The Internet Players' Summer Workshop Series

From a Blank Page... To a Stage

When: June 1st - 4th 2011
Where: 421 Brady Street, 3rd Floor Davenport, IA
Who: Students Age 8 -12 & 13 - 18
What: Story Telling In Action (8-12) & High School Workshop (13-18)
Session Fee $75

Register today for The Internet Players Summer Theatre Workshop Series! Two, student workshops will be offered from June 1st - 4th. Each section will meet for three hours a day. "Story Telling In Action" will take place from 9:00am - 12:00pm. In it students will explore how play can help them better comprehend the challenges they will face as adults. They will develop a better awareness of their physical abilities, vocal range and confidence to shine as individuals. Students will have the opportunity individuals to perform at the end of each class.

The "High School Workshop" will take place from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. The workshop will help students explore their physical abilities and the similarities humans share across, gender, race, and economic lines. They will develop better understandings of themselves in relation to their environment and capitalize on what makes each person a unique performer. As a culmination of the work the students will do throughout the week, we will present a showcase on June 4th at 4:00pm.

This Workshop Series will be taught by our founder and Artistic Director, Nathan Porteshawver. He has studied many different theatre techniques and theories at Brandeis University and Royal Holloway University in London. Some of those theories include Noh Drama, Suzuki acting method, Feldenkrais acting method, stage combat, Stanislavski and Bogart theatre. He's particularly well versed in  ancient Greek and ancient Japanese theatre, as well as a more modern approach, called Kinesthetic Acting. He has recently combined some of these theories into his own class called "Noise Interaction Games."

Nathan has taught children of all ages and even college students. The first class he taught was at Brandeis University and was about the relationship between politics and theatre. Locally, he has taught politics at Davenport Junior Theatre, where he developed a new and original play for his class to perform at the end of the week.

Class sizes are limited, so sign up now! Parents and students can register ONLINE at www.theinternetplayers.com or email theinternetplayers@gmail.com to receive your brochure.

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa today pressed Attorney General Eric Holder to provide a complete and accurate accounting of the policy to allow guns to be purchased by known straw buyers and then transported across the border into Mexico.

In a letter received yesterday from the Office of Legislative Affairs, the department once again denied any knowledge of the policy.  The denial comes despite the documents that have been provided to the department that are contrary to the official stance.

Grassley and Issa said in a response to Holder that they will continue to conduct constitutionally mandated oversight of the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' policy to allow guns to be purchased by known straw buyers.

"We are extremely disappointed that you do not appear to be taking this issue seriously enough to ensure that the Department's representations are accurate, forthcoming, and complete.  We will continue to probe and gather the facts independently, as it has become clear that we cannot rely on the Department's self-serving statements to obtain any realistic picture of what happened," Grassley and Issa wrote.

Grassley began looking into allegations brought forward by Agent John Dodson, and more than a dozen other ATF agents after the Justice Department Inspector General failed to investigate their concerns.  The agents indicated that their supervisors kept them from stopping gun traffickers with the normal techniques that they had been successfully using for years.  They instead were ordered to only watch and continue gathering information on traffickers instead of arresting them as soon as they could.  In the meantime, the guns were allowed to fall into the hands of the bad guys even as agents told supervisors that it could not end well.  Many of the guns have subsequently been found in firefights along the border, including a December 14, 2010 firefight where Customs and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed.

Grassley and Issa's requests for information from the Justice Department have gone mostly unanswered about what transpired at the ATF and the Department of Justice during the time when Terry was killed and the policies instituted during Project Gunrunner that allowed guns to be sold to known straw purchasers and moved across the border without intervention.

As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Issa has begun issuing subpoenas to uncover the facts about how this reckless policy was approved.

Here is a copy of the text of today's letter to Holder.  Here is a copy of the May 2 letter to Grassley and the February 4 letter to Grassley.

 

May 3, 2011

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As Senator Grassley discussed on the phone with you yesterday, we are very concerned that the Department chose to send a letter containing false statements in response to his initial inquiry into the ATF whistleblower allegations related to Operation Fast and Furious.  To be more specific, the Department sent a letter on February 4, 2011 claiming that the whistleblower allegations were "false" and that "ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico."  When questioned in transcribed interviews last week in Phoenix, agents with first-hand knowledge of ATF operations contradicted that claim.

Specifically, in response to that exact quote, they said the Department's letter was "false" and could not explain how such a representation could be made to Congress in light of what they witnessed on the ground in Phoenix in late 2009 and 2010, prior to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  In fact, according to these witnesses, there was a specific strategy implemented to not "make every effort" but rather to avoid interdicting weapons in hopes of making a larger case against higher-ups in the trafficking organization.

Therefore, we were surprised and disappointed to see the Department repeat once again, in slightly different language, its denial in a letter received shortly after your telephone conversation with Senator Grassley.  Yesterday's letter reads, in part, "It remains our understanding that ATF's Operation Fast and Furious did not knowingly permit straw buyers to take guns into Mexico."

