“Disaster Capitalism in Cedar Rapids”
Speaker: Mike Richards
7:30pm, Thursday, August 19, 2010
Hiawatha Library
Discussion to follow.
Free and open to the public.

Plan for Peace this year!

Bring your ideas and your energy!

A chasm is opening between our elected representatives voting another $59 Billion
for combat in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and our need for peace. Come join us
and end this insanity! Plan for a year of peace!

Women For Peace-Iowa Planning Meeting
August 24, 2010-Tuesday, 7-8 pm
Busse Library Viewing Room, Mount Mercy College

Short film will follow the yearly planning session-8pm.

Alternative Discussion Group
Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald – Chapters 5 & 6

Thursday, August 26th
6-8 pm
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
410 Third Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids
(Across the street from Greene Square Park)

John will bring questions for discussion. While strongly encouraged, we all lead hectic lives, and so it is not absolutely essential to read the chapters.

E-mail dr_pac-man@mchsi.com for more information.

Alternative Book Discussion Group
Thursday, August 12th
6-8 pm
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
410 Third Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids
(Next to Greene Square Park)
Book: Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald, chapter 4

Cole will bring questions for discussion. We all lead hectic lives, and while it is strongly encouraged to read the chapter, it is not absolutely essential. You will be missing a lot, though, since the questions are based on the chapter.

Thanks to Karl for arranging our new meeting place!!!

E-mail Bob for more information.

You’re Invited!

Come Join our Yearly  Summer Commemoration of Hiroshima~Nagasaki Days
Potluck and Movie Night!

ON THE BEACH

Friday, August 6th, 2010
Paul Engle Center 1600 4th Ave. SE, CR
6:30pm Potluck
8:00pm Film & Discussion
Free & Open to the Public

contact: John
Ph 319~247~2612

sponsored by: Arts~Cinema Free Friday Night Flicks
& Women for Peace-Iowa

http://www.womenforpeace-iowa.org

On the Beach ( 1959 )
Anthony Perkins, Gregory Peck, Stanley Kramer Director
Academy Award Winning film,

One of the greatest movies of All time,
In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one
American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where
life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his
wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets
careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The
sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will
Towers and Moira find comfort with each other? Written by Rod Crawford

In the aftermath of an atomic war, much of humanity has been destroyed.
Only Australia remains, but time is short as the winds will inevitably
spread nuclear fallout and everyone knows they have only a few months
to live. Among those coming to terms with the inevitable is a U.S. navy
officer, Cmdr. Dwight Towers, whose submarine and crew were at sea when
the holocaust occurred; Moira Davidson, a free-spirit who develops a
close attachment to Towers; Julian Osborne, whose dream is to win the
Australian Grand Prix automobile race; and Lt. Cmdr. Peter Holmes, who
is as concerned about his wife and newborn child’s future as his own.
All cope with the inevitability of death in their own way, but also
with love, dignity and affection. Written by garykmcd

A US submarine is on patrol when the Northern Hemisphere is destroyed
by atomic war. They land in Melbourne, Australia where they live with
the rest of the city which has less than 12 months to live. They travel
back to the west cost of the US and witness the holocaust. Written by
Anonymous

Someone, somewhere, pressed the button and started World War III.
Australia has survived – temporarily. The radiation is on it’s way, the
end inevitable. This is the story of the way in which people faced the
coming end, focusing mainly on a young Australian couple and their
friends, including the captain of an American submarine that was on
patrol in the Pacific when the bombs were falling. And then the
Australians detect a morse signal coming from somewhere around San
Diego… Written by Sonya Roberts

“Disaster Capitalism in Cedar Rapids”
Speaker: Mike Richards
7:30pm, Thursday, August 19, 2010
Hiawatha Library
Discussion to follow.
Free and open to the public.

www.linngreens.org

Disaster Capitalism is a method of economic exploitation that has been well documented by authors such as Naomi Klein. Klein bases her premise on such exploitation that she has observed and documented in other parts of the world. The fact is, the same kind of economic exploitation is taking place “post disaster” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

1300 homes were destroyed by the flood. Many of these 1,300 former homeowners are now renters, “doubled up” with relatives or completely homeless. 800 houses are being summarily demolished, many of which are structurally sound and could have been rebuilt. 500 are in the City “Property Disposition Program; 250 to be rehabbed in place. 250 must be moved to new lots. None of these homes are being made available for “urban homesteading” for flooded families… -rather all 500 homes will be packaged to Real Estate Developers in Cedar Rapids and transferred from public ownership to private ownership for $1 per house. Many former flooded homeowners will then be relegated to a rental class.

