BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Sanctuary For Independent Media - ECPv6.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Sanctuary For Independent Media REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20060402T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20061029T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20070311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20071104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20080309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20081102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20090308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20091101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20100314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20101107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20120311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20121104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20130310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20131103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20140309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20141102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20150308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20151101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20160313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20161106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20170312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20171105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20180311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20181104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20190310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20191103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20200308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20201101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20071020T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20071020T210000 DTSTAMP:20220330T162316Z CREATED:20071020T145400Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220330T162316Z UID:10000962-1192906800-1192914000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Journalists Dahr Jamail DESCRIPTION:Dahr Jamail is an independent journalist who has covered the Middle East for more than four years.  He has reported extensively from inside Iraq for eight months and has also reported from Syria\, Turkey\, Lebanon\, and Jordan. Jamail has filed indispensable reports from Iraq that have made him this generation’s chronicler of the unfolding disaster there. In Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket Books\, 2007). Jamail brings us inside the Iraq we never see\, presenting never-before-published details of the first two years of the occupation. \n\n\n\nNow\, as popular sentiment has turned against an occupation that has all but unraveled entirely\, demand for independent reports has grown. Jamail’s consistent visits to occupied Iraq and courageous record of reportage from Iraq\, Lebanon\, and Syria make him an invaluable voice of dissent\, bringing us inside Iraq inside the Iraq and Middle East we never see. Jamail writes for the Inter Press Service\, The Asia Times\, and many other outlets. His reports have been published in The Nation\, The Sunday Herald\, The Guardian\, Foreign Policy in Focus\, and The Independent\, among other publications. On radio as well as television\, Jamail has reported for Democracy Now!\, and numerous other stations around the globe. Jamail is also a special correspondent for “Flashpoints” (KPFK Radio/Pacifica). He lives in California. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Women Against War. Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace and the Chatham Peace Initiative. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/journalists-dahr-jamail/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20071026T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20071026T210000 DTSTAMP:20230109T030423Z CREATED:20071026T143700Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T030423Z UID:10000974-1193425200-1193432400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Hands of God" with Filmmaker Joe Cultrera DESCRIPTION:How does filmmaker Joe Cultrera’s film Hands of God (2006)\, about Catholic clergy abuse\, not descend into depression? It helps when the victim doesn’t act like one but uses his own intellect and humor to fight back. Unlike any other look at this topic\, Hand of God is a poetic and provocative tale of one survivor and his family beyond the headlines. statistics and ecclesiastical spin. Cultrera grounds the story of his brother Paul in the details of their Sicilian-American Catholic upbringing. From baptism to abuse\, silence to dialogue\, resignation to action\, the film follows one person’s internal and external journey from potential priest to a scathing critic. Hand of God is a frankly told tale of betrayal. In balancing faith against disappointment\, the subjects survive it all with their humor intact. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/hands-of-god-with-filmmaker-joe-cultrera/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20071108T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20071108T210000 DTSTAMP:20220330T164726Z CREATED:20071108T161000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220330T164726Z UID:10000975-1194548400-1194555600@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Unmarketable: Brandalism\, Copyfighting\, Mocketing\, and Erosion of Integrity" with Author Anne Elizabeth Moore DESCRIPTION:Writer and activist Anne Elizabeth Moore investigates corporate America’s inroads into– and alliance with– the cultural underground in her just- published book\, Unmarketable: Brandalism\, Copyfighting\, Mocketing\, and Erosion of Integrity (The New Press\, 2007). \n\n\n\nFor years the do-it-yourself (DIY)/punk underground has worked against the logic of mass production and creative uniformity\, disseminating radical ideals and directly making and trading goods and services. But what happens when the underground becomes just another market? What happens when the very tools that the artists and activists have used to build word of mouth are co-opted by corporate America? What happens to cultural resistance when it becomes just another marketing platform? \n\n\n\nMoore is the co-editor of Punk Planet\, the Best American Comics series editor\, and the author of Hey Kidz! Buy This Book: A Radical Primer on Corporate and Governmental Propaganda and Artistic Activism for Short People (Soft. Skull Press\, 2004). She has written for Bitch\, the Chicago Reader\, In These Times\, The Onion\, The Progressive\, and Chicago Public Radio WBEZ’s radio program 848. She lives in Chicago. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/unmarketable-brandalism-copyfighting-mocketing-and-erosion-of-integrity-with-author-anne-elizabeth-moore/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20071112T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20071112T210000 DTSTAMP:20220330T165310Z CREATED:20071112T153700Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220330T165310Z UID:10000978-1194894000-1194901200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Author Michael Yates DESCRIPTION:The road trip is a staple of modern American literature. In Michaels Yates’s Cheap Motels and a Hot Place: An Economist’s Travelogue (monthly review press\, 2006) an economist hits the road\, observing and interpreting the extraordinary range and spectacle of U.S. life\, bringing out its conflicts and contradictions with humor and insight. \n\n\n\nDisillusioned with academic life and thirty-two years of teaching economics\, Michael Yates took early retirement in 2001 and with his wife Karen traveled around the country\, often spending months at a time on the road. Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate is both an account of their adventures and a penetrating examination of work and inequality\, race and class\, alienation and environmental degradation in the small towns and big cities of the contemporary United States.  \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by the Troy Labor Council. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/author-michael-yates/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080305T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080305T210000 DTSTAMP:20230626T143256Z CREATED:20080305T172900Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230626T143256Z UID:10001346-1204740000-1204750800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:People to People in Iran\, Dinner and Talk DESCRIPTION:Cultural travelers Priscilla Fairbank\, Jonathan Hill\, and Barbara Spring share visuals and experiences from their December 2007 tour of Iran with Fellowship of Reconciliation. You are invited to join the group for a casual dinner. \n\n\n\nCitizen diplomats Priscilla Fairbank\, Jonathan Hill and Barbara Spring share stories and pictures from their December 2007 tour in Iran with Fellowship of Reconciliation. They met everyday people of all ages and walks of life: casual bazaar shoppers\, high school and college students\, children and parents on the street or in public parks\, clerics in mosques. \n\n\n\nCome for an evening of enlightenment about present day Iran and its rich history and culture. \n\n\n\nPresented by Iran Working Group of Upper Hudson Peace Action. Co-sponsored by Troy Neighbors for Peace and Women Against War. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/people-to-people-in-iran-dinner-and-talk/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080310T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080310T200000 DTSTAMP:20220512T181313Z CREATED:20080310T165200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220512T181313Z UID:10000893-1205172000-1205179200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Wafaa Bilal's "Virtual Jihadi" DESCRIPTION:Wafaa Bilal was on hand for a reception at 6 PM followed at 7 PM by a presentation about his installation Virtual Jihadi which was to have been displayed at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. The installation was scheduled to be open to the public through Friday\, March 15 from noon to 2 PM as well as before and after regularly scheduled events through April 4\, 2008. The exhibit was shut down–along with The Sanctuary for Independent Media itself–on trumped-up code violation charges by City of Troy officials on the morning of Tuesday\, March 11\, just minutes before the show was to open to the public.  The Sanctuary remained closed until a grand re-opening celebration on April 26 capped off two months of fundraising and renovations. Another version of this installation had opened on March 5\, 2008\, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute but as reported by a Times Union story it was abruptly closed the following day.  Coverage of the controversy has spread around the country. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Controversy:\n\n\n\nThe exhibit was shut down–along with The Sanctuary for Independent Media itself–on trumped-up code violation charges by City of Troy officials on the morning of Tuesday\, March 11\, just minutes before the show was to open to the public. The Sanctuary remained closed until a grand re-opening celebration on April 26 capped off two months of fundraising and renovations. \n\n\n\nAnother version of this installation had opened on March 5\, 2008 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute but as reported by the Times Union it was abruptly closed the following day. Coverage of the controversy has spread around the country\, with stories appearing in the Washington Post\, Chicago Tribune and NY Newsday. Writing from Paris\, France cultural critic Brian Holmes offered his analysis of the art panic at RPI and Inside Higher Ed wrote about the episode in the broader context of campus censorship\, followed by another story when the show opened at the Sanctuary. \n\n\n\nA local Republican operative on the payroll of the City of Troy\, Rensselaer County and NY State called for protests at the Monday\, March 10 show opening at the Sanctuary in an article in the Troy Record. \n\n\n\nIn the widely marketed video game “Quest for Saddam\,” players fight stereotypical Iraqi foes and try to kill Saddam. Al Qaeda did its own take\, creating an online video game using the structure of “Quest for Saddam” but adding a new “skin” to turn the game into a hunt for Bush: “The Night of Bush Capturing.” Now artist Wafaa Bilal has hacked the Al Qaeda version of the game to put his own more nuanced spin on this epic conflict. \n\n\n\nIn The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi\, Bilal casts himself as a suicide-bomber in the game. After learning of the real-life death of his brother in the war\, he is recruited by Al Qaeda to join the hunt for Bush. This work is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war and racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as Quest for Saddam\, along with vulnerability to recruitment by violent groups like Al Qaeda because of the U.S.’s failed strategy in securing Iraq. The work also aims to shed light on groups that traffic in crass and hateful stereotypes of Arab culture with games like Quest for Saddam and other media. \n\n\n\nWafaa Bilal was named 2007 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune\, which wrote\, “No artwork created in Chicago in 2007 received as much attention as Wafaa Bilal’s ‘Domestic Tension\,’ an interactive performance piece that subjected the Iraqi-born artist to a month of bombardment by paintballs from Internet viewers.” \n\n\n\nAccording to Wafaa Bilal:\n\n\n\n“My art is most influenced by the pain and suffering of growing up under Sadaam Hussein’s repressive rule from 1968 to the recent “Iraqi Freedom War”. I experienced violence on a daily basis\, and visions of death and terror together with the anguish to the Iraqi people are irrevocably etched in my memory. My generation in Iraq is defined by decades of war. Since coming to the United States I have also seen great injustice and suffering in the forms of poverty\, racism\, and many other forms of discrimination and hatred. From this point of departure\, through art I strive to uncover an overarching human condition while creating a space for provocation\, dialogue\, and contemplation. As my friend and colleague Gregg Bordowitz has written\, when we are exposed to violence on a daily basis\, how can we\, as political artists\, convey this experience clearly to the viewer and leave a lasting impression that is fresh and solid in its conclusions\, not cliché? \n\n\n\nA constant negotiation must take place in order to embrace the aesthetic pleasure of the image’s surface\, which is so necessary to capture the imagination\, and to convey the aesthetic pain of the content. The failure of this negotiation can easily result in the alienation of the viewer\, while a successful negotiation may result in active engagement and an opening of the viewer’s perspective. While I do not wish to impose narrow interpretations of my work but struggle to create complex and muli-dimensional images\, I also do not feel we currently have the privilege to enjoy art purely as aesthetic pleasure. It is a misconception that art has ever been pure; historically it has been a means of expressing personal and societal realities and interpretations. We must actively employ the tension and incongruence produced by the coexistence of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic pain to attract and jolt the viewer in a thought-provoking manner. As an active player in society and as both educator and agitator\, the artist must keep pushing these boundaries. \n\n\n\nThe photographs I create are highly symbolic\, “hyper-real” landscapes\, landscapes of possibilities existing just beyond reality\, expressing emotions and conditions that permeate reality. They equally could be called “interior landscapes\,” representative of the psychology of human suffering in a society ruled by oppression\, domination\, and fear. Figures exist in equal balance with the landscapes\, the images drawing their complexity from this dramatic polar tension. Within the frame\, time and place loses specificity to become transcendent and expressive of a broader human condition. \n\n\n\nVideo installations provide another level of impact besides the content of the image: we observe movement\, a physical language the body understands. I play with the viewer’s presence and engagement or lack thereof\, allowing this to directly impact the action and outcome of the piece. As the viewer may be far removed from the conflict addressed within the work\, it is important to communicate to the viewer through a recognizable visual language\, and so I filter the subject through historical and psychological contexts of the subject’s specific locale. The frame acts as a historical window to the past\, while the moving image exemplifies a persistent-present\, a current condition influenced by internal or external circumstances that inhibit change. The moment something is done to change a situation\, the persistent-present becomes a progressive present where change can occur. \n\n\n\nMy memories of Iraq and my disenchantment with politics have not left me cynical\, nor drained of hope for humanity. On the contrary\, I am filled with belief in the power of the people to control their own destinies\, and I continue to believe in social justice. I hope to foster a sense of self-empowerment in my audience and to counter the sense of powerlessness people feel in the face of inhumanity.” \n\n\n\nAbout Wafaa Bilal:\n\n\n\nWafaa Bilal was born in Iraq on June 10\, 1966. Because a member of his family had been accused of disloyalty to his country\, Wafaa was denied the opportunity to pursue his dream of being an artist. Instead\, he was to attend college to major in geography. While in college\, he continued to pursue his art and was arrested and tortured for his political art work against Sadaam Hussein. \n\n\n\nShortly after the Gulf War\, Wafaa was inspired by President Bush’s message to the Iraqi citizens that if they attempted to overthrow Sadaam\, the US would stand behind them. He became involved in organizing opposition to the government and was scheduled for arrest and execution when he escaped into Kuwait. There he was accused of being a spy and was close to being shot when his student ID convinced them he told the truth. \n\n\n\nWafaa was sent to a refugee camp on the Kuwaiti border. In the camp\, people laughed when rather than accept life in a tent he began forming brick that he dried in the sun and fashioned into a home. The adobe served a practical purpose\, for it provided relative safety from abduction by Kuwaiti soldiers who sneaked into tents in the middle of the night to kidnap young people for sale to Iraqi soldiers who tortured\, raped and executed them or the Turkish soldiers themselves would rape and kill them. \n\n\n\nFor two years\, Wafaa lived in limbo not knowing if each day would be his last. Still Wafaa worked to improve his art\, cleaning toilets in the camp to earn the money for art supplies\, buying supplies for children for art therapy to help them to work through the horrors witnessed. His experiences developed within him an abhorrence of violence and oppression and strengthened his inner resolve. \n\n\n\nIn 1992\, Wafaa came to the United States and took classes to learn English. Then\, he began art studies at the University of New Mexico where he excelled. His art is of a political nature that speaks to oppression of the human spirit\, including that of women who are bound by the rules of culture. He has won many awards for his art as well as a scholarship to the Chicago Institute of Art for post graduate study. He is now teaching at that institution. \n\n\n\nIn addition\, Wafaa travels to give lectures on the oppressive nature of Sadaam’s regime in the hope of informing people of the complexities of the situation as well as the atrocities committed and the importance of nonviolent means of ending conflict. It has been 14 years since he was last able to see his mother and younger siblings. He speaks to them on the phone to hear how they flee from one war torn city to another in an effort to find safety. His 21 year-old brother who was staunchly apolitical lost his life to stray American gunfire. His father died when his health deteriorated after the death of his youngest son. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/wafaa-bilals-virtual-jihadi/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Gallery Show,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080318T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080318T210000 DTSTAMP:20220518T162404Z CREATED:20080318T171000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220518T162404Z UID:10000895-1205866800-1205874000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:The Yes Men Live! DESCRIPTION:Anti-corporate pranksters give the inside scoop on their latest impersonations\, from representing Halliburton at a Gulf Coast reconstruction conference to being Exxon at Canada’s largest petroleum industry gathering. The Yes Men agree their way into fortified compounds of commerce\, ask questions\, and then smuggle out the stories of their hijinks to provide the public a glimpse at the behind-the-scenes world of business. The Yes Men are team players… but they play for the opposing team. \n\n\n\nEver wondered what makes The Yes Men tick? Check out this live-in-person presentation by The Yes Men and see clips from their upcoming film! NEW LOCATION: Christ Church United Methodist\, 35 State St. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHighlights of Yes Men Adventures:\n\n\n\nVivoleum: Exxon’s Climate-Victim Candles (June\, 2007). Imposters posing as ExxonMobil and National Petroleum Council (NPC) representatives delivered an outrageous keynote speech to 300 oilmen at GO-EXPO\, Canada’s largest oil conference\, held at Stampede Park in Calgary\, Alberta. \n\n\n\nWharton: WTO Proposes Slavery for Africa (November\, 2006). At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa\, World Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt announced the creation of a WTO initiative for “full private stewardry of labor” for the parts of Africa that have been hardest hit by the 500 years of Africa’s free trade with the West. \n\n\n\nHUD: HUD Secretary Jackson Announces New Direction for Agency (August\, 2006). Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco speak. After pitching his administration’s policies in the usual way\, Nagin tells a long story in which truth and lie go skinny-dipping; lie steals truth’s clothes\, and truth chases after. “What you have is truth running naked after well-clothed lie.” \n\n\n\nSurvivaball: Halliburton solves global warming! (May\, 2006). “The SurvivaBall is designed to protect the corporate manager no matter what Mother Nature throws his or her way\,” said Fred Wolf\, a Halliburton representative who spoke today at the Catastrophic Loss conference held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Amelia Island\, Florida. “This technology is the only rational response to abrupt climate change\,” he said to an attentive and appreciative audience. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/the-yes-men-live/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080325T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080325T210000 DTSTAMP:20220614T170955Z CREATED:20080325T171900Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220614T170955Z UID:10000898-1206471600-1206478800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"State of Fear" with Filmmaker Pamela Yates DESCRIPTION:Filmmaker Pamela Yates presents a screening of her award-winning film\, State of Fear\, bringing a new level of documentary storytelling to an epic tale of one nation’s journey through a war on terror. How can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? State of Fear dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a “war” against terror\, a “war” potentially without end\, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders seeking personal political gain.  The film follows events in Peru\, yet it serves as a cautionary tale for a nation like the United States. \n\n\n\nThe Truth Commission granted Skylight Pictures access to its extensive testimonial evidence from 20 years of violence\, as well as hundreds of hours of rarely seen archival material and thousands of exquisite still photographs that will help bring this timely story to an international audience. \n\n\n\nStill from State of Fear.