Progressive Calendar 06.21.11
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:12:07 -0700 (PDT)
             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R   06.21.11
                            outsource the rich

1. Mendota Dakota  6.21 5pm
2. Bradley Manning 6.21 6pm
3. Health care     6.21 6:30pm

4. Alliant vigil   6.22 7am
5. Tax the rich    6.22 12noon
6. Sienna Green    6.22 4pm
7. Women/Cuba      6.22 7pm
8. PTSD            6.22 7pm

9. Chris Hedges - Tim DeChristopher: this hero didn't stand a chance

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From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Mendota Dakota 6.21 5pm

"Rebirth of the Mendota Dakota Community"

Part documentary and part interview of Jim Anderson, the new chairperson
of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Council.  We journey deep into
the history of the Twin Cities area and touch on the Mdewakanton Dakota
people's creation story, history with French traders, the Louisiana
Purchase, the Treay of 1805, the beginning of white settlement in
minisota, Henry Sibley's relationship with local Indigenous people, the
US-Dakota War of 1862, and ongoing struggles by the Mendota Dakota
community to retain Dakota traditions and land. (June '11)

SPNN 15 viewers:
"Our World In Depth" cablecasts on St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN)
Channel 15 on Tuesdays at 5pm, midnight and Wednesday mornings at 10am,
after DemocracyNow!  Households with basic cable may watch.
** Tues, 6/21, @ 5pm & midnight + Wed, 6/22, 10am
"Rebirth of the Mendota Dakota Community"


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From: Facebook <notification+kr4ma254ennx [at] facebookmail.com>
Subject: Bradley Manning 6.21 6pm

Free Bradley Manning at NE Minneapolis Parade
Tuesday, June 21 at 6:00pm
Tuesday, June 21 at 8:00pm
Meet Outside Diamonds Coffee Shop

To see more details, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=115239641897998&mid=458f209G5af33cc48ac6G971430G7&bcode=iaBOmkuF&n_m=shove001%40tc.umn.edu


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From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Health care 6.21 6:30pm

Pax Salon
June 21, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Mad Hatter Café
943 W 7th, St Paul
R.S.V.P pattypax [at] earthlink.net

Join the conversation: Health care in Minnesota

The Twin Cities Daily Planet's series, The New Normal: Deciding Community
Priorities in a Downsized Economy,tackles a different issue each month. In
June we'll be talking about health care, and will ask people in the Twin
Cities: "How can we ensure that all Minnesotans have access to good,
affordable, dependable health care?"

Come and chat with others over snacks, learn some basics about trends in
health care coverage, and let us know how you think we should best expand
coverage for all Minnesotans. Whether you're a health care provider,
patient, work in the insurance industry, or a concerned citizen, we want
to hear your thoughts on solutions for creating good health care coverage
for all Minnesotans.

Jobs and Minnesota's Future view counter

We'll be using research from the Wilder Foundation's MN Compass project
and an article from the Twin Cities Daily Planet to get this interactive
conversation going. By participating in this discussion, though, you'll
provide the part that matters most. We'll report on these conversations in
the TC Daily Planet, and will share the results with policy makers.

They are coming to salon to lead in the discussion.  patty


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From: AlliantACTION <alliantaction [at] circlevision.org>
Subject: Alliant vigil 6.22 7am

Join us Wednesday morning, 7-8 am
Now in our 14th year of consecutive Wednesday
morning vigils outside Alliant Techsystems,
7480 Flying Cloud Drive Eden Prairie.
We ask Who Profit$? Who Dies?
directions and lots of info: alliantACTION.org


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From: kim defranco <kimdefranco [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Tax the rich 6.22 12noon

Join us!
PICKET at Capitol (meet at the Gov's office)
Wednesday June 22th 2011, 12 noon to 1 pm

Welfare Rights Committee and others will be delivering letters to the
Republican Leadership. We demand the Republicans to Stop holding the State
of MN and its people hostage. Tax the Rich!

Welfare Rights Committee and Low income families still want Governor
Dayton to hold the line:
 NO DEAL, NO CUTS to Poor and Working Minnesotans!
 TAX THE RICH or Shut the Government Down!

Time is running out, Republicans continue to push the state toward a
government shut-down. For working and poor, disabled and elderly
Minnesotans, a government shut-down would by far be a better outcome than
the deadly cuts that Republicans are trying to force down our throats.

