Tricounty DFA Weekend Pre Election Flash
Hello Everyone;

In This Update for October 30th, 2008:


1. Final Vigil For Peace & Troops Home Saturday, 11am
2. Obama Actions: No Time For Complacency!
3. Yes We Carve!
4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival



1. Final Vigil For Peace & Troops Home Saturday, 11am

Six years ago, vigils against the war in Iraq started downtown, started by local peace activists, including our own Bernice Mennis. DFA did not exist then, but we kept them going. Now, with what we expect to be a new Democratic President, those doing the vigil have agreed it will no longer be appropriate to keep them going with a newly elected President committed to ending the war.

Accordingly, we will be holding the very last vigil for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday, November 1st, from 11am until Noon, at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the Civil War monument.

This has been going on for many years, and for old times sake, it would be nice to have a big crowd to show our continuing resistance to the war and those who kept it going! As always, bring a friend and a sign.


2. Obama Actions: No Time For Complacency!

Although the polls are looking good for Obama, let's remember, we've seen that before. Anyone remember how Obama was supposed to win New Hampshire?

It is no time for complacency. If you have free time in the next few days, it's very important not to waste that time-- there are still things that can be done to make sure Obama is the next president of the United States.

I am constantly hearing from people just stricken with anxiety that we will lose the White House again. The only antidote to that anxiety is effective action.


Moveon Party In Schuylerville

There will be a Moveon calling party this evening in Schuylerville at 6:30. This is a very smart, well organized effort to call people in swing states and get them to volunteer for Obama:

http://pol.moveon.org/pac/event/events/event3.html?event_id=82771

Calling

You can still call for Obama from home. By registering with the campaign, you are given instructions and an interactive list of names to call out of state-- the website is terrific, very easy to use, you go down a list of names, and click off the response:

http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php


Donating

Needless to say, the Obama campaign is still trying to raise money.

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/standardmagnetalt?source=mainnav_bt_nsu_dg

3. Yes We Carve!

It's Halloween tomorrow! If you haven't carved your pumpkin yet, check out Yes We Carve, for stencils to create Obama themed Jack-O-Lanterns, featuring either the candidate himself, or the Obama sunrise logo. Some of these are great! http://yeswecarve.com/ and http://yeswecarve.com/category/stencils/ and http://yeswecarve.com/category/stencils/page/2/


4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe will continue its Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival with the very timely:

SAT NOV 1 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS ** ELECTION SPECIAL ** Free.
AMERICAN BLACKOUT (2006) Ian Inaba 86 min. RT Rating = 73 %
Ian Inaba's American Blackout is a stylish, intelligent, and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia). George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000 launched an historic investigation into Florida's election process. Public focus was on dysfunctional ballots and the Supreme Court litigation, but Inaba's inquiry leads him to Congresswoman McKinney, who investigated the private company hired by the state of Florida to generate voter lists, which effectively shut out the black vote and handed Bush an unlikely victory. While tracking McKinney's career, Inaba reveals a host of ways in which black political power is systematically squelched, ranging from the slander that assailed McKinney when she stood up to the Bush administration on 9/11 and Iraq, to the political machinations that disempowered the black vote in the Georgia Democratic primaries and the Ohio presidential election in 2004. Inaba reminds us that African Americans have long fought a war inside our country for their right to vote, and unfortunately that war rages on today. American Blackout emotionally revitalizes the core of our power as American citizens – the right to vote – and effectively reveals that the fate of black voters is inextricably tied to the fate of all Americans.

Thanks everyone! There will be another pre-election update Sunday night. Have a fun Halloween.

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, elections, Iraq War, Michelle Obama, Obama, Obama Phonebanking, Obama rally, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 2:00 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Pre-Election Update
Hello Everyone;

In This Update For October 24, 2008:


1. Vigil Saturday 11am
2. 538 & Obama
3. Obama Actions
4. Major Endorsement For Bob Muller
5. Walmart & Queensbury
6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest


1. Vigil Saturday 11am

We will be holding our penultimate Vigil For Peace and To Bring Our Troops home this Saturday, October 25th from 11am until Noon at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls. Please come and bring a sign and a friend as this effort, which has now been going on off and on for six years, begins to wind down-- those doing this have decided it would not be appropriate after Election Day, as we expect our new Administration will be bringing the war eventually to a close. Help us make these final vigils good ones!

2. 538 & Obama

The best online site for watching polls of the Presidential race is Five Thirty Eight, which is the total number of electoral votes. 538.com tracks and evaluates almost all the polls. Today they are now calling for 52% of the popular vote for Obama and 354 electoral votes. http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

3. Obama Actions

No time to be complacent, though! You can still call for Obama from home. By registering with the campaign, you are given instructions and an interactive list of names to call out of state-- the website is terrific, very easy to use, you go down a list of names, and click off the response:

http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php

Needless to say, the Obama campaign is still trying to raise money. This need is actually intensified by the fact Obama-Biden are competitive in more states. For instance, Obama is now competitive in North Carolina, and just opened 40 local offices. This extra effort costs a lot of money!

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/standardmagnetalt?source=mainnav_bt_nsu_dg

There are also local Moveon calling parties this weekend: http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?submit=1&search_distance=30&search_zip=12801&action_id=147


4. Major Endorsement For Bob Muller

State Supreme Court candidate Robert Muller, who is running for one of three seats in the 4th Judicial District, received a major endorsement today-- the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Police (the Troopers). This is a very big deal because the Troopers have mainly endorsed Republicans in the past.

The 4th District race is a round robbin between Bob and three Republicans, with the three candidates with the most votes getting elected. However, it's important for every Democrat voting not to dilute their vote or cancel it out by voting for more than one candidate, even though they can. By voting once-- for Robert Muller-- we assure he rises to the top.


5. Walmart & Queensbury

There was consternation locally this week when the Town Of Queensbury approved a second Walmart store a very short distance down Quaker Road from the existing store. I have received a number of messages about this. Clearly, Walmart is one of the worse, companies in America, anti-union, paying low wages with few or no benefits. Walmart is the company that kills local communities. It has also helped kill the American economy by forcing American companies to outsource to places like China.

Let me know if how you feel about this. For some reference, here's a great link to a Halloween video about Walmart from Walmart Watch.com: http://www.waldemartwatch.com


6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest

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

SAT OCT 25 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS ** ELECTION SPECIAL ** Free.
AN UNREASONABLE MAN (2007) Henriette Mantel & Steve Skrovan 123 min. RT Rating = 92 %
As quietly provocative as its thoughtful protagonist, Steve Skrovan and Henriette Mantel's galvanizing documentary, AN UNREASONABLE MAN, examines how one of the 20th century's most admired and indefatigable social activists, Ralph Nader, became a pariah among the same progressive circles he helped champion. Utilizing the standard documentary formula of archival footage, talking-head interviews, and the occasional computer-animated graphic, the film deftly traces Nader's life and career with a robust, lively pace.


Thanks everyone! See you all soon,

Larry

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

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 5:16 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Pre-election Update
Hello Everyone;

In This Update For October 16th, 2008:


1. Glens Falls Mayor's Race
2. Vigil Saturday 11am
3. Obama Actions
4. Single Payer Healthcare
5. Who Grew The Economy & War Crimes
6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest


1. Glens Falls Mayor's Race

The Glens Falls mayor's race became a confused affair when City Democrats split over who was to replace Mayor Leroy Akins when he died. In effect, we had a primary and a general election combined in one race, with two Democrats on different lines.

Now, however, with the sudden withdrawal of Councilmember Judy Villa-White, there is only one Democrat running: Acting Mayor Jack Diamond. As Councilman-At-Large, Jack has been filling in as Mayor for the better part of a year. Further, as Councilman-At-Large, he is the only candidate who has been elected city-wide. With eleven years on the Council, Jack has the most experience to bring to bear, and is most up to date on City issues and what is going on. No one should doubt that Jack has been working very hard and it should be no surprise he was the clear winner of the recent TV-8 debate.

Because this race opened up too late for a primary, we were not able to make a formal endorsement between the two Democratic candidates. However, there is no longer any issue: even though he is not actually on the Democratic line, he is THE Democratic candidate in this race, and the best hope for a progressive agenda in Glens Falls. Jack deserves a chance to show what he can do in the one year remaining in Leroy Akin's term. All Democrats need to rally around him,


2. Vigil Saturday 11am

There will be the usual rally for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday, October 18, from 11am until Noon at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the Civil War monument. Please come and bring a sign and a friend. If necessary, we will rally at the roundabout instead.


3. Obama Actions

With the final debate a clear win for Obama, the presidential race is in the final stretch. However, we should take nothing for granted! There are area Obama activities on tap:

Drive

If you are in a position to go out of state, the Albany For Obama group is organizing a pair of canvassing trips:

"Scranton Canvassing: October 18th-20th"

"This weekend we will be canvassing in PA to help win the Keystone state. We will be leaving early Saturday morning at 7am from HQ. As always, housing will be provided by the campaign. Sign up and details here:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/driveforchange/gs5ggf

"Ohio Canvassing Trip: October 24th-26th"

"On Friday afternoon we have a bus leaving from Crossgates mall to campaign in Ohio over the weekend. We have 42 spots left to fill for campaigners who will play an integral role in winning the Buckeye State! We are asking for $50 donations to help cover the cost of the bus. Housing will be provided by volunteers in Akron. RSVP below. Or call 434-0944 to sign up today. Since volunteers are providing houses, if you sign up online please indicate if you have any allergies to pets."

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/driveforchange/gs5wbk


You can also sign up at the Obama website to go to Pennsylvania and work for change separately:

http://my.barackobama.com/cometoPA


Moveon also sent out this appeal:

"The Obama campaign particularly needs volunteers in Claremont, New Hampshire this Saturday—so if you can, please click below to sign up!"

http://pol.moveon.org/obama/teams/training.html?office_id=229&source=traveler&date=20081018&id=14365-643825-XWc4NJx&t=3

Call

If you can't travel, you can still call. By registering, you are given instructions and an interactive list of names to call out of state-- the website is terrific, very easy to use, you go down a list of names, and click off the response:

http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php

Donate

Needless to say, they still have to raise money. This need is actually intensified by the fact Obama-Biden are competitive in more states. For instance, Obama is now competitive in North Carolina, and just opened 40 local offices. This extra effort costs a lot of money!

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/standardmagnetalt?source=mainnav_bt_nsu_dg


4. Single Payer Healthcare

Despite the election, issue advocacy continues. 68% of the American people now support a single payer healthcare system. I recently received this important request:

"HR676 ( The U.S. National Heath Insurance Act ) has more co-sponsors (supporters) than any other in the House or Senate. But because of the new house rules, six more co-sponsors are needed to to hold Congressional hearings on this legislation. Now is the time to pressure our legislators in the house that have not signed on to step up. Senator Obama has said if this legislation were to come across his desk as president, that he would sign it.

"Please contact your representative and encourage him/her to stand-up for the health of America and co-sponsor HR676. Also, encourage those running for office in your state and local community, to support HR676."

"It's Possible and It's Time, Mona Marlow FMI: www.ufhc.org

I would note that regional Democratic Representatives Hinchey, McNulty and Welch have signed.

Contact your member of Congress at: (202) 224- 3121 or http://www.house.gov


5. Who Grew The Economy & War Crimes


There are a couple of fascinating things I have to pass along:

This graphic at the NY TImes on which party caused the greatest increase in the wealth of the nation is astonishing. According to the Times,
"As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years." http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/14/opinion/20081014_OPCHART.html

Also, next year could be interesting-- Bush administration officials were apparently aware from the beginning they were committing war crimes, which is why they were alarmed at the prosecution of Chilean dictator Piniochet. Many current Republican office holders may never be able to leave the country without being arrested: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/16/pinochet-law


6. Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe Saturday Night Progressive Film Fest continues with the not to be missed SICKO!

SAT OCT 18 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS Free.
SICKO (2007) Michael Moore 113 min. RT Rating = 93 %
focus on ordinary Americans affected by the nation's health-care crisis. After providing some historical background on how our nation's medical care system became so ravaged and unfair, Moore interviews a series of individuals and families who have had their lives all but destroyed by the denial of care in the service of profit. While there are two sides to the gun-control debate and even a legitimate discourse for how to best wage the war on terror, it's simply impossible to justify how a baby girl can wind up dead because her mother's health insurance wasn't accepted at a nearby hospital. Moore smartly allows this and other stories to be told with little or no interference, conjuring strong feelings of empathy, rage, and deep sadness. Moore visits countries that have universal health care--spectacularly so when he takes several World Trade Center workers to Guantanamo Bay (and then to Cuba) to receive health care that they were denied in the United States--and presents a compelling argument for adopting a similar system in the States. Moore's ultimate purpose here is to compel Americans to care for one another, and it's a simple request that shockingly must be made via a major motion picture, making SICKO essential viewing.

