| Progressive Calendar 10.05.08 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001 tc.umn.edu)
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| Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 08:34:14 -0700 (PDT) | |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 10.05.08 1. Stillwater vigil 10.05 1pm 2. 3CD/AM950 10.05 3pm 3. Somalia 10.06 1pm 4. Abu Ghraib/film 10.06 6pm 5. Voting rights 10.06 6:30pm 6. E-video 10.06 7pm 7. Save energy 10.06 7pm 8. Rush Line 10.07 5:30pm 9. Civil rights 10.07 5:30pm 10. Mobile labor 10.07 7:30pm 11. Dave Lindorff - The rebellion that failed 12. Mike Whitney - The New American Century: cut short by 92 years 13. ed - Congress on its knees (haikus) 14. ed - Congress bumperstickers --------1 of 14-------- From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net> Subject: Stillwater vigil 10.05 1pm A weekly Vigil for Peace Every Sunday, at the Stillwater bridge from 1- 2 p.m. Come after Church or after brunch ! All are invited to join in song and witness to the human desire for peace in our world. Signs need to be positive. Sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Peacemakers. If you have a United Nations flag or a United States flag please bring it. Be sure to dress for the weather . For more information go to <http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/>http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/ For more information you could call 651 275 0247 or 651 999 - 9560 --------2 of 14-------- From: James Mayer <jmayer [at] academymayer.com> Subject: 3CD/AM950 10.05 3pm NATIONAL IMPACT OF LOCAL ACTION BY MINNESOTANS: THE ASHWIN MADIA CAMPAIGN Of the People: CALL FOR ACTION AM 950 Call-in line: 952-946-6205 Of the People: This Sunday, October 5th at 3 p.m. on AM 950--Air America Minnesota's new name; call letters: ktnf--with Host James Mayer. Threats to a democratic and healthy society don't go away for the weekend. Neither does the bad news the corporate media uses to make us feel shocked, depressed or even helpless. But for a few weekend moments you can refresh and regenerate your energy on Of the People, a place to go for good news that the "news" corporations monopolizing our airwaves seldom let through: people taking action together, on real solutions. That's what people are doing right now in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District. Be with us tomorrow, Sunday, at 3:00 along with congressional candidate Ashwin Madia's campaign manager, Stu Rosenberg, as we get a complete picture of the local political action by the people that is attracting national attention. To listen to us on AM 950 KTNF (formerly Air America Minnesota), go to 950 on your AM radio dial, or Listen online: http://www.am950ktnf.com/listen --------3 of 14-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Somalia 10.06 1pm Monday, 10/6, 1 pm, Somali ambassador to the U.N. Yusuf Mohamed Ismail speaksSundin Music Hall, Hamline University, 1531 Hewitt, St Paul. http://www.hamline.edu --------4 of 14-------- From: Lauren Merritt <merri350 [at] umn.edu> Subject: Abu Ghraib/film 10.06 6pm October 6, 2008 - Film Screening: "Standard Operating Procedure" (2008) documenting torture and conditions at the US Forces base Abu Ghraib. Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Cost: Free and open to the public. Directed by Errol Morris. Is it possible for a photograph to change the world? Photographs taken by soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison changed the war in Iraq and changed Americas image of itself. Yet, a central mystery remains. Did the notorious Abu Ghraib photographs constitute evidence of systematic abuse by the American military, or were they documenting the aberrant behavior of a few bad apples? We set out to examine the context of these photographs. Why were they taken? What was happening outside the frame? We talked directly to the soldiers who took the photographs and who were in the photographs. Who are these people? What were they thinking? Over two years of investigation, we amassed a million and a half words of interview transcript, thousands of pages of unredacted reports, and hundreds of photographs. The story of Abu Ghraib is still shrouded in moral ambiguity, but it is clear what happened there. The Abu Ghraib photographs serve as both an expose and a coverup. An expose, because the photographs offer us a glimpse of the horror of Abu Ghraib; and a coverup because they convinced journalists and readers they had seen everything, that there was no need to look further. In recent news reports, we have learned about the destruction of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation tapes. A coverup. It has been front page news. But the coverup at Abu Ghraib involved thousands of prisoners and hundreds of soldiers. We are still learning about the extent of it. Many journalists have asked about the smoking gun of Abu Ghraib. It is