On Saturday, October 6th, 2007 the Tübingen Progressive Americans are going to have an information stand in front of the Wittwer bookstore off the Schlossplatz in down town Stuttgart. Stop by and see us and talk to us if you are in town from 11-15:00.

We are still considering ideas for how to make the information booth as interactive as possible. We are considering bringing an easel with large notepads to have passers-by record their thoughts on various themes as "graffiti." We are hoping to engage Germans on the role of Germany in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and talk to Americans about our group and its goals.

That's right, we're gonna have an info-stand at the Holzmarkt in Tübingen tommorow, Saturday the 27th of January from noon through the early afternoon. Two members of the Tübingen Friedensplenum will also be there with us. Stop by and say hello!

The info-stand is timed to coincide with the large anti-war and anti-"surge" demonstrations going on in Washington, D.C. the same day.

The Tübingen Progressive Americans will have an info-stand at the Pazifismus-Tage in Tübingen this coming weekend. Stop by and meet us!

The next Tuebingen Progressive Americans meeting is at 17:00 on Sunday, December 3, 2006 in Tuebingen. If you would like to participate, get in touch with us through our homepage.

Penny and I were at the "IMI Kongress" (Staat im Krieg - Krieg im Staat: Wie der neue Kolonialismus den Krieg nach Hause bring" from Jürgen Wagner) today, Nov. 18th. I listened to a talk and discussion on "Neoliberaler Kolonialismus" and Penny stayed on to listen to Tobias Pflüger (member of the European Parliament).
The talk was very interesting (and long) and packed full of information. The discussion was not focused enough in my opinion. I felt that it would have been better to concentrate the discussion on just a couple aspects of this expansive topic.

One topic that came out well was the trend of European and American military forces be used more as police forces designed to run newly occupied territories. Traditionally soldiers are trained to attack and conquer. Now they are used more to “keep the peace” after the war. In Iraq we can see this happening. Wagner noted that armies and soldiers are not trained for this and that the US and Europe would never have enough soldiers to take on these jobs all over the world. Apparently this has been a fundamental policy in the Pentagon under Bush and Rumsfeld. German forces in Afghanistan are also taking on this new role. The changing policy of the Pentagon is, certainly, very influential across the world, but the European countries seem to be moving more in this direction too.

The IMI congress was well attended (about 80 folks I guess). The Hirsch Begegnungstätte was way too small.

This weekend, the Tübingen Informationsstelle Militärisierung is having its annual conference at the Gaststätte Hirsch, Hirschgasse 6 under the title of War in the State – the state in war: How the new colonialism is bringing the war home. Starting at 12:00 on Saturday, papers and discussions will cover various aspects of colonialism, war and militarization in international and domestic policy. See the complete program.

Looking further ahead, on the 9th and 10th of December, the Society Culture of Peace will be having the Pazifismus-Tage Tübingen at the Tübinger Stift. Hit the link for a complete program.

Deutsch - blau / English in black.

Just in time for our first public action – the information booth at the Tübingen Holzmarkt tomorrow from 9:00 AM into the late afternoon – we have launched the ProgBlog. Here we will keep each other and anyone interested up to date on our interests and activities.

Gerade rechtzeitig vor unserem ersten öffentlichen Auftritt – dem Infostand auf dem Tübinger Holzmarkt ab 09:00 Uhr - haben wir den ProgBlog gestartet. Hier halten wir uns und alle Interessenten auf dem laufenden.

Stop by and see us at the info booth. We will have our Tübingen Progressive Americans pamphlet, information on the Military Counseling Network, our upcoming viewing and discussion of the film Gunner Palace, and other projects. Primarily, however, our purpose will be to demonstrate to the Germans among whom we live that there is an American progressive voice. To learn more about who we are and what we are about, visit our homepage.

Schaut doch am Infostand vorbei. Dort werden wir unsere Tübingen Progressive Americans Broschüre, Informationen zur Military Counseling Network, zur Filmvorführung im November, und zu anderen Projekten ausliegen haben. Unser homepage, wo Sie mehr über uns erfahren können, liegt zunächst nur in englischer Sprache vor.

MH