Community Currency - 09/29/11

REPEAT PROGRAM

Community Currency - 09/22/11

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Strategy for Monetary Reform

Guest: Jules Brouillet

Next week the American Monetary Institute is holding its annual Monetary Reform Conference in Chicago. Last year I was invited to speak and I spoke on Strategy for the Monetary Reform Movement. This year my son, Jules Brouillet, an intern at the American Monetary Institute, a graduate from Oberlin College (in Economics), will be speaking on this topic.

Jules, was elected twice to the student senate at Oberlin, and has interned for elected officials and non-profits. In addition to assisting in AMI research and operations, in 2011 Jules Brouillet worked with the AMI Chicago Chapter,Moveon.org, and US Uncut, and other local groups to effect monetary reform. He has written on financial market crises, penitentiary privatization, public health policy, and grassroots organizing. He writes that at AMI they have "the economic know-how and the legal expertise to define money, account for the mishandling of the money power throughout history, counter Trojan Horse monetary reform proposals, and guide a real monetary reform bill into the Congress- we need only train our political muscle to make reform into reality! How can a non-partisan movement force corrupt, partisan officials in Washington to approve real reforms? Why and how Fractional Reserve banking must be made illegal, how every one of us can use our unique skills and strengths to grow monetary reform? How can we grow this into a real, national movement that cannot be ignored by a press whose primary responsibility is to preserve the status quo? How can we activate millions of adult Americans with imaginations destroyed, childhoods prolonged, and communities splintered by our education system?

Protestors at this moment are occupying Wall Street, and other financial districts. The majority of people realize that they are being robbed by the financial system, but they don't know what to do about it.

AB 750, California’s bill to study the feasibility of establishing a state-owned bank that would receive deposits of state funds, has passed both houses of the legislature and is now on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown awaiting his signature.

It seems that the higher up the ladder one goes to effect change- from local to state to national to international, the less democratic the processes are and the more likely they are to favor the corporate interests of the powerful rather than the well being of the majority.

Jules will share his unique perspective on the current situation, the upcoming conference in Chicago, proposed legislation for genuine monetary reform, and the path forward.

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced The National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act of 2011 "to address our structural economic problems directly by creating over 7 million jobs."

The Act "would allow the federal government to directly fund badly-needed infrastructure repairs and fund education systems nationwide by spending money into circulation without increasing the national debt or causing inflation."

“Today, nearly 25 million Americans are either unemployed or cannot find a job on which they can live and support their families. FDR’s response to such circumstances was the New Deal. Today, we need similarly bold solutions,” said Kucinich. “We need a solution that will revive our economy in a sustainable way that will put millions of American back to work.”

“There should be work for those who are able to work. Government must become the employer of last resort. The private sector is not providing the jobs. When the private sector fails to provide the jobs, the government has a moral responsibility and a practical responsibility to step forward to put the country back to work.

“The ability to coin money is an inherent power under Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. The NEED Act would control inflation because it will enable the government to invest in America by creating infrastructure, which is real wealth. Inflation is caused when new money is created without the creation of new wealth,” explained Kucinich.

"The proposal would also establish fiscal integrity, reassert Congressional sovereignty and regain control of monetary policy from private banks." Representative Kucinich was interviewed today about his proposal on C-Span. He also spoke before Congress on September 7, 2011 on International Policy: Its Relationship to the Domestic Economy.

Community Currency - 09/15/11

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9/11: A Journey

Kathryn Bedard is a first responder. With a background, experience and training in mental health and disaster relief, she was reassigned  following 9/11 by the state to serve as a key member of a team, set up by New Jersey to offer services to survivors and victims' families. The team officially was known as the Family Assistance Center or FAC. Their job was to take victims families to Ground Zero. That experience, witnessing the emotions, stages of grief that people went through was profoundly moving and prompted her to write a book Stones In My Heart Forever: 9-11: A Journey Through Courage, Strength and Hope. She learned about "healing" and "what it means to work in a disaster of that magnitude, where "normal" and healing in the aftermath takes on a whole different meaning.

Part of her "healing" experience has been to take part in a motorcycle ride fundraising effort to assist responders for things such as upgraded equipment, and families in the form of scholarships.

