Progressive Calendar 10.22.07 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001![]() |
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Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:12:26 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 10.22.07 1. NAFTA/fair trade 10.22 8am 2. Court watch 10.22 8:30am 3. Salud/health/Cuba 10.22 2:30pm 4. Police brutality 10.22 5pm 5. Vs R-T burner 10.22 7pm 6. Cool e-tools 10.22 7pm 7. Rabbis/peace 10.22 7pm 8. Kathy Kelly/CTV 10.23 5pm 9. Limit recruiters 10.23 5:45pm 10. B.Clinton/MN/yuk 10.23 6pm 11. Salon loose talk 10.23 6:30pm 12. RNC/CD/policing 10.23 7pm 13. Vs police state 10.23 7pm 14. Nonprofit class 10.23 15. POFP meditation 10.24 8am 16. Tutu/Israel/KFAI 10.24 11am 17. Health/healing 10.24 12noon 18. Citizens League 10.24 5pm 19. Stadium scam 10.24 7pm 20. Artists unite 10.24 7pm 21. NYT editorial - With Democrats like these ... 22. Naomi Klein - Outsourcing government 23. Stephen Lendman - Nobel hypocrisy 24. ed - Life choices situation #237 --------1 of 24-------- From: Americas Policy Program <communications [at] irc-online.org> Subject: NAFTA/fair trade 10.22 8am "A New World of Citizen Action, Analysis, and Policy Options" 8am http://www.americaspolicy.org/ Laura Carlsen Presents on NAFTA Panels Introducing the latest events from the Americas Policy Program Lessons from NAFTA: Building a New Fair Trade Agenda The US-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is organizing a major "Lessons from NAFTA: Building a New Fair Trade Agenda" conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota this coming October 22-23. The Americas Policy Program is a co-sponsor of this conference and Program Director Laura Carlsen will be speaking at it on October 23 at 2:00 pm on the subject, "NAFTA Expanded: What is the Security & Prosperity Partnership?" The same day she will also appear on the NAFTA and immigration panel with Amy Shannon and Oscar Chacón, of our partner organization Enlaces America, and others who work in immigration issues in the U.S. To register or find out about the conference, please go to IATP. Laura Carlsen (lcarlsen(a)ciponline.org) is the director of the Americas Program at www.americaspolicy.org in Mexico City, where she has been a writer and political analyst for more than two decades. Recent articles by Laura Carlsen: "Deep Integration" - the Anti-Democratic Expansion of NAFTA Via Campesina Sets an International Agenda Plan Mexico and the Billion-Dollar Drug Deal For media inquiries Katie Kohlstedt, americas [at] ciponline.org, 202-536-2649 --------2 of 24-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net> Subject: Court watch 10.22 8:30am UPCOMING COURT WATCH CASE Demetrius Cooper October 22, 8:30 a.m. Hennepin County Government Center Courtroom C-1955 300 S Sixth Street, Minneapolis Demetrius was driving on the interstate when Minneapolis cops were following someone else during a high speed chase. Apparently, the MPD lost the person they were following because when Demetrius took an exit, the cops followed him. They pulled him out of his car and beat him mercilessly then placed false charges to cover up their deeds. He was found innocent of those charges and is now suing the MPD for his injuries. This is the start of his civil trial. Not only are civil trials fascinating (much more comes out than in a criminal trial), but we want to be there to show our support for justice for Demetrius. --------3 of 24-------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Salud/health/Cuba 10.22 2:30pm MON.OCT.22;FILM :Salud!HEALTHCARE in Cuba !Salud! is an excellent and inspiring documentary. I added some information about the film after the general announcement. Socialism or Nothing!---Joan Malerich A Special Preview of !Salud! The powerful film about the Cuban healthcare system Monday, October 22, 2007 2:30-4:30 pm Mayo Auditorium University of Minnesota 425 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis Sponsored by School of Public Health, AHC Multicultural society, CHIP Student International Health Committee FREE and open to the public More information: doanx034 [at] umn.edu FIND OUT WHAT PUTS CUBA ON THE MAP IN THE QUEST FOR GLOBAL HEALTH For more information, trailer and reviews go to http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/synopsis.html A Timely examination of human values and the health issues that affect us all. Some 28,000 Cuban health professionals are serving in 68 countries. ¡Salud! Explores the hearts and minds of international medical students in Cuba. ¡Salud! spans three continents to look at the philosophy and the health professionals placing Cuba on the map in the worldwide movement to make health care a global birthright. A FILM ABOUT THE PRESSING HEALTH ISSUES THE WORLD FACES TODAY Film opens in South Africa and travels to Venezuela, to Honduras to Gambia. The Gambia's Minister of Health stated: "Our infant mortality is down, life expectancy up. We wouldn't be able to narrate this success without the help of the Cubans." TRAINING HEALERS TO PROMOTE HEALTH, NOT SIMPLY TREAT DISEASE THE FILM VISITS Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine (LASM AND/OR ELAM) now the largest medical school in the world and includes 12,000 low-income students from 27 countries - nearly 100 from US. The Deal: Receive a free medical education in exchange for pledging to return to poor communities in their own country when they graduate. "¡Salud! is just the kind of film we want to showcase in our festival." Ayuko Babu, Executive Director Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), Los Angeles) on presenting ¡Salud! to the Audience Choice Award. "¡Salud! is compelling, upbeat and moving, a great tool for learning the much there is to learn from Cuba." Paul Farmer, MD, Partners