Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 04.24.06

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     04.24.06

1. AI Augustana          4.24 7pm

2. Women/pol/bkfst       4.25 7am
3. Better redistricting  4.25 9am
4. Nonprofit/tech/comm   4.25 9am
5. Combat vet support    4.25 9am
6. Tell Cam what's what  4.25 9:30am
7. James Baldwin/film    4.25 1:30pm
8. UFCW/health/WalMart   4.25 4pm
9. AltEconomies/CTV      4.25 5pm
10. PaynePhalen council  4.25 6pm
11. Transportation       4.25 6:30pm
12. Palestine/photos     4.25 6:30pm RedWing MN
13. Palestine/film       4.25 6:30pm
14. Untold stories       4.25 7pm

15. Palestine            4.26 8am
16. Underground economy  4.26 8:30am
17. Nonviolent communicat4.26-28 9:30am
18. IRV/PR Capitol       4.26 12:30pm
19. Vs doctors to war    4.26 5:30pm
20. Battered women       4.26 6pm
21. Anti-torture         4.26 6:30pm
22. 9-11 film            4.26 7pm
23. Human rights/play    4.26 7pm
24. Chain/film           4.26 7:30pm

25. By David Walsh - The insufferable wealth of the ruling class

--------1 of 25--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: AI Augustana 4.24 7pm

Augustana Homes Seniors Group meets on Monday, April 24th, from 7-8pm in
the party room of the 1020 Building, 1020 E 17th Street, Minneapolis. For
more information contact Ardes Johnson at 612/378-1166 or
johns779 [at] tc.umn.edu.


--------2 of 25--------

From: Bonnie [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Women/pol/bkfst 4.25 7am

Tuesday, April 25: Minnesota Women's Political Caucus and Education
Council Winning Women Fundraising Breakfast. 7-8:30am. No cost to attend,
however guests will be invited to consider a contribution. Golden Valley
Country Club, 7001 Golden Valley Road, just west of downtown Minneapolis.
RSVP to 651/228-0995.

Also April 25 is EQUAL PAY DAY 2006, the point into each year when a woman
must work to achieve pay equity with her male counterpart's pay for the 12
months ending last December.  AAUW, BPW, and Pay Equity Coalition of MN have
many resources, events, and ways to connect.   www.aauw.org, www.bpwmn.org,
ptanji [at] aol.com.


--------3 of 25--------

From: Darrell Gerber <darrellgerber [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Better redistricting 4.25

The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance and the University of
Minnesota Law School present:

Restoring Electoral Competition: Research and Remedies for Redistricting

Representative democracy relies on competitive elections to motivate
government officials to respond to the interests and wishes of citizens.

The reality today is that American legislative elections are not
competitive.  More than 9 out of 10 members of the U.S. House of
Representatives are persistently re-elected.  In 2004, only 7 incumbents
were defeated in 2004 and most (4) resulted from the Texas shenanigans.

In 2006, only 3 dozen of the 435 House seats are likely to be competitive.
Although redistricting is not the sole cause of weak competitiveness, it
is a significant factor and one of the few that can be addressed by
reform.

In addition to weakening the ability of voters to hold government
officials accountable, weak competition also contributes to the high and
rising political polarization in America. Because incumbents rarely have
to worry about losing an election or facing a tight race, they are free to
pursue the extreme positions favored by ideological activists and special
interests.  

The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Humphrey
Institute and the Law School at the University of Minnesota are organizing
a conference to generate new analysis of redistricting that contributes to
reform.  The conference brings together leading scholars from political
science, law, and non-academic think tanks with policy makers,
journalists, and others interested in the state of American democracy to
address the seminal issues of today's debate about redistricting.
 Presenters include lawyers involved in the Texas redistricting lawsuit,
Tom Mann from the Brookings Institution, Bob Benenson from Congressional
Quarterly, and leading observers of American politics.

When: Tuesday April 25
9am-5pm
Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs 301 19th
Avenue South Minneapolis, MN  55455

For full program see: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/cspg/apr25.html

Registration and cost: The cost for the conference is $20; $10 for
University students, staff and faculty who wish to attend lunch; and FREE
for University students, staff and faculty without lunch.  To register for
this event please email: cspg [at] hhh.umn.edu with your name, address, and
telephone number by April 21.  Please indicate whether you will be joining
us for lunch.

Registration fees may be paid in advance by check made payable to the
University of Minnesota and sent to: Jennifer Thompson, Coordinator, CSPG,
Room 138 D Humphrey Institute, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
55455.  Registration fees will be accepted at the door in the form of cash
or check.


--------4 of 25--------

From: Stephanie Haddad <shaddad [at] mncn.org>
Subject: Nonprofit/tech/comm 4.25 9am

Please join us on Tuesday, April 25 at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis
for the 2006 Nonprofit Technology and Communications Conference -
HD(c)(3): Sharpening Your Organization's Image and Messaging, sponsored by
the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Greater Twin Cities United Way.
HD(c)(3)'s featured keynote speakers include Marnie Webb, Vice President
of Knowledge Services at San-Francisco based CompuMentor and Minneapolis
Mayor R.T. Rybak.

The HD(c)(3) day-long Nonprofit Technology and Communications Conference
is designed to provide nonprofit staff and volunteers in many roles within
a nonprofit organization with an overview of current and emerging
technology and communications resources and tools as well as specific
hands-on information to help nonprofits create high definition
communications to sharpen their organization's image and messaging.

