Progressive Calendar 06.01.12 /2
From: David Shove (shove001umn.edu)
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 01:59:27 -0700 (PDT)
*P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R   06.01.12*

1. Ffunch           6.01 11.30am
2. Fire/answers! 6.01 12noon
3. Foreclosures  6.01 2pm
4. Palestine vigil 6.01 4:15pm
5. Recall Walker 6.01

6. Michael Cavlan - Cavlan campaign
7. John Marty       - Stadium postmortem: how a wealthy NFL qwner got
millions from taxpayers
8. ed                    - bumpersticker

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From: ed
Ffunch 6.01 11.30am

Meet the FFUNCH BUNCH!
11:30am-1pm

First Friday Lunch (FFUNCH) for progressives.
Informal political talk and hanging out.
Day By Day Cafe 477 W 7th Av St Paul.
Meet on the far south side.

Day By Day has soups, salads, sandwiches, and dangerous
apple pie; is close to downtown St Paul & on major bus lines


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From: Michelle Gross/CUAPB
Fire/answers! 6.01 12noon

TENANTS of WALKER CHURCH FIRE TO DEMAND ANSWERS AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR
BOTCHED INVESTIGATION
Press Conference:  Friday June 1, 2012 ,  12 noon
Walker Community Methodist Church Site, 3104 16 thAve S Minneapolis

On Friday June 1st, members of tenant organizations in Walker Community
Methodist Church, will hold a press conference to demand answers of the
city and fire department.

On Sunday night, May 27th, a massive fire broke out in historic Walker
Community Methodist Church, which unfortunately also resulted in injury to
five fire fighters.  Four hours after extinguishing the fire, early on
Memorial Day morning, the building remains were demolished.  '[Extremely
suspicious. Of course the cops and FBI and the 1% loved the fire. My trust
level: -100. -ed]

As a result of the fire, Welfare Rights Committee, Communities United
Against Police Brutality and Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee
lost their offices.  Both the Welfare Rights Committee office and the MIRAc
office were in areas of the building that received less damage.  Members of
MIRAc could see some of the organization’s possessions intact through the
window of their office the morning after the fire.  Despite this, they were
prevented from retrieving their items by the hasty demolition of the
building.

"We are astounded by the fact that the city recklessly and intentionally
thwarted any possibility of an investigation into the cause of the fire by
hastily demolishing the building only four hours after the fire was
extinguished," stated Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police
Brutality. "Why was it necessary to demolish the building so quickly?  Why
were none of the tenants notified?"

The three tenant organizations of Walker Church will make the following
demands:

We demand an immediate explanation of how the members of MIRAc and WRC can
gain access to the scene so that we can determine if any of our property is
salvageable.  We expect an answer within 24 hours.

We want answers and the truth about the cause of the fire but it is clear
that the decisions hastily made by the city have likely botched any
possibility of an investigation.

We demand an explanation and investigation into why the city didn't follow
standard protocols that would have preserved evidence and minimized
property loss after the fire.

"Our organization lost 20 years of our history because the city hastily
demolished our office," stated Deb Konechne, Welfare Rights Committee.  "We
want a chance to recover whatever of our history* is buried under the
rubble." [*or democracy - ed]

[Remember 9/11? They carted away all the evidence - probably of intentional
destruction - so we couldn't prove the 1% ordered it. From now on every pro
99% organization should EXPECT violence from the 1% and their paid lackeys;
many copies of files in many places; don't let the sociopaths win.-ed],


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From: WAMM
Foreclosures 6.01 2pm

Rally: Stop the Foreclosures Friday, June 1, 2:00 p.m. Cruz Family Home,
4044 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis. Please join Occupy Homes and dozens
more individuals and organizations in calling on banks and authorities to
support the Cruz family and set a new precedent in the anti-foreclosure
movement. Organized by: Occupy Homes MN. FFI: Visit
https://www.facebook.com/OccupyHomesMN.


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From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Palestine vigil 6.01 4:15pm

The weekly vigil for the liberation of Palestine continues at the
intersection of Snelling and Summit Aves in St. Paul. The Friday demo
starts at 4:15 and ends around 5:30. There are usually extra signs
available.


