Progressive Calendar 01.15.07
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:12:26 -0800 (PST)
             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     01.15.07

1. SPNN/Rovics       1.16 5pm
2. IRV salon         1.16 6:30pm
3. Homeless/poor     1.16 7pm
4. Arise/films       1.16 7pm

5. MnSOAWatch demo   1.17 11:45am
6. Conflict res      1.17 6:30pm
7. Salvador          1.17 7pm

8. Immigrants        1.18 3:35pm
9. Eagan peace vigil 1.18 4:30pm
10. Northtown vigil  1.18 5pm
11. SPPS school plan 1.18 6pm
12. Health care      1.18 7pm
13. Global warming   1.18 7pm
14. Immigration      1.18 7pm
15. Michael Lerner   1.18 8:30pm

16. Lydia Howell    - Jobs & environment unite: StPaul conference 1.19-20
17. Rich Broderick  - Massa's Son
18. PC Roberts      - Bush must go; only impeachment can stop him
19. Roland Sheppard - Both dead: civil rights movement & Dem party
20. ed              - Dance among the shards  (poem)

--------1 of 20--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: SPNN/Rovics 1.16 5pm

Dear St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) viewers:

"Our World In Depth" airs at 5 pm and midnight each Tuesday and 10 am each
Wednesday on SPNN Channel 15.  Below are the scheduled shows through Jan.
17.

1/16 and 1/17 "David Rovics in Concert: Haliburton Boardroom Massacre
Tour" (Part 2).  Concert plus post-concert interview.

Announcement:
"Our World In Depth" will begin airing weekly in Minneapolis on MTN.  The
first Minneapolis show will be Sat, Jan 20 at 10pm.

"Our World In Depth" features analysis of public affairs with
consideration of and participation from Twin Cities area activists.  The
show is mostly local and not corporately influenced! For information about
future programming of "Our World In Depth", please send an e-mail to
eric-angell [at] riseup.net.  (PS It might be better than PBS.)


--------2 of 20--------

From: Patty Guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: IRV salon 1.16 6:30pm

Tuesday, January 16 will be a presentation by Mounds Park Academy students
on IRV (instant runoff voting) and the attempt to garner support for it in
St Paul.

Pax Salons ( http://justcomm.org/pax-salon )
are held (unless otherwise noted in advance):
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Mad Hatter's Tea House,
943 W 7th, St Paul, MN

Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats.
Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information.


--------3 of 20--------

From: Cam Gordon <CamGordon333 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Homeless/poor 1.16 7pm

Ending Homelessness and Decriminalizing Poverty

January 16, 7-9 pm
at Saint Martin's Table
2001 Riverside Ave.

Please join me, Cathy ten Broeke, Coordinator on Homelessness for
Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Guy Gambill from the Council on Crime and
Justice, Mark Anderson from the Barbara Schneider Foundation and Margaret
Hastings from the Decriminalization of Homelessness Task Force for the
next in my ongoing series of roundtable discussions.  The City Council and
County Board have adopted a ten-year plan to end homelessness in
Minneapolis.  Come learn how the current system too often criminalizes the
poor and homeless, and about the promising alternative approaches offered
in this plan and elsewhere.

Come learn, share your ideas and help us organize for future change and
develop better tools for responding to poverty and homelessness.

Cam Gordon Minneapolis City Council Member, Ward 2


--------4 of 20--------

From: Kiera Coonan <kieracoonan [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Arise/films 1.16 7pm

Arise! Bookstore to Host Winter Film Series

Minneapolis, MN: Following up their summer events series, Arise! Bookstore
is hosting a weekly Winter Film Series to take place every Tuesday night
from January 2, 2006 through April 10, 2007.  The collection of films to
be featured in the series has been selected by volunteers and consists of
films about music, politics, books, and fun.  Every second and fourth
Tuesday, Arise will feature the Book Nerd/Film Nerd book club as a part of
the series: anyone can come get the featured book, watch the movie based
on the book, and hang out afterwards to discuss.  All films start at 7:00
P.M and the event is free.  Free popcorn will be provided to all who
attend.

Arise! is a collectively-run progressive bookstore and resource center
located in Uptown Minneapolis at 2441 Lyndale Ave S. 55404.  For further
information, please go to
www.arisebookstore.org or contact Kiera Coonan at 651.399.6058

1/16 Celluloid Closet
1/23 BOOK NERD/FILM NERD BOOK CLUB PRESENTS: The Secret of NIMH
1/30 Eraserhead


--------5 of 20--------

From: MnSOAWatch <MnSOAW [at] circlevision.org>
Subject: MnSOAWatch demo 1.17 11:45am

Please join us for Leafletting the Mpls Skyways at lunchtime with the SOA
Puppet Generals
Wednesday January 17 11:45 am

Meet inside at corner building of 2nd Ave S and 4th St S
Tri Tech Office Center
331 Second Avenue South Minneapolis
<http://www.stthomas.edu/mpls/visitors/skywaymap.htm>

Join the Puppet Generals for a walk through the Minneapolis skyways during
lunchtime to educate passers-by about this training school of human rights
violators. As the 'out of dress code' for the downtown clientele group
strolls along, information about the SOA/WHINSEC will be offered with our
signs and leaflets.


--------6 of 20--------

From: HHH-Stu-Personal [mailto:HHH-STU-PERSONAL-L [at] LISTS.UMN.EDU] On Behalf
Of Michelle E Mosner
Subject: Conflict res 1.17 6:30pm

Interested in gaining insight about responses to conflict from around the
world?

Conflict as opportunity is one of the main purposes behind a newly
developed network entitled "Global Citizens for Conflict Resolution." This
group's mission is to facilitate discussion between people with diverse
backgrounds about the challenges and opportunities of conflict resolution.
Our current mailing list includes professors, mediators, lawyers,
nonprofit organizations, international fellows, and students...we hope our
membership and learning grow exponentially in 2007.

Accordingly, we invite you to join us for our 2007 Kick-Off where we will
enjoy a potluck meal, provocative dialogue, and guest speaker Barbara
Raye, MBA! Ms. Raye is Founder and Executive Director of Center for
Policy, Planning & Performance (www.effective.org), and Executive
Administrator for the Victim-Offender Mediation Association. Her
consulting firm has offices in St. Paul, Romania and Kenya. In addition,
she is a practitioner of mediation, providing training nationally and
internationally, as well as an author on collaboration, ethical use of
power, effective change agents, and cultural, racial and gender bias in
the North American mediation model.

