- Third Coast Press

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
FREE
December 2004 :: Volume I :: Issue 12
what the
Our Troops Speak Out
More than a year and a half after the war in
Iraq began, many of its veterans are starting to
return to the U.S. Not surprisingly, some are
starting to speak out against the occupation.
At a recent Veterans Day rally, one vet
explained why she was unable to support the
current military action in Iraq.
.....................................................page 6
do we do
NOW?
By Rik Adamski
Illustration by Emily Lonigro
Four more years.
Yep, I’m disgusted, too.
But as you’re reading this, it’s been at
least a month since the election. We’ve all
had time to grieve. If you’re still licking
your wounds, it’s time to stop. Really.
If you want this country to remain
a decent place to live, the time to act
is now. If a majority of Americans
want four more years of this, fine.
That’s what we have to live with.
But we have no obligation to
spend four years being punching
bags. I think we’ve got a few
pairs of boxing gloves in the
attic, as well. If you believe the
only hope for this country is
for the Democrats to take a
few more seats in 2006, or for
one to take the White House
in 2008, you’re wrong.
The Group Behind the Box
You know those little green boxes around town.
They invite you to donate your clothing—and
promise, in turn, that they will invest in environmentally responsible programs. But some critics
say the clothing donations go to a group that is
part-corporation, part-cult—and that little of it
goes to progressive environmental causes.
....................................................page 13
Was Your Vote Counted?
Groups registering voters—and throwing the
registrations away. Voting machines counting
backwards. Massive spoilage rates of ballots in
predominantly black neighborhoods. There
were numerous cases of apparent fraud and/or
error in the 2004 elections—and many activists
are working hard to find out how many. James
Sandrolini, who warned readers of such problems in three issues of Third Coast Press, shows
us where we can find out more.
....................................................page 12
The Poets Strike Back
The silver lining might be hard to see, but
there are a few tidbits of good news about the
recent election. One of those: Artists, generally a left-leaning lot, tend to come together
and produce innovative material as a response
to right-wing periods. Chicago’s poets give
their take on what the next four years will
mean to their community.
....................................................page 14
continued on page 10
Santas on Bikes?
Set aside December 18 for Santa Rampage 2004.
Haven’t heard of it? Bill Resseguie will fill you in
on last year’s Rampage. All you need to be part of
it: a bike, a Santa costume, a few bucks for booze
and breakfast, and a yen to offer Chicago’s shopping districts an alternative take on the holidays.
....................................................page 21
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE
Word on the Street ............................page 3
Gripes & Grins ................................page 3
Chicago Colo ....................................page 4
Vitrual Chicago ...................................page 4
Progressive Breakdown .....................page 5
The Doctor Weighs In ...........................page 7
Think Positive .....................................page 8
Pilsen Residents Score .............................page 8
Think Positive .....................................page 9
The American Dream .......................page 9
An Election Judge’s Journey ..............page 11
Alternative News Sources........................page 11
Fast Food Elections ...............................page 12
Verse is Yet to Come ............................page 14
In Review ........................................pages 16–17
Space/Time Continuum .....................page 17
Smart People Read...............................page 18
Ask RaceMan .......................................page 19
Kudra’s Kiss ..........................................page 19
Events Calendar ...........................pages 22–23
2
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Opening Thoughts
By RIK ADAMSKI Editor-in-Chief
By Emily Lonigro, Arty Arterson
Yep, this is the TWELFTH issue of Third Coast Press.
After this one, we will be on haitus until February, so
we can get our wits about us and figure out where
we want to take this paper. Remember, we are all
volunteers here and welcome open submissions for
writing, photography and illustration. Let us know
what you’re up to and what you’d like
to see next year. Send submissions, story ideas, and resumes
to thirdcoastpress@yahoo.com.
See you in February!
_Éäx
Oh wait, see you in January too…
,
The (unpaid and very tired) TCP staff
Photo by Adeline Sides
Get your political butt to Washington, D.C. to make
NATIONAL EVENTS
some noise before, during and after the inauguration. • International A.N.S.W.E.R. has put out a call for a mass protests in
Some of the TCP staff will be there, despite looming production deadelines.
If you’re interested in going and aren’t bourgeoisie enough to fly, check out
chicagoactions.org/cocci, the online headquarters of the Counter Inaugural
Chicago Organizing Coalition. Here’s some info from that site:
CONTACT
cocci-info@chicagoactions.org
TICKET INFO
773/209-1187
Washington D.C. and other cities around the U.S., on January 20.
• Many other organizations and individual activists are also planning on
traveling to Washington D.C. for counter-inaugural events. More information is available at www.counter-inaugural.org
TRANSIT TO THE D.C. PROTESTS
• Hop on the bus! Departs January 19 @ 5PM and returns January 21 in
the morning. Tickets are still available.
• Check out our Chicago-area ride board, or check counter-inaugural.org.
On November 2, 2004, George Bush was re-elected by less than 30
percent of the eligible electorate. The rest of us either voted against him
or chose not to vote for either war candidate. On January 20, 2005, Bush
will be inaugurated in Washington D.C. for a second 4-year term. We cannot
wait another four years to stand against the war and rampant social and
economic injustice of the Bush administration at home and abroad.
Send the Bush regime a message this January. We do NOT support your
agenda—and we will not be passive in our opposition. Join hundreds of thousands in the streets of Washington D.C.—and right here in Chicago—to
oppose the U.S. government policy of endless war abroad and attacks on
the needs and rights of people at home.
is
Writers Keidra Chaney,
Laura Crossett, Alan
Jacobson, Kudra, C.J. Laity,
Kari Lyderson, Carrie Maxwell,
Alisa McCune, Jessica
Pupovac, Bill Resseguie,
Billy Roberts, James
Sandrolini, Grant Schreiber,
Mitchell Szczepanczyk,
Lowell Thompson
Photographers
Chris Geovanis, Doug
McGoldrick, Adeline Sides
Cartoonists &
Illustrators Aaron Block,
Arts & Reviews
Editor Lauren Wozny
Marc R. Keller, Nicholas Ivan
Ladendorf, Anna Poplawska,
Adam Rust
News & Features
Editor Lisa Ashkenaz Croke
Distro & Circulation
Manager Kate Weinans
Art Director
Photo Editor
Managing Editor
Garth Liebhaber
Bryan A. Bushemi
Copy Editor
Editor-in-Chief
Marc R. Keller
Rik Adamski
Emily Lonigro
Third Coast Press • P.O. Box 577595 • Chicago, Illinois 60657 • 773/525-6730 • thirdcoastpress@yahoo.com
Third
WORDon the street
By Kate Weinans, Photos by Adeline Sides
THIS MONTH’S POLL QUESTION:
Where were you when you found out the final election results? What was your reaction?
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
3
Midwest Madness
My Kind of Winter Sports Phenomenon
Illustration and Story by Marc R. Keller
I was at home. I was shocked at first,
but in a sense, I wasn’t surprised at
all. If Kerry would have won the
Presidency, he would have had to
pick up in the middle of a war. It’s
hard to pick up the pieces of
someone else’s mess. Bush is doing
what he does best: Fighting a War.
~Rickey G., Rogers Park
I was at home. I didn’t like the
results. It seemed like it wasn’t
fair; that they didn’t take the
proper count. The tabulations
should be done all over again.
These results make me wonder
what Bush has up his sleeve.
~Torry G., Englewood
I was in Atlanta. They were
pleased. In fact, they were
ecstatic down there.
~Bobby R., Ravenswood
I was working. My reaction?
[Tilting her hand back and forth]
So-so. I’m not sure. I’m wishywashy. I guess it couldn’t be any
worse than it was.
~Lois C., Old Irving Park
I was in school. I knew he was
gonna win. I was shocked, though,
that Kerry conceded so early. I’d
like to fly airplanes someday and I
was thinking about getting started
in the Air Force after school…but
with the stuff going on in
Iraq…and 9/11…I’ll tell you what,
I wouldn’t let anybody walk through
my cockpit. To me that’s where the
ass-kicking would begin.
~Mirza P, West Rogers Park
I was at home and saw the results
on TV. I was interested in the
results. It’s good for the U.S.,
because it’s a continuous process.
As long as the economy is bad, it’s
good for the same ideas governing
the people. For that reason, I think
the results are good.
~John Z.., Rogers Park
I was at work downtown. There
was a news display in the elevator
that showed the results. I didn’t
say much, but others in the
elevator were disappointed.
~Daniel C., Northwest Side
I was at work; I work for a college
newspaper and everyone was
really upset. We were all pulling
for Kerry.
~Jamie M., Wicker Park
I was at work and I was disappointed. I was surprised that
Kerry carried as few states as he
did. I’m now questioning the logic
of the electoral system, or
whether we should just go with
the popular vote.
~Victor M., Lakeview
I was at work. Kerry should have
won, but I did my best. At least
Illinois won.
~Ligielena R., Mozart
I was lying in bed. I was upset,
but I thought it would be like that.
~Molly C., Logan Square
I was at home. I was disappointed. My Republican friends
won and I’m pissed.
~Rob F., Andersonville
I was at a bar in Cincinnati. It sucks.
~Natashia P., Cincinnati, OH
We were at the Rainbo on Election
Night, but I was in my bedroom the
next day when the election was
called. I was thoroughly vexed.
~Nicole B., Lakeview
My religion dictates that I don’t
vote. I’m a Jehovah’s Witness. It
usually works out for the worst,
anyways…the bad people always
win. I expected it.
~Melody T., Rogers Park
I was at home when I found out,
and I was happy about who was
elected. All the candidates have
something they need to work on,
but to me, it seemed all the right
people got in the right places:
Bush, Obama; I’m happy with both.
~Darla C., Riverview Park West
I was in school. I don’t think it was
very fair. Kerry shoulda won. Yeah.
But I’m happy about Obama!
~Joanna R., Fairview
I was working, waiting tables, and
one of my customers told me. I
wasn’t very happy, in fact,
exceedingly disappointed. Those
customers ruined my day.
~Justin L., Logan Square
I was at my house. I’m sad and
disappointed about the results. I
was expecting something else.
~Mario B., Logan Square
I was at home. I don’t agree with the
results. Bush shouldn’t be President.
Kerry would have done a lot more
good than Bush would or could.
~Geralyn A., Austin
I was at work when I found out,
and I was horrified. It was like
being at a funeral.
~Kristine M., Ravenswood
I was in bed with a friend and it
kinda ruined the moment. I had a
dream that Kerry won and I woke
up to the opposite result. Too bad
such a huge amount of Americans
voted for Bush. At least it’s not
like the last election, where there
were so many questions. I’ll just
say, “Shame on us.”
~John O., Boystown
I was at home when I heard Fox
call it for Bush. I laughed. It just
gets bleaker and bleaker. I’m
frightened because it seems our
civil liberties are rapidly eroding.
~Doug R., Cincinnati, OH
I was in class. My reaction?
Disgusted.
~Nick L., Frankfort, IL
The Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca
once proclaimed, “It is a rough road that leads to
the heights of greatness.” Such an assertion is
true if one considers the steadfast attitude of
Chicago sports fans who bypass all obstacles to
see their teams play for fun, if not to win.
With the mercury steadily plummeting in the Chicago area, sports
fans stand ready to reserve their
bar
seats,
stock
their
pantries/refrigerators, place
wagers, and don their game
faces for another exciting
winter sports season.
We might’ve lost the
Blackhawks to a labor crisis,
but we still have the Bulls,
the
Wolves,
the
Northwestern Wildcats, the UIC
Flames, the Loyola Ramblers,
the DePaul Blue Demons, and
the new Chicago Storm indoor
soccer team to whet our
competitive appetites until the
advent of the new baseball
season.
Now, before anyone criticizes
the play of the above-mentioned
teams, I’ll admit we haven’t seen a lot
of success in recent years. More than 87
years have passed since any Chicago club (the
White Sox in 1917) won a World Series. It’ll be
a long time before the road to the Super Bowl
passes down Lake Shore Drive again. The
Stanley Cup remains an afterthought for
Chicagoans, NHL lockout or not. Area college
teams won’t earn NCAA Final Four berths
next
March.
And
another
NBA
Championship banner won’t be hoisted into
the United Center rafters any time soon. Yet,
ironically, Chicago sports fans could care less
about winning titles.
It’s true that many Chicagoans disowned the
Bulls after Bulls management demolished the
championship dynasty teams, but it’s still the
hottest ticket in town this winter. Why? It’s
nice to see the Bulls Brothers, the Jesse White
Tumblers, and the Dunkin’ Donuts animated
bagel/donut race on the center scoreboard
during timeouts and intermission periods, but
Win-Ter Wonderland
There’s nothing more exciting than hearing a
basketball swish or a hockey slapshot temporarily
distract us from Jack Frost’s bitter wrath and our
enormous holiday debts and stomachs.
we’re keeping the spotlight upon both Tyson
Chandler and Eddy Curry. With their
contracts set to expire at the end of the regular
season, they are looking to convince Bulls
operations chief John Paxson to leave contract
extensions underneath their Christmas trees,
despite their respective mediocre performances over the last three seasons. However, if
I was actually in bed at about 2 or we lose them to midseason trades, injuries, or
3 AM. I’m not really happy at all. the waiver wire, we still have the formidable
I’m originally from Ohio and not fifth Beatle Kirk Hinrich, veterans Othella
quite happy about the results.
Harrington and Antonio Davis, and rookies
~Theresa M., Lakeview
Ben Gordon and Luol Deng to hopefully
propel this club back into the postseason.
If fans want professional hockey this winter,
look no further than the Wolves. For years,
they’ve resuscitated the city’s dwindling hockey
fan base, winning two championships for their
efforts. Fans receive the ultimate fan-friendly
experience with cheap tickets, concession
bargains, unlimited player autographs, a
pyrotechnics display, et cetera, with each paid
admission. Before anyone dismisses this excellent
I was at the Rainbo when we
essentially gave up. I’ve been club, ask yourself this: When was the last time a
meaning to move out of the country Blackhawks star signed your Blackhawks jersey?
for some time. It’s a sad state of Or any other “NH-Hell” player, for that matter?
affairs when the President is
The upcoming winter season will also enable
elected on a platform of Christian
two
“traditional” sports cultures to become one.
beliefs and gay rights issues.
Throughout the spring and summer seasons,
~Brett F., Logan Square
sports fans engage in a meaningless rivalry for
I was at home and I was pissed. baseball supremacy in the Chicago area. As a
Everybody was trying to get out the
vote…it seemed unusual. I don’t Southwest Side product, I always get flack from
like that Bush took all these guys to White Sox fans regarding my team preference
war and just left them there.
(the Cubs). Well, South Side residents or not,
~Pascal F., South Shore
we still breathe the same toxic air and pay
excessively high taxes, so let’s enjoy rooting for
the home team together for a change this
winter—even if its primary goal is to obtain a
higher draft pick next year.
Why should we get off the couch this winter
to see sports teams compete for paychecks
instead of championships? Well, we want to
maintain the pride of a great sports town. We
might not get the thrill of victory at times, but
we possess what other cities lack: A true dedication to our teams. Other cities’ fans abandon
their teams when they lose, but not ours. We’ll
still don Bulls caps and T-shirts even if they
lose 70 games this season. We’ll proudly wear
our Northwestern University sweatshirts even
if they finish last in the Big Ten standings.
We’ll criticize the Cubs’ impending off-season
transactions yet still display our optimism—in
subzero temperatures—at the Wrigley Field
ticket window next February.
As ringside announcer Michael Buffer’s
vernacular suggests, “Let’s get ready to
rumble!” Let’s all participate in this winter
sports phenomenon and steadfastly follow our
teams together, before we tread down our separate paths in a few months. There’s nothing
more exciting than hearing a basketball swish
or a hockey slapshot temporarily distract us
from Jack Frost’s bitter wrath and our enormous holiday debts and stomachs. We want to
display our unrivaled dedication to our franchises, so that other sports markets could
richly benefit from them, instead of that
magnificent, rent-free stadium arrangement
in another town. 3
4
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Chicago Colo
A New Internet Opportunity for Chicago
By Mitchell Szczepanczyk
A
community colocation project is an effort to pool together technical
resources to provide no- or low-cost Internet resources and services to noncommercial groups and projects in a dedicated, secure, pro-free-speech
environment.
Community colocation projects are taking off in cities across the continent and such a project is underway in Chicago. The Chicago
Community Colocation Project (or “Chicago Colo” for short, “colo”
rhymes with “polo”) is an effort to build a colo for Chicago.
Third Coast Press’ Mitchell Szczepanczyk interviewed Terry Ott, a
volunteer with Chicago Colo whose devoted involvement with the
project includes roles as Webmaster, mailing list administrator, and lead
investigator for space in which the project can operate.
Third Coast Press: How did Chicago Colo centers for price quotes and to line up tours. I
created the mailing list to make sure that
get started?
progress was being made and regular status
Terry Ott: In the fall of 2002, I became a updates were being sent to the group. This
client of the California Colo (community- helped get other volunteers motivated, and we
colo.net). The more I learned about the group, have made incredible progress.
The aspect of the project that appeals most
the more I wished I could be directly involved
with some of the organizational and opera- to me is how it will cultivate free speech. The
tional issues. This was complicated by the fact Chicago Colo will help individuals and nonthat I lived in the Midwest. On the ‘Net, I profit groups get their message out—regardless
found some very early discussion about of what it might be—when they might not be
starting up a sister project in Chicago. I got in able to otherwise. The California Colo has
touch with the others who had expressed provided a home for groups such as an indeinterest and started generating momentum. pendent radio station, student organizations,
We’ve grown from three people on our mailing religious groups of wildly differing beliefs, and
an archive of Marxist writings. I expect the
list in March of 2004 to 50 people currently.
Chicago Colo to be just as successful in
TCP: Could you talk about the progress since enabling free speech.
October 2004 that you and others have made
TCP: The global Indymedia computer
in getting Chicago Colo up and running?
network faced a serious loss months ago, when
TO: We have a nearly completed application the FBI seized one of Indymedia’s Web-servers
to become a recognized project of the Online in London for as-yet unknown reasons. The
Policy Group (OPG, onlinepolicy.org). OPG is server was later returned, but the seizure
a California-based non-profit corporation that shocked free speech advocates. Chicago Colo,
is the parent financial organization of the like all other colocation projects, describes
California Colo. Once the group finalizes the itself as fervently free speech. In what specific
application and gets it approved, any dona- tangible ways would Chicago Colo support
tions to the group will be tax-deductible. We such devotion to free speech, and in what ways
also have had very active discussion on our would Chicago Colo help provide protection
mailing list about the way the group should be from such raids in this time of the U.S.A.
PATRIOT Act?
organized and run.
TCP: Could you describe your particular
individual role in helping to get Chicago Colo
off the ground? And what was it about
Chicago Colo that appealed to you?
TO: Having had limited experience with allvolunteer groups in the past, I realized that
one of the most important things the group
needed was momentum. To help with that, I
created the mailing list and started calling data
(Note: You can read the details of the case at
eff.org/legal/ISP_liability/OPG_v_Diebold/)
OPG, who will be our parent organization,
has proven their commitment to defending
their clients’ right to free speech. Should
similar problems arise, we have strong ties to
dedicated people who have experience
responding to them.
TCP: Could you discuss the concerns of
money? It will be a boon to Chicago-area
nonprofits and organizers to have a costcompetitive and secure home for their
Websites and Internet resources, but by
offering no- and low-cost hosting how do you
hope Chicago Colo will finance itself and
achieve sustainability?
TO: It is a requirement of our financial
sponsor, the Online Policy Group, that the
Chicago Colo be entirely donation-based. In
other words, we are forbidden from having any
sort of required dues from clients. Instead, we
will encourage all clients donate approximately
$50 per month. This will pay for our expenses,
namely space in the data center, electricity,
and network connectivity.
We will also actively seek funds from sources
such as grants. There will be groups that
cannot afford to pay for the services they will
receive, but we expect that other clients will
pay more than their share for the community
good. The California project has operated
under this financial model from day one and
has been tremendously successful, growing
from five clients in the spring of 2002 to their
current size of 130 clients. Their expenses are
quite significant, yet they are able to collect
enough in donations to thrive.
happy to donate both time and expertise.
TCP: What kind of vision do you hold for
Chicago Colo? Where do you hope Chicago
Colo will be in one year? Two years? Five
years?
TO: I expect rapid expansion for the project in
the first two years. The California project grew
faster than anyone could have expected. The
group will start to form a solid group of dedicated volunteers that handle organizational
and technical issues in order to deal with that
rate of growth. At around 150 clients, I suspect
we will follow California’s lead and put a cap
on new growth. An all-volunteer organization
cannot sustain exponential growth indefinitely
without becoming unmanageable and/or
losing its sense of community.
When we hit our maximum size, I hope to
see members of the Chicago Colo project help
start sister projects in other cities. I believe
there is a real “market,” both across the
country and around the world, for nonprofit
Internet services, and I’d be thrilled to see
members of our group helping out.
TCP: What next up in the immediate future
for Chicago Colo? And what can people who
are interested in Chicago Colo’s efforts provide
or offer for the project to help achieve its
immediate goals?
TO: Our next immediate steps are to get our
application with OPG signed and approved.
When that’s done, we’ll need to establish
committees to provide direction and organization to the project. Next, we’ll need to do some
intense fundraising. When we have enough
money to comfortably move in and survive the
first few months of operation we’ll open for
operation. Any individuals or non-profit
groups will be welcome to host their
computers with us.
Interested parties can provide assistance in
any number of ways currently. We’d love
people to join the mailing list to provide as
many suggestions and opinions on the matters
we’re facing as possible. We need people to join
our committees. We need as much advertising/exposure as possible to let nonprofit
groups aware of our existence. Last but not
least, we need donations: time, expertise,
equipment, and money. 3
TCP: A lot of nonprofit organizations are not
only starved for funds but also starved for
technical assistance in creating or maintaining
Websites. In addition to hosting resource
support, do you expect or hope Chicago Colo
will provide technical support, in addition to
TO: The Chicago Colo and the Online Policy technical resources?
