I fully endorse these three,connected items. The first is perposterous, the second, far worse, while the third provides discussion of changing the poisonous atmosphere inherant in the first two. Don was a key organizer of that part. All 3 require and merit a bit of your own thought and energy. Ed
----- Original Message ----- From: Karen Pomer To: Carole LaFlame ; Karin Pally ; ed pearl Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 5:41 PM Subject: Don White and LA Times Carole, Karin, James, and Ed, Claire Noland, Deputy Editor of LA Times obit page e-mailed me today to say that they were passing on an obit for Don. ( I don't know Noland but the obit writer I do know had forwarded her all the info on Don that I had sent.) I wrote back to Noland this afternoon explaining why I thought that was a mistake and why Don was more than deserving. Please feel free to write her encourage others to write her and/or her boss Jon Thurber, Obituaries Editor, maybe we can get them to change their mind or else we will make sure the English and Spanish media knows Don's Aug 10 Memorial is newsworthy. Please remind people to be very polite in their notes to the editors. . Claire Noland, Deputy Obituaries Editor, Los Angeles Times <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Jon Thurber, Obituaries Editor, Los Angeles Times <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> KRP *** http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-almarayati26-2008jun26,0,5362594.story Another wedge issue Exploiting the Muslim- Jewish divide is the wrong way to win votes. By Salam Al-Marayati and Steven B. Jacobs June 26, 2008 There's a disturbing trend in this 2008 election. We are witnessing the manipulation and exploitation of Muslim-Jewish differences by political candidates in pursuit of votes. As advocates for our respective communities, we believe it's in America's interest that it stop. It appears that the political logic of the candidates and their handlers calls for winning Jewish American support at the expense of Muslim American voters. This takes the shape of aggressive outreach to the Jewish community while Muslims go ignored. That strategy may be politically expedient, but it is inherently flawed. Muslims see their exclusion as a betrayal of American values, and many Jews are alarmed by the parallels to their own historical political exclusion. American Jews are all too familiar with institutionalized bigotry. In the late 1940s and 1950s, Rep. John Rankin opposed the immigration of Holocaust survivors, and he opposed integration. In that McCarthyite, anti-Communist era, politicians clamped down against those who they thought threatened the changing fabric of America -- namely, Jews. Now, Muslims are on the receiving end of similar suspicions, this time in the name of fighting terrorism. Muslims today are political scapegoats associated with global tragedies including terrorism and war. Against this dismal backdrop, politicians are apparently deeming Muslim voters political pariahs; any endorsement from national Muslim groups is tantamount to a kiss of death. Just one day after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped out of the Democratic race, Sen. Barack Obama rushed to receive the blessing of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Last week, his campaign volunteers rushed to remove Muslim women wearing head scarves from a Detroit rally. Though Obama apologized, Muslims felt stung by a candidate supposedly running on a platform of inclusion and change. But the snubs aren't limited to Obama. Sen. John McCain recently dismissed a Muslim American businessman from an important campaign committee. In March, McCain visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem but made no similar visit to the adjacent Muslim holy site, the Dome of the Rock. And although both candidates have made frequent stops at churches and synagogues, neither has made a campaign stop at a mosque. Put on the spot about turning their backs on Muslim voters, politicians may argue that they can't afford to lose Jewish support, implying that the Jewish community would oppose any politician who associates with Muslims. To be sure, the politicians aren't inventing a division between Muslims and Jews. We acknowledge the tension between our communities created by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And yet it is also clear that Jews and Muslims should be natural allies in countering xenophobia and hysteria. We both suffer from scapegoating as fear works against common sense in our political culture. Whether it is anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, we both know the face of bigotry. The issue of excluding Muslims to get Jewish votes is not about ensuring domestic security, it is about cowardly politics. It is about playing to fears, not processing facts. It is about the canard that Muslims and Jews have been fighting since ancient times and nothing will change. It is about blaming both for America's problems. We Muslims and