Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 04.02.06

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     04.02.06

1. Sami/Iraq       4.02 2pm
2. Hwy 55 doc film 4.02 3pm
3. Lawn order      4.02 3pm
4. Permaculture    4.02 4pm
5. KFAI's Indian   4.02 4pm
6. Palestine       4.02 7pm

7. Peace vigil     4.03 11am
8. Rainbow rally   4.03 11:30am
9. Sami/Iraq       4.03 12noon/6pm Marshall MN
10. Health films   4.03-07 5:30pm
11. MnSOA          4.03 6pm
12. Trailer parks  4.03 6pm

13. Fraudley, MN - Used Car Salesman - "We Are Not Developers"
14. Jerry White - US media reacts to French protests with hatred and fear

--------1 of 14--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Sami/Iraq 4.02 2pm

Sunday, 4/2, 2 pm, returning briefly from 6 months in Iraq, former Twin
Cities resident and now Muslim Peacemaker Sami Rasouli speaks at Chapel
Hill United Church of Christ, 6512 Vernon Ave, Edina.  braun044 [at] umn.edu


--------2 of 14--------

From:  Dave Bicking <dave [at] colorstudy.com>
Subject:  Hwy 55 documentary 4.02 3pm

Sunday, April 2, 3-4:30pm At the home of Dave Bicking, 3211 22nd Ave. S.,
Mpls.  You are invited to a film screening and fundraiser for "Go Oaks!
Taking A Stand On Sacred Land", a work- in-progress about a resistance
movement and its efforts to stop highway development that could destroy
Coldwater Spring and the birthplace of Minnesota.

This feature documentary by Oak Folk Films is produced by Jon Carlson, Ann
Follett, Jim Gambone and Scott Cramer. It is currently in active,
post-production and is scheduled to be released this spring.  Sections of
the film will be shown, lasting approximately 20 minutes.  That will be
followed by a presentation, with time for discussion.

Participants will be invited to make a charitable donation to "Go Oaks!".
Suggested donation $25.  Your contribution will allow this film to be
finished for its feature-length theatrical debut in the spring.  Please
don't be put off by the suggested donation.  Any amount at all is welcome
- and if you can't afford anything at all, you are still welcome.

Personal note:  I saw an earlier version over a month ago.  It was
inspiring, and brought back memories - as well as information I hadn't
known.  There will be a discussion afterward, particularly regarding
changes or improvements that could be made in the film.  If by any chance
you were involved in that movement, your insights would be especially
valuable.  But if you were not, you may have another important perspective
as well, and I'm sure you will find the stories interesting.  This is a
great chance to talk about an important piece of Minneapolis progressive
history, and about what it means for us today.

Sponsored by:
www.oakfolkfilms.com  *  952-472-3379  *
jgambone [at] oakfolkfilms.com


--------3 of 14---------

From: david unowsky <david.unowsky [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Lawn order 4.02 3pm  [ed head]

Ted Steinberg discusses the obsessive quest for the perfect lawn at Magers
and Quinn Sunday, April 2 at 3pm.

In the United States, lawns are not just a few feet of filler outside the
old homestead; they are a challenge, a calling, an art form. In *America
Green* (W.W. Norton) author and environmental historian Ted Steinberg
takes on our country's preoccupation with lush, velvety, green lawns and
the people who use scissors to carefully them, and those who re-create
golf holes in their backyards. Skillfully using humor in this work of
social and environmental history, Steinberg winds up mowing down the
turf-care industry along the way.

Ted Steinberg is a 2006 Zucker Fellow in environmental studies at Yale
University. When not in training for his first lawn-mower race, he teaches
environmental history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio. His Previous books include *Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American
History * and Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in
America, a book that forewarned of the destruction of New Orleans.

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


--------4 of 14--------

From: Lynne Mayo <lynnne [at] usfamily.net>
Subject: Permaculture 4.02 4pm

Permaculture Study Group
4pm Sunday, April 2
Peace & Justice Organic Gardeners
2420 17th Ave. South,  Llen Mayo¹s house

Participants are encouraged to prepare for our discussion by reading:
Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability,  by David
Holmgren
Pages xi>12: ³Purpose of this book, preface, Introduction, and Ethical
Principles of Permaculture²

Megan McGuire & Andy Kranz, students at the UM college of agriculture &
sustainability, will be speaking sharing what they learned at a tree
conference this month as well.

This is planned as an ongoing study group as we work our way through the
Permaculture Book by Holmgren.  If you cannot afford the book we do have
means for photocopying certain sections for study.