Group will actively defend its clients against all
such attempts. In fact, the California group has TO: We and our partners will provide services
already successfully resisted such an attempt. in addition to hosting, all of which will also be
Diebold, Inc. tried to silence a client of the free! These services will include e-mail lists, eCalifornia Colo with threats of legal action. The mail accounts, Web-hosting (if you don’t have
Online Policy Group immediately started your own server), DNS hosting, Website
responding.
The
Electronic
Frontier design, computer refurbishing, and IT
Foundation (eff.org) were notified of the situa- consulting. We have many friendly and
tion and ended up representing OPG in court. talented people on our mailing list who are To learn more, go online to chiccp.net.
Life in Chicago—at home, at work, and Hell,
even on the ’Net—continues, regardless of
who is in the White House.
Life Beyond Metromix
By Keidra Chaney
t’s hard to write a breezy column
about
the
Internet
postNovember 2. It’s been a demoralizing, infuriating few weeks as we
have continued to console and motivate each other, ask “Why?”, and
consider secession from the rest of
the county. And seriously, I know
how tempting it is to say, “Fuck it!”,
pack it all in, and hightail it to
Toronto—it’s only 500 miles away.
But this issue of TCP is all about our
next steps, and the reasons why we
must stay and fight—there’s plenty of
work to be done here. Life in
Chicago—at home, at work, and
Hell, even on the ‘Net—continues,
regardless of who is in the White
I
Several neighborhood groups,
House. So, put down the passport,
the
Oak
Park
file away that work visa, and book- including
mark the following links so you can Coalition for Truth and Justice
(opctj.org/about.html),
South
help us get to work:
Siders for Peace (southsidersforBookmark Chicagoans Against peace.com) and Evanston-based
War & Injustice (noiraqwar- Neighbors for Peace (neighborsforchicago.org). CAWI sent a delega- peace.org) continue to educate their
tion to NYC to this past August and communities. Join them, or
sent groups to battleground states consider taking the time to start a
during the election. Chicago group in your own neighborhood.
Coalition against War and Racism
Help spread the word about
was formed shortly after 9/11 and has
built tremendous momentum in the civil liberties in your state by
past years. They will certainly joining the ACLU of Illinois or
continue their activism in the years participating as a volunteer. Go to
to come (sigh—four years) and they aclu-il.org/aboutus/volunteer.shtml
and sign up to receive action alerts
need your support.
I feel like I talk about it in
that you can forward to your respective e-mail lists and discussion every other column, but please
bookmark the Chicago League of
groups.
Young Voters Website (chicagoyBracing ourselves for the Bush oungvoters.org) and then help them
administration’s
attack
on continue to build the tremendous
choice isn’t enough. Join Planned momentum they’ve built in past few
Parenthood Action Illinois (pro- months.
choiceillinois.com) to receive e-mail
So, there you go. It’s a start, but
updates and to join in e-mail and
letter campaigns to elected officials. hopefully a good one. I’m ready to
stop crying in my coffee, roll my
Bookmark the homepage of the sleeves, and continue the fight. Are
Chicago Anti-Bashing Network you ready to join me? 3
to stay connected to LGBT political
activism on the local and state levels E-mail mahou_girl@yahoo.com to
send suggestions, comments, flames,
(cabn.org/about.html).
manifestos, et cetera.
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
5
PROGRESSIVE BREAKDOWN
Yes, They Really Said That
Post-election fun!
“Now that I’ve got the will of the people at my back, I’m going to start enforcing the
one-question rule. That was three questions…. Again, he violated the one-question
rule right off the bat. Obviously, you didn’t listen to the will of the people.”
ADAM’S RUST by Adam Rust
— George W. Bush, press conference finally shedding his four-year streak of humble modesty, now
that he has the “the will of the people at his back.”
“Why did the exit polls show such a Democratic win when the Republicans
were ahead all along?…That an exit poll is always right is an axiom of politics. It is easier to assume that a compass is not pointing north than to assume
that an exit poll is incorrect…but these exit polls were wrong. And the fact
that they were so totally, disastrously wrong is a national scandal. There
should be a national investigation to unearth the story behind the bias.”
— Dick Morris, Republican pollster/conspiracy theorist, demanding a national
investigation of…the exit polls. And nothing else.
“Pelosi’s leadership has been the ruin of her party. She has helped perpetuate the
poisonous atmosphere in D.C., and her ungracious comments today, as well as her
knee-jerk reaction to blame everyone but herself for her failure will not appeal to a
campaign-weary American electorate. The Democrats need to quit demanding bipartisanship and start exhibiting it, and they need real leaders willing to work across the
aisle rather than spit across it. If the Democrats want to compete in 2006, they need to
jettison the Pelosis, McAuliffes, and Carvilles of their party now.”
— Ed Morrissey, apparently suggesting that the Democratic leadership is in trouble because it
doesn’t “play nice” like Karl Rove does.
“The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror
has been achieved.”
— John Ashcroft’s (R-Insanity) resignation letter. Fun facts: Ashcroft, who never
convicted a single person of terrorism, lost his Senate seat to a dead man.
God bless the great state of Missouri.
“The war against terrorism is a new kind of war. In my judgment, this new paradigm
renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and
renders quaint some of its provisions. …Our position would likely provoke widespread condemnation among our allies and in some domestic quarters…[and]
could undermine U.S. military culture, which emphasizes maintaining the highest
standards of conduct in combat.”
— Alberto Gonzales, Bush’s choice to replace Ashcroft, in a January 2002 memo to President Bush.
Yes, this was before the torture photos came out. You gotta give it to Gonzales, he sure knows
how to predict what’s going to incur condemnation and undermine U.S. military culture.
MENTAL BLOCKED by Aaron Block
“The battle is not over by any means. We have thrown down the gauntlet.
The Left is furious. Everyone now knows that the stage is set for the
Church of Jesus Christ to turn this nation back to the faith of our fathers
and the Judeo-Christian ethic.”
— Jerry Falwell, statement on jerryfalwell.com. We got it, Jerry.
John Weber’s Under the Bridge Dictionary
CRUSADER: A religous ceremony for Jewish shipmates
Déjà vu: A comic from Gulf War I
6
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Veterans’ Day In Chicago
Iraq Vets Speak Out
By Jessica Pupovac, Photos by Chris Geovanis
n the morning of November 11 in downtown Chicago, Vietnam Veterans Against
the War (vvaw.org) held their annual
Veteran’s Day rally, drawing a crowd of about
50 vets, along with their family members and
supporters. For more than 30 years, the group
has gathered on Veteran’s Day to honor vets
by standing up for their rights, denouncing
their being sent into unjust wars, and calling
for the U.S. government to put its money
where its mouth is and “support our troops.”
However, this year differed from those which
came before it in one very significant aspect:
Taking the podium was a newcomer, representing a generation of veterans who are only
recently finding their voice and their place in
the antiwar movement. This year’s rally
included a veteran back from Iraq, expressing
strong opposition to the occupation.
Private Leah Byron, a veteran from
Wisconsin, was the first to take the podium. She
had enlisted in the Army three years ago,
attracted to the career and educational opportunities as well as the dignity of service. She went
into Iraq with one of the first convoys almost two
years ago and has been home since December of
2003. She spoke of her fears of depleted uranium
exposure and the terminal illnesses it can cause,
of recent drastic cuts in veterans’ benefits, and of
the growing opposition to the occupation within
the military. “If you don’t get active, you are
doing a disservice to our troops,” she said.
Joining the antiwar movement was a natural
choice for Leah, who sought conscientious
objector status during the buildup to the war,
already questioning the rationale for the invasion. After spending one year in Iraq, she is
convinced.
For others, like Marine Sergeant Rob Sarra,
a Chicago native who addressed a crowd at the
University of Illinois at Chicago the night
before, crossing over to the antiwar movement
was one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had
to make. “I’m no pacifist,” Rob explains.
Rob joined the Marine Corps in 1995, wanting
to be a hero. He was sent into Baghdad with the
very first ground forces and did not question his
orders while there, although he struggled with
seeing civilian casualties and the amount of
bloodshed taking place and questioned whether it
was all worth it. However, after he came home
and watched the administration fumble their
eroding case for war, it became clear to him that
it wasn’t. “I’ll be honest with you,” he explained,
“the main reason we are there is because
Halliburton needs a security force.” After much
soul searching, he began to speak out. “It’s very
hard,” he explains, “being a Marine, being a
soldier, being a combat veteran, having buddies
over there, having guys still engaged…and saying
O
They are playing an increasingly vital role in de-legitimizing the U.S. presence in Iraq and illustrating the
hypocrisy of the current administration.
‘Hey, this is wrong.’ Nobody wants to come home
from a war and realize that it was the wrong war,
that what you did was for nothing.”
Previously, public opposition to “Operation
Enduring Freedom” from within the military was
limited to a handful of retired generals and senior
officers, who primarily questioned only the
Pentagon’s optimistic projections. But now, almost
two years after the first troops rolled into Iraq,
rank-and-file soldiers and their families are
increasingly speaking out against the operation.
As the occupation drags on, their numbers are
growing.
One of those active family members is Stacey
Paeth of Military Families Speak Out
(mfso.org), who also addressed Thursday’s
crowd. Stacey told the story of her son, Justin,
who just returned from the war and did not
attend the rally. As a mother, she was deeply
concerned for Justin when he was forced to
continue fighting after receiving an injury that
put him in a leg cast. She did all she could—
notifying the media, speaking at rallies, and
denouncing the fact that he was forced to participate despite his condition—but rather than
being excused from active duty, his stay was
extended. “The conditions are horrible,” Paeth
reported.
One concern is the drastic number of
soldiers committing suicide in Iraq, a problem
that has seen a 40 percent increase over the
past year. Two of Justin’s colleagues committed
are not being issued. Byron suspects that
this lack of information is a deliberate
attempt to conceal the extent of uranium
contamination in Iraq from rank-and-file
soldiers.
The care afforded to veterans, including
those afflicted by Gulf War Syndrome, is also
severely lacking, according to several veteran’s
groups. Bill Davis, National Coordinator of
VVAW, charges that since the war began, the
Bush administration has been “trying to cut
imminent danger pay, closing VA hospitals,
requesting cuts in military housing and
medical facility funding for active duty military, [and] keeping sick and wounded soldiers
waiting for months to see doctors.” With over
18,000 homeless vets in the Chicago metropolitan area alone (according to a report by
Catholic Charities), the recent cuts are something that our veterans cannot afford.
Leah and Rob, like many of the vets who
came before them, enrolled in the military
with the idea that they would be fighting
for democracy, freedom, and dignity. They
came to conclude that these are not ideals
that they were sent to defend for their
country or even secure for foreign ones. To
them, rather, they are fighting for these ideals
today, through speaking about their experiences, fighting to bring their friends home,
and struggling to obtain the benefits and
respect they so deserve. They have found the
meaning that they were lacking on the front
lines among the ranks of the antiwar movement, filled with people eager to hear their
stories and join their cause. They are playing
an increasingly vital role in de-legitimizing
the U.S. presence in Iraq and illustrating the
hypocrisy of the current administration,
which claims that supporting the occupation
is a means of supporting our troops—while
cutting vital services and benefits aiming to
do just that. The banner that hung over this
year’s Veteran’s Day rally read, “Honor the
Warrior, Not the War.”
Rob is currently serving as the Midwest
Regional Contact for Iraq Veterans Against the
War (ivaw.net), a group that made its public
debut outside of the Democratic National
Convention last July, where he said that the
Vietnam vets present greeted them with open
arms and “treated us like little brothers.” More
and more returning vets are being drawn to
the organization, and Rob reports that they
are receiving regular e-mail messages from
soldiers on active duty who are eager to get
connected upon their return. 3
suicide while he was there. Many experts say
that the problem highlights both the dissonance many soldiers feel over participating in
the war and a lack of comprehensive medical
attention afforded combat soldiers.
Pvt. Byron also reported an abnormal rise in
cases of sexual abuse taking place within the military, perpetuated against women in combat areas,
with no repercussions. She says that soldiers are
arbitrarily assigned to act as “Equal Opportunity”
point-persons, regardless of their experience or
personal views, and are required to field all
complaints of race- or sex-based discrimination
and abuse. “They might even be someone who
condones that behavior,” she says, “and so, ultimately, there is no one to report it to. It is another
one of those things that is being swept under the
carpet.” She feels that a lot of the measures in
place to hold the military accountable to its
personnel are sidestepped during times of war
due to budget constraints and altered priorities.
The lack of care and attention our soldiers
are receiving, according to Pvt. Byron, is
additionally evidenced by the lack of training
they are receiving to safely deal with depleted
uranium, which some veterans’ groups see as
the main cause of Gulf War Syndrome, a host
of ailments that afflicted thousands of vets
from the first Gulf War. Equipment such as
dosimeters, which Byron says the military is
required to furnish for all soldiers in order to For more information, go to ivaw.net, mfso.org,
alert them to dangerous levels of radiation, and vvaw.org.
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
r
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A S By Bryan A. Bushemi, Illustrations by Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf
lks
this is a parody, fo
The polls are all closed and what has amounted,
Dubya has won, now that the ballots are counted,
Like it we don’t, but we won’t go away,
So here’s a few things that we’d just like to say:
Don’t be such a mean one…Mr. Bush,
Because some people like it…in the tush,
Or that some girls…might like to touch,
And they like bush…a bit too much (for you, anyway),
One cell, two cell, stem cell, clone cell,
Hard sell, brain cell, no sale, jail cell,
Superman, Gipperman, cancer man…grief,
Thanks for shooting down Reagan and Christopher Reeve,
Rove versus Wade was a Hell of a battle,
But don’t send us up shit creek without a paddle,
Because we do not like our abortions in an alley,
We do not like that, really—really!
And we do not like the backdoor draft,
No, we don’t! You must be daft!
We do not like it for Korea or Iraq,
We do not want it for defense or attack!
Our economy needs a Fix-it-Up Chappie,
Because Mr. Bush, it’s become rather crappy,
We don’t want stars on our guts like a Star-belly Sneetch,
We really need jobs, not 300 bucks each!
And here are some games we don’t find so cool,
Like juggling the numbers from testing in school,
Or gathering in class together to pray,
That God comes in to sweep out Sex-Ed and gays,
Oh, and the places you’ll go when drilling for oil,
Vast tracts of wilderness just waiting to spoil,
We’d rather not crawl through loopholes clouding Clear Skies,
Or picnic in wastelands when everything dies,
I know we have covered but a handful of issues,
But America is ours, not yours to abuse,
So don’t think we’ll let you turn this country to junk,
For the next four years, we’ll be watching you, punk.
7
8
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Pilsen Residents Score One for the People
Referndum Initiative Wins Overwhelming 95 Percent Approval
By Jessica Pupovac, Photo Courtesy of Thomas Yun
big victory for community participation
was scored in Chicago on November 2,
facilitated by the Pilsen/Southwest Side
Local of the Green Party and aimed at cleaning
up the air in that neighborhood. Many local
residents believe that emissions from a brass
foundry have seriously contaminated the air for
decades and local authorities have looked the
other way. The referendum passed with an overwhelming 95 percent of the vote in the 2nd
precinct of the 25th Ward, sending a clear
message to the city about the importance of this
issue and the power of local activism.
The Pilsen/Southwest Side Green Party was
formed in 2000. In 2002, they initiated a
campaign to clean up two local coal-fired power
plants. While talking with local residents about
these plants, group organizers realized that the
H. Kramer & Co. Brass Foundry, on 21st and
Throop Streets, whose smoke and steam periodically blankets the neighborhood with
noxious fumes, was also of great concern. Many
locals charge that repeated complaints to the
Chicago Department of the Environment have
fallen on deaf ears.
In a 2002 meeting with H. Kramer Vice
President Randy Weil, the company claimed
that their plant emissions have virtually no
harmful effects on the local population.
However, information compiled by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
analyzed by the Environmental Defense
(available at scorecard.org) ranks H. Kramer
as one of the country’s leading polluters in the
lead production industry. What’s worse, the
lead that they emit is released in the form of
steam and smoke, which exposes the entire
neighborhood to contamination.
A
Children under six years old, whose brains
and central nervous systems are most vulnerable, are at particular risk for the adverse effects
lead exposure can cause. Scientists have determined that even small levels of lead exposure
can dampen I.Q. scores and cause lifelong
learning disabilities, hyperactivity, Attention
Deficit Disorder, and aggressive behavior.
Residents fear that it may also be a contributing
factor to the asthma rate in Pilsen, which ranks
among the worst in the nation.
The Pilsen/Southwest side Greens launched a
campaign to communicate the concerns of
community members to local officials. One year
later, frustrated by the inaction of the Chicago
Department of the Environment, the Illinois EPA
and Alderman Danny Solis of the 25th Ward
the—all of whom seem to take a “hands-off”
approach to environmental regulation enforcement—they took their struggle to the people.
They documented that smoke was literally
seeping out of cracks in the foundry walls,
distributed information to local residents, and
moved forward with plans to put the issue on
the November 2 ballot. The referendum question they posed asked whether voters would
like to see their elected officials insist upon a
thorough investigation of the plant’s emissions, placing the findings of the investigation
on the public record. They collected enough
signatures (in Chicago, 8 percent of any jurisdiction) to place the referendum on the ballot
in the foundry’s precinct.
In late October of this year, the Pilsen Greens
organized a public forum, bringing in Public
Health experts and inviting concerned residents.
More than 30 people attended and left outraged
and motivated into action. One attendee, Maria
Think Positive
The Good News About Bush’s Win
They hope to pursue a variety of grassroots, legal, and political
strategies to make sure their voices are heard and that the air they
breathe begins to meet the minimum standards for health and safety.
Pollution in Pilsen caught on video!
Chavez, had lived in the area for 32 years. She
told the crowd that she contacted her Alderman
and the Department of the Environment
numerous times over the course of three
decades, yet had never received a response. She
was eager to get involved and to demand the
response she has been waiting for. She has since
become an active participant in the campaign.
On November 2, the initiative passed with
an overwhelming 95 percent majority. “This is
very important,” said Green Party member
Dorian Breuer, “because it tells the Alderman
that this is an issue of valid concern.
Hopefully, it will spark him into action.” In
addition, he said, it is a democratic means for
the people to make their concerns known.
Organizers will be holding a meeting on
December 2 at Decima Musa to plan their
next step. They hope to pursue a variety of
grassroots, legal, and political strategies to
make sure their voices are heard and that the
air they breathe begins to meet the minimum
standards for health and safety. All local residents are welcome to attend. 3
There is no point in moping about the rapid end of the world.
That would be defeatist. We must, instead, embrace our new
destiny and find as many positive things as we can to keep us
smiling, no matter what. With Bush winning the Mr. America
contest, the following positive points immediately struck me:
By Grant Schreiber
We will finally have a government Now, it is both, so everybody will be happy.
that favors well-to-do white men. No
longer will wealthy white men feel the
Acting morally is no longer
pinch of responsibility or hear any bad
required for one to be seen as a
news about their excesses. They are to be loved,
moral man. Lying, stealing, mass
as they have always deserved to be loved.
murder, general idiocy, and dangerous
bullying are all okay as long as you tell people
The Pledge of Allegiance won’t be that you love Jesus. Once you publicly
edited. This is one of the issues that announce that you pray and that God talks to
has plagued American thought for you, there isn’t a law of man that can stop
several years. Is the Pledge really a you. You can even run red lights and put fake
prayer, or is it a more secular wish for the stamps on envelopes once you announce
Almighty to make sure that no matter what your devotion to the Lord.
we do, He will still find us cute and adorable?
1
2
3
People who find homosexuality
offensive will no longer be threatened with the prospect of marrying
a homosexual. Because homosexual
marriage will be outlawed, homosexuals will
no longer reproduce and there will be fewer
homosexuals around to frighten and tempt
straight white men in courtrooms and in
Congress.
4
We can count on a dramatic
increase in military parades and a
lot more American families will
have the honor of having a war hero
son or daughter buried in their hometown. As we spread democracy throughout
the Middle East and introduce freedom to
Latin America, we can spend hours and
hours supporting our troops with a wide
range of clever bumper stickers, ribbons, and
American flag lapel pins. And not only do
military funerals keep that special relationship with God close to mind, there’s nothing
more patriotic than your very own personal
flag neatly folded and kept in a triangle wood
box with a real glass viewing window.
5
Closing libraries and museums will
save vital money. Libraries are part of
a socialist plot to ruin the publishing
industry and it’s high time to close them
down. Nothing is free. To think otherwise is to
deny a Bible-seller his rightful profit.
Museums are elitist, liberal distractions and
not really intended for the plain folks who
make America great. As an added bonus,
many large museums and libraries can be
transformed into condos for the wealthier
white men of the land. And great works of art
really belong in corporate lobbies where
everyone can see the price tag.
6
With labor unions, environmental
restrictions, and lawsuits a thing of
the past, we can successfully return
the country to the heyday of its
might: 1855. There will be no need to raise the
minimum wage if children can enter the workforce at the age of eight or nine. And naturally,
because kids can’t work an eight-hour day (as
that would interfere with their Bible studies),
there would be no need to pay them minimum
wage, either. Without all these silly governmental restrictions, businesses could feel safe
to bring factory jobs back to this country and
our economy would recover in record time.
7
Travel is no longer necessary. One
can experience all the thrills of living
behind the Iron Curtain (with spies and
terrorists everywhere) just by going
about their daily routine. One no longer has to
wonder what it would be like if the South had
won the Civil War. All the danger, excitement,
and—let’s face it—romance of living in a
Third World banana republic can now be
enjoyed without leaving your favorite chair.
8
Denouncing people as enemies of the
state has never been easier and
hours of fun can be had with a phone
book and the speed dial button set to
the nearest FBI office. Anyone can quickly
become the most feared man on his block by
sucking up to the local authorities and
pointing fingers with abandon. With a little bit
of gumption, a petty quarrel can be turned
into a full-scale, satisfying banquet of revenge.
