Tricounty DFA Update: Vigil Saturday, 11am, Meeting Next Wednesday With Special Guest Robert Muller
Hello Everyone;

In this update for May 29, 2008;


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Troops Home
2. Monthly DFA Meeting Next Wednesday, June 4th With Special Guest Bob Muller
3. War Issue Comes To A New Head
4. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Troops Home

There will be another weekly vigil for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday, May 31st at 11am at the corner of Glen, Bay and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the Civil War Monument. The vigil will last one hour. Please come and bring a sign and a friend, although we have some signs if you can't get one. Given the revelations in the news today, this may be a particularly good time to come!


2. Monthly DFA Meeting Next Wednesday, June 4th With Special Guest Bob Muller

We will be having our usual Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area Link-up or "meetup" next Wednesday, June 4th, at 7pm, at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls. The Cafe is located on the corners of Exchange and Elm Streets and Hudson Avenue, just west of the Roundabout.

We will be hosting a special guest: Attorney Robert Muller, who is running as a Democrat for New York State Supreme Court, 4th Judicial District. Bob is presently Queensbury Town Justice, and has been a well known area attorney for nearly 30 years. He will be talking about his race and his extensive qualifications for the bench.

These are very important Judicial seats. What is interesting about this race is that there are three seats being contested for by four candidates (at present). Three of the candidates are Republicans, with Muller the only Democrat. Voters can chose three candidates out of the four. However, you do not have to vote for three. You can vote for only one. So-- although it is true that Democrats are outnumbered in the district, if all the Democrats here were to vote for only one candidate-- Muller-- their votes would not be diluted, which would give him a huge head start.

Also, the Presidential primary season effectively ends on Tuesday, so that should lead to some interesting discussion, especially given recent events (noted next).

3. War Issue Comes To A New Head

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan today confirmed what many have know for a long time: the Iraq War was based on lies, that the real reasons for the war were not the ones that were offered. That is the definition of conspiracy. McClellan effectively indicted Bush & Co. for war crimes-- specifically, conspiracy to wage aggressive war and waging aggressive war, what are known as Class A War Crimes under the Nuremberg war tribunals standard.

These semi-revelations come at the moment when Congress is again considering funding the war for another full year. True Majority.com and Democrats.com are on the job, calling on Americans to contact Congress and demand timelines for withdrawal be established and war funding drawn down.

If you share these concerns, here's what they are proposing:

From True Majority: ""I am calling to urge the Representative to put the timetable and troop readiness restrictions back into the Iraq funding legislation. I oppose any Iraq funding which gives the President another blank check for war." http://www.truemajority.org/warfunding/index.php?district=NY20

From Democrats.com:

"...The House will vote again next week. And if the House stands firm by voting no, Bush will have to bring our troops safely home.

"We need 69 more no votes on top of May's 149 no votes to reach a decisive majority of 218."

"Sign our new petition and send it to as many friends as you possibly can:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/136

"Congress is home this week, so call the local district office of your Representative

http://www.democrats.com/house-phones

"Please report the results of your calls here:
http://www.democrats.com/69-more-to-end-the-war


4. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival continues with:

Friday May 30 7:30 pm Progressive Film Forum
THE GLEANERS AND I (2001) Agnes Varda 82 min. RT Rating = 91 %
Veteran French filmmaker Agnes Varda ads a triumphant and ultra-contemporary chapter to her life's work of cinematic investigations into the lives of characters relegated to society's margins (usually women) with the graceful and compelling documentary, THE GLEANERS AND I. Departing from Jean-Francois Millet's celebrated 1867 portrait of women picking through a harvested wheat field entitled "Les Glaneuses," Varda constructs a modest and compassionate visual essay on the concept and lifestyle of "gleaning" or scavenging, once ubiquitous in rural 19th Century France. With digital camera in hand, Varda vagabonds around France in search of the 21st Century's incarnation of the gleaners. From potato fields in central France, to abandoned vineyards in Burgundy, to supermarket dumpsters in Paris, Varda's film portrays a completely surprising and ultimately complex populace, who subsist off of the waste of others. The film's casual style allows the intelligence, dignity, and honesty of the subjects to shine through as Varda herself pieces together a modern aesthetic and ideology of gleaning. With affectionate humor and searching intelligence, Varda points the camera at herself, marveling at her own process of aging and the gleaning that lies at the center of her own art and life.