--------5 of 14--------

From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: KFAI's Indian 4.02 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for April 2, 2006

RAVEN IN THE SNOW, songs and music from Bill Millers CD, a Mohican Indian
from northern Wisconsin, a singer/songwriter and a 2005 Grammy Winner
(Cedar Dream Songs).

This week is KFAI¹s SPRING FUND RAISING PLEDGE DRIVE through April 11th
with a goal of $106,700!  Call 612-375-9030 CST to make a pledge.  KFAI is
truly people-powered radio!  Programming is commercial-free -- instead of
advertisers, KFAI depends on their listeners to help cover their operating
costs. And as soon as KFAI (www.kfai.org) reaches its goal, the Pledge
Drive will end.  However, if you call during Indian Uprising, Sunday,
April 2nd or the 9th (between 4:00 & 4:30 p.m. CST) and make a pledge,
there are premium gifts for those who pledge over seventy-five dollars.
They are:

AMERICAN INDIAN HOMELANDS: Matters of Truth, Honor and Dignity-immemorial,
a new 78 minute film on DVD produced by Vanbar Productions in association
with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, www.indianlandtenure.org, hosted
and narrated by ABC-TV's Sam Donaldson.  "The film seeks to educate the
public about the effects of federal law on Indian land ownership. Its
stories of land theft by government swindle, by legislative action and by
abdication of trust responsibilities should make you angry." ­ Art
Coulson, St. Paul Pioneer Press

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXIST: A translation of Aboriginal Indigenous
Thought. The first book ever published from an Ahnishinahbaeojibway
perspective by Wub-e-ke-niew, Black Thistle Press.

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


--------6 of 14-------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Palestine 4.02 7pm

Search for Justice & Equality in Palestine/Israel, Ned Hanauer, Director
has several upcoming speaking appearance in central Minnesota. Ned is a
Jewish activist and political scientist whose articles on the Holy Land
conflict have appeared in 30 major U.S. Dailies, and he frequently appears
in national TV and radio interviews. He will speak on "After the
Palestinian & Israeli Elections: Does Peace Have a Chance?" These talks
are scheduled:
     Sunday, April 2, 7:00 P.M. Hennepin Avenue United Methodist
Church, Groveland at Lyndale, Minneapolis
     Monday, April 3, 7:00 P.M. St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 4537
Third Av. S., Minneapolis
     Tuesday, April 4, 7:00 P.M., St. Olaf College, Northfield, Gold
Ball Room in Buntrock Hall
     Wednesday, April 5, 3:30 P.M. Augsburg College, Minneapolis,
Marshall Room in Christensen Center
     Wednesday, April 5, 7:30 P.M., University of St. Thomas, St.
Paul, 126 John Roach Center


--------7 of 14--------

From: Ncorliss41 [at] aol.com
Subject: Peace vigil 4.03 11am

Neighbors For Peace Vigil at the Capitol Rotunda. Monday ,April 3rd. from
11am-12:30 pm.. Bring only sing you can hold. There will be displays and
banners. We will walk around the rotunda quietly reflecting on peace and
the price of war on all the world. Nan Corliss 952-835-6832


--------8 of 14--------

From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com>
from http://www.rainbowfamilies.org/
Subject: Rainbow rally 4.03 11:30am

Our Families. Our Rights. Our Voices.

Rainbow Families at the MN State Capitol
Monday, April 3: 11:30am-12noon
Minnesota State Capitol Front Steps (South)
Free Capitol tour for children following the rally

Make YOUR family's voice heard! Join Rainbow Families at the State Capitol
on Monday, April 3rd, to help generate awareness about the impact of the
proposed anti-marriage amendment on REAL FAMILIES.  Children, youth,
parents, allies, and all community members will hear speakers, share
stories, and raise their voices in song to thank the legislators who
support us, and to educate those who do not.

Bring friends, family, and neighbors as well - to show their opposition to
voting discrimination into our Constitution.  An event for the whole
family, the power of children's voices can help to remind legislators
just whom this issue affects the most!  Allies welcomed! The Senate
Judiciary Committee starts closed hearings on the proposed amendment on
Tuesday, April 4th, so let's take advantage of this great opportunity to
be seen and heard.

LET LEGISLATORS KNOW THIS MATTERS
Contact your senator TODAY and let them know how you feel about the issue.
Even if your senator is supporting us, they need to hear from you NOW!
Use the District Finder to get your senator's contact information.