\n\n\n\nAbout the Film:\n\n\n\nHow can an open society balance demands for security with democracy? State of Fear dramatizes the human and societal costs a democracy faces when it embarks on a “war” against terror\, a “war” potentially without end\, all too easily exploited by unscrupulous leaders seeking personal political gain. The film follows events in Peru\, yet it serves as a cautionary tale for a nation like the United States. \n\n\n\nFilmmakers Pamela Yates\, Paco de Onís and Peter Kinoy masterfully blend personal testimony\, history and archival footage to tell the story of escalating violence in the Andean nation and how fear of terrorism was used to undermine democracy\, making Peru a virtual dictatorship where official corruption replaced the rule of law. \n\n\n\nTerrorist attacks by Shining Path guerrillas provoked a military occupation of the countryside. Military justice replaced civil authority\, widespread abuses by the Peruvian army went unpunished\, and terrorism continued to spread. Nearly 70\,000 civilians eventually died at the hands of the Shining Path and the Peruvian military. Old-fashioned police intelligence finally subdued the terrorist threat but Peruvian leaders continued to use the fear of terrorism to gut the democracy\, making Peru a virtual dictatorship where a vast web of corruption replaced the rule of law. \n\n\n\nIn 2000 this autocratic regime collapsed beneath the weight of its own corruption\, and the new democratic government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that opened a door to the past\, throwing light on the relentless violence that had engulfed this Andean nation for twenty years. \n\n\n\n“A brilliant and moving film\, which is both a portrait of Peru and a chronicle of terror and response–fanaticism\, bravery\, heroism\, abject fear and the way everyone is affected by such events. It is what Orwell called the aim of great art\, which was both imaginative in craftsmanship and politically committed at its heart.” –Paul Theroux\, author URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/state-of-fear-with-filmmaker-pamela-yates/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080404T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080404T210000 DTSTAMP:20220722T154749Z CREATED:20080404T172900Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220722T154749Z UID:10000998-1207335600-1207342800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Strange Culture" Screening with Steve Kurtz DESCRIPTION:Lynn Hershman Leeson’s Strange Culture (2007) is a brilliantly conceived documentary that breaks conventional rules to tell a story of post-9/11 paranoia and the risks artists face when their work questions government policies. The subject of this film- artists and college professor Steve Kurtz- has been charged as a suspected terrorist and faces up to 20 years in prison. He will be in attendance for this benefit event. NEW LOCATION: Christ Church\, 35 State St. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by the Department of the Arts at RPI. \n\n\n\nStill from Strange Culture.\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nAbout the Film:\n\n\n\nArtist and college professor Steve Kurtz was preparing for a MASS MoCA exhibition that lets audiences test whether food has been genetically modified when\, days before the opening\, his wife tragically died of heart failure. Distraught\, Kurtz called 911\, but when medics arrived\, they became suspicious of his art supplies and called the FBI. Dozens of agents in haz-mat suits sifted through his home and impounded his computers\, books\, cat\, and even his wife’s body. The government held Kurtz as a suspected terrorist\, and\, nearly three years later\, the charges have not been dropped. He still faces up to 20 years in prison. \n\n\n\nBecause Kurtz cannot legally talk about the case\, Leeson enlists actors\, including Tilda Swinton\, Josh Kornbluth\, and Peter Coyote\, to interpret the story. Leeson skillfully weaves dramatic reenactment\, news footage\, animation\, testimonials\, and footage of Kurtz himself into a sophisticated documentary about post-9/11 paranoia and the risks artists face when their work questions government policies. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/strange-culture-screening-with-steve-kurtz/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080406T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080406T213000 DTSTAMP:20220331T174926Z CREATED:20220331T174926Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220331T174926Z UID:10001349-1207504800-1207517400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Promised Paradise: How Can One Believe That Terrorism Leads To Heaven?" with Filmmaker Leonard Helmrich DESCRIPTION:Leonard Retel Helmrich is an internationally recognized Indonesian filmmaker. His featured documentary The Eye of the Day (2001) made him famous in the documentary film world. The follow-up\, Shape of the Moon (2004)\, was selected for many important festivals and won the top documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival. In Helmrich’s Promised Paradise: How Can One Believe That Terrorism Leads To Heaven?\, the Jakarta-based Indonesian puppeteer and troubadour Agus Nur Amal travels to Bali to call to account the people who were responsible for the bomb attack on a nightclub there on 12 October 2002. Come early for a 6 PM potluck with the artist! \n\n\n\nCo-Sponsored by the Department of the Arts at RPI. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStill from Promised Paradise: How Can One Believe That Terrorism Leads To Heaven?\n\n\n\nAbout the Film:\n\n\n\nIn Promised Paradise: How Can One Believe That Terrorism Leads To Heaven?  the Jakarta-based Indonesian puppeteer and troubadour Agus Nur Amal travels to Bali to call to account the people who were responsible for the bomb attack on a nightclub there on 12 October 2002. Like in his theatre shows\, humour is his main weapon. Before an audience of children\, we see him enact the attack on the Word Trade Center inside a gigantic “TV set.” The doll of Osama Bin Laden swaying his hips gets his audience roaring with laughter. But people stop laughing when his shadow play about the WTC disaster changes into images of new bomb attacks in Indonesia–first on the Australian Embassy in September 2004\, and later in Bali in October 2005. Director Leonard Retel Helmrich\, the 2004 winner of the Joris Ivens Award with The Shape of the Moon (De Stand van de Maan)\, uses ingenious editing to have Agus talk with the brain behind the attack in a “TV interview.” Agus also consults a paranormal advisor and asks him where the perpetrators of the suicide attack are now. “Their heaven is our hell\,” is the conclusion. But while Agus is in Bali\, his friend Endang\, who is still in Jakarta\, falls prey to intolerance and violence. (Source: IDFA catalogue) \n\n\n\nAbout Leonard Retel Helmrich:\n\n\n\nLeonard Retel Helmrich’s work includes the short fiction film De Drenkeling (The Drowning Man)\, the feature-length film The Phoenix Mystery\, and the multiple award-winning documentary Moving Objects (1991). He shot several short documentaries before\, during and after Suharto stepped down as president of Indonesia. With his feature documentary The Eye of the Day\, he instantly became famous in the documentary film world and won many international awards. Shape of the Moon\, a follow-up to The Eye of the Day\, was selected for many important festivals including the top documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/promised-paradise-how-can-one-believe-that-terrorism-leads-to-heaven-with-filmmaker-leonard-helmrich/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080408T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080408T210000 DTSTAMP:20220404T152143Z CREATED:20220331T181251Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220404T152143Z UID:10001350-1207681200-1207688400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:African Film Festival Featuring "Bling\, A Planet Rock\," with Filmmaker Raquel Cepeda and "Growing Stronger" DESCRIPTION:Filmmaker Raquel Cepeda presents Bling A Planet Rock (2007)\, a feature documentary by Raquel Cepeda\, takes a hard-hitting look at how “blinging” in the flashy world of commercial hip-hop played a role in the 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone. This film takes U.S. hip-hop celebrities Paul Wall\, Latin hip-hop artist Tego Calderon\, and Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan on a journey to Sierra Leone’s diamond mining communities\, introducing them to former child soldiers\, refugees\, and local hip-hop artists. \n\n\n\nIncluded in this screening is Growing Stronger (2005) by Tsitsi Dangarembga. After living a high profile life as a model and wife to the coach of the Zimbabwe national football team\, Tendayi Westerhof stunned the nation by becoming the first high profile person to go public about her HIV-positive status in 2002. Part of the African Film Festival program. \n\n\n\nBecause the Sanctuary has been shut down by the City of Troy in an action currently under investigation by the New York Civil Liberties Union\, historic A.M.E. Zion Church at 189 Fifth Avenue (corner of 103rd Street in north Troy) has offered sanctuary to the Sanctuary. \n\n\n\nLocal presentation of the African Film Festival is made possible with volunteer labor and hundreds of individual donations from patrons of The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, co-sponsored by the Arts Department at RPI\, A.M.E. Zion Church and the New York State Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProduction still from Bling: A Planet Rock. Photograph by Irena Mihova.\n\n\n\nAbout the African Film Festival at the Sanctuary for Independent Media:\n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media’s annual African Film Festival begins in Troy on Tuesday\, April 8\, 2008. We will be presenting four feature films (including\, on the opening night of the festival\, Bling: A Planet Rock director Raquel Cepeda)\, four short subjects and an evening of African music with Grammy Award-nominated kora master Mamadou Diabate and his quartet. \n\n\n\n“From Egypt to South Africa\, veteran filmmakers are using film to address the issues changing the face of the African continent today\,” said Mahen Bonetti\, founder and executive director of the AFF. “Additionally\, technology is empowering emerging filmmakers to add their voices to those telling Africa’s stories.” \n\n\n\nEach evening of the Festival features one full-length film and one short: on Tuesday\, April 8; Wednesday\, April 9; Tuesday\, April 15 and Wednesday\, April 16. Films begin at 7 PM. In addition\, the music of Malian kora great Mamadou Diabate and his ensemble will be featured live in a concert at 8 PM on Friday\, April 11. The film lineup includes: \n\n\n\nBling: A Planet Rock (Raquel Cepeda\, Sierra Leone/USA. 2007\, 90″) A documentary about American hip-hop culture’s obsession with diamonds—“blinging”—and all its social trappings\, and how this infatuation correlated with the ten-year conflict in Sierra Leone\, West Africa. The film follows three rappers—Paul Wall\, Tego Calderon\, and Raekwon—as they trek to the country to meet the survivors\, perpetrators and diamond miners in the country. The film also features Kanye West\, Juelz Santana\, Jadakiss and former child soldier/author Ishmael Beah. \n\n\n\nGrowing Stronger (Tsitsi Dangarembga\, Zimbabwe. 2005\, 30″) After living a high profile life as a model and wife to the then-coach of the Zimbabwe national football team\, Tendayi Westerhof stunned the nation by becoming the first high profile person to go public about her HIV positive status in 2002. Her enemies increased\, some going to the extent of calling her disclosure a publicity gimmick. This beautiful woman has gone on to become a public figure in a very different way\, as an elegant and glamorous AIDS activist in the world of modeling and the public media. \n\n\n\nAbout the Filmmakers:\n\n\n\nRaquel Cepeda is an award-winning editor and multi-media journalist\, producer and filmmaker\, as well as a multi-cultural media consultant specializing in translating news and social/global issues into an authentic language that is palatable to younger generations—18-34 years of age—stateside and abroad. Cepeda is the director and writer Bling: A Planet Rock\, co-produced with a19\, VH1\, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She also served as a creative consulting producer on From Mambo to Hip-Hop\, directed by Henry Chalfant (Style Wars) for PBS (2007). \n\n\n\nCurrently\, Cepeda is in production on BLOW US UP!