January 17, 2007 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Luxton Community Center 112 SE Williams Ave Minneapolis, MN 55414
This location is on the East Bank of the University of Minnesota. It is
easily accessible by Bus Routes 16 or 50. There is also plenty of free
parking.
Free!  But please bring a favorite food or dessert to share.

For more information, please contact Josh Moore or Michelle Mosner at
gccr.mn [at] gmail.com. If you would rather speak with someone by phone, please
call Josh at 763.561.0033 (Community Mediation Services) or Michelle at
651.592.8859. Thank you for your time and interest. We sincerely hope to
see you on January 17th.

Global Citizens for Conflict Resolution gccr.mn [at] gmail.com

GCCR is a learning organization, with a mission to facilitate discussion
between people with diverse backgrounds about the challenges and
opportunities of conflict resolution. This group is open to the public;
therefore, please invite your friends and colleagues to our monthly
meetings or as contacts in our list-serve. Furthermore, the Steering
Committee is always open to new suggestions, guest speakers, and topics
for dialogue. Finally, we thank our partnering organizations, Community
Mediation Services (www.mediationprogram.com) and Center for Policy,
Planning & Performance (www.effective.org).


--------7 of 20-------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Salvador 1.17 7pm

Wednesday, 1/17, 7 pm, Jesus Hurtado and Jerry Rau describe their 19-day
1989 hunger fast against the violence in El Salvador and apply the lessons
toward today's peace efforts, St Joan of Arc Church, 4537 - 3rd Ave S, Mpls.
  www.mapm.org


--------8 of 20--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Immigrants 1.18 3:35pm

Thursday, 1/18, 3:35 to 5:45 pm, panel "Integrating MN: Exploring the
Acclimation Process of Recent Immigrants" with Omar Jamal (Somali Justice
Advocacy Center), Sumbal Mahmud (Islamic Center of MN) and May Xiong
(Neighborhood House), Kay Fredericks Room, Klas Center, Hamline Univ, 1539
Hewitt Ave, St Paul.  www.hamline.edu/news_events/dialogues/27093.html


--------9 of 20--------

From: Greg and Sue Skog <skograce [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Eagan peace vigil 1.18 4:30pm

CANDLELIGHT PEACE VIGIL EVERY THURSDAY from 4:30-5:30pm on the Northwest
corner of Pilot Knob Road and Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan. We have signs
and candles. Say "NO to war!" The weekly vigil is sponsored by: Friends
south of the river speaking out against war.


--------10 of 20--------

From: EKalamboki [at] aol.com
Subject: Northtown vigil 1.18 5pm

NORTHTOWN Peace Vigil every Thursday 5-6pm, at the intersection of Co. Hwy
10 and University Ave NE (SE corner across from Denny's), in Blaine.

Communities situated near the Northtown Mall include: Blaine, Mounds View,
New Brighton, Roseville, Shoreview, Arden Hills, Spring Lake Park,
Fridley, and Coon Rapids.  We'll have extra signs.

For more information people can contact Evangelos Kalambokidis by phone or
email: (763)574-9615, ekalamboki [at] aol.com.


--------11 of 20--------

From: Anne R. Carroll <carrfran [at] qwest.net>
Subject: SPPS school plan 1.18 6pm

Regional Community Strategic Plan Meetings

For the past few months, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and school
district staff have been developing a new strategic plan that outlines how
resources will be prioritized to accelerate student achievement in the
Saint Paul Public Schools through 2009. The planning work to date has been
guided by the parameters and expectations laid out by the Board and
community leaders, and driven by our energetic new superintendent's
sincere commitment to doing whatever is necessary ensure that every child
successfully meets the highest standards. Five community meetings are
being held over the next few weeks to "close the loop" for all community
members, including SPPS students, families, and staff. There will be a
very short presentation at each, and all evening people can roam freely
among several staffed "stations" to get answers to questions and provide
input on any or all of the key initiatives being proposed.

Please attend one of the five meetings listed below to find out more about
the draft plan, ask questions, and offer feedback. All meetings are free and
open to the public.

Thursday, Jan. 18
6:00-8:30 p.m.
Highland Park Junior High, Cafeteria
975 S. Snelling Ave., 55116

Monday, Jan. 22
6:00-8:30 p.m.
John A. Johnson Elementary, Cafeteria
740 York Ave., 55106

I'll be stopping by these meetings to get a sense of what people are
thinking, so hope to see many of you there!
-- Anne Carroll, St. Paul Board of Education


--------12 of 20--------

From: Dr. James Hart <hartx013 [at] umn.edu>
From: Lee Salisbury [mailto:leesal [at] comcast.net]
Subject: Health care forum  1.18 7pm

River Valley Action
HEALTH CARE FORUM
Thursday, January 18, 2007
7-9pm

Trinity Lutheran Church (Garden Room)
115 4th St. N.
Stillwater, MN  55082
651-439-7400

PURPOSE:
Citizens and area legislators are invited to attend this informative
health care forum to learn more about our options for future health care
coverage across our state and nation.

PANELISTS:
 JIM KOPPEL, from Children's Defense Fund-MN, will discuss solutions for
covering all the children in our state.
 KIP SULLIVAN, from MN Universal Health Care Coalition, and author of The
Health Care Mess: How We Got into It and How We Can Get out of It, will
present ways to address the current situation.
 GEOFF BARTSCH, from HealthPartners, will look at insurance industry
alternatives and perspectives.

Each panelist will have 30 minutes to present their ideas and solutions.
The final half hour is reserved for audience participation and questions.

For more information, contact Karen Fitzpatrick at karenjimfitz [at] msn.com or
651-426-3530
This event is FREE and OPEN to the public;
a free-will donation will be collected to help cover transportation costs
for the panelists.


--------13 of 20--------

From: Joe Schwartzberg <schwa004 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Global warming 1.18 7pm

THIRD THURSDAY GLOBAL ISSUES FORUM
Free and open to the public. Come and bring a friend.

Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Avenue, Minneapolis
Parking in church parking lot.

January 18, 2007, 7:00-9:00 p.m.  RECENT GLOBAL ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING

The world awaits US re-engagement in the fight to prevent irreversible
damage from climate change. Absent action at the federal level, leaders
from around the world are focusing on significant sub-national initiatives
such as the new California global warming solutions act. The new make-up
of the US Congress and the Minnesota legislature also suggest new
possibilities, as does the recent meeting in Nairobi, Kenya of the parties
to the UN Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. We will
discuss the results of that meeting and the forthcoming report of the UN
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, with particular reference to
the economics of taking action to mitigate the problem.

