Illinois Documentary Film Showing Guide - January 2010: Massachusetts Peace, Justice And Environment Network

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Illinois Documentary Film Showing Guide - January 2010

Posted on Jan 21, 2010 by Beverley216

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Message*	Illinois Documentary Film Showing Guide - January 2010 <a href="http://mapjen.org/resources/detail.php?rid=2349">http://mapjen.org/resources/detail.php?rid=2349</a> ILLINOIS DOCUMENTARY FILM SHOWING GUIDE<br /> JANUARY 2009<br /> <br /> Activists,<br /> <br /> HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the first issue of the Guide in 2010. As you know, this is an important, perhaps critical, election year and the results are very uncertain.<br /> <br /> All the more reason for us to take full advantage of documentary film showings to educate the public about important issues.<br /> <br /> Please send me information about your showings (including ones I might have missed) and I will include them in the next available issue of the Guide.<br /> <br /> <br /> Beverley Walter<br /> Editor<br /> <br /> <br /> In this issue:<br /> . Recent showings of “Rethink Afghanistan” add to the blitz!<br /> . Upcoming showings<br /> . New Documentaries/Oldies but Goodies<br /> . Interesting (and varied) videos <br /> <br /> <br /> UPCOMING SHOWINGS:<br /> --- Friday, January 22, 7:45 pm. Meet & have a Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by NLG Chicago attorney Michael Deutsch.<br /> Reserve your tickets before they sell out: sarahgelsomino@gmail.com<br /> <br /> National Lawyers Guild Chicago and the Chicago NLG Next Generation Committee cordially invite you to the Chicago premiere of "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" on Friday, January 22 at 7:45 p.m. at the Gene Siskel Film Center.<br /> <br /> Join us as we preview "Disturbing the Universe" ~ with filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler ~ who will discuss the film with us afterward. Enjoy our opening night reception.<br /> <br /> Tickets are $25, $10 for law students. To reserve your tickets, email Sarah Gelsomino at sarahgelsomino@gmail.com, stating the number of tickets sought and the name of the reserving party.<br /> <br /> In "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe," filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.<br /> <br /> This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for ~ it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.<br /> <br /> NLG Chicago is delighted to sponsor the opening of this amazing documentary, which has received numerous awards and critical acclaim. Reserve your tickets today! Email Sarah at sarahgelsomino@ gmail.com.<br /> <br /> For more information on the film, visit: http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com <br /> <br /> -- Saturday, January 23, 2010, 3:00 pm. Film: “The Good Soldier,” sponsored by the Near West citizens for Peace and Justice. Location: Riverside Public Library, One Burling Rd., Riverside, IL<br /> <br /> Join us for the first full length Chicago showing of this award winning documentary.<br /> <br /> Now more than ever, since the US has committed 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan with almost a trillion spent on wars since 2001, billions more to come and no end in sight, we need to understand the effects of war on those we send to fight. <br /> <br /> The Good Soldier follows the journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars as they sign up, go into battle, and eventually change their minds about what it means to be a good soldier. <br /> <br /> Directed by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys (DGA, Los Angeles Film Critics, and Peabody Award winners for Riding the Rails), The Good Soldier was previously excerpted on Bill Moyers Journal. <br /> <br /> Here's what Jason Albert of the Onion has to say: "It's hard to imagine watching a more affecting movie than The Good Soldier ... because it may be as affecting a movie as I've ever seen. It took one seemingly simple question—What makes a good soldier?—and reduced the answer to its essence. That being, the ability to kill other human beings. Using the voices of veterans from WWII, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq, each gave this exact same answer, and they all spoke not only of their guilt and regret, but also of how at some point during their time in the military they needed to kill. Their reasons were different, but the training that gave them the skills and permission was not. I found it both hard to watch and hard to turn away from, and I know I'll never look at the words ‘collateral damage' in the same way again. Really powerful stuff." <br /> <br /> Music by JJ Grey and Mofro, CSNY, Nine Inch Nails, Big Bill Broonzy, Edwin Starr, Carly Comando, Muslimgauze, and Jimmie Lunceford. <br /> <br /> http://thegoodsoldier.com<br /> <br /> Note: this film was purchased by Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice and Oak Park PAL (Progressive Action League) and donated to the Riverside Public library so it could be available for free showings in libraries by groups with access to the Suburban Library System. The film will be available for loan after 1/23/10.<br /> <br /> -- Sunday, January 31, 2010, 2:00 pm. FREE FILM SERIES: “Taxi to the Dark Side,” and presentation by NIU law professor Marc Falkoff, sponsored by the Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice and co-sponsored by the Oak Park Public Library. Location: Veterans Room, Oak Park Main Library, 834 Lake Street, Oak Park<br /> <br /> Description: Oscar winning director Alex Gibney investigate the torture and killing of an innocent Afghani taxi driver in this gripping probe into reckless abuses of government power. A disturbing, incisive and compelling documentary thriller, the Academy Award -winning TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE incorporates rare and never before-seen images from inside the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prison into the exposure of the administration’s “global war on terror”<br /> <br /> This stunningly crafted narrative demonstrates how this one man’s life and death symbolizes the erosion of our civil rights and how what it means to be an American has changed forever.<br /> <br /> Marc Falkoff is a law professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he teaches courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, and the federal courts. <br /> <br /> Since 2004 he has represented 17 Yemeni prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Prof. Falkoff was formerly an associate at Covington & Burling, where he received the firm’s 2005 Charles F.C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for his Guantánamo work. He received the Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award in 2007 from the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Bill of Rights in Action Award in 2008 from the Constitutional Rights Foundation in Chicago. In 2009, he received the Northern Illinois University Foundation Award for Faculty Excellence. <br /> <br /> Prof. Falkoff writes and speaks frequently about the rule of law in the context of the war on terror. He has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine, CNN, the BBC, and NPR. He is the compiler and editor of Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak, a bestselling anthology of prisoner poetry that has been published in translation in more than a dozen languages. <br /> <br /> Presentation by NIU law professor Marc Falkoff and open discussion will follow the showing<br /> <br /> Light refreshments are served. <br /> <br /> 2007. 106 min. See: www.taxitothedarkside.com<br /> ___________________________________________________________________<br /> SAVE THE DATE: February 28, 2010, “Urban Greening,” slide presentation by Oak Parker Julie Samuels; March 28, “The Last Truck”<br /> ___________________________________________________________________<br /> www.opctj.org, contact@opctj.org or call John at 708/524-1230.<br /> <br /> -- Sunday, February 7, 2010, 2:30 pm. “This Palestinian Life: Stories of Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance,” Film screening and live web conference with filmmaker Philip Rizk . Locaction: Oak Park Public Library, Veterans Room, 834 Lake Street, Oak Park <br /> <br /> Philip Rizk’s profound new short film This Palestinian Life documents the sumoud (Arabic for perseverance or steadfastness) of Palestinian villagers near Hebron, in the Jordan Valley, and in Gaza as they attempt to remain steadfast in the face of settler violence, the injustice and duplicity of the Israeli government, and the inaction of the international community. While news coverage of the conflict highlights Palestinian violence, the daily, systematic violence inflicted by the Israeli state upon the Palestinian people and their land is rarely exposed. Rarer still are attempts to report the many acts of peaceful, nonviolent resistance by ordinary Palestinians. The film highlights the dignity and perseverance of individuals who, through acts of nonviolent resistance, testify that they would rather die than leave their land. <br /> <br /> This Palestinian Life does not provide an overview of the entire conflict or “expert” opinions; rather, it takes an oral history approach and listens to particular individuals–women and men, young and old–and their experiences under Israeli occupation. A web-based real-time video connection to Rizk will allow viewers to hear from the filmmaker directly after the film screening.<br /> <br /> Filmmaker Philip Rizk is an Egyptian-German freelance journalist and graduate of Wheaton College who currently lives in Cairo, Egypt, where he is currently completing graduate work in Middle East Studies and Anthropology. From 2005 to 2007 he lived in Gaza while working with NGO-based relief and development projects.<br /> <br /> <br /> -- Saturday, January 30, 2010, 2:30 pm. FILM: American Casino. Spsonsored by<br /> Open University Of The Left. Location: Lincoln Park Library, 1150 W Fullerton, Chicago, corner Racine, across from DePaul University, <br /> <br /> See: www.openuniversityoftheleft.org/<br /> <br /> Description: Open University presents Leslie and Andrew Cockburn's award-winning documentary that explains the sub-prime mortgage crisis, how Wall Street traders created it, how it has impoverished homeowners, and how the banks intend to make us pay for it.