Here are some sessions that might interest you:
*What Does Your Web site Say about Your Organization?
*Online Messaging: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job
*Digital Youth and Analog Adults
*The Next Generation of Your Nonprofit's Database
*Nonprofit Blogging
*and much more!

To view a detailed conference agenda, including plenary and breakout
sessions, presenters and their biographies, and exhibitors, visit
www.mncn.org/event_technology_breakouts.htm.

Tuesday, April 25
9am-4:30pm

Location: The Depot and the Courtyard by Marriott, Downtown Minneapolis;
225 Third Ave. S. - for directions and/or parking information, visit The
Depot website at www.thedepotminneapolis.com
<http://www.thedepotminneapolis.com/>

Fee: $100 for MCN members/$150 for non-members; United Way agency and
other scholarships available - go to www.mncn.org/event_management.htm for
more information!


--------5 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Combat vet support 4.25 9am

Tuesday, 4/25, 9 am to 4 pm, all day conference with authors of "Down
Range to Iraq and Back," in "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" to train those who
want to support and minister combat veterans and their families, North
Heights Lutheran Church, 1700 W Highway 96, Arden Hills.  register ($20)
at nhlc.org


--------6 of 25--------

From: Cam Gordon <CamGordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Tell Cam what's what 4.25 9:30am

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

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:

Fourth Tuesdays:
Seward / Cooper neighborhoods
Seward Tower East Advantage Center, 2910 E Franklin Ave


--------7 of 25--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: James Baldwin/film 4.25 1:30pm

"JAMES BALDWIN--From Another Place" is an extraordinary documentary made
by SEDAT PADAY, who knew the African-American writer in his Instanbul
years.

Baldwin, a kind of "bridge' between Maritn Luther King Jr. and Malcom X,
was a strong voice of the civil rights movement who was ahead of his time
by being openly gay. His essays remain relevent in the 21st century and
his novels are still moving.

Paday gives talks after the screenings, along with an exhibit of his
Baldwin photographs. Part of MCTC's The Common Ground Project. FREE.

Tue Apr25, 1:30pm Wed. Apr 26 9am, Thur Apr 27 7pm
L3100, Minneapolis Community tecnical College, on Hennepin, downtown
Minneapolis. Hear interview w/Paday and quotes from Baldwin speeches,
Tues. April 25, 11am, on "Catalyst",KFAI Radio 90/1fm/106.7fm www.kfai.org


--------8 of 25--------

From: stpaulunions.org <llwright [at] stpaulunions.org>
Subject: UFCW/health/WalMart 4.25 4pm

UFCW & Change To Win Coalition present:
WAKE UP WAL-MART RALLY
TO CURE THE WAL-MART HEALTH CARE CRISIS

Did you know Wal-Mart costs the State of Minnesota $30.1 million to
subsidize the health care costs of its workers?
Join us as we demand better for Retail Workers and the State of Minnesota!

Where: Regions Hospital (Jackson and 12th Street in Downtown St Paul)
PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN REGION'S PARKING LOT
Tuesday, April 25 at 4pm
For: UFCW Members, Change to Win Partners, Family and Friends

Call Jenny at UFCW Local 789 for more information at 651-451-6240


--------9 of 25--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: AltEconsomie/CTV 4.25 5pm

Fellow St. Paulites w/access to SPNN:

This evening and tomorrow morning, you can begin viewing a new, local,
non-corporately-influenced weekly TV show on the public access channel of
the St. Paul Neighborhood Network.

"Our World In Depth/Our World Today" features analysis of public affairs
with consideration of and participation from Twin Cities area activists.

The regular show times are 5 pm and midnight on Tuesday evenings and 10 am
on Wednesday mornings.

4/25 and 4/26
"Organizing for Economic Alternatives" w/Katie Quarles and Karen Redleaf

5/2 and 5/3
"Medicare Part D" w/Joel Albers and John Schwarz

5/9 and 5/10
"The Truth About Medicare Part D" w/Sue Abderholden and Jane Hanger Seeley

With exception of "The Truth About Medicare Part D", the host of the
program is Eric Angell.  "The Truth About Medicare Part D" is hosted by
Joel Albers.  For information about future programing, please send an
e-mail to eric-angell [at] riseup.net.


--------10 of 25--------

From: Elizabeth Dickinson <eadickinson [at] mindspring.com>
From: "Executive Director" <d5-director [at] visi.com>
Subject: PaynePhalen council 4.25 6pm

The Payne Phalen District Five Planning Council Annual Meeting will be
held on Tuesday, April 25 at 899 Payne Avenue (former Bingo Hall - future
thriving business on Payne Avenue!).

Doors open at 5:30pm and program will open at 6pm with words from Mayor
Chris Coleman. Any resident, age 16 or older, and business owners in
District Five may submit their nomination to run for one of ten open seats
on the District Five Board of Directors. The goals of District Five for
the upcoming year are ambitious. We seek a savvy, diverse board committed
to the well being of our District Five constituencies. District Councils
are volunteer-driven. You show up- you've got power. We seek a range of
community leaders with the varied skills and talents needed to direct the
future growth of this community and to capture and create opportunities
for the public good.