The huge motorcycle runs also help responders replace the intensity of what is encountered in disasters as one tries to go back to a "normal" life. In the most recent run British firefighters came from the UK, and from as far away as New Zealand, and about 900 others came, as well from across the country: north, south, west...TN, FL, CA, GA...

Kathy worked at the WTC site with an amazing group of angels who worked from September through December taking family members and survivors from the towers into Ground Zero to mourn. Every day, including holidays and weekends they took between 80 - 250 individuals into the damage zone. She would gather occasionally with her colleagues as they tried to adjust to life after their time at Ground Zero. She still is part of the Mt Sinai monitoring program. When responders gather together, they focus on celebrating life and each other. None of them knew each other before 9/11, but they all had the sense that they knew each other, they communicated (still) non-verbally, and have ties to each other that are strong as family. Their work was also chronicled in Gail Sheeheys book Middletown America.

Community Currency - 09/08/11

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9/11 Ten Years Later - When State Crimes against Democracy Succeed

Guest: Tod Fletcher

Tod Fletcher has assisted David Ray Griffin in the writing of nine books on 9/11 (from The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions to his latest book 9/11 Ten Years Later - When State Crimes against Democracy Succeed). (David Ray Griffin did write an article naming and outlining the chapters at 911Truth.org.)

Tod is a co-producer of "Guns and Butter," a weekly radio program on KPFA in Berkeley, CA and WBAI in New York, which has aired many ground-breaking shows on the truth of 9/11 since October, 2001. In 2010 and 2011 he hosted an internet radio program, "9/11 In Context," on which he interviewed top 9/11 truth researchers and scholars around the world, now archived at BlogTalkRadio.com.

During this week, both Carol and Tod will be involved with other events including the 9/11 Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future Film Festival which will include some live streaming of the Toronto Hearings, and the Tenth Annual 9/11 Truth Rally/March,

Community Currency - 09/01/11

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Exploding the 9/11 Myth - Sifting the Evidence

Kevin Ryan is a chemistry laboratory manager with twenty-two years of professional experience. Through his work as Site Manager for the environmental testing division of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), he began to investigate the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. Ryan was fired by UL, in 2004, for publicly asking questions about UL’s testing of the structural materials used to construct the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings as well as UL’s involvement in the WTC investigation being conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Since 2006, Ryan has served as co-editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies, and has been a founding member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, the 9/11 Working Group of Bloomington, and Scientists for 9/11 Truth. He now serves as a board director at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. Kevin Ryan has co-authored several books and numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles on the subject, and has given public presentations around the country for more than five years. He continues to do research into the crimes of 9/11 in order to help the American people come to a better understanding. He is on the organizing committee for theToronto Hearings and scheduled to speak about the "Inadequacies of the Reports by the National Institute of Standards and Technology" and "Extreme Temperatures."

His articles include- 
Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe
Demolition Access to the WTC Towers: Part One - Tenants
Demolition Access to the WTC Towers: Part Two - Security
Part Three - Carlyle, Kissinger, SAIC and Halliburton: A 9/11 Convergence
Demolition Access to the WTC Towers: Part Four - Cleanup

The Top Ten Connections Between NIST and Nano-Thermites

Kevin Ryan's blog is DigWithin.net
We mentioned the special citizen 10th anniversary campaign to draw attention to the existence and destruction of WTC 7 - RememberBuilding7.org

Please support and view the Toronto Hearings which will be webcasted from September 8th through September 11th

The Toronto Hearings will also be streamed live at the upcoming 9/11 Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future events in Oakland and San Francisco.

Community Currency - 08/25/11

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9/11 Explosive Evidence - Breaking Through

Guests: Richard Gage, AIA, Chris Sarns

Richard Gage, AIA is the founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. Also known as AE911Truth.org, Richard and his growing organization have spearheaded the Truth Movement in the past couple of years, inspiring more and more professional organizations to form, and people to go public challenging some of the most basic problems and omissions with the official narrative, namely, the destruction of the three steel framed skyscrapers on September 11, 2011. Richard has developed a presentation entitled 9/11: Blueprint for Truth – The Architecture of Destruction which he has given before architects throughout the Bay Area and beyond to the general public throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Over 1500 architects and engineers have joined him in signing a petition for a truly independent investigation into 9/11.