Thanks everyone!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq, Iraq War, Joe Biden, Obama, Obama Phonebanking, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, SiCKO

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:28 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: America Held Hostage, Vigil, Obama Phone Banking
Hello Everyone;

In This special election update for October 2, 2008:

1. Obama Phone Banking Sunday 2pm
2. Vigil Saturday, 11am
3. America Held Hostage
4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. Obama Phone Banking Sunday 2pm

At our meeting yesterday we agreed to hold a series of phone banking events for Obama-Biden. The first will be this Sunday, October 5th from 2pm to 4pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls. You will need to bring a cellphone to participate in this event! ( Most cell phones have unlimited weekend minutes.)

It is very important you let me know you are coming so that I can get enough names and numbers. Please RSVP to this message by Sunday morning if you plan to come.

Because of the economic crisis, the election has opened up and become more fluid, with more states in play. We will be calling actual voters in these swing states to tell the why we support Barack Obama. We will not be calling members of our own organization, or other progressive organizations. These are voter lists generated by the campaign itself.

Because Sara Palin did not implode in tonight's debate with Joe Biden, we need to keep working!

There will be instructions, and encouragement. If you've never done this before, it's much easier in a group.

Many thanks to Matt for allowing us to call from the Cafe! (What would local progressives do without it?)


2. Vigil Saturday, 11am

We will be holding our usual vigil for peace and to bring our troops home Saturday OCtover 4th at 11am until Noon at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in downtown Glens Falls, in front of the Civil War monument. Please come and bring a friend and a sign.


3. America Held Hostage

As I was preparing this update earlier tonight I was watching Rep. Kucinich, Sherman and Kaptor on C-SPAN give a series of addresses worthy of the great Congressional leaders of the past. Several key points were made:

1. There is now a liquidity crises because banks are afraid to loan to one another. The reason is that they don't know which other banks are solvent, and are afraid of losing their money if another one fails. There is a simple solution: the FDIC insures bank deposits. It can insure not some share of deposits, as is presently the case, but all deposits in all commercial banks. If the FDIC did that, no bank could possibly lose money by loaning money to another because they would be fully insured. The banks actually have plenty of cash on hand, but are holding back, not unwisely. But if all deposits were insured, they would have nothing to fear by loaning money to one another- they could not lose their money. The crisis would end almost instantly as money began to flow. This would require no tax funds, the insurance is paid by bank fees. This has been done abroad before, and it works.

2. Half the $700 billion bailout would go to foreign investors who simply made bad investments. Specifically mentioned were the Saudi royal family and China, still theoretically a communist country. Put short, their bad decisions are not the taxpayer's problem.

3. Last weekend congressional leaders were told the stock market would drop 2- 3,000 points in a single day if that did not pass the original bill. That did not happen.

4. The crisis in mainly based on fear and psychology, not actual material conditions. In fostering panic, the administration is actually making a crisis or at least making it very much worse.

Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com had a superb post on this earlier today-- especially that there are major bankers who say the bailout is unneeded, and he also exposes Treasury Secretary Paulson's motives: allowing the destruction of Lehman Bros. which competed with his firm, Goldman Sachs, or saving AIG, in which Goldman had major investments. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/01/pearlstein/index.html

If you haven't contacted your member of Congress yet, there still may be time. The Capitol switchboard is (202)224-3121


4. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival

SAT OCT 4 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENINGS Free.
AMARGOSA (2006) Todd Robinson 90 min. RT Rating = N/A
Death Valley Junction is only 10 people away from being completely deserted, but that doesn't stop Marta Becket from dancing at the Amargosa Opera House. This documentary traces the 76-year-old artist's creative journey, from dancing in New York City to her residence in the desert town. She spent seven years filling the formerly deserted theater with paintings of audience members. But as news of her performances spreads, the theater fills with real people. AMARGOSA is an award-winning film about the impact of creativity on the life of an artist.


And Roger sends this video along to get you started. It's entitled Don't Vote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaRXvRwhOk

Thanks everyone!

Larry

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

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:32 AM 0 comments