Presenter: J. DRAKE HAMILTON. As Science Policy Director for Fresh Energy,
Ms. Hamilton is responsible for scientific analysis, policy development
and outreach on renewable energy, global warming, and the promotion of
clean technology. She is a Board member of the US Climate Action network
and the principal author of FE's Playing with Fire: Climate Change in
Minnesota. She spent the summer of 2005 in Europe studying global warming
policy solutions, participated in the UN-sponsored international climate
change negotiations in Montreal in December 2005, and gives many talks
each year on global warming and cost-effective energy solutions.


--------14 of 20--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Immigration 1.18 7pm

1/18 (7 pm) and 1/19 (9 am to 7 pm), Saltillo Mexico bishop Raul Vera and
L.A. cardinal Roger Mahony talk about immigration issues on "Building
Bridges," $25 includes lunch, O'Shaughnessy Education Center, Univ of St
Thomas, St Paul.


--------15 of 20--------

From: altera vista <alteravista [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Michael Lerner/CTV 1.18 8:30pm

Thurs. Jan. 18, 8:30 pm St. Paul cable channel 15:  "Creating a Culture of
Love, Peace, and Justice"--speech by Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of the
Network of Spiritual Progressives, author of The Left Hand of God: Taking
Back Our Country from the Religious Right, speaking at the Midwest
Conference of Spiritual Progressives, Wesley Methodist Church, Mpls, Nov.
18, 2006.


--------16 of 20--------

Jobs and Environment Unite at Upcoming St. Paul Conference
by Lydia Howell

"The jobs crisis and the environmental crisis are driven from the SAME
source. Corporate America is ripping off the environment and Corporate
America is ripping off American workers and their families," says author
and 25-year union organizer, Jack Rasmus, keynote speaker at the Labor and
Sustainability Conference, January 19th and 20th in St. Paul.

The false choice of "jobs or environmental protection" is rejected at this
weekend's conference, organized by unions and environmental activists. New
grassroots coalitions are challenging policies that destroy local
economies and reverse environmental protection.

Most Americans express econmic insecurity (or outright desperation), but,
don't know how deep the widening wealth gap is or how legislating a
corporate strategy has created it. Rasmus' new book 'The War At Home: The
Corporate Offensive From Reagan to G.W. Bush" documents both extensively.
(See http//www.kyklosproductions.com)

"Because of deliberate policies, [like $5 Trillion in tax cuts, primarily
for the wealthiest] $1 Trillion every year is shifted AWAY from 90 million
working and middle-class families to the wealthiest one-percent of
households and corporations. In the last five years, seven million jobs
have been shifted OFF-shore," points out Rasmus, who has a PhD in
economics. "Today, 44 million people out of the 135 million American
workforce, are working part-time, temporary or contract jobs. Those
contract workers are often laid-off by the company and re-hired as
contracters at lower wages and without benefits."

Consider that CEOs make in one day what the average worker earns in a
year.

The Labor and Sustainability Conference links issues such as saving the
Ford plant and clean mass transit, Iron Range mining versus clean energy
jobs, economic impacts of global warming and "globalizing" fair labor and
envirnomental protection into trade policies.

"It's no coincidence that we have an escalating environmental crisis and a
jobs crisis. Deregulation is the linchpin for both the environmental and
jobs crisis," Rasmus explains, holding both Republicans and Democratics
responsible.

Rasmus describes corporate strategy, "Starting in the late 1970s, there
was the take-over of the Republican Party, as a machine to drive corporate
interests. Now, CEOs spend over half their time on lobbying. That was
followed by restructuring the Democratic Party, led by the Democratic
Leadership Conference (DLC) - called 'New Democrats'. This isn't the party
of Franklin Roosevelt we knew. It's more corporate-oriented. Under Bill
Clinton, more jobs were lost to so-called 'free trade' than under Reagan
or Bush Sr. Clinton opened 'free trade' to China with three million jobs
outsourced to China. Bush Sr. couldn't push NAFTA (North American Free
trade AGreement). Clinton did. Much of the policies under G.W. Bush were
pioneered under Clinton."

Changes from Congress are unlikely, even if the Democratic majority
summons the will, Rasmus says, since Bush would veto pro-worker and
pro-environmental legislation. Victories are being won on the state and
local levels.

"Look at what California just passed: Emissions Reductions Act, solar
intiatives, and state employees' pension funds earmarked for green
investments," Rasmus said.

The City of Minneapolis is taking on environmental issues, as Mayor R.T.
Rybak stated in a recent press release, "... our city-wide environmental
sustainability plan guides our aggressive work to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and increase the use of renewable energy sources... my 2007 city
budget adopted by the City Council includes new resources to ramp-up our
efforts to directly engage the public on ways to help address climate
change."

However, so-called 'economic development' has failed on the jobs front.
Public subsidies to corporations, like Target's downtown store, granted an
exemption on the living-wage requirement for receiving public money.

Rasmus and conference organizers link ways government policies can create
incentives for investments in new green industries that will create jobs
and consumer demand for sustainable products. "We have the opportunity to
push state and local governments in this direction."

FREE Labor and Sustainability Conference, Fri. Jan. 19, 6pm reception, 7pm
keynote speakers and Sat. Jan. 20, workshops 9am to 5pm, dinner,
performance by Minnesota Spoken Word Association and dance 6pm to 10pm.
UAW Union Hall, 2191 Ford Pkwy. St. Paul Information:(651)699-4246
http://laborandsustainabilityconference.org


--------17 of 20--------

Massa's Son
By Rich Broderick
The Twin Cities Daily Planet (www.tcdailyplanet.net)

When people think about Gone with the Wind, they usually remember the
panoramic image of thousands of dead and wounded Confederates deposited
around the Atlanta depot or of Scarlet at the end of the movie vowing to
survive. But for me the iconic sequence comes near the very beginning of the
film, during festivities at Tara, the OšHarašs beloved plantation.

A bunch of young bucks in their best Parisian finery have just heard that
the South has seceded from the Union. Wešre gonna show them Yankees! this
crew of popinjays crows, the manly chest thumping and vows of bloody
retribution to anyone who dare violate the homeland somewhat belied by the
pastel finery of frock coats and tight-fitting silk breeches. These are not
the hard-headed and hard-hearted men who made cotton king at the end of the
18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. These are those menšs offspring.
These are not Massa. Theyšre Massašs Son.

