Progressive Calendar 08.05.07
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 04:31:17 -0700 (PDT)
             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     08.05.07

1. Cuba/oil/film     8.06 7pm
2. Hiroshima/cranes  8.06 7:30pm
3. Maltman/novel     8.06 7:30pm
4. Intensive Arabic  8.06

5. Bridge/transit    8.07 8:30am
6. Ramstad/peace     8.07 10am
7. Venezuela/CTV     8.07 5pm
8. Bridge fall/forum 8.07 7pm
9. Impeach for peace 8.07 7pm
10. IRV/NatlNightOut 8.07

11. Sierra Leone     8.08 8am
12. Right to protest 8.08 11am
13. Circus reform    8.08 1pm
14. Whites/racism    8.08 1pm
15. Organic farm     8.08 6pm
16. Vets/vs Israel   8.08 6pm Red Wing MN
17. Ellison/war      8.08 6:30pm
18. Ramstad/war      8.08 7pm

19. Kevin & Sherman - Ellison on AIPAC trip to Israel
20. Jordan Kushner  - Ellison breaks promises to go on Israel lobby trip
21. Cindy Sheehan   - I'm perturbed as heck
22. Glenn Greenwald - Democrats' responsibility for Bush radicalism
23. ed              - Time for something different
24. Dave Lindorff   - Spying: Bush demands, Congress rolls over (good dog)
25. ed              - ballpark up, bridge down  (poem)
26. ed              - take me out to the bridge fall (altered song)

--------1 of 26--------

From: Joan Malerich <joanmdm [at] iphouse.com>
Subject: Cuba/oil/film 8.06 7pm

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY:  HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL
Faith Morgan and Pat Murphy
Produced by the Community Solution

Showing:
Monday, August 6, 2007 7:00 PM
Rondo Community Library, 461 North Dale Street (corner of University
Avenue and Dale), St. Paul
Free Admission and Free Parking
Metro Transit Lines: #16, #50, #64 (Transit Office:  612-373-3333)

One Time showing - Film Approximately One Hour, Discussion Follows Film
Sponsored by the Minnesota Cuba Committee <mncuba [at] usfamily.net

"One of the most important and hopeful stories of the past few
decades.Story of individual achievement and the collective mobilization of
an entire society to meet and enormous challenge."  Richard Heinberg,
author of /The Party's Over, Powerdown

When Cuba lost access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, the country faced
an immediate crisis - feeding the population - and an ongoing challenge -
how to create a new low-energy society. Cuba transitioned from large,
fossil fuel intensive farming to small, less energy-intensive organic
farms and urban gardens, and from a highly industrial society to a more
sustainable one.

This film tells the story of the Cuban people's hardship, ingenuity and
triumph over sudden adversity - through cooperation, conservation and
community, told in their won words. As the world approaches Peak Oil, Cuba
provides a valuable example of how to successfully address the challenge
of reducing our energy use.

The Power of Community lets the Cuban people tell their own story and at
the same time counters the prejudices many Americans have toward Cuba.
This is a story of dedication to independence and triumph over adversity,
and one of hope for the future. It gives hope to the developed world as it
wakes up to the consequences of being hooked on oil.

The Power of Community shows a "different way of thinking."  It documents
how we must all work together for the welfare and survival of humanity.
Go to http://www.energybulletin.net/13171.html for a more details about
the film.

http://www.energybulletin.net/13171.html more details about the film.


--------2 of 26-------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Hiroshima/cranes 8.06 7:30pm

Monday, 8/6, Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration at Lyndale Park Peace
Garden, Roseway Rd just n. of Lake Harriet.  7:30 pm ceremony of
cranes/speaker/music, 8:30 pm vigil in Peace Garden.  www.wilpfmn.org or
952-922-0308.


--------3 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Maltman/novel 8.06 7:30pm

magers and quinn
thomas maltman reads from his novel
the night birds
7:30 monday august 6
at magers and quinn booksellers
3038 hennepin avenue south
minneapolis mn 55408
612-822-4611
www.magersandquinn.com

THE NIGHT BIRDS (Soho Press; August 2007; $24.00) is the intertwining
story of two generations of the Senger family, German immigrants who fled
sectarian violence in Missouri to settle in the prairies of Minnesota. The
story begins in 1876 when young Asa Senger's world is altered by the
return of his Aunt Hazel, long thought dead, after she is released from a
mental institution. She comes bearing the secrets of a past that everyone
else wants to forget. Through her stories, Asa learns the truth about his
family and himself.

Spanning almost two decades, Hazel's story begins with the Senger family's
initial flight to the Minnesota prairie, where they would soon befriend
the neighboring - and now banished - Dakota Indians. This relationship
would shape not only the Senger family, but the Dakota tribe as well, and
play a role in the subsequent Great Sioux Uprising and mass execution of
38 Dakota Indians. Prefigured by the twin ravens Hunin and Munin - Memory
and Understanding - from his dead grandfather's treasured Grimm's fairy
tales, Asa soon learns that his own identity is bound up in his family's
lost history.

Maltman's lyrical narrative skillfully blends historical events with one
family's personal struggles, creating an epic journey that readers won't
soon forget.

Thomas Maltman's essays, poetry, and fiction have recently been published
in Georgetown Review, Great River Review, and Main Channel Voices, among
other journals. He has a BA from Eastern Washington University and an MFA
from Minnesota State University, Mankato and currently teaches creative
writing and literature at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

For further information, contact: 7 David Unowsky 612/822-4611
davidu [at] magersandquinn.com


-------4 of 26--------

From: Mizna  <mizna-announce [at] mizna.org>
Subject: Intensive Arabic 8.06

Summer Intensive Arabic begins on August 6 in Mizna's office in
Minneapolis.

