Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 03.06.07

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    03.06.07

1. Israel/labor/ctv   3.06 5pm

2. Nutrigenomics      3.07 11:30am
3. Immigrants/Katrina 3.07 12noon
4. Health care forum  3.07 6pm
5. Lurking law        3.07 6pm
6. Older women OWL    3.07
7. IntlWomensDay/KFAI 3.07 12midnight

8. Nobel/K-12         3.08 10:30am
9. Rwanda/Darfur      3.08 4pm
10. Eagan peace vigil 3.08 4:30pm
11. Northtown vigil   3.08 5pm
12. Africa/girls      3.08 5pm
13. Sami Rasouli/Iraq 3.08 7pm
14. Torture victims   3.08 7pm
15. IraqWar vets/play 3.08 8pm

16. Joshua Frank    - Dump the Democrats and unite!
17. James Petras    - Bush versus Chavez
18. Dave Lindorff   - It's the people of Washington vs. Pelosi, et al
19. Beth Quinn      - Time to create a little shock and awe in the streets
20. Michael Parenti - The stolen election of 2004

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From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Israel/labor/ctv 3.06 5pm

Dear St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN 15) viewers:

"Our World In Depth" cablecasts at 5 pm and midnight each Tuesday and 10
am each Wednesday in St. Paul.  All households with basic cable can watch.
 Below are the scheduled shows through March 14.

3/6 and 3/7  (R) "Is Criticism of Israel Anti-Semitic: An Evening
with Norman Finkelstein".  Part 2 of a talk given in Nov. in Mpls.

3/13 and 3/14 "Labor and Sustainability: Globalization and Sustainability"
3-parts: Presentations from the Labor and Sustainability Conference: R.
Dennis Olson of the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP),
Bernie Hesse of the United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW 789) and
Karen Redleaf of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF).

--
Minnepolis Television Network (MTN 17) viewers:

"Our World In Depth" has begun cablecasting weekly in Minneapolis on MTN!
The Minneapolis cablecasts are on Channel 17 Saturdays at 9 pm and the
following Tuesday morning at 8:

Sat, 3/10, 9 pm  "Labor, the Climate Crisis and the War at Home"  A
talk given at the Labor and Sustainability Conference in January by Jack
Rasmus, author of "The War at Home: the Corporate Offensive from Ronald
Reagan to George W. Bush".

Sat, 3/17, 9 pm "Labor Confronts the Climate Crisis" Interview of
Christine Frank of the Climate Crisis Coalition of the Twin Cities (3CTC)
and Karen Redleaf of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF).  Hosted by Eric Angell.

--
"Our World In Depth" features analysis of public affairs with
consideration of and participation from Twin Cities area activists.  The
show is mostly local and not corporately influenced! For information about
future programing of "Our World In Depth", please send an e-mail to
eric-angell [at] riseup.net.  (PS It might be better than PBS.)


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

From: lawvalue <lawvalue [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Nutrigenomics 3.07 11:30am

2006-07 Lecture Series on Law, Health, & the Life Sciences
Prof. Jose M. Ordovas, PhD (Tufts University)
Nutrigenomics: Science, Regulation, and Policy
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
11:30am-1:00pm
St. Paul Student Center Theater

Changes in diet are likely to reduce chronic disorders such as
cardiovascular diseases, but the question still remains: what is the
optimal diet to achieve this elusive goal and how do individual genetic
factors play into this?  Individuals vary dramatically in their response
to any type of dietary intervention.  Genetic factors may help identify
vulnerable populations/individuals that could benefit from personalized
and mechanistic-based dietary recommendations.  This lecture will present
the scientific basis of the field of nutrigenomics and the regulatory and
policy issues facing this interdisciplinary field, pooling from
agriculture, medicine, genetics, nutrition, and public health.  The
regulatory and policy issues to be discussed include the role of the Food
& Drug Administration in regulating foods and dietary supplements, the
scope of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the role
of the Federal Trade Commission in health-related advertising, and
oversight of genetic tests by the Certified Laboratory Improvements Act
(CLIA).

Vice President Charles C. Muscoplat, PhD (Statewide Strategic Resource
Development at the University of Minnesota) and Prof. Jeffrey P. Kahn, PhD
(Director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Bioethics) will
offer commentary after Prof. Ordovas' talk.

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 and Joint Degree Program in
Law, Health, & the Life Sciences

The event is free and open to the public.  Registration is required if you
wish to receive continuing education credits (CLE, CME, or CNE)--RSVP to
lawvalue [at] umn.edu or 612-625-0055.  St. Paul Student Center parking is
available in the Gortner Ramp.  Maps may be found at
http://onestop.umn.edu/Maps/index.html.

About Prof. Ordovas:
Prof. Ordovas is the Director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at
the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University and
Director of the Cellular and Molecular Nutrition Program at the Friedman
School of Nutrition Science and Policy.  His research focuses on the
genetic factors associated with cardiovascular disease and their
interaction with the environment. He has participated in the Framingham
Heart Study for nearly 20 years and is carrying out multiple
cross-cultural studies to determine cardiovascular risk in different
populations around the world, with special focus on the Asian Pacific and
the Mediterranean regions.

