Dear
friends, George Markham died peacefully today, with Arky next to him and
friends around them. More later.
JUMP
TO
BILLIONAIRES FOR WEALTHCARE Singing their Praises of
Health New England & the Insurance Industry
COUNTER-DEMONSTRATORS FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL Singing Right
Back at Them
TAKE ACTION FOR SAFE HOSPITALS
HEALTH
CARE IS A RIGHT! SING OUT FOR SINGLE PAYER!
Monday October 26
NORMAN SOLOMON: SPINNING HEALTH CARE: A CASE OF VERTIGO
7:30pm, Hooker Auditorium, Clapp Building, Mount Holyoke
College, Rt 116, South Hadley. Author and nationally syndicated columnist
Norman Solomon assesses the current national health care debate as part of the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal
Arts program, Rethinking
Health Care. Info: 538-3071, wcl@mtholyoke.edu.
Tuesday October 27
PROTEST
THE AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
11am,
Chicago. WANTED For Crimes Against American Families: Bailout Bandit Bankers: CitiGroup | Wells Fargo | JP Morgan Chase | Bank of America. They
crashed the economy. They robbed Americans of $11 trillion. They took our
homes, jobs, and life savings. They set aside $74 billion for bonuses &
pay. They fought against common sense reform. More at http://showdowninchicago.org/
and http://www.stopbankgreed.org/.
Tuesday October 27
(postponed from normally Third Tuesday)
FRANKLIN/HAMPSHIRE HEALTH CARE COALITION
7pm,
Lathrop Village Community Room, Shallow Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd,
Northampton. Organizing for the Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund Bill - a
universal health care system, providing universal access, a comprehensive range
of physical and mental health benefits, choice of provider, quality, unified
financing and cost controls, accountable governance, and stability. A
Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund will be a ※single-payer§ of all health
care costs, statewide. Also organizing for the national alternative to state
action: Medicare for All 每 HR 676. Info: info@fhhcc.org.
Please visit www.masscare.org and www.healthcare-now.org.
Tuesday October 27 (Fourth Tuesday)
HAMPSHIRE/FRANKLIN CENTRAL LABOR
COUNCIL
7:30pm, Northampton Fire Station
Community Room, 26 Carlon Drive at King St/Route 5, Northampton (587-1148).
Community and labor activist guests are welcome, but RSVP to Pres. Fiore
Grassetti, 877-725-0357, org7@comcast.net.
Wednesday October 28
PLANNING THE WESTERN MASS. JOBS
WITH JUSTICE MEMBERSHIP MEETING
9:30-11am, MNA Office, 241 King St,
Room 226, Northampton. The WMass JwJ Membership Meeting Saturday January 16
2010, beginning early afternoon into the evening, will be an educational
and social gathering as well as a short business meeting. To join the
Membership Meeting Organizing Committee, RSVP: wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Wednesday October 28
PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ACT RELATIVE
TO TEMPORARY WORKERS' RIGHT TO KNOW
10:30am, State House Hearing Room
A-2, Boston. The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development will hear
testimony on one of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO's top legislative priorities, An
Act Relative to Temporary Workers' Right to Know. Thousands of Massachusetts
workers employed by temp agencies are being denied their basic rights. They are
sent off to work without any idea of where they are going, the type of work
they will be required to do, their rate of pay 每 even the name of their
employer, who is often referred to by a nickname. Although they work hard and
long, these workers often fail to receive their earned wages or are injured
without compensation at hazardous worksites. Info: 781-324-8230, clong@massaflcio.org.
Wednesday October 28 (Fourth Wednesday) (NOTE TIME CHANGE)
GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN
ECONOMY WORKING GROUP
Noon-2:30pm, Pioneer Valley
AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970). Brown Bag Lunch at
Noon. This Working Group consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves
local communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes
community-owned sustainable projects. On the agenda: progress
report by GreenWork Organizational Subcommittee on our Articles of Organization
and By-Laws; planning for Clean Energy Connections, November 10.
