Progressive Calendar 02.02.08
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 02:58:21 -0800 (PST)
            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     02.02.08

1. Local foods      2.02 8:30am StPeter MN
2. RNC              2.02 9:30am
3. Work justice     2.02 10am
4. Homeless vets    2.02 10am
5. Regain commons   2.02 10:30am
6. NWN4P Minnetonka 2.02 11am
7. NewHope vigil    2.02 1pm
8. Northtown vigil  2.02 2pm
9. Window quilts    2.02 3pm
10. EXCO courses    2.02 3pm
11. Journalism/CTV  2.02 9pm

12. Atheists talk   2.03 9am
13. Radicals meet   2.03 3pm
14. HealthAct/AM950 2.03 3pm

15. War reporting   2.04 1:15pm
16. Uhcan           2.04 7pm
17. E-legislature   2.04 7:30pm

18. Naomi Klein - Disowned by the ownership society
19. ed          - 'Bated breath  (poem)

--------1 of 19--------

From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Local foods 2.02 8:30am StPeter MN

Sustainable Farming Association's 17th Annual Conference: "Local Foods:
The Next Step' Saturday, February 2nd - Gustavus Adolphus College, St.
Peter, MN

Have you registered to attend the Sustainable Farming Association of
Minnesota's 17th Annual Conference: "Local Foods: The Next Step" on
Saturday, February 2nd at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN?  You
better hurry, it is only 5 days away and you don't want to miss out on a
good time, great information and delicious local food!

Local foods are healthy for people, the environment, and the local
economy.  Since they don't travel far, local foods often taste better and
fresher.  Anyone who has tasted a red-ripe summer tomato fresh from the
garden, compared to the high mileage winter version, knows the difference.

At the Sustainable Farmers Association of Minnesota's 17th Annual
Conference on Saturday, February 2nd at Gustavus Adolphus College, St.
Peter, MN, "Local Foods: The Next Step" will be viewed from three
perspectives:  Production - "Who grows it and how?" Processing,
distribution and enhancement - "How do we get it?" and Consumer issues
- "What are all the ways we can use it?" Farmers, grocers, processors,
brokers, cooks, nonprofit leaders, and many other "experts" will share
their research, lessons learned, current best practices, and goals for the
future­for themselves and for local foods.

A plenary session featuring Sustainers Coalition, a group of five
nonprofit organizations that promote sustainable farms and nutritious
foods from a healthy environment, will kick off the conference.  A wide
range of educational sessions will focus on production; processing
distribution and enhancement; and consumer issues.  The day will end with
a look at "Local Foods a Taste of the Future" - which will feature
Minnesota wines and local, artisan cheeses.

Conference registration starts at 8:30 a.m.  The conference program runs
from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Registration fees range from $35-$55 and
include a delicious, locally produced lunch.  On-site childcare is
provided for a small fee with an RSVP.  For more information and
registration, go to www.sfa-mn.org or contact Anne at communications@
sfa-mn.org or (320) 226-6318.  To sponsor or exhibit, contact Mary Jo
Forbord at mforbord [at] sfa- mn.org or (320) 760-8732.

Anne Borgendale Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota
Communications Consultant (320) 226-6318

The Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota supports the development
and enhancement of sustainable farming systems through innovation,
demonstration, education, and farmer-to-farmer networking.

Become a member, renew your membership, or make a sustaining contribution
to the SFA of MN by visiting www.sfa-mn.org.


--------2 of 19--------

From: Andrew Hine <amhine2 [at] gmail.com>
Subject: RNC 2.02 9:30am

What could be more appropriate on Ground Hog Day than a troughful of
SPAM?! The ground hog in the Blue can.

Please join us for another True Blue Minnesota breakfast meeting this
Saturday at the Mad Hatter, 9:30 am, to continue our discussion on the RNC
Convention.  We will be inviting Asst Chief Bostrom - if he is
unavailable, we will meet him another day.  If you have Secret Service
Agent Kirkwood's phone number, please invite him and his friends.

We'd like to continue to discuss the propose "parade route," and to do
some hypothetical math:  if 200 groups set off ten minutes apart, that
would take 2000 minutes, or 33.3 hours.  That's 8.3 hours a day for 4
days.

