a guard
tower from Auschwitz and the accusation 'mass extermination'. To hammer
home the message "Serbs = Nazis". He thus abetted a campaign of
demonization launched by the US public relations firm Ruder Finn.

But the whole thing was faked and taken from a report by British TV
channel ITN. The trickery became obvious when one viewed the footage shot
at the same time by a local TV news crew. In reality, the British camera
had been deliberately placed behind the two lonely strands of barbed wire
that formed a fence surrounding an old enclosure for farming equipment.
The 'prisoners' were on the 'outside' of the barbed wire. Free because
they were refugees in this camp to escape the war and the militias who
would force them to fight. In the complete film, the only prisoner who
speaks English declares to the ITN journalist three times that they are
being well treated and are safe. The man with the protruding ribs (gravely
ill) was called to the foreground when all his mates looked to be in too
good a shape. Kouchner'smontage was a gross falsehood. (Cfr Liars' Poker,
p. 34)

There certainly were camps in Bosnia. Not for extermination, but rather
for the preparation of prisoner exchanges. Violations of Human Rights were
committed here. But why were the UN reports on this subject hidden from
us? They accounted for six Croat camps, two Serb camps and one Muslim
camp.

12 SARAJEVO Were we given the true stories on the three large massacres in
Sarajevo?

NO. Three times Western public opinion was shocked by these terrible
images: dozens of victims blown to bits in front of a bakery or in the
marketplace of Sarajevo. Immediately the Serbs were accused of having
killed civilians by bombarding the city. This despite numerous
contradictions in official communications.

But never was the public informed of the results of inquiries made outside
the UN. Nor of the reports which accused the forces of president
Izetbegovic. Furthermore, high Western officials knew about them but kept
them carefully hidden. It was only much later that the editor-in-chief of
the Nouvel Observateur, Jean Daniel, admitted: "Today I have to say it. I
heard, in succession, Edouard Balladur (French Prime Minister at the
time), Fran=E7ois Leotard (Minister of the Army), Alain Juppe (Foreign
Minister) and two 'high-ranking' generals, whose confidence I will not
betray by naming them, tell me (. . .) that the shell fired on the
marketplace was itself also from the Muslims! They would have brought
carnage upon their own people! Was I afraid of this observation? Yes, the
Prime Minister answered me without hesitating... "(Nouvel Observateur,
August 21, 1995)

Why these manipulations? As if by chance, each massacre took place just
before an important meeting to justify some Western measures: an embargo
against the Serbs (92), a NATO bombing (94), a final offensive (95). NATO
and Izetbegovic applied an essential principle of war propaganda: justify
the offensive with a media lie, a 'massacre' to shock public opinion.

The official version of the siege of Sarajevo hides several points: 1. The
Serb forces certainly committed serious crimes. But the civilians who
wanted to flee through a tunnel that permitted them to leave the city were
stopped by the Izetbegovic regime. He wanted to maximize the clientele for
his black market, hijacking international aid money. 2. It was
especially important to present a black and white image of a victim people
and their aggressors. In reality, even in Sarajevo, Izetbegovic's snipers
regularly killed the inhabitants of Serb sections of the city without
anyone ever speaking of it. 3. Some equally grave atrocities went down,
for example, at Mostar. But here they were due to fighting between the
Croat and Muslim forces who had long before run off all the Serbs.

13 THE LARGEST "CLEANSING"  Was the largest ethnic cleansing of the war
committed by the Croat army?

YES. On August 4, 1995, a hundred thousand Croat soldiers, a hundred and
fifty tanks, two hundred troop transports, more than three hundred pieces
of artillery, and forty missile launchers attacked the Serb population of
the Krajina. More than 150,000 Serbs were forced to leave this region
which they had inhabited for centuries. The worst atrocities of the war
were committed: the Croat forces killed the elderly who could not flee,
and burned 85% of the abandoned houses.

Clinton called the offensive 'useful'. His Secretary of State said: "Their
taking of the Krajina could lead to a new strategic situation which might
be favorable for us." Worse yet: the United States advised Croatia in
carrying out its offensive, according to an admission by the Croatian
foreign minister. Furthermore, it was Washington that took charge of the
'democratic' training of this army. (Liars' Poker, pp. 193-194)

[Washington = US ruling class - ed]

14 URANIUM BOMBS Did the US use depleted uranium weapons also in Bosnia?

YES. At an international conference, "Uranium, the victims speak",
organized in Brussels in March 2001, a Bosnian doctor presented a Bosnian
Serb forest ranger, a victim like many others of multiple atypical and
fast moving cancers, after having been exposed to DU in areas of US
bombardment.

