Tricounty DFA Update: MLK Day Events, Last of Bush, more
Hello Everyone!

Only four more days of the worst President in the history of the United States! Is it still too late to impeach him?

In this update for January 15th, 2009:


1. Martin Luther King Day Events & Congratulations To Roy Thomas
2. Bush's Last Dance Party
3. Must Reads: Limiting Debate-- Limiting Change
4. Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe Progressive Film Festival



1. Martin Luther King Day Events & Congratulations To Roy Thomas

Congratulations are in order to Glens Falls DFA member Roy Thomas, the newly elected head of the reactivated Glens Falls NAACP! We all know Roy will do a great job breathing the Glens Falls Chapter back to life.

The Chapter will be holding the annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Day this Sunday, January 18th in downtown Glens Falls. The event begin in front of Glens Falls City Hall at 3:30pm for a few short speeches by Mayor Jack Diamond and State Senator Betty Little. There will then be a commemorative march from City Hall to the Glens Falls United Methodist Church on the corner of Bay and Washington Street.

At 4:30 there will be a program featuring Rev. Gloria Akskew and area church choirs.

The Glens Falls NAACP will also be collecting donations of nonperishable food items for area food pantries.

2. Bush's Last Dance Party

From Naomi Marsh at the Washington Co. Democrats:
“Bush's Last Day Dance Party: We will also be celebrating the beginning of the Obama presidency!!!!
Jermain Hall in White Creek, Saturday, January 17 Starting at 7:30 pm

Live music by ATHENA and ZUELA with special guests

Price of admission: Cash or a check in any amount which will be donated in its entirety to local food pantries. Food items are also welcome. Please come and bring your friends. If you wish, bring food and/or beverage to share at the party, pot-luck style.

Directions: Jermain Hall is on Niles Road in White Creek.
From NY locations: Get on County Route 68 (the White Creek Road) which heads east off of Route 22 halfway between Cambridge and North Hoosick. Follow CR 68 about five miles to White Creek. Take a left on Niles Road at the big corner, go one block, and turn right at the stop sign. (Still on Niles Road.) Jermaine Hall is on your left in about a quarter of a mile.
From VT locations: Take the White Creek Road out of North Bennington. This becomes County Road 68 at the NY border. Just after the big corner, as you come into White Creek, turn right on Niles Road. Then go one block, and turn right at the stop sign. (Still on Niles Road.) Jermaine Hall is on your left in about a quarter of a mile.


3. Must Reads: Limiting Debate-- Limiting Change

We've all heard a great deal about change this year, but the degree of change we can expect is often limited to the change we can discuss. Dick sends along this terrific piece by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen on how and why debate is so often limited in the big national media. A process of insider groupthink assigns some ideas, usually corporate friendly, because most work for corporate media, as being consensus and beyond discussion, while others are relegated to a deviant status, beyond discussion. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-rosen/audience-atomization-over_b_157807.html

An example of an idea cast as being beyond discussion would be a single-payer healthcare system, which the great majority of the American people support. But single payer has been consigned to a deviant status, despite the fact organizations like the California Association of Nurses just came out with a report detailing how a single payer system would actually help stimulate and save the economy: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/396919/single_payer_health_care_would_stimulate_economy?rel=emailNation

Another example is prosecuting torturers for their crimes. Here Glenn Greenwald of Salon details the protective quality Washington insider groupthink can have. He writes:
"The political/media establishment isn't desperately and unanimously fighting against the idea of investigations and prosecutions because they believe there was nothing done that was so bad. They're fighting so desperately precisely because they know there was, and they know they bear much of the culpability for it. They fear disruptions to their own comforts and prerogatives if any more light is shined on what happened. The consensus mantra that the only thing that matters is to "make sure it never happens again" is simply the standard cry of every criminal desperate for absolution: I promise not to do it again if you don't punish me this time. "
The full piece is at: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/15/ignatius/


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

SAT JAN 17 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS Free.
DARKON (2007) Andrew Neel & Luke Meyer 90 min. RT Rating = 82 %
Go inside the fantasy world of Darkon with this documentary. A group of Baltimore residents adds excitement to their lives with this role-playing game that allows them to act as medieval soldiers and princes.

SAT JAN 24 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS Free.
THE HEMP REVOLUTION (1998) Anthony Clarke 75 min. RT Rating = N/A
Tells the amazing and little known story of the Hemp plant. Probably the first plant to be cultivated and one of the world’s largest agricultural crops until the late 1800’s, this feature length documentary explores the plant’s fascinating history, its thousands of uses, the economic and cultural forces behind its prohibition and its modern potential to solve some major environmental problems. Hemp, together with biotechnologies presented in the film, can be a panacea of answers to societal issues as varied as bio-fuel, sustainable natural food supply, clothing and energy needs. George Washington saw Hemp as an answer to independence while corporate America sought to regulate and criminalize it using marihuana as an excuse.

Thanks Everyone! Hope you pipes didn't freeze last night.

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Martin Luth King Day, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 9:25 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Meeting Report, Bob Muller Thanks, More
Hello Everyone!

In this update for January 8, 2009:

1. Meeting Report: Bob Muller Extends His Thanks
2. Jim Dean: Save The 50 State Program
3. Governor Dean Celebrated But Passed Over?
4. Middle Class Incomes The Real Issue
5. You're Invited: Bush's Last Dance Party
6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest



1. Meeting Report: Bob Muller Extends His Thanks

We were pleased and privileged at last night's meeting when his Honor, newly elected Supreme Court Judge Robert Muller, returned to say thanks to all of us at DFA for our support. Bob was fairly early in his campaign when he visited us last June, and we were pleased to endorse him. We could not have known he would do as well as he did-- coming in second in a four candidate field. He visited with us for some time, regaling everyone with tales from the campaign trail. It was clear one of the reasons Bob was so successful was because he was a happy warrior.


