Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 11.26.05

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     11.26.05

1. Sensible vigil      11.27 12noon
2. KFAI/Indian         11.27 4pm
3. NWA strike          11.27 4pm
4. Mohamed/IAgov/TV    11.27 10:30pm

5. Community planning  11.28 5:30pm
6. Eminent domain      11.28 6pm?
7. MN human rights     11.28 6:30pm
8. Toxics/community    11.28 7pm
9. AI Augustana        11.28 7pm

10. Contra war/Indians 11.29 12noon
11. Women's consortium 11.29 5:30pm
12. YAWR metro-wide    11.29 6pm
13. Arab world/film    11.29 6pm
14. Women/peace/film   11.29 7pm

15. Richard Sauder - The American economy leaves America
16. Laura Donnelly - JobTracker
17. Scott McLarty  - It's time to dump the Dems, support Green insurgency
18. ed             - Let us give no thanks (poem)

--------1 of 18--------

From: skarx001 <skarx001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Sensible vigil 11.27 12noon

The sensible people for peace hold weekly peace vigils at the intersection
of Snelling and Summit in StPaul, Sunday between noon and 1pm. (This is
across from the Mac campus.) We provide signs protesting current gov.
foreign and domestic policy. We would appreciate others joining our
vigil/protest.


--------2 of 18--------

From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: KFAI/Indian 11.27 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for Nov 27

GIVE THANKS NO MORE; IT'S TIME FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF ATONEMENT by Robert
Jensen, OpEdNews.com, November 21, 2005.  One indication of moral progress
in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its
self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement
accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.  In fact, indigenous
people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth
Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political
ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of
the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_j_051121_give_thanks_no_more_3b.
htm

DEFINING WHERE YOU ARE GOING by Roberto Dansle, Indian Country Today, July
20, 2005.  Elders from all tribes have told us that a "vision" is
essential for our wellbeing.  The past forms you or deforms you.  But the
future ­ a vision ­ "transforms" you.  We are defined not only by where we
have been.  We are defined, also, by where we are going.

SACRED NATIONS by Scott Barta, Guest Columnist for Dakota Journal,
November 4-11, 2004.  To the non-Indigenous Americans, the natural world
is a "nuisance" and something that must be controlled.  To them, the
four-legged animals and their inherent freedom, for example, are something
to be afraid of by the American people.

EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS DILUTES FEDERAL FUNDS TO TRIBES by Ray
Carter, Dolan Media Newswires, September 17, 2004.  U.S. Senate candidate
Tom Coburn said that federal aid to Native Americans is being divided
among so man recipients - including those whose ancestry is overwhelmingly
non-Indian - that those with the most need often receive little benefit.

* * * *
Indian Uprising is a one-half hour Public & Cultural Affairs radio program
for, by, and about Indigenous people & all their relations, broadcast each
Sunday at 4pm over KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul.
Current programs are archived online after broadcast at www.kfai.org, for
two weeks.  Click Program Archives and scroll to Indian Uprising.


--------3 of 18--------

From: Solidarity Committee <nwasolidaritymsp [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: NWA strike 11.27 4pm

Just writing to mobilize everyone out to the picket lines.  Time to get
out of that food coma, put on your hats and mittens, grab that picket
sign, and carry the movement forward.

The Thanksgiving Rush Solidarity Picket is extremely important, as it
happens during one of the busiest two hour periods of the year for
Northwest Airlines.  We will have the opportunity to interface with
literally tens of thousands of passengers.  Also, many of the passengers
are returning home to other cities that lack NWA maintenance operations,
and therefore have no AMFA picket lines.  We will be interacting with
passengers who may not have seen a picket line on their outbound trip from
their home town.

Please wear your red I SUPPORT NORTHWEST WORKERS paraphernalia

The details are as follows:
4-pm, Sunday November 27
PLACE: STRIKE HEADQUARTERS. 7800 International Drive in Bloomington.
Parking Lot of the AmeriSuites Hotel.  On the I-494 Frontage Road just
West of the intersection of I-494 and 34th Avenue South.  Free
transportation will be provided to and from the picket line.


--------4 of 18--------

From: Ahmed <ata200221 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Mohamed/IAgov/TV 11.27 10:30pm

BelAhdan this week an interview with Sal Mohamed An Egyptian American
running for a governor in Iowa

Ahmed Tharwat/Host
BelAhdan. with Ahmed
Arab Americans TV show
Airs on MN Public TV Ch17
Sundays at 10:30pm
And every Tuesday at 6:30pm ET on
National TV/ Bridges TV
Channel 578 on DISH Network

 <http://www.belahdan.com/> www.Belahdan.com
 <mailto:ahmedtharwat [at] belahdan.com> ahmedtharwat [at] belahdan.com


--------5 of 18-------

From: Anne Carroll <carrfran [at] qwest.net>
From: Executive Director [mailto:d5-director [at] visi.com]
Subject: Community planning 11.28 5:30pm

To improve our Payne Phalen District Five neighborhoods by engaging,
educating and empowering all residents in our diverse community.

