The Downtown Project has a current estimated cost of $194 million.
Dial Realty is set to invest $87 million in construction of all the retail, restaurants and residential units within the North and South Project Areas.
No public tax dollars will assist construction of any private business or residential development.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is estimated to contribute $25 million towards land assembly, public infrastructure within the project areas such as roads, sidewalks, lighting, water lines, sewer, stormwater, etc. TIF dollars are generated exclusively in the North and South Project areas. TIF includes the increase in property taxes and City sales tax generated from the new development. The City, County and School District continue to receive the "base" amount established in 2005, when the TIF district was created. Anything generated above and beyond this "base" is pledged towards the land acquisition and public infrastructure necessary to facilitate the North and South project areas.
There are two other "public" sources included in the Downtown project. The State of Kansas has dedicated their 5.3% in State sales tax generated within the North and South Project areas. The State has agreed to invest $50 million in the South Project area, specifically in the Flint Hills Discovery Center construction, and the South Project area land acquisition and public infrastructure.
The City will also implement Transportation Development Districts (TDD) that will generate an additional 1/2 cent sales tax on top of the total sales tax rate to help assist with the public infrastructure improvements. In total the TDD will generate another $7 million to the project. A flowchart of sources and uses is available for your review.
The City of Manhattan is scheduled to invest an additional $25 million - or roughly 13% of the total project - towards other public improvements in both the North and South project areas. Projects significant to the benefit to the community have been identified for this investment. These include 4th Street construction- north and south, opening up Leavenworth Street at 3rd Street (connection to the Mall), creating an intersection at 3rd Street and Pierre Street, purchasing the furniture, fixtures, exhibits and equipment for the Discovery Center, financing the construction of the Conference Center, and a portion of the 400-stall parking garage. It is also envisioned in the event excess property and sales tax are generated within the North and South project areas, the City would be reimbursed for these expenses and financed by the incremental dollars generated in the project.
06 December 2007
03 December 2007
Flint Hills Regional Growth Plan
Our show on 29 November looked at the Flint Hills Regional Growth Plan (FHRGP). The purpose of the FHRGP is to look at the impact the expansion of Ft. Riley will have on the area as it adds over 9,000 active personnel and nearly 2,000 new civilian positions to the Fort's existing infrastructure
The report looks at a broad array of topics concerning the quality of life in the region: public safety, housing, environmental impact, transportation, child care, health care, the economy, social services, etc. You can download a copy of the Executive Summary or the Draft Report at City of Manhattan Website:
http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/
Click on the link entitled: Learn More About the Flint Hills Regional Growth Plan
Weekly Radio Spin
On this show we also heard "Weekly Radio Spin," by the Center for Media and Democracy. This program is an audio report on the stories behind the news. In addition to Media Minute by Free Press, I am considering it as a regular feature to the Spring line-up for the show. Your comments are most appreciated.
City should fire Dial and change direction
By Christopher E. Renner
An edited version of this opinion column appeared in the 2 December 2007 Manhattan Mercury.
Dear Editor:
Since work prevents me from being able to attend the Planning Board meeting Monday, I want to publicly express my opinion of the Dial Reality’s modified proposal for our downtown: it's wrong, wrong, wrong! It is time the City fired Dial; admit that we have gone in the wrong direction; and, start over before we have a suburban mall in a urban setting, totally destroying our downtown.
Since beginning in 2006 I have hosted numerous programs on downtown redevelopment on Community Bridge, the talk show I host each Thursday on KSDB 91.9 FM. In preparing for these shows I have done a fair share of research on the subject and what I keep finding is that we have made and continue to make mistakes in our redevelopment plan. Every other downtown redevelopment project I have studied for comparable communities in population size and economic base have begun their redevelopment by forming a not-for-profit corporation to carry out the redevelopment project. This entity has worked closely with the local stakeholders and has enjoyed broad community support. Those who gave their downtowns to a private corporation, as we have, encountered the same problems we are facing that ended in lawsuits, abandoned projects and deep community divisions. Is this the future we want for Manhattan?
Some years ago, when I attended public meetings in which we discussed what we wanted for our downtown redevelopment, common themes emerged: people friendly, diverse, interconnected to the existing grid of roads and neighborhoods, supportive of locally own businesses, and a “destination” where we could enjoy a broad array of restaurants (not just a bunch of fast food outlets), the arts, and venues for cultural events. Where in the current proposal from Dial are those themes? They are not present because we have the wrong people in charge of our downtown redevelopment. What we are getting is asphalt and sprawl, not a cohesive area that will provide a stimulus for economic development.
Research repeatedly shows: in order to have a viable downtown requires having people live in the downtown area which has a broad array of shops and services that are able to turn a profit. Apparently Dial doesn’t read the same research that I have, but why should they? They have consistently demonstrated they do not want the same downtown that most of us who were part of the planning process wanted and still want. Have their executives even been to downtown Lawrence, Lincoln, Austin or Iowa City? Or Wichita’s Old Town for that matter where new development fits with the existing structures? None of these communities have suburban malls in their downtowns and neither should we! Manhattanites deserves a place where we can walk along streets lined with shops, restaurants, and sidewalk cafes that gives our community a place to call “home.”
As a community, we cannot afford to allow the redevelopment of our downtown to end in failure. Moreover, we cannot afford to put locally owned businesses out of business. Their investment in our community far out-strips anything a big box store will contribute. So why aren’t local businesses being encouraged to relocate to this area instead of bringing in national chain stores? Because Dial doesn’t know our community.
It is time that we took back our community and its future from Dial before we get an unsustainable city center, which is full of empty buildings in ten years. My plea to the Planning Board is to reject Dial’s proposal and give them the following directions: either they return to our original concept of an interconnected block-grid structured area with lots of housing options and parking garages instead of acres of asphalt, or it is time they admit they cannot deliver what was promised and we as a community begin working on our future by starting with a not-for-profit corporate to take over and correct the mistakes Dial has made; take back the land and sell it to local businesses making our downtown redevelopment right before any more time is lost.
The report looks at a broad array of topics concerning the quality of life in the region: public safety, housing, environmental impact, transportation, child care, health care, the economy, social services, etc. You can download a copy of the Executive Summary or the Draft Report at City of Manhattan Website:
http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/
Click on the link entitled: Learn More About the Flint Hills Regional Growth Plan
Weekly Radio Spin
On this show we also heard "Weekly Radio Spin," by the Center for Media and Democracy. This program is an audio report on the stories behind the news. In addition to Media Minute by Free Press, I am considering it as a regular feature to the Spring line-up for the show. Your comments are most appreciated.
City should fire Dial and change direction
By Christopher E. Renner
An edited version of this opinion column appeared in the 2 December 2007 Manhattan Mercury.
Dear Editor:
Since work prevents me from being able to attend the Planning Board meeting Monday, I want to publicly express my opinion of the Dial Reality’s modified proposal for our downtown: it's wrong, wrong, wrong! It is time the City fired Dial; admit that we have gone in the wrong direction; and, start over before we have a suburban mall in a urban setting, totally destroying our downtown.
Since beginning in 2006 I have hosted numerous programs on downtown redevelopment on Community Bridge, the talk show I host each Thursday on KSDB 91.9 FM. In preparing for these shows I have done a fair share of research on the subject and what I keep finding is that we have made and continue to make mistakes in our redevelopment plan. Every other downtown redevelopment project I have studied for comparable communities in population size and economic base have begun their redevelopment by forming a not-for-profit corporation to carry out the redevelopment project. This entity has worked closely with the local stakeholders and has enjoyed broad community support. Those who gave their downtowns to a private corporation, as we have, encountered the same problems we are facing that ended in lawsuits, abandoned projects and deep community divisions. Is this the future we want for Manhattan?
Some years ago, when I attended public meetings in which we discussed what we wanted for our downtown redevelopment, common themes emerged: people friendly, diverse, interconnected to the existing grid of roads and neighborhoods, supportive of locally own businesses, and a “destination” where we could enjoy a broad array of restaurants (not just a bunch of fast food outlets), the arts, and venues for cultural events. Where in the current proposal from Dial are those themes? They are not present because we have the wrong people in charge of our downtown redevelopment. What we are getting is asphalt and sprawl, not a cohesive area that will provide a stimulus for economic development.
