July, 21 2009, 11:13am EDT
Rural Summit to Bring Together Policymakers, Rural Residents
USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager to Keynote
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.
USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and other
national, state and local-level policymakers will join rural residents at the Midwest Rural
Assembly in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, August 10-11.
The Assembly will focus on rural economic and community development issues and
opportunities, and will give rural residents a chance to speak directly with policymakers
about rural policy priorities.
"This is a great opportunity for rural residents throughout the Midwest to connect
with each other, with their elected officials, and make their voices heard," said Jim
Kleinschmit, director of the Rural Communities program at the Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy (IATP).
IATP, the Rural Learning Center in Howard, South Dakota, and more than 20 other
organizations from around the Midwest are putting on this two-day event, which will also
feature Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Nebraska State Rural Development
Director Maxine Moul, Nominated South Dakota State Rural Development Direct Elsie
Meeks, and Minnesota State Rural Director Colleen Landkamer.
Plenary panels and participatory sessions will focus on topics such as rural health care
and education, sustainable working landscapes, rural technology access and leadership
development.
Registration for the event includes locally sourced meals and admission to all keynote and
plenary sessions.
An agenda for the event and registration information can be found at:
www.midwestruralassembly.org
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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"The reason we have not joined virtually every other major country on Earth in guaranteeing healthcare to all people as a human right is the political power and financial power of the insurance industry and drug companies," he told Jacobin. "It will take a political revolution in this country to get Congress to say, 'You know what, we're here to represent ordinary people, to provide quality care to ordinary people as a human right,' and not to worry about the profits of insurance and drug companies."
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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