Virginia Grassroots Coalition newletter

[Catchawave]

Information on signing up at the end of the letter. Enjoy

Quote of the Week

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -- Voltaire


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Rant of the Day

Thoughts on political proxies. One reader was miffed with me for suggesting that people break away from the political party system. Not the case. Regardless of where you hang your hat, the political duopoly is the only game in town. The point of a proxy is to give authority to another to represent your interests. There are two problems with granting blanket proxies to elected officials. First, politics is driven by money and influence. Unless you have plenty of it, your voice doesn't mean much. Second, politics and policy needs to be driven by citizens and not bureaucrats. So, what I'm advocating is the act of participating actively. I'm also advocating driving organizing down to a neighborhood level. Change happens one neighbor/mind at a time and THAT is where we want to help people to work. That's not in opposition to anyone's party politics.


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Virginia Grassroots Coalition Events. VGC events are FREE.

Saturday, June 11, 10:00am-12noon, VGC Education Workshop - Reinventing the Democratic Party from the Grassroots. Come join Fredericksburg, Virginia, activist Shawn O'Donnell for a presentation and discussion about his upcoming book "Reinventing the Democratic Party from the Grassroots." Shawn's book explains how yet another Democratic presidential candidate lost another national election; illustrates campaign realities with in-depth examples of what actually happened, especially on the local and state levels; proposes solutions for bottom-up election reform; and offers a specific plan to reinvent and reinvigorate the Democratic Party. The workshop will be held at the Training Center at Don Beyer Volvo, 1231 West Broad Street/108 Gordon Road (Route 7), Falls Church, VA. Space is limited--guarantee your space by RSVPing to: [e-mail]



Tuesday, June 14th, 6:30-9pm, Virginia Grassroots Coalition election day gathering at Capitol City Brewing, 2700 S. Quincy Street, in Arlington. We Are All Smith Islanders is the video of the month. http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/ccan_documentaries.htm Look for us to have a serious discussion of environmental issues in the greater Chesapeake Bay watershed. Joshua Tulkin, Grassroots
Coordinator for Chesapeake Climate Action Network will join us for discussion. Other environmental groups are welcome to attend. The bumper sticker table will be out again so bring some to share. We have a few of the great new DFA bumper stickers this month.



Tuesday, July 12th, 6:30-9pm, Virginia Grassroots Coalition gathering at Capitol City Brewing, 2700 S. Quincy Street, in Arlington. Well be showing a short preview of Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices http://www.walmartmovie.com/ and .....The discussion for the evening will center on both wage and development issues.


Sunday July 31st, 3:00pm WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception. The VGC Media group hosts a screening at the George Mason Regional Library, 7001 Little River Turnpike in Annandale, VA. "Weapons of Mass Deception" reveals: How the Iraq war was sold to the American public through professional P.R. strategies. Contact [e-mail] for more.


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VGC Action Alerts

Help Save Public Internet Access. http://www.freepress.net/action/sessionsbill

Thank Kraft Foods for Sponsoring the 2006 Gay Games. http://kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?m=contact_us/cu_form1 OR 800-323-0768

Social Security

Social Security Activist Guide. http://www.movingideas.org/content/en/ssaguide.htm

Iraq War Action Alerts

Help Stop the Violence. http://capwiz.com/fconl/home/

Hit the streets with these flyers. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=2


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Food for Thought

Haves and Havenots

HUD as Landlord. http://www.alternet.org/story/22106/

A Mugging. http://www.alternet.org/story/22163/

The Mobility Myth. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/06/opinion/06herbert.html?

Bush Tax Fairness? http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/opinion/07tues1.html


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VGC GLBTS

June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. The Alexandria Gay and Lesbian Community Association and the Alexandria Health Department are co-sponsoring FREE HIV tests at several Alexandria locations. Testing is available from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King Street. The following sites offer testing from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Monday, June 27th: William Ramsay Recreation Center, 5650 Sanger Ave; Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave.; Cora Kelly Recreation Center, 25 West Reed Ave.; and Charles Houston Recreation Center, 905 Wythe St. Take the test. Take control. Visit the Alexandria Gay and Lesbian Community Association online at www.aglca.org for more information, or call the Alexandria Health Department at 703/838-4400, ext. 305.

. . . . . . .

Thank Kraft Foods for Sponsoring the 2006 Gay Games. http://kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?m=contact_us/cu_form1 OR 800-323-0768


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VGC Labor [e-mail]

First a short tribute to the moral, economic backbone of America - the working man. The two articles that follow serve as a reminder that so much of what we take for granted on a daily basis is actually the result of the intelligence, hard work, dedication, and moral fiber of men and women we never see and never think about. Perhaps it's because we take them for granted that we also fail to fight for their rights.

Frank Wills http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001624.html

Ugo Del Costello and the ironworkers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/08/AR2005060801836.html

Workers Rights are Human Rights. http://www.jwj.org/workplace/workersrights.htm

. . . . . .

