There are reports from many activist organizations that indicate both snail mail
and e-mail are continually late, often arriving after the planned meeting or rally.
A good alternative is to have a calendar on the web so those wanting to participate
in the political process may do so without Cointelpro interference....

This page is updated continually, so be sure to click the RELOAD button
on your browser.

Thursday, May 1, 4:30 p.m.
March for Immigrant Rights
Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition has organized a May 1 march and rally for immigrant rights. The rally is at the State Capitol at 4:30, and the march will begin at 5:30.
Location: South side of the Texas State Capitol, 11th and Congress.
Information: Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition: 524-2012, austinirc@gmail.com

Friday, May 2, 7 p.m.
Human Rights Crisis in Florida's Fields
The Student/Farmworker Alliance-ATX presents an evening of traditional Vera Cruz folk music and a report-back from the historic petition delivery at Burger King's corporate headquarters.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.

Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m.
Fausto Valiente Roberto de Leon,
"Guatemala, International Mining, and Autonomous Community Resistance"
Fausto Valiente Roberto de Leon represents the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology (COPAE), and will speak about community struggles against gold and silver extraction in San Marcos, Guatemala. COPAE is an organization that has accompanied communities through community consultations in Sipakapa and other forms of resistance. COPAE works to monitor the health, social, and environmental affects of mining and supports community efforts to exert their right to autonomy against transnational corporations and create locally determined economic alternatives for development. In addition to discussing the devastating affects of mining on rural communities, Fausto will address how the international system and the neoliberal model facilitate the entry of Northern mining companies in Guatemala.
Also shown will be part of the short documentary film, Sipakapa No Se Vende (Sipakapa Is Not For Sale) which focuses steep environmental and human costs of gold mining that have lead Maya communities in the Sipakapa municipality of Guatemala to exercise their right to be consulted about the expansion of mining operations into their area.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.
Food will be provided. Donations to cover Fausto's travel costs are gladly accepted.

Monday, May 5, 6:30 p.m.
Documentary, "Meeting Face to Face: the Iraq-U.S. Labor Solidarity Tour"
In June 2005 six senior Iraqi trade union leaders toured the United States hosted by U.S. Labor Against the War, visiting 25 cities and speaking to several thousand unionists, peace activists, and others. This 27-minute documentary captures the energy and emotions of the tour while expressing the important substantive message Iraqi workers want to convey to all Americans: end the occupation; oppose the privatization of Iraqi national resources; and support the right of all Iraqi workers to organize free and independent trade unions. Thomas Bacon, coordinator of both the 2005 and 2007 tours, will be at the event for discussion following the film.
Location: Texas State Employees Union, 1700 South First Street.

Thursday, May 8, 7 p.m.
Workers' Defense Project, "Immigration and Its Root Causes"
Workers' Defense Project will host a participatory workshop on neo-liberal economic policies such as NAFTA and structural adjustment policies by the IMF and the World Bank that have helped fuel immigration worldwide.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.

Friday, May 9, 7:30 p.m.
Plain View Press Group Reading
Madeleine Mysko will read from Bringing Vincent Home, a Vietnam-era novel told by the mother of a soldier who returns home with serious burns. A real and riviting protrayal of the burn ward vicitms and their families. H. Palmer Hall will read from Coming to Terms, a collection of autobiographical essays with focus on his experiences during the Vietnam War. Susan Bright, the editor of Plain View Press, will read from The Layers of Our Seeing and other poems.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.

Saturday, May 10, 7:30 p.m.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, "Restore Human Rights: End the Occupation of Palestine"
Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights hosts author Mazin Qumsiyeh, who will speak about the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Location: St. Edward's University, 3001 S. Congress, Ragsdale Center, Jones Auditorium.

Monday, May 12, 8 p.m.
PermaCulture in a West African Eco-Village
Learn about permaculture at Xofa Eco-Village in Ghana, West Africa from Cudjoe Exah, one of Xofa's founder and permaculture farmer, and Vicki Wolf, environmental writer and eco-happy traveler. They will also present a video of interviews at the eco-village.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.

Wednesday, May 14, 8 p.m.
Bonnie Tamres-Moore, "U.S.-Supported Torture"
Bonnie Tamres-Moore, a founding member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, will speak about torture, the United States, and the rule of law. The event is sponsored by Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110. E. North Loop.