Are there 200 groups?  Where do you think our "digital billboards" should
go?  Who do you know with $5000 to spare?  Who's friends with President
Clinton?  What about the Peace Park idea?  Who will actually rent and
install toilets?  How should we promote our sky blue water (none of that
Fiji or Coca-Cola crap, thank you very much)?  Can I do the Paul Revere's
Ride re-enactment?  Do you know how to make Paul Revere hats?  What's the
rule on blimps and balloons?  How about Canoeing For Peace from Hidden
Falls to the Holman Field estuary?

There are many things to consider that aren't being considered.  These
things just don't happen on their own.  Even if you can't attend, please
send me your ideas and concerns.  Don't miss this chance to make yourself
heard.  It's the American way.


--------3 of 19--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: Workplace justice 2.02 10am

February 2: Workplace Justice. Support/Networking Meeting. 10 AM-Noon.
550 Rice Street, St. Paul. 952/996-9291. Also meets third Saturday of the
month Feb.16.


--------4 of 19--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Homeless vets 2.02 10am

Saturday, 2/2, 10 to 11:30 am, meeting of Homeless Veterans for Peace,
Peacehouse, 510 E Franklin, Mpls.  Bob 612-789-9020.


--------5 of 19--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Regain commons 2.02 10:30am

Wilderness Connections Series:  Regaining the Commons
Saturday Feb. 2nd, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Merriam Park Library (room in lower level),
Corner Fairview and Marshall Aves., St. Paul

Video Presentation WHAT A WAY TO GO, produced by Tim Bennett
http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/

Wilderness Connections is hosting a series of
discussions/workshops/actions.... on the premise that life as we and our
close ancestors have experienced [at least since the beginning of the 20th
Century] may be coming to an end, and great changes are in store for the
world.  How does one prepare for those changes?  How does one reflect on
the reason we have reached this stage, and how to go on? What can we offer
to life on earth from this point in our existence?

These questions are enormous, complex and daunting, and we Americans,
since the 1970s, have found it easier to avert our gaze than look at
the dire possibilities that surround climate change, post-peak oil,
on-going mass extinctions and consumption overshoot.   But some of
us, at least, must continue to look squarely at these dreary
scenarios, and join together to develop creative alternatives to what
seem like insurmountable difficulties.  And there are more and more
of us who are doing that.

We hope these discussions have an action orientation, we know well
that we can conjecture about these things "endlessly."  But we also
believe, or some of us do, that these scenarios are so overwhelming
that it would be well to process the feelings that accompany our
thinking about them.  We might benefit by grieving for our Earth.  We
may experience fear and sorrow for the ways of life that some of us
have enjoyed that may be ending.  Will these changes happen soon, or
not so soon?  Will they be catastrophic, or will we figure out ways
for a more gentle humane landing?  None of us knows.

None of us knows, but some of us want to continue the conversation.
This need not be funerial.  These times might be the beginning of
when we humans begin to attain a more compassionate and mature place
as a species.   Beginning to see how we may live more collectively --
regaining the commons -- may be the most enlivening and creative way
we can spend our time here on Earth.

We continue the series on Saturday Feb. 2nd to watch the video, What
a Way to Go, produced by Tim Bennett,    http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/
We'll be screening the DVD but will have time to discuss its
implications and the on-going roles that we might have the opportunity
to play. Please join us.


--------6 of 19--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P Minnetonka 2.02 11am

NWN4P-Minnetonka demonstration- Every Saturday, 11 AM to noon, at Hwy. 7
and 101.  Park in the Target Greatland lot; meet near the fountain. We
will walk along the public sidewalk. Signs available.


--------7 of 19--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NewHope vigil 2.02 1pm

Saturday, 1-2PM - Weekly NWN4P vigil for peace in New Hope at the corner
of 42nd (Co. Rd. 9) and Winnetka Ave. N.  We usually park in the
Walgreen's lot or near McDonald's. You may use one of our signs or bring
your own. All welcome. Carole-763-546-5368.


--------8 of 19--------

From: Vanka485 [at] aol.com
Subject: Northtown vigil 2.02 2pm

Peace vigil at Northtown (Old Hwy 10 & University Av.), every Saturday
2-3pm.