Commentators:

Charles C. Muscoplat is Vice President for Statewide Strategic Resource
Development at the University of Minnesota.  The focus on statewide
strategic resource development supports the University's strategic
positioning goal of being among the top three research universities in the
world.  Vice President Muscoplat holds a McKnight Presidential Leadership
Endowed Chair.  He also holds the positions of Professor of Medicine and
Microbiology in the University of Minnesota Medical School and Professor
of Food Science and Nutrition in the College of Food, Agricultural and
Natural Resource Sciences.  He served the University as Vice President for
Agricultural Policy and Dean of the College of Agricultural, Food and
Environmental Sciences from September 1999 until his new appointment in
July 2006.  He has been a leader in promoting the connection between
agriculture, food and health.  He organized the national "Foods for
Health" conference in 2002 and played a major role in a 2004 National
Research Council report on the subject.

Jeffrey P. Kahn, PhD, MPH holds the Maas Family Chair in Bioethics and is
Director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Bioethics and
Professor in the Department of Medicine, Medical School; Division of
Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health; and
Department of Philosophy. He works in a variety of areas of bioethics
exploring the intersection of ethics and health policy, including research
ethics, ethics and genetics, and ethical issues in public health.

Continuing Education Information:

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

*       Understand current research investigating how genetics and nutrition
can promote health and prevent disease.
*       Discuss how scientific and regulatory challenges in nutrigenomics
affect consumers, health providers, and policymakers.

Applications for CME and CNE credits have been filed with the University
of Minnesota Office of Continuing Medical Education.  Determination of
credit is pending.  Continuing legal education credit (CLE) for attorneys
has been requested (1.5 hours).

This is the third lecture in the 2006-07 Lecture Series on Law, Health &
the Life Sciences.  This year's Lecture Series focuses on nutrigenomics,
nutraceuticals, and direct-to-consumer marketing of genomic nutritional
profiling.  For more information on upcoming events, visit
http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/.


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

From: "Barnes, Joan" <joan.barnes [at] wmitchell.edu>
Subject: Immigrants/Katrina 3.07 12noon

William Mitchell College of Law Public Square Lecture: Immigrants and
Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, critics claimed that the race of many of
the victims contributed to the slowness and ineptitude of the response.
Another, often invisible group, suffered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
and no one seemed to care. On March 7, at 12:00 pm, Professor Kevin

Johnson from the University of California at Davis will discuss how the
treatment of immigrant victims of Hurricane Katrina is symptomatic of a
larger problem in our democracy. He argues that the government treats
immigrants, both legal and illegal, as second class citizens who are part
of a low wage caste of color.  Free and open to the public.

Application has been made for 1 elimination of bias CLE credit


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

From: Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council <betsy [at] mplscluc.com>
Subject: Health care forum 3.07 6pm

Town Hall Meeting with Representative Scott Kranz (District 51A, City of
Blaine)

How Can We Make Quality, Affordable Health Care Available to All
Minnesotans?

Minnesotans are paying more and getting less from our health care system.
In 2006, we sent the message to our elected officials that we deserve a
health care system that works for all Minnesotans.

Join with other union and community members in Blaine to tell your
personal health care story and to hear from union member and state
representative Scott Kranz about what is being done by the Minnesota
legislature on health care issues.

Wednesday, March 7
6-8 PM
Blaine City Hall
10801 Town Square Drive NE
Cloverleaf Farm Room

Sponsored by the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council and Take Action
Minnesota
For more information, call Andrea Ledger, Minneapolis Central Labor Union
Council, (612)379-4206.


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

From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net>
Subject: Lurking law 3.07 6pm

Wednesday, March 7, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Community Pipeline on the Lurking
Ordinance Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Avenue North,
Minneapolis

CUAPB joins several other organizations cosponsoring this community
meeting to discuss the repeal of the lurking ordinance.  Minneapolis is
one of only four cities in the country to have this ordinance (St. Paul is
one of the other four).  In the past few years, 100% of people arrested
under this ordinance have been African American.  Over 90% of these cases
were dismissed without prosecution - meaning innocent people spend time in
jail, at taxpayer expense.  Clearly, this ordinance is selectively applied
and it is time for it to go!  Come learn about this ordinance, the forces
supporting it, our plans for repeal and how you can help.


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

From: erin [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Older women OWL 3.07

Wednesday, March 7: Older Women's League (OWL) of Minnesota presents
proposed legislation of interest to senior women. Come with friends to learn
the status of current bills in the 2007 legislative session. Information
sign up for the Minnesota Women's Consortium Women Come to the Capitol on
March 14 will be available. A light homemade supper will be served for $3.
Call 651/228-9990 for more information. www.owl-mn.org.


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

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: IntlWomensDay/KFAI 3.07 12midnight

Wed,/Thur. Mar.7-8 Internaitonal Womens's Day, KFAI Radio

Begun in the United States, International Woomen's Day (IWD) was born in
the early 20th century, from struggles by women laboring in sweatshops
and fighting for the vote. It's officially celebrated internationally,
though is ignored here. For 15 years, KFAI Radio reminds us that women
over half of humanity and more diverse than narrow corporate media
depictions.

