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AVA Stammtisch first Thursday of every month, 8 pm, at Seerose, Mehringdamm 47 (Kreuzberg).
Take the U6 or the U7 to U-Bahnhof Mehringdamm, or buses 119 or 140. The US Constitution reading group takes place on the second Thursday of each month. at St. George's Bookstore in Wörtherstr. 27 (beginning at 8 pm). |
Stammtisch Thursday, July 2nd, 8pm
Dear AVA Berlin
As you have heard, the new venue for our first Thursday of the month Stammtisch is the Seerose (Mehringdamm 47) in Kreuzberg. Take the U6 or the U7 to U-Bahnhof Mehringdamm, or buses 119 or 140.
So meet us at the Seerose on July 2nd starting around 8 p.m. in the pleasant and quiet back room for good conversation and for vegetarian specialties made with fresh ingredients at reasonable prices. See <www.seerose-berlin.de> for details. Come hungry!
--
American Voices Abroad - Berlin
233 Birthday Party July 4
Dear AVA Berlin,
David Knutson, Nancy Green and many others remind us:
Join other Americans and Berliners to celebrate the 233rd Birthday of the USA
July 4th at
Strandbad Plötzensee
Nordufer 24
13351 Berlin-Wedding
Starting at 15:00
This is a family oriented event and is open for everyone.
Swimming, Boating, Volleyball, Basketball
Hot Dog Eating Contest-Hamburger Eating Contest
Family Games and Quizzes
American Food for sale at reasonable prices
BBQ / Grilled Foods American Steaks, Chicken, Scampi, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers,
(Beef or Turkey)Corn on the Cob, Baked Potatoes
Square Dance-Hula Dance Show-Line Dance-Street Dance-Hip Hop/Rap-Rock
Band R&B / Soul / Blues Band-Jazz Group (unplugged) Country Group
Beginning at 22.00 hours the "Beach Club" will open for an "all night"
Soulful House, R&B and Club music party with international DJ´s.
Tickets: on sale at entrance
Adults: 5 Euros
Children: (8-13 years) & Discounts:
Senior Citizens/Unemployed/Handicapped/Military
3 Euros
How to Get There:
FromS-Bahn station Buesselstr. (S41. S42) take the 106 Bus to Sylter
Str.
FromS-U Westhafen (U9) go to S-Bahn-Beusselstr.
take the 106 Bus to Sylter Str.
Tram 23 and 24 stop near the lake
(you can catch the trams at U-Bahn Seestrasse)
Bus 106 from Virchow-Klinikum
Bus 106, 221 from Seestrasse/Amrumer Strasse
Tram 50 from Virchow-Klinikum
Tram 50 from Seestr./Amrumer Str.
Parking is available
For more information, please visit www.tspevents.com
for a map:
http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&tab=wl
and add in
Nordufer 24, 13351 Berlin
Click here for full link (Google Maps).
Stammtisch reminder, June 4, 8pm
Our first Thursday of the month Stammtisch is, as is now usual, in the Seerose (Mehringdamm 47) in Kreuzberg. Take the U6 or the U7 to U-Bahnhof Mehringdamm, or buses 119 or 140.
So meet us at the Seerose on June 4th starting around 8 p.m. in the pleasant and quiet back room for good conversation and for vegetarian specialties made with fresh ingredients at reasonable prices. See <www.seerose-berlin.de> for details. Come hungry!
Stammtisch moving location, keeping date and time
Dear AVAers,
The AVA Berlin Stammtisch is moving for the first time in over 3 years! We are regretfully leaving Barcomi's deli because they need to close at 9 pm. We are moving to the Seerose (Mehringdamm 47) in Kreuzberg.
See <www.seerose-berlin.de> for details.
Of course, the day and time remains the same: the first Thursday of the month at 8 pm.
So meet us at the Seerose for good conversation and for vegetarian specialties made with fresh ingredients at reasonable prices. Take the U6 or the U7 to U-Bahnhof Mehringdamm, or buses 119 or 140.
