Bloggers for a Progressive Athens

Update - Hiatus to End Soon?

2005-08-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

This blog had originally been started as a web project for the post election activist group Athens Progressive League. The group disolved shortly after the inauguration, and has yet to reconsolidate itself. A yahoogroup email list of this group is still active - although it generally only reflect mass emailings of local actions and events and otherwise has become an echo chamber for one person's (a former APL group member) animal rights activism. The group has not had a meeting or hosted an event/action since its cursory role in the J20 counter-inaugural action. Thus the group which this blog was originally created for is defunct.

New activist campaigns have evolved in Athens since then - and I do expect that APL could come back together in time for the 2006 campaign season - therefore new posts may resume soon.

Daniel Sparks

Scary-Dumb Stuff

2005-01-31T17:47:00.000-05:00

Apology 1: Sorry for not signing the last blog post.

Apology 2: This will be the last time I use a Scary...Stuff title for a while. I am due to be flogged under orders from the originality deity later today for my insolence.

Some kids don't get it (survey included).

The results are rather interesting and show a bit of hypocrisy.

For example - while the adults are far more supportive of airing unpopular views and supporting freedom of the press than the kids - the kids are far more protective of offensive musical lyrics and student newspapers. All results show hypocrisy in all age/professional groups. A true liberal or progressive stance on first amendment issues and freedom of the press/media would support an "I agree" response to all questions, even if we found the material to be personally offensive. As for the 'Rathergate' scandal - the media should technically have the right to publish innacurate information, but should not be immune from the repercusions of doing so (lawsuits, loss of market share, boycotts, etc).

Other than that (dumb question time) - I do have to wonder how many of the high school students thought that "express unpopular opinions" meant that the science nerd or girl with braces would have their own column in the school newspaper? If so, 83% is far more progressive then with what I'd credit my old high school with.

At any rate, for those discouraged with the survey, check out the latest John Sugg column in Creative Loafing. The latest upsurge in pre-college youth activism is a sign of hope and hopefully a sign of things to come (check out www.michaelmoore.com for more info on this new trend). I was at a rally in Atlanta fairly recently (Dec. 4 antiwar rally) of about 200 folks and would have to say about 35-40% were under the age of 30 with about 1/3 to 1/2 of that number being 18 or younger. Also, not only are such young activists increasing in number - they are also very outspoken as well and will hopefully see many of them go on to be solid organizers in the years ahead.

As for the depressing results of the poll - I don't think this will last. Many musicians are banding together to fight the neoconservative agenda, including P. Diddy's 'vote or die' and Eminem's 'mosh' (which features an animation of activists occupying the U.S. Capital Buidling). Whether or not this is successful, I don't know, but current events do leave us with a bit of hope that the tide may be turning.

Daniel Sparks

Scary-Scary Stuff

2005-01-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

Brownshirts.

Reading about this makes me seriously ill and paranoid. I sincerely hope that this does not become some sort of future trend or aspect of the politicized-Christian/neoconservative worldview and methodology. If it does, we're going to be hard pressed to maintain our freedoms and prosperity using only Gandhi's ideas.

Scary-Silly Stuff

2005-01-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

The following isn't very political, but more of a personal account of the J29 2005 ice storm.

The icy precipitation began falling on Friday night around 6pm, but was not enough to interrupt my plans of stumbling from bar to bar around downtown and then arriving too late to a show at Tight Pockets. Other than my friend having to scrape a little sleet off of his windshield, no problem, and the road were good. I went to sleep around 1 in the morning and by then more freezing rain and sleet had begun to fall.

I awoke around noon to find an inch of slushy snow and sleet on the ground and rain and sleet falling, probably freezing at the areas where the ground was below freezing. A solid glaze had stuck to the trees and grass and the main roads were okay but side roads were iced up.

At 330pm I walked to the geography building and managed to slip once. Icy cover was a mix of black ice, icy rubble, and slush - no trees or power outages yet. What was normally a ten minute walk took about 15-20 minutes. I left the geography building for downtown at 615pm to check if a show was still going on at Tasty World and found the slush to be freezing over. 30 minute walk. Very slippery. Show was still going on, but it wouldn't start until later and no one was there.

I spent the next few hours around downtown, drinking iced coffee ('cause I'm a masochist) and managed to bum a ride home which required buckets of hot water to melt some ice to get traction for the tires, but was much better than trying to walk home.

