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April 2011
Vol. 25, #5
Graduate Assistants United
fights union-busting bills
Graduate Assistants United
While the campaign to eliminate
collective bargaining rights for
public-sector unions in Wisconsin
has captured national headlines,
similar measures being proposed
here in Florida have received
far less attention. Two bills in
our state legislature would be no
less devastating in their effects.
Although these bills do not explicitly
criminalize unions-to do so outright
would be unconstitutional -their
combined impact could essentially
render unions impotent.
HB 1023 would require unions to
have 50 percent membership by July
1 of this year in order to retain the
right to negotiate contracts on behalf
of employees. SB 830/HB 1021
would prohibit public-sector unions
Continued page 3...
^*-J~i~i ~ ,'lr
Jose Soto, Graduate Assistants United bargaining co-chair at UF, speaks at a rally in
late March to protest two bills that would take away many rights of unions in Florida.
Photo by Amanda Adams.
Anti-immigrant bills ...... 2
City runoff election ....... 6
Tea Party in Alachua Co... 7
Penrod award winner ..... 8
Vets arrested in DC ....... 9
Group directory...... 10-11
Calendar ....... .... 12-13
Anti-nuke victory ........ 14
Unions fight back ....... 16
Oral history project ...... 20
Immokalee workers ...... 22
Leonard Weinglass ...... 24
Here we go again:
The United States
and Libya
Joseph Margetanski
They say history repeats itself. In the
case of Libya and its tempestuous
relationship with the U.S., that never
seemed as true as now. As Libyan
leader Muammar Gadhafi uses
increasingly brutal means to oppress
a growing revolt by his own people,
the U.S. has opted to use military
force against Libyan targets.
Continued page 4...
Anti-Immigrant Sentiments from Tallahassee
Fran Ricardo
An undercurrent of fear has rippled
through the U.S. since the passage of
Arizona's SB 1070, a broad and strict
anti-illegal-immigration measure.
However, it now appears that people
are realizing, even in Arizona, the
impact of such a stringent bill. With
the current economic crisis and
continued boycotts against Arizona,
people are beginning to put the
brakes on similar bills throughout the
Here in Florida, we are in the throes
of 14 bills that the new Florida
Legislature is molding into an anti-
immigrant bill, stripping immigrants
of their human rights.
One aspect of the bill would institute
E-verify, requiring employers to use
a costly federal system one proven
faulty to verify the eligibility of
an employee. If not used, employers
could be fined and in some cases lose
their licenses.
Secondly, the expansion of 287(g) (a
rule in the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement handbook) would result
in police taking on the additional
role of immigration officers, further
burdening their workload, leaving
many people vulnerable to crime.
Another aspect of these proposed
bills requires law enforcement to
determine a person's immigration
status when there is "reasonable
suspicion" that this person is
unlawfully present in the U.S. If this
passes, potentially anyone will need
to be prepared to prove their status
at any time, at any place, if they
are stopped or questioned by law
Individuals of various ideologies,
including conservative Rep.
Connie Mack, oppose this type of
infringement of liberties. In a piece
for the Washington Post, Mack
wrote, "Our Constitution protects
individual freedoms and liberties...
Anger about the economy, increased
crime and security concerns are
fueling this law, not constitutional
principles." Furthermore, Mack
stated, "I do not want to live in a
nation where American citizens are
asked, 'Where are your papers?' We
are better than that."
Florida's top agricultural producers,
along with religious leaders, actively
oppose these
bills. Racial
profiling and I
the potential
separation by
deportation of
Over 15 different styles!
CALl DAWG TOPPED W/ ONIONS, CHEESE, HOT RELISH AND CHILI
1023 W. University Ave.
(352) 378-4353
undocumented family or friends keep
many on edge whether documented
or not, citizens or visitors.
Immigrants and the general public
both are endangered when criminals
can feel free to attack people of color
who will be afraid to talk with police
and when the poor are kept away
from health services by fear of arrest.
The focus on racial profiling from
these proposed bills, with potential
harassment of legal residents and
citizens, creates insecurity for people
of color and reduces their trust in
the police. The present political
atmosphere jeopardizes the health
and safety of all communities.
States, including Florida, should
focus on the economic crisis, which
has real problems and needs real
solutions. Take a moment to contact
your State Representative and
Senator. The message is clear: leave
the immigration issue to the federal
government and focus on concrete
actions to improve Florida. c"
Jean Chialmers
Mobile: (352) 538-4256
Office- (352) 377-3840
Fa\ (352) 377-3243
Email. firstname.lastname@example.com
Monday Saturday: 2 pm 2 am
Sunday: 2 pm 11 pm
GAU... continued from p. 1
from collecting dues via payroll
deduction, making dues collection a
logistical nightmare.
With the passage of these
bills, Florida politicians would
hypocritically hold unions to a
far higher standard than they hold
themselves: while unions must
achieve 50 percent membership
from among all potential members
to continue to represent them, a
political candidate may be elected
to office with a mere plurality of
those registered voters who actually
turn out. Governor Rick Scott,
for example, received only 48.9
percent of the votes cast in the 2010
election, with a mere 48.7 percent of
registered voters casting a ballot. In
other words, he holds office despite
receiving votes from less than a
fourth of all registered voters in
The Teaching Assistants' Association
has been at the forefront of the
resistance against anti-union
legislation in Wisconsin. Here in
Florida, Graduate Assistants United
(GAU) has similarly taken up the
cause. GAU, which has represented
Labor Notes
The voice of activists who are
"Putting the movement back in
the Labor Movement"
the interests of graduate students
at UF for 30 years, has made it a
top priority to meet the 50 percent
threshold and is in the midst of
a rigorous membership drive.
Because Florida is a right-to-work
state, meaning employees receive
the benefits negotiated by unions
whether or not those employees are
union members, many people do not
understand why it is so important to
Should GAU lack 50 percent
membership by July 1, GAs would
lose representation and their
current contracts. Those contracts,
negotiated by GAU, guarantee all
the rights GAs currently enjoy:
free health insurance, minimum
stipends, maximum class sizes,
tuition waivers, workload limits, fee
deferment, due process and many
other basic working benefits.
Additionally, these legislative
measures will have consequences far
beyond the immediate impact felt by
GAs. If UF ceases to offer applicants
the sort of package GAs currently
receive, the university will become
less competitive and fail to attract the
best graduate students. Because GAs
teach the majority of lower division
courses, undergraduate students will
no longer have the high quality of
instruction to which they have grown
accustomed, and UF's prestige will
suffer, and so will UF graduates'
As in Wisconsin, lawmakers in
Florida are using the rhetoric of
budgetary crisis to justify these
measures. Also as in Wisconsin, they
are having a hard time explaining
how debilitating unions will help fill
state coffers. We do know these bills,
should they become law, will have an
economic impact here in Gainesville:
if grad students are forced to buy
health insurance and pay higher
tuition, they will each have thousands
fewer dollars to spend at local
businesses each year.
For more information, you can visit
Graduate Assistants United's website
at www.ufgau.org. ct
The Gainesville Iguana
is Gainesville's progressive
events calendar & newsletter.
Individuals: $15
(or more if you can)
Low/No income: What you can
Groups: $20
Iguana, c/o CISPLA
P.O. Box 14712
Gainesville, FL 32604
Comments, suggestions, contribu-
tions (written or financial) are
welcome. To list your event or
group, contact us at:
(352) 378-5655
Gainesvillelguana@ cox.net
The Iguana has been published
monthly or bi-monthly by volun-
teers for 25 years. Circulation for
this issue is 4,500.
Joe Courter
Editor Emeritus:
Jenny Brown
Editorial Board:
Pierce Butler
Joe Courter
Jessica Newman
Mark Piotrowski
Production work & assistance:
Amanda Adams
Diana Moreno
James Schmidt
Sherry Steiner
Katie Walters
Bill Gilbert
Authors & photographers have
sole credit, responsibility for, and
rights to their work. Cover draw-
ing of iguana by Daryl Harrison.
Printed on recycled paper.
for in-depth and up-to-date
reporting from around the
labor movement
Subscribe $24/year
Libya... continued from p. 1
And even as the official reports
detail the initial strikes on the Libyan
capital, Tripoli, this no doubt gives
many observers a feeling of d6jA vu.
It's an appropriate sensation, as this
isn't America's first trip down that
contentious road.
A quarter century ago, the U.S. also
took action against Gadhafi. The
results led to a spectacular defeat
for the Libyan despot, yet weren't
enough to topple him from power.
Now a generation later, we face the
same enemy, though for different
Indeed, 25 years ago, our grievances
against Gadhafi were far more
personal. For almost a decade,
Gadhafi had been supporting
terrorist attacks in Europe. But it
was an attack on a disco in Berlin
the following year that prompted
America to strike back at Libya. Two
U.S. sergeants died in the attack, and
50 American service members were
injured. Libyan agents were quickly
implicated when the U.S. intercepted
messages to the Libyan embassy
congratulating the perpetrators.
After talking to European allies
for several days, President Ronald
Reagan decided that Libya's
government had gone too far. He
ordered U.S. forces to hit Libyan
military targets. The stated purpose
of the bombing, officially titled
"Operation El Dorado Canyon," was
to retaliate against the Berlin disco
bombing and to impede Libya's
ability to support and train terrorists.
Ironically, the U.S. had issues with
France before the bombing run
took place. The French government
denied U.S. aircraft passage over
its territory, as did the Spanish and
Italian governments. Because of this,
American aircraft had to fly around
these countries, adding about 1,300
more miles to reach their target.
But once they got there, they went to
work quickly.
Although the raid was short, it was
certainly sweet-at least for the
Americans. U.S. forces destroyed
14 Libyan MiG fighters, two of their
helicopters and several transport'
planes. The Libyans lost 45 soldiers
and officials, and there were 15
reported civilian casualties. The
U.S. military didn't go unscathed;
two plane crew members died, and
a Libyan SAM missile shot down
an American fighter jet. Several of
the U.S. missiles were off target.
Curiously, one of
them just missed
the French
embassy, and
several actually
hit Western
embassies in
And with all S
of the damage
done to Libya's
military, the
main target of the
attacks escaped
Gadhafi received
a warning that
planes were
his residence, so he left just before
the bombs fell. He continued to
fuel extremist movements and was
involved in the 1988 bombing of a
plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Nor was this the last confrontation
between the two adversaries.
American and Libyan forces fought
each other in 1989, over the disputed
Gulf of Sidra.
These two defeats may have finally
led Gadhafi to the negotiating
table because his government
began a somewhat more moderate
course. Ironically, after 9/11, the
Libyan government owned up to
its involvement in terrorism and
started to cooperate with Western
governments. It formally admitted
its involvement in the Lockerbie
bombing, and agreed to pay
compensation to the families of the
270 victims. And in 2004, Libya
announced that it destroyed its
433 south main street
stockpile of chemical weapons. For
the last several years, in fact, the
relationship between the U.S. and
Libya, if not cordial, was certainly
far from antagonistic.