Running on Hope by Douglas Sarine
link to web page
Isabel´s speech at Obama Inauguration celebration in Berlin
I am very grateful for the opportunity to say a few words here tonight on behalf of American Voices Abroad - Berlin. Our group was founded in February 2003 as Americans in Berlin against the War. We are a non-partisan group open to critical Americans of all persuasions; not just an antiwar group, we focus on civil liberties, justice and responsible US foreign policy. It is a way for those of us who live abroad to remain engaged and active as US citizens, to reconcile notions of global and American citizenship. Crucial to this kind of citizenship is intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and openness to political discussion and debate, whether on the Stammtisch or the policy level; this is what American Voices Abroad – Berlin has sought to uphold throughout years when critical thinking was often denigrated as unpatriotic. Little did we dream that we would one day welcome a new president who would so persuasively embody and encourage this kind of citizenship.
I am profoundly grateful for this historical moment. It is a moment which many of us have been awaiting for eight long years. Let me speak on a personal level, though I believe my feelings are shared by many, not only in our organization or in the antiwar movement. These have been bitter years that have challenged my faith in America as a country governed, at the very least, by common sense and common decency. In many ways, unreal-seeming years which I spent counting down toward the unreal-sounding year 2009. At the same time, my expectations were almost cynically low. What would January 20, 2009 bring? A lesser evil? At least the semblance of normality? Of sanity? At any rate, it would bring an end. It was much harder to imagine this day as a beginning. That, to me, is a measure of the demoralization of the Bush years; even those of us in opposition found it more and more difficult to imagine an America that rises above them. Barack Obama’s first great accomplishment was to enable us to imagine this America. In this act of imagination, America has already risen above itself, taking an unexpected and important step toward overcoming a legacy of racism.
Who could have imagined that this Inauguration Day would follow so significantly on Martin Luther King’s 80th birthday – a symbolic milestone followed by a real one, the painful reminder of promise tragically cut short followed by the celebration of promise realized? That it would follow on an election campaign in which America realized for the first time that the face it presents to the world could be a black face, or a woman’s?
Over the past months we have already grown used to these remarkable developments. Now, I hope, we will also grow used to a new political culture, one that encourages, rather than marginalizing the notion of critical, active citizenship and genuine debate. Obama has inspired millions of Americans to become politically active, creating their own vibrant and diverse political initiatives far from the halls of Washington. His openness toward this sort of grassroots political engagement has the potential to truly rejuvenate our political system. Franklin Delano Roosevelt once responded to the labor and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph, “I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.” Now that we have a president with a similar gift for breaking down barriers, let us take up the challenge. Those of us who have spent the past eight years protesting and criticizing must now, more than ever, learn how to protest and criticize constructively, how to support, as well, how to contribute ideas and inspiration in the difficult times ahead.
But now, let us celebrate a moment that few of us ever imagined we would experience!
Karen Axelrad inauguration day photos
Karen Axelrad has uploaded her photos from inauguration day in Berlin at:
http://www.pbase.com/karenaxe/inauguration
Also here is a link to the slideshow entitled "From Bush to Obama" with photos from 2003 onward -- a fine photo history in Berlin -- which Karen made for the Inauguration events.
The slide show has a lot of pictures and can take a while to load. Click on the tv in the upper right corner for fullscreen and esc to get out of it.
volkslesen for inauguration week
Check out http://www.volkslesen.tv/Wochen/Dems.html a site for readings where, during inauguration week, four of US Americans, Nancy Green, Ann Wertheimer, Jerry Gerber and Jon Wolfe, read favorite pieces.
New AVA Berlin Flyer available
The new flyer is here!
AVA BERLIN: REPORT FROM THE CHAIR FOR 2008
Last year, on December 9, AVA Berlin held its annual business meeting at Restauration Walden in Prenzlauer Berg. We heard reports from the chair, from the treasurer, and from the head of the voter registration project group. We then elected the following seven Executive Committee (EC) officers for 2007: ANN WERTHEIMER (chair), PAM SELWYN (vice chair), DAVID MACBRYDE (secretary), ALAN BENSON (treasurer), JANE HARTMANN-ZEILBERGER (assistant treasurer), ISABEL COLE and ANITA MAGE. We ended the meeting with a bit of brainstorming about our goals for 2008.
