Progressive Calendar 04.23.10 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:03:16 -0700 (PDT) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 04.23.10 1. Palestine vigil 4.23 4:15pm 2. Ghosts/7th Cav/f 4.23 4:30pm 3. Single-payer 4.23 5pm Duluth MN 4. Nonviolence? 4.23 6pm 5. Merriam potluck 4.23 6:30pm 6. Afro-Cuban film 4.23 7:15pm 7. Jensen film 4.23 7:30pm 8. Peace walk 4.24 9am Cambridge MN 9. WAMM garage sale 4.24 9am 10. RNC8/keynote 4.24 10:30am Duluth MN 11. Afro-Cuban film 4.24 10am 12. Gaza/play 4.24 10am 13. CUAPB 4.24 1:30pm 14. Northtown vigil 4.24 2pm 15. Cavlan campaign 4.24 4:30pm 16. Griffin/9-11 4.24 7pm 17. Haiti/CTV 4.24 9pm 18. Carl Ginsberg - The great marginalization 19. Karl Grossman - 24 years later - the consequences of Chernobyl --------1 of 19-------- From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net> Subject: Palestine vigil 4.23 4:15pm The weekly vigil for the liberation of Palestine continues at the intersection of Snelling and Summit Aves in St. Paul. The Friday demo starts at 4:15 and ends around 5:30. There are usually extra signs available. --------2 of 19-------- From: Lydia Howell <lydiahowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Ghosts/7th Cav/f 4.23 4:30pm Please share event info about this ANTI-WAR FILM/NATIVE AMERICANS/VETERANS on your lists, as your members might be very interested in seeing this film. Lydia Howell Ghosts of the 7th Cavalry Friday, April 23, 2010 - 4:30pm Sunday, April 25, 2010 - 12:45pm @ST.ANTHONY MAIN CINEMA, Minneapolis part of MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL(director Tom Roberts and the producer Jeremy Williams @ April 25 screening) www.mspfilmfest.org Documentary: War, Native-AmericansDirector(s): Tom Roberts Country(ies): UK Run Time: 87 minutes US Premiere An epic history of America woven from the personal story of heavily-decorated U.S. Army Major Robert "Snuffy" Gray, who fought with the controversial US 7th Cavalry Regiment. Ghosts of the 7th Cavalry is the fascinating story of Major Gray, a veteran of three major U.S. wars and an adopted member of the Lakota Indian tribe. America's first war against Native American tribes echo through the film, including the 7th Regiment's central role in General Custer's famous Battle at Little Bighorn, the Battle of Bear Paw and, infamously, the Regiment's massacre of Lakota civilians at Wounded Knee, which ended the Indian Wars in 1890. Emmy award-winning filmmaker Tom Roberts explores the profound human consequences of wars fought at the American frontier, travelling with the crusty and outspoken Gray across the US as he is reunited with veterans from Korea and Vietnam. At the heart of the film is Gray's own psychological journey as, for the first time, he faces up to the demons that have haunted him for 40 years, as he seeks atonement for America's secret war in Vietnam and the CIA failure promising military support of the Viet and Laotian Hmong population. "A moving study of the enduring potency of trauma and pride." (The Guardian) Language: English Friday, April 23, 2010 - 4:30pm Sunday, April 25, 2010 - 12:45pm --------3 of 19-------- From: MN Universal Health Care Coalition <info [at] muhcc.org> Subject: Single-payer 4.23 5pm Duluth MN Do you live in or near Duluth? Will you be in Duluth for the DFL Convention? Come show the strength and determination of the single-payer movement at a march and rally for single-payer! Friday April 23rd, 2010 5:00 p.m. Gather at Minnesota Power Plaza (at the corner of Superior St and Lake Avenue)- Hear Duluth City Council members Kerry Gauthier and Sharla Gardner speak of the Council's recent vote to endorse the MN Health Plan. 5:30 p.m. March through Canal Park to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) 6:00 p.m. Rally at the DECC, speakers include representatives from the MN Nurses Association and Physicians for a National Health Program. (Event is sponsored by the MN Citizens Federation Northeast/Greater MN Health Care Coalition) Amy Lange Executive Director MN Universal Health Care Coalition --------4 of 19-------- From: Lydia Howell <lydiahowell [at] visi.com> Subject: Nonviolence? 4.23 6pm *Nonviolence, the War on Terror, and Revolution:a talk by & discussion with PETER GELDERLOOS*, author of How Nonviolence Protects the State, Anarchy Works, Consensus - A Handbook, and others) who's going to be through the Twin Cities on a book tour in April FRI.APRIL 23,6pm:MayDay Books 301 Cedar Ave (beneath the Hub Bike Co-op),West Bank, Minneapolis snacks provided!