*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Bay Area United Against War Newsletter
Table of Contents:
A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
B. VIDEO, FILM, AUDIO. ART, POETRY, ETC.
C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
D. ARTICLES IN FULL
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
SF HRC Hearing: US Law Enforcement Profiling&Surveillance of Muslims-Arabs-South Asians (PREVIEW)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FvyROeYv1A
SFPD and the FBI are collaborating in a "Joint Terrorism Task Force"
you read between the lines...
In a Sanctuary City, we can't let our police act like FBI agents. Let's make sure they play by the rules!
Community testimony at a past Human Rights Commission hearing helped document that Arab, Muslim and South Asian community members are facing consistent interrogation, surveillance, harassment, and infiltration by federal law enforcement personnel (including FBI, CBP, and ICE). This occurs at homes, places of worship, and workplaces as well as traveling. ending racial and religious profiling of our communities, particularly in the context of National Security policies.
Now, SF Police & FBI are forced to respond to concerns of Profiling & Surveillance of Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern and South Asian Communities.
A Joint San Francisco Police Commission & Human Rights Commission Public Hearing
Wednesday May 18, 2011
San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA
Board of Supervisors Chambers
HOW TO HELP: Please come to the hearing to show your support for Civil and Human Rights!
We are looking for community members to testify about their experience of being profiled or spied upon because of their race, religion, political activity or national origin. We are also looking for experts or attorneys and legal workers with clients who have experienced any of the following:
intrusive questioning or detainment while traveling
questioning by SFPD JTTF officers or SFPD officers
visits or approaches from the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
discrimination by law enforcement
(contact info below for questions)
EVEN IF YOU DON'T PLAN TO TESTIFY, HELP US BY PACKING THE HEARING ROOM!
More information:
On September 23, 2011, the Coalition for Safe San Francisco, a growing alliance of civil rights organizations & community helped sponsor an important hearing of the City of San Francisco Human Rights Commission: "Community Concerns of Racial and Religious Profiling, Surveillance of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Communities and the Potential Reactivation of SFPD Intelligence Gathering."
SEE 5 MINUTE YouTUBE Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FvyROeYv1A
To address these concerns the SF HRC issued and adopted a report with a series of recommendations to help end any existing abuses. The SF Board of Supervisors unanimously endorsed this report on Tuesday April 5, 2011.
SEE REPORT HERE: http://www.sf-hrc.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=983
Now the HRC and Police Commission are holding a public hearing to respond to community concerns & questions regarding SFPD policies and practices around possible surveillance and profiling they may be engaged in via collaborations with the FBI, or external actors or internally.
About the Hearing
This hearing will primarily be a forum for law enforcement officials to reply to community concerns and answer commissioner questions. However, there will then be a public comment portion where individuals will be allotted 2 minutes to testify. If you would like to comment, please let us know by contacting:
Summer Hararah | ASIAN LAW CAUCUS (415) 848-7714
OR
Nour Chammas | ARAB RESOURCE AND ORGANIZING CENTER (415) 861-7444
OR Emailing Us at safesf@yahoo.com
Anonymous or emailed stories are welcome.
ABOUT THE COALITION: www.safeSF.org
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Sat. May 21, 7pm
ANSWER Coalition Office, 2969 Mission St.
btwn 25th and 26th Sts., San Francisco
Community Forum
Mexico in Struggle
A discussion on the crises in Mexico and the role of U.S. intervention
• Elvira Villescas Sánchez - activist and founding member of the community organization "Las Hormigas" in Cuidad Juarez
• Frank Lara - activist from the Calexico-Mexicali border and organizer for the May Day Coalition and ANSWER Coalition
• David Bacon - renowned activist, journalist and photographer of the labor and immigrant struggle in Mexico and the U.S.
A donation of $5 to $10, no one turned away for lack of funds
Sponsored by BALASC (Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Coalition)
For more information, visit: www.balasc.org, 415-821-6545
Sab. 21 de mayo, 7pm
Oficina de Coalición ANSWER, Calle Mision #2969
entre 25 y 26th, San Francisco
Foro Comunitario
México en Lucha
Una discusión sobre las crises en México y el papel de intervención por los EE.UU.
• Elvira Villescas Sánchez - activista y fundadora de la organización comunitaria "La Hormigas" en Ciudad Juarez
• Frank Lara - activista de la frontera Calexico-Mexicali y organizador para la Coalición Día de Mayo y la Coalición ANSWER
• David Bacon - activista, periodista, y fotógrafo reconocido de la lucha inmigrante y de labor en México y los EE.UU.
Una donación de $5 a $10, nadie se rechazará por falta de fondos
Patrocinado por BALASC (Coalición de la Bahía por la Solidaridad con América Latina)
Para mas información, visite: www.balasc.org, 415-821-6545
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org
http://www.AnswerSF.org
Answer@AnswerSF.org
2969 Mission St.
415-821-6545
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Next UNAC general meeting is Sunday, June 12, 2:00 PM at Redstone Bldg., 16th Street and Capp. (Capp Street is one block or so below Mission Street.) Third Floor Conference Room, San Francisco. MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW!
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Save the Date!
NATIONAL LABOR-COMMUNITY CONFERENCE TO DEFEAT THE CORPORATE AGENDA AND FIGHT FOR A WORKING PEOPLE'S AGENDA
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio
June 24-26, 2011
Working people across the country -- from Wisconsin and Ohio to New York, Oregon, and California -- are facing unprecedented attacks by corporations and the rich with the help of the federal, state and local politicians that they fund.
The corporate agenda is clear: It is to bust unions and cut workers' pay and benefits -- both in the private and public sectors. It is to erode and privatize Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It is to dismantle the public sector and social services by denying funds for job creation, education, health care, environmental protection, and rebuilding the infrastructure. It is to ensure that taxes on the wealthy are constantly lowered while the bite on workers and the poor is constantly increased. It is to perpetuate U.S. wars and occupations whenever it serves the interests of the multinationals. It is to divide the working class by race, gender, national origin, religion, and sexual orientation. It is also to limit and restrict constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties. The list goes on.
In state capitals, communities and workplaces across the country, workers are fighting back. But if we're going to be successful in pushing back the attacks on collective bargaining, stopping the budget cuts and concessions, creating jobs, and defending social services and education, we need to build unity within our movement, including forging stronger ties with labor's allies: communities of color, students and youth, single-payer advocates, environmentalists, antiwar activists, immigrant rights supporters, and other progressive forces.
Relying on politicians to defend us -- the so-called "friends of labor" -- has proven to be disastrous. During the past three decades, working people have suffered a dramatic decline in their standard of living while the rich have amassed an unprecedented amount of wealth at the top, regardless of which of the major parties was running the government. We have had every combination imaginable: Republicans occupying the White House with a majority in Congress, Democrats occupying the White House with a majority in Congress, or some kind of "divided government." But in each case the result for working people has been the same: conditions got worse for workers while the corporations prospered even more. Why should we continue this vicious cycle?
The working class has the power to put an end to this situation. And as the debate over the debt and the deficit intensifies, the need has never been greater for an organized campaign to demand "No Cuts, No Concessions!" whether in regard to social programs or workers' wages and benefits. We say place the burden for solving the financial crises squarely where it belongs: on the rich. They caused the crisis, let them pay for it!
The Emergency Labor Network (ELN) was initiated earlier this year at a historic meeting of 100 union leaders and activists from around the country. Join us June 24-26, 2011 at Kent State University in Ohio for a national labor-community conference to spur the campaign to build a more militant fight-back movement and to launch a national campaign for an alternative agenda for working people. Together we can move forward on both fronts.
This conference is open to all who agree with its purpose, as explained in this Call. To register for the conference, please go to our website at www.laborfightback.org. If you prefer to register offline, write emergencylabor@aol.com or call 216-736-4715 for a registration form.
For more information, e-mail emergencylabor@aol.com or call 216-736-4715.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Oct. 7 - Protest, March & Die-In on 10th Anniversary of Afghanistan War
Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, 4:30-6:30pm
New Federal Building, 7th & Mission Sts, SF
Protest & Die-In on 10th Anniversary of Afghanistan War
End All the Wars & Occupations-Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Haiti . . .
Money for Jobs, Healthcare & Schools-Not for the Pentagon
Friday, October 7, 2011 will be the exact 10th anniversary of the U.S./NATO war on the people of Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghani people have been killed, wounded and displaced, and thousands of U.S. and NATO forces killed and wounded. The war costs more than $126 billion per year at a time when social programs are being slashed.
The true and brutal character of the U.S. strategy to "win hearts and minds" of the Afghani population was described by a Marine officer, quoted in a recent ANSWER Coalition statement:
"You can't just convince them [Afghani people] through projects and goodwill," another Marine officer said. "You have to show up at their door with two companies of Marines and start killing people. That's how you start convincing them." (To read the entire ANSWER statement, click here)
Mark your calendar now and help organize for the October 7 march and die-in in downtown San Francisco. There are several things you can do:
1. Reply to this email to endorse the protest and die-in.
2. Spread the word and help organize in your community, union, workplace and campus.
3. Make a donation to help with organizing expenses.
Only the people can stop the war!
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.AnswerCoalition.org
http://www.AnswerSF.org
Answer@AnswerSF.org
2969 Mission St.
415-821-6545
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
B. VIDEO, FILM, AUDIO. ART, POETRY, ETC.:
[Some of these videos are embeded on the BAUAW website:
http://bauaw.blogspot.com/ or bauaw.org ...bw]
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Bruised Tear: Aiyana Jones Spoken Word Poem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lIyGGOdlZOg
This piece is to commemorate the death of 7 year old Aiyana Jones who was murdered by the Detroit Police Department. The poem is introduced by the F.B.I.'s first president, J. Edgar Hoover, that he sent out to the COINTELPRO in 1968. Please share, so that we might awaken more eyes to this great injustice!
Police Brutality: Cop Kills 7yr.old Aiyana Jones - Cover Up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZH7iYaQSAE&NR=1&feature=fvwp
DETROIT READY TO EXPLODE! http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2010/05/18/bts.detroit.girl.shot.briefing.wdiv.html
An attorney representing the family of a 7-year-old girl shot to death Sunday in a police raid is accusing the Detroit Police Department of misrepresenting the incident.
In an interview with WDIV on Monday, Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger said he obtained video footage of the incident captured by a crew filming for the A&E network show, "The First 48."
Fieger, who didn't say how he received the tape, said it shows officers rushing the home and throwing a flash grenade through a window before one officer fires into the home from the front porch.
However, according to Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee, preliminary information indicates that members of the Detroit Police Special Response Team approached the house and announced themselves as police. Godbee cited the officers involved and at least one independent witness.
Godbee said officers used a "flash bang" device, entered the home and encountered a 46-year-old female inside the front room.
"Exactly what happened next is a matter still under investigation, but it appears the officer and the woman had some level of physical contact," Godbee said in a statement Sunday. "At about this time, the officer's weapon discharged one round which, tragically, struck 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones in the neck/head area."
Police were executing a search warrant in the search for the suspect in a shooting Friday that killed a high school student.
Godbee said the 34-year-old suspect was found and arrested at the home where the girl was shot. In addition, a vehicle and a moped matching the descriptions of those involved in the shooting of 17-year-old Jarean Blake were also found, he said.
Fieger called the explanation from police "entirely false."
"Of course, I have seen the videotape and the videotape vividly portrays the fact that a percussion grenade device was thrown through the front window and a shot was fired immediately from the outside from the porch," he said.
"No murder suspect was found in Aiyana's house," Fieger said in Monday's interview. "In fact, there's an upstairs apartment next door which the police did not have a search warrant for and that is where he surrendered, they went into that house too. But he was not in Aiyana's house."
Aiyana's father, Charles Jones, also has denied that the suspect was in his home.
Detroit police spokesman Phillip Cook told reporters Monday that he was not aware of the video and declined to comment. The investigation, he said, has been taken over by state police to preserve the "community's trust."
A source at A&E, who asked not to be identified citing company policy, confirmed that a crew was on the scene and that the footage was confiscated by police. He would not comment on what the crew had captured on video.
Another police spokesman said the department would not identify the suspect in Blake's shooting death until he has been formally charged by prosecutors. The suspect remains in custody.
Godbee, in his statement Sunday, said he wished to "express to the family of Aiyana Jones the profound sorrow that we feel within the Detroit Police Department and throughout this community. We know that no words can do anything to take away the pain you are feeling at this time."
Police obtained the "high-risk search warrant" based on intelligence, and it was approved by the prosecutor and a magistrate, Godbee said. "Because of the ruthless and violent nature of the suspect in this case, it was determined that it would be in the best interest of public safety to execute the search warrant as soon as possible and detain the suspect ... while we sought a murder warrant.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Labor Beat: May Day Weekend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiitdOiO6kA
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Paradise Gray Speaks At Jordan Miles Emergency Rally 05/06/2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJOLz1EYDYE&feature=player_embedded
Police Reassigned While CAPA Student's Beatdown Investigated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-6IsP3dUg&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Pittsburgh Student Claims Police Brutality; Shows Hospital Photos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_j_AVsTXZc&feature=relmfu
Justice For Jordan Miles
By jasiri x
http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/
Monday, May 9, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Even though Pittsburgh Police beat Jordan Miles until he looked like this: (Photo at website)
And even though Jordan Miles, an honor student who plays the viola, broke no laws and committed no crimes, the Federal Government decided not to prosecute the 3 undercover Pittsburgh Police officers who savagely beat him.
To add insult to injury, Pittsburgh's Mayor and Police Chief immediately reinstated the 3 officers without so much as a apology. An outraged Pittsburgh community called for an emergency protest to pressure the local District Attorney to prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law.
Below is my good friend, and fellow One Hood founding member Paradise Gray (also a founding member of the Blackwatch Movement and the legendary rap group X-Clan) passionately demanding Justice for Jordan Miles and speaking on the futility of a war of terror overseas while black men are terrorized in their own neighborhoods.
For more information on how you can help get Justice For Jordan Miles go to http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Nation Behind Bars Mass Incarceration And Political Prisoners In the U.S. - Efia Nwangaza, Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination
Black is Back Conference on the Other Wars, March 26, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBKfFEqaoSs&feature=email
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Tier Systems Cripple Middle Class Dreams for Young Workers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09pQW6TW8m4&feature=youtu.be
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Cindy Sheehan has turned her grief into an anti-war crusade, even questioning the death of Osama bin Laden. From HLN's Dr. DREW Show Thurs. 5/5/11:
http://911blogger.com/news/2011-05-06/cindy-sheehan-mothers-war-war
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing, Discusses Global Radiation Exposures and Consequences with Gundersen
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen, discuss the consequences of the Fukushima radioactive fallout on Japan, the USA, and the world. What are the long-term health effects? What should the government(s) do to protect citizens?
http://vimeo.com/22706805
Epidemiologist, Dr. Steven Wing, Discusses Global Radiation Exposures and Consequences with Gundersen from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
New Video - Lupe Fiasco ft. Skylar Grey - 'Words I Never Said'
Thu, Apr 28 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22l1sf5JZD0
Lupe Fiasco addresses some heavy issues in the latest video for his new single, 'Words I Never Said,' featuring Skylar Grey. In the 5 minute and 45 second dose of reality, Lupe tackles issues such as the war on terrorism, devastation, conspiracy theories, 9/11 and genocide. From the opening lyrics of "I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullsh*t", Lupe doesn't hold back as he voices his socio-political concerns.
"If you turn on TV all you see's a bunch of what the f-ks'
Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such
And that ain't Jersey Shore, homie that's the news
And these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say s-t
That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I'm a part of the problem, my problem is I'm peaceful."
Skylar Grey (who also lends her vocals to Dirty money's 'Coming Home' and Eminem's 'I Need A Doctor') does an excellent job of complementing the Alex Da Kid produced track.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
BREAKING ALERT: Mass Arrests, Tear Gas, Sound Weapons used Against WIU Students
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufKv-5t0t4E
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Union Town by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZT71DxLuM&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
MAY DAY 1886-International Workers Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF-ADtNerPM&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Labor Beat: We Are One - Illinois
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOntwNsWHac
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
BRADLEY MANNING "BROKE THE LAW" SAYS OBAMA!
