Anybody going to the US Social Forum in Detroit this month?

http://www.ussf2010.org/

The programs sound excellent. I'm thinking about playing hooky for a couple days.

http://www.truth-out.org/us-social-forum-target-long-term-progressive-goals60509

"We are meeting at a moment of world history that is in many ways unique - a moment that is ominous, but also full of hope. The most powerful state in history has proclaimed, loud and clear, that it intends to rule the world by force, the dimension in which it reigns supreme. Apart from the conventional bow to noble intentions that is the standard (hence meaningless) accompaniment of coercion, its leaders are committed to pursuit of their 'imperial ambition'."

So spoke Noam Chomsky in an address to the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2003. The picture Chomsky went on to paint, of an America ridden by fear and aggression, called for the creation of "a different world, one that is not based on violence and subjugation, hate and fear. That is why we are here, and the WSF offers hope that these are not idle dreams."

Under the banner "Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary," the attendees of the United States Social Forum (USSF) plan to do just this - on a more local level.

An outgrowth of the WSF, which was created as a people's alternative to the World Economic Forum headed by the world's wealthiest countries in Davos, Switzerland, the USSF will take place in Detroit, Michigan, on June 22-26, and is expected to bring together more than 15,000 progressive-minded people from across the country.

Detroit, a city especially ravaged by the decline in American manufacturing and the foreclosure crisis, was called "the ultimate reflection of America's pain" by "Dateline NBC." But it was not chosen to host the forum only for its status as poster child of the global economic and environmental crisis - unemployment in Detroit was at 15.5 percent in March - but also for the grassroots social movements which have begun to fill the void left by a lack of social welfare and regenerative funding.

Lottie Spady, assistant director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), said, "having the Social Forum in Detroit is really a good opportunity for the citizens of Detroit as well as across the nation to see different solutions from those that are being proposed by corporate models."