Progressive Calendar 04.27.07 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:05:26 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 04.27.07 1. Animal testing 4.27 4pm 2. Palestine vigil 4.27 4:30pm 3. Venezuela film 4.27 6pm 4. NonV communication 4.27 7pm 5. Minneapolis plans 4.28 10am 6. Venezuela 4.28 10am 7. Right not to kill 4.28 10:30am 8. NWN4P Minnetonka 4.28 11am 9. GPMN move to StP 4.28 11am 10. Divest from Israel 4.28 1pm 11. Northtown vigil 4.28 2pm 12. Terror 4.28 2pm 13. MayDay/labor 4.28 3pm 14. MayDay [at] MayDay 4.28 6pm 15. Cafe Intifada 4.28 7pm 16. Impeach demo 4.28 7pm 17. Moore/socialism/TV 4.28 9pm 18. Ty Moore - Military recruitment in our schools 19. Jim Fuller - Times, and reporters, have changed 20. Cindy Sheehan - The Yellow Badge of Cowardice 21, Dave Lindorff - Kucinich files impeachment bill 22. Leah Fishbien - Women under siege: abortion rights & the Roberts Court --------1 of 22-------- From: Isaac Peter <minnesotaprimatefreedom [at] gmail.com> Subject: Animal testing 4.27 4pm Friday, April 27th 4:00-7:00 PM Washington Ave S.E and Harvard St. S.E, In front of Moo's Tower on the U of M West Bank We will be holding a protest against the University of Minnesota's use of non-human primates in biomedical research. If you can't make it, you can still help! Please call the University of Minnesota's president Robert Bruininks at 612-626-1616 and tell him that you want primate research at the U of M stopped immediately. Please keep all correspondence with Robert Bruininks polite and informative. If you would like more information, please contact us at minnesotaprimatefreedom [at] gmail.com. --------2 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Palestine vigil 4.27 4:30pm Friday, 4/27, 4:30 to 5:30 pm, vigil to end the occupation of Palestine, Snelling & Summit Aves, St Paul. Karen, 651-283-3495. --------3 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Venezuela film 4.27 6pm Friday, 4/27, 6 pm, filmmaker Fiorella Ormeno Incio screens his film "Democracy in Venezuela," Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave, Mpls. www.americas.org --------4 of 22------- From: "Krista Menzel (Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace)" <web [at] mppeace.org> Subject: NonV communication 4.27 7pm by Marshall Rosenberg 2 1/2 hour introduction to nonviolent communication (NVC) with Marshall Rosenberg Friday, April 27, 2007 7:00-9:30 p.m. Brady Education Center, University of St. Thomas Peace activist Marshall Rosenberg will provide a FREE lecture on nonviolent communication as an introduction to the weekend NVC workshop at St. Thomas. This may be Marshall Rosenberg's last visit to the Twin Cities. In 2008, he is choosing to dramatically cut back his travel schedule from previous years. Seating is limited and registration is required to attend. http://www.stthomas.edu/justpeace/nvcevent/ The introductory lecture s FREE, but they are accepting donations to help promote Marshall's work and present more of these events. Event Sponsors: John Myser, UST Peace and Justice Program, Wisdoms Ways Center for Spirituality --------5 of 22-------- From: Darrell Gerber <darrellgerber [at] earthlink.net> Subject: Minneapolis plans 4.28 10am The City of Minneapolis has begun the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan. Join City leaders at a Community Forum to learn about the process and to discuss three themes that will shape the Minneapolis of the future: sustainability, heritage preservation and urban design. The same material will be discussed at all three forums. Following a general overview of the update process, we will divide into three groups, one to discuss each theme. Forum dates are: * Saturday, April 28, 10:00 a.m. to noon, Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall * Tuesday, May 1, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Midtown YWCA, 2121 East Lake St. (near Hiawatha) * Thursday, May 17, 4:00-6:00 p.m., Capri Theater, 2210 Oliver Ave. North (at Broadway) All locations are wheelchair accessible; if you need other disability related accommodations, such as a sign language interpreter or materials in alternative format, please contact Krista Bergert at (612) 673-5015 (V) or (612) 673-2626 (TTY). Updated information, including other opportunities to participate, will be available on the Web at: www.minneapolisplan.info <http://www.minneapolisplan.info/> For more information about the Comprehensive Plan and update process, you can review the Frequently <http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/planning/docs/070330_CP_Update_FAQ.pdf> Asked Questions (PDF), call (612) 673-2098, or email comments and questions to update [at] minneapolisplan.info --------6 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Venezuela 4.28 10am Saturday, 4/28, 10 am, filmmaker Ormeno Inico discusses democracy and the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave, Mpls. www.americas.org --------7 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Right not to kill 4.28 10:30am Saturday, 4/28, 10:30 am, longtime peace activists (some would say saints) Marie and John Braun, speak on "The Right Not to Kill," Plymouth Presbyterian Church, 3755 Dunkirk Ln N, Plymouth. 