"He broke the law!" says Obama about Bradley Manning who has yet to even be charged, let alone, gone to trial and found guilty. How horrendous is it for the President to declare someone guilty before going to trial or being charged with a crime! Justice in the U.S.A.!
Obama on FREE BRADLEY MANNING protest... San Francisco, CA. April 21, 2011-Presidential remarks on interrupt/interaction/performance art happening at fundraiser. Logan Price queries Barack after org. FRESH JUICE PARTY political action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfmtUpd4id0&feature=youtu.be
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
More troops join anti-government protests in Yemen
More soldiers have been joining anti-government protests on the streets of the capital Sana'a.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6658
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Miss. Medical Examiner Dr. Adel Shaker On Frederick Carter Hanging (4/19/2011)
http://blip.tv/file/5057532
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Egyptian Soldiers Join Protest Demanding End to Military Dictatorship
Adam Hanieh: Class struggle in Egypt enters a new stage
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6626
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Row over Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning treatment (12Apr11)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv8xyHhDKkY&feature=related
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
AP writer--State Department on Human Rights Abuse of Bradley Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUctxdsKk9Q
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Max Romeo - Socialism Is Love
http://youtu.be/eTvUs4rY4to
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Cuba: The Accidental Eden
http://video.pbs.org/video/1598230084/
[This is a stunningly beautiful portrait of the Cuban natural environment as it is today. However, several times throughout, the narrator tends to imply that if it werent for the U.S. embargo against Cuba, Cuba's natural environmet would be destroyed by the influx of tourism, ergo, the embargo is saving nature. But the Cuban scientists and naturalists tell a slightly different story. But I don't want to spoil the delightfully surprising ending. It's a beautiful film of a beautiful country full of beautiful, articulate and well-educated people....bw]
Watch the full episode. See more Nature.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
VIDEO: SWAT Team Evicts Grandmother
Take Back the Land- Rochester Eviction Defense March 28, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2axN1zsZno&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
B. D. S. [Boycott, Divest, Sanction against Israel]
(Jackson 5) Chicago Flashmob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tXe2HKqqs&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Afghans for Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ror0qPcasM&NR=1
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
The Kill Team
How U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan murdered innocent civilians and mutilated their corpses - and how their officers failed to stop them. Plus: An exclusive look at the war crime photos censored by the Pentagon
Rolling Stone
March 27, 3011
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327
Afghans respond to "Kill Team"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3guxWIorhdA
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
END THE U.S./UN/NATO KILL TEAM NOW!
WARNING: THESE ARE HORRIFIC, DISGUSTING, VIOLENT CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE U.S. MILITARY MAKING THE UPCOMING APRIL 10 [APRIL 9 IN NEW YORK] MARCH AND RALLY AGAINST THE WARS A FIRST PRIORITY FOR WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE U.S. WE DEMAND OUT NOW! END THE WARS AGAINST WORKING PEOPLE HERE AND EVERYWHERE! BRING ALL THE TROOPS, UN/NATO/US/ and CONTRACTORS HOME NOW!
The Kill Team Photos More war crime images the Pentagon doesn't want you to see
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/the-kill-team-photos-20110327
'Death Zone' How U.S. soldiers turned a night-time airstrike into a chilling 'music video'
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/death-zone-20110327
'Motorcycle Kill' Footage of an Army patrol gunning down two men in Afghanistan
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/motorcyle-kill-20110327
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
BOB MARLEY - WAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73zaNwyhXn0&playnext=1&list=PLA467527F8DD7DE1F
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
LOWKEY - TERRORIST? (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmBnvajSfWU
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Frederick Alexander Meade on The Prison Industrial Complex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vqzfEYo6Lo
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
BP Oil Spill Scientist Bob Naman: Seafood Still Not Safe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3VdxvMnDls
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Exclusive: Flow Rate Scientist : How Much Oil Is Really Out There?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsHl3kn63ZA&NR=1
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Iraq Veterans Against the War in Occupied Capitol, Madison, WI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7K0wn73uJU
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Stop LAPD Stealing of Immigrant's Cars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0lf4kENkxo
On Februrary 19, 2011 Members of the Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) organized and engaged in direct action to defend the people of Los Angeles, CA from the racist LAPD "Sobriety" Checkpoints that are a poorly disguised trap to legally steal the cars from working class people in general and undocumented people in particular. Please disseminate this link widely.
Venceremos,
SCIC
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
WikiLeaks Mirrors
Wikileaks is currently under heavy attack.
In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, you will find below a list of mirrors of Wikileaks website and CableGate pages.
Go to
http://wikileaks.ch/Mirrors.html
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Labor Beat: Labor Stands with Subpoenaed Activists Against FBI Raids and Grand Jury Investigation of antiwar and social justice activists.
"If trouble is not at your door. It's on it's way, or it just left."
"Investigate the Billionaires...Full investigation into Wall Street..." Jesse Sharkey, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSNUSIGZCMQ
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Oil Spill Commission Final Report: Catfish Responds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ZRdsccMsM
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Free Bradley Manning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4eNzokgRIw&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Domestic Espionage Alert - Houston PD to use surveillance drone in America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpstrc15Ogg
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGqE726OAo&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Coal Ash: One Valley's Tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E7h-DNvwx4&feature=player_embedded
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Flashmob: Cape Town Opera say NO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wElyrFOnKPk
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
"Don't F*** With Our Activists" - Mobilizing Against FBI Raid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyG3dIUGQvQ
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
C. SPECIAL APPEALS AND ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Mumia Wins Decision Against Re-Imposition Of Death Sentence, But...
The Battle Is Still On To
FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!
The Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
PO Box 16222 • Oakland CA 94610
www.laboractionmumia.org
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
ELLA BAKER CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
CLOSE PRISONS NOT SCHOOLS!
https://secure3.convio.net/ebc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=164&utm_campaign=bnb_close_prisons_not_schools&utm_source=email-action&utm_medium=email&s_src=bnb_close_prisons_not_schools&s_subsrc=email-action&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=k3sp4vh2j4.app332b
Carlos* was only 14 years when he was locked up in a California youth prison. Growing up in a rough neighborhood in Northern CA, there were few resources for him or his younger brothers. Carlos was swept up by gangs and ended up serving a 10 year sentence in Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), leaving his siblings and childhood behind.
For 10 long years, our state spent millions of dollars to lock him up in a cell. Meanwhile, the state spent a tiny fraction of that amount providing an inadequate education to his younger brothers.
When Carlos was finally released earlier this year, he returned to a neighborhood that hasn't changed. Resources for youth are still scarce. He worries about his little brothers growing up in a society that would rather lock them up than invest in their educations and future.
Carlos' experience is only one example of why California ranks near the bottom in education spending and performance, but we're #1 in prison spending. DJJ drains much-needed resources from California's schools and the vital community programs that would help our State thrive. It's time to close the expensive, abusive DJJ and redirect those resources into our schools.
Join Books Not Bars in calling on Governor Brown to protect our schools by closing the Division of Juvenile Justice.
On May 10, join Books Not Bars, teachers, students, and other concerned Californians at the Capitol to save our schools. For more information or if you plan on attending, please contact Jennifer Kim at Jennifer@ellabakercenter.org, or (510) 285-8234.
If you can't join us in person, take action now, then sign up for join our online rally next Tuesday by sending Gov. Brown an email now.
Justice for families.
Sumayyah Waheed
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
*Carlos' name has been changed to protect his privacy.
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
www.ellabakercenter.org | 510.428.3939
1970 Broadway, Suite 450 | Oakland, CA | 94612
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
U.S. Attorney Escalates Attacks on Civil Liberties of Anti-War,
Palestinian Human Rights Activists
Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald first thing Monday morning! (contact info at bottom of this email)
On Friday, May 6, the U.S. government froze the bank accounts of Hatem Abudayyeh and his wife, Naima. This unwarranted attack on a leading member of the Palestinian community in Chicago is the latest escalation of the repression of anti-war and Palestinian community organizers by the FBI, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Hatem Abudayyeh is one of 23 activists from Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in Chicago, and his home was raided by the FBI in September of last year. Neither Hatem Abudayyeh nor Naima Abudayyeh have been charged with any crime.
One of the bank accounts frozen was exclusively in Naima Abudayyeh's name. Leaders of the national Committee to Stop FBI Repression, as well as Chicago's Coalition to Protect People's Rights are appalled at the government's attempt to restrict the family's access to its finances, especially so soon before Mothers' Day. Not only does the government's action seriously disrupt the lives of the Abudayyehs and their five-year-old daughter, but it represents an attack on Chicago's Arab community and activist community and the fundamental rights of Americans to freedom of speech.
The persecution of the Abudayyeh family is another example of the criminalization of Palestinians, their supporters, and their movement for justice and liberation. There has been widespread criticism of the FBI and local law enforcement for their racial profiling and scapegoating of Arab and Muslim Americans. These repressive tactics include infiltration of community centers and mosques, entrapment of young men, and the prominent case of 11 students from the University of California campuses at Irvine and Riverside who have been subpoenaed to a grand jury and persecuted for disrupting a speech by Michael Oren, Israeli Ambassador to the US. The government's attempt to conflate the anti-war and human rights movements with terrorism is a cynical attempt to capitalize on the current political climate in order to silence Palestinians and other people of conscience who exercise their First Amendment rights in a manner which does not conform to the administration's foreign policy agenda in the Middle East.
The issuance of subpoenas against the 23 activists has been met with widespread opposition and criticism across the country. Six members of the U.S. Congress, including five in the past month, have sent letters to either Holder or President Obama, expressing grave concern for the violations of the civil liberties and rights of the 23 activists whose freedom is on the line. Three additional U.S. representatives have also promised letters, as thousands of constituents and other people of conscience across the U.S. have demanded an end to this assault on legitimate political activism and dissent. Over 60 Minnesota state legislators also issued a resolution condemning the subpoenas.
The Midwest activists have been expecting indictments for some time. The freezing of the Abudayyeh family's bank accounts suggests that the danger of indictments is imminent.
Take action:
Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at 312-353-5300.
Then dial 0 (zero) for the operator and ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk.
Demand Fitzgerald
-- Unfreeze the bank accounts of the Abudayyeh family and
-- Stop repression against Palestinian, anti-war and international solidarity activists.
In solidarity,
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression and
The Coalition to Protect People's Rights
For more info go to StopFBI.net
follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright (c) 2011 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55415
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Abolish the Death Penalty Blog
http://www.ncadp.org/blog.cfm?postID=165
Abolish the Death Penalty is a blog dedicated to...well, you know. The purpose of Abolish is to tell the personal stories of crime victims and their loved ones, people on death row and their loved ones and those activists who are working toward abolition. You may, from time to time, see news articles or press releases here, but that is not the primary mission of Abolish the Death Penalty. Our mission is to put a human face on the debate over capital punishment.
You can also follow death penalty news by reading our News page and by following us on Facebook and Twitter.
1 Million Tweets for Troy! April 12, 2011
Take Action! Tweet for Troy!
The state of Georgia is seeking to change the drugs they use to carry out executions so they can resume scheduling execution dates, including that of Troy Davis, a man with a strong claim of innocence. Doubts in the case persist, including the fact that no physical evidence links him to the murder, most of the witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony and newer testimony implicates a different person (including an eyewitness account).
The Davis case has already generated hundreds of thousands of emails, calls, and letters in support of clemency, including from leaders such as the Pope, Jimmy Carter and former FBI chief Bill Sessions. We need to continue to amass petitions in support of clemency, demonstrating the widespread concern about this case and what it represents.
Please help us send a message to Georgia officials that they can do the right thing - they can intervene as the final failsafe by commuting Davis' sentence. Please help us generate 1 million tweets for Troy Davis!
Share this tweet alert with your friends and family that care about justice and life as soon as you can.
More information about the case is available at www.justicefortroy.org
Here are some sample tweets:
When in doubt, don't execute!! Sign the petition for #TroyDavis! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Too much doubt! Stop the execution! #TroyDavis needs us! www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No room for doubt! Stop the execution of #TroyDavis . Retweet, sign petition www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
Case not "ironclad", yet Georgiacould execute #TroyDavis ! Not on our watch! Petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
No murder weapon. No physical evidence. Stop the execution! #TroyDavis petition: www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition
7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted. No physical evidence. Stop the execution of Troy Davis www.tinyurl.com/troyepetition #TroyDavis
Thanks!
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
FREE BRADLEY MANNING! HANDS OFF JULIAN ASSANGE!
In a recent New York Daily News Poll the question was asked:
Should Army pfc Bradley Manning face charges for allegedly stealing classified documents and providing them for WikiLeaks?
New York Daily News Poll Results:
Yes, he's a traitor for selling out his country! ...... 28%
No, he's a hero for standing up for what's right! ..... 62%
We need to see more evidence before passing judgment.. 10%
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/05/2011-03-05_wikileaks_private_loses_his_underwear.html?r=news
Sign the Petition:
We stand for truth, for government transparency, and for an end to our tax-dollars funding endless occupation abroad...
We stand with accused whistle-blower
US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning
Stand with Bradley!
A 23-year-old Army intelligence analyst, Pfc. Manning faces decades in prison for allegedly leaking a video of a US helicopter attack that killed at least eleven Iraqi civilians to the website Wikileaks. Among the dead were two working Reuters reporters. Two children were also severely wounded in the attack.
In addition to this "Collateral Murder" video, Pfc. Manning is suspected of leaking the "Afghan War Diaries" - tens of thousands of battlefield reports that explicitly describe civilian deaths and cover-ups, corrupt officials, collusion with warlords, and a failing US/NATO war effort.
"We only know these crimes took place because insiders blew the whistle at great personal risk ... Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal," noted Barack Obama while on the campaign trail in 2008. While the President was referring to the Bush Administration's use of phone companies to illegally spy on Americans, Pfc. Manning's alleged actions are just as noteworthy. If the military charges against him are accurate, they show that he had a reasonable belief that war crimes were being covered up, and that he took action based on a crisis of conscience.
After nearly a decade of war and occupation waged in our name, it is odd that it apparently fell on a young Army private to provide critical answers to the questions, "What have we purchased with well over a trillion tax dollars and the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan?" However, history is replete with unlikely heroes.
If Bradley Manning is indeed the source of these materials, the nation owes him our gratitude. We ask Secretary of the Army, the Honorable John M. McHugh, and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General George W. Casey, Jr., to release Pfc. Manning from pre-trial confinement and drop the charges against him.
http://standwithbrad.org/
Bulletin from the cause: Bradley Manning Support Network
Go to Cause
Posted By: Tom Baxter
To: Members in Bradley Manning Support Network
A Good Address for Bradley!!!
We have a good address for Bradley,
"A Fort Leavenworth mailing address has been released for Bradley Manning:
Bradley Manning 89289
830 Sabalu Road
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027
The receptionist at the military barracks confirmed that if someone sends Bradley Manning a letter to that address, it will be delivered to him."
http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/update-42811
This is also a Facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207100509321891#!/event.php?eid=207100509321891
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
The Arab Revolutions:
Guiding Principles for Peace and Justice Organizations in the US
Please email endorsement to ekishawi@yahoo.com
We, the undersigned, support the guiding principles and demands listed in this statement. We call on groups who want to express solidarity with the Arab revolutions to join our growing movement by signing this statement or keeping with the demands put forward herewith.
Background
The long-awaited Arab revolution has come. Like a geologic event with the reverberations of an earthquake, the timing and circumstances were unpredictable. In one Arab country after another, people are taking to the street demanding the fall of monarchies established during European colonial times. They are also calling to bring down dictatorships supported and manifested by neo-colonial policies. Although some of these autocratic regimes rose to power with popular support, the subsequent division and subjugation of the Arab World led to a uniform repressive political order across the region. The Arab masses in different Arab countries are therefore raising a uniform demand: "The People Want to Topple the Regimes!"
For the past two decades, the Arab people witnessed the invasion and occupation of Iraq with millions killed under blockade and occupation, Palestinians massacred with the aim to crush the anti-Zionist resistance, and Lebanon repeatedly invaded with the purposeful targeting of civilians. These actions all served to crush resistance movements longing for freedom, development, and self-determination. Meanwhile, despotic dictatorships, some going back 50 years, entrenched themselves by building police states, or fighting wars on behalf of imperialist interests.