Every man a Caesar. Two fat, white thumbs up
for giving the thumbs down to anyone who
doesn’t behave exactly like you.
9
And best of all, there
are no drawbacks to
any of this. 3
10
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
9
The American Dream
It’s Time To Recount Those Presidential Votes Again!
By Marc R. Keller
t’s November 3, 2004,
12:01 AM. Do you know
who your president is?
Um, is it that native New
Englander, or that transplanted
Texan, or even that other fella? I
just can’t remember with that
recurring media coverage
distorting my thoughts.
Well, the final chapter of
the 55th U.S. presidential
election has ended—albeit
with uninspiring results for
the nation. President Bush has
won four more years in the
White House and, of course,
outraged citizens are taking
their disdain to the streets,
airwaves, and chatrooms.
They feel violated that their
voices were silenced. Not that
I blame their valiant efforts,
I
but those final results don’t
completely reassure my confidence. I’m not saying this to
patronize the Machine leftwingers; I’m saying this
because I know we can do
better than Bush—or Senator
Kerry, for that matter.
Let’s face it: None of us really
wanted to see Bush or Kerry in
the White House. Not a single
nanosecond passed when we
didn’t desire a more qualified,
competent individual from
outside the major parties who
could resolve the country’s
socioeconomic ills and improve
foreign relations.
Suppose we could defy the
laws of physics and change the
outcome of the recent presidential election. We could take
Rik Adamski Editor-in-Chief
I nominate my cat. I’m not sure if she’ll be 35 in
cat years by 2008, so she may be ineligible
according to the current constitution. However, if
Bush manages to pass PATRIOT Acts II through
IV before the election, the constitution may very
well be declared null and void, ensuring that her
candidacy will be quite possible.
If she does run, there will be many benefits:
1. She won’t be controlled by corporate money.
2. We won’t have to listen to her argue about
who did what in Vietnam.
3. She certainly wouldn’t screw up the “War on
Terror” as much as Bush has.
ho would’ve thought that
the ideal presidential candidates would hail from all walks
of life—as well as from beyond
the grave? The United Nations,
Congress, or even the new Iraqi
government certainly didn’t
think so. But the votes can’t be
counted until I cast my vote for
the ideal presidential candidate,
and his name is Lex Luthor.
Why did I choose a powerhungry comic book villain as
the ideal U.S. president?
Because he already served as
President of the United States
in the DC (Comics) Universe
before an Earth-shattering
scheme (in the literal sense) of
his destroyed his Presidency?
Well, as Superman’s longtime
nemesis, he regularly forges
alliances with the most
dangerous individuals alive. He
has successfully created personal
partnerships with extraterrestrials—General Zod (remember
him?), the ruler of Pokolistan (a
W
a page from Biff Tannen’s
book (not his infamous sports
almanac) in Back to the Future
Part II and (time-) travel back
to Election Day 2004 just
before 5:59 AM, and quickly
exchange those voting booth
candidate booklets to include
those whom we’d prefer to
install in 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue for the next four
years. Somewhere within the
fabric of real life—or the
i mag i na r y — s pace / t i me
continuum—an ideal presidential candidate exists.
Well, several Third Coast
Press
contributors
have
happily returned to the
polling booth to cast their
votes for their ideal, nonmajor party president.
4. Nobody will be able to accuse her of flip-flopping on any issues.
5. If she runs as a Democrat, 60–70 percent of
the population will probably vote for her by
the time Bush has four more years to screw
things up.
6. She would win on the “likeability issue.”
7. America is ready for a female President.
8. You don’t have to be smart to be President.
She’ll be surrounded by great advisers who
will know what’s best for the country.
9. She doesn’t have any skeletons in her closet.
Except for that one bird.
10. If a deranged monkey can be the President
of the United States, why not a cat?
fictional European country),
Coluan conqueror Brainiac,
and Darkseid, the ruler of warravaged Apokolips. In fact, this
terrifying trio helped him,
Superman, and the Justice
League of America fight a
against a futuristic despot and
the galaxy-devouring Imperiex
three years ago in the epic “Our
Worlds At War” storyline, which
was featured in practically every
DC Comics superhero title.
When was the last time the
president—any
president—
spoke intelligently to a state
governor or foreign leader
without rolling his eyes—even
before the current Iraq debacle?
Sadly, they don’t share Luthor’s
utopian sentiments.
Luthor would better recognize the socioeconomic ills of
Americans than any other
President. Anyone can inherit a
successful financial lifestyle and
pretend to empathize with the
plights of hard-working, “Joe-
six-packing” Americans, but not
Luthor. He used his solid work
ethic to found his nowerstwhile global conglomerate,
LexCorp—a vehicle he used to
incite fear and carry out philanthropic efforts. Despite his
power, Luthor is considered an
outcast from a world that still
mocks his superior intellect,
making him a more sympathetic
individual—and a greater inspiration—to Americans everywhere. Well, I’d rather vote for a
president whose personal struggles mirror my own, and Luthor
fits the bill perfectly.
Whether you voted for the
New Englander, the Texan, or
that guy, the purpose of any
presidential election is to ensure
our right to project our voices.
The ability to voice our opinions
has always benefited the welfare
and pride of our great country,
and it always will—no matter
how hard any elected Machine
politician tries. 3
Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Writer
Since there are about 1,460 days in a fouryear span, why not pick 1,460 people at random
in the United States to be President For A Day?
If you take a random sample of people, no
matter what their political persuasion, you’ll
find that most want good schools, clean air and
water, a living wage, a good pension, a sensible
media—and would want to have policies that
ensure all those things. Actually, it’s quite likely
to be more consistent with President Random
than it has been with our current administration, whose merry-go-round justifications
change when circumstances change, sometimes
arbitrarily.
Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf
Cartoonist & Writer
In 1976, Howard the Duck ran for President in
his Marvel Comics title, and he would’ve made a
great president because his different campaign
ideas were awesome. To cut down on military
spending, he was going to house soldiers in caves
because it would help their mentality, anyway.
Kate Wienans
Writer & Distro Manager
I heard an amazing man speak about dozens
of socially responsible and ingenious solutions to
current issues like environment, pharmaceuticals, land use, et cetera, and I was wondering why
this man wasn’t running for president. It was
Ralph Nader speaking to the St. Cloud State
University student body. That’s who I think is
the best presidential candidate—honestly.
Bryan A. Bushemi Managing Editor
My candidate for President would be serial
murderer and world-class misanthrope Carl
Panzram. Born in 1891, Panzram (in his own words)
“murdered 21 human beings… committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons, and
last but not least…committed sodomy on more than
1,000 male human beings,” saying, “For all these
things, I am not in the least bit sorry.” When capital
punishment opponents tried to prevent his execution, Panzram wrote a letter saying, “I wish you all
had one neck and that I had my hands on it.” As he
was walking up the scaffold to be hung, on
September 5, 1930, he said to the executioner,
“Hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard. I could hang a
dozen men while you’re fooling around.” He called
himself, “the spirit of meanness personified.”
Old Carl was very obviously an ambitious, intelligent, and bluntly honest guy. He said what he
thought and did exactly what he said he’d do. Now
that’s the kind of straight shooter we need in office
as President today! And there won’t be any “excusifying,” trying to cover up any misdeeds or crimes
with Carl! Nosiree, Bob! If someone’s standing in
the way of his policies, he’ll just come right out and
kill ’em! No fuss, no muss! You have to admire that
kind of dedication! And considering his enjoyment
of the “love that dare not speak its name,” he’d have
no more of a problem with gay people than he did
straight, religious ones—he’d hate everyone equally!
That’s the sort of leader we need in office. Someone
who will cut to the heart of the matter (literally)!
Couldn’t be worse than Bush or Kerry, could he?
Emily Lonigro
Art Director
My vote goes to Janeane Garofalo. She’s hot.
10
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
continued from cover
NOW is the time for progressives
to start working
It is true that we are dealing with an atrociously bad president. But remember that the ultimate problem isn’t Bush; it is a system in which
our leaders have been bought and sold, in which
hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes—oops,
campaign contributions—are required to run a
serious campaign, in which the corporatecontrolled media refuses to focus on any substantial issues.These problems are very acute now, but
they existed well before November 2000, and
Obama: Don’t forget how much support you
received from progressives). Among the people,
our numbers may not be any smaller than
theirs. But they got organized and we didn’t.
So, we’re wayyyyy behind.
But we’re getting there.
We have started to build a fairly well-funded,
sophisticated infrastructure. We are learning
how to get our message out, through the
Internet, radio, local TV, documentaries, and so
Don’t dare be passive now. If you agree that this
country is going in the wrong direction, you have an
opportunity to help make it right. This is your chance.
would exist no matter who won the recent election. It would be easier to fight them if it were
Kerry—the symbolic victory alone would have
given us tremendous momentum. But it’s not.
Remember: True democracy does not come
from picking which puppet will represent us
every four years. True democracy comes from
people being activated. Were it only about
voting, there would be no need for Freedom of
Speech or Freedom of the Press. Most people
in the world don’t have enough freedom to
openly read this paper or go to a protest. We
do. It’s time to use it.
As one of my fellow TCPers pointed out, not
all politics are electoral. Few of the people in the
front lines of the civil rights movement of the
’50s and ’60s were elected for anything. But no
elected official would have likely enforced integration at that time if not for the people who
marched, boycotted, and did sit-ins.
The 40-hour workweek was not won through
elections. The (relative) equality of women in
the workplace was not won through elections.
Unions do not exist because of elections.
Was the war in Vietnam ended through presidential elections? Quite the contrary. In 1972,
George McGovern, a strongly antiwar candidate,
earned about 37 percent of the vote (compared
to 60 percent for Nixon). How’s that for a
“mandate”? I don’t know why the vote went that
way, but I do know that it didn’t change the fact
that there was profound public opposition to the
war, which played a crucial part in ending it.
Bush’s supporters want to psyche you out, to
make you believe that you can do nothing over
the next four years but wait them out and
hope that 2008 will bring a slightly more tolerable candidate.
Nonsense.
The only reason that we’re in this situation
right now is that most of the progressive movement sat on its butt for 20 years. We didn’t wake
up until we were up to our necks in doggy doodoo. We let other people set the terms of the
discussions (“liberal equals evil” comes to mind).
We let the Democratic Party abandon its base.We
allowed unions to lose their power. We let Clinton
get away with undemocratic and unfair global
policies (at least until 1999), “Welfare Reform,”
the deterioration of our civil liberties, et cetera.We
failed to build the type of strong coalitions we
could have. Few of us protested the ongoing sanctions in Iraq. We didn’t build a strong third-party
from the grassroots level. While the Christian
Coalition was gaining a stronghold on power,
often just by doing very small actions in very large
numbers, most of us were doing other things.
Now, the Christian Coalition is arguably in
charge of the country. The progressive movement has a few handfuls of House members
and perhaps a couple of Senators (Note to Sen.
on. We have proven our ability to raise significant amounts of money on the grassroots level
(i.e., the Howard Dean campaign). Various
causes—antiwar, RNC protests, women’s rights,
and workers’ rights—have drawn hundreds of
thousands of protesters. Many mainstream
churches have become very involved.
Do we have as many resources as the “other
side” does? Absolutely not. Nor do we have as
much as the “mainstream” (slightly less right)
Democratic Party. But in the last couple of years,
we’ve become organized on a level that few
people could have predicted. And we need to
keep doing that. Millions of people listen to Rush
Limbaugh or watch Fox News every day. They
have tremendous resources. They think big. We
need to think big. We don’t have as much money,
so we need to get together as many resources as
possible and use them creatively.
Fortunately, we tend to be a very intelligent,
creative, and well-informed bunch. We can
learn quickly. And we have a great deal to win
simply by shedding light on the facts. This is
good news. To quote Martin Luther King, Jr.,
“No lie can last forever.” And, I would add, a
pyramid of lies is bound to collapse. It is our
job to make sure this pyramid is replaced by
something better; otherwise, this country may
very well collapse with it.
This election has activated a tremendous
number of left-leaning people who have
worked to oust Bush. Obviously, it wasn’t
successful. But it was a Hell of a fight. It’s
tough to lose by any amount, and close only
counts in horseshoes and smart bombs. But it
does count to know that so many Americans
were activated to oppose the Bush agenda.
I have heard many people say that we are
“fucked” now that Bush is poised to begin
another term. I wonder how many of these
people are going to give their time, money, and
energy to creating a better future. If the vast
bulk of these people merely sit around bars
and coffeehouses talking about how “fucked”
we are, then they’re absolutely right. But if a
sizable chunk donates seven hours a week
helping put our country on the right track,
then they very well might be wrong. If 10
million Americans do that, for example, it
would amount to 14.5 billion hours over the
next four years. I don’t care how smart Karl
Rove is, we can beat him with that.
Don’t dare be passive now. If you agree that
this country is going in the wrong direction, you
have an opportunity to help make it right. This is
your chance. In such times as these, there have
always been some “good people” who had the
courage to take a stand and other “good people”
who did nothing. You should decide for yourself
what type of good person you are.
Our capabilities are infinite. You can help.
You have gifts to offer this country. Not all of
them are related to elections. Some are not even
“political” in the traditional sense. But it is time
for you to use them. Figure out how you can.
Can you write? There are many outlets, both
locally (hint, hint!) and nationally. Help to create
an independent media and spread the truth. Can
you train people? Good, because we’ll need to
train hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans in
nonviolent protests. Are you a strong public
speaker? Speak at one of the rallies. Can you play
music? Play at a fundraiser for a worthy group.
Doctors can donate some of their time to provide
medical care to the most needy. Lawyers can
offer legal help for protesters. Run for any type of
office, even a school board; you can help to make
things better on the local level. If you don’t know
what skills you have, go over to the ACLU or
another worthy group and tell them you want to
help. Rest assured that they can use it. Or start
registering voters now, not in 2008 when the
surge will once again overwhelm the system.
Perhaps most importantly, we need to reach
out to people who may not be hard-core “lefties”
or political activists. After all, there are clearly a
huge number of people who are sympathetic to
our cause. In Chicago, however, we are pleased
when 5,000 people show up to an antiwar
protest. This is a large number for an antiwar
protest, but it is far smaller than it could be. How
many people in the Chicago area are in basic
agreement with our position? One-and-a-half
million? Two million? More? There is no reason
that we couldn’t have 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000
Yep, Obama ran on a progressive, antiwar
platform. His opponent ran on a platform of
hate. Sure, you might say, this antiwar, antiBush ideology can fly in Cook County. But
what about the staunchly Republican, proBush counties downstate? Surely Obama
couldn’t make much traction there?
But you’d be wrong.
In fact, he had widespread support,
throughout the state, even before his opponent
was selected. Even people who disagreed with
him on almost every issue often supported
him because they respected him.
And, yes, he ended up getting many votes
Downstate as well, even from Bush supporters.
So, maybe these people aren’t all “ignorant
hatemongers” after all.
Be careful before you stereotype people.
We’re all in this together.
And perhaps we can learn another lesson
from the Obama campaign: Be careful before
abandoning what you believe in.
There are those who say “moral issues”
tilted the election to Bush. Translation: The
U.S. people don’t want gays to get married and
that brought them to the booth to vote for
Kerry. Translation #2: The entire Left had
better bob their heads in agreement and not
make a big fuss about gay people having the
right to get married.
Hogwash.
Do the majority of Americans believe samesex marriage should be legal? Apparently not.
But wait a minute.
Nobody has ever won a fight by curling up in a ball.
The Bushies don’t apologize for what they believe in.
Why should we?
people at these protests. We need to find ways to
reach out to people, frankly, who are never going
to read IndyMedia, Third Coast Press, or left-wing
calendars, don’t get e-mail updates from antiwar
groups, and don’t read flyers in coffeehouses in
Wicker Park. Which is to say, almost every potential ally we have. We must make our numbers so
massive that they cannot be ignored.
And we must not fall into the traps of
hatred and negativity.
Watch out for the attempts to divide and
conquer, to make us so angry and afraid of each
other that we forget our fundamental unity.
We are told that this is a “Red State/Blue
State” country, or an “urban/rural” country.
That is only a caricature meant to further
divide us.
It is impossible to deny that there are areas
that tend toward the left or right of center. But
we have many, many allies in all 50 states, in
rural, suburban, and urban areas, and in every
segment of the population—as does the opposition. Here in “solidly Blue” Illinois, 45
percent of the population voted for Bush (ooh,
a Kerry mandate!). And even in the rural
counties downstate, Kerry’s vote percentage
was generally in the 30s and 40s.
Newsflash. As usual, the mainstream media
is using absurd stereotypes to makes us feel
divided. Sure, people in rural areas generally
have very different basic political assumptions
than do people in a place like Chicago. But if
you think there aren’t a Hell of a lot of people
in Wyoming and Arkansas wondering, “What
on Earth is Bush Thinking?”, you’re dead
wrong. People are pissed. Everywhere. And
those Red States just might start changing
colors in a year or two.
You want more proof that the reality is more
complicated than the media stereotype? Look
at (hopefully) the most progressive person that
we will have in the U.S. Senate. He’s right here
in the state of Illinois: Barack Obama.
Maybe the Progressive movement can’t win
the “hearts and minds” of the American
people on that issue—at least not in 2004.
But we can win on Iraq. We can win on
healthcare. We can win on abortion. We can
win on the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. We can win
on adequately funding our schools. We can
win on not giving Halliburton huge no-bid
contracts. We can win on reducing the deficit.
We can win on all sorts of things. And if we
can get candidates that reflect our beliefs,
instead of trying to be “Republican Lites,” we
can actually win the respect of a large portion of
the population and even win elections.
If the majority of Americans disagree with us
about an issue like gay marriage, fine. Let the
majority disagree; we’ll work on persuading
them. Didn’t progressives have to persuade
people that gay people even had the right to have
a drink in a bar without being assaulted by
police? Or that women and men should get the
same wages for the same amount of work? Or
that blacks should be allowed to drink out of the
same drinking fountains and use the same bathrooms as whites?
We don’t have to have majority agreement
on every single issue. Why do you think we are
called progressives? We are moving toward the
future. Of course we will face resistance.
Nobody has ever won a fight by curling up
in a ball. The Bushies don’t apologize for what
they believe in. Why should we?
So, there you have it. I wish I had all the
answers, but I don’t. But I believe we can come
up with them.
Keep your head up. Keep a determined
glare in your eyes. Have compassion for others.
Do not succumb to hatred. Your country
needs you. The planet needs you. I need you.
Generations yet to be born need you. Be as
tough as a tiger, but do not lose your humanity.
These will not be easy times, but remember
that you are not alone. 3
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
11
An Election Judge’s Journey
Making Every Vote Count In Dupage
By Carrie Maxwell
W
While most of the country was waiting with bated
breath for the election results to come in, I was isolated
from the media frenzy as a first-time election judge in
DuPage County. During my extremely long day at the
polls helping voters cast their ballots, I participated in a
very well-thought-out voting process.
Cegalis lost against incumbent Henry Hyde for
the 6th Congressional District of Illinois.
The district is dominated by Dupage County.
The voting process we use in DuPage County
is very different from that which others go
through in many other parts of the country. It is
a simple, straightforward process that most of the
electorate can follow—and has safeguards that
should be adopted throughout the country.
Here in DuPage, we vote by filling in our
choice of candidates on a Scantron ballot—
25
similar to the standardized test that we took as
students—and then running the ballots through
an electronic tabulator. The ballot is then fed
into a chamber, which is locked until the polls
close. Although we use an electronic tabulator,
we are able to verify the tabulator’s results with
a paper trail—something that many of the voters
in the U.S. can only wish for.
There were five election judges (two
Democrats and three Republicans) all of
whom had to be present during the set-up and
breakdown of the polling place. When we
turned on the ballot counter before the polls
opened, we could see that the vote tally was set
at zero for all election results. When voters
began to cast their ballots, the numbers began
to register the ballots. We could compare the
voter tally on the machine to our paper records
throughout the day, allowing us to constantly
verify that the tallies squared with each other
on all records kept.
Whenever I had to leave the room, the other
Democratic judge had to stay behind; at least
one member of each party was at the polling
place at all times. As election judges, we were
able to put aside our differences in political
opinion and focus on ensuring the accuracy of
the voting process and helping everyone exercise their right to vote.
We encountered special issues with only a
handful of voters and were able to help them
cast their ballots in all cases. Some came to the
wrong polling place, but we simply redirected
them to the correct location. Two ballots were
spoiled, but both voters were able to cast their
ballots again. Two other people had to cast
provisional ballots. These were brought to the
DuPage County Election Commission
building in Wheaton at the end of the day to
be checked by other election officials. In all of
these cases, the presence of paper ballots made
the process easier.
There are still some issues in life that can’t be
solved by the wonders of computers and some
of the voting irregularities that occurred in
Florida in 2000 were perfect examples of that.
Paper ballots are the most efficient and accurate
method we can use to vote. Only when we adopt
a sensible national voting system will we know
with confidence that no election was fixed.
Voting with Scantron ballots would solve most
of our current election headaches.
3
Ways to Beat Big Brother
Staff Writer Mitchell Szczepanczyk is probably the most brilliant person anyone will ever meet. Here are 25 of the
Web sites he regularly checks for information other than what the mainstream corporate media spoonfeeds the
rest of the electorate. Each resource has a rating next to it, the more
s, the more left-leaning the source.