Research repeatedly shows: in order to have a viable downtown requires having people live in the downtown area which has a broad array of shops and services that are able to turn a profit. Apparently Dial doesn’t read the same research that I have, but why should they? They have consistently demonstrated they do not want the same downtown that most of us who were part of the planning process wanted and still want. Have their executives even been to downtown Lawrence, Lincoln, Austin or Iowa City? Or Wichita’s Old Town for that matter where new development fits with the existing structures? None of these communities have suburban malls in their downtowns and neither should we! Manhattanites deserves a place where we can walk along streets lined with shops, restaurants, and sidewalk cafes that gives our community a place to call “home.”
As a community, we cannot afford to allow the redevelopment of our downtown to end in failure. Moreover, we cannot afford to put locally owned businesses out of business. Their investment in our community far out-strips anything a big box store will contribute. So why aren’t local businesses being encouraged to relocate to this area instead of bringing in national chain stores? Because Dial doesn’t know our community.
It is time that we took back our community and its future from Dial before we get an unsustainable city center, which is full of empty buildings in ten years. My plea to the Planning Board is to reject Dial’s proposal and give them the following directions: either they return to our original concept of an interconnected block-grid structured area with lots of housing options and parking garages instead of acres of asphalt, or it is time they admit they cannot deliver what was promised and we as a community begin working on our future by starting with a not-for-profit corporate to take over and correct the mistakes Dial has made; take back the land and sell it to local businesses making our downtown redevelopment right before any more time is lost.
12 November 2007
In honor of those who are serving and who have served our nation
In honor of Veteran's Day, my uncle Francis who died defending Wake Island, and my my father who served in WWII, I'm posting the following list of politicians and their military record. This list was sent to me in 2005, so some of the people are no longer serving in Congress or the White House, but it still makes for interesting reading. It is something to think about. The list originated from Illinois State Sen. Howard W. Carroll, who asked that people make the effort of share this information.
Service in the Armed Forces Democrats (this is quite an eye-opener):
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam. Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
Republicans -- the guys sending people to Afghanistan and Iraq:
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." (The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.)
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; failed to show up for required physical.
* Bob Dornan: enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL for 8 years as quarterback.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
Service in the Armed Forces Democrats (this is quite an eye-opener):
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam. Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
Republicans -- the guys sending people to Afghanistan and Iraq:
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." (The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.)
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; failed to show up for required physical.
* Bob Dornan: enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL for 8 years as quarterback.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
08 November 2007
2008 Kansas Legislative Session with Senator Reitz and Representatives Carlin and Hawk.
Useful State Contact Information:
State Telephone Directory Listings:
http://www.da.ks.gov/phonebook
State Web Site
http://www.kansas.gov
State Operator Information
785-296-0111
Taxpayer Assistance - Dept. of Revenue
877-526-7738
Consumer Protection - Attorney General
785-296-3751
Department on Aging
800-432-3535
Vital Statistics (birth, death certificates, etc.) - Department of Health and Environment
785-296-1400
Unemployment Benefits - Dept. of Labor
(filing) 800-292-6333
(wage and hour questions) 785-296-5000
insurance Commissioner's Office
800-432-2484
State Telephone Directory Listings:
http://www.da.ks.gov/phonebook
State Web Site
http://www.kansas.gov
State Operator Information
785-296-0111
Taxpayer Assistance - Dept. of Revenue
877-526-7738
Consumer Protection - Attorney General
785-296-3751
Department on Aging
800-432-3535
Vital Statistics (birth, death certificates, etc.) - Department of Health and Environment
785-296-1400
Unemployment Benefits - Dept. of Labor
(filing) 800-292-6333
(wage and hour questions) 785-296-5000
insurance Commissioner's Office
800-432-2484
31 October 2007
Fair Trade Resources
On our 1 November show we discussed a variety of issues related to fair trade. To learn more visit the following sites:
Ten Thousand Villages:
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/
You can order your holiday gifts on line and make sure the money you spend improves the lives of the artisans and craftspeople who make the product and does not go to line the pockets of rich multinationals corporations.
Fair Trade Advocates:
http://www.k-state.edu/fairtrade/
A good spot to begin learning about Fair Trade.
For information about "Buy Nothing Day" on 23 November, visit:
http://www.adbusters.org
Oxfam American
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/
Watch Oxfam's video "Reform the Farm Bill" at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLTsE0rVeo
Watch a video on fair trade coffee vs. Starbucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGr2SBg-F8
Then visit:
http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=starbucks_main.html
But choose locally owned coffee shops over the multinational!
You might also be interested in reading a commentary: "The Great Retraining Lie: how our government gives false hope to workers displaced by so-called "free trade" by offering retraining to obtain jobs that will never replace the economic security inherent in a job lost to so-called "free trade." The false hope is offered by Democrats and Republicans. Visit:
http://www.workinglife.org/
Fair Trade Events - November 11 - 13
Sunday, November 11
12:00 PM - 6:00PM Annual German meal and Ten thousand Villages Bazaar at Potoff Hall, Cico Park.
6:00pm CrossRoads of ECM. Hunger Banquet. Hosted by KSU Fair Trade Advocates. Exciting and educational, the Hunger Banquet engages diners in learning about global inequality through a "world-wide banquet." Dinner served, catered by The Little Grill. Tickets available at ECM and all walk-ins are welcome. Suggested donation for students: $4.
Monday, November 12
10:00am-4:00pm Sunflower, Cottonwood and Flint Hills Rooms of K-State Student Union. Fair Trade Marketplace.
11:30am-12:30pm Presentation by Summer Lewis, Interfaith Liaison for Equal Exchange. K-State Student Union Stateroom 2.
12-1pm Fair Trade Fashion Show. K-State Student Union.
1-2pm Eyes of Bastet Belly Dancers. Bosco Student Plaza.
7pm Film: "Silent Killer" Hemisphere Room, Hale Library. Panel discussion following. The event is co-sponsored by KSU Fair Trade Advocates and the Dow Chemical Multicultural Resource Center. "Silent Killer" is a powerful documentary about the unfinished campaign against world hunger, addressing the role of agricultural development, biotechnology and anti-hunger movements.
Tuesday, November 13
10am-4pm Fair Trade Marketplace.
12-1pm "Higher or Lower" Fair Trade Game Show. Bosco Student Plaza. A fun activity for everyone! Stop by and win Fair Trade prizes. Organized by KSU Fair Trade Advocates.
12-1pm Union Foodcourt "walk through" fashion show.
Wednesday, November 14
10am-4pm Fair Trade Marketplace.
11:30am-12:30pm Presentation by Summer Lewis, Interfaith Liaison for Equal Exchange. K-State Student Union Flint Hills Room.
12-1pm Yosakoi Japanese Dance Group. Bosco Student Plaza.
Additional Activities and Events:
Tuesday, November 13
Connections Reign: Under our Umbrella for Social Change, partly organized by WOMST 380 "Women and Global Social Change"
10:30am-1:30pm "Connections Reign". General activities booths - Bosco Student Plaza and inside the Union on the first floor, near foodcourt. Activities include: Social Change trivia contest and prizes, Education on women's safety: help color high heels to represent the number of women who are assaulted every four years at K-State.
Recycling Bin Scavenger Hunt: prizes provided by Howie's recycling, Fair Trade educational activities and events: learn about how fair trade helps end hunger and promotes gender, racial and cultural inclusivity. Buy your Fair Trade t-shirt, and learn where to buy Fair Trade t-shirts for your organizations.
5:30-7pm High Heel Walk to End Violence Against Women at K-State and in Manhattan. All organizations and individual men and women are encouraged to participate. Men and women will wear high heels and other shoes to "walk a Mile in Women's Shoes". Participants show that they are both identifying with women and the violence that women face, and protesting the ongoing violence against women. At 5:30 pm meet in from of the Beach Art Museum for our walk through Aggieville. Food provided. Prizes given for best overall outfit, prettiest shoes and the group with most participants.