Leslie McMurray Executive Director/Organizer District 5 Planning Council
1014 Payne Avenue Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101 d5-director [at] visi.com Phone:
(651) 774-5234 Fax: (651) 774-9745
www.neighborhoodlink.com/stpaul/payne-phalen
<http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/stpaul/payne-phalen>


--------11 of 25-------

From: Darrell Gerber <darrellgerber [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Transportation 4.25 6:30pm

Help develop Minneapolis' 10-Year Transportation Action Plan at one of
several workshops

The City of Minneapolis is hosting a series of workshops to give the
public an opportunity to share their ideas on how the City can improve its
transportation system. The workshops will provide an overview of the
City's 10-Year Transportation Action Plan, which is under development, and
will provide information on the transportation challenges facing the City.

When completed, the Transportation Action Plan will be a citywide plan
that addresses a full range of transportation options and issues,
including pedestrians, bicycles, transit, automobiles, and freight.  The
10-Year Action Plan will also include a transit and street operations plan
for downtown and new street design guidelines that reflect the
characteristics of the surroundings.

Pre-registration for the workshops is not required. Since the workshops
include presentations on transportation challenges facing the City,
followed by structured dialogue, participants are encouraged to arrive at
the designated meeting start time.

The Workshops are being held:

6:30-8:30pm, Tuesday, April 25, 2006
    Harrison Recreation Center, 503 Irving Avenue N., Minneapolis

6:30-8:30pm, Thursday, April 27, 2006
    Martin Luther King Park Recreation Center, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S.,
Minneapolis

6:30-8:30pm, Tuesday, May 2, 2006
    East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700 2nd Street N.E., Minneapolis


--------12 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine/photos 4.25 6:30pm RedWing MN

Tuesday, 4/25, 6:30 pm, Life in Occupied Palestine, stories and photos from
Anna Baltzer, Red Wing Library, Red Wing.
www.annainthemiddleeast.com/presentations/schedule


--------13 of 25--------

From: hoang74do <jade.dragon [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Palestine/film 4.25 6:30pm

Movies for Justice: Paradise Now
Tuesday 4/25 - 6:30pm @ Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis

"PARADISE NOW" is the Oscar-nominated story of two young Palestinian men
as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives. On a
typical day in the West Bank city of Nablus, where daily life grinds on
amidst crushing poverty and the occasional rocket blast, we meet two
childhood best friends, Saïd (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who
pass time drinking tea, smoking a hookah, and working dead-end menial jobs
as auto mechanics. They have been chosen to carry out a strike in Tel
Aviv. They have been chosen for this mission as a team, because each had
expressed a wish that if either is to die a martyr, the other would want
to die alongside his best friend. Please join us for this
critically-acclaimed film by Palestinian writers and directors,
rescheduled from April 9th (Dier Yassin).

For more info, call us at 612.379.3899
Check out our website at http://www.antiwarcommittee.org


--------14 of 25--------

From: Carol Walsh <bycarolwalsh [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Untold stories 4.25 7pm

EXPLORE WORKING LIFE THROUGH UNTOLD STORIES

Untold Stories returns for the eighth year complete with lectures, tours,
community discussions, performances and more.  Untold Stories is a
national award-winning labor history series sponsored by The Friends of
the Saint Paul Public Library.

The 2006 series kicks off with a presentation on migration history by Marc
Rodriguez, editor of Repositioning North American Migration History, and
author of the forthcoming Migrants and Citizens: Labor and the
Mexican-American Struggle for Civil Rights in Texas and the Midwest, on
Tuesday, April 25 at 7pm, at the Riverview Branch Library, 1 East George
Street, Saint Paul.  Rodriguez is a professor in the history department of
the University of Notre Dame.

Join Biju Mathew for a fast-paced ride through the yellow cab industry of
New York when he presents his book Taxi!: Cabs and Capitalism in New York
City, on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m., at the Merriam Park Branch Library,
1831 Marshall Avenue, Saint Paul.  Taxi! is as much a critical commentary
on globalization, urban renewal, migration and multiculturalism, as it is
a captivating account of the struggles and triumphs of life behind the
wheel.  Mathew is a member of the Organizing Committee of the New York
Taxi Workers Alliance, a professor of business at Rider University, and a
co-founder of the Forum of Indian Leftists.

How do we reclaim the stories of working-class people whose lives seem
lost to history?  How is work woven into the fabric of everyday life?
Senior exhibit developer Benjamin Filene discusses these issues as he
gives the back story behind the creation of the Minnesota History Center's
newest exhibit, "Open House: If These Walls Could Talk," on Saturday, May
6 at 2 p.m., at the Minnesota History Center, 345 West Kellogg Boulevard,
Saint Paul.  In "Open House," visitors explore the lives of the families
that have lived in one ordinary house on Saint Paul's East Side since
1888, where each room is an interactive journey through time.
Pre-registration is required.  Please call The Friends at 651/222-3242 to
register.

Continue the conversation about labor and immigration with a community
panel on Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m., at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center
for Community Building, 179 East Robie Street, Saint Paul.  A group of
community members will give various perspectives on the issues in a panel
discussion.  Panel members include Pakou Hang, a Hmong political activist;
Teresa Ortiz, of the Resource Center of the Americas; Barbara Ronningen,
State Demographer; and Joel Wurl, Associate Director of the Immigration
History Research Center at the University of Minnesota.  The discussion is
moderated by Thomas O'Connell, a professor of political science at
Metropolitan State University, and is cosponsored by Neighborhood House.

