1 Re: Saluting the Supreme Soviet Filmmaker, Dziga Vertov
  -- Robert Kleiner, David McReynolds
2 Re: Jeffrey Sachs: The People's Budget 
  -- Cyril Robinson, Rita Addessa
3 Dellinger Lecture on Nonviolence and the New Press 
4 Spanish Judge to Receive ALBA-Puffin Human Rights Award 
5 Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of It in U.S.

=====
11111

From: Robert Kleiner
Re: Saluting the Supreme Soviet Filmmaker, Dziga Vertov

I find it somewhat ironic that in the article about
Vertov, there is no mention of Eisenstein, also
considered by many to be the greatest film maker in the
last century with the possible exception of Charlie
Cbaplin. I don't take issue with the article's contents
about Vertov at all. It is also interesting that both
were Jewish, and most of their respective colleagues
were Jewish as well..  In addition, they were about the
same ages and both died young. And both had some
problems with the authorities from time to time.

---

From: David McReynolds 
Re: Saluting the Supreme Soviet Filmmaker, Dziga Vertov

Just a note to the folks who pull together Portside
(which remains a remarkable resource).

The Village Voice piece on Vertov (whose work I've
never, alas, seen) reminds us again that the early
years of the Russian Revolution were remarkable in the
actual freedom and inventiveness of the arts. Just
leave aside Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, etc. for a moment,
all the mistakes, errors, etc., and be reminded of what
I realized long ago looking at the early Soviet films -
they were ahead of the West.

One says that wistfully. The energy of a revolution
cannot be sustained. But those were remarkable years in
pretty much all of the arts.

=====
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From: Cyril Robinson
Re: Jeffrey Sachs: The People's Budget

Well it's resolved for the moment. But what these
Conservatives don't understand is that in a recession,
it is government spending that keeps a feeble economy
going. It is the time to increase  government spending
rather than to curb it I'm disappointed that Obama and
the Democrats went along with this nonsense about  the
deficit. It's like a mortgage. Every homeowner runs a
deficit. In fact our economy depends on deficits. We'll
see, but I think the cuts in government spending will
aggravate the recession.

====

From: Rita Addessa
Re: Jeffrey Sachs and the People's Budget

Sisters and Brothers: Always thanks for your work, but
be advised, this is probably the same Jeffery Sachs, a
Milton Friedman devotee, who as an experiment destroyed
Bolivia, Chicago Boy school style,  in the mid 1980's
among other countries. (See Naomi Klein, Disaster
Capitalism, Chapter 7).

Onward, thanks always.

=====
33333

A Forum and Book Party for A Saving Remnant - April 26,
(New York)

The War Resisters League's Dellinger Lecture on
Nonviolence and the New Press present:

on Tuesday evening, April 26th, 7 p.m.

A Forum and Book Party:
A Saving Remnant by Martin Duberman

The radical lives of Barbara Deming and David
McReynolds and their place in the pacifist, civil
rights, socialist, and gay and lesbian and feminist
movements

With Mandy Carter, Pam McAllister, David McReynolds,
and Martin Duberman

Followed by book signing

Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
co-sponsored by Judson Memorial Church

Admission free - donations accepted

=====
44444

Embattled Spanish Judge to Receive ALBA-Puffin Human
Rights Award - May 14 - New York City

The Volunteer - Founded by the Veterans of the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade

http://www.albavolunteer.org/2011/03/embattled-spanish-judge-to-receive-alba-puffin-human-rights-award/

Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish magistrate who has headed
the effort to identify human rights violations during
the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent Franco
dictatorship, will receive the first ALBA-Puffin
International Award for Human Rights Activism at the
ALBA annual reunion in New York City on May 14. (Full
press release here; ticket info here; Facebook group
here.) "Judge Garzón's exceptional courage in defense
of human rights and his commitment to the recovery of
historical memory regarding crimes against humanity
make him especially worthy of this honor," said Peter
N. Carroll, chair emeritus of ALBA's Board of
Governors. (Press Release in Spanish here.)

This award is given jointly by ALBA and the Puffin
Foundation, which provides an endowed fund exclusively
for this annual honor. "The award is designed," said
Puffin Foundation President Perry Rosenstein, "to give
public recognition, support, and encouragement to
individuals or groups whose work has an exceptionally
positive impact on the advancement and/or defense of
human rights. It is intended to help educate students
and the general public about the importance of
defending human rights against arbitrary powers that
violate democratic principles."

Garzón, catapulted to international fame when he
ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet in 1998, is considered today one of the most
effective and imaginative thinkers in international
human rights law, having defended the victims of
dictatorial regimes in Chile, Argentina, and Spain.

In October 2008, at the request of grassroots victims'
organizations in Spain, Garzón determined to carry out
an official legal investigation, for the first time in
Spain's history, of crimes against humanity, including
torture and forced disappearances, perpetrated against
civilians by supporters of the Franco regime. In
response to Garzón's investigation of the Franco years,
fringe right-wing groups filed charges against the
judge, who now faces suspension from his judicial
duties on Spain's criminal court. (Previous Volunteer
coverage of Garzón here.)

ALBA stands in solidarity with Garzón, who, like the
men and women who sacrificed so greatly to support
Republican Spain in the 1930s, remains steadfastly
committed to social and political justice, the exposure
of the criminal nature of fascism in Spain, and the
struggle for justice and dignity for its victims.

The granting of the ALBA-Puffin award, which includes a
cash gift of $100,000 to Garzón, underscores ALBA's
legacy and mission while simultaneously echoing the
sentiment of other human rights organizations that have
expressed unequivocal support for the embattled
magistrate, including Human Rights Watch and the Robert
F. Kennedy Center, Amnesty International, the
International Federation for Human Rights, and the
World Organization Against Torture.

=====
55555

April 14, 2011
Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of It in U.S.,
Experts Say

Wisconsin, Florida Hardest Hit

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) -- The U.S. policy of
exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very
little of it left at home.

That is the grim assessment of a new study commissioned
by the University of Minnesota, which predicts that if
the U.S. continues to export democracy at its current
pace it may completely run out of it at home by the
year 2015.

"We have been exporting democracy to Afghanistan and
Iraq while there are severe shortages of it in
Wisconsin and Florida," said Professor Davis Logsdon,
who supervised the study. "This is madness."

Citing the study, Speaker of the House John Boehner
said today, "It has been clear to me for some time that
we must explore alternative forms of government, such
as oligarchy or plutocracy."

Noting that democracy originated in Greece, Mr. Boehner
added, "We must reduce our dependence on foreign
sources of government."

The University of Minnesota study contains several
proposals, such as outsourcing the U.S. government to
the world's largest democracy, India.

"The work done by Congress could be accomplished much
more efficiently by a series of electronic phone
prompts," the study recommends.

But Mr. Boehner warned that eliminating Congress
entirely would have disastrous effects: "That would
destroy entire sectors of our economy, especially the
prostitution industry."

Speaking from one of the states hardest hit by the
democracy shortage, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
downplayed the seriousness of the problem, calling
democracy "overrated."

"Teachers may teach our children that democracy is
important," he said, "but the solution is to get rid of
the teachers."

___________________________________________

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