ARCADE STREET
BUSINESSES & RESIDENTS
Impact the Future of YOUR Neighborhood!
MONDAY Nov 28 - 5:30pm
East YMCA Community Room

Your District 5 Planning Council invites you to help update the Payne
-Phalen neighborhood Area Plan.  This plan will:

.  Help guide development in the neighborhood for the next 10-15 years
.  Have a direct impact on planning (zoning, variances, etc.) in the
neighborhood
.  Enhance the neighborhood's ability to receive City money for important
public improvement projects related to transportation and parks
.  Provide a unified vision for the future of the neighborhood
.  Offer strategies to improve public safety, transportation access,
economic development, and the environment

Your Ideas Matter!
The first step in this neighborhood planning process is to hear from you
about what like or dislike about your neighborhood.  Do you have some good
ideas that can improve our community? Your ideas will directly influence
the goals, strategies, and actions of the final plan.  Come to this
meeting to help shape our future!  We'll touch on the following areas and
identify key neighborhood assets or issues:

1.  Environment and Open Space
2.  Parks and Recreation
3.  Traffic and Transportation
4.  Community Building
5.  Housing
6.  Commercial/Industrial
7.  Crime and Safety

Have Your Say! Join us for any or all of these Community Planning Forums
Each "surrounding area" meeting will focus on a certain area of the
District, but will cover assets and issues of the entire District.


--------6 of 18-------

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 21:30:48 -0600
From: Amy Ihlan <amyihlan [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Eminent domain 11.28 6pm?

The city council agenda for tomorrow night (November 21) includes an hour
devoted to discussing a proposed resolution for immediate use of eminent
domain to condemn much of the property in Twin Phase I development area.
This item is scheduled for discussion at the beginning of the meeting,
right after public comment at 6 pm.

From the draft resolution in the council packet, it looks as though the
council will be asked to vote on whether to condemn the properties at our
November 28 meeting.

Essentially, the Twin Lakes developers are asking the council to use its
power of eminent domain to take private property from other businesses, to
be turned over to the developers.

If you are concerned about this issue, please attend the meetings and
contact council members to express your views.  If you have any questions,
please let me know.

Thanks, Amy [Roseville City Council, one of two progressives against a
runaway majority 3 - ed]

[Come see how rich developers pervert city councils, fair procedures,
intelligent future planning - for a land/money grab! These arrogant
doorknobs grab right in front of our faces and dare us to stop them. It
can't get much worse. I live in Roseville and have to smell these deals.
-ed]


--------7 of 18-------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: MN human rights 11.28 6:30pm

Monday, 11/28, 6:30-8:30pm. Rabbi Stacey Offner discusses "Human Rights At
Home: defending the constitutional protections of all Minnesotans,"
concerning attempts to put anti-gay, anti-family amendments in the MN
state constitution, Shir Tikva Synagogue, 5000 Girard Avenue South,
Minneapolis.  FFI: Heather Ferguson, fergusoh [at] stolaf.edu


--------8 of 18--------

From: CarolGwood [at] aol.com
Subject: Toxics/community 11.28 7pm

Toxic Hazards and
Your Community
Monday, November 28
7pm, Matthews Center
2318 29th Ave. S. Minneapolis

Worried About Your Exposure to Toxic Substances?

The Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach at the University of
Minnesota School of Public Health and several neighborhood-based
organizations are pleased to offer free community education on the toxic
hazards that are present in South Minneapolis. This fourth session
concerning toxins will cover:

Fourth Session (Home and Garden as sources of toxicants):
 _ More detailed information about toxicants that children and adults are
exposed to from household, yard, and garden sources including: cleaning
products, finishes, furnishings, pesticides, yard and garden equipment,
paints, wood and second-hand smoke, pharmaceuticals, beauty products, food
additives, charcoal starter, and dryer exhaust.
 _ Characteristics of home and garden related toxins (environmental
behavior)
 _ Health impacts and avoiding exposure and risk.
 _ What individuals/community can do to reduce household toxins and the
health impacts of household toxins.

The goals of this series of workshops are to raise peoples' awareness of
toxic substances, promote risk reduction strategies and emphasize the fact
that there are many easy things people can do to reduce and prevent the
effects of toxicants on their and their family's lives.