in Health and Harvard Medical School. For more information, trailer and reviews go to http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/synopsis.htm --------4 of 24-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net> Subject: Police brutality 10.22 5pm Monday, October 22 5:00 p.m. Rally and March Against Police Brutality and Injustice Juvenile Justice Center, 626 S 6th Street, Minneapolis Rally and march for justice for all people who have experienced police brutality, especially our youth. --------5 of 24-------- From: Christine Frank <christinefrank [at] visi.com> Subject: Vs R-T burner 10.22 7pm Neighbors Against the Burner (NAB) will be speaking about their opposition to the Rock-Tenn Garbage Incinerator that is being proposed for the I-94 & Cretin area in St. Paul. NAB activists will explain the serious health impacts of burning Refused-Derived Fuel and propose alternatives to burning waste to create energy while still maintaining eco-friendly jobs. The forum will be held Monday, October 22nd at 7:00 PM, at Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Avenue South, West Bank, Minneapolis. The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Climate Crisis Coalition of the Twin Cities (3CTC). 3CTC will hold its regular monthly business meeting at 6:00 PM. All are welcome. SAVE EARTH! For more information call 612-879-8937. --------6 of 24-------- From: Tim Erickson <tim [at] e-democracy.org> Subject: Cool e-tools 10.22 7pm Hey check out out the latest FREE workshop at Rondo!! New (Cool) Tools for Public Participation Rondo Library (University and Dale) Monday, October 22 7:00 - 8:30 pm (On the University bus line * Free underground parking) FREE This workshop will feature demonstrations of powerful internet tools for organizations and individuals wishing to be more active in their communities. Bring your ideas and questions! We're planning demonstrations on: * Google Docs - How to use this FREE tool from Google to share your work with others (word processing and spreadsheets) * A tool to sync your bookmarks between Home and Work * Social Networking Tools * Other .......?? Please, bring along your own "cool tool" ideas to share with others! This workshop is part of our ongoing "E-Tools For All" series at the Rondo Library, Mondays from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Please go to http:// pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule for our complete schedule. --------7 of 24-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: Rabbis/peace 10.22 7pm Monday 10/22, 7 to 9 pm, two Jewish perspectives on Peace and Violence in Our Religious Traditions with Rabbi Morris Allen and Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker, Hamline United Methodist Church, 1514 Englewood Ave, St Paul. www.interfaithings.org or 651-789-3840. --------8 of 24-------- From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net> Subject: Kathy Kelly/CTV 10.23 5pm St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN 15) viewers: "Our World In Depth" cablecasts in St. Paul on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings. All households with basic cable can watch! 10/23 5pm and midnight and 10/24 10am "Kathy Kelly" Talk given at St. Joan of Arc Church on Sept. 11, 2007. --------9 of 24-------- From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: Limit recruiters 10.23 5:45pm St. Paul School Board Meeting: Support Students Wanting to Restrict Military Recruiters Tuesday, October 23, 5:45 p.m. (Meeting); 6:30 p.m. (Public Commentary Call to sign up at 651-767-8149.) St. Paul School Administration Building, 360 Colborne, St. Paul. Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR), the Twin Cities metro area student group, asks for your support in urging the St. Paul and Minneapolis School Boards to restrict military recruiters' access to high schools. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools allow recruiters access to schools, but YAWR asks that recruiters be restricted to Career Centers where school counselors can supervise the recruiters' contact with students. They do not want recruiters in school cafeterias, at sporting and other extra-curricular events or elsewhere around schools and students. The military has had large presences at School Board meetings in the Public Commentary times, and has been allowed to freely advocate for their position with school boards. Please come support the students who actually attend the schools and live in the community, in advocating for their position. Also: Please phone or e-mail the School Board in your district with your concerns. --------10 of 24-------- From: Leslie Reindl <alteravista [at] earthlink.net> Subject: B.Clinton/MN/yuk 10.23 6pm Hello People - Anyone able to flyer and poster outside the State Theater next Tuesday, Oct. 23? A small group is already planning to be there - join them! -- You are cordially invited to an evening With President William Jefferson [NAFTA-doer] Clinton Tuesday, October 23 6:00pm State Theater 805 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, MN --------11 of 24------- From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net> Subject: Salon loose talk 10.23 6:30pm This week, Oct. 23, we will have an open discussion. Also, we will see the video of the discussion between Yoko Ono and Amy Goodman on Democracy Now last week. The discussion shows clips of the film, The US vs. John Lennon which the salon saw recently. Also, this same evening, the St Paul School Board will be meeting at the Administration Office on Colburn St. and Youth Against War and Racism will be present to ask the school board about military recruitment in our public schools. If anyone can go to that, please do, as YAWR needs much support. Pax Salons ( http://justcomm.org/pax-salon ) are held (unless otherwise noted in advance): Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Mad Hatter's Tea House, 943 W 7th, St Paul, MN Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats. Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information. --------12 of 24-------- From: "Andregg, Michael M." <mmandregg [at] stthomas.edu> Subject: RNC/CD/policing 10.23 7pm The Justice and Peace Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas invites you to a Community Discussion of: The Republican National Convention (RNC): Civil Disobedience, Community Policing and Moral Courage Tuesday, October 23, 2007 from 7 to 9 pm, in the main Auditorium of the O'Shaughnessy Education Center (at the University of St. Thomas, on Cleveland Ave. near Summit Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) On September 1-4 of 2008, the Republican Party will hold its National Convention in St. Paul, with other venues scattered through the Twin Cities. Highly polarized national politics means that thousands of protestors and lobbyists of all stripes will also come to express their political views, concerns or interests on dozens of issues. Some will be extremely outraged by national policies that are unlikely to change between now and then. It happens that the St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) is about 2 generations ahead of many others in operationalizing and using a philosophy called "Community Policing." That aims to create more trust than sometimes exists between police and the communities they work in, to better protect EVERYONE's personal freedoms, safety and property. The visit by the RNC will provide a unique arena for guarding the free speech rights of both protestors and conventioneers, and protecting all citizens' persons and property from harm when many thousands of outsid ers visit our fair city. Panelists: Dick Bernard, President, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, a consortium of 68 peace groups in Minnesota. Responsible citizen of a democracy, human being. [ <http://www.mapm.org/>www.mapm.org ] Gerald Schlabach, Director, UST's Justice and Peace Studies program and a Catholic / Mennonite, pacifist, peace worker. Responsible citizen of a democracy, human being. Matt Bostrom, Assistant Chief of Homeland Security and Support Services for SPPD in charge of all RNC affairs for the St. Paul Police. Responsible citizen, human being. Tom Smith, Assistant Chief, St. Paul Police Department, head of Operations Division for all St. Paul jurisdictions. Responsible citizen of a democracy, human being. This event is free and open to the public. --------13 of 24-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: Vs police state 10.23 7pm Tuesday, 10/23, 7 pm, documentary "A Force More Powerful" about nonviolent campaigns against police state dominance, Wm Mitchell College of Law, Auditorium, 875 Summit Ave, St Paul. ccfilmseries [at] gmail.com or http://www.creativeconversations.info/ --------14 of 24-------- From: Tim Erickson <tim [at] e-democracy.org> Subject: Nonprofit classes 10.23 I just heard about a series of free workshops in nonprofit leadership offered by Hamline University and the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches. Registration is required but there's no fee. Word following the first on Tuesday is that it was excellent. More info: http://gmcc.org/Compassionworkshops.htm Here are some of the sessions coming up: Oct 23 - Human resources performance appraisals Oct 30 - Marketing & communications Nov 6 - Nonprofit accountability & transparency Nov 13 - Strategic planning for board & management Nov 20 - Conflict resolution Nov 27 - Nonprofit fundraising: research methods Dec 4 - Grant writing --------15 of 24-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: POFP meditation 10.24 8am Wednesday, 10/24, 8 am, People of Faith Peacemakers host longtime social justice activists Ruth and Loren Halvorson talking about "Journey Inward and Journey Outward: Sustaining Social Transformation Through Prayer and Meditation," St Martin's Table, 2001 Riverside, Mpls. www.justview.org --------16 of 24-------- From: Andy Driscoll <andy [at] driscollgroup.com> Subject: Tutu/Israel/KFAI 10.24 11am LISTEN OCTOBER 24 @ 11AM on KFAI 90.3/106.7: ARCHBISHOP TUTU AND ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN DIALOGUE IN AMERICA St. Thomas Dennis Deases uninviting, then re-inviting, of Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has opened yet another conversation of how the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict is discussed here and everywhere. (Tutu will now appear on behalf of PeaceJam at Metropolitan State University in the Spring.) Questions linger over how and if people concerned about the Mideast crisis can criticize the Israeli government and its policies and actions without being labeled anti-Semitic. Are critics of Israel anti-Semitic? Do critics of some pro-Israel lobbying organizations deserve the label? Where does dialogue about the Middle East cross over into ethnic slur? What voice does the Palestinian point of view have in this issue? GUESTS: * REP. FRANK HORNSTEIN, Minneapolis * POLITICAL SCIENCE PROF. TOM OCONNELL, Metropolitan State University * KAREN REDLEAF, Advocate for Palestinian human rights with ANDY DRISCOLL, Host and Producer and LYNNELL MICKELSEN, Co-host Minneapolis 90.3/106.7 Saint Paul CALL IN: 612-341-0980 ONLINE @ KFAI.ORG: <http://www.kfai.org/node/682> A Production of CIVIC/MEDIA/MINNESOTA --------17 of 24-------- From: marketing [at] intermediaarts.org <marketing [at] intermediaarts.org> Subject: Health/healing 10.24 12noon Beyond the Gallery: "Art Treats" Brown Bag Dialogues Grab a sandwich and join us at Intermedia Arts for this exciting new series of intimate lunch-hour