Subscribe to the GreenWork
listserve at http://lists.gaiahost.coop/mailman/listinfo/greenwork
or send an email to greenwork-subscribe@lists.gaiahost.coop.
Info: Jon Weissman, 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org,
or Eduardo Su芍rez, 335-6224, director@echosd.org.
Thursday
October 29
BILLIONAIRES FOR
WEALTHCARE Singing their Praises of Health New England & the Insurance
Industry
COUNTER-DEMONSTRATORS FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL
Singing Right Back at Them
Noon, Monarch Place, corner
of Main St and Boland Way, Springfield (Monarch Place houses Health New
England [and Bank of America too!]). Billionaires for Wealthcare describe
themselves as ※a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists,
talk-show hosts, and others profiting off of our broken health care system.
We'll do whatever it takes to ensure another decade where your pain is our
gain. After all, when it comes to health insurance, if we ain't broke,
why fix it?§ One of their anthems is ※We Shall Overcharge!§ (Rachel
Maddow's coverage of the Billionaires performance at the AHIP convention last
Friday - "Guerillas in their Midst" 每 is at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/.)
They will praise Health New England (HNE) for its membership in America＊s
Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the lobbying group trying to turn health care
reform into a government subsidy for their profits.
Health
New England is a for-profit HMO that is part of the so-called ※non-profit§
Baystate Health empire. Baystate has hired the well-known union-busting law
firm, Jackson Lewis (http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/the-anti-union-network/for-profit-union-busters/jackson-lewis-20071018-313-254.html).
The Western Mass. Workers＊ Rights Board has called out Baystate on its behavior
toward Nurses in Franklin County. Please read http://wmjwj.org/sites/wmjwj.org/files/BFMC%20WRB.pdf.
Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO
Convention on September 15, 2009, endorsed a single-payer solution to the
health care crisis: expanded and improved Medicare for all. Back on April
24, 2006, Rep. Richard Neal told the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO that he would vote
for it if it ever got out of committee. Here＊s his chance:
The
Weiner Amendment would replace Division A of the House health care bill
(HR3200) with the text of HR676, the United States National Health Care Act
(sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and cosponsored by Olver but not
Neal). This would effectively transform HR3200 into single-payer
legislation. Also, the Kucinich Amendment to HR3200 would allow
states to design their own single-payer systems. See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWXRwrYa4oU.
Rep.
John Olver has pledged to vote for these amendments. You can tell Neal to
honor his April 24, 2006, statement to us: go to http://www.house.gov/neal/write_neal.html
or http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/307/t/9290/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27743,
or send a free eFax to Neal at http://www.1payer.net/faxapp/senders/add/cid:35.
Thursday
October 29
LEE BADGETT: WHEN GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED
7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes
116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html).
M.V. Lee Badgett will read from and sign her new book, When Gay People Get
Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage. In order
to find out the impact of same-sex marriage, Lee Badgett traveled to a land
where it has been legal for same-sex couples to marry since 2001: the
Netherlands. Badgett interviews gay couples to find out how this step has
affected their lives. We learn about the often surprising changes to their
relationships, the reactions of their families, and work colleagues. Moreover,
Badgett is interested in the ways that the institution itself has been altered
for the larger society. How has the concept of marriage changed? When Gay
People Get Married gives readers a primer on the current state of the
same-sex marriage debate, and a new way of framing the issue that provides
valuable new insights into the political, social, and personal stakes involved.
