Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 11.30.09

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R   11.30.09

1. Demo v foreclosure 11.30 7:30am
2. Climate demo       11.30 5pm
3. Peace walk         11.30 6pm RiverFalls WI
4. Amnesty Intl       11.30 7pm
5. Audit independence 11.30
6. RSVP suffrage act  11.30

7. Bash Gaertner bash 12.01 4:45pm
8. Seattle+10/art     12.01 6:15pm
9. Salon/reading      12.01 6:30pm
10. Feed everyone/f   12.01 7pm
11. Single-payer      12.01 7pm

12. Rich Broderick   - Obama OKs more US settlements on Indian land
13. Isabel Macdonald - Selling out democracy in Honduras

--------1 of 13--------

From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Demo v foreclosure 11.30 7:30am

Demonstration Against Foreclosure
Monday, November 30, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. Portland Avenue South and East 38th
Street, Minneapolis.

Join others to speak out against the foreclosure crisis. Hold signs and
banners and hand out call-in fliers to rush-hour traffic. Sponsored by:
Minnesota Coalition for a People's Bailout (MCPB). WAMM is a member of
MCPB.


--------2 of 13--------

From: Christine Frank <christinefrank [at] visi.com>
Subject: Climate demo 11.30 5pm

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO STABILIZE THE CLIMATE & SAVE MOTHER EARTH!
FOCUSED ON THE DECEMBER U.N. CLIMATE TALKS IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

RUSH-HOUR PICKET & BANNERING
MONDAY, NOVBEMBER 30, 5:00 PM
PLAZA
MAYDAY BOOKS
301 CEDAR AVENUE SOUTH
WEST BANK, MINNEAPOLIS

(This will take place rain or shine, sleet or snow, balmy or frigid
temperatures.
This is Minnesota, but Mother Earth is counting on us all the same.
If it's cold, hot drinks will be available & folks can warm up in the
bookstore.)

LET'S FILL THAT PLAZA AND DEMAND ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT:

*       U.S.A., Join the World, Sign the Kyoto Protocol Then Go Way Beyond!
*       To Stabilize the Climate, Drawdown Carbon to a Safe 300-325 ppm CO2
or Bust!
*       Adopt a Policy of Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions from All Sources
A.S.A.P.!
*       Leave All the Fossil Fuels & Uranium in the Ground Where Mother
Nature Put Them!
*       Don't Nuke the Climate!
*       Shut Down the Dirty Tar Sands!
*       Halt the Alberta Clipper/Enbridge Pipeline!
*       Launch a Crash Program of Renewable Wind & Solar Energy and Clean
Mass Transit Powered by the Same Means!
*       Implement It With a Wartime Mobilization!
*       Fund It With the War Budget!
*       Meltdown the Implements of War for Clean Technologies!
*       Retool & Convert to a Green, Sustainable Economy!
*       To Restore & Remediate Our Air, Soil & Water, Launch a Public Works
Program to Re-employ the Unemployed!
*       Make Corporate Polluters Pay for Their Crimes Against Nature &
Humanity by Taxing & Fining Them To the Max!
*       No Carbon Tax That Punishes Working People & the Poor!
*       End Environmental Racism & Grant Justice to All Fence-Line
Communities
*       Retrain at Union-Scale Wages All Front-Line Workers in Dirty
Industries
*       Unionized Green Collar Jobs for All With Full Benefits!
*       No Economic Recovery Without Green Jobs!

