Progressive Calendar 04.23.10
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).


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