Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 07.17.07

[David Shove (shove001]

              P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    07.17.07
                            impeach bush & cheney

1. uhcan/ellison    7.17 11am
2. Cancer survivor  7.17 6:30pm
3. Sultan/Lebanon   7.17 7pm

4. Recycle 4 peace  7.18 8am
5. CD training      7.18 7pm
6. CCHT housing     7.18 4:30pm
7. Organic farm     7.18 6pm

8. ACLU/law/protest 7.19 8:30am
9. NWN4P New Hope   7.19 4:30pm
10. Eagan vigil     7.19 4:30pm
11. Northtown vigil 7.19 5pm
12. Amnesty Intl    7.19 7:15pm
13. 6 Lives/play    7.19 8pm

14. Howell/KFAI     7.20 11am
15. Palestine vigil 7.20 4:30pm
16. Smash violence  7.20-22 5pm

17. Ralph Nader - Six years of Bush: lawlessness, waste & incompetence
18. PC Roberts  - Impeach now: or face the end of constitutional democracy
19. Gary Leupp  - Impeachment or war? Cheney urges Bush to strike Iran
20. Manuel Garcia Jr - White ownership: property is racism

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

From: joel albers <joel [at] uhcan-mn.org>
Subject: uhcan/ellison 9.17 11am

Dear UHCAN-MN Activists,

Keith Ellison's staff has asked UHCAN-MN to meet w/ them to plan a Forum
for Saturday July 28th to discuss how to build support for the Medicare
For All (Single-Payer) bill authored by John Conyers, H.R. 676.

The meeting is scheduled for today (Tuesday,July 17) at 11AM today at the
Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop 11th ave S. Mpls, in Elliot Park neighborhood.
If you need directions pls Mapquest it, or call me at 612-384-0973.


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

From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Cancer survivor 7.17 6:30pm

Tuesday, July 17, the guest at the salon will be local poet Jeff McCallum.
As a cancer survivor, McCallum writes for people with cancer and also
caregivers.  He is the author of the poetry collection, "Somebody's Bright
Balloon." His life is dedicated to the messages of Martin Luther King and
to keeping his dream alive.

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.


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

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Sultan/Lebanon 7.17 7pm

Tuesday, July 17th, starting at 5:30 PM, the CSpan tour bus will be parked
outside Magers & Quinn in Uptown Minneapolis. At 7 P.M., Scarletta Press
author Cathy Sultan will be interviewed about her two books A BEIRUT
HEART: ONE WOMAN'S WAR and ISRAELI & PALESTINIAN VOICES: A DIALOGUE WITH
BOTH SIDES.

Middle Eastern food will be served. Please join us to celebrate this
unique situation as Cathy Sultan and Scarletta Press make their way
through the minefield of the publishing industry. I might need a drink
afterwards!


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

From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Recycle for peace 7.18 8am

Yard Sale: Recycle for Peace!
Saturday 8/18, 8 am to 3pm @ Bethany Lutheran Church, 2511 E Franklin Ave,
Mpls.
Come buy cool used stuff for a good cause. All proceeds go to support our
organizing. Come and check it out! Want to drop off your items to donate?
Stop by the church with your items between 6 - 8 pm on Friday night. We
will appreciate your donation.


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

From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] gmail.com>
Subject: CD training 7.18 7pm

Civil Disobedience Training

Wednesday 7/18 @ 7pm @ Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave S, Mpls The U.S. Civil
Rights Movement, the United Farm Workers union, the environmental
movement, anti-war movements, queer and women's movements, and others have
all used direct action to challenge war and injustice. U.S. history - like
world history - is full of examples that prove that civil disobedience can
be an effective way of creating change. We need to learn from them and use
militant and creative tactics as part of our strategy to end the war on
Iraq and confront the RNC in 2008! This is a practical training that will
give you the information you need to participate in these kinds of actions
- whether directly or as a supporter.


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

From: Philip Schaffner <PSchaffner [at] ccht.org>
Subject: CCHT housing 7.18 4:30pm

Learn how Central Community Housing Trust is responding to the
affordable housing shortage in the Twin Cities. Please join us for a
1-hour Building Dreams presentation.