Chris Sarns has been around quite some time; his varied experience includes being the road manager for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Chris Sarns' research has appeared in journals and books by 9/11 researchers, most notably, Dr. David Ray Griffin's Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7. Chris has worked on unraveling some of the most glaring inconsistencies and outright frauds in the NIST report on the collapse of World Trade Center 7. Chris has demonstrated that the NIST theory of the fire induced collapse of building 7 is faulty and misleading. The building collapses of September 11 are truly unprecedented in building collapse history. Chris disproved NIST's claims in four centrally important areas: the fictitious "10-story gouge" in the building's face; NIST's fraudulent diesel-fueled fire hypothesis; the extent and timing of fire on the 12th floor which NIST claimed caused the initial failure leading to collapse; and NIST's fraudulent claims in its Final Report about the lack of shear studs on the floor girders. Chris wrote the script for the Architects and Engineers Solve the Mystery of WTC 7 video that was recently released. Chris supports the Remember Building 7 campaign to raise public awareness and give greater strength to the truth movement.

For the past two years, Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth have been working on a documentary entitled 9/11 Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out due to be released and premiered this September, including in San Francisco at the Herbst Theatre on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6:30 pm, in Part III of the 9/11 Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future events.

Chris Sarns research is posted at http://truthphalanx.com/chris_sarns/. 

Community Currency - 08/18/11

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Earth into Property - Unraveling Empire

Guest: Professor Anthony J. Hall

Professor Anthony J. Hall teaches Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge. He has authored two books- The American Empire and the Fourth World - The Bowl With One Spoon, Part One, a book that Naomi Klein says could "change the world," which shows that corporate globalization began in the Americas in 1492. More recently, Earth into Property: Colonization, Decolonization, and Capitalism - The Bowl With One Spoon, Part Two was published. [See my book review posted here.] Called "a scholarly tour de force," Earth into Empire is a continuation of Hall's scathing examination of the evolution of geopolitics, globalization, imperialism, colonization, capitalism which has particularly targeted indigenous populations throughout the world. Professor Hall, however, does not hide in an ivory castle, but has been on the frontlines, in solidarity with indigenous struggles in Canada, as well as exploring earlier manifestations of the "War on Terror" and opposing the violent resource grabs and criminality behind the past and current decade's military campaigns.

Through a deeper understanding of history, Professor Hall points the way towards a Fourth world articulated first by George Manuel, in his efforts to unite indigenous people to secure their rights, and working in common cause to protect their lands from the ravages of corporate globalization and national governments. Within this larger framework, Professor Anthony J. Hall writes about 9/11, not as an aberration, but as another ruse, designed to advance an imperial agenda, oblivious to moral or ethical concerns. At this point in time, it is the vast majority of people under attack by a criminal fusion of government, corporate and media power whose legitimacy and power appear to be in irreversible decline.

In addition to teaching about Globalization, Professor Hall has also pioneered with his students new forms of teaching through use of the new communications technologies. His classes, lectures, and invited speakers have been webcasted and can be found edited and posted on various websites.

He will be speaking at the upcoming 9/11 Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future event, the annual 9/11 truth film festival, benefit for the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance.

Community Currency - 08/11/11

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Mounting Evidence - Why We Need a New Investigation of 9/11

Long an activist academic, Dr. Paul W. Rea has taught humanities at Ohio State University, University of Colorado, and St. Mary’s College of California. He has taught "The Politics of the Nuclear Age" and "Science, Technology, and Human Values" at St. Mary's College in Moraga, CA. Now a full-time writer/ researcher, he focuses on peace and environmental issues. An earlier book, Still Seeking the Truth about 9/11, marked Dr. Rea’s initial foray into that pivotal subject. Paul has just completed an updated, much-expanded overview of the issues surrounding 9/11 in his new book Mounting Evidence: Why We Need a New Investigation of 9/11 which will include The Zealots of Dominance:The Neocon Factor in 9/11, specifically looking at the mindset of those involved with the Project for a New American Century. His new book reflects six years of additional research. When it appears later this month, it will be the most comprehensive book available on the different facets of the 9/11 issue.

