Sunday, May 14, 2006, 1:00 - 3:30pm Watts Towers Arts Center 1727 E. 107th Street Los Angeles, CA
Butterflies on Razor Wire Women in Prison featuring films on women in prison for Mother's Day The Films listed below will be presented by Gloria Killian, Executive Director of the Action Committee for Women in Prison (ACWIP) Gloria Killian was released from prison on 8/8/02 after serving more than 16 years on a sentence of 32 years to life for a crime that she did not commit. Throughout her trial and incarceration she always maintained her innocence. In March 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that her conviction was based solely on perjured testimony and overturned her conviction. Since her release, Ms. Killian has been tirelessly advocating for the humane treatment and release of the women that she left behind. Films have been provided by Women Make Movies www.wmm.com Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars A film by Ellen Spiro & Karen Bernstein 2004, VHS/DVD Their mothers may be convicted thieves, murderers and drug dealers, but the girls of Troop 1500 want to be doctors, social workers and marine biologists. With meetings once a month at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas, this innovative Girl Scout program brings daughters together with their inmate mothers, offering them a chance to rebuild their broken relationships. Intimately involved with the troop for several years, the directors took their cameras far beyond meetings to explore the painful context of broken families. Powerful insight comes from interviews shot by the girls themselves, which reveal their conflicted feelings of anger and joy, abandonment and intimacy-as well as the deep influence their mothers still have on them. An estimated 1.5 million children have incarcerated parents and 90 percent of female inmates are single parents. Their daughters are six times more likely to land in the juvenile justice system. TROOP 1500 poignantly reveals how an inspired yet controversial effort by the more than 90-year old Girl Scouts organization is working to help these at-risk young girls deal with their unique circumstances and break the cycle of crime within families. Blind Spot: Murder by Women A film by Irving Saraf, Allie Light and Julia Hilder 2000, 87 minutes, Color, VHS Because murder by women is still relatively rare--only one out of eight murders in the United States is committed by a woman--women's own stories provide unique insights into the circumstances leading to these violent acts. In this absorbing documentary, intimate one-on-one interviews with six women murderers are combined with re-enactments of their background experience and visual re-creations of their interior lives. Sharing and reflecting on their memories, fantasies, dreams, and anger, the six women candidly describe their actions as perpetrators in detail and address the issue of having taken a life. Interspersed between their separate stories are their individual reflections on coping strategies, and life and relationships in prison. From the Academy and Emmy-award winning filmmakers responsible for DIALOGUES WITH MADWOMEN, BLIND SPOT is a provocative and riveting encounter with throw- away children, out-of-control adults, and the emotional, psychological and spiritual consequences of murder. Women in Struggle A film by Buthina Canaan Khoury Palestine, 2004, 56 minutes, Color, VHS/DVD Arabic, Subtitled WOMEN IN STRUGGLE presents rare testimony from four female Palestinian ex-detainees who disclose their experiences during their years of imprisonment in Israeli jails and the effect it has had on their present lives and future outlooks. Once content in their lives as sisters, wives and mothers, each of the women became active members for the national fight for Palestinian independence, but their "crimes" differed markedly-one woman was detained in a peaceful protest while another was arrested for her participation in a bombing. Their painful recollections provide a fascinating personal perspective on their motives for political involvement, reveal their struggles in prison, and define the difficulties they have faced readjusting to life in Palestinian society. Though the women are now free, they continue to feel imprisoned by the current climate of the Intifada, by the "war on terror" and by the recently built "security" wall. With horrifying stories of torture suffered while in Israeli detention, the film brings to the forefront the hot-button issue of human rights abuses in prisons-and its particular implications for women prisoners. It also grapples with timely and difficult questions-what politicizes an individual? Are people born to fight, or do their circumstances force them to do so? Presented without narration, WOMEN IN STRUGGLE does not categorize its subjects as heroes or criminals, instead letting the women's voices stand on their own to add another layer to the complex discourse on Israel. 900 Women A film by Laleh Khadivi 2000, 72 minutes, Color, VHS "The Louisiana Correctional Institute is located in the swamps of southern Louisiana in the small town of St. Gabriel. Built in 1970 to house an increasing population of female convicts, today it houses the state's most dangerous female prisoners and often exceeds its population capacity of 900. 75% of these are mothers and one fourth of them are serving sentences of fifteen years or more. The prison compound has a surreal quality; there are no searchlight-capped towers or barbed wire fences. Filmmaker Khadivi delivers a striking, sensitive portrait of life in this deceptively peaceful atmosphere, which is filled with stories of life on the streets, abuse, freedom, childbirth and motherhood. Six women - a grandmother, a young high school student, a pregnant woman, a recovering heroin addict, a prison guard, and the only woman on death row - were brave enough to share their frustrations and hopes. Produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jonathan Stack (THE FARM)." Human Rights Watch Film Festival Catalogue *** Jackie Goldberg's AB2097 with would require that workings (hardware and software) of California's electronic voting machines be disclosed to the public, is in danger of defeat in the Appropriations committee. The manufacturers want to keep the workings of their machines secret. Apparently they have convinced the Appropriations committee that they will withdraw their products from California rather than disclose their proprietary systems. What are they hiding? What we know of Diebold machines is that they have been found vulnerable to manipulation. In fact, there is a pretty consistent record of vote tallies conflicting with exit poles in those areas where electronic voting machines with secret software are used. Strangely, where the vote is counted by hand, or where the machines provide a voter- verified paper audit trail, the machine counts correlate with exit polls. Public disclosure of the software will not compromise the manufacturers' ability to profit. Their rights will be protected by copyright and by