Minnesota History Day encourages young people to explore a historical
subject related to an annual theme - this year, "Taking a Stand in
History." The program promotes the study of history by engaging students
and teachers in the excitement of historical inquiry and creative
presentation.  Watch labor history come alive with imaginative exhibits,
original performances and media presentations, as students display their
2006 projects on Thursday, May 18 at 7 p.m., at the Hamline Midway Branch
Library, 1558 West Minnehaha Avenue, Saint Paul.

Join Untold Stories regular Dave Riehle and historian Paul Nelson for a
riding and walking tour of Saint Paul's venerable North End working class
neighborhood, with a special focus on the history of the Crex Carpet
Company and its workers.  The program begins at the Rice Street Branch
Library, 1011 Rice Street, Saint Paul at 2 p.m., on Saturday, May 20.
Long forgotten, the Crex Company once employed 900 workers at its plant on
Front Street, manufacturing carpets and wicker furniture from wire grass.
Nelson's research on the Crex Company is presented in "Created Out of
Nothing," the cover story in the Winter 2006 issue of Ramsey County
History Magazine.  Nelson is also the author of A Life on the Color Line.
This program is cosponsored by the Ramsey County Historical Society and
pre-registration is required.  Call The Friends at 651/222-3242 to reserve
your seat on the bus.

The Untold Stories series concludes with an evening in celebration of
stone workers in Minnesota and around the world on Monday, May 22 at 7
p.m., at the Saint Paul Labor Centre, 411 Mahoney (aka Main) Street, Saint
Paul.  Historian Dave Riehle talks about the decade-long struggle by
Minnesota unions with Cass Gilbert and the Capitol Commission over the
construction of the State Capitol building, and Randy Croce presents "A
Terrible Price for Beauty," a short documentary film on silicosis in the
stone workers of Barre, Vermont.  In addition, representatives from
"Minnesota Rocks!" talk about the international stone carving symposium.
For more information on "Minnesota Rocks!," visit www.minnesotarocks.org.

Untold Stories events are free and open to the public.  For more
information, visit www.thefriends.org or call 651/222-3242.  Untold
Stories is coordinated by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.
Co-sponsors include the Macalester College History Department, the
Department of Social Sciences at Metropolitan State University, Micawber's
Books, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, Neighborhood
House, the Ramsey County Historical Society, Saint Paul Area AFL-CIO
Trades and Labor Assembly, Saint Paul Labor Speakers Club, Twin Cities
Labor History Society, and the University of Minnesota Labor Education
Service.  This series is supported by an endowment created with grants
from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation and The Saint Paul Foundation.

Carol Walsh Merriam Park, St. Paul Untold Stories planning committee


--------15 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine 4.26 8am

Wednesday, 4/26, 8 to 9:30 am (yes, am), Anna Baltzer, Jewish American
volunteer with Int'l Women's Peace Service speaks on "Supporting the
nonviolent resistance movement to the Occupation of Palestine," St
Martin's Table, 2001 Riverside, Mpls.  763-784-5177.


--------16 of 25--------

From: Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council <betsy [at] mplscluc.com>
Subject: Underground economy 4.26 8:30am

Where's the D.O.L.I?
The underground economy is alive and well in Minnesota. Every day
unscrupulous employers across all industries pay workers in cash to avoid
creating a paper trail, and then go on to break federal and state labor
laws.

Join community, faith and labor groups for a day at the Capitol where we
will lobby legislators on the dangerous repercussions of the underground
economy.

Wednesday, April 26
Registration 8:30-9am

Carpenters Hall 700 Olive St, St Paul 55101
For more information, contact Alan Kearney at (651)653-9776.
/sc LIUNA Local 405


--------17 of 25--------

From: Sue Ann <mart1408 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Nonviolent communication 4.26-28 9:30am

NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION
with Sylvia Haskvitz,
18-year Certified NCV Trainer
Deepening your NVC Practice

Come 1, 2 or all 3 days.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
April 26, 27, 28 2006
9:30am-4pm
(see below FOR evening opportunity Thursday, April 27)

Hope Community
611 E. Franklin Ave (Franklin and Portland)
Minneapolis, MN 55404

Registration: Call Good Life Catering voicemail 612-825-1130 ($10 for box
lunch), or email the registration form (below) to minnesotaNVC [at] gmail.com

Donation request: $25-$75 per day, check or cash** (Fees are negotiable
for those who would be prevented from coming for financial reasons.)

Would you like ideas of how to communicate effectively when communication
matters?

So often we focus on strategies to meet our needs and get into power
struggles with people at work and at home. Increase your skills in a
process of communication based on connection; where each person's
needs are valued and heard. Deepen your conscience in Nonviolent
Communication; where speaking and listening come from the heart and giving
comes from a place of joy.  Learn how to get all needs met in a win-win
approach and in cooperation with others rather than at their or our
expense.

 Enhance already rich relationships
 Speak from your heart without blame, shame, criticism
 Hear others' messages with compassion and acceptance
 Heal painful issues
 Speak and listen in ways people feel more joy in responding to you

Daily Schedule
9:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-12:00 NVC
12:00-12:45 Lunch
12:45-2:15 NVC
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30-4:00 NVC

Registration for HOPE Community program only: Call Good Life Catering
voicemail 612-825-1130, or email the registration form to
minnesotaNVC [at] gmail.com

Name
Address
Phone
Email
Dates Attending
 Wednesday    Thursday  Friday
Donation Amount
Lunch/snack Option
  Please provide, I'll pay $10  No thanks, I'm brown bagging

**Donation request: $25-$75 per day, check or cash


--------18 of 25--------

From: Ken Pentel <kenpentel [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: IRV/PR Capitol 4.26 12:30pm

We now have a date set for the informational hearing on HF 3909-Which
allows Local Statutory Cities to pick their own election systems. (I.e.
IRV and PR)

Please notify others about the hearing. Ask your legislators to turnout to
learn more, contact supportive City Council Members and Mayors to show
support for local control in City election systems.