This is not just about marriage rights. This is about letting legislators
know that we expect to be represented as citizens of Minnesota and that
our community counts! These resources may help:

Talking Points for LGBT Parents: Fighting the Proposed Anti-Marriage
Amendment in Minnesota (PDF: 84KB/1 page)

Talk It Up: Help Defeat Minnesota's Proposed Marriage Amendment (PDF:
61KB/1 page)

Article in our Fall 2005 Newsletter by Eva Young with excellent ways to
pose arguments against the proposed amendment.

To our WISCONSIN readers: ActionWisconsin needs your help to fight the
similar amendment, already passed by the WI legislature and coming to
ballot in November 2006.


--------9 of 14--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Sami/Iraq 4.03 12noon/6pm Marshall MN

April 3 - Two More Speaking Engagements: Sami Rasouli.  Time: 12noon
AND 6pm.

Monday, 4/3, noon, returning briefly from 6 months in Iraq, former Twin
Cities resident and now Muslim Peacemaker Sami Rasouli speaks at Charter
Hall 201, Southwest Univ, Marshall.  brockman [at] SouthwestMSU.edu

Monday, 4/3, 6 pm, returning briefly from 6 months in Iraq, former Twin
Cities resident and now Muslim Peacemaker Sami Rasouli speaks at Marshall
Area Peace Seekers potluck and public forum Albright Methodist Church,
Marshall.  brockman [at] Southwest MSU.edu


--------10 of 14--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Health films 4.03-07 5:30pm

[This is the ONLY time I will print this schedule; you may want to SAVE
it - ed]

April 3-7 - NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK FILM FESTIVAL.  Time: 5:30 PM
(each night).  Cost: FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Free films!  Hot topics!!  Freshly popped popcorn!!!

Make plans to attend the annual National Public Health Week Film Festival,
sponsored by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, the
Minnesota Public Health Association, and more than 15 other community
partner organizations to mark NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK, April 3-7!

Admission is free.  The films will touch on key areas of public health.
They will be introduced by public health experts who practice or conduct
research in the area highlighted in the film.  Free snacks and
refreshments will be served.  Enter the free raffle and win great prizes.

Monday, April 3: Mental Health
"Out of the Shadow" - 67 minutes
 "Hope for Recovery: Understanding Mental Illness" - 30 minutes

Tuesday, April 4: Infectious Diseases
"Rise of the Superbugs" - 60 minutes
 "Disease of the Wind" - 58 minutes

Wednesday, April 5: Toxic Pollution
"Journey of the Blob" -10 minutes.
"Crapshoot: The Gamble with our Wastes" - 52 minutes.
"Choropampa: The Price of Gold" - 75 minutes.

Thursday, April 6: HIV Then and Now
"And the Band Played On" - 141 minutes
"Sowing the Seeds of Hunger" - 27 minutes

Friday, April 7: Sex Ed.
"VD Questions, VD Answers" - 15 minutes
"The Talk" - 15 minutes
"The Education of Shelby Knox" - 76 minutes
"Sex Hygiene" - 24 minutes

Find more information at http://www.sph.umn.edu/filmfestival
Location: MAYO MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, 425 DELAWARE STREET SE, UNIVERSITY
OF MINNESOTA EAST BANK CAMPUS


--------11 of 14--------

From: mnsoaw [at] circlevision.org
Subject: MnSOA 4.03 6pm

Just a reminder- our monthly MnSOAWatch meeting will be on the first
MONDAYS now, starting this coming Monday April 3 at 6 pm, same place, Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 E 31st St Minneapolis. Enter the east doors,
we are upstairs.

Remember - April 23-25, 2006: SOA Watch Lobby Days Converge on Washington, DC
Is anyone going? Bus? Caravan? Flying? Let us know if you are, thanks.

BREAKING NEWS- Argentina and Uruguay agreed to no longer send soldiers to
the SOA.


--------12 of 14--------

From: Richard L. Dechert <ldechert [at] webtv.net>
Subject: Trailer parks 4.04 6pm

Rally on Trailer Park Closings, 4.3.06. 6-7pm, Bloomington City Hall

1,200 trailer park residents in Minnesota have been displaced by park
closings in just the past five years.  About 900 of them were displaced by
City of Bloomington closings of Collins Park, Lyndale Lodge, and Shady
Lane. The City frowned upon efforts to save Shady Lane, and has not made
preservation of manufactured home parks a priority. 70% of the displaced
Shady Lane residents were PEOPLE OF COLOR.

Park residents, low-income advocates and people concerned with AFFORDABLE
HOUSING and RACIAL JUSTICE must unite to prevent this from happening again
and again!