November
2 & 3
TAKE
ACTION FOR SAFE HOSPITALS
The
Coalition to Protect Massachusetts Patients - www.protectmasspatients.org 每
will hold press conferences/rallies across the state on Monday November 2 and
phone banks November 2 and 3, in conjunction with a hearing on Tuesday
November 3 at the Massachusetts State House. Registered Nurses in
Massachusetts＊ hospitals are being forced to care for too many patients at
once, and patients are suffering the consequences in the form of preventable
errors, avoidable complications, increased lengths of stay, and readmissions. The
Patient Safety Act - H.3912/S.890 - would dramatically improve hospital care by
setting a safe limit on the number of patients assigned to a nurse. The
Department of Public Health would set the safe limits and adjust them based on
patient needs. The Act would reduce errors caused by fatigue and overwork
by prohibiting mandatory overtime, such as forcing RNs to work extra hours or
double shifts. It would also provide initiatives to increase nursing
faculty and nurse recruitment. See What the Bill Does.
MONDAY: PRESS CONFERENCE /
RALLY
Noon-12:30pm,
near the entrance to Mercy Hospital, 271 Carew Street, at
Cass St, Springfield. Labor and community turnout is strongly encouraged 每 to ※impress the press§. Mass. Nurses Assn. (MNA) will provide signs. If you can
come, please click here or hit
Reply or call 827-0301 x1.
MONDAY
& TUESDAY: PHONE BANKING FOR CALLS TO LEGISLATORS
Monday afternoon and evening, Tuesday morning and afternoon, MNA Office, 241 King St #226, Northampton. Nurses and
others will call nurses on Nov. 2 and/or 3 using a computerized dialing system so
that callers will be able to patch the folks they＊re calling through to their
state legislators. To find out more or volunteer: Leo Maley, 781-520-1483, LMaley@MNARN.org.
TUESDAY:
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
10am, State House, Boston. The
Patient Safety Act will have a public hearing before the Joint Committee on
Public Health. Testifiers include Jon Weissman of Western Mass. Jobs with
Justice. If you wish to attend, click here or hit
Reply or call 827-0301 x1. If you wish to submit written testimony, contact
Andi Mullin, Mass. Nurses Assn. (MNA),
800-882-2056 x716, amullin@mnarn.org.
To let your State Rep
and Senator know you support the Patient Safety Act (H.3912/S.890),
visit http://www.protectmasspatients.org/how.htm.
Wednesday November 4 (First Wednesday)
FRANKLIN COUNTY WORKERS' RIGHTS
COMMITTEE ~ ORGANIZING AN UNEMPLOYED SPEAK-OUT
7-8:30pm, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, 24 Miles St,
Greenfield (773-7427). Organizing a public event where unemployed workers can
speak out and develop community standards for lay-off and recall, etc. Also
organizing local solidarity for Franklin County workers and unions; nurses and
other workers at Franklin Medical Center; Greenfield municipal employees; and
statewide and national workers' rights campaigns. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Thursday November 5 (First Thursday)
MASSACHUSETTS CITIZENS AGAINST
THE DEATH PENALTY
7-8:30pm, Unitarian
Society, 245 Porter Lake Drive, Springfield. MCADP＊s mission is to keep
the death penalty out of Massachusetts and work to abolish it nationally and
internationally. Info: mcadp1@aol.com or cajowl66@aol.com, 567-3451.
November
6-8
UNDOING RACISM WORKSHOP
Springfield. Learn to dismantle
institutionalized racism. Should everyone have the same opportunity to the good
life? Have you been working to remove the inequities in your organization? It's
time to Walk the Talk. Info: Undoing Racism Organizing Collective (UROC) of
Western Mass, PO Box 81235, Springfield MA 01138; 736-5136, urocofspringfield@gmail.com.
Saturday
November 7
WORKER SAFETY & HEALTH NATIONAL SUMMIT: A
NEW ERA FOR SAFETY & HEALTH ACTIVISM
9am-5pm, 3001 Walnut St, Philadelphia.
$10〞includes special lunch with Jordan Barab, Acting Asst. Secretary of
Labor/Director of OSHA. Maximize the current momentum to develop a common
strategy for policy change:
• Move forward safety legislation,
• Advance healthy and safety standards,
• Promote the rights of victims and
families.