/ How did nonviolence help pave the way for the War on Terror? How do both work to pacify social movements? And how can we recover the power to fight back? This presentation and discussion looks at how the practice of nonviolence and civic mentality prevalent in the antiglobalization and antiwar movements helped pacify and recuperate social struggles and paved the way for the intensification of the domestic War on Terror; how terrorism is replacing violence as a political category used by the state and media to delegitimize social struggles; and how we need to confront the domestic War on Terror in order to overcome the social isolation it imposes and legitimize direct attacks against the system to broader circles of people. join us for this intimate talk with peter gelderloos, author of How Nonviolence Protects the State, Anarchy Works, We Are an Image from the Future: the Greek Revolts of December 2008, and more (books and zines will be available). --------5 of 19-------- From: "Krista Menzel (Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace)" <web [at] MPPeace.org> Subject: Merriam potluck 4.23 6:30pm 2010 Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace Potlucks We hold a monthly potluck at a member's home or go out to dinner together - usually on a Friday at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 23, 2010 Please e-mail info [at] mppeace.org or call Anne at (651) 647-0580 or Krista at (651) 641-7592 for more information. http://www.mppeace.org/events/ --------6 of 19-------- From: Minnesota Cuba Committee <mncuba [at] gmail.com> Subject: Afro-Cuban film 4.23 7:15pm Although the Cuban Movie Festival 2010 concluded on April 8, it's not the end of Cuban film in the Twin Cities. On April 23, we will welcome Gloria Rolando, who is currently making a film in Cuba about the 1912 massacre of Afro-Cuban adherents of the first Black political party outside of Haiti. On Friday, April 23, at 7:15 pm, Gloria will present the film, "Breaking the Silence" ("Voces para silencio") at 115 Nicholson Hall at the University of Minnesota. Admission is free and open to the public. The showing is sponsored by the University's Comparative Literature Student Association and the Cultural Studies Department. She will be available for discussion after the film. On Saturday, April 24, Gloria will appear at the 10:00 am coffee hour at the Resource Center of the Americas. That evening, there will be a reception and screening of the film at 7:00 pm at Marquette Place Apartments in the 35th floor event room. Rumba Eterna will provide live music. Hors d'oeuvres will be provided by Victor's 1959 Café; refreshments will be available. A donation of $10 - $20 is requested. www.minnesotacubacommittee.org --------7 of 19-------- From: richb [at] lakecast.com Subject: Jensen film 4.23 7:30pm Jensen's going to be on hand -- you've reprinted some his columns from Counterpunch. - Rich Free Screening of "One Foot in the Grave, the Other Dancing," a documentary about the life and times of Abe Osheroff Friday, April 23, 7:30 p.m. The Parish House, St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 4537 3rd Avenue South Minneapolis Free admission Most people knew Abe Osheroff as an activist. For most of his 92 years - from the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War to the picket lines of the U.S. labor movement, from the struggles for civil rights in Mississippi to his work for human rights in Nicaragua - Osheroff threw himself into the fray with rare energy and enthusiasm. In this riveting and inspiring new film, Osheroff reflects on the meaning of his activism, exploring the ideas that animated his actions and sharing wisdom built up over a lifetime of commitment to the "radical humanism" that defined his politics and philosophy. Presenting the film on April 23 is co-producer Robert Jensen, a professor of communications at University of Texas-Austin, and one of America's most distinguished progressive intellectuals. For more information, contact richb [at] lakecast.com --------8 of 19-------- From: Ken Reine <reine008 [at] umn.edu> Subject: Peace walk 4.24 9am Cambridge MN every Saturday 9AM to 9:35AM Peace walk in Cambridge - start at Hwy 95 and Fern Street --------9 of 19-------- From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: WAMM garage sale 4.24 9am The WAMM "Better with Age" Garage Sale Saturday, April 24, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Linden Hills Community Center, West 43rd Street and Xerxes Avenue, Minneapolis. Items such as: china, glass, linens, jewelry, books, pictures, small pieces of furniture, handbags, suitcases, costume jewelry, original artwork, and other treasures. Prices from $1.00 to $100.00. To Volunteer: Contact Erica Bouza, 612-929-0802 or ericabouza [at] aol.com. --------10 of 19-------- From: info [at] rnc8.org [RNC 8 defense] Subject: RNC8/keynote 4.24 10:30am Duluth MN April 24: Keynote Speech at the Young Activist Summit in Duluth Saturday, April 24, 9:30 am - 3 pm - keynote speech from 10:30 - 11:30 