Go here for details and registration:
http://www.mizna.org/classes/index.html#intensive
If you can't join this summer, fall classes are now online.
http://www.mizna.org/classes/index.html#


--------5 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Bridge/transit 8.07 8:30am

TUE AUG 7, 8:30 AM
The City of Minneapolis is convening a special meeting next week for
members of the business community citywide to discuss transportation and
transit issues arising from the collapse of the bridge: Tuesday, August 7,
8:30AM, Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Avenue South, Marshall Room
(located in the Christensen Center).


--------6 of 26--------

From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Ramstad/peace 8.07 10am

Third-District Peace Campaign Meeting with Congressman Jim Ramstad

Tuesday, August 7, 10:00 a.m. Ridgedale Government Center, 12601 Ridgedale
Drive, Minnetonka. Bring your orange shirt, petition forms and any "End
the War" signs that you may have. Bring friends, neighbors and children.
After gathering, the group will walk the one block distance across
Ridgedale Drive to Ramstad's office at 1809 Plymouth Road. Ramstad will be
presented with petitions to end the war, a "Dear Colleague" letter for him
to send to fellow members of Congress and a large framed poster with
photos of all the Minnesotans killed in the war. The meeting will be
controlled with prepared questions for Ramstad to address. FFI: Call
Roxanne Abbas, 763-476-7643.


--------7 of 26--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Venezuela/CTV 8.07 5pm

Revered St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN 15) viewers:
"Our World In Depth" cablecasts in St. Paul on Tuesday evenings and
Wednesday mornings.  All households with basic cable can watch!

8/7 5pm and midnight and 8/8 10 am. "The Revolution Will Not Be
Televised" (Conclusion).  Amazing documentary film shot during the 2002
coup in Venezuela.


--------8 of 26--------

From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: Bridge fall/forum 8.07 7pm

Public Forum on the I-35W Bridge  Collapse
Hosted by Socialist Alternative
Tuesday, August  7th
7:00pm
Coffman Room 304
University of  Minnesota

Last week's collapse of the I-35W bridge into the Mississippi River is a
tragic catastrophe for the Twin Cities. As the dust settles, many
questions arise: What caused this to happen? Was it simply a random
failure or is this the result of systematic under-funding of public
services? What can we do to ensure disasters like this don't happen again?

Come to a discussion with members of Socialist Alternative to talk about
these issues and more.

For more information:
_mn [at] socialistalternative.org_ (mailto:mn [at] socialistalternative.org)
_www.socialistminnesota.org_ (http://www.socialistminnesota.org/)

FOR MORE INFORMATION on Socialist Alternative, or to find out about our
local meetings and campaign activities, contact us at:
mn [at] socialistalternative.org 612-760-1980

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LINKS Socialist Alternative's national website
is: www.socialistalternative.org We are linked to socialists around the
world through the Committee for a Workers' International:
www.socialistworld.net


--------9 of 26--------

From: Impeach <lists [at] impeachforpeace.org>
Subject: Impeach for peace 8.07 7pm

Impeach for Peace
We meet Tuesdays at 7pm at Joe's Garage (Restaurant along Loring Park)
1610 Harmon Pl Minneapolis, MN 55403 (612) 904-1163


--------10 of 26--------

From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: IRV/NatlNightOut 8.07

It is absolutely imperative that we have as many Green party members [and
anyone else -ed] as possible come out to help with National Night Out to
get IRV signatures this Monday evening.  We are still short 1,500
signatures and this night promises to be one of THE best opportunities to
gather signatures. Please call Beth Mercer-Taylor at 651-204-7201.  She
could really use your help right now.  Thank you.  There is no time to
waste, the August 15th deadline is right around the corner and it's going
to be difficult to get that many signatures in 2 weeks.

Heidi Sheen 651-245-3900

--
From: "Beth Mercer-Taylor"  <mercer-taylor [at] comcast.net>
Subject: IRV on National Night Out - we  need some help!

The Better Ballot Campaign needs your help to get the word about Instant
Runoff Voting out to St. Paul voters - and the petition signatures in from
these voters. We are over 5,000 signatures, but we need at least 1,500
more.

Next Tuesday evening, August 7, is National Night Out and there are events
throughout the city of St. Paul. We need to make sure that an orange
T-shirt wearing Better Ballot Campaign presence is out at events
throughout the city.

What events will you be at or could you plan to attend? Let me know ASAP -
and tell me if there are other people I should be contacting as well.

What we know about right now, in terms of larger events, is the following:

Snell-Ham:  Bethel Christian Fellowship, Portland and Pascal, evening
North Dale and  Northwest Como: North Dale, 1414 N. St. Albans, 5-8 pm.
Summit University:  Blair Arcade parking lot, Selby and Arundel, starts 5 pm
Summit University:  House of Hope Church, 797 Summit, 5:30 pm
Summit University: Mt. Olivet  Baptist Church, 451 Central Ave., 5 pm
Mounds Park: Mounds Park Pavilion,  Earl St. and Mounds Boulevard, evening
Hamline Midway: J&S Bean  Factory, Hamline and Thomas, evening
Hamline Midway: Trotter's, Cleveland  and Marshall, evening
Ward 4: Griggs Recreation Center, 1188 Hubbard,  evening
Ward 4: Zion Lutheran Church, 1697 Lafond, evening

If you  know of other events, let us know!
Beth  Mercer-Taylor
St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign for Instant Runoff  Voting


--------11 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Sierra Leone 8.08 8am

Wednesday, 8/8, 8 am, Alexandra Owings presents "Blood Diamonds in Sierra
Leone," St Martins Table, Riverside at 21st, West Bank U of M, Mpls.


