Thursday, January 29, 2009

[PDI] Clifford Stone:

 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2DNSEKx1aM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIZrwlOGSTk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W_3aneRPOg


 
 
"I have lost faith, godammit! I put my faith in the People and that was a mistake! This is a shit people! They get stolen blind by their politicians and they lick their boots. They send their kids off to die for somebody's business deal and they celebrate it like they're doing something heroic! This great and glorious people! Lazy sacks of junk food and jingo!"
 
From: "The Army of the Republic"  by Stuart Archer Cohen
 



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[PDI] Excellent article from Tree Hugger on local currencies - including current ones

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/print-your-own-money-build-community.php

Enjoy - Dan Stafford

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

[PDI] Serious Materials

From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/15/BU7F159UIJ.DTL
 
Righteous capitalist: Remember that union sit-in early last month at a Chicago factory that rivaled "Norma Rae" for drama and working-class justice? It turns out that the Sunnyvale green building company,
Serious Materials, is doing more than applauding. It's negotiating to buy the factory and rehire the workers.
 
Serious Materials, which specializes in sustainable glass and other green building materials, is discussing the idea with creditors of the now-bankrupt firm, Republic Windows and Doors. Approximately 200 union workers occupied the plant for several days in December after being summarily fired just before Republic's bosses closed the place. The sit-in ended only after Republic's chief creditor, Bank of America, agreed to kick in the money for their unpaid severance and accrued vacation pay.
 
Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace contacted the union, United Electrical Workers Local 1110, when he saw the story. Now with the union fully backing the proposed deal, Surace said, it's up to the judge handling Republic's bankruptcy - and Bank of America as the chief creditor - to allow it. "They could stall it, they could let the deal go through tomorrow," Surace said. "Hopefully we'll wrap it up soon."


 
 
"I have lost faith, godammit! I put my faith in the People and that was a mistake! This is a shit people! They get stolen blind by their politicians and they lick their boots. They send their kids off to die for somebody's business deal and they celebrate it like they're doing something heroic! This great and glorious people! Lazy sacks of junk food and jingo!"
 
From: "The Army of the Republic"  by Stuart Archer Cohen
 



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Friday, January 23, 2009

Re: [PDI] The "Duncan Doctrine" - or Will Public education be militarized (more than it already is?)

Hey, the kids aren't doing well on the achievement tests.

Change the tests, haha.

But Chicago is not unusual in this--the NY Regents did the same, as did the college boards.

Harvard had to institute a remedial and writing course for up to %25 of their incoming Freshman classes.

This is Kucinich's one major naivete--he has no idea how bad public and private education are in the US.

No wonder the country is flooded by Hindu professsionals, haha.

When I first taught at the University I was very naive. Twenty percent of my freshman seminar was functionally illiterate.

I went to the head of the department.

He said--that's just the way it is--"What can you do about it?".

I thought for a moment and said, that's easy, "Teach them to read."

He said--and I could not make this up if I tried--"That's not what you were hired to do."

Think about it.

Gene Costa

L'observation consiste simplement
en l'intérêt jubilant montré par l'enfant
à la vue de sa propre image dans un miroir....


--- On Fri, 1/23/09, Geraldine Perry <healthadvantage@comcast.net> wrote:
From: Geraldine Perry <healthadvantage@comcast.net>
Subject: [PDI] The "Duncan Doctrine" - or Will Public education be militarized (more than it already is?)
To: "Gene Costa" <costaeugene@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, January 23, 2009, 3:54 PM

FYI:

You may be interested in the full scoop on Obama's choice for Secretary of
Education (maybe this is a good indication as to why we need to scale back big
government?):

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/tomdispatch/2009/01/wil-public-educatio-be-militarized.html

<SNIP> [Duncan] was described
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/us/politics/16educ.html> as /the/
compromise candidate between powerful teachers' unions and the advocates of
charter schools and merit pay. He was also regularly hailed
<http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=52587@wbbm.dayport.com&cid=28> as a
"reformer,"
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008532391_edit18educa.html>
fearless when it came to challenging the educational /status quo/ and more than
willing to shake up hidebound, moribund public school systems.

Yet a closer investigation of Duncan's record in Chicago casts doubt on
that label. As he packs up for Washington, Duncan leaves behind a Windy City
legacy that's hardly cause for optimism, emphasizing as it does a
business-minded, market-driven model for education. If he is a
"reformer," his style of management is distinctly top-down, corporate,
and privatizing. It views teachers as expendable, unions as unnecessary, and
students as customers.

Disturbing as well is the prominence of Duncan's belief in offering a key
role in public education to the military. Chicago's school system is
currently the most militarized
<http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/oct/15/news/chi-military_15oct15>
in the country, boasting five military academies, nearly three dozen smaller
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs within existing high schools, and
numerous middle school Junior ROTC programs. More troubling yet, the military
academies he's started are nearly all located in low-income, minority
neighborhoods. This merging of military training and education naturally raises
concerns about whether such academies will be not just education centers, but
recruitment centers as well.<END SNIP>


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[PDI] The "Duncan Doctrine" - or Will Public education be militarized (more than it already is?)

FYI:

You may be interested in the full scoop on Obama's choice for Secretary
of Education (maybe this is a good indication as to why we need to scale
back big government?):

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/tomdispatch/2009/01/wil-public-educatio-be-militarized.html

<SNIP> [Duncan] was described
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/us/politics/16educ.html> as /the/
compromise candidate between powerful teachers' unions and the advocates
of charter schools and merit pay. He was also regularly hailed
<http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=52587@wbbm.dayport.com&cid=28> as a
"reformer,"
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2008532391_edit18educa.html>
fearless when it came to challenging the educational /status quo/ and
more than willing to shake up hidebound, moribund public school systems.

Yet a closer investigation of Duncan's record in Chicago casts doubt on
that label. As he packs up for Washington, Duncan leaves behind a Windy
City legacy that's hardly cause for optimism, emphasizing as it does a
business-minded, market-driven model for education. If he is a
"reformer," his style of management is distinctly top-down, corporate,
and privatizing. It views teachers as expendable, unions as unnecessary,
and students as customers.

Disturbing as well is the prominence of Duncan's belief in offering a
key role in public education to the military. Chicago's school system is
currently the most militarized
<http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2007/oct/15/news/chi-military_15oct15>
in the country, boasting five military academies, nearly three dozen
smaller Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs within existing
high schools, and numerous middle school Junior ROTC programs. More
troubling yet, the military academies he's started are nearly all
located in low-income, minority neighborhoods. This merging of military
training and education naturally raises concerns about whether such
academies will be not just education centers, but recruitment centers as
well.<END SNIP>


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Thursday, January 22, 2009

[PDI] Single payer health care

PBS's Newshour aired a three-part series on health care issues facing the new congress and the Obama administration.


Part 1:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june09/healthcare_01-05.html

Part 2:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june09/doctors_01-06.html

Part 3:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june09/smallbiz_01-07.html

--
Kat

Public Google Calendar:
<http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=engageinactivism%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago>
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[PDI] Important Article on Israel and Palestine

This is long, but I urge everyone to read it.