Ten Thousand Villages:
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/
You can order your holiday gifts on line and make sure the money you spend improves the lives of the artisans and craftspeople who make the product and does not go to line the pockets of rich multinationals corporations.
Fair Trade Advocates:
http://www.k-state.edu/fairtrade/
A good spot to begin learning about Fair Trade.
For information about "Buy Nothing Day" on 23 November, visit:
http://www.adbusters.org
Oxfam American
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/
Watch Oxfam's video "Reform the Farm Bill" at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLTsE0rVeo
Watch a video on fair trade coffee vs. Starbucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGr2SBg-F8
Then visit:
http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=starbucks_main.html
But choose locally owned coffee shops over the multinational!
You might also be interested in reading a commentary: "The Great Retraining Lie: how our government gives false hope to workers displaced by so-called "free trade" by offering retraining to obtain jobs that will never replace the economic security inherent in a job lost to so-called "free trade." The false hope is offered by Democrats and Republicans. Visit:
http://www.workinglife.org/
Fair Trade Events - November 11 - 13
Sunday, November 11
12:00 PM - 6:00PM Annual German meal and Ten thousand Villages Bazaar at Potoff Hall, Cico Park.
6:00pm CrossRoads of ECM. Hunger Banquet. Hosted by KSU Fair Trade Advocates. Exciting and educational, the Hunger Banquet engages diners in learning about global inequality through a "world-wide banquet." Dinner served, catered by The Little Grill. Tickets available at ECM and all walk-ins are welcome. Suggested donation for students: $4.
Monday, November 12
10:00am-4:00pm Sunflower, Cottonwood and Flint Hills Rooms of K-State Student Union. Fair Trade Marketplace.
11:30am-12:30pm Presentation by Summer Lewis, Interfaith Liaison for Equal Exchange. K-State Student Union Stateroom 2.
12-1pm Fair Trade Fashion Show. K-State Student Union.
1-2pm Eyes of Bastet Belly Dancers. Bosco Student Plaza.
7pm Film: "Silent Killer" Hemisphere Room, Hale Library. Panel discussion following. The event is co-sponsored by KSU Fair Trade Advocates and the Dow Chemical Multicultural Resource Center. "Silent Killer" is a powerful documentary about the unfinished campaign against world hunger, addressing the role of agricultural development, biotechnology and anti-hunger movements.
Tuesday, November 13
10am-4pm Fair Trade Marketplace.
12-1pm "Higher or Lower" Fair Trade Game Show. Bosco Student Plaza. A fun activity for everyone! Stop by and win Fair Trade prizes. Organized by KSU Fair Trade Advocates.
12-1pm Union Foodcourt "walk through" fashion show.
Wednesday, November 14
10am-4pm Fair Trade Marketplace.
11:30am-12:30pm Presentation by Summer Lewis, Interfaith Liaison for Equal Exchange. K-State Student Union Flint Hills Room.
12-1pm Yosakoi Japanese Dance Group. Bosco Student Plaza.
Additional Activities and Events:
Tuesday, November 13
Connections Reign: Under our Umbrella for Social Change, partly organized by WOMST 380 "Women and Global Social Change"
10:30am-1:30pm "Connections Reign". General activities booths - Bosco Student Plaza and inside the Union on the first floor, near foodcourt. Activities include: Social Change trivia contest and prizes, Education on women's safety: help color high heels to represent the number of women who are assaulted every four years at K-State.
Recycling Bin Scavenger Hunt: prizes provided by Howie's recycling, Fair Trade educational activities and events: learn about how fair trade helps end hunger and promotes gender, racial and cultural inclusivity. Buy your Fair Trade t-shirt, and learn where to buy Fair Trade t-shirts for your organizations.
5:30-7pm High Heel Walk to End Violence Against Women at K-State and in Manhattan. All organizations and individual men and women are encouraged to participate. Men and women will wear high heels and other shoes to "walk a Mile in Women's Shoes". Participants show that they are both identifying with women and the violence that women face, and protesting the ongoing violence against women. At 5:30 pm meet in from of the Beach Art Museum for our walk through Aggieville. Food provided. Prizes given for best overall outfit, prettiest shoes and the group with most participants.
29 October 2007
Downtown Redevelopment
Our show on October 25th was dedicated to the topic of downtown redevelopment and our guests included Gwyn Riffel of Downtown Manhattan, Inc. and Barbara and Jay Nelson of the Strecker- Nelson Art Galley.
For more information of Downtown Manhattan visit their website at:
http://downtown.manhattanks.org/
For information on the downtown redevelopment project visit:
http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/index.asp?NID=264
Commentary to think about:
The American Police State
by Chris Hedges
Published on Monday, October 29, 2007 by TruthDig.com
For more information of Downtown Manhattan visit their website at:
http://downtown.manhattanks.org/
For information on the downtown redevelopment project visit:
http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/index.asp?NID=264
Commentary to think about:
The American Police State
by Chris Hedges
Published on Monday, October 29, 2007 by TruthDig.com
A Dallas jury, a week ago, deadlocked in its deliberations and caused a mistrial in the government case against this country’s largest Islamic charity. The action raises a defiant fist on the sinking ship of American democracy.
If we lived in a state where due process and the rule of law could curb the despotism of the Bush administration, this mistrial might be counted a victory. But we do not. The jury may have rejected the federal government’s claim that the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development funneled millions of dollars to Middle Eastern terrorists. It may have acquitted Mohammad el-Mezain, the former chairman of the foundation, of virtually all criminal charges related to funding terrorism (the jury deadlocked on one of the 32 charges against el-Mezain), and it may have deadlocked on the charges that had been lodged against four other former leaders of the charity, but don’t be fooled. This mistrial will do nothing to impede the administration’s ongoing contempt for the rule of law. It will do nothing to stop the curtailment of our civil liberties and rights. The grim march toward a police state continues.
Constitutional rights are minor inconveniences, noisome chatter, flies to be batted away on the steady road to despotism. And no one, not the courts, not the press, not the gutless Democratic opposition, not a compliant and passive citizenry hypnotized by tawdry television spectacles and celebrity gossip, seems capable of stopping the process. Those in power know this. We, too, might as well know it.
The Bush administration, which froze the foundation’s finances three months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and indicted its officials three years later on charges that they provided funds for the militant group Hamas, has ensured that the foundation and all other Palestinian charities will never reopen in the United States. Any organized support for Palestinians from within the U.S. has been rendered impossible. The goal of the Israeli government and the Bush administration-despite the charade of peace negotiations to be held at Annapolis-is to grind defiant Palestinians into the dirt. Israel, which has plunged the Gaza Strip into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, has now begun to ban fuel supplies and sever electrical service. The severe deprivation, the Israelis hope, will see the overthrow of the Hamas government in Gaza and the reinstatement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has become the Marshal Pétain of the Palestinian people.
The Dallas trial-like all of the major terrorism trials conducted by this administration, from the Florida case against the Palestinian activist Dr. Sami al-Arian, which also ended in a mistrial, to the recent decision by a jury in Chicago to acquit two men of charges of financing Hamas-has been a judicial failure. William Neal, a juror in the Dallas trial, told the Associated Press that the case “was strung together with macaroni noodles. There was so little evidence.”
Such trials, however, have been politically expedient. The accusations, true or untrue, serve the aims of the administration. A jury in Tampa, Chicago or Dallas can dismiss the government’s assaults on individual rights, but the draconian restrictions put in place because of the mendacious charges remain firmly implanted within the system. It is the charges, not the facts, which matter.
Dr. al-Arian, who was supposed to have been released and deported in April, is still in a Virginia prison because he will not testify in a separate case before a grand jury. The professor, broken by the long ordeal of his trial and unable to raise another million dollars in legal fees for a retrial, pleaded guilty to a minor charge in the hopes that his persecution would end. It has not. Or take the case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who in 2002 was spirited away by Homeland Security from JFK Airport to Syria, where he spent 10 months being tortured in a coffin-like cell. He was, upon his release, exonerated of terrorism. Arar testified before a House panel this month about how he was abducted by the U.S. and interrogated, stripped of his legal rights and tortured. But he couldn’t testify in person. He spoke to the House members on a video link from Canada. He is forbidden by Homeland Security to enter the United States because he allegedly poses a threat to national security.