Tuesday, May 20, 7 p.m.
Vote Rescue Update!
 Terri Williams, State Secretary of the TMRA (Texas Motorcycle Rights Association,
a Coalition Partner with VoteRescue in "Texans for REAL Elections"); Terri works
closely with Sputnik, the TMRA's leader of many years, and is extremely knowledgeable
about lobbying for (and against) legislation at the Capitol.  Terri will share some of the
TMRA's stories of lobbying success with us, and give us some tips going forward about
how we can work to promote "The Texas Hand-Counted Paper Ballot Bill of 2009",
which we plan on promoting next year with hopes of passage this next round.

We will also be showing an election related movie and we'll also be updating everyone
on our progress with the County Commissioner's Court and also City of Austin.
Location:  Brave New Books, 1904 Guadalupe
Hope to see you there!
Vickie (and Karen)
775-3737 and 496-7408

Wednesday, May 21, 7 p.m.
Third Coast Film Night at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, "Angry Monk: Reflections on Tibet"
Gendun Choephel Gendun Choephel (1903-1951) is a legendary figure in Tibet, not simply because he was believed to be the reincarnation of a famous Buddhist lama but also because this promising young monk eventually turned his back on monastic life and became a fierce critic of his country's religious conservatism, cultural isolationism and reactionary government. After leaving the monastery in 1934, and fueled by his intellectual curiosity and free-spirited nature, Choephel began extensive travels throughout Tibet and India in order to understand the true political history of his country.
ANGRY MONK provides both a personal and political portrait of this pioneering and visionary intellectual who was also a smoking, drinking and sexually active man who renounced the "false duty of monastic obligations." The film traces the biography and historic times of Choephel, who lived between the British colonial invasion of 1903 and the occupation by the Chinese army in 1951.
In addition to rare archival footage, Choephel's paintings and sketches, and contemporary scenes of many of the sites he visited, the documentary features interviews with Tibetan historians, scholars, writers, poets, a travel companion, a contemporaneous British diplomat, and Choephel's wife. Their commentary and reminiscences chronicle the major phases of Choephel's life, including his monastery education in Lhasa (1927-34), his journey across Tibet (1934-1938), his journey throughout India (1938-1946), and his return to Tibet (1946-1951).
Choephel's many writings include a guide book to Buddhist holy sites in India, a Tibetan translation of the Kama Sutra, and a political history of Tibet published posthumously. He also wrote articles for an expatriate newspaper that criticized Tibet as a political, cultural and scientific backwater, which in 1946 led the Tibetan government to imprison Choephel for three years as a political subversive. Today Choephel is a revered figure in his Chinese-occupied homeland, and an influential symbol of hope for those seeking political and spiritual reform in a free Tibet.
"Absorbing... a very useful perspective on recent Tibetan history."
-- The Vancouver Sun
"Excellent... The film not only sheds light on a most unique personality. It also is an excellent introduction to Tibetan culture and politics."
--  Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist
Location: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, at the newly renovated Ritz Theater location, 320 E. 6th Street
Tickets - $8.25 general / $6 student, senior - are available at the door or online at http://www.originalalamo.com/Show.aspx?id=5374

Thursday, May 22, noon - 1 p.m.
Action against Global Border Security Conference and Expo
Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (AIRC) is organizing a public action at the Global Border Security Conference and Expo to draw attention to the death toll on the border and in detention centers, along with the profits made by private companies to militarize the border and privatize detention centers.
Location: Outside of the Austin Convention Center (500 Cesar Chavez, between Trinity and Red River).

Tuesday, May 27, 8 p.m.
Documentary, "A Grin without a Cat"
A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT (France, 1978, 185 min., French with English subtitles) is director Chris Marker's epic film-essay on the worldwide political wars of the 60's and 70's: Vietnam, Bolivia, May '68, Prague, Chile, and the fate of the New Left. Described by Marker as "scenes of the Third World War," the film is divided into two parts.
Part One: Fragile Hands, from Vietnam to Che's death ending with Paris in May '68.
Part Two: Severed Hands reflects on events from the Prague Spring to the election of Allende in Chile to Tlatelolco in México.
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop.

Thursday, May 29, 8 p.m.
MonkeyWrench Books Spanish Language Film Series, "En el País de No Pasa Nada"
Maricarmen de Lara, best known for her feminist documentaries, directs this comedy about a corrupt philandering businessman and his wife and the class conflicts created when Enrique is kidnapped by a band of incompetent kidnappers This film uses humor to describe the social problems facing Mexico and the role of women in society.
(2000, 91 min., México, in Spanish with subtitles in English)
Location: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop.

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