--Kevin

CHALLENGING MISPERCEPTIONS OF U.S. POLICY IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Talk given by Libby Frank to W. Palm Beach branch of the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom

November 15, 2008

As you know, this issue is often difficult to discuss among those who
have emotional ties to Israel or to Palestine. I believe it is
especially difficult for those, Jewish or not, who were alive during the
Nazi onslaught and World War 2. Israel was seen as a haven for Jewish
victims of fascism, and indeed it was.

Many good people condemn the evils of assassinations, occupation of
land, violation of UN treaties and IMF policies elsewhere in the world,
but they make an exception in the case of Israel.

They are afraid for the security of Israel and afraid of anti-Semitism.
But those fears, whether real or manufactured, are used to keep Jews and
non-Jews from criticizing Israeli policy.

To be part of the solution, we must understand the propaganda exerted by
a variety of powerful lobby groups and corporate media which feed the
fears of so many.

My interest in the Middle East started when I was a young Zionist in
Cleveland. My first political act was organizing a demonstration in the
1940s in front of the British Consulate - demonstrating because Britain
wouldn't allow Jewish refugees into what was then Palestine, to escape
being killed in Europe.

Who lived in British controlled Palestine? I had a picture in my mind
of young, white, open shirted Chalutzim, Jewish pioneers, taming the
land and populating it. Along with many others, I was taught it was a
"Land without people for a people without a land." Obviously, there
were no Palestinians in such a picture. This vision took a long time to
disappear from my mind. I just couldn't believe that Jewish young
people could do what I learned about later.

It is exciting to see the changes over the years in how WILPF addresses
Middle East issues. Some of the statements we made in the 1970s were
controversial then but have become much more acceptable. When we
advocated the acceptance of the PLO as a negotiating partner, we were
almost alone in the U.S. peace movement. Thirty years ago, we were the
only group saying that the U.S. is a major player in the region. We
weren't always popular, but we were pioneers.

And WILPF now has a national section in Palestine, in addition to
sections in Israel and Lebanon - something we used to just dream of.

Thirty years ago, there was only one weak but inspiring U.S. Jewish
peace group. Today there is Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (which is interested
in forming a group in this area;) Jewish Voice for Peace, the Shalom
Center and lots of local groups. And U.S. Arab voices were much quieter
than now. Today we have the civil rights group, Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Arab American Institute, American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee and more. In addition, the major peace
coalition, United for Peace and Justice includes the Middle East in its
actions.

As a long-time peace activist, I've been angry for years at how my
country had me fooled into thinking it was a true friend of Israel.
But I've since learned that U.S. policy is no different vis a vis Israel
as it was in Vietnam, or in Iraq or elsewhere.

Will the new President make a difference? As you know, it largely
depends on the pressure we put on him.

The Democratic Party Platform endorses the recent unconditional $30
billion in U.S. military aid to Israel. It calls on the U.S. to "ensure
that Israel retains a qualitative edge in military capabilities." The
Platform does not call for a reduction in the large-scale U.S. arms
transfers to Arab governments historically hostile to Israel. The
Platform supports the creation of a Palestinian State alongside Israel.
But it calls only for compromises from the Palestinian side to order to
make such a two-state solution possible.

Like the Republicans, the Democratic Platform pledges to "continue to
isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel's right to
exist, and abides by past agreements. However, it doesn't call for
isolating Likud and other extremist Israeli parties that similarly fail
to renounce attacks against civilians, recognize Palestine's right to
exist, and abide by past agreements.

The Platform says that "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of
Israel" without mentioning the possibility of it also becoming a shared
capital, with East Jerusalem becoming the capital of an independent
Palestinian State and West Jerusalem remaining Israeli. Obama has in
the past shown warmth and concern for the Palestinians as well as for
Israelis and has been attacked for calling on the U.S. to have a
more-evenhanded approach to the region.

I will discuss today:

" U.S. policy in that region and who makes it; " Some
little-known information about the goings on in Israel and Palestine;
" obstacles to the struggle for peace and justice in the region;
" and resistance.

Some Americans criticize Israeli policy, and many more criticize Hamas
in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Iran, Syria and others.

But, we are U.S. activists and our primary responsibility is to look at
our own government's actions.

Peace and justice in the M.E. is probably the most difficult foreign
policy issue there is. And we live in the U.S., one of the most
difficult places to challenge it.

WHAT IS U.S. POLICY AND HOW IS IT DETERMINED?

First of all, Israel's security does not determine U.S. policy. Jews do
not determine U.S. policy. Some neocons are Jewish which leads some
people to assert that Jews do control U.S. policy.

No, U.S. strategy is dictated by its perceived interests, just as
elsewhere: that is, cheap and ready access to natural resources, in this
case, oil, not in Israel, but in countries in the region; privatization
of major institutions in the region to guarantee access to the oil; and
the curbing of revolutionary or nationalist movements which would likely
threaten that access.

Paul Wolfowitz, a well-known neocon, explained that "anyone who
controls those resources has enormous capability to build up military
forces.... The more oil one controls, the more it can be used both to
secure alliances and to weaken enemies."

Why the strong support by the U.S., not of the Israeli people, but of
its right-wing policies? There have been many official agreements
between Israel and the U.S. which build on the mutual security
relationship that exists between the two nations.

As a result, Israeli anti-terrorist experts help the U.S. in its attacks
on Iraq. An Israeli official told reporter Seymour Hersh: "No one
wants to talk about this, it's incendiary. Both governments have
decided at the highest level that it is in their interests to keep a low
profile on U.S.-Israeli cooperation."

A true friend helps someone who is down and needy, but U.S. military and
financial aid to Israel increased, as Israel grew more powerful and
therefore more helpful to the U.S. Israel was the victor in the 1967
war. After Israel's victory, U.S. aid kept increasing until it reached
over three billion dollars in 2003. This is in addition to $11 billion
dollars in loan guarantees that same year, which are not considered
foreign aid.

In June of this year, Congress passed the 2009 spending bill that
included a $17 million increase in security assistance to Israel as part
of its new 10-year, 30 billion dollar defense aid commitment to Israel.
It is part of the U.S. new 10-year defense commitment to Israel. Both
Rep. Hastings and Wexler voted for it.

And this past September, the U.S. sent to Israel a high-powered radar
system and the supporting people and equipment needed to defend against
an Iranian missile attack. An attack which most military experts claim
as highly unlikely. It is the first permanent U.S. military presence
on Israeli soil.

It isn't just Israel which receives such aid. The pact includes a $20
billion weapons package for Saudi Arabia, a $123 billion package for
Egypt and reportedly arms deals worth at least $20 billion for other
Gulf States. You will note that what they all have in common is a
conservative or right-wing government that will cooperate with the U.S.
in keeping the region safe from nationalization of resources.

What does the U.S. get from Israel in return?

Several years ago, Douglas Feith, then Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy, explained "...Israel has formidable military forces,
intelligence capabilities, militarily relevant R&D skills, strategically
located ports and airfields, training facilities..." and more. Israel
willingly allows the U.S. to benefit from all this. Without Israel, the
U.S. couldn't duplicate these benefits in the Middle East, even if we
spent many billions of dollars."

But that's not all the U.S. gets from Israel.

Israel has advanced U.S. interests not just in the Middle East, but in
other areas, as well.

For example, Israel served as a conduit for U.S. arms to places the U.S.
couldn't be seen as helping, such as apartheid South Africa and the
Nicaraguan Contras.