<br /> <br /> "Investigative reporters Leslie and Andrew Cockburn have spent nearly 30 years uncovering major stories (for PBS, CBS Reports, 60 Minutes, et alia), but with "American Casino" they take on the biggest economic crisis of our lifetime: the subprime mortgage meltdown that has caused more than a million Americans to lose their homes. The Cockburns interview Wall Street wizards who are as nervous about revealing their identity as any mobster in the witness protection program; they rewind to Phil Gramm (R, Texas) calling us "a nation of whinersOe (facing) a mental recession"; they replay Alan Greenspan's admission that his ideology was "flawed"; and they put a human face on the victims of bankers who targeted minority communities with no income verification loans, adjustable rates (that adjusted upwards, dramatically), and complex language that even the pros can't fathom. Out of this mess, the filmmakers build a case against those who used government deregulation to make a fortune for the few and create havoc for the many." - IndieWire.com<br /> "Oe powerful and shocking look at the subprime lending scandal. If you want to understand how the US financial system failed and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor, see this film." - Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize-winning economist<br /> "Oethis smart, touching documentary traces the connections between Wall Street's high-flying practices and the countless citizens on Main Street who now face bankruptcy and eviction." – John Powers, Fresh Air<br /> "A damning documentary which makes a convincing case that neither the federal government nor the corporate elite could care less about the plight of the working class." - NewsBlaze.com<br /> "TerrificOethe Cockburns fill in the lines of connection. OeThe movie is a lucid and comprehensive picture of a rotten system." - David Denby, The New Yorker<br /> "Oea real gem of a movieOea fascinating, and occasionally heartrending, morality play of predatory greed in the crazy world of derivatives and collateralized debt obligations and its brutal impact on hardworking African-American home owners in Baltimore." – Lloyd Grove, Daily Beast<br /> "A meticulously structured filmOeThe dire financial statistics paraded in the documentary American Casino are infuriatingOe" – New York Times<br /> "For those who ever been mystified by what the terms collateralized debt obligation or credit default swaps mean (including me most of the time), "The American Casino" will bring you up to speedOeAlthough the movie focuses exclusively on Bush's role, attention must be paid to the failure of the new administration in keeping people in their homes." – Louis Proyect, The Unrepentant Marxist<br /> <br /> --- Saturday, February 27, 2010, 2:30 pm. FILM: Capitalism hits the Fan, sponsored by the Open University Of The Left. Location: Lincoln Park Library, 1150 W Fullerton, Chicago.<br /> <br /> University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. <br /> Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s when wages began to stagnate, and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government "bailouts," stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis, in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes. <br /> Richly illustrated with graphics and charts, this video is a superb introduction that allows ordinary citizens to comprehend, and react to, the unraveling crisis. <br /> Richard Wolff has been a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts since 1981. He is a member of the editorial board of several academic journals including Rethinking Marxism. He also publishes regular analyses of current economic events on the websites www.globalmacroscope.com and www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine. He has co-authored several books with Stephen Resnick, including The Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya; Rethinking Marxism: Struggles in Marxist Theory; Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy and Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical. He also co-authored Bringing it all Back Home: Class and Gender in the Modern Household with Harriet Fraad and Stephen Resnick. <br /> <br /> "Oea rich and much needed corrective to the views of mainstream economists and pundits. It would be difficult to come away from this viewing with anything but an acute appreciation of what is needed to get us out of this mess."<br /> — Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University of New York <br /> "Oea real tour de force."<br /> — Hobart Spalding, Socialism and Democracy <br /> "Oeelectrifying explanation of how the 'American Dream' evolved into the 'Nightmare on Wall Street.'"<br /> — BuzzFlash <br /> <br /> <br /> RECENT SHOWINGS:<br /> - Saturday, December 12, 2009, 2-5 - pm. FREE Film Screening: Rethink Afghanistan<br /> and discussion with H. Candace Gorman, human rights lawyer, representing two Guantanamo detainees and Anthony Wagner, Iraq War Veteran. Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of World Can’t Wait. Location: Sulzer Regional Library 4455 N. Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL 60625, Transportation: #78 Montrose, #11 Lincoln Ave, #49 Western, #50 Damen, Brown Line Western Stop. Parking is also available.<br /> <br /> Description: At a time when the country faces a damaged reputation abroad and an economic catastrophe at home, expanding the war in Afghanistan only expands an illegitimate and immoral war with all the death and destruction that entails.<br /> As a special engagement, the Chicago chapter of World Can't Wait is presenting the documentary film Rethink Afghanistan by Robert Greenwald. The film will be shown in its entirety. <br /> <br /> Rethink Afghanistan focuses on the human and financial cost of combat to challenge the notion that Afghanistan is the "good war". Instead, Greewald argues that troop escalation threatens to entrench America in a unwinnable, unwanted war that only further empowers the resurgent Taliban. Other award-winning films directed by Robert Greenwald include: Iraq For Sale, The War Profiteers; Wal-Mart, The High Cost of Low Price; and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism; and more.<br /> The film will be followed by discussion with H. Candace Gorman , Chicago Human Rights Lawyer, and Anthony Wagner, Iraq War Veteran and Columbia College student. Ms. Gorman is currently handling habeas corpus petitions for 2 Guantanamo detainees and has visited her clients at the prison more than a dozen times. She has spoken on "Obama's Guantanamo: What Has and Has Not Happened Since Obama Took Office". Perhaps the most distressing change is that the level of secrecy has actually increased. Anthony Wagner served in ground combat in Iraq and is now a student at Columbia College and an anti-war activist.<br /> <br /> --Monday, January 4th, 2010, 7-9PM. FILM: RETHINK AFGHANISTAN, sponsored by the Chicago Metro Area Chapter of the FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION<br /> <br /> Description: Rethink Afghanistan is a 2009 documentary about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. This full-length documentary campaign features experts from Afghanistan, the U.S., and Russia among others discussing critical issues like military escalation, how escalation will affect Pakistan and the surrounding region, the cost of war, civilian casualties, and the rights of Afghan women.<br /> <br /> Rethink Afghanistan also gave birth to a movement based out of the growing need and desire for non-military solutions in the region. Through the production of the full-length documentary film coupled with an online and on-the-ground campaign, Rethink Afghanistan advocates an alternative vision to the current U.S. policy on Afghanistan.<br /> <br /> http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=1090<br /> Calling the president’s Afghanistan effort “an 18th century strategy <br /> being employed against a 14th century enemy,” <br /> Florida Representative Alan Grayson said the ability of the United States <br /> to bring peace to Afghanistan is limited.<br /> “Afghanistan is never going to look like Minnesota, <br /> nor should it. <br /> It is on its own path and we need to let it go on its own path <br /> as long as it doesn’t affect our security,” he said. <br /> “It did affect our security in 2001; we took care of that problem.”<br /> “We eliminated the Taliban government. We expelled al-Qaida. <br /> The fundamental problem that we are facing right now <br /> is that we are trying to win the same war twice,” he continued.<br /> <br /> MEETING AT First United Church 848 Lake Street Oak Park, IL First United Church is at the corner of Lake & Kenilworth. <br /> COME TO THE BACK ENTRANCE <br /> AND FOLLOW THE SIGNS. We Will Be Meeting In The Commons Area.<br /> Directions: Take Eisenhower to Harlem, go north to Lake, <br /> turn right and continue on to Kenilworth, <br /> turn left on Kenilworthand enter through parking lot. <br /> Or take Green Line to Oak Park Avenue, <br /> walk north to Lake, west to Kenilworth.<br /> <br /> FIND US ON FACEBOOK!!<br /> http://www.facebook.com/group.phpCity/State/Zip<br /> <br /> --- Sunday, January 3, 2010, 4:30 pm. FILM: Rethink Afghanistan. Sponsored by the Bloomington P & J at the Unitarian Church. Free showing.<br /> <br /> -- Saturday, January 16, 2010, 3:00 0m. Film, showing Kilowatt Ours, sponsored by North Side Green Party Local<br /> <br /> MORE INFO: http://www.kilowattours.org/<br /> <br /> DESCRIPTION: Film Kilowatt Ours showing Southeast Environment Task Force 13300 S. Baltimore Award-winning document Kilowatt Ours shows us where our energy really comes from, what corporate media is not telling us. We are shown how to save on our electric bills, Very upbeat.<br /> <br /> SPECIAL EVENTS:<br /> PDA-Illinois TV presents 2 dynamic reports: <br /> 1. Water Pirates Eye Chicago water<br /> 2. NOW Slams Stupek Amendment<br /> <br /> Daley Scheming to Privatize Chicago Water?<br /> Jon Keesecker from Food and Water Watch * discusses Mayor Daley’s rumored plot to sell off Chicago’s world class water system. Jon paints the big picture of water system privatization, what's happened in Milwaukee and Akron, what might happen in Chicago. He then shares his ideas for fighting this menace. <br /> Privatization of public assets represents a grave threat to our democracy, labor and our standard of living. It continues unabated with privatization of urban assets, schools, our social safety net, military, prison systems, and the list goes on. <br /> Let’s gear up now to oppose any further attempts to sell of public assets whether by Daley in Chicago or the local city councils anywhere in Illinois. <br /> In two parts. <br /> PDA, Water Privatization-Atlanta and Akron<br /> PDA, Chicago Water Privatization<br /> <br /> Filmed at PDA-Chicago monthly meetings by Illinois Film Progressives, Allan Nowakowski and Cat Jarboe. <br /> <br /> *Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization working with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future. Jon Keesecker is a senior organizer with the Take Back the Tap campaign at Food & Water Watch. He works with grassroots community groups in the U.S. to prevent the privatization of public water resources. <br /> <br /> <br /> NEW RELEASES/OLDIES BUT GOODIES AND AN ALERT:<br /> --Crude" DVD: The Toxic Rape of the Amazon by Texaco-Chevron. A Must Watch if You Want to Reclaim Earth from Its Corporate Destroyers. Released on February 23. Pre-Order. Directed by Joe Berlinger <br /> <br /> From BuzzFlash.com's Review: "Three years in the making, this riveting documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. An inside look at the infamous $27 billion "Amazon Chernobyl" case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking as it examines a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus. <br /> <br /> Senior BuzzFlash journalist Meg White began her 12/7/09 article about the documentary "Crude": "In the award-winning documentary Crude, the rainbow plumes of oil spreading into pristine streams are unmistakable. The fiery landscapes might remind you of sabotaged Kuwaiti oil fields, but the surrounding forest tells you you're looking at the AmazonOeCrude tells the story of a lawsuit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorians against Texaco in 1993. The plaintiffs include members of the indigenous communities of Secoya, Siona, Cofán, Huaorani, Quichua, as well as colonial settlers. Chevron inherited the burden in 2001 after a merger with Texaco. The outcome of the trial is still up in the air. What is certain is that people are suffering." <br /> -- THE PEOPLE SPEAK, http://www.buzzflash.com/store The DVD "is nothing less than the life's work of 'people's historian' Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians and poets in the country.