Progressive Calendar 02.24.06
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 03:41:09 -0800 (PST)
             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     02.24.06

1. Against forgetting 2.24 9am/6pm
2. Silenced voices    2.24 9am
3. Court watch        2.24 10am
4. Counter recruit    2.24 12noon
5. Harlem/film        2.24 1:30pm/7pm
6. Palestine vigil    2.24 4:15pm
7. Impacted nations   2.24 5pm
8. Ciudad/City/film   2.24 6pm
9. Venezuela/rev/film 2.24 6pm
10. Italy/youth/film  2.24-3.02 7:30pm
11. US empire/play    2.24 8pm
12. Why we fight/film 2.24 time?
13. Floodwall scam    2.24 time?
14. Gotama/play       2.24 time?

15. Toxic Harrison    2.25 9:30am
16. Guatemala/rights  2.25 10am
17. WAMM annual meet  2.25 10am
18. Green Party/what  2.25 11am
19. Permaculture      2.25 1pm
20. Northtown vigil   2.25 1pm
21. YAWR/metro-wide   2.25 2pm
22. SpiritRoad/AM950  2.25 3pm
23. Hwy55/film        2.25 7pm
24. World can't wait  2.25 7pm
25. Race/justice/TV   2.25 8pm

26. Znet - Interviews Michael Parenti about The Culture Struggle
27. Doug Thompson - Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer
28. ed            - The unbearable flightness of bleating (poem)

---------1 of 28--------

From: Melis <berkana63 [at] worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Against forgetting 2.24 9am/6pm

Please join Intermedia Arts and Arts Midwest on February 24th and 25th for
several special events with photographers Paul Corbit Brown, Abdi Roble
and Mike Rosen whose work is currently on display as part of Intermedia
Arts' current exhibition, "Against Forgetting: Beyond Genocide and Civil
War." Doug Rutledge, writer for the Somali Documentary Project, will also
be present throughout the weekend.

"Against Forgetting" features Paul Corbit Brown's images of Rwanda, eleven
years post-genocide, as well as Abdi Roble's works documenting
contemporary Somali life in the US - part of the Somali Documentary
Project. The third component of the show includes Mike Rosen's photographs
of European memorials to the Jewish Holocaust.

This exhibition puts a human perspective on the outcome of genocide and
the assimilation of a community in the aftermath of civil war.  It hopes
to bring to light the devastation and brutality of crimes against humanity
that only come by the hands of we humans.  What have we learned from the
human catastrophes of years past and how do they relate to what is
happening in the world now?

The work represents three different artists and their perspectives. Some
of the work may be shocking and some comforting.  As with most of our
work, Intermedia Arts hopes to juxtapose and interconnect ideas along with
artistic expression and bring together people in new and/or unique ways in
order to enter into a dialogue about who we are and how we function
together.

www.intermediaarts.org
www.paulcorbitbrown.com
www.somaliproject.org
www.mikerosenphotos.com

Friday, Feb 24 9am-2pm Gallery tours artists for students with artists at
Intermedia Arts

Abdi Roble, Doug Rutledge and Paul Corbit Brown will be present to meet
with pre-arranged student groups between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm.

Please contact Melis Arik at 612 874-2809 for further information.

6-8:30pm Evening reception and slide show at Neighborhood House
Please join us for an informal reception with Abdi Roble and Doug Rutledge
beginning at 6pm. At 6:30, Abdi will share slides of his recent visit
to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and will provide an update on the
situation of Somali refugees in Kenya. Abdi will additionally share work
from his ongoing documentation of the Somali community in Columbus, Ohio.

Neighborhood House is located at 179 Robie St East, St Paul.

Please RSVP by contacting Intermedia Arts at (612) 871-4444 or email
info [at] IntermediaArts.org


--------2 of 28--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Silenced voices 2.24 9am

February 24 - VIDEO REPLAY of "Silenced Voices" Conference.

VIDEO REPLAY of "Silenced Voices:  The Constitutionality and Legality of
Felon Disenfranchisement Provisions" conference, which took place at the
University of Minnesota Law School on Saturday, January 28, 2006 beginning
at 9 a.m.

The conference/CLE explored racial disparities with regard to
incarceration.  The program schedule is set forth below.  There will be
video replays at the Law School on Friday February 10th and 24th and March
31st, 2006.  We will be applying for 5.6 CLE/CJE credit hours with 1.0
hour eligible for Elimination of Bias credit.

The program break down is as follows:

9:00 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. - Welcome and brief description of the facts and
procedural posture of Johnson v. Governor of State of Florida, 405 F. 3d
1214 (11th Cir. 2005).

9:10 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. - Overview: Felon Disenfranchisement and Democracy.
Prof. Christopher Uggen, Associate Chair, University of Minnesota,
Department of Sociology.

9:50 a.m. to Noon - Silenced Voices:  Panelists will examine the legal,
constitutional, societal and policy-making implications of felon
disenfranchisement provisions; measures that have been taken to address
them, e.g. executive orders, legislation; and litigation that has
challenged them, e.g. Johnson v. Governor of State of Florida;  Muntaqim
v. Coombe , 366 F. 3d 102 (2nd Cir. 2004) and Farrakhan v. Washington, 338
F. 3d 1009 (9th Cir. 2003).

