Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 04.11.06

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     04.11.06

1. MnSOA sendoff      4.11 8:30am
2. Cam answers        4.11 9:30am
3. Darfur/lunch       4.11 12noon
4. Enviro/capital     4.11 12:15pm
5. Darfur/afternoon   4.11 3pm
6. Haiti/labor        4.11 3pm
7. International law  4.11 3:30pm
8. Hwy55/reunion/book 4.11 4pm
9. UnMarket/CTV       4.11 5pm
10. Cam/land/trans    4.11 6:30pm
11. Salon/Bell        4.11 6:30pm
12. Venezuela/film    4.11 7pm
13. War play/CTV      4.11 8pm
14. Peak oil/WCCO-TV  4.11 10pm

15. Farheen Hakeem   - Reply on cartoons against Muslims
16. Monserrate et al - StPaul immigration march
17. Jesse Mortenson  - 64A Green Party endorsement & the campaign ahead
18. Julie Risser     - Risser for SD 41 web and blog
19. Raymond Garcia   - Paris: center of anti-corporate globalization today
20. Donald Hall      - We bring democracy to the fish

--------1 of 20--------

From: mnsoaw [at] circlevision.org
Subject: MnSOA sendoff 4.11 8:30am

On Tuesday, April 11 Steve Clemens is to report to prison in Duluth. For
those of you in the Twin Cities, we will have a brief send-off Tuesday at
8:30am at Matthews Park near the corner of 29th Ave. S. and E. 24th St in
Minneapolis. Please join us in spirit or body as you are able.

Steve's address is as of April 11th for 90 days:
Stephen D. Clemens 92565-020
FPC Duluth Federal Prison Camp
PO Box 1000
Duluth, MN 55814


--------2 of 20--------

From: Cam Gordon <CamGordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Cam answers 4.11 9:30am

Cam Gordon, Council Member, Second Ward 612-673-2202 (w) 612-296-0579 (c)

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 -
11:00 AM.  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


--------3 of 20--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Darfur/lunch 4.11 12noon

There is a correction to the special announcement regarding Mark Hanis'
speaking engagements on Tuesday April 11.

Mark Hanis will be giving a brown bag lunch lecture from 12noon-1pm on
Darfur in Room N204 at the University of Minnesota Law School in Mondale
Hall.  [Prior announcements had said that the lecture would be in Room 40
- THIS HAS NOW BEEN CHANGED TO ROOM N204]


--------4 of 20--------

[This could be from the dark side - "emissions trading" - and business
seems to love him too much. Caution. -ed]

From: Consortium <lawvalue [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Environ/capital 4.11 12:15pm

The Lunch Series on the Societal Implications of the Life Sciences will
present Richard L. Sandor, PhD (Chicago Climate Exchange) on Tuesday,
April 11 from 12:15pm-1:30pm in the Mississippi Room at Coffman Memorial
Union.

Dr. Sandor will lecture on "The Convergence of Environmental and Capital
Markets."  Continuing education credit is offered (see below).  The series
is cosponsored by the University of Minnesota's Consortium on Law and
Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences
(www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu) and Joint Degree Program in Law, Health &
the Life Sciences (www.jointdegree.umn.edu).

Dr. Sandor will discuss current developments of market-based mechanisms,
with special emphasis on emissions trading as a tool to address global
climate change.  Topics will include:

* The principles and methodology guiding the research and the history of
implementation of the CO2 market;
* The emerging market for greenhouse gases emissions trading, both in the
U.S. and abroad;
* The use of hedging devices for pollution and energy as business
strategies;
* The relationship between environmental and financial performance and the
implications for a corporation's risk management (proliferation of stock
indices, the growth of sustainable investing and the impact that
sustainability issues may have on stock performance and bond ratings).

Richard L. Sandor is chairman and CEO of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a
self-regulatory exchange that administers the world's first and North
America's only multi-national and multi-sector marketplace for reducing
and trading greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Sandor is also a research
professor at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern
University. He has been honored by the City of Chicago and the Chicago
Board of Trade for his contribution to the creation of financial futures
and his universal recognition as the "father of financial futures." In
2002, Dr. Sandor was chosen by Time magazine as one of its "Heroes for the
Planet" for his work as the founder of the Chicago Climate Exchange. In
2004, Dr. Sandor was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Science,
honoris causa, by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) of
Zurich, Switzerland for his pioneering work in the design and
implementation of innovative and flexible market-based mechanisms to
address environmental concerns. In 2005, Dr. Sandor was named by Treasury
and Risk Management magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in
Finance." Dr. Sandor holds a PhD in Economics from the University of
Minnesota.

The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are strongly
encouraged. Lunches are provided to those who RSVP by April 4, 2006 to
lawvalue [at] umn.edu or 612-625-0055 (please indicate if vegetarian/vegan).
Registration is required if you wish to receive continuing education
credits (CLE or general CEU). Those without reservations are welcome to
attend, but should bring a lunch. Coffman Union parking is available in
the East River Road Garage on Delaware Street behind Coffman Union. Maps
may be found at http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/index.html.