But since the revolution that began
in Tunisia spread to Libya, many
feel that Gadhafi's true colors are
once again showing. His willingness
to use artillery, and even fighter
jets, against his own people, has
convinced skeptics that he's never
truly repented. Once again, the U.S.
faced pressure to intervene against
the Libyan regime. The motivations
are different now. This time, we're
being asked to act on behalf of
Libyan civilians rather than our own
Just how far that action will go this
time is still up for debate. So far, the
U.S. has helped enforce a "no-fly"
zone, banning the Libyan military
from using its aircraft against rebels.
American aircraft have taken this
a step further, destroying several
tanks, armored personnel carriers
and damaging a building in Tripoli.
Even as the bombs are decimating
Gadhafi's forces, many Americans
are reluctant to have the U.S. get
*further involved. President Obama
and military leaders so far have
confirmed that our objectives are
limited: preventing the slaughter
of civilians and not specifically
to overthrow Gadhafi by military
So once again, Americans wonder
just how far our government will
go to accomplish its objectives
against the Libyan regime. Will
the damage to his military give the
rebels the edge against Gadhafi and
tip the scales enough to lead to his
overthrow? Or will Gadhafi shrug
off another attack, as he has so many
It's a question we asked 25 years
ago, and one that still doesn't have
an answer. With all of the turmoil in
the Middle East lately, the only thing
that's certain is that nothing is certain
when it comes to Libya. c*
More On Libya
Whether you believe the U.S. is legitimately involved militarily with
Libya for humanitarian reasons or that this is just another imperialistic
power grab on America's part, it's important to be well-informed from
an early stage. After all, look at what happened with Iraq not even the
members of Congress voting on this war in 2003 had any idea of what
was going on. If the government is going to spend money on a military
intervention while also making massive cuts to social services and
education in an assault on the working class, we, the People, deserve
to know more..So the Iguana's compiled a list of good stories and news
sources to keep you on your toes. (Yes, we know some of these articles
contradict each other that's life in the Middle East...)
Dennis Kucinich Speech from March 31 before the House of
Representatives "How can we pretend to hold other sovereigns to
fundamental legal principles through wars in foreign lands if we do
not hold our own presidents to fundamental legal principles at home?"
Clinton to Congress: Obama Would Ignore Your War Resolutions
on TalkingPointsMemo.com "The White House would forge ahead
with military action in Libya even if Congress passed a resolution
constraining the mission, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
during a classified briefing to House members [on March 30]." tpmdc.
NATO Chief Opens the Door to Libya Ground Troops on Wired.com
- "The possibility of a stabilization regime exists." www.wired.com/
An Open Letter to the Left on Libya by Juan Cole at juancole.com -
"If we just don't care if the people of Benghazi are subjected to murder
and repression on a vast scale, we aren't people of the Left. We should
avoid making 'foreign intervention' an absolute taboo the way the
Right makes abortion an absolute taboo if doing so makes us heartless
(inflexible a priori positions often lead to heartlessness)." www.juancole.
Question for Juan Cole by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com -
Greenwald's response to Cole's "Open Letter to the Left." www.salon.
Answer for Glenn Greenwald by Juan Cole And the discussion
continues: www.juancole.com.
US "Covert" Aid for Libyan Rebels abcnews.go.com/Intemational/
Robert Fisk, arguably the best western reporter in the Middle East -
More Libertarian antiwar.com; Socialist www.wsws.org; Progressive
commondreams.org and altemet.org; idiosyncratic counterpunch.org;
Video reportage www.democracynow.org and english.aljazeera.net.
Gainesville Runoff Elections to be held April 12
Joe Courter
The City of Gainesville election on
March 15 ended with a clear win for
at-large candidate Thomas Hawkins
(yay!) and a runoff in the two district
races District 2 in NW Gainesville
and District 3 in the SW area.
Anyone can work for and donate to
these races, but only those who live
and are registered in them can vote.
The runoff election is Tuesday, April
12, with voting at the precincts from
7am to 7pm. Early voting is April
4 through 9, from-9am to 5pm, at
the County Administration building
These races are clear-cut choices,
and the Iguana endorses Lauren
Poe in District 2 and Susan Bottcher
in District 3, encouraging you
to support each candidate with
votes and volunteer help. Both
are Democrats, and yard signs are
available at the party headquarters at
901 NW 8th Ave.
District 2 is a conservative district,
and Poe faces a tough fight against
Todd Chase. In order for Poe to
come from behind, it is imperative
to get out the vote. If you compare
their two websites and positions,
you'll see Poe is a forward-looking
community builder.
In District 3, Susan Bottcher was the
clear leader in the March election,
but with a runoff, you can never be
too sure, so getting out the vote is
important. Rob Zeller, the owner of
a number of bars around campus,
is running against the current
Commission and their growth
regulations. With Bottcher, we get
a full-time commissioner with a
great track record of community
Races like these are important. And
students, you are representing the
students to come. So even though
you think you are leaving Gainesville
soon, your vote matters. People have
died for the right to vote. You have a
voice. Use it! c
Iguana Election Picks
2011 City Runoff Election,
April 12
District 2: Lauren Poe
District 3: Susan Bottcher
(susanbottcher.com; susan@
You can find more information
on the candidates and elections
at the Supervisor of Elections
website, www.elections.alachua.
e I,
hS a
-Growing our Economy
-Building our Community
-Protecting our Homes and Families
Please Vote April 12th
Political advertisomentpaid for a-nd approved by Laurie Poe for City Commission
Take Back Alachua County!
Adopting a budget each year is
arguably the most important thing the
Alachua County Commission does,
but, historically, the general public
has largely ignored the annual cycle
of public hearings and deliberations.
Over the past two years, that has
The Gainesville-area Tea Party
has been systematically attending
hearings, making comments and
writing letters to the newspaper.
They're taking democracy seriously,
and they're putting in the hours
necessary to learn the process and the
issues. They're having an impact.
It's not a large group, but they've
had the field to themselves. Media
coverage of the county budget
process last year was dominated by
quotes from Tea Party members,
because they're the only ones making
comments. This sets up a dynamic
where elected officials have to
respond to their issues, and further
deliberations and options revolve
around their proposals.
In other words, the Tea Party is
framing the debate. This creates an
atmosphere of a besieged and evil
government, defending itself against
a universally angry and disaffected
"public." It creates a sense of crisis
and opportunity, and it motivates
turnout for their side at election time.
So, what do they want?
The commission is now discussing
whether the county needs an
Environmental Protection
Department. Commissioner and
Tea Party member Susan Baird has
repeatedly expressed her desire
to sell off public conservation
lands. Every public interest and
environmental regulation is now
suspect. Sidewalks and bicycle
paths are frivolous luxuries that we
can't afford, and transit is a waste of
money. Sprawl is the fulfillment of
the American Dream. Social Services
spending is government charity that
should be eliminated.
The war begins at home. We need
progressive voices at county and
city commission budget hearings
this spring and summer. Local
government needs to hear from
people who believe that it's an
important and legitimate function of
government to protect our natural
resources, build transportation
alternatives and provide a basic
safety net for our most vulnerable
Several local groups are organizing
to follow the county budget process
this year. Stay tuned into the Iguana
to find out more. c
County Commission special
budget meetings
Here's a calendar of special
budget meetings held
by the Board of County
Commissioners, organized
by topic, that all concerned
Alachua County residents
should attend:
Tuesday, 4/19, 10am Judicial/
Constitutional Offices and
Court-Related CIP
Tuesday, 4/19, l1:30pm -
Judicial/Constitutional Offices
Tuesday, 5/3, 10am -
Constitutional Offices, Public
Works, Growth Management
and Environmental Protection
Tuesday, 5/3, 1:30pm See 5/3
10am meeting
Tuesday, 5/17, 10am General
Government, Administrative
Services, and Information &
Telecom Services
Tuesday, 5/17, 1:30pm Court
Tuesday, 5/26, l1:30pm Five-
Year Capital Improvement
Program and Legislative
Monday Friday
6:00 a.m. Morning Edition
10 00 a.m. The Diane Rehm Show
Noon Fresh Air
J:00 p.m. World Have Your Say
(Fri Connei Calling)
200 p.m. Talk of the Nation
4:00 p.m. The Front Page Edition Of
All Things Considered
5-00 p.m. All Things Considered
6:30 p.m. Marketplace
7:00 p.m PBS Newshour
8.(00 p.m. The Story
(Fri -BBC \lorld New%.
Capual Rfport. 8:30 pm)
900p.m. On Point
11:00 p.m. BBC World News until
6:30 a.m
7:00 a m.
8:00 a.m.
10.U0 a.m.
SI .00 a.m.
1:00 p.m.
2:00 pm.
3:00 p.m.
4:00 p.m
4:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
6.00 p.m.
8:00 p.m.
10:00 p.m.
11:00 p.m.
BBC World News
Weekend Edition Saturday
Car Talk
Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me
Stkorski's Attic
City Arts & Lectures
Trus American Life
Marketplace Money
BBC World News
All Things Considered
A Prairie Home
Soul Circuit
Afropop Worldwide
Alternative Radio
12:00 a.m. BBC World News
8:00 a.m. Weekend Edition Sunday
10 00 a.m. Bob Edwards Weekend
Noon This American Life
1:00 p.m Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me
2:00 p.m. On The Bridge
400 p.m. The Thistle & Shamrock
5:00 p.m. All Things Considered
6:00 p.m. BBC World Ne as
7:30 pan. Humankind
8:00 p.m. Ballads & Blues
10:00 p.m Music From die Hearts of
11:00 p.m. BBC World News (until
The 2011 John A. Penrod "Brigadas" Award for
Peace and Justice
Jessica Newman
In 2008, three progressive groups
created an award to honor the legacy
of John A. "Jack" Penrod, who
dedicated his life to the fight of the
people for dignity, freedom and a
peaceful society.Gainesville Veterans
for Peace, the Alachua County
Labor Party and the United Faculty
of Florida wanted to honor and
encourage activists in the community
for their consistent track record of
movement work.
This year, the committee chose Joe
Courter, co-founder of the Civic
Media Center and editor/publisher
of The Gainesville Iguana. Joe's
commitment to peace and justice,
in many ways, mirrors that of Jack
In his day, Jack Penrod worked
with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations and helped organize
the first faculty union at UF, United
Faculty of Florida. He was a member
of Veterans for Peace and a vocal
opponent of the Iraq war; he helped
found the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship, worked closely with the
National Organization for Women
and Gainesville Women's Liberation,
and also dedicated time to the
Alachua County Labor Party.
As members of the Penrod
committee remark, "Jack Penrod was
at it all the time" until his death in
2008 at the age of 94. Like Jack, Joe
Courter is "at it all the time" and has
been since his first taste of activism
as a young boy in the 1950s, when
he wrote a politician about fish dying
in the river behind his New Jersey
His first political victory came in
as an undergrad at Hope College
in Michigan, where he discovered
there was a mandatory chapel
every morning. After he circulated
a petition and worked with the
chaplain, the service was abolished.