Common Dreams News Center commondreams.org
ZNet zmag.org/weluser.htm
The NewStandard newstandardnews.net
Democracy Now democracynow.org
Guerrilla News Network gnn.tv
Alternet alternet.org
Independent Media Center indymedia.org
Chicago Indymedia chicago.indymedia.org
Cursor cursor.org
The New York Times nytimes.com
The Financial Times of London ft.com
Bob Harris’s website bobharris.com
Slashdot slashdot.org
SciTechDaily scitechdaily.com
Arts and Letters Daily aldaily.com
ArtsJournal artsjournal.com
The portal of breaking news, headlines, commentary, and announcements for
progressives across America
The online branch of Z Magazine, with analysis and commentary from across
the world on events and trends
One of the few professional, independent, noncommercial hard news sources
in the United States
The Web site of the venerable daily TV and radio news show, hosted by Amy
Goodman and Juan Gonzalez
News Web site, noted for their pioneering genre of “newsvideos,” minidocumentaries in music video format of critical topics
General information source with coverage of the environment, civil liberties, the
media, film, politics, the war on drugs, and the Middle East
The portal of the worldwide Independent Media Center ("Indymedia") movement,
providing grassroots coverage of popular activist struggles and movements
The Chicago affiliate of the Indymedia, with an active Web site, and groups
working in radio, video, and photography
Daily-updated media and politics blog that focuses on work of major news organizations,
as well as to other critical, independent voices published on the Internet
This is the online version of America’s “newspaper of record”
The online version of the world's premiere daily business newspaper, worth
reading because of its open style of journalism
Bob Harris is a political analyst, writer, and stand-up comic; his Web site has
very quickly become a source of quality (and funny) web commentary
News and comment, focusing on computers and the internet, politics, science,
games, and civil liberties
This Web site out of New Zealand highlights news, features, analysis, and
opinion, on issues related to science and technology
This sister site of SciTechDaily highlights news, features, analysis, and opinions
on issues related to arts and the humanities.
ArtsJournal describes itself as “a weekday digest of some of the best arts and
cultural journalism in the English-speaking world.”
Wikipedia wikipedia.org
Premiere open free encyclopedia, with regular frequent updates (including impressive
summaries of ongoing news coverage) and analogues in nearly 200 languages
This Is Hell thisishell.net
Radio talk show out of WNUR hosted by Chuck Mertz, with lots of links and
lots of audio interviews
Free Press freepress.net
Eschaton atrios.blogspot.com
BBC bbc.co.uk
One World oneworld.net
Free Press is a non-partisan national organization with an excellent and diverse
news feed of stories about media issues.
A two-time winner of the Koufax Award for best lefty blog, this leading politicaldiscussion blog is updated frequently.
The Web site of the venerable public broadcaster; a staggering amount of information
of a wide swath of political persuasions, with versions in 43 languages
A massive portal of resources from worldwide human rights organizations, which
aggregates the resources of some 1,600 human rights and antipoverty groups
Gapers Block gapersblock.com
Wondering what’s going on in Chicago and the suburbs? Here is an excellent
resource for news and information of events and happenings in town.
Media Channel mediachannel.org
Media Channel “is a media issues supersite, featuring criticism, breaking news,
and investigative reporting from hundreds of organizations worldwide.”
Progressive Review prorev.com
An eclectic collection of news and links from longtime political activist
Sam Smith
Tidbits from
Election Day
An Election Judge’s
Perspective
By Carrie Maxwell
✮ A 100 year-old woman came in to
vote. The first Presidential election
she was eligible for came in the year
1928, eight years after the Nineteenth
Amendment guaranteed women (age
21 and over) the right to vote.
✮ The polling place was bustling with
activity as people streamed in to vote
all day long.
✮ Voters were lined up to vote before
we could even get the polls open.
✮ Three different poll watchers came
in throughout the day, with one
person coming back a second time to
check on us.
✮ One of the poll watchers, a lawyer
from the Democratic Offices of
DuPage County, handed me her
business card so I could call if there
were any voter irregularities. I never
had to use it.
✮ I was the youngest election judge
present.
✮ Two retired women, a middle-aged
man, and a retired man worked
alongside me.
✮ One quarter of our voters list had
voted by 9 AM.
✮ We had 535 registered voters in our
registration booklet. Of these voters
about 444 voted in our precinct,
making an 83 percent turnout.
✮ The results from our precinct
reflected the political shifts in DuPage
County, a traditional Republican
stronghold in which Democrats are
starting to “close the gap.”
President/VP race
John Kerry (D) - 197 votes
George W. Bush (R) - 247 votes
Illinois Senate
Barack Obama (D) - 265 votes
Alan Keyes (R) - 159 votes
Illinois House of Representatives
Christine Cegelis (D) - 197 votes
Henry Hyde (R) - 246 votes
12
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Fast Food Elections
Let the Voter Beware
By James Sandrolini, Illustration by Emily Lonigro
riving home the other night on a treacherous rush hour
Dan Ryan, I sensed the car immediately to the left vying
for my attention. Before turning, I wondered what was
going on. Headlights? Gas cap? Leaking gas or oil? “Thumbs
up” for one of my political bumper stickers? Looking over, all
I saw was a driver holding up the November 3 Sun-Times
with the screaming headline, “BUSH WINS!” (For the
record, the Sun-Times backed Kerry, the Tribune Bush). The
merry Republican prankster then sped off to taunt and
terrorize other Kerry and non-Bush backers with his nearly
three-week-old newspaper. And I thought, “These are the
‘divider-not-uniter guys’ who’re going to pull this hemorrhaging nation back together? Unlikely.”
In the days following the election, the right-wing and mainstream media kept advising the nation, “We must move on, the
country is at war, the terrorists are all around us, Social
Security must be privatized,” and all that mind-numbing claptrap. Odd, didn’t we hear this kind of blather just four years
ago? Then I heard one NPR talking head opine, “The country
cannot afford another Election 2000…we must move on to do
the work of the nation.” Perhaps he voted for the Bush/Nader
ticket, making his impatience more understandable. Whatever
the case, this specious advice is perplexing at best, infuriating
at worst. Just like with the 2000 debacle, we’re told, “We must
move on” by Democrats and Republicans alike…even if it
means the wrong guy takes office. Even if it means an imposter
might take control of the White House for four more calamitous years. Even if nationwide voter fraud had once again
reared its hideous head, well, we must move on. For the good of
the nation.
And the Republican Party.
D
It’s difficult to determine whether
the election was fair or not in its
immediate aftermath. But America
is a fast food and fast-politics nation.
Typically, we are more concerned
with getting results, any results, if it
means we can simply move on and
get back to our everyday, see-no-evil,
hear-no-evil existence. This tsunami
of indifference on the part of most
Americans allowed George W. Bush
into the White House in the first
place—and opened the floodgates to
senseless wars of retribution and
never-ending Christian crusades of
“liberation.” We can remake them in
our own image! We can cleanse the
world!
Yet this “move on” talk (ironically, the title of a highly effective
“527” organization) arrives to us
not only from the right and center
but also from the DNC, the DLC,
and
most
liberal/mainstream
Democrats. Our “hero”, John Kerry,
tossed in the towel mighty quickly
after November 2 notwithstanding
the promise of 10,000 lawyers and a
steely campaign to have “every vote
counted.” Kerry, unlike Al “I’m a
Conceder, not a Defeater” Gore,
would not be sent to the showers
before flexing some real muscle and
true grit. And yet, he was.
The more things change, the
more they stay the same. Kerry hit
the showers at halftime and
slouched back into the relative
anonymity
of
the
Senate.
Furthermore, every vote was not
counted this time. Not even close.
Historically, in Presidential elections, between one and two million
votes get lost either in ballot-eating
machines or due to citizens being
wrongly turned away for “improper
I.D.” But, in 2000, some seven
million voters were disenfranchised.
The number of votes lost to the
Bermuda Triangle this year likely
fell somewhere in-between these
two extremes. Even before the election, there were myriad tales of
Republican shenanigans and GOP
skullduggery. Voter intimidation,
particularly against—whom else?—
African-Americans,
Hispanics,
immigrants, and poor people was
widely reported. The mainstream
press actually did a respectable job
of reporting these matters and
warning of trouble on the stormy
horizon. That was before the election. But after the election?
Tumbleweeds and whistlin’ winds
(although I did see a few reports
informing us that “there was no
fraud or cheating this time around”
or “Liberals are at it again with
their sour-grape conspiracy theories”). The real story of Election
2004 has yet to be told.
There were a lot of things, of
course, that Kerry did not do right in
this election. He let Clintonistas like
“Ragin’ Cajun” James Carville and
others in the mainstream convince
him that it was still “the economy,
stupid!” But, regrettably, it wasn’t. It
really should’ve been…but it wasn’t.
Kerry probably really knew deep
down that it was really the crowdpleasers of Foreign Policy and
National
Security—apparently
followed by the “values” factors of
abortion, gay marriage, and stem-cell
Bush promised chickens—albeit rubber
ones—in every pot and Kerry could only
offer long-term strategies for a better
society. Who’s got time for that?
research—that were the people’s
choice this election. But the tall,
gaunt gentleman stayed with the
economy, healthcare, and jobs—the
issues highly deserving of our rapt
attention in this election. But these
matters don’t hold a candle to the
fear-mongering frenzy of impending
doom lurking in every shadow or the
terrorists who could be in your town
at this very moment!
From the ’50s through the late
’80s, the Republican Party terrified
the masses with the foreign “Red
Menace” and Russia’s apparent eagerness to lob nuclear warheads our way.
From the late ’70s on through the
’80s, the GOP added “violent crime”
to accuse Democrats of “coddling
criminals” and letting murderous
convicts go on furloughed weekend
rampages. These days, it’s terrorism
and it’s working like a charm. (If
anything, the Republicans used the
“fear of sex” during the ’90s to intimidate the body politic. Results were
mixed.) In cinematic terms, this election pitted My Dinner with Andre
against Man on Fire. Levelheaded,
measured, perhaps pretentious
discussion and planning versus
Eastwood/Bronson/Schwarzenegger
vigilantism. Hasta la vista, democracy.
Many Americans want big
pictures and shoot-first, ask-questions-later-politics. No time for
boring, cautiously laid-out plans,
dull-as-doorknob diplomacy, or
that dreaded “cultural relativism”
which offers more than one single
interpretation of “the truth.”
Instead, they want more and faster.
Or, “Just Do It!” And Bush just did
it. He, like network television, gave
the people what they wanted, not
necessarily what they needed. Bush
promised chickens—albeit rubber
ones—in every pot and Kerry could
only offer long-term strategies for a
better society. Who’s got time for
that? Bush simply wants to give you
back your hard-earned pay (even if
it means adding to deficits of nearly
half a trillion dollars and a national
debt of over $7 trillion). Kerry? “He
just wants to take away your
money.” The choice is simple.
Beyond Kerry’s meekness for
contesting anything on November 2,
there was also the matter of the ironically- titled Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth fiasco. Kerry just stood there,
Gandhi-like, and let himself get
beaten over the head with this malicious falsehoods and outrageous
character assassination. Okay, so
Kerry’s no Gandhi. But we’ve now
come to expect this kind of passive
abuse, this masochism, this path of
least resistance on the part of Dem
candidates. We’re supposed to be the
nice guys who politely play by the
rules. The Republicans are the
naughty little boys who beg, borrow,
and steal—and win. Over and over
and over. And now, the far right pulls
and manipulates the taut strings of a
confused, frightened nation. One
half forever mortified by the specter
of Islamic terrorism, the other
unnerved by Christian zealotry at
the very core of our own government. Either way, we’re tangled up in
an increasingly dangerous holy war
on our own turf.
Bush and the GOP also knew
who filleted their fish and buttered
their bread this election. They
effectively mobilized a sizeable
portion of the four million rightleaning Christian evangelicals who
sat out of Election 2004. These
numbers may very well have
trumped the increased numbers of
African-American and Latino
voters who turned out in droves
this year for some hungry payback.
Will this grand potential continue
to show election after election in
the face of diminishing returns? Or
is it rather, “Fool us twice, shame
on you”?
But, the overarching specter, once
again, is the slipshod manner in
which we conduct our elections. It
continues to be an embarrassment
before the world and not a little
undemocratic. It’s shocking how
easy it still is to steal or otherwise
corrupt elections in the Land of the
Free. And the Democratic Party has
once again been sucker-punched—
and still doesn’t know what hit it.
Jim Crow lives on—only this
time, he’s nationwide. Particularly in
Ohio and (surprise!) Florida.
Florida is the only state in the
nation that absolutely refused to
consider changing over the very
punch-ballot machines that so
victimized millions of the usual putupon suspects: black, Hispanic, and
poor voters. By now, we surely know
the face of this population and it’s
overwhelmingly Democratic. And,
like it or not, felons who’ve served
their time and hopefully reconstructed their lives are also overwhelmingly Democratic. The GOP
knows what they’re doing. If it’s
broke, but better that way, by all
means, don’t fix it. And it’s still broke,
whether in the form of punch card
ballot, optical scan, or the dubious
new kid on the block, electronic
voting.
Many just left-of-center and then
some are unusually cautious and
even dubious that elections can
even be rigged in the U.S. anymore.
They marginalize the “baseless
conspiracy theories” and those who
support them, goading all of us into
“facing reality.” We lost, that’s it,
now go home and stick your head in
the sand for four more years.
Fortunately, a few on the Left are
still willing to take the chance to
look foolish or, perhaps, heroic in
investigating the truth behind yet
another dubious U.S. election.
Often, the truth demands a leap
into the abyss before returning with
hard-fought and unexpected realities. And before anyone brushes
aside the possibility that elections—
more and more a privatized practice
courtesy of major GOP donors such
as Diebold and ES&S—can be
pilfered à la the 2000–2002 experiences, simply take a look at the extensive vote-rigging/smear campaign
history of les enfants terribles George
W. Bush and evil genius Karl Rove. It
speaks volumes. And these go to 11.
Furthermore, and crucial to this
argument: Why do virtually all the
controversies and policy changes
involved in U.S. elections since
2000 disproportionately benefit the
Republican Party’s chances of
taking power? That would really
seem to tip the law of averages.
Rather than belabor the point
any further here, I suggest that TCP
readers search through the fastidiously documented works of Greg
Palast, Bev Harris, and many other
actual journalists who’ve followed
this election like tireless archaeologists, brushing dirt and dust from
rare
artifacts.
Rather
than
approaching this election’s results
like a blunt hammer to anvil, these
folks unearth the evidence with
painstaking and daunting precision.
Anyone who gives a damn about
our democracy may wish to take
notice of these recent works. Beware
of unfounded or unfocused theories
lacking facts and figures and
numbers to back risky claims. Do the
research and reading yourself and
draw your own conclusions on
Election 2004. The alternative? Just
sit back and watch the right-wing
juggernaut roll furiously over your
hopes for a more decent and just
world. Now, go out and fight the
right, citizen. 3
For further study and action, check out
the following Websites:
• alternet.org (elections)
• blackboxvoting.org
• gregpalast.com
James Sandrolini has written three
major stories for Third Coast Press that
have dealt with suspicious/fraudulent
activities related to the 2000 and 2002
Presidential and Senate/House elections
respectively, as well as several warning
signs of fraud in the 2004 elections.
These include a two-part series in
February/March of 2004, entitled
“Brave New Elections” and “Electoral
Dysfunction,” the cover story for our
October 2004 issue.
Third
Coast
Press
around the world, see Gaia as part of an international network of so-called environmental or
social service groups, as well as for-profit companies connected with the Danish organization
Tvind. They say that in reality, it is not a humanitarian or environmental organization, but rather
a profitable multinational company based on the
used clothing trade, plantations, logging, and
other enterprises in Third World countries.
While relatively unknown in the U.S., Tvind
has been a favorite subject of journalistic and
government inquiries in Denmark, Great
Britain, France, and other parts of Europe.
According to articles in various major newspapers from around the world, Tvind grew out
of the Travelling Folk High Schools, a
communal, alternative school system in
Denmark that was started in 1970. Nielsen
describes how she began attending one of
these high schools in 1971 and was charmed by
the idealistic, communal approach.
“The aim was to travel. We traveled in
school buses and took all the seats out to make
it like a mobile home,” she said. “We didn’t
know so much about the world then, so it was
a way to learn from our own experiences. We
had this bus as a classroom. We traveled to
India and Turkey, with five buses and 10
people in a bus. We had our tape recorders and
cameras. People were very kind to us, showed
us how to make food and how they lived.”
After attending as a student, Nielsen
became a teacher at the school, as well as a
member of what is known as The Teachers
Group. They developed a teachers’ training
college at a farm called Tvind in western
O
pening the Box
::
December
he projects listed on the green boxes that
have popped up on countless parking lots
and corners in Chicago over the past four
years sound like the road map for an environmental, ecological utopia:
“Educating young and old in nature
concern…protecting the barrier reef…protecting
the mangroves…producing solar energy
…installing and running windmills…practicing
deep ecology…acting as partners in solidary [sic]
humanism…” and more.
The name of the organization collecting the clothes also
sounds enticing to environmental activists and nature
lovers: The Gaia Living Earth
Movement Green World
Action U.S.A. It is based on
the deep ecology theories of
British scientist James Lovelock, who saw the
earth as a living organism.
According to the boxes, you can become a
part of this idealistic project simply by
dumping your unwanted clothes in the box.
The clothes will be sold, the text on the box
explains, and the proceeds will be used to fund
the above-mentioned programs. “WE sell the
donated clothes,” the big sticker on the box
reads. “With the proceeds we—on behalf of
you—instigate the ideas and some of the many
practices of the protection of the living earth.”
Whether because of the allure of the environmental projects or simply the convenience,
Chicagoans have responded to the boxes’ call.
About 125,000 pounds of clothes are dropped in
550 boxes around the city every week, according
to Gaia U.S.A. director Eva Nielsen, a Danish
citizen who came to Chicago to start Gaia U.S.A.
after decades of experience dealing in used clothes
in Central America and the former Soviet Union.
These tons of clothes are kept out of landfills, where most of them would likely have
eventually gone otherwise.
But other than that, the ecological projects
described on the box are little more than a
dream. Other than making a $25,500 donation
to two sustainable farming projects in Africa,
Gaia has not undertaken any of the projects it
mentions. Nielsen says that this is because the
profits from the sale of the clothing are still
going to cover operation costs, and to pay back
loans—from Gaia Switzerland, the Chicago
Community Loan Fund, and banks—that
were used to start the organization. Once the
organization begins to turn a profit, she says,
T
the other projects will begin to materialize;
$20,000 is likely to be committed to a project
to begin soon in Brazil, although the board
still hasn’t approved this project.
“The first year, we didn’t earn any money,”
said Nielsen. “Any money we earned after that
was invested back in the green boxes. Last year
was the first year we funded anything [the
Africa projects].”
Helle Lund, president of Gaia Switzerland,
Critics of the organization, and there are
many around the world, see Gaia as part of
an international network of so-called
environmental or social service groups.
is confident that all the organization’s lofty
goals will eventually be accomplished.
“The aims listed on the containers and in our
leaflets are very ambitious—and that’s great,” she
said in an e-mail interview. “Of course, not all the
issues mentioned will be implemented tomorrow
or even in the next few years. But I am convinced
that, in due time, you will see all of the listed
aims in function.”
Three drivers employed by Gaia collect
clothing from the boxes each week and bring
it to a large warehouse at 8918 South Green
Street in an industrial area on the city’s southwest side. There, several staff members use
specialized machinery to turn the heaps of
clothes into bales—either 260-pound loads
wrapped in loosely sewn plastic called
capsacks, or two-ton blocks tied tightly with
wire. The contents of the boxes are put
directly into these bales, without being
washed, sorted, or otherwise handled, and sold
through a broker to used clothing companies
around the world. These companies then sort
the clothes and sell them in far-flung parts of
the world, including countries in Africa,
Eastern Europe, and Latin America. The
clothes that don’t make the cut for resale are
often shredded to make the fillings for
mattresses or car seats, according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, Gaia workers set aside a small
portion of the boxes’ contents for use in Gaia’s
5,000-square-foot resale store at 1318 North
Milwaukee Avenue, an attractive thrift store in
the heart of Wicker Park that carries shoes and
some other accessories, as well as clothing.
Critics of the organization, and there are many
Denmark. Nielsen describes The Teachers
Group as an informal network of friends who
share similar interests and help each other
professionally, and Tvind as nothing more
than the name of their meeting place.
“The Teachers Group isn’t an organization.
It’s nothing,” she said. “It’s just people who
work together to do some good, in education,
production, that kind of thing.”
But news articles compiled on the Website
Tvind Alert (tvindalert.com) describe Tvind
both as a “cult” and as an unofficial economic
entity akin to a multinational corporation, and
the Teachers Group as the shadowy group of
several hundred movers and shakers behind
Tvind. The Danish government has charged
nine Tvind leaders with tax evasion and fraud,
and in Belgium seven members were charged
with money laundering.
The Travelling Folk Schools founder,
Danish citizen Mogens Amdi Petersen, is
facing tax evasion and fraud charges in
Denmark. He was arrested on an Interpol
warrant in Los Angeles in 2002, after being in
hiding since 1979 with his partner Kirsten
Larsen. In 2001, he and Larsen were found to
be living in a luxurious home in Miami.
According to numerous articles in the
European press, the Tvind empire includes
the so-called humanitarian non-profit organizations Humana People-to-People and
Development Aid from People to People
(DAPP); banana, mango, sugar, and other
plantations in Ecuador, Brazil, Belize, and
other countries; an international timber
company (McCorry & Co.) with a presence in
Brazil, Malaysia, Belize, the U.S., and Europe;
and used clothing resellers all over the world.
The group even owned a luxury cruise ship
called the Butterfly McQueen, which was put
up for sale in January 2003.
The group also runs several schools,
including one in London, one in
Williamstown, Massachusetts, and one in
Dowagiac, Michigan. These schools train
students to work as volunteers in Humana
projects in Africa and Latin America. The two
African projects that Gaia donated money to
are also run by Humana.
The handful of journalists and activists who
run the Tvind Alert Website state that one of their
primary reasons for running the site is to prevent
financial fleecing and labor exploitation of idealistic young volunteers by Tvind organizations.
One of these idealistic young volunteers was
13
Jason Swan. As a recent graduate of
Dominican University in River Forest and an
employee of the First National Bank of Oak
Park, Swan felt like there was something
missing from his life.
“I was working at the bank just out of
college, and I got bored with it,” he said. “I
wanted to do something more meaningful.”
