Tidbits: October 6, 2010

1. Re: Raise the Retirement Age? (Judith Ackerman)
2. Re: America's Deepening Moral Crisis (Richard Smith)
3. Defend Education (Detroit)
4. "Waiting for Superman" A Cafe Society Conversation (Chicago)
5. Ground Zero Tolerance: Religious Freedom And America’s Culture War (NYC)
6. Is America Still An Immigration Nation? (NYC)
7. Rights and Risks When an Agent Knocks (NYC)

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Re: Raise the Retirement Age? Stupid and Cruel.
Retirement age should be 55 or 60 so younger workers
get a shot at getting work and surviving on this crazy
planet. There should be a 28 hour work week so more
people can get work. Why doesn't the leadership of this
country consider these solutions? Judith Ackerman

Re: America's Deepening Moral Crisis 

This heartfelt concern for the poor from the leading
theorist of shock therapy. Richard Smith

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DEFEND EDUCATION!!

*October 7, 2010 National Day of Action*

The lines are drawn. As working families struggle to
recover from the economic crisis, access to education
and jobs are diminishing as cuts continue to come. At a
time when student loan debt has surpassed credit card
debt, we call on students, teachers, faculty, staff,
workers, and parents to unite together and defend
public education this fall. The greed of the bankers
and employers are responsible for the economic crisis
not us. We didn't create the crisis and we won't pay
for it.

JOIN US ON Thursday, OCTOBER 7 AT NOON ON GULLEN MALL
AT WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

OUR DEMANDS:

Money for education, not for war and bank bailouts!
Schools, not prisons!
Stop attacks on LGBTQ, women, and students of color!
Amnesty for all student loans!
Stop attacks on teachers and staff!
Support all unions!

www.defendeducation.org / WSU contact: 313-559-7074

Sponsored by MECAWI and Moratorium NOW Coalition to
Stop Foreclosures, Evictions, & Utility Shutoffs and
endorsed by labor, student, community and faith-based
organizations (list in formation). National Oct. 7
endorsers include AFT locals, the AAUP, FIST, UE, SDS,
Jobs With Justice, Coalition of Graduate Employee
Unions, Veterans For Peace, International Action
Center, Solidarity, and Bail Out the People Movement.

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"Waiting for Superman" A Cafe Society Conversation

Thursday, October 7 7-8PM

Valois 1518 E 53rd Street Chicago, IL 

Guest speaker, Kenzo Shibata, a high school English
teacher and representative of the Chicago Teacher's
Union, will kick off this conversation about "Waiting
for Superman" and the state of our public schools.

How does class background, poverty, and access to
health care and stable housing impact the kind of
education kids get? What role have teachers unions
played in our schools and how they educate our kids?
What role do standardized tests play in driving the
school reform discussion? What is the difference
between school reform and school renewal? What kinds of
support systems could help increase student learning?
What makes a good or a bad teacher? Who's responsible
for the state of public schools today? How can schools
at any level and in any community be improved? "In the
state of Illinois, our children are being held hostage
based on their zip codes, and we know that is unfair,"
said state senator Jacqueline Collins. What does she
mean and how can this be changed?

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Ground Zero Tolerance: Religious Freedom And America’s Culture War

November 8, 2010 7:30-9PM

Venue: The Wollman Hall, The New School, 65 West 11th St, New York

This event is free and open to the public. 
For further information please email Jean: [log in to unmask]

What does the controversy over the Park 51 ‘Ground Zero
mosque’ say about contemporary America? Have Americans
become too tolerant, or not tolerant enough?

Speakers: Nihad Awad, executive director and co-
founder, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Wendy Kaminer, lawyer and social critic; correspondent,
theatlantic.com; latest book, Worst Instincts:
cowardice, conformity and the ACLU Brendan O’Neill
editor, spiked; feature-writer, Christian Science
Monitor in America and for BBC in Britain Kristen
Saloomey, correspondent, Al Jazeera Moderator: Alan
Miller, co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London’s
Truman Brewery and Vibe Bar

The clearance by the New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission for the so-called ‘Ground Zero
mosque’ to be built in lower Manhattan received
national coverage amidst a raging debate, initiated by
Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich and then weighed in upon
by Mayor Bloomberg and President Obama, as to whether
Park 51, the 13 storey Islamic cultural centre, should
be allowed to be built so close to 9/11’s Ground Zero.
Those who oppose Park 51 argue either that the project
is insensitive because Ground Zero is unique and a kind
of ‘hallowed ground’ as Charles Krauthammer put it, or
that it is politically motivated, with an anti-American
agenda, and should not be treated with the same
tolerance as a religious institution. Those defending
the Islamic centre have been quick to label opponents
as bigots, and claimed the centre will be a bridge to
cultural harmony, promoting moderation, non-violence
and diversity. The New York Times called the centre a
‘monument to tolerance’. Similar debates rage in Europe
where some governments have moved to ban Muslim women
wearing the burqa and minarets have been banned and
debates rage on about whether the wearing the hijab,
niqab and indeed certain practices of Islam itself
represents a challenge to Western values. Some critics
cry Islamophobia in response, and demand we respect all
cultures and religious regardless. Others argue that
such bans and restrictions are an attack on freedom in
general, and consider them a gross overreaction. Is
this apparent new backlash against Muslims in Western
nations and the arguments around the issue a new
version of the ‘Culture Wars’? While religious freedom
has been a consistent part of the Enlightenment
tradition, does the increasing antagonism towards
Muslims in the West express a feeling that we tolerate
the intolerant at our peril? Is it true that today’s
politically correct ‘tolerance’ results in a craven
accommodation to radical Islam even when it is
antithetical to Western values? How should today’s
American society deal with clashing belief systems? Is
this simply a case of religious freedom and free
speech? Does the current preoccupation with Islam,
whether sympathetic or hostile, reflect a deeper lack
of certainty about what Western values are?

== 

Is America Still An Immigration Nation? 

November 17, 2010 7-8:30 pm

Barnes & Noble, *86th & Lexington* Avenue Branch, 150 East 86th Street, New York NY 10028, USA

This event is free and open to the public. For further information please email Jean: *[log in to unmask]

*As the temperature rises in the immigration debate,
what should our vision be for American society? Is
there a moral case to welcome immigrants?

Speakers: *Donna Lieberman*, executive director, NYCLU;
*Jason Riley*, member, editorial board, Wall Street
Journal [and] author, `Let Them In: the case for open
borders`; *Dr Alex Standish*, assistant professor of
geography, Western Connecticut State University;
author, `The Politics of Geography: approaches to
teaching global issues in the twenty-first century`;
*Gary Younge*, columnist, Guardian; author, `Who Are
We: and should it matter in the 21st century?`

Moderator: Jean Smith, co-founder and director, NY
Salon

With an estimated twelve million undocumented
immigrants living in the U.S., many people agree that
something must be done.

At the same time most citizens acknowledge with pride
that our country was founded by immigrants seeking to
build a better future for themselves and their
families. No other country has offered this to the same
extent as the U.S. This implied open borders not only
for people traveling inside the country but also for
people traveling or moving to the U.S.

Many have lambasted Arizona's new immigration
legislation signed into law in April by Republican
governor Jan Brewer. In July a federal judge blocked
implementation of provisions in that law that require
police to determine the immigration status of people
they stop and suspect of being in the U.S. illegally.
And yet there has been much less criticism of the
Democrats' plans to tighten border security and require
all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to
obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card
each with a unique biometric identifier.

As the temperature rises in the immigration debate,
what should our vision be for American society in the
twenty-first century? Do we want to live in a country
that shuts others out or is there a moral case to be
made that welcomes immigrants and their aspiration for
a better life?

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Rights and Risks When an Agent Knocks: A Joint National
Lawyers Guild and Center for Constitutional Rights
Teach-In

When : Mon, October 11 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm

Where :Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street (NYC)

Description : Responding to recent FBI raids around the
country targeting, among others, anti-war and
international solidarity activists in investigations
into the possible provision of "material support" to
"terrorists", panelists at this teach-in will talk
about the "material support" statutes, as well as the
rights and risks involved when a person is faced with
an agent's knock, search warrant, or grand jury
subpoena. Requests from targeted activists for NLG
legal advice may be directed to: 888-NLG-ECOL
(888-654-3265).

Panelists NLG-NYC attorneys Margaret Ratner Kunstler,
Robert J. Boyle, and Martin R. Stolar have represented
activists targeted by the government in grand jury,
criminal, civil, and related proceedings since the
1960's and 70's.

Shayana Kadidal, Senior Managing Attorney at the Center
for Constitutional Rights, has litigated many
significant post-9/11 civil liberties cases, including
landmark litigation challenging the "material support"
laws.

Check NY Activist Calendar frequently: http://nycal.mayfirst.org

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