SOME LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HAMAS, GAZA AND ISRAELI OPINION.

You are all aware that there is great hostility between the Palestinian
group Hamas and Israeli policies. Hamas is the major political party in
Gaza. It is referred to in the West as "the terrorist" organization
which kidnaps and commits suicide missions. We all have read that.

But you may not be aware that Israel, with the quiet support of the
U.S., aided the formation of Hamas in the 1970s. It gave direct and
indirect financial aid to Hamas. The Israelis wanted to use it as a
counterbalance to the PLO. It was a direct attempt to divide and
dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious
alternative, that is, Hamas. According to U.S. officials, it was to
serve as a counterweight to the PLO and communists. There is evidence
that the United States helped unleash fundamentalist Islam in such
places as Jordan, as well.

However, right before the January 2006 Palestinian election, the U.S.
was worried about Hamas, after supporting it in the past. So it sent
funds for humanitarian relief to Fatah, the primary Palestinian
opposition to Hamas. The U.S. hoped the funds would give enough support
so that Fatah would get elected. This was 30 years after it had done
just the opposite. Congress passed a resolution right before the
elections that conditioned future financial aid to the Palestinian
Authority on the actual exclusion of Hamas from the Palestinian
elections. Yet Hamas won the election.

Why did the Palestinians vote for Hamas?

Hamas provides social services as the PLO did many years ago. I didn't
know about the PLO support of clinics, schools, care for the elderly,
etc. until I went on a WILPF trip in the 70s and saw for myself. Today,
most people in the U.S. don't know that's what Hamas in Gaza and
Hezbollah in Lebanon provide.

Fatah is the major party within the PLO. Its leaders had talked to
Israel, recognized Israel and still didn't get a state. And, it was
accused of serious corruption. Hamas is seen as corruption proof.

Palestinians were ready for a change. A top Hamas leader in the West
Bank, said Hamas would accept a Palestinian independent state with the
1967 borders with a long-term truce. "For us a truce means that two
warring parties live side by side in peace and security for a certain
period and this period is eligible for renewal."

Gila Sverski, an Israeli peace activist said, "Fatah failed in the
election because Israel refused to offer any reward for moderation,
refusing to sit down and negotiate with them."

How should our government respond? The Israeli peace movement, Gush
Shalom, says: "We must talk with Hamas; they also can be partners."

If the U.S. agrees it needs to talk to the "enemy," that is, Hamas, what
a strong effect that could have on how Israel acts and how Hamas might
react. Instead, what we got was an hysterical anti-Palestinian bill in
Congress which calls for restricting humanitarian aid with punishment
for helping supply such aid; and calls for how Hamas should act. But no
calls for Israel to curb illegal settlements or lift the siege on Gaza.
(It is HR 4681.) The Senate passed a similar bill (S.2370) which
became law at the end of Dec. 2006. Both Alcee Hastings and Robert
Wexler [Representatives from Florida] were co-sponsors. McCain and Obama
were co-sponsors of the Senate version.

Let's be clear. Israel didn't withdraw from Gaza. The Israeli
occupation changed form. Yes, the Israeli settlers had to leave. But
after Hamas won the Palestinian election in January 2006, international
donors led by the U.S. cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. Israel
periodically stops its monthly transfer of the tax revenue it collects
for the Palestinians.

Gaza is under siege. Israel doesn't allow goods to leave Gaza and
allows only limited food supplies to enter. Industry has shut down.
There is only intermittent electricity and water services, since Israel
bombed the main power station. Checkpoints out of Gaza are closed or
open only for short periods of time, which are set arbitrarily. Fruit
and flowers that are grown in Gaza spoil, as they can't be exported.
Every transaction at terminals is videoed and beamed to a site where
Israeli officials watch.

Increasing poverty in Gaza is leading to a desperate, radicalized
population, which may resort to desperate measures. Neither Israel nor
Palestine is made secure by these policies.

The whole world knows the name of the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas
in Gaza in 2006, Corporal Gilad Shalit. But the corporate media have
not told us that the day before, on June 24, Israeli soldiers kidnapped
two Palestinian civilians in Gaza. And to this day I don't know their
names. But they join 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails. And that
includes many members of the Palestinian Parliament.

Regarding Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Israeli media presented a very
different picture than that in the U.S.

A survey of politically diverse Israeli Hebrew language papers (by BBC)
showed there was strong condemnation of Israel's action in Gaza,
ostensibly seeking the missing Israeli solder. Israel's top circulation
paper says, "What we have here is not an attempt to rescue Cpl. Shalit
... and not an attempt to stop the firing of the rockets but a move
aimed at destroying the Hamas government that will negotiate with
Israel."

On the other hand, the Jerusalem Post, an English language paper,
portrays a severe right-wing position on Israeli/Palestine issues. No
negotiations. While many are Israeli readers, its hard copy and online
newspapers are read by hundreds of thousands of readers in the U.S. It
helps us understand where many Jewish Americans, as well as others, get
their information and opinions.

The Israeli public had a different opinion of Israeli military attacks
in Lebanon than in Gaza. When the Israeli government portrayed its
attacks on Lebanon as a war of Israeli survival, Israeli opinion favored
the Israeli military solution. This was unlike what they thought
regarding Gaza.

It's important to understand what's different. Ze'ev Sternhell,
professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, put things unsparingly
painfully. "...When it was clear that Israel was not achieving its aims
in Lebanon,... a war of survival was invented."

(By the way, Professor Sternhell's home was recently bombed by Israeli
right-wingers and he was lightly injured. And Hebrew language flyers
were distributed by Israeli right-wingers offering the equivalent of
$300,000 to anyone killing a member of the Israeli organization, Peace
Now).

THERE IS A VARIETY OF OBSTACLES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN
THE REGION.

I'll start with Islamophobia. It refers to hostility toward Islam and
Muslims that tends to dehumanize an entire faith, portraying it as
fundamentally alien and attributing to it a variety of negative traits.

It is led by right-wing ideologues, including our past President. They
refer to that world as "Islamofascism."

To get the U.S. public willing to support the U.S. wars in Iraq and
elsewhere, Bush and his cronies have painted the entire Muslim world
with that term. It presents the very diverse Muslim world as "them,"
and we're against "them." The McCain-Palin campaign fed it, emphasizing
Obama's middle name, Hussein, for instance.

About a month before the election, 28 million copies of an awful DVD
were included as freebies in major newspapers in swing states across the
country. It's called "Obsession, Radical Islam's War Against the
West." Given the attack on Obama as a Muslim, the clear intent was to
tap into the "Islamophobia" among many voters. The sponsor is "The
Clarion Fund." It is based at the same N.Y. address as Aish Hatorah,
an Israeli right-wing group affiliated with U.S. neocons.

This has frightened many, Muslim or not. Mosques have been attacked in
many places across the country; an Irvine, CA Muslim candidate for
office received a death threat; women wearing head scarves have been
discriminated against in jobs and schools; people looking like Arabs are
stopped and searched at U.S. airports and worse.

The organization, FAIR, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, has produced a
fine report called "Smearcasting: How Islamophobes spread fear, bigotry
and misinformation."

Regarding Obstacles, what about the infamous "Jewish" Lobby?

Congress is besieged with lobbyists creatively pushing for all kinds of
military aid to Israel and other nations friendly to U.S. noncons and
putting impossible conditions on aid to the Palestinians.

