Progressive Calendar 09.22.07 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:17:06 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 09.22.07 1. Peace rally 9.23 1pm 2. Have at Ellison 9.23 1pm 3. Stillwater vigil 9.23 1pm 4. Agee Cuba CIA 9.23 2pm 5. KFAI/Indian 9.23 7pm 6. Boycott WUnion 9.24 4pm 7. Taiwan/atrocity/f 9.24 6:30pm 8. Earth warming/f 9.24 7pm 9. Amnesty Intl 9.24 7pm 10. Phil Steger 9.24 7pm 11. New public tools 9.24 7pm 12. GLBT homeless 9.25 6pm 13. Girl/Cafe/film 9.25 6:30pm 14. EconHitMan/book 9.25 6:30pm 15. Impeach 4 peace 9.25 7pm 16. Palestine/film 9.25 7pm 17. Michael Cavlan - 9.15 rally: alternate report 18. Steve Fournier - It's never too late to quit the Dem party 19. Robert Fantina - The deadly pattern of US imperialism 20. Phil Rockstroh - A conservative's garden of false narratives 21. Gary Corseri - Revolution (poem) --------1 of 21-------- From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: Peace rally 9.23 1pm "Voices for Peace" Rally Sunday, September 23, 1:00 p.m. Minnesota State Capitol, 75 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, St. Paul. Voices for Peace war in Iraq. The vote will come shortly after the September 15 Petraeus report. With two-thirds of Americans opposed to the war, this is a tipping point. It is a time to stand up and be counted. Please join an impressive array of faith, labor and community partners calling on Congress to end the war in Iraq." Sponsored by: Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, Americans United for Change, AFSCME Council 5, Church in Society Ministry Team, Minnesota Conference, United Methodist Church, Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, Minnesota AFL-CIO, Office for Social Justice, Progressive Majority, SEIU Minnesota State Council, St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly, Sierra Club, North Star Chapter, TakeAction Minnesota, Wellstone Action, Win Without War. ---------2 of 21--------- From: Impeach <lists [at] impeachforpeace.org> Subject: Have at Ellison 9.23 1pm Town Hall with Rep. Ellison & Rep. Conyers URGENT: SHOW UP AT THE HEIGHTS THEATER AT NOON THIS SUNDAY TO GET IN LINE FOR THE CONYERS/ELLISON TOWN HALL MEETING! CALL EVERY IMPEACHMENT ADVOCATE YOU KNOW AND GET THEM TO SHOW UP AS WELL. This Sunday, September 23rd from 1-3 p.m. at The Historic Heights Theater (763-788-9079, at 3951 Central Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55421 (Columbia Heights) Congressman Keith Ellison is hosting a Forum on "Health Care for All Americans" with special guest Congressman John Conyers, Jr. As we know, no decent health care policy will make it past Bush's veto until his criminal administration has been held accountable through impeachment. Conyers is the chief sponsor of HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act and is also the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment process of President George W. Bush and/or Vice President Richard B. Cheney must be initiated and where H. Res. 333 to impeach Cheney sits in the subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Both Ellison - who has cosigned 333 and Conyers - who has not, sit on that subcommittee. Our health is in grave danger as long as the health of our democracy is ignored. With all respect to the intended focus of the event, full accountability for the crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration is of graver and more immediate concern. We have requested a meeting with Rep. Conyers and are awaiting a reply from his offices. The tone of our participation in this event should reflect the degree to which Rep. Conyers commits to honor his oath of office to defend the Constitution against the domestic enemies to it residing in our White House. Please set aside all other plans for early Sunday Afternoon and join us in demanding full accountability from the single man who has the most power to initiate that accountability through impeachment: Rep. John Conyers, Jr. Join us and dress as a doctor or nurse and hand out the above "prescription". We'll have extra copies available for you to hand out! Please forward this to your e-list as well as committing to invite five friends directly. --------3 of 21-------- From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net> Subject: Stillwater vigil 9.23 1pm A weekly Vigil for Peace Every Sunday, at the Stillwater bridge from 1- 2 p.m. Come after Church or after brunch ! All are invited to join in song and witness to the human desire for peace in our world. Signs need to be positive. Sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Peacemakers. If you have a United Nations flag or a United States flag please bring it. Be sure to dress for the weather . For more information go to <http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/>http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/ For more information you could call 651 275 0247 or 651 999 - 9560 --------4 of 21-------- From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Agee Cuba CIA 9.23 2pm ONE MAN'S STORY: PHILIP AGEE, CUBA, AND THE CIA, Exclusive screening with the director A new documentary by Bernie Dwyer and Roberto Ruiz After the screening, an international telephone hookup to Cuba will be made to bring Philip Agee together with the audience (for security reasons he will not return to the US while Bush is president.). 2:00, Sunday, September 23, John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Campus Center, Macalester College, St. Paul (near corner of Snelling and Grand) Admission Free Posted information at http://groups.msn.com/minnesotacubacommittee/upcomingevents.msnw Note: The MN Cuba Committee website also lists an additional showing 7:30, Monday, September 24, Alumni Lounge, Main Quadrangle Building, St. John's University, Collegeville, though it is not clear if there will be a call-in to Agee at the Collegeville campus showing.) BACKGROUND INFORMATION Bernie Dwyer, award-winning Irish filmmaker who directed the film along with Roberto Ruiz will accompany their latest work featuring one of the most important whistle-blowers of our time. Philip Agee, who has been hounded by the CIA since his resignation in 1968, joined the CIA based on his Catholic idealism to fight communism, but quit in disgust after 12 years because of what he was ordered to do to undermine movements for social justice in Latin America. His book, Inside the Company, became an international best seller. Now he tells his story on film. Using archival footage and citing example after example, Agee leaves no doubt as to the nature of