\, a wartime concert documentary starring platinum selling rapper Paul Wall and TV Johnny who will journey into the past to see the future—in Iraq and Johnny’s homeland\, Vietnam. Following in the tradition of the highly acclaimed Bling: A Planet Rock\, BLOW US UP! uses the medium of hip-hop to engage a new audience in the history of two American wars\, a generation and musical genre apart from each other. \n\n\n\nMalian kora musician\, Mamadou Diabate is a member of the Mandinka West African jeli (musician caste) family. His musical lineage goes back seven centuries to the time of Sunjata Keita\, the conqueror of the Malian empire. Now based in the United States\, Mamadou performs around North America and Europe. Interested in bringing the kora to new audiences\, he has played with jazz and other contemporary artists\, however he remains rooted in the traditions of the Manding kora and his griot heritage. He is one of a handful remaining kora players that are keeping alive the kora tradition. \n\n\n\nAbout the African Film Festival\n\n\n\nThe African Film Festival (AFF) is a New York non-profit arts organization. The organization\, established in 1990\, began as an ad hoc committee of African and American artists and scholars. In the 1950s and ’60s\, African filmmakers began to create images of post-colonial Africa with nuanced understanding of Africa’s cultural diversity. Over the last half a century\, having sliced through stereotypes with exacting social critique\, African cinema has become a unique blend of aesthetic experimentation\, history\, and politics. As African nations have constructed modern identities from traditional and colonial experiences\, the role of visual culture in communicating these new transitional identities has immediacy for audiences around the world. The impetus for themes such as colonialism\, post-independence corruption\, and chronicles of “tribal” customs often erupts from the ironies of contemporary life. But African filmmakers also draw from springs of myth\, fantasy\, humor\, and magic to nourish a narrative sensibility in which tradition and modernity encounter each other. The oral traditions\, unique pacing\, and non-linear style of African story-telling have in fact become classifying characteristics of African filmmaking. This kind of art is a powerful intellectual and emotional force for social change. \n\n\n\nAs the twenty-first century begins\, we are witnessing a great revolution in mass communications capabilities that drastically reduces the distances between cultures. Images\, sounds\, and ideas are being exchanged almost instantaneously\, creating dynamic hybrid cultures. As Western consumer culture has influenced global society\, so it has been invigorated by the differing sensibilities\, traditions\, and styles of other cultures. Likewise\, African film has evolved from its early exploration of colonialism into a new\, diasporic\, and international consciousness. For the past decade\, the African Film Festival has bridged the divide between post-colonial Africa and the American public through the medium of film. AFF’s unique place in the international arts community is distinguished not only by leadership in festival management but a comprehensive approach to the advocacy of African film and culture. We are particularly mindful of the many ways in which cinema is as much a medium of cultural exchange as an educational gate-way. \n\n\n\nAbout the AME Zion Church of Troy\, NY:\n\n\n\nDevoted to religious\, educational and social causes\, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and its members have been instrumental in many of the freedom struggles of this nation\, dating back to the days when former slaves Frederick Douglass\, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman led the first wave of Black social activism. Since that time\, A.M.E. Zion members have made other significant contributions. AME Zion Bishop Alexander Walters\, along with Dr. W.E.B. DuBois\, helped to found the NAACP. Bishop Walters was also a pioneering member of the Pan-African Congress\, and many of the denomination’s clergy and lay people were active participants in the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s. \n\n\n\nA.M.E. Zion Church made the salvation of the whole person–mind\, body and spirit–its top priority. At the crux of its ministry lay racial justice\, peace and harmony\, thus earning it the title\, the Freedom Church. \n\n\n\nAs the ministry expanded\, so did the denomination’s emphasis on education. “In order to succeed in American society as productive citizens\, we [the newly freed slaves] need to become an educated citizenry\,” an early AME Zion member once said. In keeping with that goal\, the Church maintains four colleges and universities today\, which are Livingstone College in Salisbury\, N.C.\, Clinton Junior College in Rock Hill\, S.C.\, and Lomax-Hannon Junior College in Greenville\, Alabama\, and A.M.E. Zion University in Monrovia\, Liberia. Additionally it maintains two theological seminaries\, Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury\, NC and Hood Speaks Theological Seminary in Akwa Ibom State\, Nigeria. \n\n\n\nAlong with its emphasis on ministry and social change here in the United States\, the denomination has focused much of its attention and energies on outreach abroad. To date\, the A.M.E. Zion Church has member churches on all continents except Australia. In West Africa\, in particular\, the denomination has set up numerous schools and clinics throughout Ghana and Nigeria. The Church also has facilities in Liberia\, though some of its main structures have been destroyed by civil war. Overseas missions are a crucial component of the A.M.E. Zion Church’s outreach\, but the denomination believes in charity starting at home. That is why\, over the years\, several individual churches have implemented programs to help families to find low-income housing\, jobs\, financial planning assistance\, health care and day care services. “Our concern is for the whole person\,” says Bishop Cecil Bishop\, the (retired former) senior bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church. “We have a holistic approach and a holistic gospel. We don’t feel that we live in a kind of compartmentalized sense\, but that life is a complete whole. So we have to be concerned about all of those amenities of life that help make up wholeness in an individual.” \n\n\n\nAbout The Sanctuary for Independent Media:\n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media is a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts\, located in an historic former church in north Troy\, NY. The Sanctuary hosts screening\, production and performance facilities\, training in media production and a meeting space for artists\, activists and independent media makers of all kinds. On March 11\, 2008 the City of Troy closed The Sanctuary for Independent Media for alleged code violations just hours after the opening of a controversial series focusing on government intimidation and censorship under the guise of counter-terrorism. While the matter is being investigated by the NY Civil Liberties Union\, public events are being presented at Sanctuaries-in-exile throughout the Capital Region. \n\n\n\nAbout Rensselaer Polytechnic’s Department of the Arts:\n\n\n\nThe Department of the Arts at Rensselaer was founded in 1972. It is built around a world class faculty and is dedicated to interdisciplinary creative research in electronic arts\, offering a unique environment in which to develop and realize innovative art within a technological university. iEAR Presents! is a series of public performances\, exhibitions\, screenings and lectures. Curated by artist faculty\, iEAR Presents! seeks to bring artists into a creative dialogue regarding integrated electronic arts practice and theory with a participatory community of faculty and students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and members of the general public. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/african-film-festival-featuring-bling-a-planet-rock-with-filmmaker-raquel-cepeda-and-growing-stronger/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080502T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080502T210000 DTSTAMP:20220404T153347Z CREATED:20220404T153346Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220404T153347Z UID:10001604-1209754800-1209762000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Madeleine Kunin Speaks on "Pearls\, Politics\, and Power" DESCRIPTION:The former three-term Vermont Governor asks: What will it take for women to assume their rightful places in the corridors of political power? What difference do women make? What is the worst part of politics\, and what is the best part? What inspires women to run\, and how do they prepare themselves for public life? How do they raise money\, protect their families’ privacy\, deal with criticism and attack ads\, and work with the good old boys? Her new book is Pearls\, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead (2008). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout Madeleine M. Kunin\n\n\n\nMadeleine M. Kunin was the first woman governor of Vermont\, and served as the Deputy Secretary of Education and Ambassador to Switzerland under President Bill Clinton. She is the author of Living a Political Life and is currently a Marsh Scholar Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont and lectures on history and women’s studies. She also serves as president of the board of the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC)\, a nongovernmental organization that she founded in 1991. She lives in Burlington\, Vermont. \n\n\n\nAbout Pearls\, Politics\, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead \n\n\n\nHer new book\, Pearls\, Politics\, and Power (Chelsea Green)\, is a call to action for new political engagement and leadership from the women of America. Informed by conversations with elected women leaders from all levels\, former three-term Vermont Governor and Ambassador to Switzerland Madeleine M. Kunin asks: What difference do women make? What is the worst part of politics\, and what is the best part? What inspired these women to run\, and how did they prepare themselves for public life? How did they raise money\, protect their families’ privacy\, deal with criticism and attack ads\, and work with the good old boys? \n\n\n\nKunin’s core message is that America needs an infusion of new leadership to better address the major problems of our time. To see how women can achieve that goal\, she combines her personal experience in politics; the lessons of past women’s movements; the stories of young women today who have new ideas about their role in society; and interviews with a wide range of women in positions of power\, looking for clues to their leadership\, as well as the effects of gender stereotyping. She interviews Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton\, analyzes her campaign\, and addresses the question: “Is the country ready?” Other interviewees include U.S. Representatives Loretta Sanchez\, Linda Sanchez\, Deborah Pryce\, and Tammy Baldwin\, and U.S. Senators Susan Collins\, Amy Klobuchar\, and Carol Moseley Braun\, and Governors Kathleen Sibelius and Janet Napolitano. \n\n\n\n“Here’s the book we’ve been waiting for—an insider’s view of the role of women in politics by one of America’s most distinguished public servants. Governor\, federal executive\, ambassador\, Madeleine Kunin has seen it all. And her keen eye and her deep understanding of the challenge of gender in wielding power has produced a wonderfully insightful book that should be read by every women\, and man\, who wants to lead.” —Robert B. Reich\, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor\, Professor of Public Policy\, University of California at Berkeley URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/madeleine-kunin-speaks-on-pearls-politics-and-power/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20080926T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20080926T210000 DTSTAMP:20230626T165106Z CREATED:20080926T140400Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230626T165106Z UID:10001018-1222455600-1222462800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Doug Henwood and the Crisis of Neoliberalism DESCRIPTION:More than twenty years ago\, convinced that the 1980s experiment with free-market economics was a financial and social disaster and that much writing on economics was dry and dated\, Doug Henwood founded the critically-acclaimed Left Business Observer. Invited here as part of the Capital Region Social Forum\, he will address the current crisis of neoliberalism. \n\n\n\nAfter the New Economy by Doug Henwood book cover.