763-559-2946. --------8 of 22-------- From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net> Subject: NWN4P Minnetonka 4.28 11am NWN4P-Minnetonka demonstration- Every Saturday, 11 AM to noon, at Hwy. 7 and 101. Park in the Target Greatland lot; meet near the fountain. We will walk along the public sidewalk. Bring your own signs. --------9 of 22-------- From: Andy Hamerlinck <iamandy [at] riseup.net> Subject: GPMN move to StP 4.28 11am The Green Party of MN will be moving out of its current office at 621 W. Lake St., Suite 205, Mpls at the end of the month. Our five year lease expired and we did not want to commit for another five years. Our new office location will be at University and Raymond in St. Paul on the 2nd level of 2115 University Ave. It is cheaper and twice as large, so keep this in mind for future meetings/gatherings. If you are able to help out (and yes we need help with the larger furniture especially), please show up at the current office on Saturday, April 28th at 11am. If you have a two-wheeler/dolley and a truck or van, that would be a plus. current address: Green Party of MN 621 W. Lake St. Suite 205 Minneapolis, MN 55408 --------10 of 22-------- From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Divest from Israel 4.28 1pm A28: Divest from Apartheid Israel Organizing Conference Saturday, 4/28, 1-6 pm @ Carlson School of Management, U of M West Bank, Rooms L110, L114, L118 and L122. Attend any of a variety of working groups to discuss how labor, student, religious, and political groups can work towards justice for the Palestinian people. The key notespeaker is Farid Esack who is a veteran of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and a former national commissioner on gender equality appointed by President Nelson Mandela. Farid Esack is currently the William Henry Bloomberg Visiting Professor at Harvard Divinity School. After the conference join us for a "Cafe Intifada", an intellectual salon with interactive theatre, where the audience becomes the occupied and occupier. Learn about the Israeli occupation of Palestine like never before. The "Café" will be from 7-9 pm at the Bedlam Theatre Fireplace Room, 1501 South 6th St., West Bank, Minneapolis. Sponsored by the Coalition for Palestinian Rights (CPR) For more information: coalition_for_Palestinian_rights [at] yahoo.com --------11 of 22-------- From: Lennie <major18 [at] comcast.net> Subject: Northtown vigil 4.28 2pm Mounds View peace vigil EVERY SATURDAY from 2-3pm 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 --------12 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Terror 4.28 2pm Alternate Saturdays, 1/13 to 6/9, 2 to 4 pm, interfaith dialogue organization Northern Lights Society presents series Understanding Islam, 2469 University Ave, Suite 110 E. St Paul. bilgin [at] nlight.org Series includes topics: terror and suicide attacks on 4/28, other faiths according to Islam on 5/12, diversity in Islam on 5/26 and Islamic art on 9/9. RSVP to rsvp [at] nlight.org --------13 of 22-------- From: Meredith Aby <awcmere [at] hotmail.com> Subject: MayDay/labor 4.28 3pm May Day Celebration: Reclaiming the People's Holiday to honor Heroines and Heroes Saturday, 4/28 @ Spirit of the Lakes Church, 2930 13th Ave (Lake & 13th) @ 3 PM. In Chicago in May 1886, workers fought and died for the 8-hour work day. This battle gave rise to May Day, and its tradition of demonstrations, strikes and celebrations by working people around the globe. 121 years later, real heroes of the world are still fighting back against attacks on our lives and for a better future. Join with our sisters and brothers around the world to celebrate May Day. Leaders from the labor, anti-war, immigrants rights, student and poor people's movements in the Twin Cities will speak about what we've done this past year to stand up and fight back. With speeches, a meal and a special program from kids, this event will recognize great working class fighters and celebrate Sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization. For more info call: 612-823-2841, www.frso.org. --------14 of 22-------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: MayDay [at] MayDay 4.28 6pm Come celebrate the International Workers day that got its start in the USA! MAY DAY...at MAY DAY BOOKS. Sat April 28, 6pm--? Dinner (meat & vegatarian) open mic RANT! and party with comrades! Wobblies! Reds1 Greens! labor organizers! anarchists1 peace protesters!we want YOU to come celebrate with us! mAY DAY BOOKS 301 Cedar, basement of HUB Bicycle, WEST BANK, Minneapolis (6120333-4719 --------15 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Cafe Intifada 4.28 7pm Saturday, 4/28, 7 to 9 pm, "Cafe Intifada," an intellectual salon with interactive theater where audience becomes occupied and occupier, Bedlam Theater Fireplace Room, 1501 S 6th St, W Bank, Mpls. coalition_for_Palestinian_rights [at] yahoo.com --------16 of 22-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Impeach demo 4.28 7pm Saturday, 4/28, 7 pm, spell out "IMPEACH" with flashlights under bedsheets at Riverside Park on West side of Mississippi riverbank near the Route 122 bridge near U of M campus, Mpls. www.impeachforpeace.org or http://volunteerforchange.org/org/show/547 --------17 of 22------- From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net> Subject: Moore/socialism/TV 4.28 9pm "Our World In Depth" cablecasts weekly in Minneapolis on MTN! Households with basic cable can watch. MTN shows are on Channel 17 Saturdays at 9 pm and the following Tuesday at 8 am. Sat, 4/28, 9 pm "Challenging the Profit System" Interview of Ty Moore, national organizer of Socialist Alternative. Co-hosted by Eric Angell and Karen Redleaf. "Our World In Depth" features analysis of public affairs with consideration of and participation from Twin Cities area activists. The show is mostly local and not corporately influenced! For information about future programing of "Our World In Depth", please send an e-mail to eric-angell [at] riseup.net. (PS It might be better than PBS!) --------18 of 22-------- Military recruitment in our schools: What can school boards do to stop it? By Ty Moore, organizer with Youth Against War & Racism In late March, at a closed committee meeting, the St. Paul Board of Education rejected student demands to substantially restrict military recruitment in their schools, citing a series of minor logistical complications. In an open letter to the Board last November, the Central