Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 07.17.06

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     07.17.06

1. SinglePayer/Ellison 7.17 6pm

2. Green Party files   7.18 12noon
3. LooseChange/salon   7.18 6:30pm

4. Evict Pawlenty      7.19 11:30am
5. Rainbow families    7.19 12noon
6. Organic food/farm   7.19 6pm
7. Had enough?         7.19 6:30pm
8. Disabled/film       7.19 7pm
9. NV World/flute      7.19 7pm
10. Dept of peace      7.19 7pm
11. Mexican elections  7.19 7pm
12. Impeach prez/film 7.19 7:30pm

13. Ballot Mpls         - Don't gut IRV - call your council member!
14. Manuel Roig-Franzia - Lopez Obrador urges civil resistance

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Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 23:06:48 -0500 (CDT)
From: faith [at] plethora.net
Subject: SinglePayer/Ellison 7.17 6pm

[I hear Ellison is a vocal supporter of single payer health care. -ed]

Please join Keith Ellison, DFL and labor endorsed candidate, at the first
of his town hall listening tour meetings in the 5th district concerning
"Why we need Universal Healthcare."

This 1st meeting will be on the topic of: Our quickly eroding competitive
edge in the world Why is the United States still using its 20th Century
healthcare system in a 21st Century economy?

Monday July 17
6-7pm
Northeast Library at 2200 Central Ave NE
Prepared and paid for by Ellison for Congress Committee


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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:49:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ken Pentel <kenpentel [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Green Party files 7.18 12noon

Dear Supporters of the the Ken Pentel Campaign for Governor,

We did it! We collected well over 3,000 signatures to get on the ballot.
We had close to 200 petitioners all over the state exercising democracy.
It was a celebration, and just a taste of what we're capable of. The
possibilities are boundless.

JOIN US TO FILE FOR OFFICE.
You are all invited to join us when all the Green Party of MN statewide
candidates file for office at the Secretary of States office. We will be
filing :

Tuesday, July 18
Noon (Come a little early)
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
State Office Building, 1st floor Secretary of State
Election office.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1298
651-296-9283

Facing the State Capital from the Mall-The State Office Building is the
tall building to the west of, or next-to, the State Capital.  Cheapest
parking are the meters along Aurora, bordering Sears Automotive. Or, #16
and 94b buses are an option.

Ken Pentel for Governor P.O. Box 583091 Minneapolis, MN 55458-3091
612-387-0601 kenpentel [at] yahoo.com www.kenpentel.org


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Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 18:05:43 -0500
From: Patty Guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: LooseChange/salon 7.18 6:30pm

Tuesday's salon will be the showing of the documentary, Loose Change,
relating some of the hundred's of unanswered questions about 9-11. Scenes
derived from news footage, scientific fact and Americans who suffered
through that tragic event. patty

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.


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

From: Welfare Rights Committee - Alt Email <welfarerights [at] qwest.net>
Subject: Evict Pawlenty 7.19 11:30am

Join the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition as we tell Pawlenty to get out!

Wednesday, July 19
11:30am
Governor's mansion,
1006 Summit Ave, St. Paul (between Lexington and Dale).

Minnesota's Poor Can't TAKE Four More!

In the past four years since Pawlenty took office, poor and working people
have seen the greatest attacks on our basic needs in the history of
Minnesota.  Over 40,000 have been cut off health care & nearly 20,000 poor
families saw a drastic cut in our welfare grant.  Pawlenty attacks poor
children, immigrants, elderly and people with disabilities! Our roads,
schools and cities are falling apart! Pawlenty has given big tax breaks to
the richest, while he is destroying Minnesota for the rest of us! It's
time for Pawlenty to leave!

Join us we serve Pawlenty with an EVICTION NOTCE!

END OF SESSION UPDATE:

The Welfare Rights Committee fought hard at the Capitol this year to undo
the cuts and get back the poor people's money that was stolen from us over
the past few years.