The panel will consist of: Catherine Weiss, Associate Counsel, Brennan
Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.  The Brennan Center represents
the plaintiff s class in the Johnson v. Governor of State of Florida; Art
Eisenberg Litigation Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.  The
NYCLU submitted an Amicus brief in support of the Plaintiff s position in
Muntaqim v. Coombe ; Rep. Keith Ellison of the Minnesota House of
Representatives. The author of legislation to restore the voting rights of
people who have been convicted of felonies and who are on probation or
parole; Gary Dickey, Jr., General Counsel and Policy Advisor to Governor
Tom Vilsack of Iowa who by executive order restored the voting rights of
ex-felons in Iowa; Marc Mauer, Executive Director, Sentencing Project,
Washington DC; and Clinical Prof. Carl M. Warren, faculty advisor to the
University of Minnesota Law School s Wm. E. McGee National Civil Rights
Moot Court Competition, will moderate the panel.

Noon to 1:00 p.m.  Lunch break (on your own)

1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Catherine Weiss , Esq. will discuss the standards
and appropriate legal analysis of the 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act
issues in Johnson v. Governor of State of Florida.

1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.  Marc Mauer author of Race To Incarcerate and
Invisible Punishment will examine the staggering racial disparity in
incarceration.

The conference is being offered in conjunction with the Twenty-First
Annual William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition.
This year 's competition case is Johnson v. Governor of State of Florida,
405 F. 3d 1214 (11th Cir. 2005) a class action initiated in Florida which
asserts that the state constitutional provision that denies ex-felons the
right to vote violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and 2
of the Voting Rights Act. Thirty-six teams from law schools across the
country are submitting briefs and will argue orally at the law school
March 2, 3, and 4, 2006.

Location: University of Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Ave S.,
Minneapolis, MN 55455


--------3 of 28--------

From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net>
Subject: Court watch 2.24 10am

COURT WATCH OPPORTUNITY

Thomas Evenstad
Friday, February 24, 10am
Federal Courthouse
300 S. 4th Street, Minneapolis

Thomas Evenstad was arrested on a probable cause hold.  He never even knew
what he was being held for and had never been to jail.  That night, he was
placed in a cell with several other inmates who would not allow him to
sleep in the bunk the deputy had designated for him and intimidated him
into sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  The next morning, a deputy came
in and screamed at him as he rolled up his bedding.  That deputy forced
Evenstad to remove his clothes and then took him out of the cell and began
beating him.  The deputy was joined by others, including a supervisor, who
also beat and verbally abused him.  When Evenstad threatened to complain
to the media, he was put into a cold isolation room, still naked and
without bedding, and left there for a day.  After that, he was moved to
the hole.  While there, he was beaten multiple times and when he pushed
the emergency button or attempted to get medical care for his injuries he
was sentenced to even longer periods in the hole.  He was also harassed
nightly with deputies taunting him over a loudspeaker.  All of this was
witnessed by other inmates.  It appears that these tactics were used to
prevent him from accessing the telephone and from having his injuries
documented.  One nurse has come forward to admit that jailhouse nurses
were told to change their documentation to back up the deputies and reduce
liability.

Injustice within the "justice system" is not confined to police brutality
and misconduct.  It happens in the jails and it happens in the courts.
But we can stop it by exposing it to the light of day.  This case is an
important effort to bring conditions at the jail--where people are
literally in the belly of the beast--into public view.  It deserves your
support.


--------4 of 28--------

From: sarah standefer <scsrn [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Counter recruit 2.24 12noon

Counter Recruitment Demonstration
 Our Children Are Not Cannon Fodder
Fridays   NOON-1
Recruiting Office at the U of M
At Washington and Oak St.  next to Chipolte
for info call Barb Mishler 612-871-7871


--------5 of 28--------

From: valentina barnes <valbarnes2001 [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Harlem/film 2.24 1:30pm/7pm

February 24: I'll Make Me a World, volume 3, spotlights the Harlem
Renaissance, with Langston Hughs, Zora Neale Hurston, women blues singers
and the New Negro in politics.
Two screenings, Noon-1:30pm & 7-8:30pm
(One hour films will be followed by refreshments & conversations)

East Side Neighborhood Services
1700 Second Street NE
BLACK HISTORY MONTH FREE FILM SERIES
For Information and directions call 612-781-6011 or visit our web site at
www.esns.org


--------6 of 28--------

From: peace 2u <tkanous [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Palestine vigil 2.24 4:15pm

Every Friday
Vigil to End the Occupation of Palestine

4:15-5:15pm
Summit & Snelling, St. Paul

There are now millions of Palestinians who are refugees due to Israel's
refusal to recognize their right under international law to return to
their own homes since 1948.


--------7 of 28--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Impacted nations 2.24 5pm

Subject: Native Harvest & HonortheEarth invite you to a Native Art
Exhibit

Please join Honor the Earth and American Indian Neighborhood Development
Corporation and Native Harvest.
February 24, 5-9pm for the Minneapolis opening of Impacted Nations.
Food and beverage will be provided.
<http://newsletter.welrp.org/assets/ImpactedNations3.gif>

American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation
113 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis
612-870-7555

Haunting and hopeful "Impacted Nations" illustrates environmental
devastation and solutions

Honor the Earth exhibit opens with reception on Friday, February 24

Minneapolis - "Impacted Nations," an exhibit that illuminates the
intersection between American Indian artists and environmental concerns,
opens at Ancient Traders Gallery, 1113 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis,
from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, February 24. The event is free and open to the
public.

The exhibit, currently traveling across the United States, is a creation
of Minneapolis-based Honor the Earth, a national Native American
foundation and political advocacy organization. The tour was launched at
the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York City in October.

With more than fifty pieces of artwork spanning the continent, the exhibit
portrays a conflict: the cultural and spiritual relationship of Native
peoples to their land versus the economic forces that undermine that
relationship and American Indian ways of life.