--------12 of 26--------

From: "Jess Sundin" <jess.sundin [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Right to protest 8.08 11am

There seems some sort of conspiracy over at City Hall. Several people,
including myself, have tried to call and emailed several different offices
today, and prior. We are trying to understand what is being done by the
so-called RNC Free Speech Work Group, and where they are in the drafting
of a new ordinance to require permits for public rallies (see below).

We have spoken to individuals in the City Coordinator's office, the
Mayor's office, and the offices of Councilmembers Gordon, Ostrow and
Schiff. We believe (though there are conflicting reports) that the Free
Speech Work Group will have its next meeting on Wednesday, August 8 from
11am to noon. We suspect that these meetings are CLOSED to the public, and
this is why we are not getting a straight answer from most the people we
speak to. It is outrageous that a committee purportedly working to protect
our free speech (in particular during the 2008 Republican Convention),
would be meeting in secret!

Some of you haven't received all the messages that have gone around on
this, over the last week or so. To catch you up... The proposed permit
ordinance is alarming: among other things, it criminalizes protests
without a permit (and empowers a police officer to revoke a permit during
the course of a protest at their own discretion). Participating in an
unpermited public rally or meeting with more than 20 people would be a
MISDEMEANOR offense. This policy is unacceptable. Current city policies
have no such restrictions.

We need to shine a light on what this committee is doing, and stop them
from passing this restrictive ordinance. This message is to alert you to
what is going on. While we work to confirm these facts, please discuss
with your organization how to respond. The National Lawyers Guild is
sending in a letter opposing the ordinance. The Anti-War Committee and
Communities United Against Police Brutality are planning to do the same. I
will forward our letters when the drafts are final. I would encourage your
organizations to send in letters as well. I will include helpful contact
information below.

If we can determine whether this meeting is really happening next week, it
could be very important to have a presence there.

Please pencil it in on your calendar (Wednesday 8/8 @ 11am). Again, I will
send out a confirmation when I can get it, probably sometime on Monday.

In solidarity, Jess Sundin Anti-War Committee 612.272.2209 (cell)

PROPOSED ORDINANCE:
CHAPTER 462.  PUBLIC RALLIES
462.10.  Purpose.  The purposes of this chapter are:

  (a) To protect the rights of all people to the orderly freedom of
expression, speech and association guaranteed by the U.S. and Minnesota
Constitutions;

  (b)  To impose reasonable time, place, duration and manner restrictions
on such expression, speech and association so as to protect the public's
safety and access to public buildings and spaces. 462.20.  Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms defined in this section shall
have the following meanings:

  Business Licensing.  All staff from the Business Licensing Division of
Regulatory Services, all other City staff that have been assigned to
coordinate on the processing and issuance of public rally permits, and all
staff from other political subdivisions who are working in cooperation
with City staff on the processing and issuance of public rally permits.

  Person.  A single person, group of persons, firm, partnership,
association, corporation or other entity that intends to announce, conduct
or hold a public rally.

  Public Rally. A group activity involving 20 or more people including but
not limited to a demonstration, meeting, assembly, protest, vigil,
parades, solicitations or other gathering that takes place on public
property for the purpose of expressing views or opinions.  Public rallies
do not include lawful picketing that has no affect on the flow of
pedestrian or motorized traffic on sidewalks, streets and allies.

462.30.  Public rally permit required.  No person shall announce or hold
any public rally prior to obtaining a public rally permit from Business
Licensing.  There shall be no charge for a public rally permit.  Failure
to obtain a permit prior to holding a public rally shall be a misdemeanor.

462.40.  Written application and process.  Business Licensing shall create
a written application and procedures for the processing and filing of
public rally permits and shall make those documents available to the
public physically and electronically. Any person seeking a public rally
permit shall submit an application to Business Licensing. The application
shall inquire about the precise time, duration, anticipated number of
persons and location of the public rally, and shall inquire about other
information as deemed necessary by Business Licensing.  The application
shall clearly set forth all of the requirements that applicants must
comply with in obtaining other licenses, permits, or other permissions for
the proposed public rally. At any time prior to a scheduled public rally,
reasonable time, place, duration and manner conditions may be place on the
permit by Business Licensing, only upon written findings of the necessity
of such conditions.

462.50.  Time for filing and processing public rally permit applications.
(a)  If an application is submitted one year or more prior to when a
person intends to hold a public rally, Business Licensing shall approve or
deny the application within sixty (60) days of the date the application is
received, or the permit shall be issued.

  (b)  If an application is submitted at least ninety (90) days but less
than one year prior to when a person intends to hold a public rally,
Business Licensing shall approve or deny the application within thirty
(30) days of the date the application is received, or the permit shall be
issued.

  (c)  If an application is submitted at least seven (7) days but less
than ninety (90) days prior to when a person intends to hold a public
rally, Business Licensing shall approve or deny the application within
five (5) business days of the date the application is received, or the
permit shall be issued.

