Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 03.18.12 /2

[David Shove (shove001]

 * P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    03.18.12*

1. Fast/march/Iraq       3.18 1:30pm
2. AI/Rowley/war/truth  3.18 3pm

3. Marti/Luke Hiken - The pathology of the American voter
4. ed                      - Robo-Pols  (haiku)

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From: WAMM
Fast/march/Iraq 3.18 1:30pm

Fast, March and Program: War in Iraq—Worth the Cost?
Sunday, March 18, 1:30 p.m.
St. Paul Cathedral, Front Steps, 239 Selby Avenue, St. Paul.

On the anniversary of the March 19, 2003 Iraq invasion, join others in
reflection. Sunup until sundown liquid fast and reflection on the costs of
the War in Iraq. March from the Cathedral to the First Shot Memorial at the
south end of State Capitol grounds. Bell will be rung 11 times and
following each ring a two-minute reflection on the costs of War in Iraq.
Reflections for this anniversary include “Did we do all we could to prevent
this tragedy?” and “Are we doing all we can to prevent the next unnecessary
military disaster?”
Fast will continue at the St. Paul Cathedral until sundown followed by a
communal meal at the Black Dog Café in Lowertown. The public is invited to
participate in any or all parts of this day of remembrance. Sponsored by:
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27, FFI: Call 612-821-9141 or visit
www.vfpchapter27.org.


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From: Amnesty International group 37 lundx061 [at] umn.edu via
mail125.us2.mcsv.net
AI/Rowley/war/truth  3.18 3pm

Amnesty International Group 37
Next Meeting - March 18th at 3:00 PM.

Meeting Location - First Congregational Church in Minneapolis. The church
is located
at 500 8th Ave SE _Minneapolis_ MN 55414-1910.

Our speaker on Sunday, March 18th  is Coleen Rowley.  She will talk about
“Truth is the First Casualty of War”, with emphasis on US practices of
Torture and Rendition, the continuing Guantanamo travesty of justice, our
Homeland security system that costs twice what we spend on health care
research by NIH, and the methods of Eric Holder and President Obama and US
Law.

Coleen Rowley is a retired FBI agent and former Minneapolis FBI Legal
Counsel who, in May of 2002 brought some of the pre 9-11 lapses to light.
Rowley's memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller in connection with the Joint
Intelligence Committee's Inquiry led to a two year long Department of
Justice Inspector General investigation.  She also testified to the Senate
Judiciary Committee about some of the endemic problems facing the FBI and
the intelligence community.  She was one of three whistleblowers chosen as
persons of the year by TIME magazine.

In April 2003, following an unsuccessful and highly criticized attempt to
warn the Director and other administration officials about the dangers of
launching the invasion of Iraq, Rowley stepped down from her legal
position. She retired from the FBI at the end of 2004 and now writes and
speaks publicly to various groups, ranging from school children to
business/professional/civic groups, on two different topics: ethical
decision-making and "civil liberties and effective investigation."

Rowley has authored chapters in the 2004 book Patriotism, Democracy and
Common Sense: Restoring America's Promise at Home and Abroad as well as the
2012 bookWhy Peace.


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The Pathology of the American Voter
by Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken / March 14th, 2012

What is going on in this country? Have the citizens of the U.S. gone
totally mad?

The U.S. Congress has an approval rating of less than 10%. Greedy,
unprincipled billionaires own virtually all of the wealth of the nation,
and pay a lower percentage for taxes than the poorest worker. We imprison a
greater percent of our population than any nation on earth. We spend more
on vicious, unwarranted wars than the 15 top military spending countries
combined. We are the greatest purveyor of murder and destruction
internationally than anyone else.

Our public school system is under attack, and becoming obsolete. A college
degree has become so expensive as to be unavailable to middle class
families. The safety net for the old and infirm is being torn asunder. Our
immigration policies are so degrading and inhumane that there is a mass
exodus from the U.S. by peoples who used to flock here. Health care is a
national disgrace, and is fast becoming unaffordable to any person in need
of hospitalization. Homeland Security looks more like the German Gestapo
every day.

The list of failures and problems facing the country is unparalleled, and
the public knows it. Everything from cartoons to serious news shows bemoan
the catastrophic decline in this country’s standard of living, and
recognize the incompetence and inhumanity of those in power. This is so,
even though the public media is little more than a propaganda tool for the
oligarchy.
What is the most astonishing fact, though, is that there are no candidates
or possibilities for new leadership on the horizon anywhere! Obama is the
best of the pack of wolves and thieves who are actively destroying this
nation. 95% of those in Congress who are running for re-election are are
certain to retain their status. How in the world is that possible? Any
rational person would expect the electorate to throw these pandering,
posturing politicians  out on their keesters, and elect a set of
representatives who would radically change the picture. But instead, we are
about to re-affirm the failed, dying programs that have transformed this
country into a  violent, disrespected second-rate nation. What a
contradiction in logic and reality!

What kind of national pathology is causing the electorate to allow the
oligarchy to engage in this unadulterated rush to destroy everything of
value in this country? Like lemmings, rushing into the sea to commit
suicide, the voters will once again endorse the same fools who have
immobilized Congress for decades, will do nothing to control a run-away
Pentagon, and its maniacal weapons manufacturers, and will accept Wall
Street’s unregulated destruction of our wealth and resources. There is
simply no rational explanation for the inability of the American people to
find alternatives to the elected gangsters who bow to every billionaire
that comes before them.

It is apparent that the voting public in the U.S. feels so disenfranchised
from the process that it has for all intents left the spoils to the
thieves. By abandoning any process by which there can be meaningful change
in the policies of this government, the people have accepted the fact that
there are no meaningful differences between the Democrats and the
Republicans. The wars will continue, the repression will expand, the rich
will get richer, and the rest of us are on our own.

Luke Hiken is an attorney who has engaged in the practice of criminal,
military, immigration, and appellate law. Marti Hiken is the director of
Progressive Avenues. She is the former associate director of the Institute
for Public Accuracy and former chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military
Law Task Force.

This article was posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 at 8:00am and is
filed under Corruption, Democrats, Education, Elections,
Military/Militarism, Obama, Right Wing Jerks.


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-The Koch Conspiritor, April 2013

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New genetically
engineered legislators
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