Most Arab regimes systematically destroyed the social fabric of civil society, stifled social development, repressed all forms of political dissent and democratic expression, mortgaged their countries' wealth to foreign interests and enriched themselves and their cronies at the expense of impoverishing their populations. After pushing the Arab people to the brink, populations erupted.
The spark began in Tunisia where a police officer slapped and spat on Mohammad Bou Azizi, flipping over his produce cart for not delivering a bribe on time. . Unable to have his complaint heard, he self-immolated in protest, igniting the conscience of the Tunisian people and that of 300 million Arabs. In less than a month, the dictator, Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, was forced into exile by a Tunisian revolution. On its way out, the regime sealed its legacy by shooting at unarmed protestors and burning detention centers filled with political prisoners. Ben Ali was supported by the US and Europe in the fight against Islamic forces and organized labor.
Hosni Mubarak's brutal dictatorship fell less than a month after Tunisia's. The revolution erupted at a time when one half of the Egyptian population was living on less than $2/day while Mubarak's family amassed billions of dollars. The largest population recorded in Egyptian history was living in graveyards and raising their children among the dead while transportation and residential infrastructure was crumbling. Natural gas was supplied to Israel at 15% of the market price while the Rafah border was closed with an underground steel wall to complete the suffocation of the Palestinians in Gaza. Those who were deemed a threat swiftly met the fate of Khalid Said. 350 martyrs fell and 2,000 people were injured.
After Egypt and Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan exploded in protest. Some governments quickly reshuffled faces and ranks without any tangible change. Some, like Bahrain and Yemen, sent out their security forces to massacre civilians. Oman and Yemen represent strategic assets for the US as they are situated on the straits of Hormuz and Aden, respectively. Bahrain is an oil country that hosts a US military base, situated in the Persian Gulf. A new round of US funded blood-letting of Arab civilians has begun!
Libyan dictator Qaddafi did not prove to be an exception. He historically took anti-imperialist positions for a united Arab World and worked for an African Union. He later transformed his regime to a subservient state and opened Libya to British Petroleum and Italian interests, working diligently on privatization and political repression. He amassed more wealth than that of Mubarak. In the face of the Libyan revolution, Qaddafi exceeded the brutality of Ben Ali and Mubarak blind-folding and executing opponents, surrounding cities with tanks, and bombing his own country. Death toll is expected to be in the thousands.
Qaddafi's history makes Libya an easy target for imperialist interests. The Obama administration followed the Iraq cookbook by freezing Libyan assets amounting to 30% of the annual GDP. The White House, with the help of European governments, rapidly implemented sanctions and called for no-fly zones. These positions were precipitated shortly after the US vetoed a resolution condemning the illegal Israeli colonization of the West Bank. Special operations personnel from the UK were captured by the revolutionary commanders in Ben Ghazi and sent back. The Libyan revolutionary leadership, the National Council clearly stated: "We are completely against foreign intervention. The rest of Libya will be liberated by the people ... and Gaddafi's security forces will be eliminated by the people of Libya."
Demands of the Solidarity Movement with Arab Revolutions
1. We demand a stop to US support, financing and trade with Arab dictatorships. We oppose US policy that has favored Israeli expansionism, war, US oil interest and strategic shipping routes at the expense of Arab people's freedom and dignified living.
2. We support the people of Tunisia and Egypt as well as soon-to-be liberated nations to rid themselves of lingering remnants of the deposed dictatorships.
3. We support the Arab people's right to sovereignty and self-determination. We demand that the US government stop its interference in the internal affairs of all Arab countries and end subsidies to wars and occupation.
4. We support the Arab people's demands for political, civil and economic rights. The Arab people's movement is calling for:
a. Deposing the unelected regimes and all of its institutional remnants
b. Constitutional reform guaranteeing freedom of organizing, speech and press
c. Free and fair elections
d. Independent judiciary
e. National self-determination.
5. We oppose all forms of US and European military intervention with or without the legitimacy of the UN. Standing in solidarity with the revolution against Qaddafi, or any other dictator, does not equate to supporting direct or indirect colonization of an Arab country, its oil or its people. We therefore call for:
a. Absolute rejection of military blockades, no-fly zones and interventions.
b. Lifting all economic sanctions placed against Libya and allowing for the formation of an independent judiciary to prosecute Qaddafi and deposed dictators for their crimes.
c. Immediately withdrawing the US and NATO troops from the Arab region.
6. We support Iraq's right to sovereignty and self determination and call on the US to immediately withdraw all occupation personnel from Iraq.
7. We recognize that the borders separating Arab nations were imposed on the Arab people by the colonial agreements of Sykes-Picot and the Berlin Conference on Africa. As such, we support the anti-Zionist nature of this revolution in its call for:
a. Ending the siege and starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza
b. Supporting the right of the Palestinian people to choose their own representation, independent of Israeli and US dictates
c. Supporting the right of the Lebanese people to defend their country from Israeli violations and their call to end vestiges of the colonial constitution constructed on the basis of sectarian representation
d. Supporting the right of the Jordanian people to rid themselves of their repressive monarchy
e. Ending all US aid to Israel.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY -- ANY DAY
to Fitzgerald, Holder and Obama
The Grand Jury is still on its witch hunt and the FBI is still
harassing activists. This must stop.
Please make these calls:
1. Call U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald at 312-353-5300 . Then dial 0
(zero) for operator and ask to leave a message with the Duty Clerk.
2. Call U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 202-353-1555
3. Call President Obama at 202-456-1111
Suggested text: "My name is __________, I am from _______(city), in
______(state). I am calling _____ to demand he call off the Grand Jury
and stop FBI repression against the anti-war and Palestine solidarity
movements. I oppose U.S. government political repression and support
the right to free speech and the right to assembly of the 23 activists
subpoenaed. We will not be criminalized. Tell him to stop this
McCarthy-type witch hunt against international solidarity activists!"
If your call doesn't go through, try again later.
Update: 800 anti-war and international solidarity activists
participated in four regional conferences, in Chicago, IL; Oakland,
CA; Chapel Hill, NC and New York City to stop U.S. Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald's Grand Jury repression.
Still, in the last few weeks, the FBI has continued to call and harass
anti-war organizers, repressing free speech and the right to organize.
However, all of their intimidation tactics are bringing a movement
closer together to stop war and demand peace.
We demand:
-- Call Off the Grand Jury Witch-hunt Against International Solidarity
Activists!
-- Support Free Speech!
-- Support the Right to Organize!
-- Stop FBI Repression!
-- International Solidarity Is Not a Crime!
-- Stop the Criminalization of Arab and Muslim Communities!
Background: Fitzgerald ordered FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity
activists' homes and subpoenaed fourteen activists in Chicago,
Minneapolis, and Michigan on September 24, 2010. All 14 refused to
speak before the Grand Jury in October. Then, 9 more Palestine
solidarity activists, most Arab-Americans, were subpoenaed to appear
at the Grand Jury on January 25, 2011, launching renewed protests.
There are now 23 who assert their right to not participate in
Fitzgerald's witch-hunt.
The Grand Jury is a secret and closed inquisition, with no judge, and
no press. The U.S. Attorney controls the entire proceedings and hand
picks the jurors, and the solidarity activists are not allowed a
lawyer. Even the date when the Grand Jury ends is a secret.
So please make these calls to those in charge of the repression aimed
against anti-war leaders and the growing Palestine solidarity
movement.
Email us to let us know your results. Send to info@StopFBI.net
**Please sign and circulate our 2011 petition at http://www.stopfbi.net/petition
In Struggle,
Tom Burke,
for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
FFI: Visit www.StopFBI.net or email info@StopFBI.net or call
612-379-3585 .
Copyright (c) 2011 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights
reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55415
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Call for EMERGENCY RESPONSE Action if Assange Indicted,
Dear Friends:
We write in haste, trying to reach as many of you as possible although the holiday break has begun.......This plan for an urgent "The Day After" demonstration is one we hope you and many, many more organizations will take up as your own, and mobilize for. World Can't Wait asks you to do all you can to spread it through list serves, Facebook, twitter, holiday gatherings.
Our proposal is very very simple, and you can use the following announcement to mobilize - or write your own....
ANY DAY NOW . . . IN THE EVENT THAT THE U.S. INDICTS JULIAN ASSANGE
An emergency public demonstration THE DAY AFTER any U.S. criminal indictment is announced against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Spread the word and call people to come out, across the whole range of movements and groups: anti-war, human rights, freedom of information/freedom of the press, peace, anti-torture, environmental, students and youth, radicals and revolutionaries, religious, civil liberties, teachers and educators, journalists, anti-imperialists, anti-censorship, anti-police state......
At the Federal Building in San Francisco, we'll form ourselves into a human chain "surrounding" the government that meets the Wikileaked truth with repression and wants to imprison and silence leakers, whistleblowers and truthtellers - when, in fact, these people are heroes. We'll say:
HANDS OFF WIKILEAKS! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE BRADLEY MANNING!
Join the HUMAN CHAIN AROUND THE FEDERAL BUILDING!
New Federal Building, 7th and Mission, San Francisco (nearest BART: Civic Center)
4:00-6:00 PM on The Day FOLLOWING U.S. indictment of Assange
Bring all your friends - signs and banners - bullhorns.
Those who dare at great risk to themselves to put the truth in the hands of the people - and others who might at this moment be thinking about doing more of this themselves -- need to see how much they are supported, and that despite harsh repression from the government and total spin by the mainstream media, the people do want the truth told.
Brad Manning's Christmas Eve statement was just released by his lawyer: "Pvt. Bradley Manning, the lone soldier who stands accused of stealing millions of pages secret US government documents and handing them over to secrets outlet WikiLeaks, wants his supporters to know that they've meant a lot to him. 'I greatly appreciate everyone's support and well wishes during this time,' he said in a Christmas Eve statement released by his lawyer...." Read more here:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/mannings-message-christmas-eve-i-gr/
Demonstrations defending Wikileaks and Assange, and Brad Manning, have already been flowering around the world. Make it happen here too.
Especially here . . .
To join into this action plan, or with questions, contact World Can't Wait or whichever organization or listserve you received this message from.
World Can't Wait, SF Bay
415-864-5153
sf@worldcantwait.org
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
DEFEND LYNNE STEWART!
Write to Lynne Stewart at:
Lynne Stewart #53504 - 054
Unit 2N
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TEXAS 76127
Visiting Lynne:
Visiting is very liberal but first she has to get people on her visiting list; wait til she or the lawyers let you know. The visits are FRI, SAT, SUN AND MON for 4 hours and on weekends 8 to 3. Bring clear plastic change purse with lots of change to buy from the machines. Brief Kiss upon arrival and departure, no touching or holding during visit (!!) On visiting forms it may be required that you knew me before I came to prison. Not a problem for most of you.
Commissary Money:
Commissary Money is always welcome It is how Lynne pay for the phone and for email. Also for a lot that prison doesn't supply in terms of food and "sundries" (pens!) (A very big list that includes Raisins, Salad Dressing, ankle sox, mozzarella (definitely not from Antonys--more like a white cheddar, Sanitas Corn Chips but no Salsa, etc. To add money, you do this by using Western Union and a credit card by phone or you can send a USPO money order or Business or Govt Check. The negotiable instruments (PAPER!) need to be sent to Federal Bureau of Prisons, 53504-054, Lynne Stewart, PO Box 474701, Des Moines Iowa 50947-001 (Payable to Lynne Stewart, 53504-054) They hold the mo or checks for 15 days. Western Union costs $10 but is within 2 hours. If you mail, your return address must be on the envelope. Unnecessarily complicated? Of course, it's the BOP !)
The address of her Defense Committee is:
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
1070 Dean Street
Brooklyn, New York 11216
For further information:
718-789-0558 or 917-853-9759
Please make a generous contribution to her defense.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Help end the inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning!
Bradley Manning Support Network.
Contact the Marine Corps officers above and respectfully, but firmly, ask that they lift the extreme pre-trial confinement conditions against Army PFC Bradley Manning.
Forward this urgent appeal for action widely.
Sign the "Stand with Brad" public petition and letter campaign at www.standwithbrad.org - Sign online, and we'll mail out two letters on your behalf to Army officials.
Donate to Bradley's defense fund at www.couragetoresist.org/bradley
References:
"The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention", by Glenn Greenwald for Salon.com, 15 December 2010
"A Typical Day for PFC Bradley Manning", by attorney David E. Coombs, 18 December 2010
"Bradley Manning's Life Behind Bars", by Denver Nicks for the Daily Beast, 17 December 2010
Bradley Manning Support Network
Courage To Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
In earnest support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange:
http://readersupportednews.org/julian-assange-petition
rsn:Petition
We here undersigned express our support for the work and integrity of Julian Assange. We express concern that the charges against the WikiLeaks founder appear too convenient both in terms of timing and the novelty of their nature.
We call for this modern media innovator, and fighter for human rights extraordinaire, to be afforded the same rights to defend himself before Swedish justice that all others similarly charged might expect, and that his liberty not be compromised as a courtesy to those governments whose truths he has revealed have embarrassed.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
KEVIN COOPER IS INNOCENT! FREE KEVIN COOPER!
Reasonable doubts about executing Kevin Cooper
Chronicle Editorial
Monday, December 13, 2010
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/13/EDG81GP0I7.DTL
Death penalty -- Kevin Cooper is Innocent! Help save his life from San Quentin's death row!
http://www.savekevincooper.org/
http://www.savekevincooper.org/pages/essays_content.html?ID=255
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
17 December 2010
Click here to take action online:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=15084
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa25910.pdf
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Free the Children of Palestine!
Sign Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41467.html
Published by Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition on Dec 16, 2010
Category: Children's Rights
Region: GLOBAL
Target: President Obama
Web site: http://www.al-awda.org
Background (Preamble):
According to Israeli police, 1200 Palestinian children have been arrested, interrogated and imprisoned in the occupied city of Jerusalem alone this year. The youngest of these children was seven-years old.
Children and teen-agers were often dragged out of their beds in the middle of the night, taken in handcuffs for questioning, threatened, humiliated and many were subjected to physical violence while under arrest as part of an ongoing campaign against the children of Palestine. Since the year 2000, more than 8000 have been arrested by Israel, and reports of mistreatment are commonplace.
Further, based on sworn affidavits collected in 2009 from 100 of these children, lawyers working in the occupied West Bank with Defense Children International, a Geneva-based non governmental organization, found that 69% were beaten and kicked, 49% were threatened, 14% were held in solitary confinement, 12% were threatened with sexual assault, including rape, and 32% were forced to sign confessions written in Hebrew, a language they do not understand.
Minors were often asked to give names and incriminate friends and relatives as a condition of their release. Such institutionalized and systematic mistreatment of Palestinian children by the state of Israel is a violation international law and specifically contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Israel is supposedly a signatory.
Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41467.html
We, the undersigned call on US President Obama to direct Israel to
1. Stop all the night raids and arrests of Palestinian Children forthwith.
2. Immediately release all Palestinian children detained in its prisons and detention centers.
3. End all forms of systematic and institutionalized abuse against all Palestinian children.
4. Implement the full restoration of Palestinian children's rights in accordance with international law including, but not limited to, their right to return to their homes of origin, to education, to medical and psychological care, and to freedom of movement and expression.
The US government, which supports Israel to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars a year while most ordinary Americans are suffering in a very bad economy, is bound by its laws and international conventions to cut off all aid to Israel until it ends all of its violations of human rights and basic freedoms in a verifiable manner.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
"Secret diplomacy is a necessary tool for a propertied minority, which is compelled to deceive the majority in order to subject it to its interests."..."Publishing State Secrets" By Leon Trotsky
Documents on Soviet Policy, Trotsky, iii, 2 p. 64
November 22, 1917
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/foreign-relations/1917/November/22.htm
FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE BRADLEY MANNING! STOP THE FBI RAIDS NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
To understand how much a trillion dollars is, consider looking at it in terms of time:
A million seconds would be about eleven-and-one-half days; a billion seconds would be 31 years; and a trillion seconds would be 31,000 years!
From the novel "A Dark Tide," by Andrew Gross
Now think of it in terms of U.S. war dollars and bankster bailouts!
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
For Immediate Release
Antiwar movement supports Wikileaks and calls for and independent, international investigation of the crimes that have been exposed. We call for the release of Bradley Manning and the end to the harassment of Julian Assange.