the CIA: to covertly intimidate, blackmail and even terrorize popular movements and governments throughout the world in support of US corporate interests. After the screening, an international telephone hookup to Cuba will be made to bring Philip Agee together with the audience (for security reasons he will not return to the US while Bush is president.). ARTICLE ON DOCUMENTARY FROM HAVANA, CUBA Circles Robinson Online - Dec 13, 2006 11:15 am ET http://circlesonline.blogspot.com/2006/12/philip-agee-documentary-at-cuba-film.html Philip Agee Documentary at Cuba Film Fest By Circles Robinson The Cuba-Irish connection of directors Roberto Ruiz and Bernie Dwyer has once again teamed up on a documentary: "One Man's Story: Philip Agee, Cuba and the CIA", which focuses on the dark side of United States foreign policy. The 33-minute film had its premiere screening at the Havana Film Festival taking place through December 15th in the Cuban capital. It will now become a valuable teaching tool on US attempts to destroy the Cuban Revolution using mercenaries and US taxpayer's money. Filmed in Havana with excellent archive material of numerous US covert and direct involvements in Latin America, One Man's Story allows Agee, who betrayed big brother and paid the price, to tell his captivating story. Agee, like several repentant Vietnam Veterans, is obsessed with getting the record straight for a country, the United States, where recent history is barely taught and what is comes through a fine sieve. "I entered the CIA as a patriotic conformist from a comfortable family," explains Agee, now 71, in the documentary. "I was only 22 and had romantic views towards things and it wasn't until I got down to Ecuador and had been working there for a year or two that I began to get a political education." In all, Agee worked for 12 years in the Company (CIA) joining in 1957 and working in Washington, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Mexico until he resigned in 1968. He has since become one of the most important whistle blowers about US support for the installation and maintaining of brutal dictatorships throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond. His first book, "Inside the Company" published in 1975, and the Covert Action Information Bulletin, betrayed many heinous secrets of US Intelligence and his passport was taken away in 1979, "to protect national security." Agee has lived in Europe and the Cuban capital of Havana, where the interviews for One Man's Story were made by directors Bernie Dwyer and Roberto Ruiz. One Man's Story gives us first hand testimony that should send up smoke signals to people questioning the motives and actions of current US policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, to name a few. For years Agee has also been an outspoken critic of the US Blockade on Cuba, encouraging US citizens to find a way to continue doing business with the island and traveling there. Part of the Big Picture In their last co-production, Ruiz and Dwyer screened "Mission against Terror;" the story of how the Cuban Five followed the trail of US-based terrorism against their country, and were cruelly imprisoned while the Cuban-American terrorists they monitored enjoy freedom on the streets of Miami, Florida. After outlining different terrorist acts perpetrated by the CIA against Cuba since its 1959 revolution, in One Man's Story, Agee justifies Cuba's need to send agents, like the Cuban Five, to Florida in order to protect the island. For Cubans, both documentaries contain much information that is well known and rehashed often in the media and education centers and might seem redundant to some people in a country where political history is a constant. However, for North American and European viewers, the film feeds curiosity about the sinister role the super power has played in the world and may serve as a way to reach young people still unsure with what being patriotic means. The terrifying events at Abu Ghraib, the US Naval Base and offshore prison at Guantanamo Bay, and other clandestine cites, can be put into context with a better understanding of the CIA operations as told by Agee. Hats off to Dwyer and Ruiz for telling a story that needs to be told again and again. The man they chose to tell it clearly knows his stuff. Dwyer is an Irish filmmaker and journalist who lives and works in Havana as a radio reporter for Radio Havana Cuba. Ruiz hails from the far eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo and is a graduate in English and Spanish literature. He works extensively making documentaries for Cuban TV. The duo has now made 5 documentaries. 1998: Che, the Irish legacy (traces Che Guevara's Irish links); 2001: Che in Ireland (Che Guevara's visit to Dublin in 1964); 2002: The Footprints of Cecilia McPartland (Irish mother of Cuban revolutionary martyr Julio Anotonio Mella); 2004: Mission Against Terror (Case of the Cuban Five) and now One Man's Story: Philip Agee, Cuba and the CIA. In their next project, Ruiz and Dwyer hope to document events relating to the Barbados Sabotage, when a Cuban commercial airliner was blown out of the sky in 1976 killing all 73 persons on board. --------5 of 21-------- From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org> Subject: KFAI/Indian 9.23 7pm KFAI¹s Indian uprising for Sept. 23rd, 2007 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. CDT #232 Native Indigenous people utilize creative expression and participate in contemporary theater, performance, writing and visual arts to include mass media such as radio, television and film. Given that ignorance and stereotypical ideas that are prevalent throughout the dominant society about Native peoples in the U.S., there are questions. What defines such expression and content as Native and non-Native? What are the cultural, political, social and artistic responsibilities of Native players and why? Where does one draw the line, if any, between self-serving Natives vs. serving the greater good of Indigenous people? M. COCHISE ANDERSON (Chickasaw/Choctaw) is an actor, musician, poet, playwright and educator. Cochise confronts stereotypes by refusing to allow his art to fit into a single category. Standout tracks include the title song, "The Kemosabe Therapy," a clever confrontation of the way Native people are portrayed in the media. His album, "The Kemosabe Therapy" an eclectic ensemble of "word songs", was nominated for the 2005 Indian Summer Music Awards in the category of Spoken Word. He has performed at the Smithsonian national Museum of the American Indian and the Playwright