am Kirby Garden Room, University of Minnesota - Duluth Students for Peace in Duluth-Superior will be holding its second annual Young Activist Summit from 9:30am-3pm on Saturday, April 24 in the Kirby Garden Room at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. It will include workshops and networking opportunities, and members of the RNC 8 Defense Committee will be the keynote speakers from 10:30-11:30am. We're happy to be back in Duluth, which has been one of our biggest bases of support in the peace and labor movements. The summit is open to all campus activists and allies around the Twin Ports area, and coincides with the state Democratic Party convention...so look for us elsewhere around town, too. (Gubernatorial candidate and Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner finished last in this spring's caucuses, but has vowed to ignore the Party's endorsement.) For more information on the event, contact Steve at wickx079 [at] d.umn.edu. --------11 of 19-------- From: Jason Stone <jason.stone [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Afro-Cuban film 4.24 10am Coffee Hour: Filmmaker Gloria Rolando Screens and Discusses Her Documentary "Roots Of My Heart" - Apr. 24 Saturday, April 24 10:00am-11:45am At the Resource Center of the Americas Presented in English Celebrated Afro-Cuban documentary filmmaker Gloria Rolando will screen and discuss her most recent documentary, Roots of My Heart and her ongoing project of her feature film 1912: Breaking the Silence. This documentary deals with the theme of a young Afro-Cuban woman's discovery of her ancestors' participation in the massacre of thousands of members of the Independents of Color of 1912 and the death of her grandfather in the Massacre. The Independents of Color were largely made up of veterans of the "Mambi Army", the Cuban Army of Liberation that defeated the Spanish in two Wars of Liberation. Recent research in Cuba has established that this army was overwhelmingly Cubans of African descent (80% and perhaps as high as 90%). Speaker: Gloria Rolando She is a founding member of the film collective, Images of the Caribbean, which is dedicated to developing projects that focus on Afro-descendant communities in Cuba. Rolando is known for her documentary and feature films including ? Oggun: An Eternal Presence, on the Orisha Oggun, the god of war and peace, metals, and civilization, as experienced in the life of Lazaro Ros, the prominent Cuban Yoruba singer and founding member of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional; My Footsteps in Baragua, on the history of a West Indian community in Cuba (consisting of people from Jamaica, Barbados, and other Caribbean islands); and Eyes of the Rainbow, a film on Assata Shakur, the Black Panther and Black Liberation Army leader who took refuge in Cuba after years of struggles in the US. CONTACT Minnesota Cuba Committee www.minnesotacubacommittee.org or Contact: Greg Klave gregklave [at] msn.com 612-721-8440 --------12 of 19-------- From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: Gaza/play 4.24 10am Play and Discussion: "Seven Jewish Children" Saturday, April 24, 9:30 a.m. (Refreshments); 10:00 a.m. (Presentation and Discussion) Lutheran Church Christ the Redeemer, 5440 Penn Avenue South, Minneapolis. "Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza" is a controversial 10-minute play by British playwright Caryl Churchill, written in response to the 2008-2009 Israel military strike on Gaza. Churchill allows gratis production of the play so long as collection for the people of Gaza is held. The play consists of seven scenes spread over roughly seventy years, in which Jewish adults discuss what, or whether, their children should be told about certain events in recent Jewish history that the play alludes to only indirectly, such as: the Holocaust, Jewish immigration to Palestine, the creation of Israel, the flight or expulsion of Palestinian Arabs, the 1948 Arab- Israeli War, the dispute over water, the First Intifada, the building of the West Bank barrier, and Palestinian suicide attacks. Sponsored by: Middle East Peace Now (MEPN). WAMM is a member of MEPN. FFI: Call Dixie Vella, 952-941-1341. --------13 of 19-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] visi.com> Subject: CUAPB 4.24 1:30pm Meetings: Every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Walker Church, 3104 16th Avenue South http://www.CUAPB.org Communities United Against Police Brutality 3100 16th Avenue S Minneapolis, MN 55407 Hotline 612-874-STOP (7867) --------14 of 19-------- From: Vanka485 [at] aol.com Subject: Northtown vigil 4.24 2pm Peace vigil at Northtown (Old Hwy 10 & University Av), every Saturday 2-3pm --------15 of 19-------- From: doriandter [at] aol.com Subject: Cavlan campaign 