Those accused of being involved in conspiracies and terrorism plots, as in all police states, become nonpersons. There is no rehabilitation. There is no justice.
“He was never given a hearing nor did the Canadian consulate, his lawyer, or his family know of his fate,” Amnesty International wrote of Arar. “Expulsion in such circumstances, without a fair hearing, and to a country known for regularly torturing their prisoners, violates the U.S. Government’s obligations under international law, specifically the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”
You can almost hear Dick Cheney yawn.
The Bush administration shut down the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development six years ago and froze its assets. There was no hearing or trial. It became a crime for anyone to engage in transactions with the foundation. The administration never produced evidence to support the charges. It did not have any. In the “war on terror,” evidence is unnecessary. An executive order is enough. The foundation sued the government in a federal court in the District of Columbia. Behind closed doors, the government presented secret evidence that the charity had no opportunity to see or rebut. The charity’s case was dismissed.
The government has closed seven Muslim charities in the United States and frozen their assets. Not one of them, or any person associated with them, has been found guilty of financing terrorism. They will remain shut. George W. Bush can tar any organization or individual, here or abroad, as being part of a terrorist conspiracy and by fiat render them powerless. He does not need to make formal charges. He does not need to wait for a trial verdict. Secret evidence, which these court cases have exposed as a sham, is enough. The juries in Tampa, Chicago and Dallas did their duty. They spoke for the rights of citizens. They spoke for the protection of due process and the rule of law. They threw small hurdles in front of the emergent police state. But the abuse rolls on. I fear terrorism. I know it is real. I am sure terrorists will strike again on American soil. But while terrorists can wound and disrupt our democracy, only we can kill it.
Chris Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, is the author of “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.“ For more information on Chris Hedges, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges
16 October 2007
The 1987 March on Washington Twenty Years Later
by Christopher E. Renner
20 years ago today (11 October) I stood on the corner of Pennsylvania and 15th Streets in Washington directing the human traffic that flowed by for three and a half hours. Over 300,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and their allies march passed me during the course of those hours. My role was to be a peace keeper - to keep the marchers moving and standing between any counter-protesters that might show up. Only one did - yelling that we “were wrong,” he threw himself into the marchers pushing me to the ground. He brought the march to a stop - he looked at thousands of people looking back at him. Dumbfounded, he turned and walked away. That was the only reported event of violence against the marchers along the route the entire day.
Many of the marchers, like myself, were angry over the government's slow and inadequate response to the AIDS crisis - President Reagan had refused to even say the word in public - as well as the Supreme Court's 1986 decision to uphold sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick. A decision the court would overturn 14 years later in Lawrence v. Texas.
As the last marchers came by, we peace keepers joined the rear of the march and when we arrived on the National Mall we were greet by over 500,000 people. Today researchers put the number at closer to 650,000 people, even if the New York Times had repeatedly reported that only 200,000 people had shown up. Today the 1987 March is considered the largest civil rights march in the history of the US.
In a foreshadowing of more recent protests, the day before the March, an estimated 2,000 Gay and Lesbian couples exchanged marriage vows in front of the Internal Revenue Service. On the Monday after the March, more than 600 protesters were arrested at the US Supreme Court protesting the 1986 Hardwick Decision, making it the largest act of civil disobedience since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.
1987 had been a watershed for me. I had spent the summer attending graduated school and traveling North American with Italian friends the months of August and September. Landing in Washington a week before the march, I walked into the March’s offices and said: “I here, put me to work.” People were just amazed that someone would come from Italy to work on the March. In the next few days, more and more of us showed up at the office door. We were there to create change.
The 1987 March was the first time the NAMES Project quilt was displayed. It succeeded in bringing national attention to the impact of AIDS on gay communities. In the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, and a president who pretended that as long as gay people, and people from Haiti and hemophiliacs were dying, it was okay; a tapestry of nearly two thousand fabric panels offered a powerful tribute to the lives of some of those who had been lost in the pandemic.
I had lost my first friends in 1986 to AIDS. The first to died was Jack Jacknick, who died on my 30th birthday. By the time the march took place I had lost ten friends. I was angry, extremely angry. In my backpack were three quit panels I had made while I was at my childhood home in Beattie before the March. I had heard about this effort to make a quilt to memorialize people who had died, since so many had died alone, as we, the most industrialized, richest nation on earth, reacted with fear and ignorance to the health crisis unfolding before our eyes.
I listened to Jessie Jackson make an impassioned speech on the need for human rights and medical care for the poor. Looked for friends, who I never found -- how do you find anyone in 500,000 people? Toward the late afternoon, I began working towards the west end of the Mall, to the place the Name Project Quilt was displayed.
Entering the display was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. It was too personal; too filled with pain; too emotionally wrenching for me to describe it words. As I looked at the panels, sadness filled me; then tears filled my eyes. I looked at memorials made by friends, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, life partners and teachers. They gave the crisis a human face, a face that haunts me to this day. How could so many Americans died what was a truly horrific death and our government pretend they didn’t exist?
As I walked though the NAMES Project display, it brought to my mind the memories of a holocaust survivor I had read in his memoir: The Men with the Pink Triangle. No single book has had more of an effect on my life than that book. It forever changed how I see the world and government. As I looked at the quite crowd walking through the display, I saw survivors of a new holocaust.
Twenty years later the AIDS crisis has killed all but three of the gay friends I had alive in 1987. As a nation, we still fail to publicly hold our government accountable for the disinformation and inaction of the Reagan and Bush administrations. Moreover, young people are more at risk of contracting HIV today than they were in 1987. We have failed to provide comprehensive health education to those who need it the most. Young people walk into their early 20s without the knowledge they need to save their own lives.
Twenty years later, much has changed and much has not. AIDS no longer is the emotional issue it was in 1987. The human rights movement for LGBT equality has been high-jacked by those pushing the assimilationist agenda of “married respectability” while issues of racism, classism and ablism go unchecked in most of the LGBT community. Yes sodomy is no longer a crime, but in Kansas the statute is still on the law books and gay males are still harassed by the police. Lesbian women and their relationships are belittled by the mainstream media as nothing more than sexual fantasies for heterosexual males. Since after all, male heterosexuals are what it’s all about, right?
So twenty years later I am still waiting for the most basic of rights: freedom from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, which is why I marched twenty years ago and why I continue to fight.
20 years ago today (11 October) I stood on the corner of Pennsylvania and 15th Streets in Washington directing the human traffic that flowed by for three and a half hours. Over 300,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and their allies march passed me during the course of those hours. My role was to be a peace keeper - to keep the marchers moving and standing between any counter-protesters that might show up. Only one did - yelling that we “were wrong,” he threw himself into the marchers pushing me to the ground. He brought the march to a stop - he looked at thousands of people looking back at him. Dumbfounded, he turned and walked away. That was the only reported event of violence against the marchers along the route the entire day.
Many of the marchers, like myself, were angry over the government's slow and inadequate response to the AIDS crisis - President Reagan had refused to even say the word in public - as well as the Supreme Court's 1986 decision to uphold sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick. A decision the court would overturn 14 years later in Lawrence v. Texas.
As the last marchers came by, we peace keepers joined the rear of the march and when we arrived on the National Mall we were greet by over 500,000 people. Today researchers put the number at closer to 650,000 people, even if the New York Times had repeatedly reported that only 200,000 people had shown up. Today the 1987 March is considered the largest civil rights march in the history of the US.
In a foreshadowing of more recent protests, the day before the March, an estimated 2,000 Gay and Lesbian couples exchanged marriage vows in front of the Internal Revenue Service. On the Monday after the March, more than 600 protesters were arrested at the US Supreme Court protesting the 1986 Hardwick Decision, making it the largest act of civil disobedience since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.
1987 had been a watershed for me. I had spent the summer attending graduated school and traveling North American with Italian friends the months of August and September. Landing in Washington a week before the march, I walked into the March’s offices and said: “I here, put me to work.” People were just amazed that someone would come from Italy to work on the March. In the next few days, more and more of us showed up at the office door. We were there to create change.