Center of Minneapolis, Minnesota, among others. CARL GAWBOY (Ojibwe), a visual artist, taught art in high schools and colleges. He also served as a museum intern for the 1972 Walker Art Center exhibition American Indian Art: Form and Tradition. Carl taught for twelve years at the College of St. Scholastica and another six years at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, teaching American Indian Studies and watercolor painting. He is currently retired and devotes much of his time to painting. Carl Gawboy's work is primarily concerned with defining Ojibwe culture between 1850 and 1950, an era that best synthesizes Ojibwe activities with European technology. He does not paint religious symbols or spirituality. He focuses on the spirit of everyday life as depicted in rituals such as harvesting, ricing, hunting, canoeing and story telling. His work celebrates healthy, peaceful, sustainable living. RHIANA YAZZIE (Navajo) is a playwright whose work has been performed from Mexico to Alaska. This young woman is quickly being recognized for bringing a new generation of stories from the Native American experience to the American Theatre. She moved to the Twin Cities after receiving a Playwrights¹ Center Jerome Fellowship for emerging playwrights in 2006 and has written and developed plays at The Kennedy Center¹s 2006 New Visions/New Voices conference, Native Voices Theatre, East West Players, Stepping Stone Theatre for Youth Development, and Mixed Blood Theatre among others. She is also a co-host of WomenSpeak at KFAI. * * * * Indian Uprising a one-hour Public & Cultural Affairs program is for and by Native Indigenous People broadcast each Sunday at 7:00 p.m. CDT on KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul. Producer and host is volunteer Chris Spotted Eagle. KFAI Fresh Air Radio is located at 1808 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454, 612-341-3144. For internet listening, go to www.kfai.org and for live listening, click Play under ON AIR NOW or for later listening via the archives, click PROGRAMS & SCHEDULE > Indian Uprising > STREAM. Programs are archived for two weeks. --------6 of 21-------- From: John Peterson <jp [at] handsoffvenezuela.org> Subject: Boycott WesternUnion 9.24 4pm Boicott Western Union .Sept 24 4:00 pm, Saint Paul MN. Cesar Chavez and State 55107 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 4pm CESAR CHAVEZ ST. AND STATE AVE. SAINT PAUL MN. 55107 Minneapolis, MN-On Monday, September 24th,United Steelworkers Associate Member Program, immigrant and community organizations: The Somali Action Alliance, Centro Campesino and MIRAc will join the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (TIGRA) to support an international boycott against money transfer giant Western Union . Groups accuse Western Union of charging exorbitant fees while failing to adequately reinvest in immigrant communities. We call on Western Union to reduce their fees, offer a fairer exchange rate, and commit $1 of every transaction to a community reinvestment fund. A year's worth of negotiations with the company has not yielded results. Immigrants demand that Western Union abandon its predatory financial practices or face an ongoing boycott. "Western Union is one of the symbols of unfair trade and this is why we are inviting students, workers, and the unemployed sectors of all cultures, without borders to participate in this movement" Said Gerardo Cajamarca, Colombian Immigrant, Organizer for United Steelworkers Associate Member Program. Contacts: Hashi Abdi, Director, Somali Action Alliance: (English) Gerardo Cajamarca: gentelatinauswa [at] yahoo.com<http://e1.f533.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=gentelatinauswa [at] yahoo.com>612-386-6190 (Spanish) Western Union Boycott Campaign website: www.boycottwesternunion.net Immigrant Groups Launch Western Union Boycott --------7 of 21-------- From: Stephen Feinstein <feins001 [at] umn.edu> Subject: Taiwan/atrocity/f 9.24 6:30pm Monday Septmber 24 7:15PM Reception beginning at 6:30 "Accountability and Redemption: Cinematic Representation of Atrocity in Taiwan": a film and discussion with Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Ph.D. Sponsored By: Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Additional Sponsors: Consortium for the Study of the Asias, Department of History,Institute for Advanced Study Room 125 Nolte Center for Continuing Education 315 Pillsbury Drive SE (EAST BANK, NEXT TO BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY) University of Minnesota-Minneapolis Campus Free and open to the public Paid parking in nearby lots In the heyday of anti-Communist hysteria in Taiwan ruled by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government, an estimated twenty thousand people suspected of subverting the government were tried in secret, military courts and tortured into confessing crimes they never committed. Some were summarily executed and hastily buried, without notifying the families. After the lifting of martial law (1987), the people in Taiwan finally were free to reflect upon this ignoble period, the White Terror Era, with fiction writers and filmmakers recreating this page of their country's past. Wan Ren's Super Citizen Ko, explores the functions of memory and its cinematic re-creation in the form of flashback. The indictment of government thought police, which was a hallmark of the White Terror, comes through most powerfully when the public and the private clash, when one's passion for the future of one's country results in eighteen years of imprisonment and a broken family. With its cinematic subject and techniques, this film raises such issues as accountability, responsibility, and recovering from trauma, all of which have been de-emphasized in Taiwan's search for truth and reconciliation. Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Ph.D. is The Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Chinese Dept. of East Asian Languages & Literatures. --------8 of 21---------- From: Christine Frank <christinefrank [at] visi.com> Subject: Earth warming/f 9.24 7pm There will be a screening of THE GREAT WARMING, a film about climate change narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves on Monday, September 24th at 7:00 PM, Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave. S., West Bank, Minneapolis. A discussion on solutions to the climate crisis will follow the showing. The event is sponsored by the Climate Crisis Coalition of the Twin Cities (3CTC)and is free & open to the public. Prior to the forum, 3CTC will have its regular monthly business meeting at 6:00 PM, same location. All our welcome. SAVE EARTH! SEE YOU THERE! For further information, christinefrank [at] visi.com 612-879-8937. --------9 of 21-------- From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net> Subject: Amnesty Intl 9.24 7pm Augustana Homes Seniors Group meets on Monday, September 24th, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the party room of the 1020 Building, 1020 E 17th Street, Minneapolis. For more information contact Ardes Johnson at 612/378-1166 or johns779 [at] tc.umn.edu. --------10 of 21-------- From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net> Subject: Phil Steger 9.24 7pm St. Luke's Presbyterian Church, 3121 Groveland School Road in Minnetonka, 55391. Groveland School Road is just west of Highway 101; the church is one block north of Minnetonka Blvd. Phil Steger spoke to our NWN4P in November 2006 in a program that was very well received. At that time Phil was the Executive Director of Friends for a Non-Violent World. He has since returned to St. Johns University where he oversees digital preservation of the ancient hand-written documents. He has been actively speaking out, however, on the topic, "Leaving Iraq Now: Why It's the Best Chance for Peace and Why September Is Our Best Chance to Make It Happen." For those who are concerned about the war, but aren't sure what should be done, this will be a very well-informed, solidly reasoned argument that leaving is really the best available option for all involved - i.e., it's the key action needed: 1) to precipitate Iraqi political reconciliation and economic reconstruction, 2) to undercut Al Qaida's and Iran's gains in Iraq, 3) to put the US in a position to cooperate with the rest of the world on genuine issues of global security, and 4) to free desperately needed energy, attention and resources for urgent issues of domestic freedom and security. Phil has travelled three times to Iraq on peacemaking delegations before the present war and appeared widely as a commentator on the war on network TV, MPR, AM talk radio, and both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. If you have not heard him speak ... this is your chance. If you have heard him, please come and hear him again ... or pass this information on to your frinds and neighbors. --------11 of 21-------- From: Jonathan Barrentine <jonathan [at] e-democracy.org> Subject: New public tools 9.24 7pm NEW TOOLS FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Rondo Library (University and Dale) Monday, September 24 7:00 - 8:30 pm FREE As part of our ongoing E-Tools For All series at the Rondo Library, the SPED-Outreach committee will be offering a workshop on New Tools for Public Participation this Monday, September 24, 7:00 - 8:30 pm. This workshop will feature demonstrations of powerful internet tools for organizations and individuals wishing to be more active in their communities. Also, be sure to bring your own ideas and questions! As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no registration is required. Please go to http://pages.e-democracy.org/SPED_Rondo_Outreach_Program for a complete schedule. --------12 of 21-------- From: hosthome [at] avenuesforyouth.org Subject: GLBT homeless 9.25 6pm On any given night in Minnesota, there are 204-215GLBT youth who are homeless. (Wilder Research 2006) One of the ways that the Twin Cities' community is addressing this problem is through the GLBT Host Home Program of Avenues for Homeless Youth, which offers an exciting approach to providing homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth with safe homes. As volunteers of the program, adults open their homes and their hearts to young people who need and are looking for a healthy and nurturing connection. If you are interested in hearing more about this community-based program, please come to one of the following informational meetings: Tuesday, September 25, 6-8pm @ Avenues for Homeless Youth 1708 Oak Park Avenue North, Mpls, 55411 www.avenuesforyouth.org OR Wednesday, September 26, 6-8pm @ Midtown YWCA 2121 East Lake Street, Mpls, 55407 www.ywca-minneapolis.org OR Thursday, September 27, 6-8pm @ YouthLink 41 North 12th Street, Mpls, 55403 Come learn about the history of the GLBT Host Home Program and about the application and screening process for potential volunteers. You will also have an opportunity to hear from hosts who shared their homes with youth. See you there! Questions? Call Raquel (Rocki) at Avenues for Homeless Youth: 612-522-1690, ext. 110. --------13 of 21-------- From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net> Subject: Girl/Cafe/film 9.25 6:30pm Tuesday, Sept. 25, we will see the film, The Girl in the Cafe. A young girl get a chance at the G8 Conference in Iceland where all the world leaders have gathered to speak up for the world's poor. Isolation, work-alcoholism, and poverty are themes. Pax Salons ( http://justcomm.org/pax-salon ) are held (unless otherwise noted in advance): Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Mad Hatter's Tea House, 943 W 7th, St Paul, MN Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats. Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information. --------14 of 21-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: EconHitMan/book 9.25 6:30pm Tuesday, 9/25, 6:30 pm, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom initiates a book club with discussion of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." FFF and location, CorinKagan [at] aol.com --------15 of 21-------- From: Impeach <lists [at] impeachforpeace.org> Subject: Impeach for peace 9.25 7pm Impeach for Peace We meet Tuesdays at 7pm at Joe's Garage (Restaurant along Loring Park) 1610 Harmon Pl Minneapolis, MN 55403 (612) 904-1163 --------16 of 21-------- From: Human Rights Events Update <humanrts [at] umn.edu> Subject: Palestine/film 9.25 7pm September 25, 2007 - Human Rights Film Series: EncounterPoint. Time: 7pm. Cost: free Encounter Point is an 85-minute feature documentary film that follows a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a former Israeli settler, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict. Post-film discussion featuring Director/Producer Ronit Avni, Ziad Amra of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Architecture Professor Wendy Pullan of Cambridge University This film screening is part of the Cities in Conflict: Exploring Palestinian-Israeli Partnerships event series presented by the Space & Place Interdisciplinary Research Project Sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study, the