St. Paul Sessions: July 18 at 4:30p

We are also happy to present Building Dreams at your organization, place
of worship, or business. Space is limited, please register online at:
www.ccht.org/bd or call Philip Schaffner at 612-341-3148 x237

Central Community Housing Trust 1625 Park Ave Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612)
341-3148 www.ccht.org


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

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: Organic farm 7.18 6pm

More on July 18: Women's Environmental Institute Organic Farm School with
Courtney Tchida (Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture)
Permaculture: Working with Nature rather than Against Nature.6PM- 8:00PM
p.m. at Amazon Bookstore, 4755 Chicago Ave S, Minneapolis MN.


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: ACLU/law/protest 7.19 8:30am

Thursday, 7/19, 8:30 to 1, ACLU-MN hosts legal clinic on protests and
political conventions, Hamline University School of Law, 1536 Hewitt Ave,
St Paul $50 to $70 including breakfast, lunch and 3.5 CLE credits.
www.aclu-mn.org/takeaction/clefreedomofspeech.htm or 651-645-4097x123.


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

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P New Hope 7.19 4:30pm

NWN4P-New Hope demonstration every Thursday 4:30 to 6 PM at the corner of
Winnetka and 42nd.  You may park near Walgreens or in the larger lot near
McDonalds; we will be on all four corners.  Bring your own or use our
signs.


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

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 7.19 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 7.19 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: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: Amnesty Intl 7.19 7:15pm

AIUSA Group 315 (Wayzata area) meets Thursday, July 19th, at 7:15 p.m. St.
Luke Presbyterian Church, 3121 Groveland School Road, Wayzata (near the
intersection of Rt. 101 and Minnetonka Blvd). For further information,
contact Richard Bopp at Richard_C_Bopp [at] NatureWorksLLC.com.


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: 6 Lives/play 7.19 8pm

7/19, 7/20, 7/21, 8 pm, Illusion Theater presents play "Six Lives" about
adults who have experienced displacement through war, turmoil and disaster
in their youth, 528 Hennepin Ave, suite 704, Mpls.  www.illusiontheater.org


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

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Howell/KFAI 7.20 11am

FRIDAYS, 11am July 20 & 27: CATALYST;politics & culture on KFAI RADIO
part of the Hour of Power every Friday 11am CATALYST,with Lydia Howell
11:30am Northern Sun News, with Don Olson

A series of conversations with two activist-scholars Professors AUGUST
NIMTZ and ROSE BREWER. Both teach at the U of MN, in the African-American
Studies and Political Science Departments. Prof. Brewer just returned from
the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta last month and reports on this critical
gathering. Prof. Nimtz analyzes where the U.S. labor movement is and
should organize. Both of these inspirational forces of intellect wiegh in
on the recent Supreme Court decision that attempts to reverse the famous
1954 BROWN decision that desegregated public schools. (SEE AFTER THIS
NOTICE; Wed.July 25, Rose Brewer event). CATALYST is produced and hosted
by LYDIA HOWELL, a Minneapolis independent journalist, who won the 2007
Premack Award for Public Interest Journalism. You can read her
commentaries at www.myspace.com/lydiahowell


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

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine vigil 7.20 4:30pm

Friday, 7/20, 4:30 to 5:30 pm, vigil to end the occupation of Palestine,
Snelling & Summit Aves, St Paul.  Karen, 651-283-3495.


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

From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Smash violence 7.20-22 5pm

Youth and Countering Militarism, Grassroots Nonviolence: Intergenerational
and Multicultural Gathering

Friday, July 20, 5:00 p.m. to Sunday, July 22, 2:00 p.m. Minnesota. Car
pools will leave the Twin Cities Friday evening for retreat center. Will
you join us in demilitarizing the world in which our youth are growing up?
Are you thirsty for an opportunity to build community that is
action-geared, intentional, intergenerational, creative and interfaith?
Are you interested in deepening your understanding of Nonviolence as a way
of life and tool for political change? Want to stop war? This event will
bring together intergenerational, multicultural teams of artists,
community leaders, activists and cultural creatives of all ages to be a
part of local, winnable organizing campaigns to get violence out of our
schools and communities.

Strategy building for policy change around youth and countering
militarism. Includes: skill-building sessions on nonviolence history,
theory, lifestyle; access to a local and national creative organizing
network; an invitation to partner with Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
"I Will Not Kill" Campaign and time for local campaign strategizing.