A Living Wage http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/livingwage/ AND http://www.losangeleslivingwagestudy.com/

American Rights at Work. http://www.araw.org

June 10-15. Iraqi Labor Movement Leaders in D.C. Worker's rights are a global issue. Schedule of events at www.uslaboragainstwar.org

June 16th-18th, Low Income Immigrants Rights Conference http://www.nilc.org/dc-conference2005.htm

June 19-21, The Art of Organizing Organizers, activists and artists will join forces in June for the Conference on Creative Organizing and the Great Labor Arts Exchange at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD. Both events will be held June 19-21. For more information, visit http://www.laborheritage.org or call Peter Jones at the Labor Heritage Foundation at 202-974-8040.


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VGC Media [e-mail]

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/04/business/04online.html

http://www.cjrdaily.org/

Sinclair's Shadow. http://www.cjr.org/issues/2005/3/jensen.asp

Help Save Public Internet Access. http://www.freepress.net/action/sessionsbill


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VGC Education [e-mail]

Getting Online. It's a VGC event but very useful. http://www.dclabor.org/index.php?display=EventDetails&id=862


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VGC Reproductive Rights [e-mail]

Hanging by a Thread http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2005/urgentreport.asp

Public Triumphs, Private Rights http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2005/birthcontrol.asp

Progress. http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9072

Framing Choice. http://www.alternet.org/story/22135/


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VGC Environmental. [e-mail]

More Good News from the White House. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/science/07cnd-climate.html?hp&ex=1118203200&en=494354b6393298f4&ei=5094&partner=homepage


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VGC Faith Outreach [e-mail]

No Beliefs? http://www.nobeliefs.com/index.htm

. . . . . . .

Sunday, June 12th, 1:00pm. Silent interfaith peace walk, Lafayette Park, DC. The call to make peace is central to diverse religious traditions. Let's come together in monthly interfaith peace witness at the White House. Help spread the word at your place of worship.


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Outreach and Events Around The Region

These listings are designed to keep you aware of opportunities to work in the community, provide feedback to policy makers, meet future leaders, and get involved in the community. Most events are free and all are open to the public. To submit an event for consideration, email [e-mail]



June 10-15. Iraqi Labor Movement Leaders in D.C. Help worker's right worldwide. Schedule of events at www.uslaboragainstwar.org



Sunday, June 12th, 1:00pm. Silent interfaith peace walk, Lafayette Park, DC. The call to make peace is central to diverse religious traditions. Let's come together in monthly interfaith peace witness at the White House. Help spread the word at your place of worship.



Sunday, June 12, 5:45-8:15 PM- June meeting of Sunday Supper Club in Fauquier County. 7180 Baldwin Ridge Road, Warrenton. Guest speaker Conway Porter, Vice-Chair of the Fauquier Democratic Committee. Pot luck supper; bring a dish to share, if you can. 540-349-7862. For information, [e-mail] or 540-349-7862. http://www.sundaysupperclub.org



Sunday, June 12th, 6pm - 9pm, Action Oriented Political Book Club and Potluck Supper, 7326 Tower St in Falls Church Pot luck dinner at 6pm. We will be reading Doing Democracy , The Map Model For Organizing Social Movements by Bill Moyer. This book is described as an activist tool offering a theoretical model for ensuring that social movements are successful in the long term. Sounds like a winner for us!

Doing Democracy outlines eight stages of social movements, the four roles of activists and case studies from civil rights, anti-nuclear energy, women's health etc. It sounds like this will give us a wonderful base.

Debby Churchman has suggested it and will be leading our discussion on June 12. Contact Judith [e-mail]



June 16th, 6-9:30pm, Wine Tasting and Silent Auction to Benefit Women's Prerogative. http://womensprerogative.org/silentauction.cfm



June 16th-18th, Low Income Immigrants Rights Conference http://www.nilc.org/dc-conference2005.htm



June 17th-19th. 9th Annual Hampton Roads Juneteenth Festival at MacArthur Center Green & Tidewater Community College Park in downtown Norfolk. Juneteenth celebrates the signing of the Emancipation

Proclamation and the end of legalized slavery in America. Contact Sheri Bailey for info. 757.397.5963 or [e-mail]



June 19-21, When Women Gain, So Does the World at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. http://www.iwpr.org/Conference2005/index.htm



June 19-21, The Art of Organizing Organizers, activists and artists will join forces in June for the Conference on Creative Organizing and the Great Labor Arts Exchange at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD. Both events will be held June 19-21. For more information, visit http://www.laborheritage.org or call Peter Jones at the Labor Heritage Foundation at 202-974-8040.



Wednesday, June 22nd , 5:30pm - ???, Women Opening Doors for Women (WODW) Dinners. Keynote Speaker Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI). WODW begins with an exciting reception at the AFL-CIO, 815 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20006., followed by 25 simultaneous, informal dinners held in private homes throughout DC. Dinner party topics are as diverse as the WIN membership and include managing a political campaign, being a woman of color, climbing the corporate ladder, working in the arts, labor, communications, the environment, foreign relations, fundraising and development, health policy, higher education and social change. http://winonline.org/portal/alias__Rainbow/lang__en/tabID__3513/DesktopDefault.aspx Registration info now online.