Contrary to the naysayers, Bob proved it could be done. Democrats can win judicial seats in upstate districts, we especially do not have to cross-endorse Republicans. He has broken the trail for many more candidates to come.

Unfortunately, rules of judicial political neutrality will prevent Bob from returning to our meeting again. But he extends his thanks to everyone who couldn't make it last night.

2. Jim Dean: Save The 50 State Program

While we were meeting DFA Chair Jim Dean sent out an urgent request asking everyone to sign a petition to save Howard Dean's 50-State Program. As we know, the 50-State Program reversed the fortunes of the Democratic Party, but, astonishingly, the newly selected DNC Chair, Governor Tim Kaine, does not seem to have any clear commitment to continuing it. The last thing Democrats need is to go back to the bad old days before Dean turned the Democratic party around, where we don't compete everywhere, and instead try to “cherrypick” a handful of winners. Bob Muller's victory here-- a victory of not being afraid to compete everywhere-- proves the point, yet again. Please sign the petition today: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/119



3. Governor Dean Celebrated But Passed Over?

Dick passes this along: Chris Matthews interviewed Governor Dean on Hardball yesterday, and gave credit where credit is due: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpGE8i4liJ0

However, some people are concerned that credit has not been given where credit is due. There is no doubt that politics has become an increasingly rough business, with very little of the loyalty that used to be considered essential for political life:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/07/howard-dean-left-out-of-o_n_156116.html


4. Middle Class Incomes The Real Issue

I want to pass on the best article I've seen lately, which is by Jonathan Tasini on the Huffington Post. Tasini points out that the real, underlying economic issue is the war waged on middle class incomes since the beginning of the Reagan era. For instance, that decline is why so many people cannot afford health insurance anymore. There has been an enormous increase in wealth and productivity in America but none of that new wealth has been shared with average Americans. If the minimum wage had tracked productivity the way it did from WWII to Reagan, the minimum wage would now be $19 an hour. Do not miss: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/conspiracy-of-silence-wag_b_155531.html


4. You're Invited: Bush's Last Dance Party

From Naomi Marsh at the Washington Co. Democrats:
“Bush's Last Day Dance Party: We will also be celebrating the beginning of the Obama presidency!!!!
Jermain Hall in White Creek
Saturday, January 17th
Starting at 7:30 pm

Live music by ATHENA and ZUELA with special guests

Price of admission: Cash or a check in any amount which will be donated in its entirety to local food pantries. Food items are also welcome. Please come and bring your friends. If you wish, bring food and/or beverage to share at the party, pot-luck style.

Directions: Jermain Hall is on Niles Road in White Creek.
From NY locations: Get on County Route 68 (the White Creek Road) which heads east off of Route 22 halfway between Cambridge and North Hoosick. Follow CR 68 about five miles to White Creek. Take a left on Niles Road at the big corner, go one block, and turn right at the stop sign. (Still on Niles Road.) Jermaine Hall is on your left in about a quarter of a mile.
From VT locations: Take the White Creek Road out of North Bennington. This becomes County Road 68 at the NY border. Just after the big corner, as you come into White Creek, turn right on Niles Road. Then go one block, and turn right at the stop sign. (Still on Niles Road.) Jermaine Hall is on your left in about a quarter of a mile.

6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest

Finally, the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Saturday Night Film Fest has returned for another year with:

SAT JAN 10, 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGs Free.
THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS (2005) Mel Stuart 68 min. RT Rating = 89 %
Rafe Esquith is a teacher who really did make a difference. Teaching in a decrepit Los Angeles neighborhood, Esquith took it upon himself to impart the works of Shakespeare to the kids who patrol the streets by night and reluctantly turn up... Rafe Esquith is a teacher who really did make a difference. Teaching in a decrepit Los Angeles neighborhood, Esquith took it upon himself to impart the works of Shakespeare to the kids who patrol the streets by night and reluctantly turn up to school by day. As this film shows, the results were remarkable, with the majority of the kids taking to the Bard like a duck to water, largely thanks to Esquith's innovative teaching methods.


Thanks everyone, and a Happy New Year Again!

Larry

Labels: 4th Judicial District, Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Jim Dean, New York Supreme Court, Robert Muller, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:21 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: First Meeting Wednesday 7pm Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe.
Hello Everyone;

First, Happy New Year To You All! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and are all rested up and ready for another great year of, as Howard Dean said almost six years ago, Taking Back America.

We'll be having our usual Greater Glens Falls DFA meeting this Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls, one block east of the roundabout on the corner of Hudson Avenue and Elm and Exchange Streets.

One item we'll be discussing celebrating or observing the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama.

January 20th is not only the beginning of a new American government, but it is also the real beginning of the year, and indeed, the 21st century itself.

Also, there is the commemoration of Martin Luther King day on the 19th.

With groups across the country we'll be discussing what we can do to keep Congressional Democrats on track on vital issues supported by overwhelming majorities of the American people, like reining in gangster capitalism, a single-payer healthcare system and rapid withdrawal from Iraq.

Happy New Year again! See you all soon,

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:53 PM 0 comments