Mid-Hudson Social Forum Sept 18th

RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY"
Understanding and Acting on Local, National, Global Issues

Saturday, September 18, 2004.

Central Valley Elementary School. Rt. 32, Central Valley, NY.
(Across from Woodbury Common at the intersection of Exit 16 of NYS Thruway, Rt. 17 and Rt. 6).

www.midhudsonvpa.org/ - email: info@midhudsonvpa.org/ phone:845.987.2321.
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The People's Assembly will help us to focus on ways to create an informed and active civil society. The aim is to demonstrate and showcase what works in achieving a peaceful society that offers social, economic and environmental justice, to explore what distorts democratic procedures, and to learn what we can do together today and after the upcoming elections. This assembly will begin to answer some very basic questions: What kind of future do we want for the Mid-Hudson Valley? For our nation? For the world? How do we design a desirable and workable future? And how do we reach those goals?

"Tell Me About Tomorrow"
Video documentation will take place throughout the day by Middletown High School seniors who will ask participants about their visions for the future.
Directed by Fred Isseks, Middletown High School teacher.



PROGRAM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2004

8 - 9 am. Registration .
9 am. Welcome and opening remarks, Tula Tsalis, Program Coordinator

9:15 - 11:25 am. Opening Plenary:

DUMBING US DOWN:
THE CRISIS OF TRUTH IN THE PROPOGANDA STATE
Facilitator: Ward Morehouse, Co-Founder, Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (POCLAD); President, Council on International and Public Affairs;

Principal Speakers: Virginia Rasmussen, Activist and Organizer for the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (POCLAD) and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; former Mayor of Alfred (NY);

Peter Montague, Founder of the Environmental Research Foundation and Editor of Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly;

Jeremy Scahill, Producer and correspondent for the nationally syndicated radio and TV program Democracy Now.

Robert Engler, Professor Emeritus, City University of New York, and Author of Politics of Oil.

Trent Schroyer, Editor of A World That Works, Chair of TOES/USA (The Other Economic Summit), and Professor, Ramapo College.

Audience Discussion

Testimonies to the Crisis of Truth/Preludes to ForthcomingPanels/Workshops
Representatives from Clean Elections, Veterans for Peace, World Tribunal on Iraq, and 9/11 Truth Movement.

Special guest: Jack A. Smith, The Mid-Hudson National People's Campaign and Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter. Advisor to the Mid-Hudson Valley People's Assembly.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm. Concurrent panels/workshops


RECLAIMING POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY

Why is there a 9/11 Truth Movement? Nick Levis, "NY 911 Truth", Megan Bartlett, Founder, Ground Zero for Peace.

Clean Money/Clean Elections: The Key to Reclaiming Democracy
Facilitator: Irene Miller, President, NY Citizens for Clean Elections; Richard Kirsch, Executive Director, Citizen Action of New York, et.al.

A Living Wage: Why Should Anyone Working Full Time Live in Poverty? Tom Stoner, Co-chair, Rockland Working Families Party. Josh Mason, Policy Director. Working Families Party.

On the Reform and Revitalization of the UN: International Activism Towards a World Parliament and Global Democracy. Howard Cort, President, NYS Capital Area Chapter, United Nations Association (UNA-USA).

Coming to Grips with the Ecological Crisis. Joel Kovel, Scholar, and Author of "The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?

Militarization and Space, Peace Action Network, Laurie Kirby, Facilitator.

On the People's Forum: World Tribunal on Iraq, NYC Session. Claudia Sofia Carriga Lopez.

An Invincible Defense Against Terrorism: Transcendental Meditation and the Military. Dr. David Leffler, Ph.D., Consciousness-based Military Defense.

Amnesty International, Orange County Chapter. (11:30 a.m. on) Howard Garrett, Chair. Action and letter writing.


12:30 pm - 1:30 pm. Bag Lunch sold on site.
Meeting: Coalition of People's Assemblies: What Can We Do together?

1:30 - 3:00 pm. GLOBAL-LOCAL,
SECURING RIGHTS AND LIVELIHOODS

Concurrent panels/workshops:

Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy: Exposing and Reversing Corporate Control in New York State. Ward Morehouse, Virginia Rasmussen, Keegan Cox, Author, Corporate History of New York State.

Death Penalty and Prison Reform: Coalition of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.
Joe Dubovy, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, facilitator., Qwame Mahdi, Chair, Free At Last. Muhamad Shaban, Shinora Tamel, Charles Quataba, Free at Last.