I got home to find a series of leaks in my windowsill, wall, and adjacent ceiling. I unplugged all the electronics and got a bunch of buckets, jabbed a hole in the ceiling to let the water drain and then got a dehumidifier to dry out the carpet. At least the ceiling didn't collapse, but is rather warped, put plastic all over my books and computer stuff. Walked outside to find that the transformers were starting to pop and branches were starting to break. Called a friend on my cell and then went back inside.

Power went out for two hours starting at 1015 and stayed out until 1230am. Had to empty buckets twice. Spent part of the power outage time outside watching for trees to fall and hearing some transformers pop. Also overheard some presumably drunk nearby residents were outside making noise. A lot of folks were outside and rather loud and I was wondering if outside + drunk + power outage would yield either fireworks, fires, or rioting. The first 2 out of 3 did happen.

At 130am, someone did light off some fireworks and I listened to find out if one would hit a tree, shake the icy branches and result in a big toppled mess. Didn't happen. At 430am however, a 6" thick branch came down off a tree on the other side of Bloomfield and took the powerlines with it. The resulting crash woke me up and I got to the window in time to see the live wires pop and sizzle on the ground and burn anything it touched. It burned and sizzled for about an hour (after I dialed the emergency number) and went out before anyone blocked the road off. On a side note, downed powerlines do sound like the way they do in the movies - just a lot louder and brighter.

As of writing I have driven around town and found quite a bit of tree damage, almost as much as with the remnants of Ivan back in September. Power still out at the Lumpkin and Clark intersection, streetlights not working. The window leak has stopped and the ceiling leaks have dissipated quite a bit, but are still dripping.

Last night I did see some really funny things UGA students were trying to do on the ice. There was the usual assortment of idiots trying to drive or walk or jog and people trying to skate on the heels of their shoes (a good way to sprain something as I have personal experience). The best was a group of four folks trying to kayak across the ice by running about 40 feet across the ice (slipping and losing hold of the kayak the whole way) only to bellyflop on the kayak and maybe make it about 8 feet before stopping. Apparently the concept of a hill is new to these folks. I didn't see any darwin award material though, other then me losing my footing on an incline.

I have a piece of ice that fell from a tree in my freezer, it's about 3/8" inches thick. Other areas I noticed about 1/4 - 3/4 ice accumulations. Had this storm dropped over an inch of ice, I'd definitely be bailing water out of my bedroom instead of writing.

NO to Gonzalez

2005-01-29T17:06:00.000-05:00

Torture is not a progressive value and we would to well to try and keep him from being the next Attorney General of the U.S.

Take action now:

CALL: Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121.
Ask for your Senator's office.

Oh, and watch your step in the ice out there, I've already slipped once today.

Daniel S.

Local J20 Recap with Commentary

2005-01-20T23:39:00.000-05:00

There were a lot of new faces at the rally and march today and we had several good banners. On the whole I'd say we had a total of about 60-75 people in the streets which is approximate to one of the Athens for Kerry rallies this past fall.

Time for a recap. We had a great day and we are in a position to do much more and better next time.

This is a copy and paste from the antiwar.com blog. I don't agree with this guy's whole analysis, but it's a good example of how too much of our chanting and speaking at rallies end up falling flat or making us look foolish.

Comic Relief
If you're not watching C-Span2 right now, please start. It's the International ANSWER counter-inaugural demonstration, and it's a laff riot. Karl Rove paid these imbeciles to show up, right? And what is it with leftists and chants?

"No blood for oil/US off Iraqi soil!"

"No justice, no peace/US out of Middle East!"

"Stop the war, recall the troops/To liberate the chicken coops!"

OK, I made up the last one, but why do lefties believe in the self-evident consanguinity of the antiwar, gay and lesbian, and animal rights movements? Michael Berg, God bless him, just blamed K-Mart for the war on Iraq. Sheesh.

Bush couldn't ask for better enemies.

Posted by: Matthew Barganier on Jan 20, 05 | 10:41 am | Comments? | link

While the movements aren't cosanguine, I will say that there is a great deal of overlap we do a good job addressing and even though the copy and paste is very critical (and asinine) - I do support these movements regardless. My commentary is about methodology.

A few things on my mind:

Good:
1) The motorcade - you all rocked it!
2) The theatre - everyone was involved and it went flawlessly.
3) Involvement of the people in the crowd - empowerment rocks.