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT:

*       No Dirty "Clean-Development" Mechanisms!
*       Don't Destroy the Rainforests in Order to "Save" Them With Tree
Plantations!
*       Hands Off the World's Forests!  Preserve Them as Vital Carbon Sinks!
*       Return the Forests to the People to Live in Them Sustainably!
*       No More Con Games-Carbon-Credit Trading, Offsets & Phony
Product-Certification Schemes!
*       Climate Justice & Equity for the Global South!
*       To Avoid More Gross Maldevelopment in the Global South & Improve the
Quality of Life, Export Clean Technologies for Free!
*       Make Northern Transnationals Pay Reparations for Damage Done to
Southern Ecosystems


--------3 of 13--------

From: Nancy Holden <d.n.holden [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Peace walk 11.30 6pm RiverFalls WI

River Falls Peace and Justice Walkers. We meet every Monday from 6-7 pm on
the UWRF campus at Cascade Ave. and 2nd Street, immediately across from
"Journey" House. We walk through the downtown of River Falls. Contact:
d.n.holden [at] comcast.net. Douglas H Holden 1004 Morgan Road River Falls,
Wisconsin 54022


--------4 of 13--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: Amnesty Intl 11.30 7pm

Augustana Homes Seniors Group meets on Monday, November 30th, from 7:00 to
8:00 p.m. in the party room of the 1020 Building, 1020 E 17th Street,
Minneapolis. For more information contact Ardes Johnson at 612/378-1166 or
johns779 [at] tc.umn.edu.


--------5 of 13--------

From: Sue Horns Kolstad <2sorns [at] gmail.com>
From: Carol Becker
Subject: Audit independence 11.30

Subject: Auditor reporting to the audited

First off, I wanted to say "Thank You" again to everyone who worked to
keep the Board of Estimate and Taxation.  It was an amazing effort and an
amazing result.

I did want to write you about a development here after the election.  As
you know, one of the things we campaigned on was making sure that the
internal auditor did not report to the people he or she was auditing. This
is important because the auditor should be free to report on whatever
things they find without fear of reprisal or that their work will be
quashed.

Well, apparently the Mayor, Barb Johnson and Paul Ostrow will be bringing
forward an action on November 30th to have the internal auditor report to
the City Coordinator, who reports to the City Council and Mayor. This
means that the auditor *would* report to those being audited.  There would
be an incentive to quash audits that were not favorable to the City. Also,
the auditor could be used as a tool against the Park Board should the City
choose.

The City Council is able to do this because the authority for the Board of
Estimate to oversee auditing is in statute and not in the Charter.  The
ordinance change will be brought forward November 30th, with the City
Council apparently having a public hearing on December 14th, with the
final vote on the 18th.

Clean government doesn't just happen. Clean government happens in part
because we have structures and systems that help make it happen. Auditors
should not report to those being audited because the incentives to
suppress findings are too great.  The Institute of Internal Auditors says
so.  The federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act says so.  And the study done of the
Internal Audit function at the City says so.

If you have a chance, do contact your Council Member and let them hear
your concerns about clean government.  Also, when the time for the public
hearing comes out, I will let folks know in case you can come down and be
heard on this issue.
 -Carol Becker

[The Mpls City Council has seemed bent on gathering all power unto itself,
to become as unaccountable as possible to the public, the more brazenly
and supinely to serve the big developers. New Broom graded the City
Council at D-; the Mayor at F. They can do a lot of damage between now and
January. And since all the incubments were re-elected, a lot of damage
after that. There's rot in River City, even though the developer-kooladed
media (Strib et al) would have you believe otherwise.  -ed]


--------6 of 13--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: RSVP suffrage act 11.30

November 30:  RSVP for the Minnesota Women's Political Caucus 31st Annual
Luncheon: Commemorating the 89th Anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Act
on December 10. Keynote Speaker: Lori Swanson, Attorney General. 11:30 AM
- 1:30 PM at the Crowne Plaza Hotel- Riverfront, 11 E. Kellogg Blvd., St.
Paul. Register: 651-228-0995.


--------7 of 13--------

From: info [at] rnc8.org
Subject: Bash Gaertner bash 12.01 4:45pm

2nd Annual Birthday Party Bash! Happy Birthday to Susan Gaertner! Drop the
Charges!