Wednesday April 26th
12:30pm in the
Basement of the State Office Building

The work that the Green Party, and the campaigning of GP Candidates has
helped transform the thinking/policy, not only on a local level but now it
is emerging at the State, and soon at the National level. The persistence
and patience is paying-off.

The need for a multi-party democracy is more pressing than ever.
Please call me if you have any questions.

Looking for democracy, Ken Pentel (612) 387-0601

P.S. The time is subject to change based upon the House floor session that
day. I anticipate they will convene at noon, then break quickly. The info.
Hearing will convene a ½ past the end of the floor session. You can go to
the House website (http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ ) to track the day
events or call : (651) 296-2146, (800) 657-3550


--------19 of 25--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Vs doctors to war 4.26 5:30pm

No More Wounded! No More War!
April 26 and 27, 5:30-7pm. 233 Park Avenue (Park and Washington Avenues),
Minneapolis.

Join WAMM members for informational bannering and leafletting on the
sidewalk outside the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Minneapolis, while
U.S. Air Force recruiters hold meetings inside to enlist civilian doctors
into the Air Force Medical Corps. FFI:  Call WAMM at 612-827-5364 or Lucia
at 612-871-4823.


--------20 of 25--------

From: Bonnie [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Battered women 4.26 6pm

Wednesday, April 26:  MN Coalition for Battered Women and Prevent Child
Abuse MN Benefit: An Evening with Victor Rivers, spokesperson for the
National Network to End Domestic Violence. 6-10 PM.  Live Auction at 7:45
PM. Embassy Suites Airport Hotel, Bloomington.  Tickets: $60 and up.
Reservations: 651/523-0099.


--------21 of 25--------

From: Dave Bicking  <dave [at] colorstudy.com>
Subject: Anti-torture 4.26 6:30pm

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.


--------22 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: 9-11 film 4.26 7pm

Wednesday, 4/26, 7 pm, free film about 9/11 inconsistancies), May Day
Books, 301 Cedar Ave, West Bank of U of M, Mpls.  651-633-4410.


--------23 of 25--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Human rights/play 4.26 7pm

April 26 - Human Rights at Home: Ending Violence Against Refugee and
Immigrant Women (performance by Pangea World Theater).  7-9pm.  Cost: Free
and open to the public.

In December 2004, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights released a
ground-breaking human rights report examining the government response to
domestic violence against refugee and immigrant women in the
Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area.  This report has received
considerable local and national attention for its comprehensive analysis
of the problems women face accessing services as well as its
recommendations framed within international human rights legal
obligations. Pangea World Theater has recently brought the report to life
by personifying the challenges battered immigrant and refugee women face
on a daily basis.

The Aurora Center is honored to host Pangea World Theater s performance of
Journey to Safety.  Following this moving performance, staff members from
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights will discuss the ramifications of
domestic violence as well as the importance implementing human rights
locally. University of Minnesota students will also speak about their
personal roles as human rights activists.

For more information on Pangea World Theater:
http://www.pangeaworldtheater.org. For more information on Minnesota
Advocates for Human Rights: http://www.mnadvocates.org. Co-Sponsored by
TCF and the Office for University Women

Location: Coffman Memorial Union Theatre, University of Minnesota, Mpls MN 55455


--------24 of 25--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Chain/film 4.26 7:30pm

Wed April 26: Film "CHAIN" @ Walker Art, Minneapolis

Art's most amazing power takes what we don't notice - even as it surrounds
us - and stun us into recognition.

Installation artist Jem Cohen's debut feature film "CHAIN" explores the
invasion of shopping malls, parking lots and chain stores invading
everywhere, as a result of corporate globalization.

Cohen expands on his 2002 Walker Art installation "Chain x Three" creating
a narrative mixing documentary and fiction, Two women - an affluent
Japanese businesswoman, Tamiko (Miho Nikaido, of "Flirt") and Amanda who's
a homeless squatter (the band White Magic's Mira Billotte, in her film
debut) - embody the zero-sum econmics that worships dealmaking while
downsizing workers and bulldozing neighborhoods and landscape.

This is cinema that disturbs and provokes. $8 ($6 Walker members)  Wed
April 26, 7:30pm (Thur Apr 27, 7:30pm Jem Cohen talks with
musician-collaborator Vic Chesnutt whose songs have influened his work.
Free/ticket required) Walker Art Ctr. 1750 Hennepin Ave.(next to Scupture
Garden), Minneapolis (612)375-7600 www.walkerart.org (Lydia Howell)


--------25 of 25--------

Comment from Lydia Howell: It is not those desperate Mexican people
risking their lives to cross the border for a minimum wage job (as opposed
to $4.50 a day in Mexico), who Americans should see as The Enemy.  It is
the people described below: The Very Rich in America, who plunder at home
and around the world; and if a leader of another country gets in the way
of that plunder & can not be 'bought off", then, they employ the U.S.
military to 'take care of it". People need to look up, at the powerful,
for the source of their problems - not fall for the same old garbage which
says to scapegoat those at the bottom. -LH

THE VERY RICH IN AMERICA: "THE KIND OF MONEY YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND"
By David Walsh
wsws.org
April 19, 2006

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/apr2006/rich-a19.shtml

"Let me tell you about the very rich," F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote
in a 1926 story, "They are different from you and me." But even Fitzgerald
could not have imagined how different "from you and me" the very rich
would become in America eight decades later.