For next time:
1) Keep issues separate unless they are connected and that connection can be made obvious to Joe Sixpack (this is more nebulous to our community as a whole).
2) Evolve rallies/marches to better communicate to Joe Sixpack.
3) Change our chants - I noticed that this was somewhat problematic today and the only chant that would stick were the "more war - what for!" and the "whose streets our streets". We need to find out what exactly our chants communicate before we start screaming them and yell a chant that gets across a message and not just makes noise (or scares people away).
4) Avoid anti-chants (fuck Bush) and use create pro-chants (Money for education, not for war).
5) Go out with a bang - things just sort of fell apart at the end. We should have motorcaded back to the Arch. It was well after rush hour and we probably could have jogged in the streets or marched on the sidewalk same pace as the motorcade.
6) Long term - try to build more of a activist culture if you will. Go for more visibility and more face to face communication.

Ugly:
1) I am a total shit for brains for forgetting a legal pad and pen. Too many awesome folks (the high school kids were totally stoked when I gave them t-shirts) were out rockin' with us today and I didn't invite them into our community.

Hope:
1) Soon the Athens Progressive League will be putting on a persuasive speaking seminar. I will send out more information on this oportunity monday or tuesday.

Anyway this is my opinion, so feel free to email and add comments.

Love and peace,
Dan

Rise Up!

2005-01-18T23:32:00.000-05:00

@ the Arch, Thursday January 20, 4pm.

And yes, we will be inaugurating a Bush.

Protest Information Update

2005-01-11T14:05:00.000-05:00

There will be anti-inaugural activities happening in Athens. I will have more details after the AGJC meeting tonight.

As for MLK: here is some information about a service oportunity:

b) MLK Day of Service In Blue

(http://www.freeblue.us/)
MLK day in athens (p.s. there is also an anti-war march in ATL)

For the fourth year in a row, the Athens-Clarke County community in
conjunction with the University of Georgia will host a Day of Service
on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - January 17, 2005 from 8:30
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Springfield Baptist Church on Fourth Street
and the Lyndon House Arts Center on Hoyt Street in Athens.

The 2005 Day of Service community projects include clearing paths
through out Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, cleaning up overgrown vegetation
and planting trees at North Oconee River Park along the MLK Parkway,
and reclaiming the Spalding Cemetery. Clean-up of the river, removal
of trash, kudzu removal, path building, and vegetation planting are
just some of the activities slated for the Day of Service community
projects. Volunteer check-in and a light breakfast will be held at
the Springfield Baptist Church (corner of 4th and Bray Streets) at
8:30 a.m. and the kick-off ceremony will follow at 9:00 a.m. After the
service project is concluded, lunch for volunteers will be served at
the Lyndon House Arts Center after noon with a variety of activities
to follow. It is important for volunteers to wear heavy work boots
and to bring a pair of work gloves.

To register as a Day of Service volunteer or for more information
contact Joslyn DiRamio, Coordinator, Volunteer UGA at (706) 542-6396
or Sam Carvalho at 613-3155 extension 1209 or visit www.uga.edu/mlk
Monica Knight
Director of Student Achievement and Educational Equity
Clarke County School District
240 Mitchell Bridge Road
Athens, GA 30606
Office: (706) 546-7721 Ext. 18326
Cell: (706) 247-4205

I will probably put out a call to have the Athens MLK peace vigil on Tuesday from 5-6 (same as the normal time and we would already have a permit).

See you at the Arch.

Daniel Sparks

Protest Information

2005-01-08T18:54:00.000-05:00

For those wanting to show open dissent over the next two weeks leading up the the inauguration - here is some protest information courtesy of the Atlanta International Action Center.

I will post further information specific to groups and actions for the next few weeks in Athens as such information becomes available.

Future Athens meetings:

Hot Corner Coffee, Monday 1/10 6pm: meeting for anyone interested in MLK day/counter inaugural organizing to discuss local rallies, marches, vigils, etc.

Hot Corner Coffee, Monday 1/10 730pm: Athens Progressive League meeting. I'm not sure of what we will discuss, but I know plans are in the work on how to train our members in the art of persuasive speaking.

Daniel Sparks

Protest Information:

Friends,
2005 is beginning with several opportunities for building solidarity and unity among all those harmed and threatened by US policy.
Please make every effort to participate and support these activities.