Thanks Everyone! See you all Saturday and Wednesday.

Larry

Labels: 4th Judicial District, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, Glens Falls, Iraq War, New York Supreme Court, Robert Muller, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

 
CORRECTION: Tricounty DFA Update: VIGIL ON SATURDAY AT 11AM AFTER ALL
Hello Everyone;

Due to some unfortunate but occasionally inevitable confusion, it seems the Glens Falls/Queensbury Memorial Day Parade is actually on Monday the 26th. Accordingly, we will be holding on weekly vigil for peace and to bring our troops home on Saturday, May 24th as originally planed.

My apologies and I hope no one lets this discourage them from coming!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq, Iraq War, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 8:39 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Vigil Postponement, Ted Kennedy Wishes, more
Hello Everyone;

First, a quote from former Clinton supporter Rahm Emmanuel that is the salient political question now: "The way the loser loses will determine whether the winner wins in November." Like many I have criticized Emmanuel in the past, but he is spot on with this.


In this update:

1. No Vigil This Week Due To Memorial Day Parade
2. Send Ted Kennedy Best Wishes
3. Urge Senate No On War Funding
4. Washington County Dems Endorse For Assembly
5. Gas Prices
6. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. No Vigil This Week Due To Memorial Day Parade

When we scheduled another vigil last week, we forgot the upcoming Saturday would bring the Glens Falls/Queensbury Memorial Day Parade, which would be going by or around downtown at about the same time. At the very least this could be very awkward. So unless some of you really object, we will reschedule this week's vigil for peace and to bring our troops home until the following Saturday. (Please let me know.)

2. Send Ted Kennedy Best Wishes

I am sure everyone was devastated to learn Sen. Ted Kennedy, for years the heart and soul of the Democratic Party and American Liberalism, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Moveon.org is collecting best wishes to be delivered to him personally by Senator Kerry. To add your name go to: http://pol.moveon.org/getwellkennedy/index.html

3. Urge Senate No On War Funding

Besides honoring Sen. Kennedy's sprit, we need to honor his causes as well.
The Senate is reportedly preparing to vote $178 billion to fully fund the Iraq War for another entire year. This bill means no serious troop reductions will occur until the Spring of 2009, at the earliest.
Declaration of Peace is urging people to:
"CALL Senators TODAY: "No More Iraq War Funding!" Our message is straight-forward and consistent: "Vote NO on any more Iraq War funding." The only effective way to end the war and bring the troops home is to STOP FUNDING WAR AND OCCUPATION NOW! Toll-free number for Congress is: 1-800-828-0498"

4. Washington County Dems Endorse For Assembly

From Naomi Marsh at the Washington County Democrats:

"Hello, fellow Democrats,
" As you may already know, the Washington County Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed Ian McGaughey in his bid for the New York State Assembly seat, representing District 112 which includes all of our county. Included below is a message from Ian and a link to his website with information about his experience and goals for us as his constituents and for the State as a whole. Please take a moment to learn about this outstanding candidate and consider how you might support him.


"Dear Friends,

"You may have heard that I am running for the New York State Assembly in the 112th District in this year's election. It's going to be a very close election, and the stakes are very high.
"I want to share with you our new campaign Web site that details some of the issues facing our state, and includes some photos and even a short video.
"Here's the address: www.ian2008.com
"Please take a moment to visit the site, and consider making a contribution to move our message of reform in Albany forward. Our campaign of change will be built from the ground up by people like you.
"Thank you for your commitment to our cause.

"Sincerely,
Ian McGaughey"

contact@ian2008.com
http://www.ian2008.com/


5. Gas Prices

Bert sends this along on gas prices, and it is quite interesting:

"Yesterday I turned on CNBC to check the market price of crude, and there was a gentleman interviewing a panel of oilmen. The gentleman addressed the panel with this question:
"The first of February of this year the price of crude was about $86.00 a barrel. Today that price is up about 46% from the first of February. There has not been a 46% increase in demand in the time period, in fact, the demand has decreased due to the high oil prices. Can you blame this 46% increase on other then market speculation?"
"Of course the panel had their pat answers to that question, but none could give an honest answer...