conversations with local artists and activists. Navvigating Medical Waters: Cultural Aspects of Health and Healing with Marlina Gonzalez Wednesday, October 24, 2007 12:00-1:00 PM at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN Free and open to the public --------18 of 24--------- From: Tim Erickson <tim [at] e-democracy.org> Subject: Citizens League 10.24 5pm Policy Happens Here! The 2007 Citizens League Annual Meeting Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Doors open at 5:00 p.m., program begins at 6:30 p.m.. dessert reception at 7:30 p.m. The Milwaukee Depot, 225 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis Admission is free; cash bar; complimentary hors d'oeuvres and dessert buffet It's time to join friends and neighbors, active citizens, elected officials, and policy wonks to talk about the state of public affairs and the work of the Citizens League at the state's best civic event. It's free and open to all - please come and bring a friend! --------19 of 24-------- Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:25:10 -0500 Subject: Stadium scam 10.24 7pm It Is October and that means two things, Halloween and the Viking Stadium Proposal are both coming back from the dead! Next Meeting: Wednesday October 24 at 7pm The following months we will meet the Second Tuesday of every month starting Tuesday Nov. 13. Centennial High School Red Building - Room 104 4704 North Road Circle Pines, MN The red building is on the east end of the high school complex, and is set back furthest from North Road. Enter on the East side of the building. The largest parking lots are near this building. The only question left is: when will our representatives stop entertaining these giveaway welfare schemes to the richest men at the expense of our future. Please join us for another in the series "WHO WILL PAY FOR ZYGI'S STADIUM?" This could just as well mean a metro wide sales tax, including the 30 year mortgage for 2 billion dollars. Can someone calculate how many new bridges that could buy? WE WILL HAVE LAWN SIGNS AVAILABLE AT THE MEETING. AGENDA ITEMS INCLUDE: Website Lawn Signs for sale! What is happening in the 2008 Legislative Session? How do we join our friends to the south metro to stop this, the newest welfare scheme? Also coming to a location not so near you! The Stadium Commission has decided to hold meetings to engage some of the public. I say some because conspicuous because of its absence are any meetings anywhere in Anoka County. Here are the stadium commission's new Vikings stadium LISTENING TOUR dates. Duluth 10/23 Virginia 10/24 Moorhead 10/30 St. Cloud 11/1 Marshall 11/7 Mankato 11/8 Rochester 11/13 Woodbury 11/14 (luncheon) Minneapolis 11/14 (evening) Eden Prairie 11/15 Who wants to go and ask why Anoka County is once again left out of public input to the process. Now would be a good time to think about what you will write to your representatives to tell them we do not need to waste more money on stadium giveaways to Billionaires. Please continue to tell them we want a vote as required by state law for any tax increase to pay for a stadium. Write please do it again. Any Questions, comments contact me at: Ron Holch rrholch [at] attg.net [And we think we live in a democracy! We and the world are owned lock stock and barrel by a few worthless billionaires. Until we have the courage to change it. Kick these scum off their mountain tops! -ed] --------20 of 24-------- From: "Susan Hensel Design,LLC" <Susan_Hensel_Design_LLC [at] mail.vresp.com> Subject: Artists unite 10.24 7pm Wednesday, October 24 Artists Unite, a Minneapolis artists salon, will meet from 7-9. All artists welcome to talk art, shows, gossip, & support one another. Susan Hensel Gallery 3441 Cedar Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55407 612 722-2324 ---------21 of 24--------- With Democrats Like These ... The New York Times | Editorial Saturday 20 October 2007 Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again, to modernize the law on electronic spying in a way that permits robust intelligence gathering on terrorists without undermining the Constitution. The task before Congress was to review and improve an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, that was pushed through the Capitol just before the summer break. That bill endorsed warrantless wiretapping and gutted other aspects of the 1978 law. House Democrats drafted a measure that, while imperfect, was an improvement to the one passed this summer. But before the House could vote, Republicans tied up the measure in bureaucratic knots and Democratic leaders pulled it. Senate Democrats did even worse, accepting a Potemkin compromise that endorsed far too much of the bad summer law. We were left wondering who is really in charge, when in a bipartisan press release announcing the agreement, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond, described the bill as "a delicate arrangement of compromises" that could not be changed in any way. The committee's chairman, Jay Rockefeller, didn't object. As the debate proceeds, Americans will be told that the delicate compromises were about how the government may spy on phone calls and electronic messages in the age of instant communications. Republicans have already started blowing hot air about any naysayers trying to stop spies from tracking terrorists. No one is doing that. The question really is whether Congress should toss out chunks of the Constitution because Mr. Bush finds them inconvenient and some Democrats are afraid to look soft on terrorism. FISA requires a warrant to spy on communications within the United States or between people in this country and people abroad. After 9/11, Mr. Bush ordered the National Security Agency to spy, without a warrant, on communications between the