A toast is called for ­ not surprising, given the staggering amount of
alcohol consumed by the Southern gentry, with estimates of the per capita
daily intake of booze standing at half a pint. If you exclude from this
estimate women, children, and that fraction of adult males who eschewed
drink, actual consumption by those who did imbibe was probably in excess of
a pint of whiskey a day, or more than enough to sustain a low-key buzz for
most of onešs waking hours; the South, in other words, charged off into
secession not only impulsively, but half-crocked to boot.

The only check on the frenzied celebration is offered by Rhett Butler. The
South, he patiently reminds all, not only has a smaller population than the
Northern states, but only a fraction of the miles of rail line, as well as a
daunting deficit in factories, warehouses, merchant vessels, and arms
depots. Most damning of all, there is not one factory in the whole South
that manufactures artillery.

Call Butler a charter member of the reality-based community. The response to
his well-grounded skepticism is predictable. Shouted down, called a coward,
he is challenged to a duel ­ which he declines on the grounds that his
participation would be tantamount to murdering his ardent but unseasoned
foe.

Sound familiar? Replace the young bucks with the Vulcans of the Bush
Administration. Chief among the belligerents in this updated version would,
of course, be George W. Bush himself, a man who, if no longer a drunk, spent
half his adult life drowning himself in alcohol and ingesting God knows what
other inebriating substances. Though GW didnšt grow up on a plantation, he
might as well have, having emerged from the same kind of privileged, morally
disordered background, one that indulged his appetites and absolved his
misdeeds, a culture of impunity that, paradoxically, bred in him a chronic
self-doubt about his actual worth. A leading dog trainer was once asked his
training philosophy. ŗI pay my animals the respect of holding them to the
consequences of their actions,˛ was his reply. Well, Bush has never been
held to the consequences of his actions ­ as odd as it may sound, the
ultimate form of disrespect parents can visit on their children. He is
precisely what you can expect from a 60-year-old man who has never once had
to pay for his mistakes.

He is, in short, Massašs Son, a cultural archetype noted by de Toqueville,
among others, for its impulsiveness, violence, and self-delusion ­ in
antebellum days, as today, a far more dangerous, unpredictable, and callous
figure than even Massa himself. This is why, despite strenuous efforts by
the Republican Party to win them over, Black-Americans have recoiled from
Bush. From long and bitter experience, they know Massašs Son when they see
him, in whatever guise.

Looking at Bush through this lens not only helps explain the bloody mess
hešs spawned in the Middle East but also the incompetence, malfeasance,
corruption, arrogance, stupidity, and, above all, lack of accountability
that has marked his six years in office. Unfortunately, it is also a good
guideline for understanding his current and future course. There are many
possible explanations for the proposed ŗsurge˛ of American troops,
everything from saving face to making sure there are enough soldiers on hand
to blunt the Shiite uprising that will erupt if Israel goes ahead and drops
tactical nukes on Iran. But perhaps the simplest explanation is also the
most dire; he must escalate because Massašs Son cannot and will not accept
that he has lost. Defeat is what Yankee scum are fated to experience ­ not
Southern aristocrats.

At the close of the Civil War the firebrands who led the South into
secession began issuing brave, rear-echelon calls for the remnants of the
Army of Northern Virginia to take to the hills and carry on an endless
guerrilla war against the Yankee invaders. Any move in this direction was
quashed by the head of the army in question. By now, Rhett Butler had,
figuratively, donned the uniform of a four-star general and ordered his
troops to lay down their arms, go home, and begin to rebuild their shattered
lives. Robert E. Lee might have been a Southern gentleman, but he was not,
thank God, Massašs Son. He knew when he was licked.

Bush does not. Forget faint-hearted hopes that he is ŗenough of a
politician˛ to find some way to compromise with his political opponents ­
who now include the overwhelming majority of American voters. Another nip
from the flask, another round of hoarse bravado from his equally feckless
circle of advisers, and he is going to charge headlong into a doomed
confrontation with Congress. Impeachment may be off the table, at least as
far as Nancy Pelosi is concerned, but it, or some alternative method of
removal, is coming. Who knows, maybe the heads of the Army and Marine Corps
will finally but politely decline to follow any more of Bushšs illegal and
self-defeating orders; or perhaps the Great Decider will seal his own fate
rather more dramatically by showing up drunk at a Rose Garden press briefing
and challenging his tormenters to a duel as he once, also drunk, squared off
with his father and offered to go ŗmano a mano.˛ Whatever the case, America
today, as surely as in 1860, is slipping toward an irrepressible conflict.
And once again, Massašs Son is the reason why.


--------18 of 20--------

Bush Must Go
Only Impeachment Can Stop Him
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch
January 15, 2007

When are the American people and their representatives in Congress and the
military going to wake up and realize that the US has an insane war
criminal in the White House who is destroying all chances for peace in the
world and establishing a police state in the US?

Americans don't have much time to realize this and to act before it is too
late. Bush's "surge" speech last Wednesday night makes it completely clear
that his real purpose is to start wars with Iran and Syria before failure
in Iraq brings an end to the neoconservative/Israeli plan to establish
hegemony over the Middle East.

The "surge" gives Congress, the media, and the foreign policy
establishment something to debate and oppose, while Bush sets his plans in
motion to orchestrate a war with Iran. Suddenly, we are hearing Bush
regime propaganda that there are Iranian networks operating within Iraq
that are working with the Iraqi insurgency and killing US troops.

This assertion is a lie and preposterous on its face. Iranian Shiites are
not going to arm Iraqi Sunnis, who are more focused on killing Iraqi
Shiites allied with Iran than on killing US troops. If the Iranians
wanted to cause the US trouble in Iraq, they would encourage Iraqi
Shiites to join the insurgency against US forces. An insurgency drawn
from 80 per cent of the Iraqi population would overwhelm the US forces.

CBS reports that the news organization has been told by US officials "that
American forces have begun an aggressive and mostly secret ground campaign
against networks of Iranians that had been operating with virtual impunity
inside Iraq." To manufacture evidence in behalf of this lie to feed to the
gullible American public, US forces invaded an Iranian consulate in
northern Iraq and kidnapped five consulate officials, claiming the
Iranians were part of plans "to kill Americans." In typical Orwellian
fashion, Secretary of State Condi Rice described Bush's aggression against
Iran as designed to confront Tehran's aggression.

