6/23/10

6/23 -- The Democrats and 1930's Social Movements & Socialism 2010 Conferece prep!

Wednesday at 7pm, Room B102 
in the UW School of Social Work (Corner of 15th N.E. and N.E. 41st)


In this last meeting before we break to attend our summer socialism 2010 conference in Oakland we will have one section to discuss the Democrats - focusing on the history of the 1930's social struggles, then we will prepare for the conference with time to discuss which workshops we will attend, and begin to brainstorm for summer activities when we return from Oakland.

It's not too late to register and attend the Socialism 2010 conference with our group from Seattle. We still have a few hotel spots open in our rooms, airfare is still fairly cheap, and we may have some people driving. The Socialism Conference and is designed to give people on the left a forum for discussing today's movements, analyzing political and economic developments around us, debating what we can do about it, and learning more about the alternative of socialism.Don't miss one of the most exciting and important left events of the year. If you are interested in attending or would like to set up a meeting to talk about the logistics of going email info@seattleiso.org


Socialism 2010:
Ideas for Changing the World
Oakland, CA, July 1–4  Oakland Marriott
 for all details and to register
 Is capitalism working for you?  If not, register today for the largest radical conference on the West Coast this year.  Choose from 60 workshops, discussions and speeches on a huge range of topics. Plus cultural events and dance parties!  

Over 900 people attended last year’s conference in San Francisco.  This year we’re hosting it at the unionized Oakland Marriott in solidarity with Unite-HERE Local 2’s call to boycott major San Francisco hotels until they agree to give their workers a fair contract. 
 
Here are just a few of the speakers and topics:
Chris Hedges, ex-New York Times writer - How U.S. Corporations Are Destroying Democracy;  Sonali Kolhatkar – The Truth About the Occupation of Afghanistan;  David Zirin and Nativo Lopez – Here Comes Los Suns: Sports, Resistance & Arizona’s SB 1070;  Sherry Wolf – Sexuality, Socialism and the Fight for LBGT Liberation;  Wallace Shawn – reads from his new book Essays;  Liliana Segura, AlterNet staff writer – Fighting the Criminal Injustice System;  Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch editor – BP, Obama and the Disaster in the Gulf;  Heather Rogers – A Critique of Green Capitalism;  Sal Roselli and Brian Cruz - Class Struggle Unionism:  Can it be Revived?;  Joshua Frank – Clean Coal and Other Myths

PLUS:
A special tribute to Peter Camejo with Matt Gonzalez, Nativo Lopez, Aimee Allison and Todd Chretien to celebrate the release of Peter’s autobiography North Star.

AND:
A Friday night mass meeting:  Breaking the Siege of Gaza with Eyewitness Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement and the Free Palestine Movement and participant in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by Israel in international waters; along with Dr. Jess Ghannam, Sherry Wolf, and Wael Elesady.



And here are just a few of the dozens of other meetings:
A People’s History of the Russian Revolution  ***  Marxist Economics  ***  Art and Revolution  ***  Trotsky’s Fight Against Stalin  ***  What Would Socialism Be Like  ***  Introduction to the ISO  ***  Education and Liberation – Radical Pedagogy for Teachers  ***  Students and Resistance  ***  San Francisco’s 1934 General Strike  ***  Anarchism – Theory and Practice  ***  Sex Wars:  from McCarthyism to Prop 8 ***  Zapata and the Mexican Revolution  ***  Defending Abortion Rights and dozens more sessions!

What better way to spend your Fourth of July weekend than revitalizing the revolutionary traditions of struggle for social justice.  


Register today!  www.SocialismConference.org
Free child-care.  Limited scholarships available upon prior request.  Wheel-chair accessible.
 
Sponsored by the Center for Economic Research and Social Change (publisher of the International Socialist Review and Haymarket Books).  Co-sponsored by the International Socialist Organization (publisher of Socialist Worker newspaper and Obrero Socialista)

6/9/10

6/9: From the BP Disaster to Israel's Massacre -- World Politics in Review

Wed 6/9, 7-9pm
HUB 2nd floor lounge
Due to finals we are unable to have our usual room in the School for Social Work


The sum total of events that have taken place over the last six weeks is stunning -- Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla; the Arizona laws and the protests movement against them; the BP oil spill still gushing into the Gulf; the Eurozone economic crisis which threatens another global recession; the Greek strikes against austerity -- all these events have exposed the system at its ugliest and politicized society in general. The current situation has further polarized US society, while increasing the radicalization already underway. 

Come discuss all these issues and what it means for organizing a radical left at UW and in the US as a whole.

Recent news and opinion from Socialist Worker


Recent news and opinion from our new Critical Reading blog which features other media, both mainstream and independent, that you should see.

6/4/10

Protest Israel's unprovoked attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

freedomflotilla.jpg


We join activists around the world in condemning Israel's unprovoked attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the pre-dawn hours of May 31-- and we support the call from Palestinian activists for worldwide emergency protests.
Even by Israel's ferocious standards, this military assault and massacre of civilians is an act of barbarism that merits international opposition on a grand scale. Israel has refused to supply the names and the numbers of the dead and injured, but the assault reportedly killed up to 20 civilians and injured 50 more.