Sliding scale: $50.00 to $350.00. Don't let lack of funds keep you from
applying. Sponsored by: Fellowship of Reconciliation. FFI or to register:
Call Alejandra, 612-423-1073 or email <grassrootsnonviolence [at] gmail.com>.


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

Six Years of Bush
Lawlessness, Waste and Incompetence
By RALPH NADER
CounterPunch
July 14 / 15, 2007

Thursday, July 12, 2007's Washington Post was another day of
well-supported headlines chronicling the lawless, incompetent, wasteful,
negligent, bumbling and multiple perils to our nation's security and
safety caused by the Bush-Cheney regime.

One headline reads: "U.S. Warns of Stronger Al-Qaeda." The report by the
Bush Administration's National Counterterrorism Center was titled
"Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West." Safe havens are being
established in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan.

In recent days, George W. Bush has told audiences of the growing menace of
Al-Qaeda inside Iraq.

There was no Al-Qaeda in Iraq before Bush's invasion.

Five hundred billion dollars (and vast bloodshed) later and we are left
with the Bush government's own assessment of Al-Qaeda's resurgence and
spread!

Officials inside and retired generals, diplomats and intelligence
specialists outside the Bush government have warned before and after the
Iraq invasion of the disastrous consequences of this maneuver. Inside the
Pentagon, the U.S. Army personnel, up to four-star Generals, have warned
against the invasion but have been muzzled.

Bush's own CIA director - Porter J. Goss -, General William Casey and
others declared that the U.S. military presence was fueling the insurgency
in Iraq and Goss added that our presence in Iraq is a magnet attracting
more people from other countries to learn the skills of sabotage and
terror.

Bush's own counter-terrorism advisor in the White House, Richard Clarke,
wrote in his book, Against All Enemies, that Osama bin Laden must be
beseeching Bush to invade Iraq to inflame the Muslim world and generate
new recruits.

Nothing - facts, judgment, the destruction of Iraq, the U.S. casualties,
the massive drain on the taxpayers, the distraction from the needs of the
American people affect this obsessively-compulsed duo in the White House.

Another headline in the Post that day was an assessment by Bush's CIA
chief, Michael V. Hayden that the U.S. installed Iraqi government was
unable to govern and that the situation seems irreversible. He added that
he could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this
thing around." Those words were conveyed to the Iraq study group on the
same day (November 13, 2006) that the Group heard Mr. Bush give an upbeat
assessment of that same government.

Bush has been chronically detached from the reality of his own advisors.

Also on page one was this stunner of a sting: "Undercover congressional
investigators posing as West Virginia businessmen obtained a license with
almost no scrutiny from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that enabled
them to buy enough radioactive material from U.S. suppliers to build a
"dirty bomb," a new government [GAO] report says."

How about that for the Bush's agency that is supposed to keep the atom in
safe hands!

Inside on the Business Page is "Armored Vehicles Chronically Late." This
latest chapter in the Bush's management by criminal negligence leaving
soldiers without adequate body armor for many, many months of preventable
fatalities.

The reporter, Renae Merle, writes: "The Pentagon inspector general's
office has found that a program to deliver special armored vehicles to
protect military personnel in Iraq from roadside bombs has been marred by
delays and questionable contracting practices that may have endangered
troops." "May have"? When such vehicles are not shipped out, soldiers lose
their lives and limbs.

If George W. Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara were on those Iraqi
roads, wanna bet how fast Laura Bush would get George to focus?

Day after day in the papers and on the television news, the endemic
mismanagement of corrupt corporate contracts, flouting of civil liberties,
due process of law and inability to get anything done, even in widespread
post-Katrina emergencies, produces no accountability, no compelling
changes from the Congress, no impeachment proceedings.

Poll after poll shows Bush-Cheney approval ratings below thirty percent.
About 70 percent of the people want out of Iraq. And many polls show the
public wants the Bush regime to end, believes that Bush does not care for
the people like themselves, and that corporations have too much control
over their lives.

And not only conservatives are appalled by the gigantic deficits Bush is
piling up for future generations of Americans.

This government leaves Americans defenseless when it comes to occupational
diseases, medical malpractice, air and water pollution. Bush can't even
police defective or contaminated products pouring into this country from
communist China.

Because it has no quorum, his Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is
just about powerless to impose civil penalties or otherwise regulate or
recall defective products, domestic or imported.