"This nation's appetite for energy devastates Native land with energy
developments that destroy the entire web of life," said Janeen Antoine,
exhibit curator. "The artists' collective works articulate a broad view -
of the dark realities of dirty energy and of the hopeful vision for tribal
wind and solar power. The exhibit encourages Native nations to be leaders
in developing the alternative energy resources so abundantly provided."

Through a stunning array of styles and mediums, the art illustrates the
havoc wreaked on Native communities by dams, oil exploration, coal mining,
logging and nuclear power.

The contemporary fine art and traditional art of Native peoples in remote
villages, reservation towns, border communities and urban centers imbue
the show with a passionate voice. From the unsettling "Copper Mother" by
Cameron Chino (Quechan) to the fluid beauty of Blake Debassige's
(Obijwe/Mchigeeng)  "Mother Earth's Presence" to the overpowering forces
of "Modern Day Indian"  by Star Wallowing Bull (Ojibwe/Arapaho), the art
captivates even as it underscores the land, water and air laid to waste.

"The exhibit is in Minnesota because, historically, tribes here have been
impacted by utility companies and energy development," said Winona LaDuke,
Executive Director of Honor the Earth. "Through Impacted Nations, Honor
the Earth is working to inform people about the negative impacts of energy
policy and offer a solution for the future. For example, on White Earth
Reservation we are one of the windiest reservations in the state, and we
have just received a congressional energy bill appropriation of $1 million
for a wind turbine.

The exhibit features a number of regional artists, including Minnesota's
Jim Denomie (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) and Star
Wallowing Bull (Ojibwe/Arapaho). Following the exhibit at Ancient Traders
Gallery, "Impacted Nations" travels to Santa Fe's Institute of American
Indian Art, the largest American Indian art museum in the country.

Ancient Traders Gallery is committed to the presentation of dynamic
American Indian art as well as informing viewers about issues relevant to
American Indians.

AINDC is co-sponsoring the exhibit, a project of Honor the Earth, a
national Native American foundation and political advocacy organization
based in Minneapolis. Ancient Traders Gallery is one of the exhibit's
venues on a national tour that was launched at the Nathan Cummings
Foundation, New York City, in October 2005.

"Impacted Nations" runs through April 15, 2006.


--------8 of 28--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Ciudad/City/film 2.24 6pm

Feb 24 (Fri 6pm. Resource Center of the Americas 3019 Minnehaha Ave Mpls)
La Ciudad (The City) English/Spanish.  Film about four Latin American
undocumented immigrants who arrie in New York City with hopes to earn and
send money to their family.  They come to realize that New York offers
little.  Will these characters fulfill their dreams?


--------9 of 28--------

From: Daena Lower <daenalower [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Venezuela/rev/film 2.24 6pm

An Introduction to the Venezuelan Revolution: A Presentation and
Discussion on the film "Venezuela Bolivariana"

Waite House (2529 13th Ave. S. in Minneapolis)
Friday, February 24th at 6pm

This 76-minute documentary by Venezuelan film maker Marcelo Andrade
examines the Venezuelan Revolution as connected to the worldwide movement
against capitalist globalization. The main theme is how the Bolivarian
Revolution, thanks to its incredible grassroots and networking power,
transcends the national frontiers of Venezuela and contributes with
concrete alternatives in the fight against neoliberal capitalism. Covering
the period from the 1989 "Caracazo" to the April 2002 coup against Chavez
and beyond, this is a must-see film and an excellent introduction to what
is happening today in Venezuela. A discussion on the film and recent
events in Venezuela will follow.

We will also be reporting on the upcoming Venezuela Solidarity Conference
to be held in Washington, DC on March 4-6. Help us send a delegation to
this important meeting!

Sponsored by Hands Off Venezuela and the Minnesota-Venezuela Committee For
more information, or to join our Twin Cities mailing list, please contact
msp [at] ushov.org or call 651-373-7609 www.handsoffvenezuela.org /
www.ushov.org


--------10 of 28---------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Italy/youth/film 2.24-3.02 7:30pm

THE BEST OF ITALY IN "BEST OF YOUTH" -- HELD OVER!
AT THE OAK STREET CINEMA, FEB. 24-March 2

Twin Cities fans of Italian culture and cinema will get another chance to
see one of the film gems of the decade this month, the outstanding,
multilayered family saga Best of Youth, picked as the ³best film of the
year² by New York Times critic A.O. Scott (the best ³by far², he said).
The acclaimed epic, directed by Marco Tullio Giordana, follows two
brothers, free-spirited Nicola, played by Italyıs current screen
heart-throb Luigi Lo Cascio, and his introverted and idealist brother
Matteo (Alessio Boni) as they live through the personalities and politics
of historyıs shifting tides (the student youth movements of the Sixties,
the Arno floods of '66, the terrorist Red Brigades, the murder of Premier
Aldo Moro and the Berlusconi era).

Best of Youth will be shown in two, three-hour parts (with separate
admission):

Part I:  7:30pm Fri, Sat. Mon. 3:30pm Sun.
Part II: 7:30pm Sun. Tues. Wed, Thurs.

The Oak Street Cinema is located at 309 Oak Street SE, at the corner of
Oaks and Washington in Stadium Village.  Parking is available in area
ramps, and on street.

Admission is $8.00 general, $6.50 seniors, and $5.00 for Minnesota Film
Arts members.

