Tricounty DFA Update: House Party For Keehn, DFA Night School, A Must Read
Hello Everyone!

In this update:

1. Val Keehn House Party Thursday
2. DFA NIght School Tuesday
3. From Bo Lipari -- Grassroots Pressure Saved Voting Reforms
4. Online Action: Close Guantanamo
5. Must Read: The Reality Based Community Strikes Back
6. Friday Night Progressive FIlm Fest


1. Val Keehn House Party Thursday

Amejo Amyot will be hosting a special welcome to summer house party for Mayor Valerie Keehn on the verandahs of her home at 219 Woodlawn Avenue, in Saratoga Springs, on Thursday, June 28 at 5:30pm. (Woodlawn is one block west of North Broadway).

Mayor Keehn, who was recently endorsed by Democracy For Saratoga Springs, will be continuing her conversation with the people of Saratoga Springs. Friends and supporters are urged to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

Incidentally, the mayoral campaign in Saratoga is heating up with some interesting blog postings on the race:
http://www.upstateblue.com
http://www.thealbanyproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=927

2. DFA NIght School Tuesday

Tomorrow night, DFA's Night School will focus on online fundraising as part of its 2007 Summer Semester on campaign fundraising. DFA Training Director Arshad Hasan will be joined by experts in online fundraising: Zack Exley and ActBlue! Zack Exley was the Director for Online Organizing and Communications for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004. He has also worked with MoveOn.org and the Dean for America campaign.
The time is Tuesday, June 26th -- 8:30pm Eastern To RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/onlinefundraising

These are great trainings and well worth listening to, especially considering the price!



3. From Bo Lipari -- Grassroots Pressure Saved Voting Reforms
As the Legislative session wound to a close, there was an alarming effort to gut a voting machine reform bill passed by the legislature two years ago. NYS law requires a software escrow, so that if questions about the new electronic voting machines appear, the software can be inspected. Bo Lipari of New Yorkers For Verified Voting blew the whistle and the effort was defeated, in part with help from many DFA members who called:

"We won for a change," he said on Friday. He estimated that about 3,000 constituent calls had been placed with the legislature about the issue. "There was a huge outpouring of support and the legislature noticed this. It was a forceful way to remind them to re-affirm their commitment to these strong laws."\

For more go to: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=legislation_regulation&articleId=9025618&taxonomyId=70&intsrc=kc_top

4. Online Action: Close Guantanamo
Retired Army Generals Robert Gard and John Johns are calling on Congress to ban the use of torture, restore the right to trial and shut down the disastrous prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Moveon has an online petition and you can show your support at: http://pol.moveon.org/pac/endtorture/?id=10571-643825-3eAnwV&t=4

5. Must Read: The Reality Based Community Strikes Back
The must read of the week is a report from the Campaign For America's Future on what Americans actually believe and stand for. It shatters the myth of a basically conservative nation. This report is a major development and we should be hearing a lot more about it.

"REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

On Health Care: 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

On Energy Policy: 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 64 percent are willing to pay a higher energy tax to pay for renewable energy research; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.

On the Economy: 77 percent of Americans believe Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

On Government's Role: 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves." Twice as many people (43 percent to 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

On Immigration: 62 percent of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." 49 percent believe the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico is to penalize employers, not more border control."

The full report is at: http://home.ourfuture.org/reports/20070612_theprogressivemajority/

Don't miss the accompanying article in The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070709/perlstein

It's all a rebuke to anyone who says Democrats have to run to the right to win. The reverse is actually true.

More From The Reality Based Community: Portrait of the Terrorist as an Idiot.

FDR said, the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. It seems that was never truer than this portrait from Wired Magazine of what the record actually shows the terrorists who are supposedly waging a "war of civilizations" that represent an "existential threat" (sic) are actually like. It's title is "Portrait of the terrorist as an Idiot."
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/06/securitymatters_0614\\

Impeachment: A Growing Reality?

This growing awareness of how we were lied to may be why there is a growing interest in Impeachment. Drew sends this piece along: http://www.politicalcortex.com/print/2007/6/16/212748/195

6. Friday Night Progressive FIlm Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Film Fest continues at 7:30 with:

June 29 THE WOBBLIES (1979) Stewart Bird & Deborah Shaffer 90 min.
Despite their silly-sounding name, the Wobblies were a powerful unit that helped unionize the beaten-down workforce in America, setting up some of the most powerful unions the country has ever seen. This documentary from 1979 takes a look at the Wobblies' activities, which often involved brutal physical fights and imprisonment as they fought for justice. Amazingly, their revolutionary ways were highly successful and the lasting effects of the changes they battled for are still felt in the workplace today.

Thanks Everyone! Hope to see many of you at Amejo's House Party!

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 1:21 AM