High students explained their case: "[T]he Pentagon is sending more and more of its recruiters into our schools, searching among us for fresh cannon fodder. They are at Central High every week now. [Youth Against War & Racism] believes military recruiters should not be present in school at all, but due to the No Child Left Behind act, public schools are threatened with loss of federal funding if they enact an outright ban on recruiters. That is why we have launched a new petition drive at school around three demands that, while remaining within the law, will substantially restrict recruiters' ability to prey on our fellow classmates. We hope you will act rapidly to make the following demands official policy at Central and district-wide." The petition demanded an end to military recruiters setting up their elaborate lunch-room tables, instead restricting them to career resource centers; that all student contact with recruiters be supervised to cut across well documented patterns of dishonesty and misconduct; and that recruiters be prevented from visiting schools more frequently than colleges. They collected over 300 student signatures in three weeks, and at the Board's December 20th meeting, over 60 YAWR students and supporters, carrying signs reading "Demilitarize Our Schools," packed the public comment section with powerful testimony against military recruitment in schools. However, after two months of "investigations" the Board rejected all our main demands. The Board's decision is clearly a set-back. On the other hand, it has been a valuable education in the way official politics works (or does not work!). There is overwhelming opposition in this country to the Iraq war, and if put to a vote in St. Paul there is little doubt YAWR's demands to restrict military recruitment in schools would be supported. But as in Congress so also in the St. Paul Board - fear of rocking the boat with a clear antiwar stand is deemed politically risky. School board elections Several Greens and others have approached us in the last weeks, suggesting we explore finding candidates to stand for the four open Board of Education seats in November. The idea is exciting but, aside from the logistical hurdles, a deeper set of questions are raised. What kind of candidates - and what kind of school board - do we want? Our experience with the current Board raises serious concerns. Few of us would support candidates who, like most current Board members, give lip service to our concerns on military recruitment, but refuse to take a determined stand against the use of our schools as recruiting stations for this horrific, unjust war. The St. Paul Board members went about the entire discussion in a galling business-as-usual manner. There was no sense of indignation over the economic blackmail of No Child Left Behind, allowing Pentagon employees to roam our schools promoting a criminal war based on naked lies. The Board showed no moral outrage at their students being recruited into a war where one in five return with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, were one in three women are sexually assaulted, and where youth are asked to subjugate and kill another people to steal their oil. Even Board member Ann Carroll, who at first supported our demands and met separately with students to coach them on their presentations, strongly emphasized taking out anything "political" in their statements. Military recruitment in schools was to be treated as simply a local logistical issue, as if it had nothing to do with the U.S. war machine, which, in the still-true words of MLK is "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." Hiding behind the false idea that school boards have no voice in national policy, that political neutrality is the responsible approach, the Board's casual rejection of our demands is no surprise. St. Paul vs. George Bush Last fall, when Youth Against War & Racism (YAWR) activists and supporters were discussing our campaign tactics, we considered simply calling on the Board to enact an outright ban on military recruitment in schools, in open defiance of the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB forces schools to provide the Pentagon nearly unfettered access to students on pain of losing federal funds. We made a tactical decision at the time to limit our demands to restrictions within the law. But maybe it.s now time, with the Board elections coming up, to revisit the idea of demanding an outright ban. Does the threat of losing federal funding make such a campaign a lost cause? Not at all! Like other unjust laws in history, NCLB can be broken and defeated under the impact of a mass mobilization. Imagine if a new St. Paul Board was elected in November publicly committed to challenging the economic blackmail of No Child Left Behind. Imagine they took the bold step of ending military recruitment in our schools. Across the country, millions of students, parents, teachers, and community members are outraged at Bush's war in Iraq and the growing presence of recruiters in schools. They could be rallied to our support and inspired to launch similar campaigns to ban recruitment in school districts across the country. Especially with the Republican National Convention coming to town, the political room for Bush to retaliate by cutting off federal funds to our schools would be limited. Such a move would be met with a storm of popular outrage, locally and nationally. In this context, with the national spotlight focused on our stand-off, YAWR and the broader antiwar movement could organize mass student strikes and demonstrations of tens of thousands. In this David vs. Goliath story, a firm and determined St. Paul Board of Education, who skillfully linked their stand against the war with demands for redistributing Pentagon money toward education and the social needs of youth, could