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Emergency Protest!
Free Mumia!
Free Troy Davis!
Two Innocent Men Facing Execution
Be there!
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008
Federal Court House, 7th Street and Mission, SF, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court has before it the lives of two innocent, frame-up victims. Mumia Abu-Jamal & Troy Davis are challenging the “law of the land” that says, “Innocence is no defense.” Pennsylvania and Georgia seek their execution. We demand their freedom.
Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal • freemumia.org
510-268-9429
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COURAGE TO RESIST:
SUPPORT RESISTERS DURING THE HOLIDAYS
AT A HOLIDAY LETTER WRITING PARTY!
Dear Friend,
Come to the Courage to Resist office in Oakland and write letters to GI resisters who have risked their freedom to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meet with others in the anti-war movement to show your continuing support for those who have refused to fight.
The more people who show up, the more letters we can send to these heroes... so come and bring your friends and family members!
We will provide all the letter writing materials....and some snacks to keep you going!
Please join us:
Wednesday, December 10
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Courage to Resist Office
3945 Opal St.
Oakland
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"Prop 8--The Musical"
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8
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Obama is a Good House Negro David Manning Pastor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Op5or_vkcc
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UNITE TO PROTEST THE SIXTH YEAR OF U.S. WAR AND OCCUPATION IN IRAQ!
U.S. OUT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
MARCH 21, 2009
SIGN ON TO THE UNITY CALL!
The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations:
Call for Unity
We hope that you and your organization agree that unified national March actions are sorely needed in these times of military and economic crises. We ask that you:
1. Sign the Open Letter to the U.S. Antiwar Movement.
2. Urge all local and national organizations and coalitions to join in building the mobilizations in D.C. in March and the mass actions on March 21.
3. Support the formation of a broad, united, ad hoc national coalition to bring massive forces out on March 21, 2009.
You can sign the Open Letter by writing natassembly@aol.com [if you are a group or individual. (Individual endorsers please include something about yourselves.)] or through the National Assembly website at www.natassembly.org [if you are a group endorsement only]. For more information, please email us at the above address or call 216-736-4704. We greatly appreciate all donations to help in our unity efforts. Checks should be made payable to National Assembly and mailed to P.O. Box 21008 , Cleveland , OH 44121 .
In peace and solidarity,
Greg Coleridge, Coordinator, Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition (NOAC); Economic Justice and Empowerment Program Director, Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee (AFSC); Member, Administrative Body, National Assembly
Marilyn Levin, Coordinating Committee, Greater Boston United for Justice with Peace; New England United; Member, Administrative Body, National Assembly
On behalf of the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STATEMENT URGING UNITY OF THE
ANTIWAR MOVEMENT FOR THE MARCH 2009 ACTIONS
For more information please contact:
natassembly@aol.com or call 216-736-4704
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Bring the Anti-War Movement to Inauguration Day in D.C.
January 20, 2009: Join thousands to demand "Bring the troops home now!"
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
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ARTICLES IN FULL:
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1) Most Retailers Report a Dismal November
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
December 5, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/business/economy/05shop.html?hp
2) Largest Drop in Factory Orders in 8 Years
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 5, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/business/economy/05econ.html?ref=business
3) Cleveland activists launch moratorium campaign
By Martha Grevatt
Cleveland
Published Nov 24, 2008 5:17 PM
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/cleveland_1204/
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1) Most Retailers Report a Dismal November
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
December 5, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/business/economy/05shop.html?hp
Most of the nation’s stores kicked off the critical holiday shopping season with double-digit sales declines, portending more price cuts in December and raising questions about the long-term prospects for many retailers.
November sales figures released Thursday underscored that such declines had become the norm across the retail spectrum. Sales at stores open at least a year at Abercrombie & Fitch, long a darling of Wall Street, fell 28 percent compared with a 2 percent increase for the period a year ago.
Even discount stores, some of which had sales growth in October, are suffering. At Target, sales at stores open at least a year, a critical measure of retail health, tumbled 10.4 percent, in contrast to a 10.8 percent increase a year ago.