"Workers Rights are Human Rights: Labor and the Struggle for Social & Economic Justice, or, Who's Economy is it, Anyway? Standing Up for the People Who Do It All"
Edward T Felton, Mid-Hudson Coalition for Economic Justice, Facilitator.
Liza Feathersone, Contributing Editor, The Nation. Co-author, "Students Against Sweatshops". Her book, "Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers Rights and Wal-Mart, will appear in November. And others.

Corporate Media and Democratic Alternatives.
Denissse Andrade, et.al. Paper Tiger TV and Deep Dish Network.

Enhanced Medicare For All: The Only Health Care Payment Method Proven to Control Costs While Providing Universal Coverage. Steven White, member of Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice, Facilitator; Mark Hannay, Director: Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign.

Food, Environment, Free Trade and Human Rights.
Manna Jo Green, Environmental Director,Clearwater.Facilitator.
Kathy Lawrence, Executive Director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture: "Power Politics on Your Dinner Plate."
Jim Mays, Sierra Club, Human Rights and Responsible Trade Committee. "Free Trade and its's Impacts in the Hudson Valley."
Clare Danielsson, Boughton Place, Phillies Bridge Farm and Mohonk Consultations. Local Agriculture, Local Self-Reliance in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Music, The Public Domain, and the Cultural Commons.
Caroline Toll Oppenheim, Director, Public Purpose Communications.



3:15 - 4:45 pm. CONNECTING GLOBAL-LOCAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, ACTIVISM.

Resisting The Israeli Occupation of Palestine.
Joel Kovel, scholar and author, On "Detaching from Zionism", facilitator;
Gail Miller, "Women of a Certain Age". Kate Crockford, student, Bard College, on "The International Solidarity Movement and its work in the Occupied Territories".

Veterans for Peace - On Military Recruitment in Schools.
George Weber, Facilitator. Peter Bronson. Et.al. Members, Veterans for Peace.

Water. Our Common Resource and Basic Human Right: - Global and Local. Geoff Welch, Ramapo River Committee, facilitator; Dr. Peter Rostenberg, Fishkill Ridge Caretakers; Dr. Howard Horowitz, Institute of Environmental Studies, Ramapo College, Janet Burnet, Ramapo River Watershed Inter-Municipal Council. Charles Olson, Environmental Scientist with NYC Bureau of Water Supply and member of the WESPAC Foundation's Fair Trade Committee.

"ORGANIZING 101". The Nuts and Bolts of Building your Campaign for Social and Economic Justice. Jen Fuentes. Hudson Valley Labor Federation, AFL/CIO.

Genetic Engineering, agriculture, and the New World Order,
Mitchel Cohen , N.Y. Greens, Facilitator. Howard Brandstein, Save Organic Standards, N.Y. Rhio, investigative reporter and lecturer on health and environment, raw/live food, genetic engineering of seeds, organic agriculture and economic justice.

P.R.O.U.T: The Progressive Utilization Theory. On cooperative economic democracy, regional self-sufficiency, and universal spirituality. Nada Khader, PROUTIST Universal Board.

Indian Point Nuclear Plant and Energy.
Mark Jacobs, Co-founder of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition; Lisa Rainwater, Riverkeeper.

Re-Inventing Local Economies: Toward a Permanent Peace Economy.
Community-based economic development as an emerging paradigm that enhances local control, diversity, and public accountability. Melissa Everett, Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley.

5.00pm - 6:00 pm.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER, SCOTT RITTER, Former UN Chief Weapons Inspector for Iraq, and author of "Endgame: Solving the Iraqi Problem Once and For All".

Introduced by Richard McNight., a member of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the Mid-Hudson Valley People's Assembly, and an opponent of the war in Iraq.

6:00 pm. A simple supper will be available.

6:30 - 9:00 pm. CELEBRATING YOUTH IN THE REGION. INFORMING ON WHAT YOUTH ARE DOING IN THE MID-HUDSON VALLEY TOWARD A BETTER WORLD. Facilitator, Chris Lewer, Bergen Action Network and Ramapo College of NJ.

HIP HOP PERFORMANCE BY "THOUGHT BREAKERS", "Jerzeys finest underground hip hop collaboration": Go to www.thoughtbreakers.com for "Capturin consciousness, categorically killin lies / instillin intelligence and opening eyes" With Zach Lost and Skeptik.