This lecture is intended for students, faculty, researchers, scientists,
policymakers, and interested members of the community.  Following this
lecture, participants should be able to:

* Understand current industry perspectives on the intersection of energy
and the environment.

* Propose environmentally friendly solutions for industry energy use.

The program provides 1 contact hour of general University of Minnesota
continuing education (.1 CEU).  Continuing legal education credit (CLE)
for attorneys will be requested (1 hour).

This is the fourth and final lecture in the 2005-06 Lunch Series.  This
year's Lunch Series focuses on "Energy and the Environment: Science,
Ethics & Policy."  For more information on upcoming events, visit
http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/conferences/.


--------5 of 20--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Darfur/afternoon 4.11 3pm

Teach-in on Darfur April 11:
What Can be Done to help end the genocide in Darfur?
3-5pm
140 Nolte Education Center, East Bank University of Minnesota, 315
Pillsbury Drive SE (Next to Bell Museum), Minneapolis, MN.

Speaker: Mark Hanis, who established the Genocide Intervention Fund with
Andrew Sniderman while at Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia. Hanis
has done research on the International Tribunal for Sierra Leone and
Liberian president Charles Taylor. He worked in Sierra Leone for six
months during 2003.  His establishment of the Genocide Intervention Fund
and Network occurred in 2004 as a response to the Genocide in Darfur.
Hanis has been responsible for an expansion of student awareness of the
genocide and the need to stop it.

The teach-in will provide some facts and help to organize students for
activism on the Darfur issue. The Holocaust raised the familiar statement
of "never again!." In order for "Never again" not to become an empty
cliché, the burden is on all of us not to become bystanders to genocide.

For current information on Darfur, see CHGS website: www.chgs.umn.edu
under "Genocide in Our Time."

Sponsors: Human Rights Center, U of M Law School, Leaders in Transition,
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, African Student Union, CLA.


--------6 of 20--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Haiti/labor 4.11 3pm

Tuesday, 4/11, 3pm, Yannick Etienne speaks on labor union organizing
issues in Haiti, Nolte Library at the U of M, Mpls.
www.sweatfree.org/conference


--------7 of 20--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: International law 4.11 3:30pm

April 11 - Fred Morrison: "Two Perspectives on International Law".
3:30pm

Professor Fred L. Morrison is a recognized scholar of international law
and comparative public law.  He teaches constitutional law, international
law, local government, and comparative public law.  Professor Morrison
held the Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly Professor of Law from 1990-1998 and
was named the Popham, Halk, Schnobrich & Kaufman, Ltd./Lindquist & Vennum
Professorship in Law in 1998.

A reception will follow the lecture in the Dean's Conference Room.
Please RSVP ro 612-625-4544 OR lawevent [at] umn.edu.

One hour of CLE credit will be requested.
Location: Lockhart Hall (Room 25), Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota
Law School, West Bank, Minneapolis, MN


--------8 of 20--------

From: Susu Jeffrey <susujeffrey [at] msn.com>
Subject: Hwy55/reunion/book 4.11 4pm

Hwy 55 Reroute Reunion & Book Release Party
LISTEN: The Story of the People at Taku Wakan Tipi and the Reroute of
Highway 55 or, the Minnehaha Free State
The real history in story, song and poetry by the people who lived &/or were
arrested at the Hwy 55 Encampment and the 4 Trees Spiritual Camp.
Edited by Freedom

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Walker Community Church in Minneapolis
16th Avenue South at 31st Street (1-block southeast of Lake and Bloomington)
4 PM doors open for book sales, exhibits, photography and art. Refreshments.
6 PM Thunder Nation Drum Group

6:30-9 PM Cabaret of selected readings and music including The Smudge Boys,
Carol Kratz, Rory, Freedom, Susu, Henry and others.

Remember the brutal arrests and torture of 38 people on December 20, 1998?
Eight Ryder Rental trucks with hundreds of armed cops burst onto the yards
of homes on River View Road at 4:30 AM during a blizzard. Here's what
Albert N. Moskowitz, then-Washington FBI Chief of the Criminal Section
said about complaints of civil rights abuses in a July 21, 2001 letter.
"We recently completed our review of the results of the investigation...to
determine whether a federal criminal prosecution could be brought
concerning allegations that your civil rights were violated by officials
of the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department. After carefully considering
the information obtained by the FBI as a result of its investigation, we
concluded that the evidence is not sufficient to establish a prosecutable
violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes." Minnehaha County
is in South Dakota.


--------9 of 20--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: UnMarket/CTV 4.11 5pm

Starting THIS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY (Apr 11 and 12) "Our World Today/Our
World In Depth" begins airing on SPNN, Channel 15, Public Access in St.
Paul.

The show is weekly on Tuesday at 5 pm, midnight and then Wednesday morning
at 10 am.