  (d)  If an application is submitted less than seven (7) days prior to
when a person intends to hold a public rally, Business Licensing shall
make every possible effort to approve or deny the application the same
business day or within one (1) business day, but in all cases shall
approve or deny the permit within two (2) business days, or the permit
shall be issued. 462.60. Grounds for denying a public rally permit.
Business Licensing shall approve an application and issue a public rally
permit unless:

        (a) the conduct of the public rally will interfere with the safe
and orderly movement of emergency personnel or vehicles at the proposed
location;

     2. the location of the proposed public rally is inconsistent with the
anticipated size of the public rally;

     3. the proposed public rally would conflict or interfere with a
previously approved public rally or other scheduled public activity at the
proposed location;

     4. the proposed public rally location is adjacent to and would unduly
disturb a neighborhood based on the timing or identified activity of the
public rally;

     5. the proposed public rally may cause physical injury to persons or
substantial damage to property;

     6. the application is incomplete in some substantive way that would
affect the safety of the participants in the proposed public rally;

     7. The applicant has not complied with the procedural requirements
contained in the application;

     8. The applicant has not provided a bond or insurance certificate as
required by Business Licensing;

     9. The proposed public rally is prohibited by law;

    10. The application contains misrepresentations of any kind;

    11. The applicant refuses to execute an agreement, as may be required
by Business Licensing, to reimburse the public for costs incurred in
repairing or restoring any public property to its conditions prior to the
public rally;

    12. The proposed public rally will interfere with the operations of
any governmental agency; or

    13. It reasonably appears that the proposed public rally will present
a clear and present danger to the public safety or health, or conflicts
with security needs anticipated for the time and place of the proposed
public rally.

Prior to denying an application for a public rally permit, Business
Licensing will make every effort to assist the applicant in finding a
suitable and safe location in the public domain that the proposed public
rally can safely take place at.  Business Licensing shall make specific
written findings on all factors upon which an application for a public
rally permit is denied.  Business Licensing shall not make any findings or
deny any application for any reason relating to the content of any
proposed expression, speech, idea or other protected activity. 462.70.
Appeal of denial of application for public rally permit.  (a) An applicant
shall appeal the denial of an application for a public rally permit within
5 business days of the denial.  An appeal must be submitted on a form
provided by Business Licensing.  Upon receipt of an appeal of a denial of
an application, the Assistant City Coordinator of Regulatory Services
shall designate a three-person appellate panel to hear the appeal. Two
panel members shall be Deputy Directors or Directors in Regulatory
Services, and one panel member shall be a City Council member.

     2. The appellate panel shall consider the appeal as soon as possible
so as to allow further review by state or federal courts prior to the date
of the proposed public rally.  If the date of the proposed public rally is
less than fourteen (14) days after the appeal was received, the appellate
panel shall convene and rule within one (1) business day of the appeal.

     3. The appellate panel hearing is not open to the public.  At the
hearing, the appellate panel may receive and consider all forms of
evidence, including hearsay evidence, and may set reasonable limits on the
number of witnesses that may be called by Business Licensing and by the
appellant. The appellate panel may limit the hearing to one (1) hour to
expedite its deliberation and ruling.  The appellant may be represented by
an attorney.

     4. The appellate panel may reverse, affirm or modify the denial of an
application for a public rally permit.  Upon the conclusion of the
hearing, the appellate panel shall notify Business Licensing and the
appellant of when it will issue its ruling.  The appellate panel shall
make every effort to rule as soon as possible so as to allow further
review by state or federal courts prior to the date of the proposed public
rally.

462.80.  Violation of permit conditions.  If a person violates the
conditions of any permit, the permit may be immediately revoked.  It shall
be a misdemeanor for any person to continue to engage in an activity for
which a permit was required after the permit has been revoked, provided
the person knows the permit as been revoked.

462.90.  Rights granted to permit holders.  Any person possessing a valid
permit has the exclusive right to use the area or facility specified in
the permit for the applicable time.  It shall be misdemeanor for any
person to refuse to leave an area or facility which has been reserved by a
valid permit when asked to do so by the permit holder or by any public
employee or official.

462.100.  Duties of permit holders.  It is the duty of the permit holder
to obey all laws and conditions on the permit, clean and restore the area
used for the public rally to its original condition after the public rally
has concluded, and to reimburse the City for all expenses incurred by the
City to repair or restore any public property damaged by the public rally.

462.80.  Other provisions not affected.  This chapter does not alter,
replace, modify or otherwise affect any other provisions in the
Minneapolis Code of Ordinances.

462.90.  Insurance required.  Upon written findings only, Business
Licensing may require an applicant to provide proof of insurance or a bond
to alleviate identified risks associated with a proposed public rally.

462.100.  Intergovernmental cooperation and coordination.  Business
Licensing staff is directed to coordinate and cooperate with other
political subdivisions, including the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board,
to the fullest extent possible and as authorized by Joint Powers
Agreements or other legal authority on the application process, permitting
process, planning, coordination and all other aspects of scheduling and
providing safe and available forums for public rallies.


--------13 of 26--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: Circus reform 8.08 1pm

August 8: Join Circus Reform Yes! at the Public Hearing for the Animal
Protection Ammendment by the Public Safety and Regulatory Services
committee at City Hall at 1:00 p.m. at the Council Chambers, City Hall,
downtown Minneapolis. More info.