prevail over a weakened White House. Social movement candidates? Unfortunately, current members of the Board will no doubt view this political approach as little more than the silly dreaming of a young radical, far from the realm of political possibility. Such sourness reveals the awful deficit of political courage, the lack of a vision for real change, which afflicts our sick nation. Are there any candidates who will position themselves as the political voice of the antiwar movement, as well as wider struggles for youth rights and education funding? Will any candidate publicly embrace the youth protest movement, the walkouts and direct actions, and use their campaign to help promote our grassroots struggles for a peaceful, just future? Unless we have real social movement candidates running for office, don't expect most young people to pay much attention to Board elections. But maybe, as our social movements grow, the resources and room for expanding into the political arena is growing too. Maybe there is already space for the Twin Cities counter-recruitment movement, in coalition with Greens or other groups, to run candidates this fall for the Board. Anyone interested? Then get in touch (612-760-1980). --------19 of 22-------- Sunday, April 15, 2007 Times, and reporters, have changed by Jim Fuller In the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, reporters, copy editors, photographers and some lower-level line editors - assistant city editors, assistant news editors and others - at the Minneapolis Tribune raised a lot of hell with their employers. There were at least two byline strikes - reporters exercising their right under the Newspaper Guild (union) contract with the publisher to withhold their names from stories they wrote because of what we regarded as ethical lapses by our bosses. Once, the news staff chipped in to buy a full-page ad in our own newspaper to berate the publisher for allowing an advertiser to run an ad falsely accusing a reporter of factual errors in an article that had the potential to harm the advertiser's business. Another time, staff members wore black armbands for a couple of weeks to protest the refusal of the newspaper's editor in chief to publish a series of well-documented stories that, again, had strong potential to damage some advertisers' businesses. The businesses were blatantly cheating customers through bait and switch and other tactics, and using full-page, full-color ads in the Tribune to do it. I was the reporter/author of the series. Molly Ivins wrote about the incident, and some others, when she left the Tribune. The businesses in question have long since been shut down by local and state governments. The staff, incidentally, won about two-thirds of those battles. In the case of the advertiser who slandered the reporter, the Tribune's publisher and editor apologized in print. At the time, the Tribune was consistently rated as one of the top 20, sometimes best 10, newspapers in the country. For a while, some of the news staff met weekly on their own time in homes or the back rooms of bars to talk about journalism, particularly as practiced at our newspaper. Attendance at the meetings varied from about 12 or 15 to as many as 40 or 45. Organizers of the discussions included to-be-famous Ivins, a talented photographer called Skip Heine (now long out of newspapers), a hardnosed, Mike Wallace sort of reporter by the name of Bernie Shellum who later went to the Detroit Free Press, and one Jim Fuller, a rather dour young man who had a reputation for making complex topics understandable and for pursuing the kind of crook who wore hand-tailored suits and belonged to the most exclusive clubs. Bear with me. This has a purpose other than nostalgia. After the first three or four unofficial staff meetings, some of the newspaper's senior editors asked permission to attend. They had heard about the discussions and wanted to participate, or at least listen. Permission was readily granted, with the understanding that their positions at the paper gave them no privileges at our meetings. We were quite successful in avoiding the kind of day-to-day bitching that filled countless hours at the Little Wagon, a bar just down the street from the Tribune's (and Minneapolis Star's) offices and plant. Topics included some inside baseball, such as use of photographs to help tell a story rather than merely decorate it, the construction of headlines and English usage standards. But the majority of discussion was on issues of broad significance. One session I recall led to consensus on a subject that had long been skirted. The large majority of the staff, somewhat in opposition to the position of the newspaper's editor, held that mere title - be it president of the United States or board chairman of a corporation - did not automatically carry with it the right to exposure on the front page of the newspaper, or, indeed, anywhere in it. More specifically, we were strongly against giving prominent display to statements or claims repeated for a third, fourth or fifth time. If it ain't news, it ain't news, in other words. We weren't in the business of flacking for politicians or other big shots. Although there wasn't one of us who didn't love to be first with a story, we came down hard for giving accuracy powerful precedence over quick coverage. If the facts weren't certain, we should hold until they had been verified, even if the story already was on the air. (That hurt, but we meant it.) We also required of ourselves and our bosses that statements by the powerful be as thoroughly checked as those by lesser beings. A mere statement of something as fact didn't mean it was fact until it was checked and contrary interpretations were solicited and evaluated. There was quite a lot more along those lines. We sometimes slipped, of course, and some of the people we