As a college student during the
Vietnam War, Joe saw firsthand with
his peers the realities of the draft,
although he was never called up.
Following this experience, Joe fell in
with the anti-war crowd and joined in
the 1969 moratorium.
Years later, Joe moved to Gainesville
and participated with numerous
activist groups, including Vietnam
Veterans Against the War, the Equal
Rights Amendment campaign, the
Catfish Alliance, Humanist Society
of Gainesville, and the Committee
in Support of the People of Latin
America. In 1985, working with
other groups in Gainesville for
Central American solidarity, Joe,
Jenny Brown and others in the
movement created a monthly
newsletter and calendar. This
newsletter was dubbed the Iguana, in
a nod to a Central American reptile
and an answer to
the Independent
Florida Alligator.
In 1993, after joining the Gainesville
Alternative Publishing group, Joe
worked with others to found an
alternative library and reading room,
the Civic Media Center. But on top
of all these movement contributions,
many of us here in Gainesville
appreciate Joe for other things, like
the famous lake house parties he and
Jenny host, or the arts and culture
scoop, or his' guidance and wisdom
for young activists, or his connection,
somehow, to almost everyone here. If
you live in this town, you've almost
certainly met Joe Courter.
"Joe is powered by the activists,
musicians, radicals and artists that
make everyday life in Gainesville,
and he contributes to the environment
that makes radical politics and the
counterculture something new people
can join in and thrive in," Jenny
Brown said. "The counterculture for
him is people's answer to the 'crap
culture' that's all around us every
day. He says activism is 'paying your
rent on the planet.' If you want to
live here, you've gotta contribute -
leave it better than you found it."
You can support the Penrod Award
and the hard-working activists in
the community by mailing donations
to Gainesville Veterans for Peace,
P.O. Box 142562, Gainesville, FL
32614. For more information, call
352-375-2832. c<
Breakfast Lunch Dinner Brunch
Sustainability driven, Community financed,
Cooperatively run.
Global Fair Trade Market Place
unique gifts from one world
4203 N.W. 16th Blvd (Millhopper Publix Shopping Center)
Mon.- Sat. 10-7, Sun 12-5 352-335-0806
Food co-op in
final push to open
by end of April
Attention Food Co-op
supporters and investors: the-
Citizens' Co-op is in its final
push to get our doors open
by the end of April. We have
a great opportunity to raise
funds through a national video
campaign at Kickstarter, for
$15,000, with a deadline of
April 22.
Work has begun, and we have
a great four-minute video you
can see at www.citizensco-op.
com/kickstart-us. Our goal is
a community market selling
local produce and products,
contributing to a more
sustainable community.
For more info, contact info@
citizensco-op.com.Checks can
be sent to 435 S. Main St.,
Gainesville, Florida 32601.
--- i
Gainesville groups
recently sponsored the
symposium, showing
a documentary on
COINTELPRO, both a
formal program of the FBI
and a term frequently used
to describe a conspiracy
among government
agencies-local, state
and federal-to destroy
movements for self-
determination and
liberation. Ward Churchill,
who's written extensively
about COINTELPRO,
spoke on a panel at the
Civic Media Center
following the film. Photo
by Amanda Adams.
Four Gainesville Vets for Peace members
among 113 arrested in Washington D.C.
Thousands gathered on March
19 and 20 in Washington, D.C. to
protest the U.S. involvement in the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as Vft'
well as the inhumane treatment of
Bradley Manning. 113 protesters
were arrested on March 19, including
four members of the Gainesville
VFP chapter, and dozens more
were arrested on March 20, when
approximately 400 protesters
demonstrated at Quantico Marine
Base, where Bradley Manning
is being held. Photos by Jessica
Alachua County Labor Party Just
Health Care committee works on
universal health care; LP also works
on economic justice, labor solidarity.
P.O. Box 12051, Gainesville 32602;
Amnesty International UF campus
chapter of worldwide human rights
movement; www.facebook.com/
ufamnesty or UFAmnesty@gmail.
Bridges Across Borders Florida-
based international collaboration
of activists, artists, students and
educators supporting cultural diversity
and global peace. 352-485-2594,
Campus Counterpoise Collective-
based club dedicated to alternative
media and perspectives. 352-335-
2200, email@example.com
The Coalition of Hispanics
Integrating Spanish Speakers
through Advocacy and Service
(CHISPAS) Student-run group at UF.
Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives
to the Death Penalty concerned
people in the Gainesville area who are
working to abolish the death penalty
in Florida. Participate in vigils when
Florida has an execution. Meets
the first Tuesday of every month at
St. Augustine Church and Catholic
Student Center (1738 W. University
Ave.) 352-332-1350, www.fadp.org.
Don't see you
organization listed here,
or is the information
listed out of date?
Contact us at 352-378-5655
or gainesvilleiguana@cox.
net with the update.
Civic Media Center Alternative
reading room and library of the non-
corporate press, and a resource and
space for organizing. 352-373-0010,
Coalition to End the Meal Limits
NOW! See the story on page 14 for
how you can get involved.
Code Pink: Women for Peace
Women-led grassroots peace and
social justice movement utilizing
creative protest, non-violent direct
action and community involvement.
CodePink4Peace.org, jacquebetz @
Committee for a Civilian Police
Review Board Group that demands
the creation of a citizens' police
review board to fight against the
pattern of corruption, arrogance,
bias and violence displayed by some
members of the Gainesville Police
Department. gvillepolicereview@
Conservation Trust for Florida,
Inc. Non-profit land trust working
to protect Florida's rural landscapes,
wildlife corridors and natural areas.
352-466-1178, Conserveflorida.org
Democratic Party of Alachua
County Meetings are held the
second Wednesday of each
month at 7:00pm in the second
floor auditorium of the County
Administration Building at SE 1st St.
and University Ave. 352-373-1730,
Edible Plant Project Local collective
to create a revolution through edible
and food-producing plants. 561-236-
2262 www.EdiblePlantProject.org.
Families Against Mandatory
Minimums Work to reform Florida's
sentencing laws and restore fairness to
Florida's criminal justice system. PO
Box 142933, Gainesville, FL 32614,
firstname.lastname@example.com. 352-682-2542
The Fine Print An independent,
Iguana Directory
Call if this includes misinformation or inaccurate phone numbers: 378-5655.
critically thinking outlet for political,
social and arts coverage through
local, in-depth reporting specifically
for Gainesville's students. www.
Florida School of Traditional
Midwifery A clearinghouse for
information, activities and educational
programs. 352-338-0766
Florida Defenders of the
Environment An organization
dedicated to restoring the Ocklawaha
and preserving Florida's other
natural resources. 352-378-8465
Gainesville Women's Liberation
The first women's liberation group
in the South, formed in 1968,
the organization is now part of
National Women's Liberation.
Graduate Assistants United Union
that represents all UF grad assistants
by fighting for improved working
conditions, community involvement
and academic freedom. 352-575-0366,
officers @ufgau.org, www.ufgau.org
Green Party Part of worldwide
movement built out of four different
interrelated social pillars, which
support its politics: the peace, civil
rights, environmental and labor
movements. www.GainesvilleGreens.
Grow Radio Non-profit company
that will provide the opportunity
for community members to create
and manage unique, engaging,
educational, locally-generated
programming to promote fine, musical
and visual arts and humanities for
the enrichment of, but not limited to,
the Gainesville community. www.
Industrial Workers of the World
Local union organizing all workers.
Meetings are at the Civic Media ,
Center the first Sunday of the month
at 8pm. email@example.com.
International Socialist Organization
Organization committed to building
a left alternative to a world of war,
racism and poverty. Meetings are
every Thurs. at the UF classroom
building at 105 NW 16th St at 7pm.
MindFreedom North Florida
Human rights group for psychiatric
survivors and mental health
consumers. 352-328-2511.
National Lawyers Guild Dedicated
to basic and progressive change in
the structure of our political and
economic system. Meetings are
the first Thursday of the month,
6:30-7:30pm at UF Law School.
National. Organization for Women
Gainesville Area NOW meeting
info contact Lisa at 352-450-1912.
Judy Levy NOW information,
contact Laura Bresko 352-332-2528.
Planned Parenthood Clinic Full-
service medical clinic for reproductive
and sexual health care needs. Now
offering free HIV and free pregnancy
testing daily from 9-11 am and 1-4pm.
Located at 914 NW 13th St.
Pride Community Center of North
Central Florida Resources for the
gay/lesbian community, open M-F,
3-7, Sat. noon-4pm. Located at 3131
NW 13th St, Suite 62. 352-377-8915,
Protect Gainesville Citizens
Group whose mission is to provide
Gainesville residents with accurate
and comprehensible information
about the Cabot/Koppers Superfund
-site. 352-354-2432, www.
Queer Activist Coalition Politically
motivated activist group at UF
fighting for full civil and social
equality for the LGBTQ community.
Sierra Club Meets the first Thursday
of every month at 7:30pm at the UF
Entomology & Nematology Building,
Room 1035. 352-528-3751, www.
Student/Farmworker Alliance A
network of youth organizing with
farm workers to eliminate sweatshop
conditions and modern-day slavery
in the fields. More information
is available on Facebook under
"Gainesville Student/Farmworker
Students for a Democratic Society
Multi-issue student and youth
organization working to build power
in our schools and communities.
Meetings are every Monday at
Gainesville's Progressive Community Radio Station
We share 94.7 with other community groups,
WGOT is on the air:
Sunday: 1PM 4PM
Mon, Wed, Fri: 1PM 4PM & 8PM 5AM
Tuesday and Thursday: 1PM 4PM & 8PM 9PM
Saturday: 1PM 9PM
Check out wgot.org for upcoming events and a detailed
schedule (and new shows!) 94.7 is a Low Power FM
station with a transmitter at NW 39th Ave and 1-75, so
best reception is within 5 miles, but many people are
able to pick up the station in their car.
Questions? Comments? E-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com
6:30pm in Anderson Hall 32 on the
UF campus.
UF Pride Student Union Group of
gay, lesbian, bi and straight students
& non-students, faculty and staff.
United Faculty of Florida Union
that represents faculty at University of
Florida. 392-0274, president@uff-uf.
org, www.UFF-UF.org.
United Nations Association Group
that educates people worldwide about
the issues, projects and programs
of the United Nations. www.afn.
Veterans for Peace Anti-war
organization that works to raise
awareness of the detriments of
militarism and war as well as to
seek alternatives that are peaceful
and effective. Meetings are the
first Wednesday of every month
at 7pm. 352-375-2563, www.afn.
WGOT 94.7 LP-FM Community
low-power station operating as part of
the Civic Media Center. wgot947@.
gmail.com, www.wgot.org
bis-in or Takeot
Best Chines Food In Town
Lunch Specials $525 wisoda
M-Th.: 11 am- 10:30pm
Fri, Sat.: 11am llpm
Sunday: 4 pm 10:30pm
(352) 336-6566
GAThJESVILLE, FLORIDA IGUANA, APRIL 2011, PAGE 11
R d Gainesville's public radio station is now
d o / \ mostly NPR talk it's located at 89.1
/ \ \ on the FM dial.