4.24 4:30pm On Saturday, April 24, the first meeting of the Committee to Elect Michael Cavlan to the US House of Representatives will be held at Walker Church from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. We are looking forward to seeing all those who have said they support Michael will be in attendance. If you have any questions please call Dori Ullman at 612-414-9528. --------16 of 19-------- From: Joan Malerich <joanmdm [at] iphouse.com> Subject: Griffin/9-11 4.24 7pm MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW. THIS EVENT WITH DR. DAVID RAY GRIFFIN IS ONE EVENT YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS! I think the 9-11 truth movement is the most viable and most important movement there is. Before this system can be changed, it must be discredited. The truth and reality of what really happened on 9-11 does discredit our moneyed interest government. --Joan -- http://mn911truth.org/ Minnesota 9/11 Truth Proudly Presents: Is the War in Afghanistan Justified by 9/11? Dr. David Ray Griffin <http://davidraygriffin.com/> Dr. David Ray Griffin is Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology, Emeritus, Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, where he remains a co-director of the Center for Process Studies. Dr. Griffin has authored over 35 book, one of which, The New Pearl Harbor Revisited, was a Publishers Weekly "Pick of the Week" in 2008. Dr. Griffin has also been a guest on hundreds of radio shows and has been featured in major TV programs about 9/11 by the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Japan's national network. Saturday April 24th, 7:00 p.m. Macalester Plymouth Church 1658 Lincoln Avenue West -- St. Paul, MN 55105 (map <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1658+Lincoln+Avenue+West,+St+Paul&sll=44.95751,-93.161659&sspn=0.170791,0.308647&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1658+Lincoln+Ave+W,+St+Paul,+Ramsey,+Minnesota+55105&ll=44.938755,-93.169545&spn=0.005529,0.009645&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=44.938843,-93.169546&panoid=8a75fBT7M-bBfOKQWEas2w&cbp=12,241.11,,0,-5.91>) 7:00 PM www.macalester-plymouth.org <http://www.macalester-plymouth.org/>* From: Leslie Reindl <alteravista [at] usfamily.net> Announcement of talk by noted theologian Dr. David Ray Griffin Saturday, April 24, 2010 7 to 9:30 pm Macalester Plymouth United Church, 1658 Lincoln Ave., St. Paul Free; free will offering IS THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN JUSTIFIED BY 9/11? Dr. Griffin is the author of numerous books on theology and, since 2003, on the inadequate official explanations for the events of 9/11, which events are being used to justify two wars and the global "war on terror." With Dr. Griffin's unique perspective as theologian, philosopher, and empirical researcher, this talk promises to be a thought-provoking discussion of the moral justifications used to support the war in Afghanistan. Macalester Plymouth United Church Talk sponsored by MN9/11 Truth, co-sponsored by Peacemakers of Macalester Plymouth United Church, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, and others. FFI Leslie Reindl, 651-633-4410. Background information David Ray Griffin (born 1939) is a retired professor of philosophy of religion and theology. Along with John B. Cobb, Jr., in 1973 he founded the Center for Process Studies, a research center of Claremont School of Theology that seeks to promote the common good by means of the relational approach found in process thought. David Ray Griffin was a full-time academic from 1973 until April 2004. He is currently a co-director of the Center for Process Studies, and one of the foremost contemporary exponents of process theology, founded on the process philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne. During a research leave in 1980-81 at Cambridge University and Berkeley, the contrast between modernity and postmodernity became central to Dr. Griffin's work. He began to focus on developing proposals for overcoming the conflicts between religion and modern science. Griffin came to believe that much of the tension between religion and science was not only the result of reactionary supernaturalism but also the mechanistic worldview associated with the rise of modern science in the seventeenth century. In 1983, Griffin started the Center for a Postmodern World in Santa Barbara, and became editor of the SUNY Series in Constructive Postmodern Philosophy between 1987 and 2004. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, David Ray Griffin moved his focus from questions of philosophy and religion to ones of politics and history, specifically American expansionism and imperialism. He intended to write a book on the subject, presenting 9/11 in terms of "blowback" for aggressive United States foreign policies of the 20th century: "Until the spring of 2003, I had not looked at any of the evidence. I was vaguely aware there were people, at least on the internet, who were offering evidence against the official account of 9/11... I knew the US government had 'fabricated' evidence to go to war several times before. Nevertheless... I did not take this possibility seriously... I was so confident that they must be wrong." After reading the work of Paul Thompson and Nafeez Ahmed, he became convinced that there was a prima facie case for the contention that there must have been complicity from individuals within the United States, and joined the 9/11 Truth Movement in calling for an extensive investigation from the United States media, Congress and the 9/11 Commission. At this time, he set about writing his first book on the subject, which he called The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 (2004). Griffin's second book on the subject was a direct critique of the 9/11 Commission Report, called The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions (2005). In his next book, Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action (2006), he summarizes some of what he believes is evidence for government complicity and reflects on its implications for Christians. The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, publishers of the book, noted that Griffin is a distinguished theologian, and praised the book's religious content, but said, "The board believes the conspiracy theory is spurious and based on questionable research." In 9/11 Contradictions: An Open Letter to Congress and the Press (2008) he presents chapters on 25 alleged contradictions involving elements of the "accepted story" of 9/11, and calls for Congress and the press to investigate and resolve them. --------17 of 19-------- From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net> Subject: Haiti/CTV 4.24 9pm Solidarious Minneapolis Television Network (MTN) viewers: "Our World In Depth" cablecasts on MTN Channel 17 on Saturdays at 9pm and Tuesdays at 8am, after DemocracyNow! Households with basic cable may watch. Sat, 4/24, 9pm and Tues, 4/27, 8am "Standing With Haiti" In January, disaster hit the people of Haiti in epic proportion. A 7.0 quake cost an estimated 230,000 lives. With guests Laura Flynn of the Aristide Foundation and Rebecca Cramer of the Haiti Justice Committee, we go in-depth to provide historical context as to why the earthquake was so devastating. We talk about US-Haiti relations, relief efforts and current dangers facing the courageous people of Haiti. (4/10) --------18 of 19-------- The Great Marginalization The Envy of the World By CARL GINSBURG CounterPunch April 23 - 25, 2010 Before a sold-out crowd of upstanding New Yorkers, including some of the most committed bankers in the world of finance - Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and James Dimon of JP Morgan Chase among them - President Obama asked the audience of 700 to accept his latest obfuscation, financial reform, "not only because it in the interests of your industry, but because it is in the interests of our country." Obama offered that "there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. We rise or we fall together as one nation." To grasp this understanding, he explained, would return America to its rightful place as "the envy of the world". (With these measured remarks, President Obama carried forward a tradition at Cooper Union dating to February, 1860, when then-candidate Abe Lincoln made his first New York appearance and received rave reviews. "Wrong as we think slavery is," said the future president, "we can yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising from its actual presence in the nation".) Wall Street's speculative mission, and addiction to sky-high profits - witness announcements this week of multi-billion dollar profits from big banks -- surely divides it from Main Street, where modesty reigns, and no regulation debated in Congress today will change that reality. In fact, tallies of bail out costs are now in the trillions, not the paltry $89 billion the administration tried to float recently, and few of those trillions have made their way to Main Street. No matter. Consistent with its attempt to blur the line between Wall Street and Main Street, the Obama government suggests salvation can be had in the form of better attention to consumers, when we all know that jobs and good wages, not access to credit or better investment information, are needed. Cue the obfuscation. You can safely assume that the substance of the president's proposals to regulate Wall Street, shared by Blankfein and the others, and to be passed by Congress, has nothing to do with addressing the economic story of our time: underpaid America. [What is underpaid America to Obama? Zip. Nada. Bupkis. Obama, the false hope we better get over ASAP. -ed] Surely Blankfein attended the event under protest, his bank, Goldman Sachs, having been sued the same week by the Securities and Exchange Commission for multiple counts of fraud in withholding material information in the selling of a sure loser to clients. Blankfein's defense in this brazen escapade, is that his bank was among the losers; but certainly his top-tier clients, like John Paulson, among America's richest hedge fund operators, appreciated the effort an awful lot and that kind of appreciation you can take to the bank. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Besides, nobody's going to jail. Far from it. Little more than 50 blocks north of Cooper Union, where President Obama spoke of "one nation," is located Blankfein's Manhattan residence. The condo tower containing the Blankfein city pad, 15 Central Park West, was completed in 2005 and sold out for a total of $2 billion, making it the most lucrative condo sale in the history of the planet. Now we're talking "envy of the world". Designed by Yale's Robert A.M. Stern and drawing upon the architecture of Roaring 20s Park Avenue elegance, the faade contains 85,000 slabs of limestone, behind which wine cellars, swimming pool and chauffeur waiting rooms can be found on lower levels. Sandy Weill of Citigroup bought his penthouse there for $45 million. One of the tower residences brought $80 million. Baseball great A Rod is renting a lesser unit for $30,000 a month. At the building's entrance a doorman awaited weary Blankfein, back from a yet another grueling day of defending derivatives, promoting risk management and generally feeling misunderstood. This doorman is not alone, as there are other entrances to the large complex, where other doormen attend the residents. many needs. It is a 24/7 job and there is no room for error, as threats to security are real. Add to these doormen other building workers who keep hallways clean and staff elevators at the highest standards of service. These building workers, all members of Local 32BJ, Service Employees International Union, narrowly averted a strike this week when owners of the city's residential buildings, like Blankfein's place, settled on a new contract. Under the terms of the new deal, building workers had to give back some health care benefits, saving owners $70 million, in exchange for which they received a 10 per cent raise over four years. They make on average $35,000 a year, before taxes. Truly, the envy of the world. Carl Ginsburg is a journalist in New York City. He can be reached at carlginsburg [at] gmail.com. --------19 of 19-------- 24 Years Later The Consequences of Chernobyl By KARL GROSSMAN April 23 - 25, 2010 CounterPunch Monday is the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident. It comes as the nuclear industry and pro-nuclear government officials in the U.S. and other nations try to "revive" nuclear power. It also follows the just-released publication of a book, the most comprehensive study ever made, on the impacts of the Chernobyl disaster. Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment has just been published by the New York Academy of Sciences. It is authored by three noted scientists: Russian biologist Dr. Alexey Yablokov, former environmental advisor to the Russian president; Dr. Alexey Nesterenko, a biologist and ecologist in Belarus; and Dr.Vassili Nesterenko, a physicist and at the time of the accident director of the Institute of Nuclear Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Its editor is Dr. Janette Sherman, a physician and toxicologist long-involved in studying the health impacts of radioactivity. The book is solidly based - on health data, radiological surveys and scientific reports - some 5,000 in all. It concludes that based on records now available, some 985,000 people died of cancer caused by the Chernobyl accident. That's between when the accident occurred in 1986 and 2004. More deaths, it projects, will follow. The book explodes the claim of the International Atomic Energy Agency - still on its website - that the expected death toll from the Chernobyl accident will be 4,000. The IAEA, the new book shows, is under-estimating, to the extreme, the casualties of Chernobyl. Comments Alice Slater, representative in New York of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: "The tragic news uncovered by the comprehensive new research that almost one million people died in the toxic aftermath of Chernobyl should be a wake-up call to people all over the world to petition their governments to put a halt to the current industry-driven 'nuclear renaissance'. Aided by a corrupt