--------14 of 26--------

From: farheen [at] farheenhakeem.org
Subject: Whites/racism 8.08 1pm

COMMUNITY DISCUSSION AND TRAINING ON WHITE PRIVILEGE & RACISM

Please join Avenues for Homeless Youth and Dr. Heather Hackman in
examining white privilege, white supremacy, and whiteness and the
implications they have on effective anti-racist work.

During this opportunity for discussion, awareness raising and breaking down
barriers, we will also be screening Mirrors of Privilege: Making
Whiteness Visible, a documentary which features the experiences of white
women and men who have worked to gain insight into what it means to
challenge notions of racism and white supremacy in the United States.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007
1-4pm
Pi Bar
2532 South 25th Avenue
Minneapolis

Questions: Call Amy Snyder at (612) 522-1690, ext. 104 or
Raquel (Rocki) Simões at (612) 522-1690, ext. 110

ALL ARE WELCOME.
THIS IS A FREE EVENT.  NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.


--------15 of 26--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: Organic farm 8.08 6pm

August 8: Women's Environmental Institute Organic Farm School with Ken
Meter (Crossroads Resource) Finding Food in Farm Country. 6PM- 8:00PM p.m.
at Amazon Bookstore, 4755 Chicago Ave S, Minneapolis MN.


--------16 of 26--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Vets/vs Israel 8.08 6pm Red Wing MN

Wednesday, 8/8, 6 pm meeting followed by a 7 pm presentation by an Israeli
dissident,, Red Wing Vets for Peace meets at Gary Stone's Hobgoblin Music,
929 Highway 19, Red Wing.  tuvecino [at] visi.com


--------17 of 26--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Ellison/war forum 8.08 6:30pm

[Ellison is not a progressive, but he plays on on TV. At best a liberal.
Republicans roll the capitalist steamroller over people, and walk away.
Liberals don't stop the steamroller, but are there to put band aids on
broken bones, and say "What a good boy am I." Go and give him hell for
his $$$ for war, and his one-sided trip to Israel. -ed]

Congressman Keith Ellison
Presents a Town Hall Forum:
PEACE & THE IRAQ WAR

Congress is considering legislation to address our nation's foreign policy
crisis. Reported U.S. Military deaths now total over 3630 , with over
26558 U.S. Soldiers wounded. (Source: U.S. Department of Defense
05-Jul-07)

Gen. David H. Petraeus the top U.S. commander in Iraq delivers the
"Initial Benchmark Assessment" progress report to Congress in September.
Please join Congressman Ellison to discuss current proposals for possible
troop withdrawals from Iraq. [Don't hold your breath. -ed]

Wednesday, August 8th
6:30 P.M. - 9:00 P.M.
CWA - Local 7200
3521 E. Lake St , Minneapolis

This is a great opportunity to voice your opinion about the war, get
legislative updates that affect peace, learn about legislative action to
stop the war, and to further the dialogue about peace.

[Too bad we don't have a rep that will keep his promises not to fund war;
that we have to keep begging and begging to get him to do what most people
want, and what he pledged to do. That's capitalist America for you. -ed]


--------18 of 26--------

From: Karl Hanson <abelincolnfromillinois [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Ramstad/war 8.08 7pm

[Ramstad is not a progressive; at best a liberal. -ed]

Our Federal Representatives are coming home soon. 
Representative Jim Ramstad Town Hall Meeting 
August 8, 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. 
City Hall Council Chambers 
5341 Maywood Road, Mound 
For more information, please call 952-738-8200 
Lets all descend on this event and make our voices heard.

[Maybe if we all scream at him and his buddies, they might think about
ending the war in 10 or 20 years - but only after we're kicked out, as we
were in Vietnam. Representative government represents the rich; the rest
of us have no voice unless we shut down this totally-broken system. -ed]

{Usually talking to these bozos is about as effective as yelling down a
well - and at least with the well you get a friendly responsive echo.
-ed]


--------19 of 26--------

Ellison to take weeklong trip to Israel, meet with Israeli, Palestinian
leaders Just back from Iraq, he will return to the Middle East on a
privately funded trip including 19 Congress members.

By Kevin Diaz and Jake Sherman, Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1338153.html

WASHINGTON - Rep. Keith Ellison will spend a week in Israel on a
privately funded trip sponsored by the America Israel Education Federation.

The AIEF - the charitable arm of the American-Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) - is sending 19 members of Congress to meet with Israeli
and Palestinian leaders Aug. 12 through Aug. 18. The group, made up mostly
of freshman Democrats, has plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The senior
member on the trip is House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who has
gone three times. Rick Jauert, Ellison's spokesman, said that Hoyer
personally invited the Minnesota Democrat.

"This is not an ideologically driven trip," said Josh Block, a spokesman
with AIPAC. "The trip will have a wide variety of people with diverse
perceptions. They will be up early in the mornings and have dinner by 8
[p.m.] so they are done by 11 [p.m.]."

Jauert called the Israel trip "a natural extension" of Ellison's visit to
Iraq last weekend. "It's another opportunity to meet and talk to people,
to listen and learn. Dialogue is everything to him, and the more he can
have, with more people, the better."

Jauert said Ellison's engagement with the Middle East peace issue is
important to the diverse communities of his Minneapolis-area district -
from the Jewish Community Relations Council to the patrons of the Holy
Land Middle Eastern eatery on Lake Street and Central Avenue. "He hears
about it every time he goes back to his district," Jauert said.

The group will stay in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and one night in the northern
Galilee region. While in Israel's north, the group will view its border
with Lebanon.