Iraqi government officials in the Kurdish province and the Iraqi foreign
minister have refused to go along with Bush's propaganda ploy. Iraqi
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced that the Iranian officials were
no threat and were working in a liaison office that had Iraqi government
approval and was in the process of being elevated into a consulate.

The Iraqi foreign minister said that US troops tried to seize more
innocent people at the Irbil airport but were prevented by Kurdish troops.

The Kurds, of course, have been allies of the US forces, but Bush is
willing to alienate the Kurds in the interest of provoking a war with
Iran.

If Bush is unable to orchestrate war with Iran directly, he will
orchestrate war indirectly by having US troops attack Iraqi Shiite
militias. Bush has already given orders for US troops to attack the Iraqi
Shiite militias, who oppose the Sunnis and have not been part of the
insurgency. Obviously, once Bush can get US troops in open warfare with
Iraqi Shiites, the situation for US troops in Iraq will quickly go down
hill. Bush will be able to blame Iranian Shiites for arming Iraqi
Shiites that he can say are killing US troops.

Bush has also ordered the Persian Gulf to be congested with TWO US
aircraft carrier attack groups. There is no military or diplomatic reason
for even one attack group to be in the Persian Gulf. If Bush fails to
orchestrate a war with Iran by kidnapping its officials or by attacking
Shiite militias, he can orchestrate an event like the Tonkin Gulf
incident or have the Israelis pull another USS Liberty incident and blame
the Iranians.

The Tonkin Gulf incident was used by the Johnson administration to deceive
Congress and to involve the US in the Vietnam war. Johnson alleged a North
Vietnamese attack on US warships.

In 1967 Israel attacked and destroyed the US intelligence ship Liberty,
because Liberty's crew had picked up proof that Israel had initiated the
war with Egypt and intended to attack Syria the next day. Some have
speculated that Israelis hoped their attack on the Liberty could be blamed
on Egypt and used to draw the US into the war against Egypt.

In 2003 the Moorer Commission, headed by Admiral Tom Moorer, former Chief
of Naval Operations and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, concluded:

"That in attacking the USS Liberty, Israel committed acts of murder
against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States."

"That fearing conflict with Israel, the White House deliberately prevented
the U.S. Navy from coming to the defense of USS Liberty."

"The Captain and surviving crew members were later threatened with
court-martial, imprisonment or worse if they exposed the truth; and were
abandoned by their own government."

"That due to the influence of Israel's powerful supporters in the United
States, the White House deliberately covered up the facts of this attack
from the American people."

"That a danger to our national security exists whenever our elected
officials are willing to subordinate American interests to those of any
foreign nation, and specifically are unwilling to challenge Israel's
interests when they conflict with American interests."

On the 30th anniversary of Israel's destruction of the liberty, Admiral
Moorer said that Israel attacked the Liberty because Israel knew that the
intelligence ship could intercept Israel's plans to seize the Golan
Heights from Syria, an act of Israeli aggression to which the US
government was opposed. Admiral Moorer said, "I believe Moshe Dayan
concluded that he could prevent Washington from becoming aware of what
Israel was up to by destroying the primary source of acquiring that
information--the US Liberty. Moorer reports that after a 25 minute air
attack "that pounded the Liberty with bombs, rockets, napalm and machine
gun fire . . . three Israeli torpedo boats closed in for the kill . . .
the torpedo boats' machine guns also were turned on life rafts that were
deployed into the Mediterranean as well as those few on deck that had
escaped damage."

Admiral Moorer says, "What is so chilling and cold-blooded, of course, is
that they [Israel] could kill as many Americans as they did in confidence
that Washington would cooperate in quelling any public outcry. " The US
invasion of Iraq and the looming US attack on Iran are proof that Israel
has even more power over the White House today.

Bush has many ways to widen his war in the Middle East. His brutal
aggression against Somalia has largely escaped criticism for the war crime
that it is. On January 11 the US National Intelligence Director told
Congress that Hezbollah in Lebanon may be the next US threat. Just as he
lied to the entire world about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, Bush is lying
about Iran. Bush and the neoconservatives are frantic for war with Iran to
get underway before the US Congress forces a US withdrawal from the failed
adventure in Iraq.

Bush's entire "war on terror" is based on lies. The Bush Regime, desperate
to keep its lies covered up, is now trying to prevent American law firms
from defending the Guantanamo detainees. The Bush Regime is fearful that
Americans will learn that the detainees are not terrorists but props in
the regime's orchestrated "terror war."

On January 13 a New York Times (editorial) said that "Cully Stimson, the
deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, tried to rally
American corporations to stop doing business with law firms that represent
inmates of the Guantanamo internment camp." Stimson alleged that it was
"shocking" that American law firms were "representing detainees down
there." He suggested that when corporate America got word of if, "those
C.E.O.'s are going to make those law firms choose between representing
terrorists or representing reputable firms. We want to watch that play
out."

The only reason for the Bush Regime's policy of indefinite detention
without charges is that it has no charges to bring. The detainees are not
terrorists. They are the Bush Regime's props in a fake war that serves as
cover for the Regime's hegemonic policy in the Middle East.

The only action that can stop Bush is for both the Democratic and
Republican leadership of the House and Senate to call on the White House,
tell Bush they know what he is up to and that they will not fall for it a
second time. The congressional leadership must tell Bush that if he does
not immediately desist, he will be impeached and convicted before the week
is out. Can a congressional leadership that lives in fear of the Israel
Lobby perform this task?

All the rest is penny-ante. Revoking the Iraqi War Resolution as Rep. Sam
Farr has proposed or requiring Bush to obtain congressional authorization
prior to any US attack on Iran simply lets Bush and his Federalist Society
apologists for executive dictatorship claim he has commander-in-chief
powers and proceed with his planned aggression. Cutting off funding is not
itself enough as Bush can raid other budgets. Non-binding resolutions of
disapproval are meaningless to a president who doesn't care what anyone
else thinks.

Nothing can stop the criminal Bush from instituting wider war in the
Middle East that could become a catastrophic world war except an
unequivocal statement from Congress that he will be impeached.

