Progressive Calendar 06.22.12 /2 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001umn.edu) | |
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:36:31 -0700 (PDT) |
*P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 06.22.12* 1. Peace/justice 6.23 9am LittleFalls MN 2. Palestine 6.23 10am 3. LGBT Pride 6.23/24 10am 4. Northtown vigil 6.23 2pm 5. Rocky Anderson 6.23 4pm 6. MIRAc concert 6.23 10pm 7. Lydia Howell - Elections: what’s democracy got to do with it? / [hear Rocky Anderson] --------1 of 7-------- From: WAMM Peace/justice 6.23 9am LittleFalls MN Mid-Central Minnesota Peace and Diversity Fair: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Saturday, June 23, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. LeBourget Park, Highway 27 and Paul Larson Memorial Drive (West Bank of the Broadway Bridge on the Mississippi river), Little Falls. Causes represented include: World Peace, Save the Earth, and Social Justice. Special speakers include FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley, one of three whistleblowers chosen as Persons of the Year by Time Magazine. Rowley brought pre-9/11 lapses to light and testified to the Senate Judicial Committee about problems facing the FBI and the intelligence community. Rowley’s memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller led to a two-year-long Dept of Justice Inspector General investigation. Also speaking will be Anne Frisch, Senior Advisor to Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP), an international unarmed civilian Peacekeeping Force. NP goes where there is significant armed conflict. Non-partisan UCPs live in the communities where they work, talking to members of all the armed parties, and protecting civilians while creating safe spaces for them to do the work of peacemaking. Join others to rally for your cause, be part of the dialogue, be heard! Food. Music. Dance. Street Theater. Vendors. All are welcome! Sponsored by: Little Falls Partners for Peace. FFI or to Participate: Contact Robin Hensel at 320-360-3931. --------2 of 7-------- From: WAMM Palestine 6.23 10am Presentation by Chris Cowan: Razing Human Rights; Demolition and Dispossession in the West Bank Saturday, June 23, 9:30 a.m. (Refreshments); 10:00 a.m. to Noon (Program and Discussion) Southdale Hennepin County Library, 7001 York Avenue South, Edina. Christine Cowan served as an Ecumenical Accompanier in the South Hebron Hills in occupied West Bank, September–December 2011. She was part of a team of church internationals who provide protective presence and report human rights abuses. Chris worked in Palestinian and Bedouin villages in area C, designated by the Oslo Agreements to be under temporary Israeli military control. Governing was never returned to the Palestinian Authority. 600,000 Israeli settlers have moved into area C. The Palestinians and Bedouins - who have lived there for thousands of years –face harassment, demolition of homes, and dispossession. Chris will share her first-hand observations and tell us about her work. Sponsored by: Middle East Peace Now (MEPN). FFI: Call Dixie Vella at 952-941-1341 or visit http://www.mepn.org. --------3 of 7-------- From: Joel Albers LGBT Pride 6.23/24 10am UHCAN-MN will be Tabling for the 4th consectutive yr this weekend at the LGBT Pride Festival. [In Loring Park] The festival runs saturday the 23rd from 10am to 10pm (Tabling is from 10am to 6pm), and sunday ( 10am to 6pm). We will be focusingour tabling on beginning to build membership of Co-op Care and explain what it is (cooperative health insurance to serve people, not profit). There will be a sign-up sheet to begin to build the membership. We can certainly alternate tabling with having fun at the festival. It is an important festival to table at given that all the major hmos will be there, and we have to be there to build the alternative to profit-driven HMOs and to counteract their deceptive rhetoric. --------4 of 7-------- From: Vanka485 [at] aol.com Subject: Northtown vigil 6.23 2pm Peace vigil at Northtown (Old Hwy 10 & University Av), every Saturday 2-3pm --------5 of 7-------- From: Michael Cavlan RN Rocky Anderson 6.23 4pm SAT.JUNE 23, 4pm Hear ROCKY ANDERSON progressive candidate for President Plymouth Congregational Church 1900 Nicollet Ave. S. (off Franklin Ave.) south Minneapolis (candidate bio below) www.voterocky.org Running on the Peace & Justice Party ticket, former 2-term Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, ROCKY ANDERSON has a stellar progressive record on getting things done from civil rights, to lowering greenhouse gases,opposing English Only laws, expanding affordable housing to improving public education and legal representation for all to GLBT rights.He testified in defense of civil liberties before the U.S.House Judiciary Committee. He's in Minneapolis this weekend to march in the GLBT Pride parade!