The sums that the very wealthy have at their disposal in the US are almost
unimaginable: Oil executive Lee Raymond receiving some $400 million in a
retirement package; the 2005 compensation of bank chairman Richard
Fairbank totaling some $280 million; Omid Korestani, head of Google's
global sales, exercising stock options providing him with $288 million
last year.

The accumulation is brazen. What once would have been considered a
somewhat discreditable fact of social life, the proliferation of
billionaires, is now hailed as a sign of America's success. The demise of
the Soviet Union and the supposed absence of any alternative to
capitalism, the putrefaction of the AFL-CIO trade unions, the ignominious
collapse of American liberalism and the lack to this point of broad-based,
organized political opposition to the ruling elite and its two parties
have rendered the American financial aristocracy "dizzy with success."
These people have lost their heads.

In the face of public outrage over oil company profits and soaring
gasoline prices, Exxon arrogantly defended Raymond's hundreds of millions,
arguing that they were rewarding the executive's "outstanding leadership
of the business, continued strengthening of our worldwide competitive
position, and continuing progress toward achieving long-range strategic
goals." The company added that it considered Raymond's compensation
package "appropriately positioned."

In a study published in October 2005, three accounting professors reported
that negative, even occasionally scathing press coverage, "does not
substantively change corporate behaviour with regard to pay packages." The
American establishment is all but impervious to the sentiments of the
broad masses of the population. In response to a recent report detailing
the immense and growing social gap, a spokesman for New York state's
Business Council told a reporter that the incomes earned by his state's
rich were "something that everybody who cares about New York should be
pleased about."

An insulated world of immense wealth exists as never before, at least in
modern US history. The number of Americans with assets of $1 million or
more reached 7.5 million in 2004, according to a survey conducted by the
Spectrem Group. Beyond that, however, are those who possess "Ultra High
Net Worth"  (a mellifluous term invented by Merrill Lynch circa 2001):
individuals in households with $5 million or more in net worth. In a
country of 300 million people, the UHNW form a very small percentage of
the population, but a not insignificant number in absolute terms.
Economic, political and cultural life in America is to an enormous extent
organized for their benefit.

This is not simply obscene or unjust, it is socially irrational and
immensely destructive. How is it possible to allocate resources, repair
and renew the infrastructure, carry out any type of long-term economic
planning, cure any social ills, when the official guiding principle is the
ability of an oligarchic elite to accumulate ever-greater personal wealth?
The gravitational pull of such wealth asserts itself in every aspect of
life.

The New York Times reported last year on a relatively new phenomenon,
magazines oriented entirely toward the very wealthy. Absolute Publishing,
the Times noted, had just started up a publication called Absolute, "for
distribution to New Yorkers with an estimated annual household income of
at least $500,000."

The editor of Absolute, Ernest J, Renzulli, is aiming for an audience of
only 60,000 New York residents. He found his target readership "by
winnowing databases of the most affluent New York ZIP codes with people
who have bought houses for more than $2 million and people who have
registered cars, boats or planes that cost more than $75,000."

"It's a small number," the Times quoted Mr. Renzulli as saying.  "But this
is not a magazine that's about mass reach. It's about reaching the tip of
the pyramid."

The Times take note of Michael Silverstein, an executive with the Boston
Consulting Group and co-author of Trading Up: The New American Luxury.
Silverstein estimates that by 2010 Americans will spend $1 trillion on
luxury goods. The Times continues: "In an ever more fragmented mediaworld,
the rich are becoming their own niche. They may be diverse connoisseurs of
fashion, yachting or jewelry, but they share one important trait: a
seemingly bottomless supply of disposable income."

It must indeed be a predicament to be saddled with tens of millions or
hundreds of millions of dollars, or more -- how is one to spend such sums?
Those "awash in cash" (the Times' phrase) must rack their brains and
devote hours to the problem. How could one ever rest? Would not a person
require a certain degree of inventiveness to come up with ways of spending
such a fortune?

Judging by the results in published reports -- no, not particularly. By
and large, the fabulously wealthy have derived their fortunes from
inheritance, the stock market, the real estate bubble, fortunate
investments in technology or, perhaps, American militarism: in short, from
semi-automatic economic and social processes associated with the lowering
of living standards for millions in the US and the super-exploitation of
masses of people in impoverished countries in other parts of the world.
They are not startling or outstanding in any fashion, except perhaps in
the depth of their greed and shortsightedness.

So we learn that Microsoft's Paul Allen owns a $250-million, 414-foot
"gigayacht," with seven decks, two helicopter landing pads, a
swimmingpool, a basketball court, an infirmary, a garage for Land Rovers,
a movie theater, a concert space for 260 and a recording studio. Not to be
outdone, Larry Ellison of software giant Oracle had his giant yacht built
452 feet long. Ellison's vessel has five stories, 82 rooms, "a wine cellar
the size ofmost beach bungalows, a dozen yacht-length tenders, and a
generator capable of providing enough electricity for a small town in
Idaho or Maine... Final cost: $377 million." (Associated Press)

The wealthy elite are also purchasing their own widebody airplanes,
reports Business Week -- Airbus A340s and Boeing 777s, which list for over
$100 million -- as "airborne penthouses." Customized outfitting may add
$25 to $30 million to the cost.

