Progressive Calendar 01.22.11 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu) | |
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:59:42 -0800 (PST) |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 01.22.11 1. Palestine 1.22 10am 2. Nicaragua/music 1.22 10am 3. CUAPB 1.22 1:30pm 4. Northtown vigil 1.22 2pm 5. Palestine photos 1.23 8:30am 6. Atheist radio 1.23 9am 7. Stillwater vigil 1.23 1pm 8. WAMM warm up 1.23 4pm 9. Ron Jacobs - Informer found in Antiwar Committee's midst 10. Alexander Cockburn - Palin falls in polls - collateral damage 11. Conn Hallinan - Empire strikes back - GOP targets Latin America 12. ed - Watchword 13. ed - Bumpersticker --------1 of 13-------- From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: Palestine 1.22 10am Documentary: "With God On Our Side" Saturday, January 22, 9:30 a.m. (Refreshments), 10:00 a.m. to Noon (Program and Discussion) Southdale Hennepin County Library, 7001 York Avenue South, Edina. "With God On Our Side" takes a look at the theology of Christian Zionism, which teaches that because the Jews are God's chosen people, they have a divine right to the land of Israel. Aspects of this belief system lead some Christians in the West to give uncritical support to Israeli government policies, even those that privilege Jews at the expense of Palestinians, leading to great suffering among Muslim and Christian Palestinians alike and threatening Israel's security as a whole. This film demonstrates that there is a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support the people of Israel, a theology that doesn't favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jews and Palestinians." Sponsored by: Middle East Peace Now (MEPN). WAMM is a member of MEPN. FFI: Call Dixie, 952-941-1341. --------2 of 13-------- From: Jason Stone <jason.stone [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Nicaragua/music 1.22 10am Saturday, January 22nd, 2010 10:00am-11:45am Resource Center of the Americas 3019 Minnehaha Ave, Suite 20 Carlos Lumbi is offering a concert here at the Resource Center of The Americas. His lyrics cover a range of topics, focusing on Central American social and environmental justice issues, and his musical style is folk/trova. He have also musicalized poems by Gioconda Belli, Ernesto Cardenal and Francisco Ruiz Udiel, among others. Along with his own music, he will perform songs by friends from Nicaragua who also sing of a deep desire for social, economic and environmental justice. He has been also playing with two different bands in Minneapolis: The Pachamama Band and Almandina. --------3 of 13-------- From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] visi.com> Subject: CUAPB 1.22 1:30pm Meetings: Every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Walker Church, 3104 16th Avenue South http://www.CUAPB.org Communities United Against Police Brutality 3100 16th Avenue S Minneapolis, MN 55407 Hotline 612-874-STOP (7867) --------4 of 13-------- From: Vanka485 [at] aol.com Subject: Northtown vigil 1.22 2pm Peace vigil at Northtown (Old Hwy 10 & University Av), every Saturday 2-3pm --------5 of 13-------- From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: Palestine/photos 1.23 8:30am Exhibit: "Our Story: the Palestinians" January 23 through February 13, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Wednesday Evening, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 East 31st Street, Minneapolis. A photo journey through history of the indigenous people from pre-1948 Palestine through the wars of 1948 and 1967, to the Intifada, military occupation and present-day struggles for justice and peace. Constructed and Updated by: the Palestinian Christian organization Sabeel and Canadian Friends of Sabeel. Sponsored by: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. FFI: Call 612-729-8358. --------6 of 13-------- From: Minnesota Atheists <web [at] mnatheists.org> Subject: Atheist radio 1.23 9am Sunday, January 23, 9:00am-10:00am "Atheists Talk" Radio AM 950 KTNF in the Twin Cities or stream live at http://www.am950ktnf.com. Mike Haubrich (http://quichemoraine.com/category/mikehaubrich) hosts. Contact us during the show with questions or comments at (952) 946-6205 or [16]radio [at] mnatheists.org. --------7 of 13-------- From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net> Subject: Stillwater vigil 1.23 1pm A weekly Vigil for Peace Every Sunday, at the Stillwater bridge from 1- 2 p.m. Come after Church or after brunch ! All are invited to join in song and witness to the human desire for peace in our world. Signs need to be positive. Sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Peacemakers. If you have a United Nations flag or a United States flag please bring it. Be sure to dress for the weather . For more information go to <http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/>http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/ For more information you could call 651 275 0247 or 651 999 - 9560 --------8 of 13-------- From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org> Subject: WAMM warm up 1.23 4pm WAMM Warm Up Sunday, January 23, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. May Day Cafe, 3440 Bloomington Avenue South, Minneapolis. Warm up on a cold January Sunday with WAMM. Share your peace and activism stories at an open mic with MC Brigid McDonald - or just listen to others tell their stories. All are welcome. Sponsored by: WAMM. FFI: Call WAMM, 612-827-5364. --------9 of 13-------- Informer Found in Antiwar Committee's Midst The Feds Go Fishing By RON JACOBS January 21 - 23, 2011 CounterPunch Back in September 2010, a series