I was excited to learn that former presidential candidate Ralph Nader will be paying a visit to my area. For those of you who live near Glens Falls and would like to hear this longtime activist and muckraker speak, please read the press release below.
Contact: Matt Funiciello (518) 361-6278
Former Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader To Speak in Glens Falls April 16th
GLENS FALLS [NY] – Former presidential candidate and progressive activist Ralph Nader will be in Glens Falls on Saturday, April 16, 2005 to discuss the Iraq War, the growing imperialist threat of multinational corporations, and the dangerous convergence of corporate and government power. The event will be held at the Charles R. Wood Theatre, a community performing arts facility in the newly renovated Woolworth Building on Glen Street. The program will begin at 8:00 pm and tickets are on sale in advance at Rock Hill Bakehouse in Glens Falls. Tickets are $15 each and are discounted for seniors, veterans and students.
Ralph Nader is one of America's most effective social critics. He has run for the office of US President three times, twice as the candidate of the Green Party in 1996 and 2000 (America’s third largest and fastest growing political party), and once as an Independent in 2004. For forty years his documented criticism of government and industry has had a widespread effect on public awareness and bureaucratic power and has inspired a whole population of consumer advocates and citizen activists.
Nader first made headlines in 1965 with his book Unsafe at Any Speed, a scathing indictment of the auto industry for producing unsafe vehicles that led to congressional hearings and a series of automobile safety laws passed in 1966. Since then Nader has been responsible for at least eight major federal consumer protection laws such as the motor vehicle safety laws and the Safe Drinking Water Act and the launching of federal regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environment Protection Agency (EPA), and Consumer Product Safety Administration, and the Freedom of Information Act of 1974.
Nader also helped establish the PIRGs (Public Interest Research Groups) the student-funded and controlled organizations that function on college campuses in 23 states. Their impact alone has been tremendous. The groups have published hundreds of ground-breaking reports and guides, lobbied for laws in their state legislatures, and called the media's attention to environmental and energy problems. The largest of the Nader organizations is Public Citizen, founded in 1971 and with a current nationwide membership over 100,000.
This event is sponsored by local Independents, and members of the Green, Democratic and Republican parties interested in fostering a local dialogue on today’s most important issues.
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