patent. What will be compromised is their ability to conceal faults in their systems. We know those faults exist, because in the one case where their software fell into public view, it was found to suffer from significant security flaws. I urge you to call, fax, write, or email members of the appropriation committee. Let them know before Tuesday that you want AB 2097 passed to help protect the integrity of California elections. The contact information is listed below. In addition, beyond the contact information, my letter is also attached, Feel free to plargerize. Rich. Judy Chu, Chair Dem-49 (916) 319-2049 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sharon Runner, Vice Chair Rep-36 (916) 319-2036 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Karen Bass Dem-47 (916) 319-2047 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Patty Berg Dem-1 (916) 319-2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ronald S. Calderon Dem-58 (916) 319-2058 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hector De La Torre Dem-50 (916) 319-2050 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bill Emmerson Rep-63 (916) 319-2063 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ray Haynes Rep-66 (916) 319-2066 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Betty Karnette Dem-54 (916) 319-2054 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Johan Klehs Dem-18 (916) 319-2018 Mark Leno Dem-13 (916) 319-2013 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alan Nakanishi Rep-10 (916) 319-2010 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Joe Nation Dem-6 (916) 319-2006 Jenny Oropeza Dem-55 (916) 319-2055 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mark Ridley-Thomas Dem-48 (916) 319-2048 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lori Saldaña Dem-76 (916) 319-2076 Mimi Walters Rep-73 916) 319-2073 Leland Yee Dem-12 (916) 319-2012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sample Letter: 2721 West 182nd Street Torrance, CA 90504-5228 May 10, 2006 Honorable XXXXXXX Committee on Appropriations California State Assembly Dear XX. XXXXXXX, 1I urge you to approve AB 2097, a bill to help ensure the integrity of California's elections and to bolster public confidence in the honesty of those elections. AB 2097 would simply require public disclosure of the hardware and software used in California's electronic voting systems. Although the election process should be completely open to public inspection, almost all currently available electronic voting systems use proprietary software. As a result, the software and the algorithms that it implements remain secret, known only to the manufacturer. The public, and for that matter the Secretary of State, have no way of independently verifying that the software will faithfully record and accurately tally the vote. Impartial evaluations, including those conducted by California's Secretary of State, have found the available systems to be vulnerable to manipulation. Furthermore, In other states the same equipment has produced questionable results, puting the integrity of the vote in question. Consider the fact that in the 2000 and 2004 elections, electronic vote counts were much more likely to be inconsistent with exit polls than were manual vote counts. California deserves better. Public disclosure would allow completely independent evaluations of voting systems, providing an opportunity for discovering and correcting any problems. Such exposure would quickly resolve unfounded criticisms and help build public confidence. Furthermore, depending upon the licensing agreements in place, having the source code available would enable the state to correct software problems without having to wait for a response from the manufacturer. At the same time, the software owner's interest in the software would be protected by copyright and by any patents that applied. I understand that the manufacturers of voting equipment are threatening to leave the state. One wonders just what it is they want to hide. Regardless of their motivation, however, don't let their threats put the integrity of California's elections at risk. In the first place, they are not likely to leave the biggest market in the country, but, even if they did, the open source community stands ready to fill the (not-so-far from empty already) void. We cannot afford to take election integrity for granted, nor can we depend entirely upon government officials to protect election integrity. Recently, a whistle-blower who disclosed information about deficiencies in Diebold equipment, information suggesting possible criminal behavior, was himself charged with a criminal breach of confidence. Rather than go after the criminal behavior of Diebold and defend against election fraud, the state is going after the messenger. Requiring public disclosure of voting machine operational details will give the public the opportunity to evaluate voting equipment without facing criminal charges. Please advise as to your position on this matter Sincerely *** George Bush - the decider "I hear the voices and I read the front page and I know the speculation," President Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. "But I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense." "I'm the Decider" by Roddy McCorley Well, it took me awhile, but I finally realized what "I'm the decider" reminds me of. It sounds like something a character in a Dr Seuss book might say. So with apologies to the late Mr. Geisel, here is some idle speculation as to what else such a character might say: I'm the decider. I pick and I choose. I pick among whats. And choose among whos. And as I decide Each particular day, The things I decide on All turn out that way. I decided on Freedom For all of Iraq, And now that we have it, I'm not looking back. I decided on tax cuts That just help the wealthy. And Medicare changes That aren't really healthy. And parklands and wetlands Who needs all that stuff? I decided that none Would be more than enough! I decided that schools All in all are the best, The less that they teach And the more that they test. I decided those wages You need to get by, Are much better spent On some CEO guy. I decided your Wade Which was versing your Roe, Is terribly awful And just has to go. I decided that levees Are not really needed. Now when hurricanes come They can come unimpeded. That old Constitution? Well, I have decided- As "just goddam paper" It should be derided. I've decided gay marriage Is icky and weird. Above all other things, It's the one to be feared. And Cheney and Rummy And Condi all know That I'm the Decider - They tell me it's so. I'm the Decider So watch what you say, Or I may decide To have you whisked away Or I'll tap your phones. Your e-mail I'll read. `cause I'm the Decider - Like Jesus decreed. Yes, I'm the Decider! The finest alive! And I'm nuking Iran Now watch this drive! ************************************************ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Home is just a click away. 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