Tricounty DFA Update: December Meeting Next Week, Peace Fair, More
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:


1. Glens Falls Link-Up or Meetup Next Wednesday
2. Peace Fair December 8th
3. Must Reads: NYRB & Holocaust In Iraq and DCCC
4. Friday Night Progressive Film Fest


1. Glens Falls Link-Up or Meetup Next Wednesday

We'll be having our December Greater Glens Falls DFA Link-Up or Meetup next Wednesday, December 5th, at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe on Hudson, Elm and Exchange Streets in downtown Glens Falls.

On the agenda from last month: We will be discussing out reach and coordination with other area groups engaged in local environmental concerns, for instance, the French Mountain/Bear Pond mess. We'll also be watching a video of Governor Dean and Democratic National Committee staff talking about the 50 State Precinct Leader Plan. As we discussed last month, our group really can't take this all on for the region, but we may be able to use our skills better in training others.

Also, DFA National in Burlington in the next few days will be unveiling a national action relating to the Iowa Caucuses, which we will also discuss at the meeting.

2. Peace Fair December 8th

The Second Annual Glens Falls Area Peace Fair will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Weeks Road in Queensbury on Saturday, December 8th, 2007 from 10am-5pm.

Admission is free, rain or shine. It will feature "A diverse gathering of peace-minded folks, hand-crafted gifts, provocative tables, vegetarian soups and desserts, live music and free child care.

For more info contact organizer Neal Herr at neahherr@verison.net


3. Must Reads: NYRB & Holocaust In Iraq and DCCC


There are some interesting "must reads":

Dick sends along this about some article in the New York Review of Books:

"The December 6, 2007 New York Review of Books has several article son politics that I would consider a must read. The NYRB is in nearly all of the chain bookstores, certainly Wilton, Saratoga, Colonie, Albany among others. Also most good libraries.

"At the top of the list is Tony Judt's review of Robert B. Reich's new book, Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life. Judt has to be one of the most thoroughly educated persons I have ever read. He is Director of the Remarque Institute at New York University. Judt goes right to the core in a very quotable incisive article. Neither Reich or the Clintons come off that well. In fact, I think you will find it very scary what they tacitly seem to support. However you like or don't like the Clintons, feel disposed or partially disposed, this fair article is a must read If you are interested in who will be our next President .

"In the same issue there is a review by David Cole, Professor of Law at Georgetown, of Jack Goldsmith's book, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgement Inside the Bush Administration. This is about David Addington, the very bright authoritarian who operates only in the shadows and is Lord Cheney's Chief of Staff. The payoff is, this book is by a conservative who was head of Bush's Office of legal counsel but found someone far, far, far to the Right of himself.

"A third article is by environmentalist Dai Qing, now operating for her own safety and freedom out of Australia, about the Beijing Olympics and what this means environmentally on a much, much larger scale where most wealth and power in China is based on brutally raping the environment. "Thirsy Dragon at the Olympics."

The New York Review may have gone off the stands by now, so although it is really best to buy a copy, the pieces can be read online at http://www.nybooks.com/


Lisa sends along this piece by Mark Weisibrodt of the Center For Economic and Policy Research on the bloodbath provoked by the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq: http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/68568/

"Holocaust Denial, American Style.

"Institutionally unwilling to consider America's responsibility for the bloodbath, the traditional media have refused to acknowledge the massive number of Iraqis killed since the invasion.
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's flirtation with those who deny the reality of the Nazi genocide has rightly been met with disgust. But another holocaust denial is taking place with little notice: the holocaust in Iraq. The average American believes that 10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invasion in March 2003. The most commonly cited figure in the media is 70,000. But the actual number of people who have been killed is most likely more than one million." http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/68568/

And Drew sends this along about a growing battle within the DCCC between progressives and corporate Democrats:

"With the GOP out of favor, reactionaries still have a potent weapon against ordinary Americans"
"How ironic that just as the popular revulsion against the Republican philosophy of governance and against Republicans themselves (corruption and bigotry) take hold in the public mind, significant numbers of Insider Democrats are trying to claim those very aspects of the GOP legacy for their own party! Rahm Emanuel and his faction seem intent on leading the Democrats down the Republican sink hole-- and, not coincidentally, right at a time when a real push for progressive values and principles (values and principles anathema to all Emanuel stands for and believes in) could have a lasting impact of American social and political development." http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/11/civil-war-at-dccc.html

Also a follow up on progressive candidate Robin Weirauch, who the Emanuel faction wants to stop in the Ohio primary on December 11, even though the Democracts might wind up losing the seat to a Republican: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-are-dccc-old-guard-emanuel-crew.html


4. Friday Night Progressive Film Fest

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


Fri Nov 30 7:30 pm ADIRONDACK PROGRESSIVE FILM FORUM
SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY (2006) Sydney Pollack 84 min. Grade = 80%
Oscar winning director Sydney Pollack takes a sharp sideways turn with SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY, a documentary about the noted architect. Usually known for making grandiose productions such as THE FIRM and OUT OF AFRICA, Pollock adds a genuine curio to his filmmaking resume with this movie. Although the two men have been friends for years, Pollock thankfully bypasses the opportunity to pay a fawning tribute to Gehry, instead presenting a well-balanced portrait that offers both positive and negative commentators the chance to etch their thoughts into celluloid. But it quickly becomes clear that the biggest naysayer of all is Gehry himself, who is painted as a highly self-critical man, clearly ill-at-ease with fame and his own achievements. Pollock offers some screen time to Gehry's magnificent creations, but not as much as a less experienced director might have done, instead choosing to focus on the man himself. People such as ! Gehry's therapist, Milton Wexler, and garrulous artist/director Julian Schnabel (BASQUIAT) offer their thoughts, but the real magic occurs when Pollock and Gehry are on screen together. The series of interviews between the two men have the kind of relaxed atmosphere that could only exist after years of friendship, and Gehry comes across as an astonishingly normal and likeable fellow who keeps his ego firmly in check. Shooting mostly with hand-held digital-video cameras also brings a nice intimacy to the proceedings, creating a warm testimony to a great artist who has somehow managed to keep his integrity intact despite the ruthless nature of the industry in which he works.

Thanks everyone! See you at the meeting next Wednesday!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, Dick Dudley, Glens Falls, Iraq War, Larry Dudley, Unitarian Universal Church Glens Falls

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:03 AM