Phyllis Bennis of the Institute For Policy Studies will be talking
at American University’s WARD HALL (Ward 1 – T Floor).

Come to hear Phyllis,a leading peace advocate, talk about peace efforts
with a new U.S. administration.

Sponsored by Witness Against Torture and American University’s
Amnesty International chapter.

You are invited to a Saturday, Feb. 21 sneak preview screening of
“Billboard from Bethlehem” Documentary Film

A 1-Hour Film Documentary featuring Former Israeli Soldiers and Former Palestinian Fighters, Followed by a Talk and Reception with Producer/Director Bruce Barrett of IWagePeace.org and former Israel Defense Forces paratrooper Elik Elhanan.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, from 2-4 p.m. Between The Lines will be screening a film documentary about former Israeli soldiers and former Palestinian fighters advocating for a nonviolent resolution to the Mideast conflict: "Combatants for Peace and the Billboard from Bethlehem."

Producer/director Bruce Barrett of IWagePeace.org and former Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Maj. Elik Elhanan will speak, followed by a Q&A and reception with light refreshments.

The Davies Forum Spring 2009
Hosted by Professor Dorothy Kidd
University of San Francisco Department of Media Studies

The Davies Forum hosts Paul Jay

The Real News: A Global Model for Change

Paul Jay is guest speaker in the popular Davies Forum at San Francisco University on February 19, 2009. For those of you in the San Francisco area, please come along. We are hoping to live stream this event as well. We will send more information as it comes to hand.

We understand that many of our subscribers do not live close to the events we take part in, but hope that in time, we will come to a city near you.

In this series, Paul Jay will delve into the economic and climate change crises, quantify the scale of the problems and most importantly look at profound solutions.

Jerry Nadler, Howard Dean, Kelli Conlin & YOU
A Conversation & Reception

THE FIRST 100 DAYS:
HOW PROGRESSIVES CAN AFFECT CHANGE NOW

A CONVERSATION & RECEPTION WITH...

CONGRESSMAN JERRY NADLER
Chair, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN
Chairman Emeritus of the Democratic National Committee

KELLI CONLIN
President, NARAL Pro-Choice New York

BARATUNDE THURSTON
Co-Founder, jackandjillpolitics.com

MODERATED BY JOEL SILBERMAN

6pm-7pm VIP Reception
7pm-8pm Conversation
8pm-9pm General Reception
(drinks and light hors d'oeuvres)

We will have a large demonstration on Saturday, March 21, beginning at 11am at the Galeria Plaza (corner of 2nd and Copper) in Albuquerque.

This March 21 demonstration commemorates the 6th year of US war on Iraq.

We are still fine-tuning the plans for the demonstration, but we can give you a general sense of the purpose of it:

Out of Iraq
Free Gaza – No $30 billion to Israel
Bring the National Guard home
US Out of the Middle East
Abolish empire
4.400.4 (On his 4th day in office, Martin Heinrich voted to support the killing of 400 children in Gaza in 4 weeks)
Reparations for Iraq
$ for Human needs, not for war
Healthcare for all
Support veterans, not war

We are inviting any and all groups and organizations to endorse this necessary demonstration. To endorse, please contact StoptheWarMachine@comcast.net .

Book Event: Mandate for Change

Join us for a celebration of the best ideas for the Obama administration.

Three decades ago, conservative ideologues at The Heritage Foundation produced a primer on the Reagan Revolution entitled Mandate for Leadership, which offered an overarching philosophy against the role of government and in favor of markets.

Book Event: Pentagon Reform: If Not Now, When?

Come attend this panel discussion to learn how U.S. conventional wisdom on military and defense has misled the public.

Three authors of the anthology America’s Defense Meltdown: Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress will discuss the decades-long — and continuing — deterioration in U.S. defense.

You should attend if:

• You think America’s defenses are “the best in the world,”
• You do believe more money will fix what is wrong in the Pentagon,
• You assume President Obama’s new Defense Department team is sure to bring real military reform

Come and debate the issues or just to listen to why the prevailing conventional wisdom in Washington, DC has been so wrong for so long.

The authors:

Book Event: Gar Alperovitz and Marc Raskin

Join us for a conversation between two great public scholars on the key issues of our day, and celebrate new books by each of them.

In the United States, many Americans assume they have certain liberties and rights as citizens: freedom of speech, freedom of worship; the right to pursue happiness and transcend social class.

Gar Alperovitz, a professor of political economy at the University of Maryland, and Marc Raskin, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies, both recently co-authored books that question these assumptions. Over the past few decades, they argue, freedoms U.S. citizens take for granted have slowly eroded.

Join us for a stimulating discussion on how this happened and where we can go from here.

Book Event: Globalization on the Ground—What Bolivia Teaches Us
Join us for a discussion of the book Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia´s Challenge to Globalization

As the U.S. enters a new political era, what can we learn from one nation´s battle to define its own way forward in a globalizing world? Jim Shultz and Melissa Crane Draper of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia will share lessons from the book Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization. The event, co-hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies, along with Food and Water Watch and the Quixote Center, will also feature music, a slideshow, and refreshments.

Lecture: Addicted to Failure — Why the Drug War Has Failed and Prospects for Reform

IPS Fellow Sanho Tree will speak about the government's failure to eradicate drugs and alternatives to failed drug policy.

When Bart Simpson ran for class president, he began his campaign with an attack on his rival: "My opponent says there are no easy answers. Well I say he's not looking hard enough!" This is toughest problem with elected officials and drug policy — they think voters want (and can only understand) easy answers.

After decades of a simple-minded "war" paradigm, drugs stubbornly refuse to surrender while more users, producers and traffickers have been drawn into the drug economy. This talk will examine why the war on drugs has failed, what some alternatives might look like, and most importantly, how legislators can vote for change without risking their seats through "swiftboating" type campaign smears.