19 million in tax shelter funds are being paid to a finance group funded by Warren Buffet to build 96 cheap, prefab units that are costing an inflated $210,000 per unit to build. This is sold to the public as a way to house flooded families and other low income households in rental units.

We can cite national examples where economic special interests use political connections and political systems to maximize private economic gain. The same kind of greed and graft are evident in Iowa. Local manipulators of economic and political systems take their cue, model and modus operandi from the big dogs that play in the national and international arena. A case in point, the Brown Apartments in Cedar Rapids is a clear example of how political and economic systems are manipulated to transfer federal and state taxes onto the backs of the common man, sheltering the big guys from paying a fair share as taxpaying citizens. NYC Real Estate Mogul Leona Helmsley famously stated; “only the little people pay taxes.” That same unethical business practice is at play and alive and well in Iowa as well as New York. Nowhere in Iowa have these well-tested financial maneuvers been put to work more blatantly than the Brown Apartments in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. When the Brown Apartments operated by Iowa’s statewide “non-profit” power consolidator Four Oaks needed a basic rehab, these tax transfer systems were put to work. The cost of rehabilitation of existing apartments in an already strong and stable brick building had the amazing sticker shock of about $175,000 per unit. Community activist Michael Richards surveyed a sampling of general contractors in Iowa to determine fair market cost of quality rehab of existing apartments. Private professional contractors estimated that fair market cost of such work would be $30,000 to $40,000… – $50,000 max if you added in amenities like granite countertops and such. So how do you get Iowa taxpayers to accept an inflated cost of $175,000 per unit? That’s simple; you package your greed as LEED “green” … and for slick PR effect, set up the tax sheltered project as “affordable housing” for the poor folks in the community.

The poor get poorer and the rich get richer by making sure the big guys pay as little taxes as possible, -and setting up insider cronies to make the big bucks bidding on the job . In the case of Corporate Consolidator Four Oaks, many contracts are paid out to companies with direct or indirect connections to the Four Oaks Board. To insure thath politicians keep such lucrative tax structures locked in, they hire cohorts like “liberal” Democratic State Senator Jack Hatch as the Four Oaks’ consultant to package state and federal tax shelters for the Brown Apartment Project. Many local, state and federal politicians find very crafty ways to use their political connections to achieve personal financial gain. The politicians that influence policy should not profit from the policy. Low-income tenants are simply useful pawns on the political-economic chessboard ; -as demonstrated a few blocks away in another Four Oaks project; Osada subsidized apartments. Osada was milked for millions in tax sheltering schemes by the likes of Utility Giant Alliant Energy for over a decade. Once the tax shelter plum was squeezed of all juice, Four Oaks sacked the City treasury to be paid extra funds to drive the “low income” tenants out like cattle. Osada was then quickly repackaged as upscale condominiums a block away from the site where nearly a quarter billion of your tax dollars are being spent to build a glass palace Federal Courthouse. Ah yes, the Real Estate gaming mantra; location, location, location . If it’s not the right location, then by gum, make it the right location; That’s how the Brown Apartments are set up with a brilliant real estate location strategy ; Right now, the Brown Apartments are at the edge of Wellington Heights; a blighted ghetto where “only those poor folks” that qualify for affordable housing would choose to venture in and call home. A year or so after the Brown Apartments were rehabbed with your tax dollars for 300% of what local contractors said was fair market cost, the surrounding neighborhood is being transformed as “The Medical District” ; a perfect site for the future shift from low-income to high-priced condos as demonstrated with Osada . These guys have a great “legal” racket. All they need is to keep friendly Democratic and Republican political mercenaries in office so the lucrative tax shelter game is always rigged .

Congressman Loebsack voted for another $59 billion to continue the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a separate vote, he refused to withdraw US troops from Pakistan.

http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/2/474

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/democrats-split-on-war-spending-bill/?hp

http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/2/473