If "We the People" want to stop warfare and militarism, then we should not
yield to the deceptive siren songs coming from the electoral contest of
the two-headed party of the establishment. We should redouble our efforts
instead.

One form of action is to cover all the junctions of the Twin Cities metro
area with small groups of peace vigils, such as the Northtown group below.
Already there are about 14-15 such groups. If each of the 70 organizations
of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers (MAP) alone creates two such
groups of 4-7 people each, we are going to jam the cities with messages of
peace and we will show the aspiring politicos that we do not fool around
with the important matter of war or peace. And they will have to tell us
clearly where they stand. We have had enough of wishy-washy talk." We the
People" must make clear to them that we are very well aware of our
constitutional powers as well as of their constitutional obligations.


--------9 of 19--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Window quilts 2.02 3pm

Sunny Day Earth Solutions 1000 26th Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-455-1355 (fax:) 612-455-1356 info [at] sunnydayearthsolutions.com

Saturday February 2nd 3pm - Make your own window quilts
Taught by Lynn Marquardt of "Made To Order"
Has done custom window quilts for around 30 years
Window quilts are cost effective simple solution to reduce drafts in
windows. No sewing skills required, simple and easy to make.
Workshop will be around 3 hours
$25.00
[Mouth quilts reduce foot-in-mouth disease. Simple. Easy. -ed]


--------10 of 19--------

From: David Boehnke <dboehnke [at] gmail.com>
Subject: EXCO courses 2.02 3pm

Attend the EXCO Infosession: Free/Open Classes for Social Change
February 2nd, 3-5pm
2nd Floor Atrium, Macalester College Campus Center, 1600 Grand Ave, StP

Meet teachers, learn about EXCO, register for classes in person

The Experimental College or EXCO is network of free classes and a
community around education for social change. This semester we are
offering 40+ classes on everything from climate change to co-ops, pillow
making to health care activism, the social responsibility of african
american music to a class on occupied palestine. Classes begin the week of
February 4th.

Check it out, register online at www.EXCOtc.org or come visit us at our
St. Paul infosession and register in person.

At EXCO, everyone can teach or take classes and all classes are free!
Questions? Want to teach or organize? Contact excotc [at] gmail.com or call
our mailbox: 651-696-8010.


--------11 of 19--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Journalism/CTV 2.02 9pm

Dear Minneapolis Television Network (MTN 17) viewers:
"Our World In Depth" cablecasts on MTN Channel 17 on Saturdays at 9pm and
Tuesdays at 8am, after DemocracyNow!.  Households with basic cable may
watch.

Sat. 2/2 9pm and 2/5 8am "Life After Newspapers: Changes in Journalism: A
Panel Perspective from Twin Cities Journalists".  Short film: "EPIC 2015"
about the future of media, plus panel discussion featuring experienced
Twin Cities journalists: Brian Lambert, Steve Perry, Matt Thompson, Eric
Black and Joel Kramer.


--------12 of 19--------

From: August Berkshire <augustberkshire [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Atheists talk 2.03 9am

"Atheists Talk" [blaspheme?] radio program Sunday mornings

Minnesota Atheists has a new radio program: "Atheists Talk."  It is
broadcast live on Air America Minnesota, KTNF AM 950, Sundays, 9:00-10:00
a.m.  It can also be streamed live at AirAmericaMinnesota.com/listen.  It
is also archived as a podcast at MinnesotaAtheists.org.

The show is not just for atheists but for all progressive thinkers who
oppose the Religious Right and support Separation of State and Church.
You can call the show while it is airing on the studio line:
952-946-6209.

Upcoming programs:
Feb. 3 - Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From
Religion Foundation.  Also, a discussion of religious cults.
Feb. 10 - Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, discusses
their upcoming national conference in Minneapolis.


--------13 of 19--------

From: Benjamin Marcy <benjamin.j.marcy [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Radicals meet 2.03 3pm

The upcoming Radical Community meeting is set for February 3rd at 3pm. The
location will be the Bedlam Theatre near the Cedar Riverside Light Rail
stop.

One of the problems in the past meetings has been a conflict of timing with
other collective meetings. If you are in a collective or activist group
please send me an email with that group name and time they have weekly
meetings. I will compile a chart showing when groups meet and when the best
time for a radical community meeting would be best.