Sponsored
by Protecting Workers Alliance, a coalition of COSH groups (Coalitions for
Occupational Safety and Health), unions, American Public Health Association
occ/envt. health section, and labor, public health, immigrant rights, family
rights and environmental health activists. Info: Tom O＊Connor, 919-933-6322 or
919-428坼6915, oconnorta@gmail.com, www.protectingworkers.org/node/27.
GREEN ECONOMY FORUM/WORKSHOP
4:30-6pm, UMass Amherst, during the
international conference, New Marxian
Times. Over the past few years, green economy efforts have
spurred the dispersal of billions of public dollars, sprung numerous coalitions
and community organizations, and led to many important campaigns and projects.
At the same time, green economy advocates and organizations have also been met
with great resistance, have encountered conflicting agendas, and have had to
negotiate personal challenges and pragmatic concerns brought about by
deteriorating economic conditions. This forum brings together labor leaders,
organizers, activists, environmentalists, and academics to discuss and assess
our efforts over the past few years and deliberately discuss what we need to do
in the coming years in order to imagine and build a socially just and sustainable
green economy. Info: Boone Shear, bshear@anthro.umass.edu.
ACORN FOUNDER WADE RATHKE: CITIZEN WEALTH
7pm, Marsh Memorial Hall, Springfield
College, 263 Alden Street, Springfield (748-3000). Wade Rathke is the
founder of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), an
activist network engaged in community organizing across the US and Canada. He
is currently chief organizer for ACORN International. Wade is also a founding
board member of the Tides Foundation, chief organizer of SEIU Local 100 in New
Orleans, and chair of the Organizers＊ Forum. Rathke began his career here in
Springfield in 1969 as an organizer for the National Welfare Rights
Organization (NWRO). Wade has written Citizen Wealth, drawing on lessons
learned in forty years of organizing in low and moderate income communities. As
Springfield College's Annual Social Science Speaker, he will describe winning
strategies and partnerships that can end income inequality and create a strong
foundation for working people, building a future that extends beyond paying the
next month＊s rent and electricity bill. Info: ldavis@spfldcol.edu.
Tuesday
November 10
CLEAN ENERGY CONNECTIONS: PATHWAYS TO
ECONOMIC GROWTH & GOOD CAREERS
8:30am-5pm, MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St,
Springfield (787-6610). A career and business development information and
networking event. A forum for the individuals and organizations that will
accelerate the growth of our clean energy economy. Access resources to build
your business or start your clean energy career. Meet entrepreneurs and
community groups mobilizing around clean energy. Learn about clean energy
trends. What's hot and what's hype?
Dr. Robert Pollin, UMass
Amherst Political Economy Research Institute, will speak on ※Green Recovery
since the ARRA.§ Full program: www.umass.edu/green/conference/program.html.
Info: Marla Michel, 577-0092, marla@research.umass.edu,
or Loren Walker, 577-3725, loren@research.umass.edu.
Tuesday
November 10
HEALTH CARE IS A
RIGHT! SING OUT FOR SINGLE PAYER!
7pm,
North Congregational Church, N Pleasant & Pine Streets, North Amherst.
Contributions $10每$25 for adults and $5 for children; tickets at the door
starting at 6:30pm. Refreshments, single payer items, and CDs for sale. Checks
should be made out to UHCEF (Universal Health Care Education Fund).
Come
to a fantastic folk concert to benefit the education fund of Mass-Care: The Massachusetts Campaign for
Single Payer Health Care. The concert will feature valley folksingers:
Tracy Grammer & Jim Henry, Charlie King, Pat & Tex LaMountain, Jay
Mankita, Annie Patterson, Sarah Pirtle, Roger Tincknell, and Peter Blood - MC.
With brief remarks by Benjamin Day, Executive Director of Mass-Care, and Kate Atkinson,
MD. Handicapped parking by the building. General parking in the lot down
the hill.