" Also, check out this link. Let's see, oilman Bush was elected........ HHHHMMMMMM!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_of_crude_oil Bert"


6. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival continues with:

Fri May 23 7:30 pm Progressive Film Forum
ENCOUNTER POINT (2006) Ronit Avni 85 min. RT Rating = 100 %
This documentary covers 16 months in the lives of an Israeli settler, a former Palestinian prisoner, an Israeli mother whose child has died, and a Palestinian man who has been wounded due to the turmoil in the region. These fascinating people touch on a number of topics not often covered in the mainstream press, such as how they feel about segregation and how misrepresented they feel by the global news media's attempts to cover a complicated conflict.

Thanks Everyone! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq War, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:34 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: "Day In The Life Of Glens Falls" Peace Vigil Thursday, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:

1. Special Vigil: Day In The Life of Glens Falls, Thursday, 5:15pm
2. Saturday Vigil 11am
3. Iraq War Vote Still Looms: Kucinich Speaks Out
4. Rockhill Friday Night Progressive Film Festival
5. On The Lighter Side: Amy Poler on SNL


1. Special Vigil: Day In The Life of Glens Falls, Thursday, 5:15pm

At our meeting Wednesday, it was pointed out (my apologies, I forget who it was!) that the Post Star on Thursday will be recording events around the community for a special "Day In The Life Of Glens Falls," chronicling life in the city over a 24 hour period, much the way has been done with other countries and communities.

We decided to participate by holding a special vigil for peace and to support our troops on Thursday from 5:15pm to 6:15pm at the corner of Bay and Glen Street in front of the Civil War Monument.

Please come down and bring a friend and a sign if you have one-- what we do helps determine the nature of the face that Glens Falls puts forward. We want it to accurately reflect how the community has changed in recent years.

2. Saturday Vigil 11am

We will again be holding our regular vigil for peace and to support our troops on Saturday from 11am until Noon, again, at the corner of Bay and Glen Streets in front of the Civil War monument in downtown Glens Falls. Two vigils in one week really isn't that much: attendance at the weekly vigil has been growing. Help us keep the ball rolling.


3. Iraq War Vote Still Looms: Kucinich Speaks Out

The proposed House of Representatives Bill to fund the Iraq War for another year, and probably continue it into 2010, is still pending, and the scandal of what it represents is still growing. Representative Maurice Hinchey publicly attacked the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats for attempting to strip veterans educational benefits from the bill. Said Hinchey:

"It is absolutely shameful that members of the Blue Dog coalition would vote to take this country into Iraq on false intelligence and lies, repeatedly vote to fund the disastrous military occupation of that country, but choose to turn their backs on the brave members of our armed forces by refusing to support an expansion of education benefits for them when they come home," Hinchey said in a statement.

Read about Hinchey's statement at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050908O.shtml

Bert sends along this link to a short speech by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, asking the simple question "why are we in Iraq?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYgI7NhDQ5A

The "must read" of the week is probably this piece on Salon.com, by oil scholar Michael Klare. Klare argues that the rising price of oil represents the end of American power-- unless really radical changes are made quickly, specifically getting out of Iraq now. http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/05/12/russian_oil/index1.html

Indeed, our imperial pretensions are almost the end of America as a country. http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/05/12/russian_oil/index1.html

If you are in for some additional bleak reading, Thomas Powers latest article in the New York Review of Books asks whether the US really has the resolve to avert its own destruction: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051108Z.shtml