IAEA, the world has been subjected to a massive cover-up and deception about the true damages caused by Chernobyl". Further worsening the situation, she said, has been "the collusive agreement between the IAEA and the World Health Organization in which the WHO is precluded from publishing any research on radiation effects without consultation with the IAEA". WHO, the public health arm of the UN, has supported the IAEA's claim that 4,000 will die as a result of the accident. "How fortunate," said Ms. Slater, "that independent scientists have now revealed the horrific costs of the Chernobyl accident". The book also scores the position of the IAEA, set up through the UN in 1957 "to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy," and its 1959 agreement with WHO. There is a "need to change," it says, the IAEA-WHO pact. It has muzzled the WHO, providing for the "hiding from the public" of any information "unwanted" by the nuclear industry. {Would we want nuclear billionaires to have to endure the heartbreak of shorter yachts? Clearly not; better a million of us should die. -ed "An important lesson from the Chernobyl experience is that experts and organizations tied to the nuclear industry have dismissed and ignored the consequences of the catastrophe," it states. The book details the spread of radioactive poisons following the explosion of Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear plant on April 26, 1986. These major releases only ended when the fire at the reactor was brought under control in mid-May. Emitted were "hundreds of millions of curies, a quantity hundreds of times larger than the fallout from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki". The most extensive fall-out occurred in regions closest to the plant - in the Ukraine (the reactor was 60 miles from Kiev in Ukraine), Belarus and Russia. However, there was fallout all over the world as the winds kept changing direction - so the radioactive emissions "covered an enormous territory". The radioactive poisons sent billowing from the plant into the air included Cesium-137, Plutonium, Iodine-131 and Strontium-90. There is a breakdown by country, highlighted by maps, of where the radionuclides fell out. Beyond Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, the countries included Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The radiological measurements show that some 10% of Chernobyl poisons "fell on Asia. Huge areas" of eastern Turkey and central China "were highly contaminated," reports the book. Northwestern Japan was impacted, too. Northern Africa was hit with "more than 5% of all Chernobyl releases". The finding of Cesium-137 and both Plutonium-239 and Plutonium-240 "in accumulated Nile River sediment is evidence of significant Chernobyl contamination," it says. "Areas of North America were contaminated from the first, most powerful explosion, which lifted a cloud of radionuclides to a height of more than 10 km. Some 1% of all Chernobyl nuclides," says the book, "fell on North America". The consequences on public health are extensively analyzed. Medical records involving children - the young, their cells more rapidly multiplying, are especially affected by radioactivity - are considered. Before the accident, more than 80% of the children in the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia extensively contaminated by Chernobyl "were healthy," the book reports, based on health data. But "today fewer than 20% are well". There is an examination of genetic impacts with records reflecting an increase in "chromosomal aberrations" wherever there was fallout. This will continue through the "children of irradiated parents for as many as seven generations". So "the genetic consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe will impact hundreds of millions of people". As to fatal cancer, the list of countries and consequences begins with Belarus. "For the period 1900-2000 cancer mortality in Belarus increased 40%," it states, again based on medical data and illuminated by tables in the book. "The increase was a maximum in the most highly contaminated Gomel Province and lower in the less contaminated Brest and Mogilev provinces". They include childhood cancers, thyroid cancer, leukemia and other cancers. Considering health data of people in all nations impacted by the fallout, the "overall [cancer] mortality for the period from April 1986 to the end of 2004 from the Chernobyl catastrophe was estimated as 985,000 additional deaths". Further, "the concentrations" of some of the poisons, because they have radioactive half-lives ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 years, "will remain practically the same virtually forever". The book also examines the impact on plants and animals. "Immediately after the