Co-sponsors: American Friends Service
Committee (Western Mass.) , Franklin/Hampshire Health Care Coalition,
League of Women Voters of Amherst, League of Women Voters of the Northampton
Area, Mass. Nurses Association, Pioneer Valley Social Workers for Peace and
Justice, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, Western Mass. Jobs with
Justice, Western Mass. PDA, Western Mass. Single Payer Network. Info: Alice
Swift, 253-3197, acswift@comcast.net.
RAY LUC LEVASSEUR, DEFENDANT IN THE GREAT
SEDITION TRIAL OF WESTERN MASS, RETURNS AFTER 20 YEARS
7pm, Amherst Room, 10th Floor, Campus Center,
UMass Amherst. As part of the Fifth Annual Colloquium on Social Change, the
Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives of the W.E.B. Du Bois
Library, UMass Amherst, sponsors a talk by Ray Luc Levasseur, with opening
remarks by Bill Newman, the Director of the of the Western Regional Office of
the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. In 1989, Ray Luc
Levasseur, along with his comrades Pat Levasseur and Richard Williams, stood
trial here in Springfield on Federal charges of seditious conspiracy. After ten
months of deliberation, in the most expensive trial in Massachusetts history, a
jury found all three not guilty of conspiring to overthrow the US government
through armed force. In his first public address in the Pioneer Valley in 20
years, Levasseur will reflect on the past and present significance of the
Springfield sedition trial. He will also discuss his life experience as a
French-Canadian youth growing up in a Maine mill town; as a Vietnam veteran; as
an anti-imperialist revolutionary active in the Civil Rights, antiwar, and
prison reform movements; as a prisoner arrested with other members of the ※Ohio
7§ and incarcerated for twenty years for his involvement in a series of
bombings carried out to protest U.S. backing of South Africa＊s racist apartheid
regime and Central American right-wing death-squads; and his 2004 release and
ongoing involvement in movements for social justice. Levasseur＊s prison
writings and his closing statement from the Springfield sedition trial are
available at http://home.earthlink.net/~neoludd/ and
http://home.
earthlink. net/~neoludd/ statement. html. Info: Robert Cox, 545-2780, rscox@library.umass.edu; http://www.library.
umass.edu/ spcoll/images/ levasseur_ 2009.pdf.
CHRISTOPHER PYLE: GETTING AWAY WITH
TORTURE
7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes
116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html).
The moral standing of the United States will not be restored, Pyle argues,
until a concerted effort is made to bring our secret government under the rule
of law. That American forces should torture prisoners in their ※war§ on terror
is disturbing, but more shocking still is that the highest officials of the
Bush-Cheney administration planned, authorized, encouraged, and concealed these
war crimes. When the Supreme Court ruled that the officials were bound by the
Geneva Convention, a Republican Congress responded by granting amnesty to all
responsible, from lowly interrogators to the president, while conservative
judges erected a wall of secrecy to protect them even from civil liability.
Meanwhile, timid Democrats have shown little stomach for repealing the amnesty
law and bringing those responsible to justice. Many Americans, including those
who endorsed torture to find ※ticking bombs§ that never were, are now embarrassed
by credible reports of CIA kidnappings for purposes of torture, secret prisons
into which prisoners have disappeared without a trace, and rigged tribunals to
convict al-Qaeda＊s criminals on evidence obtained by torture. But the problem
is not just embarrassment; it is the widespread acceptance of unaccountable,
secret government that now threatens to destroy the very foundations of
constitutional government.
Friday
November 13 (Second Friday)
STREET HEAT - THE AFL-CIO MOBILIZATION
COMMITTEE
9:30-11am, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near
corner of Osborne Ter, across the street from the old Westinghouse,
Springfield. On the agenda: EFCA; Mass Mutual Center workers; Safe Hospital
staffing; Green Jobs; Immigration Reform; Postal job loss; Servicenet; Your
Organizing! Community and labor activists are urged to attend. Info,
send agenda items to: Jon Weissman, 732-7970, street_heat@pvaflcio.org.