Swan saw an advertisement in the Chicago
Reader saying something along the lines of “Want
to go to Africa?” It promised volunteer positions
with Humana’s projects dealing with HIV and
AIDS in Botswana. He was hooked. He called
the number in the ad and was told they needed
helpers, immediately. It sounded like just what he
was looking for, so he decided to take their offer
of starting training for a stint in Botswana.
Swan quit his bank job in August 2002 and
was offered a scholarship to cover the severalthousand-dollar tuition at the school in
Dowagiac. Almost immediately after starting
classes, he became suspicious. For one thing,
there didn’t seem to be any teaching going on.
“It was all independent learning. The one
teacher there had no idea what she was doing,”
he said. “They would give us assignments, but
they were just busy-work. It was a joke.”
Meanwhile, the students were expected to do
volunteer work, including door-to-door
fundraising, painting, and maintaining the
school, and on one occasion helping bale
clothes at the Gaia warehouse. After a short
initial conversation, the director of U’SAgain
did not return calls for this story. Nielsen maintains there is no connection between the
Michigan school and Gaia.
“We don’t mix any money,”
she said. “Legally, they’re not
connected. We have students
here from Michigan who paint
the store, and Gaia gives
money to the school. It’s a way
to help them out with their
fundraising when they’re tired
of canvassing door-to-door.”
Swan quickly became
suspicious and disgusted
about what he found at the school. When he
and the other students in their small group
started asking questions about the school and
its purpose, he said they didn’t get any
answers.
“At a community organization, they should
be more open about things,” he said.
So about three months after beginning, he,
along with most of the other students in their
group, left the Michigan school.
Adrian Ledesma, one of the students who
left the school with Swan, had a similar experience. Ledesma left his job in the Bay Area to
attend the Michigan school in preparation for
volunteering in Africa. Since he didn’t have the
required tuition, he was put to work scouting
new drop box locations for both U’SAgain and
Gaia. He said that for every new location he
found for a Gaia or U’SAgain box, $100 was
put toward his $5,000 tuition. His earnings
also paid for his board in a house he lived with
young Humana volunteers from the U.S., New
Zealand, Denmark, and other countries.
But Ledesma says leaders of the group kept
increasing the amount he would need to earn to
go to Africa. Then they even asked him to start
driving routes to pick up clothes from the Gaia
boxes. He said he refused to do this work without
being paid in cash, so he was paid for driving.
“First I was finding sites for U’SAgain, then
for Gaia,” he said. “Gaia is supposed to be
nonprofit, but all the money is going to the
same place, to the Teachers Group. They make
it sound like it’s all charity, but it’s not charity.”
Meanwhile Nielsen denies that there is
anything suspicious or unethical about Gaia or
the Teachers Group, and blames the widespread
criticism of the organizations on jealousy and fear.
“Denmark is such a small country that just
because we’re different, they call us a cult,” she
says. “There are a lot of lies out there. We put our
money together, which is a strange thing to do in
Denmark. Some people started to be afraid of us
and write all kinds of stories about us.”
Though disillusioned and bitter, Ledesma
and Swan say they have something of a sense
of humor about their experience, and they
hope other would-be volunteers do their
research about organizations before getting
involved with them.
“You should look for real nonprofits with a
progressive agenda, a background, and a
larger perspective about the world,” Ledesma
advised. 3
[Critics say] It is not a humanitarian or
environmental organization, but rather a
profitable multinational company based on the
used clothing trade, plantations, logging, and
What’s the Inside Story Behind Gaia? other enterprises in Third World countries.
By Kari Lydersen, Photos By Doug McGoldrick
2004
14
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
The Verse Is Yet To Come
When the Going Gets Tough, the Poets Get Going
Story By and Photos Courtesy of C. J. Laity
he state of poetry in today’s society
is a “Blue State” all its own, though
most would agree it is much too
deep a shade of blue for the
Democratic Party to associate with.
Case in point: In February 2003,
an unbelievably naïve First Lady
Laura Bush invited some of
America’s most lettered poets to the
White House for a symposium.
Called “Poetry and the American
Voice,” the event was intended to
T
Arthur Holland
celebrate the lives and work of political poets such as Langston Hughes
and Walt Whitman.
When Zen Buddhist poet Sam
Hamill (who, the White House must
have known, ran for the California
State Assembly in 1968 on an antiwar,
socialist ticket) received his personal
invitation to the White House, he was
already feeling “personally nauseated”
by Bush’s “shock and awe” rhetoric.
He reacted to the invitation by
sending a simple e-mail message to a
few of his friends in the literary arena.
Included in his CC-list were such
famous
poets
as
Lawrence
Ferlinghetti, Philip Levine, and
Adrienne Rich. Hamill asked these
poets to help him “speak up for the
conscience of America.” He proposed
that the poets send him their antiwar
poetry, and he promised to compile it
into an anthology and deliver it to
Laura Bush on the afternoon of the
planned symposium.
The original e-mail that Hamill sent
was forwarded to a few more poets.
They then forwarded it to more poets.
In no time at all, the e-mail turned into
a chain letter that spread across the
entire world. Within four days, Sam
Hamill received nearly 2,000 antiwar
poems for his anthology.
Catching wind of what was going
to happen, Laura Bush attempted to
silence the antiwar poets by
completely canceling the symposium. Her reasoning for this action
was publicly stated: “Some invited
guests wanted to turn what was
intended to be a literary event into a
political forum.”
As might be imagined, this struck a
chord with the “Blue State” of poetry,
especially since the focus of the
symposium, Langston Hughes, had
been harassed by the likes of the FBI
and Joseph McCarthy throughout his
writing career. Walt Whitman, the
other poet the symposium was to celebrate, once described the White House
as “bought, sold…and filled with prostitutes.”
“These people wouldn’t let Walt
Whitman within a mile of the White
House—the good, gay, gray poet! I
don’t believe anybody there has ever
read Whitman,” Hamill lashed out
when he learned of the cancellation
of the symposium. The response
across the American poetry scene
was tremendous. Instead of
attending a White House poetry
symposium, on February 12, 2003,
the poets simultaneously held thousands of poetry readings across the
country in protest of Laura Bush’s
act of censorship. Audio documentation of the Chicago area “Poets
Against The War” readings are
archived
at
the
Website
PoetryPoetry.com.
Ever since George W. Bush sat
down in the White House, poets in
America have suffered, finding
themselves a part of that half of
America that Bush ignores, but they
have also become more politically
aware and vocal. Audiences expect
poets to have views that fall outside
of the mainstream world.
For some poets, such as Chicago
Chalrie Newman
neither seeks nor accepts government grants. She believes that the
only way poets can remain strong
and in charge of their work is to not
succumb to the restrictions imposed
by association with the government.
Although poets generally remain
strong-willed through times of crisis,
they have not been immune to the
feeling of depression and hopelessness
that many progressive thinking people
experienced after John Kerry failed to
Emily Calvo
Labor and Arts poet Nina Corwin,
who appeared at the Third Coast
Press/Chicago IndyMedia benefit at
The Hothouse on Election Night,
the current state of pro-war politics
in this country has certainly been a
boost for antiwar sentiments. For
others, such as right-wing conservative poet Robert Klein Engler, the
state of the world has meant sheer
doom for their ideologies within the
poetry world. Progressive thinkers
who once tolerated such ideologies
as signs of individuality now seem to
view these ideologies as some of the
causes of the spreading violence and
bloodshed plaguing the world.
It should come as no surprise that
the re-election of George W. Bush
caused a wide range of emotions
within Chicago’s thriving poetry scene.
It is, after all, a scene that served as
home for both Carl Sandburg and
Gwendolyn Brooks, two of the most
progressive minds of the last century.
Chicago can also boast being the
birthplace of several poetry movements, including the poetry slam.
As the organizer of the
ChicagoPoetry.com Performance
Series, I have had the opportunity to
talk to a number of poets about how
the re-election of Bush affects their
lives and careers. Some describe the
way they felt after the 2004 election
as being “beaten by sacks of potatoes.” Others simply see it as more of
the same and more fuel for the fire.
Most, however, agree that the
prospect of four more years of
“dictated moral high ground” might
actually be healthy for an art form
that feeds off of dissent.
Emily Calvo, a Poet-in-Residence at
Chicago’s Young Women’s Leadership
Charter School who was instrumental
in organizing the 2003 National
Poetry Slam held in Chicago, believes
the troubled waters awaiting have
more to do with the economy than
anything else. “The conservative
agenda yields a crushing blow to all
the arts, including poetry,” Calvo says.
“The sluggish economy, as well as
conservative priorities, have had a
diminishing effect on funding for the
arts, which is likely to get even worse.”
Calvo sites changing attitudes toward
freedom of speech as another possible
threat to poetry. “Under this conservative regime, I would not be at all
surprised to see people become less
tolerant of diverse voices. Poets may be
asked to refrain from messages that do
not support an agenda or that question certain methods.”
Whitney Scott of Outrider Press,
which
publishes
an
annual
anthology of local poets, takes pride
in the fact that her non-profit
as Rhino and Rambunctious Review,
performed poetry for many “Get
Out The Vote” events. But
Schroeder thinks the recent election
changes nothing. “I’m no more
depressed now than I was before the
election. This is not the end, not
even the beginning of the end. It is
the middle of the middle. And the
artist, in the middle with everyone
else, can do at least two things at
once. First, we can shine a light on
Michael Burke
inspire any change in this country.
Some poets have experienced what
they describe as a post-election
syndrome that has caused them severe
writer’s block. “This election would
have kicked rant-writing into high gear,
except I’m too pissed to write much of
anything at the moment,” says Charlie
Newman, host of the WZRD Radio
poetry talk show, Aloha Circus. “I’m
really disturbed about what it all says
regarding the voter. Values were
supposedly important, but a majority
elected a low-level con artist.” However,
Newman believes that freedom of
speech is not ultimately in peril.“These
jamokes think they can’t be touched by
the power they understand, much less
poetry—a power they don’t understand,” Newman explains.“My guess is
that this lot goes overboard and selfdestructs.”
There are a lot of poets in
Chicago who are much more
dismayed than Newman by the election of 2004. Some have even
considered moving out of the
country. Noted Mexican poet and
author of the book Very Chicago,
shared these candid thoughts with
me: “A friend of mine in Mexico
wrote to me stating ‘I cannot believe
that all the stupid people in the
world live in the same country.’ I
have to agree, after this election,
democracy is a fallacy in this
country. It was proven during the
last presidential election, in which G.
W. Bush was appointed by his
Daddy’s friends on the Supreme
Court. The war
mongrels are in
power and they
are not going to
relinquish it. In
all probability, I
will save my
money and I will
leave the country
in a year and
impose self-exile,
because I cannot
in good faith
c o n t i n u e
working
here
and paying taxes
to
the
Bush/Cheney
war machine.”
S t e v e
Schroeder, who
t e a c h e s
Humanities and
Philosophy
at
Roosevel t
University, and
who has been
published
in
such respected
poetry journals
Steven Schroeder
just how screwed up the middle is.
Second, we can dream dreams and
share visions of truth and beauty,
peace and justice, that are in the
middle, too—not in some future
paradise to which some hero will
lead us.”
Schroeder encourages artists to be
more understanding and tolerant
toward those who are responsible for
putting us in the current situation. “I
won’t join the chorus that says Dubya
and the people who voted for him are
evil or stupid,” Schroeder says. “They
are flawed human beings participating
in a system of power and privilege by
jockeying for position as close to the
top as possible—not so different from
Kerry and the people who voted for
him. What I find most distressing
about an election like the one we just
went through is the concentration of
so much time and energy on a contest
between two children of privilege.
Both of them will, as they say, land on
their feet with money in their pockets.
This time and energy could have been
directed to dismantling the system of
power and privilege, itself. It’s an
incredible machine, but artists are
good at finding the cracks in it.”
There are some poets who claim
that they are unfazed by the entire
fiasco. Jim Coppoc, who is the editor of
Tens: An Anthology of SlamFusion
Poetry in the Midwest (Iowa State
University), plans to fight harder. “It’s
four more years of open season for
dissident poetry. I think poets everywhere need to take this time to stop
and reflect. Poetry venues are always
blue states. Don’t preach to the choir.”
Michael Burke, whose work has been
published in TriQuarterly and who
runs ChicagoWriter.blogspot.com,
agrees that poetry is usually at its
best in times of turmoil. “Here’s the
awful paradox,” Burke says. “What’s
terrible for the world is often great
for art. Think of all the astonishing
words seeded by breathtaking
sorrow—from Homer’s description
Jose Bono
of Achilles’ grief to the thousands of
poems written in the past two years
protesting Bush’s invasion of Iraq.
While I’m pessimistic about the
future of our country and our world,
I’m optimistic about the great work
that poets and other artists will
create in the coming months and
years. Art survives.”
In the long run, the poetry itself
that will be created during the next
four years will speak the loudest for
the poets in Chicago. And poets are
wasting no time in this area. Take for
example, the following words, sent to
me by Arthur E. Holland, Sr., the
host of CAN TV’s Works of Art
poetry talk show:
He got his war, he got his way,
and now Act Two comes into play,
Ignored the poet’s words of grief,
declared, “All hail, all hail the Chief!”
Now those who thought we’d acquiesce,
Or choose against the plan of peace,
Will have to face the mammoth tears,
of suffering for four more years,
“No Child Left Behind”—Sounds great.
His legacy intact—But wait!
Who’s child did G. W. have in mind?
Who’s pockets did he line?
When body bags return en masse,
and he tells us to kiss his wife
I write a muse of history,
and bare the true conspiracy,
Of epochal plans some will never know
existed ‘neath a winter’s snow. 3
C. J. Laity is the publisher of
ChicagoPoetry.com
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
15
16
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Coley Kennedy, vocals
Jeremy Barrett, bass
In Review
You’re Welcome
Music for the Feeling
By Alan Jacobson, Photos Courtesy of Welcome to Ashley
hile spinning between-set tunes at a local
bar, I chatted with a band called Welcome to
Ashley. I had never heard of them before I was
booked to DJ between their set and that of
another band. Being the jaded and over-exposed
media junkie that I am, I did not expect much.
W
Barnett on bass, and Sherrila Bailey on
drums—dispense the verve, energy, and drive
that we have demarked as a je ne sais quoi
particular to a city about 1500 miles northeast.
Yes, Welcome to Ashley knows music and
knows it well. One has to wonder if Casablanca
ment to the band’s chops.
“We Will Find the Sun”
kicks off with superb
jagged guitar hooks that
shift and squirm through
Coley’s intriguing vocals.
Sherrila Bailey, drums
Pete Javier, guitars
They know the source, not the recycled, watered-down imitation so many bands
are stealing their riffs from nowadays.
gonna tear me apart!” before cueing an econom-
Also, since I am something of an inadvertent pop
scholar, I assumed they would be another group
with eyes fixed on the future, ignoring all of pop’s
potential lessons and Zeitgeist in favor of that
walked-into-a-wall feeling of a band unconsciously and unconscionably repackaging the
past. Why try to reinvent a wheel that’s been
virtually perfected, then done to parodying effect
countless times?
Yes, the new so often hurts. But not this time.
You see, a member of Welcome to Ashley
requested The Undertones.That got my attention.
A pleasant surprise in a local band, these
four sharp young performers—Coley Kennedy
on vocals, Pete Javier on guitars, Jeremy
’n’ Co. would have been able to rap endlessly
on all things Roxy Music. No, not for long.
Unless they were spoon-fed it by that zany, old
“Master Splinter” character (you know, the
one who taught them how to hold their
guitars) they most likely wouldn’t know it
from regenerated pabulum.
Welcome to Ashley knows it. And they know
Nick Lowe. And the Jam. They probably have
no love for Nirvana, Oasis, or The Libertines.
Instead, they prefer the Damned, Buzzcocks,
and Real Kids. They know the source, not the
recycled, watered-down imitation so many
bands are stealing their riffs from nowadays.
One small EP has just been released as testa-
An Ian McCulloch presence distorts through a
Jim Reid delivery, lending gravity to
poignantly contrasting lines about sun, waves,
summer, and rain.
Not only does “Cheap Champagne” follow
with superb guitar lines, but an ultra-sensitive
rhythm section solidly amplifies the whole
affair. Barnett’s bass is beyond punchy and
Bailey’s drums keep time in a solid, confident
manner that requires no flash to impress.
“Adeline” rounds out the EP with Coley’s
best Richard Butler homage on vocals—Adeline
is nothing but lies, yet he loves loving her. What
could make someone more cynical, more worldweary? What better way to express it than, “It’s
ical half-chorus of expressive guitar solo? A few
moments later, the EP ends, but this kind of
thing, thank goodness, goes on and on.
You see, for all of us fans of pop, power,
punk, and the punchy—that genuine expression amid an irresistible presentation we’ve
come to expect from the best of rock ’n’
roll…well, it’s all emotion. We feel certain
things about it that will never truly die. Long
live rock. Long live Welcome to Ashley.
Welcome to Ashley played at the Darkroom on
Sunday, November 28. Nashville’s Pale Blue Dot
opened. For more information, go to welcometoashley.com.
Music Scene
Feel The Hot Love
C’mon, give Hawk a big hug. You know you want to.
Story and Photo by Billy Roberts
There are a lot of good bands in Chicago. Here’s one of them: The Hot Love.
he first time I saw The Hot Love, they were playing a show
in my living room. My friend Alicia had finally turned 21,
so a party was in order—a party that included the performances of three local bands. Although The Hot Love was
scheduled to be the opening act for the evening, their conve-
T
Hendrix, AC/DC, and Zeppelin definitely have their place,
but so do all the old punk and funk, the gospel, soul, and
anything else that makes you move your ass. And the kids do
move. Those drums, that bass, the guitars, and, of course, the
vocals—it all comes together and you can’t help but move, you
now and then they’ll set up some mics to record a practice. I
talked with Alex a little bit after their show at The Mutiny,
and asked him what he liked about playing in THL.
“For me, it’s such a great chance to be creative on the drums,”
he told me. “We all get together in practice, and really try to come
It all comes back to the live show. They mix in fun, spirituality, politics, and a good dose of sex.
niently late arrival made them the headliner, instead. After the
first two bands warmed the crowd up, The Hot Love put on
the finishing touches. Kids were jumping up and down,
throwing their arms around each other, and singing along to
songs they’d never heard before. Two months later, I asked
them to come back, this time scheduling them as the closing
band. They did it all again, playing their energetic set until the
cops came by and asked us to stop.
The five guys that make up The Hot Love (THL) started
playing together in April of 2004, quickly learning how to
blend influences. It’s a little bit of everything; the singer,
Hawk, describes it as “neo-gypsy rock music.” Stuff like
can’t help but feel the love in the room.
“We try to live up to the name,” Hawk says of the band’s
moniker. The name came about after one of their fans kept telling
them how much love she felt during their show. And of course,
everyone’s drenched in sweat by the end, so The Hot Love it was.
“Everyone wants to feel loved,” he tells me, “it’s all about
validation. Everyone wants to feel validated in who they are
and what they’re doing.”
So what are these guys doing? Well, playing all over
Chicago, to start with. They’ve done a little bit of recording,
but more for themselves than their audiences. Dan and Alex
both graduated from DePaul with sound degrees, so every
up with the most interesting arrangements we can. We don’t want
anything to sound repetitive.” This sort of approach turns their
songs into anthems, where one layer is piled on top of another, so
whether it’s a mellowed-out romance tune, or a full-on barnburner, the energy of it all never stops building. So, once again, it
all comes back to the live show. They mix in fun, spirituality, politics, and a good dose of sex.
When asked about his crowd interactions, Hawk said, “I
don’t focus on an individual. I try to get everyone involved. I
try to find that one person who’s not moving, and whether it’s
a male or female, or whatever, I try to get them to at least
smile. I want everyone to have a good time.”
Third
Title: R-squared #1-4
Creator(s): Alverne Ball (writer/letterer),
Cliff Cobb (artist), Cory Byrd (cover)
Publisher: Quality Quill (qualityquill.com)
Format: Print (mini comic)
Price: $2.00 per issue
Pitch: The Bourne Identity without the
amnesia
did was from when I was younger, because I
always wanted to be a Marine. When I
started on the book, I started going through
my stuff from when I was in high school and
found that I had a file on all this military
stuff, and I was like “Oh, I haven’t looked at
this in a while.” [Generally], what I do
research on depends on what I’m shooting
for in the story.
-Squared is a spy-thriller so dedicated to the
genre that one cannot describe it without
becoming aware of how clichéd it is. R-Squared
is about a highly trained government assassin,
Cross, who develops a conscience and goes
rogue. While eluding capture by his former
agency, R-Squared, Cross coerces a beautiful
woman into helping his escape. You can see
where this is going… .
Visually, R-squared is very loyal to the spythriller genre. This is a high compliment for
the storytelling skills of the creative team,
because they are able to overcome the static
nature of the medium, successfully integrating
spy-thriller requirements like exciting car
chases.
The artist, Cliff Cobb, carries the book well
by making every character instantly recognizable. Cobb pulls this off by rendering his characters as caricatures, which allows him to take
creative license with their proportions without
it looking like a super-hero book. The series is
even more visually interesting because Cobb
changes the angles of the composition.
Unfortunately, Cobb’s work can be confusing;
there are many razor-thin lines that look like
they should have been erased but are actually
important visual cues for the setting.
Overall, R-Squared is unpolished, but enjoyable. It is packed with the clichés of spythrillers, but uses those clichés well. The
dialog and narration could use some refining,
but do not get in the way of the story. On their
own, I might not recommend the first four
issues of this series, but they work well as a
starting point for an ongoing saga. Whereas
issue 1–4 are comparable to Assassins or The
Bourne Identity, as the series progresses, I see it
going in the direction (and level) of 24 or
Alias.
The series does what spy-thrillers do well,
but falls slightly short beyond that. In other
words, I recommend it to those into spythrillers but not to the elitist, artsy types. I met
with writer/publisher Alverne Ball at an undisclosed location to discuss R-Squared and his
plans for Quality Quill Publishing and
Entertainment:
TCP: When is the fifth issue coming out?
