Tidbits: September 29, 2010

1. The U.S., Israel and PalestineI - Is Peace Possible? (Chicago)
2. March for Medicare for All on October 2nd (Washington, DC)
3. Re: Venezuelan Elections (David McReynolds)
4. Re: For Jobs, Justice, and Education (Daniel Jordan, Gordon Fitch)

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The U.S., Israel and PalestineI - Is Peace Possible?


Chicago Forum Oct. 14 

With a new round of U.S. sponsored peace talks
underway, what are the prospects for a stable and just
peace in the world’s most volatile region?

A discussion featuring

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia
University

And

Rabbi Brant Rosen, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, Evanston, Huffington Post blogger

Dick Longworth, Moderator, Author and Senior Fellow, Chicago Council on Global
Affairs

Thursday  Oct 14  7 PM

United Methodist Chicago Temple, Washington and Clark, Chicago Illinois

What should be the role of the United States in the
peace process?  What are the legitimate interests of
the people of the U. S. in the Middle East?  Is current
U.S. Mid-East policy consistent with those interests?
What are the main obstacles to peace and what are the
main levers for moving them aside?

Co-sponsored by: Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and
Justice in the Middle East, DePaul University Center
for Black Diaspora, DePaul University Department of
Political Science, Jewish Voice For Peace-Chicago,
Lincoln Park Neighbors United for Peace, , Logan Square
Neighbors for Justice and Peace, North Suburban Peace
Initiative, Tikkun Chicago

For information: [log in to unmask], 312-927-2689

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March for Medicare for All on October 2nd

Healthcare-NOW! http://www.healthcare-now.org/

Dear Single-Payer Supporter:

People want more healthcare reform, not less. We have
to stay strong for the single-payer healthcare system
we need.

This is why Healthcare-NOW! is mobilizing for the
10/2/10 March on Washington for Peace, Jobs and
Justice.

On October 2, we will tell the world that One Nation
Needs One Healthcare Plan: Medicare for All!

Here are some things you can do to make 10/2/10 a
success:

    * On October 2nd, march with the single-payer
    contingent, including National Nurses
    United/California Nurses Association, Physicians
    for a National Health Program, Progressive
    Democrats of America, and more. Meet at 10:30 AM at
    West Potomac Park between Ohio Dr. and Independence
    Ave (Map). Look for nurses in red scrubs and
    doctors in white coats.

    * Find a bus near you and get on it with your
    coworkers, neighbors and family.

    * Help get thousands of post cards signed to tell
    Congress "Hands Off Social Security and Medicare!"
    We must protect, improve and expand our social
    insurance programs. We are asking people to pledge
    in advance how many post cards you will collect
    during the One Nation March to keep building the
    movement for single-payer national healthcare. Can
    you pledge to collect 25 post cards? Let us know!
    Email [log in to unmask]

    * On October 1, walk the halls of Congress for
    jobs, justice, peace, and healthcare for all. Learn
    more here.

    * Attend a reception on the Hill with PDA Advisory
    Board members Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Raul
    Grijalva, and Bill Fletcher, Jr. on Friday, October
    1st, 4:00 - 5:00 PM, at the Capitol Visitor Center.
    Get details and RSVP here.

    * Single-Payer Party! Join us for speakers and live
    music. Food and drink are available for purchase.
    We will pass out signs and materials and go over
    logistics for the next day. For more information,
    contact Margaret at [log in to unmask] Friday,
    October 1st, 6 to 8 pm at Busboys and Poets, 5th
    and K Sreets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

    * If you can't make it to Washington, participate
    in a local event or plan one of your own. Request
    post cards from [log in to unmask] or download
    them here.

Looking forward to making our demands loud and clear
for single-payer Medicare for All.

In Peace and Health, Katie Robbins Healthcare-NOW!
National Organizer

Healthcare-NOW! - 800-453-1305 - 1315 Spruce Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19107

===

Re: Venezuelan Elections - Two Articles 

In many ways the most important thing about the
elections (though not one I expect will be much
discussed by US commentators) is the fact they were
held.

That Chavez has lost ground is hardly surprising. It is
par for the course in almost any genuine democracy.
That his forces commanded a majority in a free election
is what is most important.

Doubly so since we all know that the CIA poured funds
into the opposition. I can't follow all the ins and
outs of what is happening in Venezuela, and can only
hope for the best. And right now the best is very good
- there was a free election and the Chavez forces won.

As I try to follow Cuban events I'm impressed that
Fidel has re-thought some of his errors from the past,
not just the policy of repressing homosexuals, but his
willingness to risk nuclear confrontation. But again,
the media here doesn't seem impressed that an old man
can re-examine his past.

David McReynolds

===

Re: For Jobs, Justice, and Education

Dear Moderator

It appears that many are missing the most important
education issue of at least the past decade. The
campaign to destroy and privatize public education,
under the guise of school reform, had its official
launch this past week. However the building blocks to
create the campaign have been laid, one-by-one for at
least the past decade. Public education represents a
large pot-o-gold. Not large enough to do what is
needed, actually educate our children, but large enough
that the proponents of privatization want to get their
hands on it. So, the strategy appears to have been to
progressively chip away at public education's ability
to do its job. Progressively cut funding to the point
where individual systems begin to implode. Set up
schools so that soda machines are a major source of
revenue. Put more and more screws to teachers, enforce
ever tighter rules, shift the focus of education to the
results of standardized tests that do not account for
the wild diversity of social life, and keep writing
article about the failure of public education. The
tracks are there to be seen.

The campaign was officially launched with the opening
of "Waiting for Superman." The launch of that movie is
the day when the campaign officially surfaced. As soon
as that so-called documentary opens, who shows up
making the media rounds? The privatization shills from
Teach for America. They sound so earnest, so caring,
but if you want to know their real motives, read
Barbara Miner's article "Looking Past the Spin: Teach
for America" published on Rethinking Schools,
republished on Portside.

From a macro level, this is all part of a pattern. Any
part of the government where large funding streams
exist are under attack for the clear purpose of
privatization, with the obvious goal of sucking those
dollars up into the hands of those in the upper 1% of
the wealth curve. The same type of effort is being
paralleled with Social Security. I await the day when a
documentary appears showing how it too should be
privatized.

Daniel Jordan, PhD, ABPP

==

What happened to the anti-war march?

Gordon Fitch

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