Jews, along with all people of faith, represent the spirit of God. There is much that binds us together. It is in the spirit of this shared history, and our common interests, that we must stand against these divisions being created by the candidates. Abraham Lincoln argued against the politics of fear, holding out hope for the "better angels of our nature." Our presidential candidates must display such higher thinking in the coming months. Likewise, we -- American Jews and Muslims -- must do the same. Salam Al-Marayati is the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Steven B. Jacobs, a rabbi, is the founder of the Progressive Faith Foundation. Both are members of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative. *** LOS ANGELES SOCIAL FORUM Friday, June 27 - Sunday, June 29 at USC http://lasocialforum.org/joomla/index.php?lang=english Building bridges between social justice movements across LA Please join us for a weekend of building bridges between LA-based campaigns for social justice, environmental action, criminal reform, election fairness, gender equity, political power and cultural expression. The Los Angeles Social Forum is a place where Southern California activists will meet and share power, plans, perspectives, and ideas while building a network for peace and social justice. More than 50 workshops on topics from immigrant rights to informed enlistment will be offered. The Forum is being endorsed or sponsored by more than 50 organizations that work in the Los Angeles area. ------ PARKING: Remember to enter through Gate 3 on Figueroa south of the corner of Figueroa and Jefferson, and tell the parking attendant that you are part of the LA Social Forum to receive a discounted $5 rate. Map: http://web-app.usc.edu/maps/ Register:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rsu_2f62AkA48Ae9pZ_2b2XFLA_3d_3d ------------ -JUNE 27, FRIDAY 6:00 p.m. Registration . Meet & Greet Alumni Park . South of Von KleinSmid Building 7:45 p.m. Welcome with First People Seeley G. Mudd, Rm 123 8:00 p.m. Opening Plenary and Cultural Performances Seeley G. Mudd, Rm 123 8:45 p.m. Drum Circle Alumni Park . South of Von KleinSmid Building EXAMPLES OF Workshops: It Takes a Village to Rape a Woman | Teaching During a Time of War | Making Our Votes Count for a Voice in Government | Media and Social-Justice Movements | Ongoing Struggle for Lesbian Rights | Organizing for Immigrants' Rights & Against ICE Raids | Palestine and the Right of Return: 60 years of Exile | Peak Oil | Prevent Unwanted Presidencies: Ways to protect the Nov. 2008 Election | Prison Abolition | Puerto Rico Self Determination/Liberation From Colonziation | Race, Gender and Electoral Politics | Release Women From Prison | Reforming Proposition 13 & Advancing Economic Justice | Revolutionary Journalism | Roots of the Global Food Crisis: How Capitalism Fails to Feed the Hungry | Sexual Politics | Working together for a Fair California Budget | Situational Awareness, Mindfulness, Communication, and Focus | Soul Rebel Radio | Spirituality and the Struggle for Social Justice -JUNE 28, SATURDAY 8:30 a.m. Registration Alumni Park . South of Von KleinSmid Building 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Workshops Session 1 Refer to specific workshops for room locations (pp 6-17) 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch, Actions Alumni Park . South of Von KleinSmid Building 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Workshops Session 2 Refer to specific workshops for room locations (pp 6-17) 4:-00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Workshops Session 3 Refer to specific workshops for room locations (pp 6-17) 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. SAJE Virtual Neighborhood Tour Alumni Park . South of Von KleinSmid Building 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. pARTy . Refreshments . Music (See pg 4 & 20) William Grant Still Art Center -- 2520 West View Street, Los Angeles, CA 90016 ------ -JUNE 29, SUNDAY 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Mini-assemblies (See pg 21 for details) Seeley G. Mudd Building 12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Closing Ceremony -- McCarthy Quad ---------------------------------------- Participate in one of our 74 workshops happening Saturday, June 28. A PDF spreadsheet of the times and room numbers of all workshops scheduled can be downloaded at: http://lasocialforum.org/joomla/images/downloadfiles/workshops-final.pdf Descriptions of workshops are at: http://tinyurl.com/3jdupz RSVP to attend specific workshops by clicking here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fhYAq2gAvj84bB2ofWceDg_3d_3d On Sunday, the LA Social Forum is sponsoring three Mini-assemblies, which will be large gatherings to share ideas and activities. RSVP for a Mini-assembly for Sunday at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=10iRQ9GrrRfPkyXdEIAzuQ_3d_3d [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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