This year's "Broad Band:Women Riding The Airwaves" includes:
TC women doing relief in post-Katrina New Orleans (4am).Brazillian
women's msuic (8am).Hip hop 'femcees'(6:30am). Women in the
military(noon).Asian omwen's music (2pm). "What's the Verdict?" a raadio
drama (4:30pm). Native American women's art.(5pm) TC women activists
(8:30pm)Experimental music (11pm) FREE

The 24-hours of IWD starts at midnight Wed.Mar.7th and continues to
midnight Mar.8th. KFAI Radio, 90.3fm Minneapolis 106.7fm St. Paul Live
streaming online. Schedule www.kfai.org or (612)341-3144 (Lydia Howell)


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Nobel/K-12 3.08 10:30am

Thursday, 3/8, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, Nobel Peace Prize Festival, designed for
K-12 students and honoring Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, Si Melby Auditorium
Augsburg College, Mpls.  www.augsburg.edu/peaceprizefestival/


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

From: Stephen Feinstein <feins001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Rwanda/Darfur 3.08 4pm

Rwanda and Darfur: A Comparative Analysis
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Nolte Library 125, 4 p.m.

Professor Scott Strauss, University of Wisconsin-Madison will speak on
"Rwanda and Darfur: A Comparative Analysis." Co-sponsored by CHGS and
Institute for Advanced Study. Scott Straus is an Assistant Professor of
Political Science and International Studies at UW-Madison. Scott teaches
classes on genocide, violence, human rights, and African politics. His
book on the Rwandan genocide, The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War
in Rwanda, wasd published by Cornell University Press. Another book on
Rwanda was published by Zone Books in March 2006. The book, Intimate
Enemy, includes transcripts of interviews Scott conducted with jailed
Rwandan perpetrators and photographs taken by Robert Lyons. Scott also
co-authored Africa's Stalled Development (Lynne Rienner), translated The
Great Lakes of Africa (Zone Books), and has published several academic
articles, including a recent piece on Sudan in Foreign Affairs. Before
starting in academia, Scott was a freelance journalist based in Nairobi,
Kenya. Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director

Event will be preceded by a tribute to Dr. Eric Markusen, Southwest State
University who passed away unexpectedly in February. Markusen was a leader
in genocide studies.


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

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 3.08 4:30pm

CANDLELIGHT PEACE VIGIL EVERY THURSDAY from 4:30-5:30pm on the Northwest
corner of Pilot Knob Road and Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan. We have signs
and candles. Say "NO to war!" The weekly vigil is sponsored by: Friends
south of the river speaking out against war.


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

From: EKalamboki [at] aol.com
Subject: Northtown vigil 3.08 5pm

NORTHTOWN Peace Vigil every Thursday 5-6pm, at the intersection of Co. Hwy
10 and University Ave NE (SE corner across from Denny's), in Blaine.

Communities situated near the Northtown Mall include: Blaine, Mounds View,
New Brighton, Roseville, Shoreview, Arden Hills, Spring Lake Park,
Fridley, and Coon Rapids.  We'll have extra signs.

For more information people can contact Evangelos Kalambokidis by phone or
email: (763)574-9615, ekalamboki [at] aol.com.


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Africa/girls 3.08 5pm

Thursday, 3/8, 5 to 8 pm, free Women's Day film series including "Educating
Lucia" about girls' struggle for education in Zimbabwe and Africa, "Till
Death Do Us Part" about widows struggle for property rights in Nigeria,
"Credit Where Credit is Due" about microfinance, and "In the Name of Honour"
about Kurdish women's rights in northern Iraq.  Humphrey Forum of the
Humphrey Center, U of M, 301 - 19th Ave S, Mpls.  www.hrusa.org


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

From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Sami Rasouli/Iraq 3.08 7pm

IRAQ TODAY: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF WAR & OCCUPATION
Thursday, 3/8 @ 7pm @ St. Joan of Arc Church 4537 3d Ave S, Mpls

Sami Rasouli will share his day-to-day experiences in Iraq and his insights
about the role of the U.S. military, the resistance, the political climate,
social conditions and the aspirations, hopes, and dreams of ordinary Iraqi
people. Sami Rasouli is an Iraqi-American who grew up in Najaf. He left Iraq
in the late 1970s and eventually moved to the United States, living in the
Twin Cities area for more than 17 years. In November, 2004, nearly 30 years
after leaving Iraq, Sami returned home to Iraq to help rebuild his country.
Since returning to Iraq, Sami has worked with the Karbala Human Rights
Organization in Najaf and has started several Muslim Peacemaker Teams,
groups dedicated to the principles of nonviolence. Sami returns to this
country for 2-3 months each year to help build bridges between the peoples
of his two homes. For information, call the Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus
on Iraq at 612-521861 or Women Against Military Madness at 612-827-5364.


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

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Torture victims 3.08 7pm

The Center for the Victims of Torture will be the topic of a discussion by
James McKenzie on March 8th, 7 PM.  Why is a Center for the Victims of
Torture located in Minnesota?  What services does it provide ... and to
whom? What do we need to know about victims of torture or those who seek
asylum in our country?

Program sponsored by Northwest Neighbors for Peace and presented at the
Parish Community of St. Joseph, 8701 - 36th Avenue North at the corner of
Boone, New Hope, 55427.  For additional information please contact Eileen
Moran, 763-545-3396. Free; all welcome.