For the first time in 20 years, politicians talked about increasing the
monthly welfare grant because of the Welfare Rights Committee.  In our
"Fund Children's Needs, Not Rich People's Greed" Bill, we demanded that
poor family's welfare grants get a 10% raise!

We had some major VICTORIES in CHILDCARE, including:

Starting July 1st, 2006, more families will be able to get off the waiting
list and into childcare!  Over $10 million dollars was passed to get
families into sliding fee childcare over the next 3 years.

-- Childcare providers will start to get better reimbursement rates,
meaning we will have an easier time finding childcare and they won't be
passing the cost onto us!

We fought to get the co-pays for childcare reduced (this passed the Senate
in our bill) and the Republicans REFUSED to decrease them, so we will have
to fight on this again next year.

WRC STOPPED politicians who were trying to STEAL $23 million from the
welfare money.  They wanted to take poor people's money and spend it on
other things.  Now we have that money to use for our fight next year.

Poor Families Tell Minnesota Politicians:  TAX the RICH!

Poor families were a constant presence at the capitol. If we were not at
the capitol, it would just be the rich talking to the rich. We forced them
to deal with real people! Even on the very last day we were there with
signs saying "Our Kids Can't Eat Baseballs!" to speak out against stadiums
for millionaires.

To undo the cuts, we have to change MN laws.  The first step to change the
law is to have a bill.  WRC had a bill called the "Fund Children's Needs,
Not Rich People's Greed" Bill.  Our Bill passed through all the Senate
committees and stayed strong until the very end of the session.  Our bill
takes money from the Rich and gives it back to the Poor.  It closes tax
loopholes for rich sham corporations and uses the money to undo welfare,
health care and child care cuts.

We will keep fighting to undo these cuts NOW, next year & EVERY year until
we get JUSTICE!

This is what our bill demanded:

--Undo the $125 MFIP SSI penalty

--Undo the $50 MFIP housing cut The $125 SSI penalty and the $50 cut are
the biggest welfare cuts in MN history! These cuts steal millions of
dollars a year from the poor!

--Undo MA co-pays Many people are not getting medical care because of the
co-pays.

--Undo ALL the childcare cuts. We won some victories on childcare this
year!

--Stop attacks on immigrants Republicans are using a "divide and conquer"
tactic with their racist immigrant bashing. We pushed to get MORE rights
for immigrants - it was a winning strategy to STOP Pawlenty's attacks.

--Raise the grants Welfare grants have not had a cost of living increase
since 1986 - that's 20 years!

Welfare Rights Committee 310 E 38th St #207, Mpls MN 55409 Pho:
612-822-8020 Fax: 612-824-3604 Primary email: welfarerightsmn [at] yahoo.com
Secondary email: welfarerights [at] qwest.net www.welfarerightsmn.org


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From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Rainbow families 7.19 12noon

CONSORTIUM EVENTS
Our Brown Bag lunches have moved from Noon-1 PM, and changed from Mondays to
Wednesdays. Please stop by the Women's Building at 550 Rice Street, St.
Paul, for great information, conversation and yummy snacks- always free of
charge.

Wednesday, July 19: The Consortium hosts a Brown Bag presentation by Rainbow
Families. Noon-1 PM at the Minnesota Women's Building, 550 Rice Street.
Brown Bag attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunches and/or enjoy
snacks provided. No RSVPs needed, but for more information call Bharti Wahi,
651/228-0338.

RSVP soon: Wednesday, July 19, 6-8PM Minnesota Women's Consortium Annual
Meeting is open to all and will feature supper, keynote presentation from
TVbyGIRLS, networking with representatives from dozens of statewide women's
organizations, publication of the Member Group Directory for 2006, cool new
tote bags, and more. Sorin Hall, Englewood Avenue, Hamline University, St.
Paul. Cost is $15 for member group delegates, $25 all others. RSVP to
651/228-0338 or info [at] mnwomen.org.