Alverne Ball: Actually, I just write what
comes into my head. I had taken a human
rights class at Columbia. I don’t remember
the name, but it was a book about all the
covert ops the CIA had been doing since
post-World War II. A lot of the research that I
::
December
2004
17
Live Event Review
By Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf
Third Coast Press: What kind of research
did you do for R-Squared?
Press
Leroy (Jim Farruggio) as the Last Yankee.
R-Squared # 1–4
R
Coast
AB: It’s probably going to be almost a year
from now. Because we’re reprinting issue 1–4,
we’re moving up to a larger format we just
inked a deal with Diamond. [Note: Diamond
has a near-monopoly on comic book distribution—ED.]
TCP: I noticed with the current mini-format
that some of the line work started to disappear.
AB: We did a [printer’s proof] to see how it
would look. I think it will look pretty good, but
I haven’t got them back yet. It’s making me
nervous, you know?
TCP: What’s it like working with Diamond?
AB: During Wizard World, we had the buying
manager walk up to our table, he handed us
his card, and was like “If you move up to a
bigger book, contact us. We’d love to carry your
stuff.” It was much easier than if we would
have gone through the submission process. So
we had a little toe in the door. But it was a lot
of paperwork.
TCP: Why are you going to the larger format
for the reprint?
AB: Because that’s the only way Diamond will
carry. They won’t carry the mini-comic
format.
TCP: That’s really funny because mini-trades
[collected editions] are selling like hotcakes.
AB: But those are trades… It’s a bureaucracy.
But also for us it became a necessity, because
we were moving the minis but people would
ask, “Are you going to move to a larger size?
What else are you doing?” So, it’s become a
test to see if we can do it. We wanted to move
to the next level and comiXpress [an independent comic publisher] was just coming
out, and we realized that we can do it.
But we’re also creating a new imprint called
Quality Quill Publishing. We’re going to get
almost any mini we can get under this imprint
so we can print and distribute them. It’s pissed
me off that we can’t get a distributor for our
own books, and we moved 300 of them at one
convention. So with Quality Quill, we’re trying
to bridge the gap between small press and the
audience. I think industry people have
forgotten that there’s a niche market.
Arthur Miller’s The Last Yankee
at the Actors Workshop Theatre
By Bryan A. Bushemi, Photo Courtesy of The Actors Workshop Theatre
rthur Miller’s The Last Yankee is a small
play. Time-wise, that is. It clocks in at just
over an hour, as staged by the Actors Workshop
Theatre, located at 1044 West Bryn Mawr
Avenue. That’s fitting, because the Actors
Workshop Theatre is a small theatre. But as
the old adage says, good things come in small
packages. In this case, founder and director
Michael Colucci’s production of this Miller
gem is like that little, velvet box holding a
sparkling Tiffany diamond.
The Last Yankee opens in the waiting room of a
state mental institution, where the wives of Leroy
Hamilton (a carpenter and descendent of U.S.
founding father Alexander Hamilton) and John
Frick (a prickly, conservative, successful businessman) are “recovering” from psychological
problems brought on by the pressures of their
respective marriages. Later, after Hamilton and
Frick engage in a typically “Millerian” interplay
involving success, class, ambition, and the genesis
A
weariness and tension at the uncertainty of his
wife’s latest trip to the sanitarium to “solve”
their mutual problems. He’s the picture of the
faithful, titular “Last Yankee.” Jan Ellen Graves,
AWT’s resident lead actress, seamlessly inhabits
the character of Patricia, conveying a bottledup energy in the process of just being released
and is thus unsure of what to do with it or if the
burgeoning hopefulness she feels will last. Her
presence and style of delivery is so natural that
there is absolutely no sense of her merely
reciting memorized lines.
Sam Perry does a delightfully crusty, irascible
turn as John Frick. He wonderfully conveys a
man confounded at his wife’s depression, mired
in his own conservativeness, ignorant of how his
own confrontational prejudices and views seem
to affect others. Perry’s embodiment of the
blustery and self-important Frick butting
against things that just don’t behave as he
would like them to is a treat to watch.
I’ve never seen a bad play at the Actors Workshop
Theatre and you’re sure to get more than
your money’s worth any time you take in one
of their performances.
of the problems faced by their wives and themselves, the play moves on to Patricia Hamilton
and Karen Frick, both at cruxes in how their relationships with their husbands literally hinge on
the “success” of their treatment.
Out of the stultifying grip of her medication
for the first time in 15 years, Patricia rises from
the funk that has crippled her marriage to the
still-devoted Leroy, while the obviously overmedicated Karen seems to spiral ever downward into confusion. This culminates in both
a renewal of affection for the Hamiltons and a
precipitous sundering of connections for the
Fricks, when Karen’s hat-and-tails tap-dance
fantasy (to her husband’s grudgingly sung
“Swanee River”) proves to be too much for her
husband to deal with. He leaves, deflating any
remaining hope within her.
The Actors Workshop Theatre’s intimate, 40seat house is the perfect venue for this Miller
mini-treasure. All the space is well utilized and
inviting, and no seat in the place has a bad view
of the stage. As always, this AWT performance is
very polished and economical, yet vibrant in its
production and direction. The actors deliver
their dialog with conviction and believability that
belies the small, independent nature of the
venue. Likewise, Director Michael Colucci’s
familiarity with the AWT’s space allows him to
maximize the audience’s enjoyment in yet
another shining offering.
As Leroy Hamilton, actor Jim Farruggio
delivers a solid performance, his practical,
accepting demeanor under-laid by conflicting
And what can be said about the delightful
Roslyn Alexander? It is difficult to truly capture
what a joy it is to see her perform in yet another
of the long line of Chicago productions she’s
graced. Pitch-perfect with her confusion and
portrayal of the fading and addled Karen Frick,
the remarkable physical and facial aspects of her
performance are only a small part of her mastery
of the acting craft. She becomes the character
completely, and the highlight of this fine play in
this excellent venue is her hat-tights-tails-andcane tap performance. This alone makes AWT’s
version of The Last Yankee worth every penny of
the $15 admission.
I can’t recommend any Actors Workshop
Theatre production highly enough. I’ve never
seen a bad play at this venue and, like their
current offering, you’re sure to get more than
your money’s worth any time you take in one
of their performances. If you enjoy Arthur
Miller, wonderful acting, and some well-spent
time in an invitingly cozy theatre, see The Last
Yankee at AWT. You’ll thank me for the recommendation.
The Actors Workshop Theatre’s production of
Arthur Miller’s The Last Yankee opened on
November 14 and runs through December 12, with
shows Thursday-Saturday, at 8 PM, and Sunday
at 3 PM. There was no showing on Thursday,
November 25 (Thanksgiving Day), but additional
shows are offered on Sundays December 5 and 12
at 7 PM. Tickets are $15 and seating is limited, so
make your reservations as soon as possible.
18
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Selling Women Short
By Liza Featherstone
By Laura Crossett
The Silver Spoon
By Stacey Klemstein
s the holidays approach, many Americans
will be making donations to help put food on
the tables of those who might otherwise go
hungry.What they may not realize is that many of
those bags and baskets of food will go to people
who work full-time—and many of those will be
women who work full-time at Wal-Mart but don’t
make enough money to make ends meet.
Regular readers of Third Coast Press will not
find it surprising that Wal-Mart is a poor corporate citizen. What they may find shocking,
however, is just how bad an employer Wal-Mart
is if you’re a woman. Selling Women Short: The
Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart
by Liza Featherstone belongs in every public
library and in the hands of everyone who cares
about social justice. In documenting the
history—so far—of Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc., a class-action suit representing 1.6 million
current and former female employees at WalMart, Featherstone provides a fascinating and
damning look at just how few inroads the
concept of equal pay for equal work has made at
the world’s largest retailer.
“God made Adam first, so women will
always be second to men.” “Women don’t
belong in management.” “You aren’t part of
the boys’ club, and you should raise a family
and stay in the kitchen.” “Men deserve to be
paid more than women, because they have
families to support.” These are just a few of
the comments that have been made to women
at Wal-Mart who have asked about why they
make less than their male coworkers.
The anecdotal information about sex
discrimination at Wal-Mart is rampant. But
it’s not just anecdotes: The statistics back it up.
On average, male cashiers make 35 cents more
than female cashiers hired at the same time; after
five years, males earn $1.16 more than their female
counterparts. And the wage discrimination
continues even in management positions. “The
higher the management job, the greater the gap
in percentage terms,” Featherstone writes. “At the
store-manager level, where males earn $105,682
and women 16 percent less ($89,280); even more
so at the district manager level ($239,519 to
$177,149), and downright staggering for regional
vice-presidents ($419,435 to $279,772, a difference
of 33 percent).”
One of the great strengths of Selling Women
Short—and of the Dukes suit—are the many
women who have stepped forward to take part.
Readers will meet Betty Dukes, the lead plaintiff, a 54-year-old black woman who has worked
at Wal-Mart since 1994 and who tells people at
her church, “Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart is like
David versus Goliath.” Then there’s Christine
Kwapnoski, who has worked at Sam’s Club (a
grocery store that’s part of the Wal-Mart
empire) since 1987 and who jokes that Sarah
Michelle Gellar could play her in a movie about
A
By Alisa McCune
The Silver Spoon
By Stacey Klemstein, Runestone Publishing
264 pages, ISBN 1-59648-001-7
$16.50 print/$5.50 Ebook
o one knows when the Observers, a race of
silvery-eyed aliens, originally arrived on
Earth—but their unveiling was an event not to
be forgotten.
On that day, it looked as if it were all over
for the human race. Somewhere in the world,
nuclear warheads were launched, escalating
into an apparent apocalypse. Everyone was
glued to the television. TV announcers said
that life on Earth would end in 20 minutes.
Then the Observers appeared on TV with an
offer that humanity could not refuse—they
would save us from destruction if they would
be allowed to study humankind. The
Observers got what they requested with no
resistance.
Zara Mitchells is just a small-town owner of
a diner trying to make ends meet. After her
parents died, she was forced to support her
younger brother. When the Observers first
appeared on TV that fateful day, Zara’s life was
N
While it would be easy to classify The Silver Spoon
as a romance, to do so would not do justice
to the book.
thrown into even more chaos. She began
sleepwalking and having horrid nightmares.
Zara is certain the Observers have nefarious
designs on humanity, but has no proof.
Everyone in Zara’s town is convinced that she
has gone crazy.
Zara’s survives this horrible time and her
life finally begins to get easier. She is finally
able to move on—an application to the local
community college awaits her at home, the
diner has enough staff to permit her to have
free time, and her brother is currently in
college. Then, in walks an Observer named
Caelan. Everything in Zara’s life changes once
again.
Caelan believes Zara is the fulfillment of a
prophecy and he will do anything to gain her
compliance. Confused, Zara doesn’t know if
she can trust Caelan. Everything in her life has
Selling Women Short: The Landmark
Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart
By Liza Featherstone, Basic Books, 2004
282 pages, ISBN 0-456-02315-0
$25.00
been changed or destroyed in some way by the
Observers. How can she trust a being whose
existence caused her so much pain? Why is
another Observer trying to kill her?
Thus begins The Silver Spoon by local
Chicago author Stacey Klemstein. The storyline evolves slowly, at a pace that allows the
reader to become very involved. It’s a tale filled
with mysteries and unanticipated twists and
turns.
Caelan and Zara are very likable characters
with many-layered personalities. Zara has a
wonderful sense of humor that comes out in
her dialogue.
While it would be easy to classify The Silver
Spoon as a romance, to do so would not do
justice to the book. There is a romance
element, but it is more of an entertaining
science-fiction adventure.
Third Coast Press is looking for volunteer writers to contribute
to our In Review sections: Music, Books, Live Events, Theater,
or anything else you’re into. Well, almost anything else.
Send submissions to thirdcoastpress@yahoo.com
Zine Scene
this lawsuit. “The Wal-Mart Slayer…It could be
either a sitcom or a tragedy.”
Featherstone weaves the experiences of
these women in with a gripping story about
just how bad an employer Wal-Mart really is.
She details the history of Wal-Mart’s relationship with women (including the company’s
luring Hillary Clinton onto its board for a
short time in order to boost its image), the
sexist nature of Wal-Mart’s corporate culture
(lunch meetings at Hooters, anyone?), and
Wal-Mart’s battle to stay union-free (“a fulltime commitment…equal to other objectives
in the organization,” according to one
management handbook).
Ultimately, Dukes v.Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is just
a small part of the much larger battle of reforming
Wal-Mart—a battle that all the Dukes plaintiffs
seem committed to. Had they decided to sue WalMart individually, they could each have come
away with healthy settlements. With the classaction suit, they are unlikely to see anything like
those numbers and any compensation will be a
long time in coming. But these women are
passionate about making some kind of change at
Wal-Mart, and the suit, even if it settles before
going to trial, could do that.
In the meantime, there is still work to be done.
In some places, that will mean activists working to
keep Wal-Mart out of their towns. (For help, they
might look to a report put out earlier this year by
the office of Democratic congressman George
Miller, which found that each Wal-Mart store
employing 200 people costs taxpayers $420,750
per year in public assistance.) In others, it may
mean fighting to support workers’ rights at existing
stores. Here in Chicago, it will mean remaining
vigilant about how and under what conditions
Wal-Mart can build in our community.
Wherever you are, though, Selling Women
Short is an essential tool in that fight.
For more info about the Dukes suit, go to walmartclass.com, call the plaintiff hotline, 877/WOMANWM (877/966-2696), or write to WOMAN-WM,
P.O. Box 7158, Berkeley, CA 94707-0158.
Si Ud. desea información en Español sobre esta
demanda de la acción de clase contra Wal-Mart,
por favor llámenos al (800) 839-4372.
Support these local authors; it’s
people like them that make this
city so great to live in.
Billy Hits the Books This Time
By Billy Roberts
kay, folks, I know this is the “Zine Scene” and all, but
being the young and rebellious type that I am, I’m gonna
switch it up on ya by reviewing a couple of books this month.
O
Hairstyles of the Damned
The latest effort by Chicago’s own Joe Meno, this nicesmelling paperback follows the life of Brian, an adolescent
outcast who meanders about on the fringes of society.
Whether he’s spending time with the stoned-out metal-heads
or the troublemaking punks, none of his friends seem to be
up to any good, yet every one of them offers a nice escape
from the awkward home life created by his parents’ separation. He and his ragamuffin friends do all the things you
would expect them to: shoplift, run scams, go to shows, get
stoned, get drunk, throw parties, and bullshit about any
potential meaning life might have. We are also privy to Brian’s
deepest thoughts as he struggles through relationships with
several girls, none of whom are the one he really wishes he
could be with.
If you’ve never read Joe’s stuff before, Hairstyles of the
Damned is a great chance to start. The writing is easy,
smooth, and fun, plus the chapters are nice and short, so
there’s no pressure to read 50 pages at a time, though I did
anyway. This great book is available through Punk Planet
Books, or any of the cooler shops in Chicago.
Stencil Pirates
Another great book by another rad Chicagoan, Mr. Josh
MacPhee. Josh has been an avid teacher of stencil art for
quite some time now, and Stencil Pirates is the book all us kids
have been waiting for. Not only is it jam-packed with page
after page of photos, but there is also a running text
throughout. Josh talks about his own involvement in the
world of stencil art and graffiti, as well as a short history of
how we got to where we are today. Great stories and anecdotes are mixed in with social and political meanings behind
different street art movements. And if that’s not enough,
there are even tips on how to do your own stenciling, and
even some stencil templates to help you see how all this
works. Whether you’re an old school graf artist, a new school
stencil cutter, or just an appreciator of the cool pictures these
kids can make, then you need to go pick this book up. Once
again, all the cool shops in town probably carry it.
Support these local authors; it’s people like them that make
this city so great to live in.
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
19
He’s out to save the Human Race…from itself.
By Lowell Thompson, Illustration by Marc R. Keller
Hey RaceMan,
Is any of the leadership from the AfricanAmerican community effective anymore? Voters
have been intimidated or turned away (at least in
2000), and there were schemes to stop voting
entirely in heavily African-American cities like
Detroit. Where are all the rabble-rousers and
organizations meant to protect the community?
Why wasn’t the clarion call put out to mobilize
against Bush? And if it was, why haven’t we heard
enough about it (I am on the MoveOn.org mailing
list)?
—Nick
Hey Nick,
Boy, am I glad you asked me this question. Now I have
license to do a RaceMan rant on the past election in particular…and American elections in general.
Funny, my white progressive cronies seldom get lonesome
for Jesse Jackson’s company except every four years, just before
November.
But if any feet should be held to the fire regarding the Dems’
get-out-the-vote efforts, they should be pale ones. I’m told that
about 90 percent of the black vote went to Kerry. Basic math
tells me that’s almost twice the percentage of white votes Kerry
got. So, if you’re looking to find out who dropped the ball,
you’re looking in the wrong ballpark.
From where I stood, Jesse Jackson, P. Diddy, Russell
Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the NAACP, Al
Sharpton and many other black “rabble-rousers and organizations” did more than their share to register and get voters to
the polls. I personally was signed up outside of Jewel/Osco on
Wabash Avenue and Roosevelt Road and was called on
Election Day with a reminder to vote by a sexy-voiced
Deborah from Jesse’s Operation PUSH.
But I think Jesse, Russell, and Al are too smart to waste
energy, money, and time crying over spilled votes. If the Dems
couldn’t change the results of the 2000 election, what makes
them think they can reverse this one? And if white Dems can’t
do it with 10,000 lawyers, what chance does even the everclever “Country Preacher” and crew have?
Besides, it doesn’t take two eyes to see the problem isn’t the
Illustration by Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf
Dear Kudra,
Lately, I’ve dreamed of being shipwrecked
on an island. It’s a slightly different situation
every time, but that’s the main theme. Is it as
obvious as I think it is?
~A Regular Reader
Hello Regular,
Water is usually representative of emotion.
You don’t specify the circumstances of the
wreck, but I’d guess you were in rocky waters
before the crash/sink. A ship or boat will typi-
last election. While my liberal and progressive colleagues were
searching for Black Democratic scapegoats or white
Republican vote-stealers, I’ve been questioning why the whole
system is so slipshod.
Fact: Of the roughly 217 million voting-age Americans,
about 120 million actually voted in the last election. And that
was way up from past elections.
Fact: About 59 million Americans voted for George W. Bush in
2004. That’s less than 30 percent of Americans of voting age. Dems
shouldn’t get smug. About 25 percent voted for Clinton in 1996.
Since the idea of a democracy is majority rule, we don’t qualify.
Fact: Almost 5 million Americans can’t vote because of their
criminal records, even though many have already served their
time.
Fact: Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of American
votes are routinely thrown out as “spoiled” every Presidential
election—no matter whom you vote for.
Fact: Although the U.S.A. is the undisputed leader in its own
self-created category of World’s Only Superpower, it ranks
number 12 in the WorldAudit’s list of Democracies. It ranks
much further down in how it runs its elections, but after
looking all over the Internet for a rating I had heard about on
PBS, I ran out of time. Let me get back to you on that, okay?
Fact: Campaign finance reform didn’t reform campaign
finances. About $4 billion was spent on the past election cycle.
That’s about a billion more than in 2000.
Fact: Voting, especially in Presidential elections, is supposed
to be one of the most important things Americans do. So why
don’t we get a day off to do it?
Fact: Most Americans have no idea what the Electoral
College is or why it picks the President.
Fact: The new voting systems are as open to vote fraud and
mistakes as the old.
I’ve got more disturbing facts and questions about our
“democracy,” but I’m running out of column space, so I’ll get
to the punch line:
What’s the point of winning a race off a cliff?
“We can put a man on the moon, but we can’t make sure his
vote counts on Earth,” some disgruntled citizen might cry. I
laughed when I saw the Onion headline, “U.S. inspires world with
attempt at democratic elections.” But we should all be crying.
My progressive friends pride themselves as being rational,
educated American voters (compared to the, er, uh, shall we
say, “evangelical electorate”), But they’re as out of control as
Newt Gingrich the day he found out about Monica Lewinsky’s
cally represent the one vessel that keeps us
afloat during emotional times—usually a
friend, a job, a lover, a hobby, et cetera. When
your ship wrecks, you feel all hope has abandoned you. Moreover, you are then left on an
island, surrounded by water, with no practical
method to get off. Darlin’, you are feeling alone,
and only you know how true that is. Please, call
someone close to you today and just check in.
They are probably thinking of you, too.
I presume your “obvious” guess parallels
mine, but perhaps I can offer some advice to
get off the island. I might suggest you find a
volunteer job at a senior’s home, animal shelter,
youth organization, or some such thing. It is
truly overwhelming how good one can feel
when giving time or attention to someone else.
When hearing someone’s laughter or troubles,
you may also realize how not alone you are. A
good and wise friend of mine reminded me
recently about life’s irony. She said, “It’s funny
how wealthy people always seem so
depressed…they have so many things and only
wish to have more. Yet, those of us who have so
little, and still give of ourselves, are usually
smiling.” I can’t argue with that, can you? 3
blue dress. They’re buying vote stealing conspiracy theories
that would make Loch Ness Monster fanatics blush. Some are
seriously talking about heading up to Canada. When I heard
about the guy who supposedly went down to the World Trade
Center site in New York and blew his brains out because of the
election results, I was not that surprised.
Come on, folks, we blacks are supposed to be the emotional
ones. Dubya won the election as fair and square as any
American election has ever been won—which is, not very. He
won because Karl Rove quietly registered and got to the polls
more voters than Jesse, Russell, Al, P. Diddy, Bruce
Springsteen, and all the Hollywood liberals could noisily
register and get to the polls.
We didn’t know Rove’s sneaky strategy because most of us
wouldn’t be caught dead in a church—except maybe when we
are dead. In fact, if there’s ever been any evidence that media
leans liberal (and irreligious), we just saw it. I don’t remember
seeing any article in the “great” New York Times on Rove’s
master plan.
Dems lost. Get over it. Now it’s time to get busy creating an
electoral system in which winning actually means something.