The 1987 March was the first time the NAMES Project quilt was displayed. It succeeded in bringing national attention to the impact of AIDS on gay communities. In the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, and a president who pretended that as long as gay people, and people from Haiti and hemophiliacs were dying, it was okay; a tapestry of nearly two thousand fabric panels offered a powerful tribute to the lives of some of those who had been lost in the pandemic.
I had lost my first friends in 1986 to AIDS. The first to died was Jack Jacknick, who died on my 30th birthday. By the time the march took place I had lost ten friends. I was angry, extremely angry. In my backpack were three quit panels I had made while I was at my childhood home in Beattie before the March. I had heard about this effort to make a quilt to memorialize people who had died, since so many had died alone, as we, the most industrialized, richest nation on earth, reacted with fear and ignorance to the health crisis unfolding before our eyes.
I listened to Jessie Jackson make an impassioned speech on the need for human rights and medical care for the poor. Looked for friends, who I never found -- how do you find anyone in 500,000 people? Toward the late afternoon, I began working towards the west end of the Mall, to the place the Name Project Quilt was displayed.
Entering the display was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. It was too personal; too filled with pain; too emotionally wrenching for me to describe it words. As I looked at the panels, sadness filled me; then tears filled my eyes. I looked at memorials made by friends, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, life partners and teachers. They gave the crisis a human face, a face that haunts me to this day. How could so many Americans died what was a truly horrific death and our government pretend they didn’t exist?
As I walked though the NAMES Project display, it brought to my mind the memories of a holocaust survivor I had read in his memoir: The Men with the Pink Triangle. No single book has had more of an effect on my life than that book. It forever changed how I see the world and government. As I looked at the quite crowd walking through the display, I saw survivors of a new holocaust.
Twenty years later the AIDS crisis has killed all but three of the gay friends I had alive in 1987. As a nation, we still fail to publicly hold our government accountable for the disinformation and inaction of the Reagan and Bush administrations. Moreover, young people are more at risk of contracting HIV today than they were in 1987. We have failed to provide comprehensive health education to those who need it the most. Young people walk into their early 20s without the knowledge they need to save their own lives.
Twenty years later, much has changed and much has not. AIDS no longer is the emotional issue it was in 1987. The human rights movement for LGBT equality has been high-jacked by those pushing the assimilationist agenda of “married respectability” while issues of racism, classism and ablism go unchecked in most of the LGBT community. Yes sodomy is no longer a crime, but in Kansas the statute is still on the law books and gay males are still harassed by the police. Lesbian women and their relationships are belittled by the mainstream media as nothing more than sexual fantasies for heterosexual males. Since after all, male heterosexuals are what it’s all about, right?
So twenty years later I am still waiting for the most basic of rights: freedom from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, which is why I marched twenty years ago and why I continue to fight.
Downtown Redevelopment
Dial Corporation has requested major changes to the agreed upon plan for the Manhattan PUD. The following is an explanation from the Manhattan/Riley Country Preservation Alliance, who were represented by Michael Mecseri and Jane Hill on our 6 September show.
From the Manhattan/Riley County Preservation Alliance Emergency Board Meeting:
Explanation
Dial Corp announced On August 21 that it was going to request a major change to the Planned Unit Development at the north end of the downtown to accommodate a new 100,000 square foot HyVee grocery store with a liquor store and drive through coffee chain.
This change in the PUD would do the following:
1. Move or demolish the historic Strasser House
2. Eliminate nearly all of the planning housing units that would have been built on 4th street between Osage and Moro
3. Force the owners of the homes in the Ward 2 residential district to face a two block screening wall, behind which all of the trash receptacles, air conditioning units, loading docks, and temporary storage containers would be located.
The Process
Because this is such a major change in the PUD, Dial is obligated to go to the Planning board for permission to build this new store. The planning board will meet on October 1 to hear Dial’s arguments and to hear public imput into the request.
The City commission will hear the same arguments on October 16th at its regular legislative session. THE PLANNING BOARD IS THE KEY GATEWAY TO STOPPING THIS CHANGE IN THE PUD.
If the planning board votes NO, it will take 4 commissioners to overturn it.
If the planning board votes YES, it will take only 2 commissioners to sustain it.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why has Dial been allowed to make all these changes anyway? What happened to the plan we were shown at the start??
Unfortunately, when the original development agreements were signed between the city and Dial, the city forfeited its interest in determining who the future designers and tenants would ultimately be. This was in exchange for not having to put any money up front for the development, thereby lowering the city’s financial ‘risk.’ This was done by an earlier commission and does not represent the work of the present one. A copy of the Development Agreement is available for you to look at.
2. What about the Design Guidelines created by the citizen steering committee?
The Final development agreement and PUD has design guidelines in it, but again, the city was not insistent on making these guidelines mandatory—so legally Dial is not bound to follow them—and they have chosen not to. Pointing out Dial’s failure to adhere to the guidelines however is a good tactic in discrediting this latest change to the PUD.
3. Isn’t the Strasser House protected by the National Register or an agreement?
Yes and no. The City of Manhattan and the State Historic Preservation Officer signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the conclusion of a review of the historic buildings in the north end redevelopment area. The MOU is the end result of a negotiation that allowed Dial to tear down several OTHER historic buildings, with the understanding that they would not touch the Strasser house and would integrate it into the design.That, unfortunately has not been honored. THE CITY CAN CHOOSE NOT TO HONOR THE MOU. BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY TELL THE COMMISSIONERS THAT YOU EXPECT THEM TO HONOR IT.
4. If Dial is turned down, won’t that affect the whole project and the South End Redevelopment?
Actually, what will happen is anyone’s guess. And speculation at this point is pretty wild. We simply don’t know what Dial will do. We know that there was plenty of interest by other retailers but Dial didn’t like their terms. Perhaps this will push them to find better tenants, perhaps they will choose to leave the development undone for a period of time. Perhaps they will sue the city, perhaps a meteor will hit their Omaha offices. The fact is, in spite of lots of opinions floating around, we don’t actually know what will happen. What we DO KNOW is what WILL happen if we allow this change to the PUD to take place. If Dial doesn’t make its tenant percentages, the city will likely have to put up some money to keep the project going, BUT that will also give the city more imput into the design and the tenants. LET YOUR COMMISSIONERS KNOW THAT THIS IS A MORE ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THIS PUD CHANGE. That will go a long way to helping them uphold the current plan.
For more information on the Alliance, visit their website at:
http://www.preservemanhattan.org/
From the Manhattan/Riley County Preservation Alliance Emergency Board Meeting:
Explanation
Dial Corp announced On August 21 that it was going to request a major change to the Planned Unit Development at the north end of the downtown to accommodate a new 100,000 square foot HyVee grocery store with a liquor store and drive through coffee chain.
This change in the PUD would do the following:
1. Move or demolish the historic Strasser House
2. Eliminate nearly all of the planning housing units that would have been built on 4th street between Osage and Moro
3. Force the owners of the homes in the Ward 2 residential district to face a two block screening wall, behind which all of the trash receptacles, air conditioning units, loading docks, and temporary storage containers would be located.
The Process
Because this is such a major change in the PUD, Dial is obligated to go to the Planning board for permission to build this new store. The planning board will meet on October 1 to hear Dial’s arguments and to hear public imput into the request.
The City commission will hear the same arguments on October 16th at its regular legislative session. THE PLANNING BOARD IS THE KEY GATEWAY TO STOPPING THIS CHANGE IN THE PUD.
If the planning board votes NO, it will take 4 commissioners to overturn it.
If the planning board votes YES, it will take only 2 commissioners to sustain it.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why has Dial been allowed to make all these changes anyway? What happened to the plan we were shown at the start??
Unfortunately, when the original development agreements were signed between the city and Dial, the city forfeited its interest in determining who the future designers and tenants would ultimately be. This was in exchange for not having to put any money up front for the development, thereby lowering the city’s financial ‘risk.’ This was done by an earlier commission and does not represent the work of the present one. A copy of the Development Agreement is available for you to look at.