Bush has made the US into a colony of Israel. The US is incurring massive
debt and loss of both life and reputation in order to silence Muslim
opposition to Israel's theft of Palestine and the Golan Heights. That is
what the "war on terror" is about.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan
administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal
editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor
of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
paulcraigroberts [at] yahoo.com


--------19 of 20--------

Where Will Blacks Find Justice?
The Civil Rights Movement is Dead and So is the Democratic Party
by Roland Sheppard
Atlantic Free Press - - Dec 21, 2006
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/496/81/

The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started
during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed.

It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a
time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical
Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery,
sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and "40 acres and a
mule". Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the
restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South.

How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple - terrorism.
They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal
activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and
the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former
slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades,
indiscriminately lynched and framed.

This was the status quo in the United States until the United States
Supreme Court came out with its "Brown v. Board of Education" decision in
1954, mandating the right to equal education. The successful yearlong
Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-56 reflected the new, more militant mood
among Negroes (the name given to Black people by the ruling class). This
new mood was a product of the rise of the Black Liberation movements in
Africa, the confidence gained by the Black working class during the rise of
the CIO, and the respect, knowledge, and expectations of democracy gained
by Black soldiers during the Korean War. (For more information about the
boycott read my article: 50 Years Later: Lessons from the Montgomery Bus
Boycott.)

Thus the struggle against Jim Crow had begun, and with each victory to
integrate and enforce the 1954 Supreme Court decision, the mass of Black
people gained confidence in themselves and that the fight for racial
equality could be won. In the early sixties, the movement grew stronger as
young people from the universities spearheaded the 'freedom rides' and
sit-ins throughout the South to oppose Jim Crow and enforce the law of the
land, which the local, state, and federal governments had refused to
enforce.

In the spring of 1963, the struggles in Birmingham, Alabama, led by the
Black working class, garnered international attention when police
commissioner Eugene ("Bull") Connor unleashed powerful water hoses and
German shepherd police dogs against the demonstrators. Terror and violence
gripped this city, while the world watched. Indeed, it was the national and
international embarrassment that forced President Kennedy and the
government to begin to take governmental action.

After Birmingham, the March on Washington was called. In the space of a
few weeks a huge demonstration built. This demonstration was the largest
social action in the United States since the union strikes that led to the
rise of the CIO in the 1930s. This mass action led to the passage of the
Civil Rights Act in 1965.

At that rally, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Chairman John Lewis was prevented from delivering his prepared speech by
the march organizers. It was a notable omission. In this speech, he was
going to say:

".... We are now involved in a serious revolution.  This nation is
still a place of cheap political leaders who build their career on immoral
compromises and ally themselves with open forms of political, economic and
social exploitation.  What political leader here can stand up and say 'My
party is the party of "principles"'? The party of Kennedy is also the party
of Eastland. The party of Javits is also the party of Goldwater. Where is
our party? "

But if Lewis could be prevented by the March organizers from offending the
liberal Democratic establishment from the stage of the Washington march,
they could not prevent the civil rights movement from embracing a growing
militancy and desire to expand the struggle to embrace a larger vision of
social change.

Unfortunately, the momentum that was gained from the March was lost during
the 1964 Presidential election campaign, when the major civil rights
groups called for a moratorium on demonstrations in order not to embarrass
then President Lyndon BainesJohnson during the election campaign against
the "greater evil" Barry Goldwater. (Both were defenders of Jim Crow prior
to the 1963 March on Washington.) The movement never fully recovered to
this subordination of the struggle to "lesser evil" political action.

While the struggle in the South was specifically against Jim Crow, the
struggle in the North was against de-facto segregation. The images of the
dogs etc. on TV being used against Blacks in the South subsequently gave
rise to the Black Nationalist movement in the North. The rise of the Black
Muslims and Malcolm X was a reflection of the mood in the majority of the
Black ghettos in every major northern city, where the economic and
political power of Black people was more concentrated and greater than in
the rural south. The rise of the nationalist movement consequently
generated heated debates within the movement between the strategies of
peaceful disobedience and righteous self-defense.

In his latter years, Malcolm X saw the Black struggle as a struggle for
human rights, and, notably, as an anti-capitalist economic struggle. As he
explained at the Militant Labor Forum in the fall of 1964:

"It's impossible for a chicken to produce a duck egg... The system in this
country cannot produce freedom for an Afro-American. It is impossible for
this system, this economic system, this political system, period... And if
ever a chicken did produce a duck egg, I'm certain you would say it was
certainly a revolutionary chicken!"

Unfortunately, Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 before he could build an
organization to follow in his footsteps.

Following the assassination of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, later known
as Kwame Ture, became the new leader of SNCC and is credited with starting
the movement for Black Power. In Lowndes County Alabama in 1965, he helped
the Lowndes Country Freedom Organization (LCFO) to form their own party.
The symbol of the party was the Black Panther Party. The Alabama Democrats
retaliated against this movement by evicting sharecroppers and tenant
farmers, and attempting illegal foreclosures against Black Panther
supporters. They even threatened to kill any African-American who
registered. Thus the LCFO was forced to arm themselves for self-defense,
but not to initiate any violence. In the course of time, Black Panther
Parties arose throughout the country.

Due to the mass mobilizations by the civil rights movement and the Black
rebellions in the inner cities, by 1968 legal segregation, Jim Crow, was
destroyed. Blacks acquired the right to vote and access to jobs through
affirmative action programs, to make up for the past discriminations. There
was hope for a better life in the Black Community.However, after Martin
Luther King, struggled against de facto segregation in Chicago, he realized
that the struggle for economic equality was a more difficult fight than the
struggle against Jim Crow. At this point he began to take similar
anti-capitalist positions as Malcolm X.

Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King opposed the Vietnam War prior to
their assassinations. At the time of their assassinations, both Martin
Luther King and Malcolm X were embarking on a course in opposition to the
capitalist system. It is clear from reading and listening to their final
speeches that they had both evolved to similar conclusions of capitalism's
role in the maintenance of racism. That is why they were assassinated. (For
more information read The Assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Malcolm X.

It's now known that during the rise of the modern civil rights movement,
the government, led by Attorney General Robert F Kennedy, was spying on the
movement and its leadership. In the 1970's, the "Cointelpro" disruption
operations by the government against the civil rights movement, the antiwar
movement, and radicals and socialists, during that period, also became
public knowledge. Under "Cointelpro" the different United States spy
agencies used informers, agents, and agent provocateurs to disrupt
organizations. One purpose of this program was to "neutralize" Malcolm X,
Martin Luther King, and Elijah Muhammad," in order to prevent the
development of a "Black Messiah," who would have the potential of uniting
and leading a mass organization of Black Americans in their quest for
freedom and economic equality.