Sales at Kohl’s sank 17.5 percent compared with a 10.2 percent increase last year. Children’s Place, which had a 4 percent sales increase in October, was down 7 percent. At Costco, which had a 1 percent sales decline in October, sales sank 5 percent in November, more than expected. Aeropostale, which had a sales increase of 1 percent in October, was down 5 percent. Ross Stores sales were off by 2 percent.
Over all, November sales are likely to drop about 2 percent, according to Retail Metrics, a research firm. That is the biggest monthly decline since the company began tracking data in 2000. And were it not for Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, sales would have declined more than 6 percent.
Only Wal-Mart and BJ’s Wholesale Club, two of the country’s best-known discount stores, thrived, in part because of robust grocery sales.
Sales at Wal-Mart stores exceeded expectations, increasing 3.4 percent, not including fuel, compared with a 1.5 percent increase a year ago. As gas prices dropped, shopping trips increased. And so did the amount of money consumers spent at the store. On Thursday, Wal-Mart reported record grocery sales for November.
But Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, said in a news release that the company’s sales figures were overshadowed by the death of Jdimytai Damour, who was trampled at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., when rowdy shoppers burst through the doors on Black Friday morning.
“We consider Mr. Jdimytai Damour part of the extended Wal-Mart family and are saddened by his death,” Mr. Castro-Wright said.
Sales at BJ’s Wholesale Club stores were up 4.1 percent, not including fuel, compared with a 7.7 percent increase a year ago.
Most department stores — including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy’s and J. C. Penney — continued to have double-digit declines, though sales at Saks stores open at least a year were improved this month, with sales down only 5.2 percent. That is far better than expected. Saks, however, has been radically slicing prices and its profits are expected to be significantly hurt. A similar story, of course, is playing out at retailers across the country.
“It’s a terrible story for retailers and their margins,” said Michael Unger, a principal with Archstone Consulting, “but if you’re a consumer looking for a good deal, you will find it.”
Retailers were buoyed by sales over Black Friday weekend, which increased about 0.9 percent, compared with a 6.5 percent increase last year, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm. Yet the weekend after Thanksgiving did not account for the majority of retailers’ November sales.
Major sectors like apparel, luxury goods and electronics and appliances all suffered steeper declines in November than in September and October according to SpendingPulse, a report by MasterCard Advisors.
To make matters worse, retailers’ weak sales were hurt even more by a calendar shift that left fewer post-Thanksgiving shopping days in November. Analysts estimate that could hurt stores anywhere from 1 to 3 percent.
Retailers that include American Eagle Outfitters and Kohl’s said Thursday they would simply continue trying to lure consumers with sales.
As Linda M. Farthing, president and chief executive of Stein Mart, said in a statement on Thursday: “The Thanksgiving weekend improvement was not enough to significantly alter the month’s outcome, and we expect to continue aggressive promotional activity through the remainder of the year.”
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2) Largest Drop in Factory Orders in 8 Years
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 5, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/business/economy/05econ.html?ref=business
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to factories plunged in October by the sharpest amount in more than eight years as a deepening recession caused big cutbacks in demand for steel, autos, computers and heavy machinery. Analysts expect the weakness to continue for some time.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that factory orders dropped 5.1 percent in October, the largest decrease since an 8.5 percent fall in July 2000.
It was larger than the 4 percent drop that economists had been expecting. They predict that manufacturing will continue to be under pressure, reflecting a deepening recession that already is the longest slump in a quarter-century.
The drop in orders was the third consecutive decline, with demand for both durable goods and nondurable goods falling.
Demand for nonmilitary capital goods, considered a good proxy for business investment plans, fell by 5 percent in October, the biggest decline since January and the fourth consecutive monthly decrease. With the economy weakening, businesses are cutting back on their plans to expand and modernize, adding another drag to overall growth.
Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, fell 6.9 percent, even bigger than the 6.2 percent initial estimate the department made last week.
Orders for nondurable goods, like food, clothing, paper goods and petroleum products, dropped 3.4 percent, partly reflecting the big declines occurring in energy prices.
The weakness was led by a big 11.2 percent fall in demand for transportation equipment. Demand for autos fell by 2.8 percent and commercial aircraft orders were down 4.8 percent.