(See edited bio from Rocky's website below) WHO IS ROCKY ANDERSON? BIO"Ross "Rocky" Anderson was born in Logan, Utah in 1951. His parents, Roy and Grace Anderson, both worked at the local lumberyard, Anderson Lumber Company, which was founded by Rocky's great-grandfather, a Norwegian immigrant carpenter.The Andersons were not affluent, but they had a good life in Logan...While living in the Salt Lake City area, Rocky learned the value of open spaces...Rocky attended the University of Utah, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy...Rocky spent a summer building buck fence at a Wyoming ranch. He also worked as a cab driver, methadone clinic worker, waiter, truck driver, and construction laborer...The study of philosophy and history inspired Rocky to find a vocation that would make a positive difference in the world...Rocky moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended the National Law Center at George Washington University. During his time in law school, Rocky worked at a small law firm, doing what he could to pay for his expenses during all three years. Upon his graduation, with honors, from law school in 1978, Rocky returned to Salt Lake City to begin his law practice. Rocky began handling jury trials right out of law school and prepared and argued two cases before the Utah Supreme Court during his first year of practice. As his career progressed, Rocky handled dozens of important cases, many times without charging a fee. According to Rocky, "the highest calling of a lawyer" is to make certain the law is fairly and equally applied. ... Rocky is listed in Best Lawyers in America, handled many complex commercial cases, including antitrust and securities matters for plaintiffs who had suffered harm. In the 1980s Rocky was instrumental in obtaining payments for thousands of depositors who had lost their life savings in Utah's failed thrifts. He has been a proponent of joint custody so that more men can and will maintain responsible and consistent relationships with their children following divorce. Rocky was an effective advocate in groundbreaking civil rights cases, including Bott v. Deland, which dramatically expanded the protections for incarcerated people. Rocky also worked to institute a program to provide access to legal services for people who did not qualify for help through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who were not able to afford to pay a full fee for critically important legal services..... In addition to providing free legal assistance to people who are homeless, economically disadvantaged, and disabled, he was a leader in several nonprofit organizations (including ACLU of Utah (President), Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Utah Common Cause, Citizens for Penal Reform (founder and President), Guadalupe Educational Programs (President)) and provided thousands of hours of volunteer service to help create a better, safer, more sustainable community ...Although they divorced, Rocky shared custody of his son, who lived, until he was 18, with each parent half the time. Joint custody enabled both Rocky and his former wife to stay closely and consistently involved in their son’s life. During several years of his son’s elementary education, Rocky spent time each week co-op'ing in his classroom... Rocky has always been committed to the principle that justice – social justice, environmental justice, and economic justice – must be an essential aim of public policy ...With the help of dedicated campaign workers, contributions from hundreds of individuals, and a huge volunteer organization, Rocky ran an aggressive, principled campaign for Congress as the Democratic nominee (following a primary campaign) in Utah's Second Congressional District in 1996. Without any financial help from the Democratic Party, but with record contributions from individuals, Rocky garnered over 100,000 votes in the District. Even when pitted against Merrill Cook's 98% initial name recognition and the expenditure of almost $1 million by Cook of his own money, Rocky received 55% of the votes cast in Salt Lake City, versus 39% for Cook. However, Rocky lost the race because of a lack of support in a very conservative area, where there was obvious hostility toward Rocky’s early principled stand in favor of marriage equality. In 1999, Rocky ran for Mayor of Salt Lake City... prevailed 60% to 40% in the general election. Rocky was reelected for another four-year term in 2004. As Mayor, heoverseeing a general fund annual budget of over $200 million and almost 3,000 employees. He also was the Chief Administrative Officer over the massive Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency and was Chief Administrative Officer of the Salt Lake City International Airport. He negotiated with three public employee unions. Salt Lake City being the only city in Utah that engaged in collective bargaining, which was whole-heartedly supported by Mayor Anderson Rocky successfully fought many important battles, including victories for mass transit, wise long-term growth planning, greater respect toward and legal protections for minority communities (including equal benefits for gays and lesbians and their partners), and for unprecedented youth programs. He successfully challenged the state’s English-Only law and opposed grandstanding Homeland Security campaigns against immigrant workers in the nation’s airports. He killed the DARE program in Salt Lake City schools and introduced to those schools proven, far more effective, drug-prevention programs. Rocky implemented perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive restorative justice programs, he created city-wide after-school and summer programs, and he was considered by many to be the “greenest mayor” in the U.S. During his service as Mayor, he preserved and significantly added to the City’s stock of affordable housing and open space. He reduced greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 31% in three years and was one of the top climate protection activists in the world, winning the World Leadership Award in London for his environmental programs and advocacy.... Anderson recognizes the importance of people at the grassroots level advocating and pushing for change. He has stated, “We keep expecting elected officials will do the right thing, and the fact is they never do unless they’re pushed.” Rocky founded High Road for Human Rights, a non-profit organization devoted to achieving major reform of US human rights policies and practices through unique, coordinated, and sustained grassroots activism, complementing the