At the end of his life, King also stated what he was planning in the
struggle for economic equality:

"There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an
adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker,
laundry worker, maid, or day laborer.

"There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing
an annual minimum - and livable - income for every American family.

...."There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from
reordering our priorities... The coalition of an energized section of
labor, Negroes, unemployed, and welfare recipients may be the source of
power that reshapes economic relationships and ushers in a breakthrough to
a new level of social reform.

"The total elimination of poverty, now a practical responsibility, the
reality of equality in race relations and other profound structural changes
in society may well begin here."

At that time, the stock market was below 1,000 points. Today, it is above
10,000 points, and yet there still is no social vision for paying an
adequate wage.

Unlike Malcolm X, whose assassination cut short his organizing plans, King
was organizing a movement to obtain his stated goals when he was
assassinated. In fact, he was in Memphis to build that "coalition of an
energized section of labor, Negroes, unemployed, and welfare recipients"
in support of striking municipal sanitation workers.

If such a force had been launched, the whole power of the antiwar and
civil rights movement in the 1960s could have transformed the labor
movement and become "the source of power that reshapes economic
relationships and ushers in a breakthrough to a new level of social
reform."

To combat the rise of the Civil Right Movement, the "war on poverty" was
first launched in 1965 along with the concept of "Black Politicians".
Malcolm X described this process in his Jan. 7, 1965 speech "The Prospects
for Freedom", at the Militant Labor Forum, in New York City:

"They have a new gimmick every year. They're going to take one of their
boys, black boys, and put him in the cabinet so he can walk around
Washington with a cigar. Fire on one end and fool on the other end. And
because his immediate personal problem will have been solved he will be the
one to tell our people: 'Look how much progress we're making. I'm in
Washington, D.C., I can have tea in the White House. I'm your spokesman,
I'm your leader.' While our people are still living in Harlem in the slums.
Still receiving the worst form of education.

"But how many sitting here right now feel that they could [laughs] truly
identify with a struggle that was designed to eliminate the basic causes
that create the conditions that exist? Not very many. They can jive, but
when it comes to identifying yourself with a struggle that is not endorsed
by the power structure, that is not acceptable, that the ground rules are
not laid down by the society in which you live, in which you are struggling
against, you can't identify with that, you step back.

"It's easy to become a satellite today without even realizing it. This
country can seduce God. Yes, it has that seductive power of economic
dollarism. You can cut out colonialism, imperialism and all other kind of
ism, but it's hard for you to cut that dollarism. When they drop those
dollars on you, you'll fold though."

After the assassination of Martin Luther King and the subsequent rebellions
in the inner cities protesting his assassination, the Democratic Party's
"war on poverty" started laying dollars on any potential Black leaders and
grooming Black Candidates.

John Lewis, formally of SNCC, became enlightened, he forego the Black
Panthers and saw the Democratic Party, symbolized by a jackass, as his
party. Most of what W.E. B. Dubois described as the "talented tenth" were
bought off by this process. The more radical concepts that Martin Luther
King and Malcolm X had developed at the time of their deaths disappeared
from the scene. No one took up where they left off. The governmental
policy, directed towards the 'leaders' of the civil rights movement, of the
carrot (dollarism) and the stick (assassinations) had proven to be
successful.

A last chance at rebuilding the movement was the first National Black
Political Assembly on March 10,1972. "Eight thousand African Americans
(three thousand of whom were official delegates) arrived in Gary, Indiana,
to attend their first convention, which was more commonly known as the
'Gary Convention.' A sea of Black faces chanted, 'It's Nation Time! It's
Nation Time!' No one in the room had ever seen anything like this before.
The radical Black nationalists clearly won the day; moderates who
supported integration and backed the Democratic Party were in the
minority. 7 It gave birth to the "Gary Declaration" which stated:

"... A Black political convention, indeed all truly Black politics, must
begin from this truth: The American system does not work for the masses of
our people, and it cannot be made to work without radical, fundamental
changes. The challenge is thrown to us here in Gary. It is the challenge to
consolidate and organize our own Black role as the vanguard in the struggle
for a new society.

"To accept the challenge is to move to independent Black politics. There
can be no equivocation on that issue. History leaves us no other choice.
White politics has not and cannot bring the changes we need."

Unfortunately, Black Democratic Party supporters such as Richard Hatcher
the mayor of Gary Indiana, Jesse Jackson, Ron Daniels, and even Amiri
Baraka betrayed the hope from the Cary Convention. Instead of the course
that was decided at the convention, they led the way to support Black
politicians and through them, the Democratic Party. "Vote for Me and I'll
set you Free" became the slogan for the day and the civil rights movement
became completely demobilized and with its "leaders co-opted" into the
system. From this demobilization, came the betrayal and atomization of the
movement.

As Malcolm X said in his New York City speech, Dec. 1, 1963: "The Negro
revolution is controlled by foxy white liberals, by the Government itself."
At first, there was an illusion of progress; there was a rise in the number
on Black politicians. There was an increase in jobs for black professionals
in government, in industry, and on television. There was an impression that
things were getting better through the strategy of relying upon the
Democratic Party to politically secure, protect, and advance the struggle
for racial equality.

An example of what was wrong with this strategy was clearly demonstrated
when Maynard Jackson was elected mayor of Atlanta Ga., in 1974.
At the time of Martin Luther King's was assassination, he willing to risk
jail and to organize a mass demonstration in defiance of a court injunction
to help the striking Memphis municipal garbage workers.  These workers
ultimately won their union contract, and thousands of ordinary working
families in that city got living wages that allowed them to educate their
children, buy houses, live decent and dignified lives, and even retire.

In contrast, Maynard Jackson quickly demonstrated that he was not beholden
to or a leader of the Black population that elected him, but beholden to
those who financed his election campaign and who helped his personal
political and financial advancement. In Atlanta, Jackson, instead of
helping city sanitation workers, fired more than a thousand city employees
to crush their strike. In this, he had the support of white business
leaders and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Similar fruits, from the political policy of supporting the "lesser evil"
Democratic Party, has led to a set back for the struggle for civil rights
and equality.

"Lesser evil" always means "More Evil" - the Republican Richard Nixon, the
"greater evil" in 1968, would be the "lesser evil" to the Democrat Clinton
(Bill and Hillary) in today's world!