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From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Organic food/farm 7.19 6pm

Wednesday, July 19: Women's Environmental Institute Organic Farm School
presents "Myth or Fact: What is the Real Nutritional Value of Organic Food?"
with Deborah Garrido, 6 PM - 8 PM at Amazon Book Store. For more info,
www.w-e-i.org.


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From: Merideth Cleary <meriberry15 [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Had enough? 7.19 6:30pm

Round Table Discussion
Had Enough?

Attend a local community gathering where people can voice their concerns
about the issues and the direction of the state and how we can start to
bring change in 2006.

*America Votes is a coalition representing almost 1 million Minnesotans
statewide.*

Wednesday, July 19
6:30pm
Neighborhood House 179 East Robie St Saint Paul, MN 55107

FMI contact Merideth at Merideth [at] americavotes.org or 612-702-8542


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From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Disabled/film 7.19 7pm

Cinema & Civics
All events are located in Stevens Square Park and are free and open to
the public. Programs begin at 7 PM, films at dusk. Stevens Square Park
is located at 1801 Stevens Ave in Minneapolis. Call 612-879-0200 or
visit www.stevensarts.org for more information.

July 19, 2006
Music, Madness, and Mayhem: An evening of work by artists with
disabilities Partner organization Interact Art presents film and live
performances with members of disabled community, and music by local band
Bad Accident. Film: WHEN BILLY BROKE HIS HEAD...AND OTHER TALES OF WONDER
by directors Bill Golfus & David E Simpson

An irreverent road movie in the form of an hour-long documentary about
disability, civil rights and the search for intelligent life after brain
damage. The first "no apologies" look at the true and unfiltered
experiences of America's disabled by those who live it. Preceded by 3
short films from Interact Art's Winged collaboration program and trailer
of upcoming documentary featuring Interact Art.


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From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: NV World/flute 7.19 7pm

Wednesday, 7/19, 7 pm, internationally known flautist Wissam Boustany offers
benefit for Friends for a Nonviolent World, Sundin Hall, Hamline Univ, St
Paul.  Tickets $10 advance, $12 at door.  612-866-9482..


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Dept of peace 7.19 7pm

Wednesday, 7/19, 7 pm, Department of Peace House Party, to learn more about
the D.O.P. and talk about participation in Cornstalk, conference call at 8
with Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Cindy Sheehan, bring a suit for swimming, 31
Birchwood Lane, Birchwood, MN.  maryjanelavigne [at] comcast.net


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Mexican elections 7.19 7pm

Wednesday, 7/19, 7 pm, community dialogue on Mexican elections, Resource
Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave, Mpls.  mturck [at] americas.org


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Impeach prez/film 7.19 7:30pm

Wednesday, 7/19, 7:30 pm, film "How to Impeach a President," $10 requested
(reservations needed), Lehmann Center, 1006 W Lake St, Mpls.
www.articlesofimpeachment.net


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

Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:42:56 -0500
From: Darrell Gerber <darrellgerber [at] earthlink.net>
From: Better Ballot Campaign Minneapolis
Subject: Don't gut IRV - call your council member!

Better Ballot Campaign Action Alert - July 17, 2006

OPPONENTS THREATEN TO CARVE UP IRV AMENDMENT
CALL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER: "KEEP IRV AMENDMENT WHOLE"

Opponents of the Instant Runoff Voting charter amendment are making a
last-ditch effort to sabotage it by trying to exclude independent boards
from the amendment. The entire city council will meet as the Elections
Committee following Friday's council meeting to consider the request.

CALL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER. DON'T GUT THE AMENDMENT.

Even if your council member has supported Instant Runoff Voting in the
past, you need to call. The opposition is trying to find ways to pull off
supporters around the margins. Find your council member at

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/.

1. Call immediately. Leave voicemail, if after business hours.
2. Identify yourself by name and address so your council member knows you
are a constituent.
3. Message: Keep the charter amendment whole. Do not exclude independent
boards from more democratic voting method.