The trip to Israel is Ellison's second as a congressman. In the spring, he
traveled to the region as part of a congressional delegation with House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Later this month, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., will lead an AIEF-sponsored
trip comprised of Republicans.


--------20 of 26--------

Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 13:44:54 -0600
From: Jordan S. Kushner <kushn002 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: Ellison breaks promises to go on Israel lobby trip

Demand that Ellison Keep his Commitment to Peace in the Middle East

Keith Ellison has broken his commitment to taking an independent and
balanced trip to Israel and Palestine by agreeing to participate in a
Congressional delegation funded fully by an organization affiliated with
AIPAC.  Support from activists in the peace and justice, and Muslim
communities were critical for Keith Ellison's election victory.  We
campaigned for him in critical part because he promised to work for a just
and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.  In numerous
meetings before and after the election, Ellison promised that he would be
travelling to Israel and Palestine after elected, and that it would be a
balanced trip where he would meet independently with people supporting the
Israeli government, representatives of the Palestinian community and
gernuine Jewish Peace activists.  Ellison responded with understanding to
concerns about the typical pattern of congress people taking trips that
are paid for and organized by the Israeli lobby in order to make sure that
elected representatives are only exposed to the rightwing Israeli point of
view.  Now Ellison has abandoned his commitment and announced that this
month, he will be part of a trip funded by the American Israel Education
fund, an "charitable" organization affiliated with AIPAC.

Please call Ellison at (612) 522-1212, and demand that he decline to
participate in the AIPAC trip, and instead plan an independent trip
devoted to meeting with grassroots activists working for peace and
justice.

The Coalition for Palestinian Rights (CPR)
www.coalitionforpalestinianrights.wordpress.com
Coalition_for_Palestinian_Rights [at] yahoo.com



--------21 of 26--------

I'm Perturbed As Heck
by Cindy Sheehan
Published on Sunday, August 5, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

"I'm human, goddamnit, and my life counts!"

Howard Beale, Network 1971

In Paddy Chaefsky's brilliant movie, Network, news anchor, Howard Beale
(played by Peter Finch who was awarded an Oscar posthumously for his
remarkable performance) screams out: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to
take it anymore," and then we see people all over the city leaning out
their windows, screaming the same refrain.

In 1971, when the movie was made, our country was still deeply mired in
Vietnam and we were under the creepy thumb of the criminal and deadly,
Nixon regime. It's a good thing that in 1974 our country had some
courageous Congress Reps who were willing to stand up to the machine and
begin impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon which included three
articles: Article 1: Obstruction of Justice (Bush: Outing Valerie Plame
and commuting Scooter Libby.s sentence, etc); Article II: Abuse of Power
(Bush: signing statements, suspending Habeas Corpus, Patriot Act,
violating the crap out of FISA, Military Commission.s Act, etc), Article
III: Contempt of Congress (Bush: not allowing any of his aides to testify
and ignoring subpoenas, etc). The full House committee unfortunately
rejected an Article that was introduced to impeach Nixon for the illegal
secret bombings of Cambodia and Laos.

It's also amazing that the past Congress passed some important legislation
while a committee was investigating the impeachment of the Tricky Dick (we
now have a Trickier Dick!) As my friend, and member of that committee,
former New York rep, Liz Holtzman, often says; "Congress can chew gum and
walk at the same time". The present leadership of the House does not have
similar confidence in Congress' ability to do its Constitutionally
mandated job, perhaps because they are too busy handing over to BushCo
more of our freedoms. Maybe we are expecting too much, it is conceivable
that Congress cannot chew gum, walk AND simultaneously abdicate its
responsibility to be a check and balance on this tyrannical Bush regime.

With the Speaker of the House wanting to "work with" BushCo to
systematically excise our freedoms, and Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid
blaming the latest power-give away on the Republicans, when 16 Senate
Democrats shockingly voted "yea" one wonders when America is going to get
"mad as hell". Right now I think our mantra is: "I'm perturbed as heck and
I am going to take it as long as they dish it". Sitting behind a computer
and blasting off "angry" emails to your reps is not good enough: Even if
you include some "f" words. Hiding behind your job and bills and not
hitting the streets in massive numbers just gives Congress Inc and BushCo
tacit approval to run our ship of state further up onto the rocks. We are
getting the country and world that we deserve.

One day, in fact it was August 3, 2005, I was making my laptop fairly
smoke with righteous indignation and white-hot anger at the horrible and
needless deaths of 14 more Marines from the Ohio Reserves. I had been out
all over the country working my tookas off for change, but feeling like I
was getting nowhere, even though, everywhere I went my fellow Americans
were just as pissed as I was. A hopeless feeling of helplessness
practically immobilized us all. While I was typing an email that day
expressing all of these thoughts, I had a brainstorm: To go down to
Crawford, TX after the VFP convention in Dallas to confront George about
his manipulative "noble cause". On August 6th, we marched down Prairie
Chapel Road and into a veritable doodoo-storm of media attention. I think
around about the 5th day, a photographer finally agreed with me that it
was a "media circus," and most of us are familiar with the Camp Casey
story. One thing we learned that summer was attention does not mandate
policy adjustment.

