This weekend, as the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) holds their annual closed-door international corporate convention in downtown Philadelphia, local and grassroots community-based groups are gathering for "BioDemocracy 2005" --- 5 days & nights of events to counter the biotech industry, resist their tamperings with life, and celebrate healthy alternatives.

Here is a schedule of events -- most free --- from Friday, June 17th
to Tuesday, June 21st that are organized and supported by the BioDemocracy Mobilization

For more details and daily updates, visit: www.reclaimthecommons.net

*o*please forward widely!*o*

================
***FRIDAY***June 17

* FOOD NOT BOMBS 25TH ANNIVERSARY GATHERING ::
Friday @ The Ethical Society (19th & South Rittenhouse Square, 9 am - 5:30 pm )
www.foodnotbombs.net/philly_gathering.html
see full workshop schedule: reclaimthecommons.net/article.php

* The "Biodevastation" of Colombia ::
Monsanto and The Impact of Chemical Fumigations of the
Coca Crop on the Fragile Environment of Colombia's Pacific Coast & African Communities
with Carlos Rosero, Afro-Colombian activist
5:30 - 7:30 @ The Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street

* Critical Mass: Bikes Not Biotech!
Meet 6 pm @ Rittenhouse Square (19th and Locust)

* AGRI-KULTURE REVOLUTION TOUR in Philadelphia
songs of life, justice & organic farming
8 pm @ The Ethical Society
(19th & Locust on the south side of Rittenhouse Square)
featuring political poet/singer Marly Hornik

* BioDemocracy Mobilization Spokescouncil
9 pm @ The Ethical Society

* Party! Benefit for BioDemocracy and The Student Environmental Action Coalition
(SEAC) Friday night, July 17th @ The Sparkle House, 5018 Hazel Ave


======================
***SATURDAY***June 18

* Reclaim the Commons Festival
10 am to 2 pm @ Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore) in West Philly
Featuring-- free food & live music, the first ever Philly REALLY FREE Market (bring gifts to give and share the bounty!), films from Chiapas ("Water and Autnonomy" and "Zapata's Garden"), Farmers Market & Speak-Out, Green Circus, Carnivolution, AND Erik Petersen / Mischief Brew (unforgettable Philly politcal punk!) will open and close the Festival.


* National Lawyers Guild: Legal Observer and "Know Your Rights" trainings
10 am to noon in The Friends Center (1501 Cherry Street)

* Health Care in the Black Community
11 am - 5 pm, Malcolm X Park, 52nd & Pine St
Families and Communities United presents "Stop the Violence, and Heal the Black Community"
< A JUNETEENTH TEACH-IN >
Addressing some of the issues that plague our community:
· Poor health care inside the prison system
· Poor health care and violence which undermine our communities
· Community-based conflict resolution is the answer, adequate health care is a human right!

* Philadelphia Anti-Vivisection Congress
12 noon - 6:30 @ the Ethical Society Building (19th and South Rittenhouse Square) -- Join animal rights activists and renowned speakers from across the contry for an afternoon discussing the most effective ways to bring down the animal research industry. Speakers include: Dr. Jerry Vlasak, trauma surgeon and Animal Liberation Front spokesperson; Kevin Jonas, former president of SHAC-USA, currently on trial facing up to 23 years in jail on charges of "Animal Enterprise Terrorism"; Michelle Rokke, undercover investigator who exposed Huntingdon Life Sciences; Lawrence Carter-Long of In Defense of Animals; Joel Capolango, founder of the Animal Defense League; and many more. The event is FREE and open to all, food cooked + shared by Food Not Bombs.

* BioDemocracy Teach-In and Conference
2 - 9:30 pm @ The Friends Center (15th and Cherry Streets)
7 pm - Feature Film Screening -- The Future of Food
Workshops
2 - 3:30 - Playing God With Genes? Interfaith Perspectives on Biotech
3:40-5 pm - A Silent Forest: The Threat of GE Trees
Panels
2 - 3:45 pm :: Communities Resisting GMOs
3 - 5 pm :: The Health Care Crisis and the Pharmaceutical Industry
4-6 pm :: Sustainable agriculture roundtable
6-7 pm :: Free dinner shared by Food Not Bombs
7 pm :: The Future of Food sponsored by Media Tank
Special film screening introduced by filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia
& concluding discussion with guest speakers interviewed in the film: Ignacio Chapela (University of California biology professor who exposed GE contamination of wild maize in Mexico) and Percy Schmeiser (Canadian canola farmer sued by Monsanto)

* BioDemocracy Mobilization Spokescouncil
Time and Location TBA

==================

***SUNDAY***June 19

* GREEN and BLACK Urban Gathering begins
9 am to 4 pm (or longer)
Community Garden Work Projects
meet 9 am at neighborhood garden in West Philly TBA

* National Organizing Summit for Anti-GE Activists
11 am - 2 pm @ Ethical Society (19th and South Rittenhouse Square)
Sponsored by Genetic Engineering Action Network(GEAN)
* CODE PINK Training with Medea Benjamin 11 am - 2 pm @ Ethical Society (19th and South Rittenhouse Square) Workshops on how to get positive media attention, effectively speak to the media, use art in activism, and organize a powerful action. CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin and seasoned CODEPINK activists invite you to a training camp on the basics of effective organizing and activism in the post-9/11 U.S climate. This event is free and open to everyone.