Check the MFA website at www.mnfilmarts.org for a special advance ticket
offer for both shows (in Italian with English subtitles)


--------11 of 28--------

From: Jess Sundin <jess [at] antiwarcommittee.org>
Subject: US empire/play 2.24 8pm

TO SHINING SEA: The Imperial American History Pageant - Benefit showing
for AWC & AWOL

FRIDAY 2/24 @ 8pm @ Bedlam Theatre, 514-1/2 Cedar Ave S, Mpls. Tickets
$15. When did the U. S. of A., freedom-loving pinnacle of democracies,
become a Global Empire? It didn't happen overnight. TO SHINING SEA charts
the evolution of American Imperialism through 500 years of history using
the words of our fearsome leaders alongside centuries of popular wisdom,
buried histroy, and oft-fogotten facts in a fast-moving satirical
spectacular. Opening night is a benefit for the Anti-War Committee and the
Anti-War Organizing League. (Show runs through Sunday, March 5th.) More
info at www.bedlamtheatre.org.


--------12 of 28--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Why we fight/film 2.24 time?

WHY WE FIGHT:thriller expose of corporate militarism
by Lydia Howell
advance from PULSE, your grassroots alternative newspaper of the TC

Director Eugene Jarecki takes documentaries and turns them into detective
stories. His last film, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger," pursued Richard
Nixon's right-hand man of foreign policy, who's been accused of (but, not
yet tried for) war crimes for his role in American polices in Central
America. His new film "Why We Fight" - this year's Grand Jury Prize-winner
at Sundance - explores a maze of neoconservative think tanks, weapons
'trade shows,' corporate power, the Pentagon, politicians and their
critics. Jarecki's inspiration was Republican President Dwight D.
Eisenhower, whose 1960 farewell speech,(shown in the film) gravely and
presciently warned of a "military-industrial complex."

"Eisenhower had extraordinary courage on that last night. No American
president, before or since, has spoken as honestly on ANY subject to the
American people - let alone on war," Jarecki observes with obvious
admiration. "Eisenhower was a general in WWII and was feeling, as
president, forces had been unleashed that were eroding the heart of our
democracy. Forces he called the 'military-industrial-complex' represented
a new unwarranted influence in American policy that had to be watched very
vigilantly."

Jarecki interviews people in the know from military historian Gwynne Dyer
to a retired officer from the Office of Special Plans which "fixed
intelligence" to sell the war in Iraq. He puts two worldviews
side-by-side: that of neo-conservatives such as Richard Perl, of the
Project for a New American Century, and Bill Kristol, editor of the
conservative magazine Commentary) and critics like the irascible Gore
Vidal and Chalmers Johnson, author of "Blowback," the New York Times
bestseller that exposed American support for Osama bin Laden in the 1980s.

Jarecki visited the Twin Cities in late January, just as negotiations with
the Ford truck plant concluded, providing a parallel to the corporate
might his film exposes.

"I saw politicans running to talk to Ford about those jobs and those jobs
aren't going to be cut in this state - for now. Think of the incredible
panic that swept through that place! That's the degree of power these
corporations have over our lives. I saw it in Washington," Jarecki says.
"Our Founding Fathers did not foresee that kind of control over our
political leaders ... that political leaders would please corporate
interests because of the power of money."

This is no "talking head" movie. Jarecki, with wit and deep feeling,
artfully interweaves archival footage from WWII and the Cold War, weapons
manufacturers promotional films and 4th of July parades. He goes to
weapons factories and documents the U.S. military budget to create a
horrifying realization: War is good for Big Business. "Ordinary citizens"
- small town parents, youth, the blue-collar workers who build missiles -
ponder the question the film's title presents. We see how their
patriotism, loyalty to our troops, fear and confusion is manipulated to
support the military slaughter that continues, through pork barrel
politics, to produce huge profits.

"The term the defense companies use is 'political engineering,'" Jarecki
explains when discussing how the B2 bomber has at least one part made in
all 50 states. "You want to make sure everyone is in on the action. It's
legalized bribery."

While Jarecki is a tenacious investigator, "Why We Fight" is most powerful
for the human portraits he presents. Two elite Stealth bomber fighter
pilots describe their pre-invasion mission to assassinate Saddam Hussein.
Even though we know the mission failed, it's still suspenseful. Closer to
home, Jarecki shows us William Solomon, a 20-year-old joining the U.S.
Army.

"William's thoughts are very dramatic and gripping - and very familiar to
underprivileged Americans who are being subjected to a backdoor draft. As
for providing employment, William will do BETTER in the military than he
would elsewhere - if he survives it," Jarecki pauses, as if wondering how
Solomon is doing, now deployed to Iraq. "This is a dark, dark statement
for any society when the best job young people can get is a job when they
may have to die themselves or kill someone."

Most searing is William Sekzer, a Vietnam veteran, retired New York City
police officer and grieving father who lost his son in the World Trade
Center attacks on 9/11.

"I heard a quote. A woman loses a husband, she's a widow. A man loses his
wife, he's a widower. A child who loses their parents is an orphan. But we
have no word for a parent who's lost a child. It's indescribable. That
always struck me with William Sekzer." Jarecki is sober. "He represents
the journey Americans are making in their understanding: how to
participate in love of their country and holding on to what we hold dear."

This father's journey is so profound and takes such unexpected turns, this
writer won't reveal more, except to say that experiencing William Sekzer
alone makes "Why We Fight" worth the price of admission.

"Why We Fight" is a primer on American corporate militarism that should be
required viewing. From almost 50 invasions - overt and covert - since WWII
through the current "war on terror," Jarecki eviscerates the "patriotic"
sloganeering that keeps recruiting more young people to be cannon fodder.
With Lockheed Martin (which makes fighter jets) now a corporate
underwriter for PBS, this may be your only chance to see this urgent film.