Office for the Vice President for Research, the Institute for Global Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Department of Geography, the Human Rights Center, Al-Madinah Cultural Center, the Department of Jewish Studies, and the Minnesota Chapter of Brit Tzedek V Shalom (the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace). Location: 25 Mondale Hall (Law School), 229 19th Ave S, Minneapolis 55455 --------17 of 21-------- Fri, 21 Sep 2007 From: Michael Cavlan - greenpartymike <ollamhfaery [at] earthlink.net> Subject: 9.15 rally - alternate report While there have been glowing reports of anti-war protests in Minnesota on TC Indy Media, with pictures of happy, contented middle-class people holding signs, there is another perspective that is so rarely covered. Could it be that Cindy Sheehan has been proven right in her critiques of the American peace movement yet again? This is your Indy Media journalista's investigative report. It was a beautiful day for a protest September 15th. The sun was out, it was warm and the crowd gathered at the St Paul Cathedral was boisterous and cheerful. Speeches were made, poems read and lots of brave talk in opposition to the war machine. We started off the march passing a group of right wing, pro-war "counter-protesters" spewing their usual, hate filled rhetoric. Typical reactions to them by the peace protesters were of laughter, making fun of them and their antics. This seemed to make the right wingers even more angry, which was fine by us. Provided a police escort, we marched to the site of the 2008 Republican Convention at the Excel Center. This was a very good and smart move as it sends a message to the political leadership in St Paul and Minnesota that we will not be caged into "Free Speech Zones" and that we will indeed show up at their Convention and protest their policies on our terms, not theirs. Heading on the the capitol, the crowd continued with it's chanting. Our section of the crowd gave a rousing chant of Who is the terrorist? Bush is the terrorist! and Who funds the war? Pelosi funds the war! and What do we want? Impeachment! When do we want it? Now! More on these chants and their message later. The crowd wound its way to the state capitol where there was a speaker system set up. The crowd listened to speaker after speaker talk on the war and related social issues. A pattern quickly developed of Bush bashing, bad George Bush, bad Senator Norm Coleman, bad Republicans. Even in the midst of this "radical" talk, there were two distinct themes blatantly and obviously missing. Discussion of the Democratic Party's complicity in the war and occupation of Iraq with their willing to fund this illegal and immoral war: This includes great "liberal" hero Keith Ellison who had spoke at another rally, signing the Peace First pledge in a Thursday and then signed a Bill the very next Tuesday, the Nancy Pelosi War Funding Bill. Which it must be stated also gave the Bush Administration the legal ability to attack Iran. Ellison then spoke to activists of, to quote him directly "the need to be thankful of the brave leadership of Nancy Pelosi." However, nary a word on this or any of the long list of betrayals of the peace movement were spoken at this rally. There was no accountability spoken of or even hinted at. Also missing was speakers talking of the need for Impeachment to save what is left of our democratic Republic. Brave talk of Bush bashing, yet not one word on what We The People can do about it. That thing of course is the course of Impeachment. While there is an active Impeachment movement in Minnesota, none of the speakers reflected that perspective or the possibilities and need for Impeachment. Needless to say, there was also no mention of Cindy Sheehan or her message, including her running against Speaker Pelosi or indeed her and 50 other patriots being arrested by Representative John Conyers simply because they exposed his series of lies and empty rhetoric on Impeachment. Then, to add insult to injury a group of us, including Heidi Sheen and myself involved in the Impeachment movement asked if we could make a quick announcement on our plans to push the Impeachment process here in Minnesota. We were told "no, that is not in our political agenda." Likewise, a group of Minnesota 9-11 Truthers were present, yet I feel sure that they also would have not had their views being "part of the political agenda." Same goes for those young people present from the Jack Pine Center or from Youth Against War and Racism. In other words, those of us who really speak truth to power are shut out, again. It is bad enough when the corporate media shuts our voices out and when the corporate political establishment shut us out. It really shows where we are at in our nation when it happens by those who label themselves "peace and justice" and "activist" and even "radical." Yet again, the words and analysis of Cindy Sheehan has been proven right. Claiming to speak truth to power should never be used as a ploy to provide political cover to those in power. It has gotten so bad that some of us have considered the idea of doing a "counter-protest" only from the left. Let us not allow these words continue to be true. Cindy Sheehan Is Right --Michael Cavlan --------18 of 21-------- It's Never Too Late to Quit the Party Ex-Dems, Sign Up Here By STEVE FOURNIER CounterPunch September 21, 2007 I just launched xdem.org, which I'm billing as an organizing tool for democrats who have left the Democratic party behind. I'm one. I quit in 1992 when Clinton came to Connecticut to trash the other Democratic candidates with money he got from rich white people in and around Washington, DC. It was a clever ploy by Clinton, embracing both the right-wing agenda and conventional right-wing tactics, and it won him two terms. He got to drop bombs in foreign countries. He got to pardon some favored crooks. He got women in abundance. He and his rich friends got richer as a result of his tenure, and the poor got poorer. Positioning himself politically between Nixon, to his immediate left, and Reagan, to his immediate right, he was the first Republican Democrat in the history of the presidency. Since leaving office, he's been adopted by the Bush family, fulfilling a lifelong wish. Clinton exemplifies everything we should despise about today's Democrat. He's a hypocrite, and his motives are purely venal. He's a Democrat because being one is a good way for a popular fella to get elected to office. He's the model for Democratic office-holders, a self-dealing hack who wears the party label to ingratiate