It's that time of the year again. Susan is hosting another birthday party
- this time in St. Paul! Last year, we were outside her birthday party
dancing up a storm at the Minneapolis Club in downtown.
<http://rnc8.org/2008/11/drop-the-charges-rally-outside-susan-gaertners-fundraiser-tues-december-2/>

Join the RNC 8 Defense Committee for another birthday celebration to
remind her that we aren't going away as long as she continues to prosecute
the RNC 8!

Tuesday, Dec. 1st 4:45 pm
Mancinis 531 West Seventh St., St. Paul
P.S. - If you need a ride to the party, RSVP at info [at] rnc8.org


--------8 of 13--------

From: Minnesota Fair Trade Campaign <aranney [at] citizenstrade.org>
Subject: Seattle+10/art 12.01 6:15pm

Please help us spread the word about the Seattle + 10: Minnesota Week of
Action. Join us for one or more of this weeks' events and come out for our
March and Rally for Trade Justice on December 5th!  Your first call to
action is to help us get out the word! Please forward widely and I hope to
see you there!

In solidarity, Alicia Ranney, Director of MN Fair Trade Coalition

Seattle + 10: Minnesota Week of Action
November 30 - December 5th

It's been 10 years since environmental activists, union members, faith and
social justice activists took to the streets of Seattle to protest the
convening of the 1999 World Trade Organization. Join us in celebrating a
decade of action and the continued struggle for global justice and fair
trade.

Check out MNFTC's website for more information and new workshops:
www.fairtrademinnesota.org Monday November 30th

Art for Trade Justice
Join your fellow activists in an art building day for the December 5th
March and Rally for trade justice. Gustavo Boada, from the Heart of the
Beast Theatre will teach the fine points of making puppets, masks and
signs for social action.

Tuesday December 1st 6:15 - 8pm
Waite House Neighborhood Center 2529 13th Avenue
South, Minneapolis, MN 55404


--------9 of 13--------

From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Salon/reading 12.01 6:30pm

The salon Tuesday, Dec. 1, will be the reading of the book by the author,
Evelyn Klein.  She has just published the book, Once Upon a Neighborhood.
It is about the communities of the Twin Cities.  Prose, poetry, all her
own work.  Part history, part memoir, observation and reflection.  Evelyn
was at the salon once before when she read her book of poetry.

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.


--------10 of 13--------

From: Curt McNamara <mcnam025 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Feed everyone/f 12.01 7pm

Tues. Dec. 1st, 7 p.m. in the College Center at the Minneapolis College of
Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Ave. S.,

The next screening in this semester's Celebrate Sustainability Film
Series:

How To Save The World: One Man, One Cow, One Planet
What does an environmentally friendly biodynamic food system capable of
feeding everyone actually look like?
This film is a blueprint for a post-industrial future. It takes you into
the heart of the world's most important renaissance.


--------11 of 13--------

From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Single-payer 12.01 7pm

You're invited:  Single-payer health care reform policy forum

The Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition has scheduled an
informational evening on Tuesday in Mahtomedi to educate voters about the
single-payer health care bill to be taken up again in the Minnesota
Legislature (which begins on Feb. 4).  Senator John Marty and Senator
Sandy Rummel will be present, along with two or more other Legislators.
Nancy Breymeier, from the Metropolitan Independent Business Alliance, will
tell why the single-payer bill is good for small businesses.  Kip
Sullivan, the single-payer expert, shall be a panelist for the question
and answer session.  It is free and open to the public.

The organizers have titled this event:
"Courageous Conversation about Health Care"
7:00 to 9:00, Tuesday night, December 1
White Bear Unitarian Universal Church
328 Maple Street
Mahtomedi, MN 55115

Learn About a Uniquely Minnesotan Solution:
The Minnesota Health Plan
Speakers include:
Senator John Marty (SD54), Chief Author of the Minnesota Health Act,
Nancy Breymeier, Metropolitan Independent Business Alliance,
David Mair, MD, Physicians for a National Health Program, MN Chapter.
With a welcome by Senator Sandy Rummel SD 53.