work of other human rights organizations. High Road for Human Rights primarily addressed five issues: torture and the undermining of the rule of law, genocide, slavery, the death penalty, and the human rights implications of the climate crisis. For his work on human rights matters during his tenure as Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Rocky received the Morehouse University Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's Patriot Award. More info on ROCKY ANDERSON's positions on issues http://www.voterocky.org --------6 of 7-------- From:WAMM MIRAc concert 6.23 10pm Elections: What’s Democracy Got To Do With It? By Lydia Howell Fundraising Concert for MIRAc Saturday, June 23, 10:00 p.m. The Red Sea, 320 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis. Featuring Guante and more performers to be announced. Join others for a fundraising concert to raise money for Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) in the aftermath of losing their office and everything in it when Walker Church burned down recently. Organized by: MIRAc. FFI: Visit http://mirac1.wordpress.com/. --------7 of 7-------- Lydia Howell - Elections: what’s democracy got to do with it? Twin Cities Daily Planet June 22, 2012 lydiahowell [at] comcast.net http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/60439 The quadrennial ritual of U.S. presidential election is happening in a strange morass of massive money contributed by secret corporate donors, right-wing attempts to roll back voting rights for millions of Americans and a mountain of very real problems that neither ‘major’ political party seems interested in addressing. Add in the context of the “Arab Spring” aftermath of elections and Syria’s uprising that attempts to overthrow its dictator, it feels almost quaint that there are still people willing to die for the chance to vote. Here in the “land of the free”, as a progressive voter I am told I have no choice but to vote for the Democratic Party candidate. In the country that touts itself as ‘the greatest democracy on Earth’---America--- elections are more like crude propaganda and 21st century grade-B exploitation films made by Madison Avenue shopping gurus. A slice of the electorate is pandered to, others are pushed and still more are made very aware that they don’t count at all. With only two recognized political affiliations---Republicans and Democrats---for all practical purpose, any others might as well be legally banned. Progressive social movements go dormant or are actively herded into working to get Democrats elected. To run for political office as an independent individual or as a member of any “third Party” political party, there are many obstacles . If you don’t wear the magic R or D,, a great deal of energy and money ia spent just to be on the ballot. Ds and Rs automatically qualify. The media with the largest reach----owned by corporations---rarely or never reports on candidates without the D or the R Seal of Approval. When such outcast candidates do get mentioned, it is usually only to dismiss them as “unelectable“. Over and over the message is: that the only candidates voters are allowed to seriously consider are the ones that have been pre-selected for them by the Republican and Democratic Parties When the Supreme Court handed George W. Bush his victory in the 2000 election--after tens of thousands of Democratic were purged from Florida’s voter roles and the Democratic Party refused to fight for their own victorious candidate, Al Gore, who was blamed? Not the Supreme Court or Republican operatives using dirty tricks, not a spineless Democratic Party or even those who actually voted for Bush. Blame was (and still violently is) cast on the Green Party, their presidential candidate Ralph Nader and all voters who thought they had a constitutional right to cast their votes for him. Twelve years later, you’d think the 2000 election had just happened, given the virulent attacks on Nader voters---making it obvious that the 2000 election has been used as a social bludgeon against anyone who considers a “third party” candidates >From a matter of basic principles in a nation that tells other countries how to run their affairs, even justifies waging war as “spreading democracy”, how is this acceptable? And from a practical point of view, what do people think this will make anyone support the Democratic Party? If anything, such tactics only further alienates voters. Even the Republican and Democratic Parties dissident candidates---Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) come to mind---are tossed in the outcast candidate trash can. How dare ordinary citizens think that we have any significant say in the two political parties? Like war, everyday Americans’ are just supposed to show up and do what we’re told. Even the non-partisan League of Women Voters (LWV)--founded in 1920, after women won the vote---has had the Presidential Election Debate taken away from them. The two ‘major’ parties and their corporate sponsors now completely control the “debates“--who can participate, what issues can be raised., who is excluded and what issues are censored.. The LWV has recently even been shoved out of registering people to vote. It seems that voter turnout of 50%--or less, often far less in non-presidential elections--is perfectly acceptable to Democratic and Republican Parties. Less participation by We The People appears to be the goal---which seems, frankly, completely incompatible with the idea of democracy. One conclusion is harder and harder to escape: no matter who wins, over the last twenty-five years, certain major elements of public policy remain more or less the same. Wars drag on, that the public seems to have no say in---except to