Below are the titles and guests for the next shows:

Apr 11: "De-deifying the Market" w/Karen Redleaf
Apr 18: "Economic Alternatives" w/Katie Quarles and Karen Redleaf
Apr 25: "Medicare Part D" w/Joel Albers and John Schwarz
May 2: *"The Truth About Medicare Part D" w/Sue Abderholden and Jane
        Hanger Seeley
May 9: "Community Access Media" w/Mike Wassenaar

* all shows above are hosted by yours truly except *"The Truth About
Medicare Part D" which is hosted by Joel Albers.


--------10 of 20--------

From: Cam Gordon <CamGordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Cam/land/trans 4.11 6:30pm

Please join me for the next in my series of monthly public policy roundtable
discussions:
Land Use and Transportation Policy
April 11, 6:30-8:30pm
Pratt School, 66 Malcolm Ave SE

The City is engaged in an extensive land use study, especially focused on
industrial land uses. We are also in the midst of establishing a 10-year
transportation plan for the city.  The Council will likely face difficult
policy decisions on these topics in the months and years ahead. Your
participation and input will be greatly appreciated. Everyone is welcome.
Feel free to call or email if you have questions.

Cam Gordon Minneapolis City Council Member, Ward 2 612 673-2202


--------11 of 20--------

From: Patty Guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Salon/Bell 4.11 6:30pm

Tuesday's Salon April 11 the guest will be Ford Bell, DFL candidate for US
Senate.

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.


--------12 of 20--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Venezuela/film 4.11 7pm

Tues. April 11: Film and discussion - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
7pm at Mapps Coffee and Tea, 1810 Riverside Ave.


--------13 of 20--------

From: alteravista [at] earthlink.net
Subject: War play/CTV 4.11 8pm

Altera Vista

Minneapolis MTN Channel 16
Tues April 11, 8pm:  "Letters to, Letters from ..., Letters never
written."  A play created from letters, journals, and memories of
Minnesota veterans, by Frances Ford, director.  Part of The War Plays
Project.  Taped 2/18/06 at Hamline University's Sundin Hall.

St. Paul SPNN Channel 15
Thus April 13, 8:30 pm: Altera Vista presents "Letters to, Letters from
..., Letters never written."  A play created from letters, journals, and
memories of Minnesota veterans, by Frances Ford, director.  Part of The
War Plays Project.  Taped 2/18/


--------14 of 20--------

From: Bob Rohland <bobrohland [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Peak oil/WCCO-TV 4.11 10pm

Don Shelby, of WCCO, 10 PM, NEWS, is going to have a section of the news,
this coming week, devoted to the issue, of PEAK OIL.  Each night they will
have 7 minutes, in the second half.  Also, according to the following from
the EnegryBulletin website, they plan on having at least 30, more stories,
in cluding a one hour documentary.

Published on 8 Apr 2006 by Energy Bulletin. Archived on 8 Apr 2006.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
www.energybulletin.net

Project Energy on WCCO-TV
Don Shelby , WCCO-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
April 10 - 14, 2006 - 10:00pm (CDT)

One energy story per night will appear during the second half of the news
program April 10-14. Each segment will be 7 minutes long.

The spots will be combined into a one-hour documentary that will be aired
separately and remain up on the website.

WCCO-TV plans for a roll-out of 30 stories during April and May and
additional stories to appear throughout the balance of the year.

Stories will be posted for downloading from the website: www.WCCO.com

Executive Producer and Lead Reporter for Project Energy is Don Shelby.
(April 2006, thanks to LW) UPDATE: More on the series at peakoil-dot-com


---
From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net>

Fellow Greens,
Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy notified me of an
environmentally important TV news show happening this week.  I encourage
those who can to watch it, then contact the TV station with your comments
on their coverage.  Comments from the public may inspire them to continue
to broadcast related stories.  We need such news to come before the
voters. This is an excellent opportunity for Green activism to encourage
the media to continue addressing environmental matters.

Project Energy
April 10-14, 2006
WCCO 4 News
10:00 PM

Don Shelby and WCCO TV take on the energy crisis with a series of
groundbreaking reports entitled "Project Energy."  For the week of April
10, WCCO 4 News at 10 p.m. will devote expansive coverage of the world's
dwindling supply of oil and efforts here in Minnesota to develop
alternatives.  Michael Noble and J. Drake Hamilton, both of Minnesotans
for an Energy Efficient Economy, are featured on Thursday and Friday
nights.

For details on the series and the list of topics and interviewees, see:
http://www.me3.org/calendar.html

This news series is an excellent opportunity for Green activism.
Positive Green contact to WCCO 4 News will encourage the station to
continue addressing environmental matters in ways we Greens approve of.
News programs featuring good environmentalists explaining favorable
environmental policy will help us get closer to winning better laws
impacting the environment.