Paul will be one of the featured speakers at the upcoming tenth anniversary 9/11: Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming the Future, the annual 9/11 Truth Film Festival and benefit for the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance to be held in San Francisco at the historic Herbst Theatre September 11, 2011.

Community Currency - 08/04/11

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Creating a Nuke Free Future

Guests Harvey Wasserman and Barbara George

Harvey Wasserman helped pioneer the global grassroots movement against atomic reactors in 1973, then helped organize mass demonstrations at Seabrook, N.H., and New York City's 1979 "No Nukes" concerts and rally, featuring Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, CSN, James Taylor and others. In 1982 he co-authored (with Norman Solomon) Killing Our Own - The Disaster of America's Experience with Atomic Radiation, and in 2007 he wrote SOLARTOPIA: Our Green-Powered Earth, AD 2030.

In 2007, he also co-founded nukefree.org along with Musicians United for Safe Energy, as an on-going grassroots campaign to defeat $50 billion in loan guarantees to shore up and expand the nuclear industry. The musicians are still giving concerts, singing and speaking out against nuclear power, and are holding a benefit Sunday, August 7th at Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View (a short bike ride from my home), but accessible to anyone via the internet to benefit non-nuclear organizations and Japan disaster relief. Harvey is the editor of nukefree.org. 

Harvey has also tackled other difficult issues including stolen elections, and media reform. He teaches history, has five daughters, two grandchildren, has authored many additional books. In 2008, he hosted a How to Live Green- Solartopia radio show, and is an editor at the Free Press.

Barbara George is the Executive Director of Women's Energy Matters which has been working for a rapid transition to an efficient, renewable energy system, in order to promote healthy communities & ecosystems and improve international relations. Barbara has been working for clean energy, healthy food, and caring communities, and advocating for ratepayers before the California Public Utilities Commission in the battle between community power and corporate power over a wide range of issues. Her thoughtful analysis and numbers prove that California doesn't require nuclear power plants to meet current needs.

Community Currency - 07/28/11

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Community Power versus Corporate Power - No to Smart Meters

Mary Beth Brangan and Jim Heddle founded The Ecological Options Network over a quarter of a century ago and have been producing documentaries and helping with media campaigns to safeguard human health and human rights for decades. In this interview, we look at the evolution of Smart Meters and the opposition that has arisen to oppose this new technological threat to our health and democracy. This is a global problem. Communities are rising up against the measurably harmful effects of smart meters.

Award winning filmmakers, Mary Beth Brangan and James Heddle have had their videos broadcast internationally, on PBS, Link TV and Free Speech TV, and screened in the US Congress, many Parliaments and at the UN, as well as used by activists worldwide.

They have produced fifteen documentaries and over 100 YouTube posts of courageous and creative responses from across the world to injustice, greed and violence. These stories of people's movements are examples of what they call deep democracy and a new worldview they've dubbed the planetarian paradigm. As media activists, they hold a mirror which reflects citizens stepping up, committing themselves and joining in to stop the destruction of the planet and create solutions. EON has partaken in a vibrant variety of collaborations. These include: the international Nuclear Free Zone; stopping electromagnetic pollution from wireless technologies; stopping proposed radioactive waste dumps in California and Texas; as well as California's Community Choice Energy, the Election Protection, and the Stop the Pesticide Spray campaigns. EON interweaves stories from national to village levels by documenting the beginnings of a new culture, from alternatives to capitalism, to taking part in Transition Towns and permaculture movements.

They completed a book in 2009 entitled "The Enlightenment Imperative: Meditations on Spiritual Awakening, Social Engagement, Sexual Maturity and Cultural Creation at the Turn of the Millennium."

Additional Resources on the struggle against Smart Meters -
StopSmartMeters.org
EMFSafetyNetwork.org
EON blog - eon3emfblog.net
SmartMeterDangers.org
DirtyElectricity.org
Countering the harmful health effects - Dr. Magda Havas

Community Currency - 07/21/11

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From Hiroshima to Fukushima to Livermore - Confronting the Two Headed Nuclear Dragon

Guest: Jacqueline Cabasso

Jacqueline Cabasso has been involved in nuclear disarmament, peace and environmental advocacy at the local, national and international levels for over 30 years. Since 1984 she has served as Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation in Oakland. Grounded in commitments to nonviolence and international law, in her work with the Foundation she has provided legal support for nonviolent protesters; engaged in environmental review proceedings and litigation to challenge nuclear programs, and organized grassroots multi-issue coalitions.