On December 7, 2008, we meet again for brunch at Restauration Walden (Chorinerstr. 35) from 11 to no later than 3 pm. Brunch opens at 10:00 for those who want to come early. We will discuss the past year, elect EC officers for 2009 and discuss the future of AVA Berlin. If you are new in town, or new to AVA Berlin, or have been preoccupied with other things, this meeting is open to you as well, although only paid-up members of AVA Berlin have voting rights. You received a first notice two months ahead of time and an agenda on November 13.
A brief note about meetings: Why do we have only one business meeting a year? In 2006 the executive committee decided to make projects the basis of our group's activities. Looking around at other organizations, we found that many have limited business meetings (often tedious or confrontational) to a bare minimum in order to concentrate on activities. This has proved to be a good idea.
So please find ATTACHED my final report reviewing our activities for this past year. THIS IS WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID. The report is divided into five sections: organizational matters, letters written and petitions signed, other people’s projects that we supported, our own AVA Berlin projects, and our other modest contributions to civil society. For those of you who read my mid-term report, half of this will be familiar.
I have written in some detail, so this report is long. I hope reading it will be worthwhile. Paper copies will be distributed at the annual meeting.
Please make any corrections or additions directly to me at wertheim@zedat.fu-berlin.de or 813 2615.
Submitted by Ann Wertheimer, December 2008
Perhaps individual AVAers would also like to sign
petition on bolstering President-elect Obama\'s campaign commitments to restore constitutional rights and the rule of law
Dear People For:
The
Executive Committee of American Voices Abroad BERLIN would like to sign
your petition "bolstering President-elect Obama's campaign commitments
to restore constitutional rights and the rule of law."
Thanking you for your work,
Ann Wertheimer, chair
American Voices Abroad BERLIN
Pictures and Stammtisch reminder
Dear AVAers,
Karen Axelrad's photos of Obama event in Berlin are at http://www.pbase.com/karenaxe/obama_in_berlin
The August Stammtisch will take place, as usual, on the first Thursday of the month, August 7, at 8 pm at Barcomi's deli, Sophienstr. 21, in Mitte. Join us for good food and good conversation!
What some of us are thinking about in August: How do we take part in the presidential election campaign in addition to doing voter registration? If you have any thoughts for a group like ours, which is, after all, independent of any political party and basically issue oriented, come to the Stammtisch and share your ideas.
If the weather is good, we'll be outside in Barcomi's courtyard.
ps from Dave:
I have an idea for a simple YouTube video from US Americans in Berlin for family and friends at home in the US.
Also, to see what folks at home get to see: an official McCain ad "Celeb", and a Republican National Committee ad on "Obama in Berlin" available, along with Obama ads, eg at
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-CAMPAIGNADS08.html
Look there for
McCain Ads: "Celeb" approved by McCain, first aired July 30
"Other Pro-McCain Ads" : Republican National Committee first aired July 29
which imagines what an Obama ad about Berlin visit might be like: titled "Obama in Berlin"
Also Der Spiegel did a satire on political ads and "kriecherische Deutsche" -- two of us can be seen at around the one minute mark in their satirical video.
Thanks to Ginger: www.spiegel.de/video/video-33563.html
My idea could be both fun and simple, for some translators and any of us to take some of the actual German press and present some headlines, and some of our comments as Americans abroad who experience the effects of US foreign policy, and do that that with some humor, for family and friends at home.
Your ECONOMIC STIMULUS CHECK and How to Spend It Wisely
Ann Wertheimer writes about the so-called economic stimulus rebate payment
- how to get it and how to spend it! See PDF.
- how to get it and how to spend it! See PDF.
Fifth of July Photos
Karen Axelrad has posted her pictures of the Fifth of July at http://www.pbase.com/karenaxe/amerikafest. The balloons sure attracted attention (around the world thanks to DPA), and especially (as was their purpose) of some 70 other US Americans at the Brandenburg Gate who then registered to vote.