Notes: ( ) Weekday schedule: 10 am-12: Diane
\ \ / Rehm (interview & call-in); noon-1
Hey, west / pm: Terry Gross, Fresh Air; 1-2 pm,
G'ville BBC call-in World Have Your Say,
WGOT Wednesdays; 2-4 pm: Talk of the Nation.
low-power FM i Evenings, 8-10: The Story & On Point,
on the air followed by BBC World News all night.
tune in at 94.7 .X> \ Under the Bridge, AfroPop, & Hearts of
(and set your car Space all continue see schedule at
radio, too): / www.wuftfm.org (or pg 7) for expanded
wgot947@ / \ weekend schedule and program details.
gmail.com or or A new internet resource is Grow Radio
www.wgot.org/calendar. (www.growradio.org), based in G'ville.
10 Spring Arts Fest Sat. &
Sun, NE 1st St downtown.
Coalition Against the Meal
Limit meets at CMC, 4 pm.
Wayward Council volunteer
meeting 6 pm every Sunday, 807
W. University Ave.
Roller Rebels vs Ocala, Skate
Station, 7 pm.
Los Mufiequitos de Matanzas at
Ctr for Performing Arts, 7:30 pm.
IWW meeting, CMC, 8 pm.
1 7 FOL Book Sale, 1-6 pm.
No Southern Accent 2 pm at
Squitieri Theater, Center for Per-
forming Arts.
Civil Indigent UF Documentary
Inst. film on Pat Fitzpatrick, local
advocate for homeless & hungry,
at CMC, 6 pm.
David Sedaris performs at Ctr
for Performing Arts, 7:30 pm.
11 Fla Free Speech Forum:
Staci Fox, Planned Parenthood
of North Fla CEO, on politics of sex
education: Paramount Plaza Hotel,
11:30 am; see ad, pg 15.
What's Organic About Organic? -
Fla Organic Growers & Citizens Co-
op cosponsor locally made documen-
tary at CMC, 7_pm.
Sirens of Synchronicity women
vocalists at Thomas Ctr, 7:30 pm.
1968: Civil Riahts Act signed.
5 County Farmers' Mkt
on N 441 by Hwy Patrol
Tues/ Thurs/Sat, 8 am-noon.
Alachua County Budget
hearing, 1:30 pm, 12 SE 1st St.
Anti-militarism signholding,
1st & 3rd Tuesdays, Archer Rd
& SW 34th St, 4:30-6 pm.
School Board meets 1st &
3rd Tuesdays, 6 pm.
Early voting runs through
Saturday, 4/9: 9 am-5 pm at
County Admin Bldg down-
town; elections article, pg 6.
2 City Election: Vote!
X.Ad # 2: Poe; # 3: Bottcher
Planned P'hood lobby bus to
Tallahassee, 7 am, $25 (in-
cludes lunch): 352-376-9000
or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Alachua County Comm. on
2nd & 4th Tues, 9 am & 5 pm:
citizens comment, 9:30 am.
Anti-militarism sign-holding
2nd & 4th Tuesdays at 13th St
&-Univ. Ave, 4:30-6 pim.
18 FOL Book Sale, 12-8 pm.
Community Voices monologues
from local writers at the Hippodrome,
25 SE 2nd P1, 6 pm.
Searching for Angela Shelton, 7 pm,
Civic Media Center, 433 S. Main St.
Yom Ha'Shoah: Holocaust
Remembrance Day
1857: Clarence EQarrow bom.
1906: San Francisco quake & fire.
25 A Place Called Chiapas -
now-classic documentary on
1994 Zapatista uprising in Mexico,
presented by Gainesville IWW at
CMC, 7 pm.
*~~~~ T&tf.
1719: Robinson Crusoe published.
2 Into the Fire encore showing
of documentary on role of
women & "premature antifascism" in
Spanish Civil War, 7 pm, CMC.
IGUANA Deadline for May- V
June '11 issue is May 2; write
email@example.com or
call 378-5655 with events, ad-
vertisements, updates & info.
1 FOL Book Sale half-
price day, 12-8 pm.
Alachua County Budget
hearing, 1:30 pm, 12 SE 1st St.
Anti-militarism sign-holding,
SW 34th St & Archer Rd,.
4:30-6 pm.
Risk Cinema at Ham Museum
shows student films, 7 pm.
1943: Warsaw Ghetto revolt.
1993: FBI kills 80 in Waco, TX.
1995: Okla City bomb kills 168.
6 Alachua County
U Comm. 9 am & 5 pm:
citizens comment, 9:30 am.
Anti-militarism sign-holding
13th St & U. Ave, 4:30-6 pm.
Alachua County Labor Party
meets: 6:30 pm, 618 NW 13th
Ave; info, 375-2832.
Wild Words, Wild Iris Books,
every last Tues, open mike
songs, poetry & rants, 7 pm.
3 Alachua County Budget
hearing. 1:30 pm, 12 SE
1st St.
Anti-militarism signholding,
1st & 3rd Tuesdays, Archer Rd
& SW 34th St, 4:30-6 pm.
School Board meets, 6 pm.
1919: Pete Seeger bom.
6 Free c
in HI
County Healt
St, 9 am-3 pr
Ctr, 1107 NV
lst & 3rd Thi
Downtown I
every Wed, D
Veterans for
call 375-256:
Inside Job 2(
Open Mic P(
7 pm, Downt
1931: Daniei
1 "Re
13 Colo
Studies Brov
Grinter Hall
meets, 2nd V
No Souther
formance at!
Ctr for Perfo
1570: Guy F
1743: Thorm
1909: Eudor
group at CM
7-9 pm.
Wayward C(
featuring Ru
1998: Octavi
27 Stone
Eastside Jaz
Lightnin' Sal
live music W
please su
See www.ga
for info on li
Thanks, Gly
4 Veteran:
7 pm: ca
Open Mic P
1st Wednesd'
7 pm, Downt
1968: Kent S
by Ohio Nati
_ -
I I 2Ct lcin oe
2 Wayward Council benefit
night, 8-11 pm or there-
abouts, 807 W. University Ave :
support your local autonomous
punk music & zine.shoppe!
1916: Irish Rebellion begins.
1954: Mumia Abu-Jamal born.
May 1
May Day plans for G'ville still in
development as Iguana goes to
print: call 373-0010 by mid-April.
Women's Movie Night 1st Sun-
days, 5 pm, Pride Community Ctr,
3131 NW 13th St.
END:CIV screening, CMC, 7 pm
- based on work of Derek Jensen.
confidential walk-
testing at Alachua
h Dept, 224 SE 24th
a, M-F; & at Pride
'6th St, 4-6 pm on
irs; info: 334-7961.
'armers' Market
town Plaza, 4-7 pm.
Peace meets, 7 pm:
for location.
at CMC, 7 pm.
ietry, 1st Weds,
wn Library.
' Ellsberg born.
nialism" African
'n Bag Lunch,
171, 11:45 am.
Executive Comm.
Teds, 7 pm, County
mtg room.
i Accent local per-
>quitieri Theater,
mning Arts, 7:30 pm.
mwkes bom.
s Jefferson born.
3 Welty bom.
ook Sale 100 day,
ics open discussion
, 3rd Wednesdays,
mncil Music Show
ris & others, 10 pm,
D Paz dies, age 84.
vall Democrats,
W 8th Ave, 6 pm.
z at Satchel's Pizza/
vage, 6-9 pm:
-dnesdays through
!ere or.anywhere:
port live music!
ve music in G'ville.
for Peace meets,
11 375-2563 for
tate Four murdered
nal Guard.
7 Protest in Tally: buses leave
Stein Mart parking lot 6:50
am, return mid-pm; for seat call
Elsie Allen: 386-462-2116 asap.
CMC Volunteers meet every
Thursday, 5:30 pm.
Restoration of Rights workshop
UF Eastside campus, 2056
Waldo Rd, 5:30-7 pm.
Free University most Thursdays,
7-9 pm, CMC: "Polyamory 101,"
w/ Muj & Kentucky.
Take Back the Night walk &
speakout, UF Plaza of Americas,
7-10 pm; presented by Vox.
Sierra Club general meeting,
UF Entomology Bldg rm 3118,
1st Thursdays, 7:30 pm.
Open Poetry at CMC, 9 pm.
14 CMC Volunteers meet,
14 5:30 pm.
Free University: "Experimental
Writing and Social Change," w/
Kristen, CMC, 7 pm.
Vox meets (last of semester),
7 pm, Reitz Union 278-9.
Open Poetry at CMC every
Thursday, 9 pm.
21 CMC Volunteers meet,
2 5:30 pm.
Free University: "Critical His-
tory," w/ Dr. Paul Ortiz, 7 pm.
Gordon Lightfoot in concert,
Ctr for Performing Arts, 7:30 pm.
Open Poetry every Thursday at
CMC, 9 pm: Gvl's longest-
running poetry jam, open to all;
informal & welcoming to both
readers & listeners.
8Q 1000 Hearts art opening
0 by Sylvia Montesinos at
Wild Iris Books, 802 W. Univer-
sity Ave; reception 5-7:30 pm.
CMC Volunteers meet, 5:30 pm.
G'ville Area NOW, Pride Cen-
ter, 3131 NW 13th St, 6:30 pm.
Free University: "Musical Am-
biguity," w/ Shara, 7 pm.
Open Poetry at CMC, 9 pm.
5 CMC Volunteers meet,
5:30 pm.
Sierra Club meets see 4/7.
Open Poetry at CMC, 9 pm.
1968: Protests erupt across
United States (& France).
8 Piper Reva live at Wild Iris
Books, 7-9 pm, $5.
Books for Prisoners book-packing
parties Fridays at Wayward Council,
807 W. University Ave, 7 pm.
Tom Flynn, Free Inquiry editor, on
true history of Easter, 7 pm, UF
Rinker Hall 110; see ad, pg 23.
"We Are Illustrations" documen-
tary & discussion on women &
beauty, CMC, 8 pm.
Sam Moss birthday bash with
Michael Claytor, Devon Stuart, &
others at Common Grounds, 9 pm.
51 Saharan Archaeology lecture
1 by Diane Gifford-Gonzales,
Grinter Hall 471, 3:30 pm.
Jim Seem (alt folk-rock from
Asheville, NC) at Satchel's Pizza/
Lightnin' Salvage, 6-9 pm: live music
Wednesday through Saturdays -
schedule at lightninsalvage.com/
"AdShades" one-evening art installa-
tion by Greg Cole at CMC, 7 pm.
Shoddy Beatles & MorningBell at
Common Grounds.
22 Welcome Back Iguana Party,
optional dinner, 7-9 pm; mu-
sic at 8 pm w/Present Tense Cello w/ Nellie,
Lars Din, Dirty Fist, The Impossible
Shoelace, & others; Boca Fiesta, 232
SE 1st St (next to Hippodrome) see
pg 19.