Most recently, she has spoken out at rallies and hearings in support of the Japanese and American people to shut down nuclear power plants, particularly those on active faults, and against the twin nuclear weapons industry. With renewed concern over the threat of nuclear power and weapons, many anti-nuclear events are coming up in the Bay Area, including-

July 23, 7 pm in San Jose - Screening of Atomic Mom
August 3, 6:30 pm Oakland - Screening of The Forgotten Bomb
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 10:00 am California Energy Commission review of California's nukes, in light of Fukushima, review of industry's seismic knowledge and emergency preparedness.
August 4, 7:00 pm in San Jose - Screening of The Forgotten Bomb
August 5, in San Francisco - Commemorate Hiroshima/Nagasaki - Lessons of Fukushima for Today
August 6, 6 pm in Livermore - From Hiroshima to Fukushima to Livermore: Confronting the Two-Headed Dragon of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power (
August 7, 3 pm in Mountain View - MUSE Concert (Crosby Stills, Nash, Jackson Browne... a benefit for Sane Energy, and Japan, anti-nuclear groups)
August 9, 8 am in Livermore - From Hiroshima to Fukushima to Livermore: Confronting the Two-Headed Dragon of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power (Direct Action)
From HIroshima to Fukishima to California
Thursday, August 11 2011 @ 06:00 PM - - 08:00PM in San Jose From HIroshima to Fukishima to California Speakers on- the danger of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

At the national level Ms. Cabasso serves on the Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice and convenes its Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security working group.

Internationally, she is a leading voice for the abolition of nuclear weapons, speaking at conferences and events around the world. She was a founding mother of theAbolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons in 1995, and continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since August 2007, she has served as North American Coordinator for Mayors for Peace.

Ms. Cabasso is a co-author of Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security? U.S. Weapons of Terror, the Global Proliferation Crisis and Paths to Peace (2007) and Risking Peace: Why We Sat in the Road (1985), an account of the huge 1983 nonviolent protest at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory and the subsequent mass trial conducted by Western States Legal Foundation. Her writings have appeared in many publications

Ms. Cabasso was the recipient of the International Peace Bureaus 2008 Sean MacBride Peace Award, and the Agape Foundations 2009 Enduring Visionary Prize.

Additional Recommended Resources include-
Global Network Against
Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Nuclear Free Future
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
Women's Energy Matters

Community Currency - 07/14/11

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Water - Protecting the Essence of Life

Guest: Adam Scow

Flow: For Love of Water is a powerful film that looks at the privatization of the world's water, the displacement of millions of indigenous people to build dams, control the flow of water, generate electricity, and at those who have benefited and been impoverished through the control of a substance critical to life.

Adam Scow is the California Campaigns Director at Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization. He is responsible for developing strategy for local, state, and national campaigns. He currently serves on the planning committee for the annualCalifornia Water Policy Conference sponsored by Public Officials for Water and Environment Reform. Previously, Adam researched California irrigation subsidies and water transfers in Washington D.C..

We look at the major threats to water taking place throughout the world, and in particular the United States, California, and the need for citizen involvement and awareness on every level to safe guard their health, their children, their communities, and the future. In particular we look at the crumbling water infrastructure and need to maintain it, the threat of privatization, fracking, corruption of government officials, the big money pushing big projects for private gain at public expense, bottled water, bottled water industry, desalinization, monitoring water for radioactivity, organizing locally and successfully. If you need help in your community to protect your water Food & Water Watch is a great resource, building a grassroots movment to regain control over vital aspects of our lives.

Other great films on water- Thirst - Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water,Tapped, The Water Front, Liquid Assets, Blue Gold - World Water Wars, and (believe it or not) Chinatown which takes place during the California Water Wars, when Los Angeles got control over Owen's River (emptying Owen's Lake).

Community Currency - 07/07/11

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The Toronto Hearings - 9/11 Truth for Peace and Justice

Graeme MacQueen is a member of the organizing committee for the Toronto Hearings.