United States and other countries. The N.S.A. obtained data from American telecommunications companies by telling them it was legal. After The Times disclosed the program in late 2005, Mr. Bush looked for a way to legalize it retroactively. He found it this summer. FISA also requires a warrant to intercept strictly foreign communications that happen to move through data networks in the United States. That Internet age flaw has a relatively simple fix. But the White House seized the opportunity to ram through the far broader bill, which could authorize warrantless surveillance of Americans' homes, offices and phone records; permit surveillance of Americans abroad without probable cause; and sharply limit the power of the court that controls electronic spying. Democrats justified their votes for this bad bill by noting that the law expires in February and by promising to fix it this fall. The House bill did, in fact, restore most judicial safeguards. But the deal cooked up by Mr. Rockefeller and the White House doesn't. It would not expire for six years, which is too long. And it would dismiss pending lawsuits against companies that turned data over to the government without a warrant. This provision is not primarily about protecting patriotic businessmen, as Mr. Bush claims. It's about ensuring that Mr. Bush and his aides never have to go to court to explain how many laws they've broken. It is a collusion between lawmakers and the White House that means that no one is ever held accountable. Democratic lawmakers said they reviewed the telecommunications companies' cooperation (by reading documents selected by the White House) and concluded that lawsuits were unwarranted. Unlike them, we still have faith in the judicial system, which is where that sort of conclusion is supposed to be reached, not in a Senate back room polluted by the politics of fear. There were bright spots in the week. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon managed to attach an amendment requiring a warrant to eavesdrop on American citizens abroad. That merely requires the government to show why it believes the American is in league with terrorists, but Mr. Bush threatened to veto the bill over that issue. Senator Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, said he would put a personal hold on the compromise cooked up by Senator Rockefeller and the White House. Otherwise, it was a very frustrating week in Washington. It was bad enough having a one-party government when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. But the Democrats took over, and still the one-party system continues. ---------22 of 24--------- Outsourcing Government by Naomi Klein Published on Saturday, October 20, 2007 by the Los Angeles Times "We didn't want to get stuck with a lemon". That's what Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said to a House committee last month. He was referring to the "virtual fence" planned for the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada. If the entire project goes as badly as the 28-mile prototype, it could turn out to be one of the most expensive lemons in history, projected to cost $8 billion by 2011. Boeing, the company that landed the contract - the largest ever awarded by the Department of Homeland Security - announced this week that it will finally test the fence after months of delay due to computer problems. Heavy rains have confused its remote-controlled cameras and radar, and the sensors can't tell the difference between moving people, grazing cows or rustling bushes. But this debacle points to more than faulty technology. It exposes the faulty logic of the Bush administration's vision of a hollowed-out government run everywhere possible by private contractors. According to this radical vision, contractors treat the state as an ATM, withdrawing massive contracts to perform core functions like securing borders and interrogating prisoners, and making deposits in the form of campaign contributions. As President Bush's former budget director, Mitch Daniels, put it: "The general idea - that the business of government is not to provide services but to make sure that they are provided - seems self-evident to me". The flip side of the Daniels directive is that the public sector is rapidly losing the ability to fulfill its most basic responsibilities - and nowhere more so than in the Department of Homeland Security, which, as a Bush creation, has followed the ATM model since its inception. For instance, when the controversial border project was launched, the department admitted that it had no idea how to secure the borders and, furthermore, didn't think it was its job to figure it out. Homeland Security's deputy secretary told a group of contractors that "this is an unusual invitation" - We're asking you to come back and tell us how to do our business". Private companies would not only perform the work, they would identify what work needed to be done, write their own work orders, implement them and oversee them. All the department had to do was sign the checks. And as one former top Homeland Security official put it: "If it doesn't come from industry, we are not going to be able to get it". Put simply, if any given job can't be outsourced, it can"t be done. This philosophy, so central to the Bush years, explains statistics like this one: In 2003, the U.S. government handed out 3,512 contracts to companies to perform domestic security functions, from bomb detection to data mining. In the 22-month period ending in August 2006, the Homeland Security Department had issued more than 115,000 security-related contracts. If government is now an ATM, perhaps the war on terror is best understood not as a war but as a sprawling new economy, one based on continued disaster and instability. In this economy, the