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

From: Dana Kassel <dana [at] southerntheater.org>
Subject: Iraq war vets/play 3.08 8pm

March 8-18
THROAT  By Mando Alvarado
Directed by Michael Ray Escamilla
Produced by Allison Prouty  With  Raul Castillo, Todd Spicer, Lisa Sauber

A powerful new play by Mando Alvarado, directed by Michael Ray Escamilla,
THROAT enjoyed a three-week run in New York City amidst the tall buildings
and the dingy streets that make up the world in which its characters live.
The play follows Cesar Rodriguez, who steps off the plane onto the tarmac
and ends up on the Upper East Side. He's trying to put the war behind him
but he knows that promises made must be fulfilled. With the help of his
best friend, a therapist, and love struck a pigeons in the park, Cesar
goes to war with the demons of the past and the only victor is the truth.
A dangerous confrontation, an unsuccessful hook-up, and an explosive
order. How do you learn to forgive yourself when you know it was your
fault?

The Southern is proud to bring this unique production to Minnesota
audiences, after its recent successful runs in Washington DC and Texas.
The work has moved many viewers, critics and artists with its humanity
and willingness to explore dark and emotional issues.

March 8-10, 14-18
Wed-Sat. at 8 pm: Sun at 7 pm;
Sat., March 16 at 3pm

Tickets: $25Fri./Sat  $22 Thurs./Sun. mat/Sun.
Pay-as-able: Wed., March 14
$2 Military discount

Dana K. Kassel The Southern Theater 1420 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis,
MN 55454 612-340-0155, ext. 15 dana [at] southerntheater.org


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

Dump the Democrats and Unite!
by Joshua Frank
www.dissidentvoice.org
March 5, 2007

We should have known it was coming. Even though the Democratic Party rode
the antiwar wave in to Congress last November they've done little since to
end the bloody war in Iraq. Just last week House Democrats met to discuss
how best to halt Bush's request to send more troops into the region but
couldn't come to an agreement on whether or not to put any restrictions on
the administration's plea for an additional $93 billion to continue the
occupation. The only way to stop the war, as Sen. Russ Feingold
understands well, is to cease all funding for the ongoing tragedy. But the
majority of Democrats, already preparing for the next round of elections,
aren't about to step up and represent their constituents.

Hate to say we told you so but we predicted this outcome long ago here at
Dissident Voice. While some, including John Nichols at The Nation, claimed
Washington was being taken over by progressive Democrats, we knew the
numbers proved otherwise. Progressive Democrats did gain strength, however
conservative pro-war Blue Dog and DLC patrons gained the most seats in
last election cycle. Virtually all ran on pro-war platforms - guaranteeing
that they would continue to support Bush's efforts to eradicate terrorism
by terrorizing Iraqis and Afghanis instead.

"The Blue Dogs are pretty unified in not wanting to micromanage how the
Pentagon conducts the war," said Blue Dog Rep. John Salazar of Colorado.
"None of us will support withholding funds from troops in the field."

Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the Democratic chairman of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, also refused to block Bush's call for additional
funds by claiming it would be "immoral" for the Democratic Party to do so.
Sen. Hillary Clinton won't apologize for giving Bush the authority to
invade Iraq, nor will Sen. Dianne Feinstein acknowledge that her support
for past reconstruction funds has fattened the pockets of her husband who
has large stakes in several companies currently profiting from the war.

We may as well call all of this what it is: a willful abandonment of
ideals and purpose, which never really existed to begin with. The
Democratic Party exerts the same hawkish fervor as the Republican Party.
Indeed they have proven that despite the overwhelming opposition to the
war nationwide they will not do a damn thing to end it.

U.S. foreign policy has not and will not change direction as long as the
Democratic Party continues to be dominated by corporate interests and
tacit compliance to the neoconservative agenda. The antiwar movement needs
to understand this reality or it is doomed to collapse like it did under
the pressure of the 2004 elections.

The time is now for us to come together under a unified antiwar banner
despite what our political leanings may be. Liberal, radical,
conservative, libertarian, it doesn't matter. Ending the war and our
government's imperialist polices is just that important. We may be a
minority, but we can be a successful one. Indeed if we unite we could have
a profound effect on our political discourse and the upcoming elections.
Let's not wait around for either party to come to their senses.

Let's force them to.

Joshua Frank is Co-Editor of Dissident Voice, and the author of Left Out!
How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush. He edits BrickBurner.org, the
official blog of Dissident Voice. He can be reached at:
joshua [at] dissidentvoice.org.


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El Pueblo y Chavez Contra los Presidentes Cipayos y el Emperador
Bush Versus Chavez
By JAMES PETRAS
CounterPunch
March 5, 2007

President Bush's visit to Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Mexico
reflects the 'two tracks' of US empire-building - military intervention
and political-diplomatic instruments.

Bush's visit to Latin America at this time is an attempt to gain support
from client electoral rulers at a time when he has lost the support of
over 75% of US public opinion, and is rejected by overwhelming majorities
in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Bush's advisers and principal
propagandists are counting on publicizing the friendly receptions by Lula,
Vazquez, Uribe, Garcia and Calderon to counter the reality and public
image of Bush as a mass murderer of the Iraqi and Afghani people.

Bush's escalation of the war against Iraq and threat to bomb Iran has
further marked his regime as the deadly enemy of humanity. When electoral
politicians like Tabare Vazquez and Lula Da Silva embrace Bush, they
provide a decorative mask to an imperial monster who has been exposed as
the principal enemy of Latin America's foremost anti-imperialist President
Hugo Chavez.