* Home Demonstrations against Bio Execs Meeting at 12 noon @ LOVE Park, 15th and JFK Blvd. Join animal rights activists to take it to the doorsteps and neighborhoods of the suit-and-tie powerbrokers who direct the biomedical industry. Come with us as we expose their grisly practices to their neighbors and families. For activists of any cause who have not yet incoporated home demonstrations into their repetoire of tactics, come learn from the best how it's done! Some will be walking distance, others will be driving distance, so bring a car if you have one. Organized by Hugs for Puppies.

2 - 9 pm ::
BIODEMOCRACY TEACH-IN and CONFERENCE
@ Friends Center (1501 Cherry St, 2 blocks north from LOVE Park)

Panels:

7 pm :: Keynote panel on Bioweapons
2-3:45 PM :: Medical biotechnology: Cure or catastrophe? (Meeting Room)
4-6 PM :: Biotechnology in the Global South (Meeting Room) Anuradha Mittal (Oakland Institute)
Javiera Ruilli (Friends of the Earth Argentina)
Carmelo Ruiz (Puerto Rican environmental journalist)
7-9 PM :: Bioweapons, US Militarism, and the Myths of 'Biodefense' (Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange; Inga Olson, Tri-Valley Cares, Livermore, CA; Susan Hammond, Fund for Reconciliation & Development)

Workshops:
2-3:30 :: GMOs in Latin America (Rufus Jones Room)
Ignacio Chapela (University of California)
Carmelo Ruiz (Puerto Rican journalist)
Javiera Rulli (Grupo Reflexión Rural, Argentina)
2-3:30 :: Biotech basics: What is genetic engineering and why should you care? (Ellen Kittredge, Center for Food Safety)
3:40-5 :: Corporate Lawsuits vs. Farmers (Percy Schmeiser, Canadian farmer sued by Monsanto; Ellen Kittredge, Center for Food Safety)
3:40-5 :: Alternative Medicine and the Politics of Healthcare (Eliot Tokar, Tibetan medicine practitioner, New York City)

GREEN and BLACK Urban Gathering -- Skillshares + Workshops
4 to 6 pm @ The Ethical Society (19th and South Rittenhouse Square) 4 - 5 :: Yoga
4 - 5 :: Action Health and Safety Training
4 - 5 :: Intentional Comunities as Alternatives to the Dominant Food System Paradigm (Fed. of Egalitarian Communities)
4 - 6 :: Anti-Oppression/Deconstructing Privilege
5 - 6 :: Security Culture and Patriarchy
5 - 6 :: Bicycle Maintenance Basics (Firehouse Bikes)


* Demonstration - Crash the Billionaires for Biotechnology! come 6:15-8 pm @ the "welcome reception" of BIO delegates:
(www.bio.org/events/2005/receptions) Billionaires for Biotech Welcome Reception
National Constitution Center
6th St. and Arch St.
"Come dressed to impress! As billionaires, we must unite to demonstrate our SUPPORT for the magnificent biotech machinations, like terminator seeds & GE smallpox, that not only fill our coiffers & fuel our limos ... but also FEED the HUNGRY and HEAL the SICK!!"

*Film screening East coast premiere of A Silent Forest 9 pm @ The Ethical Society -- video on GE trees, featuring David Suzuki

* BioDemocracy Mobilization Spokescouncil
9 pm @ The Ethical Society

====================

***MONDAY*** June 20

BIODEMOCRACY TEACH-IN and CONFERENCE
GREEN and BLACK URBAN GATHERING
11 am - 9 pm @ Ethical Society (19th and South Rittenhouse Square)
Free food shared by Food Not Bombs.
Keynote panel at 7 pm on Biotechnology and the Corruption of Science
Workshops

11 am - 12:15 ::
* Scientific Controversies in Genetic Engineering (Ricarda Steinbrecher,
EcoNexus, and Michael Hansen, Consumer Policy Institute)
* Earth Rights Democracy (Alanna Hartsock, Earth Rights Institute)
* Corporations and Militarism (Susan Gracey, Women’s International League
for Peace and Freedom)
* Going Feral: Primitive Skills & Radical Homesteading (Wild Roots NC)

12 - 2 pm ::
* Radical Urban Sustainability (Rhizome Collective)

12:30 - 1 :45 ::
* Fallacies of Genetic Reductionism and Risk Assessment (Sheldon Krimsky
(Tufts University, Council for Responsible Genetics)
* World Bank/IMF and GMOs (Mobilization for Global Justice)
* Sexual Assault & Community Conflict Resolution (Philly Stands Up)