Bush team doesn't run the venture exactly; rather, it plays the role of deep-pocketed venture capitalist, always on the lookout for new security start-ups (overwhelmingly headed by former employees of the Pentagon and Homeland Security). Roger Novak, whose firm invests in homeland security companies, explains it like this: "Every fund is seeing how big the [government] trough is and asking, how do I get a piece of that action?" The Boeing border contract is just one piece of that action. Another, of course, is the security contractor boom in Iraq, currently starring Blackwater USA. Last month, when the Iraqi government accused Blackwater guards of massacring civilians in Baghdad, it became clear that the U.S. Embassy had no intention of severing ties with Blackwater because it could not function without it. Perhaps that's why that same bureau rushed to respond to the Iraqi government's allegations in the September shooting with a "spot report" of its own: that Blackwater guards had come under attack and had responded accordingly. Days later, it emerged that an embassy contractor wrote the report - a contractor who worked for Blackwater. The administration then sent in the FBI to investigate the shootings. Yet it quickly emerged that the FBI investigators could well be guarded by Blackwater. The FBI announced that other arrangements would be made - but this was an exception. And remember Hurricane Katrina, when contractors -p including Blackwater . descended on New Orleans? FEMA was already so hollowed-out by then that it had to hire a contractor to help manage all the contractors. And with all the controversies, the Army recently decided it needed to update its manual for dealing with contractors - giving the job of drafting the new policy to one of its major contractors. It still looks like a government - with impressive buildings, presidential news briefings, policy battles. But pull back the curtain and there is nobody home. The Blackwater scandal could have provided an opportunity to question the wisdom of turning state security into a for-profit activity - but not in today's Washington. Instead, rather than replacing its cowboy contractors with troops, the State Department says it will put video cameras on the vehicles they guard. Video surveillance is one of the most lucrative sectors of the war-on-terror economy. This could even turn out to be great news for the top executives at Blackwater, who have launched a new private intelligence company billed as a "one-stop service able to meet all the intelligence, operational and security needs". If the past is any indication, there is no reason why the men from Blackwater cannot be contracted to spy on Blackwater. Indeed, it would be the perfect expression of the hollow state that Bush built. Naomi Klein is the author of many books, including her most recent, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which will be published in September. Visit Naomi's website at nologo.org. 2007 The Los Angeles Times --------23 of 24-------- Nobel Hypocrisy by Stephen Lendman October 19, 2007 Alfred Nobel was a wealthy nineteenth century Swedish-born chemist, engineer, inventor of dynamite, armaments manufacturer and war profiteer who remade his image late in life by establishing the awarding of prizes in his name that includes the one for peace. This most noted award was inspired by his one-time secretary and peace activist, Bertha von Suttner, who was nominated four times and became the first of only 12 women to be honored. Since it was established in 1901, the Peace Prize was awarded to 95 individuals and 20 organizations. Some recipients were worthy like Martin Luther King, Jane Addams and Albert Schweitzer but too many were not including this year's honoree. Al Gore joins a long list of past "ignoble" recipients like warrior presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and supporter of rogue regimes Jimmy Carter. He's also among the likes of genocidists Henry Kissinger and three former Israeli prime ministers - Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin - along with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan who never met a US-led war he didn't love and support. So much for promoting peace and what this award is supposed to signify. More on this below. Almost anyone can be nominated for the prize and look who were but didn't get it - Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin and more recently George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Rush Limbaugh laughably. In contrast, one of the most notable symbols of non-violence in the 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi, was nominated four times but never won. More recently, anti-war activist Kathy Kelly, co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, now known as Voices for Creative Nonviolence, got three nominations but was passed over each time for less deserving candidates. Her "reward" instead was to be sentenced in 2004 to three months in federal prison for crossing the line into Fort Benning, Georgia in protest against the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation that's commonly called "the school of assassins." Peace Prize Awards to War Criminals Henry Kissinger was likely the most noted war criminal ever to win the Nobel Prize (in 1973 with Vietnam's Le Duc Tho who declined his award saying there was no peace in his country). The sheer scope of his crimes is breathtaking: -- three to four million Southeast Asian deaths in the Vietnam war, -- the bloody overthrow of a democratic government in Chile and support for Latin American dictators, -- backed Surharto's takeover of West Papua and his invasion of East Timor killing hundreds of thousands, -- supported the Khmer Rouge early on and its reign of terror