--------15 of 20--------

Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 14:08:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: farheen [at] farheenhakeem.org
Subject: On cartoons against Muslims

Dear President Litecky,

I would like to express my opinion about the recent incident in which
Professor Murdock posted controversial cartoons against Muslims on the
bulletin board outside of the Social Science department.  I had learned of
the incident from David Shove's progressive calendar, where Professor
Murdock had a speaking event to address this.  I asked Professor Murdock
if I could speak with her.  She called me this morning.  I told her how I
felt her actions of posting the cartoons were racist.  She explained that
her intentions were to start a discussion and she felt there was a need to
"get the whole story" and that is why she posted the cartoons.

I told her that even though we may not intend to commit racist actions,
often times we do.  And we perpetuate this racism until someone points it
out to us.  I said to her it is not always pretty, but someone needs to do
it.  I told her that I thought her actions were distasteful, insensitive
and dehumanizing to Muslim people.  I challenged her to imagine what it
would have been like if there was a Muslim student walking by the board
and saw those cartoons.

The College of St. Catherine's called me to do a speaking event about the
cartoons a while back.  I work with youth, and found 5 eloquent Muslim
teenage girls to attend the event and speak on the issue.  We had an open,
honest, and respectful discussion, and there was no need for the cartoons
to be posted.  I don't understand how posting those cartoons were to add
to the discussion.

It is very clear to me that Century College is not a safe place for
Muslims.  Not only has there been no consequences given to Professor
Murdock for her hurtful actions, but she does not even want to be educated
about why it was hurtful.  I told her that Muslim youth are constantly
being bombarded with images of the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine
on television. To attend a school where a professor feels so self
righteous to put these cartoons up might stress a kid out.  She shows no
compassion or remorse.  She condescendingly apologized for my feelings and
never her actions.

I serve about 100 teenage girls in the Twin Cities, where I will be
telling them to boycott Century College.  In addition, I have CC'ed
several Muslim organizations and they may choose to follow.  I believe in
the power of non-violent, grassroots action. I think the power of the
dollar not going to Century College, but going to another community
college where Muslims are actually respected will hopefully make you and
Professor Murdock understand the consequences to your actions.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions;
Farheen Hakeem 612-964-9143


--------16 of 20--------

From: Alberto Monserrate <alberto [at] lcnmedia.com>
Subject: Immigration march

Being that we expected about 3,000 people at the march today I would have
to call the 40,000 turnout a success. This march was put toguether in
little more than a week. I marched right next to a very nice anglo
Minnesotan that seemed like he was in his seventies who had a US Navy cap
in his head. He was very excited about the turnout and he told me that
never in his life he had seen such a large crowd in front of the capitol
in Minnesota. The only thing he said compared with this crowd was when
Senator Hubert Humphrey died.

The crowd was very peaceful and extremely diciplined. US Flags Mexico, and
Si se puede were heard as in other national marches. This is clearly part
of a well coordinated well diciplined national effort that will not stop
until congress passes rational pro-immigration laws. There were constant
calls in Spanish radio for people to clean up after the march.

As in LA, Chicago, Phoenix, Milwaukee and cities all over the country the
Twin Cities had all three Spanish radio stations promoting the march all
week, and transmiting live.

We made 1400 T-shirts that said "I am a worker not a criminal" and they
were gone by noon. The march didn't start until 2:30.

There were many Minneapolis and St Paul public officials at the march.

Over a million people, probably millions will march in the next week all
over the US in support of the immigration bill now stalled in the US
Senate.

Its now up to the two Senates. The Minnesota Senate to block the Pawlenty
anti immigrant proposals, and the US senate to pass the judiciary
committee bill. And to the DFL party to preasure DFL legislators out of
Minneapolis and St Paul and members of congress to support an increase of
legal immigration and stop harassment of undocumented immigrants. let's
legalize them to take another wedge issue away from Pawlenty.

I have to admit this is only my second march in my entire life. It was
the first one for my eleven year old son and my eight year old daughter.
I've always been more confortable with behind the scenes negotiations than
protests and with excel spreadsheets rather than banners. I'm a business
man not an activist. But the current anti-immigrant environment has
changed me and other latino business people to become active and to work
for our community. Time for me to spend less time with excel spreadsheets
and more time organizing.

Now I'll get a good nights sleep.
Alberto Monserrate

---
From: Jon Gorder <jngorder [at] yahoo.com>

Probably the most peaceful sunny march I've ever participated in.  It's
hard to chant (which I hate anyway) when you're surrounded by multitudes
of the cutest kids you could ever hope for. We brought the dog as did many
others and had an automatic kid magnet for the effort.  Great fun, and
great feeling that mass of people striking our chord.
Good to be an American today.

---
From: caty royce <caty [at] citilink.com>

The numbers, the energy, the purpose all incredibly important and strong.
What did our local t.v. media do with it?  Did they for example state that
this may have been the largest crowd to assemble in front of the capitol?
They did have a quick shot of a guy named Alberto Monserrate (if thats you
Alberto, you look MUCH younger than the mental image i've had of you). But
really they gave the march maybe a minute and then went on to a couple
other ciites. It was pitiful in the extreme. Hopefully, it will make the
difference it needs to make or i don't know where we go from here.