High School Open Mic Night,
Civic Media Center, 7-10 pm.
i II
Critical Mass Bike Ride,
5:30 pm from UF Plaza of the
Gay Movie Night last Fridays, $2,
7:30 pm, Pride Community Center,
3131 NW 13th St.
Art Walk Downtown; many galleries
& venues participate, including CMC
and Plus Gallery (next door to CMC);
7-10 pm, last Friday of each month.
SE Gathering for Nonviolent Direct
Action Trainers in Asheville, NC,
runs 4/29--5/1 see
Keep up with the CMC at
www.civicmediacenter.org for
events created after this
calendar was printed, and into
the future (also see pg 20).
9 Doug Clifford Saturdays, 5-6
am & 11-12 pm; WSKY-97.3's
one hour of lefty talk per week.
Native Plant Sale, Morningside
Nature Ctr, 8:30 am-12:30 pm.
Abortion Rights Speakout, CMC,
433 S. Main St, 3-5 pm see pg 4.
"The Return of Revolution" (Egypt,
Tunisia, Wisconsin...) presented by
IWW at CMC, 6 pm.
Alternative Radio: 89.1-FM, 11 pm.
1915: Billie Holiday bom.
1 6 Friends of the Library Book
A1 Sale, 9 am, 430 N. Main St:
vast array of incredible bargains -
bring your own boxes.
CMC Book & CD Sale, 12-6 pm -
bring donations to help CMC!
Willie & Lobo in concert, United
Church, 1624 NW 5th Ave, 2 pm.
19th Annual Lesbian Variety Show,
Boltin Ctr, 516 NE 2nd Ave, $7-20;
after-party at Wild Iris Books.
Alternative Radio: 89.1-FM, 11 pm.
23 Red Ribbon Run 5K run/
walk at Westside Park to
fight AIDS/HIV, 8 am:
32nd Annual 5th Ave Arts Festival,
Saturday & Sunday, NW 5th Ave &
6th St: arts, crafts, food, music.
Matheson Museum benefit at
University Air Center, $125: see
Alternative Radio: 89.1-FM, 11 pm.
3 Beehive Collective returns
3 to CMC to present "Mountain-
top Removal Story & Art", 6 pm:
large, incredibly detailed art pieces
by this group have represented
globalization, deforestation, & other
critical environmental issues see
www.beehivecollective.org; followed
by live music with Katherine Smith
& Leo Linares, 9 pm.
Alternative Radio: 89.1-FM, 11 pm.
7 Veg 4 Life 1st Saturday potluck,
I 6:30 pm at UU Fellowship,
4225 NW 34th St: 375-7207.
Alternative Radio: 89.1-FM, 11 pm:
see alternativeradio.org for current
programs. As WUFT-FM airs AR at
this inconvenient time, one can find
when other stations are broadcasting
at AR's site, & listen to them: e.g.,
WERU.org runs AR Mondays, 10 am.
Citizen Groups Convince Federal Judges To Put
Local Nuclear Plant On Hold
Dawn Bain
Three grassroots citizen groups
have petitioned the Atomic Safety
and Licensing Board (ASLB) to re-
examine the site chosen by Progress
Energy Florida (PEF) for its latest
nuclear plant. PEF has applied to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) for a license to build two new
1,100-megawatt nuclear reactors
near Gainesville. The proposed plant
would be situated over 3,000 .acres
including forests and 765 acres of
wetlands that are a water feed-in
directly to the Floridan Aquifer, a
major source of Florida's drinking
water. The project had been moving
forward with little objection until the
Nuclear Information and Resource
Service (NIRS), Ecology Party of
Florida and Green Party of Florida
filed a lawsuit against the project due
to environmental concerns.
PEF attempted to push the project
forward without accurately
completing the legally required
Environmental Impact investigations.
But two months ago, the ASLB
postponed the project until the proper
environmental studies have been
Opponents to the project see an
opportunity to voice concerns for
the environment including pollution,
cancer rates and water
If built, PEF estimates
. the plant would ,
consume 550,000
gallons of water
per day during the
estimated six years
of construction. The
plant itself would need
millions of gallons
of water per day for
general operation.
Nuclear plants the
size of the proposed es *
Levy Plant use up to
2.5 billion gallons of water per day
just to keep the radioactive rods
cool. Heated water discharged from
the plant would be polluted with
"acceptable levels" of radiation,
harming local flora and fauna.
Dr. Sydney Bacchus, a hydro
ecologist with over 30 years
of experience in these types of
environmental impacts is an expert
witness in the case. Dr. Bacchus
Sexplainedt the ASLB that "...
construction and operation of this
proposed nuclear power plant in the
floodplains of Levy County would
result in irreversible damage to
the aquifer system and other water
resources. These water resources are
essential for maintaining the Nature
Coast, inland and coastal springs,
streams, wetlands and upland habitat
which are critical for wildlife,
including threatened and endangered
species.. .Any energy option
that results in such catastrophic
environmental impacts can't be
justified as 'renewable' energy."
Along with the astronomical
daily water quantity needed, the
Levy Nuclear Plant (LNP) has
many environmental issues. The
construction of the facility would
require the removal of trees by
cutting and by herbicide application
to.make way for the plant itself, 181
miles of electricity line corridors,
substations, access roads, and
16 miles of water pipelines. The
Cross Florida Barge Canal (CFBC)
may need to be dredged in order
to be deep enough to support the
barges that would transport heavy
equipment needed in the plant and
to build it. Even nearshore portions
of the Gulf of Mexico would need to
be deepened for vessel access to the
CFBC. PEF states they will need so
many tons of concrete (most likely
made from materials mined from
the area) that they intend to operate
a temporary cement plant on site.
The loss of hundreds of millions of
gallons of water daily from the area
would concentrate salt, nutrient, and
pollutants in the existing ecosystem.
This altered environment would
place several federally identified
threatened and endangered animal
species at risk. The lack of water
stops the system from its natural
flushing and increases the likelihood
of wildfires.
Location, extreme water use,
deforestation, environmental damage,
endangering endangered species,
pollution and negative health impacts
are not the only problems with the
proposed LNP.
The newly designed Westinghouse
AP1000 reactor chosen for this
A Resource Guide For Young People
Considering Enlistment
Gainesville Chapter 14
project is another cause for
concern. Critics contend that this
unproven design cannot withstand
the hurricane potentials of Florida.
And while it may burn its fuel more
efficiently, in the event of an accident
more radioactive contamination
would be released than with other
reactor designs currently in use.
Even if there is no accident, terrorist
sabotage (or theft of radioactive
products), devastating hurricane,
or earthquake, every nuclear power
plant emits radioactive pollution
to the air and water. The U.S.
government and the nuclear industry
downplay the danger of such routine
emissions, but doctors and scientists
have thoroughly documented the
cumulative effects of even low-
level exposure to radiation. This
is why we are given lead aprons
during x-rays and radiologists
wear dosimeters to monitor their
cumulative exposure to radiation.
Fortunately the nearest nuclear power
plant at Crystal River (also owned by
PEF) has given this part of Florida an
18-month (and counting) respite from
the radioactive pollution emitted
during normal operation. While the
plant was shut down for repairs,
workers accidentally discovered a
25-foot by 2-inch crack in the wall
of its containment vessel. With
enough radioactive material to fuel at
least several Hiroshima-type bombs
contained in every nuclear reactor,
our odds for healthy survival increase
with each nuclear plant closure or
The Crystal River Nuclear Plant
was scheduled to go back online this
month. PEF reported to the NRC
they believe the 25-foot crack was
caused when they cut a hole in the
containment building in order to
replace old steam generators. But on
just last month, PEF reported to the
NRC that its monitoring equipment
had detected another crack that was
not there previously. They believe
the second crack may have been
caused as they adjusted the tension
of the steel web of cables encased
in the concrete walls following
the repair of the first crack. The
plant, commissioned in 1977, was
originally licensed to operate for
forty years. PEF has applied for a 20-
year extension even though concrete
is cracking unpredictably. So far,
the extension of the license is being
approved by the NRC along with
multiple other antiquated, problem-
ridden, violation-rich, polluting
nuclear power plants.
In spite of the many failures of the
Crystal River Nuclear Plant and
Progress Energy, the company still
intends to build its experimental
nuclear reactors in Levy County.
Without further citizen intervention
and education of regulators, the
PEF Levy Nuclear Plant may move
forward by the end of next year.
The original petition filed by the
grassroots organizations can be
found at www.nirs.org/nukerelapse/
levy/levyhome.html.You can also
find more information at
www.nirs.org ct
'ORGArni FFeeo & GARDen
All Natural XJ -'
Pet Foods & Supplies
404 NW 10th Ave Gainesville, FL
Ms. Staci Fox,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Planned Parenthood of North Florida
"The Politics of Sex Education
and the Impact on the Health
of the Next Generation"
Monday, April 11, 2011
At the Paramount Plaza
Hotel & Conference Center
For reservations call 335-3938
by Wednesday, April 6, 2011.
Reservations are important due to limited seating.
The luncheon fee: $17.00 for members, $19.00 for
non-members. In view of our budget we must charge
the meal cost to those making reservations, but who do
not attend.
The talk is free; the fee is only for those having lunch.
_ ____
Labor movement fights back against attacks
on public sector unions in Florida
Mark Piotrowski,
Alachua County Labor Party
On March 8, 2011, more than
15,000 Floridians took part in a
statewide day of action, "Awake
the State," to protest Gov. Rick
Scott and the Florida Legislature's
attempts to destroy public sector
unions and slash the state budget.
Demonstrations, rallies and marches
were held in 31 cities across the
state including Gainesville, which
saw more than 800 people rally
at the Comer of NW 13th St. and
University Ave. before marching to
the downtown plaza.
Two weeks later, another dozen
protests were held as a second
statewide day of action, "Fight Back
Florida". More than 300 people
participated in Gainesville on the UF
campus before marching to City Hall.
This uptick in labor-community
protest comes as Gov. Rick Scott and
the Republican super-majority in the
Florida Legislature have declared
open season on teachers, public
unions and the standard of living of
all working Floridians. Instead of
working to create jobs, legislators are
wasting supposedly scarce tax dollars
going after unions trying to exact
political payback. Among the bills
they've introduced:
- Senate Bill (SB) 830/House
Bill (HB) 1021 would deny
public sector unions members
(like teachers, firefighters, police
officers, university staff, etc) the
ability to have their dues auto-
deducted from their paychecks,
greatly complicating dues
collection and potentially crippling
many unions. A similar law was
just shot down by the courts in
Alabama, but Florida Republicans
continue to argue that the state
should not participate in collecting
dues for unions to use in political
activity. They will, however,
allow 364 other organizations like
Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the
Chamber of Commerce to keep
auto-deducting dues since, of
course, insurance companies and
the Chamber NEVER engage in
lobbying or political activity.
- SB 1720/HB 1023 would
immediately decertify unions
with less than 50% membership,
stripping members of the contract
provisions they've collectively
bargained over the years.
Unfortunately we're too late for
an April Fools issue of the Iguana
where we report that Florida
Senators and Representatives
will also voluntarily step down as
soon as their approval rating dips
below 50%.