The Richest in Minnesota Have Not Paid One Dime for the Past Decade of
Budget Deficits

While we have paid for the budget deficits with our blood, the wealthiest
in Minnesota have not paid even one dime. In fact they have gotten richer
and richer at the expense of poor and working Minnesotans. Look at the
facts: if the governor's original proposal to raise taxes on 5% of the
population with the most income results in over $3 billion, this signifies
just how much the State of Minnesota has been losing in tax income, year
after year after year because the rich have not paid their fair share and
because of the massive tax breaks they have benefitted from. This is
incredible. It also means that the richest have amassed billions of
dollars in extra income year after year while the rest of the people in
the state have been living in desperate times.

The Rich Created the Budget Crisis, The Rich Should Pay!

The fact is, if the rich paid their share of taxes we would not even be in
a budget deficit. We feel the rich should actually PAY BACK the wealth
they have gained at our expense, and, in this time of budget crisis this
state should be prioritizing the survival needs of the families and
individuals in who are coping with disabilities and unemployment.
Republican Plan Butchers the Safety Net for Working and Poor Minnesotans!

Governor Dayton must Continue to SAY NO!

We SAY: NOT ONE DIME in CUTS to Poor and Working Minnesotans! We call on
Dayton to stand up to those who are threatening devastation on the people
of Minnesota and Say NO to the CUTS! Make the Rich Pay!

Let us know if you are coming on Wednesday June 22th 2011, 12 noon to 1 pm
FFI: Welfare Rights Committee 612-822-8020
welfarerightsmn.wordpress.com


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From: Alan Arthur <info [at] aeonmn.org>
Subject: Sienna Green 6.22 4pm

Preserving, Creating and Thriving: Celebrate Sienna Green!

Sienna Green-9.jpg Please join Aeon on Wednesday, June 22 from 4:00-6:00
p.m. as we celebrate the Grand Opening of Sienna Green Phase I, and break
ground on Phase II.

Sienna Green Phase I established a sustainable and replicable model for
revitalizing aging housing stock, transforming an underutilized 1960s-era
complex into a vibrant site.

Phase II will create apartment homes for families atop what had been a
barren parking lot.

Featuring prime access to employment, transportation and education,
Sienna Green is providing Roseville with sustainable, high-quality and
affordable homes for generations.

Sienna Green Phase I Grand Opening / Phase II Groundbreaking
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 --- 4:00-6:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m. - Tours of Sienna Green Phase I
5:00 p.m. - Program featuring Roseville Mayor Dan Roe, Minnesota Housing
Commissioner Mary Tingerthal, Ramsey County Commissioner Jan Parker,
Senator John Marty and Sienna Green residents
5:30 p.m. - Ceremonial Groundbreaking of Sienna Green Phase II

Sienna Green Apartments --- 2225 Snelling Ave. N, Roseville
Light snacks will be served

For parking information and directions, please click here
For additional information, please call 612-341-3148, ext. 206

Aeon extends its gratitude to the sponsor of the Sienna Green ceremonies:
Color USBankLogo_RGB.jpg


--------7 of 9--------

From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Women/Cuba 6.22 7pm

Women and Cuba Today, a Lively Conversation with Polly Mann and Katia de
Llano

Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 p.m. 1425 West 28th Street, Minneapolis
(parking in lot). Polly Mann is a founder of WAMM and  Katia de Llano
is a founder of the Cuban Women's Federation. Katia was also an
underground activist in the 26th of July Movement that overthrew the
Batista government and an economics professor at the University of
Havana. Sponsored by: WAMM. FFI: Call 612-827-5364.


--------8 of 9--------

From: Women Against Military Madness <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: PTSD 6.22 7pm

Cynthia Orange: "Trickle Down Trauma: A Discussion about the Far-Reaching
Effects of PTSD"
Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 p.m. Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Avenue South,
Minneapolis.

Author, Cynthia Orange will discuss what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) symptoms look like in real life and will offer practical tools for
self-care for those who struggle to care for a traumatized loved one.
Cynthia's now book "Shock Waves" incorporates her family experience,
advice from mental health experts, and stories from others affected by
trauma. Sponsoerde by: Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27. FFI: Call
612-333-4719 or visit http://maydaybookstore.org/.