A Bosnian health official laid out some statistics : the population of a
Serb neighbourhood of Sarajevo bombed by US planes in 1995, (a population
later expelled from that city), showed a five-fold increase in various
types of cancer.

The weapons using depleted uranium allowed the US - but also France and
Great Britain - to get rid of waste materials from their nuclear plants.
These by-products seriously pollute the earth as well as the underground
water table, causing cancer, leukemia and monstrous birth defects
(including babies born to contaminated GIs). In short, use of these
depleted uranium arms transformed several countries into nuclear waste
dumps for eternity. (video and brochure "Uranium, the victims speak").

15 THE ONLY "GOOD WAR" Was the war against Yugoslavia the US's only good
war?

NO. The United States tried to make believe that it had fought a
humanitarian war. And to present itself, for once, as a defender of
Muslims. But in reality Washington and Berlin provoked this war.
Deliberately. In the selfish interest of conquering certain strategic
objectives: the economic colonization of the Balkans, gaining control of
the routes for transporting oil, and the fight for world domination.

The USA [=ruling class -ed] has never fought a humanitarian war. And it
was not the fireman in this war against Yugoslavia, it was the firebug. It
was the most guilty of inflicting suffering on all the people. The USA can
not be, on the one hand, the friend of the Muslims in the Balkans, and, on
the other, their worst enemy in Palestine and Iraq. The US is the Muslims'
enemy everywhere.

And the most dangerous enemy of all the people of the world. It threatens
Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and some day even China. Because its war
strategy has no other goal than to maintain an unjust economic order, to
dominate and exploit every country on earth to the end of further
enriching a small handful of super-billionaires.

This is why it is so important to unmask all the media lies and to make
the truth known about the war against Yugoslavia: It was a war of
aggression.

In conclusion. An appeal.

We will not give you a 'score' to evaluate the degree to which you have
suffered from media manipulations. That would be indecent. During this
decade, too many innocents suffered and suffer still because of the
disinformation orchestrated by the great powers in order to advance their
imperialist domination.

And other people, closer to you, or yourself perhaps, have suffered
another injury: knowing what was traumatizing you behind these
orchestrated lies, but not being able to do anything about it. Such was
the powerful indoctrination of the public consciousness.

The answers that we set forth here are the results of long research, which
took a great deal of time and required detailed investigation to break out
the truth. We would like only to show you that it is possible for each of
you to escape the media's hypnotic spell meant to make us accept the
unacceptable.

What to do? It's not enough, after the lies of each conflict, to say:
"Never again!" We must search without ceasing to understand what is truly
at stake economically and strategically in each war. To yank the curtain
on the puppeteers who pull the strings from off-stage. To organize
collectively, to investigate more rapidly. And to spread more widely the
results of these 'media quiz'.

You can help reinforce the effects of the media quiz by contacting us.
Because we must never become enured to this horror and cynicism.

[One is almost always justified in thinking the absolute worst of the US
ruling class. It is the main source of evil in the world today; it should
be reformed out of existence. The hypothesis of its omnipresent evil is
the most likely to lead you thru the welter of facts and lies to the
truth. Follow (those who have) the money. Be prepared to descend into
hell. -ed]

 SEE ALSO
http://www.michelcollon.info/articles.php


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

Fossil fuel barons said, Let there be blight.

And there was blight, in spades, in clubs, in hearts, in diamonds,
spamming everywhere, thicker than thieves.

And the fossil fuel barons looked out upon it, danced a dance of joy
unbounded, and chortled, O goody! Let there be more and more, and more,
unto the nth generation, and let us roll in gold and silver and other
precious metals! Everything for us, nothing for others!

Choking, decomposing, the world's peoples, like salmon, crawl to the homes
of the barons, to stack their used bodies up the mansion walls, on the
roofs, falling in upon the barons, like sardines, till no one remains, no
baron, no Adam, no Eve. Just blight, endless and strangling, as far as an
eye, were there one, might see.


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