The next meeting of the Atlanta International Action Center will be on Sunday, Jan. 9 at 7pm, Little 5 Points Community Center, 1083 Austin Ave. NE, Rm 203.
The main agenda items are mobilizing for protests in Columbus (Jan. 15) and in Atlanta on Jan. 17 and 20.
Volunteers are needed to help especially with the counter-inaugural "Bush Has No Mandate" protest and the "ball" at The 5 Spot on Thursday, Jan. 20.
We are printing thousands of flyers and posters for distribution in the next 12 days. Come by the IAC office or you can download them from the web site www.nomandateatlanta.org
Please post these activities on your calendars and pass this e-mail along to your friends.

Saturday, Jan. 8, 11, Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Hosea l. Williams,
march and caravan will leave Hosea Williams Dr. and Eastlake Dr and go to Coan Park.
Food, entertainment, family fun.
For more information, call 678.365.1566.

Sunday, Jan. 9, 5pm, Community Forum, Tsunami Disaster: Relief and Resources,
Touch of India restaurant, 1037 Peachtree.
Sponsored by Raksha and South Asians for Unity.
For more information call 404.876.0670 or e-mail awareness@raksha.org

Following the forum at 7pm, a fund-raising dinner is being sponsored by Atlanta Living Foods Community. For reservations, call 678.596.1688.

Jan. 9, 7pm, IAC meeting, 1083 Austin Ave. NE, (corner of Euclid and Austin), Rm. 203. Parking is available in the rear of the building. Please use the back entrance.

Monday, Jan. 10, 9:30am, Rally for Criminal Justice (repeal SB 440-441, mandatory sentencing), State Capitol, Washington St. side.

Monday, Jan. 10, 11:30am, Community in Distress Rally, oppose homophobic legislation.
For more information, call 404.378.5141.

Monday, Jan. 10, 5-6pm, weekly protest, Israeli Consulate, 1100 Spring St.
Tear Down the Apartheid Wall! End the Occupation.
Sponsored by Atlanta Palestine Solidarity.
For more information, go to www.atlanta4palestine.org

Monday, Jan. 10, 7pm, Community Forum for a Queer Progressive Agenda,
AIDS Survival Project, 139 Ralph McGill Blvd.
For more information, call 404.378.5141.

Thursday, Jan. 13, 4:30-6pm, weekly anti-war protest, Lenox MARTA station.
Stop the War Now! Bring the Troops Home!
Bring signs and banners. Help distribute flyers.
Sponsored by International Action Center and Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition.
For more information, e-mail azitamarcus@earthlink.net

Friday, Jan. 14, noon-1pm, weekly anti-war protest, Colony Square, 14th and Peachtree.
War Is Still Not the Answer!
Sponsored by WAND. For more information, call 404.524.5999.

Saturday, Jan. 15, noon, MARCH FOR JOBS, PEACE AND JUSTICE, Columbus, Ga. Protest the police murder of Kenneth Walker. Columbus Civic Center, Veterans Parkway at Victory Drive.
Sponsored by Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and others including Concerned Black Clergy, SCLC, NAACP, Rainbow/Push Coalition.

Bus transportation available from Atlanta. Leaving 10am from Atlanta Life Building (Auburn and Courtland). $20 round-trip includes lunch. To make a reservation, call 404.525.5663.

Saturday, Jan. 15, Peace and Unity March, Forsyth County.
Transportation will leave from the King Center on Auburn Ave. at 11am.
For more information, call 678.366.1566.

Sunday, Jan. 16, 7pm, weekly International Action Center meeting, Little 5 Points Community Center, 1083 Austin Ave. NE (corner of Euclid and Austin), Rm. 203.
Final planning meeting for Jan. 17 MLK Day march anti-war contingent and counter-inaugural activities on Jan. 20.
All are welcome. Many volunteers are needed.
Parking is available in the rear of the building. Use the back door entrance.

Monday, Jan. 17,1pm, annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day march.
Starts at Peachtree and Baker and goes to King Center on Auburn between Boulevard and Jackson.
Join the "Drums for Peace"anti-war contingent. Assemble at noon at Peachtree and Dobbs (Georgia Pacific Building).
Bring drums of all kinds and signs and banners.
Help is needed to distribute "End the War Now" signs and flyers for the Jan. 20 actions.
To volunteer, e-mail annmauney555@aol.com

Initiated by International Action Center and Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition. For more information, call 770.989.2536 or e-mail atlantaiac@aol.com or annmauney555@aol.com

Thursday, Jan. 20, Worldwide protests coincide with Bush inauguration.
In DC, defend the right to protest. Assemble along Pennsylvania Ave by 9am.
For more information, go to www.internationalanswer.org
There is no bus transportation from Atlanta but carpools and vans are being organized. The IAC will try to help you find a ride.

