January

Open Forum on Money - Presented by the Institute for the Renewal of Economic Life (IREL) - Spring 2013
Location:
Macalester College (Old Main, Room 010)
1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN
Dates & Times: Every Thursday from January 31 through May 23, 2013
All (18) sessions will convene from 7:00 to 9:00 pm:
January 31
February 7, 14, 21, 28
March 7, 14, 21, 28
April 4, 11, 18, 25
May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Open Forum:
These sessions are conceived of as open forums that will introduce the participant to the way money originates and how, generally, the financial order, political life and civilized culture arises from that process. From there we will explore money and economy along whatever avenues of inquiry are of interest to those attending. All are welcome, whether having attended a previous session or not. This “Open Forum” is designed for those looking for a way to break out of the current paralysis that has overtaken public discourse, practical application and conscious thinking on matters of money. It is not conceived of being a place to get financial counseling, sell a product, or impose any form of economic dogma. Rather, it is envisioned as an exercise in helping participants to think more clearly and consciously about money itself, thereby cultivating the ground for new economic ideas to arise. Participants are invited to come with their own particular topics, questions and materials to share.
The tenor of these sessions will be informal. They will start at 7 pm (promptness is helpful), and end at 9 pm, or however long people want to stay and talk.
Location

Basic Bicycle Maintenance at Cycles for Change (January)
This class is designed as a complete introduction to the basics of maintaining your bicycle yourself. Learning to fix your own bike can save you money, ensure access to reliable transportation, and be a rewarding personal experience to understand how your vehicle functions. Participants aren’t expected to know anything beforehand – the only thing you need to bring is your lovely selves, your bike if you want, and a creative desire to learn!
In addition to providing technical explanations and building mechanical knowledge and confidence, this class will attempt to provide a basic overview of the role of community bike shops throughout the country and world, as we work to build sustainable transportation movements locally and globally.
Thursdays, January 10, 17, 24, 31 - 6:00-8:30pm
Location

Money, Society and the Spirit: Building Monetary Consciousness (Part II)
The purpose of this class is to build the monetary consciousness based upon the discussions from our initial workshop "Money, Society and the Spirit: Becoming Conscious About Money" and "Money, Society and the Spirit: An Introduction to Becoming Conscious About Money (Part I)"
Location

Money, Society and the Spirit: An Introduction to Becoming Conscious About Money (Part I)
• What is the real story behind all the bad economic news?
• Why are we not richer by our burgeoning tangible wealth, instead of poorer by a snowballing financial “debt”?
• How could it be that an innocent child born in the U.S. today is already, according to the “experts,” a quarter-million dollars in “debt”? When did newborn babies borrow this money? How are they supposed to “repay” it? Is their future mortgaged before it starts? Has “original debt” replaced “original sin”?
• If every dollar in circulation is “borrowed” into existence through “loans” from private banks, where does the money to pay the “interest” come from?
• After a century of explosive growth in real economic activity, why have we not grown out of our “debt”? Is there a perverse logic built into the system that is causing us to grow into it our “debt”?
• Why in the last century have family farmers been forced off the land by financial foreclosure, or threat of foreclosure, until now those living on the farm comprise less that two-percent of the population?
• What is this “debt” burden doing in real terms to our civilization, our earth, ourselves? What is “debt” anyway? What is its effect on the psyche of generations growing up in saturation of its financial demands, ecological devastation and social disintegration?
• If I am well-educated, working hard and “playing by the rules” in the “richest country on earth,” why can I not pay my bills and/or why am I perpetually in debt?
• Has fear of financial destitution replaced fear of dying as the most dreaded eventuality in people’s lives?
• Is there hope?
These and many other monetary riddles haunt our post-modern world. Indeed, they are increasingly experienced as threatening the viability of our personal lives, the existence of civilization, and even the continuation of life on earth itself. Can we get a perspective on this? Can we turn a corner? Is there a vision on the other side?
Location

Introduction to iMovie
In these two hours, instructor Ben McGinley will go over the very basics of Apple's iMovie program. We will learn the iMovie interface and its accompanying tools. You will learn how to use these tools to import footage, add cool titles and transitions, and choose accompanying music of your choice from your iTunes library. By the end of the class, you will have an understanding of basic media management and editing that will give you confidence when editing your own movies. The fee for this class is $10, but scholarships are granted on request. Register at thedatabank.com:
https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/262/donate.asp?formid=TCM-Event&c=3431292
Location

Finding Your Voice Online
"Carrie Daklin is mad as hell and doesn't want to take it anymore," begins a column by Ruben Rosario. Want to keep reading? You bet. That's because Rosario always writes with voice, with attitude, with a passion that grabs the reader. Journalism prof Carrie Brown-Smith writes: "Voice doesn’t HAVE TO mean less facts or more ill-informed ranting ... there’s still hard-hitting reporting, but the person behind the story isn’t completely hidden. If anything, the biases they are trying (often to little avail) to hide are instead transparently represented to the audience and become part and parcel of their expertise rather than a liability." If you want to work on livening up your writing, join us for Finding Your Voice, a two-hour workshop at the Daily Planet office on January 11, 7-9 p.m. Register ahead of time, and e-mail instructor Mary Turck ([email protected]) samples of your writing — something boring you'd like to improve or something with voice that you'd like to brag about.
Course tuition is $10; scholarships are available for students to whom this fee is a burden. Register at thedatabank.com:
https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/262/donate.asp?formid=TCM-Event&c=5092822
Location

Intro to QiGong
This is an introductory level class/lecture on Qi Gong that includes the following:
--Explanation of what Qi Gong is, how it works
--Slides of pictures from classes and clinical settings in China of Qi Gong Masters in famous Beijing traditional hospitals, including stories and explanations of how medical QiGong is scientific.
--A brief relaxing and quieting Qi Gong meditation to experience yourself
--A healing demonstration of Dr. DesMarais emitting Qi
Location

Wheelbuilding at Sibley Bike Depot (January)
This class is designed as a complete introduction to the basics of wheel building. We are posting this class late, but if we have sufficient interest we will start the first class with lacing rims. The second class will entail bringing the wheel up to tension and truing it radially and laterally. It is okay if you don't understand what this means we will start at the beginning. No prior knowledge is necessary, however, it will be useful to understand the basics of truing.
We will be following Gerd Shraner's method feel free to peruse his book http://www.icelord.net/bike/ArtOfWheelbuilding.pdf
I am going to push this into January because not enough people registered in time. Please let me know if you would like to join us.
Location

Complete Bicycle Overhaul at Sibley Bike Depot (January)
This intermediate class will build upon the skills taught in the Basic Bike Maintenance class and expand through overhauling an entire bicycle. It's recommended that students have taken the Basic class or have a similar beginning familiarity with bicycle repair. Participants will take apart, clean, and repack all bearing systems, including hubs, headsets, and bottom brackets. In addition, the will install new cables and housing on brakes and derailleurs as needed, and lubricate/adjust all shifting systems. In full, folks attending this class will learn how to perform a complete tune-up/overhaul of a bicycle. Participants will work with the same bike through the class, in order to see the complexities and intricacies of one specific bicycle. Note: All class participants will fix up SHOP BIKES during this class! Bikes fixed up will go into one of Sibley's many community programs designed to promote biking!
The class will be 4 Thursdays: January 5, 12, 19, & 29 from 6:30-9pm each day.
Please contact me with any questions!
Micah
Location

home assesment, a dialog with comunity members & trades people on finding and maintaining a home
a discussion group in order to design a class for future Exco sessions
for who: home buyers, home owners, land lords, renters with housing livability issues
What: home assessment, Project assessment, cost assessment