himself with the voting public. Suckers alone can't keep these con-men in office long, but that's the audience they're playing to. My representative John Larson was a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, but he remains prepared to fund its continuation. He claims to care about the Constitution, but he refuses to hold the executive accountable for high crimes. Is he for national health insurance? Not quite yet. And he makes no audible complaint about the saber-rattling over Iran or the mayhem in Afghanistan. He's typical of today's Democrat, and his seat is considered safe and secure from all challengers. Maybe not, if ex-Dems organize to hold him and his associates accountable. If you're still a Democrat, quit (including you, Dennis Kucinich), and find a fresh approach to the redemption of our democratic republic. Steve Fournier writes at Current Invective. He can be reached at: stepfour [at] stepfour.com --------19 of 21-------- From Woodrow Wilson to Bush's Iraq Debacle The Deadly Pattern of US Imperialism By ROBERT FANTINA CounterPunch September 22 / 23, 2007 While the Government Accounting Office (GAO) issues its pessimistic report on Iraq, and Mr. Bush puts on his smiley face and spins it to his advantage, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens continue to suffer, bleed and die. The war continues. Mr. Bush has expressed encouragement by the GAO report, which showed three of eighteen benchmarks met. Republican members of Congress who voted against ending the war last spring said that some significant progress must be shown by the September report, or a real 'new way forward' (differing from Mr. Bush's definition) must be implemented. Now, with Mr. Bush spinning the dismal news from the GAO into a very positive view, Pollyanna style, those same Republicans are being far less forceful than they were just a few months ago. One can expect little action to end U. S. participation in the war before the inauguration of new Congress members and a new president in January of 2009, and would be naive to expect too much even then. The pattern has been set: one president involves the country in a war on the pretext that it will protect U.S. interests from whatever the current threat is perceived to be. In the 1960s and 1970s it was Communism; today it is terrorism. After a time the futility of U.S. involvement will be evident to everyone, but U.S. leaders will 'stay the course' in order to prove America's 'commitment to its allies' and to 'keep America safe.' The death toll of Americans will climb steadily, as the death toll of Iraq's citizens climbs astronomically. The reputation of the U.S. will deteriorate around the world, and the dissatisfaction of U.S. citizens will be manifested ineffectually at the ballot box and in the streets. The economy of the U.S. will be decimated, with its money being spent to achieve nothing. Finally, after a generation of suffering, some president will embrace the inevitable, and will use some incomprehensible logic to say that American goals in Iraq have been met, and will finally withdraw U.S. soldiers. Iraq's now long-term civil war will explode by catastrophic proportions, until some kind of government, or possibly multiple governments, can be cobbled together. Back in the U.S., the alcoholism, suicide, crime, homelessness and divorce rates for Iraq War veterans will spiral out of control, while the rest of the country, those whose loved ones did not serve in the war, look the other way. The men and women who Mr. Bush and subsequent presidents sent to Iraq to protect America from a non-existent enemy will suffer for life, being deprived of the opportunities that their non-military peers took for granted. Some of them will, perhaps, be eligible for sub-standard and generally inadequate care at U.S. veterans' hospitals, but many will simple suffer with their various afflictions, both physical and emotional. And another generation will talk about the lessons learned from the Iraq War, about why those lessons were not learned in Vietnam, and how such a disaster can be prevented from ever happening again. Then, as memories begin to fade and U.S. veterans of the Iraq War age and die, some other president will decide to flex American muscle with the expendable lives of its young men and women. Perhaps Communism will resurge, or another terrorist attack will be made upon U.S. soil, something that would certainly pale in comparison to what the U.S. is currently doing to Iraq. But various politicians, opportunists to the last, will rise up in righteous anger and proclaim that the cherished American way of life is in jeopardy, and some other nation will be destroyed as the U.S. vents its wrath. It is a pattern becoming too familiar, and one that never should have begun. Prior to U.S. entrance into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson demanded U.S. involvement in the 'war to make the world safe for democracy.' As that war drew to a close, a disillusioned Mr. Wilson said this: "Is there any man, woman or child in America - let me say, is there any child here - who does not know that this was an industrial and commercial war?" The lofty need to 'make the world safe for democracy' only camouflaged the real reason for the war. Little had changed by the last half of the twentieth century. American involvement in Southeast Asia was nothing short of a disaster for the United States, Vietnam and several of its neighboring countries. The Vietnam travesty taught lessons that any casual student of history can clearly see; why they escape U.S. government officials is a puzzling enigma. So many of those officials have proven that they haven't learned the lessons taught a generation ago. And even those that have learned hide in fear of offending this or that powerful interest group, and mouth worthless words critical of the war and then fund it, thus signing the death warrants for countless American soldiers and Iraqi citizens. Robert Fantina is author of 'Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776--2006.' --------20 of 21-------- A Conservative's Garden of False Narratives Who Are You Calling a Moonbat, Anyway? by Phil Rockstroh / September 22nd, 2007 DissidentVoice One would think that from the cries of (feigned) indignation and calls for repentance arising from conservatives regarding Move-On.org's ad in the N.Y. Times that the liberal-leaning group had not simply questioned the insights and intentions of a public servant, promoting, in a public forum, the policy of an illegal and immoral occupation of a sovereign nation; rather, the folks