the wrong question. As Philip Gourevitch has commented, Abu Ghraib is the smoking gun. The underlying question that we still have not resolved, four years after the scandal: how could American values become so compromised that Abu Ghraib and the subsequent coverup could happen? Free food will be provided. Location: MOOS Health Sciences Tower (East Bank), 515 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN --------5 of 14-------- From: "Harris, Alison" <Alison.Harris [at] mail.house.gov> Subject: Voting rights 10.06 6:30pm Congressman Keith Ellison will be having a forum on Voting Rights with a particular focus on Voter Re-Enfranchisement (ie ex felons). Keith will be speaking about legislation as well as to hear from people on the ground what their concerns are as far as voting. Also, there will be 4 or 5 people on the panel to tell their story or discuss research they've done or programs that they are working on that pertain to voting re enfranchisement. Monday, October 6th 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Powderhorn Park 3400 15th Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55407 Voting Rights Legislation Congressman Ellison has introduced: v H.R. 2457: To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to permit individuals to register to vote in an election for Federal Office on the date of the election. v H.R. 4026 To prohibit election officials from requiring a photo ID as a condition for voting in a Federal election. This is a great opportunity to share information and begin a dialogue about solutions to protect the voting rights of United States citizens as well as ways to expand democracy. --------6 of 14-------- From: Tim Erickson <tim [at] e-democracy.org> Subject: E-video 10.06 7pm SPED Outreach Workshop - Fall 2008 ALL workshops listed are FREE on Mondays at 7:00 PM. Unless otherwise noted, all are in the Electronic Classroom at Rondo Community Outreach Library (University & Dale, in St. Paul). Oct 6th - Online Video Gain hands-on experience recording, editing and uploading video. Today it is easier than ever to use video to make yourself heard online; come learn how. --------7 of 14-------- From: Sean Gosiewski <sean [at] afors.org> Subject: Save energy 10.06 7pm Edina Community Energy Workshop - Saving Energy - Easy as 1,2,3 Oct. 6, 2008 7-9pm Edina Community Center , 5701 Normandale Road, Room 350 To help prepare for the winter months the Energy and Environment Commission is sponsoring a free class at the Edina Community Center with Home Energy Auditor Erik Lindberg “Home Energy Audits and Winterizing your Home” For Info - call 952-920-1547 www.cityofedina.com PDF Flyer --------8 of 14-------- From: Annie <Annie [at] southsidefamilyschool.org> Subject: Civil rights 10.07 5:30pm You are cordially invited to attend the premiere presentation of the Civil Rights Trip Slideshow. October 7th, 2008 5:30 to 7 pm Pillsbury Community Center 35th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis Free In March 2008, 25 students in grades 6-8 and their teachers journeyed to the southern United States to learn from activists who helped make profound changes during the Civil Rights Movement. Through indirect study and direct contact with their heroes and sheroes, students deepened their understanding of the vital role young people can play to build a better world. These students are excited to share their knowledge and experiences with you in a slideshow that they will present on October 7th. We hope to see you there! You can make a donation to the slideshow by visiting <http://www.southsidefamilyschool.org/> www.southsidefamilyschool.org and clicking on donate. Contributions help us present the slideshow to schools and community organizations in the upcoming year. --------9 of 14-------- From: Charlie Swope <mcswope [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Rush Line 10.07 5:30pm The Rush Line Corridor Task Force will hold a series of public meetings over the next year to discuss transit along the 80-mile corridor from downtown St. Paul to Hinckley. Several bus rapid transit, light rail transit, and commuter rail options will be open for community discussion at a pair of open houses this month: October 7: 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 6355 379th Street, with presentations at 6 and 7 p.m. Click here for a map to the open house. --------10 of 14-------- From: david unowsky <david.unowsky [at] gmail.com> Subject: Mobile labor 10.07 7:30pm MAGERS AND QUINN PRESS RELEASE : For Immediate Distribution : Rinku Sen and Fekkak Mamdouh discuss their book The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization, 7:30pm Tuesday October 7 at Magers & Quinn Booksellers. The Accidental American advocates a bold new approach to immigration: a free international flow of labor to match globalization's free flow of capital. After all, corporations are encouraged to move anywhere in the world they