Bush's turn to a diplomatic approach toward consolidating imperial power
in Latin America is the result of the failures and defeats of his military
policies. The US attempt to conquer Iraq and Afghanistan by military force
has failed: the resistance is stronger than ever.

The US invasion of Haiti and the overthrow of the elected President
Aristide has failed to defeat mass popular resistance. Washington's
control over Haiti depends on the mercenary armies and officials of its
client rulers in Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia.

The Bush regime's effort to overthrow President Chavez has suffered
several major defeats. The mass urban uprising of April 2002 defeated the
US backed coup. From December 2002 through January 2003 the Venezuelan
workers and the Chavez government defeated the bosses' lockout of the
petroleum industry, which had been backed by US oil companies and
Washington. The great majority of popular classes defeated the US-financed
referendum to impeach Chavez in 2004.

With each failed effort, the prestige of Bush declined while Chavez gained
the admiration of the vast majority of Latin America people. The 'Chavez
model' of a generous social welfare state, a mixed economy based on a
strong state sector, and direct democracy via neighborhood assemblies
stood in stark contrast to the failed regressive and stagnant neo-liberal
models in the rest of Latin America.

Moreover Chavez' generous sale of oil at subsidized prices to the poor
countries of the Caribbean, Central and South America undermined the
appeal of rapacious US 'free trade' policies in the region. Venezuela's
extensive trade and investment agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia,
Ecuador and Colombia attracted support from sectors of the 'national
bourgeoisie' and weakened US efforts to isolate the Chavez government.

In the Great Contest between Chavez and Bush, between national-popular
welfare initiatives and the reactionary regressive neo-liberal status quo,
there is no question that Chavez is winning and the US is losing
influence. Bush's visit to Latin American is an effort to recoup declining
imperial influence by consolidating ties with both the rightist client
regimes (Garcia in Peru and Calderon in Mexico) and the pseudo
'center-left' neo-liberal regimes of Vazquez and Lula. The purpose is to
integrate these client regimes into the US economic and diplomatic orbit
and to construct an anti-Chavez coalition. Given that Bush has no popular
support in Latin America, he will only meet with client rulers behind
closed doors with heavy security protecting him. Parallel to Bush's visit,
President Chavez will visit Argentina where tens of thousands of people
will attend a mass public meeting to welcome him. The Chavez-Bush visits
reflect the profound polarization in Latin America, in which the vast
majority of the people and a few governments stand with Chavez while
corrupt and discredited 'ex-leftists' embrace the emperor. Washington's
clients, Vazquez, Lula, and Calderon will answer to their people who
demonstrate in the streets that the governments who welcome Bush do no
represent their opinions or interests. No government can claim to be
'progressive' which welcomes and signs military base and free trade
agreements with the worst imperial President in US history.

The future of Uruguay and Brazil will not be determined by the
'vende-patria' agreements signed by the Presidents behind the closed doors
of presidential palaces, but by the huge bellicose parliaments of the
streets who demonstrate their repudiation of Bush and who affirm their
anti-imperialist principles.

James Petras, a former Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University,
New York, owns a 50 year membership in the class struggle, is an adviser
to the landless and jobless in brazil and argentina and is co-author of
Globalization Unmasked (Zed). His new book with Henry Veltmeyer, Social
Movements and the State: Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, will be
published in October 2005. He can be reached at: jpetras [at] binghamton.edu


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

Where the Constitution Still Matters
It's the People of Washington vs. Pelosi, et al
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
March 5, 2007

In the State of Washington, it is the people versus Nancy Pelosi and the
Democratic Party leadership.

At issue is a bill, S8016, submitted in the state's senate by freshman
state Senator Eric Oemig, which would call on the U.S. Congress to
initiate impeachment proceedings against President George Bush for high
crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution and the people of the
United States and of the State of Washington.

The measure, which would take the form of a joint resolution by the two
houses of the Washington state legislature, accords with the instructions
laid out by Founder Thomas Jefferson, who, in his Manual of the Rules of
the House of Representatives laid out state joint resolutions as an
alternative route for initiating presidential impeachment proceedings in
the House in addition to the more usual route of a member submitting a
bill of impeachment.

Jefferson's prescient thinking was that if Congress, by reason of
political cowardice or inattention, ever proved unwilling or unable to
initiate impeachment when it was called for, state legislators, far from
Washington and closer to the people, could do it for them.

But two unprincipled and devious Democratic members of Washington's
congressional delegation, Sen. Pat Murray and Rep. Jay Inslee, are
undermining Jefferson's carefully designed fail-safe system by pressuring
Democratic state legislators to kill Sen. Oemig's bill. The Seattle Times
in a March 2 article, reports that Murray and Inslee are telling Democrats
in the state senate to kill the impeachment bill on the grounds that it
would lead to "divisiveness" in Washington, and that it would impede the
"Democratic agenda" in Congress.

Forget grave spinning! This wholly inappropriate interference in state
affairs by the state's two leading national political figures must have
Jefferson shitting in his mouldered pants!

Clearly, Murray and Inslee have decided to abandon their constituents in
the state of Washington, a majority of whom want this criminal president
impeached, and are instead doing the bidding of US Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who have completely lost touch
with the nation's voters and with their own sense of principle.