As reported in the useful Loyola Consumer Law Review , Bush has not filled
the third Commissioner's position for over a year which prevents the CPSC
from exercising its authority over dangerous products. The agency is in
limbo, while injuries mount.

Ralph Nader is the author of The Seventeen Traditions


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

Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy
Impeach Now
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch
July 16, 2007

Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the
US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.

Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the
form of "executive orders" that are triggered whenever Bush declares a
national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael
Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that
Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, "terrorist"
events in the near future.

Many attentive people believe that the reason the Bush administration will
not bow to expert advice and public opinion and begin withdrawing US
troops from Iraq is that the administration intends to rescue its
unpopular position with false flag operations that can be used to expand
the war to Iran.

Too much is going wrong for the Bush administration: the failure of its
Middle East wars, Republican senators jumping ship, Turkish troops massed
on northern Iraq's border poised for an invasion to deal with Kurds, and a
majority of Americans favoring the impeachment of Cheney and a
near-majority favoring Bush's impeachment. The Bush administration
desperately needs dramatic events to scare the American people and the
Congress back in line with the militarist-police state that Bush and
Cheney have fostered.

William Norman Grigg recently wrote that the GOP is "praying for a
terrorist strike" to save the party from electoral wipeout in 2008.
Chertoff, Cheney, the neocon nazis, and Mossad would have no qualms about
saving the bacon for the Republicans, who have enabled Bush to start two
unjustified wars, with Iran waiting in the wings to be attacked in a third
war.

The Bush administration has tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the
terrorist fear factor by infiltrating some blowhard groups and encouraging
them to talk about staging "terrorist" events. The talk, encouraged by
federal agents, resulted in "terrorist" arrests hyped by the media, but
even the captive media was unable to scare people with such transparent
sting operations.

If the Bush administration wants to continue its wars in the Middle East
and to entrench the "unitary executive" at home, it will have to conduct
some false flag operations that will both frighten and anger the American
people and make them accept Bush's declaration of "national emergency" and
the return of the draft. Alternatively, the administration could simply
allow any real terrorist plot to proceed without hindrance.

A series of staged or permitted attacks would be spun by the captive media
as a vindication of the neoconsevatives' Islamophobic policy, the
intention of which is to destroy all Middle Eastern governments that are
not American puppet states. Success would give the US control over oil,
but the main purpose is to eliminate any resistance to Israel's complete
absorption of Palestine into Greater Israel.

Think about it. If another 9/11-type "security failure" were not in the
works, why would Homeland Security czar Chertoff go to the trouble of
convincing the Chicago Tribune that Americans have become complacent about
terrorist threats and that he has "a gut feeling" that America will soon
be hit hard?

Why would Republican warmonger Rick Santorum say on the Hugh Hewitt radio
show that "between now and November, a lot of things are going to happen,
and I believe that by this time next year, the American public's (sic)
going to have a very different view of this war."

Throughout its existence the US government has staged incidents that the
government then used in behalf of purposes that it could not otherwise
have pursued. According to a number of writers, false flag operations have
been routinely used by the Israeli state. During the Czarist era in
Russia, the secret police would set off bombs in order to arrest those the
secret police regarded as troublesome. Hitler was a dramatic orchestrator
of false flag operations. False flag operations are a commonplace tool of
governments.

Ask yourself: Would a government that has lied us into two wars and is
working to lie us into an attack on Iran shrink from staging "terrorist"
attacks in order to remove opposition to its agenda?

Only a diehard minority believes in the honesty and integrity of the
Bush-Cheney administration and in the truthfulness of the corporate media.

Hitler, who never achieved majority support in a German election, used the
Reichstag fire to fan hysteria and push through the Enabling Act, which
made him dictator. Determined tyrants never require majority support in
order to overthrow constitutional orders.

The American constitutional system is near to being overthrown. Are coming
"terrorist" events of which Chertoff warns and Santorum promises the means
for overthrowing our constitutional democracy?

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan
administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal
editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor
of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
PaulCraigRoberts [at] yahoo.com


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

Impeachment or War?
Cheney Urges Bush to Strike Iran
By GARY LEUPP
CounterPunch
July 16, 2007

"Cheney Pushes Bush to Act on Iran." That's the headline of a very
frightening article by Ewen MacAskill and Julian Borger in the London
Guardian. Sub-heads:

 Military solution back in favour as Rice loses out

 President 'not prepared to leave conflict unresolved'

What a nightmare Dick Cheney is visiting on our planet! Isn't it time we
awaken to the fact that he's a crazed monster egging on a vain, cruel,
delusional religious fanatic of a president as he inflicts incalculable
suffering on the Middle East, sacrificing American blood and treasure in
the process? Of course many of us have awakened to that fact, one reason
why 54% of us want to see Cheney impeached. Yet he's still there,
operating in his highly secretive fashion, gaining rather than losing
influence according to MacAskill and Borger.