pay for, fight in and, if unlucky, be maimed or die in. Republicans and Democrats start and continue the wars---even when elected for saying they’d end them (as President Obama was). Corporations pay little or no taxes compared to ordinary workers or mom and pop small businesses. Workers rights---and their jobs---disappear, whether the openly anti-union Republicans are in charge or the union-supported Democrats are. Both parties support so-called “free trade” agreements that export jobs, undermine workers/consumers’ rights and further pollute the natural world---while giving multinational corporations more power over more and more of our everyday lives. Ordinary people have less and less access to the courts for redress even as corporations are declared “persons” by the highest court in the land. Racial segregation of schools has returned; discrimination of all kinds leaves people with no recourse, since enforcement of such laws has been de-funded, banks and Wall Street turn our economy into a casino where the house always wins---and the rest of us lose while neither political party does anything to stop it. Republican or Democrat, most elected officials are busy making sure that when they do leave office, the corporations, will have a well-padded place for them to land. I’ve come to conclude that the Republican and Democratic Parties are entwined in a theatrical performance of sham “democracy”, agreeing on most issues, and serving the same corporate elites. Republicans have the role of The Ideologues, pushing the public discourse further and further to the right, lauding corporations and the wealthy higher and higher for worship by “regular folks“, as G.W. Bush would say--while creating an ever expanding list of scapegoats and “untouchables” unworthy of public concern. Being closer to the 1%, eventually Republicans scare much of the 99% and so, the Democrats are brought in to do their job as The Implementers. If progressives had really faced the eight years of President Bill Clinton, we’d see how much of the so-called “Republican agenda” he accomplished---just as President Obama has continued and even expanded George W. Bush’s policies. Yet, I’m told by fellow progressives, I must vote for Democrats, that its crucial that Barack Obama get a second term. “It will be worse under a Republican!” they howl. They don’t answer this question: What would Mitt Romney do that President Obama isn‘t already actively doing or passively allowing to continue? Make indefinite detention part of American law for the first time in our history? Keep the gulag Guantanamo open? Give corporations tax breaks to export our jobs and more “free trade” agree ments to do it? Drill more on public lands? Bomb countries we are not even at war with? Fail to address climate change? Continue to “privitize” all public services--including schools? Continue the failed “war on drugs” that has made the U.S. have the largest prison population on Earth? End unions? President Obama has either actively done all these things or--in the case of unions--stood by and let it happen. Yet, people demand we shut up and not point out these facts. Various “liberal” organizations, websites and online publications regularly practice censorship of those who raise fact-based issues about Obama’s actual policies. If you won’t support the Democratic candidate, the “marketplace of ideas” is closed to you. Have the audacity to mention “third party” candidates and it gets really ugly. All of one’s comments are erased from the website and you’re banned from the site or the organization, with a totality that is worthy of Josef Stalin. I don’t know who I will vote for in November 2012--but, it won’t be Barack Obama. I’m taking a look at the former progressive Mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, on the Justice party ticket. Honored as the “Greenest Mayor in the U.S.”, Anderson cut greenhouse gas emissions by government vehicles and buildings by 30%. As a lawyer,. He’s defended people without payment. He created restorative justice programs instead of filling more corporate-profit driven prison cells. He’s challenged corporate monopolies and worked with organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union to protect civil liberties. Anderson is strongly committed to affordable housing and addressing the foreclosure crisis. He made a city anti-discrimination in hiring for the GLBT community by Executive Order---in a Mormon state--and is in the Twin Cities to take a stand against the far-right Marriage Amendment on the Minnesota ballot. You have two chances to hear Rocky Anderson speak. If you still believe in democracy--the real kind not the spectacle---I hope you’ll check him out. (Event info below) Lydia Howell is a Minneapolis journalist, winner of the Premack Award for Public Interest Journalism, for her reprting for PULSE Newspaper. She also writes poetry, does activism and is part of a community garden.She is producer/host of CATALYST, Thurs. 9am on KFAI Radio 90.3fm Mpls 106.7 fm St.Paul www.kfai.org SAT.JUNE 23, 4pm ROCKY ANDERSON progressive candidate for President Plymouth Congregational Church 1900 Nicollet Ave. S. (off Franklin Ave.) south Minneapolis ***** Sun.JUNE 24:, marching with the Minnesotans United for All Families contingent in the GLBT Pride Parade between 11-1 pm,AFTER PRIDE MARCH: the candidate will be going to Macalester College in Weyhauser Chapel in St. Paul for a speech on “Confronting Reality in a Political Illusion.” This talk will be in the Chapel,1600 Grand Ave, St Paul, and is free. The public is welcome and there will be time for a Q & A. www.voterocky.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shove Trove
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