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More than 3,500 people marched from the Basillica in St. Paul to the State Capitol on Monday, April 4, to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the day Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis while he was organizing support for public employees. The rally was organized by the St. Paul branch of the NAACP to show support for "a living wage and civil and human rights in solidarity with working families, public employees and union members across Minnesota and the country." |
Obama lies about Libya
BY ED FELIEN
Barack Obama tried to explain the U.S. war against Libya on Monday, March 28, and he said a number of things that simply are not true.
He said, “Gaddafi had lost the confidence of his people.” Compared to most other Arab countries, Gaddafi seems to enjoy widespread if not universal support. The city of Benghazi is an isolated exception. Thomas C. Mountain has been following events in Libya for 25 years. Here is his assessment:
“In 1969 when Col. Gaddafi came to power by overthrowing the Libyan king in a
military coup, Libyans were one of the poorest people in the world with an annual per capita income of less than $60.
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Understanding
the Republican Jobs Plan
BY ED FELIEN
At first it seemed like a cruel joke. The Republicans were going to create jobs, jobs, jobs by cutting government spending. But how could they create jobs by eliminating them?
Most economists agree that government has a vital role in stimulating the economy by hiring workers, and, in addition to the short term advantage of putting money into the hands of consumers so they can create other new jobs by buying products, the new jobs can help the infrastructure on a long term basis by improving roads or raising the general education level.
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What are they thinking?
BY CHARLEY UNDERWOOD
There are some who continue to insist that public money should be spent for a new Viking stadium. But let’s get realistic here for a minute.
The shelters are full. The food shelves are empty. The foreclosures continue apace. The streets look like Gadaffi has been bombing them. The bridges are falling. Already one fire station has been closed. Property taxes are
reaching a level that can only be called obscene. Schools are closing. The public health system is broke. Over 100 people die homeless in the Twin Cities each year. The city is broke. The state is broke. The country is broke. Some of us are trying to
survive here, looking for ways to help ourselves and help each other in spite of the horribly misplaced priorities of our elected officials.
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Thieves in high places steal our government
BY JIM HIGHTOWER
 In American politics, the past not only sticks with us, but it often provides the best definition of what’s going on in the politics of the present, so it can be useful to revisit some powerful words from our history.
Today’s media and political powers, for example, keep using the word “conservatism” to describe current political trends in our democratic republic. Poor choice of words. From the Koch brothers to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, from GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner to such anti-worker governors as Walker of Wisconsin, an autocratic power grab is underway to enthrone corporate power and moneyed elites to rule unilaterally over our government, economy and environment. Nothing conservative about that!
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Is nuclear power safe?
BY ED FELIEN
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Monticello Nuclear Power Plant
on the Mississippi River |
Already trace elements of radioactive material from the nuclear power plant failures in Japan have begun to show up in rainwater in Minnesota. No one knows how long this will last, and no one can predict the long-term effects
of this kind of radioactive poisoning. Radioactive materials have been leaking from the Fukushima plant into the ocean. Fishermen in the area believe their livelihood has been destroyed. No one can predict how far this contamination will reach.
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Stop the wars! Stop the FBI
harassment of the peace movement!
BY ED FELIEN
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Meredith Aby |
More than 400 people marched on Saturday, March 19, from the Martin Luther King Center in St. Paul to the State Capitol as part of a national day of anti-war protests.
The central demand of the protest was: “Bring the troops home now!” Meredith Aby, one of the principal organizers of the Anti-War Committee and
one of the people originally subpoenaed and who refused to testify before a grand jury in Chicago about the activities of the peace movement in Minneapolis, spoke at the rally before the march:
“Almost every day I turn on the radio and hear Clinton and Obama criticize Middle Eastern and North African countries for criminalizing dissent. It is outrageous that the U. S. is using protecting the right to dissent as an
excuse to justify war against Libya, while anti-war activists are targeted right here in the U. S. for daring to criticize the U. S. government and protest against the very wars they are justifying.
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America 2011: A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
BY RICHARD TAYLOR
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” **Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union address 12/3/1861
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Who are we?
Taking a quick look at the 2010 Census data
By Ed Felien
Preliminary results of the 2010 Census are in and here are some of theresults:
The Field Neighborhood has 2,366 residents and 1,076 housing units. Of these, 1,036 are occupied and 40 are vacant. There are 1,633 people who identify themselves as White, or 69%. There are 123 Hispanic or Latino, or about 5%, and 397 African-American, or almost 17%. The rest are mixed race, Asian or Other.
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Mpls/St. Paul Film Fest runs
April 14 to May 5
Guaranteed to be the sleeper hit of this year’s Fest is the Swedish film “Sound of Noise.” It’s about an anti-terrorist police officer whose brother is a famous conductor. The officer is charged with finding the anarchists that are creating weird new music in the most unlikely places. They use oxygen tanks, human bodies, paper shredders and high tension electrical wires to concoct a symphony of the city that challenges the notion of conventional music. (Ed Felien)
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April 2011