It's important to realize that the groups lobby on other issues in
addition to relations with Israel.

The lobbyists may differ in the make-up of their basic constituencies.
But they are inter-related by their support of right-wing Israeli
government and its strategic cooperation with the corporate right-wing
power of the U.S.

There are several kinds of lobby groups. I will touch on four of them:

The Jewish Lobby; the Christian Zionist fundamentalists; Big Oil and the
Aerospace Industry.

1. Regarding the Jewish Lobby, we all think of AIPAC, the
American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee. What I want to emphasize is
that AIPAC's interests go beyond support for Israeli policy. They touch
on broader aspects of U.S. policy as the interests of the leadership of
both countries coincide.

One example: In 1995, AIPAC co-founded the Campaign for U.S. Global
Leadership. It includes over 250 "leaders from the aerospace,,
telecommunications, chemical and financial industries and others." The
Campaign's mission is to educate Congress about foreign aid as a tool to
enhance U.S. global interests."

Less known but also effective are some other Jewish right-wing groups:
the Jewish Institute for National Security (JINSA) and Toward Tradition
being two of them.

JINSA was founded in 1976 to "put the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship
first...." JINSA's focus includes U.S. defense and foreign policy, in
general. It calls for regime change in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia
and the Palestinian Authority.

Toward Tradition was formed in 1991. In its own words, "It is a
non-profit educational organization working to advance our nation toward
the traditional Judeo-Christian values that defined America's creation…"
These values include "free markets; a strong military; and, a moral
public culture."

Regarding Israel, founder Rabbi Lapin says: "One message of Genesis 1:1
is that 'All the earth belongs to the Holy One, Blessed Be He. He
created [Israel] and bestows it upon whoever he chooses.'" God has
become a real estate agent.

2. The second major category of organized lobby groups is the Christian
Right or "Christian Zionism."

There are several groups involved in this movement. In 2002, a group
called "Stand for Israel" was formed which aims to be a Christian
counterpart of "AIPAC". It claims it can mobilize 100,000 affiliated
churches and 250,000 donors to call into Washington at crucial times.

Another is "Christians United for Israel." It intends to establish a
50-state rapid-response network that aims to reach every senator and
Congressmember in the U.S. It is also concerned with "protecting
marriage, family and faith."

A few years ago, the N.Y. Times magazine section had an article titled,
"The Rabbi who Loved Evangelicals. My favorite quote is from a
supporter of the Rabbi, who said, "I support Israel in every way
possible. For example, I make it a point to buy my clothes from Jews."

3. The third lobbying force is the Arms Industry. It has a powerful
lobbying arm, The Aerospace Industry Association (AIA). How powerful?

There had been a long-standing U.S. policy of limiting sales of
sophisticated weapons to the region. But this was changed in 1992 when
McDonnell Douglas wanted to sell advanced fighter planes to Saudi
Arabia. The Association helped create the "U.S. Jobs Now" coalition,
arguing that exporting its F-15E fighter planes to Saudi Arabia would
save 40,000 jobs. Working with the AIA, McDonnell Douglas was
successful, but still laid off 14,000 workers over the next three
years. As an aside, let me say that the U.S. has sold the same planes
to Israel for decades.

Unlike in any other case, the U.S. requires Israel to use 75% of all the
U.S. government military aid it receives to buy US-made arms.

4. To be frank, I've just learned about the Big Oil lobbyists, although
I should have figured it out myself. I worked with a fascinating book,
"The Tyranny of Oil. The World's Most Powerful Industry-And what we
must do to stop it." by Antonia Juhasz.

She writes, "Lobbying firms and groups such as the API, the American
Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce represent the oil
companies. Many of the lobbyists are former members of Congress,
cabinet secretaries, and ex-White House, congressional, or agency staff
people."

The API's primary job on behalf of its 400 corporate members is to
eliminate barriers to oil production, and to keep their activities
private. So they favor digging in public land in the U.S. and off-shore
drilling wherever they can.

Big Oil spent millions of dollars lobbying the Federal government and
giving campaign funds to Congress members. And we know how Congress
caved on the off-shore drilling issue.

"The day before he launched the U.S. attack against Iraq, President Bush
signed a National Security Directive.. The first line states, "Access
to Persian Gulf oil and the security of key friendly states in the area
are vital to U.S. national security." Evidently, Israel is one of the
key friendly states along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others.

RESISTANCE TO U.S. AND ISRAELI POLICIES:

Is there resistance to what's happening? Yes there is. I mentioned
some U.S. groups early in my talk.

Some of you may be aware of resistance in Israel to Israeli policies:
Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom, Coalition of Israeli Women, Women
in Black, Machsom Watch, New Profile and the Shminitsim. If you are
aware of any of them, I dare say you didn't learn about them from the
mainstream media.

The Shminitsim are Israeli 12th graders who resist military service,
which is compulsory except for the Orthodox youth. Let me read you an
excerpt from a statement from 250 high-school "refusniks."

"We, boys and girls, citizens of Israel, who believe in the values of
democracy, humanism and pluralism, hereby declare that we will refuse to
take part in the policy of occupation and repression for which the
Israeli government has opted.... Every person is entitled to basic
rights: the right to life, equality, dignity and freedom. It is our
conscientious and civic duty to act in defence of these rights by
refusing to take part in the policy of occupation and repression....

"We want to see the society in which we live pursuing justice, upholding
equality for every person and citizen. The policy of occupation and
repression is an obstacle to realisation of that vision, and we shall
refuse to take part therein. We wish to contribute to society in an
alternative way, which does not involve harm to human beings.

"We call upon all young people awaiting induction, and all the soldiers
of the Israeli army, to reconsider whether to risk their lives in taking
part in the policy of repression and destruction. We believe there is a
different way."

And, something just a few years old: 120 former Israeli combat soldiers
and Palestinian militants unveiled a unique peace group. It's called
"Combatants for Peace." It was started jointly by Palestinians and
Israelis, who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence;
Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army (IDF) and Palestinians as part
of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom. Their statements say,
"After brandishing weapons for so many years, and having seen one
another only through weapon sights, we have decided to put down our
guns, and to fight for peace."

One might ask about peace groups among the Palestinians. It's almost
like asking about peace groups among the Vietnamese while the U.S. was
bombing. They cannot be equated. Yet, there is non-violent resistance
among Palestinians.

There is a network of 54 popular committees throughout the West Bank.
Palestinians have engaged in sit-ins and protests, and have literally
put their bodies in front of the bulldozers used to build the Wall. It's
not just members of the International Solidarity Movement or Americans
like Rachel Corrie, but courageous Palestinians, as well who faced the
bulldozers. Although these communities have consistently used only
nonviolent tactics, in many cases openly declaring they will not use
force in their protests, they have been met with tear gas, rubber
bullets and sometimes live ammunition by Israeli forces.

One example is the village of Nilin, in the West Bank. In May, its 4,700
inhabitants began a campaign of mainly nonviolent demonstrations to halt
the building of Israel's separation wall across their land. The wall
will cut off the village from 40 percent of its remaining farmland,
effectively annexing it to half a dozen large Jewish settlements that
encircle Nilin. Those settlements are all illegal under international
law.