rise to power, -- backed Pakistan's "delicacy and tact" in overthrowing Bangladesh's democratically elected government causing a half million deaths, and much more around the world as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the world body he represented won their award in 2001 "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world." It wasn't for what Annan did in his various UN roles. Early on, he had a position in the Secretariat's services department in New York. He then got subordinate responsibility for the Middle East and Africa in the "special political affairs" department. There his support for Washington's call for troops to be sent to Somalia in the early 1990s helped put him in charge of all peacekeeping operations in February, 1993. In that role, he prevented measures from being taken to stop the impending Rwanda slaughter he was warned about in advance that caused around 800,000 deaths on his watch. He also kept the Security Council uninformed of what was coming. At the behest of then UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright and without consulting Secretary-General Boutras-Boutras-Ghali, Annan sided with the Clinton administration's authorization of NATO to illegally bomb Serb positions in Bosnia in 1995. It got him the Secretary-General's job in January, 1997 in which one observer noted he "courted the wrath of the developing world by rejecting anticolonialism in favor of moral principles cherished in the West." Kofi Annan's Nobel award is a testimony to hypocrisy for a man whose ten years as Secretary-General failed to fulfill the mandate he was sworn to uphold: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war; to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights; to establish conditions (promoting) justice....equal rights of men and women (in all nations and respect for) international law (and) social progress....to ensure....armed force shall not be used." During his ten year tenure in the top UN job, Annan: -- supported Iraqi economic sanctions that caused around 1.5 million deaths including over one million children under age five; -- backed the Bush administration's illegal 2003 Iraq invasion and occupation that's now taken an additional 1.2 million or more lives; -- supported the illegal Afghanistan war and occupation; -- remained mute on the possibility of a wider war with Iran even if it includes first strike nuclear weapons; -- made no efforts to work for peace in the Middle East including in Occupied Palestine nor did he denounce Israel's 2006 war of aggression against Lebanon; -- remained loyal to the West and ignored the plight of his own people throughout the African continent including the immiseration of South African blacks post-apartheid; -- allowed thuggish paramilitary Blue Helmets to occupy Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sudan. More on UN peacekeeping below. Kofi Annan's sole achievement was his uncompromising complicity with the Clinton and Bush administrations' worst crimes of war and against humanity. His loyalty earned him the Nobel award that signified nothing to do with peace he disdained. UN Peacekeeping Forces got the Nobel award in 1988 for missions the UN defines as "a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace." Blue Helmets supposedly are sent to conflict and post-conflict areas to perform multiple services that include as top priority restoring order, maintaining peace and security and providing for the needs of people during transitional periods until local governments can take over on their own. Most often, Blue Helmets end up creating more conflict than resolution and function mainly as unwanted paramilitary enforcers or occupiers. At other times, they become counterproductive or ineffective and end up doing more harm than good. Since 1948, over five dozen peacekeeping operations have been undertaken. Most were dismal failures including the first ever UNTSO mission during Israel's so-called "War of Independence." The operation is still ongoing after nearly 50 years, peace was never achieved, Blue Helmets are there but play no active role, and the world community is silent in the face of Israeli crimes of war and against humanity. The same condition is true in Haiti where for the first time in UN history MINUSTAH peacekeepers were deployed to enforce a coup d'etat against a democratically-elected president. They disdain peace and stability and function instead as paramilitary occupiers indiscriminately terrorizing and killing unarmed civilians in service to Western capital. Three former Israeli prime ministers also got Nobel Peace Prizes - Menachem Begin in 1978 and Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1994. All three men committed crimes of war and against humanity as did all other Israeli prime ministers since David Ben-Gurion took office May 14, 1948 after the new State of Israel declared it independence as an exclusive Jewish state. Nonetheless, the Nobel Committee awarded them its highest honor for furthering the cause of peace they disdained by using their position to inflict on the Palestinian people what Edward Said once said was Israel's "refined viciousness." Menachem Begin was a particularly virulent racist and Arab hater calling Palestinians "two-legged beasts" and saying Jews were the "Master Race" and "divine gods on this planet." Then there's the current Nobel Peace Prize honoree, Al Gore. CounterPunchers Alex Cockburn and Jeff St. Clair wrote the book on him in 2000 titled "Al Gore: A User's Manual." It's a critical account of a "man whom his parents raised from birth to be president of the United States" and who always put politics over principle. He built his credentials for the high office around pro-business, pro-war, anti-union and phony environmental