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From: PFAW
Recall Walker 6.01

This Friday, June 1, We Are Wisconsin and our alliance of organizations
fighting hard for the recall of Scott Walker and his cronies are hosting an
exciting, and hopefully massive, rally in Madison to gather the troops and
get out the vote!
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, is bringing several exciting
special musical guests for a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) kickoff concert and
rally at Madison’s Labor Temple -- doors open at 5:30pm with the main acts
going on at 6:45pm.

Here’s the rub: it’s not just a concert, it’s a gathering of the volunteers
who are going to make the difference in this fight and get us past the
finish line to victory. The rally is FREE to attend for anyone who shows up
and signs up for a shift to help get out the vote between the event and
Election Day on Tuesday, June 5.

So no matter where you live in or around Wisconsin, if you can make it to
Madison on Friday night, we’d love to rock out with you, while we get each
other fired up and ready to win this thing!

Even if you can’t make Friday’s event, we still need you to volunteer to
make calls, knock on doors and do whatever else is needed to get out the
vote and Recall the Right!

Please sign up for a volunteer shift (or more than one) with We Are
Wisconsin here.
There should be GOTV opportunities in all corners of the state, convenient
for out-of-state volunteers who are able to make a short trip over the
border.

THE RALLY:
FRIDAY, JUNE 1
Labor Temple of Madison
1602 South Park Street (map)
Madison, WI 53715
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

For more information on the great artists performing at the rally and to
help promote the event, download the flyer here.
I really hope to see you on Friday. Let’s Recall the Right and take back
Wisconsin!
-- Scott Foval, Wisconsin Coordinator
sfoval [at] pfaw.org

P.S. We also need help AT the event! We’ll need Volunteer Marshalls to help
manage the physical space of the event and a small army of volunteers to
sign up attendees for their GOTV shifts. If you can volunteer to show up by
4:30 on Friday and help out with the rally, please email
erin [at] wearewisconsin.org or call 608-206-9460.


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Michael Cavlan RN openprogressivemichael [at] gmail.com
Cavlan campaign

We are on the march! Gathering signatures to get on the ballot is critical.


No ballot access means no campaign-- so we need your help now.  This is
doable, very doable.  The Cavlan for Senate Campaign is about building a
movement.  A movement to create a real, functional democracy -- free from
corporate and other monied influences in our democracy.

Our system is sick and needs a nurse.  I am Michael Cavlan, RN, and I am
here to recruit you.  If you go out and enlist another five people to get
signatures then we can do this.  If everyone gathers ten, twenty, or a
hundred signatures then we can make it on the ballot.

I love you all for your help and support, so we need ALL HANDS ON DECK!  We
have lost precious days for gathering signatures because of the rain.  We
need your help so that our unified voices are not drowned out by Big $$$.

Please call me ASAP so that we can get on the ballot. I need you to get
your friends involved or this will not happen.  I need all signatures in my
hands by Sunday, June 3 by 10 PM or this is not going to happen.

Michael Cavlan, RN
612-327-6902 (C)
openprogressivemichael [at] gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Michael-Cavlan-for-for-US-Senate-2012/122110937819816


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Stadium Postmortem: How a Wealthy NFL Owner Got Millions from Taxpayers
by Senator John Marty
May 31, 2012
The Vikings stadium fight is over; team owner Zygi Wilf won.

Mr. Wilf got an astounding amount of money from taxpayers, while convincing
politicians and some fans that he is doing them a favor.

Minnesota's new stadium will be nice for people attending the games. But
more importantly, in the eyes of some, it will be what Pioneer Press sports
columnist Charley Walters called, a "cash cow" for the Vikings: it "could
be worth an annual profit of at least $30 million to the team and perhaps
as much as $40 million...about triple the Vikings' estimated annual profit
in the Metrodome."