\n\n\n\nOur press release:\n\n\n\nDoug Henwood’s lecture serves as the capstone event for the Third Capital Region Social Forum\, a series of lectures\, films\, and events taking place across the region between September 19 and October 3. Taking its cue from the World Social Forum\, whose motto “Another World Is Possible” has become a touchstone for the global peace and justice movement\, the Capital Region Social Forum brings together activists\, organizers\, academics\, and members of the Capital District community to learn\, discuss\, and critique—and imagine alternatives to—neoliberal economic and social policies that have contributed to the vast inequality\, growing militarism\, ecological crisis worldwide. \n\n\n\nThis year’s forum\, “Cracks in the Edifice: Neoliberalism in Crisis\,” also includes lectures by Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch and Steve Early\, a labor journalist and organizer. It coincides with the launch of the Globalization Studies Major at UAlbany on September 25. Past Forums have examined issues as varied as human rights\, U.S. militarism\, environmental crises\, labor organizing in Mexican maquiladoras\, universal health care\, food sovereignty\, and more. \n\n\n\nDoug Henwood Biography:\n\n\n\nDoug Henwood\, editor and publisher of Left Business Observer\, received his B.A. in English from Yale University in 1975. Henwood did graduate work in English at the University of Virginia\, concentrating on British and American poetry and critical theory. In the course of studying the theory and history of the U.S. political economy\, Henwood became more deeply interested in economic matters and less so in literary ones. After five years of contemplation\, convinced that the 1980s experiment with free-market economics was a financial and social disaster and that much “left” writing on economics was usually dry and dated\, Henwood decided that there was room for a newsletter addressing both these deficiencies. He founded Left Business Observer in September 1986. Almost from the first issue\, the newsletter was a critical success. \n\n\n\nLBO covers economics and politics in the broadest sense. Recent and persisting obsessions include the meaning of Bushism; income distribution and poverty in the U.S. and elsewhere in the First World; the globalization of finance and production; the worldwide attack on pensions; the 1990s boom and its gloomy aftermath; the economics of energy. Every issue includes a report on the world’s financial markets and central banks. \n\n\n\nBesides editing LBO\, Henwood is a contributing editor of The Nation\, and hosts a radio weekly program on WBAI (New York). His book “Wall Street” was published by Verso in June 1997 and is now available for free download. His social atlas of the U.S. (in the Pluto atlas series)\, The State of the USA\, was published by Simon & Schuster in the fall of 1994. His latest effort\, After the New Economy\, was published in late 2003 by The New Press. He is now in the early stages of a book on the current American ruling class. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/doug-henwood-and-the-crisis-of-neoliberalism/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081028T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081028T220000 DTSTAMP:20230705T152738Z CREATED:20081028T145200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T152738Z UID:10000852-1225220400-1225231200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Camilo Mejia: The Private Rebellion of a Staff Sergeant DESCRIPTION:After serving in the Army for nearly nine years\, Camilo Mejia was the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight when he applied for discharge from the army as a conscientious objector\, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. The principled stand described in his memoir\, Road From ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia (just published by Haymarket Books)\, helped rally the growing opposition and embolden other soldiers. He was eventually convicted of desertion by a military court and sentenced to a year in prison\, prompting Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience. Camilo will speak about his experiences. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Women Against War and Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. \n\n\n\nRegaining My Humanity \n\n\n\nBy Camilo MejiaCodePink.org \n\n\n\nThursday 17 February 2005 \n\n\n\nI was deployed to Iraq in April 2003 and returned home for a two-week leave in October. Going home gave me the opportunity to put my thoughts in order and to listen to what my conscience had to say. People would ask me about my war experiences and answering them took me back to all the horrors-the firefights\, the ambushes\, the time I saw a young Iraqi dragged by his shoulders through a pool of his own blood or an innocent man was decapitated by our machine gun fire. The time I saw a soldier broken down inside because he killed a child\, or an old man on his knees\, crying with his arms raised to the sky\, perhaps asking God why we had taken the lifeless body of his son. \n\n\n\nI thought of the suffering of a people whose country was in ruins and who were further humiliated by the raids\, patrols and curfews of an occupying army. \n\n\n\nAnd I realized that none of the reasons we were told about why we were in Iraq turned out to be true. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. We weren’t helping the Iraqi people and the Iraqi people didn’t want us there. We weren’t preventing terrorism or making Americans safer. I couldn’t find a single good reason for having been there\, for having shot at people and been shot at. \n\n\n\nComing home gave me the clarity to see the line between military duty and moral obligation. I realized that I was part of a war that I believed was immoral and criminal\, a war of aggression\, a war of imperial domination. I realized that acting upon my principles became incompatible with my role in the military\, and I decided that I could not return to Iraq. \n\n\n\nBy putting my weapon down\, I chose to reassert myself as a human being. I have not deserted the military or been disloyal to the men and women of the military. I have not been disloyal to a country. I have only been loyal to my principles. \n\n\n\nWhen I turned myself in\, with all my fears and doubts\, it did it not only for myself. I did it for the people of Iraq\, even for those who fired upon me-they were just on the other side of a battleground where war itself was the only enemy. I did it for the Iraqi children\, who are victims of mines and depleted uranium. I did it for the thousands of unknown civilians killed in war. My time in prison is a small price compared to the price Iraqis and Americans have paid with their lives. Mine is a small price compared to the price Humanity has paid for war. \n\n\n\nMany have called me a coward\, others have called me a hero. I believe I can be found somewhere in the middle. To those who have called me a hero\, I say that I don’t believe in heroes\, but I believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. \n\n\n\nTo those who have called me a coward I say that they are wrong\, and that without knowing it\, they are also right. They are wrong when they think that I left the war for fear of being killed. I admit that fear was there\, but there was also the fear of killing innocent people\, the fear of putting myself in a position where to survive means to kill\, there was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body\, the fear of losing myself to my daughter\, to the people who love me\, to the man I used to be\, the man I wanted to be. I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me. \n\n\n\nI say without any pride that I did my job as a soldier. I commanded an infantry squad in combat and we never failed to accomplish our mission. But those who called me a coward\, without knowing it\, are also right. I was a coward not for leaving the war\, but for having been a part of it in the first place. Refusing and resisting this war was my moral duty\, a moral duty that called me to take a principled action. I failed to fulfill my moral duty as a human being and instead I chose to fulfill my duty as a soldier. All because I was afraid. I was terrified\, I did not want to stand up to the government and the army\, I was afraid of punishment and humiliation. I went to war because at the moment I was a coward\, and for that I apologize to my soldiers for not being the type of leader I should have been. \n\n\n\nI also apologize to the Iraqi people. To them I say I am sorry for the curfews\, for the raids\, for the killings. May they find it in their hearts to forgive me. \n\n\n\nOne of the reasons I did not refuse the war from the beginning was that I was afraid of losing my freedom. Today\, as I sit behind bars I realize that there are many types of freedom\, and that in spite of my confinement I remain free in many important ways. What good is freedom if we are afraid to follow our conscience? What good is freedom if we are not able to live with our own actions? I am confined to a prison but I feel\, today more than ever\, connected to all humanity. Behind these bars I sit a free man because I listened to a higher power\, the voice of my conscience. \n\n\n\nWhile I was confined in total segregation\, I came across a poem written by a man who refused and resisted the government of Nazi Germany. For doing so he was executed. His name is Albrecht Hanshofer\, and he wrote this poem as he awaited execution. \n\n\n\nGuilt \n\n\n\nThe burden of my guilt before the lawweighs light upon my shoulders; to plotand to conspire was my duty to the people;I would have been a criminal had I not. \n\n\n\nI am guilty\, though not the way you think\,I should have done my duty sooner\, I was wrong\,I should have called evil more clearly by its nameI hesitated to condemn it for far too long. \n\n\n\nI now accuse myself within my heart:I have betrayed my conscience far too longI have deceived myself and fellow man. \n\n\n\nI knew the course of evil from the startMy warning was not loud nor clear enough!Today I know what I was guilty of… \n\n\n\nTo those who are still quiet\, to those who continue to betray their conscience\, to those who are not calling evil more clearly by its name\, to those of us who are still not doing enough to refuse and resist\, I say “come forward.” I say “free your minds.” Let us\, collectively\, free our minds\, soften our hearts\, comfort the wounded\, put down our weapons\, and reassert ourselves as human beings by putting an end to war. \n\n\n\n–Camilo Mejia \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nAuthor\, anti-war activist\, prisoner of conscience and chairman of the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War\, Camilo Mejia will speak about his experiences and his book “Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejía” at The Sanctuary for Independent Media on Tuesday\, October 28\, 2008 at 7 PM. Admission is by donation ($10 suggested\, $5 student/low income). The Sanctuary for Independent Media is located at 3361 6th Avenue in north Troy (at 101st Street). Call (518) 272-2390\, email info@MediaSanctuary.org\, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information. \n\n\n\nCamilo Mejia joined the military at the age of nineteen\, serving as an infantryman in the active-duty army for three years before transferring to the Florida National Guard. After fighting in Iraq\, Mejia became the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight the war in Iraq\, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. He was eventually convicted of desertion by a military court and sentenced to a year in prison\, prompting Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience. \n\n\n\nMejía is a former student of the University of Miami in Coral Gables\, Florida\, where he intended to major in psychology and Spanish on a military-funded scholarship. Mejía spent six months in Iraq (his first combat tour after enlisting)\, then returned for a 2-week furlough to the US after which he did not return for duty. He was charged with desertion and sentenced to one year in prison for refusing to return to fight in Iraq. In March 2004 he turned himself in to the US military and filed an application for conscientious objector status. \n\n\n\nMejía was court-martialed\, and claimed that he left his post in order to avoid duties that could be considered war crimes: more specifically\, the abuse and torture of prisoners. One of his attorneys\, former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark\, claimed that he was thus protected from desertion charges by international law. \n\n\n\nOn May 21\, 2004 Mejía was convicted of desertion by a military jury and sentenced to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge. Under Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice\, conviction on the charge of desertion during time of war can result in a sentence of death. \n\n\n\nMejía served his time at the Fort Sill military prison in Lawton\, Oklahoma. During his time in custody he was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded by Refuse and Resist with its Courageous Resister Award. \n\n\n\nCamilo was also recognized by the Detroit City Council with a commendation for his stand. Detroit was the first city where Mejía spoke at an anti-war rally. While confined\, local and national activists organized a series of vigils outside the gates of Ft. Sill\, including one attended by Kathy Kelly and other members of Voices in the Wilderness. \n\n\n\nCamilo Mejía was released from prison on February 15\, 2005. Since his release\, he has spoken at many peace protests and to the press about his experiences and his opposition to the war in