--------14 of 19--------

From: Don Pylkkanen <don [at] coact.org>
Subject: HealthAct/AM950 2.03 3pm

Why physicians believe single-payer universal health care is needed for
patients and care givers will be explained on Air America&#8217;s Of the
People, AM 950, this Sunday afternoon, February 3, 3 PM.

&#8220;The growing problem of unaffordable coverage and denied patient
care poses a serious public health risk,&#8221; said Dr. Susan Hasti, MD,
chair of the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition.  She will give the
physicians&#8217; perspective on the Minnesota Health Act that creates a
single-payer plan which does not deny care and which provides choice of
providers.  She will be joined by Dr. Jim Hart, MD, University of
Minnesota.

Community organizing for the Minnesota Health Act will also be discussed,
including the importance of bringing the resolution for it to the precinct
caucuses this Tuesday evening, February 5.  To get the resolution, go to
www.muhcc.org.

The broadcast is third in a series on the Coalition&#8217;s campaign for
the Health Act, co-authored by 57 legislators, to create a state plan
without high premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, that contains costs, and
that stays with you regardless of employment, health status, or
retirement.

Subsequent series broadcasts will continue on successive Sundays from
February 10 through February 24.  Stay tuned and tell friends to listen
in.

Host James Mayer will get in as much phone time with callers as possible.
Call 952-946-6205.

You can also stream the program, as long as you can put in a MN zip code,
by going to http://www.airamericaminnesota.com/listen


--------15 of 19--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: War reporting 2.04 1:15pm

Monday, February 4: American Association of University Women Minneapolis
Branch.  1:15 PM: The History of War Reporting. 2115 Stevens Avenue,
Minneapolis.


--------16 of 19--------

From: Joel Albers <joel [at] uhcan-mn.org>
Subject: Uhcan 2.04 7pm

The next UHCAN-MN organizing meeting is:
Monday, February 4, 7PM, Walker Church, 3104 16th Ave S, Mpls.

(Walker Church is 1 block from Lake Street and Bloomington Ave). (Note: 
regularly scheduled  mtgs are now first Monday of each month). 

Bring your thoughts, ideas, actions for building the Movement for Health
Care as a Human Right, a government funded single-payer for all MN and
U.S.


--------17 of 19--------

From: Jonathan Barrentine <jonathan [at] e-democracy.org>
Subject: E-legislature 2.04 7:30pm

Anyone interested in following the upcoming session of the Minnesota
Legislature should come to E-Democracy's workshop on Monday, February 4,
at Rondo Library in St. Paul from 7:30 to 8pm.

Robbie LaFleur, Director of the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library,
will help you learn how to follow issues, track bills and connect with
legislators. Prepare to be involved and informed during the upcoming
session by discovering the wealth of resources posted by many legislative
offices. You will learn about the newest website features and plans for
the future, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.  This
should be an informative workshop; whether you're an experienced
legislature-watcher or new to state politics, I encourage you to come.

As always, the workshop is free, all are welcome to attend, and no
registration is needed.

Full schedule available online:
http://pages.e-democracy.org/Rondo_Workshop_Schedule
Contact SPED-Outreach [at] e-democracy.org with questions.


--------18 of 19--------

Disowned by the Ownership Society
by Naomi Klein
Published on Friday, February 1, 2008 by The Nation

Remember the "ownership society," fixture of major George W. Bush
addresses for the first four years of his presidency? "We're creating an
ownership society in this country, where more Americans than ever will be
able to open up their door where they live and say, welcome to my house,
welcome to my piece of property," Bush said in October 2004. Washington
think-tanker Grover Norquist predicted that the ownership society would be
Bush's greatest legacy, remembered "long after people can no longer
pronounce or spell Fallujah". Yet in Bush's final State of the Union
address, the once-ubiquitous phrase was conspicuously absent. And little
wonder: rather than its proud father, Bush has turned out to be the
ownership society's undertaker.

Well before the ownership society had a neat label, its creation was
central to the success of the right-wing economic revolution around the
world. The idea was simple: if working-class people owned a small piece of
the market - a home mortgage, a stock portfolio, a private pension - they
would cease to identify as workers and start to see themselves as owners,
with the same interests as their bosses. That meant they could vote for
politicians promising to improve stock performance rather than job
conditions. Class consciousness would be a relic.