Classic movie fans and WWII history buffs will recognize that "Why We
Fight" shares its title with Frank Capra's WWII-booster series, which
Jarecki says have been "undersold" as "propaganda."

"Capra always defended the little guy. "It's A Wonderful Life" is
basically George Bailey protecting his town from Wal-Mart! He made "Mr.
Smith Goes To Washington," where Jefferson Smith vows to stand until his
feet drop from under him to save his little creek from special interests,"
Jarecki declares. "Capra's WWII films took his concern for democracy
global. He asked Americans to stand up and defend democracy as it was
imperiled at that time."

"Likewise, in my film, I'm asking Americans to stand up and fight because
our democracy is in peril here at home from forces degrading the heart of
what we hold dear," Jarecki concludes. "These are the forces we were
warned about by Eisenhower. Big business could trump ideals we should live
by. I take seriously warnings from the grave of history."

WHY WE FIGHT, opens FRI.Feb. ONE WEEK ONLY, 24 at the Uptown Theatre,on
Hennepin Ave. South @ Lagoon, uptown MInneapolis (612)825-6006


--------13 of 28--------

From: Jane Prince <jprince71 [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Floodwall scam 2.24 time?

MAC will find out Friday whether or not it gets to build a 5,000-foot
sheet metal piling along our downtown waterfront in order to facilitate
increased air traffic over St. Paul's downtown and our neighborhoods.

Most cities aren't volunteering to sacrifice their quality of life to the
MAC and the FAA.  Just ask the cities of Bloomington, Eagan, Richfield,
Moundsview and MInneapolis how good a neighbor MAC has been to their
communities.  Got a complaint against MAC or the FAA?  You can move.

Visionary mayors like Chicago's Richard Daley bull-dozed his city's
downtown corporate airport to make way for a park because he viewed planes
landing near the urban core as poor land use as well as a security risk
after 9/11.  R.T. Rybak arguably is mayor of Minneapolis today because he
fought back against the MAC's devastation of the quality of life in South
Minneapolis.

Our city is at a significant crossroads of whether to give into the MAC or
to preserve and protect our Mississippi River environment and St. Paul's
precious quality of life.


--------14 of 28--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Gotama/play 2.24 time?

2/24 to 3/26, various times, Heart of the Beast theater presents "Gotama"
about a pampered prince names Siddhatta Gotama who wanders outside his
palace to discover the sick and the dead and eventually becomes the Buddha,
$15, 1500 E Lake, Mpls  www.heartofthebeasttheatre.org


--------15 of 28--------

From: Annie Annie <annie [at] hnampls.org>
Subject: Toxic Harrison 2.25 9:30am

What's in the Air here in Harrison?
Smells and Odors, Headaches, Asthma
Do you have asthma, runny noses, eyes burning?
Are you concerned about chemicals in your life?
With 3 Superfund sites, surrounded by freeways, a downtown incinerator and
several industrial businesses we wonder what they are putting into our air
here in the neighborhood?

Have your  questions answered by an expert -
Toxic Hazards and the Harrison Community
Guest Speaker: Dr. William Toscano

A researcher/toxicologist at the Univ. of MN School of Public Health Dr.
Toscano will address the exotic medley of synthetic chemicals that
individually and in concert exert sometimes deleterious effect on animal
and human life.  Dr. Toscano has a particular interest in environmental
justice issues.

February 25, Saturday
9:30-11:30am
At Harrison Neighborhood Board Room
503 Irving Ave. N. (in the park building)
"Lite" refreshments

For further info, call Annie @ 612-374-4849


--------16 of 28--------

From: Mary Turck <mturck [at] americas.org>
Subject: Guatemala/rights 2.25 10am

Saturday, February 25 Human Rights in Guatemala [Part of weekly coffee
hour series, with a talk by a featured speaker and discussion. Saturdays,
10-11:30 a.m. $4 includes first cup of coffee. Resource Center of the
Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis 55406 FFI: 612-276-0788] Caren
Weisbart will speak about her experiences as an accompanier with the
Guatemala Accompaniment Project and her work with fair trade coffee
growers.


--------17 of 28--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: WAMM annual meet 2.25 10am

Women Against Military Madness 2006 Annual Meeting.

Saturday, February 25, 10am-2pm. St. Joan of Arc Church 4537 Third Avenue
South, Minneapolis.

Featuring Sparkling Comedy Performance by recent Minneapolis mayorial
candidate and anti-war activist Farheen Hakeem, and Riveting Talk: "Is
Peace Possible with Capitalism?" by economic analyst and WAMM Board member
Karen Redleaf. Plus, Wanda Brown and Phyllis Golden, M.D. singing "The
WAMM Annual Report."

Brunch served. Iraqi art for sale. Nothing stuffy or boring here. This is
going to be a great, knock-your-socks off meeting. DON'T MISS IT!!! Please
bring: a book to share, with a note about why you want to share it and
friends who might be interested in joining WAMM. A WAMM action follows the
meeting! FFI: Call WAMM at 612-827-5364.


--------18 of 28--------

From: Stephen Eisenmenger <stephen [at] mngreens.org>
Subject: Green Party/what? 2.25 11am

BLOOMINGTON -- Getting to know the Green Party
Saturday, February 25
11am-1pm
8800 Penn Ave. S. Bloomington
(952) 847-5800

AGENDA:
--History and structure of the Green Party
--Activities and needs of the party.
--General discussion.