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 The International Hearings On the Events of September 11, 2001 will be held at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. As 9/11 has been used to launch an endless "War on Terrorism" and assaults upon international law, human and civil rights, the hearings will seriously consider the best evidence in the ten years since the 9/11 events occurred that challenge the U.S. governments official investigations which are seriously flawed. As 9/11 lies have been used to pursue the 9/11 wars, the hope is that the truth about 9/11 will lead to peace and justice. 

The International Center for 9/11 Studies which has successfully gained the release of approximately four terabytes of video evidence from the National Institute of Standards and Technology is the main sponsor of the hearings and their main focus has been on the scientific understanding of the destruction of the three World Trade Center buildings.

The international effort is being spearheaded by scholars, scientists, family members working together to examine the destruction of the World Trade Center, informed trading, air defense failures, the nature of state deception, and psychological resistance to accounts that challenge the official one.

Graeme MacQueen was born in Nova Scotia, he took early retirement from McMaster University to devote his energy to peace and justice work with a focus on the events and anomalies of 9/11. He received his Ph.D. in comparative religion from Harvard University and taught in the Religious Studies department of McMaster University for 30 years. In 1989 he became founding Director of the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster, after which he helped develop the B.A. program in Peace Studies and co-directed (with $2 million in government, UN and NGO funding) peace-building projects in Sri Lanka, Gaza, Croatia and Afghanistan. He has also contributed to the development of the Womens Peace Brigade in north India (active now in several states) and was involved for some years in the Third Option, a peace initiative for Afghanistan. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters as well as four books.

He has specifically addressed the Peace Movement to urge them to overcome their psychological resistance to 9/11 and look at evidence challenging the official narrative. He has also written four articles for the Journal of 9/11 Studies, including 118 Witnesses: The Firefighters Testimony to Explosions in the Twin Towers .

We will explore the challenge of seeking truth, peace and justice when military and corporate power combine to trump rational thought and all opposition.

Community Currency - 06/30/11

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Labor Fights Back - San Francisco's Labor Fest

For eighteen years, Labor Fest, an annual labor cultural arts festival, has commemorated the 1934 General Strike. This year's Labor Fest, entitled, "Labor Fights Back From Egypt to Wisconsin and San Francisco" will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the US civil war and the role of slavery in California, the 125th anniversary of May Day, and the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire In New York where 146 mostly immigrant Jewish and Italian garment workers perished in a fire. The month long festival, beginning July 2nd through July 31st will include the Film Works United Festival, theatrical and musical performances, a BookFair and labor history cultural walks, and presentations. At a time when history, reality, labor is under constant attack from the corporate press, the stories and histories of struggle, resistance, the triumphs of collective actions, solidarity, the human spirit over injustice, tyranny and fascism deserve our attention. This festival has expanded to Japan, Korea, Argentina, Turkey internationally. This festival is also the largest labor cultural arts festival in the United States.

A founder of Labor Fest, Steve Zeltzer is also a founder of the Labor Video Projectand has been producing labor video documentaries since 1983. Some of them such as "Halfway To Hell, The Workers and Unions That Built The Golden Gate Bridge" narrated by Danny Glover have been on PBS and KQED in San Francisco. He produces a bi-weekly show called "Labor On The Job" which is the longest running labor television show in the United States and has helped establish an bi-annual labor communication media conference called LaborTech.Steve Zeltzer is a tireless activist, organizer, extremely knowledgeable about labor history, as well as the current struggles taking place, as technology breakdowns and breakthroughs occur, challenging all on many fronts. The full calendar of events and the entire program are posted at the LaborFest website.

Community Currency - 06/23/11

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REPEAT PROGRAM: 02/03/11

Community Currency - 06/16/11

REPEAT PROGRAM

Community Currency - 06/09/11

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No Nukes Action - In Japan and Worldwide 6.11 - in San Francisco June 10th

After the Fukushima disaster, people began raising their voices against nuclear energy and weapons in Japan and throughout the world. Germany and Switzerland responded with the announcement of the closure of their nuclear power plants. Following two major protests in April 10 and May 7, Japan requested the shutting down of one of the oldest and most dangerous nuclear plants – Hamaoka.