can maximize their earnings. People shouldn't have to risk exploitation, abuse, even imprisonment when they try to do the same. Activist, journalist, and immigration expert Rinku Sen and organizer Fekkak Mamdouh examine the consequences of this injustice through Mamdouh's own story. Born in Morocco, he was a waiter and union leader at Windows on the World, a restaurant in the World Trade Center, on September 11th. In the aftermath, facing a rising tide of anti-immigrant bias, Mamdouh and others formed the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York to help their colleagues fight for decent jobs and fair treatment. The experiences of Mamdouh and his coworkers vividly demonstrate the human cost of our flawed immigration policies. Since September 11th, immigrants have increasingly been treated as presumptive criminals. As a counterpoint to these regressive, fundamentally un-American practices, Sen forcefully advocates more humane policies, coupled with proposals for reforming globalization so that all countries can more equitably benefit from a mobile labor force. Rinku Sen, the Publisher of ColorLines <http://www.colorlines.com/>magazine and soon-to-be Executive Director of the Applied Research Center <http://www.arc.org/> (ARC), has a rich history of organizing, writing and lecturing on issues of race, gender and activism. She has written extensively about immigration, community organizing and women's lives for a wide variety of publications including Third Force, AlterNet, tompaine.com, Race, Poverty & the Environment, Amerasia Journal and Colorlines. Her latest book, Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing, a guide for community organizations of all orientations was a finalist for the 2004 Nautilus Book Award in the social change category. Fekkak Mamdouh is a 45-year-old Moroccan who was headwaiter and beloved union leader at Windows on the World, a restaurant in the World Trade Towers. Mamdouh grew up poor in Morrocco, and then emigrated to Saudi Arabia as a young adult, where he worked for the Saudi Royal Family. He first came to the United States as a paid companion to a Saudi prince, then overstayed his visa and remained here permanently, changing his status from illegal to legal through marriage. Mamdouh was a career waiter until September 11th transformed him into an accidental organizer. For further information, contact: David Unowsky 612/822-4611 davidu [at] magersandquinn.com --------11 of 14-------- The Rebellion That Failed By DAVE LINDORFF CounterPunch October 3 - 5, 2008 The grassroots rebellion that led to the House's rejection of the Bush Administration's Wall Street bailout bill on Monday flamed out on Friday, overwhelmed by a massive lobbying campaign by Wall Street and by a propaganda push in the corporate media in favor of passage. The House, which had voted 228 to 205 against a bailout at the beginning of the week, voted 283-171 in favor of an even more expensive plan only four days later, after the Senate passed a bill containing over $100 billion in tax breaks (mostly for the wealthy), and after House leaders added a bunch of those infamous "earmarks" to buy the votes of reluctant House members. Interestingly, one of the things that was used to frighten members of Congress into passing this unprecedented bill was a plunging stock market, which plunged into record low territory for the year on Monday and Thursday. Yet after rising modestly during the morning, reportedly on "anticipation" that Congress would pass a bailout, once the vote was in, the equities markets all started heading south. Clearly investors weren't particularly optimistic that throwing almost $1 trillion in borrowed money from taxpayers at banks and investment houses would do much for the nation's struggling "real" economy. One reason for investor pessimism is no doubt news that car sales and housing prices in September slumped to record lows, and that the September jump in unemployment was the highest since the 9/11 crisis in 2001. Another was probably the inclusion of a provision in the bill as passed by both House and Senate that allows the Treasury to buy bad debt not just from US banks, but from foreign banks as well. As several critics of the plan have observed (but as the corporate media have failed to report, to their undying shame), this means that American tax dollars will be flowing out of the country to shore up the balance sheets of foreign institutions, in the name of keeping overseas investors in the market for US treasury securities. There may have been no other option for a country that is having its economy run into the ground by a voracious war machine that absorbs close to $1 trillion a year in revenues, and by economic policies that have, particularly over the last eight years, encouraged the wholesale flight abroad of the nation's manufacturing base. Numerous critics of this record giveaway to Wall Street note that the whole