Confining your outrage to looking under rocks for Republican
vote-stealers is like fixing a leaky faucet in a house with a 10foot hole in the roof. The problems with our past election pale
in comparison to the problems of our election system. It’s been
broken for centuries. Maybe it’s time to fix it.
Here are some RaceMan recommendations for disappointed
Dems to do before the next election:
• Work to change state laws that disenfranchise
people who have criminal records.
• Work for real campaign finance reform.
• Work to make Election Day a national holiday.
• Work to eliminate the advertising and marketing
industries’ influence on elections.
• Work to register (and lure to the polls) more
young voters.
• Work to get a national voting system that works.
There, that should keep us busy ’til the next Presidential
election.
—RaceMan 3
Send questions to RaceMan, anonymous submissions accepted, to
thirdcoastpress@yahoo.com or askraceman@yahoo.com.
Kudra
has been interpreting Dreams
for Friends, family, and random
strangers for 13 years.
Send your dream to Kudra: kudraskiss@sbcglobal.net
and for a limited time, you are guaranteed a free
interpretation to your dream, even if it’s not
published here.
Include your name and a phone number, in case she does decide to use it.
20
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Standing at the Crossroads
Luis Alberto Urrea on the Devil’s Highway
By Kari Lydersen
M
any books have been written about the endless and
deadly struggles to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, with an
average of one immigrant a day dying from brutal heat in
the desert, bone-chilling cold in the mountains, or failed
attempts to cross the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo River.
But few writers have portrayed the tragic border situation in such visceral and human terms as Luis
Alberto Urrea does in his recent book Devil’s Highway, a journalistic and lyrical account of the deaths
of 14 out of a group of 26 migrants who crossed the desert in Arizona on Memorial Day weekend in
2001. Urrea combines his style as a novelist and poet with tireless investigation and countless interviews of all parties involved to recreate the incident in chilling detail, from the motivations and
demons of a young coyote [immigrant smuggler] with a punk rock haircut to the specifics of trying
to hang onto life as one’s body literally cooks from the inside.
Urrea, an English professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, talked with me about his
work and U.S. border policy.
weird things like
mail me parts of
their uniforms,
their medallions,
Borstar shirts.
TCP: Did you intend the book to open
people’s eyes about the realities at the border?
AU: I offered it as a Trojan horse of information—this “men in peril” drama. Most people
have no idea what’s going on at the border. I
have my own ideology but I wanted to show all
sides of it. People don’t realize what an awful,
horrible death dying of heat is. If people can
realize these are fathers and sons just trying to
feed their wives and kids, just people like
them, they might see things differently.
working class people: ranchers, farmers, soldiers.
And they’re aware they’re chasing the sons of
ranchers, farmers, soldiers. They have to catch
people because it’s their mandate, but they also
understand that if their children were starving,
they would do the same thing. A lot of them are
Chicano or Mexican and of those who aren’t, a
lot are married to Mexican women. A lot of them
are like John Wayne-types—if they’re given a
TCP: What do you think of U.S. immigration
chance to have a code of honor they will.
policy right now?
TCP: There are still negative portrayals of
agents in the book—how did the agents react AU: I know for a fact Border Patrol agents are
told not to catch people in certain seasons,
to the book?
when there’s a need for workers. I’ve heard that
Third Coast Press: What is the border situ- AU: They said, “You weren’t very nice to us but over and over from agents. Something’s gotta
ation like now, compared to the period when you were fair.” Border Patrol agents have done give. The system as it is now is not working.
you wrote Devil’s Highway?
Alberto Urrea: It’s continuing to evolve and
devolve. On the ground level, I think the belief
that there may be a blanket amnesty proposal has
caused more people to make the push. And
coyotes have gotten even more sophisticated.
They’re using satellite technology, things the drug
syndicates use. Between Sasabe [Arizona] and
Altar [Sonora, Mexico], there are dangerous drug
operations; guys will come out with machine guns
and the local sheriff will say if you see that, you
should just get out of here. It’s more expensive to
get across now and more harrowing and
dangerous. So, more people are staying in the U.S.
rather than going back to visit their families. You’ll
go in the hills of Arkansas and find them full of
Mexicans. America is acting like its being invaded,
but the jobs are there.You act like you’re getting an
enema, but you’re, in fact, a vacuum cleaner.
TCP: You said one of the things that surprised
you in researching the book was how sympathetic some of the Border Patrol agents were to
the migrants… .
AU: For a bunch of conservative guys, they’re
pretty radicalized. Because they’re in it up to
their…everything about the Border Patrol was
surprising to me. Most of them are the sons of
This year was the largest death
toll in history, close to 300 in the
Tucson area alone.
TCP: What would you like to see
happen with immigration policy?
Is there any hope?
AU: We hear mainly about hopelessness and
doom, but there are other things going on. For
example, there are people in Nogales with plans
for micro-economies, with funding to open small
factories [Mexican-owned as opposed to foreignowned maquilas] that could stay open for three
years. Lots of maquilas are going to China, but
Mexican companies are moving into the empty
maquila buildings and providing [better] jobs.
That wouldn’t solve everything, but it’s a start.
My suggestion to Bush is to put a moratorium
on Mexico’s debt. That might cause the
[Mexican] economy to blossom. There’s all this
talk of boosting Mexico’s economy, but I haven’t
heard that idea mentioned, at all. Tell him to call
me. I feel like the world is in a really hideous spot
right now, but there is hope in what’s happening
at the border. 3
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
21
Santa Rampage 2004
The Yuletide Spirit Takes An Irreverent Journey Through The Windy City
By Bill Resseguie, Photo Courtesy of Chicago Santa Rampage
hat does Christmas mean to
you? Reliving the joy associated with the birth of Christ
each year? Family traditions?
Capitalism and candy? Being inundated with the store sales statistics of
Wal-Mart as an indicator of the
health of our economy and status of
our nation?
A visitor from another planet would
think Christmas was a festival to the
gods of money and shopping. Chicago
Santa Rampage is in the spirit in the
ultimate sense, in that cycling Santas
can foreshadow something of heavenly glory out of the commercial
abyss of the Christmas season.
The Chicago Santa Rampage is an
offshoot of the Santarchy movement, originating in San Francisco
in 1994 with the idea of mocking
pious holiday entertainment and desanitizing Christmas. The idea is
that any environment filled with
Santas is inherently hilarious. This
has inspired hellish outbreaks in
cities around the world. The
Chicago Santa Rampage takes this
to a new level by recapturing the
riches of this movement with Santas
on bicycles with a yen for public
pranks, irreverence, and rowdiness.
The Chicago Santa Rampage will
take place on December 18, 2004.
The meeting place is the Twisted
Spoke at 501 North Ogden Avenue,
for brunch at 10–11 AM. The rules
are that you must be on a bicycle,
and you must be dressed appropriately. Chicago Santa Rampage is a
secular, non-denominational event.
Santas, dreidels (Hanukkah toys),
elves, and reindeer are welcome.
Homemade costumes are encouraged, and a variety of Santa suits can
be purchased at a discount by
mentioning Chicago Santa Rampage
at Chicago Costume at 1120 West
Fullerton Avenue. For more information, visit the Chicago BikeWinter
Web site at bikewinter.org.
W
Santa Rampage Report 2003
Another successful Santa Rampage
was successfully inflicted on the public
on Saturday Dec 13, 2003. As usual, we
met at the Twisted Spoke for prerampage activities and fortifications of
Mexican scrambled eggs, buckwheat
pancakes, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
There were many eager first-time
Santas. They now understood that a
10:00 starting time actually means
12:00 on Santa Time. Santas are not in
a hurry and are often slow or hungover in the morning. Many Santa
costumes, other costumes vaguely
resembling Santa, and even a dreidel
were in evidence.
After fortifications, and entertaining the customers with bawdy
Christmas carols, the Santas got on
their two-wheeled sleighs and
headed to their customary first stop,
Binney’s Beverage Depot, to
purchase Old Style for the Santas
and Manishevitz wine for the dreidel
to drink in the parking lot.
At the North Pole, it is customary to
hang out in the liquor store parking lot
and drink. At Binney’s, this is apparently not true. The custom is to drive
a big car, maneuver it with great difficulty around the parking lot and then
leave—hitting Santas with your car on
the way out, generally acting very
bewildered that there are a bunch of
Santas on bikes hanging around and
drinking in the parking lot. One
person drove his car out and gently hit
one Santa’s bike just to get him out of
the way. Then he opened his window
and said, “Would Santa be able to
move out of the way?” Several Santas
told him how impolite he was—in so
many words. He drove away without a
care in the world.
After about 20 minutes, a gentleman
from the store came out and asked us
to leave. That was okay since we were
ready to leave anyway and are used to
getting kicked out of places.
Santas are naturally drawn to
Michigan Avenue. At first glance, this
seems to be a very lively place. There
are thousands and thousands of
people walking around, and they all
cheered and waved and took pictures
of the Cycling Santas. The streets
were full of buses and taxis, with very
few cars. We then realized that the
only reason each and every one of
them was there was to buy a bunch of
crap for Christmas. They actually
parked their big cars and SUVs
somewhere and when they were
done, they loaded up all of their crap
and drove away with a big dead tree
on their roof. Santas don’t understand
why people chop down a tree and
what this has to do with Christmas at
all, and told them so. We mocked
them by telling them to “Buy More
Crap,” “Scary Christmas,” “Christ
Died So You Can Shop,” and other
such comments. Most of them were
amused and just took our pictures.
Santas don’t like their pictures taken
The Chicago Santa Rampage takes this to a new level by
recapturing the riches of this movement with Santas on bicycles
with a yen for public pranks, irreverence, and rowdiness.
and usually give the photographers
the finger.
Santas prefer other activities and
really like the street musicians, and
hang out and sing and dance and
entertain the crowds for Christmas and
think these are preferable customs.
We went to Water Tower Place to
check out one of these places where all
of the people go to buy crap for
Christmas. We went in and wandered
around, and were treated rudely by a
security guard, who confronted us and
called more security guards.About 11 of
them escorted us out. We then went to
our bikes to leave and were confronted
by the police. The police collected all of
our beer cans and took them away,
dumping the open ones on plants.
Santas don’t understand why
people mistreat plants and trees so
much. At the North Pole, we would
treat plants and trees with great
respect—if there were any. Here, their
only purpose is to be chopped down
for Christmas or to make bags to
carry around all the crap the people
buy. We also don’t understand why
the police have the authority to take
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our beer away. They mentioned some
violation of Code #850 or something.
We didn’t understand such codes.
The next stop was across the
street at Victoria’s Secret, where the
Santas gathered to look at the
underwear in the window. Then
Mrs. Tall-Bike Santa climbed a tree
and showed everyone her underwear. Everybody enjoyed that.
After that, we milled around on
our bikes, frustrated that on
Michigan Avenue it seemed that you
could buy anything on Earth except
for beer, which was all we needed.
One Santa then noticed our confiscated beer in a trashcan. The Santas
gleefully attempted to retrieve the
beer, only to be thwarted again by
the police, who made us throw it
away again, threatening to arrest us.
Next stop: The WGN Radio
station at the Tribune Tower. This is
apparently the most popular radio
station in Chicago. The Santas
thought it was a good idea to get on
the radio to spread the word about
Santa Rampage. When we arrived,
they immediately interrupted their
God-awful, boring talk show and
reported to the world about the
Cycling Santas. They were fascinated
and asked what it is all about. The
Santas reported the absolute outrage
of the police stealing their beer. They
asked us a few more questions, and
then they shut us off, seeming be
worried that this didn’t fit into their
programming format. We listened to
their radio show for a couple of
minutes and then left, wondering
why anyone on Earth would even
listen to that dreadful station, anyway.
Our last stop was at Marshall Fields
on State Street. We were treated with
great joy from all of the people shopping, children, employees, and sales
people who gave us candy, took our
pictures, and loved the Santas. We
wondered why some people around
Michigan Avenue were so uptight.
Why did they want to arrest us and
kick us out and hit us with their cars,
while other places, like those in the
stores on State Street, loved the Santa
Rampage? But this is the essence of
the Santa Rampage. Until next year,
ho ho ho. 3
22
Third
Coast
Press
::
December
2004
Chicago Area Events
All activities are in Chicago, unless otherwise noted. Out of
town events are advertised ONLY if sponsors/endorsers are
organizing publicly accessible transportation from the Chicago
area. DON’T see your item listed? Don’t let us make that mistake
again! Please send your calendar listing to CCAWR@aol.com
with the subject heading “CALENDAR.”
Write it Down: Tuesday, December 14
DECEMBER 2004 EVENTS
SPECIAL NOTICE Tune in for the RETURN of
CHICAGO INDEPENDENT MEDIA!! Support one
of the most important alternative voices in Chicago
media! www.Chicago.indymedia.org
COUNTER-INAUGURAL PROTESTS! Get on
the buses to DC! Protest the coronation of Bush!!
Buses leave Chicago Wednesday evening, January 19
and return Friday morning, January 21. Round trip
tickets are $80. Go to chicagoactions.org/cocci for
more info. on protests here in Chicago and in DC.
ONGOING: 24/7 Union Picket: Support the
Congress Hotel Strikers! Congress Hotel, 520 S.
Michigan. Sponsor: HERE Local 1. Info: congresshotelstrike.info
ONGOING: Support NEIU Faculty Strikers!!
6:30 AM–8PM, Northeastern Illinois University, 5600
N. St. Louis. Sponsor: University Professors of Illinois
Local 4100. Info: upilocal4100.org or neiu.edu/~dgrammen
ONGOING: There is an exhibit on free speech in
Chicago at the Newberry Library, located at 60 W.
Walton, at Clark St., about two blocks south of
Division. The exhibit is called “Outspoken: Chicago’s
Free Speech Tradition.” The library is located directly
across the street from Washington Park, popularly
known as “Bughouse Square.” The square has long
been a place for the exercise of speech by groups and
individuals not favored of the establishment. The
exhibit includes photographs of the demonstrations for
marriage equality held earlier in the. Organized by
Newberry Library and the Chicago Historical Society,
more information on the exhibit or other aspects of
the programming on free speech can be had by
contacting jthomas@newberry.org or going to the Web
site at newberry.org.
Thursday, D2: Student Rally to Support NEIU
Strikers! 1:40PM, Northeastern Illinois University,
Foster Ave. entrance.
Thursday, D2: “Dr. Strangelove,” the Music Box
Theater brings back the brilliant anti-militarist satire
on the 40th anniversary of its release. 3733 N.
Southport. Info: 773-871-6604
Thru Sunday, D12: “From Tel Aviv to Ramallah:
A Beatbox Journey,” 15 characters experience
everyday life amidst the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western. Info: 773/296-6024
Wednesday, D1: Attend the City Council meeting
to insist that they pass a decent funding package
for CAN TV. 10 AM, City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St.,
2nd floor. Info: 312/738-1400
Wednesday, D1: Vida/SIDA observes
International World AIDS Day 2004. Vigil,
5:30PM, Puerto Rican Cultural center 2739-41 W.
Division. March to Marks Church (Thomas &
Campbell), with a program beginning at 6:30PM.
This year’s theme recognizes the impact of HIV/AIDS
on women and girls. Come celebrate and honor those
living and those who have passed away on this international day of observance. This year’s program includes
performances by the children of Centro Infantil of the
Puerto Rican Cultural center, a performance by
Marilyn Camacho of Teatro Urbano, spoken word
testimonials by community members impacted by
HIV/AIDS, and an update on the campaign to “Save
Vida/SIDA.” Info: John Colon 773/278-6737.
Wednesday D1: Not In Our Name meeting,
6:30PM, New World Resource Center, 1300 N. Western
Ave. Agenda items include discussing the current situation, increasing resistance to the Bush Agenda, the
National NION Meeting on December 3rd & 4th in
San Francisco, Inauguration protest, and more. Info:
312/502-2202
Wednesday D1: “The Bellwomen: The Story of
the Landmark AT&T Sex Discrimination Case.”
Hear author Marjorie Stockford. 7:30PM, Woman &
Children First, 5233 N. Clark.
Thursday, D2: “The Court as an Instrument of
Racial Justice: Plessy, Brown & Michigan,” with
Theodore M. Shaw of the NAACP Legal Defense &
Education Fund. 6:30PM, DuSable Museum, 740 E.
56th. Info: 312/422-5580 or ihc@prairie.org.
March and demonstration downtown on
the day before the Board of Education
decision making meeting on the future
of militarization at Senn High School.
4:30PM, meet at the State of Illinois Building (northwest corner of Randolph and Clark
Sts.). March around City Hall and to the Board of Education. Info: info@savesenn.org
ments, and help plan our fight against the Bush
agenda.
Thursday, D2 & Friday, D3: “The Battle at the
Boardroom Doors.” Next Labor Beat show on CAN
TV in Chicago. This half-hour show documents what
happened when the Chicago City Colleges Board tried
to prevent union members, students and supporters
from entering the board room for a public meeting on
the strike. The teachers and supporters were told
initially that they couldn’t enter because the room was
at maximum occupancy, but the Labor Beat camera
disproves that. Viewers will be astonished to see Vice
Chancellor Donahue clearly removing the maximum
occupancy sign so nobody would know what the
maximum legal number was. Some may wonder
whether removing such a sign is illegal. In any event,
it’s a shame that a CCC Vice Chancellor would set
such an example for students in this way. The show
demonstrates the principled and dramatic stand the
teachers union took in fighting for their right to enter
the board room. Cablecast on CAN TV, cable Channel
19 in Chicago, 9:30PM, Friday at 4:30PM. Video can
be purchased by mailing a check to Labor Beat, 37 S.
Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607 (please indicate the
title “The Battle at the Boardroom Doors”). Labor
Beat is affiliated with IBEW 1220. Views expressed are
those of the producers, not necessarily of IBEW 1220.
Info: mail@laborbeat.org, 312/226-3330
Friday, D3: “Challenging the militarization of
our schools: A forum on the fight to save Senn
High School.” 6PM, UNITE HERE Hall, 333 S.
Ashland. Hear Senn teacher and Chicago Teachers
Union delegate Jesse Sharkey, Stacey Paeth of Military
Families Speak Out, Bill Davis of Vietnam Veterans
Against the War, Chuck Hutchcraft of AFSC. The
meeting has been endorsed by CLAW, Save Senn
Coalition, Chicago Labor for Peace Prosperity and
Justice, AFSCME Local 2858, International Socialist
Organization, Socialist Organizer, Socialist Alternative,
and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Info:
chi_labor_antiwar@yahoo.com
Friday, D3: Lickity Split Presents…The Candy
Apple Freak Show! 9PM @ The Dive, 1659 N.
Campbell. Join the Lickity Split Radical Queerleaders
in a benefit party to raise money towards The Great
Cello Incident of 2004. All proceeds go towards
repairing Betsy Chainsaw’s cello that was broken at an
Apartment show during Estrojam. Special surprise
quests…homo-go-go bar dancers…DJ Ali & Eric from
Think Pink spinning…all while the Dive hosts beer
and jello shots! So bring your donations and give like
its going out of style! Info: LickitySplit@2Die4.com
Friday, D3: Chicago Remembers Bhopal. Car pool
to visit a Dow Chemical board member. Gather at
5:30PM, UNITE HERE Hall, 333 S. Ashland.
Sponsor: South Asian Progressive Action Collective.
Info: roshanisaraiya@yahoo.com
Friday, D3–Thursday, D9: “Moolade,” Ousmane
Sembene’s drama of female circumcision. Music
Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport
Saturday, D4: Citizen Action Illinois Annual
Convention. Info: 312/427-2114
Thursday, D2: Democracy Workshop, with discussions of who are your representatives, what is the
Freedom of Information Act & Open Meetings Act,
and more 7–9PM, Citizen Advocacy Center, 238 N.
York Rd., Elmhurst, IL.
Saturday, D4: Today’s episode of “This Is Hell”
features Clayton Swisher, author of The Truth
About Camp David, journalist Gary Matsumoto,
anthropologist Merryl Wyn Davies, and historian
Richard Bulliet. 9AM, WNUR 89.3-FM radio. Info:
thisishell.net
Thursday, D2: The first meeting of Illinois
Progressives United will be held from 7–9 at 1000
Rohlwing Road in Lombard, the DuPage Democrats’
offices. Everyone will receive the DuPage Progressives
Resource Booklet that’s been developed. Get to know
other progressives in the area, enjoy some refresh-
Saturday, D4: 12th Annual People’s Thanksgiving
sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization,
4–8PM (dinner at 5PM), Casa Michoacan, 1638 S.
Blue Island Ave. Every year we gather fighters from
the main fronts of struggle in Chicago. This year join
us in recognizing those that have played a leading role
in these battles as we say: Dump Bush, End the
Occupations of Iraq and Palestine, Fight for Trade
Union Rights, Stop Wrongful Imprisonment, and
Equal Marriage Rights. This event also tells the truth
about the history of this country’s treatment of Native
Americans, African Americans, Mexicanos/Chicanos,
Puerto Ricans and other oppressed nationality people —a history of national oppression and racism. We
don’t accept the myth taught in U.S. schools that
European settlers wanted to live in peace with the
Indians. The colonists came here to steal this land and
carried out genocide. Ours is a PEOPLE’S THANKSGIVING. Tickets: $20, includes dinner. Cash Bar.
Proceeds go to benefit Fight Back! / ¡Lucha y Resiste!
Newspaper. Art and literature table, kids’ banner
making. Info and tickets:For more info or to order
tickets: haywood@igc.org Send checks payable to
“Fight Back” to P.O. Box 87613, Chicago, IL 60613
Saturday, D4: “Other Lands Have Dreams:
Eyewitness to War, Wtiness for Peace,” with Kathy
Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness addressing the Tom
Neumann Memorial Forum. 2:30PM, Oak Park
Library, 834 Lake St., Oak Park, IL. Sponsor: Friends
of the Third Unitarian Church. Info: thirdunitarianchurch.org
Saturday, D4: Remember May Molina—friend,
mother, grandmother and activist—with a
Celebration of Lights. Bring a wrapped toy for Santa
Claus to hand out to the children. A donation of
clothing or non-perishable food would also be appreciated. 5PM, memorial service. 5:30PM, refreshments
and carriage rides. Mount Olive Cemetery, 3800 N.