"The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back
in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in
18 months," they write. They cite a "well-placed source in Washington" as
stating "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo." The
source also states, "The balance has tilted [ towards the advocates of an
attack on Iran]. There is cause for concern."

Surely that concern is felt among the highest ranks of the military as
well as the average citizen whom polls indicate feels no enthusiasm for
the planned assault. But Congress has cooperated fully by passing every
bill or resolution against Iran backed by the horrifically influential
AIPAC lobby. Recall how Nancy Pelosi omitted a requirement for
Congressional authorization of any Iran attack from legislation at the
Lobby's behest?

The prospect of yet another war-based-on-lies boggles the rational mind.
But according to the Guardian, there was a meeting between Bush, Cheney,
and Pentagon and State Department officials on Iran last month, and Bush
sided with Cheney when the latter "expressed frustration at the lack of
progress" on Iran. That is to say, lack of progress in moving ahead with
the bombing of Iran. Undersecretary of State Nick Burns, the key State
Department official responsible for Iran and an advocate of negotiation,
indicated at the meeting that diplomatic talks with Iran would probably
continue beyond the end of Bush's term. For Bush and Cheney that is
unacceptable, especially because they don't believe the next
administration will have the guts to bomb.

Patrick Cronin, director of the International Institute for Strategic
Studies suggested to the Guardian that Israel is calling the shots. "If
Israel is adamant it will attack, the US will have to take decisive
action. The choices are: tell Israel no, let Israel do the job, or do the
job yourself." According to the Washington source, the administration is
"reluctant for Israel to carry out any strikes because the US would get
the blame in the region anyway."

The handwriting is on the wall here. All these reports from unnamed
sources about Iranian support for Iraqi "insurgents" of this or that
faction. The display with much fanfare of captured weapons in Iraq
identified as of Iranian manufacture. All these confident allusions to a
nuclear weapons program Iran denies exists, for which the IAEA finds no
evidence. All these assertions that Iran plans to cause a second Holocaust
through a nuclear attack on Israel. Norman Podhoretz's Wall Street Journal
op-ed piece praying for the U.S. to bomb Iran. John McCain's crooning
"Bomb-bomb-bomb Iran." The disinformation, distortion, even vilification
of Iran in popular culture. The propaganda barrage is reminiscent of that
which preceded the criminal invasion of Iraq.

The uniform support for keeping an attack "on the table" among nearly all
presidential candidates. The incessant arm-twisting of governments to back
sanctions on Iran. The abuse of the IAEA, forced by a majority vote to
find Iran "in non-compliance" with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The huge
naval buildup in the Persian Gulf. The provocative arrest of Iranian
diplomats in Iraq, protested by the Iraqi puppet government itself. The
demand that Iran renounce its legal right to enrich uranium - a demand
designed to be rejected and to constitute a pretext for regime change. The
handwriting is written in big conspicuous letters on the wall.

That doesn't mean the attack cannot be stopped. How to do so? By not
giving Cheney/Bush the remainder of their term. If 54% want Cheney
impeached, he should be impeached. NOW, before he's allowed to further
terrorize the world. Cheney impeachment hearings will weaken Bush and
increase the percentage of Americans (now 45%) favoring the president's
own impeachment. All that is required here is political will in a Congress
that has seen its approval rating plummet due largely to its failure to
stop the administration's war. Those wishing to reverse that have an easy
option: vote to impeach. And while you're at it, vote to insist on
Congress's exclusive power according to the Constitution to declare war.

Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct
Professor of Comparative Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands
and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The
Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial Intimacy
in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is also a
contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle of the wars on Iraq,
Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial Crusades.