The workshop will be taught by Dr. William Toscano, Chair of the
Environmental Health Sciences division of the University of Minnesota
School of Public Health.  There will be lots of opportunity to ask
question and learn in an interactive way. Donít miss this chance to talk
with one of the premier authorities in Minnesota about toxic exposures to
you and your family. Free activities for children ages 4-10 provided by
South Minneapolis YMCA.

A $25 Gift certificate has been donated by the Seward Co-op (2111 E.
Franklin Av.) for a door prize and will be awarded by means of a drawing
after the discussion.

For more information, please contact Bernie at Phone, 612.338.6205, x102,
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. These programs are sponsored in
part, by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health
Science (NIEHS) as part of the Midwest Consortium for Hazardous Waste
Worker Training.

Co-sponsored by the following organizations:
Seward Neighborhood Group Longfellow Community Council South Minneapolis


--------9 of 18--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: AI Augustana 11.28 7pm

Augustana Homes Seniors Group meets on Monday, November 28th, 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 18--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Contra war/Indians 11.29 12noon

Tuesday, 11/29, noon, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of  "Blood on the Border:
A Memoir of the Contra War" will give free talk "The Contra war against
Nicaragua as a modern Indian War," Macalester College Old Main 4th floor
lounge, 1600 Grand, St. Paul, 651-696-6318.


--------11 of 18--------

From: bharti [at] mnwomen.org
Subject: Women's consortium 11.29 5:30pm

"Generations" Fall Membership Meeting

Are you a traditionalist, boomer, women studies generation, or millennial
- and who cares?  The Minnesota Women's Consortium will host its free fall
membership meeting on Tuesday, November 29 from 5:30 to 8pm at the MN
Women's Building (550 Rice Street, St. Paul).  Join us for a lively
conversation about the challenges of working together as women across
generational lines.  Bring a friend and enjoy the refreshments and good
discussion!  Space is very limited.  For more info and to RSVP contact
Bharti at (651) 228-0338 or email bharti [at] mnwomen.org.


--------12 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: YAWR metro-wide 11.29 6pm

Metro-wide YAWR meeting
send delegates from your school!

Tuesday, November 29
6-7:30pm
Resource Center of the Americas (Victor Jara room, downstairs)
3019 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis - by Lake St

Bus to the Resource Center
The #21 bus, the #7 bus, and the Light Rail all have nearby stops

Before school breaks in December, we should begin some serious
preperations for campaign work next Spring. Please come to this meeting to
help plan that out. Also, we have our big YAWR hip-hop fundraiser at
Triple Rock on December 8th, and we need to plan out how to build YAWR out
of this concert, who will speak for YAWR, etc.

AGENDA IDEAS:
 1. Spring campaign plans - how to get our school boards to pass
resolutions banning military recruiters from our schools.
 2. Do we want to organize another major protest or walkout next spring?
 3. Planning the December 8th YAWR concert at the Triple Rock (featuring
Los Nativos, others).
 4. How to start a chapter of YAWR at your school.
 5. How to protest military recruiters out of your school.
 6. How to organize an antiwar teach-in at your school

Feel free to come with other ideas for what we need to talk about and what
we should be doing in the coming weeks and months.


--------13 of 18--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Arab world/film 11.29 6pm

Perspectives on the Arab World Film Series: "Satin Rouge"
Tuesday, November 29, 6pm Macalester College, Carnegie Hall 06, 1600
Grand Avenue, St. Paul.

"Satin Rouge". This Tunisian film narrates the story of two women, a
mother and a daughter, as they embark on a complex process of
self-discovery and sensual exploration. Suspecting a liaison between her
headstrong daughter and a cabaret musician, the mother herself becomes
drawn to the nightclub world of belly dancers and nocturnal
pleasure-seekers (Raja Amari, 2002, 95 min., Arabic with subtitles). Free
Pizza and pop. In conjunction with "Contemporary Arab Society". Endorsed
by WAMM Middle East Committee.


--------14 of 18--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Women/peace/film 11.29 7pm

Women's Human Rights Film Series
The Women's Human Rights Program at Minnesota Advocates and The Friends of
the Saint Paul Public Library present Women's Human Rights Film Series.
Free and open to the public. All films begin at 7pm.

November 29 at the Hamline Midway Branch Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha
Avenue: "Peace by Peace: Women on the Frontlines", a documentary that
celebrates women who work to build peace out of conflict and crisis.
Malinda Schmiechen, staff attorney in Minnesota Advocates' Refugee and
Immigrant Program, will facilitate discussion after the film.