of Move-On.org had committed blasphemy against the holy name of some revered saint - General Mary Petreus, Mother of God. The false outrage of perpetually offended conservatives serves as cover for the true outrages of our era, including truncated civil liberties, rising levels of social and economic inequality and injustice, and foreign wars of aggression waged by an insular and secretive executive branch and fought by a permanent underclass. The outrages keep arriving, because the collective imagination of the citizen/consumers of the US, arbitrated by a careerist media elite, has been, for decades, in the thrall of false narratives that serve the interests of the elite of the corporate/militarist classes. Concurrently, a sense of unease and despair, due to a sense of personal and collective powerlessness before exploitive power, has created the tone and tenor of the times, and begot the phenomenon of supine liberalism and Viagra conservatism. (In this way, liberals stand fecklessly by, as the public is, time and time again, screwed by the decrepit schemes of the right.) In this way, liberal paternalism is insufferable; worse, it is dangerous. This has been the right's craftiest accomplishment: inducing "reasonable" liberals and "sensible" centrists to enable their crimes, from stolen elections to their present preparation for a massive bombing campaign of Iran, by intimidating them with the fear that any protest on their part will cast them among the ranks of America-hating, lefty moonbats, who wish to see the terrorist win, dumpsters piled high with discarded fetuses and metro-sexuality made the official state religion. Moreover, these assaults upon both reason and the republic (what's left of it) will persist until progressives begin to effectively counter the narratives of the predatory right. Some call it shameful demagoguery; although, conservatives call it career advancement. This is not a novel situation. Throughout history, these kinds of pernicious mindsets have always been with us; it is our tragedy that they have been allowed to prevail. Conservatives are eager to embrace false narratives: The surge is working; the terrorists hate us for our freedom; Fred Thompson is Ronald Reagan incarnate, but with a touch of Jed Clampett "folksiness". Accordingly, when the times are roiled with uncertainty, when thoughts of the future are tinged with dread, conservatives, like a character in Southern Gothic literature, will fall into a swoon, longing for the return of an imagined, purer past that never was. One can picture these rightwing sorts wandering the streets, wearing a faded prom dress and a broken, prom queen tiara, twittering and cooing, while repeating over and over again, "the surge is working; Anbar Province is now a beacon of freedom unto the world".) in an imaginary dialog with the ghost of their long lost beau, Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan, an ungifted actor, by means of playing the role of a "resolute" Cold Warrior, was able to gain the approbation and wealth that had alluded him as a contract player in Hollywood. In truth, Reagan's greatest accomplishment was convincing himself of his own sincerity. Constantin Stanislavsky, who is considered the father of modern acting technique, is reputed to have said that when an actor starts to believe he is the character he's portraying it is time to escort him from the theatre. Withal, Fred, Rudy, Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, et al., can you find the exits on your own or will you need to be medicated, strapped to a gurney, and wheeled from the public arena? Rather than being candidates for President of the United States, most of the Republican field seems to be vying for the title of National Crazy Uncle - the kind of guy who corners you at a family gathering and rants that the PTA is a terrorist front group and gangs of illegal aliens are engaged in a vast conspiracy to steal single socks from his washer-dryer. The Republican candidates for president and their fantasy-prone constituents wish to set the Way Back Machine to the golden days of the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was impersonating a man just arrived via the 1940s. This phenomenon is known as the Law of Republican Special Relativity, which states: When events begin to accelerate forward, the conservative mind will be cast, at an equal rate of speed, backwards in time. But the paradox is: they arrive in a parallel universe, an alternative past that never existed on this earth - a low probability dimension, comprised of platitudes and false pieties, where white male privilege is sacrosanct, only for the reason (according to their reality-proof perspective) that it serves to provide all mankind with all things good and holy. This law can be tested by performing the following simple exercise: Engage a conservative true believer in a dialog regarding the manner by which "state's rights" was misused in the Jim Crowe dominated Deep South of the pre-Civil Rights Era in order to propagate and maintain segregation, and your conservative-minded test subject will respond as if those realities transpired long ago and far away on a planet that he has never visited. Yet, paradoxically, rightists have manage to create a Time Retrieval Device, a device that has summoned from the past wonders, such as the following: a reversal of many of the rights of working people; the return of unsafe and unsanitary practices in the food industry; widening gaps of wealth, health and privilege between social, racial and economic classes; in short, many the excesses of plutocratic rule inherent to unfettered capitalism. As a result, a generation has inherited power who are devoid of the concept of causation and consequence. Ergo, we have developed a political class who rule by narratives of denial and shallow self-justification. An example of this is the blaming of the people of Iraq for the blood-drenched debacle that has resulted from the illegal and immoral invasion of their nation. As well as, an enabling cadre of media elitists who served as cheerleaders for the invasion, because they deemed it to be good for business, and, to this day, are unwilling to admit their complicity. All of the above leads to the question: What are present day conservatives striving to conserve? Historically, conservatives gave their utmost to conserve institutions such as slavery, Jim Crowe, child labor - and, of course, the use of leeches for medical purposes. (Perhaps, they simply couldn't stand the thought of a fellow blood-sucker being deemed dangerous, and they