Read the full International Socialist Organization statement  Protesting Israel's act of barbarism

Check out the Freedom Folitilas web page for the most recent updates on their situation http://witnessgaza.com/


NEWS: SocialistWorker.org coverage of the attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Comment: Alan Maass
ISRAEL'S LIE MACHINE GOES INTO OVERDRIVE
No smear is too crude and no lie too outrageous in Israel's attempt to justify the murderous commando assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/02/israeli-lie-machine

STANDING AGAINST ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES
Pro-Palestinian protesters infuriated at Israel's attack on a flotilla of humanitarian aid workers turned out to emergency actions in cities across the U.S.
http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/04/standing-against-israels-war-crimes

Statement
PROTESTING ISRAEL'S ACT OF BARBARISM
We join activists around the world in condemning Israel's unprovoked attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and support the call for emergency protests.
http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/01/protesting-an-act-of-barbarism

Column: Mark Steel
THE ACTIVISTS WERE ASKING FOR IT
Politicians and commentators understand that Israel sent commandos to confront unarmed activists, yet they blame the dead.
http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/04/activists-were-asking-for-it

Column: Dahr Jamail
ANOTHER VICTIM OF ISRAELI PIRACY
More than 40 years after Israel attacked a U.S. Navy ship in international waters, the survivors are still seeking justice.
http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/03/another-victim-israeli-piracy


SEATTLE PROTESTS:
Tuesday, June 1st - Rally for Palestine
In response to May 31st, 2010's act of piracy and violence against a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to blockaded Gaza, Tues. June 1st at 5 pm beginning at Westlake Center [ending at the Federal building downtown], there will be a march protesting these acts of violence as well as protest against continued U.S. support of Israel.  4:30pm - Gather for rally at Westlake in downtown Seattle -- 5pm, march from Westlake to the Federal Bldg
 
Thursday, June 3rd - 11am-1pm -- Gaza Flotilla Peace Vigil hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine
    Univ. of Washington - Red Square
    Silent Vigil - Please wear black and bring candles

Saturday, June 5th - 12 noon -- Rally for Gaza
   Westlake in downtown Seattle
   Sponsored by Voices of Palestine and Palestine Solidarity Committee


RESOURCES
Check out the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation's new Gaza Freedom Flotilla web section for updates & Resources
* Download our new one-page fact sheet on Israel's attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla for distribution at protests and educational events.

* Download a petition to Congress calling on it to end military aid to Israel for use in collecting signatures at protests and educational events.

* Sign up for an organizing packet with postcards, petitions, fact sheets, and flyers to end military aid to Israel by clicking here. (Note: please allow one week for processing and delivery.)


Special meeting at Socialism 2010 BREAKING THE SIEGE IN GAZA
http://www.socialismconference.org/

Chicago | June 17-20 | Palmer House Hilton
Oakland | July 1-4 | Oakland Marriott

These conferences will feature several meetings on the fight for Palestinian rights and will bring together activists organizing on the front lines of these struggles. Speakers include: author and activist Tariq Ali; Gilbert Achcar, author of The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives, and Ahmed Shawki, editor of the International Socialist Review. Meetings include: How Can Palestinian Liberation be Achieved?, Breaking the Siege in Gaza, and Israel: Colonial Settler State.

Register today for Socialism 2010:
http://www.socialismconference.org/

6/3/10

Join us for the Socialism 2010 Conference

The Socialism Conference and is designed to give people on the left a forum for discussing today's movements, analyzing political and economic developments around us, debating what we can do about it, and learning more about the alternative of socialism.

The annual Socialism conference is becoming an important meeting place and forum for those interested in rebuilding the left and looking ahead to the struggles of the future. Check out the FULL SCHEDULE of workshops and the LIST OF SPEAKERS online.


We'll be taking a group of activists and socialists to the conference from Seattle - For more info on attending the conference with our group email info@seattleiso.org or call 206-612-6137.


Socialism 2010 - Ideas for Changing the World - Long Version

Among the featured speakers this year will be Greek socialist Antonis Davenellos on the workers' revolt gripping that country. Two veterans of the movement in Europe, Tariq Ali and Gilbert Achcar, are slated to speak, as are socialists from Latin America.

Leading voices from the immigrant rights struggle such as Nativo López, Justin Akers Chacón and Orlando Sepúlveda will discuss the new stage of the movement, and among the well-known LGBT activists set to speak is Sexuality and Socialism author Sherry Wolf.

There are scores of writers and authors due to speak on political developments in the U.S. and around the world, including Anthony Arnove, Mike Davis, Anand Gopal, James Green, Chris Hedges, Fred Magdoff, Salim Muwakkil, John Riddell, Heather Rogers, Jeremy Scahill, Liliana Segura, Sharon Smith and Dave Zirin, to name a few. Plus socialists from around the country will introduce discussions on the long and rich history of the socialist tradition, and the ideas of Marxism.

You can find out more at the Socialism 2010 Web site.

6/2/10

6/2: Tax the Rich! Support Initiative I-1098


ARE THE BUDGET CUTS INEVITABLE?
Currently, the top fifth of our state’s population pays 3% of their income in taxes while the bottom fifth pays 17% making Washington’s the most regressive tax structure in the nation. The newly introduced Initiative 1098 would partially level the playing field by taxing couples with adjusted gross incomes greater than $400,000 annually, or incomes of more than $200,000 for individuals. It also would cut the state property tax by 20 percent and increase the business-and-occupation tax credit to $4,800. It is estimated this initiative would bring in about $1 billion per year for education and health programs.

JOIN US FOR A FORUM ON WHAT I-1098 IS ALL ABOUT AND HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED!

Wednesday 6/2  at 7pm, Room 26 
in the UW School of Social Work (Corner of 15th N.E. and N.E. 41st) 

Featuring John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, speaking on behalf of the I-1098 campaign, and Adam Sanchez, an activist involved in the successful campaign for Tax measures 66 & 67 in Oregon!

Download posters:
Tax the Rich - Support I-1098 Panel 11x17
Tax the Rich - Support  I-1098 panel - half sheets