Although much has changed in the USA: public opinion of George and his war
of choice for profit have tanked and Congress changed in November .06,
everything else has gotten worse. Besides the obvious loss of our
freedoms, BushCo in tandem with Congress Inc, has increased worldwide
Islamic Jihadism and fueled intense hatred of US corporate imperialism.
The dead and mutilated bodies keep piling up in Iraq and the flag-draped
coffins are surging home under the mainstream media's radar. The people of
Baghdad have gone without water for days now and anyone of us can go to
any faucet in our homes and pour ourselves a glass of safe water. The
Iraqis are human, goddamnit, and their lives count, too! By our inaction,
we form a union of callousness and violence with our federal employees.

535 members of Congress are about to go on undeserved vacations while our
troops and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering under the most
direst of circumstances and BushCo are poised to invade Iran and we all
know Gonzo may have to resign and George will use the sleazy recess
appointment process to foist another criminal on us.

Congress and BushCo have dismal approval ratings, but what does that say
about "We the People?" It says that in our Representative Republic, "We"
have no say. That's because many of us believe that our responsibilities
in that Representative Republic are fulfilled in the voting booth. If we
don't stand up to the people whom we employ and pay and make sure our
votes count literally and for what we stand for, then we are doomed to
being ruled by the ruthless elite who get their legislative orders from
the special interests.

As Congressman John Conyers wrote over a year ago in his fabulous treatise
on the crimes of BushCo called, Constitution in Crisis, "We have seen so
many transgressions by this Administration that it is easy to forget last
week's scandal amid this week's new outrage. I am hopeful that compiling
all of these events of the last few years will help wake all of us up to
the gravity of these matters and the cumulative damage to our country".

Wake up America - the situation is indeed grave and we have three branches
of government (and a complicit "fourth estate") that are committed to
politics and profits before people.

Nothing is going to change until we put people before the politics of
profit or the profit of politics.

www.CindyforCongress.org


--------22 of 26--------

Democrats' Responsibility for Bush Radicalism
by Glenn Greenwald
Published on Saturday, August 4, 2007 by Salon.com

It is staggering, and truly disgusting, that even in August, 2007 - almost
six years removed from the 9/11 attacks and with the Bush presidency
cemented as one of the weakest and most despised in American history -
that George W Bush can "demand" that the Congress jump and re-write
legislation at his will, vesting in him still greater surveillance power,
by warning them, based solely on his say-so, that if they fail to comply
with his demands, the next Terrorist attack will be their fault. And they
jump and scamper and comply (Meteor Blades has the list of the 16 Senate
Democrats voting in favor; the House will soon follow).

I just finished a discussion panel with ACLU Executive Director Anthony
Romero which was originally planned to examine his new (superb) book about
the work his organization has done for years in battling the endless
expansion of executive power and presidential lawbreaking. But the only
issue anyone in the room really wanted to discuss - including us - was the
outrage unfolding on Capitol Hill. And the anger was almost universally
directed where it belongs: on Congressional Democrats, who increasingly
bear more and more responsibility for the assaults on our constitutional
liberties and unparalleled abuses of government power - many (probably
most) of which, it should always be emphasized, remain concealed rather
than disclosed.

Examine virtually every Bush scandal and it increasingly bears the mark
not merely of Democratic capitulation, but Democratic participation. In
August of 2006, the Supreme Court finally asserted the first real limit on
Bush's radical executive power theories in Hamdan, only for Congress,
months later, to completely eviscerate those minimal limits - and then go
far beyond - by enacting the grotesque Military Commissions Act with the
support of substantial numbers of Democrats. What began as a covert and
illegal Bush interrogation and detention program became the officially
sanctioned, bipartisan policy of the United States.

Grave dangers are posed to our basic constitutional safeguards by the
replacement of Sandra Day O.Connor with Sam Alito, whose elevation to the
Supreme Court Congressional Democrats chose to permit. Vast abuses and
criminality in surveillance remain undisclosed, uninvestigated and
unimpeded because Congressional Democrats have stood meekly by while the
administration refuses to disclose what it has been doing in how it spies
on us. And we remain in Iraq, in direct defiance of the will of the vast
majority of the country, because the Democratic Beltway establishment
lacks both the courage and the desire to compel an end to that war.

And now Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, with revealing symbolism, cancel
their scheduled appearances this morning at Yearly Kos because George Bush
ordered them to remain in Washington in order to re-write and expand FISA
- a law which he has repeatedly refused to allow to be revised for years
and which he has openly and proudly violated. Congressional Democrats know
virtually nothing about how the Bush administration has been eavesdropping
on our conversations because the administration refused to tell them and
they passively accepted this state of affairs.

The intense rush to amend this legislation means that most of them have no
idea what they are actually enacting - even less of an idea than they
typically have. But what they know is that George Bush and Fox News and
the Beltway establishment have told them that they would be irresponsible
and weak and unserious if they failed to comply with George Bush's
instructions, and hence, they comply. In the American political landscape,
there have been profound changes in public opinion since September of
2001. But in the Beltway, among our political and media establishment,
virtually nothing has changed.

I don't have time this morning to dissect the various excesses and dangers
of the new FISA amendments, though Marty Lederman and Steve Benen both do
a typically thorough job in that regard. Suffice to say, craven fear, as
usual, is the author of this debacle.

There are many mythologies about what are the defining beliefs and
motivations of bloggers and their readers and the attendees at Yearly Kos.
One of the principal myths is that it is all driven by a familiar and
easily defined ideological agenda and/or a partisan attachment to the
Democratic Party. That is all false.