feared the start of a trend.) At present, the central paradox of contemporary conservatism is this: How does one practice conservatism within an all-encompassing economy based on disposability? This is analogous to establishing a brothel devoted to the goal of abstinence. When engaged in a dialog with many conservatives, the question becomes: Are their reactions and responses evoked therein simply borne of plain ignorance, willful ignorance, or outright lying? Or are their responses the result of a group hallucination? All progressives have experienced the following nonsensical encounter of the conservative kind. Present a reasoned argument to a conservative - and, all at once, completely ignoring the tenet, tone and thrust of the point, they begin hallucinating a creature, only known to exist in the rightwing bestiary, known as a "moonbat" - a mythological beast that, ironically, seems to appear when a conservative is confronted with reality. Accordingly, the time has come for a study of political zoology and to posit who are the true moonbats now making their habitat in the United States. Case study: Unregulated, wish-fulfillment-based conservative economic policy has created those suburban arrays of mold-incubating petri dishes known as products of the housing boom. Moreover, the bursting of the whole bubble-prone Ponzi scheme has sent shock waves throughout international economies and is surging the economy of the US towards recession. Furthermore, conservative anti-regulatory policies have rendered us babes in a cheap, plastic Toyland. What has an era of conservatism wrought? Answer: a culture that has all the value, integrity, sustainability and safety as a toy manufactured in China. Apropos, contemporary life, as conceived and manufactured by conservative "values", is shoddily made, toxic and not a lot of fun. In addition, it has spawned a culture ridden with public relations fabulists and media-savvy confidence artists who tell us that the taste of corporate ass-suck is the ambrosia of the gods. The locked-down, stultifying mindset and ideological barbarianism of present day conservatism is directly linked to the steep decline of the quality of life in the United States. The recent revelations regarding the "I'm-not-gay-I-simply-engage-in- same-sex-encounters-in-puplic-restrooms" wing of the Republican Party are instructive in understanding the rightist's worldview and its effect on our times. Covert sex in a public bathroom stall is an apt metaphor for how contemporary conservatism limits and restricts the possibilities of human life. In the same way that a closet-case gay conservative stunts the possibilities of his love life, the conservative mindset limits the scope of a culture's possibilities. Accordingly, economic life must be ruled by ruthless, unregulated competition, and the nation's meaning can only be found in war. Hence, under the Bush Junta, we are told, as far as international relations go, that the nation has few options other than its present policy of predatory capitalism and "wide-stance" militarism. Regarding perma-fools such as these, Ernest Becker wrote: "Once you base your whole life striving on a desperate lie, and try to implement that lie, you instrument your own undoing". Accordingly, the republic is dead; it's ghost howls online only in pixelated protests such as this one. This grim reality will remain, until we rise up and repudiate the false narratives that have created and continue to comprise these tragic times. Phil Rockstroh, a self-described, auto-didactic, gasbag monologist, is a poet, lyricist and philosopher bard living in New York City. He may be contacted at philangie2000 [at] yahoo.com. Read other articles by Phil. This article was posted on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 at 5:05 am and is filed under Culture, Right Wing Jerks, Democrats and Capitalism. Send to a friend. --------21 of 21-------- Revolution by Gary Corseri / September 22nd, 2007 DissidentVoice They gave us democracy, But took our freedom. We had the right to vote, But it didn't matter. We had the right to refuse to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner". But not if we valued our lives. We could chant, "Not in my name," But they took our names away. We could work hard, But they taxed us into the ground. We could march against War, But they sent us to War And taught our children to kill Someone else's children. We could play music. So long as it was approved By industry professionals who knew what we really wanted. We could watch their movies and their television But it was always a formula: Somebody getting hurt And taking revenge: The lone gunman - crazed, or justified; Or comedies that weren't funny; Adolescent humor; adolescent fantasies. They gave us burgers to eat for a dollar. But everything tasted like cardboard. They made sex a game Instead of communion. Their ministers were pedophiles; Their teachers, test-givers; Their doctors, pill-pimping chart-readers. They taught us to hate terrorists Then bombed a million civilians. They didn't bother to count the dead Or missing limbs or eyeballs. They assured us everything they did Was for our own protection. If only we would try harder, We, too, could be like them. We could live in Trump's Tower. We could shed a tear with Oprah. We could laugh with Paris Or dance with Britney (or stumble through - it didn't matter). There was no image of happiness they held up That didn't involve hurting someone else. It was happiness Based on others' suffering. Winners and losers. They taught us that only a few could win And they kept bolting the doors. They thought they were Lords of Chaos. They thought they could ride the Whirlwind. But the honeybees died And the frogs stopped croaking. The glaciers melted. The savannahs burned. Under the vaults of their houses The plague entered, like a whisper. It seeped through underground tunnels, Taking their first-born. Tumbrils rumbled in alleys. Night fell - full of assassins. And the burning sun scorched all. And the turbulent waters washed away The blood of the lamb. Earth turned in its orbit. New days dawned. Gary Corseri's work has appeared at CounterPunch, DissidentVoice, The New York Times, Village Voice, PBS-Atlanta, and elsewhere. His books include Manifestations and Holy Grail, Holy Grail. He can be contacted at: corseri [at] verizon.net. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg --------8 of x-------- do a find on --8 impeach bush & cheney impeach bush & cheney impeach bush & cheney impeach bush & cheney
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