In Atlanta, assemble for the "No Mandate for War, Repression and Cutbacks" counter-inaugural march and rally at 11:30 at CNN (corners of Marietta and Centennial Olympic Park and Techwood Dr); at noon, march to Georgia State Capitol (Washington and MLK) for a rally, 1-2pm.

Sponsored by International Action Center and Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition.

Endorsed by Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Rainbow/Push Coalition, Georgia Citizen's Coalition on Hunger, League Opposed to Virtual Elections, Georgians for Choice, Refuse & Resist/Atlanta, GKC International Airport, Muslim Women's Political Action Committee, Atlanta Palestine Solidarity, Students for Peace and Justice (Ga. State), Resistance Front, Birmingham Peace Project, Solidarity, Cobb Citizens for Peace (list in formation)

For more information, go to www.nomandateatlanta.org

Thursday, Jan. 20, 7pm, celebrate resistance and build solidarity at counter-inaugural "ball,"
The 5 Spot, 1123 Euclid Ave. NE (Little 5 Points). Spoken word, music, dancing.
All ages. $5 donation to benefit anti-war activities of International Action Center.
For more information, call 770.989.2536 or e-mail atlantaiac@aol.com

Thursday, Jan. 20, 7pm, Workers' Rights Board hearing on funding for MARTA,
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church (corner of Auburn and Jackson).
Sponsored by Jobs with Justice.

Thanks.

Dianne for the International Action Center

Help the victims of the SE Asia tsunamis

2004-12-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

The U.S. is giving $15 million for disaster relief. That's about a nickel for each person who lives here. Considering the massive toll of 40,000+ casulaties, millions homeless, newly without families, and subject to water-borne disease, this is unacceptably low.

Here are stories from the living:

We are very lucky to have survived. We left Patong for a boat trip at 07.30 to Phang Nga. Boat but the trip aborted early to avoid the tidal wave. The boat to Phi Phi we were on 2 days earlier was sunk. We were on Phi Phi 2 days earlier and now we believe many people have died there. We have been unable to return to Patong last night so we slept in emergency accommodation and heard many horror stories from evacuees whose family members are missing. There were stories of severed limbs from flying glass, narrow escapes from drowning and people literally outrunning the tidal wave from the beach to escape. The Thai people have been magnificent, providing free food and drink and accommodation very quickly for us. Today Patong town is a disaster zone. All businesses within 500 metres of the beach are destroyed, cars are smashed, power lines are down, many thousands of people will have no work for some time to come. Bodies are still being recovered. We saw vehicles taking bodies to the hospitals or mortuaries but the clean up operation will start soon. Right now, everyone is in fear of a second wave or aftershock, and rumours have led to panic at least 2 times today.
Malcolm Tetley and James Spooner, Patong Thailand

I just spoke to a friend who is trying to find the courage to make the phone calls to ask if people are OK. It is hard to make a phone call that might bring bad news. The roads are quiet and although people are trying to get on with life as usual most find it difficult. The fear that there is bad news we have not yet heard is paralysing and makes concentrating on normal work very hard. I do not know how to explain to my two year old daughter why she has seen people crying, but at least we are all alive. We had a booking today at a hotel that was hit. It could easily have been us drowning in the Indian Ocean. A charity that helps the destitute told us that they have lost one of their premises, and most of their stocks of food. One man had a heart attack while running to where a child was playing. He died of the heart attack and the child was drowned. Even here in Colombo, which was not directly affected, everyone I have spoken to knows someone who has been affected, and many people have lost friends or family.
Graeme Pietersz, Colombo, Sri Lanka

We don't make policy (yet), but we do have a little bit of disposable income. Give what you can, surely more than a nickel.

- Brent (who also wrote the previous entry on blue shopping)

Shop your values

2004-12-23T16:06:00.000-05:00

I found two sites that can show us which companies give to the Democrats and/or Republicans, and which ones are committed to sustainable growth or profit disproportionately over people. Use them for your last-minute holiday shopping and beyond!

8 Progressive Values

2004-12-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am going to talk about the dreaded values and even more frightening, these can be used as a framework for (gasp!) talking points.