Sign language interpretation and other accommodations are available with
advance notice. To request this service, contact The Friends at
651-222-3242 or friends [at] thefriends.org For more information, contact Mary
Hunt at 612-341-3302, ext. 107, mhunt [at] mnadvocates.org, or visit The
Friends at www.thefriends.org


--------15 of 18-------

Ladies and Gentlemen: The American Economy Has Left the Building
by Richard Sauder, PhD
The Samizdat Chronicles: Part VI
dr_samizdat [at] yahoo.com
24 November 2005
(© Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved.)

The news of the 30,000 jobs that General Motors recently announced it
plans to cut caught my attention like a searing brand plunged deep into my
mind. It's still sizzling there like a splinter festering in the middle of
my brain. There have been a lot of indications in recent years of the
depth of the systemic turmoil brewing in the American economy, but this
news item caught my eye in a way that a lot of other news has not. Perhaps
it was the admonitions from decades past of my American history teacher in
high school who repeatedly warned the class that the foundation of the
American economy was based on the health and well being of the housing and
automobile industries, and that as went the fortunes of those two
industries, so too went the economic prospects of the nation.

Well, when I heard the news of this massive job cut by General Motors I
could not help but ponder what this seismic shift in such an important
sector of the American economy might portend. After all, if 30,000
manufacturing jobs disappear, myriad more thousands of jobs also disappear
at the same time. What happens to the truckers and trucking lines who ship
the cars to market that those 30,000 people manufacture?  What happens to
the sales volume of the stores and supermarkets where those 30,000
soon-to-be-unemployed people shop? What happens to the parts manufacturers
who supply parts for the factories that will soon be idled? What happens
to the jobs of the people who work in the parts manufacturing companies
who soon will have no customers for their parts?  And on and on the
negative ripple effect goes, as it washes out through the economy. One
more round of massive job cuts, this time at General Motors. You know, if
you think about it, 30,000 workers here, and 30,000 workers there, and
before you know it, you're talking real serious hard times, as the nation
rapidly deindustrializes and people are thrown out of work.

This news also caused me to reflect on something else. When I was in
graduate school I read quite a lot of so-called "Dependency Theory"
literature for my seminars and comprehensive exams. Dependency Theory grew
out of the 20th-Century work of the Argentine economist, Raúl Prebisch and
the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), which
Prebisch headed. At the risk of oversimplifying, Dependency Theory held
that the economically deprived conditions that prevailed in much of Latin
America were at root due to imbalances in the terms of trade between
developed (core) nations and the economically underdeveloped (periphery)
nations in Latin America. Prebisch and the Eclistas held that the poorer
nations of Latin America, which marketed their raw resources and
agricultural products (sugar, bananas, cotton, petroleum, mined ores,
timber, beef, etc.) to the developed nations of the international
economy's core, were perpetually economically disadvantaged by this
arrangement, because they had then to import finished or manufactured
goods from the developed core on unfavorable terms established by the
developed countries.

Prebisch and the Eclistas felt that the way to break this cycle of
economic dependency and subordination was to develop Latin American
industry, via Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI). The idea was
that if Latin countries produced their own manufactured goods they would
not need to import them on unfavorable terms from Europe and the United
States. As it happens, for a variety of reasons ISI policies met with
distinctly limited success. Without going into any more detail, suffice it
to say that those are the bare bones of Dependency Theory and the
attendant ISI program that it spawned. My purpose here is not to write a
thesis on Dependency Theory - those who are interested can do a key word
search on the internet or go to a research library at a major university
and read from now until the cows come home without coming to the end of
the Dependency literature. It runs to unknown thousands of pages, and has
both adherents and detractors. The debates over the pros and cons of
Dependency Theory have raged for decades now and I certainly will not
resolve the contention between the various camps in this short article. I
had enough of that in graduate school!

No, my purpose in bringing up Raúl Prebisch and the Eclistas and
Dependency Theory is rather different. Without having to decide whether
what he and his fellow theorists asserted is demonstrably true or not,
without having to take sides in the voluminous and prolix Dependency
Theory debates, I wanted to simply observe that what we are witnessing
today in the American economy is something like the reverse of the dynamic
that Prebisch and the Eclistas first described decades ago in the mid-20th
Century in Latin America. To wit: where they were faced with
unindustrialized Latin economies that could not compete with the developed
industry of the core countries such as the United States, we in the United
States are today faced with a deteriorating economy that is rapidly
deindustrializing, in large degree as a consequence of a whole slew of
so-called Free Trade agreements and regimes such as NAFTA, CAFTA and the
WTO which have made capital and entire industries very portable
internationally, to the considerable detriment of workers at home and
abroad. We can debate the reasons as to exactly why this is occuring, but
suffice it to say that it is happening. The 30,000 jobs that have just
been cut at General Motors are but the latest evidence of that.