2. What about the Design Guidelines created by the citizen steering committee?
The Final development agreement and PUD has design guidelines in it, but again, the city was not insistent on making these guidelines mandatory—so legally Dial is not bound to follow them—and they have chosen not to. Pointing out Dial’s failure to adhere to the guidelines however is a good tactic in discrediting this latest change to the PUD.
3. Isn’t the Strasser House protected by the National Register or an agreement?
Yes and no. The City of Manhattan and the State Historic Preservation Officer signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the conclusion of a review of the historic buildings in the north end redevelopment area. The MOU is the end result of a negotiation that allowed Dial to tear down several OTHER historic buildings, with the understanding that they would not touch the Strasser house and would integrate it into the design.That, unfortunately has not been honored. THE CITY CAN CHOOSE NOT TO HONOR THE MOU. BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY TELL THE COMMISSIONERS THAT YOU EXPECT THEM TO HONOR IT.
4. If Dial is turned down, won’t that affect the whole project and the South End Redevelopment?
Actually, what will happen is anyone’s guess. And speculation at this point is pretty wild. We simply don’t know what Dial will do. We know that there was plenty of interest by other retailers but Dial didn’t like their terms. Perhaps this will push them to find better tenants, perhaps they will choose to leave the development undone for a period of time. Perhaps they will sue the city, perhaps a meteor will hit their Omaha offices. The fact is, in spite of lots of opinions floating around, we don’t actually know what will happen. What we DO KNOW is what WILL happen if we allow this change to the PUD to take place. If Dial doesn’t make its tenant percentages, the city will likely have to put up some money to keep the project going, BUT that will also give the city more imput into the design and the tenants. LET YOUR COMMISSIONERS KNOW THAT THIS IS A MORE ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THIS PUD CHANGE. That will go a long way to helping them uphold the current plan.
For more information on the Alliance, visit their website at:
http://www.preservemanhattan.org/
12 September 2007
Nancy Boyda's Visit to the show
Rep. Boyda's visit to the show has created something of a flood of questions people want answered. I am posting some of the information that has come in here for people to reference and review.
---------------------------------
" Chris: This soldier Op-Ed is another document to consider making sure Nancy Boyda and staff have perused."
The War As We Saw It
By Buddhika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray and Jeremy A. Murphy. The New York Times, Sunday 19 August 2007.
For the complete article please visit:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081907A.shtml
--------------------------------------------------
"Christopher:
Congratulations on getting Nancy Boyda as a guest on Community Bridge! That's quite a coup.
On Bush's credibility: make sure her staff (and if possible she herself) has seen the MoveOn video about Bush's history of claiming "progress."
Raise the question of General Petraeus's own credibility (as distinct from his competence as a military commander under the circumstances). Here are some key sources.
Again, it would not be ill to let her staff know she can expect questions on this issue grounded in these sources. That's not putting her on the spot. It's giving her the courtesy of a heads-up about the audience's specific points of concern.
-----------------------------------------
Hey Chris,
Please ask Nancy Boyda about HR 1717. It is a bill that wouls allow EXOTIC PATHOGENS WITH HIGH FATALITY RATES FOR WHICH THERE IS NO KNOW VACCINE OR THERAPY to be imported onto our mainland, a prerequisite for researching then in the Naitonal Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) proposed for Manhattan. HR 1717 is sponsored by representatives from Texas and Mississippi, states also in the running with Manhattan as sites for the biggest germlab in THE WORLD.
Dear friends,
------------------------------------
Representative Boyda,
I understand that you did not support the funding of a domestic partnership registry in Washington, DC, which would have enabled unmarried couples there who share a relationship of mutual support, caring and commitment to formally record their relationships. Would you please explain why you voted against using federal funds to establish such a registry?
Note from Christopher: Washingtion DC has never used federal funds for its domestic partner registry, so the vote in Congress was largely symbolic, but it is still rather unsettling that she voted for the resolution.
---------------------------------
" Chris: This soldier Op-Ed is another document to consider making sure Nancy Boyda and staff have perused."
The War As We Saw It
By Buddhika Jayamaha, Wesley D. Smith, Jeremy Roebuck, Omar Mora, Edward Sandmeier, Yance T. Gray and Jeremy A. Murphy. The New York Times, Sunday 19 August 2007.
For the complete article please visit:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081907A.shtml
--------------------------------------------------
"Christopher:
Congratulations on getting Nancy Boyda as a guest on Community Bridge! That's quite a coup.
On Bush's credibility: make sure her staff (and if possible she herself) has seen the MoveOn video about Bush's history of claiming "progress."
Raise the question of General Petraeus's own credibility (as distinct from his competence as a military commander under the circumstances). Here are some key sources.
Again, it would not be ill to let her staff know she can expect questions on this issue grounded in these sources. That's not putting her on the spot. It's giving her the courtesy of a heads-up about the audience's specific points of concern.
- Paul Krugman, "Time to Take a Stand: Five Things for Democrats to Remember"here at truthout.org. Krugman points out the bearing of Petraeus' past predictions in the light of the GAO report on benchmarks and the "Jones Report" (from the commission of senior retired military and police officers commissioned by Sen. Warner). (NYT, 7 Sept 07); text available w/out charge
- For more on the GAO Report
- US Auditor Queries Military Iraq Casualty Figures"Includes remarks from interview with committee head, who questions the military's method of measuring casualties from "sectarian violence" (in its estimate that such violence has declined since the surge). (AgenceFrance-Presse, 7 Sept 07).
- Anne Flaherty, "GAO: Iraq hasn't met 11 of 18 benchmarks" (AP News, 4 Sept 07). Reports on White House intervention in the report, and on reasons for skepticism about statistics used in military's claim of "progress" in reducing sectarian violence."
- "GAO Report Card on Iraq Benchmarks" (Boston Globe, 5 Sept 07).
- Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks, "Report Finds Little Progress on Iraq Goals: GAO Draft at Odds With White House" (Washington Post, 30 Aug 07).
- For more on the "Jones Report" see
- "Iraqi forces made 'uneven progress', study finds" (AP, 5 Sept 07).
- Patrick O'Connor, "Democrats skeptical of Petraeus report" (Politico, 9 Sept 07).
- Tom Englehardt, "Launching Brand Petraeus: 'Progress by the Numbers'" (Tomgram, 9 Sept 07).
- This is the third in Tomdispatch's "by the numbers" series, leading up to this week's White House "Progress Report" from the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. The first, in June, was "Iraq by the Numbers"; the second, in August, was "Escalation by the Numbers." You can check them for topics missing this time around.
- New York Times Editorial, "Hiding Behind the General" (NYT, 9 Sept 07).
- Ray McGovern, "Are Petraeus and Westmoreland Birds of a Feather?" (Truthout Perspective, 7 Sept 07).
- McGovern served as an Army infantry/intelligence officer in the sixties. He was then a CIA analyst for 27 years (and became, until his retirement, the officer responsible for compiling the daily intelligence estimate for the presiden. After his retirement he cofounded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
- Gary Langer, "Iraqis Say Surge Is Not Working" (ABC News, 10 Sept 07).
- Damien Cave and Stephen Farrell, "At Street Level, Unmet Goals of Troop Buildup" (NYT, 9 Sept 07); text available free here at truthout.org.
- Frank Rich, "As the Iraqis Stand Down, We'll Stand Up" (NYT, 9 Sept 07); text available w/out charge here at truthout.org.
- Karen DeYoung, "The Iraq Report's Other Voice: Ambassador's Appraisal May Carry a More Lasting Weight" (WP, 10 Sept 07).
- Martin Kady II, "Anti-war Democrats fight for timeline" (Politico, 7 Sept 07).
-----------------------------------------
Hey Chris,
Please ask Nancy Boyda about HR 1717. It is a bill that wouls allow EXOTIC PATHOGENS WITH HIGH FATALITY RATES FOR WHICH THERE IS NO KNOW VACCINE OR THERAPY to be imported onto our mainland, a prerequisite for researching then in the Naitonal Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) proposed for Manhattan. HR 1717 is sponsored by representatives from Texas and Mississippi, states also in the running with Manhattan as sites for the biggest germlab in THE WORLD.