The common, defining political principle here - what resonates far more
powerfully than any other idea - is a fervent and passionate belief in our
country's constitutional framework, the core liberties it secures, and the
checks and balances it offers as a safeguard against tyrannical power.
Those who fail to defend that framework, or worse, those who are passively
or actively complicit in its further erosion, are all equally culpable.
With each day that passes, the radicalism and extremism originally spawned
in secret by the Bush presidency becomes less and less his fault and more
and more the fault of those who - having discovered what they have been
doing and having been given the power to stop it - instead acquiesce to it
and, worse, enable and endorse it.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and
discover new web pages.


--------23 of 26--------

Time for something different
ed

In the 50s and 60s and 70s, the Dem party was stronger and more
courageous than today. It had some outspoken and principled leaders.
Though the DP often caved in to corporations and the rich, it didn't
*always* do so, and sometimes it was actively on the side of the people.

Sometime in the late 70s or early 80s that came to an end; the "party of
the people" was replaced by the "party of the rich branch 2".

Today the people, the majority, get nothing zero zip nada from the federal
government, and less and less (almost nothing) from state and city
government.

The sinking of the DP from "sometimes effective" to "you want what??!!"
has not yet sunk into the minds and actions of most Dems and many Greens.
They imagine they are being "pragmatic" and "mature" by voting, way to
their right, for lesser-evil Dems.

Well, it NO LONGER WORKS. It is no longer pragmatic or mature or
rational etc to vote for a party that NEVER gives you anything but crumbs,
and fewer of them every day. Neither corporate party will do anything for
us, and a lot against us. There has to be an appropriate negative word for
this behavior - pick your own.

This means that the majority, those who want things the DP won't give,
need to DO SOMETHING ELSE, on a LARGE SCALE, and SOON. -ed


--------24 of 26--------

Sad Day? How About a Sad Six and a Half Years?
Spy Power: Bush Demands, Congress Delivers -- Again and Again and Again
By DAVE LINDORFF
August 4 / 5, 2007
CounterPunch

What was Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) thinking when he told Senate colleagues
it was a "sad day" when that body started taking its marching orders from
an outsider (the president and the director of national security), in
passing a new version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
that gives the president a free hand to spy on communications of Americans
without a judicial review?
Is he implying that this is the first time the Senate has done this?

Isn't that exactly what the Senate (and the House) did when they passed
the so-called USA PATRIOT Act in October 2001? Isn't that what they did in
overturning the Posse Comitatus Act and in altering the Insurrection Act
last fall? Isn't it what they did in approving the Military Commissions
Act last year, which retroactively okayed the use of torture on captives?

The truth is that the Senate and House have both become little more than
rubber stamps for Administration power grabs ever since 9-11. Indeed,
since that date, the members of Congress have been willing sell-outs of
their own institution, which today bears no resemblance to what the
Founders described in Article I of the Constitution--a document which the
members have effectively destroyed.

For the past six-and-a-half years we have watched as a group of political
midgets have destroyed what hundreds of thousands of our ancestors put
their lives on the line to create and defend--a government system that was
founded on the concept of individual rights and liberties, and that was
structured to limit the power of the executive.

Much has been made of a conversation at the White House a few years ago,
in which Bush is reported to have told a few Republican members of the
House that the Constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper." In fact,
that is what the members of Congress have also decided by their
actions--and by their continued inaction.
Prior to 2006, it was primarily the Republicans in Congress who were
trashing the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the concept of
separation of powers, though with significant Democratic backing. Now, it
is the Democrats who are the wrecking crew.

Make no mistake: the Democrats did not have to pass this latest piece of
legislation, loosing the NSA spies on us all. They had the power to kill
that bill in its tracks. Instead, they succumbed to the President's empty
threat to label them all "soft on terror" if they didn't give him what he
wanted: a blank check. They caved, just as they did when they had the
power to end the war in Iraq last April by cutting off funding for it, and
instead, voted to fund it in full.

The Democrats in this Congress are a bunch of spineless cowards and
willing enablers, and they now bear the chief responsibility for
establishing the elements of an American police state.

For that is clearly where this nation is headed.

There was no need to give the president new warrantless surveillance
powers. Would be terrorists are already fully aware of the government's
spying capabilities and certainly are being cautious in their use of
phones and email to communicate. Moreover, the secret FISA court has
demonstrated that it is most accommodating of spying requests, having only
rejected one such request from the President and National Security Agency
in the past two years. It is obvious then that what the president is
seeking is expanded power to spy on Americans. And incredibly, despite his
27-percent support rating in the polls, and despite widespread public
fears of this kind of government snooping, he is getting it.

Sen. Feingold has been one of the staunchest defenders of the
Constitution, voting against the USA Patriot Act and against the invasion
of Iraq, but he is wrong to imply that before Friday's betrayal of that
document, the Senate was acting as an independent body. Both the Senate
and the House ceased playing their constitutional role and became rubber
stamps a long time ago.

Instead of empty rhetoric, Sen. Feingold needs to take action and mount a
filibuster against this shameful and dangerous bill, so that when it comes
back for a final vote after being reconciled with whatever comes out of
the House, it is killed.

Dave Lindorff's latest book is The Case for Impeachment. He can be reached
at: dlindorff [at] mindspring.com


--------25 of 26--------

 ballpark up, bridge down
 hit a fly, or fall and die
 ballpark up, bridge down


--------26 of 26--------

 take me out to the bridge fall
 take me out to the crowd
 buy me some peanuts and cracker jack
 I don't care if I never get back
 (never get back (never get back))

 it's root root root in the debris
 hear them all talk with their gall
 and it's one two three strikes you're out
 at the old bridge fall


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