Please feel free to look them over and leave comments, but I think this is a general list which is quite useful and can be used in many contexts. They are listed in no particular order and the importance of each is up to the reader.

The Values:

1) Non Violence.

This includes our antiwar activism, freedom from violence and coercion, and freedom from capital punishment, torture, unecessary imprisonment, and from police brutality.

2) Inclusiveness.

This ensures that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender/sex, sexual orientation, or religion can be guaranteed equal oportunity and treatment.

3) Democratization/Decentralization.

This value expresses the desire of people to be able to be able to have maximum choice and stakeholder input in their social, political, and economic production. It also expresses that government should be user friendly, not overly-large, and not dominated by a small group of elite stakeholders. Taxes should cover basic functions and most government functions should be performed on a local level by people who live in the neighborhood affected by the decisions they make, not by faraway bureaucrats who have no connection to the people they effect. This also guarantees our rights to expression. Government should be scaled down. For example, a decrease in annual military spending by 10-15% as well as an end of the war on drugs would more than pay for local welfare programs as well as treatment programs and would still leave enough money left over to pursue a new national project (a Manhattan project for green energy production) or to be distributed bact to the taxpayers.

4) Choice.

The government should not impose any particular lifestyle or set of cultural norms by force of law. Consenting adults should be able to enter into any relationship and enjoy equal protection and rights/benefits under the government. Those in an intimate relationship, not the government, will make choices concerning family choice, fertility, and occupation/job. Family values are therefore up to the family, not the government. The war on private consumption of drugs should end. The government should stop criminalizing vice.

5) Ecological Wisdom.

Political and economic activity and transactions should not be conducted in a way that threatens or destroys the natural ecosystems and natural resources that provide the basis for human existence. Progressives should strive for a balance between the ecosystem or bioregion they live in and the mode of life they pursue. Due to the failure or inadequacy of many extensive bureaucratic regulations, regulation should strive to introduce accountability and incentive procedures into new regulations and market economy. Some examples could include tax breaks for green technology, low-input (organic) farming, polluter pays principles, etc. Equal efforts must be made towards new technologies as well as peaceful social change to acheive a greener society.

6) Generosity.

Progressives believe that people who are suffering from hardship should not be allowed to fall out of society. Basic medical care should be a human right. Food and shelter should should also be human rights. People should have the right to be able to seek help in recovery from natural and human disturbance (i.e. storms, fires, floods, violent crime, accidents, etc). Many previous welfare programs on a large national scale (war on poverty) met with poor results - future welfare programs should include better funded local governments working in cooperation with NGO's.

7) Skepticism.

A free society depends upon the free flow of ideas in the public forum. An accountable, well funded, and open public and private education systems are necessary. Scientific theories should be open to debate and we should reject the notion of God versus science as they cannot disprove each other. Truth and fact should not be viewd as strictly objective or absolute and multiple explanations and methods should be sought for understanding the universe.

8) Honesty.

A free society is also a society that is free from fraud. All political activity should be done in an accountable and transparent manner. Private individuals and enterprise should also be held accountable to whomever they have contracts with.

Please comment with your ideas and suggestions.

Daniel Sparks

Real Human Heroes

2004-12-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

My last post was rather depressing and I apologize, and much of this week has had me very busy (hence few posts) and most of the news wasn't particularly uplifting, but occassionally, I find a few things to be optimistic about and I wish to share these with you.

The first is from Creative Loafing of Atlanta, GA and is the story of someone who had a political awakening. The second is from a diehard liberal pro-democracy activist in Saudi Arabia.

People like this give me hope and they are heroes for originally starting their fight for liberal and progressive values from the insides of their respective beasts. Even though many of us face quite a bit of undue criticism if not outright meanness for protesting or wearing buttons, people in the positions these two were in certainly had to sacrifice more or face greater repression for what they did on the basis of their conscience than most of us have or will probably (hopefully) have to face. Courage of their sort will certainly offer a silver lining to the stormclouds of the next four to eight years and one day they will almost certainly steer humanity in a more free and enlightened direction.

As for ideas, we would do well to try and search more people like these folks out as these are the folks who we need to outreach to.

Bonne chance,
Daniel Sparks

House Judiciary Committee Sends letter to Blackwell

2004-12-10T04:41:00.000-05:00

The House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell that is a proverbial laundry list of what went wrong in Ohio. I think this is a must read for every Democrat in the country. We have to know if the Republicans are stealing elections and how they are doing it. I have yet to hear of one Democrat that employed these techniques in this electoin or any other. Check it out.