- A battery of bills are being debated
(SB 1128 & 1130; IHB 1405) that
would start to destroy the Florida
Retirement System; force cities and
counties to offer only 401-K style
retirement plans instead of defined-
benefit pensions; and force public
workers to put 5% more into the
pension system amounting to a
5% pay cut for public employees,
many who have gone without a
raises or cost-of-living increases for
four to six years.
- SB 736, which has been passed
and signed into law, ties teacher
pay to student performance on
standardized tests. In addition to
taking more money away from
education to administer this
unfunded program, problems
abound with the FCAT itself. Each
of the past 2 years, NCS Pearson,
the company that received a $254
million contract from the state to
administer FCAT scores, has been
up to 6 weeks late in reporting
them. In fact, hey were fined $14.7
million for delays in 2010. 1
In each case, Florida legislators and
the Governor have tried to drive a
wedge between public and private
sector workers, using the sad state
of private employment where
pensions have all but disappeared,
job security is no more and health
insurance is spotty and expensive
at best as an excuse for why
public employees should give up the
benefits they've bargained over the
years (often in lieu of pay increases).
A National Pattern
These attacks by Gov. Scott and
EMILY FRANCK HCDN PhD
Clinical Psychologist
E 0 382531 N.W.41st STREET, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606
S 8t v 352-375-HOON (375-4666) FOXBRIDGE BUILDING C
Approximately 300 people gathered at the Plaza of the Americas on March 25 in
Gainesville to march on City Hall, demonstrating against the governor's proposed
budget cuts and attacks on the working class. For more information, search "Fight
Back Florida" on Facebook. Photo by Diana Moreno.
the Florida Legislature are part
of pattern by politicians of both
parties across the country who are
using so-called budget crises on the
state and national level to intensify
the ongoing assault on unions and
working people.
"Corporate forces are orchestrating
attacks on people in state after state
after state," said Indiana AFL-CIO
President Nancy Guyott to a March
10 crowd protesting the anti-union
bills in that state.3
As in Florida, bills have been
introduced or passed in Wisconsin,
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama
and New Hampshire trying to strip
public sector unions of collective
bargaining rights.
Politicians are going after public-
sector unions to weaken the overall
labor movement since it stands
Gardener's Edge
Teaching the World to Grow Their Owr,
Brad Brooks
General Manager
phone. 352.375.2769
fax: 352 3752124
5408 NW 8th Ave Gainesville, FL 3260)5
their way of rolling back and selling
off everything working people
have fought for and won over the
last 80 years: public education, 40-
hour work week, weekends, Social
Security and Medicare, pensions, and
workplace health and safety.
By weakening unions they believe
they can destroy more jobs, keep
wages low (or lower), and privatize
public goods and services for
individual profit. Billionaire Gov.
Rick Scott, notably, has held onto his
stake in Solantic Clinics which
stands to benefit financially from
proposed forced drug testing of state
workers and a partially-privatized
Medicaid system in the state.
Manufactured Crisis
"Budget Crisis" is the bogus pretense
used over and over by legislators
from Tallahassee to Madison,
Sacramento to Albany to justify
massive budget cuts and attacks on
public sector unions. Two dozen
states like Florida, Wisconsin, and
New York are in fact facing deficits
or unbalanced budgets. But these
deficits only become "crises" because
politicians from both parties have
narrowed the political debate to one
and only one solution: cut public
spending and services, cut them
again and then cut some more.
This so-called solution cutting
everything in sight is based on
two big lies: (1) that there really is
no more money in the state (or the
country) to spend on the things we
all need, and (2) that spending on
things like schools, roads, workplace
health and safety, indigent care,
and pensions created these budget
shortfalls in the first place.
In fact, nothing could be further from
the truth in either case.
First, there is plenty of money in the
U.S. and in each state to fund all the
things our society needs. As Michael
Moore told 100,000 demonstrators in
Madison, WI on March 5:
"America is not broke. Contrary to
what those in power would like you
to believe so that you'll give up your
pension, cut your wages, and settle
for the life your great-grandparents
had, America is not broke. Not by a
long shot. The country is awash in
wealth and cash. It's just that it's not
in your hands. It has been transferred,
in the greatest heist in history, from
the workers and consumers to the
banks and the portfolios of the uber-
Open: 7 AM 10 PM Mon.-Fri. Second store
9 AM -10 PM Sat.-Sun. at
407 NW 13TH ST. 34th St.
How big is this heist? Consider
the following against the backdrop
of workers' foreclosed homes,
stagnant wages, rising fuel costs and
skyrocketing insurance premiums:
- The richest 10% of Americans now
own 90% of the financial assets5.
The richest 1% of Americans own
20% of the wealth6. This includes
"virtually all U.S. senators, and
most of the representatives in the
U.S. House" according to recent
Vanity Fair article.7'
- 150,000 households (The top one-
tenth of 1%) earn as much as the
bottom 120 million Americans
- In 2010, median CEO pay went up
27% in the private sector, while
average workers saw their checks
increase a paltry 2.1%. Median
pay for CEOs, $9 million/year, is
now back to 2007 levels and that's
before the median bonus of $2.2
million, up nearly 50% from last
year. Philippe Dauman, CEO of
Viacom, was paid $84.5 million in
- The top 13 hedge-fund managers
earned an average of $1 billion in
2010. One took home $5 billion.
Furthermore most of this income
was taxed as capital gains, at 15%,
rather than income at 30%.
- Corporations stand to make record
profits in 2011, including $426
billion last quarter.10 "Corporate
balance sheets haven't been in
better shape over the last 200
years, period" said Joe Davis,
chief economist at fund giant
Vanguard in a March 7 AP story.
Corporations have between $1 to
1.5 trillion in cash reserves. 11,12
So uncovering the first lie that
we don't have enough money -
uncovers the second: that states'
budget crises are being caused by
teacher pay, prevailing wage laws
for public construction projects or
meager pensions for public servants.
In fact, again and again, Politicians
have given billions in tax cuts to
the super rich and corporations only
to turn right around to working
people teachers, plumbers, grad
assistants, dishwashers, and the rest
of us demanding we share in the
sacrifice to balance the budget:
In Wisconsin, it was shortly after
giving out $117 million in corporate
tax breaks that Gov. Scott Walker
used the $137 million budget deficit
to wage all-out war on public sector
unions in that state.13.
Is it any wonder that there is a
$4-billion deficit in Florida in light
of a 2003 St. Pete Times study
found that 98% of the 1.5-million
businesses here paid no income
* taxes, costing the state $1-billion a
year. Companies like Verizon and
Carnival Cruise Lines had billions in
revenue but paid no income taxes.
Federally, the $61 billion in federal
spending cuts this year coming on
the heels of wage freeze for federal
employees is almost exactly what
the super-rich didn't have to pay
when President Obama agreed to
extend the Bush Tax cuts.12
And this says nothing of the
systematic shirking of corporate
taxes at the national level, which
has encouraged cost shifting to the
states stretching already thin budgets
there. In the mid-1950s corporate
taxes made up 30% of all revenues.
Today it stands at less than 7%. One
single example, a tiny tip of the
iceberg, covered by the New York
Times recently: General Electric
(GE) reported worldwide profits (not
revenue but profits) of $14.2 billion,
yet paid nothing in Federal taxes.14
So it would stand to reason that if tax
breaks to the rich and a concentration
of wealth to the top not teacher
pay, public sector pensions and the
like -have caused these budget
crises, closing those loopholes and
taxing the super rich could and
should be the solution.
In Florida, if each of the roughly
360,000 millionaires paid a one-time
tax of $15,000, chump change for
them, the $4 billion budget deficit
would be gone tomorrow. Public
workers wouldn't need to take a
pay cut, parents wouldn't need to
worry about the cuts at our children's
schools, and Medicaid recipients
wouldn't need to scramble for health
We are All Wisconsin!
With attacks on unions and working
people intensifying in state capitals
across the country there, things are
obviously going to get worse, in the
short run, for all working families
But something funny happened on
the way to the destruction of the U.S.
Labor Movement we're fighting
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ASE Certifled Technician Gainesville, FL 32609
In Wisconsin, just a few weeks
after the Legislature there stripped
public employees of their collective
bargaining rights, enough signatures
have been collected to initiate a recall
vote for one of the 16 senators being
targeted. It's expected that they have
enough for the others by the end of
the month.
In Indiana, thousands of unionists
forced legislators to pull, for now,
attempts to pass right-to-work
In Ohio, the labor movement has
already said they will work to
overturn legislation that strips
public workers of their collective
bargaining rights through a statewide
referendum just as they did in
1997 to overturn the Legislatures'
attempts to destroy the workers comp
And in Gainesville, unions like
United Faculty of Florida, the
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
Local 1579, Communication Workers
of America (CWA) Local 3170, and
Graduate Assistants United (see page
1) have flipped the script and are
using the attacks on their very right
to exist to grow their unions and
build stronger organizations.
Those unions, along with the Alachua
County Education Association
(ACEA), the Alachua County Labor
Party, Students for a Democratic
Society, the International Socialist
Organization and other community
groups have come together in a
temporary coalition, called Fight
Back Florida, and have been
coordinating activities.
A community follow-up forum,
organized by the Labor Party, to the
statewide days of action drew more
than 60 people (union and non-union)
on March 29 to the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW) Local 1205 union hall.
And the AFL-CIO, ACEA, Labor
Party and Fight Back Florida
coalition is also organizing two buses
to travel back to Tallahassee on
April 7-close to a dozen caravans
have taken union members and
supporters to the capitol since the
start of the legislative session -for
an unprecedented meeting with Rep.
Keith Perry and Sen. Steve Oelrich
concerning their stand on anti-union
The fight to protect unions and the
standard of living for all working
people will go on long after the last
gavel of the 2011 Florida Legislative
session. So if you have a union at
your work- JOIN IT. If you don't
join an organization and get involved
Alachua County Labor Party
floridalaborparty.org, 352-375-2832
Fight Back Florida,
facebook.com (search Fight Back
End notes
1 "Glitches delay FCAT Scores", Miami
Herald, June 6, 2010.
2 "Test score results to arrive late", News-
press.com, March 21,2011.
3 "Indiana Anti-Worker Bills Skid to a
Halt, Labor Notes, 3/17/2011, http://
4 "America is not Broke", speech by
Michael Moore (http://michaelmoore.
I "Why Obama Isn't Fighting the Bugdet
Battle", Robert Reich, March 11.
(note: all.articles by Reich available at
6 "How democrats can become relevant
again (and rescue the nation while
they're at it)" Robert Reich March 1
7 "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the
1%", Vanity Fair, May 2011 (http://
201105 ?currentPage=all)
8 "CEO pay soars while workers' pay
stalls" By Matt Krantz and Barbara
Hansen, USA TODAY, Mar. 31,2011
9 "The republican strategy" Robert
Reich, Feb. 17, 2011
10 "The Truth About the Economy that
Nobody In Washington Or On Wall
Street Will Admit: We're Heading Back
Toward a Double Dip", Robert Reich,
March 30, 2011
" "After historic gains, are stocks nearing
a bubble?", AP, Gainesville Sun, P.1A
12 "The Republicans' big lies about jobs
(and why Obama must repudiate them)",
Robert Reich, March 22, 2011
13 "The Coming Shutdowns and
Showdowns: What's Really at Stake" by
Robert Reich, February 21,2011
14 GE's Strategies Let it avoid taxes
altogether" by David Kocieiewski. New
York Times, March 24,2011.