A Question and Answer Session will follow the Speakers
What Will I Learn?
· What is single-payer and why is it a good solution to our health care mess?
· What is the Minnesota Health Plan and how will it work?
· Why is the Minnesota Health Plan good for business in Minnesota?
· What are the prospects for the Minnesota Health Plan this legislative session?

Sponsored by:
Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition- www.muhcc.org,
Physicians for a National Plan-MN- www.pnhpminnesota.org
and interested neighbors from Senate Districts 50 & 53
For more information or questions: info [at] muhcc.org or 651-641-4073
Everyone Welcome!


--------12 of 13--------

Middle American Peace Process stalls again: Obama okays "natural
expansion" of U.S. settlements on Indian land
By Rich Broderick, TC Daily Planet
November 28, 2009

November 25, 2009. In yet another setback to the 222 year old Middle
American Peace Process and the search for a permanent treaty between the
United States and Native Americans, Barak Obama has apparently turned his
back on earlier pledges to put an unconditional end to increased
Euro-American settlements on Indian land.

Instead, the President has announced that he will only seek to halt
establishment of new settlements while allowing the "natural expansion" of
already existing settlements, even those formed illegally under U.S. and
international law.

"Certainly, we are going to prevent any new settlements from being created
on the Pine Ridge or Navajo reservations - or, indeed, on any of the land
still occupied by Native Americans," the President announced yesterday in
the Rose Garden. "But natural expansion cannot and will not be stopped. It
is a necessary step in maintaining the integrity of the United States as a
Euro-American state whose citizens - many of whom fled here from other
parts of the world to escape persecution - deserve to live in peace and
security."

Native American leaders were swift to condemn the President's
announcement, which they perceive as reneging on Mr. Obama's promise to
institute a categorical halt to further settlement.

"Once again, the government of the United States has shown that it is not
serious about achieving a permanent agreement," said Wilbur Between
Lodges, President of the Oglala Dakota Tribal Council. The Oglala are
widely considered one of the most radical Native American opponents of
American expansion, even going so far as to claim that the United States
was responsible for the murder of the tribe's last war chief, Crazy Horse,
a charge the U.S. vehemently denies .

"Mr. Obama's statement makes it clear that the U.S. intends to go on
stealing Indian land and resources, even in the face of international
criticism," Wilbur Between Lodges said. "Eventually there's going to be
nothing left to steal."

While the President remained silent in the face of criticism of his
announcement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quick to reply. "The
rejection by Native-American extremists of President Obama's generous
offer to prevent new settlements on Indian land is proof once again that
we have no partner for peace on the other side of the negotiating table,"
she told Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News last night.

[The GodDems. It's not the Peoples's Party - it's the wimp and turkey
party. It takes the ruling class GOP scam, puts a pleasant face on it,
makes us bend over, and gops us. -ed]


--------13 of 13--------

Selling Out Democracy in Honduras: The U.S. and the Honduran Election
by Isabel Macdonald
Sunday, November 29, 2009
AlterNet
Common Dreams

Honduras' November 29 election has been rightfully scorned as a sham by
political leaders across the hemisphere. With the exception, that is, of
President Obama.

The June 28 military coup d'etat that overthrew Honduras' democratically
elected president provided President Obama with "a golden opportunity...to
make a clear break with the past and show that he is unequivocally siding
with democracy," as Costa Rica's former vice president put it.  However,
the U.S.'s recognition of the sham election Honduras' de facto regime is
staging on Sunday makes it quite clear that Obama is choosing instead to
side with the far-right Republicans who support the coup.