I must say that I rather agree with the views of George Ure, at
Urbansurvival.com, who feels that instead of laying off American workers,
only to export industries and jobs to underdeveloped countries, and then
pay workers there a small fraction of a living American wage to perform
the same jobs that the laid-off American workers used to hold, that a
saner policy would be to develop an international economic order that had
as its objective to raise living standards and wage levels in poorer
countries to be commensurate with those of the developed countries. Not
only would this benefit the workers of underdeveloped countries, it would
also benefit American workers and industry by retaining jobs at home and
opening up markets abroad, as living standards increased across the globe.

Of course, in today's world this kind of vision is given short shrift,
because sociopaths are running most of the major governments of the world,
and most of the major industries and financial institutions, and
sociopaths are not much interested in mutual uplift and global benefit for
the great bulk of the human race. Oh, no. Sociopaths are primarily
interested in war, plunder, destruction, cruel domination, violent
subjugation, and ruthless social control. So long as this planet and the
major institutions and organizations that govern so much of what happens
on it are dominated by sociopaths of the ilk of George Bush and Dick
Cheney and associated fellow travelers of like mind and spirit, the ideas
of George Ure about fair play and mutual uplift for one and for all will
never get a meaningfully fair shake.

Just think about the state of the American economy. Does anyone truly know
the actual size of the American government's debt? In the mainstream news
media I have seen published figures running well into the trillions of
dollars, most of it owed to the Japanese and to a lesser, though rapidly
increasing, degree, to the Chinese, and to a whole slew of other nations
and entities. Essentially, the entire nation is in hock. We've been
pawned.

Using the Eclista example and the theoretical framework of Dependency
Theory what raw material, what primary resource, will the United States
export to other countries, as this nation rapidly deindustrializes, as a
direct consequence of a conscious and catastrophic failure of American
leadership at the highest levels?

Is the answer not obvious? We are already exporting astronomical
quantities of American currency, and millions of jobs to go with the big
bucks. The printing presses are running madly 24/7 the year around. The
American government, allied with the high finance sector of the economy,
has conspired to sell us out to the highest bidders - which apparently are
the East Asians, among others. So these are the raw materials that the
American economy is exporting: trillions of dollars, and millions of jobs,
the very lifeblood of the nation's economy. The legal tender that we use
as a medium of financial exchange and the jobs and industries that we used
to have are flooding out of the country in a great tidal wave of economic
transition to a new way of life that assuredly will be much different than
what we have known for the preceeding century or so.  Did you grow up in
this country? Are you maybe 50 years old? 60 or 70 years old? Think you
know what things will be like in 25 years? Well, let me tell you, we have
sowed the wind, and the whirlwind will not be long in coming. Change is
coming and it will be large and it may even be unpleasant.

Why do I say this? Simple. Remember the other part of the Dependency
Theory model, the importation of manufactured and finished goods on
unfavorable terms into Latin American economies and the negative
consequences this had for Latin America's balance of trade with the more
developed countries of the world? Something like that is well under way in
the United States at the present time, and the trend seems only to
accelerate in an unfavorable direction, from the point of view of
Amnerican workers and consumers.

Stay with me as I lay out the results of my latest shopping expedition. It
was a real eye opener. The reality is that the United States is positively
awash in a tsunami of imported merchandise of every conceivable
description. How could it be otherwise as the captains of American
industry destroy the country from within, ransacking the economy,
plundering entire industries and communities as they loot the productive
base of the country for their own personal enrichment, without the
slightest thought for the well-being of anyone else at all.  Under those
conditions, as the psychopaths and sociopaths in the American government
and in high finance and Fortune 500 board rooms and executive suites
liquidate the country from under our feet, how could it be any different?

Their behavior is like that of madmen and mad women who heat the house in
the cruel depths of a bone-chilling Siberian winter by stripping the
insulation out of the walls and using it to stoke the furnace! As the
flames leap higher they strip the shingles and plywood off the roof and
fling them into the furnace!! As a death-numbing deep freeze descends on
the home they fling back the blankets from the beds, rip the paneling off
of the walls, tear up the floor boards and take an axe to the furniture
and feed it all to the devouring flames in the furnace. In the end all
that remains are their shrill, demented cries of pyromanic glee, and the
roaring flames of the furnace as they demolish the last vestiges of their
home and dance around the last flickering embers as the last flames gutter
feebly out, and the savage darkness and deadly cold of the Arctic winter
descend on the remains of the homestead gutted and destroyed by their
deranged insanity.