Mark Piotrowski is the co-chair of
the Alachua County Labor Party
Welcome Back Iguana Party
We're excited to be back and we want to celebrate!
Join us for a night of food, art, music and community.
7 PM Dinner by Sharif ($10 multi-course meal;
$13 meal + cocktail; $15 meal + cocktail + dessert)
8 PM Music with Present Tense Cello with Nellie (
Lars Din
Dirty Fist more
The Impossible Shoelace t78_56
(and more music to follow)
Friday, April 22
Boca Fiesta "back yard"
(19 SE 2nd Place, 100 feet west of the Hippodrome)
History and the People Who Make It
Transcript edited by Pierce Butler
This is the first in a continuing series
of excerpts from transcripts in the
collection of the Samuel Proctor Oral
History Program at the University of
Laura Dixie, a nursing assistant and
community activist, played a role
in civil rights and labor organizing
in Gainesville, serving as President
of Local 2847 of the American
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
and vice-president of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), all while
raising a family. She told her story to
Dr. Paul Ortiz on July 22, 2009.
I will never forget the day they
integrated that place [the W.T.
Edwards (Tuberculosis) hospital,
now the Tacachale Center]. They
had those colored signs, colored and
White. I had a long fingernail file at
the time and I just got my fingernail
file and went round and I took down
every one of the signs. They wanted
to know who took down the signs. I
didn't talk much [laughter], but they
say, nobody done that but Dixie. So
they came to me and I said, well,
you know what? Prove it. If you can
prove I took them down, well, then
you just proved it. They could never
find out who took those signs down.
... They had one lady working there,
she said, I can't work here. My
husband ain't going to allow me
to work here because [there are]
black folks here. He don't want me
working with these black folks. I
never will forget the Director of
Nursing. She was a tall lady and she
had just got out [of] the [military]
service. ... You know how them
service people are. She said, let me
tell you something. If you work
here, you are going to work with
everybody. She said, now if you
don't want to work here, because the
place will be desegregated, the door
you came into get the job, there it is
you go right out that door. [laughter]
That lady never left that day. She
retired. She sure did. I guess her
husband told her, yea; but you can't
quit your job. He told her something
because she stayed there and worked
and she tended the black folks as
well as the white folks.
Now when we was really negotiating
salaries and things we met a lot of
time up there in that Mayo building.
.... There was one night when I
sounded off on. I had been up there
all night long. They keep you in
those things because you [are] not
gonna stop until you come to some
kind of agreement. I just got so
aggravated and mad I said, shoot,
I got my children at home. They
just switching from one thing to
the other. I got up and I told them.
I said, let me tell. I started cussing,
I said, let me tell y'all one damn
thing, I got children at home. You
better sit down here at this table and
do your work because I am going
home! Everything got so quiet. They
started looking at me. I said, I fixed
y'all, didn't I? They said, Mrs. Dixie,
AanY iok,
at the University of Florida
We gather, preserve, and promote
living histories of Individuals
from all walks of life.
Tell us YOUR story:
we didn't know you cursed. I said,
you know it now. [laughter] I said,
mainly I do not do that, but you
just aggravated me. I said, we were
wasting time. I said, you don't waste
time on stuff like this. You know
what you're negotiating. You got to
come to some kind of agreement.
That's just the way I treated them.
You know what? I think the union
liked to fight for salaries [against]
the state. Coming up on my time and
on back in there, black folks was not
making the money that white folks
make. They paid white people more
money for the same job. That was
one of the key things.
My children went to Rickus (High
School). I had a problem with one
of the football coaches out there at
Psychology You Can Use
Pamela Vetro Ph.D., P.A.
Licensed School Psychologist
Sror ,:alendei ot e>ent In ..
I.. to y i .ter t
Rickus. [Her son] Sam was a real
good football player. He could run.
I was sitting up there watching. I
was watching. He would let Sam
bring the ball when they first get on
the field. He would let Sam stand
there until he get that ball within
close to the goal, [then] he'd take
Sam out and put in a white boy
so the'white boy could make the
touchdown. Honey I blasted him.
[laughter] I said, you don't do that.
I said, you are wrong and I'm going
to Gainesville on you! He said, Mrs.
Dixie don't! I said, [no.] ... Better
still, I went on out there got Sam and
them into Florida, FSU ....
'cause honey some of those people
they used to drag ya, on the ground,
'cause I know, one afternoon we
was marching right down there on
Monroe Street, and I... you know,
that was in the afternoon and I had
Sam and Dwayne both with me, Sam
was the oldest, and we marching up
the street behind Patricia Stephens
Due. You know we had to support
her, 'cause they drug her around like
I don't know what and put that stuff
[tear gas] in her eyes that's why she
can't see, and he [a police officer]
came up to me and he got this sticks
or what they have on their side some
time. .
I looked at him right in his eye and
I said, "now what are you supposed
to do with what you got there outta
your pocket? I just double dare you
to hit me, or one of my kids, I say we
are not doing anything to anybody
we just marching." And I said "now
I dare you to hit me or my kids and
I knew you bet not hit my kids you
will be sorry," I said, "so you put
your stick back on your side and get
on down that street" and he did, he
turned red as I don't know what but
he did. Boy we had some hard times,
but we made it.
An edited transcript of Ms. Dixie's
interview will be posted online
at web.history.ufl.edu/orall once
processing is completed. cA
Civic Media Center March 2011 Events
Tuesday 4/5: Art Club, 6-8pm
Wednesday 4/6: "Inside Job" doc. film screening on 7pm
Thursday 4/7: Vol. Mtg. 5:30pm; Free University:"Polyamory 101," w/
Muj and Kentucky, 7pm;
Poetry Jam, 9pm
Friday 4/8: "We Are Illustrations" St. Augustine-based doc. film on
women & body image; Q-n-A w/ director Deborah Brown
Saturday 4/9:
Sunday 4/10:
Monday 4/11:
Wednesday 4/13:
Thursday 4/14:
Friday 4/15:
Saturday 4/16:
Sunday 4/17:
Monday 4/18:
Wednesday 4/20:
Thursday 4/21:
Friday 4/22:
Monday 4/25:
Tuesday, 4/26:
Gainesville Women's Liberation Abortion Rights
Music w/ Yo Soybean and Tristan Whitehill, 9pm
Coalition Against the Meal Limit meeting, 4pm; Industrial
Workers of the World meeting, 8pm
Citizens Food Co-op and Florida Organic Growers present:
"What's Organic About Organic?" doc. film screening and
discussion, 7pm
Gainesville Java Users Group meeting, 6-9pm
Vol. Mtg. 5:30pm; Free University: "Experimental Writing
and Social Change," w/ Kristen, 7pm;
Poetry Jam, 9pm
"AdShades"Art Installation by UF MFA candidate Greg
Cole, 7pm
CMC Benefit CD& Book Sale, 12-6pm
"Civil Indigent," local doc. film screening, snacks provided;
NOW and MindFreedom FL present: "Searching for Angela
Shelton," video, 7pm
Anarchademics Radical Reading& Discussion Group, 8pm
Vol. Mtg. 5:30pm;
Free University: "Critical History," w/ Dr. Paul Ortiz 7pm;
Poetry Jam, 9pm
High School Open Mic Night, 7pm
Gainesville IWW Presents: "A Place Called Chiapas," 7pm
Art Club, 6-8pm
ursday, 4/28: Vol. Mtg. 5:30pm;
Free University: "Musical Ambiguity and the Search for
Transcendence," w/ Shara, 7pm;
Poetry Jam, 9pm
Friday 4/29: ArtWalk, featuring Frog and others TBA, 7-10pm.
iturday 4/30: Beehive Design Collective Presentation on Mountaintop
Removal: Storytelling& Art, 6-8pm; Acoustic Music w/
Kara Smith and Leo Linares, 9pm
Sunday 5/1: "END:CIV" Derrick Jensen doc. film screening and
discussion, 8pm
433 S. Main Street
Parking just to the south at SE 5th Ave. (see sign) or at the courthouse just
north of 4th Ave. after 7pm. Check our website for details or new events that
may have been scheduled after this went to press.
(352) 373-0010 www.civicmediacenter.org
Farm Workers Protest Publix
Jessica Newman
Early last month, the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers (CIW) and.
other supporters of the fair food
movement (more than 1,000 people
in all) rallied outside of a Publix
in downtown Tampa. Why? To tell
Publix to "do the right thing."
The CIW represents farm workers
who pick 45 percent of the tomatoes
eaten in the U.S. year round,
many of whom temporarily live in
Immokalee, Fla., for the growing
season six or seven months of the
year. They survive on less than
$10,000 a year and have been the
victims of modem-day slavery cases
as recently as 2010.
The CIW and its allies merely want
the mega-grocer to sign on to pay
a penny more per pound for its
tomatoes picked by the farm workers
to go toward increased wages, an
idea the store publicly supports.
But after more than a year of actions,
campaign-building and attempted
negotiations, Publix still refuses to
officially sign on to the program.
"Simply stated, Publix is more than
willing to pay a penny more per
pound or whatever the market price
for tomatoes will be in order to
provide the goods to our customers,"
said Dwaine Stevens, spokesperson
for Publix, by email. "However,
we will not pay employees of other
companies directly for their labor.
That is the responsibility of the
This is the typical response of Publix
throughout the duration of the
CIW's campaign. "They're not our
employees, so why should we pay
them? Put it in the price."
But there's just one slight problem
with this mentality.Publix would not
pay the farm workers directly; in fact,
the increase would be incorporated
into the price of tomatoes, just like
Publix wants.
The repackers (middlemen between
the growers and the retailers) would
charge the extra penny to Publix and
then allocate those funds back to the
grower, who then passes them onto
the farm worker. Publix pays- in the
price of tomatoes, not wages. This is
the way the CIW has instituted the
program in the past with corporations
like Taco Bell, McDonald's, Aramark
and Whole Foods (to name a few).
So why is Publix making this
bogus argument? Probably because
executives have never once sat down
to talk or negotiate with the CIW. All
dialogue has been confined to back-
and-forth in the media.
Instead of getting their story straight,
Publix and its representatives
continue to mix the message,
arguing "this is a dispute between
the growers and the workers."
Essentially, they're saying it's
not their problem, and the farm
workers need to negotiate with their
Well, they've tried that, and it's a
slow struggle. It's more effective,
the Coalition has found, to hold
the large corporations buying the
produce responsible for the influence
they hold as the most powerful part
of the supply chain.The CIW is not
targeting Publix because they think
the store has a bad track record of
employee treatment, even though the
grocer seems to think this.