For more information call All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC) at (651)
644-5525.

[Well, what's more important? Poor people, or developers? Capitalist
America says it's your own damn fault if you're poor, and you deserve what
you (don't) get. But if you're rich you deserve everything, including poor
people's stuff.
Capitalist America crawled out from under a rock; let us put it back
there. -ed]


--------13 of 14--------

Fraudley, MN - Used Car Salesman - "We Are Not Developers"

In a public statement today, Fred Frode of Fraudley, spokesguy for The
Public Front for Previously Owned Automobile Salesmen, said:

"We may be scrougy low-lifes, grasping cheating lying nee'r-do-wells, and
we may do odd things to small animals - we'll give you that. And there's a
lot more bad stuff that only we used car salesmen know about ourselves
that we have successfully covered up. But, no way are we developers! How
low do you think we might sink? You might not like us, and most of us
don't much like ourselves (what's to like?), but, please, we are not
developers. We have some pride left. Not much, but some. Spare us this
final indignity.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bunch of junkers to palm off on
unsuspecting rubes."


--------14 of 14--------

US media reacts to French protests with hatred and fear
By Jerry White
1 April 2006
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/apr2006/pres-a01.shtml

The US media, not known for following the internal political developments
of other countries too closely unless it has a direct impact upon the US,
has provided an inordinate amount of ill-tempered commentary on the wave
of protests and strikes in France against the introduction of a law that
enables employers to fire young workers without cause.

The reaction of the media has been universally hostile, varying from
denunciations by the right-wing press of "mob rule" to the more low-key
perplexity expressed by the liberal media, which suggests that French are
suffering from some type of collective dementia because they believe they
have the right to such things as job security.

The headlines of several newspaper commentaries give a flavor of this
contempt, from the Wall Street Journal's, "The Decline of France" (March
21) and "Casseurs" (or "Smashers," March 29); to the Washington Post's
"French take to the Streets to Preserve their Economic Fantasy" (March 22)
and "The French In Denial" (March 28); to the New York Times' "France's
Misguided Protesters" (March 27).

In one way or another all of the commentaries suggest the protests are
illegitimate. They declare that France's labor laws and social protections
are outmoded and must be "reformed" if corporations are to thrive and
create jobs. They suggest that "everyone" agrees with this, everyone, that
is, except the millions of workers and young people marching on the
streets of France. Echoing the infamous comments of British Prime Minister
Tony Blair at the time of the invasion of Iraq, the US media suggests that
the strength of a democracy is measured by the ability of political
leaders to defy the will of the people and do "what's right."

As always, the Wall Street Journal leads the pack of reactionary voices.
Having spared no provocative insult against Jacques Chirac and Dominique
de Villepin for refusing to line up behind the US invasion of Iraq, the
Journal now declares the French president and prime minister the champions
of democracy. The French government is facing down "Jihadist" students,
who, the newspaper claims, are resorting to violence to defend their
"religion of job security." Writer Nidra Poller declares, "Democracies run
on elections and legislation; mobs rule by fire and the sword," suggesting
that state repression is needed to crush the protests and uphold
"democracy."

Like the Wall Street Journal, the premise of liberal newspapers such as
the Washington Post and the New York Times is that France's high
unemployment rate is due to the unfair burden placed on employers by the
social protections fought for by the working class and put in place after
World War II. If corporations are given the unrestricted right to fire
workers and exploit them like American workers, the story goes, this will
entice companies to create new jobs.

While "those of you brainwashed by Anglo-American market capitalism" see
the need for this type of "market flexibility" to increase employment,
Post writer Steven Pearlstein declares cynically, "viewed through the dark
prism of the French imagination, these aren't real jobs - they're 'garbage
jobs' and 'slave contracts' meant to undermine the birthright of all
Frenchmen to be shielded from all economic risk. Give in on this, and who
knows what could go next? The 35-hour workweek? The six weeks of paid
vacation? State-mandated profit sharing? Retirement at age 60?"

Oh, what horrors!

Posing as a defender of the unemployed, Pearlstein claims that the reason
immigrant youth and many university students cannot find jobs is because a
"shrinking pool of older, middle-class workers" enjoy the "full panoply of
worker protections" and are "sucking the innovation and vitality from the
economy." Expressing dismay over the fact that young people are demanding
the same rights their parents achieved, Pearlstein complains, "rather than
supporting the reforms that might generate more jobs and more income, the
outsiders have bought into the nostalgic fantasy of a France that once
was, but can never be again, making common cause with the very 'insiders'
whose selfishness and pigheaded socialism have left them out in the cold."