12/2/2010
For more information: Joe Lombardo, 518-281-1968,
UNACpeace@gmail.org, NationalPeaceConference.org
Antiwar movement supports Wikileaks and calls for and independent, international investigation of the crimes that have been exposed. We call for the release of Bradley Manning and the end to the harassment of Julian Assange.
The United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC) calls for the release of Bradley Manning who is awaiting trial accused of leaking the material to Wikileaks that has been released over the past several months. We also call for an end to the harassment of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks and we call for an independent, international investigation of the illegal activity exposed through the material released by Wikileaks.
Before sending the material to Wikileaks, Bradley Manning tried to get his superiors in the military to do something about what he understood to be clear violations of international law. His superiors told him to keep quiet so Manning did the right thing; he exposed the illegal activity to the world.
The Afghan material leaked earlier shows military higher-ups telling soldiers to kill enemy combatants who were trying to surrender. The Iraq Wikileaks video from 2007 shows the US military killing civilians and news reporters from a helicopter while laughing about it. The widespread corruption among U.S. allies has been exposed by the most recent leaks of diplomatic cables. Yet, instead of calling for change in these policies, we hear only a call to suppress further leaks.
At the national antiwar conference held in Albany in July, 2010, at which UNAC was founded, we heard from Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers on the ground during the helicopter attack on the civilians in Iraq exposed by Wikileaks (see: http://www.mediasanctuary.org/movie/1810 ). He talked about removing wounded children from a civilian vehicle that the US military had shot up. It affected him so powerfully that he and another soldier who witnessed the massacre wrote a letter of apology to the families of the civilians who were killed.
We ask why this material was classified in the first place. There were no state secrets in the material, only evidence of illegal and immoral activity by the US military, the US government and its allies. To try to cover this up by classifying the material is a violation of our right to know the truth about these wars. In this respect, Bradley Manning and Julian Assange should be held up as heroes, not hounded for exposing the truth.
UNAC calls for an end to the illegal and immoral policies exposed by Wikileaks and an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to threats against Iran and North Korea.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Courage to Resist needs your support
By Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist.
It's been quite a ride the last four months since we took up the defense of accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning. Since then, we helped form the Bradley Manning Support Network, established a defense fund, and have already paid over half of Bradley's total $100,000 in estimated legal expenses.
Now, I'm asking for your support of Courage to Resist so that we can continue to support not only Bradley, but the scores of other troops who are coming into conflict with military authorities due to reasons of conscience.
Please donate today:
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38590
"Soldiers sworn oath is to defend and support the Constitution. Bradley Manning has been defending and supporting our Constitution."
-Dan Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistle-blower
Iraq War over? Afghanistan occupation winding down? Not from what we see. Please take a look at, "Soldier Jeff Hanks refuses deployment, seeks PTSD help" in our December newsletter. Jeff's situation is not isolated. Actually, his story is only unique in that he has chosen to share it with us in the hopes that it may result in some change. Jeff's case also illustrates the importance of Iraq Veterans Against the War's new "Operation Recovery" campaign which calls for an end to the deployment of traumatized troops.
Most of the folks who call us for help continue to be effected by Stoploss, a program that involuntarily extends enlistments (despite Army promises of its demise), or the Individual Ready Reserve which recalls thousands of former Soldiers and Marines quarterly from civilian life.
Another example of our efforts is Kyle Wesolowski. After returning from Iraq, Kyle submitted an application for a conscientious objector discharge based on his Buddhist faith. Kyle explains, "My experience of physical threats, religious persecution, and general abuse seems to speak of a system that appears to be broken.... It appears that I have no other recourse but to now refuse all duties that prepare myself for war or aid in any way shape or form to other soldiers in conditioning them to go to war." We believe he shouldn't have to walk this path alone.
Sincerely,
Jeff Paterson
Project Director, Courage to Resist
First US military service member to refuse to fight in Iraq
Please donate today.
https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=38590
P.S. I'm asking that you consider a contribution of $50 or more, or possibly becoming a sustainer at $15 a month. Of course, now is also a perfect time to make a end of year tax-deductible donation. Thanks again for your support!
Please click here to forward this to a friend who might
also be interested in supporting GI resisters.
http://ymlp.com/forward.php?id=lS3tR&e=bonnieweinstein@yahoo.com
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Add your name! We stand with Bradley Manning.
"We stand for truth, for government transparency, and for an end to our tax-dollars funding endless occupation abroad... We stand with accused whistle-blower US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning."
Dear All,
The Bradley Manning Support Network and Courage to Resist are launching a new campaign, and we wanted to give you a chance to be among the first to add your name to this international effort. If you sign the letter online, we'll print out and mail two letters to Army officials on your behalf. With your permission, we may also use your name on the online petition and in upcoming media ads.
Read the complete public letter and add your name at:
http://standwithbrad.org/
Courage to Resist (http://couragetoresist.org)
on behalf of the Bradley Manning Support Network (http://bradleymanning.org)
484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland CA 94610
510-488-3559
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Dear Friend,
On Friday, September 24th, the FBI raided homes in Chicago and Minneapolis, and turned the Anti-War Committee office upside down. We were shocked. Our response was strong however and we jumped into action holding emergency protests. When the FBI seized activists' personal computers, cell phones, and papers claiming they were investigating "material support for terrorism", they had no idea there would be such an outpouring of support from the anti-war movement across this country! Over 61 cities protested, with crowds of 500 in Minneapolis and Chicago. Activists distributed 12,000 leaflets at the One Nation Rally in Washington D.C. Supporters made thousands of calls to President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Solidarity statements from community organizations, unions, and other groups come in every day. By organizing against the attacks, the movement grows stronger.
At the same time, trusted lawyers stepped up to form a legal team and mount a defense. All fourteen activists signed letters refusing to testify. So Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox withdrew the subpoenas, but this is far from over. In fact, the repression is just starting. The FBI continues to question activists at their homes and work places. The U.S. government is trying to put people in jail for anti-war and international solidarity activism and there is no indication they are backing off. The U.S. Attorney has many options and a lot of power-he may re-issue subpoenas, attempt to force people to testify under threat of imprisonment, or make arrests.
To be successful in pushing back this attack, we need your donation. We need you to make substantial contributions like $1000, $500, and $200. We understand many of you are like us, and can only afford $50, $20, or $10, but we ask you to dig deep. The legal bills can easily run into the hundreds of thousands. We are all united to defend a movement for peace and justice that seeks friendship with people in other countries. These fourteen anti-war activists have done nothing wrong, yet their freedom is at stake.
It is essential that we defend our sisters and brothers who are facing FBI repression and the Grand Jury process. With each of your contributions, the movement grows stronger.
Please make a donation today at stopfbi.net (PayPal) on the right side of your screen. Also you can write to:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
P.O. Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
This is a critical time for us to stand together, defend free speech, and defend those who help to organize for peace and justice, both at home and abroad!
Thank you for your generosity! Tom Burke
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Short Video About Al-Awda's Work
The following link is to a short video which provides an overview of Al-Awda's work since the founding of our organization in 2000. This video was first shown on Saturday May 23, 2009 at the fundraising banquet of the 7th Annual Int'l Al-Awda Convention in Anaheim California. It was produced from footage collected over the past nine years.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTiAkbB5uC0&eurl
Support Al-Awda, a Great Organization and Cause!
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, depends on your financial support to carry out its work.
To submit your tax-deductible donation to support our work, go to
http://www.al-awda.org/donate.html and follow the simple instructions.
Thank you for your generosity!
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
COURAGE TO RESIST!
Support the troops who refuse to fight!
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/
Donate:
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/21/57/
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
D. ARTICLES IN FULL (Unless otherwise noted)
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Money Troubles Take Personal Toll in Greece
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
May 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/business/global/16drachma.html?ref=world
2) Despite City Crackdown, Immigrants Still Are Often Cheated by Job Agencies
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
May 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/nyregion/immigrants-often-cheated-by-job-agencies-in-new-york.html?ref=nyregion
3) Appalling Greed: Richest 400 Average $270.5 Million Incomes, Pay Almost Nothing in Taxes
By Sam Pizzigati, Blog for Our Future
Posted on May 16, 2011, Printed on May 17, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/150956/appalling_greed%3A_richest_400_average_%24270.5_million_incomes%2C_pay_almost_nothing_in_taxes
4) Who is Delbert Orr Africa (in a snapshot)
by Yvonne Orr
Friday, May 13, 2011 at 1:07pm
See http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html for more
5) A Conflict Without End
New York Times Editorial
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/opinion/17tue1.html?hp
6) Japanese Officials Ignored or Concealed Dangers
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/world/asia/17japan.html?hp
7) Miami Imam Will Plead Not Guilty to Aiding Terror Group, Lawyer Says
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17imams.html?ref=world
8) Peru: Presidential Candidate Hires Giuliani as Adviser
By REUTERS
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/world/americas/17briefs-Peru.html?ref=world
9) Search Allowed if Police Hear Evidence Being Destroyed
By ADAM LIPTAK
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17scotus.html?ref=us
10) Obama Is a Millionaire, Records Show
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
May 16, 2011, 6:30 pm
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/obama-is-a-millionaire-records-show/?ref=us
11) Some White House Workers Want to Join Union
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17brfs-SOMEWHITEHOU_BRF.html?ref=us
12) In Japan Reactor Failings, Danger Signs for the U.S.
By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATTHEW L. WALD
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/world/asia/18japan.html?hp
13) Afghan Protesters Clash With Police After NATO Raid
"At one point, the protesters carried the bodies of the four people killed in the raid through the streets, the governor said. They were buried later in the day. According to witnesses, the mob grew infuriated when a protester paraded a 10-year-old girl before it. 'This is the only remaining member of the family killed by foreigners last night,' the protester announced. Night raids have been a bitter source of tension between NATO and Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, who has said they frequently lead to civilian casualties and deepen distrust in the government and NATO forces."
By RAY RIVERA and SANGAR RAHIMI
May 18, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/world/asia/19afghanistan.html?hp
13) Sixth Soldier Charged in Afghan Killings
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18soldier.html?ref=world
14) Flooding Takes Economic Toll, and It's Hardly Done
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18river.html?ref=us
15) Chemical Suspected in Cancer Is in Baby Products
"Under current law, it is difficult for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to ban or restrict chemicals. Even now, the agency has yet to ban asbestos, widely known to cause cancer and other lung diseases. 'We can buy things that are BPA free, or phthalate free or lead free. We don'' have the choice to buy things that are flame-retardant free,' Dr. Stapleton said. "The laws protect the chemical industry, not the general public.'"
By ANDREW MARTIN
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/18chemical.html?ref=us
16) [SASI] Incredibly Important and Courageous Report on the Manufacturing of the 'Homegrown' Threat, issued and released by the The Center For Human Rights & Global Justice
VIA Email
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Money Troubles Take Personal Toll in Greece
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
May 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/business/global/16drachma.html?ref=world
ATHENS - His face contorted with anguish, Anargyros D. recounted how he had lost everything in the aftermath of the Greek economic collapse - the food-processing factory founded by his father 30 years ago, his house, his car, his Rolex, his pride and now, he said, his will to live.
"Many times I have thought of taking my father's car and driving it into a wall," he said, declining to give his last name because he was reluctant to draw attention to himself under these circumstances.
Hunched over and shaking, he sat last week in the spartan office of Klimaka, a social services organization here that provides help to the swelling numbers of homeless and depressed Greek professionals who have lost their jobs and their dignity.
"We were the people in Greece who helped others," he said. "Now we are asking for help."
It has been one year since Greece avoided bankruptcy when Europe and the International Monetary Fund provided a 110 billion euro ($155 billion) bailout. While no one expected the country to reverse its sagging fortunes quickly, the despair of Greeks like Anargyros D. reflects a level of suffering deeper than anyone here had anticipated.
Economists are predicting a 4 percent contraction in gross domestic product this year, and the data support the pessimism. Cement production is down 60 percent since 2006. Steel production has fallen, in some cases more than 80 percent in the last two years. Analysts say that close to 250,000 private sector jobs will have been lost by the end of the year, pushing the unemployment rate above 15 percent.
With headlines shouting of credit rating downgrades, panicky Greeks are taking their money from banks. Greece lost 40 billion euros of deposits last year, and bankers say withdrawals have increased recently.
These struggles have again made Greece an urgent matter for the 17-nation euro zone, whose finance ministers are to meet on Monday to discuss Greece and the debt crisis that has defied Europe's yearlong efforts to contain it. On the table will be whether Greece, which is now projected to miss its deficit target by as much as two percentage points of G.D.P. this year, will be granted another round of loans totaling as much as 60 billion euros, and what further budget cuts would be required in return.
But there is serious debate about whether this kind of prescription - subjecting Greece to more cuts and sacrifice in order to justify a second installment of funds from a reluctant Europe - is the right one.
This form of remedy violates two basic economic principles, according to Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor and blogger at the University of Athens. "You do not lend money at high interest rates to the insolvent and you do not introduce austerity into a recession," he said. "It's pretty simple: the debt is going up and G.D.P. is going down. Have we not learned the lesson of 1929?"
The arrest on Saturday of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the I.M.F., on charges related to sexual assault could create new uncertainty about a push for more severe austerity. Mr. Strauss-Kahn generally favored a less onerous approach, and if he is forced to resign it is possible that tougher conditions preferred by Germany will be imposed.
But while the debate over how to fix the Greek economy has played out in public, the ways in which this slump is tearing at the country's social fabric are less well known. The transformation has been jarring to a citizenry long accustomed to a generous welfare state.
Social workers and municipal officials in Athens report that there has been a 25 percent increase in homelessness. At the main food kitchen in Athens, 3,500 people a day come seeking food and clothing, up from about 100 people a day when it first opened 10 years ago.
The average age of those who show up is now 47, down from 60 two years ago, adding to evidence that those who are suffering now are former professionals. The unemployment rate for men 30 to 60 years old has spiked to 10 percent from 4 percent since the crisis began in 2008.
Aris Violatzis, Anargyros D.'s counselor, says that calls to the Klimaka charity's suicide help line have risen to 30 a day, twice the number two years ago.
"We cannot imagine this," Mr. Violatzis said. "We were once the 29th-richest country in the world. This is a nation in deep emotional shock."
Evidence of the emotional and social shock was abundant in Athens last week. Even as I.M.F. and European banking officials worked with Greek officials to hash out the contours of a second bailout package, a nicely dressed middle-aged woman with silver buckles on her shoes sifted through the garbage cans outside the five-star hotels where many of these officials were staying.
At dusk, riot police fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters as tourists and workers on their way home took cover.
Laid off construction workers have holed up in abandoned villas. A security guard fired by one of the many downsizing Greek companies said he had spent the last year sleeping in the back seat of his battered hatchback. And a chef trained in the premier cooking school in Athens spent 18 months sleeping on park benches after the restaurant where he worked eliminated his job. A homeless charity recently gave him shelter.
While aid workers refer to these people as a new generation of homeless, the Greek government does not officially recognize the homeless as a social category in need of assistance, says Anta Alamanu, who runs a privately financed shelter for Klimaka, the social services group.
As a result there are no government-supported homeless shelters as they exist in other parts of Europe or in the United States.
When Kostas DeLazaris, 47, lost his tourism job on the island of Corfu in 2007, he joined a construction firm in Athens, only to lose that job 10 months ago as the once-buoyant building industry ground to a halt. Now he sleeps on the floor in an abandoned house, sharing the space with two Greek women and a family of Bangladeshi immigrants.
He was a dedicated union man when he worked in tourism, serving as vice president of his local branch. But on the same day last week that his former peers marched on Parliament in protest, he said he would not be joining them.
"I feel betrayed," he said, his voice rising in anger. "I paid my dues. I was part of the masses, and now I am on the streets."
He snorts at the possibility of a new deal with Europe.
"That is a dead end," he said. "There will be an earthquake instead and blood will be spilt."
Indeed, there are analysts who argue that a social flare-up is in the making, fueled by the divide between the hard-hit private sector and a public work force of about one million strong that so far has not experienced significant job losses.
"This is an explosive situation, and there could well be violence," said Stefanos Manos, a former economy minister who has advocated more aggressive spending cuts. "Especially as those who lost their jobs were earning 50 percent less than those who kept them."
