PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

pog call to action- protest this saturday
by by way of pog email. Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2003 at 12:40 PM

info on this saturdays protest.

Please read this important message and forward far and wide...

POG would like to invite you to a special protest-event this Saturday. We'll be assembling from 6:00pm-6:30pm at 10th and Penn Ave, David Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh (the same place Save Our Transit is meeting).

Why you may ask? Well, the self proclaimed "visionaries" of Pittsburgh are getting together for a special $500 a person celebration of the new $375,000,000 convention center they forced on us. The event, dubbed "powerplay", is described as follows: "Visionaries" from government, sports, architecture and the arts, and the philanthropic and business communities will be honored for their contributions to shaping the "new" Pittsburgh region at this "Black Tie Evening of Celebration."

Exactly what kind of City is it they are shaping?
One where essential services are gutted and privatized, the needs of the poor and elderly are ignored, where money is the only thing that
matters, where corporations are the real decisionmakers, and vague notions of democracy are an afterthought? This event is a slap-in-the-face to anyone who cares about Pittsburgh and its future. On display for all to see will be exactly what is wrong with the current state of things and we would be remiss if we didn't draw to it the maximum amount of attention possible. The city is literally falling apart and the people responsible are getting together to spend exorbinent amounts of money on parties, cocktails, and cheese. As save our transit is saying- let's tell these "visionaries" they need an eye exam. We are inviting people to bring noisemakers, buckets, pots, and pans for banging, and anything of a creative nature. These are some of the people most responsible for running the city into the ground, for taking away our civil liberties, and promoting the pro-corporate/neo-liberal agenda attacking what we hold dear.

Who's being singled out for special honour at this "powerplay" event by its organizers? Why it's no other then
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell
Past Governor Mark S. Schweiker
Allegheny County Chief Executive James C. Roddey
Pittsburgh Mayor Thomas J. Murphy
Former Alcoa executive Paul O'Neill
and many more....

How bad is it?
Here's a snipet from the website-
"We will have "flair" bartenders mixing cocktails in the air, and "Mr. Silver, The Robotic Android" amazing everyone with his half-human, half-virtual reality displays of robotics and magic. With their futuristic costuming and innovative props, Robostilts move through the crowd with agility, interacting and astonishing with "interstellar" displays of acrobatic stilt walking and juggling -- and communicating with
otherworldly electronic sound effects. Guests can take in the swirling scene at cocktail tables lit like works of art, and execute their own power plays with the dynamos who energize the Pittsburgh region."

The event is sponsered by:
Mellon Financial Corporation, Alcoa, The PNC Financial Services Group, Lamar Advertising, Federated Investors, H. J. Heinz Company, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Liberty Center Venture, National City, PPG Industries, Inc., University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and United States Steel Corporation

Feel free to check the Power Play website out
for yourself.
http://www.pittsburghpowersup.com

POG

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