To view the text of HB 1717 go to:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:2:./temp/~c110KFERud::
------------------------
"Christopher,
Here's a resource to exploit in preparing to talk with Boyda.
------- Original Message --------
| Subject: | The People's Report: Answering the Petraeus Report |
|---|---|
| Date: | Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:48:45 -0400 (EDT) |
| From: | Institute for Policy Studies |
Gen. Petraeus today was full of no surprises -- the "surge" is working, we need more time, we need more cooperation from the Iraqi government, we need more U.S. troops to spend more time in Iraq, we need more dead Iraqis... oops, sorry, he didn't really say that last one, but he might as well have, since that's the consequence of his plan.
The only thing new, since the last general's briefing, was the focus on Iran. The U.S. occupation of Iraq is not any longer about the "global war on terrorism" -- now it's all Iran, all the time. This is extremely dangerous, and there must be no let-up in pressure to prevent further escalation of this war for empire to new vistas in Iran.
My IPS colleagues Erik Leaver and Saif Rahman and I have written a short new piece called "Iraq: The People's Report" to answer the claims of the Petraeus Report. It's being distributed by the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition -- and includes an assessment of what's wrong with the report, as well as a look at the costs of war to Iraq and to the U.S., and a one-page description of how to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq without abandoning our obligations to the Iraqi people. Please take a look -- it's a four-page flier, and you can download it and print it on either 8 1/2 x 11 or 11 x 17 inch paper.
It's available at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/people_s_report_11by17.pdf or at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/peoplesreport.pdf
There continues to be a lot of excuses from Democrats and their supporters, claiming that the reason they can't end the war is they don't have the votes, or don't have a veto-proof majority. They don't, but a number of peace organizations have realized that if the Democrats really WANTED to end the war, there is a different way of cutting the funding, without having to worry about getting 67 votes in the Senate or a veto-proof majority in the House.
The Bush administration is requesting $141 billion more funding for the occupation of Iraq, and is about to ask for another $50 billion on top of that. In a new campaign, some groups are calling on the House Appropriation Committee chairman, Congressman David Obey, to simply refuse to bring those latest funding requests to a vote. If you stop the vote, they reason, you stop the funding. And Bush can't veto something that hasn't been voted on. If the speaker of the house, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, tries to do an end-run around such a decision by the Appropriations Committee chairman to force a vote on the House floor, she would have to admit that she's working awfully hard to support the war -- and peace groups point out that Nancy Pelosi represents a strongly anti-war district that wouldn't like that very much.
It's an interesting idea. After all, the Democrats have been in control of the Congress for almost a full year -- and nothing has changed. The war continues; there are MORE U.S. troops occupying Iraq than there were a year ago; almost TWICE as many Iraqis are being killed and injured as a year ago. U.S. troops continue to die and continue to kill.
It's way past time to end the occupation. Hope you find the new Report useful.
all the best
Phyllis Bennis
Director, New Internationalism Project
Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th Street NW #600
Washington DC 20036
tel: (1-202) 234-9382 ex 206
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Representative Boyda,
First of all, I would like to thank you for voting in favor of the Hate Crimes bill earlier this year, which included hate crimes committed towards LGBT individuals. I understand that now Congress is working on passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would include sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal non-discrimination policy. Right now a person can be fired for being gay in 31 states and for your gender identity in 42 states including Kansas. Would you please tell us your thoughts about ENDA and whether you support such legislation?
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Representative Boyda,
First of all, I would like to thank you for voting in favor of the Hate Crimes bill earlier this year, which included hate crimes committed towards LGBT individuals. I understand that now Congress is working on passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would include sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal non-discrimination policy. Right now a person can be fired for being gay in 31 states and for your gender identity in 42 states including Kansas. Would you please tell us your thoughts about ENDA and whether you support such legislation?
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Representative Boyda,
I understand that you did not support the funding of a domestic partnership registry in Washington, DC, which would have enabled unmarried couples there who share a relationship of mutual support, caring and commitment to formally record their relationships. Would you please explain why you voted against using federal funds to establish such a registry?
Note from Christopher: Washingtion DC has never used federal funds for its domestic partner registry, so the vote in Congress was largely symbolic, but it is still rather unsettling that she voted for the resolution.
10 September 2007
KILL THE POOR
I'm posting this because it shows how much organizations link to the Bush administration are purposely spreading false information about the state of the US economy and the impact of their policies.
09/04/2007
KILL THE POOR
Phony Poverty Study Fools Lazy Journalists
by Ted Rall
NEW YORK--They're baaack! Once again the Heritage Foundation is mangling statistics to whitewash the ugly facts of life in Republican-run America.
Last time, in 2005, they attacked the image of U.S. soldiers as cannon fodder being exploited for Halliburton. Au contraire, claimed the conservative propaganda mill. American troops, they said were actually "wealthier, more educated and more rural than the average" citizen. Of course, this wasn't true. "Military personnel are poorer and less educated" than the average Joe, I found when I took a closer look. Heritage's soldier study used junk logic and apples-to-oranges statistics to promote the GOP's wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. And it worked.
The lazy men who run the big newspapers and TV networks, deluded into believing there are two sides to every story, dutifully repeated Heritage's lies. They never questioned a word. More soldiers died. The Heritage story made us feel less guilty about it.
Now Heritage is telling us that there are no poor people--very few, anyway, and then only for short periods of time--in the United States. The truth is that capitalism is failing millions of Americans. The less we think about the problem, the less we think it is a problem, the worse it will become.
The pseudoacademic demagogues of the right want us to distrust our own eyes. Panhandlers? "Homeless by choice" urban campers, Ronald Reagan, patron saint of modern Republicanism, called them. Single mothers? He said they were "welfare queens." Americans who live in the sprawling slums of the inner cities, the washed-up Walmarted Main Streets of the farm belt, and the scary barred-window suburbs of California and Georgia and Illinois? They're living large, says the Heritage Foundation in a "study" whose dubious findings have already been reprinted--completely unquestioned, as usual--by hundreds of newspapers read by millions of gullible subscribers.
The Census Bureau says that 36.5 million Americans--one in eight--are poor. But "if poverty means a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm housing, and clothing for a family, then very few of the people identified as living 'in poverty' would, in fact, be characterized as poor," says Heritage's Robert Rector. "The typical person defined as 'poor' by the Census has cable or satellite TV, air conditioning, a microwave, a DVD player or VCR, and two color TVs."
No doubt, poor people in a technologically advanced nation like the United States don't live as minimally as those in undeveloped states like Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, on the other hand, a middle-class American homeowner would be spectacularly wealthy. A man worth $500,000 could become a warlord. There are no Afghan billionaires. Poverty is relative.
Even the claim that gadget ownership is incompatible with true poverty doesn't hold up: Rector refers to "a DVD player or VCR." But VCRs are antiquated, a decade out of date. It's like saying that someone who owns "a computer or a typewriter" isn't poor.
"Poor Americans living in houses or apartments, on average, have more living space per person than does the average citizen living in European countries such as England, France and Germany," the Heritage study asserts. There's a footnote--but the source material doesn't include figures for per-capita housing density in Europe. (As far as I can tell, such data doesn't exist.) Even if it's true, though, it's a factoid without a point. Europe, urbanized for the past 2000 years, has an overall higher population density than we do--yet enjoys the world's highest standard of living.
The more you think about Heritage's BS, the worse it gets.
"Three quarters of these 'poor'"--note the quotes--own a car," Rector continues. Are those cars in good working order, or up on blocks? He doesn't say--but there's a difference.
"When asked, [the typical 'poor person'] reports that his family was able to obtain medical care whenever needed during the past year," he continues. True--sorta. Uninsured people often rely on hospitals, enduring long waits and high fees for substandard care rendered by harried emergency room staffers. Hospitals are legally obligated to treat them--but it's hardly a workable system. Many poor (and middle class) people put off going to the doctor as long as possible.
Then there's this sparkling gem of compassion: "Some poor families," admits Rector, "do experience a temporary food shortage, a condition touted as 'hunger' by activists. But even this condition is relatively rare: 89 percent of the poor report their families always have 'enough' food to eat, while only 2 percent say they 'often' do not have enough to eat."