scheme is unlikely to do anything to shore up the economy, which seems headed into a long and deep recession. It is not even likely to do anything much to ease the frozen credit markets, since there are no constraints to prevent the banks that collect all the money from investing it in more speculative areas that offer the lure of higher returns than simply lending to corporate America or to homeowners. There's nothing either in the measure to prevent the recipients of the money from investing or lending the money abroad. And given that lack of constraints, why wouldn't they? If the US economy is going into the dumps, why lend money here at relatively low rates of return, when it can be lent more profitably and at higher rates in growing economies like China, Brazil or Russia? Democrats in the House, and Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president, were rolled by Wall Street and by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who, along with President Bush, sketched out scare stories of a 1930s-like Depression if taxpayers' money wasn't handed over in short order. "No time for hearings," they cried. "This has to be done immediately or America is doomed". Where had we heard that kind of nonsense before? Oh yeah, in October 2001, when Congress was similarly rolled into passing first a bill launching an unending and borderless "War" on Terror and into passing a Constitution-wrecking USA PATRIOT Act. And then again in 2002 when Congress was again rolled, this time into authorizing a war against Iraq, which was presented as not a war authorization, but just a "diplomatic hand-strengthening" measure designed to get Iraq to stop developing alleged weapons of mass destruction (which, it should have been obvious at the time, he wasn't actually developing). No matter. So weakened, leaderless and ideologically rudderless is the Democratic Party under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that it let itself be rolled again. So anxious is candidate Obama to appear in step with the imagined centrist zeitgeist that he actually joined Republican opponent John McCain in helping to pass this ripoff legislative boondoggle, thus assuring that if he manages to win the White House, he will inherit a bankrupt government incapable of doing anything significant of a progressive nature. Americans who were scared by the media and the Administration into fearing that their retirement savings were going into the toilet unless the bailout passed can watch their already deflated portfolios languish there, now that it has passed. The lesson is clear. No grassroots rebellion that focuses on Congress as its battleground, or that counts Republican or Democratic elected officials as its troops, will go anywhere. The government party will hew to the people with the money. A wiser course of action would be the wholesale rejection this Election Day of all incumbents who voted for the bailout bill in both House and Senate. Do that once, and watch how much better Congress responds to citizen pressure the next time around. DaveLindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2008 and now available in paperback edition). He can be reached at dlindorff [at] mindspring.com --------12 of 14-------- The New American Century: Cut Short by 92 Years by Mike Whitney October 4th, 2008 Dissident Voice The era of Superpower America is coming to an end. The financial crisis was the last straw. Whatever good faith was left after the invasion of Iraq and the shrugging off of international treaties, is now gone. The United States has polluted the global economic system with worthless mortgage-backed securities and, by doing so, has pushed 6 billion people closer to a long and painful recession. That's not something that's easy to forgive. The anger at the US seems to be surfacing everywhere at once. It was particularly noticeable at the recent opening of the UN General Assembly. Typically, this is a tedious event full of empty political blabbering and pretentious ceremonies. But not this time. With the world sliding towards a US-created recession; foreign leaders have started lashing out at the United States more vehemently. The speeches have been blunt and acrimonious; no one is "pulling their punches" any more. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez summed up the mood of the meetings like this: "I think that, sooner rather than later, this empire will fall - to the benefit of the whole world, enabling a balance in the world to be created: polycentric and multi-polar. That will guarantee peace in the world. To the creation of this multi-polar world we are making our small contribution". What Chavez objects to is Bush's "unipolar" model of global governance whereby all the world's crucial decisions - on everything from global warming to nuclear proliferation - are made by Washington. No one likes being told what to do, just as no one likes the US constantly meddling in their affairs. That's why none of the UN attendees seemed particularly bothered by the fact that the US financial markets are in freefall. It's called schadenfreude, taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune, and it was on full display at the United Nations last week. Many of the dignitaries seem to believe that America's sudden economic downturn presents an opportunity for change. And that's what everyone wants; real change. No one wants another 8 years like the last. That's why the central theme in Chavez's speech was repeated over and over again by other leaders. They reject the present system and want a bigger role in shaping the future. That doesn't mean that the world hates America. It just means that everyone wants a breather from the torture, the abductions, the bombing of civilians, and now, the financial contagion that has spread throughout the global system. The US's lack of regulation and monetary policies have driven up inflation, triggered food riots, and sent oil prices skyrocketing. Enough is enough. The United States is like the dinner guest who doesn't know when it's time to go home. Perhaps, a touch of recession will help to rebalance Washington's approach and make its leaders more responsive to the needs of the rest of the world. Journalist John Gray summed it up like this in his article in The Observer, "A Shattering Moment in America's fall from Power": The control of events is no longer in American hands. Having created the conditions that produced history's biggest bubble, America's political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape. The US is about to join the family of nations and learn how to get along with its neighbors whether it wants to or not. There's simply no other choice; the dollar is falling, the deficits are soaring, and the financial markets are in a shambles. America will either learn to cooperate or become isolated in a world that is rapidly integrating. It's "get along or go it alone"; a message that Washington needs to learn quickly so it can adapt to the new power-paradigm. Yes; plenty of money will still flow into covert operations and CIA-sponsored dirty tricks just to keep alive the hope that Superpowerdom will be restored. That is to be expected. The well-heeled rogues in the British royal family still dream of rebuilding the Empire, too. But realists know that it's just a harmless fantasy. Nothing will come of it. Empires have a short shelf-life and they're impossible to stitch-back together. They usually end on a corpse strewn battlefield or in a towering financial bonfire which leaves nothing behind but a pile of ashes and shards of broken glass. We can only hope that the yawning economic chasm ahead of us all, will involve less hardship than we anticipate. But when a nation sows dragon's teeth, it shouldn't expect a harvest of sweet plums. Journalist Steve Watson reports on Infowars: A Council on Foreign Relations member and former policy planner under prominent Bilderberger Henry Kissinger has penned a piece in the Financial Times of London calling for a "new global monetary authority" that would have the power to monitor all national financial authorities and all large global financial companies. Even if the US's massive financial rescue operation succeeds, it should be followed by something even more far-reaching - the establishment of a Global Monetary Authority to oversee markets that have become borderless - writes Jeffrey Garten also a former managing director of Lehman Brothers. The dream of "one world" government does not die easily, but it is dead all the same. The center of the present global financial system is the Federal Reserve. Its offspring includes the Council on Foreign Relations, the IMF, The World Bank, the G-7 banking cartel and thousands of predatory NGOs which have expanded the grip of the Washington banking cabal and the dollarized system across the planet. But neoliberalism is collapsing and what we are seeing now is the erratic spasms of a terminal heart patient entering the final stages of cardiac arrest. There is no drug or medical procedure that will restore the victim to good health. No one is looking to the US or its "supply side" hirelings to chart a course for their country's economic future. Those days are over. The US will have to pull itself from the rubble and start over without the massive infusions of low interest capital from China, Japan and the Gulf States. The money spigots have been turned off. It's thin gruel and hard times ahead. That's the price one pays for swindling the world with worthless mortgage-backed snake oil and other "illiquid" garbage. Russian President Vladimir Putin summed up recent events in the financial markets like this: Everything that is happening in the economic and financial sphere has started in the United States. This is a real crisis that all of us are facing, and what is really sad is that we see