There is mounting criticism that Prime Minister George A. Papandreou, after a burst of changes last year, has lost his nerve. A plan to raise 50 billion euros by 2015 by privatizing the publicly owned power and train companies has been a bitter disappointment. Those companies, home to powerful unions that protect what some view as thousands of excess workers, remain largely untouched by reforms.
Mr. Papandreou has achieved some success in opening up closed professions and reforming the country's pension and retirement systems. And he still retains the support of many Greeks, who believe that there is no better alternative.
But his critics say he may be avoiding the difficult choices in the belief that, as the saying goes here, the god of Greece will save Greece by means of a fresh European bailout.
That is what Richard Parker, a political economist from Harvard who is serving as one of Mr. Papandreou's top outside advisers, thinks should happen. Germany, he says, has to overcome its Calvinist instincts and write Greece one big check so that it can continue its economic overhaul process.
"Greece's debt is just 3 percent of the euro zone G.D.P.," said Mr. Parker, who has known Mr. Papandreou for more than 40 years. "And the price of tipping over Europe will be much larger. My attitude is, give them the money."
Greece may well get the assistance, with strings attached, of course. But whether that will help lift Anargyros D. out of his despondency remains unclear. At age 41, he lives off his father's monthly pension of 962 euros, which is down from 1,500 euros a year ago, and he must borrow money for the bus from his home in the Peloponnese region to his counseling sessions in Athens.
"Everything was coming up roses," he said, mashing a cigarette into the ashtray before him. "And then the banks took it all away from us."
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Despite City Crackdown, Immigrants Still Are Often Cheated by Job Agencies
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
May 15, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/nyregion/immigrants-often-cheated-by-job-agencies-in-new-york.html?ref=nyregion
Cristina Rivas, 49, an immigrant from El Salvador, thought her one-year search for steady work had finally come to an end. A Queens employment agency that she had paid $120 said it had found her a job as a waitress at an upscale restaurant. She needed only to show up.
But when Ms. Rivas arrived at the "restaurant" last year, she encountered an atmosphere far different from what had been promised. Men whistled at female employees. Tips were offered for private dances. Distraught, she asked for a refund from the agency, but it refused.
"They exploited me," Ms. Rivas said in Spanish. "They didn't act like human beings. They treated me like a slave."
In some of the poorest neighborhoods across the city, immigrants hoping to land jobs through employment agencies have routinely been cheated out of money. They are often charged hundreds of dollars in fees, promised jobs that do not exist, and sent to abusive working environments.
Three years ago, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, responding to an influx of complaints about employment agencies, pledged to root out wrongdoing through undercover inspections and mandatory training for the agencies. "The city is putting a stop to the widespread abuse and fraudulent behavior that for too long has cheated New Yorkers in need," he said at the time.
But achieving that goal has proved vexing, complicated by what is often a fly-by-night business culture and by the reluctance of many immigrants to speak up. The city is up against an industry that has multiplied rapidly during the economic downturn - there are officially 350 agencies, but some advocates say the number exceeds 1,000. In the past six years, 36 have been shut down, but about 200 complaints a year come in, only a fraction of the probable violations.
"This is the tip of the iceberg," said Jonathan B. Mintz, commissioner of the city's Department of Consumer Affairs, which is leading the effort to crack down on abusive agencies. "Achieving compliance in this industry is quite difficult."
Owners of employment agencies acknowledge that there is abuse in the industry, but they say the city's campaign has harmed the reputation of honest enterprises and hurt business.
"We are not here to exploit people," said Antonio Ruiz, owner of Éxito Agencia de Empleo in Queens. "We are here to help them find work."
For immigrants looking for a foothold in the economy, employment agencies are often the first stop. Many of these agencies are concentrated in Chinatown and Jackson Heights, Queens, both home to large immigrant communities.
Customers usually pay a fee of at least $100 to be placed in a job. The help in writing résumés and translating paperwork is especially enticing for illegal immigrants, who do not qualify for unemployment benefits.
Under city law, employment agencies are prohibited from guaranteeing applicants that they will find them jobs, and they are not permitted to place people in jobs that pay below minimum wage. Agencies are also required to provide a written contract, a detailed job description, and information on refunds and labor laws.
Consumers frequently complain that agencies require non-English speakers to sign contracts in English, or demand upfront payments, which in most cases are illegal. City officials say they have encountered agencies that plotted with businesses to dupe consumers and steal their money, and cases of women being sent for work to strip clubs, rather than to restaurants as they thought.
Adela Valdez, a community activist in Queens, said she had been cheated several times by employment agencies, including once when she was asked to work at a laundry for a one-week trial and was never compensated. She said elected officials should have done more to regulate the industry.
"Who are the laws for?" she said. "Those that have more money? We are the ones who have to work."
Julissa Bisono, an organizer for Make the Road, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, said she often heard complaints from families about agencies that collected money one day and disappeared the next.
"It's like you gave money to a ghost," Ms. Bisono said. "Sometimes those are the last $100 that they have."
Her group has begun an effort to educate immigrants about consumer rights and the perils of employment agencies.
Some state lawmakers are proposing legislation to increase fines against employment agencies to $500, from $100, for each day a violation continues, and to make it a misdemeanor to accumulate three or more violations in a five-year span.
State Senator Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat who has sponsored a bill requiring employment agencies to prominently post information about the rights of applicants, said many immigrants did not know where to turn for help. In Washington Heights, Mr. Espaillat said, he has noticed a new scheme: agencies that arrange work and transportation for immigrants but withhold their paychecks. "They're taking advantage of folks that don't know their rights," said Mr. Espaillat, who represents parts of Manhattan and the Bronx. "It's very dehumanizing."
For Ms. Rivas, the immigrant from El Salvador, the job search continued. After calling the city's 311 help line, she was able to get her money refunded. In all, the city has recovered more than $300,00 for customers cheated by employment agencies since 2005. She eventually found work as a nanny through another agency, working seven days a week to support her two children.
"We don't have another way of finding work," she said. "If you don't speak English, you have to put your trust in them."
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Appalling Greed: Richest 400 Average $270.5 Million Incomes, Pay Almost Nothing in Taxes
By Sam Pizzigati, Blog for Our Future
Posted on May 16, 2011, Printed on May 17, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/150956/appalling_greed%3A_richest_400_average_%24270.5_million_incomes%2C_pay_almost_nothing_in_taxes
In 2008, the IRS revealed last week, 400 Americans reported at least $110 million in income on their federal tax returns. These 400, in a year that ended with millions of Americans out of work and home, averaged $270.5 million each, the second-highest U.S. top 400 average income on record.
The IRS only started reporting top 400 income calculations in 2003, and the agency's official "top 400" totals just go back to 1992. But older IRS data reports do make top 400 estimates from some earlier years possible. And these earlier figures leave the latest IRS numbers in even starker relief.
In 1955, for instance, America's top 400 averaged - in 2008 dollars - $13.3 million. In other words, the top 400 in 2008 reported incomes that, after taking inflation into account, amounted to more than 20 times the incomes of America's top 400 a half-century ago.
But 1955's top 400 didn't just make far less than 2008's top 400. The rich in 1955 paid far more of their income in taxes than today's rich. In 2008, the new IRS data show, the top 400 paid only 18.1 percent of their total incomes in federal income tax. The top 400 in 1955 paid 51.2 percent of their total incomes in tax.
After taxes, and after adjusting for inflation, 2008's top 400 had a staggering $85 billion more left in their pockets than 1955's most awesomely affluent.
You don't have to go all the way back to 1955 to see how little today's top 400 are paying in taxes. In 1992, the IRS stats detail, only 33 of the top 400 paid less than 20 percent of their incomes in federal income tax. In 2008, 253 did.
The main reason: Today's rich are getting more and more of their income from capital gains - the profits from buying and selling stocks, bonds, and other assets - and these capital gains now face a substantially lower tax rate than they did two decades ago.
Some specifics: In 1992, the top 400 grabbed 26 percent of their income from paychecks and 36 percent from capital gains. In 2008, by contrast, only 8 percent of top 400 income came from salary - 88 of the year's top 400 didn't even have jobs - and 57 percent came from capital gains.
These 2008 capital gains faced only a 15 percent tax rate, down from a 1992 rate almost twice that high.
Incomes for the 2008 top 400 did dip from top 400 levels in 2007, a year that saw the top 400 average $344.8. But the dropoff from 2007 to 2008 turned out to be less steep than the dip in 2000 after the dot-com bust.
America's richest came roaring back, fairly fast, from that dot-com setback. How fast will the next comeback be for America's super rich? We won't know for sure until next spring, when the IRS releases top 400 income figures for 2009.
We can, in the meantime, do some reasonable surmising. Next year's top 400 figures for 2009, we can predict with some confidence, figure to be real stunners. One statistic behind that confidence: In 2009, we already know, the financial industry's top 25 hedge fund managers averaged a record $1.01 billion, over double the $464 million hedge fund top 25 average in 2008.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Who is Delbert Orr Africa (in a snapshot)
by Yvonne Orr
Friday, May 13, 2011 at 1:07pm
See http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html for more
Delbert Orr Africa is a political prisoner who has been wrongfully incarcerated for over 30 years. Delbert Orr was born June 21, 1951 (this is the media published date, NOT the real one which will remain undisclosed...for the record, my dad is actually 65...do the math =). As a young man he joined the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Party, where he met my mom. A loving relationship ensued with her being a feisty officer of the BPP and him being a nubuck in the game of stand-up-for-yourself revolution. In 1969 the FBI put forth false warrants on the Chicago BPP leadership, including my parents. They and others then fled to Canada and birthed One Phoenix Rising...they originally named me Malaika. They struggled to get any financial support while in exile and started carrying out bank expropriations to sustain themselves. I was born in a shack, by the water with no medical personnel...just a young woman (who had finished high school at 16, college at 19 and been declared a Mensa member) dead set on ensuring that I would have a life.
In October of 1969 Delbert had been back in Chicago. As he was driving back to Canada he crashed and ended up in the hospital. Later, my mom got word that he was the sole survivor of the accident and unable to walk. She spoke of bringing me back to Chicago, but he warned of raids being enacted against the BPP in Chicago. In December 1969, Fred Hampton, Sr. was murdered and they knew we had to head elsewhere.
In March of 1970 Delbert and three other friends decided to head down to Philadelphia because one of them was originally from there. It was there in Philadelphia that he met members of the MOVE organization. He was inspired by their uplifting approach to revolution and stayed on with them. My mom stayed in Philly for a few years and brought me back to Chicago in 1973. Meanwhile, Delbert ended up becoming Minister of Confrontation and Security for the MOVE Organization.
MOVE vs. The police
After countless false charges, ongoing harassment and many altercations, police finally decided that it was time for MOVE to be vanquished. When the police raided the MOVE house in August 1978, Delbert was the one videotaped being beaten brutally by police. He suffered a broken jaw and fractured eye socket from the attack.
Life in Prison
Delbert started his prison sentence out in the "hole" for 6 years in a Dallas prison for refusing to break his religious beliefs and cut his hair. I was not allowed to visit with him during this time. In fact, on one occasion my Granny-- who didnt' drive-- enlisted her girlfriend to drive us from Texas to Philly after getting word that we could see him. Some 20 odd hours later, we were denied because my birth certificate "didn't look right". We traveled back with me in tears. I did get to see him a year 1/2 later, though, making the same trek as before. In December 1989 he was transferred out of Dallas, they had riots at Camp Hill prison, which though he wasn't even a part of, the state prison used as an excuse to send him to the Federal system. We didn't get word of his transfer for 11 months! In federal prison he was under 23 hour lock up, 24 hours lock up on weekends where they wouldn't even let him out for yard. He stayed in long-term solitary confinement until May of that year. Then they transferred him to another prison (again without informing his family).
At the new prison he was offered a job in the printing shop. They were mystified when he turned them down because pay was good for prison work- $86 a month. Delbert explained the situation,
"I said, 'Naw, I don't want that.' They said, 'Wait a minute. This is just starting off, you can move right on up.' I said, 'Look, I've been in the hole for 6 years. I want some air! I don't want no career in the prison.' So they assigned me to the yard detail. And that was it, I loved that. I stayed in there a year and they shipped me back to state. When I got back they put me in the hole for about 3 weeks, then I got out, they put me in population.
That "population" consists of repeat rapists, serial killers, true murderers and gang thugs. What I have learned through my father/daughter relationship is that I am loved (despite the distance & circumstances) by two parents. I've never heard anything remotely cult-ish come out of my father's mouth. He's never "strongly encouraged" me to join MOVE. He's been an educator, mentor, protector and father as best as he could given his situation. I love him, have no shame to claim him and will forever be bound by our blood.
The May 13, 1985 bombing of the MOVE house wasn't justice! The bombing resulted in 11 deaths, including 5 children and the group's leader John Africa. Only 2 occupants survived, Ramona, an adult and Birdy, a child. In addition, 60 homes were destroyed in the resulting fires. There does come a time when HUMANITY should take precedence over political agendas.
Shame on us all for allowing many others beyond the MOVE 9 to be wrongfully incarcerated as well.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) A Conflict Without End
New York Times Editorial
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/opinion/17tue1.html?hp
Osama bin Laden had been dead only a few days when House Republicans began their efforts to expand, rather than contract, the war on terror. Not content with the president's wide-ranging powers to pursue the archcriminals of Sept. 11, 2001, Republicans want to authorize the military to pursue virtually anyone suspected of terrorism, anywhere on earth, from now to the end of time.
This wildly expansive authorization would, in essence, make the war on terror a permanent and limitless aspect of life on earth, along with its huge potential for abuse.
The Authorization for Use of Military Force, approved by Congress a week after Sept. 11, 2001, gives the president the power to go after anyone who committed or aided in the 9/11 attacks, or who harbored such people, to prevent acts of terrorism. It was this document that authorized the war in Afghanistan and the raid on Bin Laden's compound.
A new bill, approved last week by the House Armed Services Committee and heading for the floor this month, would go much further. It would allow military attacks against not just Al Qaeda and the Taliban but also any "associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States." That deliberately vague phrase could include anyone who doesn't like America, even if they are not connected in any way with the 2001 attacks. It could even apply to domestic threats.
It allows the president to detain "belligerents" until the "termination of hostilities," presumably at a camp like the one in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Since it does not give a plausible scenario of how those hostilities could be considered over, it raises the possibility of endless detention for anyone who gets on the wrong side of a future administration.
The bill, part of the National Defense Authorization Act, was introduced by the committee chairman, Howard McKeon of California, who said it simply aligns old legal authorities with current threats. We've heard that before, about wiretapping and torture, and it was always untrue.
These powers are not needed, for current threats, or any other threat. President Obama has not asked for them (though, unfortunately, the administration has used a similar definition of the enemy in legal papers). Under the existing powers, or perhaps ignoring them, President George W. Bush abused his authority for many years with excessive detentions and illegal wiretapping. Those kinds of abuses could range even more widely with this open-ended authorization.
As more than 30 House Democrats protested to Mr. McKeon, a declaration of "global war against nameless individuals, organizations, and nations" could "grant the president near unfettered authority to initiate military action around the world without further Congressional approval." If a future administration wanted to attack Iran unilaterally, it could do so without having to consult with Congress.
This measure is unnecessary. The Bush administration demonstrated how dangerous it could be. The Democrats were right to demand the House conduct hearings on the measure, which was approved with little scrutiny. If it passes, the Senate should amend it out of existence, and President Obama should make clear he will veto it.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Japanese Officials Ignored or Concealed Dangers
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/world/asia/17japan.html?hp
OMAEZAKI, Japan - The nuclear power plant, lawyers argued, could not withstand the kind of major earthquake that new seismic research now suggested was likely.
If such a quake struck, electrical power could fail, along with backup generators, crippling the cooling system, the lawyers predicted. The reactors would then suffer a meltdown and start spewing radiation into the air and sea. Tens of thousands in the area would be forced to flee.
Although the predictions sound eerily like the sequence of events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago to shut down another plant, long considered the most dangerous in Japan - the Hamaoka station.
It was one of several quixotic legal battles waged - and lost - in a long attempt to improve nuclear safety and force Japan's power companies, nuclear regulators, and courts to confront the dangers posed by earthquakes and tsunamis on some of the world's most seismically active ground.
The lawsuits reveal a disturbing pattern in which operators underestimated or hid seismic dangers to avoid costly upgrades and keep operating. And the fact that virtually all these suits were unsuccessful reinforces the widespread belief in Japan that a culture of collusion supporting nuclear power, including the government, nuclear regulators and plant operators, extends to the courts as well.