---

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20060410/090547351
2.htm&floc=NW_1-T

Thousands Rally for Immigrants Across U.S.
By ANABELLE GARAY

DALLAS (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people banged drums, waved U.S.
flags and marched in a protest Sunday urging federal lawmakers to pass
immigration reform that would legalize an estimated 11 million
undocumented immigrants.

Nationwide protests set for Monday may draw similar crowds of thousands in
what has become a more coordinated effort to pressure Congress over an
immigration bill which was delayed in the Senate last week.

Shouting ``Si Se Puede!'' - Spanish for ``Yes, we can!'' - the marchers
crammed into the downtown streets. They included families pushing
strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American
flags on their carts. Many wore white clothing to symbolize peace.

Police estimated the crowd at 350,000 to 500,000. There were no reports of
violence.

It was among several demonstrations that drew thousands of protesters
Sunday in New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Alabama, Utah, Oregon,
Idaho and California.

``If we don't protest they'll never hear us,'' said Oscar Cruz, 23, a
construction worker who marched among the estimated 50,000 in San Diego.
Cruz, who came illegally to the U.S. in 2003, said he had feared a
crackdown but felt emboldened by the large marches across the country in
recent weeks.

In Birmingham, Ala., demonstrators marched along the same streets where
civil rights activists clashed with police in the 1960s and rallied at a
park where a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. stands as a reminder of the
fight for equal rights and the violence that once plagued the city.

``We've got to get back in touch with the Statue of Liberty,'' said the
Rev. Lawton Higgs, a United Methodist pastor and activist. ``We've got to
get back in touch with the civil rights movement, because that's what this
is about.''

Organizers in St. Paul, Minn., were surprised by the crowd - police
estimated 30,000 - calling for change at a rally at the state Capitol.

The rallies also drew counter-demonstrators.

In Salt Lake City, Jerry Owens, 59, a Navy veteran from Midway wearing a
blue Minuteman T-shirt and camouflage pants, held a yellow ``Don't Tread
on Me'' flag.

``I think it's real sad because these people are really saying it's OK to
be illegal aliens,'' Owens said. ``What Americans are saying is 'Yes, come
here. But come here legally.' And I think that's the big problem.''

``We don't have a leader like Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez, but this
is now a national immigrant rights movement,'' said Joshua Hoyt, director
of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which has
helped organize Chicago-area rallies.

Activists say the Senate's decision last week not to push a bill that
would have given many illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship is
neither a cause for celebration nor a lost opportunity - it's a chance to
regroup.

And that's what they plan to do at demonstrations from Florida to Oregon
that include school walkouts and marches in major cities.

Religious groups nationwide have been coordinating the protests in recent
weeks, along with dozens of unions, schools and civil rights
organizations.

Part of their goal has been to recruit more Asian and Middle Eastern
immigrants. Most protesters have been Hispanics and high school or
university students.

Many groups had been preparing to rally since December, when the House
passed a bill to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border; make
criminals of people who helped undocumented immigrants; and make it a
felony, rather than a civil infraction, to be in the country illegally.

Those mostly local and regional efforts, supported by popular
Spanish-language disc jockeys, quickly converted into national plans after
hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in dozens of cities last
month, culminating March 25 with a 500,000-person rally in Los Angeles.

Different organizers have different agendas, but they do agree on the need
to convert energy from protests into massive voter registration drives.

Voter registration and citizenship education initiatives are set to begin
in several states after a ``Day Without An Immigrant'' campaign planned
for May 1, an event that asks immigrants nationwide to stay home from work
and school, and refrain from buying U.S. products.

``Marches will only get you so far,'' said Armando Navarro, coordinator of
the National Alliance for Human Rights, a network of Hispanic activist
groups in Southern California. ``There has to be an electoral component to
get the Republicans out of the majority.''

On the Net: http://www.april10.org

Associated Press writers Peter Prengaman in Los Angeles; Elliot Spagat in
San Diego; Barry Massey in Santa Fe; Jay Reeves in Birmingham; and Martiga
Lohn in St. Paul contributed to this report.


--------17 of 20--------

Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:29:46 -0500
From: Jesse Mortenson for 64A <jesse [at] jessemortenson.com>
Subject: Green Party Endorsement and the Campaign Ahead

Dear Friends,

Two Saturdays ago, I was endorsed unanimously by the Green Party of St.
Paul. Last Saturday, the DFL endorsed Erin Murphy to fill its ballot line.
Today I held a press conference in the State Office Building to open this
new chapter in the race, and explain why our campaign is so important for
folks living here in 64A.

You can read the speech at:
http://www.jessemortenson.com/speech/direction

Recently our campaign has been featured on national websites Politics1.com
and ThirdPartyWatch.com. We're already out doorknocking (getting great
responses), and we're in the middle of a drive to raise funds to buy our
first ads in the community paper.

If you've been waiting until the campaign season warms up to pitch in some
money, or to join us going door-to-door, I can only say: step outside
today - it's getting warm.