Iraq. \n\n\n\nMejía has recently written a book entitled “Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejía” (Haymarket Books\, 2008) which recounts his journey of conscience in Iraq: \n\n\n\n“I say without any pride that I did my job as a soldier. I commanded an infantry squad in combat and we never failed to accomplish our mission. But those who called me a coward\, without knowing it\, are also right. I was a coward not for leaving the war\, but for having been a part of it in the first place. Refusing and resisting this war was my moral duty\, a moral duty that called me to take a principled action. I failed to fulfill my moral duty as a human being and instead I chose to fulfill my duty as a soldier. All because I was afraid. I was terrified\, I did not want to stand up to the government and the army\, I was afraid of punishment and humiliation. I went to war because at the moment I was a coward\, and for that I apologize to my soldiers for not being the type of leader I should have been.” \n\n\n\nIn August 2007 Mejía was named the chair of the board of directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/camilo-mejia-the-private-rebellion-of-a-staff-sergeant/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T210000 DTSTAMP:20220415T184804Z CREATED:20081114T150700Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220415T184804Z UID:10001025-1226768400-1226782800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:2nd Annual Buy Local Bash! DESCRIPTION:Buy Local Movement Important to Turning Economy Positive: Noted Entrepreneur and Author Laury Hammel Headlines and Talented Local Musicians Ben Karis-Nix and Ashley Pond to Perform at 2nd Annual Buy Local Bash! Shop ‘til you drop at your local\, independently owned businesses\, then join Capital District Local First to celebrate being local from 6-9pm. Local musicians\, local food and local independent businesses come together to show off all the fabulous things the Capital District has to offer. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Event:\n\n\n\nThe public is invited to sample local foods\, enjoy local music and shop for the holidays at the Buy Local Bash from 5 to 9 PM on Saturday\, November 15th. The event will take place at the Sanctuary for Independent Media\, 3361 6th Avenue\, Troy. Special guest speaker will be Laury Hammel\, noted entrepreneur and author\, who will discuss the linkage between building a strong local economy and the area’s ability to do business in a down economy. Hammel’s talk will take place at 6 PM. \n\n\n\nParticipating local\, independent businesses include the Honest Weight Food Co-op\, Brown’s Brewing Company\, The Bookhouse of Stuyvesant Plaza\, Roots and Wisdom\, Defazio’s Imports\, Le Marche Vert\, Tosca\, The Spinning Seed\, The Flower Girl\, Alabu Soaps\, The Placid Baker\, Java Jazz Cafe\, and more than a dozen other businesses from around the Capital District. In addition to samples of local products\, attendees are eligible to win gift certificates\, gift baskets\, movie tickets\, locally brewed beer\, and other door prizes. \n\n\n\nAccording to Karisa Centanni\, Honest Weight’s Education Coordinator\, “Laury Hammel’s talk will focus on the many advantages that accrue to communities when business is conducted between neighbors. When money stays in a local economy\, it is a strong bulwark against the ravages of a global economy gone badly. Given the current recession\, Hammel’s talk will provide important insights about how each of us by our personal buying decisions can help assure that our little corner of the world stays as healthy as possible.” \n\n\n\nAbout Laury Hammel\n\n\n\nThe evening’s highlight will be a talk by Laury Hammel\, author of “Growing Local Value – How to Build Business Partnerships that Strengthen Your Community.” Hammel founded and grew The Longfellow Clubs\, currently the 54th largest health club business in the US\, with $16 million in revenues. He is a recognized industry leader in innovative business practices\, social responsibility and community service. Among his other accomplishments\, Hammel is a founder of New England Businesses for Social Responsibility (NEBSR); Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)\, a national organization; the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN); and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). Hammel has also been very active in the areas of energy conservation and environmentalism\, with a particular interest in the sustainability of businesses. \n\n\n\nParticipating Local Musicians\n\n\n\nLocal musicians at the Buy Local Bash will include Ashley Pond\, Ben Karis-Nix and Amanda Rogers. Pond\, who released her debut album\, Dala\, in 2007\, is a gifted singer/songwriter/guitarist who has taken the capital region of New York by storm. Metroland Magazine named Ashley Pond “Best New Solo Artist” in their Best of 2007 issue and followed up with a cover story. In addition\, The Times Union\, interviewed Pond and gave her a spot in their top 10 local records of 2007. Ben Karis-Nix recently released his new solo EP\, We Are Giants Now. Ben’s recordings\, performances\, and songwriting have earned him features on the CW show “One Tree Hill\,” MTV’s “Road Rules” and “Real World\, “NPR’s “Weekend Edition\,” and MySpace Compilation Vol. 1. Similarly talented\, Amanda Rogers has opened for some of the most acclaimed rock\, emo\, and jam bands in the industry. She recently released an EP containing new songs and covers of songs by Radiohead and At The Drive-In\, played numerous shows in the States and two more tours in Europe. In 2008\, she headlined another European tour with friends “The Sketchy Indians” backing her up in support of her highly anticipated album Heartwood. \n\n\n\nAbout Capital District Local First:\n\n\n\nCapital District Local First is a nonprofit organization located in New York State’s Capital District. We work to promote the locally owned\, independent business community of the area. We believe that the locally owned\, independent business community plays a vital role in enhancing the diversity\, social fairness\, community spirit\, financial vitality\, and environmental health of the region. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/2nd-annual-buy-local-bash/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Performance,Speaker END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180413T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180415T235959 DTSTAMP:20230306T194252Z CREATED:20210921T141935Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230306T194252Z UID:10001023-1523577600-1523836799@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Ruderal Ecologies: Grounds for Change DESCRIPTION:CHECK OUT video documentation of RUDERAL ECOLOGIES! \n\n\n\nThis event was free and open to the public\, with donations encouraged  to build the NATURE Lab Environmental Education Center.  \n\n\n\nThis symposium marks the last weekend for our NATURE Lab crowdfunding campaign: help us build a center for community science\, bioart and environmental justice\, right here on our block in North Troy! The Sanctuary needs your support! Register and donate to find out more about how you can help us make this citizen science center a reality.Ruderal Ecologies is a weekend-long symposium to commence Earth Week. Art\, urban ecology\, and social justice activities focus on living in urban environments shaped by stress. “Ruderal ecologies” are formed by hardy and adaptive organisms and grassroots activist communities that grow out of the ruins of urban wastelands.Hosted by The Sanctuary for Independent Media’s NATURE Lab\, the symposium involves thinkers and activists from ecology\, public health\, urban planning\, environmental science\, environmental justice\, permaculture\, the arts\, and science and technology studies. Together participants look for growth and resilience in polluted but biodiverse environments\, asking: \n\n\n\n\nHow can we identify underserved marginalized communities to build engaged\, diverse networks\, on grounds considered “wastelands”?\n\n\n\nWhat forms of life flourish amid the ruins of ruderal ecologies?\n\n\n\nWhat happens when we include “nonhuman” forms of life–including plants and animals–in our thinking about human flourishing?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFor more information on our diverse set of Symposium presenters:  \n\n\n\nSchedule Overview: \n\n\n\nFriday\, April 13 – Day 1 \n\n\n\n7pm Opening Keynote: Decolonizing the Anthropocene | Heather Davis \n\n\n\nDavis\, drawing on work with co-author Zoe Todd\, brings radical feminist and indigenous perspectives to the geological term\, the Anthropocene\, tracing colonialist origins and contemporary geographies. \n\n\n\n8pm Jayohcee| Hip Hop Performance by a First Nations Mohawk Warrior from the Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve | Jayohcee \n\n\n\n8:30pm Art Auction | NATURE Lab Environmental Education Center Crowdfunding Campaign \n\n\n\nDance with Plants Party | LRT/Location Responsive Theme!Ruderal and domesticated plants generate electronic music via bio-feedback sensors mixed to the beats and loops of electronic musician LRT. Join our NATURE Lab Environmental Education Center celebration\, featuring an Art Auction with works exhibited in the Sanctuary’s Underground Gallery over the past decade. Hit the floor and dance with the plants\, in a bio-art party with LRT/Location Responsive Theme! \n\n\n\nSaturday\, April 14 – Day 2 \n\n\n\n9:30-10:00am Coffee / Welcome \n\n\n\n10:00-11:15am Morning Panel: Plants\, People\, Health\, Risk | Mae-ling Lokko\, David Seiter\, Gail Wittwer-Laird & Xiaobo Xue \n\n\n\nDiverse networks interconnect as professionals from architecture and public health sectors discuss the implications that modern landscape designs have on wildlife and the future of the human species. \n\n\n\n11:30am-1:00pm Workshops: \n\n\n\nAppropriate Remediation: Ecoremediation vs. Toxisphere | Scott KelloggEcoremediation is a framework for looking at environmental contamination through a complex\, whole systems lens\, combining an environmental justice analysis of the “toxisphere” with simple and affordable bioremediation techniques. In this hands-on workshop\, we will build familiarity with our ecoremediation allies: microbes\, fungi\, plants\, insects\, and worms. \n\n\n\nArt in the Anthropocene:Radical Care Practices | Andrea Haenggi\, Ellie Irons\, Catherine GrauAgents of the Environmental Performance Agency lead a gleaning workshop on the streets around the urban environmental campus\, considering the informal public waste stream as offering\, resource\, and burden. \n\n\n\n1:00-2:00pm Lunch \n\n\n\n2:00-3:30pm Workshops: \n\n\n\nAppropriate Remediation:Watershed\, Sewershed\, Seedshed | Julia Cavicchi\, Anne Pfeifenberger\, Olivia GoldenIn this multidisciplinary workshop\, we will consider the aquatic ecologies of post-industrial Troy from multiple perspectives\, including watershed-scale interconnectivities\, troubled sewer infrastructure inheritances\, and possibilities for mitigation and adaptation. The workshop will conclude with a collaborative mapping project to invite reflections on the many unseen river crossings we make every day. \n\n\n\nArt in the Anthropocene:Plant Sensibilities: Tools for Many Kinds of Selves | Lucia Monge \n\n\n\nIn this workshop we will explore relationships to plants through the use of (speculative/prosthetic/por qué no/what if) tools to observe the thinking and action that emerge from attention to other ways of being. \n\n\n\n3:30-5:00pm Afternoon Panel: Soil\, Remediation\, Regulation\, Design | Moderated by Angelyn Chandler\, featuring Tatiana Choulika\, Kaja Kühl\, Leila Nadir & Seeta Sistla \n\n\n\n5:00-5:15pm Break \n\n\n\n5:15-6:15pm Closing Keynote: Grounding Environmental Justice in the Capital Region | Aaron Mair \n\n\n\nApril 15\, Sunday – Day 3 \n\n\n\n11:00am-2:00pm Bio-mapping Brunch: Ruderal Resource Mapping | Azuré Keahi & Oliver Kellhammer \n\n\n\nA potluck brunch is followed by a bio-mapping workshop in which we walk our North Troy neighborhood to observe and note our ever changing biodiverse urban ecologies. Using a combination of bio-blitzing and community cartography\, participants will explore assigned areas to map and highlight post-industrial resources to inspire grassroots\, environmental stewardship. \n\n\n\nSponsors: Ruderal Ecologies is hosted by folks from NATURE LAB; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Vasudha Living and Learning Community and the Vollmer Fries Fund; the Department of Science and Technology Studies and the Thomas Phelan Endowed Chair in the Humanities\, Arts\, and Social Sciences; the Department of the Arts; Skidmore College; and RADIX Ecological Center. \n\n\n\nFor information\, please contact:Kathy High\, email: high@rpi.edu and phone: 518-209-6209Ellie Irons\, email: ellieirons@gmail.com and phone: 909-702-1584Branda Miller\, email: miller@mediasanctuary.org and phone: 518-229-0441 URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/ruderal-ecologies-grounds-for-change/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion,Speaker,Workshop ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Draft1-RudEcoDesign-150dpi.