Yuichi Kaido, who represented the plaintiffs in the Hamaoka suit, which they lost in a district court in 2007, said that victory could have led to stricter earthquake, tsunami and backup generator standards at plants nationwide.
"This accident could have been prevented," Mr. Kaido, also the secretary general of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, said of Fukushima Daiichi. The operator of the plant, Chubu Electric Power Company, temporarily shut down Hamaoka's two active reactors over the weekend, following an extraordinary request by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
After strengthening the plant's defenses against earthquakes and tsunamis, a process that could take a couple of years, the utility is expected to restart the plant.
Japan's plants are all located in coastal areas, making them vulnerable to both quakes and tsunamis. The tsunami is believed to have caused the worst damage at the Fukushima plant, though evidence has begun emerging that the quake may have damaged critical equipment before the waves struck.
The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, directly led to the suspension of Hamaoka here in Omaezaki, a city about 120 miles southwest of Tokyo. But Mr. Kan's decision was also clearly influenced by a campaign, over decades, by small groups of protesters, lawyers and scientists, who sued the government or operators here and elsewhere.
They were largely ignored by the public. Harassment by neighbors, warnings by employers, and the reluctance of young Japanese to join antinuclear groups have diminished their numbers.
But since the disaster at Fukushima and especially the suspension of Hamaoka, the aging protesters are now heralded as truth-tellers, while members of the nuclear establishment are being demonized.
On Friday, as Chubu Electric began shutting down a reactor at 10 a.m., Eiichi Nagano, 90, and Yoshika Shiratori, 78, were battling strong winds on the shoreline leading to the plant here. Mr. Shiratori, a leader of the lawsuit, led the way as Mr. Nagano followed with a sprightly gait despite a bent back. The two men scrambled up a dune, stopping only before a "No Trespassing" sign.
"Of course, we're pleased about the suspension," Mr. Nagano said, as the strong wind seemed to threaten to topple him. "But if we had done more, if our voices had been louder, we could have prevented the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. Fukushima was sacrificed so that Hamaoka could be suspended."
Unheeded Warnings
In 1976, a resource-poor Japan still reeling from the shocks of the oil crisis was committed fully to nuclear power to achieve greater energy independence, a path from which it never strayed despite growing doubts in the United States and Europe.
That year, as Hamaoka's No. 1 reactor started operating and No. 2 was under construction, Katsuhiko Ishibashi, a seismologist and now professor emeritus at Kobe University, publicized research showing that the plant lay directly above an active earthquake zone where two tectonic plates met. Over the years, further research would back up Mr. Ishibashi's assessment, culminating in a prediction last year by the government's own experts that there was a nearly 90 percent chance that a magnitude 8.0 quake would hit this area within the next 30 years.
After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, residents in this area began organizing protests against Chubu Electric. They eventually sued the utility in 2003 to stop the plant's reactors, which had increased to four by then, arguing that the facility's quake-resistance standards were simply inadequate in light of the new seismic predictions.
In 2007, a district court ruled against the plaintiffs, finding no problems with the safety assessments and measures at Hamaoka. The court appeared to rely greatly on the testimony of Haruki Madarame, a University of Tokyo professor and promoter of nuclear energy, who since April 2010 has been the chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, one of the nation's two main nuclear regulators.
Testifying for Chubu Electric, Mr. Madarame brushed away the possibility that two backup generators would fail simultaneously. He said that worrying about such possibilities would "make it impossible to ever build anything." After the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, Mr. Madarame apologized for this earlier comment under questioning in Parliament. "As someone who promoted nuclear power, I am willing to apologize personally," he said.
In the early days of nuclear power generation in Japan, the government and nuclear plant operators assured the public of the safety of plants by promising that they would not be located on top of active fault lines, Mr. Ishibashi, the seismologist, said in an interview.
But he said that advances in seismology have led to the gradual discovery of active fault lines under or near plants, creating an inherent problem for the operators and the government and leading to an inevitable conclusion for critics of nuclear power.
"The Japanese archipelago is a place where you shouldn't build nuclear plants," Mr. Ishibashi said.
Advances in seismology also led to lawsuits elsewhere. Only two courts have issued rulings in favor of plaintiffs, but those were later overturned by higher courts. Since the late 1970s, 14 major lawsuits have been filed against the government or plant operators in Japan, which until March 11 had 54 reactors at 18 plants..
In one of the two cases, residents near the Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa, a prefecture facing the Sea of Japan, sued to shut down a new reactor there in 1999. They argued that the reactor, built near a fault line, had been designed according to outdated quake-resistance standards.
A district court ordered the shutdown of the plant in 2006, ruling that the operator, Hokuriku Electric Power Company, had not proved that its new reactor met adequate quake-resistance standards, given new knowledge about the area's earthquake activity.
Kenichi Ido, the chief judge at the district court who is now a lawyer in private practice, said that, in general, it was difficult for plaintiffs to prove that a plant was dangerous. What is more, because of the technical complexities surrounding nuclear plants, judges effectively tended to side with a national strategy of promoting nuclear power, he said.
"I think it can't be denied that a psychology favoring the safer path comes into play," Mr. Ido said. "Judges are less likely to invite criticism by siding and erring with the government than by sympathizing and erring with a small group of experts."
That appears to have happened when a higher court reversed the decision in 2009 and allowed Hokuriku Electric to keep operating the reactor. In that decision, the court ruled that the plant was safe because it met new standards for Japan's nuclear plants issued in 2006.
Critics say that this exposed the main weakness in Japan's nuclear power industry: weak oversight.
The 2006 guidelines had been set by a government panel composed of many experts with ties to nuclear operators. Instead of setting stringent industrywide standards, the guidelines effectively left it to operators to check whether their plants met new standards.
In 2008, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Japan's main nuclear regulator, said that all the country's reactors met the new quake standards and did not order any upgrades.
Concealing Facts
Other lawsuits reveal how operators have dealt with the discovery of active fault lines by underestimating their importance or concealing them outright, even as nuclear regulators remained passive.
For 12 years, Yasue Ashihara has led a group of local residents in a long and lonely court battle to halt operations of the Shimane nuclear plant, which sits less than five miles from Matsue, a city of 200,000 people in western Japan.
Ms. Ashihara's fight against the plant's operator, Chugoku Electric Power, revolves around not only the discovery of a previously unknown active fault line, but an odd tug of war between her group and the company about the fault's length, and thus the strength of the earthquakes it is capable of producing.
The utility has slowly accepted the contention of Ms. Ashihara's group by repeatedly increasing its estimate of the size of the fault. Yet a district court last year ruled in favor of Chugoku Electric Power, accepting its argument that its estimates were based on the better scientific analysis.
"We jokingly refer to it as the ever-growing fault line," said Ms. Ashihara, 58, who works as a caregiver for the elderly. "But what it really means is that Chugoku Electric does not know how strong an earthquake could strike here."
Her group filed the lawsuit in 1999, a year after the operator suddenly announced that it had detected a five-mile-long fault near the plant, reversing decades of claims that the plant's vicinity was free of active faults.
Chugoku Electric said the fault was too small to produce an earthquake strong enough to threaten the plant, but Ms. Ashihara's suit cited new research showing the fault line could in fact be much longer, and produce a much stronger earthquake. It got a boost in 2006, when a seismologist announced that a test trench that he had dug showed the fault line to be at least 12 miles long, capable of causing an earthquake of magnitude 7.1.
After initially resisting, the company reversed its position three years ago to accept the finding. But a spokesman for the Chugoku Electric said the plant was strong enough to withstand an earthquake of this size without retrofitting.
"This plant sits on solid bedrock," said Hiroyuki Fukada, assistant director of the visitor center for the Shimane plant, adding that it had a 20-foot, ferro-concrete foundation. "It is safe enough for at least a 7.1 earthquake."
However, researchers now say the fault line may extend undersea at least 18 miles, long enough to produce a magnitude 7.4 earthquake. This prompted Ms. Ashihara's group to appeal last year's ruling.
Ms. Ashihara said she has waged her long fight because she believes the company is understating the danger to her city. But she says she has at times felt ostracized from this tightly bound community, with relatives frowning upon her drawing attention to herself.
Still, she said she hoped the shutdown of Hamaoka would help boost her case. She said local residents had already been growing skeptical of the Shimane plant's safety after revelations last year that the operator falsified inspection records, forcing it to shut down one of the plant's three reactors.
In Ms. Ashihara's case, the nuclear operator acknowledged the existence of the active fault line in court. In the case of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata, a prefecture facing the Sea of Japan, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, the utility that also operates Fukushima Daiichi, did not disclose the existence of an active fault line until an earthquake forced it to.
In 1979, residents sued the government to try overturn its decision granting Tepco a license to build a plant there. They argued that nuclear regulators had not performed proper inspections of the area's geology - an accusation that the government would acknowledge years later - and that an active fault line nearby made the plant dangerous. In 2005, the Tokyo High Court ruled against the plaintiffs, concluding that no such fault line existed.
But in 2007, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake damaged the plant, causing a fire and radiation leaks, Tepco admitted that, in 2003, it had determined the existence of a 12-mile-long active fault line in the sea nearby.
Weighing the Chances
The decision to suspend Hamaoka has immediately raised doubts about whether other plants should be allowed to continue operating. The government based its request on the prediction that there is a nearly 90 percent chance that a magnitude 8.0 earthquake will hit this area within the next 30 years. But critics have said that such predictions may even underestimate the case, pointing to the case of Fukushima Daiichi, where the risk of a similar quake occurring had been considered nearly zero.
"This is ridiculous," said Hiroaki Koide, an assistant professor at the Research Reactor Institute at Kyoto University. "If anything, Fukushima shows us how unforeseen disasters keep happening. There are still too many things about earthquakes that we don't understand."
Until March 11, Mr. Koide had been relegated to the fringes as someone whose ideas were considered just too out of step with the mainstream. Today, he has become an accepted voice of conscience in a nation re-examining its nuclear program.
For the ordinary Japanese who waged lonely battles against the nuclear establishment for decades - mostly graying men like Mr. Nagano and Mr. Shiratori - the Hamaoka plant's suspension has also given them their moment in the sun.
The two worried, however, that the government will allow Hamaoka to reopen once Chubu Electric has strengthened defenses against tsunamis. Chubu Electric announced that it would erect a 49-foot high seawall in front of the plant, which is protected only by a sand dune.
"Building a flimsy seawall isn't enough," Mr. Shiratori said. "We have to keep going after Chubu Electric in court and shut down the plant permanently."
"That's right," Mr. Nagano said, the smallness of his bent frame emphasized by the enormous plant behind him. "This is only the beginning."
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Miami Imam Will Plead Not Guilty to Aiding Terror Group, Lawyer Says
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17imams.html?ref=world
MIAMI - The 76-year-old imam of South Florida's oldest mosque will plead not guilty to charges of financing terrorism in Pakistan, his defense lawyer said on Monday.
After a hearing in Federal District Court here, Khurrum Wahid, the lawyer for the imam, Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, pleaded with the community not to prejudge his client.
Mr. Khan, the leader of the Miami Mosque in west Miami, was charged along with two of his sons and three other people with providing material assistance to the Pakistani Taliban from 2008 to 2010.
"The public may have preconceived notions," Mr. Wahid said. "I would ask the public to keep an open mind, and remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty in this country."
As he sat in the jury box's first row in Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber's courtroom, Mr. Khan, who has a long, snow-white beard and wears thick, black-rimmed glasses, appeared frail and confused (the proceedings were translated in Mr. Khan's native Urdu). On at least two occasions, Mr. Khan tried to say something to court personnel and he struggled to walk to the lectern to face the judge.
He suffers from a heart condition, failing eyesight and diabetes, his lawyer said. "We're very concerned about his health," Mr. Wahid said.
One of Mr. Khan's sons, Izhar Khan, 24, the imam of a mosque in Margate, Fla., sat near his father in the jury box. Both men appeared in court for the first time since their federal indictment was unsealed late last week. Neither man entered a plea.The indictment says the defendants conspired to provide material support to a conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap people overseas, including planning to funnel at least $50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban, which the State Department has named a terrorist organization, took responsibility for a suicide attack in Pakistan on Friday that killed more than 80 cadets from a government paramilitary force.
Of the 50 largest terrorism cases in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, about 70 percent have involved financing or other support for terrorist groups, according to the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.
But in a number of high-profile cases, prosecutors have discovered that proving material support for terrorist organizations is a challenge, legal experts say.
Family and friends of the Khans have asserted that all money sent to Pakistan was intended to help poor family members and support a madrasa in northwest Pakistan.
But legal experts say the fact that cash contributions might have been intended for humanitarian purposes is no longer a defense to supporting terrorism because money is so easily transferred.
"The key difficulty in prosecuting cases under this provision is proving that the contribution was made 'knowingly,' " said Victor Comras, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer and former State Department official who writes frequently about Al Qaeda and terrorism financing cases.
Mr. Comras said that in past cases against accused terrorism financiers, prosecutors have struggled to prove intent unless they have clear evidence like recorded statements.
According to the indictment, a tape-recorded phone conversation has Mr. Khan calling for an attack on the Pakistani Assembly similar to a suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Sept. 20, 2008.
Prosecutors say that in another phone conversation, Mr. Khan "declared his wish that God kill 50,000" American soldiers.
Mr. Khan's lawyer declined to discuss the specific charges.
In recent years, prosecutors have had mixed success in terrorism-financing prosecutions.
The prosecution in Dallas of the Holy Land Foundation, accused of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, is one example. Several defendants were acquitted in 2007 at the first trial, which ended in a mistrial for others. During a retrial in 2008, prosecutors won guilty verdicts against the Holy Land Foundation and five individuals for giving more than $12 million to Hamas, which the United States designated as a terrorist organization in 1995.
Three of those indicted last week in Miami are still in Pakistan. The fourth is Irfan Khan, the 37-year-old son of Hafiz Khan who appeared on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles.
Since the charges were publicized on Saturday, the Miami Mosque, known as the Flagler Mosque, has received two telephone threats, said Nezar Hamze, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in Pembroke Pines, Fla. On Monday evening, a van was parked in front of the mosque bearing a sign that said it should be burned down.
"This is the type of backlash that occurs," Mr. Hamze said. "We are telling the community to remain on alert." The police have set up a 24-hour presence at both mosques, he added.
A pretrial detention hearing for Hafiz Khan and Izhar Khan is scheduled for May 23.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) Peru: Presidential Candidate Hires Giuliani as Adviser
By REUTERS
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/world/americas/17briefs-Peru.html?ref=world
Peru's presidential front-runner, Keiko Fujimori, has hired former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York as an adviser, trying to bolster her law-and-order credentials and distance herself from her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, who is in prison. Ms. Fujimori said Mr. Giuliani would help her design public safety programs. After vigorously defending her father for years, Ms. Fujimori apologized last month for what she called the excesses of his authoritarian rule. Pollsters say those comments have helped her move slightly ahead of the left-wing candidate Ollanta Humala. The election is June 5.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) Search Allowed if Police Hear Evidence Being Destroyed
By ADAM LIPTAK
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17scotus.html?ref=us
WASHINGTON - The police do not need a warrant to enter a home if they smell burning marijuana, knock loudly, announce themselves and hear what they think is the sound of evidence being destroyed, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in an 8-to-1 decision.
The issue as framed by the majority was a narrow one. It assumed there was good reason to think evidence was being destroyed, and asked only whether the conduct of the police had impermissibly caused the destruction.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the majority, said police officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches by kicking down a door after the occupants of an apartment react to hearing that officers are there by seeming to destroy evidence.
In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the majority had handed the police an important new tool.
"The court today arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement in drug cases," Justice Ginsburg wrote. "In lieu of presenting their evidence to a neutral magistrate, police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, never mind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant."
The case, Kentucky v. King, No. 09-1272, arose from a mistake. After seeing a drug deal in a parking lot, police officers in Lexington, Ky., rushed into an apartment complex looking for a suspect who had sold cocaine to an informant.
But the smell of burning marijuana led them to the wrong apartment. After knocking and announcing themselves, they heard sounds from inside the apartment that they said made them fear that evidence was being destroyed. They kicked the door in and found marijuana and cocaine but not the original suspect, who was in a different apartment.