The documents and information previously provided to you demonstrate that the ATF urged gun dealers to go forward with sales to known straw buyers despite the concerns expressed by at least one dealer that the guns would be transferred to the border and possibly used against Border Patrol agents.  ATF and Justice officials assured that dealer that unspecified safeguards were in place to ensure that did not happen.  Yet, guns from that case were found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder and at crime scenes in Mexico.

In its latest denial, the Department seems to focus more on whether ATF knew guns were being trafficked to Mexico than whether the ATF knew they were being purchased by straw buyers.  While it might be typical in Washington for lawyers to narrowly parse statements and argue over fine distinctions to confuse the issue, those are not the kind of answers that we believe the Justice Department should give to Congress when asked straightforward questions about such a serious matter as this one.

You were asked to please explain whether you deny that the ATF allowed the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers, and if so, why given the evidence that was attached.  The reply was not signed by you, did not explain whether you stand by the denial, did not explain why, and did not meaningfully address the serious issues raised by the attached emails between a gun dealer and the ATF.

We are extremely disappointed that you do not appear to be taking this issue seriously enough to ensure that the Department's representations are accurate, forthcoming, and complete.  We will continue to probe and gather the facts independently, as it has become clear that we cannot rely on the Department's self-serving statements to obtain any realistic picture of what happened.

Sincerely,

Darrell Issa, Chairman                       Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight &                             Committee on the Judiciary
Government Reform                         United State Senate
U.S. House of Representatives               

The Steve's Old Time Tap Spring Chaser, a 5K run/walk led by two Rock Island women, is set for April 30 at 9 a.m. in downtown Rock Island. The goal is to reach 500 participants and to raise $5,000 with the fifth-annual run benefitting the American Red Cross of the Quad Cities Area.

Since the race's inception in 2007, it has raised more than $10,000 for the organization.

"Our race started with 260 people in 2007. Last year, we reached just more than 400 participants," said Holly Sparkman, race co-director with Jayna Gallagher. "Our goal of 500 participants will mean more support for one of the most valuable organizations in the Quad-Cities."

The American Red Cross of the Quad Cities Area serves Scott, Muscatine, and Louisa counties in Iowa and Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Bureau, and a portion of Whiteside counties in Illinois.

Every day, on average, the American Red Cross of the Quad Cities Area works to reunite one family through the Armed Forces Emergency Services and International Social Services programs; reaches more than 107 people with lifesaving training in CPR, first aid, and water safety; and trains 28 youth and adults to be prepared and ready for potential disasters.

In 2010, 148 families in the area received assistance after a disaster threatened to destroy their lives.

"On average, it costs $1,100 to assist a family of four following a fire," said Leslie Anthony, chief advancement officer for the Quad Cities chapter. "The $5,000 goal for the Spring Chaser could help five local families recover after a fire."

Steve's Old Time Tap is the lead sponsor of the race. Other sponsors include, Stern Beverage, Gas & Electric Credit Union, Cruz Plumbing, Meridian Title, CBS 4, Jumer's Casino, Crawford & Company, Huckleberry's, Cumulus Quad Cities and Nehlsen Communications.

Sparkman is the communications director for the Rock Island School District. Gallagher is the marketing coordinator at Nehlsen Communications in Moline. They are lifelong residents of the Quad Cities.

"This event started as a result of two Rock Islanders looking for a downtown race in their hometown," Gallagher said. "We've been fortunate enough to have the Quad City area support our event, and more importantly support a great cause. There is no better time to make a donation. With the disaster in Japan and the threat of flooding right here in the Quad Cities, please consider helping us reach our goal of raising $5,000 for the Red Cross."

To register or to get more information about sponsorships, go to www.springchaser.com, or visit www.facebook.com/springchaser5k.

Amana - Celebrate the bonds of friendship as The Old Creamery Theatre presents The Dixie Swim Club, opening on the Main Stage Thursday, April 28 at 3 p.m.

Friends since their college swim team days, Sheree, Dinah, Lexie, Jeri Neal and Vernadette gather each year to reminisce and catch up with one another on their diverse lives. Join them as they travel through the years and talk about marriage, divorce, raising children, careers and growing older. These five funny ladies will make you laugh like only your old friends can as together they face all that life throws their way.

Written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, The Dixie Swim Club is directed by Sean McCall of Marengo. The cast consists of Krista Neumann of Iowa City; Gwendolyn Schwinke of Cedar Falls; Kristy Hartsgrove of Iowa City; Marquetta Senters of South Amana; and Licia Watson of Overland Park, Kansas.

The Dixie Swim Club runs through May 29 and is rated Theatre PG.

Tickets are $27 for adults and $17.50 for students. Call the box office at 800-35-AMANA or www.oldcreamery.com for more information or to purchase tickets. Money-saving season tickets packages are available through June 1, 2011.

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 40 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest. We thank KGAN and Fox 28, our 2011 season media sponsor.