Group shares knowledge to inform the electorate

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The Rock River Open Forum group will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sterling Public Library. This month’s meeting will consist of three short book reviews and a personal analysis of a local court case.

I will present the book “What Would Jefferson Do?” by Thom Hartmann. This book offers important insights into the meaning and nature of democracy and what we must do to counter the warlords, theocrats and corporate aristocrats who now place it at risk.

Rojelio Garza will present the book “Metal of Dishonor, Depleted Uranium: How the Pentagon Radiates Soldiers & Civilians with DU Weapons” by the International Action Center. This book is an expose on the use of nuclear waste in our conventional weapons systems and the health and environmental consequences it has produced.

Dennis Ripley will present the book “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water” by Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman and Michael Fox. The PBS documentary “Thirst” showed how communities around the world are resisting the privatization and corporate takeover of water. Now “Thirst,” the book, picks up where the documentary left off, revealing the emergence of controversial new water wars here in the United States.

Bill Welch, a regular court attendee, will present an insider’s perspective on the recent Sheley trial.

What is the goal of this open forum? In 1822, James Madison wrote, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.”

A true democracy requires an informed electorate, and the public is only as powerful as the information to which it has access. Our group meets once a month, and the public is always welcome.