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohblackwellltr12204.pdf

-Kristin

Ukraine and Ohio

2004-12-09T20:39:00.000-05:00

Lately, given the Ohio and Florida voting irregularities, many of us have been living vicariously through the orange revolution in the Ukraine. Yet we need be wary, as problems with exit polls are not universal and that vicarious living carries the eventual penalties of bad decision making. If we are to understand Ohio and the Ukraine, we must do so sober enough to accept facts, know our weaknesses, know how to fix them, and know the right time in the future to rise up if that course of action become necessary.

The orange revolution erupted after Yuschenko, predicted to win by exit polls, lost by a narrow margin. His supporters, bedecked in orange, took to the streets in a massive outpooring of support and have been holding out for three weeks in a massive non-violent civil disobedience campaign, using the campaign as a lever to win supposed reforms. The latest news is about a rewriting of presidential power in the Ukraine, including the (in my opinion, dubious improvement) of the president to prosecute political crimes.

One must question, how reliable are the exit polls in the Ukraine, versus Ohio or Florida. And who is Yuschenko and what would be a critical history of the orange revolution, maybe we need to look here, here, and here. Also, maybe someone who has been there would know more than the speculation by either side. Such begs the question that both supporters of Yushchenko and Yanukovych are both dupes in a power play between two economic oligarchs enmeshed in superpower rivalry. Is it possible that this is another cold war battlefront of the imperial initiative for oil and resources?

Now that I've thoroughly harshed everyone's mellow, I will try and try to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

The conclusion being that we should not relate our troubles to the Ukraine's or vice versa, and that in dealing with our troubles on the eve of election certification, we must adapt our tactics to our national context, not to that which is in play between the rival egos of the eagle and the bear.

It is my hope that the orange revolution is genuine among the people of the Ukraine, and that such a revolution is not a front for the oligarchical interets of crony-capitalism, imperial ambition, or regional ethic/cultural struggle. In that sentiment, which I'm am pretty confident I share with most progressives, we find ourselves in agreement with an unlikely ally. As for a solution which could allow for the continued prosperity of the Ukraine, another antiwar.com editorialist offers a novel compromise, which in some cases does have merit. Ultimately, for there to be peace and prosperity in the Ukraine, the market must be free but not all powerful or manipulated form the outside. Also, regional cultures must be preserved and allowed an open and accountable public forum; but a decentralization and democratization of political and economic decision making capability and power is necessary.

Elsewhere, Fallujah is now to become a concentration camp, many soldiers are being shortchanged by the nation that called upon them and a lawmaker in Alabama has put out a call to destroy books while teachers in a nearby state destroy the self esteem of young children over the same issue.

Oh, by the way, to continue the theme of democracy betrayed (sorry for the sad theme folks) check out the latest post over at www.mykeru.com of dear leader.

Also, don't forget, Saturday December 11 at the Athens Recess Center (formerly the Green Scene in Normaltown Athens (just off the corner of Boulevard and Hiawassee) at 6pm is a spaghetti dinner to christen the new direct democracy infoshop (which will have a library, book and music store, cafe w/ coffee and Green Scene treats, a community-based school, and general space for meetings, studying, organizing, and relaxing). Dinner will be served at 7pm and the cost is a sliding scale of 5 to 15 dollars (though no one will be turned away). See you on Saturday.

Daniel Sparks

Welcome

2004-12-07T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hi, this is the start of the blogging site for the Athens Progressive Legaue. The purpose of the blog will be to discuss organization, issues, strategy, and tactics for use in promoting liberal, progressive, and radical values and electoral candidates in the Athens, GA metropolitan areas.

Since this is a multi user blog which will have several authors under one sign in name, I would like to set a few guidelines about using the blog.

1) Since we are all under one user name, please sign your name at the end of every post. This is so posts can be differentiated by the author as well as avoid problems with 'trolling'.

2) Please enable comments, this will allow for a continual active discussion thread.

3) Please avoid ad-hominem attacks against other users.

4) Please do not advocate extralegal or violent activities in your posts. Doing so could threaten the blog as well as our community and will not be tolerated. Posts which violate #4 will be removed if they present a threat to the group.

Daniel Sparks (okay, my name is now added, sorry)