The Kentucky Supreme Court suppressed the evidence, saying that any risk of drugs being destroyed was the result of the decision by the police to knock and announce themselves rather than obtain a warrant.
The United States Supreme Court reversed that decision on Monday, saying the police had acted lawfully and that was all that mattered. The defendant, Hollis D. King, had choices other than destroying evidence, Justice Alito wrote.
He could have chosen not to respond to the knocking in any fashion, Justice Alito wrote. Or he could have come to the door and declined to let the officers enter without a warrant.
"Occupants who choose not to stand on their constitutional rights but instead elect to attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame," Justice Alito wrote.
Justice Alito took pains to say that the majority was not deciding whether an emergency justifying an exception to the warrant requirement - an "exigent circumstance," in legal jargon - actually existed. He said that the Kentucky Supreme Court "expressed doubt on this issue" and that "any question about whether an exigency actually existed is better addressed" by the state court.
All the United States Supreme Court decided, Justice Alito wrote, was when evidence must be suppressed because the police had created the exigency. Lower courts had approached that question in some five different ways.
The standard announced Monday, Justice Alito wrote, had the virtue of simplicity.
"Where, as here, the police did not create the exigency by engaging or threatening to engage in conduct that violates the Fourth Amendment," he wrote, "warrantless entry to prevent the destruction of evidence is reasonable and thus allowed."
But "there is a strong argument," Justice Alito added, that evidence would have to be suppressed where the police did more than knock and announce themselves. In general, he wrote, "the exigent circumstances rule should not apply where the police, without a warrant or any legally sound basis for a warrantless entry, threaten that they will enter without permission unless admitted."
Justice Ginsburg, dissenting, said the majority had taken a wrong turn.
"The urgency must exist, I would rule," she wrote, "when the police come on the scene, not subsequent to their arrival, prompted by their own conduct."
Justice Ginsburg then asked a rhetorical question based on the text of the Fourth Amendment.
"How 'secure' do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and, on hearing sounds indicative of things moving, forcibly enter and search for evidence of unlawful activity?" she asked.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
10) Obama Is a Millionaire, Records Show
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
May 16, 2011, 6:30 pm
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/obama-is-a-millionaire-records-show/?ref=us
President Obama is a millionaire with assets that could reach as much as $12 million, mostly from proceeds from his two best-selling books, according to financial disclosure forms made public by the White House on Monday.
The disclosures require only that Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, list the value of their assets in wide ranges. For example, the president lists royalties from his memoir "Dreams From My Father" as between $1 million and $5 million.
Mr. Obama's financial disclosures have remained largely the same since he took office in 2009. The financial disclosure forms can be seen at the URL listed above at the New York Times.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
11) Some White House Workers Want to Join Union
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 16, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/us/17brfs-SOMEWHITEHOU_BRF.html?ref=us
About half of the career work force at the Office of Management and Budget filed a petition on Monday seeking to join the nation's largest federal employee union. A spokesman for the American Federation of Government Workers said that the White House employees, who are often called in on evenings and weekends, want more input over working conditions. The union would not represent political appointees, supervisors or managers. If the petition is approved by a federal agency, a vote could come this summer. A budget office spokesman said the Obama administration supported the right of workers to unionize.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
12) In Japan Reactor Failings, Danger Signs for the U.S.
By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATTHEW L. WALD
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/world/asia/18japan.html?hp
TOKYO - Emergency vents that American officials have said would prevent devastating hydrogen explosions at nuclear plants in the United States were put to the test in Japan - and failed to work, according to experts and officials with the company that operates the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The failure of the vents calls into question the safety of similar nuclear power plants in the United States and Japan. After the venting failed at the Fukushima plant, the hydrogen gas fueled explosions that spewed radioactive materials into the atmosphere, reaching levels about 10 percent of estimated emissions at Chernobyl, according to Japan's nuclear regulatory agency.
Venting was critical to relieving pressure that was building up inside several reactors after the March 11 tsunami knocked out the plant's crucial cooling systems. Without flowing water to cool the reactors' cores, they had begun to dangerously overheat.
American officials had said early on that reactors in the United States would be safe from such disasters because they were equipped with new, stronger venting systems. But Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, now says that Fukushima Daiichi had installed the same vents years ago.
Government officials have also suggested that one of the primary causes of the explosions was a several-hour delay in a decision to use the vents, as Tokyo Electric managers agonized over whether to resort to emergency measures that would allow a substantial amount of radioactive materials to escape into the air.
But the release this week of company documents and interviews with experts provides the most comprehensive evidence yet that mechanical failures and design flaws in the venting system also contributed to delays. The documents paint a picture of increasing desperation at the plant in the early hours of the disaster, as workers who had finally gotten the go-ahead to vent realized that the system would not respond to their commands.
While venting would have allowed some radioactive materials to escape, analysts say that those releases would have been far smaller than those that followed the explosions at three of the plant's reactors, which blew open containment buildings meant to serve as a first line of defense against catastrophe. The blasts may also have been responsible for breaches in containment vessels that have complicated efforts to cool the fuel rods and contain radioactive leaks from the site.
One reason the venting system at the plant, which was built by General Electric, did not work is that it relied on the same sources of electricity as the rest of the plant: backup generators that were in basements at the plant and vulnerable to tsunamis. But the earthquake may also have damaged the valves that are part of the venting system, preventing them from working even when operators tried to manually open them, Tokyo Electric officials said.
In either case, regulators in the United States and Japan will now need to determine if such systems at similar plants designed by G.E. need to undergo expensive and time-consuming retrofitting or redesign to allow them to function even in severe accidents.
"Japan is going to teach us lessons," said David Lochbaum at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "If we're in a situation where we can't vent where we need to, we need to fix that."
Officials from General Electric did not comment on Tuesday.
The seriousness of the crisis at the Fukushima plant became evident within hours of the quake and the tsunami that rushed over the plant's sea wall.
Just 12 hours after the quake, the pressure inside Reactor No. 1 had reached roughly twice the maximum pressure the unit had been designed to withstand, raising fears that the vessels that house fuel rods would rupture, setting a possible meltdown in motion. With the pressure high, pumping in additional cooling water also was not possible.
The government became rattled enough that it ordered Tokyo Electric to begin venting. But even then, Tokyo Electric's executives continued to deliberate, according to a person close to government efforts to bring the reactors under control. The exchanges became so heated, the person said, that the company's nuclear chief, Vice President Sakae Muto, and the stricken plant's director, Masao Yoshida, engaged in a "shouting match" - a rarity in reserved Japan.
Mr. Yoshida wanted to vent as soon as possible, but Mr. Muto was skeptical whether venting would work, the person said, requesting anonymity because he is still an adviser to the government and is not permitted to comment publicly. "There was hesitation, arguments and sheer confusion over what to do," he said.
The executives did not give the order to begin venting until Saturday - more than 17 hours after the tsunami struck and 6 hours after the government order to vent.
As workers scrambled to comply with their new directive, they faced a cascading series of complications.
The venting system is designed to be operated from the control room, but operators' attempts to turn it on failed, most likely because the power to open critical valves was out. The valves are designed so they can also be opened manually, but by that time, workers found radiation levels near the venting system at Reactor No. 1 were already too high to approach, according to Tokyo Electric's records.
At Reactor No. 2, workers tried to manually open the safety valves, but pressure did not fall inside the reactor, making it unclear whether venting was successful, the records show. At Reactor No. 3, workers tried seven times to manually open the valve, but it kept closing, the records say.
The results of the failed venting were disastrous.
Reactor No. 1 exploded first, on Saturday, the day after the earthquake. Reactor No. 3 came next, on Monday. And No. 2 exploded early Tuesday morning.
With each explosion, radioactive materials surged into the air, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of earthquake survivors living near the plant, contaminating crops and sending a faint plume of radioactive isotopes as far as the United States within days. Aerial photos of the reactor buildings showed No. 1 and 3 had been blown apart and another was seriously damaged.
As the troubles mounted, Tokyo Electric and government officials conducted a series of news conferences that began to suggest the scope of the damage. The blasts, they said, probably caused breaches in containment vessels that are among the final layers of protection against meltdowns and even larger releases of radioactive materials.
Tokyo Electric in recent days has acknowledged that damage at the plant was worse than previously thought, with fuel rods most likely melting completely at Reactors 1, 2 and 3 in the early hours of the crisis, raising the danger of more catastrophic releases of radioactive materials. The company also said new evidence seemed to confirm that at Reactor No. 1, the pressure vessel, the last layer of protection, was broken and leaking radioactive water.
The improved venting system at the Fukushima plant was first mandated for use in the United States in the late 1980s as part of a "safety enhancement program" for boiling-water reactors that used the Mark I containment system, which had been designed by General Electric in the 1960s. Between 1998 and 2001, Tokyo Electric followed suit at Fukushima Daiichi, where five of six reactors use the Mark I design.
The company said that was the case this week, after a review of Japanese regulatory filings made in 2002 showed that the vents had been installed.
The fortified venting system addressed concerns that the existing systems were not strong enough to channel pent-up pressure inside the reactors in an emergency. Pressure would be expected to rise along with temperature, damaging the zirconium cladding on the fuel rods at the reactor core and allowing them to react chemically with water to produce zirconium oxide and hydrogen gas.
The new vents were designed to send steam and gas directly from the reactor's primary containment, which houses the reactor vessel, racing past the usual filters and gas treatment systems that would normally slow releases of gas and eliminate most radioactive materials.
But the emergency vents were fitted with numerous safeguards, some of which require electricity to work, rendering them useless when all power is lost at a nuclear plant, experts say.
The most important of those safeguards are the valves, operated from a switch under lock and key in the control room, that must be opened for the vents to work. When a key is inserted into the keyboard in the nuclear reactor's control room and turned, the valves are supposed to open, letting gases rush out of the reactor building.
Tokyo Electric has said the valves did not work at Fukushima Daiichi after the power failed.
That would suggest that operators of similar plants in the United States and Japan could protect reactors by moving generators to higher floors if the equipment is currently in places that could be affected by tsunamis or flooding from rivers.
But a redesign of the venting system itself might also be necessary.
The design is the result of conflicting schools of thought among United States nuclear officials, said Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at several American nuclear power plants.
Mr. Friedlander said, referring to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: "You have the N.R.C. containment isolation guys who want containment closed, always, under every conceivable accident scenario, and then you've got the reactor safety guys who need containment to be vented under severe accident scenarios. It is a very controversial system."
Hiroko Tabuchi reported from Tokyo, Keith Bradsher from Hong Kong, and Matthew L. Wald from Washington.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Afghan Protesters Clash With Police After NATO Raid
"At one point, the protesters carried the bodies of the four people killed in the raid through the streets, the governor said. They were buried later in the day. According to witnesses, the mob grew infuriated when a protester paraded a 10-year-old girl before it. 'This is the only remaining member of the family killed by foreigners last night,' the protester announced. Night raids have been a bitter source of tension between NATO and Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, who has said they frequently lead to civilian casualties and deepen distrust in the government and NATO forces."
By RAY RIVERA and SANGAR RAHIMI
May 18, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/world/asia/19afghanistan.html?hp
KABUL, Afghanistan - A normally peaceful northern city erupted in violence Wednesday, as thousands of protesters clashed with security forces after a NATO night raid that local officials claim killed four civilians. NATO defended the night operation and said the four people who were killed, two of them women, were armed insurgents who fired on its troops.
At least a dozen people were killed Wednesday as protesters armed with Kalashnikov rifles, axes, grenades and petrol bombs battled with police on the streets of Taliqan, the capital of Takhar Province, in the northeast, then assaulted a small NATO base on the city's outskirts, local officials and witnesses said.
The protesters chanted "death to Americans" and "death to Karzai," referring to President Hamid Karzai, as they hurled fire bombs and rocks at the German-run NATO outpost, officials said. Some also fired guns. Smoke rising from the base could be seen across the city.
Security forces brought the riot under control after several hours, but not before dozens of people, including women and children, had been injured or killed. Dr. Hassan Baseej, head of the provincial health department, said that the provincial hospital had received 12 dead and 80 wounded by early afternoon and that more were coming.
Two German soldiers and three Afghan guards were also wounded in the attack, said Abdul Jabar Taqwa, the provincial governor. It was not immediately known whether NATO forces were involved in trying to subdue the protesters, or opened fire on them.
Governor Taqwa condemned the NATO raid that precipitated the riot but also blamed Taliban agents for stirring up the crowd of about 3,000 to 4,000 people in what was intended to be a peaceful demonstration.
"This tragedy is much bigger than the one done last night by coalition forces," he said, promising to find the people who incited the violence.
At one point, the protesters carried the bodies of the four people killed in the raid through the streets, the governor said. They were buried later in the day. According to witnesses, the mob grew infuriated when a protester paraded a 10-year-old girl before it.
"This is the only remaining member of the family killed by foreigners last night," the protester announced.
Night raids have been a bitter source of tension between NATO and Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, who has said they frequently lead to civilian casualties and deepen distrust in the government and NATO forces.
"With all the repeated warnings that have been given by the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in regards to the prevention of these willful operations by NATO forces, it seems these types of operations have not been stopped," Mr. Karzai's office said in a statement Wednesday.
In its own statement, NATO said the combined Afghan and coalition raid was aimed at a man accused of providing weapons and explosives to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - an group linked to Al Qaeda that has been responsible for numerous attacks in northern Afghanistan.
The team was preparing to search a family compound when a woman wearing an ammunition rack and carrying an AK-47 pointed the rifle at the team and, after ignoring several commands to drop it, was killed, the statement said. The second woman was killed shortly afterward when she rushed out of the compound and pointed a pistol at coalition forces, the statement said.
It added that a suicide vest rigged with 30 millimeter rounds and a detonation chord were found in a search of the compound. Though rare, women have been known to join insurgent fighting forces and have acted as suicide bombers.
In addition to the four people killed, two other suspected insurgents were detained.
But local officials insisted that the four who were killed were not insurgents.
"It was a wrong operation based on wrong intelligence information," said Shah Jahan Noori, the police chief of Takhar Province. "These kinds of operations are increasing the gap between the people and the government."
An acquaintance of one of the men killed said he was a religious scholar and ran a tailoring shop in the city. "He has nothing to do with the Taliban or anyone else," said the acquaintance, Asadullah, 38, a tailor who like many Afghans uses only one name.
The city of about 200,000 has been largely peaceful but Takhar Province, which borders Tajikistan, is one of several northern provinces that, according to NATO, has seen increased activity by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. But this is not the first time government officials have accused NATO of misidentifying members of the movement, underscoring the difficulties of identifying Afghan insurgents.
The most notable incident occurred in September when NATO attacked the convoy of a candidate for Parliament who was campaigning in Takhar with his uncle and several campaign workers. His uncle was killed along with at least nine others.
NATO forces maintain that the candidate's uncle was a Taliban deputy shadow governor of Takhar and that they are sure of his identity. However, Mr. Karzai and local officials in Takhar said that the target was not a Taliban deputy shadow governor and that those killed were civilians. An exhaustive report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research organization, found that the man who was targeted had been living peacefully in Kabul for more than two years and was well known there.
The man who was the real Taliban leader in Takhar Province was located by the Afghanistan Analysts Network in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where a colleague of the author of the report interviewed him. However, NATO has continued to maintain that it had the right person.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, a suicide attacker rammed a car packed with explosives into a minibus carrying Afghan National Police trainers in the Beshud district in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Initial accounts said the attack killed 6 to 13 people and wounded 21. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Alissa J. Rubin contributed reporting from Kabul, and employees of The New York Times from Taliqan and eastern Afghanistan.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
13) Sixth Soldier Charged in Afghan Killings
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18soldier.html?ref=world
SEATTLE - A sixth soldier was charged Tuesday in connection with what Army prosecutors have described as the sport killings of three Afghan civilians last year, officials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near here said.
The soldier, Staff Sgt. David D. Bram, was charged with solicitation to commit premeditated murder, engaging in murder scenario conversations with subordinates, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, planting evidence near the body of an Afghan national and failing to report crimes including murder.
The Army did not release more details, but Sergeant Bram has often been mentioned in testimony by witnesses in the case, including other soldiers who have been charged with murder. In January, in a plea agreement, Specialist Jeremy N. Morlock described Sergeant Bram as giving him clearance to commit the first of the three murders, in January 2010.