You know what? Not so long ago, people made fun of Ross Perot because he
warned of the very dangers that I am outlining in this article. They
ridiculed his ears. They poked fun at his nasal Texas twang. They
belittled his warning that the "sucking sound" they were about to hear
would be the sound of American jobs being lost, as capital and jobs were
leached out of the American economy. Political pundits made fun of him
mercilessly.

Where are they now? Huh?? The truth is that Ross Perot was right about a
lot of things, but the political chattering class didn't like him or his
ideas and warnings and so they tossed him aside. So much to plunder; so
much to loot - and so little time!!

So let me tally up the results of my shopping expedition. I shopped in
stores that millions of other Americans shop in and I bought common items
that almost everyone purchases at one time or another. In other words,
this is more or less a snapshot of the American economy in the fall of
2005. Let's go:

1) I bought two pillows. On the bag for the one was a label saying "Made
in USA." However, when I extracted the pillow from the bag and read the
tag on the pillow the pillow suddenly became somewhat less "American",
because the tag on the pillow said "Shell Made in China. Filled and Closed
in USA." The tag on the other pillow said "Pillow made in the U.S.A. of
fabric made in China."

2) I bought two pillow protectors for the pillows. The fine print on the
back of the bag said "Imported by American Textile Co." Below that it said
"Product of U.S. further processed in El Salvador." The tag on the pillow
protectors said "Assembled in El Salvador of fabric from the U.S."

3) Next I purchased a 100% cotton thermal blanket. The tag said "Made in
Brazil." And I got a quilt set. The label said "Made in China." I bought a
nice warm, long-sleeved work shirt for wear in fall weather. The label
said "Made in Swaziland." And I got a pack of athletic undershirts. The
label said "Made in Dominican Republic."

4) I also bought three packs of light bulbs, two different brands. The
labels for both said "Made in China".

5) The fluorescent light over my stove top needed a new starter switch. I
found exactly the proper switch at my local, big box home improvement
store. When I got it out of the little plastic packet I saw these words
stenciled on the switch: "Made in Costa Rica."

6) I got a pair of stainless steel scissors. The packaging said "Made in
China." I also bought a nice, heavy duty stapler that can staple up to 60
sheets at a time -- also "Made in China."

7) I needed a little rug for the foyer area of my house, just inside the
front door. I found a nice little one with an intriguing floral design and
pleasant green colors. I noticed that it was "Made in Egypt." I bought two
new hand towels that were "Made in Bangladesh" and four bars of hand soap
"Made in Mexico".

8) For my tool kit I bought a pair of groove joint pliers and an 8"
adjustable wrench - both "Made in China."

9) Of course I picked up some food items too. This one is interesting - I
bought a big, 3-pound can of roasted peanuts. The label said "Made in
USA." But on closer inspection I discovered that it also said: "PEANUTS
FROM: USA and/or Argentina and/or Mexico." Suddenly, "Made in USA" morphed
into "...and/or Argentina and/or Mexico." Clever, no?

10) Then I purchased a 16-ounce jar of cashew nuts. The lable said:
"COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India and/or Africa and/or Vietnam, USA." Well, that
covers just about half the planet, does it not? Right in one handy little
jar. I got some crushed pineapple - "Product of Indonesia." A can of black
olives - "Product of Spain." Two cans of mandarin oranges - "Product of
China." Two cans of mushroom bits and pieces - "Product of China". A can
of straw mushrooms - "Product of Vietnam." I got several cans of frozen,
orange juice concentrate - the label said "Contains concentrate from
U.S.A., Brazil and Mexico." I picked up a box of low carb pasta - "Product
of Italy."

On my shopping trip I also bought 5 items that were definitely of American
manufacture (I think):

a box of corn flakes

a book by comedy writer, Keith Blanchard

three cans of sweet potatoes

three cans of black eyed peas

a pack of manilla mailing envelopes

And that's it. I believe everything else was made, either in whole or in
part, oustide of the United States. I did not have to go out of my way in
the slightest respect to achieve these results. These items were purchased
at 5 different stores that millions of other Americans also shop at.
Bottom line? The American economy, like Elvis, has left the building. I
don't know what comes next, but I suspect we are just about to find out
and that it will displease an awful lot of people. The textile and garment
industries have practically vanished in this country. Most hand tools are
evidently now made in China. Appliances and electrical devices are made
elsewhere. The Chinese have cornered the children's toy market. And the
bleeding of jobs, money and industries just goes on and on. We are living
in a country in steep and rapid decline.