--------9 of 9--------

Tim DeChristopher: This Hero Didn't Stand a Chance
by Chris Hedges
Published on Monday, June 20, 2011 by TruthDig

Tim DeChristopher is scheduled to be sentenced in a Salt Lake City
courtroom by U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on July 26. He faces up to 10
years in prison and a $750,000 fine for fraudulently bidding in December
2008 on parcels of land, including areas around eastern Utah's national
parks, which were being sold off by the Bush administration to the oil and
natural gas industry. As Bidder No. 70, he drove up the prices of some of
the bids and won more than a dozen other parcels for $1.8 million. The
government is asking Judge Benson to send DeChristopher to prison for four
and a half years.

Tim DeChristopher. His prosecution is evidence that our moral order has
been turned upside down. The bankers and swindlers who trashed the global
economy and wiped out some $40 trillion in wealth amass obscene amounts of
money, much of it provided by taxpayers. They do not go to jail.
Regulatory agencies, compliant to the demands of corporations, refuse to
impede the destruction unleashed by the coal, oil and natural gas
companies as they turn the planet into a hothouse of pollutants, poisoned
water, fouled air and contaminated soil in the frenzied quest for greater
and greater profits. Those who manage and make fortunes from pre-emptive
wars, embrace torture, carry out extrajudicial assassinations, deny habeas
corpus and run up the largest deficits in human history are feted as
patriots. But when a courageous citizen such as DeChristopher peacefully
derails the corporate and governmental destruction of the ecosystem, he is
sent to jail.

"The rules are written by those who profit from the status quo,"
DeChristopher said when I reached him by phone this weekend in
Minneapolis.  "If we want to change that status quo we have to step
outside of those rules. We have to put pressure on those within the
political system to choose one side or another."

DeChristopher, whose defense is being assisted by the website Peaceful
Uprising, knew the government would be auctioning off public land in a sale
in Salt Lake City, where he had gone to college. He knew it was wrong. He
knew he had to do something. But he did not know what. So he did what all
of us should begin to do. He showed up.

"I went there with the intention of standing in the way of the auction,"
he told me. "I had no idea what that would look like. I thought I might
give a speech or yell something. It was right after the guy threw a shoe
at Bush. That was on my mind. I went there and at the front desk they
said, 'Would you like to be a bidder?' I said, 'Yes, I would.' I was still
thinking when I signed up, "OK, I'll sign up to be a bidder so I can get
inside and make a speech." It wasn't until I got inside the auction room
that I saw I had a huge opportunity to stand in the way of the auction. I
had been preparing myself over the course of 2008 in a general way to take
that level of action. I had been building up that commitment. I was
looking for the opportunity at that point. I was ready to capitalize on
it. I had prepared myself for it."

But what he had not prepared himself for was the way the justice system
would be stacked against him. It became clear during the selection of the
jury that he did not stand a chance. As the prospective jurors entered the
court, activists handed them a pamphlet printed by the Fully Informed Jury
Association. It said that jurors had a right to come to any decision based
on the evidence and their consciences.

"When the judge and the prosecutor found that out, the prosecutor,
especially, flipped his shit," DeChristopher said. "He insisted that the
judge tell the jurors that this information was not true. The judge pulled
most of the jurors in[to] the chambers and questioned them one at a time.
He talked about what was in the pamphlet. He said that regardless of what
the pamphlet said it was not their job to decide if this is right or
wrong, but to listen to what he said was the law and follow that even if
they thought it was morally unjust. They were not allowed to use [their]
conscience. They were told they would be violating their oath if they
decided this on conscience rather than the evidence that he told them to
listen to. I was sitting in that chamber and could see one person after
another accept this notion. I could see it in their faces, that they had
to do what they were told even if they thought it was morally unjust. That
is a scary thing to witness in another human being. I saw it in one person
after another brought in the courtroom, sitting at the end of a long table
in front of the paternalistic figure of [the] judge with all the majesty
around him. They accepted it. They did not question it. It gave me a
really good understanding of how some of the great human atrocities
happened with the consent of the population, that people can accept what
is happening, that it is not their job to question whether any of this is
right or wrong."

As the trial began, the judge refused to let DeChristopher's defense team
inform the jury that the auction was later overturned and declared
illegal.  The judge also refused to let the defense team inform the jury
that DeChristopher had raised the money for the initial payment and
offered it to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which then refused to
accept it.

"We weren't able to tell the jury either of those things," he said.
"They never knew that the auction was overturned. They never knew I
offered the BLM the money. They were told over and over by the judge they
were not allowed to use their conscience. When the verdict came it was not
a surprise."