No longer fearing a mass civil rights movement in the streets, the
Democrats have, for the past 30 years, shared responsibility for the
gradual reduction of affirmative action and the victories of the movement.
>From my own experience, the only way to enforce affirmative action, is if
there are quotas for employment in the workplace. The new Black
politicians, along with Jessie Jackson, came out against quotas in the 80s,
helping to make affirmative action more difficult. Various court decisions
helped to reduce the effects of affirmative action and to resegregate the
nation's school system. In 1995, President Clinton, as the leader of the
Democratic Party, drafted a memorandum for the elimination of any program
that creates (1) a quota; (2) preferences for unqualified individuals; (3)
creates reverse discrimination (The slogan of the racists); or continues
affirmative action even after its equal opportunity purposes have been
achieved." (A myth)

The Democratic Party was responsible for the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act which
established a 100-to-1 sentencing ratio between possession of crack (mainly
used in the inter-cities) and of cocaine powder (mainly used in the
suburbs). Under this law, possession of five grams of crack is a felony and
carries a mandated minimum five-year federal prison sentence. For cocaine
powder it is only a misdemeanor for the possession of less than 500 grams
of cocaine powder. The five-year felony sentence applies if one has 500
grams in their possession. This sentencing disproportion was based on phony
testimony that crack was 50 times more addictive than powdered coke. The
Democratic Party-controlled Congress then doubled this ratio as a so-called
"violence penalty". This has led to "affirmative action" in the prison
system, where Black inmates are a far greater in percentage of all
prisoners than their percentage in the nation. At the same time, many
states are now preventing those convicted of a felony from voting.
According to the Harvard Civil Rights Project the public schools have
become more separate and unequal -- the consequences of a decade from 1988
to 1998) of resegregation along economic, ethnic and racist lines.

Throughout this land, both the Republican and Democratic Parties are
gentrifying the inner cities, in the service of big business, and the poor
are being scattered to the winds. It is how the rich are handling
unemployment and poverty in this country. Recently, Black U.S. Senator
Barack Obama (D-IL) went to Africa to publicize the catastrophe of Aids in
Africa. He should have also gone to the Black Communities in the United
States and publicized the crisis of Aids in Black America, where nearly
half of the million Americans, who are living with HIV today, are Black.
In fact it has become a Black disease.

The bipartisan corporate "bankruptcy reforms" in the late 80s to the
present have allowed corporations to lay off workers, rob pension plans,
and tear up union contracts. Because Black workers are still the "last
hired and first fired", they have received the brunt of these attacks.
Overall, the rich have become richer, and the poor have become poorer.

Ben H. Bagdikian put it well in his "Preface to the Sixth Edition" of the
The Media Monopoly, after he explained that just six of the world's largest
corporations control 95% of the mass media, he wrote:

 "The American economy [has been] undergoing an astonishing phenomenon that
the mainstream news left largely unreported or actually glamorized in its
infrequent references, the largest transfer of the national wealth in
American history from a majority of the population to a small percentage of
the country's wealthiest families." This process was facilitated by the
fact that almost every "tax reform" from Kennedy in 1961, to Bush in 2004,
has resulted in the taking of wealth from the working class and giving it
to the capitalist class.

And yet, the Congressional Black Caucus echoes the "hype" from the
government, the press, and the Republican and Democratic Parties, that
things are better today. The economic figures from the bipartisan
wage-price freeze in 1972 to today demonstrate that this it is false
illusion.

According to info please, Black households median income in 1972 was
$21,311 or $97,201.78 in 2005 dollars, while white Households median income
in 1972 was $36,510 or $166,526.06 in 2005 dollars. In 2004 Black
households had a median income in 2004 was $30,947 in 2005 dollars. White
Households had the highest median income at $47,957 in 2005 dollars.
Significantly lower than the median incomes for 1972.

These figures show that Black Households median income in 1972 was 58% of
white households median income and approximate 64% of white households
today. This does not represent progress, it represents that income for
workers, Black People and other minorities has decreased since 1972. Black
people now have an income of 64% of white households that has not kept up
with inflation and has actually decreased by over 50% since 1972. Since
the working class and the poor have been suffering an ever-increasing rate
of taxation and concurrent cuts in government services, the decline in
real wages and their standard of living has been worse.

In order to regain what has been lost and win equality rights for all, we
must stop supporting those who are oppressing us - the Democratic and
Republican Parties - and go back to what made all movements powerful.
Which was relying upon ourselves and building our own independent power.
As King said: "There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us
from reordering our priorities... The coalition of an energized section of
labor, Negroes, unemployed, and welfare recipients may be the source of
power that reshapes economic relationships and ushers in a breakthrough to
a new level of social reform.

"The total elimination of poverty, now a practical responsibility, the
reality of equality in race relations and other profound structural changes
in society may well begin here."

Such a coalition, as King envisioned it thirty-three years ago, is needed
today. In order to survive, we must begin the begin.

[Roland Sheppard is a retired Business Representative of Painters District
Council #8 in San Francisco. He has been a life long social activist and
socialist. He regularly attended Malcolm X's meetings in Harlem and was
present at the meeting when Malcolm X was assassinated. He was in charge of
defense whenever Malcolm X spoke at the Militant Labor Forum in New York
City from 1964-1965. Lately, he has written articles for the San Francisco
Bay View. He can be reached at Rolandgarret [at] aol.com. References for this
text available on request.]

Atlantic Free Press was launched in September 2006 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands and American Expatriate
Chris Floyd of Oxford, UK. Brick Ogden, an American Expatriate in Amsterdam
has been a key supporter of this project. Assistant Editor Canadian Chris
Cook hails from Victoria, British Columbia and Senior Writer Paul William
Roberts is based in Toronto - but often on the road. The mission of AF Press
is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from the slag-heap of lies, ignorance
and witless diversion that has buried public discourse today. AF Press
provides a new venue for disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based
analysis of the harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the
mainstream press.

[The above gives some history of the evil of lesser-evil, co-optation,
naivete, and criminal wishful thinking. Alas, it springs eternal;
progressives keep imagining we can advance by taking the easy lesser-evil
party route; they become part of the problem. -ed]


--------20 of 20--------

 Pull down the statue
 of the would-be dictator.
 Dance among the shards.

 Flip the bosses the
 bird; throw them huge shit-loads of
 Why the hell should I?


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