an inability to take appropriate decisions. This is no longer irresponsibility on the part of some individuals, but irresponsibility of the whole system, which as you know had pretensions to (global) leadership. Back at the United Nations, Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbuck echoed similar sentiments when he said: The United States is solely to be blamed for the financial crisis. They are the cause for the crisis and it is not Europe and it is not the Federal Republic of Germany. The Anglo-Saxon drive for double-digit profits and massive bonuses for bankers and company executives that were responsible for the financial crisis. He added,"The long term consequences of the crisis are not clear - but one thing seems likely to me; the USA will lose its superpower status in the global financial system. The world financial system is becoming multipolar". Steinbuck was merely reiterating the feelings of Chancellor Angela Merkel who used more diplomatic language in her critique: The current crisis shows us you can do some things on the national level, but the overwhelming majority must be agreed to on the international level. We must push for clearer regulations so that a crisis like the current one cannot be repeated. Merkel knows that Europe was blindsided by America's deregulated system which allows fraudsters and scam-artists to rule the roost. Even now - in the middle of the biggest financial scandal in history - not one CEO or CFO from a major investment bank has been indicted or dragged off to prison. US markets are a lawless "free for all" where no one is held accountable no matter how large the crime or how many people are hurt. But there's a price to be paid for fleecing investors, and the US will pay that price. Already, the purchase of US Treasurys has slowed to a crawl. In the coming months, America's life-support system will be disconnected altogether and the oxygen tent removed. Kissinger's protege is not worried about that; but working class Americans should be. There's a train wreck just ahead and many people will suffer needlessly. This is how Spiegel Online puts it: The banking crisis is upending American dominance of the financial markets and world politics. The industrialized countries are sliding into recession, the era of turbo-capitalism is coming to an end and US military might is ebbing.. This is no longer the muscular and arrogant United States the world knows, the superpower that sets the rules for everyone else and that considers its way of thinking and doing business to be the only road to success. A new America is on display, a country that no longer trusts its old values and its elites even less: the politicians, who failed to see the problems on the horizon, and the economic leaders, who tried to sell a fictitious world of prosperity to Americans.. Also on display is the end of arrogance. The Americans are now paying the price for their pride.1 Both presidential candidates have vowed to continue the unilateralist Bush Doctrine. Obama is just as eager as McCain to violate sovereign borders, invade countries that pose no imminent national security threat to the US, and carry out the many flagrant violations of international law as long as they serve the interests of western mandarins. But it's not up to the politicians anymore. Change is coming; the unipolar moment has passed. As the financial crisis deepens, America's ability to wage war will steadily erode as capital and resources dry up. Its only a matter of time before the war machine sputters to a halt and the troops return home. When the killing stops, a truly new world order will begin. Spiegel Online, "America loses its Dominant Economic Role". [.] Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney [at] msn.com. Read other articles by Mike. This article was posted on Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at 7:00am and is filed under Economy/Economics, Energy. ShareThis --------13 of 14-------- The Senate got on its knees and gave a blow job to the ruling class. Then the House got on its knees and gave a blow job to the ruling class. It is the one thing our Congresspeople can do really well. Tops. 10. If you have the coins and loins for their services just give 'em a call. I'm Senator Smith. I'll be your Congresssucker tonight. Cash or check? --------14 of 14-------- --------------------- US Congress Brothel on The Hill --------------------- ------------------------ US Congress Big Brothel Loves You lie back & enjoy it ------------------------ vote third party for president for congress now and forever no more government that sucks ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 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 To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg --------8 of x-------- do a find on --8 vote third party for president for congress now and forever
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