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201204T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201204T200000 DTSTAMP:20210419T030510Z CREATED:20210419T030509Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210419T030510Z UID:10001204-1607106600-1607112000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:People’s Health Sanctuary presents: End-of-Life in the Age of Covid DESCRIPTION:In the midst of unprecedented personal\, national and global oppression\, suffering and death\, how do we process loss to maintain hopeful connections? End-of-Life in the Age of Covid features conversations about our experiences of death\, end of life care\, and the creation of social and spiritual community during the pandemic. How do we honor the memory and voices of the dying? How can our grief inform and inspire us to create a new world that is inclusive\, and responsive to the needs of marginalized populations most hard hit by Covid?  \n\n\n\nJoin us for an initial conversation to process our personal and collective grief and loss. \n\n\n\nModerator: Corinne Carey \n\n\n\nPanelists: \n\n\n\nMarne Lucas\, artist and end of life doulaUrban Grief\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBIOS \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. Carey is the campaign director of Compassion & Choices New York. Compassion & Choices improves care\, expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. \n\n\n\nCompassion & Choices’ award-winning video features the groundbreaking filmmaker Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. “My cancer is incurable … I will reach a very debilitated state\,” she says in the video\, in which she notes that she suffered through more than 100 chemo treatments for ovarian cancer over 12 years before entering hospice in late 2018. “I would so much like to be able to manage my own death by choosing the time and the person I’d like to have with me so that I can die in comfort and with compassion and not in pain and morphine-drugged.” Hammer died on March 16\, 2019\, at age 79 in her Manhattan home without access to this gently dying option. In February\, Oscars in Memoriam honored her for her legacy as an experimental filmmaker. Watch the entire award-winning video of Barbara Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a radio producer with Hudson Mohawk Magazine on WOOC 105.3 FM.  \n\n\n\nMarne LucasMarne is an artist and end of life doula. As a multidisciplinary artist her work investigates social justice related projects such as Bardo ∞ Project\, an ongoing exploration of creativity as a form of spiritual end of life care\, and video installations using infrared imaging technology to reference surveillance culture and the fragility of human existence. She is in-training at Parker Jewish Institute to be an INELDA certified end-of-life doula\, and currently serves as a client board member at URAM\, a Harlem United health agency. \n\n\n\nUrban Grief \n\n\n\nLisa Good\, MSW\, is founding the director of Urban Grief\, a trauma-informed community-based organization that educates on the effects of violence and supports those affected through outreach and victim advocacy. She is the former director of SNUG (formerly known as Cure Violence) and has over 25 years of human service experience. She is an experienced speaker and trainer\, facilitating trauma-informed workshops such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, and community events\, and faith-based workshops aimed at creating healing spaces and empowering community members through information about trauma\, grief\, and resilience. \n\n\n\nhttp://lisawgood.com/ \n\n\n\nUrban Grief is trauma informed and healing centered 501(c)(3) community-based organization. Urban Grief responds to the traumatic impact of community violence\, death and loss through community education\, crisis response\, victim advocacy and grief support. Urban Grief provides relevant and relatable information about trauma\, grief\, self-care\, resiliency\, and victim services. UG acknowledges the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, along with chronic exposure to traumatic events\, and strives to avoid further re-traumatization. \n\n\n\nEnd-of-Life in the Age of COVID organizing team \n\n\n\nDr. Xavier Coughlin\, Kathy High\, Corinne Carey\, Nancy Weber\, Branda Miller \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE’S HEALTH SANCTUARY\n\n\n\nThe People’s Health Sanctuary‘s goal is to establish a central space to share health skills\, provide basic integrative care and explore ways to build networks of community health. We are celebrating a year of organizing around this project\, initiated under the organizing name Health Autonomy Clinic and after listening sessions with our surrounding community\, re-named People’s Health Sanctuary. Our goal is to embrace models of open sharing of health knowledge\, and empower all of the growing collective of community members to seek their independent health goals\, as opposed to the traditional\, hierarchical top-down approach of clinical medical practice. Though caring for our elders\, our children\, or cooking soul-nourishing food for family or friends may not be deemed ‘real’ healthcare\, they know that in fact\, it’s what holds us together and keeps us sane. Our growing network sharing skills to build a space where creative\, joyful health is possible and accessible. \n\n\n\nIn this current crisis\, we are more than even committed to the potential that People’s Health Sanctuary can offer.  Everyone it seems is struggling to keep up with the flood of information about the current crisis\, the ways those in power are forcing us back to a “normal\,” the over-reliance of the economy as a marker of anything lending towards health.  And then we have the horrific news from Georgia and Minneapolis\, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd\, a stark reminder of the crisis behind the crisis. COVID has only exacerbated the social oppression and disparities that mark the “normal” so many of the elites want to return to.   URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/peoples-health-sanctuary-presents-end-of-life-in-the-age-of-covid/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Death_Doula_Marne_Lucas_gold_Ring_skull_Screen-Shot-2019-02-27-at-2.09.51-PM.png LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/peoples-health-sanctuary-presents-end-of-life-in-the-age-of-covid/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T203000 DTSTAMP:20250212T183332Z CREATED:20210518T024546Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T183332Z UID:10001221-1624820400-1624825800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Chris Hedges: "American Sadism" DESCRIPTION:Chris Hedges returns to the Sanctuary for a virtual talk about the times in which we live. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSadism now defines nearly every cultural\, social and political experience in the United States. It is expressed in the greed of an oligarchic elite that has seen its wealth increase during the pandemic by $1.1 trillion while the country has suffered the sharpest rise in its poverty rate in more than 50 years.  It is expressed in extra-judicial killings by police in cities such as Minneapolis. It is expressed in our complicity in Israel’s wholesale killing of unarmed Palestinians\, the humanitarian crisis engendered by the war in Yemen and our reigns of terror in Afghanistan\, Iraq and Syria. It is expressed in the torture in our prisons and black sites. It is expressed in the separation of children from their undocumented parents\, where they are held as if they were dogs in a kennel. \n\n\n\nThe historian Johan Huizinga\, writing about the twilight of the middle ages\, argued that as things fall apart sadism is embraced as a way to cope with the hostility of an indifferent universe. No longer bound to a common purpose\, a ruptured society retreats into the cult of the self. It celebrates\, as do corporations on Wall Street or mass culture through reality television shows\, the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm\, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying\, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt. Get what you can\, as fast as you can\, before someone else gets it. This is the state of nature\, the “war of all against all\,” Thomas Hobbes saw as the consequence of social collapse\, a world in which life becomes “solitary\, poor\, nasty\, brutish\, and short.” And this sadism\, as Friedrich Nietzsche understood\, fuels a perverted\, sadistic pleasure. \n\n\n\nCheck out Chris Hedges’ “The Politics of Cultural Despair\,” recorded on October 18\, 2020 at The Sanctuary for Independent Media! URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/chris-hedges-american-sadism/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Chris_Hedges_glasses_in_hand_DSC06838-4-2-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211029T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211029T170000 DTSTAMP:20241203T171357Z CREATED:20210910T164025Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241203T171357Z UID:10001022-1635519600-1635526800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Tony Cokes in Conversation DESCRIPTION:Please join us for an online presentation with American artist Tony Cokes. \n\n\n\nThrough a rigorous analysis of images and language\, Tony Cokes dissects the often-obscured power dynamics at work in the cultural and political representation of histories of Blackness\, class\, and the war on terror. \n\n\n\nThis event is a collaboration between EMPAC and the iEAR Presents series with support from RPI’s ARTS department and School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Science\, and from the New York State Council for the Arts/ NYSCA\, with The Sanctuary for Independent Media as Community Co-sponsor. \n\n\n\nThe talk will be followed by a Q&A with the artist. \n\n\n\nHear the Hudson Mohawk Magazine interview with Tony Cokes \n\n\n \nMediaSanctuary · Tony Cokes Contradicts Cultural Associations with Sound\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTony Cokes’ distinctive artworks and installations center on videos that foreground textual statements\, often overlaid onto colorful monochromatic backgrounds with pop\, punk\, and electronic music soundtracks. Quoting language from across the political spectrum—from philosophical statements to news\, art criticism\, advertising\, and song lyrics—Cokes mixes linguistic\, visual\, and sonic oppositions in a pared back approach that refuses the easy desire for a spectacular image. Shot through with wry humor and the aesthetics and upbeat music of popular culture\, the videos project unstable meanings that deconstruct how we receive and read images. \n\n\n\nTony Cokes makes video\, installation\, print\, sound\, and other works that reframe appropriated texts to reflect upon capitalism\, subjectivity\, knowledge\, and pleasure. Cokes deploys sound as a crucial\, intertextual element\, complicating minimal visuals. He has shown works internationally at venues including Tate Modern\, and CCA Goldsmiths\, London; Centre Georges Pompidou\, Paris; Museum of Modern Art\, and Whitney Museum\, New York; ZKM\, Karlsruhe; REDCAT\, and Hammer Museum\, Los Angeles; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; Schinkel Pavillion\, Berlin; ICA\, Philadelphia; Stedelijk Museum\, Amsterdam; MMK Frankfurt; and La Cinémathèque Française. Cokes has screened works in festivals including the Berlin Biennale X; RuhrTriennale 2019\, Essen; Rotterdam International Film Festival; Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid; and the Oberhausen Short Film Festival.  