<br /> <br /> This is why The People Speak matters." Howard Zinn's "The People Speak" History Channel DVD, To be Released on Feb. 11. <br /> <br /> From Buzzflash.com review: "The People Speak” is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and features dramatic and musical performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Mart'n Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo Mortensen."<br /> <br /> "Democracy is not a spectator sport. Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. Narrated by Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books, A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People's History of the United States, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted. <br /> <br /> THE PEOPLE SPEAK is a documentary film inspired by the books, "A People's History of the United States" and "Voices of a People's History" which chronicles the lives and experiences of ordinary Americans who, through their words and actions, changed the course of our history. The philosophy espoused is that change doesn't come from the top, but rather from the bottom, and that without those everyday citizens pushing for betterment, there would be no America. This film takes us on a journey from the founding of our country to the civil rights movement, all the way up through today." <br /> <br /> Watch excerpts and find out more about the origins of THE PEOPLE SPEAK on the History Channel at: http://www.history.com/content/people-speak "This is more than just must-see-TV. It is nothing less than the life's work of "people's historian" Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians and poets in the country. This is why The People Speak matters. It's aimed at reclaiming our hallowed history from all who would profane it: to resurrect our past as a guide to fight for the future." —Dave Zirin <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -- ALERT: "Tea Party: The Documentary" -- Attending a Bizarre Movie Premiere for Right-Wingers in Washington, By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. Posted December 4, 2009.<br /> <br /> From review: Presented by FreedomWorks, the front group that organized the 9/12 March, a new documentary on the tea parties attempts to suggest that the protests were spontaneous <br /> http://www.alternet.org/politics/144336/%22tea_party%3A_the_documentary%22_--_attending_a_bizarre_movie_premiere_for_right-wingers_in_washington/<br /> <br /> The movement's stars were out in force at the Washington D.C., premiere of "Tea Party: The Documentary." Before the Wednesday night screening, presentations by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Senator Jim DeMint and Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson of South Carolina, Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia -- all Republicans -- got the half-full auditorium in the Ronald Reagan Building humming.<br /> Price, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, presented each of the film's "stars" -- five movement participants characterized as "regular citizens" by director Pritchett Cotten -- with a plaque bearing the text of a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives thanking Tea Party activists for their participation in the September 12th march on Washington.<br /> The film conveys the stories of five activists chosen to represent the movement's everyman and everywoman -- the kind of people who were motivated by Washington D.C.-based lobbying groups to shout down members of Congress at town-hall meetings in their districts this summer. "I think it's a compelling story," Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, told me after the screening. "Here's real people in it with real beliefs. It sort of debunks the whole astroturf thing."<br /> What Astroturfing?<br /> Kibbe apparently saw no irony in his comments, or in the fact that the premiere was sponsored by FreedomWorks, an organization chaired by Armey that's known as an astroturfing outfit for its campaign to foment discontent among those regular citizens nationwide. FreedomWorks was instrumental in orchestrating the disruption of town-hall meetings on health care reform called by members of Congress during the August recess. (A FreedomWorks town-hall action kit in a PDF file is offered in a famous memo on how to disrupt a town-hall meeting was distributed by the Tea Party Patriots Google Groups listserv, which was managed at the time by FreedomWorks staffer Florida State Chairman Tom Gaitens<br /> <br /> Also involved in creating our summer of discontent was Americans For Prosperity, whose consultant, Joel Aaron Foster, wrote the script for the Tea Party documentary, and is listed as the press contact on the movie media kit. Throughout the film, AFP's ubiquitous "Hands Off My Health-Care" signs, which feature a bloody handprint, bob up and down at Tea Party rallies. Despite circumstantial evidence that the two groups work together, I've never seen their two logos on the same event at the same time; they function like the alter-egos of some malevolent superhero. (UPDATE: FreedomWorks Press Secretary Adam Brandon told me that AFP was not invited to participate in the September 12 march because of AFP's support for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.)<br /> "Tea Party: The Documentary" may not earn a nod from Oscar, but it's a slickly produced piece of cinema that will likely serve as an effective organizing tool for FreedomWorks and other like-minded organizations -- and make a bit of dough for its producers, Ground Floor Video, the company owned by executive producer Luke Livingston, and Riddled With Bullets, director Cotten's production company. Ground Floor Video is selling DVDs of the film. When you consider that 70,000 people came to the march, and tens of thousands more are involved in the movement, DVD sales could yield a pretty penny. This is, after all, a movement that purports to be all about capitalism.<br /> <br /> FreedomWorks' Kibbe is quick to say that the film is an enterprise separate from his organization, though FreedomWorks is listed as a "contributor" to the film, as are Americans For Prosperity, Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party Express.<br /> The film's everyperson stars all hail from the Atlanta area, which is also home base to Americans For Prosperity President Tim Phillips, whose last gig was as a partner with Ralph Reed in the Atlanta-based Century Strategies, an astroturfing and lobbying group implicated in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. The main characters are identified on screen only by their first names. There's Jenny Beth -- that's Jenny Beth Martin, a former GOP consultant, who leads Tea Party Patriots, a group that names FreedomWorks as a partner on its Web site. Dr. Fred makes an appearance -- that's Dr. Fred Shessel, vice president of a group called Docs For Patient Care that opposes health care reform, and a partner in Georgia Urology. William Temple, an historical reenactor, provides what comic relief there is in the film. Temple was chosen to lead the 9/12 March dressed in full Revolutionary War regalia, which he also donned for the premiere.<br /> <br /> VIDEOS<br /> --Video: “What's Cap and Trade?” A New Video Breaks it Down and Reveals the Plan as a Scam, By Janet Redman, MinuteMan Media. Posted December 3, 2009.<br /> <br /> It's a scheme that tries to sell business-as-usual as a solution to global warming. Here's how it works <br /> http://www.alternet.org/story/144359/what%27s_cap_and_trade_a_new_video_breaks_it_down_and_reveals_the_plan_as_a_scam<br /> <br /> Whether you listen to NPR or Rush Limbaugh, you've probably heard about climate change. And if you've heard about climate change, chances are you've also heard about "cap and trade." It's a scheme that tries to sell business-as-usual as a solution to global warming.<br /> <br /> Here's how it works. The government puts a limit on how much greenhouse gas can be released in a year (the cap), and industries covered by the system are issued an equivalent number of emissions permits. As the cap is tightened each year, permits become scarcer and thus more valuable. The increasing value of the permits is supposed to encourage dirty industries to clean up their act fast, and sell their spare permits to the dinosaurs that didn't innovate. That's the trade.<br /> <br /> The theory behind cap and trade is that the planet doesn't care where you reduce emissions, as long as you stay under the cap. And by trading permits, you maximize efficiency and make it profitable for corporations to shrink their carbon footprints.<br /> <br /> Everybody wins, right? Wrong. A new short film, THE STORY OF CAP AND TRADE, released by the Story of Stuff and Free Range Video explains why the real of story of cap and trade is that it's easy to scam, riddled with loopholes, and a dangerous distraction from the real change needed to protect people and the planet.<br /> <br /> First of all, cap and trade programs are easy to cheat. In Europe, where carbon trading has been under way since 2005, energy corporations were asked how many permits they needed and were given that amount for free. But they made out like bandits when they still raised consumer prices as if they had paid top dollar. The result: more than $30 billion in windfall profits. And to add insult to injury, emissions didn't decline because corporations had overestimated how many permits they needed. Under the U.S. cap and trade law snaking its way through Congress, 85 percent of the carbon credits would be given away to polluting industries for free.<br /> <br /> Here's the second problem. Cap and trade includes offsets -- a kind of carbon trading that allows polluters to finance projects outside the cap that purport to cut emissions, and then claim the cuts for their own. Even in theory, offsets don't lower emissions -- they simply move reductions from one place to another. In reality, offsets are rarely "additional" -- meaning that the cleaner projects were going to happen anyway. But because the offset creates carbon credits, the company that provided finance has permits to keep polluting at home. Even if the atmosphere doesn't care where pollution comes from, the people who live next to the power plants and factories do.<br /> <br /> Unfortunately, many offsets are just scams. Consider the case of Sinar Mas. This pulp and paper company cut down native forest in Indonesia, causing major devastation, and then planted palm oil trees on the wasteland it had created. Guess what it got for that? Offset credits for reforesting. This company destroys an entire forest ecosystem, installs a monoculture industrial plantation, and can still turn a profit from selling the trees cut down, the palm oil produced in their place, and carbon credits. As a result, a company somewhere else can continue to pollute. It doesn't make any sense.<br /> <br /> Third, carbon trading creates a new derivatives market in carbon credits that's ripe for speculation. Remember the mortgage crisis, where bad loans were bundled and resold ad nauseum? Now imagine the investment banks that brought us the financial crisis gambling on carbon derivatives -- and toxic carbon credits backed by nothing but hot air -- creating a carbon bubble. This time when the bubble bursts, we could lose more than our houses. Our planet's ability to sustain life as we know it is at stake.<br /> <br /> Above all, cap and trade is a dangerous distraction from what we must do to avert climate chaos. That includes shifting public support from fossil fuels to wind, solar, and other renewable energy alternatives, rebuilding our economy around new jobs in clean industries and energy efficiency improvements, and promoting policies that reward real innovators, not dirty industries.<br /> <br /> ---Labor Express interview with Steven Ashby and C. J. Hawking. Labor Express, is doing a 2-part interview with Ashby and Hawking. The first part can be downloaded at: <br /> http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressFor12-21-<br /> <br /> Description: Oak Parkers Steven Ashby and C.J. Hawking will discuss their book "Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement" on Wednesday, January 27 at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Room of the Oak Park Public Library.<br /> <br /> Their book chronicles the mid-1990's labor struggle which took place at the A.E. Staley plant in Decater, Ilinois in which the Allied Industrial Workers, Local 837 responded to union busting company tactics with education and mobilization of its union members, organizing support within the Decater community especially within the religious and African-American communities, building a national solidarity movement, and even in engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.<br /> <br /> -- Video From Death Row: Possibly Retarded Prisoner Faces Execution? By Renee Feltz<br /> <br /> See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/renee-feltz/video-from-death-row-poss_b_376057.html<br /> <br /> Description: As Texas reopens its execution chamber after a Thanksgiving break, the <br /> first man set to die may be mentally retarded. A 2002 Supreme Court ruling bans the<br /> execution of mentally retarded prisoners. But after years of being represented by a discredited attorney who ruined any chance for an appeal based on his disabilities, the fate of Bobby Wayne Woods rests with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles which can recommend clemency or a reprieve to Gov. Perry. <br /> <br /> "It's a long shot at best," Woods' attorney Maurie Levin says of the clemency request, "but I think it's very important to do."<br /> <br /> Test scores during his childhood and incarceration show Bobby Woods has an IQ that hovers at or below 70 -- the cut-off point for mental retardation. He reads at a second grade level and writes childlike letters -- many of which are photocopied and presented as evidence in his clemency request. Levin asked the board to grant a 60-day reprieve so that she can produce a videotape of Woods "to adequately present a full picture of his limitations." She has sued Texas prison officials over their refusal to allow her to record such a video herself. The Texas Observer captured Woods on tape last week during an on-camera interview, and now you can watch the video that Levin wants the clemency board to see.<br /> <br /> Link to videos and the full story from The Texas Observer. http://www.texasobserver.org/enterprise/possibly-retarded-death-row-prisoner-faces-execution<br /> <br /> Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.<br /> <br /> Follow Renee Feltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/reneefeltz <br /> <br /> --Video: Eyes in Gaza. Dr. Mads Gilbert returns to North America recounting the horrors of Gaza a year ago, by FATEMAH MEGHJI, From Dr. Mads Gilbert & Dr. Erik Fosse' new book – "Eyes in Gaza"<br /> <br /> <br /> Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqGJytyz7w4<br /> <br /> Description: "The boy with the destroyed brain did not need anaesthetic; he could no<br /> longer feel anything. The other lay in an artificial coma with intravenous anaesthetic agents to soften the pain and allow the ventilator to work without resistance from the boy's own breathing. A large bandage covered both his eyes. He could not see anyway. He was already blind.<br /> <br /> "Where could I cry out the despair and rage I felt for all this terrible fate we saw at such close quarters? Would the heavens hear? Will the world hear? They know that this is happening, after all. The numbers tick into the West every single afternoon, to the news agencies, to the intelligence services and to the diplomatic missions of the world's most powerful nations, who do not even make an attempt to pull in the reins and control the wildness of the Israeli war machine.""<br /> <br /> Images of horror and destruction from the massacre that ensued last winter found its way to the media. Videos, photos, and eyewitness accounts made it to the mainstream media despite the fact that the Gaza Strip was completely blocked off from any incoming or outgoing traffic-no matter what kind of journalist, aid worker, or person you were.<br /> <br /> Despite this, two doctors from NORWAC (Norweigan Aid Committee) were able to enter the Gaza Strip- the only two foreign doctors allowed into the region throughout the entire operation. These two doctors are Dr. Mads Gilbert & Dr. Erik Fosse who have recently co-authored a book "Eyes in Gaza" – soon to be published in English.<br /> <br /> As the only two foreign doctors in the region, the two became common faces on the media worldwide. Seen on Al-Jazeera, BBC, CBS, Fox, Democracy Now, and CNN- these doctors served not only as a lifeline for hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians in the overcrowded Al-Shifaa Hospital, but they also served as a Palestinian voice in a time where they are silenced and the ears of those outside the Gaza Strip are deafened. Accused of faking a hospital scene on CNN by an ardent and clearly desperate Zionist Lobby- even CNN had to rush to defend the internationally acclaimed doctor. Further, from the ground, before the likes of the Goldstone Report and other such human rights reports, Dr. Gilbert had made his position clear: over 90% of those he saw in the hospital killed were innocent civilians and there was no doubt that chemical weapons had been used- the likes of which he had never seen before.<br /> <br /> Dr. Gilbert also said that this was the most horrific and traumatizing experience he had gone through. This wouldn't be surprising if he was just a regular doctor seeing warfare for the first time- but he's not. Not only is he an internationally acclaimed doctor and<br /> recipient of dozens of awards, he has also volunteered in war zones-including Beirut in 1982 and has seen some of the worst man-made conflicts over the past few decades. One might think that this much blood would dehumanize or at least desensitize him, but that's not the case for Dr. Gilbert. It was Gaza that gave him nightmares.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Once organizing the tour kicked off- it was hard to curb interest, and the tour just kept growing and growing and growing. I wasn't expecting to organize a tour of more than 8 campuses- but the tour currently stands at 15 campuses- reaching all of the major cities in Canada and 4 venues in the USA. I know that Dr. Gilbert's presentations are going to be heartfelt and truthful and will portray a side of the conflict often shunned or dismissed, the personal stories of the Palestinians in Gaza who were traumatized and left abandoned by the international community- and I hope that all of the readers reading this will help make this tour a success- and thus give a voice to the voiceless Palestinians who continue to suffer a life under siege and occupation.<br /> <br /> --- Video: Advocates against abuse of prisoners Press conference <br /> <br /> Description: Rev. Cayeene Bird, advocate: “OeThe grieving families cried buckets of tears, they traveled from San Diego, Los Angeles and Theresa Vaughn flew all the way from Michigan. By the end of the day they were literally clinging to one another for mutual support. I found out that even at my age, under pressure, I can stay up for 48 hrs straight . We were all sleep-deprived, try to ignore our swollen, blood-shot eyes, and deep circles, it took a super-human effort for everyone to be there. They're speaking up on behalf of everyone who hasn't died yet, it's too late for their loved ones, for they are gone. <br /> To everyone who spoke, who brought people, who worked at the event itself, and especially to those UNION people who have no one in prison, I thank you on behalf of every prisoner who has no one to stand for them. Let's make it go viral by rating it. This is the first time that we put a human face on our many grieving UNION families and turned the prison crisis into more than just a statistic. The lawsuit award for damages in the Joseph Sullivan case was $475,000. Small recompense for the loss of a son.” <br /> <br /> The day featured at least ten horror stories, but at the end of the day, it is very clear that murder and neglect is not just a solitary event or an accident, but a pattern that is going without consequence to those who perpetrate it. <br /> <br /> Use this link to News Blaze as the primary one to rate and circulate. http://www.youtube.com/newsblaze <br /> Attorney David Springfield who litigated the successful case with Attorney Abraham Goldman, have an especially compelling remark here. http://www.1union1.com/Dec4_springfield.html http://www.1union1.com/dec4_main_index.html <br /> <br /> Info: www.1union1.com/Join_the_UNION.html rightor1@yahoo.com<br /> Reform isn't something you wish for... it's something you work for...writing to editors, showing up to rallies and hearings, recruiting others to write and show up, registering the poor to vote. Your enemies have no trouble at all doing this simple work, which is why they carry the jailer's keys. Rev. B. Cayenne Bird rightor1@yahoo.com
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ILLINOIS DOCUMENTARY FILM SHOWING GUIDE
JANUARY 2009

Activists,

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the first issue of the Guide in 2010. As you know, this is an important, perhaps critical, election year and the results are very uncertain.

All the more reason for us to take full advantage of documentary film showings to educate the public about important issues.

Please send me information about your showings (including ones I might have missed) and I will include them in the next available issue of the Guide.

Beverley Walter
Editor

In this issue:
. Recent showings of “Rethink Afghanistan” add to the blitz!
. Upcoming showings
. New Documentaries/Oldies but Goodies
. Interesting (and varied) videos

UPCOMING SHOWINGS:
--- Friday, January 22, 7:45 pm. Meet & have a Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by NLG Chicago attorney Michael Deutsch.
Reserve your tickets before they sell out: sarahgelsomino@gmail.com

National Lawyers Guild Chicago and the Chicago NLG Next Generation Committee cordially invite you to the Chicago premiere of "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" on Friday, January 22 at 7:45 p.m. at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Join us as we preview "Disturbing the Universe" ~ with filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler ~ who will discuss the film with us afterward. Enjoy our opening night reception.

Tickets are $25, $10 for law students. To reserve your tickets, email Sarah Gelsomino at sarahgelsomino@gmail.com, stating the number of tickets sought and the name of the reserving party.

In "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe," filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.

This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for ~ it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.

NLG Chicago is delighted to sponsor the opening of this amazing documentary, which has received numerous awards and critical acclaim. Reserve your tickets today! Email Sarah at sarahgelsomino@ gmail.com.

For more information on the film, visit: http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com

-- Saturday, January 23, 2010, 3:00 pm. Film: “The Good Soldier,” sponsored by the Near West citizens for Peace and Justice. Location: Riverside Public Library, One Burling Rd., Riverside, IL

Join us for the first full length Chicago showing of this award winning documentary.

Now more than ever, since the US has committed 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan with almost a trillion spent on wars since 2001, billions more to come and no end in sight, we need to understand the effects of war on those we send to fight.

The Good Soldier follows the journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars as they sign up, go into battle, and eventually change their minds about what it means to be a good soldier.

Directed by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys (DGA, Los Angeles Film Critics, and Peabody Award winners for Riding the Rails), The Good Soldier was previously excerpted on Bill Moyers Journal.

Here's what Jason Albert of the Onion has to say: "It's hard to imagine watching a more affecting movie than The Good Soldier ... because it may be as affecting a movie as I've ever seen. It took one seemingly simple question—What makes a good soldier?—and reduced the answer to its essence. That being, the ability to kill other human beings. Using the voices of veterans from WWII, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq, each gave this exact same answer, and they all spoke not only of their guilt and regret, but also of how at some point during their time in the military they needed to kill. Their reasons were different, but the training that gave them the skills and permission was not. I found it both hard to watch and hard to turn away from, and I know I'll never look at the words ‘collateral damage' in the same way again. Really powerful stuff."

Music by JJ Grey and Mofro, CSNY, Nine Inch Nails, Big Bill Broonzy, Edwin Starr, Carly Comando, Muslimgauze, and Jimmie Lunceford.

http://thegoodsoldier.com

Note: this film was purchased by Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice and Oak Park PAL (Progressive Action League) and donated to the Riverside Public library so it could be available for free showings in libraries by groups with access to the Suburban Library System. The film will be available for loan after 1/23/10.

-- Sunday, January 31, 2010, 2:00 pm. FREE FILM SERIES: “Taxi to the Dark Side,” and presentation by NIU law professor Marc Falkoff, sponsored by the Oak Park Coalition for Truth and Justice and co-sponsored by the Oak Park Public Library. Location: Veterans Room, Oak Park Main Library, 834 Lake Street, Oak Park

Description: Oscar winning director Alex Gibney investigate the torture and killing of an innocent Afghani taxi driver in this gripping probe into reckless abuses of government power. A disturbing, incisive and compelling documentary thriller, the Academy Award -winning TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE incorporates rare and never before-seen images from inside the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prison into the exposure of the administration’s “global war on terror”

This stunningly crafted narrative demonstrates how this one man’s life and death symbolizes the erosion of our civil rights and how what it means to be an American has changed forever.

Marc Falkoff is a law professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he teaches courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, and the federal courts.

Since 2004 he has represented 17 Yemeni prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Prof. Falkoff was formerly an associate at Covington & Burling, where he received the firm’s 2005 Charles F.C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for his Guantánamo work. He received the Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award in 2007 from the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Bill of Rights in Action Award in 2008 from the Constitutional Rights Foundation in Chicago. In 2009, he received the Northern Illinois University Foundation Award for Faculty Excellence.

Prof. Falkoff writes and speaks frequently about the rule of law in the context of the war on terror. He has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine, CNN, the BBC, and NPR. He is the compiler and editor of Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak, a bestselling anthology of prisoner poetry that has been published in translation in more than a dozen languages.

Presentation by NIU law professor Marc Falkoff and open discussion will follow the showing

Light refreshments are served.

2007. 106 min. See: www.taxitothedarkside.com
___________________________________________________________________
SAVE THE DATE: February 28, 2010, “Urban Greening,” slide presentation by Oak Parker Julie Samuels; March 28, “The Last Truck”
___________________________________________________________________
www.opctj.org, contact@opctj.org or call John at 708/524-1230.

-- Sunday, February 7, 2010, 2:30 pm. “This Palestinian Life: Stories of Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance,” Film screening and live web conference with filmmaker Philip Rizk . Locaction: Oak Park Public Library, Veterans Room, 834 Lake Street, Oak Park

Philip Rizk’s profound new short film This Palestinian Life documents the sumoud (Arabic for perseverance or steadfastness) of Palestinian villagers near Hebron, in the Jordan Valley, and in Gaza as they attempt to remain steadfast in the face of settler violence, the injustice and duplicity of the Israeli government, and the inaction of the international community. While news coverage of the conflict highlights Palestinian violence, the daily, systematic violence inflicted by the Israeli state upon the Palestinian people and their land is rarely exposed. Rarer still are attempts to report the many acts of peaceful, nonviolent resistance by ordinary Palestinians. The film highlights the dignity and perseverance of individuals who, through acts of nonviolent resistance, testify that they would rather die than leave their land.

This Palestinian Life does not provide an overview of the entire conflict or “expert” opinions; rather, it takes an oral history approach and listens to particular individuals–women and men, young and old–and their experiences under Israeli occupation. A web-based real-time video connection to Rizk will allow viewers to hear from the filmmaker directly after the film screening.

Filmmaker Philip Rizk is an Egyptian-German freelance journalist and graduate of Wheaton College who currently lives in Cairo, Egypt, where he is currently completing graduate work in Middle East Studies and Anthropology. From 2005 to 2007 he lived in Gaza while working with NGO-based relief and development projects.

-- Saturday, January 30, 2010, 2:30 pm. FILM: American Casino. Spsonsored by
Open University Of The Left. Location: Lincoln Park Library, 1150 W Fullerton, Chicago, corner Racine, across from DePaul University,

See: www.openuniversityoftheleft.org/

Description: Open University presents Leslie and Andrew Cockburn's award-winning documentary that explains the sub-prime mortgage crisis, how Wall Street traders created it, how it has impoverished homeowners, and how the banks intend to make us pay for it.

"Investigative reporters Leslie and Andrew Cockburn have spent nearly 30 years uncovering major stories (for PBS, CBS Reports, 60 Minutes, et alia), but with "American Casino" they take on the biggest economic crisis of our lifetime: the subprime mortgage meltdown that has caused more than a million Americans to lose their homes. The Cockburns interview Wall Street wizards who are as nervous about revealing their identity as any mobster in the witness protection program; they rewind to Phil Gramm (R, Texas) calling us "a nation of whinersOe (facing) a mental recession"; they replay Alan Greenspan's admission that his ideology was "flawed"; and they put a human face on the victims of bankers who targeted minority communities with no income verification loans, adjustable rates (that adjusted upwards, dramatically), and complex language that even the pros can't fathom. Out of this mess, the filmmakers build a case against those who used government deregulation to make a fortune for the few and create havoc for the many." - IndieWire.com
"Oe powerful and shocking look at the subprime lending scandal. If you want to understand how the US financial system failed and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor, see this film." - Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize-winning economist
"Oethis smart, touching documentary traces the connections between Wall Street's high-flying practices and the countless citizens on Main Street who now face bankruptcy and eviction." – John Powers, Fresh Air
"A damning documentary which makes a convincing case that neither the federal government nor the corporate elite could care less about the plight of the working class." - NewsBlaze.com
"TerrificOethe Cockburns fill in the lines of connection. OeThe movie is a lucid and comprehensive picture of a rotten system." - David Denby, The New Yorker
"Oea real gem of a movieOea fascinating, and occasionally heartrending, morality play of predatory greed in the crazy world of derivatives and collateralized debt obligations and its brutal impact on hardworking African-American home owners in Baltimore." – Lloyd Grove, Daily Beast
"A meticulously structured filmOeThe dire financial statistics paraded in the documentary American Casino are infuriatingOe" – New York Times
"For those who ever been mystified by what the terms collateralized debt obligation or credit default swaps mean (including me most of the time), "The American Casino" will bring you up to speedOeAlthough the movie focuses exclusively on Bush's role, attention must be paid to the failure of the new administration in keeping people in their homes." – Louis Proyect, The Unrepentant Marxist

--- Saturday, February 27, 2010, 2:30 pm. FILM: Capitalism hits the Fan, sponsored by the Open University Of The Left. Location: Lincoln Park Library, 1150 W Fullerton, Chicago.

University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself.
Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s when wages began to stagnate, and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government "bailouts," stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis, in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes.
Richly illustrated with graphics and charts, this video is a superb introduction that allows ordinary citizens to comprehend, and react to, the unraveling crisis.
Richard Wolff has been a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts since 1981. He is a member of the editorial board of several academic journals including Rethinking Marxism. He also publishes regular analyses of current economic events on the websites www.globalmacroscope.com and www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine. He has co-authored several books with Stephen Resnick, including The Economics of Colonialism: Britain and Kenya; Rethinking Marxism: Struggles in Marxist Theory; Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy and Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical. He also co-authored Bringing it all Back Home: Class and Gender in the Modern Household with Harriet Fraad and Stephen Resnick.

"Oea rich and much needed corrective to the views of mainstream economists and pundits. It would be difficult to come away from this viewing with anything but an acute appreciation of what is needed to get us out of this mess."
— Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University of New York
"Oea real tour de force."
— Hobart Spalding, Socialism and Democracy
"Oeelectrifying explanation of how the 'American Dream' evolved into the 'Nightmare on Wall Street.'"
— BuzzFlash

RECENT SHOWINGS:
- Saturday, December 12, 2009, 2-5 - pm. FREE Film Screening: Rethink Afghanistan
and discussion with H. Candace Gorman, human rights lawyer, representing two Guantanamo detainees and Anthony Wagner, Iraq War Veteran. Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of World Can’t Wait. Location: Sulzer Regional Library   4455 N. Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL 60625, Transportation: #78 Montrose, #11 Lincoln Ave, #49 Western, #50 Damen, Brown Line Western Stop. Parking is also available.

Description: At a time when the country faces a damaged reputation abroad and an economic catastrophe at home, expanding the war in Afghanistan only expands an illegitimate and immoral war with all the death and destruction that entails.
As a special engagement, the Chicago chapter of World Can't Wait is presenting the documentary film Rethink Afghanistan by Robert Greenwald. The film will be shown in its entirety.

Rethink Afghanistan focuses on the human and financial cost of combat to challenge the notion that Afghanistan is the "good war". Instead, Greewald argues that troop escalation threatens to entrench America in a unwinnable, unwanted war that only further empowers the resurgent Taliban. Other award-winning films directed by Robert Greenwald include: Iraq For Sale, The War Profiteers; Wal-Mart, The High Cost of Low Price; and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism; and more.
The film will be followed by discussion with H. Candace Gorman , Chicago Human Rights Lawyer, and Anthony Wagner, Iraq War Veteran and Columbia College student. Ms. Gorman is currently handling habeas corpus petitions for 2 Guantanamo detainees and has visited her clients at the prison more than a dozen times. She has spoken on "Obama's Guantanamo: What Has and Has Not Happened Since Obama Took Office". Perhaps the most distressing change is that the level of secrecy has actually increased. Anthony Wagner served in ground combat in Iraq and is now a student at Columbia College and an anti-war activist.

--Monday, January 4th, 2010, 7-9PM. FILM: RETHINK AFGHANISTAN, sponsored by the Chicago Metro Area Chapter of the FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION

Description: Rethink Afghanistan is a 2009 documentary about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. This full-length documentary campaign features experts from Afghanistan, the U.S., and Russia among others discussing critical issues like military escalation, how escalation will affect Pakistan and the surrounding region, the cost of war, civilian casualties, and the rights of Afghan women.

Rethink Afghanistan also gave birth to a movement based out of the growing need and desire for non-military solutions in the region. Through the production of the full-length documentary film coupled with an online and on-the-ground campaign, Rethink Afghanistan advocates an alternative vision to the current U.S. policy on Afghanistan.

http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=1090
Calling the president’s Afghanistan effort “an 18th century strategy
being employed against a 14th century enemy,”
Florida Representative Alan Grayson said the ability of the United States
to bring peace to Afghanistan is limited.
“Afghanistan is never going to look like Minnesota,
nor should it.
It is on its own path and we need to let it go on its own path
as long as it doesn’t affect our security,” he said.
“It did affect our security in 2001; we took care of that problem.”
“We eliminated the Taliban government. We expelled al-Qaida.
The fundamental problem that we are facing right now
is that we are trying to win the same war twice,” he continued.

MEETING AT First United Church 848 Lake Street Oak Park, IL First United Church is at the corner of Lake & Kenilworth.
COME TO THE BACK ENTRANCE
   AND FOLLOW THE SIGNS. We Will Be Meeting In The Commons Area.
Directions: Take Eisenhower to Harlem, go north to Lake,
turn right and continue on to Kenilworth,
turn left on Kenilworthand enter through parking lot.
Or take Green Line to Oak Park Avenue,
walk north to Lake, west to Kenilworth.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK!!
http://www.facebook.com/group.phpCity/State/Zip

--- Sunday, January 3, 2010, 4:30 pm. FILM: Rethink Afghanistan. Sponsored by the Bloomington P & J at the Unitarian Church. Free showing.

-- Saturday, January 16, 2010, 3:00 0m. Film, showing Kilowatt Ours, sponsored by North Side Green Party Local

MORE INFO: http://www.kilowattours.org/

DESCRIPTION: Film Kilowatt Ours showing Southeast Environment Task Force 13300 S. Baltimore Award-winning document Kilowatt Ours shows us where our energy really comes from, what corporate media is not telling us. We are shown how to save on our electric bills, Very upbeat.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
PDA-Illinois TV presents 2 dynamic reports:
1. Water Pirates Eye Chicago water
2. NOW Slams Stupek Amendment

Daley Scheming to Privatize Chicago Water?
Jon Keesecker from Food and Water Watch * discusses Mayor Daley’s rumored plot to sell off Chicago’s world class water system. Jon paints the big picture of water system privatization, what's happened in Milwaukee and Akron, what might happen in Chicago. He then shares his ideas for fighting this menace.
Privatization of public assets represents a grave threat to our democracy, labor and our standard of living. It continues unabated with privatization of urban assets, schools, our social safety net, military, prison systems, and the list goes on.
Let’s gear up now to oppose any further attempts to sell of public assets whether by Daley in Chicago or the local city councils anywhere in Illinois.
In two parts.
PDA, Water Privatization-Atlanta and Akron
PDA, Chicago Water Privatization

Filmed at PDA-Chicago monthly meetings by Illinois Film Progressives, Allan Nowakowski and Cat Jarboe.

*Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization working with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future. Jon Keesecker is a senior organizer with the Take Back the Tap campaign at Food & Water Watch. He works with grassroots community groups in the U.S. to prevent the privatization of public water resources.

NEW RELEASES/OLDIES BUT GOODIES AND AN ALERT:
--Crude" DVD: The Toxic Rape of the Amazon by Texaco-Chevron. A Must Watch if You Want to Reclaim Earth from Its Corporate Destroyers. Released on February 23. Pre-Order. Directed by Joe Berlinger

From BuzzFlash.com's Review: "Three years in the making, this riveting documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. An inside look at the infamous $27 billion "Amazon Chernobyl" case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking as it examines a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

Senior BuzzFlash journalist Meg White began her 12/7/09 article about the documentary "Crude": "In the award-winning documentary Crude, the rainbow plumes of oil spreading into pristine streams are unmistakable. The fiery landscapes might remind you of sabotaged Kuwaiti oil fields, but the surrounding forest tells you you're looking at the AmazonOeCrude tells the story of a lawsuit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorians against Texaco in 1993. The plaintiffs include members of the indigenous communities of Secoya, Siona, Cofán, Huaorani, Quichua, as well as colonial settlers. Chevron inherited the burden in 2001 after a merger with Texaco. The outcome of the trial is still up in the air. What is certain is that people are suffering."
-- THE PEOPLE SPEAK, http://www.buzzflash.com/store The DVD "is nothing less than the life's work of 'people's historian' Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians and poets in the country.

This is why The People Speak matters." Howard Zinn's "The People Speak" History Channel DVD, To be Released on Feb. 11.

From Buzzflash.com review: "The People Speak” is produced by Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn, co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn, and features dramatic and musical performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Mart'n Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo Mortensen."

"Democracy is not a spectator sport. Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. Narrated by Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books, A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People's History of the United States, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK is a documentary film inspired by the books, "A People's History of the United States" and "Voices of a People's History" which chronicles the lives and experiences of ordinary Americans who, through their words and actions, changed the course of our history. The philosophy espoused is that change doesn't come from the top, but rather from the bottom, and that without those everyday citizens pushing for betterment, there would be no America. This film takes us on a journey from the founding of our country to the civil rights movement, all the way up through today."

Watch excerpts and find out more about the origins of THE PEOPLE SPEAK on the History Channel at: http://www.history.com/content/people-speak "This is more than just must-see-TV. It is nothing less than the life's work of "people's historian" Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians and poets in the country. This is why The People Speak matters. It's aimed at reclaiming our hallowed history from all who would profane it: to resurrect our past as a guide to fight for the future." —Dave Zirin

-- ALERT: "Tea Party: The Documentary" -- Attending a Bizarre Movie Premiere for Right-Wingers in Washington, By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. Posted December 4, 2009.

From review: Presented by FreedomWorks, the front group that organized the 9/12 March, a new documentary on the tea parties attempts to suggest that the protests were spontaneous
http://www.alternet.org/politics/144336/%22tea_party%3A_the_documentary%22_--_attending_a_bizarre_movie_premiere_for_right-wingers_in_washington/

The movement's stars were out in force at the Washington D.C., premiere of "Tea Party: The Documentary." Before the Wednesday night screening, presentations by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Senator Jim DeMint and Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson of South Carolina, Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia -- all Republicans -- got the half-full auditorium in the Ronald Reagan Building humming.
Price, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, presented each of the film's "stars" -- five movement participants characterized as "regular citizens" by director Pritchett Cotten -- with a plaque bearing the text of a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives thanking Tea Party activists for their participation in the September 12th march on Washington.
The film conveys the stories of five activists chosen to represent the movement's everyman and everywoman -- the kind of people who were motivated by Washington D.C.-based lobbying groups to shout down members of Congress at town-hall meetings in their districts this summer. "I think it's a compelling story," Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, told me after the screening. "Here's real people in it with real beliefs. It sort of debunks the whole astroturf thing."
What Astroturfing?
Kibbe apparently saw no irony in his comments, or in the fact that the premiere was sponsored by FreedomWorks, an organization chaired by Armey that's known as an astroturfing outfit for its campaign to foment discontent among those regular citizens nationwide. FreedomWorks was instrumental in orchestrating the disruption of town-hall meetings on health care reform called by members of Congress during the August recess. (A FreedomWorks town-hall action kit in a PDF file is offered in a famous memo on how to disrupt a town-hall meeting was distributed by the Tea Party Patriots Google Groups listserv, which was managed at the time by FreedomWorks staffer Florida State Chairman Tom Gaitens

Also involved in creating our summer of discontent was Americans For Prosperity, whose consultant, Joel Aaron Foster, wrote the script for the Tea Party documentary, and is listed as the press contact on the movie media kit. Throughout the film, AFP's ubiquitous "Hands Off My Health-Care" signs, which feature a bloody handprint, bob up and down at Tea Party rallies. Despite circumstantial evidence that the two groups work together, I've never seen their two logos on the same event at the same time; they function like the alter-egos of some malevolent superhero. (UPDATE: FreedomWorks Press Secretary Adam Brandon told me that AFP was not invited to participate in the September 12 march because of AFP's support for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.)
"Tea Party: The Documentary" may not earn a nod from Oscar, but it's a slickly produced piece of cinema that will likely serve as an effective organizing tool for FreedomWorks and other like-minded organizations -- and make a bit of dough for its producers, Ground Floor Video, the company owned by executive producer Luke Livingston, and Riddled With Bullets, director Cotten's production company. Ground Floor Video is selling DVDs of the film. When you consider that 70,000 people came to the march, and tens of thousands more are involved in the movement, DVD sales could yield a pretty penny. This is, after all, a movement that purports to be all about capitalism.

FreedomWorks' Kibbe is quick to say that the film is an enterprise separate from his organization, though FreedomWorks is listed as a "contributor" to the film, as are Americans For Prosperity, Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party Express.
The film's everyperson stars all hail from the Atlanta area, which is also home base to Americans For Prosperity President Tim Phillips, whose last gig was as a partner with Ralph Reed in the Atlanta-based Century Strategies, an astroturfing and lobbying group implicated in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. The main characters are identified on screen only by their first names. There's Jenny Beth -- that's Jenny Beth Martin, a former GOP consultant, who leads Tea Party Patriots, a group that names FreedomWorks as a partner on its Web site. Dr. Fred makes an appearance -- that's Dr. Fred Shessel, vice president of a group called Docs For Patient Care that opposes health care reform, and a partner in Georgia Urology. William Temple, an historical reenactor, provides what comic relief there is in the film. Temple was chosen to lead the 9/12 March dressed in full Revolutionary War regalia, which he also donned for the premiere.

VIDEOS
--Video: “What's Cap and Trade?” A New Video Breaks it Down and Reveals the Plan as a Scam, By Janet Redman, MinuteMan Media. Posted December 3, 2009.

It's a scheme that tries to sell business-as-usual as a solution to global warming. Here's how it works
http://www.alternet.org/story/144359/what%27s_cap_and_trade_a_new_video_breaks_it_down_and_reveals_the_plan_as_a_scam

Whether you listen to NPR or Rush Limbaugh, you've probably heard about climate change. And if you've heard about climate change, chances are you've also heard about "cap and trade." It's a scheme that tries to sell business-as-usual as a solution to global warming.

Here's how it works. The government puts a limit on how much greenhouse gas can be released in a year (the cap), and industries covered by the system are issued an equivalent number of emissions permits. As the cap is tightened each year, permits become scarcer and thus more valuable. The increasing value of the permits is supposed to encourage dirty industries to clean up their act fast, and sell their spare permits to the dinosaurs that didn't innovate. That's the trade.

The theory behind cap and trade is that the planet doesn't care where you reduce emissions, as long as you stay under the cap. And by trading permits, you maximize efficiency and make it profitable for corporations to shrink their carbon footprints.

Everybody wins, right? Wrong. A new short film, THE STORY OF CAP AND TRADE, released by the Story of Stuff and Free Range Video explains why the real of story of cap and trade is that it's easy to scam, riddled with loopholes, and a dangerous distraction from the real change needed to protect people and the planet.

First of all, cap and trade programs are easy to cheat. In Europe, where carbon trading has been under way since 2005, energy corporations were asked how many permits they needed and were given that amount for free. But they made out like bandits when they still raised consumer prices as if they had paid top dollar. The result: more than $30 billion in windfall profits. And to add insult to injury, emissions didn't decline because corporations had overestimated how many permits they needed. Under the U.S. cap and trade law snaking its way through Congress, 85 percent of the carbon credits would be given away to polluting industries for free.

Here's the second problem. Cap and trade includes offsets -- a kind of carbon trading that allows polluters to finance projects outside the cap that purport to cut emissions, and then claim the cuts for their own. Even in theory, offsets don't lower emissions -- they simply move reductions from one place to another. In reality, offsets are rarely "additional" -- meaning that the cleaner projects were going to happen anyway. But because the offset creates carbon credits, the company that provided finance has permits to keep polluting at home. Even if the atmosphere doesn't care where pollution comes from, the people who live next to the power plants and factories do.

Unfortunately, many offsets are just scams. Consider the case of Sinar Mas. This pulp and paper company cut down native forest in Indonesia, causing major devastation, and then planted palm oil trees on the wasteland it had created. Guess what it got for that? Offset credits for reforesting. This company destroys an entire forest ecosystem, installs a monoculture industrial plantation, and can still turn a profit from selling the trees cut down, the palm oil produced in their place, and carbon credits. As a result, a company somewhere else can continue to pollute. It doesn't make any sense.

Third, carbon trading creates a new derivatives market in carbon credits that's ripe for speculation. Remember the mortgage crisis, where bad loans were bundled and resold ad nauseum? Now imagine the investment banks that brought us the financial crisis gambling on carbon derivatives -- and toxic carbon credits backed by nothing but hot air -- creating a carbon bubble. This time when the bubble bursts, we could lose more than our houses. Our planet's ability to sustain life as we know it is at stake.

Above all, cap and trade is a dangerous distraction from what we must do to avert climate chaos. That includes shifting public support from fossil fuels to wind, solar, and other renewable energy alternatives, rebuilding our economy around new jobs in clean industries and energy efficiency improvements, and promoting policies that reward real innovators, not dirty industries.

---Labor Express interview with Steven Ashby and C. J. Hawking. Labor Express, is doing a 2-part interview with Ashby and Hawking. The first part can be downloaded at:
http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressFor12-21-

Description: Oak Parkers Steven Ashby and C.J. Hawking will discuss their book "Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement" on Wednesday, January 27 at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Room of the Oak Park Public Library.

Their book chronicles the mid-1990's labor struggle which took place at the A.E. Staley plant in Decater, Ilinois in which the Allied Industrial Workers, Local 837 responded to union busting company tactics with education and mobilization of its union members, organizing support within the Decater community especially within the religious and African-American communities, building a national solidarity movement, and even in engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.

-- Video From Death Row: Possibly Retarded Prisoner Faces Execution? By Renee Feltz

See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/renee-feltz/video-from-death-row-poss_b_376057.html

Description: As Texas reopens its execution chamber after a Thanksgiving break, the
first man set to die may be mentally retarded. A 2002 Supreme Court ruling bans the
execution of mentally retarded prisoners. But after years of being represented by a discredited attorney who ruined any chance for an appeal based on his disabilities, the fate of Bobby Wayne Woods rests with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles which can recommend clemency or a reprieve to Gov. Perry.

"It's a long shot at best," Woods' attorney Maurie Levin says of the clemency request, "but I think it's very important to do."

Test scores during his childhood and incarceration show Bobby Woods has an IQ that hovers at or below 70 -- the cut-off point for mental retardation. He reads at a second grade level and writes childlike letters -- many of which are photocopied and presented as evidence in his clemency request. Levin asked the board to grant a 60-day reprieve so that she can produce a videotape of Woods "to adequately present a full picture of his limitations." She has sued Texas prison officials over their refusal to allow her to record such a video herself. The Texas Observer captured Woods on tape last week during an on-camera interview, and now you can watch the video that Levin wants the clemency board to see.

Link to videos and the full story from The Texas Observer. http://www.texasobserver.org/enterprise/possibly-retarded-death-row-prisoner-faces-execution

Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

Follow Renee Feltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/reneefeltz

--Video: Eyes in Gaza. Dr. Mads Gilbert returns to North America recounting the horrors of Gaza a year ago, by FATEMAH MEGHJI, From Dr. Mads Gilbert & Dr. Erik Fosse' new book – "Eyes in Gaza"

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqGJytyz7w4

Description: "The boy with the destroyed brain did not need anaesthetic; he could no
longer feel anything. The other lay in an artificial coma with intravenous anaesthetic agents to soften the pain and allow the ventilator to work without resistance from the boy's own breathing. A large bandage covered both his eyes. He could not see anyway. He was already blind.

"Where could I cry out the despair and rage I felt for all this terrible fate we saw at such close quarters? Would the heavens hear? Will the world hear? They know that this is happening, after all. The numbers tick into the West every single afternoon, to the news agencies, to the intelligence services and to the diplomatic missions of the world's most powerful nations, who do not even make an attempt to pull in the reins and control the wildness of the Israeli war machine.""

Images of horror and destruction from the massacre that ensued last winter found its way to the media. Videos, photos, and eyewitness accounts made it to the mainstream media despite the fact that the Gaza Strip was completely blocked off from any incoming or outgoing traffic-no matter what kind of journalist, aid worker, or person you were.

Despite this, two doctors from NORWAC (Norweigan Aid Committee) were able to enter the Gaza Strip- the only two foreign doctors allowed into the region throughout the entire operation. These two doctors are Dr. Mads Gilbert & Dr. Erik Fosse who have recently co-authored a book "Eyes in Gaza" – soon to be published in English.

As the only two foreign doctors in the region, the two became common faces on the media worldwide. Seen on Al-Jazeera, BBC, CBS, Fox, Democracy Now, and CNN- these doctors served not only as a lifeline for hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians in the overcrowded Al-Shifaa Hospital, but they also served as a Palestinian voice in a time where they are silenced and the ears of those outside the Gaza Strip are deafened. Accused of faking a hospital scene on CNN by an ardent and clearly desperate Zionist Lobby- even CNN had to rush to defend the internationally acclaimed doctor. Further, from the ground, before the likes of the Goldstone Report and other such human rights reports, Dr. Gilbert had made his position clear: over 90% of those he saw in the hospital killed were innocent civilians and there was no doubt that chemical weapons had been used- the likes of which he had never seen before.

Dr. Gilbert also said that this was the most horrific and traumatizing experience he had gone through. This wouldn't be surprising if he was just a regular doctor seeing warfare for the first time- but he's not. Not only is he an internationally acclaimed doctor and
recipient of dozens of awards, he has also volunteered in war zones-including Beirut in 1982 and has seen some of the worst man-made conflicts over the past few decades. One might think that this much blood would dehumanize or at least desensitize him, but that's not the case for Dr. Gilbert. It was Gaza that gave him nightmares.

Once organizing the tour kicked off- it was hard to curb interest, and the tour just kept growing and growing and growing. I wasn't expecting to organize a tour of more than 8 campuses- but the tour currently stands at 15 campuses- reaching all of the major cities in Canada and 4 venues in the USA. I know that Dr. Gilbert's presentations are going to be heartfelt and truthful and will portray a side of the conflict often shunned or dismissed, the personal stories of the Palestinians in Gaza who were traumatized and left abandoned by the international community- and I hope that all of the readers reading this will help make this tour a success- and thus give a voice to the voiceless Palestinians who continue to suffer a life under siege and occupation.

--- Video: Advocates against abuse of prisoners Press conference

Description: Rev. Cayeene Bird, advocate: “OeThe grieving families cried buckets of tears, they traveled from San Diego, Los Angeles and Theresa Vaughn flew all the way from Michigan. By the end of the day they were literally clinging to one another for mutual support. I found out that even at my age, under pressure, I can stay up for 48 hrs straight . We were all sleep-deprived, try to ignore our swollen, blood-shot eyes, and deep circles, it took a super-human effort for everyone to be there. They're speaking up on behalf of everyone who hasn't died yet, it's too late for their loved ones, for they are gone.
To everyone who spoke, who brought people, who worked at the event itself, and especially to those UNION people who have no one in prison, I thank you on behalf of every prisoner who has no one to stand for them. Let's make it go viral by rating it. This is the first time that we put a human face on our many grieving UNION families and turned the prison crisis into more than just a statistic. The lawsuit award for damages in the Joseph Sullivan case was $475,000. Small recompense for the loss of a son.”

The day featured at least ten horror stories, but at the end of the day, it is very clear that murder and neglect is not just a solitary event or an accident, but a pattern that is going without consequence to those who perpetrate it.

Use this link to News Blaze as the primary one to rate and circulate. http://www.youtube.com/newsblaze
Attorney David Springfield who litigated the successful case with Attorney Abraham Goldman, have an especially compelling remark here. http://www.1union1.com/Dec4_springfield.html http://www.1union1.com/dec4_main_index.html

Info: www.1union1.com/Join_the_UNION.html rightor1@yahoo.com
Reform isn't something you wish for... it's something you work for...writing to editors, showing up to rallies and hearings, recruiting others to write and show up, registering the poor to vote. Your enemies have no trouble at all doing this simple work, which is why they carry the jailer's keys. Rev. B. Cayenne Bird rightor1@yahoo.com