2 - 3:15 ::
* Biofuels (Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network)
* Biotech Corporations and Global Trade (Ricarda Steinbrecher, EcoNexus,
Brian Tokar, ISE, and Lucy Sharratt, Stop Terminator Campaign)
* Permaculture Theory and Practice
* Alternatives to Corporate Psychiatry (Freedom Center / Icarus Project)

3:30 - 4:30 ::
* Carlyle Group: Merchants of Death (Jacquelynn Cunliffe, War Resisters
League)
* Radical Gardening & Food Security (Winter Cache Project)
* Radical Child Care and Theater (Green Circus)
* Do-It-Yourself Solar Energy
* Freeganism/Urban Foraging (Wendy, Freegan.info)

4:30 - 5:30 :: Soccer in Rittenhouse Square

5:30 - 6:45 :: Short Films Fest
Optimal Nutrition for Activists (Kind Cafe)

7 pm :: Keynote panel: Biotechnology and the Corruption of Science
Sheldon Krimsky (Tufts University)
Paul Connett (St. Lawrence University)
Ricarda Steinbrecher (EcoNexus, UK)
Randy Zauhar (University of the Sciences in Philadelphia)
Michael Hansen (Consumer Policy Institute, tentative)

8 - 9 ::
Intro to Food Not Bombing (North Philly FNB)
GBUG 2 Visioning Session: Planning the Next Gathering?

9 - 11 :: Film/s TBA

* SHAC-7 Support Rally 11 am - 1 pm @ Trenton Federal Courthouse in Trenton, New Jersey (easily accessible by Septa's R-7 train from Center City Philadelphia). The SHAC-7 represent the government's harshest attempt yet to squash free speech and imprison those who combat the Bio industry. 7 individuals are currently standing trial on federal charges of "Animal Enterprise Terrorism" and facing up to 23 years in jail for their work to close the notorious animal testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. Their crimes? Maintaining a website, publishing a newsletter, and organizing legal demonstrations, that happened to be successful in financially decimating the lab. Come support the SHAC-7 and free speech as we rally outside the courthouse. Organized by Hugs for Puppies.

* Food Not Bombs Sharing 7 pm @ Free Library, Vine St between 19th & 20th

* BioDemocracy Mobilization Spokescouncil 9 pm @ The Ethical Society

====================

***TUESDAY*** June 21
THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
THE LONGEST DAY (OF ACTION) OF THE YEAR!

Our futures are not for sale :::
We will plant seeds of resistance against BIO dreams of control!



On June 21st, 2005...


8 am :: Summer Solstice celebrations and actions, locations TBA

9 am :: 16th and Race Streets :: Breakfast
“Food Relief not Corporate Subsidies!” We invite everyone to join us for breakfast outside of GlaxoSmithKline’s National Headquarters. We will expose GlaxoSmithKline for:
* Fraudulently accepting thousands of dollars donated for the tsunami relief effort, without providing the survivors with the vaccines they were promised.
* Preventing seniors from access to affordable medicines through Canadian pharmacies.
* Suing the South African government for supplying affordable medicine to people surviving with AIDS.
* Distorting the results of scientific research for the sake of profits.
* Testing on animals and knowingly producing toxic drugs.
We will share a FREE Breakfast!

11 am :: Participatory Street Theater Marches

Our Actions will continue with a participatory street theater march with three separate themes. The three marches will weave through the city, giving voice to demands for healthcare, community based agriculture, and peace, justice and dignity for all. The three different marches will then merge together at Love Park.

* for Healthcare for All :: depart from GlaxoSmithKline Headquarters, 16th and Race St.
* for Environmental Justice and Sustainable Agriculture :: depart from "Environmental Protection Agency" (EPA) Regional Headquarters, 1650 Arch St.
* against Bioweapons and War :: depart from Washington Square, 6th and Locust St.

Each march has a different color theme: Healthcare-->Blue, Agriculture-->Green, Bioweapons & War-–>Red. Please wear or decorate yourselves and your props with the color of your march.

12-noon :: Rally at LOVE Park (15th and JFK)

As the Marches combine, we will rally and show our strength in diversity, colorfulness and unity.

With this strength we will march as a united group towards the convention center where the BIO Convention is taking place!

1 to 5 pm :: Creative Actions confronting BIO, and exposing other biotech and pharmaceutical hotspots in downtown Philly, rest, and and outreach for...

6 pm :: Converge again at LOVE Park!

While BIO holds their "gala reception" Tuesday evening, June 21st at the Philadelphia Art Museum (www.bio.org/events/2005/receptions) WE will hold a festive rally at LOVE Park, and then reclaim the streets with powerful street theater demonstrating life-affirming alternatives to their BIOdevastation...

For more details and Day of Action updates, visit:

reclaimthecommons.net/article.php


contact for more info :: biodemocracy-AT-riseup.net :: 215 531 2475

Why? "Because disease and starvation will not be solved by corporations!"