More petitions and actions re US-Iran
Pam Selwyn writes: There are several more open letters/petitions opposing a U.S. attack on Iran circulating at the moment. Here is one from the people organizing a day of action on August 2nd. You can revise the text if you don't like the wording.
http://www.stopwaroniran.org/petition.shtml
You might also consider signing the following petition and/or letters to your representatives concerning legislation currently before Congress. They come from J Street and the National Iranian American Council, respectively.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/jstreet_letter_on_iran/4.php?cl=109041645
http://capwiz.com/niacouncil/issues/alert/?alertid=11523111
And
United for Peace and Justice, of which AVA-Berlin is a member, is active:
See their call for action at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=98
Sign open letter to Obama on Iran
Ann Wertheimer sends you this message from Steve Shalom. It includes an OPEN LETTER TO SEN. OBAMA ON IRAN. If you would like to sign it, feel free to write American Voices Abroad Berlin after your name unless you have another, more interesting, affiliation. The affiliation is solely for purposes of identification; it doesn't imply group endorsement.
Hi,
I've been working on circulating an open letter calling on Obama to speak out against war on Iran. Initial signers included Phyllis Bennis, Noam Chomsky, John Feffer, Bill Fletcher Jr., Tom Hayden, Doug Ireland, Nikki Keddie, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Manning Marable, Katha Pollitt, Matthew Rothschild, Meredith Tax, Cornel West, and Stephen Zunes. Other signers include Medea Benjamin, Marjorie Cohn, Carl Davidson, Martin Duberman, Chris Hedges, Jan Kavan, Paul Lauter, Ray McGovern, Deborah Meier, Micah Sifry, Norman Solomon, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow.
The text of the letter is below. If you would like to sign, you can do so at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ObamaIran/
You can also see the full list of 3,000+ signers.
Please feel free to circulate this widely.
Best,
Steve Shalom
An Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran
Dear Senator Obama,
We the undersigned may have different views on U.S. foreign policy with respect to Iran. We all, however, are deeply concerned about the stories in the press in the past few weeks suggesting that the Bush administration might be considering a military strike on Iran, that it might give a green light to such an attack by Israel, or that it might engage in other acts of war, such as imposing a blockade against Iran.
We welcomed your stand against the war on Iraq in 2002. And we were encouraged by your early campaign statements emphasizing diplomacy over military action against Iran. Today, you have an opportunity to forestall a repeat of the tragic Iraq war. We hope you will use that opportunity.
We agree with the conclusion of Muhammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that "A military strike ... would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball..." A military attack, he said, "will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West." (Reuters, June 20, 2008.)
We don't know, of course, whether an attack on Iran is in fact being considered, or if there are serious plans to initiate other acts of war, such as a blockade of the country. But we call on you to issue a public statement warning of the grave dangers that any of these actions would entail, and pointing out how inappropriate and undemocratic it would be for the Bush administration to undertake them, or encourage Israel to do so, in its closing months in office.
An attack on Iran would violate the UN Charter's prohibition against the use or threat of force and the Congress's authority to declare war. Moreover, the public right to decide should not be foreclosed by last-minute actions of the Bush administration, which will set U.S. policy in stone now.
We were heartened by your earlier comments suggesting that an Obama administration would act on the understanding that genuine security requires a willingness to talk without preconditions (something Iran has offered several times to no avail), and that threats and military action are counterproductive. We hope you will follow through on these commitments once in office, but also that you will speak out now against any acts of war by the Bush administration.
Sincerely,
Petition for foreigners to vote locally in Berlin
The German Verein Mehr Demoratie e.V. invites us as US citizens
and our German friends to participate in initiatives concerning German
voting procedures. In particular for foreigners living in
Berlin there is a petition, Volksinitiative, which is NOT legally
binding but a petition to the city government and can be signed by foreigners,
with the purpose of allowing foreigners to vote locally in Berlin
elections. Check out their web-site and download appropriate material
from there.
Olivar Wiedmann for Mehr Demokratie e.V. writes:
Mehr Demokratie beim Wählen
Annual Report 2007 now available
AVA members and friends are invited to read the letter and the 2007 annual report (both in DOC format).
NPR in Berlin
National Public Radio is now broadcasting in Berlin at 104.1 FM.
For more info go to www.npr.org/berlin.