Snacks will be provided


--------19 of 28---------

From: Lynne Mayo <lynnne [at] usfamily.net>
Subject: Permaculture 2.25 1pm

Building Our Bioregional Community (Part IV)
Saturday, February 256 - 1-5pm
2420 17 Av S Minneapolis (home of LLEN Mayo)
612-722-7356  -  LLEN [at] usfamily.net

AGENDA-JOIN US FOR ANY OF FOUR SESSIONS:

Session 1--1-1:40pm ~~ Discussion of the theory and practice of
PERMACULTURE*
For those new to PERMACULTURE who want to know. Practitioner share their
knowledge

Session 2 --1:45-2:10pm ~~  Land, Gardens, Trees, Urban PERMACULTURE,
Training, Library, Networks,
Midwest PERMACULTURE Group, May Day Project, Funding

Break

Session 3 - Donıt miss this part!!!
2:30>4:00 Ken Meter Speaks
(...and answers questions)
Sustainability Indicators for the Twin Cities from a master practitioner
Ken Meter, president of Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, holds
35 years experience in community capacity building as a researcher,
educator, journalist, and administrator. As coordinator of public process
and indicator selection for the Minneapolis Sustainability Plan, he led
the definition of a long-term vision and indicators for the city.  He has
taught at the University of Minnesota and Metropolitan State University.

Break

Session 4:  4:30-5:00  Earth Community Fellowship - a proposal
Design community based on the values and principles of PERMACULTURE, and
including
Conflict Resolution/Respectful criticism-self
criticism/Gratitude//Mindfulness
Introductory Remarks by Lynne Mayo, who will also briefly review the book
by Dave Foreman, "Rewilding North America"

See you Saturday!

DESIGN PRINCIPLES:
Observe and interact, Catch and Store Energy, Obtain a Yield, Apply
Self-regulation and Accept Feedback, Use and Value Renewable
Resources/Services, Produce No Waste, Design from Patterns to Details,
Integrate rather than Segregate, Use Small & Slow solutions, Use & Value
Diversity, Use Edges and Value the Marginal, Creatively Use and Respond to
Change

SPECIES EXTINCTION:
³Soon a millennium will end.  With it will pass four billion years of
evolutionary exuberance.  yes, some species will survive, particularly the
smaller, tenacious ones living in places far too dry and cold for us to farm
or graze.  yet we must face the fact that the Cenozoic, the Age of Mammals,
which has been in retreat since the catastrophic extinctions of the late
Pleistocene is over, and that the "Anthropozoic", or "Catastrophozoic" has
begun."  Michael Soule


--------20 of 28--------

From: Lennie <major18 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Northtown vigil 2.25 1pm

We will now be peace vigiling EVERY SATURDAY from 1-2pm at the at the
southeast corner of the intersection of Co. Hwy 10 and University Ave NE
in Blaine, which is the northwest most corner of the Northtown Mall area.
This is a MUCH better location.

We'll have extra signs.  Communities situated near the Northtown Mall
include: Blaine, Mounds View, New Brighton, Roseville, Shoreview, Arden
Hills, Spring Lake Park, Fridley, and Coon Rapids.

For further information, email major18 [at] comcast.net or call Lennie at
763-717-9168


--------21 of 28--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: YAWR/metro-wide 2.25 2pm

Metro-wide YAWR meeting
*** please send representatives from your school ***

Saturday, February 25
2pm
Resource Center of the Americas
3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis
(Lake and Minnehaha, near Lake St. light rail stop and #21 bus)
Downstairs in Victor Jara Meeting Room
*** If you need a ride, or have other questions, call Ty at 612-760-1980

At the last couple metro-wide meetings of Youth Against War and Racism
some bold and ambitious initiatives were agreed to. We are planning to
organize a "Youth Bloc" protest at a military recruitment station on March
18th, the third anniversary of the U.S. attack on Iraq, and then an even
larger walkout on April 28th.

Already we held a successful concert fundraiser last Saturday, and another
is planned at the Triple Rock on March 12th. New chapters of YAWR have
formed at Central High and Great River schools in St. Paul, and more and
more community groups are offering their support to YAWR. So we have a lot
on our plate to make happen, and this week's meeting will be very
important.

Please make sure to send a representative from your school! -Ty


--------22 of 28--------

From: Burt Berlowe <bberlowe [at] mn.rr.com>
Subject: SpiritRoad/AM950 2.25 3pm

Local union organizing of child care workers will be the theme of a new
hour-long radio show called "Spirit Road," that will debut in the Twin
Cities Saturday, February 25, on AM 950 (Air America), at 3pm.

According to the creators and co-hosts of the program, Rick Bernardo and
Burt Berlowe, Spirit Radio will travel to places where spirituality and
social change meet while featuring stories, songs, humor and the voices of
ordinary people being extraordinary." The show will air the fourth
Saturday of each month. It is in need of sponsors, advertisers, volunteers
and people to listen and call in their comments.

The first show will highlight the work of AFSCME Local #5 in unionizing
child care workers around the state featuring interviews with organizers
and day care employees.  Listener call-ins are welcome.

You can learn more about the show by going to the website:
www.spiritroadradio.net. <http://www.spiritroadradio.net.or/> or by
contacting the co-hosts: Rick at 612-824-7176, or Burt at 612-722-1504.


--------23 of 28--------

From: Northern Sun <info [at] northernsun.com>
Subject: Hwy55/coldwater/film 2.25 7pm

You're invited to the premiere film screening and fundraiser for Coldwater
Nation: Stories of Reverence and Resistance, a work-in-progress speaking
truth to power about Coldwater Spring - the birthplace of Minnesota.