Several times a week the villagers, joined by small numbers of Israeli
and international supporters, congregate in olive fields where
bulldozers are tearing up their land to make way for the wall. They
have tried various nonviolent forms of protest, including praying in the
path of the heavy machinery, using mirrors to reflect sunlight at the
construction workers, banging pots and pans, and placing rocks in the
way of the bulldozers during the night.

The Israeli army has responded with tear gas and stun grenades. And on
occasion, with rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. While
preparing this talk, I saw a video of just that. Awful.

The Middle East remains a major pillar of U.S. imperialism. It is also
a major area of division and miseducation for the U.S. anti-war and
anti-imperialist movement. The most important distinctions in the
Middle East, as elsewhere, are between the oppressors and the
oppressed. This distinction cuts across all national, language and
religious boundaries. Unless we in the U.S. come to grips with the
forces at play and come to a unified position on the Middle East, our
movement in the U.S. will be weak.

The highest form of solidarity with resistance movements across the
Middle East, including Israel, is to expose and work to change U.S.
policy, despite the many obstacles along the way.

And, with the new President and a large population of activists, we just
might succeed in helping bring about peace and justice in the region.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

[PDI] Good news for the March 2009 PDI meeting - CUB to present energy conservation and environmental presentation

The Citizen's Utility Board of Illinois Environmental Outreach
Coordinator ( www.citizensutilityboard.org ) has agreed to send a
delegation to address our meeting on subjects of energy conservation and
ways that we can save energy and protect the environment, among other
topics.

Other Progressive groups are welcome to send members as well to hear the
presentation.

Our meeting will start at 7pm CST at the IHOP on the corner of IL-Rte
56/Butterfield Rd. & Naperville Rd. in Wheaton, Illinois. The meeting
date is *Thursday, March 19th, 2009*.

The Citizen's Utility Board presentation will begin at 8pm CST and go
until 9pm CST.

--------------------------------------------

Note to PDI members: Our February meeting will take place on the THIRD
Thursday of the month, and will not be affected by this.

Regards,

Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org

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[PDI] Amy Goodman: Nothing to Fear Except No Health Care

Amy Goodman: Nothing to Fear Except No Health Care

text
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/432791

audio podcast, with clips from Barak Obama, FDR, Adam Cohen
<http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2009/1/14/amy_goodmans_new_column_nothing_to_fear_but_no_health_care
>

Here's an excerpt:

Obama appointed former Sen. Tom Daschle as secretary of health and
human services, and director of the new White House Office of Health
Reform. Daschle's health care book, "Critical," recalls historical
failures to achieve universal care: "Like Clinton, Truman had reason
to be confident. His fellow Democrats controlled both houses of
Congress, and polls showed that Americans were anxious about the high
cost of health care and eager for change. But both presidents
underestimated the strength of the forces arrayed against them ...
(s)pecial-interest lobbyists -- led by doctors in Truman's time, and
insurance companies in Clinton's."

Obama knows well the issue -- while his mother lay dying of cancer,
she still had to battle the insurance industry. He said in that 2007
speech, "Plans that tinker and halfway measures now belong to
yesterday ... we can't afford another disappointing charade ... we
need to look at ... how much of our health care spending is going
toward the record-breaking profits earned by the drug and health care
industry."

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Monday, January 19, 2009

[PDI] Labor's "Medicare for All" Advocates Test Strength

Labor's "Medicare for All" Advocates Test Strength
http://www.truthout.org/011909LA
Mischa Gaus, Labor Notes: "Labor activists from 31 states gathered in St. Louis last weekend, solidifying their strategies to push 'Medicare for All' - and to oppose the half-hearted health care plans circulating in Washington. The meeting launched Labor for Single-Payer Healthcare, a campaign whose reform would cut the insurance industry out of health care and expand an improved Medicare system to everyone. The single-payer concept has been endorsed by 39 state AFL-CIO federations, 100 central labor councils, and more than 400 local unions."


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Re: [PDI] Rahm's brother on Health Care reform

The problem is clout, IMO. When the game is over I think the score will be Zeek 100, Don 0.  In fact, I think the game is over and they just haven't told us the score. do the lobbyists ever lose?


 
 
"I have lost faith, godammit! I put my faith in the People and that was a mistake! This is a shit people! They get stolen blind by their politicians and they lick their boots. They send their kids off to die for somebody's business deal and they celebrate it like they're doing something heroic! This great and glorious people! Lazy sacks of junk food and jingo!"
 
From: "The Army of the Republic"  by Stuart Archer Cohen
 

--- On Mon, 1/19/09, Hal Snyder <hal@drxyzzy.org> wrote:

From: Hal Snyder <hal@drxyzzy.org>
Subject: Re: [PDI] Rahm's brother on Health Care reform
To: mincam2@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, January 19, 2009, 4:10 PM

I think Don McCanne gives a good refutation of Ezekiel Emanuel here:

"Medicare is our most popular, most efficient, and most equitable health
care financing program, yet it is being dismissed as a model for all of us
because of the idea that it somehow represents an ideological extreme. In health
care, political compromise based on ideology is not only bankrupting
individuals, it is killing them."

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/november/is_administrative_sa.php

Polls show that most Americans now support single-payer. But we won't get
it without continued work asserting our political power and political will. Time
to step up.


On Jan 19, 2009, at 2:36 PM, Chuck Minne wrote:

>
> Rahm Emanuel's brother, Ezekial, speaks on health care reform,
he's a player and not for single payer - likes insurance companies:
>
> http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/14/midday2/

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Re: [PDI] Rahm's brother on Health Care reform

I think Don McCanne gives a good refutation of Ezekiel Emanuel here:

"Medicare is our most popular, most efficient, and most equitable
health care financing program, yet it is being dismissed as a model
for all of us because of the idea that it somehow represents an
ideological extreme. In health care, political compromise based on
ideology is not only bankrupting individuals, it is killing them."

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/november/is_administrative_sa.php

Polls show that most Americans now support single-payer. But we won't
get it without continued work asserting our political power and
political will. Time to step up.


On Jan 19, 2009, at 2:36 PM, Chuck Minne wrote:

>
> Rahm Emanuel's brother, Ezekial, speaks on health care reform, he's
> a player and not for single payer - likes insurance companies:
>
> http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/14/midday2/

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[PDI] Rahm's brother on Health Care reform

Rahm Emanuel's brother, Ezekial, speaks on health care reform, he's a player and not for single payer - likes insurance companies:
 
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/14/midday2/

 
 
"I have lost faith, godammit! I put my faith in the People and that was a mistake! This is a shit people! They get stolen blind by their politicians and they lick their boots. They send their kids off to die for somebody's business deal and they celebrate it like they're doing something heroic! This great and glorious people! Lazy sacks of junk food and jingo!"
 
From: "The Army of the Republic"  by Stuart Archer Cohen
 



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[PDI] N.Y. Times: The End of Banking As We Know It...

N.Y. Times: The End of Banking As We Know It...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/business/18gret.html

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

[PDI] Fwd: [WSFPC] MLK Day & Camp Hope Event-Fed Plaza

-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Urban <urbanc9@comcast.net>
To: 'Carol Urban' <urbanc9@comcast.net>
Sent: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 6:35 pm
Subject: FW: [WSFPC] MLK Day & Camp Hope Event-Fed Plaza


Legislation Workgroup: FYI

?