In March, Specialist Morlock was sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role in all three killings. Sergeant Bram watched the proceeding in the same room as reporters who were covering it.
Four other soldiers charged in the murders await court-martial proceedings. Sergeant Bram had already faced lesser charges, along with six other soldiers from the same unit, part of a Stryker Brigade deployed near Kandahar in 2009 and 2010. The earlier charges include striking a soldier who many in the unit had worried would tell superiors about their crimes.
The Army said Tuesday that Sergeant Bram could face 21 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges.
An Army lawyer who has represented Sergeant Bram did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
14) Flooding Takes Economic Toll, and It's Hardly Done
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/us/18river.html?ref=us
The swollen Mississippi River, already spilling over into wide areas of the Mississippi Delta, has dealt the South a heavy economic blow that is seeping into every possible corner of the region's commercial and agricultural life.
From Tennessee to Louisiana, the arteries and tributaries that normally supply the lifeblood of trade and business to the communities along the river's banks are now paralyzing them. The engorged river has disrupted waterway commerce, delaying barge traffic and forcing some cargo to be trucked overland. Grain elevators, a crucial link to the nation's grain exports, have been swamped. Early corn and soybean plantings on delta farms are submerged.
Like the very nature of water, the trickle-down effects of the historic flooding are leaving no corner untouched. Retail gasoline prices, already at two-year highs, and food prices could rise in the region because of supply disruptions. Tens of thousands of people are unemployed, shut out of jobs at establishments that are literally under water. State and local government coffers, strained because of the economic downturn, may lose many millions of dollars in revenue from tourism and taxes.
In about a dozen interviews, economists, farmers and industry officials said they expected hundreds of millions of dollars in damages including crop and infrastructure destruction in communities along the 740 miles of river that meanders from Memphis to New Orleans. But while the final bill has yet to be determined, the costs are already being felt.
In Yazoo County, Miss., John Phillips, a 61-year-old farmer, said thousands of acres of his cotton and corn crops had been destroyed. "In our area in the south delta, it is a widespread and very economically devastating disaster," he said in a telephone interview, as he tried to run a pump. He said his annual revenue would be reduced by 40 percent because it was too late to replant.
In Louisiana, oyster beds have been flushed with fresh water from the river after spillways were opened. Already, the state's crucial seafood industry had been reeling from the BP oil spill.
"Oysters are getting crucified," said Harlon H. Pearce Jr., the executive director of Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. "This water hit at the absolute worst time."
Along the river, barge operators are weathering the economic turbulence. It costs an operator about $10,000 a day when there is a delay with a tow, which helps the unwieldy barges, sometimes up to 45 of them tied together, navigate.
"One barge has the capacity of 16 rail cars or 70 trucks," said Anne D. Burns, a spokeswoman at American Waterways Operators. The river's barge traffic, Ms. Burns added, "is one of the significant building blocks of our economy."
With the recent flooding, barges are running lighter loads and traveling during the day because navigation markers are submerged. Delays can have ripple effects throughout the economy, like slower coal deliveries to utilities, where costs can be passed on to consumers, or disruptions to the nation's grain exports that travel down the river, she added.
"All those things are slowing down the delivery of these commodities," Ms. Burns said.
The flooding has affected other states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri. In addition to farming, businesses including catfish farms, hunting and fishing tourism, and casinos up and down the river have been affected.
About 100,000 acres of croplands, some planted with sugar cane and rice, flooded over the weekend in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana when the Morganza spillway was opened, but the damage assessment has not been completed, said an Army Corps economist, Lee Robinson.
The economic hardships facing the affected areas would be traumatic to residents at any time, but they are also taking place when the nation is trying to recover from the 2008 financial crisis.
Economists are only just beginning to assess the potential headwinds of the Mississippi River flooding. An academic study released last week said the cost to the Memphis area, including the city and the 630,000 people in 18 counties that feed into the urban area in jobs or spending, could reach $753 million in damages to crops, residences, and commercial and public infrastructure.
An author of the study, Michael J. Hicks, the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, said there were losses to the region's consumer base and trade disruptions in a region that connects the manufacturing heartland of the Midwest with routes traveling between the East and the West.
"I am going to estimate in the $6 billion to $9 billion range for total damages from Memphis southward to the gulf," Mr. Hicks said.
Between 2.1 million to 2.2 million acres of farmland have so far been affected by the flooding in the delta region, or about 1 percent of all United States cropland, according to estimates from the Army Corps of Engineers.
While acknowledging the regional devastation, however, government economists say they do not expect a national grain shortage because there are plentiful stocks. A lot will depend on whether farmers will be able to replant.
Oil companies have also been affected. In the Memphis area, Valero's refinery is located on a bluff, and another one west of New Orleans is protected by levees. But with memories still fresh from Hurricane Katrina, Valero moved up its hurricane preparedness plans, securing equipment or moving it to higher ground, said a spokesman, Bill Day.
Exxon Mobil shut the docks at its refinery and petrochemical complex in Baton Rouge, La., and is only using its pipeline for operations. Its second refinery in Chalmette, near New Orleans, was not affected, said Kevin Allexon, a company spokesman.
Mr. Allexon said the company had contingency plans, like outside storage capacity. "We have invested a lot of resources to prepare and plan for this situation," he said. "If you operate in the Gulf of Mexico region you need to be ready for weather-related events, whether it is flooding or hurricanes or both."
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
15) Chemical Suspected in Cancer Is in Baby Products
"Under current law, it is difficult for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to ban or restrict chemicals. Even now, the agency has yet to ban asbestos, widely known to cause cancer and other lung diseases. 'We can buy things that are BPA free, or phthalate free or lead free. We don'' have the choice to buy things that are flame-retardant free,' Dr. Stapleton said. "The laws protect the chemical industry, not the general public.'"
By ANDREW MARTIN
May 17, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/18chemical.html?ref=us
More than 30 years after chemical flame retardants were removed from children's pajamas because they were suspected of being carcinogens, new research into flame retardants shows that one of the chemicals is prevalent in baby's products made with polyurethane foam, including nursing pillows, car seats and highchairs.
The research does not determine if children absorbed the chemical, chlorinated Tris, from the products. But in an article to be published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the researchers suggest that infants who use the products have higher exposure to the chemical than the government recommends.
Earlier research by one of the article's authors, Arlene Blum, a biophysical chemist, contributed to the elimination of Tris flame retardants, including chlorinated Tris, in children's pajamas in the 1970s. Although the chemical was not banned at that time, the Consumer Product Safety Commission now says that it "may pose a significant health risk to consumers."
The new research found that foam samples from more than a third of the 101 baby products that were tested contained chlorinated Tris. Over all, 80 of the products contained chemical flame retardants of some kind, some of which are considered toxic, though legal to use. In one instance, flame retardants represented 12 percent of the weight of the foam in a changing pad; most products were closer to 3 to 5 percent.
Among the products examined were changing table pads, sleep positioners, portable mattresses, baby carriers, rocking chairs and highchairs.
Fourteen of the products contained the flame retardant TCEP, which the State of California describes as a cancer-causing agent. Four of them contained Penta-BDE, a flame retardant that builds up in human tissue and that manufacturers voluntarily phased out in 2004; it is banned in many countries, but not the United States, and in some states, including New York.
"Why do you need fire retardant in a nursing pillow?" said Dr. Blum, who is the executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization that brings scientific data about toxic chemicals to policy makers.
"The whole issue is, they are toxic chemicals that are in our homes at high levels; and right now, people don't know much about it," she said.
Asked about the new research, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group, said all nursery products sold in the United States conform to "tough federal safety standards."
"Not only do these safety standards contain flammability requirements, they also restrict the use of substances that are harmful or toxic and to which children might be exposed," the association said in a statement.
The association also noted that chlorinated Tris was not banned by the government, but rather a related compound, brominated Tris, also found in the pajamas decades ago. "This study does not support allegations that the banned retardant Tris is in use," the association said.
Gordon L. Nelson, a chemistry professor at Florida Institute of Technology, said the new research was interesting but hardly proof that the flame retardants were doing harm. He noted that some children's products that use foams have plastic covers around them, which would prevent flame retardants from leaching out.
"The question is, in actual use, does the flame retardant come out?" Dr. Nelson said. He says he has done research on fire safety for decades and occasionally accepts research money or consulting fees from the industry.
In addition, Dr. Nelson maintained that fire retardants have vastly reduced the number of fire deaths caused by upholstered furniture, a point that critics of the chemicals dispute.
The new research is being released amid a broader, and often bitter, debate about flame retardants and a California flammability rule that has become the de facto national standard.
The California standard, passed in 1975, requires that polyurethane foam in upholstered furniture be able to withstand an open flame for 12 seconds without catching fire. Because there is no other state or federal standard, many manufacturers comply with the California rule, usually by adding flame retardants with the foam, Dr. Blum said.
Last year, California exempted strollers, nursing pillows and baby carriers from the flammability standard. Dr. Blum characterized the exemption as a positive step, though she noted that many other baby products were not exempted and it was not yet clear if manufacturers had stopped using flame retardants in those products.
Dr. Blum is among a group of academics and environmentalists who argue that the California standard exposes people and their pets to toxic chemicals. The flame retardants can migrate from furniture to household dust, and can be ingested by people and pets.
Some of the chemicals used in flame retardants are suspected carcinogens, and studies have linked the chemicals to variety of health issues, including problems with fertility and neurological development, the authors of Wednesday's journal article said.
Heather M. Stapleton, an assistant professor of environmental chemistry at Duke University and the lead author, complained that current federal oversight of chemicals is so weak that manufacturers are not required to label products with flame retardants nor are they required to list what chemicals are used.
Under current law, it is difficult for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to ban or restrict chemicals. Even now, the agency has yet to ban asbestos, widely known to cause cancer and other lung diseases.
"We can buy things that are BPA free, or phthalate free or lead free. We don't have the choice to buy things that are flame-retardant free," Dr. Stapleton said. "The laws protect the chemical industry, not the general public."
In a statement, the American Chemistry Council, which represents manufacturers of flame retardants, said the products are "well studied and provide important safety benefits."
"This study attempts to examine the existence of certain flame retardants in a small sampling of children's products," the council said, in a statement. "It does not address exposure or risk."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been working on a federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture for 16 years. The current proposal would allow manufacturers to meet the flammability standard without fire retardants. An agency spokesman said that "additional research looking into consumer exposure and the impact of chemical alternatives is needed."
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
16) [SASI] Incredibly Important and Courageous Report on the Manufacturing of the 'Homegrown' Threat, issued and released by the The Center For Human Rights & Global Justice
hey everyone,
Our very own Amna Akbar is, as some of you know, the senior fellow at the Center For Human Rights & Global Justice at NYU. In collaboration with a number of dedicated law students, Amna has been working on a truly necessary and courageous report on the issues of Entrapment, Informants, and Preemptive Prosecution as they impact Muslims in America. The Report does a fantastic job of tacking back and forth between the general (horror) and particular (horror) of these issues, through its focus on three cases: The Newburgh Four, Shehawar Siraj Matin, and The Fort Dix 5.
On these lists, we are community of scholars, activists, lawyers, students, journalists, broadcasters, etc. Let's do what we can to ensure that a report like this is widely cited, written and spoken about. These narratives are direct and powerful challenges to the violence of the mainstream narrative, the so called 'Big' history being produced about this moment-- a history of ommissions and misconstructions.
The report was launched this morning, and can be accessed live here (or see attachment):
http://www.chrgj.org/projects/docs/targetedandentrapped.pdf
More media coverage is to follow in the upcoming days, but even prior to the reports release, the Village Voice wrote this:
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/05/shahawar_matin.php
Press Release Below:
U.S. Must Stop Targeting Muslims in Counterterrorism Investigations
CHRGJ: Use of Paid Informants, Surveillance, and Manufactured Plots Raises Serious Human Rights Concerns
(New York, May 18, 2011)—The U.S. government must stop its discriminatory targeting of Muslim communities in counter-terrorism investigations said the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at NYU School of Law today, as it released a report on the issue. The government’s use of intrusive surveillance, untrained paid informants, and manufactured terrorism plots raise serious human rights concerns that must immediately be addressed, said the group.
The Report, Targeted and Entrapped: Manufacturing the “Homegrown Threat” in the United States, critically examines three high-profile domestic terrorism prosecutions and raises serious questions about the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in constructing the specter of “homegrown” terrorism through the deployment of paid informants to encourage terrorist plots in Muslim communities.
“The government’s responsibility is to investigate crimes, not to instigate plots in already vulnerable communities,” said Amna Akbar, CHRGJ’s Senior Research Scholar & Advocacy Fellow. “It is abusive to pay government informants to go into Muslim communities, collect information, and then try to incite young men to consider violence and particular plots. The government must immediately stop these perverse practices.”
Focusing on the government’s cases against the Newburgh Four, the Fort Dix Five, and Shahawar Matin Siraj, the Report relies on court documents, media accounts, and interviews with family members of the defendants to critically assess the government’s practices and lays bare the devastating toll these practices have had on the families involved.
In all three cases examined in Targeted and Entrapped, government informants played a critical role in instigating and constructing the plots that eventually led to prosecution. In all three, the government also sent paid informants into Muslim communities, without any basis for suspicion of current or eventual criminal activity. The government’s informants introduced, cultivated, and then aggressively pushed ideas about violent jihad, encouraging the defendants to believe that it was their duty to take action against the United States. The informants also selected or encouraged the proposed locations that the defendants would later be accused of targeting, and provided the defendants with—or encouraged the defendants to acquire—material evidence, such as weaponry or violent videos, which would later be used to convict them. The defendants in these cases have all been convicted and currently face prison sentences ranging from 25 years to life.
A number of cases around the country raising similar concerns suggest that these practices are illustrative of larger patterns of law enforcement activities targeting Muslim communities. The Report considers key trends in counterterrorism law enforcement policies that have facilitated these practices, including the government’s promulgation of so-called radicalization theories that justify the abusive targeting of entire communities based on the unsubstantiated notion that Muslims in the U.S. are “radicalizing.” The prosecutions that result from these practices are central to the government’s claim that the country faces a “homegrown threat” of terrorism, and have bolstered calls for the continued use of informants in Muslim communities.
Alicia McWilliams is the aunt of David Williams, a defendant in the prosecution against the Newburgh Four. The government targeted David and his codefendants with offers of $250,000, a BMW, and more to get them involved in a plot to plant bombs at a local synagogue. The informant provided the weaponry and suggested the target for the constructed plot.
“Newburgh is an extremely impoverished town,” said Alicia in a recent interview with CHRGJ. “How much money did they spend on this whole production? They need to be investing in our communities for the future, not spending millions of dollars on a fake case that makes nobody safer.”
Targeted and Entrapped evaluates the fundamental human rights affected by these counterterrorism policies. It concludes with policy recommendations aimed at ensuring that the U.S. government lives up to its obligations to guarantee, without discrimination, the rights to: a fair trial; freedom of religion, expression, and opinion; and an effective remedy. In particular, CHRGJ calls on the government to stop discriminating against Muslims in counterterrorism investigations; to hold hearings on the impacts that current law enforcement practices are having on Muslim communities; and to revise the guidelines that currently govern FBI and NYPD activities and allow for such abusive practices to go unchecked.
To read more about the Center’s work on racial profiling and U.S. counter-terrorism policies, please see: http://www.chrgj.org/projects/profiling.html
About CHRGJ
The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at New York University School of Law was established in 2002 to bring together the law school’s teaching, research, clinical, internship, and publishing activities around issues of international human rights law. Through its litigation, advocacy, and research work, CHRGJ plays a critical role in identifying, denouncing, and fighting human rights abuses in several key areas of focus, including: Business and Human Rights; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Caste Discrimination; Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism; Extrajudicial Executions; and Transitional Justice. Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman are the Center’s Faculty Chairs; Smita Narula and Margaret Satterthwaite are Faculty Directors; Jayne Huckerby is Research Director; and Veerle Opgenhaffen is Senior Program Director.
The International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC)—a project of the Center—is directed by Professor Smita Narula. Amna Akbar is Senior Research Scholar and Advocacy Fellow and Susan Hodges is Clinic Administrator. The Report was researched and written by CHRGJ and IHRC members and staff.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
No comments:
Post a Comment