Umi Hagitani started working with Todos Somos Japan Collective, (A response to the global uprising and catastrophic situation in Japan whose intention is to translate, quote and analyze as much information as possible from Japanese into English, and translate encouragements, comments, suggestions, analysis, proposals and anything written in English into Japanese for the vantage point of the people struggling there and everywhere.) and No Nukes Action Committee which organized the June 7th rally at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco and is organizing a June 10th Anti-Nukes Rally at the Consulate General of Japan, 3:30 pm - 5:30 p-m 50 Fremont Street, San Francisco, in solidarity with the Japanese people's call for actions worldwide. (The principle rally in Japan at 2 pm June 11th, 2011 will be streamed live on Labor Net TV.) No Nukes Action Committee has also begun a petition to End Japan's Nuclear-Military-Industrial Complex throughout the world.

Umi Hagitani was born in Tokyo and raised in Yokohama. She quit school at age 10 and personally experienced the violent attacks toward non-schoolers in early '90s. She began working for children and people's education outside of the school structure. After participating in the Feminist Queer Unit Against G8 in 2008, she began organizing against both institutional and interpersonal violence. She is a student at SF State majoring in Women and Gender Studies with a hint of Ethnic Studies, a comic writer, and a rape crisis counselor at San Francisco Women Against Rape. She also creates political art. No Nukes Art is being shared freely in solidarity with the global effort to halt the nuclear industry.

Community Currency - 06/02/11

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Empowering Citizens, Monitoring and Halting the Nuclear Industry

Ed Ellsworth has been working hard the past two months to help citizens monitor the radiation spewing at Fukushima and tonetwork online. He is uniquely qualified to be playing such a heroic role in empowering people and challenging the nuclear industry.

His considerable technical skills have been put to good use over the past several decades, when he teamed up with one of the great philanthropists of San Francisco, Henry Dakin. Ed worked with Henry on book projects like Information Moscow. Ed started The Dolphin Network newsletter at the at Henry's famous 3220 offices, using the new Postscript printing technology. Ed purchased his Linotronic typesetter and Oscar-Fisher film processing equipment in 1989, and used it to start Pinnacle Type (near the TransAmerica Building, San Francisco). He worked with Henry on various projects with Washington Research Institute and the 3220 Gallery penthouse gathering space. They used to monitor the Molniya satellite, and help various citizen-to-citizen peace and environmental projects. At 3220, Ed managed the building's T1 internet connection and supported many groups that started or came through there.

Click to read more ...

Community Currency - 05/26/11

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Seeking Truth, Discovering Power, Overcoming Problems, Finding Solutions

Brian Hall is the executive producer of Conspiracy Con held annually since 2000, which begins where other conferences end... by delving into understanding the forces that seek to dominate, manipulate, tyrranize, rob, murder, kill and control humanity...

The dismissive "conspiracy theorist" label has been tossed about to discourage serious analysis into the identity, and ways in which very powerful institutions, organizations, individuals, groups maintain and expand their control over the lives of other people and the planet.

Brian writes- "The primary goals of Conspiracy Con are to directly expose and analyze the real problems and the real problem-makers of yesterday, today and tomorrow, as well as to provide courses of action and potential solutions to the challenges that are placed upon humankind by these forces, which (for the moment) may seem invisible, perpetual and insurmountable.

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Community Currency - 05/19/11

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9/11 Revelations - Finding The Courage To Speak Out

Kathy McGrade graduated from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Materials Engineering in 1979. She then moved to California and found exciting employment as one of the first engineers in three different Silicon Valley startups working on a private rocket project, a self-regulating heating technology, and a CVD process for growing thin-film diamond from methane gas. Kathy now has her own company inspecting fire trucks and feels a personal responsibility for the safety of firefighters.

Kathy became aware of 9/11 Truth when a friend asked her if fire could melt steel. Her first reaction was, "Sure, if the fire is hot enough. Why are you asking?" This friend then gave her a copy of Loose Change, which didn't convince her of anything, but intrigued her enough to continue looking into the matter. She thought investigating the material aspects of 9/11 would be "a fun little intellectual exercise," but after months of research, found herself feeling gutted by the truth. The evidence was too obvious to deny.

She became a member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and used her unique knowledge and expertise to present the most compelling evidence that she found on the flaws in the official NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) Report on what destroyed the Twin Towers and Building 7 and the case for the controlled demolition hypothesis.