Marragansett Avenue, Section/Blk: LM. Grave: 7. Info:
773/286-3770.
Saturday, D4: “The Days of the Martys and the
Saints: the Enduring Memory of the Haymarket
Tragedy and other Labor Massacres.” 10AM,
Chicago Historical Society, 1600 N. Clark St.
Saturday, D4: “Other Lands Have Dreams:
Eyewitness to War, Witness for Peace.” Hear
Kathy Kelly of Voices In The Wilderness address the
Tom Neumann Memorial Forum. 2:30PM, Oak Park
Library, 834 Lake St., Oak Park, IL. Sponsor: Friends
of the Third Unitarian Church. Info: thirdunitarianchurch.org
Saturday, D4–Sunday, D5: “Magical Activism,
Activism and Beyond,” a weekend intensive
seminar, December 4 & 5, 2004 from 1PM to 9PM.
each day. Activism is more than just protesting. This
workshop seeks to link personal experience and spiritual practice to the larger global web. We will examine
how we each experience privilege and oppression, and
how we can claim our privilege to enrich and heal our
society as a whole. By weaving co-creation and resistance, we will awaken imagination within ourselves,
and embark on the journey to change consciousness
on a societal scale. We will study histories and theories
of nonviolent activism to inform our process. We will
develop our personal intentions and concrete actions
for social change through grounding, aura exercises,
deep visioning, accessing elemental and spiritual
connections in urban areas, and skill sharing. Please
wear comfortable clothing, and along with your journals, bring the tactics you already utilize in your life, in
community building and on the streets. Classes will be
held at Grace United Methodist Church of Logan
Square, 3325 W. Wrightwood Ave. (corner of
Wrightwood and Kimball, 3 blocks from the “Logan
Square” Blue Line stop. Kimball bus stops right in
front of the church. Street parking is also available).
Cost is $75-150 sliding scale. Pay what you can afford,
no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Reserve
space by sending a $25 deposit by November 12 to
Chicago Reclaiming, Inc., P.O. Box 64976, Chicago, IL
60664-0976. Info and registration also at chicagoreclaiming.org. More info: river@chicagoreclaiming.org
or 773/506-1099.
Sunday, D5: “Peace, Propaganda, and the
Promised Land: U.S. Media & the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict,” a film and discussion on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Israel’s occupation of
Palestinian land seized in 1967, and the treatment of
the situation by the U.S. media. Film produced by the
Media Education Foundation. 7PM at Chicago
Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark. Co-sponsored by Not In
My Name, Andersonville Neighbors for Peace, and
Chicago Filmmakers. For information call 773/2503225. There will be a suggested fund-raiser donation of
$7. Info: 773/250-3225
Sunday, D5: Join us for the 11th annual
pancake/waffle breakfast to benefit the Puerto
Rican political prisoners and the Family Learning
Center in the Puerto Rican community.
9:30AM–1PM at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center,
2739-41 W. Division, tickets $5–20. Sponsored by
Prairie Fire Organizing Committee Info: 773/278-6706
Sunday, D5: Fair Trade Holiday Market and
Amnesty card writing event. Fair trade holiday gifts
& card writing to prisoners of conscience featured by
Amnesty International. Noon–3PM, Countryside
Unitarian Church, 1025 N. Smith Rd., Palatine, IL.
Info: 847/359-8440
Monday, D6: Art party for International Human
Rights Day event. 6PM at 2502 W. Division.
Sponsor: Peace Pledge Chicago. Info: 312/494-5840
Tuesday, D7: “Taken By Surprise…Again.” On
the 63rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor, join with activist
Harold Taggart as he discusses David Ray Griffin’s
book, The New Pearl Harbor. Griffin ventures where
many haven’t dared to go in speculating as to what
may have actually occurred on September 11, 2001. In
his carefully constructed research he comes up with
many different possible scenarios. Provocative discussion encouraged —come and bring your own point of
view as to how September 11 came about. 7PM, Acme
Arts Center, 1741 N. Western Ave. (at Bloomingdale
Street, parking available along either side of Western).
Donation $5, pay what you can.
Tuesday, D7: Casey Schwartz of the Broadway
Youth Center will be the guest speaker at Illinois
Gender Advocates, 7:30PM at New Spirit
Metropolitan Community Church, 542 S. Scoville
Ave., Oak Park, IL.
Tuesday, D7: Chicago Youth for Conscientious
Objection book sale. 9AM–noon and 6–8:30PM,
Portage Park Center for The Arts, 3914 N. Menard.
Book donations accepted. Info:
hollyhobbiegal@yahoo.com or beadfairy@sbcglobal.net
Wednesday, D8: Women are asked to join in
planning International Women’s Day (March 8th,
2005). Planning meeting will be at 6PM, Wednesday,
December 8 at 2502 W. Division. Info: 773/278-6706
Wednesday, D8: “Civil Liberties: The Next Four
Years,” benefit for the Chicago Committee to Defend
the Bill of Rights. 6PM, The HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo
St. (co-sponsored by The Bill of RIghts Foundation).
Speakers are Kit Gage, Director, First Amendment
Foundation and National Committee Against
Repressive Legislation and founder and President,
National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom; Lewis
Myers, Jr., nationally known civil and human rights
attorney, and founder and President of the Institute of
Criminal Justice at Kennedy King College. Food, cash
bar. Admission: one person $35, two people $50;
program only (7PM) $20. Tickets will be held at the
door. Discounted parking available at 710 S. Wabash (the
building adjacent to the Hothouse). Info: 312/93-.0675
Wednesday, D8: Come to a 9/11 film extravaganza, featuring “9/11 In Plane Site,” produced by
The Power Hour, and “The Great Conspiracy,” by
Barry Zwicker. Discussion to follow. 7–9:30PM, $2
donation, Healing Earth Resources, 3111 N. Ashland.
Info: drlora@ameritech.net
Wednesday, D8: Come to a forum on “The Battle
for Chicago Schools,” discussing “Renaissance
2010,” plans for a Naval Academy at Senn High, and
the attacks on unions at NEIU and the City Colleges.
Panel features a Chicago City Colleges teacher and
member of the Cook County College Teachers’ Union
(CCCTU), Jesse Sharkey, a Chicago Teachers Union
Delegate and member of the Save Senn Coalition, a
member of the University Professionals of Illinois
(UPI) at NEIU, Sam Jordan of NEIU Students for
Faculty Rights, and Jason Johnston of the Chicago
City Colleges Student Solidarity Committee.
Additional speakers are being confirmed.
Organizations listed for identification only. This forum
is sponsored by the International Socialist
Organization. 7PM, University of Illinois-Chicago,
Chicago Circle Center, Room 605, 750 S. Halsted.
Info: socialistworker.org
Wednesday, D8: “Civil Liberties: The Next Four
Years,” a benefit for the Chicago Committee to
Defend the Bill of Rights and The Bill of Rights
Foundation. Speakers include Kit Gage, Director of
the First Amendment Foundation and the National
Committee Against Repressive Legislation, Founder
and President, National Coalition to Protect Political
Third
Freedom. Lewis Myers, Jr., is a nationally known civil
and humans rights attorney, and founder and
President, Institute of Crimainl Justice at Kennedy
King College. Food, cash bar. 6PM, The HotHouse, 31
E. Balbo St. Admission: one ticket, $35; two tickets,
$50; program only, at 7PM, $20. Info: 312/939-0675
Wednesday, D8: Illinois School of the Americas
Watch meeting. 7PM, DePaul University, 2233 N.
Kenmore
Thursday, D9: “Crossroads of Crisis: Violence
Against Women and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic.”
6PM, Grace Pl., 637 S. Dearborn. Panelists include
Debra Fleming of Chicago Women’s AIDS Project,
HIV/AIDS activist Ida Byther-Smith, and Tracy
Fischman of Planned Parenthood. Sponsors: AIDS
Foundation of Chicago, Amnesty International, and
Chicago Women’s AIDS Project. Info: 312/435-6393 or
mpurdue@aiusa.org
Thursday, D9: Mass public forum! CEO of
Schools Arne Duncan has promised to attend during
the first hour. 5:30–7PM, North Shore Baptist
Church, 5244 N. Lakewood (3 blocks east of Clark,
one block north of Foster; at the corner of Berwyn
and Lakewood, two blocks west of the Berwyn stop on
the Red Line). Info: info@savesenn.org
Thursday, D9 & Friday, D10: “The Battle at the
Boardroom Doors.” Next Labor Beat show on CAN
TV in Chicago. This half-hour show documents what
happened when the Chicago City Colleges Board tried
to prevent union members, students and supporters
from entering the board room for a public meeting on
the strike. The teachers and supporters were told
initially that they couldn’t enter because the room was
at maximum occupancy, but the Labor Beat camera
disproves that. Viewers will be astonished to see Vice
Chancellor Donahue clearly removing the maximum
occupancy sign so nobody would know what the
maximum legal number was. Some may wonder
whether removing such a sign is illegal. In any event,
it’s a shame that a CCC Vice Chancellor would set
such an example for students in this way. The show
demonstrates the principled and dramatic stand the
teachers union took in fighting for their right to enter
the board room. Cablecast on CAN TV, cable Channel
19 in Chicago, 9:30PM. Friday at 4:30. Video can be
purchased by mailing a check to Labor Beat, 37 S.
Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60607 (please indicate the
title “The Battle at the Boardroom Doors”). Labor
Beat is affiliated with IBEW 1220. Views expressed are
those of the producers, not necessarily of IBEW 1220.
Info: mail@laborbeat.org, 312/226-3330
Friday, D10: Chicago Anti-Bashing Network live
call-in show on CAN-TV, 6:30–6:55PM on Cable
Channel 21 in Chicago.
Friday, D10: Pathfinders Prevention Education
Fund honors advocates, activists, consumers, friends
and supporters in the struggle for HIV prevention and
AIDS awareness. Honorees include long-time activist
Darryl Gordon. 6–8:30PM, Akainyah Art Gallery, 357
W. Erie St. Reservations required. Phone 773/533-5753
or 773/533-5755.
Friday, D10: Initiating an ongoing Friday vigil
for peace, a group of health care workers invite
Chicago area people to join them on Friday, December
10, (Human Rights Day), for a gathering that calls for
an end to war and urges that US resources be directed
toward meeting human needs at home and abroad,
rather than causing ongoing war and impoverishment.
3:30PM, 845 S. Damen, UIC College of Nursing
entrance. Info: Gerri Gorman, R.N./Ph.D., 312/4139013, ggorman@uic.edu
Friday, D10: “What Really Happened in Ohio on
November 2nd?” A video of first Ohio hearing on
voting irregularities and suppression in Columbus,
Ohio. 7:30PM, World Folk Music Company, 1808 W.
103rd. Sponsor: Southsiders for Peace, Citizens for
Truth Coalition, Progressive Democrats of Illinois,
Friends of the Green Planet. Info:
welcomechange@sbcglobal.net or 773/445-6698
Friday, D10: Chicago Homeless Veterans
Standdown. A day of health care, food, & shelter for
homeless veterans. Sponsor: Vietnam Veterans Against
The War. General Jones Armory, Washington Park,
5200 S. Cottage Grove. Info: 773/276-4189
Saturday, D11: “Free Speech and the ‘Kids of
Fairytown,” a discussion of open gay life on
Chicago’s Near North Side in the 1930s. 11 AM.
Chicago Historical Society, 1600 North Clark St.
Saturday, D11: Join us to celebrate International
Human Rights Day! Noon. Water Tower Plaza at
Chicago and Michigan Avenue. This is an open invitation for all groups and individuals to creatively express
what Human Rights means to them by bringing signs,
sandwich boards, banners and flags to Water Tower on
Saturday, December 11. We will create a visible presence at Water Tower Plaza to remind holiday shoppers
of the importance of International Human Rights Day.
We hope you will join with us. We will have an art
party one week before on Monday, December 6 at
6pPM at 2502 W. Division. Info: 312/494-5840
Sponsor: Peace Pledge Chicago
Saturday, D11: Symposium on Human Rights in
Guatemala. Hear congresswoman Nineth
Montenegro of Alianza Nueva Nacion party, Mario
Polanco of Mutual Support Group (GAM), and Oscar
Chacón of Enlaces América 6PM. Sponsor:
Foundation of Human Rights in Guatemala. Info:
773/250-3407 or info@fhrg.org or fhrg.org
Saturday, D11: The Crisis in Mass Transit,
Health Care, and Independent Political Action.
Hear Nick Skala & Ida Hellander of Physicians for a
National Health Program, and others. 4PM, Heartland
Café, 7000 N. Glenwood. Sponsors: Midwest Unrest,
Green Alliance, others
Sunday, D12: The Partisan Defense Committee is
sponsoring its nineteenth annual Holiday Appeal
for Class-War Prisoners. Organize to fight to free
Mumia Abu-Jamal and other victims of racist capitalist
injustice. The Holiday Appeal fundraising party raises
funds to send monthly stipends to these class-war prisoners. 3–7PM, UE Hall, 37 S. Ashland (at Monroe).
Enjoy music, dancing, food, and political conversation.
Info: 312/563-0442
Tuesday, D14: March and demonstration downtown on the day before the Board of Education
decision making meeting on the future of militarization at Senn High School. 4:30PM, meet at the State
of Illinois Building (northwest corner of Randolph and
Clark Sts.). March around City Hall and to the Board
of Education. Info: info@savesenn.org
Tuesday, D14: Trial of protesters for gay
marriage rights—Cathy Ann Joseph, Angela James
and Andy Thayer—arrested at David Orr’s Cook
County Marriage License Bureau on May 18th. Come
show your support for equal rights for all! 9AM, 1340
S. Michigan Ave. Info: CABNstopthehate@aol.com
Wednesday, D15: Protest while the Chicago
Board of Education votes on the Naval takeover of
Senn High School. Info: info@savesenn.org
Wednesday, D15: Health Care Justice Campaign
Candlelight Vigil. 5–7PM, State of Illinois Building.
Sponsor: Campaign for Better Health Care. Info:
312/913-9449
Thursday, D16: “Romance and Reaction.” Eric
Miller discusses Stendahl’s “The Red & the Black.”
7PM, Acme Art Works, 1741 N. Western. Sponsor:
Open University of the Left. Info: 847/677-5474.
Thursday, D16: “Edward Said: The Last
Interview,” author & Palestinian activist talks with
British journalist Charles Glass. 6:15PM, Siskel Film
Center, 164 N. State.
Friday, D17: Tonight the Chicago Gay Youth
Center, 1218 W. Addison, will begin hosting monthly
youth parties called “Curiosity” for LGBT youth
18–23. 9PM at the Center. Youth 18 and under must
be CGY members to attend for legal purposes.
Saturday, D18: Stop CAT (Caterpillar, Inc.)
Coalition meeting. 1–3PM, New World Resource
Center, 1300 N. Western Ave. Info:
ISMinChicago@aol.com or 773/489-3505
Sunday, D19: ISM-Chicago monthly potluck
meeting. 5‒7PM. Sponsor: International Solidarity
Movement/Chicago. Info: ISMinChicago@aol.com or
773/489-3505
Wednesday, D22: The Ying and Yang of Film
showings, with “Holes in Heaven,” a documentary
about the HAARP system, “Another World Is Possible,
North American Voices at the World Social Forum,”
followed by a discussion about Intentional Living
Communities. All the while enjoying a Vegetarian
Christmas Potluck, bring what ever you would like to
share including wine! 7PM–whenever they kick us
out, no donation! Healing Earth, 3111 N. Ashland. Info:
drlora@ameritech.net
Thursday, D23: Be MARY! Celebrate the holidays
with the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network at their
annual holiday soiree. “A List” gays NOT invited!
Strictly B to Z. 6PM–?, home of Bob Schwartz, 5445
N. Kenmore, 2nd floor, Chicago. Info: 773/878-3697
ONGOING EVENTS
Daily, 7–9PM: Democracy Now! is now in
Chicago! Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, and their
guests are a daily independent source of news on
matters like the occupation of Iraq. WZRD, 88.3 FM
Mondays–Fridays, 3:45PM: Pacifica’s Free Speech
Radio News on WZRD 88.3 FM
Mondays–Fridays, 6PM: Pacifica’s Free Speech
Radio News on WLUW 88.7 FM.
Mondays, 6PM: Peace Pledge Chicago meetings,
2502 W. Division.
Mondays, 7–9PM: Twice-monthly meeting (1st
and 3rd Mondays) of Andersonville Neighbors for
Peace, at North Shore Baptist Church, 5242 N.
Lakewood, Room 131.
Mondays: 1st Mondays of each month, 7PM:
Department of Peace Coalition meetings. Thomas
Ford Library, 800 Chestnut, Western Springs.
MarjorieZ@DOPC.us
Tuesdays, 8PM: Silent Presence for Peace at the
Federal Building—Peace Vigil, Federal Plaza,
Dearborn & Jackson. 8th Day Center for Justice:
312/641-5151
Tuesdays, 9PM–NOON. Progressive radio show
on WZRD-FM, 88.3 FM
Tuesdays, 6–7PM: Weekly protest against the
occupation of Iraq, northwest corner of 95th and
Coast
Press
Western Ave. Proceeds the weekly 7:30PM meeting of
South Siders for Peace at the Beverly Unitarian Church,
10244
S.
Longwood
Dr,
Chicago.
Info:
lswolf@imaxx.net
Tuesdays, Alernating (D7 & 21): Chicago Coalition
Against War & Racism general meeting. All who
want to organize against war and racism are welcome!
6:30PM, 1st Methodist Temple, 77 W. Washington (at
Clark), 2nd floor “Heritage Room.” Info: call 888/4710874 or e-mail CCAWR@aol.com.
Tuesdays, 7PM (2nd & 4th of each month): Hyde
Park Committee Against War and Racism weekly
meeting at University Church, 57th and University,
Chicago. Info: chicagoantiwar.org/hydepark/hpcawr.html
Wednesdays, 3PM: Food Not Bombs: Meals for the
Hungry. Loyola El Station.
Wednesdays, 4–6PM: Northside Peace Gathering.
Three Cornered Island of Peace: Milwaukee, Logan
& Kedzie Aves. Protesting war and empire since Sept. 2,
2003. Info: mundopaz3@hotmail.com
Thursdays, 1:30PM: “The Ministry of Truth,” a
weekly haven for left-wing thought and comment with
Chicago Media Action’s Mitchell Szczepanczyk. WHPK
88.5-FM radio. Info: msszczep@midway.uchicago.edu or
whpk.uchicago.edu
Thursdays, 5–6PM: “Party from Damascus” radio
program on WHPK, 88.5 FM. Politics plus Arab music:
shaabi, pop, dabke, khaleeji and MORE!
Thursdays, 7:30–9:30PM: Neighbors for Peace
weekly meeting. St. Nicholas Church, 806 Ridge Ave.
Evanston
Thursdays, 7PM: Southside Slam. Open Mics at
N’diga Coffee & Books, 3510 W. 63rd Street. List opens
at 6PM, performances begin at 7PM. Bring a gently
used book and get in free ($2 otherwise, performers
free, no cookbooks please). Non-smoking, children
friendly environment. Info: 773/925-2517
Thursdays, 9PM: Homolatee, Queer Words and
Music, hosted by Scott Free. No Exit Café, 6970 N.
Glenwood. scottfree.net/homolatte.html
Every last Saturday of the month: Waukegan Foodnot-Bombs will be serving vegetarian and vegan food to
all those who wish to eat at Jack Benny Plaza in downtown
Waukegan. People who can bring or donate food are highly
appreciated, but the most important thing is your stomach
and your sense of social justice. Please contact the RedAlert
Collective for more info. redalertcollective.cjb.net or
redalertcollective36@hotmail.com
Saturdays, 9PM: “This Is Hell” irreverent radio
show. WNUR 89.3-FM. Info: thisishell.net
Saturdays, 9PM: “Live from the Heartland”
progressive radio show. WLUW 88.7-FM. Info: heartlandcafe.com
Saturdays, 2–4PM: Northside Peace Gathering.
Three Cornered Island of Peace: Milwaukee, Logan &
Kedzie Aves. Protesting war and empire since Sept. 2,
2003. Info: mundopaz3@hotmail.com
Saturdays, 5PM: Food Not Bombs serving at 18th St.
and Loomis.
Sundays, Noon–1PM: Not In My Name weekly
vigil: End Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza
Strip & East Jerusalem. Water Tower Place, 830 N.
Michigan. Info: nimn.org
Sundays, 1–2:45PM: Food Not Bombs serving free
vegetarian meals to the hungry @ corner of Lincoln and
Fullerton.
Sundays (2nd & 4th), 4PM: Chicago Indymedia
general meeting. 3411 W. Diversey, ring bell, we’ll let you
in. Info: 773/384-8544 or IMC-chicago@indymedia.org
EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN TO WAR &
RACISM, SPONSORED BY CCAWR
1. If the U.S. starts another full scale war on another
country besides Iraq, a protest will take place at 5PM+ at
the Federal Plaza, Adams & Dearborn Sts., Chicago, the
day the bombing begins. There will be a larger follow up
protest at the same time & place the day after.
2. In the event of a provocative attack on community
leaders or organizations in the Chicago area, CCAWR has
constructed a phone tree to mobilize the community to
quickly protest the attack, whether at a police station,
federal government office, or other appropriate place. To get
on the Emergency Response phone tree / e-mail list and
receive regular calendar updates such as this one, send your
contact information to CCAWR@aol.com
Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism
CCAWR@aol.com, chicagoantiwar.org
312/458-9559, 888/471-0874
::
December
2004
23
812 West Belmont, 2nd Floor
(Enter on Dayton)
(773) 868-9263
6431 N. Sheridan
(773) 465-1539
226 S. Wabash, 2nd Floor
(312) 692-1778