of FBI raids were conducted in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago and North Carolina. These raids were conducted under laws pertaining to US citizens providing "material aid to terrorists" and targeted members of antiwar, leftist, and solidarity organizations. Since the raids, various activists that were targeted have been subpoenaed to appear at a grand jury and have refused to do so. By refusing, those subpoenaed are risking arrest for contempt. However, as of this writing, none have been taken to jail yet. As I wrote in an article first published in CounterPunch on September 27, 2010: "These raids are a clear and vicious attempt to intimidate the antiwar movement." and the grand jury "is a fishing expedition, as evidenced (for example) by the warrant asking for papers from no determined time." The reaction of those whose homes were raided and their supporters was quick and determined. The targeted activists, their attorneys, and local supporters held a couple of press conferences within days of the raids and original subpoenas and a national network organized protests at Federal Buildings in a number of US cities and towns. Resolutions attacking the raids and subpoenas and pledging support for the activists and the right to organize were introduced and passed by a number of city councils and antiwar and labor organizations. The office of the US Attorney for the Northern Illinois District under the direction of US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald temporarily withdrew the subpoenas. However, they were reinstated in December, leading to the aforementioned refusal of those subpoenaed to appear in front of the grand jury. Several more subpoenas were served on other activists. In fact, nine more activists have been ordered to testify before the grand jury on January 25, 2011 in Chicago. A sidebar regarding Patrick Fitzgerald might be beneficial here. If that name seems familiar, it is because he is associated with many high profile cases. He helped prosecute Scooter Libby in the case known as the Valerie Plame affair. For those who don't remember this case, it involved members of the George Bush White House releasing the name of a CIA agent to the media - a federal offense. Although Libby was convicted of the crime, it has always been believed that others in the White House, including Vice President Cheney, were involved in its commission. This demands the question as to why no one else was prosecuted and how much the prosecutor (Fitzpatrick) was involved in limiting the prosecution to one individual, thereby sparing the White House from a criminal investigation. Patrick has also been involved in many other high profile cases, including the prosecution off Illinois governors Ryan and Blagojevich in separate corruption cases and a case involving torture by the Chicago police that resulted in the conviction of Chicago detective Jon Burge. In another investigation targeting leftist, anarchist and antiwar political activists in the Twin Cities, several homes and offices were raided before and during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. If one recalls, that convention also saw the arrest of media members including Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, brutal attacks on protestors by police and private "contractors" working with police, and a lockdown against free speech activities in certain areas of the city. Several hundred people were arrested and many were beaten. Nine organizers were eventually charged with acts of terrorism. During their trial it became clear that the organizations these individuals were affiliated with had been infiltrated by government informers. Similarly, last week the AntiWar Committee (one of the organizations targeted in the September raids) of the Twin Cities discovered that they too had had an informer in their midst since 2008. Going by the name Karen Sullivan, this woman claimed to be a single parent and a lesbian who did not get along with her child's father. According to statements from members of the AntiWar Committee that appeared in the press, the group's members were sympathetic to her cover story and, despite an initial concern by some members, accepted and befriended the woman. Also, since the AntiWar Committee (AWC) believed their meetings and activities to be covered by the first amendment and were always open to the public, there was little concern for secrecy. "Ms. Sullivan" involved herself in AWC activities and meetings, even chairing some of them. She was also one of three AWC members that traveled to Palestine. As soon as they reached Israel, the members were told they would be detained unless they turned back. Two chose to stay and were detained while "Sullivan" went back to the US. It turns out that the Israeli authorities had prior knowledge of the visit and the intention of the group to meet with Palestinian women. While no one in the group could figure out how this was so, it seems apparent now that the "Ms. Sullivan" had provided this information to her handler who had in turn provided it to US officials, who then passed it on to the Israeli government. In the wake of the January 8, 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona there have been calls by a number of politicians, media commentators and others suggesting the need for new laws limiting political speech in the United States. Meanwhile, efforts are underway in Congress to renew sections of the PATRIOT Act that are due to expire soon. History tells us that when laws designed to curb political are enacted in the US, they are used primarily against groups and individuals on the left side of the