The auto companies have been in a prolonged slide, reflecting not only the weak economy but also the huge jump in gasoline prices earlier in the year. Even though gas prices have retreated from their highs above $4 a gallon this summer, car sales have remained depressed, reflecting rising unemployment and the severe credit crisis that hit in September, making it harder to get auto loans.
Auto sales plunged by 37 percent in November to their worst level in more than 26 years, adding more ammunition to Detroit automakers’ case for a Congressional lifeline that they are pressing again for Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Every major automaker reported a year-over-year sales decline of more than 30 percent on Tuesday, with the Detroit carmakers among the worst hit. Sales at General Motors fell 41 percent, Chrysler’s sales decreased 47 percent and Ford Motor Company’s drop was 31 percent.
Excluding transportation, factory orders would have been down 4.2 percent in October, indicating that the weakness in manufacturing was widespread.
Orders for primary metals like iron and steel plunged 23.1 percent in October while demand for machinery was down by 9 percent. Construction machinery was off 25.6 percent, reflecting the hard times in the building industry, which is suffering through the biggest slump in home construction in decades.
Demand for computers and other electronic products fell 3.4 percent in October, while furniture makers reported a 5 percent drop in demand.
Also on Friday, the Labor Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits fell unexpectedly last week, but the number of people continuing to claim benefits reached a 26-year high.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 509,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 530,000 for the previous week.
That was significantly below analysts’ estimates of 537,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
But other figures showed the labor market remained weak. The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the economy fell into a recession in December 2007.
The number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits last week reached 4.09 million, the highest level since December 1982, when the economy was in a steep recession. A rising number of continued claims indicates that unemployed workers are having a harder time finding new jobs.
The four-week average of initial claims, which smoothes out fluctuations, rose to 524,500, also the highest level since December 1982, the department said.
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3) Cleveland activists launch moratorium campaign
By Martha Grevatt
Cleveland
Published Nov 24, 2008 5:17 PM
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/cleveland_1204/
Activists in Cleveland have formed the Ohio Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Evictions, Foreclosures and Shutoffs using the Moratorium NOW! Coalition in Michigan as a model.
The Nov. 18 founding meeting was called by the Peoples Fightback Center, the Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party, the Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network (formerly the Cleveland Lucasville Five Defense Committee) and the Baldwin Wallace College Chapter of Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST).
The call to "join a nationwide movement that is keeping people in their homes and keeping their utilities from being shut off" drew additional community activists from outside the original sponsoring groups.
Those present were inspired by a reading from the classic book "Labor's Untold Story." The passage told the story of Peter Grossup, a cabinetmaker laid off in 1930 who eighteen months later faced foreclosure.
When the sheriffs finally came and threw the Grossup family's possessions on the street, the Unemployed Council came and moved everything back in. Grossup, who until that day dismissed the Council as "a bunch of Communists," was lifted from despondency, and subsequently became a Council activist in his own right.
The initial Moratorium Now! meeting was held in the Glenville neighborhood, a predominantly African-American community on Cleveland's east side where the foreclosure crisis is the most severe. The group agreed to hold the second meeting in the west side suburb of Lakewood, which has a large lesbian, gay, bi and trans population and where a Lutheran minister asked the coalition to come to her church.
By going to different neighborhoods, Ohio Moratorium Now! plans to launch a countywide and eventually a statewide campaign to save people's homes and prevent utility shutoffs.
Organizers will employ a two-pronged approach and push for a moratorium through legislative or other governmental action while at the same time building a rapid-response strike force to keep people from being thrown out on the street.
[Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.]
Come to an organizing meeting
Help build a movement for a
Moratorium NOW on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs
in our communities.
Tuesday, Dec. 16 5:30pm
Glenville Branch, Cleveland Public Library
11900 St. Clair
Sponsored by: Ohio Moratorium Now! Coalition to stop evictions, foreclosures, and shut-offs
Sponsored by: Cleveland Chapter New Black Panther Party; People's Fightback Center; Baldwin-Wallace Chapter, Fight Imperialism Stand Together; Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network.
Contact: 216-531-4004
OhioMN@gmail.com
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