Now think of this: many years ago, in centuries long past, Britain was a
Roman province. For a span of about 400 years Britain was part and parcel
of the Roman Empire, until one day, in approximately 400 AD, no one knows
the precise day or year anymore, the Roman emperor ordered the legions to
withdraw to the continent. The legions pulled back to the mainland and
Britain, which at that time had been Roman for a longer period of time
than the United States has presently existed as a sovereign political
entity, was suddenly, effectively, no longer under Roman rule. We remember
the ensuing period as the Dark Ages, a period of many centuries of deep
ignorance, violence and political turmoil. The descent into darkness was
swift and prolonged. The historical object lesson? Political situations
can change - sometimes radically and precipitously, and things never, but
never return to the way they were before.

Think of that, and ponder it deeply, as you observe the ceaseless stream
of lies from George Bush and the other sociopaths who are leading the
United States, and a lot of the rest of the world, down the road to ruin.
And think of that, as these sociopaths come for the very last export of
all, the lives of your children to destroy in imperial warfare, as their
lust for global control leads them from one military invasion to another,
and the bloodshed and body count spiral on and on.

[Allowing the ruling class the "freedom" to do anything it wants means the
loss of freedom for all the rest of us. Either we unite to impose strict
limits on them, or we're toast. -ed]


--------16 of 18--------

U.S.Companies OUTSOURCE JOBS:new website keeps tabs
Keeping Tabs

General Motors workers woke up to the news yesterday that GM will cut up
to 30,000 jobs in the next three years and close up to 12 production
plants. The cuts could be devastating to towns like Doraville, Ga., where
GM employs a significant percent of the population. And while auto giant
GM's well-publicized financial and health care woes may be national news,
scores of smaller companies are also cutting and exporting jobs without
attracting a media frenzy. It's one reason Working America, an AFL-CIO
affiliate, has created a new web tool called JobTracker to keep tabs on
who's cutting what.

JobTracker is a public database searchable by industry, company name,
state or ZIP code. Even if you're not searching for a particular stat,
it's sobering to plug in a ZIP code and see how many companies are laying
off workers and exporting jobs - and to realize it's happening hundreds of
thousands of times over, all across the country. JobTracker also compiles
statistics about OSHA (employee health and safety)  violations, and
national labor law violations. (Wal-Mart, for example, has 174 separate
locations where workplace health and safety violations have been found,
and seven labor law violations. And that doesn't even take into account
last week's raid that found 125 illegal workers on a Wal-Mart site in
Scranton, Pa.)

Considering the vast scope of industry closings and outsourcings
nationwide, information is the citizen-activist's best primary tool. And
the fact that a bigwig from the National Association of Manufacturers
called JobTracker "a desperate tactic"  means that it's coming a little
too close for comfort for industry heavyweights. That in itself is a
start. --Laura Donnelly | Tuesday 11:00 AM TOMPAINE.org


--------17 of 18--------

It's Time To Dump The Dems, Support The Green Insurgency
by Scott McLarty
November 22, 2005
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=9177§ionID=90

In a recent editorial, The Nation declared that it "will not support any
candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the war in
Iraq a major issue of his or her campaign.  We urge all voters to join us
in adopting this position." ("Democrats and the War", November 9, 2005
<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051128/editors>)

The Nation's editors should be congratulated for taking this stand.  But
will The Nation and other publications that have opposed the war redirect
their support towards candidates and parties that have consistently
opposed the war from the beginning and called for withdrawal - such as
the Green Party?

Many publications on the left have undermined their own principles by
remaining loyal to Democrats who have abandoned theirs.  It's no longer
acceptable to endure the accelerating retreat of Democrats, or insist
that, since we live in a two-party system, we must continue to support
Dems in order to keep Republicans out of power, until a third party
insurgence grows strong enough to deserve attention.

In 2004, many progressive, antiwar, and ecologically minded voters called
their votes for Mr. Kerry's deeply flawed candidacy a necessity, fretting
that nothing was scarier than another four years of George W. Bush.  The
reelected President did not disappoint expectations.  But there is
something indeed scarier: another century of Bush vs. Kerry.

The Nation has consistently covered and promoted liberal and progressive
Democrats, and Greens have likewise been privileged to work along side
principled Democrats like Reps. John Conyers, Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia
McKinney, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and others on everything from opposition to
the Iraq War to promotion of national health insurance to the crisis of
the right to vote in the wake of the 2000 and 2004 election
irregularities.  (Let's not forget that it was Greens and Libertarians,
not Democrats, who initiated the vote recounts in Ohio and New Mexico
after evidence emerged that Republican officials obstructed votes cast by
African Americans and young people and manipulated computer voting
outcomes.)