4. Rockhill Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival continues this week with:

OT: OUR TOWN (2003) Scott Hamilton Kennedy 77 min. RT Rating = 88 %
This inspiring documentary tracks the progress of Catherine Borek, a high school teacher in Compton California who is determined to start a drama troupe in a school that is dominated by a champion basketball team and is otherwise full of hopeless, helpless kids. Pulling her students together and motivating them by telling them that they are talented and they can prove themselves, she gives them the script for Our Town, the classic play by Thornton Wilder about a small community in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. With frequent cuts to the 1977 television rendition of the play starring Hal Holbrook, OT: OUR TOWN slowly but surely establishes the gigantic differences between the crime-ridden ghetto that is Compton and the idyllic homogeneous safe haven of Grover's Corners. The kids who are to star in the play first approach it with amusement, coloring the actions of the play with their own music, insights, and experiences. But they soon encounter seemingly insurmountable challenges, ad that is when the film diverges from the play's production to show the real family and friends behind these struggling students. An inspiring and honest piece of filmmaking directed and produced by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, OT: OUR TOWN is a tale of modern urban struggle and strife with a happy ending.


5. On The Lighter Side: Amy Poler on SNL

And finally, this sketch of Amy Poler from the last Saturday Night Live is the funniest thing all week: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/11/6490/23273/998/513606

See you all Thursday!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq, Iraq War, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, Supplemental Bill, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:05 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Vigil Saturday, Meeting Next Week, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Our Troops Home
2. May DFA-Linkup Meeting Next Week
3. Dean, Obama, Clinton On Sunday Morning
4. What Day Is It?
5. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Our Troops Home


We will be holding another one hour vigil for peace and to bring our troops home Saturday, May 3rd, at 11am at the corner of Bay, Glen and South Streets by the Civil War monument in downtown Glens Falls. Bring a sign and a friend! With Iraq falling apart, it's time to start showing our opposition to that debacle again.

Last week we doubled our attendance over the previous week-- let's see if we can do that again! Again, 11am Saturday in front of the Civil War monument.


2. May DFA-Linkup Meeting Next Week

We'll be holding our May meeting of Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area next Wednesday, May 7th, at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls, one block west from the roundabout.

On the agenda will be a DVD prepared by our comrades at TakeNY: "The True Sad Story Of The New York State Senate." New York University's Brennan Center For Justice had declared that New York has the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation, with the Republican controlled State Senate leading the way. The DVD features former State Senate candidate Brian Keeler talking about the lack of democracy in New York, and who really runs NY-- the infamous "three men in a room."

The war issue is also hearing up again and I am hearing from many of you about this. so we may be discussing that as well.


3. Dean, Obama, Clinton On Sunday Morning

There's a big line-up on the Sunday morning talk shows: first Governor Dean will be on Fox News with Chris Wallace. Hillary Clinton will be on This Week With George Stephanpoulous, and Barack Obama will be on Meet The Press with Tim Russert.


4. What Day Is It?

Hope you all had a good May 1st which is International Labor Day. It's also Mission Accomplished Day for George Bush: it's five years ago today that he declared the war in Iraq was won. That was roughly 4,000 American deaths ago, tens of thousands wounded and an unknown number of Iraqi dead, but very possible over a million.


5. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Progressive Friday Night Film Festival continues with:

Fri May 2 7:30 pm Progressive Film Forum
THE INNER TOUR (2002) Ra'anan Alexandrowicz 94 min. RT Rating = 100 %
Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE INNER TOUR is a deeply affecting documentary that addresses the Middle Eastern conflict with a penetrating eye. The film follows a group of Palestinians as they embark on a three-day bus tour through Israel in 2000, just months before the historical Arab-Israeli war recommenced. What at first appears to be a diverse group of men, women, and children, with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, quickly gels into a tight unit of countrymen who are living under the shadow of the wealthy, more powerful Israel. Every one of these visitors’ lives has been in some way affected by Israel, yet it isn't until a trip to a museum--in which Arabs are presented as cold-blooded murderers--that their anger begins to show. As the journey unfolds, the tourists are forced to confront emotions they didn't know they had in them. The burdensome weight of these feelings turns the trip into more than just a relaxing vacation; it becomes an emotionally draining experience tat they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Alexandrowicz uses this rare opportunity to his advantage by showing just how hopelessly convoluted the Middle Eastern conflict actually is. This film was included in the 31st New Directors/New Films 2002 series presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Department of Film and Media of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Thanks Everyone! Hope you can make it Saturday. An in honor of May Day, ¡Hasta La VIctoria Siempre!


Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For New York, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq War, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:04 AM 0 comments