He is a Professor in the Department of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University\, Providence\,RI. His work is represented by Greene Naftali\, New York\, Hannah Hoffman\, Los Angeles\, and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)\, New York. \n\n\n\n\n\nFunding has been provided by the Electronic Film and Media area of the New York Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\nEMPAC \n\n\n\nhttps://empac.rpi.edu/ URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/tony-cokes-in-conversation-2/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MJ_but-also-of-the-seductions_-1536x1099-1-1024x733-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211112T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211112T220000 DTSTAMP:20230213T191325Z CREATED:20211110T214649Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T191325Z UID:10001222-1636743600-1636754400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Not Going Quietly" w/ filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman and panel discussion DESCRIPTION:Join us for a virtual film screening of “Not Going Quietly” with filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman\, followed by a panel discussion. \n\n\n\nThe event begins with a quick introduction by filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman\, then we will screen Not Going Quietly. Following the film\, a personal message by Ady Barkan and brief Q&A with Nicholas will lead into a discussion led by People’s Health Sanctuary moderators Aileen Javier and Corinne Carey with panelists: Tracey Corder\, ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy); Ursula Rozum\, Campaign for NY Health; Julia Solow\, Hand in Hand (The Network of Domestic Employers); Scott Desnoyers\, health care activist. \n\n\n\n\nCLICK HERE FOR VIDEO DOCUMENTATION\n\n\n\n\n\nOn December 18\, 2017\, approximately 70 protesters against the GOP Tax Bill were arrested while staging a ‘die-in’ in the rotunda of the Rayburn House office building. One of the arrestees was health care activist Ady Barkan\, who is living with ALS. Barkan said the GOP tax bill’s cuts to Medicaid will put his and 13 million other American’s life at risk. (Photo by Michael Nigro)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA rising star in progressive politics and a new father\, 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS. But after a confrontation with powerful Senator Jeff Flake on an airplane goes viral\, catapulting him to national fame\, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation political movement called “Be a Hero.” Together\, they barnstorm across the country and empower people to confront their elected officials with emotional\, personal stories to demand healthcare justice\, and Ady holds groundbreaking interviews with Joe Biden\, Kamala Harris\, Bernie Sanders\, and Elizabeth Warren.  Through his journey\, Ady discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers hope for his family and millions of others. \n\n\n\nView Democracy Now! clip of “Not Going Quietly”: Paralyzed with ALS\, Ady Barkan Continues Fighting for Medicare for All \n\n\n\nThis event is a collaboration between the iEAR Presents series with support from RPI’s ARTS department and School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Science\, and from the New York State Council for the Arts/ NYSCA\, with The Sanctuary for Independent Media and People’s Health Sanctuary. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nhttps://www.notgoingquietlyfilm.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNicholas Bruckman produced the feature film VALLEY OF SAINTS\, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit award. The film was released on Netflix and was a New York Times Critics Pick. \n\n\n\nHe previously directed the feature documentary LA AMERICANA\, which won the best documentary prize at the NY and LA Latino Film Festivals. The film broadcast worldwide on networks including PBS\, National Geographic\, and Al Jazeera. \n\n\n\nNicholas Bruckman is the director of NOT GOING QUIETLY\, his latest film about 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life. \n\n\n\nNicholas’ work has received support from foundations including the Fledgling Fund\, Cinereach\, NYSCA\, NYFA\, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He is the founder and CEO of People’s Television\, a New York and D.C.-based branded & original content company. \n\n\n\n\n\nPANEL \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTracey Corder\, Campaign Director – Policing and Incarceration\, ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy) \n\n\n\nTracey is a Deputy Campaign Director for ACRE ‘s Policing work. She comes to this work after serving as a social worker\, electoral campaign organizer and political strategist. \n\n\n\nHer most recent position as Director of Federal Action and Racial Justice at Center for Popular Democracy worked to advance direct action as a tactic to advocate for progressive legislation on housing\, immigration\, voting rights\, climate and policing. \n\n\n\nTracey serves on the Advisory Board of Be A Hero\, the Steering Committee of Black Womxn For and is a trainer for the Birddog Nation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUrsula Rozum\, Co-Director\, Campaign for NY Health \n\n\n\nUrsula Rozum\, a Syracuse native\, is an organizer building people power to win healthcare for all with Campaign for New York Health. In 2012\, she was the Green party candidate for Congress. She likes bicycles and growing vegetables.Busy-bee organizer in Syracuse\, NY. \n\n\n\nThe pandemic is exposing the weaknesses of the current healthcare system and why we must create a system that guarantees care for everybody. The New York Health Act (A5248a/S3577a) will provide comprehensive\, universal health coverage — including long-term care — for every resident of New York.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nScott Desnoyer\, healthcare activist \n\n\n\nScott Desnoyers says his son died because of $20 and Amy Sterling Casil was charged $50\,000 after her baby died – they are among many Americans sharing their stories about the health system. \n\n\n\nDaniel was 29 when he died. He killed himself after failing to get his medication refilled because he missed a $20 premium he was not aware of. \n\n\n\n“I promised his siblings and him at the funeral in front of everyone that I was going to make our lawmakers look me in the eye and see the consequences of their decisions\,” shares his father\, Scott Desnoyers. a loving father who lost his son and became a Medicare-for-All activist. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJulia Solow\, Lead NY Caring Majority Organizer at Hand-in-Hand: The Network of Domestic Employers \n\n\n\nJulia’s passion for organizing comes from a long legacy of organizing in her family\, personal experiences of struggle and amazing mentors along her journey. She first got involved in movement work when social work professors in college introduced her to immigrant rights leaders fighting for the DREAM Act in 2010. Since then\, Julia has been organizing in solidarity with working class people of color-led movements and power organizations on efforts to address gentrification\, living wages for farm workers and drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants in New York State\, among others. Prior to her work at Hand-In-Hand\, she has had the privilege of working at AFL-CIO National Headquarters in DC\, Community Voices Heard in New York and as an Americorps VISTA in Cleveland\, Ohio. Julia has a Masters in Social Work from CUNY Hunter College. She is bilingual in English and Spanish \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAileen Javier\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nAileen Javier is a Community Health Worker/ Outreach Educator/Family Advocate. She is passionate about fomenting community health by supporting and empowering people to successfully navigate the local social and health care system. She worked as a Community Outreach / Family Advocate in Massachusetts. At the Sanctuary Aileen collaborates in the NATURE Lab’s newest initiative: Health Autonomy Clinic and she is working on radio production for WOOC 105.3 FM publishing pieces on local health resources. Aside from the radio production\, she helps plan and organize events and distribute flyers\, she is ready to help in any way that she can. In the near future she will do community outreach for the HAC. \n\n\n\nShe enjoys dancing\, buying from local businesses and farms\, meditation\, yoga\, hiking and living a healthy lifestyle. She loves talking and meeting new people. She is part of the People Power at the Sanctuary because she believes in the Sanctuary’s Mission “We use art and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.” \n\n\n\n – From Aileen: The Sanctuary For Independent Media is My Tribe and my Second Family. I am honored to be part of such a Great  Organization! I Love You Guys! See what Aileen has done with the Sanctuary \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCorinne Carey\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. Carey is the campaign director of Compassion & Choices New York. Compassion & Choices improves care\, expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. \n\n\n\nCompassion & Choices’ award-winning video features the groundbreaking filmmaker Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. “My cancer is incurable … I will reach a very debilitated state\,” she says in the video\, in which she notes that she suffered through more than 100 chemo treatments for ovarian cancer over 12 years before entering hospice in late 2018. “I would so much like to be able to manage my own death by choosing the time and the person I’d like to have with me so that I can die in comfort and with compassion and not in pain and morphine-drugged.” Hammer died on March 16\, 2019\, at age 79 in her Manhattan home without access to this gently dying option. In February\, Oscars in Memoriam honored her for her legacy as an experimental filmmaker. Watch the entire award-winning video of Barbara Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a radio producer with Hudson Mohawk Magazine on WOOC 105.3 FM.  \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nCO-SPONSORS \n\n\n\nBe A Hero Fund \n\n\n\nBe A Hero takes on the impossible fights. Big money. Special interests. Powerful politicians. We’ve taken them all on– and won. \n\n\n\nThe Be A Hero team is led by Ady and co-Executive Director Jamila Headley. Together with a group of committed organizers\, Ady and Jamila are fighting for a more just health care system in the United States. \n\n\n\nFour months after the birth of his son Carl\, Ady Barkan was diagnosed with ALS. Confronting his own mortality\, Ady decided to spend his remaining time fighting to transform America’s health care system so that it guarantees all of us the care and dignity we deserve and lifting up stories of incredible heroism in the face of injustice. \n\n\n\nJamila is an impact-focused leader and an accomplished advocate for healthcare\, racial\, and disability justice. She thrives at the intersections of strategy and implementation\, building organizations and movements at the global and local levels\, and caring for the individuals in them. \n\n\n\nThe COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the brokenness of our healthcare system\, and the time is ripe for transformational change. But in order to win\, we must build a powerful movement and we can’t do it without you. Join our fight today! \n\n\n\nNY Health: Healthcare for Every New Yorker \n\n\n\nThe New York Health Act [A.6058/S.5474] will provide comprehensive health care for every New Yorker. You and your healthcare provider of choice will work to keep you healthy—New York Health pays the bill. You will never have to fear going without coverage again—especially in the middle of a deadly pandemic.  \n\n\n\nOver the last year\, tens of thousands of New Yorkers died\, lost income\, fell behind on rent\, and struggled to pay medical bills. Meanwhile\, private health insurance corporations made record profits. The COVID-19 pandemic puts everyone at risk\, but Black\, brown\, and low-income New Yorkers carry the greatest burden of exposure\, with disproportionately more serving as essential workers and disproportionately fewer having access to healthcare. \n\n\n\nWe need a legislative agenda of compassionate care to heal from this pandemic. That’s why we partnered with allies in the housing justice and decarceration movements to release the Compassionate New York Agenda. This is a road map to saving lives and billions of dollars by providing guaranteed healthcare\, stopping unjust evictions\, and reducing the number of people behind bars and harmed by the criminal and immigration systems. We reject the austerity agenda\, and call for a movement based on compassion and care to drive the legislative agenda in New York. \n\n\n\nJoin us in building the movement to win universal\, guaranteed healthcare — and more. Check out ways to get involved in passing the New York Health Act! URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/not-going-quietly/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion,Screening,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NotGoingQuietly.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR