Progressive Springfield

The violence ever increases. Polling stations destroyed. Helicopters crashed.

"The vote must go on," Bush says.

Wotta farce.

What the insurgents don't realize is that no matter how illegitimate Sunday's election turns out to be, the U.S. will endorse it as legitimate, and the U.S. puppet regime will be installed, and then....?

Look out, Tehran...you're in our sights.

Interested folks are invited to join in a community effort to bring information, education and resources to Springfield through participation in a brainstorming meeting on Wednesday, 2/2 from 7 - 8:45 p.m. at Lincoln Library Carnegie Room North. If you are interested but can't make that date, please let me know when you are available in March, and we will try to plan a March meeting with many schedules in mind, as long as we have them by 2/2! If you like the idea, can't make the meeting, but might like to help financially once you see our plans, please let me know.

Individuals from the following groups have expressed plans to participate in this effort: Abraham Lincoln Unitarian/Universalist Congregation, First Church of the Brethren, Middle East Peace Project, Pax Christi Springfield, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, as well as one wonderful free agent.



Please bring resources, stories, clippings, website, and other items that you would like to see prioritized. We are brainstorming here, so the only limit on us will be that of time.



If you know others who might like to hear about this meeting, please send this message to them.



Peace,

Diane Lopez Hughes

I never paid much attention to MLK Day. I was happy to get the day off, sure. But I never spent any time reflecting on who MLK was or why he is important remembering. Today, I decided to learn a bit more about this great man. The more I learn, the more I realize what a loss occurred on April 4, 1968. Not only did MLK fight for racial equality, he was vocal against the corporate control of America, and advocated "social democracy".

Besides pulling out my yet-unread copy of "Why We Can't Wait?", I decided to flip around the TV to see if there were any MLK specials on. To my disappointment, nothing appeared on any major stations, not even the History channel.

However, I was overjoyed to make a new discovery. DISH has a channel call FSTV (#9415) which featured MLK's last speech, and is now broadcasting a show called "Shocking and Awful" about citizen opposition to the Iraq war.

WATCH THIS CHANNEL!

And let's say a prayer for Martin Luther King, Jr., and hope that others like him will rise up to continue the dialogue against social injustice.

It's encouraging to see some active movement afoot in Congress to get our men and women out of Iraq. On January 12, sixteen Democrats in the House of Representatives, including three Illinoisans, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. This comes at an important time, when, according to the New York Times (Jan. 10), discussions of how the U.S. might disengage from Iraq are "bubbling up in Congress, in the Pentagon and some days even in the White House."

Within the next 4-6 weeks, the Bush administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $80-$100 billion for the war in Iraq! Jesus Christ! What is wrong with us?!? How much of our money and our children's money are we going to keep spending on this bloodbath?

Time to write the press and write your congressperson.

The three Illinoisans who signed the letter were Danny Davis (IL-07) 202-225-5006, Lane Evans (IL-17) 202-225-5905, and
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-02) 202-225-0773.

Lane Evans even represents some of us in Springfield...Hooray for us! Now, someone please tell me why Springfield is split up between 3 congressional districts (17, 18, and 19).

The Fair Trade movement seeks to counteract the inequities of "free trade" (sweatshops, environmentally unsound practices, etc.) by providing access to North American markets to low-income farmers and artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world.

Project Peace has just opened their store at 318 E. Monroe. They sell fair trade handicrafts and coffee from around the world, and also have a resale shop to for used clothing and other items.

Check it out!

Doesn't seem like this blog is really getting off the ground. The frequency of my posts has slowed down secondary to the lack of response. I must also admit that my initial aggravation and "call to arms" feeling after the election, has now drifted to complacency and apathy. Which is exactly what the corporate right-wing ruling class wants, I guess. Or maybe they just don't care, 'cos there never really seems to be much I can do to fight them anyway.

It would be fun to be an activist and spend all my time pushing for progressive reform. Who knows what good it would do. But the reality is, I have a job, I have other responsibilities, and after the high emotions fade, I fall back into the day to day routine, paying my bills, feeding my cat, taking out the garbage, worrying about my daughter, etc...

I'd like to believe that, on the horizon, there is an evolution of consciousness that will occur in the human race. More and more, people will realize, "Hey...killing thousands of people on false pretenses just ain't right," or "Hey...it just isn't right for the rich to keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer." Maybe. I'd like to believe that, anyway. I'd like to see that in my lifetime.