It was always tempting to dismiss the ownership society as an empty
slogan - "hokum" as former Labor Secretary Robert Reich put it. But the
ownership society was quite real. It was the answer to a roadblock long
faced by politicians favoring policies to benefit the wealthy. The problem
boiled down to this: people tend to vote their economic interests. Even in
the wealthy United States, most people earn less than the average income.
That means it is in the interest of the majority to vote for politicians
promising to redistribute wealth from the top down.

So what to do? It was Margaret Thatcher who pioneered a solution. The
effort centered on Britain's public housing, or council estates, which
were filled with die-hard Labour Party supporters. In a bold move,
Thatcher offered strong incentives to residents to buy their council
estate flats at reduced rates (much as Bush did decades later by promoting
subprime mortgages). Those who could afford it became homeowners while
those who couldn't faced rents almost twice as high as before, leading to
an explosion of homelessness.

As a political strategy, it worked: the renters continued to oppose
Thatcher, but polls showed that more than half of the newly minted owners
did indeed switch their party affiliation to the Tories. The key was a
psychological shift: they now thought like owners, and owners tend to vote
Tory. The ownership society as a political project was born.

Across the Atlantic, Reagan ushered in a range of policies that similarly
convinced the public that class divisions no longer existed. In 1988 only
26 percent of Americans told pollsters that they lived in a society
bifurcated into "haves" and "have-nots". 71 percent rejected the whole
idea of class. The real breakthrough, however, came in the 1990s, with the
"democratization" of stock ownership, eventually leading to nearly half of
American households owning stock. Stock watching became a national
pastime, with tickers on TV screens becoming more common than weather
forecasts. Main Street, we were told, had stormed the elite enclaves of
Wall Street.

Once again, the shift was psychological. Stock ownership made up a
relatively minor part of the average American's earnings, but in the era
of frenetic downsizing and offshoring, this new class of amateur investor
had a distinct shift in consciousness. Whenever a new round of layoffs was
announced, sending another stock price soaring, many responded not by
identifying with those who had lost their jobs, or by protesting the
policies that had led to the layoffs, but by calling their brokers with
instructions to buy.

Bush came to office determined to take these trends even further, to
deliver Social Security accounts to Wall Street and target minority
communities - traditionally out of the Republican Party's reach - for easy
homeownership. "Under 50 percent of African Americans and Hispanic
Americans own a home," Bush observed in 2002. "That's just too few". He
called on Fannie Mae and the private sector "to unlock millions of
dollars, to make it available for the purchase of a home" - an important
reminder that subprime lenders were taking their cue straight from the
top.

Today, the basic promises of the ownership society have been broken. First
the dot-com bubble burst; then employees watched their stock-heavy
pensions melt away with Enron and WorldCom. Now we have the subprime
mortgage crisis, with more than 2 million homeowners facing foreclosure on
their homes. Many are raiding their 401(k)s - their piece of the stock
market - to pay their mortgage. Wall Street, meanwhile, has fallen out of
love with Main Street. To avoid regulatory scrutiny, the new trend is away
from publicly traded stocks and toward private equity. In November Nasdaq
joined forces with several private banks, including Goldman Sachs, to form
Portal Alliance, a private equity stock market open only to investors with
assets upward of $100 million. In short order yesterday's ownership
society has morphed into today's members-only society.

The mass eviction from the ownership society has profound political
implications. According to a September Pew Research poll, 48 percent of
Americans say they live in a society carved into haves and have-nots -
nearly twice the number of 1988. Only 45 percent see themselves as part of
the haves. In other words, we are seeing a return of the very class
consciousness that the ownership society was supposed to erase. The
free-market ideologues have lost an extremely potent psychological tool -
and progressives have gained one. Now that John Edwards is out of the
presidential race, the question is, will anyone dare to use it?

Naomi Klein is the author of many books, including her most recent, The
Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Visit Naomi's website at
www.naomiklein.org, or to learn more about her new book, visit
www.shockdoctrine.com .

 2008 The Nation


--------19 of 19--------

 Better than voting
 is holding your breath one.. two..
 till they end the war.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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