AUSTIN AREA EVENTS

The Austin GI Rights Hotline, an all-volunteer anti-war group, is seeking new counselors to answer phone calls from members of the military in need of help with discharges, conscientious objection, AWOL problems, sexual harassment, medical issues, etc. This is an information session for anyone interested in learning more about the group and its work. At the conclusion of the event, participants may choose to begin the rigorous training process, which starts the first week of February.

For more information contact Bernice Hecker, 452-6245, bernran@aol.com.

A panel of doctors and other health care professionals will screen a documentary and lead a discussion on health care reform here in the United States, where despite spending twice as much per capita we rank among the worst developed countries in infant mortality and life expectancy. The documentary and discussion will focus on health systems that work in other societies and how they contrast to the U.S.

Contact: Gaye Kopas, gkopas@msn.com

Raj Patel's newest book, Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World's Food System, addresses a perverse fact: of the roughly 6.5 billion humans alive today 800 million are starving and 1 billion are overweight. To find out how we got to this point and what we can do about it, Patel launched a comprehensive investigation into the global food network. It took him from the colossal supermarkets of California to India's wrecked paddy-fields and Africa's bankrupt coffee farms, while along the way he ate genetically engineered soybeans and dodged flying objects on the protester-packed streets of South Korea. Patel documents not only the systemic roots of a global food crisis, but also great cause for hope -- international social movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system.

Raj Patel has written for the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, and though he has worked for the World Bank, WTO, and the UN, he's also been tear-gassed on four continents protesting their policies.

Praise for Stuffed and Starved:
Naomi Klein: "One of the most dazzling books I have read in a very long time. The product of a brilliant mind, and a gift to a world hungering for justice."
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: "For anyone attempting to make sense of the world food crisis, or understand the links between U.S. farm policy and the ability of the world's poor to feed themselves, Stuffed and Starved is indispensable."

Tickets are $11.50 ($10 plus a $1.50 processing fee). Proceeds go to the Sustainable Food Center along with MonkeyWrench Books and the Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral.

Tickets available by calling or visiting: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E North Loop Blvd, Austin, TX 78751, (512) 407-6925

Where did the financial crisis come from, and what should we do about it? Dr. James K. Galbraith, who has been one of the leading commentators on the crisis, will discuss the roots of the problem and the most effective ways that citizens can advocate for sensible responses from political leaders and business.

Galbraith holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at LBJ School of Public Affairs, where he teaches economics and a variety of other subjects. In addition to his academic work, Galbraith served in several positions on the staff of the U.S. Congress, including Executive Director of the Joint Economic Committee. He directs the University of Texas Inequality Project, an informal research group based at the LBJ School.

Galbraith's latest book, The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too, was published in 2008. He also is the author of Balancing Acts: Technology, Finance and the American Future (1989) and Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay (1998), and he has co-authored two textbooks, The Economic Problem with the late Robert L. Heilbroner and Macroeconomics with William Darity, Jr.

Galbraith is a Senior Scholar of the Levy Economics Institute and Chair of the Board of Economists for Peace and Security. He writes the "Econoclast" column for Mother Jones magazine, and occasional commentary in many other publications, including The Texas Observer, The American Prospect, and The Nation. He also is a commentator for Public Radio International's Marketplace.

In 2000 and 2001, audiences at the University of Texas heard from one of many unsung heroes of the progressive movements of the 20th century, the late Abe Osheroff. Through a new documentary that chronicles his life and philosophy, Osheroff will again come to Austin.

Most people knew Osheroff as an activist -- from the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War to the picket lines of the U.S. labor movement, from the struggles for civil rights in Mississippi to the work for human rights in Nicaragua. For most of his 92 years, Osheroff threw himself into the fray with rare energy and enthusiasm. In this documentary, Osheroff reflects on the meaning of that activism and the ideas that animated his actions. A truly organic intellectual, he shares the wisdom built up over a lifetime of commitment to the "radical humanism" that defined his politics and philosophy.

Following the film, two UT professors who knew and worked with Osheroff, Miguel Ferguson (social work) and Robert Jensen (journalism) will lead a discussion about his life and work.

Find an interview with Osheroff at thirdcoastactivist.org/osheroff.html and general information about his life at abeosheroff.org.