catastrophe, the frequency of plant mutations in the contaminated territories increased sharply". There are photographs of some of these plant mutations. "Chernobyl irradiation has caused many structural anomalies and tumorlike changes in many plant species and has led to genetic disorders, sometimes continuing for many years," it says. "Twenty-three years after the catastrophe it is still too early to know if the whole spectrum of plant radiogenic changes has been discerned. We are far from knowing all of the consequences for flora resulting from the catastrophe". As to animals, the book notes "serious increases in morbidity and mortality that bear striking resemblance to changes in the public health of humans' increasing tumor rates, immunodeficiencies, decreasing life expectancy". In one study it is found that "survival rates of barn swallows in the most contaminated sites near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are close to zero. In areas of moderate contamination, annual survival is less than 25%". Research is cited into ghastly abnormalities in barn swallows that do hatch: "two heads, two tails". "In 1986," the book states, "the level of irradiation in plants and animals in Western Europe, North America, the Arctic, and eastern Asia were sometimes hundreds and even thousands of times above acceptable norms". In its final chapter, the book declares that the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear plant "was the worst technogenic accident in history". And it examines "obstacles" to the reporting of the true consequences of Chernobyl with a special focus on "organizations associated with the nuclear industry" that "protect the industry first - not the public". Here, the IAEA and WHO are charged. The book ends by quoting U.S. President John F. Kennedy's call in 1963 for an end of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. "The Chernobyl catastrophe," it declares, "demonstrates that the nuclear industry's willingness to risk the health of humanity and our environment with nuclear power plants will result, not only theoretically, but practically, in the same level of hazard as nuclear weapons". Dr. Sherman, speaking of the IAEA's and WHO's dealing with the impacts of Chernobyl, commented: "It's like Dracula guarding the blood bank... The 1959 agreement under which WHO 'is not to be independent of the IAEA' but must clear any information it obtains on issues involving radioactivity with the IAEA has 'put the two in bed together'". Of her reflections on 14 months editing the book, she said: "Every single system that was studied - whether human or wolves or livestock or fish or trees or mushrooms or bacteria - all were changed, some of them irreversibly. The scope of the damage is stunning". In his foreword, Dr. Dimitro Grodzinsky, chairman of the Ukranian National Commission on Radiation Protection, writes about how "apologists of nuclear power" sought to hide the real impacts of the Chernobyl disaster from the time when the accident occurred. The book "provides the largest and most complete collection of data concerning the negative consequences of Chernobyl on the health of people and the environment... The main conclusion of the book is that it is impossible and wrong to forget Chernobyl..." In the record of Big Lies, the claim of the IAEA-WHO that "only" 4,000 people will die as a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe is among the biggest. The Chernobyl accident is, as the new book documents, an ongoing global catastrophe. And it is a clear call for no new nuclear power plants to be built and for the closing of the dangerous atomic machines now running - and a switch to safe energy technologies, now available, led by solar and wind energy, that will not leave nearly a million people dead from one disaster. Karl Grossman is professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury. He is author of Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power, Power Crazy and The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program.s Nuclear Threat To Our Planet and writer and narrator of television programs among them Nukes In Space: The Nuclearization and Weaponization of the Heavens (www.envirovideo.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 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 vote third party for president for congress now and forever Socialism YES Capitalism NO To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg --------8 of x-------- do a find on --8 Research almost any topic raised here at: CounterPunch http://counterpunch.org Dissident Voice http://dissidentvoice.org Common Dreams http://commondreams.org Once you're there, do a search on your topic, eg obama drones
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