This feature documentary, produced by Jon Carlson, Anne Follett, Scott
Cramer and Jim Gambone, is scheduled to be released at the Minneapolis
International Film Festival in April 2006. It is currently in active,
post-production.

Coldwater Nation reveals how an unlikely coalition that included a younger
generation committed to living lightly on the Earth, mainstream
neighborhood residents just wanting to keep their homes, and the
descendants of Little Crow, willing to put their lives on the line to
preserve sacred lands and a valuable water resource - Coldwater Spring,
created the largest outdoor Urban Encampment in Minnesota history.

This story asks us to consider how we impart and preserve ourselves amidst
conflicting cultures. For example, what happens when the ability of people
to exercise their right to protest, comes in direct conflict with state
power, particularly when it exercises eminent domain or decides to build a
highway?

This story is layered with deeper questions about the human spirit - a
moving narrative that forces each one of us to ask important moral and
ethical questions about our own lives and the survival of this planet.

Please join us for screening and fundraiser house party. The film will
last 20 minutes, and will be followed by a presentation on Coldwater
Nation, with time for discussion.

COME JOIN US AT 7PM ON SATURDAY NITE, FEB.25TH AT THE HOME OF SCOTT AND
REBECCA CRAMER 3148 29TH AVE SO, MPLS 612 724 8864 [

Participants will be invited to make a charitable donation to Coldwater
Nation. Suggested donation $25. Checks should be written to Oak Folk
Films.

Donations can be made tax-deductible by making checks out to IFP
(Independent Film Project) and writing "Oak Folk Films" in the memo line.

Your contribution will allow this film to be finished for its
feature-length theatrical debut in the spring. Any donations that exceed
expenses will go to the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota peoples.

www.coldwaternation.org * 952-472-3379 * pointsofview [at] earthlink.net


--------24 of 28--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: World Can't Wait 2.25 7pm

Saturday, 2/25, 7 pm, St. Paul organizing meeting of World Can't Wait, 137
Fairview Ave N #4, St. Paul.  tristansmum35 [at] gmail.com or 651-340-7172.


--------25 of 28--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Race/justice/TV 2.25 8pm

Criminal Records, Race and Justice
tpt17 Saturday, Feb 25 at 8pm

An overview of the conflicting perspectives on the subject of public
access to criminal records, with a focus on the ethical and racial bias
issues that arise. Professor Arthur Miller of Harvard will lead a panel
of very diverse and opposing viewpoints through a discussion of what
criminal justice records should be public and when, from a legal and
ethical perspective.


--------26 of 28---------

Interviewing Michael Parenti about The Culture Struggle
ZNet

1) Can you tell ZNet, please, what your new book, THE CULTURE STRUGGLE is
about? What is it trying to communicate?

Parenti: "Culture" refers to the entire panorama of conventional beliefs
and practices within any society. But it has long occurred to me that what
we call "culture" is not just a set of practices, mores, and beliefs, the
"innocent accretion of past solutions," as an anthropologist once said.
Much of culture is certainly that, but culture is also a politically
charged component of the social order, mediated through institutions and
groups that have quite privileged vested interests.

Culture should be thought of as a changing process, the product of a
dynamic interplay - even serious struggle - between a wide range of social
and political interests. To understand a society we need to understand the
problem of culture as well as that of power. And, conversely, to
understand culture we also need to take note of how power is used in
society, toward what end and for whose benefit and at whose cost.

I draw from cultures from around the world in the hope of demonstrating
how beliefs and practices are subjected to manipulation by dominant
interests, and how cultures are instruments of social power.

Many parts of modern culture are being commodified, that is, packaged and
sold to those who can pay. Folk culture is giving way to a corporate
market culture. Art, science, medicine, psychiatry, and even marriage have
been used as instruments of cultural control across the centuries. I deal
with all this in the book.

Powerful interests also employ racism, sexism, and class supremacy to
maintain their existing politico-economic rule. These too I treat. Culture
is both something to be controlled by ruling interests, and is itself an
instrument of domination.

In THE CULTURE STRUGGLE I also give attention to the question of how do we
judge cultures. Given the prevalence of western ethnocentrism and the
awful history of cultural imperialism (a ready adjunct to economic
imperialism and colonialism), can we ever dare to judge the cultures of
the Third World, for instance? Are not the standards by which we judge
also culturally determined? I say, yes we can judge all cultures including
our own, and I try to show how.

2) Can you tell ZNet something about writing the book? Where does the
content come from? What went into making the book what it is?

I explore aspects of culture manifested in social conflict, gender, race,
science, sexual identity, and New Age notions such as
"hyperindividuality." I also treat the question of human perceptions and
various other subjects ranging from the everyday to the esoteric. I have
long studied the social sciences and the political scene. The book does
not spin theories out of thin air but is filled with lots of illustrative
examples.

I didn't try to write a tome. The book is only 140 pages (am I confessing
or bragging?). Rather than constructing a rigorous and complex theory of
culture, as in a social science monograph, I present a set of discursive
commentaries linked by underlying themes, filled with materials drawn from
history and contemporary cultures of this day, making it all quite
readable I hope. [I have just read it, and it is. -ed]

3) What are your hopes for THE CULTURE STRUGGLE? What do you hope it will
contribute or achieve, politically? Given the effort and aspirations you
have for the book, what will you deem to be a success? What would leave
you happy about the whole undertaking? What would leave you wondering if
it was worth all the time and effort?

One of the persistent ideological teachings in the United States is that
our society is notably free of ideological teachings. Ideology is
something imported from alien lands or brewed at home by allegedly
sinister groups, as in "Communist ideology."