Congratulations are certainly due to Erin - I'm sure it was a challenge.
As I said today, this campaign isn't about finding somebody good to run
against somebody bad. It's an opportunity to ask a question: how can we
best use this office to make the changes we need in order to achieve a
sustainable world? Here are some of the ways our campaign is answering
that question:

Health care:
As an uninsured young entrepreneur, I will fight for universal,
single-payer as my top health care priority. I know we can win an
organizing drive for single-payer spurred by the proposal to make
universal coverage a Minnesota constitutional right.

The environment:
I support the renewable energy standard proposal and other reforms
currently in the legislature. But as a Green Party candidate I am here to
insist alongside environmentalists worldwide that we need a swifter, more
profound shift in policy to avoid deadly consequences. In this race I will
speak frankly about sustainability and environmental justice.

Immigrants' rights:
In addition to supporting comprehensive reform at the federal level, I
will fight to expand the right to vote to noncitizen residents here in
Minnesota. Undocumented immigrants are our neighbors. Their children go to
our schools. To respect their dignity and to make our schools work for
every kid, we need to expand the vote to everyone in our community.

The economy:
As a small business owner and a co-founder of the Metro Independent
Business Alliance, I will carry forward the policy changes we need to
shift the playing field back in favor of our local small businesses, to
keep jobs and money working here in our local economy.

The war in Iraq:
I will remind folks in 64A of the long tradition of the state based
militia that is the Minnesota National Guard, and call for a state
resolution against its continued deployment in Iraq. Our Minnesota Guard
troops signed up to help in the case of domestic emergencies. We need to
respect their commitment to serve, not abuse it, and I believe Minnesota
needs to take responsibility to ensure that respect is paid. Congress will
not act to stop it until we, the ordinary folks back home, make a hell of
a lot of noise to dramatically change the political landscape on the
issue.

Thank you for your continued support. The real campaign has already begun,
and I'll certainly need it in the weeks and months to come.

Sincerely, Jesse
Green Party Candidate for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A
www.jessemortenson.com


--------18 of 20--------

From: Julie Risser <julie.risser [at] visi.com>
Subject: Risser for SD 41 web and blog

Julie Risser who received endorsement from the Third Congressional
District Green Party to run for State Senate District 41 has her website
http://www.voterisser4senate.com/ and blog up
http://blog.voterisser4senate.com/

State Senate District includes Edina and west Bloomington.  Julie's
primary issue is promoting responsible energy policy.  Visit her web and
give her feedback on her resolution: We need to phase out coal and nuclear
dependence.  We need to promote conservation as well as wind and solar
electric generation.


--------19 of 20--------

Paris: Center Of Anti-Corporate Globalization Today
by Raymond Garcia
[A tad doctinaire, but interesting nonethelescs - ed[]

(Swans - April 10, 2006) Youth protest has again shut down the streets of
France, rallying the public to an unjust exercise of social power. Echoes
of 1968, you say? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Yet the facts are clear: two
youth-led general strikes have paralyzed the country, and their protests
on these and other days have drawn the attention of the world (outside the
U.S. for the most part, of course) to the nasty side of corporate
neo-liberal economics, or corporate globalization.

The comparisons to 1968 are not relevant in all honesty, just like the
comparisons of the US War in Iraq to Vietnam are irrelevant. The times and
circumstances are far different, to the point of making comparisons a
waste of time. Sure, youth are protesting in France, like in '68, and the
U.S. is again bogged down in an unwinnable war on the other side of the
world. But the direct comparisons end there. To be clear, the fraud of US
empire has been exposed within a year this time, as opposed to a good four
to six years last time, while the youth of France today fight to prevent
change, as opposed to bringing down a fossilized old order last time. Such
comparisons distract us from the real issues and events at hand.

Villepin's CPE, the new law that would institute a two-year period during
which workers under 26 could be fired for any reason, without cause, is a
blatant attempt to break down French resistance to neo-liberal economics
based on the US model. In other words, significantly weaken the power of
working people and their unions' ability to represent their interests.

The comparison to the US economic model should be obvious: US unions were
broken long ago. Today barely 10% of private sector US workers are
represented by unions. This is far from the case in France. Villepin and
French elites gaze enviously at the tremendous flexibility US capital
interests can exercise in relation to their workers. Want to dump benefit
liability? Want to move a production plant to Mexico or overseas to China?
No Sweat! Unions can't stop the move, and US government deregulation and
corporate tax subsidies grease the skids. There is no accountability for
the general good of society for capital investment in the U.S. today, and
Villepin and Co want in on this free pass for corporate interests. The
CPE is a clear step in that direction. And French youth today will
obviously not have it, not without a fight.