He can be reached at: gleupp [at] granite.tufts.edu


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

White Ownership
Property is Racism
By MANUEL GARCIA, Jr.
CounterPunch
July 16, 2007

"Property is theft [La proprit c'est le vol]!"
-- Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865)

The operation of capitalism over the last five hundred years has yielded
the result that the greatest share of the world's wealth, and the firmest
grip on the control levers of the world's economy and politics, are held
by the white race. Any group photograph of the leaders of the G8 nations
will give you a clear idea of the current ethnometrics of the bounty of
the Garden of Eden.

The domestic scene in the United States reflects the global situation:
whites own and control, non-whites scramble for work and life's
necessities. We are speaking here in generalities, not absolutes (social
absolutes are rationally impossible).

To see the racial-tribal pith of capitalism we only have to list the many
names it has taken over time: the exploration for trade routes in the 15th
century led to the North and South American "conquests" during the 16th
century (the destruction of Native American civilizations), the
"mercantilism" of the 17th century (e.g., the Dutch East India Company,
the African slave trade), the "colonialism" of the 18th century (e.g., the
British Empire), and the "imperialism" of the 19th and early 20th
centuries (e.g., the Opium War and Chinese concessions, the annexation of
Hawaii, the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars).

When the "eminence grise" of the United States, Dick Cheney, speaks about
a "clash of civilizations" he is using white tribal language for the war
against Islam, which is today's primary impediment to the ambition for
global control by white tribal leaders. It is the mania for control,
rather then merely religious bigotry or fanatical avarice, that fuels the
drive for white supremacy. The Iraq War of 2003 to the present is just the
latest incident in a millennium-long drive for white tribal control that
probably started with the European Christian Crusades and the Spanish war
against Islam from about the 11th century.

In national and world societies where wealth - property - is racially
and ethnically concentrated, the defense of property is the defense of
racial preference in favor of the dominant tribe; and the primacy of
property (e.g., corporations, "capital") over individuals, in the
administration of government, laws and "justice", is the protection of
white supremacy.

Recent decisions by the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roberts have
unambiguously reaffirmed the basic principles of the United States as a
white supremacy state. The Roberts court ruled that universities cannot
use race in making preferential decisions for admission, and in another
case that child-care workers do not have the right to organize unions and
thus seek benefits and claim "property rights" in their jobs; rights such
as overtime pay (and presumably rights of due process and to grievance
proceedings before neutral arbitrators), long recognized for many other
types of laborers.

The court decisions are startlingly clear: any impediment to white
ambition is illegal. This devolved from an argument about educational
opportunities, but it seems improbable not to be taken in general. Such
illegal impediments include any "redistributive" or guilt-induced "social
leveling" legislation and administrative procedures devised in the 20th
century as a result of the Civil Rights struggles. "Affirmative action",
racial preferences for non-white university students to compensate for
historical (inter-tribal) injustices, is an impediment to the ambitions of
the type of people who can now afford to get into and through college, and
so must be dropped. Those who can't afford to locate themselves in
well-funded school districts for their primary and secondary education
shouldn't suddenly expect a "helping hand" when it comes time for college.
"Stay in your place," how much clearer can the message get? This brings to
mind Anatole France (1894), "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids
the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets
and to steal bread." Remember that: "majestic equality."

Families in all income classes need child-care. At the top, this may take
the form of nannies, tutors and selective (expensive) group facilities.
For lower income classes, child-care is provided by a mix of public and
private group facilities (licensed or not, with more children per
attendant adult as costs decrease), and a haphazard network of babysitting
for fees, or labor exchange. Child care workers are primarily women, and
in many cases they are also non-white (racially and/or ethnically).

In the United States, people of wealth can claim an impressive tax
deduction for child-care expenses by means of a "dependent care account".
One pays (by payroll deduction) into an tax-sheltered account held by a
third party (like an insurance company), and you subsequently make claims
against this account for your expenses with licensed child-care providers.
Naturally, there is a great deal of paperwork that accompanies the
circuitous movement (dare I say laundering?) of your child-care dollars,
but it is all worth it in the end because the income you report for tax
purposes has been reduced to noticeable effect. This is by far the most
lucrative child-care break available through the US Tax Code. Dependent
care accounts are a benefit offered by some employers to their "permanent"
employees.

People of modest means can also claim one or more of the direct child-care
deductions and credit offered by the US Tax Code. However, the
circumstances allowing this are that modest incomes (a "low" upper limit
for eligibility is set by the tax code) have had to support relatively
large child-care expenses. For people in such circumstances, it is usually
a much better idea to preserve the family's cash by relying on relatives
to baby-sit, or to engage neighborhood (officially "black market" if not
licensed) babysitting providers, and participate in labor exchanges
(barter). This is the real child-care system of many inner city
neighborhoods.

