To view calendar click this link: WISR CALENDAR May 2012

Forty-one (41) people participated in one or more sessions of the conference, and all sessions had at least 25 participants. This includes 18 currently enrolled students (just slightly less than half of our student body), 5 alumni, 10 faculty (a great majority of our faculty), 3 of the 5 community members of our Board of Trustees, 5 friends of WISR from the larger community, 5 prospective students, and three significant others of WISR participants. People traveled here from: Vancouver, China (2!), Detroit, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, and Southern California, Eureka and Placerville. We are not only culturally diverse, we are geographically diverse!

It will take awhile to edit and fine-tune the quality of the recordings of the seven sessions of the conference. However, to get the “ball rolling,” we are now posting the audio recording of the first session on the page on our 3rd Annual Conference blog site on Wisrville, on the page entitled, “Conference Program and Schedule,” which was led by WISR PhD student, Sherri Kimbell on “Exploring the Continuum of Connection & Disconnection/Healing & Trauma Within the U.S. Military.”

Reader Supported News [click here for latest news and commentaries!]is a new service by the creator of Truthout, Marc Ash. I started Truthout in downtown Los Angeles in the summer of 2000, as the Democratic convention unfolded a few blocks away. I did so without realizing that I would fail, and as a result, I succeeded. Truthout built its following among readers who wanted to better understand the most important stories of the day, but had grown tired of the hype and sales-pitching of the big corporate outlets.

Reader Supported News (RSN) will carry forward the core concept that the reader is best served by financial control of the news service they depend on. No outside investment capital was used in the startup of RSN. No advertising money will be accepted by RSN. No grants will be sought by RSN. We like having the reader as our boss.

The service is free to all – even if you cannot contribute, we are honored to have you join us as a reader. RSN will not be a non-profit. Non-profits are great and do wonderful work, but a board of directors ultimately rules the roost and that can lead to anything. Contributions made to RSN are not tax-deductible. This is a new experiment: can an organization serve the community and still pay its taxes? The answer should be yes.” — Marc Ash: An Introduction to Reader Supported News, 24 September 09

“After 15 years of political organizing, I helped Marc Ash start Truthout in early 2001. George W. Bush, with the assistance of the Supreme Court, had just stolen the presidency. I met Marc while helping organize a march against the inauguration of George Bush in Los Angeles. For months Truthout was a labor of love, nobody made a dime as we built a new, progressive news voice, and I remained there for close to nine years.

I am proud of the work I did at Truthout, and am happy to continue that work at Reader Supported News. Like John Cory,I am angry, and believe that one way to take our government back is to inform the public of the truth. That was the mission we began at Truthout, and it is the mission we are continuing to follow at Reader Supported News.

Over the years I have worked with many Heroes in the fight for Peace and Justice. Phillip Berrigan and Mitch Snyder taught me that it wasn’t about what I could do alone, but what we could do together. Phil was more patient than Mitch, he knew that victory was a long way off, and that each changed mind put us one step closer to a peaceful, just world. That is one of the reasons I am at Reader Supported News, because I can reach more people
than I could by organizing a protest. I am committed to fighting for a world without war, poverty and injustice. But it is not about what I can do, it is about what you can do with the information we provide you. Join us in taking back the truth. The corporate media has redefined the truth for so many of our friends and family, it is up to us to lead them back to the real truth.

What you can do to help is to spread the news we provide. The right-wing echo chamber is effective at spreading lies. Help us spread the truth.” — Scott Galindez: Why I joined Reader Supported News, 15 March 10

“Writing for Godot” [click here!] is the sister site of Reader Supported News. Writing for Godot is a forum where our readers can post their own essays. The concept for Writing for Godot is drawn from Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s 1952 masterpiece “Waiting for Godot.” Beckett’s story centers around two men, Estragon and Vladimir. They wait beneath a tree each day for Godot. At the end of each day, a child with innocent eyes arrives and tells them that Godot will not come today, but that Godot will come tomorrow. “Are you sure he will come tomorrow?” ask Estragon and Vladimir. “Yes,” replies the boy, but Godot never comes. Others however, do come, and the play unfolds.

Critics have noted that Estragon and Vladimir represent humanity and that Godot represents God. Some say, and Beckett did, that man waits for God but God never comes. Interestingly, as Estragon and Vladimir wait without result for Godot to arrive, they contemplate suicide. Not surprising in that the horrors of World War II, a suicide attempt by all mankind, had only receded seven years earlier.

God represents many things to many people. However, in a universal sense, divinity might be equated with social justice and order, tolerance and compassion. Such are the things God represents to man. I have spent the past nine years of my life writing for social justice and order, tolerance and compassion – “Writing for Godot.” I’ve come to understand that Godot will not come today. Perhaps he will come tomorrow…” [from: http://www.readersupportednews.org/godot ]