political spectrum. There is no need for more laws. Instead, there is a need for more free speech. Laws like the PATRIOT Act and The Effective Death Penalty and Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996 and the subsequent interpretation of those laws by the courts have criminalized political activities that were previously legal. The investigation that led to the raids and grand juries discussed here are an example of this. The intention of the government in this and other similar investigations is to intimidate people into keeping silent so they can carry on their business with a minimum amount of attention from the public. As the discovery of an informer in the AWC shows, they will stop at nothing in their attempt to silence protest against their imperial designs. It doesn't matter if they get any convictions or even an indictment out of their fishing expedition. If they have intimidated those who oppose imperial war and support people around the world in their struggle against military occupation, they will have accomplished their goal. This is reason enough to support those currently targeted by the FBI in the investigations discussed here. It is more than enough reason to attend the protests against the grand jury on January 25, 2011 around the US. Ron Jacobs is the author of The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground. Jacobs. essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's collection on music, art and sex, Serpents in the Garden. His first novel, Short Order Frame Up, is published by Mainstay Press. His most recent book, titled Tripping Through the American Night is published as an ebook. Fomite (Burlington, VT.) is publishing his new novel, titled The Co-Conspirator's Tale in Spring 2011 He can be reached at: rjacobs3625 [at] charter.net --------10 of 13-------- Collateral Damage By ALEXANDER COCKBURN January 21 - 23, 2011 CounterPunch It's too soon to say of course, but it really does look as though though the Tucson shooter has done Sarah Palin serious damage. A Gallup poll run at the end of last week gives her a 53 per cent unfavorable rating, the lowest level she's sunk to in public esteem since she was first lofted to national prominence as John McCain's vice presidential pick in 2008. Only 38 per cent now have a favorable view of the former Alaska governor. Palin has only herself to blame. Against accusations that her bulls-eye campaign map targeted Democrats, including Gabrielle Giffords, she could have countered with measured expressions of sympathy for the dead and wounded, and a more in-sorrow-than-in-anger reproof for the over-hasty accusers. Instead of which she came out with eight minutes of self-defensive whining on Facebook, and caused great annoyance to Jewish groups by filching the "blood libel" charge on which they have had copyright since the Middle Ages. Since then, she's done nothing to improve her performance, complaining that Obama had given a campaign speech at the memorial in Tucson. Her charge was true, but the trouble is that most Americans liked Obama's campaign speech. It was essentially the same speech that got him into the White House in the first place. While Palin was plummeting in the polls, approval for the President's Tucson performance was up in the high 70s percentile. Before the shootings the Republicans were rearing and plunging as they burst out of the starting gate for the new Congressional session. John Boehner (dry eyed when talking about what happened in Tucson) went through a couple of cambric kerchiefs wiping the tears from his eyes in his "maiden" address as Speaker while down on the floor manly Republicans like Steve King of Iowa exulted that the blood-dimmed tides of payback were about to be loosed. It was King, back in September, who fretted that the Republican leadership might go soft on reforming Obamacare, and that "a blood oath" of fortitude was necessary. It was King too who talked about the necessity of there being "blood on the floor" in the struggle for America's future. Their first legislative target, Obama's health insurance bill, which passed into law last summer, was rolled out under the title, 'Repeal of the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act'. They just couldn't get enough of blood or killing. One columnist did a search on how many bills have had the word "killing" in the title. He found that "almost no legislation in 20 years used the word". Then real blood splattered across the parking lot of a Tucson Safeway. The sheriff of Pima Country blamed poisonous rhetoric. Panic-stricken Republicans spent the next two weeks embarking on a fairly successful campaign to persuade the press that two years worth of incendiary, para-homicidal rhetoric could by definition have absolutely no measurable effect on any psychotic in America, including Loughner. Liberal pundits like Jonathan Alter obediently clicked their heels and agreed that putting targets on electoral maps was as influential in measurable consequence as sticking a soft toy on the window of a Volvo. They may have counter-attacked with some effect in this skirmish, but even now about a third of the country still believes that violent political rhetoric helped provoke Loughner's rampage. The Republicans have lost their 'mo, at least for a while. But efforts by their leaders to damp down the bellicosity of newly elected Tea Party types is running into the fact that the Tea Partiers have only the high volume setting on their amplifiers, just like Palin. They're like a couple having a fight at a funeral; politely sotto voce, then suddenly bursting out fortissimo with their plaints and accusations. Meanwhile