MARK RUDD: UNDERGROUND: MY LIFE WITH SDS
AND THE WEATHERMEN
7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes
116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html).
In this gripping narrative, Rudd speaks out about a tumultuous time, the role
he played in its crucial events, and its aftermath, revealing the drama and tension,
as well as the naivet谷 of young activists, fighting in the name of peace and
social justice, who believed that their actions mattered. In 1968, Mark Rudd
led the legendary occupation of five buildings at Columbia University, a
dramatic act of protest against the university＊s support for the Vietnam War
and its institutional racism. Rudd was the charismatic chairman of the Columbia
chapter of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, the largest radical student
organization in the US. After a violent police bust, the Columbia occupation
turned into a student strike that closed down the entire campus, turning Rudd
into a national symbol of student revolt. Rudd went on to become the cofounder
of the Weathermen faction of SDS, which took control of the student
organization and helped organize the notorious Days of Rage in Chicago in 1969.
But Mark Rudd wanted revolution. Rudd and his friends sought to end war,
racism, and injustice〞by any means necessary, even violence. After a tragic
turn that lead to the death of three members, who were killed when the bombs
they were making in a Greenwich Village townhouse exploded, they transformed
themselves into the Weather Underground Organization. By the end of 1970, after
a string of non-lethal bombings by the organization, Rudd, now one of the FBI＊s
Most Wanted, went into hiding for more than seven years before turning himself
in to great media fanfare.
November
13-14
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JOBLESSNESS
New York City. 30 million people are
unemployed or underemployed, and millions more who work full-time are working
poor. Our country had a chronic problem. Now we have a crisis. Even those who
see "green shoots" of recovery warn of high joblessness long after
the recession is over. This is the time to address both the chronic and acute
problems. A coalition of religious, labor, social welfare, anti-poverty
organizations and individuals is hosting a national conference to arouse
public awareness and action on behalf of the jobless and in support of
the right to a living-wage job for all. We propose creating living-wage jobs
that fill other social needs 每 infrastructure repair, elder- and child-care,
affordable housing 每 as well as address the imperative of an ecologically
sustainable economy. Info: www.JobsConference.org.
Saturday
November 14 (Second Saturday)
HEALTH EQUITY ROUNDTABLE
9:30-11:30am, Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St,
Springfield. Addressing existing disparities in health care and outcomes, and
the underlying racism, poverty, and homelessness. This Springfield Health
Disparities Project roundtable provides a forum to engage community people in
dialogue with folks working on community health initiatives, keeping the
community abreast of what is happening, and getting people involved in working
with others to improve community health. Info: Betty Agin, 627-4028, betagi7@verizon.net.
Saturday
November 14
PHOENIX ARTS PROJECT'S 4TH ANNUAL
ART SHOW & SALE
2-8pm, Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield.
The artists are homeless and low-income individuals who participate in the
Loaves and Fishes community meal site. (Some of the artists are also the
cooks!) There will be a lovely, soft-lit "cafe" downstairs with delicious
dinners and snacks, surrounded with the artists' work. There is so much artwork
that pictures are downstairs and upstairs in the church and hallways. Craft
items are also for sale upstairs. At 3:15pm there is a performance
featuring the Sci-Tech Drum ensemble, Joe Sallins, and community poets. Info:
731-5668, kitchen@openpantry.org.
November
14-15
HEALTHCARE-NOW! NATIONAL STRATEGY CONFERENCE
St Louis, MO. Join activists from around the country
to plan our strategy to win guaranteed single-payer national health insurance.
By learning and sharing from one another we can build on the successes of the
last year and plan to push Congress to implement single-payer national health
insurance NOW. Info: Katie Robbins, 800-453-1305, info@healthcare-now.org, http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/strat-conf/.