The key word in the previous paragraph is flexibility. This is linchpin of
the lexicon of corporate globalization. To fathom this, one must
understand the transition from Fordism to Flexible Accumulation, or
flexibility, in the mode of capitalism in the U.S. As illustrated in the
political economic work of David Harvey, James O'Connor, Piore and Sable,
et al., Fordism was the dominant paradigm of US capitalism in the
unprecedented economic boom years of the post-WWII era, from 1945 to the
late 1960s to the early 1970s (precise dating is rough in political
economy). Fordism was characterized by a somewhat stable balance of power
between three social sectors: corporations, labor unions, and the
government.

In the wake of the destruction of Europe by two so-called "world wars"
(and Japan by one) and a depression, the U.S. stepped into the "void" of
western world leadership in 1945. The U.S. offered "generous" loans for
the rebuilding of Europe (not including the Soviet Union of course, our
new enemy), contingent on the purchase of US hardware, a stipulation that
remains to this day for US generosity. With such a captive market, US
prosperity exploded.

Corporations, labor unions, and the government all played key roles in
spreading the benefits of this prosperity. Corporations have proved to be
the most effective entities for raising investment capital ever devised:
after all, they ultimately have no real liability in the end, simply
dissolving and reforming under a new guise if need be. They also created
the modern consumer economy, stimulating endless needs people didn't even
know they had, built on the foundation Henry Ford had laid out in 1914:
paying workers enough to buy the products they produced (while surveilling
and disciplining them in panoptic fashion at every step). Though it didn't
catch on until post-WWII, it became the paradigm for US prosperity for 25
to 30 years.

Labor unions played the role of helping to spread the benefits of this
era, especially in terms of establishing worker rights and increasing
worker pay and benefits. They played another key role in the U.S. as well,
keeping a lid on worker radicalism. As anyone knowledgeable of the era
knows, capitalism was in dire straits over the course of the Great
Depression, and working people (always the overwhelming majority) could
well have banded together to overthrow this system that had left them
destitute. Embodying the ghost of Tom Joad, one might say. However, labor
unions were officially recognized and in a sense bought off, as leaders
like the Red-baiting Walter Reuther of the UAW negotiated higher pay and
benefits and purged the union ranks of labor radicals. This would have
significant portents down the road.

The government played the role of mediator between the two, while also
pouring massive investments of taxpayer money into fixed capital
investments, aka infrastructure, making commercial growth inexorable.
Through the G.I. bill, low-interest mortgages, and development of a
national highway system, under the guiding hand of the Highway Lobby,
government investment funded a transformation in the US economy, while
lining the pockets of those "in the know." They also played the role of
absorbing surplus production capacity in the private sector, especially in
terms of the massive investments in military budgets and weaponry. In a
sense, capitalists were insured from the results of their worst faults, as
illustrated by Marx, by playing with house money. With surplus production
underwritten by government budgets, how could they lose?

However, this tripartite configuration only lasted so long, even though it
produced a historically unprecedented period of prosperity for the U.S.
Contradictions developed, as history dictates they always do, especially
in terms of capitalist boom and bust cycles. The cost of fighting the
Vietnam War off budget came home to roost, producing federal budget
deficits that neutralized the government's ability to insulate capital
investments from their own folly. Nixon's decision to float the dollar on
speculation markets and the oil price shocks in the wake of the Yom Kippur
War in the Middle East left the economy nakedly exposed to factors
resulting from US global policies, results that were no longer under US
control.

Social groups denied access to the "American Dream" of Fordism made their
claim in public forums rife with social strife. And labor unions, which
had protected their own at the expense of minorities, women, and future
workers, found themselves effectively neutered, as they had negotiated
almost all control over practical workplace operations for higher wages
and benefits, much less with any remaining radical potential. In short,
Fordism unraveled in the midst of late 1960s and early 1970s
contradictions that became overwhelming (admittedly, the short version).

As Fordism declined, what we now know of as neo-liberal corporate
globalization emerged from its ashes, just as Marx had predicted the seeds
of the new order are always planted in the old. Here the tripartite power
relations morphed into one power: corporate capital globalized. Over the
late 1970s and early 1980s, the US government de-regulated virtually all
economic activity, while submitting to corporate demands for ever-growing
subsidies and tax cuts. Carried out in the name of "re-investing in the
U.S.," de-regulation and tax cuts fomented the global capital flight that
has destroyed the US manufacturing economy. No more accountability to
anything but profits for corporations, and no more involvement for workers
in anything but protecting the shreds of jobs that remained, slipping
further and further away, as it has turned out.

The new order at this point, signified in the early 1980s by Ronald Reagan
and his tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, and his sacking of
PATCO, the union for air traffic controllers (public safety employees, for
fuck's sake!), can now be characterized as the dawning era of flexibility.
Put most succinctly by Mike Davis (paraphrased here), the rules of
capitalism had morphed into maximum central financial control,
implementing flexible producers and sellers, deployed across variable
international landscapes.

These are the rules of corporate globalization put plain. The U.S.
sponsored and enforced race to the bottom, in terms of lowering labor,
supply, and production costs to the absolute bottom. The decimated US
manufacturing economy stands in clear testament to its results, as do the
thousands of abandoned factory sites across the world, forsaken for
cheaper short-term costs elsewhere. Workers are not individuals, citizens
of a community or country; they are simply another cost in the supply
chain driven by corporate needs for ever-growing profits.