But in fact, we Americans are ideologically indoctrinated into certain
precepts about patriotism, elections, world leadership, the self-made
rich, and all that garbage about the free market. We also entertain
notions about class, race, and gender relations and about the democratic
distribution of power in our pluralistic society. Well, most of these
kinds of beliefs are themselves ideological. Yet they're widely circulated
and remain largely free of critical examination, being seen as
representing the natural order of things. These ideologies don't just
emerge spontaneously and full blown, they're disseminated through the
dominant institutions of society. They serve as instruments of social
control. In contrast, iconoclastic views such as those often found in ZNet
and Z Magazine are given only limited exposure and are usually relegated
to a place beyond the pale, beyond the mainstream.

[Though almost everyone is warped and misled and brainwashed by the
elite-programmed culture, almost everyone believes that only stupid people
are suckered; they are smarter than that, and won't hear of being
bamboozled. And as long as they think that, they will be. Elite propaganda
is VERY effective and omnipresent; they have had years/decades/centuries
to perfect it (eg racism, sexism) in all of its sneaky meanness and filth.
The rich will plot and scheme endlessly for a $ billion here, a $ trillion
there. Their most successful myth by far is that there is no class
warfare. -ed]

As for your question, "What would leave you happy about the whole
undertaking [of writing this book]?" Robert McChesney and Cornel West
wrote wonderful endorsement blurbs for the book. And David Occhiuto
interviewing me on WBAI and Larry Bensky interviewing me on KPFA said they
found much in it that was eye-opening and worth thinking about - despite
its brevity. Well, that's what makes me happy: the book is designed to get
readers to think critically about things that either have been unduly
obscured or are so obvious as to be easily overlooked. When even
exceptionally well-informed and well-read people like McChesney, West,
Occhiuto, and Bensky can benefit from it, I start thinking that other
people will also. So far that seems to be the case. And critical thinking
is what spurs us to action, protest, resistance, and charting a new and
better course.


--------27 of 28--------

Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer
By DOUG THOMPSON
Feb 22, 2006,
http://www.capitolblue.com/artman/publish/article_8184.shtml

A written report from Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick
Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two
weeks ago says Cheney was "clearly inebriated" at the time of the
shooting.

Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice
President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the
report notes, and Cheney exhibited "visible signs" of impairment,
including slurred speech and erratic actions, the report said. According
to those who have read the report and talked with others present at the
outing, Cheney was drunk when he gunned down his friend and the
day-and-a-half delay in allowing Texas law enforcement officials on the
ranch where the shooting occurred gave all members of the hunting party
time to sober up.

We talked with a number of administration officials who are privy to
inside information on the Vice President's shooting "accident" and all
admit Secret Service agents and others saw Cheney consume far more than
the "one beer' he claimed he drank at lunch earlier that day.

"This was a South Texas hunt," says one White House aide. "Of course there
was drinking. There's always drinking. Lots of it."

Cheney has a long history of alcohol abuse, including two convictions of
driving under the influence when he was younger. Doctors tell me that
someone like Cheney, who is taking blood thinners because of his history
of heart attacks, could get legally drunk now after consuming just one
drink.

If Cheney was legally drunk at the time of the shooting, he could be
guilty of a felony under Texas law and the shooting, ruled an accident by
a compliant Kenedy County Sheriff, would be a prosecutable offense.

But we will never know for sure because the owners of the Armstrong Ranch,
where the shooting occurred, barred the sheriff's department from the
property on the day of the shooting and Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon
Salinas III agreed to wait until the next day to send deputies in to talk
to those involved.

Sheriff's Captain Charles Kirk says he went to the Armstrong Ranch
immediately after the shooting was reported on Saturday, February 11 but
both he and a game warden were not allowed on the 50,000-acre property. He
called Salinas who told him to forget about it and return to the station.

"I told him don't worry about it. I'll make a call," Salinas said. The
sheriff claims he called another deputy who moonlights at the Armstrong
ranch, said he was told it was "just an accident" and made the decision to
wait until Sunday to investigate.

"We've known these people for years. They are honest and wouldn't call us,
telling us a lie," Salinas said.

Like all elected officials in Kenedy County, Salinas owes his job to the
backing and financial support of Katherine Armstrong, owner of the ranch
and the county's largest employer.

"The Armstrongs rule Kenedy County like a fiefdom," says a former
employee.

Secret Service officials also took possession of all tests on
Whittington's blood at the hospitals where he was treated for his wounds.
When asked if a blood alcohol test had been performed on Whittington, the
doctors who treated him at Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus
Christi or the hospital in Kingsville refused to answer. One admits
privately he was ordered by the Secret Service to "never discuss the case
with the press."

It's a sure bet that if a private doctor who treated the victim of
Cheney's reckless and drunken actions can't talk to the public then the
memo that shows the Vice President was drunk as a skunk will never see the
light of day.

[Holding Cheney accountable for his crime would go against the god-given
rich man's American Dream of doing anything to anyone any time he damn
well feels like it. And if it's us he wants to do it to, who are we to get
in his way? After all, he is a filthy rich American and we're not, so we
should let him kick us in the teeth if that's what turns his crank.
Wealth uber alles. -ed]


--------28 of 28--------

 The unbearable flightness of bleating


 I choose to follow
 the leader, bleats each sheep, as
 all leap from the steep.

 You see, we're flying,
 seventeen spry high bright birds,
 faster and faster

 thump thump thump thump thump
 thump thump thump thump thump thump thump
 thump thump thump thump thump


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   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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