It's not that the public was clamoring for this. The last poll (KSTP -
Survey USA poll) before the bill's passage showed, that by an overwhelming
58% to 36% margin, the public said that the stadium should be paid for
"entirely with private funding," even though most respondents believed that
the team would leave without a new stadium.

Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf spent several million dollars in lobbying and
campaign contributions. So perhaps it was inevitable that he would win this
huge taxpayer subsidy, despite strong opposition from the public.

Wilf's lobbying money talked. Shortly after passage of the legislation, top
political leaders gathered for a news conference in which Wilf was
described as "heroic" for agreeing to contribute $50 million more of the
money he will gain from naming rights, suites, and other profits from the
new stadium. Taxpayers are giving a billionaire hundreds of millions of
dollars, and he is "heroic" for keeping a little bit less of the money he
will make from that stadium?

Professor David Schultz from Hamline University reported that the Vikings
spent over $5.5 million lobbying for the stadium, and the Wilf family and
their lobbyists have donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Republican
and the DFL legislative caucuses - plus they gave generously to all the
candidates for Governor in 2006 and 2010. Some have suggested that their
bipartisan campaign contributions should be spelled buy-partisan, in that
they were trying to buy favor with both parties.

Most politicians supporting the proposal called it the "People's Stadium"
and claimed it was in the public interest. However, Ted Mondale, who was
paid with public funds to lobby for the legislation, bluntly admitted, "the
whole reason we're doing this is so the team can make money."

It's not that Mr. Wilf was losing money. Last fall, Forbes magazine
estimated that since Mr. Wilf and his partners purchased the team for $600
million in 2005, he has made $196 million in capital gains, plus $46
million in operating profits from the team. Homeowners have seen the value
of their homes drop by as much as a third from the recession, but Wilf's
investment grew by a third.

Data from the Senate Fiscal Analysis Office shows, under the final
legislation, that the taxpayer "investment" in the Vikings stadium breaks
down to a $72 public subsidy for every ticket, to every game - including
preseason ones - for the next thirty years!

And this calculation doesn't include the granting of a property tax
exemption for the stadium. Counting that, the subsidy climbs to over $110
per ticket.

Some complain that this subsidy calculation should be divided over all
users of the stadium, because the Vikings play only ten games per year, and
the stadium will be used for high school sports and other events. But the
reality is that you don't build a billion dollar stadium for Monster Trucks
or high school sports. Ticket revenues for Vikings games are projected to
be several dozen times greater than ticket revenues for all other stadium
events combined. This stadium is happening only because the Vikings want
it.

Wilf's heavily-funded lobbying effort was also successful in convincing
politicians that it was a good way to create construction jobs, twisting
the numbers in a manner that convinced some public officials that it would
create far more than the equivalent of 700 full time jobs over the 3 years
of construction. Yes, Minnesota has an urgent need to create more building
trades jobs, but we would create far more jobs using public dollars to fix
our public infrastructure, such as the numerous public schools in
Minneapolis that are several times as old as the Metrodome and in much
worse shape.

The lobbying campaign was aided by heavy media coverage which frequently
played the role of cheerleader, rather than asking tough questions. After
the fact, sports writer Patrick Reusse wrote, "We in the Twin Cities sports
media were so amped up over getting a new stadium...that not much time was
spent looking at the financial realities. We have allowed owner Zygi Wilf
to be crowned as a patient, generous hero in the proceedings that led to
the approval of the stadium..." Reusse acknowledged the deal was a
"bonanza" for Wilf.

Mr. Wilf's expensive lobbying effort and his generous campaign
contributions won the day. Already making big profits from the Vikings, he
will get over a billion more from taxpayers for stadium construction and
operating costs.

Almost two of every three Minneapolis school students come from low income
families struggling to pay for food and other necessities.

At the same time, numerous Republican and DFL politicians were determined
to make the stadium deal the top priority, so, as Mondale said, "the team
can make money."

It's time we rethink our priorities.

To the Point!  is published by the Apple Pie Alliance.  www.apple-pie.org.
 If you know others who would enjoy To the Point!, please forward this.


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                                                                      Your
Tax $$$ Feed Pygi Zygi


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