From: WSFPC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WSFPC@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dave Martin
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 10:35 AM
To: WSFPC
Subject: [WSFPC] MLK Day & Camp Hope Event-Fed Plaza

?


?

Reclaiming our Democracy!? A People's Inauguration!

Join Camp Hope as we have music, spoken word poetry, speakers and interactive art and readings from Martin LUther Kings Riverside Speech as we celebrate Martin LUther King Day and coming together as we collectively continue to work for the Change we all hope for.?

Date: Martin Luther King Day January 19th, 2009 Monday

Time: 3:30pm

Location: Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn
Chicago, Il 60604

?

Please forward WIDELY


?

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Re: [PDI] Farmers in India find New use for Coca cola and Pepsi

I got the India report from a health newsletter I get. But a documentary
a couple years ago on FreeSpeech Tv also showed the negative effects on
the local water supplies of poor Latin American populations etc from
deleterious practices of bottling plants run by Coke etal.

Here's another tidbit from my farm group:

Regarding teflon in our drinking water (unfortunately we also get decent
doses of pharmaceuticals drugs, fluoride and a bunch of other bad stuff
is there too)

--- On Sat, 1/17/09, wrote:

Bush Moves to Okay Toxic Teflon Pollution in Tap Water

New EWG tests find the pollutant in Washington DC tap water


Washington, D.C. - January 15, 2009 - In its final days, the Bush
administration appears poised to issue an emergency health advisory
for tap water polluted with the toxic Teflon chemical PFOA
(perfluorooctanoic acid) effectively allowing a significant level of
pollution and discouraging cleanup of PFOA contamination in tap water
in at least 9 states, according to an analysis by Environmental
Working Group (EWG).

The level of permissible PFOA contamination under the
administration' s guidance would be 10 times higher than that allowed
by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, whose
commissioner, Lisa Jackson has been tapped by incoming President
Obama to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If the
Bush administration advisory is allowed to stand, it could result in
blood levels of PFOA in people nearly 10 times higher than the
current average amounts.

The millions of Americans who drink PFOA-contaminated water include
residents of Washington, D.C., according to new tests commissioned by
EWG. EWG's tests are the first to find PFOA contamination in the
city's tap water.

An internal EPA document obtained by West Virginia journalist Ken
Ward, Jr. and published yesterday on the Charleston Gazette website
shows that EPA intends to defend its relatively weak Provisional
Health Advisory as sufficient to protect people from harmful short-
term exposures to PFOA. However, people who drink PFOA-contaminated
tap water are exposed to this chemical day after day, year after
year, and studies of communities with contaminated tap water show the
chemical concentrates in human blood to levels 100 times higher than
found in the water they drink. The proposed standard ignores this
fact. The practical effect of this first-ever federal safety level
would be to sanction long-term exposures at unsafe levels under the
guise of a short term advisory.

EWG's review of water pollution studies from available scientific
literature and government dockets finds that PFOA pollutes tap water
supplies in at least 9 states and the District of Columbia, including
tap water consumed by Chicago residents and people served by 78
percent of water utilities tested by New Jersey authorities.

The full extent of PFOA contamination in water supplies nationally is
not known. EPA does not require water utilities to test for PFOA. A
lax Provisional Health Advisory, such as is now contemplated by EPA,
would discourage the agency from setting a binding drinking water
standard and requiring long-term national water testing for PFOA.

"Nobody should have to drink cancer-causing Teflon chemicals in their
tap water," said EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles. "This is
nothing more than a last-minute Bush administration bailout for PFOA
polluters, okaying dangerous levels of this Teflon chemical."

"With nearly the entire U.S. population, including young children,
exposed to this chemical, it's critical that EPA set standards to
protect health," added Wiles. "The practical effect of this guidance
will be that millions of people are exposed to unsafe levels of a
dangerous chemical in their tap water."

A study of West Virginia communities surrounding DuPont's Parkersburg
facility, conducted by a team of independent scientists as a result
of a class action settlement, shows that PFOA concentrates in human
blood, building up to approximately 100 times the levels in tap
water. EPA appears to have ignored the cumulative danger from PFOA --
a critical factor in chronic human health risks from long-term
exposures to this chemical.

EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that
uses the power of information to protect human health and the
environment.

<http://www.ewg.>

gerip

urdafamily@aol.com wrote:
> Where did you find this?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Geraldine Perry <healthadvantage@comcast.net>
> To: urdafamily@aol.com
> Sent: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 1:56 pm
> Subject: [PDI] Farmers in India find New use for Coca cola and Pepsi
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> more reasons not to drink such poisons:?
> ?
>
> http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/cokespins.html?
> ?
>
> (India is not the only country where bottling plants are destroying the
> water supply and environment, not to mention our health of course)?
> ?
>
> ?
>
> _______________________________________________?
>
> PDI mailing list?
>
> PDI@illinoisprogressives.org?
>
> http://illinoisprogressives.org/mailman/listinfo/pdi_illinoisprogressives.org?
> ?
>
> This message was sent to urdafamily@aol.com.?
>
> To unsubscribe, visit the URL above, or email webmaster@illinoisprogressives.org for assistance.?
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PDI mailing list
> PDI@illinoisprogressives.org
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>
> This message was sent to healthadvantage@comcast.net.
> To unsubscribe, visit the URL above, or email webmaster@illinoisprogressives.org for assistance.
>
>

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[PDI] Intergarden - networking people with garden space

RT: Intergarden: got garden space but no time? Got time but no garden
space? Split the produce! http://intergarden.ning.com/

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Re: [PDI] No more blank check bailouts

The next one is already in the works.  That's probably going to be typical of legislation out of this Congress -- "here's the money; we take no responsibility".

      Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: brojoe1@comcast.net
Sent: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 7:42 am
Subject: FW: No more blank check bailouts


--
hat do you get for all your hard work? More hardwork!
-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
rom: "Julie Sweet, Geoghegan for Congress" <info@geogheganforcongress.com>
o: "Joseph J. Balkis" <brojoe1@comcast.net>
ubject: No more blank check bailouts
ate: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:05:31 +0000
Dear Supporter,

On Monday, President Bush requested the Congress to release the
second half of the $700 billion bank bailout program. And, this
time, we cannot approve the bailout without guaranteeing real
accountability and conditions—no more blank check bailouts!

That's why today Tom Geoghegan is launching a petition
[http://www.geogheganforcongress.com/?page_id=124] telling
Congress to do exactly that—ensure that the bailout money is
directed towards those who really need it and that the interests
of working Americans are protected.

Click here to sign the petition right now.
[http://www.geogheganforcongress.com/?page_id=124]

We'll deliver the petition to the House and Senate leadership.
And we'll show that we're not going to sit idly by while
hundreds–of–billions of our money gets shipped to banks without
any real accountability and oversight.
0D The petition demands three conditions are met:

Give priority–directly if possible–to help people keep their
homes. Get public interest representatives or directors on bank
boards in all of the banks receiving money. Penalize any bank
that has been hoarding money from the first bailout. Click here
to sign the petition.
[http://www.geogheganforcongress.com/?page_id=124]

Tom has been fighting for economic security for working Americans
for the last 30 years. Sign the petition
[http://www.geogheganforcongress.com/?page_id=124] and join Tom
in fighting to end the era of blank check bailouts.