FFI, contact info [at] betterballotcampaign.org or call 612-850-6897.


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

Lopez Obrador Urges Civil Resistance
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
The Washington Post
Monday 17 July 2006

Mexican runner-up summons support for vote-by-vote recount at massive
rally.

Mexico City - Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the runner-up in Mexico's
presidential election, called on a massive crowd Sunday to commit acts of
"peaceful civil resistance" to force a vote-by-vote recount.

López Obrador's exhortation significantly intensified his efforts to use
public pressure to reverse his apparent half-percentage-point loss to
Felipe Calderón, a free-trade booster.

The rally in Mexico City's downtown square, the Zocalo, was the latest and
largest flash point in a two-week electoral crisis expected to last two
months while a special elections court hears López Obrador's fraud
allegations and decides whether to conduct a recount.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters poured into the Zocalo, chanting: "You
are not alone." Some walked for six days or took long bus rides to attend
the rally after López Obrador called for a nationwide march on the
capital.

Mexico City police estimated the crowd at 1.1 million.

López Obrador, who led a march to the square, walked to the stage through
a corridor of metal barricades that cut through the huge crowd as
supporters yelled: "Presidente! Presidente ! " He tried to start his
speech several times but was drowned out by wild cheering.

Once he began to talk, the crowd went silent as men and women dressed in
the signature yellow color of López Obrador's Democratic Revolutionary
Party craned their necks to see his image flicker on a large screen
dangling from a crane.

López Obrador stoked the crowd with allegations of voter fraud, saying
Calderón would be an "illegitimate" president. He repeated his contention
that the Federal Electoral Institute, an internationally respected
independent organization, rigged computers to ensure Calderón's victory.
And he made a new claim, saying his supporters should protest because
"errors" were committed in 60,000 of the country's 130,000 polling places.

"We're going to start - to defend democracy - a peaceful civic
resistance," López Obrador said.

López Obrador said he would leave it up to each individual to choose the
form of civic resistance. There are growing fears among conservative
commentators that López Obrador's mass rallies and claims of voter fraud
will lead to violence.

There was an undercurrent of rage at Sunday's mostly peaceful rally, which
drew an amalgam of farmworkers, union members and the urban poor, that
seemed less present during a similar gathering a week earlier. A few
supporters hefted signs that read "Death to Calderón" and compared the
apparent winner to Adolf Hitler.

"In Mexican history, the only way to bring change has been through force,"
said Gerardo Salazar, 43, a teacher from the southern city of Oaxaca,
where violent protests paralyzed the downtown for weeks before the
election. "If necessary, we will have to turn to what has always worked
for us."

Behind Salazar, hundreds of people squatted on sidewalks, watching
marchers pour into the square in a scene reminiscent of a holiday parade.
Vendors sold coffee mugs bearing López Obrador's face along 20th of
November Avenue, a street named to commemorate the Mexican Revolution.

During his 30-minute address, López Obrador invited his supporters to
another rally in Mexico City in two weeks.

"We cannot accept a regression, a pulling back of democracy," he said.

Juana Jimenez Torre, 63, who said she walked more than 80 miles over six
days to attend the rally, thrust her arms in the air as López Obrador
spoke. The mother of 11 said she makes less than $4 a day in the bean
fields outside her hometown of San Pablo Citaltepec, southeast of Mexico
City.

"We can't take this," she said before the rally began. "We have to fight."

Many in the Zocalo crowd were disaffected voters who had cast ballots in
2000 for Vicente Fox, whose victory ended seven decades of one-party rule.
Now they see Fox, whose National Action Party nominated Calderón as its
standard-bearer, as an enemy. Thousands whistled derisively when López
Obrador accused Fox of illegally campaigning for Calderón.

But the crowd's fiercest reactions were reserved for the Federal Electoral
Institute, which was created after the widespread vote- stealing
allegations of the late 1980s to ensure that Mexico's elections are fair.

[If only we Americans had the courage and strength of Mexicans. -ed]

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

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