"Temporary food shortage." If that isn't hunger, what is? "Very simply," says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "hunger is defined as the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. When we talk about hunger in America, we refer to the ability of people to obtain sufficient food for their household. Some people may find themselves skipping meals or cutting back on the quality or quantity of food they purchase at the stores. This recurring and involuntary lack of access to food can lead to malnutrition over time."
Economists consider a society's infant mortality rate to be the most reliable indicator of its citizens' quality of life, and the prevalence of poverty. The United States has the second-worst infant morality rate in the industrialized world--behind Latvia, tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. Western Europe--France, Germany, etc.--kicks our national ass. The poverty rate for American children under 18 was 21.9 percent in 2006, the highest in the developed world.
Upwardly mobile Americans can escape poverty numerous ways--by, for example, earning a college scholarship. But we also suffer a lot of downward mobility, typically after losing a job. "While in any given year 12 to 15 percent of the population is poor," says Michael Zweig, author of "What's Class Got To Do With It, American Society in the 21st Century" (2004), "over a ten-year period 40 percent experience poverty in at least one year because most poor people cycle in and out of poverty."
Even the Heritage Foundation concedes that some poverty exists in this best of all possible laissez faire worlds. But, they argue in the finest tradition of blame-the-victim, it's "self-inflicted, a result of poor decisions and self-defeating behaviors."
Poor Americans, they say, have a "weak work ethic." The evidence: "The typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year--16 hours per week. "If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year--the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year--nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty." This assumes that poor parents live in a magical job market where they can work as many hours as they please--a condition that would only exist with zero percent unemployment.
"Father absence is another major cause of child poverty," says Heritage's poverty study. True. "Nearly two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes; each year, an additional 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock." Again true. The conservative solution: "If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, almost three-quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty." Stupid welfare queens! Why do they refuse to marry the fathers of their children?
A cat or dog understands hunger. The fact that we have to have this discussion demonstrates the success of the right in redefining basic terms--and the failure of the press to question it.
(Ted Rall is the author of the new book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.)
COPYRIGHT 2007 TED RALL
09/04/2007
KILL THE POOR
Phony Poverty Study Fools Lazy Journalists
by Ted Rall
NEW YORK--They're baaack! Once again the Heritage Foundation is mangling statistics to whitewash the ugly facts of life in Republican-run America.
Last time, in 2005, they attacked the image of U.S. soldiers as cannon fodder being exploited for Halliburton. Au contraire, claimed the conservative propaganda mill. American troops, they said were actually "wealthier, more educated and more rural than the average" citizen. Of course, this wasn't true. "Military personnel are poorer and less educated" than the average Joe, I found when I took a closer look. Heritage's soldier study used junk logic and apples-to-oranges statistics to promote the GOP's wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. And it worked.
The lazy men who run the big newspapers and TV networks, deluded into believing there are two sides to every story, dutifully repeated Heritage's lies. They never questioned a word. More soldiers died. The Heritage story made us feel less guilty about it.
Now Heritage is telling us that there are no poor people--very few, anyway, and then only for short periods of time--in the United States. The truth is that capitalism is failing millions of Americans. The less we think about the problem, the less we think it is a problem, the worse it will become.
The pseudoacademic demagogues of the right want us to distrust our own eyes. Panhandlers? "Homeless by choice" urban campers, Ronald Reagan, patron saint of modern Republicanism, called them. Single mothers? He said they were "welfare queens." Americans who live in the sprawling slums of the inner cities, the washed-up Walmarted Main Streets of the farm belt, and the scary barred-window suburbs of California and Georgia and Illinois? They're living large, says the Heritage Foundation in a "study" whose dubious findings have already been reprinted--completely unquestioned, as usual--by hundreds of newspapers read by millions of gullible subscribers.
The Census Bureau says that 36.5 million Americans--one in eight--are poor. But "if poverty means a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm housing, and clothing for a family, then very few of the people identified as living 'in poverty' would, in fact, be characterized as poor," says Heritage's Robert Rector. "The typical person defined as 'poor' by the Census has cable or satellite TV, air conditioning, a microwave, a DVD player or VCR, and two color TVs."
No doubt, poor people in a technologically advanced nation like the United States don't live as minimally as those in undeveloped states like Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, on the other hand, a middle-class American homeowner would be spectacularly wealthy. A man worth $500,000 could become a warlord. There are no Afghan billionaires. Poverty is relative.
Even the claim that gadget ownership is incompatible with true poverty doesn't hold up: Rector refers to "a DVD player or VCR." But VCRs are antiquated, a decade out of date. It's like saying that someone who owns "a computer or a typewriter" isn't poor.
"Poor Americans living in houses or apartments, on average, have more living space per person than does the average citizen living in European countries such as England, France and Germany," the Heritage study asserts. There's a footnote--but the source material doesn't include figures for per-capita housing density in Europe. (As far as I can tell, such data doesn't exist.) Even if it's true, though, it's a factoid without a point. Europe, urbanized for the past 2000 years, has an overall higher population density than we do--yet enjoys the world's highest standard of living.
The more you think about Heritage's BS, the worse it gets.
"Three quarters of these 'poor'"--note the quotes--own a car," Rector continues. Are those cars in good working order, or up on blocks? He doesn't say--but there's a difference.
"When asked, [the typical 'poor person'] reports that his family was able to obtain medical care whenever needed during the past year," he continues. True--sorta. Uninsured people often rely on hospitals, enduring long waits and high fees for substandard care rendered by harried emergency room staffers. Hospitals are legally obligated to treat them--but it's hardly a workable system. Many poor (and middle class) people put off going to the doctor as long as possible.
Then there's this sparkling gem of compassion: "Some poor families," admits Rector, "do experience a temporary food shortage, a condition touted as 'hunger' by activists. But even this condition is relatively rare: 89 percent of the poor report their families always have 'enough' food to eat, while only 2 percent say they 'often' do not have enough to eat."
"Temporary food shortage." If that isn't hunger, what is? "Very simply," says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "hunger is defined as the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. When we talk about hunger in America, we refer to the ability of people to obtain sufficient food for their household. Some people may find themselves skipping meals or cutting back on the quality or quantity of food they purchase at the stores. This recurring and involuntary lack of access to food can lead to malnutrition over time."
Economists consider a society's infant mortality rate to be the most reliable indicator of its citizens' quality of life, and the prevalence of poverty. The United States has the second-worst infant morality rate in the industrialized world--behind Latvia, tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. Western Europe--France, Germany, etc.--kicks our national ass. The poverty rate for American children under 18 was 21.9 percent in 2006, the highest in the developed world.
Upwardly mobile Americans can escape poverty numerous ways--by, for example, earning a college scholarship. But we also suffer a lot of downward mobility, typically after losing a job. "While in any given year 12 to 15 percent of the population is poor," says Michael Zweig, author of "What's Class Got To Do With It, American Society in the 21st Century" (2004), "over a ten-year period 40 percent experience poverty in at least one year because most poor people cycle in and out of poverty."
Even the Heritage Foundation concedes that some poverty exists in this best of all possible laissez faire worlds. But, they argue in the finest tradition of blame-the-victim, it's "self-inflicted, a result of poor decisions and self-defeating behaviors."
Poor Americans, they say, have a "weak work ethic." The evidence: "The typical poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year--16 hours per week. "If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year--the equivalent of one adult working 40 hours per week throughout the year--nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty." This assumes that poor parents live in a magical job market where they can work as many hours as they please--a condition that would only exist with zero percent unemployment.
"Father absence is another major cause of child poverty," says Heritage's poverty study. True. "Nearly two-thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes; each year, an additional 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock." Again true. The conservative solution: "If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, almost three-quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty." Stupid welfare queens! Why do they refuse to marry the fathers of their children?
A cat or dog understands hunger. The fact that we have to have this discussion demonstrates the success of the right in redefining basic terms--and the failure of the press to question it.
(Ted Rall is the author of the new book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.)
COPYRIGHT 2007 TED RALL
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