But this battle is not over. The grassroots movement in Washington that
has led to Sen. Oemig's bill getting as far as a hearing in the Senate's
Government Operations and Elections Committee, is growing rapidly. The
Citizens Committee for Impeachment in Olympia, with almost no money and no
press coverage, brought 900 people to a rally a week before the committee
hearing, and hundreds more to the capitol building on the day of the
hearing. A massive phone and letter-writing campaign to committee members
and state senators is now underway to insure that the bill goes to a vote
in the full Senate.

If Democratic state legislators know what is good for them, they will send
Murray and Inslee packing back to Washington and will vote to defend the
Constitution and their constuents by approving Sen. Oemig's bill in both
houses and sending his resolution to the House, forcing Pelosi to put
impeachment back on the House agenda where it belongs.

After all, what is this supposed concern about "divisiveness"? The nation
is mired in a criminal war that has killed 3200 American troops and
injured another 52,000, many of them from Washington state. The president
has trashed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and is bankrupting the
nation, wasting money that could be helping Washingtonians and other
Americans. Washington today is not too divisive; it is not divisive
enough!

As for that Democratic agenda, just how do Murray and Inslee expect
anything passed by the current Congress to make its way into law if the
President is free to continue, in direct violation of Article I and II of
the Constitution, to invalidate the laws passed by the Congress through
his use of what he calls "signing statements"?

Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the
Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His n book of CounterPunch columns
titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press.
Lindorff's newest book is "The Case for Impeachment",
co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.

He can be reached at: dlindorff [at] yahoo.com


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

It's Time to Create a Little Shock and Awe in the Streets
by Beth Quinn
Published on Monday, March 5, 2007 by the Times Herald-Record (Middletown,
New York)

I get occasional e-mail from readers complaining that they're sick of my
writing about Bush's war.

Well, by golly, me too. I'm entirely sick of writing about it.

I'm sickened by it, too. I want to throw up I'm so sickened by it.

Who can even keep up with each new Goal Of The Day this president claims
to have in Iraq? I'm exhausted from trying to follow the bouncing ball as
he careens from one rationale to the next.

I was hoping I could take a nap from it all after the mid-term elections.
Ah ha! I thought. The Democrats finally have some power - now they'll fix
the mess!

But here we are - four years from Mission Unaccomplished with most of
America sick to death of this stupid, pointless war. And what have we got
from the new Democratic Congress that we had such high hopes for?

We've got a non-binding resolution. Whooee. We've got a compromise on war
spending. Whoop-de-doo. We've got a debate about blah blah blah blah blah
blah.

They all sound like the grown-ups in a Charlie Brown special.

Where is everyone's backbone? Where is the outrage over the 3,164 dead and
23,677 wounded American soldiers? Where is the remorse over the 650,000
dead Iraqis?

Where is the despair over the $279 million per day we're spending on a war
apparently planned with crayons, construction paper and a little Elmer's
Glue to hold the glitter?

Where are the congressional hearings about that smarmy, smirky little liar
in the White House? About the missing money? About the torture and
imprisonment without habeas corpus?

Where is the impeachment?

In case you haven't heard the news from the rest of Earth, Bush has caused
half the world to hate us and he's put us into debt to the other half.
Even Tony Blair has figured out there's no percentage in throwing more
British bodies into the Iraqi civil war. Lithuania, for cryin' out loud -
the vanguard of Bush's "coalition of the willing" with its army of 53
soldiers - they're pulling out, too.

But not George Bush, Boy Genius. Despite the clear will of the American
people to leave Iraq, Bush is escalating. He's sending more soldiers
without armor to their death in a place that doesn't want them and where
it's not even clear who the enemy is or what our purpose is.

So now I gotta listen to my own self talk again. On and on and on. I'm
sick of it.

But I can't stop. You can't stop either. You shouldn't. We voted, and Bush
ignored us. We gave the Dems our fealty and so far they've disappointed.

So we have to take it to the streets.

A protest march on the Pentagon is set for 11 a.m. on March 17. Busloads
of Hudson Valley activists will travel to Washington to join thousands of
other Americans as they bring their anti-war demands directly to Shock and
Awe Headquarters down there.

The protest will begin with a rally at Constitution Gardens at 23rd Street
and Constitution Avenue, then head across the Potomac to the Pentagon for
a rally calling for immediate withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq.

Buses are slated to depart from Kingston, Poughkeepsie and New Paltz,
sponsored by the Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter. The cost is $50 with
discounts for those on low budgets and students if they so request.

To join the trip, contact organizer Jack Smith at jacdon [at] earthlink.net or
call 255-5779. State your name, town, e-mail and phone number, and how
many seats you want to reserve. Then mail a check to Hudson Valley
Activist Newsletter, Box 662, New Paltz, NY 12561.

Smith will let you know the time (probably about 5 a.m.) and departure
locations once he knows how many people are traveling with the group.

By coincidence - or perhaps not - this is the 40th anniversary of the
historic march on the Pentagon against the Vietnam War, a tipping point
for what became a powerful anti-war movement.

It's time for another tipping point. There are 687 days 'til Jan. 20,
2009. The devastating damage Bush has done to this country continues. Do
you really want to wait until the clock runs out before we get rid of him?

Not me. I'm sick of it.