worked for, solicitous of the powerful and their own positions, occasionally slipped something in on us. But for the most part those discussions helped keep us honest and working hard to achieve real balance, fairness and honesty in our reporting. The battles with our bosses helped keep them at least mostly honest. And the truth is, they mostly wanted to be honest and to foster excellent journalism. And the point of talking about this now? There is no chance whatever - absolutely none - that such activity involving the staff of a large American newspaper will be seen again, and there is no chance that such concerted striving for unattainable levels of performance in news reporting will return. The often arrogant and mostly intellectually timid members of today's news staffs would scoff at such activities. Too idealistic, too high school. Newspapers and broadcast outlets of 2007 are owned and supervised by people whose essential goals have almost nothing to do with the quality of journalism. They are about making money, and almost nothing else. The staffs of today's newspapers are almost entirely made up of people of upper middle class (or economically higher) background who live in affluent suburban neighborhoods and have little or no acquaintance with anyone different from themselves. And, yes, that includes most of those of racial or other ethnic minorities. They were raised to believe, and do believe, that this country is pretty much run by those who should be running it. They tend to believe that although the Bush crowd is too far to the right, it's biggest crime is mere incompetence. They are people who reject many ideas and potential truths without examination as being "too far out" and, perhaps, born of "conspiracy theories" - a favorite way of dismissing ideas and possible facts that may prove uncomfortable or difficult to deal with. Most certainly, those who inhabit today's news rooms would never consider banding together to butt heads with the people who run things. It just isn't done, doncha know. Anyway, they much more resemble a basketball squad of would-be individual stars than, say, a baseball team on which everyone strives for the good of the team, standing ready to lay down a sacrifice bunt when useful although a double would look better in the individual stats. We need some way to get facts, including facts that run contrary to the stances of those who rule, to the people of this country. We're not going to get much help from today's corporately owned newsrooms. We must recognize that and look elsewhere, perhaps establish our own journalism outlets - blogs don't cut it - or invent new approaches. Maybe we need to go back to the days of the American Revolution and the pamphleteers and start over. And we'd damned well better get going. --------20 of 22-------- The Yellow Badge of Cowardice by Cindy Sheehan Published on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 by CommonDreams.org There was an unbelievable story in The Cove Herald last week that comes from near where George Bush and I own property: Copperas Cove, Texas. Apparently two residents: Bill and Georgia Thomas decided that the Resident in Chief deserved one of the three Purple Hearts that Bill earned in Vietnam for: "emotional wounds and scars" because people all over the world talk so badly about poor George. This story stunned me on a day when nine US soldiers and 20 were wounded in a car bomb attack in the Iraqi province of Diyala. Over 500 Iraqis were killed or found decomposing in Baghdad last week and April '07 is shaping up to be one of the deadliest months for US troop fatalities. This is also a day when there is a hearing into the Army's exploitation of Pat Tillman's death to use him as a poster boy for patriotic fervor and unfounded hero worship. Why can't we talk about our soldier's heroic lives and not their tragic deaths as victims of the military industrial complex? At the funeral of my son, Casey, a one-star General presented me with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for bravery awarded to Casey posthumously. The Thomas' can do whatever they want with Bill's medals, but I believe giving one to George Bush demeans Casey's brave and honorable sacrifice. Little Georgie used his Daddy (the Congressman's) connections to avoid serving in Vietnam and George even went so far as to go AWOL from the Alabama Air National Guard. Casey didn't want to go and kill people and die in his commander in chief's war of aggression. Like the vice-commander in chief, Doomsday Dick, he had "other priorities" besides dying. Casey's Man-Scout Badges are sitting in my grandmother's cedar chest right next to his baby book and hand-print from pre-school. For George, the Vietnam War Resister cum Iraqi occupation War Criminal, to say that he didn't "deserve" the medal is an under-statement. Bush doesn't feel emotional scars or pain, he deals them. There are many soldiers who are missing arms, legs, eyes, and souls who actually had to earn their medals under a corrupt regime that used their honor and bravery to pump up the bottom line of such companies as Doomsday Dick's Halliburton. There are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, sons and daughters who are emotionally scarred because their loved one won't be coming home alive from a war that never had to happen. Our arms will be aching forever because we can't hug our loved ones. Our hearts are scarred with the pain of burying someone too early and our lives are empty with the longing to see our dear one just one more time. The Thomas' belong to the Fox News generation that still condones and supports a murderous regime. Mr. Thomas belongs to a generation that was scarred, maimed and killed with a genocidal fever by its corrupt regimes and he still thinks that George deserves a medal for his incompetence and callousness? What