advocacy as no friend of the earth then so who can believe he's one now. His 1992 book "Earth in the Balance" was more theater than advocacy. In it, he assessed the forces of planetary destruction that included air and water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, overpopulation, ozone depletion and global warming. He highlighted the impact of auto emissions and need to phase out the internal combustion engine but made no effort in office to do it. Then as vice-president he used his "green credentials" to sell the pro-business, anti-worker, anti-environmental NAFTA to the environmental movement. He also supported clear-cutting logging practices including in old-growth areas. He ignored an assessment that this practice risked the extinction of hundreds of species. He backed a 1995 spending bill "salvage logging rider" that opened millions of National Forest lands to logging and exempted sales of the harvest from environmental laws and judicial review for two years. He and Clinton further allowed South Florida's sugar barons to devastate thousands of Everglades acres and gave away consumer Delaney Clause protection that kept carcinogens out of our food supply. Throughout his political life, Gore supported Big Oil and was tied to Occidental Petroleum Company and its "ruthless tycoon" chief, Armand Hammer. In return for supporting company interests, he got political favors and patronage from Hammer and his successor, Ray Irani who was a major DNC contributor and got to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom as a bonus reward. He's also been a shill for the nuclear industry that won't solve or even alleviate global warming and the threat it poses according to nuclear expert Helen Caldicott. Commercial reactors discharge huge amounts of greenhouse gases along with hundreds of thousands of curies of deadly radioactive gases and other radioactive elements besides being sitting ducks for retaliatory terror attacks experts believe will eventually happen. Earlier in the House (1977 - 1985) and Senate (1985 - 1993) and as vice-president Gore also shilled for the Pentagon and defense contractors. He "played midwife to the MX missile," opposed efforts to cut defense spending, and backed the Reagan administration's Grenada invasion and Central American wars. He partnered with Clinton's Balkan wars in the 1990s that destroyed Yugoslavia so NATO could expand into Central and Eastern Europe for its markets, resources and cheap, exploitable labor. In Kosovo, he collaborated with Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) paramilitary thugs against Serbia and ignored their connection to organized crime. He earlier traded his vote for the Gulf war for prime time coverage of his speech. He then backed ousting Saddam by coup or any other means and supported the most comprehensive genocidal sanctions ever imposed on a country that killed a likely 1.5 million or more Iraqis including over one million children under age five. Cockburn and St. Clair fill in more blanks about a political opportunist who supported Big Tobacco, "exploited his sister's death and son's (near-fatal) accident for....political advantage; became a soul brother of Newt Gingrich; race-baited Jesse Jackson; pushed Clinton into destroying the New Deal; plotted to stop Democrats from recapturing Congress in 1996" so "his rival Dick Gephard" wouldn't become Speaker; "leached campaign cash from nearly every corporate lobbyist" in town, and, as already covered, lied about being a friend of the earth by disdaining environmentalism through his actions. Does this man deserve a Nobel Peace Prize (let alone to be president) along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." The Nobel Committee ignored Gore's environmental record and went on to say "for a long time (he's) been one of the world's leading environmental politicians (through) his strong commitment, reflected in political activity, (that) strengthened the struggle against climate change." Contrary to his easily accessed public record, not his posturing, The Nobel Committee blindly added "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted." In point of fact, throughout his political life, Gore's actions betrayed the public's trust and still do. He and his wife live in two large energy-consuming homes: a 10,000 square foot, eight bedroom one in Nashville and a 4000 square foot one in Arlington, VA. The Gores also own a third home in Carthage, TN. In both Washington and Nashville, utility companies offer a wind energy green alternative to customers for a small per kilowatt hour premium. Gore can easily afford it, but public records show no evidence he's does it in either residence. Alex Cockburn gets the last word on a man who shills for privilege, has plenty for himself, and like George Bush disdains the public interest: "Al Gore distills in his single person the disrepair of liberalism in America today, and almost every unalluring feature of the Democratic Party" that's mostly windistinguishable from the other side of the aisle in a city where the criminal class is bipartisan. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Steve Lendman News and Information Hour on TheMicroEffect.com Mondays at noon US central time. --------24 of 24--------- Life choices situation #237 You and your sailor buddies have been out to sea for 18 months. Finally you dock for one night at a small "service" island. The INS has just deported all the women. The local house of ill repute has only: a) 20 rotting sheep carcasses, two weeks dead of the plague, or b) 30 blood-stained rabbits retching with advanced AIDS. Your choice: x) neither; do without y) the lesser of two evils ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments
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