Beth's column appears on Monday. Talk to her at 346-3147 or at
bquinn [at] th-record.com


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

The Stolen Election of 2004
by Michael Parenti
Published on Friday, March 2, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

The 2004 presidential contest between Democratic challenger Senator John
Kerry and the Republican incumbent, President Bush Jr., amounted to
another stolen election. This has been well documented by such
investigators as Rep. John Conyers, Mark Crispin Miller, Bob Fitrakis,
Harvey Wasserman, Bev Harris, and others. Here is an overview of what they
have reported, along with observations of my own.

Some 105 million citizens voted in 2000, but in 2004 the turnout climbed
to at least 122 million. Pre-election surveys indicated that among the
record 16.8 million new voters Kerry was a heavy favorite, a fact that
went largely unreported by the press. In addition, there were about two
million progressives who had voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 who switched to
Kerry in 2004.

Yet the official 2004 tallies showed Bush with 62 million votes, about
11.6 million more than he got in 2000. Meanwhile Kerry showed only eight
million more votes than Gore received in 2000. To have achieved his
remarkable 2004 tally, Bush would needed to have kept all his 50.4 million
from 2000, plus a majority of the new voters, plus a large share of the
very liberal Nader defectors.

Nothing in the campaign and in the opinion polls suggest such a mass
crossover. The numbers simply do not add up.

In key states like Ohio, the Democrats achieved immense success at
registering new voters, outdoing the Republicans by as much as five to
one. Moreover the Democratic party was unusually united around its
candidate - or certainly against the incumbent president. In contrast,
prominent elements within the GOP displayed open disaffection, publicly
voicing serious misgivings about the Bush administration's huge budget
deficits, reckless foreign policy, theocratic tendencies, and threats to
individual liberties.

Sixty newspapers that had endorsed Bush in 2000 refused to do so in 2004;
forty of them endorsed Kerry.

All through election day 2004, exit polls showed Kerry ahead by 53 to 47
percent, giving him a nationwide edge of about 1.5 million votes, and a
solid victory in the electoral college. Yet strangely enough, the official
tally gave Bush the election. Here are some examples of how the GOP
"victory" was secured.

In some places large numbers of Democratic registration forms disappeared,
along with absentee ballots and provisional ballots. Sometimes absentee
ballots were mailed out to voters just before election day, too late to be
returned on time, or they were never mailed at all.

Overseas ballots normally reliably distributed by the State Department
were for some reason distributed by the Pentagon in 2004. Nearly half of
the six million American voters living abroad - a noticeable number of
whom formed anti-Bush organizationsdd - never received their ballots or
got them too late to vote. Military personnel, usually more inclined
toward supporting the president, encountered no such problems with their
overseas ballots.

Voter Outreach of America, a company funded by the Republican National
Committee, collected thousands of voter registration forms in Nevada,
promising to turn them in to public officials, but then systematically
destroyed the ones belonging to Democrats.

Tens of thousands of Democratic voters were stricken from the rolls in
several states because of "felonies" never committed, or committed by
someone else, or for no given reason. Registration books in Democratic
precincts were frequently out-of-date or incomplete.

Democratic precincts - enjoying record turnouts - were deprived of
sufficient numbers of polling stations and voting machines, and many of
the machines they had kept breaking down. After waiting long hours many
people went home without voting. Pro-Bush precincts almost always had
enough voting machines, all working well to make voting quick and
convenient.

A similar pattern was observed with student populations in several states:
students at conservative Christian colleges had little or no wait at the
polls, while students from liberal arts colleges were forced to line up
for as long as ten hours, causing many to give up. In Lucas County, Ohio,
one polling place never opened; the voting machines were locked in an
office and no one could find the key. In Hamilton County many absentee
voters could not cast a Democratic vote for president because John Kerry's
name had been "accidentally" removed when Ralph Nader was taken off the
ballot.

A polling station in a conservative evangelical church in Miami County,
Ohio, recorded an impossibly high turnout of 98 percent, while a polling
place in Democratic inner-city Cleveland recorded an impossibly low
turnout of 7 percent.

Latino, Native American, and African American voters in New Mexico who
favored Kerry by two to one were five times more likely to have their
ballots spoiled and discarded in districts supervised by Republican
election officials. Many were given provisional ballots that subsequently
were never counted. In these same Democratic areas Bush "won" an
astonishing 68 to 31 percent upset victory. One Republican judge in New
Mexico discarded hundreds of provisional ballots cast for Kerry, accepting
only those that were for Bush.

Cadres of rightwing activists, many of them religious fundamentalists,
were financed by the Republican Party. Deployed to key Democratic
precincts, they handed out flyers warning that voters who had unpaid
parking tickets, an arrest record, or owed child support would be arrested
at the polls - all untrue. They went door to door offering to "deliver"
absentee ballots to the proper office, and announcing that Republicans
were to vote on Tuesday (election day) and Democrats on Wednesday.

Democratic poll watchers in Ohio, Arizona, and other states, who tried to
monitor election night vote counting, were menaced and shut out by squads
of GOP toughs. In Warren County, Ohio, immediately after the polls closed
Republican officials announced a "terrorist attack" alert, and ordered the
press to leave. They then moved all ballots to a warehouse where the
counting was conducted in secret, producing an amazingly high tally for
Bush, some 14,000 more votes than he had received in 2000. It wasn't the
terrorists who attacked Warren County.