Julie Sweet

Campaign Manager

Tom Geoghegan for Congress

PS If you have signature petitions to get Tom's name on the
ballot they need to be delivered by Friday, January 16th. Email
[jacob@geogheganforcongress.com] for drop off locations.

Paid for by Tom Geoghegan for Congress
[http://www.geogheganforcongress.com]

To unsubcribe from this list click here
http://tomgeogheganforcongress.cmail3.com/t/y/u/djuhul/iyulutmr/.

Attached Message


From:

Julie Sweet, Geoghegan for Congress <info@geogheganforcongress.com>

To:

Joseph J. Balkis <brojoe1@comcast.net>

Subject:

No more blank check bailouts

Date:

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:05:31 +0000


Dear Supporter,

On Monday, President Bush requested the Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion bank bailout program. And, this time, we cannot approve the bailout=2
0without guaranteeing real accountability and conditions—no more blank check bailouts!

That's why today Tom Geoghegan is launching a petition telling Congress to do exactly that—ensure that the bailout money is directed towards those who really need it and that the interests of working Americans are protected.
Click here to sign the petition right now.
We'll deliver the petition to the House and Senate leadership. And we'll show that we're not going to sit idly by while hundreds–of–billions of our money gets shipped to banks without any real accountability and oversight.

The petition demands three conditions are met:


Give priority–directly if possible–to help people keep their homes.

Get public interest representatives or directors on bank boards in all of the banks receiving money.

Penalize any bank that has been hoarding money from the first bailout.

Click here to sign the petition.
Tom has been fighting for economic security for working Americans for the last 30 years. Sign the petition and join Tom in fighting to end the era of blank check bailouts.

Julie Sweet

Campaign Manager
Tom Geoghegan for Congress

PS If you have signature petitions to get Tom's name on the ballot they need to be delivered by Friday, January 16th. Email jacob@geogheganforcongress.com for drop off locations.


Paid for by Tom Geoghegan for Congress

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Re: [PDI] Farmers in India find New use for Coca cola and Pepsi

Where did you find this?



-----Original Message-----
From: Geraldine Perry <healthadvantage@comcast.net>
To: urdafamily@aol.com
Sent: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 1:56 pm
Subject: [PDI] Farmers in India find New use for Coca cola and Pepsi

more reasons not to drink such poisons:?
?

http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/cokespins.html?
?

(India is not the only country where bottling plants are destroying the
water supply and environment, not to mention our health of course)?
?

?

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PDI mailing list?

PDI@illinoisprogressives.org?

http://illinoisprogressives.org/mailman/listinfo/pdi_illinoisprogressives.org?
?

This message was sent to urdafamily@aol.com.?

To unsubscribe, visit the URL above, or email webmaster@illinoisprogressives.org for assistance.?

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[PDI] Farmers in India find New use for Coca cola and Pepsi

more reasons not to drink such poisons:

http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/cokespins.html

(India is not the only country where bottling plants are destroying the
water supply and environment, not to mention our health of course)

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[PDI] opportunity to support single-payer at citizensbriefingbook.change.gov

The following item has 1330 up points as I write, and despite the typo
is #4 from the top if you search for "health":

Get the Insurance Companies out the Health Care
The reason that our country pays more for health care than anywhere
else in the world and still has poor health outcomes is that the
system is run by profit-seeking insurance companies. Health insurance
should not be a for-profit field.

There are other entries that explicitly mention single-payer.
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Monday, January 12, 2009

[PDI] WIB vigil postponed until Jan 20th

With hazardous road conditions predicted for the early morning hours, we'll postpone our Women In Black vigil until Tuesday, Jan 20th.

I'll send out a reminder in few days.


Kat

--
WomenInBlackWCS (@yahoo.com)
<http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=engageinactivism%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago>



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[PDI] The Money Question

Dennis Kucinich broaches Constitutional money creation, and the idea the
this could be government's greatest creative opportunity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR2EtMteHCg&feature=channel_page

For those who still believe gold is money - or that our current money is
not debt/money created by banks with interest charged on top - please
visit the What is Money and the quotes on gold pages of my website,
which I have been adding to as I get time:
http://www.thetwofacesofmoney.com/index.php/Site/WhatIsMoney

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[PDI] A true tale of how the bankers control politicians, and what happens if pols refuse to play

Below is a link to a recent article written by Dennis Kucinich,

about his epic battle with the big, elite bankers when he was boy mayor
of Cleveland. This excellent article provides important insight into why
pols can behave as they do, and how we citizens tend to be pacified by
hanging the first scapegoat that the media, together with affiliated
allies and power mongers, trots out, rather than REALLY getting to the
root and the truth.

It is worth noting also, that Cleveland is currently particularly hard
hit by the latest "economic downturn" and defaulting mortgages. An
interview with a city councilman by Bill Moyers a few months back has
the official saying this too was on purpose and orchestrated by the big
bankers - who, BTW, have NO relation to the small community banks other
than to swallow them up.

You might recall that Dennis lost his home, his wife and almost his
life, and was run out of Cleveland after the bankers threw the city into
bankruptcy. (He was recalled 10 years later by the City Council and
given an award for his part in saving Muny Light. We have to ask
ourselves, would we be so brave or risk so much in the same situation?)

Article:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081215_rep_dennis_kucinich_on_his_battle_with_the_banks/


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[PDI] A true tale of how the bankers control politicians, and what happens if pols refuse to play

Below is a link to a recent article written by Dennis Kucinich,

about his epic battle with the big, elite bankers when he was boy mayor
of Cleveland. This excellent article provides important insight into why
pols can behave as they do, and how we citizens tend to be pacified by
hanging the first scapegoat that the media, together with affiliated
allies and power mongers, trots out, rather than REALLY getting to the
root and the truth.

It is worth noting also, that Cleveland is currently particularly hard
hit by the latest "economic downturn" and defaulting mortgages. An
interview with a city councilman by Bill Moyers a few months back has
the official saying this too was on purpose and orchestrated by the big
bankers - who, BTW, have NO relation to the small community banks other
than to swallow them up.

You might recall that Dennis lost his home, his wife and almost his
life, and was run out of Cleveland after the bankers threw the city into
bankruptcy. (He was recalled 10 years later by the City Council and
given an award for his part in saving Muny Light. We have to ask
ourselves, would we be so brave or risk so much in the same situation?)

Article:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081215_rep_dennis_kucinich_on_his_battle_with_the_banks/


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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Re: [PDI] [ILProgressivesUnited] Gaza: Enough is enough

I see it just the opposite, but in general agree. I think Israel timed it to be pretty much over before he takes office, so he would not have to comment. I think they did it as a "favor" to Obama - but that is surely the wrong word.
 
It was probably all planned by his people, their people, the CIA people, the AIPAC people, the Drug Lord people, and any other people who really count.


 
 
"I have lost faith, godammit! I put my faith in the People and that was a mistake! This is a shit people! They get stolen blind by their politicians and they lick their boots. They send their kids off to die for somebody's business deal and they celebrate it like they're doing something heroic! This great and glorious people! Lazy sacks of junk food and jingo!"
 