"When our Founding Fathers created the jury system they called it the best
defense against legislative tyranny," he said. "They expected that if the
government was passing laws that were out of line with the values of the
community, then people would break those laws and take their case before a
jury of their peers who would decide whether or not that person's actions
were justified. That was the system our country was founded upon. That
shifted radically as the role of the jury has been minimized in our
criminal justice system. Juries are no longer given the opportunity to
weigh all the factors of a case and are specifically told they are not
allowed to use their conscience. It is not their job to decide if things
are right or wrong. This is a drastic departure from the system that was
originally created in this country."

When I asked DeChristopher why he did not work within the system, perhaps
by backing a progressive Democrat, he answered that "if there was such a
thing I might consider it."

"I don't see anyone in our political system advocating for significant
change," he said. "I haven't ignored the political system. I paid
attention when the Waxman-Markey [cap and trade] bill was being debated. I
saw that there was a Republican amendment that if energy prices in any
region of the country ever go up by more than 10 percent the whole bill is
null and void. In other words, if the survival of our children ever costs
more than about $300 a year per household, we are going to stop and give
up. Both sides debated for over an hour whether it would or not ever cost
$300. But there was no one who ever stood up and said maybe the cost was
worth it, maybe that was too low a price to put on the heads of your
children, maybe it was immoral to put any price on the heads of our
children. There was no one standing up and addressing the severity of
climate change."

DeChristopher helped organize a grass-roots campaign in an unsuccessful
effort to unseat five-term U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah.

"I saw after the experience with the Waxman-Markey bill that our Blue Dog
Democrats in Utah had to go," he said. He worked for candidate Claudia
Wright in a campaign that split the delegate vote and forced a runoff
primary.

"There is value in working within the democratic system, but first we need
to create a democratic system," he said. "When we ran Claudia Wright it
started with a Craig's List 'help wanted' ad for a 'Courageous
Congressperson.' We pulled together a panel of longtime activists who were
well respected in Utah representing various issues, from environmental
issues to peace and justice to LGBT rights, labor, immigration rights and
health care. That panel held public interviews at the Salt Lake City
Library with all the people who had applied to the Craig's List ad.
Everybody from the district was invited and got to vote in instant runoff
voting. That is how we came up with that candidate. We started from
scratch."

"If we were going to have a democracy, what would it look like? That was
one experiment," he said. "Craig's List is probably not the ultimate
answer. But we started from the acknowledgement that if we want to work
within the democratic process we had to build it first."

DeChristopher, who is 29, admits he was "cautiously optimistic" during the
2008 presidential campaign.

"I saw that nothing Obama was saying was actually good enough in terms of
the climate crisis," he said. "There was a faint hope in me that perhaps
he was saying what he needed to say to get elected and then he would turn
out to actually be a progressive."

He heard Naomi Klein give a talk shortly before the election. She told her
listeners that if Barack Obama was a centrist and the center was not good
enough to defend our survival then our job was to move the center.

"That resonated with me," DeChristopher said. " That was where my thinking
at the time was. We as a movement had to move the center. That is another
reason I turned to civil disobedience. I was looking to do something
beyond what was considered acceptable to shift those boundaries, to create
more space where people could be more aggressive without being on the
radical edge."

"The chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said what we
do in the next two or three years will determine our future, and he said
that in 2007 and we didn't do anything," he said. "A lot of folks like Jim
Hansen admit it off the record, but won't say it publicly, that it is
actually too late for any amount of emission reductions to prevent some
sort of collapse of our industrial civilization. That certainly doesn't
mean all is lost. It means we are in a position where we are definitely
going to be navigating the most intense period of change humanity has ever
seen. What that means for us is that it really matters who is in charge
during that intense period of change. It means that things are going to be
desperate."

"Generally in desperate times those in power do desperate things to hold
on to their power in the name of order and security," he went on.  "That
is when things have gotten really ugly in the localized examples of
collapse that we have in history, whether they were economically induced
as in Germany in the 1930s or environmentally induced as in Darfur. Rather
than an opportunity for mass reflection, which it could be, where we could
say we had this coming because of fundamental flaws in the way we
structured our society, that maybe greed and competition were not the best
values to base everything off of, rather than doing that, it is much more
common in those historical examples to say, 'Oh, it was because of those
people.' A class of people was scapegoated. The powerful said, 'Those are
the people who are causing our problems and if we take it out on them we
can maintain order and security for the rest of us.' That is when things
get really ugly and dehumanizing."