Bush did remarkably well with phantom populations. The number of his votes
in Perry and Cuyahoga counties in Ohio, exceeded the number of registered
voters, creating turnout rates as high as 124 percent. In Miami County
nearly 19,000 additional votes eerily appeared in Bush's column after all
precincts had reported. In a small conservative suburban precinct of
Columbus, where only 638 people were registered, the touchscreen machines
tallied 4,258 votes for Bush.

In almost half of New Mexico's counties, more votes were reported than
were recorded as being cast, and the tallies were consistently in Bush's
favor. These ghostly results were dismissed by New Mexico's Republican
Secretary of State as an "administrative lapse".

Exit polls showed Kerry solidly ahead of Bush in both the popular vote and
the electoral college. Exit polls are an exceptionally accurate measure of
elections. In the last three elections in Germany, for example, exit polls
were never off by more than three-tenths of one percent.

Unlike ordinary opinion polls, the exit sample is drawn from people who
have actually just voted. It rules out those who say they will vote but
never make it to the polls, those who cannot be sampled because they have
no telephone or otherwise cannot be reached at home, those who are
undecided or who change their minds about whom to support, and those who
are turned away at the polls for one reason or another.

Exit polls have come to be considered so reliable that international
organizations use them to validate election results in countries around
the world.

Republicans argued that in 2004 the exit polls were inaccurate because
they were taken only in the morning when Kerry voters came out in greater
numbers. (Apparently Bush voters sleep late.) In fact, the polling was
done at random intervals all through the day, and the evening results were
as much favoring Kerry as the early results.

It was also argued that pollsters focused more on women (who favored
Kerry) than men, or maybe large numbers of grumpy Republicans were less
inclined than cheery Democrats to talk to pollsters. No evidence was put
forth to substantiate these fanciful speculations.

Most revealing, the discrepancies between exit polls and official tallies
were never random but worked to Bush's advantage in ten of eleven swing
states that were too close to call, sometimes by as much as 9.5 percent as
in New Hampshire, an unheard of margin of error for an exit poll. In
Nevada, Ohio, New Mexico, and Iowa exit polls registered solid victories
for Kerry, yet the official tally in each case went to Bush, a mystifying
outcome.

In states that were not hotly contested the exit polls proved quite
accurate. Thus exit polls in Utah predicted a Bush victory of 70.8 to 26.4
percent; the actual result was 71.1 to 26.4 percent. In Missouri, where
the exit polls predicted a Bush victory of 54 to 46 percent, the final
result was 53 to 46 percent.

One explanation for the strange anomalies in vote tallies was found in the
widespread use of touchscreen electronic voting machines. These machines
produced results that consistently favored Bush over Kerry, often in
chillingly consistent contradiction to exit polls.

In 2003 more than 900 computer professionals had signed a petition urging
that all touchscreen systems include a verifiable audit trail. Touchscreen
voting machines can be easily programmed to go dead on election day or
throw votes to the wrong candidate or make votes disappear while leaving
the impression that everything is working fine.

A tiny number of operatives can easily access the entire computer network
through one machine and thereby change votes at will. The touchscreen
machines use trade secret code, and are tested, reviewed, and certified in
complete secrecy. Verified counts are impossible because the machines
leave no reliable paper trail.

Since the introduction of touchscreen voting, mysterious congressional
election results have been increasing. In 2000 and 2002, Senate and House
contests and state legislative races in North Carolina, Nebraska, Alabama,
Minnesota, Colorado, and elsewhere produced dramatic and puzzling upsets,
always at the expense of Democrats who were ahead in the polls.

In some counties in Texas, Virginia, and Ohio, voters who pressed the
Democrat's name found that the Republican candidate was chosen. In Cormal
County, Texas, three GOP candidates won by exactly 18,181 votes apiece, a
near statistical impossibility.

All of Georgia's voters used Diebold touchscreen machines in 2002, and
Georgia's incumbent Democratic governor and incumbent Democratic senator,
who were both well ahead in the polls just before the election, lost in
amazing double-digit voting shifts.

This may be the most telling datum of all: In New Mexico in 2004 Kerry
lost all precincts equipped with touchscreen machines, irrespective of
income levels, ethnicity, and past voting patterns. The only thing that
consistently correlated with his defeat in those precincts was the
presence of the touchscreen machine itself.

In Florida Bush registered inexplicably sharp jumps in his vote (compared
to 2000) in counties that used touchscreen machines.

In sum, despite an arsenal of foul ploys that prevented people from
voting, those that did get to vote still went decisively for Kerry - but
had their votes subverted by a rigged system.

Companies like Diebold, Sequoia, and ES&S that market the touchscreen
machines are owned by militant supporters of the Republican party. These
companies have consistently refused to implement a paper-trail to dispel
suspicions and give instant validation to the results of electronic
voting. They prefer to keep things secret, claiming proprietary rights, a
claim that has been backed in court.

Election officials are not allowed to evaluate the secret software.
Apparently corporate trade secrets are more important than voting rights.
In effect, corporations have privatized the electoral system, leaving it
easily susceptible to fixed outcomes. The two-party monopoly threatens to
become an even worse one-party tyranny.

Michael Parenti's recent books include The Assassination of Julius Caesar
(New Press), Superpatriotism (City Lights), and The Culture Struggle
(Seven Stories Press). For more information visit: www.michaelparenti.org.


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