In the wake of the coup that overthrew Honduran president Jose Manuel
Zelaya Rosales, the Guardian's Calvin Tucker observes that there had been
some promising signs that Obama was going to remain true to his pledge to
"seek a new chapter of engagement" in Latin America. Despite some initial
waffling by the State Department, Obama spoke out in strong terms against
Zelaya's overthrow, saying that "it would be a terrible precedent if we
start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups
as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections." The
U.S. backed a Costa Rican-brokered compromise that would have seen Zelaya
returned to office, at the helm of a "unity government." All
non-humanitarian U.S. aid was suspended to the de facto regime, as were
the U.S. visas of the coup leaders. The State Department indicated that
the US would "not be able to support" the outcome of the elections out of
concern that they would not be "free, fair and transparent." And finally,
during a visit to Honduras by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in late
October, the coup leaders agreed to sign the U.S. backed agreement
providing for Zelaya's return.

This firm U.S. reaction apparently "privately stunned" the coup leaders,
who were sure "this would never have happened if the Republicans had still
been in power," according to the New Yorker's William Finnegan.

Indeed, the coup leaders, who along with their allies such as the Latin
American Business Council have spent at least six hundred thousand dollars
on Washington lobbyists and lawyers, count amongst their supporters
several prominent congressional Republicans, including South Carolina
Senator Jim DeMint.

DeMint had been leading efforts to block key diplomatic appointments in
Latin America, and earlier this month, the Obama administration succumbed
to this pro-coup Republican pressure, announcing that it will after all
recognize Sunday's election, and not insist on the return of the
legitimate president. On November 4, Assistant Secretary of State Thomas
Shannon announced on CNN that "the formation of the National Unity
Government is apart from the reinstatement of President Zelaya" and that
the Honduran Congress will decide when and if Zelaya is reinstated.

DeMint took credit for the change in U.S. policy, releasing a press
statement declaring "Senator secures commitment for U.S. to back Nov. 29
elections even if Zelaya is not reinstated." In the statement, DeMint said
he was

happy to report the Obama Administration has finally reversed its
misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the November 29th
elections... Secretary Clinton and Assistant Secretary Shannon have
assured me that the U.S. will recognize the outcome of the Honduran
elections regardless of whether Manuel Zelaya is reinstated.

The 23 Latin American and Caribbean nations of the Rio Group do not
recognize Sunday's election. However the Obama administration is now going
ahead in recognizing the vote held in the midst of what Amnesty
International has characterized as a "human rights crisis," marked by
an "increasingly disproportionate and excessive use of force being used by
the police and military to repress legitimate and peaceful protests across
the country." Since Zelaya's overthrow, over 3,500 people have been
illegally detained, over 600 have been beaten and dozens have been killed,
according to the Committee of Families of the Disappeared (COFADEH), with
media workers, human rights defenders and female protesters particularly
targeted, according to Amnesty.

The only two presidential candidates on the ballot supported the coup that
ousted the elected president. The leading opposition candidate, Carlos
Reyes, recently withdrew his nomination for the presidency, calling the
election fraudulent, and hundreds of candidates for congressional and
municipal seats have also withdrawn from the election.

And Tucker notes that

Trade unions and social movements calling for a boycott of the election
are facing mafia-style threats, with the regime's chief of police boasting
that he has compiled a blacklist of "all those of the left".

At the same time, Honduras' big business federation, which supported the
coup, is reportedly offering "cash discounts" to Hondurans for voting in
the election.

The fact that such an election has won the support of the Obama
administration does not bode well for the president's "new chapter" of
U.S.-Latin America relations. [Time to mobilize against Obama. -ed]

 2009 Independent Media Institute
Isabel Macdonald is AlterNet's NYC-based publicist. Before joining
AlterNet, she was the communications director at the media watch-dog group
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, and her writing has appeared in Extra
Magazine, Huffington Post, the Indypendent and Z Magazine.

[If Honduras goes, others will be next, until if the US has its way, it
will be all pro-US dictators. The best hope for democracy - Latin America
- will be crushed. And leading the charge, our own dear president of
"Hope", Obama. -ed]


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

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