Imagine the expansion of the "dependent care" system to all incomes
levels, a national child-care benefit, call it "single-payer child-care."
That is what the Roberts court is firmly set to prevent. If child-care
workers are recognized as a "unit" or "type" in the labor market with
unionization rights, then the likely explosion of child-care labor costs
(to boost child-care worker pay to living-wage standards, pay for health
and pension benefits, and also fund overtime and vacation pay, as well as
paid sick leave - and maternity leave) would directly raise the price of
child-care. Because of the broad need for child-care, a radical increase
in costs would immediately result in popular political pressure for
relief. Tax relief on such a scale - and over all income levels - would
necessarily cut into the "lion's share" (from Aesop's fable) of government
subsidy enjoyed by the military, the "corporate sector", and the fat cats
lapping up Bush's "tax cut". The Roberts court knows who it serves and it
remains true to this principle: property is superior to people.

The unionization of child-care workers would be a vast expansion of
unionization in the fastest growing sector of the labor market, the
"service sector", which can be thought of as the post Civil War
replacement of slavery. It would simply not do for "property" to have to
contend with increased labor costs for domestic services. The decrease of
tax revenues for military projects, and the slackening of corporate
dividend yields due to the funding of didy-changing for the children of
the nation's workforce by unionized nannies is just too much to seriously
contemplate.

An ancillary problem with the unionization of child-care workers (and the
subsequent nationalization of child-care expenses) is that it would boost
the economics of a large segment of the non-white population: besides
elevating the situation of child-care workers, the parents using these
services would be freed of child-care worries and thus able to compete for
higher-level jobs (more time away from home), and many "minority"
child-care "businesses" would see greater profitability. The possibility
of any such social leveling must be nipped in the bud, and it has been.
Again, the message is clear, "stay in your place, the flattening of the
class distribution is not acceptable." In the USAmerican Raj, the
selection of an "affordable" nanny from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize,
Jamaica, Haiti, Nigeria, Somalia, Tibet and Black America must not be
imperiled by the imposition of "unionism" and all its attendant costs and
legalities (e.g., workman's compensation, egads!). The supply of reliable,
quiet, inexpensive and trustworthy servants must not be corrupted by
thoughts of equal opportunity.

The Roberts court today is just as dedicated to the cause of "property" as
was the Taney court during the Buchanan administration (just prior to
Lincoln's). In 1857, the Taney court determined that Dred Scott, a black
slave who had made his way to a "free" (slavery illegal) state, was
property, and that such a designation overrode any considerations of him
as a man, a human being, even a person (which would theoretically imply he
was endowed with "inalienable rights" to "life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness"). Then as now, the masters were not to be encumbered by the
aspirations of the servants.

A century and a half ago, USAmerican servants were often slaves and thus
property to be used at the discretion of their masters, the "owners".
Today, USAmerican servants are technically free and officially human
beings, even persons, but they are tribally inferior, and an expense
property-owners seek to minimize. So, our slavery is "outsourced" to a
domestic "service sector", which must be kept in check as the Roberts
court well knows; and "off-shored" to globalization sweatshops.

The most pressing "servant problem" facing the white supremacy states
today is the difficulty of disembodying foreign labor prior to its
importation and consumption, this is called "immigration." Here in the
U.S., the problem is generally seen as: how do you bring in Mexican labor
while excluding Mexican laborers? The object is to supply low-cost labor
to profitable (and subsidized) corporate agriculture (and for other jobs
of hard labor), without diluting the white population fraction and
weakening its cultural control. We want to import the work of millions,
and yet deport the human costs and needs on which the generation of that
labor energy depends. We want slaves, and that wanting "we" is the racist
core of our white supremacy economic states.

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." -- Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1762)

But, I remember about the Bastille.

Manuel Garcia, Jr. is a recently retired physicist from a US Department of
Energy laboratory. He is presently on holiday, and his technical interests
involve fluids, electricity, heat flow and energy. His non-technical
interests are varied, one being the social responsibility of scientists,
another being the social dimensions of choices for the energy technologies
that power a community. He can be reached at mango [at] idiom.com.


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