Its ironic, but ultimately useless (given US politics) to point out that
the vast majority of global treaties negotiated to enforce flexibility on
global markets came under a Democratic White House -- the Clinton
administration -- effusively supported by the remnants of US labor. The
epitome of this came with the establishment of the WTO as the replacement
for GATT as the primary regulator of global trade in 1995, under Clinton's
guidance. In short, the prime directive of the WTO is to destroy local
autonomy in global trade, also known as local laws and social investment,
clearing the path for corporate global investment anywhere the costs of
profit accumulation may be cheaper.

Now come the French students. In tune with vast global resistance to
corporate globalization developing (see, for example, Bolivians opposed to
privatized water supplies, the rejection of the MAI accords in 1998 that
would have established international corporations as the equal of locals
across the world in terms of investment rights and powers, and the
unprecedented agreement of China, India, and Brazil to reject unfavorable
trade rules, etc.), the French youth are standing up to the U.S.-led race
to the bottom. In the U.S., with a neutered labor movement for now, we
have accepted "at will" employment contracts, which means we can be fired
for no reason, no question, no recourse, a key element of flexibility in
labor markets. The French youth say to this a resounding /NON./

French youth are fighting to protect the remnants of a social contract in
the midst of corporate globalization that has no use for anything but
profits. Here change augurs the world of flexibility that they explicitly
reject. Far from demanding "undeserved benefits," as much of the world's
corporate press would have it, they stand for human rights in the face of
a government all too willing to sell out their future.  And they have
French labor unions on their side, as illustrated by reports from folks
like University of Massachusetts economist Richard Wolff, and William
Pfaff of the /International Herald Tribune./ Here the similarities of 1968
echo: youth and labor together. Yet this is totally different, as the new,
not the old, is the agent of noxious social destruction.

Here in the U.S., media reports have been predictably slanted toward
parody of the issues, as if the empowered French youth are merely
misguided idiots, if it's covered at all. Hilariously, the /Wall Street
Journal/ called this protest "mob rule," a renunciation of Enlightenment
principles, a sign of "a purportedly mature democracy" (3-21-06). Let's
see, citizens empowered to act as democrats in their own interests are
unenlightened and immature. And here in the U.S., we're enlightened and
mature, choosing between two candidates that represent the same corporate
interests in staged dramaturgies every four years.

Corporate globalization is heavily tilted toward the "destructive
creativity" of Joseph Schumpeter's famous equation of capitalism's
"creative destruction." One doesn't have to go far in the U.S. to see
formerly prosperous cities in total ruin. All one has to do is read the
corporate daily news with open eyes. "Gee, ain't it bad" doesn't get it,
never has, never will. French youth today get it. Could it be possible
we'll ever get it here in the U.S.? Whether we do or not, the corporate
globalization pushed by the ownership class in the U.S. and their
political toadies will be collapsing soon. Then what does the future hold?
To cite Marx yet again, the seeds are contained within. Do we water them
or stomp on them like brownshirt fascists? That's the real question.
Perhaps like Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, we
could turn to the French. Of course, we'd have to be enlightened then,
wouldn't we?

    REFERENCES

    Harvey, David, /The Condition of Postmodernity,/ Blackwell, 1990.

    O'Connor, James, /The Fiscal Crisis of the State,/ St. Martin's, 1973.

    Piore, Michael, & Charles Sabel, /The Second Industrial Divide,/
    Basic, 1986.

    Davis, Mike, /City of Quartz,/ Vintage, 1992.

    Wolff, Richard, "France's Student-Worker Alliance," /Monthly Review
    Zine,/ March 31, 2006.

    Pfaff, William, "Capitalism Under Fire," /International Herald
    Tribune,/ March 30, 2006.

    Editorial, /Wall Street Journal/, March 21, 2006.

[There's the courage to fight and move forward in Latin America and
France. What we have in America are vast legions not mad as hell, and
willing to stand for almost anything; and likely to get it, along with the
community they refuse to aid. Deriliction of civic duty, leading to mass
misery - but later, not now, so why do anything? Denial in our time. The
corporations have spent decades and billions of dollars to do this to our
heads and hearts; now they are socking it to us. This is what it's like to
be terminally psyched.  With luck, the rest of the world will save our
butts, since we seem not up to it. -ed]


--------20 of 20--------

Found by Lydia Howell
Poem: "We Bring Democracy To The Fish" by Donald Hall from White Apples
and the Taste of Stone. © Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted with
Permission.

 We Bring Democracy To The Fish

 It is unacceptable that fish prey on each other.
 For their comfort and safety, we will liberate them
 into fishfarms with secure, durable boundaries
 that exclude predators. Our care will provide
 for their liberty, health, happiness, and nutrition.
 Of course all creatures need to feel useful.
 At maturity the fish will discover their purpose


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