From: "The Army of the Republic"  by Stuart Archer Cohen
 

--- On Sun, 1/11/09, mayatoddbob@aim.com <mayatoddbob@aim.com> wrote:

From: mayatoddbob@aim.com <mayatoddbob@aim.com>
Subject: Re: [PDI] [ILProgressivesUnited] Gaza: Enough is enough
To: mincam2@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, January 11, 2009, 3:46 PM

I feel this was Israel testing Obama; you know, how the "terrorists"
were probably going to test him during this interim period and the early days of
his administration.

?

We see who got there first, and we see his non-reaction.? It is what I would
have predicted.? So much for change we can believe in.

??? Bob?


-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Kleppe <nohtml@garykleppe.org>
To: ILProgressivesUnited@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 5:50 pm
Subject: Re: [ILProgressivesUnited] Gaza: Enough is enough

On Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:20:49 -0600, you wrote:

> The new US Senate just passed an unrecorded resolution, by voice vote,
> supporting the continued killing of the Palestinian people in the
world's
> largest US/Israeli made concentration camp, known as Gaza. The new US
House
> is expected to do the same. Is there any question what the vote would be
if
> Greens were elected to Congress, instead of 99% of the newly elected
> Congress being members of the two corporate controlled parties?

I don't think anybody here doubts that a Congress full of Greens would
vote better than the current one.

The real question, at least for me, is whether Greens have a workable
strategy for getting elected. We can spend all day talking about what
it would be like if Greens got elected, but unless there's a viable
way of bringing that outcome about, what's the point?

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Traditional
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Find Green resources.


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Re: [PDI] [ILProgressivesUnited] Gaza: Enough is enough

I feel this was Israel testing Obama; you know, how the "terrorists" were probably going to test him during this interim period and the early days of his administration.

?

We see who got there first, and we see his non-reaction.? It is what I would have predicted.? So much for change we can believe in.

??? Bob?


-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Kleppe <nohtml@garykleppe.org>
To: ILProgressivesUnited@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 5:50 pm
Subject: Re: [ILProgressivesUnited] Gaza: Enough is enough

On Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:20:49 -0600, you wrote:

> The new US Senate just passed an unrecorded resolution, by voice vote,
> supporting the continued killing of the Palestinian people in the world's
> largest US/Israeli made concentration camp, known as Gaza. The new US House
> is expected to do the same. Is there any question what the vote would be if
> Greens were elected to Congress, instead of 99% of the newly elected
> Congress being members of the two corporate controlled parties?

I don't think anybody here doubts that a Congress full of Greens would
vote better than the current one.

The real question, at least for me, is whether Greens have a workable
strategy for getting elected. We can spend all day talking about what
it would be like if Greens got elected, but unless there's a viable
way of bringing that outcome about, what's the point?

__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (2) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic

Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar


MARKETPLACE


>From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods


Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe


Recent Activity


Visit Your Group

Yahoo! News

Get it all here

Breaking news to

entertainment news

Special K Group

on Yahoo! Groups

Join the challenge

and lose weight.

Yahoo! Groups

Going Green Zone

Find Green groups.

Find Green resources.


.


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[PDI] Local/sustainable/safe food to the rescue [Fwd: FW: Joel Salatin in Goshen Jan. 20!!!]

From my co-op leader -

Joel Salatin to be in Goshen Indiana on Tuesday January 20, discussing
local/sustainable/safe food. More info below.

gerip

-------- Original Message --------

//

//

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suspect that many of you may already know about this. I just found
out from Allen Bontrager. Joel Salatin will be in Goshen on Tuesday,
January 20th before he travels on to Columbus, IN for a two-day grazing
conference I'm attending.

Those on yahoogroups boards will not be able to get the attached flyer.
If you want a copy of the flyer, email me off board at
svsiemers@embarqmail.com <mailto:svsiemers@embarqmail.com>.

I'm including a link to Polyface Farms, where you can learn more about
what Joel Salatin has done. He is a fascinating man who lives what he
preaches.

http://tinyurl.com/3pw3b6

Susan Siemers


From: Farmers Market [mailto:millracemarket@hotmail.com
<mailto:millracemarket@hotmail.com>]
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2009 7:52 PM
To: svsiemers@earthlink.net <mailto:svsiemers@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: Salatin talk


Hi Susan -

Thanks for your interest in the upcoming CSP-sponsored event "Local Food
to the Rescue: An Evening with Joel Salatin". I suspect that this
presentation will be quite different from Joel's presentation in
Columbus, with this one highlighting the importance of demonstrating and
promoting a "local/sustainable/safe" food supply to our customers.

The event will be held in the old Goshen Theater (the venue is now home
to a church ministry) - at 6:30 pm Tuesday, January 20th. See the
attached flyer.

Tickets are $20 each. You may purchase them in person at the Goshen
Farmers Market on either of the two Saturday mornings before the event
(the 12th or the 19th), or you can send a check made payable to:

Community Sustainability Project, Inc.
P.O. Box 1031
Goshen, IN 46527

Please include a return address, just to make sure we get your tickets
to the right mailbox.

We look forward to seeing you on the 20th.


David Green, Mgr.
Goshen Farmers Market

212 W. Washington St.
Goshen, IN 46526
(574) 533-4747

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also: to remind- pick from 2 great conferences on Jan. 21-22, the
Midwest Organic Production and Marketing Conference and Trade Show, held
in conjunction with the Indiana Horticulture Congress, at the Adam's
Mark Hotel in Indianapolis; and the grazing conference in Columbus
Indiana, Joel Salatin keynote speaker and a leader at several of the
breakout discussion groups. Joel Salatin owns and operates Polyface
Farms. Follow this link for more about him and his work.
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
Here's a link to the brochure for the grazing conference:
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/pdf/2009HOAGC.pdf

Why these 2 conferences were scheduled in different places instead of
together? It would have been great to have them both accessible since
there likely will be a great deal of overlap among the participants.

--
Charlotte Wolfe
Prairie Winds Farm
21439 Osborne Rd.
Lakeville, IN 46536
574-291-9943
www.prairiewindsnaturefarm.com <http://www.prairiewindsnaturefarm.com/>

Have you read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal Vegetable Miracle?"


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[PDI] Money Summit at CCUU Saturday, January 17

Please distribute:

There will be a free program on understanding and confronting the
economic crisis next Saturday, January 17, from 1-4 p.m. at
Countryside Church, 1025 North Smith Street in Palatine, IL.

The first half of the program brings expert speakers to tell us about
the economic situation - how we got here and where things are headed.

The second half of the program will be facilitated open discussion.
Bring your issues and ideas so we can brainstorm together.

Program details and press release are online at
http://better-day.info

- hal
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Friday, January 09, 2009

[PDI] Testing web outreach features.

I'm in the process of developing a synchronized, multi-platform posting
process that will allow e-mails to this list to run out to our blog, our
Twitter account, our Yahoo Group, and eventually a Facebook Profile
among others. Discussion directed at the list should update multiple
platforms around the web - giving us a greater reach for the same
effort. These posts will also go out our podcast/RSS feed as well. We'll
cover far more ground with the same effort - and hopefully pull in many
new members for it. Time will tell. This post is the first test of this
system.

Regards,

Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, PDI
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
http://progressivedemocratsofillinois.blogspot.com/
@pdillinois (Twitter)
http://progressivesofillinois.ning.com/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/PDI-Cast

PS: Gary - we might want to post this access list to our home page or
contacts page.

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