The "supercar" business is also thriving. Ocean Drive, one of the new
magazines aimed at the affluent, carries a piece on Michael Fux, whose
Sleep Innovations manufactures Memory Foam products. Fux has collected
some 50 luxury cars. He recently took possession of a $2 million Ferrari
FXX, one of only 20 in the world.

USA Today, in a piece describing the new "super-rich supercar fanatics"
who collect Ferraris and Maseratis and Bugattis, cites the comments of one
auto broker in southern California, "There's a whole new breed of
collector that has emerged in the last three-four years. Almost all make
the kind of money you cannot comprehend."

Yet great unease persists in these circles. A yacht broker told Associated
Press that "a sea change in attitude among America's superrich" has taken
place in the wake of September 11. "Clients are telling me, 'Hey, I could
have been in the Twin Towers. That could have been me jumping out a
window.' The thinking among wealthy people now is, you can die anytime.
Nobody can protect you. So you might as well spend your money now and
enjoy it."

Likewise, in its analysis of the trends driving the purchase of jumbo jets
by wealthy individuals, Business Week notes: "Because of increased concern
over security, especially post-September 11, some business people now use
their aircraft as a base of operations on overseas business trips. Rather
than going to a hotel or office after landing, they just stay onboard... "

The term "conspicuous consumption," coined by Thorstein Veblen in
TheTheory of the Leisure Class (1899), hardly does justice to the current
situation. There is a considerable element of recklessness, even
desperation, in the obsessive spending. Throwing money to the wind hardly
speaks to a sense of historic optimism or confidence among the elite in
its own future or the general health of the American social order.

At the height of US global economic hegemony, in the 1950s, corporate
directors were expected to lead rather sedate lives, modestly tending to
the nation's economy. Of course they lined their pockets, but they were
not expected to live like pharaohs.

In 1957, Fortune magazine reported that some 250 or so individuals in the
US were worth $50 million or more. The wealthiest of them, oil tycoon J.
Paul Getty, stood all alone in the $700 million to $1 billion category.
The equivalent of $50 million today -- some $350 million -- would not
place an individual anywhere near the richest 400 people in the US,
according to Forbes's 2005 list (which begins at $900 million). Getty
would find himself somewhere between 31st and 42nd on the list.

The roll call of the wealthiest Americans a half-century ago included
famous names -- Rockefeller, Harriman, Mellon, duPont, Astor, Whitney and
Ford, along with a quartet associated with General Motors, Alfred P. Sloan
Jr., Charles F. Kettering, John L. Pratt and Charles S. Mott. These were
all ruthless capitalists, but their fortunes were based, directly or
indirectly, on the growth of the productive forces.

Today, the list of the super-rich reveals an extraordinary growth of
parasitism. One indication is Forbes' listing of the "400,"  which
includes an extraordinary number of people whose wealth, according to the
publication, is derived from "Investments," "Hedge Funds," "Leveraged
buyouts," "Real estate," "Fashion," etc. The "captains of industry"  of
old are few and far between.

A perusal of publications such as Ocean Drive, or Gotham, or Los Angeles
Confidential sheds some light on the current tastes and opinions of these
very rich.

Real estate expert Steven Gaines told Gotham in a recent interview, "where
you choose to live [in New York City] defines you more than in any other
city. There's a right side and a wrong side of the tracks in every city;
but in New York, what floor you live on, which direction your apartment
faces, whether you move one block in either direction, says a tremendous
amount about who you are and your personal sense of adventure."

Asked about co-op boards rejecting celebrities, Gaines replied, "I haven't
heard of any juicy rejections lately. Celebrity rejections are very 90s;
they don't really happen anymore. People are very impressed by money;
that's all it takes now. Also -- and this is the most important thing --
they're not building any more [co-ops]. We don't need any more because
people don't really care who their neighbors are. [Most people] figure
that if a guy can afford a $12 million apartment in the Time Warner
building, he's cool enough to live next door."

This theme -- money is absolutely everything -- recurs again and again in
studies of the contemporary American elite.

The Times reporter, Katharine Q. Seelye, in her piece on magazines for the
affluent, described the publications in these words: "Most of the
magazines rely on a similar formula: extravagantly lush photography on
heavy paper stock, flattering feature articles on prominent local
personalities and snapshots of those personalities hobnobbing with each
other... The magazines also make it easy for readers to buy what they see
on the page, whether it appears in an advertisement or an article -- and
it is often difficult to tell the difference, as the magazines have
elevated commercial product placement to an art form."

The magazines appear at first glance to be nothing but expensive
advertisements for clothes, watches, condos and automobiles -- hundreds of
pages of them (Los Angeles Confidential runs to 350 pages, Ocean Drive an
astonishing 530!). The table of contents, gossip columns and articles,
such as they are, do little to distinguish themselves. They humbly give
way to the full-color photos of handbags and bracelets and motorcars.

Such a magazine is merely a scaffolding for the marketing of highly
expensive products. It is a relatively convenient means of making known to
a specific clientele what is available for them to purchase this month.
And this is not something that those involved would be ashamed to admit.
No, we have moved far beyond that.