Indeed it is the continuing influence of socialism and egalitarian ideals
in France - in spite of the betrayals of Stalinism and social democracy -
that most outrages Pearlstein and his cohorts in the media.  The Post
reporter disparagingly notes the results of a recent poll by the
University of Maryland on international policy attitudes showing that only
36 percent of French respondents felt that "the free enterprise system and
free market economy" is the best system. This was the lowest percentage of
any of the 22 countries polled and compared with 59 percent in Italy, 65
percent in Germany, 66 percent in Britain and 71 percent in the United
States.

Complaining that France sported "only" 14 billionaires, as compared to 24
in similarly sized Britain, Pearlstein concludes his column: "Indeed, when
you ask French university students who is the Bill Gates of France, they
look at you blankly. It's not simply that they can't name one. The bigger
problem is that they can't imagine why it matters, or why that has
anything to do with why they can't find a good job."

Nowhere does Pearlstein explain how the hoarding of vast fortunes by the
super-rich and the gaping levels of social inequality have improved the
lot of American workers. Instead, he, along with the other well-heeled
pundits in the corporate-controlled news media take as given that US
employers should wield dictatorial powers in the workplace and retain the
unquestioned "right" to destroy thousands of jobs and slash wages and
benefits. After all, Dr. Pangloss, this is the best of all possible
worlds.

Pearlstein's fellow columnist at the Post, Robert J. Samuelson, argues
that the protests in France point a "larger predicament" for Europe.
"Hardly anyone wants to surrender the benefits and protections of today's
generous welfare state, but the fierce attachment to these costly and
self-defeating programs prevents Europe from preparing for a future that,
though it may be deplored, is inevitable."

Samuelson then lets the cat out of the bag, acknowledging that the media's
take on the French protests is bound up with political situation in the US
and concerns over how American workers will respond to the unprecedented
attacks now on the agenda of corporate America and both of its political
parties. "The dilemma of advanced democracies," he says, "including the
United States, is that they've made more promises than they can keep.
Their political commitments outstrip the economy's capacity to deliver...
To disavow past promises incites public furor; not to disavow them worsens
the country's future problems."

This anxiety over possible "public furor" in the US was spelled out even
more clearly in a USA Today editorial, entitled, "Before you scoff at the
French, consider the U.S. connection." It begins by warning that the
French protests demonstrate the "lengths that people will go to preserve
guarantees and benefits" despite "harming their own long-term prospects
and those of their children."

While the US should consider itself "fortunate" that it does not "endow
its workers with the right not to be fired," the editorial says, "one can
see counterproductive sentiments similar to those of the French protesters
in the workers at companies such as General Motors. They demand
preservation of generous pensions and lifetime health coverage from
employers that might be driven out of business...

"On a larger scale, it's possible to see the French in the intractability
of the Medicare and Social Security debates," the editorial continues.
Claiming that longer life spans, the coming retirement of baby boomers and
exploding health costs, were pushing the government and economy toward a
"fiscal abyss," the newspaper complains that "those who receive these
benefits, or are about to, have shown scant interest in reforms needed to
avert a looming crisis..."

The editorial concludes: "The USA rarely has the strikes and street
protests that France is almost as famous for as its cheeses. But it does
suffer from some of the same unwillingness to consider the future."

Thus, the media's sudden interest in France reveals itself to be a concern
that working class resistance could spread to the US itself, where the
reactionary agenda of free market policies was initiated in the first
place, before it spread to Britain and the rest of the world. With
unrelenting attacks on workers by GM, Delphi, Northwest Airlines and other
US corporations, as well as plans by the Bush administration to slash
"entitlement" programs to pay for further tax cuts to the rich and the
burgeoning costs of America's worldwide military adventures, there is no
doubt that at least some establishment figures who are not too blind to
see are considering the possibility that if mass opposition could explode
in France, it could happen here too.

The arguments that society simply cannot afford to provide for the basic
needs of working people are becoming increasingly threadbare, not only for
French workers but for their American counterparts as well. Despite their
efforts to reassure themselves about popular support for the profit
system, the reality is that there are growing numbers of workers and youth
in America who realize that the real problem is that society cannot afford
to allow a tiny minority of the population to monopolize the wealth
created by working people. Despite the insistent claims over the years
about the death of the class struggle and the working class, the explosive
events in France, as they so often have done throughout history, are a
sign of what is coming throughout the world, and within the US itself.

--
France: Millions of workers and students strike against Gaullist government
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/fran-m29.shtml


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

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