Presidential candidate Ralph Nader to visit Glens Falls

Contact: Matt Funiciello (518) 361-6278 mattfuniciello @ earthlink.net

Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader To Speak in Glens Falls April 26th

GLENS FALLS - Presidential candidate and progressive activist Ralph Nader will return to Glens Falls on Saturday April 26, 2008 for an appearance at The Charles R. Wood Theater at 8:00 pm. Nader's visit will be hosted by the Adirondack Progressives, a group of area citizens interested in fostering local dialog on today's most important issues.

Nader is expected to speak about his campaign for the presidency, media reform, the Iraq War, the threat of corporate power and its dangerous convergence with government, and the role of third parties and citizen activism in the political process. There will be a question and answer period at the theater, time allowing.

Prior to Nader's appearance will be the local premiere of "Awake From Your Slumber", a short film created by members of the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center. "Awake" is comprised of three basic elements; a speech given by Nader when he visited Albany in 2005 on the Democracy Rising tour, the music and words of punk-poet Patti Smith (accompanied by local musician, Michael Eck) and footage of the human costs of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Copies of the film will be sold in the lobby to benefit the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Tickets are on sale now at Rock Hill Cafe (19 Exchange St Glens Falls). The suggested donation is $25. A free loaf of Rock Hill bread will be provided to every ticket holder and refreshments will be served "pay what you wish" with all proceeds going to the Sanctuary for Independent Media's capital fund to aid them in re-opening their doors in Troy.

There will be a vegetarian dinner fund raiser with 100% of the proceeds going to Nader's campaign at Rock Hill Cafe prior to the theater event. The suggested donation is $250 per person though scholarships will be made available to those for whom this may be a hardship. Those interested should contact Matt Funiciello at (518) 361-6278.

Ralph Nader is one of America's most effective social critics. His 2008 presidential bid marks his third official run for the office, his second as an Independent. In 2000, he ran as the candidate of the Green Party (America's third largest and fastest growing political party) and he also ran an independent race in 2004. For over 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 new 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), 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.