"We are starting to see hints of that already with the rather minor
ripples that we have been having in the past few years with the economic
situation," he said. "Rather than admit the fundamental flaws, many of
those in power have said, 'Oh, it is because of those immigrants that are
taking people's jobs, or those Arabs, or those unions, whoever the
scapegoat is, to try and vilify someone. What we are on track for are much
larger ripples than we have had in the past couple years with the economic
problems. If we go into that collapse with our current power structure and
a world run by corporations, where we have ignorant and apathetic people
who are afraid of their own government and think their job is to do what
they are told, even if they think it is immoral, that is when things can
get really ugly. If we go into that collapse with an awakened and educated
population that views it as their role to create the society they want and
hold their government accountable then we have the opportunity, whatever
hardships we might face, to actually build a better world on the ashes of
this one."

"Our strategies must be to not only change our energy system and food
system, but to change our power structures," he said. "We shouldn't be
looking for the big corporations running the show to become a little
greener and cleaner. We should be overthrowing those corporations running
our government. Our job as a movement is not just to reduce emissions;
while we still need to do that, we also have this other challenge of
maintaining our humanity through whatever challenges lie ahead. This is
much more abstract and foreign to this movement."

"Civil disobedience puts us in a vulnerable position," DeChristopher said.
"It puts us in a position where we are refusing to be obedient to
injustice. Civil disobedience puts us in a position where we are making a
risk and possibly making a sacrifice to stand up against that injustice.
It also puts us in a position where with that vulnerability we see how
much we need other people. This is something I have experienced over the
past few years as people have come out of nowhere to support me, to make
actions more powerful and to help me personally get through this
experience and grow from it. Appreciating these connections is one of the
most important parts of resiliency. A lot of the unwillingness to take
bold action is coming from a disempowerment that comes from a lack of
connection. When we view ourselves as isolated individuals it does not
make sense to stand up to a big powerful institution like a big
corporation or big government. It is not until we gain the understanding
that we are part of something much bigger that we feel empowered to take
those necessary actions. This is a self-reinforcing cycle. The more we
stick our neck out the more connected we become and the more empowered we
become to do it again."

DeChristopher, who attends a Unitarian church in Salt Lake City, comes out
of the religious left. This left, defined by Christian anarchists such as
Dorothy Day, Philip Berrigan and his brother Father Daniel Berrigan, as
well as Dr. Martin Luther King, takes a moral stance not because it is
always effective but because it is right, because to live the moral life
means that there is no alternative. This life demands a commitment to
justice no matter how bleak the future appears. And what sustains
DeChristopher is what sustained the religious radicals who went before
him - faith.

"The connection to a religious community for me is a big part of the
empowerment," he said. "From talking with a lot of the old Freedom Riders
and other folks in the civil rights movement, it was in the church
community that people found the strength and the faith that, no matter
what happened to them when they sat at that lunch counter or got on that
bus, there would be another wave of people coming behind them to take
their place and another wave behind that and behind that. And that is part
of what is missing from the progressive community today. Part of my belief
system is an appreciation of our connectedness to the natural world, the
interconnected web of life of which I am a part. I am not an isolated
individual, and this understanding is what empowers me, but also in a more
direct way in that I am connected to the church community who I knew would
support me. Sitting in that auction when I was deciding to do this I was
thinking about whether anyone would support me. The people I knew would
have my back were in the church. That helped drive me to action."

And because of that he understands that any resistance can never succumb to
the temptation of violence.

"Violence is the realm our current power structure is really good at,"
he said. "They are eager to play that game. Any opportunity we give them
[to use violence], they will win. That is the game they win at. The
history of social movements in this country shows that we are far more
powerful with nonviolent civil disobedience than we are with what our
audience considers to be violence."

"Once our actions are deemed to be violent then that justifies repressive
tactics on the part of the government," he said. "With a nonviolent
movement we are still inviting a strong reaction from the government or
ruling authorities. We are inviting a powerful reaction against ourselves.
But it undermines the moral legitimacy of our current government. That is
the path we need to pursue. Rather than reinforcing their legitimacy we
need to undermine their legitimacy.

© 2011 Chris Hedges
 Chris Hedges writes a regular column for Truthdig.com. Hedges graduated
from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign
correspondent for The New York Times. He is the author of many books,
including: War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, What Every Person Should
Know About War, and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on
America. His most recent book is Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy
and the Triumph of Spectacle.


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