Even progressive Democrats have remained loyal to their corporate-funded
corporate-friendly party. Witness the role progressive Dems have played in
national elections during the past generation: outstanding candidates like
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jerry Brown, and Mr. Kucinich ultimately support
whichever pro-corporate pro-war candidate wins their party's nomination,
herding those who voted for them back into the the fold of a party that
has rejected their ideals.

This pattern will repeat in 2008.  The Democratic nominee will not be
someone who challenged the deceptions behind the decision to invade Iraq
or demanded quick withdrawal.  The nominee will not be a critic of
international trade authorities, an advocate of single-payer national
health insurance or repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, or leader of a
movement for energy conservation, decreased oil drilling, and other
urgently needed measures to curb global warming.  He or she will have the
full blessing of the CEOs who sit in the skyboxes at the Democratic
convention every four years.

As David Cobb, the Green Party's 2004 presidential nominee, said during
his campaign, "The Democratic Party's presidential primary is where
progressive politics goes to die."

If nominated in 2008, will Hillary Clinton - who helped her husband kill
our most recent chance for single-payer in 1992; who, under pressure from
credit card lobbies, voted for the Bankruptcy Bill in March, 2001; who
calls for 80,000 more U.S. troops in Iraq, who now soft-pedals her earlier
support for women's reproductive rights - get widespread support among
progressives?  According to The Nation's editorial pledge, they should
not.

But Democrats have also shown a talent for historical revisionism.
Significant numbers of Democrats in Congress swallowed the Bush
Administration's deceptions and brushed aside contrary evidence, voting
enthusiastically in October 2002 to transfer their constitutionally
mandated war power to the White House, and cheering the invasion that
killed over 2,000 American servicemembers and tens of thousands of Iraqi
civilians.  Nearly all congressional Dems voted for the USA Patriot Act.
Now they're having second thoughts.  As the Iraq venture turns more and
more disastrous, we may see eleventh hour conversions among warhawks like
Sen. Clinton as the 2008 race heats up. Will The Nation reward such feeble
demonstrations of leadership with an endorsement?

As Sam Smith, editor of The Progressive Review, has observed, progressives
stuck in the Democratic groove have become like abused spouses unable to
get up and leave.

The Nation's editors have not entirely written off third parties.  They
have occasionally promoted the Working Families Party, which emerged first
in New York and is now branching out in other states.  But the Working
Families Party, despite some excellent candidates of its own, pursues a
strategy that includes cross-endorsement of Democrats in many races and
avoidance of challenges against Dems in statewide and national elections.
In states like New York, which allows fusion, cross-endorsement serves
immediate ballot-status goals.  But the Working Families' lack of
independence makes it an ancillary party to the Democratic juggernaut (a
winning Democrat-Working Families candidate is recognized publicly as a
Democrat) and will ultimately consign it to the same fate as the New Party
(now defunct) [it funct itself -ed] and the late Tony Mazzocchi's Labor
Party (moribund).

In the mid 1850s, right-thinking Americans faced a national crisis for
which the existing system and prevailing political parties offered no
humane resolution, and the abolitionist Republican Party was founded.  A
new, independent party, one that seeks to abolish corporate domination,
empire, and reckless ecological policy, is no less a necessity at the
beginning of the 21st century.

The establishment of a permanent, independent, noncorporate people's party
with significant numbers of registered voters and a presence in Congress,
state legislatures, and other offices in the coming decades would be a
tremendous progressive victory.  There are lots of obstacles, and it won't
make Democrats happy. But it is achievable.

If progressives retreat from a third party challenge, and if the direction
established under President Clinton continues, we can look forward to
decades of dreary Dem vs. Repub races, narrow public debate from which the
ideals of progressives are absent and the interests of working people
disregarded, and probable further drift to the right within both
establishment parties.  The Democrat Party will not overcome its addiction
to corporate money.

The Nation's pledge is admirable, but it says nothing about supporting
antiwar candidates.  Is this a loophole, in order not to offend Democrats?
Or is the pledge a serious statement that its support for Democrats can no
longer be guaranteed?  If the latter, we invite all who oppose the Iraq
war and the bipartisan consensus to consider seriously the Green
insurgency, support our candidates, and join us in making the Green Party
the great political endeavor of the 21st century.

Scott McLarty serves as national media coordinator for the Green Party of
the United States <http://www.gp.org>. He lives in Washington, DC.


--------18 of 18--------

 Let us give no thanks
 for America run by
 faith-basted turkeys


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   - David Shove             shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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