Gotham appears to specialize in real estate gossip, appropriate in
Manhattan, which has been ruined by the Trumps and their ilk. Tales of
apartment and co-op buying and selling are recounted with relish, with the
sort of sensual zest that others might take in relating stories of sexual
improprieties. In a recent issue, one piece excitedly recounts that "the
penthouse apartment of the late philanthropist Enid Haupt has sold at
least three times. The nine-room duplex at 740 Park Avenue, with two
principal bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths, has an accepted offer for
it's asking price of $27.5 million, with two backup bids - in case the
famously persnickety co-op board decides to reject the winning bidder."

In another column, we learn that "Out in the Hamptons [on Long Island],
entrepreneur Linda Wachner is listing her seaside estate [a summer house]
for a sky-high $62.5 million, the highest price ever asked for a
Southampton Village home. The ocean- and bay-front Southampton estate on
Meadow Lane features a 16-room, two-story shingled traditional mansion
measuring nearly 10,000 square feet with 10 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms,
several public rooms, a wine cellar, and staff quarters. The property
includes several hundred feet of beachfront, a rose garden, a putting
green, a pool with spa, and a tennis court with a pavilion. 'I think it's
an exciting property,' Wachnertold the New York Post. 'We've had a lot of
fun here.'"

Unique Homes reports that the Stanhope, on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, is
currently being renovated into 26 luxury residences. "The space is divided
into half-floor residences of approximately 4,000 square feet (starting at
$10 million) and full-floor residences measuring 8,000-plus square feet
($30.5 million and up)." The old Plaza Hotel is also being transformed by
a developer into private residences, 182 of them. The one- to five-bedroom
units will be priced between $2.5 million and $33 million-plus.

The wealthy pockets of south Florida are targeted in Ocean Drive. The size
of a small telephone book, the magazine seems desperate to please and
impress. It takes the most ridiculously self-serious attitude toward
trivial people and circumstances. Page after page of attractive but glum
models dominate the publication, a cornucopia of expensive consumerism.

Stiff competition between real estate projects is very much in evidence
here. Three operations, Donald Trump's "Trump Hollywood"  (i.e.,
Hollywood, Florida), St. Regis Resort & Residences, Bal Harbour and Icon
Brickell, with "breathtaking views of Biscayne Bay," have included their
own elaborate, pull-out brochures in the magazine.

The St. Regis is especially noteworthy for its quite conscious effort to
evoke an imaginary aristocratic past. It employs butlers. Here is the
advertisement for that service, a disgusting passage over which some
wretched soul expended a great deal of effort:

"The St. Regis Butlers are adept at executing your requests while
anticipating your every need with consummate style. Every preference is
committed to memory. Dinner for two on the beach at seven-thirty? Shirt
collars heavily starched? A car to retrieve your business partner from the
airport tomorrow morning? It's a pleasure. Your St. Regis Butler, always
on call, is your household manager, your link to St. Regis services and
your master of conveniences. All embrace the authority to go to any
lengths to ensure you the utmost in comfort, down to the most particular
request." A butler...or an indentured servant, a serf, a slave?

One could go on, but the outlines are clear. A type of aristocracy rules
America, which has more than one feature in common with the ancien regime
that presided over pre-revolutionary France. This vast accumulation of
wealth at one pole of society is incompatible, in the long run, with even
the trappings of democracy. The super-rich own everything in the US,
including the political parties and the political process. They allow the
population to vote at this point, more or less. But for how long? As
resistance to the policies of the elite mounts and the two-party monopoly
threatens to crumble, why should the riffraff be permitted a say in such
important affairs as elections?


[Comment from your editor: Which is why we have to fight these oligarchs
now, not 5 or 10 years from now.

Supporting lesser-evil Democrats, and savaging progressives/Greens, has
not worked. Supporting Gore and Kerry has not worked. Supporting Hillary
will not work. Sending the standard roster of spineless compromised
Democrats back to Congress and the Legislature hasn't worked, and won't
work.  Getting all our news from Fox and Lehrer etc won't tell us what we
need to know. The bourgeois values of hunkering down and shutting up never
worked, and they only aid and abet evil in these evil days.

We should be thinking General Strike - close everything down until we
restore democracy. We should be thinking much more open in-your-face
politics, restoring good old words/concepts like class, socialism,
community, general welfare, the good of all, from each according to his
ability and to each according to his needs.

We should identify all the vicious anti-human anti-democratic
thought-cancers the ruling class has stuffed our minds with in
school/media/campaigns etc, and root them out, every last one - they're
there only because they are good for the rich and bad for us. Time to ask
and act on what is good for us, and quickly, before it is too late.

Time to tell ourselves and everyone else what we think of the parasite
rich living off the misery of the millions and the destruction of the
world's ecology. Fortunes that large are mortal cancers we can no longer
tolerate; large percentages of those fortunes must be siezed/taxed and put
to social use for all. Fortunes that large corrode all laws, courts,
governments, democracies, environments. Leave them in existence, and
forget a decent future for our descendents, and perhaps even us.

For 5000 years of civilization, the rich have been the main cause of war
and poverty, the main hinderance to the flowering of humanity. Before now,
there were always preserves they could not reach, so we could see a future
for humanity, even if not for us. No longer. The rich now can go
everywhere, invade every private aspect of our beings, every country and
geographical nook and cranny - they are now inescapable; there is no
private place we can retreat to. This is it. -ed]


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   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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