Obama is looking more chipper than he has in the whole of the last year, a unifier at last, acting presidential as he triangulates just as Bill did in 95 and the years thereafter. Clinton and Gore "reinvented government" and Obama vows to do away with irksome regulations (like storing long form birth certificates securely) that hold America back. Where is Monica Lewinsky now that we need her? Coming off the Tucson memorial service and the performance of the intern who may have saved Giffords' life Slate compiled a list of Great Contributions by Interns in History. Of course it failed to include Monica Lewinsky and her almost single-handed salvation, exclusively reported here in CounterPunch, of Social Security which Clinton was on the very edge of "reforming" before the scandal forced him to drop his plans. --------11 of 13-------- The Republicans Target Latin America The Empire Strikes Back By CONN HALLINAN CounterPunch January 21 - 23, 2011 For the past decade, American policy vis-a-vis Latin America has been relatively low-key, partly because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and partly because the region has seen an unprecedented growth in economic power and political independence. But, with Republicans taking over the House of Representatives, that is about to change, and, while the Southern Cone no longer stands to attention when Washington snaps its fingers, an aggressive and right wing Congress is capable of causing considerable mischief. Rep. Lleana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl), a long-time hawk on Cuba and leftist regimes in Venezuela and Bolivia, is the new chair of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the rightist Rep. Connie Mack (D-Fl) heads up the House subcommittee on Western Hemisphere affairs. Ros-Lethinen is already preparing hearings aimed at Venezuela and Bolivia, and Mack will try to put the former on the State Department's list of countries sponsoring terrorism. Ros-Lehtinen plans to target Venezuela's supposed ties to Middle East terrorist groups and Iran's nuclear weapons program, and to push for economic sanctions against Venezuela's state-owned oil company and banks. "It will be good for congressional subcommittees to start talking about [President of Venezuela Hugo] Chavez, about [President of Bolivia Evo] Morales, about issues that have not been talked about," she told the Miami Herald. The new chairs of the House Intelligence Committee and Judiciary Committee have also signaled they intend to weigh in on establishing a more hawkish line on Latin America. Unfortunately, it is the Obama administration that created an opening for the Republicans. While the White House came in pledging to improve relations with Latin America, Washington has ended up supporting a coup in Honduras, strengthening the U.S. military's presence in the region, and ignoring growing criticism of its failed war on drugs. Recent disclosures by Wikileaks reveal the Obama administration was well aware that the June 2009 Honduran coup against President Manuel Zelaya was illegal; nonetheless, it intervened to help keep the coup forces in power. Other cables demonstrate an on-going American hostility to the Morales regime in Bolivia and Washington's sympathy with secessionist forces in that country's rich eastern provinces. Many Latin Americans initially had high hopes the Obama administration would bring a new approach to its relations with the region, but some say they have seen little difference from the Bush Administration. "The truth is that nothing has changed and I view that with sadness," says former Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva. But things may go from bad to worse if the White House is passive in the face of a sharp rightward turn by Congress. The Latin America of 2011 is not the same place it was a generation ago. Economic growth has outstripped the U.S. and Europe, progressive and left governments have lifted 38 million people out of poverty, cut extreme poverty by 70 percent, and increased literacy. The region has also increased its south-south relations with countries like China, South Africa and India. China is now Brazil's number one trading partner. An economic alliance - Mercosur - has knitted the region together economically, and the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) finds itself eclipsed by the newly formed Union of South American Nations. But many countries in Latin America are still riven by wealth disparities, ethnic divides, and powerful ties between local oligarchies and the region's curse: powerful and undemocratic police and militaries. One such military pulled off the Honduran coup, and police came within a whisker of overthrowing Ecuador's progressive president, Rafael Correa, in 2010. One 2007 Wikileaks cable titled "A Southern Cone perspective on countering Chavez and reasserting U.S. leadership," pointed out "Southern Cone militaries remain key institutions in their respective countries and important allies for the U.S." The author of the cable, then ambassador to Chile, Craig Kelly, is currently principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Kelly strongly recommended increasing aid to Latin American militaries to help them "modernize." In many cases, rightists in Latin America share an agenda with right-wing forces in the U.S. For instance, Republicans played a key role in supporting the Honduran coup and continue to strengthen those ties. In a recent trip to Honduras, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca) - a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - brought together U.S. business leaders and Honduran officials to discuss American investment. Honduras was suspended from the OAS, and only a handful of Latin American governments recognize the new president, Porfirio Lobo. It was the Obama Administration, however, who recognized the government established by the coup, and remains silent in the face of what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch calls widespread human rights violations by the Lobos regime, including the unsolved murder of at least 18 opponents. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is lobbying hard to have Honduras re-admitted to the OAS. A quick survey of Republican targets suggests troubled waters ahead. Chavez has won two elections and is enormously popular. He has cut poverty, tripled social spending, doubled university enrollment, and extended health care to most of the poor. A U.S. engineered coup seems unlikely. But a "supporter of terrorism" designation would cause considerable difficulties with international financing and foreign investment. Sanctions on oil and banking would also disrupt the Venezuelan economy, in the long run creating conditions favorable to a possible coup. While it is hard to imagine what else the U.S. could do to Cuba, Congress may try to choke off investment in Cuba's growing oil and gas industries. Companies are already jumping through hoops to avoid getting around the current embargo. The Spanish oil company Repsol and Italy's Eni SpA recently built an offshore oil rig in China to dodge the blockade. "It is ridiculous that Repsol, a Spanish oil company, is paying an Italian firm to build an oil rig in China that will be used next year to explore for oil 50 miles from Florida," Sarah Stephens, director of the Center for Democracy in the Americas told the Financial Times. If the Republicans have their way, sanctions will be applied to those oil companies. Ecuador's Correa beat back a recent right-wing coup, largely because of his 67 percent approval rating. He has doubled spending on health care, increased social spending, and stiffed an illegitimate $3.2 billion foreign debt. But he has a tense relationship with indigenous movements, which accuse him of trying to marginalize them. While those groups did not support the coup, neither did they rally to the government's support. Those divisions could be easily exploited to destabilize the government. In the case of Bolivia, the Wikileak released cables, according to Latin American journalist and author Benjamin Dangl, "lays bare an embassy that is biased against Evo Morales' government, underestimates the sophistication of the governing party's grassroots base, and is out of touch with the political reality of the country." The cables indicate the U.S. is relying on information from extreme right wing and violent secessionist groups in Eastern Bolivia, groups that receive financing and training from the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID. Both groups have close ties to American intelligence organizations. Given Brazil's strong opposition to any attempt to break up Bolivia, it is not clear a succession movement would succeed. But would Brazil - or Argentina, Uruguay or Paraguay - actually intervene? Paraguay is also a country deeply divided between left and right, with a progressive president who warned last year that a coup by the country's powerful military was a possibility. The Obama administration's acceptance of the Honduran coup sent a chill throughout Latin America, and certainly emboldened those who see tanks and caudillos as an answer to the region's surge of progressive politics and independent foreign policy. The recent effort by Turkey and Brazil to broker a compromise with Iran over its nuclear program did not go down well in Washington. Neither have efforts to chart an independent course on the Middle East by nations in the region. Several countries have formally recognized a Palestinian state, and Peru will host an Arab-Latin America summit Feb. 16. Latin America is no longer an appendage to the colossus of the north, but its growing independence is fragile, as the coups in Honduras and Ecuador suggest. The chasm between rich and poor is being closed, but it is still substantial. The economies in the region are growing at a respectable 6 percent, but, because they are relatively small, they can be more easily derailed by internal and external crises. Even as its power wanes, the U.S. is still the world's largest economy with the world's largest military. This, plus anti-democratic forces in Latin America, is fertile ground for mischief, particularly if there is not strong resistance on the U.S. home front. Conn Hallinan can be reached at: ringoanne [at] sbcglobal.net [All of this mischief is supported by Obama, the traitor to democracy that millions of politically and ethically bankrupt lesser-evil liberals are going to vote for in 2012, because they are spinelessly incapable of long-range intelligent action. (This is the nice way to put it.) -ed] --------12 of 13-------- The only thing necessary for lesser-evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. --------13 of 13-------- ----------- F the FBI ----------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments vote third party for president for congress for governor now and forever Socialism YES Capitalism NO To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg --------8 of x-------- do a find on --8 Research almost any topic raised here at: CounterPunch http://counterpunch.org Dissident Voice http://dissidentvoice.org Common Dreams http://commondreams.org Once you're there, do a search on your topic, eg obama drones
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