It used to be that the only people who attended public meetings were retirees, home owners, and the same tired list of people who always have a say in how our government is run. Not anymore. Better Donkey is here to make YOUR voice heard on stuff that matters, starting with a Town Hall Meeting on King County Election Reform Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m Seattle First Baptist Church 1111 Harvard Ave. (between Seneca & Spring, near Seattle U.) Seattle, WA 98122 Want to meet up with some Better Donkeys before? Meet at 6:45pm at the corner of Harvard and Union. We'll all go in and sit together. Afterwards, we'll go to The Garage (1134 Broadway) right down the street and have a drink or two. So, meet up with your cute fun Better Donkey friends at the church, hear what elections officials have to say-- and then join us at a fine local drinking establishment for some chit-chat, flit-flirt, and maybe even a little nudge-nudge wink-wink. It's OUR government too-- don't let anybody forget it!

Amnesty International Group 94 at the University of Washington presents a human rights film festival this week. With thirteen films over five days, the showings will cover a diverse range of issues related to human rights, from child trafficking to corporate responsibility. All showings are FREE, with a $5 encouraged donation, and open to the public. Donations will go to Amnesty International Group 94 at the UW and to Amnesty International Puget Sound. Times and locations vary so check out the website for more info and links to the Films’ Websites: http://students.washington.edu/amnesty/ Some of the remaining films are: Thirst (62 min) Global corporations are rapidly buying up local water supplies. Communities suddenly lose control of their most precious resource. In Whose Interest? (27 min) Filmmaker David Kaplowitz takes an eye-opening journey, questioning the effects of U.S. foreign policy over the past 50 years. Revealing a pattern of intervention, the film focuses on Guatemala, Vietnam, East Timor, El Salvador, and Palestine/Israel.

On Wednesday, MoveOn.org is sponsoring emergency rallies across the nation to send a clear message: Americans want fair judges, not extremists appointed to favor corporate interests and right-wing fringe groups. Sign up here For most Donkeys, the closest rally will be at the Seattle Federal Building 915 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA 98101

On Monday, May 2nd at 9:30 am, my friend Sen. John Kerry will join Patty Murray in Seattle on his national tour to highlight the crisis facing America on children's health care and promote the Kids First bill to provide health care coverage to the 11 million children currently uninsured in America. I'm proud to have Senator Kerry join me, as well as health care leaders and members of the Kids First coalition at a town hall meeting to discuss children's health care and his Kids First bill. He is coming to Seattle to hear from people who are living without health care for their families every day and to talk about how we can join together to help cover Washington's kids.

Tickets are free, and you can reserve up to 2 seats. Tickets are required for admission.

http://www.johnkerry.com/Seattle

Town Hall Seattle at 8th Ave & Seneca on Monday, May 2nd at 9:30 am as we begin the fight from the states for health care coverage for every American child.

Come see The YES Men at The First Ever Better Donkey Movie Night! With poker faced impersonation as their weapon, the World Trade Organization officials as their target, the YES Men pull off one bold prank after another in an effort to raise political consciousness. And when their outrageous stunts are actually swallowed – hook, line, and sinker – the YES Men must up the satirical ante and push the art of public spectacle to hilarious new heights. Our plan is foolproof:

Awesome movie, superfun people, and bartenders who know their stuff. Better get there early though--seating is limited!!

Details details… Where: Jewel Box Theatre @ The Rendezvous / 2322 2nd Ave. Date: Tuesday, May 3 Time: 6:30 Doors -- 7:30 Movie Map: click here

The Metropolitan Democratic Club run by Seattle City Council member, Nick Licatta (who might just be one of my favorite local Donkeys) invites YOU to meet up, drink up and speak up about Election Reform at The College Club, 505 Madison St. Special guests are:

1. Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century and founder of BlackBoxVoting.org, will be speaking about the “Help America Audit” project and other activities to keep the pot boiling on election reform.
2. Paul Lehto who sits on the steering committee of “Every Vote Counts” and intends to: "remove from our democracy all electronic voting machines utilizing trade-secret vote-counting mechanisms."

Tickets are $12 and upon entry you will be smacked with LOTS o’ Yummy snacks and a big bar.

KUOW’s Weekday will be hosting a conversation with Noam Chomsky, scholar, linguist, and activist on Wednesday, April 20th at 9:00am. KUOW will also air Chomsky's lecture to be given at UW later that day on Speaker's Forum, Wednesday, May 4th at 9:00pm KUOW, one of Seattle’s NPR stations can be found at 94.9 FM or on the web at http://www.kuow.org/