do we do in a world where black is white? War is peace. Two and two equals five and cowardice is bravery? We rise up and become more powerful than the special interests which use both parties to keep this nation on a constant war footing. We use our voices to be mouthpieces for peace and accountability. We march on the Capitol on May 14th to demand that there is no more business as usual and that Congress realizes that every single one of them (Democrat or Republican) who voted to fund George's war are complicit in the bottomless pain that accompanies each death, dismemberment, or disability; without sharing in one iota of the same pain. If George likes to receive medals that he didn't earn, Gold Star Families for Peace is going to present him with one on April 25th, (or try to) that he does deserve and has earned abundantly: the Yellow Badge of Cowardice. It doesn't take any courage to march other people's children off to war. George didn't exhibit any courage when he was put to the top of the Texas Air National Guard line by his family's friends. George puts on his smiley photo-op face to take something from a good-hearted, yet deluded couple, that he stridently avoided earning. It doesn't take any courage to meet with a bereaved mother, but he also refuses to do that. He travels in America with more armor and fire power than a banana republic dictator, and if he is not stopped by impeachment or other peaceful means, then we will descend into that tyranny of empire - if we aren't already there. Join Cindy, Gold Star Families for Peace, The Camp Casey Peace Institute, CODEPINK, Congress Reps John Conyers (D-Mi) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Ca) as we march on the Capitol on May 14th to demand our country back!Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is a co-founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace and the author of two books: Not One More Mother's Child and Dear President Bush. --------21 of 22-------- Kucinich Files Impeachment Bill Dropping the First Shoe By DAVE LINDORFF CounterPunch April 25, 2007 Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has dropped the first impeachment shoe, filing a bill calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Kucinich, defying the leadership of the Democratic Party, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who have been struggling mightily to prevent impeachment from occurring during the waning years of the Bush presidency, on Tuesday filed three articles of impeachment, claiming that Cheney violated his oath of office and the Constitution, for deceiving Congress and the American people about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, about alleged but nonexistent links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, and finally for making threats to invade Iran. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and the rest of the committee's members will have to decide whether go hold formal hearings on the charges. The move by Kucinich comes as impeachment is gaining ground among the broader public. Today, the Vermont House of Representatives will hold a floor debate and vote on a resolution calling for Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against both President Bush and Cheney. That measure would be a companion to a similar resolution passed last week by Vermont's state Senate. If the state's lower house passes its version, Vermont will be the first state in history to pass a bi-cameral resolution on impeachment. Under Thomas Jefferson's Manual for the Rules of the House, under which the US House of Representatives has operated for over 200 years, such a resolution would require the House to take up the impeachment issue, just as would a member's bill of impeachment. The speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, Lynn Symington, had strenuously opposed the resolution, and has been keeping it bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee, but following passage of the resolution in the state Senate, and a massive grassroots campaign by Vermont impeachment activists, she has been forced to relent and let the measure go forward. Passage is not a sure thing, however. Similar measures are being pushed in at least 10 other state legislatures, while two such efforts, in New Mexico and Washington state, were killed thanks to pressure from the national Democratic Party leadership. On April 28, demonstrations are planned in Washington, DC and all around the nation, calling for impeachment to begin against both Bush and Cheney. To find the location nearest you, click on the Impeachment banner to the right of this article. The mainstream corporate media, which has so far been largely ignoring the issue of impeachment, will have to go to extra lengths of censorship to block out the popular movement now, with a bill on the floor of the House, and with impeachment resolutions passing in the Vermont state legislature. It will be interesting to see how the nation's news gatekeepers handle the story now that it is breaking out into the open so forcefully. Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His n book of CounterPunch columns titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff's newest book is "The Case for Impeachment", co-authored by Barbara Olshansky. He can be reached at: dlindorff [at] yahoo.com --------22 of 22-------- Abortion Rights and the Roberts Court Women Under Siege By LEAH FISHBIEN CounterPunch April 25, 2007 As many already know, last Wednesday The Supreme Court contradicted its own 2000 decision to overturn a Nebraska ban on "partial birth abortion" and upheld the federal abortion ban in the cases of Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and Gonzalez v. Carhart. This hearing occurred in response to the Federal Abortion Ban Act legislation passed by Congress and signed by Bush in 2003. This decision is an appalling one, and it is furthermore an unprecedented setback for women and those who care about them. The Supreme Court has never, in the thirty-plus years since the right to abortion was won in Roe V. Wade, made a decision restricting women's reproductive rights without providing for cases in which a woman's health is at stake. Why you should be concerned Here is what some prominent people have been saying about this ban: "I consider the Supreme Court Ban on one type of abortion procedure to be an annexation of Women's Wombs by the U. S Government and as such should be viewed by all people of conscience as an act of war against women." -Merle Hoffman, founder, Choices Women's MedicalCenter, Queens NY on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 "This ruling shows the true colors of the current Bush-stacked majority of the Supreme Court: it does not care about the health, well-being, and safety of American women. This must serve as a wake-up call to women: we are losing our fundamental rights as Bush continues to stack the courts." -Eleanor Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation "The time is now right to launch aggressive legal challenges across America to abortion on demandThe court has now said it's OK to ban procedures. We can do more than just put hurdles in front of women seeking abortions; we can put roadblocks in front of them." -Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue (in the past leading proponents of violence directed at abortion providers and clinics) "The government has a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life." -The Supreme Court of the United States, in its decision on the PBABA For all those who have been waiting for a sign that the Christian right minority in this country has co-opted our government and society (because on paper it just "sounds too conspiratorial", or because "they haven't really made any attempts to change things in a radical way") that sign appeared yesterday in the form of a ruling dropped by judges intent on forcing old-school, biblical morality on us, and it dropped like a bomb onto women's bodies. That ruling spread over this country like a silent alarm, the opposition and outrage necessary to stop this and further attacks on women palpably missing from most of the country, at least in any massive way, at least yet. That ruling slapped us in the face, challenging a basic assumption that healthcare decisions should be between doctors and patients rather than outsider religious factions and politicians, leaving the patient out of the process entirely. That ruling poured over us like a bucket of ice cold water hopefully waking us up to the reality that this is the ultimate sign, one that declares that Bush and his counterparts in the Supreme Court, now holding the majority, do not value in the least women's health. This consideration is especially secondary in the face of support from their theocratic political base and in light of their personal "moral values," (values that don't contradict with the possibility of free fire zones in Iraq or of using the death penalty as a conflict-resolution tool). If permitted-if there is not massive uprising in the face of this ruling-the Christian Right, c/o the Bush Regime, will move to overturn Roe. V Wade, with the stated goal of federally outlawing abortion as a whole. Seriously. Just take a look at any of a number of websites for the National Right to Life Committee, Focus on the Family, Operation Rescue/Save America and this is easily understood. The science of things Blatantly missing from this whole debate, from the media coverage and the demands of the Christian fundamentalists and the wobbly democrats' opinions and public opinion in general, is the science that is an invaluable tool in understanding why the procedure banned in yesterday's decision should never have been up for question at all. To clear things up, we must first understand that the very language of the ban is confounded by a familiar forgetfulness of the media and of the culture in this country. Where are the reports of the origins of this term "partial birth" in light of the ban? Are we so quick to forget that the very people attempting to outlaw abortion invented this non-medical term, one not even acknowledged by the scientific community, to scare people into railing against this process (really called D&X, or Dilation and Extraction). Coined by the National Right to Life Committee in 1995 with the hopes that "as the public learns what a 'partial-birth abortion' is, they might also learn something about other abortion methods, and that this would foster a growing opposition to abortion," the term was quickly introduced in the title of republican-sponsored legislation to ban the new procedure developed by an Ohio-based physician. The alternate process commonly utilized after the 20th week of a pregnancy, dilation and evacuation, performs the necessary dismemberment of the fetus inside the womb, often causing severe blood loss and also possibly gashing the cervix which can easily prevent any future possibility for pregnancy-in effect, sterilization. Likewise, in the event of an attempted c-section in place of other methods there is a high risk of infection. D&X is a dilation of the cervix in order to pull the fetus out of the woman's body, with the doctor then puncturing the fetuses' head, often sucking the fluid out so that the cranial area might compress enough to pull the fetus out of the woman's body. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists indicates that in certain circumstances, the D&X procedure is the best one for a women's health. The procedure is not encouraged in other cases. This process is clearly not used lightly, in fun or by scheming doctors out of spite for "babies". The American Medical Association bylaws actually explicitly prevent physicians from performing this procedure unless the patient's health is at risk. This is the medical community self-regulating to prevent a serious and, yes, controversial operation from taking place unless completely necessary by medical standards. But this regulation is not enough for people who are not concerned with science, medicine or women's rights, people who would see women's lives chained to the unpredictability of childbearing whenever their God deems it necessary, people who would rather jeopardize a woman's health and have her fetus born, free to live its 5 minutes of life-often the case in situations where this procedure is necessary. Let's provide some statistical basis for an understanding of the utility of this process. The Alan Guttmacher Institute research group found that in 2000, around 15,000 abortions were performed on women 20 weeks or more along in their pregnancies-those abortions overwhelmingly occurring between the 20th and 24th week. Of those 15,000, only about 2,200 D&X procedures were performed--0.2 percent of the 1.3 million abortions believed to be performed that year. These procedures are almost never performed after fetal viability, this being so rare that the "pro-life" movement actually panicked when Congress originally attempted to ban D&Xs only in cases of fetal viability-according to the "pro-life" movement, this ban wouldn't even be effective with that stipulation because those cases hardly exist. This is why this ruling is much more political propaganda rather than a genuine move for "life." Many D&X abortions occur because of a fetal condition called hydrocephalus--which 1 in 2000 fetuses develop--in which the cranium is abnormally enlarged up to 20" (compared to a normal adult diameter of 7-8"), making delivery dangerous, extremely painful and even fatal for both the fetus (especially in a caesarean section) and the mother. Hydrocephalus is hard to detect before or even early in the second trimester-hence a major part of the justification for the legality of this procedure. Aside from all of this, it is necessary to understand that setting the precedent for this exclusion of the patient-the woman-from the patient-physician relationship is a major violation of human rights and women's rights. We should have this information, and be confident in a scientific justification for this procedure, but we must also push forward with an understanding of the plans of the Christian Right for women and society and a firm belief in the autonomous power women must hold over their own bodies and futures in order to have justice, real human dignity and a future in which all are really equal. Any encroachments on this autonomy equal a negation of the basic principles it rests on-the equality of women (we're still working on that one, huh?), the right of women to any kind of future they might choose, and the inherent human value of half the world's population. Painting the bigger picture In light of the fact that this ban will disproportionately affect working class people and people of color who already have limited access to family planning services and are less likely to be able to abort early or prevent pregnancy with contraceptivesIn light of the fact that for these groups, this means unsafe, back-alley abortions that often result in severe injury and death. In light of the Federal Deficit Reduction Act and the consequent price hike on birth control pills on college campuses (at the college that the author attends, the price rose 133%, from $15 to $35 dollars without the subsidy)In light of the continuing attacks on RoeIn light of the fundamentalist Christians refusing to sell women their prescriptions for birth control or Plan BIn light of the Florida woman who was raped, then jailed and refused her second emergency contraception pill by a fundamentalist jail workerIn light of the Keroack appointment to HHS (and subsequent removal!) and the hundreds of identical appointments that we don't even hear about, and in light of the FDA appointments, the reactionary extremist legislation being proposed and even passed all over on a state level (death certificates for aborted fetuses; public record of abortion patients--women's names and information; parental notification, etc...), the pregnancy crisis centers being funded by our tax money, abstinence only education being funded, the churches being funded to wage war on women's rightsIn light of all this This entire set of distasteful and moreover scary events is only the beginning of what has been going on. The attacks on women's rights under the Bush Regime could fill pages and pages, but that research is up to each one of us. What space we have left here is for us to understand that these attacks are not something the Christian Right is going to let fizzle as we wait for Bush to be replaced with Bush-lite in 2008. They will push this through as long as they have disproportionate institutional power, and they will have that power as long as Bush stays in office. Not one of us wants to see the end to Roe V. Wade; and this event really and truly is their second major victory (the first being getting someone so firmly on their side in office). This is a major decision through which the Christian right and the Bush Regime are signaling to us. They are significantly and clearly stepping up this cultural battle, and this "surge" is now clear to the U.S. and the world. In the war on women, this is their Sand Creek Massacre, and if we don't revolt because of this, they will be able to push the rest of this whole program forward whether we change our minds or not. Leah Fishbein is an organizer with the World Can't Wait. She can be reached at: lfishbein [at] oxy.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments
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