The CIW is pressuring Publix
because the retailer has a huge
amount of negotiating power in this
campaign. All they have to do is
officially sign on to the penny-per-
pound increase and a code of conduct
in the fields, and they could play a
significant role in changing Florida's
agricultural system.
While they haven't won yet, it's safe
to bet that the CIW is going to keep
on fighting, and they won't back
down until Publix comes to the table.
To learn more and find out how you
can get involved, visit the CIW's
website at www.ciw-online.org. ct
Feb. 27 vs. Jacksonville Rollerglrls
Mar 27 vs. Tampa Bay Bruise Crew
Apr 10 vs. Ocala Cannibals Roller Derby
Mar 15 vs. Bradentucky Bombers
Jun 18 vs. Panama City Roller Derby
July 9 vs. Atlanta Sake Tuyas
Aug 20 vs. Ft Myers Derby Girls
Oct 23 vs Thunder City Derby Sirens
Nov 6 vs. Tallahassee Jailbreak Berries
-l ,. ,ou --n.
Join the Humanist Society of Gainesville and the
Gator Freethought Society as we explore the history
behind Christianity's holiest holiday
"The Trouble with Easter"
Presented by Tom Flynn
Editor of Free Inquiry magazine
Exec. Director of the Council for Secular
Friday, April 8, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Room 110 of Rinker Hall
University of Florida Campus
intersection of Inner Drive and Newell Drive .
Free and open to the public
Goodbye, Leonard Weinglass
The Movement lost one of its great
defenders of the underdog with the
passing of Leonard Weinglass on
March 23. From a career spanning
from the '60s to as recently as the
WikiLeaks case and Julian Assange,
Weinglass was a sincere and
compassionate voice against injustice
and the power of the state to crush
its dissidents. What follows is the
statement from the National Lawyers
Guild (NLG), published on their
website shortly after his death:
The NLG mourns yesterday's passing
of an extraordinary criminal defense
and civil rights attorney, Leonard I.
Weinglass. A long-time member of the
Guild, he now joins the pantheon of
great lawyers who have devoted their
careers to making human rights more
sacred than property interests.
Weinglass graduated from Yale
Law School in 1958 and went on to
defend some of the most significant
political cases of the century. He
represented Tom Hayden of Students
for a Democratic Society when
Hayden was indicted in the Newark
riots. During the Vietnam War, he
represented Anthony Russo in the
Pentagon Papers case, and in 1969
he co-counseled in the Chicago
Seven case, with the eventual
overturning of the guilty verdicts. He
also represented Jane Fonda in her
suit against Richard Nixon, Puerto
Rican independence fighters Los
Macheteros, and eight Palestinian
organizers facing deportation known
as the LA 8.
When he represented Amy Carter in
1987 after her arrest for protesting
CIA recruitment, Weinglass told
the Hampshire County District
court, "the students' reaction in that
incident was the reaction any right-
thinking American, peace-loving
American, would have in the face
of the serious harm the agency has
Weinglass served as lead counsel
for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has
been on death row for nearly 30
years. Other well-known clients
included former Weatherman Kathy
Boudin, Angela Davis when she
was charged with murder for the
Marin County shootout, and Antonio
Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five.
He also represented Bill and Emily
Harris, members of the Symbionese
Liberation Army who were charged
with the kidnapping of Patricia
The NLG honored Weinglass on
several occasions, including at its
2003 national convention with the
Ernie Goodman Award.
"For most lawyers, the work that
Len did on any one of countless
cases would be the achievement of
a lifetime, not just for the brilliance
of his advocacy but also for the
causes he espoused and the passion
with which he fought," said Guild
President David Gespass.
The NLG, founded in 1937, is the
oldest and largest public interest/
human rights bar organization in the
U.S. In Gainesville, the NLG can be
contacted through Tom Almquist at
Artwork: LEONARD WEINGLASS,
1977, 66x66", acrylic on canvas by
Arnold Mesches. Courtesy of the
estate of Leonard Weinglass, NYC
fiainesv lle
(established 1986)
The Gainesville Iguana
is Gainesville's progressive
events calendar & newsletter.
Individuals: $15
(or more if you can)
Low/No income: What you can
Groups: $20
Iguana, c/o CISPLA
P.O. Box 14712
Gainesville, FL 32604
Comments, suggestions, contribu-
tions (written or financial) are
welcome. To list your event or
group, contact us at:
(352) 378-5655


text:
"Judge not; remember that!" How often have you heard that retort when you have tried to warn against some heretical doctrine or when you have mentioned the need to talk to someone about his or her sin! What makes the statement so stinging is that the one who makes it is using the whip of Scripture to scourge you (cf. Matthew 7:1ff.). But on the other hand, what makes its use such an anomaly is that the lash is being used for the very purpose that Jesus forbids!
Consider Matthew 7 in the light of John 7:24: "Don't judge according to what appears on the surface; make a right judgment." Obviously, the juxtaposition of the two passages indicates that not all judging is forbidden, but that one must strike the right balance in this matter.
Clearly, Matthew 7 doesn't forbid making "right" or correct judgments. Indeed, properly understood, one can see that is precisely what it encourages. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, thereby bringing the wrath of the legalists down on His head. He then explained that the judgment they had made about Him in this matter was all wrong. Reasoning from circumcision on the Sabbath, He went on to explain exactly why His action was proper. Their judgment was wrong. The judgment they made was built upon their man-made rules, not on the proper use of the Scriptures (vv. 21-23). So, in Matthew 7, judgment isn't forbidden—just the wrong kind of judgment.
Jesus warns people here about judging others when they, themselves, have the very same problems in their own lives but do nothing about them. He says they will be judged by the same standards they use to judge others (v. 2). And continuing, He calls such persons hypocrites if they don't first recognize and reckon with those sins (cf. His words about the log and the speck).
Note also two other things concerning Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7. First, after one removes the log from his own eye he is able to see clearly enough to remove the speck for another's eye (v. 5). It is not wrong to do so—if done as Jesus indicates. Second, the very first command from Jesus' mouth after His discussion of judging requires judgment of others. According to verse 6, you must determine who is a "dog" or "pig." Matthew 7 is a warning about wrong judging; it does not condemn all judging.
The unbalanced view of judging that many hold and the facile quoting of Matthew 7 in an improper manner have had the baneful effect of stifling the growth of discernment. Discernment (which, as the word indicates, is a "judging between" things and persons) is a very important element in Christian living. It is inculcated throughout the book of Proverbs, was sought by Solomon, given to him by God and commended to whose who failed to attain to it (Hebrews 5:11-14). The writer to the Hebrews makes it clear that many had become "dull of hearing" because they were "inexperienced in the righteous Word." They were still craving milk instead of meat. Solid food, the diet of mature Christians, he says, is for "those whose perceptual faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil" (v. 14). That is discernment. That is judging (which means "dividing, separating")—of the right sort; judging by using the Scriptures as the Standard for judgment.
It takes biblical balance to judge. The task is commanded in a hundred or so ways, so it is impossible to escape it. Every believer, in growing to maturity, learns how to judge rightly between good and evil. He learns how to distinguish genuine believers from dogs and hogs—at least in a functional way. Proverbs 18:13, 15, and 17 weigh heavily in all his judgments. He is careful not to believe a negative assessment of others apart from adequate testimony to back it up. He observes 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19 to the hilt. But he does judge.
One of the problems you will encounter in looking at the question of judging is the sin of judging motives. The heart, by which people make their decisions, is not yet accessible to you and me. It is God alone Who can weigh another's heart. We are told that "man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). That is a balance of tasks that we must learn and never lose sight of. In response to Jeremiah's question (Jeremiah 17:9) God is called the "Heart-Knower" (Acts 1:24; cf. also Jeremiah 17:10).
When one's actions are judged according to what another thinks are his motives, the judgment is not only unlawful but, more often than not, it is entirely wrong. You and I must operate only on the basis of a person's words or actions, what we see and hear. And then, only tentatively. We can never be absolutely sure of his motives, intentions, purposes, or goals even when he tells us what they are. Thankfully, God has left the realm of the heart to Himself; you and I should stay away from it! The difficulty of judging another person's motives ought to be apparent to anyone who has ever tried to judge his own. The heart can be deceptive—even self-deceptive. So we see that a balance is needed between obeying commands to judge rightly and not to judge wrongly—between judging another's actions and words and judging his heart's intentions. One of the evidences of immaturity is unbiblical, surface judgment.
There is a balance to be maintained between the human and the divine (what is God's part and what is ours in judging). This balance seems to come up in one way or another in everything we do as believers. This is true because God is our Environment (Psalm 139). He is always there, always knowing, always active. He providentially participates in all that we do. His Spirit dwells within us and activates both our desires to serve and the service we render (Philippians 2:13). His Word directs us in all things necessary for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4). Human thought and action, therefore, must always be related to divine thought and action (cf. Isaiah 55:8).
Judging is an unavoidable part of our lives (even those who rant against it do it). Therefore we must learn to judge God's way. That means acquiring and maintaining the delicate, biblical balance at all times.
Jay E Adams
Donate to the Institute for Nouthetic Studies.
Copyright © 2018 Institute for Nouthetic Studies. All rights reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
With tangible marketing strategies and content materials (photography and video) you will upscale and elevate your brand. Our goal is to provide content and strategies that carry you far past our consulting period. This is more than a 5 year plan. And the best part is – it's completely doable.
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Are you ready to see the incredible future that's waiting for yourself and your business?
Reach out to us if you're interested in exploring what working with RRC could mean for you & your dreams! Once we get your inquiry, we will send you a survey to fill out to get to know you and see what dreams you've got brewing!
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If after our call we all feel like we're the dream team for each other, we'll send over all the fancy legal things, have you sign them, get your deposit taken care of, and then let the fun begin!
Once our T's are crossed and our I's are dotted, we'll spend the next 4-6 months together working on making your dream become a reality. We will spend time together through a mixture of email communication, face-to-face visits, and monthly calls to make sure all of your ducks are lining up just as they should be.
We've got you! We know exactly what that feels like. The mixed feelings of excitement and dreamy ambition but also total fear and self-doubt that it'll never happen or if it does it'll be a complete flop. We are here for you and want to see you and your gorgeous retail space not only open to the public but to thrive for years to come!
Let us come in and help you get back to the heart of why you chose to open your doors in the first place. Let us help you get back to a place of genuine excitement and joy in your heart about the legacy you created in the walls of your store. What you're doing matters but we get that it's easy to get lost in the fog during the day to day grind. It would be our honor to help you revive your dream and help you thrive once again!


text:
Brian Tanguay
Regular Contributor
Coalition Avenir Québec
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to a CAQ breakthrough is that it seeks what amounts to a dose of fiscal realism to voters little willing to wean themselves from the magical thinking proffered by the mainstream parties.
By Brian Tanguay
Book Reviews
Blame Canada! Blame Quebec!
Similar diagnoses and different prescriptions for Canada's Quebec problem. Brian Tanguay reviews recent books by Jacques Parizeauain and Brian Lee Crowley.