June 24th - 26th, The People United Second Annual Regional Activist Gathering at the Shannon Farm Community Land Trust. Join social justice activists from around Virginia for a weekend of networking, workshops and fun. Contact [e-mail]



June 25-26th, Root Camp training in Northern Virginia.



June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. The Alexandria Gay and Lesbian Community Association and the Alexandria Health Department are co-sponsoring FREE HIV tests at several Alexandria locations. Testing is available from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King Street. The following sites offer testing from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Monday, June 27th: William Ramsay Recreation Center, 5650 Sanger Ave; Mt. Vernon Recreation Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave.; Cora Kelly Recreation Center, 25 West Reed Ave.; and Charles Houston Recreation Center, 905 Wythe St. Take the test. Take control. Visit the Alexandria Gay and Lesbian Community Association online at www.aglca.org for more information, or call the Alexandria Health Department at 703/838-4400, ext. 305.



July 9th & 10th - Democracy for America training in Virginia.



Wednesday, July 13th, Campus Progress National Student Conference at the Convention Center in Washington, DC. http://www.campusprogress.org/common/247/campus-progress---national-student-conference



Friday, July 29th thru Sunday, July 31st , 2005 ACS National Convention: The Constitution in the 21st Century. www.acslaw.org



August 13th, Rally for Prison Reform in DC. http://www.journeyforjustice.org/



August 12th-14th Dismantling Racism Workshop Virginia Organizing Project will sponsor a weekend Dismantling Racism workshop August 12-14, 2005 at the Richmond Hill Retreat Center, 2209 East Grace Street, in Richmond. The session begins at 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 12 and ends at noon Sunday, August 14. Contact Laura Ramirez at 434.984.4655 or [e-mail]



Sept. 24th--26th End the War on Iraq. Massive Mobilization in Washington, D.C. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2854


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The Third Rail The Third Rail is a forum to air ugly issues.

Sadly American. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/opinion/05sun1.html?

The list of qualifying events, if we cared to compile them, would be enormous. For all the NY Times moral hand-wringing, this sort of behavior is 100% American. It may not be what we aspire to (Witness the percentage of Americans who grossly overestimate both their wealth and their ability to become wealthy and you get a sense of the level of self-delusion at work.) but it is who we are. We live in a country where to be "other" is to be a second-class citizen. To have the ability to dominate another has become a license to do so.

In many cases, citizens of the United States are actively voting for legislation that takes away the rights of other citizens. We can look at a long list of groups his applies to - Women, gays, blacks, immigrants, and the handicapped come to mind. The tools for tilting the playing field are myriad. Try this game and keep a tally sheet - Look at every call pulled over to the side of the road by your local constabulary. Now take note of how many police cars there are. Then take a look at the race of the driver. I'll bet, even in Liberal Northern Virginia, that the darker the drivers skin, the more cars there are. But we're NOT racist, right. Now, for a second little game, get yourself a wheelchair, dress as you always would and roll around the streets of any commercial district. Take note of how many people make eye contact with you. Also take note of the extra effort it takes to accomplish the most mundane task like navigating a sidewalk. Now put your wheelchair back in the car and walk the same route again.

So those are a couple examples of the lack of tolerance and care demonstrated by ordinary citizens in your own communities. This is the care exhibited for those who are not like themselves. After the first Abu Ghraib incidents, I was wearing a political t-shirt in the gym when a military officer struck up a conversation about the incident. His big question for me was "Where is the outrage? Why aren't there marchers in the streets?". Indeed. And why aren't military officers resigning in droves? My unflattering assessment is this - For all the flag waving and bluster about being moral, caring Americans, we have demonstrated time after time that there are enough of US that consistently put their own self-interest ahead of what they know is right. We're morally lazy relativists and it's only a question of time before the chickens come home to roost. Hypocrisy is a cancer.


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Weekly Reader

Don't Register for Web Sites. http://www.bugmenot.com/

Persuasion. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/04/opinion/04miller_oped.html

Free and fair? http://www.araw.org/docUploads/FreeandFair%20FINAL%2Epdf

Wake Up and Smell the Fascism http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

Sage Advice. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/04/opinion/04pink.html

Shame is for Sissies. http://indyweek.com/durham/2005-06-08/hal.html

The Gap Widens. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/national/class/HYPER-FINAL.html

Something Rotten in Ohio? http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0609-21.htm

Freakonomics Begins With Monkey Business. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?8hpib

Tough Medicine for the ACLU. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/national/05aclu.html

Corporate Pension Funds on the Dole. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Pension-Funding.html?

How Historians Play the Game in Washington D.C. http://hnn.us/articles/12260.html

Research Network on Gender Politics and the State http://libarts.wsu.edu/polisci/rngs/

New America Foundation http://newamerica.net/index.cfm?pg=home

You May be Brainwashed by Corporate Media if... http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=11058&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

Test shows voter fraud is possible. http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/11811936.htm

World Policy Journal. http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/index.html


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Fun Stuff

Nobody sent in ANYTHING fun this week.


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